Shared posts
28 Oct 21:15
Just Toss Them
by noreply@blogger.com (Atrios)
Nicholas.a.burgessMe too!
Even though we pay attention to assholes all day, I'm still surprised at just how horrible people are.
22 Sep 17:36
Quote of the Day?
by Josh Marshall
Nicholas.a.burgessMostly sharing this for "welcomes gay"
"I have a PhD in Islamic studies from Oxford University, unlike my opponents who went to some donkey college in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia."
Taj Hargey, founder on Capetown's "Open Mosque", which welcomes gay and embraces women's equality, on his qualifications as a religious leader.
05 Aug 02:31
Fifty years of the MBTA: where is the vision?
by Matthew
Nicholas.a.burgessI'm sharing this.
Yesterday, I was riding the T towards home with a friend who lives nearby me, and I mentioned that I had canceled my monthly pass for the remainder of the summer. The value proposition just isn't there for me anymore. At least, so long as the weather remains decent, I'm not sure I will be able to use up $75 in stored value. He said that he was mulling the same issue, because at $75, it was more of a struggle for him to afford. But then he surprised me: "the fares go up regularly now, but the MBTA has no vision, no plan for improvement, no sense that things are going to get better in the future." This is coming from a person who is just a regular user of the system, not someone who probably spends too much time thinking about urban transportation issues. And, I have to admit that I am forced to agree with him.
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority from the ashes of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, on August 3rd, 1964. The new authority was intended to unify mass transportation operations in the greater Boston area under one umbrella, a much larger scope than the old MTA. And in some aspects, it has been successful, or at least, impactful. The iconic Ⓣ logo, the famous color-coding of rapid transit lines, the death and rebirth of commuter rail, the consolidation of management, the expansion of the Red Line, the controversial Orange Line relocation, and many other things.
The long term vision for the MBTA is called the Program for Mass Transportation (and yes, there is a broken link on their website, and this is where it's supposed to go). If you look through the Progress document, you'll see that most of the accomplishments are things like replacing vehicles, doing maintenance on right-of-way, improving accessibility, etc. I do not want to disparage any of those activities: they are very important for the proper functioning of the system. But they are not the kind of accomplishments that are going to constitute a "visionary step forward" for transportation in the Boston region, as seen by ordinary users. Actually, most of what's listed under progress are fixes that should be taken as a matter-of-course: yes, stations should be accessible, vehicles should be in working order, and tracks in good repair. That goes without saying, really.
But what has actually been accomplished in terms of expanding the "good transit" system in the past fifty years? Much of what was done was proposed, in at least a similar form, on this 1945 map from the old Boston Elevated Railway:
There are some things on this map that are dead letters: such as the configuration of the Red Line past Harvard, which was later designed to curve north towards Davis and Alewife instead of through Watertown. But much of what was accomplished is represented here, in a plan from 1945. Several extensions were built prior to the formation of the MBTA: what we now know as the "D" branch of the Green Line, and what we now know as the Wonderland extension of the Blue Line. After 1964, the MBTA built: the Braintree branch of the Red Line, and the extension of the Orange Line through Malden. They also attempted to build the Red Line to Arlington via a different route than shown, but were blocked by NIMBYs and cut short to Alewife. Since then, most expansion ideas have focused on what's shown above:
The difference is simple: the MBTA primarily sees itself as a means for getting 9-to-5 commuters from parking lot to downtown office building. Their decisions make a lot more sense when viewed in that light. Of course, not everyone thinks like that, and there are good folks there trying really hard to make things better. But institutionally, the agency was born in 1964 and still thinks like it is 1964.
Going back to the big-ticket items listed in the PMT:
So that's where we stand with the MBTA's vision. Parking garages, dinky diesel powered traincars, insanely expensive commuter rail expansions, and a lot of pie-in-the-sky proposals. Mostly a collection of pet ideas and political footballs, really.
I think part of the problem is that the MBTA only sees itself as a transportation agency. It's a part of MassDOT now, which makes it part of a larger transportation agency. The same problems occur at the higher level too; we have seen, as MassDOT works on redesigning the Mass Pike through Allston, they insist on compartmentalizing themselves with the "we only build roads" attitude.
The transportation-only focus is broken: transportation and land use go together and must be considered together when making plans or changes. If I were to give a set of principles for the MBTA (and MassDOT) to use when considering their vision over the next fifty years, it might look something like this:
But the idea was to create a vision of where the MBTA and the city could work together in creating strong urban corridors, mostly based on existing bus routes. If the MBTA published a vision in this mold and said that "by 2024, here's where we want you to be able to catch a bus or a train within 10 minutes of showing up," that would be exciting. And if the city came along with a similar plan that said, "here's where we're going to focus on bringing economic development, on increasing housing supply, on fostering diversity, on walking, biking and safer streets," and that plan largely concurred with the MBTA's plan, then that would be exciting. And perhaps, it would represent a realistic vision that regular residents and riders could appreciate.
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority from the ashes of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, on August 3rd, 1964. The new authority was intended to unify mass transportation operations in the greater Boston area under one umbrella, a much larger scope than the old MTA. And in some aspects, it has been successful, or at least, impactful. The iconic Ⓣ logo, the famous color-coding of rapid transit lines, the death and rebirth of commuter rail, the consolidation of management, the expansion of the Red Line, the controversial Orange Line relocation, and many other things.
The long term vision for the MBTA is called the Program for Mass Transportation (and yes, there is a broken link on their website, and this is where it's supposed to go). If you look through the Progress document, you'll see that most of the accomplishments are things like replacing vehicles, doing maintenance on right-of-way, improving accessibility, etc. I do not want to disparage any of those activities: they are very important for the proper functioning of the system. But they are not the kind of accomplishments that are going to constitute a "visionary step forward" for transportation in the Boston region, as seen by ordinary users. Actually, most of what's listed under progress are fixes that should be taken as a matter-of-course: yes, stations should be accessible, vehicles should be in working order, and tracks in good repair. That goes without saying, really.
But what has actually been accomplished in terms of expanding the "good transit" system in the past fifty years? Much of what was done was proposed, in at least a similar form, on this 1945 map from the old Boston Elevated Railway:
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| West is up. Also see: Larger version. |
- The MBTA has been dragged, kicking and screaming, to build the Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, and it seems to be finally happening, 70 years after it is proposed on the above map. One difference: a second branch will be included, to Union Square.
- The Orange Line was relocated, by the MBTA, to the Southwest corridor as part of the highway moratorium deal. I can hardly blame the Boston Elevated Railway company for not foreseeing the destruction of all elevated railways within Boston. But they did plan for a West Roxbury extension of the Orange Line, which the MBTA abandoned when blocked by NIMBYs, and is now sorely needed.
- The shown Reading extension of the Orange Line was planned and abandoned by the MBTA, leaving a vestige third track alongside portions of the Haymarket-North route.
- The Blue Line extension to Lynn, abandoned by the MTA in the 1950s due to lack of money, but not forgotten.
- A rapid transit expansion along the Framingham commuter rail tracks/I-90 right-of-way that passes through Brighton. A small portion of this is covered by the Orange Line today.
