When sitting outside eating lunch, I noticed an old Cadillac drive by. I’m *sure* there is a ton of literature on this (a cursory look didn’t find any, however), but I was thinking: isn’t it interesting how one can “read” car body styles and, in doing so, gain some understanding of the times from which the design came? In the 50’s, cars were big and used thick steel–the features were rounded and soft, suggesting attention to quality, no concern in regards to fuel consumption (i.e. no oil crisis) and an optimistic outlook (I think soft features are “optimistic”?).

Today, cars are very utilitarian. Especially looking back at cars still on the road from the 80’s. Cars today use thin metal and plastic, and we are more obsessed with fuel economy (and that’s not a bad thing). Except for SUVs. They aren’t fuel efficient, and sort of embody the desire for “safety” and security in this “dangerous world” coupled with the “me first” attitude of our society.

These observations are not too novel, I know, and I’m also not sure whether I’m ascribing these properties to the cars “post mortem” or if they really are reflected in the cars’ style. Like most other interpretation, I’m sure the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

If you live in Pittsburgh, you *have* to go to Millvale. It’s like stepping back in time. From the streetlights, to the road signs, to the signage on local establishments, it’s all 40 years ago. Alex and I went there to visit, but I didn’t take a lot of photos. Millvale was just coming out of a flood from the recent severe weather, and I didn’t want to be disrespectful of their situation. It seems they got hit pretty hard–most families we saw had what appeared to be their entire basements on the curb. Sad. But we plan on going back, though.

Then we went to Dormont. Dormont is kind of the same thing–I have a few more photos from there, including a great old appliance store. Dormont seems like it’s a bit more affluent, and has access to the T (the subway). The people in the shops we stopped in were really nice–it’s hard to believe you’re so close to Pittsburgh, because in so many ways, both boroughs seem a world apart. It’s amazing what a river or a small mountain can do to separate cities and cultures.

When I started using WordPress for webopticon.com, I had a hard time finding a Flickr plugin that didn’t download all the photos onto my server, have them appear in a separate gallery, or otherwise look totally kitsch. I just wanted something simple. I wanted thumbnails to show, and I wanted to be able to put them “inline” in my posts. Keep the photos and discussion on Flickr, as far as I’m concerned. I couldn’t find anybody to share my design goals.

My solution was to write my own plugin. You can download here:

UPDATE: Please use the page on wordpress.org to download all new versions!

Example of the plugin “in action” (with my settings, anyway–yours can vary):

So far my time at Banff is going well. My roommate is nice and the food’s pretty good. The place is beautiful–I have an awesome view out my window. We’ll get our own studio space and they have a library, a pool, exercise facilities, etc. Just like the University, really.

The town of Banff is also interesting. A typical tourist town. They have kitsch street names like “Beaver” and “Bear”. Pictures follow.

Of course, I found some infrastructure along the way, and had to take pictures of it. Notice the different fire hydrants–not sure if these are special in any way, or just the norm here. Maybe they are more resistant to freezing? Or built for the more rugged environment here? And the street signs are interesting, too. The “no stopping” sign is my favorite. Whoever did the information design on this one needs to go back to design school–it presumes you already know what a stop sign looks like. Which may or may not be a good assumption, but still: it’s a principle thing. Signs (especially road signs) should include a complete, understandable message in and of themselves–that’s the point of *good* communication, right?