Martin Ocean Transport - Model 130 (From Fortune Magazine, 1936) (click for larger version)

We all know that Don loves details.  At The Periphery love details that are made visual, which is why we love this infographic from Fortune magazine detailing the inner workings and structures of the Martin Ocean Transport.  You could read the caption and learn that the plane needs to carry an anchor, winch, lifeboats, belts and ropes as well as the usual aeronautical equipment.  Or you could learn that the US government mandated that planes reserve 800 pounds of cargo weight to carry the mail.  Mostly though, I’m fascinated by the fact that the crew had to walk the length of the plane, through the passenger quarters, to get to the crew bunks.  So much for separating the labor from the customer.

You can look at more interesting infographics from mid-century issues of Fortune here.  In particular I recommend the graphics American Productivity (1946), the expanding universe of Standard Oil (1940), Coal, a raw material for gasoline (1947), The Circus, under the canvas, is self sufficient (1947), and one for Tod, The automobile industry shifts gears (1941).

MaxPAC (I didn’t know Maxwell has a political action committee) is having an apparel sale, which reminded me of an idea I had last year.  I never followed up on it, but perhaps here is my chance to lure people out of the woodwork and to comment on the blog.

It goes like this.  I can fairly easily and cheaply (actually at no cost beyond the price of the clothing/stickers/hats/bags/etc) print up some Periphery (and Syracuse Geography) apparel/coffee mugs/clocks/golf bags/whatever else and put it up for sale with a slight (a buck or 2) markup over the regular cost.  I would then put that money into a fund that would go to support the first annual Periphery Grant for Effective, New, and Imaginative Experiments (the P-GENIE).  This grant would support one graduate students proposal to find new ways to navigate the dangerous waters of attendance at a major conference.  The money can be used at the recipients discretion, but is intended to support innovative efforts that might make the AAGs a productive professional experience (broadly considered).  These efforts should go beyond the regular rigor-morale of handshakes, general greetings, and long lasting glances that scream “I wish had the courage to introduce myself to you.”  Submissions from students would be judged on their creativity, the capacity of the funds to fully support such projects, and their potential to expand the utility of the conference.

As a side bonus, the apparel, etc, needn’t necessarily prominently feature the Periphery logo, but would the inclusion of some SU geography branding might increase the department’s visibility at the conference.

Such a project would take a little bit of work on my part, but if there is enough interest I’m certainly willing to do it.  I’m not sure how many people are reading the blog anymore, but if you would be interested in supporting such a project (possibly buying some gear or submitting a proposal), please let me know in the comments or through an email.

In an essay hosted by The Morning News, Katherine Harmon writes:

There has always been art in cartography. Maps by definition are utilitarian, of course; they bear implicit promises of routes into and out of the unknown. Yet the language of maps as developed over time is a beautiful one, filled with artistic potential. Cartographers have long known that deploying artistic skills and techniques can enhance a map’s effect, and have to varying degrees used visual creativity to make their maps more compelling. Now the relationship between maps and art has swung around; artists are using maps to further their artistic purposes. In postmodern times, with all truths suspect, artists have found in cartography a rich vein of concepts and imagery to mine. Cartographic rules give artists whole networks of assumptions to exploit and upend. In the last 50 years artists have produced much inspiring material for those who appreciate what art can tell us about maps, and how maps enhance art.

We highly recommend her essay, and the accompanying maps/art.  They’re this weeks “Map of the Week.”

You’ve got to feel for Chicago.  First they lose a prominent model citizen when he decided to move to Washington D.C.  Then, in trying to make things right, he bungles the bid to get the Olympics.  Pruned: (Chicago 2018, or: A Proposal for the First Wholly Urban Winter Olympics) however, sees the whole thing as an opportunity to start thinking about revisioning the winter Olympics as an urban, flat-land event. In short, they propose using the winters with which Chicago has been gifted and building the necessary terrain.

