boulevard

Alÿs in wonderland

tiger_grrrl — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 10:40:00 +0000

Head to toes: Francis Alÿs's paths of resistance - artist
ArtForum, April, 1999 by Carlos Basualdo

. . . part of an ongoing series of projects the artist calls paseos (strolls). Generally carried out with various props in tow, the paseos have been enacted in any number of diverse locales: Alÿs strolled the avenues of Havana while wearing magnetic shoes; he traversed the working-class neighborhood of Pinheiros in Sao Paulo carrying a punctured can of paint that left a fine. colored line tracing the artist's path; and, in the case of the loser/the winner, he walked from one end of Stockholm to the other clad in a sweater that unraveled with every step.
In the loser/the winner, Alÿs's work - his walking - connected two sites separated in space and time: The point of departure was the modern, rationalist building, very much in the Bauhaus style, that houses Stockholm's Museum of Science and Technology. The destination was a nineteenth-century neo-romantic structure recalling in turn the palaces of a century before: today it is home to the Nordic Museum, a curious visual encyclopedia embracing everything from ethnographic displays of Laplander culture to a recent show concerning the relationship of Swedes to their cars. Alÿs's hike had taken him through the parks that lie between the museums. At both sites, viewers had at their disposal (in racks located at the entrance of the two rooms where the exhibition took place) postcards printed with the artist's image, his back turned to us, clad in an electric blue sweater, its tonality obviously manipulated on a computer, with a long unraveled thread extending from one of the sleeves to the edge of the photo. The following typed inscription was found on the postcard:

Here is a fairy tale for you Which is just as good as true What unfolds will give you passion Castles on hills & also treason How, from his cape a fatal thread To her window the villains led.

The Horse Fair

tiger_grrrl — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 05:34:00 +0000

this is a painting i used to visit at the Metropolitan Museum, just pop in to see anytime i was headed past the musuem. it is 8 feet by 16 feet.

The Horse Fair, 1853–55
Rosa Bonheur (French, 1822–1899)
Oil on canvas; 96 1/4 x 199 1/2 in. (244.5 x 506.7 cm)
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1887 (87.25)

the Met's description: This picture shows the horse market held in Paris on the tree-lined boulevard de l'Hôpital, near the asylum of Salpêtrière, visible in the left background. For a year and a half Bonheur went there twice a week to make sketches. She dressed as a man to avoid attention. This work was shown in the Salon of 1853 and in 1854 in Bonheur's native Bordeaux, where the municipality refused to buy it for 12,000 francs. It was apparently retouched in 1855, the year it was sold to a London dealer for 40,000 francs.

learn about an 1852 oil study for The Horse Fair
read more about Rosa Bonheur

oh deer, elk x-ing

tiger_grrrl — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:31:00 +0000

the first ever electric WILDLIFE CROSSWALK has been activated in Arizona.

The crosswalk system uses thermal infrared cameras that send images to sophisticated software normally used by the military to find targets. The software determines if the object is large enough—such as an elk or deer—to be a risk to motorists. The software sends signals to electronic warning signs placed in advance of the crosswalk in either direction, and to flashing warning signs at the crosswalk.

ouch, my head hurts

tiger_grrrl — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:41:00 +0000

in today's NY Times, an essay on the epidemic of diagnosis, something to consider

economy: 6x1 min

tiger_grrrl — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:51:00 +0000

hey yeah so its new years day and i guess things are supposed to feel fresh, huh? they kind of do, in a way. keeping it on the quiet side. a few calls, a few movies. Angela drops by with a tiger T shirt and we sit for tea. inspiration & motivation hit. i pack up a bag and head to the gym for BOULEVARD training session number one. day one, week one. it is actually Tuesday's workout but i've had nearly three months off since CROSSWALK so i don't need my Monday Rest. it feels good to be back at it again. Happy New Year.

train the brain

tiger_grrrl — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:46:00 +0000

interesting images of brain scans reported today. The Washington University researchers wrote: "Perhaps one of the most adaptive capacities of the human mind is the ability to fashion behaviour in anticipation of future consequences.

