Articles
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
It’s been over a year now since I got my heart stomped by my ex-girlfriend. We were together for 11 years and our relationship ended very badly. Even after such a long term relationship, I’m still pretty young — in my mid-30s — and I’m pretty sure I’m a catch. But,...
by Jack Brown | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
It would be unfair to the memory of Philip K. Dick to say that he’s having a resurgence. The author, who passed away at the age of 53 in 1982, has been more visible than usual of late thanks to a few headline grabbing adaptations, most notably the sci-fi sequel Blade...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
Ric Flair, wrestling’s golden boy in the ‘80s, says he’s slept with around 10,000 women during his 68 years on Earth. Woooo! Known for his flamboyant wrestling persona on WWE, Flair made this confession for an upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary. The Nature Boy says...
by Gary Carra | Sep 29, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Still haven’t secured your Maine baked spud or lobster-laden Mac N’ Cheese from the New Hampshire building? Better hurry. Its almost time to shepherd the Clydesdales back into the trailers and put the burlap sacks of the Giant Slide in mothballs. But that...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 29, 2017 | Articles, Music
Court Etiquette is a Northampton-based indie pop band fused with rollicking roots rock. The band performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on Sept. 5. Check out the band’s full performance in the video below. Interview with Court Etiquette:
by Advocate Staff | Sep 28, 2017 | Articles, Music
Court Etiquette is a Northampton-based indie pop band fused with rollicking roots rock. The band performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on Sept. 5 and their full performance will be released this Friday. Check out a teaser for Court Etiquette on Sessions...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 26, 2017 | Articles
Correction The cover story of the Sept. 21 Valley Advocate, “Sacred Enough? Native American sites in the Valley destroyed with a might shrug,” wrongly suggested that a 6.2 megawatt solar project in Shutesbury had been shown to destroy or threaten Native American...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Jamey Summers is in a good mood for someone about to have surgery. Beside the 41-year-old Northampton resident, who sits on an exam chair, Dr. Kate Atkinson is going over the procedure with her staff — they will insert four small rods containing drugs to curb opioid...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
You can smell fall in the air — and in Massachusetts the aroma is a lot danker than usual. This October will mark the first major outdoor weed harvest since people ages 21 and up were given the green light to legally grow marijuana in Massachusetts on Dec. 15, 2016....
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Saturating the All — Paradise Pond, Northampton There are, amongst the chronic flux of recurring secular miracles, spaces between the miracles that are equally miraculous. Cases in point: the lazy wands of industrial hydro-bazookas saturating the all- female college...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
At St. John’s Congregational Church in Springfield more than 200 people mourned the loss of well-known and beloved activist and community leader Jafet Robles. Robles, 33, was involved with Neighbor to Neighbor and other groups with initiatives to end mass...
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats likes to play along with the music of nature. On one occasion he collaborated with Mandeville Creek in Montana. He listened and studied the melodies that emanated from its flowing current. Then he moved...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Review
Mama’s Marmalade is a burst of sunshine that makes dark clouds dissipate with the band’s lush vocal harmonies and jammy acoustic newgrass blend of mandolin, banjo, violin, bass, and guitar. On June 2, the Northampton-based bluegrass quintet released its debut 10-track...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
I recently moved into my aunt’s house, and I now live with my 16-year-old female cousin. Being in her life now makes me realize that I can give her advice on her first relationships and her first love … possibly. When I was 16, I wish I could have had someone in...
by Jack Brown | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
Even though the town has lacked a dedicated movie house for more than five years, Northampton has continued to find ways to bring film to area moviegoers. Cinema Northampton has done a fine job of scheduling its fun, community-focused, outdoor movie nights, screening...
by Lena Wilson | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Film, Newsletter, Stream Queen
For all the amazing potential of life, sometimes things just suck. In times of confusion and desolation, we often turn to art. Maybe we want to use fictional problems to understand our own real ones, or maybe we just want to turn something on as a distraction. Hard...
by Will Meyer | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Newsletter
Last Monday, I reluctantly went to a house show in Hadley. I was going ’cause my friends were going — probably, but I was also vaguely interested in seeing some band from Minnesota that was supposed to be good. Honestly, I had radically low expectations. I saw the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
A Home for the Homeless? Not having a place to live was not a good enough excuse to get a Turkish man out of house arrest. A 31-year-old homeless man living in Istanbul, was sentenced to house arrest for using and selling drugs in April. In need of a house to be...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Film, News
A birdboy, 1900s Northampton, virtual realities, silly horror, and brimstone are among this year’s offerings at the Northampton Film Festival. Now in its third year under the leadership of Northampton Community Television, the annual multi-day event gets going...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 22, 2017 | Articles, Music
Lonely Whale is an electric singer-songwriter with rock and indie folk influences. She played Valley Advocate Sessions on September 5 and her entire set is now available for viewing. Check it out in the video below. Interview with Lonely Whale: Like what you’re...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 21, 2017 | Articles
This week’s Valley Advocate Sessions artist is Lonely Whale, a local electric singer-writer with indie rock and folk influences. Lonely Whale’s full Sessions performance will be released this Friday. Until then, here’s a teaser video of Lonely...
