Home of the Free (Thread)
May 6, 2024 4:48 AM Subscribe
I was playing TimeGuessr the other day (a game where you try to ID a random photo in time and space -- thanks, Klipspringer!). Often you can tell the city from context, but not necessarily where in the city, so I try to drop a pin right in the middle to up my odds. But this made me wonder -- how does *Google Maps* pinpoint where a city is, exactly? They have to put the label somewhere. You'd think it would be the exact center, or maybe city hall, but it seems to vary -- in New York it's City Hall, but in London it's Charing Cross. Rome is the Piazza Venezia, Cairo is Tahrir Square, and Tokyo is Tokyo Station. My own hometown isn't city hall, or even the football stadium (roll tide), but literally the main entrance to an Embassy Suites, which is nice-looking but not exactly the crossroads of the city. So if you're comfortable sharing the city you're from (or in, or would like to be), where does Google think it really is? Does that place seem like a good, representative choice, or would you pick elsewhere? If you closed your eyes and wished yourself to the "heart" of your favorite city, where would you end up and why? Discuss these geographical quandaries and more in your weekly Free Thread!
(To see what I'm getting at above, just search Google Maps for the name of a city, find the label for it on the map, then zoom in on the label to see what point of interest it's pinned to. Sometimes the label disappears when you get too close, so you have to eyeball it a bit, but if you're on desktop it will zoom towards wherever your cursor is, which helps. Interestingly, Bing Maps and Apple Maps have their own ideas of where a city is -- Bing says Rome is outside the Colosseum, while Apple says Tokyo is in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office -- so feel free to check alternatives if you don't like Google's answer.)
(To see what I'm getting at above, just search Google Maps for the name of a city, find the label for it on the map, then zoom in on the label to see what point of interest it's pinned to. Sometimes the label disappears when you get too close, so you have to eyeball it a bit, but if you're on desktop it will zoom towards wherever your cursor is, which helps. Interestingly, Bing Maps and Apple Maps have their own ideas of where a city is -- Bing says Rome is outside the Colosseum, while Apple says Tokyo is in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office -- so feel free to check alternatives if you don't like Google's answer.)
Think you know where your city centre is? Guess again
Charing Cross station has been considered the centre point of London for various purposes since the 18th and 19th centuries.
thanks, Klipspringer
You're welcome!
posted by Klipspringer at 5:06 AM on May 6 [8 favorites]
Is the centre of London Trafalgar Square – or a beauty salon in Lambeth?As well as geometric centres, you have centres for the purposes of distances on road signs, and, sometimes, centres from which postcodes radiate outwards.
Charing Cross station has been considered the centre point of London for various purposes since the 18th and 19th centuries.
thanks, Klipspringer
You're welcome!
posted by Klipspringer at 5:06 AM on May 6 [8 favorites]
Google Maps is correct in labelling this unassuming bollard as the centre of Edinburgh. It sits in front of the location of the old General Post Office. As well as being the centre for post codes and road sign distances, building numbers begin at the end of the street that’s closest to the bollard.
posted by Klipspringer at 5:16 AM on May 6 [7 favorites]
posted by Klipspringer at 5:16 AM on May 6 [7 favorites]
Well, apparently Cape Town is in the middle of a big intersection just outside the Civic Centre, which is one of the most inhospitable, unsafe, pedestrian unfriendly, windy places in the entire city.
I'm not far from there right now, in the Turkish consulate waiting to get a visa. Absolutely deathly quiet room.
posted by Zumbador at 5:23 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
I'm not far from there right now, in the Turkish consulate waiting to get a visa. Absolutely deathly quiet room.
posted by Zumbador at 5:23 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
(What’s the difference between TimeGuessr and WhenTaken? I’ve done WhenTaken a few times and it doesn’t require an account, nor does it have the Web2.0 missing ‘e’, but is there anything else different?)
posted by thecaddy at 5:24 AM on May 6
posted by thecaddy at 5:24 AM on May 6
As a very-much planned city, Salt Lake City, Utah has a well-defined central point, but for whatever reason, Google places it four Utah sized blocks to the south of its Temple Square.
posted by rh at 5:24 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by rh at 5:24 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
The center of Amsterdam appears to be right in front of the Jewish Museum, near the old Portuguese Synagogue so thats fine. Its a central place, historically and geographically. Dam Square, however, would be the obvious choice.
Lisbon falls right on the edge of one of my favorite quirky little parks, described on Google Maps as "Park with ducks & chickens, a cafe & a statue of renowned 1800s doctor Sousa Martins." Yes, all that, and also the best gelateria in Lisbon right next to it. Definitely not the center, however. I'm not sure Lisbon has one obvious one, its got too many layers.
I'd expect Mexico City to fall on the Zócalo. There is no other choice. And, indeed, thats exactly what Google Maps says too! This one sounds like an intervention.
posted by vacapinta at 5:25 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
Lisbon falls right on the edge of one of my favorite quirky little parks, described on Google Maps as "Park with ducks & chickens, a cafe & a statue of renowned 1800s doctor Sousa Martins." Yes, all that, and also the best gelateria in Lisbon right next to it. Definitely not the center, however. I'm not sure Lisbon has one obvious one, its got too many layers.
I'd expect Mexico City to fall on the Zócalo. There is no other choice. And, indeed, thats exactly what Google Maps says too! This one sounds like an intervention.
posted by vacapinta at 5:25 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
The center of the Mile-High City? I'd guess where the plaque is on the state capitol steps marking the elevation: 5280 feet. But, no, it's a couple of blocks west in front of the Denver City and County building, where, in the middle of S. Bannock Street, is the State Capitol Building, according to Google Maps.
posted by kozad at 5:31 AM on May 6
posted by kozad at 5:31 AM on May 6
Google Maps puts the big TORONTO label right over Nathan Phillips Square, basically city hall's front patio. That's where the colourful Toronto sign is. I'd argue the actual cultural centre of Toronto is Yonge Dundas Square, which is just a couple blocks away. That's where the buskers get serious about territory, and there is never any darkness at all because of the megawatts of LED video signage. NPS is a fine choice, though, a safe one for tourists. There's plenty of festivals and musical events there, and everyone wants a photo of the Toronto sign and to skate on the fountain ice rink in the winter.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:31 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:31 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
Google maps has chosen to label my city with my second-most hated place in town, a traffic rotary. My first-most hated place in the city is the traffic rotary on the other side of the river. Can you tell I hate traffic rotaries? Then when they built another bridge a dozen or so years ago and refigured some roads, they proceeded to double the number of traffic rotaries in the city. And then there was a big argument over whether they are technically rotaries or roundabouts, and really who cares, they just suck. Scares me half to death every time I drive through one.
posted by JanetLand at 5:47 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 5:47 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
I am perplexed by Manchester (England) being centered just south of the intersection of Brown and King streets, a street location that wasn't opened up until the end of the 19th century!
posted by sudasana at 6:03 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by sudasana at 6:03 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
I don't know if I'm doing it right but the one for Kingston is either the community/campus radio station on the Queen's campus or the penitentiary. That sort of scans.
posted by Kitteh at 6:05 AM on May 6
posted by Kitteh at 6:05 AM on May 6
To be honest, I'd probably end up in Key West, on one end of Duval Street or the other. I'm no parrothead, but it was just about the happiest I'd ever been. One reason I want Desantis to get clawed back to hell is that I don't want to spend time in Florida before he does, and the Keys, in particular, do not deserve him.
My own hometown is a port city. And yet if you're in the city proper, you can't see the river. That's because the Mississippi is incredibly dangerous, and so they fixed it into a huge oxbow lake with an outlet to the river instead. The region is called the Mississippi Delta, but that is confusing because it is not an actual river delta at this point in geologic time. It's hard to explain this place. People have to write books.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:06 AM on May 6 [6 favorites]
My own hometown is a port city. And yet if you're in the city proper, you can't see the river. That's because the Mississippi is incredibly dangerous, and so they fixed it into a huge oxbow lake with an outlet to the river instead. The region is called the Mississippi Delta, but that is confusing because it is not an actual river delta at this point in geologic time. It's hard to explain this place. People have to write books.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:06 AM on May 6 [6 favorites]
Much like Toronto, the center of Boston is apparently City Hall Plaza. Which...isn't the WORST it could be. But Boston Common would be both more central and more historically appropriate. (My suburb has it in the park behind Town Hall – and that IS the center of town, because all of the community buildings are around there and people really do use them.)
posted by rednikki at 6:10 AM on May 6
posted by rednikki at 6:10 AM on May 6
The centre of my city is apparently just somewhere off in the woods. It's pretty small as cities go, but it still has a pretty clearly defined centre!
posted by ssg at 6:17 AM on May 6
posted by ssg at 6:17 AM on May 6
the Keys, in particular, do not deserve him.
Yes.
The center of my own town is a notable local museum, which tracks. I tried it on the largest city close to me, Newark, NJ, and it took me to the intersection of Broad and Market, roughly in the south-middle of downtown. It's mostly shopping and restaurants around there, with the Prudential Center arena a block or two away.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:23 AM on May 6
Yes.
