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Spring Arts Preview: Top Valley Events (April-June 2017)
Tweet Photo courtesy of Bread & Puppet Puppets for the PeopleFrom its founding in New York’s Lower East Side in 1963 to its decades-long residence in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Bread &...
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The V-Spot: My Sex Drive’s Back But My BF’s Isn’t
Writer’s note: This column mentions depression and suicidality. When me and my BF first got together about a year and a half ago, we were having the best sex of our lives! Then I decided with the help...
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What Are Those Flowering Trees/Bushes I Drive By Every Day?
The bloom is on the branch and spring has sprung. And even in my short commute to work, I pass about a dozen varieties of flowering trees and bushes. It occurred to me that I haven’t the slightest idea...
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Long Live the Staycation! Why Leave Western Mass?
Hanging around the house is something we all do, but usually in an unfocused, squished-between-chores-and-obligations sort of way. But when you stay home for vacation, your dwelling can become a...
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Introducing the Quaffle to a New Generation: UMass Quidditch Team Starts...
The Harry Potter books and films have inspired many real world spillovers, including real-life wizarding schools and online quizzes that determine your magical house. But among the more surprisingly...
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Get Out With Staff Picks: Hang Out With Master Beaders
200 Master Beaders, 1 Project — ALL WEEKEND This weekend maser beadwork artist Darcy Rosner and beaders from SweetBananberry will be at Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen adding another whimsical art...
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Pioneer Valley Roller Derby Open To More Than Just Fierce Females
In its heyday in the 1970s and ‘80s, roller derby was known for fierce females, fishnets, spiked hair and names like “Iron Maven.” After a lull in the ‘90s, roller derby was resurrected in the early...
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Stream Queen: All Breasts Are the Best
Some documentaries exist to tackle big-picture issues, while others hone in on life’s finer details. The Breast Archives, by local director Meagan Murphy, attempts both tasks at once, as the film...
View ArticleThe V-Spot: My Sexual ‘A’ is Not a Scarlet Letter
Dear Yana, I was recently discussing your column with some new friends I met through Pioneer Valley Aces, a local group of individuals who identify as aromantic and/or asexual. I wasn’t the only one of...
View ArticleThe Lush Garden: Cocktail Recipes
A guide to summer cocktails from the garden It’s hard to imagine a better way to top off an afternoon in the garden than by settling into a lawn chair with a refreshing summer cocktail and admiring...
View ArticlePour Man: Finally, A Sweet Wine That Delights
When someone suggested that I try MAN Family Wines’ Chenin Blanc, my first reaction was that I don’t like sweet wines. Although Chenin Blanc grapes are often used to make excellent sweet wines in...
View ArticleLearning Falconry with Chris Davis
Call of the wild 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,...
View ArticleBasemental: Our Club Runneth Over
This Friday night, Sept. 23, there are at least six shows I want to attend. It wouldn’t be surprising if some touring band squeezes in a last-minute basement show. There are other bars and venues, too...
View ArticleCocktail of the Month Club: Cranberry Cinnamon Whiskey Sour at Osteria Vespa,...
September marks the end of the summer and evenings are starting to bring with them a subtle autumn chill. Chase it away with this month’s cocktail, a cranberry-cinnamon whiskey sour that’s sure to warm...
View ArticleLocal Book Reviews: The Wobblies in Their Heyday and Finding Wonders: Three...
The Wobblies in Their Heyday: The Rise and Destruction of the Indistrial Workers of the World During the WWI Era, by Eric Thomas Chester Levellers Press, levellerspress.com In the early 20th century,...
View ArticleI Love a Parade: UMass Homecoming
This weekend UMass is celebrating Homecoming with a bunch of events: our top pick is the Homecoming Parade leading up to the clash between UMass and Tulane at McGuirk Stadium in Amherst Saturday at...
View ArticleFractured Together: The Art of Lyle Kleinhans
Lyle Kleinhans focuses his work on abstract representations of people that highlight the conflicts, questions, and confidences behind their exteriors. Jagged and strict lines are offset by wildly...
