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gene cowan™


a dc expat in sunny san jose, ca, the land of fruits and nuts
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Gene...

February 23, 2006
09:11 pm

Cords Loosing
Can't stop myself. Here's my anagram map of Metrorail, Washington's subway. Wherever possible, I tried to tailor the anagrams to the specific place or a general Washington, DC sort of commentary. For example, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport becomes "Ghost Nonagenarian Drawl, Irrational to Nap."

image


By popular demand, you can pick up a shirt with the station list at Cafepress.
(See also the Santa Clara VTA Map.)

posted by Gene Cowan | category Fun Stuff
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It was only a matter of time before somebody got around to ours!
Posted by Kev on 02/24 at 09:37 AM
Nice job, I was waiting for the DC map. Hopefully they don't sue! smile
Posted by Brian on 02/24 at 10:40 AM
Excellent. I kept thinking I should do a DC one, but kept telling myself that someone else would get to it first and do it better. And here we are. Thumbs up.
Posted by Fake Rake on 02/24 at 10:50 AM
I was working on my own- but yours is amazing.

suggestion: Farragut West = A War gets turf

eh?
eh?
Posted by Jon on 02/24 at 11:19 AM
Brilliant, Jon! I completely missed that one, and it fits the whole DC-based thing perfectly! I'm amending the map with your winner. smile
Posted by Gene on 02/24 at 11:24 AM
I had one in progress, and I'm simply amazed at the places where the anagrams we came up with are *identical*. "Relax, Diana." "Ball Mounts." "Robot Wink." "Lick Lover."

I had the Beltway as "Wail, Batty Place," which is accurate but not as good as your "Twice, Palatably." And my Farragut West was "Frustrate Wag."

In any case, I bow in humility before the brilliance of your airport name. :D
Posted by kostia on 02/24 at 11:56 AM
I, too, was working on my own -- fearing that someone would finish first. And sure enough -- you did! Brilliant!

Others that I had on mine which I was fond of:

Shaved Orgy
A Licensed Term
Perished Fish Night
Erect Mentor
Rogue Folk Clamped
Ciao Satan
Landscaper Firing Info
Nation's Shim
Crafted Newsreel
Holocaust Pit (!!)
Androgen Bin
Ann Colder (I know, it's spelled wrong. But the pun is funny nonetheless)
Drum Girlfriend Online.

Great work!

-- S
Posted by Shiny on 02/24 at 02:26 PM
Damn, you finished first! Oh well, I shall continue work, since my anagrams are clearly superior
Posted by Steve on 02/24 at 03:33 PM
I'm slightly concerned about your thigh obsession.
Posted by Sandry on 02/24 at 08:58 PM
Nice work! (Rats! I was hoping to do one for DC but ya beat me to it.)
Posted by Xydexx on 02/25 at 07:52 PM
Excellent -- please start selling station t-shirts.
Posted by WFY on 02/26 at 06:58 AM
I second WFY about the t-shirts. I want one!
Posted by jyindc on 02/27 at 10:21 AM
Brilliant! As a DC ex-pat who had to deal with the construction of the system and commuted on it for many years, I must say your map beats the real thing.
And, it was outed today in Gene Weingarten's Tuesday chat on The Washington Post's online edition. (search "anagram")
Posted by baysailr9 on 02/28 at 12:15 PM
Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post listed this link. The author is either seriously disturbed or brilliant or both! Congratulations!
Posted by Fred Gilkey on 03/01 at 07:33 AM
Gene, your map got picked up in today's Express (the Post's free daily)!

I tried to extract just the relevant page into a separate PDF, but I think the file is protected or some such, so here's a link to the whole 12.7 MB issue. From the "Lookout Weekend" insert, p. E2 (or p. 46 of the PDF):

Anagramatic Moat Perms
All the cool kids are remaking subway maps with anagrams of station names. The friendly genecowan.com has made sure Washington doesn't get left out, and a thorough cartographer (or should we say, "ear garth crop") he is. Even the non-Metro liens--er, lines--are anagramed, including the Anacostia (Aviator Arsenic) and Potomac (Apricot Mover) rivers. The DCist, jealous that genecowan got to WMATA first, proceeded to make a D.C. Metro map using London station names. Whatever--that's Retro Cement coming off, and you need to switch to the Reign Alone. Just leave your PressEx on the seat for the next person.
Posted by Jeff on 03/03 at 08:13 AM
Hmm... I don't know if such notoriety is good or bad... any day now, I feel certain that Metro will be serving cease and desist letters...
Posted by Gene Cowan on 03/03 at 08:50 AM
Okay, I give in -- there are now t-shirts available at http://www.cafepress.com/genecowan ... the Metro map is copyrighted by WMATA, so I can't sell that. But I made a design that I hope is acceptable.
Posted by Gene Cowan on 03/03 at 11:21 AM
obsessed much with the district? we really would welcome you back. -w
Posted by Wez on 03/03 at 07:16 PM
Heh! Well, I first did a map for the San Jose light rail system, but no one much seems to care. Not surprising, as I've never seen more than 5 or 6 people on a train at a time here.
Posted by Gene Cowan on 03/03 at 07:33 PM

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