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facing facts

THE LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

DECEMBER 12-DECEMBER-19, 2012 COMPILED BY ANDY BROMAGE & TYLER MACHADO

Tragedy in Newtown

NON-BELIEBER

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF JAY BORBONE

ermont students arrived at schools under police guard Monday morning as authorities sought to reassure nervous parents and pupils following last Friday’s horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. As that community copes with unimaginable loss and grief, Vermont’s educators reviewed emergency protocols and Gov. Peter Shumlin ordered all flags lowered to half staff. In Washington and Montpelier, the talk is now turning to what the government can do to prevent such tragedies in the future — including the sensitive subject of passing stricter

gun-control laws. As Paul Heintz reports in this week’s Fair Game on page 12, Vermont’s congressional delegation is so far ducking questions about whether they support renewing the federal assault-weapons ban and outlawing the high-capacity ammo clips used in Newtown and in earlier mass shootings in Colorado and Arizona. In avoiding the issue, Vermont’s politicians may be missing their best opportunity to support meaningful gun-law reforms without paying a political price.

That’s how many people have died in car crashes in Vermont this year. In 2011, there were 51 fatalities.

TOPFIVE

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Vermont’s ranking as America’s healthiest state last week came with a cautionary footnote: We’re getting more obese every year.

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Holidays: Giving as good as it gets

71 Music 74 Art

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41 The Shopper

REVIEWS

Loveful Heights, Loveful Heights; Teleport, Bad for Business

28 Work

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26 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Vermonters on the job

36 It’s All a Blurb

ARTS NEWS

20 Bloggers Tout Books; Bookstores Branch Out

Open season on Vermont politics BY PAUL HEINTZ

32 Meet the Authors

1. Rebecca Minkoff 2. Emu driving

12 Fair Game

BY BRET T ANN STANCIU

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LOOKING FORWARD

the

FRIDAY 21

Bridging the Gap If classical musicians playing Nirvana songs sounds like a stretch, you’ve probably never heard of the Boston String Quartet. The group’s multimedia performances include original music and arrangements along with spirited interpretations of modern hits. This year’s holiday series, “Christmas in Paris,” includes selections from the recent movies Hugo and The Illusionist, traditional French carols and videos featuring the Eiffel Tower.

MUST SEE, MUST DO THIS WEEK COMPI L E D BY COU RTNEY COP P

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 55

SATURDAY 22 - MONDAY 24 & WEDNESDAY 26

Making History Families step back in time, crafting ornaments and dipping candles, as part of Christmas at the Farm. The crafts evoke early celebrations of the holiday, which didn’t gain official recognition in the United States until 1890, the year Billings Farm was completed. On December 26, weather permitting, folks ride on horsedrawn sleighs or wagons and sled with jack jumpers, as their ancestors once did.

ONGOING

IN SHAPES

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 56

Iconic artist and master illustrator Charley Harper loved nature. This trait alone isn’t unique, but the way he translated that passion into his work surely was. With a style that he called “minimal realism,” Harper distilled details into bold colors and geometric renderings. “Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper” is currently displayed at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich (pictured, “Dolfun”}.

WEDNESDAY 19 & WEDNESDAY 26

Get Moving In 1968, the Trapp Family Cross-Country Ski Center opened as the first full-service facility of its kind in the United States. Today, winter sport enthusiasts have access there to 100 miles of groomed and backcountry trails. The Trapp Nordic Cup 2012-13 invites newcomers and seasoned racers alike to a weekly 5K skate and/or classic time trial. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 54

SEE ART REVIEW ON PAGE 74

Last Hurrah FRIDAY 21

COURTESY OF THE MONTSHIRE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE

A Mix of Six While Will Mallett was crashing on his brother Luke’s couch, the two often jammed with a roommate, Nick Leen. What began as a casual collaboration evolved into the acclaimed Mallett Brothers Band. Today, six accomplished musicians deliver high-octane live performances that reflect the group’s eclectic roots. Drawing on punk, funk, bluegrass and country, with distinctive vocals influenced by Luke’s hip-hop background, the group packs a punch at Nectar’s. SEE MUSIC LISTING ON PAGE 72

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN 11

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 56

WEDNESDAY 26 SEVEN DAYS

They say it pays to try new things. For participants in the Flynn’s new Adult Cabaret Program, the reward is a night in the limelight. After auditioning, these students of the craft honed both ensemble work and solo skills. Piero Bonamico directs the group — who are now performers — in An Evening of Cabaret.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 55

12.19.12-12.26.12

STORIES THROUGH SONG

Where will you be when it all goes down? If the answer is at Dubtek Productions’ End of the World Party, you may be oblivious as the outside world meets its demise. DJs in multiple rooms play hip-hop, dubstep, house and more, accompanied by projections and light shows. DJ Frank Grymes and body painting artist Kadina Dinash of Human Canvas close out the evening.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

FRIDAY 21

FAIR GAME

OPEN SEASON ON VERMONT POLITICS BY PAUL HEINTZ

Guns ’n’ Poses

verything changed the day a crazed man brandishing a semiautomatic rifle fired upon dozens of elementary school children. The nation grieved. Members of Congress introduced legislation to ban high-capacity magazines and semiautomatic weapons. A president who had resisted gun control measures decided to act. The year was 1989. The scene of the crime: a Cleveland Elementary School playground in Stockton, California, where five children were killed and another 30 injured. Three months later, a Republican congressman from Vermont named PETER SMITH signed on to the Semiautomatic Assault Weapons Act of 1989. Though he’d backed gun rights when he first ran for the House the year before, Smith had a change of heart after a discussion with a high school student from Washington, D.C. w w w . e s s e x o u t l e t s . c o m “It was an important moment in my 21 ESSEX WAY, ESSEX JUNCTION, VT | 802.878.2851 life,” Smith recalls. “All the sudden I concluded there were so many elements of the gun-control discussion that were 8v-essexshoppes121912.indd 1 12/16/12 11:19 AM upside down.” So the National Rifle Association set its sights on the Republican congressman, spending a million dollars in the 1990 election to defeat Smith and others who backed the bill. It worked. Smith lost to a gun-rights supporter who subsequently voted against the Brady Handgun Bill, which mandated federal background $25 Gift Cards for $20 checks for many gun purchasers. $50 Gift Cards for $40 That guy’s name? BERNIE SANDERS. “There was absolutely no doubt in Limited Edition Gift Sets that ’90 vote that the NRA got [Sanders] pre-made and custom elected and he owed them,” says CHRIS GRAFF, a former Vermont bureau chief of Great travel size items the Associated Press and now an executive at National Life Group. Times have changed since 1990 — kind of. Sanders and Sen. PATRICK LEAHY (DVT), who both opposed the Brady Bill, subsequently backed the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban and its unsuccessful reauthorization in 2004. They — and Congressman PETER WELCH (D-VT) — have had mixed records on guns since. But the Smith episode is seared in the memory of every Vermont politician of that era. For while Vermont may be the most liberal state in the country, its gun politics remain those of a rural enclave services performed by instructor-supervised students ruled by sportsmen. 1475 Shelburne Rd South Burlington, VT “Hunting is an integral part of who www.obriensavedainstitute.org Vermonters are, so that’s why I think you or by phone at 802.658.9591 x1

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see a lot of Vermont politicians seeking not to offend on this issue,” Graff says. That may explain why, in the wake of last week’s horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, many of the state’s most prominent politicians have been loathe to answer questions about whether new gun laws are necessary. Spokesmen for Leahy, Sanders, Welch and Gov. PETER SHUMLIN, who is out of the country, turned down repeated requests for interviews Monday and Tuesday. They each declined to answer specific written questions from Seven Days — and from the Burlington Free Press — about their positions on gun laws and about potential legislative responses to the Sandy Hook tragedy.

THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT IN THAT ’90 VOTE THAT

THE NRA GOT [SANDERS] ELECTED AND HE OWED THEM. C H R IS GR AF F

Instead, they offered up only opaque statements that fail to say, well, anything. President BARACK OBAMA may have called for a national conversation about last week’s shooting — but for these four Vermont politicians, that conversation is being conducted via press release. And that’s nothing new. When Seven Days queried the congressional trio in January 2011 following the gunshot suicides of two Vermont teens, each declined to be interviewed, offering only statements arguing that gun laws are best left to the states. Asked by the Vermont Standard the following month about the Tucson shooting that left six dead and fellow House member GABRIELLE GIFFORDS injured, Welch said, “I’m going to see what legislation is proposed.” But Welch’s only legislative action addressing semiautomatic weapons appears to have been a letter to Attorney General ERIC HOLDER he and 64 other House Democrats signed two years before Tucson. Holder had suggested at a February 2009 press conference that the Obama administration might reinstate the expired assault-weapons ban. “We believe that this ban was ineffective during the 10 years it was law, and would oppose its reenactment,” the

POLITICS Welch-signed letter reads. “The gun control community has intentionally misled many Americans into believing that [weapons included in the ban] are fully automatic machine guns. They are not. These firearms fire one shot for every pull of the trigger.” Welch earned an “A” rating the following year from the National Rifle Association. Since then, his stock has dropped: In 2012, he earned a “C.” The same can’t be said of Shumlin, who won “A” or “A-” ratings” from the NRA prior to each of his last three elections — not to mention a $2500 check from the group in October. Asked for a copy of the NRA questionnaire Shumlin filled out when seeking the group’s endorsement, campaign manager ALEX MACLEAN claims she didn’t keep one. The voting records of Sanders and Leahy appear to be more nuanced. In the ’90s, they both opposed the Brady Bill, but supported the assault weapons ban. (In a partisan reversal, former Republican senator Jim Jeffords voted for the Brady Bill.) And in recent years, they voted to allow gun owners to carry weapons on Amtrak trains and in national parks but opposed letting those with permits to carry concealed weapons in one state do so in another. Both have recently received poor or middling grades from the NRA. To be sure, the national dialogue around gun laws — not to mention mental-health services and violent entertainment — is only just beginning. And while a handful of gun-toting politicians outside Vermont have had “come to Jesus” moments in the days since Sandy Hook, it may take others more time to react and respond to such a traumatic event. But no matter how long it takes, the question for Vermont politicians is this: Will they risk becoming the next Peter Smith or will they hunker down and hope like hell that this too shall pass, as it did with Stockton, Columbine, Virginia Tech and Aurora? And if they do fire back at the NRA, will voters punish or reward them? Sen. PHILIP BARUTH (D-Chittenden) thinks the latter. He believes Vermont’s political climate has changed since Smith’s days. “Typically, people have thought of gun control as the third rail of Vermont politics, and I think there was a time when that was true. But I think in this day and age, we’re past that,” he says. “We’re in grieving every four months for a mass shooting.

Got A tIP for PAul? paul@sevendaysvt.com

Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.

Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulheintz.

Send Paul an old-fashioned email: paul@sevendaysvt.com.

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and a gun owner himself, Campbell says the first bill he introduced in the Senate — to ban armor-piercing bullets — brought him nothing but grief from Vermont’s gun lobby. “I’ll never forget someone coming up to me and saying, ‘Hope you have a happy two years,’” Campbell recalls. In the days since Sandy Hook, Campbell says he’s been frustrated “with people across the country trying to politicize this tragedy.” “Emotions are running high,” he says. “I don’t like knee-jerk reactions to issues where once a tragedy happens you say, ‘I know this was the cause, so we’re going to create a law to prevent it.’” That said, following a period of reflection, Campbell thinks Vermont’s gun laws may be ready for reexamination. “I do not see the reason for people to have assault rifles. It doesn’t matter. I’ll get an ‘F.’ I don’t care,” he says, referring to the NRA’s ratings. “And the high-capacity magazines? Unless it’s law enforcement, then I don’t see the reason you have to have that.” For Speaker Smith, last week’s tragedy hit close to home. He spent his first five years in Newtown, where his father attended school. He has family friends whose children survived the shooting. His voice cracking, Smith says, “I don’t think you could see pictures of those kids and not wonder what the hell we are doing.” Twenty-three years after his own tough vote in favor of a federal ban on assault weapons, Peter Smith — Sanders’ vanquished foe — says he wouldn’t have voted any differently. “I was always proud that I stood for something and I did not regret for a minute the positions I took,” says Smith, who now lives in Santa Fe and works for Kaplan Higher Education. “I think this is an issue whose time has come. I know I will be supporting reasonable and thoughtful restraints, and I urge Vermont’s congressional delegation to do the same,” he says. “My suspicion is they will. And my hope is they will.” m

SEVENDAYSVt.com

I think it’s gotten to the point where the electricity has been turned off on that rail, but it’s a learned hopelessness.” To that end, Baruth says he plans to introduce legislation in the Vermont Senate in January that could restrict semiautomatic rifles or high-capacity ammunition — or tackle the issue in another manner. “I will stand by people’s right to use rifles to hunt, but I’m not going to say that’s the same thing as buying weapons that are designed for close-range combat to kill human beings,” he says. Baruth wouldn’t be the first to try to bolster Vermont’s nearly nonexistent gun laws. When Rep. Linda Waite-SimpSon (D-Essex) sought to hold gun owners criminally negligent if their unlocked weapons caused a child’s death, “It went absolutely nowhere other than to get me on the NRA website,” she recalls. Waite-Simpson’s effort followed the 2009 suicide of a constituent’s 15-yearold son, aaron Xue, who used an unsecured gun obtained at a friend’s house to kill himself. “People felt threatened even by proposing to talk about that,” she says. “It was an incredibly uncomfortable time for me to have to spend hours every day with this email assault, when really I was just trying to make a point that we can do better when it comes to protecting our kids.” As it stands, Vermont has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country. The state earned an “F” from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and six out of 100 points from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Vermont sets no limits on the number of firearms that can be purchased at one time, nor does it impose a waiting period on gun purchases. Heck, even 16-yearolds can buy and carry concealed handguns in Vermont without their parents’ permission. House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morrisville), who himself earned a 92 percent rating from the NRA this year, says that while he’s “open to talking with people about a reexamination” of the state’s gun laws, he’s cognizant of the challenges involved. “As someone who has tried to build consensus around basically baby steps, I can tell you it is going to be difficult,” he says. “People feel very strongly on both sides of the issue.” As for Baruth’s political analysis, Smith says the Chittenden County senator misses a pretty sharp cultural — and geographical — divide. “Philip lives in Burlington. I live in Morrisville, and I think there’s a big difference of opinion depending on where you live,” Smith argues. Smith’s Senate counterpart, President Pro Tem John CampbeLL (D-Windsor) agrees. A former Florida police officer

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Plane Spoken: Why Frank Cioffi Is the F-35’s Biggest Booster B Y KEV I N J . K ELLE Y

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Although nothing in its name says “improved workforce training,” that’s also part of Cioffi’s job in relation to both job retention and recruitment. He says that the number of jobs available in the state won’t matter much if there aren’t enough qualified Vermonters to fill them. It’s hard to say whether Cioffi performs well in regard to preserving jobs, according to Vermont auditor-elect Doug Hoffer, another Democrat/Progressive. “I’ve never seen a meaningful indicator of that kind of effectiveness. How would one quantify success in preventing jobs from going away?” Hoffer wonders. Cioffi’s cluttered but comfortable office is on the corner of Burlington’s Main and South Champlain streets in the building that also houses the Lake

C NA

BUSINESS

The push to station the plane in Vermont is “all about saving jobs,” Cioffi argues. And protecting employment — or “playing defense,” as he puts it — accounts for half of what Cioffi does at GBIC. Helping to create jobs in Chittenden County, or “playing offense,” takes up the rest of his time. How effective is Cioffi in these two roles? In the 15 years he’s been running GBIC, the Vermont native and UVM grad has built a reputation for seriousness and reliability. State Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden), who sits on the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee, says that when Cioffi comes to Montpelier to lobby for legislative action, lawmakers understand something major is at stake. “Other economic-development guys tend to talk in theoreticals,” Ashe observes. “Frank doesn’t. He’s very concrete, very much into the particulars of a project. I find that refreshing.” Cioffi worked for years, both inside and outside the administration of Gov. Howard Dean, to persuade Husky, a Canadian manufacturer of plastic moldings, to open a plant in Milton that would pay good wages to several hundred Vermonters. Husky finally did build its factory, but job numbers there never spiraled as high as boosters had projected. GBIC’s most visible contribution to the Burlington-area economy takes the form of the seven industrial parks it has built since its launch in 1954. One of those manufacturer clusters, in Burlington’s South End, was the home of a start-up that GBIC “took a gamble on,” Cioffi recalls. Helping to finance a facility for a snowboard maker paid off. Burton Snowboards grew to become one of Vermont’s greatest economic-development success stories. The heroic era of heavy industry ended a long time ago, however — both in Vermont and nationally. Manufacturing accounted for about 20 percent of the

MAR

rank Cioffi used to fly under the radar, quietly promoting Chittenden County business interests wherever it counted: Montpelier, Burlington City Hall, Washington, DC. That is, until the leader of the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation soared into view on the contrail of an F-35 fighter jet. Cioffi, 57, has emerged as the chief champion of the Air Force option of basing up to two dozen of the warplanes at Burlington International Airport. As the head of GBIC, he orchestrated and helped secure financing for the recent daylong field trip to an air base in Florida, where Gov. Peter Shumlin and other Vermont fans of the F-35 listened to the supersonic jet in action. Shumlin judged the roar of its engines to be no louder than that of the F-16s currently based in Burlington. Cioffi has powerful political allies in his mission to land the F-35, but there’s a sizable grassroots movement against the local bed down. In fact, at one public hearing earlier this year, Cioffi and Burlington developer Ernie Pomerleau were the only F-35 proponents among roughly two dozen speakers. The Frank & Ernie Show didn’t play well with the plane’s detractors, who accuse the GBIC boss of distorting or ignoring data and working as a propagandist on the payroll of the 1 percent. Cioffi admits that controversy makes him uncomfortable. He has an easygoing disposition that is better suited to schmoozing with business leaders than reasoning with homeowners fearful of the F-35’s impact on property values or left-wing campaigners against “U.S. militarism.” But “this is what I have to do — somebody has to step up and support them,” Cioffi says, referring to the hundreds of Vermonters who work for the Air Guard. If the F-35 ends up elsewhere, Cioffi warns, those people could find themselves unemployed. “These are working-class people,” he notes. “These jobs, full or part-time, mean everything to them and their families.”

jobs in Chittenden County around the start of this century; today, fewer than 12 percent of workers in the Burlington area produce goods. GBIC hasn’t built an industrial park since 1983, but it’s moving toward converting an unused portion of IBM property into a field of corporate dreams in Essex. Cioffi says he realizes that the GBIC moniker may seem archaic or misleading. In recognition that “industrial” is no longer really where it’s at, the entity’s board considered changing the “I” in the title to “innovation,” Cioffi relates. But a branding expert recommended against the revision on the grounds that it’s simpler just to refer to the operation as “GBIC,” without spelling out the acronym.

Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, with which GBIC shares two employees. With four additional full-time staffers, it has an annual budget of $800,000. Ninety thousand of that comes from the state, which appropriates an identical amount to each of the 12 regional economic development agencies in Vermont. They’re all nonprofit bodies, but they’re all incorporated by acts of the Vermont legislature. GBIC also gets a total of $55,000 a year from the 19 towns in Chittenden County. Burlington contributes the biggest share — about $20,000 — while South Burlington pays less than half that. The contribution recently caught the attention of Rosanne Greco, chairwoman of the South Burlington City Council, which has voted 4-1 against basing the F-35 at BTV. Greco says she appreciates the irony of her city’s donation to an entity that she believes is fighting hard against its interests.

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Three-quarters of GBIC’s budget comes from rent that private companies pay on a pair of buildings in Colchester owned by the real-estate-investment arm of the nonprofit corporation. Additionally, local employers voluntarily throw $30,000 into GBIC’s kitty, which is less than half of what they anted up prior to the recession, Cioffi notes. Seated at a conference table, Cioffi narrated his autobiography during a recent 75-minute interview. The account included an explanation of why he pronounces his name “coffee.” Cioffi’s grandfather emigrated from Italy to St. Albans, where French speakers had trouble with the “chee-ahfee” pronunciation. The “coffee” slug got passed down to Frank, but not to his brother, Robert, who has reverted to the authentic, soft-C pronunciation of the family name. Cioffi’s cousin, who is also named Robert, is the chair of the UVM board of trustees. The Cioffis have deep roots in St. Albans, where Frank’s father worked as a successful realtor and where Frank still lives. Although his family was relatively well off, Cioffi never lost touch with the Rail City’s working class. “Some of the workers who lost their jobs at Energizer were my classmates” in high school, the economic development specialist says, referring to the 165 employees who were recently told they’ll be laid off because the battery plant is pulling the plug. After UVM, where he served as student government president, Cioffi helmed Franklin County’s economic development agency for two years before going into the real estate business with his father. “We did really, really well,” Cioffi recounts, “but I was bored as hell.” He eventually became state economic development commissioner under Dean, whom Cioffi describes as a close friend. He also calls himself a Democrat, even though he sometimes supports Republicans running for the governor’s office. Some of the hipper entrepreneurs on Pine Street may view the companies that GBIC seeks to recruit and retain as “kind of old-fashioned — corporate and conservative,” comments Michael Monte, who headed Burlington’s Community

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and Economic Development Office during much of Mayor Peter Clavelle’s 14-year tenure. “But the truth is,” Monte adds, “there’s a ton of those types of jobs in Chittenden County.” Now chief financial and operating officer at the Champlain Housing Trust, Monte empathizes with Cioffi’s work — not only as a development advocate, but as a defender of Air Guard jobs. The former CEDO chief remembers the flak local peace activists directed at the At our downtown Burlington plant of General Dynamics. Burlington location, we're From city hall, Monte had a different hosting a holiday dinner view. “It’s part of the military-industrial complex,” he notes, but then adds, for needy families. “The way we saw it was that everybody working at General Dynamics was a Vermonter.” The F-35 conundrum is similar. Franke & the Staff “Who wants the F-35?” Monte asks. “Nobody wants the F-35.” But a lot of Vermonters sure do want to retain the Colchester Burlington (Exit 16) jobs the F-35 would ensure, he notes. (Downtown) Eat 85 South Park Drive 176 Main Street It’s not that simple, Local Pizzeria / Take Out Pizzeria / Take Out Greco suggests. A Delivery: 655-5555 Delivery: 862-1234 Casual Fine Dining Mon-Sat 10-8, Sun 11-6 retired Air Force coloReservations: 655-0000 nel, she notes that the The Bakery: 655-5282 4 0                     lifespan of the F-16 802 862 5051 www.juniorsvt.com fighter has already S W E E T L A D YJ A N E . B I Z been extended by 10 years and could well have another 20 tacked8v-sweetladyjane121912.indd 1 12/16/128v-juniors121912.indd 9:58 AM 1 12/18/12 3:14 PM COATS • VESTS on, given the constant BOOTS • CLOGS delays and cost overruns in developing the JEANS • SOCKS F-35. FLANNEL SHIRTS “So at worst we’re talking about maybe WINTER APPAREL losing 400 full-time jobs for Vermonters RESTAURANT APPAREL in two decades,” the South Burlington city council chief says. “Weigh that INSULATED against the 4000 homes that will be WORK PANTS in high-noise zones if the F-35 does come here — and that’s supposedly in MEDICAL APPAREL seven years,” Greco adds. “Why does CANVAS WORK PANTS the potential loss of jobs decades from now take precedence over the damage FLAME RESISTANT to so many people’s property and perAPPAREL haps to their health?” SLIP RESISTANT Cioffi acknowledges that F-35 foes SHOES make a powerful argument when they point to the 200 South Burlington HIGH VISIBILITY homes targeted for demolition because GEAR they lie in an existing high-noise zone adjacent to takeoffs of the F-16 and commercial jets. “The airport could have done a lot better job of communicating any purchase with its neighbors,” Cioffi says. Airport over $40.00 officials “put the Vermont Air Guard in Not including sale items a really bad position.”

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UVM Sets Kill Traps for Dam-Building Beavers in Centennial Woods B y KAThRy n FL A gg

SEVENDAYSVt.com 12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS 16 LOCAL MATTERS

MATThEw ThORSEn

hen a family of beavers took up residence in a retention pond in Burlington’s Centennial Woods this past fall, field naturalist Teage O’Connor saw it as a learning opportunity: His students could watch the animals up close. But the University of Vermont viewed their new tenants — and the dam they built — as a nuisance. Worried about flooding, the university this month set lethal traps to kill the large, semiaquatic rodents. At least one of the four beavers — an adult male that O’Connor nicknamed Melvin — is already dead. Now O’Connor and others are calling for the university to halt the trapping until spring, when the beavers could be relocated. O’Connor, a 29-year-old adjunct professor at UVM and the Community College of Vermont, lives a stone’s throw from Centennial Woods, a natural area sandwiched between the main campus of UVM, which manages the area, and Interstate 89. The woods serve as O’Connor’s outdoor laboratory for a class he teaches at UVM called “Natural History of Centennial Woods.” O’Connor estimates he and his students have spent hundreds of hours observing the beavers over the last four years, in the pond and elsewhere in Centennial Woods. But apparently the animals went unnoticed by UVM staff — that is, until an engineer hired by the university noticed their handiwork in the pond on November 28. That’s when Bill Nedde of the Colchester firm Krebs and Lansing noticed the beavers had plugged the pond’s main outlet. One large storm, Nedde explained in an email, and the pond could spill over, flooding infrastructure downstream and causing damaging erosion. By the time Nedde noticed the beavers, it was too late in the season to move them to a new location. The animals had already stockpiled their cache of winter food and would likely starve if relocated. After consulting with the United States Department of Agriculture’s animal control unit in Barre and with state Fish and Wildlife game warden Jenna Reed, UVM decided the best solution was lethal trapping. In early December, the

open to exploring long-term solutions,” Corredera wrote in an email. “Unfortunately the current situation requires a more immediate solution and we have not been able to identify a viable short-term alternative.” On a recent walk to the beaver pond with O’Connor, the water was mostly covered in a thin layer of ice, through which the beavers had broken a narrow channel between their lodge and the dammed pond drain. A fence topped with barbed wire ringed the pond, and power lines cut over the water. O’Connor said two of the beavers first began constructing their lodge here in early June. They left for part of the summer but returned at the end of September. A month later, the beavers “adopted” a second mating pair. “This isn’t great habitat for beavers,” said O’Connor, as he tromped through the woods bordering the pond. All around O’Connor were obvious signs of beaver activity: toppled trees, gnawed stumps and a stockpile of food to last the winter partially submerged in the ice. Because of the dam, the pond was about four feet higher than it would be normally. Given such telltale signs, O’Connor said he couldn’t understand how the beavers went unnoticed by university staff until this month. UVM grounds officials declined to comment for the story, directing all questions to Corredera. Rick Paradis, who is in charge of Centennial Woods and UVM’s eight other natural areas, noted the pond isn’t within his jurisdiction; it’s technically just outside of the designated Centennial Woods natural area. He said he got the news about the beavers when he was copied on an email from Nedde. O’Connor has gone to great lengths to study and befriend the beavers. He set up a game camera to catch the animals at night, gnawing their way through trees and carting food down to the pond. He posted the footage to his blog, Wild Burlington, but UVM grounds crew have since removed his camera, claiming it was an “unauthorized placement.” “He had cultivated such a close

Wildlife

Teage O’Connor

university hired a licensed trapper who set three conibear traps — large, steel devices used to catch fur-bearing animals — around the retention pond. On December 7, O’Connor discovered the traps on a well-trafficked beaver path near the pond. He also found and removed the body of the first dead beaver, Melvin. He broke the news to his students and notified his neighbors via Front Porch Forum about the potential danger the traps posed for family pets.

The next day, the traps were gone. UVM spokesman Enrique Corredera guesses that “somebody stole them.” O’Connor vows it wasn’t him. While their mysterious disappearance bought the remaining beavers a brief reprieve, Corredera says the university has made arrangements to have new traps placed “as soon as possible.” “There have been discussions with university faculty members regarding possible alternatives, and we are

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LOCAL MATTERS 17

relationship with them that he could — manmade additions that either feed them by hand,” remarks Alicia prevent beavers from building dams Daniel, another adjunct professor in or divert water through the blockages. UVM’s environmental program. “It’s a O’Connor worries that UVM’s little bit like a Jane Goodall situation.” solution — traps set around the pond Beavers don’t have many natural — could snare mink, fox, raccoon and predators, says O’Connor, which deer that pass through Centennial means they’re fairly easy to tame. Woods, not to mention dogs and cats. O’Connor has visited the Centennial UVM has routinely left unlocked the beavers so often that he believes gate on the fence around the pond, he they recognize his voice. When ca- says. noeing last summer on More broadly, the Winooski River, O’Connor criticizes O’Connor says Melvin UVM for what he sees as popped up and looked a lack of transparency in him in the eye — a gesture making the decision to O’Connor interpreted as trap the beavers — apthe beaver saying hello. parently done without “When I take students input from students, facout there, and they’re ulty and neighbors who seeing a beaver for the use the natural area. first time five feet away “I’d love to find a way from them, their eyes of integrating commujust light up. They don’t nity voice and student breathe for 30 seconds, voice into management because they’re totally in decisions,” he says. “It’s E Nr Iqu E awe of this wild creature going to make it a lot corrE DEr A that has trusted them,” slower, but it’s going to says O’Connor. “That make it a lot richer an for me is something that experience … and it will doesn’t exist in books, and it doesn’t make the decisions that we make more exist in classrooms or lectures or sound ecologically and emotionally.” PowerPoints. It can only exist by alParadis concedes it might make lowing yourself to be out in wildness.” sense to involve more people in deciThe decision to trap the beavers sions about Centennial Woods. “We has dismayed some of O’Connor’s stu- have to take a close look at how effecdents. Ryan Pizzutillo, a 22-year-old tively we’re managing these natural CCV student in O’Connor’s “Natural areas and how we could do better,” he History of Vermont” class, believes says. It’s not clear whether that would UVM could or should have known have helped the beavers, who jumped the beavers had moved into the pond the Centennial Woods boundary sooner, before it was too late to re- when they moved into the retention locate them. “I think what UVM is pond. doing is kind of outrageous,” he says. For her part, Daniel blames the What other options does the uni- situation on a lack of communication versity have? Relocating the animals and a failure to fully explore alternain the spring is one option but comes tives. It’s not a “bad guy, good guy with its own potential problems. story,” she says. Beavers are creatures of habit, says “I’d like to think that there could O’Connor, and introducing them to a be some middle ground,” she says. new habitat can cause stress and ad- With the beavers soon heading under ditional competition for resources. the ice for winter, she continues, the If left alone, O’Connor suspects the university has a chance to “take a beavers would have found a new deep breath” and look at the situation home next spring or summer, anyway, again in the spring. because “the habitat is too marginal.” But if the university keeps setting Another option is installing traps for them, the beavers might not “beaver baffles” or “beaver deceivers” have that long. m

localmatters courtesy of lake champlain maritime festival

Politics Weinberger Wants Year-Round Waterfront Action, But Some Neighbors Are Wary b y Kev i n J . Kelley

18 LOCAL MATTERS

SEVEN DAYS

12.19.12-12.26.12

SEVENDAYSvt.com

urlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is asking the state for permission to stage concerts, festivals and other major events in Waterfront Park any night of the year until 11 p.m. The proposal to amend the 19-yearold Act 250 permit governing use of the park — mandated by a September out-of-court settlement — signifies an effort on the part of the Weinberger administration to greatly expand economic opportunities on the Burlington waterfront. The mayor, who has a background as a developer, wants to make the park a regular venue for urban-style entertainment. In its written request for changes in the Act 250 permit, the city says it seeks to “stimulate more year-round activity on the waterfront.” The filing describes Waterfront Park as “an active and vibrant public asset — but mostly during the warmer months. During the colder months, the waterfront becomes a backwater with little going on. And this reality makes it difficult for businesses that in particular depend on customer traffic, to survive,” the Weinberger administration adds. But the mayor himself insists in an email message that he has no plans to turn the park into a tented version of the

Flynn Center. “Any suggestion that my administration is seeking to have events at the Waterfront Park 365 days a year is flatly incorrect,” he declares. The move is nonetheless sure to face strong opposition from waterfront residents as well as from other Burlingtonians who view the scenic lakefront park more as a natural preserve than a profit-generating resource. On the other hand, Weinberger’s proposals will likely gain support from business interests and from city dwellers who agree that the waterfront is underutilized as a site for cultural happenings and largescale celebrations. “The waterfront is sacred ground in Burlington,” says City Councilor Max Tracy. “It’s so important to so many people.” Tracy, a Progressive representing part of the Old North End, adds that he isn’t firmly against more frequent commercial use of the park. “It’s not a black-andwhite issue,” he says. “I love live music.” But Tracy also insists that the waterfront must not become “a pay-to-play place.” Cyclists and walkers are already excluded from the park’s paths whenever major events take place there, notes David Greenberg, an attorney who lives in one of the townhouses along Lake Street, adjacent to the park. A board

member of the 200 Lake Street homeowners’ association, Greenberg worries that the public will increasingly be barred from the park while nearby residents are bombarded with loud noise on many more nights. Judy Greensmith, who lives in an apartment building opposite the Moran Plant, is circulating a petition that calls on the Act 250 district commission to reject the proposal for more frequent lakeside hoedowns on the grounds that “the amount of traffic, noise and damage to Waterfront Park produced by events held by or approved by the city of Burlington is already intolerable.” At present, commercial events are allowed to take place in Waterfront Park on no more than 27 dates between late May and mid-September. Amplified music can be played on only 22 of those nights, and it must be switched off by 9:45 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and by 10:45 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Another restriction: Events may not occur on more than three consecutive weekends. In its request to amend the Act 250 permit, the Weinberger administration frames these restrictions as an unacceptable impediment to “maximizing the use of Waterfront Park for the public and promoting and sustaining economic development in the city’s important downtown

areas.” The city also says that its suggested changes will enable it to “take advantage of opportunities and uses for the park that were never imagined in 1994, as well as opportunities and uses in the future that cannot be predicted today.” The mayor himself is casting his proposal as a bid for “local control,” pointing out that Waterfront Park is the only municipal park in Vermont overseen by state regulators. “The city has capacity to manage the park and should do so,” the mayor said in a December 15 interview. “That doesn’t mean we won’t have similar or even more robust regulations at the local level” than those now imposed by the state, Weinberger added. “We are aware of concerns about noise. We’re willing to make capital improvements and other changes to mitigate noise.” The mayor emphasized that his proposed amendments do not call for an increase in permitted noise levels, as measured in readings taken at the periphery of the park. The standard would remain fixed at 85 decibels. But the city does seek a change in the regs so that noise shall be considered in violation only if it is sustained at more than 85 decibels for 60 consecutive seconds. Currently, it’s a violation any time sound exceeds 85 decibles. In its filing, the city downplays noise

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Weinberger contrasted that stance complaints made by neighbors like Greensmith, stating that “there have with his own view that “the people of been minimal complaints from just a Burlington should decide who uses the small number of people” during the 20 park and when and how they use it — years in which concerts and festivals not the Act 250 district commission aphave taken place in the park. Regulations pointed by the governor.” Apprised of Weinberger’s comments, have been rigorously enforced, the city Lockwood’s only response was: “The contends. Greenberg, the homeowners’ asso- mayor can say whatever he wants, but ciation member, says this simply isn’t he’s putting words in my mouth I never so. He contends that existing noise re- said.” Another open question: What role strictions are routinely flouted and that nighttime events in the park are gener- will the public play in deciding which ally “unsupervised and out of control.” events take place in Waterfront Park? Greenberg says he sometimes flees his Under current regs, waterfront events home because of incessant pounding of are previewed and reviewed by an eventdrums and the screeching of machinery selection advisory committee composed of nearby residents, business representaused in setting up concerts. But the Weinberger administration tives, event promoters and city officials. maintains it gives neighbors multiple Weinberger proposes to keep the comavenues to address noise complaints mittee but doesn’t delineate its memberto city hall. “The city has been highly ship in the Act 250 proposal. The mayor responsive to these complaints,” the city says, however, that Parks Director Jesse writes in the Act 250 filing, “and is con- Bridges “plans to use that committee stantly modifying and updating its event even more than in the past.” City Councilor Vince Brennan (Pplanning and permitting processes to proactively address potential problems.” Ward 3), who represents renters and The mayor pointed out in last week’s homeowners living close to Waterfront interview that the move by the city to Park, suggests Weinberger should have amend the Act 250 permit issued in solicited broad public comment prior 1994 was mandated by the terms of a to filing for the Act 250 changes. “The recent court settlement with Lake Street mayor has been talking about being homeowner Alison Lockwood. She has inclusive, but I think this way of probattled the city on recreational and cul- ceeding would shut down public input,” tural uses of the waterfront in the past. Brennan says. Weinberger An agreement rejects that with Lockwood criticism. In a enabling the detailed email city to move response, he ahead with says the Parks infrastructure and Recreation development in Department’s the area around citizens adthe Moran Plant visory comcame with a mission gave condition: It J u DY GrE E NSmIth unanimous required the approval to the city to seek an amended Act 250 permit by late city’s plan for changes in park regs. Two of the three members of a council comNovember, Weinberger says. The city’s proposed changes, dated mittee overseeing the parks and cultural November 15, came to light last week in events also signed off on the proposal, a post Lockwood made to Front Porch Weinberger says, noting that the third Forum. Her online commentary does member, Brennan, did not respond to not attack the city’s position; it simply messages seeking his input. Under state law, the three-memencapsulates what the city is seeking in the 45-page document submitted to ber Act 250 district commission for Chittenden County will review state regulators. Lockwood declined to be inter- Weinberger’s proposed amendments as viewed concerning her own opinions of well as submissions from other officials the proposed changes. But that didn’t and neighbors. But residents claiming to stop the mayor from suggesting in an be affected by the contemplated changes email message following his December must first persuade the commission 15 phone interview that “Lockwood’s that they are entitled to “party status.” position, apparently, is that she does not Whatever ruling is made by the commiswant more people using the park more sion can — and may well be — appealed to the state’s environmental court. m than it is already used.”

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The amounT of Traffic, noise and damage To WaTerfronT Park Produced by evenTs held by or aPProved by The ciTy of burlingTon

is already intolerable.

12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS LOCAL MATTERS 19

stateof thearts PAmElA POlSTOn

Bloggers Tout Books; Bookstores Branch Out

thebookjamblog.com, norwichbookstore. com, phoenixbooks.biz

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12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS 20 STATE OF THE ARTS

— fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children’s. They range from hot best sellers by the likes of Dave Eggers and J.K. Rowling to lesser-known releases by local authors, including detective novelist arCher Mayor and young-adult author sarah stewart tayLor. Not all the books are new: One of Christie’s recommendations, for example, is mystery writer Josephine Tey’s 1951 The Daughter of Time. “I reread this book as research for a future Book Jam post,” Christie writes. “It held up!” Perusing the Book Jam blog, one wants

Mike DeSanto

COuRTESy OF KEn CAdOw

SEVENDAYSVt.com

here’s no way you’d confuse 1980s urban freestylers Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with 21stcentury central Vermonters Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow. The two friends started out calling their lit-minded blog lisalisabookjam, then changed it to the Book Jam — for simplicity’s sake, surmises Penny MCConneL. The co-owner of norwiCh Bookstore, McConnel calls the two Lisas “hot tickets,” and for good reason. Cadow used to work at the store; Christie still does. Both are involved with the norwiCh PuBLiC LiBrary. Christie is the founder of Everybody Wins! Vermont, an extracurricular reading program in public schools. And the women are indefatigable champions of books, in person and on their blog, making suggestions for a variety of potential readers — such as their current holiday gift guide on Book Jam — and hosting book-oriented events. Their efforts benefit not only their town’s independent bookseller and library but a community of readers. That community includes the “200 to 250” subscribers to the Book Jam blog, Christie says. She adds that the site gets upward of 100 hits a day after new posts. Those numbers may not sound like much, but, despite the small scale, she and Cadow are pleased that “people in town are talking about books, grateful for our suggestions and are supporting the Norwich Bookstore,” Christie says. What’s now a blog didn’t start out that way. At first, says McConnel, she and the Lisas considered a book-oriented radio show and podcasts. But the production demands surpassed their limited recording equipment. “Lisa Cadow has a food blog [Fork on the Road],” McConnel says, “and so the idea eventually turned into a book blog.” The bookstore is not directly involved with the blog, but the two enterprises are clearly symbiotic. Working at the store introduces Christie to new books, and she and Cadow openly express their loyalty to indie booksellers. The feeling is mutual. A current sidebar on the blog notes, “Thanks to Penny at Norwich Bookstore, Book Jam made [New Hampshire Public Radio’s] Annual Holiday Book Show.” The Lisas are generous with their own words, not simply listing books but providing mini reviews and, sometimes, personal commentary on why a book resonated. Christie and Cadow each have a “bookshelf” on the blog where they recommend dozens of releases in a variety of categories

books

Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow

The Lisas are generous wiTh Their own words, noT simpLy LisTing books buT providing mini reviews and, someTimes,

personal commentary on why a book resonated. nothing more than to sit down and read for hours, days. Perhaps the Lisas — both working mothers — could tell us how they find the time? McConnel is a multitasker, too — these days, all booksellers do something besides sell books, and Norwich Bookstore is no exception. In addition to selling gift items, such as cards, wrapping paper and games, McConnel organizes a lot of events, both in-house and at other venues. Christie and Cadow are involved in a new and, so far, highly successful one called “Pages in the Pub,” McConnel says, which has been held twice at the Norwich Inn. It’s an evening in which people can enjoy wine and talk about books — with, of course, their local independent bookseller. Attendees are given a roster of books to be discussed and a checklist to note what they’d like to buy. Reports Christie: “We sold a ridiculous number of books in less than an hour!”

