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  • #91
    Hmmm... Let's see...

    The City, river, county, bay, and the entire surrounding valley are named for "The Place of the Sauk"

    We started in lumber, and moved to automotive production. We're so freaking good at the later, that we've had other competitors buying our products. No matter where in the world you are, if your car can turn left or right, there's an 80% chance that the steering gear was made here. If you bought a satellite dish back in the mid-to-late 80s, then we probably made the ball-screw gear assembly, too! I once had some gentlemen come into our toy store (a very big one - in fact, the "largest global" toy store at that time) looking for marbles. Why? They were celebrating the fact that they had just successfully cast sphere holes in a mold! (For those not up on metal casting, yes, that's pretty f#$%ing hard to do!)

    The river that splits our city in twain is the only one in the US (or, possibly North America) that flows north along it's entire length. If you count the tributaries of the Shiawassee and Tittabawassee rivers, then they flow mostly northeast.

    Birthplace of S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order), Theodore Roethke (poet), Serena Williams (tennis), Question Mark and the Mysterians ("96 Tears"), Dick Wagner (musician with Alice Cooper & Lou Reed), and Stevie Wonder (do I need to tell you who that is?). We happen to be just south of Madonna's birthplace, but the folks in that "smelly little town*", as she put it, are rather glad to get rid of her. (The smell comes from the production of sugar (from sugar beets) by the Monitor Sugar plant. I used to drive by it on my way to work, oddly enough, after leaving my home right next to... the Michigan Sugar plant (now closed down). From one odorous street to the other...)

    Lefty Frizzell's only hit song was about a love he left, pined over, and married here (the lyrics claim his house was on the bay, but the city is a good 18 miles south of the bay, the bay is at -oddly enough- Bay City*/Essexville).

    And if that wasn't enough music for you...

    I personally know the guy who chauffeured a musical duo, calling themselves "Tom and Jerry", to appear live on a local radio show (kinda like a radio version of "American Bandstand"). In the waiting room, the tall guy (Tom) paced around, while the "little guy" (Jerry) sat in a corner, scribbling away in a notebook. He asked "Jerry" what he was doing. "Writing down some ideas for a song", replied Jerry. "Well", my friend joked to him, "you're in {city}, so the rules are if you write a song in {city}, you have to include it in your song!". Jerry nodded and said "Okay, I can do that.", and went back to writing. My friend thought the joke went sour.
    As anyone with any knowledge of musical history has deduced, "Tom" was actually named Arthur Garfunkel, and "Jerry" was none other than Paul Simon. The song Paul was working on? "America". And, apparently, it took four days for them to hitchhike from here...

    Our Ontario Hockey League team's mascot is named "Steagle Colbeagle" after the Comedy Central host. Colbert has never made a public appearance at, nor has he made any updates about, our team's progress in years. What's up with that, Steven?

    On the show "Home Improvement", Tim's brother (in-law?) lived here. For Seinfeld fans, yes, our bottle/can deposit is $0.10 per item, the highest of the States.

    On a per-capita basis, the FBI ranked us, for ten years running, as the most violent city in the US. We're now #3, behind "sister" cities Flint and Detroit. I... guess that's good?

    Actually located just "off the Dixie" in Bridgeport, Amigo motor transports (motorized wheelchair/scooters you see in stores) got their start here (I almost got a job there).

    A not-so-famous local celeb, Wally Stroebel. Who the hell is Wally? He's the guy standing next to General Dwight David Eisenhower as he's photographed saying his "good lucks" to the 101st Airborne before sending them over the Channel on 6Jun44 (D-Day: Normandy). When Ike learned where Wally was from, he replied, "I've been there - good fishing!" We like Ike!

    Last I looked, we were one of only four cities in the US to have a Japanese Teahouse. Not "teashop", but teaHOUSE. Our sister city (Tokushima) sent over the wood, craftsmen, tools, and even some drummers (the "Awa Odori" troupe). These guys hand crafted, carved, and assembled the thing on the spot, and it is gorgeous! The cool thing? Not a single nail in it! All the joints interlock without help from braces and such. Amazing.

