My View of Life on the Dock
Reminder about the Massachusetts Cultural Council 2016 Mayor’s Arts Challenge in the Gloucester Daily Times Talk of the Times by All Hands On Deck (love that)
You can use your smartphone to watch it on the YouTube channel–you know you’re there when you can see the ‘thumb’s-up’ icon beneath the video window.
Beautiful fall morning. I like how the sand fills in the boardwalk come October
You have until 5pm to see these 2 group shows at North Shore Arts Association that are closing today. Downstairs is filled with vistas so dear to local artists they’ve selected these works over others for the Icons of Cape Ann exhibition. Stop by and enjoy their selections. Do your ideas about the theme, emotions and vistas gel with theirs? 114 pieces make their case and they include ones that will stop you in your tracks.Upstairs is devoted entirely to watercolor and is at times mesmerizing. The installation includes juror feedback on the display labels and a peek into process for artists considering juried competitions. The New England Watercolor Society website has listed this year’s winners along with each artist and the work that was accepted for the Biennial, established in 1988. You really have to go in person to linger and closely observe this art. A few to look out for: Evelyn Dunphy, William Perry, Stephen Holland, June Webster, Joey Grant, Rance Jones, Michael Maron, Richard Hanson, Robert J O’Brien, and Kristin Stashenko. Also local artists including: Suzanne Brailey, Paul George, Marion Hall, Marilyn Swift, Carole Loiacono,and Charles Shurcliff.
Donna Ardizzoni Ardizzoniphotography.com
You know summer is over when all fun has been suspended in the Mathews’ household for some pre-holiday sprucing up! The paint cans, ladders, rollers and advil have been all readied for our next few weeks of painting projects. Fun will resume when the living room, dining room and upper hallways all have a fresh coat of something on them!
In an exciting partnership with O’Maley School, Seaside Sustainability, Inc. (www.seasidesustainability.org) a charitable organization committed to providing adventure-based experiential education) is offering a new Bradford Ski & Board Program. Starting on January 9th, come ride with your friends or make new ones in this 6 week program that meets on Monday afternoons (Jan 9, 23, 30 and Feb 6, 13, 27). If needed, equipment rental is available, and if you’re interested beginner or refresher lessons in skiing or snowboarding are also offered! Bradford has 13 trails and an expansive state-of-the-art terrain park with lots jumps, rails and boxes! The cost per student for six Monday afternoons of skiing or snowboarding is $245 (lift ticket only) or $295 (lift ticket and lesson) and can be made by check or credit card. For more information, or if you’re ready to register and pay to save your spot, visit O’Maley Academy website or see Mrs. Sumner, Grade 8 Science. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact program director Eric Magers, magerse@seasidesustainability.org.
More Cape Ann Community News-
http://www.capeanncommunity.com
You’re invited to the annual
Beeman Holiday Fair!
Saturday, December 3, 2016
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Buy your Christmas tree and wreaths
(Free local delivery!)
Play games and win prizes
Create crafts
Decorate gingerbread houses
Support our school and local vendors
May your last year in your 40’s be filled with love laughter & good health! Let the countdown to the BIG 50 begin! 😘❤️your YOUNGER SISTA!
This morning when I stopped by to say hello to ELise and Tucker at Cedar Rock Gardens they were hard at work planting a humongous field of tulips, planned to bloom for next Mother’s Day. Elise generously shared pots of fresh marigolds dug from their fields, not in good enough shape to sell, but perfect for our first ever Day of the Dead altar, Ofrenda de Muertos.
The vibrant colors and fresh citrusy scent of marigolds lure the spirits–marigolds are strewn about and placed around the altar so the souls can find their way. There is a wild version of marigolds that blooms in October and the Spanish name for the flower is flor de muerto, or flower of death.
The altar, or “offering to the dead,” is a sacred Mexican tradition where those who have passed away are honored by the living. The celebration takes place on November 1st and 2nd, on the 1st to honor the souls of children and on the 2nd, to honor adults. I became fascinated with the tradition after learning that Monarchs arrive in Mexico about the same time as Dia de los Muertos is celebrated. In Mexican folklore, butterflies represent the returning souls of departed loved ones. In the native language of the Purépecha, the name for the Monarch is the “harvester” butterfly. The Purépecha are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of the Mexican state of Michoacán, the very region to where the Monarchs return every year!
There is a beautiful ofrenda at the Peabody Museum, which is where I learned about the “Harvester” butterfly. The altar is part of the Museum’s permanent collection and is on display year round. Here is a link to the exhibit.
Images courtesy google image search
Haley Baker at Turtle Alley making her signature truffles!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMHSGxNjR7M/
Shopping today at Nichols Candy House and Turtle Alley because we can’t forget our grown-up trick or treaters 🙂 
Nichols Handmade Haunted House
I love windy stormy days to watch the ocean. It was rocking and rolling all day on Friday.
Annual Charles Olson Lecture Featuring Hettie Jones
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (October 13, 2016) – The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to present a talk by poet Hettie Jones, in collaboration with the Gloucester Writers Center and the Charles Olson Society on Saturday, October 29 at 1:00 p.m. in the Museum’s auditorium.
Hettie Jones will discuss her first meeting with Charles Olson, her impressions of Gloucester, a few recent unpublished poems and a selection from Love, H: The Letters of Helene Dorn and Hettie Jones, her recently published book of correspondence with painter and sculptor, Helene Dorn. (Duke University Press Books, October 18, 2016) Love, H is available for purchase in the Museum’s gift shop.
