Columbus Day has been ruining America for a few decades now, but a few cities are finally doing something about it. A sunlight-refracting silver orb is being removed in Calgary after burning a hole in someone's jacket. And someone says that brunch is turning our neighbors into assholes. It's What's Ruining Our Cities This Week!
Brunch is ruining New York City
While you were lingering over your own leisurely meal on this fine weekend morning, the rest of the internet was busy debating a rather passionate takedown of the seemingly innocent institution of brunch. Apparently this love for extra bacon and bottomless mimosas is a larger signifier of the downfall of the urban experience, writes David Shaftel. "Brunch has become the most visible symptom of a demographic shift that has taken place in our neighborhood and others like it." Okay, the crowds can be totally annoying, but partaking in a long, lazy Sunday breakfast is certainly not endemic to the gentrifiers he points his fingers at. Plus, how could anyone in the world be against the brunch pillars of waking up late and day drinking? Just think about it next time you sit down to a plate of eggs Benedict—you're a part of the Hollandaise-based gentrification machine. [New York Times]
A giant laser ball is ruining Calgary
Adding to our continuing coverage of Buildings and Other Structures That Melt Things comes this glowing silver orb installed at a Calgary recreation center which has burned a hole in at least one person's jacket. The idea for the sculpture actually sounds pretty cool: You're supposed to step inside it and send a text message to the ball, which will respond with light and sound. On one particular morning, however, the concave metal walls apparently focused a beam of sunlight right onto the texting dude inside and his coat began to "feel warm." Artists at Living Lenses have been trying to fix the ball for a year by hammering the surface and sanding down the gleam, but nothing has worked, and now the piece will go into storage. And about half a million dollars Canadian will be going down the drain. [National Post]
Columbus Day is still ruining most American cities (except Minneapolis, Seattle and most places in Hawaii, Oregon and Alaska)
Tomorrow is perhaps the most conflicted of all American holidays. Should we actually celebrate Columbus Day, ignoring the obvious racial and xenophobic undertones that such a celebration would warrant? If you live in several American cities, you will not need to spend tomorrow wading in your own guilt. A few years ago, Minneapolis officially changed its Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples' Day, and this year Seattle joined the anti-Columbus club as well. Of course, if you're feeling particularly strong about the issue, you could move to Hawaii, Oregon and Alaska, which don't celebrate the holiday at all. [Smithsonian]
Top photo via PTSOTL , which also has a very good argument against brunch
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