View ArticleAstrology: Love warriors and love worriers
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What’s the difference between a love warrior and a love worrier? Love warriors work diligently to keep enhancing their empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence. Love...
View ArticleNightcrawler: The Big E … DM
Any calendar will tell you Sept. 22, is the official date of the fall equinox — which is fine, for those astronomically-correct types. But this year, I prefer to think of the solstice as happening on...
View ArticleThis Weekend in Greenfield: Blues, Brews, and BBQ
Here’s the Beef It’s hard to believe that Greenfield’s Riverside Blues, Brews, and BBQ Festival is already in its sixth season. We’ve barely finished the heaping pile of brisket on our plate from last...
View ArticleOne Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer: George Thorogood and the Destroyers take...
If anyone can lay claim to writing the neo American classic drinking songbook, it’s George Thorogood and The Destroyers. The band’s hits include “I Drink Alone,” “If You Don’t Start Drinkin’,” “Bad to...
View ArticleBest of 2016 Readers’ Poll Winners (Now a Board Game!)
Game by Kristin Palpini, Kyle Olsen, Jennifer Levesque, and Hunter Styles In celebration of the Annual Manual — a condensed version of the Advocate’s yearly Best of the Valley Readers’ Poll — we’ve...
View ArticleNow Haunted: The Springfield Museums
Day Screaming Ghosts are scary. Zombies are scary. Being surrounded by too many kids in Disney princess costumes is scary. If you’d rather run into any of these frightening folks in the daytime rather...
View ArticleTop 12 Halloween Events in the Valley This Weekend
Calling All Hallows Admit it: we’re a happy Valley because we’re all a bunch of freaks. And Halloween seems to be the time of year we most like to let those flags fly. The night is a dark, blank canvas...
View ArticleCocktail of the Month Club: A Piney October Surprise
“Riding the Pine” Brought to you by Lincoln Allen, bar manager at The Alvah Stone in Montague. Ingredients: 1 ½ Ounces St. George Terroir Gin 1 ounce Zirbenz Pine Liqueur ½ ounce yellow chartreuse...
View ArticleCinemadope: Continental Divide
Strike up a conversation about foreign film with most American film buffs, and the discussion will almost certainly travel East, over the Atlantic, on a European course. Those buffs with enough wind in...
View ArticleBeerhunter: Hartford Beer Fans, Take Heart
In the two years since I took on the role of Valley beer reporter, I’ve tried to keep things local whenever possible. Aside from an international sojourn or two — like when I tried a mug of...
View ArticleIf You Brew It, They Will Come: Tree House Brewing in Monson attracts...
It isn’t hard to pick Dean Rohan out of a crowd. He’s the tall guy with glasses in the muck boots and ratty work pants. And he’s wearing a red T-shirt with his own face on it that reads “I’m with...
View ArticleSpringfield’s own Macy’s Day parade
The Cat, Back Out of the Bag How did huge inflatable balloons become such a cherished part of Thanksgiving week? Don’t wait on us for a clear answer — we’re still trying to suss out what bunnies and...
View ArticleThe Pour Man: Wines With Turkey
Finding a wine that goes with every course of the Thanksgiving dinner can be a bit dodgy because the meal is a hodgepodge of dishes with distinctive flavors. Viognier, Cava, Pinot Noir and Cotes du...
View ArticleO, Cannabis!: Getting the Best Deal on Medical Marijuana
If you get up real close to the New England Treatment Access medical marijuana dispensary in Northampton, you can smell the earthy aroma of cannabis through the brick walls. Established in 2015, NETA’s...
View ArticleElectrifying the Vinyl: Electric Eye Records in Florence is a vinyl lover’s...
That slight scratching sound the needle makes when you gently place it on the record. The brief static that comes through the speakers before the music hits. Then: bam! Just like magic, music emerges...
View ArticleThe Pour Man: Cheap Chianti for Sophisticated Adults
My first recollection of Chianti, as it is for many people, was the iconic straw-wrapped bottle, not the wine. Occasionally, an unopened bottle would show up at our house, usually a gift from a friend...
