Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2015
Storied Punk Hub 242 Main Turns 30… Kind Of; Stealing From Work Again; Making the Rounds at Skateland; Rickie’s Indian at the Pump
Cover Story
Burlington Punk Club 242 Main at 30
Tricky Nicky of Jumanji X’s Riot Squad stands on the far side of the stage at 242 Main in Burlington, his sunburst guitar slung low as he fiddles with knobs on his buzzing amp. He strums a chunky chord and, satisfied with its distorted crunch, turns and nods to his band’s lead singer, a string-bean…
Obituary: Dennis James McBee, 1955-2015, Burlington
Dennis McBee, 59, passed away on Sunday, February 1, 2015, after several years of declining health. Dennis was born on May 13, 1955, in Mineola, N.Y., the son of Adeline (DeMeo) and Joseph “Fred” McBee. He grew up in Port Washington, N.Y., and graduated from Paul D. Schreiber High School in 1972. After graduating…
Obituary: Arlington Oscar Hazen
Mr. Arlington Oscar Hazen, age 93 years, died Wednesday January 28, 2015, at The Arbors in Shelburne Village. Born in North Hero on July 14, 1921, he was the son of the late Oscar and Mabel (Langdell) Hazen. He graduated from Montpelier Seminary and attended the University of Vermont. On August 21, 1955, he married…
Obituary: Zachary Wade Nicholson, 1984-2015, Winooski
Zachary Wade Nicholson died unexpectedly on Sunday, January 25th in Winooski, Vermont. He was born in Aspen, Colorado on March 9, 1984, the son of Marsha Nicholson Van Leeuwen and the late Mark Hod Nicholson. Zach moved to Waitsfield, VT at age 4 where he attended Waitsfield Elementary School and graduated from Harwood Union High…
The 2015 Oscar-Nominated Shorts
When awards season rolls around, everyone spends two months debating the merits of those big, sometimes bloated Best Picture nominees. The 15 short films nominated for Academy Awards — in Documentary, Animated and Live Action categories — tend to fly under the radar. Luckily for anyone looking to win his or her office Oscar pool…
WTF: Why Is Burlington Often Abbreviated as BTV?
Recently, a reader asked Seven Days why Burlington is often referred to as BTV in official announcements and names of community programs, such as planBTV, the Community and Economic Development Office’s long-term planning and revitalization effort. “Is this a result of BTV’s use as Burlington International’s airport code, or was BTV in use before that?”…
Mr. Turner
I’m prompted by writer-director Mike Leigh’s sublime portrait of the 19th-century painter J.M.W. Turner to offer an observation or two concerning critics as much as film artists. The first observation is that we’ve heard a lot lately about how this or that historical drama strayed from the facts to fit its story into the conventional…
UVM’s Yutaka Kono Is the BCO’s New Artistic Director
University of Vermont music professor Yutaka Kono’s office is fairly utilitarian, but on a sunny day, it’s lit up by two enormous tubas resting on their bells and glinting in the sun. Kono, an accomplished tuba player with a ponytail and a ready smile, earned a doctorate in tuba performance. He has garnered awards performing…
Ryan Fauber, Then Came the Thunder
(Jenke Records, digital download) Since 1995, Ryan Fauber has written more than 300 songs. A good number of those were penned during his years living in Burlington. Fauber recently left the Queen City, moving to Portland, Ore., in December. Before he did so, the mercurial songwriter recorded one last batch of songs, Then Came the…
UVM Music and Dance Faculty Pair Up for ‘Solos’
This weekend, the Solo Workshop, an experimental performance project dreamed up by University of Vermont dance professor Paul Besaw, will give its fourth annual performance — and the first one at UVM’s Recital Hall. Titled Assigned Allies, the production teams five composers on the music faculty with five members of the dance faculty. The result?…
