Andrew weighs in on the ways in which the web and the world are changing
We were at today’s rally in DC. I didn’t see, and barely heard, anyone on stage, but I can catch up with the show via video later.
I did see a lot of signs, including these.
The Guardian reports that there were over quarter of a million people there. I can believe it, especially since most of them seemed to be on the same Red Line trains as we were. That said, I’m glad that we went.
One of my favorite Flickr groups is Bad Signs. I’ve contributed a photo or two over the years (yes, self, it has been that long).
I tried to get good photos of two of my current favorite bad signs, which happen to be less than a hundred yards apart in Jamaica Plain. Here’s one. Due to the setup of the sign and the driveway, I could have got a good shot of the sign itself or of the reason it’s a bad sign. Since this photo is a compromise that makes clear neither the sign nor the reason for its badness, I’ll explain. The sign says “Please do not block driveway. 24 hr access.” A glance at the car, its tires, and the vegetation around and in front of it suggests that the car hasn’t moved in 24 months, let alone 24 hours.
My attempts to capture the other sign were even less successful. It’s a sign that proclaims that “Boston police seek aggressive drivers.” It’s on the District E-13 police station. I’m wondering how many people have gone in there saying something like, “I’m an aggressive driver and I’d like to apply for the job.”
I thought it unwise to get to take a photo of that sign from too close. That would have put me either in the middle of Washington Street, which would have meant trouble with traffic, or right next to the sign itself and hence the station, which might have meant trouble with the police. “Ridicule of District E-13, eh? We don’t take kindly to people shooting that film.”
So I remain free to take further bad photos.
I was going back through some photos from last year, and found one that I’d taken of this modified sign while stopped by the signal. I’ve been meaning to crop and post it, so here it is.
The sign is on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, as you’re going from Faulkner Hospital, just before you get to the rotary. Perhaps I shouldn’t say “as you’re going,” since you’re probably stopped at/by the sign/signal.
I am surprised that this street sign has yet to inspire a country and western song called “Ardent is a One-Way Street.”
Yesterday was an interesting day as far as storefronts go. On the same walk along Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale, I snapped this sad sign of the Boston real estate times. I also noticed that the location where the Aldrich Dry Cleaners used to be, before it moved to a larger place a little further away from Aldrich Street, has been taken by… another dry cleaners. Are we particularly messy in Roslindale, that we need so many dry cleaners?
Later in the day, we went to Brookline, where we encountered another sign that times are tougher than they were a few years ago.
San Diego does signs rather well. My favorite is this one from the old town, forbidding food and drink in the restaurant.
It’s a close thing between that sign and the one in the photography museum forbidding photography which, for obvious reasons, I did not photograph. I also enjoyed the sign telling us not to feed ourselves to the plants, and the sign telling us not to feed anything to the waterfowl or fish.
This is Clearview, the typeface that is poised to replace Highway Gothic, the standard that has been used on signs across the country for more than a half-century. I just found, rather late and via Reddit, an interesting NYT article about the development of Clearview. Although I like Clearview as a font, Highway Gothic kicks its ampersand when it comes to having a cool name.