Round the World Travel (for breakfast)

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Do you ever wonder what the rest of the world is eating for breakfast as you shovel your granola or Frosted Flakes? Well the folks at Hostel Bookers sent a link to their photo spread on fifty typical breakfast meals from around the world.

See if you can guess where each breakfast is consumed. Hint: These ten breakfasts are from Egypt, Costa Rica, Jordan, Poland, Morocco, Korea, Turkey, Thailand, Hawaii, and the Philippines—you figure out which is which.

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Life is the Story

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

 

Life is the Story is a charming 20 minute illustrated video presentation on the creation of a graphic travelogue by cartoonist/illustrator/travel writer Lucy Knisley. Along with her popular internet comic strip Stop Paying Attention, Chicago-based Knisley is known for her book French Milk (Simon and Shuster), which chronicled the ups and downs of her stay in Paris’ 5th arrondissment.

 

 

 

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Cheapo Tourism

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Talk about cheapo travelers: A woman named Ma Jei told startled visitors at Nanjing, China‘s Zhonghau Castle that she climbed the 14th century walls to beat the $4.00 admission charge.

The 48 year-old climber claimed that she has scaled the 70 foot walls many times prior to this episode. According to Chinese officials, other tourist who attempted to copy Ms Jei fell and were injured.

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wagamama…Art and Eat

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Okay, full disclosure, if there’s a wagamama in a city that I visit, I’m there. If there’s more than one restaurant, I’ll eat at them all. So, when I heard about the new wagamama project Art and Eat, I was excited.

Art and Eat is a unique showcase for emerging artists in wagamama’s UK restaurants. It offers a whimsical mix of specially commissioned pieces that will eventually be shown in all the British outlets. Some of the artwork will also be turned into limited edition placemats and posters. The limited edition prints will be sold through wagamama, but the artists will receive 100% of the proceeds.

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Banned Books : the videos

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

This year to mark Banned Books Week more than 650 videos of people reading from notorious banned books were posted on YouTube. Between September 24 and October 1st, videos by authors, students, celebrities, bookstore staff and booklovers were recorded for the Banned Books Virtual Readout.

 

 

Now you can check out the videos at the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression YouTube channel.

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My Wilderness

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Piers Faccini’s new album, My Wilderness, was released on October 11th in the U.S.. His first video from the new effort is for the cut “Tribe”. Directed by Cyril Gfeller, this marvelous stop-motion film was created entirely from old (hopefully discarded) maps.

Folks in the States probably are familiar with Piers Faccini from his work with Ben Harper. But, it’s worth checking-out his solo albums and the interesting avant-pop stuff that he did with his band Charley Marlowe.

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Philadelphia Story

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Now that the Phillies have crashed and burned yet again in post-season play and the despised Iggles have been thoroughly Vick-timized , Philadelphians can turn their attention back to their usual pursuits of hating on NY sports teams and shooting up bars on Saturday nights. But if there’s one things all Philadelphians can agree on, it’s their mad love for street art. And especially their hundreds of fantastic street murals that cover public spaces and buildings throughout the sprawling metropolis.

The much loved Mural Arts Program creates and manages nearly a thousand fabulous public artworks around Philadelphia. And they’ve recently revamped their terrific  website, Mural Farm, which contains detailed information on more than 800 amazing murals. You can seach the site by topics, neighborhood, time period and artists. So check it out and discover why Philly is the epicenter of mural art.

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Isle of Knowledge

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Isle of Knowledge is a fantastic illustrated map created by the extraordinary typographer, designer, illustrator and writer Marian Bantjes for the British magazine and website Varoom . Bantjes’ beautiful map was made especially for Varoom’s themed issue “Knowledge”. It lovingly explores the “destinations and paths we end up on in pursuit of knowledge”.

If you’re intrigued by the map, check-out Bantjes’ amazing book, I Wonder, which explores the interdependency between word and image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, if you’re still interested, take a look at the video from her TED talk in 2010.

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ABOVE Street Art

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

ABOVE PASSPORT chronicles the work of the mysterious Paris-based street artist ABOVE who has blanketed the globe with wall art and murals covering 90 cities in at least 60 countries.

Creating street art since 1995, ABOVE keeps his identity secret and is known best for multi-layered socio-po;itical stencils and large word play murals.

Fontana Studio has designed a limited edition, signed and numbered hardcover book with over 120 full color photographs. The collectible book is housed in a vinyl clamshell box. The book should be avaible by the end of October.

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Keep Calm and Carry On

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Brian D. Butler
Poster from the United Kingdom reading "K...

Image via Wikipedia

During World War II, Britons were encouraged to “Keep Calm and Carry On”, but it seems that the original poster imprinted with the stiff upper lip slogan has ignited a minor war of its own. The WW II British Ministery of Information posters were printed but never widely distributed, as they were deemed to be too patronizing. Now a battle has erupted over who has the right to market posters and products bearing the now ubiquitous slogan.

Our friend and fellow antiquarian, Stuart Manley, co-owner of the fantastic Barter Books in Alnwick, England, rediscovered the original posters in 2000 and has been selling them ever since. But in 2007 entrepreneur Mark Coop started his own business marketing all manner of souvenirs and junk imprinted with the slogan. This year, Coop managed to secure an EU trademark on the wording of the slogan setting-off a massive brouhaha. We, of course side with the bookseller. What do you think?

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