How do I work this?

I had planned on changing the subject for my next post, but I just saw this. Well said, and it ties in with my aforementioned interest in maps.

My two cents on GPS navigation for your car can be summed up in six words, don't throw out your paper maps. These GPS units are fun gadgets, and are great at what they do - giving turn by turn instructions while you're under way. Just don't throw out your common sense, and understand they have limitations. You'll never see the "big picture" with one of these. For instance, if you want to plan a vacation, including side trips...get a map.

May Travels, part 1: The Old Roads

Five days ago, my wife and I drove to Springfield and back to bring Daughter number 2 back from Missouri State University. We each drove a car in order to have enough trunk and back seat space to bring back all her stuff. Loading the cars was uneventful. As I got my car loaded first, the three of us agreed there was no pressing reason that I had to hang around.

So I started home early, and did something I had talked about for years, but never felt I had the freedom to do. Since I wasn't on a tight schedule, I drove the old roads. I hadn't thought about this ahead of time, so I didn't have my DeLorme's Missouri atlas along; otherwise I could have found more miles of the original alignment. As it was though, I re-created the trip along what was old Missouri 13 highway through Bolivar, Fair Play, Dunnegan, Humansville, and Collins. I also got off the "new" 13 at V highway and took the old route through Vista and Osceola.

Scan from 1958 Phillips 66 Missouri map (Central Ozarks inset)

Well, you no longer have to stop in the above mentioned towns. Since 1962, a new 16 mile stretch of Missouri 13 has been open, a diagonal cut-off from three miles south of Bolivar to one mile west of Humansville. Not only did this cut-off nine miles, the inclines are much more gradual and you don't have the limited sight distance or occasional tight curves of the original route. Also, in the last ten years or so this entire stretch has been made a divided highway; the last section to open was the Collins bypass last year.

A scan of part of the 2008 Official Missouri map, for comparison. Also notice that the stretch around Osceola has been straightened over the years.

I suppose I ought to mention that I've been fascinated with maps since I was seven years old. My mom, bless her heart, had almost no sense of direction. If my dad wasn't driving, getting lost on long trips was a distinct possibility. On one of our many trips to Taney County, mom handed me a map so I could help her while she drove.

Now, the term epiphany has been overused, and I want to resist cheapening it further here by using it to describe the simple act of handing a map to a kid. But I've got to tell you the result was anything but simple; it was like a switch was suddenly flipped on in my mind. I'm sure I'd seen maps before but had taken no notice of what they were until that moment. Somehow I comprehended that These Real Places That Are - and how to go from one to another - were displayed in pictures, words and numbers. Right before my eyes. An all-out wonder, indeed. And the fact that the houses and people weren't shown didn't bother me at all. I "got" right away that it was symbolic, though I doubt I knew that word yet. I had many miles of the real world shrunken down so I could hold it in my hand and learn it. Truly an odd feeling.

So last Wednesday, I drove from Bolivar west on Missouri 32 to Fair Play, then North on Missouri 123 through Dunnegan and Humansville. I haven't seen this scenery in 47 years, and much to my delight, there were things I saw that I remembered from way back when. True, much I didn't recognize, but once in a while I'd see an old barn or old stone farm house that gave rise to an "oh yeah" moment of recognition. Sometimes it was just the lay of the landscape, or how the intersection of 32 and 123 in Fair Play is laid out. The way the town of Dunnegan is arranged - 123 highway is elevated a bit and you drive along the edge of town. You have to glance off to the left (as you drive north) and down a bit as you drive, to notice the houses.

As I mentioned, north of Collins I turned West to drive through Vista and Osceola. There's not much left of Vista, but it never was a big town. That's kind of a tight curve combined with a hill there, so I concentrated on my driving. But I think I noticed only three houses. Maybe four. And I enjoyed seeing the town of Osceola again. Kind of a pretty area that you miss entirely if you're in a hurry and stay on "new" 13.

Another Mays Blast

Save your eyes.

I remember the same Public Service Announcement (PSA) that Bob mentioned in the previous post. I, too, thought it an odd announcement. It seemed to me that it didn't make sense, that it wasn't relevant in my world. Blasting caps? I had never seen one. I almost felt deprived and wanted to go and actively search for blasting caps. Then I could tell the police where I found them and I would be a hero, 'The Boy Who Found the Blasting Cap'. It would probably get in the Branson Beacon and you could never get in the Branson Beacon enough.

The other thing that always caught my eye was the baseball action, of course, featuring Willie Mays. I was young, but I knew who Mays was. I seemed to understand that this blasting cap issue must be a big deal because Mays was telling us about it.

But mostly I noticed the halting and stiff delivery of his lines. I wondered if Willie Mays really talked like that and, if so, that was strange. Now I know that he was obviously reading his lines and it was probably filmed in about two takes. It's hard to tell color on the old footage, but Mays is wearing a uniform that says 'San Francisco' instead of one saying 'Giants', so I would guess it was before a road game. The presence of a significant crowd in the background would also suggest that it was nearing game time and they were just trying to get Mays to say the lines. I would say Los Angeles or New York would be likely spots for filming.

Anyway, the cadence for "but you protect your arms and hands and legs, and save your eyes" always struck me a really odd and I remember listening for it, especially 'save your eyes', as if it was the highlight of the spot.

Say hey.

Blast from the past

It's funny what you think of during the course of a day. Today I happened to remember an old public service announcement that I used to see every so often on television back in the 1960's and '70's. A serious warning about the dangers of...yes, that's right...

Blasting Caps!

What I recalled was that while the spokesman warned about being careful when you play outside, the camera would zoom in and someone would point out three blasting caps laid out on the ground - don't touch! Then the scene cut to a movie of an explosion. I had forgotten who the celebrity spokesman was until I checked online...well, Youtube to the rescue!

I won't make light about the safety issue, apparently those things were / are dangerous enough. But I'm curious about the background of this. Why this particular warning? And why don't we see this PSA today? Are the cleanup procedures at construction sites better now, so it's no longer an issue? Were they lax about such things 40 years ago? Was there a theft of blasting caps, with some being found in vacant lots? Or did a crew that filmed Public Service Announcements sit around one day...

"Cuthbert": "Guys, we need to make one more PSA to complete our contract, and frankly I'm stumped. Got any ideas?"

"Frank Lee": "Hmmm...what about we do one on blasting caps? Those suckers could really hurt a kid."

(Assumed names to protect the innocent.)

Found: A quote from The Lord of the Rings

I’ve been checking out the writings of Minnesota resident and master blogger James Lileks for a few years now, every since cousin Mike brought “The Bleat” to my attention. One of Mr. Lileks’ features is “100 Mysteries”, an ongoing “review” of a DVD compilation of old, mostly black-and-white mystery movies.

James describes today’s entry, “The Man on the Eiffel Tower” as the “Worst movie in the series so far”. Mr. Lileks has a great way with words, but as sometimes happens, there will be a quote from someone in the comments section that will really grab my attention.

So, check this out, and notice the blog entry begins with a photo of Burgess Meredith, who both directed and starred in the movie. Then, the first comment: “Isn’t that guy your new US Senator?”, followed five comments later by “THAT is funny. Funny, ha - ha, not funny in that, you know, Franken is really going to be a Senator. That’s just, I dunno… disappointing? Disturbing? Sumpthin.”

Then, 13 comments down from the top, “…That’s just, I dunno… disappointing? Disturbing? Sumpthin.”

“Where now the horse and the rider? where is the horn that was blowing? The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.”

That last is what really got me thinking. It’s not only a meaningful quote from “The Lord of the Rings”, but also a poetic statement on our current state of affairs. A lament, I suppose.

Now, I’m not all gloom-and-doom, I just can’t do that. But sometimes I have to wonder.