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.

Yesterday, Alex and I went to go see B.I.K.E. at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. The night started out strangely–outside of Filmmakers, there was a hoarde of bikers. At least 30 to 40. We thought they would come into the show, and as it got closer and closer to show time, we were both sure the bikers would come in “fashionably late”. But they never came.

And the movie itself? It was pretty bad. I think my “favorite” part was when Conrad Carlson, who is the “vice president”(?) of the Black Label NYC group, got into his Range Rover to drive to Minneapolis in order to meet with the other members of Black Label at their national event. Honestly, I was waiting for them to explain that they rented a Range Rover to make a statement about waste and oil consumption (two of their “issues”). But it never came–Conrad actually owns a Range Rover. And his friend drove a Mercedes there.

Not only did the movie leave a lot to be technically desired (the cinematography was awful), but the plot was similarly poor. The movie follows the co-director as he strives to gain acceptance into Black Label after his junkie girlfriend breaks up with him for somebody she met at rehab. Now, I feel sorry for the guy in regards to his emotional pain, but I’m not worried about their well being. They all seem pretty well off: driving expensive cars, playing in a warehouse in New York City, flying to Amsterdam for jousting events, and using conventional emergency services when they get hurt doing stupid things.

I’m not sure who’s wasting more: “conventional” people who “drive and consume”, or those with financial support that allows them to “waste” their younger years falling off bikes, getting high and performing other stupid stunts that keep them in the emergency room (and from growing up).

Doyle asks in New York Times article, “Who else is going to go work out in the desert for cheap for six weeks?” Well, not me. I have one of those pesky middle-class things called a “job”.

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):

We started the day off with the Toyota Corolla. I was hesitant about its usefulness in off-road environments, but it proved to be up to the challenge. We drove a few hours to just outside Fort MacLeod where we began to see evidence of the Alberta beef industry. None of the places we stopped had actual slaughterhouses on them (it’s hard to tell from the satellite photos), but we did see plenty of feed lots. These raise the cows until they are ready for slaughter–sometimes raising cows on contract for their owners. The smell wasn’t as bad as I would have thought, and some of the cows roamed freely on a plain, as seen in the pictures below. Buffalo were also on some of the lots.

We then stopped at the original slaughterhouse, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. An interesting place, with a beautiful view of the Alberta plains.

On the way back, we saw a wind farm–a probably good way to make money from your land if you’re a farmer in Alberta. The wind mills were really beautiful, and spinning when we saw them. In the pictures, you can see the control station with a microwave tower for telemetry. In some of the pictures of the plains, you can also see microwave towers. I also noticed some fiber optic markers, but it seems for these long distances over flat terrain, microwave was more common.