Columns
Stagestruck: Song and Dance
In this time of national division and upheaval, we can be forgiven for craving a little feelgood. And what feels better than a good musical? As if on cue, two good’uns are coming to this area, both of them stage versions of beloved movies. This week through Sunday, An...
The Beerhunter: The Pumpkin Beer Taste Test (Round 2)
When I think back to last fall, and the dozen taste tests I did of pumpkin-flavored beers, my tongue conjures flashbacks of bad and bewildering brews. What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. Or maybe I’m an optimist, holding onto a hope that there are pumpkin...
At Beerology, Homebrewers Can Go Local, Too
At Home with the Brew Local beer ingredients abound, but commercial brewers aren’t the only ones who can get their hands on them. Fun and creative brewing starts at home, too — and many in the Valley have taken up the calling. Mike Schilling has been homebrewing for...
What’s in an “All Local” Beer, Anyway?
From the Valley, Born and Brewed The crafty little explosion of local breweries up and down the Valley over the last 20 years has become a point of pride for neighbors and travelers alike. But as local craft beer markets across the country have matured from clusters...
Basemental: House Shows by Deadbeat Club and Boy Harsher
Self-described glamour-grunge witch-punks Deadbeat Club only played their first show earlier this spring. According to an interview in Maximum Rocknroll, they say the band formed “because [they] were sick of playing with boys and trying to start something serious.”...
Cinemadope: Animal House
Anyone who has invested enough time in reading a great book series will recognize the feeling: as the end of the final installment approaches, a mix of elation and emptiness starts to creep in. Soon the story will come full circle, and when it does, there will be...
The V-Spot: How Do I Get Better At Poly?
Hi Yana, I heard you on Dawn Serra’s podcast Sex Gets Real and really appreciated what you had to say about personal boundaries in new polyamorous relationships. I’m a straight guy and my wife just started sleeping with another woman a couple of months ago. I thought...
The V-Spot: Staying Sexy in Our 60s
Hi Yana, I am a 66-year-old man who is in love, and in a new relationship, with a very sexually active 60-year-old woman. I have come to the conclusion that I could use some help in fulfilling her sexual needs. Can you recommend any particular vibrators and/or other...
The Pour Man: Edna Valley is Back
A couple of decades ago, back before the brand hit the skids, Edna Valley Vineyard Chardonnay was a treat, a wine I couldn’t afford, but would occasionally enjoy at a South Carolina restaurant owned by friends Louis and Marlene Osteen.The Osteens knew their wines, so...
Down to Earth: Is the Valley Prepared for Another Flood?
Just across from one of my favorite writing spots — the window counter at Northampton Coffee — I can see a dark mark on the former lumber building: “Flood Level — 1936.” When I walk past, the mark is almost a foot over my head. After writing, I often hop on my bicycle...
Nightcrawler: Kiss and Time
Can you rock and roll all night and still be home for the 11 o’clock news? The Crawler did — just a couple of Saturdays ago at Mohegan Sun. KISS may be known for their outlandish make-up, ghoulish antics, and fist-pumping anthems. But behind all the greasepaint, the...
Stagestruck: Three on the Screen
The National Theatre’s NT Live series of HD broadcasts from the London stage is back for its eighth season, starting with a mix of new productions and encore screenings. The Amherst Cinema has recently reprised Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and...
Stagestruck: And the Berkie Goes to …
New York has its Tonys and Obies, Boston its Nortons, and now the Berkshire region has its own rewards for outstanding work in theater — the Berkshire Theatre Awards. Twelve professional companies in the Berkshires, southern Vermont, and New York’s Capital District...
Stagestruck: Ghost Stories
Neither of the shows now playing in downtown Hartford are Halloween-themed, but both are thoroughly haunted by ghosts of the past, in one case literally. That one is The Piano Lesson, at Hartford Stage through November 13. It’s the 1930s segment of August Wilson’s...
Basemental: “Hello Everybody” by Ruth Garbus, Reviewed
Honestly Weird “Hello everybody/ there’s a Nazi living in my head.” That’s the first line on Brattleboro musician Ruth Garbus’ new EP, Hello Everybody, and its overt shockingness lays the foundation for a departure from her previous handful of mostly solo...
