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Stephen Lowe At Seventy: A Tribute.
Tue 19 Dec, 2017
Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature's Honorary President turned 70 in December. We pay tribute to a man who made -and continues to make - Nottingham a City of Literature.
Accessible and inspirational, Stephen Lowe's work has been published and performed throughout the world, but it's his fascination with Nottingham's radical history and our famous and forgotten characters that makes him our leading man. This month, Stephen celebrates his 70th birthday. To mark the occasion, we pay tribute to a writer who champions Nottingham at every opportunity.
In February 2013, at Antenna in Nottingham, Stephen Lowe spoke at a launch event for the inaugural Nottingham Festival of Words. During his talk he passionately argued that Nottingham is a city of literature, citing our great writers and contemporary scene, and challenging the audience to name another English city, other than London, that could claim a better literary heritage. The idea for Nottingham to bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature may well have been sparked by that talk. His arguments were compelling but not new. Three years earlier Stephen had appeared on BBC Radio with John Holmes, who takes up the story:
"Just over seven years ago BBC Radio Nottingham asked me to host a Sunday morning feature in which well-known local people choose their favourite music to highlight milestones in their lives. Stephen has been a favourite playwright of mine through the decades so, naturally, he was one of my first choices. Sandwiched between his song requests I asked him about the amazing writing talent in our city and county, past and present. He put out a challenge, 'Name any city outside of London to beat Notts for our heritage of writers?' and said: 'We can boast writers going back to Lord Byron, D. H. Lawrence, Alan Sillitoe, no one can match that depth of writing culture. Manchester can't, nor Birmingham. There's nowhere and it should be acknowledged.'"
John Holmes, BBC Radio Nottingham
He put out a challenge, 'Name any city outside of London to beat Notts for our heritage of writers?'
Our permanent UNESCO accreditation has given Nottingham a title it undoubtedly deserves but could such an award have been predicted back when Edinburgh was the only UNESCO City of Literature? In 2006, Stephen gave this prophetic rallying call to LeftLion:
"I want to see this town going for City of Culture, becoming the national City of Literature, with its history of plays, myths, folk tales of Robin Hood, Byron, Lawrence, Sillitoe, and many others. It's ready to become a scene, as Liverpool was in the sixties. The place is teeming with excellent actors, designers, directors. What it needs is a successful university performance course feeding energy into the scene, a major independent studio space, a central meeting point for writers and actors, workshop developments and support and the whole city to join the celebration. We have such talent, and we should really be nurturing it."
That same year the Nottingham Writers' Studio was founded; 2013 brought the creative quarter initiative; and in 2015, with support from our universities, we became officially recognised as a City of Literature, with Stephen named as our President. So what is it about Stephen Lowe's story that has made him such an ambassador for Nottingham?
A young Lowe.
"As an actor you usually get only one part in a play but as a playwright you can pretend to be all the characters, and still be in the bar at 7.30." - Stephen Lowe
Born in Sneinton, the son of a labourer and a machinist, Stephen grew up in a neighbourhood of back-to-back housing before his family moved to the high-rise flats of Manvers Court. A love of the theatre grew from his joining the youth group at the Co-operative Arts Theatre, a place he enjoyed so much he was known to sleep there at weekends. With no books at home his library card became his salvation. One life-changing childhood read was Robert Tressell's socialist novel The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, a book he later adapted for the stage. But it was the work of a certain D. H. Lawrence that had the most impact. A working-class lad wanting to be an actor, Stephen saw much of his own life in Paul Morel (the budding artist of Lawrence's Sons and Lovers). Stephen recalls the Lady Chatterley trial and the book's release (aged 13) but it was reading Sons and Lovers - perhaps the most 'Nottingham' and autobiographical of Lawrence's novels – that convinced him that it was possible to be a writer. He also shares much with the author himself, and this can be seen in their writing, especially the presence of place in their poetic realism.
In his mid-teens Stephen discovered that Lawrence had also written plays. He borrowed them from Central Library and became fascinated, especially by The Daughter-in-law, a kitchen-sink drama written about 50 years before they became popular. At this time the Nottingham Playhouse had opened, a place where Stephen could hang around actors and discuss plays. He worked at the Moulin Rouge cinema which showed, ahem, 'continental' films. This job and the filming of his own blue movie are experiences that fuelled his 60s-set comedy-play Glamour.
After leaving Mundella Grammar school Stephen embarked on a BA in English and theatre studies at Birmingham University. His first professional job took him up to Scarborough where he worked as an assistant stage manager for Alan Ayckbourn. It was at this time that he had to change his name, dropping Wright ('it had always seemed boring and common anyway') for his mother's maiden name, Lowe. (Incidentally, the writer Steve Barlow uses his mother's maiden name as his stage name because his real name, Stephen Lowe, had been taken!)
Stephen's career as a playwright was aided by the convention-defying Ann Jellico. Having read a play of his, considered too controversial to put on, Jellico had seen enough to employ him as a story reader, at 50p a play. This was the era of Richard Eyre running the Nottingham Playhouse. A champion of new writers, Eyre commissioned Stephen to write a new play. The result was Touched.
Touched made a triumphant return to Nottingham Playhouse in 2017, 40 years after making its debut there.
Set around the terraces of Sneinton in 1945, during the days between VE Day and VJ Day, Touched focuses on working‑class women living with loss and hope as they experience this extraordinary and changing time. Stephen's own father had been in the Army during World War II, involved in historic and well-documented events. Touched was a reaction to there being no such recognition for the women that stayed at home, fighting their different battles. The play won a George Devine award and celebrated its 40th anniversary this year with a Nottingham Playhouse production starring Vicky McClure.
A year after Touched first opened Richard Eyre produced another of Stephen's Sneinton-set plays. This time it was an early screenplay for the BBC. Set and filmed in Sneinton Market - a stone's throw from the current City of Literature offices - Cries from the Watchtower was inspired by a friend's father, a Mormon who had a stall at which he'd repair watches amid the bustling crowd. This was the kind of Nottingham scene Stephen observed from a young age, developing his ear for dialogue. He recalls the stallholders' comedic banter that would inform his future writing.
Stephen's childhood was revisited again for Moving Pictures, a 1981 production at London's Royal Court Theatre. In particular, how his father returned from war, difficult, angry and in poor health. More than fifty plays and screenplays followed, some with a more exotic setting than Nottingham, but his endless fascination with the city and its characters seeped through, most obviously in Ice Dance about young kids trying to emulate Torville and Dean, and The Spirit of the Man, featuring Colin Tarrant as Brian Clough. The latter packed out the Playhouse, bringing in many theatre virgins. The play opens in heaven, with Old Big 'Ead in a sauna with William Booth, Lord Byron and D. H. Lawrence.
Lawrence directly inspired many of Stephen's plays. His Lawrence trilogy started with The Fox ... and the Little Vixen, an adaptation of Lawrence's 1923 novella The Fox, and includes Empty Bed Blues, a domestic drama which drew from letters and diaries recounting the Lawrences' painful 1929 visit to publisher the Crosbys' French mill.
Stephen's ability to mine humour and emotion from the mundane is evident in his writing for television. For Coronation Street he's penned more than one hundred episodes, such classics as Bet Lynch's farewell, the Deirdre and Samir storyline, and gnomegate with Mavis and Derek. Other televisual hits include Scarlet and Black with Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz, the BAFTA-nominated thriller Tell-Tale Hearts, Dalziel and Pascoe and the BBC2 film Flea-Bites starring Nigel Hawthorne which focused on the show people at Goose Fair and the mystery of a flea-circus.
Michael Eaton
"If he had stayed in the seething metropolis ... Nottingham would never have experienced the quotidian benefits of having such a great writer walking our streets"
Along with his wife, the actress Tanya Myers, he is an artistic director of Meeting Ground Theatre. The couple founded the Nottingham based experimental company in the mid-80s and they continue to develop regional talent, touring nationally and abroad. It was at this time that Stephen retuned to Nottingham having been in London. This was great news for Nottingham, as his fellow playwright and scriptwriter, Michael Eaton, pointed out with this birthday message:
"It was a good day when Stephen Lowe returned to his home town – a good day for Nottingham and a good day for me. For if he had stayed in the seething metropolis – the great wen of London to which so many talented East Midlanders were so often centrifugally drawn – Nottingham would never have experienced the quotidian benefits of having such a great writer walking our streets, a mover and shaker who was to pilot our successful bid to gain the status of a UNESCO City of Literature. And, far more significantly, I would never have known the pleasure of such a valued and trusted friendship these past thirty years (!).
What has been even more important to me is that this comradeship has led to such closeness with Stephen's lovely talented family: Tanya, herself a fine dramatist as well as a celebrated actress; Tom, theatrical director and (so I'm informed) these days a motivational speaker (could do with some of that now and again); Lily, poet, performer, masseuse and Martha, so nearly born in our own gaff on Dog End Alley, who will without doubt attain the anthropological aspirations I never managed to fulfil myself.
My life would have been so diminished had I not known and loved you all. So Happy Birthday, dear Stephen. The recent challenges to your health have rarely dampened your spirits and your infectious joie de vivre. And, if there any eccentric multi-millionaires out there they could no worse than invest in a terrific screenplay we so enjoyed collaborating upon and which, shamefully, yet awaits production."
That terrific screenplay is The Band Apart, about the legendary Bonnot Gang, a criminal anarchist group from the early 20th Century".
Amanda Whittington
Thank you Stephen for your friendship, your generous support, your very own wit and wisdom - and your wonderful work. Happy Birthday to you.
Investment in culture is one area that Stephen keenly promotes. A former chair of Art Council East Midlands, Stephen sees culture as a force for good. His philosophy, based on the 'politics of the Imagination', carries into the countless writers' workshops he runs and encouragement he offers to local creatives. He takes real pride when our writers break through. One such playwright to have cracked the mainstream is Amanda Whittington, who offers this message:
"As an aspiring playwright in the 1990s, I knew Stephen Lowe as the author of Touched and also as part of the Coronation Street writing team in its halcyon days. The mighty Bet Lynch and her cohort were cultural icons, their wit and wisdom beamed into millions of homes every week. Such clever and complex working-class women inspired my writing as much as great literature, probably more. So when Stephen came to my shows, it was special and still is. Thank you Stephen for your friendship, your generous support, your very own wit and wisdom - and your wonderful work. Happy Birthday to you."
In 2011 Stephen received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nottingham where he is an honorary lecturer in their School of English. A further honour was bestowed in 2015 when NET named one of their new trams after him. As one of its favourite sons reaches the age of seventy, Nottingham continues to celebrate his achievements, as he continues to achieve. Stephen Lowe's new musical Changing Fashion tours in 2018.
"As an actor you usually get only one part in a play but as a playwright you can pretend to be all the characters, and still be in the bar at 7.30." Stephen Lowe.
stephen lowe john holmes nottingham playhouse theatre
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Montezuma's hits the shelves at Waitrose ahead of Christmas
Montezuma's, the 2021 Food and Drink Heroes Confectionery Entrepreneur of the Year, started out with just a kitchen sink-sized machine, huge enthusiasm, spades of naivety and most importantly, a broad ideal to bring chocolate innovation to a boring and staid British chocolate market - and today they are doing just that.
Waitrose secures deal with award-winning chocolatier Montezuma to create a new confectionary range that will display the brand's latest flavour combinations ahead of Christmas.
Waitrose stores in 28 locations across the UK will now host a dedicated Montezuma Chocolates Bay area, giving chocolate fans the chance to browse its "best-loved products."
The dedicated display areas at the retailer will include many of the confectioner's best-selling chocolate bar flavours, such as chilli and lime flavoured 'Hot Pickle', floral 'Happy Hippy', classic milk 'Smooth Operator', and top favourite 'Happiness' with salted caramelised hazelnuts. Coupled with Montezuma's hand-crafted truffle boxes, the range will also provide options for vegans.
Discussing the latest collaboration Head of category at Waitrose, Giles Fisher said. "We are delighted to be working in partnership with Montezuma's on this new project. Their chocolate is exceptionally good quality, with some delicious flavours and their ethical sourcing credentials are very strong too,"
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So, head down to Waitrose today to see Montezuma's on display and taste their incredible collection. Find out more about the brand here.
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The Art Shanty Projects reveal what it takes to make a lively public space — people, engagement and activity.
Photo courtesy of Art Shanty Projects.
White Bear Lake is home to Minnesota's most unusual streetscape. It's not in the town of White Bear Lake; it's on it.
For the month of February, 20 artist-designed ice fishing houses are set out on the lake to celebrate winter, the tradition of fish houses and making art — all Minnesota trademarks.
The distinctive event, perhaps the only one of its kind in the world, includes a flamenco procession, a snowblower ballet, art-car and art-bike parades and an opportunity to "water" an ice garden.
As for ice fishing houses, there's a chef shanty, a ghost shanty, plus one for slumber parties and one just for dancing.
And when you add visitors (tens of thousands are expected over its four-weekend run) you get something more than a sculpture collection or an architecture show. It becomes a village — with the fun of a carnival and a sense of community heightened by the surrounding snow and ice.
But the projects also show how lively streetscapes come from more than high-style buildings and static public art. They also come from people, engagement and a variety of events.
Every shanty is designed not just to look interesting, but to offer sensory experiences — the richness of sound, the smell of wood smoke, the feeling of a rough wood door handle. In this cold, temporary place, there is the sense that art is for everyone and that it can be everywhere in civic life.
With its all-black exterior and steeply pitched translucent roof, the Ghost Shanty is austere and clean-lined — hardly surprising, given that five young architects created it.
"The shanty itself is intentionally unobtrusive," said Sean Higgins, leader of the Ghost Shanty team.
The idea is not to distract from objects inside. The all-white interior walls are the canvas on which visitors are invited to paint. The team will offer a specific paint color for each of four weekends — starting out with blue, then red, green and orange. At the end of every weekend, the walls will be papered over to preserve the "ghosts" of newest artwork.
Photo courtesy of Art Shanty Projects. From 2016, an aerial shot of the Art Shanty Projects on White Bear Lake, home to the annual Art Shanty Project.
Other shanties this year include I-C SPArkle-matic — essentially a human car wash, with found objects that prod and poke visitors as they make their way through. There's also the Sci-Fi Book Club, which looks like an escape pod crashed onto the frozen lake.
In this shanty, visitors can write letters to the future or check out books from the sci-fi library. There's also the Sci-Fi Book Club, which looks like an escape pod crashed onto the frozen lake. In this shanty, visitors can write letters to the future or check out books from the sci-fi library.
Within the shanty village is a shared sense of shelter. Between the structures, the shoveled paths act as streets and the open spaces become outdoor rooms equipped with bonfires, signs and food vendors. And there's a sophisticated accessibility plan so that people of all abilities can visit either with the help of a powered sleigh or on foot. Sometimes the best ideas for urban design come from places that aren't urban — or even permanent. Events like the Art Shanty Projects can help propel urban design because they challenge assumptions about what makes a successful public space, who can be an artist and where art can be made.
These are questions especially relevant for Minneapolis, St. Paul and other cities that are rich in architecture and poor in vibrant street life, chance encounters and new experiences.
Frank Edgerton Martin is a Minneapolis-based writer and landscape historian.
