Connecticut
Capital:
Hartford
Date of Entry:
January 9, 1788
Maps:
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| Map of USA. Connecticut outlined in dark ink, shaded, and with an arrow pointing to it. |
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| A close-up of Connecticut and its neighbors. |
Neighbors:
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York
Water Borders:
Long Island Sound, Atlantic Ocean
Total Area:
5,543 square miles
Five Largest Cities:
Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury
Famous Geographical Point:
Connecticut River
State Nickname:
The Constitution State. So named because it's believed that the U.S. Constitution was drafted based on ideas from Connecticut's first constitution. (Personally, I prefer its alternate nickname, The Nutmeg State.)
Famous Person:
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author and abolitionist
Book Set In/About:
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Explores a married couple's lives of quiet suburban desperation in the 1950s. Somehow, my husband and I went to see the movie version a number of years ago and it was, quite literally, one of the most depressing films I've ever seen.
Movie Set In/About:
"Holiday Inn" (1942), directed by Mark Sandrich
A palette cleanser for the book above. After retiring from Broadway to rural Connecticut, a talented performer (Bing Crosby natch) decides that farm life doesn't suit him and plans to turn said farm into an entertainment venue that's only open on holidays. It's a sweet film if you ignore the one performance that's done in black face.
Headline of the Day:
"Connecticut Rock Pile Known as Negro Heads May Get a New Name" in the New York Times.
WTF, Connecticut.
2 comments:
Your response to the headline made me laugh.
I remember Sam Mendes talking on Fresh Air how much he loved the book Revolutionary Road. When someone is that excited about a book, I tend to check it out. I did, from the library and didn't get very far because man that book was dense in a way so I knew it wasn't going to have any sort of happy ending.
I saw the movie when it came out and indeed. No happy ending, nor middle, nor start. BUT! I think it was the first time I saw Michael Shannon steal a scene, so that's something.
Oh, I totally forgot he was in it! He first popped on my radar in "Take Shelter," a criminally underrated movie. Did you know that he has a very small part in "Groundhog Day"? Dan points him out every time we watch it (it's one of our once-per-year movies).
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