Beerhunter: Hartford Beer Fans, Take Heart
In the two years since I took on the role of Valley beer reporter, I’ve tried to keep things local whenever possible. Aside from an international sojourn or two — like when I tried a mug of saliva-fermented ‘chicha’ corn beer in Peru last year — I’ve generally been...
Blaise’s Bad Movie Guide: Someone should have said oh-no to ‘Omoo’
The old adage “you can’t tell a book by its cover” still rings true. However, does this advice apply to movies and their titles? Let’s partake in a little quiz and see if you can guess the film’s plot by its moniker. Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Hands...
Cinemadope: Continental Divide
Strike up a conversation about foreign film with most American film buffs, and the discussion will almost certainly travel East, over the Atlantic, on a European course. Those buffs with enough wind in them might even reach the Middle East and parts of Asia, but few...
Cinemadope: Underdogs, from the Sox to the Cubbies
Shortly before I sat down to write this column, the unimaginable happened: the Chicago Cubs clinched a World Series berth for the first time in 71 years. If you don’t follow baseball, just know that it was a long drought — Lawrence of Arabia long, if you’re more of a...
The V-Spot: My Man’s Got Herpes; Now What?
I’ve recently begun a relationship with a man who has herpes. It’s unclear if it’s HSV-1 or -2 or both. He has scheduled an appointment with his doctor. I’ve been tested and am negative for that, hepatitis, and all other STDs. It’s important for me to know all the...
Don’t Light Up Yet: Recreational marijuana in Massachusetts is going to roll out slowly
Before you step outside puffing on a celebratory fattie, know that, despite the vote on Tuesday, recreational marijuana isn’t legal in Massachusetts, yet.That’ll happen on Dec. 15, when the ballot measure goes into effect. And even when Dec. 15 comes, the state is...
The Pour Man: Stupid Label, Great Wine
Mionetto Gran Rosé is a very good sparkling wine with lots of rich fruit flavors that reflect the expertise of a master winemaker and the continued quality of one of Italy’s top wine producers. In fact, this widely available wine is an excellent bridge from the...
Third Eye Roaming: Yoga for Election-Related Insanity
Turn off the news. Put away your phone and shut the newspaper. That heart rate spike that came with the latest election-related news — while appropriate — is not healthy. It’s important to stay informed, especially as America stands at the precipice of an...
Nightcrawler: Last (Friday) Impressions
Most people get paid on it. A few don’t eat meat on it. Ice Cube makes movies about it. Some thank God for it. Others create restaurant chains derived from that acronym … But that’s the last Friday reference, promise. And speaking of last Fridays:...
Stagestruck: Playing the Trump Card
You, my friend, are fucked.” So begins Trump Card, a one-man show created by monologist Mike Daisey that deconstructs the Republican presidential candidate. Next week in the Valley, monologist Seth Lepore performs his own personal riff on Daisey’s original. Lepore’s...
Cinemadope: Food for Thought
We in the Valley may have an above-average awareness of food co-ops. Take a Sunday drive around Western Mass, and you’ll find co-ops dotting the landscape, serving local communities and offering an alternative to the big box grocery chains that might not find it...
O, Cannabis: Worried About Weed? Then Legalize It
A stoner buddy of mine recently shocked me when she said she has no intention of voting on Nov. 8. Weed is already practically legal, she argued, and both the presidential candidates are duds. I reminded her that Question 3 on the ballot may set more humane standards...
The V-Spot: My BF Is About to Leave Me; What Do I Do?
Hi Yana! My boyfriend and I are approaching our four year anniversary. He recently called me and asked if he could vent to me about what he’s been feeling. He got diagnosed with anxiety and depression this past summer, but stopped going to therapy when he went back to...
Lip Bomb: Is This What I Signed Up For? What happens when college isn’t ‘perfect’
Remember applying to college? I’m sure you recall the glossy promotional packets you received in the mail from schools trying to win your application. There was always a picture on the front that looked like this: a group of college age kids sitting in a circle on a...
Stagestruck: Coming Home
I didn’t attend my hometown college, but I grew up just down the street from the campus. I biked along its crisscrossed paths as a kid, DJ’d at the college radio station in high school and, most important, acquired my passion for theater from its plays. Antioch...
Stagestruck: Fierce Visions
Last week Maya Lin, architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, came to the Smith College campus to unveil her vision for the renovation of the venerable Neilson Library. Coincidentally, in Boston a new play was unveiled which recalls Lin’s uphill battle to fulfill...
Basemental: New small urban festivals ditch the corporate music vibe
A few years ago, Valley musician Mike Parham came back from South by Southwest (SXSW), a music festival in Austin, Texas, and described it to me like the Wild West —somewhere between an underground music festival and a business convention.Some see SXSW as their ticket...
Cinemadope: The Vermont Yankee Story screens Sunday
Yankee No How Live in the Valley for any length of time, and you’ll soon know of Frances Crowe. The diminutive white-haired woman is something of a local celebrity, thanks to a life spent in activism, where her infectious cheer is matched by her uncompromising (and...
Deep Purple: Campaigning in Trump Country, Ohio
I grew up in Ohio, birthplace of six presidents and a perennial bellwether in election years — neither red nor blue but the most unpredictable of swing states. Since I live in Massachusetts, in the bluest of the blue, earlier this month I went back to Ohio, where...
The V-Spot: Let’s Do Munch!
Hey Yana, I am totally new to BDSM [bondage and discipline/sadism and maso- chism]. Someone told me about a “munch” happening locally tomorrow night. They found it through the FetLife website and suggested I go. Do you know anything about these “munch” meetups? How...
The Pour Man: ’The Little Cursed One’ Makes a Good Wine
The Spanish native Garnacha is a little grumpy. The grape is thin-skinned and sensitive. It’s hard to cultivate, and its vines are low yielding. At one point in its history, it was even considered a weed, and for the last 30 years or so, many Spanish farmers have...
Stagestruck: A Perfect Fraud
“Consider Lucifer,” says Han van Meegeren, huddled against the grimy wall of his prison cell in postwar Holland. He’s awaiting a summary trial and probable execution for allegedly having sold a previously unknown Vermeer to a Nazi officer during the occupation. The...
Fruity Beers That Don’t Suck
They’re out there… and they probably don’t use blueberries When Erik Jensen took over as brewmaster at Green Flash Brewing at the beginning of this year, he knew he had some big shoes to fill. The San Diego brewery had become one of the biggest in...
Stagestruck: It’s Not Othello, But … — Two musicals from different worlds explore love and jealousy
In Othello in the Seraglio, Shakespeare’s Moor finds an ironic mirror. Not the proud Venetian general, but a proud eunuch in the harem of the Ottoman sultan. Subtitled “The Tragedy of Sümbül the Black Eunuch,” it’s a “coffeehouse opera” conceived by Mehmet Ali...
Emo Core
He has played multiple instruments, in multiple bands, for multiple decades. The sum total of all these multiples? Scene stalwart Henning Ohlenbusch has played with or supported acts of almost every genre in his prolific career. Rock, pop, surf, psychedelic… You...
The V-Spot: Help! I’ve DepoShot my Libido in the Foot
Hi Yana,I’ve been on the Depo shot for two months now and I have no sex drive. No desire whatsoever. I Googled it and it’s normal for women on the shot to feel this way.Do you have any tips or sex hacks to help me and my BF out? I’m sure he’s tired of coming home to...
Cinemadope: The Nanny’s Gaze, discovering the secret world of little known Chicago street photog Vivian Maier
A lifetime ago — maybe two lifetimes now — I was an art school student. I was a hard worker but probably too concerned with what others thought of my work, and even then I knew that was a problem. That feeling seemed confirmed by the work being done by a classmate of...
Down to Earth: A Vote for Clinton is a Vote for the Environment
Our natural environment needs us now, and the stakes have never been so stark. I’ve been frustrated this election season at how little attention the environment has gotten. In the first presidential debate, moderator Lester Holt didn’t ask a single question about...
The Pour Man: California Red, Family Style
Sometimes finding the right name for a child, a pet or even a wine can be difficult.Naming can take long, grueling hours of trotting out candidates only to have them dismissed by others for lacking originality or humor, or being downright dumb. The process can take...
