Culture

Grammy Awards on TV Last Night

I like the awards shows on TV this time of year. They summarize. It’s a great opportunity to catch up to the culture that never stops changing, adding to itself, morphing, circling back and repeating, sprouting new shoots, blending forms and forging new arrangements, all that and more. The Grammy Awards…

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The Business of Valentine Cards: From Howland to Hallmark

MassMoments tells us this morning that in 1849 – the first American-made Valentine cards were created and sold in Worcester, Massachusetts by Mt. Holyoke graduate Esther Howland. Modeled on the English-style Valentine, her fancy designs, embossed, cut and colored paper along with romantic sentiments and hidden messages soon grew into a…

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In the Merrimack Valley: Regional Interests In Redistricting

These ten districts will be downsized in to nine districts as a result of the 2010 Census. (Note: Include Middlesex above with Essex.) A headline in  yesterday’s MetroWest Daily News asks: ” Is there political gamesmanship in Mass. redistricting?” Redistricting in Massachusetts – and elsewhere – is always political – it’s the nature…

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Lowell Folk Festival Time Machine

The SUN story this week about performers for the upcoming 25th Lowell Folk Festival sent me to the vault to find a non-web “log” entry before the blog days about the origin of the Festival. I  was cultural affairs director of the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission at the time. After…

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