tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post3394483653643028158..comments2023-10-31T05:37:45.410-07:00Comments on Hungry Hyaena: Where Has All The Strangeness Gone?Hungry Hyaenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06354349850246750046noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-11260910846052685982008-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:002008-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:00Last one out, turn off the lights.Last one out, turn off the lights.Treehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14267341272145443931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-69028976705697655862008-01-13T12:09:00.000-08:002008-01-13T12:09:00.000-08:00I agree entirely, HH. I spent much of my childhoo...I agree entirely, HH. I spent much of my childhood in a Virginia suburb and watched new houses wipe out forests and farms. I was appalled on many levels, but could never get past how bankrupt the new developments felt. In destroying the history of the place, they destroyed the soul of the place.<BR/>A recent trip to Italy shed some light on this for me. Italy, it seems, builds solid houses and, once they are abandoned, keeps them until someone cares to restore them. It was somewhat disorienting to see crumbling, abandoned buildings in prosperous parts of town. Yet, when someone gets up the gumption, they rebuild one of these properties and move in. The result is a place rich in history and in spirit.<BR/>Why do we have such a hard time grasping this?Earwighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06882168801370407864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-22305414873740431792008-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:002008-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00Philly and Boston are prime examples of cities tha...Philly and Boston are prime examples of cities that still give a healthy respect to their history.<BR/><BR/>New York is an entirely different monster.<BR/><BR/>And it has everything to do with the death of Jackie O.<BR/><BR/>There currently is no face or power behind the historic preservationist movement in NYC.<BR/><BR/>And it's one of my biggest peeves and heartbreak always.<BR/><BR/>Montreal is another great city to see a great balance of old vs. new.<BR/><BR/>NYC will have nothing left soon.Olyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03050655657910944678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-63792889323963586892008-01-11T14:21:00.000-08:002008-01-11T14:21:00.000-08:00I guess it depends on what kind of history you're ...I guess it depends on what kind of history you're looking for. Here in California anything older than a hundred years is ancient. The string of missions along our coast are some of the oldest structures east of the Mississippi. For me, walking the Freedon Trail in Boston is a trip further back in time than I could have conceived as a young kid growing up in Los Angeles. A trip to Europe *really* puts things in perspective. I found Athens to be remarkably like Los Angeles - dense, smoogy, sprawled from mountain range to mountain range - but for the two-and-a-half-thousand year old Acropolis rising from the city's heart.<BR/><BR/>Nothing stirs up spirits of the past quite like standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, looking up the face of El Capitan, or trudging up Mount Shasta. Of course, these are all Western examples, but I think you take my meaning - I guess that human history has just never resonated with me to the same degree as natural history.<BR/><BR/>Still, for my money, you can't do much better on the East Coast than Portland. I stand behind that recommendation 100%.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com