A Christmas Hellelujah

Everyone has heard a version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at some point in time. Thanks to Shrek, even my daughters have heard it. And from what I’ve read, Mr. Cohen wrote approximately 80 verses over the course of a day. I can only imagine what some of them may have said. What we do know is the popular version goes like this:

I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, HallelujahYour faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light in every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

But did you know of all the cover versions out there, there is a recent cover that re-wrote all of the verses?

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GIS Data with Google Maps or Infrastructure Map Server

Good morning.  This is just a quick note for those government agencies that publish GIS data. I just discovered that Google has a Public Data program to make the information available to a wider audience. Organizations simply need to fill out a form to apply to the program.

I also found out that individuals can create their own maps using the Google Maps Engine Lite.  For me, this will provide a great venue to present my project history. You may have similar needs as an individual. But if you want to create online maps for your business, they also have something called Google Maps for Business. It appears that this service will only let ESRI users connect directly…

If you don’t want to pay a subscription, you could setup your own web mapping service with Infrastructure Map Server. With this application, you can publish and share GIS data as well as CAD data with a web-based or mobile browser interface! And Map 3D /  Civil 3D will natively work with this option!

Memorial Day 2012

Today is Memorial Day. For me, it is a subtle reminder of the sacrifice of those made during the many wars, to which, our country was involved.

About 15 years ago, the firm I worked with at that time, had an opportunity to do work for the Philadelphia Korean War Memorial to create a memorial site near Penn’s Landing. My duties were insignificant, ensuring proper drainage, landscaping, etc. compared to the task of creating the memorial itself. I can tell you that this had a double meaning for me….

This past Friday, I received an email from my new boss detailing a few things I didn’t know about the Holiday. Portions of that email are listed below.

Did you know….

Twitter profile picture

Now, this is just completely random.  While browsing my twitter feed the other day, I realized most people might not know what my profile picture represents.

At that resolution, it kind of looks like a poorly drawn happy face. I can tell you that it is not a happy face on purpose.

NIMBY = Public Eminent Domain?

Soooo, here’s the story about my little old township. Over the past decade, many things have changed; population growth, infrastructure, residential developments, everything relating to a booming area. With this growth, the Township administration appears to have been a bit overwhelmed in this period. Bygones…

Picture of land under scrutiny. What’s missing is all the development happening outside the frame of the picture.

The problem now is that people are angry that a landowner/developer has decided to “destroy” this western edge of the valley. And it seems that they won’t be happy until said owner abandons all hope of building anything on his own property.  So these NIMBY folks seem to be employing a form of Neighbor Eminent Domain.  Is this any more appropriate than local governments using said instrument to “improve” certain districts?

Year End 2011 News

 

So this isn’t brand new news. My company, KlingStubbins has been acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group (as of November 1, 2011) and will be aligned with their Global Buildings North America division.  I’m not sure what impact the merger will have on my content, but I will continue to write as much as I can.  It’s been tough to get anything posted. So I’m simply jotting this down while I can.

Here’s the press release
You can call us “KlingStubbins Inc. a Jacobs Company”

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2012.

Kevin

Local Township found liable

[Edit 10-3-2011: The judge’s opinion rulings have been downloaded and linked to this page for reference. See below the break]

 

Actually, the case began back to the spring of 2006. A local farmer in my town, William Deibert, sued Lower Macungie Township because of water runoff from two new adjacent housing developments. The only reason he noticed was the damage that was being caused by the additional water draining across his farm fields.

Clearly, this is an exaggeration, I think

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  This just adds fuel to the fire that subdivisions are evil. Turns out the developers followed the directions they were given. What?