[Cailean]

So I'm leafing through the latest issue of National Geographic and I come across this letter:

Your lighthearted illustration of the Earth has the unfortunate side effect of reinforcing a misguided "north is up" perspective, which is, of course, an entirely artificial construct. As a transplant from the Southern Hemisphere who discourages being identified as being frm down under, I would have preferred to see a pile of dirt that had fallen north from the "lower" part of the planet. Why not discombobulate a few northerners by publishing a view of the planet oriented so that Antarctica is at the top?
Chris Hansen
Shorewood, Wisconsin

Is this view common to most living below the equator? Or has this guy just heard one too many Wisconsinites do Crocodile Dundee impressions and gone off the deep end?


*goes off to find National Geographic issue with troublesome illustration*

Well, here it is. Doesn't look offensive to me, then again, I'm from 'up top'.

[peter]

im down under ..
and im quite proud of that title ..
if i remember correctly ..
magenic north is the south pole ...
or mabye i remmebered wrong..
ohh wellz ...

[shuttertalk]

I think you've finally explained the reason why my hair is so unmanagable and always sticks up all the time!! By gosh, I've been hanging upside down all my life!!

[de_axeman]

That reader should have visited this site...

http://www.flourish.org/upsidedownmap/

Apparently an Aussie version of the map sells 350,000 copies every year...

[de_axeman]

Sorry - I was mistaken, the Aussie map (MacArthur's Universal Corrective map) has sold 350,000 copies since 1979. That's a bit more believable...