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+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Alexandria Gazette
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Deseret Evening News
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Los Angeles Herald
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the New York Sun
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the New York Tribune
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Ogden Standard
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Paducah evening sun
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Palestine Daily Herald
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the San Francisco Call
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Washington Herald
+ 1910 Publication Calendar of the Washington Times

Last summer I was invited to attend the taping of Al Jazeera English’s show “Changing Channels” and enjoyed the format and the discussion. Last week I was invited to attend the taping of Avi Lewis’ show Faultlines concerning the topic of the war in Afghanistan. I found the discussion was quite interesting and I am glad I attended the taping.

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Watch part two:

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This Friday, November 20th at 3pm, Al Jazeera English is hosting another town hall forum on race and the recession at the Newseum:

The Ambassadors (1533) is a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger in the National Gallery in London. I remember first learning about it in my AP Art History class in High School. I was drawn to both the intricate nature of the painting’s near-photorealism and the anamorphic skull that obstructs the foreground. Today I was attempting to warp the skull to see it properly rendered and I realized that there was a nicely painted globe in the background. Well, actually, there is a lot more than just a globe in the background of this painting– there is also a beautiful celestial globe and numerous scientific instruments, but I will let you explore the painting on your own. Suffice it to say, this painting remains one of my favorites.

I have a quite a few framed maps hanging in my house just waiting to be purchased. In fact, I have more framed maps than I have available wall space. Usually before we have a big party I go around the house and rearrange the framed maps so our guests see different maps each time they visit. The other night when I was walking up the stairs I noticed that the two maps that I’ve had up for a months actually spelled something. The N from N Prague and the torus around Georgetown Lenz #2 kind of spell out the word NO. I wonder if guests saw this? Or if it could have been construed as a subliminal message?

Below are the maps as they appeared in their original blog entries:

I came home very early Sunday morning from a long night out with friends and before I passed out I checked Facebook one last time. It’s a good thing I checked too. It just so happened that Parisian Rapper / Producer / Record Label Owner / DJ Teki Latex had just posted that he was doing a live DJ mix via webcam. I had recently signed up for a competing streaming video website and was curious about what were some of the pros & cons of the service he was using. So before nodding off, I decided to watch/listen to his mix. What I saw, however, was that he was wearing a t-shirt with a big QR Code on it. Over the last few years I’ve tried to document QR Codes that I randomly find, so I futilely tried to take a few screen grabs of the t-shirt, but was unable to get the full image that is needed to decode the message. It would have been the first time I’ve been able to decode a QR Code that was displayed over streaming video.

The next day I left a message on his Facebook page asking what it decoded to and he responded that it was “probably Grenoble.” I guess I’ll have to find a photo of him wearing the shirt again to find out for sure….

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Below are a couple YouTube videos featuring Teki Latex:

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry on Aerial Bombing of Cities and came across the World War Two aerial photograph above. It shows the absolute destruction of the Nagasaki, Japan after the atomic bomb known as “Fat Man” was dropped from the sky and detonated in the heart of the city. Below is a screen grab from Google Maps showing a contemporary view of ground zero:

…from life to death to life… Its rather amazing how much development has taken place since the war ended over 60 years ago. I just hope this type of bombing never happens again.

The other night I was over at my friend’s house in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC for her going away party and saw this map hanging on the wall.

Isola d’Elba aka the Island of Elba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. This map shows the island with various cities, embellishments of fruit, flowers, & fish, important mountains on the island, and at the top of the map there is an iconic graphic of Napoleon Bonaparte riding a horse.

I first read about the Island of Elba when I was learning about French emperor Napoleon I in high school. Following the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon was exiled to Elba after his forced abdication in 1814 and arrived at Portoferraio (near the steamboat on the map) on May 3, 1814. He stayed on Elba for only 300 days and returned to France only to be exiled again to the far more distant Island of Saint Helena.

