The Rogovoy Report 8.28.23

From around the corner to around the globe...

Aug 27, 2023

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REQUIRED READING

James Taylor (photo Norman Seeff / Boston Globe)

At 75, James Taylor’s Life Is Sweet, Baby

(Boston Globe) - At 75, James Taylor is having an epic summer. Logan Roy, er, we mean Brian Cox, took in Taylor’s Fourth of July Tanglewood show. (The “Succession” star had evidently been waiting half a century to see a JT concert.) Next, Taylor saved the day performing what he called “emergency folk music” after Noah Kahan had to drop out of the Newport Folk Festival at the last minute because of strained vocal cords. (Taylor’s set ended up making Rolling Stone’s list of best fest moments.) And soon the diehard Red Sox fan will be taking the field near Fenway Park for shows Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at the MGM Music Hall, which he helped inaugurate last year. He gushed over the venue — from its size to its acoustics— at various points during a recent phone interview. (“We love the hall. It feels like it was made for music and dance, made for art.”)

READ MORE:

In praise of the purpose-free, couch potato weekend (Boston Globe)

What a heat wave does to your body (New Yorker)

After 17 years abroad, Zadie Smith has returned to her literary stomping ground of north London (The Guardian)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Composer Carlos Simon addresses the audience before a performance of “Four Black American Dances” at Tanglewood (photo Hilary Scott / courtesy WaPo)

At Tanglewood and Beyond: The Joys of Movement

(WaPo) THE BERKSHIRES - “I can’t dance,” Carlos Simon confided to a group gathered in a Tanglewood studio for a recent composer’s talk. “I’ve got two left feet.” Lucky for Simon (and us), the Kennedy Center composer in residence was not at Tanglewood to dance but to present a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance of his “Four Black American Dances.” Premiered at Symphony Hall in Boston in 2022, the orchestra-commissioned suite offers a concise and combustible musical history lesson that vibrantly illustrates the centuries-long synchronicity between Black liberation and Black movement. And for the entirety of my two weeks in Western Massachusetts, movement was on my mind, in several scenes and at various scales.

READ MORE:

Examining highs and lows -- including traffic and audience civility (or lack of such) -- of Tanglewood’s summer season (WAMC)

REVIEW: Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman reunite in Red Lion Inn exhibition (Berkshire Eagle) See also, ‘Ride the Thunder’ — works of Ralph Steadman on display at Red Lion Inn (Berkshire Edge)

REVIEW: Edvard Munch lightens up at The Clark (The Atlantic)

REVIEW: William Finn’s ‘A New Brain’ gets stylish revival at Barrington Stage (ATU)

REVIEW: Solid love story and music by 'Secret Garden' composer at center of ‘Cedar Street’ at Berkshire Theatre Group (ATU)

PREVIEW: Hudson Eye turning to immigrant art in 2023 festival (HV360)

PREVIEW: Fateful meet over 1973 novel leads to dance premiere in Hudson (ATU)

Artists Carolyn Clayton and Ben Westbrook bought a historic mansion in North Adams. They moved in and opened it to up to other artists (B Eagle)

PREVIEW: The Polaroid poet: Susan Mikula captures time passing in ‘Anthology’ (Boston Globe)

The view from Yokun Seat along Yokun Ridge (photo Gabrielle K. Murphy)

Taking The (Literal) High Road

(RI) - The Berkshires’ Yokun Ridge, known for its scenic vistas and distinctive ecology, is home to the first leg of the High Road, a venture of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council to create a web of interconnected hiking trails connecting towns to towns and towns to trails. The eight-mile footpath along Yokun Ridge links Pittsfield and Lenox along a clear and consistent hiking route. The trail stretches from Bousquet Mountain in Pittsfield south to Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox.

READ MORE:

State database reveals dozens of incidents of misconduct by Berkshire police officers (Berkshire Edge)

Proposed statue proves W.E.B. Du Bois still provokes contention in his hometown of Great Barrington (B Edge)

Sheffield celebrates life and legacy of Elizabeth Freeman (B Edge)

Great Barrington is planning community-painted mural of Elizabeth Freeman. But where will it go? (Berkshire Eagle)

Williamstown group seeking to install ‘ancestors’ at Field Park (iBerkshires)

R.I. congressional candidate Carlson defends conduct with student at Williams College (Boston Globe)

Lawsuit alleging PCB-related death becomes sixth case in Berkshire County against General Electric, Monsanto (Berkshire Edge)

John Krol leads opponents in fundraising in race for Pittsfield’s City Hall (B Eagle)

The only downtown Lenox gas station has been vacant for two years. When will it reopen? (B Eagle)

North Adams agrees to tax incentive for Tourists to redevelop Blackinton Mill (iBerkshires)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers returns to North Adams to begin flood control system modernization study (WAMC)

North Adams residents invited to share their hopes, dreams for Hoosic River as modernization of flood control system gets off the ground (WAMC)

As Macksey gears up for re-election bid, a look back at the first term for North Adams’ first female mayor (WAMC)

Can the Berkshires survive the climate apocalypse? by Donald Morrison (B Eagle)

A dry, pleasant forecast? The chances look good for the last weekend of August (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Hartland Is a Sweet Stationery Spot in Leeds

(Hudson Valley) LEEDS, N.Y. - When Emily Johnson and her husband Nic Cameron moved to the Hudson Valley from Brooklyn, they weren’t planning to run a store. Originally, they were searching for a space that could serve as a warehouse for Johnson’s fast-growing greeting card business, Hartland Brooklyn. When they discovered an empty building across the street from the post office in Leeds, “I thought, ‘That’s perfect,’” recalls Johnson. The building, which had a studio in back where Johnson could design her cards, had also housed a general store since 1851. So not having a store wasn’t an option. “It was important to us to keep that for the community,” Johnson says. Hartland opened in 2016, a time when “there was nothing around us,” says Johnson. Now of course Catskill and its environs are a destination. Although for the past three years, thanks to Covid, the store had been closed from mid-November until mid-March, this year it will be open until Christmas. That means more time to drink coffee (or tea) on the patio or at the espresso bar, and definitely more time to peruse cards designed by Johnson and other women-owned stationery brands, as well as notepads, stickers, and Johnson’s line of holiday cards.

READ MORE:

Hudson debates future of parking meters (GoR)

Truck route, haul road to be discussed at Hudson ‘town meeting’ on Wednesday (GoR)

Greenville, N.Y. school considers ‘faith-based books’ for library (HV360)

Cairo-Durham Central School District nixes recess, forces students to wolf down lunch in 20 minutes (HV360)

Twin Counties monitoring wastewater for signs of new COVID strain (HV360)

Sale of HudsonValley360 to Daily Gazette still pending after repeated delays (ATU)

Expect less snow and milder temps for winter in Albany area (ATU)

UFW files unfair labor practice charge against Ulster County farm for alleged ‘intimidation’ (ATU)

Migrants boost economy, say businesses, researchers (ATU)

Sen. Gillibrand revives push to pass Equal Rights Amendment (HV360)

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