Thursday, June 24, 2021

Fort Worth's Amazing "Iconic" T & P Station Skyscraper


I saw that which you see above yesterday in Wednesday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This an example of the type Star-Telegram "news" I have been eye rolling over ever since I was first exposed to Fort Worth and the town's newspaper of record, with its patented tendency towards hyperbolic nonsense..

Delusional hyperbole that long has had me wondering how such gets past any sort of editor. 

Why does the Star-Telegram, and Fort Worth, have such a fixation on claiming some lame thing in Fort Worth is iconic? Or a signature structure?

For years now we have been told that the Trinity River Vision is building three iconic signature bridges, over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

When those bridges finally began to be somewhat seen it was obvious they were perfectly ordinary little bridges which look like freeway overpasses.

Passing over nothing.

Is the explanation for this type nonsense, spouted by those who refer to something in Fort Worth as being iconic, that they don't know what the word "iconic" means?

Simply Googling "iconic definition" should help the Star-Telegram understand the T & P Station is not iconic. One example among dozens which come up when you Google that simple search term...

"Synonyms for 'iconic': famous, well-known, celebrated, renowned, fabled, legendary, notorious, infamous, illustrious, the one and only, best, better."

Yesterday I asked a non-Texan if they could name for me some iconic things that say "Fort Worth" to them. "No", was the initial answer. And then, "Oh, I know, that sign that says Fort Worth Stockyards".

Well, that doesn't count when the name is right on that which you think is iconic.

Now, what are some iconic things which people do see as iconic representations of a town?

The Eiffel Tower comes to mind, you know that is Paris when you see it.

The Golden Gate Bridge, you know that is San Francisco, among other iconic SF things, like Chinatown, the Cable Cars, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz.

You see a photo of the Petronas Towers, you know that is Kuala Lumpur.

The Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, you see a photo of one of those and you know it's Dubai.

See the Statue of Liberty, and you know it's an iconic symbol of both New York City and America. New York City has many iconic structures, in the form of skyscrapers and bridges. Oh, and Times Square.

See a photo of the skyline of Dallas, with Reunion Tower, and you are seeing an iconic image known world-wide due to a world-wide hit TV show called Dallas, back in the previous century.

Seattle has a few iconic images which people associate with the town, such as the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. And a big volcano called Rainier south of town.

But Fort Worth? I hate to hurt anyone feelings, but there is absolutely nothing in Fort Worth, other than the Fort Worth Stockyards sign, which is an iconic thing people recognize as being Fort Worth.

So, just stop it Star-Telegram, no more with this ironic use of the iconic word.

And speaking of Seattle and the Space Needle.

Last night I was watching a video on YouTube titled TOP 15 Most Amazing Skyscrapers. I expected to see the usual suspects, some of which I mentioned above, like the Petronas Towers, or those towers in Dubai, and some of the towers in China, like the futuristic ones in Shanghai.

What I did not expect was what I saw when we got to the #3 Most Amazing Skyscraper.

That being that it was the Space Needle which was the 3rd Most Amazing Skyscraper.

The accompanying verbiage described the Space Needle as an iconic structure, which it is. But, skyscraper? The Eiffel Tower was not on this TOP 15 list. I would think the Eiffel Tower would be much more recognized, and iconic, than the Space Needle. And I've never heard either referred to as skyscrapers. Even though both do scrape the sky.

I wonder if one day someone will build something in Fort Worth which will actually become iconic. The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision may become iconic, but not in the way most town's would want to be known, as in an Iconic Boondoggle of Epic Proportions.

You can watch that aforementioned TOP 15 Most Amazing Skyscrapers YouTube video below...

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