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.
Your response to the headline made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI 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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