I’ve never been to a Rainforest Cafe, but it sure calls out to me. It’s a nexus of fake nature and schlock capitalism. It could be my happy place.
Category: fake rocks
finally, proof of an advanced civilization, living deep in the jungle. . .
Bear discovers mini-monolith at the Berlin Zoo. . . Also some nice fake rocks, a mix of real stone and concrete.
The inside of the Empire of Cats at the Berlin Zoo had this modern concrete brutalist bunker feel, with spurious explosions of nature. This style shows up often in zoos. I was so mesmerized by the space, that I didn’t even look into the enclosures.
I’m sorry for this lousy photo, but this was by far my favorite exhibit at the Berlin Zoo. It was called Eagle Canyon and it was nothing remotely like a canyon (the tunnel is a tower?). It was a wonderfully messy fake mountain constructed out of real stones atop which mountain goats skirted dangerously on the edges of little cliffs. The critters were very active and I watched them for a long time. If you look close at the photo, you can see 4-5 of em. The exhibit also had a path over the mountain for humans to traverse with a fake little chalet and a place where the mountain goats crossed below. Eagle Canyon was tucked in the middle of the zoo and hardly anybody visited it, a hidden gem!
The Bellagio has this steam-punky, fake-nature conservatory that gets revamped every season. I didn’t even know that Vegas had seasons? Other than hot and miserably hot? Anyway, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to have casinos redesigning nature. These conservators are very dangerous people.
Homelessness is big problem in Vegas. . . Sad story, but here’s a photo of two guys, Siegfried & Roy, who have been camping out for years, alongside their pet lion, in the bushes in front of the Mirage.
Years ago, Siegfried & Roy were synonymous with the Mirage, which is now scheduled to be demolished and replaced by a giant guitar-shaped casino. Probably a good thing? The Secret Garden was shuttered. The dolphins were freed. The big cats were sent to reserves. And thankfully, the worst fake volcano in existence will finally stop spitting flames. Yay!
Lousy photo of an entire wall of weird plastic molded fake rocks (which were actually pretty cool) and cut-out trees at the railroad museum. . . Photos like this make me question my sanity. I seriously have no clue what I was pointing my camera at.
Legend has it that whoever pulls the shovel from the stone becomes the true divine king of California. . .