Black Coffee.
I don't usually indulge or go to "those" generic coffee places. I always feel like I am in a mall or something, and by principle, and for the sake of good urban design, I am against all malls in general, and big box department stores. As much as possible, I support the neighborhood café and/or grocer... and you should do the same whenever you can.
I was working today; I woke up in a hurry, and didn't get the chance to grab a "good" coffee at home. When I got to the office, I found out that we did not have "good" coffee anymore. (By "good" coffee, I mean fair trade).
Drinking a Coke at 9 a.m. did not seem to be such a great idea right, so what the hell, I'll go down to the corner, and grab a fast generic coffee from one of those big-chain-cafés.
- Aaaand, what would you like this morning sir?
- One large coffee please.
- What would you like in it?
- Nothing thanks. Just the coffee?
- No Milk?
- No.
- No Cream?
- No thank you.
- Would like some whipped cream on top?
- Whipped cream on my coffee? No, no thank you.
- That'll be 1.58, aaaaand just give me a minute sir.
.... (less than a minute goes by)
- Aaaaand, here you go sir.
- Thank you.
- Euh sir! This is just a black coffee... Nothing in it. (Before she hands it to me).
.... (me sighing)
- Ma'am! What did I ask you for?
- Black Coffee!
- And what is this?
- Black Coffee!
- Then give me the fucking cup Bitch!
Can't a guy get a normal cup of coffee anymore!!!
Labels: bitch please, everyday life, ramblings, urban design
Hibernating.
Dec. 07 / Mtl, Qc / Canon Eos Digital Rebel XTi
[before] pictures of the same view.
----
Think of how we studied past civilizations. We dug through their ruins.
We dug through their ruins, and we figured them out. From their traces, and from their marks, we were able to reconstruct and then deconstruct their cities, their architecture, their philosophies, and infiltrated into the deepest secrets of their societies.
We studied their complexities.
Their memory is our history.
Think of the traces we are leaving.
What will be our imprints? How will our traces be read? Every detail and all important manifestations of our society, and the phenomenon of modern Homo Urbanis, are digitally archived; and online.
Our memory was commodified, and invested in a dot.com long time ago.
The memory we will be leaving will be a digital memory card.
These will be our digital ruins.
Our being is metamorphosing into Digital Ruins!
We're coded, saved and archived on some sort of an advanced hard drive, for the scrutiny of higher beings of the future.
In the scheme of life, all in all we're just another USB stick in the wall.
----
A snowstorm has been hitting Montréal for the past three days. It just started to clear.
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernation conserves energy, especially during winter. Hibernation may last several days or weeks depending on species, ambient temperature, and time of year. The typical winter season for a hibernator is characterized by periods of hibernation interrupted by sporadic euthermic arousals wherein body temperature is restored to typical values. Hibernation allows animals to conserve energy during the winter when food is short. During hibernation, animals drastically lower their metabolism so as to tap energy reserves stored as body fat at a slower rate. [wiki]
Labels: architecture, delirium, digital technology, ramblings, urban design
Tow-Away Zone.
photo by her / march 2005 / Beirut, Lebanon
How cool is that? Our first Parking Meters since the 1975-1990 civil war! Does that mean all our troubles are now so far away?
It would only be fair to inform those who don't know, that in contemporary Beirut, you can park your car almost anywhere you can fit it, except in areas where the military decided you couldn't for security reasons. Not your security, but the security of the big shot asshole that lives nearby. Parking is usually done on streets, on sidewalks (yes ON sidewalks), and in empty lots (terrains vagues) where you would be charged a mere 1$ or 2$ for a full day. Give the guy 5$, and you may even come back to find your car washed and cleaned. But that's irrelevant now.
