for the ARTS record
"The Ground Truth" Screened at the Nantucket Film Festival last summer, Patricia Foulkrod's searing documentary feature includes exclusive footage that will stir audiences. The filmmaker's subjects are patriotic young Americans - ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq - as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities. The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in the film, is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home - with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all - the truth. The Atheneum is cosponsoring this screening with the Peace & Justice committee. When: Wednesday, Oct. 11, 7 - 9 p.m. Where: Atheneum (Great Hall), 1 India Street Cost: Free

Audio Books It's happened - and like a child needing vegetables, you'd do best to screw up, accept it, and do what you need to do to leave the table rather than sit there and stew. MP3 audio books have come to the Atheneum - yes, that's right. Audio books can now be downloaded to your computer from home and even played on your (WMA-compliant) MP3 player. Reference librarian Lincoln Thurber is offering a one-hour, hands-on class on the subject. This may seem like a lot of time, but really, what's an hour to wormhole your way into the 21st Century? Plus, when you're snowed in this winter, you'll be glad to check out a book you don't have to drive to town to get.

When: Thursday, Oct. 12,

noon-1 p.m. and 7 - 8 p.m.

Where: Atheneum (Great Hall), 1 India Street

Farm Stories It's not quite Orwell, but the kids will still like this year's Pigs and Sheep on the Farm theme for the Community Network for Children's Farm Stories. Intended for young children, the stories are

not only meant to tell kids about farm life, they also show them by taking place right in the Bartlett's Farm Hayloft, with traditional fall refreshments.

When: Friday, Oct. 13, 9:30 - 10:15 a.m.

(children up to age 2 1/2); 10:30 - 11:15 a.m.

(children 2 1/2 to 5 years old) Where: Bartlett's Farm Hayloft For more information, call 228-9403.

Farm Talk You kick yourself every spring for not taking the time to plant daffodil bulbs, but this year, that changes, by Jove! Join Pete Smith, who will show you tips for creating a deer-resistant bulb display for your home garden - great news for my landlord and landlady, who spend countless hours on their garden, only to have the heads of all their flowers gnawed off come springtime. Sandra, Gene - this one's for you. When: Saturday, Oct. 14, 10 a.m. Where: Bartlett's Farm, 33 Bartlett Farm Road Cost: Free For more information, call 228-9403.

Bending Toward Justice Richard Gilbert, leading theologian of the religious impulse to "do justice," will speak at 5:15 p.m. Sunday, October 15 at the Unitarian Church, 11 Orange St., in the Church's interfaith lecture series An Invitation to Religious Inquiry.

Gilbert, author of "The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice," and "How Much Do We Deserve? An Inquiry in Distributive Justice," is the leading Unitarian Universalist theologian of justice. He considers the topic from an ecumenical and interfaith perspective in his work.

Rev. Gilbert received an M.Div. from St. Lawrence University Theological School, a D. Min. from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and an honorary doctorate from Starr King School for the Ministry. He served for 44 years in the Unitarian Universalist ministry, including 32 years at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, N.Y. He is the author of the "Building Your Own Theology" adult religious education series, and "In the Holy Quiet of This Hour," a book of meditations.

Currently Rev. Gilbert is is working on several books, including the religious life of Susan B. Anthony and the history and philosophy of UU religious education.

Rev. Gilbert's lecture is the fourth and final lecture in the Unitarian Church's 2006 interfaith lecture series, An Invitation to Religious Inquiry. Other lectures this year were presented by religious historian Dr. Franois Bovon of Harvard; international human rights activist Karen Tse of Geneva, Switzerland; and religious reformer Rabbi Niles Goldstein of the New Shul in New York.

"Loose Change" The documentary "Loose Change," pits the science of the September 11 World Trade Center Tower collapses against contradictory eyewitness accounts and other expert opinions to chisel out a conspiracy theory that is - whether you agree with it or not - the stuff of movies. Jeff Lang and Elizabeth Lowery heard a segment about the film on NPR, then went to the Web site, where the couple streamed the film. "We loved it and wanted to bring it to the community, to the attention of Nantucketers," Lang said. "Its controversial. It basically sheds a lot of light and contests the official science of the 9/11 Commission's explanation.

The two have funded the screening out of their own pockets, and plan to donate all of the proceeds of the screening at the Starlight Theatre in equal parts - to the South Church Preservation Trust and to the Loring Campaign. When: Sunday, Oct. 15, 2 p.m. Where: Starlight Theatre Cost: $15 suggested donation

Free Museum Passes - no, really The Atheneum really is having a lovely week - first, announcing the arrival of audio books and then announcing free museum passes to library cardholders. As of October 3, the passes provide reduced admission to off-island museums, including The Museum of Fine Arts, The New England Aquarium, The Boston Children's Museum and the Museum of Science. (And whatever lovely people are responsible for this plan to add other museums in the future.) Again, all you need is a library card, and the passes are available to you at the circulation desk. "The Atheneum celebrates creativity and cultural awareness, and we believe the museum pass program will further enrich Nantucketers' lives," said Atheneum Director Molly Anderson.

I