Are you in need of help of any sort? Speak with Mass Support! They’re here to help, and they’re doing a lot of stuff virtually this year. You can also just get in touch via MASSSUPPORT@RIVERSIDECC.ORG or 888-215-4920.
Miss the movies? Watch Images Cinema online! Or watch Amherst Cinema online!
You can order Tony DiTerlizzi signed books here from Odyssey Bookshop!
Buy comics from amazing local retailers Comics N’ More! They’re great!
You can join up with the Westfield Athenaeum Monthly Reading Challenge:
Sign up at https://westath.beanstack.org/ to join our Monthly Reading Challenges, running from September 2020 to June 2021. Each month, read a book for a new challenge and then join one or more of our Reader’s Chats to discuss the book you’ve read with other readers on the fourth Tuesdays of every month. Not sure what to read? Check our Facebook page for a themed #shelfiesunday video and Beanstack for book lists for applicable challenges. The challenge and book clubs are for all ages. JANUARY’S CHALLENGE: Read a book you meant to read in 2020!
The biggest event this week is the Global Game Jam! From Friday at 5PM all the way to Sunday at 5PM you can join the folks at Another Castle to take part! Register today here! Learn more about it here!
Another Castle & the Pioneer Valley Game Developers (PVGD) are excited to host aspiring and experienced game developers at the 2021 Virtual Global Game Jam from Jan 29 – 31! Global Game Jam is an event for humans with an interest in making games. While it’s helpful to have some experience in programming, art, audio, or game design, the event is open to all skill levels. The general goal of any game jam is to work together in a team to create an original game from start to finish in a short amount of time. Everyone is welcome! Show your excitement by RSVP’ing to this invite, but more importantly, you MUST register below at the Global Game Jam site to attend.
Monday from 4PM – 5PM kids can join up with the Hero Kids! Register by contacting tboulrice@westath.org.
Calling young adventurers! Are you ready to save villages, defeat monsters, and find treasure? Join us virtually to play Hero Kids, a fantasy role playing game, where you get to be the heroes and save the day. Our quest is on fourth Monday of each month and begins at 4:00PM. Heroes need to register. For ages 7-10.
Monday from 4PM – 5:30PM you can attend the Forbes Library Racial & Social Justice Advisory Group via Zoom!
Monday from 7:30PM – 8:45PM you can attend the VIRTUAL Presidents Book Group. Email Coolidge@forbeslibrary.org for the zoom link or to be added to the book group email list.
Do you want to deepen your understanding of the American presidency? Then join the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum’s new Presidential Book Group! We will be tracing the history of the presidency, beginning with George Washington, and watching how American democracy evolved in ways the Founders never anticipated. We’ll follow how presidents, both celebrated and forgotten, grappled with slavery, economics, executive power and America’s role in the world. In doing so, we’ll broaden our knowledge of Coolidge and where his presidency fits in the American story.
Monday from 8PM – 10PM you can attend VIRTUAL : Far Out Film Discussion via Zoom: Melancholia. We watched the first half and enjoyed it pretty well! Then we forgot to watch the second half.
Far Out Film Discussion will have a zoom meeting to talk about the 2011 film Melancholia by Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier. View the trailer here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzD0U841LRM. It can be found online at kanopy: https://boston.kanopy.com/product/melancholia-0. To virtually attend this discussion, click the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87523942049
Tuesday from 1:30PM – 3PM you can attend the VIRTUAL: Career Center Seminar.
This seminar provides Unemployment Insurance (UI) recipients and other prospective customers with an overview of events, programs, and resources available at One-Stop Career Centers. This seminar will be conducted via the Webex platform. Participants must have an email address to participate. You can register through JobQuest or call the Greenfield office, 24 hours ahead of time. You will receive separately instructions on how to join webinar.
Tuesday from 7PM – 8PM you can join the Mystery Book Discussion: Bearskin. Join the Zoom here: https://zoom.us/j/98217285052?pwd=dURwSXl2dGtYRmJPMm1yMHAzNVFCUT09. Meeting ID: 982 1728 5052. Passcode: 956244.
Rice Moore is just beginning to think his troubles are behind him. He’s found a job protecting a remote forest preserve in Virginian Appalachia where his main responsibilities include tracking wildlife and refurbishing cabins. It’s hard work, and totally solitary—perfect to hide away from the Mexican drug cartels he betrayed back in Arizona. But when Rice finds the carcass of a bear killed on the grounds, the quiet solitude he’s so desperately sought is suddenly at risk.
