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Posted 8 hours ago

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A Brownfield Beautification Campaign for Just $750 On a recent 24-hour visit to Memphis, Tennessee, I came across this cool art project right across the street from the Memphis Central Station train depot. A simple plywood fence had been built around a vacant piece of land and painted with the lyrics about Memphis. Formerly the site of a dry cleaner, this plot of land on South Main Street is now a vacant brownfield site. A few years back, a group of local artists and volunteers joined together to counteract the blight – one of the first impressions left on train travelers entering the city. Led by the local nonprofit the UrbanArt Commission, the group decided to transform the site into a monument to the city and its legacy as a birthplace of blues and soul. I love this idea… and not only because it includes the lyrics to one of my favorite songs (and no, it’s not by Marc Cohn).

A Brownfield Beautification Campaign for Just $750

On a recent 24-hour visit to Memphis, Tennessee, I came across this cool art project right across the street from the Memphis Central Station train depot. A simple plywood fence had been built around a vacant piece of land and painted with the lyrics about Memphis.

Formerly the site of a dry cleaner, this plot of land on South Main Street is now a vacant brownfield site. A few years back, a group of local artists and volunteers joined together to counteract the blight – one of the first impressions left on train travelers entering the city. Led by the local nonprofit the UrbanArt Commission, the group decided to transform the site into a monument to the city and its legacy as a birthplace of blues and soul.

I love this idea… and not only because it includes the lyrics to one of my favorite songs (and no, it’s not by Marc Cohn).

Posted 12 hours ago

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TED talk of the week year eternity: Reggie Watts disorients you in the most entertaining way

And now, the TED talk you’ve all been waiting for. Or at least I have. Watching the simulcast in KC, I’m certain 90% of the people in the audience had no idea what was happening.

Posted 4 days ago

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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

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Changes

David Bowie

David Bowie - Changes

Song of the day. Happy Friday!

Posted 4 days ago

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Link Dump 5/25/12

Once again, here are the best things I read on the internet this week:

The Most Dangerous Game: The parallel lives of a KGB defector and his CIA handler - by Serge F. Kovaleski for The Washington Post [2006] (h/t Longform.org)

The Curse of an Early Alzheimer’s Diagnosis - by Melinda Beck for The Wall Street Journal

The Ultimate Counterfeiter Isn’t a Crook—He’s an Artist - by David Wolman for Wired

The House That Christian Ponder Built - by Steve Marsh for Grantland

Raising Crane: How Do Cranes Get to the Top of Skyscrapers? - by Forrest Wickman for Slate

Posted 5 days ago

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TED Talk of the Week

Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do

Posted 1 week ago

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I agree.

I agree.

Posted 1 week ago

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Is a horse-bike a bike that looks like a horse or a bicycle built for a horse? No other explanation for this headline is acceptable.

Is a horse-bike a bike that looks like a horse or a bicycle built for a horse? No other explanation for this headline is acceptable.

Posted 1 week ago

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Link Dump: 5/18/12

The best things I read on the internet this week, in no particular order (in case you’re keeping score, Grantland killed it this week):

You Will Never Sleep With a Woman Who Looks Like That - by Justin Halpern for Grantland

The Comedian Comedians Were Afraid of: Remembering Patrice O’Neal - by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc for New York Magazine

This is ‘Jeopardy!’: How a Week of Episodes Gets Filmed in One Day - by Scott Meslow for The Atlantic

Please Don’t Call It ‘Ping-Pong’ - by Michael Weinreb for Grantland

Wilt vs. Elgin: When Their World Was the Playground - by Dave McKenna for Grantland

Last Ones Left in a Toxic Kansas Town - by Wes Enzinna for The New York Times

Money Unlimited: How John Roberts Orchestrated the Citizens United Decision - by Jeffrey Toobin for the New Yorker

Why Aren’t Cities Littered with Dead Pigeons? - by John Metcalfe for The Atlantic Cities

Eureka! When a Blow to the Head Creates a Sudden Genius - by Brian Fung for The Atlantic

Posted 1 week ago

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TED Talk of the Week

Tali Sharot: The optimism bias

Posted 1 week ago

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Last Ones Left in a Toxic Kansas Town By 1981, when the Environmental Protection Agency ranked the area around Treece and Picher as the most contaminated in the country, only a few hundred people remained. By the time I visited, Picher had been abandoned almost entirely, and only 170 residents still lived in Treece with those toxic towers of stone. This is too good to save until Friday’s link dump. A couple years ago, I drove through Treece—and Picher, its sister city across the Kansas-Oklahoma border—on my way back from Stillwater (probably trying to avoid the I-35 toll). It still haunts me as one of the creepiest experiences of my life.

Last Ones Left in a Toxic Kansas Town

By 1981, when the Environmental Protection Agency ranked the area around Treece and Picher as the most contaminated in the country, only a few hundred people remained. By the time I visited, Picher had been abandoned almost entirely, and only 170 residents still lived in Treece with those toxic towers of stone.

This is too good to save until Friday’s link dump. A couple years ago, I drove through Treece—and Picher, its sister city across the Kansas-Oklahoma border—on my way back from Stillwater (probably trying to avoid the I-35 toll). It still haunts me as one of the creepiest experiences of my life.

Posted 2 weeks ago

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ESPN Doubles Up on ’30 for 30’ Documentary Series

There are new dimensions to the series, which will return this fall and span two years. The documentaries are being integrated with Grantland.com, the ESPN sports-culture journalism Web site whose editor in chief is Bill Simmons, the popular ESPN columnist and podcaster. Mr. Simmons prodded ESPN to produce “30 for 30,” and is an executive producer.

As the films roll out, they will be augmented on Grantland by podcasts, feature stories and oral histories. A short digital film — which will be unrelated to the longer ones — will make its debut each month on Grantland.

As a big 30 for 30 fan, I’m really excited for this next batch of films (Bo Jackson!). The first short, which follows the daily life of Pete Rose, is now available here.

Posted 2 weeks ago

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LEGO ‘Skyscraper’ in Seoul Sets World Record The 31.9 meter (105 feet) tall LEGO tower constructed in South Korea over the weekend. It edged out the previous tallest tower by just 30 centimeters in a race for height that began in 1988, when the first of the Lego architectures was built in London. Since then, 30 different records have been set and broken, so don’t expect Seoul to hold the title for too long.

LEGO ‘Skyscraper’ in Seoul Sets World Record

The 31.9 meter (105 feet) tall LEGO tower constructed in South Korea over the weekend. It edged out the previous tallest tower by just 30 centimeters in a race for height that began in 1988, when the first of the Lego architectures was built in London. Since then, 30 different records have been set and broken, so don’t expect Seoul to hold the title for too long.

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