-Denton Drive between Storey Lane and Community Drive has reopened. The portion of Denton between Community Drive and Webb Chapel remains closed until further notice.

-Downtown Dallas: Through approximately Sunday, December 6, the intersection of Live Oak at Good Latimer is reduced to one lane in all four directions.

-Hatcher: Lawnview Avenue at Scyene Road has been reopened.

-Councilmembers Ron Natinsky and Linda Koop, along with DART representatives, invite you to the Route 184 Community Update Briefing.

Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Renner Frankford Library – Auditorium
6400 Frankford Road

Route 184 is one of the few limited-stop routes from far North Dallas to Downtown Dallas. Over the last few years, DART has reviewed the performance of Route 184 and has looked at a number of transit options to enhance and maintain ridership. However, ridership has reached a point where several decisions regarding the future of this route must be made and implemented in a timely fashion.

Please plan to attend a community briefing to discuss current and future plans concerning Route 184; without your input we won’t have a good solution.

With apologies to Abdul Salaam El Razzac, who said a version of my title in the movie “Pretty Woman”, I thought this article was a pretty interesting and, at times, depressing and scary look at transit in Los Angeles.  Check out these passages; the premise is that the guy will get around in LA for a week using only transit and see how it goes.  This is obviously potent material for the argument about how transit succeeds or fails, in large measure, based on how land gets used. 

My grand scheme hit its first speed bump after the first hour. I’d taken the bus from West Hollywood, where I was staying, to a bus stop near the Getty Villa, but as I approached the steep driveway leading up to the museum, two stern-looking security guards stopped me. Walking up the driveway would have taken no more than five minutes, but the guards said I had to wait while they radioed for a shuttle. The result was that in this wealthy, beachfront community of movie stars, I arrived unceremoniously at the Getty in the back seat of a four-door pickup truck.

On a couple of my days, I spent more than four hours sitting on buses and trains, feeling I was doing a lot more newspaper reading than sightseeing.

I did meet one Angeleno who prefers public transit to a car—a movie producer who lives in West Hollywood next door to my friend’s house, where I was staying, and he agreed to talk only on the condition of anonymity. “It’s a preconceived idea that if you take the bus, you’re a failure,” he said. He ticked off things he likes about the bus. “I can read, I can get up to date on my iPhone, I can watch videos on my iPod. There’s a lot that can be done with someone else driving.” He warned me repeatedly not to reveal his name. “In the entertainment business, if they knew I took the bus they’d never talk to me,” he said, explaining that he hires a car and driver when going to a studio.

One of L.A.’s best-known public-transportation enthusiasts is Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 presidential candidate, who now teaches public policy three months a year at the University of California, Los Angeles. “When I tell people in L.A. that I take the bus to the airport, they have no idea what I’m talking about,” Mr. Dukakis said in a telephone interview. “Freeways were a choice we made nationally,” he added. “But people are starting to ask, ‘What are we doing?’It’s clear public opinion is changing, but once you have these urban development patterns based on highways, it’s pretty tough.”

Michael Brein, a Honolulu psychologist and writer, has written 14 guides on how to tour U.S. and European cities by public transit; his latest is about Los Angeles, where he visited more than 200 attractions (the guide is available by download at michaelbrein.com). “I did the whole shebang by public transit,” he brags. His advice: “Visit L.A. a section at a time,” spending the whole day in one area before moving to the next.

My five-day L.A. adventure ended up costing less than $30 in public-transportation fares. My final stop was in Pasadena to see the Huntington Library and Gardens, a vast estate with a European painting collection housed in an old mansion and acres of botanical gardens. By this point, I expected to be used to taking public transit. But I hadn’t dreamed of an itinerary like this: a bus to Hollywood to catch the subway, the subway to Union Station, the Yellow Line light rail line to Pasadena, a local Pasadena bus and then a mile-long walk to the Huntington. When I was ready to leave, the sun was baking hot, and the driver of a lone taxicab at the entrance offered to take me to the Gold Line station for the outrageous sum of $10. I hopped in without a second thought.

I think I went deaf today when I got off the Green Line at Park Street and waited for my Braintree Red Line train. As soon as I stepped off the Green Line trolley, the blinding flashy lights and incessant blaring of fire alarms assaulted me and instantly gave me a headache because of the lights and sounds.

And the best part about all of it was that as the fire alarms went off there were no MBTA officials anywhere to direct riders of where to go or what to do. So I just did what I always do: go down to the Red Line platform and pretended like there was no potential fire and there is no reason the fire alarms are going off. Because, you know, the Red Line would never catch fire. Ha.

Either way, I don’t think there really was a fire, otherwise they would’ve told us and I’m sure service would’ve been halted. At least, I would hope so. But you know, with the MBTA, you really can’t trust them to let you know for sure what is going on around you…because I don’t think station officials know for sure half the time anyways.

Image Credits: Dave Bullock/Wired.com

…Roger Waters…

One of the creators of the best Rock band in history Pink Floyd…, along with David Gilmour, Nick Mason, And the Late Richard Wright and Syd Barrett…

Anybody whose anybody that thinks he/she knows music knows at least a couple of albums, and that’s not hard at all with 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon being the third best-selling album of all-time and voted in the top five best albums on almost every Rock site and magazine… You also have 1979’s The Wall which was adapted into the 1982 film by Alan Parker Starring Bob Geldolf, and later in 1990 performed Live in Berlin in front of a staggering sell-out crowd of over 350,000 people, with people from fifty-two countries watching the two-hour event television broadcast.

After Pink Floyd dis-banded in 1985 he continued on leading an amazing career as a solo artist, releasing 3 excellent studio albums (each in its own way), 2 soundtrack albums, one opera (Ça Ira), and playing a number of world tours two of which were released on DVDs (The Wall Live in Berlin, In The Flesh)

I can’t do the man justice writing only a few paragraphs, but there is enough information online, and I’ll give you links and references you can go to learn more about the best songwriter that ever lived… These are my personal opinions and to me there’s no debating the fact that no other artist can ever come close to Roger’s musical and lyrical genius…

…

What I want to point out in this post is a recent short documentary film Roger was a part of about the humanitarian effects of the separation wall in Palestine… The unjust, unaccepted, and blatant disregard to international laws. A disgusting slap in the face to a people who are now being publicly harassed and stripped away of their most human basic rights and needs… We all know the story, and that’s why we never forget, and we all “try” to “do” something…

My respect goes to all of those people who contributed in making that film, although I know it’s a simple reminder, and it could’ve been much stronger… But for now it’s reassuring to know a film like this can be made… with the help of an international public figure like Roger Waters…

“The reason for walls is always fear, whether the personal walls that we build around ourselves or walls like this that frightened governments build around themselves,” Waters says.

“It fills me with horror, the thought of living in a giant prison,” Waters says as he spray-paints “We don’t need no thought control” on the wall.

…

The 15 minute film named Walled Horizons is divided into 2 parts on YouTube…

You can watch it here…

…

…

…

More Information:

Official Site

Currently Offline

Wikipedia Page

Informative Page

Imdb

Contains soundtrack details

Fan Page

Another decent source of info

The Wall in Berlin Gallery

A collection of photos

Fan Club

Poorly designed but has LOTS of info and links

Quotes

A collection of quotes

Storm Thorgerson Works

Storm Thorgerson’s Studio was responsible for most of Pink Floyd’s record sleeve designs, that and a lot of their other works are really good, you have to check out this link…

Gerald Scarfe

The man responsible for the visuals included in The Wall album, film, and live performance. Amazing artist, with an impressive body of work

…

One more video:

This is one of Roger’s most recent songs… Leaving Beirut.

…

Thank you for reading and watching… If you have any comments go ahead…

…

RELATED POSTS:  Yediot: Settlers quickly find ‘freeze’ workaround | Settler attacks on Palestinians upset even the most chauvinistic Israeli pundits | [Video] IDF “concerned” that soldiers are participating in settler “revenge attacks” [but doing next to nothing about it]

Yaron London, an elder statesmen of Israeli journalism, television personality and respected intellectual, has a reputation for saying what others think. In his Yediot column this morning (November 30 2009) he had this to say about law enforcement on settlers in the West Bank

Israel’s governments have accustomed us to the sense that the rebellion of the annexers of the occupied territories is a law of nature, or perhaps a version of “cops and robbers,” in which the cops are not real police officers and the robbers no more than good boys disguised as criminal offenders.  Youthful folly should not be punished, perhaps only gently reprimanded, and the policemen and soldiers will quarrel with them cautiously.  Some of the buildings will be demolished, and then rebuilt, demolished, and so on and so forth, until the spineless jellyfish known as the state is worn down, and they will remain standing.

Full translation after the jump.

We can see you

Op-ed, Yaron London, Yediot, November 30 2009

This week, our Filipina nurse left us for a month-long vacation in Manila.  Before she left, I sat down with her at the computer, and opened the Google Earth web site.  If you are not familiar with this site, you should get to know it.  It offers an interactive tour of the globe, as it looks from the vantage point of a satellite.  Using the mouse, you can find any site and zoom in on it.

This is what I did: I rolled the Earth eastward, and found the Philippines, the island Luzon and the metropolis Manila.  Ninette guided me to the quarter where she lives, the neighborhood and the street.  We hovered over the street and found a house with a faded green roof, and Ninette said: “That’s my house.”  Now, in the morning hour when I am typing at my keyboard, it is nighttime in Manila, and she is there, under the green roof.

The software I have is the free version, which shows relatively low quality satellite images.  For pay, you can obtain images of much better resolution.  They are provided by companies such as the Israeli ImageSat, which operates photography satellites for commercial and other needs.  The other clients are, among others, espionage services.  The optical spies working in the service of states have a very sharp glance.  If I could send them over Ninette’s back yard, I could see her waving hello, even on a moonless night.

That is why I was amused by the attorney general’s warning that the state would find it difficult to implement a decision that had just been made.  The decision to freeze construction over the Green Line stems from the need to preserve our relations with the world power that protects us, and therefore, in the opinion of the cabinet ministers, it is an important decision.  How important is it?  Judging by the speed with which the difficulty to implement it was presented, it would seem that it is predestined to failure.  The attorney general counted the building inspectors who are available for the task, and found, alas, that there are only 14 of them.  Had he added that they were all lame and near-sighted, and none of them know how to read aerial photographs, it would have been an even droller excuse.

The Judea and Samaria hills are a tiny area.  It only takes one person looking every day at updated satellite images to discover any change there.  This is what the Defense Ministry in fact did, and with surprising speed, sent a photography plane to document the topographic reality in detail.  It would not be difficult for one person, equipped with a four-wheel drive vehicle, to visit a dozen sites per day, or even more, and issue official warnings to people engaged in forbidden construction.

The problem does not lie in the difficulty to locate them, but rather in the will to enforce the law on them.  The will is weak.  The journalistic descriptions reflect this.  They report the foreseeable actions of the covert builders with full confidence that they will disobey the state.  Israel’s governments have accustomed us to the sense that the rebellion of the annexers of the occupied territories is a law of nature, or perhaps a version of “cops and robbers,” in which the cops are not real police officers and the robbers no more than good boys disguised as criminal offenders.  Youthful folly should not be punished, perhaps only gently reprimanded, and the policemen and soldiers will quarrel with them cautiously.  Some of the buildings will be demolished, and then rebuilt, demolished, and so on and so forth, until the spineless jellyfish known as the state is worn down, and they will remain standing.

Printer Green Line

Obwohl alle Selbstfärber-Stempel ohnehin extrem langlebig und durch austauschbare Textplatten und Stempelkissen bereits sehr umweltfreundlich sind, hat Colop das Thema Umwelt zu seiner “grünen Mission” erklärt und das Thema konsequent weitergedacht.

“Green Line” nennt COLOP seine neue Serie der umweltfreundlichen Printer Green Line und Profi-Line Green Line Stempeln. – Hier setzt COLOP weitestgehend auf Recyclingmaterial, um diese Stempel möglichst resourcenschonend herzustellen.

Für die Produktion der Kunststoffteile der Green Line wird überwiegend Recycling-Kunststoffe verwendet. Dieses Material wird aus Kunststoffabfall erzeugt, der gesammelt und wieder zu Granulat verarbeitet wird. COLOP kauft dieses Recycling-Kunststoff-Granulat bei einem österreichischen Anbieter zu, da bei der eigenen Produktion nicht genügend Abfälle entstehen.

Profi-Line Green Line

Die Holzgriffe, die bei der Classic-Line verwendet werden, sind aus Europäischer Buche. Es stammt aus nachhaltig bewirtschafteten Wäldern, die über das international anerkannte FSC-Zertifikat verfügen.

Selbst bei der Verpackung wird bei diesem Produkt auf Umweltfreundlichkeit geachtet. Die verwendeten Karton-Verpackungsmaterialien bestehen selbstverständlich aus bis zu 100 % Recyclingkarton. Die verwendeten Kartonagen sind zudem ungebleicht. Beim Bedrucken wird auf ganzflächigen Druck verzichtet – es wird nur partiell bedruckt.

Unabhängig von der Umweltfreundlichkeit, machen die Green-Line Modelle mit Ihren schönen Holzgriffen auch so einen guten Eindruck. Die Qualität ist gewohnt gut.

Mehr zur Idee von COLOP erfahren Sie unter COLOP – Die grüne Mission

-Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) employees are collecting donations of new socks, blankets and toys and inviting their customers to join them in helping area agencies with “stuff-a-bus” campaigns. More info can be found Here.

-DART Thanksgiving Schedule: Most DART services will operate on a Sunday schedule in observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, Thursday, Nov. 26 and a modified schedule on Friday, Nov. 27.

* DART bus and light rail services will follow a Sunday schedule on Thursday and a Saturday schedule on Friday.
* The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) commuter rail service will not operate on Thanksgiving Day. On Friday, it will follow a modified schedule.

-One lane is closed on eastbound Frankford Road at the rail guideway. There will be various lane closures for approximately 4 weeks while paving work is done around the median.

Just a random tip to commuters of the MBTA Green Line in Boston: During morning rush hour, do not ride the E Line, Heath Street, unless you really need to go to Northeastern or the Museum of Fine Arts, etc.

