Dallas, Do the Rorschach

Friend of Unfair Park Steve Z. sends this link to "the always interesting Strange Maps blog," which, last week, offered "City Maps As A Rorschach Test." The original source for the item is a 1983 Dallas Morning News illustration comparing the sizes and populations of cities across the world, with...

By Robert Wilonsky

November 18, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Friend of Unfair Park Steve Z. sends this link to "the always interesting Strange Maps blog," which, last week, offered "City Maps As A Rorschach Test." The original source for the item is a 1983 Dallas Morning News illustration comparing the sizes and populations of cities across the world, with Dallas among a lot that also includes Montreal, London, Chicago and so forth -- a dozen in all. (The original artwork, turns out, has been preserved on this site, beneath the heading "Dallas: Some Interesting Facts." Which is very ... interesting.)

Strange Maps then looked at the blob that is/was Dallas in a "more primordial, psychologically more revealing way, as a Rorschach inkblot test." And then came to this conclusion: We live in "an overweight, angry, club-wielding caveman plagued by scrotal elephantiasis." Some comments offer alternative choices, none of which seem to fit. "An overweight Tibetan monk dancing flamenco"? Please. Turns out, there are wrong answers to this test. --Robert Wilonsky

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.