Archive for June 16th, 2010

June 16th, 2010

Ken Burns and Middlesex Community College

by DickH

Ken Burns in Lowell

Congratulations to Middlesex Community College for tonight’s 12th MCC Celebrity Forum at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Ken Burns was simply outstanding. He entered from the rear of the hall, accompanied by a vintage recording of “This Land is Your Land” and quickly mounted the stage that was decorated by foliage, a canoe and a tent in recognition of his latest film, “Our National Parks: America’s Greatest Idea.” Functionally, Burns spoke from a solid wooden podium at center stage with his image projected on a large video screen to his rear.

Burns began by describing the central themes that run through all his films. Foremost is the exploration of the question “who are we?” closely followed by examinations of race and space, particularly how the sheer size of our country shaped us as a people. He spoke glowingly of our National Parks, calling them “the Declaration of Independence applied to the landscape.” Several times he returned to a point made in the 14 minute introduction to National Parks that was shown before he took the stage: That we fail to appreciate the fact that we all, as American citizens, own the most magnificent and beautiful natural spaces in our country. This was a radical notion. In the rest of the world, such spots were the sole domain of kings and nobles. Without the National Park system, Burns suggested, Yellowstone would be a gated community reserved for the wealthiest in our country. read more »

CategoryCurrent Events, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

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June 16th, 2010

Burns Hits One Out of the (Nat’l) Park

by PaulM

Lowell and Middlesex Community College had a big night tonight at the Auditorium, where “documentarian” Ken Burns wowed the crowd with his visual and verbal eloquence. I particularly enjoyed the question-and-answer portion of the program in which Burns demonstrated how quick he is on his “intellectual feet,” fielding questions on baseball from Paul Sheehy, the democracy of parks from Michael Creasey, the editorial and financial mechanics of filmmaking from Amy Werner, and several more. He didn’t mention Father’s Day, but his heartfelt remembrance of his father taking him to the Blue Ridge when he was six years old was apt for this week. Kudos to MCC for bringing this extraordinary artist to the city. He’s become an American original through sheer hard creative work and a stubborn commitment to asking what it means to be an American. He said he has in a sense been making the same film over and over, compelled to examine and re-examine both race in the American experience and the way space has shaped the American mind, if such a multifarious people can have a common mind.

His response to Paul Sheehy’s baseball question about the blown call that negated a no-hitter was one of the more memorable moments of the night. Burns came down on the side of human judgement as opposed to machined perfection because baseball evokes the messiness of life with its flaws, failures, and occasional success. Hitting safely three out of ten times gets you to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown more often than not. The prelude to the National Parks series is profound, and anyone from Lowell couldn’t help but feel proud that our city is on that select list of American treasures. I was hoping we’d see a sneak preview of new work. He does have a follow-up to the Baseball series coming in September — “The Tenth Inning,” with a major section on the 2004 Red Sox featured.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

June 16th, 2010

An Updated Locavore Alert! CTI/Lowell Farmers’ Market Opens July 9th

by Marie

I noticed a query on “Lowell Tweets” today asking about the opening day for the annual CTI/Lowell Farmers’ Market. The good news – according to CTI – the official opening is set for Friday July 9, 2010.  UPDATED: The Farmers’ Market will be open from 2:00-6:00pm from July 9th through October 22nd.

The regulars know that the market is open every Friday afternoon during the summer and fall months of  July to October  (except for the Lowell Folk Festival weekend) in JFK Plaza in downtown Lowell – adjacent to the City Hall and the Civic Center. This outdoor Lowell Farmers’ Market is a great place to purchase fresh produce, breads, preserves, cut flowers, ornamental plants, crafts, and other unique items. The Lowell Farmers’ Market features Massachusetts grown products.  Neighbors, downtown denizens, city residents, workers in the city and others are encouraged to be locavores – purchase and eat locally grown food – and support our local farmers .

Each Friday at the Farmers’ Market - at 4:30pm – there are cooking and product demonstrations - the demos are free and samples are always available. Local chefs, restauranteurs as well as talented amateurs share their cooking secrets. You can learn new recipes or get an idea about how to use a type of vegetable or fruit that you see for sale but might not be so familiar. The Market also has  special theme days with entertainment and live music.

Coupons are available for seniors at the Lowell Senior Center and WIC vouchers are welcome.

The Farmers’ Market was first started in 1979, and it is sponsored by local non-profit community action agency, Community Teamwork, Inc. (CTI). The Market regularly attracts hundreds of visitors each week.

Look here for Farmers’ Market information updates or call CTI at 978-459-0551.  As always, stay tuned.

