From our pal Applewhite

http://freshroastedcorn.blogspot.com/2011/12/refreshing-works-that-you-should-own.html

Walt and the Promise of Progress City

Order up! Now here's a book that is top on the Hoot Gibson Holiday wish list.


"Walt and the Promise of Progress City is an amazing new book that explores how Walt Disney—the master of fiction—was determined to bring new life to the non-fiction world of city design and development and, in doing so, fundamentally improve the Great American way of life."

If you're into Horizons you'll be doing yourself a huge favor by learning more about the original EPCOT. Not "center" not lower case "Epcot". I say that because Horizons was the tail end (last) of the Walt Disney style visions of the future. I can't wait to get mine and further school myself on EPCOT the city.

Paperback

Kindle

More on the Horizons Remote Cam

You may or may not already know about the camera that was mounted on top of the Horizons building. Either way it doesn't matter BECAUSE IT'S GONE FOREVER! But, yes, there was a cool camera mounted to a GE GP-66 industrial robot arm. This rig could be controlled from the GE lounge for the amusement of the employees of said GE. I once heard a tool remark how cool it was to zoom in on girls asses on the other side of the park.





PS. I left the cool little blurb from another page on the left side.

Space Mountain

I never go to Disney Parks unless I can get in for free. Yesterday I did just that. I went to the Magic Kingdom for the first time in a year or so.

I haven't been on Space Mountain since the big update but I was very impressed by it. Overall it seems like they shit canned all of the goofy-ness that came with Fed Ex and the "New Tomorrowland" (The kinda junk that made RYCA-1 seem great in comparison) and brought back the same feeling that the original 1975 version had. The audio and art direction were a breath of fresh air in a park that usually makes me bitch all day.

The post show speed ramp still needs help though. It would have nice to see a new version of The Home of Future Living but it's just another low budget show built on the core of the shitty "RYCA-1 Dream of a New World" that replaced HOFL in 1985.

One Scene DID make me happy. The last show scene before the green screen television which features a futuristic living environment, a robot butler, and a backdrop painting of a future city. It ain't much folks but I'll be damned if it didn't give me a jolt of the Horizons feeling all over again. It was like having loved your granny very much, she dies, and years later you see a pretty good wax figure of her at a museum.

Look at these video grabs. The robot is just an old AA armature with some shit slapped on it BUT STILL, it's a robot serving drinks! In a 70's-esq bachelor pad!

Besides, we would have all bitched if they used our old pal here who happens to sport the same footwear.

Rounded bench seating, a sleek table with crazy future shit on it, clear acrylic chandelier....... are you seeing it?



The backdrop was first installed in 1985's "RYCA-1". That makes it only 2 years younger than Horizons. As you see it's a very 80's vision of tomorrow which is perfect in this case. I've never liked it until now.

Like I say, it ain't much but somebody deserves a prize for coming up with this scene. with my luck it was probably Jeff Kurtti.