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VOL 18 + ISSUE 33
AUGUST 18, 2016 - AUGUST 25, 2016 EDITORIAL PUBLISHER + EDITOR Jeff lawrence NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR Chris Faraone ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers COPY EDITOR Mitchell Dewar CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Emily Hopkins, Jason Pramas CONTRIBUTORS Nate Boroyan, Renan Fontes, Bill Hayduke, Emily Hopkins, Micaela Kimball, Jason Pramas, Dave Wedge INTERNS Becca DeGregorio, Anna Marketti
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DEAR READER Every time the pro-faux group Safe and Healthy Massachusetts attempts to mislead Bay State citizens it backfires. Voters know what reefer madness smells like, and no amount of bullshit covers it up. The latest pony to drop a deuce on the truth is Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael. While attempting to paint white lies all over the masses, Chief Carmichael used cannabis edibles as a prop to scare our children. That in and of itself was reason enough to question the man’s integrity and ethics, but what quickly became obvious was the fact that the edibles in question were from Colorado. This small but important detail was quickly highlighted by none other than our esteemed reporter Mike Crawford who, in a series of tweets, seemingly outed the Chief for transporting the marijuana over state lines, a violation of federal law. Almost as quickly as he was called out, he responded with a series of puffed-out-chest posts proclaiming his right to break said laws. After a series of back and forth tweets with multiple people, he began blocking everyone and eventually hid behind a rock and pled the Fifth. The damage was done, however; he could not have looked more idiotic or confused, and the Safe and Healthy Massachusetts lobby hobby was in tow the entire time. In this week’s issue, Crawford expands on this exchange and further highlights the problematic relationship between this group and the truth. Honestly, though, I really hope they keep this up, because we’ll catch them on every single lie, and the polls will continue to reflect growing opposition to their Anslinger ways.
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An update on the ethically bankrupt campaign against legal cannabis in Mass BY MIKE CRAWFORD @MIKECANNBOSTON It’s hardly news that politicians stretch the truth. But of all the lying lobbyists and interest group scoundrels lurking in the Commonwealth’s political wilderness, the campaign that is actively opposing the regulation and sale of legal marijuana stands above the rest, seemingly issuing fabrications and false statements with impunity. Indeed, Safe & Healthy Massachusetts is still pushing reefer madness in 2016, and will presumably continue doing so until voters face the legalization ballot question on November 8. But what’s even more astonishing is that, with few exceptions, the Greater Boston media neglects to challenge the initiative’s backers and spokespeople—a not-so-diverse mix of pols, law enforcement officers, and others who benefit, however indirectly, from the current prohibition (which was extended indefinitely by the federal government last week, but that’s another story). Here in Mass, the Safe & Healthy campaign has been fraudulent since day one, when the group posted on Twitter, “Since CO legalized marijuana, it became #1 state in teen marijuana use, rising 20% in 2 yrs. #wrongforkids.” That’s an interesting interpretation of statistics, since, to quote a recent article in Scientific American, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment “showed the percentage of high school students indulging in marijuana in Colorado was smaller than the national average among teens.” Even the study that the campaign cites, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, notes that the uptick in Colorado numbers is not statistically significant. If you are a determined 4
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prohibitionist, however, like Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, then you just run with such rhetorical nonsense anyway and hope that nobody reads beyond the propaganda pushed by complicit mainstream outlets. Another Twitter hoax from the Safe & Healthy folks: “Serious consequences for kids. Edibles put a disproportionate number of toddlers in the hospital.” Disproportionate to what? Not disproportionate to Tylenol, Advil, toothpaste, detergent, laxatives, glue, antacids, toilet bowl cleaner, fabric softener, contact lens fluid, alcohol, tobacco, energy drinks, birth control pills, and any number of other items that are commonly found in American homes that are annually responsible for significantly more calls to the National Capital Poison Center hotline than cannabis. Here’s a telling headline from the Washington Post: “Your kid is 136 times more likely to be poisoned by diaper cream than by weed.”
COLORADO CONNECT
In this veritable renaissance for bullshit artistry among the anti-marijuana set, Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael is a modern Michelangelo. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol recently filed complaints against him with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, as well as with the State Ethics Commission, for campaigning against legalization at a Safe & Healthy presser while in a police uniform, and for driving to the event in a Walpole police cruiser.
Despite these developments, the Boston Herald editorial page gave Carmichael a pass on his actions, and instead lambasted the pro-cannabis campaign for filing what the tabloid characterized as a “petty complaint.” In his turn, Carmichael claimed that he did nothing wrong, and said his talks amount to “education.” After a state campaign finance official, in explaining why the office dismissed the complaint, told the Globe, “it’s not a finance issue,” and explained that the matter “was more appropriate to be handled by the Ethics Commission,” Carmichael tweeted, “I’ve been advised by OCPF that I did not violate rules. I am committed to educating our community of drug harms.” Presumably missing the part about the ethics inquiry? But let’s talk about education. Last month, Carmichael posted a CNN story suggesting that a Colorado town’s water supply was tainted by THC—even though a learned individual would know that THC is not water soluble. It was soon after shown that there was never any THC in the water, but Carmichael never offered any further lessons. Some educator. On August 8, Carmichael posted, “Good thing is THC is SAFER than alcohol! 1 arrested for drug-laced candy that made 24 ill.” Linking to a WHDH story about a single incident, this educational post omitted the fact that excessive alcohol kills 80,000-plus Americans a year, while cannabis has never killed anybody. His mistakes go on, from claiming, “decriminalization destroys early intervention,” to failing to understand that court-ordered drug treatment for pot is an enormous waste of resources that could go to treating opiate addiction. Additionally concerning is that Carmichael has presented a stash of Colorado edibles at campaign events around the state. He says the display is for law enforcement purposes (it’s surprising he hasn’t called it an “educational aid”), but in any case I was curious about how said Rocky Mountain edibles wound up at a press conference in Mass. Were they imported illegally? Are they from police seizures? And if it’s the latter, can authorities go shopping in the evidence room for campaign props? Interestingly enough, it appears that all of the edibles featured in Carmichael’s display are for sale at RiverRock Cannabis in Colorado, the same cultivation and retail business that a delegation of Bay State senators and police chiefs visited in January. Yes, Carmichael was part of that delegation. Looking for additional clarification, I called the spokesperson for the Safe & Healthy campaign, as well as the office of state Rep. Hannah Kane, who appeared in front of said edibles at the same press availability. Neither called me back with comment. I also called Walpole Town Administrator Jim Johnson to ask his opinion on his prohibitionist police chief potentially smuggling cannabis from Colorado, but he wasn’t interested in answering either. I also asked the chief himself on Twitter: “When did you get those edibles from CO from the photo?” Carmichael responded: “It’s a law enforcement display—probably at different times.” I clarified: “Did you buy them on your trip to CO?” He denied: “no” I pressed: “How were they acquired?” But he went silent, so I followed up the next day: “How did you get the edibles from Colorado to the presser in Framingham and around Mass? Cat got your tongue?” And finally got an answer: “no cat “don’t got” my tongue, a complaint was filed w/OCPF remember? Therefore I’m not allowed to comment. Re: MGL 94c/7.” And then the chief of debunked marijuana education blocked me.
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BROKEN RECORDS
THE GALL OF GALVIN
Secretary of the Commonwealth shames independents (but should instead be ashamed of himself) BY ANDREW QUEMERE
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In the year of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the two most unpopular major party presidential nominees ever, it’s easy for voters to see the appeal of thirdparty candidates. That phenomenon should be mocked and disregarded though, according to Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, the very state official tasked with overseeing elections. At a Massachusetts delegation breakfast at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia three weeks ago, Galvin warned voters not to “waste their vote” on third party candidates. “The only thing a protest vote is going to bring about is a result you don’t want,” he told the partisans in the room. “As the incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth for 22 years, you’d be nuts to think he’d say otherwise,” says James O’Keefe, captain of the Massachusetts Pirate Party. “[T]hat’s the thing about our one-party system in Massachusetts; if you’re in the controlling party, life is good, and you want to keep it that way.” O’Keefe added: “Our legislature is 80 percent Democratic, yet only 35 percent of Massachusetts voters are registered Democrats. Independents are Massachusetts’s largest voter demographic, and make up 53 percent of the electorate. These independents ... are the very people that third parties are trying to appeal to. Massachusetts Democrats would be nothing without independent voters, and we’re not surprised that Secretary Galvin would want to discourage these independents from considering other options.” But there’s another reason why it’s unsurprising that a party hack like Galvin would fear third parties: He has less than nothing to show for his two decades as the state’s number-three politician. One of Galvin’s biggest responsibilities is ensuring that local and state government agencies across the Commonwealth are transparent to the public. The Public Records Division, headed by Galvin appointee Shawn Williams, hears appeals from people who are denied public records and is supposed to assist them with accessing requested information. But under Galvin, the Public Records Division has been little more than a joke among journalists and others who regularly make records requests. Even simple appeals often take weeks or months to resolve, and the results of appeals often seem arbitrary. Galvin’s office also typically refuses to work with the attorney general’s office, which has the power to sue and file criminal charges against officials who break the public records law. That means officials can get off the hook simply by refusing to comply with orders from Galvin’s office. For their role in this fiasco, Galvin and Shawn Williams were finalists for this year’s Golden Padlock “Award” from the group Investigators Reporters & Editors, a distinction reserved for the most secretive government officials and agencies in the country. According to IRE, the two were nominated for “supporting the withholding of a wide range of public records including race and ethnicity data and a recording of a public official making derogatory comments about two women at a public meeting. In one case, Williams upheld a $6,600 fee to complete a Boston Globe request for a log of public requests received by the State Police, saying it was ‘reasonable’ for state officials to spend 265 hours reviewing the log before release. The Globe has challenged Williams’ decisions through the courts and has won five times—an expensive and time-consuming process that has dramatically delayed release of vital public records.” In his last election bid, Galvin’s two challengers criticized his poisonous influence on public records access, but not too many people heard their cries. In practice, Galvin’s main strategy for winning elections is apparently limited to having a D beside his name and avoiding attention. Republican candidate Dave D’Arcangelo and Green-Rainbow candidate Danny Factor struggled just to get a public forum with Galvin, and in the end were only given one debate—at Malden High School. The questions were all posed by students, and it wasn’t even televised. (The Lowell Sun shot a low-quality video of the debate, but it has fewer than 300 views as of this writing.) Galvin won that election handily, with 67.5 percent of the vote. Had more people seen the Malden High debate, they would have seen why Galvin fears third parties. The most radical public records reform was suggested by Danny Factor, who said that information should be available online within
“But under Galvin, the Public Records Division has been little more than a joke among journalists and others who regularly make records requests.”
