We finally have new leadership at the DC Metro (something I’ve been calling for for some time) but the solution being proposed by this new leadership simply reveals the undeniable flaws in the system. Starving for repairs, the system (and its riders) will have to endure months with entire segments shut down.
If the Metro were optimized per the plan I proposed in 2012—with a loop line following the DC Beltway, as well as a Purple Line and extended Blue Line forming small, inner arcs—the months-long segment closings proposed by the new WMATA leadership wouldn’t be so painful for customers. Commutes might be lengthened by detours, but people wouldn’t have to start over from scratch.
Of course, implementing such an optimization for the DC metro would take years, but it would leave the system much more flexible in the face of needed repairs. And, isn’t that what WMATA ultimately needs?
palfrey (n.) horse for everyday riding
– Shakespeare’s Words : A Glossary & Language Companion by David Crystal and Ben Crystal
On 1 May 2016, the world learned that Jon Snow from Game of Thrones was still alive.
On 1 May 1746, exactly 270 years earlier, the John Snow (a “snow” is a type of sailing vessel) was captured by the French off Newfoundland, plundered, and scuttled two days later. It’s part of my Synoptic Journals living history project.
I was first introduced to this immensely sad sea shanty while playing Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. The in-game version by was performed by Nils Brown, Sean Dagher, and Clayton Kennedy. I also like the John Krauss rendition.
I was moved by the immediacy with which this particular sea shanty expressed the loneliness of men’s life at sea, and the romantic superstitions that haunted those men. The final verse, the narrator being called backed to duty after such a tragic vision, drives home the lonely sacrifice of those men, which people in the 21st century can barely fathom.
I hope you enjoy this modern adaptation of a classic sea shanty.
The other day, I was discussing the concept of synchronicity with my co-workers. As first described by Carl Jung, a synchronicity is a coincidence that has no causal relationship but nevertheless seems to have meaning. Doesn’t really matter how you want to explain it: God, dharma, fairies, or whatever.
And, honestly, for this little post o’ mine, it doesn’t even matter if you believe in synchronicities at all. Let’s just talk.
The reason I was having this discussion is that I’ve been experiencing a lot of (alleged) synchronicities lately. I had a particularly surprising one yesterday, after the co-worker discussion and a coffee shop follow-up with fellow writer and misanthrope John Austin.
MUD HOOK
Slang for anchor.
– The Pirate Dictionary, by Terry Breverton
The season 6 opener for Game of Thrones reminded us all how critical information is to a story, what’s included and what’s excluded, where a narrative starts and stops, how reliable the information is…
