Leisure
by Daryl LaFleur | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
I had an unpleasant experience with panhandling. A close relation decided to drop out from society. Her choice led to a transient life on the road, and tragically, to an early grave. I'll call her X. She got her start by panhandling in Pulaski Park and on Main...
by Kendra Thurlow | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
I'm not ashamed to say it. I love Taco Bell. Given the choice between a nacho cheese chalupa and Kobe Beef filet mignon, I'll take the crunchy, gooey, suspiciously cheesy goodness of a chalupa any day.While I can't explain my borderline obsessive affinity...
by Hayley Wood | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
There have been times in the past year when I was grateful to Dora the Explorer. At the adult-hostile hour of 5:30 a.m., I could, with eyes half shut, select an iTunes television episode on a laptop set up on a chair in front of the sofa and half-snooze until six,...
by Sarah Gibbons | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
Where art thou, Mother Christmas?I only wish I knewWhy Father should get all the praiseAnd no one mentions you. I'll bet you buy the presentsAnd wrap them large and smallWhile all the time that rotten swinePretends he's done it all. So hail to Mother...
by John Drabinski | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
If you have a little boy or girl, then you probably know about Thomas the Tank Engine. No, I don't mean a character. And I don't even mean a show. And, no, I don't even mean a merchandise aisle at Target. I mean what becomes, so very easily, an entire way...
by Mary Nelen | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
Back in the day when everybody was poor, people were less materialistic. Although a shiny new red wagon would be a great gift, some kids were lucky enough to get a potato in their stockings. We were somewhat poor in the Locavore Famiy and my mother tried to set an...
by Pete Redington | Dec 25, 2008 | Leisure
Finally, I am rescued.My arms are numb. My shoulders burn with pain. It feels like my stomach muscles are being ripped out of place, from one crushed rib after the other.At least the water is warm.Squinting through salt-stung eyes, I see the surfing instructor gliding...
by Sarah Feldberg | Jan 1, 2009 | Leisure
The severe and scholarly among us—those prone to cultural nostalgia—seem often to decry the current "bastardization" of the English language, and are quick to attribute a rise of phonetic spellings and abbreviations to the tech revolution and an...
by Tom Sturm | Jan 22, 2009 | Leisure
War is always somehow much more real when viewing it from the middle, and often uglier and more pointless-seeming when seen as the past. While many a fruitless military engagement has graced the annals of even the greatest countries, few will go down in history as...
by Mark Roessler | Jan 29, 2009 | Leisure
Ever notice how, during one weekend in late January, the Valley finds itself unusually free of middle-age hobbyists with their unshaven faces, sweat pants and obsessive interest in all things locomotive? That's because we've all gone to the Amherst Railway...
by Bob Weiss | Jan 29, 2009 | Leisure
There is something about having a few beers after a day on the slopes that ties the whole experience together. Skiing or snowboarding is a social thing and getting together with a group of friends (or perhaps a bunch of people you don't know) adds to the enjoyment...
by James Heflin | Feb 12, 2009 | Leisure
UMass-Amherst professor Raymond Bradley knows a thing or two about climate change—he's advised American, Swiss, Swedish and British governmental agencies, and worked with the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the organization which shared...
by Ryan Duff | Feb 19, 2009 | Leisure
In Xtreme International Ice Racing, hailed as one of the fastest sports in the world, speedway bikes and quads eschew brakes in favor of thousands of metal tire studs. If you find your appetite for heart-stopping action rarely satisfied, look no further.Feb. 13, 7:30...
by Fraylie Nord | Feb 26, 2009 | Leisure
On the morning of August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit fulfilled a dream and an obsession. Balancing on a wire suspended between the rooftops of New York's World Trade Center towers, the French tightrope walker spent 45 minutes in a meditative trance, far above the...
by Alyssa King | Mar 12, 2009 | Leisure
Last February, Mike and Steve Perrucci built and then toppled a course of several thousand dominoes in the main gallery of the Brattleboro Museum and Arts Center, and the event was so successful that they are back to do it again. Domino Toppling II: Brattleboogaloo is...
by Alyssa King | Mar 17, 2009 | Leisure
Arguably the greatest comedian of the silent film era, Buster Keaton consistently inspires uproarious laughter without the often overbearing sentimentality of the perhaps better-known Charlie Chaplin. In the 1928 film The Cameraman, Keaton plays a photographer who...
by Alyssa King | Apr 14, 2009 | Leisure
Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza is an inspiration for many survivors of genocide. She tells of her own endurance in her talk, Faith, Hope and Forgiveness: The Story of a Survivor of the Rwandan Genocide at Amherst College. After losing most of her...
by Alyssa King | Apr 16, 2009 | Leisure
A winning night of poetry at Smith College features Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon (pictured) and four Massachusetts teens selected (by Muldoon) as winners of the 2009 Smith College Poetry Competition for High School Girls. Muldoon is an internationally recognized...
by Maureen Turner | Apr 16, 2009 | Leisure
Call it Albany-envy, but every day, this more-or-less proud Valley resident spends a few hours in communion with our far western neighbors via WAMC, the excellent public radio station out of New York's capital city.I'm not the only far-flung fan; WAMC's...
by Tom Sturm | Apr 16, 2009 | Leisure
Two panoramas of the Greenfield Energy Park are available here. Yes, there are other things to do with choice, publicly owned downtown real estate besides pimping it out to local private developers or creating free front lawns for luxury chain hotels. Established in...
by James Heflin | Apr 16, 2009 | Leisure
A panoramic of the glorious Springfield Plaza can be viewed here. Springfield Plaza doesn't seem close to pretty much anything, tucked away as it is on the north side of Springfield, just below Chicopee. But this strange end of the universe bears fruits for the...
by Stephanie Kraft | Apr 16, 2009 | Leisure
Fixit shops are so now, and it's one of the little-but-large comforts of life to have an ace shoe and handbag repairman—somebody who's got your back when the zipper breaks on the irreplaceable pocketbook or your best winter boots spring a leak. One of...
by Mark Roessler | Apr 16, 2009 | Leisure
A panorama of Easthampton's Silver Spoon can be viewed here. Whenever I’m out for breakfast at the Silver Spoon in Easthampton, which is pretty regularly, I almost always order their Crow’s Nest.This hearty dish consists of two poached eggs on a bed of...
by Tom Vannah | Apr 23, 2009 | Leisure
A panoramic view of a location along the Mohawk Trail is available here. Guidebooks repeatedly classify it as the nation's first scenic "auto route." While that may be a somewhat tarnished distinction at the end of the Age of Oil, there is no doubt about...
by Becky Everett | Apr 30, 2009 | Leisure
Sick of watching your grade-schooler have all the fun? Spell Check: A Spelling Bee for Grown-Ups is the chance to prove you're smarter than a fifth-grader. Held at the Latchis Theater, the bee is a fundraiser to help the Brattleboro Arts Initiative finance the...
by Becky Everett | May 7, 2009 | Leisure
In Japan, residents go to the hospital three times more often than Americans, spend more days in the hospital and use more pharmaceuticals—yet Japan spends about half as much per capita on health care as the United States. Perhaps the U.S. Secretary of Health...
by Tom Sturm | May 7, 2009 | Leisure
Two great empires have been at war for the better part of five centuries, but have perhaps at last agreed to make peace with each other. In an epic fantasy that explores the complex relationships between the two major powers and other players in this conspiratorial...
by Mark Roessler | May 14, 2009 | Leisure
Kevin McMillan, director of guided programs for Zoar Outdoor in Charlemont, gets ready to take off and comes in for a landing during a recent unveiling of Zoar's new zip line canopy tour. Months of work on the treetop zip line system is scheduled to be complete in...
by Ryan Duffy | May 21, 2009 | Leisure
For the 10th year in a row, countless bike enthusiasts will ditch their cars and get themselves to work, school, or play on bikes, in search of a healthy body and a peaceful mind. Breakfasts, guided trail tours, lectures, raffles, tune-ups, even rodeos—Pioneer...
