Bizarro Briefs: Have You Herd This One?
A usually calm herd of cows became vigilantes when they began chasing a fleeing suspect in Sanford, Florida. The Sanford Police Department said officers attempted to make a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle. The driver took off and crashed into a ditch. The passenger fled the vehicle at which time the cows decided to make a citizen’s arrest. “A group of cows provided law enforcement a big assist, repeatedly following and helping...
Free Will Astrology: Don’t settle for too little, Taurus
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “The prettier the garden, the dirtier the hands of the gardener,” writes aphorist B. E. Barnes. That’ll be especially applicable to you in the coming weeks. You’ll have extra potential to create and foster beauty, and any beauty you produce will generate practical benefits for you and those you care about. But for best results, you’ll have to expend more effort than maybe you...
The True Jacqueline on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
The True Jacqueline are an art rock/ noise pop band from Northampton. Check out the band’s complete Advocate Sessions performance. Interview with the True...
Journalists performing a public service are not the enemy
Despite unprecedented attacks on the press by the president of the United States, journalists across the country — including here at the Daily Hampshire Gazette — continue our mission of informing a responsible citizenry and holding public officials and institutions accountable. We regard that as a public service and not the “fake news” that President Donald Trump insists drives the media, which he has repeatedly described as “the...
The Frost Heaves and Hales on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
The frost heaves and hales perform as a psych folk duo with one-minute songs about birds and other animals on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage. Interview with The frost heaves and...
Arc City Angels on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Arc City Angels is a three piece hard rock band from Holyoke that combines metal, pop, and punk together for an eclectic mix. Interview with Arc City...
Free Will Astrology: You’re wrestling the wrong foe, Pisces
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I predict that August will be a Golden Age for you. That’s mostly very good. Golden opportunities will arise, and you’ll come into possession of lead that can be transmuted into gold. But it’s also important to be prudent about your dealings with gold. Consider the fable of the golden goose. The bird’s owner grew impatient because it laid only one gold egg per day; he foolishly slaughtered his prize animal...
Riley Duggan on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Riley Duggan is a poetic folk singer-songwriter with heartfelt melodies. Interview with Riley...
Staff Picks: Greenfield Psych Fest, Elliot Street Block Party, and The Machine Shop
Greenfield Psych Fest at Hawks & Reed // SUNDAY, July 29 It’s going to be two floors of psychedelic rock music from noon until 9 p.m. at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Sunday, July 29. On the lineup are surf meets Latin-influenced psych rock band Money Chicha (Austin, Tex.), local avant-garde progressive psych band Bunnies (pictured), Ralph White of Bad Livers (Austin, Tex.), Greenfield-based polyrhythmic...
VIDEO: Riley Duggan on Valley Advocate Sessions Friday
Riley Duggan is a poetic folk singer-songwriter with heartfelt melodies. Check out a teaser for Duggan’s upcoming Advocate Sessions performance, which will be released this...
Podcast: Local author Kathy Harrison discusses being prepared for your own personal apocalypse
Kathy Harrison doesn’t believe the zombies are coming to get us. But she does believe in being prepared for the worst. Harrison, of Cummington, just wrote her fifth book, called Prepping 101: 40 steps you can take to be prepared. Stocking up on necessities might seem obvious, but another thing Harrison takes pride in is stocking up on the good will of her neighbors. “I’m not food secure unless my neighbors are food...
Free Will Astrology: Libra, your new nickname is Delicadeza
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Be extra polite and deferential. Cultivate an exaggerated respect for the status quo. Spend an inordinate amount of time watching dumb TV shows while eating junk food. Make sure you’re exposed to as little natural light and fresh air as possible. JUST KIDDING! I lied! Ignore everything I just said! Here’s my real advice: Dare yourself to feel strong positive emotions. Tell secrets to animals and...
Infrared saunas: Sweating it out — in a dry heat
It’s warm — very warm. I’m sitting on a wooden bench leaning against an ergonomic backrest. The small room within a room is lined on three sides by cedar paneling with a glass door looking out into a small dim entryway where towels had been provided to wrap myself in. There is a chromotherapy light on the ceiling designed to provide different colored lighting to ease various ailments: blue light to fight inflammation, orange for...
