The 21 Page Run-on Sentence

Two things kept me out of civil engineering:

1. The old military saying, "mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets."
2. Property descriptions used in surveying. They describe the exact boundaries of a piece of real estate in precise and excruciating legal detail. I minored in english and writing, and just could not stomach such highly concentrated inane drivel.

Recently I stumbled upon the mother of all property descriptions, that of the entire City of Cincinnati. It also contains the mother of all run-on sentences, extending for 21 single-spaced pages. Good to know I made the right choice.

Markings on the Curbs

OK, I realize this is pretty trivial, but I have noticed these markings on a lot of the old granite curbs. Sometimes there are channels cut out for downspout drains, and sometimes there are even iron eye-hooks set in the stone. Here are a few photos snapped while walking around the past few months:


An arrow:

Arrow:

A "T":

An "F":

A "GF"?:

Another T:

An "E":

A triangle, this one in concrete:

An "A":

Blobs or squares:

A 'D"?:

An E:

box with lines down:

Box with a dash:

Dash in a box:

A summary of the above shapes:


I think the left half are all water valve symbols. I would guess the E is electric and T for telephone?

Conservatives Should Care About Transit

"Public transit and walkable neighborhoods are necessary for the creation of a country where families and communities can flourish." - by David Schaengold

The Times Star Building

I seized the opportunity provided by a nice day to get some pictures of a fantastic building I don't think a lot of folks know about. It is the Times Star building on Broadway. It was designed by a name familiar to Cincinnati architecture, Samuel Hannaford. Although the cornerstone says 1931, the Wikipedia article states it was built in 1933 (I assume it took two years to complete).

I remember the first time I caught a glean of the gold leaf at the top of the building.


There is a lot of carving on this building. Here are a couple shots of the Eagle sculptures found on the building.



Of course since the Times Star was a paper, the building has a lot of homages to names in printing and publishing. I recognized Aldus, mainly because of Aldus Pagemaker and Freehand.


I was intrigued to discover the Newsboys entrance on the South side of the building. It includes a silvered relief of a newsboy. I guess to soften the blow that they couldn't use the main entrance.


The detail on the window grate in the front is pretty astonishing. You may want to click this picture to zoom in on the detail.


And the main entrance is just over the top. I need to get a wider lens, or feel braver stepping back onto Broadway:


I did not have the time or temerity to go inside, I'll save that for another day. I am always amazed by what this city has to offer when you take the time to look around at some of these buildings.

If you are interested in more, The Greater Cincinnati Memory Project has a few old shots of the Times Star building.

In my search for information on the building, I found the article Death of the Times-Star from August 4, 1958 on Time's web site. It recounts what led to the Times Star closing. I found it interesting that the employees received the news via telegram and that it was precipitated by Scripps-Howard's (owner of the Post) purchase of the Enquirer in 1956. Of course The Post ceased operations only recently to leave only the Cincinnati Enquirer standing as a daily paper.