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by Hunter Styles | Jul 11, 2016 | Articles, Featured
The New Cornographers A 70-year-old stranger named Gregory Thorp sent me an email last week. “In Ashfield, I am photographer of corn,” he wrote, “and I have one in particular that might be useful to the Advocate.” This is far from the strangest submission we’ve...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 11, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
Some topics are too rich to write about just once — and this column seeks to tackle a lot of them. For all the people wondering, “What ever happened to …?” this week’s column — part two in a two-part series — is full of updates on issues I’ve written about in this...
by From Our Readers | Jul 11, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News
Why Not Deport Criminals?The following is in reference to the article, “Between the Lines: Report a Crime, Risk Deportation” June 9-15, 2016. Why is it a bad thing to deport people who are here illegally who have committed not one, but two crimes? I’m not versed...
by Warren Johnston | Jul 11, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, The Pour Man
Dibon Brut Reserve Cava, of Penedes, Spain; $12.99 I’ve been thinking about sparkling wine lately because it’s well suited for steamy summer nights; just one glass will go a long way to ease the heat. Sparkling wine also came to mind because someone gave me a bottle...
by Chris Rohmann | Jul 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Stage, Stagestruck
Three of the four shows I saw at the National Theatre in London last month were star vehicles, and the fourth one’s ensemble cast featured a very well-known face. The first three also, coincidentally, ended in sudden reprieves from ignominious deaths. Another...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 27, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Uncategorized
SUNDAY: High Water MarkIt’s been one year since the relaunch of the Ashfield Lake House, which means a funkadelic anniversary show with music inside and outside, featuring the return of What Cheer? Brigade, Providence’s best 18-member brass band, plus performances by...
by Gary Carra | Jun 27, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Uncategorized
The Springfield Business Improvement District isn’t trimming any fat with its 16th installment this year. Rather, they’re leading off with it. Or, more specifically, the locally notable band of same name.”FAT’s annual concert at Cityblock has always...
by Gary Carra | Jun 22, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Nightcrawler
SWMRS boasts unique punk pedigree What’s in a name? The members of SWMRS are barely in their 20s and can already claim quite a lot. Reportedly inspired by watching Jack Black and his homage to headbanging — the film School of Rock — together in...
by Peter Vancini | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Scene Here
In a cozy courtyard in downtown Springfield, nestled among red brick buildings and gray concrete parking garages, a small white quadcopter suddenly whirs to life on a makeshift launch pad in small patch of grass. At the controls is 16-year-old Briyanna Henry, who’s...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Stage
Wilkommen, Bienvenue Sarah Kilborne’s revelatory new night of cabaret delves into a little-known yet revolutionary moment in music history: queer music composed and performed prior to World War II. Her one-woman show is “an enlightening, enchanting trip to a...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Leisure, Newsletter
Dragons of myth come in all shapes and sizes, but human athletes have pared their real world replicas down to some clear-cut dimensions. A dragon boat is 40 feet by 4 feet, long and narrow and manned by 20 paddlers, sitting two by two. A drummer sits up front,...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Red Hot Blues Shemekia Copeland sings electric blues, gospel, and R&B like her heart and soul depend on it. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up, or digging...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Uncategorized
The Friend Zone Dip your hippie head into a cool sonic pool this weekend by day-tripping up (or, hey, camping out) for the sixth annual Frendly Gathering, a three-day grassroots music festival in the Green Mountains of Southern Vermont. Vibe-wise, this fest is heavy...
by Blaise Majkowski | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Featured, Film, Leisure
That time The Three Stooges went too far … nyuk, nyuk, nyuk As Kenny Rogers wisely sang, “You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” There have been many performers who have ignored this advice, plodding right along with their careers when they...
by Peter Vancini | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Featured, News
On April 25, the UMass College Republicans hosted an event in Stockbridge Hall featuring several prominent pop-conservatives. The event, “The Triggering: Has Political Correctness Gone Too Far?,” was billed as a discussion of the perceived excesses by social justice...
