DIGBOSTON.COM 11.02.17 - 11.09.17
BPS
ADVANCED (PRODUCT) PLACEMENT
VERIZON IN OUR SCHOOLS
THE ELECTION SPECIAL MUSIC+ARTS
INCLUSION FUSION
A KALEIDOSCOPIC LINEUP AND THEN SOME WHAT’S RACE GOT TO DO WITH IT? | PLUS: A CAMBRIDGE ELECTION GUIDE
2
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
BOWERY BOSTON WWW.BOWERYBOSTON.COM VOL 19 + ISSUE44
NOV 02, 2017 - NOV 09, 2017 BUSINESS PUBLISHER Marc Sneider ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Chris Faraone John Loftus Jason Pramas SALES MANAGER Marc Sneider FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION sales@digboston.com BUSINESS MANAGER John Loftus
EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Chris Faraone EXECUTIVE EDITOR Jason Pramas MANAGING EDITOR Mitchell Dewar ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers STAFF WRITER Haley Hamilton CONTRIBUTORS G. Valentino Ball, Sarah Betancourt, Tim Bugbee, Patrick Cochran, Mike Crawford, Kori Feener, George Hassett, Zack Huffman, Marc Hurwitz, Marcus Johnson-Smith, Micaela Kimball, Derek Kouyoumjian, Dan McCarthy, Adam Sennott, Maya Shaffer, Citizen Strain, M.J. Tidwell, Tre Timbers, Baynard Woods INTERNS Kuresse Bolds, Olivia Falcigno
DESIGN DESIGNER Don Kuss COMICS Tim Chamberlain Pat Falco Patt Kelley DigBoston, PO Box 51960 Boston, MA 02205 Phone 617.426.8942 digboston.com
ON THE COVER BE SURE TO READ ALL OF OUR ELECTION COVERAGE THIS WEEK— IT STRETCHES ALL THE WAY INTO THE MUSIC SECTION
©2017 DIGBOSTON IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY DIG MEDIA GROUP INC. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. DIG MEDIA GROUP INC. CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ONE COPY OF DIGBOSTON IS AVAILABLE FREE TO MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS EACH WEEK. ANYONE REMOVING PAPERS IN BULK WILL BE PROSECUTED ON THEFT CHARGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.
THE MOST FLATTERING ENDORSEMENT OF ALL
For show announcements, giveaways, contests, and more, follow us on:
ROYALE
Dear Reader,
I will begin this election week column by sincerely thanking those who have been blasting me and DigBoston on Twitter and elsewhere for abstaining from any formal endorsement of Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson in his race against Mayor Marty Walsh. The passion of these activists and readers shows us just how much a lot of people care about and pay attention to our noisy rag, and I assure you every tweet checking our stances and positions adds more fuel to our bonfire, and pushes us to further highlight slept-on issues that voters, in Boston and beyond, should consider this and every election season. We’re still not going to endorse Jackson, or any candidate in any race. While the Dig did regrettably back Walsh in his initial bid for mayor four years ago, that was one of the only times we’ve ever done so, and frankly we no longer believe that we should be in the endorsement business. For a lot of reasons, but mainly because our coverage speaks for itself. Unlike certain newspapers of record, we don’t pretend for a second that there are two worthy sides to all stories. Instead, we amplify the voices of the sides that aren’t heard. Tenants, as opposed to developers, for example. Basically, I hope most people realize that the reporting we do is far more important than any superficial endorsement. With that said, of course I have some pointed feelings about the Boston mayoral race (as well as the mayoral race in Somerville, where we won’t be endorsing either). These are critical, even exciting times, with the potential to shape everything from housing policy to pedagogy. As is emphasized in Dig pieces this week about topics ranging from cannabis, to housing and homelessness, to race, it’s clear that there are stark important differences between Jackson and Walsh. And despite what some of the councilor’s supporters have alleged, I am more than happy to concede—hell, it should be obvious—that I sympathize much more with Jackson on virtually every issue. More than anything, I hope Dig readers understand that we work hard to look past press releases. A lot of other outlets simply parrot whichever campaign hollers loudest. With City Hall resources at his disposal on top of a bloated campaign budget, the powers behind Walsh regularly crank out press releases that then get passed off as policy wins by lazy reporters. In the past month alone, the city has touted everything from how Walsh is creating an “action plan to to end youth homelessness,” to the administration issuing a “request for proposals to design and conduct a disparity study,” to an award for “$400,000 in community benefits for Roxbury organizations,” to a “digital equity fund,” and so on. All that hype aside, when Walsh says things like, “We have to continue to work with the state and the city to transfer land,” as he did at a candidate forum last month, I hear that he will give away more valuable property to leeches. And when the mayor boasts about “big opportunities, like bringing GE to Boston,” I can’t hear much over my own gagging. Contrarily, I believe Jackson when he says, “I will be an advocate for working- and middle-class people.” He speaks about inequity, especially as far as BPS goes, with not only passion but detail. My team respects and appreciates that; so much, in fact, that unlike most news producers and editors around here, we decided to cover this race in a deep and meaningful way. Frankly, I couldn’t think of a better endorsement. CHRIS FARAONE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Need more Dig? Sign up for the Daily Dig @ tiny.cc/DailyDig
THIS FRI! NOV. 3
ANGUS & JULIA STONE
MON. NOVEMBER 13
279 Tremont St. Boston, MA royaleboston.com/concerts
JOHN CARPENTER A NT HOL OGY T OUR
WED. NOVEMBER 15
MON. NOVEMBER 20
BOWERY BOSTON & GRAYSKULL BOOKING PRESENT
COUNTRY 102.5 PRESENTS
TUE. NOVEMBER 28
THU. NOVEMBER 30
ON SALE FRIDAY AT NOON!
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM!
SAT. MAR. 17, 2018
TUE. MAY 1, 2018
cut/copy TUE. NOVEMBER 21
THU. DECEMBER 7
SUN. NOVEMBER 26
MON. DECEMBER 11
52 Church St., Cambridge, MA sinclaircambridge.com MOVED FROM ROYALE. ALL TICKETS WILL BE HONORED. W/ HOOPS
W/ YUKON BLONDE
THIS THU! NOV. 2
THIS SAT! NOV. 4
W/ OMNIBOI, QRION THIS SUN! NOV. 5
W/ LILLY HIATT
TUE. NOVEMBER 7
W/ IHF, GRACE PITTS W/ E D BA L LO O N
WED. NOVEMBER 8
THU. NOVEMBER 9
FRI. NOVEMBER 10
SAT. NOVEMBER 11
W/ BOBBY BAZINI FEAT. CHARLOTTE SAVARY & MATTIC W/ DIRTY ART CLUB
W/ METHYL ETHEL
SUN. NOVEMBER 12
MON. NOVEMBER 13
TUE. NOVEMBER 14
WED. NOVEMBER 15
ON SALE NOW!
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM!
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM!
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM!
FRI. DECEMBER 22
WED. FEB. 21, 2018
SAT. APR. 7, 2018
THU. MAY 3, 2018
RADI OBDC PRESENTS
W/ ANNA BURCH
W/ LOU CANON THIS THURSDAY! NOV. 2
W/ LILITH
THIS FRIDAY! NOV. 3
THIS SATURDAY! NOV. 4
W/ CRAIG STICKLAND MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9
1222 Comm. Ave. Allston, MA greatscottboston.com
FRIDAYS AT 7PM!
‘s S GA E TH
W/ LAYTO
THIS SUNDAY! NOV. 5
ON SALE NOW! W/ WORRIERS ROOFTOPS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM! ALLSTON PUDDING & BOWERY BOSTON PRESENT
W/ LOMELDA THU. JANUARY 25, 2018
W/ OZLO
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 11AM!
TUES. MARCH 20, 2018
≠ 11/7 YAUTJA ≠ 11/10 + 11/11 KICKED IN THE HEAD ≠ 11/13 CIRCUIT DES YEUX ≠ 11/14 BIRTHING HIPS ≠ 11/15 ALEX LAHEY ≠ 11/16 SHAME ≠ 11/17 SPACE BACON ≠ 11/18 BEDOUINE ≠ 11/19 OC45 ≠ 11/22 THE GLORIOUS SONS ≠ 11/24 THE FAKE BOYS ≠ 11/25 SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG
Tickets for Royale, The Sinclair, and Great Scott can be purchased online at AXS.COM or by phone at 855-482-2090. No fee tickets available at The Sinclair box office Wednesdays - Saturdays 12:00 - 7:00PM FOR MORE INFORMATION AND A COMPLETE LIST OF SHOWS, VISIT BOWERYBOSTON.COM NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
3
NEWS+OPINION
PHOTO BY CHRIS FARAONE
FRONT AND CENTER NEWS
Race is central to the Boston mayoral election in more ways than you realize BY OLIVIA DENG @OLIVIADENG1 This past weekend, community members and activists packed a room in Dorchester to hear Roxbury City Councilor Tito Jackson discuss his vision for Boston at a mayoral forum hosted by the We Decide Coalition, a community organization. “We had a police officer who made a racist video. One that basically threatened the black community,” Jackson said at the event. “Mayor Walsh, as well as the commissioner, allowed that individual to only be suspended for six months. Under my administration, when something like that happens, that individual will be fired.” Mayor Marty Walsh, who faces Jackson in the Nov 7 Boston mayoral election, declined the coalition’s invitation to attend the forum. Also during this race, he declined opportunities to face constituents of color by not attending the Matahari Women Workers’ Center mayoral forum and by not initially responding to an ACLU questionnaire on policing. Walsh and Jackson have clashed on race issues long before Jackson announced his mayoral candidacy: namely, about racial tensions at Boston Latin School, as well as around the formation and composition of the city’s Black and Latino Men’s Commission. Now these issues have been pushed to the forefront—displacement that disproportionately affects communities of color, racial inequity in the education system, escalating tensions between police and people of color, and large racial disparities in life expectancy. To address these concerns, Walsh released a report titled Resilient Boston in July. “We’ve commissioned a new study to explore expanded possibilities for using city policy to reduce race- and gender-based disparities. We’re expanding our implicit bias training to all city departments,” Walsh told DigBoston. But during the 4
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
second mayoral debate, hosted by WGBH on Oct 24, Jackson hit back at the mayor for commissioning studies about race but not taking adequate action. All of which only further suggests that while both candidates have positioned themselves as the best choice for addressing racism in a city that is 53 percent people of color, their outlooks on related issues and strategies regarding how to fix things differ substantially. *** Activists who gathered outside of the WGBH studio in Allston for the mayoral debate last week held a banner that read “The next mayor of Boston must end our displacement + affordability crisis.” Mass evictions have hit Dorchester, East Boston, and Roxbury the hardest. According to American Community Survey, 43.5 percent of Dorchester residents are black or African American. Walsh outlined his administration’s plans to address affordable housing in Housing a Changing City: Boston 2030. The report states that 19 percent of Boston’s housing units are reserved for low- and moderate-income residents. In a press release from the Walsh campaign, they note the “record-setting production of middle income housing.” Not everybody sees the situation through such rosy lenses, though. The NAACP Boston chapter released a report card on Oct 22 to evaluate how well Walsh is doing with communities of color, and gave the mayor a “D” in affordable housing. Ronel Remy, a community organizer at the housing advocacy organization City Life/Vida Urbana, said that despite Walsh’s stated goals to increase the number of affordable units, Boston is manipulated by big investors that control development.
