I just ran across these oldschool posters that were created by the American Library Association to encourage young people to read more. I guess that they were aiming for Star Wars and Back to the Future fans.
Although I am one of those odd people who actually took geography courses at university, Persuasive Cartography is a term I only recently encountered. It usually refers to propaganda art that uses cartography to make a point. An amazing collection of persuasive cartography maps and articles can be found in Cornell University Library’s P. J. Mode Collection of Persuasive Cartography: there are more than 300 maps available online.
PJM_2015_01, 11/21/14, 4:00 PM, 8C, 5806×7423 (60+204), 100%, Repro 2.2 v2, 1/15 s, R63.5, G40.0, B58.5
Last week, artist Sarah Sze unveiled an impressive new sculpture titled “Shorter than the Day” —a reference to Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death” at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. Sze’s work, which weighs five tons, is suspended above an atrium in Terminal B.
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then ’tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.
The New York-based artist captures the sky as it changes from cerulean blue morning to a colorful sunset to the many shades of night through nearly 1,000 photographs of the sky. Each printed image is fastened to the aluminum and steel with alligator clips and is revealed as viewers move around the massive work, just like the earth circles the sun to mark a day.
Drive and Listen is a terrific mashup of city driving videos with the same city’s local radio stations. Pick a city and cruise the streets to tunes, news and talk that you can’t hear at home. Each time you select one of the 50 or so cities you’ll get a different combination of radio station and driving footage shot at differing times of day or night. But be aware that it can be oddly addicting. In these stay-at-home times, it’s both nostalgic and liberating to be able to wander the streets of your favorite cities in the U.S. and around the world.
Julio Cortàzar
h/t Anisa Makhoul
Driving in Iceland is not for the fainthearted. Route 1 north of Hofn in southeastern Iceland passing Eystrahorn Mountain.
Charles Bukowski
Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores
Pictured: Illustration of Words on Water (London) by Bob Eckstein
h/t Wild Detectives Books
According to the 2020 Global Peace Index, Iceland is the most peaceful nation on the planet. Since 2008, the Institute for Economics and Peace has ranked Iceland first. This year, it is followed by New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark on the list.
Each year, 163 countries and independent states are rated across three domains: Societal safety and security domain, Ongoing domestic and international conflict domain, and militarization domain. Countries are also evaluated according to their economic cost of violence.
Since the list has been published, European countries consistently rank in the top 20. In fact, for 2020 13 of the top 20 most peaceful nations are in Europe. For comparison, the United States ranked number 121 again this year.
You can view the full report here.
The unfolding events of recent weeks in the United States have fostered a long overdue interest in the writings of many Black American authors. Few African American writers have had the deep and lasting impact on our culture that James Baldwin demonstrated for more than six decades. More than thirty years since his death, Baldwin’s work continues to resonate for us all.
The animated video below from political science Professor Christina Green is an excellent introduction to the iconic author, his life and his writings.
A big thanks and a tip of the hat to TBTP reader Lucy from the UK for sending me the marvelous Dickens cartoon (below) by the great Tom Gauld. If you follow this humble blog, you will be aware that this week marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens.
Travel Between The Pages 