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>2. I became obsessed with Luna Park, an influential proto-Disneyland based in Coney Island 100+ years ago. It was so popular they ran light rail out there and
by ryanmercer 4y ago
>2. I became obsessed with Luna Park, an influential proto-Disneyland based in Coney Island 100+ years ago. It was so popular they ran light rail out there and hundreds of thousands of people went there every weekend until it burned down about a decade later. Took a book about it on vacation to Paris. Went to a random place to read, and it had a little concourse named Luna Park. Inside it was a random coin-op machine named Luna Park, not related to the concourse from what I could tell.
Not really related, and a bit of a "woo" book, but there's a book called Latitude 33: Key to the Kingdom by Walter Bosley that suggests SRI designed the original Disney Land in a certain way to harness some sort of "woo" energy on the 33rd parallel. There's a bit in it though (I'm 99% its in this book) that involves some peculiar man appearing out of time and place enjoying the park. I hadn't thought of that book in years but this triggered that.
As a work of non-fiction it is dubious, but it's a fun read as a work of fiction.
Now, wholly unrelated, but also a fun dubious as non-fiction but fun as fiction book: The Vertical Plane by Ken Webster which alleges that for 2 years in the 1980s messages from the 16th century and the future would appear on the author's BBC Micro computer with some interaction.
- tomcam 4y agoIf you think I, a mature, science-oriented man of substance, have any interest these "woo" books, you are 100% correct. Can't wait to read "Latitude 33". Long ago I deep-dove into the Ken Webster but found it ultimately unsatisfying because it was unfalsifiable. But what a ride!
- tomcam 4y agoP.S. I dined at Club 33 many times and once managed to rent it, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Indiana Jones ride for a private party of about 50 people.
- ryanmercer 4y agoIt's not the greatest book but it was one I do not regret posting. They covered it on the Mysterious Universe podcast years ago which put it on my radar. Same with The Vertical Plane although, fortunately for people now, it's been re-printed so you don't have to pay an obscene amount for a copy of VP like I did.