Excuses, excuses

Alright, I am back. I know it was only a day off really but it was hectic for me. See, the LEED 2.1 Professional Accreditation Exam was supposed to close the 2.1 format to transistion to the 2.2 format on October 31st so for the past 3 days or so I have been cramming so that I could sit for the exam this morning.

I am now a Leed Accreditated Professional. Finally. I guess I finally put my money where my mouth was. Now when asked about my what I do for fun I can say that I am an Accreditated Treehugger. Word.

Anyway, I was going through the USGBC website trying to see if there was a "LEED AP" icon I could snag for this post (I don't think there is, only the USGBC icon, for which I am a member through work but does that make it legal to display here? Probably not.) I saw an interesting headline.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: To accommodate unprecendented demand, the deadline for taking the current LEED Professional Accreditation Exam has been extended through November 30, 2006.

So, if you guys want to get in before the LEED format changes then you better hurry and register. As for the exam, let me just say that the phrasing on some of the questions wasn't the best but if you read EVERYTHING in the reference guide (and memorize about half) you will probably pass easily. It actually wasn't that bad, it was mostly that I hadn't sat for a standardized type test for over 3 years and it felt weird and nerve wrecking to sit and take one now. To be honest the worst part about it was that the testing center was in Mentor, Ohio which is about the worst laid out city I have ever seen populated by America's worse drivers. Seriously, the worst. I got yelled at by some lady going the wrong way who almost hit me after some chucklehead in a new Monte Carlo almost backed into me. Also, those blinking lights on the side of your car aren't Christmas lights, you can use them year round to indicate planned directional changes.

Good luck!

Architecture in Motion - FILM (and other ARTS) FEASTS part IV

Wednesday, November 1, 2006
MOCA Cleveland
7.00pm
$75.00 per guest

Well, this has been all over the place so I might as well jump on the bandwagon. I have to apologize for possible post slacking as I have an event coming up Friday that I have to prepare for and it is consuming all of my spare time (spare time to be constituted as time not used to make a living).

Anyway, most of you might have noticed that MOCA is planning a big move to University Circle, the Akron Art Museum is undergoing a minor renovation (You can still make the Wolf Prix presentation tonight if you hurry!) and the Cleveland Museum of Art is also undergoing some changes. What do these three projects have in common? Besides being in Northeastern Ohio? They are all art museums! Crazy stuff eh?

Some are calling these undertakings an "architectural renaissance" but I won't make such pretty statements. The times, they are a changing which leads to some rare opprotunities to marvel at the connections between art and architecture. If only there was some sort of Forum with which the public could learn about these changes, the directions taken and the considerations that were taken into account while these changes were planned.

Oh wait, there IS!

Join
Jill Snyder -Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art [MOCA Cleveland]
David Deming -President of the Cleveland Institute of Art
Timothy Rub -Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Museum of Art [also panel moderator]
Mitchell Kahan -Director of the Akron Art Museum
Terry Stewart -CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

for a lively discussion of where they are, what they envision and where they are wanting to go. There will be a dessert reception following the program and seating is limited to 50 guests so hurry up and order your tickets.

- Architecture in Motion is the fourth FILM (and other ARTS) FEASTS series put on by the Cleveland Film Society as a fundraiser to support the Cleveland International Film Festival.

Earth Day Coalition's 9th Annual Fall Benefit - Instrumental Evening for the earth

Thursday, November 9th, 2006
Cleveland's Trinity Cathedral
2230 Euclid Avenue
6.00pm - 9.30pm

Is one supposed to capitalize "earth"? For some reason I am unsure. The Earth Day Coalition (EDC if you are hip) is presenting it's 9th annual fall benefit. There will be food by Mustard Seed Market and Cafe, a silent auction and a candle-lit concert.

"Daniel McKelway and Lembi Veskimets joined by renowned pianist Hyunsoon Whang and friends from the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra will perform Mozart's Piano Quartet and Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds."

Read more about this wonderfully environmental and possibly romantic evening here.

You do have to purchase tickets and there is limited space so you better get a move on to get your groove on. Oh my, I can't believe I actually typed that out.

Milan of the Midwest vs. Millions for land; no new jobs for city

I don't honestly know where to begin. Last Tuesday I was at the Stark lecture/forum at CSU and got all excited about the city and what direction it was wanting to take. I didn't want to disseminate Stark's forum yet because I was mulling it over like a fine wine. I love the idea of his vision for the warehouse district, however, this is the person that brought up Crocker Park which I find one of the most vile places on the face of the planet outside of Wal/K mart. Anyways, Mr. Stark got me all riled up in a good way.