Actually, the last proposal is somewhat similar to something that showed up earlier this year:
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| DMU proposal, MBTA 2024 (source) |
Although this looks something like a "visionary plan" (hey, it says "Vision"), it's actually rather disappointing, despite the busyness of the map. In 1945, the transit commission envisioned vast sweeping expansion projects that would unite the region. In 2014, MassDOT envisions dinky diesel powered traincars that, at best, come every 15-20 minutes and only cover a small amount of territory. Also, several of the proposals are dead on arrival. Cambridge won't tolerate frequent closings of crossing gates on the Grand Junction, they even rejected infrequent commuter rail. The Track 61 connection between Back Bay and the Seaport is completely absurd, as it crosses just about every south-side railroad line at-grade. West Station is still hot air, despite recent commitments to plan it as part of the Allston I-90 Interchange Improvement Project.
The Program for Mass Transportation from 2010 lists several projects that are opportunities for system expansion and enhancement:
- Implementing energy efficiency policies: yay, but again, not visionary.
- Continuing to fix accessibility problems: necessary, and should go without saying.
- Bus Rapid Transit-like service on key bus routes: interesting, but they sink themselves by saying things like this, "a careful study of roadway geometry and traffic congestion is needed...," which makes it clear what the priorities are. Hint: cars are still considered more important than buses, in the eyes of the transit agency.
- Access to stations, which according to the MBTA, boils down to building more and more parking spaces. Sigh. That's how you end up with crazy stuff like this:
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| In Beverly, a brand new $34 million palace for 500 cars: $68,000 per parking space. And the MBTA claims that they have no money. (pic source) |
While, in the meantime, people who walk to stations are treated to this:
The difference is simple: the MBTA primarily sees itself as a means for getting 9-to-5 commuters from parking lot to downtown office building. Their decisions make a lot more sense when viewed in that light. Of course, not everyone thinks like that, and there are good folks there trying really hard to make things better. But institutionally, the agency was born in 1964 and still thinks like it is 1964.
Going back to the big-ticket items listed in the PMT:
- The Red-Blue connection at Charles/MGH. An essential item if looming passenger capacity problems at Park Street are to be tackled. The Big Dig mitigation agreement required merely the design of the Red-Blue connection. Yet, the MBTA has now successfully dumped it. Even though doing the design would be cheaper than building the parking palaces on the North Shore.
- The Silver Line Phase III, which would unite the two halves of the Silver Line with a superstation underneath Boylston Station. SL-Waterfront is currently only connected to the Red Line at South Station. That was not intended to be the final state, and the line struggles as a result. Yet, Phase III was completely insane, and would have cost many billions of dollars to build, while digging up and throwing into disarray some of the most sensitive parts of historic Boston. As a result, it will never happen, and the Silver Line continues to look like one of the worst ideas in MBTA history (although it is an example of a non-BERy-planned expansion).
- The North/South Rail Link between North and South Stations. This was supposed to be part of the Big Dig and was deferred due to the collapse of that project's budget. If done correctly, the North/South Rail Link can be combined with a radical transformation of the commuter rail system to produce express rapid transit similar to the RER. That would be visionary and transformational to the region. Naturally, the MBTA has no interest in that, and may have actively sandbagged the proposal.
- Things like South Coast Rail, now costing $2.3 billion, to serve 4,500 people. You know how I feel about this one.
So that's where we stand with the MBTA's vision. Parking garages, dinky diesel powered traincars, insanely expensive commuter rail expansions, and a lot of pie-in-the-sky proposals. Mostly a collection of pet ideas and political footballs, really.
I think part of the problem is that the MBTA only sees itself as a transportation agency. It's a part of MassDOT now, which makes it part of a larger transportation agency. The same problems occur at the higher level too; we have seen, as MassDOT works on redesigning the Mass Pike through Allston, they insist on compartmentalizing themselves with the "we only build roads" attitude.
The transportation-only focus is broken: transportation and land use go together and must be considered together when making plans or changes. If I were to give a set of principles for the MBTA (and MassDOT) to use when considering their vision over the next fifty years, it might look something like this:
- What you build is what you get: “If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.” -- Fred Kent
- Models are almost entirely useless, because the interaction between human beings and their built environment is too complex for us to reliably predict most things, especially decades in the future.
- Instead of trying to predict the future, focus on providing strong urban corridors that can adapt to any conditions. For the transportation side, that means safe, walkable, bikable streets with frequent, reliable, convenient and accessible transit service (of any mode). For the land use side, that means mixed, intense, diverse use that keeps the human scale in mind.
- To MassDOT: uphold the GreenDOT principles, the Mode Shift Goal, and the Healthy Transportation Compact.
- To MBTA: strengthen your frequent bus network through expansion and upgrades. Use "BRT" features on every bus route: off-board payment, all-door boarding, level-boarding, signal priority, bus lanes, etc. Stand up for your customers: don't be afraid to confront the automobile lobby when it's stealing resources away from bus riders. When designing and rebuilding suburban rapid transit and commuter rail stations, they should, as much as possible, be the core of a walkable town center -- not a parking lot desert.
- To MBTA commuter rail: it's time to stop operating like it's the 19th century. Start moving towards reliable frequency, all-day, supporting two-way travel wherever possible. Don't be just a parking lot shuttle, be a connection from the small, walkable town center to the larger region's opportunities.
- To urban/land use planners in the region: don't zone yourselves out. There's huge demand for nice places to live where it's not only safe to walk and bike, but also convenient and enjoyable. We used to build such places, until mid-century zoning made it illegal to do so, instead choosing to chase the impossible dream of automobile travel everywhere, all-the-time. Help build strong urban corridors through walkable neighbohoods, corridors that can be effectively served by transit, and work together with the MBTA to make it a reality.
At the beginning of this year I started to outline what a set of key urban corridors might look like for Boston. It's a rough draft and limited:
But the idea was to create a vision of where the MBTA and the city could work together in creating strong urban corridors, mostly based on existing bus routes. If the MBTA published a vision in this mold and said that "by 2024, here's where we want you to be able to catch a bus or a train within 10 minutes of showing up," that would be exciting. And if the city came along with a similar plan that said, "here's where we're going to focus on bringing economic development, on increasing housing supply, on fostering diversity, on walking, biking and safer streets," and that plan largely concurred with the MBTA's plan, then that would be exciting. And perhaps, it would represent a realistic vision that regular residents and riders could appreciate.
24 Apr 16:22
Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck
by admin
Nicholas.a.burgessThere is a ton of footage of them recording "Rubberneck" in this video.
Director, Clark Vogeler’s Commentary:
In the discussions leading up to the 20th anniversary of my band’s first album, Rubberneck — an album that was recorded and released before I joined the band — it came to light that there existed eight hours of footage that our former bassist Lisa Umbarger had filmed while recording the album in 1993. I wanted to contribute something to the reissue and figured I could cut a five-minute video from the old tapes.
When I looked at them, I found that some great performances were captured and decided to do some interviews with the two remaining band members from that time and try to answer some of the questions that fans always seem to have about the songs from that album, such as: “What does this song mean? Is it about murder, rape, etc.?”
