May 2012
3 posts
1 tag
Moderated!
It’s a big day of sorts here, as I got my first comment deletion on the Daily Journal’s website. In response to the story “Pair take to the road to define marriage”, I posted the witty (amirite?) retort:
One can only hope that Chuck and Andy, after spending countless days and nights road-tripping together across the state over the next couple of months, will come to a...
3 tags
Tree hugging
Add the above-pictured tree to the list of things coming down in Fergus Falls. Courtesy of our new police station, it appears that this magnificent specimen is slated to fall in the name of increased parking capacity.
And unless I’m misreading the plans, just to add insult to injury, it appears that there will be a new tree planted only a few feet to the west of where this one will be...
4 tags
April 2012
5 posts
5 tags
The Crisis in American ________ →
Kottke does a masterful remix today, taking a bit from the Slate piece on the decline in pedestrianism in America, Sherry Turkle’s take on mobile connectedness (see also), and Steve Jobs, whose “a computer is a bicycle for the mind” metaphor has been turned up to 11, according to Kottke, by the success of the iPhone.
All these little parts, moving independently and together all...
Caine's Arcade →
It’s a beautiful thing, this meeting of hipsters and nine-year-olds.
(via)
3 tags
Looking at the fish
Regarding the whole “like” vs. “love” thing, I’m pretty sure that this TED talk by Sherry Turkle (alternate, earlier, version here) is moving into the latter category.
1 tag
To my boy
Happy 4th birthday Gus, squeezer of cats, city rambler and litter-picking buddy, and living room wrestler extraordinaire. Your future is why I get so worked up about all of this other stuff.
Mother Jones: I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave →
Mac McClelland:
I feel genuinely sorry for any child I might have who ever asks me for anything for Christmas, only to be informed that every time a “Place Order” button rings, a poor person takes four Advil and gets told they suck at their job.
And there’s this too. Holy Jungle, Batman. It’s time to reconsider Amazon Prime. I’m embarrassed to admit that I...
March 2012
3 posts
3 tags
Dead malls
Fergus Falls’ own Westridge Mall is a pretty fine example of a mall in its death throes (despite the carefully-selected photos shown on its website), but a quick perusal of the satisfyingly lo-fi Dead Malls website puts things in perspective.
Kaid Benfield of the NDRC ups the ante with his post on the world’s largest mall, which is, unsurprisingly, in China. But in an interesting...
Kottke is in good form today:
Meet the real-life Batman
Wind and water current maps by van Gogh (Javascript FTW!)
Both worthwhile afternoon interruptions.
3 tags
Comment and a link
I’ve laid off the blog scene, both reading and writing, for the past couple of months. But I’m slowly starting to come back out of my shell and reassert myself as the local curmudgeon-in-residence:
New Subway could open by late summer
Plans for a new Subway on Pebble Lake Road are moving along, according to current Fergus Falls franchisee Lee Fowler. If work continues as...
February 2012
2 posts
“The sky is talking back to me!”
– Gus, on echos
January 2012
1 post
Gingrich Attacks!
Jus’ sayin’…
December 2011
6 posts
2 tags
City Pages: Gay community apologizes to Amy Koch... →
So utterly pitch-perfect, I have to post it twice.
2 tags
Smoke Screening →
Bruce Schneier, originator of the phrase “security theater,” takes a Vanity Fair writer for a tour through the absurdity that is airport security.
(I just can’t let go of the shaving cream incident.)
“I’m three years old. I can handle anything.”
– Gus Krohn
2 tags
Re-engineering traffic
The stoplights at the main downtown intersection were out for a while this morning while workers did some maintenance. In its place was a 4-way stop with an island of stop signs placed right in the middle of the intersection. I watched the cars move through the intersection for several minutes, and made my way across each of the crosswalks. Not only was there less congestion at the intersection,...
1 tag
Struggling Ely taxpayers confront city leaders →
Echos of Strong Towns right here from Ely Mayor Roger Skraba (emphasis mine):
“My community is dying. I don’t like to say that. But it’s a fact,” he said. “And is it my job to bring it back? Yeah. Hell, I’m trying to keep it sustained right now. I used to think I wanted to grow it, but I just want to keep it. What we did this year is try to stabilize this...
