Archive for October 10th, 2009

Architect Carolyn Steel illustrates the fascinating, overlooked, and evolving nexus of urbanism, transportation, and … food. Of particular interest is the link between street names and their food connotation; e.g., London’s Friday Street was so named because of a Friday fish market.

Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

With the advent of high-speed trains, rail travel in Europe has become so popular that some intercity flight routes are being cancelled.

And there’s no longer any flights on the Paris-Brussels route. Many now also go by train between London and Brussels.

I came across this interesting passage in Tim Falconer’s book Drive:

Ford made and sold the Falcon in the United States until 1970, but the car had an even longer and more successful life in other parts of the world, where many saw it as a mid-sized model. In Australia, it remains the company’s best-seller. And in Argentina, the Falcon was not just the most-produced car, with half a million built between 1962 and 1991, but also a hugely important one culturally. The Falcon was a racing car, a family car, a taxi, a police car—and, from 1976 to 1983, a sinister symbol of the country’s military dictatorship and the so-called ‘Dirty War’ that the generals who ruled after the coup d’etat waged against their own people. Death squads used dark green Falcons to ‘disappear’ trade unionists, artists, students and anyone else who might oppose or question the junta. Since the squads illegally arrested, tortured or killed an estimated thirty thousand people, the car now stirs bitter emotions for many Argentines. (Lawrence Thornton’s 1988 novel Imagining Argentina does a hauntingly good job of capturing the ominous mood those dark green birds of prey created.) Even today, some people in Buenos Aires won’t get into a taxi if it’s a Falcon, and a tour operator in the northern city of Salta, who would have been just four or five when the dictatorship crumbled, told me, ‘I don’t like it when I see a Ford Falcon, I get bad memories.’

I wonder if any other car brands through the years have acquired a such an unwitting negative political and cultural connotation, at least among a certain part of the population. The “black cars” of the title seem a staple (and vis a vis the “secret police” there is an irony in their driving around in unmarked cars that became almost more conspicuous in their lack of marking); Stalin was shuttled around for a time in a black Packard (and people were always said to be seeing Stalin on the street; “God came driving by in five black automobiles,” went a line from a Soviet poet of the day). The Citroen Traction Avant (in black) was favored by the Gestapo. I imagine there was a certain Trabant (or Mercedes) favored by the Stasi, a Lada by the KGB, etc., and I’ve no idea what the SAVAK drove. But I’m curious if anyone knows of any examples of particular car makes that in and of themselves became a dreaded sight, a vehicle of repression?

I mentioned briefly in Traffic the preponderance — and sheer size — of speed bumps, or topes, in Mexico City (as this writer for La Jornada wryly opines, Mexico City — topilandia— must lead the world in speed bumps, and it’s at least nice to be first in something).

But as this story in the Arizona Republic notes, there’s a new tope on the horizon:

It’s a speed bump that automatically lowers into the ground if drivers are going the speed limit. Though it is still only a prototype, proponents say it could save gasoline, cut air pollution and calm tempers.

“With this speed bump, people will feel rewarded for obeying the law, something that doesn’t happen now,” said Carlos Cano, president of Decano Industries, which is developing the speed bump. “The aim is not just to slow traffic, but to change society.”

The BBC reports on what may be a troubling trend or a statistical aberration:

Many of the fatalities involving cyclists happen in collisions with a heavy goods vehicle (HGV). This year, seven of the eight people killed by lorries in London have been women.

Considering that women make only 28% of the UK’s cycling journeys, this seems extremely high.

One of the offered reasons seems to involve compliance with traffic regulations (the sort of thing drivers are always accusing cyclists of violating):

In 2007, an internal report for Transport for London concluded women cyclists are far more likely to be killed by lorries because, unlike men, they tend to obey red lights and wait at junctions in the driver’s blind spot.

The report said that male cyclists are generally quicker getting away from a red light - or, indeed, jump red lights - and so get out of the danger area.

A very SkyMaul-ish product, that sort that seems designed to elicit mock reviews on Amazon and violate any number of Michael Pollan’s “food rules.” Needless to say, not be used while driving (that’s what your legs are for, after all, to hold french fries — and keep them warm).

And speaking of SkyMaul, did you see the first product on the list of other things customers who purchased this item purchased? Poop Freeze Aerosol Spray. Wow.

(Via Eat Me Daily, thanks Vagabondblogger)