Below is a Library of Congress copy of a British engraving depicting Napoleon’s banishment to Elba in 1814:

It’s titled “The journey of a modern hero, to the island of Elba” and says at the bottom:

Farewell my brave soldiers, my eagles adieu;
Stung with my ambition, o’er the world ye flew:
But deeds of disaster so sad to rehearse
I have lived–fatal truth for to know the reverse.
From Moscow to Lipsic; the case it is clear
I was sent back to France with a flea in my ear.

A lesson to mortals regarding my fall:
He grasps at a shadow, by grasping at all.
My course it is finish’d my race it is run,
My career it is ended just where it begun.
The Empire of France no more it is mine.
Because I can’t keep it I freely resign.

Coming from the butt of the donkey is the text: “The greatest events in human life is turn’d to a puff.” Coming from the broken sword is the text: “A throne is only made of wood and cover’d with velvet.” Written on the saddle are two phrases: “The budget of Mathematical books for my study at ELBA.” & “Materials for the history of my life and exploits.”

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Related Found Maps:

Back in May I attended the Passport DC Open House event. 30 embassies opened their doors to the public and I chose to check out the Embassy of Iraq. While inside I came across these two unique maps.

Brash is a poet that goes around Artomatic and leaves each participating artist a poem taped on to their exhibit wall. This week I noticed that my poem had been taped up to my exhibit space, so I decided to take it home, scan it, and post it here on-line like I did with last year’s poem. However, unlike last year, where Brash wrote about my entire exhibit, this year Brash wrote specifically about my Israel / Palestine 1993 map. From my understanding, Brash will probably write a poem for EVERY artist (thats over a thousand poems!) at Artomatic 2009. Brash, if you are reading this, thank you! I sincerely enjoy your creative spirit!

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Related Artomatic Entries:

The Craig retroazimuthal map projection was created by James Ireland Craig in 1909. It is a cylindrical projection preserving the direction from any place to another predetermined place, while avoiding some of the bizarre distortion of the Hammer retroazimuthal projection. It is sometimes known as the Mecca projection because Craig, who had worked in Egypt as a cartographer, created it to help Muslims find their Qibla. Check out the mathematical calculation used to create the map on Wikipedia.

I think it would be neat to use this cartographic projection technique to create a map that uses Washington, DC as the center.

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Related Mecca Entries:

Following up on yesterday’s posting, I stumbled across this interesting Google Map mashup. The Qibla (or Kiblah or Qiblah or Quibla) is the Arabic word for the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays, otherwise known as the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. For obedient muslims, the Salah, or formal prayer, is performed five times a day: at dawn (fajr), noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (maghrib) and nightfall (isha’a). The Qibla Locator is a simple Google Map that is designed to automatically orient Muslims toward the direction of the Kaaba. Simply enter your location and the red line that is generated shows the shortest distance to the Kaaba. In the case of the screen grab above I decided to show what direction a Muslim would pray if they were in the White House in Washington, DC. I chose this location because I’ve read about some nutty folks who actually think president Barack Obama is a Muslim. Frankly, I don’t care what religion he practices and to take issue with anyone’s religion is a sign of intolerance and veiled ignorance. What I find most interesting about the Google Map is that the rhumb line toward the Kaaba can be somewhat deceiving. I’m not blaming the author of the mashup, rather, I think the nature of how the Quibla is found is unique. Since its based on the shortest distance to Mecca, sometimes the fastest way seems counter-intuitive, as in, I was thought the path from the White House (above) would be facing South-East instead of North-East. If you have a moment, try it out.

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A couple interesting notes from the Wikipedia entry:

• The head of an animal that is slaughtered using Halal methods is aligned with the Qibla.
• Muslims are buried with their faces in the direction of the qiblah. Thus, archeology can indicate a Muslim necropolis if no other signs are present.

