Posted By Margot Harrison on Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 4:18 PM

It's summer. And, like most of us, writers are leaving their cocoons and getting around.

Where are you going to find a literary event that showcases picture-book authors, a best-selling steamy romance writer, and more "literary" types? In Vermont, of course. Specifically, in Greensboro, where the Green Mountain Arts Alliance & Residency's Writers' Forum will happen from August 11 to 20.

This isn't one of those expensive writing conferences where you can meet publishing professionals and pitch your book to them. It is an event where you can pay $10 to $15 for a workshop with local best seller Anne Stuart or kids' author Natalie Kinsey. Readings over the two weeks carry the same price (actually a suggested donation), with an all-access pass available for $50.

And it (almost) all happens in a tent.

Tags: writer , words , literature , reading , vermont , andrew liptak , lev grossman , the magicians , green mountain arts alliance , geek mountain state , ra press , Image , Web Only

Posted By Ethan de Seife on Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 3:00 PM

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Raychel Severance

Pete Talbot (left) and Ben t. Matchstick of the Cardboard Teck Instantute

Fun though it is, the game of pinball does not invite customization. The heavy, unwieldy machines are packed with scores of moving parts and electrical doohickeys; even replacing a flipper’s bumper requires a bit of mechanical know-how.

Montpelier artists Pete Talbot and Ben t. Matchstick have upended the traditional definition of pinball by building a machine that is lightweight, customizable and made of cheap, recyclable materials. And they’ll be traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to show it off on a national stage.

The artists, who collectively call themselves the Cardboard Teck Instantute, have just been invited to the first annual National Maker Faire to show off their creation, which they’ve dubbed the PinBox 3000. The cabinet of the device is constructed entirely of custom-cut cardboard. Its pinball is a marble, and the spring in its flippers and plunger are supplied by ordinary rubber bands. Says Matchstick, “It doesn’t require any fasteners to construct. We can ship it with 10 sheets of cardboard. It takes about an hour or less to assemble, and then you’ve got a really solid little game on your hands.”

Tags: pinball , cardboard , cardboard teck instantute , pinbox 3000 , generator , maker , maker faire , ben t. matchstick , Image , Web Only

Posted By Pamela Polston on Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 11:17 AM

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If you didn't stay up late to watch the Tony Awards, or read about the winners this morning, perhaps we can break the happy news to you that Fun Home won for Best Musical!

The show, currently on Broadway at Circle in the Square Theatre, also won for Best Direction of a Musical (Sam Gold), Best Original Score (Lisa Kron, lyrics, and Jeanine Tesori, music), Best Book (Kron) and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Michael Cerveris). It was the most awards for any single musical production in the 69th Tonys, broadcast last night on CBS. Also, by the way, it is the first time an all-female team has won best score.

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Courtesy of Holly Rae Taylor

Alison Bechdel

We could not be happier for Vermont cartoonist Alison Bechdel! Her best-selling graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is the basis for this most unlikely musical, in which the lead character comes out as a lesbian, and her father comes out, too. And then commits suicide by walking in front of a truck.

But as various critics have said in various ways, everyone has a dysfunctional family — and everyone can relate, in some way, to Fun Home. It helps, of course, that the music is just extraordinary, and the cast — right down to the little brothers, one of them played by Vermonter Oscar Williams — is, too.

For a quarter-century, Bechdel penned the comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For" (carried by Seven Days, among many other alt weeklies). She sure couldn't have guessed back then that she was the one to watch out for.

Congratulations, Alison!

Tags: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic , Fun Home the musical , Alison Bechdel , Tony Awards , Broadway , Lisa Kron , Jeanine Tesori , Sam Gold , Michael Cerveris , Oscar Williams , Image , Web Only

Posted By Ethan de Seife on Sat, Jun 6, 2015 at 9:01 AM

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

William Petersen and Dennis Farina in Manhunter.

Manhunter used to show up on cable often when I was in high school, and I probably watched it more than a dozen times when I was a teenaged movie addict. At that time, I surely didn't have the vocabulary to articulate what impressed me so much about it. Now, I think, I do. At least 15 years since I’d last seen Manhunter, watching it again was a revelation.

