By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, I will have stepped out twice during the week, a modest test for my convalescing hip.
On Thursday evening, Mary and I ventured out to Hartford Stage where Charles Dickens’s “Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas” is back. Former Hartford Stage director Michael Wilson returned to direct this gem. Right from the curtain call, the production grabs the imagination, with its white-clad, eerily illuminated and often electrified ghosts taking over the stage.
They appear throughout, at times from the back of the audience, tromping downstairs in their uncanny dances. They make the perennial favorite a bit terrifying for the youngest audience members, evidenced by the whimpers. And I wouldn’t have it any different, though. This is a marvelous story with a point about our common humanity and, yes, our responsibilities to each other–in the present moment.
And it’s fun. Allen Gilmore, who plays Scrooge, brings a booming voice to role but also nuance and impeccable comic timing.
On Saturday, it was out to Grandchild No. 3’s third-birthday party. A truck fan, he wound up with fire trucks, an excavator and a dump truck among other gifts. He was in his glory. And later that night, what did we receive via text–a photo of him tucked away in his bed sleeping, surrounded by his new toys.
In both instances, the hip did well.
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We haven’t made many appeals to our readers but we are shaping up, attending to our website, trying to make the online reading experience a better one and gearing up for advertisers to share their messages. It’s an investment that we can afford, since we are the recipients of a LION Publishers’ grant (LION-Local Independent Online Newspaper Publishers).
We have also received a grant from the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame to help attract local high school students to cover sports.
Our business model, rather than putting up a paywall, now depends on donations, sponsors and advertisers. We have a solid core of regular donors–either monthly or annual ones–but we could always use more of you if we are going to be able to one day employee regular reporters to cover the city. Even then, we will need grants and advertising revenue. So, yes, we are a nonprofit, but do not mistake that as “free.” We have costs just like any other business.
If you can, and are able, to support us financially, click the red “Donate” button below for our donor page. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating under our own Central Connecticut Online Journalism Project.
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For reading this week, I finish “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” the novel by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. This dystopian novel presents a brutal society, fixated on groups of incarcerated people in chain gangs, who are post-modern gladiators, fighting to the death in live-streamed contests as before large live audiences.
The text is peppered with footnotes from U.S. court cases and statistics about our prisons and prisoners that close the gap between “fiction” and “reality.”
As with all good storytelling, the characters matter and the series of events lead to a riveting climax.
For listening, I returned to “Ones and Tooze,” since the show notes mentioned that host Adam Tooze, who underwent heart surgery earlier in the week, would be leaving a message from the ICU at Columbia Presybeterian.
The podcast, “Heterodox Economists, Part 1: Michal Kalecki,” was the first of three prerecorded episodes about economists who have made significant contributions with their critiques of capitalism. Click here for the first installment with the postscript from Tooze, who is doing well.
In addition, especially at the end of the year when some of us are planning our resolutions, there is from “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” podcast, an episode “How to Stop Living for Other People” with host Mark Manson and guest Ben Nemtin, co-founder of The Buried Life” and best-selling New York Times author. Click here.
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City meetings this week include the following:
On Monday, Dec. 16
- No meetings posted.
On Tuesday, Dec. 17
- Real Estate Committee, 5 p.m. Meeting Room 1-2, city hall. For virtual meeting, click here.
- Banking & Audit Committee, 5 p.m. Meeting Room 1-1, city hall.
- Board of Finance, 5:30 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For virtual meeting, click here.
- Sewer and Water Commissions, 6 p.m. Bristol Water & Sewer Filtration Plant, 1080 Terryville Ave.
On Wednesday, Dec. 18
- Code Enforcement Workshop, 3 p.m. Mayor’s Office, city hall.
- Salary Committee, 5 p.m. Human Resources Conference Room 111, city hall.
- Board of Park Commissioners, 6 p.m. Meeting Room 1-2, city hall.
- Fair Rent Commission Task Force, 6 p.m.
- Board of Police Commissioners, 6 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For virtual meeting, click here.
- Fire Station 3 Building Committee, 6 p.m.
On Thursday, Dec. 19
- Commission on Aging, 11 a.m. Room 109, Bristol Senior Center, 240 Stafford Ave.
- Citation Hearings, 3 p.m. City hall.
- Board of Public Works, 5:30 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For virtual meeting, click here.
- Board of Fire Commissioners, 6 p.m. City hall.
- Energy Commission, 7 p.m. Meeting Room 116, city hall.
On Friday, Dec. 20
- Bristol-Burlington Board of Health Finance Committee, 9 a.m.
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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Enjoy!
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Merry Christmas and a full recovery for your hip !
Thank you! Merry Christmas!