Life, the Universe, and Your Own Private Island Paradise

A couple weeks ago I posted about "The World" real estate development in Dubai. Apparently, the folks in Dubai are not stopping with "the world"... next stop, "The Universe":



What you see in the photo above is just the beginning. "The Universe will feature man-made islands built in the shape of the Sun and the Moon, with a string of planets in between." The project will take 15 to 20 years for completion.

If you cannot wait, here are the Top 10 Man-Made Island Paradises from International Listings.

Zoran Island is planned for Phuket, Thailand. Finally! A place where I can park my superyacht!



Or, if you prefer the romance of Venice, without leaving the United States, there are these new Venetian Islands, near Miami. Not sure if there are any singing gondoleers, but these islands have been under construction since 1922, and if you are ready to own one, I'm sure they can dredge something up.

Florida in the News Again

Florida in the news tonight. Can you tell I'm a politics wonk?

In honor of the Florida Primary, I present some Florida map postcards from my collection:





Florida:

• The home of the Hanging Chad.
  
• The most phalic state of the union.
  
• Five flags have flown over Florida: Spain, Great Britain, United States, Confederate States, and the the Republic of Florida (briefly independent after secession).
  
• Home of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.
  
• Home of Walt Disney World.
  
• Home of the 2008 2007 BCS Champions.

For cartographic analysis of the Florida Primary: check out The Electoral Map: pre-primary analysis and post-primary results analysis.

Maps make funny shapes...

In the "Things found while looking for something else" category... well, this time I was looking for myself (I did a Google search on "cartophilia") and I found the xtcian blog, by Ian Williams, with a post from 2003 called cartophilia! in which he has fun with the funny shapes of states...

I like it when states reach for something that they might not deserve. Take Alabama and Mississippi, for instance, both violently sticking out a body part to touch the Gulf of Mexico:

One of his commenters suggests, "Alabama and Mississippi ought to talk about it before going to bed. They look like a couple that's had a fight."

He forgot to note how funny the shape of Florida can be... and how it could be a little different after a little blue pill...