I, Muehlenhaus. U, Riedermaus.

This one comes from the Atlas of International Affairs 1919-35. The map title is: The Independent States of Africa.

I think perhaps it may have better been called: What the Europeans Have Not Subjugated... Yet. But self-reflection was never the geopolitician's strong suit. Thank heavens for critical geopolitics and thinkers like Geroid O'Tuathail!

From a cartographic perspective, at least they filled in all of the white space with a list of European states that control the rest of the land. Still, they could have even done a better job here too! Egads...

Map Title:
Encirclement

From:
The War We Are In
View 1. Issue 1. Winter 1960.
Hamilton, OH: Champion Papers

Available at Borchert Map Library, University of Minnesota:
D844.w3 1960

This one is courtesy of the CIA website. This is the map used by Kennedy to show American people the range of Soviet missiles in Cuba. In the words of Bob Dylan: "Wowee, Pretty scary!"

The Nazi version of the Commonwealth map above. Slightly different coloring than the Brits have. I love this map. First of all, the yellow and black -- dangerous like a bumble bee. Second of all, the Germans include every colony -- past and present -- on the map, without differentiating by value or hue. The world look primarily British, even though it really was not. The islands glow like lightning bugs, don't they?!

Life has been completely hectic recently, and I'm loving it! I am delving headfirst into my research these days, at the expense of many other things. I have been raiding different map collections at different libraries across the Twin Cities and spending countless hours digging through maps at the Macalester and Borchert Libraries. I have already found hundreds of maps, so now the trick seems to be limiting my sample to 300 maps for deconstruction. That is a great feeling, though!

***
Stranger still has been the fact that my outburst of applications has actually resulted in a relatively rapid interest in my availability this fall. In fact, I have already interviewed at two of the three places I applied! The best feeling is that no matter what happens or what I decide, I already have a job lined up next year -- teaching a course each semester at Macalester College in Geography and International Studies. But, that being said, I am really hoping to hear back from the place I applied and haven't heard anything from yet. I won't say where it is, but I will say it is probably the best fit for me and would work best.

***
On Friday I participated in the National Geography Bee at Macalester College. I was an official score keeper. It was really zany -- tons of kids and parents and a whole lot of trivia. It was a blast, though! Some of these kids were absolutely phenomenal! It came down to the wire and I felt really bad for the runner up -- a girl who had been a finalist the year before too. But there is always next year! Anyway, it was stressful watching these kids, much less keeping tabs on their score with 150 parents watching you. Plus, the markers they gave us -- official NGS Sharpies -- were starting to make my head spin by the end of the first round. It was a tough job, but heck, at least I got a free t-shirt out of the deal!

***
Brian and Michelle McManus -- two friends from Penn State -- came over to the Cities this past weekend. I hadn't seen them in years, but damn it was fun! After meeting them at the E-Block, we went to a Twins game. It was my first, and probably, one of my last of the year. I love baseball and I really like the Twins, but the Metrodome is a pretty lousy place to watch a game. At least they won. On Saturday, we met up again and Birgit and I had them over for dinner. Then we went to some micro-brew pub in downtown St. Paul. It was here that everything got really surreal. It turns out that the professional lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm, were having their end of the season party at this pub. So suddenly the bar was full of bleached blondes and huge Canadians missing their teeth. When Brian went to the bathroom, he ended up befriending one who was drinking from the faucet and talking about the Twins prospects this season. A very odd experience for a legally blind guy from Pennsylvania!

***
The ultimate take-home product of the weekend, though, comes from my friend Brian. He had heard that if you open all of the doors on the Metrodome at once, everyone will be sucked out of the building. Okay, so that is an embellishment, but he had heard that there is a massive wind force when you open the doors of the Metrodome. So he and Michelle, after going to a second game on Saturday, stood outside and videotaped people being blown out. It is absolutely hilarious! Look for the kid screaming "My hat, my hat!!!" and also the guy that loses his sunglasses. Stellar video, Brian!

***
In a nutshell: life is good. I can't complain. I am tired, busy, and still waiting to see what I will be doing next year, but I am happier than I have been in years. Thanks for asking.