Sedaris, for mature audiences only
I was hoping to see a review or a letter or two in the Oct. 22-28 issue of the Valley Advocate regarding David Sedaris’ performance on Oct. 13 at The Academy of Music. I had seen him twice before, but this program was different in its over-the-top, raunchy language and subject matter. I figured he was pushing the boundaries of good taste because of his skewed perception of Northampton’s reputation as an unconventional, hip town. But Northampton is not without class, and this reality was not supported by his choice of classless material.
The bigger problem for me was that, as I looked around the audience and saw younger attendees, I began to consider that NEPR, the evening’s sponsor, should have provided a “for mature audiences” warning. (I do believe I saw some folks leave mid-show.) I would be interested in hearing whether my impression was off the mark or others were also surprised by Sedaris’s offensive program.
Pour Man errs on Albarino
I am not sure where I should begin, except to say that I believe there might be at least a couple of inaccuracies in your article, “The Pour Man: Rip van Drinkle — Discovering Albarino 20 Years After the Craze” (Sept. 10-16, 2015). 2013 was not the largest crop of Albarino in 30 years — this was 2011, when nearly 42 million kilos were picked (9 million more than in 2013). I also don’t believe that it was necessarily the highest quality — shortly before harvest a prolonged period of torrential rain severely diluted the grape must and consequently the official rating of the D.O. was only “very good.” Several vintages earlier in the decade had been rated as “excellent.”
Certainly there has been a lot of confusion relating to the relationship between Albariño and Savagnin of the Jura, but as far as I am aware it has never been proven that they are connected by DNA. True to say that samples of the two varieties were confused, not only in Australia, but also in the Spanish vine archive itself. For some time, at least one of the samples held in Spain, and passed to other countries as Albariño, was in fact Savagnin, and thus the problem of misidentification was severely compounded. This error has since been discovered, and corrected, but I don’t think that it has ever been implied that the two varieties are actually related — similar certainly, but not related.
More to love about Greenfield
Editor’s note: There’s more than “Five Things To Love About Greenfield” (Oct. 22-28, 2015). Here are some of the additions readers made to the story online.
Maja Panevska Hussey: The Greenfield Farmers market, Terazza Ristorante, The Covered Bridge and the motivational message board of Tire Warehouse.
Carissa: One of my favorite places in Greenfield is Village Pizza. I come down from Maine and never miss stopping in for the world’s best pizza!
Dan Stephens: Don’t forget about the community meals that go on just about every day! I used to live in Greenfield for years and those soup kitchens really come in handy.
Fanny Rothschild: The best and most creative (and with lighter choices) Indian food in the Valley at The Clay Oven. The least expensive auto body repair shop (with wonderful work) at Ozzie’s on High Street. And did anyone mention the department store Wilson’s, which is like time-traveling back to the 1940s.
Tracy Grammer: Poet’s Seat, Highland Park, the annual harvest festival, affordable housing, parades for everything, walk to everything, cheap gas, rehab services for those in need, and my favorite thing of all? Every kind of person will say hello to you on the street.
Sean Pollock: Green Fields Market! Hattapon’s Thai Kitchen! Greenfield Coffee! Manna House! Real Pickles!
Justin Sundell-Thomas: Greenfield is also home to one of the oldest community symphony orchestras in the country, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, which has since grown into a thriving organization that includes a Symphony Chorus, Youth Orchestra, Chamber Choir, and educational programs for Franklin County schoolchildren.
