Architect In Training

I waited until everything died down and the sale was actually final to write something about the Pontiac Silverdome being sold.  While I'm happy that it happened finally, I'm not so happy with how it happened.  The auction for this 127.5 acre lot went for $583,000.  I am left dumbfounded as to how this could happen and how a city could accept an offer like this.  In my opinion, it's a slap in the face and shows just how dire the city's finances are in.  Being a native of the area, I could go on for days about this but I will break it down quickly.

I'm bothered by this because I've grown up with the Silverdome being the backdrop to my back yard.  It's as if the structure is apart of my family.  Okay, maybe not close family, but family nonetheless.  Everyday in the summer when I went outside to play with neighborhood friends, the Silverdome was there.  I used to walk over train tracks to get to it.  I dangerously walked/ran across M-59 to get to it.  I could hear Monster Truck shows that happened there at night as if it was a younger brother crying in another room, keeping everyone awake.  During the winter, our Christmas tree was positioned near a window that had the 'Dome' in the background.  And now you're telling me that someone in my family is only worth $583,000?!  That hurts.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for making money and getting the most bang for your buck, but this is just insane.  To show you how insane this is, I've done a little math for everyone to take a look at.  The price of The Pontiac Silverdome is the equivalent to:

- Seven 750i BMW Sedans (No add-ons, just the basic package)
- One house in Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills, or Farmington Hills
- One Hundred Seventeen (117) Really nice MacBook Pros (avg. cost $5000)

I guess my point is that Pontiac didn't get much for what they gave.  Just seven luxury cars?  There's probably 60,000 parking spaces and we just get enough to fill seven?!  That's fair!?  All I can do is shake my head and at the same time, tip my hat to the company that got this steal.  Though I don't see a professional soccer team flourishing in Pontiac, I've been wrong before.  Here's hoping that something great happens with that piece of land.  Wow, 583,000 for 128 acres.  That's amazing.

Thomas Bowman Out.

So my man RoSpit is representing Detroit in a possible ad campaign contest for the wonderful city.  As some of you may know, CNN Money is here for a year and is featuring the rebuilding of what was and still is a great city: Detroit.  To go along with their articles and pieces on the city and what it can become, there is an ad campaign contest happening supplement their works.

In order to vote for him, go to CNN Money and vote for here.  There is also a great video that goes along with the advertisement at Make Your Mark.  I'm always a cheerleader for the little guy, even though Ro and the team at M.Edward-Campbell are not little at all.  By all means, take a look at the other competitors but voting for them would be a vote for a lesser advertisement.  I want Detroit to be placed in the best light possible and the RoSpit entry is shining.  Put some shades on.

Thomas Bowman out.

So in my conquests to become LEED certified, I've been researching and reading as much information as I can.  I came across this windmill known as the xBEE on TreeHugger that is using bioMimicry to utilize the wind and create energy from it.  What is the windmill mimic-ing from nature you ask?  BEES?!  Yeah, that insect that is supposedly aerodynamically ill-equipped to fly is being mimiced by a California engineering business known as Green Wavelength.

"Borrowing design cues from nature is already changing the face of technology, especially in the swirly realm of fluid dynamics. We've seen fan blades inspired by the bumpy fins of whales, solar cells made more efficient by the texture of butterfly wings, turbine blades that mimic the hydrophobic surface of leaves, and maybe even high-MPG car coatings that are rough like shark skin." -- TreeHugger

They're still expensive, but it's a step in the right direction.  Check out the prototype in action.  It looks pretty cool, but it also looks awkward [at least to me it does].  Then again, the bee in nature is pretty awkward so in the end, it works perfectly.


Thomas Bowman Out.

This man right here is one of the muses that I look to for guidance when it comes to my whole architecture endeavor.  Let me introduce Paul Williams to you all.

Paul Williams was the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects, architect to the stars of his time, and an influencial man to me doing what I want to do.  At the age of 25, he won a competition for architecture and three years later, opened and ran his own office [that's 28]. 

Now Paul was born in 1894 and back when he started his career as an Architect [1922], there was a lot of segregation and racial bigotry still.  But that didn't stop this man in his quest to perform at the best of his abilities.  He was quoted once saying "If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated." 













[Theme Building @ LAX]

Everytime I get tired and frustrated [for example, yesterday in the Captain's Log], I look to this man and what he did for some sort of inspiration in what I can do.  Sure, the job market is sucks, and the economy is in a recession, but so what.  Anything can happen.  If this man can perfect the craft of hand drafting residential houses upside down because his clients did not want to / feared sitting next to him, then damn it, I will be okay. 

What stories like that also have shown me is that the only color that really seems to matter in this world is green. No matter what the ills of this world may be, as long as you are the best at what you do, the green will come your way.  So what am I doing to become the best at what I do?  A lot.  First off, I got like 6 months to win a competition like my man Paul did.  I'm following Paul.  Thanks for leading. 

















[Beverly Hills Hotel - California]
All the above pictures are projects that Mr. Williams either designed or helped design [and these are just a few].

Thomas Bowman Out.

Now that I got that off the chest, back to the old jovial Capt. Log.

Yankee's are about to win the World Series [again].  I believe this is number 27 for them. I hate the Evil Empire.  But I guess you cannot argue with results.  I'm going to write whatever comes to my mind until the game is over.

Shout out to Burn Rubber for selling those exclusive Kevin Hart tickets.  That man is hilarious and I will be in attendance.  If you have never watched his stand up special 'Grown Little Man', google it and watch the whole thing.  There are some classic jokes in there.

