Mondo Lizzie Borden

My friend Don Hammontree, singer, photographer, video artist, has posted one of his songs from his new CD “Brutalist School”—titled Quequechan. He has created a music video incorporating his photographs of Fall River, many of which you might recognize.

It is a really fine song. Take a listen.

The second video from Don Hammontree’s latest CD “Brutalist School” (download it at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hammontree3 or at iTunes), “Quequechan” is the singer/songwriter’s tribute to Fall River, Massachusetts, his home of more than 11 years. Most of the photographs of the city shown in the video were taken by Hammontree, an avid photographer.

Fall River, a city of around 90,000 people that sits on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border an hour south of Boston. In its heyday, it was one of the largest textile manufacturing centers in the world. Famous Fall River-ites include suspected axe murderess Lizzie Borden, master chef Emeril Lagasse, news host George Stephanopoulos, former Boston Celtic Chris Herren, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.

A native of Peoria, Ill., Don Hammontree is a singer/songwriter, writer and photographer. “Brutalist School” is his third CD, following “Mount Hope Days” (2003) and “The Mumbai EP” (2005). He is also the author of the self-published novel “Baptized in Formaldehyde,” a day-in-the-life, coming-of-age, sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll story for the whole family.

A busy performer, Hammontree has played throughout the American Northeast, Midwest and South, as well as in Poland and Ukraine. For his latest shows, please consult

http://www.myspace.com/donhammontree

Don Hammontree is also on Facebook, as well.

I have to say I watch this web-only show. I keep up with each episode and find it fresh and interesting. 30 Odd Minutes is the brainchild of Jeff Belanger. He is interested in all things paranormal and has created a great informal interview show that is well worth watching. His cohorts and coworkers include Matt Moniz, Rob Bailey, Andrew Lake, Andy White, and Sarah Samways. Check out their bios here, and don’t forget to mouse over the pictures for a laff.

30 Odd Minutes has produced a show on the Lizzie Borden house.

Here is their description:

Episode 27 – “Live” from Lizzie Borden’s

In Episode 27 we come to you “Live” from the haunted Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Massachusetts. Okay, not totally “live” because we filmed the episode about a week before it aired. Nobody does a documentary like the 30 Odd Minutes crew! And Lizzie Borden is no different. Just like our studio show we do the whole thing live, straight-through, in one take. You get a tour of the house, learn about some of the history, hear from the manager, Lee Ann, and learn from our special guests: EVP specialist, Mike Markowicz, and the host of Spooky Southcoast Radio, Tim Weisberg. You just don’t know what will happen during this show. Do we uncover evidence of the paranormal or just a prank? Tune in to find out! If the truth is out there… 30 Odd Minutes will find it… but only by sheer accident.

Enjoy!

Bloody Rare Books has had a placeholder for a long while where their Lizzie Borden Collection was one day supposed to go. Well that day has finally arrived and I am happy to say that the site is spectacular!

With research and writing by Richard Behrens, of “Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective” and GardenBay Films (which produces the Lizzie Mini films), this section of the rare book store site is jam-packed with Lizzie info, including a most excellent retelling of the trial of Lizzie Borden.

Bloody Rare indicates that their Lizzie Borden inventory will be uploaded soon. I can’t wait!

Gwen, in her blog Things in My Head, has posted 5 questions that she would like to ask Lizzie Borden. Her post inspired me to add my five questions. Perhaps you have questions as well?

Here are her questions:

1) Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Did you do it? Did Emma do it? People have written books supporting you both did it or you did or just Emma did it.

2) Did you know someone turned the house on Second Street into a bed and breakfast? People pay over $200 for a night even in Bridget’s old room.

3) Where you and Nance O’Neil girlfriends? Or just friends?

4) Did your father have things to do with you or Emma? There is definitely a something is very wrong vibe there.

5) Why did Emma move out after all those years together? Did she confront you about Nance O’Neil and your theater friends? Just couldn’t stand the sight of each other anymore?

My questions are:
1) Why did you stay in Fall River after your acquittal?
2) Did you burgle your own house on June 24, 1891?
3) Did you celebrate birthdays and holidays like Christmas in your home as you were growing up?
4) Were you a kleptomaniac?
5) After Emma moved out, did you communicate with her again ever, either in person, by telephone, or letter?

Some students at Waltham High School (MA) have put together a short video on the Lizzie Borden case. It is a straight retelling of the story, with a strong emphasis on Lizzie’s probable guilt.

The students cite their sources at the end of the show, but get many of the facts of the case incorrect. Can you spot their mistakes? Comment on your findings below.

For anyone interested in Victorian clothing, gifts, cards, furniture, and jewelry: The Victorian Trading Company. The catalog is first rate and fun to peruse. It is available for you to download as well.

They also offer free E-Greetings that you can send to your pals.

Our great good friend and Literary Hatchet contributor, Ada Jill Schneider, will be offering a Valentines Day poetry reading.

You can read some of Ada’s poetry in the FREE issues of the Literary Hatchet. Check it out!

The print version of the 4th edition of the Literary Hatchet is available for sale!

You can order your copy here for only $8.00!

This issue contains some amazing fiction and poetry, from some fabulous writers.

