Imagine Peace

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The Imagine Peace Tower is a dramatic and moving memorial to John Lennon that was built by Yoko Ono on Viðey Island just off Reykjavik, Iceland. The monument consists of a round stone base with the words “Imagine Peace” inscribed in 24 languages and a light installation that reflects a powerful beam 10 meters wide and 4000 meters high. Although it’s possible to visit the memorial all year round, it is only illuminated from October 9th (the date of Lennon’s birth) through December 8th (the date of his murder) and also on the Winter Solstice, New Year’s Eve, and for one week during the Spring Equinox.

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It’s The Thought That Counts

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

What’s a writer with limited financial resources to do when the holidays roll around and he wants to send gifts?  For Langston Hughes, during the holiday season of 1950, the answer was to share some of his wit in homemade Christmas postcards.

In one, Hughes wrote:

IF TIMES WERE NOT SO DOGGONE HARD

I MIGHT SEND YOU A GIFT

BUT SINCE I’M BROKE AS BROKE CAN BE,

HERE’S JUST A CHRISTMAS LIFT:

MERRY,

MERRY,

CHRISTMAS!

The draft typescript for this and other cards in a series of Christmas greetings are among the extensive Langston Hughes Papers in the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The Hughes archives were given to Yale University by the author beginning in 1941, continuing throughout his lifetime, and including more materials from his estate upon his death in 1967.

The 1950 Hughes holiday cards are all on view in a special pop-up holiday display on the Beinecke Library’s mezzanine in temporary exhibition cases from Dec. 8-20. The Beinecke Library’s ground floor and mezzanine exhibition areas are free and open to the public seven days a week. Visit the library’s website for more information on the exhibit. Langston Hughes Holiday Display: The Thought that Counts.

RUNNING A DEFICIT

THIS YEAR –––

BUT NOT IN WISHING

YOU GOOD CHEER!

 

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To Dream Is Human

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The legendary American designer Milton Glaser has created some of the most iconic poster art for New York City’s subway system. He recently released three impressive new works for the School of Visual Arts’s Underground Images campaign. The series is designed to be a powerful counterpoint to trumpism and all that tangerine Mussolini stands for.

Glaser’s poster Give Help depicts a submerged house with an Oscar Wilde quote. He describes it as a reflection on “Trump’s contempt for Puerto Rico, or people of color” and a call to “help our fellow Americans.”

The poster titled To Dream Is Human addresses Trump’s racist immigration policies. While It’s Not About Me, It’s About We critiques “this narcissistic selfish atmosphere that Trump has managed to create.”

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Amsterdam is Magical

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve had the good fortune to visit Amsterdam many times, in every season. While I love balmy summer days hanging in cafes along the atmospheric canals or lounging in Vondel Park, there is something truly magical about the city in winter. It’s especially beautiful in the snow. The wonderful short film below was captured this week by local videographer Gosse Bouma.

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Free Airline Ticket (really)

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The catch to getting your free air ticket is that you first have to purchase and play a game. Get Packing is a limited edition board game from JetBlue airline which comes with one free round trip ticket anywhere JetBlue flies. The flight coupon will be valid for the entire year during 2018. The other catch is that the board games are only available for purchase on Amazon, and only on December 18th. So mark your calendars.

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Packing Priorities

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

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Library of the Future

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

h/t Tom Gauld

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Escape Velocities

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

This week Arizona State University’s Center for Science and Imagination published Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures, a free digital book collection of fiction and nonfiction about space exploration. The free book, which was funded by NASA grants, is available for download in EPUB, MOBI, iBooks, and PDF formats.

The publication’s stories and essays explore journeys to Mars, mining asteroids, searching for exoplanets, dwelling in space, and human settlement of distant planets. You can download your own free copy right here. 

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Rationalizing Airport Security

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

During the last two weeks Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport has been testing a novel approach to airport security screening. The Personal Security Pass pilot project aims to demonstrate that it’s possible to reduce wait times and make passenger security screenings less onerous. The program allows flyers to reserve specific time slots to go through a dedicated security checkpoint. Using the airport’s webpage or a special app, travelers can select an appointment slot from four days prior to a flight up to 75 minutes before take-off.

Participants in the pass program are sent a QR code for scanning by security staff and are then directed to dedicated security gates. The goal is to move 120 passengers an hour through the Personal Security Pass lanes. If the pilot project is successful, Schiphol hopes to begin rolling out the system throughout the airport.

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Reasons to use a guidebook

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

As a former travel guidebook author, I am biased in favor of old-school print travel guidebooks. Not that I am completely averse to digital travel literature; I use e-book guides too. But print guides are easier to highlight and annotate, and never run out of battery, need a wifi connection, or require an expensive international data plan to access. This little video from DK Eyewitness Travel books celebrates the many virtues of old-school travel guides.

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