Bread & Puppet Lubberland Dance Company: Election Campaign Celebration Dances and Mass For Not So Funny Things

On Friday, August 1, Wingnut and I attended a performance of the Bread & Puppet Lubblerland Dance Company Election Campaign Celebration Dances and the Mass for Not So Funny Things. I have chosen five photos for each event from the four hundred that I took. For more, see the Flickr link at the end of this post.

There was no dialogue for the Election Campaign Celebration Dances. But the theme seemed to be that we may think we are glad to have a new campaign and a brand new, honest nominee. But it is really the same old thing. Nobody is addressing the needs of the people the way that they should. I could be completely wrong about this theme. I wish there was a handout explaining it for folks like me.

Above: Peter Schumann, founder of Bread & Puppet

Below are the photographs from the Mass. I understood the mass. It was narrated and the message was clear to me. The scripture reading was from the Declaration of Independence. At communion, the scripture was fed to the politician puppets.

A thunderstorm raged outside during the mass. At the end of the program, Wingnut and I walked down the dirt road alone in the dark (we were the first to leave because of the storm) and found the car just as another storm broke. It is still raining a week later!

Scripture Readings

Hymn played by Peter

Preparing for communion

The angels above and
the devils below.

My Flickr Bread & Puppet Set

Technorati Tags: Bread & Puppet, Lubberland Dance Company
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Sourdough Philosophy Circus

The Bread & Puppet Theater always has the last spot in Barton's Fourth of July Parade. They always have something significant to say with their puppets. That is why they get their own post in the blog.















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Heads or Tails: Heads at the Bread & Puppet

The Bread & Puppet in Glover, Vermont is known for the giant heads on its puppets. Many of the puppets protest war and the corporate monoliths that control a lot of this world. So when I see a happy story in the museum portrayed by the giant puppets, I take a photo of it. These three women are playing music in their small street band.

Now why did I choose "heads" for my photo? Because I am a nitwit. I checked out Skittles's blog today at work and I read the theme for the week: keys. Being in a hurry (as I always am), I focused on the word "heads." I know, now, that I saw the word "keys," but my brain just grabbed "heads" as the theme and ran with it. I pondered all afternoon about which photo to post and decided on this photo from Labor Day weekend when all my kids were here.

Perhaps somebody can make a connection between this photo and keys? I hope so! I work all day and teach a college class on Tuesday nights, so please be patient. I will visit each of you late Tuesday night and on Wednesday night. Have a great day and thank you for visiting!

Technorati tags: Bread+&+Puppet Heads+or+Tails
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Worldless Wednesday: The Second Vermont Republic at The Bread & Puppet

A giant puppet promoting the establishment of the
Second Vermont Republic at the Bread & Puppet Museum

All text is from Wikipedia:

Vermont Republic:
"The Vermont Republic was a North American independent republic founded in 1777 and continuing until 1791, when it became Vermont – the fourteenth state of the United States."

Second Vermont Republic:
"Second Vermont Republic (SVR) is a secessionist movement within the U.S. state of Vermont to return the independent status of the Vermont Republic from 1777–91."

Bread and Puppet Theater:
"The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, currently based in Glover, Vermont."

Technorati tags: Second+Vermont+Republic, Bread+&+Puppet+Theater, Glover+Vermont, Wordless+Wednesday
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Spiders Everywhere

I have taken some really good photos of spiders. But so many readers don't like them that I have not posted them. This one I have to post. It is on the window of one of my front doors. It is busy all night, no matter how cold it is. This was taken through glass.

The weekend was wonderful, school is happy and busy (with a tragedy on Tuesday), my Tuesday night college class has begun. I have so much to blog: memes, this weekend, the cats, the weather . . . you know all about it. I've fallen behind in only four days. Many readers have expressed curiosity about the Bread and Puppet museum from my Wordless Wednesday post. I am not going to be bored for a long time!

As spiders try to move into the house for the winter, the bathroom spider has disappeared. Wingnut and I decided to let this cellar spider remain in the bathroom for photographs. I had cleaned carefully around the web and the spider stayed put. But after I cleaned Thursday night, it disappeared. I actually miss that spider.


Technorati tags: cellar+spider Bread+Puppet
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Wordless Wednesday: Anna Again

Aaron, Daisy the Dog, and my Anna
leaving the Bread and Puppet Museum
Glover, Vermont
Saturday, September 1, 2007
"The Papparazi Photo"

technorati tags: Bread+and+Puppet, Aaron+Kotowski, Anna

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Updates and Overheard

I can confidently say that my doe has taken her fawn(s) across the road, out of the beaver meadows, and up the mountain. We have not seen them for almost a week now. It is a big relief!

The white moth photograph from the Fourth of July was identified as a white spring moth today at bugguide.net.

The stilt walkers that were injured in the Fourth of July parade were thankfully only bruised. They were treated and released at the hospital that day.

The house fire in Orleans for which the fire trucks and crews had to abruptly leave the parade was not an awful fire. It was bad enough but mostly the damage was from smoke.

The Barton Chronicle quoted the fire chiefs, who met after the Barton parade, as describing the parade as "the parade from hell."

Technorati tags: White+Spring+Moth parade Barton Orleans photography Bread+and+Puppet

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Unexpected Drama at the Barton Parade

Every year the above sign appears on the village green. We decided to only go to the parade and the fireworks. We sat on the steps of the Memorial Building, right where the parade starts. This year, it was also right where the parade abruptly ended.

Every float in the parade tosses candy out to the children. Here, Wingnut is collecting candy from the soldiers in this vehicle. Everyone comes with empty bags and leaves with full bags. It's better than Halloween.

Miniature horses (probably from Evansville) were in the parade.

These two young people on stilts were from the Bread and Puppet farm in Glover. The Bread and Puppet is always the last participant in the Barton parade. They have the best Dixieland band, too, that marches.

Just after the above photo was taken, the young man stumbled and fell on the young woman. She hit the pavement head first and he fell on top of here. Here, you can see the bystanders looking on in shock as the accident happens. The girl's stilts can be seen on the left.


While the sheriff and various EMT units that were marching in the parade helped the girl, we suddenly heard many sirens as the entire Orleans fire brigade and ambulance crew also pulled out of the parade because of a fire on East Street in Orleans. The volunteer firepeople who were in other floats also raced off, leaving the parade. Later, the Barton and Irasburg fire departments also were called to Orleans and they left the parade.

Here, the immobilized girl was on the stretcher and waiting to get on the Barton ambulance to go to North Country Hospital in Newport. She was talking to the EMTs so hopefully she will be fine.

The people who perform at Bread and Puppet are usually attending a Bread and Puppet summer camp and therefore are not from here. This girl is probably away from her family to attend the camp.

My scanner is not working so I do not yet know how the girl is faring or how serious a fire it was.

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How To Draw A Bunny

The Estate of Ray Johnson: "How to Draw a Bunny, a 90 minute feature film on the artist Ray Johnson, is now available on DVD and VHS."

The movie at the Barton Library Movie Night was How To Draw A Bunny. It was about the life of Ray Johnson, a mailartist. I had never heard of him and now I want to learn more. He was a complicated man with wonderful ideas. He also had more than one reference in his works to mathematics, which intrigues me. Be sure to click the link above to view his work and learn about him.

Elka and Peter Schumann, from Bread and Puppet, were at the movies. Some of their summer guests also came. The brownies were such a success that Wingnut and I had none leftover to bring home. Elka and I chatted after the movie about events in church.

It was another great night at the movies (Wingnut was bored by the movie but he was exposed to new ideas).

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Weekend in Rutland

Female (above) and male (below) goldfinches at a feeder Sunday morning. Goldfinches have more yellow as the season goes on. I hope that is the reason for the male's "bald spots". I hope he isn't a sick bird. Also seen: Baltimore Oriole and Pileated Woodpecker: both in flight, so no photos.


Below: a large clump of Red Clover, Vermont's state flower. This is not a good photo but it is the best photo of red clover that I have taken so far. Seen near Mead's Falls.

And finally, two shots of a spider web on a clothesline. This spider (unseen) makes a coarser web than the one I shot on my cedar post that is on my blog header. Unfortunately, if you browse with Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can't see my header on the blog.


It was a short weekend. I was too tired to leave Barton on Friday, so I was a day late. I watched the Johnny Cash movie, cooked, did my photography and picked and cleaned strawberries. I actually got some reading done.

Wingnut is coming next weekend! Next weekend is a big one: movies at the library, the annual village-wide yard sale, and Bread and Puppet opens for the season. There will be lots of photos coming up.

This week? I have two days of inservice with the publishers of the Growing With Math text that the school has adopted for the upcoming year (NCTM, NSF, and NAEYC "approved"). Wednesday I have to pack up my classroom (unless the classroom elves have done it!). Thursday and Friday I clean house before the "summer invasion."

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