GALVIN continued on pg. 8 6
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GALVIN continued from pg. 6 seven days of a request and should not cost any money. “Remember that you are the government. The government is the people. These are your records. These are things that you may want to find out about to create better policies in the state, and you deserve them,” he said. O’Keefe of the Pirate Party has similar thoughts: “Massachusetts needs the breath of fresh air that only third parties can provide … We need a government that automatically puts public records on the web, where the public can easily find and review them. We need a government that carries out the people’s business in sunlight, not behind closed doors.” In contrast, when the Legislature recently passed a public records update bill, Galvin’s office spoke out against a number of modest reforms. For instance, his office testified that government agencies should be allowed to charge fees even when they fail to respond to records requests on time. Galvin’s office also criticized a provision that would require it to alert the attorney general’s office when an agency fails to follow an order to comply with a request—presumably because of Galvin’s lack of interest in working with the AGO to enforce the law. It may be a little early to start thinking about the next Secretary of the Commonwealth election, but when the time comes, hopefully the press and public will pay close attention. “Broken Records” is a biweekly column produced in partnership between the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, DigBoston, and the Bay State Examiner. Follow BINJ on Twitter @BINJreports for upcoming installments of Maya and Andrew’s ongoing reporting on public information.
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BEYOND BLM HEADLINES On searching for meaning in flame wars BY HALEY HAMILTON @SAUCYLIT Earlier this month, 23-year-old Korryn Gaines was shot dead by Baltimore police in her home after a long standoff. According to Police Chief Jim Johnson, shots were fired around 3 pm after Gaines raised a gun and threatened to kill officers if they didn’t leave her alone. In the shootout, her 5-year-old son was also hit by a bullet and taken to the hospital. As happens with this sort of tragedy, shit got real, and fast. #SayHerName, the hashtag which started last year after the 28-year-old Sandra Bland was found dead in a Texas jail cell, resurfaced with a vengeance. Comments about the police state, police brutality, lack of solidarity between men and women in the Black Lives Matter movement, white privilege, and the brutal consequences of racism showered social media like macabre confetti. It was easy to take one look at the headlines, glance through Twitter, and #FTP all over the place. The day after the shooting, the Washington Post published a story titled “Korryn Gaines, cradling child and shotgun, is fatally shot by police.” The URL for the story—what comes up when you post this article on social media, like I did just before noon that day—read “Korryn Gaines is the ninth black woman shot and killed by police this year.” Despite the clickbaity headline, the Post piece seemed to provide a clear and concise look at the national outrage over not only the shooting of Gaines, but also in response to the deaths of others, all while noting that while Gaines is the ninth black woman to be killed by a cop, she is the only one who made national headlines. The rest of the article details the deaths of the other eight women. I shared the article on Facebook, and was asked to stop spreading propaganda. I was told that the article is racist and that we are divided as a nation because of such coverage. I was shocked, so I reread the article, and I still thought it was well done. A small but manageable flame war ensued on my wall, but in the end I feel there was collective agreement on at least one point: Shit is fucked up. The fact that a woman was shot and killed by police while holding her child is fucked up; the fact that people generalize about racist cops without reading the details of a particular story is fucked up; the fact that respectable newspapers bury good stories beneath misleading headlines is fucked up; from what I gathered from the online conversation last week, the treatment of black women within the BLM movement is fucked up. The fact that it is 2016 and people are still arguing instead of agreeing about the importance of black lives is… insufferable. We can do better. 8
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“POLICE RAIDING SQUAD INVENTORY ARTICLES SEIZED DURING RAID AT ONE BOYLSTON ST., RACE TRACK BOOKMAKER’S QUARTERS” (1932) LESLIE JONES | COURTESY OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, LESLIE JONES COLLECTION
7-11 24-7 THROWBACK
Headlines from when Boston was essentially one giant casino, grade schools included RESEARCH BY PETER ROBERGE Headline hub that Boston is, the center of our local news storm tends to shift rapidly. Especially these days. But while fights over casino rights haven’t attracted much daily ink this summer, you can always count on controversies around gambling to resurface sporadically, sort of like a rash. As a city with a bipolar past full of both Brahmin exceptionalism and exceptional barbarism, it should come as no surprise that Boston’s had a bittersweet relationship with cardinal vices like card games. In these parts, political figures have historically played the role of the house, typically winning more than not while voting suckers pick lint. With the lottery and dice games on the brain, we dug up some choice clips that suggest the Commonwealth has always been a government front for an elaborate gambling scheme. First we found a trend piece about craps in the February 1, 1892 Boston Daily Globe that reads like a blip about Pokemon GO! on HuffPost. The writer attempts to explain how the pastime was imported to Boston from Kentucky by “horse jockeys,” “among whom this game is much encouraged.” He also notes that craps evolved “from a simple sidewalk or ground game … into magnificent layouts, with special places to play the game provided”— plus offers a mini-glossary of back alley slang terms: “Craps,” “Oontz,” or “7-11,” are the names of a gambling game that is quite extensively played here in this city. It has its devotee among all classes of people. 10
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The appeal was wide indeed. Here is further proof in an article from a November 1904 Boston Sunday Post titled, “GAMBLING IS RAMPANT AMONG THE SCHOOLBOYS OF GREATER BOSTON.” The reporter interviews a number of teachers who describe betting as the gateway drug of its time: “The most serious feature of the gambling habit is this: In order to indulge in it boys are apt to take to stealing. They want real money to play with and they don’t stand on the means to get it.” “The worst of it is I don’t know of any good plan for suppressing the vice. If parents would only help us we could do more: but most of them are indifferent. In fact, I believe some of them are rather proud if their boys make money off anybody without working for it.” The schoolyard wasn’t the only park where bets were made. Long before fantasy football, ballparks of all sizes in Boston were either gambling cesspools or endless fonts of entertainment, depending on your worldview. Regarding the former perspective, we found a screed by columnist Billy Evans, in the September 28, 1922 Fitchburg Sentinel, arguing that gambling is “baseball’s greatest menace.” According to Evans, even the golf courses of Brookline at the time were compromised by excessive betting, all in the name of making “the affair more interesting to the average American.”
