ANDREA WRITES AND BLOGS.

Felice Brothers Article

2009-04-17T17:36:00.004-04:00

By ANDREA MURRAY

Gazette Contributing Writer

This was in yesterday's Daily Hampshire Gazette.

The Felice Brothers recall the folk era of the '60s, with their floppy hats, worn leather shoes and button-down collar shirts.

And it isn't just their appearance.

Lead vocalist Ian Felice sounds eerily similar to a legend of '60s music whose birth name is Robert Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan. In fact, some people have said The Felice Brothers borrow too heavily, in terms of both their songs and their looks, from icons of the American folk music scene like Dylan and The Band. But James Felice, the band's accordionist, says he doesn't mind being compared to the greats.

Interviewed last week by phone from the group's New Paltz, N.Y., studio, he said, "It's an amazing thing to be compared to them [Bob Dylan and The Band] in a good way or in a bad way. I know people ... [might think] we're like ripping them off or whatever, which is fine, they can think whatever they want. It's very flattering. I don't really hear it too much, but it's good to hear it."

A Northampton crowd will be able to see firsthand how the band stacks up next to the '60s when they take the stage at Pearl Street for a Saturday performance.

Certainly, geography may have had something to do with the brothers' gravitation to folk music.

The trio grew up 20 minutes from Woodstock, N.Y., the onetime home of Dylan, in the small town of Palenville, where drummer Simone, 31, singer Ian, 26, and James, 21, formed the band in 2006. Later on, their friends Christmas Clapton, 21, a bassist, and Greg Farley, a fiddle and washboard player, joined the band.

The group first gained exposure when they moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., where they busked on the city's streets and subways. For James Felice, who had played piano for 10 years, their street gigs required him to take up the more portable accordion.

"I'm probably a better piano player so I like to play that more, but the accordion is just fun. It's a fun challenge; I'll play anything," Felice said.

After touring constantly and getting the chance to open shows for bigger artists, including Deer Tick and Old Crow Medicine Show, the band began to gain a following. After playing on the road with Conor Oberst's band Bright Eyes, Oberst - who has also received comparisons to Dylan - signed the group to his label, Team Love. The group's first nationally distributed album, the self-titled "The Felice Brothers," was released last March and their newest record came out earlier this month.

"It's called 'Yonder Is The Clock'. It's really good, we really like it, Felice said. "It's more cohesive [than our previous releases] and it's much better."

Named after a line in Mark Twain's novella "The Mysterious Stranger," the album is filled with tales of love, death, deceit, train stations and even baseball. Compared to earlier releases, the album has a more sophisticated and orchestrated sound.

A bit surprisingly, at the top of the list of American musicians Felice counts as influences, a list with names like Skip James, Randy Newman and Neil Young, is the late rap artist Notorious B.I.G.

"Notorious B.I.G. was one of the greatest American poets who ever lived, and just his flow and the things that he sang about or rapped on or whatever are unbelievable. I'm a country dude so I guess I can't really relate too much, but I can feel it," said Felice. "That's the most important thing about all these people, they're just honest and true."

Interview with Sarah Vowell on 2/4/08

2009-02-18T10:47:00.008-05:00

Sarah Vowell is one of the most unique voices today, both in print and radio. She has been a contributing editor to National Public Radio's "This American Life" with Ira Glass since 1996 and a frequent social commentator and guest on late night shows like "Conan O'Brien" and "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show." At the Daily Hampshire Gazette, I had the opportunity to interview her by phone on February 4.
I am going to post the entire chat transcript here, which is almost 4,000 words. I'll put most of it behind a cut for all interested. For the print edition, it will be 1,500 words or less... my editor had said 600 but I am having trouble getting it down to less than that. It was a fun interview, so I think it deserves it's time somewhere, even if it is just my blog.

Q: Has history always been your passion?
A: No, I kind of, I don’t know if, ‘looked into it’ is the phrase. I mean, I’ve done a lot of different types of writing; I started out as a critic. I wrote about art and music and books. Then about 13 years ago I started working on the radio program ‘This American Life’ and then I started doing more narrative stories. Then I made this one-hour long documentary about the Cherokee Trail of Tears just because my ancestors were on it, and that was that story that was about ten years ago, and that’s when sort of everything changed. I kind of “found my calling” sounds sort of stuck up but I definitely didn’t want to do much of anything else after that.

I still dabble in other subjects from time to time but really that story kind of changed my life because I liked researching it. It wasn’t a straight historical documentary; it was the story of my sister and me driving the route of the trail of tears; so it would go back and fourth between telling the historical story and then talking about our road trip. It was also a really good way to just talk about the United States in general because one of my favorite things anyone’s ever said about America, was the writer Steve Erickson said that the two things America is good at are annihilation and fun. I think that that trip definitely lurched back and fourth between telling this historical tragedy, this tale of genocide and injustice and woe. Then because my sister and I were on a road trip, there would just suddenly be road trip things happening like a barbeque and then listening to pop songs on the radio. So it’s not that I always write about history itself, there’s a lot of writing about historical tourism.

Like two books ago I wrote a book called Assassination Vacation, that’s about the first three presidential assassinations but I tell the story of those political murders through traveling to historical sites having to do with the murders. So there’s a lot of local flavor, and travel stuff and me hanging out with my friends or family. It’s a way of talking about the subject but not always talking about it. And there’s something that’s so continually fascinating to me about historic sites; that is except for school children who are forced to go to them, the only other people who generally visit historic sites are on vacation. Historic sites, especially American history, are so often grim, like battlefields or…

Q: Cemeteries?

A: Yeah, so things are generally fairly morbid or horrifying and people visit those places in their leisure time. I’m interested in history and writing about it and I generally do get to the heart of whatever I’m talking about, but I also like thinking about the way people consume history, or don’t. Like writing about sites having to do with President Garfield; he’s forgotten basically, you can tell that by how sites having to do with him are either not commemorated or are completely lonesome places where no one goes.

Q: Yeah I think I read that there is no plaque where his assassination happened?

A: Yes, which was at the site of the National Gallery of Art, it’s all on federal property, and they could tack something up. In my family, I always feel like history always begins with home, my family, especially my father and my grandfather, it was definitely a topic of kitchen table discussions and just because my family has been part of a few historical events in terms of the history of the country, they always talked about it in a really sort of reminiscing way. So it was nothing out of reach or far away, or something that happened to other people, like American history, in my family we’ve always talked about it as something that happened to people like us, something that happened to the people we descend from. I think that actually does carry through in the way I write about and talk about history because I always try and make it more immediate or colloquial or narrative and get to the juicy bits. Find some kind of…

Q: You try to make it more relatable?

A: Yeah, or find some kind of personal connection or relevance. One reason I’m privy to do that is that I’m not a real historian, I’m a writer, so for me, my responsibility is towards what I’m writing and how I’m writing it. I never feel like I need to tell the whole story about any given thing, I just focus on the juicy bits of something, I don’t feel the need to cover the waterfront really. I’m able to, because I think of myself as a writer and not a historian, I focus on just the things that get me excited or outraged or things I have some sort of an emotional reaction to and I feel like then I feel like I can pass that onto the reader or the listener.

Q: So when you were a kid what did you want to do?

A: Oh, well, when I was a little kid I wanted to be a country singer. Then when I was a teenager up until when I was about 20 I always wanted to be some kind of musician I guess. I studied to be a composer actually, like to be an orchestra composer, and I only really quit that when I was about 20 when I finally faced the fact that I really didn’t have any talent. I really didn’t have any talent; I mean I had some, but not enough y’know? Actually, I was really fortunate to receive an education in this public school that had an amazing music program.

So I was in my second year of college before I realized that I really didn’t have it in me to be good. So I always wanted to do that. Then I started art history in college and graduate school. So that’s how I became a writer was just writing term papers and essay exams. It’s why I exclusively write non-fiction y’know, so, yeah, I came to it from art history and then started writing for my college paper. Not a good story, but it’s a true story.

Q: No, I mean, that’s happened to me too. I used to go to art school and I realized I wasn’t good at it.

A: It’s a pretty crushing thing to deal with when you’re 20. In a way I had already had this career flame out, (laughs) when I was 20. I had tried so hard for so many years at something that I didn’t have much of a natural knack for, but I was a real hard worker. So writing just comes naturally to me and it really does make me appreciate the job I have now, that I really have an inclination for it, after I spent pretty much the first half of my life devoted to trying really hard at something that I didn’t have that thing for, y’know? There’s something about music especially, it requires so much discipline, long hours and hard work. Even though I don’t play music anymore, it really made me who I am. I do think that I write sort of rhythmically sometimes; everything I write, I read it aloud. Partly because I feel like that’s good editing practice just because when I read something out loud I know where the boring bits are because I can’t wait to get through them. But also I think I read everything I write out loud just to make sure that is sounds right, y’know? Sometimes I’ll even write rhythmically like; this sentence needs one syllable at the end, not two. It just doesn’t sound musical to me.

Q: So when you were growing up could you have seen yourself becoming such a public personality?

A: Um, well, when you’re a musician, I mean, I was in hundreds of performances when I was a kid. It is one of the more public hobbies for a child to have. No, not really, not in the way that I have become. When I was expecting to become a musician then I did expect a life where I was going to be performing in front of audience. Basically, since I was six I’ve been standing up in front of people making them listen to me.

Q: So out of all the books you’ve written, which was the most fun to write?

A: Fun? Well, it’s hard to think of them that way; they’re all such struggles generally. You would think that the book about the murders [Assassination Vacation] would be the most horrifying but that one was sort of like one jaunt out of another; it was pretty emotional a lot of times. Especially when thinking about the president’s families and what they went through and the grieving. It was one road trip after another. The Puritans one [The Wordy Shipmates] was definitely the hardest book. Just trying to sift through a lot of Calvinist theology to find the fun parts was hard. But on the other hand I feel like I’m probably proudest of that book because it was the most difficult. I feel like it’s probably one of the breezier books about the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony and I’m enormously proud of that because I know how hard it was to pull that off.

Q: Speaking of the book, do you want to tell me a little bit about it?

A: I could say that it’s about the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and it is, but it’s really about a handful of people. Really three or four, who I find are the most interesting characters in the founding of New England; those being John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts, who wrote the beautiful sermon where we get the image of New England as a city on a hill. Then Roger Williams, who went on to found Rhode Island after he got kicked out of Massachusetts. Those two guys are my main characters and their stories are very intertwined in that Winthrop was the magistrate who kicked Williams out of Massachusetts for being a rabble-rouser but they were also friends. Winthrop is the one who warmed Williams: “ The marshal is coming for you to ship you back to England. If you want to stay in America you better hide.” So that part of the story was so interesting to me, and then they maintained correspondence almost up until when Winthrop dies. So there’s this story of friendship and argument at the heart of it. So I really focused on those two men and their writing. In Winthrop’s journal he kept these really interesting journals where we got most of our history of early New England. Williams is more of an uneven writer but definitely a prolific one. He had all these crazy ideas for the time about freedom of consciousness, which is to say freedom of religion, not a popular idea in Massachusetts. He also wrote this beautiful book, this little glossary of English and Algonquin, because when he got kicked out of Massachusetts the Narragansett Indians took him in. So he wrote this little dictionary of the Algonquin language, which wasthe language the Narragansett speak. Even though it’s basically just a dictionary all the lexicon he teaches and all the vocabulary he translates, so much of it is about hospitality. So it’s almost like a memoir of his banishment and being taken in by these Indians who really kind of saved his life: so much of what he writes in this little book is about being offered food, and hospitality, and shelter and aid. I really call the book “The Wordy Shipmates” because the two things that are the most interesting to me about the seventeenth century New Englanders were their ideas and ideals about community and also their love of words and language and scholarship. The fact that the settlers of the Boston area were just building their own little flap dash cabins and they started building Harvard because they are just so obsessed with higher learning and academic achievement and reading and scholarship. They would not put up with any clergymen who didn’t know Hebrew and Greek and Latin. So they needed these things to be taught as much as they needed hay and corn. They were problematic people, there’s no need to respect everything about them; they were a little nit picky on some subjects, especially religion. Their love of words and the amount of writing they churned out is amazing. Those two things about them are the things that I kept coming back to.

Q: So in your research you’ve obviously done a lot of traveling to historical sites, do you have a favorite?
A: Um, there are a few. Definitely I love the Lincoln Memorial probably more than any other place with the historic event and just because I love those two speeches of Lincoln’s chiseled on the wall: the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address. Let’s see, where else do I like? Growing up in Montana I’ve been to the Little Big Horn Battle Field probably more than any other historic site except for the Lincoln Memorial. That’s probably my favorite battlefield, it’s a very beautiful area. It’s more interesting to me than Gettysburg to me because at Little Big Horn they buried the fallen soldiers where they died. SO the path is kind of meandering and sort of tells a story. You follow the path up to a certain point and then it stops and you think you’re done but then you look across the little revine and there’s this one little tombstone where they guy probably thought ‘I’m getting away, I’m gonna make it!” and then they got him. That place is pretty fascinating to me. In Massachusetts or in New England I like… I mean, I think Plymouth is amusing. I went to the Mohegan Sun because of the Mohengans and Uncus and their part in the Pequot war and all of the Mohegan sites are right around the Mohegan sun.

Q: So I’ve seen some interviews with you from right before the presidential election and you seemed kind of down about things with the country. So I was wondering how you’re feeling about it now.

A: Well, I mean, there’s a lot to worry about. Now I’m worried about circumstances rather than say, executive leadership. I have a lot of confidence in the new president. Yesterday was remarkable, his nominees had to pull out because of not paying their taxes which was y’know, idiotic. But he immediately called the nation’s most important TV journalists to say literally “I screwed up.” That was enormously confidence inspiring: even more than his smart decisions. That was to me, I have so much respect for that because, A. It means he has enough confidence in what he’s doing that he can make a very big deal about how he messed up. I think that was just so honest for one thing, especially after eight years of a guy who when asked to name one of his mistakes couldn’t think of any y’know? More than any flowery thing Barack Obama has ever said, the words “I screwed up” inspire me with more confidence than any of his poetic musings because it means he’s holding himself accountable and he doesn’t lie when things go wrong he’s maybe not gonna spit shine his failings. That’s gonna be, for one thing, such a time saver and it was just like so honest. I mean of course he’s got a lot to deal with. I’m still as nervous but now it seems like I don’t have to worry about leadership and various situations; the two wars, the economic crisis. Now I can just be worried about the two wars and the economic crisis. Which I feel is enough to worry about. I mean if you’re budgeting your worries this seems like a generous amount of things to worry about. I’m nervous but I do have faith in the new president and the people he’s picking. Even though, y’know, he’s not picking the right person every single time, he’s at least trying.

Q: So, I’ve heard you’re a big movie and TV buff. What’s the last great movie you’ve seen or current shows on TV you like?

A: Well, let’s see, I love that Richard Jenkins got an Academy Award for “The Visitor.” I think he’s the tops. What have I seen lately that I really like? I’m one of those “Lost” people, y’know? (laughing)

Q: Uh-huh. (laughing)

But also, I like Gossip Girl. I like really kind of escapist stuff. But then on the other hand, PBS has been doing this series on the history of India, I think it might be called “The History of India”, no the “The Story of India.” I realized I really know so little about India and that’s been kind of fascinating. So I guess, “The Story of India” and “Gossip Girl.” I like to go back and fourth. I like documentaries and I like complete pufferies. I loathe reality shows. If there are real people I want them to talk about how they almost died on Mt. Everest or I want some completely hokey, fake, made-up soap opera. I don’t want real people being stupid. I want the History Channel or silliness, fake silliness. I have a low threshold for real silliness.

Q: All right. So what about music? What have you been listening to?

A: I’ve been going back to my teen roots. I’ve just been listening to Bach a lot, um, pretty exciting! Oh I do like Beirut. I definitely have a sort of affinity with him or them; it’s just one guy I think. His music has this patina. It almost sounds like the wedding music from The Godfather. It has this very old world quality but there’s something new about it too. So I definitely respond to that.

Q: Are you working on any new projects yet?
A: Yeah I’m researching a book on the history of Hawaii. It’s kind of almost a sequel to the Puritans book because the people of Massachusetts, they got around. The churchly people of Massachusetts were able to destroy more than their own yard. Massachusetts actually does play a huge part in that history because you have the Massachusetts missionaries duking it out with the Massachusetts whalers. There’s kind of this whole Saturday night, Sunday morning thing going on on the other side of the world. And it’s all people basically from a 30-mile radius near Boston.

Q: I know that you’re a twin. So what’s your relationship like with her? Are you similar?
A: She has blonde hair and blue eyes and I’m dark. We do have similar voices and she lives out in the country, in Montana, and welds things. So she has a completely different life than me but we’re really close. She and her son, my nephew, have been great traveling companions. Both just for fun and also my job, which is great to spend time with them, but also I don’t drive.

Q: What’s your sister’s name?
A: Amy.

Q: Yeah, I heard that you have a phobia of driving. Does that ever bother you? Do you ever wish you could just travel by yourself ever?
A: Um yeah. Well I do travel by myself a lot actually, but not in a car. I mean, sure it would make my life a lot easier. I tried to learn once but it’s really hard as an adult because you can’t really practice; plus I live in New York City. So I have to say it really only comes up like five days a year is it a problem. If I lived somewhere else, in New York City it isn’t really an issue.

Q: If you were still in Montana it’d be an issue.
A: I mean even in Montana, the town I grew up in was very small you could just walk or bike everywhere. If I had grown up in the real Montana then I probably would have had to suck it up. But I didn’t.

Q: Do you have a couple more minutes or?
A: I have like three more minutes. No pressure.
Q: So I was wondering what the tour of This American Life was like as compared being in the studio doing it.
A: Oh, well, y’know, more hangovers I guess. It actually is almost just a concentrated version of what working on it over the years has been like which is like being part of this little gang. So taking it on the road is sort of that but with other people watchin’ I guess? I don’t know, it’s always, most of the show isn’t me, so I can just sit there and watch it like pretty much everyone in the audience. I guess probably my favorite of the tours was I was doing a piece about “The Battle Hymn of The Republic” and I was doing it with Jon Langford from the Mekons, who is sort of like my musical illustrator and that was really fun to have a back up band. I don’t really get to have that generally in my readings, to perform with my own band behind me, backing me up. So that was definitely a highlight.

Q: Should I let you go? I feel like I should. You gotta get going?
A: Um, do you have just one more question?
Q: Well, it’s kind of like a follow up to that. I know you had Dan Savage and The Mates of State on the road with you, so what was it like working with them?
A: Well I mean we don’t really work together; we all do our own individual things. It’s fun being part of it, and I think Dan Savage is one of the smartest people in the country. He’s definitely one of the smartest political commentators. He’s just so quick and so funny. It’s just; it’s kind of inspirational. He would get egg if I said I found him inspirational because he’s really one of the least touchy feely people I’ve ever met. But it is generally inspiring to see someone like that shine in front of people. I guess everyone’s shininess rubs off on everyone else. It makes me want to be better. Not like competition or anything, it just makes me wanna raise the bar. It’s not like I wanna be better, I just don’t want to be the worst one.

Q: Yeah, you strive to be more like him or do better.
A: Even when I do these readings it’s almost like a smaller scale version of that. But it’s incredibly low tech, I mean I guess the bands have equipment. Ira has what I call his “radio fort” where he produces things on stage. I’m always amazed at how this low tech thing, one person and a microphone, can theoretically be as satisfying or entertaining as some stadium rock tour. To me, Dan Savage, at a microphone with nothing more than maybe a pink tutu as a prop can be as entertaining as any large scale over blown spectacle on the road. There’s something to be said for one person with something to say.

Vegan recipes

2009-02-17T21:30:00.003-05:00

All I can think about lately is making delicious vegan food. I recently found out that I have high cholesterol, even though I have been vegetarian for five years and am only 23. So rather than go on some medication which I might have to stay on for life, I am at least trying to see if a vegan or very close to vegan diet will change this.

So far I have been trying a few new recipes and in general just using a lot of earth balance spread and soymilk. I've made tofu scramble which has been amazing and I have a million vegan recipes bookmarked from livejournal and blogger.

I've snuck a tiny bit of cheese here and there, but i really don't miss it that much. I am looking at it as an excuse to lose weight and be healthier. This might stick! In turn though I am spending a lot more time looking at recipes online and cooking... but I've been lacking in the social department lately so at least I'm filling up the time and being healthy.

This is sort of a random personal post. I think I might just start a separate more life pondering blog for this kind of thing but for now you can enjoy it.

Gazette - A World Of Piano

2009-02-05T13:30:00.002-05:00

Piano series features trio of jazz notables

By THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE
Andrea Murray
Staff Writer

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Pianist Connie Crothers will be among three performers featured in this month's "A World Of Piano" series at Northampton Center for the Arts.

courtesy ken weiss

Pianist Connie Crothers will be among three performers featured in this month's "A World of Piano" series at the Northampton Center of the Arts.

The trio of pianists who will play in the Northampton Center for the Arts' eighth annual piano series this month aren't household names, but they're definitely on the map in the jazz world.

"America is littered with creative musicians that the average person has never heard of," said Glenn Siegel, the producer of the show and jazz coordinator at University of Massachusetts' Fine Arts Center.

The center's solo pianist series, "A World of Piano," which takes place on the first three Fridays in February, will feature Curtis Clark, Connie Crothers and Joe Bonner. The series kicks off Friday with Clark, who cites as influences Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. He studied piano in Los Angeles and later moved to New York City.

He also lived for many years in Amsterdam, where he played with renowned South African and Dutch musicians. His fellow performers have included musicians like Oscar Brown Jr., Julian Priester, Art Taylor, David Murray, Billy Bang and Richard Davis.

Crothers, who is playing on Feb.13, studied under the innovative pianist and composer Lennie Tristano. Crothers teamed up with famed percussionist Max Roach in 1980 and worked with him for over 20 years. She is the first woman to perform in "A World of Piano" in five years.

Bonner, who is known for doing hard bop and modal jazz, will wrap up the series on Feb. 20.

Bonner leads The Bonner Party, a foursome jazz ensemble with bebop, gospel and blues influences. Bonner has performed with jazz greats like saxophonist Billy Harper as well as the Roy Haynes ensemble. Siegel says that Bonner is the most well-known of the three featured performers.

Before his concert, Bonner will present a free lecture at the center from 3 to 4 p.m. He will share stories, demonstrate from the piano and take questions.

"These are all artists that unless you listen to a lot of jazz music, you might not have heard of," said Penny Burke, executive director of the center. "They are not necessarily commercially successful artists, but they are worthy of being heard."

An art exhibit, "All That Jazz," will run concurrently with the series in the East and West galleries of the center from Friday through March 5. All of the local artists featured in this exhibit teach at the center.

Artist Brooke Schnabel will showcase a series of her paintings that she says "follow a pattern like notes in the scales." Nava Grunfeld will present watercolors and Karen Dolmanisth, an installation piece. Other artists in the show include Paula Gottlieb, Dean Nimmer, Cassandra Holden, Jane Lund, Robert Masla, Robert Markey and Deborah Rubin.

The opening reception takes place Feb. 13, 5 to 7 p.m., followed by Crother's performance. The galleries are open Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and during public events.

The center is located at 17 New South St.; all shows are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 each; $40 for all three shows, $12 each for students and seniors. Tickets are available at AJ Hastings in Amherst and, in Northampton, at the center and State Street Fruit Store. For information, call 584-7327 or visit www.nohoarts.org.

From Gazettenet.com

One of my first clips from my new internship at the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Flywheel's Tough Move

2008-11-16T21:44:00.003-05:00

Flywheel moves to new digs

Meag Kennedy, a senior art major at the University of Massachusetts, could be found at Flywheel, a music venue located in Easthampton, Mass., most any Friday or Saturday night when she was in high school.

A native of Agawam, Kennedy went to the Flywheel's dirt cheap punk shows as often as she could. In spring 2007, Flywheel closed its doors to move to a bigger location much closer to downtown, but has not yet been able to reopen.

Flywheel came to be after Cindy Bow and Helen Harrison's grassroots artistic collective, Valley Arts and Music Alliance (VAMA), was founded in 1998. The organization was founded on the purpose of valuing creativity over profit. The members helped one another to arrange free or low-cost, all-ages shows. VAMA held shows in VFW halls, churches and other spaces until a friend found a permanent place for them in a vacant cabinet store in December 1998. Flywheel was born in this location as more members joined the collective.

Flywheel officially opened in 1999. After eight years at 2 Holyoke Street, Flywheel decided to close in order to move to Easthampton's historic Old Town Hall at 43 Main Street.

"I'm really excited [it's reopening]. I didn't know it was happening. I got kind of worried [when they closed]. It was such a haven for me in high school," Kennedy said.

The Old Town Hall building is a more beneficial location for Flywheel. On Holyoke Street, the venue was in a residential neighborhood where it couldn't have shows past 11 p.m. because of Easthampton's noise order. Neighbors of the venue would get nervous when they had bigger shows. Lila Wolan, Flywheel's secretary, said they'll be able to be more flexible with their times by moving into the business district of town.

Flywheel's move hasn't gone as smoothly as they hoped for. Numerous snags in their renovations to the Old Town Hall, a building constructed in the 1860s, have pushed back their new opening.

Their most recent issue was the discovery of lead paint on the ceilings. The task of properly removing and disposing of the paint will set them back $12,000 to $15,000. Wolan thought Flywheel would transition into its new location almost seamlessly. Between a sprinkler issue and a lead paint problem, renovations have been held up as they secured more and more funding.

Flywheel receives some money from grants, but their real bread and butter are donations ranging from $1 to $1,000 from supporters. A biannual record fair is held at Eastworks in Easthampton to benefit the organization. Concerts, tag sales, car washes and house shows have also been set up to support them, and their café sales provide them with extra funding.

Time donated to Flywheel by volunteers is most essential in keeping it going. Wolan said Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth has been supporting their efforts a bit, also encouraging the community and his friends to support them.

"It's kind of funny. When I mentioned to my lawyer that I was the secretary of Flywheel, his eyes lit up. I know that we have name recognition," Wolan said.

Flywheel is an important asset to the local community as they are the most reasonably priced venue in the area for booking shows. The venue is all ages. The cover charge at Flywheel is never more than $6. Wolan was quick to mention that they use a sliding fee scale and never turn anyone away if they don't have the money.

"You'd go because you loved music and had a great chance of stumbling upon something great and undiscovered and not mainstream," said Scott Brodeur, UMass journalism professor and Northampton resident. "You could feel the energy."

Though Flywheel typically hosts local musicians and artists on occasion, the venue has also hosted some big name musical acts. Le Tigre and Fugazi both performed there in 2002. Sonic Youth and Bright Eyes have also made use of Flywheel's space in the past.

"I've been so lucky, I book so many shows. I can't pick a favorite anymore. They're all so unique and different," Wolan said.

Wolan's role at Flywheel, in addition to her secretarial duties, is to bring in new bands that people haven't heard of from places such as Boston or Connecticut. She likes to be able to show the community new and different music.

Wolan rattled off the names of her favorite acts that have performed there, including American Business Machine, Man Man, Dennis Most and the Instigators, and Gone By Daylight.

Kennedy's favorite show was when the band Lightning Bolt played.

"There were easily 100 people waiting to get in outside. They had to turn people away," Kennedy said. "I'd never seen it packed like that."

Flywheel is entirely run by volunteers and nonprofit. It serves the community by providing an inexpensive space for live music, art exhibits, film and video screenings, poetry and spoken word events, theatrical and performance art, a zine library, a café, and a place for meetings and discussion groups. Flywheel's mission statement says they believe art and information should be equally accessible and affordable to all people.

Anyone can join Flywheel. The collective is governed as a consensus, based on the Quakers, and isn't owned by anyone. Members receive a "myFly" login for Flywheel's Web site, where they can communicate with all the other members.

