Attention Map Geeks

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

The amazing new exhibition, Strait Through: Magellan to Cook & the Pacific at the Main Gallery of the Firestone Library, Princeton University runs until January 2, 2011

The fascinating exhibition documents the drama of the unfolding European exploration of the Pacific Ocean that followed from Ferdinand Magellan’s transit of the Strait of Magellan. In rare historic maps and the original printed narratives of the main European explorers, the exhibition traces 250 years (1520s-1770s) of both national and personal maritime achievements, as the map of the Pacific slowly developed into its present shape.

Chronological maps of the Magellan Strait, Pacific Ocean, and Spice Islands (Moluccas) form the backdrop to exhibition cases devoted to individual explorers and explorer-pairs: Ferdinand Magellan (d. 1521), Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira (1542?-1595) and Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (d. 1615), Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596), Jacques Le Maire (1585-1616) and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten (d. 1625), Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603?-1659), William Dampier (1651-1715), Jacob Roggeveen (1659-1729), Samuel Wallis (1728-1795) and Philip Carteret (d. 1796), Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), and James Cook (1728-1779).

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Never Forget

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

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Random Friday

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

The Fine Brothers spoil 50 novels in just 4 minutes (really).

Post-apocalyptic bookstore browsing:

In the distant future, a bottle is found deep inside the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Its contents unlock the secret of what happened to three men in a bookstore at the end of civilization, and their attempt to live on. This is the trailer to the short film, ‘Alexandria‘ which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin Texas.

If you thought that modern copyright laws were scary, just check-out the medieval version

One of my proudest moments was when I found my first book on the shelf at Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. Now I’m not so sure. I thought that this was a joke until I checked-out the website.

“Calling all angelheaded hipsters. City Lights bookstore, San Francisco, Calif., is sponsoring a book trailer contest to celebrate the release of the film HOWL, and is asking potential entrants “to create your own personal book trailer for Allen Ginsberg’s notorious epic poem HOWL, no longer than 90 seconds. E-mail us a link to your trailer to contest@citylights.com.”

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Maps A la Carte

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

I was pleased to see a brief story about travel friend Andrew Owen’s A la Carte Maps project on the New York Times Intransit Blog and in Sunday’s NY Times travel section. Although they only cover ten cities, A la Carte Maps aims to produce their artist designed maps for most major travel destinations. They are scheduled to unveil five new maps this month alone.

A la Carte Maps was created by two young Swiss entrepreneurs  whose aim was to revolutionize the traditional way of traveling with a combination of map, guidebook and piece of art.  Conventional tourist guidebooks are similar in their setup,often outdated and impersonal. Many of them are unpractical or too informative to be truly useful. Furthermore, some maps in guidebooks are too small – especially if there are 100 little numbers indicating recommended locations splattered all over them. City maps on the other hand are often unhandy, financed with paid advertising and made of cheap material. 

 

A la Carte Maps provides a unique approach to traveling by combining guidebook, tourist map and a piece of art in one. Travelers can now discover a location plainly “à la carte” by following the insider tips of a local guide on what to see, feel, do, and experience. The concept is simple: Imagine you had a local friend in exciting cities all over the world. Not only will this friend provide you with the most important information about your city, he or she will also reveal the city’s best-kept insider tips by writing them on a hand-drawn map

Here’s a blurb from their last press release:

“Want to know what to do on rainy days?
Where the locals like to party?
Would you like to experience things “off the beaten track” (that may require a little courage)?
Or are you looking for extraordinary restaurant tips?No matter what you’re looking for, our local guide knows where you can find it. With the purchase of a “My City à la Carte” Map, customers will further get complimentary access to the comprehensive online database of their chosen city which provides the latest updates and allows them to create their own personalized itinerary.”

 

All local guides are anonymous. A la Carte Maps prides itself on a strict non-reimbusrement policy : They don’t accept any paid advertising, free services/products, goodies, bribes and so on. All the things and tips on their maps are there, because they like them.

Posted in Asia, Canada, Europe, Maps, Tourism, Travel Writing | 1 Comment

The End of An Era

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Thanks to Nicky Gardner for this story.

