Name your city's great contributions to popular culture.

Obviously, if you live in a major city like New York, LA, or Chicago there may be a few.

Since Cleveland is my adopted hometown, and since I'm always posting about how great Pittsburgh is in comparison, I thought I would give C-Town its due.

- Rock & Roll- Alan Freed gave it a name when he worked here as a DJ for WJW radio.

- Chef Boy-Ar-Dee- Hector Boiardi opened his first restaurant in Cleveland, where he sold his sauce to locals. I'm sure his original was a far cry from the crap in the can.

- Stouffer's- actually started here as a dining establishment.

- Drew Carey- the unfunny asshole.

- Cleveland Indigenous Peoples- one of the first American League baseball teams.

- "Major League"- back when the Indians were the laughing stock of baseball.

- Michael Stanley- Cleveland's answer to Donnie Iris; Joe Gruschecky, even!


There's tons more- perhaps a fellow Clevelander would like to add to the list.

works for me! :D

I always thought Seneca Falls, NY was the birthplace of women's rights. I spent much of my youth near there, and that's what everybody said.

http://www.nps.gov/wori/

But I could be wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time, either. BTW, Ann Arbor is a great place. It's got a lot more going for it than Seneca Falls, which sadly has seen better days.

of course he got out of this town as soon as he possibly could....oh yeah we have Monument avenue!!!! to me it is not all that special but I see people with cameras taking pictures of the intersections all the time....we have the only three way train crosssing......Amy Mann and Warren Beatty and Shirley McClain are from here......

top that all you out there communing with nature.
we also had the first ferris wheel, and we turned a river around.

:eyes:

Arthur Hiller (Love Story) and Bruce McCulloch (Kids in the Hall).

Leslie Nielsen went to Vic Comp high school...

Jimi Hendrix

"Grunge" - 'nuff said

Bridges that float

Monorail

Microsoft

Bertha Landes - first woman mayor of a major American city

Only city to stage a general strike that shut down the whole town
(1919) - more info here: http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=861

Starbucks

Lots of great authors

I could go on, but I'm on painkillers. :D

Hey the Space Needle, you can't forget that.

Hey I just saw your pic in the research forum a while ago. Looking good! :)

birthplace of Clara Barton

Don't sell Baltimore short. Tupac Shakur, Jada Pinkett, Ricki Lake (don't know if that's a contribution). I'm sure there are plenty I'm leaving out.

I think she grew up in my area. Didn't know about the others.

Thanks.
:hi:

Buffalo China.

Tom Toles (adopted Buffalonian -- made his name in the Buffalo News).

That's all I've got.

The kazoo (Eden, NY)

The first grain elevator

The Pierce Arrow automobile

The first Bell Helicopter (West Seneca, NY)

Mark Twain wrote a large part of "Huckleberry Finn" in Buffalo

One of the best most extensive collections om modern art in the country at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Loganberry

Rich Products (CoffeeRich)

O-Cell-O sponges

1903 Pan-American Exposition

William McKinley assassinated

Theodore Roosevelt inaugurated

Frank Lloyd Writes' Darwin Martin House

Ani DiFranco

Grover Cleveland

The largest intact system of parks by Frederick Law Olmsted in the country.

The Goo Goo Dolls

10,000 Maniacs (Jamestown, NY)

Spyro Gyra

Tim Russert

Wolf Blitzer

Mark Russell

Jeffrey Jones

James Whitmore

Christine Baranski

John Schuck

Tom Fontana

Lucille Ball (Jamestown, NY)

HSBC Bank

and the largest number of bars & drinking establishments per square mile in the country!

We've both left out the Weber's mustard.

You're jogging my memory --

Rick James

Elizabeth Swadoes

Wright's Graycliff cottage

I know there are some artists we haven't mentioned, but I can't cough up any names there.

You're right on the bars!

Wait, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

It's probably a bad thing.

Portland, Ore.

Knee-capper extraordinaire!

We have streets here called Flanders and Lovejoy.

anybody know the movie "Dark Star"? The theme song would be its contribution, I guess. Nearest city is Tucson - it has contributed much more, too much to list.



OOOO edited to add the next nearest town is Willcox (sometimes spelled with only one L), home of Rex Allen, cowboy croner, movie star and voice of various Disney productions.

The birthplace of Peter Weller, portrayer of Buckaroo banzai and Robocop.

My friend's band plays there from time to time.

Other than that not much, although the guy next door is my tobbaconist.

:beer:

old Tucson Studios.

