Year: 2011

Rush Hour, Dutch Hour. 33% of All Trips in Utrecht are Made on Bikes (VIDEO)

~ Chris Cocca ~ 1 Comment

Until today, the only thing I knew about Utrecht was that a treaty was signed there a long time ago.  Not quite as long ago, I was an ace at 11th grade European history, but have sadly since forgotten just what the Treaty of Utrecht ended.  Turns out it was that Europe-wide clusterfrock known to us now as the War of the Spanish Succession.  But, as a Pentecostal Irish bus driver once told me on a trip to the site of Michael Collins’ death, “that’s an awful lot of ugliness, and I think it’s time we get to forgivin’ each other just like the good Lord forgave us.”  Well said, friend.

Today, Utrecht is the fourth largest city in The (We’re Not All Holland) Netherlands.  And a third of their traffic takes place on bikes.  Transit accounts for most of the rest, and this is the beautiful, healthy, clean, safe result:

So I ask you:  How do we do it in the US?  Do we start in towns ravaged by natural disasters and rebuild them with these kinds of goals in mind?  Do we somehow incentivize cycling and mass transit at local, state, and federal levels of government?  Tax credits?  Insurance incentives?

Young Americans want to live in walkable, bikable cities and even walkable, bikeable suburbs. How do we push this growing desire, the increasing cost of gas, and the increasing concerns about emissions and obesity toward a real tipping point?   In the Lehigh Valley and beyond, Car-Free.org is a great organization currently working to bring like-minded folks together around these.  Check them out, buy a shirt, take a class.  If you don’t live in the area, that’s okay, too. I understand that our good friend Steve at Car-Free/CAT is more than willing to talk to you about starting a Car-Free.org chapter in your area.  If you’re a leader in a similar local or regional group, Steve wants to talk to you, too.

I want to see fewer cars, more transit, less emissions.  I want to see more bikes.  Don’t you?

Should DC Have Revisited “Titans Tomorrow” for the Superman Reboot/Redesign?

~ Chris Cocca ~ Leave a comment
I think so.

I’m still not a huge fan of the red belt pictured here, but it’s a huge improvement over what they’re actually giving him:

Must. Collect. All. Thundercat. Emblems.

I could have sworn that one of the panels I saw during the Titans Tomorrow storyline showed a belt that stopped on both sides before reaching the abs. Even if I’m misremembering that, I like it better than either of these options.  For an even better old revamp than the Titans Tomorrow design, check out what artist Sean Izaakse did in 2006:

Super, regal, updated, and iconic.

Here, the collar, cape, and shield work together to really say something about Superman’s power  Change the waist banding to a red semi-belt and that’s your rebooted Man of Steel, friends.

Assessing The NBA Finals with Joseph Campbell

~ Chris Cocca ~ 1 Comment
Dirk Nowitzki
I'm really, really tall. (Wikipedia)

A few nights ago, I dreamt  I was playing basketball while talking about Joseph Campbell’s theory of the monomyth.  And also, I was playing basketball with Joseph Campbell.  After deftly receiving my in-bound pass, Campbell started explaining the archetypal hero of the monomyth to me:  “Some people find this hero in Beowulf or Roland or Hercules. Other people find it in him.”  With that, Campbell passed to Larry Bird, who was wearing a Mavs jersey.

It’s pretty clear that the ball was a symbol of authority and of the power to speak.  Ball’s in your court.  Get the ball rolling.  Give me the ball. Those “only the person holding the ____ can speak” totems from Youth Group.  Bird,  a quintessential Campbellian hero in his own right, also stood for a Dirk Nowitzki finally poised to vanquish the foe and bring back the Promised Land’s boon.

Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Mark Cuban, and Co: Congratulations.  You deserve it.  You persevered through years of not-yet frustration, losing the dance to a LeBronless, Boshless Heat in 2006…a finals team led by Dwayne Wade’s talent and will and more than a little closeout power from the old Diesel himself.

As for LeBron James, let’s end the whole “same breath as Jordan or Russell or Chamberlain or Abdul-Jabbar or West or Erving…” discussion.  That narrative’s over.  In a repeat of last year’s playoff loss to the Other Big Three,  LeBron shut it down when it mattered most, something Michael Jordan can never once be said to have done.  As far as that comparison goes, that’s it and that’s all.  James still has time to win lots of hardware, but this loss, coming when it does, as it does, is going to stick for a while.  King James, so far, just can’t close it.  Please note: I’m not making fun or delighting in this.  If James gets this block straightened out, we’ll see the player everyone expects him to be deep into the playoffs.  He will hoist trophies and win multiple rings.  His regular-season talent, aggression, and drive won’t abandon him on the big stage.  LeBron needs to talk to somebody and beat this thing, and I say that as someone who rooted against the Heat this year on principle.  Who doesn’t want to see this guy be the best he can possibly be?  Witnessing greatness excites us and reminds us of what interesting, compelling creatures we are.  That’s why we love heroes. That’s why we watch.  We are the narrative species.

In LeBron’s hero epic, the next step every year is always supposed to be the redeeming grace of the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.  I’d make more Grail allusions if they weren’t so obvious, but I will suggest that redemption isn’t quite the right word for what a Heat win would have meant.  The Mavs’ win is vindication:  Nowitizki had none of the public ill-will LeBron carries.  Dirk had much to prove, especially to himself, but this win caps many good years that fell short, sometimes tragically.  The Mavs’ win feels like the proper end to an authentic quest.  It feels good and fitting and right.  A Heat win would not have vindicated or redeemed James in the same way.  It would have been an important Step One to those 8 or so championships James predicted last year, and only outdoing Bill Russell will really redeem the careless and off-putting hubris of the James to Miami saga.  No, a win for LeBron would have been accretion, one small step toward a compelling case for his kinghood and greatness.  That’s gone.  The Heat have to win the next 3 titles at least to start this process anew.  But first, LeBron has to learn how to close.  His archetypal, Campbellian enemy is not the media, public perception, or the Big Stage.  It’s whatever shuts down inside him when he’s playing on it.  Concur that Grendel, sir knight, and the basketball boons will follow.  Ignore it and you’ll retire having achieved far less than your talent makes possible, and, more importantly, without the long-lasting peace of knowing yourself and overcoming your fears.  That’s about more than basketball.  That’s about more than heroes.  That’s about a kind of fulfillment crass achievement can’t bring, and that’s the truly heroic journey we’re, all of us, on.

Superman Pictures from “Action Comics” and “Superman” DC Reboots. Also, SuperEmoBoy.

~ Chris Cocca ~ 6 Comments

One of these pictures is awesome.  One of them, despite my George Perez fandom, isn’t.

Awesome.
Isn't.

It’s not Perez’s fault.  He’s dealing with a redesigned Superman costume that isn’t his, and the inker made the space above Supes’ boots look gray/silver.  Here’s the overarching technical problem with the new suite: maybe it will work okay when Jim Lee is drawing it on a stylized, younger-looking Man of Steel, but it just isn’t going to work across artistic styles.  George Perez is an iconic Superman artist, and look how hamstrung this costume makes him.  The classic costume works in any style because it’s simple and iconic.  The new look has panels and too many lines. The belt’s over-thought.  The collar’s too high.  No red undies. Wrong wrong wrong.  Superman doesn’t need bells and whistles.  That’s the point.  That’s his deal.

Argh.  This is 90s in a bad way.  I know, you thought that was impossible.  So did I.

Then there’s this:

Booo.
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DC’s Superboy, Red Robin, and Kid Flash Reboot For New Teen Titans Book (And I Think of the 90s)

~ Chris Cocca ~ 7 Comments

This post is from 2011.  As of 2018, it still gets new views. The Teen Titans, not to mention the entire DC Universe, have gone through many iterations since then.  Why are fans able to accept that continuity is fluid when it comes to comic books, but not when it comes to properties like Star Wars or the Wizarding World?

To be honest, I don’t really accept a living Jason Todd, or a universe in which Tim Drake was never Robin.  But I also know that the pendulum will likely swing back, and that I get to pick what I consider canon.  That’s one of the great things about fiction.

Okay, so I think of the 90s anyway. That said, here’s the picture for the rebooted Teen Titans:

I was chatting with someone today who said this whole reboot reminds him of the 90s, and, specifically, what Marvel tried to do with Heroes Reborn.  The Superboy and Kid Flash designs specifically make me think of 90s aesthetics.  That patch on Bart’s left shoulder?  Reminds me of Jim Lee’s first shot at redesigning Superman, circa 1996:

Kid Flash should be minimalist and throwback.  When Bart Allen gave up the Impulse identity and became Kid Flash, it was in honor of Wally West and his costume reflected the importance of legacy in the Flash mythos:

This is the right look, but the boots are too busy.  The thing going on at the top of this post is just a mess.

As for Superboy. If you were 13 in 1993, you know that the modern incarnation of the Boy of Steel debuted during the Reign of the Supermen arc following Superman’s death. He was punk, and he looked every bit the 90s awesome he was meant to be:

Haters hate, but I think this costume was perfectly awesome for the time.  And yes, after seeing this, I did go home and try to draw Starter jackets for Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and the Flash.  That said, I think everyone agrees that Superboy’s most recent look is 100% DCAT (Don’t Change A Thing, with thanks to Paul Lukas):

This has become Connor Kent’s iconic Superboy look.  In the solicit picture for the reboot, he’s back to being a scenester.  What’s with the gothy tape job on his back?  The bar-c0de tattoo?  What could possibly tattoo him, anyway? For that matter, how did he pierce his ear in the 90s?  I know, I know: same way he shaves (his own heat vision in a mirror).

Red Robin (Tim Drake, formerly the third Robin before becoming Red Robin in the current DCU) is said to be leading the new new new Teen Titans.  I liked the Kingdom Come-inspired Red Robin costume of the last two years, and I liked the red and black look Tim sported during his final stint as the Boy Wonder.  Now he has feathers.  I want to say I hate it, but I sort of don’t.   Tim’s original costume was, perhaps, the perfect union of 90s re-design and timing.  It was current, believable, and, most importantly, not ridiculous.  The cape was black, the legs were covered.  The R was finally stylized.  He got a bo-staff and real boots. He got his own book and became a sidekick who was always more than that.  Tim was the best of the all the Robins because Tim’s  skill set, intellect, and emotional complexity made Robin a real hero in his own right and a compelling character to boot.  Tim Drake did for Robin what Nightwing did for Dick Grayson.  It makes sense that Tim would keep part of the Robin identity even as he moves on, but I’m not sure about those feathers.  Why not the current Red Robin costume with a domino mask instead of a cowl?  The rest of what’s going on above is way too busy.   I know that the hooded Robin look is being done by Damien Wayne, and Tim’s Robinmobile is called the Redbird.  I get that Tim ought to retain some of that mythos and the feathers signal the Tim (as opposed to Damien) side of things, but still.  Unless he starts to fly (please, no), he really shouldn’t have them.

If the 200os saw DC return to the Silver Age in terms of story and allusion, it feels like September 2011-forward are looking like the 90s redux.  Short from letting Supes fly his freak flag every now and then, I’m not sure that’s the way they should be going.  Then again, I was one of those kids that started reading comics because of the Batman movie and then in earnest with the Reign of the Supermen and the Knightfall series.  One of DC’s immediate goals is to give new readers and brand new point of entry, and the reboot and renumbering certainly provides that chance on a massive scale.  Still, feathers?  You know what? I’ll admit it.  He does look kind of cool.

In the 80’s, Superman Also Fought Asthma

~ Chris Cocca ~ 1 Comment

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was five.  My family lived in eastern Berks County and I still remember the late-night trip to the hospital in Allentown during my first  attack. Before I experienced the condition first-hand, everything I knew about the disease came from a 30-second public service announcement featuring Superman. Kids with asthma were supposed to ask their parents to call the American Lung Association for a pack of free information, or, as it appeared to me at the time, free Superman stuff. To be honest, I felt left out and thought asthma must be awesome if it got the Man of Steel to show up at your pick-up baseball games.

Obviously, I was wrong. Asthma is not awesome.  Superman does not show up at pick-up baseball games.  Chunk from The Goonies did not eat his weight in Godfather pizza.

But DC Superheroes did have their own cookbook.

The Depression Was Real (See Color Photos); Whatever We’re Having Now is Worse (See CBSNews)

~ Chris Cocca ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday, I saw this piece on the CBS Evening News website:

The crux: “About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in this country, have been jobless for more than six months – a higher percentage than during the Great Depression.” Read the rest here.

A few moments ago, I came across (again) a now-famous set of rare, full-color photos from The Depression, here.  I find these so striking.  Have you ever read the Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin asks his dad why old pictures are in black and white and new ones are in color?  If you have, you probably haven’t forgotten his dad’s answer:  “no, son, you see, back then the whole WORLD was actually in black and white.”  Calvin’s dad was a jerk like that.  But if you were born after color film became commonplace, doesn’t it sort of feel a little bit like that?  Everything before the 60s was black and white.  The 70s are yellow, matte, grainy.  The 80s are glossy, possibly Polaroid. The 90s tread water until digital cameras became more affordable.

To people like me, the these Depression pictures look almost too real to be real.  But they are real, and so was the Depression.  It was suffered through and overcome by real working people with full-color lives of depth and contrast.

When I began my MFA program in the fall of 2009, I had just seen the Depression pictures for the first time via Photo District News.  On the night of my New School orientation, there was an impressive photo exhibit exploring the many facets of the  American Dream on the large wall at the front of the room.   From my seat in one of the middle rows, I could tell that one of the photos was from this same set.  This is my picture of the exhibit’s picture of the Whinery family, homesteaders in Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940 by Russell Lee:

I wrote at the time about feeling a haunted kind of reverence for these homesteaders, for places like Pie Town, circumstances seemingly ripped from the 19th century and put back to work like old parents, like some Giving Tree. And there are the connections these images conjure to the grandparents and greatgrandparents of people my age, that generation that raised us on Depression stories.  Isn’t there something in the things people do because they have to that makes you feel like you’ve stumbled into sacred space? Were people’s faces just more honest then, or do we always look like this when there’s no reason to pretend things aren’t exactly what they are?  I don’t know, but I see something holy there.  And, behind it, hope.

And here we are again, with bad and worsening economic news, horrendous unemployment numbers, the worst housing market for sellers since this crash started.  You’ve heard this thing we’re in called The Great Recession, and I’ll leave it others to say if we’re not just kidding ourselves.  Whatever it is, it’s real and in color.  Its subjects are on the brink.  Some day, our grandchildren will curate blog posts and HD videos about what they will be calling The Second Great Depression, and they’ll look for the same steely resolve you see linked above.  I don’t know if they’ll find it.  As a society, we’re so hooked on excess.

If there’s hope behind the picture of 2011 and forward, it’s in the sustainability movements still gaining steam.  It’s in sustainable design and infrastructure, in localism, and in alternative, appropriate transportation. It’s in dialing back our consumption, investing in kids and communities and eschewing status symbols and status quos.  We need the full-color resolve of those old days, and we need leaders who will call us to conservation, compassion, community.

 

See also:

“Beat Your Strip Malls Into Greenspace” at The Daily Cocca