Beirut was a cool and clean city before the war as the world must know by now, all with adequate street furniture, and traffic control signage worthy of any rising intermediate city; we had a lot of attention to detail. When chaos reigned over the streets, signage became the least of the inhabitants’ worries; which is rather normal. In fact those who abided by rules and regulations of traffic, became a joke to others, and chaos became the rule. In times of an absurd war, speed limits were just a number, double parking was a trend, and traffic jams were resolved with an emptying of an AK47 magazine in the air.
Although Beirut rose again, as beautiful as ever, still traffic signs lagged behind. In Downtown Beirut, everything is in mint condition except that our generation (the war generation) is just not used to seeing a no parking sign (or any sign for that matter). What is a stop sign, why are those speed limits everywhere? Are you kidding me?
I was once in my car stopped still at a red light. Cars were honking behind me angrily. For once, I decided not to move and educate those bastards. A cop rode beside me on his Harley Davidson and said: “Move out you stupid ass, can’t you see the chaos behind you?” (2arrib ya 7mar, ma cheyif el 3aj2a warak?)
- But the light is red! I said stupidly.
- Move, move, move, before I give you a ticket!
The dude, threatened to give me a ticket for stopping at a red light!
As Colonel Joseph Doueihy, in charge of the traffic department at the interior ministry, mentioned to AFP, gradually more units will be installed throughout the capital as part of a major effort to regulate circulation.
Funding for this project will come from World Bank, which will make our debt even bigger. Yeah the World Bank, why did you think Iran, Syria, or Saudi Arabia were going to cater for that? Or were you counting on the West? No no, these guys will only help you go to war... mind you, the Kingdom funded many infrastructure projects during the Hariri Sr. reign. It was of course to achieve political powers, but let's spare them this discourse for the time being.
He also said, “people who fail to feed the meters or who overstay the two-hour limit risk a ticket of 20,000 pounds (about 13 dollars) or even being towed”. Correct me if I am wrong here, but I didn’t think we paid our tickets in Lebanon. I just thought they went straight to the recycle bin, or even removed off the windshield and thrown right away on the asphalt beneath our feet. Did you ever have to pay for a ticket you got? I remember once getting a ticket; I was ecstatic that I got my first ticket ever – it was yellow and all. I was proud. I asked where to pay for it, and I was told that I shouldn’t. “You just throw it away”.
A survey done with citizens and posh shop owners proved that some were happy about the new parking meters, while others thought that it was going to be just pointless and useless. "I don't think people will respect the rules because they are used to chaos," one woman said. "I think they will try and find a way to beat the system. And even if they get tickets, do you really think they will pay them?"
And this is exactly what I think will happen.
Can you explain to me, why is it that, in general, the Lebanese are the first to follow rules and regulations when abroad, but in their own country, they just don’t give a damn, and choose to be oblivious.
Weird species we are!
I was talking jokingly with my friends about those new parking meters we were getting, and they, with all seriousness, thought that it was no time for Parking Meters while we still can pick our own president. Well my friends, civility has to start at some point, and we can’t keep on waiting for others to wake up. In Lebanon, a group wants to push the country forward, and another group wants to drag it back. I say to hell with that, we have to start at some point. Those who do not pay their phone bills or electricity bills will not worry about parking tickets anyway, others… well you just have to take one for the team.
I think it is a great idea to install those parking meters, and while they are at it, they might as well install NO CAMPING signs in downtown Beirut. Actually, what they should be doing, is inventing or creating a “no-camping-in-central-districts-you-fuck-or-you-will-get-shot” sign!
I am going to invent it!
On another front, Doueihy said: "Our aim is to institute order and to ease the city's traffic chaos." No Mr. Doueihy (or should I say colonel)! You got it all wrong; this will not ease traffic chaos.
What the Lebanese Government don’t seem to understand, is that budgeting for more infrastructure, building more roads, and installing traffic signs will not ease traffic jams and traffic chaos. Only an elaborate public transportation will… and of course public awareness, but I dare you to do that.
There you go.
I have been in a terrible mood this week!
Labels: Beirut, ridicule, urban design
