Wednesday, December 20, 2006
New I-5 Bridge
Hey, did you guys know they are planning out a new I-5 Bridge over the Columbia River?
They want to try to relieve some of the traffic problems by adding a third lane at the "bottleneck" at Delta Park and by replacing the green I-5 Bridge over the Columbia.
The other reason they need to replace the bridge is that it no longer meets safety codes for interstate freeways.
The Columbia River Crossing Task Force has been looking at various options for about a year. Basically using process of elimination, they have narrowed it down to two options:
A. New medium-height (no lift-span) bridge
Bus Rapid Transit
Express Bus service
B. New medium-height (no lift-span) bridge
Light Rail
Express Bus service
So now the choice is between Light Rail or Bus Rapid Transit.
(I posted more information on these forms of mass transit as a comment.)
The only thing I am worried about is that they still seem to be considering widening the freeway over the bridge from 3 lanes to 4 lanes. This seems illogical because it is impractical to widen the rest of I-5 into Portland to 4 lanes. So all it would do would be to create another bottleneck.
Widening I-5 all the way into Portland would increase capacity. However, I believe this would not be ethical for two primary reasons.
A. Widening I-5 would mean demolishing more houses in North Portland.
B. More capacity means more cars and more pollution. The effects of the traffic pollution are felt by the residents of North Portland, not the residents of Vancouver who produce it. Thus the true cost of driving is not felt by those committing the act. Rather, it is felt by the powerless and voiceless poor who live along the freeway.
I also am crossing my fingers that the final bridge design is interesting and distinct as apposed to something resembling the I-205 Glen Jackson Bridge (which clearly wasn't designed with aesthetics in mind).
What do you guys think?
The Columbia River Crossing Project website is http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/
They want to try to relieve some of the traffic problems by adding a third lane at the "bottleneck" at Delta Park and by replacing the green I-5 Bridge over the Columbia.
The other reason they need to replace the bridge is that it no longer meets safety codes for interstate freeways.
The Columbia River Crossing Task Force has been looking at various options for about a year. Basically using process of elimination, they have narrowed it down to two options:
A. New medium-height (no lift-span) bridge
Bus Rapid Transit
Express Bus service
B. New medium-height (no lift-span) bridge
Light Rail
Express Bus service
So now the choice is between Light Rail or Bus Rapid Transit.
(I posted more information on these forms of mass transit as a comment.)
The only thing I am worried about is that they still seem to be considering widening the freeway over the bridge from 3 lanes to 4 lanes. This seems illogical because it is impractical to widen the rest of I-5 into Portland to 4 lanes. So all it would do would be to create another bottleneck.
Widening I-5 all the way into Portland would increase capacity. However, I believe this would not be ethical for two primary reasons.
A. Widening I-5 would mean demolishing more houses in North Portland.
B. More capacity means more cars and more pollution. The effects of the traffic pollution are felt by the residents of North Portland, not the residents of Vancouver who produce it. Thus the true cost of driving is not felt by those committing the act. Rather, it is felt by the powerless and voiceless poor who live along the freeway.
I also am crossing my fingers that the final bridge design is interesting and distinct as apposed to something resembling the I-205 Glen Jackson Bridge (which clearly wasn't designed with aesthetics in mind).
What do you guys think?
The Columbia River Crossing Project website is http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
kewpie dolls
Kewpie dolls and figurines are based on illustrations by Rose O'neill that appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. These illustrations, which incorporated words and pictures with the recurring Kewpie characters, are considered to be early versions of the comic strip medium. The small dolls were extremely popular in the early 1900s. They were first made out of bisque and then celluloid. In 1949, Efanbee created the first hard plastic versions.
Their name, often shortened to "Kewpies", in fact is derived from "Cupid", the Roman god. The early dolls, especially signed or celluloid, are highly collectible and worth thousands of dollars. The time capsule at the 1939 New York World's Fair contained a Kewpie doll.
Many other articles were made using their images, like coloring and poem books, cups, plates, curios, etc. The incredible success of these characters made their creator rich and famous. It's a rare example of a woman making it in the media business at such an early date. Kewpies should not be confused with the baby-like Billiken figures that debuted in 1908.
Their name, often shortened to "Kewpies", in fact is derived from "Cupid", the Roman god. The early dolls, especially signed or celluloid, are highly collectible and worth thousands of dollars. The time capsule at the 1939 New York World's Fair contained a Kewpie doll.
Many other articles were made using their images, like coloring and poem books, cups, plates, curios, etc. The incredible success of these characters made their creator rich and famous. It's a rare example of a woman making it in the media business at such an early date. Kewpies should not be confused with the baby-like Billiken figures that debuted in 1908.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
FOOD
Your generosity has been well received. When the food was delivered the little kids had already set the table in anticipation...
Thursday, December 07, 2006
alliteration help
If anyone is out there, it would be greatly appreciated if you could give me two examples of alliteration not counting the "p" one about the Pequod's purpose.
I left my book at school.
THANK YOU.
I left my book at school.
THANK YOU.
Monday, December 04, 2006
essay prompts
1 Discuss Ahab the transcendentalist
2 Discuss the relationship between Ahab and Pip
3 Discuss Melville's view of savagery and barbaric behavior
4 Discuss the significance of Moby Dick (the whale) from Ahab's perspective
5 Find and discuss the significance of at least three examples of alliteration from Moby Dick
6 Discuss Ishmael the existentialist
7 Find and discuss the significance of at least three allegories from Moby Dick
8 Your honest assessment of this unit
2 Discuss the relationship between Ahab and Pip
3 Discuss Melville's view of savagery and barbaric behavior
4 Discuss the significance of Moby Dick (the whale) from Ahab's perspective
5 Find and discuss the significance of at least three examples of alliteration from Moby Dick
6 Discuss Ishmael the existentialist
7 Find and discuss the significance of at least three allegories from Moby Dick
8 Your honest assessment of this unit
Sunday, December 03, 2006
A Furlong (not a "funlong")
Here's what Wiki said about Furlongs:
History
The name "furlong" derives from the Old English words furh (furrow) and lang (long). Dating back at least to the ninth century, it originally referred to the length of the furrow in one acre of a ploughed open field (a medieval communal field which was divided into strips). The system of long furrows arose because turning a team of oxen pulling a heavy plough was difficult. This offset the drainage advantages of short furrows and meant furrows were made as long as possible. An acre is an area that is one furlong long and one chain (22 yards) wide. For this reason, the furlong was once also called an acre's length, though in modern usage an acre can of course be any shape.
The furlong was historically viewed as equivalent to the Roman stade (stadium), which in turn derived from the Greek system. For example the King James bible will use the term "furlong" in place of the Greek "stadion", whereas modern translations will translate into miles in the main text and relate the (often very symbolic) original numbers in footnotes.
In the Roman system, there were 625 feet to the stade, eight stade to the mile, and three miles to the league. A league was considered to be the distance a man could walk in one hour, and the mile consisted of 1000 passus (5 feet, or double-step).
After the fall of Rome, Medieval Europe continued with the Roman system, which proceeded to "diversify" leading to serious complications in trade, taxation, etc. Around the turn of the century of 1300, England by decree standardized a long list of measures. Among the important units of distance and length at the time were foot, yard, rod, furlong and mile. The rod was 5½ yards (16½ feet), and the mile was eight furlongs, so the definition of the furlong became 40 rods and that of the mile became 5280 feet. (In other words, the reason the prime number 11 slipped into the English and subsequently the British and US systems was to accommodate the rod.)
The official use of furlong was abolished in the United Kingdom under the Weights and Measures Act 1985, which also abolished from official use many other traditional units of measurement.
History
The name "furlong" derives from the Old English words furh (furrow) and lang (long). Dating back at least to the ninth century, it originally referred to the length of the furrow in one acre of a ploughed open field (a medieval communal field which was divided into strips). The system of long furrows arose because turning a team of oxen pulling a heavy plough was difficult. This offset the drainage advantages of short furrows and meant furrows were made as long as possible. An acre is an area that is one furlong long and one chain (22 yards) wide. For this reason, the furlong was once also called an acre's length, though in modern usage an acre can of course be any shape.
The furlong was historically viewed as equivalent to the Roman stade (stadium), which in turn derived from the Greek system. For example the King James bible will use the term "furlong" in place of the Greek "stadion", whereas modern translations will translate into miles in the main text and relate the (often very symbolic) original numbers in footnotes.
In the Roman system, there were 625 feet to the stade, eight stade to the mile, and three miles to the league. A league was considered to be the distance a man could walk in one hour, and the mile consisted of 1000 passus (5 feet, or double-step).
After the fall of Rome, Medieval Europe continued with the Roman system, which proceeded to "diversify" leading to serious complications in trade, taxation, etc. Around the turn of the century of 1300, England by decree standardized a long list of measures. Among the important units of distance and length at the time were foot, yard, rod, furlong and mile. The rod was 5½ yards (16½ feet), and the mile was eight furlongs, so the definition of the furlong became 40 rods and that of the mile became 5280 feet. (In other words, the reason the prime number 11 slipped into the English and subsequently the British and US systems was to accommodate the rod.)
The official use of furlong was abolished in the United Kingdom under the Weights and Measures Act 1985, which also abolished from official use many other traditional units of measurement.
Ahah! - He did say "furlong"
In the chapter entitled "Squid," Melville described it as being furlongs in length and width. That is what I thought was an exageration. I knew I got mixed up someplace. A furlong is 660 feet (1/8 mile). I wonder if he was exagerating or if the reader was supposed to believe that the squid was actually that long.
Does anybody have any idea what the "s" sounds in Stubb Kills a Whale are supposed to mean?
Has anybody found any other examples of alliteration (I'm assuming that we can discuss such things on the blog since we do in class)?
Does anybody have any idea what the "s" sounds in Stubb Kills a Whale are supposed to mean?
Has anybody found any other examples of alliteration (I'm assuming that we can discuss such things on the blog since we do in class)?
Friday, December 01, 2006
cool vintage books I bought
Sadly, last summer, one of my neighbors died. He worked on bi-planes during the time of the First World War. I can't remember if he was a piolot in the war. He also introduced my family to the Pearson Air Museum. His widow held an estate sale today and I bought some interesting vintage books from them.
The first book is a 1938 edition of The Oxford Anthology of American Literature.
It has works written by everyone from Common Sense to Washington Irving to Edgar Allan Poe to Ralph Waldo Emerson to Henry David Thoreau to Nathaniel Hawthorne to Herman Melville to Robert Frost to Earnest Hemmingway to TS Eliot, but not much beyond that. (I don't think Steinbeck had gained classic status yet, actually was just writing Grapes of Wrath when this book came out). One cool thing is that when it tells these author's life spans a lot of them had not yet ended. It's almost inconceivable for me to imagine these guys still being around.
I also bought an old copy of Taming of the Shrew and a 19-page book called the Specialist by some guy named Sale. It appears to have been popular during the Depression.
I also got an old book about dynamos and electrical principles such as Ohm's
Law. The book was printed in 1895! I bought it for about $2.
I also bought a geology book--old, but not that old--and a book called "The
Outline of Knowledge Vol. VIII" about chemistry, physics, electricity, medicine,
and mathematics. It was printed in 1924.
It is especially interesting to look at the section on radiation, which was written
essentially when all of that was just being discovered.
I have also failed to find a periodic chart in the book. I take it the periodic
table of the elements was not yet in popular use.
The first book is a 1938 edition of The Oxford Anthology of American Literature.
It has works written by everyone from Common Sense to Washington Irving to Edgar Allan Poe to Ralph Waldo Emerson to Henry David Thoreau to Nathaniel Hawthorne to Herman Melville to Robert Frost to Earnest Hemmingway to TS Eliot, but not much beyond that. (I don't think Steinbeck had gained classic status yet, actually was just writing Grapes of Wrath when this book came out). One cool thing is that when it tells these author's life spans a lot of them had not yet ended. It's almost inconceivable for me to imagine these guys still being around.
I also bought an old copy of Taming of the Shrew and a 19-page book called the Specialist by some guy named Sale. It appears to have been popular during the Depression.
I also got an old book about dynamos and electrical principles such as Ohm's
Law. The book was printed in 1895! I bought it for about $2.
I also bought a geology book--old, but not that old--and a book called "The
Outline of Knowledge Vol. VIII" about chemistry, physics, electricity, medicine,
and mathematics. It was printed in 1924.
It is especially interesting to look at the section on radiation, which was written
essentially when all of that was just being discovered.
I have also failed to find a periodic chart in the book. I take it the periodic
table of the elements was not yet in popular use.
Who's in the Women Whalers presentation group?
Hey cool, me too now.
Fathom
The name derives from the Old English name foethm meaning outstreched arms. Once used for measuring distances on land it is now only for nautical uses. The verb "to fathom" means to measure the depth of something. Until early 20th century is was the unit used to measure the depth of mines in Cornwall, England.
