Live Culture

New Tunes: Swale, "Middlesex"

by Dan Bolles Posted on July 30, 2013 at 1:34PM

OK, so Swale's "Middlesex" isn't really a "new tune," per se. For one thing, it was released by the Burlington art-rockers last October on their most recent full-length, A Small Arrival.

Burlington Artist Mark Boedges Wins Plein Air Painting Competition

by Pamela Polston Posted on July 30, 2013 at 9:16AM

Anyone who's been to his Battery Street gallery knows Mark Boedges is an excellent landscape painter, and one who has dedicated himself to the exacting artistic tradition of en plein air painting. This past weekend, that was confirmed anew when Boedges took home top honors in the Door County Plein Air Festival in Wisconsin, for his work "Niagara Escarpment" (right).Boedges also won the Artists' Choice Award for another painting, "Sturgeon Shipyard," which features, um, ships in a yard.Both paintings are oil on canvas, 14 by 20 inches.

Photographer Peter Miller Roasts a Pig to Celebrate His New Book — And You're Invited

by Megan James Posted on July 26, 2013 at 5:26PM

Peter Miller has much to celebrate this weekend. The 78-year-old photographer, known for his searing black-and-white portraits of Vermonters, recently published a gorgeous book called A Lifetime of Vermont People.

Movies You Missed & More: The Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror

by Margot Harrison Posted on July 26, 2013 at 1:32PM

This week in movies you missed: My search for entertaining summer schlock on Netflix Instant continues. Who could resist a title like this?What You MissedIn 2007, writer-director-exec producer Jaymes Thompson brought the world this ultra-low-budget camp-stravaganza shot in Tucson, Ariz.Five gay couples headed to the "biggest gay party weekend of the year" find themselves forced to lodge at a run-down B&B owned by creepily dolled-up Helen (Mari Marks) and her daughter, Luella (Georgia Jean).Despite a rainbow flag flying in front of the B&B, there are early clues something's amiss.

Light Show Brightens Up Burlington's Gloomy Moran Plant

by Kevin J. Kelley Posted on July 24, 2013 at 12:51PM

Ever since its decommissioning 37years ago, the Moran Plant has hulked lifelessly over the Burlingtonwaterfront. And while the abandoned coal-fired power plant won't berevivified anytime soon, it's temporarily become a littleless of a gloomy presence.

Ready to Move on From Some Artwork? Bryan Memorial Gallery Can Help

by Pamela Polston Posted on July 24, 2013 at 12:12PM

Anyone who collects, inherits or otherwise acquires art knows the slightly guilty feeling when you're just not that into it anymore. Maybe you never liked it in the first place.

Harry Bliss-Designed PETA Chicken Rebuffed by City of Salem

by Pamela Polston Posted on July 24, 2013 at 9:40AM

Don't you hate it when you design a giant chicken and then can't put it to good use?Burlington artist/cartoonist Harry Bliss, better known for his work in the New Yorker, numerous children's books and, we hope, in Seven Days, designed a chicken for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The fully realized, 3-D fowl was ostensibly to be used for protests against, say, Kentucky Fried Chicken.In Salem, Ore., PETA hoped to use its "crippled chicken" as a roadside memorial for hundreds of actual chickens that sadly perished earlier this month when a delivery truck carrying 5400 of them crashed.

What's in a Name? Not Horned Animals Having Sex in the Streets

by Kevin J. Kelley Posted on July 23, 2013 at 5:35PM

WouldBurlington have become the coolest place on earth if it were namedBummerton? Maybenot. So isan unfortunate handle what's been holding back Rutland? Thelack of a university and a scenic lake probably accounts more forRutland's rep than does a name with at least a couple ofnegative connotations.

Walking Across America to Prove It's Not as Effed Up as We Think It Is

by Cathy Resmer Posted on July 21, 2013 at 5:08PM

John Cohn was driving near his Richmond home on Friday afternoon when he saw a guy walking along the side of the road pushing a jogging stroller loaded with camping gear. The walker wore a bright yellow reflective vest and a sign on his back that said, "Walking America, go greater good . com."Cohn, an IBM fellow, reality-TV star and self-described mad scientist, says he thought the guy might be "a nutcase," but he pulled over anyway to hear what the website was all about.

Movies You Missed: Elfie Hopkins: Cannibal Hunter

by Margot Harrison Posted on July 19, 2013 at 6:33AM

This week in movies you missed: In which I go looking for fun schlock on Netflix Instant — because it's too hot to think — and find something worse: arty schlock.What You MissedElfie Hopkins (Jaime Winstone, daughter of Ray) is not a cannibal hunter. Her title appears to have been added to the movie for U.S. video release, perhaps to hook "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans.Elfie is a disaffected young slacker who lives with her dad and hated stepmother in a twee house in the Welsh countryside.