"Since we're all friends, it's been more laid back lately. There's a time limit on presentations and no one speaks over one another," Wolan said. "One or two people may have an issue and they keep debating until they reach a consensus."

The collective operates like a wheel, hence the name Flywheel. Members of the "hub" are the movers and shakers of the group. They invest a bigger time commitment to the group and are responsible for the activities that keep Flywheel running on a day-to-day basis. They must invest eight to 12 hours and attend two meetings per month in the collective.

Members who are legally responsible for what happens at Flywheel are on the board. These members have been involved for three months or more and must be able to serve on the board for at least one year.

Members who deal with booking shows are called the "spokes" of the collective. Spokes can book up to two shows per month. They simply pay the rental fee and are more or less free to promote their show do-it-yourself style.

Flywheel provides artists and show organizers with space, a portion of door money, and some promotional services. These include publicity in Flywheel's monthly calendar, Web site and email list, as well as other local publications. Most importantly, artists have free reign over their shows. They have and will host any kind of show, and very rarely refuse anyone.

"They [bands] are not there to support the local scene if they're going to be negative. We don't like anyone making fun of gay and lesbian groups," Wolan said. "We are communicative to social causes."

In order to become a spoke, one must attend a certain number of meetings throughout the year and become a member of the collective. Before a meeting, they must give notice that they want to become a member. The group collectively interviews and decides acceptance the same day. The collective trains them in lighting and sound, among other duties.

The volunteers at Flywheel are a diverse group of individuals. They range from artists, musicians, parents, videographers and community members. All volunteers in the collective have an equal vote in Flywheel's decisions. There are more than 70 volunteers at any given time.

Volunteers earn a free pass to a show after completing two volunteer shifts. Volunteers can pick and choose the shows they volunteer at, but Flywheel will ask volunteers to staff shows that don't have enough people.

Flywheel can also provide students with internships, which provide plenty of hands-on experience.

Wolan is hopeful that once the lead paint problem is taken care of, all the other renovations will fall into place much quicker.

All that's left to do now is to take care of the lead paint, renovate the floors and put up new dry wall. Wolan hoped they'd be open by now.

"I'm crossing my fingers [to open] for early 2009," Wolan said.

The next Flywheel general body meeting is Monday, Nov. 17. New volunteers are always welcome - only a few shifts per month could help them out a lot. They'll be discussing updates in fundraising, renovations and most importantly, shows.

One can get more information about joining Flywheel's collective as a volunteer by calling 413-527-9800, or e-mailing volunteer@flywheelarts.org. Answers to questions about volunteering can be found on their Web site, Flywheelarts.org.

Andrea Murray is a Collegian editor. She can be reached at amurray@dailycollegian.com.

The "Devine" father of local blogging

2008-10-10T01:11:00.003-04:00

You've probably seen him hanging around the Haigis Mall; a man about the age of your father, in his daily uniform: a worn baseball cap, a ratty T-shirt, some classic blue jeans and usually some well-loved Converse Chuck Taylors. Thomas "Tommy" Devine was a student the University of Massachusetts in the late 1970s, during its party hey day. Now, Devine is known as the "father" of the western Massachusetts blogosphere. He never did finish his degree at UMass, but still went on to become influential in the Pioneer Valley.

Devine was born in Springfield, Mass., and raised in the Pine Point neighborhood. He has moved about the country a few times to places like Texas and Florida, but has always come back.

"I always want to live in the Valley. I'll visit and try other places out but the Pioneer Valley is the best place overall," said Devine.

Devine's well-known blog, "Tommy Devine's Online Journal," started as a zine, and later became the first western Massachusetts blog in 1998. His following has grown so much that his readers express disappointment when he doesn't update every day.

"When I was in rehab, people were calling the police. My blog was down for two months," said Devine.

Last October, Devine entered a rehabilitation facility for a crack-cocaine addiction. After a relationship with a younger man who introduced him to the drug, he was hooked. The addiction caused him to lose everything: his computer, his apartment and all of his money. He found himself at rock bottom after a tent party near Puffers Pond. An outreach worker met him there and guided him to rehabilitation.

As an addict, any money Devine had went to drugs. He stopped buying food. The only reason he ate was because the Amherst Survival Center (ASC) offered him a daily meal at noon free of charge.

"It's the karma of it all. Now I'm the one preparing and serving the food there," said Devine.

Devine's new daily routine focuses around volunteering at the ASC every day. He said that it helps to keep him on track and reminds him what could happen to him again. After volunteering for the day, he spends his afternoon blogging in the UMass W.E.B. DuBois Library. He heads back to Northampton, Mass., via the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, and attends an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting before going back to his current group home in Northampton.

As a UMass student, Devine was a journalism major. Like most journalism majors, he wrote for the Daily Collegian, contributing editorial columns and news articles. The carefree party scene at college led him off the academic track into a time when his motto was, "I never went to sleep the same day I woke up." He never finished his degree at UMass, though he was only a semester away from graduation. Now, at his group home in Northampton, it's lights out by 10 p.m.

"I've learned how to live like a 'normal' person," Devine says.

In recent times, Devine has been brought to multiple journalism classes at UMass as a guest speaker on the emerging field of blogging. He makes a bit of money off blogging, usually about $150 per month through Google AdSense.

Devine admits that he has never been very career-oriented, but has always written. Later in his life, Devine took a few courses and finished his degree in journalism at Western New England College in Springfield. He says his degree has never done him any good.

Before Devine made his presence known in the online realm, he created a zine called The Baystate Objectivist with his friend Jay Libardi when they lived in Springfield in 1991. Word processing programs were new and made it possible for anyone to publish their own material. While others in the area made zines about the local punk music scene, Devine and Libardi decided they would concentrate on Springfield politics.

"The real Springfield was corrupt and sleazy and incompetent. I said, 'Let's write about that other Springfield,'" said Devine.

Devine and Libardi's zine gained a lot of public attention locally. Libardi passed away in 1994, but Devine kept making his zine through 1997. Always on the cutting edge, Devine had the idea to bring his zine to the Internet in 1998.

"Whatever I do, I try to push it to the edge. I think, 'What is the next thing?'" Devine says. "If it's not cutting edge, I'm not really interested."

At that time, Web sites like Blogger.com, Livejournal.com and Wordpress.com didn't exist. Devine used Yahoo.com's Geocities to create the first form of his online blog. Once his zine went online, he could write about anything and everything due to an infinite amount of space. Around this time, his writing became more autobiographical.

His blog stands out amongst others not because it has been around for a long time, but because the content is so varied and honest. Devine will talk about anything, and he's not embarrassed by any of it. He has chronicled his homosexuality, his political views, and even his drug-fueled downward spiral on his blog. He focuses on topics that are taboo in our society, typically viewed as shameful and hard to admit to others.

"I'm experimenting. I think in the future, people will have two personas. One; a personal one, which is kept only for a small group of people," said Devine. "And a very large public one that is as large as you can attract people to be interested."

Devine is aware that most people don't know the real him. His online persona is merely an extension of his true identity. The information on there is what he wants people to see. Still, there isn't much that he spares his audience.

Devine takes inspiration to experiment with his blog content from the large number of young people who chronicle their lives online in blogs. The 2004 Perseus survey, "The Blogging Iceberg," found that teenagers have created the majority of blogs in the world. The survey also stated that half of bloggers are between 13 and 19 years old, and 92.5 percent of blogs were created by people under the age of 30.

"These kids are pioneering living their lives in front of an audience. I said 'I'm not a kid, why don't I pioneer that?'" said Devine.

"Tommy Devine's Online Journal" features posts concerning happenings in Amherst, Northampton and Springfield. Devine takes his own pictures and sometimes shoots original video to post to the blog.

As his blog became more popular, Devine was offered opportunities in other media forms. He filled in on Dan Yorke's television show that was on channel ABC 40, and sometimes helped out on WHYN's "Kateri Walsh Show." Eventually Devine was given his own radio show, "The Tommy Devine Show," which ran on WNNZ-AM 640, but was cancelled, due to poor ratings.

"I'm really a writer; not a radio and TV person," said Devine.

Devine is slowly putting his life back together. He keeps himself on a strict schedule so as to stay out of trouble. He's on welfare for now and has hopes of getting his own Section 8 housing in Florence, Mass., and maybe having his own computer again too. He writes once a month for Nortampton's "Valley Advocate," and contributes to his blog nearly everyday. That's fine with him though, he doesn't think he's good for anything else.

"To quote Bob Dylan, 'anybody who gets up in the morning and does what they want is a success.' And that's what I do, I go around and I think of what's interesting and I tell people about it and I take pictures of it," says Devine.

Web users can check out Tommy Devine's blog at www.tommydevine.blogspot.com.

Andrea Murray can be reached at amurray@dailycollegian.com

From 10/10/08 Dailycollegian.com

Mates of State and Judgement Day at the Paradise

2008-09-17T02:44:00.002-04:00

Mates of State and Judgment Day

By Andrea Murray

I came to the show for Mates of State, but their opening act, Judgement Day, blew me away! I was very apprehensive due to their death metal sounding name. I expected full on ratty 2XL Metallica t-shirts with greasy dirty blonde locks down their backs. I approached the stage however and found three guys, easy on the eyes, who were... a cellist, violinist, and drummer. This all instrumental trio kept up a fast paced metal noize with a haunting quality. Seizure inducing strobe lights flashed to the hard hitting sounds. The most hardcore violinist I have ever seen, I must also note that this violinist has adorable curly hair. (!!!) For the most part, the audience really seemed to be won over by this strange group who couldn't be more different from the headliners. I picked up their CD and their song names were sure enough just as embarrassing as their band name. But oh well, y'know what, I like 'em, a LOT.

The last time I saw the Mates, Kori was preggers, and it was a special piano show at the Iron Horse in Northampton. That show was great, but this one was even better because Kori had her organ. Very important as their earlier CDs are organ heavy and fast paced, while their newest release features piano and other accompaniment. So for older songs, Kori and Jason went it alone, and Lewis and Anton of Judgement Day helped out on the new tracks. The two bands seemed like a big happy family, the MOS even announced that Judgement Day is the only band that they have taken on tour with them. I'm still in amazement of JD's awesomeness and musical versatility. The Mates performed my personal fave, "Ha Ha", which was made even better with Lewis dancing to it in a leopard one piece.

With two babies and five full lengths under their belts, Kori and Jason still look as cute and happy as ever, stealing glances and smirks. They love to perform, and it shows. The crowd shrieked enthusiastic "WOOO!!!" 's for nearly every song. Surely a great show to end the tour for these two groups. The Mates tour pretty often, so be sure to catch them next time they're around.

--- This was my blog for the concert from weeklydig.com's blogs. The show was at the Paradise in Boston, MA.

For Your Information

2008-09-17T02:00:00.003-04:00

I am keeping busy this semester as the editor of Features stories for the Daily Collegian, run every Friday. I hope to write stories for my section and arts as often as I can. But my primary source of writing will be at this blog that I am keeping for my Writing for the Web class with masslive.com blogger Scott Brodeur.

I will continue to post published pieces on here, but if you want to keep up with me more, check the other blog where I will more than likely be posting every day.

Soon I should be posting my last clips from Boston's Weekly Dig as an intern. I may have some free lancing in the works with them soon though, so I will still be updating this as often as I can!

MEFA Cutbacks

2008-09-05T16:21:00.002-04:00

MEFA cutbacks concern UM students

UMass feels effects of U.S. credit crisis

By: Andrea Murray, Collegian Staff

Posted: 9/5/08

Every year, students across the nation, including those at the University of Massachusetts, attempt to figure out how they will pay for college.

There are a multitude of options; their own personal savings, their parent or guardian's savings/income, scholarships, grants, financial aid and monetary gifts from family. But for many, if not most students, that is still not enough. Student loans typically bridge this gap for many costly school expenses. Of course, with these loans come interest rates, and the lower the better. In Massachusetts, the lowest student loan rates are available through the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority [MEFA]. This year, MEFA is not an option.

MEFA announced on July 28, 2008 that they couldn't secure the funds for the loans that they have offered for over 26 years. This abrupt news sent over 40,000 Massachusetts students and their families scrambling to find other options.

MEFA's student loan program has offered over $2.3 billion in education loan bonds since its inception in 1982. The Massachusetts State Legislature founded the program in response to concerns about the growing cost of higher education.

MEFA offers loans, college savings programs and a Prepaid Tuition Program. They have assisted over 200,000 families in paying for college.

Here at UMass, about 10 percent of students depend on MEFA every year to pay their tuition and board bills.

"I may have to take this semester off if I can't get approved for a loan," said Shayna Murphy, days before the semester began. "I'll think of something. I may end up having to work two jobs."

Murphy, a UMass Junior, was counting on using a MEFA student loan for the 2008-2009 school year.

"This summer, I went to England, and I paid for that myself. I thought that MEFA would be around this fall to help out, but it's not," Murphy said.

MEFA's loans are private family loans that are available on a non-need basis. They are among the nation's lowest cost education loans. They allow students and families to borrow anywhere from $2,000 up to the full cost of education. MEFA accepts students from any state, as long as they attend one of over 70 participating Massachusetts colleges.

Some lenders only give the lowest rates to the most qualified, but MEFA provides the same low interest rate to all. Other lenders like Astrive and Wells Fargo offer private loan rates based directly on the individual's credit history, and other varying rates.

Last year, MEFA offered undergraduate student loans with a 6.39 percent fixed interest rate or a 7.55 percent variable interest rate. Origination fees were only 2.55 percent for both loans. On a Federal Parent PLUS loan, the origination fee is 4 percent. MEFA's student loans offer the lowest in all rates for student loans in the state.

According to the 2008 Sallie Mae study, "How America Pays For College," the most often used source by families paying for college is parents' current income. But the second most frequently used source of paying for college is student loan programs like MEFA.

Once the news of MEFA's unavailability hit campus, the UMass Financial Aid Office offered help via the UMass Helpline to parents and students with questions about further financing options.

