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Clueless Parent: Feeling like a humbug on Halloween
There’s no getting around it. Halloween is a strange holiday, and it gets stranger the older you get. As a kid, it’s all about heaping an enormous haul of candy any way you can, and hopefully not getting stuck with a dorky costume. Getting slightly older, the prospect...
Cinemadope: Making the Scene
People in the Valley are a creative bunch. At my day job, one woman I work with is a talented seamstress who creates wonderful clothes and stuffed toys; another works with local potters to decorate clay vessels and cups. My old Advocate editor — a published poet —...
Stagestruck: Women in the Lead
Three productions by women-led theaters are playing in the Valley this weekend, and another opens in the Berkshires. They echo themes around gender – from activities women aren’t “supposed” to engage in, to a trans transition, to young men of color in the...
Podcast: Julia Clark on her post-transition return to music
Musician Julia Clark underwent a transition from male to female and gave up music for a long time because she believed no one would take her seriously, as reported by a recent story by Jennifer Levesque. After a period of homelessness and other difficult life...
V-Spot: He’s Having an Affair With Me
Dear Yana, I had an affair and I feel like the worst person ever and I don’t know what to do. The guy is married with kids and says he’s basically living as roommates with his wife. I think she’s catching on and I want to end it because I feel like the worst person in...
Free Will Astrology: Your own demons are enough, Virgo
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “We can’t change anything until we get some fresh ideas, until we begin to see things differently,” wrote Aries psychologist James Hillman. I agree. And that’s very good news for you Aries people. In my view, you are more attracted to and...
Letters to the Editor: Tennessee Gas project puts my neighborhood at risk
Tennessee Gas project puts my neighborhood at risk In response to “Could it happen here?: Gas explosion in Merrimack Valley hangs over new pipeline efforts,” published Oct. 3-9. I live in a neighborhood in Longmeadow. The homes are not large and luxurious as those...
Monte Belmonte Wines: A Man with La Misión
Cristián Aliaga thought he wanted to be a dentist. Maybe it was the future prospect of uncovering leftover tuna fish under someone’s dental bridge that made him reconsider. But when it came time to make a decision as to what to study at university in Chile, he...
Philip B. Price on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Philip B. Price (Winterpills) writes finely crafted pop songs mixed with experimental rock stylings. Price will be releasing his latest record, “Bone Almanac,” on Nov. 8 via Signature Sounds. Advocate Sessions is a collaborative project of the Valley...
Staff picks: Smokey Robinson, The Chambermaid, Carinae, Great Falls Festival
Smokey Robinson at Symphony Hall in Springfield // FRIDAY Legendary singer and Motown hero Smokey Robinson is heading to Springfield this Friday for a performance at Symphony Hall. Known for hits such as “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.” and “The Tracks of My Tears,”...
Bizarro Briefs: A Fish Out of Water
A fish out of water The United States is being invaded by a creepy invasive species of fish that can breathe on land. The state of Georgia is taking no chances, and its Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division announced last week that the public...
Cinemadope: The Chambermaid at the Academy of Music
When I first moved to Northampton a couple of decades ago, my partner at the time took a job as a chambermaid at a local hotel. I can’t recall now exactly how long it lasted, but I know it wasn’t long — the hours, the amount of labor involved, the indifference (or...
‘I decided the world was maybe ready for me now’: Julia Clark talks about her post transition return to music
Editor’s note: Julia Clark is transgender, and asked the Advocate to refer to her using she/her pronouns for the time both before and after her transition from male to female gender identity. Chris Clark was about 8 or 9 years old when she heard the classic song “Wild...
Editorial: Vaping ban the latest in a series of troubling state actions
We’re now about three weeks into Gov. Charlie Baker’s unilateral four-month vape ban. How did we get here? It’s really not clear. Very little information has come out of the Governor’s office to justify what has appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction to recent reports...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: Dangerous Cheetos, TP wedding dresses, and animal crises
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 host Trumpy talk about the week’s weird news in a podcast version of the Valley Advocate’s Bizarro Briefs section. Learn this week about dangerous Cheetos, TP wedding dresses, and animal crises. Listen here: You...