The center of my own town is a notable local museum, which tracks. I tried it on the largest city close to me, Newark, NJ, and it took me to the intersection of Broad and Market, roughly in the south-middle of downtown. It's mostly shopping and restaurants around there, with the Prudential Center arena a block or two away.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:23 AM on May 6
Savannah is googlocated in front of City Hall at Bay and Bull st. fair enough - but it's far from the center of the city and more the center of the historic downtown (which is the far north side of the city and on the Savannah River which borders the city and the State of GA)
posted by djseafood at 6:27 AM on May 6
posted by djseafood at 6:27 AM on May 6
Raleigh, NC: on the SE corner of the capitol building. Central to a lot of things, geographically south of the center.
posted by Snowishberlin at 6:38 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Snowishberlin at 6:38 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
The centre of Dublin must be O'Connell Bridge, which is famously "wider than it's wide" [maplink]. If you look carefully at the supporters of the O'Connell monument just north of the bridge, you can see that several of them still have bullet holes dating from the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Civil War. An oft repeated d[e]ad joke hereabouts is that the Dead Centre of wherever is the graveyard.
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:46 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:46 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
The center of Providence, RI, is City Hall, while the center of Northfield, Minnesota is apparently the northbound lane of the busiest intersection in town. Why such disparate places, you surely ask (or maybe don't)? Because the MQ Blank Juniors finally got off the fence and on May 1 committed to attend Brown University and Carleton College next year!
If any MeFites have stories of or advice about those places, please MeMail me. And if you're looking for advice or guidance or commiseration on the college admissions process (we just survived what the NYT called the year of "peak college admissions insanity") please MeMail me about that too.
BTW, the Northfield Public Library would be a way better center point, for the charming artwork on the library steps, if nothing else!
posted by martin q blank at 6:56 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]
If any MeFites have stories of or advice about those places, please MeMail me. And if you're looking for advice or guidance or commiseration on the college admissions process (we just survived what the NYT called the year of "peak college admissions insanity") please MeMail me about that too.
BTW, the Northfield Public Library would be a way better center point, for the charming artwork on the library steps, if nothing else!
posted by martin q blank at 6:56 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]
Huh, the center for my city is some guy's back yard a couple miles from downtown. I checked it from several directions, including pulling the latitude and longitude out of the URL. Sure enough, always the same spot.
Film student update: the semester is done! My first year is done! I have an online screenwriting class over the summer, but otherwise no more in person classes until August.
I showed you my animation final last week, and we watched them in class, which came with peer constructivie criticism after it showed. Since these were largely freshmen the professor gave some advice for not just being negative, explaining yourself, and try to include positives with criticism. I was fifth to show, alphabetically; the first four got good feedback, and after watching mine...nothing. Silence. No reaction while watching, no comments after. Eventually one student asked why I picked the characters; to further break the silence the professor asked about a part I did which was very technically sound.
This set of panic in me. As we watched the other twenty animations -- most weren't complete, and as you'd expect from a 100-level class with non-animation students there were a lot of people who had very limited art skills, and everybody else got compliments, suggestions, discussion.
After class I couldn't help myself and sent a somewhat rambling email to the professor, asking if I missed the mark, did I not understand the assignment? She replied, kindly telling me that she's sure other students liked it, sometimes it's hard for students to come up with constructive criticism, a very judicious answer, and offered to give me a more thorough analysis when she grades it. OK, that helped a bit.
However: Friday was the "juried show", where students either have stuff chosen by professors to be included, or could submit their own for consideration. My animation professor had already let me know they were including an earlier assignment that I was proud of, but I asked to submit my final project instead. I didn't have anything else from my other classes to submit. I was somewhat mortified that now my only contribution was a missed-the-mark assignment, but I also hoped that the 'jury' would just eliminate it from the show.
But -- it did show! And the audience appropriately went "awwww" when the bush yawned! There were other reaction noises throughout, too. Vindicated! I don't know what was going on with my class, I could make all kinds of assumptions of reasons, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of what I turned in.
Also, by that time I had a realization: after having a couple days to process my feelings, I realized I wasn't upset that maybe my animation was bad -- I was upset that my fellow students weren't being honest with me. I mean, I've always had that negative self-talk voice in the back of my head, it's usually saying I suck and can't do anything right, but that's pretty easy to tune out. This is a nefarious twist; that negative self-talk has moved to "you know those people that you respect; they think you suck but don't want to tell you". Just something I need to be self-aware of before sending rambling emails to nice professors who are not psychologists.
I could have rushed to get my 16mm film final into the juried show; I got the digitized files Tuesday afternoon, but decided not to rush myself, I had until the 6th to turn it in for credit so I decided use my mostly-free weekend to do it right. Here it is, a very experimental look at the history of the house I'm renovating. The 'sound effect' is something 'invented' by Alvin Lucier; he played back the same dialogue over and over, recording each time with a microphone, playing back the recorded version each time, which multiplies the sonic characteristics of the room the playback/recording is in, until it's all resonant frequencies.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:58 AM on May 6 [12 favorites]
Film student update: the semester is done! My first year is done! I have an online screenwriting class over the summer, but otherwise no more in person classes until August.
I showed you my animation final last week, and we watched them in class, which came with peer constructivie criticism after it showed. Since these were largely freshmen the professor gave some advice for not just being negative, explaining yourself, and try to include positives with criticism. I was fifth to show, alphabetically; the first four got good feedback, and after watching mine...nothing. Silence. No reaction while watching, no comments after. Eventually one student asked why I picked the characters; to further break the silence the professor asked about a part I did which was very technically sound.
This set of panic in me. As we watched the other twenty animations -- most weren't complete, and as you'd expect from a 100-level class with non-animation students there were a lot of people who had very limited art skills, and everybody else got compliments, suggestions, discussion.
After class I couldn't help myself and sent a somewhat rambling email to the professor, asking if I missed the mark, did I not understand the assignment? She replied, kindly telling me that she's sure other students liked it, sometimes it's hard for students to come up with constructive criticism, a very judicious answer, and offered to give me a more thorough analysis when she grades it. OK, that helped a bit.
However: Friday was the "juried show", where students either have stuff chosen by professors to be included, or could submit their own for consideration. My animation professor had already let me know they were including an earlier assignment that I was proud of, but I asked to submit my final project instead. I didn't have anything else from my other classes to submit. I was somewhat mortified that now my only contribution was a missed-the-mark assignment, but I also hoped that the 'jury' would just eliminate it from the show.
But -- it did show! And the audience appropriately went "awwww" when the bush yawned! There were other reaction noises throughout, too. Vindicated! I don't know what was going on with my class, I could make all kinds of assumptions of reasons, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of what I turned in.
Also, by that time I had a realization: after having a couple days to process my feelings, I realized I wasn't upset that maybe my animation was bad -- I was upset that my fellow students weren't being honest with me. I mean, I've always had that negative self-talk voice in the back of my head, it's usually saying I suck and can't do anything right, but that's pretty easy to tune out. This is a nefarious twist; that negative self-talk has moved to "you know those people that you respect; they think you suck but don't want to tell you". Just something I need to be self-aware of before sending rambling emails to nice professors who are not psychologists.
I could have rushed to get my 16mm film final into the juried show; I got the digitized files Tuesday afternoon, but decided not to rush myself, I had until the 6th to turn it in for credit so I decided use my mostly-free weekend to do it right. Here it is, a very experimental look at the history of the house I'm renovating. The 'sound effect' is something 'invented' by Alvin Lucier; he played back the same dialogue over and over, recording each time with a microphone, playing back the recorded version each time, which multiplies the sonic characteristics of the room the playback/recording is in, until it's all resonant frequencies.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:58 AM on May 6 [12 favorites]
For cities I know:
- Atlanta: Capitol Avenue in front of the Georgia Capitol, which seems hard to argue with.
- Philadelphia: City Hall, which is really the only right answer given how it's tall and in the middle of the street.
- San Francisco: they seem to have put it at the intersection of Market and Van Ness, which is not particularly interesting, but I'm not sure where the right location for San Francisco is.
For the suburb of Atlanta I live in now (Dunwoody) they get the location right, as for other suburbs that historically have independent existences (Chamblee, Doraville, Norcross, Roswell, Alpharetta...). They seem to pick random locations for suburbs that weren't independent towns before they got swallowed up by Atlanta (Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners, Sandy Springs, ...)
I agree with rednikki that Boston should be Boston Common and not City Hall Plaza.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:09 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
- Atlanta: Capitol Avenue in front of the Georgia Capitol, which seems hard to argue with.
- Philadelphia: City Hall, which is really the only right answer given how it's tall and in the middle of the street.
- San Francisco: they seem to have put it at the intersection of Market and Van Ness, which is not particularly interesting, but I'm not sure where the right location for San Francisco is.