Previously, the band has maintained an ambiguous front regarding the meanings/inspirations of these songs. To paraphrase Vaden Todd Lewis, songwriter for the band: What people infer from these songs is often more interesting than what they actually mean, so let them think what they want. Hell, I didn’t even know what some of the songs were about, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to investigate what was going on in Vaden’s mind when he wrote them.
When I interviewed him for the documentary, he was incredibly forthcoming, and what I found surprised me. Of course there is religion, but there are also metaphysical themes, characters that carry through multiple songs, and I actually found out what “Possum Kingdom” is about — 16 years after I joined the band!
I think it’s fair to say that Rubberneck changed my life — not so much as a listener, though me and my bandmates in Funland at the time were briefly depressed when we heard how good the album was, but years later, when I was asked to join the band as guitar player. I had given up playing music when they brought me in, and due largely to the popularity of this album; I am still playing music with the band and have been able to perform in front of amazing rowdy crowds all over the country. Rubberneck and its success has afforded me countless great experiences in my, and I feel fortunate to give something back.
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31 Jan 16:33
Go, Look: More Wash-Technique Covers From DC Comics
by Tom Spurgeon
Nicholas.a.burgessThese are cool looking
29 Jan 20:43
Tales of Phantasia has been reinvented on iOS, and the big change is it tries to rob you.
Tales of Phantasia for iOS Takes a Crap on Your Childhood Memories
by Ryan Rigney
    
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14 Nov 14:32
Rob Ford Exceeding Personal Best?
by Josh Marshall
When you're the Mayor of the biggest city in Canada and you admit you smoked crack - or you think you smoked crack but you can't exactly remember since you were so hammered when you smoked it - it's really hard to top yourself. But Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto just keeps bringing it. New police reports of a St. Patrick's Day bash in 2012 includes hookers, vodka, oxy, cocaine and well ... just join me after the jump for more ...
Read More →
23 Oct 15:28
John Brown
by Bill Harris
Nicholas.a.burgessSharing for the Graham wikipedia link
I picked up this book last week: Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War.
I enjoying reading 19th century history because the world was just so damned bizarre. And it wasn't that long ago--I think my great grandmother would have been alive in 1850, and that's not many generations removed from me.
I'm barely a third of the way through the book, but I've already run across two incredibly strange bits of history. The first:
In the early 1800s, roughly a third of Americans died before reaching adulthood. Early death was so common that parents recycled their children's names; the Browns, having lost a Sarah, Frederick, and Ellen, named three newborns Sarah, Frederick, and Ellen.
Think that's strange? Try this passage:
Smith profitably managed his family's estates while cycling through the many reform movements of the early 1800s, including temperance, women's rights, vegetarianism, and sexual "purity" (a creed advocated by Sylvester Graham, who claimed his coarse-grained crackers curbed lust and masturbation).
Wait--a guy named Graham, who had crackers?
So I looked up Sylvester Graham, and here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:
Grahamites, as Graham's followers were called, accepted the teaching of their mentor with regard to all aspects of lifestyle. As such, they practiced abstinence from alcohol, frequent bathing, daily brushing of teeth, vegetarianism, and a generally sparse lifestyle. Graham also was an advocate of sexual abstinence, especially from masturbation, which he regarded as an evil that inevitably led to insanity. He felt that all excitement was unhealthful, and spices were among the prohibited ingredients in his diet. As a result his dietary recommendations were inevitably bland, which led to the Grahamites consuming large quantities of graham crackers, Graham's own invention.
If you're wondering, the original Graham crackers were apparently incredibly bland and nothing like the tasty bit of delicious we have today (the cinnamon version, in particular).
Here's two more strange and amusing excerpts.
First, this is an actual medical diagnose from 1860: "A scrofulous humour seated in her glands." I've never heard of the word "scrofulous" (a disease with glandular swellings) before, so I'm glad that's been remedied.
Next, a complaint (a very long story, but it involves a very obese person who was unproductive in their salesmanship task): "I spent so much money in transporting so much inert adipose matter."
I enjoying reading 19th century history because the world was just so damned bizarre. And it wasn't that long ago--I think my great grandmother would have been alive in 1850, and that's not many generations removed from me.
I'm barely a third of the way through the book, but I've already run across two incredibly strange bits of history. The first:
In the early 1800s, roughly a third of Americans died before reaching adulthood. Early death was so common that parents recycled their children's names; the Browns, having lost a Sarah, Frederick, and Ellen, named three newborns Sarah, Frederick, and Ellen.
Think that's strange? Try this passage:
Smith profitably managed his family's estates while cycling through the many reform movements of the early 1800s, including temperance, women's rights, vegetarianism, and sexual "purity" (a creed advocated by Sylvester Graham, who claimed his coarse-grained crackers curbed lust and masturbation).
Wait--a guy named Graham, who had crackers?
So I looked up Sylvester Graham, and here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:
Grahamites, as Graham's followers were called, accepted the teaching of their mentor with regard to all aspects of lifestyle. As such, they practiced abstinence from alcohol, frequent bathing, daily brushing of teeth, vegetarianism, and a generally sparse lifestyle. Graham also was an advocate of sexual abstinence, especially from masturbation, which he regarded as an evil that inevitably led to insanity. He felt that all excitement was unhealthful, and spices were among the prohibited ingredients in his diet. As a result his dietary recommendations were inevitably bland, which led to the Grahamites consuming large quantities of graham crackers, Graham's own invention.
If you're wondering, the original Graham crackers were apparently incredibly bland and nothing like the tasty bit of delicious we have today (the cinnamon version, in particular).
Here's two more strange and amusing excerpts.
First, this is an actual medical diagnose from 1860: "A scrofulous humour seated in her glands." I've never heard of the word "scrofulous" (a disease with glandular swellings) before, so I'm glad that's been remedied.
Next, a complaint (a very long story, but it involves a very obese person who was unproductive in their salesmanship task): "I spent so much money in transporting so much inert adipose matter."
18 Oct 14:58
Cosmo Wright is the world's fastest player of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. He understands the inner workings of Nintendo's HD remake of Wind Waker better than anyone, including its makers.
For the World’s Fastest Gamers, Failure Is Just One Bad Jump Away
by Ryan Rigney
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George.herz likes this
02 Oct 15:35
I wish I could have seen him one more time. He was my mentor, although I knew I would never be like him.
Remembering My Friend, Hiroshi Yamauchi
by Henk Rogers
Nicholas.a.burgessNice stories
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10 Sep 17:34
Help me publish an Open Letter in the WSJ calling out the most influential people in the world for their lack of #climate action. Check out this link to see our video, read the letter, and contribute to the campaign. Please like this photo to help get the
by nobody@flickr.com (enderisnotmyrealname)
Nicholas.a.burgessDoes anyone follow me who doesn't also follow Mike? I doubt it!
enderisnotmyrealname posted a photo:
17 Aug 16:44
The last time Robert Smith & Trent Reznor were together in New Orleans (Swing Tour show 1996, with Trent, Marilyn Manson, and Clint Mansell in attendance), well, things got a bit odd. The story from Alternative Press:
"Every city in America has at least one Gothic club. In New Orleans, it's the Blue Crystal. When a band like the Cure is in town, the Blue Crystal throws a party after the show. The club called Reznor, the closest thing they have to a local dignitary, to invite him to the Cure after-show party. Further conversation revealed that the only way the Cure would show is if Reznor is there, too. You can't hear it anywhere in Nine Inch Nails, but Reznor is a Cure fan from way back. He considers the Cure's The Head On The Door" one of the best records ever." His favorite description of himself: "Robert Smith with a head cold."
