Tuesday, January 20, 2015
In 2008, renovations to the bottom two floors of the building enabled Catamount's leaders to "really make a huge leap for ourselves by having this wonderful facility, but also evaluating who we are and what we do," says executive director Jody Fried.
Now entering its 40th year — the official anniversary is in May — the Northeast Kingdom's primary arts hub is gearing up for a celebratory year. It even has a flashy new anniversary poster (see above) designed by the nationally recognized digital-arts pioneer Laurence Gartel. A native of the NEK, he was recently named the official artist of the 57th Grammy Awards.
Tags: catamount arts , jay craven , jody fried , katherine french , green mountain film festival , poem city , arts , northeast kingdom , vermont , Image , Web Only
Updated at 5:20 p.m. to include an interview with Terrence Youk, below:
It's one of the few, the proud … the last surviving Vermont video stores. And this Valentine's Day, Montpelier's Downstairs Video will close its doors for good.
In a message sent this afternoon to members and friends of the Savoy Theater, Terrence Youk — who owns both establishments — explains the reasons for the closing:
It will likely come as no surprise that the video store has finally reached the end of its profitability. We have kept it going just on fumes but now it is becoming a liability for the Savoy to keep it operating. We will be closing the doors for good on February 14, 2015.
Tags: downstairs video , closing , savoy , terrence youk , video rental , video stores , vermont , movies , film , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 19, 2015
Tuesday, January 20
The public is invited to attend a free screening of and discussion about the new documentary A Path Appears, which addresses the subject of forced prostitution in America. Filmed as part of the PBS series "Independent Lens," A Path Appears was made with the participation of Nicholas Kristof and Olivia WuDunn, authors of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Other participants in the film include actors Malin Akerman, Jennifer Garner and Mia Farrow.Johnson State's Stearns Student Center will host the 7 p.m. screening as part of PBS' monthly Community Cinema program, the purpose of which is to encourage local discussion of important issues.
Tags: film , movies , screening , a path appears , i.m. pei , architecture , burlington film society , main street landing , angels with dirty faces , trashed , jericho energy task force , johnson state college , frog hollow , feldman's bagels , planet cat , cats , Image , Video , Web Only
The Downtown Rutland Association, in partnership with Green Mountain Power and other entities devoted to revitalizing the city's downtown, actively recruited Phoenix Books to set up shop in Rutland. "It was quite flattering," says Michael DeSanto, who co-owns Phoenix with his wife, Renée Reiner. "We've opened two bookstores in recent years, and nobody ever asked me to do it."
Though Phoenix has not yet chosen a new storefront location, DeSanto says the store will be located in the hub of Rutland's downtown, at or near the intersection of Center Street and Merchants Row. He hopes it will open by June 1.
Tags: books , bookstore , phoenix books , rutland , revitalization , green mountain power , Image , Web Only
What better time to read — or write — than during winter doldrums? Two events planned for the end of January could inspire you to get your butt off the couch and come meet likeminded literary folks.
The pulp-style poster (right) for the latest installment of the Vermont Speculative Fiction Writer's Series certainly gets the blood pumping. This reading series is a great way for SF and fantasy fans to meet local published writers in their genres — such as Brian Staveley, whose latest epic fantasy The Providence of Fire is just out from Tor. Kirkus compared him to George R.R. Martin in a starred review.
The next reading, called "Vermont Stories of Imagination!" happens on Saturday, January 24, at noon at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier, and features writers with track records in publishing short (and long) speculative fiction: Sean-Patrick Burke, F. Brett Cox, Kane Gilmour, Mike Luoma, Aimee Picchi and Ginger Weil. More details here.
Tags: christopher lehmann-haupt , andrew liptak , brian staveley , geek mountain state , books , literature , stephen kiernan , science fiction , fantasy , Image , Web Only
Burlington sculptor Jake Rifken says his latest project was about "object impermanence," but having his work-in-progress stolen was not what he had in mind.
