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Mouse Uranium
Sep. 29th, 2004 01:01 amThere's a travelling replica of the Vietnam memorial coming to central Ohio this weekend. Our Reserves brigade HQ security team was selected to do the overnight guard duty for that. On the one hand, it's a great honour. On the other hand, it's not strictly ceremonial - they're worried that if they just leave it sit, it might be vandalized, which is just appalling.
*****
It's been an amazing year so far. I've seen fossils on Mars (I'm convinced by the 'berries' and the 'rotini'); a privately-owned spaceship; a Grand Prix held in Red China; and now Virgin's announcement of commercial passenger spaceflights.
The Chinese GP was something to see. I hadn't been too impressed with the track in practice and qualifying, but it did produce some spectacular racing. I'd been expecting the bizarre first turn complex to produce a huge pileup at the start, but it didn't, and there was a lot more passing than I'd expected.
The grandstands are just magnificent, the best I've ever seen anywhere, even grander than Malaysia's. They're huge, soaring structures that look like the sorts of things people wanted to build in the early 60s, but didn't have the carbon fibre and composites to manage. It's interesting that far eastern countries seem to be the ones now building grandiose, bombastic structures, when our own architecture has become so uninteresting.
*****
They're reworking one of the local malls, and replacing the facade. It had been a hardcore late 1950s Populuxe style, with aquamarine textured tiles covering the front, and a huge third story cantilevered canopy apparently supported by an improbably thin-looking arch. (I really doubt that the arch was more than just a visual cue for 'entrance') I loved it, of course. It was by no means a human-scaled entryway. It absolutely blared the power and glory of mass consumption, and the self-satisfaction of 1950s suburbia.
What they're replacing it with is some generic tromp l'oile thing that's meant to look like old brick commercial buildings all clustered together, the sort one might find in a pre-war downtown area. It looks stupid as hell sitting out there in the open in the middle of an enormous suburban parking lot. It also looks like it has to be repainted every year without fail to avoid looking decrepit.
The worst thing is that it's just plain boring. It's busy. It reduces the scale of the building, and even though it's a busy design, it doesn't have anything that really captures the eye. It doesn't make me want to see what's inside like the old one did.
*****
This weekend we had the Morphicon fall picnic, which went well. About 20-25 people altogether, maybe only half of whom I knew. We met at Sharon Woods Park, aka "The Geese's Restroom". It surrounds a lake, and you do have to be careful if you want to sit on the grass.
I'd really not been looking that forward to it, and went only because I pretty much had to, but I had a good enough time. Someone brought a cute Puppy who spent all his time wandering about eating Goose poop, which was kind of interesting to watch, although I had to prevent him from licking my face several times. Rasby brought his Whippet Boston, who was afraid of the Puppy. He tends to fear everything, though. He's a very nervous Dog.
*****
We're going to the Akron Zoo again this year for Halloween. I'd really hoped to be out in the Bay, celebrating on Castro Street. So it goes. It'll be fun, though. Saturday the 30th we're playing miniature golf in fursuit, then Sunday the 31st (Halloween proper) we'll hit the Zoo in suit. The weekend before, on Saturday the 23rd, we're all going in a group to this huge haunted house. That Sunday I've promised my mother that I'll go with her to see the Indianapolis Colts play Jacksonville, so that'll be a busy pair of weekends.
In general I'm not much of a football fan, but I do like to go watch it once in a while. I like the pompatus of football better than the game itself, really. They've got a Horse that they ride around for touchdowns, and the building's big enough that they can also shoot fireworks off below the dome. They're smallish fireworks, it's true, but it's still cool to see them launched indoors. There's a radio controlled blimp that wanders around during the game, and dancing mascots dressed like footballs (not Horses - that's kind of mysterious to me). They're generally giving away free pennants or foam hands or the like. I also have a Horse hat that I wear }:=]
When you get right down to it, I think they're operating on the theory that a lot of the crowd are there because they're coming with someone who wants to see the football game more than because they want to see the game themselves, so they provide entertainment for the rest of us.
*****
Chicago's having a retrospective on the 1933 "Century of Progress" World's Fair this fall, at the Architectural Society. I need to go see that. It concentrates more on Art Deco and Art Moderne architecture than on the fair itself, but it should still be interesting. Oliver Otter's taken a job in Phoenix now, so I'll be able to stay with him if they actually do manage to have a World's Fair there in 2008. ATM, it doesn't look terribly promising, but they may manage to pull it off yet. I've volunteered to help in whatever fashion I can, but honestly there's not a lot I can do at this distance. I really want to see a World's Fair before I die.
There's a certain poignancy to the World's Fairs of the 1930s. They had such great hopes for the future, and you know in retrospect how badly everything was going to go to hell in a few years. Bambi gives off that same weird vibe. It's impossible for me to separate the work from the time.
*****
I'm wembling on who to vote for again. Bush is starting to make noises like he might be willing to replace the Iranian government after all. If I could be sure that he'd do that in a prompt and uncompromising fashion, that'd pretty much make up for his myriad domestic shortcomings.
*****
The police evidently chased a villain through our apartment complex late the other night. The helicopter was hovering overhead, good 'n low, shining the searchlight down among the buildings as he went along. For some reason, the association I made was with Pink Floyd's "The Wall". I kept expecting the evil Headmaster to lean out of the copter and start bellowing through a bullhorn.
