Culture story sections
Putney- East meets West in a shadow world where forbidden love and poetry collide. A Chance Shadow is a poetic play inspired by the Chinese poet Xu Zhimo (1897~1931) and the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (1898~1936) who changed society with their passion for literature, social reform and true love. Two poets who had never met living on opposite sides of the earth, during
Six miles from Leesburgh, on the road to
Snicker’s Gap, July 17, 1864.
Dear Wife,
Here we are on our march. I wrote to you last from Poolsville. Sent the letter to Washington by Bill Dwyer to be mailed. The day I wrote we laid still. The men were very badly used up by being up nights and the march. We left yesterday morning, followed the river up to White’s Ford. The Ford was held by a few rebels. They were quickly shelled out. The cavalry crossed and took a few prisoners. The main force of the rebels crossed there, the day we came to Poolsville. We crossed about noon, forded the river. It was fun, then we came here by a rapid march.
1864.
I picked this up at Washington. Man who had it will never see friends nor loved ones more, as he laid dead on the rebel skirmish line.
Charles E. Blake.
….
Rocky Mount, N.C., May 31, 1864.
Dear Husband, –
July 15th. Poolsville, Md.
Came here yesterday about 4 o’clock P.M. Left Washington just after dinner. Came about one half mile and waited for the division and trains to pass. Our brigade brought up the rear. Our company was detailed as flankers for our brigade train, and on we came, not knowing where we were going, so one we came, up hill and down, over one of the roughest rough roads I ever saw, men lying down at every step. At about one o’clock we had orders to stop ten minutes then long enough to make coffee, after that to lie down. So we did and slept soundly until about day light, then on and on until we reached here.
In an unusual move for public school teachers, the members of the National Education Association, the teachers union representing many of the nation’s teachers, voted on July 4 to approve a resolution calling for Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan to resign. This appears to have been a bit of an over-my-dead-body affair with regard to NEA leadership which has been accused of being overly cozy with the Department of Education and Big Ed corporations such as Microsoft and Pearson. Calling the federal policy “a failed education agenda,” a majority of the 9,000 rank and file delegates at this year’s convention declared independence from their own compromised leadership with a yes vote on the controversial measure.
Life is hard. Hope is good. To honor both of these facts of life, Write Action is sponsoring a Flash Fiction writing contest.
The winning entry will be a work of fiction no longer than 820 words. Writers can choose which of three possible themes are most inspiring.
1) “Planting seeds the day before the end” OR
2) “Hope in the dark” OR
3) “Fixing what can be fixed”
BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 7-14-14
Monday July 14
12:00 am Common Good VT: Educational Leaders – Making a Difference
1:00 am Yestermorrow Summer Lectures: Charles Eisenstein – New Design Paradigm
2:00 am FSTV Overnight
4:00 am Energy Week Extra: SolarFest – 6/26/14
5:00 am Living and Dying with Brattleboro Area Hospice: Ep. #17 – One Client’s Story
Climate Change: Fear or Hope?
In July, the “Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast” will again take place on the fourth Friday of the month, Friday, July 25, 2014 at the Gibson Aiken Center, downstairs, hosted by Senior Meals. Doors open at 7:30am.
The Topic for this month will be: Climate Change: Should we be Fearful? Or Hopeful? A discussion of some positive trends in energy use..
The presenter will be George Harvey, the General Factotum of the Green Energy Times – http://greenenergytimes.org/
On Picket Line North of Washington, July 13th, 1864.
I have but just sent off the last. I will just continue. When we reached the wharf the word was that the rebels were fighting with our troops on 7th Street, but you see I did not believe it, as we were marching very deliberately through the city, though every woman and child we met had great stories to tell. We marched through on 7th street, got well out of the city, crossed over to another road that leads to 14th St. was marched up near Fort Stephens and turned off into the woods and lay there all day. There was an occasional gun from the fort and some picket firing.
On Board the Transport Daniel Webster
July 12, 1864.
Dear Wife,
Here we are nearly up to Washington. Last night the 3rd division went to Baltimore. I understand the 1st went there, but of that I am not certain, but I saw the 2d and 3d Vermont go aboard a transport, and the 5th and 6th is on this boat. In about 15 minutes after I had sent my last letter, I received a letter from you, written the 3rd and 4th. I read the letter and then went to cooking up my beef. I had just finished when I dropped a stitch in my back, which just straightened me out. I could not get into camp, could not turn over, nor get up alone, but made the best of it. At one o’clock the major in command of the Pickets came and told us to pack up the whole corps was moving. Wasn’t that good news for me? Had to be helped up and no surgeon or ambulance or anything else, but my feet and legs they were in good order.
