Northampton 2010

 

I forgot about the bus schedule changes on account of the students on break, so I had some time to wander a bit around downtown. That's why I always carry a camera with me, you can always see things to photograph when you put your mind in the right place.

The gay pride flag outside the Unitarian Church.

 



Bumperstickers are big sellers around here. Nearly every car has got at least one.

 



Paintings in a window of Northampton's most favorite subject - itself. 

A mysterious gold painted brick on a wall. 

The Northampton parking garage was built in..... 

I remember what that space was like before the garage. It was a big gravelly, cracked asphalt parking lot that had a little white wooden shack in the middle of it that served as the Peter Pan bus stop.

My main memory of the Blizzard of '78 involves that shack. Despite the terrible weather, I was determined to go to Springfield that day for a big fun party. I waited and waited inside the shack with a few other people for the bus to come until finally we were told the bus was cancelled.

I was really bummed, as were my friends in Springfield, because I was bringing some of the party supplies in my knapsack, in particular some blotter acid with Mr. Natural on it (a legendary brand) and a brick of hashish so fine it would crumble at the first lick of the flame.

But I had no choice but to go back to the apartment I was renting on Dryads Green, stopping at the King Street packy before they too closed for the storm. Thus armed against whatever unpleasant realities might arise in the midst of the worst storm of the century, I really don't remember what happened next. But I feel I can reasonably guess that I faced the furies of nature with better humor than most.

One of the coolest things in Hamp is the Drive By Poets, who distribute their poetry out of boxes like newspapers.

Here is their latest by Denise Fontaine-Pincince:

To the Woman Who Was Upset With Me
For Using the Word "Miracle" In Telling
Her Seven-Year-Old Son How A Single,
Pink Impatien Had Just Bloomed Out of
the Crack Where My Sidewalk and
Foundation Meet, A Few Feet Away From
the Window Box where I'd Planted Last
Year's Annuals,

I'm not sorry.

Northampton, ya gotta love it, where even the graffiti is uplifting. 

Romney Ahead

The first major poll to look at the Republican field for 2012 has our own former Governor Mitt Romney leading the field. According to Public Policy Polling:

Mitt Romney and Scott Brown

Our first national look at who Republicans would prefer as their 2012 Presidential nominee confirms the wide open nature of the field. The leading candidates are all within the margin of error of each other, with Mitt Romney leading at 28% followed by Mike Huckabee at 24% and Sarah Palin at 23%. Ron Paul pulls 11%, 9% say they're undecided, and 6% say their preference would be someone else.

I like Romney, but he's too establishment for me and showed poor judgement in his failed Massachusetts healthcare plan. Huckabee is too religious, and Palin needs to find her true calling as a talk show host. Ron Paul is the best but he can't win. So as far as I'm concerned, no major player now on the field strikes me as a suitable challenger for Obama. 

The Music Section

Surrealistic imagary of a concert in the basement of Thornes in downtown Northampton. 

 

Valley rockstars Thurston Moore of Northampton and J. Mascis of Amherst teamed up to form an avant-garde punk band called Demolished Thoughts which performed the other day at the trendsetting SXSW conference in Austin. A video has surfaced of the madness:

Local Rock Star Encounter

The Reluctant Paparazzi

 

Keith Sikes

This morning I was truckin' through downtown Northampton when whom should I come upon in front of The Green Bean but none other than the internationally famous guitar god J. Mascis of Amherst's Dinosaur Jr! At the very non-rockstar hour of nine o'clock, Mascis was engaged in the very non-rockstar act of walking his kid in a stroller.

Of course, my first instinct was to whip out my camera and take a pic, but I hesitated because of the child. It is one thing to take a picture of a celebrity who has their picture taken all the time, but taking a shot of somebody's kid feels to me like an invasion of privacy. On the other hand, the true paparazzi has no morals when on the hunt. Prominent Valley photographer Keith Sikes, who used to work as a paparazzi in L.A. told me once that he quit the field because he became disgusted by scenes such as paparazzi "knocking aside old ladies to get a picture of Robin Williams eating an ice cream cone."

Well, I guess I'm just too nice to be a true paparazzi, because instead of ruthlessly stealing a shot of father and baby to sell to the rock press I said, "Hey Jay, let me take your picture - just you - not the kid." He looked relieved and smiled very nicely for me - or at least as much as he ever smiles. 

Then he and I went our separate ways.

Mountains Majesty

Earlier today I was at Amherst College looking down from Memorial Hill on a baseball game. The view of the Holyoke range from that location is among the finest in the Valley.

Here I am with Yolanda, woman of mystery.

 



Today's Video

Who else?

A Parade and a Rock Star

Post Fourth Catch-up.

Gee, hope you had a nice weekend. I certainly did, although I regret not having the chance to blog much. On the holiday I went to the Amherst parade, where as usual the geezer peacers The Raging Grannies were singing. They seemed cute and somewhat clever when they first appeared in the area several years ago, but now their act is getting old.

This is the first year the parade has been run by rules set by the town, as opposed to the private group that used to run it and which used to ban political signs. Now signs are allowed, and sure enough just as the parade started two people carrying a peace banner darted out of the crowd and ahead of the parade marchers. 

People cheered, but what would have been the response had people carrying a McCain for President banner jumped out in front of the parade? This is exactly the sort of nonsense the old parade rules were designed to prevent.

This protester got personal by attacking one of the former organizers of the old parade by name.

The Republicans were represented by a colorful candidate for State Senate.

Not surprisingly the local politicians were on hand, such as John Olver and Stan Rosenberg, among others. 

And of course some Devines had to horn in on the act.

It's a shame that the parade couldn't be the simple, patriotic display it was in the past, rather than a divisive politically tinged event. But it was still a fun parade just the same.

That night I went to see the Amherst fireworks. I was wondering whether the light meter for my camera would be too confused by the stark black and light contrast to be able to work.

It was no problem. 

The next day I was at the Amherst Farmer's Market when I thought I recognised someone. Not just anyone, but a very famous someone! Sure enough, it was J. Mascis, of Dinosaur Jr. fame! No one besides me seemed to recognize him, and I was hesitant to do anything to draw attention to him lest I violate his privacy. But I couldn't help myself. I quietly approached him and said in a low voice, "Jay, I think you're great. Can I take your picture?" He shrugged and said, "Sure." I took a shot, softly said thanks and started away. He gave me a wink, as we successfully completed our encounter without revealing to those around us the celebrity in their midst.

So that was how I happened to get a picture of an internationally famous rock star eating a popsicle at the Amherst Farmer's Market. 

From the Wikipedia:

Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, the son of a dentist, J. Mascis formed the short-lived hardcore group Deep Wound with Lou Barlow and Scott Helland in the early 1980s. He started out on drums, but moved to guitar when he went on to found Dinosaur Jr. with bassist Barlow and drummer Emmett Jefferson 'Patrick' Murphy (aka 'Murph') in 1984 and achieved national success. His vocals have been described as "Neil Young-like" and his guitar riffs as "monolithic." His wife Luisa is from Berlin, Germany. They reside in Amherst, Massachusetts and in September, 2007, they had a baby boy named Rory.

"I prefer cynical people, Nice guys grow on trees."

--J. Mascis

Here's some amazing footage of Dinosaur Jr. playing outdoors at UMass in 1993.