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The Importance of Being of No Consequence

by Vidda | Philosophy

Over the years, I’ve often posed this question to many people, “If I could somehow give you an eternal afterlife, but with the caveat that you cannot take God with you, would you still take the afterlife?

Because the question is unprecedented, it at first takes the person by surprise. After all, most Western people still connect an afterlife with the God they were raised to believe in. It would not normally occur to them to have one without the other.

So, there is often hesitation, but not for long.

Tin Hats

by MarkTwain© | Sci-Tech

I am prudent enough to protect myself, and sensible enough not to be shamed out of it by scornful mockery. 

At times, ignorant people and paid provocateurs make fun of tin hats. In fact tin hats are obsolete technology — no one talks about them any more — other than to smear those of us who have the good sense to protect ourselves from EMFs, and other electromagnetic dangers. 

Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Renee Rosnes Quartet

by Not Signed In | Music

Pianist Renee Rosnes will perform at the Vermont Jazz Center on April 16th at 8:00 PM with her world-class quartet including vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash. Cited as “one of the finest pianists in jazz,” Rosnes has recorded and toured with a veritable who’s who of jazz including legends Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, J.J. Johnson, James Moody, Buster Williams and Bobby Hutcherson.

Rosnes demonstrates brilliance in her approach to jazz standards and has dedicated albums to playing these classic songs (her recording A Time For Love is a good example), but it is her esteemed work as a composer whose focused ability to choose a complex concept and express it through music that further elevates her reputation. In a review of her most recent recording, Written in the Rocks, Downbeat magazine claims “Rosnes is a virtuoso jazz composer…advanced yet accessible, complex but never ostentatious, this is as good as writing can get in this setting.”

Weekend Creativity Series: Chuck Jones

by cgrotke | Creative

One of my creative mentors is Chuck Jones, one of the best directors to work with Bugs Bunny. I met him first through Saturday morning cartoons, then later as part of the animation program we were running at the children’s museum in DC.

Above my desk is a drawing of the coyote and road runner that he drew as part of a class at the museum. I can still remember him drawing it, explaining each line as he went along. It reminds me of him, and of the types of conversations he liked having. He was extremely well-read and drew from a lifetime of paying attention to little details.

The Brattleboro Historical Society Presents: This Week in Brattleboro History Podcast – H.P. Lovecraft

by reginaldwam3 | History

It was 86 years ago this week that the writer HP Lovecraft was home in Providence, Rhode Island creating his story, “The Whisperer in Darkness”. Lovecraft was a self-described writer of “weird tales” which often blended fantasy, horror and science fiction. “The Whisperer in Darkness” is one of those weird tales set in a fictionalized Vermont in an area much like our own Brattleboro.

Mixed Media Assemblages by Lauren Pollaro at MGFA

by Mitchell • Giddings FIne Arts | Arts

Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to present Color & Construct, an exhibit featuring the mixed media assemblages of Lauren Pollaro. The show opens with a receptionThursday, April 21, at 5pm and continues through May 29. An Artist Talk is scheduled for Saturday, May 14 at 5pm.

 Lauren was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1962, and comes from a family of accomplished artists. Her father, Paul Pollaro, taught, served as Assistant Director of the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH, and has exhibited nationally over a hugely successful and lengthy career.

Annette Spaulding Presents West River Petroglyph Find at the Vermont History Museum

by reginaldwam3 | History

In the spring of 1909, the completion of a new hydro-electric dam in Vernon created at 28 mile long lake, from Vermont’s southern boarder with Massachusetts to Bellows Falls, as waters began to back up and subsume much of the river-adjacent countryside. On average, the water level rose 30 feet and eventually flooded more than 150 farms. Among the lands subsumed by permanent flood waters were a series of petroglyphs sites near the confluence of the West River and Connecticut River dating from a precolonial epoch, in the lands now known as Brattleboro, Vermont.

 

Theater Camp this August in Guilford

by DonInGuilford | Education

Guilford Free Library and Guilford Center Stage are collaborating on Stage & Stream, a new, weeklong theater and library camp this August 15-19.  The session will be open to 5th-8th graders, and will be FREE to Guilford kids.  Those from other towns may attend for a fee of $50 for the week.

The camp day will run Monday through Friday from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm at a pair of adjacent 1890’s venues in the village of Guilford Center.

National Healthcare Decision Day is April 16th

by Not Signed In | Education

TAKING STEPS BRATTTLEBORO is pleased to join in the nationwide celebration of the right of all adults to think about, talk about and make decisions about Advance Planning. Projects are underway in every state to help people truly consider their personal beliefs and wishes regarding health care options at times of serious accidents or illness.

