Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

Birth of a Book

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

I absolutely love this short film, Birth of a Book, which is a brief vignette on the actual creation of a real book using traditional printing methods. The film was shot, directed and edited by Glen Milner for the Daily … Continue reading →

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Nearly Orwellian

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious award for writing. Each year a select committee awards the prize—actually four prizes—for work that aims to achieve George Orwell‘s goal “to make political writing into an art”. The long lists for the … Continue reading →

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Speaking of Pythons

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

A big tip of the hat to reader and contributor Evan Smythe for the link to this truly bizarre video from the former BBC television show Friday Night,Saturday Morning. Hosted by Tim Rice, the now famous lyricist, the episode was … Continue reading →

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And Now For Something Completely Different

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The 1979 short film Away From it All is a Monty Python gem that sends-up those inane travelogues that we’ve all had to endure. The 13 minute film was written and narrated by the inimitable John Cleese and was shown … Continue reading →

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It’s 1984 All Over Again

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

George Orwell’s groundbreaking novel 1984 is about to get a new movie make-over. Rumor has it that Imagine Entertainment, run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is developing a new take on Orwell’s iconic, dystopian classic. And, too add the … Continue reading →

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We Love Margaret Atwood (even more)

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The prophetic, bestselling author Margaret Atwood is galvanizing public support for striking library workers in Toronto, Canada, while challenging shortsighted proposed cuts to library budgets. This week, Ms. Atwood said that “People support libraries, but sometimes don’t understand that it … Continue reading →

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Eurostyle Urban Hacktivism

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Self-described “urban hacktivist” Florian Rivière from Strasbourg has come up with a foolproof method for crossing busy European streets. His portable crosswalk would have come in handy last week in Madrid. Check-out his website for more of his tongue-in-cheek inventions and … Continue reading →

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Amsterdam This Summer ?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Yesterday marked the opening of the new temporary exhibition in the Anne Frank House: “We too might move on”. The exhibition sheds light on the flight of the Frank family, the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer from Germany to … Continue reading →

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Time to Chill

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Back in a few…

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La Dolce Vita

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Following the devastation of World War I, and the loss of income from foreign tourism, the Italian government developed a promotional agency, ENIT, to encourage Italian tourism abroad. An integral component of the campaign was the use of fabulous advertising … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, History, Tourism, Travel Writing | 3 Comments