Here's a Streetscapes piece I wrote for the Star Tribune on the new Downtown East Commons in Minneapolis. Despite controversies, it's one of the best new urban spaces in the country. Click on this text to link to original article.
The new, much-debated Downtown East Commons park opened to little fanfare. But the people's park is turning out to be much better than early opponents expected.
Downtown East Commons, which opened last week, is a new kind of public space for Minneapolis. While our older parks such as Loring and Elliot are designed to be calming escapes from city life, the Commons celebrates the city itself.
Covering two blocks and 4.2 acres, the Commons is a large outdoor room framed by buildings. From the park, you can't miss the massive, prow-like U.S. Bank Stadium, looming to the east. Looking toward downtown, the city's skyline sets the backdrop for the park's west block.
More difficult to see are the Commons' subtle design strategies — the quiet harmony of scale, plantings and materials that add up to a great work of urban landscape architecture.
Despite a whirlwind of controversy — including how many days the Vikings could claim the park and whether to close off Portland Avenue — the Commons has turned out remarkably well.
1. It was designed to reveal the space.
The process of designing the park included several public workshops early last year, which generated a long wish list of features, ranging from climbing walls and skating rinks to playgrounds, winter ice fountains and public art.
If the designers had fit even half of the items on the list into the site, the Commons might have ended up resembling a county fair. Sure, there might be attractions for everyone — but they would distract from the unique appeal of the space itself.
Instead, the design team, led by Mary Margaret Jones of San Francisco-based Hargreaves Associates, forged a consensus with compromise and restraint. Going back to Frederick Law Olmsted's vision for Central Park, landscape architecture is a three-dimensional approach that shapes space, channels many kinds of circulation and affords a variety of uses. The Commons is a brilliant 21st-century expression of this populist ideal.
2. It encompasses two distinct parts.
Early on, the Hargreaves team knew that the Commons needed to accommodate thousands of game-day fans and also be a park where neighborhood children could play and downtown workers could enjoy lunch. Their design solution begins with two distinct blocks: one more wooded and human in scale, the other more open to the sky.
At the stadium's doorstep, the east block fills this public role, focusing on the immense Great Lawn planted on the site of the former Star Tribune building. Berms arc around this subtly sloped lawn, framing and sheltering the open space. Those berms also serve as seating for large events.
In contrast, the west block is more intimate, with areas for play, as well as a future cafe and fountains. People can bring their lunch, and children will be able to run through jets of water. By locating the new Edition apartments inside the western edge of the Commons space, planners created a human scale. Lined with balconies and home to a future parkside coffee shop, the Edition brings people to the Commons throughout the day and evening.
3. It has topographic character.
Hargreaves is well-known for using topography — whether in the form of dramatic flowing berms or subtle grade shifts — to create character and establish a sense of enclosure.
Along 4th Street, there's a long black granite retaining wall. "One of the details I love is that its wooden seats are on a constant elevation," said Jones. Even though the site slopes 4 feet from west to east, the seating wall appears as a level horizontal band, slicing into the changing grade with a long, smooth cap. Such topographic tricks can be found throughout the park.
4. Its design is restrained and timeless.
Hargreaves also is known for the simplicity and clarity of its urban projects. At the Commons, there are no fancy paving patterns or ornamental lightposts and benches. Stair rails, posts, furniture and ground lighting are all made from light metals with smooth, sleek surfaces. Sourced in Babbitt, Minn., the Mesabi granite in the retaining wall and fountain areas expresses the geology of the Iron Range. This restraint in paving and materials makes the variety and texture of the trees and surrounding architecture all the more apparent.
5. Its plantings are plentiful and varied.
Thanks to priorities set by the city, the design team was able to plant almost 200 trees, many of them mature. The Commons contains oaks, maples, birch, ironwood and several types of conifers.
6. It connects to the past.
Even though it's very new, the Commons tells stories of the city's past through native plantings, which set the foreground for historic buildings like the Armory. At 5th Street and Portland Avenue S., you'll find two distinctive trees — a massive ginkgo and a red maple. For decades, they shaded a small green space across the street from the Star Tribune building. Now they shade what's called the Good Lawn, a serene and quiet vale secluded by a curving hedge and berms.
The new Downtown East Commons covers two blocks and 4.2 acres next to U.S. Bank Stadium on former Star Tribune land in Minneapolis. Folks are already enjoying the green space; Jeff Holz walked his french bulldogs Stitch and Bella, not pictured.
Much of the west block recalls the character of Minnesota's prairies and woodlands. There are drifts of shade plants along 5th Street and a sense of immersion as you walk among prairie grasses and flowers. You'd never know that the Vikings stadium is just a block away. And where else in downtown Minneapolis will you find a glade of maidenhair ferns?
Frank Edgerton Martin is a landscape historian and Minneapolis-based design writer.
CLICK HERE TO LINK TO ORIGINAL The following is an article I wrote that came our March 18 in the StarTribune.
It promotes the idea that "character" in cities is worth discussing. Character" can mean many things and is hard to define. For this reason, it may just be one of the most important things we can ask about architecture, social equity, variety and meaning in urban life.
Streetscapes: Which Twin Cities neighborhoods have character?
You know when a place has it. Here's why many don't.
FILE PHOTOS Grumpy's Bar in Northeast Minneapolis.
The character of a place comes from more than its architecture, more than a single building or work of public art, no matter how famous.
The evidence of time and change give many cities a patina, a texture and variety that you can almost touch. Yet often, the most important qualities of a place — like character — are the hardest to define. For some, character can mean topography, old stone walls or the sense of connection one feels with neighbors.
For me, character is found in cities and towns with old-fashioned supper clubs and locally owned coffee shops. Think of Jax Cafe in Northeast or Cuppa Java in Bryn Mawr. These places feel authentic and original — local, not themed.
It's not just how they look, but what you can do there that matters — meet old friends, write, be alone in public yet feel unobserved.
Great cities offer many forms of character through their mosaic of neighborhoods. In our case, think Loring, Camden, West St. Paul, Cedar-Riverside and Powderhorn. Like characters in a play, each is distinct — with its own traditions. We may not relate to all of these neighborhoods, but together they create the whole.
Last spring, a local magazine ran an article about the best neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. It celebrated hip places like the North Loop and Lowertown, which have transformed themselves by becoming modern and opening lots of restaurants. It declared Cathedral Hill in St. Paul, downtown Wayzata and Uptown "irresistible" destinations.
Superior Street in downtown Duluth, from 9th Avenue, in 1983.
Irresistible for some, but not for all. In fact, many Twin Citians feel out of place in such trendy and relatively expensive locales. Too many of us assume that a neighborhood that's alluring to millennials, creatives and the monied is alluring to everyone.
Let's look at a few neighborhoods and examine their character — or lack thereof.
Minneapolis' Linden Hills neighborhood is an obvious example of urban village character. It's a planner's model for scale, mixed use and density. Here, you can spend a summer evening sitting outside with an ice cream cone, going to a children's bookstore and getting around by bike. The houses are varied in size and style. Lake Harriet is nearby.
If, for you, character means contrasts, then the Bottineau neighborhood in Northeast has loads of it. I lived there in the 1990s. Down the street loomed the graceful domes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral. One block north, there was a small corner bar (now Grumpy's). At 6 p.m., the bar was filled with older patrons, mostly men. After 8, everyone was under 30 and dressed in black. Just across University Avenue was the venerable Jax Café, old industrial buildings along the rail corridor, grain silos and community gardens. Bars and churches, industry and artists lived side by side here.
It's possible, although harder, to measure character in its absence.
In prosperous downtown Minneapolis, many buildings that lent the city architectural and accessible character have been demolished. Landmarks such as the Foshay Tower remain, but it's the smaller buildings — three to five stories tall, mostly built before 1930 — that are gone. They offered a harmony of architecture, sidewalk urbanity and cultural history. Today, downtown resembles a soaring office park, with showy executive lobbies where modest stores used to be.
A recent example of this is the Handicraft Guild Building at 10th Street and Marquette Avenue. Designed by William Channing Whitney in 1907, the Guild's small storefronts, setback portico and patterned brick make it one of the most character-rich buildings in the city. Founded as an early "makers' space" for women and a school for art teachers, the Guild helped to put Minneapolis on the map as a center for the arts and crafts movement.
Unfortunately, the building's 1913 addition, which faces Marquette, will be demolished for a residential tower. The smaller original building will likely become an event space — and a lobby.
City preservation policies deemed the addition by Hewitt & Brown as insufficiently "historic" to save. But maybe we are asking the wrong question. The problem is not the new tower or even the loss of one of our best small buildings. It's the demise of our few remaining affordable storefronts. Residential towers, parking ramps and office buildings do not create character of any kind. Mixed uses and small businesses do.
If there is character downtown, it's on the fringes, beyond the high-rents of the skyways. There are few small Asian restaurants downtown or in the North Loop because of rents. But you can find new vitality where they have moved — Eat Street along Nicollet Avenue S. and Central Avenue NE.
Also, Loring Park's side streets, such as Willow and Oak Grove, are among the city's most urbane. Their character results from buildings of varied size and age that come up to the sidewalk and shape the space of the streets. There are trees arching overhead, many students and residents of all ages.
The Handicraft Guild Building in downtown Minneapolis.
Oak Grove Street evokes a faded elegance with old apartment walk-ups sited next to new high-end rentals. At the Oak Grove Grocery, one of the oldest in the city, you can find historic woodwork and a cast of characters behind the counter.
We spend massive amounts on public art and streetscapes like Nicollet Mall, but the character we're looking for is often found in the humble places that lend richness to daily life. It's rarely discussed in architecture and historic preservation circles. Yet, character is part of why we care so much about the places where we live and work. It's time to talk about it more.
Minneapolis writer Frank Edgerton Martin writes about urban design.
Eden Prairie and the Edge of Growth. Photo by Chris Faust, Suburban Documentation Project, 1992.
"Sameness" isn't a word that applies to metro-area towns that have unique looks, stories and histories.
I recently published the above article in the Star Tribune arguing that the Twin Cities region has nearly 100 suburbs and surrounding communities…all of them different. And many not fitting the bland "suburban" stereotype at all.
I used Woodbury, a St. Paul suburb that does fit this stereotype—a place with lots of McMansions and big box stores—to argue that even new landscapes like this are changing and becoming a little denser. It was amazing to read the vitriol in the on-line comments. I suspect that people who write these comments as a hobby lack other hobbies and the ability to read for subtlety and irony.
This situation is made worse by the fact that we have very little design journalism in most American cities. Too often, regional newspapers cover new development and building as a real estate story. So if one tries to take a landscape historical approach to seeing variety and difference, people take it as some kind of official endorsement of what is "good" or "bad", "hip" or "not hip". And of course, you are accused of being a liberal.
Still I stand by this article and hope it can spur discussion. I grew up in the "suburbs" and find them rich in stories anywhere you go. Thanks to the Star Tribune and my editor Claude Peck for publishing this.
The following is my article on artists and ice houses—at the 10th annual 2016 Art Shanty event. It's a winter happening and work of participatory art….
Minnesotans call them "icehouses". In New England and Michigan, they're known as "fish shanties" or "ice shanties". Many people are bewildered by their purpose and appeal at all. Yet, there's nothing like art to build new sensitivity to the tastes of others. Art and ice fishing reunite at this winter's Art Shanties event in White Bear Lake—a winter happening that's been going on since 2005.
"It's like a combination of ice fishing and Art-a-Whirl" says Sean Wagner, AIA whose office NewStudio will be making their second shanty entry. A visit to the historic Craftsman St. Paul Curling Club inspired their first entry in 2014: the Curling Club Art Shanty.
The team adapted polyethylene thermal film used in the marine industry to shrink-wrap boats for storage. They stretched it over a small warming house with asymmetrically spaced plywood ribs supported by light gauge metal framing.
This year, NewStudio is back with "Artist in a Box"—a 7.5-foot square artist's studio clad in Black Flamed Cedar and offering broad windows for looking out. The idea is to serve the active plein air painting community in White Bear that shuts down in winter. With the new Box shanty, artists can work in open light through the coldest winter months.
Christopher Berry, who helped design both the Curling and Artist Shanties says that this time, they hope to make something more portable and permanent. Artist in a Box is designed to rest on a full icehouse undercarriage. Throughout the year, the shanty can be trailered to festivals as a studio or "art cart".
In years past, there have been anywhere between 30 and 90 artists and shanty builders during the gathering's multi-week run. Many have lived out on the ice the whole time, even though their shanties are only open to the public on weekends. It must be very quiet out there during the week… a pause to watch the winter sunsets, to be with friends, to think. Most icehouse owners already know this. Now skeptics who fail to see the lure of ice fishing can too.
The 2016 On-Ice Program will take place on the surface of White Bear Lake every Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm, February 6-28, 2016.
The following are a group of articles that I've written on the future of downtown Minneapolis including: the rebuilding of Nicollet Mall, the long-term urban development effects of light rail, and a beautiful new branch library by the noted architects, VJAA. Click on titles for direct link to full article!
This is an article that I wrote about our much-loved Nye's Polonaise lounge and polka bar in Minneapolis. The fate of this threatened place touches on social equity, gentrification, local character…and really whether historic preservation matters. It appeared in the May-June 2015 issue of Architecture MN Click on text to link to article.
THE PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF THE NYE'S SITE IN MINNEAPOLIS SPURS COMPLEX PRESERVATION QUESTIONS. AMONG THEM: HOW CAN PRESERVATION GUIDELINES ADDRESS PROPERTIES WHOSE VALUE AND SIGNIFICANCE IS MORE SOCIAL THAN ARCHITECTURAL?
Can Nicollet Mall's $50 million renovation meet its lofty goals? The answer lies in knowing what the Mall really is.
A rendering of the proposed "Art Walk" area for the redesigned Nicollet Mall.
This is a new article that I wrote in response to the third reconstruction of the Nicollet Mall in less than 50 years. It appeared in theStarTribune on March 27. The comments and responses have been many and varied. Many citizens seem to understand that high-design and soon-dated public art will not revitalize this historic Main Street. More and more, it seems that the powerful building owners call the shots in downtown Minneapolis. The Mall is really just a front door for their elite tenants with charming sidewalk cafes where their employees can meet after work.
The 4.2-acre park is an unprecedented opportunity for downtown Minneapolis. Can we build it right?
DOES THE SUCCESS OF METRO TRANSIT'S GREEN LINE HINGE ON SPEED ALONE? WHAT DOES STREETCAR-LIKE LIGHT RAIL HAVE TO OFFER THAT OTHER TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS DO NOT?
Critics of the recently completed Metro Transit Green Line in Minneapolis and St. Paul claim that the nearly hour-long trip between the two downtowns is not a viable commuting option when compared with an express bus or car. But such an argument is only valid if we think of the Green Line as true light-rail transit—a mode best scaled to suburb-to-city commuting—and not the urban streetcar line that it really is….
Home to the crossing of the old Hennepin and Lake streetcar lines, Uptown enters its second century as one of Minneapolis' liveliest commercial hubs. Here is where the city meets Lake Calhoun, and where architects Liebenberg & Kaplan designed a soaring marquee for Uptown Theatre—an architectural innovation so tall it had to be approved by the FAA….
Here is a draft of a new article in the September-October 2014 Issue of Architecture Minnesota on the LPM Apartments in Minneapolis. In many of my pieces, I explore "connundra"—puzzles about architecture where there is no single answer, but just talking about it matters. Photo below: LPM tower under construction in Minneapolis. January 2104. -20 degrees F.
LPM on the Horizon: Is Minneapolis's Tallest Residential Tower in a Generation Ignoring its Context or Creating a New One?
The newly-opened LPM Apartments is a 36-story lozenge-shaped tower that almost seems to sail westward over Loring Park like a tall clipper ship. Sheathed in glass and set atop a rectangular base of structured parking and ground level stores, LPM is a quintessential Chicago residential project—a "platform pedestal tower" built more to the Windy City's Gold Coast scale than anything Minneapolis has ever seen.
Developed by Chicago's Magellan Development Group and designed by Loewenberg Architects, LPM gleams above foreground masonry buildings like the old Eitel Hospital—itself now high-end apartments. Depending on how you look it, LPM is either very foreign and out of place here or quite beautiful and bold. Like many beautiful people, it is also decidedly slim with sleek arcs of balconies that accentuate its curving walls of glass.
Does LPM ignore the scale and texture of Loring Park or is it setting a laudable new standard for high-design and skyscraper scale that can invigorate the neighborhood…and downtown?
When the IDS Center opened in the early 1970s, it also stood out like a lone soldier on the plains. Indeed when my freshman college roommate came to visit from New York City one cold January, his comment about downtown Minneapolis was that "it's a very nice building." That hurt. But over time, other towers grew up around IDS so that downtown now seems more like a chessboard with a set of pieces, each boasting a distinctively-lit top.
Is the soaring LPM just ahead of its time? Chances are that in ten years LPM will have new peers on the horizon and seem more in place. The entire scale of the Loring Park neighborhood and Nicollet Avenue is destined to change, especially with the likely advent of a new streetcar line. While LPM is much taller than its neighbors, its four story wrapped parking pedestal rather nicely matches the scale and massing of Emerson School and older apartments nearby along Spruce Place. But, as some Chicago critics have noted, too many pedestal towers along one street can become overpowering. What if there were five or six such platform towers lining Blaisdell Avenue? What would be the effect of the repeating, blank street wall on stories 2-5?
The new generation of tower housing typified by LPM and Nic on Fifth by Opus (also slated to open this year), promise unprecedented hotel-like amenities such as wine cellars and spa treatment rooms for young professionals and empty nesters. They are massive, all-encompassing, and exclusive with rents ranging from $2-3 per square foot so that a studio starts at around $1400 a month. They are a new expression of housing for top earners who can customize their private spaces and experiences, both physical and virtual.
Large-scale residential projects like LPM can also isolate new residents from the very city they purportedly repopulate. But, this removal is not just because they are so tall. There are many other design variables that shape the connection between public and private realms. Does the street level have retail spaces for the public? Can you walk though the project as with the nearby Eitel renovation and addition? Do the lower levels have windows and balconies on the street?
LPM succeeds in having balconies and planned retail spaces at street level. But, it offers little porosity in terms of drawing the public through its open spaces. And, as the Chicago critics fear, the parking levels are more an opaque "platform" or modern footstool than urban architecture. LPM's 40,000 square feet of resident amenities are far above the street— draped over the top of the parking pedestal like a verdant tapestry with media rooms, exercise rooms, an indoor dog park and a pet wash.
For those residents who opt for life in a kind of vertical gated community, there is really very little reason to ever go outside. With at least one parking space for each of LPM's 354 units, they may also find it much easier to drive to the grocery store than to walk there. From the Towers apartments (another Chicago developer project of the 1960s in the Gateway) to 1200 on the Mall designed by Hodne Stageberg in the late 70s, Minneapolis has a tradition of tower housing that combines city views with indoor parking. You can see the city from your windows, but need not engage it.
For now, LPM will seem a little out of place: its sleek tower and base set down right next to Jungle Red, a hip hair salon and gallery in a former car wash and a Super America with bullet proof glass at the registers. But developers like Magellan know that if you build at a big enough scale, you can change the neighborhood over time. With new tenants come new stores and higher property values and a cycle of more investment so that the bright little buildings and strip malls often go away. That has been the story of the gentrification of Chicago for years—and now in smaller cities like Minneapolis.
Can tall residential towers help to build a 24-hour downtown? Can they add to the city skyline with a scale that makes sense? I suspect that projects like LPM will contribute to our urban vitality—but only if downtown builds at other scales too. No matter how many new luxury residential towers and luxury historic renovations come out of this current development wave, we still need a greater diversity of downtown residents with more options in housing costs, better transit, and affordable rents for individually-owned stores.
Downtown Minneapolis has always had residents. In decades past, these citizens were just less affluent, more invisible, and ultimately displaced by growing real estate values and urban renewal. Now that downtown's population is growing again and nearing 40,000, we need to think of our city's center not just a soaring "compact core" but as a collection of small neighborhoods, possibly linked by streetcars, each with its own charm and housing choices. That was actually the case a century ago when Elliot Park, Loring Park, and even Nicollet Island each had walkable residential characters of their own.
Large-scale towers can work, but only if we also preserve and build with foreground human scale and street life. LPM is now a striking new piece on the downtown chessboard and yet also part of a much larger game. Despite the hype, luxury towers alone do not attract the coveted "creative class" from the coasts. A walkable, surprising, and diverse community does. If we build only such towers, downtown Minneapolis will come to look more like the Post Oak area of Houston, Dubai or one of several other air-conditioned money centers. In a truly vibrant city, private pleasure gardens matter less when there is a richer world of neighborhoods to discover beyond the front door.
The following is an article that I wrote for Fabric Architecture magazine on the fascinating history of the companies that make things like mirrors, industrial fabrics, and tents. They tell stories of innovation, daring, and change….
The fascinating and often surprising histories of today's fabric manufacturers.
Many of today's leaders in industrial fabric began their corporate lives by making something else—mirrors, chemicals, conveyor belt and metal cables. Yet if we consider how these companies grew over the last several centuries, we soon discover that the manufacturing histories of glass, fabric and metal show fascinating connections.
For example, Saint-Gobain International was chartered in 1665 by Louis XIV as a mirror workshop. By the 19th century, Saint-Gobain, with the technical requirements of glass making, would branch out into chemicals. Today the company creates a full range of building materials.
Industrial products often found surprising new applications bridging industries and embracing the growing technical needs of architecture. In the mid-20th century, the stainless steel wire fabric developed by Cambridge International proved to be an ideal belt conveyor for glass manufacture and its metal mesh later adorned elevator walls in modernist skyscrapers.
Today's oldest fabric companies proved resilient and flexible to change and opportunity. In many cases, the industry's greatest inventors, often not trained in fabric technologies, were adaptable too. The legendary Walter Bird, inventor of air-supported structures, was trained as an aeronautical engineer at MIT. It was only because the American military desperately needed a way to protect its new radar facilities in the Arctic that Bird hit upon a fabric and air solution. Metal structures interfered with the radar operation.
Today, with the rise of new fields such as nanotechnology, first applied to breathable ePTFE fabric by Bob Gore, the strands of chemistry, engineering and function are weaving back together. The old boundaries between materials and their traditional uses are falling away. For example, architectural glass now offers photovoltaic properties and industrial fabrics can illuminate and carry data display.
The timeline that follows documents how we have come to this convergence of technology, materials and design through the progress of many of today's most innovative fabric manufacturers. Theirs is a story of innovation, risk, collaborations and surprising new directions.
Editor's note: This timeline is not meant to be the definitive account. Many companies that do not appear here also have contributed to the industry's history.
Today's Saint-Gobain is created when Louis XIV signs the letters patent establishing the Manufacture des Glaces de Miroirs in Paris. This and other new glass companies grew out of Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert's economic agenda to challenge Venice's supremacy in Europe's glassmaking industry.
The Manufacture des Glaces de Miroirs (as Saint-Gobain was first known) receives a historic order for 357 mirrors for the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.
The Manufacture's new factory opens at Saint-Gobain (Aisne, France).
Saint Gobain establishes a subsidiary to make the sodium carbonate (soda) that it needed to make glass, using the then revolutionary Leblanc process. This was its first venture into the chemical industry.
Joshuah Purdy Brown of New York state becomes the first circus entrepreneur to replace the traditional wooden constructions with a full canvas tent, a system that had become commonplace by the mid-1830s.
The Pont-à-Mousson company begins as a modest foundry in Lorraine, where iron ore had been discovered. Soon this enterprise would become a world leader in iron water and gas pipes—both essential to rapidly growing industrial cities.
The glass industry grows rapidly in the second half of the 19th century. Saint-Gobain strives to fend off foreign competition by merging with its main domestic rival, Saint-Quirin.
Saint-Gobain holds 37% of France's mineral-chemical capacity. It branches out into nitrogen, petroleum, wood and paper between the wars.
Estey Wire Works expands their wire cloth weaving division to Cambridge, MD.
The Cambridge Wire Cloth Company (predecessor of today's Cambridge International) is formed with the provision that Cambridge Wire Cloth would only manufacture and sell to Estey Wire Works.
Automobile ownership expands nationwide. Roadside tent camping leads to "Tourist Parks" and later hotel courts and motels.
Taiyo Kogyo begins as the Nohmura Tent Company in Osaka, Japan.
Cambridge Wire Cloth begins production of its second product line—spiral woven wire belt—with a request from a Baltimore customer, which would be the first of the metal conveyor belt line of products.
"Allegheny Metal" is introduced at Cambridge International. This alloy of nickel, chrome and iron—now known as "Stainless Steel"—pened whole new markets for wire fabric because it is rustless, corrosion resistant and able to be used in extreme temperatures.
Walter Bird graduates from MIT with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He would go on to design fighter planes during WW2. In 1946, he would design a prototype air-supported dome constructed of Neoprene-coated fiberglass fabric to protect radar installations in the Arctic.
Nylon is introduced in 1935 at a DuPont research facility. Its first commercial use is a 1938 nylon-bristle toothbrush. Nylon was subsequently used as a replacement for silk in women's stockings in 1940.
Equipped with two sewing machines and the dedication to create fabrics with high standards of performance, Norm Seaman starts his business in a basement workshop in Canal Fulton, Ohio. The Seaman Corp., is incorporated in Ohio in 1950.
Nohmura Tent Company is completely destroyed by air raid fire.
Nohmura Sewing Factory is established in Osaka, Japan.
Nohmura company name changed to Taiyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Seaman Corp., maker of structural fabric, incorporated in Ohio.
Dacron suits go on sale in New York City on May 8. The new material, produced by DuPont, is the first polyester fiber sold commercially and will later be used in medical devices and artificial hearts.
Ronstan is founded in Australia when Ron Allatt and Stan Lenepveu open a manufacturing facility for wooden-hulled boats and their stainless steel fittings.
Walter Bird and associates form Birdair Structures Inc. to create air structures for military applications along with pools and tennis courts. In November 1957, Bird's own pool with its "bubble" top makes the cover of Life Magazine. By the 1960s, Birdair was creating huge "Radomes" to protect satellite tracking stations around the world.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's office specifies woven metal mesh by Cambridge International for the elevator interiors in New York's Seagram Building.
Bill and Vieve Gore found W.L. Gore & Associates in the basement of their Delaware home. Having left DuPont, Bill explores the potential of the polymer polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. Their first product is an insulated wire cable.
The first Ronstan catalog is published listing over 50 products.
The 1964 New York World's Fair features 160 temporary buildings and pavilions and strongly represents the American textile industry. Cooley Inc., a long-time IFAI member, provided the canvas for many of the Fair's pavilions and umbrellas, joining Glen Ravenand Graniteville in coloring the scene with brightly colored textile structures and awnings.
Frei Otto founds the famous Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart.
Stephanie Kwolek develops Kevlar® while working as a research scientist for DuPont. Made by spinning fiber from liquid crystalline solutions, Kevlar is almost five times stronger than steel but has half the density of fiberglass.
Frei Otto completes the West Germany Pavilion at Expo 67 Montreal.
Bill and Vieve Gore's son, Bob Gore discovers ePTFE thereby opening an entirely new line of medical and fabric products for the company. The first ePTFE products to be commercialized are Gore-Tex® Pipe Thread Tape and Gore-Tex® Joint Sealant for industrial pipes.
Taiyo Kogyo constructs membrane structures at Expo '70 World Fair in Osaka with engineering by Birdair Structures Inc.
Frei Otto completes the Tuwaiq Palace, Saudi Arabia, with Buro Happold.
Saint-Gobain and Pont-à-Mousson merge to offer complementary products in the building, automotive and service markets.
Walter W. Bird, president of Birdair, claims he is helping to build "a new and better America." During this time, Bird shifts his focus away from air-supported domes and onto more permanent membrane structures. Yet, Birdair continues to build air-supported stadiums throughout the 1970s and 80s. Since its founding in 1956, the company has completed more than 1,200 installations, utilizing more than 30 million sq. ft. of architectural fabric membrane.
Frei Otto completes the roof for Olympic Stadium, Munich.
University of LaVerne, LaVerne, Calif. completes the Student Activities Center, the first permanent glass fiber fabric structure in the U.S. Constructed by Birdair, the PTFE-coated fiberglass roof is manufactured by ChemFab with fibers provided by Owens-Corning and PTFE from DuPont.
Ferrari Textiles (now called Serge Ferrari Group) invents a process of weaving with prestressed yarns in both weft and fill directions (Précontraint) of its PVC-coated polyester structural fabric.
Ronstan increases its catalog range to over a thousand sailing-related products ranging from cam cleats to cables. By 1977, Ronstan was exporting to 29 countries.
Gore & Associates fiber is used in space suits designed for astronauts on the Columbia,NASA's inaugural space shuttle mission.
Ronstan's international profile is boosted when it fits out the America's Cup winner, Australia II.
Taiyo Kogyo completes the Tokyo Dome, Japan's first permanent air-supported structure.
Taiyo Kogyo acquires majority interest in Birdair, Inc. of Amherst, New York. Balance of interest is held by Chemfab Corp.
DuPont gives a Plunkett Award to Gore for the Gore-Tex® Radome Laminate, which protects radar antennae from harsh chemical and environmental conditions while minimizing microwave transmission loss.
Ronstan branches outside the marine industries with stainless steel rigging components for the architectural and construction applications.
Taiyo Kogyo acquires all stock in Birdair, Inc.
Ronstan produces its first architect-specific lecture. Major architectural projects using Ronstan products include the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Darling Harbour project in Sydney showcasing the use of wire balustrading previously used only in boats.
Birdair, Inc. acquires Stromeyer & Wagner to serve European market.
Frei Otto consults on the roof structure design of the Japanese Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover Germany collaborating with Buro Happold and architect Shigeru Ban.
Cambridge International opens Cambridge Architectural devoted to building applications of metal fabrics.
Serge Ferrari creates Texyloop™ with JV Solvay to recycle PVC-PE fabrics.
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron and ArupSport, the Allianz Arena opens in Munich. It is constructed with 2,874 ETFE-foil air panels that can be illuminated with a range of colors.
Saint-Gobain focuses its significant R & D resources on: Solar power, lighting, intelligent glass, high-performance insulation systems, external wall insulation systems, applying green chemistry to their materials, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), energy efficient manufacturing processes with a smaller environmental footing.


