Nov 12-18, 2008
From Weddings to Digital Rectal Exams, a Local Performer Does It All; Local Experts Weigh In On the State’s Financial Future; Urban Egg-Layers, Unite!; What Will Barack Do For You, College Student?
“Darn Tough” Times
Some Vermont businesses are perfectly positioned to weather the economic storm — or any old storm, for that matter. The check-out line snaked all the way through the factory during last Saturday’s “Hunter’s Widow Sock Sale” at Cabot Hosiery in Northfield. Hordes of shoppers waited up to 90 minutes to buy all kinds of socks…
TONIGHT! Radiator Benefit Show @ Club Metronome
This is a pretty good week for music (of local and national varieties) in Burlington. There’s a show with four great local rock’n’roll bands going down at Club Metronome TONIGHT at 8 p.m. The lineup and show times follow: Fatal Flaws 8:30Cave Bees 9:30In Memory of Pluto 10:30Nosebleed Island 11:30 Cover charge is $5 for…
Dealer.com COO to Speak at Champlain
Dealer.com COO Michael Lane is speaking tomorrow night at Champlain College, as part of their BYOBiz Speaking From Experience lecture series. From the Champlain website: Lane will talk about his innovative Burlington-based company that has experienced amazing growth since its creation in 1998. Dealer.com creates web-based marketing campaigns and supports thousands of online marketing solutions…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Champlain College had an open house last Wednesday to showcase its renovations and expansions beyond the Hill of Burlington as part of its eerily titled “Master Plan.” Styrofoam models and artist renderings were on display, along with architects, planners and the college administrators. I attended the event (as a student) to find out how the…
What Will Barack Do For You, College Student?
Almost all of the Vermont college kids voted for Barack Obama, but how many of them actually know what his plan is for higher education, and how it will affect them? One thing Obama stresses is that he would like higher education to be more accessible, and so, he proposed a fully refundable tax credit…
Healthiest City in the U.S.? Burlington
I just learned that according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Burlington, Vermont is the “healthiest city” in America. Apparently, 92% of Burlingtonians claim that they’re in good health, exercise more than average and are less likely to be obese or have diabetes. Seems like our various enlightened diets are getting some of…
Dem Backs out of Burlington Mayor’s Race
Just one week after officially throwing his hat into the ring in hopes of challenging Progressive Mayor Bob Kiss in March, Democratic City Councilor Ed Adrian is backing out of the race. Kiss, who has not officially announced his reelection bid, is up for his second three-year term in March. To date, Adrian and fellow…
Weekend Reading: The Last Word on Personal Attacks in Chitty 3-4
Some reading for the weekend: A few readers have been wanting to hear more about the personal attacks during the Chittenden 3-4 campaign that I mentioned a few days ago. Personal attacks or tough campagining? Draw your own conclusion. John Odum at GMD sheds some good light Cynic coverage over the past months: In the…
Rubblebucket: On WWPV Monday, at Higher Ground Thursday
So there is a real solid band out of Boston by the name of Rubblebucket, known in a past musical life as Rubblebucket Orchestra. They play music that’s best described as a cross between Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat and groove-oriented rock. Rubblebucket also shares members Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth with the prog-reggae outfit John Brown’s…
Middvites
So, you’re really into that guy in psych101 who wears that neon hat and sits two rows and three seats to left of you. Or, maybe you’ve been eyeing that girl who creates the most beautiful salads at [insert name of wealthy benefactor] dining hall. You’ve got a crush, so obviously, the next step is…
Pro-Gay Marriage Demonstration Planned for Burlington
Dust off your placards, lace up your combat boots — there’s a good, old-fashioned gay rights demonstration in Burlington tomorrow. Gay activists and their allies nationwide were outraged last week when Californians voted for Proposition 8, which will amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Since then, a number of grassroots protests and demonstrations…
Former Freeps Columnist Buys Franklin County Weekly
Ed Shamy, former news columnist for The Burlington Free Press, and his wife, Kim Asch, have purchased the County Courier, the weekly newspaper for Franklin County. According to a press release from Asch, Shamy will be editor and publisher of the 130-year-old newspaper. The sale by Alison Dubilier, who ran the paper for 16 years,…
Vermont Tent Goes to Washington
Last weekend, while visiting Washington D.C., I saw hundreds of painted tents staked out on the National Mall. Turns out they were “Tents of Hope” sent from all over the U.S. Some of the tents would be shipped to Darfur in partnership with the D.C.-based Darfur Peace and Development. Today, I learned that the only…
Barnard Requests Recount *updated*
Think Election ’08 is over? Hardly. Today, Democrat Denise Begins Barnard asked Chittenden County Clerk Diane Lavallee for a recount of the vote in the state senate race. As I noted in this weeks’ column, former State Rep. Barnard came in seventh place in the six-seat district, behind Progressive Burlington City Councilor Tim Ashe. Barnard…
Urban Egg-Layers, Unite!
