Not a good state from which to pick Republican Presidential candidates in the last 60 years, Arizona is what’s called the “high desert”, which basically means that you have to be high to live there, because it’s like 6 bazillion degrees in the summer. Arizona is the only state in the union to have only two cities: Phoenixscottsdalemesaetc and Tuscon. Otherwise it’s basically dirt and rocks, albeit very pretty dirt and rocks. Arizona is also home to the site where yours truly conducted his first ever stack test, back in 1985, at the Ross Laboratories plant in Casa Grande. They have erected a plaque, or so I’m told.
Professor David Barry’s take on AZ:
When you think of Arizona, you naturally think of one of the great wonders of the world, a spectacular natural formation carved out of the rock over millions of years by the Colorado River, namely: Niagra Falls. But this dynamic state also features the natural beauty of the desert (“desert” is a Spanish word meaning “tundra”), home of the scorpion, which the Official State Creature That Crawls into Your Shoe and Can Cause Paralysis. Another popular attraction is London Bridge, which was transported stone by stone from England in the luggage of a group of very aggressive souvenir-seeking Arizonians on a European tour. They would have got more, but a suspicious British airport security employee opened one of their carry-on bags and discovered a large segment of Stonehenge.
While researching Arizona, I came across this guy’s blog, which I rather liked. This is what Arizonians are supposed to be, grizzled geezers in ten gallon hats (40 liter hats, if you’re visiting from Canada) spewing out homespun wisdom. The median age in Arizona, according to the last census, is: f**king old.
The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, lived in Phoenix during the 1950s, which demonstrates exactly how too much sun can turn your brain to mush. They don’t practice Daylight Savings Time there. This makes sense, since the other word for “daylight” during the summer in Arizona is “inferno”, and who would want to prolong that?
For some reason, Arizona has an Official State Reptile, the Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake. The Official State Motto Pertaining To The Official State Reptile is: “Jesus Christ, That’s An Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake! Get The Hell Out Of Here!” They also have Official State Neckwear, the bolo tie, which happens to be neither.
Famous Arizonians include Geronimo, the first American to jump out of an airplane; Linda Ronstadt, whom I still found cute back in the day and I don’t care what you say; David Spade, whom – while not as amusing as he thinks – is still amusing; and the love of Bobby Hill’s life: Kerri Strug. Lefty Mickelson hails from Arizona and he may or may not have larger boobs than the Arizona native pictured above who – although something of a head case – did still manage to fuel many a fantasy when your humble correspondent was growing up.
This leads us to today’s state trivia challenge. Since you all failed miserably with the Alaska challenge (the answer was Virgil F. Partch – where are the Google skills people?) I’ll make this one easy. What is Ms. Carter’s cup size in real life? Personal verification not required, but certainly optional.
(Current Score: Scott M.: 1, Rich: 1, everyone else: nada.)
Next up: Arkansas (yes, it’s actually a state!)
You just got shared. One of my good friends was required to move there to keep a job and HATES it. She’s gonna love this.
37-C
Having visited there numerous times it is quite a lovely state. There is some really awesome scenery there and not just around Lake Havasu at spring break. The heat is there to keep the riff raff out.
I liked Arizona last time I was there. I’d love to go Elk Hunting there. I have seem some wicked huge bulls come out of that state. Dang.
Arizona? Used to be part of New Mexico…heh
New Mexico? Used to be part of the Republic of Texas…heh
Proud graduate of the University of New Mexico
Tracy you win! And thanks for sharing me – always been one of my fantasies.
All wise-assness aside, I really like Tucson. Great town, friendly people and beautiful scenery. You can keep Phoenix though – bleh.
To think I may voluntarily move to a place with such lovely weather. “But it’s a dry heat.” “Yeah, so’s an oven and I don’t stick my head in there … on purpose.”
Fave thing about Arizona: http://www.myspace.com/zachariahandthelobosriders . Their “Tucson Afternoon” should be the state song.
I say if the Mexicans don’t get their act together, we threaten to return Arizona to them. Then we will find out that the “reconquistas” just want the parts that were “stolen” that contain the beaches and Disneyland.
Rich forgot to mention that part of our old neighborhood was called “Arizona”
We never knew why.
Linda Carter question: I just about had the answer, then I got slapped a good one. And did you know that she’s also a professional singer?
(if the answer is “No”, that’s because you were probably paying attention to something else while she was singing)
Arizona – that’s where the hillbillie’s lived in the hood. We weren’t allowed to have friends from Arizona. How could I forget that? (Probably thinking about Avalon Trails…)
If you can get past the heat, we actually get some fairly nice weather the other four months of the year. It’s always entertaining when the heat finally breaks in early September, watching all the people from out of state looking up and shouting “Where’s all this f__king RAIN coming from?!”
I’ve been here for 27 years. I feel about it the way Travis McGee felt about Florida — sure, the weather’s awful, the crime rate’s through the roof and nobody can f__king drive, but this is my place in the world. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. (My brother-in-law and his wife moved to Tacoma — he’s still getting over the massive change in climate.)
The only things I don’t like about this place are: 1. The winters here are a little too nice; we get a lot of idiot visitors (Snowbirds, we call them) from out-of-state, the kind of people who make Arizonans look like safe drivers by comparison. 2. A lot of Californians are moving here — which I would be cool with if they weren’t all rich losers and leftists; they seem to be doing their damnedest to turn us into California-without-the-beaches.
my inlaws are some of those snowbirds. you have my condolences.