When Tobias Smollett left England for France in 1763 he was in no particular rush to get anywhere. The famously ill-tempered Smollett made his way to Dover, complaining about the cold and comfortless accommodation he endured along the way. What with the knavery of publicans and the lackluster rations, it is a surprise that Smollett survived the journey through Kent at all. He opted to sail from Dover (“a den of thieves” according to Smollett) to Boulogne, judging that sea route to be much more convenient than the service to Calais. Smollett then lingered for three months in Boulogne, before venturing on to Paris. Don’t imagine that Smollett especially liked Boulogne. But he could swim, relax and watch the boats come and go from England – which took on an altogether rosier hue for Smollett now that he was estranged from his homeland.
 
Boulogne has always knocked spots off Calais as a port-of-entry into France and well can we understand why Smollett decided to spend a whole summer there. The city has a particularly attractive Ville Haute (Upper Town). But sadly, not a lot of travellers from England will be visiting Boulogne this winter, for today sees the withdrawal of the sole remaining ferry link between England and Boulogne. This is a route that has come and gone before, but had latterly experienced a revival of popularity since LD Lines took over the service last year. But all good things come to an end and LD Lines are cutting the link this evening, redeploying the vessels used for Boulogne to a new service starting on Tuesday that will link Saint-Nazaire (on the Loire estuary on the Atlantic coast of France) with Gijón (on the Asturian coast of northern Spain).
 
Hopes that start-up company Euroferries might step into the Boulogne gap with a new Ramsgate to Bologne service have come to nothing, so Boulogne is now a ferry port without passenger ferries.
 
News of the Dover to Boulogne link being axed came just after DFDS announced that from December it will no longer carry passengers on its service from Rosyth (Scotland) to Zeebrugge (Belgium). DFDS only took over the route from Norfolkline in May and the decision to change the sailings to a freight-only service means that Scotland now loses its sole remaining passenger ferry to the continent.


 
To add to this litany of dismal news, we should mention that P&O sails for the last time from Portsmouth to Bilbao later this month, marking the end of an era for the company with the demise of its last Spanish service. The P in the company name means Peninsula and refers to the Iberian Peninsula where the company found its first markets when it launched steamer services from London to Vigo, Lisbon and Cadiz in 1835. The sole remaining operator with passenger ferries between England and Spain will now be Brittany Ferries.
 
Tobias Smollett would doubtless have used much sharper words than us in reporting on the demise of Britain’s continental ferry links. A few days ago, Britain unveiled a new passport design that will feature maritime images aplenty: seagulls, lighthouses and the White Cliffs of Dover. But the day is fast approaching when travellers wanting to retrace Tobias Smollett’s journey will find it very difficult to board a passenger ferry to cross the Channel to France. Britain is a country that sorely needs a coherent maritime transport policy to ensure that it can match developments in other European waters where ferry travel is on the rise.

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It’s…European Heritage Days

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

European Heritage Days is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission.The 49 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention participate in the European Heritage Days in September each year. This joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, allows the presentation of original cultural property and the exceptional opening to the public of historical monuments in the whole of Europe. European Heritage Days give rise to cultural events and to activities which give life to sites and monuments. They emphasize skills and local traditions whilst encouraging exchanges between different European cultures.

Each year, the national and regional events are based on a specific theme. These themes vary from year to year and according to the country. They can take on specific forms of heritage (for example: farms, musical instruments, cooking traditions, architecture); specific periods in history (for example: medieval heritage, baroque heritage); the relationship between society and heritage (for example: heritage and citizenship, heritage and youth).

The Council of Europe and the European Commission also encourage a choice of trans-national themes which can be illustrated by cross-border activities jointly organised by different countries.

