Five Questions

It seemed like everyone in the flock went through this, so I figured I'd better jump on the bandwagon - albeit a little behind everyone else.

The fabulous and beautiful Fleur posed these questions for me:

1. what is you favorite band and why? (i know favorites are hard, so i will give you the leeway of favorite-right-now).

Ooh...that is a super-hard question for me. I love so many bands and so many different types of music.

In the last couple of weeks I've really been hooked on Architecture in Helsinki (Australian Indie-Pop), because their music is really fun and catchy but also quirky and weird. Plus, not very many people have heard of them or like their music, and in case you don't know I have a real affinity for obscure music that most people haven't heard. I'm what you might call an 'indie-elitest.' Don't let my indie-elitism fool you though, I do like popular music too. I just tend to lose interest in most bands after they become well known. (Just to throw out another indie band: in the past week I've been getting into Shout Out Louds - a fun rock band from Sweden.)

To get back to your question, I do have a few bands that I claim as my all-time favorites: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 311, Lucky Boys Confusion, and RX Bandits. I have trouble articulating why I like these bands so much, but I'll try to express my feelings. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones was the first band I ever really got into, so they hold a special place in my heart. 311's music calms me down when I'm stressed and can put me into a fun mood, ready to go out and party. Lucky Boys Confusion puts on an amazing live show (which I've seen about 5 times), and their music can lift my spirits when I need it to, or it can help me work out some anger or frustration, or get me ready for a good night out with friends. RX Bandits' music is so complex, amazing and socially conscious. They really try to expand people's minds with regards to politics and also in regards to what music can be; they are really experimental and progressive.

2. if you could own any map in the world, price and acquisition being no problem, which one would you get?

Another tough question. There are a lot of maps that would be really cool, and I would like to hang them on my wall. But which to choose?

Would I go with maps of important historical significance? Like the map Lewis and Clark drew upon returning from their historic venture across the American continent, a map which was lost in the archives of the Library of Congress until it was found and identified by my advisor and graduate committee chair.



Or I could go with a map which was one of the first uses of spatial analysis (my chosen field of study). In 1854, Dr. John Snow mapped a cholera outbreak in London and determined which water pump was spreading the disease.



Another option would be to choose a map which changed the way people thought about presenting information. French cartographer C.J. Minard made his historic map of Napoleon's march to Moscow, Russia which shows not only geography, but number of troops, direction of march, temperatures, and time.



One of my favorite cartographic relics is the Leo Belgicus. Leo Belgicus maps were made in the late middle ages and Renaissance of the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) area of Europe. They are just very beautiful and unique to look at.



I really like all of the above maps, but to answer your question (finally): I think I would choose an original map drawn by one of my favorite cartographers, Erwin Raisz (pronounced like royce). He worked at Harvard, and most of his maps were made in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. He created a system of representing physiographic landforms and land covers before any aerial photography or satellite imagery made this task easy. His maps are all completely hand-drawn (like all maps made before the digital age) and very highly detailed. Raisz maps are amazing, beautiful and highly informative.



3. if you could have a super-power, what would it be?

The ability to command sea creatures :P

4. what is you first thought when you hear/see the word "kumquat"?

Um...isn't that some sort of squash, or otherwise a piece of fruit?

5. in one word, describe life.

Beautiful.

Well now I've done it and I'm now part of the cool kids. If you would like to get five questions from me, let me know.