The New England Anomaly Newsblog

Saturday, October 31, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

...and Maith Samhain!!

I'll be out and about in New London, CT tonight.

So have fun and stay safe!

Monday, October 26, 2009

POE in New England...just in time for Halloween!

The hubby and I love Edgar Allan Poe...we both discovered him as young'uns and grew up with his writings. We love him so much, that when we eloped nearly 19 years ago, we tied the knot on his birthday...January 19.

(Last year's anniversary greetings from QOE...thanks Queen!)

It's not too late to travel to UMASS for this conference later in the week...

Poe and the Writers and Artists of New England

Readings, Art Exhibition, Conference, and Film Series

Celebrating the Poe Bicentennial October 29th-31st, 2009

2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe in Boston. To mark the anniversary of his birth, and to examine his relationship with New England and his profound influence on and dialogue with generations of New England’s writers, poets, visual artists and composers and musicians, the University Massachusetts Amherst will present a conference on Halloween weekend 2009. The conference will take place Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, 2009 at the university’s Campus Center conference facility and hotel.

Go here for more details.

Alas, our being there, it is not to be...but you, dear readers, may email us with news of the event.
We are dying to hear all about it!

Never say nevermore!
Cranky

Friday, October 23, 2009

This just in...

Hartford's Annual Hooker Day Parade has been CANCELED!!!

See here for more info.

Sorry folks, the weather is just sucky right now.
:-(

Cranky

A Week Away...

...is HALLOWEEN! YEA!!!!

And for those of you in southern New England still looking for things to do to help celebrate the season, a few of the local news sites have some listings for you.

From the Hartford Courant...
Get Your Fill Of Thrills And Chills Around Connecticut

And The New London Day...
Halloween events: A thrill a minute

Over in Rhode Island, here's the Providence Journal's listings...
Favorite haunts around R.I.

And up in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe has their events...
Boston Halloween Events

On a disappointing note, I will not be making my annual appearance as the Wicked Witch at the Witch's Dungeon this weekend. I seriously threw my back out last week and am still very much in pain. It's getting better, but not good enough for me to be standing and bending all night catering to the kids. In the foul mood I'm in right now, I would be the Wicked Bitch, instead of the Wicked Witch, and that would be no fun.

I hope to be in better health for next weekend, though! This is where I plan to be Saturday night, Oct. 31...

Hope to see you there!!!
Cranky

Monday, October 12, 2009

Who's Afraid of Ghosts?

For those of you into hauntings and spirits, here are some programs happening around Connecticut.

Oct 22
Paranormal Investigators, 7:00 pm
Written Words Bookstore, White Hills Shopping Center, Shelton
Paranormal investigators group S.P.I. will be here for a talk. This is part three of our paranormal series.

Oct. 24
Haunted Lantern Tour, 5:30 pm
Old Norwichtown Burial Ground, Norwichtown Green, Norwich
Admission $14. Join ghosthunter Donna Hunt and local folklorist Faye Ringel for haunted stories of Norwich.

Oct 24
Connecticut Seaside Ghosts, 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Barnum Museum, Bridgeport
Donald Carter, a case researcher with the New England Paranormal Research Group will be giving a presentation based on his published book, Connecticut’s Seaside Ghosts.

Oct. 25
Is This Place Haunted? Tour, 1:00 pm.
Nathan Hale Homestead, Coventry
Admission $10 advance/$15 at door. Connecticut Landmarks and Connecticut Paranormal Research Investigators (CT-PRI) reveal the results of the paranormal investigations conducted at the Hempsted House earlier this year.

Oct. 29
Is This Place Haunted? Tour, 7:00 pm
Hempsted Houses, New London
Admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Connecticut Landmarks and Connecticut Paranormal Research Investigators (CT-PRI) reveal the results of the paranormal investigations conducted at the Hempsted Houses earlier this year.

Oct. 30
Haunted Willimantic, 6:00 pm
Elks Lodge, Willimantic
Dinner, Presentation & Investigation $30/Presentation and Investigation only $20.
Presentation of paranormal investigations conducted at the Windham Textile and History Museum, Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, the Haunted Church, and the Elks Club. Patrons will be transported by bus to each location to initiate your own search. The evening concludes with an investigation at the Willimantic Cemetery. For reservations and tickets call 860-377-7755.

Oct. 30
An Evening of Spirit Communication, 7:00 pm
Capital Theater, Willimantic
Admission $35 advance/$40 at door. Featuring psychic medium Joanne Gerber. For more info, call: (860) 779-3770 or www.eastconn.org/communityed

October is Taphophile Month!

For those of you who love cemeteries (I know I do!), here is a list of Cemetery Tours and Lectures for the month of October here in Connecticut.

Listings courtesy of Ruthie Shapleigh Brown of the Connecticut Gravestone Network:

Oct 16 & Oct. 17
Old Storrs Cemetery Program, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Storrs Congregational Church, Storrs
Admission $5.00. Lecture and tour featuring the history of the cemetery, stories of those buried there, gravestone carvers and symbols, grave rubbing dos and don'ts. The cemetery program is part of activities being held by the church during “Welcome to Our House: A Celebration Weekend.” For more information, visit the church’s web site, www.storrscongchurch.org or contact the church office, 860-429-9382.

Oct 17
Fairview Cemetery Tour, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Smalley St., New Britain
The first annual Timeless Tales of Fairview Cemetery. Sponsored by New Britain Parks and Recreation & Stanley Works. Gravestone carving demonstration by Ty Tyron. Contact: Rex Cone for info @ 860-826-3360

Oct. 17
Walktober: Secrets in Stone, 1:00 - 2:30 pm Free!
Nathan Hale Homestead, Coventry

Departing from the Nathan Hale Cemetery on Lake Street, Connecticut Landmarks staff member, Linda Pagliuco will lead this tour of the burial ground’s most significant headstones, including its oldest grave (1716) to its most famous, the Nathan Hale Monument. Part of Walktober, the 19th annual walking, strolling, paddling, biking and hiking celebration of The Last Green Valley.

Oct. 18
Tea & Lecture: Cemetery Tourism 101, 4:30 - 5:30 pm
Windham Textile and History Museum, Willimantic
Admission $10. Local historian Cheryl LeBeau will present a lecture and PowerPoint slide show about historic cemeteries, gravestones, and notable burials in Eastern Connecticut. Admission includes tea and refreshments and supports the museum.

Oct. 21
Gravestone Carving, 7:00 pm
The Lyman Allyn Museum, New London
Lecture by Lance Mayer. Contact number is (860) 441-6750.

Oct. 23
Haunted History Tour, 6:30 pm
Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford
Admission $5.00 Character actors will share stories of residents involving murder, mystery and mayhem.
For more info visit: Cedar Hill Cemetery

Oct. 24
Victorian Mourning & Mystique, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Sponsored by Friends of Center Cemetery and Historical Society of East Hartford
Admission $2. See Victorian era mourning dress, artwork and coffins, quilts and photos, as well as displays of early history of Center Cemetery. Mourning jewelry and cemetery craft items will also be on sale.

Oct. 24
Cemetery meeting @ The Sterling Historical Society, 2:00 pm
Sterling Municipal Building, Sterling
The Historical Society is starting a program to look after their old cemeteries, if you are interested in attending contact Deborah Sharpe at 860-564-4531 or nicholas.sharpe@sbcglobal.net
The meeting will be followed by a program given by Ruthie Shapleigh Brown on basic conservation.

Oct. 24
Fun, Facts & Fright Tour, 6:00 pm
Center Cemetery, East Hartford
Admission $10. Tour through our historic cemetery meeting some old friends and other residents of the burying ground.

Oct. 24
Haunted Lantern Tour, 5:30 pm
Old Norwichtown Burial Ground, Norwichtown Green, Norwich
Admission $14. Join ghosthunter Donna Hunt and local folklorist Faye Ringel for haunted stories of Norwich.

Oct. 25
Cemetery Stroll @ Hillside Cemetery, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Sharon Historical Society, Sharon
This year we are paying tribute to the Hillside residents who were part of the staff, over the last 100 years, at Sharon Hospital.

Oct. 30
Ancient Burying Ground Tour, 8:00 pm
The Old State House, Hartford

Oct. 31
Daytime Halloween, 12 noon - 2:00 pm
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford
Tour Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground and Center Church! Spooky tales, costume parade, organ music, and cemetery tour...wear your costume if you dare! Ruthie Shapleigh Brown heads the cemetery tour.

Nov. l
Symbols Tour, 1:00 pm
Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford
Stroll the ground looking for and comparing symbols with Ruthie Brown.
Free tour – meet at the flag pole area.

=============
Work Days with the Connecticut Gravestone Network

If you are interested in volunteering with CGN, please contact Ruthie Brown: ctgravelady@cox.net
No experience is necessary, just a willingness to help and get your hands dirty.

Saturday Oct. 17
Old Wintonbury Cemetery Cleanup Day, Bloomfield CT. 11am
www.bloomfieldcthistory.org or contact Probair333@aol.com

Saturday Oct. 17
North Burying Ground, Danbury, CT 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

Saturday Nov. 21
Wooster Cemetery, Danbury, CT 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Contact Ed at esiergiej@aol.com

Friday, October 02, 2009

Haunted Connecticut?

This is the time of year for spooky goings-on.

Haunted houses and corn mazes are set up and advertised, and the same ghost stories we never get tired of are told again. The Hartford Courant has it's yearly line-up of Halloween events and reportedly haunted places around the state.

And who doesn't love a good ghost story? The Cranky Yankee loves ghost stories and loves to visit places that are suppose to be haunted. I like visiting these places because they are akin to visiting historic sites. Like the places where history happens, I get a thrill out of standing in a spot where such events allegedly occur; it brings one closer to the source.

But do I really think ghosts exist?

No.

Maybe that's strange coming from a historian who specializes in folklore and legends (and someone who loves all things spooky), but being a skeptic is part of my job. I research history and folklore. I deal with facts. Folklore, tall-tales, legends, and ghost stories are very much a part of our society and deal with the psychological part of the human condition. It's an important part of how we view ourselves and our surroundings. It's how we interpret things we don't understand, or boost ourselves in times of disorder. But there's a difference between studying it and believing it.

In the meantime, I will enjoy Halloween as I do every year. I will visit haunted corn mazes, watch scary movies, dress up in funny costumes, and generally have a good time. The rest of the year I have my nose inside musty tomes, pick up ticks in overgrown cemeteries, and risk personal injury tramping through abandoned buildings as I try to make sense of it all. And I have a lot of fun doing it....goodness! I love my work!

Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 01, 2009

October is a SPOOK-tacular Month!

OCTOBER!!!
This is the Cranky Yankee's favorite time of year! :-)

And what better way than to start the haunted season off, than with The Witch's Dungeon in Bristol, CT.

The Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum has been going strong for over 40 years! It is a homage to classic horror movies of Hollywood. Proprietor Cortlandt Hull is a movie historian and professional artist who started his project as a teenager and has been improving on it ever since. His partner, Dennis Vincent is a film maker, and is currently working on a new documentary, Legends of Film and Fantasy.

The annual Halloween exhibit features life-size wax figures of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Phantom of the Opera, and others. They also showcase original costumes and props from these films. Old horror movies are shown outdoors on the front lawn as weather permits (this is for entertaining people as they wait in line).

This year the Dungeon will be open weekends Friday - Sunday from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct 2-4; Oct. 9-11; Oct. 16-18; and Oct. 23-25. The Dungeon will NOT be open on Halloween night.

This year's special guests include:
SCOTT HANEY from "Better Connecticut" on Ch. 3 (Fri. Oct. 2, 7-8pm)
DANIEL HORNE, artist (Sat. Oct. 3)
BILL DIAMOND and his puppets (Sat. Oct. 17)
and yours truly, the Cranky Yankee (aka The Hands of Zenobia...see below) as The Wicked Witch (Sat. Oct. 24)

While not a "booga-booga" type exhibit, it is not recommended for children younger than 7. It is also not handicapped accessible. Please keep in mind the the Dungeon is small, and the line to get in is outdoors. The line gets long, so come early and DRESS WARM!

A donation of $1 is suggested.

Other Witch's Dungeon events happening this season:

A Film Lecture by Cortlandt Hull
Mon. Oct. 26; 7:30pm
Case Memorial Library
Orange, CT

Guest appearance at:
Chiller Theatre Convention (ChillerCon)
Oct. 30 - Nov. 1
Parsippany, NJ

Guest appearance at:
SuperMegaFest 2009
Nov. 21-22
Framingham, MA

For more info:
The Witch's Dungeon
90 Battle St.
Bristol, CT
860-583-8306
www.preservehollywood.org

A scene from the forthcoming documentary, Legends of Film and Fantasy featuring Zacherley "The Cool Ghoul" and the "Hands of Zenobia." Want to see something funny? Click here.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Anomalies a-Fortnight

Anomalies a-Fortnight
Reviewing odd news in the New England states
Period Ending 9-25-09

The blood pressure is up again…and it’s about my favorite complaint, Connecticut Tourism. Or maybe I should thank the state of Connecticut for giving me something to continually post about.

Remember “Stay-cation?” Because the economy is so bad, Connecticut encouraged Nutmeggers to stay home and support their local tourist spots. It would promote the state and make money for the locals…right? But then they promptly reduced museum hours and had them only open for four hours on Thursday afternoon when everybody is at work and school. Then they cut the money back used for luring tourists (see previous blog posts here and here).

Now, they’re raising tourist fees in the state (Staycation May Cost You More Next Month). And if that isn’t enough, the state can’t even keep what they already have for visitors (History Site Goes to the Dogs, in Japanese). How embarrassing! Feh…this is why we don’t have nice things.

Now it’s autumn, the high spot of the New England tourist season that will attract visitors from all over to come and oogle our colorful countryside (Fall colors mean tourism dollars). You’d think that would also attract the tourist dollars we so badly need, right? I don’t know about you, but to paraphrase one wag in the comment section of the Norwich Bulletin…there's even more reason to drive through Connecticut to see the leaves. There's nothing else to stop for. He’s right.

Move along, move along…nothing for you here.

Despite all the negativity, I DO encourage you to get out and visit the local museums and historic sites that are open. It is NOT their fault…in fact, the people who run these places are working beyond heroic measures to keep art, history, and tourism alive and well in Connecticut. Despite the state not supporting their own tourism business (and trying their damnedest to kill it), there is plenty to see and do in the state. And those who work their butts off for little to no pay (thank you volunteers everywhere!) should be commended for their efforts.

Historic Good Deeds

They Do It Right and Have Fun With It

Oooo…Scary Stuff!

The Age of Stupid

So Very Sad

How Cool Is That!?

John Brown, Slavery, and the Legacies of Revolutionary Violence

Here's an upcoming history conference that was recently posted on H-Net...

CONF: John Brown, Slavery, and the Legacies of Revolutionary Violence
Oct. 29-31, 2009 (New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.)

John Brown, Slavery, and the Legacies of Revolutionary Violence in Our Own Time: A Conference Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Harpers Ferry Raid

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition

11th Annual International Conference
Oct 29-31, 2009
Yale University, New Haven, CT

October 29, Harkness Hall, Room 201 (Sudler Hall), 100 Wall Street

October 30-31, Luce Hall, Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Avenue

Discussions of the place of violence-its forms, its causes, its justice or injustice-in American history often begin with John Brown and his exploits in Kansas and at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in the 1850s. Brown's image has been appropriated by groups from the left and the right. He is a historical as well as a legendary figure, and often the myth overshadows the reality. This conference will explore the meaning and memory of John Brown as well as the problem of violence in American culture, past and present.

The conference will open on the evening of Thursday, October 29 with a performance of John Brown: Trumpet of Freedom by actor and playwright Norman Marshall. On Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31, conference panels will focus on four major themes:

. John Brown: A Problem in Biography
. John Brown and the Arts
. John Brown and the Legacies of Violence
. John Brown and Abolitionism
. Concluding Roundtable: A Problem for Our Own Time

For information on the conference visit:
http://www.yale.edu/glc/john-brown/index.htm

To register visit:
http://www.yale.edu/glc/john-brown/reg.htm

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of
Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
Yale University
PO Box 208206
New Haven, CT 06520-8206
www.yale.edu/glc
gilder.lehrman.center@yale.edu
Phone: 203-432-3339 ~ Fax: 203-432-6943