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Author Archives: Brian D. Butler
Middle East Pow Wow
The floating international street art festival known as POW! WOW! has recently wrapped up a visit to Israel and Jordan. The always exciting collaborative effort is documented in the entertaining video below from director Andrew Tran.
New York Loses Its Voice
The Village Voice, New York City’s iconic alternative weekly newspaper, has announced the end of its print publication. Co-founded by writer Norman Mailer in 1955, the Pulitzer Prize winning free paper is shifting to a completely digital platform. The paper has … Continue reading
How Meta
I ran across the gif above on a book blog and was skeptical when it was described as a clip of Humphrey Bogart on the set of Howard Hawks’ 1946 film noir classic The Big Sleep. With just a little sleuthing, I … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Film, History, movies, USA, Writing
Tagged Film Noir, Howard Hawks, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner
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Another Roadside Attraction
Historian and self-taught photographer John Margolies spent the last three decades of the 20th century wandering the back roads, small towns, and old highways of the U.S. capturing images of a disappearing culture. His saturated Kodachrome images of kitsch signage, … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art, History, Hotels, Museums, Photography, Public Transport, Restaurants, Tourism, Uncategorized, USA
Tagged Drive-in theater, Library of Congress, mini golf, roadside advertising
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Welcome to Fishtown
Philly locals have been in on the Fishtown secret for years, but tourists are just discovering the up-and-coming riverfront district. With hot new restaurants, hip music venues, art spaces, brewpubs, fab coffeehouses, dozens of bars, and the world’s first pizza … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Museums, Music, Restaurants, Tourism, USA
Tagged La Colombe, Philadelphia, Street Art, VURT
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North to Alaska
I have only been to Alaska once and I only spent two weeks in the enormous state, but it left a lasting impact. The stunning video below captured many of the extraordinary wilderness areas that I was lucky enough to … Continue reading
Amsterdam: Tag you’re it
I recently received an email from KLM about their new “KLM Care Tag” project. The video below explains how it works, but it’s basically a cleverly designed location-aware luggage tag that provides voiced tips for tourists in Amsterdam. The speaker-equipped … Continue reading
Posted in Air Travel, Europe, Museums, Public Transport, Tech, Tourism
Tagged Amsterdam, GPS, KLM, Schiphol
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Manhattan Cowcatcher
I recently read Kim Stanley Robinson’s outstanding—but way too long—climate change, post-apocalyptic, science fiction novel “New York 2140.” Although much of the plot takes place in Manhattan’s Met Life Building, the characters frequently comment on the neighboring Flatiron Building. It … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Books, History, Tourism, USA
Tagged Flatiron Building, Manhattan, New York City, skyscrapers
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Sharing is caring
When I was scrambling to learn a little Russian last year prior to a trip, I naively thought that shared letters between the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets would somehow make the task a little easier. Of course that proved to … Continue reading
