It's hard to believe that nearly two months have passed since S1e5: The Crackpots and These Women, the first Big Block of Cheese Day Blog. My, how much has changed. We've lost Mandy and gained Ainsley, Donna is now a full (non-co-starring) member of the cast, we've had two States of the Union, Josh and the President got shot, one Woot Canaw (obviously, I never get tired of saying that) and now all of a sudden, here we are again. Big Block of Cheese Day.
Last time, we got to see a very un-bearded Nick Offerman (of Parks and Recreation fame) give a presentation on a wolves-only highway in memory of Pluie, the now dead wolf (C.J.'s probably still not really sorry) while managing to keep his sportcoat draped over his arm. Impressive!
(Ron Swanson, before he fell off the wagon?)
We also had the opportunity to meet Bob Engler from US Space Command, the world's single largest purchaser of pocket protectors.
(Bob Engler- not afraid to admit that they're a little nerdy over there at US Space Command)
This year, C.J. get's the meeting we're all going to care about: a powwow with the folks from the Organization of Cartographers for Social Equality. Donna apparently had a meeting with the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Society, but unfortunately, it's not shown. Which is a shame, because the Kemp's Ridley is the most endangered variety of Sea Turtle today, it would have been a great meeting, and they're very cute:
(For more info and to find links to relevant organizations involved in saving this species, visit RidleyTurtles.org)
But alas, no turtle meeting. So, on to the Organization of Cartographers for Social Equality, a fictional organization to allow CJ and Josh (along with the people watching the episode) to have a bit of a freak-out moment when they realize that the world doesn't look like what they thought it did.
Their point?
Maps like this one-
vastly adjust the size of certain countries and continents, and has at the very center of the map Europe; not a surprise for a map created in the 16th century by a European, most of whom assumed that Europe was indeed the center of the world.
Don't think that this map is misleading? Or that social justice could be influenced or at least reflected in it? Take a look at the continent of Africa. Now compare it to the other continents.
Now, take a gander at this:
The truth is that the continent of Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland, though on the Mercator map, they're displayed as nearly the same size. Here is a wonderful article from highlighting some of the regular issues of reporting on Africa. It's main point? The vast majority of news coming about Africa is coming from people who are discovering Africa for the first time, and seldom accurate.
So what do these Cartographers for Social Justice, Truth and Light want? More of THIS MAP!
(Seriously, where do you even live? Also, shoutout to my friend Aidan, who sent me my very own Peters Projection Map!)
(Seriously- what is that?!)
Why? In their words, it has fidelity of axis, fidelity of position, and east-west lines are parallel and intersect north-south axes at right angles. That all sounds great, except most of us feel like someone turned the world upside-down and the continents are all sliding to the bottom of the map.
So, once again, the once skeptical and cynical staffers have been impacted by Big Block of Cheese day. Seriously though- if you want more info, I encourage you to read this article, which get's a lot right.
Quick hits from this episode- Toby flirts with a cop, Josh gets a banana thrown at him and claims he almost died again, President Bartlet can't find a place for his Library, Leo knows a lot of ways to drive to the White House, Sam just found out his dad had a mistress for 28 years, and Donna has a friend whose grandfather was a spy, but we're nice to his granddaughter because her dad is sick. Seriously, I should write the summaries for IMDB.
Last thing, and I'm sorry- but this ends on a downer. Josh and Sam have a nice little moment about Lincoln signing a pardon on the day of his death, right? Don't use that little West Wing factoid in common conversation, because it turns out to be a lie. Turns out that a Lincoln researcher named Thomas Lowery altered the year on the pardon of a deserter named Patrick Murphy from 1864 to 1865, using a fountain pen that he smuggled into the Smithsonian. Unfortunately, he confessed after the statute of limitations passed, so no criminal charges were filed for ruining this West Wing Episode historical document. However, he has been permanently banned from the Smithsonian, so that's something.
What's Next? S2e17- The Stackhouse Filibuster
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