Cartophilia: Maps and Map Memorabilia

This blog has moved

2010-03-09T15:50:00.001-05:00

This blog is now located at http://blog.cartophilia.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://blog.cartophilia.com/feeds/posts/default.

Carto-Kitchen®

2010-03-09T07:00:00.002-05:00

The Official Carto-Home® is currently in disarray as we are "re-doing" the kitchen: Crumbling walls being repaired, new electric circuits, re-painting old cabinets, and new tile on the floor.

Have no fear, our Carto-Cat® is not dead... he's just big boned.

I tried to convince Mrs. Cartophiliac® to consider a map-tile map mosaic on the kitchen floor, but it was a no go.

The best I could do is talk her in to Carto-Dishtowels®

The "Mercator Projection Dishtowel" does not actually appear to be a Mercator map of anything, but looks good anyway.

New York City in Legos

2010-03-05T10:33:00.002-05:00

Christoph Niemann’s illustrations have appeared on the covers of The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine and American Illustration. His newest book, I LEGO N.Y., shows us another view of New York, with Legos, including maps:

His project started during the cold and dark Berlin winter days...

Power Grid - Brazil/Spain & Portugal

2010-03-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite board games of all-time, Power Grid, has come out with a new expansion map: Brazil/Spain & Portugal.

Ms. Cartophiliac, with her interest in Spain, and the Spanish language will also be pleased.

Buy Power Grid at your favorite local game store, or online at Funagain Games.

Other Power Grid expansion maps:

Italy/France

China/Korea

Benelux/Central Europe

More California Secession/Division talk

2010-03-03T11:00:00.001-05:00

Over at GeoCurrent Events, Martin W. Lewis has posted an update on the latest schemes to solve California's problems with long division:

The New State of Coastal California?

Related posts on Cartophilia:

Lost States

Disunited States of America

Lost Maps

2010-03-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Fans of the ABC television program, Lost, are excited that the final season has begun. Maybe... just maybe they'll finally get some answers... I tried to watch a bit of the show in the first season but generally couldn't bring myself to care.

However, just any other fantasy world (see Lord of the Rings, etc.), Lost fans enjoy creating maps:

The folks at io9.com have pulled together a collection of Lost maps and diagrams, including "Inside the Hatch" and a transit map!:

No spoilers here... My prediction: The series will end as equally satisfying as the finale of The Sopranos.

Via The Map Room

#550

I Want Iraq And Roll All Night

2010-02-25T16:59:00.006-05:00

I'm no lawyer, but I'm told that defacement of currency is a violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code. That doesn't seem to stop inveterate doodlers from making funny drawings on dollar bills:

From 30 Bizarre Examples of Defacing Money at the Money Mumbo Jumbo.

Artist Hanna van Goeler likes to use currency as her canvas, and her paintings on money include maps!

Van Goeler says her work "focuses on what's 'between.' The interstitial, ambiguous, complex, transitory, changing, mystic, hybrid, un-named." Considering that the average lifespan of a dollar bill is 6 months... currency is certainly transitory...

Currently her work can be seen in Zurich, Switzerland and New York City.

European Union: Fair Weather Friends?

2010-02-22T16:00:00.001-05:00

Apparently Greece's struggling economy has some members reconsidering that nation's membership in the European Union. The Economist has run several stories on this problem, including one with this illustration:

Might other nations back out of the EU? How disappointing? I thought the whole point of the EU was that these nations would pull together to make each other stronger. This kind of unity has been an inspiration to other regions to increase cooperation (if not integration) of their economies. Step up, Europe.

Via Geographic Travels

Cindaynati?

2010-02-15T11:00:00.005-05:00

Are Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, on the road to becoming a single metropolitan area, or "metroplex", not unlike Minneapolis/St. Paul or Dallas/Ft. Worth? The Cincinnati Enquirer has raised that question, with additional commentary from The Urbanophile.

The expectation is that after the 2010 Census, the Cincinnati-Middletown and Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Areas would become a single entity. The rapid growth of the I-75 corridor between the two cities makes such a merger seem inevitable. Perhaps eventually leading to some sort of political merger as a mega-city of three million people!

Currently, the biggest thing connecting the two communities are the two very sorry Cincinnati sports franchises, the Bengals and the Reds. The cities have their own airports, television and radio markets. Their cultural and arts communities rarely interact, with separate professional theaters, symphonies and ballet companies. Hearty workers do commute in both directions. However, as a Daytonian I can say that I do not think of my self as a "Southwest Ohio Cincinnati-Daytonian"... Sometimes Cincinnati does not even feel like Ohio. I often think of Dayton as the last outpost of "the north", while Cincinnati feels to me like a southern city on the wrong side of the river... or as Ms. Cartophiliac often suggests, Cincinnati is its own feudal city-state.