View ArticleThird Eye Roaming: Only the Yoga Should be Hot
Studio owner Audrey Blaisdell says she fell for the yoga behind Bikram, not the “cultish belief system.” It became necessary to draw the line, she says, about a year ago. Prospective students came to...
View ArticleCinemadope: All Together Now
Whatever your thoughts are about the outcome of last month’s election, it seems fair to say that a Trump presidency will be less welcoming of — if not downright hostile to — many of the world’s...
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Winter Arts Preview: Top Valley Events (Jan-Mar 2017)
A Spirited Debate One of two things will happen to you when confronted with the bold and brassy acts of clairvoyance that Rebecca Anne LoCicero whips up onstage. One will be a sense of reluctant...
View ArticleCinemadope: Wild Things
Director Garth Jennings has had an interesting, if short, career. Coming out of the gate with an adaptation of the Douglas Adams cult classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 2005, his first big...
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Halos & Horns: Our 2016 List of Who’s Been Good or Bad… or Worse
How Does This Work? Who on earth do we think we are, doling out judgement left and right? Find out here. The List HALOS // The People of East Longmeadow — For creating a seven-member Town Council in...
View ArticleArtists of a Feather
The Hosmer Gallery at the Forbes Library is hosting exhibitions this month from three talented local artists. Janice Doppler blends a love of ornithology and wood carving to create stunningly lifelike...
View ArticleJammin’ for Justice
Jammin’ for Justice The nonprofit Watermelon Wednesdays has been providing musical education and holding concerts for the past 17 years. This Wednesday, the group is putting on In It Together, a...
View ArticleA Mid-winter Night’s Read
This weekend, Shakespeare & Company presents a Winter Studio Festival of Plays, five diverse readings as interpreted by five local directors. Works range from classics by playwrights like Anton...
View ArticleBlaise’s Bad Movie Guide: When Brad Pitt Was the Pits
Recently, I visited the William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Cummington where my sister and her family helped to lavishly decorate the rooms with Yuletide trimmings. Yet my mind was not on sugarplums....
View ArticleCinemadope: Is Spielberg Corny?
There are times when I look back on my youth and shake my head at my younger self. Mostly, it’s when I think about the dreck that was on in the after-school hours on the local UHF stations:...
View ArticleAfter Orlando: Short Plays Pay Respects on Friday night
Reflecting on a Tragedy The night of June 12, 2016, news of a horrific shooting unfolding in an Orlando gay nightclub sent shockwaves around the world, leaving collective heartbreak in its wake for the...
View ArticleNightcrawler: Going Gentle Into That Good Night
After more than two decades delivering the music news in print, Nightcrawler moves online Editor’s Note: Scene stalwart Gary Carra’s Nightcrawler column has long been a fixture at the Valley Advocate —...
View ArticleThe V-Spot: When it Comes to Self-Lovin’ What’s Better: Lube or Lotion?
I recently saw a guy friend masturbating with lotion instead of lube and was wondering if lube would be a better alternative for him. If so, could you explain why? — A Little Help for My Masturbating...
View ArticleThird Eye Roaming: Yoga for cancer survivors: Calming the battle within
Mary Kennedy of Northfield says she could barely move her neck before she began taking yoga with Pam Roberts at the YMCA in Greenfield about six years ago. Kennedy, a breast cancer survivor living with...
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Take a day trip to a modernist paradise: The Frelinghuysen Morris Home &...
By DON STEWART For the Advocate A short drive from downtown Lenox, you travel past ornamental wrought iron gates and enter into the former Gilded Age estate of “Brookhurst.” You’re first greeted by a...
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Is Northampton still lesbian mecca? Why we must keep queer spaces alive in...
By KATE LAUGHLIN and GRACE XU For the Advocate Walking into the Majestic Saloon in Northampton feels like a breath of fresh, albeit heavily perfumed, air. The pink and purple lighting with a constant...
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‘O’ is for Oman: Northampton man completes mission of traveling the alphabet...
By JAMES PENTLAND Staff Writer FILE PHOTO/CAROL LOLLISGerard Simonette of Northampton talks about his trip to Turkey, where he climbed Mount Ararat, in September 2019. In his late teens, Simonette...
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