Cartophilia: Maps and Map Memorabilia

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2021-03-05T14:08:00.002-05:00

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Accepting the Reality That I Am No Longer a "Blogger"

2012-01-04T16:41:00.000-05:00

Hey, it was fun, but as you have no doubt noticed, I'm just not in to this whole map blogging thing any more. It's not that I love maps and map memorabilia any less, but I have so many other things happening in my life that continue to be a higher priority. So, rather than prolong the agony, I will officially announce that this blog, Cartophilia, Maps and Map Memorabilia, is officially closed. I'll leave the content, what's left of it, up here indefinitely.

This does not, however mean the end of my talking about maps. If you are on Facebook, check out the page I created there to promote this blog: Cartophilia: Maps and Map Memorabilia. I find that I am more willing to post a quick link to something mappish there, even when I don't feel the gumption to actually write a blog post. Feel free to post links to amusing map things there as well, to share with our carto-friends. So, visit my page and "LIKE" it. That's where you'll find the next map update from me.

In addition, I have a Twitter feed... such as it is. When I post something on Facebook, it automatically reposts on Twitter (along with whatever other inane thing I might be Tweeting about...).

Thank you to everyone who supported this blog by sending me interesting links, occasionally writing a guest post, and most of all reading it whenever I found something mappy to talk about.

Confucius Say, Handle With Care

2011-11-22T11:40:00.001-05:00

Current magazine spotted on the shelf today:

Upfront is a magazine for classroom use to encourage students to become aware of current issues. If we do not handle with care, I'm not sure I want to know our fortune...

Maps Still On My Mind

2011-10-12T12:01:00.000-04:00

It has been pointed out to me that I haven't been posting here very often. I've been so busy I hadn't noticed!

But that doesn't mean I'm not still loving the maps. Right now, I'm excited because I finally got my hands on a copy of Ken Jennings' new book, Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks:

"Geography Wonks?"

Guilty as charged.

BTW, yes that is THE Ken Jennings. You know, the guy who won all those Jeopardy games.

Human Cannonball

2011-09-03T10:56:00.000-04:00

I suppose this is only tangentially about maps... but here goes.

I started the evening last night at Riverscape, Dayton's excellent downtown outdoor music venue. Enjoyed listening to a local band, Human Cannonball. Not only did I enjoy the music, but two other geeky things caught my eye... A map t-shirt:

I'm not sure what the shirt is saying... First Ohio, then the world? Also during the show, this guy played his homemade Theremin!

To give this band an additional plug, here is a video from The Dayton Informer with an excerpt from the show...

... and a classic duck joke. I'm going to be sorry to see this summer end.

Interstate 90 in one shot

2011-09-02T17:14:00.003-04:00

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's been a while. Sorry, I've been busy, and we have a baby on the way, and class starts again soon.

Perfect time for an epic road trip!

Mrs. Thatsaabguy and I attend Gen Con every year, the biggest gaming convention in these United States - we did, in fact, get married there in '09, even. This year was no exception, but with a twist. We flew to Indy on 1 August, worked the show until 7 August, then flew to London. There we were tourists for a couple days, rented a car and drove to the far north of Scotland (Ullapool, to be precise), took a 3-hour oceangoing ferry to Stornoway, and spent another week or so with our good friends at their place on the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis. Then we drove back to Glasgow and flew to Newark NJ, there to spend the weekend at the 2011 Saab Owners Conventions (our geekery knows no bounds.)

Here's where this gets REALLY interesting. Our buddy Greg from Minneapolis sold us a 2000 Saab 9-5 Aero and offered to drive it to NJ for us to pick up. Seeing a rare once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I gathered the gear to make a time-lapse video of the entire length of I-90, the longest interstate highway in the US and, most likely, the world. I set the camera to take one shot every ten seconds, then spend an afternoon stitching it together and giving it subtitles.

Here is that effort.

It is 24 minutes long, and has an amazing kick-ass soundtrack. It was a serious blast to make. Hope you like!

