Monthly Archives: July 2025

the struggle of memory

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Baggage

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Baggage is a short, stop-animation film by Lucy Davidson about the sometimes complicated experience of being seen — when going through airport security. As a recent student of Aardman Academy, which is operated by its Academy Award-winning namesake animation studio, Davidson tapped into … Continue reading →

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Wish You Were Here

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I recently discovered the dubious concept of Beforehand Postcards. The conceit behind Beforehand Postcards was that, if you were going on vacation to Europe, you could buy your postcards from them beforehand. Then you could address the cards, and maybe even write … Continue reading →

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The Poet Anticipated the Shortcomings of AI

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The author Rainer Maria Rilke anticipated the inevitable shortcomings in the use of AI in the arts. He articulated the  essential conditions for creativity in his only novel, reflecting on what it takes to compose a great poem, but also … Continue reading →

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Short Stuff

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I frequently find myself baffled by abbreviations and acronyms that I run across both online and IRL. It’s particularly confusing when one is traveling in another country and the acronyms are hyper local. So, I was happy to stumble on … Continue reading →

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Funny, Not Funny

Posted on July 7, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Reading machine

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Many, many years ago, I lived in the university town of  Gainesville, Florida. One of the many limitations of the small city was its not so great transportation services, including a sorry little airport. But now the Alachua County Regional … Continue reading →

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Il caffè fa girare il mondo

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

You can visit coffee shops in different places around the world in this video. A coffee drink is ordered in nine countries, and we get to watch it through the customer’s POV. Each coffee drink is captioned, indicating its name … Continue reading →

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Pity the Nation

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

PITY THE NATION by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 2007 (After Khalil Gibran) Pity the nation whose people are sheep And whose shepherds mislead them Pity the nation whose leaders are liars Whose sages are silenced And whose bigots haunt the airwaves Pity … Continue reading →

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“There is a great deal of art to creating something that seems artless.”

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

There is writing which resembles the mosaics of glass you see in stained-glass windows. Such windows are beautiful in themselves and let in the light in colored fragments, but you can’t expect to see through them. In the same way, … Continue reading →

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