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March 3, 2010 // Uncategorized
Simple lives of Christ, St. Francis remain examples today, pope says
By Sarah Delaney
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI praised a 13th-century theologian and saint for emphasizing that the faithful should hold Christ and his teaching of poverty, chastity and obedience as a model for their lives.
In his weekly audience at the Vatican March 3, the pope talked about the spiritual and intellectual vigor of St. Bonaventure, an early follower and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi.
The saint and doctor of the church was exemplary because of the way he managed to use wisdom and moderation to mitigate violent conflicts within the church regarding the mendicant religious orders that were influential at the time, the pope said.
The saint also taught and wrote that all believers should do as St. Francis, who strived to imitate Christ in his own life.
Born in central Italy around 1217 as Giovanni da Fidanza, the saint wrote that he had been saved from a probably fatal illness through the intercession of St. Francis. A good student, he went to study in Paris where he became familiar with the mendicant Franciscan order, the pope explained. He became a Franciscan friar in 1243 and changed his name to Bonaventure.
He studied theology at the University of Paris, a city where the validity of the mendicant, or begging, orders was being violently disputed and their right to teach at the university was being contested.
St. Bonaventure wrote a treatise in defense of the orders called "Evangelical Perfection," in which he said that those who practice poverty, chastity and obedience were only following the Gospel itself.
Later Pope Alexander IV called on Bonaventure to become the master general, or superior, of the Franciscans, a position he held for 17 years. He tried to better organize the some 30,000 members of the order, inspiring them to follow the example of St. Francis and helping draft rules intended to stave off an internal rupture.
St. Bonaventure realized, however, that "this wasn't sufficient to assure the communion of the hearts and spirits" of the Franciscans, the pope said.
So Bonaventure researched documents and interviewed people who knew St. Francis and wrote what became the official biography of the saint from Assisi, the pope said. From his work, he offered an image of St. Francis as a man who, "driven by the love that seeks imitation, conformed entirely to him (Christ)," said the pope.
St. Bonaventure was called upon by the pope to prepare the Second Council of Lyons, to try to heal the divide between the Latin and Greek churches, but died in 1274 while it was still in session.
Reflecting on St. Bonaventure's call to imitate Christ and St. Francis of Assisi, the pope said, "the lessons of Bonaventure, through his work and in his life, are still relevant."
The church, the pope said, is made better by the men and women who "with their poor, chaste and obedient style of life show that the Gospel is a source of joy and perfection."
Editor's Note: The text of the pope's audience remarks in English will be posted online at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100303_en.html.
The text of the pope's audience remarks in Spanish will be posted online at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100303_sp.html.