by Jennifer Levesque | Sep 21, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music
The Pixies rocked out a 31-song set, which was close to 2 hours of non-stop jams last night at the John M. Greene Hall, at Smith College in Northampton. Here’s a sample of some pictures and video from their show. — Jennifer Levesque,...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 20, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Two plays in the Valley this weekend couldn’t be more different but at the same time so close to the bone of our current national crisis of xenophobia and identity. Building the Wall, in Northampton, is a tense confrontation that touches on today’s headlines and then...
by Jennifer Levesque | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Review, Valley Show Girl
For the last six weekends of summer, Millpond.Live puts on a free grassroots festival at Millside Park in Easthampton for all ages to enjoy. Produced by Laudable Productions, a creative agency in Easthampton that has a plethora of services including community...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
A Pioneer Valley activist network to support local undocumented immigrants — Sanctuary in the Streets — went into action this week to accompany Springfield resident Lucio Enrique Perez Ortiz on his check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials....
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, News
The long-planned railroad underpass for the Northampton bike path is nearing completion, but still faces a twisted bureaucratic obstacle course before its final stretch. To learn about the project’s progress, the Advocate first contacted the City Council of...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Scary Movie Club
All aboard the hype train to Derry, Maine, where a group of 1980s youngins face off against a mysterious shapeshifting clown in the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s 1,000-plus-page horror opus, IT. There’s been dozens of Stephen King adapted films — some great (The...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Review
I first met Steve Bernstein when I was working at a small library in Marlborough, New Hampshire, a little more than a decade ago. In the newsletter I put a note in for a writers’ group without knowing if anyone from the little town would show up. Steve was among the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Newsletter, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Psychologists say most people need a scapegoat — a personification of wickedness and ignorance onto which they can project the unacknowledged darkness in their own hearts. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: The coming weeks will be...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
I know your column is mainly about sex, but for me, it’s all about the romance. I’ve been struggling for decades to balance my love of flowers, dancing, and candlelight with my love of a husband who struggles with intimacy (for good reasons) and who promises me these...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find comments from readers on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this?...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
The area’s summer theaters have folded their metaphorical tents for the year, though three of the Berkshire companies are also mounting fall shows. For this critic, it was a Sergio Leone season: good, bad, and occasionally ugly. (An example of the extremes —...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter, Uncategorized
At the Headfort School in Kells, Ireland, two of the school’s most popular teachers are getting ready to retire. The husband and wife team have been educating and inspiring children for almost half a century, and their example — and what the possibility of their...
by Monte Belmonte | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
Bordeaux: It’s the wine capital of the world. Even Thomas Jefferson, while keeping busy hypocritically impeding people’s lives and liberties, pursued wine happiness there. When most people think of Bordeaux, they think, “Dude, how the hell am I supposed to pronounce...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
If a Monkey Takes a Selfie, Is It Yours? The case of who owns the copyright to a selfie taken by a monkey — the monkey or the guy who owns the camera — has been settled out of court. In 2015, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued on behalf of the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts
In its second year, the Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival has a killer line up of below-the-drinking-age talent. Saturday features a full day of rock with performances by local bands Impending Exorcism, Gabe Brodeur (frontman for Court Etiquette, which P.S. performed on...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 15, 2017 | Articles, Music, Uncategorized
Local indie folk trio, Parlicium, performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on August 15. The band has roots in acoustic folk rock and was one of five bands to perform at the Green River Fest 2017’s Next Wave Stage. Interview with Parlicium: Like what you’re...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 13, 2017 | Articles, Music
Parlicium is an indie folk trio from Western Mass with acoustic roots. The band is one of five to perform at the Green River Fest 2017’s Next Wave Stage. Check out Parlicium’s full set when it’s released this Friday. Can’t wait for Friday to see more...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 13, 2017 | Articles, Music, News, Newsletter
Peter Wolf, the dynamic rock and blue-eyed soul frontman singer for the J. Geils Band, who co-wrote some of the band’s most popular songs such as “Love Stinks,” and “Must Of Got Lost,” is gearing up to play the Academy of Music in Northampton on Oct. 13. Valley...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
Songs From the Rodeo Flathead Rodeo is Northampton-based roots rockabilly band recently won Mark Sherry’s Valley Musical Showcase in July, a regular, judged competition at New City Brewery in Easthampton. So, now they have the honor of opening and closing this week’s...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
The annual Puerto Rican Parade kicks off Sunday in Springfield. The parade, which featured more than 100 marching contingents and floats last year, will start at 11 a.m. and go down Main Street, from Wason Avenue to Boland Way. Expect to get your dance on and enjoy...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, News
As student president of his high school class in Georgia, Eduardo Samaniego sat on stage at graduation next to his principal as he and his classmates received diplomas. But in a cruel twist, he couldn’t apply to his top pick school — the University of Georgia —...
