PDXCOGITATION

GroWalls - Greenwalls

2011-08-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Need to install some of these guys. Would make a great addition to a South or Wwest facing wall to help shade an a wall with a high degree of solar exposure.

http://www.architectmagazine.com/walls-and-ceilings/plant-connection-growalls.aspx

http://www.cityfarmer.info/2011/07/24/edible-walls-not-on-the-roof/

There are of course other products that you could buy.

Resurrection - and a new direction

2011-06-27T20:18:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been almost exactly 2 years since I last posted on my blog. I've had some big changes in my life, including finally graduating from college with a BS in Architecture from Portland State University.

After such a long hiatus, I think there may be some value in making some notes of my life that doesn't get caught up in the gears of Facebook and other social-networking sites that eat your history and own your data.

On that note, summer is finally here in Portland, after a very long and wet winter.

What does this mean? Pedapalooza has just finished up its 2 week event schedule, on the heels of the Portland Rose Festival and the end of the school year.

The World Naked Bike Ride (NSFW) was, of course, a pretty big deal this year:

pic courtesy of Bikeportland.org

Memorial Coliseum is spared

2009-05-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

It seems following the public outrage following Sam's public presentation to raze Memorial Coliseum in favor of building a minor league baseball stadium has finally fallen in favor of building the new stadium in the original suggested location, Lents Park.

Located in sunny Southeast Portland on Holgate and I-205 (and the new soon-to-open MAX Green line), it will be one of the few public investments in that section of Portland.

via Oregonian

Peace Corps

2009-04-27T20:14:00.001-07:00

Wow, I didn't expect this one: Obama is tripling the size of the Peace Corps and establishing four different national service organizations.

Getting Americans more involved in their country would be a great thing - less individualised greed, more community awareness.

awesome.

Feds on Streetcars

2009-04-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Looks like Obama's new Federal Transportation Secretary, Roy LaHood, is on board with his urban agenda. A complete change of policy from the Bush Administration, it looks like we're going to get funding for the new Eastside Streetcar loop. This coming on the heels of the recently announced state funding for Milwaukie MAX shows Portland's strong commitment for transportation growth and planning.

On C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" this morning, LaHood also called Portland a model for reducing pollution, "getting people out of their cars" and creating "livable" communities.

Construction is expected to start on the eastside loop in 2010.

Sam Adams and climate change tonight

2009-04-17T18:27:00.001-07:00

Sam Adams and Earl Blumenauer are unveiling the new Multnomah County Climate Action Plan tonight at PSU. Part of the new Focus the Nation townhall.

I'd like to see how the 12-lane Columbia Bridge replacement fits into their environmental plans...

hat tip to Portland Transport

heads up to Smarter Bridge!

Rose Quarter + more

2009-04-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well its been a hectic couple of months in the land of politics and local news.

Firstly, Portland was awarded a new Major League Soccer franchise back in March, and is now looking to moving forward with plans to turn PGE park into a soccer stadium, and build a new home for the Beavers minor league baseball team.

Foremost on the locations for a new 9,000 seat stadium is the site of the Memorial Coliseum, a contentious issue for which I will be blogging considerably about.

So I went to the Rose Quarter redevelopment meeting on April 14th, where Sam Adams unveiled the existing plans for the minor league stadium that are coinciding with the Blazers joint plans with Cordish development (same guys who put forth a proposal for Centennial Mills) for an "entertainment district."

Oregonlive has good coverage of the unfolding drama.

I'll elaborate further on the development plans soon; but first some more news!

Sam is also pushing forward with plans for the new Convention Center Hotel; 600 rooms for $247 million to help bring in larger conventions and bring more investment and activity in the Lloyd District. Hopefully this will sail a bit smoother than the Rose Quarter plans, as there are fewer toes to step on.

Of course, there was the fallout after Sam Adams sex scandal broke out months ago; forgive me for not blogging more about it, but it was a tad painful to deal with, considering I had voted for him. Unfortunately, it appears that Randy Leonard may have developed some of his own political aspirations, as he has become much more proactive in City Hall, being a main proponent in the push for MLS and bureau consolidation.

Trimet news

2009-02-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

Following on the news that Trimet is cutting some transit service, on the flip side - we're getting new buses! They look pretty good, too.

About damn time, no doubt. I don't even know if they've added any new buses in the five years since I've been in Portland.

Hat tip to Portland Transport

Gigapixel inauguration photo

2009-02-06T18:18:00.001-08:00

Forgot to post this before...

The inauguration was truly remarkable in just how many Americans came together in this historic occasion. Truly amazing:

Gigapan images

Stimulus package not focused on infrastructure?

2009-02-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

Interesting articles on the stimulus package going through Congress, especially as it relates to the actual construction:

The New York Times has a piece that discusses Japan's major investments in infrastructure in the 80s onwards, and how it impacted its economic stagnation and recovery.

The "Infrastructurist" has several pieces, including an interview with Dukakis on construction (mis)management, as well as a more detailed article on just how inefficient the construction industry
is in the US.

In practical terms, although Obama and Congress is moving quickly on the stimulus package, mass transit seems to be on the short end of the stick - and is planned to receive only $9 billion of a total $900+ billion stimulus package - that is less than 1% of the total! On the bright side, much of the funding proposal will help to build things like hospitals and alternative energy (wind, solar) production.

Plus, Obama is now suing coal power plants that pollute. And he's pushing for even higher efficiencies for home appliances (another huge win).

Eat dirt. It's good for you

2009-01-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

Nytimes talks about how dirt, germs and worms (yep, the intestinal kind) all help make us healthier. Hmm... not exactly what your mother told you! New evidence points to our hyper-active immunse systems need something to fight against. In the absence of nasty third-party threats, it can turn on itself...

Ironically, eating dirt is also labeled a psychological disorder, 'Pica.' I think this is just more evidence that the medical field has its head stuck up its own arse. 'Geophagy' is the term used for people who eat dirt.

In other news...

2009-01-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

We have the big Sam Adams sex scandal. Anyone got a good name for it yet? Please, refrain from anything ending in "gate," I think we all have had our fill of Nixon for a few lifetimes now.

Anywho, it turns out that Adams did have a sexual relationship with an 18-year old Beau Breedlove (whose parents clearly failed in the creative writing department) in 2005. Or, at least we hope he was 18, since in Prudish Portland (and the state of Oregon) the age of consent is 18. Interestingly, mere miles away, in Washington state, the age is 16. Hmmm!

Sam of course was caught in his lie by the ever-vigilant Willamette Week reporter Nigel Jacquiss, and has been 'investigating' the story for the past 16 months. In 2007 during the mayoral race, rival candidate Bob Ball brought up the rumor that Adams had broken the law by sleeping with a 17 year old. Personally, if someone was running a smear campaign against me of this nature, I would naturally tell them to fuck off. Unfortunately, Sam vehemently denied it, claiming instead that their relationship was platonic.

Mere weeks into Sam's mayorship of Portland, this comes as quite a shock to many. The lie, of course - most Portlanders knew that Sam was gay; he is in fact the first openly gay mayor of any big city in US history. However, the "breach of trust" in which many are calling for his immediate resignation (so that their preferred candidate can assume office??) was not exactly something that I find that surprising.

I mean, we are talking about the dirt-digging Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, and just idiotic Oregonian. He wasn't under oath, and many allege that Breedlove was indeed 18 at the time. Do these news organizations, or anyone, really have the right to know about someone's sex life?

Of course, this must all be balanced with the loss of the community's trust. It certainly isn't a great start off for his mayoral career, but at least it IS in the open now and not later. It did take some convincing for him to come out with it, but...

hmm, where should I take this?

I think some healing will occur in the future. He's still Sam - nothing about him has changed, he's still the same guy. Many of the other community leaders are also openly supporting him, as I think they should. In fact, I find it a bit offensive at the harsh rhetoric coming from the public in general at the guy.

I guess I just make exceptions to lies regarding ones personal life. Is it really our business? How does accounting have anything to do with whose mouth, vagina, or anus you put your penis into? Really?

I elected the guy to get a job done, not to know about the details of his sex life. Sure, he's gay, but isn't that the point? That we don't care about these things? (for the record, I am a straight white male)

I believe Americans just can't handle anything about sex - we're so squeamish, its shameful!

edit - even the nytimes is reporting on it.

A new era!

2009-01-24T01:19:00.000-08:00

3 days as president, and we've already seen a huge difference in policy and leadership. I can't even believe it, being an Obama supporter, how quickly things are changing in US national politics. First Gitmo, then international abortion and family planning funding, now he's even restricting lobbyists in Washington (sort of)!

What is this, the coming new age? If indeed this is just the beginning of a new transparency to our government, its none too soon. Calls from the Republican side of the hall are not only hallow, but show themselves to come from the greedy whores of power that they are.

I just hope the stimulus plan works well, and will lead to future infrastructure developments that help free us from the shackles of the car.

Oh yeah, we've got Hillary on our side too. Everything seems like a dream right now, besides the still-failing economy, my own unemployment...

Oh, and the crowds:

21st century is the age of the train

2009-01-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

The Independent has a great article highlighting the rail boom currently underway in Europe - highlighting the thousands of new kilometers of high-speed rail currently under construction, as well as various new services that are being introduced to replace high-volume airline corridors.

In Europe, they don't just have High-Speed Rail, they have international rail service that crosses borders!

Six new high-speed routes:
Amsterdam-Brussels: present journey time, five hours five minutes; projected new time, three hours 36 minutes.
Rome-Milan: old time, four hours 30 minutes; new time, three hours 30 minutes.
London-Cologne: present time, four hours 45 minutes; projected new time, four hours.
London-Berlin: present time, 10 hours; projected new time, eight hours 30 minutes.
London-Milan: old time, 16 hours; new time, 12 hours.
London-Geneva: old time, 11 hours; new time, seven hours.

In fact, even Air France is getting into the action, as it plans on debuting a new 220 mph AGV rail service between Paris and Amsterdam.

Stop the trains! 220 mph?!

