Map of the Week-Take the Long Way Home

Today is Day 90 of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. It's a long way from Victoria to Vancouver. You could just take the ferry but that's no fun! This route takes 106 days and goes through every province, territory and major city in Canada.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic web site has an interactive map where you can see the route details and link to events, photos and stories. The route looks more like a child's connect the dots drawing than a map but cartographic accuracy is not their first priority. Here is today's route through British Columbia from Revelstoke to Salmon Arm and then on to Kamloops.

Clicking the red dot at Kamloops brings up a detailed map showing this evening's route and festivities. The detailed maps also feature cartographic accuracy!

Maps in Unexpected Places - Part 1

This is the first of an occasional series highlighting maps in, you know, unexpected places. I saw this map of the Underground Railroad on a U-Haul truck this morning.

You can see all the states and Canadian provinces at U-Haul's online super graphics page.

Other map oriented truck graphics include North Dakota...

...and one of my personal favorites, Pennsylvania.

The "Did you know..." texts from these images:

Ontario: Abolishing slavery decades earlier than the U.S., Canada became a haven for enslaved people seeking freedom. How did "conductors" assist thousands?

North Dakota: Flags of the U.S., Mexico & Canada fly at the monument of the geographic center of North America in Rugby.

Pennsylvania: With President Jefferson's instructions in hand, the Lewis and Clark Expedition set sail down the Ohio River. What role did Philadelphia and Lancaster play in the tireless preparations undertaken for this journey? 

Map of the Week-Haiti Quake Maps

I don't like to gawk at natural disasters. However, yesterday's earthquake in Haiti is so horrific that's it's a tough one to ignore. The U. S. Geological Survey's PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) has some useful maps and graphics to illustrate the severity of the situation. Here are the most recent earthquakes on PAGER with the Haiti quake detailed.

Here are some maps from the PAGER's Haiti earthquake page. First, a graph showing the color codes.

 This is the "shakemap" showing the quake intensity. To the right, a list of the most affected cities using the same color codes.

 
Finally, a map showing population density (in gray) with the quake intensity shown as colored isolines.

Map Changes for 2010 and beyond

New State in India?

 

New transit line for Vancouver                                           

  - opened in August, 2009


















Proposed Purple Line would serve the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.  The line would run from Bethesda to New Carrollton.

Rerouting the Chicago River? 

Michigan's attorney general has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to seal off the most direct routes from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.










Stay tuned for these and other exciting map stories as the year progresses.

Map of the Decade!

With grandiose visions of making a "Map of the Decade" I went and sought out some lists of the top news stories from the internet. Trying to find lists that were not biased by politics, region, or sector (such as technology) was impossible. The best I've come up with is this list from about.com. The list is biased towards the USA and our strategic interests and I have my own disagreements, notably the absence of China (big earthquake, rise as a superpower, hosting the Olympics) but I decided to map their list anyway.

Due to the limitations of the Blogger template you'll need to click on the map to see a readable version.

The background map is from MapQuest because they have the least annoying worldwide projection of the major mapping sites. I used the images from the about.com list though some of them are not very recognizable. I placed them at or near the approximate locations of each story except the global recession. That one got put on the Equator.

Yes the inclusion of Michael Jackson is ridiculous. Tell me something I don't already know! Like for example, what should be on this list instead. Have a happy new decade!

NORAD Tracks Santa

Santa has begun his difficult journey delivering presents to the good boys and girls of a certain religion. You can follow his progress on Google Maps. Check soon before he takes his well deserved post-holiday break.

He's in Brisbane! Wait, now he's in Alice Springs! He's one fast fat guy!

Bruce, Bruce and Tom-A Musical Journey

I've always been interested in the geography of musicians-where they come from, where they get discovered, and where they choose to reside when success allows them that choice. I've found a few nice musician maps over the last couple of years. These three artists were chosen because someone made maps for them, more than for any personal preference.

Bruce Cockburn was born and raised near Ottawa but has spent most of his musical career in Toronto. He currently resides near Kingston, Ontario according to his web site. Here is a clickable map of his life in Toronto:

If you prefer the other Bruce, here is a map of  Springsteen's New Jersey titled "Bruceville." Bruce Springsteen is that rare musician who's never needed to stray too far from home and has always remained true to the Garden State.

This map is more fanciful than accurate. The only places that really seem to be located correctly are the Boardwalk, Highway 9 and his father's house. Little Eden is Millville? "The River" is the Delaware? "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" is about Tom's River? * I have my doubts about these things. Thanks to Strange Maps for this.                                                        * After consulting Wikipedia, the undisputed source of all knowledge, it turns out the "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" may actually refer to 10th Avenue in Belmar. If true then the map is close.

Shortly before his Super Bowl XLII appearance, LA Weekly published this map  of Tom Petty's Los Angeles by illustrator Scott Gursky. Although a native of Florida, Petty moved to LA at the beginning of his career and has remained in the area ever since. The article details each place on the map.

 

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