Bookshelves and Veggie Meatballs

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Say what you like about the Swedish megastore chain Ikea, I’ve been a fan for decades. Just looking up from my desk I can count eight Ikea bookshelves, two file cabinets, and the actual desk that I’m sitting at. And although I generally abhor shopping malls and big box stores, I can happily while away an afternoon wandering an Ikea and snacking on their vegan meatballs with lingonberry jam and binging on äppelkaka for dessert.

Last week the marketing powerhouse announced a new scheme to lure book lovers into one of its magastores. They are opening pop-up reading rooms in select locations. The first, in conjunction with the Man Booker Prize people, is in Wembly, London. Customers are invited to schedule hour-long reading breaks in specially outfitted reading lounges. I’m hoping that this scheme will reach my two local Ikeas. I’ll be first in line with a bag of Swedish licorice for sustenance.

A picture taken on November 2, 2014 in Stockholm shows a traditional Swedish dish, Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, peas, lingonberry jam and cream sauce. AFP PHOTO/JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)

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Let There Be Dragons

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

“The morality of fantasy and horror is, by and large, the strict morality of the fairy tale. The vampire is slain, the alien is blown out of the airlock, the Dark Lord is vanquished, and, perhaps at some loss, the good triumph – not because they are better armed but because Providence is on their side.
Why does the third of the three brothers, who shares his food with the old woman in the wood, go on to become king of the country? Why does Bond manage to disarm the nuclear bomb a few seconds before it goes off rather than, as it were, a few seconds afterwards? Because a universe where that did not happen would be a dark and hostile place. Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain.”

—

“Let There Be Dragons” (1993), Terry Pratchett.

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Literary Touring

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

via Quid Corner

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Full cup, empty page

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Leave the gun, take the cannoli

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

One of the joys of travel is the opportunity to sample new foods or variations on edibles that you’ve enjoyed all of your life. Unfortunately lapses in language skills, confusion about what exactly to ask for, or even widely differing names for specific items within the same country can create problems. For example, on my first trip to Italy many years ago I popped into a neighborhood pasticceria and politely asked for a cannoli. The young women behind the counter responded with a shrug and a che cosa?. When I pointed to the pastry that I was requesting her response was E’ un Siciliano followed by something I didn’t catch about tourists. I was confused, but happy to get my cannoli. It wasn’t until I got to Rome and asked an English speaking bakery clerk to explain that I finally understood that in some parts of the country the pastry—which is actually called cannolo Sicialiano—is just called a Siciliano. 

This all leads me to the actually point of this post. I recently read a story on the BBC News website about an ongoing “French pastry war” over the name of that ever popular flaky French pastry with dark chocolate filling that we colonials call a pain au chocolat. However, there has been an acrimonious debate in France’s National Assembly for months over a draft food law to mandate that the pastry be called a chocolatine as it is recognized in about a third of the country. It’s not clear which way the debate will be resolved, but be prepared to ask for the winner the next time that you’re in France.

Since I’m on the subject of travel faux pas and pastries, I also had a bakery related language kerfuffle in Helsinki. Like most people born outside of Finland, my Suomi speaking skills are minimal. However, like a good tourist I always attempt to learn some basics when visiting a new country, such as salutations, directions, and counting. Unfortunately, when I requested six cookies in a pastry shop I asked for kuusi evästettä, but my poor pronunciation resulted in something closer to piss on those cookies. We straightened out the confusion eventually after much embarrassment on both sides of the counter. I guess the take away here is to always use Google Translate.

 

 

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Bookstore Tourism: The Last Bookstore

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

I know that I’ve posted stories about this amazing bookstore in downtown Los Angeles over the years, but TBTP reader Christine P. sent a link for the wonderful little video of the bibliophile’s nirvana so I thought that I’d share. If you love books and bookstores, you will really enjoy the video from Must Do Travels.

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Change at King’s Landing

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Those of you who follow TBTP on a regular basis probably know by now that I am a big fan of George R.R. Martin’s work and that I am inordinately interested in transit maps for some mysterious reason. So of course I love this super clever fictional Rail Transport in Westeros map. The wonderful graphic was created by New York City-based designer Michael Tyznik, who is selling poster versions of the map here.

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Lives In Transit

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

“This exhibition conceives of passports as the ruins of a modern dream now in terminal crisis – the dream of a globalized world. Drawing on the collections of Harvard Library, Passports: Lives in Transit addresses this major contemporary issue through the lens of passports, visa applications, and other documents associated with noteworthy nineteenth- and twentieth-century travelers, émigrés and refugees. Also on view, items of personal significance to a Harvard student telling a story of Latino immigration to the U.S., as well as a site-specific multimedia art installation of used passports purchased on e-commerce sites, further underscore the exhibition’s engagement with current geopolitics and activism.”

Passports: Lives in Transit addresses pressing contemporary issues around immigration, travel bans, citizenship, state power, the global refugee crisis, and political asylum. The exhibition has some fascinating documents from Leon Trotsky, George Balanchine, Timothy Leary, and other historical figures.

If you are a travel geek, check-out these very interesting videos:

 

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Save Walt Whitman’s House

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Walt Whitman, America’s most beloved poet, lived at 99 Ryerson Street in Brooklyn, New York when his world famous book Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855. Although the poet lived in more than 30 buildings in New York City during this lifetime, the house at 99 Ryerson Street is the only one still standing.  Accordingly, 99 Ryerson Street is of great cultural and historical significance.

There is a petition campaign by the Coalition to Save Walt Whitman’s House seeking official city landmark designation from New York City to protect the building from demolition, especially because development is encroaching on the neighborhood.  While the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission initially rejected the request, the Commission is currently reviewing additional information and research that was provided on the significance of the site and Walt Whitman’s association with the site.  The campaign to save the Walt Whitman House needs your help to convince the Commission to designate this critically important building as a landmark.

You can help by signing the petition here and by contacting the Landmarks Preservation Commission if you are a New York resident.

The house at 99 Ryerson Street is one of only two buildings directly associated with Walt Whitman that are still standing in New York City. Although he only lived in the house, which was owned by his mother, between from 1855 to 1856, he wrote some of his most important poetry there. It would be an unforgivable tragedy to lose this crucially important building to history.  Join in protecting this important cultural resource for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations.

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Itinerant Bookstore Tourism

Posted on July 21, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

As an erstwhile itinerant bookseller, I continue to be ensorcelled by mobile bookstore projects. Iron Dog Books in Vancouver, Canada is another great example of bibliophiles who dreamed of owning a bookshop, but were temporarily stymied by exorbitant leasing rates. Instead of giving up on their bookstore aspirations, Hilary and Cliff Atleo chose to embrace the food truck model and go mobile.

Since last November, Iron Dog Books has been popping-up all around metro Vancouver and surrounding areas to offer a well curated selection of both new and secondhand titles. So, if you are in the region, check out their website to discover where the bookmobile will be parked.

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