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Food: A World Of Small Plates
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A World of Small Plates
Tapas and Cocktail Lounge to Open in Hooksett
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
A new tapas restaurant in Hooksett is paying tribute to New Hampshire and its cultural diversity. Granite Tapas & Cocktail Lounge, expected to open the first week of March, will offer small plates, craft cocktails and entree specials spanning a variety of cuisine styles in a setting inspired by the 19th- and early-20th-century granite industry.
“It’s an ode to the people of New Hampshire and to the melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities the granite industry brought to the region,” said Matt Jordan, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife,
Jamie Jordan, and mother-in-law, Louise McCann.
The menu will be broken down into four sections, each representing a different kind of cuisine.
“Taste of the Orient” will include dishes inspired by Asian cuisines, such as bulgogi (a Korean beef dish), build-your-own rice wraps served with romaine leaves and, as a variation of crab rangoon, lobster meat rangoon served with a sweet chili dipping sauce.
Items in the “Down South” section will feature Latin American and southern U.S. flavors, like a country raspberry iced tea cocktail and Cajun rub steak tips served with a potato chip saute made of caramelized onions and applewood-smoked blue cheese crumbles tossed with a balsamic glaze.
“A Little Italy” will have Italian and Mediterranean dishes like prosciutto-wrapped fried mozzarella topped with sauteed heirloom tomatoes, sun-dried tomato and caramelized onions.
The last section, “New England Comfort,” features an original approach to familiar favorites — for example, a sliced petite filet with a steakhouse marinade, served with deep-fried lobster string slaw tossed with an apple cider vinaigrette.
There’s also an unexpected kind of chicken wing.
“We topped it with salt and caramel sauce, so it’s a salted caramel wing,” Jordan said. “Every place around here that serves beer and booze has chicken wings, so we thought, ‘How can we add a twist to it?’ If I had to summarize what our food is about, that’s what it is: elevating classic dishes in a way that’s different and unique.”
In addition to the cocktails and tapas, there will be two different full-plate entree specials each day that will keep with the menu theme, plus bottled beers and a small selection of draft beers.
The restaurant will be able to accommodate up to 80 people between the dining tables, bar and a lounge area. The decor is thoroughly rustic with natural barn-style wood, whiskey barrels, exposed light bulbs, masonry tools and New Hampshire symbols like antique state flag prints and artwork of the Old Man of the Mountain.
Jordan said he believes a restaurant like Granite Tapas & Cocktail Lounge is something Hooksett needed.
“There are a lot of great places to get a beer and burger in town, but if you want a signature martini or craft cocktail, you usually have to head into downtown Manchester or Concord or Portsmouth,” he said, “So we wanted to bring that experience to Hooksett and give the people of Hooksett a more intimate gathering place where they can enjoy a nice drink and some shareable tapas.”
Granite Tapas & Cocktail Lounge
Where: 1461 Hooksett Road, Suite A6, Hooksett
Hours: Tentative hours will be open at 4 p.m. on weekdays, noon on weekends, and will remain open until midnight daily.
Visit: Search “Granite Tapas & Cocktail Lounge” on Facebook.
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Outdoor Dog Days
Hiking, Running & Skijoring With your Pup
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
Dogs love the outdoors, but if you live in a more urban southern New Hampshire neighborhood, it can be hard to think of ways to get fresh air with your pup besides your traditional walk around the block. But local dog experts have plenty of ideas on how to take your afternoon or weekend jaunt a step further by hiking, running or even skijoring with your canine pal.
Go Hiking
In southern New Hampshire, there are a variety of trails to hike with your dog. Val Jesson, trainer at The Barking Dog, said she most enjoys the state’s abandoned railroad beds, particularly the Derry and
Windham rail trails. She also recommends the trails weaving through Benson Park in Hudson and the trails by Lake Massabesic in Auburn.
But if you and your dog have kept a low profile this winter, it’s important to start slow.
“If you’re not used to it, you might not want to do a two-mile hike. You want to cut it to a mile or a half-mile hike,” Jesson said via phone. “If dogs have been kept in condition, that’s great. I have lots of dogs in the offseason doing agility activities that keep them in shape.”
Most trails allow dogs, but some don’t — for example, Mount Monadnock — and many have strict leash and clean-up rules. During cooler months or longer hikes, it’s a good idea to use harnesses and day packs for your dog, in addition to packing extra water, treats, tape (in case of a paw cut) and paw wax, which can protect against salty streets and trails.
Lisa Caputo, director of operations at the Manchester Animal Shelter, said one of her favorite spots is the Andrew Brook Trail in Newbury. When the weather’s warmer, she likes to take her dogs along trails closer to water — a lake, pond, stream, river — for the pups to take a drink or cool down (though be certain it’s not standing water, which could made a dog sick).
Go Running
Some dogs will be happy to go out for a run — but it might take practice to get to that point.
“First you need to teach them how to heel, how to walk on a leash. … It takes practice for dogs. A lot of dogs won’t get the concept of running down a straight line. I would introduce them with short running bursts,” Jesson said. “With positive reinforcement, they can catch on.”
It’s important to note running’s not for every dog. It can damage the joints and burn out overweight dogs. Some breeds (usually ones with longer snouts) can handle it, but some can’t.
“I think the most important thing is to make sure your dog is having fun doing what they’re doing. I don’t like the idea of forcing a dog to take a run who doesn’t want to do a run,” Jesson said. “Large breeds like Great Danes and St. Bernards don’t have a bunch of energy, to be quite honest. Definitely don’t plan on going very far with them.”
Jesson recommended starting with short, non-retractable leashes between four and six feet. Larger dogs with thick fur might stand low temperatures, but smaller breeds will likely need coats to keep warm.
On the other end, smaller dogs might fare better during warm-weather runs. During this period, choose routes with more shade, as hot concrete also bothers dogs’ paws, and it’s harder for them to keep cool, as they can only release heat by panting and through the pads on their feet. Heavy panting for more than 20 minutes is a sign of overheating. For these kinds of days, Jesson suggested packing an ice pack.
Once you’ve mastered the trot, you can enter your dog in a race. Every year, the Manchester Animal Shelter organizes the Mutt Strutt, a dog-friendly 5K that Caputo said is planned for September 2017.
Go Skijoring
Skijoring with your dog is kind of like dogsledding, except instead of riding a sled, you’re wearing skis. Try it on your own, or take lessons at Gunstock Mountain Resort’s program, which skijoring instructor
Jane Carpenter started more than 25 years ago.
