Space Needle emerges from the Fog The day started off normal enough. I had to make a run up to the University District for some office supplies, and on the way back saw this great image of the Space Needle peeking through heavy fog. It was pretty enough that I tried to get a photo of it ,but unfortunately I shot through glass and didn't aim too well.
Paleobrutalist Architecture On the way home, I walked past this thing. I'd forgotten that there were examples of the 1960's "brutalist" architectural movement in downtown Seattle. This building is actually abandoned, with a huge "for lease!" sign on top, chain link fencing all around, and covered with graffiti on the bottom floor.
Giant Stuffed Puppets, Again Also on the way home: Leftist protestors with their giant puppet. This is obviously a George Bush puppet that has been repurposed into a giant healthcare-sucking vampire of some sort. Also very Seattle: Recycling.
Yeah, giant street theater puppetry. It's just so compelling, isn't it? So convincing. I mean, who do they think they're doing this for? The right doesn't do this kind of crap; they just bring guns.
Police steeds On the walk to the train station, I passed by the Seattle horse cop just casually watching people walking by. I have to wonder what value add a horse is in the city, compared to a bicycle. On the last leg home, after picking up the car once again from the Park & Ride, I snapped this photo of an officer waiting at a stoplight. He was driving one of the brand new motorcycles the city of Issaquah bought last year. The contrast between the two fascinated me.
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Date: 2009-09-04 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-09-04 07:32 am (UTC)About horses...
Date: 2009-09-04 05:06 pm (UTC)It was 1968, and he was in London working on his PhD in history. He was in some square - I forget which one - and there was a student protest going on that started getting out of hand. As the noise and activity ramped up, police started filtering in to one end of the square one by one. Slowly, they lined up across the end of the square, not knee to knee, but with space between the riders. They didn't take out truncheons, they didn't take out clubs, they just stood as the crowd worked itself into a fervor.
Then they started moving. Not a gallop, not a trot, just a slow walk in parallel. A walk, then a trot. As they got about 2/3ds of the way through the square, they began to canter. And finally, at the end of the square, they briefly galloped.
And the square was emptying, the protest done, the riot stopped before it started. And the police filtered out on their horses. No heads were broken, no one needed to be arrested, nothing.
And that's why police have horses. Because a well-trained thousand pound horse, guided by an experienced rider, is an inexorable force in a city. The horse gives the rider height, speed, force, and the possibility of intimidation, all while looking cuddly and adorable.
Re: About horses...
Date: 2009-09-04 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-04 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-09-04 04:26 am (UTC)Hi, monorail columns.
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Date: 2009-09-04 09:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-05 05:57 am (UTC)