But my hometown is actually Cut Bank, Mt. We have a penguin statue that says "Cut Bank, MT, The Coldest Spot In The Nation" Hank Williams Jr. actually sang a song called "Cut Bank, MT" too.

I just love stuff like that.

the Penguin being such a great national symbol and all. :)

against the Cleveland Indians, of course

The soul of Maryland

Beer.

'nuff said.

RL

It goes with beer.

Sorta.

:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo:

We made Brats famous.

The Violent Femmes
Heather Graham
Golda Meir
Steve Miller
Liberace
Spencer Tracy
Gene Wilder
:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo:

Thta's all I can think of. (Or at least the only one I care to think of.)

Rick Mercer is the shiznit.

...birthplace of James Cameron (Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Titanic, Dark Angel etc..)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/

Wendy's. The original restaurant is still here.

James Thurber. Love his work.

Other than those, I can't think of a thing good.

But, we'll always have Taft, Coingate and voting irregularities. Sigh.

Love him or hate him, Woody Hayes is a god here. We gave you one of the best football games last weekend, OSU vs the state up north!

Is there a plaque to me in that city? I lived there for my first two weeks ...

Didn't know you had ties to OSU. (not osu, oregon state, but OSU)

I have family in your area.

:)

:toast:

The first kindergarten was established here in 1838
The nation's first middle school in 1909
I-71 was the first highway with metric markers

Two name two. :)

Spamarama

Slacker

Stevie Ray Vaughn

:D

locations were in Austin. I can even spot the entrance to my neighborhood, which is decidedly in Austin.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/locations

Being from RI, my whole state is about the size of a major city, so here you go...

Seth Mcfarland - Family Guy
The Farrelly Brothers (ugh)
The Talking Heads (went to school at RI school of design)
That idiot that won the 1st survivor
James Woods
Quonset huts
Roger Williams - founder of the state and proponent of the separation of church and state

The first vampire legends in the US
The 1st industrial revolution (slater mill, eli whitneys cotton gin)

That sure fixed them!

Israel Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole (a/k/a Bruddah IZ), Pacific Rim regional cuisine, and believe it or not, two-thirds of the original Kingston Trio.

- Traffic lights

- Nine Inch Nails

- Superman (Shuster & Seigel lived in Clevo when they came up with the character)

- R. Crumb (spent his formative years here cutting his teeth as an illustrator for American Greeting Cards)

- "American Splendor" (Harvey resolutely refuses to simmer down, even in retirement, bless him!)

- The Russo Brothers, directors of "Arrested Development."

- The Raspberries/Eric Carmen. OK, actually, never mind this one. :blush:

who was Sports Illustrated's 1997 College Mascot of the Year!


Well-known residents have included:
· Fran Tarkenton, football player
· Kim Basinger, actress
· Leo Kottke, musician
· Jeff Daniels, actor

and of course, r.e.m. (Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills), B-52s, Pylon, Normaltown Flyers, Randall Bramblett & Davis Causey (Sea Level), Time Toy, Oh OK and many, many others too numerous to mention!

Downtown Athens and City Hall:


I should not forget our city's famous Confederate era double-barreled cannon (a novel idea that didn't work) and the famous Tree That Owns Itself. (It's true!):


College Square:


The Fabulous 40 Watt Club:


Athfest:

Hometown - New Bedford, MA

The Temple Toggle Iron harpoon invented by African American Shipsmith Lewis Temple in 1835.

Moby Dick written by Herman Melville in New Bedford

Fredrick Douglas' first anti-slavery newspapers were first published in New Bedford

The twist drill invented at Morse Twist Drill in New Bedford

The first fully automatic telephone exchange (using Strowger Switches) was installed in New Bedford

The Big Dans Trial, which became the film "The Accused" starring Jody Foster

The film "Passionada"

Where I live now -

Robert Frost wrote the bulk of his best known poetry while teaching at Pinkerton Academy

Alan B. Shephard, the first American in space was born and raised here.

Pamela Smart had her husband murdered by a bunch of horny teenagers here.

My late grandfather was the gentleman who installed that fully automated telephone exchange - my family had over 240 years of accumulated service with New England Telephone and Telegraph.

And don't forget the Pairpoint glass factory - some of the most beautiful (and expensive) glassworks ever produced, including lamps, vases and plates

edited for a typo

We have many, but none more famous than the Butterfly Ballot of the year 2000. I believe it is in the Smithsonian.

too many to count.

