Cover Story
On the Cover: Christine Ashburn
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Hudson Highlands Land Trust (HHLT) assigned Christine Ashburn to photograph the Hudson Valley for a little over a year. Seventy-two of her photos showing the love between locals and their land are included in Connecting: Celebrating the People and Places of the Hudson Highlands.
Indie Guitarist Chris Brokaw Visits Hudson
The erstwhile member of the influential bands Come and Codeine will perform at the Spotty Dog Books and Ale.
Laura Cantrell Returns to Kingston Next Week
The contemporary country queen will play at BSP Lounge on May 13.
Beltane Scorpio Full Moon: Passion Magnified
Beltane’s an ancient Pagan holiday timed with the middle of spring. In that agricultural culture that timed life with the cycles of nature, this time of year was about celebrating the fertilization of the fields and sowing seeds.
Woodstock’s Creative Music Foundation Gets Second Grammy Grant
The influential world jazz organization has received more funding to assist in its archive-preservation efforts.
Launching Community and Eccentricity
The New Paltz Regatta encompasses all that we in the Hudson Valley hold dear: community, handcrafting, outdoor adventures, DIY events, and fun for fun’s sake.
Jazz Events Planned in Germantown
On Saturday vibraphonist Joe Locke and his trio will perform; an exhibit of images by jazz photographer Chuck Stewart opens on Sunday.
“The Fantasticks” at the Culinary Institute
The Half Moon Theatre opens the curtains on its spring season with “The Fantasticks.”
Standing Apart from Mommy Internet
Most people I know have a relationship to their Internet life and social media experience that’s a little ambivalent—neither wholly positive nor wholly negative. We’re all hurtling at fiber-optic speeds along a path whose implications for how and where we locate identity, self-esteem and emotional/spiritual nourishment are questionable (when they’re questioned at all).
Sponsored by Won Dharma Center: Awakened Heart Concert
The Broad Street Chamber Players will perform a benefit concert for the Won Dharma Center Scholarship Program. A reception and tour of the facilities will follow.
Authors, Readers, and Writers Unite at Word Café
Nina Shengold, the host of Word Café, brings together authors, readers, and aspiring writers each week in an intensive writing/reading workshop.
24-Hour Drone Festival Happens in Hudson
The inaugural event at Basilica Hudson will feature a wide roster of experimental musicians in a continuous performance of electronic, psychedelic, classical, non-Western, and instrumental drone music.
Finding a Way with your Teen
Omega Institute and the Wayfinder Experience are once again teaming up to offer parents and teens a way to get out of the boxing ring and into a whole new realm.
Women’s Power Space Initiative
Women’s Power Space is a new Poughkeepsie-based initiative that promotes positive mind-body connections.
Michael Hurley: At the Bearsville Theatre This Sunday
Michael Hurley is a one-of-a-kind acoustic musician, now 73 – see him while you can!
Woodstock event Commemorates Anniversary of Helm’s Passing
An open house at Levon Helm Studios this Sunday will mark the third year since the drummer died.
Measure Twice (or More), Cut Once
From now into the weekend—but especially today and tomorrow—is one of those times when your motivation is running high to move on projects that would otherwise be daunting.
D.C. Punk Doc Screens in Kingston This Saturday
Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-90) will be shown at BSP Lounge.
Illuminating Play Time
Jessica Walsh, of Illuminated Baby, feels that the best way to achieve connection and community is by making time for all kinds of play.
Meidav on Conjunctions
Sparrow interviews novelist Edie Meidav about the significance of Conjunctions, the literary magazine of Bard College.
RUPCO Painting to be Unveiled
On April 16, the mural depicting Tamara Cooper and the community she helped bolster will be unveiled at Seven21 Media Center in Kingston.
The Best of the Berkshires’ Farm-To-Table
A four-minute film produced by the Red Lion Inn highlights the best of local food, farms, and drinks.
Newburgh Brewery’s Winning Label
The label for Newburgh Brewing Company’s Cream Ale beer trumped 64 others to win CNBC’s 2015 Most Loved Label competition.
Mercury-Sun-Eris in Aries: Expressing the Cast-Aside Self
So, I had this wacky dream the night before writing this piece. Partly awake yet still in the dream world, I thought to myself, “Oh yeah—that’s about the current astrology with Mercury, the Sun, Uranus and Eris.”
Eat Local with Hudson Valley Harvest
With its new hub in Kingston’s Tech City, Hudson Valley Harvest is helping to transform the way we eat, one plate at a time.
Elephant Food and Wine, Re-Imagined
After a week of major renovations, Elephant comes thundering back into the local food scene on April 7.