Maybe serving wine is the way to go? Another successful annual enterprise, McConnel notes, is the store’s Book Angel program, in which people buy books to fulfill “wish lists” compiled by local nonprofit agencies. She hangs a large wreath in the store in mid-November decorated with paper angels bearing individual requests; customers can purchase a specific title or simply donate money and let the store’s staff choose. (This and similar charitable gift programs are popular at indie bookstores around the state.) In addition, says McConnel, “We do as much as we possibly can to sell books outside the store — at the Center for Cartoon studies, at house parties, at Dartmouth College.” She adds that the store held an event for three self-published authors in the fall. “We’ll do that again,” the bookseller says. Accommodating the burgeoning ranks of self-published authors — and authors

with small publishers that don’t pay for publicity tours — is a growing niche for indie bookstores. At Phoenix Books BurLington, owners Mike desanto and renée reiner have hit on a way to offer these writers in-store readings while covering their own costs. As part of a “local author program,” they offer shelf space to Vermont writers and charge them $150 per event. But this is “less a revenue stream and more a cooperative effort,” DeSanto says, noting the staff hours it takes to prepare for and put on an event. He adds that Phoenix would need to hold five or six readings a week to profit from the program. Still, an event that draws even a small audience is likely to result in sales that the store might not have had otherwise. DeSanto says he’s been in “serious negotiations” with makers of an electronic book machine that produces volumes on demand, which has been a hit with self-publishing authors. He expects to decide by February whether to purchase one. northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center and BoxCar & CaBoose BookshoP in St. Johnsbury have been augmenting their bookselling for several years with niche publishing via the Espresso Book Machine, made by On Demand Books. Outlets with the Espresso also have access to various digital libraries, enabling them to offer potentially millions of titles. Speaking of digital books, Phoenix has been selling the Kobo, an e-reader created for and in partnership with independent booksellers. Various models go for about $80 to $200, depending on size and options. “The first batch we ordered is coded for our store, so we get a little rebate on sales,” DeSanto says. “It’s not much, but it helps.” Why purchase an e-reader in a bookstore rather than online? For the same reason people like to buy physical books, DeSanto says: “They want to hold it, touch it, see how it feels.” He’s skeptical about the number of book sales touted by the e-reader industry but acknowledges the devices are not going away. At the Norwich Bookstore, McConnel says she’s beginning to sell the Kobo as well, but her enthusiasm is muted. “I just don’t know about that yet,” she says. Ultimately, booksellers are grateful that patrons still like to read. Perhaps many of us continue to believe, as Book Jam’s Christie puts it, “in the power of books to tell stories, and to create empathic communities.” m

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Norwich Author Pens a Novel, One Bite at a Time

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erialized fiction has venerable bloodlines, packed with the DNA of Dickens, Flaubert, Tolstoy and Melville. Generally, these writers published chapters of future novels in popular magazines that paid well and built the authors’ audiences. Such opportunities are rare for writers these days, but the pull of piecemeal literature is still strong. Norwich resident Rebecca MunSteReR, 34, has put a modern spin on the serial format. Since March, she’s been posting one page per day of her novel The Stonehouse Caper on a custom website she calls Novel Nibble. An admissions counselor at Dartmouth College, Munsterer hit on the idea when she heard a colleague complaining that her favorite soap opera had been canceled, depriving her of a daily escape from reality. Munsterer, who has a master’s degree in creative writing, was working on a short story at the time and realized she could provide that escape by elongating her narrative and breaking it down into bite-size morsels. She wanted each page to make sense on its own and as part of the whole. “I had to create almost my own literary genre,” Munsterer recalls. “There would be these stand-alone pages with a beginning and end, but at the same time it had to fit into the bigger picture.” After about three months of planning, Munsterer paid for a web-design firm to build her a site that looks like a book page and allows readers to flip back and forth among pages. She can load multiple pages onto the site, which is programmed to release a new one each day. Without an editor, however, the process has been a little stressful. “I don’t even look at it in the morning, because it’s too nerve-wracking to see my errors,”

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Munsterer says. She’s keeping track of the Jacob and Kristin Albee mistakes but not fixing them on the webJacobAlbee.com . 802-540-0401 site. “I feel like it would be foul play,” she 41 Maple Street, Burlington, VT explains. M-F 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5 Studio Hours BY APPOINTMENT ONLY The confines of a single page have 658-4050 • 115 college st, burlington proved difficult for storytelling. For instance, it’s hard to introduce new characters, write extended dialogue or include 12/16/128v-marilyns121212.indd 7:34 PM 1 12/10/12 rich descriptions of people and places,8V-JacobAlbee121912.indd 1 because Munsterer has to save room for plot and a narrative arc. But she’s gained a modest following and receives constant queries from other writers looking to self-publish. From the start, Munsterer planned to end the story after a year. She’s sticking to that schedule, but admits it’s been tough to keep up with the page-a-day mandate. Also, “it’s getting a little old,” she acknowledges. “The story should have ended by now.” Munsterer doesn’t want to print the novel when it’s finished, asserting that it wouldn’t be good to read in a traditional way. Instead, she intends to write a few page-a-day short stories. “I love this nibble idea,” she says. “I think part of it is just my personality, the ADD in me keeping it short.” The project definitely got Munsterer noticed. Shortly after starting The Stonehouse Caper, she signed a contract to write a kids’ holiday novel, Mrs. Claus and the School of Christmas Spirit, which came out last month. m

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BOOKS

SEVENDAYSVt.com 12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS STATE OF THE ARTS 21

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STATEof THEarts James Kochalka Publishes a New Compilation, and Ends the Daily Comic Strip “American Elf” B Y PA MEL A PO LSTON

or his fourth collection of Kochalka adds, simply thanked him for “American Elf” comic strips, what he has produced. Yes, 14 years’ worth of daily cartoons which covers 2008 through 2011, — actually 15, including 2012. Kochalka Burlington cartoonist JAMES gave up the strip for a full year in its early KOCHALKA penned an introduction in nine days; since then, he thinks panels. It reads: “The book he has only skipped one collects four years of the day, around the time his dad diary comic strip that I draw died last September. Most in my sketchbook. But it’s of those strips are compiled more than just a comic strip. in books; all are archived on It’s love. Random despair. Kochalka’s website. Seven Freaking out! The poetry of Days has been running life. Um… Yeah. I guess it’s one each week for nearly a just me. My life. Four years. decade. Thanks for letting me share Why quit now? “I feel it with you. That’s all.” like I created a great work Kochalka is a “local” of art, but I felt it maybe guy, but he’s got a worldwasn’t right to include my wide fan base, both for family without their conhis cartoon works and his sent,” Kochalka says he has quirky rock music as JAMES finally decided, referring KOCHALKA SUPERSTAR. So his to his wife, Amy, and their announcement last week two young sons. Indeed, that “American Elf” — think JAMES KOC HAL KA the diary-style comic docu“Family Circus” for the indie set — will come to an end on December 31 mented life with his family, friends and cat, from mundane moments to angsty reproduced reactions around the globe. “I’ve been getting a lot of emails from flections to lightbulb-going-off epiphanies. all over the world begging me not to stop,” Another factor, Kochalka says, is that “‘Elf’ Kochalka says. “One fan wrote to say he has so consumed my mind for 14 years, I’ve sat down and read all 14 years.” Others, hardly thought about anything else.”

CARTOONS

22 STATE OF THE ARTS

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THESE 14 YEARS, IT’S BEEN THE GREAT JOY OF MY LIFE, BUT IT’S ALSO BEEN INCREDIBLY PAINFUL.

That’s an exaggeration, of course; over that span of time he has produced other print comics, work for Nickelodeon, musical recordings and an animation series titled SuperF*ckers, among other projects. He’s also taught at the CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES in White River Junction and been named Vermont’s first-ever cartoonist laureate. Never mind being a husband and dad. But still, drawing a strip every single day has required a special kind of discipline. Kochalka notes that, when his family goes camping in the summer, “I’m drawing it out in the woods.” Of “American Elf” he says, “These 14 years, it’s been the great joy of my life, but

it’s also been incredibly painful.” As he’s aged and experienced life’s ups and downs — and chronicled many of them in black and white — it’s sometimes been emotionally difficult, Kochalka says. But the accolades must be part of the reward — such as his recent selection as one of the best 20 web comics of 2012 by Paste magazine. Kochalka says he’s sad about quitting, but notes, “I felt like I had to make some decision; [‘Elf’] wasn’t meant to be a life sentence. I just wanted to learn something about what it meant to be a human being.” And did he? “I’ve been so busy drawing it, I’m not sure,” Kochalka admits with a laugh. He’ll get a chance to assess, perhaps, in the New Year. Kochalka says he wants to continue contributing a weekly strip to Seven Days, and he expects he’ll “experiment with a couple different things before settling down.” He concedes he may eventually decide to return to “American Elf” — “if it’s what I want.” Stay tuned.

American Elf, the Collected Sketchbook Diaries of James Kochalka, January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2011, Top Shelf Productions, 384 pages. $24.95.

A Vermonter’s Boxing Book Details the Language of the Ring B Y DA N B O LLES

he language of sports has a long tradition of influencing the popular lexicon. From baseball we appropriate terms such as “strike out” and “hit a home run” to describe, respectively, failure and success. Racing, in its various forms, gives us the notion of “crossing the finish line” to describe reaching a goal. Did that hot date go especially well? Congrats on “scoring,” dude. Or perhaps you overdid it with the cologne and went home alone. Way to “drop the ball.” In his new book The Boxing Dictionary, first-time Vermont author DAVE KOLOK outlines in painstaking detail the colorful

“language of the ring.” Written under the pen name John E. JaGozza, Kolok’s heavyweight tome — it’s essentially a nearly 400-page glossary — offers a blow-by-blow account of sweet science slang and pugilistic parlance that could be a handy reference for veteran boxing fans. It could also be a guide for newbies to the sport. Like, for instance, Kolok’s wife. Kolok, 62, began compiling what would become the book’s first entries 15 years ago. Newly married at the time, he was attempting to introduce his blushing bride to boxing, for which he had developed a passion as a kid growing up in Westchester

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KOLOK’S HEAVYWEIGHT TOME OFFERS A BLOW-BYBLOW ACCOUNT OF SWEET SCIENCE SLANG.

County, N.Y. That was thanks to his dad, who was a boxer in the Navy. “She agreed to watch some fights with me and was able to understand what was happening,” says Kolok, who works as a substance-abuse counselor, in a recent interview at his Jericho home. “But she had a hard time understanding what the hell the announcers were talking about.” So Kolok wrote down a few key terms and their definitions. As the couple watched more fights over the years,

that list grew and grew, from 40 to 400 to the more than 4000 entries his book comprises. Kolok’s labor of love was indeed laborious. But the result is a one-of-a-kind look at a sports vernacular that has infiltrated the common tongue with terms such as “knockout” and “on the ropes” — and, of course, encompasses hundreds of other pieces of jargon likely to be mysterious to the uninitiated. “The language of boxing is fascinating,” Kolok says. “I hope this book helps more people appreciate just how rich it is.”

The Boxing Dictionary by John E. JaGozza, Cow Pie Press, 397 pages. $19.95. Available at boxingdictionary.com and Phoenix Books Burlington.

oVEr-thE-couNtEr cANNAbiS

[Re “Could Financial Hassles Snuff Out Vermont’s Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Before They Light Up?” November 28]: This law has so many issues. A limit of 1000 patients? Since when does the government control how sick people can become? This medicine needs to be over the counter, plain and simple. We don’t need the Department of Public Safety dictating how sick people should meet their medical needs; we need doctors being able to have honest conversations with their patients about how cannabis can reduce their dependence on other medicines with fewer side effects. When there are fewer “pharmacetikills” in the public’s medicine cabinet, there will be fewer bodies in the morgue. Cannabis never killed anyone. It’s safer than alcohol and tobacco, both of which are taxed and regulated. mark Linkhorst bridport

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feedback 23

Rev. Gary Kowalski is right in pointing to factory meat farms as a major source of greenhouse-gas emissions [Feedback, “Divest from Big Meat,” December 12]. However, to leap from there to saying that 350.org is “morally and ecologically amiss” is simply misguided. The two targets of activism — big oil and big meat — are in no way mutually exclusive. If we are to turn around the behemoth of the corporate world in its rush to destroy life on Earth, we need to work together. Yes, speak out and encourage others to speak out. Change your life and encourage others to do the same. However, let’s recognize that we are in the same struggle. Big oil’s business plan involves extracting and burning enough fossil fuel to essentially destroy most life on the planet. Isn’t that reason enough to organize and mobilize against them? Kowalski should aim his considerable intellect and passion at the meat industry, not at Bill McKibben or the movement for fossil-fuel divestment.

SEVEN DAYS

Seven Days recently reported that the Times Argus hired a convicted sex offender to cover police, courts and high school sports [Fair Game, “Offender Bender,” November 28]. Inconceivable that neither would check criminal records of those selected to cover these particular issues, since a press pass gives almost unlimited access. Was the convicted sex offender allowed access to school locker rooms? According to the story, Eric Blaisdell didn’t request required permission from his probation officer Ashley Sawyer and for contact with her daughter Emmie minors. The Times Argus

big miStAkE

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or th [Re “With Shelters Full, W he tt a a Record Number e: M l fi of Vermont’s Homeless Are Living in Motels,” December 5]: In response to your article on homelessness in Vermont, and the amount of money spent putting people up in hotels, it really does not take

subsequently ran an article defending its hiring of Blaisdell, stating, “This is an incredibly well-supervised and restricted situation by the judge, the probation officer and a therapist. I am not going to second-guess that process, am willing to participate in it and give it a chance.” Really? Allowing a convicted sex offender to report on sex crimes is outrageous on the part of the judge, probation officer and therapist. A few years ago, a Vermont girl was raped and murdered by an accused person the government considered to be a rehabilitated sex offender. It is inconceivable, irresponsible and outrageous to send a convicted sex offender where victims must appear to get their justice. No wonder Vermont is becoming a sex-offender haven. Sen. Dick Sears and his Senate Judiciary Committee protect the judges that fail victims. Vermont judges are not answerable to those that pay them; they are answerable to a government that cares more about sex offenders than victims… Seven Days is becoming the newspaper to read. We should thank it with our support.

SEVENDAYSVt.com

Thank you for clearing up the state’s medical marijuana situation [“Could Financial Hassles Snuff Out Vermont’s Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Before They Light Up?” November 28]. I admire the intrepid souls willing to climb that mountain of red, red tape in pursuit of their dreams. The amount of cash the state is asking for a “license” is almost as ridiculous as the stipulation that cultivation be done indoors, necessitating high-wattage equipment and infrastructure to simulate the natural environment the plants need to grow. Evan Mills’ 2011 study, Energy Up in Smoke: The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production, was expounded upon in the New York Times last year, but his message bears repeating. He estimates that indoor marijuana cultivation in this country already uses enough electricity to power two million average U.S. homes — 2 percent of total household electricity consumption. The resulting 17 million metric tons of CO2 produced is comparable to the emissions of three million American cars. The energy required to

cultivate one joint of this type of indoor weed is equivalent to driving a small car for 10 miles. It’s exasperating that there are so many well-meaning folks pushing for legalization when success would translate into colossal increases in greenhouse-gas emission and other pollution. Outdoor cultivation isn’t even on the table. This, ostensibly, is because it would be too difficult to keep the teenagers away, but I suspect the real reason is money. Outdoor growing only yields one crop per season — indoors, upwards of five or six. It’s not legalized if you still can’t grow a plant outside. As long as the state tries to make money by passing laws, will we ever be free?

a genius to figure out that the money could be so much better spent on building actual homes for the people that are currently in homeless situations. Just take a look around your town and neighborhood at the number of vacant buildings, homes for sale that just sit there and spaces that used to be in business that sit empty. These spaces could be purchased and redone to give low-income and at-risk families permanent places to live and raise their children. There are answers, and yet nobody with any power to make sensible solutions seems to care enough to make permanent housing a reality for our neighbors. Living in a motel for any length of time is not a solution; it is a Band-Aid that will not give anyone the safety and stability they need. Wake up! We need more affordable housing in Vermont so that families don’t have to ever become homeless in the first place. Places like COTS are not in every town in Vermont, and COTS cannot help all the people. Nobody deserves to be without a safe, warm, comfortable place to live. Nobody. It is a shameful thing when families in our own towns have to be without a place to call their own.

THE STRAIGHT DOPE BY CECIL ADAMS

SLUG SIGNORINO

Dear Cecil, People who take antidepressants often say they feel better, but some researchers claim that’s due to the placebo effect. If it is, aren’t drug companies abusing depressed people by getting them to buy pricey, useless drugs? On the other hand, if antidepressants genuinely make you feel better, does the feeling last, and are they addictive? Anonymous

• One American in 12 takes antidepressants despite having no depressive symptoms whatsoever. • Less than a third of those taking antidepressants have had a checkup with a mental health professional in the last year, and one in seven has been on antidepressants for more than a decade. • Nearly three quarters of all antidepressant prescriptions are written without any diagnosis of a psychiatric problem. Primary-care physicians are much more likely to prescribe these drugs than specialists — one in 11 visits to a primary-care physician results in a new prescription or refill. In nearly 80 percent of these office visits where there’s no

psychiatric diagnosis, there’s also no specific psychiatric complaint from the patient. Summing up, it’s fair to say that a common attitude in the medical community is basically take your Prozac and don’t come back. People are none too happy about this: Nearly a quarter of respondents to a 2008 phone survey cited the chance they’d get put on unwanted meds as a reason they might not tell their doctor they felt depressed. With this in mind, we’re now prepared to grapple with the possibility raised in your letter, namely that all those mother’s little helpers, to cite the old refrain, don’t actually help. Here’s what we find: • A review of 177 studies involving more than 24,000 depressed patients

rolling the dice until they get the desired result.) The review found that, on average, antidepressants didn’t meet the criteria for “clinical significance” — in other words, technically they didn’t do anything, except for one group: patients rated as extremely depressed. We further note that: (1) The U.S. population is aging, and elderly patients require more medical attention, among other things for depression; and (2) the percentage of primary-care physicians has dropped significantly. In 1950 about half of doctors were in primary care; now it’s barely over 30 percent. The upshot is that primarycare doctors have higher patient loads and less time to spend per patient. Since everyone nowadays expects the doctor to do something, and since antidepressants evidently work for the extremely depressed and make many others feel better, if only through the power of suggestion, the default response is to prescribe drugs for anyone with a mood beef — next patient, please. The situation is likely to get worse. The number of primarycare physicians entering the field between now and 2020 isn’t expected to keep up with demand. How all this will play out in the face of rising health care costs and the Affordable Care Act remains to be seen, but for a lot of people, pills might be all they ever get.

Is there something you need to get straight? Cecil Adams can deliver the Straight Dope on any topic. Write Cecil Adams at the Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611, or cecil@chireader.com.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

o your question is: Are antidepressants bad because they don’t work, or bad because they do? We can eliminate a few possibilities right off the bat. For starters, if I’m in the antidepressant business, I’m not about to sell a product that permanently cheers people up. What I want is something they need on a regular basis, like a nice glass of wine — an antidepressant that works on a lot of levels, including financially for the winemaker and therapeutically for everybody else. But I take it you’re more interested in pills. First, some statistics, the significance of which will become clear by and by: • One in nine Americans over age 12 takes antidepressants, including one in four women between 40 and 59. Since the early 1990s antidepressant use has increased 400 percent across all age groups. Sure, there have been some bumps in the road over the past 20 years, but nobody’s going to tell me life has become 400 percent more depressing.

found placebos alleviated symptoms in 38 percent, while antidepressants reduced them in 46 percent. Psychotherapy alone reduced symptoms in 47 percent, about the same as antidepressants but usually at higher cost. Best of all was combining antidepressants and psychotherapy, with a 52-percent success rate. • A review of 96 studies published from 1980 to 2005 concluded the placebo effect was likely responsible for 68 percent of the improvement seen in patients taking antidepressants. Another review pegged it at 84 percent. What’s more, the placebo effect appears to be growing over time. • Some research says there’s no medicinal benefit. A European study of “active placebos” (where the placebo mimicked the drug’s side effects) found no significant difference between placebos and antidepressants. The latter were just particularly persuasive fakes. So why are antidepressants prescribed so often? We find a clue in a review of 35 antidepressant clinical trials submitted to the FDA. (And bear in mind, the FDA sets a low bar — it requires that clinical trials show a significant difference between a drug and a placebo but doesn’t limit the number of trials, enabling drug manufacturers to keep

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protect the public and the environment from exposure to lead dust. Behind the billowy curtains, massive heaters keep the temp a balmy 80 degrees, Carlson explains, allowing painters to continue working in the winter. She notes, however, that once the first half of the bridge is completed, the second half will be wrapped in considerably smaller increments, owing to concerns about falling snow caving in the drapes. The finished half of the bridge, which has just been painted green, is due to be unwrapped in the next week or two — just in time for the holidays.

WHISKEY FoXtRot

26 WTF

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SEVENDAYSVt.com

We just had to ask...

Commuters ask: What’s up with Richmond’s sheetenshrouded bridge and the Beltline’s white foam blocks? BY ken pic a rd

igh-speed travel around Vermont generates more WTF questions than all other activities combined. That’s not surprising, given that racing by highway infrastructure projects at 65 miles per hour affords drivers little opportunity for close inspection and plenty of time for speculation later on. Such is the case with the Checkered House Bridge on Route 2 in Richmond. For months, the 350-foot metal truss bridge, the longest span of its kind in

phOTOS: ken picard

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Vermont, has been partially draped in billowy, parachute-like material. Whatever is happening beneath the beige and white curtains is concealed from travelers who cross the bridge, as well as those who drive past on nearby Interstate 89. Are the drapes a new window treatment for downtown Richmond? Vermont’s answer to Seinfeld’s puffy shirt? Or a covered-bridge installation by Christo, the avant-garde artist famous for wrapping Berlin’s Reichstag, among other structures, in fabric? The answer is nothing remotely that artsy, though it does involve painting. Three coats, to be exact, according to Carolyn Carlson, a structures design project manager with the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Over a twoday period in mid-June, the Checkered House Bridge — so named for the distinctive checkerboard brick pattern on the nearby farmhouse that’s now the Kitchen Table Bistro — was cut in half and widened by 12.5 feet so larger vehicles could traverse it. The $15.9 million project, more than 20 years in the making, is believed to be the first one to widen a truss bridge in this way, Carlson says. Now that the trusses have been welded back together and a new bridge deck installed, the entire structure needs repainting. Fair enough. But why does the historic bridge, which was built in 1929 to replace an earlier one damaged in the great flood of 1927, need to be enveloped in sheets? As Carlson explains, workers must first remove several coats of decades-old lead paint that still covers the steel beams. Lead paint, which is especially hazardous to small children, was outlawed in 1978. Under a Vermont law adopted in 1996 and revised in 2008, workers must

smaller but equally puzzling project has been in the works along Route 127 in Burlington, just north of the Ethan Allen Homestead. For the past few weeks, the east side of the Beltline has been lined with hundreds of large, white foam blocks, each the size of a minivan. Recently, excavators and road crews have

saving the bike path from permanently sliding into the river. On a recent weekday morning, site engineer Widge Currier, of the firm Engineering Ventures, explains how the underground stabilization system works. Cheaper and more lightweight than sand, soil, gravel and other fill materials, the 8-by-4-by-4-foot geoform blocks, each of which weighs just 230 pounds, provide a solid structure on which the bike path will rest. Once they’re assembled in place like bricks, the entire structure will be covered in plastic, buried in dirt, and then repaved come spring. The blocks, which have been used for years in the southern United States for bridge abutments, road beds, embankments and retaining walls, were only recently discovered by northern road crews, Currier says. This isn’t the first time they’ve been used in Vermont; Currier says a few blocks aided in postIrene reconstruction projects.

been moving the blocks onto the nearby bike path, which is below road level. What gives? Steve Goodkind, Burlington’s public works director, refers to the objects by a highly technical-sounding name: “big foam blocks.” Made from a type of polystyrene, the blocks are being used to shore up 300 linear feet of eroded bike path and embankment abutting the Winooski River, which, according to Goodkind, has collapsed and been repaired numerous times since the Beltline was first constructed in the early 1980s. “It’s been failing from the get-go,” he says. “This was our last, best hope” of

The very property that makes environmentalists revile Styrofoam clamshells is what renders these geoform blocks ideal for reconstruction work: They don’t biodegrade in the elements. Should Vermonters expect to see more of the big white dominoes cluttering the roadsides? Maybe, maybe not. Shelter Enterprises of Cohoes, N.Y., manufactured the blocks. According to the Albany Times Union, the Cohoes plant was destroyed in a fire in September, forcing all 40 employees out of work. m Outraged, or merely curious, about something? Send your burning question to wtf@sevendaysvt.com.

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WORK

VERMONTERS ON THE JOB

Turning Pages By K EENaN Wal SH

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MaTTHEW THORSEN

oug Dows is a man of hobbies. He plays pool, he has driven across the country visiting small museums in small towns, he works on his old farmhouse in Panton, and, lately, he has been spending much of his time buying large boxes of books at auctions and sorting Doug Dows through them, looking for old volumes on Vermont history. At first blush, it’s Shelburne confounding that a Philadelphia native would have such an interest in the Vintage history of this state. bookseller Dows, now 61, came to attend graduate school at the University of Vermont in 1975 and “had every intention of leaving, but never did,” he says. What happened? Well, he fell in love. He had fallen for the physical beauty of Vermont several years earlier, while working at a boys camp in Salisbury. But it was in graduate school that, Dows says, he grew to love the people of the state, too. “It’s the independence streak in Vermonters,” he explains. “The fact that

Name

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they’ll think for themselves. And their closeness to the Earth.” When he graduated, Dows and his wife moved to Panton. He spent 22 years working for the Department of Education, rising through the ranks to become director of the Safe and Healthy Schools programs. Dows is now retired, but he’s nothing if not busy. In addition to playing pool with the state championship team, he crisscrosses the state, sits in on auctions and buys literally tons of books — generally for $2 to $5 a box. Book dealers across Vermont market them online and split the profits with him. Seven Days caught up with Dows — who might be the most independent of Vermont’s independent booksellers — at a café near Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Market in Burlington, where he has been selling some of his vast collection. SEVEN DAYS: Where did your love of books come from? DOUG DOWS: You know, my own family genealogy has been written, and I have a relative who collected books back in the 1800s; he gifted 40,000 volumes to a library in Massachusetts. So it’s in my blood.

SD: And this particular interest in Vermont history — how did that start? DD: I always enjoyed it. I’m a lifetime member of the Vermont Historical Society. But it really started nine years ago. I was at an auction of some older people’s farmhouse contents, and, in the barn — their grandchildren had divorced and left all their belongings there. I bought the entire contents of the barn and ended up with several boxes of books. I was talking with someone who said, “You know, if you take them to a used-book dealer, they’ll give you money for them.” So that was really the beginning of this book adventure. SD: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve ever found? DD: Well, something just happened recently that’s never happened to me before. People often ask me, “Have you ever found anything in the book?” And I never have until just this past month. I found money! I got a book, and I was going through it to price it, and there was a card there. I opened the card, and there was a $50 bill. It was sad, though — it was a sympathy card. The most valuable book that I’ve found is — well, I bought a box of foreign-language

books at an auction in Bridport. The auctioneer knew I collected books, and I said, “Oh, I’ll buy them for $2.” A few days later, I drove through Whiting, Vermont. There’s a small bookstore there called Bulwagga Books [& Gallery], and I know the owner. I took the box in and said, “I don’t know if you’re interested in these; they’re foreign language.” And he said, “Sure I’ll take a look.” He found eight books in German on Nietzsche and offered me $50 for them. So I said, “Wow, maybe I better go look these up.” I went back, pulled one book out of the box — it was a 19th-century leather-bound book, in French, by an author named Marcel — and it turned out it was worth $1000. Just the one book! And I had paid $2 for the whole box. SD: Have you ever come across a book you couldn’t part with? DD: That’s happened twice. I’ve found books that were the first I ever read, you know, as a kid. One was a thing called Dog Stories. I got the book in a box, and I recognized it immediately. And another one was — well, remember when you used to order books from Scholastic when you were in school? This one was called Skeleton Cave. So you know, you have that experience where you recognize it immediately, and it takes you right back to when you were 8 or 9 years old. So I still have those. SD: How do you think the used-book market has changed over the years? DD: One of the booksellers I know doesn’t have a storefront anymore — he’s strictly online now. In the bad economic times, being able to sell a book online has really made a difference. It’s really made it possible to keep doing this. But as far as Kindle and Nook and e-books — I think some people just like to have the book in their hands. In some ways, you could say the actual book might become more valuable because there’ll be less and less of them. I mean, the whole thing in hobbies is “How scarce is it?” And there’s not going to be a lot of books around anymore. So the ones that are around, if you can keep them in good shape, I think they’re actually going to be more valuable. m

Work is a monthly interview feature showcasing a Vermonter with an interesting occupation. Suggest a job you would like to know more about: news@ sevendaysvt.com.

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Fiction: Hidden View B y BR ET T A n n STAnciU

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WINTER READING ISSUE

n the new spring green one year, my life cleft in two. The break happened as simply as walking across a brook, wandering through the woods with its gems of trilliums, spring beauties, a woodland carpet of trout lilies. When I tried to return, the brook had swollen into a raging river, thaw-fed, and I would drown if I tried to cross. The roar of the river pounded my ears. On the other side, outside this forest I had wandered into, my parents, in their boxy beige house I had lived in the entire of my 19 years, carried on with their lives. I stood in my mud boots in this unfamiliar forest, scented with the sweet and almost rank odor of emerging life, newly green with

this brief season of spring. Winter was not far behind and would not be far along, either. I wore only a light blouse to shield me from the weather, and I was alone. I didn’t cry, didn’t howl, didn’t gnash my teeth in despair. I was so young then, so quite young I was easily distracted by the throaty song of a hermit thrush, robins chittering in their nest, the delicate lace pattern of notyet-unfurled leaves. Youth, naturally, passes. My parents had found that so, if they ever relished their own youth. When I was old enough to walk to elementary school, my life took on a different pattern. I was no longer a child, concerned merely with meals and what clothes I

needed to wear, with the play I created with my dolls; I now left the house on my own, as my parents did each day, going out to meet the world and then returning. The world out there was filled with sounds and colors that never entered our domicile of off-white walls, low-nap carpet. My parents were quiet people, reticent and withdrawn. My mother laundered and ironed and wore the same faded A-line skirts, year after year, cotton/polyester blend in summer, corduroy in winter, packed her and my father’s and my ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and then walked the three blocks to Graniteville Water & Light, where she was an actuary in the back office. My father

FEATURE 31

This is the first chapter of Brett Ann Stanciu’s novella Hidden View. The author is a graduate of Marlboro College and currently lives in Woodbury, where she and her family are sugarmakers. Her work has appeared or will soon appear in Vermont Literary Review and Taproot.

SEVEN DAYS

edges by a barricade of pines. We saw no one, heard no dogs, saw no tire swing and dawdling child. I asked my father who lived there, and he shrugged. He turned the car around and left. “The farm over the ridge, at the end of the road?” “Twin Bridges Road.” “I don’t remember any bridges.” “No one does. They’re long gone. The road has shifted since. The river, too, no doubt.” He tore up more violets, slit their heads apart neatly with his nails, and tossed them aside. I studied my cup of lemonade. The ice had melted, leaving an unappetizing slurry of pulp and souring juice. A bottle neck appeared over the edge of my cup. “Improve that,” he said. We sat quite still and worked at our drinks. A robin dipped near my hand, searching for that elusive worm. Evening began thickening around us. We were up and walking at some point, through the young orchard Joe Hattersham and his wife had planted. Christmas lights twinkled in the trees nearest the barn. The party pulsed out at us, but we walked steadily through the orchard, our backs to them. Drinking that stuff, my body had a curious sensation of separating in the middle, head floating above my waist, not unpleasantly. We cut through the orchard and across the hedgerow, toward the road with its snaked line of parked vehicles. Dusk fattened across the fields. At his truck, I sat on the passenger seat. A wood-handled tool lay on the floor, its sharp metal end crusted in dried mud. I wanted to reach down and knock the mud off, see if I knew what use that tool possessed. He leaned against the open door. He was so wide, solid as an ash trunk. That stuff suffused my mouth; it raked through my thinking. I was lying down then, looking up through the windshield at the crescent moon. I gave him easily and uncomplainingly what I did not value then. I thought I had no reason to treasure it. Afterward, I lay for a long while on the chaff-prickled seat of his truck, that skirt yanked up around my hips. I had heard the hardness of his heels strike against the rockstudded dirt road, fainter and fainter, my legs and knees raw white in the open truck door. The steering wheel, worn bone-smooth with use and grime, was at my cheek. My breath settling in my ribs, I looked up. Hung in the windshield, just below the rear-view mirror, was the cut of the moon, a broken teardrop, pale white, a grub unearthed by a shovel. Lady Moon, as a child I had secretly called her, gazing out at her mysterious, changing orb on my knees at the bedroom window. Oh, lovely Lady Moon. This night she was immeasurably distant in that expanse of night sky, a discarded scrap of paper, so far from me, her light but an arctic trickle. I heaved myself up and she disappeared from view. This early in the night the stars were obscured by darkness. Quickly, quickly. I was not tickly.

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In May, I was invited to a graduation party by some girls I knew from high school. I had no illusions. The party was given for twin girls two towns over. Their father, Joe Hattersham, boasted he was going to give his girls the biggest party the county had ever seen or would ever see. I had heard about this party from my mother, who had heard about it at work, and frowningly mentioned it one dinner. The girls who invited me were behind me in a grocery store line. They had an extra seat to fill in their car and would come for me at six, the next Saturday. I had never gone to a party, had never even been asked. My parents nodded, as if they had never considered the possibility. So I went. I was the only girl who wore a skirt and sandals. Everyone else was in jeans and a T-shirt. I remember Julie Stoddard looking at my knees and muttering, “Look at that. Imagine. A skirt at a party.” The Hattershams’ farm was the largest in the county, an immense sprawl of fields around two long cow barns and an old, mammothly high hay barn. The house was the original farmhouse that had been renovated and added on to, numerous times. The party pulsed through the windows. I wandered along the tables weighted with food. The girls I arrived with had dispersed into the jostling, noisy crowd. My heart shuttered tight. Whatever I had wanted or expected to find here, I would not. I wandered from the party, around the back of the windowless hay barn. The grass around the house and barn had been cut the day before and emanated a sweet domestic scent. Behind the barn a hay field stretched out until it dropped suddenly, into the Black River. The hay hadn’t been cut yet, and in the evening breeze the long stalks swayed and rippled, golden green. I lay back and let my elbows take my weight. The party’s noise dulled to audio debris. In the orchard to my left, the songbirds chittering. A breeze flicked strands of hair over my eyes and across my lips. Bunches of clouds, crystal white on one side, thunderous dark on the other, scudded across the sky. A man with shoulders ox-wide came around the barn’s side. He held a yellow cup, garish and silly in his dirt-stained hand. I sat up. He squatted beside me. “Hal Hartshorn.” “Fern,” I answered. “I’m Fern.” He sat down, plucked a violet nestled in the low grass, then pitched it away. “My farm is Hidden View. You know it?” I did. When I was in elementary school my father and I sometimes drove the back roads on Saturdays, tracing those meandering lanes and winding our way back toward town. We packed sandwiches and stopped at general stores for sodas. “Your mother needs some time,” he would say. “She’s gone all week, at that office, and then the house and all.” When I was an early teenager those days dwindled away, as if there was not so much need for them anymore, and I spent Saturdays in the library, instead. Hidden View was at the end of a high dirt road that flattened out at the top and then sank down behind a ridge. I vaguely remembered a narrow old farmhouse, paint peeling in gray licks, and a barn, across the road, maybe, with HIDDEN VIEW painted black, faded even then nearly to nothingness. The fields sloped down the hill, ringed at the

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worked at Casings’ Ball Bearings and Co., doing what, precisely, I never knew. He didn’t speak of it. At home, after dinner, they sat in their respective checked recliners, each under a lampshade obliquely yellowed with age. They were blunted people, dulled down, their spirits submerged. Very occasionally, once a year, maybe, I would hear them in the night, arguing, their voices twining, fierce, bitter, clawing at each other. What it was, I didn’t know. The next morning, they would be the same, stilled, at their usual state of sour. We lived in a neighborhood in a small town, but even then, my parents faded into the background of the town’s social life. We had few visitors, no overnight guests. My parents had me late in their lives. I guessed I had been a troublesome conception and a harder pregnancy. My mother was a single child and her parents had passed before my birth. My father’s parents had divorced when he was a child, and his father and an older sister had moved far away, to Nevada. His mother was ailing in a nursing home and died when I was a child. To her funeral, I brought a small vase of wild gentians, their blue blossoms like upside-down gems in a nest of green leaves. “These,” my mother said in disdain. We spoke almost not at all of relatives. An image from my childhood stands as a totem of those years. One summer evening in my teenage years, I stood at the back screen door of the kitchen. The leaves in the maples tossed in a warm breeze. Crickets sang. The lawn was freshly mown, its sharp sweet scent wafting through the screen’s mesh. Down the dim, streetlight-lit road I heard laughter. Three teenagers I knew by sight and not name were walking and laughing, the arm of one boy around a girl’s shoulders. I longed to be with them, longed, with a force as primal and urgent as the thrust of summer itself, merrily alive in these few months a northern climate offers. They laughed again; I drew back from the screen so as not to be seen, not be pitied or mocked or made a curiosity of. The library became my haven. I yearned to speak Italian, to read Latin or ancient Greek. I longed to visit the Incan ruins, crawl into Anasazi caves, hike Kilimanjaro, swim in the Aegean, to have poetry read to me, to drink wine and eat clams I had dug myself. I ached to sleep and wake under starry skies. I wanted to fall in love and to be loved in return. I graduated from high school. As they could not decide what to do with me, my parents enrolled me in a community college, general studies. The college lay on my father’s route to work, and he drove there each morning, then retrieved me at 5:30 sharp. The courses they chose fit into that schedule. I acquiesced. It did not occur to me to do otherwise. I was 19 then, and envisioned my youth draining through my fingers as sodden beach sand. In the car those days, we said little, nothing of any importance. I gazed out the window, watching the green fields, the turning autumn leaves, the snowy landscape pass by. A giant rock, a glacial stone from one of the stone walls strewn all over our county, pressed on my chest. I would go down into the earth and never rise. Then, this.

Meet the Authors Six local writers you may not have read yet — but should B Y M AR GOT HA RR ISON, ME GAN JAME S AND PA ME L A P O L S TO N

uick, name a Vermont author. We’re guessing you said “Chris Bohjalian,” “John Irving” or “Howard Frank Mosher.” Maybe you thought of mystery maven Archer Mayor, Renaissance man Jay Parini, poet David Budbill or environmental guru Bill McKibben. Or Megan Mayhew Bergman, a Shaftsbury resident whose short-story collection has drawn raves nationwide (Seven Days profiled her last March). Finally, if you’re among the hundreds, perhaps now thousands, of Vermonters who have self-published, you may have said, “Me. And where’s my write-up?”

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Dayna Lorentz, South Burlington, 35

Dayna Lorentz’s first young adult novel, No Safety in Numbers, has an irresistible premise. On a busy Saturday, a bioweapon begins releasing a deadly virus through the air ducts of a shopping mall. When authorities quarantine the complex, teens find themselves trapped inside. No Safety kicks off a trilogy, which means Lorentz’s transformation of Anytown Mall into Lord of the Flies is just getting started. This isn’t the first time she’s turned disaster into a thrilling narrative for young readers: She started her publication career with Dogs of the Drowned City, a trilogy about the canines left behind in Hurricane Katrina. Lorentz was an attorney in New York and worked as a law clerk in Chittenden Superior Court when she first came to Vermont, but since 2009 she’s been “a pet owner, a parent” and a writer, she says. (One of the lead dogs in her books is closely based on her own.) As a writer for kids and teens, she notes, she visits schools and stays in touch with her readers; last summer, a reading of No Safety at Shelburne’s Flying Pig Bookstore was mobbed. “Being a writer is more than just me alone with my books,” Lorentz

says. “It encompasses all those aspects of reaching out to your readership. That’s been a lot of fun.” SEVEN DAYS: Why did you write this book? DAYNA LORENTZ: I was in a mall near where my husband and I were living at the time in New York, and we went to see a movie late at night. We were coming down the escalator, and they’d shut off the lights on the lower levels of the mall. There were people on these dark floors, just cavorting in the darkness, basically. It felt unsafe. I went home, opened a file on my computer and started making frantic notes on this idea. SD: What’s next for you? DL: The sequel, No Easy Way Out, comes out in July 2013. It was a bear to write, and it’s very intense. SD: Why do you write YA? DL: I went to an MFA program [at Bennington College] and studied adult literary fiction. Then I discovered, on my own, YA writing. It was not what quote unquote “writing” was supposed to be. YA was open to things like novels in poems, novels with drawings or sketches. I thought, Here’s a branch of publishing where they’re really interested in new, crazy stuff. It’s just an exciting place in publishing. M. H .

But not all of Vermont’s noteworthy writers have high local profiles. In this annual Winter Reading Issue, we decided to profile six with recent publications whom you may not know specifically as “Vermont writers,” or know at all. They’re following the muse in very different — and rewarding — directions. And, yes, we realize there are many more. Watch for our reviews in the paper all year, including in our State of the Arts section.

L.E. Smith, Brookfield, 62

In 1972, Burlington’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception burned to the ground. Here’s how L.E. Smith describes that in his new novel from local micropublisher Fomite Press, Travers’ Inferno: “The roof went undulant, molten, timbers screamed in turboburn as windows shattered in the draft, a kaleidoscope of colored glass filled the air...” Vivid prose like that anchors this novel inspired by a real series of suspicious fires in the Queen City. Smith’s protagonist, Travers Jones, already has “ecclesiastical pyromania” on the brain when he stumbles into Burlington. Raised by a fanatically Catholic mother, Travers experiences epileptic seizures in which he sees his dead father, a reputed arsonist. Is our hero destined to be “Travers Jones, churchburner”? Or to discover the real perpetrator of the crimes? Like his novel, Smith’s stories in the collection Views Cost Extra are wildly, often brilliantly verbose. He didn’t get his way with words in an MFA program. “Not a good high school student” by his own admission, Smith devoured the books of Henry James and Anthony Burgess as a teen. His adult training for writing encompassed a wide variety of jobs, including delivering mail in rural Vermont. “You

have to try different lives and experience different things to discover what a multiplex world we live in,” Smith says. SEVEN DAYS: Why did you write this book? L.E. SMITH: I lived in Burlington in the ’70s. I hesitate to say there’s a lot of me in it, but there’s a lot of you in all the stuff you write. I was working in a restaurant [Carbur’s] late at night. I hung out at Nectar’s and met all these crazy characters. This was the original Nectar’s, before it got spiffed up. It was not a fancy town back then. It was a wild place. Punk music was starting to kick disco around. Someone set fire to these churches, and they never really found out who did it. SD: Is writing your full-time job? LES: I’m a retired English teacher. I figured enough is enough; I just want to write. Now I tutor at Vermont Technical College with the TRIO program in the afternoons and write in the mornings. SD: What’s next for you? LES: I have a novel coming in the spring [also from Fomite] about the murder of John Lennon in New York City. I was working as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum when Lennon was shot. M .H .