3 tags
"Strong Towns" comes to Fergus Falls
I’ve been hoping that Fergus Falls could land a visit from Strong Towns to hear the brilliance of their Curbside Chat program, but so far things haven’t fallen into place. However, I am happy to announce that there will be an opportunity to hear their message via a live webcast on Tuesday, December 6th at 1:00 p.m. CST.
Not wanting to pass this up, I have organized a local viewing...
3 tags
Senator wants accounting from US Airways on Philly... →
The Post-Gazette reported Tuesday that when Southwest Airlines drops its flights between the two cities [Pittsburgh and Philadelphia] next month, the price for a US Airways round-trip ticket will increase from $118 plus taxes to $698 plus taxes. US Airways would be the only airline operating direct flights between the cities.
In the letter dated today, Mr. Casey said an increase of about...
November 2011
4 posts
“If you’re doing something wrong, just do something else.”
– Gus Krohn, 3
1 tag
"Wall Street Isn't Winning – It's Cheating" →
If I wasn’t knee-deep in back issues of The New Yorker, I’d consider resubscribing to Rolling Stone just so I could get my fix of Matt Taibbi:
Ordinary people have to borrow their money at market rates. Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon get billions of dollars for free, from the Federal Reserve. They borrow at zero and lend the same money back to the government at two or three...
2 tags
Strong Towns on MPR →
Strong Towns continues spreading their message, this time as guests of the statewide MPR “Midmorning” show. I love seeing where these guys turn up next.
October 2011
5 posts
2 tags
How not to spend $15 million
Reposted from the comments thread at Strong Towns:
@Nathaniel brings up a good point in that optimizing for throughput of cars could lead to a whole host of negative consequences for the rest of the city.
Take, for example, my town of Fergus Falls, which is currently in the midst of building a bridge over the Otter Tail River to the tune of $15 million. There are five crossings of the...
2 tags
Occupy the Internet, local edition
I am somewhat disappointed that we are going to be out of town for the Occupy Fergus Falls (FFDJ) gathering that is going on this Saturday, as I feel very strongly that what every sleepy rural town needs is absurdist political theater and public rallies to shake things up. And it’s only going down a block from our house, so that’s even better. But I’ve done what I could in my...
3 tags
Wherein I channel my inner Kunstler →
Let’s not be surprised by the decline in the construction industry. We’ve gone great guns into a single way of building the places where we work, live, and shop — namely the single-use, suburban model — and have built up an excess amount of space that we can neither use nor afford. Take a drive through any typical suburban strip or half-built housing development and...
Gourds-a-plenty
With the annual family trip to the local pumpkin patch complete, it is safe to say that fall is in full swing in the Krohn household. And you know what that means.
3 tags
Strong Towns TEDx Talk
I’ve been behind on things and just got the chance to watch this:
Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns recently took his message to the TEDx 1000 Lakes event in Grand Rapids, MN. His talk, titled “The Important Difference Between and Road and a Street,” is a another good primer on the principles behind his group (also not to be missed is the Curbside Chat companion booklet that was...
September 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Wise beyond his years
(While picking up litter at the neighborhood playground)
Me: Sigh. Why do people litter?
Gus: I don’t know. ‘Cause they’re idiots?
Fairs as an urban experience →
From Shareable:
An inspiring prototype for more sustainable, shareable, enjoyable cities rests right under our noses in communities across the nation, particularly mid-America.
In fact, millions of people in farm states pay an admission to amble through car-free districts animated by cafes, beer gardens, music performances and the enduringly interesting parade of people passing by. ...
Time to hit the treadmill →
Our local paper has a pretty colorful police blotter, which probably says something about both the town and the paper. This recent incident is a real head-scratcher:
City and county law enforcement are looking for a Fergus Falls woman after she allegedly ran from a jail escort in the parking lot of Lake Region Hospital on Saturday. […] The county sheriff’s office reported that after the...
August 2011
5 posts
3 tags
A Strong Towns Primer →
Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns sat down for an interview this morning to share the fundamentals of how his group thinks about urban design, transportation, and municipal finance issues. Trust me, it’s way more entertaining than it sounds. The interview starts at about the 11:50 mark.