Here are a few:

-one of the world's oldest universities (oldest in Europe -est. 1088);
-mortadella and tortellini;
-one of the first gay rights organizations in Europe;
-decidedly left wing politics;

A list of famous people from there (taken from Wikipedia)...
Mariele Ventre (teacher and educator, founder of Piccolo Coro dell' Antoniano choir)
Guglielmo Marconi (inventor and Nobel prize)
Stefano Benni (writer)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer, poet, director)
Pierluigi Collina (football referee)
Guido Reni (painter)
Ottorino Respighi (composer)
Annibale Carracci (painter)
Lodovico Carracci (painter)
Agostino Carracci (painter)
Il Guercino (painter)
Pupi Avati (director)
Alex Zanardi (car driver)
Giorgio Morandi (artist)
Adriano Banchieri (composer)
Alberto Tomba (skier)
Gianni Morandi (singer)
Lucio Dalla (singer)
Francesco Guccini (singer)
Gioacchino Rossini (composer)
Romano Prodi (politician and professor)
Umberto Eco (writer and professor)

Stevie Wonder was born here. That's a pretty fair contribution to popular culture, yes?
Also, Theodore (Ted) Roethke, one of the finest poets in American Literature, was from here (and ALWAYS proudly claimed Saginaw as his hometown -- though the city's hoity-toits were never too fond of him). He graduated from my high school (Arthur Hill).
Question Mark and the Mysterians ("96 Tears") are from here and still do gigs around town.
Oh, and the world-famous, legendary, wowie cool now-a-go-go FUNDAY party is held here every year in June. This year's edition (XII) is slated for June 17.
John
Saginaw is less "cultural" than blue-collar, in spite of the fact that we are, after all, The Center of the Universe.
And it is now 207 days, 19 hours and 29 minutes to FUNDAY.

("Me & Mrs. Jones", "Ain't no Stoppin Us Now", "When Will I See You Again", "Backstabbers", "Wake Up Everybody", "Ooh Child" .....)

M Night Shamylan and "The Sixth Sense", Jill Scott and Patti LaBelle,
Grover Washington Jr., Marian Anderson,

Actors Bill Cosby, Grace Kelly, Will Smith, Seth Green, John Barrymore, Peter Boyle, and Kevin Bacon (whose Dad was a architectural giant and civic gadfly)

The late 1970's Flyers, aka "The Broad Street Bullies" ("I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out") and the 76ers, with Dr. J, Charles Barkley, and A.I.

Sadly, we are also contributing to the county's entertainment right now with "The Further Adventures of T.O."

That's were I reside. My actual hometown is Leicester, MA. That was a stop on the underground railroad.

Princeton, IN.

Gibson guitars, Fender guitars were originally made here
Checker cabs - same thing
Shakespeare fishing rods and reels . . .
Really, lots of stuff *used* to be made here.

"I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" song
Derek Jeter of the much beloved Yankees ;)

I'll probably think of more.

My home town - Freepers and horse shit.

- The line "Ich bin ein Berliner", obviously
- just as "Tear down this wall"
- Basically anything with "the Wall"
- Via the Prussian army, many elements of today's biker apparel
- Two World Wars. Top that!
- Davie Bowie
- Marlene Dietrich
- Cabaret
- The Döner, the Turkish-European Fast Food.
- The PAL television standard, guaranteeing the incompatibility of European and American media
- The electronic computer
-...

So what did SF give the world?

Rice-a-roni.

Take back the Night.

Pro-sex feminism.

Harvey Milk.

More porn than you can shake your weiner at.

Multi-culturalism and the realization that immigration might not be the problem, it might even be the solution.

Emperor Norton.

Gertrude Stein, Dashell Hammet, etc.

Jefferson Airplane, the summer of love, and yeah we did build this city.


Khash
(It's weird and wonderful, and I'm so thankful that those who came before made it what it is so I could benefit.)

1) Margaret Cho
2) Levi's blue jeans
3) The United Nations
4) Fortune cookies
5) The Names Project Quilt
6) Lawrence Ferlinghetti
7) The Golden Gate Bridge

just to name a few... :hi:

Joe DiMaggio, Grateful Dead, Haight St., so many other things.

I used to live near Noe Valley -- loved it.

read Pat Murphy's "The City.Not Long After"


After the Apocalypse the citizens of SF band together to defeat a rightwing, fundy, military attack
. And art and nonviolence are their best weapons.


Khash.

How could I forget Craigslist! :spank:

Tim Conway...(Okay, that's a stretch)....

Arsenio Hall... Halle Barrie.... Martin Mull...

