Rastahomie - What a small, small, world! My husband’s family is from Springfield, Il. We visit Springfield about once a year. We got married there since his grandparents and 1/3 of the wedding guests were from there and 2/3 of the guests are in neigboring states. Springfield is cool, it never really left the 50’s. I just put the Cozy Dog bumper sticker on my car yesterday. We’re going there in September for a renuion of sorts.
Do you think of your town whenever you watch the Simpsons?
Jackson, MS :Capital of Mississippi
Pop: 195,000 (300k+ in the Tri-county metro Area)
Short History: Back in the early 1800’s, some geniuses in Natchez (then Capital, and one of the richest cities in North America. No Kidding.) Decided to be fair and build a Capital in the center of the state. At the foot of a bluff, where a guy named Le Fleur ran a trading post on the Pearl River, they decided to put it here. Took another century or so to convince people to move here, seemingly. Population didn’t take off until early 20th Cent.
Topography: Only Capital City in the USA built on a volcano. You many now be jealous, if you wish. The volcano is from the Cambrian era, and very extinct. Thus, we have a basin, which the city is built in, surrounded by hills. Granted, Jackson is hilly, but overall that’s how it’s supposed to be. We have a Resevior to the NE of town.
Weather: This is the south. Hot in the summer, cool in the winter. Doesn’t snow, much. Doesn’t rain much either recently. It gets humid here. I’ve been places where they call 52% humidity extreme. Wusses. Wimps. If it’s 50% here in summer, it’s a fracking gift from God. If the heat is really on, expect 100+ degree days, with 70%+ humidity. Bring a straw or fork and knife to breathe those days. Summer nights are mid 70’s with even higher humidity. I’m surprised people had sex at night in the summer before they invented indoor AC.
Mayor: Some carbon-based life form. Allegedly. Henry Johnson. First Black Mayor of Jackson. Promoted by a group of businessmen soley because they knew he’d do nothing to upset them. And they’ve gotten their money’s worth out of him. Hasn’t done jack shit for Jackson in 3 years. Hopefully will be an ex-mayor soon. I don’t care if the next dude/grrl is purple as long as they do something about JACKSON SUCKING SO MUCH! Oh yeah, we have a city council. They sit there and bitch about which flag to have in the council chambers while businesses leave for the suburbs.
Business: Um, well, LDDS/Worldcom/MCI Worldcomm/Worldcom got its start here, but thanks to the aforementioned city council, they now are in Clinton. Skytel (two way paging compay) has it’s national headquarters here. Bellsouth has a big office here. A few life insurance compaines have decent offices here. Not much else.
Attractions: You’ve got to be kidding. Nothing here to see. Unless you like old buildings. We do have our fair share of Horse Shows, including the Dixie National, the first huge Rodeo of the year on the Rodeo circut.
Claims to Fame: Um… Our race problems weren’t as big or bad as Birmingham? Whee.
Things of Note: FM Radio SUCKS BIG FAT DONKEY **** here. Bring a CD player and plenty of CD’s. You’re stuck with 5 country,1 top 40/Pop, 2 Adult Contemorary, 1 oldies, and 1 classic rock station which has no FRACKING clue that the seventies are OVER YOU ****HEADS AT Z106!!!
Nice Highways, Tho.
"and 1 classic rock station which has no FRACKING clue that the seventies are OVER YOU ****HEADS AT Z106!!! "
Not to steer the subject matter, but half of classic rock came from the 70’s, hence the description “classic”.
City: Los Alamitos
State: California
Population: Approximately 13,000
Area: 4.3 square miles
Elevation: 26 feet above sea level
Average Temperature: 69 F
Average Rainfall: 9.46 inches
Adjacent Cities: Long Beach, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach
Other Facts: Los Alamitos has a United States Army Reserves Base/Armory and the Los Alamitos Race Track
Opinions: Quaint town, unfortunately everything closes early so all that’s open late is Denny’s
It wouldn’t be bad had we anything to dilute it’s influence. But that’s it. No modern Rock. No Metal. No Hard Rock. The Beatles could release an unreleased single, and we’d hear it ONCE. Then they’d go back to playing Steely Dan or whateverelse garbage there is.
Boulder, Colorado
Firmly nestled between the mountains and reality. Commonly referred to as the People’s Republic of Boulder.
Population about 100K, I think give or take about 15K students.
City Motto: We’ve got ours so the rest of you stay the hell out!
Famous for the sterling police work that puts Jon Benet’s death in the same category as Judge Crater and Amelia Earhart. Or maybe Nicole Brown Simpson.
Home to Naropa University and that other one - The University of Colorado.
The one nice thing about having a Boulder address is that most people know about where it is, i.e. somewhere near Denver.
A truly spectacular part of the country!