Castle Freeman Jr., Newfane, 68

Until he moved with his wife to Newfane in 1972, Castle Freeman worried that he hadn’t lived enough to be a writer. But something clicked when he got to Vermont, and he hasn’t stopped writing since. “I can take you to the spot, on a dirt road in a neighboring town, where I was walking a couple of days after our arrival in the state when, unaccountably, my life’s utter lack of interesting content or useful experience ceased to be an obstacle to writing,” writes Freeman in an author bio. He was born in Texas, grew up on Chicago’s South Side and went to college in New York City, but in his novels, stories, essays and commentary — which have appeared on Vermont Public Radio and in Vermont Life and many other publications — Freeman evokes such a keen sense of rural Vermont, you’d swear he’s a native. His latest book, Round Mountain, is a collection of 12 short stories — all previously published, some written as many as 20 years ago — about life in a fictional rural

Jon Clinch, Ludlow, 58

SEVEN DAYS: How does it feel to give away your writing for free? CASTLE FREEMAN JR.: It feels good to me, because I’m getting readers, which I was not getting as it was for this book. I’m getting reviews and attention, so in that way it’s been great for me. SD: What’s your day job? CF: At this point my day job is freelance writing. I haven’t always made a living that

SD: What are you working on next? CF: Since Round Mountain, I’ve written a new novel. It’s very different, kind of a romantic-comedy-type thing. M .J .

wife is Jewish. Wendy [Clinch, his wife] remembers seeing tattoos on the wrists of some of her grandmother’s friends. I wanted to understand that and deal with it. The more I read, the harder it seemed to look at, because the horror is just so great, and the tales are just so countless. You ultimately begin to think, Maybe there’s no way for me to get my mind around it. So I began to think, Maybe if I use the tools of fiction, I can find a way to write a book that will keep people’s attention on it and make them want to keep looking. SD: Is writing your full-time job? JC: Yes, it is. It’s a tough way to make a living, like any other kind of art. SD: What’s next for you? JC: I’m really busy with this right now, but I have other projects in the pipeline, including one based loosely on the story of my grandfather, who was a bad apple. It’s called The Infinite Varieties of Loss. For a book with that title, it’s actually pretty funny.

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SEVEN DAYS: Why did you write this book? JON CLINCH: For a long time I’ve been reading the first-person accounts of Auschwitz, like Night by Elie Wiesel. I come from a Methodist background, and my

SD: What inspired you to write these stories? CF: I think that the setting is paramount to me and always has been. That kind of is what got me started. I’m keenly interested in creating interesting and authentic settings for these stories. You do that not only by simple description but by the people you use to populate your stories. Everything works together to get the spirit of the place. There’s one character, Homer Patch, who’s in all the stories. I just kind of liked him. I didn’t want to part from him completely at the end of the [first] story, so I went back and wrote some more.

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the pen name Sam Winston; it hit a few Amazon Kindle bestseller lists. Clinch’s new novel, The Thief of Auschwitz, which he’ll publish on January 15, returns to a historical-lit vein. It’s an accessible, emotionally compelling tale that’s likely to appeal to Bohjalian fans. The narrator is Max Rosen, an elderly, renowned artist whose family was sent to Auschwitz when he was 14. The story of how his parents kept him alive there is a testament to the powers of both love and art. When it comes to publishing, Clinch sees himself as the literary equivalent of a Vermont microbrewer, he says. He designed his own text and cover and “did everything except actually being the publicist, because that would just be sad.”

way. I worked as a proofreader, a copy editor, as a regular old editor for book publishers, for anyone who would pay, really.

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When Jon Clinch decided to self-publish his new book, the news made it to the Style Blog of the Washington Post. The paper had honored Clinch’s two previous novels — Finn and Kings of the Earth, both published by Random House — on its best-of-the-year lists. Why, writer Ron Charles asked, would a well-regarded literary novelist turn his back on the industry? “Big publishing has really become a blockbuster industry,” Clinch tells Seven Days, focused on finding the next Fifty Shades of Grey. “Publishers have given up utterly on the midlist writer.” Though O, the Oprah Magazine, put Kings of the Earth on its summer reading list, the book came out too late to cash in on that recommendation. “No one was talking about it anymore, and it vanished,” Clinch says. “If you’re lucky, you get a month’s worth of support [from a publisher].” Many writers shy away from selling their own work, but not Clinch, who spent 30 years in advertising. Last December, he experimented with self-publishing by putting out a speculative novel, What Came After, under

Vermont community. Freeman has long wanted to compile these stories in a book, but he couldn’t find a publisher until he connected with the Concord Free Press, which publishes free books (and e-books for sale). When readers request a free book, they pledge to make a donation to a charity or other cause. “Just for my little book, we’ve had over 200 separate contributions for Irene [recovery] and other causes,” Freeman says.

M .H.

» P.34

FEATURE 33

MEET THE AUTHORS

Meet the Authors « P.33 Gary Kowalski, Burlington, 58

Gary Kowalski, former pastor for some 20 years at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington, wrote seven books — “depending on how you count,” he qualifies — before his latest, Blessings of the Animals: Celebrating Our Kinship With All Creation. Some of his works have centered on the intersection of science and spirituality, such as Revolutionary Spirits, which sought to demonstrate that our Founding Fathers’ views merged religion with the intellectual discoveries of the Enlightenment. But Blessings is by no means the first time Kowalski has focused on creatures. Previous volumes include The Souls of Animals and The Bible According to Noah: Theology As If Animals Mattered. Since leaving the UU two years ago, Kowalski has taken temporary interim minister jobs in Santa Fe, N.M., and Sudbury, Mass. — specialized work with congregations in transition, he explains. He’s also found time to write and paint. One result is Blessings of the Animals, an engaging and often-humorous collection

34 FEATURE

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SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Robert Belenky, Hanover, N.H., 81

During and following his long career as a child psychologist, Bob Belenky has been a traveler. His journeys to Russia and Haiti, in particular, were so frequent that a number of children in both those countries called him “Grandpa Bob,” he says. The trips weren’t casual vacations; Belenky’s objective was to “learn how young people may be helped to grow up when natural families aren’t available,” says the bio on his website. In other words, he visited a lot of orphanages and other alternatives to family homes — some good, some horrific, Belenky elaborates in a phone interview from his retirement community. His travels, generally with Mary, his wife and colleague of 50-plus years, resulted in a number of books and hundreds of photographs — nearly all focused on kids. Now Belenky has penned an entirely different kind of book. Collective Memories of a Lost Paradise sounds like it could be about any number of things, until you read the subhead: Jewish Agricultural Settlements in Ukraine During the 1920s and 1930s. The slim

of essays. Some stories are anecdotal; others are scientific. Did you know, for example, that ant specimens have been discovered in amber 92 million years old? That a Buddhist beekeeper has protected his hive from disease with a meditation practice? One story is about Burlington artist Sally Linder, who painted 23 portraits of primates that died in a Philadelphia zoo and then traveled to Africa to bury the paintings. (One of them graces the cover of Kowalski’s book.) The book’s title derives from an annual ceremony that Kowalski began at the beginning of his UU tenure in Burlington. Some people thought he was nuts the first time he invited congregants to bring their pets to church — especially given the brand-new carpet. But, he relates in the book, “The dogs do sing off-key during the hymns, but so far our four-legged guests have been the best-behaved members of the congregation.”

volume is not only a very specific slice of history, it’s a memoir. Belenky’s father, a Russian Jewish émigré to the United States, was involved in a progressive group in New York City that brought tractors to Jewish farmers learning to work the land in collective farms postRussian Revolution. They were “not Bolsheviks or Zionists,” Belenky writes, “but rather non-ideologically committed poor people seeking a better life.” The lives of these farmers, and of the Americans who helped them, may be little known except to specialty historians and the families involved. Belenky heard his father’s stories while growing up in New York in the 1930s and ’40s in his own progressive and humanistic family. His objective — to record the memories of elders who survived the post-revolutionary Soviet Union, the Holocaust and World War II — is etched here in poignant detail. SEVEN DAYS: Why did you write this book?

This 20-chapter collection, dedicated to Kowalski’s late dog, Smokey, does more than edify and entertain; it convincingly supports the author’s contention that we humans are only part of a much larger, and soulful, earthly family. SEVEN DAYS: Several of your books focus on animals. Why? GARY KOWALSKI: Animals or nature — the natural world in the broadest sense. You don’t have to scratch very deep to find a bit of nature mysticism in any religion. It plays out differently in different traditions, but for me it’s been more the focus of my spirituality. SD: Will you get another pet? GK: No, my lifestyle hasn’t enabled me to do that. I am more of a dog guy, though we had chickens before chickens were cool. SD: What’s your next project? GK: Nothing in mind. I might write about children. P. P.

ROBERT BELENKY: The motive was very personal — it really had to do with my aging. Not only with my life but all sorts of ancestors. The most dramatic chapter for [our family] was the early Soviet period, when my father played a role in the Jewish farm settlements. SD: Do you write for a living now? RB: [Laughs.] If I did, I’d be dead of starvation. I write because I like to travel, and I take notes. I probably have a couple thousand pages of ideas written down, mostly ideas about how we could treat children at risk in the U.S. SD: What will you write next, then? RB: I’ve started, but don’t know if I’ll live long enough to finish. I want to pull together things from my experiences, partially about education, but also about human services, corrections and psychotherapy. Somewhere in there, I think there’s a message about how we could do things differently. SD: How would you summarize that message? RB: If someone asked me what I’ve learned, I’d probably say something like: “Be nice to children.” P. P.

Round Mountain by Castle Freeman Jr. Published by the Concord Free Press. 181 pages. Free at concordfreepress.com/ roundmountain. The Thief of Auschwitz by Jon Clinch, unmediated ink, 258 pages. $16 paperback, $9.99 e-book. Publication date: January 15. Clinch will read on January 19, 7 p.m. at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center; and sign books on February 16, 2 to 4 p.m. at the Book Nook in Ludlow. Blessings of the Animals: Celebrating Our Kinship With All Creation by Gary Kowalski, Lantern Books, 158 pages. $15. Kowalski will read on Thursday, January 10, 7 p.m. at Phoenix Books Burlington. No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz, Dial, 263 pages. $17.99. Travers’ Inferno by L.E. Smith, Fomite Press, 278 pages. $15. Also: Views Cost Extra, Fomite Press, 186 pages. $14.95. Available from local bookstores and fomitepress. com. Smith will read on January 15, 7 p.m. at Next Chapter Bookstore in Barre. Collective Memories of a Lost Paradise: Jewish Agricultural Settlements in Ukraine During the 1920s and 1930s by Robert Belenky, Maddoggerel Publications, 140 pages. $14.95.

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It’s All a Blurb

Who praised which Vermont book to the skies? Take our quiz and find out

“If you have a special mountain in your life, you’ll read it with understanding; if not, it will make you want to get one!”

“[Author] brilliantly draws us into a terrifying but ultimately affirmative novel in which, once again, love, friendship, and the shining truth about who we really are redeem an otherwise hopeless universe.”

“[Author] has emerged as a new voice in Vermont’s impressive pantheon of creative writers, and a powerful one.”

B Y M AR GOT HA RR ISON

36 FEATURE

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SEVENDAYSVT.COM

he book blurb is an underappreciated art form. We’re speaking not of back-cover descriptions (also, confusingly, often called blurbs) but of those gushy quotes from fellow authors, celebrities and the like that appear as extra sales bait on a book’s cover or website. A blurb from a big name can make a best seller: If Stephen King thought this book was a page turner, won’t you? That’s why publishers (or, increasingly these days, authors themselves) send out galleys of books in hopes of netting a comment such as “I couldn’t put this down!” from someone with more clout than a mere reviewer. How much do blurbs really say about books? Enough for you to match the glowing soundbite with the work it recommends? To test your skills and knowledge of local lit, we’ve assembled (and often excerpted) 16 blurbs appearing on books authored by Vermonters in the past several years. Your challenge: to pair each rave with its source. Some are a cinch; others will take guesswork. Find the answers on page 42. We noticed three patterns as we read blurbs. First (and no surprise), the more famous you are, the more famous your blurber is likely to be. Second, Vermont politicians have a way with words; we didn’t have to look far to find blurbs from former governor Jim Douglas, Sen. Patrick Leahy and State Sen. Philip Baruth (himself a published novelist). Third, not only is Howard Frank Mosher one of Vermont’s most prominent writers, he’s also our unofficial blurb czar. That guy can blurb like nobody’s business — and, karma being what it is, his most recent book scored its own heavyweight blurb, from fellow Vermonter John Irving. Can you spot it?

“... sort of like a comic book by Virginia Woolf. You won’t believe it until you read it — and you must!”

“[Author] has always been a gifted storyteller; this time, there is an added euphoria in his storytelling — borne by the hope he and I share: for now, we have dodged a bullet that thirty thousand American men don’t dodge every year.”

“Written with great humor, wisdom, common sense and compassion, [book title] is a uniquely American memoir by a very insightful American individualist. I loved it.”

“Haunting and harrowing, [book title] offers enthralling suspense but also so much more: a richly poignant tale of the families we’re born into and the ones we build ourselves.”

“[Book title] is an absolutely phenomenal read — The Andromeda Strain for the 21st century. Ladies and gentlemen, meet [author] — the new Michael Crichton.”

“If you have ever eaten a tomato — or ever plan to — you must read [book title].”

“[Author] takes the Novel of Ideas in his two hands and then, in masterly fashion, proceeds to rip its guts out...”

THE SOURCES A. Ruth Reichl on Barry Estabrook’s Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit (2012)

“What I have to say about this book is very simple: Read it, please. Straight through to the end. Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important.” “Once you’ve read the final chapter, you’ll want to take a drive up to [author’s] Farm and experience the delight of meeting him in person.”

“Dear reader, you will never again pass an exit ramp in Vermont or elsewhere as once you did.”

c. Mark Pendergrast on Susan V. Weiss’ My God, What Have We Done? (2011) D. John Irving on Howard Frank Mosher’s The Great Northern Express: A Writer’s Journey Home (2012) E. Barbara Kingsolver on Bill McKibben’s Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet (2010) F. Vermont State Sen. Philip Baruth on L.E. Smith’s Travers’ Inferno (2012) G. Howard Frank Mosher on Stephen Russell Payne’s Cliff Walking: A Novel (2011) H. Former Vermont governor James H. Douglas on Burr Morse’s Golden Times: Tales Through the Sugarhouse Window (2008) I. Megan Abbott on Jennifer McMahon’s The One I Left Behind (coming January 2013) J. Howard Frank Mosher on Don Bredes’ The Errand Boy (2009) k. Bill McKibben on David Hinton’s Hunger Mountain: A Field Guide to Mind and Landscape (2012)

N. Howard Frank Mosher on Beach Conger’s It’s Probably Nothing: More Adventures of a Vermont Country Doctor (2011)

SEVEN DAYS

o. Howard Frank Mosher on Sara J. Henry’s A Cold and Lonely Place (coming February 2013) P. Brad Thor on James M. Tabor’s The Deep Zone (2012)

FEATURE 37

“In this breakout novel, the personal and the political are mirrored metaphors for one another. With poetic, incisive and sometimes incandescent prose, [author] explores the tensions, fears and hopes of our world.”

“[In book title,] [author] artfully blends the wry with the witty, the sublime with the subliminal, and the endearing with the enduring.”

m. Vermont poet laureate Sydney Lea on Neil Shepard’s Vermont Exit Ramps: Poems (2012)

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l. Sen. Patrick Leahy on Steve Delaney’s Vermont Seasonings: Reflections of the Rhythms of a Vermont Year (2007)

SEVENDAYSVt.com

“[Book title] is a beautifully written work of fiction, combining the unspeakable terror of a father’s worst nightmare with a memorable evocation of what must be one of the ‘last best places’ in these United States.”

B. Gloria Steinem on Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama (2012)

Cryptic Connections Jim Rader’s word puzzles keep us guessing B Y M EGAN JA M ES

t was around this time last year that Jim Rader — a former Burlington city clerk and constituent advocate in Bernie Sanders’ congressional office — unveiled the word puzzle he had invented 40 years earlier: the Quip-Find. His book Never Play Leap Frog With a Unicorn: The Quip-Find Book of Advice introduced puzzle lovers to his obsession: hiding a quip, or famous saying, in a letterfilled diagram paired with a traditional

cryptogram. Puzzlers use the diagram to decode the cryptogram. Happily for puzzle people, there’s a lot more where that came from. In his second book, When Eating an Elephant: The 2nd Quip-Find Puzzle Book of Advice, Rader offers 100 new, witty and brainboggling Quip-Finds. He has improved the puzzle’s design in this book, switching out the cryptogram’s blank lines for tilelike squares, and revised the instructions

to make them easier to digest — all in response to criticism he’s received since the first book came out. “We’ve got a few fans out there,” Rader says. Quip-Finds are certainly a challenge — this puzzle lover has sweated anxiously over them — but, with a little practice, they pay off. As Rader writes in the new book, “The best advice is both weighty and witty. And you have to search for it.”

38 FEATURE

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Directions: Find the familiar saying hidden in the diagram. It is spelled out in the cryptogram below, where a different number represents each letter. The saying is also spelled out in the diagram as one continuous thread, linking letters that are adjacent either side to side or corner to corner (think Boggle). Doubling back to letters already used is permitted. Start by guessing a word that fits in the cryptogram and can be spelled out in the diagram. Then work back and forth between the cryptogram and diagram to fill in the gaps and find the saying.

Here are two Quip-Find puzzles, plus instructions to get you started. Answers are on page 42.

When Eating an Elephant: The 2nd Quip-Find Puzzle Book of Advice by Jim Rader, CreateSpace, 162 pages. $9.95. Rader posts a new puzzle every day at blog. quipfind.com.

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SHOPPING LIST:

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In December of 2009, Gardener’s Supply became 100 % employee-owned. Visit one of our Garden Centers on December 21st and help us celebrate becoming employee-owned with a slice of local pie! It’s an annual solstice tradition!

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The

Shopper Giving as good as it gets

B Y DAN B O L L ES

elcome to the holiday season — and to the Seven Days guide to gifts. Every Wednesday for the last few weeks, we’ve been offering ideas for just about everyone on your list. For greater variety, a different writer has weighed in each week: same set of recipients, unique presents of mind. (Note: Some of these giftees are figments of our imaginations.) And what do we want this year? Just for you to shop local, please and thank you.

THE SHOPPER Dan Bolles, 34 TOWN Burlington JOB Music Editor Father

As a devout Wilco fan since I was a teenager, I am in denial that the band has descended into “dad rock,” as so many snarky critics have suggested in recent years. Or I was in denial, anyway, until Pops recently asked if I had heard this “neat” new record, The Whole Love by “the Wilcos.” FML. Well, if ya can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? Say, at the 2013 Solid Sound, the three-day, Wilco-curated — and Higher Ground Presents presented! — arts and music fest at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass. I just hope I’m old enough not to be embarrassed by my parents. $50/124/149.

Pet

Best Friend

Most of my friends tend to be pretty funny people. That’s especially true of my best friend, with whom I’ve been riffing on various topics — OK, mostly dick jokes — since we were kids. We’ve always been able to crack each other up — see: “dick jokes,” preceding sentence. But I’ve got a hunch he could take his act to the comedy club. So I signed him up for the Standup Comedy 101 class at Spark Arts, where he’ll learn how to work a crowd, confront his stage fright and craft a good joke, blue or otherwise. $130 for a six-week class. Spark Arts, 180 Flynn Avenue, Burlington. sparkartsvt.com

Pregnant Friend

Finding cool gifts for my expectant friend is proving to be an unexpected challenge. The standard bottle o’ booze obviously won’t cut it this year. And everyone is likely to give her presents that are really for the tyke. But, even though she’s about to receive “life’s greatest gift,” or whatever, I bet mom-to-be would like something that’s just for her. So A Coloring Book for Pregnant Ladies by Vermont’s Ella Bop is just the thing. The first in a series of grown-up coloring books, it smartly depicts the absurdities and indignities of being pregnant — strangers touching your belly, pregnancy acne, constantly craving pickles, etc. Plus, it’s good practice for when Junior comes of Crayola-wielding age, and gives her something to hang on the fridge until he does. $9.99. A Coloring Book for Pregnant Ladies by Ella Bop. outsidethelinespress.com

Kid Brother

Pleasant Ranch Studios. pleasantranch.bigcartel.com

FEATURE 41

Dude just got his license this year, and, frankly, he’s a bit of a terror on the blacktop. Driving with him through Winooski is an especially harrowing exercise, as he — like most of you, apparently — hasn’t quite mastered the intricacies of navigating the Onion City’s notorious roundabout. To him, “yield” is a four-letter word. So I’m getting him this nifty “Winooski Speedway” T-shirt designed by local drummer — and, full disclosure, 7D staffer — Steve Hadeka. $24.

SEVEN DAYS

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At least once per dog-park visit, I get asked about the breed of my unusual-looking furry life partner, Buckley. Depending on my mood, I might say “pit bull” just to enjoy the nervous expression on the face of the guy whose ill-mannered toy schnoodle is obnoxiously nipping at Buck’s heels. Or I might make up a breed and see if they catch on. (“He’s a Rhodesian Crackhead!”) Truth is, I have no idea what my little man’s true lineage might be. So I’m testing the mutt’s DNA with the Wisdom Panel cheek swab to find out once and for all. $79.99.

This year, my long-distance girlfriend said she wanted something “Vermont-y” for Christmas to remind her of home and suggested I poke around the Vermont Country Store website. Well, the hell with maple syrup and flannel pajamas! As a bit of a gag — and at the risk of rendering myself obsolete — I decided on one of VCS’ numerous “intimate massagers.” Because nothing says “Vermont” like a vibrator, am I right? (Just in case, how much was that maple syrup again?) $19.95-149.95.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Solid Sound, Wilco’s Music and Arts Festival, June 21-23. solidsoundfestival. com

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Happy Holidays?

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Answers for pages 36-37: 1K, 2O, 3A, 4F, 5G, 6B, 7E, 8H, 9D, 10N, 11M, 12J, 13I, 14P, 15C, 16L

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Hey, Seven Days readers, Do your feet hurt? Because you’ve been running through our minds all day. Actually, we haven’t been able to stop thinking about you — and your creative sex lives — since we read your incredible, hilarious, candid and oddly … touching responses to our 2011 sex survey.

A lot can change in two years. And we don’t want this relationship to stagnate. So we’ve got a new set of prying questions to ask you — anonymously, of course. Why not slip into something a little more comfortable, put on some sultry tunes and get cozy with us? Th en, on February 27, you can savor the results in our biennial sex issue.

Happy endings guaranteed. Fill out this survey — preferably online at sevendaysvt.com — to be included in the 2013 results. If you use the paper ballot, send it to Sex Survey, c/o Seven Days, P.O. Box 1164, Burlington, VT 05402-1164. Either way, thedeadline is Friday, January 4, at 5 p.m.

SAVE A STAMP! Fill out the survey

online at »sevendaysvt.com.

WHO ARE YOU?

PRIVATE PARTS

Gender: ❍ Female ❍ Male ❍ M-F trans ❍ F-M trans ❍ Other

I was ____ years old when I lost my virginity.

Do you feel sexy in your own naked body? ❍ Yes ❍ No

How many sex partners, if any, have you had in the last year? ____________

If you have a penis, is it circumcised? ❍ Yes ❍ No

Age: ❍ 19 or younger ❍ 20-29 ❍ 30-39 ❍ 40-49 ❍ 50-59 ❍ 60-69 ❍ 70 or older

Occupation: _______________________ Where did you grow up? ___________________________________

Are you satisfied with your current sex life? ❍ Yes ❍ No

In a sexual context, what do you prefer to call your genitals? _______________ ___________________________________ What is your favorite sex toy? _______ ___________________________________ What’s your go-to mood music for sex? Be specific. ________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ It’s easier for me to get off… ❍ with a partner ❍ on my own The most inappropriate place I have masturbated is ____________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ . I ____ have sex on the first date. ❍ always ❍ never ❍ sometimes

I have… [check all that apply] ❍ had an orgasm ❍ cheated on a partner ❍ been cheated on ❍ slept with an ex ❍ had sex with a relative ❍ had sex with a coworker ❍ had sex with someone whose name I don’t know ❍ had sex with more than one person at once ❍ had sex in a public place ❍ explored BDSM ❍ had fantasies that wouldn’t be ethical to act on ❍ made a video of myself having sex ❍ uploaded and shared that video online ❍ been to a swingers party ❍ seen a sex therapist ❍ paid for sex ❍ been paid for sex ❍ walked in on my parents having sex ❍ had sex while someone else watched SEX SURVEY

SEVEN DAYS

Relationship status: ❍ Partnered/married ❍ Single ❍ Going steady ❍ In an open relationship ❍ Polyamorous

How often do you watch porn? ❍ Multiple times a day ❍ Once a day ❍ A few times a week ❍ At least once a week ❍ At least once a month ❍ A few times a year ❍ Never ❍ Other _________________________

Do you have any genital piercings? ❍ Yes ❍ No

When it comes to pubic hair, I prefer that my partner… ❍ has an untamed bush ❍ keeps the lawn trimmed and tidy ❍ is totally hairless ❍ Who cares? As long as I’m getting laid ❍ Other _________________________

12.19.12-12.26.12

Political affiliation: ❍ Democrat ❍ Republican ❍ Progressive ❍ Independent ❍ Other ________________________

How often do you masturbate? ❍ Multiple times a day ❍ Once a day ❍ A few times a week ❍ At least once a week ❍ At least once a month ❍ A few times a year ❍ Never ❍ Other _________________________

If you have a vagina, have you ever ejaculated? ❍ Yes ❍ No

My preferred safe-sex/birth-control method is _________________________ .

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Sexual orientation: ❍ Hetero ❍ Gay/lesbian ❍ Bisexual ❍ Asexual ❍ Other __________________________

How often do you have sex? ❍ Multiple times a day ❍ Once a day ❍ A few times a week ❍ At least once a week ❍ At least once a month ❍ A few times a year ❍ Never ❍ Other ________________________

If I come before my partner, I ________ make sure we keep going until he/she has come, too. ❍ always ❍ never ❍ sometimes

» P.44 FEATURE 43

RETURN BY FRIDAY, JAN. 4, 2013, TO: SEX SURVEY, C/O SEVEN DAYS, P.O. BOX 1164, BURLINGTON, VT 05402, OR DROP OFF AT 255 S. CHAMPLAIN STREET.

❍ watched someone else having sex ❍ had sex with an animal

« p.43

When I come, I sound like ___________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ . I never thought I’d enjoy _____________ ____________________________________ ________________ , but damn, do I ever! my biggest turn-on is ________________ ____________________________________ ___________________________________ .

44 FEATURE

SEVEN DAYS

12.19.12-12.26.12

SEVENDAYSVt.com

The quickest way to turn me off is ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ___________________________________ . At what point in a new relationship do you tell your partner about a specific fetish/kink you have? ❍ I make it clear exactly what I’m into in my online personal ad. ❍ I broach the subject in person before we ever have sex. ❍ I introduce it while we’re having sex for the first time. ❍ I bring it up after we’ve had sex a few times. ❍ I’ll only tell if my partner pries it out of me. ❍ I don’t really have any kinks. ❍ Other __________________________ How do you most often communicate your desires to a partner? ❍ Sext ❍ Email ❍ Talking in person ❍ Body language ❍ Other __________________________ If you’re in an exclusive relationship, how would you react to the discovery that your partner is cheating? ❍ Break off the relationship immediately.

❍ Get even with a one-night stand of my own. ❍ Attempt to work through the infidelity together or with a couples counselor. ❍ Forgive and forget; we all make mistakes. ❍ Other __________________________

If you identify as straight or gay, have you ever had an outlier sexual experience (i.e., you’re a straightidentified man who’s had sex with a man)? ❍ Yes ❍ No

What’s your biggest insecurity when it comes to sex? ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

tell us about it: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Have you ever gone to the hospital because of a sex- or masturbationrelated injury? ❍ Yes ❍ No tell us about it: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ What, if anything, are you embarrassed/ashamed about sexually? ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

If you’re in a happily sexed-up, longterm relationship, what’s your secret to keeping things hot? ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Name the Vermont celebrity you’d most like to bang: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ What’s your favorite sex scene in a movie? ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Describe your favorite sexual fantasy: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ What else should we have asked? ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Need some advice? Ask a question for mistress maeve: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

Save a Stamp! Fill out the survey

online at »sevendaysvt.com.

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food

Soup du Jour

Where to find a great soup to go in Burlington? Seven Days does a taste test BY COUR TNE Y C O P P, C AR O LYN F O X , S TE VE H AD E K A AND AL IC E L EV I T T

SEVENDAYSVT.COM 12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS 46 FOOD

FOOD LOVER?

GET YOUR FILL ONLINE...

KIM SCAFURO

othing warms you on a winter day like a bowl of soup and a slice of crusty bread. But, especially around the holidays, not all of us have time to sink into making stock and chopping veggies. And soup to go can be an iffy proposition. The Seven Days staff often craves the comfort of a homemade potage at work. But, even after years at our Burlington offices, our team had yet to find a favorite. Last week, we embarked on an admittedly unscientific survey of the five cafés closest to our South Champlain Street office (another, Fresh Market, recently closed). The only other qualifying factor was that the restaurants had to offer at least two daily soups. Food writer Alice Levitt assembled a crack team of tasters for the honor of gorging on 10 different concoctions during one lunch hour. Kids VT managing editor Carolyn Fox was the tough critic most eager to find the best soup available. Calendar writer Courtney Copp is a former personal chef with some great recipes of her own. As a vegetarian, she tasted meat broths but didn’t chomp down on actual flesh. Circulation manager Steve Hadeka was along for the ride as one of our most-willing reviewers in past tasting challenges. Together, we separated the creamy classics from the bland slurries. Though our results are the tastes of only a single day at each eatery, we learned a few important lessons: Bisques are good; needlessly thick soups are bad. Chefs should be purposeful in their choice of ingredients. A kitchen-sink soup will probably taste like just that. And, most importantly, chefs, taste your food before you send it out!

tasted like it was made by an actual chef — plus almost-movie-theater amounts of butter! Courtney Copp: Even when I ate meat, I wasn’t a big fan of lamb. All I can say about this broth is that it was punch-mein-the-face lamb. One bite and my spoon was down.

STONE SOUP 211 College Street, Burlington, 862-7616 Soups we tried: beef stew; split pea Cost per bowl: $5.83 Bread per bowl: A whopping four slices of hearty wheat bread

LOGAN’S OF VERMONT 30 Main Street, Burlington, 489-5935 Soups we tried: carrot with rosemary; lamb and barley Cost per bowl: $5.95 Bread per bowl: One thick, fluffy slice

Carolyn Fox: The carrot soup was so silky! It tasted like drinking brown butter from the pan — rich and indulgent. The large chunks of carrot were perfectly tender, while the rosemary was nicely restrained; a little went a long way. I try not to eat the cuter animals, so this [lamb and barley soup] is actually the first time I had lamb. It was, um ... super lamb-y.

LISTEN IN ON LOCAL FOODIES...

Alice Levitt: The comforting carrot with rosemary was like bathing in butter, with just a whisper of rosemary. It left my mouth coated with fat in a way that said, “You just ate a leviathan of a soup!” I was the only one who appreciated the barnyard wallop of the meat in the lamb and barley soup. But, despite my enjoyment of the flavor, the groundmeat texture made me think more of Hamburger Helper than homemade stew. Steve Hadeka: We got clobbered by carrots in many of the soups in this shoot-out, so it was refreshing to see them used so subtly here. Likewise, the rosemary just whispered in the background. All this in a broth that really

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AL: A film of red oil on top of the beef stew raised my reservations, but the hint of spice and cinnamon was an exotic treat, even if the complete package was too thin to satisfy me purely as a stew. The split-pea soup smelled like a health-food store and needed salt. A hint of fennel was a pleasant touch, but, sorry — carrots are no substitute for smoky pork hocks. CC: The fragrant beef broth had me intrigued. When I tasted it, however, my curiosity waned. Its sweetness and lingering oil harked back to a childhood of dumping white vinegar into my grandfather’s stews. Pass the acidity, please. SH: The hearty broth of this stew featured hints of cinnamon and other spices, just not enough to elevate it much above Dinty Moore status. But hey, it’s beef stew, for chrissake. SOUP DU JOUR

» P.48

More food after the classifieds section. PAGE 47

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CONNECT TO M.SEVENDAYSVT.COM ON ANY WEB-ENABLED CELLPHONE AND FIND LOCAL RESTAURANTS BY LOCATION OR CUISINE. FIND NEARBY EVENTS, MOVIES AND MORE.

sIDEdishes by cOri n hi rsch & a l i ce l e v i t t

The Chips Are Up

Dishy Destiny Diner tO Open in ascutney

british-style eatery Opens in brattlebOrO

rESort.

— c. h.

Clover House, Colchester’s destination for well-prepared pub fare and upscale specials, will close its doors after its December 31 New Year’s celebration. In January, owner Doug Simms and chef Levi Carter will open the Lighthouse Restaurant in the Colchester Hampton Inn space previously occupied by T Bone’s Restaurant & Bar. Carter says Clover House has outgrown its 60-seat home. The Lighthouse will seat 220 in its space, which includes a lounge and outdoor deck. The new restaurant, says Carter, will focus more on affordable fine dining than on the pub fare of his current digs. The menu will include a “buildyour-own” option: Diners Levi Carter choose a protein, such as prime steak or seafood, then complement it with a starch, a seasonal vegetable and a sauce such as port demi-glace or béarnaise. A 60-item salad bar will be “consistent and fresh,” Carter says. Before long, he plans to introduce a large specials menu similar to the one he fills with unusual duck, lamb and seafood dishes at Clover House.

The Perfect Gift...

for that crêpey uncle. Purchase a $50 gift card and receive a $10 coupon for yourself!

Happy Holidays! 60 Lake St., Burlington 89 Main St., Montpelier skinnypancake.com

— A .l.

Holiday Treats!

8v-skinnymuffin121912.indd 1

Pub Life

MOnty’s OlD brick tavern changes hanDs

town where he was born and Buche Holiday De Noël Cookie Tray raised. “I’m looking forward Chocolate, Tiramasu $12/$20 to the four-mile commute,” or Pumpkin $40 Eggnog Akey says. Peppermint Cheesecake Bark Cake $22 He’ll keep Monty’s Chocolate devils’ food cake with layers of peppermint Breakfast Strata menu and hours as they are laced buttercream & A savory bread pudding crunchy candy cane pieces. layered with spinach for now, Akey says, but in 8” cake $30 caramelized onions, and coming months, diners can 10” cake $44 gruyere cheese, w or w/o smoked bacon. $18/$20 expect a renovated interior Please visit our website, Facebook or come as well as a revamped menu to the bakery for a full Holiday menu! from executive chef DAN GoEtz, who will stay on. “We’ll keep some of the staples, such as the burger,” says Akey, but he suggests the fare may go the way of Akes’ Den. There, chef 197 North Winooski Avenue JAmiE NElSoN has rolled out a 802.863.8278 “rustic European-American www.panaderobakery.com menu,” with dishes such as beef bourguignon, chicken pot pie and a Porterhouse 12v-panadero121912.indd 1 12/14/12 2:06 PM pork chop. The current Monty’s lacks both a fryer and a large bar; while Akey can’t add the first because of a zoning issue, he plans to expand the second. “There will be more of a working bar, and we’ll serve

Say you saw it in...

siDe Dishes

» p.49

sevendaysvt.com

FOOD 47

When DAViD hErSkoWitz purchased an 1842 residence in the center of Williston village eight years ago, it needed heavy renovation — which Herskowitz did so elegantly that he picked up a historic preservation award in the process. The restaurant he created, moNtY’S olD Brick tAVErN, has since become a Williston fixture. But now Herskowitz is exiting the business; he sold Monty’s this week to mArk AkEY. “I’m happy with what I did there. I hope it keeps going for a long time,” Herskowitz says. If Akey’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he owned AkES’ plAcE on Burlington’s Church Street before selling that business in 2009 and opening AkES’ DEN in Waitsfield. Now Akey plans to put that business up for sale in short order and return to the

12/17/12 12:08 PM

SEVEN DAYS

Now the building’s latest incarnation might draw the attention of Guy Fieri: the AScutNEY DiNEr is due to open there this week. Co-owners BoB rEED and pAttY ButtoN will serve three meals a day, six days a week; theirs will be the only establishment in town serving dinner since Casa Del Sol closed this year. “We asked around, and we heard, ‘If you build it, we will come,’” Reed says. He and Button ran a food truck in Ascutney last summer and used to own a snack bar adjacent to Quechee Gorge. With that experience under their belts, they’ve built a menu dense with all-American classics such as omelettes, pancakes and burgers but also peppered with slightly offbeat diner dishes such as “French Texas” toast, an Italian sausage-and-onion sub, fried mac-and-cheese bites and plates of liver and onions with bacon and mashed potatoes. Reed adds that the kitchen will serve fresh seafood and steaks each night — along with beer and wine — and diners can order their chops with a Montréal rub. Open every day but Monday, Ascutney Diner can be reached at 674-4263.

clOver hOuse restaurant MOves

12.19.12-12.26.12

— A.l .

It’s been many things: a Mexican restaurant, a clam shack, a roadhouse and a long-running nightclub called Destiny. The fortunes of the one-story building at 5308 Route 5 in Ascutney have experienced an ebb and flow often tied to those of the nearby AScutNEY mouNtAiN

Lights On

SEVENDAYSVt.com

The closure of falafel shop Sarkis Market left a hole at 50 Elliot Street in Brattleboro. Last month, a very different international eatery filled it when WorlD’S moSt DEliciouS opened. Filmmaker AlAN ScottmoNcriEff and his son, SAm, were living in New York City when they decided to return to the “cool town” of Brattleboro to open a chip shop. Scott-Moncrieff had previously lived in southern Vermont and was just back from five years in Cambodia, where he established the Global Child school. For now, World’s Most Delicious has only two items on the menu: fish and chips, both fried in light olive oil, which is filtered daily for a healthier, less-greasy product. The chips are thick-cut, skinon russets, which father and son double-fry for optimal, “Belgian-style” crispness. The fish varies depending on what BlAck riVEr proDucE can bring freshest to Brattleboro. It’s carefully battered in a mix of flour, salt and beer made at mcNEill’S BrEWErY just down the road. A liquor license is in the works, and Scott-Moncrieff says there’s already an offmenu dessert: beer-battered and fried marshmallows, which he offers in a nod to the fried Mars Bars of his native Scotland. WMD gives a 10 percent discount to those carrying military ID, but its Sing for Your Supper policy is less conventional. Any musician who plays at the eatery for an hour gets a free fish supper and beverage, though WMD’s Facebook page warns, “Other diners are entitled to boo you off the stage if your playing does not please them.”

Got A fooD tip? food@sevendaysvt.com

page 46

File: Matthew thOrsen

more food before the classifieds section.

GifitCateS

food

Certif

Soup du Jour « P.46

CF: Some of the vegetables were overly soft, while the beef was a bit chewy for soup. But the red-orange broth was warm and comforting, with just a touch of heat — it would be nice on a cold winter’s day. The split pea was thick, like a stew, and very starchy. I felt like I had just tried to swallow cotton. For being packed with vegetables, it didn’t have much flavor.

Happy Holidays! — Jon, Lucie & the entire staff Lunch q Dinner q Sunday Brunch

27 Bridge St, Richmond Tues-Sun • 434-3148 12v-toscano121912.indd 1

12/14/12

AUGUST FIRST 149 South Champlain Street, Burlington, 540-0060 Soups we tried: Thai chicken; split pea Cost per bowl: $5.25 4:13 PMBread per bowl: One slice of olive bread

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SEVEN DAYS

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✶

✶ midnight champagne toast ✶ seafood tasting course:

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SH: This soup was heavy on the chicken and light on the “Thai.” It might have passed for Thai 15 or even 10 years ago, before greater Burlington’s Thai and Vietnamese revolution, but let’s face it, we’ve all become a little more worldly thanks to the solid offerings of spots such as Tiny Thai and Pho Hong. So, yeah, not a bad soup, but in 2012 it takes more than a dash of coconut milk to make something Thai-tasty. Sweeter and browner than the Stone Soup version, this split pea won the Linda Blair Award for the day (come on, what pea-soup review would be complete without an Exorcist reference?). AL: Sure, the Thai chicken could have used some galangal or kaffir lime, but I still found the coconut-y broth satisfying. More spice would have been nice, but I was happy to be practically drowning in tender chicken. The split pea splorped out of its container into the bowl like thick applesauce. If only. A glut of pepper made it almost inedible. Neither soup combined well with the provided olive bread, which is delicious on its own — two tastes that did not taste great together. CC: Having lived in the Thai-food mecca of New York City for nine years, I’ve spent plenty of time plucking thin strips of chicken out of my boyfriend’s soups and downing the rest. While it’s not fair to demand the best of the big city’s cuisine elsewhere, I had visions of a not-too-sweet coconut-milk base with perfectly wilted cilantro or basil balancing things out. This broth was too thin for my liking and tasted more like plain chicken broth than anything else.

MIRABELLES 198 Main Street, Burlington, 658-3074 Soups we tried: Nordic winter vegetable with barley; turkey vegetable Cost per bowl: $5.25; these bowls were the largest we tried by a good measure Bread per bowl: For two soups, we received one and a half slices, though they were among the most delectable

SH: With the full spectrum of winter vegetables available to us, I couldn’t wait to have my hair blown back by what would surely be an almost psychedelic blast of color. What did I find instead? Khaki. This soup was, without exaggeration, both the color and flavor of Dockers’ worry-free, relaxed-fit khakis.

THE SILKY, WELL-SEASONED AND CREAMY POTAGE DESERVED BETTER THAN THE SOLO CUPS FROM WHICH WE DRANK IT.

As for the turkey veg, I could swear this soup came straight out of the Castleton Elementary School hot-lunch program. CC: I call the Nordic vegetable soup monotone medley. I call the flavor ... wait, what flavor? CF: What’s in the Nordic vegetable? Is it meat? Why was there ziti in my turkey soup? This tasted like something you’d eat at a hospital. AL: I trusted the gourmet cooks at Mirabelles to do better, especially with tantalizing nonsoup specials that day including vol-au-vent with lemon chicken and considering the superb quality of its baked goods. The

parsnip-filled veggie soup tasted like the work of Mom on a health binge. Metallic-tasting chunks of hard turkey dominated the other soup, amid an odd assortment of starches, including overcooked pasta and chickpeas.

