May 23-29, 2007
Critics Charge Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Isn’t Tough Enough; Ken Picard Wrestles With Male Violence; Furniture Maker Edward Allen Finds Shaker Style Just Plain Beautiful
Beware the monkfish!
Remember the Simpson’s episode — One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish from season 2 — in which Homer chowed down on a piece of poisonous sashimi and was later told he had only 24 hours to live? Something similar recently happened to a couple of people in Chicago. Except that unlike Homer, they consumed…
Queen City Water Gods and Goddesses
Inviting public space elates me, and Burlington has acres of it. What’s better than the Church Street Marketplace on a summer night? My favorite warm weather haunt is the Burlington bike path. I like it when it’s busy with walkers, runners and all-wheeled travelers; I like it on lazy weekday afternoons when the traffic is…
Stowe Chocolate Show
If you’re the kind of person who enjoys chocolate martinis and fancy truffles, the Stoweflake is the place to be this weekend. They’re hosting the 1st annual Vermont Chocolate Show, complete with activities for youngsters, chocolate art and of course, lots of treats to try. Seven Days will be there — it’s the first in…
News Quirks 05.23.07
Curses, Foiled Again When three armed men robbed a Wendy’s in North Miami Beach, Fla., one of them was hiding his face with a loose-fitting bandana. It slipped off, revealing a tear-shaped tattoo under his right eye. Several employees said they got a good look at the man’s face. Four days later, employees recognized the…
Jazz Festivals
[image-x] Yeah. Yeah. I’ll get to the BDJF starting tomorrow. Our blog mistress ” demands” more daily entries. You’ll probably get sick of my “war” stories before the festival is over with. The following are festivals in New York state that interest me because of their line ups: Rochester International Jazz Festival (6/8 through 6/18).…
Missing Persons
Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree by Lisa Alther, Arcade Publishing, 241 pages. $25.
Food Stamp Diet…one more post
This is my response to a letter to the editor we ran in last week’s paper. My goal in writing this response is not necessarily to change any particular person’s mind about the project. However, it is very important to me that folks understand my intentions, whether or not they agree with my approach. Passages…
Mamavig, Mamavig
(Self-released, CD) The world is a fucked-up place. Hardly a day goes by without another cataclysm. We’ve already got warming, war, famine, plague and pestilence (well, maybe not in Vermont), and the list keeps getting longer. At least God saw fit to smite Jerry Falwell. Thanks, big guy. In a world of woe, it’s only…
Cry Cry Cry
Since the coming of DVD’s, I operate as a typical 4 year-old, watching the movies I love over and over and over again. For instance, I’ve seen Bowfinger one million times. This Steve Martin movie somehow slipped under the radar when it was initially released, but, for my money, it’s one of the all-time inspired…
Farm, Gray Birds
(Self-released, CD) St. Albans will probably never be known as a fount of quality indie-rock, but local boys Farm are making music as though that were indeed the case. I gave their debut CD (released under the short-lived moniker House Horse) a pretty positive review a year or two ago, and I’ve been eagerly anticipating…
STOMP THE YARD**1/2
Chris Brown and April Clark are paired in this musical about a Los Angeles street dancer who is courted by rival college fraternities that need his moves to win a national competition. Co-starring Laz Alonso and Daisy Jade. Directed by Sylvain White. (115 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/stomptheyard/
PAN’S LABYRINTH*****
Guillermo Del Toro directs this fable about a young girl who creates a private world filled with fantastical creatures as a way of coping with the horrors of life in fascist post-war Spain. Sergi Lopez and Ariadna Gil star. (120 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/picturehouse/panslabyrinth/trailer
THE FOUNTAIN**1/2
Darren (Requiem for a Dream) Aronofsky brings us this rumination on immortality, which follows Hugh Jackman as a 16th-century conquistador in search of the Fountain of Youth through a succession of time periods. Costarring Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn. (96 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/
ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES**
David Bowie and Snoop Dogg are among the voice cast in Luc (La Femme Nikita) Besson’s CGI-live action fairy tale about a boy who discovers a secret passage to a fantastic world right in his own backyard. Also featuring Mia Farrow, Freddie Highmore and Madonna. (100 min, PG) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/arthurandtheinvisibles/
Farmers’ Market, weeks 1&2
My love for the Burlington Farmers’ Market is so great that I teeter on the edge of bathos when I attempt to describe it. So I won’t. I will say that I’m having lots of fun reconnecting with the farmers/vendors and with fellow customers I haven’t seen for a while. I will also mention the…
Just started Animal, Vegetable, Miracle…
By Barbara Kingsolver, and I can already tell I’m in for a thoughtful andthought-provoking treat. The book tells how Kingsolver and her family moved across country to live in a place where they could grow much of their own food (they couldn’t do so in Arizona, where they lived previously). They garden, buy from local…
![Black Fly Festival [SIV26]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/episode26.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Black Fly Festival [SIV26]
Adamant Vermont is a remote town nestled between Montpelier and Calais. During the early blissful summer months, Adamant is over run with menacing swarms of pesky, blood-sucking black flies. Residents wear thick netting to avoid the red, itchy welts that appear post-black fly attack. Five years ago Cindy Cook decided to fight back creatively by…
