Leisure
by Ben Lambert | Oct 22, 2013 | Leisure
We’ve all heard of the traveling circus, the destination for generations of dreaming children who want to escape the mundane and step into the larger world. The Nimble Arts Circus Troupe has taken that traveling idea one step further with Ruckus: A Cirque...
by Pete Redington | Oct 30, 2013 | Leisure
“I’m into dignity issues,” Springfield hair stylist Tony Isham says in between drags on his Newport cigarette. We’re sitting at a sidewalk table outside Sal’s Bakery and Cafe on Belmont Street at the X—next to Ttrends Salon, where...
by by Pete Redington | Nov 19, 2013 | Leisure
Film Screamings 1. What could be worse than being attacked by aliens? Being replaced by aliens. Which is exactly the threat facing all of humanity in Don Siegel’s 1956 paranoid sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers, screening this weekend on Nov. 1 and...
by by Advocate staff | Nov 27, 2013 | Leisure
Maple Delights A great winter treat that carries the promise of spring is maple syrup. According to JP and Marian Welch of Justamere Tree Farm in Worthington: “Sugaring is the first sign of spring. Clouds of sweet-smelling steam float from sugar houses...
by Advocate staff | Dec 4, 2013 | Leisure
Triple Play New Year’s Eve inevitably creates a dilemma—it’s somehow always true that at least two bands you’d really like to see are playing that evening. This year at the Calvin, you can catch three exceptionally talented young bands, a...
by by Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser | Dec 4, 2013 | Leisure
Knack Workshop Do your friends complain of feeling overwhelmed by stuff that needs a new life but that they are unsure how to recycle—or upcycle? Do you know people who want to become more creative and more comfortable with crafting? Are there people on your...
by Pete Redington | Dec 10, 2013 | Leisure
Eight hundred and thirty. In a sport where the prediction of success is often based on the assemblage of numerical statistics—completion percentage, yards per carry, red zone efficiency—830 may be the most important stat achieved by the UMass football team...
by Pete Redington | Dec 10, 2013 | Leisure
In 1938, a German ski team was dispatched to Western Massachusetts by Adolf Hitler to compete in the Eastern Downhill Championships, which were held that year on the slopes of Mount Greylock. Over 7,000 spectators lined the wooded ski trail called Thunderbolt. They...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 17, 2013 | Leisure
Eric Carle Museum Posters If you are racking your brains for a gift that will feel special for the family whose kids have everything, even if they don’t live locally, here’s an easy solution: an exhibition poster from the Eric Carle Museum...
by Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser | Dec 24, 2013 | Leisure
The Hot Spring Vanguard Tub Could the big holiday splurge bring warmth and relaxation to you, your family and your friends? It could if your big splurge were the purchase of a hot tub. The Hot Spring Vanguard Tub seats six and has 32 jets, including hydromassage and...
by by Pete Redington | Jan 14, 2014 | Leisure
What do Miley Cyrus, Prince Charles, and Chevy Chase have in common with children’s book author and illustrator Jan Brett? They all have backyard chickens. Brett may be best known for her books, but she is also an avid breeder of chickens, with a flock of almost...
by James Heflin | Jan 14, 2014 | Leisure
Since I was a kid, I’ve experienced a weird phenomenon. It mostly happens when someone—often a stranger—offers close, expert attention, someone like a barber or a tailor. If generosity’s involved, say when someone teaches a hard-won skill just...
by Jack Brown | Jan 14, 2014 | Leisure
Gaming—or video gaming, to be more precise—has come a long, long way in the last few decades. It used to be that there was something shady about the whole endeavor, akin to cigarette smoking or hot rods, and it mostly took place in pizza parlors and...
by Emelie Rutherford | Feb 12, 2014 | Leisure
It’s not hard to find high-end custom wood furniture in the Pioneer Valley, which is home to renowned designers such as Michael Coffey, and fine woodworkers taught in the English arts and crafts tradition at the Leeds Design Workshops. Their pieces can take...
by by Pete Redington | May 21, 2014 | Leisure
“Because it’s there” has been the accepted motivation behind all manner of exploits, by all manner of outdoor adventurers, ever since George Mallory offered it decades ago as an explanation for why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest. It’s somewhat...
