Category Archives: Europe

Renaissance Kindle

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The Bookwheel, invented in 1588 by Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli, was a heavy, 600-pound wooden rotating bookcase that let scholars easily use up to eight open books at once. It had a clever gear system to keep the books upright … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Libraries | Tagged | 1 Comment

fooleries of magic and religion

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

  Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Wonky House of Windsor

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

No, I’m not referencing the British royal family—although they are a shambolic mess—I’m referring to a lovely, rickety looking building a historic Windsor, England. If you have every visited the tourist town, you have likely had a peep at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Europe, History, Restaurants, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A really, really nice tunnel

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I recently spotted the video below about Bergen, Norway’s amazing bike tunnel. And, I had two thoughts. First, wow, this is a wonderful piece of transit engineering. Second, I haven’t been in Bergen in more than 40 years. Even if … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Europe, Film, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Deep Fry Everything

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

As I may have mentioned 20 or 30 times, I’ve been planning a trip to Japan and keep falling down Japan related rabbit holes. Like any sane person, I love Japanese cuisine, but as a vegetarian it’s sometimes difficult to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Europe, Restaurants, Tourism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mapping Monday

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Brian D. Butler
Posted in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Maps, Middle East, USA | Tagged | 3 Comments

This morning’s hallowed moment

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Presently the smell of coffee began to fill the room. This was morning’s hallowed moment. In such a fragrance the perversity of the world is forgotten, and the soul is inspired with faith in the future […]. Some day, incredible … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe | Tagged | Leave a comment

You have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

What a brilliant book/art project . The shoe/book by Magdalena Haras who has taken excerpts from ‘The long Walk’ by Slawomir Rawicz and made them into a book that is also a pair of shoes. Magdalena’s interpretation alludes to secrecy with the information … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Fugue State

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Death Fugue by Paul Celan Black milk of morning we drink you evenings we drink you at noon and mornings we drink you at night we drink and we drink A man lives in the house he plays with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

An OG Luigi

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“Conscience” by Italo Calvino translated by Tim Parks Came a war and a guy called Luigi asked if he could go, as a volunteer. Everyone was full of praise. Luigi went to the place where they were handing out the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment