Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

New York State of Mind

London-based artist and architectural illustrator Patrick Vale creates wonderful urban scenes and vignettes. He recently shared a marvelous stop-motion video on one of his finest New York City projects. I’ve watched three time and still marvel at his skill in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Film, USA | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Digital Donkeys

We’ve brought you a number of diverse posts on WiFi opportunities for travelers, but the digital enabled donkeys is a first. An Israeli historical re-enactment village is now offering WiFi service for tourists at their Kfar Kedem attraction in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Prepare for Delays

I recently heard that the British Home Office is seriously considering a plan to introduce airport-style security screening at London’s major railway and tube stations. The plan calls for searching passengers for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials. Meanwhile, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Tourism | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Loving Lenticular Mapping

Urban Mapping is a San Francisco-based technology company that produces data and geographic research tools. But they also market a small series of way cool city maps that set a cartophile’s heart afflutter. The Panamap series utilizes a brilliant, patented … Continue reading →

Posted in Maps, Tourism | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Itinerant Cinema

Created in 2009 by Carles Porta and Toni Tomas, Puck Cinema Caravan is the “smallest cinema on Earth”, and it’s fully portable too. The Lilliputian drive-in theater travels around Europe showing original short animated films to children of all ages. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Europe, Film | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Bird of a Different Color

During the 2012 Venice Biennale, the Berlin-based team of Julian Charriere and Julian von Bismarck collaborated on a project to change public perception of Venice’s ubiquitous pigeon population. Utilizing natural dyes and a specially built box-conveyor system, the duo’s “Some … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe | 1 Comment

Better Airline Food (really)

Hat-tip to Nikos Loukas for this post from the very entertaining and informative site InFlightFeed. There’s a new and potentially exciting trend in airline meals. A growing number of air carriers are offering a new “pre-order premium meal option” for … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Middle East, South America, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Where are the ebook readers ?

This fascinating infographic on ebook reading habits is from Hip Type, a small company that collects detailed data and demographics for authors with a plugin for ebook publishers. For the infographic, Hip Type examined the “DNA” of a successful book, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, ebooks, Tech, USA, Writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Art of the Book

As a collector and seller of antiquarian books, I often marvel at the astonishing binding and printing variants in old books. A favorite decorative feature in many 19th century volumes is the use of marbled paper and cloth for endpapers … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Books | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A book must be the axe…

Some unoriginal thoughts after reading The Age of Miracles… “’I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment