Articles
by Advocate Staff | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts
The images we consume these days aren’t static things — they scroll past at high speed as we flick through our social media feeds. We are so inundated with new photos, even in idle moments, that it’s easy to forget what a powerful pause button a camera shutter can be....
by Advocate Staff | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts
Nothing lights up The Arts Block like the Ladies in Jazz series, which always draws a crowd and delivers a funky fusion of music genres with passion and grace. Samirah Evans, a New Orleans-seasoned singer who has performed with the likes of James Brown and B.B. King...
by By Kristin Palpini | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
If you think of Internet speed as a flying mode of transportation, most of us are on a rocket with broadband while many people living in the Hilltowns are stuck riding a roofless biplane, aka DSL.If you’ve never heard of DSL, or the shrieking grating noise a computer...
by Amanda Drane | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, News, Third Eye Roaming, Wellness
The power vinyasa class hasn’t even begun and most around me — 50 bodies with mats no more than an inch apart — are drenched with sweat. As we struggle through the humidity-induced delirium in the 93-degree room at Northampton’s Shiva Shakti, tonight’s teacher...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Uncategorized
I’m a wicked Zelda geek. I grew up playing the Nintendo series on every console it came out on. When my friend Doug Poole started apprenticing at Shark Tank Tattoo in Easthampton, I asked him to do Link’s life hearts and the Hylian Shield. He’s done...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Leisure, Wellness
As I idled in Northampton’s afternoon rush hour, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel and glancing anxiously at the clock on my phone, it struck me that this moment perfectly captured my week — a traffic jam of tasks that had left me running constantly behind. At...
by Peter Vancini and Kristin Palpini | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, News
Residents and patrons of the South End have been complaining for months about jersey barriers outlining MGM Casino construction, blocking access to the most convenient parking spots in the neighborhood. Do they have a legitimate beef? Yes! Before MGM came to town,...
by By Gary Carra | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Everyone wants to be a Renaissance man, in a Renaissance band … or at very least, ensconced in a scene or city that has been awarded the “Renaissance” brand.But Matthew Larsen is kicking it old school — back to the “dark” ages, one could say.Back in 2006 while still...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot, Wellness
Hi Yana,I have been using flavored lube for mostly oral, but recently this has been causing tonsillitis for me. I forgot to read the fine print, “Use within 3 months,” so now I must chuck out a full bottle (I hate wastage!).What brands of flavored lube...
by By Jack Brown | Apr 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
I’m sure that any first-year film major could tell you more than I can about what makes films tick, but for me, the best of them have always come down to the story of relationships — much like our own lives. Whether it’s He Said/She Said, Axis against Allies, or Harry...
by Jack Brown | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Film
Religion and art have a complicated history. Together they’ve been responsible for some of the great masterworks of history — the Sistine Chapel, Chagall’s stained glass, the Dome of the Rock — but they’ve also produced their fair share of eye-poppingly...
by By Peter Vancini | Photos by Jerrey Roberts | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Stage
It’s 7:30 on a Wednesday night at Bishop’s Lounge in Northampton. The crowd is small, but people are filing in one at a time. At the bar, heads turn each time the door opens, looking for a familiar face. The venue is cozy and intimate, and everyone seems to know each...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles
Drawing monsters has been my favorite ever since I was small — it always made me feel better when I was down. I’m not sure what it is about skulls that fascinates me. Maybe it’s because they’re not something you see very often and look like mythological toothy beasts....
by By Kristin Palpini | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
Suicide is the epitome of hopelessness. It’s a last resort for people who believe that there is no chance of life improving. Options for help can seem unavailable or unfathomable.If there is an antidote for suicide, we have yet to find it. But we can be fairly certain...
by James Lyons | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, News
Imagine a world where perpetual punishment for nonviolent crimes was prioritized over treatment. A world in which victims were prosecuted before they were offered options for recovery. Unfortunately, for victims of prostitution, this is the harsh reality. But for...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to my astrological analysis, you would benefit profoundly from taking a ride in a jet fighter plane 70,000 feet above the Earth. In fact, I think you really need to experience weightlessness as you soar faster than the speed of...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Leisure, News, Wellness
With an estimated 800,000 weed smokers living and toking in Massachusetts and a likely heading for the November ballot question that could bring recreational marijuana to the state, we figured there’s a demand for some pot talk in the Valley. Enter “O, Cannabis,” a...
by Blaise Majkowski, B-movie aficionado | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film
Oh, how the mighty have diminished themselves. For reasons unknown to man, Vincent Price — the iconic star of such horror classics as House of Wax — decided to appear in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) and its sequel, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966)....
by Peter Vancini | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, News
Last November, fish biologists working at an undisclosed location in the Farmington River watershed came across three mounds of stones. Ordinarily, this discovery wouldn’t have been particularly significant. But mounds like these, filled with tiny orange eggs, had not...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot, Wellness
Hi Yana!I’m a lady in a happy, healthy, committed relationship with a man. We have a good sex life but my sex drive is much higher than his. I’m also really into girls and have wanted to ask him for a long time how he would feel if I was Friends With Benefits with...
