Being Jo Francis - Twenty Three

The Civil Wars

Free live download here... The Civil Wars.

Two Years Ago...

Themed Playlists

I've not put anything up here recently. It's mainly because I'm trying to finish a degree. Plus I've lost the habit of writing my musings on a website - which I'm not altogether unhappy about.

I've been making playlists with themes recently. Inspired by a friend, themes currently include 'Breath' and 'Tonight'. The one I'm currently enjoying has the theme 'Sleep' and goes thus:

1. Asleep in the Back - Elbow
2. In the Arms of Sleep - Smashing Pumpkins
3. You on my Mind when I Sleep - Richard Ashcroft
4. Let me Sleep (Next to the Mirror) - Idlewild
5. Sleeping Lessons - Shins
6. Sleep Better - Pete Yorn
7. Haunt while I Sleep - Right Away, Great Captain
8. I'm Not Sleeping - Counting Crows
9. Sleep to Dream Her - Dave Matthews Band
10. The Devil Never Sleeps - Iron & Wine
11. Daysleeper - REM
12. Singing in my Sleep - Semisonic
13. Sleep Don't Weep - Damien Rice
14. Go to Sleep - Radiohead
15. Sleep - Stephen Fretwell
16. Even While You're Sleeping - The Acorn
17. Sleeping Torpor - Anathallo
18. Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie - Sufjan Stevens
19. When You Sleep - Longview

So, in a bid to increase by 100% my blog posting for the year 2011 - herewith a post. Based on current frequency, see you in August!

Maps & Inequality

This is the Peters Projection map. It is a map based upon actual size, and focusses on the accuracy of land mass of the different countries and continents. This is at the expense of outline detail, which is what we are used to seeing on the Mercator Projection map.

What does this say to us? Well, aside from the humbling reminder of just how small the UK and Europe is, it tells us something of those who initially created maps and that they usually created maps that would tell them how to navigate around coastlines, and use this to their financial advantage and at the exploitation of the natives. In the age of exploration, the West as we know it, were greedy for gain.

This Peters Projection was brought to my attention again by friend, Anna. I was first drawn to the potential for injustice maps have in the US political drama 'The West Wing', when, in one episode, Press Secretary CJ Cragg had to take a meeting with a group who wanted to turn the map upside down. They claimed that the psychological effect of the 'West' being in the Northern Hemisphere was damaging on the Southern Hemisphere in so far as the West gained a perceived upper hand and felt entitled to certain 'inalienable' rights.

This humbling should be well noted by us here in the West, we are not all that big, and we have exploited most of the world for a long time. Now, it is clear that my comments here are not going to fix anything. But this topic, like many, just show how easy it is to be completely unthinking and naive in our opinions, and the need for Christ to give us his wisdom in dealing with the everyday and ordinary thing, like maps, and the resulting attitudes that they teach and encourage.

So, here's my suggestion: buy a Peters Projection map - you can find them for a fiver on the internet - and hang it somewhere where people will see it and talk about it, let's see if we can't take the world more seriously...