i've been to port arthur texas

[datasuspect]

in fact i even lived there before.

i am always amazed that a beautiful soul like janis joplin could have come from that place.

nowadays, it's a crack-filled ghost town.

old timers say in its "heyday" P.A. was "the shit."

like back when black people had separate drinking fountains. can't say i agree with them though. if the only good thing you can say about a place is that it was better during jim crow, it seems that place must have always been fucked.

still, i am amazed that from such a backwater came this beautiful woman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzNEgcqWDG4

[cloudbase]

1. Been there about a zillion times, too.

Beaumont, Port Arthur, Nederland and Orange back in my merchant marine days.

[datasuspect]

2. up until the mid 70s that place was wide open

whorehouses, gambling.

when we moved to southeast texas in the early 80s, people drank beer while driving and had shotguns in their pick up trucks.

no one was afraid of getting caught, because it wasn't an issue.

[SoxFan]

3. Manchester, England

It's a bleak place, but look at the music it has produced:

The Smiths
New Order
Joy Division
Stone Roses
Happy Mondays
The Fall
Inspiral Carpets
Charlatans
Oasis (yeah, yeah)
Durutti Column
Doves
The Chameleons

Sometimes it's the least likely places that spawn the most beautiful art.

[jobycom]

4. Notice she got out as soon as she could.