Books Are My Bag

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Books Are My Bag is an upcoming nationwide campaign throughout the UK celebrating books and bookshops. The collaboration among publishers, writers and bookstores—both chain and indie—is the biggest promotion for bookshops ever launched in Britain. The mission is to rally support for bookstores under threat from Amazon and digital books.

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Books Are my Bag is calling on booklovers to show support by visiting their favorite bookshop on Saturday September 14th and to purchase a book (or more). Bookstores throughout the UK will be hosting a “Big Bookshop Party” to mark the debut of the campaign, which runs through Christmas. They will also be handing out a quarter of a million book bags.

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Hopefully, the concept will catch on in the U.S. and other countries.

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Whadda You Lookin’ At

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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New York City’s Little Italy neighborhood is a pale shadow of it once was. Block after block has been subsumed by the ever-spreading Chinatown sprawl. But a new street initiative called the L.I.S.A. Project aims to turn Little Italy into Manhattan’s only dedicated mural arts district.

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Created by the Little Italy Merchants Association and the New York Comedy Festival, the exciting project is designed to stimulate renewed interest in the neighborhood from tourists and New Yorkers alike.

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So far, works have been contributed by a number of popular street artists, including Ron English, Nosego, GILF!, Hanksy and AVSP. The latest piece is a stunning abstract portrait of Audrey Hepburn by Tristan Eaton. You can see some behind the scenes photos here and learn more about the project on their website.

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What Came First

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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As a bookseller, I am frequently asked to help folks determine if they have a first edition book or a less valuable reprint. In fact, I get more calls and emails about this question than any other requests for information. Although I have been collecting and selling books for decades, I sometimes have difficulty answering these queries to the satisfaction of the questioner. Ironically, it’s often more difficult to determine if a “modern” book is actually a first than in making that evaluation for antiquarian  titles. So, here’s a very helpful short video on identification of modern firsts from the staff at London’s terrific Peter Harrington Books. If you’re in London, and love books, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the Chelsea bookshop.

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See Italy for Free

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Are you hankering for a visit to Italy but you’re low on cash or time? Italy’s popular beverage brand San Pellegrino has created an opportunity for you to take a 3-minute digital vacation in Sicily for free.

San Pellegrino has built robots that explore the town of Taormina in real-time and stream live video broadcasts from the town. The five robo-tour guides drive around and interact with locals and tourists, while a skybot provides scenic views from above.

You can take your personal 3-minute vacation via the San Pellegrino Facebook app.

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Travel the Bookshop Trail

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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The new Bookshop Trail app was created to celebrate Edinburgh’s status as the very first UNESCO City of Literature and to provide booklovers with thorough information on fifty-three of the city’s bookstores. The helpful app covers it all from antiquarian and indie to secondhand and chain bookshops, with shop details, contacts, times, images and a locator map.

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I was chuffed to find that the app features some of my favorites in Edinburgh, including Old Town Bookshop, Peter Bell Books and McNaughtan’s. Bookshop Trail also offers a need “What’s On” feature which provides timely information on literary events around town.

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I Want the Guava Empanada

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Here in the U.S., we’ve become enamored of international cuisines. Even in regions where a Korean restaurant was once an exotic discovery, it’s not unusual to find Southeast Asia, Latin American, Caribbean and African restaurants. But Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen takes multinational take-out cuisine to a new level.

The unique restaurant, which changes its menu and cuisine every few months depending on geopolitical events, only serves foods from nations that the U.S. government is in conflict with.

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Conflict Kitchen “uses the social relations of food to engage the general public in discussion about countries, cultures, and people they might know little about outside of the polarizing rhetoric of governmental politics and the narrow lens of media headlines”.

In the past months, Conflict Kitchen has served Afghan, Iranian and Venezuelan food. They’re currently featuring Cuban food, with a menu that includes favorites like tostones and ropa vieja, but I want the empanada guayaba.

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Amazon Can’t Replace This (2)

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Situated in a wonderful old Victorian railway station in England’s Northumberland, Barter Books has been delighting bibliophiles since 1991. Counterbalancing the doomsayers in the era of the supposed death of printed books, Barter Books carries on. In fact, owners Mary and Stewart Manley were the ones who rediscovered the World War II era motto “Keep Calm and Carry On” and reintroduced the maxim to the world.

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If you can’t get to historic Alnwick to visit Barter Books, at least you can vicariously browse through this little film.

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Midtown NYC

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

Okay, I admit it, I’m a sucker for an awesome time-lapse video. Midtown New York City is one such terrific film from the folks at Washington D.C.’s District 7 Media. Based on 50,00 plus still frames, shot over six months, it captures the raw, kinetic energy of the city that never sleeps.

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Moshi, Moshi

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

I don’t know about you, but when I’m traveling I sometimes hesitate making local telephone calls due to my language deficits or just plain ignorance of local “phone etiquette”. This helpful infographic from the folks at Repair Labs may be a useful tool for navigating phone rules around the world. Although even I know that it should be do svidaniya.

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Beer Lovers Only

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Have you ever found yourself at a loss when attempting to order a beer in another country? Do you ever have trouble getting the type of beer that you really want when traveling? Well, the new Pivo app is just for you.

Developed by Justin Amey and Ollie Hepworth, Pivo provides the correct spelling, phonetic pronunciation and video tutorials by native speakers for beers in 59 languages from Afrikaans to Zulu. Best of all, no Wifi connection is required for use. I’ll drink to that.

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