by Tom Sturm | May 28, 2009 | Leisure
Hello, what's that? You say there's a mystery afoot? Well, I daresay I know a fellow who might be able to help.Both beloved for its gorgeous sequential art and Boy Scouts-inspired lessons in ethics, and criticized for its often racist undertones,...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 4, 2009 | Leisure
Celebrate all things H2O at the Connecticut River Valley Great Spring Water Event, which includes art, music, education and activism, all to do with the wet stuff. At 1:15 p.m., you can hear keynote speaker Daniel Esty, author of Green to Gold and director of the Yale...
by Michael Cimaomo | Jun 18, 2009 | Leisure
After Jeremiah Micka lost his younger sister Stephanie to cancer on July 1, 2007, he decided to fight back against the disease and to help others avoid a similar fate. His answer: Steph's Wild Ride. This second annual family-friendly event hosts motorcycle rides,...
by Jennifer Burwell | Jun 25, 2009 | Leisure
Instructors from the Juniper Summer Writing Institute will read selections from their work this week. Readers include University of Massachusetts professors, visiting professors from Iowa Writers' Workshop, Carnegie Mellon and others, winners and recipients of...
by Michael Cimaomo | Jul 16, 2009 | Leisure
The Shea Theater's Second Annual Tines and Tunes Festival is a free, family-friendly event to aid the continued operation of the theater. This year's festivities feature a variety of kid-oriented entertainment, including face painting and balloon art. There is...
by Mark Roessler | Jul 16, 2009 | Leisure
This Saturday, you can join the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum for their annual celebration of Trolley No. 10's restoration and of the industries that the trolley line once served.The trolley, built in Springfield in 1896, traveled between the cotton mills in...
by Rachel Cummings | Aug 6, 2009 | Leisure
Dan Conlon of Warm Colors Apiary presents an evening of Honeybees and Beekeeping at the Agawam Public Library as part of the Adult Summer Reading Program. The apiarist, based in South Deerfield, discusses the history, agricultural influence and the future of the...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 13, 2009 | Leisure
Ride Like an Animal, the second annual motorcycle benefit ride in support of the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, routes riders along the Quabbin Reservoir and concludes at the Holyoke Lodge of Elks for food, raffles, contests and live music...
by Jennifer Burwell | Sep 29, 2009 | Leisure
The Greening Greenfield Energy Committee and the Greening Greenfield 10 Percent Challenge co-sponsor a unique road race. The rules are simple: contestants must drive their vehicles the 100 miles from Greenfield to Boston on the amount of energy in one gallon of...
by Mark Roessler | Oct 1, 2009 | Leisure
Ah, autumn!Longer nights, cooler weather, kids back in school and friends home from vacation. After months of slapping at mosquitoes and sitting in front of the fan in your underwear, an evening at home can finally feel like bliss again. There's no better time of...
by Tom Sturm | Oct 1, 2009 | Leisure
Autumn is traditionally a time for reflection, and reflection requires examination of what is truly valuable. One undeniable thing of value is life itself, human or otherwise. This weekend, a couple of charities ask that your reflection include some contribution to...
by Mark Roessler | Oct 1, 2009 | Leisure
The following is a small selection of favorite board games we’ve played with friends over the past few years. They’re listed in no particular order. With the exception of Cathedral, all are games best enjoyed by a group. They all should take under 90...
by Mark Roessler | Nov 5, 2009 | Leisure
When I first arrived at Greenfield Games, co-owner Seth Lustig was unpacking recently delivered boxes with a gleam in his eye. Some contained new pieces for a popular new game, Malifaux by Wyrd Miniatures, which he described as "really twisted. Witches, zombies,...
by Jillian Fink | Dec 17, 2009 | Leisure
A call to writers and poets of all levels: The Noises We Make is an all-open mic event allowing first-timers, old-timers, free-stylers and spoken word veterans to practice, experience and present their own works of poetry or prose in a friendly, non-competitive...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 17, 2009 | Leisure
Holyoke horse rescuers Joy of Jasper hold a "costume hoedown" this weekend, complete with silent auction, costume contest, DJ, buffet and cash bar. Joy of Jasper is a non-profit dedicated to "providing sanctuary to abused, abandoned, neglected or...