Getting Away From The ‘Sea of White Dudes’: Dwellings Festival showcases talented femmes, people of color, and queer people
The Northampton Center for the Arts became a microcosm of art, poetry, and music for 10 hours on Saturday at the first Dwellings Arts Festival. It also set an example for the organizers’ mission of bringing greater diversity to festival lineups and making venues safer...
Stagestruck: Live from London, in Amherst
National Theatre Live began its eleventh season this month and the Amherst Cinema has been there from the start, screening live-capture HD broadcasts from the London stage. First up is a transgressive, immersive Shakespeare (Oct. 19 & 30). That’s followed by...
Podcast: Luis Fieldman on Club Castaway strip club’s LGBTQ-friendly policies
Writer Luis Fieldman wrote the Advocate’s cover story on Whately strip club Castaway, and it’s reopening with some new policies, including having male and queer-identified dancers, lesbian nights, and transgender performers. Listen here: You can hear more...
V-Spot: I’ve Got Prozac Problems
Hi Yana, I’ve been on Prozac since I was 15 (I’m 22 now), and never really realized how much it fucks with your sex drive until recently. My boyfriend and I had a lot of sex during the honeymoon phase of our relationship (who doesn’t?), but now it’s been 18 months and...
Free Will Astrology: Have sex like you’re not in Singapore, Aries
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Singapore has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates. A few years ago, this state of affairs prompted the government to urge Singaporeans to have sex on an annual holiday known as National Day. A new rap song was released in the hope of...
Letters to the Editor: Pelosi for President — Can She Be Drafted?
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this? Email...
Bizarro Briefs: Um, there’s some toilet paper on your … nevermind
Um, there’s some toilet paper on your … nevermind The long-awaited results are in: Mimoza Haska from Surfside Beach, S.C., is the winner of this year’s Toilet Paper Wedding Dress competition. In this annual contest, competitors design and build elaborate wedding...
Cajordion on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Cajordion is a whimsical busking-honed duo, which plays instrumental pop music on cajon, accordion, and a plethora of other instruments. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Advocate Sessions is a collaborative project of the...
Staff Picks: Royal Frog Ballet, Gallery exhibits, That 1 Guy, and Strong & Pleasant ‘Rocktober’ Music Fest
The Royal Frog Ballet’s Surrealist Cabaret // FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY Framed as a sunset walk through Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton, the Royal Frog Ballet’s Surrealist Cabaret is a collection of performances which in the past have included music, puppetry,...
Cinemadope: A Landmark Film on AIDS Gets a Second Chance
There are so many stories that never get the audience they deserve. Whether overshadowed by events of their era or lost to the circumstances of their creators lives, there will always be those narratives that — if they are ever recorded at all — deserve a better fate....
Sessions Podcast: Among the Acres
Among The Acres combine folk-rock, pop, and Americana with lush vocal harmonies. For the video recording of this session, as well as over 100 other sessions performances, go to sessions.valleyadvocate.com. Listen: You can hear more of the Valley Advocate’s podcasts...
A New Routine: Whately strip club to reopen with queer-friendly policies
It will soon be a new day for Club Castaway, which will reopen later this month as a rare strip club that showcases a diverse body of male, queer, and transgender entertainers, and with a manager who says she is committed to treating her workers well. Out among the...
Editorial: Years-long Debates Boil Down to One Ballot in Greenfield
We’re less than a month out from Election Day 2019 — Tuesday, Nov. 5 — and while there won’t be candidates for state or federal office on the ballots, there will be a number of important local elections decided. But there are few places that will see as many important...
Joining the Fold: Easthampton artist presents paper art celebrating women at her debut solo show
Sitting in her home and studio in Easthampton with a collection of vibrant white paper roses, and a paper dress inspired by curved architecture nearby, artist Marguerite Belkin, a 75-year-old self taught “paper sculptor,” said 15 years ago when she started doing...
Podcast: Chris Goudreau talks about gas pipeline projects and the dangers of natural gas
Advocate Associate Editor Chris Goudreau wrote about how gas explosions last year in eastern Massachusetts have affected gas pipeline activism locally. He speaks to editor Dave Eisenstadter about the perspectives of the people he spoke with for the article and what...