Stagestruck: Bedlam & Battlefield
In some ways, the two plays I saw last week in New York couldn’t be more different. One is a big, boisterous romantic comedy of English manners, the other a small, quiet meditation drawn from Hindu scripture. Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility, now playing Off-Broadway...
Stagestruck: An Immersive “Winter’s Tale” in Greenfield
Walking Through Time “In Scene 13, Leontes mourning his wife, things get a little more dialog-y. That needs to be run and worked on today,” says John Bechtold, creator of the immersive production of The Winter’s Tale that performs in downtown Greenfield this weekend....
Nightcrawler: The Big E … DM
Any calendar will tell you Sept. 22, is the official date of the fall equinox — which is fine, for those astronomically-correct types. But this year, I prefer to think of the solstice as happening on Oct. 2 when the Big E in West Springfield hosts an EDM concert...
Stagestruck: Magic & Mayhem
“If this be magic,” says Shakespeare’s King Leontes, “let it be an art lawful as eating.” On the Valley menu this week are two events that brought that quote to mind. At the Broadside Bookshop tomorrow (Wednesday), the multitalented Andrea Hairston unveils Will Do...
Cinemadope: Going Wilder
When the world lost Gene Wilder a month ago, it was a bit of a surprise to many — he hadn’t appeared onscreen in quite a few years, preferring to devote himself to the books he wrote later in life. But if it was a surprise, it also stung. For myself, and I suspect for...
Basemental: Inside the mind of PussyVision
20-Something Vision It’s an amazing feeling to bear witness to art you feel moved by — especially when that art is ephemeral. And it’s no less amazing to see a side of someone that you didn’t even realize existed. This is what happened when I first heard Pussy, a self...
The V-Spot: I’m Dating Three Women; Does That Make Me Polyamorous?
I’m a 38 yo male currently involved with three women. One is a long distance relationship. We met at a concert and had one night together and stayed in touch. We speak regularly on various chat and texts. Two is a nonsexual relationship. She spends the night and...
Brace Yourselves: Nostalgia is Coming
Fall in Love Now that I spend a good five minutes a day sweeping dry leaves out of our back entry, I think it’s safe to finally say it: autumn is upon us. And I’ll take it, dry leaves and all. Nestled between the smothering humidity of our summer and the desiccating...
The V-Spot: SOS! I’m Spaced Out During Sex
Yana, I need your expertise!I’m a 19-year-old guy in a hetero relationship. I was pleasuring my partner last night and I realized I stopped being present and could not become present again. She picked up on it and, well, I really wanted to be present for it but I...
Stagestruck: Million Dollar Duo
As it happens, two different productions of the same show open on area stages on the same day this week. On Wednesday, Million Dollar Quartet premieres in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, and the Majestic Theater in West Springield...
Stagestruck: Full Immersion
I was intrigued by the description of The Water Project in the press release I received: “Live theater joins forces with the Pioneer Valley’s thriving independent music scene in this original immersive production. … Immerse yourself in the currents of time in this...
Basemental: Our Club Runneth Over
This Friday night, Sept. 23, there are at least six shows I want to attend. It wouldn’t be surprising if some touring band squeezes in a last-minute basement show. There are other bars and venues, too — Ben Folds is playing the Calvin, for one — and maybe a festival...
Stagestruck: A Spectacle in Springfield, Rural meets urban as Double Edge Theatre comes to town
I usually find Double Edge Theatre on their home turf — at The Farm in rural Ashfield — where they live and work and, every summer, perform a “traveling spectacle” that takes audiences on an episodic journey around the spread. But last week I encountered...
Down to Earth: Sustainable Farming 101, Five College farms face challenges teaching the next generation about food
I arrive at Book and Plow Farm to find production farmer Tobin Porter-Brown on a tractor, forking a pallet of canvas sacks off a pickup truck. He’s wearing a Book and Plow shirt, khaki shorts and thick boots that will later serve him in better stead than my sandals...
The V-Spot: I’ve Had Enough With Vaginismus
Editor’s Note: Sexual trauma addressed in this week’s column.Hi Yana,I really appreciate your column and the work that you do. I have a really embarrassing sex problem. I was sexually abused throughout various parts of my life, starting in my childhood and going into...E-Edition
Best Of 2024
Readers Choice 2024
