Issue 0 - Fortitudinous - backseat

BACK
SEAT
ON ROAD
ENTERTAINMENT
ISSUE 0
FORTITUDINOUS
FEARLESS
FORTI
TUDI
NOUS
Fortitudinous is
bold Steel hunting, stout shiny sky
tragedy, insert mettlesome round
rusty token, undaunted cornerstone
morning laughs, valorous roots
revolution papercuts, plucky disorder random life span, loud diabolic
chorme disorder.
5
CONT
YVES & JACK (p.
9)
- Stuntmen’s love story
- Interviews
- Iron suit
ROAD TRIP (p.
39)
- The drive-in theater
history
- Pino
ENTS
6
LOST MATTER (p.
55)
- Myths of tunnels’
networks
ROUTE 66 (p.
- I was there !
Portraits
61)
JACK
YVES
STUNTMEN’S LOVE STORY
8
WE FIRST MET IN NEAR
A SMALL SQUARE HOUSE
BUILT IN FRONT OF A HUGE
ROCK WALL...
Text
PETER HARTLAUB
Photography
DANIEL TAUBER
MATTHIEU RUDAZ
10
There’s a reason “Ben-Hur” looks great after almost
five decades, and Ang Lee’s “Hulk” appears dated after just
five years. Computers may someday render obsolete the
toll taker, the grocery store cashier and perhaps the entire
Department of Motor Vehicles. But it’s becoming clear that
no machine will ever be able to replace a guy in a gladiator helmet getting tossed off the side of a moving chariot.
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull,” in theaters Friday, is just the latest high-profile summer movie in which the special effects take a secondary
role in relation to the stunt work. Stuntmen and women
were also responsible for the bulk of the action in “Batman Begins” and this summer’s “The Dark Knight.”
Young directors, such as Neil Marshall (“The Descent”)
and Len Wiseman (“Live Free or Die Hard”), have made
it a point to feature high-quality stunts in their films.
The return of the stuntman is bad news for people who like their movies to look like video games and
good news for almost everyone else. No one ever again
should have to pay $10 to see a movie whose big finish consists of two computer-generated monsters fighting in front of a computer-generated backdrop.
I don’t hate special effects - they were the primary
reason I fell in love with movies. I remember being 10 years
old and watching a television commercial for “The Empire
Strikes Back,” which featured a brief binoculars-eye view of
an approaching AT-AT (translation for non-geeks: those big
snow-walker things that look like the cranes at the Port of
Oakland), and worrying for my own health. Would I physically be able to wait until the film came out? From “Poltergeist” to “The Abyss” to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,”
it seemed as if each new event film in the 1980s and early
1990s had something groundbreaking and dazzling onscreen.
Then something unfortunate happened. While the
innovation curve leveled off, studios started treating effects like an arms race, gauging their films’ prospects by
the sheer volume of shots - turning each movie into the
visual equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Somewhere
between the third “Matrix” picture and the second “Riddick” film, the action scenes started to feel like an assault.
This was a sad time for those of us who grew up in
the 1970s and early ‘80s. (I’ll try my best to get through
11
this column without a “Fall Guy” reference.) The next
generation might never know that Clint Eastwood films
used to be one big 94-minute fistfight, with a couple of car
chases and an orangutan thrown in to break things up.
Here is what the following 1970s and ‘80s
movies would have looked like in 2003:
“Any Which Way But Loose”: Eastwood’s fights as
bare-knuckle brawler Philo Beddoe would have nauseainducing quick edits, as in “The Bourne Identity.” Clyde the
ape (and possibly Sondra Locke) would be done with CGI.
“Road House”: To cut costs, Patrick Swayze’s body
would be shot in Vancouver while his mullet would be filmed
in a soundstage in Romania. Special effects wizards would
add the sweat glistening on Swayze’s body in post-production.
“Cannonball Run”: Think “Speed Racer,” but with
Dom DeLuise. (Which, dedicated Book of Revelation readers will recognize, is one of the signs of the apocalypse.)