CategoryCulture, Current Events, Lowell | Comment1 Comment »

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June 16th, 2010

Marcos Devers Takes Seat in 16th Essex Rep District

by Marie

“Third time’s the charm” for Marcos Devers of Lawrence as he took 88% of the votes cast in the 16th Essex District special election yesterday. With just under 9% of registered voters coming out to the polls, Devers bested rival Rafael Gadea – with 1549 votes to 177 votes. Devers will hold the seat formerly held by current Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua until the end of the year and will need to run for reelection in the  fall. According to the Eagle-Tribune:

His challengers are Gadea, who is unenrolled, Enrique Matos, a Republican, and perhaps Chally Ramos, a fellow Democrat who challenged Devers in the special primary last month. Ramos has said he will run this fall as a sticker candidate.

Read the full story here  in the Eagle-Tribune.

CategoryElection 2010, Politics | CommentNo Comments »

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June 16th, 2010

It’s Bloomsday! Celebrate Joyce and Ulysses

by Marie

Ladies strolling at Sandycove, Dublin (AP photo)

What is Bloomsday?

Fom Today in Dublin:

Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on 16 June in Dublin to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904. The name derives from Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses. Thursday, 16 June 1904 was the date of Joyce’s first outing with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, when they walked to the Dublin urban village of Ringsend.

From the AOH/Ancient Order of Hibernians Boston website:

BLOOMSDAY marks the day in 1904 on which all the action of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses takes place. It is celebrated every year on 16th June by Joyceans all over the world. In Dublin, where the novel is set, Bloomsday celebrations go on for a week, with most of the attention on the day itself. It is traditional to dress up and go out for the day, visiting the locations of the book and taking part in readings, walks, reenactments and convivial activities of all sorts which in some way connect with Ulysses, its author and its world. As an occasion rather than a festival, Bloomsday has no ‘official’ programme or organising committee.

How to Celebrate Bloomsday from eHOW:

Instructions

Step 1
  1. Attend a Bloomsday celebration near you. Dublin has the biggest, but dozens of towns throughout the United States and Canada have rousing ones. Many include marathon readings of Ulysses, with local celebrities taking turns reading passages from the epic. (Stephen Colbert will participate in a New York City Ulysses read-a-thon today.)
  2. Step 2

    Take a tour of Dublin’s – or all of Ireland’s – literary shrines. Travel agencies, university literature departments and Irish-American cultural groups offer them throughout the year, with many scheduled to coincide with Bloomsday. (Plan for next year – think Spring 2011 in Dublin.)

  3. Step 3

    Hold a Ulysses party. Serve Irish food, drink , play Irish music and have your guests take turns reading from the book. (Seems a more genteel paean to our Irish heritage  than the frantic celebrations on March 17th.)

  4. Step 4

    Read the book. Or, if you’re new to Joyce, try a more accessible work first. Both “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and the short-story collection “Dubliners” provide good, easy-to-fathom introductions to the Joyce canon. (Both excellent suggestions for the beginner.)

  5. Step 5

    Curl up with a Guinness or a glass of Irish whisky and watch “The Dead” on video. The movie version of a story in Dubliners, it was John Houston’s last film, one of the most true-to-the-original movie adaptations of all time, and a perfect introduction to Joyce’s work. (Irish tenor the late Frank Patterson who played the LMA many times plays a role in this film.)

I must confess – I’ve personally only read assorted quotes and snippets from the iconic Ulysses – I’m a “Dubliners” person with “The Dead” a particular favorite - but I’m intrigued by the “convivial activity” and “dressing up” suggested by celebrating Bloomsday! Could we add this day to the Lowell Cultural calendar? Let’s talk!

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Poetry | Comment8 Comments »

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June 16th, 2010

June 16, 1780 – Mass Constitution Adopted

by DickH

Mass Moments, the daily digest of historical events in the Commonwealth, reports that the Massachusetts Constitution was adopted on this date in 1780. Written primarily by John Adams, the document endured a lengthy ratification process which was finalized on June 15, 1780, making the next day the date of its official adoption.

Our state Constitution receives scant attention in popular history, yet it is a document of immense significance. Almost immediately, it served as the basis for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in 1781 to abolish slavery. Writing for the court in the case of Quock Walker v Jennison, Chief Justice William Cushing wrote that the new Constitution granted “rights and privileges wholly incompatible and repugnant to [slavery's] existence” and thereby abolished the institution of slavery in the Commonwealth. More recently, the state Constitution has been used to uphold the rights of the accused in criminal cases as companion protections in the Federal Constitution were diluted by an increasingly conservative US Supreme Court. The Commonwealth’s Constitution, which grants every citizen the right to a free and complete public education, has also served as the basis for much of the state’s infusion of money into school district’s like Lowell’s. It also was the authority by which the Supreme Judicial Court granted same sex couples the right to marry.

The Massachusetts Constitution is one of the most important governing documents in history and is still a vibrant, powerful instrument that shapes our lives in countless ways. It is truly deserving of greater attention than it receives.

CategoryHistory | Comment1 Comment »

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