Almost everything is going for Chicago. Its infrastructure is less than perfect for the huge Summer Olympics crowds, but would be more than able to handle the modest attendance at a Winter Olympics and would definitely be unmatched by the usual winter bid cities and their smaller scale public transportation systems. Its gargantuan hotel industry would easily surpass capacity requirements.

For the alpine events, they propose an Olmsteadian Monstrosity, which brings us to the map of the week.

You can't have the luge without topography.

“It’s an Olmstedian park writ large, and it’s going be sited in the heavy industrial Lake Calumet sector of the South Side. Unless the Lakefront is larger, this will be Chicago’s largest public open space, something which this part of the city sorely needs. Moreover, it will provide the opportunity to finally clean up this Superfund site.”

The Coudal Partners website just turned 10 today.  Sure, it’s the web playground of a design group, but the ideas they come up with, and the talent they’ve gathered are brilliant.  Being designers, they also execute it beautifully.  I’ll let you explore the site on your own, but I particularly enjoyed the simple, yet clever Museum of Online Museums.

After dropping our forward looking print edition and the revolutionary WWJJD club mix, we thought we’d return to an old an classic theme:  the way we used to imagine the future.  First, we’d like to share a glorious reimagining of Carl Sagan’s imagination, and second in an historical future of roboviolence and mechanical geopolitics.

Now wasn’t that glorious.  Personally I can’t wait for the galaxy-rise

Now this, from the July 28, 1935 issue of San Antonio Light – San Antonio TX.

Now, if only our robots were as good at writing dissertations as they were at shooting guns, we’d be in great shape.

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A note from Ned Ludd, Technical Support: The old blog style, though potentially really cool, didn’t really display things like this very well at all.  So we are taking a simpler approach.  Though this goes against all of our better instincts, we think this will work more instinctually.  Hopefully you enjoy the new style, or at least don’t hate it as much as we hate dealing with the old style.  Either way, we’d love to hear your comments.  In fact, we’d love to hear any indication that people exist outside of our idyllic retreat in the Canadian tundra.  Sometimes we wonder if the US health care system has catastrophically failed, leaving the whole country incapacitated by hedge-hog flu.

The Periphery is proud to call up the spirit of Jane Jacobs in our release of this exclusive mix. May it fill your dance floors and lecture halls with the myriad rhythms of urban life.

Click on the post title to get the player in the post on the big screen. Otherwise you can play the mix from the player in the sidebar. You can download a zipped file (under dubious legal conditions) here.

I love a McFlurry as much as the next guy, and the question I’ve always wanted to know the answer to is “how far would you go for a happy meal.” Now we can answer that question. We can say with some certainty that there is significant regional variation in the distance people are willing to (or are forced to) travel to get there fix of beef and grease.

This week’s map of the week comes from Stephen Van Worley, who, apparently needed to know that it is impossible (as long as you remain in the contiguous US) to be more than 107 miles away from a McDonald’s. To do that, you have to visit South Dakota.

I just learned that Syracuse has a College of Human Ecology.  The goal of this portion of our fine university is to:

“The College of Human Ecology brings together Syracuse University’s professional programs in Child and Family Studies, Health and Wellness, Hospitality Management, Marriage and Family Therapy, Nutrition Science and Dietetics, Social Work, and Sport Management in an environment of cross-disciplinary teaching, research, practice, and service. Through classroom learning and hands-on experience, our students learn by example—and by doing—to become professionals who will provide services that enhance the emotional and physical well-being of individuals, families, and communities.”

Now, I’m just a geographer, but it would seem to me that something doesn’t quite line up here.  I thought I had a pretty good sense of what human ecology was, but after looking at the website, I was no longer so sure.  Like any confused young soul, I looked it up in Wikipedia.  ”Human ecology is an academic discipline that deals with the relationship between humans, human societies, and their natural, social and created environments.”

Does anyone have any insight into this and the extent to which their course offerings are ecological (beyond their work in nutrition (?) and their efforts to foster “an environment of cross disciplinary teaching, research, practice and service)?