The equipment includes a lightweight sled dog harness attached to a 25-foot bungee. Carpenter said the sport is suitable for all breeds; she recently saw a Jack Russell who took right to it.
“He was very small but very active. He hated the deep snow, but here it’s groomed,” Carpenter said via phone. “You’re never dead weight; you’re always working with your dog.”
Gunstock has 15 kilometers of wide, groomed dog-friendly trails for this purpose. If skiing attached to your dog sounds scary, you can start slowly by first snowshoeing attached to the harness. Carpenter offers lessons for beginners, but she said most dogs learn quickly, particularly the well-trained ones.
“Once it clicks for them, they’re like OK, let’s do this!” Carpenter said.
Easy Southern NH Hiking Routes
- Beaver Brook trails: Park at Beaver Brook Association, 117 Ridge Road, Hollis
- Benson Park: Access via 19 Kimball Hill Road, Hudson
- Derry Rail Trail: Park downtown and access at Sabatino’s (the old Derry Depot) at 1 E. Broadway, Derry
- Nashua River Rail Trail: Park on Gilson Road, Nashua
- Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail: Accessible via the Lake Massabesic parking lot, 16 Londonderry Turnpike, Auburn
- Sewalls Falls Park trail: Access from the end of Second Street, Concord
- Winant Park trails: Access off Fisk Road, Concord
- Windham Rail Trail: Park on Roulston Road, Windham
- Skijoring at Gunstock
For more information, visit gunstock.com. Private lessons cost $40; call 293-4341, ext. 192.
Social Pets
Clubs, Classes & Playgroups for You & Your Pet
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
From dog sports and skill classes to puppy play groups and cat shows, New Hampshire has all kinds of clubs and group activities where you can bond with your pet and connect with fellow pet owners in your area.
New Tricks
If your pooch has the “sit” and “stay” routine down pat, you can take it to the next level with a group class on a specialized skill such as agility, tricks or nose work, which some dog trainers and pet centers offer in addition to their standard training services.
One place with unique group classes for dogs is Good Mojo Dog Center in Milford, which just opened a new training center last month called Good Mojo University. The 7,200-square-foot facility features agility obstacles like tunnels, ramps and jumps, as well as Fitpaws dog fitness equipment and a canine treadmill. There are a variety of programs, including rally and agility classes, a Fitness for Fido dog fitness class, a Do More With Your Dog attention and tricks class, Wagit Games, special workshops and more.
“We wanted to offer more things for people to do with their dog that aren’t just in the competitive realm,” Good Mojo owner Deniece Johnson said. “There’s this intimidation factor when you go to a place where everyone’s dog is well-behaved and yours doesn’t have leash manners, so we want this to be a place that’s accepting of everyone and that’s geared more towards relationship building and having fun.”
Drop-in Fun
If you’re looking for an activity without the commitment of a full class series, some pet centers offer drop-in classes and weekly play groups designed just for puppies or just for small dogs.
The play groups allow people to socialize their dogs with other dogs and people in a nonthreatening environment, and they provide an opportunity to connect with other dog owners who have the same kind of dog. Most drop-ins charge a $10 to $20 fee and are often supervised by a professional dog trainer who keeps things running smoothly and is available to answer people’s questions and offer guidance.
Good Mojo also offers a weekly drop-in night when people can come with their dog and have free use of the equipment, socialize with other dogs and dog owners and talk with trainers.
“Many people don’t even know they enjoy something — they don’t know that they would love agility or that the tricks would be so fun — until they try it on a drop-in night,” Johnson said. “That’s why I encourage people to get out there and try things. There are so many dog sports and different things people can do to interact with their dog.”
In The Ring
Another way to engage more with your pet and the pet community is through shows and competitions.
New Hampshire is home to over a dozen American Kennel Club-affiliated dog clubs that organize and facilitate local AKC-sanctioned events. At a conformation show, purebred dogs are judged based on how well they adhere to their breed’s written standard. Companion events test the teamwork and coordination between the dog and the handler through physical challenges like agility and rally trials. Lastly, there are performance events, during which purebred dogs demonstrate certain skills that are unique to their breed.
Dogs aren’t the only pets in the show ring. New Hampshire also has two Cat Fanciers’ Association-affiliated cat clubs that each host an annual cat show.
While a big part of the cat shows revolves around pedigreed cats and how well they conform to their breed’s written standard, there are also opportunities for people with mixed-breed household cats to participate. Instead of being compared to a breed standard, household pets are judged for their unique qualities and appearance as well as their health and how they are groomed.
“It isn’t like if you have a pedigreed cat you’re better than the household cats. It isn’t a tiered thing,” Marilyn Conde, secretary for the Seacoast Cat Club, said. “We’re all just cat lovers. Whether you have a pedigreed Siamese cat or a household pet cat, they each have their own things which distinguish them.”
If you’re looking for something more active to do with you cat, you can take part in the agility portion of the show, where cats are led through weave poles, tunnels, hoops and other obstacles. Most cats can easily be trained to do this with some practice and the help of a lure.
While the focus of the cat clubs is on the shows, the clubs also provide a social network for New Hampshire cat owners to find and connect with each other.
“There are members who aren’t big-time breeders and just do the show for fun,” Conde said, “but what they enjoy most is being able to talk to other people with cats who share their same interests.”
FOR LIST OF PET CLUBS CLICK HERE
Dine With Dogs
Bring Your Mutt To A Pet-Friendly Restaurant
Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
While the state’s health code rarely allows pets inside a restaurant unless they are service animals, many establishments have designated outdoor areas friendly to terriers and retrievers alike.
In some cases, dog-friendliness is woven into the cultural fabric of a place largely because its owners are dog-lovers themselves.
At Bre’s Ice Creamery in East Hampstead, owner Deb Rogers-Thornton brings her dogs with her everywhere and they often accompany her at the ice cream shop, which she opened in 2013.
“They are a very important part of my life and we’re together almost always,” Rogers-Thornton said. “I have been home with Casey ever since she was a puppy, so I didn’t think it was fair to all of a sudden start a business and leave her home.”
Casey is her chocolate lab. Rogers-Thornton created a menu item for dogs named after Casey called Casey’s Canine Cup, which is a cup of vanilla soft-serve ice cream with kibbles and a dog bone.
Another item, for humans, called the Diva’s Dog Dish Challenge (10 scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, nuts and cherries) is named after her black lab, Diva.
