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Longish   Yo Yo Ma in the Subway of Hong Kong by Patricia Miller International advertising is more than just pretty pictures   Bus One Seven by Roderick Armageddon Maybe the Mormons have it right... whatever that means.   Signs You’ll Soon Be Taking the Bus by Greg Coyle An Automotive Validation of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolutionary Adaptation   Shortish   Confessions of a Dot Monkey by David Lytle Another Tale of Woe and Wonder from the Modern Age   The First Sign of Armageddon by David Volk And you thought the Florida election was questionable   What’s That Sign? by Stacy Westbrook Find out just how much, or little, people know about the world around us   Lists   Ten signs that you’re unemployed    Ten of the Most Inspiring Signs That Modern Culture Might Not Be Doomed, After All   Signs The Catholic Church is Trying to Improve Their Image

High Signs
by Kent Lewis

Four years ago, I made my first visit to the East Coast for a client meeting. I’d never been to our nation’s capital and I was so excited I decided to make the trip into mini-vacation. I was in D.C. for 3 days and managed to see a few museums and a number of monumental homage’s to our Founding Fathers. When it came time to fly home, I elected to fly out of Baltimore to save a few bucks. In reflection, that decision could have killed me.

I left my hotel early Sunday morning and decided to take a detour through downtown Baltimore before arriving at the airport. I found the city to be amazingly beautiful, with a mix of historic and modern architecture that gave it a timeless and dignified aura.

I did notice, however, that something wasn’t quite normal about the downtown core. It took me a few blocks before I realized that the streets were devoid of bystanders and cars. Looking back, I imagine in struck me like a similar instance struck Tom Cruise in "Vanilla Sky."

With empty streets ahead of me at that early morning hour, I had to force myself to watch for traffic lights and street signs. At one point, I noticed that all the traffic lights in the distance were green. Normally, my subconscious reaction would be to stomp on the gas pedal, but something wasn’t quite right.

As I approached the next green light, I slowed down rather than sped up. When I was no more than 20 feet from the intersection, a Nissan Pathfinder rushed out from my right and blew through the intersection in front of me. Had I maintained my earlier speed, I would have T-boned the Nissan as it ran a very red light. Or it might have plowed into me.

My slower speed didn’t necessitate locking up the brakes to avoid a collision, so my day (and destiny) and that of the Nissan’s driver were permitted to continue, uninterrupted. It took nearly five minutes for the hair on the back of my neck to lie back down as I thought about the incident. Was I that intuitive or was there a higher power looking over me? Perhaps it was some kind of sign? I haven’t decided what karmic forces were at work, but once thing is for sure: I haven’t flown in or out of Baltimore, since then.

When it comes to travel, almost no one has discovered a more interesting marketing tidbit than our roving editor Patricia Miller. She spent some time in Hong Kong and uncovered a few extremely interesting advertisements. You’ll enjoy the photos and observations of cross-cultural marketing at its best.

Sometimes the journey begins within one’s self. For Roderick Armageddon, it started in the dusty potato fields of Southeast Idaho, where the rules and regulations of life came courtesy of The Latter Day Saints. Discover how horned hats and sacrifices shaped his beliefs.

A little closer to home, Greg Coyle gives us some insight into automotive mobility through his memoirs of a Mercury Cougar. If you’ve ever owned an American car, you won’t be surprised by the ending.

Nothing travels faster than light and David Lytle may shock regular readers with his latest installment involving —you guessed it- lasers. This time, it’s all about red lights, bed sheets and basements.

Being President of the United States often involves copious amounts of travel. That’s about as far as I can stretch the commonality of David Volk’s contribution and this month’s theme du jour. Read about the FX network’s latest reality TV gamble and it just might make a dangling chad look like hot cocoa on a frosty morning.

Traveling abroad offers many rewards and pitfalls. Beyond the everyday threat of terrorist activity, you have language barriers, bribes and voltage issues. To add a little more intrigue to this cocktail, International signage is frequently frustrating, yet somehow entertaining. We’ve asked a few Anvil readers what they think of some of the more obtuse imagery, and their answers may surprise you.

For some of us, it can be difficult to get motivated to travel when being unemployed. If you’re one of those (many) people, you may prefer to spend your time reading one of our lists. They read like a recipe: Get started with ten signs of unemployment; Follow that up with a dash of doom and gloom; add a sprinkle of confession; and serve warm with a few photos from our gallery. Voila, a dish that would make Martha Stewart cry as she gets hauled off to prison (by bus).

Chipper up and read the signs… the answers are out there.