While browsing Google Images today in the wake up my odd honor, I came across this map from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection‘s Cambridge Modern History Atlas, 1912

This map struck me because it reverses the standard view of China and Japan. Instead of a whole China and an expansionary Japanese Empire, it shows the Rising Sun’s lands as just “Japan,” while being careful to separate China from Chinese dependencies. Observe the rump China:

And the majestic Japan

A good reminder of what a Gap China was a century ago, and that Japan had built a Core with Creating.

Sorry for the lack of posts on Sunday – an otherwise terrific day was elongated by lackadaisical service and horrible food at Bennigan’s of Sioux Falls. Lady of tdaxp’s Death by Chocolate was made from some form of cement, and my apple sizzler had all the ingredients — just not mixed together. Awful.

Wonderful, however, was A South Dakota Acoustic Christmas. It’s a terrific fusion of Country, Christian, Western Swing, Gaelic, and Soul. Unbelievably awesome. Plus, the wife of Kenny Putnam, a world-renowned fiddler who was performing for the last time with the band, gave us third-row seats. Wow!

The blog is having its second surge in traffic this month. Last time was a positive mention in Freakonomics, a popular blog by a New York Magazine writer and a University of Chicago economist. This time? tdaxp / babes is now a top Google Images result for “hentai,” for a Japanese political cartoon. Can’t be smart all the time.