UPDATE 9/3 by Cartophiliac:

To make it even easier to view ThatSaabGuy's video, I have embedded it here:

The Northwest Passage

2011-08-15T16:16:00.003-04:00

This morning, on National Public Radio, there was a report on how the shrinking Arctic polar icecap may finally open the explorer's dream, the fabled Northwest Passage:

The Arctic may be the world's next geopolitical battleground. Temperatures there are rising faster than anywhere else in the world, and the melting ice will have profound consequences on the roof of the world, opening strategic waterways to shipping, reducing the ice cap on Greenland, and spurring a rush to claim rights to the wealth of natural resources that lie beneath. NPR examines what's at stake, who stands to win and lose, and how this could alter the global dynamic.

This article, first in a six-part series, includes an animation of the diminishing sea ice over the last twenty years.

While this news might have warmed the heart of Sir John Franklin don't tell the Polar Bears...

More Carto Hot Hate

2011-07-23T10:14:00.003-04:00

The only weather map you’ll need this summer:

HT to Kate

Baby, It's Hot Outside

2011-07-20T18:02:00.002-04:00

Much of the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing extremely hot temperatures this month. Naturally, this brings on talk of global warming, which also means lots of burning globe illustrations. After reading this article, Politicizing Extinction, I decided to see how many other "hot earth" images I could find.

Have you seen any other good ones?

The Connected States of America

2011-07-14T07:37:00.005-04:00

From paintandink:

MIT's Senseable City Lab did a study on the connections demonstrated by cell phone calls in America, and although, at a glance, it looks like the study has some flaws (they only used data from their sponsor AT&T, for example, which would leave out communities without good AT&T coverage), the maps they created are pretty cool:

Also, even though it's kind of cheesy, I like the title "The Connected States of America."

Via FastCo Design (Fast Company's design blog).

Rubik's Earth

2011-07-09T10:52:00.001-04:00

Ad found in a magazine this week:

Just think of the climate change issues as the puzzle moves you from one latitude to another.

Woe to anyone who lives close to the edge of a cube... "Hey! I parked my car here yesterday... now that street is gone!

Welcome, South Sudan

2011-07-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the family of nations, South Sudan. May you thrive in peace and prosperity.

"South Sudan has become the world's newest nation, the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war." -- BBC News.

Inflated Stereotypes

2011-07-08T09:07:00.000-04:00

The latest from Christoph Niemann: THE WORLD MAP OF USELESS STEREOTYPES

Torchwood: Earth Go Boom!

2011-07-04T11:53:00.000-04:00

Torchwood, the Dr. Who spinoff, is coming to America. Will it be good or bad for the series? I can't say. But it doesn't look too good for Planet Earth:

While I have been a Dr. Who fan, I never got into Torchwood much. But Captain Jack is back, so I may have to check this out.

They Draw & Travel Map Contest

2011-07-03T15:38:00.003-04:00

From paintandink:

Map of Singapore by Admira Pustika

If you make maps yourself, you might be as excited as I am about this map-drawing contest at They Draw & Travel. And if you don't make maps, you can just revel in the maps that have already been submitted. Plenty of eye candy for map lovers!

Chapel Hill Map by Alice Feagan

Map of Bruges, Belgium by Madi Andronic

I'm working on a map of Philadelphia. I'd hoped to do a couple of maps, one of Philadelphia, one of Los Angeles, and maybe one of Reno modified from the map I posted yesterday in my introductory post, but I procrastinated a bit in an effort to wrap up some other projects, so I'm not sure I'll have time to do more than one city. But I'm also feeling a burst of creative motivation that I haven't felt in a while (my husband and I have a son who just turned one, so we are running on a year of sleep deprivation), so at least I'm feeling excited about the Philadelphia map.

The grand prize is $1,000, and the contest will be judged by Lilla Rogers of the illustration agency Lilla Rogers Studio. There are quite a few caveats and requirements for submissions, and by submitting a map, you are agreeing to a non-exclusive licensing arrangement, so be sure to read all the fine print.

Happy Mapping!

Painting, Inking, Mapping, Daydreaming

2011-07-02T20:18:00.007-04:00

Hi all! My name is Alison, aka paintandink, and your host, Cartophiliac, has graciously invited me to be one of the contributors to Cartophilia.

Like many of you, I imagine, I have loved maps as long as I can remember. I blame National Geographic. When I was a kid, I papered my bedroom ceiling with maps from National Geographic. I would lie on my bed, staring up at those maps for hours. I dreamed of going to faraway places and I also dreamed of making maps, of working for National Geographic. I hoarded maps. I pored over them. I started writing to consulates and travel bureaus, asking for more maps.

That quote in this blog's banner?

"I think that the constant study of maps is apt to disturb men’s reasoning powers" - Lord Salisbury

He's got a point. Maybe I should have gone outside more, but in my mind, I was having grand adventures. And I was lucky enough to have real adventures too. From which I brought back maps as souvenirs. When my dad took me to Ireland at 14, I brought back a poster of a hand-drawn map that I still have today.

It's wrinkled and banged-up.

I still obsess over traveling and maps and still collect maps, haphazardly - big maps, small maps, ripped-out-of-magazine maps - although my maps aren’t taped up on the ceiling these days. They’re sorely neglected, as a matter of fact. Rolled up. Folded in boxes. And I have a lot of maps from a road trip stuffed in a drawer. One of these days, I'll frame the good ones.

In the meantime, I'll tell you about those, and the other fun, weird, quirky, interesting maps I find.

I'm still bringing them back as souvenirs, too. This is a crime map of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. This one deserves its own post.

I did not become a National Geographic cartographer, but almost 20 years later, I have become a mapmaker. Using dip pens and India ink and watercolor, I’ve spent the last five years making treasure maps, fantasy maps, custom maps of real and imaginary places, abstract maps, and travel art.

I’m excited to be part of Cartophilia. Thank you, Jamie, for the invitation.

You can also find me at my own blog, The Explorer’s Notebook, and my artwork at the Interimaginational Institute for Fantastical Exploration and Cartography (that is, my Etsy shop).

Vintage Lace Globe

2011-06-22T21:01:00.007-04:00

On Regretsy.

Helen Killer doesn't care for it, but I am all for maps and globes in art.

Flat Earth / Square Earth

2011-06-21T13:27:00.004-04:00

As reported by The History Blog, the Library of Congress has received the donation of a rare "Square Earth" map. This map (available for 25 cents from Prof. Orlando Ferguson) includes scriptural references to support the "flat earth" cartographic thesis.

Actually, it is not exactly flat... sort concave... (is that the right word? feel free to correct me). But it makes sense. It explains why, when I look up in the sky, I see South America!

HT to Hunter

UPDATE: LOL @vWMaps calls it "The Bible Map of the Earth" and says it "Looks like it'd make a great roulette wheel."

Jello America

2011-06-14T22:53:00.000-04:00

Making map art out of Jello:

Via Boing Boing.

Where is Venice?

2011-06-02T11:40:00.000-04:00

Christoph Niemann spent 72 Hours in Venice. He includes visual aides with his sketches.

Treasure Map Hat

2011-05-05T15:15:00.000-04:00

Treasure map Fantasy Admiral's Hat by Samuel Lee:

Via BoingBoing

Carto-Vexillo-philic tattoo

2011-04-26T12:13:00.000-04:00

Moments ago, I posted this on my Flag Fan blog, Vexillophilia. But then (to my horror) I took a closer look at the photo and saw that he also has maps tattooed on his belly!

Time to wash my eyes.

Green Cincinnati

2011-04-22T06:15:00.028-04:00

Happy Earth Day!

Cincinnati, Ohio's alternative newspaper, City Beat, offers its annual Green Issue. This year, the cover includes a stylized map of the Queen City:

The map suggests ways to go green in a city:

Use water from fountains to feed gardens.
Put solar panels on large buildings, such as the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.
Take advantage of Cincinnati's many hills by locating wind turbines at their peaks.

HT to Tony of Alphistia

NFL Maybe Map

2011-04-20T06:15:00.002-04:00

The NFL has a new series of interactive schedule maps. Click on your team and it creates a map showing the distances traveled for away games, and the teams that will travel to the home city.

This is, of course, assuming they actually have a 2011 season...

Pit Stop Mug

2011-04-19T19:42:00.000-04:00

It's not as if CBS needs me to promote their shows or help sell their stuff... but The Amazing Race is my second favorite reality TV show, and this is a sweet mug...

The Amazing Race Pit Stop Mug