Manhunter marks the cinematic debut of the character Hannibal Lecter (spelled here Lecktor, for some reason), the Thomas Harris character whom most movie fans know from The Silence of the Lambs, its sequels or the TV show “Hannibal,” the third season of which premieres this week.

Tags: film , movie , what i'm watching , manhunter , michael mann , visual design , narrative , policier , hannibal lecter , silence of the lambs , Image , Video , Web Only

Posted By Ethan de Seife on Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 2:42 PM

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Courtesy of NBCUniversal

Colin Trevorrow, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard on the set of Jurassic World

The fossil records of nearby states such as Massachusetts and Connecticut indicate that dinosaurs terrorized those lands long before drunken Bruins fans ever did. Though prehistoric creatures once dwelled in the tropical sea that became Lake Champlain, no dinosaurs ever stomped around the Green Mountains. Until now.

Jurassic World, the long-delayed third sequel to the 1993 film Jurassic Park, will have an unusual premiere in Burlington two days before its national release. The film, directed by Burlingtonian Colin Trevorrow, is the main attraction of a fundraising event for the Vermont International Film Foundation. Though the bread and butter of VTIFF is screening “small,” independent and foreign films that do not receive widespread theatrical release, the local connection to this $150 million summer blockbuster was a perfect opportunity to raise money for and awareness of the organization.

After directing just one mid-budget independent film, 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed, Trevorrow was tapped by none other than Steven Spielberg and his producing team to join the ranks of Big Hollywood Players. Though his first feature contains no dinosaurs, and his second feature would appear to contain little in the way of “quirky” romance, Trevorrow says that the two films are more alike than they might appear. This week, Vermonters will have the chance to decide for themselves.

Tags: film , movie , jurassic world , jurassic park , colin trevorrow , vtiff , vermont international film foundation , fundraiser , burlington , majestic theater , dinosaur , Image , Video , Web Only

Posted By Margot Harrison on Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 2:30 PM

Drafthouse Films

Schoenaerts as Jacky, not exactly your average cattle farmer.

NOTE: From now on, Movies You Missed will appear every first Friday of the month here on Live Culture.

This month in movies you missed: When I saw Far From the Madding Crowd (currently playing at the Roxy and Savoy), I may have stared a little too hard at Matthias Schoenaerts, who plays Gabriel Oak. He was built like an oak, and those smoldering eyes … ahem. Anyway, I came away convinced that the Belgian actor could be a big American star if people ever managed to spell his name correctly.

And I checked out his streamable filmography, because thinking an actor or actress is hot is a totally legit reason to see a movie, right? That filmography is classy: Schoenaerts starred in the 2012 Palme d'or nominee Rust and Bone (aka "that movie where Marion Cotillard has no legs") and the 2011 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee Bullhead. The latter is on Netflix, so I gave it a spin.

Tags: Movies you missed , bullhead , michael roskam , matthias schoenaerts , the drop , far from the madding crowd , movie , film , Image , Video , Web Only

Posted By Dan Bolles on Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 12:13 PM

Stooges Brass Band

Courtesy of Stooges Brass Band

We're t-minus 24 hours from the start of this year's Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. So this week's Soundbites column was chock-full o' locally focused BDJF coverage. But that doesn't mean everything happening this week on the local scene is jazz-related. Just almost everything. With that in mind, here's some music news you can use that (mostly) have nothing to do with the impending jazzanalia.

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If you can't wait until Friday to spaz out with your jazz out, get yourself downtown this evening, Thursday, June 4. The venerable Stooges Brass Band from New Orleans kick off a monthlong Thursday residency with a surprise show. They'll start at the top block of Church Street, then march, second-line style, to City Hall Park, where they'll play a free 20-minute set. If you miss that, the band will be at ArtsRiot every Thursday in June.

Also, did you know you can hire a second-line band to follow you around in New Orleans? It's true.  

Tags: ArtsRiot , One Hearth , Smooth Antics , Disco Phantom , SnakeFoot , Club Metronome , Stooges Brass Band , Dan St. Germain , Image , Video , Web Only