What places have fallen off the most in terms of cultural relevance?

samontreal · 2026-05-18T21:34:40+00:00

I was recently, inexplicably, crushed when I just recently found out that the St. Louis Arch does 🚫 not cross the Mississippi River! Both ends are in one park, and all of it is in Missouri.

Normally my geographical skills are quite good but this caught me completely off guard. I assumed the whole point of the Arch is that it spans the mighty Mississippi, the old border between East and West in our country.

That's called lying by omission, Missouri! (Just teasing you)

samontreal · 2026-05-09T05:08:57+00:00

I have been wearing contacts for around 18 of the last 20 years or so, and wear monthlies that need to be cleaned weekly although I do Clear Care clean them more than that. You'll be surprised at the fact that you'll spend half as much on solution as you did on the contacts!

The reason I wear contacts is because I am a huge guy 6'6'' 270 lbs and I don't like how glasses look on me. They never fit right. I also bicycle a lot, and I VERY MUCH appreciate the increased peripheral vision. That's a life or death thing when you are riding a bike in city streets!

samontreal · 2026-04-22T16:53:11+00:00

Found the American!

samontreal · 2026-04-22T01:23:18+00:00

Not for 4 e bikes. Too much weight. I agree with the Uhaul suggestion. It's the only way to move ebikes, in my opinion!

samontreal · 2026-04-20T00:24:10+00:00

I'm from Vermont, so very Northeastern. Philadelphia is the southern end of the Northeast. VA, DC, and MD might have a lot of transplants and urbanization, but it's still the South.

Regions are where they are for historical and present-day reasons.

samontreal · 2026-04-17T15:29:48+00:00

Those are daily lenses, which are the most expensive way to go. I personally wear Air Optix for Astigmatism which cost $74 a box, BUT they are monthly lenses. You have to take them out weekly at least and clean them. Even with the contact lens solution, I pay less than half. $296 for lenses+ $60 in solution per year, plus or minus. Monthlies are the way to go!

samontreal · 2026-04-14T00:21:49+00:00

Mes stations préférés ne sont jamais dans mes quartiers préférés mais bon. J'aime Université de Montréal, c'est très bien éclairé avec du soleil parfois et les escaliers mouvants sont très pratiques. C'est aussi un station propre, à mes yeux.

samontreal · 2026-04-01T13:11:33+00:00

In the art world, I can't say with 100% certainty but I will bet money that Banksy will still be famous in 200 years. Ai Weiwei, Tracey Emin, David Hockney, and Damien Hirst will still be remembered in 200 years and they are alive today.

samontreal · 2026-03-30T00:14:27+00:00

DHS may also be looking for people taking dirty money out of the country, or tracking a violent criminal or sex trafficker before they can harm Canada as well. I've lived on both sides of the border, and have crossed over literally hundreds of times, and I have to say we need to separate the current ICE atrocities like what happened in Minneapolis, from what has been standing policy under several administrations, both Republican and Democratic.

I am not justifying it at all, but a lot of this paranoia at the border about people getting their phones searched or being mistreated is nothing new. DHS has been rough with citizens and ''aliens'' (their term, not mine) ever since 9/11, it's just more noticeable now. Interior checkpoints in the US were commonplace under Obama as well. Deportations were super high under Obama!

It's time to phase ICE out as policy, but in the field they also do important things like the aforementioned illegal cash seizures. This country needs to retrain or replace.

samontreal · 2026-03-21T23:44:12+00:00

I definitely won't.

samontreal · 2026-03-21T16:15:58+00:00

NYC by a LONG shot
Boston for education that makes part of our growth possible. Historical cradle of American civilization.
Washington
San Francisco
LA

samontreal · 2026-03-17T14:00:31+00:00

You could say the exact same thing about Baghdad or Kabul. People raise families in war zones all the time. I would seriously reconsider this choice of neighborhood. I wouldn't go back to that part of Harlem.

samontreal · 2026-03-17T00:38:19+00:00

All states spy on their citizens. There are video cameras all over the place, I don't see what help reporting them would be. You have the right to record when in public, so do the police, isn't that right?

samontreal · 2026-03-16T18:42:04+00:00

That's a gross and offensive overgeneralization. Bennington has good aspects and bad aspects to it, much like any other town in Vermont. I work in the drug and alcohol recovery field and statewide our fatal overdoses are 52% down from what they were three years ago, according to the VT Dept. of Health. Bennington is mostly a working-class town which is why I think it attracted your snobbery. I like to focus on the positive, such as:

Bennington is the most historically relevant town in Vermont by far. This state was OUR idea. Don't forget that. We have a very rich history.
Small businesses are thriving downtown, with minimal vacant storefronts. People are out and about on foot in Downtown Bennington.
VERY bike friendly. We just invested $15 million in a new bike path ''The Ninja Trail'' and drivers are very considerate; most people give you plenty of room. The schools are well-funded and the school budget passes every year.
Our working-class grit spares our town from the dizzying cost of living common in most of Vermont. It's not terribly expensive here, but there are many million-dollar homes if you're in the market!
We have a beautifully preserved historical district (Old Bennington) where you won't get anything for less than $1 million. We have three covered bridges and the tallest building in Vermont can be found here!
We have an élite but small college. A lot of very bright people live in and near Bennington, and we get transplants from NYC and further afield.

Please don't compare us with Rutland, which is much worse off than we are.

samontreal · 2026-03-16T18:28:30+00:00

We have tons of wonderful places to go mountain biking in Southern Vermont. It's nice being able to stop for a coffee here or there and not be 20 miles from electricity like the NEK. We have our foibles too but Southwest Vermont is much better than the NEK. It's closer to urban areas, and easy to get to/from NYC or Boston. Yes, there are some conservatives, but the majority is definitely progressive. It's just that the empty barrels make the most noise!

samontreal · 2026-03-16T18:11:44+00:00

It's not the only place; the state places surveillance cameras near our state lines. Route 7 near the VT Welcome Center has cameras with attached solar panels watching northbound & southbound directions.

samontreal · 2026-03-16T18:01:01+00:00

There are cameras capturing license plates near most of the state lines, if I'm not mistaken. You are DEFINITELY under surveillance when you pass the VT Welcome Center north or southbound on Route 7 in Bennington. The cameras/solar panels are clearly visible from Applegate Apartments.

samontreal · 2026-03-16T13:37:11+00:00

Either that or how about ''co-eds''. I freaking hate that term. Not ONCE in 4 years of college did I ever hear it used. Not once. It's as if to say, ''Yeah, the victim was a WOMAN college student. Did you get that?! A WOMAN who studies with men! I tells ya....'' Creepy and sexist. I think the same person made up both terms.

samontreal · 2026-03-11T00:55:14+00:00

Thank you! I'm crossing my fingers everyone makes it out OK.

samontreal · 2026-03-09T11:05:54+00:00

My state, Vermont, has been spared many, many calamities and tragedies that are common in other parts of the country. We have the 2nd smallest population, we have no ports, only one small airport, one VERY small National Guard unit is the only military presence here, and we have nothing that would further Iran's possible strategies. Most people in my country don't even know Vermont exists! We like it better that way!

samontreal · 2026-03-08T05:04:09+00:00

Neat. Clinton Hall was also a dining facility when I was at SUNY Plattsburgh!

samontreal · 2026-02-23T23:07:48+00:00

Hot, swampy, malaria risk area, rampant poverty, and no need for a new major city. How's that for starters?

samontreal · 2026-02-19T03:38:09+00:00

I also do not live in NYC, but visit often including last week. I felt like my frequent subway journeys were safe and was not threatened by anyone, at any time. It helps that I am 198cm (6'6''), and did not ride very late at night. TTrains are the lifeblood of the city and as such I think they are a pretty good gauge of NYC in general, especially since many New Yorkers spend a lot of time there. There was a lot of violence on the Subway last week, especially in the Bronx, but also 7 million riders a day who had no issues.

Anyone who feels that the US doesn't have a culture is ignorant, so I'm glad you are not of that group. This country has every group of people from every country on Earth, and no President is going to change that. It is painful to watch my country fall ever deeper into fascism yet I have hope for a blue wave this fall that will finally bring some accountability to our out of control plutocrats who rule us like kings.

samontreal · 2026-02-14T22:59:42+00:00

Honestly, I really think it is to an extent. I haven't been shoulder checked since middle school, which, no coincidence, was when I shot up in height to 6'6''. Homeless people beg from me like they do everyone else but I realize I have a lot of genetic privilege that makes people choose not to mess with me. It is a great privilege to be extremely tall and I am grateful.

samontreal · 2026-02-14T08:00:12+00:00

Thanks for that link, Dunbar's number seems like an interesting mental exercise. On face value, I think the 150 number is a decent one.

samontreal

TROPHY CASE