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Three Rivers Region

Started by dedgren, December 20, 2006, 07:57:49 PM

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kwakelaar

This is again a very nice map, David. And for being in a picky mood this week  ;D, I imagine you have been thinking long and hard which way to turn the flow of Wildcat Creek and Hay Flat Creek.
I look forward to be blown away :)

dragonshardz

Brilliant, David, absolutely brilliant.

I don't think I could do that with Excel in a million years....

BigSlark

Amazing maps and distance charts, David. The amount of detail you put in to 3RR will never cease to amaze me.

Cheers,
Kevin

dedgren

Murphy sez' hi from the vet's office.



He also notes that our Bielefeldian friend bat just rang the "double-0" bell for the second time.  Whoa!


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

Pat

from me and vicki and shyla we hope Murphy feels better and is home soon... To Bat congrats on your second time to the double 00 and im glad i was able to open that door for you to walk inn....

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

dragonshardz

congrats again Bat. Would update the honors registry but am unable to atm due to another post of mine....and i'll cut myself off there!

This thread is amazing. and it's not just because of David!!

thundercrack83

#2306
Quote
He also notes that our Bielefeldian friend bat just rang the "double-0" bell for the second time.  Whoa!

I wonder if it's not "Bielefelder" like "Berliner," as in (as John F. Kennedy): Ich bin ein Berliner. Anyway...

Congratulations on your second 00, bat!

And David, I hope all is well with Murphy!


EDITDustin, Pat and all- Murph is fine- he just needed to have his shots updated before going off to the kennel next week while we are in Montana with Tristen and Josh. -DE

dedgren

#2307
Well, our friend bat is back again with a fresh "Double-0" post [linkie].  He last hit that mark with comment 1,600 here [linkie], and we honored him by noting that the place he hails from, Bielefeld, Germany, is the "twin city" of 3RR's Grand Valley just north of Pineshore [linkie].





One of the things we learned in the course of doing that was about The Bielefeld Conspiracy [linkie], which deals with reports that Bielefeld actually doesn't exist.

Well, as a 3RR Regular*, bat knows that many folks out there think the same thing about Three Rivers Region.  A bit of looking around and we discovered [apologies to Wikipedia] this-


The Three Rivers Region Conspiracy

Background

There are continuing rumors that Three Rivers Region (3RR), a 1,600 square mile/4,000 square kilometer independent nation (2000 population 463,880 [linkie]) located on the North American continent on the border between the United States and Canada, does not actually exist.  Rather, its existence is asserted for unknown and possibly sinister reasons by a lawyer living in Alaska known only as "dedgren" [linkie] or sometimes "David," who, in a conspiracy with various authorities around the globe who claim ignorance as to the whole situation, does everything in his power to create the illusion that the region is real.

Those who challenge the conspiracy basically ask three questions: 1) Do you know anybody from Three Rivers Region? 2) Have you ever been to Three Rivers Region? 3) Do you know anybody who has ever been to Three Rivers Region?  Most people are expected to answer 'no' to all three questions, and if they don't, he or she, or the person they know, is said to just be part of the conspiracy.

The origins of and reasons for the conspiracy are unknown.  It is speculated that the original source could be the CIA [linkie], the computer gaming company Electronic Arts [linkie], or space aliens who use the 3RR FACE facility [linkie] as a landing area for their spaceships.

History of the Conspiracy

The 3RR conspiracy theory was first made public in a posting to the SimCity 4 ("SC4") fansite Simtropolis ("ST") on March 12, 2006 [linkie], by the aforementioned dedgren, who claimed to be a lawyer and former urban planner living in Alaska. From there, information about the region spread throughout the SC4 fansite community and, judging by the number of posts and pageviews at ST, and at its current home at SC4Devotion, it is going as strong as ever.

In a yet unpublished recent interview conducted by SC4 fan Masochist in connection with the launching of a new SC4 fansite, dedgren stated that 3RR was just as real as places such as Middle Earth [linkie] and Mist County [linkie].  According to dedgren, he learned most of the information about the conspiracy from reading almost a year's worth of the sacred texts of Anduin Valley Revisited [linkie].

There are a number of conflicting theories about the reasons behind the widespread belief in the facts of the conspiracy, the most popular being the use by dedgren of tiny subliminal messages [linkie] inserted throughout his MD such as


3RR – 'ya gotta believe!

What am I going to do after this?  Why, go to 3RR, of course!

and

Three Rivers Region is completely real, believe it or get your pants sued off!

It is also widely rumored that persons who are among the most ardent believers have great good fortune in life, always marry well, and are just waiting with inside info about the winning number for the next time the Powerball jackpot [linkie] exceeds 30 mil.

Psychological Underpinnings of the Conspiracy

At least five reasons for the popularity of and widespread belief in the 3RR myth can be identified:


  • This theory can be understood as being part and parcel of the popularity of conspiracy theories, a cultural phenomenon that became well-known around the world with the broadcasts of the U.S. television series The X-Files [linkie], which was first broadcast within two days of exactly nine years and six months before 3RR was officially launched.  Implausible coincidences like this abound when one looks at the 3RR "facts" closely.


  • Another possibility may be that this is a play on the typical conspiracy theorist mindset, which tends to posit questions that may be hypothetical in nature and reacts based on the answer of the person to whom the question was directed.  Often, conspiracy theorists will tend to brand disagreement as "brainwashing" [linkie].  dedgren has admitted that all most people need to accept 3RR totally is just a "light rinse."


