4.27.2006

Double True

Since theresa gets the new yorker magically delivered here, i can sometimes read while still boycotting its barfy war-centered liberalism. THey just had a new double issue on travels, which i think it best double issue ever. way better than when i was all excited to bring it on tour in 2000 and the "summer fiction issue" arrived the day before. god i was so bored.

Anyways, theres an article on mapping, and the alternative between itinerary mapping (like mapquest) that doesnt give youa sense of context of the surroundings, and god's view mapping, which basically makes you think for yourself. god forbid.

After quoting the lazy sunday SNL sketch to bolster mapping-as-the-zeitgeist, he compares directions from northern manhatten to long island, taken from the upper west- and upper east sides, merely q few blocks away.

"from the upper west side, mapquest, *snickering*, guides you to the Cross Bronx Expressway and then to the Throgs Neck. The Cross Bronx? These directions involve a disconcerting degree of noncontiguousness. Why cross a body of water at its widest possible point? Why even mess with the Bronx? You may as well stick a sandwich in your ear before putting it in your mouth."

I cant stop laughing at that. It also bears mentioning thatI recall my dad saying "never get on the cross bronx" but in my mind it somehow got stored right next to the guy in Apocalypse Now screaming "Never get off the boat".

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home