For the suburb of Atlanta I live in now (Dunwoody) they get the location right, as for other suburbs that historically have independent existences (Chamblee, Doraville, Norcross, Roswell, Alpharetta...). They seem to pick random locations for suburbs that weren't independent towns before they got swallowed up by Atlanta (Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners, Sandy Springs, ...)
I agree with rednikki that Boston should be Boston Common and not City Hall Plaza.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:09 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
For Chicago it's apparently a crosswalk outside the Intelligentsia Coffee at the Monadnock building, just adjacent to a lovely bistro where I spent my birthday last year.
After two extremely rough months of searching we finally tooth-pulled ourselves an apartment in this dumb city and so today I am uncommon fond of it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:12 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]
After two extremely rough months of searching we finally tooth-pulled ourselves an apartment in this dumb city and so today I am uncommon fond of it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:12 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]
I have an interview this week to teach music part time! I’m atwitter about it. I don’t remember the last time I had an interview that wasn’t over a screen.
I have a genetic disease that affects motor function, and so when I was very young my parents made me pick an instrument as a way of forestalling any difficulties I might have with fine motor skills. My parents were prepared for the possibility that my quality of life might be heavily dependent upon my being a musician. I’m excited to get to interview for something that I care a bit more about than software.
posted by wurl1tzer_c0 at 7:15 AM on May 6 [7 favorites]
I have a genetic disease that affects motor function, and so when I was very young my parents made me pick an instrument as a way of forestalling any difficulties I might have with fine motor skills. My parents were prepared for the possibility that my quality of life might be heavily dependent upon my being a musician. I’m excited to get to interview for something that I care a bit more about than software.
posted by wurl1tzer_c0 at 7:15 AM on May 6 [7 favorites]
San Diego's "center" appears to be the San Diego Zoo (or, more broadly, Balboa Park).
posted by SPrintF at 7:22 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 7:22 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
When I tried this with Google Maps, it just centers on my house. But, my house is indeed almost in the exact geographical center of town, so I guess that works out.
posted by briank at 7:30 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
posted by briank at 7:30 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
Chicago has already been covered, so I’m currently wondering where Google would drop the pin in Baldur’s Gate. I just (finally) finished it all the way this weekend. I restarted it a lot. I got to Act 3 once before, but got overwhelmed by all the locations and quest lines. And it was even more overwhelming trying to pick that save up after a while and not remembering anything. So that was another restart.
Did it mostly goody-two-shoes, because that’s just how a first run should be done. Trying it again as Dark Urge, but only at normal difficulty rather than high. Already nibbling around the edges of the Emerald Grove, picking off some people early in advance. I am not a murder-hobo this time around. I am an itinerant assassination professional of no fixed abode!
posted by notoriety public at 7:31 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Did it mostly goody-two-shoes, because that’s just how a first run should be done. Trying it again as Dark Urge, but only at normal difficulty rather than high. Already nibbling around the edges of the Emerald Grove, picking off some people early in advance. I am not a murder-hobo this time around. I am an itinerant assassination professional of no fixed abode!
posted by notoriety public at 7:31 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Austin TX is... the intersection of 5th and Congress which is very central but the Capitol is like five blocks north and seems the more obvious choice? The northeast corner of 4th and Red River would be both pretty central and funny since there's a sign there on the Convention Center that is a giant map pin. Of course many would say the true heart of the city is at the southwest corner of 45th and Lamar. I'd the use the Opossum Temple, but its location is obscured from Google Maps.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:32 AM on May 6
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:32 AM on May 6
The center of Rochester, NY is the Susan B. Anthony House & Museum and that's wonderful.
posted by tommasz at 7:32 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 7:32 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
The centre of Dublin must be O'Connell Bridge, which is famously "wider than it's wide"
Guinness once recognized the Crawford Street Bridge in Providence, RI as the "widest bridge in the world" because it was nearly a quarter mile "wide" while only spanning a river that was about a hundred feet wide. And yes, it was an actual bridge, though it's since been replaced with a much narrower span.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:44 AM on May 6
Guinness once recognized the Crawford Street Bridge in Providence, RI as the "widest bridge in the world" because it was nearly a quarter mile "wide" while only spanning a river that was about a hundred feet wide. And yes, it was an actual bridge, though it's since been replaced with a much narrower span.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:44 AM on May 6
Toronto is City Hall. New City Hall to be exact. The town my parents live in does the same - their city hall/courthouse/wedding venue is where Google points you towards.
Some other places from my past: the suburban Atlanta town points at the main intersection (which just some mediocre strip malls where two highways intersect), not city hall or the geographic center.. The small town in North Carolina my family comes from points at a fairly random intersection that looks like it is roughly the geographic center of town, about 4 blocks north of what everyone would call the center of town.
posted by thecjm at 7:49 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Some other places from my past: the suburban Atlanta town points at the main intersection (which just some mediocre strip malls where two highways intersect), not city hall or the geographic center.. The small town in North Carolina my family comes from points at a fairly random intersection that looks like it is roughly the geographic center of town, about 4 blocks north of what everyone would call the center of town.
posted by thecjm at 7:49 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Washington DC is the Department of Labor, which certainly isn't a landmark, nor near downtown, but just seems to be the geographic center of the (much larger, roughly 30 miles square) area that it shows when you type Washington DC.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:54 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:54 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
In Santiago, it's a random drug store in downtown.
Also, I played TimeGuessr, and all its pictures are got pictures from England, Scotland, Ireland, D-Day and the US. I was expecting something a little more global.
posted by signal at 7:54 AM on May 6
Also, I played TimeGuessr, and all its pictures are got pictures from England, Scotland, Ireland, D-Day and the US. I was expecting something a little more global.
posted by signal at 7:54 AM on May 6
In Los Angeles, it seems to be the Biltmore hotel, home to the ballroom that the Ghostbusters once destroyed while trying to catch Slimer.
posted by mboszko at 8:02 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by mboszko at 8:02 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Also, I played TimeGuessr, and all its pictures are got pictures from England, Scotland, Ireland, D-Day and the US. I was expecting something a little more global.
Maybe try today's Daily game? No spoilers, but it has substantially more geographic diversity than that.
posted by The Bellman at 8:07 AM on May 6
Maybe try today's Daily game? No spoilers, but it has substantially more geographic diversity than that.
posted by The Bellman at 8:07 AM on May 6
butts.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 8:11 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 8:11 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
Portland's marker appears to be right between city hall and the awful Portland Building, which is fine. That’s the center of local government and where most of the federal buildings are. (The 2020 protests happened right there.) But the heart of downtown is undeniably Pioneer Courthouse Square.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 8:40 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 8:40 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
SPrintF, San Diego is actually the intersection of 4th Ave and Broadway.
As for me, Cincinnati is the 21c Museum and Hotel, or perhaps more accurately, the spa there. Seems legit.
Munich is the Isartor, the historic city gate. Perfect. A++, Munich.
posted by cooker girl at 8:45 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
As for me, Cincinnati is the 21c Museum and Hotel, or perhaps more accurately, the spa there. Seems legit.
Munich is the Isartor, the historic city gate. Perfect. A++, Munich.
posted by cooker girl at 8:45 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Ha, for Richmond, VA, the center is on Grace Street between 7th and 8th, so in the city proper and right at the courthouse where I got to attend and cover (in the journalism sense) the corruption trial of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife.
posted by emelenjr at 8:45 AM on May 6
posted by emelenjr at 8:45 AM on May 6
If you ask for driving directions to Minneapolis, Google Maps brings you to City Hall. Ick.
posted by advicepig at 8:54 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by advicepig at 8:54 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
I was disappointed recently to find that the ongoing Notre Dame reconstruction makes Paris's Point Zero inaccessible to pedestrians.
I very much wanted to take a photograph looking down at it, with my toes juuuust visible.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:05 AM on May 6
I very much wanted to take a photograph looking down at it, with my toes juuuust visible.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:05 AM on May 6
And martin q. blank, I am excited to hear that we'll have mqb Jr #1 here in Little Rhodey next fall -- and I expect that mqb Jr #2 will also get a warm welcome in my home state, too.
Can't wait to see you in late August!!
posted by wenestvedt at 9:08 AM on May 6
Can't wait to see you in late August!!
posted by wenestvedt at 9:08 AM on May 6
The label for Sunnyvale, CA (in Silicon Valley but more of a suburb nowadays) would appear to most people at a random intersection, south of city hall but IMO not close to the geographic center.
However anyone who's lived here for awhile might know it's also the former location of CJ Olson Cherry orchard, established in 1899ish with a farm stand at that same corner from 1911 to 2019 (or thereabouts). They still operste one of the last orchards in Sunnyvale a few blocks southeast by the historical museum.
Coincidence?
posted by muddgirl at 9:13 AM on May 6
However anyone who's lived here for awhile might know it's also the former location of CJ Olson Cherry orchard, established in 1899ish with a farm stand at that same corner from 1911 to 2019 (or thereabouts). They still operste one of the last orchards in Sunnyvale a few blocks southeast by the historical museum.