Here is the Table of Contents:

Please support our writers and order your copy today!

There is an interesting contest that unfortunately ends today where people can submit their ideas for a film poster for a movie that never existed, but models itself as a parody on B movies.

JohnLennon15 submitted a poster for a fake film titled “I Married Lizzie Borden.” It is pretty imaginative and well done (see below). I think it might win as it seems to me to be the best of the entries.

Here are the rules:

Yes, it’s B-Movie time! Your goal? To create a convincing poster for one of those enjoyable B-Movies (or lower down the alphabet).

Sound’s simple? Well, we’re going to make it even more challenging! Your goal is NOT to mock films, not to parody them – your goal is to take a randomly generated B-Movie title and make a poster that is as believable as possible for the movie you’ve imagined!

Here’s what you do!

* Go to the B-Movie Generator and generate a title you want to do the poster of.

Now, when you do this poster, you also have to include the following on your entry at the site it’s hosted at:

* The year it was made.
* A summary of the plot and characters.
* Any other extra detail to make it more believable.

So if your fake picture is from the 70’s, the poster is going to be in a different style than say, the 90’s or the 50’s. This also gives you a chance to find a style that fits your artistic skills and interests, from the cut-and-paste oddness of grindhouse posters to some of the strange and lush art of the 70’s and more!

A few resources to help those of you looking to do a blast from the past:

* Some 1970’s posters.
* Some 1960’s posters.
* Some 1950’s drive in posters.

So go on, let’s see what kind of wonderfully cheese films you can create – that never were.

I found this on Craigslist.org. Interesting place to advertise a lecture! I must remember this avenue of marketing!

I have seen Chris’ presentation when he presented it in Tiverton, RI, at the public library. He filled the room and there was standing room only. If you are in the Charlestown area you should see this presentation.

Here is a link to the Charlestown Library.

And here is a link to the event.

1/25: Lizzie Borden The Mystery Continues Lecture Slideshow Presentation (Charlestown Branch Library)
Date: 2010-01-15, 10:44AM EST
Reply to: event-mzbpm-1553784865@craigslist.org

Monday, Jan 25 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Charlestown Branch Library
179 Main St., Boston, MA, 02129
617) 242-1248

This presentation is a one hour slide lecture by history teacher, Chris Daley, with photographs of the major players in the case as well as locations both from the time of the murders and how they appear today.
This program is free. Please call 617 242 12148 for more information.

The new issue of the FREE Literary Hatchet is now online for your reading pleasure. This issue is dedicated to the late William Schley-Ulrich.

You will find wonders within its pages, a gem in every poem and story.

We hope you enjoy it.

You can download your free copy here.

Just click Downloads, fill out the form for Issue #4 and it will download to your computer.

Warm wishes for a happy new year,

Stefani Koorey
Editor/Publisher
The Literary Hatchet

Another little tidbit from Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River was posted online today at the website for the Fall River Historical Society.

And a lovely Christmas present it is!

Also: the Historical Society has released a statement regarding the book’s scheduled publication!

I have seen the cover of this book and it is going to be a first class production.

For those who like to hold their Hatchets in their hands, the print version (hard copy) of the latest issue is available for order!

You can grab yours here. Only $14.99 for 86 pages of great scholarship, humor, and excellent analysis!

Check out the content here.

A blast from the past: A letter to the editor of the New York Times from 1992, written by Neilson Caplain of Fall River, Massachusetts, former president of the board of the Fall River Historical Society.

Letter: On Lizzie Borden; The Murder Weapon Mystery
Published: May 16, 1992

To the Editor:

According to a report from George Washington University (Campus Life, April 26), Prof. James E. Starrs hopes to dig up the bodies of Abby and Andrew Borden to compare the chips on a hatchet with the wounds inflicted by the hatchet when they were slain in Fall River, Mass., in 1892. The professor is bound to be disappointed. The hatchet to which he has access is not the one that did in the Bordens.

The hatchet he would examine, dubbed the “handleless hatchet,” is in the collection at the Fall River Historical Society. It is indeed the one presented at the trial of Lizzie Borden in June 1893. However, the prosecution did not claim that this was the very instrument used in the double murder. Reference to “The Trial of Lizzie Borden” by Edmund Pearson, which gives the verbatim testimony, discloses that the good doctors who testified said only that this hatchet could have been the murder weapon.

Furthermore there was no evidence presented at the trial to tie the hatchet to the crime — no blood, hair or tissue staining the metal or wood, or in the crevices between the two. To the contrary, the testimony of the forensic experts at Harvard was that the hatchet was clear of any such tell-tale matter.

To this day the mystery of the murder weapon has sustained interest and titillated investigators. What happened to the hatchet? How could it have been hidden or otherwise disposed of? Never before has a credible explanation been postulated.

Now, however, 100 years after the commission of the crime, startling new information regarding the actual murder weapon has become known and will be revealed in forthcoming books, confirming that a hatchet other than the one at the historical society did the dirty deed.

Under the circumstances exhumation of the bodies would serve no useful purpose, and it is to be hoped that the responsible authorities in Fall River will bar any violation of the graves. NEILSON CAPLAIN Fall River, Mass., April 30, 1992 The writer is a director and immediate past president of the Fall River Historical Society.