Yes, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. The Europeans have figured out how to offer essentially zero-carbon transportation systems: high-speed electric rail lines.

In countries like France, most of the electricity generation is done by nuclear power, which has zero GHG output.

On the other hand, California did pass its $10 billion bond to fund the first part of its planned high-speed rail network. And with a country this large and spread out, it will take the construction of lots of regional systems for it to really work - the Midwest & ChicagoLand area and New England are excellent candidates. The Acela service has certainly shown that almost-HSR service can make a lot of money (its Amtrak's cash cow).

And let's not forget that Japan is planning on building a $45 billion, 600-km long Maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka. It will be financed by one of Japan's private rail companies, and is expected to run a profit. This is a video of the test track, where the train gets up to 500 km/h (300 mph):

The Cyclists' Manifesto

2009-01-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

As an avid recreational and commuter cyclist, I believe more and more in these modern times that bicycles will be more and more important in the emerging green economy. You know, the economy that will rise from the ashes of the one thats currently collapsing - the last remnants of the exuberant "shop til you drop" 80s & 90s consumer mentality.

How can I be so positive about such things? I mean, here we are, in the middle of one of the worst recessions in US history. The DOW has been a rollercoaster, trillions of paper investments have been wiped out overnight, and housing prices have plummeted, along with many losing theirs in foreclosures.

Yet I have been on a pilgrimage of sorts, having visited Europe a few years ago. What I saw there, the culture - the culture of the city, which is something that simply does not exist in this country, in my opinion. I see the nascent formulations of one in Portland, which is very exciting - people who walk, people who bicycle, people who go to art shows or the bars or watch movies in the city, it is a beginning. People aren't just working in town and vacating it at 5pm... and there is a growing critical mass of what I term "normal people," those of the middle classes, so to speak - who are not afflicted with severe mental illnesses from wars past and are begging for money.

This post is rather much of a rant, but I had to start somewhere.

I believe in The City. I believe that by making it a place for people to live, that it will generate a self-sustaining economy around a new American culture.

And I believe that the bicycle will be one of its key ingredients.

Summer fun

2009-01-16T19:34:00.001-08:00

Ironic title aside, this just seems absolutely nuts. And I thought I was pushing it by bicycling in the snow. Oh, lordy...

source & pix: nyt

thats snow, Dorothy!

No new gas taxes?

2009-01-15T00:34:00.000-08:00

So it looks as if Obama's team is reversing its previous rhetoric: low gas prices are now good, and they are adopting the centrist policy of economy over environment. This despite the fact that Obama's chosen energy secretary is a Nobel laureate scientist who has previously come out in favor of much higher gas taxes as a tool to get Americans to reduce how much they drive.

According to the NYT:

He had told the Wall Street Journal last September , “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” a statement likely to give some commuters a case of road rage.

This isn't the only "controversial" statements he has made in the extremely conservative realm of American energy policy.

For example, in a presentation at Berkeley in April, 2007, now preserved on YouTube, he declared, “coal is my worst nightmare,” words previous energy secretaries would be unlikely to utter.

“We have lots of fossil fuel,’’ he said. “That’s really both good and bad news. We won’t run out of energy but there’s enough carbon in the ground to really cook us.’’

One begins to wonder if this is merely the beginning of a trend towards the Right in Obama's policy. Will his promise of an Office of Urban Policy and investment in mass transit, passenger rail, and bicycling as a form of transportation just turn out to be hollow campaign promises, or is he merely making politically-sound overtures to assuage the markets and the public?

Only time will tell.

Data disorganization

2008-12-17T00:31:00.000-08:00

The Internet and personal computer have been around for what seems like a long time now, and the ease of accessing digital information, as well as the digitization of what once were traditional data libraries into databases, is offset by the disorganization of it all, as well as everyone's own attempts at sorting and organizing the data you have - pictures, documents, old saved emails and attachments, music, and so on.

I know for a fact that ever since I first got a computer, some 14 years ago, that the files on my harddrive have been a completely chaotic mishmash of files and folders downloaded and created at different times, sometimes with no hope of finding a file or document. With the explosion of web content in Web 2.0, things have just gotten worse.

And I'm not alone! Thanks to a nytimes column, "defeating bedlam," one scientist explores the crisis of data management, particularly evident in the realm of research. How does one go about reconciling the ever-growing piles of printed text, mysteriously-named pdfs, and random folders?

I'm rather hopeful that one of the new pieces of software will help us organize and sort through the Internets, and am going to be trying out "Zotero" - which is in fact a firefox plugin that, although similar to a search engine, allows US to categorize the data (in multiple ways).

Now if more people would just use those tags in blogposts, I might actually be able to find relevant topics!

Bush not popular?

2008-11-21T00:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like Bush isn't so popular anymore. Especially with world leaders...

Change is coming

2008-11-10T01:24:00.001-08:00

Obama is already at work behind the scenes, and poised to enact executive orders to reverse much of the terrible EO's that Bush implemented. Should be an interesting first year, as Congress and Obama's mandate from the people should help to bring a change of how things work in Washington.

In fact, Obama even has a website, to hear the voice of the people: http://change.gov/

The socio-political landscapes of America

2008-11-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

Fascinating read over at BLDGBLOG. Why are one demographics deemed more important politcally than others? Organization, of course, plays a huge role in this. But lets relax our narrowed view of Obama and McCain's political race, filled with photo ops and interviews staged in Old America, those almost-forgotten small rural towns and landscapes rapidly fading into a distant memory and increasingly losing relevance in our post-industrial, information-age globalized economy.

They find small towns that, by definition, are under-populated and thus unrepresentative of the United States as a whole; they find "old-fashioned" restaurants that seem on the verge of closing for lack of interested customers; they tour "Main Streets" that lost their inhabitants and their businesses long ago.
All along they pretend that these landscapes are politically relevant.

Fungus makes biodiesel?! Sign us up!

2008-11-07T13:35:00.001-08:00

Ooh, more good news! Kind of hailing from obscurity, but are our fuel woes a thing of the past? A newly discovered fungus makes, as a byproduct of decomposing plant matter, biodiesel! It can even directly convert cellulose directly to biodiesel, which was one of the main challenges facing the next gen of biodiesel adoption - being able to convert plant waste, such as stems (the wasted part of crops) directly into fuel.

The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and discovered growing inside the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia) in northern Patagonia, produces a range of long-chain hydrocarbon molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade compounds in existing fossil fuels.

"It's another piece of evidence that there is real potential to adapt such processes to provide energy sources that can help reduce our need for, and dependence on, fossil fuels."

Such a timely developments such as this may dramatically impact where we get our energy and fuels from.

Yah! Obama won!

2008-11-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

...8 years of horror are over.

Now, it would be nice if the economy would pick up, but it looks like I'll have to hold my breath for a few more years.

Insightful economics

2008-11-03T15:43:00.001-08:00

Interesting story on the Daily Kos about the mergers being fueled by the government's quest to prop up every failing bank and investment company in the current economic downfall. I have always been rather suspicious of large corporations myself, growing up with the software industry and Microsoft's borg-like domination of the industry (and subsequent failure to provide much more innovation as of late).

The article brings up a book, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, a book I read many years ago for an Economics class at college, that looks at economics in a more holistic light than a purely statistical one. It makes me think of different strategies being pursued to improve standards of living in third world countries: wait for a large Western corporation to operate a strip-mining operation in the rainforest, or should you instead help local farmers by improving their access to global markets and improve the quality and yield of their coffee crops?

Which one is the better route? Which one has less adverse impacts on the environment, health and welfare of the people in the poor nation?

It seems to me that being small and nimble in today's globalizing world is not a liability, but an asset - particularly when it comes to transparency in the accounting department, flexibility in responding to a market (and not getting stuck trying to push a product line that is dying out - ala the Sport Utility Vehicle), and simply being a more humanizing place to work. This is anecdotal, but from all the people I have met, by far the ones that enjoy their careers more are the ones who work for the smaller, more innovative firms. I personally would hate to be one of the many hundreds of peons cut when one of the large "fortune 500" companies starts its regular payroll trimmings.

So why do we keep providing the incentive that generates big companies?

We seem to like bigger. There's something that's extremely satisfying about seeing companies expand, the number of employees increase, the bottom line fill up with larger and larger numbers. It not only scratches some deep psychological itch, it's practically the only way we measure success. Our measure for the standard of living is based on the amount of consumption, not knowledge or fulfillment or leisure. Our measure for efficiency is simply numbers over time, with little regard to quality, or pride, or environmental impact. Our measure for a company's success is simply size. After all, the Fortune 500 doesn't let you in because you're company is nice.

Whatever happened to compeitition?

Interestingly, 25% of all jobs in America are provided by companies with over 500 employees. (census)

The times we live in...

2008-10-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

The past 30 days has been a roller coaster in the true sense of the term. From the second worst crash in the stock market in 100 years, to entering a depression and all of the politics surrounding the presidential election, the old phrase "may you live in interesting times" seems like a curse now more than ever.

...as a result, I have been watching as much PBS, the Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and SNL to give a bit of depth and spin of newsworthy humor to the whole serious business.

Adding to all the fun, my birthday was in mid-September: one day after I was laid off, and two days after the economy hit the fan.

Pure Bailout Genius

2008-10-05T02:36:00.000-07:00

Its about time for another update...

Jon Stewart is just Golden in this one - if there were to be only one campaign video to watch this year, this would be it.

Parking Paradise... Lost?

2008-08-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

From The Stranger, Seattle's answer to our Mercury. Aah, the sweet scent of irony... They even have pictures!

Save Our Parking Lots

All across Seattle, cherished opens spaces offer residents a bucolic respite—places where hearts, minds, and spirits can soar. But Seattle’s parking lots are threatened. Seattle—formerly home to several square miles of pristine asphalt—has been losing its parking lots at an alarming rate.

Good stuff. I wish that Portland had the same "problem." Unfortunately, the Goodman family, which owns the majority of the surface parking lots in town, is not interested in selling them to developers. Instead, they offer 99-year leases to developers - but of course retain ownership of the land. To date, only a few have been redeveloped.

