Mark,
Good post. I am still waiting for Boing2 to post images of my "polar cities" blueprints by Deng Cheng-hong. The New York Times recently reported on the story, with images and quotes by James Lovelock.

Ted Turner was speaking in his own style of exaggeratin' in order to make a point and to sound the alarm, that global warming is real and watch out folks! But 30 to 40 years? No way, Ted!

The need for polar cities, if we need them at all, will be around 500 years from now, not in 2050 or even 2099. We still have time to fix the problem.

But cannibalsim? It could happen, but not until 30 more generations....

I wonder, Mark, if you can post just one image that Mr Deng created using Sketchup software.

Andrew Revkin, reported:

"....a one-man campaign to get people to seriously consider a worst-case prediction of the British chemist and inventor James Lovelock: life in “polar cities” arrayed around the shores of an ice-free Arctic Ocean in a greenhouse-warmed world.

Dr. Lovelock, who in 1972 conceived of Earth’s crust, climate and veneer of life as a unified self-sustaining entity, Gaia, foresees humanity in full pole-bound retreat within a century as areas around the tropics roast — a scenario far outside even the worst-case projections of climate scientists.

After reading a newspaper column in which Dr. Lovelock predicted disastrous warming, Bloom teamed up with Deng Cheng-hong, a Taiwanese artist, and set up Web sites showing designs for self-sufficient Arctic communities.

Bloom told me his intent was to conduct a thought experiment that might prod people out of their comfort zone on climate — which remains, for many, a someday, somewhere issue."

BUT NO CANNIBALISM comments in BLoom's project!

http://japundit.com/archives/2006/04/17/2316/

Welcome to the Alphabet Watch, or what I call Alphabet Time.

Most watches worldwide use the common Arabic numerals 1-12 to denote the passing hours, or they use Roman numerals instead. One watch model I found on the Internnet uses Chinese characters (one could also call them Japanese kanji, since they carry the same meanings of 1-12, although the pronounciation is different, of course) for the twelve numbers [written (-), (–), (—) and so on] and the watch was made by the Diesel fashion line. Another watch I have seen uses pictures of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs (dog, rat, monkey, etc.) for the watch face markers, while another one uses pictures of the 12 Western astrology signs (Pisces, Cancer, etc.). Cool.

The other day (it was raining, a little down time between classes), I started tinkering with watch face concepts, after waking up from a short nap, and in my brief dreamtime during the nap, I envisioned a watch with 12 letters of the English alphabet, arranged in an A-L fashion. I made a prototype in my laboratory. A friend snapped a photo.

Cry
f y lk wtchs, y wld LV my nwly crtd BC wtch ln. Ths r rl wrst wtchs tht s th lttrs f BCDFGHJKL fr th hrs rthr thn 1-12. thr ptns s dffrnt lttrs t spll t vrs wrds sch s LVLVLV nd thr trms. blv ths hs nvr bn dn bfr n nglsh. Thr r sm wtchs n srl tht s th Hbrw lphbt s hr rdrs, LH BTH, tc, bt my wtch s th nly n n th wrld tht ss BC lttrs n nglsh. nd f y lk cn snd y n t try t. ml m t th sl

dnblm GML

ggl "BC wtch" t s mgs

nprcd

Just curious, have any SF writers ever written about what life might be like in "polar cities" in the future of year 2500, say, in response to global warming and climate change? There are some images of models here: http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

Danny

GMAIL % [danbloom] DOT [com]

If climate change is real, we might need polar cities in the future. Google the term or see this images here: At this blogsite, you can see some early artwork depicting what polar
cities might look like, interior views. Art was created by Taiwanese
artist Deng Cheng-hong, with production notes from Danny Bloom, creator
of the ''polar city blog''....

http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

A better way to have introduced this story:

From OKfuture.net: "Here is a fascinating story about a series of photos PURPORTEDLY -- allegedly -- taken of Peeping Toms in Japan in the 1970s. These allegedly furtive voyeurs were claimed by the photographer to have been sneaking around parks late at night in search of romantic encounters. The photos were taken by photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki -- not his real name but a a nom de plume meaning UNDERCLASSMAN YOSHIYUKI -- while he said he was taking a walk with a friend through a park late at night. He said he noticed a couple on the ground, with a small but growing ring of men -- most probably placed there by Kohei himself as part of this staged event --crawling towards them."

“I had my camera, but it was dark,” he told the photographer -- his friend who was in on the yarase (staged nature) of the event -- Nobuyoshi Araki in a 1979 interview for a Japanese publication. Researching the technology in the era before infra-red flash units, he found that Kodak made infrared flashbulbs. Mr. [Kohei Yoshiyuki] said he later returned to the park, and to two others in Tokyo, through the ’70s. He claimed that he photographed heterosexual and homosexual couples engaged in sexual activity and the peeping toms who he claims stalked them, although most likely KY staged all these photos for impact, since "yarase" is a grand tradition of faking staged events in Japan. Does anyone really believe these photos are documentary style photos? No way. It's all faked."

I believe these photos are faked, i mean, this part of a grand Japanese tradition called YARASE, it means a staged photo or event, and Kohei was notorious in the 70s for doing this. I believe the Times critic got taken in by the hype and the press release, as maybe you did too. These are not real documentary photos, Kohei and his pals staged this. Ask any Japanese who lives in Tokyo and they will tell you. A good friend of mine, Hidetoshi, who lives in Tokyo, told me today:

''those are yarase photos, nobody in Japan would take that artist seriously. What's wrong with the USA art world, are they so gullible?''

A Japanse friend in Tokyo tells me: "The Times is wrong to call him ''Mr Yoshiyuki'' in print. How illiterate the Times is. So TOKYO ROSE would me ''Ms Rose'' in NYTimes style book? And MATA HARI would be ''Ms Hari''?

"Mr. Kohei Yoshiyuki" is the correct way to refer to him in every reference. "Yoshiyuki" is his family name.
"吉行(Yoshiyuki)　耕平(Kohei)" in kanji. The same with a Japanese novelist
Yoshiyuki Jun'nosuke(吉行　淳之介).

I had to laugh. Certainly, he was a famous photographer in 1970s and
80s but I don't think his photos are worth something. Is the American
art scene all right ? (?_?)"

I also believe these photos are faked, i mean, this part of a grand Japanese tradition called YARASE, it means a staged photo or event, and Kohei was notorious in the 70s for doing this. I believe the Times critic got taken in by the hype and the press release, as maybe you did too. These are not real documentary photos, Kohei and his pals staged this. Ask any Japanese who lives in Tokyo and they will tell you.

A good friend of mine, Hidetoshi, who lives in Tokyo, told me today:

''those are yarase photos, nobody in Japan would take that artist seriously. What's wrong with the USA art world, are they so gullible?''