Leisure
Circus Smirkus Comes To Town!
Circus with a Smile No elephants were harmed in the making of this motion-filled picture. The only ASPCA likely to take notice of the new high-flying act by Circus Smirkus is the American Society for the Perpetuation of Cool Acrobatics — a group we just made up, but...
Could You Spot Someone Drowning? Spoiler: Probably not
For most people, the closest they get to drowning is watching someone on TV or in the movies going through the motions: screaming, flailing arms, and lots of splashing. So, when someone actually drowns, you’d think it would be easy to spot. But not always.In real...
Wellness: Hike Safe
Wilderness survival films tend to focus on bears, wolves, sheer rock faces, and toppling (at least once per movie) into a cold, surging river. But most hiking safety tips — while often a matter of life and death — deal with more prosaic issues. The American Hiking...
Free the Beasts! Dragon Boat Race in Springfield
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,...
Blaise’s Bad Movie Guide: That time The Three Stooges went too far … nyuk, nyuk, nyuk
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...
The V-Spot: Jealous Over My Flirty Girlfriend
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...
Your guide to the 30th Green River Festival (July 8-10)
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...
Must Have More Chaos: Cultural Chaos in Easthampton
More Chaos, PleaseFlying trapeze artists, puppets, Hula hoop extraordinaires, buskers, artists, crafters, bands, authors, dancers, and performing artists are among the funky folk who will converge on Cottage Street in Easthampton this Saturday for Cultural Chaos. The...
‘How To Annoy Your Siblings’: See the Tiny Book Show
Like Real Books, But CuterShrink anything down small enough and, eventually, it will get ridiculously cute — including books. This week, The Tiny Book Show, a mobile museum of teeny-tiny books, will appear, for a short time, in Shelburne Falls and Greenfield. The...
Oh, Honey: Can spoonfuls of the all-natural sweet stuff help ward off allergies?
Ah, spring: The time of year when nature wakes up from its deep winter slumber: birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and allergy sufferers are miserable. A runny nose, itchy eyes, and constant sneezing are facts of life for the nearly 8 percent of Americans that...
Club Life: Happy Brffday to the Queen of Crossplay; Lamb of God Tribute, more
Happy Brffday, GirlThe self-anointed Queen of Crossplay (a blend of cross dressing and cosplay) Serenity Lockhart is having a birthday party Saturday night at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke and everyone is invited. Dress to impress Her Majesty and to coordinate with the...
Go: Paradise City Arts is Back – With 250 Artists!
Springtime in Paradise One of the biggest arts fairs in New England makes its annual spring stop in Northampton this week, with over 250 artists from every corner of the country showing work in ceramics, painting, decorative fiber, art glass, furniture, jewelry,...
CHART Who Charges the Highest Concert Ticket Fees in the Valley?
By Kristin Palpini After looking into what the Historic Preservation Fund fee charged for admission to Calvin Theater concerts is for, Advocate staff wanted to know how fees compare around the area. Below is a comparison of the fees charged for upcoming shows at area...
O’Cannabis: Snacks ‘n’ Snags – Stoner eats; the march toward marijuana legalization hits a bump
The hungry stoner is a crude cliche. Ravenous, bug-eyed, slovenly, and insatiable is how the type is usually portrayed in pop culture. The truly initiated, however, know that while weed can bring on a powerful case of the munchies, it’s nothing to go all reefer...
Arts & Culture: Holyoke Rocks with Western Massive Fri. and Sat.
Holyoke Rocks The enterprising staff at Gateway City Arts always seems to be revving its engines, pushing the canal-side arts center to host the most fun and interesting programming in a rapidly-evolving downtown Holyoke. This weekend, they’ve outdone...
A Game Night to Get Excited About: Puzzled Escape Games in Easthampton
The timer started when the door closed, and for a moment it was very confusing. Inside Puzzled Escape Games’ first escape room, the Advocate staff stood frozen like the Scooby-Doo gang before a haunted house — silent, wide-eyed, and a little hungry (it was dinner...
See it now! Holocaust survivor portraits by Nazi daughter
Stories in Strokes The Abraham Project, developed by German artist Marlis Glaser over the past 10 years, contains more than 200 drawings and paintings of Holocaust survivors and their children in Israel. Glaser based each of these artworks on narrative...
Best Of 2016 Photo Booth Pics: Do you know this crazy person?
At the Best of the Valley 2016 winners’ party at the Log Cabin in Holyoke last week, there was a photo booth. Hundreds of the community’s top community leaders and business owners were there. Here is what...
Get Running – Up-coming 5Ks, Fun Runs, and Benefit Walks
We couldn’t write about all the local races on the horizon this running season, but the following list is a head-start on where to get your legs pumping.For more information, visit the online event calendars at Runner’s World, the Western Mass Athletic Club, the...
O, Cannabis! Pro-pot and Proud, Extravaganja in Northampton
Governor Charlie Baker, Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, you’re wasting your time with your anti-marijuana legalization effort, the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts. So far, the campaign, which launched in late April,...
