May 2011
7 posts
Wall Street: Don’t Let Go of the Anger →
hmm
In an interview, he cited similar protests being organized in Chicago, Charlotte and Oakland, and cited specifically his outrage at how Oakland is forced to close its public libraries — in order to save $5 million a year — at the same time the city still pays Goldman Sachs $5 million a year for interest-rate swaps. He wonders, where is the shared sacrifice?
Jerry Brown cancels plan for $356-million death... →
Jeez. Planning and design of the site cost $20 million? Wow.
As Services Suffer, British Taxpayers Pay $35... →
Damn. $35 million just for police alone? I wonder if the monarchy brings in more money through tourism than it requires. Imagine UK without one… weird…
April 2011
5 posts
Blue Urbanism →
7 Cities Consider Removing Major Urban Highways →
I wonder what would happen if LA removed a highway right now. Oh snap.
The Ultimate Country of Cities →
March 2011
4 posts
I randomly went to brand consulting and design firm Landor’s webpage because JAL just changed back their logo to the crane and they were mentioned on the wikipedia entry… then on the front page is this really awesome compilation of photos from their employees I think. Pretty. Here!
6 tags
Tohoku Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
The Tohoku-Region Pacific Ocean Offshore Earthquake (東北地方太平洋沖地震) is upgraded now to a magnitude 9.0. That’s basically twice as strong as 8.9… not just 0.1-more stronger. My friends say it’s the strongest earthquake they’ve felt… even my grandparents, all approaching 80 or 90, say it was the strongest. And they were hundreds of miles away from the epicenter in Tokyo...
Federal sustainability programs at risk? →
First, the government might shut down on March 5th. Now this! This bi-partisan political stalemate crap is really getting to me.
February 2011
11 posts
Nightclubs are supposed to be restaurants? →
Apparently, licenses for alcohol are much harder for bars/nightclubs to get, and easier for restaurants. So some night clubs in Los Angeles are claiming to be restaurants but they obviously don’t sell restaurant-style food. Who eats meals while clubbing? LOL.
Just like bottled water... →
I saw a commercial for Kleenex’s Hand Towels. Apparently, they’re supposed to be a replacement for actual hand towels. Use a new sheet of paper every time and throw it away.
Hope it doesn’t become like another bottled water fiasco, where companies decided to bottle water for the sake of convenience and “safety” and started selling them.
Light pollution (aka Los Angeles) = Cancer? →
First of all, what doesn’t give you cancer?
Secondly, I feel like living in Los Angeles for the past 5 years has shortened my life span by 10.
Typography and Cities: Paris, Barcelona, Beijing,... →
This is awesome.
Average Faces?! →
Source: Faces of Tomorrow, via Business Insider
Weird. I don’t really understand what an “average face” represents, but cool. Maybe in a million years, everyone will just end up looking the same from all the genetic mixing.
"NYTimes: Downtown Skyscraper for the Digital Age" →
Hey we saw this in NYC, still under completion, and I seriously thought it was an awesome building… and then I looked closer and saw the ripples on the buildings… and I thought “Gehry.” hahaha
NIMBY against TOD's in a TOD →
In Egypt, you can switch off the internet but not... →
In light of the recent events in the Middle East…
October 2010
2 posts
(Link) USGBC, LEED Targeted in Class-Action... →
There’s a lot of complaints about LEED and now there’s a lawsuit against it. Interesting - but what is a good checklist/guideline for green building? There’s a lot out there, like Enterprise, Green Globes, PassivHaus, etc. but what’s the best way?
I remember someone told me that LEED is expensive and the reason why they developed with LEED was mostly for the name, and also...
say NO to prop 23! →
aspirin2vitamin:
it’s jeopardizing my job in the future!!
yeah - vote no… ridiculous proposition that out-of-state oil companies are framing as a “job creation” problem. nope.
September 2010
3 posts
(Link) NBC LA - Undercover Investigation: Farmer... →
Basically, we’re all falling for the image that farmers markets portray - local, fresh, organic. We see produce that isn’t sold in a supermarket, with hand written signs and free samples, and automatically assume that they are fresh local pesticide-free produce.
Not all of them are, I guess. I don’t even know why I’ve NEVER doubted their claims!
Sad news for the farmers...
Advertisements, Cities, Subways
New York is one of my favorite cities. Probably my favorite, along with Tokyo. I took this from a rooftop bar in NY - it’s free to go up, haha.
New York is bringing video advertisements to its subway system. Well, they are bringing it to promote the MLB in a couple of cars, with no word on whether they are going to be expanding.
The New York Times: M.T.A. Brings TVs to the Subway
The...
August 2010
2 posts
CTRL-C, CTRL-V →
So China wants to literally copy and paste Salvador Dali’s Spanish hometown. And the hometown is ok with it?
