The Tech Issue October 2013 (Theme Issue)
The Tech Issue: Seven Days Talks Up Vermont’s Most Interesting ‘Talking Head’; Arresting Posts From Vermont’s Tweeting Troopers; Why that State Can’t Get IT Right; Seven Outstanding Innovations
Obituary: Allen Leonard Unwin
Allen Leonard Unwin, age 59 years, a resident of Ladimi Circle in Highgate Center, died early Wednesday afternoon October 16, 2013, at the Fletcher Allen Health Care Facility in Burlington with loving family at his side. Born in St. Albans, Vt on October 1, 1954, he was the son of Leonard Unwin and the late…
Obituary: Lionel H. Gagne
Lionel H. Gagne, age 84 years, passed away early Wednesday morning, October 16, 2013, in the Northwestern Medical Center with loving family at his side. Born in Highgate Center on October 14, 1929, he was the son of Emile and Alma (Rivard) Gagne. He attended Highgate schools and later moved to Sanford Maine where he…
Marc Awodey
November 4, 1960 – October 13, 2012 Marc was a Burlington painter, poet, teacher,musician and longtime art critic for Seven Days. Hisbrother Steve Awodey delivered this eulogy for Marc’s memorial service onNovember 2, 2012, at the Unitarian Universalist Church. With permission we areadapting it here, nearly one year since Marc’s death at age 51. We…
Techie Transformations
Burlington has lots of nicknames: Queen City, BTV and “The People’s Republic of Burlington,” come to mind. On Tuesday, October 15, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger called a press conference to announce another one he really hopes will catch on: New England’s Gigabit City. The moniker refers to the speed at which Burlington Telecom’s fiber-optic network…
Seven Local Tech Companies Prove Vermont Can Lead the Nation
When most people think of Vermont products, they think of Burton Snowboards, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and maple syrup. But the Green Mountain State is also home to a number of tech and bioscience companies with national or international reputations within their niche markets. Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer are two prominent examples — these two…
Soundbites: Lazerdisk Homecoming, ArtsRiot and Signal Kitchen Team Up
It’s Homecoming Week in the electronic dance music scene, as some marquee prodigal producers and DJs are returning to Vermont to rock local clubs. The big name, of course, is two-time Grammy nominee Morgan Page, who brings his 3-D concert experience to the Higher Ground Ballroom this Thursday, October 17. But Page isn’t the only…
A Little Ditty About Jack and Diane
“You know, Bushey is a big Vermont name,” I said to a customer sitting beside me in my taxi. We had just crossed over onto the islands en route to a drop-off at the Plattsburgh ferry. The day was sunny with a powder-blue sky, warm enough for a half-cracked window. “Ya have any relatives on…
Tasting the Future With Stowe’s Skip Rosskam
Skip Rosskam spreads out an array of baggies, vials and jars on a conference table in what seems at first like an illicit encounter. He then dribbles some jewel-colored liquid into a few miniature wine glasses and hands them to us, Seven Days’ two food writers. The juice gives off an intense aroma of blueberries…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again A city bus driver in Barrie, Ontario, who searched a knapsack that a passenger had left behind, hoping to discover the owner’s identify, found it contained about a pound of marijuana. Soon after, the knapsack’s owner called Barrie Transit looking for his property. When he showed up to claim it, police were…
EDM Star and VT Expat Morgan Page Will Rock You … in 3-D!
On the surface, the names Morgan Page and Michael Jackson wouldn’t seem to belong in the same sentence. And yet Page, a native Vermonter and two-time Grammy-nominated DJ and producer, and the late King of Pop do share at least one thing in common: an interest in unusual concert technologies. For the electronic dance-music star’s…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): This is an indelicate oracle. If you’re offended by the mention of bodily functions in a prophetic context you should STOP READING NOW. Still here? OK. I was walking through my neighborhood when I spied an older woman standing over her aged Yorkshire Terrier next to a bush. The dog was…
Seven Days Chats Up Vermont’s Most Interesting “Talking Head,” Bina48
I was surprisingly nervous to talk to Bina48. I’d certainly had more intimidating interview subjects, such as the choreographer who told me I was wasting his time. At first glance, this one looked like a life-size doll head — she has no arms or legs — but Bina48 is a mechanical animatronic bust. She was…
What Vermont Health Connect Could Learn From the State’s Previous IT Blunders
It takes hard-won votes to change government policy. But these days, changing government practice takes something that seems even harder to find: information technology that works as advertised. That’s a real and pressing problem for Vermonters in the inaugural month of Vermont Health Connect. Week three of the state’s new health-care exchange may be going…
Guild’s New Commissary Supplies Some of Burlington’s Top Restaurants
In the Meat Forest, five pigs, bisected à la Damien Hirst, swing from short hooks. Steaks that have been aging for 30 days patiently await butcher Frank Pace’s bone saw. And hampers filled with tails, hocks and feet stand stacked and ready to be taken to restaurants where they’ll be used for stocks. The magical…
Art Review: “Of Land and Local”
“This is probably like bringing coals to Newcastle,” said Michael Mercil as he introduced his 47-minute barnyard film, “Covenant,” at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn. It was the second Burlington-area opening for “Of Land and Local,” the first being at BCA Center the previous week. And those are just two of seven venues for BCA’s…
![Lindsay & Sarah Dream Big [SIV326]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/episode326.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Lindsay & Sarah Dream Big [SIV326]
9/15/13: Perhaps you saw Vermont dancer Lindsay Richardson when she appeared on Justin Timberlake’s arm during his performance at the 2013 Mtv Video Music Awards? Or maybe you caught her striking poses in the Happy Socks ad campaign shot by David LaChapelle? Or shaking it next to Britney Spears in her Twister ad and Justin…
Theater Review: The Crucible, Lost Nation Theater
Lost Nation Theater’s production of The Crucible groans under the weight of the classic play. The company has tackled all the difficulties in staging it: assembling a large cast of solid actors, opening up the playing space to accommodate bold movement in an in-the-round setting that conjures up the feeling of a trial and creating…
Theater Review: ‘Art,’ Vermont Stage Company
Vermont Stage Company kicks off its 20th season with a comedy. The title is ‘Art,’ but the play is not about the contemporary painting one of the characters acquires. It’s about the art of friendship. Serge, Marc and Yvan have been friends for 15 years, and they know just how and when to cheer or…
Meet the Vermont Family Behind One of iTunes’ Most Popular Kids Podcasts
This story first appeared in the October issue of Kids VT, Seven Days’ free monthly parenting publication. Three years ago, Lisabeth Sewell McCann of Charlotte wanted to find audio stories to share with her two young boys. She and her husband, David, both in their mid-forties, consider themselves “media-cautious parents” — they avoid visual media…
Letters to the Editor
Texas Ho! [Re “The Undertaker’s Daughter: Darcie Johnston Wants to Kill Health Care in Vermont,” October 2]: I’m a lifelong subscriber to Blue Cross Blue Shield, a self-employed small businessman and a parent of two sons in college. Thanks to Vermont Health Connect and the Affordable Care Act, I can now save $500 per month…
