Never Forget

 

Northampton - What a concept!

It starts getting chilly early here in New England.

The haunted, frightened trees in the window of Silverscape.

 



In the window of Valley Antiques a treasured memento of the past glory.

 



Through the window of the APE Gallery. 

Last Sunday was the tenth anniversary of the event universally known simply as 9/11. Here Selectboard Chairperson Stephanie O'Keefe addresses the Amherst Police and Fire Departments.

 



Big Y let the town borrow their gigantic flag, the largest ever to fly on the Amherst Common. 

Naturally Larry Kelley was there blogging it all for posterity.

 



But it wouldn't be Amherst without a little protest demonstration on the side. 

 Meanwhile, there are a couple of important local primaries this Tuesday. I don't live in Springfield anymore, but if I did I'd vote for the most honest woman in Valley politics, Antonette Pepe (below on the left) for Mayor. For At-large City Council I would vote for Timothy Rooke, Kateri Walsh, John Stevens, Charles Rucks and David Ciampi.

Of course this being Springfield, be sure to vote early and often!

If I lived in Holyoke, for mayor I would vote for Alex Morse, one of the most promising fresh faces to appear in Valley politics for a long time. 

Some hot pickin' a few nights ago in an Easthampton record store.

 

Beatle bag spotted at Raos in Amherst. 

Irene Report

And Other Assorted Stuff

On Saturday the sun shining through the trees created a cathedral of light along the woodland way into downtown Northampton. 

But after hurricane Irene passed through on Sunday, the woodland way was blocked in several places by fallen trees.

 



Personally, I do not think that Irene lived up to Hurricane Gloria back in the mid-1980's. I remember being out in my backyard during the period of time when the eye of the hurricane passed over Springfield, and the sky was as strange and beautiful as I've ever seen it, with odd colors and spectacular cloud formations. I also remember the radio was playing The Doors version of Gloria. 

I saw no such wonders of nature displayed by Irene. However, maybe I was just in the wrong location, as Irene made much more of an impact in other parts of our Valley, as seen in this Craig Gagne photo taken in Deerfield near Richardson's Candy Shoppe. 

 



Some critics have complained that the media overhyped Irene, but in any case, it's over. 

Earlier in the week people were arriving at the Amherst Survival Center by all means of transportation.

 



The media was there too, like Hampshire Gazette reporter Nick Grabbe. 

And veteran photographer Gordon Daniels of the Amherst Bulletin.

 



Soon U.S. Congressman John Olver arrived on the scene. 

He was immediately given an apron and put to work. 

I guess this is what you would literally call "serving your constituents." 

I was surprised to see this big line stretching down the street to see Alice Cooper in Northampton. 

 

I have always felt there is something kinda corny about Alice Cooper and his horror show schtick. Yet at the same time his music is rockin good fun and the special effects I'm told are impressive. Plus to people of a certain age he's a big nostalgia trip that still generates a substantial cash flow. This limousine bus parked at the Hotel Northampton was definitely Alice's.

Only in Northampton do signs end up like this. Who knows what they originally said? 

Sean is a hip Hamp biker.

 

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In Coolidge Park

 

For those purist stoners who are unfamiliar with "beer" it is one of a number of drugs commonly used by "adults" which contain the narcotic alcohol. Alcohol (known in its various forms as "booze," suds," "juice" etc.) has been proven to cause liver and kidney damage and to result in serious character deterioration. Studies have shown that alcohol usage often leads to indulgence in other harmful drugs such as caffeine and tobacco.

I ran into Northampton blogger Jim Neill the other morning at the Haymarket. His blog has been sorta dead lately, but he promised to revive it. 

A blogger who remains very active is Alex Ross, who I ran into hanging out on the street.

Hey, buy your doors from these dudes. 

After a couple year hiatus they started putting temporary sculpture displays in Coolidge Park again. Making a return appearance is sculptor James Kitchen, whose earlier display did not impress me but whose new work is much more interesting. For example, check out this scrap metal Saturn.

Silent Cal contemplating his new neighbor, Rusty Fish.

Is it just a coincidence that this big gun is pointing right at the spot where the weekly anti-war protests take place?

Losing face on the street. 

Storm clouds descending on Amherst.

Good advice for life's stormy weather.

The Demographic featuring Valley Advocate cartoonist Tom Pappalardo appeared on Greenfield TV recently.

Extravaganja 2011

 

They were promoting it all week in the UMass Campus Center.

Friday afternoon when I passed by the Commons they were setting up the stage.

Here's what it looked like when the crowd showed up on Saturday, as captured by Larry Kelley.

 



The occasion was the annual Extravaganja Marijuana Legalization rally, which this year was expanded into a two-day affair. Here's a picture of local legalization activist Terry Franklin (center) with two of the student organizers of the event.

The event attracts a lot of vendors, such as this mobile Jamaican restaurant.

The Extravaganja always brings out the seldom seen freaks from the hilltowns, who leave their woodland hideaways to come into town for a day of revelry and then return to the forest to resume their mushroom meditations.

 

A flower power bumpersticker in a Northampton parking lot.

 



A Tea Party bumpersticker at a Northampton convenience store. 

An unanswerable question on an Amherst College A.C. unit. 

Sad Prude

 

Food for Thought Books in Amherst has had a constant problem recently with someone who keeps coming by when they are closed and covering up with tape the posters in their window showing two guys kissing.

Finally they put up the following message under the poster:

 

To the sad prude that keeps putting duct tape over the images of love and affection on this sign:

Every time you do this you just make us decide to keep them up longer. If you keep it up, we'll be sure to get 100 of them and display them in every inch of window space we have. That's a promise.

Hugs and kisses,

Food for Thought Collective 

 

The details of the 2010 census were released yesterday for Massachusetts and the Boston Globe put up charts and graphs explaining it all. The problem is their maps were of a state I don't quite recognize. Notice that the display is called, "Every person counted." Oh really?

WHERE THE FUCK IS WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS???

At last a beautiful dash of purple life breaking through the brown death.

 



Graffiti on the UMass Fine Arts building.

This creature was part of a student movie being filmed at the UMass library. 

A leaf comes alive in the Haymarket Cafe. 

 

 

 Alien on a Hamp sidewalk by Dann Vazquez.

 

 

View out a window in Wales.

 

 

Full moon over Ludlow by Tony Mateus