- Reality Checkpoint
Reality Checkpoint is the name given to a large
lamp-post in the middle ofParker's Piece ,Cambridge ,England [cite journal | last = Baker | first = Mike | title = Not in front of the parents: How 'education speak' prevents teachers from being heard | journal = Critical Quarterly | volume = 43 | issue = 1 | pages = 19-24 | year = 2001 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118970435/abstract ] where the park's diagonal paths cross at its centre. The name comes from an unofficial inscription which has been painted on the lamp-post since the early 1970s. The lamp-post is also believed to be the oldest electrical lamp-post in Cambridge. http://www.cambridgeonline.co.uk/articles/Parkers_Piece/] Thecrime novel "Reality Checkpoint" by Peter Turnbull - set in Cambridge - makes reference to the lamp-post as an allegorical device to describe the victim's state prior to murder. [cite book
title = Reality Checkpoint
last = Turnbull
first = Peter
publisher = Allison & Busby
year = 2004
isbn = 0750524545]Interpretation
There are three main theories as to the meaning of the name:
* It may mark the boundary between the central university area of
Cambridge (referred to as the 'reality bubble') and the 'real world' of non-academic locals living beyond. One is warned to check one's notions of reality before passing. [cite web
url=http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/R/Real-World.html
title=Real World
work=TheJargon File
date=2003-10-29
publisher=Eric S. Raymond
accessdate=2008-02-11]* It may be because the lamp-post forms a useful landmark for people crossing the park at night — perhaps drunk or in the fog — since it is the only light for hundreds of yards.
* It may be because the lamp-post is situated in the middle of two walking paths that intersect. Anyone walking whilst not tuned in to "reality" will likely collide with the lamp-post, hence "reality checkpoint".
Inscription
One report claims that the name was first painted on the lamp-post by students from CCAT (now
Anglia Ruskin University ) under the guidance of one of their teachers.It has been repeatedly re-painted since then in response to removal by the council or obliteration by graffiti. For the first half of 1998 the lamp-post carried an unofficial plaque bearing its name.
References
External links
* [http://cam.misc.org.uk/faq436.html "What is Reality Checkpoint?" on cam.wiki]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=hcXNAAAACAAJ&dq=isbn:0750524545&ei=ACTdSKvuK4XCywS_4pXPDA Peter Turnbull's "Reality Checkpoint" synopsis at Google Books]
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