Monthly Archives: May 2012

Tokyo Aglow

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Last week we posted an amusing little story about a scheme to make Amsterdam’s historic canals glow via bioluminescent bacteria. Well, Tokyo already set its Sumida River aglow during the first weekend in May. The inaugural Tokyo Hotaru Festival was … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

How Venice Works

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Venice is not only a great city; it’s a complex archipelago made up of 124 different islands, dissected by 183 canals and crossed by 483 bridges. This marvelous film produced by the city of Venice explains how this fabulous, confounding and … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Film, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Visit England

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

VisitEngland, the official national tourist board of England has released a handy free app just in time for the big Olympic hoopla. The app, titled Enjoy England, offers easy acess to thousands of tourist attractions around the country. It is … Continue reading →

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Travel For Enlightenment

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Lavinia Spalding, editor of The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2011 (Travelers’ Tales) and the author of Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler, recently spoke at a TEDx conference in Park City, Utah on the existential power … Continue reading →

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Land of Dreams

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

In a public-private partnership between the U.S. government and the travel industry, this new $12.3 million ad campaign, called Land of Dreams, is about to be launched with distribution in Europe, Asia, South America and Canada over the coming months. … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Europe, History, South America, Tourism, Travel Writing, USA | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Free Travel Apps

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The popular travel guide publisher Fodor’s announced recently that they will be providing a series of city guides as mobile apps for iOS. These new apps are free for the first time. Apps from the Fodor’s Travel imprint offer solid … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Read Books in the World

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

British business writer James Chapman compiled a list of the Top 10 Most Read Books in the World based on the number of copies of each title sold during the last 50 years. Utilizing Chapman’s list, Chicago designer Jared Fanning … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Don’t Be Evil (or rude)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Somehow we missed National Etiquette Week (May 7-11), but thanks to Toronto’s Christopher Rouleau from The Urban Etiquette Project we can politely make amends. Back in December 2011, Rouleau launched the Toronto Etiquette Project, which involved a set of hand-out … Continue reading →

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Salman Rushdie Hates The Plan

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Author Salman Rushdie, along with more than 700 writers, scholars, publishers and artists, has sent a scathing letter to the President of the New York Public Library (see below) protesting the city’s $300 million restructuring plan for the flagship 42nd Street … Continue reading →

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Amsterdam Aglow

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

There are only a handfull of places around the world where water is natually illuminated due to micro-organisms living in shallow waters, but now the Italian architect Carlo Morsiani has an ingenious plan to add one more surprising location to … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments