Articles
by Advocate Staff | Jun 7, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter
Spirit Ghost, an Amherst-based indie garage rock band with a splash of surf, came into the Valley Advocate Offices to record for Valley Advocate Sessions on May 23. The band’s full performance and interview will be available on Valley Advocate’s website...
by Chance Viles and Kristin Palpini | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News
Springfield, Massachusetts, was a big abolitionist hub during the days of the Underground Railroad — not that many people know this. When talking about Massachusetts history, Western Mass isn’t well represented in historical texts — they’re more focused on Boston. And...
by Jack Brown | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Newsletter
Fans of filmmaker John Waters might be familiar with the director’s odd fascination with rats. They crop up with some regularity in his life and work — from the original poster for 1977’s Desperate Living, which featured a cooked rat on a restaurant dinner plate, to...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
I’ve been with my husband for a long time and there’s one thing in the bed we did kind of once that I’d like to do again, but I feel weird about asking for it. Basically, I want to be rimmed, but as this is something I would not want to do for him, I feel like I can’t...
by Naila Moreira | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Down to Earth
As we struggle with tough questions surrounding science today, we could do worse than look for guidance to the great figures of the past. One such figure, it turns out, belongs to our own Pioneer Valley, and many argue he’s received too little attention: Edward...
by Blaise Majkowski | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns
Sometimes the best laid plans go awry. First case in point: The just-released King Arthur was carefully groomed to be a blockbuster but flopped spectacularly at the box office. Second case in point: After I decided to review another movie of this ilk — Gods of Egypt —...
by Chuck Shepherd | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Reverence for the lineage of asparagus continues in epic yearly Anglican church festivities in Worcester, England, where in April celebrants obtained a special blessing for the vegetable by local priests as a costumed asparagus pranced through the street praising the...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 6, 2017 | Articles, News
If you think riding a horse along a road in New England harkens back to the distant past with horse and buggies, think again. On Saturday, June 10, horse riders will take to the roads for the 6th Annual “Share The Road – Horses Paved The Way” event in the...
by Rob Brezsny | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you chose me as your relationship guide, I’d counsel you and your closest ally to be generous with each other; to look for the best in each other and praise each other’s beauty and strength. If you asked me to help foster your...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, News
Despite unanimous approval at the Springfield School Committee’s May 18 meeting for a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield Police Department, advocacy group Neighbor to Neighbor thinks the new document does...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Sticky Green Thumbs A few responses to the May 25-31, 2017 O, Cannabis column: “Growing Your Own Weed In Massachusetts: A How-To Guide” Editor’s Note: Marty Klein was quoted in the article for his growing expertise. A slight clarification re: number of plants allowed....
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 5, 2017 | Articles, News
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker just announced a low-income, free-tuition program for the city of Boston that sounds like it came from the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Four years of college education in Massachusetts public colleges without tuition or...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 2, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise. Donald Trump ran a campaign based on denying climate science, so his Thursday announcement that he would be pulling out of the international climate agreement represents a promise fulfilled. But the advantage of having a...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 2, 2017 | Articles, Music
Check out 11-string arch-guitarist virtuoso Peter Blanchette and violinist Kenny Butler perform 1500s French Renaissance folk music, and other classical gems. Also visit our Sessions page, with an interview with the artist an all of our other Sessions...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music
Can’t wait for Friday to see more Sessions? Check out some local bands now.
by Advocate Staff | Jun 1, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
The Valley is home to a wealth of arts and cultural events. So many, in fact, that the Advocate prints four seasonal arts preview editions every year — and really we could do one every month. This edition is all about what you can expect to see in the Valley, plus the...
by Advocate Staff | May 31, 2017 | Advocate Chat, Articles
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series where the Valley Advocate staff talks about a topic on their minds. The text below has been lightly edited. dave.eisen (Managing Editor Dave Eisenstadter): This week we are talking about hidden gems. At the end of June,...
by Chris Rohmann | May 28, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
In my column in last week’s Advocate, a preview of the Valley’s summer-theater season, I reported that many of the area’s upcoming shows reflect, indirectly or explicitly, “the political landscape we are all traversing these days.” Sure enough, the first two summer...
by Advocate Staff | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Newsletter
Karaoke • Tuesday Singing karaoke with DJ Greg Reil sounds like a good way to belt out whatever is in my soul. I don’t take requests. Karaoke with Reil goes down on Tuesday nights, free, at the Platform Sports Grill and Bar, 125A Pleasant St., Northampton. — Dave...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
One of my all-time favorite venues to see local bands will always be Flywheel’s first location. The alternative performing arts space first opened in 1999 on Holyoke Street in downtown Easthampton. During the early 2000’s, it was my sanctuary. I met so many people in...
