Basement Office

Moderated!

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:51:18 -0500

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 life-changing realization.

I think it’s good satire and a fair enough jab at a couple of rubes who took it upon themselves to spread their particular brand of hatemongering to our town.

Tree hugging

Tue, 01 May 2012 16:43:53 -0500

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 cut down. To better accommodate our cars, you know. “X” marks the spot:

Check back in 100 years to see how it turns out.

As we continue to demean our city’s history, the environment, and the passing of time itself, don’t be surprised to see the trees starting to talk back:

Gus and I are checking on the tree daily. His next suggestion for a sign was the slightly terroristic “If you cut me down, there will be consequences.” I’m pleased to see that he’s mastering the fine art of the threat.

I’ve been mostly silent on the fate of the Fergus Falls...

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:04:59 -0500

I’ve been mostly silent on the fate of the Fergus Falls State Hospital, as it’s a big, messy issue and I’ve had conflicting thoughts about the place and how it could best be utilized. But as talk about demolition heats up, thoughtful consideration of its future is being put off in favor of a more primal desire to see it live to fight another day.

The entire state hospital set is on Flickr.

The Crisis in American ________

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:03:09 -0500

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 at the same time.

Caine's Arcade

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:06:21 -0500

Caine's Arcade:

It’s a beautiful thing, this meeting of hipsters and nine-year-olds.

(via)

Looking at the fish

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:44:37 -0500

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.

To my boy

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:06:52 -0500

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

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:16:00 -0500

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 never gave it much thought before.

Sometimes I seriously wonder how we’re going to make it as a society any more.

(via)

Dead malls

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 09:21:50 -0500

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 twist, this mall is effectively vacant:

There’s lots of other good links embedded in the post that are worth checking out.

Kottke is in good form today: Meet the real-life Batman Wind and water current maps by van Gogh...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:28:07 -0500

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.

Comment and a link

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:13:23 -0500

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 expected, he hopes to have the building open by late August or early September of this year.

…

Why do we continue to assume that this sort of activity is good for the city in which it takes place? And by “activity,” I mean the construction of yet another restaurant/clinic/store on the edge of town, whose lifeblood is the presumed willingness of the consumer to motor on out at the tune of $3.60+ per gallon, not to mention the literally millions in road-related infrastructure that must be maintained in order to make this sort of development feasible. There are also numerous unaccounted-for externalities: the environmental (and even geopolitical) harm caused by our search for oil and the consumption thereof, the degradation of our urban environment by suburban trappings and the roads needed to service them, and the erosion of our public health caused by the placement of things that people want to go to in a location where it is neither convenient nor pleasant to do so in anything but a car. (More)

Oh yes, we’ve got problems.

South Dakota’s Junior Senator speaks.

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:54:36 -0600

South Dakota’s Junior Senator speaks.

"The sky is talking back to me!"

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:11:40 -0600

“The sky is talking back to me!”

- Gus, on echos

Gingrich Attacks!

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:07:54 -0600

Jus’ sayin’…

City Pages: Gay community apologizes to Amy Koch for ruining her marriage

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:23:10 -0600

City Pages: Gay community apologizes to Amy Koch for ruining her marriage:

So utterly pitch-perfect, I have to post it twice.

Smoke Screening

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:51:02 -0600

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."

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:11:36 -0600

“I’m three years old. I can handle anything.”

- Gus Krohn

Re-engineering traffic

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:55:44 -0600

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, but it was much easier and faster to traverse the crosswalks. So cautious were the drivers to this new situation that one could have pulled a Hans Monderman and walked across the street backwards with little danger.

Struggling Ely taxpayers confront city leaders

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:28:47 -0600

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 community, physically stabilize it, just to stop it from falling apart.”

I bet we’ll hear a lot more stories like this in the months and years to come.

"Strong Towns" comes to Fergus Falls

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:18:12 -0600

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 party at the library, and am working on getting the word out. Details of the viewing party are as follows:

When: December 6, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: Fergus Falls Public Library (205 E. Hampden Avenue)

Visit the event’s website for more information and an RSVP form.

Here’s my pitch:

The Strong Towns message really transcends politics and focuses on unraveling the myth that what we’ve built in and around our cities for the past 60 or so years is sustainable. Here in Minnesota, we’ve already begun to see the system self-destruct with the gradual and inevitable erosion of state aid, but as long as we continue to deny the predicament that we’ve gotten ourselves into, we’re just digging ourselves a deeper hole. There is an alternative to what we are doing, and this alternative results in more interesting, vibrant, and active communities that are worth living in and which contain the necessary elements for their continued prosperity.

Anyway, I hope you can join in on the conversation, either in person or online, wherever you may be.