“The city will be flexible to their [big investors’] needs against the needs of the diverse community,” Remy said. Kowtowing to corporations is on-brand for Walsh, according to Remy, who said Walsh has directed too much energy to things like landing an Amazon headquarters here. “What do you think is going to happen with such a big, big corporation coming into the city?” Remy said. “Your city is going to be nicer, bigger, richer, and everything. At what cost? Every single person we lose, every person who lives on the streets or shelter.” Jackson said that he would take housing equity seriously. “This issue of gentrification is huge,” the councilor candidate told DigBoston. “There are thousands of luxury condos being built, and people are being gentrified out of their neighborhoods and communities. That is happening around racial lines. The city of Boston is becoming less diverse rather than more diverse.” In addition to raising the requirement of affordable housing in new developments from 15 percent to 25 percent and creating a city-funded housing voucher program, Jackson said that he would dissolve the Boston Planning and Development Agency in favor of a peoplecentered planning department. “We should have a planning board that is independent,” Jackson told DigBoston. “I will dissolve the [BPDA]. We will have those funds roll back over to the community.” *** Housing problems affect students in a major way. With an estimated 4,000 homeless students, up from 1,500 four years ago, Jackson said he is invested in an equitable
system that ensures all the opportunity to learn in a safe environment. “At the epicenter of racial inequality are the Boston Public Schools,” Jackson said. “And the inequities in the Boston Public Schools have led to the achievement gap. We really need to deal with those issues. First by fully funding the Boston Public Schools. Stopping suspensions of young students.” Walsh also said he is committed to the wellbeing of BPS. “Superintendent Chang and I worked closely together to install a trusted leadership team, and [to] hire Latin’s first headmaster of color in its 382-year history,” Walsh told DigBoston. Michael Johnson, professor of public policy and public affairs at University of Massachusetts Boston, said that “white Bostonians have largely abandoned the public school system except for Boston Latin School and Boston Latin Academy, which they consider their preserve.” *** According to a 2014 study, black students in Massachusetts are almost four times more likely to be suspended from school than their white counterparts. In a similar vein, the ACLU and other groups report that the school-to-prison pipeline is driven by policies that target people of color. “I have grown up understanding and interacting with the racism in the city,” said Segun Idowu, lead organizer of the Boston Police Camera Action Team. Recalling how police have treated him and his friends, Idowu said that people of color are regularly pulled over, yelled at, and randomly stopped on the street. That behavior is seemingly reflected by a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll, conducted in June, which found that 57 percent of those who call themselves black—and only 37 percent of those who call themselves white—viewed Boston as racist. Walsh has said that he is working on improving the relationship between cops and residents. For example, he told DigBoston, “BPD has partnered with YWCA Boston to hold youth-police dialogues for over a decade.” Sheriff Steven Tompkins, who endorsed Walsh, said that he is confident in the mayor’s handling of policing issues. “When an incident happens in a community of color, this mayor calls in the community leaders, clergy, and they talk about what’s going on,” Tompkins said. Piggybacking that sentiment, Jamaica Plain Progressives wrote in their endorsement for Walsh that he has made strides on race issues by hosting conversations and diversifying the BPD. (JP Progressives did not respond to DigBoston’s request for comment for this article.) Despite these promises, Amanda Bissaro, a volunteer for the Jackson campaign, said that Walsh’s actions contradict his words. “If [Walsh] was serious about racial equality, he would’ve fired racist cop Joseph DeAngelo Jr. instead of calling his video foolish. Meanwhile, Mayor Walsh did fire a city worker for participating in a Black Lives Matter protest on her own time.” Jackson himself said that Boston is lagging on policing issues. “We should have a city that is leading on body cameras instead of following on body cameras,” the councilor told DigBoston. “We should have a city that has a civilian review board where people’s voices are heard that is independent from the police department and actually looks at every case in the city of Boston that is a complaint.” *** When it comes to how Walsh and Jackson approach race issues in Boston, Walsh points to his main strategies—Resilient Boston and hosting dialogues—while Jackson says that he wants to fight systemic racism by lifting voices from the outside, from the neighborhoods. According to Idowu, the Boston Police Camera Action Team organizer, communities of color are being placed under a microscope to be studied and talked about. “These are not new issues for us,” Idowu said. “There’s always been an achievement gap. There’s always been higher rates of poverty and unemployment in our community. There’s always been police issues. All he [Walsh] wants to do is talk about it, and we’re ready for action. We have been ready for action.” In response to such calls from community members and advocates, Jackson said his approach to crippling systemic racism would be to weaken the power of the mayor’s office and to empower the community at large. “I will show up at [public events and forums] and actually listen,” Jackson said. “It is critical that we democratize city government … The mayorship is too PHOTO BY OLIVIA FALCIGNO strong.”
512 Mass. Ave. Central Sq. Cambridge, MA 617-576-6260 phoenixlandingbar.com
Boston’s Best Irish Pub
MONDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
THURSDAYS
MAKKA MONDAY
GEEKS WHO DRINK
ELEMENTS
14+yrs every Monday night, Bringing Roots, Reggae & Dancehall Tunes 21+, 10PM - 1AM
Free Trivia Pub Quiz from 7:30PM - 9:30PM
RE:SET
WEDNESDAYS
Weekly Dance Party, House, Disco, Techno, Local & International DJ’s 19+, 10PM - 1AM
15+ Years of Resident Drum & Bass Bringing some of the worlds biggest DnB DJ’s to Cambridge 19+, 10PM - 2AM
FRIDAYS
SATURDAYS
PRETTY YOUNG THING
BOOM BOOM ROOM
80’s Old School & Top 40 Dance hits 21+, 10PM - 2AM
80’s, 90’s, 00’s One Hit Wonders 21+, 10PM - 2AM
THE BEST ENTERTAINMENT IN CAMBRIDGE 7 DAYS A WEEK!
1/2 PRICED APPS DAILY 5 - 7PM WATCH EVERY SOCCER GAME! VOTED BOSTON’S BEST SOCCER BAR ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Saturdays & Sundays Every Game shown live in HD on 12 Massive TVs. We Show All European Soccer including Champions League, Europa League, German, French, Italian & Spanish Leagues. CHECK OUT ALL PHOENIX LANDING NIGHTLY EVENTS AT:
WWW.PHOENIXLANDINGBAR.COM NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
5
THE LONG SHADOW OF LONG ISLAND NEWS + OPINION
The 2014 closure remains a defining moment of the Walsh administration BY KYLE SCOTT CLAUSS @KYLECLAUSS
There will come a time, the Gospel of Matthew declares in apocalyptic spasm, when the Lord will sort the goats from his sheep. The kingdom of heaven awaits those who looked after the most vulnerable among us. Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me, he will say. Those less magnanimous in their time on Earth face eternal punishment. Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me, he will say. I am by no means a religious man, but I am told Mayor Marty Walsh is. The former altar boy has woven his Catholic faith into a political narrative of redemption and resiliency. And so, each October since Walsh condemned then dismantled the bridge to Long Island (and in tandem the shelters and facilities that were used by the least fortunate among us), I’ve wondered whether his St. Margaret’s Parish in Dorchester covered the above slice of the Gospel in Sunday school. Maybe he just ignored it. We’ll never know for certain how many of the 700 homeless people estimated to have regularly used those services on Long Island died in the brutal winter of 2015, which followed the shelter’s abrupt closure three years ago. Nor will we ever know how many recovering addicts receiving treatment there relapsed—either after they were jolted from their fragile yet relatively stable routine, or purely out of abject despair— and died. There is no official metric to reflect this. More than the ignominious defeat of Boston 2024, the abortive failure of IndyCar coming to Boston, the indictments of close aides, or the ongoing housing crisis, the human toll of Long Island remains the defining moment of the Walsh administration. They could land a hundred General Electrics and thousand Amazons, but the shame will never wash off. The piers of the old bridge still stand in the harbor today, a grim reminder of the depravity of this administration’s actions on this front, as well as its signaling that some lives mean more than others. Those who survived the winter of 2015 convened on City Hall Plaza to mark the one-year anniversary. It was a small gathering. They spoke of the galling indignity of it all: the indignity of learning from a policeman that you must gather what little you have and get out; the indignity of being “homeless from the homeless shelter,” as one speaker called it; the indignity of wearing your only pair of panties for a week because you had nothing else. Mayor Walsh seems to appear at every 6
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
groundbreaking and topping-off ceremony of every luxury high-rise in this town. But I could not find Walsh in City Hall Plaza that afternoon. When it came time to face the folks he warehoused in a South End gymnasium, the mayor was nowhere to be found. In a statement that afternoon, his office called the Long Island closure a “painful but necessary decision.” To be sure, the city opened 100 beds in the Southampton Street men’s shelter in January 2015 and brought its tally up to more than 400 the following June. Only this year does City Hall claim to have replaced all the beds lost on Long Island. But imagine if the Walsh administration had snapped into action as quickly as it did upon learning Amazon sought a second headquarters. In one month, City Hall conjured a comprehensive pitch for a company valued at half a trillion dollars. Meanwhile, three years later, Walsh is still only putting the pieces of Long Island together bit by bit—a $2.4 million federal grant to Pine Street in that will fund more than 250 homeless veterans over three years, an ambitious new plan to address youth homelessness that is worth paying attention to. Let’s also not forget how, at the request of “New
Vault” power broker Jack Connors, Walsh gave away the city-owned farm there to the fast-food chain b.good, a favorite lunch spot among City Hall employees. While on the mainland, Walsh spent $4,500 on a fence near the Methadone Mile to corral the opioid addicts—many of them former Long Island residents—from one side of the street to the other. This as taxpayers have paid millions of dollars to keep heating and lights on in the abandoned, empty buildings there. This year’s anniversary passed with little fanfare. There was no mention of Long Island at the first mayoral debate between Walsh and his challenger, City Councilor Tito Jackson. Neither the Globe nor the Herald ran a story. At the one-year anniversary, Brenda Jarvis, a laboratory worker who came home to Long Island and discovered she had been displaced, said she “felt like nobody cared about our suffering, and I think that was the hardest part for me—I felt like nobody cared.” She added, “Boston is an awesome city. To see how the city came together for the Boston marathon [bombing], I felt like we suffered that same trauma.” As for the response to Long Island, Jarvis recalled… “I felt like nobody came together for us.”
NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
7
VERIZON 101 OPINION + ANALYSIS
You can stop congratulating this behemoth for its student iPad program right now BY CHRIS FARAONE @FARA1
Minutes after I sat down to write this, a commercial came on television advertising all the innovative programs that Verizon brings to needy schools across the country. That’s how unbelievably deep the offense burrows. It’s in your home, plastered all over the street and on the sides of highways, and now… the commercials… are… in… public… schools. None of this should come as a surprise. I hate to beat a dead Boston Olympics dressage horse, but in a state where leaders have routinely shown that the whims of their business cronies and donors are far more important than the needs of the most vulnerable residents, nothing comes as a surprise. There is reason to be concerned. Some mainstream outlets may have naively applauded news over the weekend that, according to a press release from Boston Public Schools, “1,100 students and teachers at three district middle schools [will get] iPads as part of a [Verizon] program aimed at integrating technology-based learning into classrooms.” Scratch the surface of those tablets, however, and the subject’s hardly worthy of a puff piece. It goes without saying that BPS needs more technology. Whether you’re on the STEAM-powered bandwagon or skeptical of it, all statistical and anecdotal evidence available suggests that there is nowhere close to enough internet access for Boston students, in school or at home. Those problems considered, it’s something between ironic and nauseating that Superintendent Tommy Chang and Mayor Marty Walsh are making it look like Verizon, of all entities, is here to save the day. With a mere 1,110 iPads, whose placement was facilitated by the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grantee. It’s all quite Kafkaesque in a unique way that those who have seen bully tactics used by innovation giants in their push for charter schools will recognize. I wouldn’t have to say this next thing if the bigger outlets covered massive corporations as much as they follow the New England Patriots. That’s not the case, though, so as a baseline for why the likes of Verizon shouldn’t be given ad space on BPS walls—no matter
8
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
how many iPads they provide to “students at the Timility, Edwards and McCormack middle schools,” or any other school, even with the promised “two years of… data plans for 24/7 internet access in the classroom and beyond,” as well as “a full-time technology coach from non-profit organization Digital Promise”—here are some critical points from Bruce Kushnick, executive director of New Networks Institute, a consortium of independent telecommunications, broadband, Internet and technology analysts, forensic auditors and lawyers, writing in DigBoston earlier this year: The media has heralded Verizon’s supposed promise that the entire city will be getting fiber to the home. Mayor Walsh, in his State of the City address, exclaimed, “We’re making Boston a fiber optic city … 27,000 families have new internet and cable options in Dorchester, Roxbury, Roslindale, and West Roxbury. The rest of the city is on the way.” Verizon’s carefully worded statements, however, mask its real plan, which is to migrate wireline customers to wireless, leaving much of Boston without any Verizon wire to the home or business. The reason that Verizon is actually deploying fiber is to connect the many internal sites in Verizon Wireless’ network—like its cell towers. And Verizon is tapping the telephone utility ratepayer for the cost of building out the fiber needed to run that network. It gets uglier. As my colleague Jason Pramas has explained, “Verizon is a world class tax dodger and loves soaking the government for free handouts”: According to the nonprofit Citizens for Tax Justice, between 2008 and 2013, the corporation made over $42 billion in profits, received a $732 million tax break (an effective federal tax rate of -2 percent), and paid almost $1.3 billion in state taxes (an effective state tax rate of 3 percent). In the first quarter of 2016, Verizon has made $4.31 billion in profits… Verizon has also received about $149 million in state and federal subsidies. Free money. And about $1.5 billion in federal loans, loan guarantees, and bailout assistance. Almost free money.
Got it!? And officials are still willing to be seen in public with these people. As Mayor Walsh and Superintendent Chang were last week, when they introduced the tablet program to phenomenal applause in Roxbury. Shamelessly, in front of giant cutouts of professional jocks flanking Verizon logos. And those were just the optics. For the children at these schools, there was also a “Minor Student End User Participation Agreement”—to be signed by a parent or guardian— which includes an arbitration clause and makes it clear that, among other things, the kids are not to share the devices (“The wireless device is intended for Student Participant’s use alone, solely for purposes of the program, and it cannot be sold or transferred to any other person or entity”), and must return them after the program is over (“At the end of Student Participant’s participation… Verizon Wireless will discontinue wireless service to the device and you agree to return the device to the district program manager”). As for privacy… Information about the Student Participant’s use of the wireless device and service, including, but not limited to, details of when he or she used data services or placed calls and to whom, is information of Digital Promise, as the customer of record for the device and service. Therefore, this information may be accessed by and shared with Digital Promise, and those parties to whom Digital Promise authorizes, including the Verizon Global Corporate Citizenship Organization (“VGCCO”). The obvious reaction to all of this: Why would anybody criticize a company for giving free tablets and service to students who desperately need those resources? Which is why we need less obvious reactions and more people willing to see the big picture. And to react to the wedgie that these major brands are giving people with their right hands while they masturbate us southpaw. As a society, we’ve long ago entered a zone in which the giants that regularly crush people for profit can also then masquerade as heroes. Still, it’s horrifying to see these kind of lopsided partnerships not only flourish but receive fanfare in Mass. There’s no apparent end to the parade for tax dodgers; just a few hours after the city announced the Verizon iPad initiative last weekend, media relations people sent out yet another head-scratcher: “GE Foundation Leader Provides Keynote Address on Future STEM Economy at BPS Fall Open House.” By comparison, Cambridge supplies all of its students with Chromebooks; so while they also require the contractual right to track and monitor students, the data isn’t shared with any nonprofit or company. As for Brookline, or Milton… let’s just say that neither has one of the 25 schools, in addition to the three in Boston, where the Verizon Innovative Learning program is expanding to this year, and that their public officials are less quick to exchange valuable billboard space and access to impressionable young minds for some loaner iPads.
VERY FUNNY SHOWS.
Seven Nights A WWk. IMPROVASYLUM.COM | 617.263.6887 NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
9
QUICK & DIRTY CAMBRIDGE ELECTION GUIDE BRAWL FOR CITY HALL
Because in a race with 26 candidates, you’ll only remember slogans BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS
Everyone outside Cambridge thinks they understand why it’s kind of a weird place. But to truly apprehend how odd the city is, you really need to vote in one of its municipal elections. Especially this one. Where else in the area do you have a ranked choice voting system where every candidate is an at-large candidate with a theoretically equal chance of winning one of the nine seats on offer, and every incumbent has to run for reelection in every election? What makes this year’s council race particularly wild is that there are three open seats. Meaning that there are six incumbents running, including the current mayor (a councilor who is elevated by a vote of her peers), and no less than 20 other candidates. Having attended a recent debate with most of the candidates in attendance, I can assure you that it’s no easy task to even remember anything about individual candidates, let alone choose one to give your coveted #1 vote to (and then assign your #2 through #26 votes— although few people bother to go further than picking their top four or five choices). So, as a public service to DigBoston’s Cambridge readers, I’ve put together the following list of all 26 city council candidates with one line or two to three phrases for each that I think encapsulates their campaign material, and a link to their website. Each of the six incumbents is noted with an asterisk. Hope it helps. Just try not to remember that an appointed city manager actually holds much of the power in the “People’s Republic.” (D’oh!)
10
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
Ronald Benjamin: wants to create community, votebenjamin2017.com Josh M. Burgin: 25 ideas for Cambridge, votejoshburgin. com. Dennis J. Carlone*: manage new development, true to community values, denniscarlone.com Olivia D’Ambrosio: arts, but not a one-trick pony, vote-o. com Jan Devereux*: civic engagement, sustainable growth, jandevereux.org Samuel Gebru: entrepreneur, community organizer, gebruforcambridge.com Richard Harding Jr.: advocate for working families, voteharding.org Craig A. Kelley*: vibrant local democratic institutions crucial to US, craigkelley.org Dan Lenke: little city halls, nano city halls, potlucks, danlenke.com Ilan Levy: activist since 2006, fought for the Foundry, critic of the Volpe plan, vote1ilan.net Alanna M. Mallon: prioritize public service by strengthening social safety nets, alannamallon.org Marc C. McGovern*: for collaboration and social/economic justice, gets results, marcmcgovern.com Gregg J. Moree: concerned about lack of options open for our young people, greggmoree.com Adriane B. Musgrave: fight so everyone in Cambridge has economic opportunity, voteadriane.com
Nadya T. Okamoto: protect the concept of home for all Cantabrigians, nadya.com Hari I. Pillai: not selling out values just for more economic growth, cambridge2017.city Jeff Santos: progressive broadcaster, backs affordable housing and a living wage, santosforcitycouncil.com Sumbul Siddiqui: affordable housing, economic development, civic engagement, votesumbul.com E. Denise Simmons*: understands unique needs of residents in our community, denisesimmons.com Vatsady Sivongxay: bringing diverse voices to the decisionmaking table, vatsady.com Bryan Sutton: can analyze complex systems and make data-driven decisions, bryansutton.org Sean Tierney: experienced public servant, dedicated to Cambridge, seantierney.org Paul F. Toner: engaging people with a diversity of opinions to find solutions, tonerforcambridge.com Timothy J. Toomey Jr.*: experience and vision to guide Cambridge’s continued growth, timtoomey.org Gwen Thomas Volmar: for affordable housing, against luxury high-rises, votegwen.org Quinton Y. Zondervan: environmentalist, helped create the Net Zero Action Plan, votequinton.com *indicates incumbent
#MAPOLI
TOWNIE: TAX DELINQUENT, TAX GIVEAWAY
Crutchfield sues Mass over taxes, unions protest Siemens BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Online retailer tries to duck sales taxes For a long time, the internet was like the Wild West for online sales. Companies sold products to consumers all over the US, and the feds and many states were slow to tax those transactions. You know, because “innovation goooood” and all that. On Oct 1, Massachusetts finally started collecting its standard 6.25 percent sales tax on internet sales from out-of-state companies with 100 or more online transactions last year. And last week, according to the Salem News, “online car stereo and electronics retailer, Crutchfield Corp., says Massachusetts’ policy violates interstate commerce laws and is therefore unenforceable.” Why? In its legal challenge the company is basically saying: You collect taxes on us, but not on other companies who might do the same business by other means. Virginia-based Crutchfield also says it’s covered by a Virginia law designed to protect businesses in that state from having to pay taxes in other states where the business has no brick-and-mortar presence. Yet the Commonwealth has already argued that under a 1992 Supreme Court decision, having “cookies” stored on consumer’s computers from companies like Crutchfield counts as a physical presence in the Bay State. The Salem News also notes that NetChoice—a group representing online retailers like eBay and PayPal—is arguing “that the Baker administration doesn’t have the authority to tax businesses with no actual presence in Massachusetts.” What’s most fascinating about these developments is the lengths big online retailers will go to avoid paying very standard state taxes (and, of course, federal taxes) in places where they do a significant amount of business. Any corporate victory on this front translates to millions of dollars being effectively stolen from the public that could be used to pay for social goods like education, housing, environmental, and welfare programs. Just what we don’t need.
NOW HIRING!!! CALL FOR PROGRESSIVE CAUSES!! Telefund needs callers to raise money and build support for progressive non-profits and political organizations
Help Elect Democrats Win Equal Rights for All Citizens Protect Civil Liberties Call today and get interviewed tomorrow!!!
(617) 292-7700
German multinational faces protests over job promises, tax breaks Walpole is a town with a population of 24,000 at the 2010 Census, but it’s punching above its weight in lavishing tax breaks on the huge German conglomerate Siemens. And area labor unions—led by the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District (Metro BTC)—are not happy. According to Wicked Local Walpole, hundreds of residents and area union members turned out for an Oct 19 protest on Walpole Common to demand that Siemens Healthineers, the goofily renamed healthcare division of the company (formerly Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc.), follow through on its 2016 promises to the community. In March of that year, the Walpole town meeting representatives voted 76-51 in favor of giving tax breaks worth millions between 2018 and 2037 to Siemens—an average savings of 75 percent on its property tax for the 20 years, according to the Brockton Enterprise—in support of the $300 million expansion of its existing plant there. The company said it would add 400-700 “permanent jobs” to its existing workforce of about 700 by 2026. But at the recent rally, Walpole Selectman David Salvatore told the crowd that Siemens has “only hired 32 Walpole residents” to date out of the 170 jobs the company says it has created since the deal was cut. In an earlier Boston Globe article— released just after the town meeting vote on the agreement—he had provided more background: “The benefits of this project are regional, and the burden is local. Of the 620 current employees at the Siemens plant, a mere 33 are Walpole residents; most are not even from Norfolk County, and 83 are from Rhode Island.” So, Walpole is putting a bunch of money on the table for a big company that has thus far only created about 60 jobs for town residents. Union leaders, according to an Oct 16 press release, are angry that Siemens has not committed to using union labor to build the 300,000-square-foot expansion of the factory or to hiring more local workers—especially since it’s getting such a large tax break. Their pressure campaign is calling for “slowing down the slated expansion for further community input and review.” One would think that a company with a market capitalization of $109.8 billion in May, according to Forbes, can afford to work things out with its critics. But it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out, regardless. Townie (a worm’s eye view of the Mass power structure) is syndicated by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Jason Pramas is BINJ’s network director, and executive editor and associate publisher of DigBoston. Copyright 2017 Jason Pramas. Licensed for use by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and media outlets in its network.
NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
11
SNOOZING THROUGH FASCISM DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS
A slow-motion academic protest of fascism emerges after conference BY BAYNARD WOODS @BAYNARDWOODS The great Russian-American writer Masha Gessen was standing on the stage at Bard College in New York in front of a sign that read “Crises of Democracy.” It was the name of an Oct 12-14 conference sponsored by the Hannah Arendt Center there. “I think it’s safe to say that all of us are living in a state of low-level dread, always suspecting that we are missing something of enormous impact while chasing something else of enormous impact,” she said from the podium. With short dark hair, thick glasses, and a stylish sports jacket, Gessen resembled the famous portrait of a young Arendt, a legendary political theorist and Holocaust survivor who examined the nature of power and totalitarianism. Gessen compared her experience in President Donald Trump’s America over the last year to that of living under Russian President Vladimir Putin when “the only skill I had really honed for more than 10 years was the skill of protecting the views I already held.” The team behind Democracy in Crisis was invited to provide a breakout session at the conference, and I was hoping to use the event to interview Gessen, who just released The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. The book follows seven different characters from the 1980s through the present, weaving narratives of their lives together into a vast tapestry that, among other things, presents the brief rise and swift destruction of gay rights in Russia—a development which caused Gessen, who immigrated to the US as a teenager and returned to Russia as a reporter, to go into exile once again. Among the book’s main characters is Aleksandr Dugin, the far-right ideologue behind Putin’s nationalism—and 12
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
an influence on former White House Chief Strategist and Breitbart News Chair Steve Bannon and white supremacist Richard Spencer, who is married to Dugin’s primary English translator. Gessen shows that in 1984, Dugin was in love with Evgenia Dobryanskaya, who later became an activist for LGBT rights. Gessen then follows them, tragically, to the present. I was so wrapped up in the tales of these distant Russian lives that I didn’t pay that much attention to exactly who else was speaking at the conference, and so, I was taking a quick nap when Marc Jongen, the Dugin of Alternative für Deutschland, the far-right German party, was speaking. AfD got more than 12 percent of the vote in the 2017 election and gave Jongen a seat in parliament. At the time, as I see on the video now, things were so quiet and respectful, it seems like I was not the only one snoozing through fascism. But last week, a group of 50 professors and academics wrote a letter to the Chronicle of Higher Education condemning the Hannah Arendt Center for lending its legitimacy—and the legacy of Arendt—to the extreme and violent positions of Jongen and the AfD. “The AfD subscribes to a nationalist far-right agenda and is closely allied with the violent street movement ‘Pegida’ (“Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West” ) that attacks refugees, immigrants, and Muslims,” the letter reads. “Jongen is devoted to providing intellectual legitimacy to the AfD’s extreme rhetoric and actions. His philosophical jargon seeks to justify the incitement and violence carried out by Pegida, including the physical blockade of refugee buses, as the expression of a laudable ‘thymos,’ or rage, that has been suppressed by liberalism and multiculturalism.”
But to hear Jongen tell it during his speech at Bard, he is oppressed and his free speech is limited in Europe, where people show up to protest his talks. “Since I joined the AfD … I made the experience that conferences where I should appear were disturbed, there was a huge protest going on when I should give a talk in Switzerland,” he said, adding, as do his American counterparts, that his opponents were really protesting free speech. He blamed it on the “specter of Hitler” haunting Germany. The controversy over his appearance at a university may cast Jongen under the specter of Richard Spencer or former Breitbart News Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos in the American mind—but instead of states of emergency, and Antifa and alt-right battling in the streets, we now have the polite and archaic battle of academics that is almost reminiscent of the old Partisan Review. There were no chants or signs or attempts to shut him down. And while the questions from the audience expressed a deep sense of disturbance, it was all so quiet that you could sleep through it. Roger Berkowitz, the founder and director of the Arendt Center, has since argued in a post that it was essential to “include at least one person who represents the idea of an illiberal democracy,” since “[m]ajorities of people in Hungary, Russia, Turkey, and Austria and that large pluralities of people in France, Germany, and the United States (amongst other countries) are embracing ideas of democratic nationalism and democratic authoritarianism.” Baynard Woods is the founder of Democracy in Crisis and a reporter and editor at the Real News. baynard@ democracyincrisis.com. @baynardwoods
NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
13
MAYOR OF CANNABIS TOKIN’ TRUTH
Here’s why Boston desperately needs one BY MIKE CRAWFORD @MIKECANNBOSTON
PHOTO BY DEREK KOUYOUMJIAN
Most people know that last year, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot initiative to allow regulated sales of marijuana. What fewer people appear to realize, however, is that the same initiative also allows cities and towns to permit on-site consumption. By the end of 2018, the Commonwealth is expected to at least have open adult-use cannabis dispensaries similar to liquor stores. Less certain, however, is whether any of them will be allowed to offer on-site cannabis use similar to what bars offer today for drinkers. As Jim Borghesani of the Yes on 4 campaign breaks it down, “Right now, social clubs can allow on-site consumption. The definition of a social club would be that members pay dues and the consumption takes place in the club by members who supply their own product. No sales allowed on site.” He continues, “A cannabis cafe, where you can buy and consume on site, is allowed under the law. But there’s a process. First, you’d have to gather the signatures of 10 percent of local voters based on the prior statewide election to get it on a local ballot. Then you’d have to win the ballot vote. Then you’d apply for a license from the [state’s Cannabis Control Commission].” Good luck doing that in Boston under the current city leadership. Prohibitionist BPD Commissioner William Evans recently complained on radio that he smells marijuana being consumed all over the city. Considering that Boston hosts many college and graduate students as well as renters who aren’t typically allowed to use cannabis in their dorms and apartments, it’s not that surprising that many feel safer smoking outside on the common rather than in their leased units. If Evans and his boss, Mayor Marty Walsh, had any sense about sensimilla, they would consider that increased access for on-site consumption could help alleviate that public use issue. But again, don’t count on it. With Boston being the largest city in the Commonwealth, a municipality whose residents voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana last November, it would seem to be a prime locale for those wishing to open such a green establishment. With that in mind, I asked City Councilor Tito Jackson, who is running for mayor against Walsh, about the issue on my WEMF Radio show, The Young Jurks. Would he support on-site consumption of cannabis in Boston? “I think it is something we should explore,” Jackson answered. “As you know, there would be a ballot initiative. I think it is something we should pose to the people of Boston.” He continued: “The other interesting piece here is we saw democracy in action with the cannabis initiative, we saw individuals who are supposed to be forward thinking and deal with these issues who were not; nobody wanted to move it forward, and it was the people who made it happen. This is literally one of the best shows of democracy we’ve seen in a long time in our state.” As for places where people can consume… “I believe these are things we should explore,” Jackson added. “I look at the cannabis industry as part of the innovation economy, and we need to think of it in the same way as we treat startups and the same way as we think of them with the economic upside. I also think there is an opportunity for equity. I want to see Boston-based businesses sprout up, businesses run by women and people of color. I’d also like to see a cooperative run by people with [criminal records]. We need to define success as real inclusion and ownership. I think we should be open to it and explore it, and the best place to do it is with a ballot question. We are talking about grown folks, for adults.” Asked about Jackson’s cannabis bona fides, Borghesani reminded me, “Tito endorsed Question 4, attended numerous rallies and editorial board meetings to speak for the legalization effort. He was a strong and visible advocate.” As for Mayor Walsh, Borghesani calls him a “staunch opponent.” At the same time, Walsh has waffled. As Jackson noted on my show, “Within days of The Young Jurks endorsement of my campaign, Mayor Walsh changed his mind about adult use cannabis, and now for some reason he’s now on track with cannabis … Sadly, that’s the issue of the leadership, or lack thereof, in the city of Boston. If you remember, he was for [bringing] the Olympics [to Boston], and after he was against them.” Borghesani sums it up, “It seems clear to me that Tito’s early embrace of the legalization effort would make him a stronger natural ally for the new industry.” Indeed. And especially if you care about on-site use.
14
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
Your Trusty Massachusetts Cannabis Newsletter subscribe for free at
talkingjointsmemo.com NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
15
DAVID BAZAN MUSIC
The recluse glum rocker talks failed tattoos, Tom Petty, and annihilating FOX News BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN I don’t really care about zombie or vampire stuff. Serious things in that vein I have not come around to yet. I started watching Walking Dead, but by the second episode I just didn’t care. 28 Days Later was freaky as hell and I thought that was amazing. But in general, that genre is one I don’t care about. There’s no disdain, though. 2. “Up All Night” Where were you the first time you pulled an all-nighter?
If you moped around in the late ’90s or early aughts, chances are you turned to Pedro the Lion to justify your feelings. The indie rock, sometimes slowcore-styled band is known for their slow-burning, downtrodden tint on the genre. Frontman David Bazan led the band through a decade-long career before they stopped in 2006. Unable to pause the musician in him, he carried on making similar music as a solo artist, and the band’s fanbase continues to follow him loyally. Bazan’s general demeanor changes with Care, or at least it changes a little bit. Bazan’s newest and fifth album as a solo artist continues the thread of affecting, deep vocals and sparse instrumentation, but there’s an unexpected upward tilt. This time, things don’t seem quite as hopeless. There’s no defeated sigh. It’s hard to hear Bazan’s voice and not feel a return to form, namely curled up, heartbeat slowing down, trying to nurse bad memories before they grow up too fast. But once the record reaches its halfway point, you begin to feel a bit better. There’s hope to be had after all, and for the first time, it’s Bazan who’s the one to tell you so. “Care has a kind of vulnerability and, dare I say, positivity that I haven’t been able to express before,” he says. “I realize that it doesn’t read as positivity to some listeners, but still, to me, when I finished the record I thought, ‘Wow, I finally made a happy one.’ There are songs about resolution and there’s a positive turn. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. It feels good.” To dig deeper into David Bazan’s life behind the projected sad vibes he’s known for, we interviewed him for a round of Wheel of Tunes, a series where we ask bands questions inspired by their song titles. Don’t be surprised if his answers make you laugh. 1. “Care” What piece of pop culture do most people love that you can’t bring yourself to care about?
Never in college, because I didn’t care about [work] enough to turn it in on time. Did I do one for [It’s Hard to Find a] Friend? No, I think I did for Winners Never Quit. Making and recording that, there were a bunch of allnighters in there. But the first time I stayed up all night was at a youth group New Year’s Eve ordeal. They had activities for us, we went out to a 24-hour restaurant at 4 am, and other things. I must have been 16 or 17 years old. 3. “Disappearing Ink” Have you ever planned on getting a tattoo but backed out last minute? I always thought I would get a tattoo, but I don’t have any. The first one that I thought of was, coincidentally, one my friend has. It’s of a cross made out of spikes that would’ve been driven into Jesus’ hands and feet, like three spikes arranged into a cross. In the background around the cross was a crown of thorns. It was from a Christian hardcore band called Crucified. When I was 16, I thought that’s what I would do when I turned 18. When I turned 18, I thought I would come up with something different, but I never did. Now I think I’m getting to the point in my life where I think I’m learning lessons and axioms that I may want to have on my body somewhere, or a representation of those things. My philosophy innately was that I wanted to put something on that would transcend. Also, I don’t like the way I look. There wasn’t a strong aesthetic like, “I’ll look so badass when I do this.” Instead, it felt like my songs worked. The style was about trying to get meaning across, and I found out how to do it that way instead. But my wife wants to get rings around our arms. If she pulls the trigger, I’ll do that with her. 4. “Sparkling Water” What do you think the next beverage trend should be once sparkling water dies down?
think of something else after it. Maybe just regular water. That should become a hot trend whenever it becomes super scarce. I started drinking sparkling water after hating it my whole life because I was trying to slow my drinking down. Instead of having a beer, I would slam a Perrier. Now I find myself wanting hydration and refreshments with no sugar or very, very little sugar. Hopefully [the next trend] would be a bunch of soft drinks that are based on the La Croix end of things of lightly sweet flavor and all of these hipstery, douchey flavors we all like. I don’t think people want to be drinking sugar the way we grew up doing. It’d be great to be able to go to any gas station and get something like that. Maybe it would be tea-based? 5. “Permanent Record” Name an album that you own that you would never sell. I bought Wildflowers on vinyl in 1998 at a record store in Ann Arbour, Michigan. I think it’s worth two grand now, but there’s no way. It’s my favorite record by him. His style is unbelievable. I wish more records were put out that way, four sided at 45rpm. That’s the only one that I definitely couldn’t part with. I’ll have $2,000 in my life, but I won’t have another copy of this in my life. 6. “Make Music” What advice would you give to someone who wants to make music but has never picked up an instrument? Well, I would guess, and we will find this out through a conversation, that they have an instrument they’ve always wanted to mess with. I would say pick the one that feels right. Pick the one that seems to suit you as an instrument. Then get around people who play. Book time with them to show you stuff. Listen to records. On your computer, you can slow records down. If there’s a passage you want to learn, slow it down and try to mimic it. Records are everything you need to learn music, I think. 7. “Lazerbeams” If you could use a laser beam to demolish one thing, what would it be? Fox News. I think that they’re responsible for and helped keep the stashes on track. They have a lot of people in a weird trance. They’re evil. Nothing good comes from them. We would have a much better time getting cast under this authoritarianism, right-wing bullshit if Fox News was not in the picture anymore. As it is, I think it’s almost impossible now to get rid of them. I was thinking this morning that I could see there being some way of coding a ban on presenting information the way they do, or a lack thereof? I’m not sure. Right now, we’re in critical condition.
Check out the full tracklist at digboston.com
I love the sparkling water trend so much. I don’t want to
>> DAVID BAZAN, MICHAEL NAU. WED 11.8. BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL, 158 BRIGHTON AVE., ALLSTON. 7PM/28+/$15. CROSSROADSPRESENTS.COM
MUSIC EVENTS FRI 11.03
SAT 11.04
[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 10pm/21+/$15. greatscottboston.com]
[Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Pl., Boston. 6:30pm/all ages/$26. crossroadspresents.com]
THE NEW MUSIC YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR MISTER HEAVENLY + ANNA BURCH
16
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
CHILLED OUT CHARM COURTNEY BARNETT & KURT VILE
DIGBOSTON.COM
SAT 11.04
POST-COUNTRY MEETS INDIE’S NEW EMO RATBOYS + LILITH + DAGS!
