Stories, Settings and Atmosphere

WIP

WIP
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Going Down to Anytown U.S.A
There is something about taking one of the largest nations in the world that is so vastly diverse in cultures and geography, taking all of that and condensing it into a one-size-fits-all setting showing none of that that’s just so American.
Anytown U.S.A. is unique in its lack of uniqueness. Its a small town that to see and can be like, “Yeah that’s in America,” not really sure what state or even region for the most part but its definitely probably maybe in one of them. However, despite this general vagueness the rules behind creating “Anytown” is very specific and makes it so intriguing to me as a concept.
First, the settings that I would refer to as “Anytown esque.” These most of the time are fictional towns that are of a similar mold, however you could put them somewhat on the map. These are your “Derry Maine” style, or “Gravity Falls Oregon.” One, they say the state they’re in so that helps narrow it down but more specifically they are designed with a more specific region in mind. Derry is very New England in building design and Gravity Falls includes lots of Pacific Northwest region in its design. Now this isn’t a bad thing, quite the contrary actually. This sort of regionalization (A word which here means designing your setting with a specific geographic or cultural region as a focal point) is honestly a bit better than the true Anytown as it can dive into those cultures and explore the area more than just, “we’re somewhere.” Despite this, I’m writing about true Anytown so I’m going to gloss over these.
Now for true Anytowns, I’m looking for usually more Midwest style of town, for multiple reasons. One, the Midwest is incredibly vague as a region, its borders mainly being defined wherever the other main regions begin, but also these styles are dispersed around the country due to their bland uniformity. For example, you won’t tend to see New England style colonials or towers across the country, nor will you see Spanish style tile roofs or Mountain log cabins. However, a 7 Eleven will always tend to look like a 7 Eleven no matter where you are. The Midwest style is that of strip malls and convenience stores, and so when you need a partially forested, temperate zone Anytown U.S.A., it just fits. Its just fascinating how often it shows up as well. Like, take these questions: Where does the film Scream take place? How about Halloween? Or Nightmare on Elm Street? All three of these horror movies are in towns that feel like they could be by each other, however, from California in the West to Illinois and Ohio in the East, there’s a distance of around 3000 miles and 4 time zones between these fictional settings. The reason I mention horror is not by accident either, because the Anytown style is particularly effective for Horror as it makes the events feel closer to the viewer in their own town that they could see as similar.
Overall, I find this specificity of vagueness very interesting, particularly when taken to comedic extreme (see post on The Simpsons’ Springfield) and honestly find it hilarious that the daily boring or ugly buildings many Americans see wherever they go are the same buildings many flock to theaters and streaming services to watch characters hang there too.
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The Colorado Forcast Part 2: The Seasons
As I foreshadowed in my previous post, Colorado doesn’t have “Seasons” the same way that most other places do. In an astronomical sense we do of course, with Winter being the time with the shortest days and Summer having the longest. However in terms of weather Colorado doesn’t seem to follow national trends.
The first thing to know is that in Colorado is that temperatures can vary wildly, due to the thinness of the air being more subject to temperature change by the sun. You’ll notice this especially in the summer, where temperatures in the sun will reach around 100 degrees, but if you step into the shade it will drop closer to 70. One day it was so extreme that you needed shorts in our backyard but pants and a sweatshirt in the front yard. Another day We went to go see a Cubs and Rockies game at Coors Field in Early August, the game went into extra innings and we got snowed on close to midnight.
Speaking of snow, one of the biggest misconceptions about Colorado is that its covered in snow all the time. Sure, the mountains are, I found patches of snow up there in July. But in January for instance it’s balmy in Colorado compared to places like Iowa, Michigan or New York. The highs were often in the 50s and 60s and snow was nowhere to be found. The usual divide of snowy mountains and warm lowlands is loved by the residents, with my dad often saying “I love Colorado, its the only place where I can go Snowboarding on Saturday then Golf on Sunday.”
If you wanted to find snow in Colorado though, look no further than October and April/May (Seriously, I have had more Snow Days in May than January. MAY). There is a snowstorm at both of these times almost every year and while the snow doesn’t take long to melt, it often can shut down cities for a day or two as the snow is often somewhat heavy and icy which often leads to accidents and local power outages.
So that’s how the seasons tend to go in Colorado and their misconceptions, though if you have ever heard of the “300 days of sun per year” claim, that actually isn’t too far off. Its sunny the vast majority of the days and I would say that for at least 5 of the years I lived there it probably was sunny close to 300 days. Unfortunately it seems that the trade off is that those 65 days of cloudy skies seem to coincide with major meteor showers and lunar eclipses, but that might have just been my experience.
What I’ve just described is the ordinary in Colorado, but of course when you live in Colorado you have to deal with the unexpected, so in the finale to this trilogy of posts on the weather of Colorado I’ll talk about some of the more one off events, like the time a gender reveal gone wrong turned the sun red.
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