Of all our finds, however, nothing seemed more American than good old politicians—and their friends who run the stock market—taking home the prize money. In a reluctant toast to that time-honored tradition, here are excerpts from a transcript of Rev. Charles Hamlin of Western Mass, opining against gambling, that were printed in the December 19, 1894 edition of the Boston Daily Globe: ‘The three most dangerous forms of gambling are lotteries, city poolrooms, and gambling race tracks. The US laws have somehow [scotched] the lotteries, which not long ago were taking $2,500,000 out of Boston.’ ‘The most colossal form of gambling is of the type practiced on the stock exchanges. But by no means all of the business of the exchanges is gambling. The worst of it is that which imitates the methods of the endowment companies.’ This throwback was produced in collaboration with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. For posts connecting old headlines with contemporary news stories, check out medium.com/binj-reports/tagged/throwbacks.
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Now that broadband internet is a public utility, both cable companies and telephone companies need to pay for public access television — not try to defund it BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS
The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) is pleased to welcome the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) 2016 Annual Conference to our mini metropolis. Staff, board members, and volunteers from public access television stations from the around the nation will be camped at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel this week — sharing skills, networking, and, unfortunately, discussing the best way to survive in a hostile political climate. Because despite being one of America’s greatest remaining democratic communications resources, public access TV is perennially fighting to preserve its funding. In honor of the ACM conference, I wrote the following commentary for the pilot episode of Beyond Boston — a video news digest that BINJ just launched this month in partnership with several area public access TV stations, including: Brookline Interactive Group (BIG), Cambridge Community Television (CCTV), Malden Access TV (MATV), and Somerville Community Access Television (SCAT). Our aim is to feature news produced at local public access TV stations and link it to news we produce at BINJ. Expanding the reach of all our work by effectively merging our audiences. Check out the show on participating stations and on the new Beyond Boston YouTube channel. And read on to get some perspective on the crisis facing a vital community media resource.
Public access television is one of greatest innovations of the grassroots movement for media democracy in the last half century. Also known as community television, it has helped cities and towns nationwide to have their very own cable TV channels. Allowing residents to keep up with local news and views while enjoying a wide variety of arts and entertainment programming — most of which is produced by their family, friends and neighbors. Filling the gap in local nonprofit media options left by PBS and NPR. One of the best things about public access television is the way it’s funded. Community media pioneers like noted filmmaker George Stoney helped craft regulations back in the late 1960s that made everything go. They were based on the principle that cable companies should pay an annual franchise fee to cities and towns in exchange for being able to build out their systems on municipal rightsof-way. In other words, companies like Comcast have to pay local governments for stringing their cables along public streets. That money can then be used to equip and sometimes staff public access stations. And those stations get used by the local population to celebrate their culture. Expanding free speech in the process. That funding mechanism worked pretty well — despite a bunch of political speed bumps there’s no time to discuss today — until the telephone companies joined cable companies in offering broadband internet service about a decade back. Soon people in many places were getting all the content carried over the old cable systems and much much more from both telephone companies like Verizon and cable companies like Comcast. This created a problem for funding public access stations because cable companies offering broadband still had to pay the franchise fee to local governments that is used to finance those stations. But telephone companies that now also provide broadband don’t have to pay that franchise fee. This has potentially provided the cable companies an opening to get rid of the franchise fee by stating that it’s unfair that they have to pay when the telephone companies don’t. Putting public access funding in extreme jeopardy. However, last year, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that broadband internet service is a public utility. Raising the possibility that both cable companies and telephone companies could be mandated to pay a franchise fee to cities and towns in exchange for stringing their broadband wires on public land. The FCC is still figuring out how to proceed on that front, and they are under intense pressure from cable companies and telephone companies to free them from all responsibility for funding public access stations. So it is critical that everyone who supports public access media gets together with other interested folks in your community and starts building a new grassroots movement to demand the FCC apply the franchise fee to both cable companies and telephone companies. A win on this issue will keep public access stations funded for decades to come. And that’s a big win for democracy. Apparent Horizon is syndicated by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Jason Pramas is BINJ’s network director.