Not seeing too many southerners on this thread, so I thought I’d put in my 2 cents–
Lafayette, Louisiana
Motto: The Hub City
Specialty food: Cajun, of course
Weather: Really hot and humid
Attractions (in this area): Mardi Gras, Crawfish festival, Rice festival, Frog festival…basically, any excuse to go outside and drink massive amounts of alcohol.
A very laid-back sort of place. It’s a strange mixture of friendliness and close-mindedness. I’m embarrassed to note I know very little about the town’s history, so I’ll just stop here.
I lived there for a year(moved last november) and never knew that. Hmmm.
Of course, now that I am gone, my friend from New Orleans has moved there.
-Lsura
The Dragons Layer tavern closed last month (the owners retired). There are now only 4,999,999 taverns here. Don’t believe it? Come here and visit. Wisconsin state Fair starts Thursday August 3rd until Sunday August 13th. Most alcoholic state fair in the nation. Check it out.
Maybe Cecil will confirm that there are more bars per capita in the Land of Cheese than any other state!
Osaka, Japan
TOPOGRAPHY: Located on a costal plain approximately in the center of Japan at 135‹ east longitude and 34‹ north latitude. Slightly hilly, and surrounded by mountains. Many rivers and canals.
POPULATION: approximatly 8 million, incluf\ding suburbs
MAYOR: Takafumi Isomura
WEATHER: Hot and humid in the summer and mild winters. Mid-June to Mid-July is the monsoon season. Occassional typhoons in late summer and early fall.
BUSINESS/COMMERCE: Chemicals, heavy industry, finance, pharmaceuticals, textiles, toys, confectionery, fasion, and biotechnology…
HISTORY: Goes back 1500 years or so. Highlights include: 7th-8th century capitol (Naniwa-no-miya), 16th century base of Hideyoshi Toyotomi - ruler of Japan.
ATTRACTIONS: Osaka Castle, Tsutenkaku tower, Tenjin festival, Ebisu festival, PL fireworks (supposedly one of the largest displays in the world), several large amusement parks (especially the soon to be completed Universal studios park), etc.
LOCAL FOODS: Osaka is known as the kitchen of Japan, so lots of good food. Local specialties include Takoyaki, little grilled dumplings filled with octopus, and Okonomiyaki, a pancake-like savory grilled meal topped with a thick sauce and dried fish. Alsdo popular are sushi, yakitori (grilled chicken), Korean food, especially yakiniku or bbq.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TOPOGRAPHY: The beginning of the Great Plains. Butted up against the Rocky Mountains in the shadow of the inspiration for “America the Beautiful” – Pikes Peak. Pike never assended the peak though, he didn’t think it possible.
POPULATION: 500,000 in the county – El Paso County.
MAYOR: Mary Lou Makepeace. Although she’s rarely makes peace.
WEATHER: Semi arrid climate. Mostly sunny and not much precipitation. When it snows it can snow quite a bit but usually is melted within a day or two. Also, you can find yourself golfing or playing frisbee in January as temps can get as high as 70 degrees but we also can get as low as 20 below. Summers can be hot. Spring and fall are usually short. It can snow in May though – did this year at my house.
BUSINESS: Large population of military including: The Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Shriever Air Force Base (formerly The Consolidated Space Operations Center,) NORAD, and Ft. Carson Army post. High tech companies all over the place. Intel, COMPAQ, tons of software companies and many high tech companies that are dedicated to the defense industry.
COMMERCE: Tons of retail, service related businesses and tourism.
HISTORY: Too much to discuss in here. But was, at one time, considered a resort town for easterners (mid to late 1800s) and also known for its clean sharp air that helped those with TB. What is now UCCS (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) was once a sanitorium for sufferers of TB.
ATTRACTIONS: Pikes Peak (hiking, driving, train), Seven Falls, Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo (the highest altitude zoo in the world?), Air Force Academy, home of the Olympic Training Center and committee, Cave of the Winds, The North Pole, etc.
LOCAL FOODS: Really quite a variety since the population is constantly changing (military influence) but the big chain restaurants are all over the place. Some of the best places to eat are the small mexican/southwestern food places, but you have to hunt them down.
BTW, cool topic rastahomie. I am enjoying reading about places I have heard of but know nothing about.
< pats rastahomie on the back >
TechChick - re: The Springs -
Don’t forget the fundies.
"It wouldn’t be bad had we anything to dilute it’s influence. But that’s it. No modern Rock. No Metal. No Hard Rock. The Beatles could release an unreleased single, and we’d hear it ONCE. Then they’d go back to playing Steely Dan or whateverelse garbage there is. "
Sounds like a sucky station. Then again, the only station worth listening to in the South is 96Rock in Atlanta. Sorry for your troubles.
LOL OldBroad,
If two cities so close to each other are so diametrically opposed, it’s Boulder and Colorado Springs.
That’s the beauty of Colorado – not just the scenery.
Yeah, C. Springs – Home of Focus on the Family < gag >
The article I wrote for H2G2: Longview, Texas, USA