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November 22, 2007

A Thanksgiving Wish for You

Roy seems to have captured the sort of wishes I want to express much better than I could:

May all of you enjoy a Thanksgiving free from fistfights, gunplay, and Kumbaya. Unless, of course, that's your idea of a good time.

Posted by Dean at 12:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 17, 2007

News flash: Greek surnames uncommon in America

To no one's surprise, neither "Christakos" nor my mother's maiden name comes up on a list of the top 5000 surnames in America. However, the "Smith" of Greek surnames, "Pappas," chimes in at #1977, rising 841 places from #2818 since 1990.

Posted by Dean at 11:47 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 6, 2007

Architectural Schadenfreude

According to Gareth:

Any no-name schmo could design a roof that didn't leak. But if you want to be avant garde, if you want to be daring, you must sacrifice your silly preconceptions about the function of a building and such pedestrian concerns as dryness.

Case in point, the fate of MIT's latest eyesore, the Stata Center-- "MIT sues Gehry, citing leaks in $300m complex":
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has filed a negligence suit against world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, charging that flaws in his design of the $300 million Stata Center in Cambridge, one of the most celebrated works of architecture unveiled in years, caused leaks to spring, masonry to crack, mold to grow, and drainage to back up.

The Stata Center isn't a complete disaster. To a degree, it "works" when you think of it as a university mini-campus, housing the Computer Science and Philosophy & Linguistics departments. However, the final product functioned more as a tourist attraction than an urban building; Gehry doesn't deal well when it comes to urban architecture, as his buildings look more like they belong in a sculpture garden than on a city block. The Stata Center has been previously featured as an Eyesore of the Month.

Posted by Dean at 9:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 5, 2007

Consequences of Law Abiding

Following up from my last entry, it seems that I'm not the only one who's realized that I have to drive carefully. The result? DC faces a fall in traffic-camera-fine revenues because too many people are obeying the laws.

Posted by Dean at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack