Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Episode 31: Hill Valley, CA (Imagined Geographies)


Tim Cresswell wrote that "even a totally imaginary place has an imaginary form in order to make it place like." Name one town so firmly embedded in American pop culture that isn't named Hill Valley in 3...2....1... we're going to assume you couldn't do it.

A couple months ago, Tyler had this funny notion of how the Back to the Future trilogy detailed the geographic development of not only the fictional, oxymoronically named Hill Valley, but also collective perceptions of Everytown, USA through a multitude of lenses. In each of the three films, we see such now-iconic landmarks like the clock tower, Hill Valley High, the Twin Pines Mall at various stages of their growth into the landscape fabric behind Marty McFly, Doc Brown, Biff Tannen, and the other assorted characters. Fortunately, one Tree (Teresa of 'Episode 25: Seattle' fame) and one Inky (David, of 'Episode 18: Chicago' fame) jumped on board with this idea, and now it's becoming a reality.

And what better way to promote this... reality than with an appearance on The Casual Geographer? Well, we can imagine plenty of better ways, but that doesn't mean this episode was any less fun. Grab your hoverboard, set your time coordinates, and hold on. Once you hit that play button, you're "going to [hear] some serious s&#t." Even if you don't enjoy it, "your kids are gonna love it." Is that enough references? Of course not, there's no such thing as too much Back to the Future.



Produced by Tyler S. for Sonic Geography
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Featured:
Huey Lewis & The News - "The Power of Love"
The Penguins - "Earth Angel"
Michael J. Fox (or whomever dubbed it) - "Johnny B. Goode" (Live at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance)

And don't forget to hit up THE CASUAL GEOGRAPHER ON...
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