If you’re just going from Park Street to Copley, save yourself the trouble of getting on the E Line and just wait 30 more seconds for a B, C, or D line.

It’s such a hassle to even find breathing room on the E Line because it’s the only line that goes that direction, so people who can very well get on any other trolley packing onto the lone ranger Heath Street car make it that much more like riding a Tokyo subway.

I personally stopped riding the E Line after someone jumped onto the trolley and bounced off of me.
After everyone got on, the train was just standing by and I’m waiting for the door to close behind me. Then, I feel someone bump me from behind. I can barely turn to see what happened but I see a girl lying on the ground. Apparently she tried to jump in and push everyone in with her, but instead, she just bounced off and landed on the ground. Somehow she managed to get up again and squish her way into the train anyways, forcing myself and the other girl on the bottom step to have to contort our bodies to let her stand there with us with the other human sardines on the train who are looking at this girl and exchanging looks of “What the hell?” and “That really did happen, didn’t it?”.

So I must reiterate the seriousness of this: Avoid the E Line at all costs if you are not intending to go past Copley!

By Tyler Sharp

Don’t forget to submit your images to our Flickr Photo Pool to be considered for our daily Photopol.us pix!

On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world lives with a number of barriers that serve to restrain the free movement of people. The wall that divides the West Bank from Israel and preventing the passage of Mexican immigrants to the United States are the best known, but there are others.

The latest example comes from Slovakia. In October, a wall 150 meters long and two meters high was erected in the city of Ostrovany, a rural community in the northeast of the country, in order to isolate a gypsy camp.

The action, approved in 2008 by local authorities and put into practice last week, is the last chapter of the growing tension between the inhabitants of the community and the Gypsies. The inhabitants of Ostrovany accuse them of stealing fruit from private gardens. Violent episodes were recorded, such as the death of a farmer by members of the gypsy community and far-right groups and events that qualify for what they call “terror gypsy”.

The mayor of Ostrovany, Cyril Revákl, told the Slovak daily SME that the measure is not racist. “I know there are many decent living among the Gypsies, but no one should go through the hell of daily clashes.” The agency that represents the Roma announced that it will investigate the construction of the wall. The official, Ludovit Galbavý, described the construction as “discriminatory.”

Israel and Palestine
One of the most current and controversial walls is that which separates Israel from Palestinian territory in the West Bank. A small portion (about 20%) coincides with the old Green Line border set in 1948, the remaining 80% are located on Palestinian land.
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The wall began to be built in 2002, during the administration of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, with the justification to prevent the entry of terrorists into Israel. The International Criminal Court declared it illegal in 2004, because it cuts off Palestinian land and isolates about 450 thousand people. According to data from April 2006 supplied by Israel, the total length of the barrier is 721 km, of which 58.04 % is built, 8.96% under construction and 33% to be built. See the current map.

On Friday, on the eve of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, young Palestinians knocked down (6) part of the construction in the Arab city of Ni’lin and were were reprimanded by Israeli soldiers with tear gas (pictured below). “No matter how high they are, all the walls will fall,” proclaimed a banner on the structure placed by the young people.

For Israeli analyst, Michael Warschawski, director of the Alternative Information Center, the wall has a double impact: “First, it condemns the Palestinians to live in a forced ghetto. Second, it reflects the distorted politics of the isolation of Israel, which prefers to solve their problems by separation.”

According Warschawski, the ineffectiveness of the construction, which comes to divide entire cities, is proven. “The wall does not completely stop the movement of people. To cross the territories, there are alternatives.”

USA and Mexico
In order to prevent the entry of illegal Mexican immigrants, the United States built a wall on the border 3,141 kilometers, which covers the states of Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona.

Since 1994, when the wall was first built in the administration of former President Bill Clinton, more than 5.6 thousand people died trying to cross to the U.S. side, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Moreover, the causes of death have changed. Before they were mainly caused by traffic accidents, since the immigrants were running on highways in border areas. Now they happen from hypothermia in the desert or drowning in the Rio Grande.

The document also noted that costs are also high. Each time there is a hole, $1,300 are spent on repairs. The maintenance of the 1,058 km stretch with approximately two layers in the US-Mexico border is expected to cost 6.5 billion dollars over the next 20 years

“It’s a waste of resources and creativity”, said Jorge Mario Cabrera Valladares, of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), to the EFE news agency. “Our money paid in taxes is being wasted on an old and inefficient strategy instead of working on serious reform, long-term and applicable to immigration.”

On this site, you can track the small histories of immigration along the border. In this movie, the directors show the work of the Beta group in the city of Nogales, which seeks to convince the Mexicans not to cross over to the U.S. side.

Brazil
Rio de Janeiro also has its wall built with the argument to avoid poorly constructed homes in slums that destroy passages of the vegetation of the Atlantic forest. However, NGOs and social movements claim that it is actually a way to separate the richer parts of society from the most humble.

“There is no discrimination. On the contrary, we are building houses for them in all places and improving their lives,” said Tania Lazzoli, spokesman for the Department of Public Works of the government.

In March, the Portuguese writer, Jose Saramago, criticized the action on his blog: “Here down in the Marvelous City, that of the samba and the carnival, the situation is not better. The idea now is to surround the slums with a wall of reinforced concrete three meters high. We had the Berlin Wall, we have the walls of Palestine, now the one of Rio. However, organized crime is rife everywhere, complicity vertical and horizontal, penetrate the state apparatus and society in general. “

In Santa Marta, already more than 600 meters of wall have been built, while in Rocinha the government agreed to limit it to areas with sliding risk. The remainder will be turned into ecological sites and nature reserves.

Today there is some good news that I’ve been dreading to hear. The Routh and San Jacinto intersections are now open. If you have seen, that has been closed since the construction of the Green Line, so now you can go all the way though Good Latimer. Here some for info Here! One more thing, this Wednesday till next Wednesday, 2nd Ave. at the rail gateway will be closed.

If there’s one thing I was missing out on for the first 5 years that I lived in Boston– Haymarket. At first it’s like nothing I’ve experienced in the States before; reminiscent of Thailand actually. Bustling and shoving of small, old Asian women. Smell of spices and garlic and fresh basil. Exotic languages. Rambutan. Mangoes…. Harry’s Cold Cuts. Wait a second, oh yea, I’m in Boston after all.

Every Friday and Saturday, even in the depths of Boston winter (ugh, don’t even want to think about that word yet) you can still find 3 lbs. of tomatoes for $2, 7 apples for a $1, and your fair share of Southie accents. Fresh fish too! And cheap! I get three pounds of salmon for $6! I really have been missing out all these years and so has my wallet. It’s now become a weekend ritual.

Granted, there are some really seedy and unpleasant vendors here. I got in a yelling match with an exceedingly cantankerous asshole one morning. While picking out my 6 boxes of strawberries that I bought, I moved his sign and apparently that’s not allowed. He snapped at me and I said, “you don’t have to be rude.” and he said, “rude? this is not me being rude. You have no idea what rude is.” and I replied, then he replied and at the end he told me, “well you’re just lucky that I’m not a used car salesman.” I still don’t quite know what that means. I walked away and said, “you know what, I’m walking away from you. I got my strawberries and I have my smile.” I’ve never purchased from his stand again, and I tell everyone I go with not to buy from him either.

But, that’s the rare case. Most of the time, if you follow these rules, you’ll be fine: 

1. If the fruit looks like it was painstakingly put in single file rows, don’t touch it. This is probably a stand that picks out the fruit and vegetables for you. Not always perfect produce because they pick it out, but then again, you’re paying pennies for the stuff!

2. Be assertive. Don’t let someone walk in front of you just to be polite. If you were there first, do your transaction and get out of the way. Some people will sense your weakness and just walk right in front of you… or roll their cart over your feet. Seriously, I’m not kidding. But, you’ll learn quickly. 

3. Don’t bring a rolling cart. It’s so annoying and inconsiderate. If you haaaave to bring one, lock it up with a bike lock to a meter or something before you come through the market. Or come before 8am/ after 4pm when the crowds have died down.

4. Bring small bills. Not a necessity, but makes life easier.
5. Smile. Even if no one else is. It’s just fruit.

6. Apologize. You’re going to bump into people, it happens, just be courteous. 

7. Visit Harry’s Cold Cuts! He’s open every day, but it’s really convenient when you’re there anyways. He usually has an older man or woman out front selling cheese at 1 for $3.00 or 2 for $5.00. If you go inside, you can find cold cuts and cheese for really cheap (a pound of amazing feta for 3.49!) and artisan cheese at amazing prices. Besides, the guy who runs the place is always a smiling face and will usually give you a taste of whatever he’s chopping up for you! It’s great to find genuine customer service. (they take credit cards too)

8. Don’t let the fish guys get too fresh. Actually, don’t let any of the market guys get too fresh with you.
9. Bring two or three shopping bags (the reusable ones). Every vendor gives you plastic bags but the resusable ones make the load of 3 lbs. of potatoes + 3 lbs. of tomatoes + 3 lbs. of bananas + everything else a lot easier to transport.

10. It may seem like everywhere takes credit now- even McDonalds- but only Harry’s takes credit at Haymarket. Bring the green stuff and stash the plastic for the grocery venture.

Last week I spent about $12, not including cold cuts and cheese, and brought home the following:
3 lbs. bananas
6 cloves of garlic
7 apples
Large cantalope
2 Pineapples
3 lbs. roma tomatoes
2 bunches of asparagus
Ginger root
3 lbs. Sweet potato
2 heads of red leaf lettuce
1 lb. Portabella mushrooms

It’s not just the savings that brings me back every weekend– although that’s a really great motivating factor– it’s the overall feel, particularly when I can get up early and go. Definitely something I would recommend!

College campuses are best in fall, dead leaves smell like learning.

I took my first Green Line trip this Monday to get down to Columbia Univeristy to participate in a study. When Madeline Albright was there signing books, I got there by bus. The subway is a less depressing way to get there. Columbia is in the middle of a slightly depressed area. As I walked down the street, I felt white as skim.

On the way home, a man got on the train. “I ain’t here to rob nobody, no need to hide your purses or nothin’. I’m a musician. That’s what I do, I make music.” Noooo! Loud and painful ‘music’ from a crazy person! He continued: “You can clap along or stamp. I take donations. If you don’t have it, that’s alright. You can shake my hand at the end if you don’t have it. I take nickles, dimes, pennies, dollars, whatever you got.”

I had enough of that at the Jackson Blue Line stop down town. I have considered riding my bike 16 miles round trip to avoid these dudes when I was volunteering at the library downtown. There’re buskers there that do the most excrutiating covers of Hotel California, entertain themselves by ’singing’ songs that I think are supposed to be soul (and they bring their own beatbox machine and sort of moan and howl and I can tell they mean it), horrible horrible guitar playing and singing, uncoordinated drumming, just the most embarrassing, ridiculous crap. And it is always loud enough to penetrate my headphones on full blast.

However, this non-purse-robbing music maker actually made music. I saw the huge coat out of the corner of my eye, and therefore didn’t pay him any mind, but he wasn’t crazy. He sang in a loud, rich, clear voice that filled the car and flowed around us. People stopped talking. Maybe because he was so loud, but it was really nice. I wished I had had money because it was beautiful. But I didn’t look up, I kept writing in my notebook. Making eye contact on the subway or even on the street is to be avoided at all costs. You can really open up a can of social interaction with that. People assume you want to talk to them. No thank you. I like the anonymity of city life just fine.

That’s another reason why I like Logan Square- I can walk down the street in peace. No one has asked me for money in my own neighborhood. Wicker Park and the Loop are infested with panhandlers and people wielding clipboards for Greenpeace. I want to get my own clipboard and use it as social shield or as a weapon.

The guy said he’d maybe see us the next time we were on the Green Line, so if we didn’t have money now, it was okay. Green Line: where decent buskers go. Now you know.

By Lyn Caudle

Don’t forget to submit your images to our Flickr Photo Pool to be considered for our daily Photopol.us pix!

After a long and dismal week of work, I needed to take a walk as I often do. I also needed to do groceries, as I often do. So, hmm, I thought to myself, where can I accomplish both of those things. Ahh, yes, I kept on thinking, in my old hometown of Point St. Charles, via the Charlevoix metro. There are bunches of parks in a nice 30 minute roundabout walk format. For starters, once you come out of the metro, head West on rue Centre.

West on rue Centre

You’ll know its West because you can pretty much see the end of Centre that way. This is probably the least attractive part of the walk, but it is the block I used to call home, so don’t judge it too much. Plus, there is a nice surprise at the end of it…

The ol’ Sherwin Williams Paint Building!

Sher-Dub, as we used to call it

Hell yeah! They converted this gem of a building into lofts, and years later, rented one to me. Don’t get too excited by this building alone, though, because once you’re standing in front of it, you’ve reached the end of rue Centre! So take a look at the nice rotary structure with a garden at the bottom:

So nice

Maybe if they put less work into these flowers and more into fixing the roads, I might think about driving instead of walking. Probably not, though.

Diamonds are forever

Path just outside

Anyways, across the street from Sher-Dub, the next direction to take in this meandering stroll, is a baseball diamond where people actually play baseball! Always nice to see. So hang a left and walk around the outfield, but stay outside on the path, because there is a lot of dog sh*t in there.

Cut through

rue Mullins

Once you reach the other side of the ball park, i.e. left field, you want to veer off the path just a bit so you can cut through to rue Mullins. Now is the time to pick up the pace, because the errand portion of the walk is coming up, and rue Mullins is another boring residential street.

Before getting your groceries at the intersection of Mullin and Charlevoix, why don’t you cut across the street from the IGA, slow your pace, and stroll through the nicest park in Point St. Charles. It’s worth the wait. Besides, before you buy Hamburger Helper and Kraft Dinner you’re going to want to get some more exercise.

Great Walking Park

Take me out to the ballgame

And whaddya know, on the other side of this Great Walking Park, is another baseball diamond! Who knew the Pointers (Point St. Charles folk) were such baseball fans?

Errands...

When you reemerge from the park back on to rue Charlevoix, hit up the IGA on the corner. You can’t miss it.

