Artist renditions can convey a much more exciting view than reality.
I just went to my roof to see the towers of light streaming from what I refuse to call Ground Zero. They seem an incredibly anemic substitute for the landmark I used to see. It looked as if they were slanted towards me as well, rather than shooting straight up in the air. A roommate tried to explain it away by first mentioning the curvature of the earth. I explained that if that were an issue, if would look like it was slanting away from us. So now he sticks to "low-lying fog refracting the beam."
In pictures, it looked like a good idea. Now, it is just too much shades of Bat-Signal for me to truly appreciate.
The fact that six months ago, people stood and walked and worked high in the air, along the course of that beam, leaves me cold.