[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 8:30pm/21+/$10. greatscottboston.com]
SAT 11.04
ALLSTON HARDCORE MEETS ’90S SKATE PUNK REBUILDER + DEAD BARS + SETTLER + LOSER’S CIRCLE
[O’Brien’s Pub, 3 Harvard Ave., Allston. 8pm/21+/$10. Obrienspubboston.com]
SUN 11.05
MON 11.06
[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$15. greatscottboston.com]
[Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. 7pm/18+/$35. crossroadspresents.com]
SHARP-WITTED UNDERGROUND HIP-HOP ASTRONAUTALIS + CESCHI + LAYTO
SKA’S COOL BRITISH PRECURSOR THE ENGLISH BEAT + PRESSURE COOKER
MUSIC
THE BEAT OF BOWSER
Musicians rally behind underdog A-B Council candidate
| RESTAURANT | INTIMATE CONCERT VENUE | | URBAN WINERY | PRIVATE EVENT SPACE |
BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN
upcoming shows
11.10 -12 MARIZA
11.13 DAVID CROSBY
11.14 PAUL THORN
11.15 LLOYD COLE
11.16-17 MARC BROUSSARD
11.19 WILLIE NILE
11.24 AZTEC TWO-STEP
KINDRED THE FAMILY SOUL
CENTRAL SQUARE CAMBRIDGE
MIDEASTCLUB.COM | ZUZUBAR.COM
(617)864-EAST
Boston’s general election is on Nov 7, and the musicians of Allston want to make sure you know who to vote for. This Friday, a handful of bands will take over O’Brien’s Pub in Allston to throw a fundraiser for Brandon Bowser, one of the candidates running for Boston City Council District 9. The local event aims to show residents why Bowser is the right candidate for the Allston-Brighton community while letting them enjoy the wreckloose garage of Black Beach, the punched up flair of Ozlo, the alt-rock charm of Gia Greene, and the electro-punk prog of Scream Castle. As we’ve reported in earlier editions of the Dig, Bowser is running on a strong platform in hopes of winning the District 9 race. He wants to incentivize local businesses to hire local artists, improve the transportation infrastructure in the neighborhood, and help fully fund the schools in the district while supporting the rollout of the Extended Learning Time policy. But for many of the acts playing the fundraiser event, there’s another one of Bowser’s proposals that proved his allegiance to the region and the change they want to see. “We really respect Bowser’s stances on community building and affordable housing,” said Ozlo. “Allston-Brighton’s future depends on having council members who put neighbors first. The district has seen rapid growth and development, often at the expense of current residents. We’re happy to support a candidate who is a community member and will represent the growing need for fair development practices.” “I’ve already felt the sting of rent inflation in other neighborhoods of Boston, and it really sucks to know you have to move because your rent is literally doubling,” adds Black Beach member Steven Instasi. “Every day, I ride by a bunch of new developments, and it’s pretty scary to look at knowing they’re not meant to house me, other working class people, or families. Bowser hopes to have affordable units within all new developments in Allston-Brighton so that people from this community can stay here. He also plans to connect local businesses with local artists in hopes to create more opportunities for local artists to work and create in the neighborhood rather than move away to other cities.” Bowser’s campaign has been largely funded by Allston-Brighton’s DIY community, with multiple benefit shows and fundraisers being held by locals who hope to see him win. So it should come as no surprise that the musicians, artists, and people in between want to throw Bowser one last benefit show to increase turnouts at the polls next week. If he’s the candidate best suited to represent them, then they want to do their best to help represent him to the younger voters. Head to your local polling place on Nov 7 to vote in this year’s general election. If you don’t know who to vote for, consider swinging by O’Brien’s Pub to chat with one of Allston-Brighton’s district seat candidate. After all, when people want to rally behind a politician and make the loudest noise possible in doing so, it’s safe to say that politician represents the people. You could be one of them. >> BRANDON BOWSER CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER WITH BLACK BEACH, OSLO, GIA GREENE, SCREAM CASTLE. FRI 11.3. O’BRIEN’S PUB, 3 HARVARD AVE., ALLSTON. 8PM/21+/$10. OBRIENSPUBBOSTON.COM
THU 10/26 - 6:30PM CALLAGHAN, JESSE TERRY FRI 11/03 - 8PM THELEM, TERRAPHORM, HENNESSEYDUB SAT 11/04 - 6PM THE SHERLOCKS, COLBIS THE CREATURE SAT 11/04 - 10:30PM MEGALODON SUN 11/05 - 7PM ANSON RAP$ MON 11/06 - 7PM AN EVENING WITH RACHEL PLATTEN WED 11/07 - 7PM CHASE ATLANTIC, DE’WAYNE JACKSON
11.26
11.28 - 29 RUFUS WAINWRIGHT and Much More! city winery Presents
11.27
LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DOWNSTAIRS
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THU 10/02 - 8PM TERRAVITA & JPHELPZ FRI 10/03 - 6:30PM RICH CHIGGA, DUCKWRTH
11.2 cowboy junkies at The Regent Theatre
(SOLD OUT)
SAT 10/04 - 7PM I THE MIGHTY, HAIL THE SUN TUE 10/07 - 7PM J.I.D. & EARTHGANG
11.3 Shawn Colvin at T h e C a b o t
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
UPSTAIRS
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THU 11/02 - 8PM JONWAYNE, DANNY WATTS FRI 11/03 - 8PM THE WOGGLES, MUCK AND THE MIRES SAT 11/04 - 11PM SOULELUJAH! W/ RALEIGH FINGERS SUN 11/05 - 1PM I THE VICTOR MON 11/06 - 8PM L.A WITCH TUE 11/07 - 8PM MYSTERY SKULLS WED 11/08 - 7PM LITHIC, GRAC&TATION, PHONETIX
11.9 Leftover Salmon at t h e R e g e n t T h e at r e
11.10 11.14 11.16 12.6
&
RIDGE WINE DINNER CITY WINERY AND AMERICAN AIRLINES PRESENT GREEK WINE DINNER CITY WINERY AND AMERICAN AIRLINES PRESENT SAKE DINNER CITY WINERY AND AMERICAN AIRLINES PRESENT SUSANA BALBO ARGENTINIAN WINE DINNER
email eventsboston@citywinery.com for more info
1 canal St. Boston Ma 02114 | (617) 933-8047
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
BUY TICKETS @ TICKETWEB.COM
w w w . c i t y w i n e r y. c o m / b o s t o n
SOCIAL MEDIA:
@MIDEASTCLUB @ZUZUBAR @SONIAMIDEAST NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
17
WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER
FILM
From the vault: an interview with Noah Baumbach BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN
pretend—I just prefer Truffaut. In seeing your films, I’ve had an experience not entirely unlike the one I had with his Antoine Doinel movies [which follow a single character from adolescence to relative adulthood]. There are obviously many autobiographical details shared among the Jesse Eisenberg character from Squid, the Josh Hamilton character in Kicking and Screaming, and the Ben Stiller characters in Greenberg and While We’re Young [and now, in Meyerowitz as well]. You get the impression that you’re seeing the same person, or at least the same kind of person, at different ages, and at “THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED)” [COURTESY NETFLIX] different moments in time. I’m not thinking of a longer conversation beyond just the specific Noah Baumbach is an American filmmaker with 10 movie that I’m working on at the time. feature-length movies to his credit, including Kicking It’s difficult enough to do one at a time, without thinking and Screaming [1995], The Squid and the Whale [2005], about how I’m speaking throughout all of them. But Greenberg [2010], Frances Ha [2012], and Mistress America obviously, I chose to work with Ben Stiller again. I really had [2015]. His latest film, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and a good time with him on Greenberg. And so I was aware, on Selected) [2017], premiered via Netflix last month and is some level, people are going to … you work with the same currently available to stream on that service. The following actor twice, and you’re courting certain questions. interview was conducted in early 2015 while Baumbach Going back to Truffaut … some of those movies, like was promoting his seventh film, While We’re Young [2015]. The Story of Adele H. [1975], are very tragic. And then Stolen Some quotes were published in this paper at the time, but Kisses [1968], say, is very light. I really like that … filmmakers not the full transcript—I publish it now because many who have directed many different kinds of movies, that of the topics discussed are related to the contents of The all have personal voice to them … that they can come out Meyerowitz Stories, albeit indirectly. some days gloomier, and some days cheerier. It depends on At this point in 2015, I had been watching a lot of the material, and on the movie, and on what feels right for François Truffaut movies, and Baumbach’s most recent it. Not that I’m doing it by design, but I think my [body of films had utilized a bevy of score music from those work] has come out like that. Some of the movies are more pictures, so that is where our conversation begins. clearly comedic, and others are not. NOAH BAUMBACH: There’s one piece from The Wild Child [1970] in While We’re Young. The Wild Child is namechecked in The Squid and the Whale, too. And there’s all the Georges Delerue music [from Truffaut movies] in Frances Ha. I’m not hiding it. Do you feel a kinship with anything specific about his work? He’s one of those guys: When I saw Jules and Jim [1962] in college, I just felt very connected to it. The same way I felt connected to Woody Allen movies when I was in high school. It was something beyond just liking the movie. It was that thing that happens sometimes—where you feel, this was made for me. And I grew up sort of being told that I was supposed to like Godard more… Aren’t we all? I don’t know, is that still true? I mean, now, I don’t even
In While We’re Young, there are soundtrack cues from Truffaut films, costume designs that reference Eric Rohmer films, an appearance by Peter Bogdanovich… would it be unfair to say that your movies are haunted by other movies? Or that they’re consciously playing with certain parts of film history? Do you feel that way? To bring your one of your collaborators into it, I often have similar experiences watching films by Wes Anderson. It’s not that your movies feel like imitations, but they do feel aware of other film works and forms—and they do seem invested in leading their viewers toward making those connections. With something like a score, it can sometimes be as simple as “this worked once really well, so maybe I can use it again.” Quentin Tarantino does that, brilliantly. And Wes did it in The Darjeeling Limited [2005], where he used a lot
of score music from Satyajit Ray movies. I certainly don’t ever want for any of this stuff to feel like “references.” I think it’s more that movies are part of my experience—and the same way I’m drawing upon my life experiences, I’m drawing upon my movie experiences. So these things find their way in, in the same way that I might shoot a restaurant or a street that I feel a connection to. Or like how I might cast a friend as a party guest—it feels of a world that I understand. And I guess in some ways it’s the same as taking a score from another movie, or even just referring to another movie. A subject that arises in many of your films is the matter of artists who use elements of their private life within their work, and the question of whether or not that’s appropriate. It’s an issue that’s alluded to in Kicking and Screaming and Margot at the Wedding [2007], and it’s a central part of the narrative in While We’re Young [this particular kind of conflict is also central to Mistress America and is alluded to within The Meyerowitz Stories as well]. Obviously I’m courting it to some degree. I make personal movies, so for me, I feel like I’m working in a tradition of filmmakers who … when I saw their movies, I’d always want to know what [parts] were true of them, or not true. It was interesting to me to know—if there was any information available—about what they were like, and what their lives were like. I’m guessing that we’re speaking about some of the directors already mentioned—Woody Allen, François Truffaut… Yeah, a lot of the ’70s American filmmakers, and many European directors. And also in literature—Philip Roth plays with it, Woody Allen plays with it. I think it probably comes somewhat naturally if you are writing from experience, and if you are taking from what you see around you. I think that “other layer” is always there, and I guess it somehow keeps finding its way to the surface when I’m doing these things. When I’m working on something—particularly in the writing stage, but at any point—everything filters through that narrative for me. I’m thinking, does this [experience] work somehow for [the movie] I’m doing? So people who know me and love me are aware of that. There’s a few lines in While We’re Young that I took from Greta [Gerwig]. I got a question last night in Chicago about Jamie quoting Oscar Wilde—“be yourself, everybody else is taken”—but I actually got that line off a T-shirt. I didn’t know that it was Oscar Wilde, it just seemed very smart. There are things, obviously, that I’m not going to take without asking—or things that I wouldn’t even consider taking, because I feel like it’s not appropriate. But I’ll steal a line from anybody, if it’s good. Conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity
>> THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED). NOT RATED. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO STREAM VIA NETFLIX. FIVE OTHER BAUMBACH FILMS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON NETFLIX >> KICKING AND SCREAMING, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, GREENBERG, FRANCES HA AND WHILE WE’RE YOUNG. HIS FILMS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON HOME VIDEO AND THROUGH VOD OUTLETS.
FILM EVENTS FRI 11.03
FRI 11.03
FRI 11.03
[Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 9pm/NR/$11. Screens through 11.8; see brattlefilm.org for other showtimes.]
[Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 9pm/NR/$7-9. 35mm. For more info on this repertory series, see hcl.harvard.edu/hfa]
[Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 5 and 7pm/ NR/$11. Screens through 11.5; see brattlefilm.org for other showtimes.]
BOSTON-AREA THEATRICAL PREMIERE OF BONG JOON HO’S OKJA [2017]
18
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
THE FILMS OF SHUJI TERAYAMA BEGIN PASTORAL HIDE AND SEEK [1974]
DIGBOSTON.COM
NEW DIGITAL RESTORATION OF ARTURO RIPSTEIN’S TIME TO DIE [1965]
FRI 11.03
SUN 11.05
MON 11.06
[Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline. 11:59pm/NR/$12.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]
[Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 5pm/NR/$7-9. 35mm. hcl.harvard.edu/ hfa]
[Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$12. Dir. Jonathan Olshefski and prod. Sabrina Gordon sched for a post-screening disc. thedocyard.com]
COOLIDGE AFTER MIDNIGHT PRESENTS TOBE HOOPER’S THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 [1986]
THE FILMS OF WILLIAM WELLMAN CONTINUE AT THE HFA NOTHING SACRED [1937]
THE DOCYARD PRESENTS QUEST [2017]
©Universal Pictures
s e i v o M e h t o t s e o G c i t p e The Technosk
n i a c a h x M : E M 0 P :3 , h 7 t r 9 e m e b Thu. Nov 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square
TheTechnoskeptic.com
Screening and discussion
with writer, public speaker, and tech critic Sara Watson; Harvard Associate Professor and computational neuroscientist David Cox; and The Technoskeptic ’s Mo Lotman. NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
19
GALLERY REVIEWS VISUAL ARTS
MFA Blowout Edition
BY FRANKLIN EINSPRUCH AND HEATHER KAPPLOW Joan Jonas: Ice Drawing—Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Enter through the Seeking Stillness exhibition if you can—Jonas couldn’t have asked for a better prelude to her work. The artifacts you first encounter in the darkened, theatrical Krupp Gallery greet you as if you were an archaeologist. They were used as tools for something, but what? The “what,” as it always is with Jonas’ work, is a multilayered, intuitive working of symbols, sounds, and textures. The two videos feature hands drawing with ice in different ways, and the difference between the two ways is a clue to the “what.” In the show’s eponymous piece, ice cubes move through ink and reflect back on the viewer through pendant crystals. Reanimation, performed at the MFA in 2014, shows a mystery tool in use—and at first it seems the opposite of a tool—in the drawing of an ice crystal. But in fact, it’s an aid for showcasing our ineptitude in preserving the natural world racing by us—or melting away from us. Show runs until 7.1.18. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. mfa.org —Heather Kapplow Annette Lemieux: Mise en Scène—Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Annette Lemieux’s work looks simple and spare, but it’s actually quite dense stuff. The artist, who won the MFA’s Maud Morgan Prize this year, is stripping iconic imagery from film and literature to its hollow, lonely core. The spacing of the pieces around the Lubin Gallery and Lemieux’s rehashing of old images highlights how much alienation is encoded within them. Most chilling (and ironically so, due to their medium) are two, adultscale creepy inflatables modeled on the clown balloon with which Elsie Beckmann is lured to her death by a serial killer in the classic Fritz Lang film M [1931]. They barely move, but are distinctly not still, hovering above with all of the tension of a cat about to pounce—but never pouncing—on a mouse that is you. All of it rolls the unresolved terror embedded in Western modernism forward into the present. She leaves it with us like Elsie’s little ball in the grass in M when she’s abducted. Show runs until 3.4.18. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. mfa.org —Heather Kapplow Mark Rothko: Reflection—Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The MFA has mounted a pleasurable if not groundbreaking Rothko show, dominated by the middleperiod multiforms and the mature color field works. They are on loan from the National Gallery of Art and thus a welcome opportunity for us New Englanders to spend some time with the DC Rothkos. Reflection has a curious inclusion, a diminutive and bonkers self-portrait from 1938. The artist looks in on a surrealist interior with an undersized woman and an even more undersized easel. He was trying, and failing, to be de Chirico. Its pairing with the MFA’s presumed self-portrait of Rembrandt doesn’t flatter Rothko. But the mature works seem all the more mature for it. The multiforms are striking, especially No. 9 from 1948, in which radiant puzzle pieces assemble into a sultry composition of orange and vermilion. This segues
20
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
DIGBOSTON.COM
MARK ROTHKO, NO. 9, 1948, OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, GIFT OF THE MARK ROTHKO FOUNDATION, INC., © 1998 KATE ROTHKO PRIZEL & CHRISTOPHER ROTHKO / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK, COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON AND THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
naturally to one of the first color fields from ’49, a work made prior to the artist’s growing monomania about red and black and thus retaining some joy. Show runs until 7.1.18. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. mfa.org —Franklin Einspruch Seeking Stillness—Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Seeking Stillness features an idiosyncratic mix of art ranging from Rosso Fiorentino to Agnes Martin, spanning three galleries of the Linde Family Wing and setting an apt tone for nearby explorations of Mark Rothko and Joan Jonas. Lush silver prints of Death Valley by Edward Weston evoke Japanese dry gardens. A Qing-dynasty scholar’s rock is paired with Zhan Wang’s Artificial Rock (2005), purifying the ironic commentary of the latter, baring the gripping aesthetic of its mighty heft and chrome-plated steel surface. Stealing the show is a painting from the MFA’s
holdings by Kenzo Okada. A Story (1966) abuts two views, one of a distant mountain, one through a village gate. Plants, clouds, and stone mix impossibly in the pale air, slowing time and compressing the landscape into visual poetry. The exhibition’s devotion to contemplative looking, conceived as fundamental and essential, deserves to be noted—with the Buddhist half-smile that represents whole delight. Show runs until 7.1.18. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. mfa.org —Franklin Einspruch These shorts are being simultaneously published at Delicious Line, deliciousline.org. Franklin Einspruch is the editor in chief of Delicious Line. Heather Kapplow is a Boston-based conceptual artist and writer, heatherkapplow.com
ARTS
MORE TOGETHER NOW
A simple idea: ‘It’s an important time to be creative’ BY M.J. TIDWELL @MJTIDWELL78 It looks like this year’s final All Together Now, an inclusionary multimedia welcomingof-all art series, is the brightest artistic buffet that organizers have cooked up to date. Under the artistic nurturing of director Anna Rae, All Together Now has become a reliable event series that creates space for women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ performers, along with their allies. Now, for the last installment of the year, happening this Saturday in Central Square, the crew behind the effort will continue fostering that sense of community, attracting even more new and unique performers from a mix of genres that don’t often intertwine. For starters, people can expect an earful from Boston rapper, poet, and educator Oompa, who is “forever representing the queer, black, orphaned, hood kids and them.” Then there’s Jacqueline Ortega, who will be showcasing heavy metal apparel and one-ofa-kind jewelry and armor pieces. Plus Saraswathi Jones, a “purveyor of postcolonial pop,” who will address South Asian history and culture as well as the experience of being an immigrant in America. Like I said, it’s not like other bills. On top of all of the above, married artist duo Amanda Graff and Muhammed Seven will bring an original performance interweaving Graff’s acrobat and circus art with Muhammed Seven’s Iranian-American blue-collar folk music. It tells the story of their 20 years together in a rare tag-team approach. “As parents, workers, and artists, we had to find the time to collaborate. Often we work together after our our son goes to bed,” Graff said. “But that has really been awesome, to make that time.” Graff helped pilot a program bringing circus arts into after-school programs in Cambridge. She said art, in whatever form it takes, is a unique, particular lens into what life looks like from someone’s else’s eyes. “It’s an easy time to feel divided, as artists, as people,” she said. “So it’s an important time to be creative. Any type of coming together is amazing.” This particular “coming together” will be poet and movement artist Dev Blair’s inaugural performance outside of the BU campus. A third-year theater arts major and television and film minor, Blair is also an activist and cofounder of the #PoorAtAPrivateUniversity support group, and sees the show as a special opportunity to show their authentic self while exploring critical themes through poetry and movement. “I am always asking, ‘What does it mean for me to have so many different artistic parts of myself, to be in that way a Renaissance person in a society that really tends to ask me to specialize?’” They continued, “It was really awesome to recognize that there was an art space that I could enter and bring the multitudes that exist within myself and me as an artist, to display that and have that be okay.” Some topics that artists will be touching on in their performances will also address the idea, shared by some, that racism is only something that happens in the South. In doing so, organizers hope performances will foster allyship. “There’s only so much I can do to get someone to understand a piece of my experience before it becomes exhausting,” Blair said. “But when it comes to my artistic expression, that is something that is so wholly fulfilling for me that I can put the messages that I want to get across in the context of these conversations, into my art, share that with somebody. It’s not necessarily a conversation in the same way, but there is a discussion that is happening in that moment.”