Once you’ve taken care of all of your adulthood responsibilities, head back North on Charlevoix, as if you were going back to rue Centre. The metro station is only two blocks away. But before you go underground, why not stop at either of the fine establishments right across the street?

Ahh booze

Besides, what’s better than a nicely buzzed metro ride home after a long, half-hour walk? Nothing, in my opinion. The SAQ is there if you want alcohol for later, but can’t handle feeling dizzy on the metro. Or if you need a quicker fix, head to the Regal, it’s a delightfully low-priced dive that still offers 22 oz beers for just $5! Can’t beat it.

Well, now that you’ve gotten your groceries and your exercise and some liquor, it’s time to go home. You might be asking yourself, What can’t you accomplish in Point St. Charles? The answer: nothing. Good day.

The ol' Dusty Trail

Here are some more pictures from Today’s Super Saturday Event.

Today was Super Saturday at the Victory Station at AT&T Plaza. There was alot of things going on from radio remotes to many booths up from Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavs, DART Police, and many more. It was a nice day to be outside and at least it didn’t rain today unlike last Saturday. For More Pictures from today Click Here!!!

So since it’s the closest metro to my humble abode, I figured I’d start at the beginning, and show you what’s really good around the hub of the southwest corner of Montreal: Lionel-Groulx (LG). First things first, you’re going to want to come up out of the metro, and head south on Atwater. This is a picture of that:

South on Atwater

Just look at all that traffic, aren’t you glad you’re walking? 

But anyways, in case you didn’t know this yet, you are headed in the direction of the Atwater Market, perhaps one of the city’s finest hidden gems. Even though it’s not all that hidden. Basically it’s an open market with all of the best produce from around Quebec, but also some more exotic stuff that you can’t grow here. But we’ll get back to that. Once you’ve continued on Atwater past the market, I recommend that you stop here:

Mmm...Ice Cream

It’s just past the market, you can’t/shouldn’t miss it. It’s got some of the best ice cream in the city, and since you should be taking this walk on a nice hot summer day, starting off with a little creme glace is a very good idea. I recommend the pistachio, but that’s just me, a wild and crazy guy….

Now that you’ve got your ice cream in hand, we’re going to execute a classic figure 8 walking move around the canal, checking out all the beautiful people and sights that it has to offer. Also along the way, since this is only a mildly difficult afternoon walk and you don’t want to get too out of breath, we’re going to trespass over the train bridge, thus adding an element of daaangeerrr to our promenade. Don’t worry, trains only go by once every half hour*, you have to be really unlucky or shortsighted to ever see one. 

*That statistic is based on nothing.

So start out heading Southwest along the North side of the canal, comme ca:

Boats and Traintracks

If you can hitch a ride on a boat, all the better. If not, just keep going until you hit the first bridge, hang a left onto it, and you’ll be treated to this beauty of a view:

Illegal Bridge View

So once you soak in the loveliness of the westbound canal, you’ll probably want to get moving. There’s a solid chance a train is coming. Just kidding?

But in all seriousness, you don’t have all day, so make a quick turn left at the end of the bridge, and hop on the bike path back to the center of the figure 8. Check out all the people sunbathing and getting their bikes repaired at the little cottage (less exciting than the sunbathers), but look out for people actually riding bikes. They get up to some decent speeds and don’t necessarily care if you’re paying attention or not. Besides, all you should be paying attention to is the upcoming footbridge, that’s the crux of the figure 8. Cross it:

Legal Footbridge

Then, if you’re feeling a little tired, stop and grab a quick coffee at Au Pain Dore, which is conveniently placed right there just for people in the midst of a figure 8 walk:

View from Bridge of Coffee

Now that you’ve got your coffee, get ready for the back half. That caffeine should have you good and ready for it. The path for the next 200 meters is unconventional gravel, but you should get some dogs to keep you company, or if not you can always take a break in the park on the left:

Tree in Aforementioned Park

Don’t break too long, though, because the most magical bridge in the world awaits you!

Arguably the Most Magical Bridge in the World

I forget what gives the bridge its magical powers, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Anyways, get excited, because after crossing it (if you do so without falling under its spell), you’re officially on the last leg of your journey. And if I say so myself, the most picturesque. There are trees, shade, clever bike paths, and a beautiful view all along the Atwater Watchtower. The appropriate pace for this section of the figure 8 is a saunter, holding hands if you’re with a loved one, or wearing shades to gander at the sunbathers if you’re not. 

Shady Trees

Wiseass Bike Path

Atwater, from the Algonquin word, meaning, "At the Water"

Once you’ve done your sightseeing on the south east side of the footbridge, you’ve probably worked up an appetite. Or at least you have if you’re mildly out of shape and perpetually hungry like myself. So, head on back across that bridge and enter the glory that is, the Atwater Market. Specifically, the first meat shop on the left when you walk in from the angle you should be entering from. It’s a little sausage place selling Sandwichs Europeens, the likes of which will knock your socks off. 