A short history of the Qibla:

Originally, the direction of the Qibla was toward Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem (and it is therefore called the First of the Two Qiblahs). At least since Mishnaic times (AD200), Jews face the Temple Mount in Jerusalem while praying. The Mishnah speaks about this in Berakhot (Talmud) chapter 4, Mishnahs 5 and 6 and this practice is even found as early as I Kings 8:35-36. In Islam, this qiblat was used for over 13 years, from 610 CE until 623 CE. Seventeen months after Muhammad’s 622 CE arrival in Medina, the Qiblah became oriented towards the Kaaba in Mecca. According to accounts from the prophet Muhammad’s companions, the change happened very suddenly during the noon prayer in Medina, in a mosque now known as Masjid al-Qiblatain (Mosque of the Two Qiblahs). Muhammad was leading the prayer when he received revelations from Allah instructing him to take the Kaaba as the Qiblah (literally, “turn your face towards the Masjid al Haram”). According to the historical accounts, Muhammad, who had been facing Jerusalem, upon receiving this revelation, immediately turned around to face Mecca, and those praying behind him also did so.

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Related Mecca Entries:

Just under one year ago I created an interesting mashup using Brian Kane’s YouTube Doubler. Dubbed “the Athan Drum & Bass Mashup” (and since then I’ve added “architectural” to the title), the mashup features a slideshow of Islamic architecture on the left side and a stationary camera focused on a Drum & Bass DJ’s turntables on the right. Last night I revisited the original entry and discovered that whomever had uploaded the slideshow decided to transcribe the Athan using YouTube’s annotation feature. Now you can actually read the English translation of the morning call to prayer sung in Arabic.

#update – This iteration also automatically rewinds!

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Related Interactive Entries:

Last month I created a Facebook group called Washington Metropolitan Area Residents For A 24 Hour Metro. Each week or so I’ve been sending members of the group different subway related YouTube videos- ranging from Improv Everywhere’s Subway Art Gallery Opening to Toronto’s subway dance party. Last night I came across another iteration of the faux-flash-mob-that-decides-to-dance-in-a-train-station-meme and decided to share it with the group. It features 200 well-choreographed dancers getting down to a remix of Julie Andrews singing Do-Re-Me from the musical The Sound of Music in Antwerp’s Central Station. Similar to the efforts behind the T-Mobile video, I believe the motivation behind this video is related to the promotion of the Belgian theatrical version of “Looking for Maria” or “Op zoek naar Maria,” which is based on the Sound of Music.

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Below is the behind the scenes video and two different perspectives of the dance:

The other week I found this flyer in the Library of Congress’ An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera. I inverted the colors because the location of the conflict & reason for mobilization are different, but the circumstances remain timely because America currently at war in two countries. I remember going to the White House for a demonstration nearly six years ago the weekend after George Bush invaded Iraq. I have the video that I produced that day somewhere backed up and I plan on uploading to the YouTube this month as a somber reminder. However, I learned six years ago that our government is going to go to war without the consent of the American public and protesting, while important, does little to change the course of events in present-day America. 39 years ago, however, demonstrations were an important part of ending the war in Vietnam. But will they help bring the troops home from Iraq & Afghanistan? Doubtful. Really doubtful.

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Notes:
1) On the transcription page on the Library of Congress website, I found that the map above was improperly cited as an “illustration”
2) I believe the map was probably published in the Washington Post on Friday May 1st, 1970

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Related Antique Entries:

Title: Alhambra
Date: 1354-1391
Place: Andalusia–Granada–Granada
Time: Islamic (Nasrid)
Description: Interior: Sala de la Barca (Hall of the Boat), Detail of Wood Ceiling
Subjects: Palace / Ceiling / Artesonado / Lacería / Granada
Type: StillImage
Is Part Of: Casselman Archive of Islamic and Mudejar Architecture in Spain
The Arts Collection
Rights: Copyright Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Posted here for educational & promotional purposes
Ownership: University of Wisconsin Art History Department
Submitter: Thomas E. A. Dale, Art History, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Local Identifier: Arts.csls8503.bib

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Yesterday I read that the University of Wisconsin’s Art History Department has made available over 4,000 images from its slide library. The Casselman Archive contains images of medieval and early modern Spain taken by the late Eugene Casselman (1912-1996) during his thirty years of travel throughout the Iberian peninsula. The images span over one thousand years of architectural history, from the seventh to the seventeenth century. While I never studied architecture or Islamic art, I can’t help but be reminded of the stylistic similarities between what I produce and what was being produced over 600 years ago.

The other day I was clicking through Wikipedia and I came across this interesting stereogram. Check out these other stereocards.

As I noted before, Jason Linkins, Liz Glover, and I recorded some man-on-the-street interviews on Friday. I had suggested going to the White House to interview tourists and it turns out that we found quite a few foreigners to interview when we arrived. Of the five or so interviews that I recorded, I had the most fun recording with the dual interview (above) between Liz Glover & Polish television correspondent Paulina Drapala. I am told that Paulina’s interview aired last night on Polish television. If I’m able to get a copy of that version, I’ll post it here :-)

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Marginally related: After the Washington Post article was published last year, I found that a Polish website started linking to my website. To this day, I still get about a visitor a month through that link.

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Polish text from the website:

Poniżej prezentujemy linki do różnorodnych map. Znajdziecie tu mapy polskie i z całego świata. Większość map jest w języku angielskim, ale są również mapy w języku polskim.
…
Nikolas Schiller – strona artysty, który ze zdjęć satelitarnych tworzy dzieÅ‚a – strona w jÄ™zyku angielskim

Translated text:

Here we present links to a variety of maps. Here you will find maps of Poland and all over the world. Most are maps are in English, but some are in Polish.
…
Nikolas Schiller – an artist who creates the work of satellite photos – page in English

[note: I rarely use satellite imagery due to copyright restrictions. Most of the imagery on this website is derived from aerial photographs that were placed into the public domain.]

The other day I found this photograph above on a friend’s Facebook page. The photograph was taken from an airplane while the friend was traveling Alaska on behalf of their job in the American government. Around the time current Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, made a gaff about being able to see Russia from Alaska, I remembered how there was only one spot in America where this was the case and it just so happened that my friend had recently been there.

Known as the Diomede Islands in America or the Gvozdev Islands in Russia, the two islands are only split by about 4 kilometers. What I’ve always thought was interesting is that the houses on Little Diomede (above) face tomorrow. Due to the placement of the International Date Line, the Russian side is one of the first territories to start the day. This means folks on Big Diomede can also see yesterday.

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Related 2008 Election Entries:

I read about these stylish galoshes a little while ago, and saw the map on sole of the shoe, but I couldn’t find a high resolution version that showed the actual map. Yesterday I found it. SWIMS, a Scandinavian company known for making stylish galoshes, incorporates lots of great details both for practical and aesthetic reasons such as:

• Extra traction for slippery surfaces.
• The sole of each CitySlipper has the map of either New York, Paris, or Tokyo.
• Pull on/off grip and the soft siliconpad on the sides makes it very convenient.
• Flexible design to fit almost any heel height and thickness due to flexible material and construction.
• Protection for the delicate leather/suede sole of your shoe and the tip of the shoe against the elements.
• Low-Cut style is for shoes with bows and buckles.

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The maps themselves definitely fall into the realm of aesthetics not cartographics, but ya know, I am a big fan of those kind of maps.

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Related Fashion Entries:

I still find one of the most interesting things about opening my website up has been watching the slow diffusion of my body of work and how educators have included some of my creations in their lesson plans. Earlier today I found that my Geospatial Art is being used as a case study for the class “Visualising Research and Communicating Places“, an elective course (ARCHDRC773) in the Architecture program at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand. If you have a few minutes, check out some of the student’s work. Their course blogs are listed on the sidebar below the case study links.

Related Entries:

• In the classroom #5 - Iceland Academy of the Arts
• In the classroom #4 - The University of Auckland, Aotearoa
• In the classroom #3 - University of California, Santa Barbara & the FBI's public website in 2001
• In the classroom #2 - La Salle University
• In the classroom #1 - Valparaiso University