Coincidence?
posted by muddgirl at 9:13 AM on May 6
this unassuming bollard
Excellent username available!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:14 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]
Excellent username available!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:14 AM on May 6 [4 favorites]
(ok on second thought "random intersection" isn't fair it's the the corner of large non-highway east-west and north-south streets, but it's not like Mountain View where it's right at the corner of El Camino and Castro St.)
posted by muddgirl at 9:20 AM on May 6
posted by muddgirl at 9:20 AM on May 6
orange swan, I really enjoyed your blog post, thank you. It reminded me of What Katy Did at School's "grand album craze, when thirty-three girls out of the thirty-nine sent for blank books bound in red morocco, and began to collect signatures and sentiments", and Rose Red made an entirely fictitious album. It also reminded me of a book. I read last year, The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes, which makes a similar attempt to track the people referred to in an album, though in that case one of fabric scraps.
posted by paduasoy at 9:25 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by paduasoy at 9:25 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
I had been inside Toronto City Hall several times, but only visited the council chambers for the first time in November, and it's an incredibly interesting space—when you see photos/video from inside the space, you're only seeing half of the big circle, not the members' lounge on the other side of the big wall. There is a strange spiral, um, thing in the lounge that is just big enough to walk into, and if you follow it to its centre, you find...an ice machine!
It's open for Doors Open this year and I'm considering working the event just so I can add another silly selfie to my "avocet gives the thumbs up to ice machines" collection, even though I already have one with it
posted by avocet at 9:43 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
It's open for Doors Open this year and I'm considering working the event just so I can add another silly selfie to my "avocet gives the thumbs up to ice machines" collection, even though I already have one with it
posted by avocet at 9:43 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]
May is for Bicycles. I've been riding at least weekly since the beginning of March, so most parts of me are now broken-in. May and June are just about perfect for biking in this part of the world. I'm fantasizing about trying new rail-trails and thinking how I can convince my wife to drop me at one end and pick me up at the other. Maybe by booking us into a place with a spa... Or maybe I'll join a bike club, or book a tour that includes return transport. Public transit and some trains also offer possibilities for getting to new-to-me biking areas. Or just bloody driving there with the bike, like the privileged first-worlder I am.
posted by Artful Codger at 9:48 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by Artful Codger at 9:48 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
Of course many would say the true heart of the city is at the southwest corner of 45th and Lamar
It's certainly the heartburn of the city...
May is for Bicycles
Austin has a pretty packed calendar of Bike Month activities. I'm doing the Red Poppy Ride this coming weekend (100 mi) and I did the Hill Country Ride for AIDS a few weekends ago (78.6mi). I'm trying to get all these rides in now because I cannot fathom cycling in Austin in midsummer. I can run and swim before dawn all summer long, but hell if I'm getting on a bike on Austin roads before the sun is out.
posted by mykescipark at 10:05 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
It's certainly the heartburn of the city...
May is for Bicycles
Austin has a pretty packed calendar of Bike Month activities. I'm doing the Red Poppy Ride this coming weekend (100 mi) and I did the Hill Country Ride for AIDS a few weekends ago (78.6mi). I'm trying to get all these rides in now because I cannot fathom cycling in Austin in midsummer. I can run and swim before dawn all summer long, but hell if I'm getting on a bike on Austin roads before the sun is out.
posted by mykescipark at 10:05 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
For my particular suburb, it's a grocery store that closed during the pandemic, which is on the site of a much longer abandoned drive-in movie theater, which has a 90%-busted animated neon sign from 1948 that has been officially recognized as an important historic landmark. Said grocery store had been authorized by city officials to restore the sign, but they never did. Nobody else will either, because it's a stupid important historic landmark.
Personally, I thought drive-in theaters would have been perfect for the pandemic. Everyone sits in their own little bubble, socially distant from anyone else. Audio can be delivered by a phone app and use bluetooth audio in people's cars. Oh well.
posted by Foosnark at 10:05 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
Personally, I thought drive-in theaters would have been perfect for the pandemic. Everyone sits in their own little bubble, socially distant from anyone else. Audio can be delivered by a phone app and use bluetooth audio in people's cars. Oh well.
posted by Foosnark at 10:05 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
Places that had drive-in theaters had those theaters pretty much thriving during the Pandemic. With no new movies being released they were showing old classic films from the Eighties. I was driving a delivery route that took me past two different drive-in theaters which were quite happy to have all the business.
posted by hippybear at 10:09 AM on May 6 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:09 AM on May 6 [6 favorites]
Philadelphia's City Hall looks like a wedding cake from the outside and is like one of Piranesi's prisons on the inside; I was there last week to help a neighbor get a conservatorship for an abandoned house in my area and it is dark, vast, and bleak in there. The ten or so people in the courtroom were rattling around like marbles in a gallon jar.
I am going to Citizen Bank Park this afternoon for a Phillies game, and that is another center of the city, with the Jumbotron at its heart.
posted by Peach at 10:38 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
I am going to Citizen Bank Park this afternoon for a Phillies game, and that is another center of the city, with the Jumbotron at its heart.
posted by Peach at 10:38 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]
I made some good progress this weekend with my first model (Flickr album)...or actually my second model, after a false start*. For context it's about 4"/100mm tall. I've developed enough airbrush technique by now that I was able to apply a good primer base coat, full coverage but still thin enough that none of the model's excellent detail** is obscured, then used white primer to apply a "highlight" coat from above to give the piece a sense of light and depth. The acrylic paints I'm using with both airbrush and paintbrush are translucent, so rather than the highlighting getting covered up by subsequent paint layers, it will help those eventual colors pop a bit (and I plan to add some smaller highlighting details after applying colors).
When I was painting miniature figures in my late teens and early 20's, I was basically using a single color for each part of the figure (shirt=Green, pants=Brown, shoes=Black, etc.) with no thought whatsoever put into shading, highlighting, or implied light source - such as using a darker color under folds of cloth, or a lantern the figure was holding giving an orange glow to one side of it. On top of that money was really tight so I didn't have much budget for proper tools to make the job easier - literally a couple dozen model paints and three brushes, one of which had like 4 bristles left on it. This time I have enough budget (though I'm trying not to go overboard) to get proper tools and paints, a painting station with a filter to collect paint particles, a respirator (even though the water-based paints are technically "non-toxic", I'd rather not inhale any), etc.; and I also have a much better idea of what I need to do to make the finished models look really good thanks to inspiration from some amazing artists online and on YouTube. I'm excited, can you tell? Okay, enough self-aggrandizement.
* The first model I got was poorly designed - no wonder it was cheap - and before I even start the painting process it'll need a fair bit of remedial work to make it go together properly and look good when it's done. I'll come back to it after my frustration dissipates somewhat.
** People are creating some fantastically detailed and imaginative models with 3D resin printers these days, far better than the injection-molded metal or plastic miniatures of my youth.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:45 AM on May 6 [7 favorites]
When I was painting miniature figures in my late teens and early 20's, I was basically using a single color for each part of the figure (shirt=Green, pants=Brown, shoes=Black, etc.) with no thought whatsoever put into shading, highlighting, or implied light source - such as using a darker color under folds of cloth, or a lantern the figure was holding giving an orange glow to one side of it. On top of that money was really tight so I didn't have much budget for proper tools to make the job easier - literally a couple dozen model paints and three brushes, one of which had like 4 bristles left on it. This time I have enough budget (though I'm trying not to go overboard) to get proper tools and paints, a painting station with a filter to collect paint particles, a respirator (even though the water-based paints are technically "non-toxic", I'd rather not inhale any), etc.; and I also have a much better idea of what I need to do to make the finished models look really good thanks to inspiration from some amazing artists online and on YouTube. I'm excited, can you tell? Okay, enough self-aggrandizement.
* The first model I got was poorly designed - no wonder it was cheap - and before I even start the painting process it'll need a fair bit of remedial work to make it go together properly and look good when it's done. I'll come back to it after my frustration dissipates somewhat.
** People are creating some fantastically detailed and imaginative models with 3D resin printers these days, far better than the injection-molded metal or plastic miniatures of my youth.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:45 AM on May 6 [7 favorites]
Google Maps is correct in labelling this unassuming bollard as the centre of Edinburgh. It sits in front of the location of the old General Post Office. As well as being the centre for post codes and road sign distances, building numbers begin at the end of the street that’s closest to the bollard.
There are similar official central points for other cities of the UK, but Google Maps does not always follow them.
For instance, the official centre of Glasgow is Glasgow Cross, and the city council's Street Naming and Numbering Guide uses that point as an origin, just as Edinburgh uses the bollard at the site of the former GPO.
In practice though, Glasgow Cross is no longer really the practical centre of the city. Google Maps draws the label at the intersection of Hope St and St Vincent St. But that's really just a point that's more or less geographically in the middle of the modern central area of Glasgow, rather than a location of any significance.
posted by automatronic at 11:50 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
There are similar official central points for other cities of the UK, but Google Maps does not always follow them.
