#brattleboro

© Joel Sternfeld

His name is Hari, I met him at a shelter today, and he is big. BIG. This man’s paws are the size of my palms. This man’s body is the size of my torso. This man climbed directly onto my shoulders the moment I opened his box, and I was scared he would fall because I was too weak to hold him there, so I got help supporting him while I crouched down to the floor, only for him to try to climb up their arms onto their shoulders.

He ran around on the floor for a while, then tried to jump up on a counter to steal treats. He missed. He got his front paws hooked in the sink, then slowly slid down while we rushed to catch him. He chased a toy around and loved on all 4 people in the room.

A big, friendly man. Unfortunately, my room is still decontaminating from Tortellini being sick and Hari here is 15, so I couldn’t risk his health by bringing him home. Someone else asked to look at him while I was there, but then she put him back at soon as she heard his age.

It broke my heart to leave him there.

So. If anyone lives in/near Vermont and wants a big orange boy to climb on their shoulders and give them love for the rest of his old man life: He’s in the Brattleboro shelter, he was just surrendered this week, and he’s wonderful.

3/4/25.

I received an email the other day announcing a new release from Feeding Tube Records. It was announcing "Play Sharp To Me" by Brattleboro, Vermont musician Chris Weisman. I fell in love with this right away and only later did I realize this is a 2016 release.

Weisman is a prolific musician, and "Play Sharp To Me" is quite different from some of his other projects. I knew of Happy Birthday (his band with King Tuff - first heard through Daytrotter, and then through Sub Pop).

This record is just an amazing tapestry of sound that moves unpredictably from start to finish. It is mastered by Ryan Power, and there is definitely a Poweresque feel to this. But this also sounds like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, or Chris Cohen (if you're looking for a modern comp). And I love that the Bandcamp write up mentions Emmit Rhodes, Scott Miller (Game Theory) and Pip Proud.