*****
In the morning, if I'm not getting up quickly enough to feed Flaster, he 'kneads' me with his paws, like a hungry kitten does to its mother. What's interesting is that he always does it to my right hand and forearm, which is the one I use to set down his bowl. I'm not sure if that's coincidence or not.
*****
It's been an amazing year so far. I've seen fossils on Mars (I'm convinced by the 'berries' and the 'rotini'); a privately-owned spaceship; a Grand Prix held in Red China; and now Virgin's announcement of commercial passenger spaceflights.
The Chinese GP was something to see. I hadn't been too impressed with the track in practice and qualifying, but it did produce some spectacular racing. I'd been expecting the bizarre first turn complex to produce a huge pileup at the start, but it didn't, and there was a lot more passing than I'd expected.
The grandstands are just magnificent, the best I've ever seen anywhere, even grander than Malaysia's. They're huge, soaring structures that look like the sorts of things people wanted to build in the early 60s, but didn't have the carbon fibre and composites to manage. It's interesting that far eastern countries seem to be the ones now building grandiose, bombastic structures, when our own architecture has become so uninteresting.
*****
They're reworking one of the local malls, and replacing the facade. It had been a hardcore late 1950s Populuxe style, with aquamarine textured tiles covering the front, and a huge third story cantilevered canopy apparently supported by an improbably thin-looking arch. (I really doubt that the arch was more than just a visual cue for 'entrance') I loved it, of course. It was by no means a human-scaled entryway. It absolutely blared the power and glory of mass consumption, and the self-satisfaction of 1950s suburbia.
What they're replacing it with is some generic tromp l'oile thing that's meant to look like old brick commercial buildings all clustered together, the sort one might find in a pre-war downtown area. It looks stupid as hell sitting out there in the open in the middle of an enormous suburban parking lot. It also looks like it has to be repainted every year without fail to avoid looking decrepit.
The worst thing is that it's just plain boring. It's busy. It reduces the scale of the building, and even though it's a busy design, it doesn't have anything that really captures the eye. It doesn't make me want to see what's inside like the old one did.
*****
This weekend we had the Morphicon fall picnic, which went well. About 20-25 people altogether, maybe only half of whom I knew. We met at Sharon Woods Park, aka "The Geese's Restroom". It surrounds a lake, and you do have to be careful if you want to sit on the grass.
I'd really not been looking that forward to it, and went only because I pretty much had to, but I had a good enough time. Someone brought a cute Puppy who spent all his time wandering about eating Goose poop, which was kind of interesting to watch, although I had to prevent him from licking my face several times. Rasby brought his Whippet Boston, who was afraid of the Puppy. He tends to fear everything, though. He's a very nervous Dog.
*****
We're going to the Akron Zoo again this year for Halloween. I'd really hoped to be out in the Bay, celebrating on Castro Street. So it goes. It'll be fun, though. Saturday the 30th we're playing miniature golf in fursuit, then Sunday the 31st (Halloween proper) we'll hit the Zoo in suit. The weekend before, on Saturday the 23rd, we're all going in a group to this huge haunted house. That Sunday I've promised my mother that I'll go with her to see the Indianapolis Colts play Jacksonville, so that'll be a busy pair of weekends.
In general I'm not much of a football fan, but I do like to go watch it once in a while. I like the pompatus of football better than the game itself, really. They've got a Horse that they ride around for touchdowns, and the building's big enough that they can also shoot fireworks off below the dome. They're smallish fireworks, it's true, but it's still cool to see them launched indoors. There's a radio controlled blimp that wanders around during the game, and dancing mascots dressed like footballs (not Horses - that's kind of mysterious to me). They're generally giving away free pennants or foam hands or the like. I also have a Horse hat that I wear }:=]
When you get right down to it, I think they're operating on the theory that a lot of the crowd are there because they're coming with someone who wants to see the football game more than because they want to see the game themselves, so they provide entertainment for the rest of us.
*****
Chicago's having a retrospective on the 1933 "Century of Progress" World's Fair this fall, at the Architectural Society. I need to go see that. It concentrates more on Art Deco and Art Moderne architecture than on the fair itself, but it should still be interesting. Oliver Otter's taken a job in Phoenix now, so I'll be able to stay with him if they actually do manage to have a World's Fair there in 2008. ATM, it doesn't look terribly promising, but they may manage to pull it off yet. I've volunteered to help in whatever fashion I can, but honestly there's not a lot I can do at this distance. I really want to see a World's Fair before I die.
There's a certain poignancy to the World's Fairs of the 1930s. They had such great hopes for the future, and you know in retrospect how badly everything was going to go to hell in a few years. Bambi gives off that same weird vibe. It's impossible for me to separate the work from the time.
*****
I'm wembling on who to vote for again. Bush is starting to make noises like he might be willing to replace the Iranian government after all. If I could be sure that he'd do that in a prompt and uncompromising fashion, that'd pretty much make up for his myriad domestic shortcomings.
*****
The police evidently chased a villain through our apartment complex late the other night. The helicopter was hovering overhead, good 'n low, shining the searchlight down among the buildings as he went along. For some reason, the association I made was with Pink Floyd's "The Wall". I kept expecting the evil Headmaster to lean out of the copter and start bellowing through a bullhorn.
*****
In the morning, if I'm not getting up quickly enough to feed Flaster, he 'kneads' me with his paws, like a hungry kitten does to its mother. What's interesting is that he always does it to my right hand and forearm, which is the one I use to set down his bowl. I'm not sure if that's coincidence or not.
