Parties: An Oscar Night Blowout of Our Own
Not to be outdone by Hollywood, the Berkshire International Film Festival hosted an Oscar bash at the new Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield on Sunday night, drawing a crowd of film enthusiasts, including (from left to right) Maurice Peterson, Lauren Ferin and Mark Johnson of Seven Salon. Attendees watched the show on the big screens, popping in and out during commercials to mingle and fetch drinks and snacks. They had been encouraged to dress for the red carpet, and most everyone complied. Cultural correspondant Bess Hochstein took in the glittering scene
RI Selects: This Weekend Williams College Is Where the Art Is
Composer Edgard Varèse (1883 - 1965)
We don’t like to play favorites, but our Cultural Correspondent Bess Hochstein says Williams College is the place to be this weekend. “The Williams College Museum of Art has a fantastic exhibition, Landscapes of the Mind,” says Hochstein. “On Saturday, there’s a symposium that brings together curators, neuroscientists and artists, which should be amazing. And the musical highlights are both classical—but not classical music as you’ve ever heard it before. On Friday, the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra focuses on Edgard Varèse. Just listen to the video on RI‘s music page and see if it sounds like anything you’ve ever heard on a classical stage. Then on Monday, “The Box” series presents Continuum, a global smorgasbord of 20th century music. And, while you’re in the neighborhood, you must see Boldini at The Clark.”
Food News: Free Irish Boiled Dinner, No 4-Leaf Clover RequiredTalk about the luck of the Irish. It’s not every day that a restaurant gives away free food, but then St. Patrick’s isn’t just any day. In the spirit of Erin Go Bragh!, Dream Away Lodge in Becket, MA is giving away the holy trinity—corned beef, cabbage, and potato— to any Tom, McDick and O’Harry who makes a reservation and shows up before 8:30 p.m—while supplies last. |
IS 183's Radioactive Bodega Dance PartyThe Pittsfield art school’s annual costume bash last Saturday night brought out a mordant streak in even the most upstanding Berkshire County citizens, who have clearly stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb. Some opted for radiation-resistant gear; others looked as if the fall-out had already taken its toll. Not to worry; glowing in the dark, particularly when one smiles, turns out to be quite a fetching look. |
AgriCulture: Sheepish Grins and Other Barnyard MetaphorsTo understand where phrases like “sheepish grin” and “dumb cluck” come from, blogger Peter Davies suggests, just hang around some livestock for a while. Barnyard metaphors abound in our language. And close observation only confirms the spot on accuracy of these descriptive terms. Pigs may be intelligent, for example, but to eat like a pig, so to speak, is, in fact, to eat like a pig. |
Movies: A Farm Film Feast with Sides of Talk and FoodThe crusade to eat locally hits the big screen this week at Images Theater in Williamstown, MA, with a film festival featuring such enticingly titled documentaries as Dirt! The Movie, and Mad City Chickens. Where there are such films, there is also bound to be impassioned, informative panel discussions and, thanks to our local farms, lots of lovely, healthy, environimentally sound things to eat. |
Kids & Adults: Stargazing in the Fields at OmiThis Saturday night, March 13, at 7:30 p.m., Omi International is giving a free star-gazing party at its Fields Sculpture Park in Ghent, NY. Members of the Dudley Observatory and the Albany Amateur Astronomers will be on hand to illuminate what’s going on in the night sky. The architecturally stunning cafe in Omi’s visitor’s center will be open for those who need sustenance and a chance to warm up. |
Recipes: Let the Locavores Eat Cake!Butternut squash is a staple in the kitchen of Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food. By this time of the year, however, it’s a bit de trop, so Cotler has come up with a Spiced Butternut Squash Cranberry Cake that satisfies both her innovative sweet tooth along with her vow to keep it local. |