All information may be found on the website Council of Europe

  • Here is the program of the European Heritage Days in the 49 countries

 

Albania
29th September – 30th December
Exploring intangible heritage along the ancient ‘Via Egnatia’

Andorra
17th-19th September
Heritage and Landscape
http://www.museus.ad/

Armenia
18-19 September
Bridging Generations
http://www.mincult.am/

Austria
26th September
Places of Pleasure
http://www.bda.at/

Belarus
3rd-5th September
A new life of palaces and park complexes in Belarus
http://www.kultura.by/

Belgium – Brussels-Capital
18th-19th September
Stone & Co
www.monument.irisnet.be/

Belgium – Flanders
12th September
The Four Elements (water, air, earth and fire)
http://www.openmonumenten.be/

Belgium – Wallonia
11th-12th September
Heritage Skills and Crafts
http://www.journeesdupatrimoine.be/

Bosnia-Herzegovina
15th-16th September in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Monumental Medieval Tombstone
24th September in the Republika Srpska
Imprint of Epochs
23rd-24th September in the Brcko district
Implementation of Convention on Cultural Diversity and Convention on Intangible Heritage (Symposium)
http://www.heritagers.org/
www.zenskicentar.org

Croatia
23rd-30th September
Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan / Survey of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage, IRPP/SAAH
www.min-kulture.hr

Cyprus
8th-9th October
50 years of Heritage Conservation
www.moi.gov.cy/tph

Czech Republic
11th-19th September
The Soul of the Monuments
http://www.ehd.cz/

Denmark
11th-12th September
In the Wake of War
http://www.kulturarvsdage.dk/
http://www.kulturarv.dk/

Estonia
6th-12th September
Volunteers in Heritage Protection
http://www.muinsuskaitse.ee/

Finland
10th-12th September
Built Landscape
www.rakennusperinto.fi/erp

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
23rd-29th September
Mobile Heritage
http://www.musmk.org.mk/

France
18th-19th September
Great personalities: when men and women build history
http://www.journeesdupatrimoine.culture.fr/

Georgia
13th September – 13th October
New Life for Heritage

Germany
12th September
Culture in Motion – travel, trade and transport
http://www.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/

Greece
24th-26th September
Wizards, Spells and Talismans: Magic in the ancient and Christian world
www.culture.gr

Holy See
26th September
European Cultural Heritage for Intercultural Heritage
http://www.vatican.va/

Hungary
18th-19th September
An Uplifting Century (country mansions, urban palaces in the 19th century)
http://www.oroksegnapok.hu/

Iceland
5th September
Maritime and Coastal Heritage
www.fornleifavernd.is

Ireland
21st-29th August
Go on! You’ll get a lot out of it.
www.heritageweek.ie

Italy
25th-26th September
Italy: Treasure of Europe
www.beniculturali.it

Latvia
10th-12th September
Cultural Heritage – a contemporary challenge
http://www.mantojums.lv/

Liechtenstein
4th September
St Florin Vaduz – A church through the ages
www.hba.llv.li

Lituania
17th-26th September
Family and Cultural Heritage
http://www.kpd.lt/

Luxembourg
18th-19th September
Travel, Trade and Communication
http://www.ssmn.public.lu/

Moldava
17th-19th September
Cultural Landscape

Monaco
10th October
Monaco and Sport
http://www.gouv.mc/

Montenegro
24th-26th September
The Unexplored Potential of Rural Areas – Old Village of Njegusi
www.ministarstvokulture.gov.me/ministarstvo

Netherlands
11th-12th September
The 19th Century
www.openmonumentendag.nl

Norway
12th September
New Life in Cultural Heritage
http://www.kulturminnedagen.net/

Poland
11th-12th and 18th-19th September
From Idea to Industry
www.edd.com.pl

Portugal
24th-26th September
Heritage: a map of history
http://www.igespar.pt/

Romania
18th September
The Role of Heritage in the Life of Local Communities
www.cultura.ro

Saint Marino
12th September
No particular theme

Serbia
Beginning of September
Europe – a Common Heritage
www.kultura.gov.rs
www.muzejzajecar.org

Slovakia
8th-12th September
Technical and Industrial Monuments
www.zhmao.sk

Slovenia
25th September – 2nd October
Cultural Heritage and Prosperity: sustainable use of heritage resources
http://www.zvkds.si/

Spain
Some time in October
XXth Century Cultural Heritage
www.mcu.es

Spain/Catalonia
24th-26th September
Young People and Heritage
http://www.mhcat.cat/

Sweden
12th September
Cultural Routes
www.raa.se/kulturarvsdagen

Switzerland
11th-12th September
Lifecycles
http://www.venezvisiter.ch/

Turkey
15th-17th September
Living with Heritage
http://www.kultur.gov.tr/
www.kulturvarliklari.gov.tr

Ukraine
22nd-25th September
Cultural Heritage, Participation, Prosperity: the Ukraine – a country of castles and forts.

