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Thanks, But No Thanks

by spinoza | Philosophy

Recently the Jewish Community of Amsterdam took up the question of repealing Spinoza’s excommunication. The banishment, effected in 1656, has never been formally challenged despite many promptings over the years from within the congregation of those whose ancestors ordered Spinoza’s expulsion.

The present congregation convened its own review board, as well as comissioned an advisory board of scholars and philosophers to consider the question. Several precedents related to revoking such a harsh sentence. (Indeed Spinoza was the only one of Amsterdam’s exiled Portuguese Jews to be so disgraced.) It was established the person in question need be alive, and show some measure of recognition, as well as contrition for their transgressions.

Muslim Journey: Literary Reflections on Islam

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Please join Marlboro scholar and Professor of Religious Studies Amer Latif, in a journey through the literature of Islam. The discussion for Wednesday, May 28, 7 pm will be Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi.

Books are available at the Library’s circulation desk. Islam has long provided a source of inspiration through which Muslims experience, understand, and guide their everyday lives. The readings for this theme can be seen as literary reflections on Muslim piety and communal concepts such as ethics, governance, knowledge, and identity. Each one reveals transformations in faith and identity, as Muslims living at different times and in different places have interpreted Islamic traditions to meet their distinctive cultural realities and spiritual needs.

Meánrang Gaeilge ag tosú i mBrattleboro / A Middle Level Irish Language Class is Starting in Brattleboro

by JohnnyLeeConroy | Education

Dia dhaoibh:

Tosóidh meánrang Gaeilge nua i mBrattleboro i gceann míosa amháin. Beidh sé bunaithe ar an leabhar Gaeilge Gan Stró: Lower Intermediate Level, leabhar atá oiriúnach do dhaoine a rinne staidéar ar Gaeilge lá den saol agus ag iarraidh a thosú aríst. Má tá aon cheist agaibh, bígí i dteagmhail leis an múinteoir, Seáinín. Tosóidh an tsraith Dé Luain, 16ú de Mheitheamh, 17:30 – 19:30.

Greetings:

Excessive Speed of Automobiles in Brattleboro, 1904

by cgrotke | History

The Phoenix, May 27, 1904

“A proselyte is the most obnoxious type of an enthusiast and new purchasers of automobiles seem to suffer in a similar direction. A few arrests for fast driving by automobiles would have a salutary effect and might prevent some serious accidents. Several automobiles constantly run their machines, both in and outside of the village, at excessive speed.

They frequently come tearing down Putney road at a 20 mile an hour clip and pay little attention to the rights of people with horses. Several men who have fast horses which are not afraid of the cars have had the animals so badly frightened by the sudden approach of automobiles that they are now very difficult to control whenever an automobile appears.”

Allegedly Dave on WVEW

by pockets | Media

Tonight on DJ Pockets’ “buttahmilk” radio program: Its time for another experience that you won’t soon forget..this one features Allegedly Dave. We will talk about urine therapy. Allegedly Dave was an overweight, balding, asthmatic and then he tried urine therapy. The results were incredible! tune in this tuesday from 6pm-8pm on 107.7fm and www.wvew.org

check out Allegedly Dave’s website: http://allegedlydave.com/

150 Years Ago (1864 5/26)

by BusyMom | History

Washington, May 26, 1864.

Dearest Abiah,

I wrote to you a few lines last night, just to let you know of my whereabouts. Well, I am well today. Have eaten my allowance of grub. There are at this commission some thirty of forty awaiting examination. One reason why I wanted to go to the front was, there have been so many passed by the board I thought I should die with old age before I got a commission. I was just going to the front and fight my way up or – – – but I have concluded to stay here contented until my turn comes for an examination. This is all I have to say for myself. If Grant has to fall back, I shall go to the Regiment. As long as he is pushing on I feel very well. I suppose you know more about those that have been killed and wounded than I do, so I shall say nothing about it. I believe such fighting has never been known in the history of the world, it was almost certain death or wounds in that wilderness, full of concealed rifle pits, but Lee has had to leave that cover.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 5/26/14

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch. 8 Schedule for the week of 5-26-14

                   Monday May 26             

12:00 am      Organic Politics: Battle of the Sensible – The Money Debate

1:00 am       Instant Coffeehouse: Vermont Acoustic Folk Duo Cricket Blue

1:30 am       For the Animals: Mercy for Animals

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       John Specker: American Fiddle Music

5:30 am       The Nature Museum of Grafton pres. – Bridget Butler – The Bird Diva

150 years Ago (1864 5/25)

by BusyMom | History

Washington, May 25th, 1864.

Dear Wife,

Here I am in Washington. Came in the morning. Got permission to appear before the board, but when I got down here and could see over into Virginia where men were pouring out their blood like water for their country, the old feeling came over me to rush to the battle. I thought I would find Mr. Baxter and advise with him. You see I had nothing but my word to prove that I belonged to the 6th Vermont. Mr. Baxter did not advise me, but I concluded to go, for I am not like Lynn. He thinks a living coward is better than a dead hero. Would not you blush to be the wife of a living coward, but Lynn does not mean it. He is not able to take the field.

