Dec 16-22, 2015
Seven Vermonters on the Night Shift; Burlington School Budget Under Fire; Late Chef Michel Mahe’s Restaurant Are Still Cooking
Cover Story
Seven Vermonters Who Work the Late, Late Shift
Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen wrote that the night belongs to lovers. Wilson Pickett, too, was gonna wait ’til the stars came out to, you know, let his love come tumblin’ down. All manner of musicians and poets have extolled the romantic potential of the midnight hour. But tell that to the guy who’s grooming…
New Yarn Store Stitches Together Vermont Textile Industries
Route 7 hasn’t exactly been known as a haven for local artists, or as a spot to sit and sip tea quietly with friends while engaging in a relaxing, meditative pastime. Until now. Must Love Yarn, a Shelburne boutique that opened on November 7, aims to knit together New England farmers and crafty Vermonters. The…
In the Heart of the Sea
Herman Melville wouldn’t just turn over in his grave if he saw In the Heart of the Sea. He’d probably find some way to launch a zombie attack on screenwriter Charles Leavitt, who depicts the author in his youth (Ben Whishaw) as an insecure dilettante eager to pirate a great story. When it comes to…
Off Trail: A Wonderland at Barr Hill Natural Area
In one of the many shady groves along the trail at Barr Hill Natural Area in Greensboro, the branches and pine cones blanketing the forest floor seem to have been arranged with artistic intent. But surely no natural force could have positioned these items to resemble tiny cottages. Have the red squirrels in the nearby…
Hallelujah! It’s Time to Get a Handel on ‘Messiah’
Last week, the Burlington Choral Society had its annual Messiah sing-along, providing scores for Handel’s holiday favorite to community members who didn’t own one. Similar events have been happening all over the state this month — in nine different towns, according to Vermont Public Radio’s online Messiah Watch. This abundance struck Yutaka Kono and the…
Four More Local Albums You (Probably) Haven’t Heard
So many records, so little time. Seven Days gets more album submissions than we know what to do with. And, given the ease of record making these days, it’s difficult to keep up. Still, we try to get to every local release that comes across the music desk, no matter how obscure or far out. To that…
Quack, Quack: Shumlin Prepares for Final Legislative Session
Vermont politicos may have shifted their gaze to the 2016 gubernatorial contest — and the down-ballot races it’s set in motion. But for the next 13 months, a familiar figure will continue to preside over state government: Gov. Peter Shumlin. Precisely how he’ll spend his remaining political capital — and navigate his final legislative session…
The Late Michel Mahe’s Restaurants Are Still Cooking
A few times a day, Dickie Austin — operations manager for the Vergennes Restaurant Group — would talk to his boss, chef Michel Mahe. Sometimes they conversed about business at one of the company’s four restaurants: Black Sheep Bistro and Park Squeeze in Vergennes, the Lobby in Middlebury, and the Bearded Frog in Shelburne. Sometimes…
Campaign Lessons From a Howard Dean Doc
This campaign season, Vermonters who are “feeling the Bern” might learn something from a glance back at another establishment-bucking Green Mountain presidential candidacy. They need look no further than Lessons From an American Primary, a documentary that Stowe resident Heath Eiden has made available for free streaming at stowemedia.com. Shot in 2003-2004, it’s his first-person…
Senate Official John Bloomer Is Way More Than a ‘Secretary’
The Senate’s first order of business when it reconvenes in January will be to decide whether to expel or suspend one of its own — a step never before taken in the chamber’s 179-year history. Sen. Norm McAllister (R-Franklin) has been charged with forcing two women to have sex with him and trying to coerce…
![Vermont Comedy Club [SIV424]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/episode424-4-e1755138193244.webp?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1)
Vermont Comedy Club [SIV424]
12/10/15: Vermont Comedy Club opened in downtown Burlington in mid-November and has attracted a steady stream of funny people and audiences who love them. Eva checked out the first Open Mic and weeks later, an Improv Night led by Napoleon, VCC’s house short form improv troupe. Music: Kevin MacLeod, “Plucky Daisy” and “Hyperfun” This episode…
Southern Hospitality, and Food, at Down Home Kitchen
Mary Alice Proffitt stands behind the counter at Montpelier’s Down Home Kitchen. She pumps coffee into cups and scans the dining room, searching for clues about each party’s status. At a table near the windows facing Langdon Street, silverware resting on plates says diners are finished. Two tables over, a woman twirls her coffee cup…
WTF: What’s With the File Cabinet Tower on Burlington’s Flynn Avenue?
Several readers have asked us WTF is up with the tall tower of file cabinets on Flynn Avenue in Burlington. Not to mention wondering, “How was it made?” and “How does it stay up?” We first answered those questions back in 2002, when the structure was erected. The official name of the tower is “File…
Patties and Brews: Cornerstone Burger to Open in Northfield
Longtime friends and business partners Rich McSheffrey and Keith Paxman always wanted to own a local hangout — a cozy neighborhood joint where locals could convene for simple eats, fresh beer and great cocktails. The two opened casual gastrobar Cornerstone Pub & Kitchen in 2012 and Two Loco Guys in early 2014, but neither of those…
Soundbites: ’Twas the Week Before Christmas
With little more than a week until some of us celebrate the birth of Santa, the slate of holiday-themed rock shows is stuffed like stockings. And I don’t mean with lumps of coal. Or with terribly contrived holiday metaphors like the one I just attempted. I do mean neatly wrapped presents of rock-and-roll awesomeness. We’ll…
A Painter Called Saint Christopher Finds His Way
Palm trees, luscious lips, cigarettes, flaming cars, eyes and crosses are all frequently appearing symbols in the lexicon of St. Christopher, an emerging Burlington artist with a pseudonym rooted in iconography. “If you want to see work by St. Christopher, you talk to Dylan,” says Dylan Hebert, 25, who moved from his hometown of Plattsburgh,…
Gregory Douglass, My Hero, the Enemy
(Emote Records, CD, digital download) Gregory Douglass is at odds with his art. That’s the central thesis of the songwriter’s ninth full-length album, My Hero, the Enemy. The Vermont-born Douglass was a teenage pop prodigy who flirted with national success early in his career. But his big break never quite materialized the way many predicted.…
My Wife Finds My Sexual Fantasy Disgusting
Dear Athena, I’ve been married for nearly 20 years, and most everything is cool. The thing is, I’ve always been turned on by the idea of coming on a woman’s face. This goes back to eighth grade or so, when I first had a steady diet of sexual thoughts and daydreams. Over the years I…
Letters to the Editor (12/16/15)
The Gift of Bernie I was so happy to open the paper and see the beautiful Bernie posters of yore [“The Art of Politics,” December 2]. Anyone else who likes these old-school, less-mass-produced items, read on: Burlington’s Peace & Justice Center has one of the original Frank Hewitt poster-size prints from Bernie’s 1983 mayoral campaign.…
Django Koenig, We Live On
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Formerly Plainfield-based singer-songwriter Django Koenig is a multi-instrumentalist, playing trombone, guitar and piano. He also pulled double duty as the drummer for Americana outfit TallGrass GetDown before moving to the West Coast this fall. Koenig dedicated his recently released debut solo album, We Live On, to his friend Max Weaver, a…
Noodles and More at the Upcoming Dally’s at the Cider House
When Cider House BBQ & Pub owners Tom Sullivan and Jimmy Dotson closed their Waterbury restaurant in October, they announced via Facebook that the new owners should have the place up and running again in November. But if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride, and when chef Daniel Nguyen took over the 100-year-old building…
Power Point: New Haven Evaluates Yet Another Energy Project
For its size, New Haven, population 1,727, hosts a lot of energy infrastructure: A large electric substation sits off Route 17. Solar projects are popping up in farm fields faster than dandelions in June. The path of a proposed gas pipeline runs right through town. So residents were wary when they got word over the…
Older Refugees Find Classes and Community
Last Wednesday at Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington, Yvette Rainville asked her class of English language learners, “What’s the weather like today?” Khina Monger furrowed her brow, deep in concentration, as she watched the Catholic nun write “It is sunny and cool” on the blackboard. The murmurs in the room grew louder as the students…
Hooked on Tuna
Originally published August 25, 2004 Alfred “Tuna” Snider, one of the world’s most widely recognized debate coaches and scholars, has been an endowed professor of forensics at the University of Vermont since 1982. In his 30 years as a debate coach — he taught at several colleges before coming to UVM — he’s written several…
In Burlington, a New School Spending Limit Is Already Under Fire
There’s nothing “most popular” about Vermont’s new education cost-control law. For many of the state’s small school districts, Act 46, which emphasizes cost-effectiveness over local control, looks like a great big bully. But the state’s largest school district, Burlington, isn’t a fan of the new law, either. Rather, it doesn’t like the math. Burlington’s proposed…
Sisters
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are as classic a comic fit as Laurel and Hardy, Aykroyd and Belushi or Ferrell and Reilly, and Sisters is the movie in which they perfect their funny formula. It’s their E=mc2 with a hard R (rating, that is) — a breakthrough that proves raunch with a heart is something…
Free will Astrology (12/16/15)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Garnets are considered less valuable than diamonds. But out in the wild, there’s an intimate connection between these two gemstones. Wherever you find garnets near the surface of the Earth, you can be reasonably sure that diamonds are buried deeper down in the same location. Let’s use this relationship as a…
Sit and Stay at the Quirky Pet
Drop by the Quirky Pet in Montpelier, and you’ll encounter greeters unlike any at Walmart. Meeting you at the door are Aria, Anuzzo and Cuba — the Bergamasco sheepdogs whose dreadlocks and affectionate dispositions have made them downtown celebrities. Past these benign sentries lies the tiny emporium that for four years has provided animal lovers…