I am living in a small town in south Tennessee called Selmer.
It is the place made famous by the movie "Walking Tall".

I see the ad for it here in Memphis a lot. "It's worth the drive!"

-Proctor&Gamble.
-The first MLB team the Cincinnati Reds.
-Skyline Chili.

Does that make me a bad person?

Anchorage is the ceremonial start of the Iditarod sled dog race.

It'd melt your igloo.

Boo!
:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

Alaskans don't live in igloos. :P

gold-painted moose dung with legs and wings attached. Don't even think of letting Minnesota or anyplace else claim these.

Stevie Wonder, Iggy Pop, the MC5, Alice Cooper, and The White Stripes, to name a few. And that's only the music. :D

YIPPEE!

And fuck you if you don't like Timbuk 3.;)

:cry:

Amelia Earhart (not born here, but lived here), Curly from the 3 Stooges, and Adam Carolla (ugh).

Oh, and we've got these movie and TV studios you may have heard of... ;)

then the North Hollywood chamber of commerce is lying to me.

Perhaps he lived here for a while? :shrug:

They all died and were buried there too.

19th century Quaker poet, although born in Haverhill, MA, lived for mort of his life in Amesbury, MA and is buried there, as well.
It was also the home of Josiah Bartlett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His home is now a museum.
Amesbury was also well known for carriage buiding, and textile mills back in the 19th century.
So, maybe Amesbury may not have produced popular culture per se, but it has definitely contributed its share of American history :-)

My Dad wrote for the Haverhill Gazette for 35+ years and did the Amesbury beat for many of those.
Great town! Better than Merrimac, IMHO!

Whittier is the prig that burned his copy of Leaves of Grass because he thought Whitman was vulgar and an affront to literature.

aka Martin Sheen, born in Dayton, Ohio on August 3, 1940.

President Bartlet... :loveya: Sigh.

Ann Arbor native.

Lobster Capital of The World!

I bet none of you have a town square christmas tree that is made of lobster traps!

http://knox.villagesoup.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=64012

and a long time ago- watches.

And my pseudo-city, Iowa City, IA -- home of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

And my other pseudo-city, Seattle: Coffee?

Home of Krispy Kreme and Camel cigarettes, along with lots of way cool musicians like Ben Folds, Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey, Peter Holsapple and the Five Royales

that is American music. Jazz, rock, blues, R&B, all of it owes its origin to New Orleans. Without Congo Square, there would be no American music.

We have not yet gotten to food or literature. Not enough time today. :)

Boulder, Colorado. Need I say more?

Uh... home of the California Rodeo. :eyes:

Oh... and in the park adjacent to the rodeo grounds, this Claes Oldenburg "art": http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/hats.htm

Note that I'm talking about the city where I grew up and lived 42 years, not the toilet I live in now.

nt

;)

Then again, we make a lot of crap, too.

MC Hammer
2 Short
Counting Crows
Green Day
Peter Buck (who knew?)
Michael Franti
Sonny Barger (founder of the Hell's Angels)
Clint Eastwood
Luke Skywalker
Tom Hanks
Ricky Henderson
Jason Kidd
Jack London
Maxine Hong Kingston
Rod McKuen
Joaquin Miller
Gertrude Stein
Amy Tan
Galen Rowell
Julia Morgan
Jerry Brown!
Ed Meese
Huey P Newton (and the Black Panthers)
Angela Davis
Ron Dellums
The Oakland Hills Fire
A big, collapsed freeway
Raiders football
Oakland A's
Golden State Warriors
Largest port on the West Coast
Ebonics
Children's Fairyland (inspiration for Disneyland)

And last but not least,

The Grand Lake Theater







And extra last but not least,

Barbara Lee!

SO HA!

here -- you see her around town alot.

Elvis...
Isaac Hayes...
The real home of rock and roll...
birthplace of the blues...
Barbeque!
Fedex
Jerry Lee Lewis

and attended "Tiger High". Love the Rendezvous ribs and the Sunset Symphony concerts during Memphis in May.

Also, one of the members of Bread lives there and Jimmy Jamison (Eye of the Tiger) is also a resident.

Home to Christian Brothers College and winery.

BB Kings Blues club on Beale Street. The Beale Street Music Festival.

Prince Mongo! (Is he still running for mayor every year?

Rick Dees got his start on AM radio.

Pink Palace Museum.

I miss Memphis, can you tell?

