Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2015
Grassroots Capitalists Move the Bernie Merch; Meet the Other Dave Chappelle; a Taste of Montréal’s Little India
Cover Story
Sanders Sells: Nobody Moves T-shirts Like the Socialist Senator
One night in May, graphic artist Dave Barron found himself sitting up in bed, doodling. Against a dark background, a simple design in stark white emerged: eyeglasses, “2016,” and a shock of unkempt white hair. “Bernie,” he added, though many would have easily recognized the locks and dome of Vermont’s independent junior senator, who was…
Obituary: Dorothy Perrelli, South Burlington
Dorothy Marie Perrelli of South Burlington, passed away quietly at Vermont Respite House on September 28th at the age of 93. The youngest child born to Karolina Martina Larsen and Erik Thomsen, a blacksmith of Dwight, Illinois, Dorothy began her 71 years of married life to Albert Perrelli on New Year’s Day in 1944 when…
Designer Karen Hewitt’s Toys Are Art in Action
When Karen Hewitt of Burlington had a gallery show at Towle Hill Studio in Corinth last month, several major Vermont artists and designers who saw it emailed Seven Days to recommend it. “Karen is like a Vermont design wonder that too few people are aware of,” wrote Burlington designer Michael Jager, who helped brand the…
Free Will Astrology (9/30/2015)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The next seven weeks will NOT be a favorable time to fool around with psychic vampires and charismatic jerks. I recommend you avoid the following mistakes, as well: failing to protect the wounded areas of your psyche; demanding perfection from those you care about; and trying to fulfill questionable desires that…
Downtown Barre Gets a Bagel Shop
Eighteen months ago, when Dustin Poitras teamed up with local baker Peter Surridge to sell bagels wholesale, he stayed local. Besides making weekly appearances at the Barre Farmers Market, Poitras delivered his New York-style rounds to Barre’s Central Market, Trow Hill Grocery and Espresso Bueno, among others. Before long, Poitras and Surridge — a New England…
New State Rules Could Threaten Fledgling Childcare Businesses
Chandra Bharati’s South Burlington living room offers toys in plastic containers, a bookrack and a fish tank. A pastel alphabet foam mat serves as the room’s centerpiece. Stuffed animals adorn a couch. A “Happy Birthday” banner and snowman decoration have long outlived both occasions, but remain on one wall because they were pretty, Bharati explained…
UVM Medical Center Gets a Locavore Café
Most hospitals wouldn’t inspire a visit from a food luminary. Yet in April 2014, Chez Panisse owner and slow-food pioneer Alice Waters visited the University of Vermont Medical Center to see its food service at work. During the tour, director of nutrition services Diane Imrie previewed work on a groundbreaking new restaurant in the Garden…
Alburgh Selectman Bernard Savage Keeps His Seat Despite Drug Case
Alburgh Selectman Bernard Savage was among the first to arrive in town hall for the board’s bimonthly meeting on Tuesday, September 22. He settled into a chair at the corner of the long table, handed over a Diet Coke that he had brought for Town Clerk Donna Bohannon, and chatted genially with members of the…
My Much Younger Wife Is Flirting With Other Men
Dear Athena, I am in my seventies. My wife of 20 years is 56 and very beautiful, looking much younger than her age. Last night, we went to a bar and, at her suggestion, took along two other men whom we knew only slightly. The younger of the two, age 29, behaved himself. However, on…
Bye-Bye, Billy: Sorrell’s Hubris Claims His Career
Bill Sorrell could have ended three decades in public service on his own terms. Instead, the 68-year-old Burlington Democrat let his legendary hubris take him down. So when he announced Monday that he would retire in early 2017, there was no triumphant press conference, celebrating Sorrell’s significant successes fighting the tobacco industry and environmental degradation. Instead, facing an…
Blue Stone Brings Pizza to Waitsfield; Morse Block Deli Adds Beer
Skiers searching the Mad River Valley for creative pizza with local ingredients will soon be more than satisfied. Waterbury’s the Blue Stone will open a second location in Waitsfield in December. “It’s going to be a really aggressive push,” co-owner Vinny Petrarca says of renovating the space in time for ski season. The historic building…