Here’s the spot:

So much sausage

And the goods:

Yum

Now once you’ve hammered that, it’s probably time to head on home. And luckily, the way this walk was planned, you have a 5 minute adventure back to the metro to walk off all that delicious pork product. So head right back North on Atwater, until you see good old Lionel-Groulx. 

L to the Geezy

I hope this walk has been both safe and healthy (besides the sausage part, which is both delicious and healthy), and that you’ve found your way back home safely. I just want to encourage everyone to get to the Atwater Market, probably the most important part of this rambling photo essay. It really is what makes this city special: farmers being able to cut out the middle man. And what a beauty it is, too! 

Fare thee well, Marché Atwater

I’ve managed to acquire two male (possibly mentally off-kilter) stalkers on the train. One of them has sat down next to me on the train on three separate occasions over the past couple months and would proceed to ask me if I had a boyfriend, tell me he liked my hair, my nail polish, my clothes, and then talked and talked about nothing. Then patted me on the back when I left. The most recent occurrence was last week.

My second stalker has sat next to me two days in a row. Yesterday he unsuccessfully tried to get my attention while I ignored him with my headphones on. This morning he made sure I heard him, tapped my arm, told my I had pretty hands, and proceeded to grab one of them to bring up to his mouth to kiss and I yanked it away. “I don’t think so” I said, and he got huffy and pulled out his wrestling magazine.

Since I’ve been in DC I’ve taken the same train to work each day, sat in the same seat, and I guess these guys have started to notice. I sucks that I have to mess with my routine just to avoid being hit on at 6am. I can’t handle much at 6am, and I’m way too polite for my own good and don’t know how to make it stop without possibly angering them. Hey, a talky/grabby stalker is still better than one that’s mad at you.

This may seem like a really tame story, but it’s made my commute super uncomfortable as of late and it makes me feel very vulnerable in general. Getting off the train, and back into the next car wouldn’t help much – they’d probably just follow. Tomorrow I guess I have to get on a different train and sit in a different seat and hope no one notices.

Location:Green Line to Branch Avenue

Submitted by ‘wish I were invisible’ on 9/16/09

Do you have a personal experience with gender-based public sexual harassment you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out the online submission form. All submissions are posted anonymously unless you specify.

Photo by Vance M. Pomerening

Back when TriMet first proposed adding light rail to the “bus mall,” nattering nabobs of negativism predicted gridlock and doom. The Green and Yellow lines have limited stops on the mall, and as you can see from the photograph, the rail line weaves to the right lane for its stops, avoiding the bus platforms completely. Photo taken Sepember 2, 2009. In the background a Yellow Line train stops at the City Hall station.

This Saturday will be the Super Saturday Event at Victory Station from 10-2. No free rides on this one, unless if you still got that free weekly pass from last week. There will be giving tours of the WFAA Channel 8 studios at Victory Park, 2 bands will be play and plus they will give a commemortative pin from the Hard Rock Cafe, bike clinics, Dallas Mavs Street Team, Dallas Stars Street Squad, demonstration of the new DART bus racks, and much more. For more, just click on this info from the City of Dallas that I found.

I thought that it would be fun to see the actual pictures of the new Green Line Stations and the drawings of them.

Deep Ellum Station

Before                                                                                                                                    After

Baylor University Medical Center Station

Before                                                                                                                                  After

Fair Park Station

Before                                                                                                                                 After

MLK Jr. Station

Before                                                                                                                                   After

The Before Pictures-Dallas Area Rapid Trainsit
The After Pictures- Omar Jimenez

Riders pack MAX Green Line on first day of service – OregonLive.com.

Here’s some exciting transit news out of Portland.  The new MAX Green Line is now open for service between Portland State University at the southern edge of downtown Portland all the way to Clackamas Town Centre to the east and south of Portland.  That brings Portland’s light rail MAX system to a total of 4 lines – the Blue Line from Beaverton to Gresham, the Red Line from Beaverton to the airport, the Yellow Line from downtown to the Expo Center, and now the Green Line.

2009 has been the year of the transit project in the Pacific Northwest.  Earlier this year, Seattle opened their first light rail transit line, The Link, from downtown to almost Sea-Tac.  Vancouver, BC opened up the Canada Line from downtown to Richmond and the airport in August.  Now, the Green Line has added more rail transit options to the Pacific Northwest.  In addition to these completed transit projects, Amtrak was finally able to start a second Cascades train run from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, OR.

Technically now, if you wanted to go all train from Vancouver to Portland, you can.  And you don’t even need to rent a car when you arrive

Below is an official video from Portland’s TriMet site posted on YouTube.

You can also read more about the Green Line at TriMet’s own Green Line page.