HEALTHCARE.

Something to think about Obama.....
But also.. Hello Health! Social Media and Health Care ... Though one could joke that it's the hipster answer to health care, Jay Parkinson is bringing awareness to peoples door. “Doctors and companies that don’t embrace communication are living in the pre-internet days,”
said Parkinson. This boutique medical practice combs old-fashioned house calls with web-based instant-message and video consultations, online scheduling, and digital records. Digital records, so many doctors offices still have those awful sliding files that are not only an eyesore but tedious for those working with them.
Something to keep in mind:: “Health care’s been taken away from the neighborhoods and become institutional,” says Parkinson. “There’s no incentive to embrace new interfaces for communicating, because insurance doesn’t pay for technology implementation. Instead of waiting on the health-care industry to catch up, we’re doing it.”

So how does this new health care bill help us to work towards something like this?

RAIMUND ABRAHAM

RIP. It's so sad that he died on his way after his lecture at SCIARC. DTLA is a killer. Austrian architect Raimund Abraham, best known in this country for his knife-thin 2002 Austrian Cultural Forum building in Manhattan, was killed in a car crash in downtown Los Angeles early Thursday morning, according to a report from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).

Eric Owen Moss issued the following statement: "Earlier in the evening Raimund delivered a powerful lecture at SCI-Arc, re-stating his enduring love for architecture and his willingness to fight for the design discourse as he defined it. That unique and powerful Abraham advocacy for architecture is irreplaceable. Raimund, We miss you."

Born in Tyrol, which is located in the Alps, Abraham credited his understanding of architecture to his time growing up in the mountains. In 2002 , he told NYTimes this beautiful statement: “When you are a skier, you have to read the snow - it is not some romantic white mass; it is a material. If you want to glide faster than anyone else, you have to understand the crystals. This was my education, not the school of architecture.”

Think about that. Don't think about building as building.. but the crystals behind it.

something to brew about

Recently moved back to pittsburgh where micro brews are readily available. I have to endorse this one due to its taste and content. If you get a chance, check out this great beer from Erie, PA.

Tacoshed

I just moved from LA back to Pittsburgh in the last month. I can't say I miss Los Angeles much other than my constant craving for that $1 taco that you could get at any point in time on a 24 hour scale. I have been hunting all tacos down in Pittsburgh but while reading BLDG BLOG, I came across this project. The TACOSHED. Where does that taco come from. Granted there are more tacos per capita in California but does all the ingredients come from the "land of plenty"?
Last fall, a group of URBANlab architecture students from the California College of the Arts, Rebar art and design studio, and Landscape David Fletcher started their assignment adventure a a local taco truck. The research, based on SF's food and watersheds, was based on the premise that the familiar food (aka tacos) are part of a greater subliminal system and could give visceral insight to other connections in the environment. Similar to the work by Sourcemap, awareness of your input (and hopefully output one day) helps the user to see their own connection and potential impact to those around them and the environment.

The work is being presented this Thursday, Feb 25 in the Mission in San Francisco.

This week I will try to make a project similar to this but with ranges.

BIKE WALK RUN

How does downtown exist as a hub for MTA riders and bicyclists in the city?

Celebrate eight weeks of mapping and conversations during the final night of HABEAS LOUNGE: A PLURALISTIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. This event is the last in a series of DTLA explorations building a framework for ideas and exchanges about our shared city, conceived by artist Linda Pollack.

Art Walk night will be all about bicycles and public transportation. We want to hear first hand how transportation plays a role in life downtown! Pricey parking lots, scarce street parking, the threat of being towed...bicycle, metro and bus are alternative ways to get around without the trouble!

Advocates will be on hand to share their experiences and visions for transportation in LA, as well as challenges, from proposed master bike plans to everyday commuting.

Ride up 7th Street from the Art Walk to dialogue, discuss, debate, and learn ways to connect to the carless city.

A bicycle valet service will be provided by the LA County Bicycle Coalition.

During the event, check out the HABEAS LOUNGE, designed by Ilaria Mazzoleni: a cardboard sofa built from bike boxes by architect Nina Marie Barbuto, projections of classic / contemporary DTLA films selected by Linda Pollack and Maryam Hosseinzadeh, maps and bottled specimens from workshops by Katie Bachler, urban placemaking by James Jones, film footage of LA shot from a helicopter and a Pontiac G6 by Italian artists/architects ERGOT, an oversized Metro map, and more.

Plus SNACKS and a DJ too!

---------------------------------------------------

ART WALK SCHEDULE

5.00 - DTLA Resident DJ Emilio

5.45 - You Have HABEAS
About HABEAS LOUNGE, Its Design and Mission

6.00 - Re-Designing How LA Moves
including a feasibility study for a pilot bike sharing program in Wilshire Center, produced by the Critical Mass class at SCI-Arc (Prof. Ilaria Mazzoleni) and CICLO a bike sharing plan proposal for USC

6.30 - Pedaling The Path
Open Discussion on Current Bike and Public Transportation Experiences/Issues/Challengs in LA With Advocates and Users

7.30 - Tracing Our Path
Discussion-Based Mapping Exercise On The Gallery Wall

8.00 - HABEAS LOUNGE Artists Talk About Their Work and The City

8.30 - DJ Emilio Dance Party

For more information, visit: http://www.habeaslounge.org/

---------------------------------------------------

PERSPECTIVE GROUPS are part of "A Pluralistic Downtown Los Angeles Investigation", a series of explorations through maps and encounters, which will build a framework for the ideas and exchanges about our shared city.

Events are free and open to the public.

The HABEAS LOUNGE is in 7+FIG at Ernst and Young Plaza, located adjacent to the 7th + METRO Red Line stop. Validated parking in 7+ FIG parking structure, entrance on 7th and 8th Streets, west of Figueroa.

smarty pants

this is an interview with my cousin from fall 2008. I just want to point out to how things have come into play afterwards. Just saying, people could pay me to think.

places to move to.

Halloween is coming up and I am going to be a rainbow. I am sewing my costume right now but here's where my mind set has been lately....
amazing.