It is going to take more than a Census Statistical merger to pull these two communities together. Dayton and Montgomery County can barely agree to cooperate on combined services. I think it will be some time before we see Cindaynati on the map.

The Amazing Miss South Carolina

2010-02-14T19:46:00.007-05:00

The new season of The Amazing Race started tonight. One of the contestants is the geographically challenged Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, Caitlin Upton:

Her goal in this show is to prove she's not quite as air-headed as she appeared during the pageant. She survived the first episode, in spite of a boneheaded mistake (unrelated to geography).

Good luck, Caite. You've suffered embarrassment enough...

Be My Cartographic Valentine 2010

2010-02-12T06:00:00.004-05:00

Darling, be my cartographic valentine...

States United, print available from Etsy seller "beauchamping".

Via Kris Harzinski

From the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
HT to Joel

Personalised Bespoke Map Heart: just tell them the location and they'll find a vintage map to create this one-of-a-king gift.

Show your MoTown Hometown love with this Detroit Map Heart Necklace.

Map Heart Valentine, blank note cards.

#545

Sarah Palin in 2012?

2010-02-11T00:15:00.002-05:00

Sarah "Caribou Barbie" Palin has been in the news quite a bit lately. Her address to the Tea Party Convention, followed by media flaps about the "R" word and writing notes on her hand have made her the topic of the week. And of course the number one question: Will she? Can she run for president in 2012?

FiveThirtyEight.com takes A First Look at Palin's Primary Math.

If Sarah Palin runs for the Republican nomination in 2012 -- and I've been on record for some time as predicting that she will -- what are likely to be her best and worst states? And how do these strengths and weaknesses square with the Republican primary calendar? And what about the other likely candidates?

Fascinating analysis... but one of the most garishly ugly electoral maps I have ever seen.

UPDATE 2/14: The Electoral Map has an esthetically pleasing map of the most Pro-Palin states.

Previous Palin Carto-fun:
On the cover of The Week
Putin Rears His Head

HT to Kelso's Corner for the Sarah Palin US map mask illustration.

Facebook States of America

2010-02-10T11:54:00.003-05:00

Through statistics he has gathered from Facebook, about the most common names, fan pages and friend locations around the world, Pete Warden has created a proposal on How to split up the US based on existing relationships.

"Stayathomia"? His data suggests that in the Northeast and Midwest, the most common connections are with immediately neighboring cities. We don't get out much?

"Socalistan"? As in Southern California... at first I read it as "Socialistan" as in Socialism... Whatever.

There have been some pretty amazing proposals for rearranging the states, like here, here, here and here, so why not this?

HT to Carol

Chinese Dalian is Romantic of all

2010-02-08T18:54:00.005-05:00

Becca, "the unproductive library aide", spent last fall in Dalian, China, where she was studying Chinese. Upon her return, she presented me with this lovely map fan (sucking up to the boss...)

"Chinese Dalian is Romantic of all"

In the northeastern province of Liaoning, Dalian is China's northernmost warm water seaport. This city and its surrounding territory were hotly contested by the Russians and Japanese. The Battle of Port Arthur (now the Lüshunkou port district of Dalian) in 1904 marked the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. See my earlier post on my antique Russo-Japanese War Map postcard.

Thanks for the lovely fan, Becca.

Last year she gave me these nifty postcards from Lüneburg, Germany, where she was studying German. (She's also studying Arabic!)

Speaking of studying Chinese... In the 2+ years I have been running this blog, no one has ever asked me about the background image. It is from the street map of Taipei, Taiwan, that I carried with me many years ago when, as a college student I spent four months in Taiwan pretending to learn Chinese.

I did not save the "unfaded" version of the map that I scanned for my background. Perhaps someday I'll dig up the rest of my memorabilia from that trip. I'm sure there must have been other maps

Fans previously on Cartophilia: I'm a Fan of Maps

Who Dat Nation?

2010-02-07T21:26:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for conquering the United Countries of Football

Cartographic Constructions

2010-02-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

Valerie Goodwin creates quilts that convey "a sense of place using aerial views and maps as inspiration. I enjoy working with both realistic and abstract imagery." In this "Tale of 2 Campuses" she depicts the Florida state capital of Tallahassee, and the cultural divide between the Florida State University and the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Her work is currently on exhibit through March 14 at the Gadsden Art Center in Quincy, Florida.

#540

Oxford

2010-02-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Just a postcard quickie. Two postcards from my collection -- Oxford, England:

The city of Oxford is most famous for the University of Oxford.

In the United States, many communities would like to be associated with the academic reputation of Oxford, England. I counted 17 states that have a town named Oxford. Two of them (at least) have colleges or universities in those towns. How many "Oxfords" have you visited?

Island on a Lake on an Island on a Lake on an Island....

2010-01-29T14:43:00.005-05:00

In the Philippines, you can find the world's largest volcanic island on a lake, on a larger island, on a larger lake, on another (bigger) island.

