Articles
by Peter Vancini | Jan 9, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Stage
This weekend, Shakespeare & Company presents a Winter Studio Festival of Plays, five diverse readings as interpreted by five local directors. Works range from classics by playwrights like Anton Chekhov to established contemporaries like Sam Shepard and emerging...
by Naila Moreira | Jan 9, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, News, Newsletter
My first container of compostables was beautiful. Inside a repurposed chipped ceramic crockpot lay a smorgasbord of broccoli stems, wilted lettuce, carrot shreddings, sprouted potatoes, onion skins, outer cabbage leaves, asparagus ends, and tomato stems. It looked...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 9, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is a huge holy tree that links all of the nine worlds to each other. Perched on its uppermost branch is an eagle with a hawk sitting on its head. Far below, living near the roots, is a dragon. The hawk and eagle...
by Peter Vancini | Jan 9, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Music
Jammin’ for Justice The nonprofit Watermelon Wednesdays has been providing musical education and holding concerts for the past 17 years. This Wednesday, the group is putting on In It Together, a fundraiser for community, diversity, and social justice to benefit...
by Peter Vancini | Jan 9, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Leisure
The Hosmer Gallery at the Forbes Library is hosting exhibitions this month from three talented local artists. Janice Doppler blends a love of ornithology and wood carving to create stunningly lifelike sculptures of a myriad of bird species, while Patricia Dorr Parker...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 6, 2017 | Articles, Blogs, News
Each week, the Advocate staff assembles for an AdvoChat, where we bat around thoughts on a subject in the news. The chat is lightly edited. dave.eisen (Dave Eisenstadter, web editor): Kristin, you’re working on a piece on addiction (EDITOR’S NOTE: here it...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, News, Wellness
It’s a classic dilemma. The upcoming holidays prompt intense fits of eating followed by the guilt of said eating with promises of a better life for the New Year. New Year’s Eve cues New Year resolutions, and many choose fitness as their goal, making a...
by Hunter Styles | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Watch Your ’Grammers @igers413 is an online community of Western Mass Instagram users who gather regularly on their phones — and, somewhat less frequently, in person — for local events, challenges, and photo chats. #CHASINGLIGHT, the fourth installation of what has...
by Will Meyer | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
Staying strong in the face of hate and lost spaces Last week, Basemental interviewed a local musician who lost people close to him in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire on Dec. 2 in Oakland, California. That piece sparked a discussion of safe spaces for artists, which...
by Hunter Styles | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Floating Rock and Rolling Folk From year to year, over hundreds of live sets, Driftwood has proved a cohesive quartet since its members first gathered in Binghamton, NY in 2005. But the band’s sound, rather aptly, is a shifting, constant collision of styles, from...
by Jack Brown | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Newsletter
When it comes to film, the Christmas and New Years weeks are not usually a great time for filmgoers, with the exception of a few blockbusters and carefully planned Oscar-hopeful releases. Studios and theaters know that we’re all too damn busy rushing out to buy a last...
by Peter Vancini | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Between 2013 and 2015, the number of opioid-related deaths state- wide surged from 918 to 1,578 — an increase of over 70 percent in two years. The opioid crisis in Massachusetts has reached epidemic proportions, according to the findings of a report out this past...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film, Leisure, Music, News, Newsletter, Stage
How Does This Work? Who on earth do we think we are, doling out judgement left and right? Find out here. The List HALOS // The People of East Longmeadow — For creating a seven-member Town Council in the wake of a coup on the now-defunct three-member Board of...
by Kristin Palpini | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Columns, News, Newsletter
Some topics are too rich to write about just once. For all the people wondering, “What ever happened to …?” this week’s column features updates on issues I’ve written about in this space before. If you’ve got a topic from this column in mind that you’d like to see...
by Amanda Drane | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Third Eye Roaming
While everyone stands to benefit from yoga, barriers to entry remain. The practice is meant to end suffering, yet ironically those who suffer the most — poor people, people of color, and those with limited mobility among them — often find yoga inaccessible....
by Chuck Shepherd | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
The Hastens workshop in Koping, Sweden, liberally using the phrase “master artisans” recently, unveiled its made-to-order $149,900 mattress. Bloomberg News reported in December on Hastens’ use of superior construction materials such as pure steel springs,...
by From Our Readers | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Halos & Horns Editor’s Note: Some responses to the Advocate’s annual section dedicated to the promoting and pooh-poohing of what went on in the last year. I just want to congratulate you on your latest issue. I found it engaging and on target. Beside the nods to...
by Peter Vancini | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter, Scene Here
There’s always a little bit of added electricity in the air when a Nor’easter is bearing down on New England and the snowflakes start to fly. The cold brings out a sense of camaraderie in people: us v. the snow. Sometimes the best thing to do is to find a cozy corner...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, News, The Pour Man
At first blush, one wouldn’t think that the producer of one of world’s most popular “brown-bag wines” would be making a well-crafted, reasonably priced Pinot Noir, much less any other drinkable wine. But that’s the case with Chloe, which means “green shoot” in ancient...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 3, 2017 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
Sometimes, when I’m in the mood to masturbate, I enjoy watching porn. The problem is when I do, it literally takes me no time to orgasm. Yesterday, I was feeling in the mood to enjoy myself. So, I started browsing some videos.I barely started touching myself and felt...
by Hannah Roach | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter
I don’t quite remember seeing my first swastika, but I do remember first realizing what it meant. Like many Jews, I felt the Holocaust sit on my consciousness and take a space in my identity. I remember listening to my mother talk about the reasons why my family would...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film, Music
Giant Talent. Tiny Stage. For more than 40 years now, the Advocate has covered politics, local news, and entertainment from an alternative angle. But nothing runs through our newsprint’s black, white, and red veins more powerfully than independent music. We’ve been...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Rice, Rice, Baby Who knew there were enough people in Warwick, MA (population 780) to start a great rock band? Rice proves the skeptics wrong. Formed at a house party in 2014, the group infuses Americana and jam music with rock sensibilities. It’s not too much of a...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Rogue Galleries Supporting local artists isn’t just for the holidays. Last-minute shopping needs aside, there are hundreds of cool pieces on gallery walls, ceilings, floors, and shelves during all of the Valley’s year-end art shows. The tradition of using these final...
by Will Meyer | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
One artist’s reflections on the Ghost Ship fire NOTE: On Dec. 2, the Ghost Ship, a 10,000 square-foot arts space inside an Oakland, California, warehouse, caught fire during a performance. Thirty-six people were killed, and more were injured. Steve D’Agostino,...
by Jack Brown | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film, Stage
Month of August Despite his legendary status in American theater, August Wilson is not a name one hears attached to many film projects. The self-taught dramatist, who dropped out of high school after being falsely accused of plagiarism, left behind an astounding body...
by Kristin Palpini | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles
Behind the Horns Halos & Horns is one of my favorite Advocate traditions. The annual doling out of kudos and complaints by the paper’s staff is a good way to remind people in power that they are accountable for their actions. Who are we to judge, some may ask....
by Hunter Styles | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film, Music, Stage
Sleeping In? That’s So 2016 Get those kids out of bed (it’s not like they stayed awake until midnight, anyway) and let them dive into a new year the fun way: with puppets and breakfast. Hilltown Families and the Flywheel Arts Collective are continuing the beloved...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Stage
Rug Rats If that godawful stop-motion Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer movie from 1964 has coursed through your eyeballs a few too many times, consider taking the kids to see CactusHead Puppets, who present The Pied Piper of Hamelin for two days only at the Eric Carle...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
Hey Yana, Over Thanksgiving I spent some time with my awesome 18-year-old niece. I’m in need of your wisdom about a situation I’m trying to wrap my 30-year-old, feminist, protective brain around. My niece lives in a small town, far from her friends, and has been...
by our readers | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, News
Something to hate about the mall Comments on “Five Things to Love About the Mall” Barb Brown: The majority of puppy store puppies come from puppy mills where the dogs are over bred, kept in small, over-crowded conditions and many of the puppies have severe deformities...
by Chuck Shepherd | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird
The rebellion against the absurdities of Black Friday this year by the organization Cards Against Humanity came in the form of raising money to dig a pointless hole in the ground. During the last week of November, people “contributed” $100,573, with Cards digging...
by Peter Vancini | Dec 27, 2016 | Articles
Steam and smoke rise from the smoldering embers of the annual Solstice bonfire, silhouetting a local firefighter as he extinguishes the blaze at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton last Wednesday. An estimated 1,000 people turned out to mark the shortest day of...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Ruth Sanderson’s Magic Eye Easthampton author Ruth Sanderson says she has nearly lost track of the number of children’s picture books she has published over the past three decades (she counts 85, at least). But every one of those books conjures a fully-realized...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Here in Spirit Photographer Sandy Alpert’s new exhibition reveals a project she first began gathering imagery for in 1998. Back then, she writes, “I was haunted by the ghosts of my past.” As she worked to capture fellow citizens moving, ghostly and detached, through...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
THE BARGAIN Megan Burtt Self-released Rock musicians with something to prove sometimes lean too heavily on a dark, distressed demeanor. But it’s not hard to spot which artists take up that pre-fab attitude like an expensive frayed coat, and which artists are simply,...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Warm-Up Act Fighting to regain some of that precious body heat that you lost on the way in from the car? Let master guitarist Jose Gonzalez and Latin jazz virtuoso Ahmed Gonzalez help you out. Together they’ve founded Banda Criolla,...
by Gary Carra | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Nightcrawler, Stage
Sean Altman was best known as a member of the a capella singing group Rockapella, which had a recurring role on the PBS television show Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego? from 1991 to 1995. Since then, based on Altman’s website, he’s been mugging with former...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
In my last column, “Closing the Gender Gap,” I tallied the representation of women performers, playwrights and directors in the area’s professional theaters in 2016. I found some improvement in the gender balance, though we’re still a ways away from true parity....
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Newsletter
The Warm Fuzzies We each do a lot of thinking about ourselves this time of year — what didn’t we get around to in 2016, and what new opportunities can we line up for the coming year? — but at risk of sounding too preachy: please look to the neighbor on your left. Now...
by Jack Brown | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Leisure, Newsletter
Director Garth Jennings has had an interesting, if short, career. Coming out of the gate with an adaptation of the Douglas Adams cult classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 2005, his first big film grossed many millions, starred people like Zooey Deschanel...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 21, 2016 | Articles, News
In this week’s Advocate chat, we wanted to discuss that lovable group of people whose votes actually count — the Electoral College! Has its time to go the way of other outdated American institutions (i.e. slavery) finally come? As always, the chat has been...
by Peter Vancini | Dec 21, 2016 | Articles, Food + Booze
This month, the Advocate visited the Five Eyed Fox in Turners Falls, where co-owner Aric Binaco showed us how to make a Bison Sour, a velvety, pleasantly sweet cocktail with a hint of spice. Here’s the recipe: The Bison Sour 2 ounces bison grass-infused vodka...
by Peter Vancini | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, News, Scene Here
The quadrangle at the Springfield Museums, with its many sculptures of Dr. Seuss’ most famous characters, can inspire wonder in most visitors any day of the year, but there’s an extra bit of Seussian whimsy about it around the holidays. The characters — The Grinch,...
by The Daily Hampshire Gazette editorial board | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
The marketing teams of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups have been busy. Rather than give up their hateful views — misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism — they’re trying to scrub themselves clean of the stink by adopting another name — the “alt-right.”As the New York...
by Kristin Palpini | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
I came out as a marijuana enthusiast to my family when I was 16 and fell on my mother.Late at night, I had been out with some friends smoking pot and gossiping. I came home to find my mom still up, sitting in her rocking recliner in the living room watching TV. I...
by Peter Vancini | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter
After being at the heart of the labor movement in Western Mass for over 40 years, Jon Weissman is retiring as the coordinator of Western Mass Jobs With Justice at the end of this year at age 70. Over the course of his career, Weissman served in the trenches of the...
by From Our Readers | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Hey, Trump: Labor Secretary Should Champion Workers President-elect Trump just selected Andrew Puzder as his nominee for Secretary of Labor. Unfortunately, as the CEO of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., Puzder holds a record of opposing the economic agenda demanded by the...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music
Over the River and Off the Grid The past is still present at Old Sturbridge Village, which has been bringing visitors up close and personal with New England history since 1946. The annual Christmas by Candlelight evenings make good on those old traditions, with live...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film
Attaboy, Clarence When it comes to holiday classics, I’m partial to the festive antics of Die Hard (“Now I have a machine gun — ho ho ho!”). But many kids and families — and, on wistful days, certain single adults — lean toward Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter
If you’ve never checked out Western Mass Missed Connections on Craigslist, you really should. The forum is filled with wistful glances, hopeful romantics, and some great drama. The following is a compilation from last week’s forum posts, with the date of...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
Hi, Yana! I’m a 22-year-old woman in a hetero relationship with a guy I’ve been seeing for almost a year. We have a loving and communicative sex life, but are perplexed by a persisting issue! When we are fooling around, he occasionally ejaculates early...
by Kristin Palpini | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Food + Booze, News, Newsletter, Taste-Off!
The winter holiday season is the best time for fudge. It’s a season of indulgence and sharing and sweets and fun — that’s what fudge is all about. Stock up on some now and hand out pounds of rich, creamy, gooey goodness as presents or keep it home and eat it sliver by...
by Chuck Shepherd | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Radical Dentistry Radical dentistry was on display in November in London’s Science Gallery, where installations offered “art-science collaborations” — including Taiwan artist Kuang-Yi Ku’s “Fellatio Modification Project.” Former dentist Ku, complaining that textbooks...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): NPR’s Scott Simon interviewed jazz pianist and songwriter Robert Glasper, who has created nine albums, won a Grammy, and collaborated with a range of great musicians. Simon asked him if he had any frustrations — “grand ambitions” that people...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music
Still making plans for New Year’s Eve? Check out what’s going on in the area: The Strange One’s Ball: A New Year’s Eve Spectacle Starring Bella’s Bartok Pearl Street Nightclub, 10 Pearl St., Northampton Come see what Pearl Street Nightclub is calling, “The...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 17, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel Fingersmith is a gothic mystery-romance set in Victorian England. It’s a tale of devious crime, illicit love and cascading betrayals, with as many hairpin plot turns as a, well, as a Victorian novel. Alexa Junge’s stage adaptation, developed...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
A Songbird’s Soul Singer and songwriter Arleigh Kinchelo’s hard soul collective, Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds, plays guitar, bass, trumpet, saxophone, and drums — plus harmonica, thanks to her brother Jackson. They’ve released three full-length studio albums,...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Stage
Company Time Before her days as the head of Northampton’s School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, Jen Polins directed the Catalyst dancers at South Hadley’s Pioneer Valley Performing Arts charter school for 17 years. In September, craving a return to that rewarding...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
In “The Chemical Wedding,” local talent melds 400-year-old text with modern illustrations If the long book title, inked in faux-medieval Blackletter, didn’t give it away — let alone the robotic sheep on the back cover — The Chemical Wedding is one of the...
