NASDAQ, not NASCAR

Image removed.  Link here.

Dan Reynolds gives us this map-related cartoon about a couple of lost NASCAR fans ending up at NASDAQ headquarters.  I suppose both have to do with stock... or stock cars?  By the way, there is actually a globe on the store next to the NASDAQ building:

ERIF

Cartoonist Mike Williams gives us this quirky take on the practice of printing "Fire" (and "Ambulance" and sometimes "Police") backwards on emergency vehicles so that drivers can read the words in their rear-view mirrors.  The caption says "Excuse me, sir, but could you direct me to Reppeplue Avenue?"  Actually, I'm not confident that I got that street name correct.  Anybody have a better idea what it says?

Brett Farve

This is sports-oriented editorial cartoon by Joe Heller ran in September of 2007 when Brett Farve was riding high with the Green Bay Packers.  Much has changed since then.  There's no way cheeseheads would be this dedicated to Farve any more.

Pirate detection

A Sunday strip from Jim Meddick's Monty in June 200.  I've posted examples of pirates and treasure maps before, but not a metal detector.  Has the sport/hobby of geocaching expanded or contracted the hobby of metal detection?  

Go to geography

Jef Mallet again giving us another map-related Frazz strip.  This could be another fun way to teach geography, but possibly more distracting, less productive than this one.

You are mountain top

Cartoonist Dave Parker gives us this "You are here" gag.  It potentially ties in to the mountain-themed map/GPS comic from last week.

You are Mensa

 Roy Nixon gives us another "You are here" gag.  He does a LOT of these.  Expect plenty more in the future.  

 

By the way, that's a thoroughly European city layout.  Not even Eastern cities in the US look like that And Western US cities are particularly and often monotonously gridded. 

Made in Malaysia

Robert Weber had this published in The New Yorker in May of 2000.  It covers a lot of topics, including globalization, fair trade, manufacturing, education, etc. Actually, I think this would be a fantastic way to teach geography.  Even make it into a contest to see which kid could find the thing manufactured from farthest away, which kid had the most things manufactured the closest, put points on the map showing where all of the things come from, etc. 

Snowdon

Duncan Bourne comments on whether or not GPS units are very needful, what with all the other directions and signage available to travelers.  More specifically he's commenting on the busy-ness of Snowdon, a very popular mountain in Wales/Great Britain.

Roadside cartographer

This depiction of a roadside cartographer by Henry Martin makes me feel happy and calm.  It's such a pleasant concept.  Thoroughly obsolete today, what with all of our electronic guidence systems.  But in April of 1987 when this ran in The New Yorker, it might have almost been practical... but the only place where there'd be enough lost traffic would probably be a more urban setting.   But this did remind me of the story "The Mappist" by Barry Lopez, which I heard on the Selected Shorts program.  I highly recommend both. 

You are cubicle

Does this cartoon from Ron Therien look familiar?  That'd be because he has done almost the exact same joke before.  This "You are here" gag kind of looks like it has a more of a maze theme to it  but I may be wrong about that.

Rand McNally coasts

A print ad for Rand McNally "Auto Trail Maps" from 1922.  This ran well before the extensive well-developed road networks we take for granted today.  At 35 cents each, adjusting for inflation, that's about $4.50 today.  And far more comprehensive nation-wide maps come "free" with many smart phones today.  At some point comparing value on inflationary terms alone becomes meaningless.

Roadmap for AIDS

So several years ago, when the powers that were put together the ill-fated "Roadmap for Peace" in the Middle East, editorial cartoonist Shamsudin Ismail made this suggestion for a different kind of roadmap.  This was not the only cartoonist who tried to get the Roadmap for Peace concept applied to a different cause.

Coast to coast

Michael Maslin gives us another map-related cartoon in The New Yorker.  In this one I can't tell whether the couple has been arguing about directions, but they certainly went too long before asking for help. And, unlike this example from Sherman's Lagoon, the distances given are approximately correct.

Mondrian

Simon Bond did this brilliant map-related parody of the famous (infamous?) modern artist Piet Mondrian. You may be familiar with his work without being familiar with his name:

Composition 10

It's one of those iconic styles that often comes up when people are commenting on the simplicity, or over-simplicity, of modern art. While I'm not a fan of this guy's work, it's obvious that some of it can be very map-like. Take his work "Broadway Boogie Woogie":

Broadway Boogie Woogie

Of course that work looks awfully like his "Victory Boogie Woogie" so maybe it's not so map-like after all... assuming "Victory Boogie Woogie" isn't supposed to invoke the aesthetic of maps.

Victory Boogie Woogie

Winer

Stephan Pastis doesn't shy away from the pun in his Pearls Before Swine strip. This is a fairly mild example compared to some puns he's presented.

Kimosabe

Rex May Baloo gives us what appears to be the Lone Ranger and Tonto lost in the desert arguing about directions in the way spouses might.

Golden opportunity

Here's an old one from a February 1954 issue of The New Yorker by Barney Tobey.  What is hard to see is that there are other people already digging on the other side of the hill with the tree.  Bugs Bunney's encounter with maps and gold prospecting is funnier.

Lost in the ordinance survey office

Nigel Sutherland gives us this gag about the mapmakers getting lost.  In England the Ordinance Survey has long been the organization responsible for mapping.  This very old cartoon attests to that.

Pay the roofer

In this example of the webcomic Basketcasecomix by Kelly Ferguson does a good job with a Google Earth joke.  Gets the scale concept right.  And of course people have done things like this.

You are too bad

Joseph Farris gives us another "You are here" gag. This time with the "lost in the desert" theme.