People love to bring their dogs to the shop, Rogers-Thornton said, and customers often ask to see her dogs.
“I think I have some customers who come more for the dogs than the ice cream. But our ice cream’s really good too,” she said.
One of the pioneers of dog menus in the state is Tom Boucher, owner and CEO of T-Bones. The Bedford location has long had a dog menu with items for dogs to enjoy at the outdoor terrace area that’s open in the spring, summer and fall.
Boucher said he first came up with the idea when he saw a pet menu at a place while traveling through Washington, D.C., with his wife.
“We just thought it was a great idea,” Boucher said.
The restaurant makes its own doggie treats in the form of biscuits in the shape of a big T. Each dog gets a free bowl of water, and the food items are named after the dogs of the owners and employees.
Perhaps one of the more popular menu items, Moe’s Bowl, a bowl of ground beef, whole-grain rotini, cheese and bacon, is named after Boucher’s bulldog Moe, who died last November.
Other menu items include Zoe’s Tasty Tips and Boo’s Bacon Wrap Bites. There is also a vanilla ice cream dessert with dog biscuit sprinkles.
Boucher said he’s going to be changing the dog menu, dubbed Tails on the Terrace, later this year, though he’s not yet sure what the changes will entail.
“I’ll leave that up to my dog chefs,” Boucher said.
FOR LIST OF PET FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS CLICK HERE
Arts: Dragons & Bullying
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Dragons & Bullying
NH Theatre Factory Interprets The Reluctant Dragon
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
When adapting a story to the stage, the first step for NH Theatre Factory Artistic Director Joel Mercier is determining its message — or, at least, his interpretation of its message.
Lost in Wonderland, which went up last spring and was adapted from Lewis Carroll’s books, was about growing up. A Dragon’s Tail, which hits the stage in early March and is adapted from Kenneth Grahame’s
The Reluctant Dragon, is about bullying.
“Sometimes [my interpretation] isn’t exactly the same thing the author intended. But to me, The Reluctant Dragon is about not judging a book by its cover … and not picking on someone just because they’re different,” Mercier said via phone. “To me, this story is just a really great way to remind children and adults alike that it’s OK to be different, and that we really should love that about each other, rather than be uncomfortable or nervous about it.”
The show, with book and music by Mercier, will be performed March 3 and March 4 at the Derry Opera House by kids ages 8 to 16 from the company’s Stage Setters Youth Program.
Grahame’s story follows a boy who befriends a poetry-reading, tea-drinking dragon living in a small cave on a village hilltop. The town’s residents, fearful of the dragon, recruit St. George to slay the beast, but the boy convinces him otherwise. Together, they devise a plan to stage a fight between the two.
Fourteen-year-old Meghan O’Neill said she’s been enjoying playing the dragon, because at heart, the dragon is just a “huge nerd.”
“And I love that. I can totally relate to being a huge nerd! He writes poetry and drinks tea. I think I’d be best friends with him in real life,” O’Neill said during rehearsals in the Jefferson mill building last week.
The Reluctant Dragon is a short story, which didn’t naturally translate to an hour-and-a-half musical, so Mercier made some alterations, changing the story’s little boy to a little girl named Marta and adding more characters, from villagers and royals to dragonflies.
“It’s definitely a challenge. You want to stay true to the heart of the original story, but you want to give it a spin that makes it worth this new medium,” Mercier said.
Kid actors hail from Manchester, Derry, Londonderry, Amherst, Merrimack, Hooksett, Concord, Boscawen and Barrington. They’ve worked with Amanda Pawlik, who taught a master class on pantomime movement, and fight choreographer Alex Jacobs, originally from Aylesbury, England, who taught safe stage combat — both very popular rehearsals for the kids.
“I really liked the stage combat a lot. It was fun to learn how to fake fight, though it looks realistic when you do it,” said 16-year-old Colleen Joy Paquette, who’s performing as the evil villain, Lady Darkwood, a new character to the story.
Tina Cassidy choreographed, Lorraine Louie and Janet Dare created costumes and the company’s producing director, Wallace J. Pineault, designed lighting and scenery, which Mercier said is simplistic, with a 3-D village and larger pieces that move on and off stage.
Between straight theater rehearsals, Mercier has been leading discussions on the story, which the kids find relatable; 9-year-old Reya Rivera, who plays a villager and a dragonfly, said it reminded her of an experience she had in first grade when she got glasses.
“I think it’s easier to perform something when you can relate to it. And so it’s nice when people open up and tell their own stories,” Paquette said. “The message is not to exclude anybody who’s different. I think that’s a really good message — to accept everyone for who they are, because in reality, everyone’s different.”
Mercier said he thought it was great that the kids were sharing their experiences too.
“Not only [does open dialogue] made for better productions, it also makes theater a tool for these kids to learn these kinds of things, and to me, that’s way more important,” Mercier said.
A Dragon’s Tail
Where: Derry Opera House, 29 W. Broadway, Derry
When: Friday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 4, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $16
Contact: nhtheatrefactory.org
Music: Decade Redux
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Decade Redux
STP, Nirvana, & Tool Tribute Bands Play Jewel
Written By Michael Witthaus (music@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
In May 2015, Scott Weiland played at Manchester’s Jewel nightclub; in December of the same year, the former Stone Temple Pilots lead singer was dead of a drug overdose. Via tribute acts like Stone Temple Posers, though, STP’s music carries on.
The Plaistow-based homage band will appear, fittingly, at the rechristened Jewel Music Venue on Friday, Feb. 24. They plan to perform STP’s first two albums, Core and Purple, as part of a ’90s Alt Rock Tribute Night. A dress code of flannel shirts, ripped jeans and shaggy hair will be in force at a show that includes Nirvana doppelgänger Priceless Advice and Undertow, recreating the music of Tool.
It’s a good time for a revival of the grunge area, with 2017 marking the 25th anniversary of the year Nirvana replaced Michael Jackson at the top of the Billboard charts, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam broke through as mainstream acts and Stone Temple Pilots released its first album.
Olaf Westphalen is Stone Temple Posers’ bass player; however, he came to STP’s music after the decade they dominated.
“I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, so it was actually my stepkids that got me into bands like Nirvana, Creed and Sublime,” he said in a recent phone interview. “My stepson John is the drummer in the band.”
The two have played together in bands including Wretched Von Krank, The Nerve and, most recently, Cold Comfort. Stone Temple Posers played its first show in early 2015.
“Robert DeLeo’s bass playing spoke to me,” Westphalen said when asked what drew him to STP’s music. “I really enjoyed watching them live, Scott’s antics when he was singing and how he used the megaphone.”
Poser’s front man, ex-Marine Hal White, frequently employs Weiland’s prop.
“We use it on stage at all times.,” Westphalen said “Whatever song calls for it, he throws it in there.”
Westphalen and Posers guitarist Paul Ouellette are no strangers to STP tribute acts. The two were together briefly in Crown of Apathy, and Westphalen played in Stone Temple Aviators and SiN after that.
Ouellette was also a member of The Nerve during its run in the mid-oughts.
With a rich well of the decade’s acts to pick from, Stone Temple Pilots kept rising to the top.
“We’ve all been in cover bands,” said Westphalen, who’s been a working musician since the early 1980s. “When I was thinking about what kind of tribute band would make sense for us, STP was one that came to mind because you’ve got a lead singer that sings the lead vocal and then the backup is the bass player. I usually do backups, so it fit.”
Westphalen saw Weiland perform in the years before his death. Like many fans, he worried that the singer’s reckless life could end tragically.
“I was always wondering if he could go at any time. … You could tell in his performances that he was not a hundred percent,” he said. “We’d seen him a year or two before at Meadowbrook and he just wasn’t himself.”
The two bands rounding out the bill and Stone Temple Posers have done 1990s nostalgia shows together in the recent past. Lowell-based Nirvana tribute band Priceless Advice is, said Westphalen, “a great bunch of young guys, very talented.” He added that the group’s front man looks quite a bit like the late Kurt Cobain.
“He’s in a bunch of other cover and original bands; this is one of his projects,” he said.
Playing a much heavier brand of alternative rock, Undertow is a bit of a wild card, but the three groups worked together before and found it a good fit.
“We played with them for the first time last fall; we met through mutual connections with other bands,” Westphalen said. “Hopefully, people that like Nirvana and STP will also like Tool, and vice versa.”
90s Alt Rock Night
When: Friday, Feb 24, 8 p.m.
Where: Jewel Music Venue, 61 Canal St., Manchester
Tickets: $10 at jewelnh.com
Film: Hollywood Celebrates La La Land & a Few Other Movies
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Hollywood Celebrates La La Land & A Few Other Movies
Get ready for Oscar night with predictions, complaints and viewing recommendations
Written By Amy Diaz (adiaz@hippopress.com)
Images: Movie Screenshots
La La Land wins! Wins what? Whatever! If you don’t have the energy to put effort into your Oscar guesses this year, assume that La La Land will win the 13 categories in which it has nominations and you’ll probably be right at least half the time.
Though this juggernaut romance-musical set in dreamy Hollywood is getting much of the attention, there are other solid films nominated for the 89th Academy Awards. After a season of regular Entertainment Weekly and Vulture readership, consulting GoldDerby.com and FiveThirtyEight, occasionally listening to podcasts for Vulture and Vanity Fair and scanning assorted other internety things, here are my best guesses for who will win, my grumpy two cents about who should win, suggestions for movies that should have made the cut and movies worth watching in these final days of award season.
See if I can continue my streak of getting about two-thirds of my predictions correct on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
• Best picture Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight
Will win: La La Land. I get it, but at this point I’m more exhausted than charmed by this romance. I have yet to read or listen to anything that doesn’t give La La Land a lock on the big prize. (Of course, by the laws of 2016-2017, that might mean the winner is, like, Hacksaw Ridge.)
Should win: Arrival. A smart sci-fi with a strong female performance at its center, Arrival was a pleasant surprise.
Missing: Deadpool? Honestly, I didn’t think it was great cinema but nor was I impressed by the first half of Hacksaw Ridge so why not a swearing comic book character who is doing something new with the genre? Also, I’d add Eye in the Sky, a smart movie about modern warfare (featuring Alan Rickman and Helen Mirren), and The Shallows, a strong suspense movie.
What to watch: All of this year’s best picture nominees are well worth your time. See Arrival and Hell or High Water now (both available for home viewing). Hidden Figures is a solid movie (and, with a PG rating, suitable for older-kids family movie night); it’s still in theaters and worth the price of admission.
Hacksaw Ridge (available for home viewing now) and Lion (available on March 7, according to iTunes) are both movies with true stories more interesting than the movies based on them but I’d still recommend a home viewing when you’re up for a war movie or a drama, respectively. Put Fences on your must-watch list as soon as it becomes available for home viewing (for purchase Feb. 24 on iTunes); it is a solid, well-acted drama that is heavy but not too bleak. Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight, both available now for home viewing, are well worth a watch but are definitely movies to watch when you have time (and the emotional energy) for well-crafted but downbeat stories.
La La Land is also still in theaters but I’m going to suggest you wait. Don’t see it in theaters, don’t see it when it is first available for home-viewing. Wait until, maybe, next January, when you need an infusion of joy and sun and maybe you’ll be able to view it the way people who saw it at film festivals in early fall viewed the movie — as a delightful surprise.
• Best director Denis Villeneuve for Arrival, Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge, Damien Chazelle for La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, Barry Jenkins for Moonlight.
Will win: Damien Chazelle. The movie feels inevitable at this point. Maybe Lonergan or Jenkins could sneak in there, but I doubt it.
Should win: Kenneth Lonergan. A look at real people and messy lives, Manchester by the Sea is all the more devastating because of Lonergan’s understated style.
• Best actress Isabelle Huppert in Elle, Ruth Negga in Loving, Emma Stone in La La Land, Natalie Portman in Jackie, Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Will win: Emma Stone. Everybody everywhere seems to agree it’s Stone, even though, to me, the character feels thin compared to competitors.
Should win: Ruth Negga. Actually for me it’s a toss-up between Negga’s strong, understated Mildred Loving and Natalie Portman’s crazypants Jackie Kennedy. (Note: I did not see Elle, which will be available for home viewing March 14, according to iTunes.)
Missing: Emily Blunt. Granted, most of The Girl on the Train is fancy silliness, but Blunt is doing serious work. I would also accept Hailee Steinfeld for getting the horrors of teenage life right in The Edge of Seventeen and Taraji P. Henson for Hidden Figures because seriously how did Meryl Streep get a nod for the just-OK Florence Foster Jenkins and Henson not get a nomination?
What to watch: Jackie and Loving are available for home viewing and both are interesting movies about their moment in history.