CHEF’S CORNER SOUTH END 208 Flynn Avenue, Burlington, 660-7111 Soups we tried: butternut-squash bisque; Italian Wedding Cost per bowl: $5 Bread per bowl: Two slices, plus butter

AL: The bisque would have made perfect sense served in china on a white tablecloth. The silky, well-seasoned and creamy potage deserved better than the Solo cups from which we drank it. I may have been even more impressed with the ultra-beefy Wedding soup. The meaty broth had an almost grilled flavor, as did the tender meatballs. This was the best-balanced soup of the day, with just enough acid and the perfect amount of salt to draw out every bit of flavor. SH: My wife, Maggie, and I really miss Smokejacks. Our favorite dish was the butternut-squash soup they ran as a special in colder months. Chef ’s Corner’s version of the soup was every bit as good and achieved what I presume to be the place’s mission: offering actual gourmet food in a handy grab-’n’-go format. CF: The Italian Wedding meatballs were nice and garlicky, and the soup was loaded with onion, rice, carrots and herbs. Individually, all the parts were quite nice. But the broth was overwhelmingly salty for me — it reminded me of fish sauce. CC: Chef ’s Corner delivered in a big way. The bisque was a perfect shade of orange, just the right thickness and full of flavor. Sometimes all it takes is a handful of ingredients prepared with care. By far my favorite of the bunch. To be fair, I hadn’t yet come down from my butternut-bisque high when I sampled the Wedding soup. The broth was full of herbs and greens, and I detected notes of thyme, which I love. A bit salty for me, but, again, by that time my palate had had enough.

sIDEdishes

GIFT CARDS The perfect gift for anyone on your list!

Stop by on Wednesdays and enjoy $5 el gato Margaritas

c O n T i n ue D F r O m PA G e 47

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Happy Holidays Thank you to our loyal customers for all of your support! Receive a

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Ask for a free chinese calendar while supplies last! The Inn

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— c. H .

Crumbs

LeFTOver FOOD news

— A.L .

— c . H.

It’s hard to fathom, but HILL fArmStEAD BrEwErY

12/6/12 1:47 PM

FOOD 49

beer may be even more in demand now that the January 2013 issue of

www.pekingduckhousevt.com

SEVEN DAYS

Vanity Fair, featuring brewer SHAuN HILL, has hit the newsstands. In “Setting the Bar,” a grinning Hill appears alongside pictures of both his brewery and his beers, which writer Spike Carter says are “delicious enough to win over wine-andspirit lovers” because some of them, such as the bourbon-barrelaged porter Birth of Tragedy, blur the line between wine and beer at first sip. Carter is clearly smitten; maybe Vanity Fair’s 1.2 million subscribers will soon be, too.

79 West Canal Street, Winooski, VT 05404

12.19.12-12.26.12

Tiny Montgomery Center is on its way to becoming a tourist destination — and, perhaps, a culinary one. When the INN opens this weekend at 241 Main Street, it will give that building a very different character from its predecessor, the Inn on Trout River. Scott PASfIELD, the photographer behind the book Gay in America, and his partner, NIck purchased BArLEttA, the inn last spring and worked on renovating the space into something

worthy of a Travel + Leisure photo shoot. They recruited New York consultant Wil Crutchley to assemble a small-plates pub menu that the public can taste this Saturday. Pasfield says to expect the opening of an additional, fine-dining restaurant as soon as next month. For now, the pub will serve what Pasfield calls “reinvented, worldly comfort food.” On a given night, fare might range from Cabot cheddar fondue and chicken livers with deviled eggs to pad Thai and potstickers, he says.

ng Duck Hous i k e P 802-655-7475 or 802.655.7474 e

SEVENDAYSVt.com

Vermont microbrews,” he says. Peter Yee of Yellow Sign Commercial handled the deal, confidentially listing Monty’s for sale.

• We use vegetable oil • We cook without MSG

4t-sweetclovermarket121912.indd 1

12/10/12 10:51 AM

Words to Chew On Three flavorful local foodie books from 2012 B Y CO RI N HI RSCH

Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in Western Civilization. Thought-provoking fare that we’ve already reviewed and discussed in these pages, but not books to browse casually. But we also received lighter offerings, fun books that might serve as last-minute gifts or useful guides to stash in your car. Two are from Vermont authors, and one is simply focused, in part, on Vermont. Each is an ideal stocking stuffer for…

The dedicated locavore

As I walked down Newport’s Main Street one evening last summer, a woman outside Woodknot Bookshop handed me an elegant-looking book. Turned out it was her book; she was author Bethany Dunbar, a longtime writer for (and now coeditor of ) the Barton Chronicle. Dunbar calls her slim, animated book, Kingdom’s Bounty: A Sustainable, Eclectic, Edible Guide to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, “an extension of my work I have been doing for 25 years, telling these local stories.” It’s dense with colorful profiles of the places and people that compose the Kingdom’s food scene. In a string of two-page essays with fantastic photos taken by the author, Dunbar shares the backstories of the farmers,

restaurants and innkeepers she calls neighbors, writing in an approachable style that makes readers feel as if they’ve stumbled into a tight-knit family. While Dunbar mentions big names, such as the Cellars at Jasper Hill, Claire’s Restaurant & Bar, Hill Farmstead Brewery and Pete’s Greens, it’s her portraits of tinier places that give this book its charm: Many Vermonters may not have heard of Too Little Farm in Barnet or Bien Fait Specialty Cakes in Greensboro, for instance. Nestled among these profiles are useful guides to local farmers markets and seasonal events such as the Pond Skimming Celebration each spring in East Burke and Newport’s Gingerbread House Festival in December. Dunbar veers from straight-up journalism to “essay voice” and back, sometimes mining her store of personal stories to illustrate the Kingdom’s folksiness. Her Aunt Maude comes up in relation to Quimby Country resort, and Dunbar describes her alarm at hearing peepers two weeks early and her appreciation of the “incomparable scent” of boiling sap as segues to Taylor Farm and the art of sugaring. (She also offers valuable, in-theknow tips, such as noting that Taylor’s Automotive in Barton offers both repairs and a taste of the farm’s famous syrup.)

Kingdom’s Bounty: A Sustainable, Eclectic, Edible Guide to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom by Bethany Dunbar. Umbrage Editions, 160 pages. $25. Food Lovers’ Guide to Vermont & New Hampshire: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings by Patricia Harris and David Lyon. Globe Pequot Press, 420 pages, $14.95. Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes and Other Pastries Reinvented by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Stewart, Tabori & Chang. 252 pages. $29.95. Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in Western Civilization by Paul S. Kindstedt, Chelsea Green, 256 pages. $24.95. Milk Money: Cash, Cows, and the Death of the American Dairy Farm by Kirk Kardashian, University of New Hampshire Press, 278 pages. $27.95.

Like any food guide, Kingdom’s Bounty isn’t always up to the moment; for instance, Dunbar profiles Ploughgate Creamery, the Albany cheese-making facility recently destroyed by fire, and owner Marisa Mauro. “She still holds onto her dream to become a farmer, but for now, the cheese business occupies all of her time,” Dunbar writes. Tiny print,

McKenzie Dinner Hams

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hese days, I usually find new recipes online and cook them with an iPad perched on the kitchen counter. With the interwebs saturated with recipes, food blogs, rating sites and travel guides, it’s easy to find a recipe or review for almost anything — and to forget that food knowledge is still flourishing in another medium: books. Why spend money on the “hard copy” foodie equivalent of porn when you can find so much of it online? For one thing, a cookbook is much more fun to thumb through than a blue-and-white list of Google results. For another, a restaurant or farm guide stashed in your glove compartment is more useful than a cellphone when you find yourself with a one-bar signal — a commonplace occurrence in Vermont. Most importantly, it feels good to pay for the work of writers who test recipes 20 or more times, or dine out five nights in a row, so that you don’t have to. (The job can be less glamorous than it sounds; just ask a food writer about her cholesterol level.) This past year brought a handful of food and ag books from Vermont authors that are engaging but decidedly cerebral, including Kirk Kardashian’s Milk Money: Cash, Cows, and the Death of the American Dairy Farm and Paul S. Kindstedt’s

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food added just before the book went to press, notes the fire. Now, more than a year later, Mauro is poised to become the farmer and butter maker at Bragg Farm in Fayston. Such is the constantly shifting world of food and agriculture. But Dunbar’s solid book captures the personalities that are likely to be on our stage for years to come, and the farms that will be around even longer.

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Our office seems to have an ongoing long-distance love affair with Gesine BullockPrado, though she probably doesn’t realize it. I’ve used her as a source on at least one occasion, and last year we asked her to help judge a dessert competition as part of Vermont Restaurant Week. Last spring, Seven Days coeditor Pamela Polston devoted a feature to Bullock-Prado’s book Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes and Other Reinvented, breakPastries Reinvented ing her one-pie-a-year routine to turn out a crumble, a pie and a tart, with mostly delicious results. Gesine, as we like to call her, is a breezy and witty writer; her personality warms every page, and her no-nonsense instructions put successful, edible pies within reach of even the most pastry challenged. Collaborator Tina Rupp’s photos bring everything to life. The prolific Hartford baker and confectioner’s third book within a few years, Pie It Forward is also her most approachable to date. Recipes for Passion Fruit Chiffon Tartlets, Figgy Pops and a Cajun-inspired Low-Country Boil Pie alternate with tips on how to avoid “crackage” when baking cheesecakes and the ideal maple syrup to use when baking (Grade B). Last week, I tried to find a copy of Pie It Forward to give as a gift, but three of four bookstores I called were sold out. Enough said. Luckily, we don’t have to wait long for Bullock-Prado’s next book: Bake It Like You Mean It: Gorgeous Cakes from Inside Out, her guide to all kinds of cakes, is due out in March.

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Similar in spirit but more blurb-style in execution is Food Lovers’ Guide to Vermont & New Hampshire: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings,, a squat, square book that ambitiously aims to highlight every significant food experience inside the two states’ borders. Authors Patricia Harris and David Lyon, aka the Hungry Travelers (the name of their longstanding blog), live in Cambridge, Mass., but they often traverse New England in search of calorie-laden adventures. And those travels really fan out, it seems. The book clocks in at 420 pages, 169 of them devoted solely to Vermont. Harris and Lyon found their way into some of the state’s most rural corners, from Cambridge’s Burger Barn to Swanton’s Hudak Farm. Along the way, they discovered that the Belted Cow Bistro’s John Delpha does barbecue once a week; that the creemees at Montpelier’s Morse Farm are “intense”; and that the Marquette at Lincoln Peak Vineyard is a “nice, fleshy wine with black currant and cherry notes.” It’s always interesting to see how out-of-staters view Vermont, and to decide if you agree on points such as whether Church & Main’s dishes tend to “contrast two strong flavors or two textures or both.” I learned a few things, too. For instance, that regulars of South Hero’s Blue Paddle Bistro demanded the restaurant return its gorgonzola-stuffed meatloaf to the menu. That chef Doug Mack (of Mary’s Restaurant at the Inn at Baldwin Creek in Bristol) has been serving his

cream of garlic soup every night since 1983. And that you can get frogs’ legs at East Dorset’s Chantecleer Restaurant. Major props to Harris and Lyon if they truly ate everything mentioned here; that’s a lot of calories.

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WED.19

KELLEY MARKETING MEETING: Marketing, advertising, communications, social media and design professionals brainstorm ideas for local nonprofits over breakfast. Room 217, Ireland Building, Champlain College, Burlington, 7:45-9 a.m. Free. Info, 865-6495.

comedy

IMPROV NIGHT: Fun-loving participants play "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"-style games in an encouraging environment. Spark Arts, Burlington, 8-10 p.m. $7 suggested donation. Info, 373-4703.

crafts

MAKE STUFF!: Defunct bicycle parts become works of art and jewelry that will be sold to raise funds and awareness. Bike Recycle Vermont, Burlington, 6-9 p.m. Free. Info, 264-9687. OPEN KNIT & CROCHET: Stitch and tell: Fiber fans work on current projects in good company. Kaleidoscope Yarns, Essex Junction, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 288-9200.

12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS

holidays

MONTPELIER HOLIDAY BOOK SALE: Affordable titles of all kinds are arranged by category for easy browsing. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Free. Info, 223-3338.

kids

BABYTIME PLAYGROUP: Crawling tots and their parents convene for playtime and sharing. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Free; preregister. Info, 658-3659. ENOSBURG PLAYGROUP: Children and their adult caregivers immerse themselves in singing and other activities. American Legion, Enosburg Falls, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. FAIRFIELD PLAYGROUP: Youngsters find entertainment in creative activities and snack time. Bent Northrop Memorial Library, Fairfield, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. GREEN MOUNTAIN BOOK AWARD BOOK DISCUSSIONS: Eager readers in grades 9 and up hear about some of the 2012-2013 nominees, including Incarceron, Ostrich Boys and Suite Scarlett. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6955. HIGHGATE STORY HOUR: Gigglers and wigglers listen to age-appropriate lit. Highgate Public Library, 11:15 a.m. Free. Info, 868-3970.

ENJOY THE WONDERS OF FUNGI: Folks focus on the fungus among us as they learn to culture and grow mycelium into fungi with Eric Swanson of Vermush. Everyone brings home an oyster mushroom spawn. Hunger Mountain Co-op, Montpelier, 5-7 p.m. $10-12; preregister. Info, 223-8004, ext. 202, info@hungermountain.coop.

MOVING & GROOVING WITH CHRISTINE: Two- to 5-year-olds jam out to rock-and-roll and world-beat tunes. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 865-7216.

games

STORY TIME & PLAYGROUP: Read-aloud tales pave the way for themed art, nature and cooking projects. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 426-3581, jaquithpubliclibrary@ gmail.com.

ADULT BRIDGE CLUB: Players of all experience levels test their memory and strategy skills with this popular card game. Milton Public Library, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, 893-4644, kdulac@town.milton.vt.us.

health & fitness

EVERGREENS FOR BODY CARE & MEDICINAL USE: Class participants discover recipes and goodies that capture the conifers' distinct aroma. City Market, Burlington, 5:30-7 p.m. $5-10; preregister. Info, 861-9757. MEDITATION & DISCUSSION: Powerful energies arise from this participant-led session, followed by 20 minutes of meditation and a brief discussion. Inspired Yoga Studios, Jay, 5:45-7 p.m. Donations accepted. Info, 988-0449. NIA CLASS: A movement session with Suzy Finnefrock inspires health, fitness and exploration of human potential. Burlington Dances, Chace Mill, 6-7 p.m. $13. Info, 522-3691.

ST. ALBANS PLAYGROUP: Creative activities and storytelling engage young minds. NCSS Family Center, St. Albans, 9-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426.

Why grow up? Northern Stage’s production of Peter Pan, choreographed and directed by Connor Gallagher, explores this pivotal question. Newcomers Eric Deiboldt and Katie Emerson star as Peter Pan and Wendy, respectively. In the midst of their many adventures, they meet Captain Hook, played by company veteran and Broadway actor William Thomas Evans. A talented youth ensemble and puppeteer Shu-nan Chu bring the rest of J.M. Barrie’s characters to life, while stunning costumes by Sarah Cubbage and songs such as “I’m Flying” and “Never Never Land” ‘PETER PAN’ Wednesday, December 19, and Thursday, December 20, 7:30 transport audiences into the magical world p.m., Friday, December 21, through Sunday, December 23, 2 and 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 26, 2 and 7:30 p.m. at of this popular tale. Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. See website for future dates. $31-65. Info, 296-7000. northernstage.org

DEC.21-23 | MUSIC

STORY TIME FOR 3- TO 5-YEAR-OLDS: Preschoolers stretch their reading skills through activities involving puppets and picture books. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10-10:45 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956. STORY TIME WITH MRS. CLAUS: Little ones don their PJs to enjoy cookies and milk while Santa's wife reads holiday favorites. JCPenney Court, University Mall, South Burlington, 6:30-7 p.m. Free; suggested donation of gently used winter outerwear. Info, 863-1066, ext. 11. YOUTH MEDIA LAB: Aspiring Spielbergs learn about movie making with local television experts. Ilsley Public Library, Middlebury, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 388-4097.

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ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE IN WRITING AT NOON ON THE THURSDAY BEFORE PUBLICATION. FIND OUR CONVENIENT FORM AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT.

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YOU CAN ALSO EMAIL US AT CALENDAR@SEVENDAYSVT.COM. TO BE LISTED, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE NAME OF EVENT, A BRIEF DESCRIPTION, SPECIFIC LOCATION, TIME, COST AND CONTACT PHONE NUMBER.

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LISTINGS AND SPOTLIGHTS ARE WRITTEN BY CAROLYN FOX AND COURTNEY COPP. SEVEN DAYS EDITS FOR SPACE AND STYLE. DEPENDING ON COST AND OTHER FACTORS, CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS MAY BE LISTED IN EITHER THE CALENDAR OR THE CLASSES SECTION. WHEN APPROPRIATE, CLASS ORGANIZERS MAY BE ASKED TO PURCHASE A CLASS LISTING.

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DEC.19-23 & 26 | THEATER

Gather Round Since ancient times, cultures have honored and celebrated the winter solstice. Partcipants in the Zuni and Hopi tribes’ Soyalangwul ceremony ensured the sun’s return from its seasonal slumber, while some believe Britain’s Stonehenge aligns with sunset on the shortest day of the year. For more than 30 years, Theatre Group Limited’s Night Fires has drawn on these traditions with magic, mystery, music and storytelling. This year, first-time performers join seasoned members Deb Gwinn, Stephanie Gallas and Annie Nessen Voorhees to tell a tale of Story itself. Music ‘NIGHT FIRES’ comes from Italy, the Maori Friday, December 21, at 8 p.m., Saturday, December of New Zealand, Cape Verde, 22, at 4 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, December 23, at 4 p.m., at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $18-23. Mongolia and more. Info, 382-9222. townhalltheater.org

COURTESY OF GREEN MOUNTAIN NPERFORMING ARTS

DEC.22 | DANCE Fresh and Funky Growing up in Boston, Laurie Flaherty saw The Nutcracker many times. Years later, the founder and director of Green Mountain Performing Arts created a hip-hop interpretation of the holiday classic. Flaherty’s colleague, Ernest “E-Knock” Phillips of MTV fame, takes the reins for Hip Hop Nutcracka — 2012 Remix. New this season? A ballerina, Claire, conflicted about her role in a family whose dance styles differ from hers. In a production that interweaves different disciplines and cultures, 95 students from elementary through high school perform with professional dancers and Phillips, who stars as the “Nutcracka.”

‘HIP HOP NUTCRACKA — 2012 REMIX’ Saturday, December 22, 4 and 7 p.m., at Harwood Union High School in South Duxbury. $12-15. Info, 244-8600. greenmountainperformingarts.org

DEC.21 | MUSIC

COURTESY OF GRAND SLAMBOVIANS

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Friday, December 21, 7:30 p.m., at Bradford Academy. $10-25. Info, 249-0076. slambovia.com

SEVEN DAYS

THE GRAND SLAMBOVIANS: ‘A VERY SLAMBOVIAN CHRISTMAS’

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Their Own Way

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hat some call “avantfolk,” others deem “hillbilly Pink Floyd.” Front man Joziah Longo’s vocals and guitar lead the other Grand Slambovians, who are described as “Sharkey McEwen — guitar, mandolin, jackets and ties” and “Tink Lloyd — accordion, cello, flute, shoes and shawls.” All quirks aside, these multi-instrumentalists bring their own brand of Americana to passionate live shows. Despite earlier success in a previous band, the three shunned record deals in favor of taking time off. Longo and McEwen attended art school, ultimately recruiting their professor, Tony Zuzulo, as drummer. The group plays a concert of holiday tunes — with a twist.

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Film House, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, 7 p.m. Donations accepted. Info, 540-3018, mariah@mainstreetlanding.com.

music

DOOMSDAY MOVIE NIGHT: Film buff Andy MacDougall introduces an end-ofdays mash-up of his own design, featuring shorts and clips such as 1956's World Without End. North Country Cultural Center for the Arts, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 7 p.m. Free. Info, 518-563-1604, serious_61@yahoo.com.

KAREN KRAJACIC TRIO: Americana music graces the lounge, and listeners dress in their worst for the ugly sweater contest. Big Picture Theater & Café, Waitsfield, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Donations accepted. Info, 496-8994.

seminars

OU SPEND SMART SERIES: RT ES YO This practical introducFK AR E tion to money management N K RA JACIC TRIO focuses on personalized financial goals. Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, Burlington, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 860-1417, ext. 114 .

sport

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: Pingpong players swing their paddles in singles and doubles matches. Knights of Columbus, Rutland, 7-10 p.m. Free for first two sessions; $30 annual membership. Info, 247-5913. TRAPP NORDIC CUP 2012-13: Race against the clock in the first of 12 weekly, nordic 5K skate and/ or timed trials at the home of the first crosscountry ski center in the U.S. Trapp Family Lodge Nordic Center, Stowe, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. $8 plus trail pass; see trappfamily.com for specific prices. Info, 253-5719.

talks

IRINI ROCKWELL: The director of the Five Wisdoms Time to start making your

HOLIDAY GIFTS!

Institute discusses her book, Natural Brilliance: A Buddhist System for Uncovering Your Strengths and Letting Them Shine. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 5 p.m. Free. Info, 223-3338.

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'PETER PAN': Broadway performers join local children in Northern Stage's production about an Gemstones unforgettable trip to Never Never Land. See calPendants Findings endar spotlight. Briggs• Opera House, White River Junction, 7:30 p.m. $31-70. Info, 296-7000. Crystals

BURLINGTON WRITERS WORKSHOP MEETING: Members read and respond to the poetry and prose of fellow wordsmiths. Participants must join the group to have their work reviewed. Preregister at meetup.com. Levity, Burlington, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 383-8104.

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802-635-8393 Route THU.20 Open Daily 11am-6pm 15 business JohnsonVERMONT VENTURE NETWORK: Entrepreneurs, investors, government agencies, service providers and others attend a networking forum with remarks by special guests. Hilton Hotel, Burlington, 8-9:30 a.m. $15 for nonmembers. Info, 658-7830.

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'PEARL': Dan Butler's short film, shot in Newbury and other area locations, interprets Ted Kooser's poem of the same name. Producer Richard Waterhouse and Butler lead a postfilm conversation with refreshments. Tenney Memorial Library, Newbury, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 866-5366.

MOUNT MANSFIELD SCALE MODELERS: Hobbyists break out the superglue and sweat the small stuff at a miniature construction skill swap. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 879-0765.

film

ZOE’S 'COMPLIANCE':KALEIDOSCOPE Craig Zobel's 2012 feature — a

twisted tale about a prank call to a fast-food restaurant manager — has made a name for itself as one of the year's most controversial films.

food & drink

GOURMET CONDIMENTS TASTING: Forget the little packets that come with your fast food. Enthusiastic eaters sample some more upscale flavor enhancers. Sweet Clover Market, Essex, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 872-8288.

games

CHESS GROUP: Novice and expert players compete against humans, not computers. Faith United Methodist Church, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $2. Info, 324-1143.

health & fitness

FORZA: THE SAMURAI SWORD WORKOUT: Folks channel their inner warrior in an intense fitness class. North End Studio A, Burlington, 7-8 p.m. $810. Info, 578-9243. ZUMBA TONING CLASS: A Latin-inspired fitness dance party melds body-sculpting exercises with high-energy cardio work. North End Studio A, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. Free. Info, 863-6713.

holidays

HOLIDAY ARTISANS BAZAAR: More than 50 juried New England artists join specialty-food producers to offer unique holiday gifts. Chandler Music Hall, Randolph, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Info, 728-9878. MONTPELIER HOLIDAY BOOK SALE: See WED.19, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

kids

ALBURGH PLAYGROUP: Tots form friendships over music and movement. Alburgh Family Center of NCSS, 9:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. FRANKLIN STORY HOUR: Lovers of the written word perk up for read-aloud tales and adventures with lyrics. Haston Library, Franklin, 10-10:45 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. KIDS IN THE KITCHEN: Forget steaming mugs of cocoa. Little ones whip up a batch of "hot vanilla," to be topped with peppermint flakes and coconut shreds. Healthy Living Market and Café, South Burlington, 3:30-4:30 p.m. $20. Info, 863-2569, ext. 1. MONTGOMERY INFANT/TODDLER PLAYGROUP: Infants to 2-year-olds idle away the hours with stories and songs. Montgomery Town Library, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. MUSIC WITH RAPHAEL: Preschoolers up to age 5 bust out song and dance moves to traditional and original folk music. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m. Free; limited to one session per week per family. Info, 878-4918. WII-TASTIC!: Visual learners test out the video game console. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956. YOUNG WRITERS CLUB: Short exercises and writing prompts ignite scribblers' creative sparks. Ilsley Public Library, Middlebury, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 388-4097.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE... music

ADVENT CONCERT SERIES: Organist Lynnette Combs offers a program of music celebrating the mysteries of the season. First Baptist Church, Burlington, 12:15-12:45 p.m. Free; bring a bag lunch. Info, 864-6515. FLYNN SHOW CHOIRS: Powerhouse performers ages 9 to 18 sing, act and dance in a fully staged showcase of Broadway and pop favorites, including selections from Newsies, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. FlynnSpace, Burlington, 6 p.m. & 8 p.m. $1015. Info, 863-5966. HANDEL'S 'MESSIAH' COMMUNITY SING-IN: Jane Bouffard conducts an orchestra, featured soloists and audience members alike in this powerful oratorio. Community Church, Stowe, 7 p.m. $8; free for kids under 18. Info, 253-4338. SIERRA MARCY & MICHAEL HALLORAN: In "My Favorite Christmas Things," the soprano and piano accompanist, respectively, offer an informal evening of oratorio, carols, musical theater and jazz. Richmond Free Library, 7:30 p.m. Donations accepted. Info, 324-6047. THE INBETWEENS: Mike Gamble, Noah Jarrett and Conor Elmes offer a funky jazz fusion. Brandon Music, 7:30 p.m. $15; BYOB. Info, 465-4071.

talks

LUNCH & LEARN: Mayor Miro Weinberger sparks a conversation about Burlington's future over a midday meal. Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, noon. Donations accepted. Info, 863-4214, jhersh@ burlingtontelecom.net.

theater

'BLOODY MARIA': The day before the world ends — or not — audiences attend Mickey Western's "rock opera for the new aeon," described as "West Side Story This Side East of Eden." Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, Burlington, 7:06 p.m. $6.66 (exact change only). Info, theoffcenter@gmail.com. 'PETER PAN': See WED.19, 7:30 p.m.

FRI.21 business

dance

BALLROOM LESSON & DANCE SOCIAL: Singles and couples of all experience levels take a twirl. Jazzercize Studio, Williston, lesson 7-8 p.m.; open dancing 8-10 p.m. $14. Info, 862-2269.

environment

ONE EARTH, ONE VOICE! GLOBAL COLLABORATION OF VOICES: People all over the planet come together in synchronized song intended to heal Mother Earth. Learn the lyrics at oneearth-onevoice.org. Meet at the Burlington Earth Clock, Blanchard Beach, 4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 363-8287.

END OF THE WORLD PARTY: Live EDM music and body painting by the Human Canvas may make this the party to end all parties. Performers include

film

PROJECTIONS: REEL TO REAL CONVERSATION: Jon Bliss hosts a screening of Moon, Duncan C Jones' eerie 2009 sci-fi drama about a lone astronaut at the tail end of his three-year work contractM in space. Vermont Institute of Contemporary Y Arts, Chester, 7 p.m. $10 suggested donation. Info, 875-1018. CM

food & drink

HOT-COCOA TASTING: Community members CY gather at this small-batch food producer to sip a cold-weather comfort drink made with EcuadorianCMY dark chocolate. Nutty Steph's, Middlesex, 5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 229-2090. K SOLSTICE KAVA NIGHT: Attendees celebrate the year's shortest — and perhaps last — day with this relaxing, herbal tonic. Tulsi Tea Room, Montpelier, 6 p.m. Free. Info, 223-0043.

FARMHOUSE GROUP GIFT CARD

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WINE TASTING: Oenophiles raise a glass to the quaffs of Grand Isle's East Shore Vineyard. Sweet Clover Market, Essex, 4-7 p.m. Free. Info, 872-8288.

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health & fitness

AVOID FALLS WITH IMPROVED STABILITY: A personal trainer demonstrates daily practices for seniors concerned about their balance. Pines Senior Living Community, South Burlington, 10 a.m. $5. Info, 658-7477. FORZA: THE SAMURAI SWORD WORKOUT: See THU.20, 9-10 a.m.

holidays

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BOSTON STRING QUARTET: Renowned for writing their own music and arrangements, this polished foursome presents a multimedia adventure through La Ville-Lumière. Barre Opera House, 7 p.m. $20; free for kids under 18. Info, 476-8188. HOLIDAY ARTISANS BAZAAR: See THU.20, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. HOLIDAY ARTIST MARKET: From pen-and-ink drawings to bike-part art, local artisans offer unique handmade crafts. Burlington City Hall Auditorium, noon-7 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166. HOLIDAY JAM: Acoustic instrumentalists raise a sound that's merry and bright as part of the Downtown Music Series. Recycled Reading of Vermont, Bristol, 6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 453-5982. MONTPELIER HOLIDAY BOOK SALE: See WED.19, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. THE GRAND SLAMBOVIANS: Spreading holiday cheer through traditional and original tunes, this prog-rock-Americana band presents "A Very Slambovian Christmas." See calendar spotlight.Bradford Academy, 7:30 p.m. $10-25. Info, 249-0076.

kids

ENOSBURG FALLS STORY HOUR: Young ones show up for fables and finger crafts. Enosburg Public Library, 9-10 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. FAIRFAX COMMUNITY PLAYGROUP: Kiddos convene for fun via crafts, circle time and snacks. Health Room, Bellows Free Academy, Fairfax, 9-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. FAMILY MOVIE: 'BRAVE': A defiant, fiery-haired young princess unwittingly unleashes a curse over her kingdom in this 2012 animation from Pixar. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6955.

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ISLE LA MOTTE PLAYGROUP: Stories and crafts make for creative play. Isle La Motte Elementary School, 7:30-9:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426.

FRI.21

CALENDAR 55

etc.

INSPIRED FARM-TO-TABLE CUISINE.

SEVEN DAYS

QUEEN CITY TANGO MILONGA: No partner is required for welcoming the weekend in the Argentine tradition. Wear clean, soft-soled shoes. North End Studio B, Burlington, 7-10 p.m. $7. Info, 658-5225.

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH

12.19.12-12.26.12

ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCE: On the Border Morris performs at an evening of creative expression by newcomers and experienced movers, who groove to the music of McKinley James, Aaron Marcus and Pete Sutherland. All dances are taught. Introductory workshop, 7-7:30 p.m.; dance, 7:309:30 p.m. Elley-Long Music Center, St. Michael's College, Colchester, 7-9:30 p.m. $8-10; bring snack to share. Info, 899-2378.

SEASONAL FLU CLINIC: Registered nurses administer immunizations to participants looking to avoid the ailment. Franklin County Home Health Agency, St. Albans, 1-3 p.m. $35 for noninsured recipients; preregister. Info, 527-7531.

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BUILDING WORK ETHIC & PERSONAL SKILLS FOR EMPLOYEES: Participants adopt strategies for evaluating work ethic, employee development and more. Community College of Vermont, Brattleboro Academic Center, 8-10 a.m. Free. Info, 879-2380.

the Durians, Two Sev, Who Do You Know, DJ Kaos and more. Big Picture Theater & Café, Waitsfield, 9 p.m. $10; cash bar; ID required. Info, 496-8994.

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MAGIC: THE GATHERING: Decks of cards determine the arsenal with which participants, or "planeswalkers," fight others for glory, knowledge and conquest. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 6-8 p.m. Free; for grades 6 and up. MIDDLE SCHOOL PLANNERS & HELPERS: Lit lovers in grades 6 to 8 help redesign the young-adult reading room and plan cool projects for the library. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6955. MONTGOMERY TUMBLE TIME: Physical fitness activities help build strong muscles. Montgomery Elementary School, 10-11 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. MUSICAL THIRDS STORY TIME: Children read and rock out at this tuneful meetup. Essex Free Library, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 879-0313. PRESCHOOL PLAY: Youngsters and their families watch a short play and listen to stories told by Camel's Hump Middle School students. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918. PRESCHOOL STORY HOUR: As part of the ongoing "Race: Are We So Different?" exhibit, little ones learn about race and racism through literature and personal stories. ECHO Lake Aquarium and STERLING • GOLD • PEWTER • Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, 12v-CSWD(Compost)121912.indd 1 12/12/12 12:55 PMBurlington, 11 a.m. Regular admission, $9.50-12.50; STRINGING MATERIALS • BOOKS • CHARMS GIFT CERTIFICATES • GIFT BASKETS free for kids ages 2 and under. Info, 877-324-6386. ...AND SO MUCH MORE

Great Gifts, Nice People, Helpful Staff, No Stress, Convenient Parking FULL SERVICE BEAD STORE Children’s Parties • Adult Classes • Repairs

SWANTON PLAYGROUP: Kids and caregivers squeeze in quality time over imaginative play and snacks. Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Swanton, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426.

music

'AN EVENING OF CABARET': The FlynnArts ensemble — an auditioned troupe of performers ages 18 and up — makes its debut with a variety of jazz, musical theater and vaudeville. FlynnSpace, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $10-15. Info, 863-5966. DAN LIPTAK JAZZ TRIO: Listeners sip wine as local musicians serenade them with sounds both sultry and smooth. Fresh Tracks Farm Vineyard & Winery, Berlin, 6-9 p.m. Free. Info, 223-1151.

INSTRUCTION IS

ALWAYS

AVAILABLE!

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST!

FLYNN SHOW CHOIRS: See THU.20, 6 p.m.

outdoors

56 CALENDAR

SEVEN DAYS

12.19.12-12.26.12

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

EVENING SLEIGH RIDES: Pat Palmer of Thornapple Farm and a team 21 Taft Corners Shopping Center, Williston of Percheron 288-9666 • www.beadcrazyvt.com draft horses lead GO TO OUR WEBSITE FOR OUR CLASS LISTING a celestial ride under the winter sky. Weather permitting. Shelburne 12v-beadscrazy121912.indd 1 11/8/12 4:03 PM Farms, rides depart at 6 p.m., 6:45 p.m. CO and 7:30 p.m., $7-15; UR TE free for children under 3; SY OF STE preregister. Info, 985-8686, PH A NIE S HO HET jpenca@shelburnefarms.org. Holiday Gifts

Antique, Vintage & Modern Furnishings

Furniture • Art • Accessories Gift Certiﬁcates Available

SLEIGH RIDES: Weather permitting, jingling horses trot visitors over the snow on a wintry tour of rolling acres. Shelburne Farms, rides leave every half hour; seats are first come, first served. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., $6-8; free for kids under 3. Info, 985-8442. SOLSTICE STROLL: Walkers — or, weather permitting, snowshoers — learn about plant and animal tactics for surviving the cold on a leisurely excursion with the Winooski Valley Park District. Woodside Natural Area, Essex Junction, 1 p.m. Free. Info, 863-5744.

theater

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'NIGHT FIRES': Rooted in ancient traditions, Theatre Group Limited’s winter-solstice celebration is a pageant of song, dance, storytelling and "visual magic." See calendar spotlight. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 8 p.m. $18-23. Info, 382-9222. 'PETER PAN': See WED.19, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Open Tues - Sat 10-5pm • Sun 11-3pm • Closed Mondays

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11/30/12 2:47 PM

words

WINTER SOLSTICE GATHERING: Folks acknowledge our ancestors and spirits as they share stories of the season on the shortest day of the year. JourneyWorks, Burlington, 6-7:30 p.m. Free; bring vegetarian food or a nonalcoholic beverage to share. Info, 860-6203.

SAT.22 bazaars

SAMPLINGS OF VERMONT'S BEST: Artisans and food producers demonstrate and sell their crafts or offer tastings. Vermont Artisans Craft Gallery, Burlington Town Center, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Info, 863-4600.

dance

Middlebury, 10 a.m.-noon. 25 cents per cup. Info, 377-3557. 'MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET': Families experience the magic of this treasured Christmas flick about a man who claims to be Santa Claus, much to the disbelief of others. Savoy Theater, Montpelier, 10 a.m. Donations accepted. Info, 223-9604. MONTPELIER HOLIDAY BOOK SALE: See WED.19, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. NORTHERN ADIRONDACK VOCAL ENSEMBLE: Andrew Benware conducts a mixed chamber choir of professional and amateur singers in "A Festival of Lessons and Carols." St. Peter's Church, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 7:30 p.m. $10 suggested donation. Info, 518-293-7613, hillholl@hughes.net. ONION RIVER CHORUS: Brass and winds musicians accompany the 60-voice ensemble in "A Child Is Born: Christmas Music by Michael Praetorius." Community Church, Stowe, 7:30 p.m. $8-12. Info, 476-4300.

'HIP HOP NUTCRACKA': Sugah Plum Boys take the stage in Green Mountain Performing Arts' spunky, urban spin on the E.T.A. Hoffmann holiday classic. See calendar spotlight. Harwood Union High School, South Duxbury, 4 p.m. & 7 p.m. $12-15. Info, 244-8600.

'THE GREAT CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY: THE GIFT GOES ON!': Multigenerational group the Grace Players stage Celeste Clydesdale's heartfelt holiday musical. Grace United Methodist Church, Essex Junction, potluck, 5:30 p.m.; pageant, 7 p.m. Bring a potluck dish to share. Info, 878-8071.

fairs & festivals

kids

WINTERFEST: Animal-care demos, snowball fights, family story times and snowflake stations augment the museum's exhibit offerings. ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Regular admission, $9.50-12.50; free for kids ages 2 and under. Info, 877-324-6386.

food & drink

MIDDLEBURY WINTER FARMERS MARKET: Crafts, cheeses, breads, veggies and more vie for spots in shoppers' totes. Mary Hogan Elementary School, Middlebury, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 247-4699, gildrienfarm@gmail.com. WAITSFIELD INDOOR FARMERS MARKET: Farmfresh edibles and locally made provender go hand in hand with music and community cheer. Big Picture Theater & Café, Waitsfield, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 496-8994.

health & fitness

SOLSTICE RESTORATIVE YOGA WORKSHOP: Folks of all experience levels take part in passive stretching, alternately stimulating and relaxing the body with the help of props. North End Studio B, Burlington, 3-5 p.m. $20-23. Info, 379-7389.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: Families celebrate like it's 1899 with a variety of traditional activities, which may include candle dipping, ornament making, horse-drawn sleigh rides and sledding. Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Regular admission, $3-12; free for kids under 3. Info, 457-2355. HOLIDAY ARTIST MARKET: See FRI.21, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. HOLIDAY CHEER CONCERT & ART SHOW: The South County Chorus sets Clement C. Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to music during a concert of traditional and contemporary tunes. Local artisans also display their work. All Souls Interfaith Gathering, Shelburne, 7 p.m. $10-12. Info, 985-3819. HOLIDAY PARTY WITH THE ANIMALS: Celebrate shelter pets with gifts of new toys and supplies and partake in festive treats, face painting, cookie decorating and more. Central Vermont Humane Society, East Montpelier, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Donations; see cvhumane.com/wish-list. Info, 476-3811. HOT CHOCOLATE HUT: Folks take a break from A Very Merry Middlebury festivities to grab a cup of this cold-weather comfort drink. Cannon Park,

OPEN TOT GYM & INFANT/PARENT PLAYTIME: Snacks fuel feats of athleticism. Gymnasium, Bellows Free Academy, Fairfax, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 527-5426. SOLSTICE CRAFT: On the darkest day of the year, kids ages 5 and up transform clear glass jars into colorful candle holders. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 865-7216. WINTER SOLSTICE STORYTELLING: Astrologer MaryAnna Abuzahra offers an interpretation of midwinter at a time of great astrological significance. Tulsi Tea Room, Montpelier, 11 a.m.-noon. $5-10 suggested donation. Info, 223-0043.

music

MISSISQUOI RIVER BAND: Cindy and Jim Weed, Pat Murphy and special guest Neil Rossi offer mandolin- and fiddle-fueled sounds. Snowshoe Lodge & Pub, Montgomery Center, 4-7 p.m. Free. Info, 933-2545. SOCIAL BAND: In "Deep Midwinter: Songs From Winter's Heart," choral singers counteract the cold weather with warm songs and carols spanning the centuries. Christ Church Presbyterian, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $15 suggested donation. Info, 658-8488.

outdoors

HORSE-DRAWN WAGON RIDES: Trusty steeds hoof it on a quaint tour through downtown. Rides last 15 to 20 minutes. Meet at the corner of State and Main streets, Montpelier, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Donations accepted. Info, 223-9604. SLEIGH RIDES: See FRI.21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

seminars

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL VIDEO EDITING: Final Cut Pro users learn basic concepts of the editing software. VCAM Studio, Burlington, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 651-9692.

theater

'NIGHT FIRES': See FRI.21, 4 p.m. & 8 p.m. 'PETER PAN': See WED.19, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

SUN.23 comedy

'MOO JEW COMEDY': Call it tradition: For the sixth year, Jewish comedians — including headliner Myq Kaplan — offer standup served with Chinese-food appetizers at Christmastime. Partial proceeds benefit the Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative. North End Studios, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $36. Info, 863-5966. SUN.23

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dance

ISRAELI FOLK DANCING: All ages and skill levels convene for circle and line dances, which are taught, reviewed and prompted. No partner necessary, but clean, soft-soled shoes are required. Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, 7:25-9:30 p.m. $2; free first session. Info, 864-0218, ext. 21.

fairs & festivals

CMY

kids

STORIES WITH MEGAN: Preschoolers expand their imaginations through tales, songs and rhymes. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 865-7216.

outdoors

SLEIGH RIDES: See FRI.21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

WINTERFEST: See SAT.22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

food & drink

SUNDAY BREAKFAST: Rise and shine! Bacon, scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, sausage and biscuits await. Proceeds benefit veterans and their families. VFW Post 309, Peru, N.Y., 9 a.m.-noon. $5. Info, 518-643-2309.

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12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS 58 CALENDAR

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See SAT.22, 10 a.m.3:30 p.m.

IMPROV NIGHT: See WED.19, 8-10 p.m.