"I end up going to the club, and surprisingly, everyone from the Cure is there. And the bartender calls me over and says, 'Robert really wants to talk to you.'" Reznor smiles, makes a face that says: You mean I have to meet one of my teen idols in a goth club in Louisiana? Now? In front of all these people?
"It ends up," Reznor says, "me and him, hugging on the dance floor. He's like, 'I love you, dude,' and I'm like, 'I love you too, man.'" The Cure fans formed a loose circle around the pair while New Order's "Blue Monday" pumped out of the speakers. "It was the greatest scene," Reznor says.
"We were both fairly incoherent," he feels compelled to add."
So what will happen this time? Will the bromance continue? Do we even have a goth club now? I would have no idea. No, this time, since it will still be Halloween (sort of), Trent should take Robert to The House of Shock or The Mortuary. :)
When Robert met Trent in NOLA
by Craig
Nicholas.a.burgess"It ends up," Reznor says, "me and him, hugging on the dance floor. He's like, 'I love you, dude,' and I'm like, 'I love you too, man.'"
"Every city in America has at least one Gothic club. In New Orleans, it's the Blue Crystal. When a band like the Cure is in town, the Blue Crystal throws a party after the show. The club called Reznor, the closest thing they have to a local dignitary, to invite him to the Cure after-show party. Further conversation revealed that the only way the Cure would show is if Reznor is there, too. You can't hear it anywhere in Nine Inch Nails, but Reznor is a Cure fan from way back. He considers the Cure's The Head On The Door" one of the best records ever." His favorite description of himself: "Robert Smith with a head cold."
"I end up going to the club, and surprisingly, everyone from the Cure is there. And the bartender calls me over and says, 'Robert really wants to talk to you.'" Reznor smiles, makes a face that says: You mean I have to meet one of my teen idols in a goth club in Louisiana? Now? In front of all these people?
"It ends up," Reznor says, "me and him, hugging on the dance floor. He's like, 'I love you, dude,' and I'm like, 'I love you too, man.'" The Cure fans formed a loose circle around the pair while New Order's "Blue Monday" pumped out of the speakers. "It was the greatest scene," Reznor says.
"We were both fairly incoherent," he feels compelled to add."
So what will happen this time? Will the bromance continue? Do we even have a goth club now? I would have no idea. No, this time, since it will still be Halloween (sort of), Trent should take Robert to The House of Shock or The Mortuary. :)
26 Jul 18:36
Scientists have delved deeper into the mystery of dying bees, and discovered that the cause of the problem is more pervasive than thought.
Scientists discover another cause of bee deaths, and it's really bad news
by Jaymi Heimbuch
Scientists have delved deeper into the mystery of dying bees, and discovered that the cause of the problem is more pervasive than thought.
20 Jun 21:54
Truly Incredible
by Josh Marshall
Nicholas.a.burgessMike, I think you will enjoy these.
These are some of the most incredible pictures I've seen in some time. The New York City transit department is building an entirely new subway system on the east side of Manhattan. These are pictures of the tunnels and caverns they're currently building right into the bedrock. Again, not terribly surprising. I know they don't build these things in the top soil. But when you actually see them they look more like the lunar excavations from 2001. Just give these a look. They're amazing.
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03 Jun 18:31
Stroll Around the Grounds Until You Feel at Home, Part One
by HBG2
Nicholas.a.burgessI always like this guy's obsessive posts about the Haunted Mansion.
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I've got about eight separate and yet loosely-related mini-topics that I'm going to present in a couple of posts. I suppose they're analogous to Disney "package" films, more like, say, The Three Caballeros than Pinocchio. The collections are not random: all of these topics have to do with things seen in the front yard of the Disneyland Mansion. Today there are three mini-posts, and the common theme among them is color.
Oooooooo Color -r-r-r-r
The Imagineers who built Disneyland came out of the animation studios, and that means they were sensitive colorists, among other things. People who admire the end product have noted again and again how subtle and suitable is the use of color throughout the park. It's all quite deliberate and meticulously maintained (for the most part). (Hit that button again, would you? Thanks.) The last time I was at Disneyland I noticed for the first time that the stone "blocks" of Sleeping Beauty castle come in six different colors. When you look at older photos, you find that they've been multicolored like that for a long time, maybe from the beginning. Some of the variations are so subtle that it's hard to pick up on them with the camera. Why so many? especially since some are so similar? Because it looks right. (Hit it one more time? Thanks, you're awesome.)
What Hench does not mention is that a radically different color scheme for the Mansion exterior was being contemplated practically from the moment it was first built. You never hear about it, and were it not for the fact that a mysterious and unique document from those days survived and surfaced, it truly would be long forgotten.
That the house would be white (or off-white) seems clear enough from Sam McKim's iconic concept painting in 1958, which you will recall was a paint-over of a Ken Anderson sketch which was based in turn on the Shipley-Lydecker house in Baltimore.
Garden Variety Imagineering
Applied color theory doesn't end with the building itself. Let's turn around and look at the front yard. What a pleasant place it is! Other, newer rides may have more exciting and entertaining queues (Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror), but for my money the Anaheim Mansion still takes the prize for most beautiful queue.
I've said it in other places, and now I'll say it here: There is NO DEPARTMENT at Disneyland that produces more consistently excellent work than the landscape and groundskeeping crew, the gardeners, the flower and tree guys—whatever it is they most like to call themselves ["Horticulture," I'm told]. They know exactly what they're doing and they always do it well. Gentlemen and women, I salute you. You're the best in the business.
P.S. Lonesome Ghost points out that I've overlooked an obvious example of the green-purple palate at the Mansions: The Butler's uniform.
Plaque Build-up
I've got about eight separate and yet loosely-related mini-topics that I'm going to present in a couple of posts. I suppose they're analogous to Disney "package" films, more like, say, The Three Caballeros than Pinocchio. The collections are not random: all of these topics have to do with things seen in the front yard of the Disneyland Mansion. Today there are three mini-posts, and the common theme among them is color.
Oooooooo Color -r-r-r-r
The Imagineers who built Disneyland came out of the animation studios, and that means they were sensitive colorists, among other things. People who admire the end product have noted again and again how subtle and suitable is the use of color throughout the park. It's all quite deliberate and meticulously maintained (for the most part). (Hit that button again, would you? Thanks.) The last time I was at Disneyland I noticed for the first time that the stone "blocks" of Sleeping Beauty castle come in six different colors. When you look at older photos, you find that they've been multicolored like that for a long time, maybe from the beginning. Some of the variations are so subtle that it's hard to pick up on them with the camera. Why so many? especially since some are so similar? Because it looks right. (Hit it one more time? Thanks, you're awesome.)