But then, about three years ago, something strange and
wonderful happened. Just before someone could announce
an “Electric Horseman” remake filmed entirely on green
screen, word started to come from the “Batman Begins” set
that the movie was filled with life-size sets and stuntmen.
The result was a gritty realism that had as much to do with
the film’s success as the great casting and strong story. Unlike almost every superhero movie of the past decade, you
couldn’t see where the reality ended and the fantasy started.
Since then, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the
number of young directors willing to keep the old traditions alive. Quentin Tarantino’s half of the “Grindhouse”
movie was a love letter to the stuntman - or perhaps a call
to action.Noted stuntwoman Zoe Bell was given a lead role,
and stole the film. Kurt Russell played Stuntman Mike, who
liked to drive fast and ridicule CGI with equal ferocity.
I recently saw a Neil Marshall movie called “Doomsday” - sadly, I was one of about 12 people - that was filled
with so many exploding military vehicles, horseback chases
and postapocalyptic punks flying through the air as if by
catapult that it was impossible to notice the gaping plot
holes. That was the beauty of the exploitation film era.
Hire a couple of great stuntmen and a halfway sober cinematographer, and you didn’t even need a screenwriter.
You could have left an open container of potato salad
12
on the dashboard of your car last weekend, and it wouldn’t
have gone bad any faster than “Doomsday” disappeared from
theaters. But I’m guessing that movie will hold up better 50
years from now than either of the “Fantastic Four” movies.
This doesn’t mean special effects need to disappear.
Studios just need to know their limitations. The visual success rate for summer blockbusters over the past decade has
been about 15 percent, but there’s still a place for groundbreaking effects when they complement the story. “SpiderMan 2” and everything but the last 10 minutes of “The
Transformers” were examples of near-seamless effects that
were prevalent throughout the movie but didn’t hinder the
storytelling. “Iron Man” did an above-average job as well.
Meanwhile, studios should aim for smaller special effects
movies, like “Cloverfield” and the Korea-made “The Host,”
in which the story comes first. I’ll still argue that the industry’s
biggest success of the past decade was “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” - the crew did its job so
well that nobody even knew it was a special effects movie.
The new “Indiana Jones” doesn’t quite meet that standard, but it comes close. The car and motorcycle stunts are
fantastic, and the fistfights are thrilling in their simplicity.
Logic and safety say that computers were used to augment
many of these scenes, but the average moviegoer will have
a difficult time telling you where. The ending features a
special effects orgy that borders on excess - but to be fair,
the same could be said of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The stuntman seems like a product of another era,
when a few people left on Earth still craved anonymity.
Everything from YouTube to “Jackass” has reinforced the
notion that anyone can be a star. Who in this new era wants
to strap themselves to a rocket and be launched across a
lake - and then let Tobey Maguire receive all the credit?
But now more than ever, we need these noble warriors. That may not really be Harrison Ford punching
out half a dozen Russians, climbing out of a car onto a
moving motorcycle and swinging from his whip into the
window of a moving truck. But at some point, a real person did all of these things, and we’re all better for it.
YOU COULD HAVE LEFT
AN OPEN CONTAINER OF
POTATO SALAD ON THE
DASHBOARD OF YOUR CAR
LAST WEEKEND, AND IT
WOULDN’T HAVE
GONE
BAD ANY FASTER THAN
“DOOMSDAY”
DISAPPEARED FROM THEATERS.
BUT I’M GUESSING THAT
MOVIE WILL HOLD UP BETTER 50 YEARS FROM NOW
THAN EITHER OF THE “FANTASTIC FOUR” MOVIES.
13
14
15
ONE MAIN PROBLEM DID ARISE IN HIS TEST.
THAT WAS IF CARS WERE PARKED BEHIND
EACH OTHER, THE CARS AT THE REAR
WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE WHOLE
PICTURE.
Noted stuntwoman Zoe Bell was given a lead role, and
stole the film. Kurt Russell played Stuntman Mike, who liked
to drive fast and ridicule CGI with equal ferocity.
I recently saw a Neil Marshall movie called “Doomsday”
- sadly, I was one of about 12 people - that was filled with
so many exploding military vehicles, horseback chases and
postapocalyptic punks flying through the air as if by catapult
that it was impossible to notice the gaping plot holes. That
was the beauty of the exploitation film era. Hire a couple of
great stuntmen and a halfway sober cinematographer, and you
didn’t even need a screenwriter.
You could have left an open container of potato salad on
the dashboard of your car last weekend, and it wouldn’t have
gone bad any faster than “Doomsday” disappeared from theaters. But I’m guessing that movie will hold up better 50 years
from now than either of the “Fantastic Four” movies.
This doesn’t mean special effects need to disappear.
Studios just need to know their limitations. The visual success
rate for summer blockbusters over the past decade has been
about 15 percent, but there’s still a place for ground-breaking
effects when they complement the story. “Spider-Man 2” and
everything but the last 10 minutes of “The Transformers”
were examples of near-seamless effects that were prevalent
throughout the movie but didn’t hinder the storytelling. “Iron
Man” did an above-average job as well.
Meanwhile, studios should aim for smaller special effects
movies, like “Cloverfield” and the Korea-made “The Host,”
in which the story comes first. I’ll still argue that the industry’s
biggest success of the past decade was “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” - the crew did its job so
well that nobody even knew it was a special effects movie.
The new “Indiana Jones” doesn’t quite meet that standard, but it comes close. The car and motorcycle stunts are
fantastic, and the fistfights are thrilling in their simplicity.
tellborders on excess - but to be fair, the same could be said of
“Raiders of the Lost Ark.” There’s a reason “Ben-Hur” looks
16
great after almost five decades, and Ang Lee’s “Hulk” appears
dated after just five years. Computers may someday render obsolete the toll taker, the grocery store cashier and perhaps the
entire Department of Motor Vehicles. But it’s becoming clear
that no machine will ever be able to replace a guy in a gladiator helmet getting tossed off the side of a moving chariot.
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,”
in theaters Friday, is just the latest high-profile summer movie
in which the special effects take a secondary role in relation to
the stunt work. Stuntmen and women were also responsible
for the bulk of the action in “Batman Begins” and this summer’s “The Dark Knight.” Young directors, such as Neil Marshall (“The Descent”) and Len Wiseman (“Live Free or Die
Hard”), have made it a point to feature high-quality stunts in
their films.
The return of the stuntman is bad news for people who
like their movies to look like video games and good news for
almost everyone else. No one ever again should have to pay
$10 to see a movie whose big finish consists of two computergenerated monsters fighting in front of a computer-generated
backdrop.
I don’t hate special effects - they were the primary reason
I fell in love with movies. I remember being 10 years old and
watching a television commercial for “The Empire Strikes
Back,” which featured a brief binoculars-eye view of an approaching AT-AT (translation for non-geeks: those big snowwalker things that look like the cranes at the Port of Oakland), and worrying for my own health. Would I physically
be able to wait until the film came out? From “Poltergeist” to
“The Abyss” to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” it seemed as
if each new event film in the 1980s and early 1990s had something groundbreaking and dazzling onscreen.
Then something unfortunate happened. While the innovation curve leveled off, studios started treating effects like an
arms race, gauging their films’ prospects by the sheer volume
17
ROCKING
SUPERMAN JUST
DOESN’T DIE,
RIGHT?
So tell us, how did you
end up doing stunts?
It was Jack that introduced me to the
stunt-life. We actually got to know each
other because he had an accident infront
of my garage in geneva. I was already in
the races for a couple of years so it was
a good time to start something new.
Did you experience any stuntaction that went badly wrong and
if - can you tell us about it?
Unfortunately i sent three people at once
to the hospital --- During the very first
time that i did the infamous „car driving
on two wheels“ with three passengers
onboard a puddle of water appeard suddenly on the road – trying to escape it
i turned the wheel too hard and the car
punched back to the road to rough so
18
everybody inside ended up smashed onto
the doors and windows. Luckily they all
had only minour injuries. Afterwards i
had to change a backdoor because it had
the marks of one of the guys shoulder.
Another story happened to Jack during our training. He wanted to do a
stunt with his wife. She had to lie on
the roof of the driving car while he
was doing power-slides. Unfortunately
i polished and waxed the roof of our
Kadett just two days ago – making
it super-slippery! She fell down of
course – and gave Jack a hard time.
What inspires you?
Well i am a biker you know. My roots
lie there, rock’n roll and motorbikes.
You know, films like Mad Max. That
kind of stuff. I’d like to watch „Crash“
together with Jack some time.
When we do our stunt performances we
really do very basic and classic actions.
Sadly we never found someone to sponsor more visionary and eccentric stunts.
Is there any particular stunt that you
really would like to pull – but you
just cant (illigal, too dangerous,etc)?
i experienced a growing sensation and
desire for crashes. When i started it was
just about the car driving on two wheels
and power-slides. Just while doing it the
situations turned out more and more
dangerous. And i liked it that way. I
am really into that moment bevore
something happens. You smell the fire,
plastic bruning, the noise, the adrenallin pumping in your veins. Thats fun!
Just big jumps with the car draw me
off. I am not in controll of the car
while ist in the air. That i dont like.
19
What does it mean to be real stuntman? How did it influence your life?
We did experience some jet-set lifestyle too. All-inclusive events. Plane,
hotel, chouffeur all just for us. Driving
infront of a huge crowd, 3000people
applauding and television filming.
That was amazing and unforgetable.
What is a car for a stuntman?
Its funny because in spite of being a
car mechanic, driving races and doing
stunts with cars i am not crazy about
cars. Once i had a 15 year old fourgon
US but i never hunted for nice cars.
Can you tell us a story that
happend inside a car?
Well, i could tell you a lot of story
that happened inside a car when i was
not driving, specially on the backseat. Butt his was a long time ago
before i got married so i am not going to tell you. The only advise i give
you is to take care of speedbumps! I
still remember a lot pain from bouncing my head to the roof of the car.
I MIGHT HAVE JUMPED OVER THE
MOON IF I’D HAD THE RIGHT MOTORCYCLE
Any thing else you want to say?
Its about seven years now that we have
this bird at home. My wife rescued it
after i did a weekend of stunts in france.
We took it home in a little box, feed it
with some water and corn. Back home
my wife bought a nice little cage for
the fella but he died just two days later.
The kids cried so we bought a new one
just like the old. Hi likes to sing loud
which reminds me of that weekend.
20
21
PUNCHING
POST-DAREDEVIL
YEARS
What advice would you give to anyone
who wants to become a stuntman?
The main thing is that it’s a really competitive industry with a lot of talented
people, and there’s not a lot of work. If
it’s your dream, then I’d say pursue it.
But you can’t get into it half-heartedly.
What made you want to become a stuntman?
I’ve wanted to since I was five years
old. I was brought up in the 80s, so
was subjected to lots of action on
TV, like The A Team and Dukes Of
Hazzard. I was always very active at
school, heaping around trees, so was
groomed from an early age I guess! I’d
re-enact stuff, I was really into Indiana Jones and the Bond movies too.
Have you ever been injured
as a result of your job?
I’ve been very fortunate in my career really, I’ve had the odd few bands, pulled
ligaments, dislocated shoulder, etc. - but
22
I’ve never broken any bones. I’ve been
off for a few months due to injuries,
being in plaster and having physio. But
within a week I’m clawing at the walls!
Has there ever been a stunt you’ve
asked to do which you’ve had doubts
about or refused to do? No, I’m open
to most things within reason. If I’m
unsure then we’ll just give more time
for rehearsal. I’ve done jobs that other
people have turned down though, that
I’ve known are within my range.
What’s your favourite
type of stunt do to?
It all goes back to being a kid really,
I’ve always been fascinated by driving
stunts and crashes, so a stunt driver
is what I’d always aspired to be.
Which stunt that you’ve done
are you most proud of?
I’ve got a Top Three which changes all
the time, but the main one has to be
crashing the Aston Martin at 80mph
in Casino Royale. To get the Guinness
World Record, and then to be nominated for the World Stunt Awards too...
we’re going to LA in May, representing
the UK! We’re up for Best High Work,
for the crane jump at the start, and Best
Work With A Vehicle. To be a stuntman for a Bond movie was just beyond
my dreams. When Pierce (Brosnan) was
Bond I was always too short as I’m 5ft
10, but I’ve been doubling for Daniel
(Craig) for a few years now, so when
there were rumours about him getting
the part I knew maybe there was the
potential, and then to get the call...
How’s your driving when
you’re not working?
Oh, I drive very sensibly on the roads,
I don’t even go over the speed limits. I
don’t really need to when I can drive like
a maniac and get paid for it! I think we
start rehearsing in November, and then
start shooting early next year. The Bond
movies are infamously secretive though,
so I’ve no idea what we’ll be doing, but I
know it’s a brand new script. Hopefully
we’ll be filming somewhere hot though!
23
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25
I took a drive in the devil’s Cadillac
down one way streets and cul de sacs;
Through red traffic lights and red stop signs –
Me and the devil and the backseat driver,
We drove down the motorway at a slow speed
along green pastures where sacred lambs feed;
Increasing our speed when being chased by the past –
Me and the devil and the backseat driver,
Lost on the back-roads with no exit in sight
we came across three old farmers who told us “Turn right”.
Travelling towards the shining of a distant star –
Me and the devil and the backseat driver,
Stopping at the cross-roads at the break of day
we each wanted to go our separate ways.
Donegal, Belfast or Dungannon town –
Me and the devil and the backseat driver,
We flipped a coin and decided to go back
down one way streets and cul de sacs;
Along green pastures on motorway lanes –
Me and the devil and the backseat driver,
Increasing our speed in the rush-hour past.
On hometown roads, the stones were being cast.
With frustrated hearts, we embraced the sins –
Me and the devil and the backseat driver,
Our journey ends and life begins…
26
27
IRON
SUIT
Two lorries that collided on
the M25 at Leatherhead early on
Wednesday sparked off a freak series of other crashes involving a
second lorry and two cars.
Amazingly, only one driver sustained serious injuries and even those
are not considered to be life-threatening.
Despite being trapped in his car underneath one of the lorries, another driver
miraculously managed to free himself
and walk away shocked but virtually unscathed. “He had a very lucky
escape,” said Justin Ward, the South
East Coast ambulance service officer
on the scene. The drama unfolded
at around 8.20 am on the clockwise
carriageway of the motorway shortly
before the Leatherhead turn-off.
Two lorries were involved in
28
a collision, after which there was a
second collision behind the first. In the
second incident a lorry overturned,
blocking all three lanes and shedding
its load of motorcycles. A car was
crushed beneath it and a second car
crashed into the overturned lorry.
Emergency services rushed to the
scene. The South East Coast Ambulance Service sent four ambulances and
two paramedic cars. The anticlockwise
carriageway also had to close to allow
an ambulance helicopter to land. Three
people were treated at the scene for
minor injuriesThe two truckers from
the first collision were taken to Epsom
Hospital, one suffering from a shoulder injury and the other, in his 30s,
with pain to his lower back. The driver
of the overturned lorry in the second
crash was the most seriously injured
but his condition was not believed to
be life-threatening. He was also rushed
to Epsom Hospital. The male driver of
the car crushed by the overturned lorry
had incredibly managed to free himself
before the ambulance crews arrived. He
showed no signs of “visible injury” but
was taken to hospital as a precaution.
