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Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Hilarious and Crazy Signage, Part 13


"QUANTUM SHOT" #588
Link - by A. Abrams



The more you stare at some of them, the more befuddled you become

Some signs are certain to crack you up, some are likely to infuriate you, some send such mixed signals hardly a human being will come out of the experience unaffected. Perhaps, some would even pledge to enter the sign design business, just to keep the streets unpolluted by the atrocities you are about to see (or, on the contrary, become urban art junkies to seek out more examples of signage insanity)




Read other parts of our "Weird Signs Series", all 12 of them! We'll start with a truly wonderful vintage sign (for those who hadn't hear about electricity yet - back when men were men and most had matches.)


(image via, Marcin Whinchary)

Warning Signs. You've been Warned.



(sent in by Robert A. Graf, Springwater, NY)

Too late now:


(image via)


(images via 1, 2)


(images via 1, 2)

The sign on the right is all about hydrogen sulphide, a naturally occurring gas often found in manure pits and sewers. All who brave these noxious areas are exposed to the deadly danger. Hydrogen sulphide is heavier than air and collects in depressions or tunnels. It induces a sudden coma after which, as they say, "Death can be immediate"! One more reason to never enter such places… ever.


(image via ToyZone)

Some sensible warnings...


(image via)




(image via)

... and some non-sensible ones:



(images via 1, 2, 3)



If this sign is real, then it is a cruel joke:


(image via)

A few Asian ones, including some epic Temple Admission Rules (the dead and insane aren’t welcome... maybe they should find some other place to congregate):


(image via)



(images via 1, 2, 3)

Warnings that are more than simply warnings. This one, for example, is a handy guide on how to destroy fish. Warning: graphic content!


(image credit: Troy Walker)

Parking warnings should be collected and published as a book. Hmm... remember, you heard that idea at Dark Roasted Blend first.


(image sent in by J. W. of Birmingham, UK)


(image sent in by John Kinyon)


(images credit: Tyler Haggerty, Chris Radley, Jim)

Traffic and Other Road Signs

Some drivers must be laughing their head off.


(lower right image via)





(images via)


(image via)

Palatine Express Road in Suburban Chicago offers way too many choices:


(image sent in by Andrew and Stacy Williamson)


(right image via)

This sign is actually quite truthful and interesting. You can do something else, while your car will drive itself. -


(image via)

District 9 artifact:


(image via)

Signs for pedestrians are interesting, too:


(images via 1, 2)

Simply Unique Stuff

This hotel is good. GOOD. Trust us -- less money for signs means more money for stuff like doors and fire exits.


(original unknown)

Ways to be polite:


(images via 1, 2)

Dog food for humans:



Heroic name, quite befitting a British soldier (seen in Matlock Bath village, Derbyshire, England):


(image credit: Ariane)

Tongue-in-cheek store name from the same village:


(image credit: Ariane)

Make your choice:


(images via)


(image via)



(images via)

Mysterious sign in the Moscow Metro ("Prospect Mira" subway station):


(image via)

UPDATE: This is a symbol for "freestyle wrestling", a left-over graphic from the days of Moscow Olympic Games, 1980.

Bathroom Comedy, Written in Signage

Simply genius:


(original unknown)

Decisions... decisions...


(image via)

You have to be at the right time in the right place, but sometimes it's hard to figure out the right door:



(images via, Kirsten)


(images via 1, 2)

I am not sure if this one true, or not, but it's hilarious:


(image via)

Misspelt Wonders and Other Broken English



(images via 1, 2, Derrick Pereira)

This one promises "Ovary and Kidney Maintenance" (for those willing to try new experiences):


(image sent in by Alexander Garside)



(images via 1, 2, Andrew Williamson)

Mitsu... oh wait -




(images via)

This supposed to be the "Green Beach", we think:


(image via)

Knock-off Asian brands are entertainment in their own right:


(images via)

Labels, Charts and Other Printed Word

First, a very cool sticker for watching certain type of TV content (more info) -


(images via)

... and a variation on that theme:


(image via)

Do you ever read the fine print and disclaimers? If you do, you may be in for a surprise:



Very mysterious product, spotted in a Dubai mall -


(image credit: Derrick Pereira)






(image via)

This sign is very.... unreasonable:


(image via)

This is the right approach:



"Training Your Adopted Dog". The "dog" in question tends to disagree...