Holy Smokes, Holy Smokes
(Self-released, digital download) Holy Smokes is a quartet of University of Vermont seniors that essentially grew out of screwing around jamming on classic hip-hop songs — perhaps in some dingy basement in Burlington’s college ghetto. One of the band’s founding members, Justin Barton, was formerly a member of Squimley and the Woolens, a talented local…
Stealing From Work Finds the Silly Side of the Queen City
In a back room at Burlington’s Regional Educational Television Network, a yoga class is getting out of hand. The flexible folk can’t stop one-upping each other with tales of their rigorous personal practices: bizarre retreats, pricy gear, lives scheduled around the yoga mat. “Yoga is my life’s purpose!” bawls one. “Yoga is my soul mate!”…
The Unlikely Union of Joe Driscoll and Kouyate Sekou
If you’re the kind of music lover who routinely stalks high-profile national acts at Higher Ground, or even if you favor smaller singer-songwriter spotlights at Radio Bean, you might think the musical fabric of the Green Mountain State is one cut from purely American cloth. Yet tucked away in Charlotte you’ll find Cumbancha, a record…
Pizza on Main Opens in Morrisville
There’s a new slice coming to Lamoille County. When it opens next month at 53 Lower Main Street in Morrisville, Pizza on Main will sling traditional New York-style pies (whole or by the slice), entrées, subs and other snacks. Co-owners Michael Jansen and Marisa Menendez grew up in Westchester County, N.Y., a stone’s throw north…
Soundbites: Heavy Plains Debut; New Band for Josh Panda
I’m not gonna lie, folks. Your friendly neighborhood music editor is all kinds of frazzled this week. Mostly, it’s the anticipation of the impending Super Bowl matchup between my beloved New England Patriots and the defending champions, the Seattle Seahawks, this Sunday, February 1, that has me on edge. But also it’s because last week…
Gallery Profile: Vision & Voice Documentary Workspace
Provocative and topical images of migrant workers, semiprofessional wrestlers and cancer patients are not the first things you’d expect to find on the walls of a rural gallery. Vermont Folklife Center’s development coordinator, Ned Castle, concedes that the Middlebury nonprofit’s very name “evokes a certain old-timeyness.” And yet, he adds, “fundamentally, folklife is about the…
Lawmakers Traverse Shumlin’s Health-Proposal Trail
House member Adam Greshin (I-Warren) is an avid skier and a partner in Mad River Valley’s Sugarbush Resort. In a Statehouse committee meeting last week, he discussed lift-ticket prices. Suppose, he said, you are between 19 and 65 years old and want to ski there on a Saturday. How much will you dole out for…
Chocolate, Love Stories and Five-Course Meals for Valentine’s Day
On February 13, Middlebury’s Vermont Folklife Center will host a daylong Valentine’s Day event called Love Chocolate, Love Stories. The chocolate component involves a “friendly competition” with categories for both professionals and amateurs. Within each division, sweets specialists can compete in both baked and non-baked (confectionery) categories. Registration forms are due by February 9 On…
Letters to the Editor (01/28/15)
Bear Essentials Please tell me — and probably hundreds of others — why? Why in the world did the “Ursa Major” [Last 7, “Facing Facts,” January 14] get a “sad face” icon? Tell me, make me understand what is “sad” about responsible wildlife management? Doing that was wrong. Plain and simple. Educate yourselves. John Feldman…
I Love Transgendered People. Does That Mean I’m Gay?