Get Those Little Hands Dirty
Local hands-on farm programs, like the YMCA Farm Project, with their child-sized wheelbarrows and big love of dirt, aim to connect people to their food.
What Happened When I Saw Chris Stein
Sparrow shares his notes from the Will Hermes interview with Chris Stein (co-founder of Blondie) at the Woodstock Writer’s Festival.
Parting Shot: Craig Blietz
Helios is on display in the exhibit “It’s OK to Be a Realist” at the Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh through May 2.
A Short Shift with Hobbes at the Liquor Store
Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. —Hobbes So I know this can’t go on forever. Jamming the sparse feather duster between wines that ought to pay rent beneath an overload of lights and 18 cameras, I start a sweat. I flip on the air conditioner. Boss Man says, use it anytime but if…
While You Were Sleeping
New York towns considering secession, baby Galapagos tortoises, and more.
Aries for April 2015
ARIES (March 20-April 19) This month will be full of surprises, though mostly you will surprise yourself with your ability to come up with creative solutions to problems that others would dare not touch. The thing you must do, however, is take control of your money. Make sure that your approach to the various challenges…
Bells Are Ringing
It’s cold and all the trees are shivering but I don’t think they really mind it. I think it’s more like a dance when you’re a tree. The rest of us get goose bumps and ash our cigarettes in small puddles just to hear that sizzling sound. Some things just aren’t meant to touch. If…
Larry Beinhart’s Body Politic: Israel, Land of Ideals
Benjamin Netanyahu has won reelection in Israel. Along the way, he meddled in US politics, offended the current sitting president, and campaigned on fear of Arabs and expansion of Israel’s territory.
CD Review: DMV 9, DMV 10
Woodstock’s own multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Duke McVinnie, a founding member of aughts folk-pop outfit Shivaree, has been around, and it shows in these two wildly eclectic EPs, 9 and 10.
Cancer for April 2015
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Your professional life is going through an accelerator that you have long suspected was going to kick in at some point, and you may be surprised at how far beyond your own expectations developments in your life take you this month. You will need to influence the flow of your life…
Burled
I admire our physical gifts though I worry about you all the time. Are you tall enough? Are you straight enough? Will you last? I move every part of you many times, sometimes the last time, I remember your pieces. I coax you in the morning then feed you to the monster. On the dampest…
Well-Spent: The Sustainable Edition
April 22 is Earth Day. But every day is a new chance to celebrate all things good in the Hudson Valley. We’ve got sustainable shopping in spades.
Lifting the Veil: Lunar Eclipse and Libra Full Moon
Due to an aspect happening concurrently with Saturday’s eclipse of the Moon in Libra, consider asking yourself what you are devoted to, and then act on it this weekend. Depending on how the eclipse chart overlays your natal chart, this might feel like the more tangible or pressing theme to you; even if it’s not,…
ArtScene Episode 4
The fourth ArtScene episode focuses on French surrealist artist Georges Malkine, screen printing at Karmabee Studios, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, and the April 2015 cover artist, Christine Ashburn.
Capricorn for April 2015
CAPRICORN (December 22-January 20) Have no illusions about the nature of the responsibility that is demanded of you. What is expected, mainly because you’re wanting it, is nothing other than drive, passion, and a creative approach to existence. To do this, it’s essential that you motivate yourself every day and at all times. If you…
First Anniversary
Your heart is about the size of your two hands clasped together. —Cleveland Clinic Two billion heartbeats in a lifetime, but you didn’t get all of yours, neighbor. Same white dog in the window, snow-covered sidewalks, powdered-sugar pines. I glimpse their rituals return next door— she attends the spring dance in a new dress; he…
Painting the Town
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the painting that will be unveiled at RUPCO’s “Give Housing a Voice” event on April 16 is worth an entire novel: a town meeting packed with faces, some dubious, some surprised, some eagerly attentive, all engaged.
CD Review: Juice
Neither Medeski, Martin & Wood nor guitarist John Scofield are strangers to psychedelia, but Juice, their third studio collaboration, harkens back to what many consider to be the genre’s first wave.
CD Review: Dwelling
Though she does invite some of her friends to play here and there on this eight-song set—guitarist Mike Hollis and drummer Joe Ruotolo of Blue Museum on “Dear Ghost” and In the Kitchen’s Roger LaRochelle on drums for “Keeper”—it’s Davis’s profound ability to conjure up these dreamy, Julee Cruise-by-way-of-Beach House swirls of melody that carries…
Gemini for April 2015
GEMINI (May 20-June 21) It’s time for you to establish a conscious relationship to the protective forces in your life. You have been through plenty, and most of the situations you were certain were the most dangerous or threatening have turned out to be reasonably easy to handle. This is a demonstration of many factors…
Home
Brooklyn, you high-class whore. The world has stretched you out for display. I miss when you were all mine.
