...Is this photo essay of the Los Angeles River, brought to you by the Friends of Vast Industrial Concrete Kafkaesque Structures (FOVICKS). I don't know about you, but I've always been a little fascinated by the LA River, a stunning engineering feat which is owed partial credit for a number of Jackass's stunts, a great set piece in Terminator 2, all of my grandfather's great salvage finds during flash floods, and my mother's never-diagnosed childhood arm fracture. (She was crawling across it on a pipe under an overpass, and fell.)
Say what you will about a city that pretends it Has No River. The LA River is a product of engineering genius that these photos force you to admire. (And if these photos don't work, try the aerial view {scroll up if the list of links doesn't immediately appear}, which nicely shows how the Army Corps of Engineers turned a wild riverscape into a system of water freeways.) (And if you still think LA is silly, realize that every city from London to Eugene has, to a great extent, taken steps to pretend that runoff doesn't naturally flow over the surface of the earth. It's part of being a city.)
Yep, been drinkin' and lookin' at urban architecture sites for a couple hours now. So what?
UPDATE Links added to "London" and "Eugene" that lead to some other cool things in a similar vein.
Posted by FLOG at April 11, 2006 8:18 PM | TrackBackJust dropping a line to say that 'yer blog is now officially banned on all the computers in a certain Beaverton call center. I suspect it has something to do with the use of words like "flog," "pets" and "video." The reason given by the "Net Nanny" is that your running a sex site. Congrats, man. You've been censored by a regional division of corporate America. Big Brother is watching and he is disgusted.
Posted by: Brandon at April 11, 2006 11:30 PMWow. This coming several months after sunseting the "Vadge Badge." Well, what can I say? The software must obviously be able to detect the essential dirtiness of my mind.
Posted by: FLOG at April 12, 2006 12:05 AMNice photos but, as yesterday's Achewood has taught me, you won't see me exploring any urban rivers soon, especially at night.
Posted by: Sho at April 12, 2006 8:57 PMOr maybe they have Precogs in a back room ala Minority Report. You could be a month away from posting a depiction of Mohammed engaged in a three-way with Captain Crunch and Smurfette.
Posted by: Brandon at April 12, 2006 11:01 PMDude I would so tune in for that. Especialy if it was set in a creepy urban river area.
Posted by: vague at April 13, 2006 7:12 AM