Fitchburg Historical Society
@fitchhistsocy.bsky.social
Our mission is to preserve, protect and interpret the history of Fitchburg Massachusetts. Exhibitions, publications, research library and a very active Facebook discussion group. Join us!
Yes, I think I knew Lurtsema even before I moved to Massachusetts. From the local classical station....
Joanie MacPhee@joaniegentian.bsky.social · 2w agoAlso they were just talking about Weird Al on GBH radio and when I became a teenager he was in like the first grade... Also my mother was raising the nephews and nieces of Robert J Lurtsema (U remember him?), but I'd never heard of him as Mornimg Pro Musica on WGBH radio was yet to be.
I saw them once (Sunday). What a great line up! I may have seen you watching them, too. From the side? On Sunday?
Joanie MacPhee@joaniegentian.bsky.social · 2w agoone of the Tuvan throat singer groups that has been there before will be at Boarding House Park on Saturday. I cannot miss that. I've been known to catch all 4 days when they did that many, back when I hauled the kids around in a red wagon. Long time ago, but Sunday is possible if legs hold up.
If you are traveling in Massachusetts and want to visit a storywalk with your children, here's a spreadsheet, compiled by librarians, of story walk locations: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
StoryWalks® in Massachusetts
docs.google.com
Yes! Probably both Saturday and Sunday, if at all possible. Yep, it varied how much Weird Al's music was played or explained, as in your experience.
Joanie MacPhee@joaniegentian.bsky.social · 2w agoUm, as a teenager I ws pulling in AM radio stations from as far away (from Townsend) as I could, until WBCN switched over. But as to Weird Al, I was thinking he was a DJ, confusing him with Dr. Demento, I guess. I was over 30 when the first Lowell Folk Festival happened. You gonna be there Saturday?
I still remember decades later my dad saying to a guy in a Yale t-shirt "big fan of your locks."
Subscribe to Radio Free America (link in bio)@kleinman.bsky.social · 2w agoYale t-shirt, gross!
You don't know who Weird Al is? Where were you a teenager?
Joanie MacPhee@joaniegentian.bsky.social · 2w agoWeird Al is the break music artist on WAMC Roundtable this morning. 90.3 fm, where I am. Maybe I will learn who he is by noontime?
It just arrived. Margins are suitably wide enough for notes. Love the deckled edges on the pages and the folded cardstock cover. Gives a sense of relaxed luxury. Tied down for a Nantucket sleigh ride! #MobyDickVirgins
Perhaps the strangest post I have seen today. But it's true: great book, great reason to visit New Bedford after you read it, or perhaps during....
BadToss@badtoss.bsky.social · 3w agoJoin #MobyDickVirgins Book Club. We are shameless, aimless, and reading Moby Dick for the first time together. It's like our white whale.
Lousy movie, IIRC. But boy, she was a beauty.
Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 2w agoCleopatra didn’t look like this. But nobody complained.
AMERICA 250 | Have you heard of Dr. Benjamin Rush? 🤔This lesser-known Founding Father served as surgeon general of the Continental Army. With support from an NEH grant, the Rivendell Center produced a docuseries detailing Rush’s contribution to medicine and the founding of America. buff.ly/1L7AKhS
Thank you Library of Congress for the perfect vacation image!
Touche pas au grisbi! (best title ever)
MidCenturyCinema@midcenturycinema.bsky.social · 3w agoBOTD Mr. Lino. Ventura!!! MCCT6: 6)Garde à vue (Miller) 5)Grisbi (Becker) 4)Elevator (Malle) 3)Risques (Sautet) 2)Deuxième Souffle 1)Army of Shadows (Melville x2) 🙏🙏 More: @charlieconnelly.bsky.social: www.thenewworld.co.uk/lino-ventura... @dcairns.bsky.social: dcairns.wordpress.com/tag/lino-ven...
No, we don't want to see famous people taking selfies. I cannot describe my loathing for FIFA! I hate absolutely everything about that organisation!
I didn't expect that: just checked and saw Spain up by 2 over France at 78 minutes!??? merde!
Phil, this is now a humor and satire site...
AASLH President and CEO John Dichtl is quoted in this New York Times article that explores how history organizations, mainly in western states, are marking the nation's 250th anniversary.
Trump Wants to Own the Nation’s 250th Birthday. States Have Their Own Plans. (Gift Article)
As partisan tensions swirl around festivities in Washington, red and blue states alike are leaning into complex history — and their own stories.
nytimes.com
Originally the Armory, now a Senior Center, one of the earliest in the USA!
Last scheduled meeting with my executive committee tonight before the summer break. Thank you to all my #board #volunteers for the time, effort (and donations!) you commit to helping us...pretty picture just FYI, not my E.C.
This Saturday's discussion of the meaning of the Declaration of Independence was caught on film. Starts with a performance of Declaring Independence: Then and Now. Timely, as we celebrate the Semiquincentennial (250th) of our Declaration: u.peg.tv/s/dr0dc6
Declaring Independence: Then and Now - 6.13.2026
u.peg.tv
Coming up on June 13. It's going to be great! Will take place not at 781 Main Street, but at the Adrian L. Ford Center for Change, 18 Fairmount Street (Cleghorn), starting at 11 a.m.
I think we’re really going to have to do a lot more of this. A massive deprogramming so that people can read more than ten words at a time without anxiety. www.thetimes.com/uk/education...?
Universities teaching literature students how to cope with long novels
Critics blame GCSE English for deterring teenagers from the subject, describing the literature syllabus as boring and repetitive
thetimes.com
A peer-reviewed open-access anthology of original #MediaCriticism produced by my students! Each chapter applies critical methods to analyze how film, TV, and video games reflect, reinforce, or resist cultural anxieties about #ArtificialIntelligence. #OER openbooks.fitchburgstate.edu/critiquingai...
Critiquing AI in Media
Students explore how AI is presented in film, TV, and video games.
openbooks.fitchburgstate.edu
Wonderful event last night: great turnout for Roger K. ("Killer") Smith! Thanks to Roger and all who attended.
