Category: Arts & Culture
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AMANDA PALMER: From Harvard Square busker to international phenom
From Harvard Square busker to international crowdsourcing phenomenon, Amanda Palmer launches a new creative project after writing a best-selling book. Here’s an exclusive interview with Amanda Palmer who started her ride to fame as a busker in Harvard Square. Palmer was the Eight Foot Woman covered in white who stood upon a stool in front…
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RISE ABOVE: ArtLifting project empowers Boston's homeless
Jeffrey Powers, an undeniably talented artist whose work has been shown in galleries on Newbury Street, was also homeless for nearly four years in Boston, living in shelters and on the street where he found places to keep as warm as possible during the frigid winter months. Powers is also a former Spare Change News…
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WICKED SMART: Amy Poehler receives the 2015 Woman of the Year award
For hellraiser Amy Poehler, there’s no place like home. Well, kinda sorta. “When I was growing up in Burlington, Harvard University used to be a group of buildings we threw rocks at on our way to a real job,” she muses on stage while receiving the 2015 Hasty Pudding Award from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals…
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BOOK REVIEW: 'The Water Knife' by Paolo Bacigalupi
This book is about water. Imagine the United States fragmented. Texas has fallen away and there’s a fence, much like the one we now put up to block immigrants from Mexico. Angel is what they call a “Water Knife.” He does the dirty work for the power brokers who are fighting for the water rights…
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ALL THAT JAZZ: Wally’s Cafe
I boarded the MBTA No. 1 bus and got off at the intersection of Massachusetts and Columbus Avenue before heading up the block to Wally ‘s Jazz Club in Boston’s South End. Wally’s Cafe, the first African-American nightclub in New England, was founded in 1947 by Joseph L. Walcott, originally from Barbados, and his brother.…
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GARRET'S MOVIE PALACE: Return of the reviews
Happy New Year! Thank you for your patience, my faithful readers. It’s been a while since I’ve written a review and, for this, I apologize. I’ve still been watching movies every month, but none of them have been worth writing about. This holiday season was also a bit difficult for me emotionally, so my heart…
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HEART STRINGS: Shelter Music Boston creates human connections
Julie Leven, classical violinist who holds degrees in English and Music from Oberlin College and Conservatory, has always felt an impulse to help the less fortunate and was influenced by her alma mater’s legacy of promoting social justice. Leven also loves music. These two passions came together for her in 2010 when she founded Shelter…
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Cranksgiving Bike Race Tackles Hunger in Boston
By Aimee Ortiz BOSTON, Mass.—On 22 November, Boston held its first annual Cranksgiving: a bicycle race that also combined a scavenger hunt and a food drive into one event. A hundred and sixty cyclists gathered at Copley Square for registration and the start of the race. Everyone was given a Cranksgiving manifest to follow. Pasta,…
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Garret’s Movie Palace: Into the Storm
By Garret Jordan Well, I was not blown away by this movie — pun intended. I thought for sure that this latest tornado-thon would be better than Twister, given the advances in special effects since 1996. The effects were great, but they just weren’t enough. The exposition and rising action of any story are supposed…
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With a New Album in the Works, M-Dot Looks to What Is Next
M-Dot’s day was nearly derailed by a flat tire. He had CDs, promotional materials and notebooks of rhymes; everything a busy emcee needs for a packed day. But when he stepped outside his home he found his tire flattened, rim to the pavement. So instead of interviewing him somewhere near Berklee–where he was supposed to…