Telling

2008-08-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

Perhaps we haven't made any progress after all.

via Inhabitat

Walkable Portland

2008-07-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

PDX Green has a short post about the walkability score of Portland. In general, we do fairly well, but I question LA taking a higher overall score than Portland did.

EPA report on the CRC

2008-07-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

From the Oregonian - apparently the Feds (EPA) disagree with the whole charades that the CRC committee has been pulling with their so-called assessment of the bridge replacement project. Surprise, surprise, objective outside assessment from people with no bias have raised the issue of increased urban sprawl, as well as environmental issues not even thought of by anyone to date:

In a challenge to Northwest highway planners, the federal government has found inadequate study of air and water pollution that could come from a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds that bridge planners did not adequately examine the potential for a bridge to induce sprawl, increase pollution and contaminate an aquifer that supplies Vancouver and Clark County's drinking water.

The critique is drawn from EPA's review of the Columbia River Crossing's 5,000-page environmental impact statement, and it extends to other areas as well. Among those are whether doubling the congested I-5 bridge from six to 12 lanes will promote suburban sprawl; whether the combination of air toxics, noise and other pollution will punish North Portland communities living close to the I-5; and whether massive pile-driving efforts will stir up toxic sediments, compromising federally protected migrating salmon.

The EPA makes clear in a cover letter to its 13-page account that it is "generally supportive" of replacing the I-5 bridge with new spans that include light rail. But its report is blunt in citing deficiencies in the study of how the I-5 bridge project would affect the region's traffic, growth, and quality of life.

EPA's findings
To view a copy of the EPA's letter, see oregonlive.com/environment

None of the findings were a surprise, said Heather Gundersen, environmental manager for the CRC project.

"We have heard most of that from the EPA throughout our coordination process," Gundersen said. "It's something we're going to work through with them. It's something we're going to address point by point."

But the findings reinforced the objections of many local environmental groups, which have argued a new bridge would promote sprawl and undermine the region's efforts to curb global warming.

And the agency's critique underscored concern about the bridge's health effects on poor and racial minorities living nearby, and its impact on children living or attending school near the I-5 - subjects receiving less public attention.

"There was no indication (in the CRC environmental impact statement) of how these vulnerable populations might be impacted by air pollution, noise, diesel construction vehicles and increased traffic," the EPA wrote.

EPA's letter, dated July 1 and addressed to federal highway and mass transit officials managing the CRC project, surfaced Thursday as the bridge won conditional endorsement from a panel of 17 regional leaders. The panel, which controls spending of federal transportation money in the region, includes the mayors of Vancouver, Beaverton, Milwaukie, and Troutdale; three councilors of the Metro regional planning agency; Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams and Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler.

As momentum on the new bridge picks up, it's unclear what effect EPA's assessments will have.

Tom Buchele, a Lewis & Clark law professor representing some critics of the project, said it would take years for the highway planners to address EPA's concerns. He called EPA's assessment "a pretty low grade."

"They can fix it," he said, "but there's a lot of new analysis EPA is asking for."

A key EPA concern centers on the Troutdale Sole Source Aquifer, which extends beneath the Columbia River and supplies 99 percent of Clark County's residents with drinking water. But bridge planners did not examine whether bridge pilings would intrude into water channels within the aquifer, bringing contaminated sections of the aquifer into contact with clean ones, the EPA found.

Air pollution and sprawl are also federal worries.

The CRC's analysis "focuses on emissions trends that are not influenced by the project," EPA writes, and ignore wind, weather and proximity of people to bridge emissions. Those projections also assume a future that features cleaner-burning cars.

The CRC staff had assumed a 12-lane toll bridge would not promote housing or job growth in the I-5 corridor, The Oregonian has reported. In its environmental impact statement, the CRC had concluded land use controls now in place could keep sprawl -and side effects such pollution - in check.

The EPA disagrees.

"Roadway expansion of this magnitude, even with tolls and transit, may stimulate travel demand for use of privately owned vehicles and may contribute to pressures for dispersed development," the letter says, referring to sprawl.

The EPA raises concern that construction noise and vibration could kill or hurt fish if it's too loud. Endangered Steller Sea Lions and 13 species of endangered or threatened fish are found in the Columbia River. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which has responsibility for protecting such animals, did not meet a July 1 deadline to comment on CRC's assessment of the bridge's impact on fish.

Fisheries Service officials on Thursday said they will have their comments will be finished in a few weeks.

Dylan Rivera: 503-221-8532; dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com For environment news, go to: oregonlive.com/environment

Public Policy?

2008-07-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

After reading the unanimous approval of the new Columbia River Crossing replacement bridge project, in which a team of so-called 'experts' have been at work for several years now pushing a proposal for a new bridge across the Columbia River for I-5 between Portland and Vancouver, Washington... I must say, I'm not really surprised anymore.

I would just like to ask the government officials exactly what the point of all this 'stuff' is - and by stuff, I mean infrastructure: sewers, roads, transit, schools, hospitals, parks, bridges, and the like. I mean... we're in the middle of a massive population boom in the state of Oregon right now, but noone really has been able to grasp or direct any energy at, or articulating a vision, at what our region - and our cities - are going to become.

At the same time, with plans on spending billions of dollars on new bridges, light rail, freeways, and schools, it seems like the political process is the dominant force for directing all this work. Unfortunately, many people have a conflicting vision of what we'd like our city, our state, our homes to become.

The new mayor promotes cycling, then votes on a new bridge. Our governor calls for people to bike to work - then practices it just once, as if bicycling one day out of the year will really make much of a difference. What happened to action? What happened to backing up your talk with action, and real money? To me it seems like the classic bait and switch, calling on the progressive vote with false promise of change, only to spend money on the big-ticket 1960s-era infrastructure projects.

And as I last noted, we probably won't even need any of it. Especially now considering how much press and popularity alternative modes of transportation are getting, for instance.

Vacation Time!

2008-07-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time, but I'm finally getting around to some more travel time. I suppose that my two days in Seattle last spring break counted as well, but this time I'll be in San Francisco for five days - a city I haven't visited since I was 12. Yes, I really don't get out that much. Definitely looking forward to some nice R&R - and visiting friends I haven't seen in a long time!

Should be interesting to see a real city for a change - and there is a lot of stuff to see as well!

Rethinking the City

2008-07-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

So with the way gas prices and vehicle sales are going (see previous post), what does the future hold? Are we just going to continue as usual, but simply downsize our cars, switching to Smarts, scooters, and electrics? Or, as the city of Portland has been pursuing for the past several decades, are we going to start truly molding our cities' urban development patterns?

Of particular importance is the zoning system that has been in place in America for much of this century. Yes, that oh-so-Modern ideal of separation of function; discreet places for home, work, school, and shopping. Aside from the urban cores, like New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and all the others, the newer "cities" are dominated by suburban development patterns that preclude organic development and placement of different uses in close proximity. In other words, nothing is within walking or bicycling distance of each other.

The Overhead Wire has an excellent post on the topic, in regards to laying out a comprehensive transportation service to support such a mixed-use city. Think... New York, Paris, Barcelona, or Tokyo: a dense network of underground rail lines that can quickly whisk you between different sectors in a city.

This differs from the normal system of city center & suburban residential districts that dominated American metropolitan development patterns of the 19th century, however. In fact, a frequent, high capacity transit system will in fact promote mixed use high density development, as it allows people to live without relying on cars - which are a phenomenal waste of land. Not to mention expensive, too.

The Romance is Over

2008-07-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

...or, the dominance of the SUV in America is about to end. No big surprise that large, inefficient vehicle sales are down - 55% for Ford alone.

By comparison, Ford's largest SUV, the Expedition, gets 12 miles per gallon in the city and 18 on the highway.

George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst, said retail -- or non-fleet -- sales of passenger cars exceeded those of trucks and sport-utility vehicles combined for the first time in at least 20 years.

Interesting CIBC report predicting $7/gallon gas within 2 years, among other things:

As gasoline prices climb inexorably, American driving habits are going to have to undergo a massive change, mimicking the driving habits long adopted by Europeans who have faced much higher gas prices.

Over the next four years, we are likely to witness the greatest mass exodus of vehicles off America’s highways in history.

CIBC Report

*The CIBC World Markets is the investment subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce... not exactly a "looney left" group of hippies claiming doomsday scenarios.

Architectural Interviews

2008-06-11T17:21:00.001-07:00

Gotta watch - should be interesting:

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/06/05/1/pritzker-prize-winners-jean-nouvel-frank-gehry-zaha-hadid-and-renzo-piano

Just add water: overnight megacities

2008-06-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Very interesting article regarding instant mega-cities pop up literally overnight. How do we design for them? How do we do planning? How do you build? What precedents do you borrow from, and what cultural relevance do they hold... if any?

Check it out over at the Nytimes.com.

image of construction on the Burj Dubai, expected to top out at 2,650 ft

The size of living

2008-06-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

So I was just talking to my friend Stephanie the other day and she asked me if I am a big or small house person. The question really caught me off guard - not that I haven't thought about the concept before, being an architecture student and all, but I suppose that I haven't really been confronted by what I will term the ideology of the Big.

Just like a fast-food supersized meal, large houses, such as the McMansion pictured to the left, remind me of all that is inefficient and wrong with the stereotypified American dwelling. Perhaps antithetical to Heidegger's philosophy of dwelling, in which the square footage, number of rooms, and objectively identifiable "features" of a building - in this case, the detached single family dwelling - are objectified. External amenities - such as views and the neighborhood in which it resides - further perpetuate this disassociation of yourself from Being.

The ideology of the big is the commodification of the dwelling, changing the traditional view of the residential unit from a home, with cultural and familial relevance, to that of the primary investment unit of the middle class. In California, they ask you what car you drive. Here, they ask you what house you own. In this, it reflects the domination of the consumerist society inherent in our society... what happens when ideas of art and function give way to a detachment of any emotional or humanistic values we might find in our homes.

Kind of scary - it seems like the opposite of Modernism, where the people become the machines, and the buildings become a mockery of the cultural landscape that becomes swallowed up by the vagaraties of the construction industry as it caters to mere aesthetic whim spread on the toasty balloon frame of bloated square footage.

Coming from a background in which I grew up in a large, open floor-planned house set high on a hill in the countryside, I suppose that my idea of space is much different than the average American. I even lived in a sub-200 sq ft apartment in NW Portland, the bane of many a suburbanite! What I found, interestingly, is that I am only able to occupy so much space, which becomes a sort of dwelling space for myself. Beyond this zone of freedom, an extension of my being, is left over, empty space. If I lived in a shared house with roommates, this communal space becomes shared and a much used area for congregating, eating, entertaining, and so on. If I lived alone in a house - I'm not sure what it would become. Thoughts of the bachelor living in a 100 room mansion come to mind, space lost and forgotten to the owner...

In any event, I found more and more that I wish to mold my primary spaces into as compact and efficient for my needs as possible, to keep everything accessible, and also to reflect my own personal tastes - from the amount of natural light, to the height of the bookshelves and accessibility of my computer workstation and kitchen utensils - as I can.

I loathe the idea of extra rooms for no purpose but to be extra rooms. Like my father's concept of wealth: "to have more rooms in your house than you can occupy, leaving them empty in your house."

After my trip in Europe, with its densely compacted villages perched picturesquely on the hillsides, I find that I simply prefer small living.

And this doesn't even touch on the cost.

Small living in 117 square feet ^^^

This just in...

2008-05-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

Oregon has seen a reduction in miles driven to 2005 levels, transit usage in Portland is up 2.6% this quarter over last year, and of course burning less gas.

Read it at Oreognlive.

pure awesomeness

2008-05-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

In other words, epic:

Obama tours Oregon

2008-05-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Article in the local paper today talks about his two-day tour of Oregon. Interestingly, it looks as though this primary race will last till the very end - and my state will actually have some relevance. Obama, as usual, had some very intelligent things to say about the current fuel and energy issue we have (I'd call it a crisis, but that implies that it is a temporary phenomenon).

"We can't all be driving Chevy Suburbans at eight miles per gallon," Obama said. "That's no slight against Chevys," he quickly added, "because I want us to drive American-made cars" -- but they need to be built to get better gas mileage.

He said the Arizona senator opposed a windfall profit tax on oil companies, and he called McCain's proposal for a summerlong break from federal gas taxes "a stunt."
"This is a bad idea. I don't care how it polls," he said.
"We've been talking about high prices at the pump and our dependence on foreign oil since the gas lines of the 1970s," Obama said. "We've been talking about our environmental problems for even longer. And yet here we are, all these decades later -- and the only thing that's changed is that we're even more dependent on foreign oil."

This is pretty amazing that he can take the logical, tempered view like this - it is such a stark change from the other candidates approach in politicizing these these very real issues (not to mention Bush's "head in the sand" policies) that are not simply going to go away by claiming to give away tax-free gas. As if that would solve anything anyways.

In other news, mass transit usage is up, largely because of gas prices.

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.
“It’s very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.”

Anything to help break the cycle of addiction to the automobile.

Transportation in America

2008-04-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Some good news about America's infrastructure, for a change. The freight railroad system in America is expanding with billions of dollars of private investment, as freight is being shifted from truck to the vastly more energy efficient rail system.

This year alone, the railroads will spend nearly $10 billion to add track, build switchyards and terminals, and open tunnels to handle the coming flood of traffic. Freight rail tonnage will rise nearly 90 percent by 2035, according to the Transportation Department.

Now if we could only get some more passenger rail! Here in Portland, we've got the new Westside Express commuter rail line to open at the end of the year, and another commuter rail line - to link Newberg or perhaps McMinnville (small towns of 20,000 and 30,000, respectively) to Beaverton (which has a light rail line that connects to downtown Portland.

Decline of America

2008-04-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

The $20 hourly wage, introduced on a huge scale in the middle of the last century, allowed masses of Americans with no more than a high school education to rise to the middle class. It was a marker, of sorts. And it is on its way to extinction.

Two very interesting articles in the NYtimes today - one regarding the decline of the middle class and the $20/hour wage, and the other regarding the fact that the US has the highest dropout rate of almost any industrialized country in the world - roughly 1/3 of all high schoolers dropout.

Roughly a third of all American high school students drop out. Another third graduate but are not prepared for the next stage of life — either productive work or some form of post-secondary education.
When two-thirds of all teenagers old enough to graduate from high school are incapable of mastering college-level work, the nation is doing something awfully wrong.

It's no wonder that we have the largest disparity in wealth distribution in the world, and that the US suffered the largest growth in poverty of any nation in the world over the past 8 years.

Of course, its not like we entered the Bush Admin's era in the best of shape. Globalization and favorable tax policies for the wealthy had shifted the vast majority of wealth to the very wealthiest to begin with - but we've been seeing the bottom fall out over low-income and middle class wages over the past 8 years.

I don't even want to touch on the trillions spent on Iraq to date, and what that money could have been spent on.

Old bikes rule!

2008-03-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

I am really digging the old vintage styled classic 1950s-era English bikes. Even found one on Craigslist in Portland - although I'm not sure if I would ever want to service one, apparently it can be a real pain.

Although with companies like Bianchi offering retro versions of these, and new internally-geared hubs offering between 8 and 14 gears, maybe its just time to bring the urban bike renaissance to fruition!

US doesn't have the highest debt rate!

2008-03-23T01:28:00.001-07:00

I thought we had it bad. But apparently not - in the UK, personal debt exceeds their GDP!

I guess if we're going down, Britain will be even worse...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/business/worldbusiness/22debt.html?em&ex=1206417600&en=79ec2ac4b6d97d22&ei=5087%0A

The future really is here

2008-03-23T00:40:00.000-07:00

Cows are back, and better than ever. Remember Mad Max: Return to Thunderdrome?

That's right folks, we're already collecting methane from livestock manure to generate energy - although it also has a positive effect of eliminating one of the worst causes of global warming gases, that of animal-generated methane.

Seen on Inhabitat:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/03/13/poop-power-giant-vat-of-crap-to-produce-natural-gas-for-ca/

The manure from the cows in the article are from a dairy farm, not for meat consumption. So even if every US citizen became a vegetarian, everyone in the US would have to give up milk and we would have to kill every cow in the US to otherwise eliminate methane released into the atmosphere from cows in the US.

There is a lot of cow manure that is generated in the US, and it has a severe impact on global warming: dairy farms in California produce more greenhouse gas emissions than every car in the LA metropolitan area. This is largely because molecule per molecule, Methane is 21 TIMES more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2. Thus, eliminating 1 pound of methane gas from the atmosphere eliminates the equivalent of 21 pounds of CO2. If all you do is burn that Methane and release the CO2 into the atmosphere, it will eliminated 95% of the greenhouse gas effect!

Frat boys have nothing on bovines, as it's estimated that a single cow can belch out anywhere from 25 to 130 gallons of methane a day.

source: http://globalwarminglife.com

Additionally, all this Methane is generated from food and grass, which grabbed its carbon from the atmosphere anyway. So it is carbon neutral - except for the small amount of oil that is used as pesticides/herbicides/fertilizer in growing the corn. However, that is already a sunk cost, as Americans consume a lot of milk.

"Livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide, according to the U.N. -- more than all the planes, trains and automobiles on the planet."

See source:
http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock's_Long_Shadow
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p03s01-ussc.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-planet-than-cosub2sub-from-cars-427843.html

Pretty bad:
http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/factor/stcal.asp

Also, total happiness:
http://www.communicationagents.com/sepp/2005/02/01/global_warming_methane_could_be_far_worse_than_carbon_dioxide.htm

finals

2008-03-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

...are not so final. Oh, but the joys of designing!

see my other blog for details on this past term of architecture studio... once I finally finish updating it.

sneak peak:

Trains rule in Iraq

2008-03-02T22:22:00.001-08:00

This is crazy. I had no idea the Iraqis had passenger rail service only 2 weeks after we overthrew Saddam - and recently reopened a new major line between Baghdad and Basra.

Apparently it is also the most secure method of travelling in this violence-wracked nation:

Passengers are searched before boarding the train and the railway company's guards in blue uniforms patrol the carriages.

"When the train goes by, people feel safe and feel that things are going back to how they were," said Colonel Ali al-Tamimi, the railway company's head of security.

And apparently gives the people a semblance of a modern, non-sectarian society - something they have been ironically missing since the invasion by US forces and the subsequent rise of sectarian violence:

"The railways are for all of us ... Do you think passengers declare their sect when they get on the train?"
Women jiggled children on their knees and men chatted as the gleaming carriages pulled away from a spotless Baghdad platform, a picture of cleanliness and order in a country racked by chaos.

"Truth be told, we never really stopped the service," said Hashem. "Even when the situation was at its most dangerous, we kept going. It's our job."

Here's hoping...

The housing bubble: the beginning of a new era is already here

2008-03-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you can just be too close to the flames to see the fire.

For several years now, doomsday theorists have been predicting the fall of suburbia as the "age of cheap oil comes to an end." The theory went that edge city housing stock in the exurbs would be the first to become devalued, as its only actual value relied on its newness and affordability for the original buyers, while still being within commuting distance to (most likely suburban) job centers.

However, this could already be happening. In an article by Christopher Leinberger brings to light the fallout of the subprime housing bubble. As housing values around the nation fall - and gas inches towards $4 a gallon - perhaps we have been too myopic: the predictions of the peak oil theorists may already be well in motion.

What connects the two is that housing values are falling the most in the outermost suburban ring - the latest tracts of land to be developed on the traditional suburban model. As has always been the case, suburban tract housing has been marketed to the middle class home buyer as the affordable housing option: big yards, big garages, lots of bedrooms.

It is unsurprising, then, that the subprime mortgage bubble - which helped those who were on the margins of being able to qualify for a mortgage, at best - would affect those most likely to purchase homes in these exurban areas.

By comparison, housing prices in centralized urban areas with actual employment centers have stayed much steadier. Portland and Seattle are the two leading cities in the USA for being the least hit by the bubble bursting - although we must not overestimate the degree to which "flippers" and speculative investment has played a part.

Although not very prevalent in Portland to nearly the degree as witnessed in other major cities, there has been an almost insane amount of appreciation in home values, particularly California. However, they are not facing the crash that the exurban areas are facing - there is still a massive demand for housing in this country, after all (the United States population is still increasing, after all).

credits to the Overhead Wire for the Atlantic story

Architectural Criticism

2008-03-02T12:07:00.001-08:00

This is an awesome article, which holds tremendous relevancy in today's world of post-modern "cities" - it seems that we are so out of touch, so insular in our approach to the built and experienced environment, by focusing on individual projects we are in many ways losing scope of what really matters.

No surprise that many people are heralding the landscape architect as someone who really holds influence - as isn't that what we are making? Cities exist somewhere, in a landscape, an environment; the spaghetti-noodle twist of freeway ramps mixed with parks, farms, and tracts of houses, interspersed with pockets of urbanism; downtowns, shopping malls, and main streets, all interwoven together that is experienced not as separate and discreet moments, but as a continuous terrain in which we move and dwell.

Thus, criticize we must - and nothing should be safe from our sights. Of course, there is nothing wrong with delving into the deeper philosophical and academic insights in the better projects that are built - and indeed, they offer a sort of 'grand-prix' of the architectural world - but recognition that the other dreck of the modern city must also come under scrutiny. Thankfully, organizations like Portland's design review commission and the Congress of the New Urbanism exist, albeit with varying degrees of success.

Building Blog

Corruption in the Bush Admin?

2008-02-26T01:14:00.001-08:00

Not exactly much of a surprise, but watching this video... wow. Just wow. We need to be dragging them straight to court on this one: Bush Administration and his Attorney General appointees in Alabama targeted a highly successful Democrat Governor and barely get him convicted of "bribery." Politics as usual? I suggest watching the video for yourself.

Spotted on BlueOregon.

Flash Mob PDX!

2008-02-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

This is awesome - wish I could have been there, or even been a part of it!

Oh well. Youtube video has to suffice...

They did this too, back in 2006

Lunar Eclipse!

2008-02-21T16:18:00.001-08:00

...was awesome last night. Pic from oregonlive:

Aah, the SUV driver...

2008-02-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Oldie but goodie article, definitely worth a read (its from 2002).

Not surprisingly, most SUV customers over the past decade hail from a group that is the embodiment of American narcissism: baby boomers. Affluent and often socially liberal, baby boomers have embraced the four-wheel-drive SUV as a symbol of their ability to defy the conventions of old age, of their independence and "outdoorsiness," making the off-road vehicle a force to be reckoned with on the American blacktop. In their attempt to appear youthful and hip, SUV owners have filled the American highways with vehicles that exact a distinctly human cost, frequently killing innocent drivers who would have survived a collision with a lesser vehicle. Bradsher quotes auto execs who concede that the self-centered lifestyle of SUV buyers is apparent in "their willingness to endanger other motorists so as to achieve small improvements in their personal safety."

Good quotes too:

The occupant death rate in SUVs is 6 percent higher than it is for cars -- 8 percent higher in the largest SUVs. The main reason is that SUVs carry a high risk of rollover; 62 percent of SUV deaths in 2000 occurred in rollover accidents.

Ironically, SUVs are particularly dangerous for children, whose safety is often the rationale for buying them in the first place. Because these beasts are so big and hard to see around (and often equipped with dark-tinted glass that's illegal in cars), SUV drivers have a troubling tendency to run over their own kids. Just recently, in October, a wealthy Long Island doctor made headlines after he ran over and killed his 2-year-old in the driveway with his BMW X5. He told police he thought he'd hit the curb.

Senate protects spying!

2008-02-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

Wow - just read this on the Nytimes today - the Senate passed a bill that grants full immunity from any lawsuit against a telecommunications company that aided the government in spying under Bush's unconstitutional wiretapping program.

Democrats and Republicans alike pushed versions of the bill forward to protect these huge corporations (such as AT&T) from any actual responsibility for their actions, which in one case involved allowing the NSA to directly tap their network backbones to filter and tap their traffic.

New sustainable energy source?

2008-02-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

Spotted on inhabitat:

harvesting kinetic energy from raindrops.

Say what? Interestingly, this would be great for Oregon, with our steady, constant rains.

Flash Mob - Grand Central NYC

2008-02-02T22:28:00.000-08:00

Outstanding flash mob in Manhattan! Gotta love these staged events, wish PICA would do something more along these lines...

Found: Movies!

2008-01-12T00:40:00.000-08:00

New Gus Van Sant movie trailer! Shot in Portland, it doesn't even hide which city it takes place in...

via Mercury's Blogtown

CheatNeutral: Carbon Offsetting for Dummies

2008-01-05T17:09:00.001-08:00

A roundabout, yet quite illustrative reasoning as to how carbon offsetting fails the 'common sense' test. Enjoy - via inhabitat:

The Grid and the River

2008-01-04T21:28:00.001-08:00

Just got wind of a new hotel renovation project along Naito Parkway in downtown Portland today, and one of the forum posters brought up an interesting question: why does Naito, which fronts one of the best urban parks in the world, suck so much? There is practically no active street frontage (shops, doorways, etc) in use, and in fact hosts a lot of "backsides" to buildings, as well as parking garages and bridge on-ramps.

Well, then it hit me... this is not just an isolated phenomenon in Portland; in fact, it is so typical of Portland architecture. Our built environment largely consists of historic houses of an imported style, and places like South Waterfront was gridded off like the rest of the city, instead of actually responding to the water. Result? Cool urban environment, nice parks, but little interconnectivity between the two. "City in a bottle" or "oasis park in a city" are true descriptors, and unfortunately there is hardly any blurring of the edges.

In a way, it reminds me of Amsterdam... except that their little islands are already man-made and have a very artificial feeling to them, whereas we find a lot of soft-edged natural places still within the city limits - Forest Park and Ross Island come to mind (Swan Island, on the other hand, has totally given way to artificiality).

SoWa was a totally lost opportunity to finally break the grid and try something new - it would have offered developers a more flexible site to deal with, as well as architecture that could respond to the river more (say, a long and thing building). As it is, they're stuck with the same blocky 200' x 200' blocks like anywhere else in Portland. Where's the uniqueness? Just having a view doesn't make it all that special - even houses in "South Portland" and the West Hills have views.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-25T13:40:00.001-08:00

And have a Merry Christmas - Peace for the New Year.

Found: It just keeps getting better...

2007-12-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I warned you! Absolute bike mayhem and crazyness follows:

Typical over-the-top CGI'd cutesy Japan music video. But the 5-seater bike is cool...

And.. .yea. lowrider trikes. With sluts. Oh yea! Fucking priceless.

I feel so wrong in posting these two vids together, but it just couldn't be helped. Spotted on bikeportland.org

Found: Bike phenomenon

2007-12-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

I'm just speechless... makes me feel a bit sheltered living here in Portland. This is a huge step away from the stereotypical hip-hop/rap artists pimped-up Escalade - even though they look loosely based off of the wheel spinners and stereo systems. And it looks a lot more fun, too.

The first step...

2007-12-22T16:03:00.000-08:00

...to fixing a problem is the recognition of it. The New York Times has a good opinion piece about the state of America's economy, and the relationship between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of the people.

The fundamental problem, the problem that is destroying the dream, is the extreme inequality pounded into the system by the corporate crowd and its handmaidens in government.

When such an overwhelming portion of the economic benefits are skewed toward a tiny portion of the population — as has happened in the U.S. over the past few decades — it’s impossible for the society as a whole not to suffer.

Its also nice to know that there are at least a few news publications in the US that don't pull their punches, and are still operate outside the influence of the corporate entertain-a-news, ala Rupert Murdoch and friends.

Found: Freeway Fantasy

2007-12-21T01:15:00.001-08:00

spotted on streetsblog

I think whoever was developing the original interstate freeway plan must have been on crack. Sure, I've seen the GM Futurama exhibition in 1939 - which largely did come to pass as reality - but this just takes the cake! I'm not sure if I would want to drive a nuclear-powered "Atom car" - a dirty bomb on wheels!

Ugh, it all just reminds me too much of Corbu's Paris plans.

Found: Design Blogs

2007-12-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

For your convenience, a rundown list:

Core77
MoCo Loco
dezain.net
dezeen
coolhunting
theapt
pingmag
inhabitat
treehugger

...and, of course, there's Portland's very own Just Be Complex in Oldtown.

Found: Panoramas

2007-12-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

Check it out! Cool 360-degree pics.

EPA Trumps California's emissions rules

2007-12-19T23:36:00.000-08:00

Including 16 other states that had adopted it, such as New York and Oregon. The new smackdown by EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson states that no state can impose its own gas mileage regulations to combat greenhouse gas emissions:

The emissions standards California proposed in 2004 — but never approved by the federal government — would have forced automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016, with the cutbacks to begin in 2009 models.

That would have translated into roughly 43 miles per gallon for cars and some light trucks and about 27 miles per gallon for heavier trucks and sport utility vehicles.

I think we also just heard a lot of shit hitting a very big fan, which will likely be cleaned up with one of the largest lawsuits in American History.

To quite Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “It is disappointing that the federal government is standing in our way and ignoring the will of tens of millions of people across the nation.”

And I completely agree. The Bush administration, though in its final throes of its 8-year lifespan, just continues to keep on giving to the American people.

PDX Transport #1!

2007-12-19T00:33:00.001-08:00

Not really very surprising, considering that Portland has for awhile not been a poster child for urban planning in the United States, but more of a reassurance that what we've been doing is 'right.

The American Planning Association has given its 2008 National Planning Award for Best Practice to Metro's Transit-Oriented Development Program for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Now Portland just needs to figure out how to cram new housing into existing 'historic' neighborhoods without destroying the stock of cool old architecture, not piss off the neighbors, and retain that Portland quality that entrances so many.

Now, if only they'd improve bus service and build light-rail and streetcar lines to actually serve parts of the city that need it. Either that, or we need a subway - and stat!

As nice as the city is, it seems like all the cool transportation projects go to the burbs; the streetcar is not even considered a transportation project! Of course, nobody really circulates between the Lloyd District along the MLK/Grand corridor as a destination... but then the West Side MAX line (Hillsboro) was largely built through farmland.

To address the transportation needs of the residents, workers and visitors traveling within the Portland Central City, providing a Central City transit circulator, achieving additional economic development, all in a way that gains strong public support.

A counterpoint to this would be the SOWA --> Lake Oswego rapid streetcar line under planning.

At least the Portland Streetcar's website posts some sane and balanced-sounding goals:

Link neighborhoods with a convenient and attractive transportation alternative.
Fit the scale and traffic patterns of existing neighborhoods.
Provide quality service to attract new transit ridership.
Reduce short inner-city auto trips, parking demand, traffic congestion and air pollution.
Encourage development of more housing & businesses in the Central City.

On a related note, seeing the development boom in Portland over the past five years makes me wonder if we really need to encourage more of it... some developers, such as Weston, who have purchased around 20 blocks worth of land around Sandy Boulevard, are just waiting for the national economy and housing market to improve before bringing in the tower cranes.

Subsidies for most projects are therefore not really needed; I just hope that we are able to have dramatically improved transit service to move people around without traffic going to hell - along with open space and schools. As some have noted, bus service has almost completely gone to shit in this town.

Beer nirvana on the rocks?

2007-12-18T12:08:00.001-08:00

Or a starving America? Shortages of hops, barley, and now demand for ethanol is driving up the prices for beer - and even food and dairy production.

Besides the obvious disappointment of rising booze prices, seeing staple food prices of grains, dairy and meats rising ~10% or so each year is going to really make it difficult for people in this country to survive.

The question will become, especially for those poorer Americans, a simple choice: drive or eat?

Biodiesel, take 2

2007-12-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

So... as spotted on Blueoregon tonight, there was some concern raised as some of the posters identified a key issue with commercial biodiesel production - namely, that of Palm Oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia in satiating the demand for oil in the Netherlands, the world's thirstiest biodiesel producer.

I believe that the efforts by Oregon's Senator Ron Wyden in securing funding to help Oregon support its burgeoning biodiesel industry is vital to diversifying the fuels used for transportation, heating, and industry. For cleanly grown low-impact feedstocks, such as grass, they can be relatively organic and carbon neutral in their production.

As far as Palm Oil is concerned, however, which is increasingly becoming a very popular fuel and is mostly being driven by the huge demands of the European Union (including nations like the UK and Netherlands) stipulating Biodiesel.

Unfortunately, they did not discriminate as to their sources. Luckily, they are rectifying that as new information has come to light as how third-world nations have been using TERRIBLE, environmentally-damaging methods for producing oil for biodiesel production.

However, there are other, far more environmentally sustainable oils that can be used for biodiesel - this is because you can use a huge variety of vegetable oils in the conversion process.

Luckily, the Netherlands - the world's largest consumer of biodiesel - is demanding oil that is less damaging to the environment. That country also has a pretty big stake in global warming - the country could be off the map even before 2100 if global warming causes sea level rises.

Here are some very interesting quotes:

The world's centres for oil palm production are Indonesia and Malaysia where rapid deforestation and the drying out of asssociated peatlands are, Greenpeace claim, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and thereby speeding climate change.

BUT - good news also:

In Africa, the situation is very different compared to Indonesia or Malaysia. In its Human Development Report 2007-2008, the United Nations Development Program says production of palm oil in West-Africa is largely sustainable.

Miller Time?

2007-12-11T22:56:00.000-08:00

Luckily, I'm not too dead to post this completely awesome commercial for Miller High Life beers. Although I've been a PBR drinker on the side in addition to my love of the microbrew (not to mention darker-than molasses beers), I have to hand it to Miller - these commercials are an outstanding work of art. Just don't watch them all at one sitting, they'll grate on your nerves after awhile - they are definitely meant to grab your attention from the typical broadcast programming.

Delving further, it turns out they are all the work of a certain Errol Morris, documentarian and whom I would consider a film artist (wiki agrees). It's really too bad that we don't see more commercials of this caliber, although the chaff certainly helps us know a gem when we see one.

List of all his Miller commercials here (there's a bunch!). Enjoy.

spotted at bikeportland.org

...done.

2007-12-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Fall Term 2007 - c'est finit.

I need a few of these now:

Smart Car

2007-12-09T15:13:00.000-08:00

Crash testing! We've all wondered how well these tiny cars would far in a head-on collision... now you know.

Makes me feel a lot better about driving small cars... particularly since I don't actually plan on running into a concrete wall at 70 mph.

Here it comes...

2007-12-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Can anyone say tidal wave?
First peak oil, and now the kicker: poor and industrializing nations are rapidly increasing the amount of oil they consume, and many major oil-exporting nations within 10 years may become net importers. Since the US currently imports 65% of the oil we consume, where is our oil going to come from?

The US is so screwed... our obsession with the automobile is rapidly meeting its doom. It seems our future may be defined by bicycles and electric cars. Hell, I live in Portland - and we've already been touted as the trend-setter for urban policy, as far as land-use planning and transportation, for around 20 years.

Course, there are all sorts of other interesting technologies being developed that have the potential to supplement and fill in various roles for energy usage and transportation...

Books and bombs in Baghdad

2007-12-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

I'll admit I have been neglecting some of the more important issues, especially China, the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, environmental issues. Hopefully I'll find time to delve into the complexities that they present, especially as I find myself more and more aware of how people view the world in light of the changes they bring on.

So, without further ado...

There has been good news in Iraq. Sectarian violence is down, the number of civilians killed is down three months in a row to 718 in November, and people in the cradle of civilization seem to be peeking their heads out of their doors and starting to even get on with their lives.

Of particular note is a famous Baghdad book market, the al-Mutanabi Street book market, has reopened from a 2006 suicide bombing that killed many and wreaked devastation upon one of the city's main cultural centers for intellectual thought. A $5.7 million reconstruction project is underway to rebuild the bookstores, shops, and repave the street into a pedestrian-only zone. Some of the scholars who ran bookstores - and suffered from loved ones who died in the bombing - are quite dedicated and optimistic since the violence has gone down and progress has been made towards rebuilding.

Someone should start a wiki; it is fascinating to learn about the resurgence of such an important aspect of the lives of these people - whom we barely know anything about. When I first started hearing about the reconstruction projects following the so-called "end of the war," I was highly skeptical that it would be of any use at all, since there was a high - and growing - amount of violence in the country.

However, I feel a great deal of sympathy for the Iraqi and Afghani people, and wish them the best of luck towards rebuilding their nations and bringing them into the modern era. Although I am very for us withdrawing as soon as we can, at the same time I can't help but notice that without these kinds of efforts by the Iraqis and our troops to try to help rebuild their country, it would probably be a total loss by now - even if Rumsfeld's post-invasion plan was a total bag of shit.

Now, if only they can avoid a total meltdown and civil war in the future, things just might work out in the long run.

It's officially winter

2007-12-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing I've noticed the past 5 years living in Portland, its that the weather will always keep you on your toes. I remember a multi-year drought when I was a kid, but the weather just keeps getting funkier and funkier... and I'm not talking about El Niño, either:

Oregon's first-ever Hurricane is forecast to hit tonight through Monday - bringing winds of over 90 mph on the coast, around 50 mph in Portland for Sunday and Monday - as well as 1-1.5 inches of rain per day.

The upside to all this is that the storm will dump tons of snow in the mountains - this year is turning out to be a truly excellent ski season!

Wise Words

2007-12-01T00:20:00.000-08:00

Stumbled across this old and insightful video. Not only is he an eloquent speaker, but Eisenhower offers some sage advice... that has certainly been all but ignored for the past 27 years. Reagan and the Bush family are the perfect model of what he warns us against!

Party time @ Solo Dec 6th

2007-11-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

Sweet news: Benny Benassi comin' to town December 6th!!

W00t!

Northwest Tekno's got the scoop.

Tickets.

Driving in the snow..

2007-11-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

Considering that Meadows has already opened - way ahead of the normal season - and we're getting cold weather, we very well might get some snow this year!

Just ran across this old youtube video - and its got me pumped! I remember living in the NW neighborhood in Portland and breaking out the snowskate/snowboards/skis when we actually got some snow on the ground. Great times!

But don't drive.

Sustainability experts?

2007-11-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Ok... sounds good!

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1194929715161420.xml&coll=7

A great speech

2007-11-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

One of the strongest, most powerful running speeches I have heard - probably since Clinton.

He offers an excellent rundown of the issues he is focusing on:

withdrawal from Iraq
healthcare for Americans
climate change
dependency on oil
rolling back bush's support of torture and the chiselling away of our civil rights
cooperative leadership

But his progressive, not reactive, stance is exactly the kind of leadership the Democratic party needs - nothing from Hillary or any other Democrats over the past 7 years has filled me with any confidence that we would be able to think itself out of a paper bag, let alone outmaneuver Bush or any other Republican.

No, Obama offers the promise - and displays it well on stage and in many interviews - of his unrelenting passion and pursuit of what is right and needs to be done (ie, 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emission). I believe Hillary has just taken the wrong boat in the wrong direction in her adoption of the Bush Administration's policy stance.

Many have argued that his lack of experience in politics makes other candidates better qualified... but in fact I believe that not only does his record refute the charge that he is incapable of leadership, but that he will bring a freshness to our party that is currently decaying and withering away. The Democratic party has just been hunkering down and moving to the Right as it has been capitulating to Bush and the Republicans.

Anyways, now that the House and Senate are both majority Democrats, why do we need to follow the lead - or even compromise - with the right-wing wackos? We'll have control over the House, Senate, and presidency - sounds like a slam-dunk win for the American public to me.