(image via)


(images via 1, 2)



And finally, wonderful interaction of birds with signs: wishful thinking, shock of recognizing yourself, etc. -



(images via)

CONTINUE TO THE PREVIOUS PART! ->

Read the Whole Signs Series Here

Permanent Link......+StumbleUpon ...+Facebook

READ RECENT POSTS:


Extraordinary Inventions: Victorian-Era Prank Machines

Electric shocks and mechanical goats fun

Biscotti Bits
Mixed Links & Images

Incl. "Most Dangerous Bridge Crossing"


The Best of "Dark Roasted Blend" in 2011

Wonders upon Wonders!

COMMENTS::

13 Comments:

Blogger Tzupi said...

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SqchnPxaPUI/AAAAAAABHos/F7wtmSynLUQ/s640/76ie7utrshdtfd.jpg
That's sign by an hungarian street artist, Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Faction :).
Some of his related works:
http://mkkp.hu/parkolasirend.html
http://mkkp.hu/leesik.html
http://mkkp.hu/godzilla.html
There are many of stuffs on his page, but most of them are hungarian-language related :)

___  
Blogger xopxe said...

The "mystery sign" at Prospect Mira Metro station is an icon for Greco-Roman Wrestling. This station is next to an olimpic complex built for Moscow '80 olympics, so they decorated the station with blasons for different olimpic sports.

___  
Anonymous ujanja said...

the zebra crossing made my day. Why the design in the first place. Haha

___  
Anonymous Lainie Yeoh said...

From what I can see:

"sorry" on the bus happens in Victoria, Australia for buses not in use.

The first signage for bathroom comedy comes from Busaba, a Thai restaurant in London.

___  
Anonymous Weaver said...

The Anti-Monkey Butt powder is a real product, aimed at motorcyclists to counter the unfortunate effects of sitting in the same position for long periods wearing tight leathers. The same company sell a range of products with risque names, such as visor-cleaner called "Foxitorff".

___  
Anonymous Weaver said...

AND, the Harley Parking sign is commerically available from lots of suppliers. There are "retaliatiory" signs (Suzuki parking, Triumph parking etc...) too.

___  
Blogger Stripey Underpants said...

The "Enter Only/Do Not Enter" one is from a Target store. I noticed it on a door of the Target in my town and always meant to take a picture of it. I never use that door because I'm never quite sure what's expected of me!

___  
Anonymous Rohit Rajgaria said...

Nice pics....what a collection..i really appreciate your work..

looking forward for some new...

___  
Anonymous monad said...

The loop road sign is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee), on the road up to Clingman's Dome -- there's a short tunnel at one end of the loop.

___  
Blogger Lasgirl said...

http://lasgirl.blogspot.com/2008/08/these-are-funny-sign-pictures-my-friend.html You may use any of these pictues

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Probably stating the obvious but the 'artifact' from 'District 9' is just an ordinary walk/don't walk sign that flashes alternately

___  
Blogger Sign Guy said...

Great collection! Hard to say which is my favorite. I have seen the Harley sign available for sale in the past. Thanks for sharing!

___  
Anonymous AdamSok said...

Funny that people actually know where this signage comes from!

___  

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  • The television tower was spectacular - I'm sure that lifting it took a lot of hot-air.
    Read more

  • Lol
    Read more

  • The TV Commercial Blind and the Armpit Dryer ads are not from from an old mail-in catalog, as the caption suggests, but a NatLamp parody. Drawings by Bruce McCall.
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  • Thank you, page updated.
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  • The cow is a corn labyrinth in Berlin to teach children how a cow produces milk out of corn.

    http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/Stadtleben-Marienfelde-Labyrinth-Tempelhof;art125,2873489
    Read more

  • It isn't a movie poster, but a parody work by lj user waldemar_kazak.
    Read more

  • Reames has a book on the subject.
    http://www.arborsmith.com
    Read more

  • WOW

    I don't think I've ever clicked on quite so wonderful a link before.

    I've often thought about this kinda thing, read about it in fantasy novels... extremely excited to see it coming to life. Good show.
    Read more

  • I think that Tomasz Bagiński's Cathedral is a bit on topic here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8GyHvBogrI
    Read more

  • Wow...every bit of that was incredibly interesting. Thanks for sharing that information with us!
    Read more

  • There are new building materials being introduced nowadays made with super dense formed fungus. Its apparently tons stronger than drywall, and far lighter as well.
    Read more

  • This is wonderful! The "chair that grew" reminds me of Odysseus' marriage bed (made of a living tree, so when Penelope tells him she's moved it, he gets angry and thus proves he's really her husband).
    Read more

  • Down here in Australia, the Boab tree of the semi-arid west has a short, squat and voluminious trunk that had been used variously as a house, jail and particularly sturdy restroom.
    Read more

  • Meat - "Superdense Formed Fungus Furniture"! Sounds great, can't wait to get one (just don't want it to grow too much...)
    Read more

  • I actually grew up with a shaped tree in the backyard— my dad spent a couple of decades shaping a cave out of the lower branches of a mulberry, while the upper area has a fort-like feel, big enough for several adults (we've gotten at least eight up there at one time.) It was a great place to read.

    When I was going to college, my dad asked if he should remove the cave. "Dad, you are going to have grandchildren at some point!"

    Not to the level of these things, but it goes to show that even an amateur can come up with something lovely and appreciated.
    Read more

  • Next up? Skyscrapers! http://blogs.discovery.com/news_sustainable/2009/09/tree_tower.html
    Read more

  • This is so fantastically beautiful. Thank you: this made my week!
    Read more

  • AMAZING!!!
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  • Fantastic presentation! Marvelous! But, all that is not just fantasy of some crazy peoples. It is part of our own cultural heritage. Not only huts and shelters of reeds or twig-arks bound with lianas covered with leaves are still part of everyday life in many places of the world. In ethnology or cultural anthropology this is well known today. But archaeology has mistakenly taught us to accept only durable materials as prehistory of material culture. In contrast to this we can construct a "soft prehistory" getting together all the secondary sources of signs (early script in China and Mesopotamia) and symbols (life trees) and even early representations of deities (Ishtar-Inanna of Uruk) with their roots in neolithic village culture where they were important as territorial signs and nuclear aesthetic models of the local village culture.
    We know even that there were "Babylonian Creation myths" focused not on the universe but on the foundation of the local "cosmos" (that is the spatial organization) of an agrarian village by making a deity of reed which grew and grows in abundance in the Eufrat/Tigris region. The founder becomes some sort of chief of the village. The "Marsh Arabs" are still widespread living there in reed huts and around reed mosques, but having Islam as their religion today.

    Paradoxically this very ancient "soft prehistory" is still vital as a sacred tradition of annual cyclic renewal of sacred Shinto-symbols in Japanese agrarian villages. From these traditional survivals we can understand that, originally, this was not "primitive religion", but was a very complex event, an essentially aesthetic territorial demarcation system which used only one symbol in the center of the village built of reed an bamboo and using its aesthetic structure to define the village territory Yin-Yang style: "holy woods and agricultural fields". The annual renewal of the symbol had become a festival of central importance for the village. The destruction of the old one put the whole population into a crazy ecstasy for one night until the new one was rebuilt next morning.
    Important: early civilizations copied a lot from this nuclear territorial system of the neolithic agrarian village!
    See my 6 videos 01-06 at YouTube (type: 'negenter' in search)
    Read more

  • Those "beautiful glass trees" in the BONUS section are by sculptor Dale Chihuly

    http://www.chihuly.com/
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  • Hi Avi, great post, I loved Cloud Atlas when I read it. Another book by David Mitchell is Black Swan Green, and that is my all time favourite book.

    David Mitchell is definitely my favourite author I would encourage everybody to read his books.
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  • I would suggest that the Yiddish Policeman's Union is a form of Alternate History. For other examples see:
    http://www.uchronia.net/
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  • Had no idea the laws of thermodynamics applied to surviving in the wilderness. Silly me. I thought it dealt with heat and energy :\
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  • an acquaintance of mine make tours and rafts through the yukon- well ok we are from munic germany ;-)

    http://www.any-way-out.de/

    cheers
    Read more

  • I'll find it an real interesting experience. But isn't this really the "survival thing" out in the wilderness? Why does he have to twitter? I mean why do you really need access to the Internet out in the Yukon?
    Maybe that's the deal for TV and National Geographic, but it seems a little odd to me.

    "hi-pitched audio alarm built in that Ed can switch on as necessary. At night, the pressure pads can give early warning if predators (larger than a rabbit) roam through the camp."

    Water-Resistant, High-Resolution Bullet Cameras 'FollowMe' Remote CamerasAutomatic Capture CamerasSony PalmcorderLightweight underwater Xacti camera - whre does the energy for all those from? Does he carry all the batteries along?
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  • That guy is an over-dramatizing idiot. It is warm, he has plenty of clothes and plenty of equipment. This isn't "survival", this is hiking. Join the nearest scout troop. They do the same thing every other weekend.
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  • He's not 'just hiking': he needs to get his food from the wilderness. Although he has some rice and oatmeal, I expect the NGC producers to have pushed this so he will at least go for a few weeks. (halfway through he said he'd eat most of it in the next days because he was so hungry)

    I checked his latest vids and he really has this malnourished desperate face, talking somewhat incoherent and generally look weak.

    On cams, twitter and internet access: they're heavy and you can't eat them so they're probably more a burden then a boon.

    The sunday scouts probably don't have to eat porcupine, berries and leafs to stay alive, also they don't have to sat-phoneair-rescue to get pulled.

    Mad respect, i'd probably be dead in a week.
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  • Great Story & Photos! New blog on the Hx. of the Ladybug:http://historyoftheladybug.blogspot.com/
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  • according to the twitter account, they pulled him out, because he wasn't in a good health. So maybe Bart was right in his comment, that he had some problems with finding food or getting anything good to eat.
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  • Really neat to hear DRB got exclusive stuff on this show. :D
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  • Isn't it amazing how we are fascinated by someone living in a world that many indigenous people did (and some still do) quite easily.
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  • I've lived outside for as much as a few weeks at a time. When things go wrong you really know it. You feel it deep inside because there isn't a hospital down the street or a friend to pick you up if your car breaks down. Most folks would've given up long before this guy. He's tough to have made it so far. He probably would have fared better if he's stayed where he was where there was more food. But that's the way it is outdoors. If you make a mistake that's it, there's no going back and you have to deal with the consequences which are immediate and unforgiving. I'll wager that anyone down on this guy hasn't camped more than 10 yards from a parking lot.
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  • he didnt make it - he was short by 5 weeks i believe. it was a BBC production originally, so if you are looking for more information search BBC - too bad i would have loved to see him make it - apparently he was starving and going a little crazy
    Read more

  • I guess he tried but it seemed a little too amateurish. for example I don't know how he capsized his canoe in calm water, may be for drama. He should have made getting food his priority and not on twittering. They even gave him guns! As a good old Canadian boy I spent three and half months in the high Arctic (twice!) and I didn't get a cent for it. Too bad Discovery wasn't around 18 years ago, I could have been a super star!
    P from Montreal
    Read more

  • He didn't have adequate training and eventually used his emergency sat-phone to call for evac. He was suffering from delusions brought on by advancing starvation.
    Read more

  • I made it through 15 minutes of this show just a bit ago. I understand that apparently he didn't make it to the end, which doesn't surprise me. He's a moron and obviously has no common sense. I understand the whole "no survival experience" pitch, but seriously. You have a gun, you have bedding, you have a myriad of supplies... stop whining.

    MSG D.S.
    US Army
    Read more

  • Started off as something that may have had some substance. There was only 4 episodes and the man started crying in episode 2. 3 and 4 were the same. Man looks for food. Man can't find food. Man cries. I probably would have cried myself out there but wathching it on tv was just painful. I beat myself for watching it through. Glad he came to his senses and went home. I loved the last scene when he was back in his hotel room. looked at the mirror at himself and of course...cried one more time...ha!
    Read more

  • He is a very sensitive guy, not wanting to kill, missing his family and girlfriend, and perhaps he isn't cut out for what he set out to do. His undoing was his need for human companionship combined with his total lack of food. He was on the verge of having an emotional breakdown. I'm glad he left. At least he had the option to do so. To show the world his vulnerabilities/weaknesses was very brave. I know lots of men who wouldn't even consider it. I just know he's a "keeper" and his girlfriend is lucky to have him.
    Read more

  • This show devolved into bad television. Ed has provisions, albeit spare, all the way to day 50. Plus, his producers brought him food! He didn't look like he was "starving" or anything near it. Editors could have done a much better job of showing his adventure instead of one crying scene after another. Ed is weak and it turned out...so is this show.
    Read more

  • Show: Grade D
    Ed: Grade F

    This show rapidly became stupid and meaningless.
    Read more

  • My BS detector went off almost immediately. What a stupid show!

