Columns
by Jack Brown | Jan 29, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
A few years back, I spent most of my weekends running around Western Mass as part of an acoustic jazz band. We played parties, weddings, and a lot of restaurant gigs, but the place I was always happiest to see was the welcoming porch of Elmer’s Store in Ashfield....
by Lena Wilson | Jan 26, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Stream Queen
What’s the connecting thread between old jukebox music videos and Carly Rae Jepsen? What ties Swan Lake to My Strange Addiction? One word: camp. I’m talking about the particular aesthetic that marries high-brow and low-brow, producing art too grave to be serious. The...
by Jennifer Levesque | Jan 24, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
I love it when music collides with a charitable fundraiser event, especially when that event involves human rights. The happenings at The O’s Music Bar in Sunderland last week were just that. Rise Up Productions, a liberal activist group of musicians and actors based...
by Meg Bantle | Jan 24, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Despite the legalization of recreational cannabis use for adults in Massachusetts over a year ago, there is still no standard of measure or device to test people behind the wheel for marijuana intoxication. This presents a problem for law enforcement officers who...
by Chris Rohmann | Jan 24, 2018 | Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
You wouldn’t think a library would be a likely setting for high drama, but here we are with two playing at once. In Hartford, Sharon Washington is telling the story of her girlhood, when she lived, not virtually but literally, in a library. And in West Springfield,...
by Jack Brown | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
One of the stranger aspects of moviegoing is that it is at once a grand communal act and an intensely private experience. We gather together in dark rooms as if in secret churches, and when the crowd is right it can feel as if we’ve all been through something together...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, I’ve been with my boyfriend for a couple years now. We’re just now starting to experiment in our sex life. I’ve known how to make myself vaginally orgasm for a few years now. And he knows what positions I need to do to make this happen. But it’s gotten to...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My partner and I seem to be in different places when it comes to sex. We have fabulous sex when he’s up to it, but in general I have a higher sex drive and want to be more adventurous. We both have histories of trauma and deal with it in different ways. I’m...
by Meg Bantle | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, O Cannabis!
Despite the support for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent out a federal memo this month that makes the future of cannabis in Massachusetts even more unsure. According to a Gallup poll from 2017, 64 percent...
by Will Meyer | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Basemental, Columns
The fight to prevent additional police operated surveillance cameras in downtown Northampton has dragged on since September — over four months, two calendar years, and even through a municipal election. The Northampton City Council has voted 7-2 passing first a...
by Jack Brown | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Film, Newsletter
Few artists have captured the public’s fancy like Vincent Van Gogh. His richly textured landscapes, interiors, and portraits, built up with a painterly impasto as inviting as a rich ganache, seem to grow in popularity with every passing year. And while the calendar...
by Chris Rohmann | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Stagestruck
Time was, going to the theater took up the whole evening, with built-in pee and bar breaks. That’s been changing recently, as more and more plays clock in at an intermissionless 90 minutes or so. Back in Shakespeare’s day, of course, the show went on all afternoon,...
by Monte Belmonte | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines
All natural. The kind of buzz words that make my extremely savvy, health-conscious wife cringe. When you see “natural flavors” on raspberry flavored items, it might as well read “flavors expressed from a beaver anus.” It’s true. Or at least it used to be. Google it....
by Blaise Majkowski | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Newsletter
It’s New Year’s Day. With no idea what to watch, I thought I’d go through one of my leaning towers of DVDs and see what I might come up with. Down at the musty bottom of one of the stacks, I found a trove of movies I’d never watched. My candidate for viewing: The...
by Lena Wilson | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Stream Queen
I just returned from a holiday vacation in the Sunshine State, where I grew up among palm trees, dolphins, and hair-perming humidity. Now, as I chisel my car with all the ferocity of a hunter-gatherer, my fingers and toes quietly preparing to fall off of my body...
by Meg Bantle | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Bay Staters are still waiting for finalized regulations for the commercial recreational marijuana industry in Massachusetts, but the regulations around adult recreational use for individuals were established in December 2016. After voters passed Question 4 on the 2016...
by Hunter Styles | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Local brewers share their predictions and plans Cheers, America! According to the Brewers Association’s 2017 year-end report, there are now more than 6,000 breweries nationwide — an increase of 500 breweries from just six months ago. And here’s some even better news:...
by Jack Brown | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
As the father of three little kids, I’ve come to regard the entertainment world — especially television and movie fare — as an ever-shifting battlefront. I’m not interested in shutting them off from the experience, but figuring out how to make it both enjoyable and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’m a queer non-binary femme. My partner (also queer and non-binary) and I have been together for just about three years. In the past year, I have been doing a lot of emotional work — processing lots of trauma, shame and doing a lot of digging and learning....
by Jennifer Levesque | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
The smell of strong coffee warms me from the cold as I open the door to Iconica Social Club for the first time. From the outside, it looks like an odd brick building in the middle of a parking lot behind Haymarket in Northampton. But upon entering, you’re engulfed...
by Will Meyer | Jan 2, 2018 | Articles, Basemental, Columns
Listening to Northampton-based Izy Coffey’s new EP, Love Sung, feels like a warm sweater — one you were wearing when you were broken and then put back together again, and its thread the commonality between your disparate emotions. It’s calm, tender, and has a graceful...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 2, 2018 | Articles, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’ve had an above-average number of sexual partners (70+) and at least half have been one night stands. The pattern is: I start talking to someone on OKCupid, we arrange for a date, we have a few drinks, have sex. Sometimes, it’s more mutual, and neither of...
by Monte Belmonte | Jan 2, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Monte Belmonte Wines
It is possible that you have spent the last month and a half punishing your liver. Look, I get it. You only drink socially and you are a very social person who went to three holiday office parties and 17 family get-togethers between Thanksgiving and New Years. But the...
by Jack Brown | Jan 2, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
It’s tough to start a new year on a sad note, but it was only after the last Cinemadope’s deadline that I got the news that Duane Robinson had passed away. The driving force behind the revival of the Academy of Music in Northampton, and its enthusiastic and dedicated...
by Fran Ryan | Jan 2, 2018 | Articles, Cannabis!, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!, Review
As its medical uses evolve and marijuana becomes legally available for recreation in Massachusetts, an area cannabis consultant is working to fill an information hole he thinks is undermining its use. “In our culture, marijuana is known for all the bad reasons because...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 26, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My boyfriend of three years and I are both going through a really tough time. My parents are divorcing, he’s applying to schools, and plus our relationship has been long distance for the past two years. We’re both depressed, and I’ve been asking him to go to...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
In this time of long-overdue comeuppance for sexual harassment and assault, I approached my annual reckoning of gender equity in theater with fresh eyes. Nationwide, women continue to be devalued and underrepresented in almost all areas of theatrical creation, on and...
by Meg Bantle | Dec 26, 2017 | Cannabis!, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Last week I sat down with Karima Rizk for a cup of coffee in her kitchen in Easthampton to discuss her new business, Cafe Vert. The coffee was like many other homebrewed cups of coffee: it was rich, balanced, and welcoming on the brisk December morning. But unlike...
by Jennifer Levesque | Dec 26, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
I don’t know about any of you, but 2017 kicked my ass. But, as always, one of the things that keeps me sane, is music. So let’s bid a farewell to this year with some kick ass shows that are sprinkled throughout the Valley. There is literally something for everyone,...
by Jack Brown | Dec 26, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
With the new year scratching at the door, it’s natural to take a reckoning of the one gone by. People tend to focus on the big changes — smoking, the gym, a reading list — but mixing up the smaller things can make a big difference too. Try getting your coffee at a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, I have a cold, dead heart. Well, not really but pretty much, yeah. I was married to my ex-wife for nearly a decade and the end of our relationship was really complicated. I feel almost certain that I don’t have the capacity to be in love or be in a...
by Lena Wilson | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Stream Queen
As the embers of 2017 dwindle, many are reflecting on what great media the year has had to offer. Was A Ghost Story actually a good movie? Did we all sleep on Top of the Lake: China Girl? What will win Best Picture, Get Out or Lady Bird? It’s a time to fondly recall...
by Will Meyer | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
I am the Grinch. People who know me know this — my mom better than anyone. I scoff at Christmas songs and “holiday cheer,” wanting nothing to do with a holiday that is closely aligned with capitalism, patriarchy, and bad parties. But nothing warms my Grinch heart like...
by Monte Belmonte | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Monte Belmonte Wines
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock is set at two and a half minutes until midnight. This is the closest to nuclear annihilation we have been since the clock was created in 1947. Time to prepare for the countdown to end all countdowns. And when our...
by Jack Brown | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
Speak of nuclear winter, and my thoughts go not to bleak, windswept plains. There are no undead hordes clawing at my clapboards, no marauding gangs out collecting rainwater. In my (admittedly hopeful) imagined ruins, we can all rely on the safety of one thing: the...
by Blaise Majkowski | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Newsletter
The holidays are almost upon us, so I decided to curl up with my dog Sasha and watch a 1951 festive Christmas movie. Titled The Painted Hills, this western tells the story of two gold prospectors on the verge of striking it rich. Except that one gets a tad greedy and...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
In this season of holiday entertainments that cater to our appetite for cozy tradition (I’m talking about you, Nutcracker, Messiah, and Christmas Carol), two shows this weekend hit the nostalgia nerve from contrary angles. In the Berkshires, a new play adds a “What...
by Lena Wilson | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Film, Stream Queen
If you’ve turned on a radio recently or gone into any store, you may have noticed that the holidays are approaching — some faster than others, as Hanukkah began this week. For most of us, that means that it’s time to prepare for family gatherings, gift exchanges, and...
by Jack Brown | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
Even among artists, Joseph Beuys has often flown under the radar, someone known more for his enduring impact than his individual works. During my days in art school, Beuys was a name dropped conspicuously into conversations by those who wanted to make sure you knew...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, So, I was recently dumped. Woo! During “the conversation,” my now-ex told me a lot of confusing reasons as to why he thought we should break up, but the one that I can’t stop thinking about: “You’re too nice.” He said that he didn’t know how to be in a...
