First Crack 28. The Movie Episode with Jon Steinhorst

Jon Steinhorst is a designer and film maker I’ve known for years. In part 1 of our conversation we talk about his history of film making, unofficial double features, and films worth watching.

A couple of notes:

Listen to the Movie Episode [21 min]

Got questions about coffee or comments about the show? Call: 206-20-BEAN-1

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Gate 3 Work Club Closes

Five months ago, I was excited to see the opening of the Gate 3 Work Club in Emeryville, CA.

I completely believe in the principles;

  • people like to work from home – just not all the time
  • people like to work around others

I was skeptical that Herman Miller furnishings were necessary, and thought IKEA would be fine.

Well looks like February will be their last month open…due to funding issues.

I wish Neil Goldberg the best in the next iteration of the Work Club concept.

First Crack 26. What Makes a Good City – Sam & Dave Part 4

The fourth installment of my conversation with Minneapolis urban planners Sam Newberg and David Motzenbecker. In this episode, they discuss what makes a good city (Portland, Denver, Celebration, and Seaside) and how to make more of them, affordable housing, corruption in cities, and how to get stuff done.

Listen to Good Cities [25 min]

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First Crack 25. Weblogs and the Media with Jen Bohmbach

Photo-blogger and good friend Jen Bohmbach and I grab a cup of coffee at Dunn Bros’ Freighthouse. We talk about the weblogs, transparency, the media landscape, and an age where we are all paparazzi and stars. She offers her thoughts on

Listen to the Weblogs and the Media with Jen Bohmbach [33 min]

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First Crack 24. The Value of 1-Legged Barflys and Toothless Boxers – Sam & Dave Part 3

This is the second of many shorter excerpts from my extremely lengthy conversation with Minneapolis urban planners Sam Newberg and David Motzenbecker.

In this installment we discuss what you don’t find in new American developments.

Listen to the Value of 1-Legged Barflys and Toothless Boxers [3 min]

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First Crack 23. A Good Minneapolis Bar – Sam & Dave Part 2

This is the second of many shorter excerpts from my extremely lengthy conversation with Minneapolis urban planners Sam Newberg and David Motzenbecker.

In this installment we discuss what makes a good Minneapolis bar – no, windows aren’t on the list.

Listen to A Good Minneapolis Bar [3 min]

Got questions about coffee or comments about the show? Call: 206-20-BEAN-1

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First Crack 22. MPR’s New Current -Sam & Dave Part 1

This is the first of many shorter excerpts from my extremely lengthy conversation with Minneapolis urban planners Sam Newberg and David Motzenbecker. In this installment we profess our love for Minnesota Public Radio’s new station 89.3 The Current

Listen to MPR’s New Current [5 min]

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If a Sign is Needed, Something is Wrong.

In his Roads Gone Wild article for Wired, Tom McNicol describes a new mentality in traffic control: fewer signs = fewer accidents.

From this perspective, traffic control signs are actually a poor band-aid for an unsafe environment. At best, they keep accident rates constant, at worst they actually cause more.

This phenomenon is not unique to traffic. It’s rampant in the retail and hospitality industries also.

    Examples:

  • Video games have the potential for high shrinkage. Target puts them behind lock and key. Target doesn’t fully staff their electronics/video game department. Far fewer games are shoplifted, and far fewer games are sold. How do they sell more games? Maybe the real question is: Which is more expensive, shrinkage or staff?
  • Like all good hotels, The Grand Hotel in Minneapolis offers robes, towels, and refreshments to its guest. They also charge quite a bit for the convenience as illustrated by this camera phone photo:
    Are You Kidding? $9...The hanging tag on a bottle of Evian at the Grand Hotel in Minneapolis.
    Similarily, the tag on the robe says if you take it, you’ll be charged $99. Now. aside from the fact both these items should come out of the marketing budget, the signage is displayed in a very “We don’t really want to sell this.” manner. For a $100+/night hotel room, I would expect complementary $1/liter bottled water. Perhaps the Grand hasn’t reviewed Yours is a Very Bad Hotel in a while.