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Summer Arts: Jar The Floor
If Mama Ain’t Happy… Nothing triggers resentment and affirmation in equal measure like a family get-together, and that unsteady ceremony looms large in playwright Cheryl L. West’s family comedy-drama Jar the Floor. The play follows four single African-American...
Summer Arts: Emily Dickinson Poetry
Em Dash “Because I could not stop for Death — He kindly stopped for me,” wrote Emily Dickinson. But in the Valley, celebrations of the famous Amherst poet never stop for long, and come September, fans of Miss Emily will once again grab the chance to do a mad dash...
Scene Here: Sunshine and Smokes
It’s 8:30 a.m. and the sun already feels warm on Main St. in Springfield’s South End. Birdsong can be heard beyond the roar of a passing bus. Across from a patchy, untended lot enclosed by a chainlink fence, children in backpacks skip along the sidewalk, weaving...
Arts & Culture: ARTstravaganza
Western Mass arts cats can mewl all they want about that 45-minute drive to Brattleboro — sometimes the journey is damn well worth it. That’s never been more true than this month, when the ’boro and neighboring towns throughout Windham County, Vermont, play host to an...
Your Friendly Guide to Pride
It was Northampton that held the first Pride march in the area, and those who participated walked down the Main Street of a very different America. The year was 1981. Non-heterosexual citizens held virtually no legal protections as employees, as tenants, as...
Hidden Franklin County gems
It’s 3pm in the hilltowns. Bright sunshine warms the Ashfield Lake, and the reflected light bounces up through the windows of the three-story Lakehouse, into the quiet bar and dining room. I’ve caught the tail end of Friday lunch, and the mood at the bar is calm. A...
Down to Earth: Right whales feast on the Cape, but for how long?
About 500. That’s smaller than Smith College’s first-year class by 100 and it’s a tenth of the entering class at UMass. It’s also the number of right whales known to be alive in the entire world. These huge creatures — second in size only to the blue whale...
Halos & Horns
Halos and Horns is the Advocate’s kind of annual review of the Pioneer Valley and beyond. We take aim at everything from politicians to pants, awarding kudos and condemnation. Food Justice Workers For some strange reason, humanity has gotten so far ahead...
Between the Lines: Owen Labrie – Rapist or Simply a Jerk?
Editor’s note: Editors Kristin Palpini and Jeff Good couldn’t come to an agreement on how to interpret the Labrie decisions, so they wrote their own opinion pieces. Jeffrey Good: There is no doubt that Owen Labrie was guilty of being an oaf, a striver and...
From Our Readers: ‘Sorry, but what about the police?’ ‘Old fogies in yoga pants?’
Sorry, but what about the police? I am very sorry for the families and friends whose loved ones have died due to police action and/or while in police custody in 2015 in the U.S. (“Doesn’t Count: Deaths by police are not tracked in the U.S.” Nov. 12-19, 2015). I am...
Put Down the (Mega)phone: A Northampton chef’s review of Yelp reviews
She smiles at you from across the table as she delicately moves the hair from her face. The lights are dim and the murmured conversations reverberate off the warm decor as the waiter pours the carefully selected wine. We ask for a moment to discuss the menu and take a...
The V-Spot: Freaked About Fellatio
Hi Yana, My friend seriously freaked me out when she told me that I should always use condoms for oral sex when I’m not in a longterm, monogamous relationship. Have I been sleeping on this or is she being dramatic? What are the transmission rates of STDs through oral...
Raise Your Glass (Ceiling): Where are all the women brewers?
Two years ago, Kate Telman started making beer at her home in Easthampton. She planned to perfect a few brews, then shop her skills around to area breweries in the hope of getting a job. “I knew there weren’t really any job postings for what I wanted to do,” said...
News of the Weird: Good One?
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, declared an emergency on Oct. 30, when one of its soldiers had the bright idea to arrive for a Halloween party on base dressed as a suicide bomber, with realistic-looking canisters in a wired vest. Gates to the post, headquarters of Army...
Casino Mixtape: Commissioners are out, billboards are up, and MGM polishes its PowerPoint
Here are our greatest hits on the casino playlist this week: Writing’s on the Wall: If you drive fast down I-91 and squint, you can see construction crews hard at work at the casino site. Take a second look, though, and you’ll notice that the giant workers, posed...
The Magical Mountain Mystery Tour: What craft beer adventures await in the Berkshires?
As the Advocate’s resident Beerhunter, my reportage on the art of the local craft brew has taken me up and down the Pioneer Valley, with the occasional stop in Brattleboro, Boston, and beyond. But there’s one big region on the Western Mass beer map that I’d been...
Arts & Culture: Landscapes, ho! Laura Radwell paintings in Westfield
Laura Radwell began to paint in the late ’80s and over the years has continued to explore various media: traditional oil painting, sculpture, calligraphy, and photography. The origin of her photo-based art is digital, a result of a familiarity and understanding of...
Scene Here: Bird Brain
Photo by Greg Saulmon Motivated by hunger and a bit of sport, the peregrine falcon searches for a high perch from which she can keep a sharp lookout for prey. Her favorite meals are pigeons, ducks, and shorebirds, but in the lush Pioneer Valley any kind of medium-size...
Cinemadope: Autumn film trips in the Valley
Movie fans can be a pasty bunch. Ducking out of the sun to catch a sparsely attended matinee is par for the course — those nearly empty mid-week shows are a welcome respite from the cellphones and chatter of weekend opening nights. Netflix, Vimeo, and the local...
In the Lens of the Beholder: One small Valley town gets hip to police body cams
Erving Police Chief Chris Blair said that during his first day with a new body camera and a new policy making them mandatory for on-duty officers, an incident arose during which he was stoked to be so equipped. While out on a call, Blair said he was trying to wrangle...
Gone Rogue With Mady Pachios of The Mary Jane Jones
In front of a full crowd and three-piece band, a woman in a 1950s party dress, with her bangs curled and wearing bright red lipstick, wails on the mic. She’s like a Stepford wife gone rogue. This is Mandy Pachios, frontwoman and founding member of jazzy, funky...
The V-Spot: Help! My Small Penis Doesn’t Measure Up
Hey Yana, Does penis size matter? I’m a 20-year-old male and a tall guy who gyms a lot and has fairly good genetics … all but in the penis department. I’m 6 feet tall and I literally have a 4-incher. I’ve found that a lot of girls are size queens and the girls I...
Do You Read Me? The independent bookstore just might rise again
Some trends are stranger than fiction. When Amazon released the Kindle in 2007 – an immediate bestseller – e-readers looked like the thing of the future. Between 2008 and 2010, digital book sales increased by more than 1,200 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2010,...
Ramen: It’s Not Just for College Anymore
The Valley is full of good Asian noodle soups, so we tried three. I’m a child of chilly New England, where steaming cups of soup are most often consumed under blankets while the snow flurries outside. But last year, in Thailand, I tried a piping hot bowl of rice soup...
The V-Spot: Fretting Over My First Time
Hi Yana, I’m a 17-year-old virgin. My partner and I tried having sex, but we couldn’t get it in. I went to the doctor for contraception and I asked her why we couldn’t get it in. She said that I needed to relax; how the hell do I relax?! During sex (or trying to) I...
Four Questions for Westfield’s Mayoral Candidates
This year, the Advocate is covering the Valley’s mayoral races a little differently. We’ve asked each candidate the same four questions, which we hope will provoke thoughtful and illuminating answers — with a little editing for length and clarity. This week we quizzed...
Four Questions: Springfield’s mayoral candidates hold forth — or back
This year’s mayoral race in Springfield is between incumbent Domenic Sarno, 52, who took office in 2008 and is currently in his third term, and Salvatore “Sal” Circosta, 30, the former owner of Sal’s Bakery and Cafe, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2013....
Review: Evil Dead the Musical
Evil Dead: the Musical Ghost Light Theater, Turners Falls For the first 45 minutes, the crowd clapped for the songs and laugh-groaned at the corny jokes. It wasn’t until Ash, our zombie-fighting hero (played by Joe Van Allen) grabbed a chainsaw and severed his own...
Scene Here: Laughs and Lingerie
AMANDA DRANE PHOTO The Mary Jane Jones kicks off the night of comedy and lingerie at One Bar and Grill in Northampton with several soulful love songs. Eyes closed, lead singer Mandy Pachios growls a velvet reverie. A shot girl in a form-fitting, black nightgown with a...
Four Questions: Holyoke’s Mayoral Candidates
This year, the Advocate is covering the Valley’s mayoral races a little differently. We’ve asked each candidate the same four questions, which we hope will provoke thoughtful and illuminating answers — with a little editing for length and clarity. This week we quizzed...
It’s Going to be a Looooong Wait
When the railroad tracks that run through the Valley were improved for heavy freight trains and passenger rail service, people were excited about the potential of ditching their cars and using the train to get up and down the Valley, taking it to work or to a show and...
5 things to love about Greenfield
Greenfield doesn’t get the same attention for being an arts and cultural center like Northampton, Amherst or Springfield, but we’d like to help change that perception. There’s a lot to love about this town and not just for its obvious attributes: Greenfield’s...
Annual Mannual: Road Trippin’ With The Advocate’s 2015 Best Of List
Feel that chill in the air? It’s only a matter of weeks before we’re all hibernating on the couch, looking out the window at the deep freeze and wondering where all the long, fun days went. Don’t spend the winter as a sad blanket case. There’s still time to bust out...
Bait and Switch? Cut and Run? or Just a Bump in the Road? Big changes test Springfield’s faith in MGM
In October 2007, MGM announced plans to build a $5 billion casino resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In addition to slots, tables, and hotel rooms, renderings of the 60-acre complex boasted restaurants, clubs, and retail space. Among 11 other nearby casinos, MGM...
Don’t Blink: Live Art Magazine showcases one-night-only local acts in Northampton
Within seconds of meeting each other, tap and jazz dancer David Bovat and percussionist Jeff Hinrichs are moving and grooving. Hinrichs lays down a quick tempo on the djembe, which makes a deep, hollow sound, and Bovat’s tap shoes start click-clacking in double time....
Four Questions: Greenfield’s Mayoral Candidates
This year, the Advocate is covering the Valley’s mayoral races a little differently. We’ve asked each candidate the same four questions, which we hope will provoke thoughtful and illuminating answers — with a little editing for length and clarity. This week we quizzed...
The Uncanny Valley: Do Ghosts Haunt Spoleto?
by Hunter Styles Staff writer Amanda Drane has worked in the local food industry for 10 years, and she’s shared with us some truly great stories of her time in the kitchen, including a couple about the haunted room at Spoleto, an Italian restaurant in Northampton. One...
Between the Lines: Chill Out on the Marijuana, Man
As I write these words, on the other side of Conz Street, Western Mass residents are strolling into Northampton’s New England Treatment Access on opening day to purchase medical marijuana from the area’s first dispensary. Would that have seemed possible in 2007? As...
Basement to Big-Time: Valley Free Radio is building a studio where local artists can record — for free
Valley musician Mikey Sweet spent two weeks hitchhiking around the Northeast last month, holding a sign reading: “broke musician, need money to finish album.” After a storied 14 days’ worth of busking, gigging, and drawing attention to his Kickstarter campaign, Sweet...
Review: We sent a wimp and a horror buff to see the gruesome Green Inferno
The Green Inferno Blumhouse Tilt/Universal Pictures In theaters nationwide Two Advocate staffers — horror movie buff Jen Levesque and total wimp Hunter Styles — saw the controversial horror flick The Green Inferno last weekend. The extremely gory film, directed by Eli...
Fall Bites … at Valley restaurants
With the chill of fall finally beginning to bite, it’s the perfect time to indulge in something more substantial than summer fare. Pumpkin, squash, apple, maple syrup, and any number of other fall delights await at restaurants throughout the Valley. So, when you’ve...
Get In Here! Local Fall Arts Preview
What’s on tap for arts and culture over the next few months in the Pioneer Valley: Party Animals How do you describe The Surrealist Cabaret by the Royal Frog Ballet? You let the frogs do it. From the event’s website, The Surrealist Cabaret “is a walking...
The V-Spot: Hell-Bent on the Back Door
Hey Yana, My boyfriend and I think anal sex is super hot and are determined to be pros at it! We’ve played with fingers and anal toys and managed to have a pretty successful penile-anal penetration experience once, but it hurt so much that now I’m afraid to do it...
Third Eye Roaming: Too hard for yoga? Inner peace for metal fans
Yoga isn’t for everyone, but that’s not a point the Pioneer Valley is ready to concede. Or at least, it seems that way judging by the varied yoga offerings here. Yoga and beer? Yes, please. Yoga and art? Why not. Yoga with death metal? Yes, that is a thing here. I’ve...
Get in! Summer’s over, but you still gotta sweat: 6 alternative places to get fit
Temperatures are dropping and soon frost will cover the sidewalks. Unless you’re a die-hard, it will soon be time to retire those roller blades, bikes, and running shoes for the season. Lest you become a cold-weather couch potato, here are some places to get you up...