ONION RIVER CHORUS: See SAT. 22, Christ Church, Montpelier, 3 p.m.

language

FRENCH CONVERSATION GROUP: DIMANCHES: Parlez-vous français? Speakers practice the tongue at a casual, drop-in chat. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 4-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 540-0195.

music

'MESSIAH' SING: Jeff Rehbach conducts singers and orchestra players in a community choral event nearly 30th years in the running. Congregational Church, Middlebury, 2-4 p.m. $5 suggested donation per person; $10 suggested donation per family. Info, 989-7355. SOCIAL BAND: See SAT. 22, Congregational Church, Charlotte, 3 p.m.

outdoors

Essex 879-7734 ext. 131 3v-sportsandfitness102412.indd 1

alexandrad@edgevt.com 10/19/12 10:23 AM

fairs & festivals

WINTERFEST: See SAT.22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

film

WARREN MILLER'S 'FLOW STATE': The biggest names in skiing get in the zone in this feature film, a thrilling study of epic powder. Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, Stowe, 6 p.m. $10. Info, 253-9911.

games

BURLINGTON GO CLUB: Folks gather weekly to play this deceptively simple, highly strategic Asian board game. Uncommon Grounds, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. Free; bring a set if you have one. Info, 8609587, dfelcan@yahoo.com.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See SAT.22, 10 a.m.3:30 p.m.

sport

MONTPELIER HOLIDAY BOOK SALE: See WED.19, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

kids

BABYTIME PLAYGROUP: See WED.19, 10:30 a.m.-noon. MOVING & GROOVING WITH CHRISTINE: See WED.19, 11-11:30 a.m. ST. ALBANS PLAYGROUP: See WED.19, 9-10:30 a.m. STORY TIME & PLAYGROUP: See WED.19, 10-11:30 a.m. STORY TIME FOR 3- TO 5-YEAR-OLDS: See WED.19, 10-10:45 a.m.

'NIGHT FIRES': See FRI.21, 4 p.m.

YOUTH MEDIA LAB: See WED.19, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

'PETER PAN': See WED.19, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

outdoors

MON.24 comedy

'MOO JEW COMEDY': See SUN.23, 7:30 p.m.

holidays m www.edgevt.co

comedy

SLEIGH RIDES: See FRI.21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

theater

Kids

'NEED TO FEED' CHRISTMAS DINNER: Hot meals provided to those in need spread holiday cheer. Junior's Downtown, Burlington, noon-3 p.m. Free; free transportation is available. Info, 862-1924 or 655-0000.

WED.26

WOMEN'S PICKUP SOCCER: Ladies of varying skill levels break a sweat while passing around the spherical polyhedron. Miller Community and Recreation Center, Burlington, 6-8 p.m. $3; for women ages 18 and up. Info, 864-0123.

R & Fitness P

holidays

'A CHRISTMAS CAROL': The miserly Mr. Scrooge gets unexpected Christmas Eve visitors in this movie based on the enduring Charles Dickens tale. Savoy Theater, Montpelier, 10 a.m. Donations accepted. Info, 223-9604.

GREEN MOUNTAIN CURLING CLUB: Players of all abilities sweep the ice every Sunday throughout the season. No special equipment is needed. Green Mountain Arena, Morrisville, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. $12 per game with membership; $16 per game otherwise. Info, 399-2816.

ESCHOOL

TUE.25

CHRISTMAS EVE CELEBRATION: The man of the hour lets out a merry "ho ho ho" as he greets families, listens to wish lists and chimes in on carols. An evening torchlight parade and fireworks follow. Smugglers' Notch Resort, Jeffersonville, 7 p.m. Info, 644-8851. CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See SAT.22, 10 a.m.3:30 p.m.

SLEIGH RIDES: See FRI.21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

sport

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: See WED.19, 7-10 p.m. TRAPP NORDIC CUP 2012-13: See WED.19, 9 a.m.4:30 p.m.

theater

'PETER PAN': See WED.19, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

words

BURLINGTON WRITERS WORKSHOP MEETING: See WED.19, 6:30-7:30 p.m. m

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burlington city arts CLAY: INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED WHEEL: Weekly on Thu., Jan. 31-Mar. 28, 9:30 a.m.noon. No class Feb. 14. Cost: $252/BCA members, $280/nonmembers. Clay sold separately at $20/25-lb. bag. Glazes & firings incl. Location: BCA Clay Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington. Local pottery artist Jeremy Ayers will help you refine your wheelwork in this morning class for intermediate and advanced potters. Learn individual tips and techniques for advancement on the wheel. Demonstrations and instruction will cover intermediate throwing, trimming, decorative and glazing methods. Students should be proficient in centering and throwing. Over 30 hours per week of open studio time included. CLAY: WHEEL THROWING: Weekly on Thu., Jan. 31-Mar. 28, 6-8:30 p.m. No class 2/14. Cost: $216/BCA members, $240/ nonmembers. Clay sold separately at $20/25 lb. bag.

Glazes and firings incl. Location: BCA Clay Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington. This eight-week class is an introductin to clay, pottery and the ceramics studio. Learn basic throwing and forming techniques, while creating functional pieces such as mugs, vases and bowls. Learn various finishing techniques using the studio’s house slips and glazes. No previous experience needed! Class includes over 30 hours per week of open studio time to practice. Instructor: Chris Vaughn. DESIGN: ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS6: Feb. 5-Mar. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Weekly on Tue. Cost: $184.50/BCA members, $205/ nonmembers. Location: BCA Center Digital Media Lab, Burlington. Learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator, a program used to create interesting graphics and more! Learn how to lay out and design posters and other single-page documents. Explore a variety of software techniques and create projects suited to your own interests. This class is suited for beginners who are interested in furthering their design software skills. DRAWING: Weekly on Wed., Jan. 30-Mar. 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m. No class Feb. 27. Cost: $176/ BCA members, $195/nonmembers. Location: BCA Center, 135 Church St., Burlington. Learn a variety of drawing techniques, including basic perspective, compositional layout and use of dramatic light and shadow. Students will work with a variety of media, including pencil, pen and ink, ink wash, charcoal, conte crayon, and colored pencil. Comics and illustrations may be

incorporated based on student interest. Instructor: Marc Nadel. DRAWING: FASHION: Weekly on Thu., Jan. 31-Mar. 14, 6:30-9 p.m. No class Feb. 14. Cost: $176/ BCA Members, $195/nonmembers. Location: BCA Center, 135 Church St., Burlington. Learn the basics of fashion drawing! Students will draw and paint using gouache, watercolor and more and will be encouraged to render fabrics, illustrate their own designs and experiment. Mixed-level class, open to both beginners and advanced students, some prior drawing experience is helpful. Class will include figure drawing with a live fashion model. Instructor: Jacquelyn Heloise Liebman. PAINTING: OIL: Weekly on Tue., Jan. 29-Apr. 2, 6:30-9 p.m. No class Feb. 26 or Mar. 5. Cost: $225/BCA members; $250/nonmembers. Location: BCA Center, 135 Church St., Burlington. Learn how to paint with nontoxic, water-soluble oils. With an emphasis on studio work, this class will consist of fun exercises. Discover a variety of painting techniques and learn how to apply composition, linear aspects, form and color theory to your work. BCA provides glass palettes, easels, painting trays and drying racks. Instructor: Linda Jones. PRINT: BEGINNING ETCHING: Jan. 30-Mar. 20, 6-8:30 p.m., Weekly on Wed. Cost: $198/BCA members, $220/nonmembers. Location: BCA Print Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington. Join local printmaker and illustrator Hilary Glass at BCA’s newly renovated studio and discover the ancient printing technique of etching. Learn the basics of etching a plate through drypoint and acid bath and using a printing press and explore some fundamentals of intaglio printmaking. No experience needed. Materials will be provided, except the cost of paper. Over 25 hours per week of open studio time is included. PRINT: INTRO TO SILKSCREENING: Weekly on Thu, Jan. 31-Mar. 28, 6-8:30 p.m. No class Feb. 13. Cost: $207/BCA members, $230/nonmembers. Location: BCA Print Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington. Torrey Valyou, local silkscreen legend and owner of New Duds, will

show you how to design and print T-shirts, posters, fine art and more! Students will learn a variety of techniques for transferring and printing images using hand-drawn, photographic or borrowed imagery. Cost includes over 25 hours per week of open studio hours. No experience necessary! Some materials are included. PRINT: SILKSCREEN CLOTHING DESIGN: Jan. 28-Mar. 18, 6-8:30 p.m., Weekly on Mon. Cost: $207/BCA members; $230/nonmembers. Location: BCA Print Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington. Fashion design meets printmaking in this class! Fashion designer and silkscreen expert Amy Wild will show you how to print on jackets, leggings, skirts, pants and of course T-shirts. Learn a variety of techniques for transferring and printing images using hand-drawn, photographic or borrowed imagery. Cost includes over 25 hours per week of open studio hours. No experience necessary! Some materials included. Instructor: Amy Wild.

dance DANCE STUDIO SALSALINA: Location: 266 Pine St., Burlington. Info: Victoria, 5981077, info@salsalina.com. Salsa classes, nightclub-style, on-one and on-two, group and private, four levels. Beginner walk-in classes, Wednesdays, 6 p.m. $13/person for one-hour class. No dance experience, partner or preregistration required, just the desire to have fun! Drop in any time and prepare for an enjoyable workout! DSANTOS VT SALSA: Mon. evenings: beginner class 7-8 p.m., intermediate 8:15-9:15 p.m. Cost: $10/1-hr. class. Location: Movement Studio, 180 Flynn Ave., Burlington. Info: Tyler Crandall, 598-9204, crandalltyler@hotmail.com, dsantosvt. com. Experience the fun and excitement of Burlington’s eclectic dance community by learning salsa. Trained by world famous dancer Manuel Dos Santos, we teach you how to dance to the music and how to have a great time on the dance floor! There is no better time to start than now! LEARN TO DANCE W/ A PARTNER!: Cost: $50/4-wk.

class. Location: Champlain Club, 20 Crowley St., Burlington. Lessons also avail. in St. Albans. Info: First Step Dance, 598-6757, kevin@firststepdance.com, FirstStepDance.com. Come alone, or come with friends, but come out and learn to dance! Beginning classes repeat each month, but intermediate classes vary from month to month. As with all of our programs, everyone is encouraged to attend, and no partner is necessary.

dowsing GEOMANCY: Jan. 12, 9 a.m.noon. Cost: $50/person. Incl. a pair of dowsing rods & resource list. Location: Stowe area, Vermont. Info: Rachel, 244-7909, sound.health@yahoo.com. Dowsing is a practical skill that can improve your intuition, put you in touch with your inner guide and help you improve your health. Learn some of the basic principles of geomancy and dowsing in this empowering, experiential workshop. Led by Rachel Chevalier, dowser, teacher and energy healer.

drumming TAIKO, DJEMBE, CONGAS & BATA!: Location: Burlington Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., suite 3-G, Burlington. Info: Stuart Paton, 999-4255, spaton55@gmail.com. Call for Thursday 9:30 a.m. conga class location. Friday 5 p.m. conga and 6 p.m. djembe classes are walkin classes for $15/class. Drums are provided. Call to schedule your own classes!

empowerment DOING CHANGE: COMPONENTS OF PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION: Weekly on Thu., Jan. 10-Jan. 31, 7-9 p.m. Snow date Feb. 7. Cost: $60/4 2-hr. classes. Location: 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury. Info: Sue, 2447909. No one likes change, but it is an inevitable part of living. Learn how to “wake up” and handle the major transformations that we will soon be facing in this experiential, exercise-based course. Led by Sue Mehrtens. INTRODUCTION TO WORKING WITH SYMBOLS: Weekly on

LIFE IS A SPIRITUAL TREASURE HUNT: Jan. 12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost: $60. Location: 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury. Info: Sue, 2447909. Learn to read the signs and messages that surround us all the time that can provide us with the information that can help us move forward in positive ways. Led by Susan Ackerman, teacher, author, counselor and astrologer.

fitness BARSCULPT: Dec. classes: Sun. 16, 10:30-11:30; Mon. 17, 6:307:30 p.m.; Tue. 18, 6:30-7:30 a.m., 4:30-5:30 p.m.; Fri. 21, 5:30-6:30 p.m.; Sun. 23, 10:3011:30 a.m.; Wed. 26, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thu. 27, 4:30-5:30 p.m.; Fri. 28, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Cost: $15/ Dec. 17-Jan. 1 classes are $5-10 donation-based. 1st class is always free during this period. Location: BarSculpt at Core Studio, 208 Flynn Ave, Unit 3K, Burlington. Info: BarSculpt (Burlington Barre), Liz Sheridan, 908-612-6219, liz@burlingtonbarrevt.com, burlingtonbarrevt. com. BarSculpt was inspired by the Lotte Berk Method. These classes bring together the disciplines of Pilates, yoga and sports conditioning. BarSculpt is ideal and challenging for all fitness and age levels. BarSculpt integrates the fat burning format of interval training, the muscle shaping technique of isometrics and the elongating aspects of dance and ballet conditioning. This class will lift your seat, flatten your abs and tone your arms. Other key benefits a student can receive are increased metabolic rate, increased bone density, nonimpact workout, quick results, improved posture and flexibility. NIA: Tues./Thurs./Sat. 8:30 a.m. Cost: $13/1-hr. class. Location: South End Studio, 696 Pine St, Burlington. Info: Rebecca

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Burlington. Build skills and find a creative release in a supportive environment led by professional teaching artists. Discover your inner spark and potential! AUDITIONS FOR ADULT CABARET PROGRAM AND TEEN SHOW CHOIR: Jan. 5, Location: Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, 153 Main St., Burlington. Adults work on honest delivery of meaningful material while rehearsing toward performance of an original cabaret. Teens develop “triple threat” skills in acting, singing and dancing as a dynamic ensemble. Both groups perform in FlynnSpace in May. Audition info online. KIDS AND TEENS CLASSES:

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flynn arts DANCE CLASSES: Classes start in Jan. Location: Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, 153 Main St., Burlington. Classes for teens and adults. Modern, jazz (Afro-modern, cabaret and varied styles), hip-hop (reggae fusion & Sassy Ladies’ class), tap, ballet (including pointe), and repertory, composition and performance. Drop-ins possible only if classes do not fill, and many popular classes fill quickly, so register ASAP! ADULT ACTING, STANDUP COMEDY, JAZZ MUSIC, & VOICE LESSONS: Classes start in Jan. Location: Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, 153 Main St.,

Performing Arts, 153 Main St., Burlington. Kids’ and teens’ acting, dance, creative play, jazz music and musical theater classes start in January. Ages 4-18, plus a parent/child music class for infants and toddlers. Nurturing teaching artists, imaginative journeys and social/ emotional growth for everyone, plus serious skill development for aspiring performers!

gardening MASTER GARDENER 2013 COURSE: Feb. 5-Apr. 30, 6:15-9 p.m., Weekly on Tue. Cost: $395/ person. Incl. sustainable-gardening book. Late fee after Jan. 18. Noncredit course. Location:

Bennington, Brattleboro, Johnson, Lyndon, Montpelier, Middlebury, Newport, Randolph Ctr., Rutland, Springfield, St. Albans, White River Jct., Williston. Info: 656-9562, master.gardener@uvm.edu, uvm.edu/mastergardener. Learn the keys to a healthy and sustainable home landscape as University of Vermont faculty and experts focus on gardening in Vermont. This noncredit course covers a wide variety of horticultural topics: fruit and vegetable production, flower gardening, botany basics, plant pests, soil fertility, disease management, healthy lawns, invasive plant control, introduction to home landscaping and more! STONE WALL WORKSHOP: All workshops Sat. 8:30 a.m.3:30 p.m. Jan. through Mar. Cost: $100/1-day workshop. Location: Red Wagon Plants, 2408 Shelburne Falls Road, Hinesburg. Info: Queen City Soil & Stone, Charley MacMartin MacMartin, 318-2411, macmartin@igc.org, queencitysoilandstone.com. Our introductory workshops for homeowners and tradespeople promote the beauty and integrity of stone. The 1-day workshop covers the basic techniques for creating dry-laid walls using stone native to Vermont. Workshops are held in warm greenhouses in Hinesburg. Space is limited; gift certificates available.

health MINDFUL RESOLUTIONS RETREAT: Jan. 12, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Cost: $150/person. Location: Dharma Door Retreat Center, Underhill, VT. Info: Trail to Wellness, LLC, Susan Whitman, 923-6070, susan@trailtowellness.com, trailtowellness.com. A day devoted to mindfulness, movement and motivation. Use this day to take a step back from your busy life, mindfully look at where you are and imagine where you want to be. Includes three personal coaching sessions in the coming months to help you take action to get there!

herbs WISDOM OF THE HERBS SCHOOL: Now accepting applications for Wisdom Eight-Month Certification Program, Apr. 20-21, May 18-19, Jun. 15-16, Jul. 13-14, Aug. 10-11, Sep. 7-8, Oct. 5-6 & Nov. 2-3, 2013. Tuition: $1750; nonrefundable deposit: $250; payment plan: $187.50/ mo. Applications for Wild Edibles spring term: Apr. 28, May 26, Jun. 23, 2013. Tuition: $300. VSAC nondegree grants avail. Location: Wisdom of the Herbs School, Woodbury. Info: 456-8122, annie@wisdomoftheherbsschool.com, wisdomoftheherbsschool.com. Earth skills for changing times. Experiential programs embracing local wild edible and medicinal plants, food

as first medicine, sustainable living skills, and the inner journey. Annie McCleary, director, and George Lisi, naturalist.

kids FREE DANCE CLASSES: Jan. 16Mar. 6, 10-10:45 a.m., Annually. Location: St. Michael’s College, Ross Sports Building, Tarrant Dance Studio, Colchester. Info: SMC, Annette Urbschat, 8609927, sundancestudiovt@gmail. com. Creative movement for children 4 and 5 y/o. This class is taught by Annette Urbschat as part of an undergraduate teaching course at SMC. Children will explore seasonal movement themes and dance favorite stories, observed by SMC students who will later teach short segments of the class under supervision.

language ALLONS-Y ET BONNE ANNEE! FRENCH CLASSES FOR PRESCHOOLERS, YOUTH & ADULTS: Preschool FRART! Jan. 11-Feb. 15, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Youth Afterschool FRART! Jan. 16-Feb. 20, 3:45-5:15 p.m. Adult Adv. Beg., Jan. 15-Mar. 19, 6:45-8:15 p.m. Adult Intermediate, Jan. 15-Mar. 19, 5-6:30 p.m. Location: winspand Studio, 4A Howard St., 3rd floor, Burlington. Info: 2337676, maggiestandley@yahoo. com, wingspanpaintingstudio. com/classes. Immerse yourself

in a beautiful, supportive and fun environment learning French and opening new doors. New Sessions begin January. Maggie Standley, fluent speaker and experienced instructor has lived in Paris and West Africa. Weaving together cultural knowledge, multiple learning modalities and familiarity w/ language pitfalls, these classes are “vraiment chouette!”

martial arts AIKIDO: Adult introductory workshop on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. Location: Aikido of Champlain Valley, 257 Pine St. (across from Conant Metal & Light), Burlington. Info: 9518900, burlingtonaikido.org. This Japanese martial art is a great method to get in shape and relieve stress. Classes for adults, teens and children. We also offer morning classes for new students. Study with Benjamin Pincus Sensei, 6th degree black belt and Vermont’s only fully certified Aikido teacher. Visitors are always welcome. AIKIDO CLASSES: New: Tues. afternoon Children’s Class (6-12 y/o) 4:15-5:15 p.m. Starts Dec. 4. Location: Vermont Aikido, 274 N. Winooski Ave. (2nd floor), Burlington. Info: Vermont Aikido, 862-9785, vermontaikido.org. Aikido trains body and spirit together, promoting MARTIAL ARTS

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VERMONT BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU: Mon.-Fri., 6-9 p.m., & Sat., 10 a.m. 1st class is free. Location: Vermont Brazilian JiuJitsu, 55 Leroy Rd., Williston. Info: 660-4072, Julio@bjjusa. com, vermontbjj.com. Classes for men, women and children. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu enhances strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and cardio-respiratory fitness. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training builds and helps to instill courage and self-confidence. We offer a legitimate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu martial arts program in a friendly, safe and positive environment. Accept no imitations. Learn from one of the world’s best, Julio “Foca” Fernandez, CBJJ and IBJJF certified 6th Degree Black Belt, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor under Carlson Gracie Sr., teaching in Vermont, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! A 5-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Featherweight Champion and 3-time Rio de Janeiro State Champion, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

meditation INTRODUCTION TO MYSTICISM: Weekly on Wed., Jan. 9-Jan. 30, 7-9 p.m. Snow date Feb. 6. Cost: $60/4 2-hr. classes. Location: 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury. Info: Sue, 244-7909. This experiential course explores the nature and features of mysticism and what it means to be a “mystic” via a series of readings and exercises. Led by Sue Mehrtens, teacher and author. LEARN TO MEDITATE: Meditation instruction avail. Sun. mornings, 9 a.m.-noon, or by appt. Meditation sessions on Tue. & Thu., noon-1 p.m. and Mon.-Thu., 6-7 p.m. The Shambhala Cafe meets the 1st Sat. of ea. mo. for meditation & discussions, 9 a.m.-noon. An Open House occurs every 3rd Fri. evening of ea. mo., 7-9 p.m., which incl. an intro to the center, a short dharma talk & socializing. Location: Burlington Shambhala Center, 187 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: 658-6795, burlingtonshambhalactr.org. Through the practice of sitting still and following your breath as it goes out and dissolves, you are connecting with your heart. By simply letting yourself be, as you are, you develop genuine sympathy toward yourself. The Burlington Shambhala Center offers meditation as a path to discovering gentleness and wisdom.

62 CALENDAR

nature ORIGINS: Feb. 2-Oct. 12. Cost: $3,100/9-mo. program. Location: ROOTS School, 20 2v-Monpelier121912.indd 8H-ORSports121912.indd 11

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Blachly Rd, Marshfield. Info: ROOTS Schoool, Sarah Corrigan, 456-1253, Info@RootsVT.com, RootsVT.com. Tools are made to be used. Limits are made to be pushed. This program, beginning in February, meets over nine months to study, make and use the tools of a land-based culture. This ends with a weeklong trip living in the woods putting our tools to the test.

photography INTRO TO NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY: Jan. 19, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Cost: $145/8-hr. class. Location: Green Mountain Photographic Workshops, TBA, Central Vermont. Info: Green Mountain Photographic Workshops, Kurt Budliger, 2234022, info@kurtbudligerphotography.com, greenmtnphotoworkshops.com. Ever wonder how professional photographers create those stunning images you see in magazines, calendars and books? Join professional photographer Kurt Budliger as he sheds light on the secrets. Beyond lots of inspiring imagery, this workshop will give participants practical take-home skills to help master exposure/metering, composition and working with light.

psychology WINTER BLUES & SAD TREATMENT: Wed. 6-8 p.m., Jan. 9-Mar. 6 or Sat. 10-noon, Jan. 12-Mar 9. Cost: $240/2-hr., 8-wk. class. Location: Exquisite Mind Psychotherapy and Meditation Studio, 88 King Street, Suite 101, Burlington. Info: Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, 660-8043, exquisitemind@me.com, exquisitemind.com. Cognitivebehavioral therapy (CBT) is an efffective treatment for winter blues and SAD. Combined with mindfulness, CBT skills are portable √¢?? you can carry them for the rest of your life and you don’t need to sit in front of an expensive light box everyday.

spirituality LIFE IS A SPIRITUAL TREASURE HUNT: Jan. 12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost: $75/8-hr. class. Location: 55 Clover Lane, Waterbury. Info: Sue, 244-7909. Learn to recognize the exciting clues in nature that surround us in our daily lives and help us understand the path we have chosen in this workshop that combines lecture, discussion and readings. Led by Susan Ackerman, teacher, counselor and author.

tai chi HWA YU TAI CHI/MONTPELIER: Jan. 7-Apr. 29, 5-6 p.m., Weekly on Mon. Cost: $150/15-week semester. Location: Montpelier Shambhala Center, 64 Main St, 3rd floor, Montpelier. Info: Ellie Hayes, 456-1983, grhayes1956@ comcast.net. Hwa Yu Tai Chi winter-spring semester runs 15 weeks. Beginners welcome. Come in from the cold, breathe easy, get grounded, let your

energy flow. Enjoy the many benefits of Tai Chi. Fully commit to the path of least resistance; discover renewed calm and coordination. SNAKE-STYLE TAI CHI CHUAN: Beginner classes Sat. mornings & Wed. evenings. Call to view a class. Location: Bao Tak Fai Tai Chi Institute, 100 Church St., Burlington. Info: 864-7902, iptaichi.org. The Yang Snake Style is a dynamic tai chi method that mobilizes the spine while stretching and strengthening the core body muscles. Practicing this ancient martial art increases strength, flexibility, vitality, peace of mind and martial skill. YANG-STYLE TAI CHI: Wed., 5:30 p.m., Sat., 8:30 a.m. $16/class, $60/mo. Beginners welcome. New 8-week beginners session starts on Wed., Jan. 9, 5:30 p.m. $125/8 classes. Location: Vermont Tai Chi Academy & Healing Center, 180 Flynn Ave., Burlington. Immediate right turn after railroad tracks. Follow the curve, then turn right & go through the parking lot, passing Express Appliances. Turn left at the end of the brick building & you will find a Tai Chi sign on your left. Info: 434-2960. Tai chi is a slow-moving martial art that combines deep breathing and graceful movements to produce the valuable effects of relaxation, improved concentration, improved balance and ease in the symptoms of fibromyalgia. For more info, 735-5465 or 434-2960.

theater AUDITION FOR COLLEGE MUSICAL THEATRE PROGRAMS: Jan. 5, 2-6 p.m. Cost: $75/participants, $40/auditors. Location: StudioThree at Spotlight on Dance, South Burlington. Info: 862-7326, admin@theatricalsinger.com, billreedvoicestudio. com. This workshop will feature Scott LaFeber, director and associate professor of performing arts at Emerson College in Boston. The workshop is geared toward high school juniors and seniors auditioning for musical theatre college programs. However, the workshop is open to the public and anyone interested is highly encouraged to observe/audit.

training DOG CLASSES: FUN, EFFECTIVE!: Basic: Jan. 4-Feb. 8, 5:30-6:30 p.m. $110/$132. Beyond Basic: Jan. 4-Feb. 1, 6:45-7:45 p.m. $95/$114. Preregistration req.. Location: South Burlington Recreation/Gold Star Dog Training, South Burlington City Hall, S. Burlington. Info: Gold Star Dog Training, Deborah Helfrich, 849-2363, deb@ goldstardog.com, goldstardog. com. Basic Training/Social Skills: 6-week class covers obedience, bonding techniques and social skills. Focuses on understanding your dog and applying simple dog training concepts. Exercises are fun and positive. Beyond Basics: 5-week class teaches

CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES more advanced levels of obedience and response. Exercises are taught such that dogs at various levels benefit.

vermont center for integrative therapy CIRCLE OF COURAGE: Jan. 16Apr. 3, 12-1:15 p.m., Weekly on Wed. Cost: $40/session. Inquire about insurance. Location: Vermont Center for Integrative Therapy, 364 Dorset St., Suite 201, South Burlington. Info: Amy Poland, 658-9440. Do you

struggle with body image and disordered eating? Many women find the experience of an eating disorder an extremely isolating experience. Together we can take steps toward understanding the parts that are attached to our eating disorder, building connections with others and creating a foundation for a compassionate recovery. DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOR THERAPY: Jan. 10-Feb. 21, 6-7:30 p.m., Weekly on Thu. Cost: $185/6-wk. segment. Location: Vermont Center for Integrative Therapy, 364 Dorset St., suite 204, S. Burlington.

Info: Adrienne Slusky, 658-9440. This ongoing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) group meets on Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. This group consists of four six-week segments dedicated to each of the four DBT modules or skill sets: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Advanced registration and brief information session required.

yoga EVOLUTION YOGA: $14/class, $130/class card, $5-10/community classes. Location: Evolution

Montpelier

Yoga, 20 Kilburn St., Burlington. Info: 864-9642, evolutionvt. com. Evolution Yoga offers a variety of classes in a supportive atmosphere: beginner, advanced, kids, babies, post- and prenatal, community classes, and workshops. Vinyasa, Kripalu, Core, Breast Cancer Survivor and Alignment classes. Certified teachers, massage and PT, too. Join our yoga community and get to know the family you choose. HOT YOGA BURLINGTON: Get hot 2-for-1 offer. Mon., Wed. & Fri.: 5-6 p.m; Sat. 10-11 a.m. Cost: $14/1st 2 classes, multi-class

cards avaliable. Location: North End Studio B, 294 N Winooski Ave, , Old North End, Burlington. Info: 999-9963, hotyogaburlingtonvt.com. Hot Yoga Burlington offers creative vinyasa style yoga featuring practice in the Barkan Method Hot Yoga TM in a 95 degree heated studio accompanied by eclectic music. Try something different! LAUGHING RIVER YOGA: classes 7 days/wk. Cost: $5-13/class, 10-class card $115, monthly unlimited $130. Location: Laughing River Yoga, Chace Mill, suite 126, Burlington. Info: 343-8119, laughingriveryoga.

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com. Compassionate and skilled instructors offer Kripalu, Jivamukti, Vajra, Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Yoga Dance, Yoga Teacher Training and more. Deepen your practice with Sunday morning intensives or one of our beautiful yoga retreats, including a week of yoga in Nosara, Costa Rica, February 24-March 2. All bodies and abilities welcome.

Dec. 23 - FREE Family Movie: A Christmas Carol, 10am @ The Savoy Theater

Celebrate

The Holidays

Make her

SMILE!

Make your holiday meals extra special with locally raised meats, organic produce, hand-crafted baked goods, distinctive wines and artisan cheeses from The Coop! Join us on

Thursday, December 27th

Special Growler Fill Event

Happy Holiday Hours Friday Dec.21 6:15a-8p Saturday Dec.22 7a-8p

Featuring Hill Farmstead’s Edward and other specialty beers

SPARKLE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

$2 from every growler sold will go to the Vermont Foodbank!

Christmas ~ Closed New Years Eve 6:15a-9pm

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music

Scene Poll

Local musicians weigh in on the best music of 2012 B Y DA N BOL L ES

ecapping the best music from a given year is always overwhelming. So we asked local musicians, fans and assorted scenesters for their takes on the best albums (local and nonlocal) and Vermont concerts they took in this year. We also added a “wild card” category that was completely openended. Here’s what they said.

Caroline O’Connor (Vedora)

• Local album: Michael Chorney and Dollar General, Dispensation of the Ordinary; and Waylon Speed, Valance • Nonlocal album: Sharon Van Etten, Tramp • Concert: Sleepy Sun/White Hills at the Monkey House in April, and Anders Parker/Will Johnson at a house show in Montpelier in September

SEVENDAYSVT.COM 12.19.12-12.26.12 SEVEN DAYS

Sean Hood (Hello Shark, 7D freelance music reviewer)

• Local album: Maryse Smith, Maryse Smith (Hands down Burlington’s best post-breakup album.) • Nonlocal album: Justin Townes Earle, Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now • Concert: Nancy and Great Valley in a packed living room right at summer’s end • Wild card: I’m wicked stoked for Shelly Shredder’s debut double album, Colder Roses. (Just bustin’ ya balls, boys. Seriously, can’t wait!)

Eric Olsen (Swale)

• Local album: Swale, A Small Arrival (Best? I don’t know about that. Favorite? Absolutely. After all the huff and puff and sidetracking and lost weekends and broken teeth and hospital bracelets and roofless bedrooms and solemn black suits and rude awakenings over the past decade, this album finally became physical. It’s like having a third kid, sans diapers.) • Nonlocal album: Father John Misty, Fear Fun • Concert: My favorite night this year, where I was stoked and proud as fuck to be living in BTV, was the Vermont premiere of A Band Called Death and the after-party at the Monkey House. I saw Death perform twice that night. No comparison. • Wild card: Man of the Year: Paddy Reagan. If you have to ask, you may never know why. He turned our little corner of the world into the center of the galaxy, one show at a time.

Anders Parker (Anders Parker Cloud Badge)

• Local album: Maryse Smith, Maryse Smith • Nonlocal album: Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill (“What’s for supper, Neil?” “Guitar, guitar and more guitar.”) • Concert: Thurston Moore at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, Burlington. Also, the Waking Windows festival in Winooski was great. I’m sure glad it exists. I hope that it grows and can bring in some more national acts.

Mike Luoma (music director, 104.7 FM the Point) 64 MUSIC

• Nonlocal album: John Fullbright, From the Ground Up • Concert: Blitzen Trapper at Higher Ground

• Local album: Swale, A Small Arrival (I’ve been intrigued by the work of Amanda Gustafson since the Wide Wail days, but no song of hers hit me quite like “If You Get Lost” did.)

Matt Burr (Grace Potter and the Nocturnals)

• Local album: Benny Yurco, This Is a Future • Nonlocal album: Father John Misty, Fear Fun • Concert: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Brenda, Floating Action

Beckie Sheloskie (talent buyer at Charlie O’s, Montpelier) • Local album: Spit Jack, Whiskey Eyes • Nonlocal album: Viva Le Vox, Dirt For Sale • Concert: Public Enemy at Higher Ground

Michael Chorney (Dollar General)

• Local album: Wooden Dinosaur, Spaces • Nonlocal album: Hmm. Not sure I really have one. • Concert: Saturn People’s Sound Collective at the Haybarn at Goddard College. Simply one of the best concerts I have ever heard by anyone, local or not.

Knayte Lander (State & Main Records)

• Local album: First Crush, Halfway Home • Nonlocal album: The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten • Concert: Billy Bragg at Higher Ground. (The man who changed music, war and love for me. For nearly an hour, he talked to me like an old friend after the show. A true marvel, that Billy.) • Wild card: Death, live at the opening of A Band Called Death at Essex Cinemas. Punk rock is born again, ageless in Vermont.

DJ Disco Phantom

• Local album: Maryse Smith, Maryse Smith • Nonlocal album: Kindness, World, You Need a Change of Mind • Concert: Kid Koala with Adira Amram and the Experience at Higher Ground. (It was like nothing I had ever seen before.) • Wild card: I saw Joan Rivers at the Flynn earlier this year and it was awesome. She still has got it, and it was outrageous.

Alex Budney (talent buyer at Nectar’s)

• Local album: Zack duPont, Somewhere in Between • Nonlocal album: Mayer Hawthorne, How Do You Do • Concert: Fishbone at Club Metronome

Toby Aronson (NNA Tapes)

• Local album: Blanche Blanche Blanche, Wink With Both Eyes (This is truly next-level pop transmissions.) • Nonlocal album: Julia Holter, Ekstasis • Concert: House show with Nate Young, Drainolith, A Snake in the Garden, Lord Bird and Sektor 420 • Wild card: I am constantly impressed with Burlington’s ability to be open to new music. In a world of severe oversaturation and coverage of music based on cultural implication, it’s great to hear Burlington accepting new local and touring bands, [giving] a chance to absorb, dance or just be present with the jams.

Bob Wagner (Bob Wagner Band)

• Local album: Zack duPont, Somewhere in Between • Nonlocal album: Jay Farrar, Anders Parker, Will Johnson, Yim Yames, New Multitudes • Concert: I had a special moment at the M. Ward show (Higher Ground), though I’m sure it’s not my fave pick of the year. SCENE POLL

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undbites

Got muSic NEwS? dan@sevendaysvt.com

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has curated at Nectar’s over the last year. The beard writes that the residency has been a “game changer” for an “increasingly prominent metal community,” and that it’s becoming “a destination for regional and national heavy metal acts.” It also credited alex Budney’s weekly Family Night Open Jam around the corner at Halflounge for providing an outlet for musicians who might not otherwise have a place to play. Budney, the talent buyer at Nectar’s, acknowledged the community spirit in Burlington that has led to more folks working together for common causes — Nectar’s and Higher Ground teaming up on certain shows, for example — and the increasing symmetry between venues and indie promoters. “Our little city of Burlington thrives on community and working together,” writes Budney. “It’s a beautiful thing and here’s to more of it!” In the words of sMOkey ROBinsOn, I second that emotion.

SoUnDbITeS

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MUSIC 65

The BRett hughes Holiday Ho Ho Hodown is among my favorite annual holiday traditions. The Honky Tonk Tuesday honcho will present a cavalcade of local stars offering renditions of Christmas classics this Thursday, December 20, at Club Metronome. No word yet on who might

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Reagan and Angioplasty Media’s nick MavOdOnes handling booking, veteran soundman seRgei ushakOv tweaking the knobs and faders, and JasOn “liggy” liggett on lights. All that’s missing is a name. May we suggest BuRR-lingtOn’s Finest? vedORa’s Matt hastings expressed appreciation for Signal Kitchen’s consummate radness. He writes that the venue “has stepped in to fill an underserved niche in the Burlington scene that has been left vacant, for whatever reason, for too long. They’ve created a downtown performance space that bridges the gap between the Monkey House and Higher Ground.” He commends the club’s “breadth of taste” and ability to “read what this town wants to hear.” Couldn’t agree more. Hastings’ bandmate caROline O’cOnnOR echoed another oft-voiced sentiment: The premiere of the death documentary, A Band Called Death, during the Vermont Film Festival was perhaps the highlight of the year. The flick, she writes, had people “laughing, crying, hooting and cheering, over and over.” So many people mentioned the Death doc that I almost regret going to weiRd al at the Flynn that night instead. But I don’t think lendway’s Matt hagen does. That show, he writes, highlighted “just how important Weird Al has been for pop culture.” Matt Hagen’s beard, however, weighed in on Metal Monday, the weekly heavy-metal showcase Hagen

SEVENDAYSVt.com

When we asked local scenesters for their takes on the best music of 2012, we received far too many responses to include in the feature leading this week’s music section (page 64). Answers to the open-ended “wild card” question tended to be especially long, and, in the interest of including a wide variety of responses, many ended up on the cutting-room floor. But several of those answers were really good, touching upon the best qualities of our cozy music scene. A selection of them follows. One hot topic: Paddy Reagan stepping down after six years as the booking honcho at the Monkey House. swale’s eRic Olsen dubbed him the “Man of the Year” — we’re still waiting for Time magazine’s take on that. andeRs PaRkeR writes that Reagan “has been a joy to work with and brought some really interesting things to the Monkey House.” Agreed. gRace POtteR and the nOctuRnals’ drummer Matt BuRR suggested a local supergroup featuring helOise williaMs and BOB wagneR on lead vocals, JOsh lORing on guitar, JOhn ROgOne on bass, waylOn sPeed’s Justin cROwtheR and Swale’s JeReMy FRedeRick on drums, lee andeRsOn on harmonica, and Ryan POweR as the band’s chief songwriter. I dig it. But Burr’s vision doesn’t stop there. He imagines Higher Ground’s alex cROtheRs managing the supergroup,

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Bach to the Future On his latest record, Foxfire, Maine’s

Conor Mulroy applies rowdy bluegrass instrumentation

and progressive-jazz sensibilities to original compositions rooted in classical archetypes. Touring in support of that record, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, piano) and composer plays Burlington’s Radio Bean this Saturday, December 22.

WED.19

burlington area

Club MEtronoME: Nels cline and Julian Lage, Bob Wagner (jazz), 8 p.m., $15/20. Franny o's: Karaoke, 9:30 p.m., Free. HalFloungE: scott mangan (singer-songwriter), 9 p.m., Free. Rewind with DJ craig mitchell (retro), 10 p.m., Free. JP's Pub: Karaoke with morgan, 10 p.m., Free. ManHattan Pizza & Pub: Open mic with Andy Lugo, 10 p.m., Free. MonkEy HousE: Lily & mark, soaked Oats (folk), 8 p.m., $5. 18+. nECtar's: Kloptotoscope, indigo sun (rock), 9 p.m., $5/10. 18+. on taP bar & grill: chad Hollister (singer-songwriter), 7 p.m., Free. raDio bEan: Eureka Birds (indie folk), 7 p.m., Free. irish sessions, 9 p.m., Free. rED squarE: Rick Redington & the Luv (rock), 7 p.m., Free. DJ cre8 (hip-hop), 10 p.m., Free.

12/15/12 3:04 PM

skinny PanCakE: Josh Panda and Brett Lanier (rock), 7 p.m., $5-10 donation.

central

bagitos: Acoustic Blues Jam with the usual suspects, 6 p.m., Free. tHE PinEs: Open mic with John Lackard, 9 p.m., Free. WHaMMy bar: Open mic, 6:30 p.m., Free.

champlain valley

51 Main: Blues Jam, 8 p.m., Free. City liMits: Karaoke with Let it Rock Entertainment, 9 p.m., Free. on tHE risE bakEry: Open irish session, 8 p.m., Free. tWo brotHErs tavErn: Trivia Night, 7 p.m., Free.

northern

bEE's knEEs: steve Hartmann (singer-songwriter), 7:30 p.m., Donations. Moog's PlaCE: Dale and Darcy (singer-songwriters), 8:30 p.m., Free.

regional

MonoPolE: Open mic, 8 p.m., Free.

tHu.20

burlington area

Club MEtronoME: Brett Hughes' Holiday Ho Ho Hodown (holiday), 9 p.m., NA. Dobrá tEa: Robert Resnik (folk), 7 p.m., Free. Finnigan's Pub: Family Night Band (rock), 9 p.m., Free. Franny o's: Karaoke, 9 p.m., Free. HalFloungE: Dan Liptak Trio (jazz), 9 p.m., Free. The Harder They come (moombahton), 10 p.m., Free. Halvorson's uPstrEEt CaFé: Friends of Joe (jazz), 7 p.m., Free. Friends of Joe: Dave Grippo & co. (jazz), 7 p.m., Free. lEvity : standup comedy Open mic (standup), 8:30 p.m., Free. ManHattan Pizza & Pub: Hot Wax with Justcaus & Penn West (hip-hop), 10 p.m., Free. nECtar's: Trivia mania with Top

Hat Entertainment, 7 p.m., Free. cosmic Dust Bunnies, matt carey (electro-jam), 9 p.m., $5/8. 18+. o'briEn's irisH Pub: DJ Dominic (hip-hop), 9:30 p.m., Free. on taP bar & grill: Left Eye Jump (blues), 7 p.m., Free. raDio bEan: Dave Fugal & Julian chobot (jazz), 6 p.m., Free. michael chorney & Dollar General, 8 p.m., Free. shane Hardiman Trio (jazz), 9:15 p.m., Free. Kat Wright & the indomitable soul Band (soul), 11 p.m., $3. rED squarE: shady Alley Band (bluegrass), 7 p.m., Free. DJ A-Dog (hip-hop), 10 p.m., Free. rED squarE bluE rooM: DJ cre8 (house), 10 p.m., Free. skinny PanCakE: Phineas Gage (old time), 8 p.m., $5-10 donation. vEnuE: Thirsty Thursdays, 7 p.m., Free.

central

bagitos: Eric Friedman (singersongwriter), 6 p.m., Free.

