AXIS OF EVIL MAPPING NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, #10 OF 2011

NEW TITLES RELEASED SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER: This has been an extremely heavy time period for us, as several major titles ran out of copies in close proximity. We have been battling to update and reprint quite a few titles. By co-incidence, some brand new titles also returned from printing. Rather than note them all here, please note the titles down below – all FIFTEEN of them! Five more are at press still.
Dear all,

INTRODUCTION
September was IMTA America’s conference in Palm Springs, CA, and Lan and I drove down in our brand new Mercedes C280 that is actually a comfortable but somewhat beat-up 2007 model, but who cares? It’s a Merc! Linh flew down and wife Phuong came along with our company’s CPO (Chief Pooping Officer) who, at 18 months of age advised Charlie Regan of National Geographic to move out of his way, because he’s taking over as President-Elect of IMTA. Actually, it came out sounding like ooga-bboga but Charlie got the message. Give Johnny a couple of years to work on his memory retention and watch out! Apart from enjoying a little family time away from Vancouver and showing off the grandson, the conference was quite useful. The big news is that downloadable technology appears to have finally come up with a realistic way to deliver downloadable maps. The apps revolution has happened very quickly and will no doubt spawn apps 2 (called bapps) in the foreseeable future. Avenza now has a program that can create apps for maps in a variety of formats for mobile phones, tablets, kindles, Ipods etc. and NatGeo has developed the application to the tune of a two million dollar return thus far. This is exciting news and offers publishers willing to maintain updated files with a mechanism to survive the digital revolution. We all know that paper map ales are suffering, but we also know that the need for good quality maps has never been stronger. The problem is that the market is increasingly demanding digital products, and now there is a way to respond.

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR October was Europe’s turn, and we no sooner returned home than we were on a plane to Frankfurt. We began by driving 7,300 kms in a week so we could visit Norway and Eastern Germany in the same trip. We have run out of copies of our popular Norway map and, as happens occasionally in this business, the firm that produced the artwork is no longer in the map business, so we have developed our own artwork and wanted a wee bit of time in Norway itself to test out at least some of its roads. We visited Oslo, Stord, Bergen, Fagerness, and Molde before driving back to Germany for a too brief visit to one of Europe’s hidden treasures – the former East Germany, which is now emerging as a repainted and very attractive travel destination. In all my years in the map trade, I’ve never seen an actual map of East Germany, and after re-unification only sectional and state maps came out. I think it is time for an overall map. The fair itself was less busy than in previous years and I’m sorry to report that several well-known firms were no-shows. The only one with a good excuse was Omni Resources. It appears that Russell discovered the joys of a kidney stone that would not pass through just before he was due to fly to Europe. Anyone who has suffered from such stones knows that pain is excruciating. Fortunately, this blessed event disabled Russell before his flight; otherwise, the entire 3.1 floor would have had to put up with his screaming and his pleading to be put out of his misery by being beaten to death with Replogle globes. There is nothing worse than having a kidney stone except having one that will not pass through and be gone. I think Russell is still in hospital. Generally, the downward trend that has dominated FBF for the past few years continued. Those who have survived thus far have been weakened, and it is premature to comment on who will survive. The recession is taking its toll on all of us, and no matter how brave a face we put to the general audience, titles continue to disappear as firm after firm cuts back on titles. There were no dramatic announcements this year, thank God, but the shrinkage is obvious to myself. Half the paper map publishers in the world have shut down over the past five years, or are in the process of doing so. Those surviving are struggling; no one is prospering and no one appears to be growing at their neighbours’ expense. We’re all in this boat together.

A FUNNY STORY (WHY NOT, AFTER THAT GRIM ARTICLE?)
A nine-year-old girl was pulled over by police in Ohio recently for driving the family car. Her father, too drunk to drive, had taught her the basics of driving so he could imbibe as much as he wanted and still get home. However, there are rules against children driving automobiles under certain ages (18 in British Columbia) for good societal reasons, and the man is now before the courts on a variety of charges. The girl was quite incensed at being stopped. “Why are you doing this, she asked the policeman. I was driving good!”

WHAT IS HAPPENING AT ITMB? Two out of our three fall trade shows have been completed, with IMTA Bangkok roaring down on us. I will be attending with son-in-law Linh. Lan is performing for Canada’s Got Talent, a TV show at that time, but will be joining us in Hanoi shortly after the convention. We do a lot of out specialized cartography in Hanoi, and it is important to visit there on a regular basis. Our Vietnamese distributor is also doing better and better, and we are looking into setting up a proper business in that country to meet our growing needs. Jiri Navratil, having completed the establishment of a strong ITMB US presence, has returned to Europe to develop map marketing in Poland and the rest of eastern Europe. This is a market area that has been largely ignored by European publishers, and we feel that the time is right to tackle this market. We are also expanding ITM’s mapping into a line of wall maps. We aren’t ready to release our complete line yet, but have completed half a dozen titles and are working on a world wall map that we obviously hope will appeal to the North American market in particular. We are also developing a series of inflatable globes using our own artwork, so the detail will be much better than anything currently coming out of China, a series of mini globes, and a series of desk-top globes. All of these new products will be available within two months. To gear up for this expansion, I’ve finally had to expand our management team. Edwin Huang is in overall charge as General Manager, with particular emphasis upon globes. Linh Dang (our son-in-law) is our international sales manager and will be gradually taking over Edwin’s responsibilities for processing orders from our many distributors. Phuong Vu (our daughter) becomes Chief Administrative Officer, with additional responsibilities to providing graphics for customers and for production. Johnny Dang becomes our CPO (Chief Pooping Officer), since it is what he does best! Dinesh Sharma becomes senior cartographer, answerable to Lan for day-to-day progress in production. Lan and I remain as owner/operators, but hope that more and more of our responsibilities will become more general supervisory in nature as younger staff assume more of the day-to-day management skills necessary to run a world-wide business operation.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Europe is a train wreck happening in slow motion, and we can’t escape it no matter what we do”. Kevin Falcon, British Columbia’s Minister of Finance, shortly after returning from meetings with finance officials in Europe, last week. This is NOT news one wants to hear at any time, but especially not from the official charged with responsibility for guiding BC’s financial affairs during difficult times.

DUMB CROOK OF THE MONTH
I heard this on the radio, but didn’t note where it happened, but it was in the US somewhere. A man broke into a factory and stole the fork-lift truck. He drove it to a nearby pizza joint, parked, and went in to order a pizza. With food in hand, he then tried to figure out how to get his stolen vehicle into reverse. Unable to do so, he decided to eat his pizza. Unfortunately for him, he was in full view of the staff inside, who called 911 to report what was obviously suspicious behaviour. When the police arrived, the man was more concerned about being able to finish eating than he was about being arrested. Maybe they serve pizza in jail!