"Much of our everyday thought depends on our ability to see ourselves partaking in future events."

fluke or flounder

tiger_grrrl — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:49:00 +0000

GEMINI May 20-June 20

Once was a coincidence; twice a fluke.
Seemingly random events are beginning to form a pattern.
Connect the dots.

oops i did it again

tiger_grrrl — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:09:00 +0000

its that time of year again, New Year's Eve. resolutions are in the air, and thoughts move forward. i have been working, not even made the coffee yet and here it is almost 1 PM.

fruits of my labor: a new training schedule for the boulevard walk

so at this rate, SUNDAY 06 MAY will be a walk . . .

feels good, yes.

a bit daunting. i recall the commitment, know what it takes. scan the dates and semi-wince at what is already in the works - some busy days. and now, training too.

it is something to look forward to.

friends in fresno

tiger_grrrl — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:36:00 +0000

i decide to visit some friends. be with the tigers.

flâneur of fresno

tiger_grrrl — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:51:00 +0000

flâneur

become, in Baudelaire's phrase, 'a botanist of the sidewalk'

The flaneur, though grounded in everyday life, is an analytic form, a narrative device, an attitude towards knowledge and its social context.

projects around the idea of providing surprises, distractions, and sequences of events for pedestrians.

The flâneur is the link between routine perambulation, in which a person is only half-awake, making his way from point A to point B, and the moments of chiasmic epiphany that one reads of in Wordsworth or Joyce. Like Poe’s narrators, he is acutely aware, a potent intellectual force of keen observation--a detective without a lead.

the flâneur is typically associated with CITY, beginning with Paris (Baudelaire).

all this talk about the rebirth of the postmodern flaneur in the postmodern landscape.

BOULEVARD is none of this.

anti. i leave my city. travel to fresno to walk into a rural setting - departing the confines of the city on foot walking. the urban decay is left behind. a new decay takes its place. abandoned. halted development. rural landscape.

this confirms the direction then. start from the historic sign and walk towards Kerman. from the city's edge to the open fields.

read this:

“Why revise for a notebook? The fact that Benjamin also transferred masses of quotations from actual notebooks to the manuscript of the convolutes, and the elaborate organization of these cited materials in the manuscript (including the use of numerous epigraphs), might likewise bespeak a compositional principle at work in the project, and not just an advanced stage of research.

Citation and commentary might then be perceived as intersecting at a thousand different angles, setting up vibrations across the epochs of recent history, to as to effect ‘the cracking open of natural teleology.’ And all this would unfold through the medium of hints or ‘blinks’, a discontinuous presentation deliberately opposed to traditional modes of argument.

it seems undeniable that despite the informal, epistolary announcements of a ‘book’ in the works, an eigentlichen Buch, the research project had become an end in itself.”

from here

raisin king

tiger_grrrl — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:29:00 +0000

taking a stand

tiger_grrrl — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:11:00 +0000

Valid during several weeks: Very likely you will have to convince someone of something today. This will probably not be an argument, but rather a situation in which you have to present your case with vigor and energy. But if someone tries to talk you into something, you will defend your own position vehemently and successfully. This influence is not as argumentative as it sounds. People will not see you as spoiling for a fight, nor will they be particularly likely to pick a fight. Instead they will respect you for taking a stand for your own beliefs. Your inner confidence in your ideas and beliefs will help you initiate and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Do not be reluctant to use them. Under this influence you should be successful.

Transit selected for today (by user):
Mercury Sextile Mars
activity period from middle of October 2006 until end of November 2006.
and today's horoscope:

GEMINI May 20-June 20

Coming up with the answer isn't enough. You must show how you arrived at it because you'll be asked to do it again soon.

Running Horse sold

tiger_grrrl — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:31:00 +0000

Running Horse project sold
SoCal partnership buys Fresno development.
By George Hostetter and Ken Robison / The Fresno Bee
11/22/06 03:53:25

As expected, but with less fanfare than promised, a Southern California partnership announced Tuesday it is buying the financially troubled Running Horse residential and golf course project in southwest Fresno.

