World's Fair

[nemorathwald]

The 2005 World Fair in Aichi Japan has a wonderful website. Check out the pavilions. This World Fair is incredibly robotized, by the way. I'm not talking about Disney's Audio-Animatronics. I mean white plastic robots that walk around and see their environment and interact with it, offering to guide visitors to their destination or just sweeping up the trash. I want one.

I really need to not look at this so much-- it's threatening to my finances. Last week I got out my gigantic Disney Imagineering coffee table book and looked at concept art of Epcot Center for hours. Do any of you love World Fairs (or "Global Expositions" as they are called now)? Do you know what I'm talking about? The apex of the technology, philosophy, and creativity of the human species come together in a meeting of cultures. With each expo, the confusion of tongues is defeated at the hands of mortals, and we glorify the successful completion of the Tower of Babel. This is secular humanism at its most beautiful expression, and I am grateful.

Comments

[paranthropus.livejournal.com]

Wonderful. I wish I could be there. Not to get up on a soap box, but Japan shows us what nations can accomplish when they focus their resources on industry and creativity instead of pointless military expansion, pandering to special interests and propping up dead technologies at the expense of the new. It's true that the secular vision of humanity plays an important part. The darker aspect of religion is that it can control a population through fear. We are compelled to disregard rational medical ethics, as in the Schiavo case, in favor of pointless gestures like "Terry's Law" - nothing more than an opportunity for politicians to pose, to say that they tried to intervene. Fortunately, most Americans didn't buy it and the vocal extremists are being revealed as just that. Anyway that's where we are are at in this country: pointless pseudo-moral gyrations instead of working toward progress.

It was not always like this. I don't mean to threadjack, but I thought this was appropriate. It's an episode of Disneyland (the TV show) from 1967 in which Walt, just a few months before his death, outlines his utopian vision for the community of tomorrow: EPCOT. Enjoy.

http://waltopia.com/epcot_film.html

[rainbowgnosis.livejournal.com]

Wow. That stuff is really quite awesome. Wish I could see it IRL!

Because I'm evil...

[phecda.livejournal.com]

http://www.nwa.com/features/tpacspring05/

NWA's spring sale to Asia extended to March 31 (tomorrow...)