El Platform at Diversey Parkway by Chipka
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Description
Once, I thought of how marvelous it would be to live in a world in which people might carry little two-way communicator-televisions on their belts, like any of the uber-fashionable characters in the long-defunct television show: Space: 1999. The show was a pretty decent show. Well…it looked good in that fashion-forward sort of way. Barbara Bain (as Doctor Helena Russell) looked really good in beige, with a two-way television-communicator clipped to her super-minimalist 1970s-wide belt. Martin Landau as Commander John Koenig was sufficiently dashing, and rather convincing and his shoes always remained spotlessly clean.
Once, I thought that 1999 was sufficiently far into the future—enough to afford us moonbases and two-way-television communicators that clip—rather efficiently—to belts cut to 1970s extra-wide standards.
Now, we have cell phones (mobile phones) equipped with cameras…we have “webcams” and we’re able to dip into Googlespace and get any piece of information our little mammal-hearts desire. Unfortunately, Americans are now gonna have to rely on Russians to get American astronauts anywhere, though it now looks as if we’ll be hitching rides with the Chinese. (Space is now a corporate interest and since we can't yet put billboards up there, we're forcing NASA to scrap "manned" spaceflight program.
Once, I thought that the future was shimmering and bright.
Now, I think that the present is an interestingly odd place to be: we don’t have Space: 1999 fashions. Women don’t dress like Dr. Helena Russell and continually pose en-pointe for the camera. We don’t have a base on the moon. In fact we can’t exactly remember how to get there. Very few people even look like Martin Landau…even Martin Landau doesn’t look like Martin Landau. We do have two-way visual communication devices that allow instant access to such vital utilities such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. We don’t wear asymmetrical, sleek, beige clothes with swanky side-swoop hairdos, but we have powerful computers that fit into our pockets. They’re overpowered, if you ask me, since no one ever does any of that high-powered stuff with them. Ah, but there are those who swear by the intrinsic usefulness of Facebook.
I thought of all of this as I rode back to Corey’s apartment with him. We’d spent a lazy Saturday at our favorite coffeehouse: The Perfect Cup, and as we waited for a northbound Brown Line train (affectionately known as the “poop chute” among some) I found myself thinking of Moonbase Alpha. Something in the set of the rails, in the lighting, in the two figures across from Corey and me, engaged in two modes of conversation with devices far more powerful than the entire fictional central computer of Moonbase Alpha. I remember the extravagant set-pieces and the idea that a moon base was actually large enough to require a sub-lunar transportation system. I remember being excited by the idea of looking at a friend’s face as I speak to that same friend from a long way away. Now, I speak to friends in other countries and see their faces. Now, I am aware of technologies and lifestyles completely unimaginable in the 1970s…and now…well into the future (even though we’ve forgotten how to get to the moon) I find myself wondering what…wonders…await us as we lurch boldly, and with epileptic grace into the undiscovered country of tomorrow….
What will our public transportation systems be like? What other modes of technological communication might we employ? Will the children or the gand-children, or the great-grandchildren of these two nameless individuals look upon text-chats and mobile phone technology as deliciously quaint and inefficient? Will we in our real lives be as anachronistic and downright funny as the ludicrous and improbable existence of Moonbase Alpha, meandering through interstellar space and encountering a new menace once a week and between commercials? I’d like to know.
Comments (23)
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
costapanos
As always your words captivate me as your images. Great capture and so true.
popeslattz
I remember how to get to the moon. You've got to go at night! Great image. It's interesting how a simple image of everyday life can set the mind to wondering. Oh yeah, congrats on being chosen AotM!
NefariousDrO
Like you I am worried about our nations' future in space, but I like the idea that NASA is supporting private companies' development. For years space enthusiasts whined about the lack of corporate interest in anything more than communication satellites. Now, we have companies who truly want to build the means to not only reach space, but put people there, too. This may well be the road to the future. And what a strange future it is!
jocko500
very good thoughts and wonderful image
RodS
Cool shot, and interesting reflections on our non-futuristic lack of interest in space exploration.
Digitaleagle
Very interesting read, wonderful shot of life being lived as we now it today and like you I often wonder what tomorrow holds and just how far is tomorrow from here!
beachzz
Heck, I remember when they started talking about "pay TV"---I thought it would mean a slot to put quarters in. Little did I know we would have to pay just to watch the damn thing!! So, yeah, the future is now, weird as it is!! As far as space exploration goes, we seem to have just stopped. It doesn't make sense to me to quit when we've already seen and done so much.
auntietk
Personally, I like to go out to the beach, or downtown, or to the mailbox and NOT be hooked up! It's a nice feeling, to be unavailable for a little while. I don't carry a cell phone, and Bill often leaves his someplace we're not, so there are lots of times when I'm unreachable. It's lovely! But don't you dare try to take my internet away from me! LOL! Remember Kirk using his communicator to talk ship-to-planet? That seemed so far fetched. But when a friend of a friend (a real-life astronaut) was UP THERE in space, we got emails from her every day, with photographs. Not so far fetched after all!
