Apr 24-28, 2019
Recipes for Success From Seven Long-Lived Vermont Restaurants; Burlington Police Chief Brandon Del Pozo Bucks Homicide Finding; An Encounter With Burlington’s Cuddle Collective
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Recipes for Success From Seven Long-Lived Vermont Restaurants
In his 1980 novel Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins pondered the question “What makes love stay?” The answer: Lasting love is actually a crapshoot, but working hard at loving seems to improve the chances of success. The same question could be asked about restaurants: What makes them last? We’ve all seen great ones fizzle…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: The Governor’s Three Wishes
The stage is set for final negotiations. Gov. Phil Scott made it clear this week that he’s open to having a taxed and regulated cannabis market, as long as three conditions are met. He wants cities and towns to have the ability to opt out of the market; to implement a roadside saliva test that…
Seriously: Dear Champ
In this episode, Bryan discusses clean water funding with his longtime friend and pen pal, Champ the Lake Monster. CREDITS Written filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Additional Champ groans by: Jenna Pacitto Artwork photography by: Tim Newcomb, Sasha Goldstein, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Logo/art direction: Don Eggert Audio by: Bryan Parmelee Related Stories
Movie Review: The Aspiring-Pop-Star Drama ‘Teen Spirit’ Has Plenty of It
If you aren’t convinced that reality television is a cultural cancer, you might want to turn on the news. This country has been so dumbed down by mindless entertainment malignancies, it elected a reality show host to its highest office. Alternatively, you might turn on a radio. What’s that sound? The processed tonal pap that’s…
Soundbites: The Cautionary Tale of SeepeopleS
New American Nightmare Howdy, folks! This week, I want to turn your attention to a show happening on Thursday, April 25, at the Monkey House in Winooski. Eclectic Portland, Maine, art-pop band SeepeopleS headline. I’m specifically pointing this out because the group stands as a cautionary tale to anyone who operates a Facebook page. I’m…
Movie Review: ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ Adds More Half-Hearted Scares to the ‘Conjuring’ Franchise
I suspect every fright fan has had the experience of dozing off streaming a crappy horror movie. All the beats are so soothingly predictable: If the soundtrack goes quiet, expect a jump scare in approximately 10 seconds. (When it’s not time for anything scary to happen yet, the sound mixer will simply turn an innocent…
How Do I Get Some ‘Dad Time’ Away From My Stepmom?
Dear Reverend, My father got married five years ago. He seems happy, but for various reasons that I won’t go into here, my siblings and I aren’t super fond of his wife. I see him a few times a year, and she’s always with him wherever he goes. I haven’t had a moment alone with…
Free Will Astrology (4/24/19)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Whether or not you believe in magic, magic believes in you right now. Will you take advantage of the fancy gifts it has to offer? I guess it’s possible that you’re not interested in seeing deeper into the secret hearts of those you care for. Maybe you’ll go “ho-hum” when shown…
Very Cool Organizes a File-Cabinet ‘Worship’ Service
The sculpture “File Under So. Co., Waiting For…” — better known as the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet — has towered over Burlington’s Flynn Avenue for more than 15 years. Across the street from the South End’s City Market, Onion River Co-op, the 40-foot-tall piece of public art, created by local architect Bren Alvarez, is just…
A Consideration of Food Waste: How Much Are You Throwing Away?
Imagine you’re at the grocery store buying food for the week. As the checker scans your groceries, you notice that, shockingly, she tosses every third or fourth item straight into a trash can. You’re outraged, sure, but it’s probably what would happen to that food anyway. Food waste: It’s an issue even the wokest among…
Mo Citro Promotes Sustainability at UVM Medical Center
On a typical afternoon in the University of Vermont Medical Center’s operating room 21, surgical staff were prepping for an imminent hip-replacement surgery. This process of “opening the room” involves unpacking and laying out all of the instruments and supplies that may be needed during the operation. Many of those sterile instruments were rolled in…
Australian Cabaret Hot Brown Honey Create Space for Women of Color
Since its origins as a fringe nightclub performance piece in 2012, Australian cabaret Hot Brown Honey has become a full-blown theatrical experience. Its creators, Lisa Fa’alafi and Kim “Busty Beatz” Bowers, conceived of the production as a way to create space for women of color in overwhelmingly white artistic environments. In 2015, their troupe, also…
PechaKucha Night Burlington to Make a Comeback — at FlynnSpace
PechaKucha Night is coming back! If you missed it the first seven years, when it was held at the Un iversity of Vermont’s Fleming Museum of Art — or if you miss it, period — perhaps you’ll be glad to know that the event has an invigorated team of organizers, a fresh focus and a…
Will the Revolution Be Monetized? Bernie Sanders’ ‘Dark Money’ Org
At a rally last week in Pittsburgh, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lampooned those who said during the 2016 presidential campaign that politicians must depend on “super PACs funded by billionaires” to win public office. “We were told, ‘Hey, Bernie, that’s the way it’s always been!'” he recalled to a chorus of boos. “‘Don’t you know…
Theater Review: ‘The Legend of Georgia McBride,’ Vermont Stage
Matthew Lopez fills The Legend of Georgia McBride with drag spectacle, but it’s the script’s warm, wonderful humor that makes the characters so engaging. All of them are down on their luck. And except for drag queen Miss Tracy Mills, all have some big discoveries to make about who they are. In the Vermont Stage…
One Radish Eatery in Richmond Closes Its Doors
One Radish Eatery, which opened at 39 Esplanade in Richmond in December 2016, closed last week, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Owned by wife-and-husband team Jessica and Ryan Bunce, who also own Barrio Bakery in Burlington’s Old North End, One Radish served breakfast and lunch in the red building that previously…
Man Who Died After Fight With Cop Had Broken Jaw, Eye Socket
Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo has depicted Douglas Kilburn as an irate man who picked a fistfight with an officer outside the University of Vermont Medical Center and received “a few” punches in return. The cop, Cory Campbell, handcuffed Kilburn within seconds and took him into the emergency room, where he was treated overnight…
Album Review: Meg Rice, ‘Now or Then’
(Self-released, digital download) At their best, solo albums can serve to spotlight underutilized resources in the bands from which they stem. Conversely, a solo effort might also highlight how one element in a larger group can depend strongly on the creative forces that surround it. Good or bad, solo albums can be significant markers in…
Why Does a Thrift Shop Help Support Porter Medical Center?
Visitors to the historic Marble Works District in downtown Middlebury may have noticed an unusual partnership. Tucked in the southeastern corner of the business complex, amid other retail outlets such as Noonie’s Deli, Costello’s Market and Otter Creek Used Books, is the Round Robin Upscale Resale thrift shop. Wander inside to browse its secondhand apparel…
Cannabis — or Can’t? With Time Running Short, House Struggles With Full Legalization
Just about everyone around the Vermont Statehouse agrees on one thing: Legalization of cannabis sales is inevitable. In fact, there’s broad agreement that it’s the best option. “We’ve got the worst of both worlds,” said Rep. George Till (D-Jericho), who opposed the 2018 law that legalized personal cultivation and possession of cannabis. In his view,…
Letters to the Editor (4/24/19)
What About Men? [Re “Trafficked: How the Opioid Epidemic Drives Sexual Exploitation in Vermont,” April 10]: While Seven Days published an excellent report on the state of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation as a part of the opioid crisis, not a word was written about the men who are paying for sex. The women are…
Album Review: Comrade Nixon, ‘The Hades Trip’
(Rat Pâté Records, digital download) Comrade Nixon are a punk act that emerged from the scrappy music scene of Plattsburgh, N.Y. Since 2014, the center of the band’s sound has been the bedroom studio explorations of guitarist and singer Andrew Wilson. He initially linked up with drummer “Antwon Levee” — a pseudonym for tireless Lake…
Hot for Heifer: Montpelier Cops Find a Cow in a Car
This was no ordinary moo-ving violation. Cops responding to a parking complaint on Barre Street in Montpelier last Friday found two animals left unattended in a car. And it wasn’t just Fido waiting for his owner to come back: A calf was splayed on the back seat. “I’ve been around 22 years, and I’ve not…
Eat This Week, April 24 to 30, 2019: Sweet Spring
April showers bring … Easter, Passover and Vermont Restaurant Week, of course! This year’s 10-day feasting event kicks off on Thursday, April 25, with the back-by-popular-demand Sweet Start Smackdown. Head to Higher Ground for a friendly culinary competition featuring confections from 10 dessert kitchens across the state: Sweet Babu; Evelyne’s on Center; the Essex Culinary…
Art Review: Teresa Celemin’s ‘Works on Paper,’ Studio Place Arts
Walking in the front door, visitors to Studio Place Arts in Barre generally discover multimedia group shows with works hanging on walls or from the ceiling, or perched on pedestals and plinths. Current case in point: “Deep Blue,” featuring works inspired by water and oceanic life. But viewers should not overlook the second- and third-floor…
A Cynic Cozies Up to the Burlington Cuddle Collective
I’ve been told that I’m a good cuddler. What can I say? I know how to wrap someone in a hug, and my spooning skills are tops. But as a single person, I don’t find many opportunities for cuddling in my daily life. That might be true of many people. The Burlington Cuddle Collective wants…
Georges Méliès Silent Shorts Get Live Music at Main Street Landing
It’s among the most iconic sequences in movie history: A space capsule shaped like an oversize bullet is loaded into a long-barreled cannon and fired into space. As the distant moon rapidly approaches the camera, the bemused face of the pareidolic “man in the moon” comes into focus. Suddenly, the capsule crashes into his right…
Super Trooper: Time on ‘the Road’ Shapes Rep. Nader Hashim’s Views
Nader Hashim opened a folder and presented a pair of documents to members of the House Government Operations Committee last week. The 30-year-old Vermont State Police trooper explained how cops certified as “drug recognition experts” sniff out drug-impaired drivers. But instead of his olive green uniform, stiff-brimmed hat, gun and badge, Hashim was dressed in…
Obituary: Stephen John Reid, 1950-2018
Stephen John Reid, 68, of Wakefield, Québec, died late last year of a terminal illness at the home of his daughter, Katelyn, in Itasca, Texas. Steve was born in Burlington, Vt., on August 18, 1950. He attended Cathedral High School, then followed in the footsteps of his older brother Phillip by joining the Army, which…
A Sneak Peek at South Royalton’s Fox & Harrow
In recent history, the stately brick building at 5615 Route 14 in South Royalton has housed a revamp of the historic Fox Stand Tavern and Wild Roots, which closed abruptly last year. This May, the building will again house a restaurant: chef-restaurateur Eric Hartling’s the Fox & Harrow. Hartling spent the past four years running…
Barfly: Otter Creek Brewing Pub Pairs Suds With Smoke
Driving home up Route 7 from southern Vermont several weeks ago, my husband and I became a little peckish right around Middlebury. But where to go for a bite — and, possibly, a sip — on a Sunday afternoon at around three? One of us is a food writer and the other is not, but…
