By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, the healing continues. During the week I have been outside for a couple of short walks. Wasn’t Saturday afternoon just a bit windy? Oh, and the naps have subsided just a bit.
And thanks to all the well-wishers–many of whom had their hips replaced–and assured me that things will only get better.
And what continues, is that my TBE buddies pick up the workload. New stories get posted daily. Once, again, there is nothing like being on a team–I am a fortunate guy, and I think Bristol is pretty fortunate to have these people continuing to provide community online news.
For their efforts and for TBE, I am thankful. With Thanksgiving coming up it’s nice to be able to express this gratitude almost daily. And of course, I am, and TBE is, totally thankful for the people who value our enterprise and donate to us.
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Listening and reading this week have picked up–not as many naps.
For listening, try the podcast American Masters Creative Spark, “Min Jin Lee Revisits the Decades It Took To Write ‘Pachinko.'” “Pachinko” is Lee’s bestselling novel from 2017 set in turn-of-the-20th century Korea and Japan. Lee wrote the book over 29 years. For the podcast, click here. For a review of the book on Goodreads, click here.
I haven’t had much success finding shows to watch on our streaming services, not that there aren’t plenty of them out there. One that caught me, though, is the new Ken Burns documentary “Leonardo Da Vinci.” Talk about an individual upon whom nothing is lost and here we have it, Da Vinci. And talk about it, I haven’t stopped bringing the two-part series up in conversations since.
For a link to the episode guide and where to watch “Leonardo Da Vinci,” click here.
Reading has mostly been newspapers and magazines online, but I do like to mention The New York Review of Books which has those long-involved essays that, at least for me, are captivating reading. For instance, there are several articles in this most recent NYRB that I managed to read.
The first is much to be expected. A cover essay by Fintan O’Toole, “The Second Coming,” which is about the recent election. It is wide-ranging and yet pointed. If you were to sit down to read it, you would need some time. This makes the effort worthwhile because, for one, it is a reprieve from the constant battering of social media posts that in the end are more distracting than informative.
A second is a review of “The Third Reich of dreams: The Nightmares of a Nation” by Charlottee Beradt, translated from the German by Damion Searls, published by Princeton University Press. The review, by Zadie Smith, recounts the life of the author, a Jewish journalist working in Germany as Nazism encroached and who ends up emigrating to New York City.
Beradt, in her time before leaving Germany, began a dream project, where she asked friends, acquaintances and even strangers to recount the dreams they were having. She published her work in 1966, with the title “The Third Reich of Dreams.” From the review, the dreams are striking and often include similar components.
This is not, as Smith writes, a Freudian approach to dream. Mostly it is a straightforward approach and notable for its reporting. In other words, this is a book I might pick up because I came across the review. Otherwise, I might not have known of its existence.
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City meetings this week include the following:
On Monday, Nov. 25
- Tree Hearing, 5 p.m. Meeting Room 2-2, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
- Planning Commission, 6 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
- Special City Council Meeting, 6 p.m. Meeting Room 3-1, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
On Tuesday, Nov. 26
- Historic District Commission, 5 p.m. Meeting Toom 1-3, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
- Board of Finance, 5:30 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
- Transportation Commission, 6 p.m. Meeting Room 1-3, city hall. For virtual meeting, click here.
- Diversity Council, 6:30 p.m. Meeting Room 1-2, city hall. For virtual meeting, click here.
On Wednesday, Nov. 27
- Fire Station 3 Building Committee, canceled.
On Thursday, Nov. 28
- Fire Commission, canceled.
On Friday, Nov. 29
- No meeting posted.
TBE will do our best to update meeting times and locations, but it’s a good idea to check the agendas ahead of time for cancellations. Click here for specific meetings and times.
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Have some life experience in a particular business or field of study. You might be a journalist in the making. Contact editor@bristoledition.org.
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Enjoy!
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