The V-Spot: Help! NRE Feels Bad to Me!
Dear Yana, How do I stay chill when I’m interested in somebody new? Getting too excited (read: obsessed) with new people is no good for any of my relationships, regardless of how well the new connection is going. I’m a polyamorous person with a wonderful, supportive long-distance partner and several other fantastic people sprinkled throughout my life. My relationship style should theoretically offer up a very low-pressure...
The V-Spot: Is a Good Lay The ONE?
Hi Yana, Can you even find The ONE when searching for The One? I know that when searching for The One, you have a list of all the things you’re attracted to, but what if those things are what are bad for you? Like, when you’re into hot and rough sex and you find the person who gives it to you just right, but then it causes you to not be able to see who they really are…is that bad? I mean you feel like you know them and that they...
Pick of the Day 8/28: Mama Caught Fire, Kimaya Diggs, and Emma June at the Iron Horse
Minneapolis trio Mama Caught Fire heads a line up of girl power tonight! Kimaya Diggs and Emma June complete the trifecta. Iron Horse Music Hall, 10 Center St.,...
Christa Joy on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Christa Joy is a local singer-songwriter who writes bittersweet country folk songs about everyday life and impermanence. Watch her Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Christa...
VIDEO: Tundrastomper on Valley Advocate Sessions Friday
This week’s Valley Advocate Sessions band is experimental math/basement rock group Tundrastomper. Check out a teaser video of the band’s upcoming Advocate Sessions video to be released this...
Cinemadope: Jean Michel Basquiat and David Hockney on the big screen
Movies about painters are tough in the way that movies about musicians are tough: it’s nigh impossible to find an actor or actress for the part that is not only adept in their own chosen field, but also good enough to fake the very real particular talents of those they’re portraying. Viewers needn’t be a Picasso or Hendrix to spot a fake; the better films are nearly always those that let the artists — in person or through what they...
A skip, hop, and a jump away: A local, adult jump rope team makes it to nationals
https://valleyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/video-1524758618.mp4 “As far as we know we’re the only (team) that jumps in a bar,” said Jennifer Therkelsen, 31, of Shutesbury. Therkelson, who is the fundraising manager for the all-adult Pioneer Valley Jump Rope team, was referring to the team’s practice locale, which is the Taproom in Hadley. The team is there, providing a sort of unique form of live entertainment on...
Pole Fitness: From adult entertainment to an Olympic sport
Holly Woods has always loved the art of dance. When she was a young girl in Manhattan, her mother rented an apartment above Alvin Ailey’s studio. “I would go downstairs and hangout and watch the ballet dancers perform,” she recalls. “You would see Debbie Allen and all these people coming and going. It was like Fame; I was fascinated by it.” When her family later moved to Apalachicola, Florida, she did the same thing at the town ballet...
Stagestruck: Love in the Multiverse
Constellations, playing at TheaterWorks in Hartford through Feb. 18, looks at love and second chances through a prism of reflecting and refracting fun-house mirrors – or more accurately, through a spectrum of infinite chances. Nick Payne’s two-hander isn’t exactly a play of ideas, though it’s plenty smart. It springs from one idea – the possibility imagined by theoretical physics that the singular life we experience takes place in...
VALLEY SHOW GIRL: ‘Short Stay’ Here For Long Haul
About a month ago, Valley musician Nate Martel came into the Advocate office to drop off his debut solo album “Short Stay.” Being a fan of his role in rock group, Outer Stylie, I was pumped to get the CD into my car as soon as I left work. And that I did. Recorded at Barnhouse Recording in Chicopee and engineered and mixed at Sonelab in Easthampton, all 11 songs are written and performed by Martel. Additional musical contributions...
Free Will Astrology: Leos Probably Won’t Date Models or Millionaires
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope that everything doesn’t come too easily for you in the coming weeks. I’m worried you will meet with no obstructions and face no challenges. And that wouldn’t be good. It might weaken your willpower and cause your puzzle-solving skills to atrophy. Let me add a small caveat, however. It’s also true that right about now you deserve a whoosh of slack. I’d love for you to be able to relax and enjoy your...
Stagestruck: Babylon in Vermont
As artists, how can one watch the millions of refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, not to mention countries in Africa and Asia, and not want to address this issue? That question provoked the latest handmade production from Sandglass Theater, the world-class puppetry troupe headquartered in Putney, Vermont. The floods of refugees flowing from the Near East into an often hostile Europe, coupled with the travel bans on people...
