On this day in 1984 Tetris was released. The best-selling video game of all time. Or, at least a contender… Arcade Games Read more

ON this day in 1851 the first part of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in the National Era, an abolitionist newspaper. Some consider this the first volley of the Civil War. No doubt a flawed document, the racial stereotypes would haunt our culture. But, at the same time, there’s little doubt the harsh light cast on the horrors of slavery the book depicted did indeed melt many hearts, and did have a significant part in setting the... Read more

Joseph H Jordon died on this day in 1901. He was fifty-nine. Jordon was the first Universalist minister of African-American descent. Born free in West Norfolk, Virginia, he worked variously as laborer, grocer, and carpenter, before building a number of houses and becoming a landlord. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1880, but after meeting Universalists and reading widely, although Thomas Whittemore’s The Plain Guide to Universalism, seemed particularly important, was convinced of universal salvation and started preaching the... Read more

The first of June! How did that happen? I see that on this day in the year 193 the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus was assassinated, in 1660 Mary Dyer was hung in Massachusetts for being a Quaker and refusing to go away, in 1779 Benedict Arnold got himself court-martialed, in 1815 Napoleon swore to uphold the French constitution, presumably with crossed fingers in that hidden hand, and in 1857 Charles Baudelaire published his collection of poems, Les Fleurs du mal…... Read more

 Read more

Walt Whitman was born on this day in 1819. I’m so glad that happened… Read more

On this day in 1790 Rhode Island (known in some circles in those days at Rogue Island) ratified the Constitution. Rhode Island had been the first of the colonies to declare independence from Great Britain. With this it became the last of the states to ratify the constitution. Apparently threats of gunships may have helped the final decision to go on together rather than alone… Read more

ZEN PRIEST HOME LEAVING: Spirit, Principles, and Possibilities Public Talk and Workshop with Dosho Port at Boundless Way Temple/Worcester Zen Center 1030 Pleasant Street Worcester, MA 01602 508-792-5189 | www.worcesterzen.org Public Talk and Dharma Dialogue Friday July 12th 7pm to 9pm Workshop (by invitation only: please contact registrar for information) Saturday July 13th 9am to 4pm Public Talk and Dharma Dialogue: We will discuss traditional home-leaving and contemporary adaptations of actualizing the fundamental point (genjokoan) through the three aspects (food,... Read more

It turns out that Disney’s Silly Symphony released “The Three Little Pigs” on this day in 1933. It won a 1934 Academy Award and has been counted as one of the fifty top cartoons ever. It also brushes up to antisemitism in one scene, cleaned up a bit in this version. The cartoon also introduced the song “Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, which has become an ear worm haunting the unawares down to this day. Oh. Also. A... Read more

CLOUDS OF WITNESSES A Memorial Day Meditation on the Nonviolent Way James Ishmael Ford 26 May 2013 Bell Street Chapel Providence, Rhode Island Text No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manner of thine own Or of thine friend’s were. Each man’s... Read more