"We are guiding families to first exhaust grant aid, then federally backed student loans and then move onto the PLUS loan," said Ed Blaguszewski, Director of News and Information at UMass.

Federal Parent PLUS loans offer a fixed interest rate and the ability to defer payments while in school. Only graduate students pursuing professional degrees and parents with a dependent student can apply for PLUS loans. The interest rate is 8.5 percent, making them the best choice for students after MEFA loans.

Federal Parent PLUS Loans are offered to parents with dependent students. They are available through Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program. FFEL loans carry a fixed interest rate of 8.5 percent regardless of a customer's credit history, income, assets or collateral. A Direct Loan carries an interest rate of 7.9 percent.

To obtain one of these loans, the parent must have an acceptable credit history, which isn't always the case. This weakens the student's chance of getting the loan. However, these loans can also cover books, supplies and travel in addition to tuition and room and board. Sallie Mae reported that new federal legislation made qualifying for PLUS loans easier this year.

Amy Riordan, a UMass senior, had a similar experience to Murphy. She began her career at UMass relying on MEFA's program each year. A surprise came this summer when she received a letter in late July informing her that MEFA could not get enough funding for its loans this year. MEFA cited the economy as the reason that it could not secure its usual funds to offer low interest rate loans.

"I didn't know until about two weeks ago whether I would be at UMass, or anywhere, to finish my bachelor's [degree]," said Riordan.

Riordan turned to Sallie Mae to finance her senior year at UMass. Luckily, she got a fixed interest loan, but it is still 1.5% higher than her MEFA loans - even with a parent cosigner.

For Riordan, a student who receives no financial aid, her loans pay for everything. It wasn't just her tuition; it was her apartment, books and other living expenses.

"I made the mistake of thinking 'I'm just a student, this economy situation is really only going to affect how much gas I buy for my car,'" said Riordan. "It was a huge shock to think I might not be able to finish school."

Sallie Mae, the leading student loan lender in the nation, is a private and federal loan lending company that has been around for 35 years. When MEFA announced that they couldn't secure funds, Sallie Mae quickly became a source for students. They also offer Tuition Pay that allows students to pay for their college on a monthly payment plan with no interest incurred.

Sallie Mae offers Stafford loans. The interest rate on Subsidized Stafford loans went down to 6 percent fixed in 2008 from 6.8 percent in 2007. No interest is charged while students are in school, but subsidized loans are only given to students with a financial need. Unsubsidized Stafford loans, on the other hand, carry a fixed interest rate of 6.8 percent and are offered regardless of financial need.

Sallie Mae offered undergraduates the option to borrow an additional $2,000 more this year than was previously allowed through the Stafford loan program.

Sallie Mae and other companies offer private student loans as a final solution for those who still have financial need. Interest rates are based upon on how creditworthy the student is. There are no guarantees for interests to be fixed and these loans do not have a deferment option. Cosigners can give students without a credit history an advantage on getting one of these loans.

"It is too early to tell [whether private loan volume has gone up or not] since the school year is just beginning," said Patricia Christel of Sallie Mae.

With the crisis passing us, one can assume that a number of students turning to private loans must have increased.

The speculated economic crash across the nation has finally trickled down to affect student loans.

Kentucky students went through a similar crisis this summer. However, their ending was a little bit sweeter. The non-profit Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation stalled as well, due to a lack of funding. They offer 6 percent interest rate federal subsidized loans and 6.8 percent unsubsidized loans much like MEFA. But Governor Steve Beshear purchased a $50 million bond from The Student Loan People, allowing the non-profit to "go about its business…without interruption."

Despite the loss of MEFA as an option, UMass did report that no students had to drop out of school this year as a result of losing their MEFA loans. There is even hope that MEFA can offer loans as early as spring of 2009, but it is still unclear if this will be possible.

Andrea Murray can be reached at amurray@dailycollegian.com.

Hack By Melissa Plaut

2008-08-27T13:29:00.002-04:00

HACK: HOW I STOPPED WORRYING ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE AND STARTED DRIVING A YELLOW CAB

MELISSA PLAUT

By ANDREA MURRAY

VILLARD | 6.24.08

In New York City, only 1 percent of cabbies are female. Melissa Plaut is one of these rare mythical beasts. Hack is her memoir accounting for the few years that she devoted to the profession. The book came to be after her blog, New York Hack, garnered over a million "unique user" hits and she subsequently received a book deal. Plaut fell into driving a cab after a slew of unfulfilling jobs. The final time she found herself unemployed, she decided to treat her life as an adventure. So despite criticism from family, friends and colleagues alike, she spends her nights (and days) taking shit from people, avoiding incompetent coworkers and, sometimes, actually being appreciated. With this well-written (and cheap!) paperback now available, there's no reason you can't live your taxi cab dreams vicariously through her.

From Weeklydig.com

Esteban Pastorino Díaz

2008-08-27T13:25:00.004-04:00

Esteban Pastorino Díaz

An exceptional Boston premiere

By ANDREA MURRAY

The photography of Esteban Pastorino Díaz is so fascinating, it would make anyone do a double take. But even more remarkable than the photographs are the hand-made instruments he uses to obtain such images. He produces whimsical, ludic prints with what he terms Kite Aerial Photography (KAP.). To achieve these dream-like photos, he attaches a hand-built camera to a kite that he then flies at 400 feet in the air. The camera's lens is tilted and shifted, which creates a "fake" short depth. On first glance, it might look like a picture of a maquette or a diorama, but on closer inspection, it's real people and buildings in his photographs; like a giant's view of the world.

Díaz also creates 3-D panoramic photographs. For these he uses another hand-built device, the stereo panoramic camera. The film stays in motion as well as the camera. Díaz attaches the camera to anything from auto rickshaws to buses. "Above all the things," he writes from his home in Argentina, "I enjoy making things with my own hands."

Díaz's father gave him his first camera when he was just eight years old. He took photography seriously since that day, but never thought he would live off of it. It took years for the former mechanical engineer from Buenos Aires to transition into photography full time.

"In Argentina, 14 years ago, trying to live off of art photography was not considered a wise decision," Díaz writes.

In recent years, that's changed dramatically. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago have all purchased his photography. His show Shifting Perspectives: Esteban Pastorino Díaz, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, will showcase over 70 of his photographs including prints, light-boxes and slides.

Because he attaches his cameras to objects, he can't even see what's in the viewfinder. The results are just as beautiful as they are unintentional. Díaz invites the audience to perceive a common experience in a different way.

And his ambition seems to get the best of him. His next series is a long-term project involving "a two-seat homebuilt airplane that will carry a large format panoramic camera."

A real DIY kind of guy.

ESTEBAN PASTORINO DÍAZ

SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES

FRIDAY 8.29.08-MONDAY 10.13.08

SMFA GROSSMAN GALLERY.

230 THE FENWAY, BOSTON

617.369.3718

OPENING RECEPTION

WEDNESDAY 9.3.08, 6PM

ARTIST TALK 7PM

REGULAR HOURS

MON-SAT 10AM-5PM, THU 10AM-8PM

SMFA.EDU/EXHIBITIONS

ESTEBANPASTORINO.COM.AR

From Weeklydig.com

Smart People DVD Review

2008-08-19T02:50:00.005-04:00

SMART PEOPLE

Hipster Pot Sibling Comedy

By Andrea Murray

Y'know that grumpy but incredibly intelligent professor you had in college? Well, this movie is about his very pathetic and unfulfilling life. Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a crotchety and condescending widower, who has unfortunately rubbed off on his daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page). Enter his fun-loving, freeloading, adoptive brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) to fix his family life. Lawrence attempts dating his doctor/former student, Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), but his arrogance repeatedly gets in the way. Chuck sets out to make himself useful by loosening up straight-laced Vanessa via getting her to smoke pot and chug a pitcher of PBR. "What's it like to be stupid?" Vanessa asks some classy broads in her drunken stupor. This gem sums up this movie's spectacular irony. A very awkward uncle-niece relationship develops because, as smart as Vanessa is, she doesn't understand that kissing your uncle is incest.

MIRAMAX

RATED | R

RELEASE DATE | 8.12.08

PRICE | $19.99

From weeklydig.com

Art Nouveau Jewelry

2008-07-25T17:20:00.002-04:00

ART NOUVEAU JEWELRY

By Andrea Murray

Try to imagine Cartier without gobs of sparkling diamonds. Really. Try it. Still can't? The Museum of Fine Arts' new exhibition puts aside all the bling bling and brings back a more organic jewelry palette. One of the big names featured in the exhibit is Tiffany—and not that one. Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of Tiffany & Co.'s founder, was the creator of the first Tiffany-style stained glass lamp..S Art Nouveau jewelers were rebels in the decorative arts during their time. They rejected the "tyranny of diamonds" and used materials that were praised for intrinsic over artistic value. Enamel, elephant ivory, manipulated horn, molded glass and a sparse amount of diamonds is the angle here. The pieces are dreamy and sometimes romantic. They feature natural imagery in three distinct motifs: flora (flowers and trees), ethereal or dark creatures (like swans or panthers), and the female figure, which represents the changing role of women in society. "Art Nouveau jewelry is regarded by many as the most beautiful and technically sophisticated jewelry ever created. It was flamboyant, fantastical, sensual and poetic," says Curator of Jewelry Yvonne Markowitz. Fuck you, Usher. You and your diamond-encrusted "U" necklace.

[Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry. Wed 7.23.08-Sun 11.9.08. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 617.267.9300. $6.50-$17 . mfa.org]

Boston's Weekly Dig

Souper Bowl

2008-07-16T17:10:00.004-04:00

Photo credit to Tommy Devine via Google Image search.

This is a piece that I forgot about that I wrote for the Collegian's Bar Guide in Fall 07'. It never went online but this was my copy of it.

SOUPERBOWL KEEPS IT LOCAL

By Andrea Murray

The Souperbowl in downtown Amherst offers local beer and produce whenever possible. In case you didn’t know, localism helps preserve the environment by being more energy efficient and also strengthens our community by investing in it.
Local couple John and Shiang Sobieski opened Souperbowl in May of 2000. Shiang attended The University of Massachusetts Amherst and John is a local from South Deerfield.
You may remember Souperbowl from your last school year as a rather small and cramped yet cozy soup and sandwich café. They have completely remodeled and expanded to a new location a few doors down at 104 North Pleasant Street. Following in their physical changes, they have also expanded their menu and now have a bar offering wine, beer and cordials.
“We had been thinking about it, once we expanded that we wanted to include a beer and wine menu to increase our evening hours,” John Sobieski said.

Four out of the six beers on tap at Souperbowl are from South Deerfield’s Berkshire Brewing Company (BBC). They have BBC’s Gold Spike a light pale ale; Steel Rail a mid-range pale ale; Lost Sailor an IPA beer and Shabadoo a heavy black and tan beer.
Sobieski said, “Golden Spike used to be a summer beer, it became so popular that it is now offered year round.”
The other two beers are somewhat local too; they come from the Harpoon Brewery of Boston. They offer Harpoon’s IPA beer and UFO, an unfiltered wheat beer also referred to as a hefeweizen.
They offer a great wine selection including four white wines such as Gabbiano Pinot Grigio, Five Rivera Chardonnay, Covey Run Sauvignon Blanc and their organic wine, Bonterra Chardonnay. They also offer four red wines including Stonehaven Shiraz, Five Rivers Merlot, Concannon Cabernet Sauvignon and Firesteed Pinot Noir. House wines are available for $4.50 per glass and the other wine ranges from $5.50 to $7.75 for the organic wine.
A new creative bar menu starts this week including both chicken and vegetable quesadillas, pulled buffalo chicken with dip, avocado potato skins, and calamari. Cheese and chocolate fondues will also begin to be offered this week.
They use local produce when in season for their soups, sandwiches, paninis, and salads. Other offerings include organic coffee, bubble tea and homemade desserts.
“Our desserts are home-made and a lot of them change according to season,” he said, “Now we’ll be offering a lot of the pumpkin desserts like pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake and also apple pie.” John added, “ We’re gonna be doing hot and cold local ciders for the season, also bottled hard cider.”
The ciders will be from the local Pine Hill Orchards of Colrain. They can make specialty coffees for you with their offering of organic coffee and selection of cordials in their bar. Their non-alcoholic beverage options include Izze sodas, Infused Water and Nantucket Nectars.
Souperbowl has won The Valley Advocate’s reader voted award “Best Soups of the Valley” for six years and running (2001 to 2007). They have six staple soups and six to seven alternating soups daily. Soups are available in their fresh bread bowls or with bread on the side.
“We have a total of about 12 a day. Approximately half are vegetarian,” John said.
“Their soups have moments of pure brilliance,” a customer remarked.
Other customers said the bubble tea was great as well their wine assortment. The same group of customers praised the service as “friendly”.
Souperbowl was re-opened in June this year after their move and re-model. The move gave them a chance to re-vamp the look. The vibe is more modern and sporty sticking with a red, black, and beech wood theme for the most part. They have recently aquired a 70” Plasma TV. They have long tables and small ones so almost any party size can be accommodated now.
“We want to add on a few more (TVs), a couple more big ones,” he said.
“Our crowd has widened. We have a pretty good mix; a mix of college students, local professionals, local residents, tourists, and parents of local students,” John divulged.
Their music works well for all crowds. They stick to a fun classic rock theme featuring favorites such as Elton John, The Who and The Rolling Stones. The music adds to the casual and relaxed atmosphere.
The Souper bowl is open from 11:00 a.m., and their bar at 12:00 p.m., until 11:00 p.m. They have future plans to begin accepting credit and debit cards but for now cash and Umass’s Off Campus Meal Plan (OCMP) is accepted. Souperbowl’s website is http://www.soup-er-bowl.com. You can see their new menu online by searching for “souperbowl” and clicking on the dining tab at the Valley Advocate’s Website, http://www.valleyadvocate.com.

Andrea Murray can be reached at akmurray@student.umass.edu.

Comics For Adults

2008-07-11T12:54:00.004-04:00

COMICS FOR ADULTS

By Andrea Murray

Get your head out of the gutter, guys, really. This is serious. Illustrator Raul Gonzalez is teaching an art class at the Brookline Arts Center for true creative minds. Gonzalez will dazzle students as he shows them the ropes of the comic world. The class will help n00bz depict their superhuman fantasies or everyday life into brilliant graphic panels. Lessons will include how to develop strong characters and supernatural scenes. Gonzalez is a self-taught artist himself, never stepping foot into a museum until he was 18. He just finished his show at the BAC, entitled Philosophical Tales, which featured his illustrations for Martin Cohen's book by the same name. The sinister-looking illustrations are snapshots of philosophers' lives that could have influenced their theories ... I told you, this shit is deep. You may be familiar with Gonzalez's work if you have strolled around Union Square and caught a glimpse of his painted billboard or mural featuring his character Cerebot of the Miracle Five. Gonzalez's repertoire is even more adult though—he is the man behind the visual representation of Attorney Man, the comic book for lawyers (!!!) by Karen Katz. What's more adult than court?

[Comics for Adults. Mon 7.7.08.-Mon 8.18.08. 6:30pm-9:30pm/$180 members/$200 nonmembers + $30 for materials. Brookline Arts Center, 86 Monmouth St., Brookline. 617.566.5715. Comics for Adults meets for seven sessions every Mon. brooklineartscenter.com]

From weeklydig.com

Billboard.com College Town Tour Guide

2008-06-17T21:29:00.004-04:00

Billboard.com College Town Tour Guide

Excerpts By Andrea Murray

Haymarket Café
188 Main St.

David and Peter Simpson opened the Haymarket coffee shop and used bookstore in downtown Northampton in 1992. Today, they still run this two-floor establishment, named for the historic Haymarket affair in 1886 Chicago – minus the books. Now the store boasts a juice bar with delicious smoothies, hot beverages, and mocha lattes. Baked goods include cookies, muffins, pastries, mini cakes, tarts and other goodies to satisfy any sweet tooth. –Andrea Murray

Sid Vintage
18 Crafts Ave.
Sunday, Monday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Tuesday – Saturday 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Need a new vintage tee? How about a pair of go-go boots? Sid Vintage is where you’ll find it. They sell everything from $10 shirts to collectable vintage Prada shoes. The shop’s vintage boot and shoe selection is unrivaled by all stores in the Pioneer Valley. Sid Vintage has catered to the local rock ‘n’ roll and art scenes for almost four years now, and with its vast selection, the store is still going strong. -- Andrea Murray

Ron Rosenstock

2008-06-11T15:40:00.002-04:00

RON ROSENSTOCK
By: Andrea Murray

Iceland is a visually stunning destination. My Björk-obsessed roommate went there last year and now her room is Iceland themed. She went so far as to name our wireless internet network "stevesdottir," which is her Icelandic last name. Ron Rosenstock's Fire and Ice, showing at the Panopticon Gallery, juxtaposes landscape photographs of Iceland and Death Valley, Calif, contrasting the fiery hottness of Death Valley with the iciness of dreamy Iceland. For four decades Rosenstock created black and white photography the same way Ansel Adams did: with Adam's' own Zone System. He decided to give it a go for his first significant exploration of color photography. But he one-upped himself: All of the photographs are digital. Photographer B.A. King knows that even with all of this fancy-schmancy new technology, Rosenstock is still the same. "Underneath it all," he says, "is the famous Rosenstock flare for composition and reverence for light, to which we now can add an admiration for color." Rosenstock's Death Valley photos bring geometric style to organic matter like sand dunes and canyons, while his Iceland photos capture breathtaking views of water in various states with land nearby, sometimes with rainbows and kittens. OK, no kittens.

[Fire and Ice. 6.12.08-7.28.08. Opening Reception Thurs 6.19.08, 5pm-7pm. Gallery hours Tue-Fri 10am-6pm and Sat 11am-5pm. The Panopticon Gallery at the Hotel Commonwealth. Room 502c, Commonwealth Ave., Boston. 617.267.8929. panopt.com]

Article at Boston's Weekly Dig.

Amherst Club Keeps Esperanto Alive

2008-05-08T11:02:00.004-04:00

Amherst Club Keeps Esperanto Alive
by Andrea Murray

In the UMass Daily Collegian on 5/8/08. Here.

It's a late afternoon on Tuesday at the Bluewall Cafe and Steven Brewer, the founding father of the Amherst Esperanto Club, is telling a story about a man he knows through Esperanto, Dave Coffin from Andover, Mass.

Coffin went to an Esperanto conference in Russia where he met a Russian woman and fell in love. They moved back to the U.S., and they have two kids. She speaks Russian to the kids. They all speak Esperanto together as the official house language because that is the only language that Coffin and his wife share in common. The children are learning their English from TV and school.

Esperanto seems to be the new language of love. The group told numerous love stories in which two people who only had Esperanto in common fell in love and never learned each other's native languages.

Dr. L. L. Zamenhof invented Esperanto and published the first book in 1887 under the pseudonym "Dr. Esperanto." The word Esperanto means "one who hopes." The language was created to allow communication between people of different lands and cultures. Interest in the language peaked in the 1970s.

Sometimes criticized for being sexist and sounding too artificial, it currently has not fulfilled its original intent of becoming a universal language. Some have even complained that Esperanto could take away from native languages, but that is not the intent.

"It is important to note that Esperanto is not meant to replace native languages, but it is meant to be every person's first second language," says Julie Winberg, an active member of the club.

Today, there are about 2 million Esperanto speakers, about 1,000 of whom are native speakers. At the University of Massachusetts, a loyal group of followers still practice the language. They meet each week to discuss readings and practice speaking in Esperanto, the most widely used international auxiliary language.

UMass Professor of Biology and Amherst resident Steven Brewer founded the Esperanto group about five years ago. He met other Esperanto speakers, like Sali Lawton of Westhampton, on the Internet. His mother, Lucy Brewer, is another attendee.

The sound is hard to describe, but it's closest to a mix of German and Spanish. Winberg says that people often think that it sounds like whatever languages they know. She once thought that it sounded like Italian but her Italian friends firmly disagreed.

Everyone in the group seems to agree that learning Esperanto opens doors, especially in the travel world.

Esperanto is a phonetic language that uses no silent letters. Esperanto.net says that about 75 percent of the language comes from Latin and Romance languages, about 20 percent from Germanic languages and the rest comes from Slavic languages and Greek. Word order is not important in Esperanto, and there are few grammar rules.

Brewer and Winberg shared a few simple grammar rules: all words that end in "o" are nouns; diphthongs, vowel sequences pronounced as a single new sound, make words plural; "la" means "the," no matter what. There is no difference between feminine, masculine and plural case.

Winberg lectures on topics like women travelers at the World Conferences of Esperanto. She was once the President of the Women's Commission of the World Esperanto Association. She has traveled all through Eastern Europe using only Esperanto because the only other language she knows is English. Winberg says that wherever she went, she found some people who spoke Esperanto.

Lawton, a fourth grade teacher for 11 years, is another long-time member. She learned the language in 1985, and soon began volunteering to teach Esperanto to her students during summer breaks.

"After the kids got out of fourth grade they would come up to me and say 'I still have my Esperanto papers!'" says Lawton.

Esperanto has its own original literature, including books and magazines as well as movies. Monato is a popular all-Esperanto magazine. There are over 25,000 Esperanto books, originals and translations, in existence. Zamenhof even translated the "Old Testament" into the language.

"Incubus," made in 1965 starring William Shatner, used Esperanto not because of its popularity, but for the exotic sound of it. The film was the first American motion picture completely in Esperanto.

Esperanto.net says that it is easier to learn than national languages. The Amherst Esperanto club recommends using Lernu.net to learn Esperanto quickly and free of charge.

"I have chatted with people online in Esperanto and at the end of the conversation asked them, 'So how long have you been speaking Esperanto?' and they say, 'Oh, last week,'" says Brewer.

Brewer is the director of the Biology Research Center at the University of Massachusetts and is fluent in English, Spanish and Esperanto. He says that he became fluent in Esperanto in just six months but it took him years of book study to become fluent in Spanish. He learned Esperanto as a graduate student but regrets not studying it earlier on.

"I wish that I had learned it as an undergraduate because I could have made connections and traveled more," says Brewer.

Brewer has taken advantage of the camaraderie among his fellow Esperantists. Other Esperantists are often very willing to let other speakers stay in their homes because they have the language in common. The Amherst Esperanto Club is just a small division of the Esperanto family.

Andrea Murray can be reached at amurray@student.umass.edu.

Festival of the Arts at UMass

2008-05-08T10:55:00.002-04:00

Festival of the Arts at UMass
by Andrea Murray

In the UMass Daily Collegian on 5/7/08. Here.

This Friday the University Programming Council will be hosting the fifth annual Festival of the Arts. Attendees can expect a wider array of talent than in previous festivals.

Kasey Beckerman, one of the UPC organizers for the event, says they have booked acts ranging from slam poetry to the UMass Ballroom Dancing team. Arts and crafts events have also been arranged for all interested parties.

Former Vice Chancellor Michael Gargano founded the event five years ago to celebrate the varied creativity on campus. Gargano wished to offer all students, art majors or not, the chance to showcase their artistic energies.

Local stand-up comedian and UMass student Adam Szajgin was originally scheduled to MC the event, but can no longer perform. Beckerman says they are exploring a variety of other possible MCs but nothing official has been announced. The event is co-sponsored by the Commuter Area Government.

Beckerman has booked roughly 19 acts. All acts can perform for a maximum of eight minutes. These time restraints, according to Beckerman, had to be emplaced in order to allow all applicants the chance to perform.

Unlike years past, no form of visual art, such as photography, 3D work or paintings, will be represented at the festival..

UMass student Teresa Franco will belt out original lyrics over acoustic guitar riffs. Other singer-songwriters performing include Zachary Fisher and Alicia Benander.

"There will be culturally diverse groups performing," says Beckerman.

Providing a more visual dynamic to the event, hip-hop and Indian style dance teams will entertain the crowd. Additionally, the UMass Ballroom dancing team will take to the floor alongside the UMass Dance Team, Stage Crew Dance Team and Dynamic Motion Dance Team.

Boston based rap duo Static and Messiah will have a chance to spit on the mic. The duo victoriously, yet controversially, won the UPC Battle of the Bands last month, awarding them the privilege to open last Sunday's Spring Concert.

Mission Improvable is scheduled to perform as well as a few other comedic acts. Poet Gerald Baldino and slam poet Sean Sullivan will showcase their prose. Various other acts are slated to perform.

In addition to enjoying the live performances, attendees can also participate in creating their own arts and crafts. Beyond this, audience members can become art themselves as a Henna artist will be available to doodle on the bodies of anyone interested.

Paula Hodecker of the Student Union Crafts Center will be on duty to help students make personalized buttons from magazine pictures. A magazine and lacquer art station will also be set up.

Orchard Hill's favorite sugar-fix spot, Sweets N' More, will be catering. Beckerman says they will have brownies, vanilla ice cream and cookies. Free popcorn and water will also be available.

With the threat of inclement weather looming, Beckerman has begun to construct an indoor back-up plan to ensure that the event is held rain or shine. The actual decision on the location will not be made until Thursday.

Regardless of weather, The Festival of the Arts takes place inside or outside the Fine Arts Center on May 9 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free to all.

Andrea Murray can be reached at akmurray@student.umass.edu.

My First Crush

2008-05-04T22:08:00.002-04:00

This is a video I found which interviews people about their first crushes. Really it isn't too journalistic, but it had to be shared.

Rebekah Wilder

2008-04-23T09:58:00.005-04:00

We had to interview and describe someone in Magazine Writing class for preparation in travel writing. I was happy with how mine came out so I'm sharing it with you.

Rebekah Wilder
by Andrea Murray

She wears earthen tones that bring to mind a walk in nature. Her eyes resemble two muddy pools of water against toasted almond skin. Ebony hair cascades down her back and playfully juxtaposes itself against the busy plaid pattern of her red shirt. Her deep green undershirt complements the cornflower blue and spruce green stripes running through the plaid. Her thoroughly worn pants look grey but she confesses that they used to be brown; you can still see the warm undertones.

Her childlike smile is infectious. She coos to me about her favorite puppets – an old sheep-dog named Sherlock and a vain snow leopard named Leigha. She speaks warmly of her church and their radical ways that are not accepted by many in the Christian community. She is largely unconcerned with the opinions of those other churches though. Her description of her religion is genuine and could turn a secular person back onto a faithful path.

Battle of the bands at Student Union Ballroom

2008-04-07T03:01:00.004-04:00

BATTLE OF THE BANDS AT STUDENT UNION BALLROOM
by Andrea Murray

The University of Massachusetts has produced such musical talents as The Pixies, Natalie Cole and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. The University Programming Council is in search of the next great UMass band, so they are hosting the Battle of the Bands at the Student Union Ballroom this Wednesday. At least one member of each band is a current UMass student.

At the end of the battle, the Spring Concert lineup will be announced. The tickets for the Spring Concert are expected to go on sale Friday morning for the May 4 show. UMass students get into both the Battle of the Bands and the Spring Concert free of charge with their U-Cards.

The judges will be Michaela Farley and Danny Soto, the co-chairs of Concert and Productions at UPC. Special guest judges will be Bryon Bullock and Paula Hodecker of the Crafts Center. Free refreshments will be available, and the crowd will serve as the fifth and final judge.

The battle will consist of three rounds: first ten bands, then five bands, then down to two for the final duel. Each of the ten bands will be have a time slot of up to seven minutes in the first round. Once the judges have voted off half of the bands, round two will begin during which they will have another seven minutes to win over the audience's auditory favor. Round three will leave the last two bands to duke it out with two more seven-minute sets. A winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

The Boston-based, indie-pop quartet, Lannen Fall will play from 9:35 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. following the end of the battle. The band credits everything from Butch Walker to Blink-182 as their influences. The Spring Concert lineup will be announced during their set.

UPC will be giving away a Playstation 3 and a 16GB iPod Touch along with other great prizes. One giveaway will happen between each set for a total of ten giveaways. Every student who comes will receive a ticket at the door for the giveaways.

Picked on Sally describe themselves as punk/rock and hail from Fairfield, Conn. Some of their influences are Saves The Day, Elvis Costello, Alkaline Trio, Ben Kweller and The Bouncing Souls. They formed in '03 and recently recorded a new album in March. They will open the battle at 7:00 p.m.

Leaving London, a UMass-based quartet, will follow P.O.S. They describe themselves as a mix of rock, funk and power-pop and cite influences in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Third Eye Blind, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Prince, Radiohead, Incubus and Led Zeppelin.

The Boston-based hip-hop, rap and lyrical duo, Static and Messiah, will perform next. The two met in high school and have rhymed together ever since. According to their Myspace.com page, growing up in Boston helped them to write a little better and spit a little harder.

Acadia, a South Eastern-based quintet describe their vibe as indie, happy hardcore and surf all blended together. A variety of artists including Saves The Day, Brand New, Morrisey, Glassjaw, Thursday, The Police and John Lennon have influenced them. Acadia has been featured on MTVU's Web site, BestMusicOnCampus.com, as an "Artist Spotlight." In Jan. '07, Epitaph Records named them one of the top five unsigned bands in the nation. Their music is licensed for use on MTV shows, movies and other ventures.

Next is UMass-based solo act Abdi. Danny Soto, a UMass student, describes Abdi as a Caribbean-sounding T-Pain.

Exit Reason is a Greenfield-based alternative rock quartet. Their Myspace.com page reads "their only influence is life and everything that comes with it." They summed up their sound as similar to "the Village People, minus the gay and plus a cheetah and some dragon wings."

Following that, M.A.V., a Boston-based hip-hop group will perform. M.A.V. is an acronym for "money and violence."

The progressive, experimental and psychedelic Dude, Fuckin'…Yeah from Amherst will take the stage following M.A.V. Their influences vary and include Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Yes, Tool and Ween. They compare their sound to Phish, The Mars Volta and Led Zeppelin.

Fully Loaded also hails from Boston. Their music is hip-hop that draws on rock roots.

The Chris Piquette Band, a pop rock outfit from Chicopee, will be the final act in the first round. Their song "Every Time" appeared in the movie "Cathedral Pines," which had its premiere at Northampton's Calvin Theater. Their influences are varied and include Santana, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, The Beatles, Ben Folds Five and Stevie Wonder.

The show is free and begins at 7 p.m. this Wednesday in the Student Union Ballroom.

Andrea Murray can be reached at akmurray@student.umass.edu.

Side note: the bassist of Lannen Fall is an old co-worker of mine from when I worked at American Eagle in Burlington, MA? Dave Horseman reppin' the Merrimack Valley.

Studio Arts Building UMass

2008-04-01T21:34:00.006-04:00

This is an article that I wrote for the UMass Arts and Living Section's Minute Magazine coming out April 9, 2008. This piece was super fun and interesting to write. Consider this a follow up to the recent post I made about the Studio Arts Building.

A COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY AT LAST
by Andrea Murray

The University of Massachusetts Studio Arts Building stands as a gateway into campus. It’s right across the street from The Fine Arts Center, its fellow art department building. The new building that stands on one of the University’s most prime pieces of real estate has been in the works since the fall of 2002, when Chancellor John V. Lombardi committed to the idea. The SAB finally brings together various sectors of the university’s studio arts that were strewn about campus into one building. Bill Oedel, the chair of the Department of Art, led this journalist on a tour of the new facilities.

The new building is set to be open for classes in Fall 08’ but will host a few events in May and June. At this point the building is mostly finished; lighting and furniture and some amenities are all that is left to finish. The building is designed by well known, Cambridge based architects, Graham Gund Partnership Incorporated.

“Part of the idea behind the building is that work would be visible from outside. Folks coming by would see art and art being made,” says Bill Oedel.

The building’s color scheme can be summed up by white, maple, and metallic with splashes of color for good measure. One of the standout characteristics of the building is that many aspects of it are variable. Tables are on wheels with locking mechanisms. Ventilation systems can be adjusted to be near work locations. Certain walls throughout the building can be rotated or rolled back to open or close off spaces.

The building is shaped as two big arms stemming off of a large middle common space. The courtyard common area comes with an ample elevator and stairs and has an open feel with movable walls.

Upstairs, the common area has massive windows and supplies comfy chairs as well as café style tables and chairs for a dining area. This space will serve for gatherings such as art shows, guest lectures and other events. A vending area with a sink and cabinets is located off of the common area and will provide the opportunity for food to be served at events. There is a track lighting system in this room that is programmable so that students may use them for light based art. These are the lights that are currently visible from outside of the building.

The architects worked very closely with the campus’s environmental health and safety department to ensure sufficient needs were met. Students will find themselves hard pressed be limited by the endless possibilities in the updated facilities. The ventilation systems in the building are state of the art and are found throughout.

Most every department is supplied with ample storage spaces, cabinets, and sinks. Technicians will be located close by all work areas. The walls were created with a layer of plywood and then a sheetrock layer on top, which allows for work to be tacked up time and time again without ruining the walls.

The SAB will truly bring the studio arts together as a community on campus. The building will house digital arts, black and white photography, printmaking, ceramics, wood, metals, painting, and drawing. Undergraduate, graduate and faculty studios will all be under one roof, which serves to inspire collaboration and the exchange of ideas.

The move will free up spaces across campus in the some eight satellite art buildings. Oedel says that the Architecture + Design Program of the Art Department will gain a larger presence in the FAC as a result. The Department will generally not miss some of the spaces like the Art Barn and annexes that were temporary buildings.

“There was wildlife living there, birds and squirrels,” says Dan Wessman, a woodshop and photography technician at UMass.

A special room in the building is the spray room that allows students to use fixatives or spray paints inside in a very well ventilated room. No more will the FAC’s steps be marked up with spray paint paper outlines, or at least they won’t have to be.

There will also be a great digital based room that will have large scale digital printing capabilities. In addition to the typical print making facilities there is a printmaking dark room, which is used for polymers.

There is a 3-D sculpture wing. Rooms include a plaster and mixed media room, ceramics room, a throwing room, a clay instructional studio, clay prep and glazing room, and a kiln room, which will have 2 electric kilns and one gas kiln.

The 2-D department has several large workspaces, including a room just for oil paints. There are two large undergraduate studios that have high ceilings and partitioned mini rooms.
There is an amphitheater located outside of the building that Oedel says they hope all students will use. Close to the amphitheatre, there are three sculpture pedestals with lighting capabilities that could be used for display of art or critiques of student art.

The UMass website notes that this building will be one of the “greenest” on campus. It says that the building used sustainable materials, operable windows for natural ventilation, as well as energy and water conserving measures.

A good deal of the windows of rooms inside will be frosted, especially rooms where figure models would be used. There will be wireless Internet in the building and ample power and Internet ports as well. All instructional spaces will have the option for natural window lighting, partial light shades, and light blocking shades throughout. Digital projection systems will be installed in all major classrooms.

The building will remain open to the public throughout the day but will only be accessible via Ucard to those enrolled in SAB classes and staff after hours. The official address will be on Infirmary Way.

Andrea Murray can be reached at akmurray@student.umass.edu.

An Unexpected Heartache

2008-03-27T00:37:00.005-04:00

AN UNEXPECTED HEARTACHE

by Andrea Murray

“This isn’t working anymore.”

My stomach dropped.

I thought: could this really be the end?

It felt like losing my first love all over again. But she was just a friend.

For years I had confessed feelings to her, called her for comfort, and created memories with her. I didn’t want to throw it all away. Why did she seem so quick to dispose of what we had?

Mallory and I met in high school. I was a sophomore full of angst, shuffling through the hallways in my band patch adorned and tattered blue hoodie. She was a freshman in a ratty, black hoodie and black Dr. Martens boots, some fishnets thrown in for good measure. She had pink hair; barely there brows and she only listened to The Clash on vinyl. We hit it off. We shared eerily similar views, goals and moral standards. It was like having a personal Yes man by my side.

We had big dreams in high school: we would go to the Massachusetts College of Art together and soon after we’d get an apartment. I left Massart after my first year and our dream went out the window. I can’t help but think that she didn’t look at me the same way once our goals weren’t aligned.

We both met guys and began serious relationships around the same time during my freshman year at Massart. Two years later when winter hit, my relationship was hitting the skids shortly after hers did. I felt that I needed to be close to her during this time because she had already been going through the same process.

It seems to me that women couple up with others in a way. It doesn’t have to be monogamous; a girl can have a few best friends. You stake claim over them, feeling threatened by new girls that could replace you if you don’t continue to impress. I personally have a few, ones that I trust with my top-secret information, and come running to when I’m feeling overwhelmed with things. Mal was one of these. I thought that she had committed to me, and we would grow old together.

As an only child I may have latched onto Mal more than other friends would. I do this to all of my close friends, I firmly believe it to be part of my “only child syndrome”. I have no siblings and no close extended family and as a result I become so involved with my friends that to me, they are family. Mallory comes from a large, eccentric, close-knit family and perhaps this is one of the problems. We have both been getting different things out of this friendship all along.

I remember coming home on my spring break that year, only a week after my break up. Feeling lonely and hurt, I tried to spend my time with friends to get over it. I had made a plan with her far in advance. When it came down to the day, she bailed. Her roommate had a crisis and she felt that it was important that she be there for her. At the time I tried to understand it, but I couldn’t help but feel like Jan Brady.

When the days became longer and sunnier I had learned to rely on different friends through my recovery process. I still missed her and felt that she would have valuable insight into the grieving process. I just wanted to spend some quality time with her.

Bailed on many times that summer, I finally blew up on her one day. I had to tell her that I felt neglected by her and I felt that she didn’t consider my feelings anymore. It felt funny saying this to a friend, I had said this to my ex-boyfriend not too long before. We would have this same conversation at least five times over after this. Every time she ended it with, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you. We’ll hang out soon.”

That’s what he said.

The whole situation brought up thoughts and feelings that I was still dealing with concerning my ex-boyfriend. It seemed as if she had replaced me, like I had begun to think he did. She was “unintentionally” hurting me as he did. She even had this funny way of making me feel suddenly not good enough, just like him.

In the final blow we had this conversation yet again. For months I had tried to make plans with her. I was home on a sporadic weekend the next February and knew that she was too; a five-minute ride down the street. I tried contacting her multiple times that day.

She never called me back and finally I decided to confront her online, the only place that I had spoken to her in months. I really laid it out there, harsh and furious.

She told me that it wasn’t working anymore. It being “us,” in this friendship. I realized that she, no, we, had changed a lot. She had moved on. I was angry and hurt. I felt worthless - just as I had when he said he didn’t love me anymore.

Her words burned. As the tears began to roll down my cheek I realized what she had meant to me. She meant just as much if not more than my first love. It was deeper though, like losing the unconditional love of a parent, the kind you don’t really expect to lose. To me, girlfriends can be just as meaningful as lovers and family.

Since the break-up I’ve been sitting around with other friends, begging for them to talk me through it all; my bruised ego recovering with every warm comment informing me how great they think I am and how much I mean to them. We’ve only talked once since that day, and there seems to be hope for the future but not now. We need space.

For now I will cringe whenever I sign into Facebook and notice the new pictures of her having fun with the people she still cares about. Like the picture she just posted yesterday; her blowing out candles atop glowing white cupcakes that her new girlfriends baked for her twenty-first birthday. Or the picture of her in Japan next to badly translated advertisements with her sister. I could be there, in the picture with her, taking pictures of her, making memories again.

I hope to rekindle our lost flame. It once worked. But then familiar questions come up again; is it worth it? Does she deserve me? I have very much the same views about this relationship as I do about my last romantic relationship. As much as I have loved these people, as much time as I have invested in these relationships, are they really healthy anymore? I’d like them to be in my life still, yet it seems so hard to remain friends after a break-up.

I may not have her, but I still have a handful of close girlfriends who do appreciate me and make time for me.

There are many more fish in my sea.

Den Mother at UMass's Knowlton Dormitory

2008-03-11T19:51:00.003-04:00

I am thinking strictly in blogs tonight and I am burying my really recent and timely stories with these golden oldies. I posted 4 today, work through them all, don't be daunted by my ridiculous amount of posts within 3 hours. This was my first time interviewing someone and doing real reporting.

This is a short piece that I did for my News Writing class in the fall. The Northamptonist encouraged me to put it up and possibly continue with this sort of idea for a bigger UMass piece... soon... very soon I will, I hope.

MOTHER OF THREE IS THE DEN MOTHER IN KNOWLTON DORMITORY

by Andrea Murray

Karen Weatherby, 48, takes care of the University of Massachusetts dormitory, Knowlton, as if it is her own house. The residents are her kids in her second home. Monday through Friday she offers her guidance, friendship, comfort and most of all clean common areas to the residents of the building. Her job is especially important in the North East area of campus because Knowlton can receive up to 50 dormitory tours per day. What parents and future students see there can affect their decision to come to Umass.

Weatherby is a cheerful, soft-spoken woman who is eager to help anyone in any way she can. Her office is a direct extension of her personality with Winnie the Pooh collectibles, plants, a couch, and pictures of her grandchild on display. In her spare time she likes to play with and take care of her Yorkshire Terrier, spend time with her 7-year-old granddaughter, and create her own beaded jewelry.

She greets students that she bumps into leaving or coming into the building. For her, the best part about the job is the relationships that she builds with the girls who live there. Her favorite memories focus around the students that she gets to know the most; the ones who stay in her dormitory for their entire undergraduate life.

Weatherby lives in Orange and has worked at Umass for ten years. She got into this profession when her children all became enrolled in schools. Her shifts are 7:00 am until 2:45 pm, which works out perfectly for her as a mother. With that sort of schedule she can keep busy during days, and still get home early enough to spend time with her children and take care of her own house.

She keeps busy all day long but sometimes wishes that she had extra help to clean the rather large building. Weatherby finds it rewarding to get compliments from the girls about her work and it is rewarding for her to look at what she has accomplished.

Her job isn’t always so easy though. It would be a lie to say that Karen is hard to get along with, she is friendly to every student she meets. She can only recall one bad experience with a student.

“There was one girl, just this one time. We just clashed. She would put food and trash in the hallways right outside her door just so I’d have to pick it up.”

Other than this incident, she insists that Knowlton is generally a clean dorm and she hasn’t had any unusual messes to clean up.

Weatherby has worked at a variety of jobs. For over 20 years she was a hairdresser. She attended classes at the Rob Roy school for hair dressing in Worcester, MA. This was her favorite job but the hours made it hard to still have enough time for her family. Hairdressing had no benefits. This became an issue for her with a family to provide for. She says that she still dabbles in hair dressing for friends and family.

The first job that she had was working on a fishing boat in Plum Island passing out equipment to the workers. She did this throughout her high school years and said that it was fairly lucrative.

The job that she enjoyed the least was a temporary job working in a dark furniture factory. She originally had a different job there and then was demoted to fill in for someone else on the work line. She had to attach retail tags onto chairs all day.

“It just seems like thousands of chairs and you have to keep going and keep going and the belt just keeps going!” She compared it to the famous episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ethel work on a conveyor belt at a candy factory and get in over their heads.

Weatherby has gone through a lot of jobs to get to this point in her life. Now, as a building maintainer at Umass, she finds job security, benefits and a sense of respect from the students that appreciate what she does.

Gallery A-3 in Amherst Hosts "FOUND"

2008-03-11T19:23:00.006-04:00

This is an article back from October 23, 2007 that I never posted. I really liked doing this piece and kept meaning to put it up here. I should cover another open forum there soon. Anyway, sorry for the flood of posts tonight, now, if you read this at all, you have a lot to read.

Rebecca Muller speaking.

Sue Katz listening.

Some of Katz's work.

Overview of gallery.

Some of Muller's work.

GALLERY A-3 HOSTS KATZ AND MULLER'S "FOUND"
by Andrea Murray

Gallery A3 on Amity Street in downtown Amherst hosted an open forum with artists Sue Katz and Rebecca Muller last Thursday night. Katz and Muller's show "Found" is currently on display at the gallery. Friends and art lovers alike listened as Katz and Muller described their processes and how they felt about their own work.

Both Katz and Muller shared an attraction to timeworn materials. Their work is crafted from objects that are lost and eroded by weather and time. The objects come from a variety of places, including dumps and companies that are throwing out scraps of materials. They state that "Found," describes the process of discovery and the embrace of fortunate accidents in art.

"I was a potter for 20-25 years and my hands gave out and I said well, I'll be a fine artist," said Katz, a graphic design teacher at Greenfield Community College.

Katz, who has no formal training, describes her work not as painting or sculpture but as "constructs." Some of her most unique materials include fabric from a flea market in Kyoto, Japan and a worn yellow-divider strip from the road. She said that she is always thinking about technique, media and materials.

"I think being an artist is narcissistic. So I'm always asking about what I'm doing, how I could make a difference. I might know ahead of time what I'm doing but usually I don't," she said.

A trip to Japan heavily influenced her work. Japanese tatami mats became a fixation and inspiration for her work. She made a series of tatami-mat drawings in which she combined wax and spices to create the picture.

"I went to Japan and the first day we were there we went to an architect who reassembled old homes," she continued, "I walked into this living room [constructed with tatami mats] and I was overcome. It was so beautiful; a sense of harmony just hit me over the head."

The first attendee to speak up told Katz," I don't agree that art is narcissistic. So much of what we call culture is art. It doesn't solve world hunger but it certainly has an important place in the world."

Another audience member said that he could see her graphic design experience coming through in her work because it was so precise and organized. At first, Katz was a little upset that her work didn't seem organic.

"That's just the way you are and you work," a friend assured her.

Muller told Katz that she also doesn't always know what she's doing and doesn't always see the meaning in her work until the final product.

Rebecca Muller then switched places with Katz and began to talk about her work. She uses lots of mesh, copper rust, grids, wire and even old materials like water bubbles and cars. She described the juxtaposition of their work as improvisational versus composed and jazz versus classical.

Muller recognized that although she and Katz use very similar materials, their work couldn't be more different. Muller also described her work as out of the ordinary, saying she thinks of it as "3D paintings." She, too, is a former potter turned fine artist. She says that her favorite material is mesh and it is definitely seen throughout her work.

"I use mesh and the grid as repetitive patterns that create structure and order against which to improvise," she said. "I think that it [the mesh] embodies our lives."

She stressed that she barely ever buys her materials - they are almost always found. She likes to find materials on her own as opposed to others bringing them to her. She doesn't always find titles for her work until far after they're finished.

"After x and after y and after z, this is what is left. I don't think that's a negative thing," Muller said.

She went on to explain titles of specific works for those who asked, including "The Lesson of Sevens," "Has Beauty Been Enough" and "Slow, Clear, Voice."

Gallery A3 is located at 28 Amity Street 1D (around the corner from the Amherst Theatre) and is open from 1-7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. "Found" runs until Oct. 27.

Saving Our Treasure

2008-03-11T19:11:00.009-04:00

Here is an article that I wrote about the Pleasant Street Theater for my Magazine writing class. It may be in the Daily Collegian soon. I didn't get the paper back yet so... bear with me if you feel it needed to be better edited.

SAVING OUR TREASURES
by Andrea Murray

Silas Kopf, a young artist and his wife were visiting Northampton in 1978 when they happened upon a small theater in what looked like a storefront. Inside, they noticed the old brick wall in the tiny lobby that led into a large theater. “The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick” by the German director Wim Wenders was playing that night.

30 years later, Kopf recalls that he didn’t care much for the movie, but he loved that he was able to see it. After that night at the Pleasant Street Theater the couple decided to move to Northampton.

Recently Kopf has had to work to save his beloved theater. Lack of community patronage and support left the last owner, Bob Lawton, barely breaking even, often times losing revenue. In summer 2007 Lawton announced that he would have to sell the theater.

“I hope people realize that if they like certain amenities in the area then they have to do two things. First, they might have to just write a check annually,” says Silas Kopf, a Northampton furniture artist and campaigner of saving Pleasant Street Theater. “Or they have to just go out there and support it by buying a ticket. It’s like use it or lose it.”

Pleasant Street is the last access to regular film screenings for the city of Northampton. In 1994, Northampton’s Calvin Theatre closed its doors and stopped showing regularly scheduled films when it re-opened. In early 2007 the Academy of Music did the same and is now reserved for sporadic concerts and theatrical productions.

Three art cinema enthusiasts, Richard Pini, David Spencer and John Morrison founded The Pleasant Street Theater in 1976. In the spring of 1988 Morrison announced that they required a fundraiser to stay open. Over 250 members of the community donated $25,000 to save the theater then.

Silas and Linda Kopf and their friends Bruce and Rita Bleiman began an e-mail list advocating donations to the theater in summer 2007 after reading about the theater’s potential demise. The e-mail was sent to Rita Bleiman’s extensive city council e-mail list as well as friends and family of the group. Word spread fast. Kopf described it as a “viral campaign”. The Kopfs and the Bleimans turned to Carol Johnson, executive director of Amherst Cinema Arts Center, to see if she and her non-profit group would consider running the theater if the donations came in.

As soon as Amherst Cinema arts signed on the Kopfs and Bleimans realized that they were able to get more donations because of the tax deductibility. Hundreds of donations poured in to Amherst Cinema Arts Center in support of the Save Pleasant Street Theater campaign eventually totaling over $100,000 . The Northampton Center for the Arts picked up the campaign and donated $20,000 in proceeds from First Night in Northampton to the cause.

“I like that it’s kind of funky. It looks local. It isn’t something that you couldn’t easily translate into another community. You go in any shopping mall movie theater and they’re the same wherever you go in the United States. But this is unique to that building, I like that they arranged a movie theater in what was a storefront,” says Kopf. “It works for me. There are obviously things that could be nicer though. The theater downstairs is kind of odd, kind of dungeon like, but I think that all adds to the character of it and going to the movies there.”

Brian Foote, an employee of Unite Footwear and of The Academy of Music’s contingency plan, started the Facebook.com group “Save Pleasant Street Theater”. The group raised awareness and posted the contact information and circulating e-mail campaign of Kopf and friends. The group had nearly 2000 members at its peak.

“Everyone spends tons of time on computers now,” says Foote. “I feel that I can somehow be active politically through different causes by spreading awareness on the Internet.”

Too often communities don’t come together and support amenities. As a result countless historic and local theaters in other cities and states have closed down due to lack of support.

Indie theaters can no longer survive in the profit driven world of big businesses. Of the 570 Massachusetts theaters listed on cinematreasure.com only 108 or roughly 19 percent of these theaters are open or open/renovating. Cinematreasres.com is a website devoted to the preservation and awareness of movie theaters. As more movie theaters go into extinction the only viable option is to become non-profits.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA and the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY are examples of how well the non-profit model works. In being non-profit theaters they have the freedom to show documentaries, local artists’ movies, world cinema and first run independent films. They foster educational outreach programs and overall carry a big impact on the culture of their communities.

“It’s been around for as long as I can remember and it’s always sort of a get away from some of the larger theaters. I look forward to seeing their movies,” says Lisette Lopez, a native of Munson that frequently patronizes Pleasant Street Theater.

Carol Johnson, executive director of Amherst Cinema Arts Inc. says that on January 25, 2008, the re-opening night, the theater sold out for the movies “No Country for Old Men” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”. Richard Pini, one of the original founders of The Pleasant Street Theater came to the re-opening all the way from France. Johnson says that the support has been solid ever since. With the initial donations they spruced up the lobby and the restroom; redid plumbing; installed new speakers upstairs and down; and installed an online ticketing system that allows people to buy tickets in advance and pay with credit and debit cards. They also installed bigger screens upstairs and downstairs. Currently they’re making some upgrades to the projector systems themselves.

“Northampton really stepped up to provide the initial investment in theater but we are really counting on cinema lovers to support Pleasant Street on an on-going basis,” says Johnson.

The Pleasant Street Theater and many other non-profit movie theaters can only continue to survive through community support. Donations are welcome and needed on an on-going basis to make improvements for this cultural gem.

UMass Studio Arts Building Tour

2008-03-11T18:07:00.017-04:00

Yesterday I interviewed Bill Oedel, the chair of the UMass Arts Dept. I am in the process of writing a rather long article about the new Studio Arts Building on campus for the UMass Daily Collegian's Art and Lifestyle magazine coming out in mid April called "The Minute". He took me on a tour of the entire building. I took a lot of pictures from inside the building which is not yet open. It won't be open for classes till fall but there may be a lecture or two there in late April or early May.

I would and will describe the building as beachwood, white, and metallic all over.

The ceilings have a lot of piping, there is an immense amount of work put into this building. It has state of the art ventilation systems.
A great deal of the rooms had emergency showers and eye cleaning stations. Again, very up and up on safety codes.

This is a new kiln, a man was assembling it while I was there.

This was a very interesting part of the building and it is a repeat concept. The idea that walls and tables should be very moveable. These could be turned to close off that section into another room, rotated to display work for critique or just partially close off rooms.

The idea here was opening this section of the hallway into a mini classroom. On the steps to the left of the stairs, it is a sort of stadium seating and across on the wall work could be put up for critique. They made great use of the hallway areas. Most of the walls in the building were created with plywood and then a layer of Sheetrock, work can be nailed or tacked up and the walls can be repeatedly spackled if need be, very sturdy and art forward.

These were in a few rooms, the 2-d painting wing specifically. I LOVE THESE. They are so varied and tall that they will accommodate the ongoing process of so many different shaped works. Great idea I think.

New wood shop facilities. Oedel told me that the department has taken a cut in the size of their accommodations for this but the new ones are beautiful and so much more safety conscious. The yellow pipping systems are all ventilation systems, which are also movable depending on where the yet again movable tables are placed.

These three shots are all from the main lobby area upstairs. It can be used as a place to hold lectures, has movable display paneling, and is equipped as a cafe area for daily use. GREAT area, high ceilings, massive windows. Everything is very open in the building. Oedel said that one of the concepts was to be able to see art and art being made from outside of it.

Two bathroom pictures, one single stall, one multiple stalls. Men's looked the same, very clean and fun. I love the color scheme of it.

These are two views from inside the undergraduate studios, there are two in total. They are both very large rooms with enormous ceilings and partitioned mini rooms in varying shapes, all have open tops which is nice because it allows privacy yet one cannot feel confined in there. Graduate studios were in other parts of the building, mostly just smaller separate rooms, all the rooms are different shapes or sizes in the building, keeps it interesting. A few graduate studios will accommodate doubles and quads.

This is a shot from in the control room for all of the varying equipment in the building. It is a very large room I assure you, these metallic pipings are all over and in massive sizes. Ah, the staircase, my final walk down the stairs of this fine building until next fall when I hope to take a digital silk screening class in the facilities. The digital facilities were great, ample internet and electric plugs ALL OVER this building. I hope by now that you've gotten a feel for the building. I am psyched for it.

This building holds endless opportunities to the studio arts of UMass, the building itself is so mold able. I thank Bill Oedel for the tour and talking with me, I don't think I would have as much enthusiasm for the building without being able to see it first hand.

Give Kale a Chance

2008-02-19T19:07:00.004-05:00

A man in a suit and tie stands at the counter of Earthfoods Café, and hands his large Tupperware container over the counter.

He asks only for a large serving of kale.

Kale? That dark green, leafy, sometimes tough relative of the cabbage family?

Yes, kale may not be the most respected vegetable on the planet, but at UMass and other places, it’s becoming increasingly popular. A large serving of kale that takes up half of a plate only costs $1.50 at Earthfoods, and the café serves about 200 pounds of it each week. The health benefits pile up as big as the heaping servings there.

Kale is not a familiar vegetable for most people but it is easy to grow and support locally in New England. Kale is gaining a following among those concerned with health of the planet and themselves.