Beerhunter: Hitchcock Brewing Starts Fresh in Bernardston
When the staff at Hitchcock Brewing Company unlocked the front door of their new taproom on South Street in Bernardston on Sunday morning at 11 a.m., customers were already waiting outside. The first pair to arrive at the bar ordered a crisp Columbus-hopped pale ale...
Fuzz Puddle’s Debut is One of the Best Local Records of 2019
“Speciecide,” the debut album by local Valley indie electronic/progressive rock duo Fuzz Puddle takes the existential dread of man made climate change induced mass extinction, throws in a smattering of Radiohead-influenced paranoia, and stirs that finely while adding...
Stagestruck: Facing Closed Doors – Plays old and new look at demonized populations
Anne Frank, who died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 at age 15, is the enduring image of innocence broken by the forces of hate. Thanks to the diary she kept in the Amsterdam attic where her family hid from the Gestapo, she’s also an inspiring symbol of...
V-Spot: Are Condoms Even Good?
Hi Yana! So, my partner and I have started dabbling in threesomes and it looks like it may become sort of a trend. Specifically, we’re looking at having threesomes with cis dudes, and I just need a little assurance that condoms are a good form of contraception. I...
Free Will Astrology: Are the barbarians coming, Taurus?
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Love is when you meet someone who tells you something new about yourself,” wrote poet André Breton. I think that’s an excellent principle to put at the top of your priority list in the coming weeks, Aries. To be in maximum alignment with...
Heather Maloney on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Acclaimed Valley indie rock, Americana, and folk singer-songwriter Heather Maloney stopped by the Valley Advocate Sessions stage ahead of her upcoming Oct. 12 album release show at Northampton’s Academy of Music Theatre. Interview with Heather...
Letters to the Editor: Animal cruelty is more than a ‘fluff piece’
Animal cruelty is more than a ‘fluff piece’ In response to “Between the Lines: Animal rights is the elephant in the room for the Big E,” published Sept. 26 – Oct. 2, 2019. I read your editorial on Beulah’s death at the Big E and was so touched by your thoughtful...
Wellness: How to Beat Fall Allergies
As the days become shorter and the weather cools down, a new crop of allergy symptoms gives an uncomfortable, irritating experience, turning the autumn season into one marked by sneezing, scratchy throats and itchy eyes. However, Dr. Denise Kearney, a specialist at...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: Scamming the scammers, a date gone horribly wrong, drinking a drink with your own toe in it
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 host Trumpy talk about the week’s weird news in a podcast version of the Valley Advocate’s Bizarro Briefs section. Learn this week about scamming the scammers, a date gone horribly wrong, and drinking a drink with...
Staff Picks: Mill River Rounders, Skate or Paint 2019, Indian classical music, and a ‘Diversity in Art’ exhibit
Mill River Rounders at Mill 180 Park // Friday The Mill River Rounders will be bringing its blend of banjo, washtub bass, and guitar old-timey/bluegrass stylings to Easthampton’s Mill 180 Park this Friday night. Mill 180 features lawn games and a cafe, which works...
Monte Belmonte Wines: Elsa Petit, the Bordeaux-born prof teaching vine science at UMass
I have never been to wine country. At least never to any of the famous wine countries. Not Napa. Not Bordeaux. Not Piedmont. Nowhere. This is yet another one of the many reasons why it could be considered a lapse in judgment every time the Advocate prints one of my...
Could it happen here?: Gas explosion in Merrimack Valley hangs over new pipeline efforts
Across Massachusetts people rely on natural gas to heat their homes and businesses, provide their electricity, cook meals every day, and for their hot water supply. Most of the time, natural gas, which is delivered to residents via local distribution lines, is...
Bizarro Briefs: Frostbitten toe used as ice in drink
Here’s to your health A former British Marine became the first person to drink a cocktail using his own mummified toe, after he had lost it to frostbite during a long-distance race in Yukon. Bolton, U.K., resident Nick Griffiths had lost three toes during a 300-mile...
Sessions Podcast – Ali Kat and the Revelators
Ali Kat and the Revelators perform rocking funk and soul with sax, guitars, and high energy vocals. For the video recording of this session, as well as over 100 other sessions performances, go to sessions.valleyadvocate.com. Listen here: You can hear more of the...
