Category: Arts & Culture
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Stolen Lives
“For George Floyd: The Whole World was Watching”* Shawn Mottram, killed dead on October 12, 1998 by what Trooper Joseph Stone said was an accidental shot when he slipped while climbing a chain link fence with gun in hand. A kill shot. Stone shoots so well by accident that he can split a bullet in…
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Taking The Homeless Census by Alexis Ivy: A Book Review
I read this marvelous book of poetry three times upon receiving it. It’s no wonder to me that her Crown of Sonnets named “The A-Street Shelter: A Crown of Sonnets” won the 2018 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship In Poetry prize. “Taking The Homeless Census” brings the reader into the world of homelessness with a jolt.…
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…’To You’
” First they came for the Socialists … I did not speak out … and there was no one left to speak for me.” — Martin Niemoller It always closes in on you the same way. When it was about being kidnapped (back) into slavery. Or when peoples have been, are plagued by epidemic…
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Book Review: Long Bright Mirror
“Long Bright Mirror” by Liz Moore, is a book that is both frightening and warm, about two sisters in Philadelphia who have been slammed by the opiate crisis. Mickey or Michaela, the older sister has become a police officer who regularly patrols the 24th District called Kensington. Her younger sister, Kacey, a heroin addict, is…
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Movie Review: The Rhythm Section
I apologize if this review screams at you to not see this movie, but my job here is to tell you whether or not a movie is worth seeing, and that means not every review will radiate positivity.So, here we go.Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale) directs The Rhythm Section with Blake Lively, starring as Stephanie…
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Irvine Welsh writes a letter to his 25-year-old self for the street paper network
Scottish writer Irvine Welsh has been a longtime supporter of the street paper network, giving interviews, providing original writing, and representing the network as an INSP ambassador. Throughout last year, INSP celebrated its 25th anniversary, rounded off by a series of letters written by a wide array of diverse street paper vendors, young and old,…
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The Split Man: A review of Marc Goldfinger’s ‘Heroin’s Harbor
Heroin’s harbor is the addict, as Marc D. Goldfinger’s collection of poems and stories, Heroin’s Harbour makes harrowingly clear. Heroin is the body of the addict that craves the drug, and it’s the mind of the addict that cooperates with the insistent body, paradoxically rationalizing any action that might provide safe harbor for a poison. Human beings are frail…
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Celebrate the release of SCN writer’s book at the Lizard Lounge
Come out to the Lizard Lounge and celebrate the release of “Heroin’s Harbour,” the forthcoming book by Spare Change News Columnist, Vendor, and Poetry Editor Marc Goldfinger on Sunday, Dec. 8. The night will kick off with a poetry slam at 8p.m., and Marc will take the stage to do a reading at about 9:30p.m.…
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Drag becomes her: Meet Jinkx Monsoon
Jerick Hoffer, aka Jinkx Monsoon. Photo By Tim Harmon “We all have an alter ego, a superhero persona inside of us,” says Jerick Hoffer. “Drag shows us that it’s okay to have different facets of your personality and to want to explore those different sides of yourself.”Hoffer’s own alter ego is Jinkx Monsoon. Citing influences…
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Running on Empty Part 2: Doctor Shopping and Crowbar Dodging
The pharmacist had grey hair and his glasses rested down on a bump in the middle of his nose. The woman working the counter came over and I handed her the scripts. She asked me for my address and wrote it on the scripts. I hated when they did that if they didn’t cash them…