Off White
Nobody at Disney was more sensitive to the use of color in the parks than John Hench. He worked at Disney for 65 years, up until a few weeks before he died in 2004. My friends, whatever John Hench tells you about Disney design you can take to the bank.
"Because I said so."
According to Hench, the Disneyland Haunted Mansion is painted "off white." Strange name for a color, isn't it? I mean, aren't red and blue "off white" too? Well, nobody asked me. As Hench explains it, the colors for the house are more psychologically complex than people realize.
Sometime between 1972 and 1987.
“For Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, we wanted to create an imposing Southern-style house that would look old, but not in ruins. So we painted it a cool off-white with dark, cold blue-gray accents in shadowed areas such as the porch ceilings and wrought-iron details. To accentuate the eerie, deserted feeling, I had the underside of exterior details painted the same dark color, creating exaggerated, unnaturally deep cast shadows. Since we associate dark shadows with things hidden, or half hidden, the shadow treatment enhanced the structure’s otherworldliness. The park maintenance painters like the haunted effect. I even received calls from guests who wanted to know the brand and swatch number of the paints so that they could use them on their own homes.”
. —John Hench, Designing Disney (NY: Disney Editions, 2003) 116.
These painting tricks are an example of signals sent from the Imagineers that are received unaware. It's extremely unlikely that guests consciously notice the artificial shadowing, but very likely that it affects them psychologically, be it ever so slightly. It's an interesting sort of interaction between artist and audience: An expression fully intentional, very carefully thought out, and yet by design much too subtle for the conscious mind to engage. I don't know. Sounds illegal to me.
What Hench does not mention is that a radically different color scheme for the Mansion exterior was being contemplated practically from the moment it was first built. You never hear about it, and were it not for the fact that a mysterious and unique document from those days survived and surfaced, it truly would be long forgotten.
That the house would be white (or off-white) seems clear enough from Sam McKim's iconic concept painting in 1958, which you will recall was a paint-over of a Ken Anderson sketch which was based in turn on the Shipley-Lydecker house in Baltimore.
For what it's worth, the Shipley house itself was white:
1945 (The house had been remodeled by then, and the side porches are gone.)
McKim's painting was put to immediate use in brochures and souvenir guides published over the next several
years, so public expectations about the house, long before it was even built, were that it would be a white building.
years, so public expectations about the house, long before it was even built, were that it would be a white building.
Sure enough, when the building went up in 1962, it was white. Here it is in mid-1963, just
months after the last major landscaping around the brand-new building had been completed.
months after the last major landscaping around the brand-new building had been completed.
Everything indicates a straight, uninterrupted line from start to finish, a line that is painted off-white. So where in the
grand scheme of things does this oft-published artifact belong? It's a 1962 or 63 color guide for the Haunted Mansion.
grand scheme of things does this oft-published artifact belong? It's a 1962 or 63 color guide for the Haunted Mansion.
Huh? No one seems to know anything about this rival color scheme. Strange. But we had better not lag behind
and puzzle over it today; we've got two more mini-topics to cover. Mustn't dawdle. Scroll on, scroll on.
and puzzle over it today; we've got two more mini-topics to cover. Mustn't dawdle. Scroll on, scroll on.
Garden Variety Imagineering
Applied color theory doesn't end with the building itself. Let's turn around and look at the front yard. What a pleasant place it is! Other, newer rides may have more exciting and entertaining queues (Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror), but for my money the Anaheim Mansion still takes the prize for most beautiful queue.
This is still true even though it used to be even more lovely. Originally there were flower beds around the light posts.
For most of their history, they were warm, bright patches of yellow. They were taken out in 1991, give or take a year.
(pic by Robert Clavarro)
1980
1973 Today
1974
It's a pity they're gone, but even without the
flower beds, it's still beautiful out there.
While I miss the flowers, I can't get too worked up about their absence. Perhaps they were a little too
cheery. It does seem a wee bit more serious and somber without them, and I can't complain about that.
And now, a question: What are Halloween colors? Black and Orange, right?
Are there any other good color schemes for Halloween? How about Green and Purple
(or Magenta)? Just google "green purple Halloween," and brother, it's all you can eat.
Okay, fine. Now what are the differences between the orange-black strategy and the green-purple one? I can think of two: (1) orange-black is inescapably juvenile, and (2) it's joined at the hip to Halloween. It's difficult to use orange-black anywhere else, because it "looks Halloweeny" no matter what you do, and it's never adult-scary. It's for kids. Green-Purple, on the other hand, is not so tightly constrained. Oh sure, it can go as cute and tricks-or-treatsy as anything orange-and-black (witness the above), but it can also be used for more adult scares, although it always seems to do so with tongue-in-cheek, never too far away from the campy side of horror. I mean, no one uses the purple-green palette if the intent is to truly scare the crap out of you, but it can certainly be used for the gruesome and grim. And green-purple is not tied down to Halloween. It can be used to evoke spooks and spirits and ugly old creeps far beyond the October horizon.
No clearer example of putting this color combination to gleefully ghoulish use can be found
than Collin Campbell's artwork for the "Story and Song" Haunted Mansion souvenir album.
Just flip through those familiar eleven pages. Sometimes it's green and purple,
but at other times it's purple and green. For variety's sake, one supposes.
(The only exception is the Hat Box Ghost illustration: blue and purple.)
Is this a recent development, this perception of purple (or magenta) and green as a creepy combo? No.
Do Disney artists use this palette elsewhere, for the same purposes? Yes.
We've already cited Madame Mim, but that's barely the tip of the iceberg.
The "Hatchet Man" portrait in the Corridor of Doors at WDW
From The Princess and the Frog, a tribute to the animated "Leota" headstone at WDW
You see how it works. Purple (or magenta) and green conjure up goblins and ghoulies, but not necessarily from last Halloween, and even though it's not a seriously horrific palette, it isn't particularly kid-friendly either (witness the Grand Guignol posters above). All and all, it feels like a perfect fit for the Haunted Mansion, does it not?
1979 paper bag design
They used purple-green for the silver anniversary celebration in 1994:
Left to right that's John Hench, Bill Justice, Sam McKim, X Atencio, Disney archivist
Dave Smith, Disney historians David Mumford and Bruce Gordon, and Russell Brower.
No wonder Campbell went straight there and stayed there, and no
wonder everyone agrees that he hit the nail right on the head.
But you know, he wasn't the only one.
It remains only to show you some random pictures from the front yard gardens, taken during
the last 15 years or so. The evidence is undeniable, the case is closed, 'nuff said, and Q.E.D.
(pic by PirateTinkerbell)
The plants get changed and moved around. One year they may have a green-purple thing around the sundial,
and the next year it may be yellow there. Green-purple coloration is always prominent somewhere, however.
Not surprisingly, they make good use of hardy plants
that give you both colors, like this Wandering Jew.
P.S. Lonesome Ghost points out that I've overlooked an obvious example of the green-purple palate at the Mansions: The Butler's uniform.
