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- World’s largest cities with three (3) letter names
- The Pumpkins return with a “Smashing” good record
- City/town names in USA/Canada that end with matching letters
- The High Desert bursts forth in a symphony of colors
- Scaling peaks of stone despite achy bones: A memoir and and an aspiration
- Ten favorite and least favorite state capital cities
- Los destinos divinos de Latinoamérica: Ciudades con nombres religiosos más allá de San/o, o Santa/o [Latin America’s divine destinations: Cities with religious names beyond San/o, or Santa/o]
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Category Archives: writing
The Pumpkins return with a “Smashing” good record
Back in the 1990s, the Smashing Pumpkins were among the elite rock bands rotating on MTV. They also released one of the most infectious and enjoyable tunes of the decade with “1979.” Since the turn of the century, their starlit … Continue reading
Posted in art, Communications, culture, entertainment, fun, history, music, music reviews, songs, video, writing
Tagged albums, Atum, entertainment, history, lyrics, music, music reviews, records, Smashing Pumpkins, songs, tracks
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Scaling peaks of stone despite achy bones: A memoir and and an aspiration
I wish I had discovered my passion for peak hiking earlier in life. Not realizing it until my early 60s has left me with less time to explore summits than I would have preferred. Despite the delay, the rewards often … Continue reading
Posted in art, book reviews, books, culture, deserts, ecosystems, entertainment, environment, family, fun, geography, Geology, health, hiking, history, infrastructure, land use, logistics, Love, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, peace, pictures, placemaking, planning, pollution, psychology, reading, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, trails, transportation, Travel, visual pollution, walking, water, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing
Tagged aging, Andrea Lani, book reviews, books, Colorado Trail, environment, fun, geography, hiking, history, land use, mountains, peaks, planning, scaling, trails, travel, walking, writing
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Best TV, music & movies seen/heard in 2023 May
The following are my favorite television shows, movies, and music seen/heard for the first time in 2023, as ranked through May 22nd. TELEVISION – Comedies Ted Lasso – Season 3 (Apple TV) Reboot (Hulu) That ’90s Show (Netflix) The Ranch … Continue reading
Posted in art, civics, Communications, consumerism, culture, entertainment, film, fun, movies, music, music reviews, pictures, shopping, songs, Television, theaters, video, Women, writing
Tagged albums, art, comedy, drama, entertainment, film, fun, movies, music, songs, television, video
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Why do former Western mining towns more often appear to recover while Eastern ones continue to decline? A comparative analysis from a human and A.I.
There are many thoughts on this issue and it can be much more complex that just a single reason. As a result, it was decided to compare this blog author’s thoughts on the subject to those of chat.openai.com to see … Continue reading
Posted in art, books, business, cities, commerce, Communications, culture, economic development, education, energy, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, geography, Geology, government, health, historic preservation, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, literature, Maps, Mining, mountains, movies, music, Native Americans, natural history, nature, opinion, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, psychology, recreation, revitalization, social equity, songs, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, topography, tourism, Trade, Travel, unemployment, urban planning, visual pollution, writing
Tagged Appalachia, cities, East, environment, film, geography, history, land use, mining, mountain top removal, movies, music, planning, revitalization, stereotypes, strip-mining, television, travel, West
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Tuesday Tunes: Surname band names of the rock era
Rock bands whose name is based on a at least one band member’s surname are listed below. All are from the USA unless it is otherwise noted. If the band’s name includes a first name, it was not included. Same … Continue reading
Posted in art, entertainment, fun, Music, music reviews, Uncategorized, video, writing
Tagged alternative rock, artists, bands, classic rock, groups, music, names, pop, rock, sounds, surnames, video
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Canada’s next supergroup – A Short Walk to Pluto
Every once in awhile you hear music from a performer that is so good, so talented, and so captivating, that you know if the stars align and everything goes right, they will go far in the industry and will become … Continue reading
Posted in art, branding, Canada, Communications, culture, entertainment, fun, history, music, music reviews, North America, Outer Space, Social media, songs, video, Women, writing
Tagged A Short Walk to Pluto, albums, Canada, covers, Danny Moriana, Emma Armstrong, fun, Jake Biggs, lyrics, Max Kaiser, music, Ontario, records, rock, songs, tracks, video
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Two migration tales of strength, hardship, and tenacity
Far too often, certain pundits, politicos, and just plain bigots depict refugees and immigrants as criminals and/or parasites. That couldn’t be further from the truth for the vast majority of those people who are seeking a new life in another … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, art, book reviews, books, charities, civility, culture, diversity, education, entertainment, family, film, government, history, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, injustice, Latin America, literature, movies, opinion, peace, politics, poverty, racism, Travel, Uncategorized, Welcome, writing
Tagged books, El Salvador, film, history, immigration, literature, migrants, migration, movies, refugees, Solito, Syria, The Swimmers, writing
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Forget the latest planning buzzword and just plan
First it was “context sensitive solutions,” then “cool cities,” followed by “third places,” and most recently it has been the term “15 minute city.” All of these terms (and a myriad of others) are principally buzzwords meant to promote and … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, Advocacy, books, branding, business, cities, civics, civility, Communications, consumerism, culture, education, history, land use, literature, marketing, opinion, placemaking, planning, politics, product design, reading, Social media, third places, urban planning, writing, zoning
Tagged buzzwords, cities, concepts, fads, history, ideas, land use, language, opinion, planning, trends, writing
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Living amid an “Ecology of Fear”
I recently read Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by the late Mike Davis. It is an intriguing book that switches from whimsical to dark and foreboding at the turn of a page. In fact, the … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Animals, archaeology, art, Asia, book reviews, books, branding, business, Canada, Cars, cities, civics, Civil Rights, civility, climate, climate change, commerce, Communications, culture, demographics, density, diversity, economic development, economics, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, futurism, geography, Geology, government, Guns, Handguns, health, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, human rights, humanity, immigration, inclusiveness, India, industry, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Latin America, literature, marketing, money, movies, music, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, pollution, poverty, psychology, racism, reading, Religion, revitalization, schools, Science, Science fiction, Sexism, Small business, social equity, Social media, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, Television, theaters, topography, tourism, Trade, traffic, transportation, Travel, unemployment, urban design, urban planning, visual pollution, weather, Wilderness, Wildlife, Women, writing, zoning
Tagged authors, book reviews, books, California, culture, culture wars, diversity, dystopia, environment, extrapolative, fear, geography, history, hope, inclusivness, literature, Los Angeles, maps, Mike Davis, opinion, planning, safety, security, The Ecology of Fear, writing
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Walkable placemaking with outdoor public stairways
Note: – For purposes of this blogpost, stairways, stairs, and stair-steps are used interchangeably. Post updated 2/16/23 _______ The first time it occurred to me that outdoor stairways could be an important walkability tool for cities was while visiting Edinburgh, … Continue reading
Posted in Active transportation, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, archaeology, architecture, art, book reviews, books, branding, brewpubs, business, cities, civics, coffee shops/cafes, commerce, culture, demographics, diversity, downtown, economic development, economic gardening, Economy, engineering, entertainment, environment, fitness, fun, geography, government, health, Health care, hiking, historic preservation, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, literature, logistics, Maps, Mining, mountains, natural history, nature, new urbanism, pictures, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, revitalization, shopping, social equity, spatial design, sprawl, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing
Tagged Bisbee 1000, cities, environment, fun, geography, history, IceMan Climb Competition, land use, planning, recreational stairways, stair-steps, staircases, Stairizona Trail, stairs, stairways, steps, transportation, travel, walkability, walkable
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