For instance, the official centre of Glasgow is Glasgow Cross, and the city council's Street Naming and Numbering Guide uses that point as an origin, just as Edinburgh uses the bollard at the site of the former GPO.
In practice though, Glasgow Cross is no longer really the practical centre of the city. Google Maps draws the label at the intersection of Hope St and St Vincent St. But that's really just a point that's more or less geographically in the middle of the modern central area of Glasgow, rather than a location of any significance.
posted by automatronic at 11:50 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]
Jesus, Greg Ace, those figures are gorgeous!
In the 1980s I had a small gig painting (mostly Ral Partha) fantasy miniatures for a comics & games shop near me; I was like 13 at the time. My dad, a model railroader, made me dioramas (with plexiglass cases!) for several of them, which really made them amazing.
For example, one was some Star Trek ships, and he made plaster with too much water, added some green tempera paint, and we dropped stuff in it to make a perfect cratered moonscape. Another one was a small hillside with a cave opening, which was probably just practice for something he wanted to do on his HO set, but it was an ideal setting for whatever I was finishing up then.
BRB, gotta send Dad an email...
posted by wenestvedt at 12:06 PM on May 6 [5 favorites]
In the 1980s I had a small gig painting (mostly Ral Partha) fantasy miniatures for a comics & games shop near me; I was like 13 at the time. My dad, a model railroader, made me dioramas (with plexiglass cases!) for several of them, which really made them amazing.
For example, one was some Star Trek ships, and he made plaster with too much water, added some green tempera paint, and we dropped stuff in it to make a perfect cratered moonscape. Another one was a small hillside with a cave opening, which was probably just practice for something he wanted to do on his HO set, but it was an ideal setting for whatever I was finishing up then.
BRB, gotta send Dad an email...
posted by wenestvedt at 12:06 PM on May 6 [5 favorites]
To be clear, the centre of London (as far as I understand it) is not Charing Cross station, but the place where the market cross of the old village of Charing once stood. That spot is now occupied by the equestrian statue of Charles I just to the south of Trafalgar Square.
posted by Phanx at 12:07 PM on May 6 [4 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 12:07 PM on May 6 [4 favorites]
I'm apartment hunting in Austin right now and I would like to take a moment to say:
WTAF? The apartment search is disheartening, to say the least. And something smells when every goddamn complex require that you make 2.5 times the monthly rent (literally, every complex I've talked to).
AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 12:44 PM on May 6 [4 favorites]
WTAF? The apartment search is disheartening, to say the least. And something smells when every goddamn complex require that you make 2.5 times the monthly rent (literally, every complex I've talked to).
AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 12:44 PM on May 6 [4 favorites]
For Chicago it's apparently a crosswalk outside the Intelligentsia Coffee at the Monadnock building, just adjacent to a lovely bistro where I spent my birthday last year.
Maybe they chose it because of the Kluczynski Federal Building across the street? Though why they'd pick a federal building over City Hall or something else more local, I don't know. Maybe they're fans of Mies van der Rohe. I think it's a little grim myself but the Calder sculpture in the plaza provides a nice contrast I think.
If I were dropping the pin I'd probably just put it at State and Madison, which is the zero-zero origin for the city's street grid, so it's pretty central conceptually as well as geographically. I'd also be tempted to drop it at Michigan and Adams, between the two lions in front of the Art Institute, because that feels like the cultural and emotional center of the city for me. But I grant that's super subjective, especially in a city as rich in culture as Chicago.
By the way welcome to the city, We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese. There's a lot to like here. I grew up around here, spent a bunch of years on the west coast, and recently found myself back in town. It's been fun, slowly getting to know the city again. Lot of things have changed, lot of things never will.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 12:48 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Maybe they chose it because of the Kluczynski Federal Building across the street? Though why they'd pick a federal building over City Hall or something else more local, I don't know. Maybe they're fans of Mies van der Rohe. I think it's a little grim myself but the Calder sculpture in the plaza provides a nice contrast I think.
If I were dropping the pin I'd probably just put it at State and Madison, which is the zero-zero origin for the city's street grid, so it's pretty central conceptually as well as geographically. I'd also be tempted to drop it at Michigan and Adams, between the two lions in front of the Art Institute, because that feels like the cultural and emotional center of the city for me. But I grant that's super subjective, especially in a city as rich in culture as Chicago.
By the way welcome to the city, We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese. There's a lot to like here. I grew up around here, spent a bunch of years on the west coast, and recently found myself back in town. It's been fun, slowly getting to know the city again. Lot of things have changed, lot of things never will.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 12:48 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]
SPrintF, San Diego is actually the intersection of 4th Ave and Broadway.
The zero-mile point for San Diego supposedly is in that park just southwest of the intersection (last I knew, but I'm having trouble verifying it), so this is actually where it should be.
posted by LionIndex at 1:30 PM on May 6
The zero-mile point for San Diego supposedly is in that park just southwest of the intersection (last I knew, but I'm having trouble verifying it), so this is actually where it should be.
posted by LionIndex at 1:30 PM on May 6
Recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery last week. Of course it decides to snow today (a foot and a half on a random Monday in May with another 8-9 inches inbound tonight - sure why not!). How the kids got to school today was ummm interesting……
Also one of the (former) main cast members from the Grey’s Anatomy TV series was in my surgeon’s waiting room at my post surgery appointment. Not sure if I want to know if they scrubbed in on my knee or not…..may have to rewatch how many patients died at their hands first.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:32 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]
Also one of the (former) main cast members from the Grey’s Anatomy TV series was in my surgeon’s waiting room at my post surgery appointment. Not sure if I want to know if they scrubbed in on my knee or not…..may have to rewatch how many patients died at their hands first.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:32 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]
If you use the Google Maps method for Ottawa, the centre is apparently the intersection of Bank and Albert. But that only works if you lump Gatineau on the Quebec side into Ottawa, which I don't.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:59 PM on May 6
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:59 PM on May 6
San Francisco: they seem to have put it at the intersection of Market and Van Ness, which is not particularly interesting, but I'm not sure where the right location for San Francisco is.
This seems to be an attempt at geographic centrality - that’s kinda sorta the middle or town if you ignore the south and west sides of the city (as most people often do).
For me, the right combo of physical centrality with cultural symbolism would have Google pick either twin peaks or sutro tower as the center of SF.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 3:19 PM on May 6
This seems to be an attempt at geographic centrality - that’s kinda sorta the middle or town if you ignore the south and west sides of the city (as most people often do).
For me, the right combo of physical centrality with cultural symbolism would have Google pick either twin peaks or sutro tower as the center of SF.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 3:19 PM on May 6
According to Google, the center of Pittsburgh is the corner of Grant Street and Sixth Avenue (a park), across from what Google is still labeling the “U.S. Steel Plaza” in front of the “U.S. Steel Tower”. The quotes are because UPMC paid a LOT of money to slap “UPMC” on the top of that building, and much like many things in this city, it is referred to by a defunct name. I.E. Acrisure Stadium is, and will always be, “Heinz Field”. There is a music venue outside of the city which has changed names multiple times and has always, through the years been, called by its original name, to the point that it finally just switched back to the original name.
— Note: This is not just a Pittsburgh thing. During my recent visit to Chicago, my friend referenced that big landmark building in Chicago as both the Sears / AND the Willis Tower, much to my amusement.
Apple Maps has the center of Pittsburgh on Ross Street, in front of the Allegheny County Office Building.
I’m feeling rather crappy today for no discernible reason. Soon I will be putting on my Aging, Deeply Unlikeable Woman t-shirt and taking to my bed.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:35 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]
— Note: This is not just a Pittsburgh thing. During my recent visit to Chicago, my friend referenced that big landmark building in Chicago as both the Sears / AND the Willis Tower, much to my amusement.
Apple Maps has the center of Pittsburgh on Ross Street, in front of the Allegheny County Office Building.
I’m feeling rather crappy today for no discernible reason. Soon I will be putting on my Aging, Deeply Unlikeable Woman t-shirt and taking to my bed.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:35 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]
centre of my city by this metric is a few metres from where I once saw my favourite instance of polemical signage at a climate strike thing by city hall: GREENHOUSE GAS, EAT MY ASS. this sentence, by no means the most broadly notable utterance in the location's history, is as representative as anything else of the better angels of this beautiful clusterfuck of a city's collective genius, i suppose. i'd not situate the centre by city hall, tho.
posted by busted_crayons at 5:07 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]
posted by busted_crayons at 5:07 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]
They have the center of Gainesville as University and Main which, eh, I guess. I'd be inclined to put it more at The Stephen C. O'Connell center or 13th and University, but [shrugs].
In personal news, my cat ran away and had a nine-day adventure outside. He's back now, thanks to a friend who made and ordered fliers, and a local trap-and-release aficionada who lent me her cage, and many texts from strangers who gave tips on where they had seen him. (I caught a raccoon, then another [they peed on the dirty clothes and their urine is pungent and awful], then a bowl of ants [apparently no mammals were tempted by the cat food that night], then a feral cat, then another feral cat, then finally my own cat).
