Things On The Net – Page 6

The Madagascar Syndrome

I remember when I was four or so years old and figuring out how maps worked I was fascinated with great circle routes and globe topology even if I didn’t quite know what topology was. At some point, I attempted to dig a hole to China but I knew that if I dug straight-down I wasn’t going to make it to Shanghai, but somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

Anyway, when I build that unstable backyard nuclear reactor out of lowest-bidder parts I’m happy to have a Google Maps mash-up that shows me where on the Earth it’s going to pop-out.

Things I Like August 2005 (ennui vs. manic depression edition)

1. This collection of posters for the movies presented by Mystery Science Theater 3000.

2. The “musical furry lobster”

3. Though not furry, the the sponge crab carries around a sponge on it’s back for camouflage.

4. Italian guitars of the 1960s. (full disclosure: I own a Crucinelli-built Vox Cheetah)

5. François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters’ comic series Les Cités Obscures. Mysterious steampunk adventure stories where the story/plots center around architecture city planning constructs. I’ve got three of the books and love them dearly, but I had no idea that there were nine more. Each one feels like a history parable that fell out of some parallel universe. (more reading)

Things I Like – Memorial Day edition

1. Sightseeing via GoogleMaps satellite photos. (I’ve mentioned this before)

googlesat_ntstriangle

(triangle bombing target in Nevada)

2. Insane Colombian drug lords that use their profits to build a zoo decorated with concrete dinosaurs.

3. The final resting place of the 2001 space station in an old field somewhere in the UK.

4. The 75th anniversary of the Chrysler Building

5. The peregrine falcons that live in the SBC building in Pasadena

Organ Stop Pizza

I’ve been looking up Arizona ephemera recently and one of the things I crossed paths with was Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. Apparently, you needed gimmicks to get people to go get pizza (isn’t good food enough?) so enter the Mighty Wurlitzer which apparently has superseded the pizza as the star attraction.

Meanwhile, I was plowing through some mp3 blogs and ran across House Plant Picture Studio, who (when they aren’t searching for the grave of Karen Carpenter) took the time out to post some mp3s from the 70s-era Organ Stop Pizza album (scroll down).

Google Map tourism

Between GoogleGlobetrotting, Google Maps Mania, Google Sightseeing, Scavengeroogle, Interesting Google Satellite Maps, and Sprol you need a separate blog to keep up with the GoogleMaps blogs.

Anyway, my contribution to GoogleMaps sightseeing is the site of Rice Army Air Field in eastern Riverside County. The air base was used in World War II as a training area for pilots who were ground support for Patton’s army that trained nearby. California Highway 62 stretches across the picture and the Colorado River Aqueduct is just north of the highway.