“What appeared to be a very serious motorway incident was in fact a
lot less severe than it could have been,”
added Mr Ward. Auto Accident Personal Injury Insurance Claim: (How to
Evaluate and Settle Your Loss) “The car
that was trapped under the over turned
lorry was almost completely crushed.
The driver had a very lucky escape.”
The motorway was strewn with
motorbikes which had to be cleared
away before the first of the clockwise
lanes could be reopened. Some motorbikes still remained in the overturned truck and had to be removed
before the vehicle could be dragged
to the hard shoulder and finally taken
away. It was not until mid-afternoon
that all lanes were back to normal.
This was the second major incident at Leatherhead to have closed
the motorway in less than four weeks.
However, the effect was less serious
than the previous one on June 9 that
paralysed much of the county’s road
network for an entire day because of
the congestion aftermath. Many drivers
were trapped on the motorway in baking heat for hours after a lorry crashed
and burst into flames. As temperatures
rose, supplies of bottled water had to be
airlifted to them to prevent dehydration.
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PANO
RAMA
WINDOW WATCHING
38
WHAT TURNED OUT TO
HAPPEN IN THE END IF
YOU GET ASK: CAN YOU
DRIVE
PINO
TOMORROW MORNING?
Text
PETER HARTLAUB
Photography
DANIEL TAUBER
MATTHIEU RUDAZ
Sure, its good to drive Pino cos
everybody might end up in a situation where its good to know Pino.
Or at least one out of the family.
6 o’clock is a though time
- but thats Pino for ya.
luckily i did already drive Pino
once to his estate, so i knew the area
a bit. but 6 in the morning means still
dark and the empty alleys all look alike.
After ending up in the third blind alley
i wasent so sure about my memory. and
the indicator of my watch pointed
5.58 already.
5.59 and Rexona fails to
work under my armpits.
Shortly thereafter I finally reached
Pino property. And there I was already
coming down, looking and asking for
the others. “when do they come?”
which others i thought?
fearing a serbian gang of felons might steal my car.
well, people say Pino is italian - but who does really know...
The other merceds s-class he
states. hmmm, i was thinking. sure
now you could see a two meters big
question mark above my head.
Why? i ask. For my
two other friends...
Well. Noone told me about that!
maybe i should als ad that Pino alone
had luggage to make the ups-europechief-executive logistics manager pale...
I mean he has a golfbag that
fits for conyoning, wakeboarding,
kitesurfing, diving and what ever..
honesty is the best they say so
i answered him: “no worries, we
will fit your hand luggage somehow
in my little car after some planing”. “wheres the problem?”
“Giovanni Pavarotti and
the Managing Director of Dorint
Hotel will come with us”!
Oh really...
Well, but if the two other additional protagonists are not also
fans of the sports above mentioned - should be still ok..
Not really my friend..
Quite the opposite indeed.
No i definitely thought about
ether commiting suicide or faking a severe asthma-attack.
the “new business” are
friends with Pino...
And all this challenge at 6o’clock
in the morning. i didnt need to think
much if it would be possible to call
any of my colleges for help. especially
noone knowing where Pino lives...
well, its not that dark anymore.
keep it easy, drive slow
and smooth. smalltalk... and
believing in rexona!
Unfortunately also Pino was
pissed cos of his early morining flight.
great, we where both at same level.
Still i could not imagine
that our companionship and harmonie will be tested that hard.
then a divine coincidence occured. My passenger Pino has a great
idea: my friend Angelo P has a car!
this one would totally kill me.
This Angelo P guy totally met my immagination - but
his “car” ... nor really!!
A KIA Carnival!
you should know that my
s500 costs a wee little 150 000 euros. The “replacement car” is not
worth more than my side-mirror.
