New Map Tie and the Big Five Oh Oh!

This is Cartophilia
post #500!

(Queue the balloons
and music!)

That's post #

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I forgot to note my 2nd Anniversary back in September but, by golly, I'm not going to let this milestone go unnoticed!

Woot!

Ok, enough of that. Today I am going to highlight this nifty map tie.

Ms. Cartophiliac found it last week at a thrift store. Score!

I find the way the tie designer mashed together geographic features to be reminiscent of the Calendria map from earlier this month, as well as Island Girl and Coastal Merger

UPDATE 11/19: And of course, the Mapkini!

On to 1,000!

Mapkini and Curtain

Today I received several photos from a Carto-friend who must remain nameless. The first one I'll show you is the shower curtain from his bathroom. I'm showing this one first as your warning. The rest of the photos are probably safe-for-work... unless you work for a very prudish employer... We'll get back to shower curtains in a moment...



This Carto-friend sent me these photos of his fiancé in the best bikini bathing suit ever.

Now, he tells me that she said it was OK for me to post these. He'd better be right, because he's getting married next week. Congratulations!

Strictly for geographic study purposes, I think we need to take a closer look at this mapkini...

This mapkini is made up of a map of United States. I think it very appropriate that the top is pieced together with Western states:



Out west, they have huge... tracts of land!



The mapkini bottom is made from Southern states...



But most interesting is the back of the mapkini bottom, with its fascinating mash-up of Montana, Kansas, Idaho and the Baja Peninsula!



This mapkini is (or was) from Victoria's Secret. However, after an extensive search of their website (again, strictly for geographic purposes) I have been unable find it available.

So, back to my Carto-friend's shower curtain. He tells me that he is pleased with the accuracy in detail of the map. Not only is it up to date with all of the changes in Eastern Europe over the last few years, it even shows Cyprus in its current divided state.



However, for some inexplicable reason, Tasmania is shown in a different color than the rest of Australia. Is there something Taz trying to tell the rest of Oz?



Thanks again, Carto-friend. Happy wedding and good luck!

Shoes: A Little Las Vegas in Chicago

Seen in a Chicago store window:



Thanks Orange!

Daddy Needs a New Pair of (Map) Shoes

I went shoe shopping this afternoon; looking for a new pair of casual shoes. These are the shoes I found. They really were the best shoes for the best price... really!



If I ever go to the Florida Keys, I won't get lost. I'll just check the bottom of my shoes.

Sadly, I am not a Jimmy Buffet fan.

Origins 2009

I spent three days in Columbus, Ohio, last week at the Origins Game Fair, the second largest gaming convention in North America. (See comments about last year's event.)

This year, I came across a bonus map. It's a game... AND a map postcard!



Against the Odds is a magazine about war games. This postcard is an actual min-wargame. Cut out the pieces, and the rules are on the back. This game re-enacts the famous Morgan's Raid of the American Civil War.



In 1863, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led one of the few raids into Union states, by riding over 1000 miles through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, before being captured trying to escape across the Ohio River. This game offers the player to try alternate routes through Ohio.

Another postcard game is Showtime Hanoi, a little game about bombing raids during the Vietnam War.

In addition to board games and war games, role playing gamers and LARPers. In the Exhibitor's Hall, role players can buy costumes, including this tooled leather map corset... Wear this and you'll encourage cartophiles to explore...



#415

Tonka Map

Eighteen years or so, back when I lived in Michigan and our (now 20-year-old) babies were only toddlers, my very good friend, M--, and her family visited our home. They ended up leaving a boy's shirt behind:



What a great shirt! A Tonka truck and map motif. I always thought we'd get the shirt back to them, but not too long after that, we moved to Ohio. So, into my collection it went. Thanks to Facebook, M-- and I are back in touch.

Do your want your shirt back? I don't think it will fit...

