Category Archives: Writing

Does anybody really know what time it is

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Artist, writer, and data scientist Ross Goodwin created this brilliant website that tells the current time in your own time zone using passages from public domain digital books available at Project Guttenberg. When you visit Text Clock, you will find paragraphs with … Continue reading →

Posted in apps, Books, ebooks, Tech, Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Britain In Pictures

Posted on January 13, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

The books  in the 1940s Britain in Pictures series were designed to boost morale during World War II, but perhaps also record the British way of life in case the Germans completed their European campaign by successfully crossing the English Channel. The … Continue reading →

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There and back again (again)

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Last year I posted a story about the Oxford Bodleian Library once-in-a-lifetime exhibition Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth, which was the most extensive public display of original Tolkien materials ever gathered in one place. This week I was dead chuffed to discover … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Art, Books, Libraries, Maps, movies, Museums, Photography, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

There and back again

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

A buyer recently contacted me to help him find an American first edition of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit.  Since the amount that he was willing to pay was ridiculously below the usual prices that the title brings, I didn’t even bother … Continue reading →

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Yes! We Have No Bananas

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Unlike most civilized nations the United States does not deem a work to be in the public domain according to who created it (i.e. established by the death date of its creator), but rather when it was published. As you may know, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Film, Freedom of Speech, History, movies, Museums, Music, Photography, Theater, USA, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Setting Up Signals Across Vast Distances

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

POEM Muriel Rukeyser I lived in the first century of world wars. Most mornings I would be more or less insane, The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories, The news would pour out of various devices Interrupted by attempts … Continue reading →

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Best Books of the Year (or some of)

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For the past month or so we’ve seen the annual steady stream of “Best Books of the Year” lists from websites, bloggers, magazines, critics, and newspapers. So, I thought that I would share my own unsolicited list. If you are … Continue reading →

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Reading Makes You Better

Posted on December 26, 2018 by Brian D. Butler
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Every Minute Counts

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Brian D. Butler
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Protecting Fantasy Writers

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

h/t Tom Gauld

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