Flashback 1994

2007-11-12T01:38:00.000-08:00

Saw this on the Portland Mercury's blog... so hilarious! Takes me back to the days when I first got online as a kid (circa '95). The guys that made this are geniuses.

Groundwork for Iran war?

2007-11-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

Just ran across this piece of amazing work:

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate passed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill last month by a 76-22 vote. The amendment, which calls for the use of "military instruments" to "combat, contain, and roll back the violent activities" of the "Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran," is viewed by many as a call to arms against Iran. Democratic presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton voted for the amendment, while fellow senators and presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain chose not to vote at all. Oregon's Sen. Ron Wyden voted against the amendment.

Anyways, So basically Hillary and all the republikons want to nuke Iran... alright! Sign me up! Oh darn, I'm too old now. :(

The most ironic part of this is that most Iranians love America and our culture (go figure...), and there continues to be a secular movement that just won't go away. While it is by no means on par with Turkey, Iran is a Republic - and with the majority of its population under the age of 30 and infatuated by the US, one would think a better pro-democratic strategy for Iran would be to encourage these youths - it won't be too long before they're running the country. Free Britney Spears DVDs for the kiddies?

Anyways, great stuff! Almost as good as the vote in September by Congress to condemn Moveon.org for criticizing (gasp! Free Speech?!) General Petraeus. Something about this just reminds me of ancient Rome... and yes, our Senators are just as spineless (brainless?) as they were during the Roman Empire.

Oregonians, take note for which Oregon Congressman voted for it: Peter DeFazio, David Wu, Greg Walden (an R), Diane Hooley (another R).

The big Blue and Wyden voted nay (cheers!)

hell freezes over!

2007-11-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable news - the Senate just passed a 6-year, $11 billion funding package for Amtrak! Compared to the paltry $1.3 billion Amtrak received last year - and contrary to Bush's plan to break it apart and force privatization - this new plan gives Amtrak about $2 billion a year to play with. This is the first time in many years that Amtrak is being provided with multiple years of stable funding - and without the threat of politicians trying to kill the organization. And, considering that last year 25 million people rode the rails - using one of the most energy efficient forms of transportation available, this is going to be one of the key methods to mitigate environmental damage from transportation.

However, it might help to keep things in perspective - the 2006 federal transportation funding levels broke down to $40 billion for highways and $14 billion for the airlines - so this is just a drop in the bucket. However, it certainly has the potential to be a jumping-off point for expanding passenger rail service in the US, much like we have seen with the resurgence of light-rail urban transit systems in the US (something like 30+ cities have light rail under planning or construction, whereas 10 years ago only a handful of lines were operating.).

The interesting thing is that Amtrak is going to be focusing primarily on the intercity rail corridors that have proved so popular over the past decade - city-to-city travel, such as the Northwest's Cascades (Eugene - Vancouver, BC) and California's ever-popular Pacific Surfliner (San Diego - San Luis Obispo). Both of these routes are medium length, 467 miles and 350 miles, respectively, and have enjoyed steady growth in ridership over the past decade or so. In fact, the Pacific Surfliner has the second-highest ridership levels for an Amtrak route outside of the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak's Acela high-speed rail line (DC - Boston).

Unfortunately, unlike Acela's electrified and heavily-urbanized corridor, most of the rail lines in the rest of the country connect disparate locations, oftentimes rust belt cities with dwindling populations (Detroit, Cleveland, etc), or urban-sprawl oriented low-density metropolises (LA) that are much harder to serve with a centralized point-to-point system. On the other hand, statistics speak for themselves - even Los Angeles, the King of Cars, has major plans for rail transit. At the same time, Puget Sound has established its ultra-popular Sounder commuter rail system, and Portland will be opening its Wilsonville - Beaverton commuter rail line in 2008.

The longer-distance Amtrak trains give riders unique - and incredibly beautiful - perspectives on the vast interior wilderness of our country that few get to see from the Interstates. Hopefully these lines won't be put on the chopping block and will be preserved for future generations to experience - even if they aren't very useful for transportation.

Of course, when I heard about the news, my thoughts turned to Europe and my experience riding the rail systems that they have - long established with dedicated lines, conducive transit-friendly land use patterns, centralized stations, and massive investments in dedicated high-speed trunk lines (the Chunnel ride was particularly notable). However, as depressing as it is to compare the US to Europe, Japan and other industrialized nations, it probably won't be too long before we're investing billions and billions into new infrastructure projects - California's High Speed Rail project just got a shot in the arm recently, and the proposed HSR lines to Vegas and Florida still live on in someone's dreams.

And we can't just let France have all the fun!

Voted!

2007-11-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Trick or vote!

There's always a first time for everything - in this case, made it down to the Multnomah County Elections office before the dealine, did the always-required address change, filled out the ovals and dropped off my ballot.

This was perhaps the simplest election on record - it didn't even require the Mercury's comprehensive voting guide to tell you how to swing!

Such a novel idea - I'll have to do it next time!

After a bit of a hiatus...

2007-10-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

Just couldn't resist this tidbit they had on the Oregonlive website:

Portland Barbie!

The LO and Hawthorne barbies are especially appropriate...

the OTHER streetcar

2007-09-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

I was perusing the skyscrapercity forums today, and couldn't help but notice a thread on the new Seattle streetcar that is being built. Like Portland's streetcar line and the Hoyt Street Yards which redeveloped the heart of the Pearl District, it is being built in conjunction with a massive real estate redevelopment effort, that of Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. investment company.

I visited the area a few years ago when my friend Htoo was living in Bellevue; you could see all these brand-spanking new midrise buildings along what used to be major freight-route streets (which you don't really find in Portland), with beautiful Lake Union and the view it provides right there. It pretty much blows away almost every urban vista you'd find in Portland (with the exception of the view from Pill Hill or Vista ave above Goose Hollow) - see for yourself:

photo by Tim Knight

I've always thought that Seattle had an excellent urban environment; one that in some parts of its downtown approached the complexity, layered history, and edginess of cities like New York, Boston, or San Francisco - albeit lacking the rich vitality of the street that even Portland has more of - despite the fact that Portland is smaller and less dense.

Perhaps this new streetcar line will help reinvent more of the city, making it a place people can call home.

UPDATE

Apparently those Seattlites have been hard at work on a new acronym - now it's called the SLUT. Ironically it sounds quite proper spelled out.

time to scoot

2007-09-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yaaah! It's that time of year again: school's coming up and summer is coming to an end; the perfect time to tune up my scooter!

Although not exactly something I look forward to doing, it can be a bit of fun - as long as I don't break anything or cut/smash/jam any digits too badly. There's also the issue of not having the right tools or liquids, which I might run into. Then there's the issue of the scooter sporting a customized performance engine. woohoo!

Although I was able to successfully rebuild the engine on my old Honda Civic, the last time I worked on my scooter, the speedometer wasn't working when I put it back together! Hopefully I'll have better luck this time...

checklist:

change air filter
change spark plug
lubricate stuff
check tires
reduce oil flow to engine
fix speedometer
clean engine
wash & wax!

and finally, the directions to the Honda motorcycle parts dealer, Beaverton Motorcycles:

View Larger Map

Alternative Wheels

2007-08-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk lately about alternative fuels for transportation, particularly George Bush's hydrogen economy and Portland's Biofuels law that recently took effect last week... but what about alternative transportation?

Sure, here in Portland we've got bicycles, buses, MAX, streetcar, aerial tram, and not to mention a pretty decent walking environment.

However, while our streets are filled with hybrid Priuses, motorcycles, and scooters galore - the vast majority of people in our city are still commuting via single-occupancy vehicles. In case you haven't heard, using a three or four thousand pound chunk of plastic and steel (up to 5-10,000 pounds for SUVs like the Hummer, Land Rover, or Mercedes G55) to transport yourself and a few bags of groceries a mile or two from the grocery store isn't exactly the most efficient means of transportation: the majority of the energy in the gasoline burned in your engine is used to move the vehicle and air condition the vehicle, not actually move you.

Unfortunately, this means that for the average person in the US, a large percentage of the energy used in transportation (gas burned in your car) is essentially wasted. What if we could simply drive more efficient cars?

As you may have heard recently, Congress recently passed a new set of CAFE standards, designed to legislate an improvement in manufacturer's overall fuel efficiency in the cars they sell. Although this topic is probably better covered by some of the other transportation blogs, suffice it to say that the improvements are too little, too late - and are not likely to be too effective: whereas in Europe they promote fuel efficiency by massive gas taxes, cheap gas in the US has encouraged car manufacturers to waste the efficiencies they have gained in engine and drivetrain technologies by simply increasing the power of the cars they make. As a result, fuel efficiencies in American cars has actually decreased overall since about 1988.

Although there are a growing number of motorcycles and scooters on the streets of Portland today, all but the die-hards will choose to garage them during the winter months. So although they win the gasoline fuel efficiency contest, they will probably never become a primary transportation option for most people due to exposure to the elements while riding. And trust me, I know well from experience! There's nothing like having to don rain pants, jacket, and gloves before each ride - it is somewhat constricting on your winter wardrobe.

There are alternative, efficient vehicles that are now in development that are something of an automobile/scooter hybrid - achieving high fuel efficiences coupled with climate protection:

Enter the Tango

The Tango, a small electric car developed by Commuter Cars, a company based in Spokane Washington, is an extremely narrow vehicle. It features a jet-fighter like cockpit arrangement (driver sits in front of the passenger, not beside) - even narrower than some motorcycles (some jurisdictions even allow the vehicle to lane-split).

Its specs are even more impressive: with a top speed of 150 mph and 0-60mph time of 4 seconds, it will beat the pants off of most cars on the road - although, at its current cost of around $100,000, it is equally priced - although different versions are planned to be released at more affordable price points.