THu.20

» P.68

UNDbites

GOT MUSIC NEWS? DAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

CO NT I NU E D F RO M PAG E 6 5 COURTESY OF ZACK DUPONT

Zack Dupont

Last but not least, local jam rockers

songwriter. Or, as Zack duPont writes in an email, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the bro-tree.” In an attempt to “cash in on the brothers market,” the duPont boys will team up for an early show at Nectar’s this Friday, December 21, and likely become part of the long tradition of great sibling acts, including the STANLEY BROTHERS, the FELICE BROTHERS, the JONAS BROTHERS, HANSON and NELSON. Maybe not so much those last three. Congrats to the Smittens, whose latest record, Believe Me, was chosen as one of the top-10 indie-pop albums of 2012 by popmatters.com. The record took number three, just behind records by ALLO DARLIN’ and ADVANCE BASE, and just ahead of Young and Old by TENNIS. That’s some good company.

GREYSPOKE are reuniting at Nectar’s this

Friday, December 21, in remembrance of their late bassist, RUDY KIBURIS. Kiburis, who was 24, drowned this 8v-fiddlehead121912.indd summer while swimming at Huntington Gorge. They’ll be joined by whiskeygrass originators GOLD TOWN and banjometal act BLACK HOLLY.

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SEVEN DAYS

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Once again, this week’s totally self-indulgent column segment in which I share a sampling of what was on my iPod, turntable, eighttrack player, etc., this week.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

be in said cavalcade, but it’s a safe bet Hughes will have some Honky Tonk Tuesday elves on hand and a number of special guests. I don’t know about you, but it’s just not Christmas for me until I hear MARK RANSOM’s version of “Blue Christmas.” That reminds me… …of my other favorite annual holiday tradition, Blues Christmas at Nectar’s on Christmas night, Tuesday, December 25. Once you’ve unwrapped the presents, picked clean the Christmas goose and had enough of pretending to enjoy the close company of your relatives, wind down at this annual blues bash led by Vermont expat and blues-harp monster GREG IZOR. Sadly, I’ll be out of town this year, so I’ll miss Izor, whom I’ve known since college. So if you’re looking for a last-minute gift for your local music scribe, just swing by Nectar’s on Christmas and send him my best. One last holiday show to note before we start making New Year’s Eve plans: Local rockers SNEEZEGUARD will present “A Very Sneezy Xmas” at Levity in Burlington this Sunday, December 23. No idea what they’ve got planned, but given that the show is happening at a comedy club, hilarity may ensue. Since he started writing and recording solo material, JAPHY RYDER guitarist ZACK DUPONT has become one of Vermont’s most highly regarded songwriters. His latest album, Somewhere in Between, was named the best local album of 2012 by many respondents to the aforementioned poll of Vermont musicians, and with good reason: It was excellent and revealed duPont to be fully harnessing his impressive abilities. DuPont’s little brother, SAM DUPONT, is also a singer and

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MUSIC 67

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« P.66

CHARLIE O'S: DJ Crucible (metal), 10 p.m., Free. GREEN MOUNTAIN TAVERN: Thirsty Thursday Karaoke, 9 p.m., Free. NUTTY STEPH'S: Kevin Bacon Thursday, 6 p.m., Free. WHAMMY BAR: Christmas Carol Singalong with June Morse, 6:30 p.m., Free.

champlain valley

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CITY LIMITS: Trivia with Top Hat Entertainment, 7 p.m., Free. ON THE RISE BAKERY: Gabe Jarrett (jazz), 8 p.m., Donations. TWO BROTHERS TAVERN: DJ Dizzle (Top 40), 10 p.m., Free.

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BEE'S KNEES: Danny Ricky Cole (singer-songwriter), 7:30 p.m., Donations. MOOG'S PLACE: Sweet and Lowdown (gypsy jazz), 8:30 p.m., Free. PARKER PIE CO.: Americana Acoustic Session, 6 p.m., Free. Seth Yacovone (solo acoustic blues), 7:30 p.m., Free.

regional

MONOPOLE DOWNSTAIRS: Gary Peacock (singersongwriter), 10 p.m., Free. OLIVE RIDLEY'S: Karaoke, 6 p.m., Free. TABU CAFÉ & NIGHTCLUB: Karaoke Night with Sassy Entertainment, 5 p.m., Free. THERAPY: Therapy Thursdays with DJ NYCE (Top 40), 10:30 p.m., Free.

FRI.21

burlington area

BACKSTAGE PUB: Karaoke with Steve, 9 p.m., Free. BANANA WINDS CAFÉ & PUB: End of the World Party with Hootchie Koo (rock), 8 p.m., Free. CLUB METRONOME: No Diggity: Return to the ’90s (’90s dance party), 9 p.m., $5. HALFLOUNGE: Bonjour-Hi (house), 10 p.m., Free. JP'S PUB: Starstruck Karaoke, 10 p.m., Free. LEVITY : End of the World Showcase featuring Chris Dahlberg, Justin Small, Kevin Byer, Banjo Bob and Jacqui, James Huessy (standup), 9 p.m., $8. LIFT: Ladies Night, 9 p.m., Free/$3. MARRIOTT HARBOR LOUNGE: Simply Acoustic (acoustic), 8:30 p.m., Free. MONKEY HOUSE: The Willoughbys (folk), 6 p.m., Free.

NECTAR'S: Jay Burwick (solo acoustic), 5 p.m., Free. The Dupont Brothers (folk), 7 p.m., Free. I Rock for Rudy: Greyspoke Reunion, Gold Town, Black Holly (rock), 9 p.m., $5. ON TAP BAR & GRILL: Mitch & Friends (acoustic), 5 p.m., Free. Funkwagon (funk), 9 p.m., Free. PARK PLACE TAVERN: Fast Eddie & the Stars (rock), 9:30 p.m., Free. RADIO BEAN: Grup Anwar (Arabic), 7 p.m., Free. Electric Halo: Selections From the Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake (rock), 10 p.m., Free. Rough Francis (punk), 11:30 p.m., Free. RED SQUARE: Joshua Glass (singer-songwriter), 5 p.m., Free. Michelle Sarah Band (rock), 8 p.m., $5. DJ Craig Mitchell (house), 11 p.m., $5. RED SQUARE BLUE ROOM: DJ Mixx (EDM), 9 p.m., $5. RUBEN JAMES: DJ Cre8 (hip-hop), 10:30 p.m., Free. RÍ RÁ IRISH PUB: Supersounds DJ (Top 40), 10 p.m., Free. SKINNY PANCAKE: Jamie Bright (singer-songwriter), 8 p.m., $5-10 donation.

central

BAGITOS: The Light and the Laugh with Tim Fitzgerald, 6 p.m., Free. CHARLIE O'S: Starline Rhythm Boys (rockabilly), 10 p.m., Free. GREEN MOUNTAIN TAVERN: DJ Jonny P (Top 40), 9 p.m., $2. TUPELO MUSIC HALL: La Fin Du Mond (rock), 7:30 p.m., $8.

champlain valley CITY LIMITS: City Limits Dance Party with Top Hat Entertainment (Top 40), 9 p.m., Free. ON THE RISE BAKERY: Karen Krajecic (folk), 8 p.m., Donations. TWO BROTHERS TAVERN: House Dance, 10 p.m., Free.

northern

BEE'S KNEES: Al 'n' Pete (folk), 7:30 p.m., Donations. MATTERHORN: Eames Brothers Band (mountain blues), 9 p.m., $5. MOOG'S PLACE: Hamiltones (rock), 9 p.m., Free. RIMROCKS MOUNTAIN TAVERN: Friday Night Frequencies with DJ Rekkon (hip-hop), 10 p.m., Free.

regional

MONOPOLE: Sinecure (rock), 10 p.m., Free. THERAPY: Pulse with DJ Nyce (hip-hop), 10 p.m., $5.

SAT.22

burlington area

BACKSTAGE PUB: The Noomen (rock), 9 p.m., Free. CHURCH & MAIN RESTAURANT: Night Vision (EDM), 9 p.m., Free. CLUB METRONOME: Retronome (’80s dance party), 10 p.m., $5. FRANNY O'S: Karaoke, 9 p.m., Free. HALFLOUNGE: Zach Rhoads (singer-songwriter), 8 p.m., Free. Flashback with DJs Rob Douglas & Alan Perry (house), 10 p.m. JP'S PUB: Karaoke with Megan, 10 p.m., Free. LEVITY : Holiday Comedy Showcase with James Huessy, Banjo Bob and Jacqui, Kevin Byer, Justin Small, Chris Dahlberg, Ryan Kriger (standup), 8 p.m., $8. MARRIOTT HARBOR LOUNGE: Gabe Jarrett (jazz), 8:30 p.m., Free. MONKEY HOUSE: Monkey House 6th Birthday Party: Jaw Gems, Paper Castles (rock), 9 p.m., Free. NECTAR'S: Seth Yacovone (solo acoustic blues), 7 p.m., Free. The Jerry Band (Jerry Garcia Band tribute), 9 p.m., $5. ON TAP BAR & GRILL: High Rollers (rock), 9 p.m., Free. PARK PLACE TAVERN: Barbie-N-Bones (rock), 9:30 p.m., Free. RADIO BEAN: Dusty Neutrals (folk), 7 p.m., Free. Radio Bean Holiday Show with Lil Sickles, Nuda Veritas, Joe Adler (holiday), 9:30 p.m., Free. Conor Mulroy (singersongwriter), 1 a.m., Free. Claus & Effect (holiday), 11:30 p.m., Free. RED SQUARE: Gabe Jarrett Trio (jazz), 5 p.m., Free. Second Agenda (rebel folk, hip-hop), 8 p.m., $5. DJ A-Dog (hip-hop), 11 p.m., $5. RED SQUARE BLUE ROOM: DJ Raul (salsa), 6 p.m., Free. Craig Mitchell (EDM), 10 p.m., $5. VENUE: 18 & Up Destination Saturdays, 8 p.m., Free.

central

BAGITOS: Irish Sessions, 2 p.m., Free. David Kraus and John LaRouche (acoustic), 6 p.m., Free. CHARLIE O'S: Marc Plansky & the Bored of Health (rock), 10 p.m., Free. POSITIVE PIE 2: Funkwagon (funk), 10:30 p.m., $5. TUPELO MUSIC HALL: Club 188 with DJ Shar4 (dance party), 10 p.m., $10.

SAT.22

» P.70

give Books Scene Poll « P.64 position for Orkestriska’s Box played on an actual copper plate in an antique music box was amazing.

Gregory Douglass

November, December & January are Dental Health Months Dental hygene is vital to the

well being of our pets too! • Local album: Anaïs Mitchell, Young Man Your LocaL Source on basic cleanings-call us in America (Would make Joni Mitchell % for an appointment today. Since 1995 jealous.) TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS: • Nonlocal album: Jesca Hoop, The House 1693 Williston Road • 862-7021 • South Burlington 14 ChurCh St • Burlington,Vt 1372 North Avenue • 658-3739 • Burlington That Jack Built (Would make Kate Bush CrowBookS.Com • (802) 862-0848 Like us on acebook • www.GreenMountainAH.com jealous). • Concert: Vermont Symphony Orchestra at the Flynn MainStage refined1 comfort12/3/12 food 16t-GreenMtAnimalHospital120512.indd 16t-crowbookstore0121212.indd 3:19at PM comfortable 1 prices 12/6/12 2:37 PM • Wild card: A recent Zack duPont performance reminded me of how much talent there is right here in the Green Mountains!

20 off

Michael Roberts (Wooden Dinosaur)

• Local album: Michael Chorney and Dollar General, Dispensation of the Ordinary • Nonlocal album: Sonny and the Sunsets, Longtime Companion • Concert: J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices at the Stone Church in Brattleboro

Bryan Parmelee (Parmaga)

• Local album: Farm, Farm • Nonlocal album: Chairlift, Something • Concert: Morrissey at the Flynn MainStage

Zack duPont

Ben Aleshire (Vermont Joy Parade)

• Local album: Ryan Power, I Don’t Want to Die • Nonlocal album: Japandroids, Celebration Rock; Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (One I can play at work, and one I can’t.) • Concert: Hess Is More at the Monkey House. (These days I much more enjoy watching a band happy to play their music instead of trying to look cool and withdrawn. Google them.)

Rebecca Kopycinski (Nuda Veritas)

• Local album: Farm, Farm • Nonlocal album: The xx, Coexist • Concert: Rough Francis!

Matt Rogers (MSR Presents)

• Local album: Maryse Smith, Maryse Smith • Nonlocal album: Tame Impala, Lonerism • Concert: Thurston Moore at Unitarian Universalist Church in Burlington • Wild card: Very excited to see what the Waking Windows 3 festival will look like this year. Should be a good one!

Gift Cards Available Make New Year’s Reservations Now

1210 Williston Rd., So. Burlington(in front of Higher Ground) • 399-2074 Open 7 days a week. See website for hours. woodenspoonbistro.com 8h-WoodenSpoon121912.indd 1

12/14/12 4:10 PM

Ski & Ride

With The Point 2013 is on the Way!

With The Point’s Ski & Ride program, you Ski & Ride a different mountain every Friday for half price all season long with your Ski & Ride with The Point button and coupon book! They’re just $3.

Find Them aT • Harpoon Brewery on Route 5 Windsor, VT • Littleton Bike and Fitness on Cottage Street, Littleton NH • Henderson’s Ski and Snowboard on Route 4 Quechee, VT • Onion River Sports Langdon Street Montpelier, VT • Slopestyle Ski and Ride 92 River Street, Montpelier, VT • Sunshine Boutique 17 Eastern Ave St. Johnsbury, VT • Golf and Ski Warehouse on Route 12A West Lebanon, NH • The Alpine Shop 1184 Williston Road, South Burlington VT • M and M Beverage 12 Broad Street Lyndonville, VT

• The Ski Rack 85 Main Street Burlington, VT • Green Mountain Coffee Visitor Center and Café, Waterbury VT • Mountain Goat on Main Street, Hanover, NH • Lenny’s Shoe and Apparel in Barre, Williston and St. Albans VT • Omer and Bob’s 20 Hanover St, on the mall, Lebanon NH • Moose River Lake and Lodge Railroad Street St. Johnsbury, VT • Outdoor Gear Exchange 37 Church Street, Burlington, VT • Lake Champlain Chocolates at the Cabot Annex, Route 100, Waterbury, VT

For more info and the mountains schedule, hit our website at

www.pointfm.com

4t-wncs121926.indd 1

12/17/12 12:25 PM

MUSIC 69

• Local album: Loveful Heights, Loveful Heights • Nonlocal album: Tik Tok, The Great Concavity • Concert: Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses at the Monkey House • Wild card: Hearing Randal Pierce’s com-

Jason Cooley (Blue Button)

Happy Holidays from the Wooden Spoon Staff!

SEVEN DAYS

• Local album: The Toes, The Toes • Nonlocal album: Ty Segall Band, Slaughterhouse (Might as well throw in his other 2012 release, too: Twins. This kid is bananas.) • Concert: Rough Francis at the Precipice and the Cave Bees at the Radio Bean birthday party.

• Local album: Chris Weisman, Maya Properties (Chris outdoes himself again with an epic, 88-track song cycle possibly about the end of the world and the beginning of a new universe. Did you know there is a crystal under Brattleboro?) • Nonlocal album: Editions Mego was the record label of the year, for sure. Almost everything they released this year was excellent, especially the Mark Fell records and the Recollections GRM series. • Concert: Kurt Weisman at Waking Windows and Drainolith, Nate Young, A Snake in the Garden at Mouse’s Roadhouse

12.19.12-12.26.12

Rob Larkin (The Shandies)

Greg Davis

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

• Local Album: Michael Chorney and Dollar General, Dispensation of the Ordinary • Nonlocal Album: Patrick Watson, Adventures in Your Own Backyard • Concert: Patrick Watson at Higher Ground with Andrew Bird • Wild card: Brett Lanier and Peter Krag, two superhuman Vermont-based musicians that everyone wants in their band. And if you don’t want them, you just never heard them play.

Wooden Spoon Bistro

music sAT.22

On Sale Now

cLUB DAtES NA: not availaBlE. AA: all agEs.

« P.68

champlain valley

City Limits: Dance Party with DJ Earl (Top 40), 9 p.m., Free. two Brothers tavern: BandAnna (rock), 7 p.m., $3. DJ Dizzle (Top 40), 10 p.m., Free.

northern

At the Flynn Center • Friday, February 22nd • 8PM Purchase tickets at The FlynnTix Box Office www.flynntix.org, or charge by phone at (802) 863-5966 PRESENTED BY GREAT NORTHEAST PRODUCTIONS, INC.

6h-GreatNE121912.indd 1

12/14/12 11:14 AM

A Very Special Evening with Legendary Jazz Icon and Goddard Alumnus

Archie Shepp

with Tom McClung Ronnie Burrage Nicolas Letman Burtinovic

SATURDAY

regional

monoPoLe: Return of the Fly (rock), 10 p.m., Free. taBu Café & nightCLuB: All Night Dance Party with DJ Toxic (Top 40), 5 p.m., Free.

burlington area

haLfLounge: DJ cre8 (EDm), 10 p.m., Free. Levity: A Very sneezy Xmas (rock), 6:30 p.m., Free. neCtar's: mi Yard Reggae Night with Big Dog & Demus, 9 p.m., Free. on taP Bar & griLL: Brunch with Bob Young (acoustic), 11 a.m., Free. radio Bean: saloon sessions with Brett Hughes (country), 1 p.m., Free. Trio Gusto (gypsy jazz), 5 p.m., Free. Ericc cram is imaginary (make believe), 8 p.m., Free. Dark Green Folk (folk rock), 9 p.m., Free. 350VT. org Benefit, 10 p.m., Free. Bible camp sleepovers (basement pop), 11:15 p.m., Free.

central

Bagitos: Jazz Brunch with Jason mallery, 11 a.m., Free. Positive Pie 2: White Out with DJ Ben Arsenal, Quarters, miles Felix, mr. Yee, DJc (hip-hop), 10 p.m., $5. sKinny PanCaKe: Ben cosgrove (singer-songwriter), 6 p.m., $5-10 donation.

SEVENDAYSVt.com 12.19.12-12.26.12 70 music

tue.25

burlington area

Levity : standup comedy Open mic (standup), 7:30 p.m., Free. neCtar's: Annual Blues christmas with the Greg izor Band, 8 p.m., Free.

» P.72

— the band is as high-octane as it is high-minded. This Saturday, December 22, Second Agenda play Red Square in Burlington.

WGDR/WGDH COMMUNITY RADIO

12/18/12 7:51 AM

moog's PLaCe: seth Yacovone (solo acoustic blues), 8 p.m., Free.

Fusing folk idealism and rock aggression with hip-hop attitude — not to mention beats

Concerts 3V-Goddard121912.indd 1

northern

rebel-folk outfit seCond agenda have been a pillar of socially conscious music in Vermont.

Sponsored by The Bridge Capitol Grounds Mad Tech Sound Open Sash Windows Positive Pie II

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL $30 thru Dec 26th

mon.24

To Whom It Concerns For the better part of the last decade,

Haybarn Theatre at Goddard College

Buy tickets at: www.goddard.edu or in person at: Buch Spieler Music

Bee's Knees: David Langevin (piano), 10:30 a.m., Donations. David Langevin & Big John, 7:30 p.m., Donations. sweet CrunCh BaKe shoP: Vintage Voices & mattie Hallett (holiday), 10:30 a.m., Free.

WED.26

JAN 19

Goddard College

northern

cOuRTEsY OF sEcOND AGENDA

SEVEN DAYS

Bee's Knees: Z-Jaz (jazz), 7:30 p.m., Donations. Chow! BeLLa: The Best Little Border Band (jazz), 7:30 p.m., Free. matterhorn: Abby Jenne and the Enablers (rock), 9 p.m., $5. moog's PLaCe: The Dupont Brothers (singer-songwriters), 9 p.m., Free. ParKer Pie Co.: Evansville Transit Authority (rock), 8 p.m., Free.

sun.23

SAt.22 // SEcoND AgENDA [rEBEL foLk, hip-hop]

REVIEW this Loveful Heights, Loveful Heights (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)

In a town like Burlington, a fine line often separates the crew occupying and staffing the hip local coffee joint — take a guess — and a hushed small-city “supergroup.” Such is the case with Loveful Heights. While at its core Loveful Heights is a stripped-down acoustic duo consisting of Maggie Clifford and Kat Wright (of Kat Wright & the Indomitable Soul Band), the list of Burlington heavy hitters contributing their talents to the pair’s self-titled, debut full-length album is impressive. Throughout the album, Clifford and Wright share guitar, ukulele and vocal duties and construct a beautifully harmonized foundation over which bass (Tyler Bolles), percussion (Dan Fancher and Eric Reeves), cello (Nelson Caldwell) and pedal steel (Brett Lanier) — to name just a few — provide an undemanding ambience.

Instruments like the tabla (an Indian percussion instrument similar to the bongo) and the occasional sortadroning euphonium (a somewhat lesser-known brass instrument) introduce more than a hint of the bazaar into the clearly travel-inspired songs that inhabit Loveful Heights’ debut. The production, credited to one Lee Anderson — Wright’s husband and the proprietor of the previously insinuated café, Radio Bean — is sparse and airy and gives all 12 tracks on Loveful Heights a consistent, breathy quality. The room in which these songs

Teleport, Bad for Business

(SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)

12/12/12 12:55 PM

SEAN HOOD

SEVEN DAYS

by Sean Martin’s efficient bass lines and Kevin Bell’s delicate drum work. But this intricate, jazz-inflected mojo is all window dressing for Wheeler, who as lead vocalist sings in a dusky croon that is at once breezily self-assured and vulnerable. Wheeler’s disarming, Cetera-esque delivery is bolstered by his bandmates’ crystalline backing harmonies, which shimmer throughout — especially on cuts such as montage-worthy “Anybody in There,” “Lut Gohlein” and sunny album closer “Bad for Business.” They frame Wheeler’s playfully progressive melodies and winsome style with flair. It would be easy to dismiss Teleport as some ironic novelty. But that would be a mistake. The band is less about updating or honoring their pop heroes than picking up where those wellgroomed impresarios left off. Bad for Business is an immaculate creation filled with dynamic and intelligent compositions, superb performances and, yeah, a whole lotta blue-eyed soul. Bad for Business by Teleport is available at teleport.bandcamp.com.

12.19.12-12.26.12

by those willing to hear it. On their recently released sophomore album, Bad for Business, Teleport peel away soft rock’s plush velvet robe and expose the raw — if a little hairy — musculature underneath. Where Lost in Space most clearly followed the lineage set forth by the aforementioned Hall & Oates, Bad for Business aligns with another era contemporary, Steely Dan — and particularly the Donald Fagen-penned contributions to that band’s canon. The record opens on “Deal,” which orbits around Mike Wheeler’s sleek keyboard bustle, and is accented by Adam Fuller’s gold-flecked guitar. A tumbling foundation is set into motion

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

In 1981, Barre’s Teleport delivered a veritable masterstroke of shamelessly earnest, blued-eyed soul called Lost in Space Forever that occupied a similarly feathered plane as soft-rock contemporaries Hall & Oates, Genesis and Kenny Loggins. That record … I’m sorry, what? The album came out in 2011? And most of Teleport had barely been born in 1981? You’re kidding me. Let’s try this again. In 2011 — seriously?! — Barre’s Teleport delivered a veritable masterstroke of shamelessly earnest, blue-eyed soul called Lost in Space Forever that evoked the heyday of softrock superstars Hall & Oates and Kenny Loggins. Better? The record was an intricately conceived and exquisitely executed homage to a bygone era of American pop that is often discarded — with good reason, in certain cases — as overt romantic schmaltz. But behind the fondue cheesiness and white-tigerskin-rug lechery of the genre, a great deal of musical ingenuity can be found

will forever exist deserves as much credit as does any of the players. It’s an undeniable presence. The songs themselves range from adaptations of poetry classics (Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Land of Nod”) to traditionals (“Gamblin’”) to lonesome, worldly originals (“Freedom”). Vocal harmonies, which are no doubt the focal point of this record, are somewhat reminiscent of Feist’s softer excursions — songs like “The Park” and “Lonely Lonely.” But where Feist overdubs her vocals, Clifford and Wright have each other’s same-room voices to bounce off of. This small but noteworthy difference gives their work a much more organic feel than Feist, with all of her talent, can achieve. That’s right, organic. 12v-CSWD(Compost)121912.indd The ease with which Loveful Heights is performed, recorded — by Burlington’s unstoppable Ryan Power — and delivered is truly a marvel. Loveful Heights by Loveful Heights is available at cdbaby.com/cd/katwright.

DAN BOLLES

MUSIC 71

AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST OR BAND MAKING MUSIC IN VT, SEND YOUR CD TO US! GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED: IFDANYOU’RE BOLLES C/O SEVEN DAYS, 255 SO. CHAMPLAIN ST. STE 5, BURLINGTON, VT 05401

music

NA: not availaBlE. AA: all agEs.

« P.70

WED.26

cOuRTEsy OF sTARLiNE RHyTHm BOys

TuE.25

cLUB DAtES

fri.21 // StArLiNE rhYthm BoYS [rockABiLLY]

burlington area

Club MEtronoME: The NEKtones, Wombaticus Rex, Learic of the Aztext (hip-hop), 9 p.m., $5. Franny o's: Karaoke, 9:30 p.m., Free. HalFloungE: scott mangan (singer-songwriter), 9 p.m., Free. Rewind with DJ craig mitchell (retro), 10 p.m., Free. JP's Pub: Karaoke with morgan, 10 p.m., Free. ManHattan Pizza & Pub: Open mic with Andy Lugo, 10 p.m., Free. nECtar's: mallett Brothers Band (country-rock), 9 p.m., Free/$5. 18+. on taP bar & grill: Ryan Hanson Band (rock), 7 p.m., Free. raDio bEan: irish sessions, 9 p.m., Free. rED squarE: Zack duPont (singersongwriter), 7 p.m., Free. DJ cre8 (hip-hop), 10 p.m., Free. skinny PanCakE: Josh Panda and Brett Lanier (rock), 7 p.m., $5-10 donation.

central

bagitos: Acoustic Blues Jam with the usual suspects, 6 p.m., Free. tHE PinEs: Open mic with John Lackard, 9 p.m., Free. WHaMMy bar: Open mic, 6:30 p.m., Free.

champlain valley

SEVENDAYSVt.com

City liMits: Karaoke with Let it Rock Entertainment, 9 p.m., Free. on tHE risE bakEry: Open Bluegrass session, 8 p.m., Free. tWo brotHErs tavErn: Trivia Night, 7 p.m., Free.

northern

starlinE rHytHM boys

delivered what many

consider to be their signature album, Live at Charlie O’s World Famous. That raucous record captured the trio in its natural habitat, delivering

regional

classic honky-tonk hooks to eager fans in the dusty confines of Montpelier’s great juke joint. This Friday, December 21, the Boys return to

MonoPolE: Open mic, 8 p.m., Free. m

12.19.12-12.26.12

4h-tourdate121212.pdf

Charlie O’s for a pre-holiday hoedown. 12/18/12

7:23 PM

This week:

Dan Bolles Seven Days’ music editor reviews the top 10 Vermont singles of 2012.

SEVEN DAYS 72 music

Close Up the Honky-Tonks In 2008, local rockabilly stalwarts

Moog's PlaCE: Jason Wedlock (singer-songwriter), 8:30 p.m., Free.

Season two fueled by:

ALL VT ARTISTS! SPEEDERANDEARLS.COM

VERMO NT’S BACKS TAGE PODCA ST

HEAR MORE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM or download on iTunes

venueS.411 burlington area

central

big PicturE thEAtEr & cAfé, 48 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield, 4968994. thE blAck Door, 44 Main St., Montpelier, 225-6479. brEAkiNg grouNDS, 245 Main St., Bethel, 392-4222. thE cENtEr bAkErY & cAfE, 2007 Guptil Rd., Waterbury Center, 244-7500. cAStlErock Pub, 1840 Sugarbush Rd., Warren, 5836594. chArliE o’S, 70 Main St., Montpelier, 223-6820. ciDEr houSE bbq AND Pub, 1675 Rte.2, Waterbury, 244-8400. clEAN SlAtE cAfé, 107 State St., Montpelier, 225-6166. cork WiNE bAr, 1 Stowe St., Waterbury, 882-8227. ESPrESSo buENo, 136 Main St., Barre, 479-0896. grEEN mouNtAiN tAVErN, 10 Keith Ave., Barre, 522-2935. guSto’S, 28 Prospect St., Barre, 476-7919. hoStEl tEVErE, 203 Powderhound Rd., Warren, 496-9222. kiSmEt, 52 State St., Montpelier, 223-8646. kNottY ShAmrock, 21 East St., Northfield, 485-4857. locAl folk SmokEhouSE, 9 Rt. 7, Waitsfield, 496-5623. mAiN StrEEt grill & bAr, 118 Main St., Montpelier, 223-3188. mulligAN’S iriSh Pub, 9 Maple Ave., Barre, 479-5545. NuttY StEPh’S, 961C Rt. 2, Middlesex, 229-2090. PicklE bArrEl Nightclub, Killington Rd., Killington, 4223035. thE PiNES, 1 Maple St., Chelsea, 685-3344 thE PizzA StoNE, 291 Pleasant St., Chester, 875-2121. PoSitiVE PiE 2, 20 State St., Montpelier, 229-0453. PurPlE mooN Pub, Rt. 100, Waitsfield, 496-3422. thE rESErVoir rEStAurANt & tAP room, 1 S. Main St., Waterbury, 244-7827. SliDE brook loDgE & tAVErN, 3180 German Flats Rd., Warren, 583-2202. South StAtioN rEStAurANt, 170 S. Main St., Rutland, 775-1736. tuPElo muSic hAll, 188 S. Main St., White River Jct., 698-8341. thE WhAmmY bAr, 31 W. County Rd., Calais, 229-4329.

northern

bEE’S kNEES, 82 Lower Main St., Morrisville, 888-7889. blAck cAP coffEE, 144 Main St., Stowe, 253-2123. thE brEWSki, Rt. 108, Jeffersonville, 644-6366. broWN’S mArkEt biStro, 1618 Scott Highway, Groton, 584-4124. choW! bEllA, 28 N. Main St., St. Albans, 524-1405. clAirE’S rEStAurANt & bAr, 41 Main St., Hardwick, 4727053. coSmic bAkErY & cAfé, 30 S. Main St., St. Albans, 524-0800. couNtrY PANtrY DiNEr, 951 Main St., Fairfax, 849-0599 croP biStro & brEWErY, 1859 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4304. grEY fox iNN, 990 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-8921. thE hub PizzEriA & Pub, 21 Lower Main St., Johnson, 635-7626. thE littlE cAbArEt, 34 Main St., Derby, 293-9000. mAttErhorN, 4969 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-8198. thE mEEtiNghouSE, 4323 Rt. 1085, Smugglers’ Notch, 644-8851. moog’S PlAcE, Portland St., Morrisville, 851-8225. muSic box, 147 Creek Rd., Craftsbury, 586-7533. oVErtimE SAlooN, 38 S. Main St., St. Albans, 524-0357. PArkEr PiE co., 161 County Rd., West Glover, 525-3366. PhAt kAtS tAVErN, 101 Depot St., Lyndonville, 626-3064. PiEcASSo, 899 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4411. thE PiNES, 1 Maple St. Chelsea, 685-3344. rimrockS mouNtAiN tAVErN, 394 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-9593. roADSiDE tAVErN, 216 Rt. 7, Milton, 660-8274. ruStY NAil bAr & grillE, 1190 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-6245. ShootErS SAlooN, 30 Kingman St., St. Albwans, 527-3777. SNoW ShoE loDgE & Pub, 13 Main St., Montgomery Center, 326-4456. SWEEt cruNch bAkEShoP, 246 Main St., Hyde Park, 888-4887. tAmArAck grill At burkE mouNtAiN, 223 Shelburne Lodge Rd., E. Burke, 626-7394. WAtErShED tAVErN, 31 Center St., Brandon, 247-0100. YE olDE ENglAND iNNE, 443 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-5320.

regional

ADVANCE MUSIC It’s all about the music

Burlington’s local choice since 1982 75 Maple Street • Burlington • 863-8652 • www.advancemusicvt.com 4t-advancesystem112410.indd 1

11/22/10 3:44 PM

ToRoNtO CaNaDa

yOu sHoUlD PlAy nXnE 2013

bAnD sUbMiSsIoNs nOw oPeN nXnE.cOm fOr dEtAiLs

MUSIC 73

gilligAN’S gEtAWAY, 7160 State Rt. 9, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-566-8050. moNoPolE, 7 Protection Ave., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-563-2222. NAkED turtlE, 1 Dock St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-566-6200. oliVE riDlEY’S, 37 Court St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-324-2200. tAbu cAfé & Nightclub, 14 Margaret St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-566-0666. thErAPY, 14 Margaret St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-561-2041.

No worries Trevor, we’ll get Santa right on this.

SEVEN DAYS

51 mAiN, 51 Main St., Middlebury, 388-8209. bAr ANtiDotE, 35C Green St., Vergennes, 877-2555. brick box, 30 Center St., Rutland, 775-0570. thE briStol bAkErY, 16 Main St., Bristol, 453-3280. cArol’S huNgrY miND cAfé, 24 Merchant’s Row, Middlebury, 388-0101. citY limitS, 14 Greene St., Vergennes, 877-6919. clEm’S cAfé 101 Merchant’s Row, Rutland, 775-3337. DAN’S PlAcE, 31 Main St., Bristol, 453-2774. gooD timES cAfé, Rt. 116, Hinesburg, 482-4444. ND’S bAr & rEStAurANt, 31 Main St., Bristol, 453-2774. oN thE riSE bAkErY, 44 Bridge St., Richmond, 434-7787.

Actual Young Rocker’s Christmas List!

12.19.12-12.26.12

champlain valley

South StAtioN rEStAurANt, 170 S. Main St., Rutland, 7751730. StArrY Night cAfé, 5371 Rt. 7, Ferrisburgh, 877-6316. tWo brothErS tAVErN, 86 Main St., Middlebury, 388-0002.

SEVENDAYSVt.com

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art

Wild at Art

“Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper” at the Montshire Museum of Science

harley Harper was brilliant, his artistic merit measured in clever design, bold color and whimsical charm. He also had a writer’s talent for witty wordplay. Harper (1922-2007) was a prolific illustrator and graphic designer who became best known for his serigraph prints featuring modernist, stylized images of animals. His work enlivened innumerable posters, magazine articles and books — notably 1962’s The Golden Book of Biology. Though Harper’s accessible images were suitable for children’s illustrations, the unique style he called “minimal realism” was in fact highly sophisticated. As he liked to say: “I try to leave everything out.” That sophistication is apparent in a 23-piece exhibit titled “Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper,” currently at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich. The Virginia Living Museum curated the touring exhibit from works in a private collection. At the Montshire, there’s a local bonus: a companion show from first-year students at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction. In a class last fall, their assignment was to create a one-page cartoon about an aspect of the natural world using Harper’s visual techniques. Harper was especially fond of birds — a quote of his affixed to the wall says, “I’d much rather draw birds. There are more possibilities.” Perhaps because the man could do a lot with circles. He handily depicts an owl, for example, in the piece titled “Phwoooooooooo!” Unlike Harper’s more colorful pieces, this one sets the brown and gray creature against a black background. It is, after all, nighttime when owls stalk their prey. In this case, it’s a skunk, which inspired one of the artist’s pun- and rhyme-filled captions: “How do you like your skunk steak? Rarely? Not the Great Horned Owl — it may be smelly, but it fills your belly…” As for the minimally represented stinker, Harper concludes: “He was planning to eat in when the owl dropped by — it’s only once in a lifetime he gets taken out for dinner.” In a work titled “Pelican Pantry,” a gull is stealing a “mullet for his gullet” straight from the craw of a brown Pelican. In a particularly funny print called “Big Rac Attack,” six raccoons peek over a fence,

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REVIEW

“Pelican Pantry”

THE UNIQUE STYLE HE CALLED “MINIMAL REALISM”

WAS IN FACT HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED.

eyes glowing in the dusk and fixed on the orange-red semicircle on a tripod in the foreground: a backyard grill. Harper’s texts sound cheery, but he doesn’t shy away from the realities of the food chain. His animals act like animals. It’s clear that Harper observed his subjects with the unsentimental eye of a naturalist before rendering them with, as he put it, “straight lines and curves.” If Harper’s ingenious arrangements of iconic, geometric shapes could serve as a graphic-design primer, his skill as a printmaker is nothing short of inspirational. The serigraph is an exhaustingly difficult medium involving multiple steps and layers of color. One misstep botches the whole deal. For an artist who relies on crisp, sharp edges, the process is unforgiving. It’s important

“Ladybug Lovers”

steady hand. Harper had the conscience of a conservationist and lent his talents to many a wildlife organization; this exhibit includes, for example, a largescale poster he created for the Michigan National Park Service, layered with creatures and leaves. And there’s his print titled “Backhoesaurus,” in which a backhoe is digging up animal habitat, displacing a number of birds, flowers, worms and bugs. The artist likens what is presumably commercial development to “a mindless dinosaur terrorizing the landscape.” Not so funny, that. Harper spent most of his adult life in Cincinnati where he attended, and later taught at, the Art Academy. He also worked with his wife and fellow artist at Harper Studios; their only child, Brett, eventually joined them. In 2006, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 8 Charley Harper Day, in conjunction with an exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center of “midcentury pioneers and contemporary peers.” The exhibit was inspired by Harper’s mentorship of graphic and fashion designer Todd Oldham, who said that the elder artist’s work possessed a “lyrically joyous style.” Indeed, only a hardened cynic could resist feeling just a bit happier after viewing Harper’s prints. In 2007, Oldham published a book of Harper’s work titled Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life. As suits a family-friendly science museum, the aural backdrop for these dual exhibits is a pleasantly zany assortment of dings, bongs, rattles and other noises — courtesy of children exploring the surrounding hands-on gizmos. Still, the Harper and CCS works occupying a spacious second-floor area represent the Montshire’s conscious effort to enhance its reputation as a kids’ science museum that isn’t just for kids and science lovers. Offering a joyful, all-ages art exhibit is a good step in that direction. Besides, as exhibits director Bob Raiselis says, “I’m convinced that there’s a connection in how scientists and artists do their stuff. It’s all creativity.” PA M EL A P O L S T O N

to keep this process in mind when viewing Harper’s works; these days, we’re more accustomed to looking at digitally produced artwork that, however inventive and well designed, does not require such a

“Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper,” Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich. Through February 3. montshire.org

Art ShowS open daily 10–5 thru dec. 24th

Art opportunity for vters: Fun-A-Day mission: do something creative every day for the month of January. Fun, free, noncommercial, noncompetitive, all-ages community art project. Visit funadaybtv.tumblr. com. color story photo exhiBit: Calling for submissions. Deadline: January 19. Juror: seth Resnick. if a confident use of color defines

your work, we want to see it. info, darkroomgallery.com/ex38. exposed 2013: open call to artists and writers for the 22nd annual exposed outdoor sculpture exhibition at helen Day Art Center in stowe. Deadline: January 4. info, helenday.com/exposed. creAtive competition_004: presented by the Root gallery. $8 entry fee. people’s choice vote; winner takes all (compounded entry money). limit one piece, any size, media or subject. First Friday

ongoing burlington area '1st AnnuAl stocking stuffer show': local artists such as haley bishop, Jude bond, Jeannie Tucker, lisamarie Charlesworth, laura Dame and Rachel wisdomork sell their smaller-than-sixsquare-inch artworks for the holidays. Through December 24 at Vintage inspired in burlington. info, 355-5418. AmAndA shrimer: paintings, in the greenhouse; Jen kristel: Monoprints, in the dining room; melody Bessett: Abstracted landscapes, in the bar. Through December 31 at the Daily planet in burlington. info, 862-9647. Ben Aleshire: "slow Art: photographs & prints," natural-light portraits made with a medium-format Mamiya twin-lens camera and hand-bound books, presented as part of an Artlab residency. Through December 31 at bCA Center in burlington. info, 865-7166. BriAn o'neill: "everything Must go: paintings, Drawings, sculpture and new lithos Made in Cuba," a retrospective. Through January 5 at pickering Room, Fletcher Free library, in burlington. info, 865-7211. 'cAll of the wild': Two- and three-dimensional work made from gathered materials by wendy Copp, Juliet McVicker, Cindy Cowles, bethany Myrick, John Rivers, ben barlow, Max hodgson and John hodgson. Through December 28 at All souls interfaith gathering in shelburne. info, 985-3819.

receptions 'lAtitude/longitude: weAving themes, AssemBling stories': Reflections on identity and geographical coordinates by bren Alvarez, Merche bautista and Tina escaja. Through December 30 at

hoffmAn: "sand Dunes" and "Cathedral Rocks," landscapes in oil, escalator. Through December 31 at burlington Airport in south burlington. info, 865-7166.

edwArd Alonzo: "icons," photographs and paintings in which the artist reimagines icons of contemporary spiritual devotion. Through December 31 at Christ the King Church & school in burlington. info, 917-558-5187.

John Anderson: "Drawings: 2006-2012 Constructed Conceptual," four bodies of work by the Vermont-based artist and architect in which paper and graphite drawings are cut, torn, rolled, twisted, folded and painted to create sculptural objects; JAson hAnAsik: "Fall in line," photographs and video projections that aim to unpack traditional western expectations related to masculinity, social class and valor within the context of the military. Through January 19 at bCA Center in burlington. info, 865-7166.

elizABeth lemAire: "Kinetic Fragments," mixed-media works incorporating fragments of tossed-aside items. Through December 31 at block gallery in winooski. info, 578-9001. 'gifts for strAngers': Vermont artists' visual responses to the question: what would you give to a stranger for the holidays? Curated by Art's Alive. Through January 30 at union station and the wing building in burlington. info, 660-9005. group exhiBit: photography by Jaques burke and Kristen watson; paintings by Marie lapre grabon and leslie McCool; mixed-media work by Maria Anghelache and Alan Arnold; collage work by elizabeth nelson and erika lawlor schmidt; and sculpture by Janet Van Fleet. Through April 30 at Maltex building in burlington. info, 865-7166. group holidAy Art exhiBit: work by members of the artists' collective. Through January 26 at studio 266 in burlington. info, 578-2512. group show: works by lorraine Manley, nancy Dwyer, [michael smith], Ray brown, Clark Derbes, elizabeth nelson and Ron hernandez. Curated by seAbA. Through February 28 at the innovation Center of Vermont in burlington. info, 859-9222. hAley Bishop: Mixed-media pieces inspired from childhood memories and locations made from pen-and-ink illustrations, watercolors, acrylics and computer scans. Through December 31 at Vintage inspired in burlington. info, 355-5418.