GOT AN EVENT? LIST IT. LIVE MUSIC • LOCAVORE MENU PRIVATE EVENTS 11/02
Cold Specks. La Timpa, Radclyffe Hall Doom soul 11/03
Use our self-serve listings page to get your event online TODAY!
Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, Artificial Brain Goregrind 11/04
digboston.com/listings
Brujeria, Powerflo, Pinata Protest, INTHESHIT Extreme Metal 11/05
We offer a free basic listing as well as enhanced and premium listings to really get you noticed.
Primitive Man, Bell Witch, Churchburn, Upheaval Blackened Noise 11/06
Despised Icon, On Broken Wings Deathcore 11/08
Lee Ranaldo, Pigeons, DJ Carbo Ex-Sonic Youth
Join us for Muertos at ONCE 10/28 - 11/4 Facebook.com/events/1961212164116760
156 Highland Ave • Somerville, MA 617-285-0167 oncesomerville.com @oncesomerville /ONCEsomerville
>> ALL TOGETHER NOW #8 WITH DEV BLAIR, SARASWATHI JONES, OOMPA, JACQUELINE ORTEGA, AMANDA GRAFF AND MUHAMMED SEVEN. SAT. 11.4. THE THALIA THEATER, CENTRAL SQ., CAMBRIDGE. 7:30PM/$10/$15. ALLTOGETHERBOS.COM NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
21
SAVAGE LOVE
DADDY ISSUES
BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET
1. Nope. Various sexually transmitted infections— gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, herpes, HPV, etc.—could be contracted by the extra person and/or passed on to you and your fiancé. There’s low to no risk for HIV, PUSSY, but the act nevertheless falls outside the realm of safe sex. Very little actually exists in the realm of purely safe sex. There’s always risk, we can mitigate for those risks, we can make sex safer, but save for solo and cyber, sex is rarely ever 100 percent safe. 2. This is technically three questions, PUSSY. You find that person by putting ads on hookup sites and/or by putting yourselves in places where you might meet that person, i.e., pick-up joints, sex parties, swingers clubs. There are lots of apps out there for couples seeking thirds, you can even advertise as a couple seeking a third on big dating sites like OkCupid. It is a degrading thing to ask someone to do—but since there are lots of people out there into erotic degradation, that’s a potential selling point.
Featuring: Xazmin Garza, Chris Post, Dan Crohn, Nick Chambers, Ben Quick, & Chris D Hosted by Alex Giampapa and Ellen Sugarman
On the Lovecast, Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges: savagelovecast.com DIGBOSTON.COM
THE PUMP AND DUMP SHOW @ THE WILBUR
Best Moms’ Night Out Ever! America’s most beloved, “parentally incorrect” comedy show is coming to Boston. Join Shayna Ferm and Tracey Tee for a raucous evening swaddled in music, games, prizes, wine, and validation that’s guaranteed to make you laugh your C-section scar open.
I’m curious what your boyfriend’s “support” looks like, FATHER. Does he tell you privately that his father is a creep and that he wishes his dad would knock this shit off? Or does he tell his father directly that he’s being a creep and insist he knock it off? The latter is support, the former is not. I’m thinking there’s a reason your boyfriend’s brothers only have ex-girlfriends—you don’t speak of any currents, FATHER, a highly revealing detail—and it’s not just because their dad is a creep. It’s because no one in the family is willing to stand up to this creep. Not his wife, not his children. If your boyfriend refuses to run interference and/or shut his father down, I would advise you to join the list of exes. However “lovely and amazing” your boyfriend might be when you two are alone, if he’s useless in the face of his father’s sexual harassment, you’ll have to DTMFA too.
11.02.17 - 11.09.17 |
THU 11.02
I’m sorry to be graphic, but it can’t be avoided. I’d like to have my fiancé come on my pussy and then have someone else lick it off. My two questions: (1) Does that fall in the realm of safe sex for the extra person involved? (2) How do we find that person? Is there an app to meet a third or how do we find swinger parties in our area? Is that a degrading thing to ask someone to do? Personally Understands Serious Sexual Yearnings
I am in a relationship with a lovely and amazing man. Everything could be really good, if only his father would stop being a creep. He’s constantly telling me how beautiful, smart, and attractive I am. Last year around Christmas, I sang a few songs when we were visiting my boyfriend’s family, and his father commented that I have an “erotic” voice. A few days later, I received an e-mail from him. Attached was a poem about my singing, where he called my voice “angelic” and “pure.” It made me really uncomfortable and I told him that I don’t want to receive poems from him and that he should stop complimenting me all the time. He didn’t. When I told him again to stop commenting on my appearance, he responded that I must like myself very much. I talked to my boyfriend’s mother, and she said she’s “given up” and ignores her husband’s behavior. It turns out that he behaved similarly with exgirlfriends of my boyfriend’s brothers. I’m so angry and don’t know what to do. My boyfriend supports me, but it’s hard to talk about the topic, because it’s his father. Fucking Annoyed That He Engrosses Rightfulness
22
COMEDY EVENTS
1246 TREMONT ST., BOSTON | 7 & 9:45PM | $27-$40 THU 11.02
OSAKA KOMEDY @ OSAKA JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE
14 GREEN ST., BROOKLINE | 8PM | FREE FRI 11.03
ANDREW SANTINO @ LAUGH BOSTON
Andrew Santino just finished shooting the feature The Disaster Artist starring and directed by James Franco His Comedy Central Half Hour standup special was just released alongside his debut album Say No More on Comedy Central Records.
425 SUMMER ST., BOSTON | 8PM & 10PM | $29 FRI 11.03
THE COMEDY STUDIO
Featuring: Jessie Baade, Rick Canavan, Josh Day, Myq Kaplan, Andrew Mayer, Carolyn Riley, Jon Rineman, & Katie Que Hosted by Rick Jenkins
1238 MASS. AVE., CAMBRIDGE | 8PM | $15 SAT 10.28
COMICS 2 CURE @ LAUGH BOSTON
Donnell Rawlings is back headlining Comics 2 Cure at Laugh Boston for our 3rd annual stand up comedy benefit show Come laugh for a cause and help Comics 2 Cure donate portion of the proceeds to Perkins School for the Blind located here in Watertown, MA.
425 SUMMER ST., BOSTON | 10PM | $27.50 SAT 10.28
BOSTON COMEDY PROJECT @ IMPROVBOSTON
Featuring: Emily Ruskowski, Laura Burns, Allison Dick, Pamela Ross, & Reece Cotton Hosted by Martha Rollins
40 PROSPECT ST., CAMBRIDGE | 7PM | $12 SUN 11.03
LAUGH WHILE YOU CAN @ ARTS AT THE ARMORY
Featuring: Sean Donovan Rosa, Carrie Ross, Allie Dick, Chris Player, Etrain Martinez, Lisa Lang, & Sean Sullivan
14 TYLER ST., SOMERVILLE | 7PM | DONATIONS FOR PUERTO RICO RELIEF SUN 11.03
MIDWAY OR THE HIGHWAY 2YR ANNIVERSARY @ MIDWAY CAFE
Featuring: Will Pottorff, Steve Hynes, Carrie Ross, Bill McMorrow, Casey Crawford, Riley Knispel, & more Hosted by Angela Sawyer and Terence Pennington
3496 WASHINGTON ST., JP | 9PM | FREE MON 11.06
RANTING & RAILING @ TERRY O’REILLY’S
Featuring: Liam McGuirk, Matt Kona, James Creelman, Sarah Francis, & Alex Maslow Hosted by Pete Andrews
45 UNION ST., NEWTON | 8PM | FREE WED 11.08
WHAT ELSE YA GONNA DO WEDNESDAY? @ MAGGY’S LOUNGE
Featuring: Rick Canavan, Deadair Dennis Maler, & more Hosted by Billy Cox and Greg Tregellis
609 WASHINGTON ST., QUINCY | 8PM | FREE
WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST BY PATT KELLEY PATTKELLEY.COM
HEADLINING THIS WEEK!
Andrew Santino
Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here, Comedy Central Presents Friday + Saturday
COMING SOON Comics 2 Cure
Feat. Donnell Rawlings from Chappelle’s Show + Guy Code Special Engagement: Fri, Nov 3
Michael Ian Black
VH1’s I Love The... series, Wet Hot American Summer franchise Nov 9-11
THE WAY WE WEREN’T BY PAT FALCO ILLFALCO.COM
Dana Gould
Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime Nov 16-18
Josh Gondelman
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Billy on the Street Nov 24+25
OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS BY TIM CHAMBERLAIN OURVC.NET
Sarah Tiana
Comedy Central, The Joe Rogan Experience Nov 30-Dec 2
617.72.LAUGH | laughboston.com 425 Summer Street at the Westin Hotel in Boston’s Seaport District NEWS TO US
FEATURE
DEPT. OF COMMERCE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
23
Your Season Starts Here!
PRESE
P R E S E N T E D BY
TED BY
NOV 9-12 | Seaport World Trade Center Thur: 3p-10p Fri: Noon-10p Sat: 10a-8p Sun: 10a-6p
Boston’s Biggest Ski and Snowboard • Flippenout Extreme Aerial Show presented by Killington • ELITEAM Fitness Challenge presented by Coca-Cola of Northern New England and Loon
PRESENTED BY
• WZLX 100.7 Classic Ski Lodge presented by Waterville Valley • Wachusett’s Kids Snow Park Learning Center
SAVE 3 $
SALE
• Vertical Runway Fashion Spectacular • Long Trail Beer Garden • Winter Olympic Preview • Great Family Fun and Value
+
One Year Subscription to Magazine! $10 Gift Card from with Paid Admission Restrictions apply
When You Purchase Tickets Online Use promo code DIG. Kids under 12 FREE.
For more info and tickets go to Official Snow Report of the Expo BEWI Productions, Inc. For exhibit info: 781.890.3234 • bewisports.com