Coach Globally, Act Locally: Psychosynthesis Life Coach Training Draws Students from Around the Globe

by Not Signed In | Education

Students from four countries and three continents are engaged in a pilot life coach training program that is designed to bring about change in people’s lives, one at a time. From Australia to Poland, in Canada and the United States, students are learning the principles of psychosynthesis, a “transpersonal psychology that gives people tools to find purpose and meaning”, according to Dr. Dorothy Firman.

The second in a series of presentations about psychosynthesis life coaching courses will be held on Wednesday, May 28th from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at 73 Main Street in Brattleboro. The program is free and open to the public.

Weekend Concert Series: Ella Fitzgerald at Montreux 1969

by cgrotke | Entertainment

Ella Fitzgerald joined the Tommy Flanagan Trio June 22, 1969 at the Montreux Jazz Festival for a night of singing, and here we have a collection of clips reassembled to recreate that show.

This was at a point in her career where she was bouncing between labels, and slowly finding her way back from pop excursions and Christmas records to her specialty of jazz interpretations of great American songs

150 Years Ago (1864 5/23)

by BusyMom | History

Philadelphia, May 23, 1864.

Dearest Abiah,

I have been made twice glad today. When I came to dinner I found a letter from you and at supper another. My health is good. I heard from you Thursday. Jacob and Lynn Brooks were here, they came on with some wounded. There has been over 5,000 wounded men brought to the hospitals, but their names have not been published in the Philadelphia papers. I saw some of the men, one from the Vermont 3rd, that was carried off the field at the same time with George Hill.

Organ Barn Recital Celebrates American Composers

by fomag | Music

Guilford, Vt. — Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) presents its 6th annual Spring Organ Recital at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, in the Organ Barn at idyllic Tree Frog Farm in the Guilford countryside. For this Memorial Day Weekend recital, Ken Olsson has chosen a singularly appropriate program: music by 19th-century Americans. Not only does it suit this national holiday; it also reflects FOMAG’s continuing interest in American composers, most specifically those associated with New England. And it suits the organization’s Guilford Chamber Organ, with a console dating back to the late 19th century, when it was installed in a church in Maine.

There were organs in America as far back as the early colonial era, but not many; the Puritan tradition frowned on instrumental music in church services. Still, by 1800, Boston boasted eight church organs, New York and Philadelphia five or six, and many other cities throughout the colonies claimed at least one. Wealthy private households had organs, too. Early instruments were imported, but by the mid-18th century the emerging nation had developed an organ-building industry. There wasn’t much published organ music, since church organists mostly accompanied hymns; interludes were improvised. Organ music for concert use was virtually unknown until decades later.

TOSCA

by Pam Lierle | Music

The Windham Orchestra and PanOpera join forces to bring “TOSCA” to the region. Performances of Puccini’s “Tosca” will be at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro, Vermont on Friday, May 30 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, June 1 at 2 pm; and at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Massachusetts on Thursday, June 5 at 7:30 pm. 

“Tosca” tells the brutal truth about what drives us; our passions, and desires. It’s essential Puccini – lurid, ravishing, hugely enjoyable, and not to be missed. There are no gods or heroes, this is raw humanity on display.

“No-one needs to understand Italian or ‘know about opera’ to relate immediately and instinctively to the emotional states of the characters and the horrifying situations they are in,” explains Windham Orchestra Director Hugh Keelan. “Who has not experienced desperation in love, particularly when a loved one is in pain? Who does not know the struggle between the higher and lower self?  Who has not been helpless, overwhelmed in adversity—and tried to pretend they have it all handled?”

Unexceptional History

by spoon | History

I noticed the item in Today in History…in 1892, new boiler installed at the Brooks House.  It’s possible, but I’m not sure, that the boiler is located under the former Frankie’s Pizza.  It may briefly see light of day in the very near future when that building is razed.  I don’t know whether the plan is to bury or remove it.  Speaking of Frankie’s, it looks like his son is opening a restaurant/bar in the old HR Block location next to the former Lawton’s.

Taxation in Brattleboro, 1881

by cgrotke | History

In 1881, Brattleboro taxes, bonds, and debts were an issue. Read on for a letter to the editor on the subject by Levi Fuller, a noted member of the Estey Organ Company and governor of Vermont.…

Taxation in Brattleboro

“What shall the tax of Brattleboro be this year?” is a question asked by many. The completion of the grand list furnishes the necessary information. An examination of the town auditor’s report (page 21) shows the expenses, outside of the reduction of debt or extraordinary repairs upon highways, to be estimated at $8,773, and for this sum the auditors report sufficient resources already provided.

Stamford and Philly Rock Brattleboro — At The Future

by Lise | Music

There’s something about hearing really good bands in tiny spaces.  The intimacy is palpable.  You’re not just watching a band play — you’re two feet away from the guitarist who has just remarked, to no one in particular, that there’s a buzz in his amp, at which half the audience rushes over to help.  And some nights, you wonder if ten years from now, you’ll be thinking “I remember when…”  That’s the calibre of group that The Future Collective is bringing to Brattleboro, and last night the twin treat came from two unlikely places — Stamford, CT and Philadelphia, PA.  Ok, admittedly, Philadelphia has some popular caché but Stamford?

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 5/19/14

by cgrotke | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 5/19/14

Monday May 19

12:00 am      Common Good VT: Leadership Vermont 

12:55 am      Jennie’s Joint Ep.2 – Guitarists

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Book Talk Ep.6: Richard Duvall

4:35 am       Kurn Hattin 2014 Spring Jazz Festival