Jack Haney, one of the partners in Running Horse Development Group, declined to reveal the price his company agreed to pay but said escrow should close in December.

"It's very exciting to be involved in something like this," Haney said.

He said the partnership is buying Running Horse because Fresno "is a great place to live."

The partially built golf course, which so far has only two holes with grass, is scheduled to host a $4.5 million, 72-hole PGA Tour event in October. None of the planned 780 houses has been built in the project, which has experienced cash-flow problems.

Haney said getting the course built in time for the tournament "is going to be tight, but we think we think we can pull it off."

He said the Running Horse vision will remain largely unchanged. City Hall officials are counting on the project, with its upscale homes and Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, to spur development in a part of Fresno that has long been ignored by many developers.

An auction scheduled for today to sell about 430 acres at Running Horse to pay off a defaulted loan will no longer be held. Haney said that problem has been resolved.

Several million dollars in liens have been filed at the Fresno County Recorder's Office by businesses that have not been paid for work on the project. Haney said they would be paid at the close of escrow.

Tom O'Meara, who has spent more than four years trying to get the project off the ground, said the deal will provide enough money to repay his investors with principal and interest.

O'Meara also said he will settle concerns of unhappy homeowners in the 58-lot Kearney Estates, next to the golf course. Work has stopped on many of the homes.

O'Meara said last week that a sale of Running Horse was imminent. He said a news conference would be held Tuesday to unveil the deal.

But the news conference was canceled Monday, in part, O'Meara said, because a Florida-based PGA Tour official had difficulty making airline arrangements during Thanksgiving week.

Jeff Monday, the PGA Tour's senior vice president for tournament development, said the potential new owner "is fully committed to moving ahead and getting everything ready on the golf course." He said the plan remains to hold the tournament at Running Horse in 2007.

Running Horse tournament director Bob Jeffrey said Tuesday's announcement was a boost as his staff works to secure sponsorships and promotions for the tournament.

"We keep moving forward with hospitality, sponsorships and volunteer recruitment," Jeffrey said. "This gives us a boost by solidifying to the market that this event will be here."

Jeffrey said he is negotiating a multiyear contract with possible title sponsors. Such a sponsorship would average about $3.5 million a year, bringing the total package to between $13 million and $15 million.

The PGA has a six-year commitment to stage the tournament in Fresno.

Barring bad weather, Jeffrey said, Running Horse should be seeded by May, giving the grass all summer to grow. No one will play on the course before the tournament.

"We're confident the course can be completed and we will be at Running Horse," Jeffrey said.

Still, he continues his search for an alternate site in case Running Horse isn't ready. He said an alternate course would be on standby, and would be notified in early June if it would be needed.

words. 10 times.

tiger_grrrl — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 05:39:00 +0000

the people i talked to today :

09:45 AM woman cashier at Starbucks
10:15 AM woman ticket taker at zoo entrance
12:20 PM maid at motel (room key did not work)
12:55 PM male Rennaisance Faire worker at Kearney Park entrance
01:05 PM male Rennaisance Faire worker at Kearney Park entrance
02:47 PM male driver lost & looking for Rennaisance Faire
04:23 PM woman driver lost & looking for Rennaisance Faire
06:24 PM woman server at Denny's
07:07 PM male cashier at gas station food mart
07:11 PM male front desk attendant at motel

fresno

Running Horse : trouble staying on track

tiger_grrrl — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 04:22:00 +0000

Running Horse has trouble staying on track
Hopes for development to spark more interest in southwest Fresno fading.

by George Hostetter and Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee
photo: Craig Kohlruss / The Fresno Bee

22 October 2006

A sobering reality has settled over the proposed Running Horse residential and golf course project in southwest Fresno.

Gone is the lofty talk of the past four years that marked much of the public discussion about Tom O'Meara's master-planned community, which proposes 780 upscale houses bordering a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.

It's a project that has fueled hope by many city and community leaders that Running Horse will spark developer interest in the city's historic but long-neglected southwest side.

"O'Meara sees diamonds where others see dirt," said Fred Burkhardt, then the city's director of housing, economic and community development, in 2003.

But recent financial and legal problems at Running Horse have cooled the rhetoric, even from O'Meara.

"This is not fun," he said. "This is a business."

No houses have been built, nor has a home builder been selected by Running Horse officials. Construction work on the project has all but stopped — in part, O'Meara said, because the crews need a rest. And money problems have slowed the progress of O'Meara's adjacent Kearney Estates residential subdivision, which is separate from Running Horse.

"It will be a travesty if [Running Horse] doesn't succeed," said Keith Kelley, president of the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development. "But all hope is not lost."

Only two of the Running Horse course's 18 holes have grass. On Tuesday, a Florida-based official with the Professional Golfers' Association Tour visited two Fresno-area golf courses to see whether they might serve as substitute sites for a $4.5 million tournament scheduled for next October at Running Horse. Tournament officials said they're optimistic that Running Horse will be ready but want a backup course just in case.

O'Meara also acknowledged that Running Horse is negotiating a loan of about $60million to keep the project going. Another option is selling parts or all of the project, he said.

There are other challenges:

More than $3.7 million in contractors' liens have been filed at the Fresno County Recorder's Office against Running Horse or companies contracted by Running Horse. These liens mean a business contends it hasn't been paid for work on the project.

O'Meara said the liens are a routine legal step that he encouraged contractors to take if it made them feel secure while he settles his cash-flow problems.

Routine, though, is a matter of perspective. Emmett's Excavation Inc. of Clovis filed a $1.5 million lien for work it did at Running Horse dating to 2005. Said company Vice President Lucretia Emmett: "It's an awful lot of money to be without."

Two lawsuits were filed against Running Horse in 2005 alleging that the project's partners agreed to sell all or substantial portions of the project to two different buyers at the same time. One lawsuit was recently settled in a confidential agreement, according to Fresno County Superior Court records. The other could go to trial in May, O'Meara said.

Many of the homes at Kearney Estates, the nearby 58-house project started by Running Horse, sit vacant or partially built. Running Horse sold the lots, and buyers contracted with other companies to build the houses.

Darryl Bowen, 64, said he is happy to be living in Kearney Estates, even though construction of his home took many months longer than promised: "But I wouldn't do it again."

Matt Estes, 43, has moved into his Kearney Estates home, but said he's still trying to get some construction problems fixed: "If everything was done, I'd be a lot happier."

O'Meara is a 1969 graduate of California State University, Fresno, who has more than 25 years of real estate development experience, including work on several golf course projects.

Contractors, subcontractors and lenders will be paid, he said. The course will be ready for the golf tournament. Houses will get built.

"I'm here every day," O'Meara said while sitting in the portable building on the corner of Hughes and Whites Bridge avenues that serves as Running Horse's headquarters. "I'm not going anywhere. I take all phone calls.

"I tell people: We're going to resolve it."

But how? And what went wrong?

The simple answer: money.

A loan of nearly $60 million is ready to be signed, O'Meara said, declining to reveal the lender. The money, among other things, would finish the golf course, pay off the liens and refinance current loans, he said.

Two other key steps are naming a builder for the first of the residential project's three phases, the 228-lot section called Cypress, and starting work on the golf course's clubhouse.

But rather than take the loan, O'Meara said he'd prefer to tap money put into escrow by people who have bought 208 lots in Cypress.

O'Meara said lots in Cypress are selling for $150,000 to $250,000 each. Lots in the other two phases — Augusta and Masters — could sell for $300,000 or more, he said.

But Running Horse still hasn't filed what's called a final map for Cypress with the city Planning Department. Until that step is taken, and O'Meara finds a builder with an insurance policy that guarantees the on-site infrastructure will get built, the money in escrow is out of reach.