Tracey Ullman's Putting on America

Advertisement on the back cover of this week's Entertainment Weekly:



Comedienne Tracey Ullman returns to Showtime with another season of her sketch comedy program, State of the Union. I've always thought she was funny. Too bad I don't get Showtime. I do, however, like her outfit.

Anthropomorphizing America

Serendipitous map fun today.

On Twitter this morning, @pascal_venier knew I would be amused by this pic posted by @ggatin "Assuming the brain is under the hat?"



This image is on a T-shirt available from BustedTees... which led me to its corollary:



Lest Canadians and Mexicans be offended... the search for these images also led to this YouTube video, "This Country's Getting Dumber":

Show Me Missouri

... on a map postcard!



Why the "Show Me" State? From Wikipedia:

The phrase "I'm from Missouri" means I'm skeptical of the matter and not easily convinced. This is related to the state's motto of "Show Me," whose origin is popularly ascribed to an 1899 speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver, who declared that "I come from a country that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, and you have got to show me." However, according to researchers, the phrase was in circulation earlier in the 1890s. According to another story, the phrase was originally a reference to Missouri laborers being brought to Colorado to quell a miner's strike and requiring frequent instruction.

Some of you know of my indoor/arena football fandom. In the nearly ten years I have followed this sport, by and far, the worst team name I have come across has to be the "Show Me Believers", a team that played out of St. Charles. Apparently it is a play on the state slogan and the christian faith of the team owner... By god's mercy, the lame team name lasted only two years.



The saddest news for the sport is that the Arena Football League has chosen to suspend the 2009 season and take a hiatus till 2010. I have very low hopes that this league can successfully restructure and come back with a model for player compensation that won't break the teams.

What's this I see? St Louis is for Lovers! I don't know about that, but I've had some mighty fine brew pub brew.



And look! I have a shirt to go with the map cards. Now I cannot get lost in the state of misery...

Ties for Christmas

Cartophiliac's family knows what he likes to find under his Christmas tree: Maps!

Wearable maps from Mrs. Cartophiliac and Miss Princess Cartophiliac:



A world map and the Battle of Waterloo. Cool!

For those of you that celebrate `em, I hope you all have/had Happy Holidays and a very Merry Cartigraphic Christmas!

Michigan Mittens

Can too much ever be said about the "mittenmorphic" State of Michigan? Who else can say they were born carrying a map of their home state? In a Say Yes! to Michigan post last Spring, I demonstrated how to create a map of Michigan with two hands:








The clever folks at Michigan Mittens are now offering special mittens with a map of a Michigan peninsula on each hand. Never get lost in Michigan AND keep your hands warm! Now you can have it all!

Map Shoes Go Swoosh!... and Splash!

Rex Parker, crossword puzzle solver and vintage paperback book collector, sent to me this photo of a map on a Nike shoe:


That prompted me to seek out more info... instead, what I found were additional examples of maps on Nike shoes.


From MyFirstAirShoes.com:




From SlamJump.com.



See previous examples of map shoes:

The Tennessee Representa and Jennifer Collier's map shoe sculpture.

Also, while searching for map shoe information, I was reminded of this amusing, yet environmentally tragic story the cargo ship full of Nike products that accidentally dumped in the North Pacific back in 1999. Shoes and other flotsam were washing up on British Columbian beaches for years.

More recently, there have been grisly stories of Nike (and other) shoes, with feet still in them, washing up in BC.

Wearing Maps

Looking for a piece of fabric with a map on it? Who doesn't want to wear a shirt made of out map fabric?

From the The True Up blog:


From J & O Fabrics:


From Geography Matters:


From Warm Biscuit:


A former associate of mine made this shirt for me from some map fabric she found:


#288

Where Does Santa Get All Those Toys?

Let the kiddies know where all those Christmas toys are really coming from...



Available from Threadless T-shirts.

