Archive for February, 2003

New World Trade Center Design Chosen

The new design for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center has finally been chosen. The tallest part of it will be a 1776′ spire, symbolizing the year of American independence. It will be surrounded by a complex of angular buildings. The spire tower will be tallest building in the world, being bigger than the original Twin Towers(1350′) and the current biggest buildings, Malaysia’s Petronas Twin Towers (1483′). To the right is an old picture I took of the Twin Towers with the new design below it. By rebuilding the WTC in a such a grand manner we can defeat the terrorists even more.

A Tale Of Three Cities

I just came across a good article that had me reminiscing about being out in the great Pacific Northwest and might be interesting for anyone who is wondering what’s going on out on the opposite side of North America. The article compares the 3 major cities there, Seattle, Portland and Vancouver and opines on where Seattle is lagging behind. Portland is where I have stayed each time I have been out there. It’s a city that I have often thought other cities should take after and so I’m not surprised to see an article like this. I was highly impressed with what the city was doing to make itself more of a destination city as well as increase it’s appeal to it’s businesses and residents. Then again I didn’t think Seattle was that bad, although I’ve never had the chance to really dig in to it as much as Portland.

Major Waves In The Blog World

The world of weblogs felt a tremor in the force yesterday as it was announced that Blogger has been bought by Google. WOW! I haven’t been doing a blog for that long, but it doesn’t take a blogaholic to know this is a major big deal.

It should be interesting to see what happens now, because Google backed Blogger will probably become much more powerful, but it seems like Movable Type has already taken over as the king of weblog software. Google seems to do a lot of things the right way, but it’s hard to imagine someone outdoing Movable Type’s excellent software at this point.

30 Below On Okemo!

Even though it was brutally cold yesterday, I went snowboarding at Okemo Moutain in Vermont. The temperature with the wind chill factor was -30° in the morning and it was definitely the coldest weather I have ever been exposed to. With frequent lodge breaks and many layers of clothing though, we were able to enjoy riding the great mountain. Amazingly, despite the sub-zero temps, the trail conditons were supreme. I thought there would have to be a lot of ice but instead, it was almost as if they had just received a few inches. This wasn’t that surprising as Okemo was rated #2 in North America for grooming by Ski Magazine.

Here are the top 10:

1-Deer Valley, UT
2-Okemo, VT
3-Sun Valley, ID
4-Snowmass, CO
5-Beaver Creek, CO
6-Bretton Woods, NH
7-Sunday River, ME
8-Mammoth Mountain, CA
9-Stratton, VT
10-Vail, CO

Headed Out Into The Frozen Wasteland

Going snowboarding at Okemo Mountain in Vermont tomrrow. Here is the forecast for Ludlow, VT:

Yikes! That’s not even factoring in the wind. I’m going to have to bust out every layer in the closet.

The Snoop D-O-Double Gizzle In Da Hizzle

If you’re feeling the need to add some funky fresh flavor to any website, check out Snoop Dogg’s “Tha Shizzolator“. Read the modified content out loud with some of your peeps and you’ll be rolling on the floor.

An All-Star Game Worth Watching

The NFL and NHL all star games were played this weekend. I have nothing to say about them because I wasn’t really interested in watching them. I did hear though a plan that would give the Major League Baseball All-Star game an interesting new wrinkle was unanimously approved by the owners. Home field advantage in the World Series will go to the team from the league who wins the All-Star game. This new dynamic will make it interesting to see what lengths managers will go to win the game now if their team is in contention. In the awesome 2001 World Series, I think the Yankees may have won if game 7 was in the Bronx. On the flip side though, I don’t know if the game can be a fun, exhibition game anymore. Nonetheless, baseball, whose All-Star game was already better than the other sports, has probably made it more worth watching.