Tag Archives: Maps

Travelers still need (and love) maps

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

It’s been years since I visited the tiny state of Rhode Island, but the next time that I go I will definitely make time for the Map Center. Cartographer Andrew Middleton took over the 70 year old shop two years ago … Continue reading →

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The world in verse

Posted on August 13, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Every city, every forest, mountain, and every river has its own poem waiting to be discovered. You can uncover that geographic poetry on the MultiVerse – an interactive map where a single click anywhere in the world generates a unique … Continue reading →

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Where in the world is the Republiko of Zendia

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

How do you find a republic that never existed ? During the 1950s Cold War, U.S Army cryptologist Lambros D. Callimahos created the mythical  “Republiko of Zendia” to use in wargaming for U.S. military intelligence codebreakers simulating the invasion of … Continue reading →

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Flora and Fauna

Posted on July 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The wonderful, eclectic webcomic site XKCD mapped the most observed plant and animal for all 50 US states as reported by iNaturalist users. I’m not surprised that bumble bees were such a popularly observed animal — the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) … Continue reading →

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the first cut is the deepest

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The impressive artwork of Joanathan Bessaci includes maps cut out and layered to form images. I presently work with old Michelin maps dated from roughly 1920 to 1970. I use old French Michelin maps because I like their color and texture but … Continue reading →

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Everyone wants to see it

Posted on July 20, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Like millions of other people, seeing the aurora borealis had long been on my list of travel goals. I was overjoyed eight years ago to finally experience the Northern Lights in Iceland after visits to Norway, Alaska and Iceland. Surprisingly, … Continue reading →

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Odds and Ends

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Regular visitors to TBTP know that I love my coffee but I’m not sure this is a good idea.  Vampires are typically depicted as being weakened or even incinerated by sunlight.  Now the Department of Computer Science at the Eastern … Continue reading →

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“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I recently finished watching the outstanding Star Wars prequel Andor, which IMHO is the best one yet. But while viewing the series I was at a loss trying to place the planets featured in the program. Fortunately, there’s a terrific map of the Star … Continue reading →

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Maps explain so much

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Wen-Jen Deng, “Globalization at table” (2023), embroidery, indigo dyeing, burlap fabric, mixed media.    

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Who reads what where

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

If you believe the main stream media reports, it would seem that folks across the United States have given up on reading and spend all of their time glued to a mobile phone. But those of us in the book … Continue reading →

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