Saturday, December 22, 2012

Twice-Named Places........
 


Sing Sing Correctional Facility


Named for Native American tribes, both Walla Walla and Sing Sing are double named places, and as such, very magickal, and homes to high security prisons which are strong attractors of dark forces. Sing Sing Correctional Facility is in what is called Ossining now, formerly known as Sing Sing or Sinck Sinck (Synch Synch) which means "stone upon stone." The Washington State Penitentiary is in Walla Walla ("the town so nice they named it twice"), which means "Place of Many Waters."

Vintage Postcard, Greeting from Walla Walla's Washington State Penitentiary


Walla Walla is famous for good wine and sweet onions. Magic, The Gathering, was invented at Whitman College in Walla Walla. In Looney Toons cartoons the Acme Corporation was located in Walla Walla.

The village of Briarcliff Manor, named by Andrew Carnegie, and located mostly in Ossining, brings to mind American Horror Story's Briarcliff Mental Institution. The term "up the river" as an expression meaning going to prison, refers to Sing Sing up the Hudson River.
Some other fun double named places: Bora Bora, Pago Pago, Baden Baden, Pukapuka, Wagga Wagga

Wikipedia notes the following famous residents of Ossining:

David T. Abercrombie, co-founder of Abercrombie & Fitch
John Barrett, entrepreneur, brew master of Up The River Brewing Co.
John Cheever, author
John Chervokas, advertising executive
Kara DioGuardi, singer-songwriter
Peter Falk, actor
Anne Francis, actress
Khalid Khannouchi, American record holder for the marathon
Sonny Sharrock, jazz guitarist
Matt Striker, WWE interviewer and commentator
Don Draper and family – Main protagonist of Mad Men


Wikipedia tells us about these famous Walla Wallians:

Lebanese poet, writer, and philosopher Mikha'il Na'ima, author of "The Book of Mirdad", began his writing career in Walla Walla in 1919.
American scholar of Islam and author - voted one of the West's most influential Muslim scholars by The Guardian - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, was born in Walla Walla.
NFL Quarterback Drew Bledsoe lived in Walla Walla while he was in high school before entering Washington State University in 1990. He was the first pick in the NFL draft in 1993, going to the New England Patriots, where he played until 2001. He later played for the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys before retiring in 2007.
The actor Adam West, TV's Batman, grew up in Walla Walla. Then known as Bill Anderson, he attended Walla Walla High School during his freshman and sophomore years before moving with his family to Seattle. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and a minor in Psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla.
United States Army general and World War II hero Jonathan Wainwright was born in Walla Walla.
Actor Connor Trinneer, from Star Trek: Enterprise, was born in Walla Walla.
Silent film actor and studio makeup artist, Bert Hadley, was born in Walla Walla.
Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2007–2009), and Pakistan (2004–2007), and who also served as Ambassador to Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon, graduated from Whitman College in 1971. NFL wide receiver Charly Martin of the Carolina Panthers was born in Walla Walla in 1984.
William O. Douglas attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, graduating in 1920. He went on to become the longest-serving justice in the history of the United States Supreme Court.
The Brode triplets, Wallace, Robert, and Malcolm, all of whom became distinguished scientists, were born in Walla Walla in 1900.



Mulligan's Stew Column by by AP's Hugh Mulligan from the Nashua Telegraph, February 16, 1984, "The Postman Always Rings Twice in Bora Bora and Walla Walla"
Joan Crawford as Sadie Thompson stuck in Pago Pago in the movie, Rain.

At the Kurhaus Casino and Spa at Baden Baden

Pukapuka dancers in the Cook Islands. from Glennis' Blog page.