Author: Twelve Mile Circle
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Playing Both Sides of the Street
Dinosaur that I am, I still get a print copy of the newspaper each morning. We’ve laughed about that before. However, it’s an old-school habit I’ll likely not break until the publisher itself gives up on the media. I’m no Luddite and I’ve left behind a huge digital wake as I’ve cruised the Intertubes. Nonetheless…
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Mob Rule
One dictionary defines mob rule as a government by violent gangs, or by the masses. Another provides a wonderful synonym, Ochlocracy, a middle French word derived from the ancient Greek; which various other sources define as power from the multitude or crowd. Either way it seems a strangely deviant name for a website devoted to…
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One Percent of Greenland Lives in a Single Building
[UPDATE: Block P was torn down in 2012] I received the July 2010 print edition of National Geographic in the mail over the weekend. It had an interesting article on Greenland as it struggles with the effects of global warming. Naturally it includes all the usual excellent photography, maps and narrative that one would expect…
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What Crosses an Airport Runway?
The world of geo-oddities extends even to airport runways, and I’ve uncovered several curiosities over the past several days. The areas served by airports don’t always confine themselves to neat, tidy spaces. Oftentimes transportation resources represent a cooperative spirit between neighbors as they band together to meet a common need. Sometimes it’s just the opposite,…
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Potpourri
The virtual file folder is bulging at the seams but none of the topics I’ve collected for today are large enough to merit a standalone article. There should be something for just about everyone here today, something old, something new, something borrowed, something stupid. Haines Shoe House Wouldn’t you visit the Haines Shoe House if…
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That Confounding Trivia Question
UPDATE: THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. THEY ANNOUNCED THE CORRECT ANSWER AS STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT. SEE COMMENTS BELOW FOR ISSUES MANY PEOPLE HAVE WITH THIS ANSWER. People searching for the answer to a specific trivia question are hammering the Twelve Mile circle website. I’ve seen dozens of search engine queries and I’ve received several email messages from…
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A Town’s Odd Streets and Enclaves
Geo-oddities exist everywhere. You just have to look for them. I came across an interesting situation in Bothell, Washington, fascinating in its own right but leading to a confluence of events even more unusual. So the situation begins with the city’s placement directly atop a boundary line separating King County from Snohomish County. That’s hardly…
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Adjacent Counties, Same Name, Different States
We’ve had a lively interactive discussion within the comments section of the recent article, “For Aficionados of Counties.” This doesn’t surprise me. Many of our regular readers are indeed aficionados of counties. In fact I seem to have cornered a great deal of the market on geo-oddities at this tertiary level of US government, not…
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Vote For a Geo-Oddity Bear
THE POLLS HAVE CLOSED. WE LOST. CHASKA WON Regular reader “Craig” commented on my recent post, Geo-Oddities Go Hollywood. He was wondering if I was aware that the National Zoo in Washington, DC was considering naming one of its Andean bears after a geo-oddity. I hadn’t known about it so I followed the link that…
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Geo-Oddities Go Hollywood
The readers of the Twelve Mile Circle are the greatest. They’re always looking out for me. Loyal visitor “Bill” sent a message letting me know that Hollywood is planning to focus on a popular geo-oddity in an upcoming feature film. Seriously. It would be create quite a splash since it’s the latest project of Kathryn…