May 30 – Jun 5, 2007
Slave Wages and Unsafe Housing – Exposing the Unsavory Side of Cheap Chinese in Vermont; A New Series About Car Love; Labor Department Links Free Trade to Vermont Job Losses
Ollie Speaks!
Whenever I have the time on return trips from Middlebury College or the Basin Harbor Club, I enjoy stopping to visit with the Ferrisburgh camel, Ollie, who lives at the Round Barn on Route 7. Weather permitting, he can be found grazing in the grass along with his barn-mates, which consists mainly of a large…
Contois Auditorium
[image-x] This is actually an addendum to Lou’s posting of 5/31/07. Most of the artists that he mentioned performed at Contois. In the nearly twenty years that I have attended BDJF, I can honestly say that I have not seen a bad concert in that venue. I sit upstairs, in an aisle seat, just to…
A Good Start
[image-x] Well, the first 2007 Discover Jazz weekend offered us solid jazz, not the soft something-or-other of some past openers. (That comes later in the week this time.) I too mightily enjoyed the All State Jazz Ensemble. L.J. has already cited the considerable contributions of Michael Hardin and Grace Gaylord, while the entire well-rehearsed group…
Contact Info
[image-x] Just because L. J. requested it, here goes (if I’m out of line posting this, someone let me know please)– Unfortunately we no longer have a functional website for the Michael Hardin Band. I can personally be contacted at mqhardin@hotmail.com for business purposes. As for upcoming shows, I can offer the following: On Wednesday,…
Palmieri Concert Thoughts
[image-x] I have kind of a strange perspective on this particular event since I’m kind of an insider, having played in the opening act of the show. I had an absolute blast playing the new Steinway (best instrument I’ve ever played bar none) and Eddie was gracious enough to allow me to use it (Ahmad…
Kenny Garrett Concert Comments
[image-x] Have you ever attended a National Drag Race competition? The vehicles go from zero to 300+MPH in less than 7 seconds in a race that measures 1,320 feet. That’s the feeling I got with the first song of last night’s performance of the Kenny Garrett concert. Excellent musicianship by all concerned. Benito Gonzalez…
The Great American Cookbook
I spent this morning with my “little” sister, who is living at my mom’s house while she waits for her PhD program to begin in the fall. We visited the Burlington Farmers’ Market and had lunch with a friend at a new restaurant (teaser warning) that I’ll be writing about for next week’s paper. As…
I Bet You Can’t Guess…
Here’s another “guess the subject of this photo” post. As always (or at least the one other time I did one of these), the item in question is a type of food. And I do believe that this one is more difficult than the last one. Happy guessing!
Late Night Street Tour (6/01/07)
[image-x] I tried to slip out of the Flynn Theater after last night’s performance but I got kidnapped by an old friend who is aware of my distaste of club crawling in my old age. We walked up Church Street and stood in front of the Red Square and watch one song from Dave Grippo’s…
Eddie Palmieri Concert Comments
[image-x] I liked last night’s performance, but the longer you get to know me, there’s always a “but”. I was disappointed in some of the song selections. There was one song from a recording of twenty years ago. If your latest release “SIMPATICO (Artist Share) has won you a Grammy, I can’t understand why you…
Promoting BDJF
[image-x] When I recently discussed the Lake George(NY) Jazz Festival, I hinted at a rant. This is it. I find it hard to understand why the BDJF doesn’t start promoting itself until mid-April, after the “official” press conference. This pre-festival secrecy is akin to the WW II Manhattan project. I’m sure there is a logical…
A Case of the Crabs
The Discovery Channel is an odd and wonderful TV channel. It’s part of a larger company (surprise, surprise) which owns a network of cable stations, including TLC, Animal Planet, the Military Channel and a bunch more. Our own Church Street Marketplace has a “Discovery Store” derived from the general concept of the channel, featuring products…
Symptoms
