You Get a War, You Get a War, You Get a War…
Examining How We Measure Our Lives
Commentary, critiques, and observations on information design and data visualisation
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Read on…: You Get a War, You Get a War, You Get a War…
A good friend of mine sent me this graphic earlier this week. The World Wars fascinate me—to be fair, most history does, and yes, that even includes the obligatory guy thinking of the Roman Empire—and I can see on my bookshelf as I type this post up my books on naval warships from World War I and a history of…
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Truly Transcontinental
Read on…: Truly TranscontinentalLast week two of the largest American freight railroads agreed to a merger with Union Pacific purchasing Norfolk Southern. Railroads have long played an important part in the history of the United States, from the Second Industrial Revolution to settlement and development of the West, through to the time zones in which we live and the laws on monopolies and…
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Just a Little Axis if You Please
Read on…: Just a Little Axis if You PleaseIn my last post, I commented upon a graphic from the Philadelphia Inquirer where a min/max axis line would have been helpful. This post is a quick follow-up of sorts, because a week ago I flagged something similar for me to perhaps mention on Coffee Spoons. So here I shall mention away. We have another graphic from the Inquirer in…
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Bring on the Beantown Boys
Read on…: Bring on the Beantown BoysFor my longtime readers, you know that despite living in both Chicago and now Philadelphia, I am and have been since way back in 1999, a Boston Red Sox fan. And this week, the Carmine Hose make their biennial visit down I-95 to South Philadelphia. And I will be there in person to watch. This is the second series after…
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Bridging the Difference
Read on…: Bridging the DifferenceWhen I was a wee lad, I entered the school science fair and made models of different types of bridges. Suspension, cantilever, &c. I saw this a little while back and bookmarked it. As I am trying to get back into the swing of publishing here on Coffee Spoons, it’s time to bring back the less than serious Friday posts.…
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2025 Red Sox Draft Breakdown
Read on…: 2025 Red Sox Draft BreakdownMonday and Tuesday, Major League Baseball conducted its amateur player draft, wherein teams select American university and high school players. They have two weeks to sign them and assign them. (Though many will not actually play this year.) Two years ago the Red Sox installed Craig Breslow as their new chief baseball organisation. He has cut a number of front…
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It’s Raining Drones
Read on…: It’s Raining DronesLast Friday the BBC published an article about the US’ resumption of supplying military assistance to Ukraine in its defence of Russia’s invasion. But in that article, the author referenced the increased intensity of Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine over that week. To show the intensity, the BBC included this graphic, which incorporates a heat map into a…
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A Warming Climate Floods All Rivers
Read on…: A Warming Climate Floods All RiversLast weekend, the United States’ 4th of July holiday weekend, the remnants of a tropical system inundated a central Texas river valley with months’ worth of rain in just a few short hours. The result? The tragic loss of over 100 lives (and authorities are still searching for missing people). Debate rages about why the casualties ranked so high—the gutting…
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Living Longer by the Generations
Read on…: Living Longer by the GenerationsLast weekend was Easter—for both the Catholics and the Orthodox—and I visited the Appalachian ancestral home of the Carpatho–Rusyn side of my family. Before leaving town I drove up to the old cemetery on a hill overlooking the old church and the Juniata River to pay my respects to those who came before me and without whom I would not…
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Illustrating the Sinking of RMS Titanic
Read on…: Illustrating the Sinking of RMS TitanicAfter all the years of writing and publishing here on Coffeespoons, content centred on the sinking of RMS Titanic remains the most popular. And it was in the early hours of 15 April 1912 when she slipped beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. 700 people survived. 1500 people did not. Titanic’s sinking was the worst peacetime maritime disaster at…