The article focuses on the roundabouts that have been installed throughout the region [...]]]>

"Roundabouts have been installed throughout the Capital Region. ARE THEY GOING TO KILL YOUR CHILDREN? More at 11."

I’d like you to take a look at the headline to your right, which is what greeted me this morning when I went to check the news at the Albany Times Union‘s website.

The article focuses on the roundabouts that have been installed throughout the region to replace congested intersections coming off the Northway. A report shows that accidents have increased at the multi-lane roundabouts, from an average of 7.8 collisions a year to 45.7 at the Malta roundabout and 9.6 to 38.3 at the New Scotland/Route 140  roundabout.

Buried after the lead (note: most people read the first two to three paragraphs of a story, if that) is the fact that the roundabouts actually accomplish what they set out to do: reduce or outright eliminate more severe and sometimes fatal accidents.

Accidents in roundabouts tend to be less severe than at intersections with traffic lights. Rather than crash into each other head on or smack together in a T-bone crash, as drivers making lefts at conventional traffic lights often do, drivers in roundabouts tend to sideswipe and rear-end each other.

“The potential for high-speed, severe accidents is eliminated,” Kennedy said.

Which is the whole point.

The apprehension towards roundabouts comes largely from the fact that people in this area don’t pay attention to what the Hell they’re doing on the road. I see it even on the streets of Troy and Albany, with people taking left turns without using directionals, pulling out of spots without looking in their rearview mirror, and various other traffic infractions. Officials cite aggressiveness, but really it’s just laziness and carelessness. As an aside, Daniel Nester had a great piece about the “Albany Left Turn” and the “Late Left Turn Signal” on his blog)

Thankfully, things like Roundabouts are finally installed in this area so we can all be big boys and girls and drive responsibly. The number of accidents has increased, but it’s still relatively low.

More importantly, they’re minor. Fifty scraped bumpers is preferable to a dozen dead bodies.

So the answer to the question that wasn’t asked before the headline was written: no, it’s not a “vicious circle.” It’s a more responsible and efficient means of addressing problems this area has had with people getting T-boned in intersections.

Unfortunately, since most people don’t read past the first handful of paragraphs in any given newspaper article, the resistance to roundabouts will be cultivated so long as those very same people also aren’t doing things like yielding and looking in front of them.

See also: Pete Iorizzo’s take, “Bad drivers, not roundabouts, are the problem”

The definition I provided:

Hipster [hips*tur] n.

1. A person on [...]]]> Some time ago, local mid-life scenester blog All Over Albany asked its readers to provide the penultimate definition of the term hipster. The term had been used as a barb in recent discussions, in particular concerning the great Albany chickens debate.

This guy used to be something. Now he's just a pejorative.

The definition I provided:

Hipster [hips*tur] n.

1. A person on the internet with whom you disagree; in particular the person should be young and liberal.

2. An ihabitant of Williamsburgh whose identity hinges on the increasing level of obscurity in their musical tastes and their battle with Hasidic Jews over whether or not bike lanes should be added to their streets.

3. Bombers patron who is insistent on an imminent relocation to New York City that never happens.

4. An individual who forsakes all clothing and technology developed in the last twenty years, as such wears clothes only from thrift stores and listens to vinyl; distant cousin of Pennsylvania Amish.

5. Daniel Nester

Of course, my definition is meant to be tongue in cheek, but the word has acquired a bit more sting in recent years.

The term “hipster” been around in some form for decades, starting with the beatnik movement in the 1950s. One didn’t strive to become a hipster, and it was a word that one would never call themselves. However, it’s only recently that the term has acquired such a fiercely negative connotation. A hipster used to be somebody who was at worst trying a bit too hard to fit into a scene, but more recent applications have invoked hostility towards liberal policy and gentrification. It started as a backlash against trust fund artists and enfant terribles that occupied Williamsburgh in Brooklyn, but has since expanded in scope both in terms of geography and the type of person earning the label. As such the word has all but lost its original meaning and become an insult as common in application as “d-bag” or “a-hole” and almost interchangeable with the terms.

I’m dreading the day when I have children and have to chastise one child for calling another a hipster. Then I’ll tell kids that in my day “hipster” meant a very specific type of person, and also there was a time when if you wanted to watch a television show you had to do so at a very specific time determined by a network. Then they’ll both stare at me like I’m from another planet, and I’ll say “shut up and eat your dinner.”

