Travel Between The Pages

World’s Latest Check Out Time

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Art Series Hotel chain in Melbourne Australia is now offering the ultimate in customer-friendly check out policies. The Overstay Checkout answers that age old question: Why do most hotels make you checkout at 11AM even when the next guest isn’t due for hours?

Will Deague’s three boutique hotel properties now enable guests to keep their room as long as they want if no one is due to check in—which can be a few extra hours or even days at no extra charge. So, if you’re going to be in Melbourne, why not stay at The Cullen, The Olsen or the Blackman?

Posted in Hotels, Tourism | Tagged Art Series Hotel, Australia, Melbourne, Will Deague | 1 Comment

Borrow One If Necessary

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Tomorrow, December 1st, marks the third annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day. More than 1,000 bookshops in North America, along with stores in the U.K. and Australia, will be hosting special events to celebrate young readers. Many bookstores will have readings, book giveaways, door prizes, refreshments and more.

According to Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day founder Jenny Milchman:

“Bookstores hold a place in the hearts and times of our community. They are places to discover an author, a story, a life. Nothing affords the conversation and interaction among books and book lovers that a bookstore does. In the future, whether you download your story or pluck a volume off a shelf, a bookstore will be able to accommodate. But in order for bookstores to flourish and thrive, we must expose future generations to the unique pleasures they offer. On December 1st, 2012, take the child in your life to a bookstore. Watch his face light up as you give him free access, not just to a new book, but to tomorrow.”

Bookstore Leaves Novels Around The City For People To Find (psfk.com)
‘Every Other Bookstore I’d Known Fell Away’: Writers’ Favorite Bookshops (theatlantic.com)
Indie Feature: Avid Bookshop (fortheloveofbookshops.com)
Pleasures of a good bookshop (travelbetweenthepages.com)
Independent Bookstores, Two Great Ones in Downtown Santa Cruz (nativesantacruz.org)

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, Canada, Europe, USA, Writing | Tagged Bookselling | 2 Comments

Timeless Alsace

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

According to the editor Julien Guntz,

The “Alsace timelapse” project is the fruit of the collaboration of three French artists from Strasbourg, and the fusion of their photographic, editing and musical talents. The collective, baptized IGH, presents a short film entirely produced through the time-lapse photography technique. Combining thousands of photographs captured over a period of two years across the Alsace region by the photographer Jean Isenmann, and edited by Julien Guntz against a musical background by Marco Havnin, this film attempts to encapsulate the magnificence of the Alsace region in all its aspects.

Eating out in Alsace at Christmas or New Year (best-of-upper-rhine.com)

Posted in Europe, Tourism | Tagged Alsace, France, Strasbourg | 1 Comment

Go Amphibious

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

If you have ever dreamed of going camping and boating, the Sealander is the perfect solution for you. This nifty little schwimmcaravan retails for around $20,000, but it’s fully customizable and comes with an electric motor, heating and cooking equipment. I wish that I had one of these when I lived in Florida.

According to the Sealander company website , “Through its integrated waterproof chassis can be Sealander without trailers and slipway just launched. Among the wide bowl shape provides high stability and thus a safe location on the water. Due to the shallow draft can also navigate shallow waters. A low-emission electric motor allows the unlicensed use of almost all inland waters. The accumulator of the outboard motor can also take advantage of the power of the interior and while driving on land can be easily loaded on the towing vehicle.”

Posted in Europe, Tourism | Tagged Camping, Florida, Germany | Leave a comment

Mapping Our Emotions

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Artist Ed Fairburn creates arresting portraits out of the hodge-podge of streets, roads, railways, topographical features and waterways on ordinary maps. His meticulously worked pencil and ink drawing are hauntingly emotional. Fairburn says, ” The work that I produce is largely figurative, and through the exploration of the human form I examine the patterns and structure that exist across the body”.

All images © Ed Fairburn

Posted in Art, Maps | Tagged Maps | Leave a comment

Parade Redux

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Of course I missed the actual broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last week (good excuse: I was cooking for 15), so I was amazed to find that former street artist and fellow Jersey boy KAWS had a balloon in the parade. The Brookly-based artist, who is known as Brian Donnelly at home, is famous for his clever reworking of comic cultural icons and his subversive toys and sculpture. His surprising entry into the pantheon of beloved parade balloons was his curiously moving figure called “Companion”.

Posted in Animation, Art, USA | Tagged Brian Donnelly, Jersey, KAWS, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | Leave a comment

Book Building

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Eco-Artware, a retailer dedicated to “green” gifts, has posted a series of impressive projects created with recycled or discarded books. Some are prize-winning installations by artist Job Koelewijn, but the remainder are simply ingeneous efforts from bookstores and museums.

Job Koelewijn

Brunswick Bound, Brunswick, Australia

Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah Georgia

Delft University Library

Posted in Architecture, Art, Books, Bookstore Tourism | Tagged Book Artists, Book Arts | 2 Comments

Art in the Metro

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Many visitors to Amsterdam never ride the city’s limited Metro system; in fact many don’t even know that it exists. But the GVB’s clever campaign to refurbish the Zilbermeeuwen metro cars may encourage art-loving tourists to take a ride.

When the 30 year-old passenger cars began to show their age, the GVB partnered with the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts to start the “Art in the Metro” project. Local artists have already brightened 44 metro cars with original paintings.

The photos indicate the name of the artist and the metro car number.

Posted in Art, Europe, Tourism | Tagged Amsterdam, Metro, Netherlands | 2 Comments

Be Safe Around Trains

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Most public transit safety advertising tends to be dull, unimaginative or even browbeating, so it was a treat to see the entertaining approach taken by Melbourne Metro in Australia. Animator Julian frost created this kooky little film called Dumb Ways To Die that doesn’t even mention public transportation until the very end of the film. But be aware that the musical ditty, also called Dumb Ways To Die, may make your head explode.

Posted in Animation, Tourism | Tagged Australia, Business, Melbourne Metro, Public transport | Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Like most every kid growing up in the United States, each Thanksgiving Day holiday morning I was glued to the television in anticipation of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade broadcast from New York City. It’s been quite a while since I’ve actually seen the parade in person, but I always try and catch a few minutes of this idiosyncratic American spectacle each year.

These vintage photographs from the early 1930s through the late 1970s are just a sample of the wacky, weird and sometimes freaky balloons that glide through Manhattan each Thanksgiving Day.