Rifken had placed a female-body mannequin — with an unmatching head and impossibly perky breasts — outdoors behind S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, where he maintains a studio, in the Soda Plant on Pine Street. It was not visible from the street, he says. Why did he put it there? You might call it an environmental-art experiment, but not exactly along the lines of Andy Goldsworthy.
Rifken explains that when it rains, or ice melts, the water drips off the roof right in the spot where he placed the mannequin. He wanted to see what it would look like as it gradually became encrusted with ice. The photo at right shows one rather spectacular iteration.
With the fluctuating temperatures this winter has brought, however, the mannequin's coat of ice has come and gone several times since about December 10, Rifken says. And then, between last Thursday night and Friday, when he went to check on her, the mannequin was gone, too.
Tags: art , environmental art , ice sculpture , mannequin , jake rifken , S.P.A.C.E. Gallery , soda plant , burlington , vermont , Image , Web Only
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The digital age has altered the cinematic experience in countless ways. It has given us high-resolution videography; computer-based, nonlinear editing systems; revolutions in special effects and animation; and many, many other changes. The digital age has also caused seismic shifts in the nature of film exhibition. I'm not talking about digital projection, though of course that's a Very Big Deal, especially for small theaters that can barely afford expensive 2K or 4K projectors. I'm referring to the fact that, now that many of us are surrounded by internet-enabled devices for much of our waking days, filmed entertainment is constantly available to us.
Tags: film , movie , what i'm watching , dark waters , andre de toth , merle oberon , viewing , digital film , projection , Image , Web Only
Friday, January 16, 2015
What You Missed
Who wouldn't trust a face like David's? The young Iraq veteran (Dan Stevens) has a sweet smile, a forthright gaze and the kind of guileless blue eyes that turn cynics into believers.
That's what happens when David drops in on the small-town Petersons, who are still grieving their son Caleb, killed in action. Part of Caleb's unit, David says he's here to deliver their loved one's last message.
Mom Laura (Sheila Kelley) begs David to stay the night. Dad (Leland Orser) is suspicious — till the guest proves to be the perfect sounding board for his workplace woes.
Tags: the guest , adam wingard , dan stevens , you're next , movies , film , dvd , review , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Most recognizable among the festival's guests is Gov. Peter Shumlin, who will speak to attendees on Wednesday, January 21, about Vermont's first-in-the-nation law requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods. The recently re-elected Shumlin will specifically address in his talk the Food Fight Fund, a trust established to finance Vermont's efforts to defend the inevitable challenges to that legislation. A "community dialogue" will follow Shumlin's talk.
Tags: film , film festival , mountaintop film festival , big picture theater , waitsfield , documentary , social issues , glenn greenwald , eugene jarecki , edward snowden , selma , citizenfour , Image , Video , Web Only
For one, that's what it was called when it was the site of the cooper shop of John Lonergan. Lonergan, who would become a captain of the 13th Vermont Infantry in the Civil War, used his business as the headquarters for the Vermont chapter of the Fenian Brotherhood, a militia dedicated to the cause of Irish independence.
The second reason for the "Skinner's Alley" moniker is that it seems to have been named for the Dublin alley that was the site of that city's skinning and tanning trades.
For McKone, a historian who sits on the board of the Burlington Irish Heritage Festival, all roads — literal and figurative — lead back to Ireland. Which is why he's chosen Rí Rá, the Irish pub on Church Street that faces "Skinner's Alley," as the site of the inaugural meeting of the local chapter of the Fenian Historical Society. It'll take place in the pub's back-room "library" on Sunday, January 18, and is open to anyone with an interest in Irish and Irish American history. Irish heritage is not required.
The Fenian (pronounced FEE-nee-an) Brotherhood was originally founded in Ireland itself, where it was promptly outlawed; in Vermont and other states, the militant organization was widespread. Its current incarnation aims not to free Ireland from the yoke of British rule but to commemorate the history of Irish nationalism.
Tags: history , ireland , fenian historical society , fenian brotherhood , irish , skinner's alley , dublin , rí rá , Image , Web Only