Lost in Melville

Posted on March 15, 2024March 13, 2024 by Simon

“It is not down in any map; true places never are.” Herman Melville Melville who wrote Moby Dick among other classics also made this cryptic comment. I was impressed that he ended the sentence... Read More

Map Reading

Posted on December 22, 2023December 4, 2023 by Simon

“The joy of map reading has been swallowed whole into the maw of GPS technology.” Simon Winchester in Knowing What We Know Whatever happened to Gas Station Maps or in LA the Thomas Guide? On the o... Read More

Words Seldom Seen: Provenance

Posted on August 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Simon

Provenance Noun: A record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity. Also the place of origin or the earliest known history of something. Example: “The provena... Read More

Words Seldom Seen: Cadastral

Posted on October 28, 2021October 5, 2021 by Simon

Cadastral Adjective: A type of map used to show ownership of land, especially for taxation. Example: “The county recorder’s cadesteral map showed that she owned the land.”... Read More

Imagined Borders Update

Posted on November 19, 2019November 3, 2019 by Simon

On Friday night November 1 I went down to ASU to see the reopening of the Imagined Borders map exhibit at the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University. It was nice to see many old fri... Read More

Maps Redeux

Posted on November 1, 2019October 31, 2019 by Simon

I was a map collector. In 2012 I donated the collection to The School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University. Every once in a while they ask me to come down and talk about the maps and I... Read More

Snorkel Hunter

Posted on August 12, 2012August 11, 2012 by Simon

A website that I have touted before is Bridge Hunter. It is a user developed guide to the historic and interesting bridges in the United States. Kind of a Wikipedia for bridges, it is very popular... Read More

Why Obama Will Lose in November

Posted on June 22, 2012June 23, 2012 by Simon

So here is the math. Romney will probably get roughly the same number of votes as John McCain did in 2008 but he will win. And the reason is pretty simple. Many of the “enthusiasm voters&#... Read More

How Lake Avenue Got Its Name

Posted on April 30, 2012April 28, 2012 by Simon

Lake Avenue is one of the major streets in Pasadena. Before the revival of Old Pasadena it was also the main shopping district. Today’s question is: How did it come to be called Lake Avenue wh... Read More

CECUT Map Opening

Posted on March 10, 2012March 10, 2012 by Simon

The opening of the map exhibit at CECUT in Tijuana last Friday was wonderful. Carlos Garcia, Armando Orso, Simon Burrow Carlos and Armando were the prime movers in getting the exhibit approved and ins... Read More

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Simon Burrow

Quirky thoughts from an old man.

Tag: Maps