Category Archives: Europe

Why Fall Into Autumn

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Yesterday’s post got me thinking about why we English speaking folks in North America use both Fall and Autumn to describe the season between Summer and Winter. Why does it have two acceptable and apparantly interchangable names? And why do British speakers of English … Continue reading →

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Encyclopedia of a world that does not exist

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Over the years, I have run across a number of versions of the weird and wonderful Codex Seraphinianus. Along with English and French edtions, I have also seen an original Italian version from 1981. It’s difficult to catagorize this fascinating surreal fictionalized … Continue reading →

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House of Dreams

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Over the years, I have visited dozens of museums in and around London, but I haven’t found my way to the wonderful House of Dreams yet. The next time that I’m in London I will certainly make time to see … Continue reading →

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Alice, Aldous, and Walt

Posted on September 26, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I recently discovered that Walt Disney commissioned Aldous Huxley of all people to write a script for a Disney film of Alice in Wonderland. Although this may seem surprising, it turns out that Huxley wrote a number of screenplays for Hollywood films … Continue reading →

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Venice, Violin, and Vivaldi

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

On Saturday tourists were treated to the spectacle of an enormous violin floating down the canals of Venice carrying a live string quartet. The cruising instrument, “Noah’s Violin,” was created by artist Livio De Marchi, as a way of “bringing a message … Continue reading →

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pushing right back

Posted on September 19, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Reading In Bed Is So Relaxing

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

  I’m not sure why videos and photos of French performance artist Thierry Mandon reading in bed have popped up this week since the event was in 2015. Still, it’s too good not to share. In his project “Inside-Outside”, the … Continue reading →

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Another Tolkien Surprise

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

As a collector and bookseller, I’ve seen many versions and editions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel The Hobbit over the years. However, it wasn’t until recently that I was aware of Swedish and Finnish language editions that were illustrated by the anti-Fascist … Continue reading →

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The one where I compare myself with Leo Tolstoy

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

You may be dubious that a humble blogger, bookseller, and failed author could possibly have anything in common with the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, but hear me out. Both Tolstoy and I have roots in Czarist Russia. The legenday … Continue reading →

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Six for Sunday

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

After reading Moby-Dick for the first time last year, Peter Gorman published a fascinating book called Kaleidoscope Brain that consists of 100 visualizations of Moby-Dick. The graphics, diagrams, and maps were his way of making sense of the iconic American … Continue reading →

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