Yes, it's another round of that classic guessing game - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Abstract [or any combination thereof]. This effort - '03/'04 should address any queries, but then again, may just serve to confuse and baffle which some might say is the point of the game. Patience, integrity and a decent search engine may be useful ....
Physical representation? I think "physical incarnation" might be a better phrase. In the M&V sense, the AOTC is very definitely real. Indeed, perhaps it is a mistake to call it Abstract; I think what I really mean is that the AOTC is a human construct.
Doll house? No. City? Yes! *sustained applause* Motorway? No. Single person in charge? Well, it's a city. Do cities have a single person in charge of them? Depends on how you interpret "in charge", I suppose. Wikipedia does inform me that the person nominally in charge of this particular city holds an "uncommon office".
Does this city's spelling actually look like how the name of the city is pronounced.
Cdm - It's a joke in the U.S. which isn't really true any more and I'm not sure when it changed - but at one point, Flint, MI was considered extremely boring - peole would say things like they drove through Flint, MI and saw a rock and a flower, nothing else.
Tired of Life? Again without wishing to insult KS, were that true I suspect it would have a rather high suicide rate. Spelt as it sounds? I'd say yes. Hidden text [KS] I lived five years of my life less than 50 miles from Flint; I am well aware of its reputation. :)
Popular song? Yes -- perhaps several (although that might depend on how strictly I'm supposed to interpret the word "subject"). Googling tells me there are at least half a dozen songs with the name of this city in their titles, and many many more that include the name in the lyrics. Most of these songs I had never heard of, but some undoubtedly qualify as popular songs.
[KS] I've only just realised that when I wrote (in reply to your question re Flint) "I'm not saying this is an uninteresting city; I'd hate you to take offence", you quite reasonably understood "this" to mean Flint. I was actually speaking not about Flint, but the AOTC.
In Texas? No. On Route 66? No. I'm not sure what to offer in the way of hints beyond saying that there is a reason I chose this particular city; it is not just some random city in the US.
Brit name? No. (*some audience laughter*) Savannah? No. Hidden textI believe that Philly is actually one of the few cities with a team in all four of the leagues Tuj mentioned. :)
Initially stately vowelly? No. Hidden textThe song route may or may not be helpful. I had heard of maybe one of the songs with the city in its title (and I had not heard of the song that is in fact most famous). The AOTC-related song that I know best names the city in its first line, but not in the title. Named after geographical feature? I think the best answer is Yes, though I am using a broad definition of “geographical feature”. (It’s not as obviously a g.f. as, say, Little Rock, if that’s what you were thinking of.)
New Orleans? No. (*Applause, and also some muttered and inconclusive discussion about whether New Orleans had already been ruled out by Radox's island question*)
New Mexico? No. (*a little audience laughter, not so much for the question as for the questioner*) Hidden text[KS] Entirely friendly laughter, I promise. :)
City in the US lower 48, on a river but not on an island, south of 40°N, not in a state starting with a vowel nor in New Mexico nor in Texas, does not begin with 'P', is not named after a person nor in Spanish nor a version of an existing British town, but the name is vaguely geographical and there are songs about it. It also possesses no team in any major US league of sporting mayhem, but has a specific reason for CdM to pick it.
It is indeed the state capital of Louisiana, on the Mississippi, Baton Rouge, so whether he likes it or not, Software now has a new shiny crimson baton to replace the one that somebody apparently ran off with at the end of the last round. Garth Brooks' recording of Callin' Baton Rouge apparently reached number two on the US country charts, and there is also a Lou Reed song with the title Baton Rouge. And then, of course, there's Me and Bobby McGee, which Janis Joplin took to number one.
As for the geographical connection, I did try to give a highly qualified answer. The red stick that Baton Rouge is named after was a boundary marker, and boundaries—even those that don't follow features of physical geography—do fall into the category of "abstract geographical features". But maybe I pushed the definition a little too far, and if so I apologise. :)
Tuj - NO Rosie: wood? - Possibly RTG: separate - YES Raak: is it art? - Possibly CdM: P? - YES! Bool: baton? - NO Bismark: software (are you addresing me?) - Not as far as I'm aware SM: metal? mmmm! - Sometimes Duj: Sorry for the delay, everyone
SM: Plastic thingy? - NO, not even on a plinth Raak: Statue? - NO CdM: Toaster benchmark? - Well, sometimes much larger Bismarck: Maritime? - NO Bool: Grub? - Well, again, possibly.
CdM: Boozy agriculture? - NO *some clapping from audience* SM: Japanese effect? - NO *more clapping* Superman: A park? - NO Tuj: A Pub - NO (not in itself, although I have in fact seen a pub with this name) Bismarck: Far to cryptic for me KS: - mechanized? - NO RTG: Social amenity? er.. Not exactly, on balance - NO CdM: Halloween orientation? - NO.
Superman: arborial? not specifically - NO *smattering of excitement in audience* Simons: Seasonal? - NO Chalky [nice to see you :) ] : Man made? - YES - in part *a few claps* Bool: come rain, come shine? - NO appologies for the oversight