    Les Stroud remains the genuine article.
    Read more

  • Started watching this, and I must say, I'm less than impressed. Expecting a show about wilderness survival, and getting a grown man weeping will do that. Better to watch Survivorman, or My dvd of Lars Monsen going across Canada. Granted he used almost three years and had dogs and a sled, but at least it was watchable
    Read more

  • I TiVo'd the whole show and I thought it was great. It does give you a pretty realistic vision of being alone in the wilderness.

    I've done something similar on two occasions. The first was when I was 23 and I spent a month on the Canadian border camping by myself, living on a week's worth of food and fishing for the rest. Like Ed, I lost a good deal of weight. I brought a book and read it cover to cover three times.

    The other time was a week long trip by myself again on the canadian border but this time at the age of 47.

    When you are alone the wilderness is completely different than when you are with someone else. Completely different. There isn't anything to distract you and you are forced to live - if you will forgive the abstraction - totally inside your head. Time slows tremendously. You'd be amazed how much you can eat even when you aren't moving camp. Just making a fire requires 500 calories and you're lucky to get that back from a fish you caught.

    I totally admire what Ed did. I do think he made some mistakes like moving around too much and not hunting large game like the Moose. It really isn't a nature vs. man test if he obeys the hunting seasons and doesn't shoot the ducks, so that part wasn't fair to him. Great show though. Too bad he didn't make the full 90 days.
    Read more

  • totally irresponsible for people like this to attempt these mid life adventures. Plus this fellow was not mentally ready for what this trip was about. Ed could never make it in the military. Stay in your favorite pub or coffee house Ed and stop making a fool of yourself.

    US Army Retired
    Read more

  • I squirmed the entire time watching this idiots attempt at survival.. grow a pair and dry the eyes Ed.. what a worthless show... I learned everything not to do if found in this situation and I already know how to fish.
    Read more

  • You'd think the guys at National Geographic could tell a tank from an APC.

    I mean, they've only been around for 50 years or so now, right?
    Read more

  • Ural motorcycle is just a BMW R 71 licence given to Soviets by their Nazi allies in 1940.
    Read more

  • The double-iris eye pic may be a reference to the cover art of tool's Aenima album.
    Read more

  • Ural mototcycles are not made in Russia but in Ukraine.
    Read more

  • Redmer's creations are fantastic...and he has launched a FB fan page lately: http://www.facebook.com/redmer.werkstatt
    Read more

  • You missed the latest news:
    http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre56g583-us-map-america/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinland_map

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Vinland_Map_HiRes.jpg
    Read more

  • That Absolut ad is actually brilliant. It's too bad that people don't know enough about history or geography to realize it.
    Read more

  • You definitely missed this one.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis
    Read more

  • under
    Alternate history in hypothetical maps
    The first map.
    Why is there a yellow circle around Denmark?
    Read more

  • Wow, as if sailing in the 16th century wasn't frightening enough, imagine looking over your maps and seeing monsters or whirlpools drawn in right where you are positioned.
    Read more

  • Old maps of Africa are my favorites. My dad has a print with the continent covered in exotic tribesmen and strange, uninformed versions of the wildlife.
    Read more

  • Fantastic article. I'm really loving the proposed re-structuring of the United States in the 1970s.
    Read more

  • I find it very interesting that on the map produced from Amsterdam in 1689 shows that California (which seemed to also include parts of Mexico at the time) is not even connected to the North America. It seems to be separated by water called M Vermezo... I searched for what that might have meant but came up with nothing but a park in Budapest named Vermezo (meadow of blood or bloodfield) due to an execution that took place. I wonder if maybe the original California is now under water and the state that we know it as now was later named... Hmm... very intriguing indeed! Thanks for all the great map examples!
    Read more

  • >>That Absolut ad is actually brilliant. It's too bad that people don't know enough about history or geography to realize it.>>

    In what way is that brilliant? I can't figure out what the message is supposed to be. Should we interpret "In an Absolute World" as "In a perfect world" or "In a better world?" Would it be better if they showed a map of Germany at the height of Nazi power with the words "In an Absolute World"? This has nothing to do with history at all. We know that the Southwest was owned by Mexico. But, how does that change anything, and how is the ad brilliant?
    Read more

  • >>In what way is that brilliant?>>

    Wow, it only took 9 comments to break Godwin's Law! The ad is brilliant because it was marketed in Mexico, where there remains a bit of resentment over the takeover of the Mexican Northwest by the United States. Thus, in an Absolut world, they would still have their land.

    >>This has nothing to do with history at all>>

    Of course it does, that's why it was in the section labelled "Alternate history in hypothetical maps"
    Read more

  • Why are those Catholic clergy having mass on the back of that big fish?
    Read more

  • Hi people!!!

    Where can I find some of these maps at a good resolution for printing?
    Read more

  • Eric: here is what we could find - "It shows the whale, Jasconius, in an account of the voyage of Saint Brendan. Some of the monks were preoccupied with mass when the nature of the island became obvious."

    Claudio: some of the images are linked to very large-format scans on Wikipedia - you can use those.
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  • Intriguing! Thank you, Avi.
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  • Hi,

    Some of these are true works of art.
    One needs to remind that most of these are unique and handmade.
    Some maps were also created with errors as a way of counterintelligence.

    Regards,

    José
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  • "there remains a bit of resentment over the takeover of the Mexican Northwest by the United States."

    Well, given that you acknowledge that pandering to that nationalist resentment was the point of the ad, I too wonder just what you find so "brilliant" about stoking such passions just to sell vodka. It may be skillfully done, but I don't think it's a terribly bright move on Absolut's part.

    If this were a map of the Old Confederacy, under the same headline, would you also sneer at people troubled by such an ad, insinuating that they simply "don't know enough about history or geography" to appreciate its "brilliance"?
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  • Yes, yes I would. You're still talking about the Absolut ad, and isn't that the point of all advertisements? Hence, briliant.
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  • Really Awesome. ( Lisbon/Portugal)
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  • I'm glad to see you gave http://vladstudio.com/ the proper credit for the image of the "reversed map" but you should use the image with the proper name on it, not the one of someone that cropped it and added their own name to it.
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  • ya that absolut ad is genius... if only mexico's corruption, and third worldliness could stretch further.
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  • http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/

    Always good stuff for anyone that hasn't been there.
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  • The "whale as an island" refers to St. Brendan:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan
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  • The second map (according to Posidonius) isn't from 150-130 BC; it's based on his general ideas but was actually drawn in the Middle Ages. There are a lot of details that Posidonius couldn't have known -- for example, the Greco-Roman world didn't know that Britain was an island until Gn. Agricola sent an expedition in the mid-1st century AD.
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  • Vis the Absolut Vodka Map:

    why do americans always get self Righteous / Indignant offended soo easily?

    It was light hearted and aimed at mexicans.

    Its not as thought it was aimed at native american indians showing the pilgrim fathers hanging on to small east coast enclave?

    as the other poster indicated... Godwins Law so soon!?
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  • Becuase we all know that the "wild west" is so much in the public domain?

    http://bigthink.com/ideas/21343

    Just a big play area for the US Federal State (aka Military)
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  • Fabulous interview!

    I love everything Myke does... thanks for the insights and for publishing such a great range of his work and interests!
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  • Great art. But why the dismissive and shallow description of artists Jasmine Beckett Griffith and Brigid Ashwood as "cute and light-hearted"? Jasmines work is fantastical pop surrealism and while some of it is airy fairy she also has a broad range of work that shows real depth and skill. Brigids steampunk art is beloved by her fans for its original take on the genre and uniquely feminine perspective. Many of us find her work mysterious and compelling rather then "cute and light-hearted". Some food for thought.
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  • "But why the dismissive and shallow description of artists Jasmine Beckett Griffith and Brigid Ashwood as "cute and light-hearted"?"

    @Sophie - Mostly for lack of space. I had a lot of trouble keeping the word count down as it was, and the last thing I intended was to sound "dismissive" - as that would nullify the point of making recommendations.

    Jasmine is a wonderfully talented artist, with a lot of great work, and she employs the use of color like no other. She has also been kind to me over the years, such as having given me a spot in last year's "Gothic Art Now" book.

    Brigid is equally incredible, and I especially love that she is not only multi-talented, but has a myriad of skills to pull from - and an ability to work most any media with ability that is beyond "expert".

    She also has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the best spots to purchase the best materials, and is an invaluable friend for this and many other reasons. She, too, has done some rather wonderful things for me along the way.

    Both of which lean more towards figurative art, and those figures are figures that I find to be "cute" and looking at them not only makes me feel inspired. Given that they are often colorful and vivid, the mood of their works, to me, is generally uplifting.

    I stand by "Cute and Light-hearted", just not in the way that you might like to interpret it.
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  • This comment has been removed by the author.
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  • what a joy to fall in a world, only you and the novel. Such inspiring. That is the power of the mind. Good work
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