What ever happened to SARS?  No one talks about that anymore.  It's like because it's not Swine Flu, it's not important.  Is SARS not a problem anymore?  Yes? No?  Just a question.

Finally got a 14 billiard ball for the house thanks to a bar that shall remain nameless.  But thanks for the ball you guys.  The pool table is now complete.

So I been watching that new show FlashForward which is just another form of Lost but this time the world past out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds.  The only thing that bothers me is this Kangaroo.  He keeps showing up?! What does he mean?  If you haven't seen it before, here's the first episode:


So go find the first episode or the sixth episode and experience the Kangaroo.  I like to call him Rocko.

I miss old school Nickelodeon.  I wonder when I'm old and gray will my 'shows' be old cartoons.  Probably.  I think they help out my creativity and that's why I watch them.  The people who make those shows are grown up so why can't I watch them?

2 outs Philly - 3 NYY - 7.

I cannot believe that next year i'll be 25.  That is so crazy to me.  A quarter of a century on this earth and still going.  I believe as long as I make through the rest of this year, I beat all statistics about me and my life.  Apparently, African American males from inner cities are usually dead or in jail by the age of 25.  

Vic Tarino is a G.  He's been fighting off the pitcher for probably 14 pitches now.  Kudos to that man for not making this easy.

GAME.

Thomas Bowman Out. 

I have two things to say about that Mike Posner song Speed of Sound:
1.Best Riding and Thinking Song I have right now [in conjunction with Cudi - Hyeer]
2. Each verse is the story of my life right now before you get to the chorus because the chorus symbolizes the success coming.

I been listening to this all day [and I do mean ALL day], and it makes reflect on everything that has happened in the past year.  Each verse makes me think about a different part of life in the past year.  For example:

'My mom keeps telling me, that I better stay in school.  But when that ends, Lord knows I don't know what I'm gonna do.'
-- I still don't know what I'm going to do.  I been trying to figure this thing called life out non-stop since then and I haven't come up with much.  Searching for that ever elusive job in this economy has been hard to say the very least.  Honestly, that is an understatement.  I been looking like a mad man eversince I came back from Spain but still nothing.  I feel like I'm just spinning my tires on ice - getting me nowhere.  And what did I go to school all this time for?!  I got two degrees in what I thought was a professional career path and the only thing I find in my pockets is lint, hope, and business cards.

'Cuz everytime I blink now, another day rolls by.  It's getting hard to not think bout all the things on my mind.  Like I remember this time last year, I was alone. I felt like I was two feet tall.'
-- I'm not going to go into all the details of this one but know it's very pertinent to my life.  But what I will say is that everyday seems to go by SO fast now and I wish it would slow down because I don't feel like I'm enjoying them like they should be.  

'My friends keep telling me how much they believe in me.  Well i wish, that i saw, the things that they see in me'
-- Now I'm not down on myself but I wish I just could utilize the talents that my friends and family see in a way that would accrue some kind of recognition and income.  I think one of my biggest fears is not making some kind of difference and the fact that I don't see anything of substance being done by or in conjunction with me eats away at me.  I don't feel successful.  As much as people tell me I am, the bank statement isn't telling the same story.  I just want to contribute to something ASAP.  I'm just trying to move at the Speed of Sound.  Trying to be Gone In 60 Seconds on Talledega Nights.  Get some more passport stamps.  That so wrong?  Who trying to help?  Let me know something.  Anybody....

Thomas Bowman Out.

I don't know if everyone knows this man but if you don't, you should. You remember the Design contest I entered [and subsequently lost, lol]?  If not, shame on you.  RoSpit, yet another dope Michigan Hip Hop emcee, is coming out with a mixtape on November 10th sponsored by Acapulco Gold and Burn Rubber and it has nothing but hot tracks for listening and riding to. I'm lucky to say that fam has allowed me released one of the tracks entitled 'Levi Denim'.

Now please pay attention to the lyrics because they're so intricate and thought out. Even when you play this one slow you won't catch all the allusions to the Levi brand. Let's see how many you find.

The first time I met this dude was at my high school open house.  He provided the music and whatnot to a wonderful day of chilling and good time having.  I knew he had skills back then because of my interactions with his music [Closest Thing To Him] and always thought he was on a level on cool that I couldn't reach.  Dude is real cool and down to earth though.  First time I put CTTH in the CD player was a summer where I had to wake up at like 4am for work at this engineering firm where I surveyed.  My pops had given me the CD the night before [yes, my pops] and I didn't get a chance to listen to it.  Well, at 5am as I'm driving to work, I was wide awake.  The horns from the first track of the CD had me hooked and I been loving the music eversince.  So much love and respect to the man RoSpit.

RoSpit - Levi Denim (Peep How I Kill 'Em)


EVERYBODY POST THIS, TWEET IT, WHATEVER.  Enjoy.  Thomas Bowman Out.

Everyone go get the Mike Posner Mixtape [One Foot Out The Door]. Support Michigan Hip Hop and R&B. Actually, I don't know that I would call Mike R&B but there's melodies and singing in it. You make your own decision on that one but go get it now. And did I forget to mention: IT'S FREE!!! Go to itunes, LiveMixtape, or DatPiff to get it.  Favorite song of the hour is speed of sound.  Listen to it here and then go get the rest of the album because the mixtape is awesome.

That is all. Thomas Bowman Out.