Ahh... I'm glad to know that the folks I was concerned about re: the storm came through it all right. I was confident that everyone would be through it ok, but confirmation eases any remaining worries. :)

Vampire game clue - The barman says, "Pssst. Thieves Guild 1 is right next to Aardvark and 3rd today. I don't know how much longer it will be there, though." Join us?

"You are sire to 84 other vampires, including: LdySaphyre (7033 pints), Liliana (2629 pints), MissV (2604 pints), gilbella (1311 pints), mixedresults (1246 pints), Morgoth (619 pints), night_flyer (426 pints), Nathanael (417 pints), wchmum (318 pints), phenrill (253 pints)"


Sections of a work by a famed architect that covers the sidewalks of Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami have been permanently pulled out by workers to make way for this week's Grand Prix Americas auto race.
City of Miami officials signed off on the removal, but few outside the city and the race organization were aware of the plan, which required chopping off parts of the medians at Fourth and Fifth streets.

Now some appalled civic leaders say the city and race organizers have essentially defaced a work of art -- one installed with great fanfare at a cost of more than $3 million just six years ago.

The sidewalks, covered in custom-made pavers in terra cotta, mocha and beige, were among the last designs by the acclaimed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, who died in 1994.

''They've been destroyed,'' said lawyer and parks activist Dan Paul of the altered sections. ``This was a world-famous architect.''

Not everyone, however, agrees with Paul. City officials say the sections pulled out are relatively small. The pavers are being removed by hand and will be stored for future use.

''I don't think it's the end of the world,'' said Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton, who added that he was never a fan of the Burle Marx design. ``It would have policy implications if it were a big enough piece. But it's not.''

The city adopted the Burle Marx design as the official plan for a 1.7-mile stretch of Biscayne from the edge of the Miami River to Northeast 24th Street more than a decade ago but finished only a section from the southern end of Biscayne north to about the Freedom Tower. Estimates for completing the work -- envisioned as a grand garden in the city with colorfully paved walkways and intersection, palms and cafes -- ran to $16 million.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Even as it removes one section of the design, the city continues to require developers to install it elsewhere. A new section designed by Burle Marx's studio, which remains open, will be built as part of the Performing Arts Center now under construction. The city has asked developers of two new towers planned for the boulevard just north of the removed sections to install the Burle Marx paving pattern on the sidewalk fronting Biscayne. A section also exists in front of the Burger King across from the old Omni shopping mall.

LOVE AND HATE

The design has detractors as well as fans. Some regard it as an expensive boondoggle, noting the patterns are hard to discern at ground level, and are really visible only from the high-rises fronting the boulevard. The pavers are expensive and hard to maintain, they say, and complicate any street maintenance job that requires digging.

But supporters such as Paul say the city was wrong in unilaterally deciding to undo parts of the design, which has been featured in architecture and design publications around the world.

City planners say that problem can be remedied. The Burle Marx studio could come up with a modified design to fit the altered contours of the medians, said assistant planning director Lourdes Slazyk.

''If there is enough interest, it could well be done,'' she said.

Race representatives say the issue of what will happen to the design after the race ``is still being worked on.''

''Everyone is in dialogue as we speak,'' said C.L. Conroy, a spokeswoman for Raceworks, which runs the auto race. ``Honestly, we're concentrating on the race right now.''

This is not the first time a planned alteration of the boulevard medians for the Grand Prix has stirred controversy. Earlier this year, a public outcry forced the Miami Parking Authority, which owns the medians, to kill a plan to uproot some of the royal palms that line the boulevard to clear space for race pit stops.

COMPROMISE

The authority and Grand Prix race operators worked out an alternative plan with local historians and activists that allowed moving nine of the royal palms under the supervision of an arborist. The new alignment of the palms, which have been on the boulevard since the 1920s, is more historically accurate, said Miami historian Arva Moore Parks, who helped negotiate the agreement.

The plan also called for demolishing a raised, paved half-moon that closed off the median at Fifth Street. Some of the removed Burle Marx pavers covered that area.

Leo Sarmiento, director of public relations for Raceworks, said it's now a section of the street where cars hurtling at close to 200 mph will slow down to execute a hairpin turn.

Moore Parks was aware of the Burle Marx work, since she helped him with ideas when he was designing his plan. ''My feeling was that it was more important to maintain historic Biscayne Boulevard's configuration than to keep the piece,'' she said.

But another activist who participated in the negotiations said the subject of the paving design never came up. Nancy Liebman, president of the Urban Environment League, who said she was unaware the work for the race would affect the Burle Marx design, said it should have been the city's job to safeguard the work.

''It's pathetic,'' Liebman said.

Call on a chemical explosion in Miamisburg Ohio went up, not our usual thing, but I got approval from Kahuna to issue at least a mid-sized warning area. I'm waiting to hear back from the Sgt in charge right now. [update - Jobid: 3191 Date job was submitted: Sep 21, 2003 at 2:03 PM ]

Description: Chemical explosion This is the Miamisburg PD, there has been a chemical explosion at 3858 benner rd. All persons living within 1 mile of this location are advised to evacuate. More Explosions are anticipated. If you choose not to evacuate, stay inside a sheltered area. for more info call miamisburg PD at 937-XXX-XXX

Was a message recording approved? YES
Was a launch code provided? YES
Numbers to be contacted: 486
Numbers attempted: 486 (100.00%)
Numbers reached: 409 (84.16%)
Numbers not reached: 77 (15.84%)
Total calls placed: 700
Minutes Used: 288

Not bad, all told. I want to know where the devil prop2 was during all of this. She was supposed to be available as a resource, and has been unreachable by either cell or landline.

okay... it looks like I'm on call all weekend, and tomorrow I report to the Laundromat, because prop2 is AWOL, and I'm shackled to the computer and cell phone for the duration. I clarified that with the Kahuna, who agreed. I'm pretty annoyed because the bed and bathroom have already been stripped down, but you've got to do what you got to do. Still no word on the explosion in Ohio via a yahoo and Google news search.

I have no food of merit in the house, and guess who came skulking around looking for a handout? I told Frankie that my cupboard is bare, and that the mission up the street is open until 7:30 if he'd like to get something to eat. I wonder how long before he comes over asking for me to donate a kidney to him. If he'd come by a moment earlier, I'd have considered giving him a peanut butter bagel. At least I can use being on call as a solid excuse to tell him that the phone is not available to him.

I'd like to go see this movie sometime soon. The Triplets of Bellville Trailer.

Misc Links -

Robots of the Silver Screen.

New York City Wildlife

Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu.

Biblical Curse Generator

Update - 6:29, Prop2 calls me up and claims, "She slept through it". Well, she sure as heck shouldn't be on call if she can sleep through let's see. I beeped her, called her cell, called her landline, plus Kahuna's calls, plus who knows what else. I wonder how much of a mark toward her getting canned this is? She's been there for six or seven years, but seems to have been skating on a *lot* of thin ice.


Water: 6 Veg/Fruit: 0 Milk: 0
Points: 34.2 Adj: 0 Act: 0.0 Rem: -0.2
Bank: 24.2 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 7.0 points
3.5: Goldfish
3.5: Goldfish

Lunch: 10.4 points
1.4: Bagels; egg
1.4: Bagels; egg
1.4: Bagels; egg
1.4: Bagels; egg
2.4: Peanut butter; smooth style 1 tbsp
2.4: Peanut butter; smooth style 1 tbsp


Dinner: 12.6 points
2.1: Cereals; TOTAL Corn Flakes 1.3 cup
3.5: Goldfish
3.5: Goldfish
3.5: Goldfish

Snack: 4.2 points
1.0: Dove dark chocolate promise
3.2: Cranberry-apple juice drink; bottled