Winter Carnival Murder Mystery Dinner

My Guilford friend Belinda, who’s a prime mover for Brattleboro Winter Carnival, asked me to help get the word out about this evemt, so of course I immediately tuned into ibrattleboro. dm

What happens at the Legion, stays at the Legion… well at least when this year’s theme is ‘Murder in Las Vegas’! Take a roll of the dice and see if you can figure out who the murderer is before all is revealed! You can bet it’s going to be a great dinner, with lots of friends and a fabulous show! The Vermont Theater Company will be our entertainment and dinner will be served by Brattleboro’s One and Only BMH Ladies Auxiliary. Get your tickets early to be sure you get a seat for this evening of fun, you won’t want to miss it!!


150 Years Ago (1864 2/11)

U. S. Barracks, Brattleboro, Vt. Feb.
11, 1864.

Dearest wife –

I shall endeavor to write you a longer letter than the last, you need not count that anything. Of news I have none. It is very quiet here. The recruits have all left, or nearly all. There are a few for the 9th, 7th, 8th, and the Batteries here. I have not been in town until last night. It is all still and quiet here. I started to go and see Mrs. Richard Chaplin, but she had got better and gone to a Mr. Miller’s to board in town. Started to hunt up the place: got into the wrong pew, the wrong Mr. Miller, but it was good luck. They were related to Jesse Miller of Coventry, acquainted with the Wrights, Baldwin’s, Berry’s, Thrasher’s, Flander’s, etc. etc.


The Intercept – First Look Media’s 1st ‘Digital Magazine’ Is Launched!

Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill have launched The Intercept, the first ‘digital magazine’ to be published by First Look Media. Here’s the link:

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/

Greenwald & Scahill’s first article is “The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program” and is based on first-hand accounts from a ‘former drone operator’ as well as previously unreleased Snowden documents. 


Town School Board To Discuss Public Forum

The Brattleboro Town School Board rescheduled last week’s cancelled board meeting for today, February 10, 2014 at 5:00 pm at Academy School.  It is expected that the Board will discuss the first public forum which was held in January, among other topics.

Interested members of the public are welcome to attend.  If you do, please post comments here for the benefit of those of us who are unable to be there.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 2/10/14

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 2-10-14

                    Monday February 10

12:00 am      Brattleboro Time Trade Annual Mtg- 1/24/14

1:22 am       The Ethan Allen Institute’s Rob Roper on The Morality of Free Market Capitalism

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       UVM Comm Med School: Who Owns Your Genes

5:30 am       Tar Sands Exposed – Exploring the Human and Environmental Costs


150 Years Ago (1864 2/9)

U.S. Barracks, Brattleboro, Feb. 9,
1864.

Dearest wife, –

Here I am well and hearty, not very hearty though, for I have not done duty enough since I came back to
give me a good appetite. I believe that I had rather do duty than not. I feel so uneasy, think of home every minute, think of you all the time. How I wish I was at home tonight, but here I am eating Uncle Sam’s bread and cheese and doing nothing. Did I say bread and cheese? No not by a long shot. There is no cheese in the scrape without buying it. They have almost all gone.


Every Sunday: Daughter’s Enduring Connection

Join author Donna Dearborn on Wednesday, February 12, at 7 PM, (Snowdate, Monday, March 5, 7 PM) for a talk on her book about her father, Frank Dearborn, who was Brattleboro’s Department of Parks and Recreation Director for 33 years. 

Every Sunday–A Daughter’s Enduring Connection is a tribute to her father, the story of a man who lived life with extraordinary kindness and humility. Frank Dearborn was the much-loved Recreation Director and fitness role model for the Town of Brattleboro for 33 years, active in biking, skiing, tennis, and an End-to-End hiker of Vermont’s Long Trail.


The Vermont Jazz Center Presents: The Jensen Sisters

The Vermont Jazz Center will present the Jensen Sisters featuring Ben Monder in concert on Saturday, February 15th at 8:00 PM. New York-based Ingrid Jensen is a trumpeter known for her original work as a composer, bandleader and distinguished member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra. She has been hailed by jazz great, Marian McPartland for her ability to play “with all the fire and brilliance of a virtuoso.” Montreal-based Christine Jensen has been described as, “one of Canada’s most compelling composers.” She is a saxophonist known for her multifaceted compositions and orchestrations and has won Juno and Opus Awards in recognition of her work. They will be joined by guitarist Ben Monder, one of the most versatile and interesting colorists on his instrument. The quintet will be rounded out by acoustic bassist Matt Clohesy and Jon Wikan on drums.


Matinee Film Noir at Brooks Memorial Library

Escape the cold with a Classic Matinee Film Noir Series at Brooks Memorial Library. Wednesday Feb 12 at 2 pm we are screening a film about a juicy double murder in a jealous pique. 

What is film noir? Literally it means “black film” and it is a Hollywood genre of crime movie of the 1940’s and 50’s that developed mostly out of the Great Depression crime fiction.