He's been to the vet and been proclaimed fine, though still slightly overweight, and with--apparently--more strains of yeast in his ear than could be counted. He doesn't like the ear treatment but otherwise he's been very affectionate, and for the first week back he had no interest whatsoever in going outside. He'll need a test for FIV and something else I forgot the name of in six months but for now we're just delighted to be back together.
posted by johnofjack at 5:24 PM on May 6 [18 favorites]
In personal news, my cat ran away and had a nine-day adventure outside. He's back now, thanks to a friend who made and ordered fliers, and a local trap-and-release aficionada who lent me her cage, and many texts from strangers who gave tips on where they had seen him. (I caught a raccoon, then another [they peed on the dirty clothes and their urine is pungent and awful], then a bowl of ants [apparently no mammals were tempted by the cat food that night], then a feral cat, then another feral cat, then finally my own cat).
He's been to the vet and been proclaimed fine, though still slightly overweight, and with--apparently--more strains of yeast in his ear than could be counted. He doesn't like the ear treatment but otherwise he's been very affectionate, and for the first week back he had no interest whatsoever in going outside. He'll need a test for FIV and something else I forgot the name of in six months but for now we're just delighted to be back together.
posted by johnofjack at 5:24 PM on May 6 [18 favorites]
This was interesting. My hometown of Husum, Sweden just gets a pin on the main thoroughfare, no real landmarks or anything (albeit fairly close to The Dam in the river, just north of the pin). But it does hit pretty much in the exact center of what I would call the greater Husum area. And it's pretty representative of the town itself, so it gets a pass. A good 8 minutes by bike from my childhood home, though.
My current town of Arlington, Virginia similarly hits a thoroughfare (Wilson Boulevard) but has nothing special to say about why that's the spot it chose. It's not really close to what I think of as the main area of town.
posted by gemmy at 5:50 PM on May 6
My current town of Arlington, Virginia similarly hits a thoroughfare (Wilson Boulevard) but has nothing special to say about why that's the spot it chose. It's not really close to what I think of as the main area of town.
posted by gemmy at 5:50 PM on May 6
For me, the right combo of physical centrality with cultural symbolism would have Google pick either twin peaks or sutro tower as the center of SF.
How do you pick which peak for Twin Peaks? So it has to be Sutro Tower.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:20 PM on May 6
How do you pick which peak for Twin Peaks? So it has to be Sutro Tower.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:20 PM on May 6
Google Maps decrees that the center of my tiny hometown is the 120+yo Village Hall (directly across the street from the 50yo, less attractive but more functional City Hall). The Village Hall was used more often when I was a kid; these days the kitchen is not officially up to code, and the stage upstairs is rarely needed, but the building is still available for rent if you need a location for a baby shower or a multigenerational Christmas gathering when no one has a house that can accommodate 50 people. I love going there every couple of years to vote (and took each of my kids for their first votes) knowing my grandmother did the same when she was a young woman. That kind of history makes me happy.
So in this case, I think Google got it right. Though to be fair, there's only about a 3 block length of "downtown" from which to choose.
posted by cinnamonduff at 8:15 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]
So in this case, I think Google got it right. Though to be fair, there's only about a 3 block length of "downtown" from which to choose.
posted by cinnamonduff at 8:15 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]
Seattle seems to be at the corner of 4th and Madison, next to the Seattle Public Library. Given downtown's pandemic/post pandemic irrelevance, a decent pick for what used to be. Funky building as well.
posted by Windopaene at 9:13 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 9:13 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]
Great theme for this week!
Question though: I don't get the pin anymore, except at huge distances. It's the same in Google and bing: I get outlines of the area, whether it is the municipality (big city) or the parish (small village).
As far as I can see, the pin that is there when I zoom far out is at our town hall square. Which makes sense, because that is what the municipality has been trying to tell us for 110 years and what tourists and people who have moved in from the provinces believe.
Of course us real* people whose families have lived here for generations know that the real center is about 1.4 km east, at the "new king's square". And it isn't just an affectation, though it is also that. Our zip codes and house numbers center on that square. But because of this post, I suddenly realized that the reason it's called the new king's square is that it was built with a similar intention 400-ish years ago to the town hall square 110 years ago: to create a new dynamic center in the city, in order to make it more open to new people and ideas. That's kind of neat.
I still feel that people who have strong opinions about preserving the buildings or other aspects of the town hall square are weird. It's just the town hall square, guys, it's ugly as fuck and always has been. If I were the mayor, I'd plant a forest there.
*this is a joke! Take it easy...
posted by mumimor at 3:11 AM on May 7 [4 favorites]
Question though: I don't get the pin anymore, except at huge distances. It's the same in Google and bing: I get outlines of the area, whether it is the municipality (big city) or the parish (small village).
As far as I can see, the pin that is there when I zoom far out is at our town hall square. Which makes sense, because that is what the municipality has been trying to tell us for 110 years and what tourists and people who have moved in from the provinces believe.
Of course us real* people whose families have lived here for generations know that the real center is about 1.4 km east, at the "new king's square". And it isn't just an affectation, though it is also that. Our zip codes and house numbers center on that square. But because of this post, I suddenly realized that the reason it's called the new king's square is that it was built with a similar intention 400-ish years ago to the town hall square 110 years ago: to create a new dynamic center in the city, in order to make it more open to new people and ideas. That's kind of neat.
I still feel that people who have strong opinions about preserving the buildings or other aspects of the town hall square are weird. It's just the town hall square, guys, it's ugly as fuck and always has been. If I were the mayor, I'd plant a forest there.
*this is a joke! Take it easy...
posted by mumimor at 3:11 AM on May 7 [4 favorites]
As mentioned above, for Atlanta, it's the state capitol, which is appropriate if pretty south of the geographic center. For the little village where I live, unsurprisingly Google has trouble distinguish our village from the eponymous world's largest hunk of exposed granite (that is also the world's largest monument to racist traitors) that looms just to the east.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:02 AM on May 7 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 4:02 AM on May 7 [3 favorites]
Ugh I may have spoken too soon about the apartment. Just not going to be breathing until I have a signed lease in my hand...
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:29 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:29 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
I can't figure out how to get Google Maps to put a pin in the center of a given location but whatever.
Because I came in here to squee about how y'all, a dude I taught an Irish dance to in a theater basement was just at the Met Gala.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:35 AM on May 7 [11 favorites]
Because I came in here to squee about how y'all, a dude I taught an Irish dance to in a theater basement was just at the Met Gala.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:35 AM on May 7 [11 favorites]
Question though: I don't get the pin anymore, except at huge distances. It's the same in Google and bing: I get outlines of the area, whether it is the municipality (big city) or the parish (small village).
You're not looking for the pin, you're looking for your city's/town's name. Like this. When you zoom in enough, the name will pop up and sometimes it will disappear while you're zooming in but eventually it will appear again, showing you what Google thinks of as the "center" of your city.
posted by cooker girl at 7:06 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
You're not looking for the pin, you're looking for your city's/town's name. Like this. When you zoom in enough, the name will pop up and sometimes it will disappear while you're zooming in but eventually it will appear again, showing you what Google thinks of as the "center" of your city.
posted by cooker girl at 7:06 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
WTAF? The apartment search is disheartening, to say the least. And something smells when every goddamn complex require that you make 2.5 times the monthly rent (literally, every complex I've talked to).
Dude it's so fucking bad right now. I am sure it's all got to do with interest rates and housing stock and it might be completely different next year and all but it is so. fucking. bad. Now that we have gotten an acceptance on a place the LL seems to have gone radio silent on the actual lease-doing and I'm losing my everloving mind. Sending you good apartment vibes.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:13 AM on May 7 [2 favorites]
Dude it's so fucking bad right now. I am sure it's all got to do with interest rates and housing stock and it might be completely different next year and all but it is so. fucking. bad. Now that we have gotten an acceptance on a place the LL seems to have gone radio silent on the actual lease-doing and I'm losing my everloving mind. Sending you good apartment vibes.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:13 AM on May 7 [2 favorites]
I asked for directions to Minnesota and it put me on some private property near the middle of the state and not really near any towns people would recognize...
posted by advicepig at 11:54 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
posted by advicepig at 11:54 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
I always heard the center of my city was near where I lived, and Google puts it at a mile or so up the hill at the bottom of which I live. Huzzah!