My story in this week’s food section profiles a 21-year-old Burlington goatherder, and his struggle to raise farm animals in accordance with the city’s convoluted zoning regs. It’s a follow-up, of sorts, to a story I wrote in March about Queen City residents who raise chickens. Thanks to one astute Seven Days reader, I just…
Cabot Sock Sale 2008
The “Hunter’s Widow” Sock Sale at Cabot Hosiery Mills is happening this weekend, though you wouldn’t know it from searching the internet. I’m not sure if the company just forgot to tell people about it, or if they’re trying to keep it quiet for some reason, but there is very little info about this popular…
Vermont Democratic Caucus Cluster#$@& *updated*
The race for top leadership posts in the legislative Democratic caucus is getting very crowded. As I pointed out in my post-election column, there is a crowded race for Speaker of the House. Now, it looks like there is a battle for majority leader, too. Floyd Nease, of Johnson, the assistant majority leader, was the…
Howard Dean Soon-to-be Unemployed
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean says he plans on stepping down from his position as DNC Chairman at the end of his four-year term, which began in 2005. There are rumors that Dean will find a position in the Obama cabinet, perhaps as Secretary of Health and Human Services or even Surgeon General. One thing…
Brainwashed Students Elect Teenybopper
If you’ve paid attention to the hotly contested political races like the Ram, Zuckerman and Pearson 3-4 battle, you’ve surely noticed that college voters played a pivotal role in the outcome. But you might not have heard about the Grafton County (NH) treasury battle between Republican incumbent Carrol Elliott and Democrat Vanessa Sievers. Sievers, a…
Seven Days of Sex
Got an interesting article via Google alert this morning that I can’t resist sharing. Dallas pastor Ed Young is urging the married couples in his 20,000-member megachurch to have sex for seven days in a row, starting on November 16. “We want to turn whining into whoopi!” said Young. “With the currentfinancial crises, moral debates…
![VT Independence Convention [SIV104]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/episode104.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
VT Independence Convention [SIV104]
11/7/08: FREE VERMONT FROM THE EVIL EMPIRE! The Vermont Independence Convention, sponsored by The Second VermontRepublic, was held at the VT Statehouse in Montpelier on Friday. Attendees discussed the possibility of VT seceding from the USA and forming its own republic. Music:Pete Sutherland and FriendBread & Puppet Band Location: Vt Statehouse, Montpelier, Vermont
Break Like the Wind . . . of Change
Soundbites: Break Like the Wind . . . of Change, Grizzly Men, Unplugged Plug, Starline Kudos, Fun with Gypsies
Bob’s Your Everything
From weddings to digital rectal exams, a local performer does it all
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again After receiving a call from the manager of the Sunset Inn Motel in San Antonio, Texas, police found 15 newspaper vending machines inside a guest room. “All the newspapers are gone,” Officer Raul Gonzaba said. “All the change is gone.” The thief was gone, too, but Gonzaba foresaw a quick arrest because…
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for November 12 – 19, 2008. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): “You can’t know fire unless you play with it,” says Mark Finney, a math whiz who develops computer models for fighting forest fires. I offer that as a motto for you in the…
It Takes a City
Art Review: “Exposure: Studio Show II,” new work from selected ceramists, printmakers and photographers in the Burlington City Arts Member Studios. Firehouse Gallery, Burlington. Through December 13.
MicroStrain, Inc. Expands
Got a press release last week from MicroStrain, one of the companies that exhibited at the Vermont 3.0 Creative/Technology Career Jam in October. Looks like they’re expanding their Williston HQ: The new 19,000 square foot facility, formerly occupied by Qimonda, is roughly double the size of [MicroStrain’s] previous location. “Our new, expanded engineering & production…
Hope, Expectations, and Our New President
A week has passed since Barack Obama was elected our next president, and life has become… strange. Everyone is just so happy. Paranoid, angry political grumblings have given way to positively elated proclamations of our newly together nation and how great America is. Last night I heard the folk singer Nathan Moore talk about all…
Grannis Gallery is Closing
Sad, but true — designer goldsmith Timothy Grannis and his wife, Susan Hurd are closing their store, Grannis Gallery, Fine Jewelry, on Bank Street in Burlington. They sent a letter to loyal customers that arrived yesterday, announcing a going-out-of-business sale. Apparently they’re making a public announcement on Thursday. From the letter: Our entire inventory of…
