Map-Talk: Geography lesson

I wrote:
> [...] how little room there is left for water, among all those cities!

This little:


         ,__                                                  _,
      \~\|: ~~---___              ,                          | \
       |:::   / |  *Lyon~~~|~~~~~| *Zagreb                 _/,  >
      /~-_--*Bordeaux      | *Venice   / ~\~~/          /~| ||,'
      |       /  \   *Marseille---| *Belgrade/~)     __*Yalta_\,
     /       |    |~~~~~~~~|     :\    \   |:|:'~\  |_____,|~,-'
     |~~--__ |    |::::::::|__   :|~~~~~*Sofia__:/_-':::::{,~
     |   |  ~~~|~~|::: ::::| *Rome\::   /  `*Istanbul_____{/
     |   |     | *Barcelona-,:    :\----| ::|  |  ,'*Ankara`
     ',  \*Madrid:::|: :::::|~~~~~~~|:::*Athens'~~\  /    |
      |   \    |::::|:::::::|::     |:::::\_-~::::/`~___--\
      ',   \  ,-----|--*Tunis-------'_____/__----~~/::    /
       '_   '\|    *Algiers|~~~|:::::|::::|::::::_/-,~~*Beirut
         \*Gibraltar|      |   *Tripoli:::/~~|~~\::::\,*Jerusalem
          ~~~-'     |      |     `~~~\___|   |   *Alexandria
              '-,_  | _____|          |  /   | ,-'-*Cairo
                  `~'~  \             |  `--,~~~~-~~,  \
                         \/~\      /~~~`---`         |  \
                             \    /                   *Luxor
                              \  |                     '\'
                               `~

(Sorry about multi-posting... but I do think this sort of experiment
should be done more with ascii...)



j

I xposted a simpler version of this to rec.arts.ascii a couple of days
back but it hasn't shown up yet...

This is a demonstration of the comparable sizes of the USA and the
Mediterranean Sea region:

         ,__                                                  _,
      \~\|  ~~---___              ,                          | \
       |      / |  *Lyon~~~|~~~~~| *Zagreb                 _/,  >
      /~-_--*Bordeaux      | *Venice   / ~\~~/          /~| ||,'
      |       /  \   *Marseille---| *Belgrade/~)     __*Yalta_\,
     /       |    |~~~~~~~~|      \    \   | | '~\  |_____,|~,-'
     |~~--__ |    |        |__    |~~~~~*Sofia__ /_-'     {,~
     |   |  ~~~|~~|        | *Rome\     /  `*Istanbul_____{/
     |   |     | *Barcelona-,      \----|   |  |  ,'*Ankara`
     ',  \*Madrid   |       |~~~~~~~|   *Athens'~~\  /    |
      |   \    |    |       |       |     \_-~    /`~___--\
      ',   \  ,-----|--*Tunis-------'_____/__----~~/      /
       '_   '\|    *Algiers|~~~|     |    |      _/-,~~*Beirut
         \*Gibraltar|      |   *Tripoli   /~~|~~\    \,*Jerusalem
          ~~~-'     |      |     `~~~\___|   |   *Alexandria
              '-,_  | _____|          |  /   | ,-'-*Cairo
                  `~'~  \             |  `--,~~~~-~~,  \
                         \/~\      /~~~`---`         |  \
                             \    /                   *Luxor
                              \  |                     '\'
                               `~

The simpler version only had a dozen cities, and was more to the
point, I fear-- this one takes a lot more mental effort to 'get'.  But
note especially how tiny the Israel-Egypt region is ("The unending
bloodshed in coastal South Carolina" ?? ), and how Bosnia fits over
Minnesota ("Ethnic cleansing depopulates Lake Wobegone" ??? ) ...and
how little room there is left for water, among all those cities!



j

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