Category Archives: USA

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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The Person of the Year

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The book trade magazine Publishers Weekly has named the “Book Business Worker” as person of the year. The wonderful graphic above illustrates just some of the multitudes who keep publishing and bookselling going even in the midst of a world-wide pandemic. You … Continue reading →

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like a downhill brakes-burned freight train

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

AND STILL IT COMES Thomas Lux like a downhill brakes-burned freight train full of pig iron ingots, full of lead life-size statues of Richard Nixon, like an avalanche of smoke and black fog lashed by bent pins, the broken-off tips … Continue reading →

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Rocky Mountain High

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

A few years ago, I took a road trip around the U.S. southwest. One leg of the journey was a drive between Denver, Colorado and Moab, Utah, with a stop in Glenwood Springs, Colorado along the way. It’s a route … Continue reading →

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Old Nieuw Amsterdam

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

I come from two old New York City families, but not nearly as old as these 17th century views of the city when it was still the Dutch  West India Company’s colony of Nieuw Amsterdam. Published in 1651, the image … Continue reading →

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the gods wait to delight in you

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

It should come as no surprise to any one that the poet Charles Bukowski was an inspiration and muse for the great Tom Waits. I am always moved by the short Bukowski poem “The Laughing Heart” so I love the … Continue reading →

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Sea of Cortez

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

We know it as the Gulf of California, but in 1940 it was called the Sea of Cortez. In that year, the novelist John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts  traveled there to research a book project on the region’s … Continue reading →

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A Window on the Universe

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Image Credit & Copyright: Zachery Cooley This extraordinary image was taken at North Window Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, this past October by Zachery Cooley. Not long ago, I spent a few days in and around Arches; it is … Continue reading →

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Reading is still the path

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

“The gears of poverty, ignorance, hopelessness, and low self-esteem mesh to create a kind of perpetual failure machine that grinds down dreams from generation to generation. We all bear the cost of keeping it running. Illiteracy is its linchpin…. Frederick … Continue reading →

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