Live Culture

Monday's Child: Potato Sack Pants Back in Action, With Baby

by Pamela Polston Posted on May 6, 2013 at 1:02PM

Spotted this weekend on the Church Street Marketplace: Meredith and Andy Gordon, in from Underhill and having a romantic dinner of sandwiches outside the Red Onion.The Gordons are the married twosome of the sextet that make up Burlington's sketch-comedy troupe Potato Sack Pants Theater. Since last September, Meredith and Andy have also been parental units — to Henry Allen Gordon. And now that the little tyke is almost 8 months, his mom and dad and their zany friends are exploiting him, er, staging a performance in his name: HAG Fest 2013.Billed as an "artist market and sketch comedy," HAG Fest will be held at — where else?

Harry Bliss Infiltrates the 'I Can Read' Set

by Pamela Polston Posted on May 3, 2013 at 2:31PM

No grass growing on Harry Bliss. The Burlington-based cartoonist and illustrator has a brand-new, teacher-approved kids' book, Diary of a Worm.Says Bliss on his Facebook page:"All my life I wanted to have an 'I Can Read' book...and now I do.

New Flicks on Friday 1

by Margot Harrison Posted on May 3, 2013 at 12:10PM

Are there movies I missed that I'd like to be reviewing right now? Hell, yeah.New on DVD this week is Upstream Color (trailer here), the latest from Shane Carruth (Primer), a self-distributed festival success that was too weird for most U.S. theaters.

Casting Call: Audience Needed for 'Gruesome Playground Injuries'

by Pamela Polston Posted on May 2, 2013 at 11:40PM

Two of my favorite actors in Burlington make up the entire cast of Gruesome Playground Injuries, which opened tonight at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts. In fact, the promise of Jordan Gullikson and Chris Caswell onstage together drew me to Rajiv Joseph's intense — and intensely interesting — play despite its off-putting title.I'm tempted to give a mini review here, but I won't.

New Tunes: Shark Victim, "It Goes Down"

by Dan Bolles Posted on May 2, 2013 at 11:36AM

Shark Victim We've been anxiously awaiting the debut from Shark Victim since the local duo debuted last fall. A collaboration between Lendway's Mike Clifford (grimy-ass bass) and Jess Mateik (grimy-ass drums, druggy vocals), the musicians describe themselves as "chaos pop," which sounds about right.

Frog Hollow Shows Mini Artist Documentaries at the Gallery, and on TV

by Pamela Polston Posted on April 30, 2013 at 4:56PM

It's not often crafters get to become film stars. But a handful of Vermont artists are just that, in a series of mini documentaries produced by Burlington's RETN (Regional Educational Technology Network) in collaboration with Frog Hollow, the Vermont State Craft Center.The first three videos in the series, made by RETN interns, won first place in the 2012 Home Town Media Festival, a national competition for the Alliance for Community Media. RETN and the gallery have been working together for the past year and, lately, also with Burlington College students.

A Trailer Called Death

by Dan Bolles Posted on April 30, 2013 at 2:10PM

By now, hopefully Vermonters are familiar with the remarkable story that is the proto-punk band Death. If you're not, read this and come back when you're finished.

The Sequester Hits the Arts; the Hopkins Center Responds With Rock

by Pamela Polston Posted on April 30, 2013 at 1:39PM

Thanks to quick, hey-wait-a-minute-this-sucks thinking on the part of our elected officials in Washington, D.C., the airborne public may now have enough air-traffic controllers on duty to handle our summer vacations. Not to mention the frequent-flyer jaunts to and from said elected officials' home states.

Monday's Child: Persephone

by Pamela Polston Posted on April 29, 2013 at 11:30AM

I was thinking about the Greek myth of Persephone, who, abducted by Hades, was released once a year from the Underworld and thus brought about spring. We have relinquished explanatory power over the changing seasons to our weather forecasters.

Vermont Legislature Honors "My Place" Host Joel Najman

by Dan Bolles Posted on April 26, 2013 at 4:26PM

Joel Najman, courtesy of VPR On Wednesday, April 24, the Vermont Legislature surprised Joel Najman with a resolution congratulating the local DJ on his 30th anniversary as the host of the Vermont Public Radio show, and rock-and-roll time machine, "My Place." "My Place" was originally hosted by David Field and began life as a wide-ranging, interactive retrospective of rock and roll from the 1950s and ’60s. But Najman dramatically revamped the show's format when he took over in 1983, after serving as a substitute host the year prior.

Seven Days