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by Our Readers | Sep 27, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News
‘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...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 27, 2019 | Articles, Clueless Parent, Columns, Featured
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...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 26, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, Podcast
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...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 26, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Podcast
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...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 26, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Staff Picks
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...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2019 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
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...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News
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...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 24, 2019 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
It is long past time the Big E ended displays involving wild animals — or what should be wild animals — held in captivity. As if to prove the point, earlier this month, Beulah the elephant, owned by R.W. Commerford & Sons Traveling Petting Zoo in Goshen,...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 24, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, My attachment style is avoidant Scorpio but my partner is a totally secure Gemini. He says anal sex will fix all of my avoidance problems, but I think we should just bring in a third and be polyamorous instead. What do you think we should do? Sincerely,...
by Blaise Majkowski | Sep 24, 2019 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Featured
Have you ever done something that you knew was a bad idea but against all judgment you did it anyway? That’s what I did when I bought a copy of Puppy Swap, Love Unleashed. First a bit of background. Our family has been blessed with Sasha, a two-and-a-half-year-old...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 23, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News, Podcast
Musician and poet David Berman, who was a part of the UMass Amherst MFA program and went on to front the music group Silver Jews, committed suicide last month. Steve Pfarrer wrote about his ties to the Valley and those that remember Berman and his music and writing....
by Jack Brown | Sep 23, 2019 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured
One of the most magical things about great storytelling is the ability of the storyteller to transform a seemingly simple thing into a grand or heart-pounding adventure. A guy chases a whale (or a shark chases some people). Two teenagers fall in love, but their...
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 23, 2019 | Articles, Astrology, Featured
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Comedian John Cleese speaks of two different modes toward which we humans gravitate. The closed style is tight, guarded, rigid, controlling, hierarchical, and tunnel-visioned. The open is more relaxed, receptive, exploratory, democratic,...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 20, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Bethany Killian is an indie acoustic folk singer-songwriter with smoky-toned vocals. Check out her performance on Advocate Sessions in the video below. Interview with Bethany Killian:
by Advocate Staff | Sep 20, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Podcast
Jake Klar is a local artist who performs folk and blues music with a poetic sensibility. 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...
by Our Readers | Sep 20, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News
Defining ‘bad for business’ In response to “Petition directed at IHEG costs co-creator her job at Gateway City Arts,” published Sept 12 – 18. This is horrible. Gateway City Arts should be proud to have employees who stand up for the rights of musicians, artists,...
by Monte Belmonte | Sep 20, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines
“Write drunk, edit sober,” said someone who is not Ernest Hemingway, although the quote is often attributed to him. It’s bad writing advice. Worse advice is “write drunk, edit drunk.” And I wish I could blame my own editing mistake in my last column on either of those...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 19, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News, Podcast
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 explosive bull semen, beating an elevator up a building, and stuffed...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 19, 2019 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Staff Picks
Out! For Reel LGBTQ Film Fest // SATURDAY Out! For Reel screens films featuring LGBTQ issues throughout the year, and this latest collection looks to be a great one. Showing both shorts and a featurette, the evening at the Academy of Music will have a film about a...
by Jack Brown | Sep 19, 2019 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured
My two oldest children started kindergarten a few weeks back. New school, new friends (one hopes), new experiences. It’s been an adjustment — maybe more for me than for them, I sometimes think — and it has had me thinking a lot of how much has changed in the 40 years...
by Steve Pfarrer | Sep 18, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News
For a long time, he was unsure of his singing voice, wondering if it was really good enough to front a band. And for a good part of the time he was making albums, he also shunned most live performances, not feeling he could sing in front of an audience. But David...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2019 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
I’ve never been an enthusiastic Joe Biden supporter. His history on criminal justice — supporting harsh sentences for drug crimes and the War on Drugs — his mishandling of the Clarence Thomas hearings, his vote for the Iraq War, and his lack of support for Medicare...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News
In one of his first public statements since being deported in February, immigrant rights activist Eduardo Samaniego wrote about the support he received from his friends and of the difficulties of the time he spent in prison, also stating he has appealed his...
by Jennifer Levesque | Sep 17, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Valley Show Girl
“Yo Jenny!!!!” I saw on my phone screen a couple months ago from Easthampton musician Robert Ives. “Want to do a review of new unreleased PWD album?” “Um, duh!” I responded. I’ve been a fan of the doom, stoner metal band Problem With Dragons for years. Listening to...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 17, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News
A Race to the Top The 2016 world champion of sport climbing took on an unexpected challenger earlier this month: an elevator. The 26-year-old Polish man, Marcin Dzienski, raced a neon-lit elevator on the side of a Warsaw hotel and reached the top of a 75-foot...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 17, 2019 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
These days it seems you can’t put on a play without your publicity assuring the public it’s going to be funny – no matter what play it is. (“Hamlet, a timeless tragedy with doses of wacky humor.”) So it might be a little suspect to report that Silverthorne Theater...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 16, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News, Podcast
Gena Mangiaratti speaks about her Advocate cover story in which she spoke with Gina Rose Napolitano, a young woman who says she engaged in a sexual relationship with a teacher at her school. The relationship had consequences that affected her mental health, she said....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 16, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana! My partner and I are people who were raised in households where sex was not discussed; indeed, in my house all questions and curiosity about sex were avoided and suppressed. As such, as adults and now parents of a young child, I feel we need support and tools...
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 16, 2019 | Articles, Astrology, Featured
ARIES (March 21-April 19): We’re in the equinoctial season. During this pregnant pause, the sun seems to hover directly over the equator; the lengths of night and day are equal. For all of us, but especially for you, it’s a favorable phase to conjure and cultivate...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 13, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Ona Canoa combines three-part folk harmonies with baritone uke, flute, and guitar. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Ona Canoa:
by Advocate Staff | Sep 13, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News
A lifetime of suffering for a moment’s diversion? It’s time for the Big E to stop featuring animal abuse as a cheap diversion. Times have changed since the early days of this festival, and most folks do not enjoy seeing wild animals living such unnatural and horrific...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 13, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News
Praying with Robot Priests Religion, that opiate of the masses, has found a new way to spread dystopia — robot priests. A robot named Mindar is operating at a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and is programmed to give sermons. Right now it only knows one...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 12, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Podcast
OroborO combines experimental rock with punk, metal, and mathy riffs. For the video recording of this session, as well as over 100 other sessions performances, go to sessions.valleyadvocate.com.
by Hunter Styles | Sep 12, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The Beerhunter
When Amherst Brewing Company opened it doors in 1997, Caleb Hiliadis was just five years old. Now, at 27, he’s running the joint. Well, not the whole joint — just the brewhouse. But that brewhouse has evolved through many twists and turns over the years. And the beers...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 12, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Staff Picks
Millpond.Live & Easthampton Irish Festival // SATURDAY This Saturday marks the return of Easthampton’s Irish Fest to close out this season of Millpond.Live. The free outdoor music series at Millside Park will bring a blend of Irish, Scottish, and French Canadian...
by Gena Mangiaratti | Sep 11, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News
When Gina Rose Napolitano was a freshman in college, she received an unexpected call from the Granby police. An officer asked if a teacher at her high school had sexual contact with her. She said no. That was in early 2017, and she was still communicating with the man...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 11, 2019 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Two shows coming to this area have Mexican echoes. One is a children’s-story allegory of the current border crisis, the other a Mexican dramedy with an international range. Ropes, by Bárbara Colio, has been performed extensively in Spanish-speaking countries,...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 11, 2019 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
Massachusetts Senator and presidential Front-Runner-To-Be Elizabeth Warren made waves this week by endorsing two progressive Democratic challengers to sitting conservative Democrats in districts in Illinois and Texas. These insurgent candidates — immigration lawyer...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 11, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, Podcast
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. Hear about awful gun testing, robot priests, and a poop knife. Listen here: You can hear more of...
by Will Meyer | Sep 10, 2019 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Featured
Editor’s note: This is Will Meyer’s last column as the author of Basemental. A music critic is something I’d never thought I’d be. I hardly knew anything about music, I certainly was no authority. I was a little surprised when former Adovcate editors...
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 10, 2019 | Articles, Astrology, Featured
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Hi, I’m your sales representative for UnTherapy, a free program designed to provide healing strategies for people who are trying too hard. Forgive me for being blunt, but I think you could benefit from our services. I don’t have space here...
by Luis Fieldman | Sep 10, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News
In mid-August, an online petition calling for touring bands to boycott Iron Horse Entertainment Group venues began collecting signatures of musicians, performers, and community members. Less than three weeks later, an organizer of the boycott lost her job at Gateway...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 9, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Podcast
Editorial intern Jonathan Kermah talks about the night shift, both from his own perspective working nights at a local gas station as well as speaking with first responders and a sleep expert. His article on the topic can be found here. Listen here: You can hear more...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 9, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My husband just started letting me put a finger up his anus for stimulation and he’s loving it. Now, how do I make sure I’m pleasuring him in the best way possible? —Derriere Digiter Dear Digiter, My two main pieces of advice for making sure your partner is...
by Jack Brown | Sep 9, 2019 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured
One of the great pleasures of movie-going, in my experience, is going alone. Even when surrounded by strangers in the dark, there is something wonderfully personal about being blanketed by the sound and image of a big screen projection; a show just for you, where you...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 6, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Born IV Blues is a teenage soulful blues band from the Berkshires. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Born IV Blues:
by From Our Readers | Sep 6, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers
RIP Frances Crowe In response to “‘An organizer to the very end’: Northampton activist Frances Crowe dies at age 100,” on Page 6. How sad to learn that we’ve lost Frances Crowe. But she had a good run, 100 years. When I heard of her death my thought was, “She lives on...
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 6, 2019 | Articles, Astrology, Featured
ARIES (March 21-April 19): John Muir (1838–1914) was skilled at creating and using machinery. In his twenties, he diligently expressed those aptitudes. But at age 27, while working in a carriage parts factory, he suffered an accident that blinded him. For several...
by Monte Belmonte | Sep 6, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines
It’s getting to be the end of summer. I admit, while I’m trying to drink dry the last vestiges of the season, coming up with an idea for a late summer wine column has been like drawing wine from a stone. I should be drinking wine on vacation, not worrying about...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 5, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music
The lush pastoral sounds of acoustic guitar, flute, fiddle, and upright bass echoed in slow motion through the Pushkin Gallery in Greenfield, before returning to normal time in an effect that’s much akin to rewinding an old VHS tape and hitting play. From there, the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 5, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Music, Podcast
Blame Cadence is a one woman chorus of looped soulful a cappella pop. For the video version of this performance, go to sessions.valleyadvocate.com.
by Advocate Staff | Sep 5, 2019 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Staff Picks
Midsommar: Director’s Cut at Amherst Cinema // THURSDAY My favorite film of the summer is director Ari Aster’s sophomore film, “Midsommar,” a folk-horror movie in the vein of classic 1973 British horror flick, “The Wickerman.” Without spoiling too much, this is a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 5, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My fiancé is sick and was just like “I’m gonna call my mom for soup” and he (LOL) has done shit like this since we moved out on our own. Like, I’m here – ready, willing, and able to take care of you. Get off the tit. I feel like I’m crazy, but at the same...
by Jack Brown | Sep 5, 2019 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured
It is sometimes difficult to believe that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — ICE — is only 16 years old. Created in 2003 under George W. Bush in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, the new agency merged the two previously separate...
by Luis Fieldman | Sep 5, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News
Rick Paiva, of Northampton, said he smoked cigarettes before switching over to vaping, but “it wasn’t helping my health any better.” He quit vaping two-and-a-half years ago because he said it worsened his asthma, caused bronchitis, made his chest tight and caused him...
by Jonathan Kermah | Sep 4, 2019 | Articles, Featured, News
Whether it be for a late night snack after a long night of partying or studying, or calling the police to handle an emergency in the wee hours of the morning, you’ve probably interacted with a third shift (loosely defined as work between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.) worker at...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 4, 2019 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
As all the world knows, Frances Crowe is an activist institution in the Valley, and well beyond. And that’s why, even having lived the full life she did, the community still feels her passing deeply. But in her 100 years, we can all find some inspiration. I’m proud to...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 4, 2019 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News
Naked lunch … er … dinner A family from Fortuna, California, came home to unexpected — and unwanted — visitors. After returning from dinner last week, the family found two naked strangers that had broken into the household and made themselves a little too comfortable....
by Jennifer Levesque | Sep 3, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Valley Show Girl
I walked down the forest path of the Millers Falls Rod & Gun Club for the opening night of the 5th annual RPM Fest. Once I got to the clearing, the field was open with people playing yard games, groups of others gathered in small huddles chatting and enjoying...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 3, 2019 | Articles, Featured, Podcast
Longmeadow resident and activist Michele Marantz was interviewed in the Advocate story “Longmeadow voters say no to gas pipeline project in residential neighborhood,” about her community group, which managed to get a zoning bylaw passed that could halt a...