JAckson tupper: line drawings transposed from the burlington artist's freshman-year notebook onto the white walls of the venue. Through January 31 at signal Kitchen in burlington. info, 399-2337.

dAmien hirst: Two spot paintings by the english artist presented alongside bruce R. MacDonald's stainless-steel light sculptures, Joel urruty's minimalist sculpture and george peterson's abstract wood wall panels. Through December 31 at the havoc gallery in burlington. info, 863-9553.

JAne Ann kAntor: Abstract acrylic paintings. Through December 31 at Fiddlehead brewing Company in shelburne. info, 318-2225. JeAn luc dushime: "The hands of hope," a photographic celebration of immigrants and former refugees who have rebuilt their lives in a new country. Through January 31 at ArtsRiot gallery in burlington. JennA endresen: "Circling back," mandalas created with pen and ink and other media. Through January 25 at new City galerie in burlington. info, 735-2542. Jesse AzAriAn: "To boldly search for bacon," paintings by the Vermont artist. Through December 31 at Red square in burlington. info, 318-2438.

TIMOTHY GRANNIS 802.660.2032

Jolene gArAnzhA & dAnA dAle lee: "MotherFather," prints by garanzha; paintings by lee. Through January 31 at Vintage Jewelers in burlington. info, 862-2233. Joy huckins-noss: "The Texture of light," oil paintings of the Vermont landscape. Through January 2 at pompanoosuc Mills in burlington. info, 229-0832. Julie wArren: paintings inspired by the wildflowers of the north Country. Through January 15 at Vermont Farm Table in burlington. info, 888-425-8838. Julie y BAker AlBright: "painted holidays," photorealistic oil paintings of items created by other Frog hollow artisans. Through December 31 at Frog hollow in burlington. info, 863-6458. kAthryn milillo: "barns and landscapes," paintings, giclée prints and notecards by the Vermont artist. Through January 30 at left bank home & garden in burlington. info, 862-1001. kelly schulze: Animal portraiture by the owner of Mountain Dog photography. Through January 15 at the gallery at phoenix books in essex Junction. info, 872-7111.

JANE FRANK 802.999.3242

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'lABor of love': An exhibit featuring photos of and 6v-timothygrannis(alchemy)121912.indd 1 12/15/12 2:58 PM excerpts from interviews with women who are passionate about their work, are an inspiration to others and exemplify excellence in their field. Created by LEASE A FULL LINE OF SKI Vermont works for women in collaboration with the Vermont Folklife Center; winooski holidAy Art EQUIPMENT AT STOWE mArket: Art, crafts and other locally made products from around the region. open wednesday through Children’s Packages $120 saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Adult Basic Packages $140 Through December 31 at winooski welcome Center Adult Performance Packages $220 & gallery. info, 655-8900. leAh vAn rees: landscape and seascape paintings. Through December 31 at Metropolitan gallery, burlington City hall. info, 865-7166. lincoln hAllorAn: impasto paintings from the artist's "sunday studio" series. Through January 31 at speaking Volumes in burlington. info, 540-0107.

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'locAl: A winter Art sAle': Affordable works by Vermont artists beth pearson, gary hall, Karen henderson, steven goodman, gillian Klein, Roger Coleman, lisa lillibridge, Tom Cullins, Mike strauss, susan larkin and more. Through January 25 at bCA Center in burlington. info, 865-7166. lynn BeAch & Joyce cArroll: A holiday window display created in collaboration with the lake Champlain land Trust. Through January 15 at the green life in burlington. info, 862-4150. buRlingTon-AReA shows

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Jill mAdden: landscapes in oil, in the skyway; Jim moore: photographs, in gates 1-8; JoAn

CONNIE COLEMAN 802.999.3630

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cindy griffith: "newest works," paintings by the Vermont artist. Through December 31 at east shore Vineyard Tasting Room in burlington. info, 229-4326.

MARIE-JOSéE LAMARCHE 802.233.7521

12.19.12-12.26.12

christiAn tuBAu ArJonA & BriAn Jenkins: Arjona's series, "Textures of the earth"; Jenkins' photographs of local musicians. Through December 31 at nectar's in burlington. info, 658-4771.

donA Ann mcAdAms: "A View From the backstretch," photographs and audio stories from the venerable saratoga racecourse, produced in collaboration with the Vermont Folklife Center. Through January 26 at Amy e. Tarrant gallery, Flynn Center, in burlington. info, 652-4510.

'three cAses And A cArryon': Recent works by the Chelsea Collective, a group of international artists who met at london's Chelsea College of Art & Design in 2010. December 21 through 29 at Catherine Dianich gallery in brattleboro. Reception: Friday, December 21, 3-6 p.m. info, 254-9595.

dug nAp: Art Affair by shearer presents prints by the iconic, self-taught burlington artist. Through December 31 at shearer Chevrolet in south burlington. info, 658-1111.

'hArry potter's world: renAissAnce science, mAgic And medicine': A traveling exhibition that uses materials from the national library of Medicine to explore harry potter's world and its roots in Renaissance magic, science and medicine. Through February 1 at Dana Medical library, uVM, in burlington. info, 656-0695.

dok wright: "The love of light," photographs. proceeds benefit Vermont CARes. Through December 31 at Artspace 106 at the Men's Room in burlington. info, 864-2088.

Flynndog in burlington. Reception: Thursday, December 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m. info, 363-4746.

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'celeBrAte the holidAys': new paintings by Carolyn walton, susan bull Riley, Athenia schinto, gail bessette and betty ball, plus jewelry by Tineke Russell. A portion of proceeds benefit sandy Dog nannies of Vermont, a group offering foster care to the canine victims of hurricane sandy. Through January 27 at luxton-Jones gallery in shelburne. info, 985-8223.

of every month, 6-10 p.m. Vote for your favorite piece until awards ceremony at 8:30 p.m. location: Rlphoto, 27 sears lane, burlington. info, publicartschool@gmail.com.

SUSAN HURD 802.660.2032

cAll to Artists

art

Stuck For a Gift?

buRlingTon-AReA shows

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Marianne deVaux: Food-themed artworks. Through February 27 at pine street Deli in burlington. info, 862-9614. Mark Boedges: "one Year Anniversary show," new paintings by the plein-air artist. Through December 29 at Mark boedges Fine Art gallery in burlington. info, 735-7317. Mary angelina: portraiture, abstracts and multimedia work. Through December 31 at salaam and the Men's store in burlington. info, 658-8822.

How About the Gift of Health!!

Matthew & Maggie rose Bogosian: "Folk heart," a brother-sister photography collaboration that explores the relationship between the man-made and natural worlds. Through December 31 at City Market in burlington. info, 861-9700.

Spinning Strength Training Pilates • Yoga Cardio • Weights Sauna

nicholas heilig: work by the burlington artist. Curated by seAbA. Through February 28 at VCAM studio in burlington. info, 859-9222. 'oceanic art and the PerforMance of life': intricately crafted objects, including masks, textiles and weaponry, from indigenous cultures of the pacific islands. Through May 24 at Fleming Museum, uVM, in burlington. info, 656-0750.

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PhiliP Brou: "Central Casting," paintings of veteran film extras. Through February 1 at office hours gallery in burlington.

central

'1861-1862: toward a higher Moral PurPose': An exhibition exploring the experiences of norwich university alumni who fought in the Civil war, featuring photographs, artwork, weapons and equipment, including a cannon likely used by norwich cadets. Through April 30 at sullivan Museum & history Center, norwich university, in northfield. info, 485-2183. artists' Bazaar: Jewelry and cutlery by stacy hopkins; sculpture and wooden platters and bowls by Ria blaas; artwork by Toby bartles; collage and assemblage by David powell; glass work by Robin Mix; and ceramics by Ara Cardew. Through December 24 at scavenger gallery in white River Junction. info, 295-0808. athena tasioPoulos: "Transcend," found photographs embellished with graphite, watercolor and acrylic. Through December 30 at Capitol grounds in Montpelier. info, curator@capitolgrounds.com. 'Beguiled By the wild: the art of charley harPer': Twenty-three serigraph prints by the artist known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters and book illustrations, presented alongside hands-on art activities and a companion exhibit, cartoonists' take on charley

'PhotograPhy By design': work by photographers guided by design principles. Through January 6 at Darkroom gallery in essex Junction. info, 777-3686. 'Projects of 8': work in a variety of media by visual art majors at the Community College of Vermont. Through December 31 at Rose street Co-op gallery in burlington. info, 540-0376.

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'sMall works & ornaMents': Artist-made holiday ornaments and works smaller than 12 square inches; 'sMall gifts under $50': work by 10 local artists, in the backspace gallery. Through January 26 at s.p.A.C.e. gallery in burlington. info, spacegalleryvt.com. 'south end holiday shoP artist Market': Artist-made holiday gifts such as greeting cards, jewelry, glassware and many other crafts. Through December 31 at seAbA Center in burlington. info, 859-9222. steVe clark: watercolor, acrylic and mixedmedia works depicting iconic Vermont scenes. Through February 28 at shelburne Vineyard. info, 985-8222.

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'shaPed Paintings': work by Johnson state College art students. The show is dedicated to the late Marc Awodey, who taught at Johnson for a decade. Through December 23 at Muddy waters in 10/1/12 12:00 PM burlington. info, 635-1315.

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Cindy Griffith For Cindy Griffith, spending time outdoors is the key to creating her evocative landscape

'strength in nuMBers': work by 11 Vermont art teachers who meet twice monthly to work on their own art. Through December 29 at Mezzanine gallery, Fletcher Free library, in burlington. info, 865-7211.

paintings. If bad weather keeps her from

'this Place of Vision: 21st annual winter grouP exhiBit': work by more than a dozen artists, including featured artist Kerry o. Furlani. Through January 31 at Furchgott sourdiffe gallery in shelburne. info, 985-3848.

but not before taking extensive notes about

VerMont artisans craft gallery: Artwork and artisan food and crafts by Kimberly bombard, Karen barry, Annalisa parent, Ann McFarren, Chantal lawrence, Tinka Teresa Martell, ben Thurber and others. Through December 31 at burlington Town Center Mall. info, 863-4600.

those outdoor places to Burlington’s East

'watercolor gone wild': works by Vermont watercolor society members who use mixed media, unusual surfaces and nontraditional painting methods. Through January 20 at Davis Center, uVM, in burlington.

“the veins and contours of a lady slipper, the

we art woMen: work by members of the Vermont art co-op: Vanessa santos eugenio, Katherine Taylor-Mcbroom and Carrie wicks. Through December 31 at uncommon grounds in burlington. info, 865-6227.

shadows and mountain sun or even a child

finishing her work outside, she’ll snap some photos and continue painting in her studio, what it feels like out there in the field. The native Vermonter brings her experiences in Shore Vineyard Tasting Room in a show called “Newest Works.” Griffith draws inspiration, she writes on her website, from glistening splashes of sunlight suspended on the surface of a babbling brook, forest approaching a tulip.” Through December 31. Pictured: “At Rest.”

ART SHOWS

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Sandra Heller Bissex As a child growing up in New Jersey,

Sandra Heller Bissex began thinking about color and light because her father always her two sons to central Vermont in 1968, she began studying calligraphy and got a job as

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calligrapher for the state’s department of education. Eventually, Bissex took the leap to

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making her own art, incorporating photography and sumi brushwork into collages that focus on the very thing her dad once observed: the interplay of dark and light. You’ll

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pointed out the subtleties of the natural world to her. As an adult, and after moving with

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Shifting Gears Gallery at Auto Craftsmen. Pictured: “Sumi Abstraction.”

CAMERON HOWARD: Hand-painted floor cloths. Through December 31 at Collective — the Art of Craft in Woodstock. Info, 457-1298. DAN BARLOW & SCOTT BAER: "Green Mountain Graveyards," photographs of Vermont's historic, artistic and spooky cemeteries. Through December 31 at Main Street Museum in White River Junction. Info, 356-2776.

HOLIDAY SHOW: Member artworks, including small, unframed pieces for holiday gifting. Through January 31 at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction. Info, 295-5901. 'HOLIDAY SHOW 2012': Works priced under $1000. Through January 13 at BigTown Gallery in Rochester. Info, 767-9670. KAT CLEAR & TORIN PORTER: "Unfamiliar Picnic," works by the Vermont sculptors. Through January 4 at Goddard Art Gallery in Montpelier.

thanks for a great year!

KELLY MCMULLEN-FEKERT: "Groovy Green Designs," artworks upcycled from furniture. Through January 1 at Red Hen Bakery & Café in Middlesex. Info, 496-7895. CENTRAL VT SHOWS

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ELLEN URMAN: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..." a variety of mirrors in artist-made ceramic frames. Through January 1 at Contemporary Dance & Fitness Studio in Montpelier. Info, 229-4676.

'EXPRESSIONS': Bronze and alabaster nests, wall sculptures made from found objects and abstract paintings by Blake Larsen, Mareva Millarc, Pat Musick, Polly Whitcomb and Johanne Durocher Yordan. Through January 27 at Vermont Institute of Contemporary Arts in Chester. Info, 875-1018.

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'CELEBRATE': Locally made pottery, scarves, paintings, journals, hobby horses, ornaments, cards, jewelry and more, on sale for the holidays. Through December 28 at Studio Place Arts in Barre. Info, 479-7069.

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HARPER: GRAPHIC WORK FROM THE CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES. Through February 3 at Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich. Info, 649-2200.

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GIFTS

deB runge: "Naturally Vermont," watercolors by the retired elementary school teacher. Through December 28 at Carpenter-Carse Library in Hinesburg. Info, 482-2878.

piper Strong: "Mastering the Figure Through Time: Steel, Brass and Enamel," painted metal constructions of art-history classics. Through January 31 at Montpelier City Hall. Info, 745-8600.

FiFth annuaL hoLiday ShoW: Art and fine crafts by 27 regional artists. Through December 31 at Jackson Gallery, Town Hall Theater, in Middlebury. Info, 382-9222.

Sandra heLLer BiSSex: Photography, sumie brushwork and collages that focus on the interplay of light and dark. Through December 31 at Auto Craftsmen in Montpelier. Info, 229-0086.

'in the Spirit oF the SeaSon': A holiday show of member artworks priced under $200. Through January 15 at Brandon Artists Guild. Info, 247-4956.

'SurvivaL Soup': Collage, painting and mixedmedia work by Randolph artists Travis Dunning, Matthew Riley and Seth Tracy and White River Junction artist Ben Peberdy. Through March 8 at Main Street Museum in White River Junction. Info, 356-2776.

peter WoLF: "Country Life & Rock N Roll," a 33year retrospective of the Jericho photographer's work, from black-and-white nature shots to a portrait of Carlos Santana. Through December 20 at Mt. Mansfield Community Television in Richmond. Info, 434-2550.

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SaM taLBot-KeLLy: "Soiled," sculptures made from harvested scraps and rotten wood from central Vermont. Through January 4 at Christine Price Gallery, Castleton State College. Info, 224-6878. 'SMaLL WorKS ShoW': Paintings, drawings, photographs and mixed-media constructions — all under 14 square inches and $500 — by more than 20 gallery artists; vcevy StreKaLovSKy: Paintings by the 1960 Middlebury College graduate. Through January 2 at Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury. Info, 458-0098. 'trainS! trainS! trainS!': An elaborate, three-level electric-train display with a background painted by local artist Gayl Braisted. Through January 12 at Sheldon Museum in Middlebury. Info, 388-2177.

northern

ann FaiSon: "Backyard Birds and Trees," watercolors. Through January 14 at Parker Pie Co. in West Glover. Info, 525-3366.

Ward Joyce: "Human Landscapes," paintings and drawings that explore the forms of the city and the architecture of the human body. Through January 31 at Hartness Gallery, Vermont Technical College, in Randolph Center. Info, 728-1237.

'Barn paint out': Plein-air paintings of Vermont barns. Through December 28 at Jericho Center Town Hall. Info, 849-2049.

'We are verMont Strong': Artworks created in

4050 Williston Road, South Burlington (in the same building as The Bed Store)

racheL Baird & grazieLLa WeBer-graSSi: "All Manner of Angels," semi-abstract renderings of angels, prints and collages. Through December 30 at ZoneThree Gallery in Middlebury. Info, 249-3562.

tracy peSche: Nature-inspired works in painted wood, clay and wire. Through January 7 at the Cheshire Cat in Montpelier. Info, 223-1981.

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'conteMporary JeWeLS: an oFFering': Works by five artists of Tibetan heritage presented in honor of the Dalai Lama's recent visit to Middlebury. Through January 11 at Davis Family Library, Middlebury College. Info, 443-5235.

Myra hudSon: Landscape and figure oil paintings by the Royalton artist. Through January 18 at Tunbridge Public Library. Info, 889-9404.

theodore Kaye: Photographs from central Asia, including landscapes, images from daily life and scenes from buzkashi, a fierce version of polo on horseback. Through January 27 at Blinking Light Gallery in Plainfield. Info, 454-0141.

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'Light & Space': Work by printmakers Sabra Field and Dan O’Donnell, fiber artist Karen Madden and sculptor Pat Musick. Through May 10 at the Great Hall in Springfield. Info, 885-3061.

'the Mary azarian FaMiLy exhiBit': Paintings, fabric collages, wood-cut prints and books by Ethan Azarian, Melissa Knight, Jesse Azarian, Tim Azarian, Willaiwan Phonjan and Mary Azarian. Through December 31 at Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier. Info, 223-3338.

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'the hoLLy & the ivy': A holiday exhibition and sale of art and fine crafts by local and out-of-state artists. Through January 26 at Nuance Gallery in Windsor. Info, 674-9616.

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CENTRAL VT SHOWS

SuSan aBBott: "Paris/Provence," still-life and landscape paintings. Through January 18 at Central Vermont Medical Center in Barre. Info, 11/19/12 3:35 PM cvmc.org/art-gallery. SuSan BuLL riLey: Oil and watercolor paintings by the Vermont artist. Through February 28 at Vermont Thrush Restaurant in Montpelier. Info, 225-6166.

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Randolph to commemorate the disaster's one-year anniversary. Through December 28 at Governor's Office Gallery in Montpelier. Info, 828-0749.

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'2012 Winter aLL MeMBerS ShoW': An annual exhibit of member artwork. Through January 12 at Chaffee Art Center in Rutland. Info, 775-0356. 'artiStS oF the ForeSt': Abenaki baskets, Acadian wood carvings, birchbark canoes, dogsleds, snowshoes, furniture and more by 13 traditional artists from the Northern Forest region; eL eMigrante de hidaLgo, México: "Imagines de mi Alma/Images From My Soul," paintings, drawings and sculptures by one of the anonymous artists featured in last spring's migrant farmworker project, "Invisible Odysseys"; pete SutherLand: Cut-paper collage by the nationally known Vermont fiddler. Through December 22 at Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury. Info, 388-4964. caroLyn ShattucK: Works created by layering individual monoprint plates over one another to create subtle environments of color, pattern and line. Through April 1 at Brandon Music. Info, 465-4071.

deceMBer ShoW: Bentwood boxes by Carl Newton, photography by Maggy Young and paintings by Jim Foote and Martha Ohliger. Through December 29 at Artist in Residence Cooperative Gallery in Enosburg Falls. Info, 933-6403. gayLeen aiKen: "A Grand View," paintings and drawings of the Vermont landscape made between 1958 and 2000. Through December 31 at GRACE in Hardwick. Info, 472-6857. harLan MacK: "Waking Rage: The Tank Ages," the local sculptor and mixed-media artist's MFA thesis show. Through December 20 at Vermont Studio Center Gallery II in Johnson. Info, 635-1251. 'hidden treaSureS': Works by 25 deceased artists from the personal collections of gallery members; Kevin Fahey & Mary S. Martin: Paintings. Through December 30 at Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville. Info, 644-5100. 'inSpired By gruppe': Work by members of the Northern Vermont Artists Association. Through December 23 at Emile A. Gruppe Gallery in Jericho. Info, 899-3211. Jan reynoLdS: "The Tibetan Blue Collection," photographs taken in the highest region of the Himalayas and on the Nangpa La, an ancient salt trade route. Through December 30 at Galleria Fine Arte in Stowe. Info, 253-7696.

Art ShowS

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Champlain. The moon rises over a block of Church Street that looks as if it’s been made of paper. An intricately patterned fish spills over a row of houses in a wash of color. In her mixed-media drawings, Haley Bishop marries a dreamy surrealism with a rooted sense of place. The artist, who was born in California but has spent most of her life in Vermont, uses pen-and-ink illustration, watercolors, acrylics and computer scans to explore the

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houses, neighborhoods and outdoor spaces that have shaped her. Bishop’s work is at Vintage Inspired in Burlington through December 31. Pictured: “Swimming to Work.”

MichAel lew-sMith: "Portraits in Stone," black-and-white photographs of historic granite cemetery statues and monuments. Through February 26 at Claire's Restaurant & Bar in Hardwick. Info, 472-7053.

‘crossing cultures’: A survey of Australia’s contemporary indigenous art movement from the 1970s to the present drawn from one of the world’s largest collections of aboriginal art. Through March 10 at Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. Info, 603-646-2095.

cArrie hAyes: Bird-focused artwork in watercolors and pastels. Through December 31 at VINS Nature Center in Quechee. Info, 359-5000. lindA durkee: "The Poetry of Color," collages, paintings and photographs. Through January 14 at the Gallery at Equinox Village in Manchester Center. Info, 362-4061.

winter coMMunity Art show: Artwork from around the region. Through December 27 at ROTA Gallery in Plattsburgh, N.Y. winter wAtercolor show: Work by the Vermont Watercolor Society. Through March 2 at DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

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ART 79

‘woMen oF westport Art show & holidAy sAle’: Work in a variety of media by more than a dozen up-and-coming area female artists. Through January 8 at Depot Theatre in Westport, N.Y. Info, 518-962-8680. m

SEVEN DAYS

southern

‘the wAy we worked’: A traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition that uses historical photographs, archival accounts and interactive components, as well as work by Vermont photographer Jack Rowell, to trace the nation’s changing workforce and work environments over the last 150 years. Through January 27 at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H. Info, 603-448-3117.

12.19.12-12.26.12

thoMAs Fuss: "Backroads America," photographs of Americana, from Monument Valley and the California redwoods to Graceland and the murder scenes in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood; 'Figuring it out': Work by participants in River Arts' figure drawing open studio sessions. Through January 7 at River Arts Center in Morrisville. Info, 888-1261.

‘once upon A tiMe... iMpressionisM: greAt French pAintings FroM the clArk’: A traveling exhibit of paintings by Bonnard, Corot, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Millet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley and Toulouse-Lautrec. Through January 20 at Montréal Museum of Fine Arts. Info, 514-285-2000.

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piper strong: "Art on Art," metal wall reliefs that explore masterworks throughout history. Through January 10 at Positive Pie in Hardwick. Info, 745-8600.

Choose from a wide selection of art, pottery, glass and wood products to complete your home decor as well as Vermont specialty foods and gift baskets.

AlysshA csük: Photographs of the region’s operating and abandoned quarries. Through December 31 at Slate Valley Museum in Granville, N.Y. Info, 518-642-1417.

holidAy sAlon: Work by a variety of artists. Through December 24 at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H. Info, 603-448-3117.

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'MeMbers' Art show And FestivAl oF trees & light': Works by member artists exhibited with community-decorated evergreens and a menorah display by the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe. Through December 30 at Helen Day Art Center in Stowe. Info, 253-6131.

MultiMediA MiniAture holidAy group show: Paintings, jewelry, book arts, doll-house fiber arts, photography and other works by Vermont artists. Through December 31 at Island Arts South Hero Gallery. Info, 489-4023.

GIVE A LITTLE PIECE OF VERMONT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

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movies

DIAL 'M' FOR MUDSLINGING Gervasi’s biopic is light on insight and heavy on innuendo and speculation.

Hitchcock ★★

hat do you do when you’ve decided to make a movie based on a book entitled Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho but haven’t been able to secure the right to use even a single frame of Psycho? Well, if you’re director Sacha Gervasi and screenwriter John J. McLaughlin, you attempt to compensate — or, perhaps, to distract — by making a movie based mostly on inference, innuendo and speculation instead. Hitchcock is being marketed as a portrait of a master moviemaker in the process of creating the picture that would prove his greatest commercial success, but it’s less about going behind the scenes than about going behind closed doors. Anthony Hopkins gives one of the least convincing performances of his career in the title role. It doesn’t help that he gives it in a fat suit and under equally unconvincing facial prosthetics, or that much of the time he sounds more like Hannibal Lecter than the film’s subject. Helen Mirren costars as Alma Reville, the maestro’s wife and collaborator. In adapting Stephen Rebello’s 1990 chronicle of Psycho’s production, the screenwriter has taken a number of liberties. The number is a large one. While Hitchcock be-

gins with the director coming off the triumph of North by Northwest and resolving to show audiences he still has a few tricks up his sleeves at 60, the movie’s focus quickly shifts from public relations to private ones. The filmmakers proceed to offer a portrait of the couple’s domestic life that is for the most part unencumbered by fact, an existence McLaughlin imagines as a cross between an Eisenhower-era sitcom and a soap opera. Many scenes, for example, concern comical attempts by the corpulent Alfred to indulge his cravings for food and drink without getting caught in the act by Alma. “There are calories in that, you know,” she nags upon discovering an empty wine glass he’s stashed while reading the just-published Psycho. The pair talks shop at night tucked into twin beds like Wally and Theodore Cleaver. I’m not sure which is more tiresome: the series of fantasy sequences in which Hitchcock interacts with Ed Gein (Michael Wincott), the Wisconsin serial killer who provided the basis for the main character in Robert Bloch’s best seller; or the love triangle Hitchcock’s creators fabricate. You’ve got to wonder about the motives of a writer and director who no sooner inform the viewer that Alma made invaluable contributions to her

husband’s work than they proceed to paint her as an attention-starved woman capable of betraying him with a studio hack (Danny Huston). I found myself wondering about the filmmakers’ motives a lot. I’m not sure why they went to the trouble of dramatizing Hitch’s struggle to get the milestone horror movie made over the protestations of Paramount brass (even taking out a loan on his home to finance it himself ) when their real interests clearly were his idiosyncrasies and flaws. An inordinate portion of this film’s running time is devoted to unflattering depictions of Hitchcock’s well-known foibles and weaknesses. We watch Hopkins sneak snacks like a naughty boy, gulp secret drinks, peer through his office blinds at actresses on the lot and salivate over 8x10 photographs

of leading ladies like he’s looking at internet porn. As if that weren’t demeaning enough, we watch him spy on Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) through a hole in the wall as she undresses, though zero evidence suggests Hitchcock ever did such a thing. So much for the mystery of why Hitchcock’s estate denied permission to use Psycho footage. What can one say, except that Hitchcock is a mediocre film tangentially concerned with the making of an immortal one? Anyone with a passing knowledge of the movie or the man is unlikely to learn much new about either. Gervasi’s latest stretches the truth so frequently and so far it ends up less the story of the genius behind Psycho than a bunch of biographical hooey that’s for the birds. RICK KISONAK

80 MOVIES

SEVEN DAYS

12.19.12-12.26.12

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

REVIEWS Silver Linings Playbook ★★★★

comedy about mental illness is hard to get right. It’s all too easy for filmmakers to trivialize real problems like bipolar disorder by turning them into collections of adorable quirks. But if they take an earnest, politically correct route, where are the laughs? With Silver Linings Playbook (opening in Vermont on December 25), writer-director David O. Russell walks a fine line between those two pitfalls and generally keeps his balance. The result is a romantic comedy for people who don’t like what Hollywood has been calling “romantic comedies” these days. Like the screwball comedies of yore, Silver Linings Playbook, based on Matthew Quick’s novel, is almost frenetically verbal. The frenzied pace and rhythms of the dialogue generate much of the humor, but they also reflect the perilously manic side of protagonist Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper). Pat — a thirtysomething who, at the film’s opening, comes to live with his parents in suburban Philadelpha — has no social filters. Like many cinematic manchildren, he’s in-

capable of tact or subterfuge, bursting with adolescent enthusiasms, but the problems he faces are adult ones. Pat is fresh from eight months in a mental institution, where he landed as part of a plea bargain after brutally assaulting his wife’s lover. He’s convinced that all he needs to do to win his wife back is prove himself a changed man. Armed with this delusion, Pat is sweet, funny and, at times, downright scary, and Cooper does justice to all those aspects. From an actor who has been sleepwalking through his dramatic roles (though showing more liveliness in comedies), it’s a revelatory performance. Russell, whose specialty is voluble, screwed-up families (see: The Fighter), surrounds Pat with characters who remind us that mental illness is a spectrum, not an either/or. There’s his dad (Robert De Niro), a bookie whose ritualistic Eagles fandom easily qualifies as obsessive compulsion; his mom (Jacki Weaver), who enables her husband with game-day treats; and his best friend (John Ortiz), a model suburban dad on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But it’s not till Pat encounters Tiffany (Jennifer

MAD ABOUT YOU Lawrence and Cooper have career-making chemistry in Russell’s dark comedy.

Lawrence), a young widow who shares his tendency to blurt out and act out, that he meets his match. Given her youth, Lawrence’s casting seems questionable on paper; the role clearly calls for a woman who has lived, if not matured. That’s exactly how Lawrence plays it, without a hint of ingenue. Tiffany has Pat’s number immediately, and as she pursues him — over his protestations of eternal love for his estranged spouse — the movie’s central question becomes: Can two troubled people learn to live with each other’s “issues,” perhaps even to love each other? In its second half, Russell engineers a conflict that sends the movie toward something approximating a crowd-pleasing Hollywood finish. That climax — yes, it involves

a dance-off — feels a touch too forced to be entirely satisfying, but it doesn’t damage a film whose real pleasures lie in getting to know these impulsive, imperfect characters. Would viewers relate as easily to Pat and Tiffany if attractive movie stars weren’t playing them? Or would we focus solely on their dysfunction? (Todd Solondz’s recent Dark Horse offers an alternative, almost unbearably grim vision of how a romance between two emotionally disturbed people might look.) It’s hard to say. But the whole movie has an infectious vitality tempered with realism, much like Pat’s not-too-optimistic personal credo: “If you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining.” MARGOT HARRISON

MOVIE CLIPS

NEW IN THEATERS

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: WORLDS AWAY: The surreal world of the circus troupe becomes the setting for a couple’s struggle to reunite in this fantasyspectacle-adventure-thing directed by Andrew (Shrek) Adamson. With Dallas Barnett, Lutz Halbhubner and Erica Linz. (91 min, PG. Essex [3-D], Majestic [3-D]) THE GUILT TRIP: Seth Rogen plays an inventor who somehow finds himself bringing his meddling mom (Barbra Streisand) along on a 3000-mile road trip in this comedy. With Adam Scott. Anne (The Proposal) Fletcher directed. (95 min, PG-13. Essex, Palace) HITCHCOCKHH Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren play the director and his wife, Alma Reville, in this film about the making of Psycho (1960) and the strains it put on their bond. With Scarlett Johansson and Danny Huston. Sacha (Anvil: The Story of Anvil) Gervasi directed. (98 min, PG-13. See review, this issue. Roxy, Savoy) JACK REACHER: Tom Cruise plays Lee Child’s hardboiled detective in this adaptation of the novel One Shot, about the search for a deadly sniper. With Richard Jenkins and Rosamund Pike. Christopher (The Way of the Gun) McQuarrie directed. (130 min, PG-13. Essex, Majestic, Palace, Paramount Roxy) MONSTERS, INC. (3D): The 2001 Pixar animated hit about monsters who generate power for their city by scaring kids returns with a new dimension. With the voices of John Goodman and Billy Crystal. Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich directed. (96 min, G. Essex, Majestic) THIS IS 40: Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their Knocked Up roles as a suburban couple with two kids, now facing the big four-oh, in this comedy from writer-director Judd Apatow. With Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Jason Segel, Megan Fox, Lena Dunham, Apatow’s daughters and virtually everyone else he likes to work with. (134 min, R. Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Palace)

OPENING CHRISTMAS WEEK AND BEYOND

(THEATER LISTS ARE INCOMPLETE; PLEASE CHECK SCHEDULE UPDATES AT SEVENDAYSVT. COM)

LES MISERABLES: Hugh Jackman plays ex-con Jean Valjean in this adaptation of the long-running musical based on Victor Hugo’s novel about politically turbulent France in the 1830s. With Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Sacha Baron Cohen. Tom (The King’s Speech) Hooper directed. (158 min, PG-13. Capitol, Essex, Marquis)

PARENTAL GUIDANCE: Billy Crystal plays a grumpy Gramps enlisted to babysit his spoiled grandkids in this comedy, also starring Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei. Andy (The Game Plan) Fickman directed. (100 min, PG. Capitol, Essex, Stowe)

ratings

H = refund, please HH = could’ve been worse, but not a lot HHH = has its moments; so-so HHHH = smarter than the average bear HHHHH = as good as it gets

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NOW PLAYING

ANNA KARENINAHHHH Keira Knightley and Jude Law star in this adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel about adultery among the 19th-century St. Petersburg aristocracy, scripted by Tom Stoppard and directed by Joe (Atonement) Wright. With Aaron TaylorJohnson and Domhnall Gleeson. (130 min, R. Roxy, Savoy) ARGOHHH Ben Affleck plays a covert agent who uses a daring deception to try to rescue Americans trapped in Iran during the hostage crisis in this drama based on actual events. With John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston. Affleck directed. (120 min, R. Majestic, Roxy) CHASING ICEHHH1/2 Jeff Orlowski’s documentary follows the quest of photographer James Balog to record graphic, undeniable evidence of climate change through global footage of glaciers in retreat. (76 min, PG-13. Savoy)

DROP-OFF DAY Monday, December 31 8am-5pm 331 North Winooski Ave Burlington, VT

• Staff will guide you through the process Drop off your vehicle or just the signed title and keys (Good News Garage will pick-up your vehicle at a later date) and your donation qualifies for a 2012 tax deduction! • Tour the garage. We are now open to the public for quality service and repairs! Your business supports the Good News Garage wheels to work mission. • Holiday refreshments and food provided.

More information? Call 877.GIVE.AUTO (448.3288) or visit www.GoodNewsGarage.org

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEYHHH J.R.R. Tolkien’s relatively brief prequel to The Lord of the Rings, chronicling Bilbo Baggins’ quest to reclaim a dragon’s treasure, is slated to become three long movies. This first installment is directed by LOTR’s Peter Jackson and stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage and Andy Serkis. (170 min, PG-13. Big Picture, Bijou [3-D], Essex [3-D], Majestic [3-D], Marquis [3-D], Palace, Paramount [3-D], Roxy, Stowe, Welden [3-D]) KILLING THEM SOFTLYHHH Brad Pitt plays a mob hitman in this darkly comic thriller based on a George V. Higgins novel and updated to the 2008 recession. With Richard Jenkins and Ray Liotta. Andrew (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) Dominik directed. (98 min, R. Capitol, Essex; ends 12/20) LIFE OF PI HHHH Ang Lee directed this adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel about a zookeeper’s son who finds himself adrift in a boat with an assortment of hungry animals. Starring Adil Hussain, Irrfan Khan and Suraj Sharma. (126 min, PG. Bijou, Capitol [3-D], Essex [3-D], Majestic [3-D], Palace, Roxy, Welden) LINCOLNHHHHH Steven Spielberg directs this look inside Honest Abe’s cabinet during the Civil War, as the president (Daniel Day-Lewis) works to gather the political capital to pass the 13th Amendment. Playwright Tony Kushner scripted. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field. (150 min, PG. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Palace, Roxy) THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWERHHH1/2 Stephen Chbosky directed this adaptation of his 1999 novel about a shy, troubled high schooler (Logan Lerman) who blooms when he joins a group of quirky friends. With Emma Watson and Ezra Miller. (102 min, PG-13. Palace, Stowe) PLAYING FOR KEEPSH1/2 Soccer moms slaver and swoon over Gerard Butler, as a sports star fallen on hard times who finds himself coaching his kid’s team. Will movie-goers be as welcoming to him in this rom com? With Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Gabriele (Seven Pounds) Muccino directed. (106 min, PG-13. Capitol, Essex, Palace; ends 12/20) RED DAWNH1/2 In this remake of the 1984 Cold War flick, teens survive the invasion of the U.S. by North Koreans and learn to fight back. The TV-pretty guerrillas include Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Isabel Lucas. Dan Bradley makes his directorial debut. (93 min, PG-13. Essex, Majestic; ends 12/20) RISE OF THE GUARDIANSHHH Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and other childhood icons team up, Avengers-style, to combat a worldthreatening menace in this DreamWorks family animation. With the voices of Alec Baldwin, Chris NOW PLAYING

» P.83

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802.654.2100 GRADUATE PROGRAMS

MOVIES 81

RATINGS ASSIGNED TO MOVIES NOT REVIEWED BY RICK KISONAK OR MARGOT HARRISON ARE COURTESY OF METACRITIC.COM, WHICH AVERAGES SCORES GIVEN BY THE COUNTRY’S MOST WIDELY READ MOVIE REVIEWERS.

5th Annual

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SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOKHHHH Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence play two people with degrees of mental illness who forge an oddball

• Donate your car, truck, or van in ANY condition. All donations qualify for a tax deduction ranging from $500 to fair market value.

12.19.12-12.26.12

THE LONELIEST PLANETHHH1/2 A backpacking trip strains a young couple’s relationship in this low-key psychological thriller from director Julia Loktev. With Hani Furstenberg and Gael García Bernal. (113 min, NR. Savoy)

TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D: Multiple sequels, a remake and a prequel to the remake apparently all paved the way for this 3D “direct sequel” to Tobe Hooper’s classic horror flick. With Alexandra Daddario and Dan Yeager as Leatherface. John Luessenhop directed. (92 min, R)

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

DJANGO UNCHAINED: Quentin Tarantino goes Southern gothic. Jamie Foxx plays a former slave who sets out to rescue his wife from an evil plantation owner. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz and Kerry Washington. (165 min, R. Capitol, Essex, Marquis, Stowe)

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bond in this dark romantic comedy from director David O. (The Fighter) Russell. With Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker. (122 min, R)

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SHOWtimes

(*) = NEW THIS WEEK IN VERMONT TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. FOR UP-TO-DATE TIMES VISIT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/MOVIES.

BIG PICTURE THEATER

ESSEX CINEMAS & T-REX THEATER

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 6:30. Skyfall 7.

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 11:30 a.m. (3-D), 12:20, 1 (3-D), 2:20, 3:05 (3D), 4, 4:45 (3-D), 6, 6:40 (3-D), 7:40, 8:30 (3-D), 9:40, 10:15 (3-D). Playing for Keeps 1:15, 3:25, 5:35, 7:45, 9:55. Life of Pi 12:30 (3-D), 3:15, 6 (3-D), 8:45. Rise of the Guardians 1 (3-D), 3:15, 5:30 (3-D), 7:45, 10 (3-D). Lincoln 12:30, 3:35, 6:40, 9:30. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 2:20, 9:45. Skyfall 1:15, 4:10, 7:05, 10. Wreck-It Ralph (3-D) 12, 4:50, 7:10.

48 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield, 4968994, bigpicturetheater.info

BIJOU CINEPLEX 4 Rte. 100, Morrisville, 8883293, bijou4.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3:50, 4:10 (3-D), 7, 7:30 (3-D). Life of Pi 3:40. Lincoln 4, 7:15. Rise of the Guardians 6:50. Full schedule not available at press time.

CAPITOL SHOWPLACE

93 State St., Montpelier, 229-0343, fgbtheaters.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 Lincoln 6:10, 9. Playing for Keeps 6:20, 9. Killing Them Softly 9. Life of Pi (3-D) 6:15, 9:05. Skyfall 6:15, 9. Wreck-It Ralph 6:25.

SEVEN DAYS

12.19.12-12.26.12

SEVENDAYSVT.COM

friday 21 — monday 24 *This Is 40 Fri: 6:15, 9. Sat & 12v-CSWD(Compost)121912.indd 1 12/12/12 12:55 PMSun: 12:45, 3:15, 6:15, 9. Mon: 1:15, 6:15, 9. Lincoln Fri: 6:10, 9. Sat & Sun: 12:30, 3:20, 6:10, 9. Mon: 1:15, 6:10, 9. Life of Pi (3-D) Fri: 6:15, 9:05. Sat & Sun: 12:40, 3:30, 6:15, 9:05. If you are a woman: Mon: 1:15, 6:15, 9:05. Skyfall Between the ages of 18 and 42 Fri: 6:15, 9. Sat & Sun: 12:35, 3:30, 6:15, 9. Mon: 1:30, 6:15, Plan to conceive in the next year 9. Rise of the Guardians Fri: 6:30, 9. Sat & Sun: 1, 3, AND .........Have never had a child before 6:30, 9. Mon: 1:30, 6:30, 9.

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If you are interested please call 802-656-0309 for more information.

Say you saw it in...

82 MOVIES

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Schedule changes frequently; call to confirm.

MAJESTIC 10

Full schedule not available at press time. Schedule 11/15/12 11:37 AMchanges frequently; please check website.

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movies

tuesday 25 — thursday 3 *Django Unchained 12:15 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6, 9:15. *Les Misérables 12:15 & 3:15 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6:15, 9. *Parental Guidance 12:45 & 3:10 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6:30, 9. *This Is 40 12:45 & 3:15 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6:20, 9. Lincoln 12:30 & 3:20 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6:10, 9. Rise of the Guardians 3:30 (Wed 26-Tue 1). Theater closed from December 24 at 4 p.m. through December 25 at 5:30 p.m.

