Oatmeal

Chasing corporate headquarters and throwing money at them, reflects a great-man theory of economic development that reflects deep civic insecurity: only a corporation can save a city from its struggles. But corporations aren’t the civic heavyweights they used to be.

The future,

This period of change, when workers are being decoupled from their traditional employers, is a huge opportunity for cities. They should look to fill the vacuum created by receding corporations.

Nervous nerd

Someone really loves interpretive panels.

I've been listening to a lot of music lately (instead of podcasts) and thinking about the structure of wikis. The two have been informing each other.

I've been starting with a contemporary song, usually by a more well known artist like Kanye West, and then listening to everything one of their song's samples...and onward. Song as wiki.

It has been interesting, and a great way to find new (to me) music and artists.

On a similar musical note @hisaac re-introduced me to Bruce Springsteen. An artist that I've of course known about, and heard, but never paid much thought. This week I discovered that the album Nebraska is heart breaking and good…I am probably late to this insight, but it was bracing.

I've also been listening to a lot of Mos Def, instrumental Pete Rock and Noname (who's new album is 🔥).

We’re sticking close to home this weekend. Today we walked through a nearby wood and explored a cemetery.

I’ve made the argument that the pop sphere is larger than it has ever been due to the ability to find anything. The gatekeeper role of radio and upper level music executives isn’t anywhere near as important…but I’m willing to make the opposite argument now. I think it is possible that due to trending patterns on social media we have less pop music than we ever have before. What happens is a new album drops (maybe its Eminem maybe its Nicki Minaj) it is just the largest name that week and that album gets blogged about and all caps shouted at by the whole world. So that giant internet information space turns out to be a giant garage with one car parked in it.

What do you think is the saddest Bruce Springsteen song? I'm thinking it is Atlantic City. The narrative of the song seems to be headed in the direction of "love will prevail," but at the end sort of floats away...or crumbles, leaving the song's protagonist hanging. I find it to be gut wrenching, but effective. I leave the song with a similar feeling to the one I left the theater with after watching Meek's Cutoff, by Kelly Reichardt.

Talk to people. Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone in this city is looking for someone to listen. You’ll meet the most interesting people, and hear the most amazing stories. Make new friends, and tell yourself that you’ll be back soon, because really: how could you not?

The switch became a live-action metaphor of the authority and ability to get things done.

Continuing,

The light switch is part of a long history of control mechanisms that regulate an otherwise continuous flow.

Social infrastructure is a set of physical places and organizations that shape our interactions. When social infrastructure is robust, it fosters all kinds of social interactions, helps build relationships, and turns community from a vague, fuzzy concept into a lived experience. When social infrastructure is degraded and neglected, it makes it far more likely that we will grow isolated and be left to fend for ourselves.

Hello Social Swales and Anomie