Rural Intelligence (Page 694)

Community

Coming Together for Haiti at the Mahaiwe

With mixed emotions, the lucky ticketholders filed into the Mahawie theater in Great Barrington on Friday, January 22, for the first of James Taylor’s two benefit concerts for Partners in Health which does important relief work around the world. These die-hard JT fans—who made the concert a

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Community

Excursions: Historic Fashion, The Inside Story

The inventor of the loincloth may have been the first homo sapien to get TMI. Undergarments have been shaping the truth ever since. Bodies never change, but since fashion silhouettes do with great frequency, it falls to underwear to make things right—to cinch the bits that bulge and puff

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Community

Laps of Luxury: Where To Swim During the Winter

For some reason, most of the pools in our region seem to be locally-guarded secrets—but no more. You can buy day passes at all of them, and, except for the pool at the preppy Hotchkiss School, you gain access to other fitness equipment like treadmills and weight machines.

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Food

Roast Chicken Chinese Style

Amy Cotler, who will be signing copies of her book The Locavore Way at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, at The Bookloft in Great Barrington, says: You’re going to like this juicy bird, which will perfume your kitchen with ginger and anise and arrive well-browned with

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Parties

Pittsfield Photographers Keep the Focus Local

It wasn't too long ago when "Pittsfield, snow and January" all mixed up together pretty much guaranteed quiet. No longer. Last Friday, more than 200 people showed up at the Lichtenstein Gallery for the opening reception of BerkshireCity: Pittsfield on Film, which proves that Pittsfield is

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Arts

Dan's Diary: Lauren Ambrose & The Leisure Class Packs the Lion's Den

With its low ceilings, small tables and intimate scale, the Lion's Den at the Red Lion Inn is a classic cabaret, and it was literally packed to the rafters for Monday night's second Berkshires performance of Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class, a gypsy-like, New

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Community

James Taylor: For Haiti, More Than Just His Heart Goes Out

They billed this spur-of-the-moment booking as An Intimate Evening with James Taylor. Ticket sales began Tuesday, January 19th, at 9 a.m., on-line or in person at the Mahaiwe Box office, and the prices were steep. The occasion, of course, is a benefit concert for Haiti

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Food

AgriCulture: Efficiency Has Its Own Costs

Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes: When I left the farm Tuesday, our sow, Miranda, extremely pregnant, her udders swollen with milk, was barely stirring herself out of her farrowing hut, not showing her usual enthusiasm for her

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Parties

Stars Align at Biskind Book Signing

Friends and cinephiles gathered on Saturday evening at The Chatham Bookstore to hear Peter Biskind read from his new book, Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, an authorized (the subject's attorney's posturing notwithstanding) biography. Biskind's first selection illustrates why Beatty is worthy of the

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Arts

Critic's Choice: Lauren Ambrose & The Leisure Class at the Lion's Den

Music critic Jeremy Goodwin previews the show at the Lion's Den in Stockbridge on Monday January 18 at 8:30 p.m. The only issue is whether we’ll be allowed to dance on the tables. When Lauren Ambrose and The Leisure Class made their live debut last

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Food

Healthy & Hearty French Toast

"Challah makes a great French toast, but the old hippie in me always tends towards whole grains," says Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food. "The recipe developed because I had guests coming and I wanted to serve

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Style

The Wandering Eye Goes Ethno

Our blogger, interior designer Carey Maloney, and his partner Hermes Mallea, an architect, are principals in the M (Group). On Friday January 15, Stair Galleries will have a two session “Asian and Ethnographic” sale. Before Stair became so international, we grabbed some great buys there in the Ethno field. The

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