Posted By Dan Bolles on Tue, Dec 22, 2020 at 2:33 PM

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Bob Wagner

'This Is Christmas' screenshot

Christmas is this Friday. And, right on schedule, a jolly red elf has delivered a Christmas miracle.

No, we don't mean Santa — he's presumably tuning up the old sled while waiting for the second round of his coronavirus vaccine from Dr. Fauci.

Rather, the man in the red suit is none other than Burlington guitarist Bob Wagner, best known locally as a core member of Kat Wright's band. On Tuesday, Wagner  delivered an early stocking stuffer called "This Is Christmas." It's the COVID carol we didn't know we needed.

Tags: Bob Wagner , Christmas , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image

Posted By Dan Bolles on Mon, Dec 21, 2020 at 6:47 PM

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Luke Awtry ©️ Seven Days

Jay Wahl

On Monday, the Flynn announced the hiring of Jay Wahl as its new executive director. Wahl was previously the producing artistic director at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. He will replace interim executive director Charlie Smith, who has led the Flynn since January 31, 2020. Wahl will officially take over as the head of the nonprofit Burlington performing arts center on January 1.

Tags: Jay Wahl , Charlie Smith , Staige Davis , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margaret Grayson on Tue, Dec 15, 2020 at 10:44 AM

Courtesy of the Gund Institute

Bathsheba Demuth with sled dogs

The first Eric Zencey Prize in Ecological Economics, named for a late fellow at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Environment, was awarded this week to a book on the environmental history of the region surrounding the Bering Strait. The winner will receive $4,000 from a fund raised by Zencey before his death in 2019 at age 65.

Zencey was a scholar dedicated to advancing the idea of ecological economics, according to Taylor Ricketts, director of the Gund Institute. That means an approach to economics that “acknowledges the self-evident fact that the economy is operating inside the biosphere,” Ricketts explained. In other words, the economy is one system within a larger planetary system, and economic growth is limited by the physical limits of the environment.

Tags: Gund Institute , University of Vermont , Eric Zencey , Taylor Ricketts , Bathsheba Demuth , ecology , economics , environment , environmental history , Web Only , Image

Posted By Amy Lilly on Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 2:58 PM

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Courtesy of Bennington Museum

"Beginning of February" by Kathleen Kolb

Looking for an out-of-the-ordinary holiday exhibition, or gift? The Bennington Museum’s current show, “Vermont Utopias: Imagining the Future,” features visual artworks by 25 artists that are available for purchase through an online auction.

The auction is closed-bid, meaning bids are submitted without knowledge of other bids, so you won’t know if you’ve won the piece until bidding closes on December 21. The fundraiser will split proceeds evenly between the artists and the museum.

The museum is open for in-person viewing Fridays through Mondays, 10 a.m. to 4. p.m. But for those who can't get there, or prefer to avoid human contact altogether, simply browsing the exhibition online is a pleasure.

Tags: Bennington Museum , art auction , Kathleen Kolb , Will Kasso Condry , LMNOPI , W. David Powell , Michael Oatman , Vermont Curators Group , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margot Harrison on Tue, Dec 8, 2020 at 8:04 PM

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Courtesy of Right and Funny Productions

George Washington/Kevin Sorbo tells Bernie a thing or two.

I knew what I was getting into when I watched the new Bernie Sanders "satire" Free Lunch Express. Producer and Mendon resident Bradford Broyles, who contacted me about the film, is the president of Vermont-based Right and Funny Productions. The film's executive producer, Lenore Broughton, is one of Vermont's biggest Republican donors. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" star Kevin Sorbo, who makes a cameo in the film, has gained quite a bit of notice lately for his right-of-center views.

In a recent Daily Beast interview, which is an excellent read, Marlow Stern quizzes Sorbo about his role in the Bernie film and the film's many inaccuracies when it comes to Sanders' bio, including its depiction of the young Bernie as entering into a blood pact with Josef Stalin.

So, yeah. This film has a point of view. But why should left-wingers and counterculture types have a monopoly on political satire? To explore how comedy looks from the other side, I watched Free Lunch Express and wrote a little real-time viewing diary.

Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Free Lunch Express , Right and Funny Productions , Web Only , Image

Posted By Margaret Grayson on Tue, Dec 8, 2020 at 1:57 PM

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Courtesy of Daniel Houghton

"Mutant Otters Destroy Town Hall Theater" by Daniel Houghton

Shoppers, strollers and post office-goers in downtown Middlebury may notice a new artwork in the window of the National Bank of Middlebury: a miniature replica of the Town Hall Theater being attacked by giant, mutant otters.

The sculpture, dubbed "Mutant Otters Destroy Town Hall Theater," is by Daniel Houghton, the director of the Middlebury College Animation Studio. Houghton dreamed up the project in September, designed it using a computer program and produced it on a 3D printer, documenting his progress weekly in a series of videos posted to YouTube.

Tags: Daniel Houghton , Middlebury , Middlebury Animation Studio , 3D modeling , Town Hall Theater , Otter Creek , Web Only , Image

Posted By Sally Pollak on Fri, Dec 4, 2020 at 6:19 PM

File/Courtesy of Beowulf Sheehan

Stephen P. Kiernan

A local, seasonal tradition kicked off this week in Charlotte, but people can (and do) participate from around the country.

The online event is a kind of literary "Dear Abby." It takes place on author Stephen Kiernan’s Facebook page, where he offers recommendations to holiday shoppers seeking his advice about books for people on their gift lists.

Tags: Stephen Kiernan , holiday gifts , books , Facebook , reading , novels , Santa , Web Only , Image