Mommy Darkest
Along with the visceral experience of birth and desperate isolation of new motherhood, After Birth revolves around female friendship.
The Best and the Brightest
On April 12, James Lecesne will present his one-man show, “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey,” at Club Helsinki in Hudson.
Leo for April 2015
LEO (July 22-August 23) You may need to carefully balance long- and short-term plans, and make sure that your actions and choices support both as consciously as you can. You are finally starting to figure out that you have more potential, and that there is more to life, than what you’ve had in the past.…
I am Lonely and Scared of Technology
I will stand On my mountain And you will stand On yours, both of us Beneath the largest Harvest moon In recent memory, we Will need two Tin cans and A very, very Long Piece of string
Book Reviews: Short Takes for April 2015
Featuring works by Bill Braine, April L. Ford, Laurie Boris, Nicole Quinn, and Ann Marie Martin.
Video: On the Cover: Christine Ashburn
Hear about Christine Ashburn’s book, Connecting: Celebrating the People and Places of the Hudson Highlands, and her creative process with environmental portraiture.
Libra for April 2015
LIBRA (September 22-October 23) It is impossible to lose yourself in a relationship, though it’s questionable whether you can find yourself in one either. But you can remember, and you can forget, and your relationships can prompt you to do either. It turns out that there are elements of your life that you’re eager to…
Jury Duty
you want me to judge people is that what you want well I can do that I’ve been judging people all my life you want an example not guilty there you have it
Book Review: Hissing Cousins: The Untold Story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Hissing Cousins tells the story of the two most famous women in the Roosevelt dynasty, Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
“Lobby Hero” at Tangent Theatre
The writer behind You Can Count on Me, Gangs of New York, and “This Is Our Youth” has his latest work performed by Tangent Theatre Company, a New York City-turned-Hudson Valley troupe, in Tivoli.
Pisces for April 2015
PISCES (February 19-March 20) With Chiron in your sign, it’s easy to feel like despite all you’re doing, you’re not getting anywhere. That’s an illusion distinct to Chiron. Really, the truth is quite the opposite. It’s your long, slow persistence that has got you much further toward some specific goals than you think. One by…
Regeneration
I surrendered to the life force this morning, Palms outstretched, in front of me, on the floor, Head down, heavy and comfortable. I thought of my defenselessness, Within the walls of my home. I marveled at the people and idols who in times past, Stood defiantly at the head of such worship, How foolish they…
Catskill Cantilever
From the natural wood and hand-made furniture to the theater lights, masks, and decorations from performances that adorn the rooms, John Sowle and Steven Patterson have created a singular set on which to perform their own lives.
Sweet Celebration
Tal National will perform at the Falcon in Marlboro on April 3 at 7pm (donation requested; (845) 236-7970; Liveatthefalcon.com); the Half Moon in Hudson on April 4 at 8pm ($10; (518) 828-1562; Thehalfmoonhudson.com); the Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts, on April 9 at 7pm ($10, $13; (413) 586-8686; Beta.iheg.com);…
Sagittarius for April 2015
SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 22) Take a step back and give people the opportunity to take responsibility for their own existence. You grew tired of your own hard-luck stories long ago, and it’s time to be finished with those of others. I’m not, however, saying don’t be helpful when you feel moved to do so. Rather,…
Stormville Jump: Sunday Night…Without a Chute
I. The Winter bridge is a large reptilian wind siren; dripping waning Moonlight from its cold, steel fangs, to champion a lost jumper; the least loved in a moment of bleak, black cavern hell, where a plumed man plummets to the ice that chews a panicked body, and shocked skin; estuary to eat remains. The…
Pollen, We Have a Problem
The Hudson Valley is sometimes referred to as “Sinus Valley” because of the prevalence of allergies here. Until recently, I never considered the allergenic potential of the trees and shrubs I planted—and when I asked some of my colleagues in the region, it was clear it wasn’t on their radar, either. Why does it matter?
2nd Annual Shakesbeer Festival
To beer, or not to beer…that is the question, and the answer is yes.
Scorpio for April 2015
SCORPIO (October 23-November 22) Take care of your health, and make no assumptions or snap decisions. Remember that your body has truly amazing resilience. Know that anything that can possibly ail a person has been cured or resolved, and that a great many issues are the direct result of mental or emotional stress. Your chart…
The Widow
Spin thin webs, I’ll spin one to split thick skulls and slits in two. Spit sick threads and snip ’til you can spin thin webs that fit me, too.