2 tags
Canon BU-30 substitute →
Filed away for future cheapskate Googlers like myself: The Kensington K33902US Bluetooth USB Micro Adapter is an acceptable substitute for the Canon BU-30 Blueooth Adapter, and, at about $16, is about a third of the price. I used it for my portable PIXMA iP100 printer, but other reports indicate that it is good in other Canon printers as well.
2 tags
Plans, yes. Implementation, not even close. →
While we’re on the subject of urban planning in midsized Minnesota cities, Nathaniel Hood recently did a bang-up job of highlighting some of the contradictions in Mankato’s growth policy. Right hand, meet left.
Incidentally, his is one of my new favorite blogs. It’s always fun to read about these kinds of issues when they have a local twist.
3 tags
Kunstler's Law of Perverse Outcomes
“People get what they deserve, not what they expect.”
I don’t know if JHK actually coined that phrase, but he makes regular use of it when pontificating on current events, and it came to mind tonight while I was weighing in on a debate going on in our fair city, namely where to place the police, who are currently living the life of renters, spread out in several buildings...
3 tags
Happy days aren't here again
Despite (or because of) their often sobering messages, the Monday morning analyses of Kunstler and Charles Marhon (of Strong Towns fame) is always something I look forward to reading. Their most recent look (1, 2) at debt ceilings, credit ratings, and the ever-shrinking corner that we have painted ourselves in to is an interesting example of the zeitgeist at work and an instructive comparison...
July 2011
4 posts
3 tags
The Busy Bee Garden Project, Part One →
Oh, to be a flâneur dad.
I pay for this?
One would think that after logging into one’s account and clicking on the “My Services” tab, one would actually see what Qwest telephone and internet services one is entitled to. Or not:
You truly get what you pay for. As my “new customer” promotional discounts start to expire, I am looking forward to jumping ship.
3 tags
Word of the day: "Externalities"
Something we don’t think about enough.
(via)
3 tags
Book of note: Deep Economy →
I just finished reading “Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.” As part of my new strategy of doing more and talking less, I won’t comment too much on it except to say that this book helped inspire that strategy and is worth a read by anyone with a passing interest in (sub)urban development, food issues, growth, economics, peak energy, environmentalism,...
June 2011
1 post
2 tags
"I can’t get used to the idea that I am worth less... →
Ah, Europe.
(via)
May 2011
1 post
On adverts →
Banksy:
The people who run our cities don’t understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit. The people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it...
April 2011
5 posts
Why Don't Minnesota Lawmakers Want to Talk About... →
One blogger’s attempt to learn more about the reasons behind legislative support for a recently introduced state bill criminalizing documentation of agricultural animal facilities are consistently rebuffed. A depressing foray into the ugly coupling of politics and agribusiness.
Update: Awesomeness from the comments. “MJ” writes:
I received the following reply to my email...
1 tag
DIY ambience →
Otomata may well be the most beautiful thing I’ve interacted with in a while. Using some pretty simple cellular automata rules, a la The Game of Life (no, not that one), one can create simple musical sequences that, depending on the placement and direction of the individual units, can slowly evolve and thereby produce an ever-changing melody.
This is programming or writing music at its...
3 tags
Documenting street art →
Some people call it graffiti, but that word has taken on such a negative connotation that I prefer to use the term “street art.” Moving beyond the typical hastily-scribbled tags, street art in the form of spray-painted stencils, stickers, and pasted-up posters provides a not unpleasant (to these eyes, anyway), decoration of our public space.
Growing up in small-town North...
A Black Swan of my own
I didn’t make it through the entire book in my last go-round from the public library, but the basic concept of Nassim Taleb’s cautionary tale “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” rang true enough for me to get a general grasp of its main thesis: namely, it’s the unforeseen and unpredictable that ultimately end up shaping our world in a major way....
4 tags
Monday morning JHK →
There are a few things you can state categorically about the US energy predicament and the national conversation we’re having about it - including the leaders of that conversation in government, business, and the media. One is that we are blowing a lot of green smoke up our collective ass. None of these schemes [natural gas, domestic oil production, Canadian tar sands, electric cars] is...
March 2011
3 posts
Come again? →
“I have two grandchildren: Maggie is 11; Robert is 9,” Gingrich said at Cornerstone Church here. “I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an...