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search filter Books & JournalsAll JournalsWorld Policy Journal
About World Policy Journal
Kashmir: A Stone's Throw, an Endless Wait
Showkat Nanda
SHOWKAT NANDA is a Kashmir-based documentary photographer and instructor. He is the recipient of a 2016 Magnum Emergency Fund grant.
World Policy Journal (2016) 33 (2): 42-56.
Showkat Nanda; Kashmir: A Stone's Throw, an Endless Wait. World Policy Journal 1 June 2016; 33 (2): 42–56. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/07402775-3642548
More than 90,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since the armed insurgency broke out in 1989. About eight years ago, the conflict transformed; gun-wielding militants were replaced by stone-throwing young men and boys, but India's response—sustained oppression by security forces immune from prosecution—remained the same. Photographer Showkat Nanda documents the clashes from the perspectives of Kashmir's young protesters as well as the grieving mothers and wives of those who have "disappeared."
India, Pakistan, Kashmir, photography
Copyright © 2016 World Policy Institute
The Humanities in South Asia Today
Nationalism, Internationalism, Cosmopolitanism — and Empire
'We Search, We Find, We Kill': Inside Karachi's Gangland Purge
What Remains?: Thinking with Moffat, Kapila, Siddique, and Mookherjee
Upon Arrival in the Past
Lunch with a Bigot
A Collaborator in Kashmir
Hotel Leeward