We Can Do It! V-Spot sex advice columnist Yana Tallon-Hicks has made it her mission to get us all to O-Town
Climbing the stairs to V-Spot sex columnist Yana Tallon-Hicks’ apartment, I wasn’t sure what to expect.Would there be a lot of framed Georgia O’Keefes on the wall? A swing hanging in the bedroom? Penis-shaped drinking glasses? I was sort of right.There are no...
Adrift in My Personal Great Salt Lake: New float spa in Northampton provides unique, restful experience
As I idled in Northampton’s afternoon rush hour, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel and glancing anxiously at the clock on my phone, it struck me that this moment perfectly captured my week — a traffic jam of tasks that had left me running constantly behind. At...
O, Cannabis! The State of Pot in the State
With an estimated 800,000 weed smokers living and toking in Massachusetts and a likely heading for the November ballot question that could bring recreational marijuana to the state, we figured there’s a demand for some pot talk in the Valley. Enter “O, Cannabis,” a...
How to Terrarium: turning houseplants into tiny works of art
Love gardening but can’t do it outside? Whatever reason you might have for bringing your floriculture indoors, terrariums offer a way to both satisfy a green thumb and fulfill a creative itch. They’re fun to make and, like any other plant added to an enclosed space,...
Never Too Late: Jim Eagan garners late-in-life musical success
Jim Eagan of Shelburne Falls may not have started songwriting until his late 60s, but the second song he ever wrote got scooped up by Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane. That was last year, and now Kaukonen is touring with Eagan’s song, “Ain’t In No Hurry,” as the...
Madame Barfly: Mixing Beer? Have Fear
Naturally, I was really excited about the whole beer cocktail thing. Beer is good, and cocktails are good, so how can we go wrong, right? As it turns out, some beer cocktails are good and others are downright disgusting. The Beerhunter and I put our booze brains...
Get Out with Staff Picks!
Sun Parade with The Congress • Thursday Feb. 4 Ahhh, Sun Parade. You make feel-good happy music that makes me want to take a drive (and I don’t even like driving). Even though you’re singing — soothingly, I’ll add — about breakups, ham sandwiches,...
This Week in Club Life
The Thunder From Down Under Ladies and gentlemen get your singles out for the beefcake coming to Chicopee by way of the Las Vegas performing strippers, The Thunder From Down Under. The “blokes” are toned, tanned, and sassy. First row is in the sweat/splash-zone if...
Shhh! The Library keeps it classy in Easthampton
Cottage Street in Easthampton is a busy street on any night, and this New Year’s Eve is no different. I approach The Library’s front door and am warned by its words that I must be properly dressed to enter. Given the holiday — luckily — I’m dressed for the occasion,...
Ring in the New Year!
It’s almost 2016! We say you should welcome the new year by doing whatever it is that will make you happier in the coming year. Go hard, go home — however you do it, set the tone. Feel like you need more cheese in your life? Cozy on up with a wheel. Feeling like...
Pie vs. Cake
The Thanksgiving feast has been devoured, and now it’s time for dessert. There’s two pies and two cakes on the table. Now, you must choose. Who knew mom was setting us up for this debate all along? It’s the holiday season, so it’s the perfect time to hash out the...
A Red Wine From a Noble Spanish Grape
In recent weeks, I’ve tried a couple of excellent Spanish wines made from 100 percent Garnacha, a grape with a long, colorful history. The wines are full- bodied, inky red and have a lot of fruit flavor, and they’re affordable. Each comes from a different region of...
Holiday Gift Guide: Party People
Local Red and White Wines BLACK BIRCH VINEYARD, SOUTHAMPTON Black Birch Vineyard has made award-winning wines since 2012, including Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon. We’re off-season for a tour, but the vineyard sells bottles throughout the...
Review: Devin Walker-Molaghan, the ‘lovable douche’ from MTV’s Are You the One? – and Northampton
Devin Walker-Molaghan: “The lovable douche” Are You the One? (MTV reality series) Northampton native and beloved townie Devin Walker-Molaghan is stirring up the sex pot on Season 3 of MTV’s Are You the One? With his heady bravado, trash talking, ginormous ego,...
Staff Picks: And the Neighbors, Pink Panther and more
Rhythm Inc With Total Collision • Saturday This Thanksgiving week, Rhythm Inc and Total Collision — featuring members of the Springfield-based Fear Nuttin Band — will remind the Valley we have some awesome reggae-hip-hop fusion to be grateful for. The two groups will...
New Music: Punk Rock, Funk, and Holyoke Folk at Gateway City Arts
Donald Sonn strums his acoustic guitar and taps his microphone. “Can people hear me?” he asks. I can, but I’m 10 feet away. Toward the back of the room, three dozen people are looking around and talking to each other, beers in hand. A few audience members are watching...
Show Us Your Tattoos Patti Fradette of Chicopee and Ted Perch of Easthampton
My tattoo reminds me “Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” And I’ve danced in a lot of rain in my life. Done by Tim Senecal at Off the Map Tattoo in Easthampton. — Patti Fradette, Chicopee The lotus flower grows in...
StageStruck: Six Degrees of Bloody Murder
The first time I saw Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller about a wheelchair-bound photographer who solves a murder while gazing out his window, I was so scared by the gripping climax that I couldn’t shut my eyes in bed for fear of intruders in the dark. Mind...
The V-Spot: Can I Ask my GF to Stop Using Her Vibrator?
Hi Yana, With previous girlfriends it’s been easier over time to bring them to orgasm as I get to know their preferences and bodies, however my current girlfriend owns a Hitachi Magic Wand that she has been using for nine months. It’s significantly more difficult now...
How to Spruce up a Traditional Thanksgiving … Without Ruining It
Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie — we all know the traditional Thanksgiving meal, and some of us are sick of it. But invariably, whenever a host attempts to tweak the feast someone at the table is going to hate...
Staff Picks: Bo Burnham at the Calvin, Springfield Falcons hockey and more
Bo Burnham at the Calvin • Sunday Bo Burnham turned heads five years ago when, at 20 (he looked 16) he cracked up crowds of all ages with his self-deprecating, oft-dirty, and clever music-based comedy. On Sunday, he makes his way to his native Massachusetts for an 8...
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...
The V-Spot: Getting What We Came For, how did that advice turn out?
If four years of writing a sex column have taught me anything, it’s that there’s nothing more important than honoring feedback from those you get down and dirty with. Well, and that masturbation is key. So, in keeping with best sex practices, I present you with some...
Madame Barfly: Bubbles! Burps aside, this Spiked Seltzer is pretty good
Bigger cities may have had a taste of Spiked Seltzer last year, but it made its first big splash in the Valley this summer — packies were having a hard time keeping it on the shelves. “It’s been really popular,” says one manager at Liquors 44 in Northampton of the...
Cinemadope: Octoberfest, a new film festival hits Northampton
We here in the Pioneer Valley love a good festival. Just this year I’ve seen festivals devoted to asparagus, tomatoes, garlic, or one that just throws it all together to celebrate the harvest season. Our small towns have festivals to celebrate their small-towniness,...
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...
Review: New Food at the Big E, Deep-Fried Disappointment
New Food at the Big E: Deep-Fried Disappointment Ahh, Big E season. The diet crusher — the reason some of us worked to cut calories this summer — is here again. With nearly a century under the Eastern States Exposition’s belt, the crew there have perfected more than...
The Pour Man: Getting Lucky With McWilliam
Back in the beginning of the summer, someone suggested that I check out a “very nice” petite sirah and because I favor whites and roses during the hotter months, I filed the recommendation to memory without writing it down. However, my mental filing system is a bit of...
Arts & Culture: Back to the Big E
Back to The Big E Life is a little sweeter around Big E time — and it’s not just because the air becomes infused with plumes of powdered sugar. Each year, The Big E in West Springfield brings with it big fun, big stars, and if you’re over 30, big (and completely...
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...
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....
The V-Spot: My GF Won’t Let Me Butter Her Toast
Dear Yana, In your recent columns you’ve mentioned the need for sex partners to have a supply of artificial lubrication at the ready. With regard to female sex partners, artificial lubrication isn’t always needed. My first girlfriend was a gushing fountain of natural...
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...
Scene Here: Between the Moon and Holyoke
Holyoke City Hall follows you like the moon. Night in downtown Holyoke can be a quiet affair: Sometimes you can stand next to a canal and hear little more than the black water below. One night on Race Street this summer, tree frog near a power substation spoke the...
College Survival: Groove Guide, where to shake it every night of the week
Sometimes you just gotta dance. No one gets this quite like you, college student. Many more seasoned adults are too tired or they just downright don’t want to be around a bunch of sweaty people anymore. I don’t ever want to grow up and out of my desire to flail in...
The Beerhunter: Drink Local! The Valley’s Top 10 Must-Try Craft Beers
Welcome back from summer vacation! Sadly, the heat wave isn’t over just yet. But the Beerhunter predicts cool evenings ahead, so be sure to make time to kick back on your couch, porch, or at your favorite neighborhood bar and appreciate everything the Valley’s craft...
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....Task Masters: 10 apps for lazy people that someone should invent
Dirty dishes piling up? There’s an app for that. Handy, the home-cleaning service, lets you summon a freelance cleaning crew (or a gardener, or a handyman) at the push of a button. The NYC-based company, which turned three in July, is valued at half a billion dollars....
Pop-Up Foodie Paradise: A Night With the Hush and Proper, the area’s newest travelling dinner service
The saloon doors swing open, and Emily Pichette steps into the small kitchen of the Foundry in Northampton. A wave of sound follows her from the dining room: murmuring, laughter, and clinking glasses. “Are we ready for the first course?” she asks. The staff turns to...E-Edition
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