by Mark Roessler | Dec 24, 2009 | Leisure
Pillage & Plunder: The Viking Longship GameMonadnock Region of New Hampshirechrisvnh.bizland.com/pillageplunder.htmlThough the name might suggest otherwise, Pillage & Plunder is appropriate for all ages. In the game, the looting and ravaging is over, and the...
by Jillian Fink | Dec 31, 2009 | Leisure
Lucky's Piecing and Tattoo Emporium plans to give back a little holiday cheer to customers and those in need alike this season. Lucky's is sponsoring a Free Piercing Clinic for those who donate $5 to the Northampton Survival Center. The piercing (normally...
by Jillian Fink | Jan 7, 2010 | Leisure
On New Year's Eve, kids can make one-of-a-kind, edible party hats out of ice cream cones, candy and other delicious treats. This year's hat theme was inspired by the work of Chandra Bocci, whose installation piece represents the Big Bang in a whole new way: a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 14, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Having accomplished the majority of my boy-on-girl action in my teens and set up shop in lesbianland soon after that, I haven’t needed to put much serious thought into semen besides “Spit or swallow?” and “Please don’t fertilize...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 14, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
On the way to famous sex columnist, I’ve been taking a (long) detour in “slashie” land as a waitress-slash-sex writer (thanks, liberal arts degree!). Lately, between bringing customers bread and interviewing my co-workers about their favorite...
by Bob Weiss | Jan 21, 2010 | Leisure
Skiing and snowboarding have become a big business over the years. I started skiing in 1969 and even though the sport was around long before then, I have seen great changes, many for the better and some not. There have been major improvements over the years in...
by Mark Roessler | Jan 22, 2010 | Leisure
Over lunch a few weeks ago, a friend of mine confided that a casual relationship he'd been having had gotten serious. He was both embarrassed and thrilled. It had started out so innocently—just for kicks—and he'd never imagined the initial...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 29, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
In the shadow of the spotlight-hogging G-spot, deep in the invisible caverns of the vaginal interior, there lies a hidden gem: the A-spot. The new vaginal black, as it were, the A-spot (or “the cul-de-sac” as it’s sometimes called) is the new coital...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 26, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Yesterday I watched porn for breakfast. I’m not usually an a.m. porn-watcher. But when Tristan Taormino (well, her assistant) sends me a porno in the mail, I feel special, and therefore inclined to add some extra “oh’s to my morning Cheerios. Tristan...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 2, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Twenty dollars doesn’t go far these days (good thing orgasms are still free), but it’ll go farther in a sex toy store than you think. Just stay away from the cash-wasting penis tiaras and edible undies. Here’s to more banging for your twenty bucks....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 9, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Dear V-Spot,I am willing to bet I have a question that probably doesn’t come up very often, if ever. My boyfriend and I recently starting experimenting with “fisting.” It is such a turn-on to me that I have some of the most powerful orgasms ever...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 16, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
After a Westfield reader’s fisting question was answered last week, I’m sure some of you have caught the highly contagious fisting fever. I mean, it’s fascinating, really—how do you get such a big, powerful symbol of strength into such a small...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 23, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Today I went to the Bulb Show at Smith College’s greenhouse. Maybe it was the sticky humidity, the intoxicating floral scent, or the suggestive cacti towering next to the quivering folds of pink orchids, but it was the first time in quite a while that I’ve...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 30, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
When my partner and I decided to travel around South America, we couldn’t imagine four months without a strap-on harness and dildo. Nor, upon finding out that good lube was hard to come by abroad, could we possibly live without Sliquid Sassy Booty Formula....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 7, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
No one made putting a cute little bunny on your clitoris look better than my favorite promiscuous cougar Samantha from HBO’s series Sex and The City. This fictional femme fatale and her overacted orgasms made the original Rabbit Pearl and Rabbit Habit vibrators...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 14, 2010 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Feminist porn. To many, this sounds really oxymoronic. Yet I, a modern feminist, am constantly watching, getting off to and recommending you get off to porn. Allow me to explain. Porn can be violent, anti-feminist, degrading and exploitive. But it isn’t...