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struct highres_imu_msg {
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Tag Archives: train accident
December 12, 2017 Morrison Wagner News
New York-bound train accident leads to massive derailment
Officials from New Jersey Transit reported that a CSX freight train derailed on its way toward New York this past week. The train was 141 cars long and travelling an unknown speed when the crash occurred, derailing some 21 of the train cars. If the train was speeding or there was an equipment failure it may explain why it derailed. Emergency responders rushed to the accident scene expecting countless injuries. However, responders explain that the train was luckily empty. The only accident victims were the train engineer and conductor, both of which did not require emergency treatment according to reports. Accident specialists note that some accident injuries don't appear immediately and the two workers are advised to be evaluated by their doctors. They explain that some wounds, such as neck and back injuries due to bulging or herniated disc, may show themselves over the days following this type of crash.
An unrelated train accident in Valhalla, Westchester left a teenager dead, according to police. The 15-year-old girl was hit by the train while she was walking on the train tracks. That accident is thought to be a suicide but investigators are continuing to look into how she was able to get onto the tracks. In addition, they are investigating whether all safety precautions were being followed on the train as well as in the area of the dangerous railroad crossing. You can see more about that deadly accident here.
Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo Credit: Dale Stewart [License]
Long Island Railroad train accident injured tens of passengers
New York – This week's train collision involved a passenger commuter train and a maintenance train. Long Island Railroad (LIRR) officials reported that there were approximately 600 passengers on the train at the time of the crash. The initial investigation reveals that the maintenance train got in the way of the commuter one as it was traveling on a nearby track. The closer-than-normal proximity of the 2 trains caused the train accident and led to the train derailment. As the trains collided and then derailed, victims were sent flying in all directions. Emergency responders reported that at least 33 accident victims were injured in the train crash. The injured people were extricated from the wreck and evacuated to area hospitals.
Commuter safety specialists and passengers alike have expressed their outrage. They complain that the train companies must tighten their safety standards to prevent such tragic accidents. They note that vehicles as large and fast as a train require the highest level of safety and accident prevention. Some have contended that safety enforcement has become too lax and has led to negligent maintenance of the equipment. They also warn that engineer drivers often speed and disregard safety directives. Many have pointed to the recent New Jersey train crash that killed one passenger and injured over 100 people on the train and in the train terminal. Federal investigators don't believe there's any relationship between these 2 incidents. However, public activists point to the overall environment of lax safety compliance as proof of a more systemic danger that has created a hazardous condition. You can see more about the recent train derailment with updates on the investigation here.
Illustrative photo credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of NY [License]
Train accident in Bronx, New York with fatalities and injuries
New York – A train derailed in a deadly accident yesterday involving a Metro-North train on the Hudson line. The train crash left four people killed so far and dozens injured. The injured victims had to be extricated by rescue crews and were triaged on the scene before being transported to hospital emergency rooms in New York City. The train was scheduled to stop in Grand Central Terminal but wrecked before arriving in the station for an unknown reason. According to officials, the cause of the accident is still under investigation with reports showing that the speed limit on that section of the track was supposed to be 30 miles per hour. Crash investigators were analyzing all evidence to determine if the engineer was speeding at the time of the derailment. They will also need to examine the possibility that the crew could have been drunk or using drugs or even taking prescription medications. Experts note that a drunk driver in the case of a train carries much more serious consequences and punishments. A train crash can lead to many more injury victims compared to a car accident and this potential places a larger burden of responsibility on the train company as well as the individual engineer.
Concerned commuters explain that they are worried about the safety of the trains they travel on since this is the third train accident this year involving Metro-North. Activists have demanded that the administration take additional safety precautions in order to prevent additional accidents. Some feel that safety and maintenance has been lacking, leading to these crashes that have injured and killed many victims. Read more about this train crash here.
Photo by Adam E. Moreira (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Increase in New York City train accidents, injuries and deaths
New York – A recent report by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) notes a significant increase in subway and train deaths. Citizens and commuters in the city's busy transit system have been hit and killed on the train tracks 65 times as of the end of the summer. The number of accidents and deaths has continued to rise since then according to reports. Transportation safety groups fear that this may be an increase that won't stop unless something is done to prevent further accidents, injuries and deaths. They demand that more be done in way of safety barriers, accident prevention training and proper maintenance. The administration responsible for the safety and health of the people using the subways as well as the workers has looked into possible methods of preventing accidents and even suicides by people getting hit by a train. Unfortunately, according to some sources, the MTA administration has refused to install more safety barriers, fences and railings due to cost. Public advocates have countered that the safety of the public must be the primary concern and the administration must worker harder to find the necessary money. They warn that this type of accident prevention is just as important as the need for continued fixing of broken or faulty equipment. Negligent maintenance is something that also needs to be addressed in order to prevent some of the accidents in the subways, on the tracks and on the train platforms. Experts explain that broken steps, cracked sidewalks or hallways as well as damaged handrails must be fixed without delay. Unfortunately, sometimes these simple hazards are not fixed quickly or properly. Some of these dangerous conditions are just left with a line of yellow construction tape around them, poorly warning bystanders about the true dangers. The fast pace of the public transit system leaves citizens dodging these safety hazards on a constant basis. This can easily lead to a trip and fall accident that leaves the victim injured and confused as to what even occurred.
This past Wednesday saw another pedestrian struck and killed by a train, this time on Long Island. This train accident is still under investigation in order to determine why the pedestrian was hit. Another accident occurred on the tracks in Brooklyn, when a blind man fell off the platform. Luckily a maintenance worker helped save the victim by pulling him back up. Find out more about that near subway accident here.
Photo by Adam J. Sporka at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