In recognition of National Health Care Decision Day, TAKING STEPS BRATTTLEBORO is opening its volunteer facilitator training to the general community. Interested community members are encouraged to call to find out more about becoming a part of the Taking Steps Brattleboro team of volunteer Advance Care Planning Facilitators.

Way of Council Training, May 7 and May 21

by Not Signed In | Education

Open a space for every voice in the room. Practice leading by listening from the heart. Gain experience & confidence in group facilitation.

Join us for this experiential course in the art of council facilitation, led by two masters in the field, Paul LeVasseur and Kirstin Edelglass. Council is a dialogic process that stimulates compassionate understanding, deeper self-awareness, community building, collective decision-making, conflict transformation, and shared leadership. It is used worldwide in a variety of contexts including public schools, universities, prisons, social service agencies, faith-based communities, families, wilderness programs, non-profit organizations, and businesses.

WVEW-lp Biannual Meeting April 13th

by WVEW-lpfm | Media

VT Earth Works, Inc, the 501(c)(3) non-profit which manages WVEW-lp, Brattleboro’s Community Radio Station, invites all levels of its membership, as well as interested members of the public, to WVEW’s Bi-annual Meeting (and Potluck!), to be held on Wednesday April 13th, 2016, starting at 6pm.

There will be a vote to confirm an appointment to the Board, and a vote for new Board Members. Please be aware that in order to vote you must be a currently paid-up Full Member (now $75.00/year). The meeting will include a discussion of the station’s no-tolerance policy on profanity, and whether or not to allow adult language in adult hours as permitted by the FCC’s ‘safe harbor’ regulations. (That policy allows profanity – but not obscenity – between the hours of 10pm and 6am.)

BCTV Schedules For The Week Of 4/4/2016

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV channel 8 schedule for the week of 4/4/16

Monday, April 4, 2016

12:00 am Wind vs Water in the Grafton Woodlands

1:35 am Movement to Save Our Democracy 3/16/16

2:00 am SEON: Regional Roundtable – Zero Energy Now Program 2/23/16

3:05 am Quiet Rebel – The Lynn Martin Story

4:30 am The Cuban Bridge: Ep 52 – Rowan

Weekend Creativity Series – Watercolor Washes

by cgrotke | Creative

Wet into wet. Wet on dry. Dry on wet. Washes Here’s a 15 minute video to help spice up your watercolor abilities. If you follow along, you’ll end up with a series of abstract paintings that you can use to redecorate your home.

Grab some watercolors and some watercolor paper, some brushes of varying sizes, and some water. Then play along with the video.

Act 46 Study Committee Agenda and Minutes

by Not Signed In | Education

ACT 46 STUDY COMMITTEE

Representing the Brattleboro Town School District, Dummerston Town School District, Guilford Town School District, Putney Town School District, and the Vernon Town School District http://www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF MEETING

The Act 46 Study Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at the Guilford Central School.

AGENDA

I. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. – Alice Laughlin, Committee Chair

II. REVIEW, PRIORITIZE AND ESTABLISH DESIRED OUTCOMES FOR MEETING BY CHAIRPERSON.

Elephants to Stroll With Heifers

by cgrotke | Creative

Marking a first for the organization, Brattleboro’s Strolling of the Heifers is planning to feature their newest acquisition in this year’s parade – 42 Asian elephants.

“We were watching the accelerated retirement of the Ringling elephants and realized they needed a new home quickly,” said a spokesperson for the Stroll.”Why not southern Vermont?”

Chemtrail Conspiracy

by MarkTwain© | Creative

It was not a secret government agency. But today’s meeting was top secret. 

“HASP is quite sensitive,” the Colonel explained, “If the truth ever got out…”

“But Colonel,” interrupted Faraday, “Chemtrails are all over the internet. It’s a bit late for hush-hush!” It was true: almost from its inception, the High Altitude Spraying Program had been exposed.

Funerals: Traditional and Alternative. What is Possible?

by Not Signed In | Education

On Monday, April 18th, 6:00-8:00 pm Brattleboro Area Hospice will host Funerals: Traditional and Alternative. What Is Possible? The event will take place at Brew Barry Conference Rm., Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Brattleboro, Vermont. This event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

We spend a great deal of time planning for life’s big events such as births and weddings. We consider our options and make choices for ceremonies based on what best suits our beliefs and values. Why shouldn’t we also give time to the planning of funerals?