Slideshow available on Treehugger

UPDATE: Josh Calder points me to the World Island Info blog that disputes The Philippines claim to the "largest volcanic island on a lake, on a larger island, on a larger lake, on another (bigger) island." Canada claims the title!

Thanks for the tip, Josh.

UPDATE 1/31: The controversy continues..

50 Equal States

2010-01-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

Tired of little states being over-represented in the Senate? Do you wish that all states had equal electoral vote power in national elections? Neil Freeman at Fake is the New Real has a solution. Redraw all fifty states so that they have relatively equal populations:

Interestingly, the only state that gets to keep most of its original shape is Missouri. Does that mean the Missouri already has the "perfect" population to represent 1/50 of the US population?

Via The Map Room

Josh Dorman's Topographic Fleurs

2010-01-26T10:59:00.004-05:00

Let's take a time out from sports and transit maps to take a look at mapping the soul. I am always drawn to artists who incorporate maps into their work. Josh Dorman often uses maps as an element in his paintings, or as in this case, he paints on the maps:

Four Fleurs
2008 acrylic on antique maps

The antique maps appear to be old United States Geological Survey topographical maps. Why paint on maps?

I collect outdated (pre-photography) textbooks, topographic maps, manuals, and documents. Paper that has lived a life and shows its age compels me to paint. I am intrigued by systems I do not understand and by information that is no longer relevant.

Josh's work is currently on exhibit at the Mary Ryan Gallery in New York. Time Out New York says:

Layering snippets of engraved illustrations redolent of Victorian encyclopedias over yellowing vintage maps, before adding painterly touches in ink and acrylic, Dorman conjures an imaginatively reordered universe teeming with organic and artificial life. Often transforming his topographical grounds into sweeping rural landscapes, he sprinkles each scene with incongruous groupings of flora and fauna, machinery and architecture, achieving a semi-improvised orchestration of multiple diverse parts into something like a symphonic whole.

HT to Kathi Flood

2009 UCF Conference Championships

2010-01-24T21:48:00.008-05:00

Conference Championships this weekend in the United Countries of Football.

Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. We'll see these two Football "Countries" fight it out in two weeks! Peyton Manning will play against his old "home team" (he was born in New Orleans, and his Dad, Archie Manning, used to play for the Saints).

So, were all these playoffs necessary? At the end of the day, the two teams with the best records in their conference go to the Super Bowl.

My early prediction is that the Colts will win another Super Bowl. But good on the Saints for finally making it to the big game.

#535

History of Vietnam in Maps

2010-01-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

"Curzon", one of the contributors to the always interesting international affairs blog, Coming Anarchy, has created an animated map showing the history of Vietnam, from ancient times to the present:

Click to see the animated version

This is only the latest in a series of historical geography maps from "Curzon". Other nations covered previously: Ethiopia, Poland, Armenia, Persia, Russia, India, Britannia, Sweden and Saudi Arabia.

Some Recent Magazines and a Book

2010-01-20T08:24:00.003-05:00

For your amusement, a smattering of recent magazine and book covers using maps as an element of their design.

From The Nation: President Obama must decide on future American involvement in Afghanistan.

Stores Magazine suggests that Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico (VIM?) are the countries to watch for new muscle in emerging markets.

Time believes that California, in spite of being "an apocalyptic mess of raging wildfires, soaring unemployment, mass foreclosures and political paralysis," is still the future of American innovation and growth.

Finally, in his book, Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, Ethan Waters maps out the way the United States shapes the expression of mental illness around the globe.

MLK Day - The Dayton Puzzle

2010-01-18T14:22:00.003-05:00

Today is the day that Americans honor the memory of civil rights leader and peace advocate, Martin Luther King Jr. As in many cities, Dayton commemorates the day with marches, rallies and speeches. It was a cold day for a march but spirits were warm.

Dayton has a special tradition that I always enjoy. Marchers gather at points north, south, east and west of the downtown and converge at the steps of the old County Courthouse. Each group is led by a piece of a puzzle. When combined the four puzzle pieces create a map of Dayton and the Miami Valley (the Great Miami River and its tributaries flow through Dayton).

This ritual is especially poignant for Dayton, because historically there has been a racial divide in the city of Dayton: Blacks on the West Side, Whites on the East Side. Over the years the lines between these divisions have blurred, and that's a good thing.

2009 UCF Divisional Playoffs

2010-01-17T20:52:00.003-05:00

Divisional Playoffs this weekend in the United Countries of Football.

As a sports fan, I was happy to see the Colts win and the Cowboys lose. As a poor mapmaker, I was happy to see the Ravens lose so that I wouldn't have two purple Football Countries.

Next week, for the first time in NFL history, both Conference Championship games will be held indoors. I'm looking for a Colts/Saints Super Bowl.