One of the earlier archived Bob Enyart shows was from Nov 16, 2001, Titled “North by Northeast”. Starting at about 10 minutes into the show, he spends some time ridiculing and laughing at the direction that a prayer rug is pointed in a small Mosque near Denver. This is in the period not long after 9-11, during which he focused much of his satire on the Moslems.
In the show, he makes a big joke of the fact that worshippers on the rug would be praying towards Iceland, not Mecca. He even calls up the place where the mosque is (it was associated with a small travel agency in Aurora), but only gets their answering machine. He leaves a message asking them to call him, and shortly thereafter the show drifts to other subjects.
I did not hear him refer to that mosque again in later shows, or make any mention of whether or not they returned his call. I wonder why? Since that show was a couple of years ago, there is no discussion of it that I have seen at TOL.
I am not a student of the Moslem faith, but I am familiar with spheres and geography. Bob claims to have traveled internationally, so I was surprised to hear his comments about the direction the prayer rug is pointed. Specifically, most people that take long flights in the Northern Hemisphere are aware that the flights often swing north a bit, and then curl back south before landing. Simple reason – look at a globe of the earth. Ignore the lines of latitude and longitude, and concentrate on the shape itself. Now take a piece of string and find the shortest distance between Denver and Mecca by stretching the string tightly. An equivalent effect can be gained by plotting a direct flight from Denver to Mecca using Microsoft Flight Simulator, or use Microsoft Atlas or any of several other earth-mapping tools. You will find that Bob was (inadvertently) right, the path goes right over Iceland. The closest path on the surface of the earth from Denver to Mecca is to start to the Northeast.
Sorry Bob, but neither your study of science nor your international travel nor your inspiration seems to have taught you that the directions we associate with short trips – based on latitude and longitude, are not well suited to long distances. Bob would do well to become a true and faithful Moslem for a few years to learn of what he speaks before he embarrasses himself, (or becomes even a mediocre scientist).
In the show, he makes a big joke of the fact that worshippers on the rug would be praying towards Iceland, not Mecca. He even calls up the place where the mosque is (it was associated with a small travel agency in Aurora), but only gets their answering machine. He leaves a message asking them to call him, and shortly thereafter the show drifts to other subjects.
I did not hear him refer to that mosque again in later shows, or make any mention of whether or not they returned his call. I wonder why? Since that show was a couple of years ago, there is no discussion of it that I have seen at TOL.
I am not a student of the Moslem faith, but I am familiar with spheres and geography. Bob claims to have traveled internationally, so I was surprised to hear his comments about the direction the prayer rug is pointed. Specifically, most people that take long flights in the Northern Hemisphere are aware that the flights often swing north a bit, and then curl back south before landing. Simple reason – look at a globe of the earth. Ignore the lines of latitude and longitude, and concentrate on the shape itself. Now take a piece of string and find the shortest distance between Denver and Mecca by stretching the string tightly. An equivalent effect can be gained by plotting a direct flight from Denver to Mecca using Microsoft Flight Simulator, or use Microsoft Atlas or any of several other earth-mapping tools. You will find that Bob was (inadvertently) right, the path goes right over Iceland. The closest path on the surface of the earth from Denver to Mecca is to start to the Northeast.
Sorry Bob, but neither your study of science nor your international travel nor your inspiration seems to have taught you that the directions we associate with short trips – based on latitude and longitude, are not well suited to long distances. Bob would do well to become a true and faithful Moslem for a few years to learn of what he speaks before he embarrasses himself, (or becomes even a mediocre scientist).
