Comments on: Straight into summer part I

By: thduggie

thduggie — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:34:26 +0000

I also understand the attractiveness of a house in the country with a lot of land, especially if I worked from home. What I deplore is that often privacy trumps community and those houses in the country become palisaded redoubts instead of centers of hospitality. How many people still sit on their front porches to catch the evening sun and chat with the passersby? How many passersby are there, for that matter, in your average cul-de-sac?
I know that most city apartment buildings are not built for community either, but instead for maximum packing efficiency. That is unfortunate, but if well-designed, an apartment building could foster community, allow for a large common yard for kids to play in; there could be a coffee shop and a hair-dresser looking over the lawn; the plumber and the electrician on the ground floor would face the street; a few restaurants, a bakery, and a butcher could surround a courtyard. I suppose what I’m after is a modern version of the medieaval town with its commons and with people living close to where they work. It seems to me that people lose a sense of community when they live in a place with a lot of people that bear no relation to them. I myself don’t really feel like I belong to my block. I don’t work with anyone who lives there, nor do I buy from or sell to anyone who lives there. It’d be interesting to know if Goldberg’s buildings facilitate community or if the people working there actually commute in from the suburbs and the folks living there drive out to the next WalMart to buy their groceries…

By: pikku

pikku — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:02:47 +0000

thanks for the post card, thduggie. we still have a monstrous supply of bushell’s, so I’ll pass on your offer. wouldn’t mind one of those overly fat sumo statues, though… 😉 …no wait, I already have too much useless junk…

By: SursumCorda

SursumCorda — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:30:31 +0000

I, too, would choose the rural setting if I were spending that kind of money, but million-dollar condos in the heart of downtown seem to be enjoying great popularity these days. I guess it’s good for the city; I’m just glad someone else is willing to do the job.

If I had to live in the city, I can see how a building like that would be better than the standard easy-to-avoid-your-neighbors buildings. But it still looks a little too much like a mall for my taste…I really don’t like malls…I enter, do what I have to, and leave as soon as possible.

(Heather, I hope you find that house in the country with lots of land!)

By: joyful

joyful — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:46:48 +0000

Some rich people do choose to live in the urban community. There is a $500K per unit townhouse structure right in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. I personally would buy a nice house in the country with a lot of land if I had that kind of money for housing…

By: thduggie

thduggie — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:38:58 +0000

Those truffles, by the way, I believe to be bears.

By: thduggie

thduggie — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:36:15 +0000

Why am I not surprised that pikku wins the riddle, at least in writing? (Unfortunately, Janet won it via previous oral communication.) It is indeed e schprei wo d’naase befÃ¼echtet. My transcriptions follow a standard – the only non-standard thing is that I replace the dash which represents the prolongation of the last vowel with the actual vowel. If I didn’t, the present example would read “doraino-susupure-,” which I’m not sure would help anyone.

So, no, nothing to do with a drain cleaner.

SÃ¶pÃ¶ doesn’t really sound like what it means, at least not to me. I suppose it’s all in the intonation.

And it’s not Olivier’s bicycle. I don’t know many foreigners who out of their own free will go for a mama-chari.

By: pikku

pikku — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:43:28 +0000

Was that Olivier’s bicycle, by the way?

By: pikku

pikku — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:40:47 +0000

funky riddles, here’s my go at it (in Swiss German so others can keep guessing: “DrochenaaseschpreÃ¯”? (E schpreÃ¯ wo d naase befÃ¼echtet?). Do your transcriptions follow some kind of standard? If I guessed it right, it seems that using anglophone phonetic interpretation would get you pretty messed up…

little boy: kawaii!!! (or: sÃ¶pÃ¶)

while it may be a personal choice, the bluish tint of the chain box reminds me of a roquefort with bits of truffles tucked inside…

By: SursumCorda

SursumCorda — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:53:51 +0000

What an adorable face!

I’ll let Janet attempt the translation; it sounds to me as if you’re going on some sort of spree with a drain cleaner.

Hmm, that last picture is a little cheesy, don’t you think?