• Best actor Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea, Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge, Ryan Gosling in La La Land, Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic, Denzel Washington in Fences.
Will win: Denzel Washington. As one of the podcasts I listen to (Little Gold Men, perhaps?) pointed out, Washington, who didn’t win a Golden Globe but did win the SAG award, is both a blockbuster-type movie star and a serious actor — in other words, living the dream.
Should win: Casey Affleck in a photo finish with Washington. Washington is a thisclose second only because his performance, though excellent, feels performance-y. Affleck meanwhile feels like a guy who is two heartbeats away from being crushed to death by his own grief but has managed to keep a shell of himself active in the world.
Missing: Chris Pine or Ben Foster for Hell or High Water. Parker Sawyers also did a standout job of playing a young law student on a first date wrestling with issues about career and race — without letting his character, one Barack Obama in Southside with You, feel like a Saturday Night Live impersonation.
What to watch: Captain Fantastic (available for home viewing now) is a strange but sweet movie about a strange but sweet family. Mortensen is solid as the loving but flawed father trying to keep his family together after the death of his wife.
• Best animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, Zootopia
Will win: Kubo and the Two Strings. This lovely story, told with origami-style visuals, benefits from the fact that there are two strong Disney competitors, Zootopia and Moana. Zootopia won the Golden Globe; Moana has the delightful music. I feel like this is one of those categories where a bunch of good choices creates an opening for a slightly lesser-known competitor.
Should win: Moana. I really liked Kubo and the Two Strings and Zootopia (and I haven’t seen My Life as a Zucchini or The Red Turtle, both of which are slated to open at Boston-area theaters as soon as this weekend). But Moana made me feel good about the world we live in, in addition to having beautiful visuals, well-crafted songs and a fun story.
What to watch: Moana probably is good for ages 6 or so and up with Kubo and Zootopia (both of which have dark moments) better for later-elementary-aged viewers. These three are all available at a sofaplex near you.
Other categories (with likely winners are yellow and my pick in bold italics):
• Best supporting actress: Viola Davis in Fences, Naomie Harris in Moonlight, Nicole Kidman in Lion, Octavia Spencer in Hidden Figures, Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea. Davis seems like the clear favorite and her performance is by far the standout.
• Best supporting actor: Mahershala Ali for Moonlight, Jeff Bridges for Hell or High Water, Lucas Hedges for Manchester by the Sea, Dev Patel for Lion, Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals. I haven’t seen Nocturnal Animals but of the other four I think Ali probably gave the top performance and has the best shot at the Oscar, possibly one of the few categories where Moonlight is really competitive.
• Best original screenplay: Taylor Sheridan for Hell or High Water, Damien Chazelle for La La Land, Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for The Lobster, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, Mike Mills for 20th Century Women. Though Golden Derby is predicting a win for Manchester by the Sea, I feel like La La Land could load up on awards. While I really like Manchester by the Sea (and haven’t seen 20th Century Women), I’d like to see the gritty modern Western with a wry sense of humor get something.
• Best adapted screenplay: Eric Heisserer for Arrival, August Wilson for Fences, Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi for Hidden Figures, Luke Davies for Lion, Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight. This is where Moonlight will get its recognition. And while a win for Moonlight here would be deserved, I think I’d throw my vote to Arrival for doing something different and thought-provoking with the genre. Wilson’s Fences also has a strong case.
• Best documentary: Fire at Sea, I Am Not Your Negro, Life, Animated, O.J.: Made in America, 13th. A five-part ESPN production, O.J.: Made in America weaves the history of Los Angeles, the African-American community in L.A., the history of the L.A. police department and the relationship between the African-American community and the LAPD around the story of O.J.’s life. By the time we get to his trial and the resulting acquittal, we have a good sense of the context in which it all played out. I have not yet seen Fire at Sea (available on iTunes now) or I Am Not Your Negro (which is currently screening in Boston-area theaters and is scheduled to come to Red River Theatres in Concord on March 3). O.J.: Made in America, Life, Animated (the story of journalist Ron Suskind’s now adult son Owen, who has autism, and the way Disney animated movies helped him to connect with his family and the world) and 13th (by Selma director Ava DuVernay, this documentary is about race and mass incarceration) are all available now for home viewing.
• Best original song: “Audition,” La La Land; “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls; “City of Stars,” La La Land; “The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story; “How Far I’ll Go,” Moana. The predictors seem to be giving the edge to “City of Stars,” but “Audition” is the emotional climax of the movie. Personally, I’m all about the Moana songs, my favorite of which is probably “You’re Welcome.”
• Best documentary short: 4.1 Miles; Extremis; Joe’s Violin; Watani: My Homeland; The White Helmets. All really strong entries but I’d put Watani just a little ahead of the pack for looking at Syria and the refugee crisis through the story of a woman and her children who, in addition to the war, have standard child/teen concerns. I’d give the awards edge to Joe’s Violin because Watani, The White Helmets and 4.1 Miles are similar enough in subject that they might split the vote and Joe’s Violin is probably the most uplifting of the movies.
• Best animated short: Blind Vaysha, Borrowed Time, Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Pearl, Piper. Maybe it’s cliché for Pixar to always win but the story is sweet and the visuals are amazing.
• Best live action short: Ennemis Interieurs, La Femme et le TGV, Silent Nights, Sing, Time Code. If charming dance and romance is what you like, Timecode has it (and perhaps Silent Nights and Ennemis Interieurs will split the vote of the politics-minded). Personally, I like the resistance to injustice funnily demonstrated by kids in a choir in Sing. (Live-action and animation shorts, at least, appear to be available for home viewing as of Feb. 21. See shorts.tv/theoscarshorts.)
Pop: Tough Tales
FEATURED POP
Tough Tales
Nashua writer Melanie Brooks on Writing Hard Stories
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Nashua writer Melanie Brooks’ Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art From Trauma started with a personal memoir she was unable to write.
Brooks, who also teaches at Northeastern University, Merrimack College and Nashua Community College, had enrolled in the University of Southern Maine’s MFA program in 2013 seeking structure to write a family story she’d been carrying for years, about her father’s death from a secret AIDS infection that he’d acquired from contaminated blood during open heart surgery.
But when she finally went to write about it almost 20 years later, she couldn’t.
“I wasn’t ready for the emotional toll of going back, re-examining and, in many ways, reliving that time in my life. And I was not quite prepared for what was required of me to tell this memoir honestly,” Brooks said via phone.