Plaque Build-up
There's another item out here in front of the Mansion where color more or less tells the story, but it doesn't redound to anyone's credit quite so much. In fact, it may be more an example of blundering to a happy conclusion than brilliant theory expertly applied.
Those handsome plaques that grace the posts of the entrance gate tell an amusing tale. They're made of brass, which means they're an alloy of mostly copper and some zinc. If you think of them as big pennies, their metallurgical metamorphoses may seem a bit less mysterious, for copper pennies also contain zinc (but also enough tin to classify them as bronze, not brass). You will recall that copper oxidizes to green. (As many of you know, that's why the Statue of Liberty is green: her "skin" is copper.)
The plaques didn't go up until the Mansion opened, and they began as beautiful, brilliant, golden shields. I remember
them when they were like that, and there are enough photos around to give you an idea of how impressive they were.
them when they were like that, and there are enough photos around to give you an idea of how impressive they were.
The golden age didn't last even one full year. They quickly turned brown. Like a penny.
(bottom pic: Gorillas Don't Blog)
By 1975, the brown was already beginning to oxidize to green.
Here we are in December of 1977:
By the early 80's, they were very nearly as green as they are today.
After a few more years, they were.
Now here's the really dumb part. In 1989 or 1990, someone was apparently horrified that the plaques had been so badly neglected, and so it was decreed that they should be restored to their original glory. Down they came for a good polishing. However, it seems that the best they could achieve was a nice caramel color. (I am reminded by my readers that I could be wrong about all of this, and every step we see may have been consciously engineered. Nevertheless, it's hard to see why someone would be so dissatisfied with the green that they went to this kind of trouble to change the color.)
Afterwards, someone must have realized how stupid it was to try to make what was supposed to be an old house look like it was still bright and shiny new. Why not rejoice over the natural greening, the fact that the house really was beginning to show its age so authentically? Here was Nature freely supplying something they normally have to fake, and they were trying to fight it! True, the house is supposed to be kept up, not dilapidated, but this is different. Even in carefully manicured environments, outdoor brass and bronze fixtures are often allowed to oxidize.
Anyway, they wised up and let them go back to green, and green they remain today. I don't know if they gave them any chemical help to speed the process. I would like to think they did not, but I must admit that the lettering and evenness point to some degree of artificial guidance, lending Nature a hand. You can see them darkening up and starting to oxidize again in that 1994 25th anniversary shot earlier.
Several posts back we discussed how the authentic age and the checkered history of the building serve to enhance the pleasant
impression of an old and mysterious place. In their own way, those sombre green plaques contribute to this phenomenon, I think.
This is the history of the plaques at Anaheim, but with a little effort you can find
plenty of photography documenting a similar story with the plaques at the WDW Mansion,
although in Orlando they seem to have resisted the green and clung to the brown more stubbornly.
*******************************
There are many more curiosities waiting for us in the front yard,
some that you know about and some that you don't. Next time.
30 May 15:46
Just Wow
by Josh Marshall
There's a massive (70 meters wide), man-made circular structure, between 2,000 and 12,000 years old, at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee . And nautical archeologists are trying to raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars it will take to go down and find out what it is.
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mikeshearules likes this
25 May 02:20
The METALLICA THROUGH THE NEVER Teaser!
Nicholas.a.burgessMike, you should take a look at this.
Nordling here.
Okay, I've watched this thing about three times now and I still have no idea what's going on. Apparently Metallica's music brings about the apocalypse, or something, and somehow CHRONICLE's Dane DeHaan is a Metallica fan who is witness to it all. The synopsis doesn't help much:
METALLICA THROUGH THE NEVER
Written and Directed by NimródAntal
Award-winning filmmaker Nimród Antal (Predators, Kontroll) creates a groundbreaking 3-D motion picture event, Metallica Through the Never. The music-driven feature film combines a bold narrative and spectacular live-performance footage of one of the most popular and influential rock bands in history to produce a bracing, raw and visceral cinematic experience. Emerging young star Dane DeHaan (The Place Beyond thePines, Kill Your Darlings, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) portrays Trip, a young roadie sent on an urgent mission during Metallica’s roaring live set in front of a sold-out arena.
As the band performs its most iconic songs for thousands of their fans in a never-before-seen performance created exclusively for the film, Trip is dispatched outside the arena to meet a disabled delivery truck and recover a mysterious item being transported to the show. But the seemingly simple assignment turns into a surreal adventure when his car is hit by an out-of-control driver. Trip, dazed and bruised, climbs out of his van only to find himself pitched in the middle of a tense standoff between angry protesters and charging riot police. In the ensuing mayhem, a vicious masked horseman sets his murderous eye on Trip while delivering indiscriminate deathblows to rioters and cops alike. Fleeing through the desolate, post-apocalyptic urban streetscape, Trip has only his wits to protect him as he attempts to deliver the band’s precious cargo and avoid becoming the horseman’s next victim.
Featuring dazzling pyrotechnics, the most elaborate live-performance stage ever built and imagery drawn from the band’s trailblazing iconography, the immersive 360-degree show creates a mind-bending, ear-shattering mirror image of the destruction and chaos of Trip’s journey. Metallica Through the Never’s state-of-the-art 3-D photography, captured using up to 24 cameras simultaneously, engulfs audiences in one of the most innovative andexciting cinematic experiences ever imagined.
Metallica is James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (guitar, background vocals) and Robert Trujillo (bass, background vocals). The band has sold over 105 million albums worldwide and was one of the top ten grossing touring act of 2012, generating $86.1 million in ticket sales from just 30 shows.
Metallica Through The Never is written and directed by Nimród Antal and produced by Charlotte Huggins (Journey to the Center of the Earth). Credits are not final. The film will be released by Picturehouse in North America on September 27, 2013, exclusively in over 300 IMAX® 3D Theatres, and will expand into additional theaters on October 4, 2013.
Even after all the Napster bullshit, I still dig Metallica. DEATH MAGNETIC is one badass album. (The less said about ST. ANGER the better.) Here's the teaser, courtesy of Yahoo!
I freely admit I'll happily see this in IMAX 3D. The guys may be getting older, but so am I. METALLICA THROUGH THE NEVER smashes theaters in September.
Nordling, out.
23 May 17:02
From Museo Ferrari: "A rockstar, Roger O'Donnell, brought some new notes to the Ferrari museum in Maranello. It was the member of the famous band The Cure, who is also a Ferrari client. Thank you for your visit."
Roger visits the Ferrari Museum
by Craig
Nicholas.a.burgessVery important Cure news!
23 May 13:49
Xbox One and Used Games: There's Something Happening Here. What It Is Ain't Exactly Clear.
by Bill Harris
Nicholas.a.burgessI will share more stuff about this, because I find it interesting. Yesterday a Microsoft guy said that if you lose your internet connection, you can watch blu-ray movies and "likely" "some" game modes.
Man, I feel like a tool typing "blu-ray" for some reason. I couldn't bring myself to capitalize it.
Let's look at the old way first.
