Is Your Library Mysterious

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Well-timed to coincide with the National Archives’ release of the 1940 Census, the Milstein Division of the New York Public Library has posted this charming video teaser about the library’s research facilities. The Milstein Division collects materials documenting American History on the national, state and local level, Genealogy, Heraldry, Personal and Family Names, and Flags. You can learn more about the Milstein at the Division blog

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Heavy Reading

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

At first glance they appear to be well-worn old library books, but these heavy tome are actually created from salvaged building bricks. The faux literary works are the work of Melbourne, Australia artist Daryl Fitzgerald , who stencils cover art from literary classics onto the recycled bricks. The whimsical series is called “Light Reading”, of course.

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5,000 Books (more or less)

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Madrid-based artist Alicia Martín’s amazing installation at Casa de America cultural center in the heart of Madrid appears to pour out of the building like an avalanche of literature. This piece is part of an ongoing series of installations around Spain titled Biografias or Biographies. Each one incorporates approximately 5,000 used books.

 

Take a look at a video of one of Alicia’s early installations in Cordoba:

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Birth of a Book

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

I absolutely love this short film, Birth of a Book, which is a brief vignette on the actual creation of a real book using traditional printing methods. The film was shot, directed and edited by Glen Milner for the Daily Telegraph. It was filmed at Smith-Settle Printers, Leeds, England. The book being printed is Mango and Mimosa by Suzanne St Albans, and the edition is a reprint by Slightly Foxed Editions London. Yes, that’s Slightly Foxed the fantastic secondhand London bookshop on Gloucester Road.

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Nearly Orwellian

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious award for writing. Each year a select committee awards the prize—actually four prizes—for work that aims to achieve George Orwell‘s goal “to make political writing into an art”. The long lists for the book prize, blog prize and journalism prize were announced last week. My money is on Christopher Hitchens‘ Arguably for the 2012 book prize.

Picture of George Orwell which appears in an o...

Picture of George Orwell which appears in an old acreditation for the BNUJ. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m less certain about the blogger prize. This year’s long list seems to be wanting in independent blogging. In fact, it appears that most of the recognized bloggers actually work for mainstream media outlets. What’s up with that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, the prize winners will be named on May 23, 2012.

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Speaking of Pythons

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

A big tip of the hat to reader and contributor Evan Smythe for the link to this truly bizarre video from the former BBC television show Friday Night,Saturday Morning. Hosted by Tim Rice, the now famous lyricist, the episode was an absurdist debate between journalist, media whore Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, Bishop of Southwark on one side and John Cleese and Michael Palin on the other side about Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

At times virtually indistinguishable from a Python sketch, the show underscores why films like Life of Brian need to be made. If you’re a Python fan (and who isn’t), you won’t want to miss this video, if only for the fascinating tidbits on the making of the movie.

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And Now For Something Completely Different

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The 1979 short film Away From it All is a Monty Python gem that sends-up those inane travelogues that we’ve all had to endure. The 13 minute film was written and narrated by the inimitable John Cleese and was shown in theaters as an opening teaser for Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Unfortunately, the hilarious flick was only available for theatrical release in the UK and in Australia, but now the rest of the world can enjoy it too.

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It’s 1984 All Over Again

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

George Orwell’s groundbreaking novel 1984 is about to get a new movie make-over. Rumor has it that Imagine Entertainment, run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is developing a new take on Orwell’s iconic, dystopian classic. And, too add the bizarre factor, apparently the street artist Shepard Fairey was instrumental in bringing the project to Imagine.

The seminal book has been adapted before for movies and television, including a powerful, if flawed, version starring John Hurt and Richard Burton.

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We Love Margaret Atwood (even more)

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The prophetic, bestselling author Margaret Atwood is galvanizing public support for striking library workers in Toronto, Canada, while challenging shortsighted proposed cuts to library budgets. This week, Ms. Atwood said that “People support libraries, but sometimes don’t understand that it takes people to make them run. Just as it takes writers to write books”. She also encouraged her Twitter followers to attend rallies and read-ins at the Writers’ Union of Canada in support of striking library workers.

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Eurostyle Urban Hacktivism

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Self-described “urban hacktivist” Florian Rivière from Strasbourg has come up with a foolproof method for crossing busy European streets. His portable crosswalk would have come in handy last week in Madrid. Check-out his website for more of his tongue-in-cheek inventions and hacker culture inspired guerilla street art.

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