Geography Geeking

Last week I went to an exhibition at the British Library all about maps, called Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art. I highly recommend going as it’s a wonderful display of some of the finer pieces of the British Library’s map collection. They are genuine works of art, infused with the politics of the time and assertions of control and power as well as being incredibly beautiful. The Fra Mauro map is a complicated representation of what was, at the time, the known world and is an incredibly delicate and detailed piece.

I’ve always been interested in maps, this probably comes from having a world map blu-tacked up above my desk in my bedroom when I was young. Frequently I’d look up, needing a distraction from my homework, and stare at the map, wondering what those places were like and how people lived there. I guess this is where my interest in geography originated, something which I followed through by studying it at university, and ever since then I’ve always approached the world with that kind of awareness of space and connectivity at the back of my mind.

But the thing that has been making my brain fizz all week was a lecture I went to about maps and mapping. As part of Magnificent Maps the British Library is running a series of talks about the subject, so I decided to pop along to one and indulge my inner geography geek. The talk was done by Professor Danny Dorling from Sheffield University (who taught me briefly while I was at Bristol Uni) and he was talking about using maps to show global inequalities. The stuff he showed us and the things he was talking about frankly blew my mind a little. He first talked about the project he’s been working on, Worldmapper.org, which is highly worth a look. Then he ran through some of the most recent population cartograms that he and the team he works with have been doing. Wow. These are maps that give equal space on the map to every human being. The results are stunning, both beautiful and illuminating, and slightly disturbing. As Dorling pointed out at the lecture, we are visual creatures and maps represent a way for us to conceive of a larger world around us that lies beyond our eyesight. We grow up cultured into the representations of those worlds. We accept that the UK is in the centre of the map, because that’s where we’ve always seen it. We all know what the UK looks like in map form. But when it’s shown through a different prism, that of where population is located, the effect alters our received notion of what our small island looks like. The population cartogram of the UK is a warped and twisted creature, recognisably our home, but distorted around the large bubble that is London and the south-east. It challenges our notion of where we are and how we see our country.

A map of Africa is really interesting, you can see how major urban centres dominate. Many people’s image of Africa is one of being quite rural, the problem being that Africa now has some of the largest urban agglomerations in the world and is rapidly urbanising. Huge tracts of land are reduced to grey lines on the population cartogram as no-one lives there. Mexico becomes a hugely bulbous Mexico City that dominates almost to the exclusion of all others. This interpretation of dry population stats really bring them to life, letting us see what a city of 20 million people looks like when compared to the population of the surrounding areas.

Some of the more disturbing and enlightening maps are produced when different data is inputted to produce a cartogram. Stats on numbers of deaths due to flooding and storms are used as the basis for mapping and produces something highly moving. As would be expected, less well off countries feature prominently, but the extent to which Bangladesh dominates the image is striking. The map is so distorted and enlarged that you can see the rivers within the Ganges delta, which you would barely be able to make out on a land area map of the equivalent size. These are maps that can highlight poverty, risk and inequality in new and powerful ways.

Maps, as visual representations of our world, are imbued with politics and culture and as such can be extremely powerful tools, something we would do well to be more aware of.

Megabus Smegabus

Aye, you can fuck of an' all smiley

Despite its low low fares making it the choice of conveyance for the poor/students and that it could provide a green (ish), cheap and sensible solution to nationwide travel (well, intermediate distance travel anyway), I’ve had enough of the Megabus and coach travel in general.

This may well stem from when I was 17 and coming back to South Wales from the Midlands. Not only did this particular journey take ages and feature a stop of more than an hour in Birmingham, it also occurred when the nation happened to be in the grip of one of its epic downpours. In trying to negotiate a very large puddle on the motorway the bus managed to flood the luggage bit and soak all my stuff in muddy water. It wrecked a whole load of my clothes and it was still bloody late. Not happy.

It could also have something to do with ludicrously long coach trips of well over 24 hours through continental Europe while on school ski trips.

Anyway, since then I’ve been an infrequent coach traveller, preferring the train if possible. But I’ve now had 2 fucking horrendous coach journeys courtesy of Megabus over the last few months and I’m turning my back on coaches.

The first of these journeys from hell followed an awesome weekend in London. It was a truly epic one. Coming back from the American Football in Wembley on the Sunday night I knew there were no trains running that late that I could guarantee catching, so had booked the ‘red eye’ leaving at half 11 and arriving at about 3 on Monday morning. Fine, I thought, I’ll catch some zeds on the way back. It started badly as the match had finished early so I’d rocked up with over an hour to spare so was forced to hang around lying on the floor with 3 heavy nights on the booze, all day drinking on Sunday and crashing on random sofas kicking in. When I finally got on the bus it was packed, cramped, roasting hot, smelt terrible and I had some metaller kid blasting shitty death metal at ear drum shattering decibels sitting next to me. Needless to say the experience was fucking awful and I didn’t sleep at all.

However today took the biscuit.

I was heading down for an interview for a job in London. I’d looked at trains but they were too expensive due to the late notice and the fact I had to travel at peak time, so I decided Megabus would have to do. I arrived in plenty of time, but the bus came 15 minutes late. As soon as I’d boarded the driver announced that there was a problem with the electrics so they had to change the bus in Cwmbran. I was just thinking I could have had an hours extra kip if I’d stayed at my parents house. So we’re now super late and the new bus’ heating doesn’t work so it’s freezing. We then get caught in traffic all the way down, especially in central London.

Now, I ain’t daft. I’d made contingencies for this. I thought half hour delay was expectable and reasonable so had made provision for that. Unfortunately we rocked up 45 minutes late, prompting a sprint to Victoria rail station as I searched the TfL website on my phone trying to figure how the fuck I can get to Catford in 40 minutes. What ensued was a madcap dash across London with an apologetic phone call to my prospective employers en route. Not exactly ideal prep for a job interview.

Seriously, Megabus can suck my ass.

But I’ll forgive it a touch if I get the job as then I won’t be poor enough to have to resort to using it.

WTF?

Before I came to work this morning I needed to nip to the local shop to get some food for the cat. Whilst waiting in line I saw the above next to the counter.
Yeah, that's a "Malteaster" chocolate. Which is an easter bunny chocolate. Being sold in early December. What do you mean did you buy it? Of course I bought it! And I ate it:



Very nice it was too. Christmas is officially over people, don't bother with any more presents! That's soooo 2009. Easter is where it's at. Keep up dearies!