![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukermc28I had a little run of "brief meetings with old hockey friends" in the last two weekends. A few words, a hug, sometimes just a wave in passing while we both briefly occupied the same ice rink. All of them put a smile on my face.
Saturday before last was the Varsity matchup between Oxford Vikings A and Cambridge Narwhals at Cambridge rink, before my Kodiaks 2 team played visiting team Invicta Dynamics. Three of my tournament buddies from Biarritz were on the Vikings team. The next day Kodiaks were away at Bristol. I had an expected brief chat with my friend C from Hull camp but also complete surprise appearances from M who coaches Hull camp and goalie J, both of whom are tournament buddies. M was there with the away team for the previous game, J now lives in Bristol, which I theoretically knew but had forgotten.
Saturday just gone I had an evening game in Peterborough with Warbirds. I arrived a bit early and saw the previous game in progress: Phantoms Dev women were playing Streatham Storm Dev (my first ever hockey team). I recognised the jerseys first, and then a bunch of the faces. I dumped my kit in the changing room and went to lurk next to their bench and cheer them on for their last ten minutes. The timing worked out for me to see the end of their game (they won!) and walk with them back to their changing room before I needed to join Warbirds in ours.
majuduckprintspress![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
soranews24_feed
The one time you won’t get in trouble for playing on the stairs.
Four decades ago, Alexey Pajitnov created one of the most groundbreaking and universally beloved video games of all time in Tetris. It has appeared on countless gaming platforms over the years, and now it’s coming to a literal platform outside of Kyoto Station.
Those who visit Kyoto and pass through its main station can’t help but be impressed by its huge, sprawling architecture, including its Grand Staircase (Daikaidan). This set of 171 steps spans 70 meters (230 feet) lengthwise and climbs 35 meters (115 feet) vertically, running from the fourth to 15th floor of the station complex.
▼ A view from the top of the Grand Staircase
In addition to being really big, many of the steps along this staircase are also lined with lights, allowing it to become a giant display. Various seasonal illuminations can often be seen there, as well as the occasional promotional display for events or companies.
▼ They even have a livestream of the stairs so you can keep up with what’s showing there.
And from 19 to 25 March, these stairs will become a massive video game cabinet where anyone with 500 yen (cashless only) can play a round of Tetris. Each light on the steps will become a pixel and form the screen to play on. Players will be given a game pad for the standard Tetris controls, as well as a tablet that gives additional information like upcoming blocks and scores.
Both single-player and competitive two-player modes are available, and difficulties of Easy, Normal, and Hard can also be chosen. Also, in true arcade fashion, you can input your name to be displayed with your score for a commemorative photo, and be added to the leaderboard if it’s good enough, which means it might be time for me to dust off “GNFNR.”
Low-light conditions are required for best results on the stair screen, so the game opens from dusk at 6 p.m. each day and ends at 10 p.m., with 9 p.m. being the last chance to put your quarter up and get in line.
The chance to play Tetris on a staircase doesn’t come around often, so this will be sure to bring out some of the best players in the area. If you want to see how you stack up at stacking, head on down while it’s happening.
Event information
Kyoto Grand Staircase Tetris / KYOTO DAIKAIDAN TETRIS
Venue: Kyoto Station Grand Staircase
京都駅ビルの大階段
Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Shimogyo-ku, Karasumi-dori Shiokoji-sagaru, Higashishiokoji-cho 901
京都府京都市下京区烏丸通塩小路下る東塩小路町901
Runs 19 March-25 March, 2026
6 p.m.-10 p.m. (last entry at 9 p.m.)
500 yen per play
Source, images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
jazzyjj posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
awesomeerslarryhammerfull_metal_ox posting in common_naturegwydionandrewduckervamp_ress posting in booknookephemeral_nyc_feedWhen you think of a textile mill, 19th century Upper Manhattan probably doesn’t come to mind. But in 1886, a silk ribbon maker named Joseph Loth built a mill on Amsterdam Avenue between 150th and 151st Streets.
It was an unusual location, especially when “the neighborhood was characterized by small farms and wood-frame houses,” states the Historic Districts Council, and garment manufacturing was typically centered on the Lower East Side before moving to Midtown in the 20th century.
Loth’s company vacated the space 16 years later in 1902. The mill has since been stripped of the Loth name, but a remnant of the mill remains in the form of a three-story faded ad on the 150th Street side of the building.
“Fair and Square,” the painted ad reads. “This label is on the best ribbon made.”
Fair and square? This circular trademark was taken on by Loth as a tagline that reinforced the superior quality of his product in the face of cutthroat competition.
“As American silk ribbons came to be recognized as being of equal quality to those previously imported from Europe, many firms began to use distinctive trademarks or brand names to assist with product recognition, and the Loth company had adopted the ‘Fair & Square’ trademark not long after it began to produce ribbon,” states the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) report on Loth’s factory.
After 1902, Loth’s son chopped up the mill into commercial spaces, and over the decades it’s served as a movie theater, storage space, a recording studio, and a bowling alley.