They’ve already recreated Paris (with an Eiffel Tower) and Dorchester, England…
The cities in China are getting super rich, but I guess attitudes on copyrights is completely different…
Super Vending Machines
From Japan Probe.
Rather than use a tradition pushbutton system, the machines use a 47-inch touch panel display with several distinct automatic modes, the company stated
When a customer nears the machine, only images of the available drinks will be displayed. The machines come equipped with sensors that can recognize age and sex with a 75% accuracy, and make recommendations based on...
July 2010
17 posts
WatchCalArts video from the 1960’s. It shows Los Angeles in the 1960’s and the great visions it had. Even shows USC and UCLA… they’ve changed a lot!
Sustainability: As a student, or a non-student?
Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan: Such a nice place to just chill. Very small-town feel. Just looking at old photos.
As a student, the concept of sustainability focuses on recycling, bringing a eco-bag to the grocery store, bringing a tumbler to class, using recycled paper, blah blah.
What about when you graduate university and start working 40 hours a week?
It’s interesting because...
Parking Lots
A picture of downtown I took sometime. If this parking lot was tall buildings instead, then where would we able to see the skyline like this? I guess in the middle of the street.
Downtown Los Angeles has a lot of surface-level parking lots. I always thought they were a waste, but honestly, sometimes they give a feel of open space amidst all these tall buildings. What if they were filled with...
5 tags
Just organizing my thoughts on INCEPTION
Familiar? It’s the LA DWP Headquarters in Downtown. It’s also that building in Cobb and Mal’s Limbo world that keeps on appearing, except in the movie, they made it a lot taller.
I gotta write down what I think to organize my thoughts… I re-watched Inception, this time on IMAX with my roomie. And… got me thinking more… mostly about the plot, so go away if you...
"America Before Pearl Harbor - Kodachrome Images" →
From Daily Kos
Wow. Look at these photos of pre-WWII America! Wonder how people 80 years from now will think of us and our lives.
My favorite:
7 tags
"INCEPTION" and Cities
This is the FAMIMA that they show in the movie. It’s fun to see your city in a movie.
So Inception was the best movie I have seen in a long time. Seriously, harnessing the power of your dreams? That’s awesome. And the DiCaprio + Watanabe combo? Nice. Now an urban planning point of view… (a naïve one from a young student, duh)… probably don’t read it if you haven’t seen the movie (you’re...
5 tags
Workforce Housing
Europe is considered to have more successful affordable housing programs - called social housing. This is a photo I took in London - how many of these people do you think live in social housing? Trick question! They’re all tourists.
What is workforce housing?
Affordable housing is normally for very low, low, or moderate income.
What about the people in the middle - those who cannot...
4 tags
Green Eyes Initiative
A new federal program that relies on public input to increase sustainability.
Similar to the way a Neighborhood Watch program works, this program relies on community members to report anything that is not sustainable to the appropriate local authority.
This includes:
- Using plastic grocery bags for shopping - Excessive use of water for gardening - Not recycling - Use of...
7 tags
Akagi-jinja - Mixed Development Project
My father’s side own a shrine property in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is in the Kagurazaka area. They recently destroyed everything on their property (several houses, a shrine, a preschool, a smaller shrine…) and renovated it. A brand new shrine, with a brand new apartment complex (and some commercial for a cafe, store, etc.) - designed by a famous architect, Kengo Kuma.
I got really excited,...
4 tags
Nimble Cities - Help Slate make transportation in... →
Voting ended, but all the entries are viewable. There’s a lot of interesting ideas!
L.A.'s vision 2010 vs. today's 2010 →
A.H. got to it before I did! Well, she found it… but it was just funny.
“I don’t know why, but reading this is just so funny” = A.H.
aspirin2vitamin:
According to the City of L.A., “By 2010, Angelenos are traveling to work, to school, to visit friends and shopping by way of the newly-built mass transit system.” The paper was written in 1993. 17 years later, I think...
4 tags
A Green Image + Culture
This wild commercial is for Nissan Note, a car that gets 20 km/L. According to Google, that’s about 47 mpg. They are just repeating “high gas mileage” over and over.
Anyways, I was interested by the fact that they chose Heidi, the girl of the Alps as the image character for this car. I guess it makes sense - Heidi takes place in the Alps/Switzerland, and they have a...
6 tags
SB 375 + Sustainable Communities Grant
At work, I have been working on sustainable initiatives on the local, regional and federal level. Specifically, we looked at SB 375 and the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant issued jointly through HUD, DoT, and the EPA.
Both try to achieve the same thing - a coordinated regional plan that leads to better urban planning.
SB 375, simply put, is California’s initiative to tie...
2 tags
Summer 2009: Amsterdam
I miss Amsterdam. Probably my favorite city from those that I visited in summer 2009. Except a gypsy cursed us on the train from Brussels to Amsterdam! “Drag Me To Hell” much? Oh oh…