NEW RELEASES IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 2011
Eastern Canada Travel Atlas 1st Ed. 2011 157pg. scale varies ISBN 9781553410850 UPC 815534108586 S19.95cdn/us E14.95 13.99GBP – This is a HUGE atlas, not in terms of overall size (it is the same 5x7 format as all of our travel atlases), but in thickness. The atlas covers all of Ontario and Quebec (Canada’s largest provinces), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador. This is a much larger geographic area than all of Western Europe and has stretched our abilities to the cartographic limits. The atlas shows all the highways and passenger rail services connecting this vast hinterland, physical features, distances between communities, highway numbers, points of interest, ferries, motorways, campgrounds, border posts, airports, hotels in more remote areas, and just about everything else we could think to include. AVAILABLE.
Bolivia Travel Reference Map 4th Ed. 2012 1:1,250,000 ISBN 9781553410126 UPC 815534101228 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – This is our latest update of a remote but attractive country. As time passes, we find more and more information to add to each map, and this one is no exception. Printed double-sided on paper, this edition has a completely new inset map of La Paz, as well as of Central Santa Cruz and Potosi. AVAILABLE.
Cambodia (and Laos) Travel Reference Map 5th Ed. 2012 1:750,000 ISBN 9781553412908 UPC 815534129079 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – Although ITMB has published a map of Cambodia for years, because it shares a sheet with Laos, we feel that it does not get the attention it deserves. This map has Cambodia on one side, with its own cover picture, and Laos on the other side (see below). This latest edition includes an excellent inset map of Phnom Penh. AVAILABLE
Chile Travel Reference Map 2nd Ed. 2012 1:1,750,000 on waterproof paper ISBN 9781553412106 UPC 815534121097 $11.95cdn/us E8.95 7.99GBP – There isn’t a lot I can say about our map of Chile. It sells very well, and this second edition modestly updates our data. Chile is in the process of paving sections of the Austral, the massive highway project the began a decade or so ago. This will result in gradual updating as time passes and more sections are upgraded. We have also expanded our coverage of Santiago slightly. As before, this map is printed on ITM plastic, for durability; AVAILABLE.
Chile South and Patagonia travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2012 1:1,250,000/1:2,000,000 ISBN 9781553411314 UPC 815534113153 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – This is a brand new map for ITMB and concentrates on the fast-changing southern portion of Chile (known as the Austral) and Patagonia, which technically only exists in southern Argentina, but in reality can’t be shown easily on a map without including the same area in Chile. Thus, one side concentrates on Chile south of Los Angeles (yes, there’s one there too!) in two long strip maps that go all the way to Cape Horn (or Hoorn, in Dutch) south of Tierra del Fuego. Although it has nothing to do with this part of Chile, we have also included the main portion of touristic Easter Island, an inset of what is popularly referred to as Robinson Crusoe Island (Alexander Selkirk was marooned here for a number of years, and is the real-life model of the fictional Crusoe) and an inset map of Ushuaia. The other side shows all of Chile from Temuco south, and all of Argentina from Neuquen and Bahia Blanca south, with the Falklands correctly positioned in the South Atlantic and, no Las Malvinos non sont nuestros! AVAILABLE.
Colombia Travel Reference Map 3rd Ed. 2012 1:1,400,000 ISBN 9781553410171 UPC 815534101730 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – Well, I’m pleased to report that Colombia is much safer to visit now, and is a lovely country well worth considering. Sales of our ITM map started picking up speed last year, and we have invested a lot of time and effort to update this map for the next couple of years. The colour contrasts have been improved and the insets of Medellin and Cartagena added. Bogota has been improved. AVAILABLE.
Helsinki and Southern Finland 2nd Ed. 2012 1:10,000/600,000 isbn 9781553410188 UPC 815534101815 $10.95 cdn/us, E7.95 6.99GBP – The Helsinki map has been updated, but is essentially the same as in the previous edition. The cover has been changed completely, including placing a rail network map on the back cover. The real improvement to this map is to include a full-sized map of southern Finland on the reverse side of the sheet. This is lovely artwork – clear and informative, detailed and comprehensive. It goes as far north as Kokkola, on the coast, or the city of Kuopio in the central interior, and goes as far east as St. Petersburg and shows all the border crossings into Russia. This is a very useful map for travellers visiting Helsinki but also wanting to drive or entrain for visits to Turku, Vaasa, or centres in the interior, or travel onwards to Russia; value added without an increase in price! AVAILABLE.
Iceland Travel Reference Map 2nd Ed. 2012 1:425,000 on waterproof paper ISBN 9781553412861 UPC 815534128690 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – Iceland is one of our favourite countries and, considering that we were nearly killed there, that says a lot about the country’s attractiveness. As the land of ice and fire, Iceland offers spectacular waterfalls, glaciers, icebergs (in season), volcanoes, geysers galore, and friendly people with a good grasp of English, which is good news, as few people speak Icelandic. We printed the map on ITM plastic because the traveller needs to refer to a map fairly regularly in this country, so we felt that durability overcame economics. AVAILABLE.
Laos (and Cambodia) Travel Reference Map 5TH Ed. 2012 1:1,200,000 ISBN 9781553412908 (as above, see Cambodia) $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – This map shares the same sheet of paper as Cambodia, so has the same ISBN/UPC. Both titles have been updated; this one includes insets of Vientiane and of Louang Phabang. Laos is a beautiful, mostly pastoral country, where the pace of change is slow and measured. AVAILABLE
Moldova (and Romania) Travel Reference Map 1st Ed. 2012 1:445,000 2012 ISBN 9781553414001 UPC 815534140043 (same as for Romania, below) $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – This new edition of Romania is combined with a separate map of Moldova. The two countries share a similar background, but follow different political paths. Moldova is a new country map for ITMB. We haven’t been there ourselves, plan on driving there next year after the IMTA Dresden show. We spent a very pleasant week in Romania, gathering updating material for this map. Romania’s entry into the EU has been met with a fair amount of grumbling from other members, but gradually infrastructure improvements are being completed and life is becoming more prosperous. It is a lovely country to visit, especially the north. AVAILABLE
Panama Travel Reference Map 6th Ed. 2012 1:300,000 on waterproof paper ISBN 9781553413882 UPC 815534138811 $11.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – This map represents a major change, in that we have re-calibrated the scale on this title from the previous edition, and have discovered that the country is actually being shown in a significantly better scale than we previously were portraying. Although we have kept the same green parrot cover, the map is printed on a larger sized ITM plastic sheet. We have also completely redone the Panama City inset, and added a new expanded inset of the newly-touristic old town area. AVAILABLE.
Puerto Rico Travel Reference Map 5th Ed. 2012 on waterproof paper 1:190,000 ISBN 9781553414506 UPC 815534145000 - All the road numbers changed during the time of the previous edition, so we had to do a major alteration to our base material before reprinting. As a result, this is an almost-brand-new map. Apart from changing hundreds of road numbers, we also re-did the San Juan inset map and improved road quality information to reflect improvements. AVAILABLE.
Romania (and Moldova) Travel Reference Map 1:850,000 2012 ISBN 9781553414001 UPC 815534140043 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – Much of what can be said about our new edition of Romania can be seen in the description of Moldova (and Romania). The two maps are completely separate cartographic entities that happen to share the same piece of paper. The are separate covers on each side, so both titles can be marketed easily in any retail environment, but it is one sheet of paper, so the maps share a common ISBN and a common price. Two for the price of one! AVAILABLE.
Sikkim and Northeast India Travel Reference Map 2nd Ed. 2012 1:135,000/1,500,000 ISBN 9781553410843 UPC 815534108432 $12.95cdn/us, E8.95 7.99GBP – Sikkim is an autonomous state between India and Chinese-controlled Tibet, much as Bhutan. It is a wonderful, mountainous country to visit, with reasonably good goads going far to the north, well into the Himalayas, and interesting temples/pagodas to see, as well as the fabulous Fam Rong Lho Wildlife Sanctuary. As anyone visiting this remote state needs to pass through the northeastern area of India to reach Sikkim, we have include a complete, detailed map of Bengal, Bihar, Meghalaya, and the Assam states as well as of the portion of Nepal abutting Sikkim, and an inset map of Kolkata. The map starts at Kolkata and extends to the Tibetan border, and from Patna in the west to the border with Burma – a lovely area of coverage – value added without an increase in price! AVAILABLE.
US/Canada Border Travel Map 1st Ed. 2012 1:2,500,000 ISBN 9781553417385 UPC 815534173805 $9.95cdn/us E6.95 6.99GBP – ITMB is renowned for releasing innovative titles that have never been done before. Not only are most of our country maps unique, in that no other publisher bothers to do them, so with North America we’re experimenting with maps that either have never been done before, or have been done without due thought (my polite way of saying they are amateurish, inaccurate, ill-defined cr**). Thus we have released the first serious travel atlas to historic Route 66, a new highways atlas to the entire Alaska/Yukon/NWT region (another first, never before attempted). Now we have completed a map that is long overdue. The Canadian/US border is the longest single border in the world between two countries. It stretches from the southern end of Vancouver Island eastward to Nova Scotia/New Brunswick, has dozens upon dozens of border crossings and stretches for about 5,000 kilometres – or is it miles? Regardless, it is long, but more importantly, since 1815, it has been promoted as the longest ‘undefended’ border in the world. Naturally, there is a strict border patrol/surveillance on both sides of the border area, but there are no troops, no navy, no air force operations on either side. It is unprecedented in world history to have such a long border, free of military supervision. This map is double-sided and shows the border states and their provincial counterparts, starting with British Columbia and Washington/Idaho/Montana for about 150 miles on either side of the actual border, and carries on eastward through the Prairie/Midwest region, before dipping south to encircle the Great Lakes region, before terminating with New York City at the southern extreme and most of New Brunswick/Maine in the northeast. The purpose of the map is to show the true nature of a region where more than 100,000,000 people live; the highways binding them together, the major cities as insets (Long Island, Boston region, Chicago, Toronto central, Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria), the many border crossings and the artificiality of the border. This is a map showing how easy it is to travel from North Dakota to Manitoba (for instance), or how easy it is to make a Great Lakes round trip. This map spans a continent and follows the route taken by my ancestor, Alexander Mackenzie, who first crossed the continent in 1793 on foot and mapped the routes followed by all settlers heading westward for the next century, including those Johnny-come-latelies Lewis and Clark, who only followed well-trodden trapping routes made by the Northwest Fur Company traders a generation earlier. AVAILABLE.

