The Kingdom of Cambodia
I finally finished getting all of my Cambodian pictures uploaded (1 country down, 4 to go). Here's a few of my favorites...
31.7.06
22.7.06
What is Sadder?
A) Thirty-year-old guy in front of us in line at the movies who buys one ticket each for a movie at 2:15 and a movie at 4:30
or
b) Thirty-year-old guy next to us on the subway who is grinning widely while watching American Idol on his iPod
17.7.06
Urban Disaster and the Big Dig
I've been a bit too tired lately to think about writing anything that contains an opinion (never thought I'd say that), but I think it's time to get back into it. I've been thinking that I really want to focus my writing here more on urban issues then I have been, if for no other reason then that I should practice explaining my position on some things.
I'm taking a class this summer called Urban Disaster, resilient Cities. It's been very interesting. I thought about disaster and rebuilding a lot while I was living in Berlin and at times I've actually thought about directing my studies in that direction overall. There is something about the way that a city can be completely reshaped that really appeals to my giant, giant ego.
We've been focusing on the San Francisco earthquake/firestorm of 1906, the Chicago heatwave of 1995 (which, by the way, caused more deaths than any disaster in America up to that point, even though no one really noticed), Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 and Oklahoma City bombings. What's really struck me is how little of disasters (especially "natural disasters") has to do with nature and how much has to do with institutional response. When the institutions respond quickly and responsibly, you might barely notice a disaster, but when they fail to (coughKatrinacough) it multiplies the problems by many, many times.
I'll also be writing a research paper on the Sarin Gas attacks in Tokyo in the 90's. I choose that disaster because I think it'll be interesting to look at a disaster where nothing was "physically" destroyed. That way, I won't get caught up in "and they rebuilt Main Street in three years" and instead will have to really look that the institutional and social changes that were brought about by the attacks.
As most probably know, a big chunk of ceiling fell in one of the tunnels of the big dig last week. This really saddens me. I've always been a big promoter of the big dig. I think it's a necessary investment in the future of Boston (and really cutting edge for the US) and I haven't even been too worried about the price tag and the time that it's taken. I'm not really sure what the price tag is at this point (I'm sure someone could google it if they really cared), but I feel that typically with public projects you are going to end up going over budget, so whatever it is, I'm sure it wouldn't surprise me. The extra cost is part of living in a democratic society. When we are building something with public money, there is a ton of oversight, and really anyone with a concern about anything has to be taken seriously. This takes time and costs money. So be it.
unfortunately, the collapse of this part of the tunnel probably mean that there is something going on besides normal cost inflation. Someone somewhere probably got a contract they shouldn't have. That's unfortunate. I'm interested to see more of how the inquiry goes, but I don't have high hopes. Romney smelled the chance to be in on something that the media will like and rode in on his white horse already. I'm guessing they are going to scapegoat someone down the ladder. I just can't believe that in 2006 we are dealing with something that sounds like it should be out of Tammany Hall.
What is really too bad is that this is going to put other cities off of undertaking big projects right at a time when most cities are finally growing in population and improving in terms of economic development. I really hope that some mayors out there will be smart enough to undertake good projects like this but honest enough to see it done right.
Read more...
I'm taking a class this summer called Urban Disaster, resilient Cities. It's been very interesting. I thought about disaster and rebuilding a lot while I was living in Berlin and at times I've actually thought about directing my studies in that direction overall. There is something about the way that a city can be completely reshaped that really appeals to my giant, giant ego.
We've been focusing on the San Francisco earthquake/firestorm of 1906, the Chicago heatwave of 1995 (which, by the way, caused more deaths than any disaster in America up to that point, even though no one really noticed), Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 and Oklahoma City bombings. What's really struck me is how little of disasters (especially "natural disasters") has to do with nature and how much has to do with institutional response. When the institutions respond quickly and responsibly, you might barely notice a disaster, but when they fail to (coughKatrinacough) it multiplies the problems by many, many times.
