Society for Architectural Insignificance: The Space Needle

I am starting a new feature on my blog, the Society for Architectural Insignificance. I will feature insignificant eyesores, public boondoggles and other annoying architecture. To start this series, I will focus on a structure that I am very passionate about, the Seattle Space Needle.



Built for the 1962 World's Fair, the Space Needle rocketed on to the world architectural scene at a dizzying height of 605 feet. This pales in comparison to the free standing tour-de-force, the Eiffel Tower, which stands 1,063 feet, built in 1889.

The Needle's short stature combined with it's "The Future is Now" design make me question why it is arguably the most recognizable feature of Seattle.



The Seattle Space Needle is Insignificant Because:

• It is an eyesore standing slightly taller than half the height of a French structure that was built 73 years earlier

• The Needle's marketing crew created this retro-futuristic logo:

• It has a rotating restaurant (It used to have TWO rotating restaurants)
  
  

United et al. Please Listen!

1. Since we now live in a day and age where we have to pay for meals in Economy Class, please place the description of the meals on either the front or back cover OR on page 10 in EVERY magazine. I am so tired of the clown who has never set foot on a plane asking the flight attendant what is in each snack box or if they carry Mountain Dew only to have them rifle through the latest issue of Hemispheres magazine to determine what page this semi-literate traveler needs to read.

2. While we are talking about snack boxes, PLEASE adopt a numbering system. Some people are color blind, but you don't even refer to the meals by color, you have applied cutesy Marketing-speak. Right Bite, Easy Rider, Etc... NUMBERS PLEASE!

3. Baggage Carousels- A two parter
A. Please place a simple arrow on the conveyor belt to indicate which way the luggage will travel. This helps position those in line that like to pounce on their luggage immediately.

B. Install simple posts or other impediments on the floor to prevent every jackal with a luggage cart from pulling right up to the carousel. These people need to chill out and leave the cart 7 feet away from the carousel to allow travel savvy passengers to quickly grab their bags and leave the airport. European airports seem to have this down. You would think their inhabitants would be smarter than to crowd the area, alas, many Americans travel, so the anti- cart barriers have been erected and they do their job well.

And Finally, the elitest in me that has been forced to travel to Dallas on numerous occasions would like United to mark the frequent flier line in LAX! I am tired of getting the stink eye from other passengers when I stand in the line off to the left. Also, fill in the crack security guards about the line too. They like to heckle you when you stand there. (TSA is on board and recognizes the line.)

WTF? North Carolina Cracking down on Creative Plates

I could not believe it when I saw this plate in front of me on my commute to work. It brought a smile to my face and made the drive more enjoyable. My mom couldn't figure out its meaning but apparently North Carolina has caught on.

Microsoft=#@&!!, How does this make Steve Ballmer Feel?

Mini uses the Microsoft Windows logo as a curse! This is fantastic and I don't know why it hasn't gotten more play. Thanks to kremer.com for finding this jewel. The logo is still on the Mini site, press the pic for the link.

Congratulations BMW Sauber F1! BMW Wins Montreal

BMW Returned to the top step of the pinnacle of motor racing today at the Canadian GP. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld scored an impressive 1-2 for the team in an eventful race.

Lewis Hamilton handed his friend from GP2 the win when he speared Kimi Raikkonen at the pit out when the lights were still red. Lewis showed Schumacher-esque car control and cunning by maintaining just enough control of his car to avoid hitting Kubica, but keenly eliminating his main Championship rival from the race.

The Canadian racetrack literally came apart during qualification and the running of the race. It seems only one running of the 3500 lb NASCAR series in 2007 was enough to severely damage it.

Hungarians Don't Like Microsoft

I don't know what this guy was complaining about, pirating seems to be fairly common in Hungary. I bet this guy was named Ferenc!

New Jawbone/SAME BLUETOOTH

I just picked up my New Jawbone headset yesterday. I was so excited because I was happy with my old Jawbone and was positive the new one would be so much better.

The verdict is in. Bluetooth in general sucks. I used to believe my parents when they said the sound quality was as good as the phone itself, but I have had so many complaints recently, I no longer believe this. They are my parents, and they are just trying to reinforce my purchase decision, just like when you have a booger in your nose, I wish I had known the bitter truth long ago.

As far as the New Jawbone is concerned it is better in almost every way except sound performance. Hell, the packaging is even easier to open (no rubber band holding the headset in the hard plastic case). I have to say the designers really listened to user complaints on the old model.

Size: Its smaller. Smaller is better for almost all electronics

Buttons: The original had many complaints that the buttons were hard to locate and push. This model has buttons in the same location, but they are very easy to push.

Fit: The original felt like some kind of medieval ear torture device if you used the ear loop. If you didn't use the ear loop, you bought Jabra ear gels and modded your Jawbone. Once "modded" you enjoyed a comfortable fit for several minutes while you waited for it to eventually fall out at a dangerous time while you were driving.

The new device is MUCH more comfortable with the loop. The small size makes it much less intrusive. I am not sure the layout of the rubber ear piece lends itself to removing the loop and using the Jabra eargels, but I will look into it.

Operation: For some reason, double clicking the main button does not redial the last call. I am not sure why and may be forced to read the instructions! This is inconvenient as battles with my Treo often leave me dropping calls and I need a quick way to redial.

Charger: The original had pins that bent due to normal use. I had to use a rubber band to hold the charger to the headset with enough force to make contact on the old one. These problems have been elegantly eliminated with the new design.

Sound Quality: Identical to the original. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have switched between the two on calls and the person I am speaking with can not tell a difference with the NoiseAssassin technology. All callers are amused by the NoiseAssassin moniker & that is definitely a plus.

Availability: This headset appears to be as popular as the last one and availability is tight. I had to call/visit 3 AT&T stores before securing one on 5/19 (Jean (pronounced John) in the 8471 Beverly Blvd ATT store is a tool, I drove 50 miles round trip to pick up the headset he was "holding" for me)


Note:
I used the new Jawbone with my Palm Treo 700P, a phone notorious for not playing nice with Bluetooth devices.