In other news, I've been having some pretty vivid dreams lately–not sure why–and last week I actually had a two-parter where I was trying to buy a car from Steve Coogan. It was cool little 60s number, left-hand drive, green metallic/glitter and a white interior, the whole thing resembling a sportier Datsun B210. It had a model plate on the rear indicating it was called an "aero6" or something (not a Morgan), and while I can remember being a person who knew more about it in the dream, that person didn't make it across the dimensional sleep barrier. Anyway, he humored my gee-gaws, let me test drive it for most of the dreams, and was a generally nice and chatty guy overall. It was clear he liked the car, but it was just time.
posted by rhizome at 12:58 PM on May 7 [4 favorites]
In other news, I've been having some pretty vivid dreams lately–not sure why–and last week I actually had a two-parter where I was trying to buy a car from Steve Coogan. It was cool little 60s number, left-hand drive, green metallic/glitter and a white interior, the whole thing resembling a sportier Datsun B210. It had a model plate on the rear indicating it was called an "aero6" or something (not a Morgan), and while I can remember being a person who knew more about it in the dream, that person didn't make it across the dimensional sleep barrier. Anyway, he humored my gee-gaws, let me test drive it for most of the dreams, and was a generally nice and chatty guy overall. It was clear he liked the car, but it was just time.
posted by rhizome at 12:58 PM on May 7 [4 favorites]
I love that kind of random dream. A couple weeks ago I dreamed Conan O'Brien invited me to join him and his pals as we went on all sorts of goofball adventures. Never dreamed about him before or since.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:35 PM on May 7 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:35 PM on May 7 [2 favorites]
Any dream where I get behind the wheel is going to turn out badly. Flying off roads, unable to find the brake pedal in a parking lot... Ugh. And I drive a lot. I should learn to wake up when I'm about to dream about driving. DON'T GET IN THE CAR DUMBASS!
posted by Windopaene at 6:59 PM on May 7 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 6:59 PM on May 7 [2 favorites]
Huh, I get those too! Brains are weird...
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:27 PM on May 7 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:27 PM on May 7 [1 favorite]
For fun, I am working on a Letterboxd list of all of the films posted to Fanfare. It has a few missing and a few corrections needed, but it's mostly accurate.
It seems I have seen about 50% of them.
Someone will probably joke that this is because I have made 50% of the movie posts on FF and I just want to say that this is untrue. It's like 27.2%.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:16 AM on May 8 [3 favorites]
It seems I have seen about 50% of them.
Someone will probably joke that this is because I have made 50% of the movie posts on FF and I just want to say that this is untrue. It's like 27.2%.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:16 AM on May 8 [3 favorites]
During my lunchbreak I will be heading over to that Letterboxd list!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:22 AM on May 8
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:22 AM on May 8
Probably like me, every time you look through the list you will see a few errors and many, many films you have seen but never logged on LB.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:45 AM on May 8
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:45 AM on May 8
I asked for directions to Minnesota and it put me on some private property near the middle of the state and not really near any towns people would recognize
That's what it seems to do for most states. I guess that's the right behavior - I mean, who's asking for directions to a state anyway?
posted by madcaptenor at 1:22 PM on May 8
That's what it seems to do for most states. I guess that's the right behavior - I mean, who's asking for directions to a state anyway?
posted by madcaptenor at 1:22 PM on May 8
Oh! I finally found people at the County Democrats office! One thing I learned during my visit is that it's one of only TWO County Democrat offices in the entire state! That seems pretty sparse so we have a lot to accomplish out of this tiny place.
Spent about an hour there, talking to various people. Two little old ladies who have no real idea what is going on but who are manning the phones, and Jax, a later arrival who was really on fire in a lot of ways. He mostly does work as a visibility activist, but he also works as a Precinct Committee Officer [PCO] for the party. I'm thinking of singing up to be appointed as one of those, as it would be about talking to people in the neighborhood in which I live. I need to meet people, and having the excuse of knocking on the door for the Dems is something that I would feel great about doing.
So, I'm glad to have finally broken through a second barrier to volunteering. Every step I take toward getting involved like this is alleviating my panic about the upcoming election quite a bit.
I do encourage people to go look at the Cooked Media website for lots of podcasts and other material to help inspire you toward action starting now into the fall. Most candidates are getting their applications in now for being candidates so things are really going to start heating up all along the ballot.
posted by hippybear at 3:26 PM on May 8 [3 favorites]
Spent about an hour there, talking to various people. Two little old ladies who have no real idea what is going on but who are manning the phones, and Jax, a later arrival who was really on fire in a lot of ways. He mostly does work as a visibility activist, but he also works as a Precinct Committee Officer [PCO] for the party. I'm thinking of singing up to be appointed as one of those, as it would be about talking to people in the neighborhood in which I live. I need to meet people, and having the excuse of knocking on the door for the Dems is something that I would feel great about doing.
So, I'm glad to have finally broken through a second barrier to volunteering. Every step I take toward getting involved like this is alleviating my panic about the upcoming election quite a bit.
I do encourage people to go look at the Cooked Media website for lots of podcasts and other material to help inspire you toward action starting now into the fall. Most candidates are getting their applications in now for being candidates so things are really going to start heating up all along the ballot.
posted by hippybear at 3:26 PM on May 8 [3 favorites]
Oh! So we're basically a month out from Pride here and I've been trying to volunteer with them and FINALLY got contacted. And sent to this very complicated web form that is full of volunteer shifts. After looking through it all, I've decided that what I want to do is sell beer tokens at the entrance to the beer garden at the Pride festival. Seems like a rather low stress way to get to meet people and interact, which is a thing I really need to do because my life has grown increasingly isolated here of late.
So I signed up to work the pre-party the night before, and then an afternoon shift after the parade at the Festival itself.
I am looking forward to this SO much!
posted by hippybear at 1:54 PM on May 9 [4 favorites]
So I signed up to work the pre-party the night before, and then an afternoon shift after the parade at the Festival itself.
I am looking forward to this SO much!
posted by hippybear at 1:54 PM on May 9 [4 favorites]
Today is the first day of the typical brief May heatwave that interrupts the otherwise typical cool rainy May weather here. I just saw the first hummingbird since January or so at my feeder! Summer is a-comin'...
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:01 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:01 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
Summer is a-comin'...
P.D.Q. Bach - The Seasonings - IX & X. Recitative & Duet: Summer is a Cumin Seed [2m44s]
posted by hippybear at 4:23 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
P.D.Q. Bach - The Seasonings - IX & X. Recitative & Duet: Summer is a Cumin Seed [2m44s]
posted by hippybear at 4:23 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
(S. 1½ tsp)
Tenor: Then asked he of her
Bass: Have you any onions, and have you savory?
Tenor: But she answered him not, saying
Alto and Soprano: Onions have I, but savory have I none.
Tenor: Whereupon he scolded her
Bass: Then thou art an unsavory rapscallion!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:48 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
Tenor: Then asked he of her
Bass: Have you any onions, and have you savory?
Tenor: But she answered him not, saying
Alto and Soprano: Onions have I, but savory have I none.
Tenor: Whereupon he scolded her
Bass: Then thou art an unsavory rapscallion!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:48 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
That passage, Greg, is the one that has stuck in my brain since age 10 when I first hear the oratorio.
posted by hippybear at 6:02 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 6:02 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
I just now learned about beurre monté, which is a water/butter emulsion that clings better than just plain melted butter.
posted by hippybear at 6:33 PM on May 9 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 6:33 PM on May 9 [2 favorites]
And even better than that is if you emulsify it with starchy pasta water! Yum 😋
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:35 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:35 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]
hippybear, I saw that too and found a craving for food with butter, just to try it out. Not least all those fancy variations...
posted by mumimor at 1:08 AM on May 10
posted by mumimor at 1:08 AM on May 10
This weekend, I am going to make Ryan Ken's biscuit recipe. Back when I was on Twitter, I followed them (hilarious person, did video sketches interrogating racism and toxic masculinity; they're now an Emmy winning writer for Last Week Tonight).
They would post regularly about their obsession with finding perfect biscuits (the Southern US ones, not cookies). I found that I agreed with every iota of their opinions on how good biscuits worked.
Later, they announced they had been working on this as a private obsession and had arrived at what they considered to be the perfect biscuit recipe.
Just look at these.
Good gawd. Cannot wait. Don't know why I waited so long to get to this.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:23 AM on May 10 [2 favorites]
They would post regularly about their obsession with finding perfect biscuits (the Southern US ones, not cookies). I found that I agreed with every iota of their opinions on how good biscuits worked.
Later, they announced they had been working on this as a private obsession and had arrived at what they considered to be the perfect biscuit recipe.
Just look at these.
Good gawd. Cannot wait. Don't know why I waited so long to get to this.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:23 AM on May 10 [2 favorites]
In a similar vein I just made an herb-and-cheese quick bread that I was going to be saving for soup-and-bread meals this weekend, and I have already eaten two slices because NOM NOM. Basically it's just a soda bread dough but with a bunch of chopped herbs and a bunch of grated cheese chucked in. It polished off a bag of grated cheddar that had been hanging around the fridge and finished off the bundle of herbs from another recipe earlier in the week, so I am being all thrifty as well.