As I write this, I’m watching fights and packing for a weekend in New York City. Going to see some family members, non-related Marshalls, and my [...]]]>

"ME ON DRUG. IT CALLED SWEETUMS! WIN ING!"

Everyone else as burned out on Charlie Sheen as I am? Good. Because this week’s collection of links contain nary a single article related to his extended manic episode.

As I write this, I’m watching fights and packing for a weekend in New York City. Going to see some family members, non-related Marshalls, and my friend Brian and Marla that are like a brother and sister to me except they’re also a couple which makes it weird.

What?

Anyway, y’all hold it down here in the Capital Region and I’ll be back on Monday, when this blog will be relaunched under a new title and a new brand. That’s right! Get excited!

This week – A fighter with a heart gives a liver, bullies with bullhorns, booty in the Bible and more. This…is Blogorama.

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WE’RE YOUR SOURCE: This Week on the Times Union Blogs

Shannon Miller: a fighter recovers (Boxing in the Capital Region)

Garage to Glory II: Singer-Songwriter coming this April (Arts Talk)

Learning to forgive (High School Blog / Tobi Walsh)

Bullhorn Bullies (Libby Post)

The horse-drawn carriage (Animal Rights)

Booting booty from the Bible (Rev. Alan Rudnick)

Fighting Words (Ed Dague)

Are you squeezing more life out of your products? (Simpler Living)

The memoir project (Daniel Nester)

More amazingness is after the jump.

IN OUR AREA CODE

• WNYT’s Dan Bazile on his cameo in “The Adjustment Bureau” (All Over Albany)
• The Black Socks Scandal of 2011 (Keyboard Krumbs)
• Police: The Good Guys? (Albany Lawyer)

MEANWHILE, IN THE REST OF THE WORLD…

• The website for the film “Space Jam” is still active…and hasn’t been updated (OMG Facts)
• I want to be in a Celeb Twitter war (Tom the Blog, NY) @TomTheBlogNY Bring it on, bitch.
• Nine lives, set to music (We Who Are About to Die)
• A word on d-bags (Letters to You)
• Review: “The Illussionist” (Superheroes, Etc.)
• Liam Gallagher reviews “King of Limbs” (Stereogum) I wish I could say I disagree with him, but…
• The Easy Bake oven has cooked its last cupcake (Wendalicious)
• When athletes attack! (Jeff Pearlman)
• Why you should listen to the rap group Odd Future, even though it’s hard (NPR Music)

ART

• Where children sleep (Fubiz)
• Hengki Koentjoro (photography)
• Harmony at the Guangzhou Opera House (WebUrbanist)

MMA

• Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix delayed (Dave Meltzer) Here we go…
• Jon Fitch ties record for most strikes thrown in a single round (Fight Metric)
• Bellator signs top five featherweight Marlon Sando (MMAjunkie)
• Jorge Santiago signs with UFC, meets Brian Stann at UFC 130 (MMAjunkie)
• Brian Ebersole explains why he shaved his chest hair into the shape of an up arrow (MMAFighting.com)
• What’s next for Jon Fitch? (Fight Opinion)

Got links? Share ‘em.

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Combining aspects of performance art with self-exploration as a writer, friend and fellow TU blogger Daniel Nester has [...]]]> If you haven’t already, you can still enter to win two tickets to see “A Conversation with Steve Martin” at The Palace Theater. Contest runs through Thursday at 11:59pm.

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Office hours have commenced for Daniel Nester this month at the Troy Arts Center.

Combining aspects of performance art with self-exploration as a writer, friend and fellow TU blogger Daniel Nester has set up shop at the Troy Arts Center in Monument Square.

His Memoir Office is part of a bigger piece called The Memoir Project, where people share their experiences through art and the written word. This month the theme is Text as Art, of which Dan’s project specifically is a featured highlight.

When I read about it yesterday I got excited, since I remember him brainstorming the idea to me several months ago. To see what he was describing come to fruition was exciting. Unlike so many other writers who serve as academics, I’m drawn to Daniel’s work because it is wholly inorganic and without pretension. When he writes a line that is supposed to be amusing, he does not give the audience a phony wry smile.

Then, as I wrote those very words you just read, Daniel leaned over and drew a gigantic phallus on a page of my notebook.

That, friends, is Daniel Nester in a nutshell, and why you should stop by The Memoir Office during his posted office hours and check out the other work on display this month at the Troy Arts Center.

Also, it wouldn’t kill you to get off your sorry ass and get a little culture.