Category Archives: USA

Talking Books

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I have an on-again, off-again interest in podcasts. When I’m traveling, I tend to catch-up on the podcasts that I’ve been meaning to listen to for a while. Since I’ve been stuck at home, my podcast consumption has been limited. … Continue reading →

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National Parks

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Hiroshi Yoshida (吉田 博, Yoshida Hiroshi, September 19, 1876 – April 5, 1950) was a 20th-century Japanese painter and woodblock printmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the shin-hanga style, and is noted especially for his excellent landscape prints. Yoshida travelled widely, and was particularly … Continue reading →

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Lessons from the 20th Century

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Following the horrific events of last week, I am not alone in reflecting back on the cautionary warnings of Yale historian Timothy Snyder. His short, but powerful book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century published just days after the … Continue reading →

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A Year of Good Reading

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

January. A year of good reading ahead is a wonderful book poster from a large WPA collection from the Library of Congress. The series of posters was created by the Federal WPA during the 1930s.  

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Pandemic Art

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The New York City-based Brazilian-born Japanese artist Oscar Oiwa found himself in similar circumstances as many folks when the pandemic began last year. His projects and travels were all postponed, and he found himself locked down in his NYC apartment. … Continue reading →

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I’ll show you a saint

Posted on January 2, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The Stand: Stephen King “Show me a man or a woman alone and I’ll show you a saint. Give me two and they’ll fall in love. Give me three and they’ll invent the charming thing we call ‘society’. Give me … Continue reading →

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Happy Public Domain Day Eve

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Way back in 1998 Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act extending US copyrights by 20 years to life-plus-70 for human authors and 95 years total for corporate authors. The extension was retrospective, so works in the public domain went … Continue reading →

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The Year in Review

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Brian D. Butler
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Predicting The Future

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The late American author Octavia Butler died nearly 15 years ago, but the disturbing plague year that is coming to a close has resulted in a renewed interest in her books. Her Parable books were especially popular in 2020, with … Continue reading →

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Safety First

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Alaska Airlines has updated its safety video to reflect the new reality of flying in these crazy pandemic times.

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