    Morgana
    Plattsmouth, Nebraska, is named for its location at the point where the Platte River meets the Missouri River. Platte's Mouth.
    Only significant fact about my hometown. *shrug*
    Hey! Allow me to add something for the good folks of Plattsmouth! The scout troop that I was a member of camped at a small stream just outside of the town. This can be verified by the couple... <ahem> "engaged in some activity"... in the back of their parked station wagon. If you were, or you happen to have heard/known, the couple that was startled by a group of boys hiking by, tapping the window, and exclaiming "Way to go!", then that was us. (This would've been Saturday morning, July 16, 1977.)
    Note: The Platte isn't what one would call a "river". It's about a mile wide and an inch deep most of the time. I think the stream we camped next to had more flow than the Platte it drained into. Of course, that was during a drought - I'm sure it gets crazy during spring thaws and storms.

    Eisa
    You can get huckleberries here. And huckleberry-flavored things. -drools- I love all things huckleberry, if you couldn't tell.
    I'll be your Huckleberry!
    Don't forget to mention Idaho native Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, USMC! He was one of the top aces in the Pacific, and even had an NBC action series made about his outfit, VMF-214, titled "Baa Baa Black Sheep". Although played by Robert Conrad, Pappy looked more like the actor who played the General, Simon Oakland. Go figure.

    Eisa
    The city where I was born is known as The City of the Crosses.
    Hey! I've been through there! When I was a kid, we passed through on our way to IL from CA. I remember stopping at a gas station for a while, and we met some Hopi (?) kids and played around for about an hour. Odd thing, that I remember that from when I was 5-6 years old, but don't remember much from the rest of the trip.

    AnaKhouri
    I live a couple miles from the Gate to Hell.
    In our state, Hell is just down the road, near Ann Arbor. Yes, it does freeze over. If you want to go from Hell to Paradise, you'll need to head north about 276 miles, in the Upper Peninsula on Whitefish Bay. Yup, in Michigan, you can go to Hell from Paradise on one tank of gas...

    Panacea
    The phrase "your name is mud" comes from the trial of Dr. Mudd.
    Richard Mudd, grandson of Samuel Mudd, lived here and kept up on the government to absolve his grandfather of the crime. His argument was that Dr. Mudd did not know Booth, and was obliged by his oath to attend to his wound, assassin or not. The counter argument was that "everybody and their Uncles knew Booth", and that the conspirators all named the Doc. In his defense, the Hiltons, Kardashians, all the "Housewives", and Lady Gaga (without makeup/costume) could all knock on my door, and I wouldn't be able to tell them from a troupe of very weird Jehovah's Witnesses...

    Panacea
    Maryland has two rivers with the same name: Wicomico
    Michigan has two "Mackinaws". There's the Strait/Bridge/Island of "Mackinac", and just to the south of "Big Mac", the city, named "Mackinaw". No, that's not a typo. Both are pronounced "Mack-ih-naw", but only one is spelled "Mackinaw". If you pronounce it "Mack-ih-nack", Michiganders will shoot you. Ted Nugent will get the first shot. It's unlikely he will miss.

    barcode

    * To add, Bay City is the birthplace of Madonna, but also holds another peculiar musical connection: When a Scottish band had to choose a name for themselves, they just, in typical Scot fashion, threw a dart at a map of the US. It landed in Michigan's "Thumbpit", smack on Bay City. Hence the name, "Bay City Rollers". Anyone remember "Ess-Ay-Tee-You-Arr-Dee-Ay-Why...Night!" (Saturday Night)?

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    • #92
      Nicely done, Barcode...I enjoyed reading that
      "I was only LOOKING, I didn't mean to enter my card's CVV and actually ORDER! REFUND ME RIGHT NOW!!"

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      • #93
        Norwich is famous for the production of mustard.

        Apparently Norwich had the first council estate (project) in the UK...possible even Europe.

        'The Canaries' is the nickname of the local soccer team. Currently in the FA Premier League.

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