I actually live on the west coast now, but I grew up in Memphis. I was a sound engineer for years down there and ran into Jimi quite often. I worked a lot of the same gigs as Target did in the late seventies. Joe Walsh lived there for several years and all of the guys used to hang out with him.....what a nut..

Al Green is still there. We used to record some at his studio out by Graceland.

Mongo is pretty cool. He has been around there for a long time. Still nutso....lol

The PP is one of the coolest museums around.

My father was a private pilot, worked for FedEx for years and ended up in Portland. He's now retired out there and driving my mother crazy. :) (I'm an airplane geek, I recognize most of the codes.)

many more for such a relatively small city *under 100,000*

anyone know the name of this town (granted the middle one is a dead giveaway)

Bill Walton
The whole Boone family of major league baseball fame.
Terrel Owens
Kathy Najimy
Air Coryell
Andrew Cunanan
San Diego Zoo
Ocean Beach

you want to toss in the Aztecs.

The writer for "Best Little Whore House in Texas" father was the mayor here for a bit.
The Longest Collegian Field goal was kicked here (For ACU).
National Museum for Children's Illustration is here.
And best of all Harold's Barbecue is here.

Pro Football

Marilyn Manson

Bozz Skaggs

Oh, and I think we killed Hank Williams or something.

Edited to add The O'Jays although I don't think Eddie Levert was born in Canton but he was young when he moved here.

Home of the Gerald R. Ford Museum!

I don't live there anymore.

20th century playwright. Author of Bus Stop, Come Back Little Sheba, Picnic, Splendour in the Grass and others.

The Little House on the Prairie is here too, so I guess I can claim Laura Ingalls Wilder as well.

Creed
Ted Bundy

2000-2002. Nice city, still a Nole fan.

Ike and Tina Turner
Nelly (OK some may not consider him to be a contribution)
Stan the Man Musial (even this Cubs fan recognizes a great baseball player)
Gooey butter cake....yummmmmmmmmm
Vincent Price (born in St Louis)
Phyllis Diller

As far as impact on popular culture, this is at the top of my list - think of all the innovations introduced there. Forest Park continues to be the best destination and definition of culture, IMO, in the city - the Muny, a world class FREE zoo, museums, the Science Center, annual balloon race...

For sports, Stan IS the Man, but there is also Ozzie, Dizzy Dean, Jack Buck... the list is so long.

And while I've only been a St. Louisan for 12 years, I don't know how you can't mention toasted ravioli or Ted Drewe's....

Oh, and thanks for the mention of gooey butter cake - I have to go get some now...

:9

CSO (chicago symphony orchestra)
Chicago (the band)
The Chi-Lites
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Chicago Style Hotdogs
The best Pizza in the world
the Sears Tower
The Field Museum of Natural History
The Shedd Aquarium
The Adler Planetarium
The Art Institute
The Museum of Science and Industry
Dick Butkus (the toughest football player ever other than walter payton)
George Halas
Bob Newhart
Second City
Bill Murray
Steve Goodman
John Prine
Harold Washington
Chess Records
Chicago Fest
Taste of Chicago

oh geez.....i'm only forgetting about a million things

sydney j harris
the straight dope
bill veeck
16inch softball (clinchers as we called them when i was a kid)

became, in those few hours, a military success for the first time.

Lindberg's baby was kidnapped here as well, but that's a less happy story and the baby's body was discovered in a culvert also in this town.

The gas station in the movie "IQ," with Tim Robbins and Meg Ryan was here.

A signer of the American Declaration of Independence, John Hart, is buried on Broad Street in downtown Hopewell. His monument is very prominent and can be seen from the street.

Kurt Vonnegut set a scene from "Slaughterhouse Five," here, specifically an account of his trip to see his old friend Bernard O'Hare, who was with him during the bombing of Dresden. The setting was the place where Washington crossed the Delaware.

Yeah, I know the two are related, but oh well...it's a boring town.

We also brought you the exciting tales of Gary Condit and Laci Peterson :)

Lewis and Clark embarked from here to explore the Northwest territory.

Daniel Boone and family were the first American born Europeans to settle the second oldest city west of the Mississippi.

Oh, and last note, this infamous photo was taken here as well.



My city's name is St. Charles, MO

The wave, D.O.A., me, Post and Beam design, greenpeace

:bounce:

and if I'm not mistaken, Chris Farley.

Carolyn Jones and I had the same HS English teacher, several years apart. Oh, and Stanley Marsh 3's Cadillac Ranch.

This was where Jim Morrison exposed himself in 1969.

The very first Burger King.

Miami Vice.

