A bridge to…

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Thanks to Wilson Dizard for the post idea.

 
 

Graz

 

 
 

Jerusalem

 

 

 
 

Isfahan

 

 
 

Mostar

 

 

 
 

Mumbai

 

Prague

        

 
 

Istanbul

 

            

Chegyang

 

Luzern

Firenze

Cambridge

Brooklyn

 

 

Posted in Architecture, Asia, Europe, USA | Leave a comment

Will You Be Part of TS2AS ?

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Times Square in the heart of New York City is renowned around the world for its over-the-top public advertising. It’s an urban wonderland of kinetic billboards, enormous video screens and non-stop tickers. But one 22 year-old design student from the Netherlands wants to turn all that ad space to art work, if only for a single day.

According to Justus Bruns, the driving force behind the project, “Times Square to Art Square is a complex project with a single goal: to turn all the advertising in Times Square into art for one day”. The young designer first visited NYC this year and immediately instigated TS2AS when he got home.

His goal is to transform the world’s most famous advertising space into a vast public museum, where international artists will create works specifically for Times Square. Visit the TS2AS website to donate, participate or submit your artwork for consideration.

Posted in Art, Tourism, USA | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Last Man in Europe

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Some of our most important classic novels were nearly released with very different titles. Would they have been as successful with the original choices?

George Orwell’s editor at Secker Warburg didn’t think that the title The Last Man in Europe really captured the mood of the dystopian novel, so he suggested 1984.

 

 

Up until Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula went to the printers, it was titled The Dead Un-Dead.

 

 

Would Joseph Heller’s cultural icon have become a bestseller with the original title of Catch-11 ?

Hemingway’s oddly banal and literal title choice for the Jonathan Cape UK edition of The Sun Also Rises was Fiesta: a Novel .

 

 

Some how Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires or Trimalchio in West Egg don’t carry the literary weight of The Great Gatsby.

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Travel by Gingerbread

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Architecture, Art, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Lucasfilm’s 2010 company Christmas card

Posted in Art, Film, USA | Leave a comment

Do You Over-decorate ?

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Architecture, Art, Photography | Leave a comment

Nostalgia NYC Style

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

The Museum of the City of New York has placed a noteworthy selection of old NYC photographs from its enormous collection on its website. On the home page, click on the “Collections Portal” box for a trip back in time.

Bereniece Abbott

Byron Bros.

Luna Park by Samuel Gottscho

Opium Joint by Jacob Riis

Billie's Bar by Bereniece Abbott

Times Square Samuel Gottscho

 

Jacob Riis

Posted in History, Museums, Photography | Tagged | Leave a comment

Street Art…Chernobyl Style

Posted on December 22, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

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

We Never Forget

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Europe, History | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Hottest Tourist Destination for 2011

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Planning your next vacation trip? having trouble deciding where to go? How about visiting the site of the world’s worst civilian nuclear disaster?

Beginning early Spring 2011, the area surrounding the ruined Chernobyl nuclear power plant and nearby towns and villages will be officially open for tourism. Freelance (read illegal) tourism has been happening around Chernobyl for years by adventurous (read foolhardy travelers), but now we can all safely visit the disaster site without fear.

The Ukranian government has announced that visitors will be able to take officially sanctioned guide tours within the 30-mile exclusion zone that was set up following the April 26, 1986 explosion.

Although the area around Chernobyl continues to be heavily contaminated, supposedly safe routes have been established to allow for visits to the major sites. tours will include extensive tours of the ghost town of Prypyat, once a prosperous city of 50,000.

Memorial for Clean-up Workers

Posted in History, Tourism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment