All Hallow’s Read Is Coming

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Are you ready for All Hallow’s Read ? Do you even know what it is ? Want to find out more? Then check-out this little video presentation by Neil Gaiman, who created the new “literary holiday” way back in 2010. Afterwards, visit the official All Hallow’s Read website for personal reading recommendations from Neil Gaiman and lots of bonus free downloads for celebrants.

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Are You Having A Laugh

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The British Transport Police call it “vandalism” and “a blight on our society”, but some merry pranksters are bringing a chuckle to Tube riders throughout London. Observant commuters and visitors alike have been noting an uptick in cleverly designed and placed amendments to Transport For London signage.

These guerilla stickers incorporate the same fonts and design themes as London’s Underground network, but add amusing twists.

One enterprising sticker bomber has even started selling removable stickers at the website Mixthemessage . Definitely a step-up from tagging.

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Lost Rivers

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

“Once upon a time, in almost every city, many rivers flowed. Why did they disappear? How? How could we see them again? This documentary tries to find answers by meeting visionary urban thinkers, activists and artist from around the world.”

Fascinated by the “entrails of cities”, writer and director Caroline Bâcle created Lost Rivers/Rivières Perdues for Catbird Films of Montreal, Canada. Take a look at the trailer for the upcoming documentary on the past, present and future of the world’s lost rivers.

There’s even a companion augmented reality app available on iTunes.

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Book Mountain

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

On October 4th, Rotterdam inaugurated the stunning new Boekenberg Bibliotheek and education center in the heart of the Spijkenisse market square. Designed by the prolific hometown architectural team at MVRDV, the Book Mountain project is the dramatic centerpiece for a neighborhood renewal plan that includes public housing, retail space, parking and public spaces.

The glass-enclosed Boekenberg has a continuous set of corriders, staire, tiers and platforms with 480 meters of bookshelves. The path up the pyramid culminates at a cafe and reading area with panoramic city views.

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Containing Writer’s Block

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

London-based LoveJordan is the collaborative artistic endeavor of Jonny Love and Samuel Jordan. They produce a diverse body of work, including the daunting series titled “Writers Block Library”. This set of glass domes packed with blank notebooks, pads, envelopes, paper, books and files is every writer’s waking nightmare.

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Vintage Murakami

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Vintage books has reissued its Haruki Murakami 15-book backlist with redesigned covers based on a unified color palette of red, black and white, and the use of the circle as a central motif.

The original illustrations were screenprinted by Israeli-born designer Noma Bar. He says that “as with Murakami’s writing, new meaning can be found in my illustrations on closer inspection and these discoveries reveal themselves in layers, like a puzzle.”

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Ban This Book

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Today is the final official day of 2012 Banned Book Week. I thought we’d “celebrate” with this comic created by Grant Snider. You can see more of Grant’s clever work over at his website called Incidental Comics. Take a look.

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Ireland, Who Knew ?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Many thanks to the folks at GoIreland.com for this quirky infographic on Irish inventors and inventions. Take a peek at their website the next time you are planning a visit to Ireland.

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Injustice Anywhere…

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Polish-born, New York City-based artist Olek yarn-bombed London last month with this awesome four panel knit grafitti installation. The project was in collaboration with Anti-Slavery International and Street Artists Against Slavery. The quote, by the way, is from Martin Luther King Jr.’s  much lauded Letter from Birmingham Jail from April 16, 1963.

All photos © Olek

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Taxi Stories

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

I have been riding New York City taxi cabs for decades and in all that time I have only had one woman driver. So I was intrigued by New York City-based filmmaker Diana Diroy’s documentary on Shonna Valeska and Elena Tenchikova. Two of only 170 or so women cab drivers out of thousands of NYC taxi drivers. Take a look at “What’s a girl doing here”.

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