Since 2006, New Heights Academy Charter School has occupied the former factory. But thanks to an ad that’s somehow still readable after more than 120 years, the ghost of its silk ribbon mill past remains.
brandyn
ephemeral_nyc_feedGilded Age New York City was a frenetic place, especially when it came to the speculative real estate market. Competition among developers to offload already-built houses was stiff, so every new residence had to boast a standout selling point.
The 10 row houses completed in 1895 on St. Nicholas Avenue between 148th and 149th Streets counted several unique amenities.
First was location. The graceful houses stood on the west side of this broad former country lane in newly urbanized Harlem—where elevated trains could take people to jobs and shopping downtown in under an hour and then whisk them back to this still-spacious part of the city.
The bow fronts on the inner eight houses were also distinctive. These four-story projections offered more light and space than a typical rectangular brownstone. Plus, the curve of each bow and adjoining cornice created a pleasing sense of motion and harmony.
But these row houses had one especially unusual feature. Each included a boudoir—in this case an octagonal dressing room with floor-to-ceiling plate glass mirrors.
These boudoirs were attached to the primary bedroom and adjoining bathroom. They were meant to be sanctuary spaces where a woman could change outfits, style her hair, or simply savor her privacy.
In an article about the construction of the “boudoir houses” (as builder William Broadbelt called them), an 1894 edition of the Real Estate Record & Builders Guide explained that the homes “are to contain several novel features, and will be built on what is known as the boudoir plan.”
After the boudoir houses were built, the Record and Guide wrote an approving story, calling out the “‘crystal chamber,’ by which ‘the charms of the occupants will be many times repeated,’” according to Christopher Gray in a 2012 New York Times Streetscapes column.
A luxurious boudoir may not have been a typical feature in most homes. But it would have been obligatory in a Gilded Age mansion or posh brownstone. This feminine sanctuary could include her bed, a fireplace, sofas for socializing with friends, and a desk for writing letters.
A section of the room would contain a space where a woman could attend to her toilette or change out of her constricting corset and undergarments (like the woman in the photo above) and into something more cozy, like a tea gown—a shapeless loungewear garment worn only at home.
The boudoir houses sported other features. “The ground floor on each of the end houses had a billiard room and a footman’s station; the entertaining rooms were on the floor above,” wrote Gray.
“The houses were finished in ash, quartered oak, hazel, mahogany, and cherry. Buyers were provided with two furnaces and even gas logs, for use ‘in emergencies when quick heating is required,’” continued Gray, quoting the Record and Guide. (Below photo, the houses in 1895)
“In the rear the developer replaced the usual board fences with wrought iron to carry climbing plants. Narrow slats ensured that there were ‘no places for the feline disturbers of the night.’”
It’s no surprise that Broadbelt was able to sell these boudoir beauties. But demographic shifts were coming to Harlem in the early 20th century, and the houses soon changed hands.
“The population changed in the 1920s, as African-Americans and other blacks moved to Harlem and Hamilton Heights,” wrote Gray. “The 1930 census shows the row approximately one-third black, including Charles N. Ford, a dentist from Trinidad who arrived in 1919, and had a laundress and a chauffeur living in. The census valued his house as $45,000.”
Ground floor parlors were converted to stores in the 1940s, including a famous beauty parlor and an iconic chicken restaurant frequented by a young Malcolm X, who reportedly lived in the building, Number 763, according to Harlem Bespoke.
The row houses were altered over the decades as row houses typically are, with stoops removed and facades painted in various colors. In 2018, a fire tore through Number 773, during which firefighter Michael R. Davidson lost his life. A solemn plaque, flag, and cross on the site mark his heroism.
Today the row, with one house missing, stands amid a stretch of Harlem packed with lovely prewar row houses of all different styles. Do the boudoirs still exist, or have they been converted into closets or home offices?
I’d say it’s not likely. As our life needs change, the rooms in our houses change as well.
[Fourth image: Shutterstock; fifth image: Office for Metropolitan History via New York Times]
unicornduke - craftiesmuccamukk - Music Mondayrmc28 - Fleeting reunionslassarina - and then it all exploded AGAINmaju - (no subject)naniwagiftexchange in fandomcalendar - Naniwa Danshi: Naniwa Danshi Gift Exchange 2026 - Signups Openduckprintspress - Indie Press Month with Duck Prints Press: AMA!autobotscoutriella in purimgifts - Day 1 works are now LIVE!soranews24_feed - Chance to play Tetris on a massive staircase in Kyoto Station coming in Marchjazzyjj in awesomeers - Just one thing: 2 March 2026themanemod in the_mane_event - Sign-Ups Extendedlarryhammer - “your loneliness / like a heartbeat drives you crazy / in the stillness of remembering”brithistorian - Books read, March 2025full_metal_ox in common_nature - The Utrecht Fish Doorbell is back up for the season!gwydion - 2/23/26 - 3/2/26 Action Items and Warandrewducker - Interesting Links for 02-03-2026vamp_ress in booknook - Reading Wrap-up 2/26ephemeral_nyc_feed - The silk ribbon mill is long gone, but the company’s 120-year-old faded ad remains on the buildingbrandyn - Kill The Witch: First Impressionsephemeral_nyc_feed - A row of harmonious uptown houses built for the needs of Gilded Age womenbranchandroot