Al Capone's winter home during the 1920s and 1930s before he went to prison. He died in Miami after being released from prison.

Jazz - 18th & Vine. The corner that gave gave birth to jazz.

The Mob - The Valentine Day Massacre happened at Union Station. Violin cases and all. Although the building has been completely restored, the original bullet holes from that day were left behind.

Beef. Best steaks in the world. Filet - order the filet. Medium rare. Trust me. Preferrably at the Plaza III.

The Plaza - First outdoor mall style shopping center. Beautiful architecture, styled after Seville, Spain and beautifully lit for the holidays.

Fountains - The only city with more in the world is Rome.

Plenty of black and white ball players including Josh Gibson and Bill Mazerowski. Jazz musicians Billy Eckstine, Billy Strayhorn, Art Blakey, George Benson, Mary Lou Williams, Ahmad Jamal (big influence on post be-bop Miles), Lena Horne and the legendary Teenie Harris, premier photo-journalist for the Pittsburgh Courier for something like 50 years documenting the ups and downs of Afro-American city life.

And Flashdance. And Night of the Living Dead.

..There's V-8 juice, which is bottled here in Napoleon, Ohio.

The guy who designed the 50-star US flag, Bob Heft, was our mayor for many years.

Denny Pratt, a character actor who appeared frequently on "Simon and Simon" and "Night Court" went to high school here.

We have a second-hand Corvette dealer, Pro-Team Corvettes, where many celebrities have come to shop.

That 6 degrees of actor person, Kevin Bacon, Hall & Oates, Jim Croce, Todd Rundgren, Frankie Avalon, David Brenner, Grace Kelly, Elton John's Ode to Billie Jean King. To name a few

"Philadelphia p-aaay -- Dancin' in the streets..."

:woohoo:

Joe Venuti,Philadelphia Orchestra, etc...

we don't wanna be here all day

- The frozen margarita. Invented at Mariano's restaurant. The original frozen margarita machine has been sent to the Smithsonian.

- Reunion Tower. Maybe it's not exactly "culture" per se, but can you imagine the Dallas skyyline without it?

- The State Fair of Texas. Everything is bigger in Texas, and our State Fair is no exception. Speaking of which...

- The corn dog. Specifically, Fletcher's Corn Dog. Born at the afore-mentioned State Fair of Texas and best served fresh out of the fryer with a generous helping of mustard.

- Photon. Some of you Lazer Tag and paintball aficionados may revel in your free-for-all shooting sprees, but Photon made these armed "capture the flag" games cool. Unlike you young LT whippersnappers, we wore suits that weighed 30 pounds, complete with helmet, battery pack, and sensors, and trundled into a dark, fog-filled arena bogged down with our field gear to blast the hell out of each other - and we liked it!

- 7-Eleven. Enjoy your Slurpees and Big Gulps, DUers? You have 7-Eleven to thank for it. Born right here in Big D. But here's the irony: Southland Corporation created 7-Eleven. Then they created a Japanese subsidiary to build 7-Elevens in Japan. The subsidiary and its own stores pulled in so much money that it finally bought Southland about a month ago - along with every American 7-Eleven. So if you've been finding Pocky at your local 7-Eleven next to the Slurpee machine, now you know why.

NOTE: We take no responsibility for that godawful Lorimar TV series. Enjoy watching Kristen shoot JR, then switch off the set and take a look at the real city for once.

Dallas can also claim chicken fajitas.... I worked at On the Border for a long time and supposedly they were first to serve chicken fajitas.... this was when they were still a mom & pop, pre-Brinker. That claim never seemed right to me, but evidently fajitas used to be only beef. :shrug:

And another sidenote about the State Fair.... I think Fair Park is the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings anywhere.

We came awfully close to losing some of them, too, due to aging and neglect. They're the most visible legacy of Texas' own brand of Art Deco, something that passed on way too soon.

that new museums etc have been established there, I hope more continues to happen on the grounds and that more restoration can be done. It is a great place even during the 49 weeks of the year when the fair is not there. :) I wonder how long the Cotton Bowl will last. I know its just a stadium, but a lot of sports history has passed through it, particularly in the old days of the Southwest Conference.

1. Hometown to Danny Thomas.
2. Hometown to a 70's TV Icon, Jamie Farr.
3. Thanks to Jamie, the Toledo Mud Hens (Tiger's AAA farm team) and the best place to get a Hungarian Hot Dog, Tony Packo's

Far, far down on my list is this little factoid: The 'Kat' part of the 'TomKat' Phenomenon, Katie Holmes hails from here. Not that I think it's culturally significant ;) :7 :shrug:

going with those who worked here or grew up here, there's Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler, Frank Lloyd Wright, Clarence Darrow, Edgar Lee Masters, Walt Disney, William Lear, Daniel Burnham, Frank L. Baum (wrote the Oz tales while living here), Saul Bellow, Herbie Hancock, Benny Goodman, Bob Fosse, Leo Burnett, and a bunch more. Also Chicago was home to Chess records, where Chuck Berry recorded his hits, starting with Maybelline, fifty years ago.

As for where I grew up, Charlton Heston, John Hughes, Liz Phair, Ann Margaret, Hal Sparks, Rock Hudson, Virginia Madsen, either grew up there or lived there as teens.

Created in Halifax, NS. :)



Denny Doherty :toast:


Sarah McLachlan :loveya:


And the DONAIR! :puke:

Let's see:

Racing: We have Indy 500, Brickyard 400 and the only Formula 1 in the US

Major Sports: Pacers and Colts have a habit of just being good but no rings.

Reggie Miller: Probably the greatest comeback player every in the NBA- but no rings.

Home Town of: Jane Pauly, Vivica Fox, Kenneth "Baby Face" Edmonds ( who has a stretch of I-65 named after him, David Letterman, John Cougar Mellencamp, Rupert from Survivor.

We arrested: Mike Tyson and Ray Charles. Although Mike had a long stay.

Home of: Steak'n'Shake the best food you can get at 3:00am, The largest Childrens Museum.

It's a small town




asthmaticeog

Hamilton Ontario CANADA

Martin Short
Rick Moranis
Dave Thomas
Eugene Levy
and that goofball magician Doug Henning.

Too many to mention, so I'll do Oxford, the town I grew up in:

- Radiohead

- Supergrass

So there.

but Hootie and the Blowfish are from my hometown and neighborhood.

:puke:

128 Degrees Fahrenheit

..our local airport....

...there is always that rumor that the "Hotel California" from the Eagles song was about the Mental Hospital that was in my community at the time.

155 miles of privately paved roadways, and somewhere around 10,500 one acre parcels

Founded by Roger Williams to provide a place free from puritan oppression of those who didn't buy their religion.

We also have The Rhode Island School of Design, one of the country's top art schools, and Brown University, famous for it's parties. ;)

Bill

Krystal's

The Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Moonpies

R.C. Cola

Bessie Smith

The first military park in the US: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

I'm in NYC now but I have to give my hometown some love!

Annabeth Gish- Fine actress.

Trev Alberts- College Football blowhard.

Gary Kroger- SNL forgotten funnyman.

Guy who wrote the awful 'Bridges of Madison County.'

Woman who wrote the equally not-so-good 'Sleeping With the Enemy.'

Kurt Warner- SB champion QB played college ball at U of Norhtern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

House of Large Sizes- No not a clothing chain, one of the very best live bands I ever saw.

Trev and Annabeth were in the same graduating class in the same tiny High School.

That starts with T and rymes with P and that means POOL!

Born in West Palm Beach, FL.

WPB is also known for Rush Limpball and his oxycontin habit. And the William Kennedy Smith rape trial. Roxanne Pulitzer and her trumpet.

Perhaps our biggest contribution to popular culture -- Birthplace of Carrot Top!

And who can forget The Great Election Farce of 2000 caused by my town, thanks to the Butterfly Ballot created by my neighbor, Theresa Lepore.

West Palm Beach, FL - Ground zero for the end of the world.

but given he was not a hetero, more people would probably like to know we have lots of antique stores selling old old junk at low low prices! :D

Ice Cream Soda and the first licence plate. Local papers have concluded that the Denver omlette didn´t originate in Denver. http://www.westword.com/issues/2005-02-24/calendar/nd3.html

The Denver Dance refers to traffic lights at an intersection that allows pedestrians to walk diagonal across the intersection. The Denver boot is a device put on your car by the police so that you can´t drive it when you´ve had too many parking tickets.

Also the hometown of George Lucas and inspiration for American Graffiti.

Also the hometowns of murdered women, Chandra Levy and Lacy Peterson.

Home for now, anyway.

Elvis, via Viva Las Vegas and the '70s concerts even though he came from elsewhere -- world's Mecca for ersatz Elvises, for sure, and imitators of just about everyone else

Naked ladies dancing in feathers and stuff (again, borrowed from elsewhere but an iconic, almost-vanished Vegas tradition)

The Mafia et al...yet again, something from somewhere else that reached epic proportions in this Neon City. Lots of holes in the desert. I live out where there was only desert 'til the late '80s, so maybe I'm sleeping on top of Jimmy Hoffa's resting place.

