The Sex Issue 2014
Sexpert Advice from Cabot’s Counselors; Charlie Eichacker Gets Knotty; Dinner and Desire in Montréal
Obituary: Garnett Mumley Tarantino
Garnett Mumley Tarantino, 90, a resident of this area for much of her lifetime, passed away peacefully Monday morning, March 3, 2014 at her Pillsbury Manor residence in S. Burlington with loving family at her side. Born in Alburgh, February 21, 1924, she was the daughter of the late Edward and Elizabeth (Carpentier) Mumley. She…
Obituary: Charles Edward Brace
Charles Edward Brace, age 54 years, a lifelong resident of this area, passed away Wednesday February 26, 2014, at his home with his loving family by his side, after a short battle with cancer. Born in St. Albans November 30, 1959, he was the son of late Fredrick “Manny” and Edilene (Cook) Brace. He attended…
Obituary: Charles E. Holbrook
Mr. Charles E. Holbrook, 89, a lifelong resident of Swanton, passed away Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at Franklin County Rehab in St. Albans following a long illness. Born in Swanton, November 25, 1924 the son of Homer and Bernadette (Fournier) Holbrook, Charles was a graduate of Swanton High School and went on to faithfully serve…
One Main Tap and Grill to Open; Claire’s to Close; Ramen Displaced
Randolph’s dining renaissance continues. In mid-March, the town’s historic Union Block will become home to a new hangout when One Main Tap and Grill opens at 2 Merchants Row. Owners Shane Niles and Josh Niebling have collaborated on various businesses over the years. “This was just the best location, right in the center of town,…
I Want to Sleep With My Friend But She Has Herpes
Dear Athena, My platonic friend and I have discussed becoming intimate. We have known each other 17 years, and I guess it was inevitable things would come to this. We’ve only met once; our entire friendship has been through online chats, emails and phone calls. I would love to sleep with her, except that she…
Two Cabot ‘Sexperts’ Rekindle Relationships
When a sexually stressed couple shows up at the Cabot homestead of Dr. Israel and Cathie Helfand, typically one of the pair is planning to leave the relationship. It’s not uncommon for that one to have a lover waiting in the wings for the union to tank, and to assume that couples’ therapy is just…
3 Days to Kill
Like many people who love movies, I’ve been thinking about Philip Seymour Hoffman a lot lately. What astonishing work. His death just this side of 50 left us with so many question marks about roles that might have been. A thought I had as I watched the latest from Kevin Costner, who’s just this side…
Letters to the Editor
Corrections There was an error in the headline on last week’s school-budget story by Kevin J. Kelley. It read: “Pass or Fail? Burlington Could Say No to a 9.9 Percent School Budget Increase.” As the story made clear, it’s a 9.9 percent tax increase. The article also misstated pay raises for teachers; they will receive…
Gloria
Most of us know Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit version of “Gloria,” a perversely upbeat anthem for a woman with serious emotional issues. But the earworm tune originated in 1979 with Umberto Tozzi’s “Gloria,” a love song with lyrics that paid unironic tribute to its subject. Tozzi’s is the version of “Gloria” heard in this Chilean…
Opinion: Should Rape Victims Get Custody Rights?
At his sentencing, Ariel Castro — the madman who kidnapped, imprisoned and repeatedly raped three girls over 11 years — suggested he could file for parental rights to the child born of one of those assaults. The judge summarily quashed the fantasy. Any such arrangement, he understated, “would be inappropriate.” Still, Castro was technically correct.…
Art Review: TR Ericsson at BCA Center
One way to approach Brooklyn artist TR Ericsson’s multimedia installation at the BCA Center is to consider what it is not. “Crackle & Drag: Film Index” is not the kind of exhibit that radiates instant accessibility. Instead of individual works of finished craft, the show is an “archive of personal artifacts” that are “deteriorating,” according…
WTF: Are There Catamounts in Vermont?
On February 18, a reader emailed Seven Days an intriguing photo: a cat slinking through snowy woods near Groton State Forest. A pretty large cat. “I live in Cabot and was driving down my dirt road yesterday when I spotted a juvenile mountain lion in the road,” wrote the sender. “It ran in front of…
Hanna Satterlee’s Dance Company Explores Its Inner ‘Animal’ in a Two-Year Project
“Owl. Snake. Newt? Large feline.” Those were among the words I jotted in my notepad while hanging out on the sidelines of the Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio in Montpelier on a blustery afternoon last week. I was there to see a rehearsal of Animal (Draft #1), the solo choreography debut from Hanna Satterlee, director…
Oil & Vinegar Dispensary to Open in Montpelier
Montpelier will soon gain a new taproom — but it won’t be pouring porters or IPAs. Instead, the owners of alla vita plan to supply the Capital City with high-quality vinegars and extra-virgin olive oils when they open their retail shop and take-out lunch spot at 27 State Street next week. Co-owner Adrienne Brownlee says…
Dartmouth’s Student Thespians Deliver a Dark and Defiant ‘Spring Awakening’
Rock and roll is unequaled for expressing sex, dreams and youth. Authoritarian adults, especially the Victorian kind, excel at oppressing all of the above. Let the creative anachronisms begin: Spring Awakening superimposes rock music on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play exploring teenage sexual stirrings in the repressive atmosphere of the German bourgeoisie. The mix is risky,…
John Daly Trio, ‘John Daly Trio’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) John Daly would seem to be a quiet fellow, the kind of musician who prefers to let his music speak for itself. For example, his eponymous trio’s debut EP arrived at the Seven Days offices recently in a plain package containing none of the promotional fanfare typical of new releases —…
Master of Drone: Minimalist Composer Phill Niblock to Perform at Dartmouth College
Composer Phill Niblock’s upcoming performance at Dartmouth College, presented by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, will almost certainly press the “reset” button on many an eardrum. The New York composer’s minimalist music pulsates and drones, enveloping listeners in lush waves of pure sound that are not only heard but felt — not least because…
Banjo Dan & the Mid-nite Plowboys, ‘Caught in the Act! Very Live Recordings 1975-2010’
(Self-released, CD) When Banjo Dan & the Mid-nite Plowboys called it quits in September 2012, they ended a 40-year career that likely ranks as the longest run of any band in Vermont history, bluegrass or otherwise. During that span, the Plowboys played all across the country, around the globe and at just about every club,…
A New Curator of African Art at the Hood Begins to Make His Mark
Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art is recognized by specialists as having one of the most extensive African art collections of any teaching museum in North America. The Hood’s holdings of about 1900 objects from all corners of the continent will soon be better known to Upper Valley residents, while likely drawing visitors from afar,…
Eating Insects for Dinner Could Save the World
Rachael Young has been getting a lot of attention for her culinary explorations. But the founder of the pro-entomophagy organization Eat Yummy Bugs is, more than anything, a conservationist. “It informs everything I do,” she says. Much of what Young does these days is spread the word that not only are insects delicious, but eating…
Thoughts About Mardi Gras
This weekend, Burlington braces for the 19th annual Magic Hat Mardi Gras Parade. If you’re new to town or otherwise have somehow missed the parade for each of its previous 18 years, here’s what you can roughly expect to see on the afternoon of Saturday, March 1, when thousands upon thousands of revelers descend on…
In Burlington’s New North End, a Longtime Resident Takes On a Titan
In the living room of a Shore Road home in Burlington’s Ward 4, a city council candidate is calling for more business growth and control of school spending. Is it Kurt Wright, the self-described “centrist” Republican state representative seeking to reclaim the seat he held for 10 years before making a third unsuccessful run for…
Order Up! An Old-School Deli Counter Is at the Heart of Burlington’s Changing South End
At lunchtime, the line at the Pine Street Deli counter isn’t a line at all. On a Thursday afternoon, a dozen people cluster in no discernible pattern, eyeing menus and waiting to be called forward. The group includes twentysomethings in hoodies, a man in loafers talking on his cellphone, a worker in stained overalls and…