Valley Show Girl: Life of Brian
I recently met up with Valley country frontman Brian Chicoine to chat about some cool future projects he’s been working on. A unique benefit show, a solo album and, most importantly, working on bettering his health are just a few things keeping Mr. Chicoine busy these...
Cinemadope: Wild Card
When it comes to superheroes, it’s pretty clear that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has claimed the throne in Hollywood. Picture a big-budget blockbuster from the last decade, and there’s a good chance it starred at least a couple of Avengers. DC Comics — their main...
Stagestruck: Forced to the Border
Two Latinx plays in the area revolve around themes of dislocation — displaced neighborhoods, populations, and minds. Quixote Nuevo, at Hartford Stage, transplants Cervantes’ demented knight errant to a Texas border town, and Not for Sale, in Holyoke, puts the gente in...
Locals take advantage of snubbing out marijuana offenses
Jim Robinson is close to opening a retail marijuana shop in Chicopee, but until recently, cannabis actually might have been holding him back from getting work. Robinson had two minor offenses for possession of marijuana on his criminal record. “I had an active...
Podcast: Truck Stop Troubadours front-man Brian Chicoine on his music and a recent health scare
Columnist Jennifer Levesque speaks to Truck Stop Troubadours front-man Brian Chicoine about his music and a recent health scare. He also talks about an upcoming show at Poor Richard’s in Chicopee. Listen here: You can hear more of the Valley Advocate’s podcasts...
V Spot: How Do I Talk To My Partner Directly?
Dear Yana, I’ve noticed that quite often in your column you point people in the direction of clear, direct communication in relationships; establishing boundaries, asking for what you need, and so on, which is great advice that always feels so simple and elegant when...
Free Will Astrology: LeBron sleeps 12 hours a day; you should, too, Cancer
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 1956, the U.S. federal government launched a program to build 40,000 miles of high-speed roads to connect all major American cities. It was completed 36 years later at a cost of $521 billion. In the coming months, I’d love to see you draw...
Matthew Thornton on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Matthew Thornton combines progressive folk rock on uke and guitar with protest themes. Check out his full performance on Advocate Sessions in the video below. Interview with Matthew Thornton:
Letters to the Editor: ‘Joe Biden should not be our president’
‘Joe Biden should not be our president’ In response to “Between the Lines: Biden’s Electability Argument is Crumbling.” I have to say I agree with this. I don’t agree with being “mean” about it all, but objectively, Joe Biden should not be our president … It is...
Clueless Parent: My son is ready for potty training. I may not be.
What I’ve learned about parenting in my short two-plus-year tenure, is that everything is a phase, and some last longer than others. When my son was still an infant, laying still was a nice phase — he stayed where we put him. But that was replaced by rolling, and we...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: Disappointing attendance at Area 51 raid, a nonexistent flatulence competition, and biting a camel in self defense
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 host Trumpy talk about the week’s weird news in a podcast version of the Valley Advocate’s Bizarro Briefs section. Learn this week about disappointing attendance at Area 51 raid, a nonexistent flatulence...
Sessions podcast: Amber Belle
Amber Belle is a singer-songwriter with a honey toned voice who performs original folk and country music. For the video recording of this session, as well as over 100 other sessions performances, go to sessions.valleyadvocate.com. Listen here: You can hear more of the...
Staff Picks: Tony Silva, the Molice, Mile Twelve, and Far Out Films
Spanish guitarist Tony Silva at Progression Brewing // THURSDAY Easthampton resident and phenomenal Spanish guitarist Tony Silva is one of the Valley’s true artistic gems. He’s been playing acoustic guitar for more than 40 years and his influenced by everything from...
Fall Arts Preview
Who says the arts have to stop when summer is over? The Pioneer Valley, as always, delivers when it comes to creative nights out and interesting things to check out. Here is a sampling from the Advocate staff. -DE Arcadian sounds Date: Sept. 28 Though summer is prime...
Bizarro Briefs: Bread-throwing girl costs robber his dough
Bread-throwing girl costs robber his dough A would-be robber armed with a knife in a supermarket in the UK met an adversary he hadn’t counted on — an 11-year-old girl wielding a loaf of bread. As seen on security footage at an Express Supermarket in the city of...E-Edition
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