Kale is a leafy green that descends from wild cabbage. It has been around for nearly two thousand years. The Greeks and pre-Catholic Romans grew several varieties of kale. It comes from the vegetable family called Brassica, which includes its better-known siblings cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

“People are really jazzed about local food,” says Emily French, a BDIC major focusing on agriculture.

French, in collaboration with Adam Dole, has helped to run the organic kale farm, Common Wealth, on UMass property in South Deerfield. She estimates that in the fall they collected between 120 and 250 pounds of kale per week to supply Earthfoods with local kale as long as they could. Things went so well this past fall with Earthfoods that French’s project is expanding this spring to provide onions, carrots, lettuce, beets, garlic and leeks for them. French admits to becoming a bit spoiled as a result.

“I don’t really eat a lot of kale in the spring because now I’ve had really good local kale,” says French.

Kale is a native vegetable to northern Europe and the British Isles and has been an important vegetable to the British and Scots in the present and past. When World War II began the “Dig for Victory” campaign was launched in Britain. Citizens were encouraged to plant essential crops in their gardens to provide their own food. Kale was chosen as one of the essential vegetables for this campaign because of its impressive nutritional value that complemented meager rations. After the war, kale faded into the diets of yesteryear.

Kale is considered to be one of the most highly nutritious vegetables because it is high in vitamins A, B6, B1, B, C, and E. It is a good source of iron, manganese, fiber, copper, folic acid, calcium and antioxidants. Kale has also been shown to have high levels of phytonutrients, which are natural chemicals in produce that may fight cancer. Kale has also been said to be a tumor deterrent. It has no cholesterol and a cup of the cooked greens only has 36 calories.

“It is extremely rich in iron and vitamins, it’s beautiful to look at and I really love the taste of it,” says Adam Dunetz of the Green Bean restaurant in Northampton.

Adam Dunetz and his partner in life as well as business, Liz Karney, own The Green Bean restaurant in Northampton, a two-month old breakfast and lunch café. Karney is a former UMass Earthfoods team member and she and Dunetz continue to share their love of kale at their budding business. One of the few, possibly only restaurant in the area with kale on their menu, Dunetz says that it has been a big surprise sensation among customers.

“Green eggs is probably our best selling dish in the whole restaurant. We sell more kale than probably anything else on the menu,” Dunetz confessed.

The name Green Eggs does not sound appetizing, but it certainly grabs attention. On the Green Bean Menu “Green Eggs and...” is a breakfast dish that consists of a choice of breakfast meat that accompanies three eggs, kale or collard greens, a spot of garlic, and a pinch of salt all blended together then scrambled in a pan and topped with Vermont cheddar cheese.

“I put it (kale) on (the menu) because how could Liz and I not?” Dunetz asked. “We eat so much kale in our own lives. It was sort of an experiment and as it turns out people are ravenous for kale.”

Dunetz was also quick to cite the benefits of buying local. When the kale is bought locally it helps to support local farmers and the local economy. Besides, freshly- picked kale tastes a lot better than kale that has been sitting in a box for a week.

“I can say that about nine months out of the year we’re going to be able to buy it locally,” Dunetz says.

Unless you’ve tried kale at Earthfoods, the only other place you may have seen it was garnishing your plate at restaurants. Ornamental pink, purple and white kale is nice to look at, but is not as tasty as the leafy varieties.

The wide variety of kale makes for an interesting array of uses. Popular ways to prepare kale include raw and washed, steamed, blanched, or sautéed. Certain types of kale like Tuscan kale are better suited for salads. Red Dino and curly kales are better as a side dish prepared to your liking. Kale can be used in soups, pasta tosses, salads, or just alone. Cooked kale is great with balsamic vinegar and oil, tahini sauce, or any preferred dressing.

So c’mon, what have you got to lose, give kale a chance.

WGA Strike Lingers On

2008-02-18T11:47:00.004-05:00

This was in the Collegian on February 1.

Heading into week 13 of the Writer's Guild of America strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the first question on one's mind is probably this: When is a new episode of "The Office" coming on?

And rightfully so - viewers have been waiting weeks to see what becomes of the budding romance between Jim and Pam while they battle the dark Sith Lord known as Dwight K. Schrute. Let's be reasonable, though, something more important is going on, right? Oh, yes, the WGA is a union of real people with real demands that need to be negotiated. So you've heard about the strike, but do you really know what the strike is about, what the demands are?

Let's first take a look back at the 1988 WGA strike. The 1988 strike began on March 7 and ended 22 weeks and six days later on August 8 - the longest writer's strike in history. The strike cost the American Entertainment industry an estimated $500 million dollars at the time. Even though it was the longest in history, its effects were not as harsh as the current strike due to timing.

They had similar demands, such as a bigger share of new technologies profits like today's writers. The AMPTP demanded that the WGA accept a sliding fee scale for domestic hour-long syndicated re-runs, while the WGA demanded a bigger slice of the foreign-sales pie. This strike ended in negotiation on both sides when the demands were fulfilled.

The current 2007-2008 WGA strike has come during prime television production season. The new demands include an increase in payment for writers' recycled or original work distributed on new media at an across-the-board rate of 2.5 percent of revenue as opposed to the current varying rates that are dependent on usage.

Where does this leave the current state of network TV? It's caught right smack in that dreadful place known as limbo. Shows like the "The Office" and "Grey's Anatomy" have shut down production in the middle of their current seasons. The last strike had a significant impact on the size of TV audiences. This could create a potential problem for new shows like "Pushing Daisies" and "Cashmere Mafia," which have ceased production mid-season as they are just beginning to build their audiences.

It is said that the 1988 WGA strike may have been in part responsible for the cancellation of shows like "Moonlighting" and "Kate and Allie."

The strike also affects support staff jobs in film and TV. Some have already been laid off, and there is potential for more dismissals as the strike continues.

David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, struck an interim deal on December 28, 2007 and went back into production, saving the jobs of all writers and support staff. Other late night TV shows such as "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" produced by their respective networks cannot strike deals with the WGA, and went back into production without their writers.

On January 7, 2008, Comedy Central shows "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" went back into production without writers as well. It was initially rumored that Stewart's production company had struck a deal to pay writers out of pocket, but a spokesperson for Stewart has denied this on several occasions.

As an act of solidarity, both shows have tweaked their titles for the time being. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" has become "A Daily Show with Jon Stewart" while the Ts in "The Colbert Report" - which are usually silent - have been pronounced.

Don't lose hope, however. There could be an end in sight. It was announced Jan. 25, 2008, that the WGA has made an interim agreement with "Lions Gate" and "Marvel Studio." Many critics are saying they believe the strike could be over within two weeks. Similar upbeat news in early December ended with both the WGA and AMPTP ceasing negotiations all together.

It is believed that whenever the strike ends it could still take anywhere two to six weeks for halted shows to air their first post-strike episodes. The longer the strike goes on, the more unlikely it is that many TV shows will continue production at all this season. If the strike lasts another 60 to 90 days, it will definitely affect next fall's TV lineup and pilot productions.

Until your favorite show comes back on there are plenty of ways to pass the time. For instance, use the Internet to catch old episodes that you've missed. You could read a book - or become a "COPS" fanatic.

Andrea Murray can be reached at akmurray@student.umass.edu.

Travel Writing Story

2007-11-09T19:09:00.005-05:00

When I strayed from my surroundings to Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, I was in for some disappointments and surprises. This was my first and only time on a plane. A free trip, paid for by my then current beau’s father, to a tropical location, held a lot of promise. Nassau was completely different than anywhere else that I had been.

In Nassau, I was shocked at how little there was for me, a vegetarian, to eat. My first problem that I encountered was that any affordable place to eat more or less only offered conch and crab, which I detest and don’t eat either. The only place that was affordable for me to eat at was a Sbarro Pizza, a U.S. chain, that was significantly more expensive in the Bahamas. This was a huge disappointment because I couldn’t enjoy much cultural food on my tight budget besides some rum cake.
Almost everything in the Bahamas was expensive. Despite this, most of the buildings in downtown Nassau were run-down and decrepit; shockingly, some were not even open or remotely prepared for business. I only found one shop that was actually affordable, where I bought all of my souvenir presents. My true triumph there was some successful bartering with a local on the price of a necklace.

Being a 20 year-old female and a 19 year-old male from the U.S., we made sure to take advantage of their low drinking age. This was a foreign experience for me, ordering a drink, at dinner, or even at a bar; I still had another year to go for this experience at home
The icing on the cake was waltzing into casinos and playing penny slots. I know that I do not look my age, I am both blessed and cursed with a “baby face”, so it felt strange that no one would question our presence or ask for an I.D. When we hopped over to Paradise Island and went to their famous Atlantic casino, a casino worker approached us at our respective slot machines. I began to rummage through my bag for my I.D., but instead he offered me a Long Island Iced Tea.

Going in the ocean was another shock. As a New Englander, I was used to merely dipping my feet into the icy waters. Cable Beach in Nassau was exquisite with white sand and clear blue water. The water was warm and at the same time cool and refreshing. My favorite memories there were spending time on the beach, where I even drank a Bahama Mama out of a coconut that was cut open right in front of me.

Coming home to the frigid waters of Massachusetts and Maine was a slap with reality. The people of Nassau have a laid back attitude that makes you feel free. With the right amount of money, I’m sure that anything is possible there. If only I hadn’t passed up that booze cruise that the “Captain” offered me.

Hanlyn Davies

2007-10-17T00:39:00.001-04:00

Daily Collegian piece by me, HERE.

Rachel Baker Fashion Masochist

2007-10-17T00:10:00.001-04:00

THE FASHION MASOCHIST

by Andrea Murray

Rachel Baker looks casual cool as she nibbles on a grilled tenderloin salad at Stephanie’s on Newbury St. Most onlookers would not suspect her modest beginnings in Jackson, Mississippi. Years ago, Baker says, a second grade Baker started her own class newspaper and appointed herself the editor. Today Baker, 23, is the newest editor of Boston Magazine’s city style section. She did not have to go through a The Devil Wears Prada like job to get to it though. Baker owes her success to doing a few internships during her college years at Boston University. She loves her job and has accomplished a lot in her life and career already.

Baker’s story demonstrates the value of internships in securing a journalism job after graduation. Baker interned at Boston magazine for her spring semester her senior year at BU. The magazine asked her to stay with them for the summer as a bit more than an intern. Although no positions had opened up, she had made herself indispensable to the magazine. When the summer was nearing its end, Baker was about to move to New York City to start looking for a job. The magazine asked Baker if she would take the position as city style editor at just the right moment.

“I had worked with the style director, Alyssa, and Sasha and they both knew me really well. But the editor in chief makes the decision. I was incredibly highly recommended but he still wanted to make sure that I would be right for the magazine as a whole,” Baker said.

After interviewing with the editor in chief, Baker secured her job and decided to stay in Boston.

“It changes. That’s one of the great things about this job,” Baker said.

Baker says that on a typical day as the editor of the city style section she usually starts off by answering e-mails from staff and readers. She then meets with staffers and writers about the section and goes to photo shoots. Later on she goes out on the street to gather information. It can always change though. She finds it hard to sit down and edit stories during her day so usually she does it at night or on the weekends.

“It’s a full time job. It never stops. It’s never nine to five. Sometimes it’s nine to ten. It’s a lot of work on the weekend. Its definitely a lifestyle,” she said.

Baker loves that her job enables her to get to know the city really well. She has full access to important events. The city is her “oyster.” Baker writes about trends, store and restaurant openings, products, style and fashion. A lot of the information that she needs can only be found on the street by interviewing people and staying in touch with what is going on in town. She often times meets people that she never would have gotten the chance to meet otherwise.

“Right now I’m working on a feature story that’s 5,000 words long. I’m working with a celebrity life coach who might be the next Oprah or Dr. Phil. She has a radio show and a TV deal,” Baker went on to say, “Her name is Mel Robbins and people think she is going to be really famous. It’s cool whether she becomes famous or not to have access to her life and be a fly on the wall.”

Baker is constantly faced with new challenges at her job. She often times finds herself doing things that are completely foreign to her. She has done public appearances as well as TV and radio work for her job.

“It can be really overwhelming,” she said, “and it’s really hard to have a life outside of work. But it’s a great job.”

Baker created her own destination page at the magazine called Fashion Masochist when she was just an intern. She says that when skinny jeans first started coming out again, she had a pair that was so skinny that she couldn’t even move. She randomly wrote an article about that experience and that trend. When she was officially hired, the editors told her how much they loved that story and asked her to do more like it. She continues to write this column at present. This column requires her to try out new trends first hand and report on the outcomes and overall experience. She has been told that readers really look forward to this page each month.

Although Baker usually writes about light-hearted subjects, sometimes those stories can be unexpectedly serious. In her story, Secrets of an Under Cover Browser, Baker dressed as four different characters; a frumpy mid-western girl, a gothic girl who had burned her clothes, a pregnant teen southerner, and a northern European heiress complete with an entourage and limo. Each character went to the same designer stores on Newbury Street.

“When I was treated badly, we wrote about it,” she revealed, “Some of the stores got really pissed that we had done it. I think it gave us creditability because we didn’t just write nice things.”

Baker has great luck; after writing one of her articles a rare thing happened.

“I did this story on this a capella group at BU, The Abbeys. I got this call and it was a Hollywood agent who wanted to make it into a movie. We ended up negotiating a deal and a screenwriter bought it, ” she tells.

She says that a lot of the things that she does in her spare time directly relate to her job such as going to concerts, shopping, and keeping in touch with other magazines. She reads New York, Vogue and Elle. She loves men’s magazines the most such as Details, GQ, and Esquire.

“I like the voice. They are funny, they talk to the reader like the reader is funny and knows what is going on. The features are really insightful and important. They’re really well written,” Baker remarks.

The growing pressures of online journalism have affected her at work. She is not technologically advanced but is already being approached about blogging for her magazine. Baker will soon be in charge of a daily blog for her City Style section.

Baker is back to the office as soon as the interview is over. She doesn’t have much time to spare; her work is never done.