Crabbycabby
I cannot believe that I survived the eighties no mobile phones no HD Telly, punch cards to program computers the size of my lounge. No instant messaging. No Internet. And the only two news outlets were news at ten and the next days papers. Pubs shut at 11pm. No all night bars. Nothing on Telly till 1pm on a Sunday. Now the house is full of gadges. Playstations game boys. Telly almost 24/7. Computers and the Internet. And the kids still say they are bored! :) How did I survive?
lick.a.witch
WALL E...than just about sums up my view of the future. We no longer have to make an effort to see a friend in the flesh. We simply dial a number. We are becoming insular. Technology hasn't opened up anything. It's provided us with a means of working, communicating, sharing without effort! And without effort - well - what are we? Don't, whatever you do, project me into the future. The past is where I belong. Holding a friend's hand, walking in a meadow or a town, sharing a moment that simply can't be shared via an electronic device. This image speaks volumes...in more ways than one. Super shot Chip! Regards to Corey. ^=^
helanker
What a great photo and it fits perfectly to your exiting philosophical reflection I just LUV to read about. When I was a little 9 years old girl, my father said: "We are not going to have any television, before it can hang on the wall like a painting" Well, he never maneged to see, that it actually happened :-D And a year later, when I was 10, he bought a beautiful television with radio and record player.. in Teak Tree. My parents had it for more than 20 years. LOL !
durleybeachbum
Loved your musings! Unlike Crabby Cabby I don't need HD TV, in fact I didn't have a TV of my own till 1976, and that was because OU programmes went out at 4AM and I needed to record them. I prefer a cathedral-like silence to constant noise..I like Bach, bees, birdsong and silence very much. I only have a mobile because my lodgers thought it was safer for me to carry one in case I had an accident when out in the wilds with the dogs, and I mainly use it for texts as they are non-intrusive. I detest night-time pub culture, for now there is a TV showing football almost everywhere. But like Tara..I really enjoy having the internet, which I can use in SILENCE if I wish.!!! But I really prefer the company of and conversation with actual people that are present with me in the same space.
faroutsider
Ah yes, we have instant communication on tap, but only at the behest of the giant corporations (I know, I know, somebody has to pay for the infrastructure). I'm with durleybeachbum - give me the silence of the mountain over the cacophony of TV any day (with the obvious exception of BSG, of course). And like Tara, I'm often uncontactable, either because I've left my cellphone where I'm not, or have simply failed to turn it on... But where would I be without access to the Internet (when I choose)? Perhaps the future lies in Peter F Hamilton's idea of a unisphere - a super-Internet wired into our brains, accessible without external devices, available privately within our heads whenever we want it, while conducting "normal" social intercourse (talking, etc.) ** I'm sorry I'm so late, but HUGE congrats on being voted Artist of the Month - fully deserved on all levels.
MrsRatbag
Fascinating musings, Chip; and where are the flying cars? I think of the old adage, "beware what you wish for"...things never turn out how we expect they will!
flavia49
magnificent light!! and wonderful capture!
Sea_Dog
Excellent shot. And as usual your narrative evokes questions and thoughts. Well done.
Meisiekind
I enjoyed reading all the comments and feelings just as much as I enjoyed your words and wonderful accompanying image! As always Chip - you hold my attention and interest in your palms! Well done my friend!
sandra46
SUPER COOL IMAGE! BUT I'M AFRAID I DON'T BELONG TO THEIR PERSUASION, I NEVER CARRY MY CELLULAR AROUND AND IT'S USUALLY WITH NO CHARGE....
jac204
Brown for a subway line color does invite some interesting analogies. I think there will be interesting modes of public transportion such as maglevs in our future. Unfortunately, it may occur in other countries before ours.
minos_6
You make no mention of my favourite character Maya, played by Catherine Schell - of course it's highly possible that we DO have shape-shifting aliens in our midst - how would anyone know? The stark lighting here is a little reminiscent of Space: 1999 - I cam almost see the neurons firing to remind you!
Ilona-Krijgsman
Very interesting...this image tells a story.....
nikolais
love the downward light effect! great feel of a well-lit place in the night