How a Balloon Fetish Inflates a Rutland Man’s Life
Leather or latex, high heels or handcuffs — when it comes to fetishes, “You can attach your erotic needs to just about anything,” says Burlington clinical sexologist Gale H. Golden. For Chris Burney, “anything” happens to be balloons. And for years, Burney, who turns 30 this week, kept that kink a secret, convinced that no…
Political Feuding Fuels South Burlington Council Races
The politics have gotten so bitter in the run-up to South Burlington’s city council elections that even past allies are feuding. The acrimony that has roiled council deliberations for the past two years could linger long after voters pick two of their five representatives next week. The verbal warfare is particularly intense in a three-way…
A Gay Transgender Inmate Sues for Passion in Prison
For Martin Morales, life behind bars in Vermont isn’t always dreary and uneventful. At times, she says, it’s been a “beautiful experience of self-discovery” of her sexual orientation and gender identity — the ultimate in forbidden love. Morales, a 24-year-old biological male who self-identifies as gay and female, describes romantic encounters that at times sound…
Teachers’ Pet: The Vermont-NEA Polishes An Apple For Single Payer
Nearly two months into the legislative session, the scene at the Statehouse remains unusually slow. It’s the calm before the storm. Next spring, if Gov. Peter Shumlin gets his way, the legislature will vote on a historic, expensive and politically perilous bill to finance the governor’s long-sought goal of providing universal health insurance. But to…
A Winooski Photographer Finds Business in Boudoir
In the living room of a modest family home in Colchester, Michael Rork stares intently at his iPad, flipping through image after image of suggestively posed ladies in various states of undress. Clad in racy garter belts, demure negligées or pin-up-inspired sailor dresses, the women in the photographs pout, wink and smile from the screen.…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The battles you’ve been waging these last 10 months have been worthy of you. They’ve tested your mettle and grown your courage. But I suspect that your relationship with these battles is due for a shift. In the future they may not serve you as well as they have up until…
A Reporter Explores Burlington’s Kink Scene
When I first heard that members of Vermont’s kink scene gather for a monthly event known as the Twisted Munch, it didn’t occur to me that such a function could be, well, boring. Sure, the Munch’s organizers did advertise its non-X-rated nature. On a page created for the event at FetLife.com, a social networking site…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again A man aroused suspicion by repeatedly calling a post office in Nashville, Tenn., asking if a package had arrived. When it did show up, postal workers inspected it and found it reeked of marijuana. They alerted police, who arrested Terrell Mills, 24, when he came to claim the package, which contained 10…
Montréal Restaurant Átame Feeds More Than One Kind of Appetite
Gaston Barcelo has tried it all: horny goat weed, muira puama, kava. He’s swallowed Viagra and Cialis for the cause. In fact, the restaurateur says he’s experimented with more than 50 different substances known for aphrodisiac properties over the past three years. Barcelo has no problems with his own potency, he notes — he just…
Seafood and Argentine Food Headed to Cherry Street
The latest addition to Burlington’s mini Cherry Street restaurant row will arrive this spring, hopefully by the end of April, says chef Douglas Paine. Construction of Bleu Northeast Seafood is in progress at the Marriott Courtyard Burlington Harbor. The restaurant will join Juniper, also helmed by Paine, and Hen of the Wood, both located next…
After Three Years of Self-Imposed Silence, Rachel Ries Returns
In 2008, singer-songwriter Rachel Ries (pronounced “reese”) had most everything she thought she’d ever want. She had recorded two successful records, cut a new one, Country E.P., with Anaïs Mitchell, and was bringing more fans under the spell of her articulate, jazz-inflected folk. Which does little to explain why she walked away. Now, after three…
Capital Fireworks: Incumbent, Ousted Employee Spar in Montpelier Mayor’s Race
The nation’s smallest state capital is gearing up for its biggest and most contentious election in recent memory. Up and down the ballot, contested races abound — from park commissioner to city councilor. Generating the most light and heat is the race for mayor, which features the city’s recently fired planning director and the man…