BUT we would all fit
into it - including luggage. a
bit more rustic but hey...
a little joke will do...
Pino still wont smile. only after i
compare our story to the marx borthers, i thought i could see a blink.
it definitly is worth knowing some
fundamental terms in roman languages.
so we been warp-speeding toward the airport. in the meantime Pino
was driving him self by the way!
The spirit that ought to prevail in the end was... “relaxed”.
but thats how it is betwenn
.. brothers. thats real men.
If there wasnt my boss at the
airport. seeing me instead of an s-class
with the fuckedup Kia driving up.
Funny indeed.
bevore he couldnt even start to
ask something like a question i said:
“listen Holger, i know its bad news but.
i was playing poker last night...and i
thought three kings would do the job...”
“... but three aces had been better??!!” please tell me your just joking.
he actually was afraid of ... Pino!
Holger ... lets talk later. i’m
gonna clean the Kia now...
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AN URBAN MYTH TELLS OF
A SUBTERRANEAN RACE LIVING IN A FABULOUS NET-
Text
PETER HARTLAUB
Photography
MATTHIEU RUDAZ
WORK OF TUNNELS UNKNOWN TO US GROUND
DWELLERS.
In Michael Moorcock’s Mother London a writer with
an obsession with lost tube tunnels becomes intrigued by
tales of an underground race living long-unseen by surface
dwellers in disused tunnels and side-sewers, and finally he
finds them. More recent, and less gothic, is Tobias Hill’s
tale of tube life Underground, which mixes prosaic London
locations with grisly murder and long-lost tunnels. His hero
also ventures into one the deeper younger tunnels spaced
along the Northern Line which were later bought by companies offering commercial archiving services. And 2006
saw the publication of Conrad Williams’ London Revenant,
which uses the real strange and dark places under London
as a jump-off into territory even darker and stranger.
Published in 2007, Tom Becker’s Darkside deals with an
alternative dark London accessible either through a sewer pipe
by Blackfriars Bridge or Down Street Underground station.
The Underground provides related legends of brickedup trains full of skeletons in dark and dusty suits and of lost
and miraculously preserved stations. This theme has been
covered by fiction as disparate as the 1972 film Death Line
and an episode of The Goon Show called The Scarlet Capsule,
the mysterious ‘mind-the-doors’ mantra being a shared theme.
There is supposed to be an office block in the City
which has a basement room where, if you open an old
door behind a filing cabinet, you find yourself on a longdisused station platform, where the chocolate machines
take pre-decimal money and posters advertise long-forgotten films. Ghost stations which do exist include Down
Street (see photo left). Closed in May 1932 its brick walls
are visible when travelling between Hyde Park Corner
and Green Park on the Piccadilly Line. (Tours of Down
Street can be booked through The London Transport Museum.) Then there’s Spring Grove (Piccadilly Line), Tower
of London and Lords (Metropolitan), British Museum
and Post Office (Central), and Bull & Bush, King William
Street, City Road and South Kentish Town (Northern).
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SIX
TY
rt66x.jpg
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249428243206_0_ALB.jpg.jpg
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USA2002-2.jpg
505400179_cd36ec7022.jpg
rgb_1971.JPG
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/47169362@N00/39694756/
in/set-72157600975923901/
http://www.zeblog.com/blog/uploads/e/esti/
http://grandtrip2002.tripod.com/Day8.html
http://thunewatch.squarespace.com/sd-watch-photo-of-theday/
http://ttang.smugmug.com/photos/
http://marigaz.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/
http://picasaweb.google.com/Lamboy.jerome/LasVegasGrandCanyon/photo#5121362042706185362
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CRE
GRAPHICS
EDITOR
Daniel Tauber
Matthieu Rudaz
Alexei Melkinov
PRINT
Ecal
ART DIRECTION
Daniel Tauber
Matthieu Rudaz
DITS
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Daniel Tauber
Matthieu Rudaz
CONTRIBUTORS
Google Inc.