The Sims play "Urban Revival"
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:25 pm
Did anyone catch the front page PD feature on Forest City and “Urban Revival†(28NOV05)?
The little timeline cartoon (that looks like it came from the “SIMS†computer game) at the bottom of the article caught my eye. I thought I would share it with you:
The timeline starts out in 1982, caption: “MIT has land to developâ€Â. A balding blond man with suspenders looks over the plans.
1983 caption: â€ÂPolitics, Part 1: Forest City wins the contractâ€Â. Text states that a Cleveland native is hired to “help navigate Cambridge’s thorny political processâ€Â. A balding gray haired man with MASSIVE shoulders shakes the hand of a woman wearing a short red miniskirt, black stockings, and pumps. Don’t most thorny political processes wear short red miniskirts?
Mid 80’s caption “Roadblock: Community protestâ€Â. The text states that local “blue collar†residents protest. The photo shows four protesters (all in various shades of blue), one is a blond man, hair parted in the middle, first raised. Another man has gray hair, parted in the middle hands on hips. Another is a black woman, holding a sign. The last protester is a large woman, hair appears to be in curlers, wearing a flower print mini-skirt/mu-mu thing, and house slippers (what the @#$%?). A thin white man with brown hair wearing a dark suit is shown explaining something to the woman with the house slippers (I think this guy is the developer).
Mid 80’s caption “Roadblock: The city doesn’t like the designâ€Â. A balding man with gray hair and a vest looks over plans.
Late 80’s caption “Politics, Part 2: Working city councilâ€Â. A thin white man with brown hair wearing a dark suit (the developer again?) addresses two gray people sitting in gray chairs at a gray desk.
Late 80’s caption “Getting to workâ€Â. Two men wearing hard hats stand holding coal shovels. The two men have a front loader parked behind them.
Am I detecting an animosity towards the public process and the public in general here?
I did sit down ad read the article, which I found less interesting than the characters the paper chose to play various roles in the timeline, although I’m still pondering this passage:
“Down the street from City Hall is a bar called the People’s Republik, a play on the city’s nickname, that’s filled with Communist posters. The moniker is a badge of honor for many Cambridge residents. For developers, however, it’s a not-too-subtle warning.â€Â
Since I’m not a developer, this one went way over my head. What is the “not-too-subtle warning†that the moniker “People’s Republik†contains?
The little timeline cartoon (that looks like it came from the “SIMS†computer game) at the bottom of the article caught my eye. I thought I would share it with you:
The timeline starts out in 1982, caption: “MIT has land to developâ€Â. A balding blond man with suspenders looks over the plans.
1983 caption: â€ÂPolitics, Part 1: Forest City wins the contractâ€Â. Text states that a Cleveland native is hired to “help navigate Cambridge’s thorny political processâ€Â. A balding gray haired man with MASSIVE shoulders shakes the hand of a woman wearing a short red miniskirt, black stockings, and pumps. Don’t most thorny political processes wear short red miniskirts?
Mid 80’s caption “Roadblock: Community protestâ€Â. The text states that local “blue collar†residents protest. The photo shows four protesters (all in various shades of blue), one is a blond man, hair parted in the middle, first raised. Another man has gray hair, parted in the middle hands on hips. Another is a black woman, holding a sign. The last protester is a large woman, hair appears to be in curlers, wearing a flower print mini-skirt/mu-mu thing, and house slippers (what the @#$%?). A thin white man with brown hair wearing a dark suit is shown explaining something to the woman with the house slippers (I think this guy is the developer).
Mid 80’s caption “Roadblock: The city doesn’t like the designâ€Â. A balding man with gray hair and a vest looks over plans.
Late 80’s caption “Politics, Part 2: Working city councilâ€Â. A thin white man with brown hair wearing a dark suit (the developer again?) addresses two gray people sitting in gray chairs at a gray desk.
Late 80’s caption “Getting to workâ€Â. Two men wearing hard hats stand holding coal shovels. The two men have a front loader parked behind them.
Am I detecting an animosity towards the public process and the public in general here?
I did sit down ad read the article, which I found less interesting than the characters the paper chose to play various roles in the timeline, although I’m still pondering this passage:
“Down the street from City Hall is a bar called the People’s Republik, a play on the city’s nickname, that’s filled with Communist posters. The moniker is a badge of honor for many Cambridge residents. For developers, however, it’s a not-too-subtle warning.â€Â
Since I’m not a developer, this one went way over my head. What is the “not-too-subtle warning†that the moniker “People’s Republik†contains?