Happy
Fourth of July! It’s a few days early, yes, but to do a Fourth of July special after
the holiday is too gauche.
I
had a good rest on my mini-vacation last week; it gave me a little more time to
think about writing and creating that wonderful new banner you see before you.
The
fireworks you see in the banner are pictures I took at last year’s Fourth of
July celebration in Kenosha. I had known about my Kodak Easy-Share’s
“fireworks” setting, but hadn’t tested it yet. Let me tell you, it takes fine
pictures, but there’s a downside: Using the Fireworks setting “freezes” the
camera for a few seconds while it processes the images. In other words, you
have to time it very carefully.
I
think at least one of the four you see up there has a “prismatic” effect on it.
That was a laughably simple but hard-to-pull-off physical trick: I have these
“magic glasses” that I bought at the Smithsonian in 2001 during the 8th-grade
trip to Washington, DC, and their prismatic lenses make an already awesome
fireworks display even better. Last year, just before the show started, I
thought, “I wonder what sticking the lens in front of the camera will do?” It
worked beautifully, but holding lens and camera, and keeping them lined up, was
very painful after a few minutes, and a few of the “prismatic” pictures
are noticeably shakier than the ordinary ones. If you want to give it a try, I’d
recommend finding a set of inexpensive cardboard glasses that you can cut up
and stick onto the camera lens with tape; your hands will be free to hold the
camera steady.
Looks like our impromptu photography lesson's over; now it's time to check out today's exhibits.
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| Full-on shot of the bear; detail of his tag. |
This
little guy first showed up in March 2013, but I include him here because he’s a
2000 edition, and also because he’s decorated in the colors of the American
flag. There’s nothing about it that screams “Millennium!” other than his 2000
issue date, but I’m glad I bought it because now it rounds out the four items I
needed.
I am honestly surprised that a bigger deal wasn't made about "the first Independence Day celebration of the 21st Century," but then again, it's a holiday that doesn't really need a lot of special merchandise--the Stars and Stripes are generic enough that anything which didn't get bought this year can be put away and resold next year.
A
joint program developed by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the
White House Millennium Council, this large pamphlet contains a series of
suggestions for Americans of all ages to capture and preserve the stories of
their relatives and those closest to them; the idea was to create a metaphorical tapestry or
quilt out of these stories.
The
concept went a step further in that it took advantage of the then-fledgling
Internet. To quote NEA chairman William Ferris, “Our website is a virtual
‘front porch’ for every American…Once you post your family stories and
photographs in the online collection; you can discover more about your
ancestors as you create your family tree and see how each branch connects with
the nation’s history.”
Former
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton offered her own perspective: “My History…will
help make our nation’s celebration of the new millennium a time that reveals
and enriches the spirit of millions of Americans…It is a time to honor the past
and imagine the future.”
The
“My History” website was, in a sense, an early prototype of the
Millennium Museum. It preserves the past while it retains that undeniably
American sense of optimism about the future. It’s the perfect time capsule, but
I responded most to the idea of fusing stories of American people with a
then-new method of communication…the turn of the Millennium saw the World Wide
Web become affordable to everyone around the world. This was thanks, in part,
to the efforts of America Online, which became a giant by offering a flat
monthly fee for unlimited Internet use. At the time, other companies charged an
hourly rate, which seems absurdly cheap now but was a problem when things took
a long time to download.
But
there is another way in which My History is a prototype of the Museum:
Whereas the book/website sought to preserve history as a guide for a bright new
future, I seek to preserve the history and the optimism that surrounded the
Year 2000 celebrations as a demonstration of optimism lost.
All
right…This is one of the times when I wish I were a little bit more high-tech,
because “Space Invaders 2000” practically screams for a video review.
How
about I make a deal with you? Since the Millennium Museum is a growing and
continually-evolving work, I sometimes see fit to revisit older items as time
goes on and I gain new insights about them. For next year’s Fourth Spectacular,
I’ll revisit “Space Invaders” with a video review.
Published
by Activision in 1999, this update of the classic arcade game is one of several
Millennium revivals. The other games in the loose “series” were “Asteroids” (the
ad you see was on the back of the “Invaders” booklet), “Centipede,” “Pong,” and
“Breakout,” all of which Activision owned.
As
a “Tank” pilot, you have to go each planet in our Solar System and wipe out the
invasion forces, represented by hordes of brightly-colored, toy-like aliens.
Since the aliens are invading Earth, interplanetary travel raises the question:
Why are you not going from continent to continent and wiping out the invasion
fleet?
Better
leave questions like that to one side. You’re here to fire rockets, kill
aliens, and chew bubblegum…and you’re all out of bubblegum.
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| This screenshot gives you an idea of just how varied the Invaders are. |
This
was one of the first single computer games I bought when we got the Gateway PC
in 2000-- all of the other games came bundled with the PC. The action gets a
little repetitive, but that’s just being faithful to the original game. Much of
the “new” flavor comes from the aliens themselves, many of whom use signature
attacks such as dive-bombs and diagonal shots; and also from “special” powers
you gain from killing four “like” invaders in a row, such as boomerang
missiles, acidic clouds, and “a frickin’ lay-zer beam” (to quote Austin Powers’
arch-nemesis Dr. Evil). The end-of-level bosses provide something of a
challenge, but mostly you just have to dodge their attacks.
At
the end, you have to beat the original “Invader” from the arcade game’s
artwork: a huge, black Yeti with glowing yellow eyes. In a surrealistic touch,
the Invader is like a moving cardboard cutout, as seen when he walks across the
screen.
At
the end, you have to beat the original “Invader” from the arcade game’s
artwork: a huge, black Yeti with glowing yellow eyes. In a surrealistic touch,
the Invader is like a moving cardboard cutout, as seen when he walks across the
screen.
When
you beat the game, your reward is a reproduction of the original 1978 classic,
in keeping with the Millennium theme of preserving the old along while adding
something new.
The
graphics and music hold up reasonably well in 2013. The techno-inspired
soundtrack has a good beat to it, and the enemies still look very good. The pre-rendered FMVs (see below for an example) that
bookend the game still look pretty good even if they’re slightly pixellated and grainy.
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| Screenshot from the opening FMV. I still say it looks pretty good. |
Overall,
this is a worthy addition to any Millennium-themed Fourth of July gathering. It
offers fireworks a-plenty, and nothing says “Fourth of July” better than
shooting up hordes of marauding aliens!
