Travel Between The Pages

Resurrected From The Sea

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

One of the many exciting activities for travelers in Iceland is a whale watching trip. There are lots of options around the country, including sailings from Reykjavik, Akureyri, and Dalvik, but the most popular tours are out of Húsavik in the far north just below the Arctic Circle.

The largest whale watching outfit in town is North Sailing, which has also pioneered the use of historic wooden fishing vessels for their tours, and has also introduced eco-friendly ships powered by electric motors and sail.

The latest addition to North Sailing’s fleet is fittingly a former whale hunting ship. The old wooden vessel was raised from the harbor at Sanderdi on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland where it sank many years ago. The ship, which is currently undergoing restoration, will run on clean electric power when it’s put into service this summer. How cool is that.

Posted in Europe, Tourism | Tagged Akureyri, Dalvik, Husavik, Iceland, Reykjavik, whale watching | Leave a comment

It was a bright cold day in April…

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Books, Writing | Tagged Agatha Christie, C.S.Lewis, Douglas Adams, J.K. Rowling, S.E.Hinton | Leave a comment

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Washington D.C.’s outstanding National Museum of Natural History has decided to give us all a behind the scenes peek at its massive collections. The Smithsonian Institution has allowed photographer Chip Clark unprecedented access to just a small part of its incredible 126 million specimens of animals, insects,plants, fossils, dinosaurs, insects, rocks, minerals, and other fascinating objects.

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C., it’s well worth the trip just to see the splendid Smithsonian museums around the city.

Posted in History, Museums, Photography, Tourism, USA | Tagged National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C | 1 Comment

Eat for free in NYC

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

This amusing video provides simple instruction on how to eat for free in New York City, assuming that you’re up for a little dumpster diving. Although it’s been years, I have to admit that I was a practitioner of the freegan lifestyle way before it even had a name. Judging by this video, the food choices have gone upscale since my day.

Posted in Restaurants, Tourism, USA | Tagged dumpster diving, Freegan, NYC | Leave a comment

Vintage Futures

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Vintage has just republished a fantastic set of dystopian and futuristic paperback fiction in a series titles “Vintage Futures”. Each of the books includes an attached sheet of acetate that can be used to “animate” the cover image.

The nine book covers feature highly stylized lenticular illustrations that suit the sci-fi nature of the series. When the covers of each book are aligned together they form a 1965 artwork by Italian artist and designer Franco Grignani called “Centifugal and Centripedal Structure”.

There’s more about the series on the Vintage design blog.

Posted in Animation, Art, Books, Writing | Tagged Dystopian, novels, Sci-Fi | Leave a comment

London Redux

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

I really enjoyed this terrific split-screen video of London Day and Night by Paris-based photographer and filmmaker Franck Matel.

Posted in Europe, Film, Photography, Tourism | Tagged England, London | 1 Comment

Last Stop Biscuit Town

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

I’m an avid follower of the Londonist blog, where I found the “Tube Map of Lost London”. The nostalgic, alternative map depicts once well known sites and neighborhoods that have been lost to history. Although even I’m old enough to remember one or two. The old Planetarium on Baker Street in Marylebone hasn’t been gone all that long. But I’ll always fondly remember the former Swiss Centre on Leicester Square. The original building and cultural center is easily forgettable, but the Swiss Café on the ground floor served the most delicious flourless chocolate cake that I’ve ever tasted.

Check out the Londonist for detailed histories of all of the stops on the Lost London Map.

Posted in Europe, History, Maps, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged Baker Street, London, Marylebone, TFL, The Tube | Leave a comment

Only The Classics

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Art, Books, Writing | Tagged Dante, Ernest Hemingway, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Moby-Dick | 1 Comment

Happy Easter

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in USA | Tagged Easter, Holidays, junk food | Leave a comment

Tokyo Views

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

Tokyo 100 Views is a wonderful, whimsical project from Japanese anime artist and illustrator Shinji Tsuchimochi. The colorful illustrations take us on a wacky little tour of Tokyo, replete with imps, ghosts, animals, movie monsters, and robots. It’s sort of like Tintin meets Lost in Translation on magic mushrooms.