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	<title>The City Desk &#187; Brodie H. Brockie</title>
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	<description>Fictional urbanism.</description>
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		<title>Times That the Sword of General Gainsborough has Gone Missing</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/07/28/times-that-the-sword-of-general-gainsborough-has-gone-missing/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/07/28/times-that-the-sword-of-general-gainsborough-has-gone-missing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[statuary]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=287</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Though the famous statue of General Archibald Gainsborough in Ataraxia Park is made of bronze, sculptor Jeffery Couveign chose to create the general’s sword as a separate piece, made of stainless steel, hoping the weapon would “shine in the sun, as a symbol of the illuminating potential of violence.” Here is a listing- in chronological order- of occurrences in which the sword has been broken off, removed or stolen from the statue: 1922 &#8211; Local youths broke the sword off the statue for the first time after an older boy stole the stick they were using for a bat in a game of stick ball. They only attempted to use it for two at-bats before group leader Butchie Flatts remarked, &#8220;Aw, saucepans! This pig-sticker’s too heavy to heave!&#8221; and discarded it. 1926 – Director Mack Sennett chose to shoot a Keystone Cops short here, taking advantage of the city&#8217;s cheap labor market and loose safety regulations. One gag chase was plotted to end with the Cops’ paddy wagon colliding with the statue of Gainsborough. During rehearsal, the sword broke off and impaled one of the actors, killing him. 1940 – For reasons unknown, the sword simply fell off one August [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Pothole Budget Mistakenly Allocated For Potluck</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/03/05/pothole-budget-mistakenly-allocated-for-potluck/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/03/05/pothole-budget-mistakenly-allocated-for-potluck/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:14:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public works]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2008/03/05/pothole-budget-mistakenly-allocated-for-potluck/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Due to a clerical error, city funds earmarked for this spring&#8217;s pothole repairs were mixed up with funds intended for a potluck for City Streets Department employees to celebrate last month&#8217;s groundhog&#8217;s day. Streets Department clerk Debbie Winton, who was in charge of the potluck, admits she was taken aback when she first saw the amount she had to spend on the annual lunch, typically held in Conference Room C in the Malcolm B. Adams Public Works Building on South Haverline. &#8220;Usually we get about 20, 25 dollars for this kind of thing, most people bring a dish to pass and we have a couple of grinders,&#8221; said Winton. &#8220;This year &#8211; well, let&#8217;s just say it would have afforded a much nicer affair.&#8221; Some of the additional planned expenditures at this year&#8217;s Groundhog&#8217;s Day potluck included four six-foot-long submarine sandwiches, an ice-sculpture in the shape of City Hall, a chocolate fountain, fresh lobster flown in from the coast, individual groundhog shaped chocolates, a performance by the surviving members of the band Foghat and an appearance by Brian Doyle-Murray, who portrayed the mayor in the film Groundhog Day. &#8220;I guess I just thought that this year they really wanted to [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>City loses hummus title</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/05/02/city-loses-hummus-title/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/05/02/city-loses-hummus-title/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2007 11:30:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cuisine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[records]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/05/02/city-loses-hummus-title/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ferran Habash may be out of the record books for now, but he&#8217;s confident he&#8217;ll be back. Habash is the owner of Ferran&#8217;s Middle Eastern Restaurant (429 Kerchavel), until recently the world-record holder for World&#8217;s Largest Vat of Hummus. In July of 2003, Habash and his staff prepared 3,300 gallons (15,000 liters) of hummus in an above-ground pool that the restaurant rented and assembled in the parking lot adjacent to the restaurant. Only about 1/3 of the hummus was actually eaten by locals attending the event before the hot July sun rendered the remaining amount dangerously inedible (and decidedly malodorous). The record lasted for nearly four years until last Saturday, when Sinbad&#8217;s Delight of Charleston, SC prepared an enormous 7,432 gallons (13,000 liters) of hummus in a not-yet open for the season city pool during the Taste of Charleston Festival. &#8220;The record is ours now and forever,&#8221; said Sinbad&#8217;s Delight proprietor Muntasir Al-Fulani. &#8220;And we didn&#8217;t even use cheap chick peas like those skinflints at that place up north. Only the best!&#8221; Habash scoffs at Al-Fulani&#8217;s boasting. &#8220;You&#8217;ll see. We&#8217;ll be in the record books again. We&#8217;ll beat that record as soon as I can decide what to put all [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Friday Facts: Leftover Cod, Pauline, Selleck-san</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/04/13/friday-facts-leftover-cod-pauline-selleck-san/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/04/13/friday-facts-leftover-cod-pauline-selleck-san/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:30:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cuisine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Andrews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fire department]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rumors]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/04/13/friday-facts-leftover-cod-pauline-selleck-san/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: The Mid-Town Lions Club has decided to carry over their popular Friday Fish Fries, normally only held on Fridays during Lent, throughout the rest of April. &#8220;Well, we&#8217;ve got all these fish still lying around, so why not?&#8221; said president Mark Pembroke. :: Thirty-five percent of the steel used in municipal construction since January 1, 2000 has been imported from China. :: Total cost of cleaning up the 1999 Backstreet Boys Millennium Tour &#8220;Soccer Mom&#8221; riot: $13.4m :: More than two thousand city residents were asked what type of robot they would most be afraid of, if robots ever invaded the city. “Man-Eating” was the most popular answer. :: Number of pints served at The Blarney Stone on 17th during St. Patrick&#8217;s Day 1997: 3,717 ::Number of pints served at The Blarney Stone on 17th during St. Patrick&#8217;s Day 2007: 7,320 :: A little bit of trivia for fans of “Ripperology:” The legendary serial killer Jack the Ripper was rumored to have a trio of cousins living in our very own city. Two of them were butchers (the third was a librarian, according to legend). :: Number of working Donkey Kong video game units: 26 :: Number of these [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<title>Friday Facts: Meanwhile, at the Pioneer Square Strip Mall</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/01/26/friday-facts-meanwhile-at-the-pioneer-square-strip-mall/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/01/26/friday-facts-meanwhile-at-the-pioneer-square-strip-mall/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:16:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Andrews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mabel Tripp Gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Levinson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transit]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=66</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Sister city featured on municipal signage on December 6, 1941- Mihara City, Japan :: Sister city featured on municipal signage as of December 9, 1941- Newcastle, England :: Hanna-Barbera animator Clark E. Pantuso reportedly modeled the design for the Super Friends&#8217; Hall of Justice on the Pioneer Square Strip Mall, at the corner of SE. South St. and Summer Blvd. The strip mall is currently home to a martial arts academy, an adult education annex of the YMCA, and an Olive Garden. :: Protestant churches for every Catholic church (2005)- 4.1 :: According to Industrial Planning Magazine, stop lights in the city are 22% &#8220;pinker&#8221; than the national average. :: Uptown boasts seventeen thoroughfares named after alcoholic beverages, including Martini Blvd, Gin Street and Calle Margarita. The Central Corridor is home to storied Tom Collins Ave. Teetotallers, however, may prefer to tread the non-spiritous footpaths of Temperance Square, located in the south-western corner of Mabel Tripp Gardens. :: Lowest city unemployment rate (1998)- 3.7 :: Highest city unemployment rate (1977)- 10.2 :: Number of Buick Roadmaster Rivieras (Two-Door models) buried as &#8220;time capsules&#8221; around the city in a promotion for a local auto dealer in 1955- 5 :: Number [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Survivors of the Radio Apocalypse</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2006/11/27/survivors-of-the-radio-apocalypse/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2006/11/27/survivors-of-the-radio-apocalypse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:25:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[catastrophe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[radio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[theaters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[war]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=32</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 1967, Jeff Crane walked out onto North Canton Avenue and winced from his first view of sunlight in 16 years. As his eyes adjusted, he took a nervous look around and saw an unwashed, bushy-bearded, shabbily-dressed, long-haired man stumbling toward him, his eyes glazed and babbling incoherently. His worst fears were realized: civilization had ended. He was wrong, of course, but how could Mr. Crane or any of the others know the difference between a hippie and a refugee in a post-nuclear barbarian society? One October night in 1951, WKVD-AM disc jockey Wink Timbers, inspired by Orson Welles&#8217; “War of the Worlds” thirteen years earlier, decided to broadcast a similar dramatized program, the story of a nuclear conflict having begun against Soviet Russia, and the communist superpower retaliating with their own a-bombs and a legion of scientifically bred mole-people. With the formation of the Warsaw Pact and the Doctrine of Massive Retaliation having been enacted earlier that year, most elements of the broadcast were, perhaps, a bit too realistic for most listeners. There was mass looting throughout the city by residents afraid of having to stock-up on supplies. A riot in Ataraxia Park resulted in 17 people being hospitalized [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Friday Facts: Mayflies, Murder, Geese</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2006/11/03/friday-facts-mayflies-murder-geese/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2006/11/03/friday-facts-mayflies-murder-geese/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:13:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brodie H. Brockie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Corridor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Downtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[halloween]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mabel Tripp Gardens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=20</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Number of outdoor cafes in the Downtown &#38; Central Corridor in 2006: 115 :: Number of outdoor cafes in the same area before the mysterious seven year mayfly &#8220;problem&#8221; ended, in 1990: 2 :: Of the thirty-five tests conducted by the City Elections Commission on new electronic voting machines delivered this week, the number failed: 30 :: Percenatage of city precincts which will be using the new machines next week: 78 :: While the city comes in twenty-third among American cities for the number of murders per capita, it comes in eighth among murders committed by people who are left-handed. :: Number of alligators living in city&#8217;s sewer system: 14 (unofficial; by eyewitness accounts) :: Attendance at this year&#8217;s Haunted Halloween at Mabel Tripp Gardens: 3,871 :: Record attendance at Haunted Halloween: 42,796 (1988) :: Number of years that Haunted Halloween has been hosted at Tripp Gardens: 34 :: Winner of this year&#8217;s &#8220;Best Costume&#8221; prize: Young Obi-Wan Kenobi :: Winner of the first &#8220;Best Costume&#8221; prize: Dirty Old Man from Laugh-In :: Number of Canadian Pitchfork Geese in this year&#8217;s petting zoo: 50 :: Decibel level of fifty captive Canadian Pitchfork geese: 130 &#8211; R. White, B. Brockie, [...]]]></description>
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