by Jack Brown | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Film, Newsletter
Small films shown quickly, so see them today Showing movies is a tough racket, and the hard truth of the matter is that an opening weekend can make or break a film’s chances at breaking even at the box office. Do decently out of the gate, and you might get a chance at...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Leisure, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
Dear Yana,My girlfriend and I have been polyamorous for three years. We have established boundaries and as far as poly relationships go, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. Usually I’m a very low-jealousy partner.But lately she’s been flirting with this one woman that I...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 14, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Stagestruck
Summer theater used to be known as “the straw-hat trail” and “summer stock,” both terms evoking familiar, innocuous entertainments presented for languid hot-weather audiences by (usually) amateur companies in tents, barns, and town halls. From the outset, though,...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 14, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News
What Killed the Monkey Facebook reactions to “Gross Negligence Alleged in Death of UMass Lab Monkey”William Robinson: Sounds like the incident didn’t have much to do with the nature of the research itself, but a veterinary mishap resulting from pure accident —...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 14, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Usually, when you buy something, you know the price before you step up to the register. Most of us have a pretty good bead on how much a gallon of milk is and who has the best prices on gas, but when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs, everyone’s standing before the...
by Chuck Shepherd | Jun 14, 2016 | Articles, Featured, News, News of the Weird
Life is good now for British men who “identify” as dogs and puppies, as evidenced by a BBC documentary, Secret Life of the Human Pups, showing men in body outfits — one a Lycra-suited Dalmatian, “Spot” — exhibiting “sexual”...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 9, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Leisure, Music
THE LINEUP FRIDAY Peter Wolf NRBQ Dustbowl Revival Charles Neville Ola Fresca Mariachi Flor De Toloache Campos Xixa SATURDAY Dawes Shakey Graves Shovels & Rope The Suffers The Felice Brothers Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds And The Kids Dustbowl Revival The...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music
Natural Born Killers Fourth of July comes twice this year: once on the date you’d expect, and again on July 21, when Vegas-based power-rock balladeers The Killers play Mohegan Sun. It’s been a few years since we’ve come out to see Brandon Flowers and his friends play...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured
In Good Compagnie Jacob’s Pillow’s 2016 festival line-up features 20 talented dance companies from around the world and across the U.S., but we’re most excited for the Valley debut of Compangie Hervé Koubi, a company of 12 . male dancers from Algeria and Burkina Faso....
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured
Fame, Fortune, and a Little Fine Tuning The Valley Talent Showcase launched last fall to give up-and-coming local bands the chance to play a sizeable venue in front of new listeners and celebrity judges. It’s been held on the first Friday of each month, and so far, so...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured
Eddie, Louis. Louis, Eddie. We couldn’t decide whether to spotlight Eddie Izzard or Louis C.K., since both comedy titans touch down in the Valley this summer. So, we’re cramming them into one listing, and they’ll probably feel pretty awkward about it. Izzard,...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured
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...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured
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...
by Advocate Staff | May 18, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Scene Here
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...
by Advocate Staff | May 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured
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...
by Hunter Styles | May 5, 2016 | Articles, Featured, News, Uncategorized
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...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 12, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Food + Booze
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...
by Naila Moreira | Apr 12, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, Featured, News
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...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 28, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
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...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
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...
by From Our Readers | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News
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...
by Jason Horan | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Food + Booze, Letters from our Readers, News
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...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot, Wellness
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...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Food + Booze, News, The Beerhunter
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...
by Chuck Shepherd | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News, News of the Weird
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...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Featured, MGM Springfield Casino coverage, News
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...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, News, The Beerhunter
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...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 9, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News
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...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 9, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News, Scene Here
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...
by Jack Brown | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Film
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...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
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...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News
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...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot, Wellness
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...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 26, 2015 | Articles, Featured
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,...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Featured, Uncategorized
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...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 26, 2015 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot, Wellness
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...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 26, 2015 | Articles, Featured, Local Elections 2015, News
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...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 26, 2015 | Articles, Featured, Local Elections 2015, News
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....
by Hunter Styles | Oct 21, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film
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...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 19, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Scene Here, Uncategorized
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...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 19, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
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...
by Amanda Drane and Hunter Styles; Photos by Amanda Drane | Oct 19, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
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...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 19, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Food + Booze, News
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...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 13, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Leisure, Music, News, Wellness
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...
by Hunter Styles
and Amanda Drane
Photos by Hunter Styles | Oct 13, 2015 | Articles, Featured, MGM Springfield Casino coverage, News
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...
