Fenix and Omaha

Phoenix (my stopover out here and returning) was an odd town to see from above. Coming in there were clear views of the well irrigated (by which I mean adequately irrigated, I don't know the source) fields surrounding, a grid of lush and green standing out against the stark desert. Leaving after the sun set (which was stunning, by the by, more on that later) gave a similar view of the grid of lights defined by the large and small streets. Phoenix is big, much bigger than I’d though. It’s the 5th largest city in the country, and also one of the largest in size, giving it a very low population density (2,937.8/sq mi compared to 27,083/sq mi in NYC). The whole of the city is very… regular. Repeating patterns, near groups identical houses stretching for miles few (if any) buildings over 3 stories. Omaha (my destination, and home for 4.5 days) is much the same. There are a few tall buildings (I refuse to call them skyscrapers, the tallest is only a floor bigger than the Corning Tower in Albany), but for the most part the city is a ridiculously large, sparsely populated grid (density of 3,370.7/sq mi – that’s my last quoted number from Wikipedia, I promise). In both cases, I think it’s the lack of any real geographic boundaries. Omaha has the Mississippi, but that’s about it. Phoenix just spreads out in all directions, on a massive expanse of flat land. Something about that flat land really contributes to the sunset for some reason. In both Phoenix and Omaha, the sky really lights up, showing strong red color every night, something I never really saw on the East coast. I’ve read, and been told, that the sunset in the Bay Area are particularly stunning, but you have to be in the right place – the Berkeley Hills, or on the coast, or something like that. Out here in Flat America, as I noticed when we drove across it, there’s a picturesque sunset from everywhere, every day.

I’m hooked on this game Elite Beat Agents: it’s for the ds, it’s like DDR with a touch pad. Adam Lisbon is to blame, both directly and indirectly: he gave us a copy of the Japanese version (Ouendan – which I’m pretty sure translates to Cheer Squad, not in the mood to look it up right now), and by doing so contributed to the amount of exported copies of that game that inspired a localized US version. I’ve gotten over my hatred of rhythm games, originally spurred on by the aforementioned DDR, primarily though Rock Band. This EBA game is fun, but frustrating as hell on higher difficulty levels. I’ve played it so much lately I think I’m doing damage to the touch screen. Not good. I’m trying to build up quote unquote Mad Skillz before PAX, gotta represent. As a result, I’ve got a crappy cover version of Jumping Jack Flash stuck in my head. Not good for sitting though meetings tomorrow.