by Chris Goudreau | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Polka, doo-wop, jazz swing, and country western music — you wouldn’t think one band would cover these eclectic genres across six songs, but The Johnny Memphis Band, based out of Florence, does just that and more on its new record, Rarities. The sole songwriter for the...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 30, 2017 | Articles, News
It looks like a normal courtroom, but once a week, Courtroom 10 in Hampden District Court hosts a legal session that is anything but typical. Rather than be shamed from the bench for crimes committed, a group of recovering addicts speaks to a judge eye-to-eye and...
by Amanda Drane | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Third Eye Roaming, Wellness
My shoulders and arms stretched backward like wings, I couldn’t help feeling like Rose from Titanic, and a grin spread across my face as I said: “I’m flying!” On a recent Friday I gave acroyoga a shot and it was the most fun I’ve had in while. Live music played beside...
by Chuck Shepherd | May 30, 2017 | Articles, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Goldman Sachs analyst Noah Poponak’s 98-page paper (leaked to Business Insider in April) touted the wealth obtainable by capturing the platinum reputed to be in asteroids. The costs to mine the stone (rockets, launch expenses, etc.) might have dropped recently to...
by Warren Johnston | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The Pour Man
Generally, I’m reluctant to get overly excited about wines with a cause. They often seem like gimmicky marketing ploys to promote less than stellar wines by pulling on your philanthropic heart strings. But every rule has a few exceptions: A couple of years ago I...
by Advocate Staff | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter
Leisurely Heifers Make for the Best Parades Spain may have the running of the bulls, but Vermont’s got the strolling of the heifers. What’s the rush, right? The annual Brattleboro Strolling of the Heifers is a weekend-long celebration of agriculture, art, and...
by Laurie Loisel | May 30, 2017 | Articles, News, Wellness
Jill Panto knows Narcan. She’s been trained in how to administer it. She has organized Narcan trainings for her community in Belchertown. By now, she could probably teach people herself how to use the life-saving opiate overdose reversal drug, a key weapon in the...
by Compiled And Illustrated By Kristin Palpini | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections, News, Newsletter
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 Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Editor’s Note: While V-Spot sex pert Yana Tallon-Hicks is away on vacation, the Advocate is re-running one of her most popular columns ever, a 2013 story on how to make sexual lubrication, “Farmers Lube,” using household items. On my kitchen counter is a glass jar...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
Well, it has happened again. Another person who appears to be a sociopath caught in an act of hatred has been elevated to a position of power in our government. And this despite what we must call an alleged (though it was caught on tape and corroborated at the scene)...
by Chris Tucker, Of Holyoke | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
I started talking with a customer the other day at work. He was looking for something in the store, not sure if we had it, he may have got something else. I was in the middle of something, not in the mood to make small talk. But we started to chat. We kind of butted...
by Rob Brezsny | May 30, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Life is in the mood to communicate with you rather lyrically. Here are just a few of the signs and portents you may encounter, along with theories about their meaning. If you overhear a lullaby, it’s time to seek the influence of a tender,...
by Advocate Staff | May 26, 2017 | Articles, Music
Check out ten-piece Afrobeat meets old school funk and jazz ensemble Shokazoba. Also visit our Sessions page, with an interview with the artist an all of our other Sessions bands.
by Kristin Palpini | May 25, 2017 | Articles, Arts
We took this one on the road to the Log Cabin in Holyoke. For the full set come back Friday! We’re posting it around noon.
by Kristin Palpini | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Mark Guglielmo’s collages are the physical manifestation of memory. The murals seem fluid; Guglielmo play with size and scale to emphasize pieces of a scene over others. He adds details from nearby times and places into the work, much in the same way people blend...
by Jack Brown | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
An evening in Northampton has never been boring. Meet your date for a cocktail or a glass of wine, move on to dinner at any number of downtown bites, catch a concert, go to an art opening. Stroll the streets, duck into the renovated Pulaski Park, circle Paradise Pond...
by Kristin Palpini | May 22, 2017 | Articles, News, O Cannabis!
With Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, many people with green thumbs are preparing to put their saplings and seeds into the ground — the beginnings of this season’s garden. It’s usually the same old stuff: tomatoes, green beans, peppers, berries, carrots. But this...
by Chris Goudreau | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Local singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Ellingsen smiles with an air of satisfaction. She’s wearing a leather jacket and flannel shirt, leaning against a rustic wooden backdrop on the front cover her new album, NoLa to NoHo. The photos were shot at the Florence Pie Bar,...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
Where is the line between “If you like someone, ask them out!” and “Oh, that guy asks everyone out”??? — Master Dater From your question, it sounds like you like a lot of people. Maybe you’re getting some flack for that from friends or foes? True, you don’t want to...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News
Liza King, 66, and Rick Neumann, 71, of Brattleboro, are about to fulfill what has felt like their lifelong ambition. On June 1, after nearly 20 years, they will move into their church sanctuary. “Their” church, by the way, doesn’t mean the church to which they...
by Chris Goudreau | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
Last week I interviewed an organizer with the “I’ll Go With You” campaign, which sells buttons trans allies can wear to show they are willing to go into a public restroom with a trans man or woman to help keep them safe. That may seem like an extraordinary step to...
by Chris Goudreau | May 22, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
It’s surprising what you can create from seemingly broken or time weathered objects. From Brattleboro to Palmer artisans are doing just that whether it’s creating human-shaped sculptures from colored pencils wired together or a Victorian inspired lamp made from a...
by Advocate Staff | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Why I Marched for Science In 1970, we celebrated the first Earth Day. I remember it vividly as a college student at the University of Michigan. The energy of the first Earth Day, focused on the alarming rate of deterioration of our environment, helped lead to landmark...
by Advocate Staff | May 24, 2017 | Advocate Chat, Articles, Music, Newsletter
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series where the Valley Advocate staff talks about a topic on their minds. The text below has been lightly edited. kristinpalpini (Editor-in-Chief Kristin Palpini): OK, so today we are talking about songs that get stuck in our heads....
by Compiled And Illustrated By Kristin Palpini | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Missed Connections
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 Chuck Shepherd | May 22, 2017 | Articles, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Officials in charge of a Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal heritage site recently installed “speed bumps,” similar to those familiar to Americans driving residential streets — but on a pedestrian walkway, with row upon row of risers to resemble a washboard. A Western...
by Rob Brezsny | May 22, 2017 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Sin” is a puerile concept in my eyes, so I don’t normally use it to discuss grown-up concerns. But if you give me permission to invoke it in a jokey, ironic way, I’ll recommend that you cultivate more surprising, interesting, and original...
by Advocate Staff | May 18, 2017 | Advocate Chat, Articles, News
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series in which staff members tackle a topic in the news or otherwise of interest. The text below has been lightly edited. dave.eisen (Managing Editor Dave Eisenstadter): It’s the return of the AdvoChat!!! kristinpalpini...
by Kristin Palpini | May 15, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the proper date of the remembrance ceremony: Saturday; and provide more info on where the event will take place. The Great Falls Massacre One of the bloodiest battles during the viscous King Philips War — a...
by Connolly Ryan | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
The mesmerizing reversal of icy lunacy from sitting in the long-absent sunshine is exactly what his fetus signed up for and intuited long ago in the bog of his mother’s biospheric love. The scent of soil; the touch of heat; the spectacle of black birds mirrored...
by Chris Goudreau | May 15, 2017 | Articles, News
Protecting children from Al Qaeda and Houthi militias. Persuading boys against joining militant groups. Aiding children traumatized by violence, abduction, and rape. These are some of the things accomplished by 30-year-old Fadia Najib Thabet of Yemen while working as...
by Chuck Shepherd | May 15, 2017 | Articles, News of the Weird
The word “Isis” arrived in Western dialogue only after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as an acronym for the Islamic State, and the Swahili word “Harambe” was known to almost no one until May 2016 when the gorilla “Harambe” (named via a local contest) was put down by a...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
A couple of weeks ago on The Still’s Instagram page they posted a beautiful picture of a mint julep. I’ve never had one, but always wanted to try the drink simply because that’s what they drank in The Great Gatsby. So, when I saw that The Greys were playing at The...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
I’m a bisexual woman and I’m the third wheel to a married bisexual male couple. We’ve been dating for about a year-and-a-half and so far things have been running pretty smoothly. We see each other two or three times a week for dates, group sex, and just regular...
by Kristin Palpini | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Valley Music Showcase Genres clash in the most melodic way possible Friday night in Easthampton. The Valley Music Showcase at the New City Brewery is a “bi-monthly mini music fest” — or as I like to call it, the Bi-Mon Min-MuFest — and it pulls from all musical...
by Kristin Palpini | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Stage
You Had Me at Giant Killer Octopus Right now, in Trump’s post-truth America, is an excellent time to stage Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as told by himself). The play is based on the grandiose stories of a Victorian huckster who fills in...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Be Still (Life), My Heart Contemporary still life artist Larry Preston paints solely for himself and what he interprets as beautiful. Beauty is often lost in ordinary objects you see all the time. Preston’s art focuses on bringing out those details and you’ll surely...
by For the Valley Advocate | May 15, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Wellness
An unprecedented cluster of drug overdoses in Northampton late last month tested the city’s first responders. Their preparation — including training in the use of Narcan — helped prevent any fatalities. As the abuse of prescription and illegal opioids continues to...
by Chris Goudreau | May 15, 2017 | Articles, News
New Englanders are trained from a young age to expect the unexpected when it comes to weather, but according to a new UMass study, we ain’t seen nothing yet. Flooding, extreme heat, and unusually warm winter weather — all effects of climate change — are anticipated to...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 15, 2017 | Articles, News
Climate change is a worldwide problem, and we often hear of how it is affecting low-lying countries in Asia and the melting polar ice caps, but local climate data shows us how things are changing right here in the Pioneer Valley. And changing they are. The National...
