Preparing for the AAG

Catholicgauze is all set to go to the Association of American Geographer's annual convention in San Francisco.

Here's Catholicgauze schedule so far:

Tuesday starting at 2:00 PM
Session 1466 "Military Geography and the Global War on Terror"
Room: Mendocino 2 - Hotel Nikko 2nd Floor
Catholicgauze will present his presentation "United Caliphates of Europe: A Geographical Look at Sharia Microstates"

Wednesday starting at 8:00 PM
Geography Bowl
Catholicgauze represents his region with several other teammates in a geographical trivia contest. Can his group, which won last year with different members, repeat? Or will the dreaded George Washington University team repeat?

Friday starting at 8:00 AM
Session 4138 "Spread the word: Podcasting, blogging and the New Media in Geography"
Room: Union Square 15, SF Hilton
Catholicgauze and other bloggers discuss the relationship between new media and geography. There will also be the oppurtunity to ask questions.

This is Catholicgauze's schedule so far. I fly out to San Francisco Monday. Let us all hope it will be a better event than the infamous "Bush League" convention of 2006 in Chicago. So no weather events from Hell, transportation systems from Hell, and no being called a homosexual (yeah, I do not understand it either) by a certain geography professor from Kent State.

Atlas of Subways

Amadeus Global Travel features a large collection of maps depicting subway systems around the world. Maps can be viewed online or downloaded into a PDF or Word document.

Catholicgauze hates the Chicago system with a passion after my infamous "Bush League" experience in Chicago. Note how on the Blue Line there are several stops with the same name on opposite ends of the city. Dang you, Chicago; dang you to heck! (Hat Tip: The Map Room)

Bush League! Part 3

Last night we decided yesterday was one of the worst days of are life. Not terrible but just flat out horrible. We pondered how the today could turn out. It involved a tornado throwing our car into an impound lot, having a Dawn of the Dead-style morning, having the car bleed and moan Event Horizon-style, wishing we were dead, and wrapping it up by being jumped by velociraptors.

However I am finally safe in Kansas. Saw some damage along dealing with housing and trucking. I am way too tired to blog about the conference right now and I have to finalize a paper and prepare to teach a class at 7:30 P.M. tonight. BUSH LEAGUE!

For a geographical treat I leave you a transit map of Chicago's L-Train. This is quite possibly one of the worst systems in the country. Not only are the trains horrible by being dirty and lacking any real schedule but there are multiple stations with the same name. Damen on the blue line played Hell with me. Try finding the other errors with the system. It would be fun with it was not real. The corrupt &^(%$#@ of a mayor Richard M. Daley should feel horrible about the city he and his family have run into the ground.

BUSH LEAGUE! Part 2

Live blogging in a tornado! BUSH LEAGUE!

Drudge Report links to a report of the huge storm system breaking out which is interfering with our travel back to Kansas and is snowing my home in South Dakota. People have died. Our prayers go out to them.

Kansas University's campus has been closed. Sixty percent of on campus buildings have been damaged. So KU'ers (unlike us) do not have to worry about classes. BUSH LEAGUE!

We hope to explore KU's campus to aide one of the geographer's thesis on tornadoes. We hope to be on the road by 5 A.M. BUSH LEAGUE!

Bush League!

The rest of the AAG conference went well. Once I am safe I'll blog about the rest of my session but Sunday has been "BUSH LEAGUE!" or the day from Hell!

8:00 A.M. A roommate and I woke up early while the other two stayed in bed way too late. This was going to make the 10 or so hour car ride long. BUSH LEAGUE!

9:30 Checked out of hotel. Went to locate the car to drive back to Kansas but discovered it was towed. BUSH LEAGUE!

10:00 Found out where it was towed. Two roommates took a taxi to pick it up.

11:20 Oops, it is at the other impound lot. BUSH LEAGUE! Other impound lot is a $38 taxi ride. BUSH LEAGUE!

12:00 P.M. Arrived at impound lot. It is in a hellish part of Chicago on the hinterlands of Hell! BUSH LEAGUE!

12:30 Finally get car. Need to eat however and waste 30 minutes at a McDonald's waiting for service. BUSH LEAGUE!

3:00 Find out that tornado cells are ripping apart Kansas University's campus and Kansas City's Airport.

3:30 Tornado cells are a larger part of super cells. Bush League?

7:00-ish. Notice a large thunder storm in front of us at Columbia, Missouri. Emergency announcements of super cells crossing I-70 until 9:00. Pull over at a restaurant outside Columbia. BUSH LEAGUE!

9:00 Storm warnings and watches extended until 4:00 AM. Must spend the night in Columbia. BUSH LEAGUE!

Next time; we're all flying to and from San Francisco. BUSH LEAGUE!