Speaking of Map Lust & a Movie Concept
Posted by Joseph Moore on February 1, 2013
How about this baby:
Reviewed here. Gotta love a map that a) represents tons of loving manual labor; and b) wins a ‘best of show’ award versus the big boys of cartography.
There’s a screenplay in there somewhere. “In the low stakes world of high end cartography, one man alone takes on the somewhat larger companies who stop just short of doing anything truly awful in “Prime Meridian: Crossing the Line”.
From the trailer:
Psychiatrist: “Ze problem, Mr. Harrison, is zat you are projecting.”
John Harrison: “Of course I’m projecting – I’m a cartographer, dammit!”
…
Mercator: “I get the picture: stretch the truth a little here, don’t go too far north, and it all fits in a nice frame job.”
John Harrison: “We don’t have to do it this way.”
M: “Loxodromes, he don’t take kindly to any deviations off the straight and narrow.”
JH: “We have to stand up for the truth! No more lies and distortions!.”
M: “Truth? You’re a round ball in flat world, Harrison.”
…
Windrose Rhumb: “You’d leave me? I’ve always played straight with you!”
John Harrison: “Have you? I can’t live a lie anymore. You’ve grown distant…”
WR; “John! Don’t say it!”
FH: …especially when you get too far north or south. You’re in bed with Mercator”
WR: “No!”
DmL said
Second nerdiest thing I’ve ever read. Funny though!
Ishmael Alighieri said
Thanks. Now, of course, I have to ask: what is the nerdiest thing you’ve ever read?
DmL said
http://xkcd.com/977/
You’re welcome. : )
Ishmael Alighieri said
That is truly wonderful. Thanks.
I like a lot of those projections. Maybe I’m not over thinking it enough…
DmL said
Me too, but I tend to like the ones that not only distort the landmasses the least, but also explicitly declare their assumptions. Butterfly ends up being the winner for me since it seems like the best view of the landmasses’ actual sizes and relationships to each other.