Jackson Hole, China 2024 Nov 27
Chinese real estate developers back in 2004 recreated Jackson Hole, Wyoming about two hours north of Beijing. Linked is a YouTube who goes there to visit and is underwhelmed by the town square but impressed by the houses' dedication to mimicking America's west. It all looks a little ... flat, to me. The true mark of a great city is when a copy of your city is made into a casino in Las Vegas (Venice, New York, Paris, Egypt, Lake Como's Bellagio... did I miss any? Where's our Kremlin-themed casino?) and this imitation Jackson Hole from the video reminds me less of those and more of the "Wee Britain" joke in Arrested Development.

The bloodiest Western gunfight you’ve never heard of 2024 Nov 13
In 1880 California the railroads (led by among others Leland Stanford) squared off against a group of former Confederate soldiers now squatting on speculated land in a place called Mussel Slough, in the southern Central Valley. When the conflict spilled over into violence, it resulted in a gunfight leaving 7 dead immediately. The incident's infamy was felt far and wide though, by those as far away as Karl Marx in London, with many siding with one interest or the other for their own ideological or political reasons. This linked well-researched 2015 blog post by historian Adam Smith goes into all the details.

The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge 2023 Aug 30
In case yesterday's confounding dive into local trivia merely whetted your appetite for following bunny trails to their conclusion, I present to you the "mystery" of why this pedestrian footbridge in suburban Minneapolis was built. A long and exhaustive read, but one which is ultimately fruitful.

Japan has millions of empty houses 2023 Apr 26
This is going around the wire services lately, but underneath the journalistic crap is a fascinating insight into Japanese culture and how it intersects with Western. "Many Japanese don’t like used homes," it says!