A Wonderland of Elusive Toys
When I was a little girl growing up in Portland, Oregon, we lived across the street from a shopping mall. Because my grandma lived two doors down from us, I was lucky enough to make many trips to this mall throughout my childhood.
One of my favorite stops was an arcade at the end of the mall near G. I. Joe’s. It was one of those true 80s establishments—so pitch black that you couldn’t see the quarters you were about to blow on a game of Tempest and blaring with noise so deafening you couldn’t talk to the person next to you.
Aside from the Ms. Pac Man and Centipede records I was always trying to beat, I was mildly obsessed with the Claw Machine, which held the promise of grand treasures if you aimed the joystick and pushed the button at just the right time.
Of course, it was designed to make the actual delivery of toys next to impossible, and the best I’d usually get (after 10 or 12 tries) was a flat carnival-caliber stuffed animal that typically had a little gold thread looped at the top (I remember this specifically because I’d hang my winnings from the top of my canopy bed). Not remotely worth the effort or money, but it did give my grandma plenty of time to look at the card store next door, etc. while I tried.
How does this relate to U2, you ask?
Well, I’ve been excitedly watching all of the videos and photos come in as they’re building the stage for the tour. And I can’t help but wonder if the set designers could’ve possibly known that their vision would so greatly resemble an arcade relic from decades past? I mean really, if you actually study this thing, it’s almost identical to a claw from one of those old machines, only 100 times larger.
Wouldn’t it be cool if the U2 Claw surprised us all by moving out into the crowd and scooping some of us up, only to deliver us onto the stage (or into Larry’s lap)? I mean, we are talking about a band that once emerged from a lemon. Anything’s possible…right?
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I like the idea of being scooped into Larry’s lap
fyi: G.I. Joes is an Oregon sporting goods chain. after they dropped the G.I. a couple years ago to drop the association with the military, it’s customers stopped shopping there. The whole chain went bankrupt and the last of the stores will be shut down within the next few months.
Not U2 related, but I got my first U2 ticket, for the PopMart tour in Eugene, at a G.I. Joes. This will leave Oregon’s second largest market without a Ticketmaster outlet.
Got this nice e-mail today from a reader who clearly keeps up with U2.com better than I do! Thx Annie!
“Willie Williams actually wrote about this on U2.com a couple of months ago - and he had the same thought as you!
http://u2.com/stream/article/display/id/4626
“In its final incarnation though, its sleek curves and four talon-like legs have been dubbed “The Claw”, remembering the fairground machine from Toy Story. This really amused me, spawning a fantasy of it descending and grabbing members of the audience, all of whom, presumably, would have three eyes.”
Great image isn’t it?!
”
~ Annie
although I do hope to be transcended during the upcoming tour - I hope it isn’t by the “claw” - literally.