I'm going to do ANOTHER play for the Annual Gathering!!
A rebuttal to the article done in the New Yorker, with a comedic twist, of course!
(Saw this on FB, and want to keep it until I can ID it properly!)
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Thursday, December 17, 2015
1981 Film Shot in Concord -The House By The Cemetery
There was a movie on TCM recently called "The House by The Cemetery" (1981) and I'm pretty sure some of the exterior town shots were done in Concord Center! There is a "creepy photo" of a ghost in the window that starts things off (which reminds me of a photo that a certain tour guide took of the Emerson House!) The first 15 minutes have shots of Concord, the rest may not be worth watching, in fact-the first 15 are hard to watch. It's a pretty terrible early 1980's horror movie with laughable special effects. They must've used GALLONS of cherry dye for fake blood. Keep an eye out for it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_by_the_Cemetery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_by_the_Cemetery
Monday, November 9, 2015
The Death of The Old Tourist Center
There are pictures on Facebook today (and even last week), of the old Walden Tourist Center being torn down. It was a cute little cabin. It contained the headquarters for the rangers and also the bookshop.
They have moved to a container in the parking lot. Right where I would park to see the sunset. Or to swim afterhours.
I was more upset about the trees being cut down and the loss of Henry's beanfield in its front yard.
But it is important to document. (I would post the pictures here, but I believe they are too graphic, especially for my future self).
They have moved to a container in the parking lot. Right where I would park to see the sunset. Or to swim afterhours.
I was more upset about the trees being cut down and the loss of Henry's beanfield in its front yard.
But it is important to document. (I would post the pictures here, but I believe they are too graphic, especially for my future self).
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Schultz vs Thoreau
So the New Yorker published a piece of take-down trash against Henry.
And the Thoreauvian scholars are up in arms.
He hasn't had so much published about him in centuries.
(I, for one, am excited about the conversations)
If it is a matter of reverse-psychology, then it is brilliant.
If not, I know far too many people willing to go to bat for Henry.
And the Thoreauvian scholars are up in arms.
He hasn't had so much published about him in centuries.
(I, for one, am excited about the conversations)
If it is a matter of reverse-psychology, then it is brilliant.
If not, I know far too many people willing to go to bat for Henry.
Monday, August 31, 2015
A Far Azore
I am bound,
I am bound
For a distant shore
For a far Azore.....
Did he just see them on a map?
What were the island like then?
My cousin's child just told me that the green of Santa Maria is mostly planted.
And that it brings the moisture.
The island underneath is mostly desert!
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
J. Walter Brain's Passing
This Patriot's Day morning, I awoke to the sad news about a vivacious man who was THE brain of Concord's land.
Corinne Hosfeld Smith's post on the Thoreau Society FB page this morning:
"We hear the sad news that we lost last night a devoted Thoreauvian, J. Walter Brain. He followed Henry's footsteps every day, in every way. Walter knew more about the landscapes of Concord and Lincoln and of Henry's local investigations than anyone else in the last 100 years. Those of us who crossed paths with Walter and accompanied him on his walks have been very fortunate indeed. We learned from the best. Now he can go exploring again with Walter Harding, Ed Schofield, and Brad Dean. Rest easy, Walter. Thanks for everything."
For those of us who love to wander the paths of Lincoln & Concord, just hoping to walk in the steps of HDT, he was the man who had done it all and more. He was an architect by profession and land surveyor by passion. He was well respected by every Thoreauvian scholar. Even if you had just walked a path in Concord yesterday, he could describe in detail the history, the context and several other details that you had completely missed.
If you attended ANY Thoreau lecture/talk/event and the speaker turned to someone for verification, or if an older man with a musical Peruvian accent asked a clarifying question at the end, you can be sure you witnessed his brain at work. Throughout his life in Concord (I believe he told me he arrived here in the 1950's), he walked the paths and trails and knew all of Henry's lands. That bit about him knowing more about the landscaped than anyone else in the past 100 years seems to be true. At least among the living knowledge of the Thoreau Society, he seemed to be the best link to the past and the present. Maybe even since HDT himself.