Enter the Karmapa
The man his followers call the Gyalwa Karmapa is the 29-year-old leader of a major school of Tibetan Buddhism and of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) monastery and shrine in Woodstock, which was founded by his predecessor, the 16th Karmapa, in the 1970s.
Book Review: Lunch With a Bigot
Amitava Kumar, a professor of English at Vassar, divides the book into four parts, Reading, Writing, Places, and People, but no matter the heading, his rhythms and insights beguile, and the trip itself is as rich as the destination.
Untitled
The limerick’s driving pulse never wins Against the sonnets forgivable sins. The latter is deathless The former is breathless As it’s over before it begins.
Nightlife Highlights: Tarun Bhattacharya
The Indian classical musician performs at the Woodstock Guild on April 10.
All in the Family
Stand-up comics and hilariously wedded couple Bonnie McFarlane and Rich Vos are co-headlining at Sugarloaf Performing Arts Center on April 10 in a benefit for Inspire, the Orange County Cerebral Palsy Association.
Taurus for April 2015
TAURUS (April 19-May 20) What’s happening in a relationship is an expression of a process within you—one over which you might seem to have little control. That, however, is not true. To establish your dominion over your own mind, the first step to take is to observe yourself carefully. In particular, keep an eye on…
Visitation
unresting death, a whole day nearer now From “Aubade” by Philip Larkin It hovers, like the stink of sulfur or bad blood, wakes you in the night, squats on the edge of your bed staring into space, unmindful of your sweat, your knotted fingers or your trembling lips. It’s then the darkness closes over, leaving…
Opting Out
There is a growing number of teachers, parents, and students protesting the standardized testing rules put in place by Common Core and the No Child Left Behind Act.
16th Annual Spring Garden Day: “Beauty & The Feast”
Featuring keynote author and gardening guru Margaret Roach, master gardeners are leading 16 unique classes on April 18 at SUNY Ulster.
Virgo for April 2015
VIRGO (August 23-September 22) Resist the illusion that others have more going for them than you have going for you. Your charts describe a scenario where you may feel like you’re lacking in some essential ingredients for success. You may have the sensation that you’re looking down a tunnel at some personal qualities you wish…
The King of Pop
A self-professed “Good-Maker,” Jason Schuler is more than just a business owner—he’s the mad-scientist epicure behind its flagship product, Drink More Good hand-crafted soda syrup.
Nightlife Highlights: Moon Hooch
April 11, Iron Horse Entertainment Group, Northampton, Massachusetts
The Power of Uncertainty
Picture a stage. Now fill it with musicians, dancers, artists, and poets. Place an audience before them. What do you imagine happens next?
Outfoxing Lung Cancer
It’s about time that we had some defense against lung cancer. Responsible for about 27 percent of cancer deaths, it is by far the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.
2015 Community Supported Agriculture Farm Index
Our 2015 CSA Farm Index is your guide to local produce, flowers, meat, herbs, and more.
Scholars & Dollars
A CREEO study released in 2014 examined the spending of the Mid-Hudson’s 517 arts and culture organizations and found a direct impact of $245 million, arguably related to the existence of an educated populace.
The Road to Whole
Mens sana in corpore sano. (Sound mind in sound body.) The ancient Romans knew it, and so did Socrates when he pointed out that a healthy part can’t exist on an unhealthy whole.
Esteemed Reader: Death and Dying
The religions, philosophies, and intimacies behind death and dying.
Redemption Songs
Gene Ween as we knew him—is dead. Freeman killed that Gene Ween off when he left the band in 2012.
Aquarius for April 2015
AQUARIUS (January 20-February 19) Keep grounded, by which I mean stay focused and eat good food. If you were to bounce between concentrated work and keeping your kitchen a productive place, you would feel excellent, and you would nurture the explosion of ideas that seems to be an ongoing phenomenon within you. To say eat…
All Hallows
Here I stand imploring sweets I bring duty, honor, glory and deceit, agonizing touch and quick retreat, sandpaper jaws to redden your cheeks, longing, lapses, grasping, dirty feet, eyes that rove, a treasure trove of inconsistencies yet we are meant to be.
Editor’s Note: The C Word
A community, unlike a neighborhood, doesn’t have to exist; it is created through intention and mutual interest.
Nightlife Highlights: Jazz Vespers
April 18, First Presbyterian Church of Philipstown, Cold Spring
Spending Time with Artists
The best way to figure out what art is is to hang out with artists.