Fast forward to Sunday when I opened the Plain Dealer and first read an article about how it appears that the city was hoodwinked (HOODWINKED I say) and that neighborhood around E 80th and Kinsman was getting the short end once again. You can read all about it here, I fear my attempt at a proper summation would do little justice to the amount of disgust and betrayal that I felt.

I know, it is all politics. Whatever. When I hear or read stuff like this all I can think in is four letter words. I feel bad for Mayor Jackson for going along with this mess. I feel bad for Belinda Pesti for the most awful quote I have ever read:

"Pesti was the city's point person tracking the use of public dollars on the Kinbess project. But the economic development veteran said she was not told that CMHA and Kinbess had signed a purchase agreement, and was not included in crafting Jackson's legislation facilitating the sale to CMHA.

Pesti gasped when told during the interview that Kinbess sold the land for $150,000 an acre. "I didn't know how much they asked for that," she said. When asked how it was in the public interest for Kinbess to sell the land to CMHA, she responded: "I don't have an answer for you."

I mostly feel bad for the people of Cleveland who's tax money went toward remediating a brownfield site in the hopes of creating a developed retail/office park to create local jobs and instead paid a grossly exaggerated price for a no-bid development that will relocate existing jobs instead of creating new ones.

I may not be a smart man, but I know that isn't what people signed up for. Hemisphere Development must still believe they are on the right track, it seems they are promoting their Forgotten Triangle Development as an example of what THEY can do FOR YOU.

Oh, and then to add an air of disbelief to the whole event, whilst I was still angry about the above debacle I flip to the Metro section (I usually read this second right after the comics but I was overdosed on caffeine and my morning routine was torn asunder) and read that Experts [are] designing a plan for downtown Cleveland. Yay, experts! No, seriously, I am excited. See, when people sit down and start planning out an area, especially an area that is so central to the arts and design and then people start getting the word out early enough so that the community knows then good things can happen. Good, glorious, well thought out, clever things.

And the area is primed for it. The addition of the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project (which I have not dwelt on enough) will create easy, non personal automobile access which would allow the district to redesign itself for pedestrians. Imagine, people walking about in downtown, window shopping and just enjoying a stroll instead of the heads down bustle-have-to-get-my-lunch-and-back-to-the-office-quickly sort of muss we have going on now.

At least an important lesson is to be learned here. Dissemination of information can lead to halting bad projects before they go south while community involvement may be the root to revitalizing urban areas that felt once forgotten. Was that too dense? How about this then? "Utter lack of design makes crappy stuff".

Rustle the Leaf goes ANIMATED!

I know I have mentioned Rustle the Leaf before. It is a goofy little treehuggin' web comic that has some pretty good articles about the planet and environmentalism and they are pretty good for a chuckle. I am sure my friends are about sick to death of me forwarding comics on to them. I am trying to quit any sort of forwarding habit. I have heard the one legged waitress joke WAY too many times.

Well, the good folks over at Rustle the Leaf are doing their webcomic one better. Yup, they are going ANIMATED with sound and music and funny little movements and after seeing the first one I have to admit I am excited for more.

ps. sorry for "borrowing" the banner for this post guys, hope you don't mind too much, I just think it explains everything pretty dang well.

The Home House Project: Green Cleveland

Exhibit: Affordable Housing for the Future
Reinberger Galleries, Cleveland Institute of Art
November 3, 2006 - December 22, 2006

Panel Discussion: Affordable Housing for the Future
Aitkin Auditorium (Cleveland Institute of Art?)
November 3, 2006
7.00 pm

Exhibit Opening Reception
Reinberger Galleries
5.15 pm
November 3, 2006

In 2003 the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) held a competition based upon affordability, design and sustainability in housing. The open competition drew 440 multinational entries which were based on the typical layout of Habitat for humanities three and four bedroom designs. Then, in an effort to grab more attention to the idea of living in well designed and environmentally friendly homes they published a very pretty book.

Whilst I was away this weekend visiting my family I noticed the above postcard sitting on my mother's kitchen island. "I was saving that for you" she said when I picked it up and waved it about with an inquisitive look on my face. No doubt inferring that I would glance at it and respond with my usual "Oh, yeah, I saw that (insert location here) and am really excited about it."

Well, that didn't happen. I don't know why as the opening is only a couple of weeks away. One would think that the Reinberger Galleries would at least have some notice up. Or maybe E4S, I mean, it is a whole exhibition of 100 sustainable, affordable houses for criminy's sake.

Regardless, the whole thing has me very excited something like this is coming to Cleveland but also really upset that it isn't being broadcast more. Maybe it is. Maybe it lurks in the archives of Green City Blue Lake and I just haven't found it.

What I want to know is where are the 100 award-winning designs from? Are any local? Are there more competitions coming up that we should be made aware of? Who do I go to for answers? Dear God, don't say I have to become self reliant!