Big Maker Series Presents NYU ‘Disruptor’ Natalie Jeremijenko
Natalie Jeremijenko is a conversationalist like few others. The New York University professor and eco-cultural disruptor has a mind so full of intertwined ideas that a discussion with her is like a particularly focused session of web surfing. Indeed, the internet serves as both an apt metaphor and the necessary backbone for much of her…
Letters to the Editor (9/30/15)
One Amazing Woman [Stuck in Vermont: “Jamie’s List,” September 23] was beautifully done. Video journalist Eva Sollberger did a great job articulating the spirit of adventure and energy in Jamie Perron’s life. She and her amazing parents are truly very special. Sharon Gutwin Williston Gutwin owns the Rehab Gym. Prisoner’s Promise This is a fantastic…
Art Review: Prilla Smith Brackett, Catamount Arts
Fairy tales warn children not to venture into the woods. Predators live there: wolves, snakes, bears, even witches. Such impressions die hard, and outlive their childhood usefulness. As adults, we continue to gaze warily into a forest, seeing it as the home of the wild. Tensions between humans and nature are evident throughout the conceptual,…
Pawn Sacrifice
In both of Tobey Maguire’s finest film appearances, he’s played “wonder boys.” First he was the preternaturally gifted writer James Leer in Curtis Hanson’s wonderful 2000 picture of that name, and now he’s the mercurial chess prodigy Bobby Fischer in the riveting new work from Edward Zwick (Legends of the Fall). You know a movie’s…
Theater Review: As You Like It, Lost Nation Theater
When Shakespeare snaps his fingers, the characters in As You Like It fall in love. The condition is so instantaneous that, in Lost Nation Theater’s production, director Kim Bent signals it by having the characters freeze in eye contact as a gong rings and a spotlight blazes with flashbulb intensity. Two pairs of lovers are…
Everest
How many you-know-whats do we give about people who voluntarily risk their lives for their own personal fulfillment? All films about high-stakes mountain climbing pose this implicit question. The best ones are typically documentaries, such as Touching the Void (2003) and the recent Meru, in which the climbers explain their motivations in their own words.…
We Salty Americans
“Jernigan, this is Connie. I got somebody here who needs to get up to Greyhound at the airport.” “Sure, I can do that. Where are you — at work, I take it?” Connie is an old friend. “Yeah, I’m at the Radio Deli. The woman’s name is Galina.” I motored over to Pearl Street, where…
Bernie’s Base: Sanders’ HQ Is Church Street’s Newest Attraction
Margery Jenkins and her granddaughter, Caroline Dougherty, were eating lunch on Church Street last Thursday when their waiter mentioned they were within walking distance of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential campaign office. Dougherty, a liberal twentysomething from Greenwich, Conn., persuaded her Republican grandmother it should be a stop on their Burlington tour. They slipped through…
Full Coverage: Seven Days on Bill Sorrell
Since March 2015, Seven Days has been covering Attorney General Bill Sorrell’s uneven compliance with campaign finance law and his close relationships with national lobbyists seeking to influence his office. Seven Days’ reporting led to the unprecedented appointment of an independent investigator to determine whether Sorrell broke the law. In September, Sorrell announced he would…
Francesca Blanchard, deux visions
(Cumbancha, CD, digital download, vinyl) The evolution of Francesca Blanchard has been swift and mesmerizing. In 2011, the young songwriter released her debut recording, a humble, handmade gem called Songs on an Ovation. The EP was as sweet as it was short. In a scant 17-minute span, it became clear that a new, crystalline voice…
While Standing on a Paddleboard, Try Polo
A massive tube of inflated red rubber snaked around the grass at Burlington’s Perkins Pier, one end slithering into the water. Two standup paddleboarders pulled the rest into the lake, followed by two inflatable nets, a set of modified paddles, and what looked like a small red, white and blue soccer ball. Plenty of peculiar…
