Posted By Rachel Elizabeth Jones on Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 1:17 PM

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Vermont will be taking no part in mumblecore™ — at least not according to ClickHole. Yesterday, the Onion's delightfully irreverent content platform posted the piece, "Supporting the Arts: Vermont Is Offering a Tax Credit to Incentivize Indie Filmmakers to Stay the Fuck Out of Its State With That Bootleg Duplass-Brothers-Rip-Off Bullshit."

The title pretty much lays it all out, but it's a great full read anyway, especially if you get thrills every time you see the word "Vermont" in a major outlet, real or otherwise.

Tags: humor , indie filmmaking , Vermont , the Onion , ClickHole , Image , Web Only

Posted By Dan Bolles on Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 9:44 AM

Tags: Cat Klarich , humor , standup , Vermont comedy , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sally Pollak on Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 12:28 PM

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Sally Pollak

Rick Norcross at his tractor-trailer of Chew Chew Festival gear

If you participated in a lard fight in Burlington's City Hall Park in June of 1988, there's a T-shirt commemorating the event that you may want to snag. Despite the passage of time, you'd likely remember if you had flung fat in this particular food fight: It was a special event at the Chew Chew Festival that involved taking 10 paces, turning around, and lobbing a load of lard at your opponent.

The shirt — and other relics from the erstwhile Chew Chew — will be for sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at a puddle-pocked trailer lot off Pine Street. The food festival was founded in 1984 by musician Rick Norcross, who is selling its memorabilia and gear.

Tags: Burlington , Chew Chew Festival , Pine Street , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sally Pollak on Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 10:27 PM

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File

Hop Jam is canceled

Hop Jam, a beer and music festival scheduled for August 19 at Bolton Valley, has been canceled, according to the festival organizer. Meg Schultz told Seven Days that she is calling off the event due to poor ticket sales. News of the cancellation was posted on the Hop Jam website.

Fewer than 200 tickets to Hop Jam had been sold as of Thursday afternoon, Schultz said. Last year at this time, 700 tickets had been sold — more than half of the 1,300 in total sales to the daylong festival, according to Schultz. She'd hoped to sell 1,000 tickets for this year's event.

"The numbers are not encouraging," she said. "There's only so much debt I'm willing to take on, and we were way out of my threshold."

Tags: Hop Jam , beer festivals , Bolton Valley , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sadie Williams on Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 6:26 PM

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The Ramble

Ramblers on North Street

It's that time of year again — spring has sprung to summer, and summer's almost gone (sorry), and the creative denizens of Burlington's Old North End are gearing up for yet another Ramble.

For those unfamiliar with the fest, it is as it sounds: On Saturday, July 29, attendees will ramble and rove throughout the funky neighborhood, stopping at yard sales, checking out musical performances, playing lawn games and more. This year's Ramble is themed "Under the Sea."

Tags: The Ramble , The Old North End , O.N.E. , Darshana Bolt , Jeannie Waltz , Decaturfest , Decatur Street , Light Club Lamp Shop , the Radio Bean , Lee Anderson , Serenity Bolt , Burlington , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sadie Williams on Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 2:20 PM

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Sadie Williams

The Book Nook

Artist Susan Smereka has a thing for books. They make an appearance in her work in myriad ways: handmade volumes with "rogue" binding thread twisting across otherwise pristine pages, store-bought books altered and transformed, 20 years of journals dissected, read, and sewn together into massive accordion-style tombs.

But this April, she embarked on a much different venture, the Artists' Book Shop. With some curatorial input from Michael Shoudt, Smereka has installed a small library of artists' books in the hallway of New City Galerie in downtown Burlington, where she is head art handler and assistant curator. Two ledge-like shelves feature an array of volumes ranging in origin from San Francisco to Hong Kong.  All cost under $35. Although Smereka says none have sold yet, they are most definitely available for purchase.

Tags: Artists' books , Joseph Pensak , Susan Smereka , New City Galerie , Burlington , art , books , photography , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sadie Williams on Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 6:30 AM

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Sadie Williams

New BCA educational facilities

The South End Arts District recently got even artier with the addition of the new Burlington City Arts educational facility on Pine Street.

From the sidewalk, the main entrance is partially obscured by a tree. Just inside the door, bright wooden shelves line the white walls of the hallways leading to the studios. The high-ceilinged space smells of paint, most of the walls are bare, and the staff members are still unpacking boxes and settling into their offices.

But most of the art studios are up and running.

Tags: Burlington City Arts , art classes , South End Arts District , Image , Web Only

Posted By Luke Baynes on Tue, Jul 25, 2017 at 11:56 AM

Jake Mosher

Howard Frank Mosher

Film history is littered with failed adaptations of novels. Oftentimes a film adaptation falls prey to the commercial time constraints of movies, and the necessity of wholesale excising of text. Sometimes it’s just a matter of poor casting decisions. Then there are authors like James Joyce and William Faulkner, whose stream-of-consciousness styles are for the most part unfilmable.

But occasionally, a writer and director’s artistic sensibilities coalesce with such kinship that their paths seemed destined to cross. Such was the case with director Jay Craven and celebrated Northeast Kingdom novelist Howard Frank Mosher, who died from cancer on January 29 at the age of 74.

Tags: Howard Frank Mosher , Jay Craven , novels , Vermont , Image , Web Only

Posted By Dan Bolles on Tue, Jul 25, 2017 at 11:06 AM

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Still from "Wait"

Dwight & Nicole, "Wait"

In these troubled, turbulent times, it's likely you've found yourself thinking, Self, you know what I could really go for? A gorgeous, rock-tinged, soul-snuggling new single from Dwight & Nicole, that's what. Also, at the risk of getting greedy, maybe a cool new video, too.

Well, guess what? On Monday, July 24, the Burlington-based trio released "Wait," the A-side for a forthcoming  45rpm release. Today, the band unveiled the video for said single. Let's just jump right in, shall we?

Tags: Dwight & Nicole , Kahyl Cooper , Image , Web Only , Video

Posted By Dan Bolles on Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 10:00 AM

Tags: Bitsy Biron , humor , standup , Vermont comedy , Image , Web Only