The Rogovoy Report 11.6.23

From around the corner to around the globe...

Nov 05, 2023

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REQUIRED READING

The Power of One Push-Up

(The Atlantic) - Except in extreme cases, no single number gives a good idea of whether a person is functionally healthy or not. The common numbers are not directly or easily changeable. As these numbers continue to dominate health care, however, an emerging body of evidence is finding useful and cheap numbers that anyone can track. If these new numbers aren’t being taken seriously, it may be because they seem too obvious. The speed at which you walk, for example, can be eerily predictive of health status. In 2018, a study of half a million middle-aged people found that lung cancer, heart disease, and all-cause mortality were well predicted by the strength of a person’s grip. Another study made headlines earlier this year for declaring that push-up abilities could predict heart disease. More than pecs or triceps, push-ups build conscientiousness.

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How to Outsmart the Time Change: Less daylight can bring on the blues and disrupt our routines, but you can combat the gloom (WSJ)

From ancient Rome to Mussolini’s Fascists, the fasces—a bundle of rods surrounding an axe—have carried a wide range of meanings (NYRB)

How to sell solar in coal country (Grist)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Maya Beiser (photo Boyang Hu / courtesy artist)

Maya Beiser’s ‘Infinite Bach,’ Recorded at Home Studio in Berkshires, a ‘Staggering, Technological Wonder’

(Chronogram) by Seth Rogovoy - Did the world really need yet another recording of Bach’s cello suites? Judging by Maya Beiser’s new take on them as reflected on Infinite Bach, the answer is a definite yes. Beiser’s three-CD set of Bach’s six suites for solo cello is at once a staggering performance and a technological wonder, capturing her live performance as well as the acoustical nuances in overtones, reflections, and reverberations that lend the sound a multi-dimensional, breathy quality. But all this technology would not amount to a hill of beans if Beiser — who recorded the album in a barn studio at her Berkshire home — had not brought something new and personal to the music

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REVIEW: A reinvigorated Bob Dylan at Proctors Theatre (by Seth Rogovoy, Everything Is Broken)

Dimitriades, Bewick, Laraia & Katz play Ravel, Mozart, Saariaho, and Barber in Tanglewood’s Linde Center Sunday at 3pm (Berkshire Edge)

At MASS MoCA, a 1919 Mexican silent film finds new life through Troker's psychedelic jazz score (Berkshires Eagle)

Close Encounters With Music kicks off 32nd season with ‘Virtue and Virtuosity’ concert Sunday at Mahaiwe (B Eagle)

Django Festival Allstars will perform Reinhardt classics, original compositions in Fall Jazz Sprawl’s culminating concert (B Eagle)

LA dance company BODYTRAFFIC will double down on a sense of joy at Mahaiwe (B Eagle)

Norman Rockwell Museum steps into the age of digital collecting with its first NFT release (B Eagle)

Albany Symphony executive director is stepping down (ATU)

Robert Brustein, a giant of the American theater, dies at 96 (by Ed Siegel, WBUR)

Elizabeth Freeman Way Unveiled in Great Barrington

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - The town held an unveiling ceremony for Elizabeth Freeman Way on Saturday, Oct. 28, in front of Town Hall, adjacent to where the signs commemorating Elizabeth Freeman Way have been installed. Freeman was born in Claverack-Red Mills, N.Y. around 1744 and died in Stockbridge in 1829. She was a slave who sued for her freedom and won it in 1781. Freeman won her case more than 80 years before the Emancipation Proclamation became law in January 1863. Back in April 2022, the Great Barrington Selectboard approved co-naming Castle Street—which runs alongside Town Hall—as Elizabeth Freeman Way. The courthouse in which Freeman sued for her freedom once stood where Town Hall is located now.

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Triplex cinema in Great Barrington to officially reopen on Nov. 17 (Berkshire Edge)

Great Barrington’s AAA bond rating reaffirmed by S&P (B Edge)

TriTown Boards of Health, residents grill EPA over PCB remediation plan, transportation options (B Edge)

Trucking touted by GE as best scenario for transporting toxic-waste through Pittsfield, Lee, Lenox, Stockbridge, and Great Barrington (B Edge)

Krol questions Marchetti’s temperament in Pittsfield mayoral debate (iBerkshires)

Krol calls for more downtown market-rate housing in Pittsfield mayoral debate (NEPM)

Pittsfield Ward 2 city council candidate Blumin has “long history of disruptive and sometimes aggressive behavior” (WAMC)

North Street's promise and problems loom large amid decisive Pittsfield election cycle (by Bill Everhart, Berkshire Eagle)

New Undermountain Farm nonprofit proposes $1.5M renovation of historic Lenox property (B Eagle)

Long dormant Becket Country Store to open by Thanksgiving, says owner (B Eagle)

Nature Conservancy to remove Egremont house (iBerkshires)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

How Wool & Folk Festival at Foreland in Catskill Unraveled

(ATU) CATSKILL, N.Y. - For three years, the Wool & Folk Festival has reunited yarn, wool and knitting enthusiasts from around the world. But its tightly knit community is now angry after the festival, which took place on Oct. 20 at Foreland, concluded with what vendors and attendees describe as a disappointing experience tainted by poor communication, unkept promises and a “disregard” for safety. The fallout has resulted in backlash from the fiber community, an apology that they say is insufficient and a possible class action lawsuit. They are also dubbing it “Fybrefest” — a reference to the infamous Fyre Festival, a 2017 fraudulent luxury music event.

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Pot shop pops up in Hudson (GoR)

County supervisor Claire Cousin challenges Assemblywoman Barrett on housing (HV360)

Columbia County voters to choose new DA Tuesday (ATU)

Columbia County plans winter homeless shelter (HV360)

Shepherd’s Run solar farm moving ahead in Copake (WAMC)

Did jealousy over AOC really turn Elise Stefanik MAGA? (ATU)

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