Buffets...better and more expensive now than ever

The Vegas lounge act...from the really good to the desperately bad and of course, Tony Clifton

Neon -- vanishing from the strip as they replace Old Vegas with character-free (but undeniably spectculkar) mega-resorts with greater snob value, higher prices, and muted lighting (and, worse, soulless high-rise condos)

Mormons running Sin City...the Almighty Buck reigns supreme.

Too much smoke. Kinda like England.

Strippers. All kinds.

Gambling. Not unique to Vegas, even within the US (more money's made in certain casinos in CA and back East than is generated by the entire Strip), but no place is like Vegas. For better AND for worse.

Implosions. They love to blow stuff up here.

Liberace museums.

Silicone-enhanced cocktail waitresses.

Mayors who used to be Mafia lawyers. Any other cities have 'em?

Presence on film and TV, among other pop culture outlets, vastly disproportionate to its permanent population.

Winning big at the 7-11.

Celine Dion. Please, Canada, take her back.

Silicone-enhanced cocktail waitresses. Sorry...seeing double.

I grew up in Independence, Missouri.

I now live in Kansas City and I'd say our contributions include Kansas City Jazz and The great Negro Leagues player Buck O'Neil.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

first Saturday in April, gathering on the diag at U-M to support NORML, medical mj, and generally have fun


our girl scout troop would always buy and freeze extra cookies ... at least once we set up a sale table for cookies across the street from the hash bash ... sales were great that day!

Gwen Stefani went to a high school down the street from where I live.

Although it also spanwed the demon song "Hollaback Girl"... :scared:

I stay there at least once a year. I visit a manufacturing site there for optimization and troubleshooting work.
The Professor

In that case, pretty much the same thing. I live in a small town in the southern fringes of Chicagoland. I figure i'm close enough to tell people, (at least when i'm overseas), that i'm from Chicago. I'm not that particular about where someone drew a boundry on a map.
The Professor

I live out by the 241 toll roads. On one side of the street is Anaheim. On the other side of the street is Yorba Linda. The next freeway exit over, you're in San Bernadino County.

and that's about as "popular culture" as you can get.

Robert Armstrong, cartoonist & illustrator, is credited with coining term Couch Potato in 1976 & he registered it as a trademark in 1982. He wrote OFFICIAL COUCH POTATO HANDBOOK in 1982, founded Couch Potato Club, and edited THE TUBER's VOICE.

My little town has become pretty damn boring after Robert Crumb and Robert Armstrong moved out...

Does that count? :shrug:

Oh, and cup-o-coffee baseball player Dutch Leonard

Kentucky Derby

Muhammad Ali (and Tatiana Ali)

Ned Beatty

Diane Sawyer

Phil Simms

Two NCAA Basketball Championships

The Hot Brown (Open-faced turkey sandwich smothered in cheese)

Derby Pie

Cheeseburger (seems to be up for debate, though ;) )

Fort Knox

Jeffrey Wiegand (Brown-Williamson tobacco whistleblower)

Louisville Slugger


Probably a lot more but that's just off the top of my head.

SCTV's golden years
Wayne Gretzky's glory years
West Edmonton Mall
The Pursuit of Happiness
SNFU

And born in Edmonton...
k.d. lang
Michael J. Fox
Jill Hennessey
Tommy Chong
Bruce McCulloch (Kids in the Hall)

he wasn`t born here but it`s the only place he called home. gee ain`t i lucky

Culture smulture.

Ripon, WI (at least one of the four places that claim it, but we are it. Really).

Don't hold it against me.



That's not me in the picture, just some random guy.

These are all of the top of my head...if they aren't from here than they lived here at one point..


Grant Wood (the artist)
Ashton Kutcher (actor)
Elijah Wood (actor)
Terry Farrell (actress)
Ron Livingston (actor)
Kurt Warner (football)
Dedric Ward (football)

Hmmm..

Thats all of the top of my head.

ME! Best contribution to culture they ever made! :evilgrin:

"My Dog Skip" and "The Ponder Heart".

N/T

Author Taylor Caldwell
Radio Host Stephanie Miller
Actors Jesse Green (Law & Order), William Sadler, Christine Baransky
Rick James
'Deadwood' creator David Milch

and friggin' Chicken Wings