Category Archives: Books

March Elegy

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

March Elegy by Anna Akhmatova  

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Story Typology

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

The Two Types of Stories: Expanded Edition For the NY Times Book Review. For more comics on all things literary, check out Grant Snider’s book I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF.  

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We Wear the Mask

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

We wear the mask NB: If the video fails to launch please click here. We wear the mask that grins and lies. It shades our cheeks and hides our eyes. This debt we pay to human guile With torn and … Continue reading →

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Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Film studio “Animācijas Brigāde” is a stop motion puppet animation film studio, producing puppet films and commercials. Working in classic stop motion technique, the Riga-based studio was founded in 1966 by a puppet film and theater director Arnolds Burovs and since … Continue reading →

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“Actually”

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“Actually” by Joy Williams from 99 Stories of God The child wanted to name the rabbit Actually, and could not be dissuaded from this. It was the first time one of our pets was named after an adverb. It made us … Continue reading →

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“Mourir auprès de toi”

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Directed by the inimitable Spike Jonze the short film “Mourir auprès de toi” (“To Die by Your Side”), which takes its title from one of the emotionally wrenching Smiths’ song, is a love story for booklovers, set in Paris’ beloved … Continue reading →

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Fat-Headed Censors

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

You would have to have been living under a basket to avoid the recent brouhaha over the re-editing of classic books by so-called sensitivity readers and editors. Here in the Colonies we’ve been through this with the books of Dr. … Continue reading →

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Still Life

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

The mesmerizing video below was made with more than 1400 engravings from the 19th century, Still Life is a meditation on subject/object dualism. The film explores the idea that we live in a world of objects and a world of … Continue reading →

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Your Brain on Reading

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

How humans process and learn from written words. 1 Located in the parietal lobe, the angular gyrus facilitates communication between different parts of the brain, permitting humans to simultaneously recognize, understand, and remember words on a page. 2  The fusiform gyrus is important in … Continue reading →

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The good news is that you are alive

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“The Good News” by Thich Nhat Hanh They don’t publish the good news. The good news is published by us. We have a special edition every moment, and we need you to read it. The good news is that you … Continue reading →

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