Reverend Dan and the Dirty Catechism on Advocate Sessions Stage
Reverend Dan and the Dirty Catechism, Springfield-based preacher rock n’ roll with a side of post punk. BONUS: Reverend Dan and the Dirty Catechism interview: Check out our past Sessions performers, including Seth Newton, Old Flame, Shokazoba, and Tang...
Cinemadope: Missing the Warm and Fuzzies?
At the Headfort School in Kells, Ireland, two of the school’s most popular teachers are getting ready to retire. The husband and wife team have been educating and inspiring children for almost half a century, and their example — and what the possibility of their retirement might mean for the country’s only primary-age boarding school — is at the heart of Neasa Ni Chianain and David Rane’s documentary School Life. It screens this...
Parlicium on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Local indie folk trio, Parlicium, performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on August 15. The band has roots in acoustic folk rock and was one of five bands to perform at the Green River Fest 2017’s Next Wave Stage. Interview with Parlicium: Like what you’re listening to? Check out the Valley Advocate Sessions page for bands and artists, including The Buddy McEarns Band, Jeremy Turgeon Quintet, Outer Stylie, and...
CANCELLED Valley Advocate Sessions LIVE performance July 12
Unfortunately, we had to cancel the live show due to thunderstorms. Sessions will no longer be open to the public tonight. Hopefully we can plan another event sometime soon!
Advocate Sessions Tease: Sodada
Sodada is a quintet that plays dreamy jazz meets soulful punk rock. Stay tuned for the band’s full performance out this Friday. Can’t wait for Friday to see more Sessions? Check out some local bands...
Seth Newton on The Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Check out local singer/songwriter and powerhouse alternative rock vocalist Seth Newton perform for the Valley Advocate Sessions recorded on May 30 at the Valley Advocate Offices. BONUS: Interview with Seth Newton Like what you’re listening to? Check out the Valley Advocate Sessions page for bands and artists, including Shokazoba, Flava Evolution, Peter Blanchette, and...
Stagestruck: “Million Dollar” Duo
As it happens, two different productions of the same show open on area stages on the same day this week. On Wednesday, Million Dollar Quartet premieres in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, and the Majestic Theater in West Springield revives its sold-out hit from last fall. Here’s a revised version of my review of the Majestic’s original production: You could call Million Dollar...
Back Talk
Hope for Better Health Care Thank you for your piece in the Advocate (“Between the Lines: With Obamacare Under Fire, Massachusetts Must Lead on Health Care — Again,” May 11-17, 2017). However, it seems from it that you may not be familiar with House Bill 2987 and Senate Bill 619, Mass-Care, or our WMass network of pro-single-payer advocates and groups. You may also be interested in the fact that single-payer is in the...
The DO NOT WATCH List
This week, our resident Stream Queen Lena Wilson offers a journey into some high-minded flicks beyond old Cheech and Chong movies (see pg. 18). But Advocate staff thought it equally important to share a blacklist of movies and TV shows to avoid when high — at all costs. This list was compiled from writers’ personal experience… but that’s probably obvious. Eraserhead (dir. David Lynch, 1977) Watching Lynch work his doomy...
WMass Metal: The Valley’s Diverse Scene Rises AGAIN
Wesley Jillson has been a part of the local metal music scene since the ’80s. He saw Western Mass area metal rise to national prominence in the ’90s, then fade away by 2010. At the fifth annual Promoterhead show at the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence in early February, Jillson was standing at the highboy tables, talking with friends he’s met at metal shows and drinking a cocktail while Disguise the Curse was on stage. The scene...
Muslim Life in the Valley: Alia Al Absi
“Islam has rules for us … That makes me feel more strong” Alia Al Absi was born in Jordan several decades after her family was expelled from Palestine, along with 700,000 other Arabs, during the 1948 Palestine War. In 2011, she and her young daughter came to the United States to visit her sister. Alia decided to stay — and she just became a U.S. citizen. Some people think, “Oh, Islam is very strict and forces women...
Memory Games
This year’s National Theatre Live season opens with a contemporary classic and continues with another one, followed by fresh productions of three canonical works. The first is Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land, coming this Saturday from the London stage to the Amherst Cinema. In it we find two old codgers, played by two old masters, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, in what The Guardian called “a faithful and loving production that...
