The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See

This is the perfect example of the little man vs. the big man, small business vs. mega corporations, little pharma vs. big pharma, and the analogies can continue, but I'll end it there as this blog is about a map.  Yep, a map.  And it's the greatest paper map of the United States you will ever see.

Before the power of smartphones people would buy paper maps at their local gas stations or supermarkets; Maps to cities, vacation spots, or their favorite destinations.  Hell, I remember buying city maps to Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Corpus Christi.

Well, in American mapmaking, the "Best of Show" award is the biggest honor one can achieve at the annual competition of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society.  Usually the big map makers like National Geographic, Rand McNally, C.I.A. Cartography Center and the U.S. Census Bureau wind up being the winner of this prestigious award. But not this time, the big award emerged from a little farmhouse outside of Eugene, Oregon.  It's creator? David Imus.

Imus worked on this map over a two-year period, and did it all on his own with no help.  He worked 7 days a week and nearly 6,000 hours before it was completed.  And he did it all by hand.

So what makes this map different from the Rand McNally version you can buy at a bookstore? Or from the dusty National Geographic pull-down mounted in your child’s elementary school classroom? Can one paper wall map really outshine all others—so definitively that it becomes award-worthy? [source]

Feel free to purchase this map directly from David Imus himself, visit his website at imusgeographics.com

Cable TV Channels and Their Shows

Are People Really This Stupid?

Watching this video was nothing like watching this one from two weeks ago.  This video actually made me sweat and shake with fear.  

I compare this idiot climbing without ropes and harnesses, as me climbing the side of a building using a ladder without hands.  Nah, scratch that.

It's like me jumping from a plane without a parachute. Yeah, that's more like it.  Geezus, either this guy, Alex Honnold has got balls of steel, or he's just plain stupid.  Aye, Aye, Aye.

What a Hot Mess: How Did He Survive?

This is a question not even the guy in the video below can answer (probably because he was on drugs).  

The National Geographic channel has a new show that Ryan and I  may have to record, it is called "The Indestructibles".  It's a show that discovers how anyone can survive a "more than sure" fatal accident, fully recover from their injuries, and live to tell about it.

We missed the show on Sunday night, but it's airing again this Thursday.  The episode is called "Flying Car Crash" and airs at 9:30 PM Central Time.

Here is the description to the trailer you're about to see. What a Hot Mess!

A normal morning in Ohio turns disastrous when a driver speeding down the highway loses control. The car barrels down the grassy median, collides with the guardrail and is instantly airborne. It slams into the center post of the overpass and explodes into thousands of small pieces. A nearby witness finds the bloodied and mangled body of 19-year-old Brennan Eden. Miraculously, he completely recovers. Eden has no memory of the accident and no idea of how he survived. But he is on a journey to find out how with the help of a stunt driving team and a crash investigator. Through a series of experiments that re-enact the crash, well uncover what caused the car to go airborne. Experts also reveal how Brennan survived the accident, which would have killed most drivers.

Income and Population Centers Around the World

Take a look at this awesome chart provided by Jason Oberholtzer over at Forbes.

The National Geographic put together a rather pretty map of where in the world our nearly seven billion people people live. Then they added income class categorizations and a lot of statistics. What does their map show?

 Where and How We Live: Income and Population Centers Around the World

Don't Mess With Me!

Has anyone ever told you not to mess with them?  Well this little guy will let you know how he really feels.  He won't put up with your crap.

There is no other animal in the kingdom of all animals, as fearless as the crazyass Honey Badger. Nasty as hell, it eats practically whatever it wants.