BatesLine blogroll headlines

OKC Central: Sunday Flashback: "The Misconception That Cities 'Happen' And Need Not Be Designed"

Steve Lackmeyer posts a 1964 article on Oklahoma City's Classen Blvd by Phillip Morris -- "I'm stunned at the discovery of this 1964 article - stunned at the depth of discussion of urban planning, stunned at the foreshadowing of issues to follow, and quite frankly, uncertain what to make of it all." -- and it leads to an excellent discussion of urban design ideas, a discussion that includes the author of that 1964 story. One especially interesting aside by Morris:

"FYI, the City of Birmingham (truly a center city wrapped by close suburbs) used urban renewal only for UAB expansion, but in the 1980′s established more than 20 design review districts overseen by a single board with guidelines written with input from property owners (who must organize and formally request the designation before public improvements are made). They are titled "Commercial Revitalization District" and do just about everything you would in a local historic district -- but without the red flag name. Incrementally adds up over time, but only where the economic base supports development."

Ingrid Martin Channels Joe the Plumber, Debates Obama After Health Speech -- Politics Daily

'Martin said she then entered into about a 2-minute debate reminiscent of Obama's meeting with another Ohioan, Joe Wurzelbacher (aka "Joe the Plumber"), telling him she worries about the long-term implications of his sweeping legislation. She told the president he was focused on insurance reform, as opposed to the rising cost of health care, which she believes to be the fundamental problem. Martin stressed her view of the need for tort reform. She also noted: "He said things like, 'Medicare is not going to be affected by this bill,' which is not right."' (Via Ace.)

Why you've never really heard the "Moonlight" Sonata. - By Jan Swafford - Slate Magazine

Pianos have changed since Beethoven's day. A visit to the Franklin Historic Piano Collection in Ashburnham, Mass., and audio of the "Moonlight" and "Appassionata" sonatas and works by Brahms and Debussy on contemporary pianos, compared to the same works played on a modern Steinway.

Bob & Ray on the web

Home page for the classic radio comedy of Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding. You can buy a thumb drive with the complete Bob & Ray audio archive -- 90 hours, 1837 routines -- for a mere $349. Bob & Ray audio is also available for download at Amazon MP3. Bob & Ray are (is?) on Facebook, too. And here's a New York Times story about Bob Elliott, his son Chris ("Get a Life"), and Chris' daughter Abby, a featured player on SNL.

Variety review: Biker Fox

Self-produced biopic of one of Tulsa's eccentrics: "The man has no personal relationships we can detect, outside of the few people who work for him and the car-parts customers he frequently abuses on the phone. His past is an enigma, and the basis of his anger, which he admits to, is a secret. Without some kind of insight into what makes Biker Fox who he is, it's all a bit shallow, if frequently entertaining."

Eminent Domain as Central Planning by Nicole Gelinas, City Journal Winter 2010

An over-broad definition of blight (it includes "underutilization") allows cities to condemn land and buildings that aren't blighted at all. (Oklahoma has the same problem, which undermines our state constitutional protection against government seizing land for private use. "In the 1930s...'substandard' and 'unsanitary' meant 'families and children dying from rampant fires and pestilence' in tuberculosis-ridden firetraps. In 2006, by contrast, the UDC's consultants found 'substandard' conditions in isolated graffiti, cracked sidewalks, and 'underutilization'--that is, when property owners weren't using their land to generate the social and economic benefits that the government desired."

Peak Phosphorus May Follow Peak Oil | Miller-McCune Online Magazine

"Without phosphorus, the world cannot grow food. Yet only three countries control 73 percent of the world's remaining known reserves of phosphate rock.... Phosphorus cannot be destroyed, but it is becoming dissipated in the environment... 'There's a whole industry that needs to be invented to capture phosphorus. We need a new way of growing crops that keeps it in the field instead of letting it run down into the Gulf of Mexico. We need plants that are more efficient at getting phosphorus.'" (Via Ace of Spades HQ.)

Old Road Maps of Texas

A great collection of scans, mainly of the city insets of oil company road maps of Texas, from 1942 to 1970. Some street maps (Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston). A resource for finding the pre-freeway routes of highways through cities.

Red army galvanizing in our bluest towns - BostonHerald.com

Thanks to Scott Brown's win, Massachusetts Republicans are coming out of the closet and getting organized. Let's hope the party oldtimers, used to being big frogs in small ponds, don't throw too many obstacles in the path of the enthusiastic newcomers. (By the way, the headline illustrates why the Republican Party should never have allowed CNN's map to define red as its color. The Red Army was the army of the communist USSR. In every other country, red is for the socialist/left-leaning party, blue is for the conservative party.)

Republican Valentine e-Cards

Some of these are pretty funny. Reid and Pelosi: "We crafted this Valentine's card behind closed doors." Obama: "I've saved or created millions of valentines." Algore: "I'll charter a flight to bring you this Valentine's card in person."