Niketown: Seattle protesters like to break glass...
(photo Andy Clark/REUTERS)
(photo Andy Clark/REUTERS)
My favorite comment ever on "urban reblightilization" (it must have been, it stuck whole in my memory) was a poem written by Seattle pundit Bill Radke, on the occasion of Seattle holding a big event to celebrate the near-simultaneous opening of a Niketown, Planet Hollywood, Barnes and Noble, REI flagship store (which I have to admit is pretty cool) and a GameWorks .
The "Mayor McCheese" reference was to Norm Rice, and this press release at the time gives an indication why: "The long-anticipated announcement was heralded by Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, who cited the decision as "yet another example of the health and vitality of our downtown." "Planet Hollywood is one of the hottest and most sought-after names in America today," Rice said. "The restaurant will bring energy and excitement to our downtown." (It closed in 2001).
Anyway, here's Radke's poem or what I remember of it:
To save our downtown, here's the fictional plot:
We'll turn the place into a place that it's not!
We'll call the town Nike and import a lot
Of Celebs whom we really don't know
The triumph of fiction, the failure of fact
Is that Bruce can't sing and Arnold can't act
Despite those truths the whole place is packed
There's an audience here, but no show
It's Planet Downtown run by Mayor McCheese
Where we climb McGraw hills under REI trees
Geffen, Gates, Katzenberg, sole licensees
Urban blight, all tied up with a bow.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Oryoki Bowl
l'Heure Bleue
Steve Kenny
markinjapan
TimingLogic
clay ball
Salon.com
Comments
.
This is why they need storm troopers and complex systems controlled by allies to suppress critics.
But there are some simple principles that are easy to get across if people try.
They have cut manufacturing costs to the bone; sent deceptive advertising, lobbying, shipping and subcontractor expenses through the roof; shut down quality manufacturing plants and replaced them with fly-by-night sweat shops; and now everything they sell falls apart much faster than they used to and nothing lives up to the hype.
@ zachery: Yes, the ethics and resultant quality of many products have gone into free-fall, especially when they went overseas and felt they could get away with it. Whether Nike really ever had ethics or the quality people seem to think it does (did) I don't know, I never preferred the fit. I do know that I've been shocked at the shoddy quality of brands that are apparently venerated (like Levi Dockers) sucks. I've even had them admit to me that their manufacturing processes leave the product vulnerable to damage and replace them for free, but I'll bet I'm one of .0001% that complained about it. You can't fool all of the people all of the time, but you can apparently make billions fooling most of them.