Monthly Archives: November 2024

Never Have to Leave the Airport

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Situated near Amsterdam’s New West ,  Corendon Amsterdam New-West, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel has 680 guest rooms and two decommissioned Boeing passenger planes. One is available for special events, while the other is attached to the one-of-a-kind 737 Suite . … Continue reading →

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Books break the shackles of time.

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The video below is an excerpt from the 11th episode of Carl Sagan’s iconic 1980s Cosmos series, titled “The Persistence of Memory.” What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts … Continue reading →

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Not your usual guidebook for NYC

Posted on November 28, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Filmmaker and social media maven Nicolas Heller, also known as New York Nico, boasts more than a million people followers on his eponymous Instagram account where he chronicles the characters of New York City. Heller platforms ordinary New Yorkers along … Continue reading →

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Not creepy at all

Posted on November 27, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Young, blonde and available to chat in 20 languages “Emma”  is the new brand ambassador “Emma” for the travel in Germany — and she is AI-generated. On Instagram and in a chat function, she is designed to offer the international … Continue reading →

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“Now a narrative is a story, not logic, nor ethics, nor philosophy.”

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

“Now a narrative is a story, not logic, nor ethics, nor philosophy. It is a dream you keep having, whether you realize it or not. Just as surely as you breathe, you go on ceaselessly dreaming your story. And in … Continue reading →

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Just another marbled Monday

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The wavy patterns on the edges, covers, and endpapers on this tooled and blind-stamped, half-bound book are from Carew’s Survey of Cornwall printed in London by Thomas Bensley for J. Faulder and Rees and Curtis in 1811. The marbled-paper pattern is what the University of Washington’s site … Continue reading →

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Book Club

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Brian D. Butler
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Odd doesn’t begin to cover these titles

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The shortlist has been unveiled for the 2024 Bookseller‘s Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year. The annual prize was conceived in 1978 by Trevor Bounford and Bruce Robertson, co-founders of publishing solutions firm the Diagram Group, as … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile, back in soulless America

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT John Ashbery Meanwhile, back in soulless America, people are having fun as usual. A bird visits a birdbath. A young girl takes a refresher course in polyhistory. My mega-units are straining at the leash of spring. … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Even Close

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

 

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