Words words words words and some pictures..Publishing Practices - Book Survey

For all those designers out there saddled with the copious eye-candy, theory, fun time reading books that you remember mostly when either destroyed in a flood (sucks) or when you have to move them from one place of residence to the next (sucks as well however possibly less), Michael Kubo is gathering information via a book survey about your 5 most important books, where you got them, etc. which will be showcased as an exhibit in the Pink Comma Gallery in September (my birthmonth) 2009. You can find more information about the exhibit on the Publishing Practices Facebook Page which goes into greater detail.

Surveys are due August 1, 2009

Survey

The search for maple syrup continues...Blue Pike Farm

I think it was back in 2004 that my former roommate Jon found and attempted brewing a batch of Maple Wheat Beer. We had practiced on some brew kits prior to this excursion but we wanted something different, something more "crafty" and so Jon made a sizable economic investment ($70 or so which was double what it usually cost us to brew a batch - around 55 12 oz bottles - of beer) and brewed what to this day, was the best home brew attempted, similar in flavor to Rochefort 10 but without the nose. I think we dubbed it "Krazy Kanuckian Klassic" due to the maple syrup content and proceeded to enjoy all we could. Since then the search has been hesitantly proceeding to finding the right maple syrup to brew with.

It was with this mission that we decided to hit up Blue Pike Farm for their Peach & BarBQ Festival with the thought that perhaps there may be some syrup laying about. There wasn't any syrup.

However, we got a tour of the farm (which is pretty extensive, well organized and interesting) and picked up some goodies as well as chatted with Carl at the main tent who pointed us to the Saturday Shaker Market for our local maple syrup needs. As our other known option is to drive to Chardon I think we are going to try some more of the local markets first. Not that the drive is that horrible but I don't have the hankering for a proper road trip when I can explore local markets instead.

So this long, round about diatribe, which begun with our quest for maple syrup resulted in the discovery of peach cobbler. I will still mark it as a success even if it didn't result in the direct procurement of beer as I finally got to walk the Blue Pike Farm, chat with some extremely nice people and learned some neat gardening techniques and quandaries which I am looking forward to exploring.

Of course one should take the time to appreciate that Blue Pike Farm is an urban farm (maybe 1 acre?) located on reclaimed land along East 72nd about a half mile south of the Innerbelt (North of St. Clair) that has been going (growing?) strong and has built up quite a local following. You can purchase goodies via signing up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription or stop by on Thursdays between 4-7pm until October. They also host events (similar to today's Peach and BBQ Festival where specific foods are the guest of honor) and I think the next one is in a couple of weeks and involves heirloom tomatoes (I love tomatoes with some basil and fresh mozzarella and balsamic...). Keep your eyes on the Local Food Cleveland - Events page or you can sign up on the email list by emailing them from the page below with a note to be added to their mailing list in the subject line.

resources:
Local Harvest

The road now runs through it - Cleveland's Lakefront access

It was a beautiful day and we decided to head to Gordon Park. A park I hadn't been to in 15 years but drive past on my home from work almost every day. To me, coming from a family that harbors a somewhat nerdy passion for this city, Gordon Park makes me a little sad. Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful park and offers fishing, boating, biking/jogging, access to Lake Erie, access to Dike 14, greenspace for cookouts and playing and all around park frivolity, however way back when, in the late 1950's to 1960's the innerbelt project was implemented, severing Gordon Park from Cleveland's Rockefeller Park home of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. What was once a sinuous green path that connected University Circle to Lake Erie was forever altered, isolating Rockefeller park via an interstate interchange and forever changing the fabric of the area.

Luckily Rockefeller Park is still there, stronger than ever, and one can argue that the access to Gordon Park did it only good (albeit from a strictly vehicular point of view), but the import of the innerbelt decision is one that rankles the City of Cleveland even to this day. Nary a discussion can be made about how to improve our burg without the exclamation of lack of lake access. It isn't only the innerbelt though, rail, industry and infrastructure hamper our access, giving but a few localized schwerpunkt with which to breach this boundary and reach Lake Erie.

It could be here that we can have a discussion on destination versus community. Where the language of identifying with a location is so much stronger when one can become more intimately knowledgeable of a space by having taken the time to explore, to discover the nuances, to make familiar ascertainment of an unfamiliar region, made much easier when one has reason to walk around and explore. Whereas in a destination one is encapsulated in their travel, with the sole purpose of fulfilling the obligation of the destination and then travel back to familiar areas. The destination becomes more compact/contained (mentally) when reached via limited access and by car then when a myriad of access points are allowed and travel can be made by more intimate scale (foot or bike) or by a more public service such as bus or light rail.

This discussion can be had again at a later time. This isn't why I am here today.

Instead I had run across an article reminding us of 4 cases where the removal of a highway actually alleviated traffic". This isn't new news. There have been a plethora of reports arguing that increasing highway access does little in decrease commute time or negate congestion (as easier commute results in more exurbs, increasing commuters and increasing congestion) and can be directly blamed for the decrease in use of the urban core. However now we are starting to see a conscious move towards pushing the import of the automobile aside in favor of people and amenities for people.

So what does one thing have to do with the other? Imagine if the innerbelt were redesigned to accommodate less traffic and more access to the lake. Where communities could actually link to both sides of the Freeway in order to grow and become whole, where the commute into Cleveland would make people question the sanity of driving in from an hour out (when it quickly becomes 2 or 3 hours) but instead realize that it makes more sense to live where you work and fill in the voids of the city (and increase tax revenue). Imagine being able to use the Lakefront to celebrate the city and its history. Imagine access to the river as well, or to Tremont (another neighborhood cut off by the innerbelt) or all the other neighborhoods that are currently shorn in half by eight lanes of concrete (Lorain Ave. never fully recovered although the barrier may have made Lakewood stronger as Cleveland to its South is beyond the barricade).

With the innerbelt project currently under study (as it has been for over a decade) we (and NOACA, who, through the Avon Interchange project has shown a willingness to become rather complicate in the destruction of downtown Cleveland) need to find a way to decrease the costs of the unnecessary infrastructure that hampers our city through easing sprawl as well as blocks the evolution of Cleveland.

resources:
Cleveland Public Library - Postcards from Parks of Cleveland's Past - near the bottom third is Gordon Park.

Cleveland Museum of Art Expansion hits ArchDaily

If you are like me (probably not as handsome and quick witted but we can't ALL be perfect) you may be a subscriber to the ArchDaily newsletter to help get your eye candy quotient before you begin your work day.

I try not to think too critically before 9am (in order to keep my blood pressure down) so when I saw the Cleveland Museum of Art Addition posted in ArchDaily I figured I would pass it along in preparation of some organized thoughts on the subject.

So, take a peek without the discourse, without a slanted view being hollered in your ear. Just absorb the pretty pictures and the brief but thorough description of what the project entailed.