Ark Encounter Of The Sad Kind!

Guess what's coming to my town. The Al Hartley cover above is a big hint. Here's a link to give you an insight. I'll have more to say when you return.

Actually it's coming to the town right next to mine, but the whole shebang will be only a few miles from my front door. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a more or less church-going type of guy, but this project seems ripe for ridicule. It's hard for me to see how this works for anyone. True believers should be very uncomfortable with their faith being transformed into a theme park, reduced to the same marketing ploys used by Disney folk and lesser-known carnies. Non-believers on the other side of the equation probably see the literal nature of this project as anti-intellectual.

Lord knows Kentucky doesn't need any help building up the yokel image it has across the country. This kind of thing, as beneficial as the jobs might be (and they are a good thing for this community, that I'll agree to), only adds to that stereotype. "Hillbilly" is one of the last slurs one can sling with relatively little fear of condemnation. This feeds that perception unfortunately.

This community has always had a chip on its shoulder about being looked down upon by outsiders. The students I've tried to teach for decades now, often dismiss their lack of focus and motivation on the fact they are from this particular county and little is all that should be expected of them. I've been trying to break that spell my whole career, but it seems in recent years the battle has been a losing one. This doesn't help.

Here's a link to the main page for this project. There's one of these things in Hong Kong. Here's a link to that.

Sigh.

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