Unsettling Days for King of Class Actions. Bill Lerach remains in the crosshairs.
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2006.
Some evolutionary speculation on why peppers are hot.
Terminal Doom: Play Doom inside Doom3.
Whitney Music Box. Inspired by John Whitney’s motion graphics. (via)
I, Tongmaster. [embedded video]
The Big Lebowski - F*cking Short Version. (some profanity)
Anybody who thinks video games are mindless should watch the trailer for Valve’s upcoming new game Portal. Mindbending.
The Hunt for 928. A fantastically detailed story of searching for and discovery the wreck of an A-12, the classified cousin of the SR-71.
The New York Times recently had an article on River Ranch, a development here in Lafayette about five minutes down the road from where we are living now. River Ranch is not merely inspired by New Orleans, it is an intentional effort to duplicate many of New Orleans’ desirable and distinctive features. As the Times notes, River Ranch has “Garden District-style mansions in a neighborhood named the Garden District, and blocks full of Creole cottages, lush courtyards and lacy ironwork.” The Times also quotes several residents and New Orleans evacuees, and as could probably be expected, the reaction is mixed.
River Ranch is an example of the so-called New Urbanism design school, which promotes dense residential housing mixed with green public space and walkable commercial developments. The Times article notes some criticism of New Urbanism, but I’d be happy to live in such a community. One of the big downsides to living in a city like Houston is the lack of livable mixed-use neighborhoods. I’m looking forward to living in Fall Creek, but there’s certainly no restaurants or shopping within walking distance of our new house. Houston is a lot like Los Angeles; Houstonians love their cars. I guess it’s no wonder that Houston is consistently ranked as one of the fattest cities in America.
When we moved to Lafayette, we looked at apartments in River Ranch, but weren’t particularly impressed. The focus of the development has obviously been on the single-family houses built there, and the apartments have been compressed into a couple of building surrounding a parking lot. The houses built in the community looked more desirable, but I was struck by how odd the neighborhoods felt when we drove through them. It certainly didn’t feel like New Orleans; it seemed to me something more like a Disney-fied version of New Orleans. It’s the architectural equivalent of the uncanny valley. Indeed, the restaurants that are found in River Ranch drive the point home. There aren’t any local cajun or creole restaurants; instead, River Ranch has a Carrabba’s and a Bonefish. River Ranch isn’t so much a neighborhood as it is a franchise.
Multiplayer Asteroids. Crazy, but fun.