United Kingdom – England
9th-12th September
No particular theme
www.heritageopendays.org.uk

United Kingdom – Scotland
4th-5th, 11th-12th, 18th-19th and 25th-26th September
Celebration of the 20th anniversary of Doors Open Days
http://www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk
http://www.doorsopendays.org.uk
www.photoarch.org.uk
www.archaeologyscotland.org.uk

United Kingdom –Northern Ireland
11th-12th September
Guess what’s inside?
www.wonderfulni.info

United Kingdom – Wales
1st-30th September
Buildings, Places, People
www.civictrustwales.org/ehd/

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, History, Libraries, Museums, Tourism | Leave a comment

Books Not Bombs (II)

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Poetry rained from the skies on last weekend in Berlin as 100,000 bookmarks printed with poems by 80 poets from Germany and Chile were dropped on the city from a helicopter.

Lasting for half an hour, the initiative was intended as a protest against war and a message of peace, as well as a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the independence of Chile. It was the fifth “poetry rain” project from Chilean art collective Casagrande, which has arranged previous poetry bombing events in Santiago de Chile (2001), Dubrovnik (2002), Gernika (2004) and Warsaw (2009) – all cities which, like Berlin, have suffered aerial bombings during their history.

Organizers say that just as wartime bombings were intended to “break the morale” of the inhabitants of a city, so the poetry bombing “‘builds’ a new city by giving new meaning to events of her tragic past and therefore presenting the city in a whole new original way”.

The Berlin project, for which Casagrande worked with Literaturwerkstatt Berlin as part of the Long Night of Museums, took place in the city’s Lustgarten, where a crowd of thousands had gathered to hear readings and performances by Latin American artists.

Poems dropped from the helicopter circling the area were by poets including Ann Cotten, Karin Fellner, Nora Gomringer, Andrea Heuser, Orsolya Kalász, Björn Kuhligk, Marion Poschmann, Arne Rautenberg, Monika Rinck, Hendrik Rost, Ulrike Almut Sandig, Tom Schulz, Thien Tran, Anja Utler, Jan Wagner, Ron Winkler and Uljana Wolf, according to Lyrikline.org, one of the organizations supporting the project.

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Books Not Bombs

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

The mission of Operation Medical Libraries is to collect and distribute current medical textbooks and journals to war-torn countries through partnerships with American medical schools, hospitals, physicians, dentists, medical professionals and the US military.

Almost all medical professionals in the Western World can rely on the internet for looking up questions and maintaining their continuing medical education. While Iraqi and Afghan doctors would welcome the opportunity to take greater advantage of all that is available on the Internet, the lack of electricity, slow access, and limited availability make it difficult for most doctors and medical students to access Internet resources. As a result, they have to rely heavily on medical textbooks for clinical information to manage sick patients.

The U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy Medical Corps (MC) and the U.S. Air Force and Army Nurse Corps (NC) have struggled to get textbooks back in the hands of Afghan and Iraqi medical professionals. Operation Medical Libraries (OML) is helping to meet this need. The impact on the medical communities of these two countries has been immediate and apparent. The effects will be felt for generations to come.

OML is provides medical texts and journals to medical schools and hospitals in developing countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Originally founded as Books Without Borders, it started in April 2007 by Valerie Walker, Director of the UCLA Medical Alumni Association (MAA). She responded to an email request from a graduate of the medical school at UCLA for donated medical textbooks for medical facilities in Tikrit, Iraq. Original donations came from the UCLA medical alumni, faculty, and students. The name was changed to Operation Medical Libraries in the spring 2008 due to a name conflict with an unrelated organization.

Subsequently, MC and NC representatives working with other medical schools and hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq contacted the UCLA MAA in search of much needed medical materials. The association’s scope and significance increased by volumes through the participation of other American medical schools, such as University of California, San Diego and medical center libraries, such as Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. By August 18, 2008, over 13 tons of medical textbooks and journals have been distributed throughout Afghanistan and Iraq.

OML is unique because there is no middle man or warehouse. Textbooks and journals are sent directly from the donor to the recipient, who sorts through the medical literature and delivers them to the appropriate nearby medical facility or university.

Operation Medical Libraries (OML) is a a grass roots effort originally founded as Books Without Borders in April 2007 by Valerie Walker, Director of the UCLA Medical Alumni Association (MAA).

According to the Clinton Global Initiative, over 7,000 tons of usable medical materials and supplies are discarded every day in American hospitals and clinics. Most of these items are outright incinerated or deposited in landfills.The global impact of donating your medical textbooks will be immediate and lasting. The effect of change will be significant. The scope includes advancing medical education; improving health care; extending the productive life of a product made by cutting trees; and reducing the pressures on our landfill sites and the pollution from incinerators. Don’t throw away knowledge. Pass it on to your medical colleagues! Make a global difference!

OML exists to shrink the educational gap in all areas of the health sciences in developing countries, which
globally face the same problem: doctors and nurses go without the latest professional information they need to provide proper health care to their patients. In response to this urgent demand for life saving
knowledge, OML has built a powerful collaboration between publishers, authors, universities, and hospitals to provide formal medical references and continuing education materials for health sciences students and professionals living in the developing world. In recognition of OML’s valuable contribution to medical health worldwide, several U.S. Government agencies have also joined in the effort.

Current textbooks in the health sciences fields of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, and
physical therapy are desired, as well as anatomy and basic science books. Textbooks need to be
new or gently used, contain current information, and published within the last five years. For more
information. For more information, go to How to Donate Books or e-mail OML.

Posted in Asia, Books, Libraries, Middle East | Leave a comment

No Fatwas Please

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Los Angeles artist Sandow Birk’s expansive multi-media projects and murals have dealt with contemporary issues of urban angst, war, prisons and politics, but his new “American Qur’an” project challenges his audience in new and dangerous ways. In this courageous work, Birk writes and illustrates Qur’anic verses, drawing from traditions of illuminated manuscripts, calligraphy, graffiti and graphic novels. You can see the project in its entirity at the PPOW Gallery in NYC from September 9 to October 30th.

Here’s what Birk has to say about his project:

“The Holy Qur’an is arguably the most important book in the world right now. Our nation is in the midst of two wars in Islamic nations, hundreds of thousands of our troops are involved, our political landscape has been altered, and our daily lives are all affected by events connected to the Qur’an, and yet I knew nothing about it. I had no idea what was in it. So I decided I should find out for myself what the Qur’an is and what its message might mean for an average American like me.

As an artist, the project is my personal attempt to create an entirely hand-written and hand-decorated illuminated manuscript in the 21st century. An attempt to make something entirely by hand, based on traditional techniques and styles, but which still is about life in America right now. When completed, my project will be an entirely hand-transcribed English language adaptation of the Qur’an, illuminated with scenes of contemporary life in America that relate to the message of the text.

I create the images in my own style of illumination, which is drawn from traditional Islamic book decorations, as well as Western illuminated manuscript traditions, and the very “American” calligraphy of the cholo graffiti from my neighborhood in Los Angeles.

The images are my own personal reflections about the message in the text of each chapter, or surah, and my pondering what that message means to me in my daily life. The images are metaphors for the imagery of the text. I try to think of things in our lives that are symbolic or emblematic of the text, things that present the message in a more easily graspable way, things that average Americans can relate to.”

 

Posted in Art, Books, Freedom of Speech, Middle East | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Art of The Book

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Littlefly literary jewelry by  British artist Jeremy May, is created “by laminating hundreds sheets of paper together, then carefully finishing to a high gloss. The paper is selected and carefully removed from a book, and the jewelry re-inserted in the excavated space…. The beauty of the jewels extends within the piece: text and images pass all the way though the object, only exposed at the surfaces–giving a tantalizing glimpse of the book within.”

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