by Tom Vannah | Jun 20, 2014 | Leisure
If you or I were walking in the woods around Gill and came upon a fallen tree covered in moss, we’d likely step right over it and keep on moving. In an early but visible state of decomposition, logs from the blowdown wouldn’t seem very desirable even as...
by James Heflin | Jul 9, 2014 | Leisure
With the Game of Thrones season winding to its conclusion, the need for a medieval fix could get much harder to meet. Best to stock up on swords, merry men, ladies in waiting, mead and chainmail this weekend at the annual Mutton and Mead Festival. Before the fest, you...
by Story and photos by Pete Redington | Jul 16, 2014 | Leisure
When Thomas Muller scored to put Germany up 1-0 over the United States, the lunchtime crowd gathered around the outdoor beer garden bar at the Munich Haus in downtown Chicopee let out a long, audible sigh of disappointment. “Don’t worry,” a man said...
by Pete Redington | Jul 30, 2014 | Leisure
Members of the Quabbin Missile Crisis huddle together, skating slowly around the flat track. Each player takes a turn standing taller than the rest, acknowledging the applause from the crowd as Drew Danger announces their names: Jack A. Lope, Chewbecca, Ro$han...
by Pete Redington | Aug 27, 2014 | Leisure
The Notch Road runs long and smooth, 6.5 miles from North Adams, around Mount Williams, south into Adams next to Mount Fitch, briefly into and then back out of Williamstown, past Rockwell Road—which rises from the south through Lanesboro, New Ashford and...
by Pete Redington | Sep 3, 2014 | Leisure
A moment after the woman at the reception desk hollers up to announce my arrival, Elsie Smith descends the office’s spiral staircase and welcomes me to the New England Center for Circus Arts. Handing over a few brochures, she highlights various events at their...
by Pete Redington | Sep 10, 2014 | Leisure
“We shape our tools,” exclaimed 20th century media and technology critic Marshall McLuhan, “therefore our tools shape us.” This Thursday—in conjunction with the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center exhibit Road Trip: America Through the...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 17, 2014 | Leisure
When people use an acronym to sum up a cultural trend, it’s hard to take them seriously. So I paid no attention at first to the 2004 article in Harvard Business School’s student newspaper that gave us the term “FOMO,” or “Fear of Missing...
by Pete Redington | Sep 24, 2014 | Leisure
Just two paltry gutterball throws into my first string, I was already feeling the twinges of a strained hamstring. Not exactly the triumphant return to the bowling alley I had been hoping for. At the far end of the lane, the pin setting machine lifted all ten pins and...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 2, 2014 | Leisure
Giggling children chase bubbles past the petting zoo, a distant Ray Charles song can be heard clashing against a blasting “Chandelier,” and the sweet smells of fried dough and odors of manure conspire to confuse the senses. The Big E is back in town. The...
by Advocate staff | Oct 22, 2014 | Leisure
Poe-etic and Macabre Halloween comes early to the Berkshires with Poe, an original solo play written by Eric Hill for the Berkshire Theatre Group and performed by David Adkins as that master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, examining the four “lost” days...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 5, 2014 | Leisure
If we had a time machine, we’d go back and grab some of our hilltowns’ founders, then twist the dial forward to 2014. Those old boys drew all the maps, but they’d probably be surprised by what’s popping up on them these days. We’d show...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 29, 2014 | Blogs, Leisure, The Beerhunter
Throw down your coasters and pull up your stools — there’s a new beer column in town. You’ll be seeing the Beerhunter every month in the Advocate. But who, exactly, is this wanderer of the night? Well, I could pretend to be a jaded, salt-of-the-earth...
by Pete Redington | Nov 29, 2014 | Leisure
Amy Rusiecki laces up her running shoes one foot at a time, just like us mortals. She makes her way to the trailhead, then heads off at a gentle gait. And I follow. We’re at the Notch Visitor’s Center on Route 116 in the Holyoke Range. The autumn leaves,...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 29, 2014 | Leisure
If there were a doyen of Valley nightlife, it would probably be Big Rick. If you’ve been dancing in Northampton, chances are you’ve seen Rick Gifford. A fixture since the ’80s, the 51-year-old Gifford is well-known at local hotspots for working it on the dance floor...