Her first year in the MFA program, she attended a panel at an Association of Writers & Writing Programs workshop in Boston that featured Kim Stafford, who talked about his memoir, 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do, which is about losing his brother to suicide. He explained to the audience that the writing set him free, in a way — that his story transformed from a stone harnessed to his heart to a book in his hand.
“It really resonated with me in the sense that, that’s what I wanted from the experience of writing my memoir. But I didn’t have any real idea of how to get that,” Brooks said.
After the panel, she waited in line to ask him how he wrote the book, psychologically, but she misworded her question, and he mistook her meaning.
“He thought I was asking him about craft, which is one of the worst questions to ask a writer, because there is no more elusive question,” she said. “I went home from the conference that same day feeling, if only I had been able to ask the right question!”
But then, she thought, it wasn’t too late to get an answer. She could still email him and hope he might respond. Actually, she could do that with many memoirists whose work she admired.
So that’s what she did.
“I thought I would reach out to a bunch of them, and that maybe one or two would respond,” Brooks said.
To her surprise, the writers she contacted were more than willing to talk with her. She visited them at home and in public places, from restaurants to dog parks, and learned most battled the same uncertainty she did. Some tried to write their tales as fiction before realizing it wasn’t working. All were happy they put forth the effort.
“For all the authors, I asked how it felt to be finished, and they all talked about this sense of relief, freedom — this weight that came off their shoulders in some way,” she said.
Initially, she assumed these interviews were simply to help with writing her own story. But it seemed a shame to waste their thoughtful words and insight. She decided to use the stories for a critical analysis paper her third semester.
“But even after my first interview, I recognized I couldn’t turn the words of these writers into little sound bites,” she said.
Many authors said they’d never been asked about the psychological toll of writing a memoir. Her mentor felt she was writing a book, not a paper.
“I said, ‘This isn’t my book. I’ve got another book I’m writing.’ … It was probably at the end of that semester I realized that here I did have something I could turn into a book,” Brooks said. “When I graduated with my MFA, I had this project, and I had my creative thesis. I had two books in hand. The debate was which we should try to go with first.”
The winner was Writing Hard Stories, published Feb. 7 by Beacon Press. Each chapter profiles a memoirist she interviewed, including Andre Dubus III, Joan Wickersham, Mark Doty, Marianne Leone,
Richard Hoffman, Edwidge Danticat, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Richard Blanco, Abigail Thomas, Sue Silverman, Kate Bornstein, Jerald Walker and Kyoko Mori, among others.
As for her own hard story, her agent has the proposal and she’s almost finished with the writing.
“I think what was guiding my paralysis around my memoir was a real sense of fear to expose my vulnerability. … But I wasn’t afraid after talking with these writers. They helped me move past this fear and move into understanding what I needed to say and how I needed to say it,” she said.
Melanie Brooks
Contact: melaniebrooks.com
GrubStreet: 162 Boylston St., Boston, Mass., event with Alysia Abbott Thurs., March 9, time TBA
Nashua Community College Lecture Series: 505 Amherst St., Nashua, speaking event Thursday, March 23, time TBA
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College Satellite Closes in Manchester
College Satellite Closes in Manchester
Professors Say Goodbye to Urban Campus
Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
Earlier this month, the last of the furniture from Springfield College’s Manchester facility was removed. The college, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, had quietly closed the satellite location on Commercial Street in December.
Closing Up
Dennis Martino, a longtime state employee and adjunct professor at what was formerly called Springfield College’s School of Human Services, was its last director.
In July 2016 the college renamed the satellite program, which focuses on social services fields, the School of Professional and Continuing Studies. It operates nine similar satellites around the country.
Martino estimates there were about 300 students enrolled at the Millyard campus at its height in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many of whom commuted north from Massachusetts for weekend classes. But the college was looking to consolidate and hired consultants to study the viability of the satellite.
“Southern New Hampshire University, which is really a juggernaut these days, was a big competitor and right down the road,” Martino said.
He said the school was also struggling to compete with the least expensive state college, Granite State College, which offered some similar programs. Plus, while the other satellite locations are rentals,
Springfield owns the suite on Commercial Street. As a result of closing the site, Martino thinks the college stands to earn between $1.5 million and $1.75 million for selling the property.
“They’ll get a good price for it,” Martino said. “I’m sure that was a factor.”
Springfield College spokesperson Elizabeth Belle Isle said the official reason for the campus’ closing was declining enrollment. By January 2016, when the decision to close the school was made, there were 26 full-time undergraduate students.
The school was also up against diminishing demand for higher education in the Northeast, where many people already have degrees, and an increased interest in online programs.
Human Services
Manchester’s satellite, the school’s only New Hampshire location, was the original school to have a flagship human services program geared toward nontraditional students.
Former professor Paul Levy traces the history of the Manchester campus and the School of Human Services back to an experimental school called Franconia College.
“It was a residential college for young people, but it set up a new ... weekend program for working adults,” Levy said.
He said the school started in Franconia in the early 1970s but was bankrupt by 1978. What lived on was its hugely popular human services program, ahead of its time for catering to working adults and racial minorities.
The program started out with just the bachelor degree program and continued after Franconia College closed under the auspices of New Hampshire College — the former name of SNHU. By the late 1980s,
Levy said, New Hampshire College jettisoned the human services program, and the School of Human Services found its permanent home with Springfield College.
As Levy tells it, Springfield College, a 130-year old private nonprofit college whose claim to fame is the invention of basketball, wanted to bolster its declining enrollment by offering an adult learner program to nontraditional students, and the School of Human Services was ready-made to do just that.
From the very start, Levy said, the program was exploring innovative modes of educating that have since become more mainstream, such as interdisciplinary studies, giving credits for experiential learning and offering seminar-style classes where students would sit in a circle and discuss a topic.
Eventually, the school added a couple of master’s programs for organizational leadership and mental health counseling, as well as criminal justice bachelor programs.
Students & Staff Move On
The announcement of the Manchester school’s closure last year led many part-time faculty and full-time staff members to leave for other employment opportunities. Some were offered jobs at the Boston campus.
The school once had about eight administrative staff members and between 20 and 30 adjunct professors, according to Martino. That number dwindled to single digits in the waning months of the school.
Belle Isle said no full-time faculty or staff were laid off.
