Wall Map Update

I've been making progress on my giant wall map project lately. I had finished the sketching last spring, but then let the momentum die away. However, I have now finished painting the oceans on 7 of the 20 panels - it looks pretty decent. I'm beginning to worry that I'm never going to live in a place with a wall big enough to handle this thing, but that is a problem for later.

You can see that I've finished the Southern Ocean around Antarctica and almost all of the water surrounding South America.


Here you can see the eastern part of Antarctica and Australia just beginning to show up. New Zealand sure looks different than most maps' representations of it; I think that is due to a combination of the map projection I based this on and my own scaling issues. Whatever, it's art. If I ever have to find my way to New Zealand using only this wall map, there are a lot of things going wrong in the world.

I think that my favorite part of the map so far is either the Antarctic Peninsula or the Amazon River Delta in Brazil.

...well, I am also partial to the giant world-crushing cat in this picture.

Drawing maps

A while ago, I mentioned Slate's hand-drawn map contest. Well, they've published some of the entrants. They range from computer setup instructions to a famous artist's party invitations to a clever way to avoid the Delaware Turnpike. Later on in the article, they write about the Hand Drawn Map Association. I had to visit it, and it's a really creatively inspiring/interesting selection of hand drawn maps. Maybe I'll bring along some pens, paints, and paper next time I have to go in the field.

I think my favorite hand-drawn map is the kid's map to Treasure Island, complete with Blue Angels in the background. I'm not sure 'background' is appropriate; it's clear that the Blue Angels are the focus of the piece.

As they should be.

Charleston maps, in 3D!

While I was in Charleston, Calli pointed out a series of cool maps to me. A park on the east side of the peninsula has a set of four sculptures representing the city of Charleston as it was in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

In the 17th century, the city takes up just the southernmost tip of the peninsula. Of course, it only had 20 out of those 100 years to grow.

The 18th century saw some growth north on the peninsula. I like the emerging pier on the Cooper River.

Charleston exploded in the 19th century, reaching the base of the peninsula. The docks on the Cooper River expanded as well.

Charleston in the 20th century saw two significant changes reflected in the map - the giant bridge over the Cooper River, and the elimination of several piers for the construction of Riverside Park.

I can't decide if the bridge is more impressive while you're driving over it after an overnight drive from Wisconsin, or looking at it cast in bronze or whatever.

Mapping the Bracket

I thought it would be interesting to get a glimpse of where the schools in this year's NCAA tournament are located, since I had no idea where I would find Siena, or Lehigh, or Morgan State, or...you get the picture.

(click to enlarge)

Texas leads all states with 7, followed by Pennsylvania with 5 and California with 4. 5 states had 3 schools in the dance, and 9 states put two schools into the tournament. I think I'd like to take a week and look at the last 10 years of tournaments, and maybe find out the percentage of eligible schools per state that have gone to the dance. For now, we'll have to settle for the 2010 rounds of 64 and 16.

(click to enlarge)

With 3/16 teams in the Sweet Sixteen, the leading conference is...the Big 10! I would have been more excited to hear that last week, before the Badgers sapped me of my interest in college basketball. Until next year.

Storytellers across the world

Strange Maps found a beautiful map today that charts the basic story involved in four classic works of literature. For example, George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion has a long, storied history originating in the eastern Mediterranean. I'd definitely like to see a map with more stories charted out like this - another good way of mapping this concept could be a timeline/family tree kind of deal.

This Week in Maps

Here are some interesting maps I saw this week:

Remember the map of american hamburger fiefdoms from a while back? Weather Sealed has a follow-up graphic with a couple landscapes enlarged for a better look at things. At some point, what was a map morphs into artwork composed of colored blogs...but I don't discriminate against abstract blob-based artwork.

Staying on Weather Sealed, I found a illuminating look at the different touch patterns of typing styles. It is hard for me to imagine anything else besides the typical touch typing profile - having keyboards since age 6 or whatever and being taught typing in elementary school tends to ingrain some things in one, I suppose. The post illustrates the most common styles of typing, and the movements most associated with them. It's cool.

Maps don't always have to display data geospatially - the U.S. Department of State is currently running an innovative project called Opinion Space. You answer five questions about foreign policy issues (they're not terribly difficult, don't worry. Also, you can't really be wrong.) and the combination of your opinions get mapped in comparison to >12,000 other responses. Left/right, hawk/dove, your answers are mapped in a sort of vacuum. This (in theory, at least) allows for a more honest discussion of issues, and it is fun to see where your data point falls.

Last week, I linked to a newish mapping group called Floatingsheep.org. Their latest map has been my favorite so far. The trio has mapped references to Christianity on Google Maps. On a global scale, they map references to Catholic, Protestant, Pentacostal, and Orthodox denominations. They then write about how that probably overstates Catholicism, as references to smaller protestant denominations are less numerous. However, in a U.S. map they list 10 different types of references. It's a colorful, revealing map.

Finally, if you were a video game character in 1982 New York City, this is what you'd be holding while you tried to find Times Square.

weekly map links

Happy Friday!

That is a complete lie. I woke up today only able to draw about 75% of my normal breath, running a fever of 101. Now the Badgers are losing their first game of the Big 10 Tournament to Illinois, shooting about 25% in the process. Gross.

In the face of such a cranky-pants Friday, I'm just going to put up some map links from the week, and brainstorm about what to do the rest of the weekend. I'm betting that watching the remaining basketball games isn't going to be enjoyable at all for me.


I apparently missed the deadline to scan my hand-drawn maps and be part of a study at Slate. Darn. I'm sure the published results will be sweet.

I found a group of professors in Kentucky/England that call themselves Floating Sheep. If I understand their site correctly, they are using the user-generated, geocoded data on Google Maps to map and analyze the world through the combined eyes of internet users. It's a fascinating world of increasing data, and they consistently find innovative ways to show the world.

2.17 Food links

It's a busy day today - pitchers and catchers report, Purdue v. Ohio State, Ash Wednesday, Dagwood and Blondie's wedding anniversary...you see. It's full of excitement.

Because of that, I'll just throw up some links to some cool foodstuff.

Serious Eats presents the mouthwatering/disgusting (I can't decide which) FLOOD BURGER.

Chef Jamie Oliver presents his TED talk on childhood obesity:

The TED talks are immensely interesting - go on Youtube and watch more of them. You won't be disappointed.

GOOD combines maps and food, so I'd be remiss if I didn't link to them. I'm most curious about the one hotspot of vegetable consumption in Texas surrounded by vegetable-phobes. That same 'island' also has increased meat/poultry consumption compared to the surrounding area...what's going on there?

I'm not very good at photoshop, but if I could learn how to bake cookies using it I would do it all the time.

Mapping the Beatles

I was directed to a pretty interesting collection of graphic design today. Michael Deal has an assortment of graphs related to the Beatles - their songs by author, their songs' keys, their work schedule, and their self-references. It's an ongoing project, but I highly suggest stopping by.


On a separate note, who has been reading from Novgorod, Russia? Sort of random...

Elementary

I enjoy going through the short stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle every several years or so - specifically, the Sherlock Holmes volumes. I haven't seen the movie, but I did come across some Holmesian nerdiness a little while ago.

Strange Maps found somebody who has created a floor plan of 221 B Baker Street, and it is pretty detailed (or insane, for you normals out there). Go here and look at it! Actually, check out the rest of Strange Maps, there is some pretty impressive stuff there.

Big Ten Expansion?

I created a map and chart examining some of the potential additions to the Big 10 - you can read the post at Buckys 5th Quarter, the Badgers blog hosted on SBNation. Go check it out!