I'll also be writing a research paper on the Sarin Gas attacks in Tokyo in the 90's. I choose that disaster because I think it'll be interesting to look at a disaster where nothing was "physically" destroyed. That way, I won't get caught up in "and they rebuilt Main Street in three years" and instead will have to really look that the institutional and social changes that were brought about by the attacks.
As most probably know, a big chunk of ceiling fell in one of the tunnels of the big dig last week. This really saddens me. I've always been a big promoter of the big dig. I think it's a necessary investment in the future of Boston (and really cutting edge for the US) and I haven't even been too worried about the price tag and the time that it's taken. I'm not really sure what the price tag is at this point (I'm sure someone could google it if they really cared), but I feel that typically with public projects you are going to end up going over budget, so whatever it is, I'm sure it wouldn't surprise me. The extra cost is part of living in a democratic society. When we are building something with public money, there is a ton of oversight, and really anyone with a concern about anything has to be taken seriously. This takes time and costs money. So be it.
unfortunately, the collapse of this part of the tunnel probably mean that there is something going on besides normal cost inflation. Someone somewhere probably got a contract they shouldn't have. That's unfortunate. I'm interested to see more of how the inquiry goes, but I don't have high hopes. Romney smelled the chance to be in on something that the media will like and rode in on his white horse already. I'm guessing they are going to scapegoat someone down the ladder. I just can't believe that in 2006 we are dealing with something that sounds like it should be out of Tammany Hall.
What is really too bad is that this is going to put other cities off of undertaking big projects right at a time when most cities are finally growing in population and improving in terms of economic development. I really hope that some mayors out there will be smart enough to undertake good projects like this but honest enough to see it done right.
Read more...
14.7.06
Just a quick advertisment. One of J's photographs was used in this book. It's a nice little history of Ireland. It's from a Northern Irish publisher, so it's available at Amazon.co.uk, although I noticed American Amazon has a couple of used copies available.
11.7.06
J and I spent last weekend in New York hanging out with some of her Vietnam friends and discussing the relative merits of the Upper East Side:
vs. The Upper West Side:
(I think Upper West has me convinced)
We went out to Coney Island on Sunday, where we enjoyed some Nathan's, 
went on some rides, 
saw plenty of good reasons why bikinis should require a permit,
and best of all, went to a Brooklyn Cyclones game (ahh the days when Baseball was innocent...and cheap). 
J was the last of the first 2,000 fans and got a little stuffed bear in a Cyclones uniform
All in all, a pretty nice couple of days. I like New York more each time I go and it's super fantastic to actually have some friends living there now.
I promise at some point I'm going to stop writing all of these dumb travel posts and write about something that matters more. Unfortunately, my brain just isn't functioning at that level yet.
So, for now, here's lower Manhattan from the Q Train crossing the Manhattan Bridge at sunset:
1.7.06
So, we're back in America. So far so good. The costs here take a bit of adjusting too. Our fast food meal at LAX was more than most of our hotels. J has taken to exclaiming prices in Dong. 160,000 Dong for a Hamburger!!! ect. She also couldn't figure out why she couldn't find fresh produce at the airport.
I've started uploading photos. I've got close to a thousand so it's going to take awhile. So far I've got about half of my Hong Kong pictures up. If you're into pictures of skylines...
I've got a couple more blogs relating to my trip flying about in my head, so I'll try to get them out soon.
I've also got some stuff that I'm going to sell on Craig's List, so I figured I'd post it here first and see if anyone I know wants it:
I have 1 Kodak EasyShare C340 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom. +a carrying case and a 1 gig memory card (fits about 700 pictures at the highest resolution). The camera is only about 4 months old. I got it to take pics while J was gone and now I don't need it anymore. Check out my Hong Kong photos or my most recent photos of Boston for examples. I'm looking for $200.
Also, some DVD boxsets:
Scrubs seasons 1 or 2 for $20 each or Sex and the City Season 3 or 6 part 1 for $30 each.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
