Esto es un Mapa

This is a mop. I mean map. Personally, I love maps. They are kind of amazing. From the old ones that were works of art full of sea monsters and dragons

To the strange ones that show different perspectives

To the more politically motivated

Maps are a fascinating portrayal of how one person, country, whatever perceives the world around them, and likewise, can have a profound effect on how other people view the world. Larger scale maps cannot be truly accurate, which is fascinating. How pervasive is the sense that North is up? This has been throwing me lately because I always enter the PSU campus from the north, so my mental map of campus has south at the top of the map. This always makes looking at actual maps of campus really confusing. Did you know that north wasn't always at the top of the map. That convention started when sailors started using the North Star to navigate. Most maps before this placed East at the top. Orientation comes from Orient comes from Oriens, meaning East.

Anyway, about a month ago, I saw some gorgeous maps out in Pioneer Square. I wish I could have gotten some closer pictures, but my camera died. Using about 10 different flowers, a group had mapped out the world to celebrate the Festival of Flowers in June.

The Oregonian posted some pictures with a better vantage point.

Anyway, my classes just ended, so you can expect some more geography/planning nerdery to come. I've been pretty happy to dive back into maps.

Back in Business

Have I used that title yet? Apologies all around for my wildly inconsistent work here. However, school is over for a little bit, and I can get back to throwing pasta at the wall. The good news is that I've had my camera with me lately, so the next few posts will be photo heavy.

It's been a decent summer thus far for seeing some unusual things. Tammy and I have been exploring once more, seeing new neighborhoods, going to new parks and plazas, and wandering around town aimlessly. It's been great. So there will be some items later, but first we have to talk about some Morris dancing.

Morris dancing is something I had only ever heard of before through Terry Pratchett novels. From those, my understanding was always that it was some type of probably not made up English or Scottish folk dancing that involved hitting things with sticks and was generally dangerous to all participants and spectators. For the most part, I was content with this image, though there must be more to it than that.

A few weeks ago, we walked by a pleasant little plaza where you can dip your feet in the water while you read, when we happened across a rather large collection of Morris dancers. Turns out, it was basically a Morris party for some group in Portland that had been around for a while, so groups from all over the west coast came in to celebrate.

So Morris dancing is not all that different from my first impression, though in this setting it is considerably safer, since everyone was sober. It is an actual English folk dance from the 1400s, which can include sticks, bells, swords, and whatever else you can find. The bells are attached to the shins and are used in counterpoint to the accordion or fiddle that is providing the music. When sticks are used, they are for hitting against each other or the ground in rhythm with the song. The dance is usually a mix of steps and wheels with groups anywhere from 2 to, I don't know, say 20 people. School's out, I'm not researching this. Anyway, some pictures:

Notice the bells on the shins.

And the number of different groups in the background.

For this last one, the three would hit sticks together in a way that sort of passed it along to the left, if that makes any sense, and then they would break apart into some skipping and steps.

Here is an example of the dance in action in England:

So there you go, some Morris dancing for you. Oh, and thanks to Terry Pratchett for giving me just enough cultural knowledge to hang myself with. Before this weekend if cornered and asked if I had heard of Morris dancing, I would have responded, "is that the one where you hit stuff with sticks and most people go home bruised?" Now I can confidently say that it's the one where you hit stuff with sticks and hardly anyone goes home bruised, providing they're sober and have practiced recently.