[image-x] June can be a cruel time for certain festival goers, and I mean those who are hopelessly jazz addicted. And, sad to say, I mean myself. If you even suspect that you might be a candidate for this group, and I speak from experience, there are several symptoms to be on the lookout for.…
Bob Blumenthal
[image-x] I agree with George’s assessment of Bob Blumenthal and his work. George introduced him to me the first year that he started this critic in residence for the BDJF and Bob consented to let me interview him on a cable television show that I host on Channel 15. I found him to be an…
New 7 Nights
I can’t believe I forgot to blog about our new 7 Nights Guide to Restaurants and Bars!! On May 16, we released the 2007-2008 print edition, which includes well over 600 Vermont establishments. We also did a major upgrade to our 7 Nights website. If you haven’t already been to the site, you should definitely…
Lectures You’ll Love
[image-x] Bob Blumenthal is one of the great joys of The Burlington Jazz Festival. Here’s a guy who’s won two Grammys for his liner notes on Miles Davis box sets who is as down-to-earth as anyone you know, but get a good discussion going and he can go deep with the facts and the insights.…
Good-bye Groovy UV’ey
They’re gone. Well, most of ’em, anyway. This is the “day after” aspect of the Hackie column of 5/30/07, “Pomp and Circumstance.” The three largest local colleges hold their graduation ceremonies in ascending order of their respective sizes: first comes Champlain; next St. Michael’s; with UVM providing the big finish. They’re here; they’re here; they’re…
Karaoke Evolution
Game On: “SingStar Pop” “SingStar Rocks!” Playstation 2, $29.99 each, E 10+ for Everyone 10 and older
Hot and Soured
Slave wages and unsafe housing – exposing the unsavory side of cheap Chinese in Vermont
Soaking Up the Grease Gospel With a Veggie-Car Mechanic
Mechanic Mark Penta has no environmental axe to grind. Around the time this race-car aficionado did his first “Greasecar” conversion, in 2001, vegetarian transport was only beginning to assume its place in the pantheon of renewable alternatives. Now, five years later, he finds himself at the forefront of an eco-revolution. In case you haven’t heard,…
Viva Viva
On my way to an interview this morning, I stopped in at Viva Espresso and snagged a fruit smoothie. ..it was delightful. The smoothies come in berry, mango and strawberry/banana flavors, and can be made with milk, soymilk or organic yogurt. I had the berry made with soy and was quite pleased. I also found…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Sheriff’s deputies investigating an armed robbery at a gas station in Orlando, Fla., noticed that the robber had left a gun case against a display rack. Inside the case, deputies found a receipt for a new AK-47 assault rifle made out to Eric Cunningham, 18. They found Cunningham at his apartment, located…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Sheriff’s deputies investigating an armed robbery at a gas station in Orlando, Fla., noticed that the robber had left a gun case against a display rack. Inside the case, deputies found a receipt for a new AK-47 assault rifle made out to Eric Cunningham, 18. They found Cunningham at his apartment, located…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Though one of the closest stars to our sun, Teegarden’s star was unknown to astronomers until 2003. Located in the constellation of Aries, it’s a red dwarf with relatively modest heat and luminosity, and moves very fast compared to other stars. Let’s make Teegarden’s star your metaphor of the month for…
Marathon Man
I always enjoy marathon weekend in Burlington. The event attracts a more, let’s say, lucid crowd than the beer festival later in the summer. Or the Green Mountain Chew Chew food fest, for that matter. And, of course, I get to drag out my marathon joke for the occasion. Sadly, my material is limited. I…
![VT City Marathon [SIV27]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/episode27.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
VT City Marathon [SIV27]
About 7500 runners participated in the 19th Vermont City Marathon this past Sunday. The weather was perfect for racing, dark and dismal. The crowds came out to support the runners despite the rain. In addition to competitors completing the entire 26-mile course through Burlington, the race featured half-marathoners, relay teams and a wheelchair division. …