  • Three Rivers Region is located at the center of an almost completely isolated and lonely area on the border of Northern Minnesota with Ontario and Manitoba.  Few people live or even go there, mainly because it's so darn cold [linkie].  The region has few historical landmarks or buildings and therefore few obvious tourist attractions, although this is heartily disputed by its residents, obviously for reasons of potential monetary gain.  The local speech in and around 3RR is the plain old Midwestern English of Neil Young [linkie], Johnny Carson [linkie] and Garrison Keillor [linkie], which makes it impossible to recognize anyone from 3RR by their dialect, such as would be possible with a Cajun, New Yawker, or prahpah Bahstonian.  Due to all this, most folks rarely hear if ever of the region in the news and can't remember having ever met anyone who speaks in '3RR dialect' (since there is none), and therefore have no clear image of the region in their heads.


  • The region lies on the largely unimportant route between Duluth, Minnesota [linkie] and Winnipeg, Manitoba [linkie], two cities with little historic record of any involvement with the other whatsoever (although it is reputed that song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald [linkie], which was sung by a Canadian, Gordon Lightfoot [linkie], about an ill-fated boat that sailed from Superior, Wisconsin, which is near Duluth, was popular in both cities)  One of the least traveled Interstate and Trans-Canada highway routes (I-41 and Manitoba TCH-11) spans the distance between them.  The now defunct Duluth, Winnipeg & Western Railroad [linkie] no longer carries passengers between the two cities and the largest freight item on the line is anonymous hopper cars loaded with used Q-Tips [linkie] collected in major U.S. cities bound for a recycling facility somewhere in Saskatchewan.

  • Due to a mapping error, as yet uncorrected, the satellite image and the street map of 3RR have yet to appear in Google Maps [linkie].  Repeated complaints to Google about this oversight have gone unanswered.  There is controversy over whether this is simply a mistake, or whether the powers that be at Google are protecting national security from unauthorized eyes seeking to located 3RR's rich upsidaisium [linkie] deposits and other processing facilities for that critical defense mineral that are reputed to be located there.  The same error was made by Microsoft [linkie] in its "Streets and Trips" [linkie] product, but that appears to have been corrected with the expected 2009 release [linkie].

Official Reaction

The government of 3RR tries hard to generate publicity for the region, primarily through a steady release of information on the SC4 fansite SC4D.  Even after almost 2 years, though, some continue to doubt that Three Rivers Region exists even though the evidence continues to mount.

Despite all the efforts, the region still remains widely unknown outside of SC4 circles. This obscurity is at a degree seldom found in a place its size, and had made it the butt of more jokes even than the alleged State of Idaho, the non-existence of which has been conclusively proven [linkie].


* * *

So, there you have it once again, my batty friend.  Thanks once more for your great loyalty to 3RR, and another big phooey to all those who would doubt.

Later.


David

*  A 3RR Regular is anyone who has ever posted at least once here or over at 3RR-ST, and who as a result have become loyal co-conspirators.

D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

Pat

3RR – 'ya gotta believe!


What am I going to do after this?  Why, go to 3RR, of course!


Three Rivers Region is completely real, believe it or get your pants sued off!


David i loved that and dont worry im not gonna spoil the fun!!! So I take it you would be the Party in charge then or head atternory??? I sooo got a good flooring laugh on your Wiki entry!!!

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

Jmouse

#2309
The truth is out there.
**Ease up volume on spooky "X-Files" music**.
And congrats bat. Good job!

Until next time...
Joan

bat

Thanks to all!! ;)

And nice post there, David! :thumbsup:

Ryan B.


BigSlark

David,

I've been in an introspective mood lately and among the things that I have been thinking about is why does David put so much time into 3RR?

What I've managed to come up with is that while you have the ability to make nifty custom content, such as the Not-The RMIP Wider Runways, the smooth road curves, and various scenery items, yet I don't think I've ever seen any BAT'ing attempts from you.

I figure that at this point 3RR is a combination of your own enjoyment and your way of giving back to the community, a community that throughly enjoys your creation and happily awaits for more.

If I missed the mark, I'd like to know.

Cheers,
Kevin

dedgren

That about sums it up, Kevin.



As I've said elsewhere, I can't BAT for poop.


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

bwatterud

Speaking of those Not-The RMIP Wider Runways...... :P

threestooges

Just wanted to stop back in briefly (I have my property final tomorrow, which is my last one as well) to compliment you on a fine addition though its interesting that in reviewing the third purported subliminal message, I started thinking about the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. I do have to thank you for your continued work on this (and all around the site for that matter). As far as not batting for poop, I've actually started on it myself, and once the basics are learned, its not too bad (though it does take a fair bit of time which might cause a slowdown in 3RR which wouldn't be too good). At any rate, one more final to go, an I'll be back around here more often and ready to get a jump on the collaboration.
-Matt

dedgren

#2316
More proof of the conspiracy [linkie]...



Heh!  "I will neither confirm nor deny that this pic was shot somewhere near Tincup and the region's upsidaisium mine."


David




D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

jplumbley

LOL...  :thumbsup:  I swear I will not enter the un-Restricted Area which does not exist.  Maybe I will find some of the region's well known supply of upsidasium.

Sorry, to intrude here David... but I dont like seeing this dirty language all over the place.  "Poop", in the words of Stephanie Taylor, "How Rude!"....  :D..  Just kidding, keep up the dirty work!  It satisfies my needs  :satisfied:
"You learn something new everyday."

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Bringing the new horizons closer to reality.

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bakerton

" Restricted" I have no memory of seeing anything restricted at all ;). So far great job well done, even if it is restricted. Did anyone say restricted? JKB
beam me up.... please!
I am the lurker that hides in all the corners and you can't get me out. You may try, but you can't.Please call me Jon or Jonathan.

thundercrack83

#2319
Ahhh, bureaucracy!

Whenever a statement begins with "I will neither confirm nor deny," you know you've got a good one!

I'm loving this conspiracy angle, David! Great work!

Dustin