by Naila Moreira | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth
Well, Congressional Republicans have passed the tax bill. The only thing remaining before it becomes law is reconciliation between the House and Senate versions of the bill. I’m not the columnist to describe the full span of ways this bill will hurt the middle class....
by Jennifer Levesque | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Uncategorized, Valley Show Girl
About a month ago, Valley musician Nate Martel came into the Advocate office to drop off his debut solo album “Short Stay.” Being a fan of his role in rock group, Outer Stylie, I was pumped to get the CD into my car as soon as I left work. And that I did. Recorded at...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Now that the colder months have blown in, bar managers across the Valley are pulling IPAs, pale ales, and pilsners from their tap handles to make room for some thicker, darker brews like stouts, porters, and barrel-aged specials. Seasonal variety is all well and good,...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 7, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
“Bedlam” is an apt moniker for the ever-adventurous theater company going by that name. Their whirlwind adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility recently wowed New York (and comes to Cambridge beginning this weekend – see below). Now they’re back on sort-of...
by Will Meyer | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns
The joke about Eastampton shoegazers Kindling is that if they play a house show, some uptight neighbor might call the cops. There’s a reason for this: Kindling is very loud. Too loud for poorly insulated residential basements. When they play gigs, their three...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
Hi Yana, I’m with a guy with an uncircumcised penis for the first time in my 16 years of being sexually active. I love how he looks, and it feels great when we can have sex. But, after three years, we haven’t been able to get into a good rhythm, sex-wise. I’m not...
by Monte Belmonte | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
Holiday get-togethers are like a minefield of bad wines. A winefield, if you will. You are casually exchanging theories about The Last Jedi with your nephew when a well-intentioned relative hands you a glass of “red” because they know you like “red wine.” What on...
by Jack Brown | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
The Valley and the Berkshires have long offered a snug home — or a cozy getaway — for artists, musicians, and playwrights looking for a nourishing balance of quiet and culture. For visiting New Yorkers, especially, it seems to be an irresistible draw as a spot to...
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 30, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Perhaps surprisingly, the Brits do American musicals really well. The National Theatre, in particular, has a long history of reinvigorating Broadway classics. The theater’s extensive relationship with Stephen Sondheim’s works continues with its current hit production...
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble, rooted in the Valley for over two decades, is spreading its limbs. Long the area’s prime site for physical-theater training and performance that explores the reaches of expression through voice and movement, the company has lately...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
To start, an introduction. My name’s Meg, I’m a writer, a farmer, a gardener, a joker, a midnight … I’m the new cannabis columnist. Massachusetts is in the middle of its cannabis revolution and I don’t want you to miss a thing. With a new author comes a new...
by Jennifer Levesque | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Review, Valley Show Girl
A couple weeks ago I wrote my column based on the fiasco that is Wikipedia Vs. Women, where locally and nationally non-male musicians are getting edited out of the popular DIY online encyclopedia due to male editors not accepting articles from certain publications...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana! I am a 21-year-old cisgender female living with my partner of 1.5 years. I’ll make it simple: a partner has never been able to make me orgasm. Either I do it solo or I do all the work for myself during sex with a partner. My partner and I communicate about...
by Jack Brown | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
We all die. That great inescapable fact is the one sure thing we all share, but how the knowledge of it affects each of us is a profoundly personal thing. Some people rarely think of it until it is upon them, while others dwell in thoughts of dying. Some are paralyzed...
by Lena Wilson | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stream Queen
Dearest streamers, as the year draws to a close and we start to gather with our families (chosen or otherwise), it’s customary to take stock of how our lives have changed in the past 365 days. To say that the entertainment industry and all its iterations have changed...
by Will Meyer | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Music
Last week my colleague Jennifer Levesque reported on musician and rock documentarian Tanya Pearson’s efforts to challenge Wikipedia edits. While trying to revise entries on the free encyclopedia, Pearson discovered that many edits and entries weren’t getting...
by Blaise Majkowski | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Review
As I type this column, it is not yet Halloween, but by the time it sees print the holiday will be over. I’m still in a scary-movie mode, watching such fare as “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” But maybe I should switch gears and see what’s available now on TV....
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Stagestruck
Crimes of the Heart is an American classic. Beth Henley’s 1980 play garnered a Tony, a Pulitzer and a movie deal, ran on Broadway for over a year and has been a community theater staple ever since. Before catching Cate Damon’s lively production at the Majestic Theater...
by Jack Brown | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope
Pixar has had a remarkable run. Beginning in 1985, with Toy Story, the animation studio has produced a body of work that has set — and maintained — a high bar for mainstream animation. While the Toy Story franchise proved to be the gift that kept on giving (a fourth...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’m a 20-year-old student at one of the local women’s colleges. I’m gay and have been out for five years, though I’ve never dated anyone. I figured that it wouldn’t be too tricky to find someone here, since there’s a pretty large population of people who...