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A nice trend to come to the Boston area over the past several years has been the opening of new bakeries (especially bakery cafes), while at the same time another trend has been the opening of new independent ice cream shops in the region. And while these two trends are mostly unrelated, a business in Somerville has decided to jump on both bandwagons, opening both a bakery and an adjacent ice cream store. With it, Forge on Somerville Avenue has created a bit of a one-stop shopping situation for the many food geeks who live in and around the city. Both Forge Baking Company and Forge Ice Cream Bar reside in a former warehouse just outside of Cambridge’s Porter Square that is set up as a little strip mall complete with a dollar store, dentist, and Chinese restaurant. Both Forge shops are set back in the corner of the shopping center, with Forge Baking Company housed in a cavernous space and Forge Ice Cream Bar sitting in a smaller room and separated from the bakery by a huge sliding wooden door. (The restrooms are in the bakery, so be prepared to use some elbow grease to slide open the door if you go late and the bakery is closing for the night.) The ice cream space has a retro vibe to it while also feeling modern and slightly industrial, with lots of vinyl, marble, wood, and brass used throughout; several stools are set up at the main counter, with a few more stools off to the side.A working scale is one of the first things seen upon entering the shop, in case customers want to see how their weight changes pre- and post-ice cream. All of the offerings at Forge Ice Cream Bar are made from scratch, and they are dense and smooth, thanks to the slow-churning method used that is much like that of the legendary Herrell’s shops (which makes sense because the owners used to work at one of the Herrell’s stores years ago). Because the shop has only been open for a month, it is too soon to know exactly to what extent its ice cream flavors will change, but currently, a few of the daily offerings might include a mild and slightly earthy green tea, a very sweet malted vanilla, a crunchy and rich coffee heath bar, an absolutely tremendous mint cookies and cream (perhaps the best of the lot), a marvelous “take five” which includes Reese’s peanut butter cups, and, for those who might want something a bit more healthy, mango and lemon sorbet options. Toppings run the gamut from gummy bears to big and thick chocolate chips to fresh banana slices—and speaking of bananas, the signature dish at Forge Ice Cream Bar may be the banana split, which comes with three flavors of ice cream, bananas (of course), one hot and one dry topping, and whipped cream. Among the hot toppings are a silky smooth caramel made in house along with a rich hot fudge, both of which can also be used for the regular sundae and brownie sundae. Forge Ice Cream Bar also offers floats and shakes, and if you like green tea, the matcha milkshake is a winner, with the same mellow flavor as that of the green tea ice cream. Somerville is suddenly becoming a hotbed of ice cream spots, with such places as Gracie’s, Frozen Hoagies, and Tipping Cow all joining such existing shops as Louie’s and J.P. Licks over the past couple of years. But Forge Ice Cream Bar has a little something extra going for it—namely a bakery next door—and it also has its own parking lot, a rarity within the city, which allows customers to not have to walk so far just in case they decide to go for an extra scoop or two of ice cream before heading out the door. >> FORGE ICE CREAM BAR. 626B SOMERVILLE AVE., SOMERVILLE. FORGEBAKINGCO.COM/ICE-CREAM
LIVE MUSIC • LOCAVORE MENU PRIVATE EVENTS 8/19 S.N.A.F.U
on tour from Detroit w/ Condition Critical, Spitting Black & Psychic Weight $10 adv / $13 dos | Doors @ 8pm 8/18 Christa Gniadek, Emma Jayne & more 8/24 ARC Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd Tribute) 8/25 Musk (CA), Aneurysm, Idiot Genes
THU 8/18 - WEMF & MUSIC IDB PRES.
MIELE (CD RELEASE)
FRI 8/19 - LLEGALLY BLIND PRES.
BOSTON FUZZSTIVAL 2016 SAT 8/20 - LLEGALLY BLIND PRES.
BOSTON FUZZSTIVAL 2016
8/26 Eli “Paperboy” Reed
New album “My Way Home” out now $15 adv / $18 dos | Doors @ 8pm 8/28 Jason Lowenstein, Sam Coomes & more 8/29 The FIXX & Eddie Japan 9/6 Adam Green
9/3 Elvis Depressedly & Teen Suicide
WED 8/24
Co-Headlining tour! w/ Nicole Dollanganger $13 adv / $16 dos | Doors @ 7:30pm
FRI 8/26 - WEMF & MUSIC IDB PRES.
156 Highland Ave • Somerville, MA
HEFFRON DRIVE
THE_STAMPEDE SAT 8/27
YOUNG DOLPH
617-285-0167 oncesomerville.com @oncesomerville /ONCEsomerville
SUN 8/28 - CRUSH BOSTON PRES.
NOSAJ THING
THU 8/18 - LEEDZ EDUTAINMENT PRES.
RAS KASS X ALYSSA MARIE FRI 8/19 6:30PM
DOLORES COBACH & KARINA VISMARA FRI 8/19 10:30PM
“HEROES” WITH DJ CHRIS EWEN SAT 8/20
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©2016 SFNTC (3)
MON 8/22 - COACH & SONS PRES.
WALTER ETC.
TUES 8/23 - LEEDZ/DON’T ASK DON’T TELL
LE1F
WED 8/24 - LEEDZ PRESENTS
WINTERTIME THU 8/25
“THE TRIBE”
NEWS TO US Boston Dig 08-17-16.indd 1
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
15
7/22/16 10:29 AM
MUSIC
CALL THE FUZZ
A breakdown of Boston’s best garage and psych rock festival BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN This weekend, the fourth annual Boston Fuzzstival takes over the Middle East Downstairs to bring Boston’s garage and psych music to life. It’s one of our city’s best celebrations of local music, bringing together acts like Quilt, Creaturos, Kid Mountain, and more. But if you’re unfamiliar with the genres, then plenty of questions arise. Don’t worry. With help from bands on the lineup, we’re here to help you enjoy the trippy, squiggly, feedback-filled event without a giant question mark appearing above your head. WHAT THE FRICK IS FUZZ? “Fuzz is that feeling and sound in the air, both gritty and dreamy, that makes you feel like you are tuning into the alternate realms. It’s the place ghosts ride around in, the heavy thick cool spaces in between.” –Mr. Airplane Man IS A TWO-DAY FEST REALLY WORTH IT? “It’s one of the greatest showcases of local music that Boston has to offer. Even though it is rooted in a genre, the shows tend to be very diverse, and visually super rad with the epic light shows.” –Zip-Tie Handcuffs “This festival is an excellent representation of what is going on in the Boston music scene, so anyone who has ever been curious about local bands but never leaves their house should definitely come out for this!” –Birthing Hips
