(1) Ed Ruscha “Standard Station”
(1a) On the Road With Painter Ed Ruscha
“The 73-year-old, Los Angeles-based Mr. Ruscha is known for adding cryptic phrases to his austere landscapes of the West, such as his 1983 depiction of a flat horizon laced with red letters that read, “We would have a travel agency except no one in this town travels.” At auction, one of his paintings has sold for nearly $7 million. Earlier this week, the artist spoke about his love of the road.”
(1b) Futurama (New York World’s Fair)
“Now we have arrived in this wonder world of 1960. Sunshine, tree, farms, hills and valleys, flowers and flowing streams—this world of tomorrow is a world of beauty…But man has forged ahead since 1939. New and better things have sprung from his industry and genius…Here we see one of our 1960 express motorways…The highway surface is automatically lighted by continuous tubing in the safety curbing, which evenly illuminates the road surface. But what’s this just ahead? An amusement park in full swing! A merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, boys and girls shrieking with glee on a pretzel-like sky ride. Here’s fun ans merriment in this world of tomorrow!”
(1c) GM Futurama – 1939 World’s Fair – Part 1 – There is a monastery at 7:50.
(1d) GM Futurama – 1939 World’s Fair – Part 2
(2) Tracing Those Angry Birds to the Dawn of Man
“The parabolic ballista is ours alone.
Until 10,000 years ago, most or even all human beings relied on this talent for gathering at least some of their food—by killing it at a distance. With the arrow, the spear thrower, the blowpipe, the boomerang, the sling, the harpoon and the thrown rock, we were killing prey from fish to birds to mammoths. Not to mention each other.”
(2a) Mountain Top!