Twilight Music continues its 12th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, July 13 with Philadelphia-based, Americana and acoustic blues duo Beaucoup Blue. The seven concert series continues every other Sunday through August 24. All concerts begin at 6:00 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Soundview Paper Company, Next Stage Arts Project, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations. The concerts are free to the public (donations are accepted) and food will be available.
The Brits know how to hold an outdoor music festival. Glastonbury is a big, multi-day music fest, with big names sharing the stage with smaller, more indie acts. 170,000 people attended this concert on a muddy farm in Somerset.
This week we turn the clock back just a bit to 2011 to attend the festival’s closing main stage act, a performance by Beyoncé .
Why Bey? That’s a fair question. I’m not particulary a fan, nor do I know much about her. I figure that a front row seat at this show might be a way to find out a bit about pop culture in the second decade of this century. What’s popular? Have things changed much?
As Brattleboro’s Future’s Committee begins to form, it might be good to look at a few things predicted for the near future. One of them is robots.
The current path with robotics is to replace a majority of human workers wherever and whenever possible with robots. Very soon, they will be cheaper and better skilled than humans in a wide variety of tasks, from farming to surgery. Foxconn, maker of iPhones and such, has announced already plans to buy 10,000 robots to assist in production at a cost of about $25,000 each.
Beginning Wednesday, July 9th and continuing through November 12th, the Brattleboro Film Festival and Brooks Memorial Library will present free afternoon screenings of nine Hollywood classic screwball comedies from Tinseltown’s Golden Era.
A film by renowned Director Preston Sturges whose comedies mix the sensibilities of “a lowbrow aristocrat” with a that of a “melancholy wiseguy” will kick-off the five month-long series on July 9th at 2 p.m. in the library’s Meeting Room on the 2nd Floor. Brattleboro Film Festival Advisory Board member Tim Metcalfe and journalist Tom Bedell will host post-screening discussions in the library’s Meeting Room covering a wide range of topics related to the screwball comedy era, filmmaking and Hollywood trivia in general.
Near the Railroad, July 8th, 1864.
Dear Wife,
Here I am on picket again. Came on yesterday morning, pretty well round towards that rail road. I should write with clean hands if there was any water near, but it is half a mile to the spring, and we can only spare a man occasionally to get enough to cook with and drink when it is fresh. It is as good water as I ever saw. It is at that house I wrote to you about where I was on, the first time I was on picket. The women and children are all at home and are not molested in the least. People may talk about the women of the south being she-devils and all that. I have not seen many, but such as I have seen say, when they hear firing they only think of the killed and wounded, without reference to which side they belong. There are some that are decidedly Union. They show it pretty plainly.
The way we celebrate the 4th of July has changed.
I read the news from long ago each day, scanning old copies of the Phoenix, and for the last few days (many decades ago), the papers were filled with reports of Fourth of July celebrations. It appears that our earlier celebrations of independence involved more mayhem and being quite independent for the day. It almost seemed a bit more like Halloween, with noise, pranks, costumes, and silliness.
Worldwatch’s latest estimate is that 51% of greenhouse gas emmissions that are dramatically increasing climate change, are the result of meat production, (with a significant part of that coming directly from the methane created by cows.)
Fans of WKVT’s “Live and Local” show probably know that due to some scheduling/programming changes, L&L is no more, but that host Chris Lenois is now on “Green Mountain Mornings” on WKVT (100.3 FM or 1490 AM) from 6:00 – 9:00 a.m. with a similar approach to topics of local interest.
If, for whatever reason, you can’t listen to the show live on-air, podcasts from “Green Mountain Mornings” can be heard online or on your iPod/MP3 player any time.
The ice at the poles are the highest since measurements, but the warming models predict otherwise! Oh well, it’s good to be wrong unless you ‘re a palm tree salesmen !
Global warming latest:.
During July’s Gallery Walk (Friday, July 11) a new exhibit, featuring works by members of Brattleboro-West Arts, is arriving at the Strolling of the Heifers’ Gallery at the Garden, located at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden at 157 Main Street, Brattleboro.
Entertainment during the opening will be by the Bondville Boys, an edgy, eclectic bluegrass band that plays a huge assortment of music, including a ton of original tunes and everything from Flatt and Scruggs to Blondie.
The reception, with refreshments, is free and open to the public. It takes place during Gallery Walk, Friday evening, July 11 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and thereafter will be on view weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., continuing through August.