My clearest (and dearest) memory is of him from the Annual Gathering last summer (2014). He and my mother (a native of the Azores, Portugal), had begun talking before the big dinner at the Thoreau Library. They somehow began singing and exchanging jokes. I had only ever witnessed him as a serious and respected man. But suddenly, his face burst forth into a glorious smile and remained that way for the rest of the evening. I learned later that he was a regular at the jam sessions and a real raconteur. And as much as we all got to know him, there is still the lingering sense that we wanted to spend MORE time in his presence: to sing more songs, to explore more walks, more, more, more.
Among the Thoreau Society, it seems that Henry's life was ideal. Exploring the physical (outer) world as well as the inner. Henry loved music, was kind and had a sense of humor. Walter was probably the closest model we (I) had to that life. He was a connection to Henry's tradition; they would have been friends, they would have been allies.
The wandering spirit of HDT lives in each of us. Go take a walk.
Corinne Hosfeld Smith's post on the Thoreau Society FB page this morning:
"We hear the sad news that we lost last night a devoted Thoreauvian, J. Walter Brain. He followed Henry's footsteps every day, in every way. Walter knew more about the landscapes of Concord and Lincoln and of Henry's local investigations than anyone else in the last 100 years. Those of us who crossed paths with Walter and accompanied him on his walks have been very fortunate indeed. We learned from the best. Now he can go exploring again with Walter Harding, Ed Schofield, and Brad Dean. Rest easy, Walter. Thanks for everything."
For those of us who love to wander the paths of Lincoln & Concord, just hoping to walk in the steps of HDT, he was the man who had done it all and more. He was an architect by profession and land surveyor by passion. He was well respected by every Thoreauvian scholar. Even if you had just walked a path in Concord yesterday, he could describe in detail the history, the context and several other details that you had completely missed.
If you attended ANY Thoreau lecture/talk/event and the speaker turned to someone for verification, or if an older man with a musical Peruvian accent asked a clarifying question at the end, you can be sure you witnessed his brain at work. Throughout his life in Concord (I believe he told me he arrived here in the 1950's), he walked the paths and trails and knew all of Henry's lands. That bit about him knowing more about the landscaped than anyone else in the past 100 years seems to be true. At least among the living knowledge of the Thoreau Society, he seemed to be the best link to the past and the present. Maybe even since HDT himself.
My clearest (and dearest) memory is of him from the Annual Gathering last summer (2014). He and my mother (a native of the Azores, Portugal), had begun talking before the big dinner at the Thoreau Library. They somehow began singing and exchanging jokes. I had only ever witnessed him as a serious and respected man. But suddenly, his face burst forth into a glorious smile and remained that way for the rest of the evening. I learned later that he was a regular at the jam sessions and a real raconteur. And as much as we all got to know him, there is still the lingering sense that we wanted to spend MORE time in his presence: to sing more songs, to explore more walks, more, more, more.
Among the Thoreau Society, it seems that Henry's life was ideal. Exploring the physical (outer) world as well as the inner. Henry loved music, was kind and had a sense of humor. Walter was probably the closest model we (I) had to that life. He was a connection to Henry's tradition; they would have been friends, they would have been allies.
The wandering spirit of HDT lives in each of us. Go take a walk.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Inspired by Bronson in Florida
I was sitting in Florida, by the beach, when I came across this curious link, which accused him of KILLING Thoreau!
https://archive.org/stream/thoreausociety1985171unse#page/n1/mode/1up
Poor Bronson can't do anything right!
The author argued that Bronson had bronchitis (there's a pun in there somewhere) and visited Thoreau on Thanksgiving to commiserate about John Brown's killing.
Now, Thoreau already had tuberculosis, and was on his way out. But still, he was betrayed (or blessed) by a kiss!
https://archive.org/stream/thoreausociety1985171unse#page/n1/mode/1up
Poor Bronson can't do anything right!
The author argued that Bronson had bronchitis (there's a pun in there somewhere) and visited Thoreau on Thanksgiving to commiserate about John Brown's killing.
Now, Thoreau already had tuberculosis, and was on his way out. But still, he was betrayed (or blessed) by a kiss!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
SENSE rumors
I'd love to do this show in Concord again.
It may not happen this summer, I may not be in town.
It may happen somehow...
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