“Fuzzstival has become so much more than just an exercise in the who’s who of the local psych/garage pantheon. For example, we don’t particularly locate ourselves in either of those categories! Nevertheless, we find a common ground with so many bands on this year’s bill because we’re all coming at music from a nonstandard perspective, and we think it’s refreshing to have the kind of breadth that this year’s lineup offers.” –Mini Dresses WHAT DREAMY BAND SHOULD YOU SEE? “There’s a lot of bands I’m not familiar with this year, which is awesome. I remember walking into the same festival a few years back and being blown away by Black Beach, who ripped so hard at 4 pm or so just out of nowhere! Highly recommend just coming out and seeing what happens.” –Ghost Box Orchestra WHAT DREAMY EQUIPMENT DO BANDS WANT? “A solar-powered school bus. It would allow us to bring our rock to all points in the world, without destroying said world.” –Zip-Tie Handcuffs “Whatever combination of guitar/amp/pedal/tape machine that gave the fuzz sound on the Stooges’ first record. “I Wanna Be Your Dog”—now that’s some fuzz!” –Mr. Airplane Man
WHO’S BEHIND THIS TRIPPY FEST? “For the most part, Boston is a great place for music and has been. There’s some amazing positive and oftentimes thankless people helping music get heard at every level in Boston. However, there’s also droves of negativity regarding the state of whatever people feel like complaining about. Over the last decade, I’ve been involved with everything from the free improv/new music scene to the rock venues/bars and everything in between, and it’s usually always the positive people who are still doing it and doing it well. Jason is one of those people. And he’s definitely one of most positive people out there, and it shows just how much more goes into making a community rather than just tailoring to a niche genre.” –Ghost Box Orchestra “Jason Trefts! More than anyone else in Boston, Jason has helped us cultivate our band. He does more than book great shows in town; he takes an active interest in bands’ personal and aesthetic trajectories. He’s fair, explicit, and decent in how he manages Illegally Blind. Jason’s respect for musicians is mutual: In all of his efforts, he always puts the music first.” –Mini Dresses HOW DO I BECOME JASON? “Find what you want to do and work at it 18 hours a day.” –Doug Tuttle
>> BOSTON FUZZSTIVAL 2016. FRI 8.19 - SAT 8.20. MIDDLE EAST DOWNSTAIRS, 472 MASS. AVE., CAMBRIDGE. 2PM/ALL AGES/$15-30. MIDEASTOFFERS.COM
MUSIC EVENTS THU 8.18
SOUND OF BOSTON SAYS THE NEW REVIEW + BISCUITS AND GRAVY + KYLE THORNTON AND COMPANY + AMERICAN SYMPHONY OF SOUL
[Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. 8pm/18+/$12. crossroadspresents.com] 16
8.18.16 - 8.25.16
|
FRI 8.19
FRI 8.19
TUE 8.23
TUE 8.23
[Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr., Boston. 5pm/all ages/$15. icaboston.org]
[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 7pm/ all ages/$19.50. sinclaircambridge.com]
[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$12. greatscottboston.com]
[Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$13. mideastoffers.com]
DANCE TO THE BALKAN BEATS BEIRUT (DJ SET)
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RED HAIR RAP LIL YACHTY
POST-HARDCORE PUNCH MILEMARKER + BURGLARY YEARS
HEADY HIP-HOP LE1F
WED 8.24
LOCAL EMO AND ALL THAT PUNK SOMOS + FREE THROW + HIGH WAISTED
[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 7pm/all ages/$11. sinclaircambridge.com]
NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
17
FILM
BLASPHEMY AND BANALITY
On an old release from John Waters, and a new one from Seth Rogen BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN The films of John Waters come direct from the counterculture, but their target audience has always been a more conservative crowd. His first feature-length sound film, Multiple Maniacs [1970], begins with “Lady Divine’s Cavalcade of Perversions,” a tent-set peep show dedicated to the exhibition of fetishes, sex acts, and other misbehaviors. “Two actual queers kissing,” promises Mr. David, the carnival barker, and the promise is fulfilled in close-up, all while a crowd shouts, “Ew!” and, “Weird!” in response. When we’re back outside, Waters’ camera pans in a circle and reveals the location where this tent has been set up: It’s stationed on a suburban lawn, and the crowd being waved in is full of flat-haired nine-tofive types. Bourgeois pearl-clutching is the subject of the scene—ostensible perversity causing shock, despite the onlookers attending of their own volition—and it’s also the mission statement for the career that followed. As Waters stated outright in a recent interview, “The richer the neighborhood, the better we’d do.” He didn’t just know that he was selling transgression. He also knew who he was selling it to. With that said, Multiple Maniacs didn’t sell much during its first life. The Baltimore-set independent feature has traditionally only been seen on VHS and via beat-tohell 16mm prints; it was never officially released to the theatrical market in the United States, only playing one-offs, midnight shows, and in retrospectives, the vast majority of which happened after the relative success of Waters’ later pictures. Its current theatrical release from Janus Pictures —the highbrow distributors responsible for the Criterion Collection—will represent its widest exhibition yet, with bookings at more than 20 different art-house theaters set for the summer (the film plays at the Coolidge Corner Theatre at midnight this Friday and Saturday). It’s back in the rich neighborhoods, where its playfully naughty sense of shock value will entertain another set of normals, now gathered in a different kind of tent. Though rougher and less refined than the films Waters would make in the following years, Multiple Maniacs retains the general approach of those later movies: a cheekily genre-based narrative that propels his characters from one deliberately repulsive set piece to another. Mr. David (David Lochary) brings in the bougies, who are entertained by the perversions they are promised and are then robbed at gunpoint by Lady Divine (Divine) as a finale. Divine decides to murder one of the day’s attendees, which proves to be a point of contention during the walk home, influencing David to sneak away with a mistress, the bleached-platinum Bonnie (Mary Vivien Pearce). Their rendezvous is immediately snitched about to Divine, who’s been sleeping with David, and who thus declares intentions for vengeance. But on the way to their location, Divine is raped by a pair of drug addicts, and then led
to a church by the Infant Jesus of Prague. An attempt at legitimate spiritual communion is made, but is quickly interrupted by a self-described “religious whore” (Mink Stole), who proceeds to commit sex acts on Divine with a rosary while reciting the Stations of the Cross. With their connection solidified, Mink and Divine plan to murder David and Bonnie, just as David and Bonnie plan to murder Divine alone; when the four reunite, Divine reverts to his basest self—a relentlessly pleasure-seeking egomaniac unencumbered by even the slightest sense of social responsibility—and the film itself begins to warp, taking on the aesthetic of a 1950s kaiju movie, with its hero taking aim at the target audience once again, like two 20-somethings making out in a Plymouth. Maniacs continued Waters’ lifelong discourse with audiences prone to shock, but the conversation wasn’t entirely inviting. Formally speaking, this is a truly rebellious work, devoid of all classicism, marked by shaky compositions and unkempt blocking, actors breaking smiles and shaking lines, starkly graceless black-andwhite photography, and harsh long takes that make no effort to hide all these aforementioned limitations. Just as his content worked to cut against respectable social cultures—and long before internet media allowed for a world where a phrase like “rosary job” could be dropped nonchalantly in the middle of a plot summary— Waters’ filmmaking methods were cutting against the respectability of the film industry, discarding their every nicety in favor of genuine ugliness. That’s the quality that separates the outsiders from
the insiders, especially today, when dialogue like “I love you so fucking much that I could shit” wouldn’t even stand out in a general-release studio comedy. Whether that line comes from Multiple Maniacs or Sausage Party [2016]—the comparably blasphemous animated comedy featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, and Jonah Hill—is something we’ll leave for you to discover. The Rogen-led Party is its own genre riff, subverting the allegories about anthropomorphized objects made by Pixar (a late scene mimics a Toy Story [1995] climax, framing and all). The constructed world of Sausage Party is mostly confined to a supermarket, where fully conscious foodstuffs live under the belief that humans are gods and the outside world is a heavenly paradise. After escaping from their packages, a hot dog (Rogen) and a bun (Wiig) come to believe that this minor pseudo-sexual transgression might engender spiritual punishment, which eventually leads to the revelation that their Great Beyond is a false belief masking inevitable death (being eaten), which then allows for narrative questions regarding the way that religiously oriented psychologies are shaken by the concept of atheism. Sausage Party concludes with organized chaos, just as Maniacs does—in this case by way of a food orgy that gleefully violates the highly stereotypical demeanors of its religiously inclined characters. Like the other recent films that Rogen has written with partner Evan Goldberg—This is the End [2013] and The Interview [2014]—this is an ideologically minded spoof, which is exactly how you might classify the films of Mr. Waters. What separates the pair is a matter of presentation. Sausage Party is more accurate in its mimicry, conjuring up the same glossy aesthetic and narrative framework as the type of film it’s taking the piss from, the same chase sequences, the same character design, and the same repetitive writing, complete with a directly stated theme delivered in the speechifying manner of a Disney script (even if the theme itself strikes closer to Waters himself). Sausage Party is profane, blasphemous, and presentable too, which—along with the widespread commodification of bad taste in film comedy—is probably why it opened number one at the box office last weekend, all while Waters has spent the past decade failing to get his latest scripts financed. The success of Sausage Party is not particularly surprising, given the contemporary acceptance of its nature of filth. What’s surprising is just how banal this kind of transgression has become. Beyond its tired stereotypes and first-draft punchlines is a trenchant critique of spirituality—but then that critique is nothing you haven’t heard in a Woody Allen movie, and that fart joke is nothing you haven’t heard in a Judd Apatow film. Sausage Party may even be smart, but once you settle into its concept, it doesn’t surprise you. Waters’ works might’ve been consumed by audiences not much hipper than the Sausage Party crowd—but the movies themselves were often revolutionary in their attitudes and aesthetics. The movie he’s been trying to finance in recent years, titled Fruitcake, would’ve pushed this discourse even further. Waters claimed that it too would be modeled after kid’s movies—and unlike Rogen and company, he actually wanted kids to be the audience.
>> MULTIPLE MANIACS. NOT RATED. PLAYS FRI 8.19 AND SAT 8.20 AT THE COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE. 290 HARVARD STREET, BROOKLINE. MIDNIGHT. $11.25. >> SAUSAGE PARTY. RATED R. NOW PLAYING EVERYWHERE.
FILM EVENTS THU 8.18
THU 8.18
[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$7-9. hcl.harvard.edu/hfa]
[Museum of Fine Arts. 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 7:30pm/NR/$11. Screens through 8.27—see mfa.org for other showtimes.]
HARVARD’S ROBERT ALDRICH RETROSPECTIVE CONCLUDES WITH KISS ME DEADLY [1955]
18
8.18.16 - 8.25.16
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AREA PREMIERE OF MAYA VITKOVA’S VIKTORIA [2014]
DIGBOSTON.COM
THU 8.18
‘PLAY IT COOL’ DOUBLE FEATURE AT THE SOMERVILLE OCEAN’S 11 [1960] and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR [1968] [Somerville Theatre. 55 Davis Square, Somerville. 7:30 and 9:55pm, respectively/ NR/$10 for both. 35mm. somervilletheatre.com]
FRI 8.19
NATURE’S REVENGE CONTINUES AT THE COOLIDGE GRIZZLY [1976]
[Coolidge Corner Theatre. 290 Harvard St., Brookline. Midnight/PG/$11.25. coolidge.org]
SAT 8.20
MON 8.22
[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 11:30pm/R/$911. 35mm. Also screens 8.21 at 12:30pm.]
[Coolidge Corner Theatre. 290 Harvard St., Brookline. 7pm/NR/$11.25.]