Jones’ first collection of poems, Drive (Hanging Loose Press, 1997), was selected by Naomi Shihab Nye to receive the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is also the author of How I Became Hettie Jones (1990) and several books for children. The former Chair of PEN’s Prison Writing Committee, she currently teaches graduate writing at The New School and workshops at 92Y and the Lower Eastside Girls Club Center for Community.
$10 donation suggested. For more information please call (978)283-0455 x10 or email info@capeannmuseum.org.
This program is accessible.
Always a fun time, wonder what I will dress up as.
David Brooks’ interesting opinion piece in the New York Times points to several sources showing that this election is causing unusual anxiety and I’ll bet two major contributor to this anxiety are all these nasty campaign ads and endless, fear-inducing news coverage that we’re seeing. We’ll we’ve got a cure for that: DON’T WATCH THE NEWS OR THE ADS. Instead of spending the weekend on your couch, go out to experience some LIVE MUSIC and let the music take you away! You’ve got over a dozen choices on Cape Ann for excellent music and Halloween Parties. Check out the schedule here.
If you own or manage a restaurant or bar, may we suggest that you turn OFF your TVs — or at least set them to a commercial free NON-NEWS channel so your guests won’t see any of dreadful campaign coverage or obnoxious ads. Everyone on Cape Ann will thank you for reducing the stress among the population.
Here’s a little bit of fun from 1985 to get you in the mood:
http://www.julierhodesmusic.com/
Julie Rhodes has just been nominated in 4 Boston Music categories
Album of the year
New Artist of the year
Female Vocalist of the year
Americana Artist of the year
The Julie Rhodes Band is about to rock the Boston Music Awards! December 8th, House of Blues Boston. �!! Ps. don’t forget to vote at bostonmusicawards.com
Check out these reviews…
Fred Knittal review
“Julie Rhodes is without a doubt one of the striking voices we’ve heard during a Folkadelphia Session. Sure, call her a powerhouse because there is certainly power – a brute, earthly force that jolts you up when she chooses to wield it. But let’s talk about the magnificent character of her voice, which is immediately charming, ear-catching, and totally malleable. Let Julie soothe your aching heart with a voice as smooth as butter, let her exfoliate the hurt away with that pumice stone singing, then let her drive you back the bottle with a voice that can get as gritty and raw as a gravel road swept up in a hurricane. Let us praise her passionate vocalizing and her soulful singing, which fit perfectly for songs that sit in the intersection between blues, R&B, rock, and folk. In less words, Julie Rhodes is a vocalist that makes you pay attention – are you listening yet?
Julie Rhodes’ Bound to Meet the Devil is her debut album and released this year, a true blues-rock affair, and well worth your time and money. For her in-studio session at WXPN, Julie, along with her band, stripped the song back just a little bit to reveal that dynamic and emotional core.”
Chris Martin review
Julie Rhodes – Bound to Meet the Devil
“From ice cream scooper to blues singer, Julie Rhodes’ music career is an incredible story. In a short amount of time she has taken the music world by storm with her debut album Bound to Meet the Devil recorded at historic FAME studios. With a big bold voice this New Englander has captured the sound, feel and soul of traditional Southern Blues music like few others. As she sings about bad relationships (“Your Key Won’t Unlock My Door”), untrustworthy people (“Grinnin at Your Face”) and heartbreak (“Hurricane”) you get the sense as if Julie has had experience in all. Songs like “Holes” and “Faith” are brought to life by her voluminous voice as she reaches into the depths of her soul. The song “In Your Garden” is the perfect cross section of Bound to Meet the Devil. Sultry guitar riffs meander through steady rhythms as Rhodes uses weeds in a garden as a metaphor for a relationship going bad. This is what the blues is all about. Bound to Meet the Devil is a solid album from start to finish. As Rhodes delivers tunes steeped in classic blues sounds her passion towards the music oozes from each word that leaves her mouth. You will be hooked from the first play and it just gets better with each listen.”
Three meetings with some items in common were held at the same time this past Wednesday, October 26, 2016: the standing School Committee meeting (including updates on new building) which include members Mayor Romeo Theken and Councilor Favazza; the Housing Building/Production Plan Public Forum #2 at City Hall which includes Councilor Lundberg; and a Forum to Focus on Building in the City held at the Magnolia library and community center with 3 Councilors LeBlanc, Orlando and Nolan.
Cape Ann TV filmed the first two. (I will add them into the post.)
School Committee Meeting
“We’re on a path right now.” “Nobody said we can’t pay.” “We’re in Phase II of a 3-phase plan. We may need to convince the community to vote for a debt exclusion to pay for it.”
The MSBA toured East Gloucester Elementary School earlier in the week to corroborate the condition related to the School Committee Statement of Interest to consolidate East Gloucester Elementary and Veterans Memorial. The School Committee relayed that the community is united in expressing a need for new schools, moving forward and not changing course. The MSBA ascertains the community’s readiness and ability to pay. Gloucester is still in the running for MSBA aid. The pool of applicants was whittled down to 30 from 89 and sometime December or January, Gloucester will learn if MSBA accepts the plan, rejects it or places it on hold. “Up, down, maybe the plan is for the East Gloucester/Veterans only.”
Housing Production Forum at City Hall (I’ll add links to the presentation and feedback from the Magnolia forum):
Good Morning Gloucester 