by By Chuck Shepherd | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird
In March, U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the House Rules Committee, introduced a resolution to recognize magic as one of America’s “national treasure(s),” backed by a 711-word paean urging all to “support and protect” the...
by By Gary Carra | Mar 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
By all accounts, regional college rockers Miracle Legion had a miraculous 13-year run, scoring rave reviews and even regular rotation flirtations with MTV back in the heyday. In 1996, however, they released a disc the band now affectionately refers to as their “swan...
by Peter Vancini | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Uncategorized
A walk through Ten Thousand Villages on Main Street in Northampton is a stroll through a rich international bazaar. The store’s warm, earthy interior is a respite from the stark dreariness on the sidewalk. Gentle jazz and the smell of spices and herbal tea waft...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film
Distributed by A24In theaters nationwideIn this newest installment of the Advocate’s Scary Movie Club, two staffers — horror movie buff Jen Levesque and total wimp Hunter Styles — finally got to see the highly-reviewed horror flick The Witch last week. Set on a lone...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Uncategorized
Good news, everyone! The Advocate has made some staff changes that we think will create a more balanced and exciting paper. First up, staff writer Hunter Styles has been promoted to arts editor. Styles will be drawing on his background in theater and his deep love of...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
There was a lot in the news this past week that made my blood boil and eyes bulge. While driving in my car, yelling back at NPR’s coverage of the latest violent flare up at a Trump rally incited by the old circus barker, I realized there might not be enough room in...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music
Winterpills songs bloom like flowers at night. The Northampton indie rock band leads with clear, bright melodies, but the backdrop is often cast in shadow, marked by swelling strings, sighing harmonicas, and spare piano keys glinting oddly in the dark. Since 2005, the...
by By Warren Johnston | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, The Pour Man
My mother raised me right, schooled in the proper Southern custom of not wearing white from after Labor Day ’til the dogwoods bloomed in March.Until a couple of years ago, I held to the standard and applied its rigorous dictum to wine: white would not cross my lips...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird
University of Oregon professor Mark Carey produced a 10,300-word journal article in January proposing a new sensitivity to Earth’s melting icecaps: a “feminist glaciology framework” to “generate robust analysis of gender, power and...
by Maureen Gazda | Mar 22, 2016 | Archive, Articles
Whether it’s hanging a decorative painting on the wall, arranging a vase of spring tulips on the kitchen table or simply placing a welcome sign on the front door, these trademark aspects of having a place to call home are often taken for granted. This fall, a handful...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot, Wellness
Hey Yana,I would like to buy either a dildo or vibrator for me but I have no experience on what to buy in terms of brand or what type for my first sex toy. What would you suggest to be the best sex toy to purchase to start with?— Fretting Over My First Vibrator Dear...
by — Peter Vancini, pvancini@valleyadvocate.com | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Uncategorized
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Groan, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Some things endure because of their worn familiarity.Take the iconic Waterfront Tavern in Holyoke for instance, which is undergoing a revitalization. Don’t worry. It’s...
by By Gary Carra | Mar 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Eclectic sextet Bella’s Bartok reports that they drastically changed up their recording style for the new full-length Change Yer Life, the completion of which they will celebrate this Saturday, March 26 at Pearl Street.They’ve cut out the middle men and,...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Stage
When you browse the faded pages of an historical account, local lives don’t always shimmer to the surface. But Hampshire College professor of History Susan Tracy noticed a few intriguing details when she was paging through the 1870 census for Colrain, the small...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, The Beerhunter
The dumbest thing I ever did on a date was to invite my lucky lady off-campus for an Indian dinner of vindaloo. The dish was so spicy that I spent half an hour struggling to force small talk out through my seized-up throat (luckily, the chili peppers hit her just as...
by Gary Carra | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
A “Perfect Storm” is slated to touch down at Chicopee’s Maximum Capacity this Saturday, March 19. Sorry, Walmart, but there will be no need for folks to stock up on water, batteries, flashlights,Vaseline or whatever else all those alarmist types go scurrying around...
by Amanda Drane | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, News
Stephen Bilia’s Gorilla Vapess is like a candy shop for adults. Vapers smoke at the bar, ordering from a list of two hundred-plus flavors displayed in multi-colored chalk. Squirt bottles full of food-grade flavor concentrates wait to be ordered and mixed with...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Praying for Bernie I am praying for a Bernie Sanders presidency. If we want our compassionate world to come truly, in our heart of hearts, then we say to each other we are ready to take the steps and say the words to invite that world. Bernie is the only candidate who...