The Mystery Book Discussion Group meets monthly for a casual discussion. New members are always welcome. Pick up a copy of this month’s discussion book at the library.
Tuesday from 7PM – 8PM you can join author of “All Tied Up” Gina Moulton and the folks at Odyssey Books for a pajama party storytime!
Ella loves kindergarten, but is worried she may not be up to the latest challenge. . .learning to tie her shoes. Everyone in the class is trying to tie their shoes. As she watches her friends in class succeed, Ella begins to believe she may never figure it out. It just felt too difficult. Would Ella ever learn to tie her shoes?
Tuesday from 7PM – 9PM you can attend Self-Evident Truths: A Program on Anti-Racist History, A Video Screening and Talkback on Zoom.
Historic Northampton is pleased to present a screening of two video episodes from Self-Evident Media’s series of educational resources. “One Minute’s Freedom” is about Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman and the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts and “The Truth is Powerful” (premiere), examines two public versions of Sojourner Truth’s most famous speech, often referred to as “Ain’t I a Woman?”, delivered in 1851. Each video is about 12 minutes long. Following the screenings, Professor Ousmane Power-Greene will moderate a discussion with the scholars, filmmakers, and educators who produced the series: Jellissa Lacon, Michael Lawrence-Riddell, Chrishaunda Lee Perez, and Bayeté Ross Smith. For more information on the speakers, click here.
Wednesday from 10AM – 11AM you can attend VIRTUAL: Scam Alert!
Americans lose millions of dollars each year to scams. The stories may vary, but the motives are the same–to steal your money or personal information. During this webinar, learn about the tricks the scammers use and what you can do to protect yourself. Presented by representatives from the Consumer Protection Unit, NW District Attorney’s Office. You can register on JobQuest or call Greenfield office at 800-457-2603 or 413-774-4361 by 4:30 the day before to sign up. The Zoom platform with be used and so you must provide an email address to participate; instructions on how to join will be provided separately.
Wednesday from 1:30PM – 2:30PM you can attend the VIRTUAL: Getting Ready for Your Next Interview event with MassHire!
Join using your computer (preferred), tablet, or smart phone. Call Greenfield office at 800-457-2603 or 413-774-4361 by 10:00 am the day of to sign up; you must provide an email address to participate. Instructions on how to join webinar will be provided separately.
Wednesday from 3:30PM – 4:15PM you can attend the Virtual Middle Grade Book Club: “Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan” Please email sjohnson@forbeslibrary.org to register and receive the Zoom meeting link and password! For ages 10-14.
Wednesday from 6PM – 8:30PM you can attend the Frances Crowe Film Series: Battleground.
This month we’re watching and discussing Battleground. Battleground is an intimate look at our current political divide, as seen through the eyes of two Pennsylvania grass roots activists: a Tea Party chairman and a progressive Black pastor. Stream the film starting at 6pm, and then join the discussion at 7:05pm: https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/battleground_forbes_library Select “Get Notified” to register.
Wednesday from 7PM – 8PM you can attend the presentation What is gender and why does it matter? with Alex Myers!
Alex is a transgender individual who wrote “Continental Divide” a novel on gender identity. He will discuss his experiences with gender, what it is and why it matters. Alex Myers is a writer, speaker and teacher. He has been an advocate for transgender rights since coming out as transgender in 1995, and works with schools to create gender inclusive policies, facilities, and communities. Alex has three novels out: Revolutionary, Continental Divide, and The Story of Silence and lives in New Hampshire with his wife and two cats. Please register here: https://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=WESTFLDA&curID=478452. You will receive an email with login information on the day of the program.
Wednesday from 7PM – 9PM you can join the Jones Library Zine Club online!
Drop in for all or part of our virtual Zine Club work party! We’ll be hanging out, working on our individual projects, sharing stories, talking zines, making art, getting feedback, brainstorming, getting stuff done. If you’ve been meaning to work on an art project but time keeps slipping away, put this in your calendar! All ages welcome! Zoom link. Password – 614664
Wednesday from 7PM – 9PM you can join the Forbes Library Zine Club online! zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88448156224?pwd=eTkxUlM1YS91UCsxNi96cGVOd0lsdz09. password – 614664
Zoom with Zine Club! Come to a show and tell of zines you’ve been reading or zines you’ve been making! Let’s share ideas, hang out and make art zoom-style!