The campus stopped accepting students last May. Students who didn’t finish by December were given tuition discounts to continue in Boston or at the St. Johnsbury, Vermont, satellite campus. Others were offered the option to transfer via articulation agreements with SNHU and Granite State College.
Art Experience
Art Experience
Weisberg Installs “Cannot Be Determined in Advance”
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
The name of Debra Weisberg’s installation at Southern New Hampshire University’s McIninch Art Gallery is “Cannot Be Determined in Advance.” With a name like this, it’s arguably impossible to describe the show before experiencing it in person.
But here’s an attempt.
It looks like dark, organic matter, seeping through the floor and walls of the tiny gallery, a blend of chaos and order, but with no real shape or form. It’s made from a variety of materials, like rice paper, tape, camping foam mats, twigs, acrylic paint, cheesecloth and wire dipped in pulp and then coated in sand. Her work is rooted in abstractionism, and even though the sculpture is twisted and layered and textured, there’s a fluidity about it. Each detail is deliberate.
Weisberg’s goal is to get viewers to experience her art, not think about it. It’s why she recruited saxophonist, flautist and composer Ken Field to create a sound component to accompany the artwork, coating the SNHU gallery Feb. 23 through April 2.
“With music, you don’t always have to use language. Visual art is always embedded in words,” Weisberg said during an interview at the gallery, just over a week before the opening reception. “The first thing people say [at a gallery] is ‘What does this mean?’ And people don’t do that with music. They just allow it to enter them.”
Another reason to incorporate music was to promote active looking.
“I noticed that whenever there’s a more performance-based environment, people quiet down,” she said. “Sound … holds people’s attention in all the senses but not through language. And that’s always been of interest to me. How do I allow my artwork to [offer] an experience, like that people have when they listen to music?”
At this point, Weisberg, a Boston-based artist who teaches at the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University and Boston College, was in the beginning stages of installing her sculpture and anticipated it would take all week. Field was adjusting his contribution to the space, which he described as a composition made up of layered sounds, from saxophone notes to abstract noises, like air blowing through the instrument.
“It has two separate loops of music that are different lengths, and throughout the course of the day, they’ll shift in respect to each other,” Field said. “They reflect on the artwork and the discussions I had with Debra about her thoughts on the work.”
Weisberg has shown artwork around the world, and Facebook Boston recently commissioned her to create an 18-foot-long tape installation for its corporate Cambridge office. She has twice attended the
MacDowell Colony. This is her third iteration of this installation.
Gallery Director Debbie Disston said it’s the fifth year she’s opened the gallery to established artists to use the space as a platform to install site-specific work.
“It’s a great opportunity to give an established artist the opportunity to take risks, to do something new or maybe build upon an idea that’s been percolating for awhile,” Disston said.
Frozen Family Fun
Frozen Family Fun
Winter Carnival Returns To Merrimack
Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Being active outside is what the annual Merrimack Winter Carnival is all about, an afternoon full of free, family-friendly activities like snowmobile rides, roasting s’mores over a campfire, ice fishing demonstrations and more.
The 25th annual event returns to Wasserman Park on Saturday, Feb. 25, from noon to 3 p.m. and is open to the public.
“The idea is to get people to be kind of out and about during the winter months, and to also give them a chance to do things that they haven’t before,” said Matt Casparius, director of the Merrimack Parks and
Recreation Department. “We try a little bit of everything to stay active during this time of year.”
Several local community organizations will be at the park during the carnival for free demonstrations and workshops, including a youth ice fishing derby from the Merrimack Lions Club and free snowshoeing opportunities courtesy of Eastern Mountain Sports in Nashua.
“A lot of [the community organizations] do it as a way to promote themselves,” Casparius said. “We’ve had people who have discovered organizations here at the carnival that they said they never knew existed, like the Southern New Hampshire Flying Eagles, which is a model airplane club.”
New to this year’s carnival will be the return of ice carving demonstrations by Icebreakers NH in Manchester, a feature Casparius said has been absent from the event in recent years. There will also be free snowmobile rides of a unique variety, with snowmobiles converted from 1920s-era cars.
“We used to have a local snowmobile club that did free rides that disbanded last year,” he said, “but we found this group called New Hampshire Snocar that converts Model A and Model T cars into snowmobiles, so that riding piece is kind of new.”
Other activities will include an environmental education workshop from the Naticook Day Camp in Merrimack, which will focus on how to identify different kinds of trees in New Hampshire. Several information booths will also be set up, for local organizations like the Merrimack Town Center Committee, the Merrimack Conservation Commission, and the new dog park at Wasserman that opened in December.
The cardboard box sledding contest is also returning, in which participants are invited to design their own sleds. Prizes will be awarded for fastest sled, best use of cardboard and most creative design, and all are welcome to watch the competition.
Casparius added that the Merrimack Friends & Families organization will run a concession stand selling hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, hot chocolate and water for a small fee. Roasting marshmallows and s’mores over a campfire is free.
“We usually get anywhere from 600 to 800 people come out each year, so it’s a pretty good-sized-event, and especially great for families,” he said.
Take The Cake
Take The Cake
Salem Bakery Offers New Adult Cake Classes
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Whether you’ve never made a cake or you’re looking to take your cake-baking skills to the next level, the new cake class series at Love+Flour Bakery in Salem will cover everything you need to know to create quality, picturesque cakes from scratch.
Since the bakery opened in September, it has offered various classes for kids and teens as well as one-day workshops on things like French macarons, cupcake decorating and working with fondant, but the new cake classes will be its first comprehensive class series for adults that is focused entirely on cake.
“You learn the whole process, from the basics of scratch baking and making a cake mix, to finishing the cake and making flowers and ruffles,” Jaime Manning, Love+Flour owner and class instructor, said.
“It’s definitely more in depth, whereas at a workshop you learn to frost a cake and call it a day.”
The six-week series begins Tuesday, Feb. 28, and will continue weekly on Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Each session will involve hands-on instruction and focus on different techniques or aspects of making cakes, such as the fundamentals of baking, making a cake mix from scratch, making buttercream, frosting a cake, crafting fondant flowers and more.
Over the course of the series, participants will complete and take home four projects: basic cupcakes, a buttercream cake with basic rosettes and embellishments; customized gourmet cupcakes with dozens of flavors to choose from; and lastly, a drip cake.
“For a drip cake, instead of getting borders and swirls like on a normal cake, it gets a perfect ganache finish that drips down the edges,” Manning said. “Then, we’ll add some crazy toppings on it like French macarons, Oreos, Hershey chocolate bars, all kinds of different stuff.”
