Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

Dial-A-Poem is back just when we need it

Posted on February 10, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Dial-A-Poem is back!  SPIN Magazine explains that Dial-A-Poem was created in 1969 by New York City “multimedia performance poet” John Giorno as way to give people access to the poems of a “free zone of radical poets and socio-political activists,” … Continue reading →

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New York, New York

Posted on February 9, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

I was astonished by the new website isometric nyc. This project offers an amazingly detailed and incredibly comprehensive isometric pixel art map of New York City – not just Manhattan either, but all the other boroughs too, including my ancestral land of … Continue reading →

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I go unrecognized in paradise

Posted on February 8, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Dean Young — “Scherzo”

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Resurrecting Merlin

Posted on February 7, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

This image, made with Multispectral Imaging and processed using the Minimal Noise Fraction method, brings out annotations on the left-hand side which were invisible to the naked eye, including the stamp ‘Huntingfield’ believed to have been added in the 16th … Continue reading →

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Once Upon a Time

Posted on February 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

 

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I’ll Take Manhattan

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

This month marks the 373rd anniversary of the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam’s (AKA New York City) incorporation as a city. This process provided municipal rights as a city, and some degree of independence from the broader Netherland’s colonial authority. … Continue reading →

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A very chill idea

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“Did you know there are Little Free Library book-sharing boxes on all seven continents?” Little Free Library posted on Facebook, highlighting a very cool LFL that has recently been set up at the South Pole by Dr. Russell Schnell, an … Continue reading →

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“Evil, that is, has every advantage but one – it is inferior in imagination.”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The poet W.H. Auden wrote in a New York Times review of the final book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, “Evil, that is, has every advantage but one – it is inferior in imagination. Good can imagine the possibility … Continue reading →

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Snow Joke

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Depending on one’s point of view, we have either been cursed or blessed with an abundance of snow this season. Which ever side prevails here in the former U.S. of A., our vocabulary for snow is basic. But the Swedes … Continue reading →

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Vonnegut’s lament

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

​“In case you haven’t noticed,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote, ​“we are now almost as feared and hated all over the world as the Nazis were. With good reason.” He lamented the undemocratic nature of the 2000 presidential election, warmongering politicians and a … Continue reading →

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