Page 32: Sussing Up Seven Vermont Books
How many books does Seven Days receive in a single year? Enough to use them as the building blocks of a really awesome split-level fort, complete with kitchenette and a smart little patio. Enough that, if we burned them, they would meet the energy needs of, say, Vergennes for three weeks. Enough that they could…
The Nasty Boys? Burlington City Council abandons the Bernie Beach idea
Originally published June 26, 2002 Throwing in the Beach Towel?— Bernie Beach is history … A couple weeks back, the [Burlington City] council passed a hotly debated resolution (9-5), honoring the former socialist mayor by renaming North Beach “Bernard Sanders Beach.” They settled on the beach on the north end of Burlington Bay, after proposals…
Coleen Kearon’s Novel Revisits Feminism’s Second Wave
“You just need four words to explain why you dump any woman,” said an uncreative comedian sometime last decade. “Count the words: That bitch was crazy.” The audience cracked up. “That’s totally sexist!” I heckled back. He ignored me. Fast forward to now, when feminist discourse is enjoying a renaissance even as one in four…
Fuming: VW’s Deception Impacts Nearly 3,000 Vermont Drivers
Brendan Taylor used to describe his 2010 Volkswagen Golf in loving terms, such as “sporty,” “reliable” and “efficient.” He said he felt great about driving a vehicle that produced less air pollution than its gasoline-powered counterparts. After all, VW touted it as “clean diesel,” and the car got upwards of 40 miles per gallon. Now…
Four More VT Recordings 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.…
![UVM Apple Sales [SIV414]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/episode414.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
UVM Apple Sales [SIV414]
9/25/15: For years The UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center in South Burlington has been drawing a small but faithful crowd to its weekly apple sale on Fridays between 10-4pm. Eva talked to The Hort Farm’s Director Terry Bradshaw, AKA The Apple Guy, about what makes their fruit so tasty. Music: The Cush, Between the…
Soundbites: It’s a Girl Thing
As I was digging into deux visions, the excellent new album from local songwriter Francesca Blanchard — see the review here — it occurred to me that 2015 has been a particularly strong year for women in Vermont music. It’s hardly a secret that the music biz is traditionally a male-dominated arena. That’s largely been…
Eric George, Eric George
(Self-released, CD, digital download, vinyl) Eric George has a timeless quality. Perhaps that’s why it took him so long to release his self-titled debut record. George has been quietly plying his trade at coffee shops and other small venues around the state for some years. The album, out this week, is imprinted with a 2014…
Catching Up with Dave Chappelle … from Barre
When the news broke this summer that comedian Dave Chappelle would be performing in Burlington in the fall, the first thing we did here at Seven Days was freak out. The second thing we did was reach out to Chappelle’s management to inquire about an interview. Sadly, we were told, Chappelle wasn’t doing press for…
Designer Val Bochkov Prints Bernie Bills
On his website, Val Bochkov’s CV is nearly obscured behind a photo of him; one arm is outstretched, the other clutches a surfboard. Wearing sunglasses and a broad grin, he looks like a man on top of his game. The cities superimposed on the red board indicate an international trajectory for the Russian-born artist: Moscow,…
La Puerta Negra’s Latin Flavors in Montpelier
Even in broad daylight, the recessed black door on the north side of Montpelier’s Main Street opens to darkness. But when you step into the brick stairwell and ascend the narrow staircase toward filigree lanterns, the red lights guide you to the landing, where a host greets you with a smile. Behind her stands a…
Surveying Indian Eats in Montréal
You’ll know just where you are as you exit the metro at Station Fabre. The women with bindis, accompanied by men in turbans, make it clear this is India. Little India, to be exact, part of Montréal’s Park Extension neighborhood. Once you’ve ascended to street level, the waft of spices hits you — particularly on…