The specs:

Width: 39 inches (~99 cm)
Length: 101 inches (~257 cm)
Weight: 3000+ lb (1360+ kg)
0–60 mph (0–96 km/h): 4 seconds
¼ mile (0.4 km): 12 seconds @ 120 mph (193 km/h)
Top speed: 150 mph (240 km/h)
Range: 60–80 miles (96–128 km) (Lead-acid batteries)
full charge from a dryer outlet (220 volt) in 3 hours; 80% charge in 1 hour

Personally, however, I wouldn't mind driving the Carver - even though its slower and uses an internal combustion engine, it sure looks like a lot of fun to drive!

maybe its just the rockin' jamiroquai tune tho?

Of course, the ultimate in efficiencies for transportation in urban areas would be won by dramatically expanded and improved mass transit in conjunction with safer and expanded bicycle facilities, such as bike lanes. However, we're going to need all the help we can get in curbing global warming.

The Hydrogen Hoax

2007-08-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

Read an excellent article on the feasibility of the Hydrogen economy, written by a person whom I consider somewhat of a genius: Robert Zubrin, an aerospace engineer whose qualifications include "a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Rochester (1974), a masters degree in Aeronatics and Astronautics, a masters degree in Nuclear Engineer, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering — all from the University of Washington." [wiki]

The Hydrogen Hoax

The science-based argument states how inefficient the hydrogen production process is, while also pointing out that there is no viable way of efficiently storing liquified hydrogen or compressed hydrogen. In fact, according to Zubrin, to store 20 kg of hydrogen (comparable to 20 gallons of gasoline), would require either a 70-gallon cryogenic tank, or a 162 gallon tank at 5,000 PSI tank - the compressed hydrogen gas tank along would weigh approximately 2,800 pounds (without the 20 kilograms of fuel); the cryogenic storage tank would be prone to failure due to the nature of cryogenic hydrogen, which causes metal fatigue and brittleness and 'boils off,' which could be a serious safety issue in confined quarters (such as parking garages).

The most important points he puts forth, however, are the inefficiency of burning hydrogen as compared to gasoline (hydrogen has a lower energy density); as well as the need to produce hydrogen - as 100% of the hydrogen on the planet earth is already bound up in chemical compounds... requiring enormous amounts of energy to free up the hydrogen from these bonds:

The spokesmen for the hydrogen hoax claim that hydrogen will be manufactured from water via electrolysis. It is certainly possible to make hydrogen this way, but it is very expensive—so much so, that only four percent of all hydrogen currently produced in the United States is produced in this manner. The rest is made by breaking down hydrocarbons, through processes like pyrolysis of natural gas or steam reforming of coal.

Dispensed in compressed gas cylinders to retail customers, the current price of commercial grade hydrogen is about $100 per kilogram. For comparison, a kilogram of hydrogen contains about the same amount of energy as a gallon of gasoline.

...then he gets down to the actual chemical reactions used commercially to change hydrocarbons to pure hydrogen, and the extra energy needed to compress or refrigeration to cryogenic temperatures - which could sap up to 40% of the original energy potential in the original hydrocarbons. As for hydrogen production via electrolysis - where would the energy come from? Pick your poison: coal or nuclear.

timelines

2007-07-05T23:01:00.001-07:00

Looking over this rather nascent blog, I realize that there are so many things that have happened since I started this that haven't been posted yet. So, a brief trip through recent memory...

Beginning of May, I packed up my belongings and left my old pad down off of Division Street. While it was a nice change of being schizophrenically couch surfing from month to month since I arrived back in town following last year's escapade to Europe (still need to post those pictures!), the dark, dank, mouse-infested leaking basement was hardly passable as 'inhabitable.' Still a bit of a sore spot for myself...

However, the new spot I have here on 28th in Southeast, right off of Stark, is pretty nice. It has all the accouterments of home: 3 diverse and interesting roommates, cheap rent, a functioning kitchen, and we keep it pretty clean. Oh, and did I mention that I do not live in a basement anymore? Thank god I don't have to wear a coat and 3 pairs of underwear when I go to sleep!

Flying high with the birds, my attic view gives me some respite from the city... if I squint enough, the only thing I can see are leaves and clouds; not too bad considering how much traffic there is outside.

Finishing up Spring Term at PSU was a real bitch. Let's just say that 'stressful' earned another notch on its belt when Clive's history class showed its ugly head when the rest of my life hit the shitter and then the fan. But then, running out of money while you have taken on a full load at school and being forced to take a couple weeks out of your studies to look for a job - and move - will do that to you. Oh well, I look forward to taking Clive next year under better circumstances... especially while not being poor.

Which leads me to my current quandry: broke, bored, and broke again. A wonderful combination... so its time to be looking for a nice internship downtown and finally ditch the shitty tech support job. Even though it is the easiest work I have ever done.

Racing a swarm

2007-07-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is one of the more interesting online videos I have seen of late. Not only is it an extremely well edited video, with a soundtrack that accompanies the animation and setting an intriguing mood for this demo.

Which brings us to what this actually is... a demo, to be sure, of what is possible in the application of swarm theory with simulated semi-realistic phenomenon. It reminds me of the swarm theories explored by Kas Oosterhuis, but in this case a process as viewed through the lens of a video game.

Although I was extremely skeptical of Oosterhuis' design methodology when reading about his ideas and seeing the videos of the application of his formulas that are used to transform a mathematically descriptive function, this video really hit home as to its potential applications.

What is rather interesting about this is how video games are typically used to closely represent reality as much as possible, sticking to what is essentially a very lifelike and conservative physics modeling and representation of reality.

Yet this experiment in swarm behavior, in applying these kinds of rules to a car race creates a dramatic new reality, in which its primary purpose is to represent and illustrate the resultant forces that are present in the algorithm that make up the programming inherent in the swarm demo itself. Ie, the paths the cars take show us the paths of least resistance present in the computer program - in an extremely visceral way.

Perhaps this kind of methodology could be applied to architecture more (sans the motion), where the building itself describes the complex and myriad forces present. And it need not only be limited to physical forces: there are social, geographic, tectonic, and contextual. After all, one of the defining characteristics of modern society is the plasticity in our dynamic world.

Of course, we already are seeing this kind of design from designers and products such as Greg Lynn and Marcel Wanders' Carbon Chair.

The unpacking story

2007-06-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

More youtube! this one kind of explains why I still have 3 cardboard boxes full of junk in my bedroom, a month after I moved in. :P

I think this blog is becoming a repository of my favorite vids...

YouTubeSpotting...

2007-06-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

Guess the title didn't work so well, but I spied this vid while blogging today:

Above and beyond...

2007-06-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Best. Bicycle. Video. Ever!

History of Oregon's economy

2007-05-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

Perusing the BlueOregon website tonight, I ran across an excellent article on the economic history of Oregon - and how the development in the past 50 years is particularly unsustainable.

Cheap petroleum, cheap land, cheap mortgages, low-cost college education and unionized wages were the rocks on which Oregon’s post-World War II prosperity was built. They no longer exist. These conditions are derided by self-styled conservatives as "the Welfare State." The housing patterns that served the post-World War II affluent middle class will no longer serve the shrinking middle class. The global economy as we understand it will not survive rapidly rising petroleum prices. That will alter the way we live in ways we do not foresee.

A couple of comments on this particular conclusion:

I believe that the global economy is one that will most likely survive peak-oil and rising petroleum prices. Globalization is a phenomenon that is as old as civilization; it wasn't until the 20th century that ships were powered by petroleum: goods were shipped for thousands of years by sail, and then coal-fired steamships in the 19th century. Even today, shipping companies are investing in wind-assisted ships, utilizing large kites to achieve modest 10% energy savings. This is, of course, not to say that strip-mining resources from other countries is necessarily a good thing...
Since rising wealth is usually equated with increasing one's consumption of goods and services - and hence your environmental footprint, such as by buying more cars, material goods, and larger houses - perhaps a trend towards lower wages will in fact cause a decreased environmental impact? Unfortunately, the flip side is that innovation in sustainability as far as architecture, product design, and transportation is concerned might be easier the more money is available for it...
Lastly - Portland, whether we like to admit it or not, is one of the five principal cities situation on the west coast of North America with a direct trade route to the largest economic powers of the world: China, India, Japan, and the rest of the Asian Tigers. Even if transportation costs increase and unionization falters, there are still over 2 BILLION people across the Pacific who are very intent on trading with us.

Famous Quote

2007-05-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

It just so happens that I have a special place in my heart for famous quotes... especially those that make you just stop dead in your tracks in surprise. Kudos to Philip Johnson, who many hears ago put out this bit of food for thought:

"Architects are pretty much high-class whores. We can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we've both got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business."

From Esquire, Dec 1980 - link

Moused!

2007-05-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

So, it's been war in the Taggart household for the past week or so. Since the initial sighting of a mouse hunting for food scraps around the floor in the kitchen has turned into a full-fledged insurgency: I have spotted no fewer than three mice perusing the countertop in the kitchen. Hiding behind blenders, cutting boards, and dirty dishes, a long time passed before anyone noticed we had an infestation.

Myself, on the other hand, see mice almost every time I go into the kitchen - especially when I get home late at night from school! Things took a turn for our side, however, when two days ago I was able to nab one of the suckers after I caught him hanging out in the bathroom. After shutting the door and cramming the rug underneath the door, I grabbed the toilet plunger and, after chasing him all around the tiny space, was able to catch him under it. Picked him up with a piece of cardboard, and dropped him in a deep bucket.

However, with fears of hantavirus and the idea of putting the little enemy combatant to death seemed a bit extreme (particularly considering my own views on Gitmo), I decided to give him a little trip around the 'hood. After letting him go several blocks away (and across a busy street), I'm sure he's quite happy in his new home. Until the neighbors let their cats out, of course...

Score
Mice: 8
Humans: 1

First Post!

2007-04-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone! Although I'm not exactly on the cutting edge of the internet trends, this first post kicks off what I hope to be my own little site to post interesting news, articles, insightful thoughts, and introspective essays. As I'm a design (architecture) student, sustainability, design, technology, and sociological topics will likely be my key topics.

Feel free to give a shout if you have something constructive to say!