I am not an especial lover of cities, but looking at them this way, I can see the beauty. I suspect that for those who love cities, something like this excitement is what they have in mind.
New York City is a city that I've never lived in, but I've had family and work-colleagues in other places who were upper-west-side people -- So I've to hear a bit about what they dislike about not being there. There's one who I get regular chances to tease as his packages from zabars.com are delivered to our office. Each time, I feign surprise that Zabar's sells online for postal delivery, and ask "why would anyone live in Manhattan then?"
You need movement to appreciate cities, stillness to love the countryside. It's all about the buzz: the one you can't escape, the other you have to listen for.
I watched the video, and had a moment of recognition: "That's Atlanta! I've been there many times." But it wasn't. I don't know where it was, but probably Seattle, because the road signs named Tacoma and Portland.
Well, cities are all alike -- not quite as much as airline terminals, which are themselves not quite all alike. Cairo's is not like Narita, indeed is more like Shanghai/Pudong than Narita. But the variations are as mild as we can make them.
This reminds me a lot of the old film, Koyaanisqatsi - Life out of Balance. You can find it on Youtube in sections, but it was scored by Philip Glass and broke ground on a lot of these techniques. https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19305198&postID=8742239507169878948
New York City is a city that I've never lived in, but I've had family and work-colleagues in other places who were upper-west-side people -- So I've to hear a bit about what they dislike about not being there.
ReplyDeleteThere's one who I get regular chances to tease as his packages from zabars.com are delivered to our office. Each time, I feign surprise that Zabar's sells online for postal delivery, and ask "why would anyone live in Manhattan then?"
You need movement to appreciate cities, stillness to love the countryside.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the buzz: the one you can't escape, the other you have to listen for.
I watched the video, and had a moment of recognition: "That's Atlanta! I've been there many times." But it wasn't. I don't know where it was, but probably Seattle, because the road signs named Tacoma and Portland.
ReplyDeleteWell, cities are all alike -- not quite as much as airline terminals, which are themselves not quite all alike. Cairo's is not like Narita, indeed is more like Shanghai/Pudong than Narita. But the variations are as mild as we can make them.
Cities are getting more and more like that.
@ Galen - good observation and poetically put.
ReplyDeleteI'm a smallish-town guy. I've lived in Riverside, CA, Tucson, and Albuquerque. Liked Abq the best.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a lot of the old film, Koyaanisqatsi - Life out of Balance. You can find it on Youtube in sections, but it was scored by Philip Glass and broke ground on a lot of these techniques. https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19305198&postID=8742239507169878948
ReplyDelete