O'Meara said last week that he might announce the builder as soon as last Friday. However, on that Friday afternoon, he said negotiations with a possible builder were continuing.

O'Meara said he's being careful in naming a builder because he doesn't want a replay of the Kearney Estates "fiasco."

Running Horse has a city permit to begin work on the clubhouse foundation, but not on the structure. O'Meara said the original plan of a $15 million, 42,000-square-foot building has been scaled back to about 34,000 square feet and less than $10 million.

"Is it uncommon for a developer to run into cash-flow problems?" O'Meara said. Shaking his head no, he added, "It's been a monster."

He said a six-month stretch this year — during which several loans were approved, then killed — proved devastating. He had already told subcontractors to go ahead with work; when the loans failed, he couldn't pay them.

Said O'Meara: "I've said to quite a few suppliers: 'We're not going anywhere. We're going to pay you.'"

The two lawsuits show O'Meara and his partners twice almost sold part or all of the project in deals worth tens of millions of dollars.

According to court documents, Running Horse and another company, IRC/RH, signed an agreement in March 2005 to be partners in a new company called IREC-Fresno.

Running Horse and its partner were to be co-managing members of the new company.

The new company was to buy 536 lots at $65,000 each from Running Horse — $34.8 million.

Running Horse also was to name its partner as exclusive builder of homes in Cypress. Profits from the Cypress homes were to be split by the partners.

Then, in April 2005, Running Horse signed an agreement with Reynen & Bardis Communities Inc. to sell all 780 lots at $95,000 each — $74.1 million — to the Sacramento-based developer.

Reynen & Bardis sued Running Horse, alleging in part that Running Horse officials broke the agreement by asking it to pay more for the property than the two sides had originally agreed to.

Eric R. Garner, a lawyer in Sacramento for Reynen & Bardis, said the trial is scheduled to begin May 7.

IRC/RH sued Running Horse for breach of contract. The lawsuit was settled this year in what court documents called a "confidential conditional settlement."

But the question remains: Can a large master-planned community thrive in a southwest Fresno that has seen little new residential development for decades?

"In theory, it could be viable, but I think the price range for homes in that area has to be reasonable," said Steve Lutton, division president of Lennar Homes.

A major amenity such as a golf course helps, said Paula Conner, who sells luxury houses for London Properties. She just sold a house at San Joaquin Country Club for more than $1 million. It was on the market for only a few days, she said.

Ken Hopper, a real estate appraiser who helps value golf courses, said, "People will pay a premium to be on a golf course." But, he added, "Running Horse doesn't have the only game in town."

O'Meara and his partner Scott Webb are competing in a market that includes the homes and lots at Fort Washington, Copper River and Brighton Crest country clubs.

Fresno real estate analyst Robin Kane cautioned against making quick generalizations about Running Horse based on what could be the developer's temporary money woes. He said it often takes decades for large, master-planned communities to get their legs and succeed.

Deep pockets and a developer with staying power are vital, Kane said. But, he added, don't underestimate the power of a dream: "Having a vision is not enough. But having no vision will never get it done."

Kelley of the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development said O'Meara already has helped raise the region's profile: "He came in with a vision. He got mocked and scoffed, but you have to give him credit for making things happen."

City Council Member Cynthia Sterling, who represents the Running Horse area, is confident another company will step in if O'Meara stumbles. The PGA tournament may have to be held elsewhere in 2007 but could be held in southwest Fresno the following year, she said.

One of the most pressing issues facing O'Meara is Kearney Estates. He acknowledges that his company is partly responsible for the project's problems.

O'Meara said he and Webb plan to spend millions of dollars to help finish the houses.

"If we walk away from that, we'll be like any other so-called builder running out of town," O'Meara said. "And that's not the way we're going to do that. For two reasons. One, it's not the right thing to do. The second thing is if we do that over there, can you imagine the damage it would have [on Running Horse]?"

The reporters can be reached at ghostetter@fresnobee.com, snax@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6330.

Fresno Bee article : http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/8906.html