Show Us Your Tattoos
If you’ve ever seen a jumping cow, then you’ve been in the right place at the right time. It’s quite a spectacle to see a big, meaty rectangle defying gravity. This tattoo on my left forearm of a young jumping bull reminds me to embody spontaneous joy. It was graciously inked by Noel’le Longhaul of Charon Art in Turners Falls. — Ellerie Ruth Ballard,...
Know Your Drones
Small UAVs come in all shapes and sizes with models varying by application. Here are a few of the designs you’re likely to see overhead sometime soon. Multicopters are the most well-known and most popular. This DJI Phantom series quadcopter is a best-seller for applications that require aerial photography. This 3DR Robotic Solo is a good pick for construction sites and other...
Call of the Wild
Master Falconer Chris Davis is on a mission to help you understand birds of prey by letting you join the hunt At the edge of a shady green grove in Hadley, light streams through the forest canopy in thin shafts. It speckles the grassy floor below, where three large birds of prey sit awkwardly, tethered with thin leather straps to their short wooden perches. They look out of place on the ground, sitting idly like chickens at the edge...
Taste-Off: Crunchies for the Munchies
One classic question among lazy, hungry people goes like this: if you had to pick one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? It’s a fun question — and, if the Trumpocalypse triggers the end of global food supply lines, possibly a relevant one. But there is only one correct answer: salad. Why? Because a “salad” is just a mixture of more than one chopped-up thing, usually served with dressing. See? No contest. This has...
The Pour Man: Special Night? Try an Oregon Noir
Erath Oregon Pinot Noir is priced above my usual comfort level, but so are most exceptional Pinot Noirs from Oregon. So, without hesitation, I recommend Erath as an excellent choice for those special occasions when you don’t want to break the bank on a fine wine or when you’re buying an under-$20-gift for friends who fancy dry, well-made, Burgundy-style red wines. Winemaker Gary Horner, who has been with Erath since 2003, produces...
The V-Spot: New Pornographer Interested in Sex Ed
Hi Yana! I saw your TEDx talk in Vienna and was copiously taking notes. The content was an eye-opener for me. I had never thought that both of our basic information sources about sex [school-sanctioned sex education and online pornography] are running their very own twisted agenda. I started working in the porn industry six weeks ago — hey, the money is fantastic! — and my consumption of porn has gone way up as a side effect....
Local Artist Q&A: Scout Cuomo
Leading Light Scout Cuomo finds inspiration along a vivid spectrum Rivers and forests, serene and idyllic. Portraits of swimmers in neon acrylic. Sculptures and painted glass mounted with string. These are a few of Scout’s favorite things. And the body of work grows larger every year. Scout Cuomo, you see, is something of a renaissance woman. She’s waited tables, apprenticed as a tattoo artist, and written essays on living with...
Author Q&A: Scott Haas Explores Achievement Among Indian Americans
A Sea of Stories “There came a point where I got tired of hearing, ‘Why is your English so good?’ I felt like a novelty at times. But now it’s better.” – Vaishali Sinha, filmmaker “Because I grew up in India, I have comfort with people across generations, and I have carried this with me.” – Priya Natarajan, physicist “I’m the Boston Raj. There’s a Chennai Raj as...
Lionel Smit’s South African Portraits
Windows Inward One of South Africa’s most noteworthy young artists, Lionel Smit creates sculptures and paintings on canvas — done in bronze or in painted resin — that manifest his ongoing fascination and respect for the indigenous peoples of his country, notably the Cape Malayan peoples. In his sensitive but bold works, Smit — who grew up in the era of Apartheid — reveals layers of undiscovered richness that lie beneath each face he...
Tonight: Eavesdrop Trio plays Brattleboro
Sweet and Lowdown Fans of acts like The Civil Wars, Fleetwood Mac, and The Lone Bellow would do well to cozy up with some recordings by the Northampton-based Eavesdrop Trio — or, better yet, check them out live in Brattleboro this Thursday. Musicians Kara Rose Jurkowski, Laura Marie Picchi, and Kerrie T. Bowden — all of whom sing — play what they rightly call “indie folk soul with a dash of country and a splash of pop.” Soulful,...
Texas Roadhouse and the End of America
My gut told me that I should tune in to the Republican Convention last Thursday night for Donald Trump’s acceptance speech. So I tried, but I just couldn’t hack it. Every time the Donald opens his mouth for another ramped-up round of free-associative shouting, my senses only register one thing: steak. To me, Trump will always be the quixotic dreamer who came up with the plan to hawk Trump Steaks — a line of 100-percent Angus beef...