(And it was from my now-stereotypical Moosewood Daily Special book as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:57 AM on May 10
(And it was from my now-stereotypical Moosewood Daily Special book as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:57 AM on May 10
So, we're entering Pride season here, and I was trying to figure out what event Pride was asking for volunteers for on the Friday night before the event [turns out it's a before-party], I discovered that Spokane is opening a Spokane Aids Network community house/office in conjunction with Spokane Pride. This is a big deal because the previous Spokane Pride House had closed maybe 15 years ago when the property that held the donated space changed hands and the new owners wanted to rent out the property.
So this is the first time in maybe 15 years that Spokane has had a space dedicated for the queer community. The organizations in the space have great things going on, and the space itself is open and available with community spaces as well as offices.
Anyway, I went to the Open House for this new space today, and it was greatly rewarding. I got a tour of the space from the director of SAN, I talked to a bunch of people involved with Pride... I'm extending my tendrils back out into the community again after maybe a decade away.
It was a short time, maybe 45 minutes that I was there, but it felt good. A bit of healing happened today.
They aren't too far away from my therapist's office so when I'm in the city maybe I can drop by and start to build relationships with those who are shaping the local queer community.
My therapist will be pleased.
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on May 11 [3 favorites]
So this is the first time in maybe 15 years that Spokane has had a space dedicated for the queer community. The organizations in the space have great things going on, and the space itself is open and available with community spaces as well as offices.
Anyway, I went to the Open House for this new space today, and it was greatly rewarding. I got a tour of the space from the director of SAN, I talked to a bunch of people involved with Pride... I'm extending my tendrils back out into the community again after maybe a decade away.
It was a short time, maybe 45 minutes that I was there, but it felt good. A bit of healing happened today.
They aren't too far away from my therapist's office so when I'm in the city maybe I can drop by and start to build relationships with those who are shaping the local queer community.
My therapist will be pleased.
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on May 11 [3 favorites]
Happy Mother's Day to those who celebrate. I haven't interacted with my mother in over a decade, and my life and mental health are better for it.
I'm going to hang out with a few friends this afternoon, grill some food and have a beer or two. Just good low-key stuff.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:26 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]
I'm going to hang out with a few friends this afternoon, grill some food and have a beer or two. Just good low-key stuff.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:26 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]
Also I noticed the ice cream truck started making its rounds this weekend, for the first time this year. Guess I'll have to get used to its awful chiptune version of the first 8 bars of "The Entertainer" Dopplering repetitively up and down the street every afternoon.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:30 PM on May 12
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:30 PM on May 12
My girls and their families came over for dinner. I didn't know it was Mother's Day when I invited them, but no one can escape commercial interests, so the grandchildren had baked me a cake. Which was sweet.
We talked about how we never celebrated Mother's Day when the girls were small, and they thought it wasn't a thing back then (it was). I quietly relished that we were able to avoid it so completely back then, but obviously didn't want to spoil the little one's cake efforts.
I was so happy with the dinner. Since the youngest and her boyfriend moved out, I have been missing the joy of cooking for others, so I sort of ran amok. I was definitely in the zone several times today while pealing and chopping and dicing and generally having a good time in my kitchen. But that is not new to me. What happened today was that "Babette" effect where everyone forgot time and place and just leaned back and enjoyed the company and talked and played and obviously ate a lot and stayed way longer than planned. I was a bit surprised at how few leftovers there were.
posted by mumimor at 1:50 PM on May 12 [2 favorites]
We talked about how we never celebrated Mother's Day when the girls were small, and they thought it wasn't a thing back then (it was). I quietly relished that we were able to avoid it so completely back then, but obviously didn't want to spoil the little one's cake efforts.
I was so happy with the dinner. Since the youngest and her boyfriend moved out, I have been missing the joy of cooking for others, so I sort of ran amok. I was definitely in the zone several times today while pealing and chopping and dicing and generally having a good time in my kitchen. But that is not new to me. What happened today was that "Babette" effect where everyone forgot time and place and just leaned back and enjoyed the company and talked and played and obviously ate a lot and stayed way longer than planned. I was a bit surprised at how few leftovers there were.
posted by mumimor at 1:50 PM on May 12 [2 favorites]
I have spent the weekend setting up a Raspberry Pi to run Retropie and be my new emulation box hooked up to the TV. Not all the way there yet but getting closer. Computers got too easy to use and I lost all my tech skills through atrophy. I'm having to relearn everything.
posted by downtohisturtles at 4:03 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 4:03 PM on May 12 [4 favorites]
I just had a Butterfinger bar and man they have gone to shit since the last time i had one maybe ten years ago. The spun sugar interior was hardly layered at all, there didn't seem to be hardly any peanut nougat layering either, and the enrobing "chocolate" had so little cocoa in it I'd call it more taupe than brown. Really disappointing.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:47 PM on May 12 [2 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:47 PM on May 12 [2 favorites]
Also the actual fuck with grocery prices in Ontario. Local apples are like $2 a pound, which is more expensive than oranges from the other side of the planet, and more expensive than some meats on sale. Romaine hearts for $3.50. For ONE. The fuck. The actual fuck.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:49 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:49 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]
We're at my mom's. We cooked up some ribs; she doesn't get much bbq.
Yeah, groceries are a challenge. Mrs C was a pro cook and she has sources and contacts but even so the costs are a bit of a shock to us recently-retireds.
Re chocolate- we periodically buy the bigger Lindt etc 70% bars; a couple squares is dessert, so they last a while. We've pretty much given up on the pedestrian chocolate bars.
We volunteer at a food bank distribution center. Business is booming. That kind of sucks.
posted by Artful Codger at 5:38 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]
Yeah, groceries are a challenge. Mrs C was a pro cook and she has sources and contacts but even so the costs are a bit of a shock to us recently-retireds.
Re chocolate- we periodically buy the bigger Lindt etc 70% bars; a couple squares is dessert, so they last a while. We've pretty much given up on the pedestrian chocolate bars.
We volunteer at a food bank distribution center. Business is booming. That kind of sucks.
posted by Artful Codger at 5:38 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]
Re chocolate: I still continue to crave various Reece's products, but in general there is little-to-no candy in the US that I consider really worth eating. Which is sad -- we have so much potential.
posted by hippybear at 5:45 PM on May 12
posted by hippybear at 5:45 PM on May 12
Rant time (this may not make me look like a good person, but it's how I feel). My job is weird, I get 4 weeks off a year, but they must all be taken consecutively. I chose May as my vacation month. I'm an avid birder, and birding doesn't get better in New Jersey than in early May. We usually do a family vacation in late May, and I get to do what I want in early May, which is birding, and I look forward to it more than just about anything else I do all year. For the second year in a row, my spouse has been seriously ill, but not in a life-threateningly or chronic way, in early May. I feel like I'm being targeted, not by her but by fate, karma, or whatever you want to call it. It's all so ridiculous and annoying. It's the one time of year that I have the opportunity to do what I want. I'm thankful her issues are not life threatening, but it is a bummer.
posted by mollweide at 7:09 PM on May 12
posted by mollweide at 7:09 PM on May 12
Kiddo has been offered a spot on a sport national league travel team and I am very, very torn. It is a good opportunity. Kiddo may earn a spot to play in national tournaments. We have attended a practice and the kids are well disciplined. The coaches were strict but not abusive. The practice was intense - they definitely push the kids. And kiddo needs a push. But I’m not sure if kiddo is mature enough to handle it. But it feels like one of those situations where they learn the maturity by doing. And kiddo is on the fence - appreciates being asked, uncertain about doing it due to a bad experience a few years ago playing travel for a different sport.
Ugh. I hate this part of parenting.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:04 AM on May 13 [1 favorite]
Ugh. I hate this part of parenting.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:04 AM on May 13 [1 favorite]
Trader Joe's has little 3-bar packs of oatmilk chocolate bars by the cash registers, plain or crunchy*. Very lovely. Sometimes I can put them in the freezer and eat a couple squares a day. Other days are 3-bar days.
Friday I left the gas cap on top of my car at Costco, and I found it about 15 minutes later on the other side of the parking lot (where I went to park and run in). At first glance it was fine, hooray! because the top part of the cap was intact and seemed to be sitting in a pile of white stuff. However. The white stuff was some inner plastic parts crushed to bits.
*Despite the recent article about TJ's business practices. Dangit.
posted by Glinn at 6:51 AM on May 13
Friday I left the gas cap on top of my car at Costco, and I found it about 15 minutes later on the other side of the parking lot (where I went to park and run in). At first glance it was fine, hooray! because the top part of the cap was intact and seemed to be sitting in a pile of white stuff. However. The white stuff was some inner plastic parts crushed to bits.
*Despite the recent article about TJ's business practices. Dangit.
posted by Glinn at 6:51 AM on May 13
Also the actual fuck with grocery prices in Ontario.
$28 / litre for olive oil. I am astonished.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:20 PM on May 13
$28 / litre for olive oil. I am astonished.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:20 PM on May 13
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If dolls or witchy stuff are more your thing, you could check out the post I did on the doll and witch outfit I made for a friend's daughter, complete with a kitty cat familiar.
posted by orange swan at 5:00 AM on May 6 [16 favorites]