Not in Our Backyards: New drug treatment centers in Greenfield and Springfield face neighborhood opposition
Mariette Poginy sighs, pivots in her porch chair, and looks across Norwood Street in Greenfield, where the banging of hammers and the whining of drills emanate from the former Lunt Silversmiths factory. If all goes according to plan, the vacant and overgrown building...
Show Us Your Tattoo Maggie McDonald of Easthampton
This is a new school-style portrait of my best friend Lani. We’ve been friends for 20 years now and are now 31-year-olds — that’s significant. Sadly, we live on opposite coasts now. She’s in San Fran and I’ve been between the Valley and Austin. I have two tattoos for...
Kalliope Jones takes it to the Web: All-girl band sparks viral debate about sexism in the music industry
Kalliope Jones’ story about how the local band lost a music competition following a judge’s suggestion the all-female teen band be more “sultry,” was a familiar one to rocker June Millington. She recalls how one review of a gig called her band Fanny “excellent,” but...
Boo Who? Delilah, a Florence basset, is climbing the ladder of canine celebrity
Delilah the basset hound may be blind, but that doesn’t stop her from hiking with her humans, lying about the house, and being just too darned cute. Her eyes, says owner Charlotte Cathro, 34, of Northampton, are both her most fetching feature and her downfall....
Behind the Ink: Inside the Valley’s Tattoo Studios
Tattooed people are often asked what they think their tattoos will look like once they get older and their skin begins to wrinkle and age. My response has always been, “Well, I will look like a colorful little old lady with a gray braid, of course.” Let’s face it, if...
Taste-Off! Pizza Showdown: The best slice in the Valley is at …
Drum roll please … After four rounds of blind taste-tests of cheese slices from 27 pizzerias across the Valley — from Greenfield to Springfield — the Advocate staff is ready to announce the winner of our summer slice smackdown. Without knowledge of where the...
The V-Spot: Help! I Think My Orgasms Are Broken
Hi Yana! I’ve had a sexual concern for the longest time: I have trouble feeling orgasm during sex and masturbation. At first I thought it might be my partner not knowing my spots too well, but I realized I’ve never had any ejaculations by myself either. I’m worried...
Grand Band Slam: Profiles of the Final Four Bands – live-vote show Sept. 12
T housands of votes later, readers have whittled the best bands in the Valley down to four groups that will battle it out for a recording session at Rotary Records in West Springfield, $500 at Falcetti Music of Springfield, and gigs at Falcetti’s new performance space...
Food Truck Fest or Bust: Valley residents say Connecticut man took money, provided no service
Will Betsy and Jimmy Tarr, owners of the Hatfield-based Bistro Bus, ever get their money back? Jimmy Tarr said he still hasn’t heard from Rob Craven, organizer of the never-realized inaugural Massachusetts Food Truck Festival, about getting back his $425 deposit. Tarr...
The Faces of War: Two plays at the Academy of Music bring the U.S. military into sharp relief
Pittsburgh playwright Tammy Ryan was picking up her daughter from kindergarten in 2007 when she noticed the mother standing next to her, dressed in military fatigues and combat boots. They had met the week before. Now, she was leaving for a nine-month deployment. “I...
The Uncanny Valley: Why do some fast food fries cost more than burgers?
Why is it that a cheeseburger costs $1.22 at Burger King, while a small order of fries costs $1.70? Isn’t beef supposed to be more expensive than potatoes? Thanks for writing in, anonymous reader, with your puzzling — and discomforting — question. To figure out why...
Where Does the Money Go? The Big E is a nonprofit that took in more than $17 million in revenue in 2013
Once we’ve all had our fill of cheese curds and smoked turkey legs, whipping around on rides, shopping for T-shirts, and visiting the butter statute, and The Big E packs up another season, a perennial question strikes many Western Mass residents: Who gets to keep all...
Slow Down and Prosper — your life and your world could depend on it
Multi-tasking kills. This isn’t an excuse of the lazy — researchers are finding more and more that over-working yourself is a fast lane pass to the grave. According to a new study of 600,000 people in Australia, the U.S., and Europe — published August 19 in U.K....
College Survival 101: So you’re in the Valley going to college and you haven’t found your fav spots yet …
So you’re in the Valley going to college and you haven’t found your fav spots yet. You haven’t found a mechanic or a hairdresser you trust. Some of you are new to the area, some of you are new to being out on your own, and some of you are both. That’s a hard boat to...E-Edition
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