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Have you ever wondered how your city’s economy would compare to a small country? Well, if you happen to live in one of America’s larger cities, you can now find out thanks to this fascinating article on The Atlantic. Take LA for example:
With a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $737.9 billion, the LA metro’s economy is bigger than Turkey’s ($732.2) and slightly smaller than the Netherlands’ ($782.3) — the equivalent of the 18th largest nation in the world.
If your city isn’t listed, where do you think it might fit in?
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Honestly, bodies aren’t supposed to work like that, much less look graceful doing it. This footage was taken at the Braun Battle of the Year USA qualifier in Los Angeles on August 20th. The winning crew was Battle Born, who advances to the ultimate tournament November 19th in Montpellier, France. Link -via I Am Bored
Dan Abramson drew a map of the United States of America as seen by New Yorker over at Funny or Die. As far as I can tell based on my interactions with New Yorkers, it’s entirely accurate.
I love New York and New Yorkers. I found them to be amongst the nicest and most helpful people in the country. Their reputation of being rude and brusque is wholly undeserved (they are, however, direct).
But there’s one thing that I find very funny about New Yorkers (or those that blog anyhow): they think that everyone they like must live in New York because it’s inconceivable to live anywhere else.
When we Americans are young children, we are taught the basics of our nation’s founding. But often those stories get shortened into easy-to-recall sound bites that don’t tell the whole story. Most of the historical “facts” you remember are oversimplifications of a more nuanced story. For example, I bet you thought the Declaration of Independence was adopted in the fourth day of July in 1776.
Independence Day is celebrated two days too late. The Second Continental Congress voted for a Declaration of Independence on July 2, prompting John Adams to write his wife, “I am apt to believe that [July 2, 1776], will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.”
Adams correctly foresaw shows, games, sports, buns, bells, and bonfires—but he got the date wrong. The written document wasn’t edited and approved until the Fourth of July, and that was the date printers affixed to “broadside” announcements sent out across the land. July 2 was soon forgotten.
Learn other historic tales that were different from what you recall in this article at National Geographic News. Link
Jenny and Dave Prager brought us First Impressions of the USA last month. Some of the response they received from global visitors to the USA concerned the common greeting, “How are you?” Lakshmi says:
“When I set foot at the Dulles airport in DC, the immigration/customs guy asked me how I was doing — and I was taken aback. Am I supposed to know this guy? Does this guy know my cousin? And so, is that how he knows that I would be here at the airport today? Did my cousin ask him to take care of me until he could pick me up at the airport? If so why didn’t my cousin tell me? I looked like a deer facing headlights.”
She wasn’t the only one who was confused by the phrase, as well as “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, and the constant smiles of Americans. Read more at Our Delhi Struggle. Link -Thanks, Dave!
Jenny and Dave usually write about impressions of India on their American sensibilities. Now they are turning the tables, and blogging about how the United States appears to those who arrive for the first time from India. They followed the stories of two visitors, and then opened up comments for more experiences. One commenter said:
During my first visit to the USA I was put up at Hotel Hilton Garden Inn in Atlanta…being from India where generally there is only one hotel of any chain no matter how big … it was a shock for me when my cabbie drove me across the city for half an hour and I spotted 7 different hiltons before I reached the one where I was booked. I could spot the same pattern repeating every few miles … same Mc Donalds and KFC’s … same walmarts, circuit city and best buys …. it was very weird
If you have a story about your first thoughts upon arriving in the U.S, you are welcome to leave a comment here or at Our Delhi Struggle. Link -Thanks, Dave!
(Image credit: Flickr user Nick Sherman)
Remember the United States of TV map that assigned a show to each of the 50 United States? My Food Looks Funny did that with food, assigning a representative dish to each state. I can’t argue with fried chicken for Kentucky, but I think of catfish or barbecue for Tennessee instead of tomatoes. Link -via Laughing Squid
What a neat idea! Type the name of each state in the US into the Google search field one at a time, and see what autocomplete suggestions come up. Then make a map of them. That’s what happened at Very Small Array, which resulted in this. I would have guessed Kentucky easily. See a larger version of this map at the site. Link -via The Daily What
Simone Smith visited a gourmet supermarket in Berlin and found an American section among the ethnic foods! Now stop and guess what she found there before you see it. I imagine they stock it with “comfort foods” requested by Americans living in Germany. -via Buzzfeed
You know about these historic events, but do you remember who was president of the United States when it happened? This Lunchtime Quiz from mental_floss will strain your historic perspective. I scored 50%, mainly by remembering the events of my lifetime. Link
Previously: Who Was President? Part One.
What better for a Labor Day cookout than a steak in the shapes of the USA? Philadelphia artist Dominic Episcopo took photographs of states that look good enough to grill. Link -via the Presurfer
Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends (2009) by Ron Arad
The meaning behind the name of Ron Arad‘s USA-shaped bookcase (Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends – whaaaa?), but it’s easy to see how cool it would be hanging on the wall!
It’s currently being exhibited at the Timothy Taylor Gallery: Link – via otto
The economic crisis got you down? Well, here’s the silver lining to the current economic mess we’re in: it makes America stronger.
Walter Russell Mead of The New Republic explains:
Setting aside the flaws in both these overarching theories of capitalism, this analysis of economic crises is fundamentally sound–and especially relevant to the current meltdown. Cataloguing the early losses from the financial crisis, it’s hard not to conclude that the central capitalist nations will weather the storm far better than those not so central. Emerging markets have been hit harder by the financial crisis than developed ones as investors around the world seek the safe haven provided by U.S. Treasury bills, and commodity-producing economies have suffered extraordinary shocks as commodity prices crashed from their record, boom-time highs. Countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran, which hoped to use oil revenue to mount a serious political challenge to American power and the existing world order, face serious new constraints. Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must now spend less time planning big international moves and think a little bit harder about domestic stability. Far from being the last nail in America’s coffin, the financial crisis may actually resuscitate U.S. power relative to its rivals.
Link – Thanks Daniel Belkin!
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We’ve all heard about “The Big Apple”, but how about names like “The City of Friendly People” and “The University of Telephony”?
Here is a list of 98 nicknames for New York City.