I buy a game. I put the disc in the disc drive and the game plays. When I get tired of playing the game, I can sell it at a local store.
When the new owner wants to play the game, he puts the disc in the disc drive and it plays.
If I loan the game to a friend, he puts the disc in the disc drive and it plays.
Pretty simple, isn't it?
So if that's how Xbox One worked, they would just tell us that, right? Instead, we're getting gobbledygook like this:
We have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.
We have a solution for that and we will be announcing exactly how that works in due course.
We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We'll have more details to share later.
Really? Because it's just not that fucking complicated, pardon the language. It's only complicated if Microsoft is hiding as long as possible a policy that is going to piss almost everyone off. Here's Phil Harrison tripping over his tongue:
Harrison then explained what happens when you want to take that game beyond the borders of your own home and into a friend's place.
"I can come to your house and I can put the disc into your machine and I can sign in as me and we can play the game," he explained.
"The bits are on your hard drive. At the end of the play session, when I take my disc home - or even if I leave it with you - if you want to continue to play that game [on your profile] then you have to pay for it. The bits are already on your hard drive, so it's just a question of going to our [online] store and buying the game, and then it's instantly available to play.
"The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That's no different to how discs operate today."
Yeah, except that's bullshit, because it's completely different. Today, I can just leave the disc with you--temporarily giving you ownership--and you can play. It doesn't cost you anything, because I already paid for the game.
The new "ownership" model works nothing like that. Why would Harrison make such an obviously illogical and untruthful claim?
Then there's the Xbox Support Twitter feed to further muddy the waters in response to a question about loaning a disc to a friend:
Again, there is no fee to install the game. Your friend will not pay a fee.
Except that doesn't answer anything, because of the specific use of the word "install." See, all they would have to do is say "Oh, no, there's no fee", but they didn't say that.
Let's look at how this will probably work, in spite of all of Microsoft's bullshit denials.
There will be a "fee". You can call it a licensing charge, or an activation fee, or whatever perfume you want to put on the pig, but we no longer own what we buy. Or we own it, but we have no right to resell it, because all the purchaser is getting for their money is an inert piece of plastic that must be activated with a third party to be playable.
The most flexible way for Microsoft to do this is to set a floor and a ceiling for the fee, then let publishers charge what they want inside those parameters. Microsoft collects the money when the game is "activated", and everybody (but us) gets their cut. Plus, Microsoft can always claim it's at the "discretion of the publisher"
How much? Well, you could do the "frog doesn't know he's in boiling water approach" and start low--say, $3.99. Then it would just get raised steadily forever.
I have a hard time believing they'll be that subtle, though. More likely, it would be in the $10 range, up to $15 for something like Call of Duty: The 37th Iteration Battalion.
This would explain why EA did away with their "Online Pass", because the new Xbox will do the same thing.
It's also possible that Microsoft would squeeze Gamestop's pelotas and make them pay a fee instead. So every time an Xbox One game was resold, Gamestop would have to write a check to Microsoft (proceeds then split with MS and the publisher). In exchange, Gamestop would give you some kind of activation code.
That's messy, though, because there are other shops that sell used games. That is, unless Gamestop becomes the official "Sole Used Games Provider" for the Xbox One.
Hmm, that sounds pretty interesting, really. Then it's a partnership, instead of an adversarial relationship.
Just remember one thing. If it was legitimately good news, they would have just told us.
I buy a game. I put the disc in the disc drive and the game plays. When I get tired of playing the game, I can sell it at a local store.
When the new owner wants to play the game, he puts the disc in the disc drive and it plays.
If I loan the game to a friend, he puts the disc in the disc drive and it plays.
Pretty simple, isn't it?
So if that's how Xbox One worked, they would just tell us that, right? Instead, we're getting gobbledygook like this:
We have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.
We have a solution for that and we will be announcing exactly how that works in due course.
We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We'll have more details to share later.
Really? Because it's just not that fucking complicated, pardon the language. It's only complicated if Microsoft is hiding as long as possible a policy that is going to piss almost everyone off. Here's Phil Harrison tripping over his tongue:
Harrison then explained what happens when you want to take that game beyond the borders of your own home and into a friend's place.
"I can come to your house and I can put the disc into your machine and I can sign in as me and we can play the game," he explained.
"The bits are on your hard drive. At the end of the play session, when I take my disc home - or even if I leave it with you - if you want to continue to play that game [on your profile] then you have to pay for it. The bits are already on your hard drive, so it's just a question of going to our [online] store and buying the game, and then it's instantly available to play.
"The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That's no different to how discs operate today."
Yeah, except that's bullshit, because it's completely different. Today, I can just leave the disc with you--temporarily giving you ownership--and you can play. It doesn't cost you anything, because I already paid for the game.
The new "ownership" model works nothing like that. Why would Harrison make such an obviously illogical and untruthful claim?
Then there's the Xbox Support Twitter feed to further muddy the waters in response to a question about loaning a disc to a friend:
Again, there is no fee to install the game. Your friend will not pay a fee.
Except that doesn't answer anything, because of the specific use of the word "install." See, all they would have to do is say "Oh, no, there's no fee", but they didn't say that.
Let's look at how this will probably work, in spite of all of Microsoft's bullshit denials.
There will be a "fee". You can call it a licensing charge, or an activation fee, or whatever perfume you want to put on the pig, but we no longer own what we buy. Or we own it, but we have no right to resell it, because all the purchaser is getting for their money is an inert piece of plastic that must be activated with a third party to be playable.
The most flexible way for Microsoft to do this is to set a floor and a ceiling for the fee, then let publishers charge what they want inside those parameters. Microsoft collects the money when the game is "activated", and everybody (but us) gets their cut. Plus, Microsoft can always claim it's at the "discretion of the publisher"
How much? Well, you could do the "frog doesn't know he's in boiling water approach" and start low--say, $3.99. Then it would just get raised steadily forever.
I have a hard time believing they'll be that subtle, though. More likely, it would be in the $10 range, up to $15 for something like Call of Duty: The 37th Iteration Battalion.
This would explain why EA did away with their "Online Pass", because the new Xbox will do the same thing.
It's also possible that Microsoft would squeeze Gamestop's pelotas and make them pay a fee instead. So every time an Xbox One game was resold, Gamestop would have to write a check to Microsoft (proceeds then split with MS and the publisher). In exchange, Gamestop would give you some kind of activation code.
That's messy, though, because there are other shops that sell used games. That is, unless Gamestop becomes the official "Sole Used Games Provider" for the Xbox One.
Hmm, that sounds pretty interesting, really. Then it's a partnership, instead of an adversarial relationship.
Just remember one thing. If it was legitimately good news, they would have just told us.
22 May 02:55
Adam Levine & Team Adam cover 'Lovesong' on The Voice last night. (Thanks @curepol)
Adam Levine & Team Adam cover 'Lovesong'
by Craig
Nicholas.a.burgessMike!
Adam Levine & Team Adam cover 'Lovesong' on The Voice last night. (Thanks @curepol)
17 May 15:56
The Anatomy of Metroid: VI. The six-billion dollar woman
by jparish
Nicholas.a.burgessI am enjoying this series. You can too if you click through and find the older articles for yourself you lazy jerk!