After the film stick around for a little discussion lead by cinephiles Tom Bedell, golf/beer journalist and lover of film; and Tim Metcalfe, veteran Hollywood screenwriter and Brattleboro Film Festival Advisory Board member.


Half-Day Kindergarten Returns to Local School

Neighborhood Schoolhouse revives “kinder” program for ages 4-1/2 to 6

Brattleboro, Vt.—When education pioneer Friedrich Fröbel invented the nurturing “garden of children” we now call kindergarten, he never dreamed that rigid literacy training, minimal recess, and a controversial “Common Core” curriculum would one day bear its name.

Kindergarten just isn’t what it used to be—many educators recommend starting at age six because the school day is so demanding—and some parents are seeking alternatives.


Weekend Concert Series: Bad Brains Live at CBGB

Okay, punks. Ready to stage dive? Let’s hit rewind on the time machine and head back to 1982 to see Washington, DC’s Bad Brains take to the stage at the legendary CBGB club in NYC.

Bad Brains are a weird and pleasant mic of reggae, funk, rock, and hardcore punk all mixed up together. Wikipedia says they started as a fusion jazz group, which makes a bit of sense. Bad Brains were musical in their madness.

They didn’t have it easy, though. Many DC clubs banned them around 1979. One might guess that the owners of the clubs were more worried about the customers than the band, judging by the CBGB crowd. Bad Brains did what any self-respecting punk band would do. They wrote a sing called Banned in DC and moved to New York.


National Geographic Channel “Building Wild” In Brattleboro!

“Building Wild” is a fun, rugged new cabin-building series currently airing on National Geographic Channel Tuesdays at 9pm. The entire first season was filmed in the Bennington area, and features Paul DiMeo of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Hoosick Falls native Pat “Tuffy” Bakatis.  

NOW, the series is looking for new build challenges in the Brattleboro area! In each episode of the show, Paulie and Tuffy – The Cabin Kings – meet a client who has a big, rugged piece of land and a dream of putting a cabin on that property.


Cancelled – First Wednesday Solzhenitsyn on Solzhenitsyn Program

The First Wednesdays program with Ignat Solzhenitsyn at the Brooks Library and reception at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, scheduled for Feb. 5th, have been cancelled due to the winter storm.

We hope to reschedule for a future date and will post it in the library’s events calendar. http://brookslibraryvt.org/


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 2/3/14

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 2-3-14

Monday February 3               

12:00 am      Vermont Yankeee Decommissioning Alliance Mtg -11/25/13

1:30 am       True North Reports: Healthcare Issues

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Holistically Speaking – Ep.82: Naturally Healthy Digestion

4:30 am       UVM Comm Med School: Who Owns Your Genes

6:00 am       VT Musicians on the Air: Flutist Laurel Ann Maurer


Solzhenitsyn on Solzhenitsyn – Event Cancelled Due to Snowstorm

EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW STORM

We regret at the First Wednesdays program with Ignat Solzhenitsyn and reception at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, scheduled for Feb. 5th, have been cancelled in anticipation of the winter storm. We hope to reschedule for a future date and will post it in the library’s events calendar.


150 Years Ago (1864 2/3)

Disclaimer: In the interest of historical accuracy, I am submitting these exactly as they were written. However, some comments and words are used that, although common and acceptable in the 1860s, would be considered offensive and politically incorrect today. So don’t shoot the messenger!

U.S. Barracks, Brattleboro, Feb. 3, 1864

Dear wife,


Chile Human Rights Arts Project In Santiago at Villa Grimaldi by Namaya & Zoe

We are thoroughly enjoying the incredible, culturally rich, and diverse city of Santiago, Chile.  We wake up in the morning surrounded by the snow covered Andean mountains and do our morning yoga to the rising sun.  Some mornings I stroll out to the main square and play my classical guitar.  It is a city of an old and gracious charm, yet it is vibrant with terrific music, dance, art, and performance. 

This has been a time of great transformation and for Zoe and me to focus even more clearly on our B4 Peace and social transformation projects.  We send you the warmth of the Chilean summer and great joy.


Brattleboro Women’s Chorus Spring Session Registration

The Brattleboro Women’s Chorus agrees with the late, great Pete Seeger that anyone can sing! They invite you to join them for the spring session that will feature American folk songs, both familiar and lesser known, all within the Chorus’s larger theme of music that is spirited and spiritual; in other words, music for the soul.

For the spring concert, the Chorus welcomes back singer/songwriter Lisa McCormick who will accompany on guitar along with other instrumentalists. And as a tribute to Pete Seeger, a sing-along, sixties-era “hootenanny” will be part of the concert.


Weekend Concert Series: Pete Seeger’s Rainbow Quest – Johnny Cash and June Carter

In the mid-1960’s, Pete Seeger hosted a black and white folk music show on television station WNJU in NY. He would host and play songs, and invite guests such as Doc Watson, Judy Collins, and Buffy Saint-Marie to come and share songs and stories.

It was an important show for Seeger, who had spent many years blacklisted from television. Tapes of the show were rescued and restored in the 1980’s.