Urbanism

Who said this:

I’m not interested in the suburbs. The suburbs bore me.

I can only imagine...

I found it worthwhile to read this article. It was unbelievable (yet true).

Lucky

A man hit the guardrail and barrier and then flipped end-over-end over this culvert.

This is one lucky dude.

Fads

From bell-bottoms to slap bracelets to JibJab, fads are an American phenomenon. Here is a great list of 37 that swept the nation.

What fad has been your favorite?

Well worth watching

The '4 generations' water buffalo movie.

Isn't it ironic?

Yesterday, Illinois senator Barack Obama announced he is forming a presidential exploratory committee. As the Chicago Tribune notes, this...

...would make him the most formidable African-American candidate ever.

His candidacy should be marked by the African-American community as a high point. Interestingly though,

Civil rights leaders who have dominated black politics for much of the past two decades have pointedly failed to embrace the 45-year-old Illinois senator who is considering a bid to become America’s first black president.

Hmm. Why is this? Notes this Times article,

HE is a media darling, a paparazzi target and a source of inspiration for millions of Democrats who dream of retaking the White House in 2008. But Senator Barack Obama, the charismatic African-American who is shaking up the presidential primary race, has not impressed some of America’s most powerful black activists.

How about these rousing endorsements:
Jesse Jackson: "Our focus right now is not on who’s running, because there are a number of allies running."
Harry Belafonte: "We don’t know what he’s truly about...He’s a young man in many ways to be admired. Obviously very bright, speaks very well, cuts a handsome figure. But all of that is just the king’s clothes. Who’s the king?”
Al Sharpton: "Right now we’re hearing a lot of media razzle-dazzle. I’m not hearing a lot of meat, or a lot of content. I think when the meat hits the fire, we’ll find out if it’s just fat, or if there’s some real meat there."

Obama, the son of a Kenyan farmer and a white Kansan mother... wait a second, could that be it? Yep. Says one strategist,

They are basically jealous. They’ve been toiling in the trenches for decades, and along comes this son of a Kenyan farmer and suddenly he’s measuring the drapes in the Oval Office.

A Sign of the Times

I've always enjoyed news items that are referred to as "signs of the time" we are living in; subtly implying they are examples of disintegrating society. Regardless of whether they indicate that, they are usually enjoyable and they do often tend to point to problematic trends in our society today.

Today I'll point you towards one which pointed something new out to me. If you ride public transit like I do, you are familiar with the all-too-frequent "This train is being delayed due to a medical situation..." on some train ahead. I have noticed it happens more frequently in the morning, but never put 2 and 2 together until reading this. It seems that our country's obsession with skinniness is delaying our morning commutes:

In all, Nelson treated five women that morning, all of who fainted or reported feeling weak.

An average of 395 delays per month are caused by sick customers. Only track work and signal troubles triggered more delays.

While flu-symptoms, anxiety attacks, hangovers and heat exhaustion also strike passengers, Nelson said, they pale in comparison to fainting caused by missed meals.

Who knew. Is this a "sign of the times"?

Where in the world was...?

Inspired by uber-blogger Jason Kottke, here's where I was in 2006:

Chicago, IL *
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
New York City, NY
Manitowoc, WI
Greenville, IL *
Berlin, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
St. Paul, MN

Where were you?

Criteria = One or more nights spent in each place. Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.