Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

Where comedy meets geography

Posted on December 5, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

It’s always a treat when two of one’s interests intersect. In my case, I’m a huge comedy fan and a big old geography nerd. So I was happy to recently discover that Geographical magazine has a profile of the Map Men—that is, … Continue reading →

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Thank a pirate for guacamole

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Born in England in 1651, William Dampier embarked on a life of piracy in 1679 in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche after a number of unsuccessful early jobs. He changed his fortunes by joining the rapidly growing field of high seas … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Maps, Restaurants, South America, Tourism, Travel Writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Thank you for waiting

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Thank You for Waiting by Simon Armitage Thank you for waiting. At this moment in time, we’d like to invite First Class passengers only to board the aircraft. Thank you for waiting. We now extend our invitation to Exclusive, Superior, Privilege … Continue reading →

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Devil’s Dictionary

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Yesterday’s post on the dictionary word of the year reminded me of a recent book listing for the enduringly popular satirical book The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Bierce was one of America’s most popular humorists, journalists, and short story writers … Continue reading →

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How Odd

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

The 2023 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year shortlist is out and it’s a doozy. As tradition demands, the winner is in your hands as the shortlist goes to a public vote on The Bookseller website here. The … Continue reading →

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What’s The Word

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“Authentic” was chosen as the 2023 word of the year by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, coming in as the most-looked-up words in the dictionary’s 500,000 entries, the company said in a press release. “Although clearly a desirable quality, authentic is hard to define … Continue reading →

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New York to London in two hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Before commercial flights of the famed Concorde were discontinued 20 years ago, a world record flight time of 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds was set on a flight from New York City to London. Since then the Concorde … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, Architecture, Europe, History, Museums, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Boat

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

A Boat O beautiful was the werewolf in his evil forest. We took him to the carnival and he started crying when he saw the Ferris wheel. Electric green and red tears flowed down his furry cheeks. He looked like … Continue reading →

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Beautiful Iceland

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

This holiday weekend I binged watched a mystery series set in Iceland. Of course this led to a bout of nostalgia for one of my favorite places on Earth and a search for videos set in Iceland. The fabulous film … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Film, Photography, Tourism | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Short Stories for Flyers

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I have run across some of the magical little short story dispensers over the years, but never one in an airport. For the last year, the Wichita, Kansas Public Library has installed one of their three machines in the Wichita … Continue reading →

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