That was an exercise in using government to set the table for long-term growth by luring human capital, not in trying to micromanage the future with shiny office buildings, a downtown stadium or a mall.
Back then, a century ago, our marriage was as close to perfect as it is possible to get, with lots of hand holding and talk of "the future," that shiny, happy unknown.
Its shiny future seemed uncertain.
Beyond color of fur, he had not a single thing in common with the future chic and shiny size-zero ABC heiress Mimi Goldsparkle.
Dry speeches, the swapping of business cards, and a marathon banquet, with dutiful toasts to the shiny future of this southern Chinese city once known in the West as Canton.
The abstract emblem has several incarnations: a Minimalist stainless steel wall sculpture called "Bright Shiny Future"; an illuminated sign on a pristine white podium; and the repeated element in an allover pattern painting.
McCarron was either forgotten or ignored amid pregame hype that focused on Alabama's loss of six defensive starters, Robinson's debut as a Heisman Trophy contender, Michigan's shiny future in the wake of an 11-2 season under first-year Coach Hoke and a possible Crimson Tide title hangover.
Despite the Ducks' sartorial boldness and supersonic offense that has it poised for a bright shiny future, writes Stewart Mandel on SI.com, the Cowboys' victory took top billing because they did have an argument for playing Louisiana State for the national title.
It's been the plaintive cry for years of anyone who grew up with science fiction: "Where's my jetpack?" For the jetpack commute, along with holidays on the Moon and roast dinners in pill form, has been the symbol of the bright, shiny future promised to us by optimistic authors and movie-makers for the best part of a century.
The future as a shiny utopia probably started dying somewhere back in the 1960s.