by Will Meyer | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
I used to think touring was excessive, stupid, and generally felt existentially conflicted about it. Why should I leave the house and use fossil fuels to do anything that’s trivial? Why should we impose our music on these seemingly nice people when there’s so much...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
No one gives Picasso shit for all the self portraits he’s painted. And I’m yet to hear someone call Frida Kahlo’s self portraits “navel gazing.” But right now, the self portrait is under fire. People like to heap a lot of scorn on selfie-takers, folks who have read up...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Kindly Stopping for Emily Dickinson Amherst’s annual celebration of one of its most famed artists begins Thursday, Sept. 14, and carries on through the weekend with the Amherst Poetry Festival and Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon. The fest, held at various locations,...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 12, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
When Robert Freedman tells people about Silent Sky, the play he directs this weekend at the Shea Theater, they often think he’s talking about Hidden Figures, the recent movie about black women mathematicians who worked as “computers” for NASA in the 1960s. But, he...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts
Alumnae House Gallery: Greenhouse Panoramas — A Process of Reinvention. Large-scale greenhouse images by photographer/artist Esther Pullman. Through Jan. 8. Free. 33 Elm St., Northampton. (413) 585-2190. mhobbes@smith.edu. Amherst Town Hall: Changing Landscapes. By...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Earlier this year, I reached into a friend’s beer fridge to grab something light and refreshing before heading outdoors for a hike (as far as I understand the rules, writing this column gives me free access to everyone’s beer). That afternoon’s chatter distracted me,...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News, News of the Weird
Urine Town Massachusetts is home to so many agricultural fairs, it can be difficult to stand out during fair season, which we’re in the midst of right now. Setting themselves apart from the pack is the annual North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival in Orange, Mass.,...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, News
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
by Jack Brown | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
When September hits, the kids head back to school — and for film fans, that can be a great thing. One of the many film events that are hosted on area campuses is The German Film Series, presented by the Amherst College department of German on irregular Thursdays in...
by Valley Advocate Readers | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find comments from readers on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this?...
by Naila Moreira | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, News, Newsletter
During the summer 12 years ago, I interned at Science News, a national magazine that reports on science for the public. As a young and inexperienced writer, part of my reporting included visiting the offices of my more experienced colleagues to ask them what good...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
Not in a million years would I have predicted the Governator would be the one to kickstart a campaign to stop the legal election-rigging scheme used to weaken the voting power of one political power over another, aka gerrymandering, but here we are. I am less...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 7, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation on Thursday announced that the creepy Mass Pike All Electronic Tolling project — those 16 camera-laden gantries above the highway — is a finalist in a national transportation competition. The statement they sent out asks...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Fifty-seven years ago this month, agents of the Anti-Smut Unit of the Massachusetts State Police raided the Northampton apartment of Smith College literature professor Newton Arvin and discovered copies of “beefcake” magazines he had collected and shared with friends....
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Two animals are pictured prominently on Australia’s coat of arms: the kangaroo and the large flightless bird known as the emu. One of the reasons they were chosen is that both creatures rarely walk backward. They move forward or not at all....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Editor’s Note: This column refers to sexual trauma responses. Hi Yana, My girlfriend and I have been together for four months, but lately I’ve been noticing we’ve only been having sex when we’re drinking. Nothing to put consent into question for either of us, of...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Review
The paintings in Susannah Auferoth’s exhibit at the Grubbs Gallery in Easthampton, have one thing in common: They all use the template of three exact lines, two thick, the middle one thin, in colors with cavernous depth. But that’s it. Within this framework Auferoth...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 8, 2017 | Articles, Music
The Buddy McEarns Band is blue roots rock n’roll with a voice out of classic soul. The band performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on August 15. Bonus Interview with the Buddy McEarns Band:
