Category Archives: Film

Ein Meisterstück Inspires Writing

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The always quirky and entertaining director and screenwriter Wes Anderson has brought his trademark stylized aesthetic and offbeat storytelling to the Montblanc’s new ad campaign. Released to celebrate the centennial of the brand’s Meisterstück pen, the campaign film features Anderson … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Film, movies, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Literary Leviathan

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I was saddened to read about the death of the great American writer Paul Auster, who succumbed due to complications arising from lung cancer, aged 77. Auster, who has been celebrated as one of the most important American authors of … Continue reading →

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When in Rome

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

When I visited Rome for the first time more than four decades ago, I quite randomly chose to pop in at the Museo della Civiltà Romana to see the massive model of the ancient city. The archaeologist and architect Italo Gismondi … Continue reading →

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Many years later, as he faced the firing squad…

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude during my first year at university when I … Continue reading →

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New York City is the best movie set in the world

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Texas-born filmmaker Jordan Studdard grew up with dreams of living in New York City. Now that he’s been there for seven years, he created an homage to his adopted hometown with a wall-sized map of the city, dotted with tiny … Continue reading →

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Go To A Happy Place

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

One Minute Park: I really, really enjoy this pure dead simple website.  One Minute Park couldn’t be more basic – click the link and you get transported to a  full-screen video, in landscape, which lasts for exactly 60 seconds and … Continue reading →

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Maps, Art and AI

Posted on April 13, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The very clever guys behind the website Brilliant Maps have utilized artificial intelligence programming to conjure up some quite interesting maps based on the painting styles of some great artists. You can see the results on their website and on YouTube in … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Art, Film, Maps | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Smoke Signals

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

 Mt.Etna‘s Southeast Crater has begun emitting countless graceful vapor rings (“volcanic vortex rings”), a phenomenon never seen like this before. Someone said “maybe because we receive so much bad news lately, Etna has decided to do something simply beautiful”.  

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Around The World

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I am a complete sucker for the rediscovered and digitally enhanced old films and travelogues from the late 19th century. The YouTube channel Lost in Time has taken footage from the renowned Lumière brothers that was shot in 1896, then enhanced and … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Europe, Film, History, Middle East, movies, Photography, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Making Space for Everyone

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I have been visiting the Netherlands for more than 40 years and have been truly impressed by the transformation in the way the country manages public transportation. I only wish that the U.S. would begin to follow their lead. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Film, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments