Weeding out some stuff

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

β€œMy relationship with cats has saved me from a deadly and pervasive ignorance. I prefer cats to people, for the most part. Most people aren’t cute at all, and if they are cute they very rapidly outgrow it.”

William S. Burroughs

During my convalescence from a recent medical escapade, I started to weed out some of the saved and bookmarked ephemeral. This seems like as good a place as any to deposit some.

π™·πšŽπš›πš–πšŠπš—πš— π™·πšŽπšœπšœπšŽ, πš‚πš’πšπšπš‘πšŠπš›πšπš‘πšŠ (𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟸)

 

I had the good fortune to meet Allen Ginsberg at a reading in Princeton, N.J. long, long ago. The weather was miserable and the turnout was small, but Ginsberg spent more than an hour reading from a number of his books and stayed to chat with the small crowd. What i remember most was his personal warmth and generosity. He answered every question as though it was meaningful to him.

When Tolkien drew his maps and covered them with names, he felt no need toΒ bring all the names into the story. They do their work by suggesting that there is a world outside the story, that the story is only a selection; and the same goes for the hints of other creatures unaffected by and uninterested in the main plot. Middle-earth is different from its many imitators in its density, its redundancy, and consequently its depth…

Tom Shippey,Β J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century

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Post-apocalyptic Book Fest

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Selling Nature

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I have fond memories of exploring the Greek islands way back in the 20th century when it was still possible to find secluded beaches and little family run hotels. Alas, mass tourism has made all of that unlikely. The Berlin-based anonymous Greek artist who goes by the nameΒ KrankΒ has made a bold statement with a powerful land art installation on the island of Paxos.

Here’s what the artist had to say about the work: SOLD by The Krank (@the.krank)
140m2 land art installation for @paxosbiennale MANIFESTO OF MEMORY

SOLD is an artwork created on a beach using stones collected on site, with the dark ones forming the word SOLD. The choice of the word is highly charged, suggesting the commodification and privatization of land and coastline. The juxtaposition of the natural beauty with human intervention and development adds a dimension of timeliness and urgency to the work.

The placement of the word on the ground, reminds of the stamps used in real estate sales and serves as a form of protest. The work invites the viewer to consider the environmental and social consequences of selling, exploiting land and building development. SOLD is therefore not only an artistic creation, but also a political statement. In this way, I add my voice to a broader dialogue on environmental justice and sustainability.

 

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Are you guilty of tsundoku

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Japanese wordΒ tsundoku means buying books and letting them pile up unread. The word dates back to the very beginning of modern Japan, the Meiji era (1868–1912) and has its origins in a pun.Β Tsundoku, which literally means reading pile, is written in Japanese as 積んθͺ­.Β Tsunde okuΒ means to let something pile up and is written η©γ‚“γ§γŠγ. Some wag around the turn of the century swapped out thatΒ okuΒ (おく) inΒ tsunde okuΒ forΒ dokuΒ (θͺ­) – meaning to read. Then sinceΒ tsunde dokuΒ is hard to say, the word got mushed together to formΒ tsundoku.

Can any Japanese speakers in the audience tell me if there is an equivalent term for acquiring digital books and never getting around to reading them.

 

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Reading Room

Posted on July 13, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

TheΒ British Museum in London has reopened its famous circular Reading Room for visitors with free tours .The historic Reading Room was built between 1854 and 1857 to a design by Sydney Smirke using cast iron, concrete, and glass. Much of its renown rests on its impressive dome, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, with a ceiling made out of papier-mΓ’chΓ©. Famous users of the Reading Room have included Karl Marx, Lenin, Virginia Woolf, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1997 the books were moved to the new British Library building in St Pancras.

The Reading Room has since been restored and reopened to house a modern information center and a collection of 25,000 books, catalogues and other printed material. It was used for special exhibitions from 2007 until 2013 and currently houses the Museum’s archive which is available for students and researchers to access.

The general public can now visit without requiring tickets when the museum is open. There are also free 20-minute tours every Tuesday at 11am and 12 noon. Each tour has a capacity of 20 people with places on a first-come, first-served basis. Photography will not be permitted in the Reading Room.

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secret from the river

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

β€œHave you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.”

Hermann Hesse,Β fromΒ SiddharthaΒ (New Directions, 1951, first published in 1922)

 

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Alien Picnic

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I recently ran across a reference to the fantastic Russian Sci-Fi classicΒ Roadside PicnicΒ by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky that included a link to a free online version of the novel. You can read or download the book here.

The Strugatsky brothers were strongly influence by StanisΕ‚aw Lem but later they went on to develop their own, unique style of science fiction writing that emerged from the period ofΒ Soviet rationalismΒ inΒ Soviet literatureΒ and evolved into novels interpreted as works ofΒ social criticism. Their best-known novel,Β Piknik na obochine, has been translated into English asΒ Roadside Picnic.

“Roadside Picnic is a β€œfirst contact” story with a difference. Aliens have visited the Earth and gone away again, leaving behind them several landing areas (now called the Zones) littered with their refuse. The picnickers have
gone; the pack rats, wary but curious, approach the crumpled bits of cellophane, the glittering pull tabs from beer cans, and try to carry them the glittering pull tabs from beer cans, and try to carry them home to their holes.
Most of the mystifying debris is extremely dangerous. Some proves usefulβ€”eternal batteries that power automobilesβ€”but the scientists never know if they are using the devices for their proper purposes or employing (as it were) Geiger counters as hand axes and electronic components as nose rings. They cannot figure out the principles of the artifacts, the science
behind them. An international Institute sponsors research. A black market flourishes; β€œstalkers” enter the forbidden Zones and, at risk of various kinds of ghastly disfigurement and death, steal bits of alien litter, bring the stuff out, and sell it, sometimes to the Institute itself.” from Ursula K. Le Guin’s forward to the 1977 U.S. edition.

All in all, a great read for a hot summer day.

 

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That Girl

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Like many art lovers, I am a sucker for Vermeer’s wonderful paintings. And, of course, I am fascinated by the mysterious “Girl with the Pearl Earring.” Whenever I am in the Netherlands, I make time to visit the underappreciated Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague.Β  I recently stumbled upon the museum’s post on its website exploring the results of an in depth study of that girl.

Was the Girl a complete mystery? No, certainly not. The painting had already been examined in 1994. But over the last 25 years, the technical possibilities have improved significantly, so now we can investigate more deeply than in the previous century. Because this painting appeals so much to the imagination, there were questions we still wanted to answer.

How did Vermeer create this wonderful painting? What lies beneath the visible composition? What kind of pigments did he use? Where did they come from? How has the painting changed since it left Vermeer’s studio?

“One of the most surprising findings was that the background is not simply an empty dark space; Vermeer painted the Girl in front of a green curtain. Imaging techniques visualised diagonal lines and colour variations that suggest folded fabric in the upper right-hand corner of the painting. The curtain has disappeared over the course of the centuries as a result of physical and chemical changes in the translucent green paint.”

 

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Welcome to the city of love

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The BBC has released a new promotional video to gin-up some excitement for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Titled ‘Welcome to the City of Love,’ the short weaves a heartwarming narrative that blends Parisian romance with the passion of Olympic athletes.

 

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Yes, you can judge these books by their covers

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Penguin Books has revealed the winners of its 2024 Β Cover Design Award, where participants were tasked with reimagining three Penguin titles: Β City of Stolen MagicΒ by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak,Β Daisy Jones and the SixΒ by Taylor Jenkins Reid, andΒ Atomic HabitsΒ by James Clear.

Cadi Rhind won the top Adult Fiction award for her retro-inspired design for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six. The cover is a nod to the ’70s rock aesthetic, Rhind’s typography intertwines nostalgia with contemporary flair.

β€œGrowing up, carΒ journeys were soundtracked by my father’s love for 1970s Californian music. This influenced my love for that era and its creative world of album artworks and gig posters,” explains the artist. β€œThis, paired with my love for vintage typography and design are my inspirations. The magic in Taylor Jenkins Reid’sΒ Β bookΒ is in how it sparked the same electric feel I had in discovering my musical influences of this era.”

George Griffiths won the Adult Nonfiction award for his thought-provoking handmade cover of Atomic HabitsΒ by James Clear, comprising a collage that envisions the stacking of small habits but integral habits.

Atomic HabitsΒ focusesΒ on the combination of small decisions and behaviors that combine to create a better life,” Griffiths points out. β€œMyΒ Β book concept is based upon this combination of small, different habits, building and layering together to have a larger effect than they would on their own. I created my design by taking small rips of cardboard, paper and other physical materials, and piecing them together to form the words β€˜Atomic Habits’—just as small habits piece together to transform your life.”

Charlotte Jennings grabbed the prize for her charming redesign of Β City of Stolen MagicΒ by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak. Balancing color, magic, secrets, and colonial history, Jennings weaves a visual tapestry that resonates with young readers.

β€œI focused onΒ using color and shape language to convey the essence of [the protagonist] Chompa’s journey from beginning to end, using a spiral composition to guide the viewer’s eye around the cover,” Pathak shares. β€œI used orange hues to depict the warmth and familiarity of India along with its connection to Chompa’s fiery magic. All is silhouetted by the complementary blue color of the sea and the date palm, pointing directly at the mysterious, cooler-toned city of London. At the center of it all is Chompa, wrapped up in this chaotic adventure full of intrigue and magic.”

 

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