Pop vs. Soda

The eternal debate-- when it comes time to ask which flavors of carbonated beverage a restaurant or friend has on hand, do you ask what kind of pop they have, or do you ask if they have soda? Or perhaps you prefer to call it all coke?

Unsurprisingly, your word preference has a lot to do with your geographical location, as is shown with this map:

Personally, I call it 'pop,' and have been given much grief by a friend in Virginia about it for years. But my Michiganian (sorry, don't like the word Michigander. Makes me think of geese) pride forbids me from calling it anything else.

The Heartland: States United

This wonderful artwork, which was created by Beauchamping and sold on Etsy, depicts the United States arranged painstakingly so that, together, they form a big heart.

I'm amazed at how well it worked out, especially since the states were all drawn to the same scale and there was no skimping on the details of their borders.

Read more about it here. The original Etsy page can be found here.

McDistance

Stephen von Worly got to thinking about the proliferation on McDonald's restaurants, and especially how they relate to society as a whole-- oftentimes, you can find these fast food joints (and others like them) along major highways for the convenience of those traveling long distances. He decided to make a map of the contiguous United States, colored by distance to the nearest McDonald’s:

Obviously the number of these restaurants corresponds with the population in any given area, which explains the spot in South Dakota that is furthest from any McDonald's-- someone there would have to travel about 145 miles to get some fare from the Golden Arches.

Read more about it on Mr. von Worly's site here.

The music of geography

There are some people who feel that music is their entire world-- others, like James Plakovic, choose to make the entire world into music.

All of the continents have been transformed into notes and the oceans are rests in this interesting take on geography, titled "World Beat Music."

The piece is written for 37 instruments, each reading its line across the map from West to East, which leads to some very busy-sounding sections.

You can read more about the World Beat Music, and listen to an interview with Plakovic (and the music being played!) here.

(The player should jump directly to the desired segment, but if not, the times are 36:20-41:25.)