by Chuck Shepherd | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird
Seattle’s ambitious Office of Arts & Culture has allocated $10,000 this year to pay a poet or writer to create a work while present on the city’s Fremont Bridge drawbridge. The office’s deputy director told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in January that the city...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Artist Steven Spasuk works exclusively with an unusual medium: soot from candles and torches. He spreads the stuff across a blank canvas, then uses various instruments to sculpt the accidental blobs into definitive forms. I’ve seen the...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles
Chapel Falls explodes with light. Under the playful paintbrush of Scout Cuomo, the quiet Ashfield nature reserve and hiking trail becomes a riot of neon color and soft, dappled shapes. Every hot-pink inch of the glass canvas, layered with acrylic paint and epoxy, is a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot, Wellness
Dear Yana, I’m a 61-year-old woman dating two men. One of them is a retired, 75-year-old secure man who knows who he is. The other is in his 50s and is still trying to figure it all out. Neither of them knows about the other one and live at a distance from each...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 14, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
Back in the early 2000s, most people thought biomass power plants seemed like an excellent renewable resource, but now we know better. Burning excess construction materials and/or wood scraps and pellets — the typical “mass” in biomass — releases an unhealthy level of...
by Chris Rohmann | Mar 21, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
The story goes that Samuel Beckett was walking through a London park with a friend on a glorious spring morning when his companion exclaimed, “Isn’t this just the kind of day that makes you glad to be alive?” To which Beckett replied, “Oh, I don’t think I’d go that...
by Chuck Shepherd | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird
In February, New York’s highest court finally said “enough” to the seemingly endless delays on a multimillion-dollar judgment for negligence that occurred 23 years ago. Linda Nash had sued, among others, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for injuries she...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
– A huge faucet that releases a daily torrent of craft beer (bring your growlers) – A basketball hoop – A big fat “$” – An “O,” to give ’90s singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin her moment to shine – For that matter, add an M too, and rearrange...
by Gary Carra | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
The Hysteria On The High Seas luxury liner had already left port when Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott came up mute — a case of laryngitis leaving him unable to take the mic for his boatload of fans. Luckily, crewmate Andrew Freeman was equal to the task. The Valley...
by Jack Brown | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles
There was a time in my life — not, in truth, all that long ago — when I didn’t think that the genius of Looney Tunes would ever be equalled. Sure, animation has grown to encompass all sorts of new technologies since Bugs and company first hit the screen, but what made...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
With public pressure and frustration mounting, last week Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said he would take steps to improve communication between residents and the city’s Community Police Hearing Board. The board provides a crucial forum in which people from the...
by Amanda Drane | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Film
What happened to Michael Vick’s fighting dogs? (Firefly Filmworks) The Champions — a documentary film that follows the pit bulls rescued from famous quarterback Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring in 2007 — will at once devastate your faith in humanity and restore it....
by Naila Moreira | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News
By Naila Moreira The Meadows are one of my favorite places to walk, daydream, write, and watch nature change in its numberless daily ways. A swath of agricultural land between Northampton’s downtown and the Connecticut River, they’re within easy walking distance of my...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles
In a lot of ways, folks in the Hilltowns have it right. There’s just something about the slow Internet and intermittent cell phone service that helps foster an appreciation for life’s simple things — something about that gorgeous view and fresh breeze in your nostrils...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot, Wellness
Hello Yana, I’ve been curious for a while about anal play while I’m pleasuring myself. I’ve heard it generates a more intense orgasm. I can take fingers, but I’d like to try something more (on the smaller side of course). Being a guy, is there a position or toy that...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles
In December 2014, after a dozen years in captivity, Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan arrived in Uruguay to begin a new life. The 35-year-old Palestinian was the last to be released out of the group of eight men represented for a decade by Ashfield...
by Story and photos
Amanda Drane | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Leisure
Love gardening but can’t do it outside? Whatever reason you might have for bringing your floriculture indoors, terrariums offer a way to both satisfy a green thumb and fulfill a creative itch. They’re fun to make and, like any other plant added to an enclosed space,...
by Peter Vancini | Mar 8, 2016 | Articles, News
Every weekday morning, a PVTA van picks up 83-year-old great-grandmother of four Pardelma Hall at her home on Roosevelt Street in Springfield’s North End. For the past seven years, she’s been one of the first to arrive at the Mason Square Senior Center and often one...
by Amanda Drane | Feb 29, 2016 | Articles, News
Police brutality in places like Ferguson, Cincinnati, and New York City sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and a national debate about how police use their power to detain, arrest, and deploy potentially deadly force. Citizens — including ones in the Pioneer...
by Gary Carra | Feb 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Tom Mahnken never performed with noted bluesman Ed Vadas & his Fabulous Heavyweights. And, truth be told, he ended up doing just fine with his own Trailer Park band. But on the eve of Vadas’ passing Feb. 18, the Trailer Park frontman fondly recalls his brief...
by Hunter Styles | Feb 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music
In 1972, the first man-made spacecraft left our Solar System. The Pioneer 10 probe could detect and record solar wind particles, magnetic fields, and UV light, but it also had a message to deliver. Mounted on the craft was a plaque, designed by NASA with help from...
by Hunter Styles | Feb 29, 2016 | Articles, Food + Booze
I’m usually a patient guy, but I don’t understand why it takes people so long to order from restaurant menus. I often fight the urge to lean across the table and suggest to befuddled lunch buddies that they needn’t divine the one perfect dish. For crying out loud,...
