Currently Reading: The World Without Us

" 'If you want to destroy a barn,' a farmer once told me,
'cut an eighteen-inch-square hole in the roof.
Then stand back."
- architect Chris Riddle
Amherst, Massachusetts

I was reading some of the online responses to "Life After People" a few weeks ago, and I noticed that a lot of people (including one of the rare commenters I get here) referred to a book called The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman. Intrigued, I checked it out of the local library and have finally started reading it. It seems pretty well-researched, and so far is at least as interesting to me as was the program.

Fair warning: chapter two, "Unbuilding Our Home," can cause nightmares for new homeowners (like me). The quote above, which introduces that chapter, should give you an idea of the horrors that await. An excerpt from the text:

"No matter how hermetically you've sealed your temperature-tuned interior from the weather, invisible spores penetrate anyway, exploding in sudden outbursts of mold - awful when you see it, worse when you don't, because it's hidden behind a painted wall, munching paper sandwiches of gypsum board, rotting studs and floor joists. Or you've been colonized by termites, carpenter ants, roaches, hornets or even small mammals."

Yikes.

Here Comes the Primary

When it comes to politics, I'm usually pretty apathetic. So much so that, to paraphrase Terry Pratchett, I sometimes suspect I'm arriving from the other direction as an activist. Anyway, the "Potomac Primary" (Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland) is coming up next Tuesday and I normally wouldn't bother even thinking about it except that it's a good excuse to post this little guy. I actually drew him a few years ago, while running sound for a very politically-active production that we were doing in Baltimore. Enjoy.

Correction Time

I was talking with my family this evening about the subject of last night's post. I mentioned how surprised I was at the development that had happened around Pirmasens since we lived there.

"We didn't live in Pirmasens," they told me. We lived in Höheischweiler." I did some research on Göögle and can see my mistake. The US Army Base was located in Pirmasens. The little town I was thinking of was Höheischweiler, which also had a Ringstrasse. It's apparently a pretty common street name. Hey! Let's look at another map!



Whoops! Google Maps is still b0rked!

Fun Fact! The local brewery around Pirmasens was Park & Bellheimer. I still have some Park coasters, but have long since misplaced my mugs. Henry had a job at the brewery for a few weeks in the mid-70s, but was let go after he drank too many beers on the job and, I believe, wrecked a forklift. We never got the full story out of him.

Where I'm From

I was posting this picture of me, age 7 or so, to my Flickr account and I wasn't sure I remembered how to spell the name of the town in which it was taken.

I hit up Google Maps and tried my best recollection of the name of the town: Pirmasens, Germany.

I had the spelling correct, by the way, and I'm pretty sure this picture was taken there, when we were living in an apartment on Ringstraße ("Ring Street"). I would have totally flubbed that spelling if not for Google Maps, I always thought it was two words: Ring Strasse.

What do you from me? I was just a little kid!

I was surprised to see how urbanized that little town is. Maybe it's just my fuzzy memories of childhood, but when I think back to that time, I see a small neighborhood, not the city that Google showed me.

Finally, I also discovered that I can embed Google Maps into my posts, so you can look forward to lots more thrilling images like this:

Whoops! The Google Maps Link is B0rked!

Vampire Weekend

I snagged a few tracks from Vampire Weekend's debut album this wee...a day or so ago, and some of their stuff is pretty okay. I'm just not crazy about everything I've heard. I realize that I'm no longer part of the modern music scene but I just don't dig "Oxford Comma" or "Mansard Roof" - two of the more popular singles according to the blogs I've been reading. "A-Punk," and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," however, are fun little pop songs that I'm happy to have with me during my morning commute.

I'll leave serious commentary to folks dedicated to music blogging. Here! Look at this video!