the website of Mark S Bailen. . . writer, illustrator, and fake-nature photographer
Because my wife was prepping for a marathon, we only had one afternoon to visit the Blue Mountains. So we did the most touristy thing possible; we visited SCENIC WORLD in Katoomba, a hybrid national park / theme-park. We rode a tram, a plunging railway car, a cable car, and hop-on, hop-off buses. Almost our entire experience was mediated through windows! Very weird.
Rainforest Cafe is kid friendly, sort of? They have talking trees. Glitchy animatronics. Cartoon predators. And orange fake footprints that tell you where to go. And what happens if you stray off the footprints? You end up at a dark and creepy bar, sitting on stools with sheered-off animal-legs, beneath a giant magic mushroom. So there’s that.
Spent the weekend in Denver/Boulder. . . I really like this sign on the Boulder Creak Path. It’s faded, has painted-over graffiti, and shows an earlier version of Boulder. Not sure who it’s useful for. . . time travelers?
variations on a theme
Here’s a lousy photo of a small section of the Tempelhof, an old airfield turned into an over-900 acre park. These dudes were playing a massive game of four-square.
BTW, the Tempelhof was the proposed location for a giant fake mountain called the Berg. If they ever make this thing, I’ll move to Berlin.
nature trail made out of pavers at Rio Formosa Natural Park. . .
in the middle of this downtown park in Silves, is a giant concrete pad with a “LifeTrail” on it. . .
We visited the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park (Sutter’s Mill). For ten bucks, we learned how to pan for gold. Step one was to buy our gear. Step two was to apply hand sanitizer. And step three was to pan for gold. Who knew it was so simple! I’m gonna be rich! Rich!
My wife visited NYC and strolled down the High Line, so I thought I’d show her pics.
First, I LOVE THE HIGH LINE. It may be my favorite park in the universe. The High Line isn’t just an urban park. Nor is it an attempt at rewilding. Nor is it simply a simulacrum. It’s fake nature at its finest. Building a park on an abandoned train platform alleviates all kinds of concerns. You don’t have to sculpt the surroundings to appear more embedded in “nature.” There’s no native wildlife that you have to protect. There’s no worry about invasive species. You can have fake pink trees! In one section they artfully reassembled train tracks to remember the park’s grimy past, and why not? And I love the signs telling people to be “mindful.” Visitors should be aware that the High Line is a meditative, restorative, faux nature experience. Bravo!