Western Mass millenials find fitness in the extreme
Think of a gym. Muscle-bound men do tricep curls while women in spandex pedal endless miles on exercise bikes. Now forget all that. Those things may still happen, but you’re more likely to see it with people over 50. Those in their 20s and 30s, known as millennials, have something different in mind. Nicole Harvey, the manager and a certified personal trainer at Asylum Fitness in Palmer, said their clients range in age from 12-92,...
Christa Joy on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Christa Joy is a local singer-songwriter who writes bittersweet country folk songs about everyday life and impermanence. Watch her Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Christa...
Make your own dog food? Some local pet owners swear by it
A big yellow lab named Jack laid down on the couch while his black litter-mate, Sophie, slept stretched out on the floor. At 11 years old, both dogs are old for their breed but aside for some arthritis in Jack’s hips and a diagnosis of Lyme disease for Sophie, they are in remarkably good health. Their owner, Amy Ingalls, 45, of Ware, attributes this to their diet, a homemade mixture of pig and cow hearts and livers from the butcher,...
Local Calendar: Thursday 7/19 to Sunday 7/22
THURSDAY 7/19 MUSIC A Little Night Music: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Trinity United Methodist Church will present “A Little Night Music” every Thursday during the month of July at 6:00pm. Free. Free, donations accepted for all food items. Trinity United Methodist Church, 361 Sumner Ave, Springfield. 413-737-5311. Amherst Downtown Beats – Mister G and In The Nick of Time: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Grammy-award winning entertainer Mister G...
VIDEO: Christa Joy on Valley Advocate Sessions Friday
Christa Joy is a singer-songwriter who writes bittersweet country folk music with songs about everyday life and impermanence. Check out a short video teaser of Christa Joy’s upcoming Valley Advocate Sessions performance available online this...
Staff Picks: Jazz in July, Poetic Recovery, and Shakespeare Under the Stars
Jazz in July Week 2 All Star Faculty Concert // THURSDAY, July 19 It’s not truly July until UMass launches the Jazz in July program in Amherst. And The Jazz in July faculty concerts are always showstoppers. Greg Caputo, Steve Davis, Bob Ferrier, Catherine Jensen-Hole, Jeff Holmes, Steve Johns, Genevieve Rose, Felipe Salles, Christian Sands and Shigefumi “Fumi” Tomita are scheduled to take the stage at Bezanson Recital...
Podcast: Ashfield Resident Tom Leue Invents Heating System that Runs on Vegetable Oil
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Ashfield inventor Tom Leue. When making his own brand of biodiesel, an alternative fuel made from plant matter, he accidentally set fire to his workshop and burned it to the ground (hear about the fireball that ensued at minute 15). Still, his commitment to selling biodiesel (made by other people) has lasted 19 years. Now Leue has come up with an invention that will allow users to heat their...
Free Will Astrology: Advice from Kafka, Kahlo, and bodybuilder Kai Greene
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.” Whenever that quote appears on the Internet, it’s falsely attributed to painter Frida Kahlo. In fact, it was originally composed by poet Marty McConnell. In any case, I’ll recommend that you heed it in the coming weeks. You really do need to focus on associating with allies who see the mysterious and lyrical best in you. I will also suggest that you...
House Sparrow on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
House Sparrow is an indie pop duo from the Berkshires that combines sleigh-bells and synth. Check out the band’s complete Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with House...
Staff Picks: Next Wave Stage, Artney Jackson, and violinist Kristin Lee
Next Wave Stage at Green River Fest // FRIDAY, July 13 Signature Sounds Recordings will continue its Next Wave Stage this year at the 2018 Green River Festival, highlighting up and coming teenage bands across the Pioneer Valley and northern Vermont. The lineup this year includes Amherst-based classic rock influenced band Glass House, indie pop/rock outfit Moxie from Brattleboro, VT, indie rock band Raspberry Jam from Greenfield, and...
VIDEO: House Sparrow on Valley Advocate Sessions Friday
House Sparrow is an electronic indie pop duo with sleigh bells and synth. Check out a teaser of the group’s upcoming Advocate Sessions performance to be released on Friday.
Podcast: Beverly Ketch and Hannah Brookman talk about Greenfield art space Looky Here
Recently opened nonprofit artist space Looky Here in Greenfield is a place for workshops, art making, thrift shopping, and most things you can (or can’t) think of. Leaders Beverly Ketch and Hannah Brookman talk about how they got started, what to expect, and their new children’s TV...
Cinemadope: Mama Africa Miriam Makeba continues to inspire
When the world lost Miriam Makeba in 2008, we lost a great musical and political voice. The first African musician to become a solid international star, her powerful singing crossed national divides without ever losing touch with her South African roots — no mean feat, as she was banished from the country early in life, after starring in the 1959 documentary Come Back Africa, which turned a bright light on the harsh reality of...
Free Will Astrology: What’s the biggest lie in your life, Sagittarius?
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your key theme right now is growth. Let’s dig in and analyze its nuances. 1.) Not all growth is good for you. It may stretch you too far too fast — beyond your capacity to integrate and use it. 2.) Some growth that is good for you doesn’t feel good to you. It might force you to transcend comforts that are making you stagnant, and that can be painful. 3.) Some growth that’s good for you may...
Emma June on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Emma June is a singer-songwriter who performs folk opera songs on guitar with lush vocal duo harmonies. Check out her full Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Emma...
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Rocky Horror, Twelfth Night, and Ashfield Lake House Anniversary Party
Rocky Horror Picture Show // SATURDAY, July 7 In 1975 something amazing happened: Rocky Horror Picture Show burst on the scene and life would never be the same again – especially for college kids who want to throw toast and toilet paper. On top it all, The Come Again Players present a shadow cast performance of the movie the first Saturday of every month! Audience participation makes this a spectacle not to be missed. South Hadley’s...
Valley Advocate Podcast: Artist Dara Herman Zierlein on cutting plastic out of her life
Dara Herman Zierlein made a choice to have an affect on the planet by eliminating plastic from her life. Even despite that decision, she sometimes does use plastic. But she holds onto it rather than throwing it away or recycling. She says that only about 9 percent of plastic that is sent to be recycled actually gets recycled. Zierlein is also an artist and her art tackles environmental issues, which was recently on display at the...
Free Will Astrology: Listen to your hives, Aquarius
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Twentieth-century French novelist Marcel Proust described nineteenth-century novelist Gustave Flaubert as a trottoire roulant, or “rolling sidewalk”: plodding, toneless, droning. Meanwhile, critic Roger Shattuck compared Proust’s writing to an “electric generator” from which flows a “powerful current always ready to shock not only our morality but our very sense of humanity.” In the coming weeks, I encourage...
Asia Mei on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Asia Mei is a Northampton-based singer-songwriter and virtuoso pianist with a dash of 1990s alt rock. Her complete Valley Advocate Sessions performance is available for viewing in the video below. Interview with Asia...
Bizarro Briefs: Keep your eyes off the road
A county coroner in Kentucky has been accused of working with at least two others — a retired police colonel and a current state police trooper — of illegally transporting a number of items. The most serious appeared to be $40,000 worth of illegally obtained weapons and ammunition, but the most eye-popping was a literal pair of eyeballs. Prosecutors allege the coroner, who is running to be re-elected as Coroner in Kentucky, took the...
VIDEO: Asia Mei on Valley Advocate Sessions Friday
Asia Mei is a Northampton-based singer-songwriter with virtuoso piano and a dash of 1990s alternative rock. Check out a teaser video for her Advocate Sessions video, which will be released this Friday.
Podcast: Undocumented immigrant Eduardo Samaniego discusses family separations
Eduardo Samaniego is an undocumented Hampshire College student turned immigrant rights activist at the Pioneer Valley Workers Center. Having arrived in Georgia at the age of 16, he graduated high school as student president, but was precluded from attending the University of Georgia because of his immigration status. Now in Massachusetts, Samaniego has been active in trying to get the state Legislature to pass an immigrant bill of...