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Robert Moses, the master planner of New York, has long been regarded as a racist villan who destroyed local communities in his quest to build larger-than-life projects (among other things, Moses was responsible for Lincoln Center, the Tri-Borough Bridge, the Verazano Narrows Bridge, the Cross-Bronx Expressway, hundreds of public parks and swimming pools, and many other public works projects). His political power and disregard for opposing viewpoints is legendary.

However, his legacy seems to be getting a somewhat positive reevaluation, as three museums are hosting exhibitions dedicated to his work and historians are releasing a new book of essays about his legacy.

Two recent, interesting articles appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times. Both articles are very interesting, particularly the one from the Times, which is much more indepth. It is instructive to see how development has progressed and how we got to where we are now. However, it seems to me that the Times is spinning the story in perhaps more of a positive light than it deserves.

But read about it, and judge for yourself. I know that Robert Caro’s biography of Moses is on my must-read list.

Hello, Readers! It’s Jannine posting here for the first time. Lest you be swayed by the chosen title into thinking that I am any kind of authority on Jay-Z and/or Eminem, let me explain what I was thinking. You see, I was very amused by Nathan’s comparing his eminent (or is it imminent?) return to the world of blogging to The Real Slim Shady. And, then I thought…well, why not? They’re both white (to put it ever so gently), hail from roughly the same area of that great state, Michigan, and share an uncanny ability to rhyme spontaneously (seriously, Nathan is one talented dude).

Next, my thoughts turned to those pervasive and somewhat irritating Budweiser commercials that played every 5-10 minutes in the first few months of the ‘06-07 NFL season. While I admire Jay-Z much more than your average classically trained musician, it got to be a bit much, seeing him drive a nice speedboat in circles around a beautifically waving Beyonce. But, perhaps one can admire even more the pure ego of a celebrity who is not only respected for his many talents, but admires himself so much that he declares at the end of said commercial, “The King is back. Expect…everything.” I mean, if that’s not a (dangerously) high self-esteem, I don’t know what is.

I then decided that if Nathan could compare himself to a Caucasian rapper whose real name is Marshall, I can certainly compare myself to one of the most successful businessmen in the hip hop industry. I’d say that my return to blogging is somewhat akin to that of Jay-Z’s unsurprising return to the recording studio. Except for the theft of Elvis’s nickname and, of course, a comeback commercial featuring breakdancers and NASCAR stars alike.

Got linked to this site called Phat Phree the other day — it is well worth your time to check out their “Hall of Fame“. It’s basically snarky, sarcastic, pretending-to-be-serious humor similar to The Onion.

I can particularly recommend “Look at my Striped Shirt!” and “Seriously, Get This Sweater Off Me”.

So kill a few minutes in your day. Thank me later.

As everyone knows, ninjas are awesome. And by awesome, I mean totally sweet. So if you like ninjas (and who doesn’t?), you can find all the ninjas you need — and more — in the film “Curse of the Golden Flower.”

Jannine, Angela, Zane and I watched this movie on Saturday night. There are other things to recommend this movie besides the abundance of ninjas, including as powerful acting by Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat, amazing sets and costumes that explode with vibrant colors and dramatic battle scenes and sword fights that leave you on the edge of your seat.

But the ninjas, oh, the ninjas. There were lots of them, and they spent their time on screen flipping out and killing people. They outran horses, flew down from the sky, killed almost anyone who tangled with them, and then disappeared in a flash. I was highly entertained — so much so that I kept laughing, which I think distracted Jannine from the drama of the scenes. I’m not sure this was an appreciated distraction, either.

Anyway, on balance, it was a good movie. However, the plot was pretty cheesy and the ending was fairly depressing. But what a visual experience!

Last Friday, we finally had the first snow of the winter.  Pretty crazy that it took until January 19 to finally start acting like winter.  This whole weekend has been pretty cold and windy. 

Here’s a snapshot that I took on the way to work.  As you can see, it’s just a light dusting of snow.  Better than nothing, I suppose.

This is my second attempt at blogging.  My first blog, which has not been updated in 10 months or so, is going to be allowed to fade into ignomony and oblivion, which is probably the fate that it deserves.

Starting this site is somewhat more exciting than my last blog, on Blogger, since this is MY SITE. It makes me feel important in some marginal way to have my own website.

Of course, a large part of the point of having this website is to build a wedding website.  That is still a work in process.  And given that I’m spending all my waking hours at work, I’m not sure that is going to change anytime soon.

Maybe for this blog, I will am at posting less volume but greater consistency.  Or I will be diligent about it for awhile and then stop posting.  Something like that.