Metroid did a lot of really innovative and interesting things for a game of its genre and period, but perhaps the most important idea it brought to the table was the concept of power-up permanence. Samus didn’t simply collect items that made her more powerful; once she acquired them, she kept them. The only impermanent additions to her arsenal were her beam modifiers and her Missiles. The Ice Beam and Wave Beam could be swapped for one another if you ran back to collect the replacement, while Missiles were a limited, expendable resource — yet even then, upgrades permanently increased her Missile carrying capacity, and enemies would drop bits of energy to allow Samus to recharge her Missile tally.
The concept of collecting gear to permanently boost your avatar’s abilities didn’t begin with Metroid, of course. Role-playing games had it more or less from the start. So did adventure games like Zork. Even action-RPG hybrids like The Legend of Zelda (which launched a few months before Metroid) and Tower of Druaga drew on the concept of equipment and left you far more powerful at the game’s end than at the beginning.
For a platform-style side-scrolling action game, however, this sort of permanence hadn’t really been explored before. For starters, the side-scroller had only gotten its proper kick-off about a year before, so the games that Super Mario Bros. inspired were only beginning to come to market around the time Metroid launched. But more to the point, that particular style of game still existed within an arcade-oriented mindset. They were meant to be brief, exciting, challenging adventures. Metroid, on the other hand, beckoned players with a huge, interconnected labyrinth that eschewed multiple stages in favor of a few regions that heroine Samus Aran could freely traverse provided she had the proper tools for the job. While Metroid didn’t scrimp on its challenge level, the challenge that it presented was a different sort than action games normally went in for.
Thus the standard ephemeral power-ups established by Pac-Man‘s energizer pellets and Donkey Kong‘s mallets would have been a poor fit for the needs of Metroid. Its world possessed a level of persistence unusual for that style of game, with scenery designed to be explored and covered repeatedly rather than dashed through in a linear rush to the end. So when Samus acquired a new power, she kept it.
Even more impressively, Samus’ add-ons didn’t just modestly tweak her combat capabilities, they multiplied her strength considerably. The fragile little soldier at the beginning of the game, with that sad little short-distance beam and nothing to her name but 30 points of health, became a deadly dervish of offensive power by the end. Even Samus’ body itself becomes a weapon with the correct weapon equipped.
What I find most interesting about Samus’ gear is that it becomes so seamless. Despite its scope and complexity, Metroid doesn’t include a sub-screen. There’s no in-game map (and I do wish that I still had the stunningly amazing graph paper maps I created for the game back in the day), and you can’t juggle inventory. Besides the Ice and Wave Beams, Samus’ powers are cumulative, each stacking on the other. And nearly every ability she gains increases both her combat efficacy and her ability to navigate Zebes’ rocky chambers — only a few do only one or the other.
I’ve written about the Bombs, Ice Beam, and Missiles already, as they serve as the fulcrum for Samus’ exploration. The other abilities she can collect throughout the course of her adventure, though technically optional, can be just as useful. The High Jump boots make the game massively easier, not only because they allow easier traversal of the game world without requiring the Ice Beam, but also because they allow you to leap out of certain lava pits (such as the sides of Kraid’s chamber) that the sticky liquid physics prevent you from clearing on your own. The Energy Tank secretly hidden in the wall of Kraid’s room is pretty much impossible to collect without High Jump, and I can’t imagine trying to navigate the final escape sequence without them.
The Varia is actually the most difficult item to acquire in the entire game. Unless you’re very clever or simply abuse a bug, you need the Maru-Mari, the Bomb, High Jump, and the Ice Beam in order to reach the room where the Varia is hidden. (It is possible to get there legitimately without High Jump by drawing the Waver in the lower part of the room into the hidden upper chamber and freezing it to use as a stepping stone. But it’s a lot of trouble.)
This complexity is justified by the fact that the Varia doubles Samus’ survivability, reducing the impact of enemy attacks by 50%. It essentially doubles your health, and clearing the Mother Brain’s lair at the very end of the game without the Varia is a truly difficult task. It can be done, though, and if you’re good enough you’ll learn that Samus’ natural hair color when she’s out of her suit is brown, not green, as seen in the screen above — the Varia turns it green, the way it turns her yellow space suit white. This is one of my favorite little details of the game, the fact that Samus has a different color palette for completing an experts-only task that few would ever attempt. Once you acquire the Varia, you keep it forever, even in replays, meaning you have to finish the game quickly without the Varia to be able to see her true hair color.
Before there were Platinum Trophies and 200-Gamer Point Achievements, there was brunette Samus.
And finally, the single coolest weapon in the game: The Screw Attack. The Screw Attack gives justification to the game’s odd, difficult-to-control jumping physics. More than that, it forces you to master her unique jumping properties. See, when Samus jumps while you’re pressing forward on the D-pad, she does a rapid acrobatic spin that causes her movement to feel slightly slippery, especially upon landing. If you press the jump button without moving, she’ll leap straight up without flipping, which makes her easier to control.
Once you have the Screw Attack, though, Samus’ tricky flip becomes an asset: While spinning, her body discharges energy that destroys practically anything she strikes. She’ll pass unharmed through invincible enemies, while everything else save the bosses will instantly explode upon contact. The weird jump that before seemed so detrimental turns into a bold weapon, and avoidance becomes less valuable than jumping headlong into foes. It totally changes the way you play Metroid, and creates a different mentality to action games, period.
The Screw Attack really makes the permanence of Metroid‘s weapon selections interesting. Unlike Pac-Man’s energizers or Mario’s Star Man, the Screw Attack allows you to destroy enemies on contact at any time, not for a few brief seconds while a special jingle plays. Rather than limiting this power by time, Metroid imposes a skill limitation on it: Your invincibility only works in specific situations and requires you to master the game’s tricky jumping physics. Because of this — and because the point of Metroid is discovery rather than simply surviving a dash to the game’s end — the Screw Attack doesn’t break the game.
Metroid doesn’t suddenly become a cakewalk once you acquire it; after all, you still need to find the path to the end and figure out how to best the game’s toughest foes. What the Screw Attack does, however, is make the process of discovery far less of a chore, allowing you to reach your destinations and search for new passages without having to gun down enemies one by one, over and over again. It’s perhaps the most subtle example of Metroid‘s unique approach to facilitating both combat and traversal at all once… which perhaps explains why the Screw Attack symbol has gone on to become an icon of the series.
18 Apr 16:03
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"They were giving these out before the concert in Paraguay. McDonalds had a stand on the entrance of the VIP sections, where you could have a “Robert” make up if you wanted. (they were not selling food there)" (Thanks Pedro)
Pretty safe bet that these were not approved by the band.
McDonald's Cure merchandise?
by Craig
Nicholas.a.burgessSomeone buy me one.
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"They were giving these out before the concert in Paraguay. McDonalds had a stand on the entrance of the VIP sections, where you could have a “Robert” make up if you wanted. (they were not selling food there)" (Thanks Pedro)
Pretty safe bet that these were not approved by the band.
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