One hundred and fifty years ago today, a tall thin man, weak and dizzy from an as yet undiagnosed case of smallpox, rose from a temporary platform to face a crowd of onlookers beneath a cold and drizzly gray sky. He was there to deliver “a few remarks” in dedication of an as yet unfinished cemetery. The previous speaker was Edward Everett renowned orator and the the main featured attraction that bleak morning.

So my old car has been without a radio recently, since the original died awhile back, and I finally had a new system installed. Great to have music again! But, honestly, what I had missed was my morning dose of NPR. Well, I happily tuned in today and caught a segment relating to old films and television episodes that are stored in the Warner Brothers vaults out in California. The report went into a discussion about how many are being converted laboriously into a digital format. The process apparently is exceptionally labor intensive, with hours spent on short strips of film, ensuring the right balance of color and depth and focus is retained. But then a further discussion revealed some dissension and argument around the process and it’s affect on the original intent of the director. Mention was made of how people would react if someone decided to slap new color onto a fading Mona Lisa, for example.

I love this time of year! Spring is when we get to announce all our new programs. It is all very exciting!

On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln passed away in a small room in the Peterson boarding house across the street from Ford’s Theatre in Washington where he had been shot the night before. This is fact.