22.5.06

three days


Hanoi, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by Zakcq.
Ever since J left, I've been letting my beard grow out. It made it out to about 5 inches. It was awesome. So anyway, I cut it off today. J convinced me that it was going to be too hot in Asia (and of course she wouldn't kiss me). I look ridiculous now. I had no idea I was so funny looking. grrr.

So, had a couple of interesting conversations the last few days at work. Yesterday, a women bought a paperback and then asked if she had to do anything special at customs with the book. Weird question, right? She explained that it was her first time "off the island."
-Nova Scotia?
-No, PEI.
And she looked like she was at least late 30's. I get nervous if I don't cross a border every six months and this women had never been out of PEI. Crazy.

The good one today was Conspiracy Theory Guy. This book just came out by a couple of lawyers called "The Case for the Impeachment of George W. Bush." So this guy comes up to me.
-You know those lawyers who wrote that book aren't too good. They missed the most obvious reason for impeaching Bush.
-Uh, okay.
-Skull and Bones.
-Uh.
-They want a one world government. That means they'd have to overthrow the government.
-????
-That's treason. I've talked to congressmen about this.
-????
-But of course it would have to be the Republicans. Otherwise it'd just be the Democrats trying to get even.
-Uh.
-As a Republican, I could really support that.
-!!!

I hear from Mpls that the central corridor got funding. That's great. As far as the lightrail line goes, I think it'll be awesome. In downtown Minneapolis I would have picked a different route, but the way they are doing it will be cheaper. I would have run it through Saint Anthony (which, if it were a little less ghetto, could really be one of the best urban neighborhoods in Mpls) and then across the Hennepin Ave. Bridge and then connecting to the Hiawatha line at the Warehouse District stop (if the train is facing that way, it'd be easier to run it farther up Hennepin in the future.)Not easier really, since it isn't a problem to turn corners, but it would get it in peoples minds, "hey, why doesn't that keep going to uptown." The underground part at the U of M is the best though. So many new Minneapolitians start off there. It'll be a good place to get people addicted to trains. At the same time, the expresses between Minneapolis and St. Paul have always been such important buses for the working poor. Hurrah, hurrah.

1 comments:

onetenchelsea 1:00 AM  

yes yes. check out midtowngreenway.org. Actually, you should join and give them some money.

I was thinking that Hennepin wasn't wide enough too, but I paced it out last time I was there and I think you could do it. Either the cars and trains could share tracks (which would make the trains get stuck in traffic and I don't think Mpls would do anyways because of perceived safety) or you could do a dedicated line in the median and just have one lane of traffic, or you could have a dedicated median, two lanes of traffic and no on-street parking. You'd also have to off set that with a couple of public ramps at either end of uptown (like edina's got at 50th and France).

But if you had a University/Hennepin Line, The Hiawatha Line, The Northstar Line and the Midtown Greenway Line, all the sudden Minneapolis becomes a really easy place to get around without a car. It's pretty amazing how quickly something like that can come about.

I'd actually extend the Hennepin or Midtown line around the lakes and even as far as southdale.

and you're right. st. anthony probably isn't that bad. I grew up in South Minneapolis, so anything north feels weird to me (it might as well be Japan).

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