RECENTLY RELEASED TITLES (July/August)
Jerusalem and Northern Israel Travel Reference Map 2nd Ed. 2011 waterproof paper 1:10,000/1:225,000 ISBN 9781553416531 UPC 815534165381 $10.95cdn/us E7.95 7.99GBP AVAILABLE.
Moscow Travel Reference Map 3rd Ed. 2011 1:12,500/1:50,000 ISBN 9781553417378 UPC 815534173720 $11.95cdn/us E7.95 7.99GBP AVAILABLE.
South America Southern Travel Reference Map 6th Ed. 2011 1:2,600,000 ISBN 9781553410829 UPC 815534108234 $12.95cdn/us E8.95 7.99GBP AVAILABLE.

ARTWORK OUT OF STOCK and being prepared for release
Costa Rica is running low on copies. It sells quite quickly, so should run out during November.
India has recently run out of copies and is being updated for release in January.
Kabul and the Khyber Pass – A new title for ITMB, this should be available in December.
Mauritius, a new title for ITMB, is at press and expected in early December.
Malaysia is at press and expected in late November.
Nicaragua has run out of copies and is awaiting updating.
Norway is out of print. Brand new artwork has been prepared and the map is at press, with release of the map probably being in December.
Thailand is rapidly running our of copies and should need an update by January.
Yemen is out of stock and awaiting updating. Given the political unrest currently besetting that country, updating will have to be done from a distance, and will be minimal.
Zimbabwe is out of stock and awaiting updating. This title is available as Botswana and Zimbabwe but we also intend to maintain the artwork as a separate title as well. In the short term, the combines title will be provided.