Wednesday from 7PM – 11PM you can hang with the lovely folks from Start Playing Online! They gather at the Discord channel: https://discord.gg/fAM8yJw. Most games are played on Board Game Arena if you want to check it out ahead of time. It’s fun and everyone’s nice!
Wednesday from 7PM – 8PM you can check out the SciTech Cafe! This week: The Multiverse: Is Our Universe One of Many? Check here for Zoom info and the meeting link! Find answers to questions like…
Are there other universes besides the one we see? Are we better off with or without them? How can you help protect the ocean? How could their existence explain the properties of the universe we are in? Gary Felder is a professor of physics at Smith College and a favorite among the SciTech Café crowd. He has enlightened us with his talks about gravitational waves, dark matter, the Higgs-Boson, and the early universe. This month he will take his talk to the next dimension.
Thursday from 10AM – 11AM you can see the History Chat with Bob Brown of Westfield Athenaeum!
Enjoy a recorded history chat with Bob Brown every second and fourth Thursday on our Facebook channel! While Bob will not be live, feel free to leave comments or questions on the video and hopefully we will record a later video where he answers your questions. You do not require a Facebook page to view the video, just go to http://www.facebook.com/westath and go to the “Videos” page.
Thursday from 6:30PM – 8:30PM you can check out Trivia Thursdays: Disney. You can contact ghohmeyer@westath.org to join!
Are you a Disney fanatic? Can you sing every song ever? Then this trivia event is for you Mouseketeers, young and old! Play with friends and family from comfort of your own home. This event will take place over Zoom and use Kahoot. You will need an extra internet connected device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc). You can also split the screen of a computer to play.
Thursday from 7PM – 8PM you can attend a MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION | Murder in the Rue Racine: Five Gunshots that Changed Jewish History? with David Engel. Check it out and register for the presentation here!
In May 1926, Scholem Schwarzbard, a Ukrainian Jewish watchmaker and sometime Yiddish journalist and poet living in Paris, shot and killed the president of the exile Ukrainian National Republic, Symon Petliura. Interrogated for seventeen months before being put on trial, Schwarzbard was exonerated by a Paris jury following dramatic testimony that riveted the attention of observers around the world. The two events, along with others that unfolded in the interval between them, would change much for Jews in the coming decades. Archival materials hitherto unexplored shed new light on these changes.
Friday from 1PM – 2PM you can attend the Virtual Book/Movie/Podcast chat online at Forbes! It’s a fun time to chat with folks about media. Join here!
Sunday from 2PM – 3PM you can attend a READING & TALK | “Sutzkever Essential Prose” book launch, with translator Zackary Sholem Berger and scholar Justin Cammy. Check it out and register for the presentation here!
The most recent title from the Yiddish Book Center’s White Goat Press, “Sutzkever Essential Prose” brings to light for English readers the largely unknown prose of a seminal Yiddish poet. Avrom Sutzkever wrote the works in this volume over a span of more than 30 years, blurring the lines between fiction, memoir, and poetry; between real and imagined; between memory and metaphor. Now, through Zackary Sholem Berger’s translations, English readers can enter into an array of compelling, haunting scenes drawn from Sutzkever’s vast imagination and from the unique life he lived. In this presentation, Berger will read from his translation, and scholar Justin Cammy will discuss the book’s and Sutzkever’s significance in Yiddish literature.
We finally played a copy of Void Bastards we’ve had for a while and hey, that’s a fun game! It’s served both well and poorly by the roguelite conceit. Like a lot of games I’ve played with “random traits for characters every time you start” it kind of works but kind of doesn’t. The thing is if you have really bad or really good traits it would feel awful to lose a great person or get a terrible person and they all wind up being balanced to the point they don’t super matter.
And the gameplay itself is kind of Bioshock Lite: hack security turrets, sneak around a bit, avoid the really tough enemy and maybe mind-control someone to fight with you. But because the ships you explore are designed to be sort of interchangeable there’s no real buildup to a climax, you’re always kinda in over your head if you’re playing on Hard, but it feels like your progress kind of resets every 5 minutes as you escape the ship you’re on and move to a new one.
But! It’s fun to unlock mildly silly weaponry and gadgets, it’s fun to pop a bunch of comic-book looking alien mutants with space guns, and it’s fun to hack security turrets. It’s worth a shot if you’ve ever enjoyed this sort of thing.
THE VALLEY NERD WATCH 