Participants will be given recipes of all the cakes and frostings featured in the class so they can try out making their own cakes at home. The recipes for the basic cupcakes and buttercream cake in particular provide a framework that people can build on as they experiment with different styles and embellishments that fit their tastes.
“We go from learning the basic recipes first, then to the gourmet recipes to show how you can add to [a basic recipe] and change it in so many different ways and turn it into a totally different item,” Manning said.
Class sizes are kept small to ensure that each participant gets personalized instruction. However, if space allows, there will be the option of taking classes individually, giving people who are only interested in select techniques or topics a chance to sit in on those classes without committing to the whole series.
Manning said she hopes that for their next birthday party or special occasion her cake class alumni will skip the supermarket cakes and make their own cake instead, using the skills they learned in her class.
“If people take the class and can leave with the knowledge and the recipes and the confidence to make their own cake at home with quality ingredients, it will be so much better for them,” she said.
Love+Flour Adult Cake Classes
Where: Love+Flour Bakery, 184 N. Broadway, Salem
When: Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Feb. 28 through April 4
Cost: $260 for the full series; individual classes range from $30 to $50
Contact: 560-4349, loveandflourbakery.com
Class schedule:
Feb. 28: Making and flavoring buttercream
March 7: Making chocolate and vanilla sponge cake
March 14: Making ganache, fondant and gum paste
March 21: Frosting cakes and making buttercream flowers
March 28: Making fondant and gum paste flowers
April 4: Making drip cakes
Call for availability on taking individual classes
10 Days of Beer
10 Days of Beer
Tastings, Pairings & more at Portsmouth Beer Week
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
What started as a long weekend with a handful of beer events in Portsmouth is now a 10-day community-wide celebration with over 45 beer tastings, tap takeovers, food pairings, pub crawls and more.
The eighth annual Portsmouth Beer Week, hosted by 2beerguys.com, Seacoast Beverage Lab and the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, takes place Saturday, Feb. 25, through Monday, March 6, at various breweries, restaurants and bars in and around Portsmouth.
“Typically the winter season is a slow time for Portsmouth,” said Sean Jansen, co-founder of 2beerguys.com and Portsmouth Beer Week. “[Portsmouth Beer Week] is focused on the breweries, but in addition to that, it really showcases the different restaurants and bars and helps gives them a boost.”
The week kicks off with its largest event, the fifth annual Seacoast Winter Brew Fest, held at Portsmouth Gas Light Co., on Saturday, Feb. 25. The tasting will feature more than 100 beers from nearly 30 local and regional breweries, plus complimentary food provided by the restaurant and a cigar sampling with Federal Cigar. VIP ticket holders will get access to the tasting for one hour before general admission and an exclusive tasting of specialty beers and rare Scotches, bourbons, whiskeys and Champagnes.
“It’s a more intimate event,” Jansen said. “It’s a good opportunity for people to meet reps, brewers and brewery owners from their favorite local breweries.”
Other happenings throughout the week will feature Seacoast-area breweries like Smuttynose Beer Co. and Smuttlabs, Bad Lab Beer Co., Liars Bench Beer Co., Redhook Brewery, Earth Eagle Brewings and more, as well as other New Hampshire breweries and breweries from around the country.
“It’s not like New Hampshire Craft Beer Week,” Jansen said. “The majority are New England-based, but there are a bunch from outside this area too, because the focus is more on limited and harder-to-get beers.”
Jansen said Portsmouth Beer Week is not only a destination for beer enthusiasts, but also “very successful for its foodie aspects,” with things like special food deals and beer-inspired dishes at bars and restaurants, beer pairings with oysters and tapas, beer pairing brunches and more.
Details about all events can be found at portsmouthbeerweek.com
Portsmouth Beer Week
Seacoast Winter Brew Fest
Special Events
Meals & Pairings
Weekly Music Review
Weekly Music Review
Second Opinion & More
Written By Eric Saeger (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Album Artwork
Peter Erskine and the Dr. Um Band, Second Opinion (Fuzzy Music)
Nerds who pick up Modern Drummer for the articles and not the hot pix of Neil Peart are well aware of Erskine, who’s topped that magazine’s poll as Best Drummer 10 or so times. He’s been on more than 600 records and helped out on a bunch of soundtracks, including all three Austin Powers movies. Sad that someone who’s so famous in certain circles needs that kind of introduction, but there you are — jazz heads are just happy for any written press, believe me. John Beasley on keys and Bob Shepperd on sax and flute front Erskine and bassist Benjamin Shepherd — it’s a package that sounds small, but the sounds are surprisingly large, starting with opener “Hipnotherapy,” which finds Erskine keeping simple time for a lazy hot-summer-midnight groove whose urbanity is pure Yellowjackets. Shepherd puts on a bass clinic in “Eleven Eleven,” bubbling away and barely coming up for air in this 1970s-funk-injected exercise, heavily reminiscent of vintage Ramsey Lewis owing to Beasley’s simple but busy electric piano (Shepperd’s sax is wide-screen in that one also). This one is a go-to for laid-back soundscaping; even the hotter tracks are sublime and friendly. I’ll be pulling this one out often
Grade: A+
Ex Deo, The Immortal Wars (Napalm Records)
Feels like it’s been long enough between reviews of those Napalm Records epic metal releases, and this one comes to us as a side project from Canadian dudes Kataklysm, who were once heralded as extreme-metal’s great white hope before “descending” into power-metal “fluff.” The Ex Deo premise is absolutely adorable, pomp-power-metal based on tales of ancient Rome and its wars and vomitoriums or whatever those guys used to do. Oh, the really adorable part is that the singer is Italian (get it? Rome?) and he’s surrounded by his “Gaul brethren” (get it? Canada?). This is so hopeless but cool I couldn’t turn it down, although I was a bit taken aback by the recipe, which indeed calls for some symphonic guitar parts, but the rest of this is comprised of old Mastodon sounds, from the riffs to the vocals. Just to remind us we’re supposed to be thinking about Flavius and not mud monsters, there are rumbly breaks with hammed up oaths straight out of 300, like “On this day I promise never to be a friend of Rome!” The big question is, do their groupies know who Caesar was? Will it matter? Sometimes I wish I could become a bug on the wall at will.
Grade: B-
The Great Wall
Film Review
The Great Wall (PG-13)
Written By Amy Diaz (adiaz@hippopress.com)
Images: Movie Screenshot