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L'église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption est une église de culte catholique située à Pointe-Noire dans le département et la région de la Guadeloupe en France. Elle est dédiée à l'Assomption de la Vierge Marie et rattachée au diocèse de Basse-Terre et Pointe-à-Pitre.

Historique

L'église a été construite en 1853 et consacrée le  par l'évêque du diocèse Théodore-Augustin Forcade. Elle est agrandie en 1976.

Architecture et ornements
L'édifice est construit dans un style néo-classique avec des matériaux de la région : la pierre volcanique pour les murs et la façade ; le bois pour le clocher situé au-dessus de la sacristie. Elle est composée d'une nef centrale et de deux travées séparées par des colonnes de style dorique romain. L'agrandissement de 1976 a également été accompagné de la reconstruction de la voûte en ciment. Le mobilier de l'édifice inclut un autel en marbre et une chaire en bois, tous deux datant des années 1850.

Le cimetière paroissial possède un caveau particulier, la cave des prêtres, où sont enterrés tous les prêtres de la paroisse (qui le souhaitent) depuis son édification.

Notes et références

Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire (Guadeloupe)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Share this Story: Christina Aguilera on voluntourism trip in Ecuador
Christina Aguilera on voluntourism trip in Ecuador
WENN.com
Pop superstar Christina Aguilera was given the opportunity to connect with her paternal roots during a recent humanitarian trip to Ecuador.
The Beautiful singer has been working as a volunteer global spokesperson for Yum! Brands' World Hunger Relief since 2009 and she previously met with children in need in countries like Rwanda, Haiti and Guatemala.
Last week, she headed to South America to visit disadvantaged families and deliver much-needed school meals, and the mother-of-two admits she was especially touched by those she met in her once-estranged dad Fausto Xavier Aguilera's native country.
"This particular trip was sort of extra-special for me because it is my blood and heritage," Christina tells The Associated Press. "My father was born in Ecuador and my grandfather was born in Quito, which is the city I stayed in. And we would drive out in the fields, which were hours away by car and into the farmland and sort of refugee areas where people are struggling...
I recently visited Ecuador w/@WFP for @yumbrands World Hunger Relief effort. Very moving. http://t.co/9kP2rlWjWp pic.twitter.com/bnHKHOyNq5
— Christina Aguilera (@xtina) September 29, 2015
"I went into the fields and got to meet the women and children there who are really trying to survive. I definitely had always wanted to go visit where my dad comes from, the culture, you know, not having sort of a consistent relationship at all in my life with him and not really knowing him as I've gotten older through the years as well. You know, there's a history there. But, you know, it is a part of my blood and a part of my heritage and a part of my people. And I would look at the faces and I would sort of... sometimes feel like I saw a resemblance. I think it's important and I think it's good to know where you come from and sort of get to know your roots."
"It felt that much better to me that I was in a place that I felt so connected to and was able to give back to," she adds.
During the visit, Christina filmed a public service announcement for the World Hunger Relief initiative, which is due to air in the U.S. in October.
The campaign has raised $600 million to aid charities like the United Nations' World Food Programme in the eight years since its launch.
Christina Aguilera on voluntourism trip in Ecuador Back to video
Ontario to permit indoor dining at 50% capacity: Source


Today I want to talk to you about how you can be more sustainable without leaving the comfort of your home while sitting in front of your computer, tablet or smartphone.
I personally use Tomorrow (I'm not sponsored, I just really love them!). It's for free, which is important for someone like me on a tight budget. I'd be willing to pay for my bank account later, when I make more money, but at the moment, that's just not an option (the other banks have either free options for students or are sometimes completely free for everyone, too). At Tomorrow you get a MasterCard (debit) card for free as well. With each time you pay you support a rainforest project. Your money is used in a sustainable way and not for GMOs, coal power and so on. They are just getting started, right now they have a bit more than 3000 customers. They plan on working on more project, like a discount system for cooperating sustainable brands or an option to invest your money in sustainable equity funds (or so called alternative investments).
Just recently I discovered that there is actually an e-mail account out there (thanks to Nadja's Green Living), that is more sustainable than Gmail, Yahoo and Co. It's called Posteo and it's a German-based e-mail provider, which puts its focus on data protection as well as sustainability. They use green energy (from Greenpeace Energy), have a bank account at the GLS Bank and invest their reserves at the Umwelt Bank. In addition to that, they use recycling paper at work, support public transportation or biking for their employees, offer a free vegetarian meal for lunch and use energy-efficient hardware. You can find more information about what they do to be more sustainable HERE. An e-mail account costs 1€ per month, but it is free of any kind of advertisement and completely anonymous. I use it for my private e-mails and I'm currently migrating my other e-mail-addresses from Google and GMX to it. I personally don't want x different e-mail addresses anymore, but one account that combines all my private e-mails (I still got a different one for work from my company and one for my blog, though, and that probably won't change).
There are quite a lot of online shops nowadays, that try to be more sustainable. Here are a few examples (some are only for Germany, others ship internationally).
"Mit Ecken und Kanten" is a German / Nuremberg based online shop, that sells slightly imperfect products from sustainable brands, that otherwise would have been thrown away. The products are sold at a reduced price.
Sirplus and Veggie Specials sell food, that normally would have to be thrown away because its "best-before date" is reached (or very close to be reached). You do not only safe food, but you actually get it at a discounted price and can safe money!
You can also find fair and more sustainable fashion online, for example at Avocado Store, Armedangels and so on.
You'll also find some online shops of zero waste stores, which can help you to reduce waste, even if you do not have a zw store near you: Original Unverpackt, Tante Olga, Package Free Shop etc..
Buying second hand is also very easy online and it safes some resources compare to buying new items: Kleiderkreisel , rebuy and medimops are just a few examples I like to use, to either buy or sell some stuff.
Something that does not cost you any money at all, is supporting influencers (their Instagram accounts, websites, YouTube Channels and so on), who care about sustainability, environmental issues and veganism. Follow them, like and share their posts and comment. The more you do this, the more likely it is, that they can reach new people with their important message. You can comment under their pictures and answer the questions of other users. If you like, you might also start creating your own content about a sustainable and/or vegan lifestyle and influence other people with it. Your content does not have to be perfect, simply start. People know, when you put a lot of heart in it and you'll learn along the way.
If you need a new job or you want to switch jobs, Goodjobs might be the right place for you to look. Here you can find jobs that align with your values and where you can be part of real change. And there are job offers for everyone, from engineers to accountants to doctors. For people with lots of experience and for those who have just graduated. Simply have a look, you might have some luck and find the right place for you!
I hope I could share with you today some new information! How do you try to be more sustainable online? What are your favourite brands and online stores? I'd love to know in order to create a list!


Join the Great Wall Team at the Kent County Show!
The Kent County Show is a showcase event for farming, countryside and rural life. The three day event brings together the very best of Kent with animals and food, fun and excitement and above all a sense of what 'The Garden of England' has to offer, for the whole family. The 2015 Kent County Show will be held on Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 July.
Open from 8am to 6pm every day, the Show is a wonderful day out with plenty of displays, entertainment and local food. With over 400 exhibitors and trade stands and over 300 competitions, activities and displays.