Dear Athena, I love transgendered people. Does that mean I’m gay? Yours, Totally Lost Dear Totally Lost, Sexual orientation is so uniquely personal. I don’t think there is one right answer here. In fact, I have more questions than answers. You say you love transgendered people. How do you define love? Is it an emotional…
A Traditional Abenaki Elder Helps Those in Need
Rachel Whitebear can empathize with the people who call her at any hour of the day or night when they have nowhere else to turn. Years ago, she found herself on a literal precipice, contemplating suicide. What pulled her back from the brink, she says, was the spiritual guidance she received from her Abenaki ancestors…
Burlington Telecom: From a Cloud of Litigation to a Campaign Storm
At a news conference held January 21 to unveil Burlington Telecom’s new look, Mayor Miro Weinberger drove home his point: Troubles at the telecom shop are over. “Now that the litigation is done, is over with, is gone, is dismissed,” he began, “we are here to start a new conversation.” His point: The $33.5 million…
Old and Young Make the Rounds at Skateland
It’s a frigid, seemingly desolate evening in the big-box cluster at the mouth of Susie Wilson Road in Essex. But inside one of those nondescript buildings, disco balls shimmer and colored lights wink to the electro-funk pulse of the Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.” Speckled by those lights, five adults on roller…
Opinion: How Not to Protect Children: Senate Bill 9
As President Obama touts programs for the poor that he knows he won’t get, and Gov. Shumlin proposes program cuts that he must know will hurt the poor, Vermont’s legislature has introduced a bill implementing a centuries-old means of “helping” the children of the poor. It dictates removing them from their families and punishing their…
Free Will Astrology (01/28/15)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Do you have an entourage or posse that helps you work magic you can’t conjure up alone? Is there a group of coconspirators that prods you to be brave and farseeing? If not, try to whip one up. And if you do have an inspirational crew, brainstorm about some new adventures…
![Skateland Vermont [SIV385]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/episode385-4-e1755140693944.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Skateland Vermont [SIV385]
1/22/15: Skateland Vermont opened its doors the day after Christmas in Essex Junction. The roller rink has quickly become a popular spot for old and young alike, often selling out on weekends. Eva talked to families who grew up at the old Skateland in Williston and are excited to bring their kids to the new…
News Quirks (01/28/15)
Curses, Foiled Again Police said Eric Frey, 29, handed a pizza shop employee in Uniontown, Pa., a note written on toilet paper. “I have a gun,” it read. “Give me $300.” The worker hit the silent alarm, summoning police before Frey could leave. He explained that a bearded man had confronted him in a nearby…
New ‘Don’ for Vermont Gas: Can Rendall Win the Pipeline Battle?
When Don Rendall assumed the top spot at Vermont Gas Systems on the first workday of 2015, the former Green Mountain Power executive promised a fresh start for the embattled company. Since Vermont Gas announced its three-part plan to build a pipeline along the west side of the state, the Canadian-owned utility has faced stiff…
The Kids Aren’t Alright: A Child Protection Bill Hits a Snag
Since the Senate gaveled into session three weeks ago, two of its top committee chairs have been pushing to pass Vermont’s most expansive child protection legislation in years. Their goal? To put the blockbuster bill on Gov. Peter Shumlin’s desk before the legislature’s Town Meeting Day recess in early March. But their work hit a…
Last Rights: A Putney Woman Becomes the Third Vermonter to End Her Life Using New Law
Maggie Lake spent January 15 autographing copies of her artwork, signing over her car registration and talking quietly with family. “Then at some point she just said, ‘It’s time,'” according to her oldest sister, Katy Lesser of Underhill. After nine years of battling cancer — including two stem-cell transplants, chemotherapy and radiation — Lake had…
Commodities Natural Market Opens in Stowe
In 1993, Michael Hughes opened Commodities Natural Market in New York’s East Village, the sequel to a Tribeca store his parents had once owned. More than 20 years later, he and wife Audra Hughes are opening their second store late this week. While it bears the same name as the Manhattan store, which the couple…
Seasoned Traveler: Rickie’s Indian Restaurant
After a recent weekend in Boston, Eva Gumprecht decided to return home to Adamant early to avoid an encroaching storm. When she hit the road, though, she found it covered in black ice. “I was utterly exhausted,” she recalls of the drive. “I had a cat that was going insane in the car, and I…
A New Book Preserves Cambridge’s Culinary History
Like poetry, dance or visual art, food has a story to tell. But unlike other forms of expression, food reveals a vernacular tale — a living history. A plate of food reflects the economic and social status of those making it: their habits, the ways they celebrate and the ways they mourn. In late December…