Via Boing Boing

Sunrise Over Lake Huron

The American holiday, Labor Day, is coming up on Monday, September 1. Why do we celebrate workers in September? Because May Day is just too "socialist"... By moving it to September, we can all ignore the reason for the holiday, and just celebrate a long weekend at the end of Summer... But that's a topic for another blog.

This year, the 51st annual Mackinac Bridge Walk will take place in Michigan. Every Labor Day since 1958, one side of the bridge has been closed to traffic and the general public are allowed to cross the five-mile span on foot from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City. Traditionally, the State Governor has led the march.

Ten years ago, on Labor Day 1998, I particpated in the Mackinac Bridge walk.



I arrived in Mackinaw City late the night before, and attempted to sleep in my car, with little success. However, I was able to catch, in the early hours before dawn, one of the first busses to St. Ignace. They started the walk before sunrise and the timing was perfect. I was about halfway across the bridge when the sun began to rise over Lake Huron. It was spectacular!



I bought the commemorative t-shirt, and some Mackinaw City Fudge and prepared to head home.



The shirt, I thought, needed a bit more, so I stopped in a T-Shirt shop and had them add this Michigan map to the back.

#242

Mile High T-shirts

The Democratic National Convention is taking place this week in Denver, Colorado. In front of 80,000 people, Barack Obama will give his acceptance of his party's nomination at Mile High Stadium.

In anticipation of this event, I have been saving these two t-shirts from my collection. I almost forgot to post them this week...

I think I may also have a couple Colorado map postcards tucked away somewhere... but they will have to wait for another day.



You would think that 80,000 people would be the largest crowd ever for such a speech, but John F. Kennedy also addressed a crowd of 80,000, at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, for his acceptance speech in 1960.

Ties

I must wear a tie to work almost every day. Sadly, I have only two map ties:

Make Your Own Map Purse

Sonya Style is a do-it-yourself site of arts & crafts ideas, cooking, decorating and gardening, by Sonya Nimri.

Here she offers step-by-step instructions on how you can make your own map purse! Make one of the city are visiting and you won't need to carry an additional map.

I especially like the added touch of the toy car "latch".

Tennessee Representa

From MiBlox shoes:

This is the shoe that might make Boost Mobile change their pitch, no longer will people wonder "where you at" or for that matter where you're from. Not only does the Tennessee Representa perfectly coordinate with your favorite jersey with its colors of orange white and grey, it also helps you proudly rep your roots with a detailed TN map including cities like Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville and beyond!

I know I've always looked for shoes that will answer the question, "Where you at?"

According to the company's site, a portion of every shoe sold will be donated to charitable organizations supporting programs for urban youth.

Also available in Georgia...


Thanks to Keich for the tip

Miserable Hawaii

I haven't bored you all with postcards from my collection in weeks. So, today I'll share my Hawaii postcards, along with a few highlights (lowlights?):



Many people assume Hawaii is a "paradise". I've never been there... but that's what I've been told... Bob Neubauer tells us about his honeymoon, in Miserable Hawaii. "We came for sunny skies and relaxation. Instead we got rain and bad colds."



A Forum dedicated to Things you HATE about Hawaii, including:

• Gigantic size cockroaches that fly.
• Noisy coqui frogs
• Coffee Can mufflers
• Expensive everything (not just housing)
• Hawaii is sinking and the beach is disappearing
• Giant Red Stinging Ants!
• Beat Up a Haole Day
• Giant toads

Hawaii has a crystal meth problem (However, the drug-rehab site linked here has a nice map themed design...)



Each island is actually a volcanic explosion waiting to happen...



A military wife hated living in Hawaii so much that she bought a domain and started a blog about it. "Hawaii Sucks" only lasted two months before she ran out of steam. Maybe it got better... (or maybe she escaped...)



Racial tensions are simmering in Hawaii's melting pot



Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on Hawaii weather:




I'm sure there are far more people who appreciate living in or visiting Hawaii than are respresented here... But since I have been assaulted in the past about the "paradise" of Hawaii, I thought I'd share a little bit of the other side...