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Quarterly Update Q2-2019
3 Jul 2019 • 8 minute read
We've given Luno a fresh coat of paint and recently unveiled our new mobile applications and website to segments of our customers through our early access beta programme. This project has been a showcase of teamwork and moontality with 107 people across the business working together to create the new Luno.
The full experience will be available to all of our customers after we've ironed out any kinks. Keep your eyes peeled on our social channels for more updates on this!
Malaysia license
It's official! The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia has conditionally approved Luno's application as a Recognized Market Operator (Digital Asset Exchange). It's been a long road, but our vision is for the long-term. Which is why we've been working closely with regulators and banks to make sure the groundwork for the future of money is set up.
The Malaysian government's regulation of the industry is a big indicator of how we're all levelling up - our money, our laws, and our futures. More information on these exciting changes here.
New coins coming
If you're an avid Luno user, you'll know our stance on altcoins. We've remained crypto agnostic for a while now as we've worked hard to build a platform our customers love, trust and find easy to use. That said, it's come time for us to evaluate adding altcoins to our platform. Yes, you read that right - we'll be adding more cryptocurrencies to Luno in the coming months. For a more detailed look into our thoughts on this, our CEO Marcus Swanepoel, recently wrote a blog post on moving to a multi-currency world.
Luno team growth
We've kept up with the pace of growth throughout 2018 and 2019 by bringing on board a whole bunch of talented and ambitious new starters from some of the most well-known companies around the world. Bloomberg recently covered our growth story, showcasing our growth from a team of 57 at the start of 2018 to a global and diverse team of 280 Lunauts in June 2019.
2019 hackathon
Earlier this year we hosted a decentralised 24-hour hackathon spanning across Europe, Africa and South-East Asia. More than just a way to flex some serious dev-muscle, hackathons are a great way to get cross-functional teams in the same space to work on creative ideas. The event was an enormous success with 13 teams ranging from one-man bands to six-person groups. What was the winning idea? Find out what went down.
Luno in the news
Regional updates
Click below for updates from each region:
This quarter we've also continued with our #LunoTV Crypto News RoundUp videos. So if you prefer to watch your industry updates you can catch all 11 episodes here.
Platforms and protocols
Bitcoin breaches $13,000 and market dominance climbs to highest level in over 2 years
Bitcoin's recent parabolic advance saw strong gains, breaching $13,000 and hitting resistance around the $13,800 mark on 26 June. In the process, the move decimated altcoins which have failed to produce a similar performance. Despite high volatility resulting in a 20%+ pull-back below $11,000, bullish sentiment remains firmly intact, with the move being viewed by many analysts as a healthy correction, similar to previous price patterns. Trading volumes on the Bitcoin derivatives market also set all-time highs. Bitcoin dominance is 61.1% at the time of writing, a level last seen in April 2017.
Ethereum Foundation to spend $30 million on development in the next 12 months
The foundation's executive director, Aya Miyaguchi, announced the plan at the ConsenSys-organized Ethereal Summit in on Friday. Roughly $27 million has already been spent over the past year on its grant program, which aims to support critical projects across the Ethereum ecosystem.
Bitcoin mining hashrate becoming more distributed and more competitive than ever
According to a recent report published by cryptocurrency research from Diar, the Bitcoin mining hashrate is becoming more distributed among mining pools. The report which was published on 13 May, states that smaller mining pools have made significant gains this year as unknown miners either drop or move to different pools. According to data gathered by BTC.com, Bitcoin mining has become more competitive than ever before. Bitcoin mining difficulty - the number that indicates how hard it is to earn mining rewards, has reached a record high of 7.93 trillion. This is a trend that reversed upwards back in January earlier this year.
Early Bitcoin developer attends G20 meeting of finance ministers
Adam Back, one of the earliest people to work on Bitcoin, attended the G20 meeting of finance ministers in Japan on 8 June. He spoke about the positive uses of blockchain and said financial institutions stand to benefit from the technology because it would mean international transfers no longer need to go through intermediary banks with questionable.
Number of cryptocurrency wallet users keep rising
Recent data published by market and consumer data provider Statista show the number of cryptocurrency wallet users has been steadily increasing over the years, independently of the market ups and downs.
Crypto in the world - banks and investment
World's Fifth Largest Bank MUFG to Put Stablecoin to Practical Use in 2019
According to a report on 9 April by Cointelepgrah, the world's fifth-largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), is set to put its digital currency MUFG Coin into practical use later this year. The asset is designed with a focus on currency functionality, with customers to download an app that will automatically convert their bank deposits into the stablecoin.
Fidelity Investments survey shows 22% of Institutional investors own digital assets
In a press release published 2 May, the U.S. based asset management firm Fidelity Investments released the results of a recent survey showing 22% of institutional investors already own digital assets. The release claims 411 U.S. institutional investors were surveyed, 40% said they are open to future investments in digital assets in the next 5 years.
Grayscale Investment release new #DropGold campaign
Grayscale Investments, one of the largest digital currency assets managers, launched a new provoking campaign on 1 May, aimed at challenging investors to reconsider their traditional beliefs about gold investing and to embrace Bitcoin as a superior alternative.
Top banks allegedly involved in $50 million digital cash settlement
According to a report by Reuters, top banks have come together and are investing nearly $50 million to build a blockchain-based digital cash settlement system. The report says that the previously disclosed project, known as the ''utility settlement coin,'' was first proposed by Swiss bank UBS Group AG and London-based technology startup Clearmatics in 2015.
Bakkt announces details and date to launch Bitcoin futures
Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures focused platform by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has finally announced the launch date of Bitcoin futures trading, along with the much-awaited details regarding Bitcoin futures on the ICE platform. Adam Black, chief operating officer, wrote in a blog post on 13 June that the platform will ''initiate user acceptance testing'' for its Bitcoin futures contracts on 22 July.
Crypto in the world - commercial companies
Paypal makes first blockchain investment
Paypal has made its first-ever investment in a blockchain company. The payment giant has joined a series A investment in Cambridge Blockchain, a startup that aims to help financial institutions and other companies manage sensitive data by using shared ledgers.
Opera Releases New Browser With Built-In Crypto Wallet and Web 3.0 Explorer
Well-known web browser Opera is releasing a new browser with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet. The development was announced in a press release that was shared with Cointelegraph on 9 April.
US telecom giant now accepting crypto payments with Bitpay
US telecom giant, AT&T announced yesterday that it will now be accepting cryptocurrency for paying phone bills. Customers will be able to settle their accounts using Bitcoin thanks to a deal with cryptocurrency payments platform Bitpay.
Abra crypto wallet adds in-App support for 'thousands' of US banks
Cryptocurrency wallet and investment app Abra has now enabled users to connect from 'thousands' of U.S. banks, the firm announced Thursday. This expansion is courtesy of integration with Plaid, a fintech service that enables applications to connect with users' bank accounts APIs.
Tron CEO wins bid to have lunch with Warren Buffet
Tron CEO, Justin Sun, spent a record-breaking $4.6 million in a charity auction held on eBay last week to have lunch with the billionaire investor. Sun will meet Buffet at Smith & Wollensky's in Manhattan and has said he would invite seven crypto-industry leaders to join them.
Countries embracing crypto
The SEC just released its long-awaited crypto guidance
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published the long-awaited fresh regulatory guidelines for token issuers, almost half a year in the making. The guidance focuses on tokens and outlines the factors that may fall under a securities classification, according to the document. While industry participants and legal experts view this as a positive first step, there are still many issues to be discussed.
Canadian regulators introduce new rules for crypto mining
Canadian energy regulator, Régie de l'énergie, has released new rules for cryptocurrency miners. The new rules, announced 29 April, state that power producer Hydro-Quebec must allocate 300 megawatts to the blockchain industry.
New crypto ETF filed with U.S. SECA
Prospectus for a new cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) has just been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The proposed ETF was posted by the SEC on 9 May and was created by Crescent Crypto Index Services LLC, a subsidiary of Crescent Crypto Asset Management LLC, to track the performance of a market capitalization-weighted portfolio of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).
Quarterly Updates


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Accenture investor keeps protection
December 05, 2011 — 10:54 am EST
Written by optionMONSTER ->
Accenture has been working higher, but one investor is apparently tightening protection.
optionMONSTER's Depth Charge monitoring system detected the purchase of about 5,000 January 60 puts for $2.60 and the sale of an equal number of January 57.50 puts for $1.62. Volume was below open interest in the lower 57.50s but not the 60s, which indicates that a protective position was rolled from one contract to the other.
The trader probably owns shares in the IT-consulting firm and is using the contracts as a hedging instrument . Adjusting the puts cost $0.98 and will increase by $2.50 the level at which they have a right to sell the stock. The move essentially increases their level of protection and thus locks in more gains. (See our Education section)
ACN is up 3.08 percent to $60.18 today and has risen 12 percent in the last month. The company's earnings have repeatedly beaten estimates amid growing demand from businesses. Its next release is scheduled for after the bell on Dec. 15.
Overall option volume is 5 times greater than average so far today, with puts outnumbering calls by 8 to 1.
Copyright © 2010 OptionMonster® Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MarketsOptions
optionMONSTER


The American Optometric Association (AOA) and The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., have partnered to create InfantSEE®, a no-cost public health program developed to provide professional eye care for infants nationwide. Through InfantSEE®, optometrists will provide a one-time, comprehensive eye assessment to infants in their first year of life, offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income.
To learn more about InfantSEE® visit www.infantsee.org or call toll-free (888) 396-EYES (3937).
[i] American Optometric Association. Pediatric eye and vision examination. 2nd ed. St. Louis (MO): American Optometric Association; 2002.


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The New York Titans are a lacrosse team based in New York City playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2008 season was the 2nd in franchise history.

The Titans improved on their 4-12 last place finish from 2007 by tying for the best record in the league, though tiebreakers meant that the Titans actually finished 3rd in the east. They beat the Minnesota Swarm in the team's first ever playoff game to advance to the division finals against the Buffalo Bandits. The Bandits' playoff experience proved too much for the young Titans, and the Bandits went on to the Championship game by defeating the Titans 19-12.

Regular season

Conference standings

Game log
Reference:

Playoffs

Game log
Reference:

Player stats
Reference:

Runners (Top 10)

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose balls; PIM = Penalty minutes

Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Awards

Roster
Reference:

See also
2008 NLL season

References

New York


text:
Мира̀ндола (, на местен диалект Miràndla, Мирандъла) е град и община в северна Италия, провинция Модена, регион Емилия-Романя. Разположен е на 18 m надморска височина. Населението на общината е 23 785 души (към 2012 г.).
През пролетта 2012 г. много сгради са повредени от силни земетресения.

Източници

Външни препратки
 Уебсайт на общината

Модена (провинция)
Градове в Емилия-Романя