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Stagestruck: Closing the Gender Gap
Every year I take note of the plays I’ve seen that are written and/or directed by women, and those that revolve around a woman (or women). For me, these are key indicators of progress in achieving...
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Electrifying the Vinyl: Electric Eye Records in Florence is a vinyl lover’s...
That slight scratching sound the needle makes when you gently place it on the record. The brief static that comes through the speakers before the music hits. Then: bam! Just like magic, music emerges...
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News of the Weird: The Future of Travel
Australian aviator David Mayman has promised investors that his personal jet packs will hit the market by mid-2017, though early adopters will pay about $250,000 for one, to fly a person at up to 60...
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The Pour Man: Cheap Chianti for Sophisticated Adults
My first recollection of Chianti, as it is for many people, was the iconic straw-wrapped bottle, not the wine. Occasionally, an unopened bottle would show up at our house, usually a gift from a friend...
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Third Eye Roaming: Only the Yoga Should be Hot
Studio owner Audrey Blaisdell says she fell for the yoga behind Bikram, not the “cultish belief system.” It became necessary to draw the line, she says, about a year ago. Prospective students came to...
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Cinemadope: All Together Now
Whatever your thoughts are about the outcome of last month’s election, it seems fair to say that a Trump presidency will be less welcoming of — if not downright hostile to — many of the world’s...
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If Trump can be President… A list of other unlikely job pairings
Since the election of Donald Trump, anything seems possible. Pigs can fly, hell can freeze over, your parents will apologize for that thing they did a long time ago (you know the one), ravens are...
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Free Will Astrology: Jan. 5 – 11, 2017
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Light, electricity, and magnetism are different expressions of a single phenomenon. Scottish scientist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was the first to...
View ArticleScene Here: The Force … Is Getting Sleepy
More than 100 people stake out a plot of land at Pulaski Park in Northampton on this crisp Wednesday night for an outdoor screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. At the event kicking off this year’s...
View ArticleThe V-Spot: I’m Dating Three Women; Does That Make Me Polyamorous?
I’m a 38 yo male currently involved with three women. One is a long distance relationship. We met at a concert and had one night together and stayed in touch. We speak regularly on various chat and...
View ArticleBetween the Lines: Domestic Violence in the Next Tent Over
A few weeks ago I was at a campground when I heard something going on in the adjacent tent: a woman’s voice softly saying “ow” and “you hit me,” and every now and then a muffled grunt from a man. I was...
View ArticleMELTing the Pain Away: Breakthrough self treatment to relieve chronic pain
Kerrie Bodendorf, a 47 year-old mother of three from Westfield, had all but given up hope of finding relief for her debilitating chronic back pain, which often confined her to her couch for weeks at a...
View ArticleScene Here: Rent Rally
Several dozen protesters gathered this past Friday at Mason Square in Springfield, chanting What Do We Want? Affordable Housing! When Do We Want It? Now! and carrying signs down State Street — through...
View ArticleDeported from a Sanctuary?
The debate over immigration reform isn’t new, but it’s taken center stage in the 2016 presidential campaign. Republican candidate Donald Trump has made it a central part of his campaign and recently...
View ArticleBike On: Massachusetts invests in bike lanes, but construction funding dips
Massachusetts is among the top five states where bicycle ridership is growing, but it lags in developing the infrastructure to keep riders safe. The lack of bike lanes and trails is a nationwide...
View ArticleMillion Dollar Quartet: Four legendary musicians, one fateful day
It sounds like the beginning of a joke: So, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis walk into a recording studio …. But in December of 1956, this foursome just happened to all be...
View ArticleNightcrawler: The Big E … DM
Any calendar will tell you Sept. 22, is the official date of the fall equinox — which is fine, for those astronomically-correct types. But this year, I prefer to think of the solstice as happening on...
View ArticleGot Weed Questions? Advocate-sponsored marijuana legalization forum Thursday,...
Marijuana legalization is up for a binding vote on Nov. 8, and people still have a lot of questions about what legal weed would mean for Massachusetts’ residents, economy, and law enforcement. On...
View ArticleOne Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer: George Thorogood and the Destroyers take...
If anyone can lay claim to writing the neo American classic drinking songbook, it’s George Thorogood and The Destroyers. The band’s hits include “I Drink Alone,” “If You Don’t Start Drinkin’,” “Bad to...
View ArticleNews of the Weird: Frontiers of Science
Large kidney stones typically mean eye-watering pain and sudden urinary blockage until the stone “passes” (often requiring expensive sound-wave treatment to break up a large stone). Michigan State...
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