21 Essex Way, #300, Essex, 879-6543, essexcinemas.com

friday 21 — monday 24 *Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (3-D) Fri-Sun: 12, 7. Mon: 12. *The Guilt Trip FriSun: 12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:30, 9:50. Mon: 12:30, 2:50, 5:10. *Jack Reacher Fri-Sun: 1:10, 4, 6:50, 9:40. Mon: 1:10, 4. *Monsters, Inc. (3D) Fri-Sun: 12:40 (3-D), 2:50 (3-D), 5, 7:10 (3-D), 9:15. Mon: 12:40 (3-D), 2:50 (3-D), 5. *This Is 40 FriSun: 12:10, 3:20, 6:30, 9:40. Mon: 12:10, 3:20. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Fri-Sun: 11:45 a.m. (3-D), 12:20, 1 (3-D), 2:20, 3 (3-D), 4, 4:45 (3-D), 5:30 (3-D), 6, 7:40, 8:30 (3-D), 9:10 (3-D), 9:40. Mon: 11:45 a.m. (3-D), 12:20, 1 (3-D), 2:20, 3 (3-D), 4, 4:45 (3-D). Rise of the Guardians Fri-Mon: 12, 3:10 (3-D). Lincoln Fri-Sun: 12:30, 3:35, 6:40, 9:30. Mon: 12:30, 3:35. Skyfall Fri-Sun: 9. tuesday 25 — friday 28 *Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (3-D) 12:10 (except Tue), 4:20, 6:25, 8:30 (except Thu). *Django Unchained 12:30 (except Tue), 4:15, 8:15. *The Guilt Trip 1:10 (except Tue), 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50. *Jack Reacher 1:10 (except Tue), 4, 6:50, 9:40. *Les Misérables 11:45 a.m. (except Tue), 3, 6:15, 9:30. *Monsters, Inc. (3D) 12:15 (except Tue; 3-D), 2:15 (except Tue), 3:05 (3-D), 5:10, 7:15 (3-D). *Parental Guidance 12:20 (except Tue) 2:40, 5, 7:20, 9:40. *This Is 40 12:10 (except Tue), 3:20, 6:30, 9:30. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 12:40 (except Tue), 2:20, 4:30 (3-D), 5:40, 8:20 (except Thu; 3-D), 8:30 (Thu only), 9:05. Lincoln 11:55 a.m. (except Tue), 9:15.

190 Boxwood St. (Maple Tree Place, Taft Corners), Williston, 878-2010, majestic10.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 *Monsters, Inc. (3D) 12:10, 2:25, 4:40, 6:50, 9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 11:50 a.m. (3-D), 12:50, 2:30 (3-D), 3:20 (3-D), 4:30, 6 (3-D), 6:50 (3-D), 8:15, 9:30 (3-D). Rise of the Guardians (3-D) 1:30, 3:50, 6:10, 8:30. Life of Pi (3-D) 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:15. Red Dawn 4:10, 9:10. Lincoln 12, 3:10, 6:20, 9:35. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 1, 4, 7, 9:30. Skyfall 12:40, 3:45, 6:40, 9:40. Argo 1:20, 6:35. friday 21 — sunday 23 *Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (3-D) 12, 7. *Jack Reacher 1, 4, 6:50, 9:40. *Monsters, Inc. (3D) 10:45 a.m., 12:55, 3:05, 5:15, 7:25, 9:35. *This Is 40 12:40, 3:40, 6:30, 9:25. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 11:20 a.m., 11:40 a.m. (3-D), 2:20 (3-D), 2:50, 3:10 (3-D), 6 (3-D), 6:20, 6:40 (3-D), 9:30 (3-D), 9:50, 10:05 (3-D). Rise of the Guardians (3-D) 12, 2:10, 4:30, 9:10. Life of Pi (3-D) 12:30, 3:30, 6:15, 9:05. Lincoln 11:50 a.m., 3, 6:10, 9:20. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 2, 7:15. Skyfall 11 a.m., 4:20, 9:35.

MARQUIS THEATRE 65 Main St., Middlebury, 388-4841, marquisvt.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 7 (2-D and 3-D). Skyfall 7. friday 21 — monday 24 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2-D and 3-D) Fri: 7:30. Sat & Sun: 1, 7. Mon: 1. Skyfall Fri: 6, 9. Sat & Sun: 1:30, 6, 9. Mon: 1:30. tuesday 25 — sunday 30 *Django Unchained Tue: 7. Wed-Sun: 2, 7. *Les Misérables Tue: 6:30. Wed-Sun: 1:30, 6:30. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Tue: 7:30. WedSun: 1, 4 (3-D), 7:30.

MERRILL’S ROXY CINEMA

222 College St., Burlington, 864-3456, merrilltheatres.net

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 1, 2, 5, 6, 8:15, 9:15. Anna Karenina 1:10,

1/11/12 11:35 AM

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3:45, 6:20, 9:05. Life of Pi 1:20, 4, 6:50, 9:10. Lincoln 1, 3:40, 6:30, 9:15. Skyfall 1:05, 3:50, 6:35, 9:20. friday 21 — thursday 27 *Hitchcock Fri-Sun: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9:10. Mon: 5. Tue: 5, 7, 9:10. Wed & Thu: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9:10. *Jack Reacher Fri-Sun: 1:10, 3:50, 6:40, 9:25. Mon: 1:10, 3:50. Tue: 6:40, 9:25. Wed & Thu: 1:10, 3:50, 6:40, 9:25. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Fri-Sun: 1:15, 2:15, 4:40, 6, 8, 9:15. Mon: 4:40. Tue: 4:40, 6, 8, 9:15. Wed & Thu: 1:15, 2:15, 4:40, 6, 8, 9:15. Anna Karenina Fri-Sun: 1:05, 3:30, 6:20, 9. Mon: 1:05, 3:30. Tue: 6:20, 9. Wed & Thu: 1:05, 3:30, 6:20, 9. Lincoln Fri-Sun: 12:55, 3:40, 6:30, 9:20. Mon: 12:55, 3:40. Tue: 6:30, 9:20. Wed & Thu: 12:55, 3:40, 6:30, 9:20.

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 6:30, 7 (3-D). friday 21 — monday 24 *Jack Reacher Fri: 6:15, 9. Sat & Sun: 12:40, 3:15, 6:15, 9. Mon: 1:30, 6:15, 9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3-D) 1:15 (SatMon only), 6, 9:15. tuesday 25 — thursday 3 *Jack Reacher 12:40 & 3:15 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6:15, 9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3-D) 1:15 (Wed 26-Tue 1), 6, 9:15. Theater closed from December 24 at 4 p.m. through December 25 at 5:30 p.m.

THE SAVOY THEATER

Schedule may change; call ahead to confirm.

26 Main St., Montpelier, 2290509, savoytheater.com

PALACE CINEMA 9

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 Chasing Ice 6:30, 8:15. Anna Karenina 6, 8:30.

10 Fayette Dr., South Burlington, 864-5610, palace9.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 ***Met Opera Encore: La Clemenza di Tito Wed: 6:30. *The Guilt Trip 12:25, 2:35, 4:45, 7, 9:10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 12:30, 2:30, 4, 6, 7:30, 9:15. Playing for Keeps 6:45 (Thu only), 9. Life of Pi 1, 3:50, 6:40, 9:20. Rise of the Guardians 1:25, 3:45. Lincoln 12:20, 3:25, 6:20, 9:15. The Sessions 3:40, 9:05 (Thu only). Skyfall 12:40, 3:35, 6:30, 9:25. Wreck-It Ralph 1:30, 4:05. Argo 6:35, 9:10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 1:15, 6:50. friday 21 — sunday 23 *The Guilt Trip 11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:10, 7, 9:10. *Jack Reacher 12:55, 3:50, 6:40, 9:30. *This Is 40 12:45, 3:40, 6:45, 9:35. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 11 a.m., 12:30, 2:30, 4, 6, 7:30, 9:15. Life of Pi 6:35, 9:20. Rise of the Guardians 11:10 a.m., 1:25, 3:55. Lincoln 12:20, 3:25, 6:20, 9:15. Skyfall 12:25, 3:30, 6:30, 9:25. Argo 3:45, 9:10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 11:05 a.m., 1:20, 6:50. monday 24 *The Guilt Trip 11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:10. *Jack Reacher 12:55, 3:50. *This Is 40 12:45, 3:40. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 11 a.m., 12:30, 2:30, 3:20. Rise of the Guardians 11:10 a.m., 1:25, 3:55. Lincoln 12:20, 3:25. Skyfall 12:25, 3:30. Argo 3:45. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 11:05 a.m., 1:20.

PARAMOUNT TWIN CINEMA 241 North Main St., Barre, 479-9621, fgbtheaters.com

friday 21 — thursday 27 *Hitchcock 1 & 3:30 (Sat, Sun, Wed & Thu only), 6:30, 8:30. *The Loneliest Planet 1:30 (Wed & Thu only), 6 & 8:15 (Tue-Thu only). Chasing Ice 1:30 (Sat & Sun only), 6 & 8 (Fri-Mon only).

STOWE CINEMA 3 PLEX 454 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4678. stowecinema.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 7. Skyfall 7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 7. friday 21 — thursday 27 *Django Unchained Tue: 5, 8. Wed & Thu: 2, 5, 8. *Parental Guidance Tue: 4:30, 7, 9. Wed & Thu: 2:30, 4:30, 7, 9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Fri: 6:15, 9:15 Sat: 2:30, 6:15, 9:15. Sun: 2:30, 7. Tue: 5, 8. Wed & Thu: 2, 5, 8. Skyfall Fri: 6:30, 9:15. Sat: 2:30, 6:30, 9:15. Sun: 2:30, 7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower Fri: 7, 9:10. Sat: 2:30, 7, 9:10. Sun: 2:30, 7. Theater closed on Christmas Eve Day.

WELDEN THEATRE 3 104 No. Main St., St. Albans, 527-7888, weldentheatre3.com

wednesday 19 — thursday 20 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 5, 5:15 (3-D), 8:15, 8:30 (3-D). Life of Pi 7:30. Rise of the Guardians 5. Full schedule not available at press time.

NOW PLAYING

MOVIE CLIPS

« P.81

Pine, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. Peter Ramsey directed. (97 min, PG. Bijou, Essex [3-D], Majestic [3-D], Palace, Welden) THE SESSIONSHHHH In this fact-based drama, John Hawkes portrays a poet paralyzed by polio who turns to a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) so he can lose his virginity. With William H. Macy. Ben Lewin wrote and directed. (95 min, R. Palace; ends 12/20) SKYFALLHHHH Sam (Revolutionary Road) Mendes directed the latest James Bond adventure, in which the superspy (Daniel Craig) faces a threat to M-16 from within. With Helen McCrory, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes. (143 min, PG-13. Big Picture, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Palace, Roxy, Stowe) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2HH1/2 Having an insta-grow vampire daughter can be such a pain when the other vamps refuse to accept her and threaten your clan with bloody annihilation. Yes, this is finally the end. With Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, plus Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen. Bill Condon (Breaking Dawn Part 1) directed. (116 min, PG-13. Essex, Majestic) WRECK-IT RALPHHHHH In this animated family comedy, an old-school video-arcade villain (voiced by John C. Reilly) leaves his game on a quest for self-realization. But can he find a place in the world of modern gaming? With the voices of Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer. Rich Moore directed. (108 min, PG. Capitol, Essex [3-D], Palace; ends 12/20)

NEW ON VIDEO

ARBITRAGEHHH1/2 Richard Gere plays a venture capitalist who finds himself in hot water for his dodgy dealings in this financial thriller from writerdirector Nicholas Jarecki. With Susan Sarandon and Brit Marling. (100 min, R) DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYSHH1/2 The titular weakling (Zachary Gordon) returns for a

summer adventure wherein he attempts to pass himself off as the employee of a swanky country club. With Steve Zahn, Robert Capron and Devon Bostick. David Bowers directed. (93 min, PG)

Our recycling bin flew the coop!

We have it — it’s on our porch!

Speaking of porch, did you know FPF is now in 85 VT towns?

KILLER JOE: A drug dealer takes out a hit on his mom, enlisting the brutal services of Matthew McConaughey, in this Southern gothic from director William (The Exorcist) Friedkin. With Emile Hirsch and Juno Temple. (103 min, R. Look for our web-exclusive review this Friday.) PITCH PERFECTHHH Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow play members of an all-female college a capella group who go for broke in their battle with the boys. With Rebel Wilson. Director Jason Moore makes his feature debut. (112 min, PG-13) PREMIUM RUSHHHH Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a bike messenger who finds himself delivering a dangerous package in this thriller from director David Koepp. With Michael Shannon and Dania Ramirez. (91 min, PG-13) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTIONH In the fifth film based on the zombie apocalypse video games, Milla Jovovich continues to try to save the world from an evil corporation’s virus. With Michelle Rodriguez and Sienna Guillory. Paul W.S. Anderson directed. (97 min, R) SLEEPWALK WITH MEHHHH1/2 Standup comic Mike Birbiglia brings the autobiographical tale he told on “This American Life” to the screen. With Carol Kane and Kristen Schaal. Birbiglia and Seth Barrish directed. (91 min, NR)

Living Wa ers Family Church

Loving God - Ser ving People

“Come join us as we worship the God that cares about you and your life, the God that still performs miracles today, the God that loves you more than you know.”

TOTAL RECALLHH A blue-collar worker’s vacation in virtual reality turns into a thrill ride that makes him doubt everything about his life in this remake of the 1990 sci-fi flick. With Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Bokeem Woodbine. (118 min, PG-13) TROUBLE WITH THE CURVEHHH An aging baseball scout (Clint Eastwood) reconnects with his estranged daughter (Amy Adams) and proves he can still spot talent. Robert Lorenz makes his feature directing debut. (111 min, PG-13)

Sunday Service 10 a.m. Pastor JD Duval 5 David Drive • Essex Junction, VT • 802-310-9666 www.thelivingwatersfamilychurch.org 6h-livingwaters112112.indd 1

11/19/12 12:33 PM

movies you missed

SEVENDAYSVT.COM 12.19.12-12.26.12

68: The Story of Film: An Odyssey

This week in Movies You Missed: A contrarian Film 101 course says no, the story of film is not all about Hollywood. SEVEN DAYS

hat are the “rules” of making movies? What does Taxi Driver have in common with a Godard film? How did film separate itself from theater? Who did the first movie close-up? The first editing? Who was the first movie star? How did Hollywood get so important?

MOVIES 83

All these questions are addressed in the first three episodes of The Story of Film, a highly idiosyncratic documentary series. Mark Cousins, a film historian from northern Ireland who likes to wear kilts (pictured) directed this 15-hour illustrated history of the art form based on his book of the same name... MAR GO T H AR R IS O N Find the rest in our Movies section at sevendaysvt.com. 4T-Zutano121912.indd 1

12/18/12 5:49 PM

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NEWS QUIRKS by roland sweet Curses, Foiled Again

Authorities intercepted two boxes containing 100 grams of cocaine and 3 kilos of methamphetamine being shipped to the Philippines via FedEx, but they couldn’t identify the sender until Gabriel Uribe-Bautista, 37, of Redwood City, Calif., called FedEx two weeks later asking why his packages hadn’t arrived, and gave his name and whereabouts. (Palo Alto Daily News)

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12/18/11 2:34 PM

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12/14/12 2:04 PM

The Weather Channel announced it is “the first national organization in North America to proactively name winter storms.” TWC, which claims a 76 percent share of the U.S. weather audience, assumes other media and the government will also use its names. The announcement said names will follow a Greek-Roman theme, starting with Athena, Brutus and Caesar, and be assigned to any storm with the potential “to produce disruptive impacts including snowfall, ice, wind and temperature.” One of TWC’s few competitors, AccuWeather, didn’t mention assigning its own names but expressed concern “about the lack of strict criteria with naming winter storms.” TWC meteorologist Bryan Norcross said having everyone use TWC’s name “will mean fewer surprises and more preparation,” making bad weather safer. (The Washington Post)

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Mistakes Were Made

Weather Team

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11/19/12 3:30 PM

Beauty Under the Skin

84 news quirks

SEVEN DAYS

12.19.12-12.26.12

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Julia Garcia claimed she was Christmas shopping at a Walmart store in San Antonio, Texas, and handed a $100 bill to the cashier, who informed her the bill was fake and tore it in half “without performing any counterfeit detection test.” When Garcia complained, the cashier called the manager. Garcia showed him a second $100 bill, which he tore up. The manager then detained Garcia and called police. She said she was held for four hours at the front of the store, where store employees informed curious shoppers that Garcia was caught passing fake money. Police determined the bills were genuine and told the manager to give Garcia $200. She then filed a complaint asking $74,900 in damages from the store. (Britain’s Daily Mail) A 46-year-old woman died and three others were hospitalized after receiving a beauty treatment at a Hong Kong clinic. The procedure involves blood transfusions and is being tested as a cancer treatment. Until it’s approved, however, it is being used for cosmetic purposes, according to Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, which reported the woman died of septic shock. (Associated Press)

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12/14/12 3:40 PM

Job Insecurity

Robots are taking jobs from dolphins working for the Navy. Starting in 2017, the service will replace 24 of its 80 minehunting dolphins with 12-foot unmanned vehicles. The robots can be made quickly and used instantly, whereas dolphins need seven years of training before they’re able to warn of undersea mines and terrorist divers. The displaced dolphins will join sea lions as port security guards. (Associated Press)

Under the Law’s Nose

A thief robbed a Hobart hotel where dozens of police officers, gathered from all over New Zealand for the National Police Football Championships, were busy drinking. They didn’t notice a hotel employee chasing the suspect, who stole a few hundred dollars from a cash drawer in another part of the hotel when the worker stepped away for a moment. The suspect escaped, but police promised, “His arrest is imminent. We have good CCTV footage.” (Hobart’s The Mercury)

New Twist on Flashing

A bartender called police in Athens, Ohio, to report a man outside in the middle of the afternoon put a Taser down his pants and was “acting like it was his penis.” According to the police report, “When people would walk by, he would shock it at them and would come as close as arm’s reach from them and set the Taser off. He scared a few girls so much they crossed the street to get away.” (Athens Banner-Herald)

Better Than FEMA Trailers New York City spent just under $1 million for 120 hotel rooms that sat empty after Hurricane Sandy. The Department of Homeless Services reserved the rooms at the midtown-Manhattan Milford Plaza Hotel in case more displaced people wanted them, but none applied. The city, which relocated people from temporary shelters to 29 other hotels, expects FEMA to reimburse it. (The Wall Street Journal)

Who Reads Signs?

After two women entered Detroit’s Eastern District police headquarters last year carrying three hand grenades in a shopping bag, the station posted a sign on the door: “NO WEAPONS OF ANY KIND (including hand grenades).” This November, a man brought a grenade in a flowerpot into the building. “I met him at the door,” Officer Willie Soles said, “and he said he found it under his mother’s porch.” After evacuating the building, including about 30 prisoners, the bomb squad and Homeland Security personnel removed the grenade and detonated it. (The Detroit News)

REAL

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY DECEMBER 20-26

Channel 15

MATTY & STECH VARIETY HOUR (LIVE) MOnDaYS > 7 pM

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

In 2013, I pledge to conspire with you to achieve more mixtures, connections, accords and unifications than you ever thought possible. I will furthermore be a fount of suggestions about how you can live well in two worlds. I will coach you to create a peace treaty with your evil twin and your nemesis, and I will help you develop a knack for steering clear of other people’s bad ideas and sour moods. I can’t of course guarantee that you will never again experience a broken heart, but I swear I will do everything I can do to heal the broken part of your heart that you’ve been suffering from.

SCORPIO

(May 21-June 20): In the year 1900, few people believed that human beings would ever fly through the sky in machines. Most scientists thought that such a feat was impossible. For years, the Wright Brothers had a hard time convincing anyone to believe their flights were actually taking place, even though they had photos and witness reports as documentation. Although the leap you’ll be capable of in 2013 isn’t quite as monumental as the Wright Brothers’, it could be pretty important in the history of your own life. You may also have to deal with skepticism akin to what they had to face. Be true to your vision, Gemini!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In 2013, I predict

you will see why it’s wise to phase out an influence you have loved to hate for far too long. Uncoincidentally, you will also have a talent for purging emotional burdens and psychic debris that you’ve been holding on to since the bad old days. No later than your birthday, if all goes well, you will be free from a subtle curse you’ve been casting on yourself; you will finally be attending to one of your longneglected needs; and you will have turned some rather gawky, half-assed wizardry into a smooth and silky magic.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 2013, I pledge to

help you raise your lovability. It’s not that you are unlovable now, of course, but there’s always room for improvement, right? And if people become even more attracted to you than they already are, then you’re likely to get a lot of collaborative and cooperative work done. You will thrive as you and your allies work on projects that make your corner of the world a better and more interesting place. So what are the first three actions you could take to raise your lovability?

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): First question: Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’m afraid I will never achieve my noblest dreams or live according to my highest ideas”? Answer: There’s a very good chance that in the coming year you will banish that fear from the sacred temple of your imagination. Second question: Have you ever wondered if maybe you unconsciously undermine the efforts of people who are trying to assist you? Answer: In the coming months you should discover exactly what to do to prevent such a thing from happening. Third question: Do you know the single most important question you should be asking in 2013? Answer: I predict you will figure that out sometime in the next three weeks.

VYO ORCHESTRAPALOOZA TueSDaY 12/25 > 8 pM Channel 17

TOwARdS

A PEOPLES’ BUdgET (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 2013, I friDaY 12/21 > 4 pM will do what I can to ensure that your fiscal biorhythms are in close alignment with the gET MORE InfO OR wATCH OnLInE AT universal cash flow. You should have pretty vermont cam.org • retn.org CH17.TV good instincts about this worthy project yourself, Scorpio. And so there’s an excellent chance that your wealth will increase. The upgrade will be especially dramatic if you 16t-retn121912.indd 1 12/17/12 are constantly scheming about how you can share your riches and benefit other people with your generosity. I think there will also be an interesting fringe benefit if you maintain maximum integrity as you enhance your access to valuable resources: You will develop a more useful relationship with your obsessive tendencies.

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When he was 21, the Capricorn writer Jack London set off to prospect for gold in the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush. He had a rough time there. Malnourished, he suffered from scurvy and 651-1054 leg pain. To make matters worse, he didn’t 15 Center St find much gold and returned home broke. On the other hand, he met scores of adventure (above Daily Planet) seekers who told him stories of their travels. These tales served as rich raw material for his novel The Call of the Wild, published in 1903. 16t-octobertearoom121912.indd 1 12/14/12 It made him famous and is generally regarded as his masterpiece. I’m guessing you will begin a similar trajectory in 2013, Capricorn. Events that may at first seem less than successful Now Open in Ferrisburgh will ultimately breed a big breakthrough. in the old Honey Gardens honey house AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I can’t force you to seek more pleasure in 2013. I won’t nag you to play harder and explore the frontiers of feeling really good. However, I will say this: If you don’t plan to put yourself into at least partial alignment with the cosmic mandate to Barr Hill Gin & Barr Hill Vodka, have maximum fun, you may not get the best Caledonia Elderberry Cordial use out of the advice I’ll be offering through Caledonia Winery Honey my horoscopes in the coming year. Please Wine/ Mead consider the possibility of ramping up your capacity for pure enjoyment.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY 85

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In 2013, I will be encouraging you to journey into the frontiers and experiment with the unknown. I will seek to inspire you to go in search of teachings you’ve needed for a long time. Are you ready for this expansion, Libra? Are you feeling a

MOnDaY 12/24 > 8 pM

SEVEN DAYS

to help you cultivate an even more reliable relationship with your intuitions and hunches than you already have. You may not need much guidance from me, since the astrological omens indicate this will happen quite naturally. There’s another kind of inspiration I hope to offer you in the coming months: clues about how to be “bad” in ways that will

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12.19.12-12.26.12

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 2013, I’d like

natural urge to explore forbidden zones and discover missing secrets and mess with your outmoded taboos? As you might imagine, doing this work would motivate you to develop a healthier relationship with your fears. To bolster your courage, I suggest you find some new freedom songs to sing.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Isaac Newton is regarded as one of the most influential scientists in history. But the time he spent as a member of the English Parliament was undistinguished. The only public comment he ever made while serving there was a request to close the window because he was cold. Basketball star Michael Jordan had a similar schism. In the prime of his outstanding career, he took a year off to try playing baseball, which he did poorly. After analyzing 2013’s astrological aspects, Aries, I’m guessing that you should cultivate a firm intention to avoid doing what Newton and Jordan did. Keep playing to your strengths and emphasizing what you love. Don’t get sidetracked by peripheral concerns.

give your goodness more vigor. And when I say “bad,” I’m not referring to nastiness or insensitivity, but rather to wildness and playfulness and experimentation. Here’s one further service I want to provide, Taurus: helping you build a greater capacity to receive gifts, blessings and support.

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thE fuN Stuff I value fun, laughter and companionship and can’t imagine a day without a long hike in the woods with my dogs. I’m transitioning from a decadeslong profession to one that thrills me as I navigate graduate school. I’m excited about the prospect of sharing myself with a woman who gets it. sassafrass28, 56, l KiND, fuNNY, cutE, ShY ok ladies here goes ... I’m not very good at this so hope you will understand. I’m kind, sweet, honest, funny and a hopeless romantic. I have a lot of interests so if curious drop me a line. love to here from you. Thanks for reading my profile :). cowabanga, 42, l

Women seeking Men

lifE’S too Short I probably shouldn’t be doing this, actually I know I shouldnt be doing this. But how am I ever going to know what it’s truly like to be in love if I am never presented with the opportunity? someonelikeyou121212, 25 KiND, loVE to wAtch SPortS I am a kind person. an average person that is nice to everyone. I am professional during the day and very relaxed and down-to-earth at home. I love hockey, football and lacrosse. need someone to watch sports with, relax by a camp fire or go for a walk. luv2watchsports, 43, l

VoluPtouS womAN wANtiNg frESh StArt so I’m new to this, so not sure what to say. I’m a larger woman looking for an honest man who will take me the way I am. I’m honest and loyal to a fault. I’m tired of games, lying and cheating, so if you aren’t a one-woman man please keep looking. I tolerate many things but not dishonesty. poeticbabs, 43, l SwEEt chArmEr wANtED! I like to have fun and be spontaneous and adventurous. I love bunnies and seahorses. I would like to be cuddled and treated well. I like to take hikes and swim with my dogs. I like to watch movies and do somewhat old ladyish things like knitting, sewing and reading chick novels. I love dancing to tight beats. Do you? gunitsma, 26, l ArE You StroNgEr thAN mE? Fun, cynical and caring woman looking for my tall, dark and handsome. all applicants must have a valid license, good references, a strong resume, and the ability to work well with others and as a leader. preference given to musicians, or those with musical qualities, really tall men and earned confidence. all applicants encouraged to apply. tahrion, 26, l

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EASYgoiNg I am open-minded and caring. I am passionate about my job, but I always leave my work at the office. I love to cook and try new foods. I enjoy going for walks and hikes. I enjoy playing ice hockey as well. I have lived in Vermont for the past four years and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. djlef203, 26, l chArtiNg A NEw courSE 2You recently separated and charting a new course to meet a new female companion. I’m a financially secure and successful business professional hoping to meet someone interesting somewhere in VT. Your age is unimportant to me, but I’d prefer a shared physical and intellectual chemistry between us to enhance our time together. not looking for a serious lTr ... but who knows? Vtsailsguy, 51, l

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NEw ADVENturES I’m looking to get back out there! I am a native Vermonter, and while I don’t love everything about this state, something always draws me back. I love to cook, travel, have a son whom I adore, and couldn’t live without good food and good music. I am seeking new adventures, in life and in dating. BlueEyedgirl, 28, women seeking men What is the one thing that you love that everybody else hates? grocery shopping. fuN, lAiD-BAcK, outgoiNg, ShArP Wanna meet new people and have good times, whether it’s shredding some gnar, checking out local food and music, or cutting loose with a few drinks and a doob. always up for something new, having a good laugh and getting down to Marvin Gaye. Whether you’re looking for a one night stand or a few, let’s meet up for a drink! BVtarzan, 23, l tAll ABStrAct ArtiSt SEEKiNg You Well, here I am. I love life. no, really, I love life. The simplicity of truthful human interaction is special all unto itself. The rest of life just naturally takes place. I am an abstract painter and residential counselor. I do not take life too seriously, but I show up for the serious stuff that occurs. fromlAtoBtV, 35, l

jAcK-of-All-trADES SEEKS jANE I’m a person who likes to stay busy so I work quite a bit. When I’m not working, I want to relax and have a good time. I love to laugh, and you should too. looking for friendship at first with no pressure for anything further. Video_802, 19, l AN ExEcutiVE iS humAN! executive at local firm, but also could be your bartender ;-), or the guy changing your tire. Friends tell me I’m a great listener and provider, and I adapt well to my partner. enjoy having fun where some cannot play, but needs to amuse and delight my partner. life is awesome! mark90h, 44, l

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Naughty LiL’ girL Needs daddy I’ve been left unsupervised and have been a very naughty lil’ girl. I think daddy needs to put me over his knee and give me a spanking. It’s okay if daddy is younger than me. I have a lot of energy and need someone that can keep up. shybabyshyla, 40, l LadyLoviN’ Looking for some fun, NSA, discreet encounters that will rock our worlds! LadyLovin, 25, l spaNkiNg LessoNs Superbly dominant and beautiful mistress seeks serious subs to serve Her. So many fetishes ... so little time. Come worship at my feet or be tortured at my whim. Check out my beautiful dungeon and come and play with a serious but sane Dominatrix who will have you begging for more. Respectful subs may contact me to chat. evawinters, 43, l crazy Wanna get crazy looking for more fun in my sex life. I’m looking for girls, guys, couples to have fun with that are sexually into bondage and submissive looking to be akin advantage of and controlled the harder the better. Wannagetcrazy7, 24

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Other seeking? coupLe seekiNg extra We are a young, extremely sexual couple seeking an extra female or couple for added pleasure. My husband is a energetic lover and eager to please. And loves to lick pussy ;). We’ve had threesome with another male and now its his turn :). We seek discreet encounters since our professional life is in the open. More pics upon request. seekingexcitement8084, 28 meoW meoW meoW meoW etc. Professional, good shape, educated, attractive, yada yada yada. Burlington areola couple looking for another couple or woman of similar description for fun. We’re new to this so take it easy on us. No BBW’s or necrophilia. Maybe once we’ve gotten used to this whole scene and/or are extremely drunk. We’re relatively adventurous, definitely not vanilla. WWJdp, 35, l testiNg the Water We are looking for a girl to causally grab a beer and see where it goes. Him: 6’0, dark hair, athletically thin (cyclist). Her: 5’5, blond, very fit and voluptuous. Both clean, intelligent and healthy, just looking to have some fun. checkingitout, 24, l coupLe LookiNg for some fuN Decent-looking couple, clean, relatively good shape, very sexual, active, fun, looking to switch things up a bit. Looking for an attractive girl or guy to join. Must be clean, and somewhat normal. If you’re interested email. curiouscouple802, 30, l

Your guide to love and lust...

mistress maeve Dear Mistress,

I just started dating this guy, and I know he doesn’t have any plans for New Year’s Eve. He knows I always go to a house party with my best friends, and he’s been fishing for an invitation. I like him and want to continue seeing him, but I think it’s too soon to spend such a big holiday together and introduce him to all of my friends. Not to mention that last year’s party got really weird when the guy I was dating turned into a drunken animal at midnight and started running around screaming, “Happy New Year!” and exploding champagne bottles all over my friend’s furniture. I still haven’t lived that one down. Needless to say, I’m nervous to bring another new guy around this year. How do I tell him I like him but don’t want him to come to the party?

Signed,

Dear Midnight Blue,

midnight Blue

There is nothing worse than bringing the drunken idiot to the party, so I get why you’re apprehensive about bringing another guy to your annual fete. Further, I think it’s wise not to rush into a holiday like New Year’s Eve with a new love interest. With the exception of Valentine’s Day, New Year’s is the most nauseatingly romantic holiday of the year. If your gut is telling you it’s too soon to ring in 2013 with this guy, you have to let him know you won’t be kissing him at midnight. As usual, honesty is the best policy. Good relationships are built on setting boundaries and being honest; don’t shy away from that. Let him know that you’re into him, but explain that you’d prefer to get to know one another better before introducing him to your friends (especially on a holiday). I wouldn’t tell him about your date’s faux pas last year — your ex-boyfriend’s antics have nothing to do with your new man. Ask him if he wants to hang out on New Year’s Day instead. If you do brunch, you can toast and share a kiss when the clock strikes twelve, noon.

Need advice?

seveN days

kiNky coupLe seeks suBmissive We are a couple, D/s, playful and communicative. Both 23, UVMers and looking for a third to join us. Both fit and healthy, seeking same. We are into breath play, predicaments, rope bondage, electroplay, choking and some anal play. Looking for submissive, open-minded and fun girl to join us. Can host. 2kinkycurious, 24, l

curious seNsuaL coupLe We are a curious couple in our late 20s looking for another couple for full swap and sharing. He wants to watch her get it doggy style while tasting a woman for her first time. Open and eager to try out new things. Both of us are good looking and h&wp. twoofus, 29

12.19.12-12.26.12

Cheers,

Email me at mistress@sevendaysvt.com or share your own advice on my blog at sevendaysvt.com/blogs

PERSONALS 89

fuN faNtasy fuLfiLLmeNts! I sometimes have dreams. Very sexy dreams. I need a woman who is up for anything! Role-playing would be fun. Any ladies interested? You fulfill passioN thirsty sex sLave mine and I’ll fulfill yours! sublime, 29 I’m looking for some excitement 1x1c-mediaimpact030310.indd 1 3/1/10and 1:15:57 PM want to explore everything out there. I guiNNess records Notes escape love to have fun and live in the moment. My partner likes to be captured and I’m always looking for new things and tries hard to escape. She is eager want to share that with someone for that attention, knowing she will else who’s super fun to be with! I am always be safe. And then can totally really caring and considerate but enjoy being on the edge or edging. It’s looking to keep my sex life separate so important to make the experience and uncomplicated! sexy12, 21, l intense but fulfilling for both partners, not only one. I want to see her magicaLLy deLicious frisky nature. mark90W, 44, l I’m just looking for a good time. I’m easygoing, and like NothiNg But pLeasure to have fun. dejlil88, 23 Look for a woman to be my sex companion. Not looking for anything couNtry cutie Needs pLaymate serious, just looking for a woman that I am looking for more adventure in wants to get together sooner rather my life. Seeking woman or couple for than later for sex, foreplay and more adventures, in and/or outside the sex. I am well built, spend time at the bedroom. Must be able to host and gym and love to pleasure a woman. keep up with me! Between 20 and My biggest fetish is honestly just 27 please, and healthy. Caucasian, watching a woman achieve multiple looking for the same but open-minded. orgasms! perfectpleasure, 36 Let’s go fishing, have a beer and see what happens! daisyduke20, 20 18+

LifeLoNg autodidact seeks teacher, figures I find BDSM terribly erotic, but never had the opportunity to practice it and would like a teacher to introduce me to the lifestyle. In the best of worlds, someone who knows what they’re doing and could be a friend but, lacking that, someone who and can hold an interesting conversation (good conversation being immensely attractive). Me: fit, educated, playful. Bretwalda, 28, l

We WaNt sex pics takeN! I’m a marine. She’s a nurse. It is our fantasy to have pictures taken of us while we have sex. We are not into 3sums. We just need a photographer. wewantsexpicsofthe2ofus, 24, l

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dirty girL LookiNg for pLaymate Looking for a guy, girl or group to join me and possibly another playmate for a night of fun. I like playing with toys, strap ons, blow jobs and anal is a must. I love to leave being a dirty girl! I would like to meet first...very discreet inquiries only! dirtygirl69, 42

affectioNate, geNtLe yet rough, adveNturous Pretty much open to nearly anything and not shy about personal information should anyone ask. Send me a message if you want to start out with some naughty words and maybe even go further if we hit it off. I love to make a woman feel good. mizuha22, 20, l

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through the looking glass We were both too polite letting each other view glass, later you took pictures of the ‘trio’ modeling your ‘zip on skirts’. Found no opportunity for introductions. Was that an opportunity lost or will this note bring something to gain? When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Where: rich & tove’s glass art store/show. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910871 girl With big sMile Friday 14, 2012, late afternoon at University Mall entranceway. I was walking in and opened the first set of doors. I saw you and I think your friend standing there, probably to stay warm. I looked at you and you had a big smile. I went into the mall, wish I had said hi. When: Friday, December 14, 2012. Where: university Mall. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910868

reD brooM Played you last week at Leddy, you showed a little late. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, maybe that’s why we lost. Thought I’d get a second chance to get digits, but alas, we failed to meet again. Now I’m hoping to change that. At worst, I hope this makes your day. I wore a blue shirt. When: saturday, December 12/3/12 12:37 PM 8, 2012. Where: leddy Park. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910867

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beer Wars You were waiting for a table and sitting at the downstairs bar at the Farmhouse. We chatted briefly about Beer Wars, the documentary. Would love to have the chance to chat about it again. When: Friday, December 14, 2012. Where: Farmhouse. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910866 haircuts Plus in essex Michelle, you have the most breathtaking smile, the brightest blue eyes and a gorgeous figure. You have no clue how gorgeous you really are. Any man would be lucky to have you. I know you are engaged but I need you to know what you mean to me. Your secret admirer. When: saturday, December 1, 2012. Where: haircuts Plus in essex. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910865 starburst hottie! (reviseD eDition) We were standing next to each other in the checkout line (different registers). We exchanged a few smiles (chuckles about long waits). I’d love to see to see that smile again, and maybe share some Starbursts? Save me the orange! You: dark hair, dressed in all black. Me: black coat, black pants and hat. When: Thursday, December 6, 2012. Where: Walmart. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910864

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let’s PlaY chicken again I saw you at Walmart and we played chicken. Love your Mohawk. Can I take you to dinner? When: Friday, December 14, 2012. Where: Walmart. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #910870 traPPer at tractor suPPlY You and your dad were buying a live catch trap at Tractor Supply, I was picking up some Carhartt overalls for a friend’s newborn. You had an incredible smile and a sense of kindness about you when I got in line behind you. Coffee sometime? When: Friday, December 14, 2012. Where: tractor supply. You: Man. Me: Man. #910863 stone souP MaMa (W/ kiDDos) It was nice talking with you and your kiddos about what fabricshop goodies you found, and remembering that our kids went to camp together this summer. Well, drop a note if you’re up for coffee, a walk or a park-side playdate. When: Thursday, December 13, 2012. Where: stone soup. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910862 coWabanga Would love to hear more about you but can’t figure out how. HELP! When: Friday, December 14, 2012. Where: two to tango. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #910861 starburst hottie! We were standing next to each other in the checkout line (different registers). We exchanged a few chuckles about long waits. I’d love to see that smile again, and maybe share some Starbursts? (Save me the orange!) You: dark hair, dressed in all black. Me: black coat, black pants and hat. When: Thursday, December 6, 2012. Where: Walmart around 5:45 p.m. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910860 FroM la to btv Any more hints? When: Thursday, December 13, 2012. Where: i spy. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910858 ecstasY Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about things going badly. Let the lover be... When: tuesday, november 13, 2012. Where: in my past. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #910857 You caught Me And you reeled me almost all the way in ... and then you just stopped and left me on the line. We had a great first week together, and then after a week apart you just pushed me away. Leaving me to wonder. If you have something to say, SAY IT! Like a fish left stuck on the line, it’s killing me! When: sunday, november 18, 2012. Where: 802. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910856

YMca Workout chick You: blond, in grey/green, I think. Were treadmill-running, and I (brunette, in short Spandex) was stair-climbing, around 5:30 p.m. at the Y. We later exchanged smiles in the wellness center (at which point neither of us was wearing much). Wanna go for a run with me? When: Monday, December 10, 2012. Where: YMca. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #910855 guitars anD tats?! So what are you waiting for? Talk to me. When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Where: i spy. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910854 blue-eYeD boY at hoMePort You are a super-beautiful, darkhaired, blue-eyed boy working the cash register at Homeport. I really wanted to talk to you but you looked super busy. I was reading greeting cards, laughing at them. Bought one in hopes to say hi to you. I chickened out. I was wearing a bright-blue top and trench coat. When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Where: homeport. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910853

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honeY bee I can not show you how thankful I am having met you. You have truly opened my eyes to things I never thought imaginable or possible. I am in constant admiration and will be forever yours. I am so lucky to have you! I can’t wait to live a life full of freedom and bliss with you :). When: saturday, september 15, 2012. Where: everywhere. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910852 FroM la to btv Starbucks, not Capitol Grounds. Church Street, not Maple Tree Place. Saturday, December 22nd, 11a.m. Me? Red cowboy boots and blond hair. When: Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Where: burlington. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910851

suPer-cute blonDe at M-saigon You were in a blue shirt and black pants and I couldn’t stop glancing in your direction. I was with my two friends though, so I didn’t even have the chance to try and say hi. If you are available and would like to get a coffee or something sometime, let me know. When: Monday, December 10, 2012. Where: M-saigon. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910849 uvM Math Saw a tall blonde in front of me at City Market. You gave me a backward look or two (I just got out of work and probably looked it). Always saw you around Votey, should have asked for your number. How about a second chance? When: tuesday, December 11, 2012. Where: city Market. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910848 thanks For the Pitcher We ran into each other walking up S. Winooski. I was going to go to the Needs and you invited me for a pitcher at OP. Thanks for the generosity and I hope to see you again. I’m infamous for my Irish exits. When: saturday, December 1, 2012. Where: burlington. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910846 reD jetta on 89 OK, so I have never done this. We played leap frog from exit 2 to exit 11 on 89 on Sunday. You had a great smile and drove a red VW Jetta. Been thinking of that smile ever since. If by the slim chance you read this, send me a message. Drive safe. When: sunday, December 2, 2012. Where: 89 north. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910845 re: stePhen king, 12/1 Barnes and Noble When: saturday, December 1, 2012. Where: bookstore. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910844 healthY living - 12/9/12 Red fleece, white hat and blue jeans shopping in the a.m. at Healthy Living on the 9th of December. We exchanged a quick smile. I was in a scarf. Tea or a drink? When: sunday, December 9, 2012. Where: healthy living. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910843 stars “When you smile I melt inside ... I dread the thought of our very first kiss, a target that I’m probably gonna miss.” Which I did. When: Monday, october 8, 2012. Where: first date. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910841 cjW9F at 3PennY I saw you across the room at the Taproom a month or so ago while I was with a group of friends and couldn’t help but notice you looking my way, or so I thought - I wanted to tell you here that you are beautiful. When: Thursday, november 8, 2012. Where: Three Penny. You: Woman. Me: Man. #910840 re: olivia I really wish you would just man up. When: Friday, December 7, 2012. Where: work. You: Man. Me: Woman. #910837

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