‘STARRING JACKIE CHAN’ CONTINUES AT THE BRATTLE SUPERCOP [1996]
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS PRESENTS FEDERICO FELLINI’S 8 1/2 [1963]
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NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
19
ARTS
ETERNAL SCULPTURES
The first major US exhibition of Della Robbia at the MFA BY CHRISTOPHER EHLERS @_CHRISEHLERS
512 Mass. Ave. Central Sq. Cambridge, MA 617-576-6260 phoenixlandingbar.com
Boston’s Best Irish Pub
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The first piece you see as you enter the stunning Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence at the MFA isn’t just a taste of the kind of art that the Della Robbias electrified Florence with during the 15th century, but rather a massive, nearly overwhelming example of what made the family the rock stars of Renaissance sculpture. The piece is Resurrection of Christ, a vibrant, 11-foot-wide relief by Giovanni della Robbia consisting of 46 separate pieces. (Fitting, since the exhibition—the first of its kind in the US—is also made up of 46 different pieces.) The piece was most likely commissioned by Niccolò Antinori in the early 16th century and for many years hung at the Tuscan villa of the Antinori family—still in the wine business today—until the late 1800s when the piece was sold. So a part of the fabric of the Antinori family—now in its 26th generation—is this piece that they have generously supported in its year-long conservation. “It’s very important to us,” Alessia Antinori said. Antinori, youngest daughter of patriarch Piero Antinori, was in Boston to celebrate the exhibition and the unveiling of the restored Resurrection. She beams with pride as she discusses her family’s link with the Della Robbias and their support of the restoration. “It’s an amazing piece,” she told me. “It’s really an example of the Renaissance period in Florence, which was a unique period. It never happened again.” The Della Robbias weren’t merely expert sculptors; they were pioneers. In the 15th century, Luca della Robbia invented a new technique for glazing terra cotta. (This terra cotta was made from clay from the banks of the Arno River.) This process resulted in vibrant, fadeless colors, soulful whites, and a high-gloss shine. The family’s secret was closely guarded but passed down, most significantly to Luca’s nephew Andrea and Andrea’s son, Giovanni (who created the Resurrection). Important works by all three are featured in the exhibition, which has been stunningly and lovingly curated by Marietta Cambareri. Andrea della Robbia’s Prudence, a roundel on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has also recently undergone conservation, and it’s almost impossible to look away. It is fascinating to see how a new order for the garland— juicy, ripe lemons; pinecones; and purple grapes—has been discovered. The soul of the exhibition is undoubtedly Luca della Robbia’s The Visitation, a staggering work showing Mary and her cousin, the elderly Elizabeth, who have both just learned that they are with child. (This is a big deal because Mary, of course, is a virgin, and Elizabeth is long past her prime.) This represents the first manifestation of Christ on Earth, and the contrast between Elizabeth’s shriveled, labored face and Mary’s long neck and pure face is almost divine itself. The Visitation is shown in most art history textbooks, yet this marks the very first time that it is being shown in the United States. (Amazingly, the piece is on loan from the Church of San Giovanni Fuircivitas, Pistoia.) The Della Robbia technique of sculpting remained all the rage for about a century before it passed out of favor. Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence is a stunning snapshot of the time, a period of unparalleled artistic and intellectual nirvana. The exhibition is steeped in the richness of the generations, both of the Della Robbias and the Antinoris, which is really the beating heart of this admirable, alluring show. >> DELLA ROBBIA: SCULPTING WITH COLOR IN RENAISSANCE FLORENCE. THROUGH 12.4 AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, 465 HUNTINGTON AVE., BOSTON. MFA.ORG
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NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
21
SAVAGE LOVE
ALL I EVER WANTED
WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST BY PATT KELLEY WHATS4BREAKFAST.COM
BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET
DEAR READERS: I’m on vacation for three weeks—but you won’t be reading old columns in my absence, and you won’t be reading columns by anyone who isn’t Dan Savage. You’ll be reading new columns, all of them written by Dan Savage, none of them written by me. Our second guest Dan Savage is 32 years old, single, and living in London. Dan Savage got his professional start working in promotions at the legendary London nightclub G-A-Y. He’s now 10 years into a career in theater arts marketing and currently works for some of the West End’s biggest hit musicals. Dan has never written a sex-advice column before, but he occasionally gets angry tweets that were meant for me. A quick word about qualifications: Advice is defined as “an opinion about what could or should be done.” We’re all entitled to our opinions—but only Dan Savage, theatrical marketing exec, is entitled to share his opinions in my column this week. Take it away, Dan! I’m an early-30s bi woman. As I have more relationships, I have started to see a pattern in that I find sex much hotter when there is some degree of confusion or forbidden-ness. So relationship sex can get boring quickly. I know there’s not necessarily a good answer for why, but any suggestions on what to do about this? I want to have great sex with a partner for life! Maybe my expectations about good sex in a long-term relationship are unrealistic? I know it’s not always going to be crazy passion, but how can I sustain amazing sex in a relationship? Passion Fades From This A problem you and I share! The fun is in the chase, the excitement of someone new, and that first time. You may return for a second or maybe a third time— but then what or who is next? Often regardless of whatever feelings may have started to develop. For those who don’t understand, just imagine we’re talking about food. You like food. You like lots of different types of food. Right now, your favorite food is hot dogs. But you don’t want to eat that every day. Occasionally, you might want an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. I believe the secret to a good relationship—besides love and passion—is keeping it downright dirty! It’s about keeping that spark alive. If the fun starts to fade, spice it up with toys, games, risky locations, additional people, rubber dog masks—you can’t know what will excite you both until you give it a try! But that’s the key, that you both like it. There are millions of people all over the world in long-term relationships that on the face of it maintain a fun and healthy sex life—can it really be that hard? Or maybe long-term relationships aren’t for you, PFFT!
THE STRANGERER BY PAT FALCO ILLFALCO.COM
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BOWERY BOSTON
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