DIGBOSTON.COM 08.03.17 - 08.10.17
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BLACK SUNDAY IT COULD HAPPEN TOMORROW!
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ABOUT THAT REWRITTEN WEED LAW
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
NEWS
OFF TO THE RACES INTRODUCING: THE BRAWL FOR CITY HALL
DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS
DISPATCH FROM INSIDE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND LATEST POTUS THREAT TO LGBTQ COMMUNITY
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BOWERY BOSTON WWW.BOWERYBOSTON.COM VOL 19 + ISSUE31
AUG 3, 2017 - AUG 10, 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, Mike Crawford, Kori Feener, Marc Hurwitz, Marcus Johnson-Smith, Micaela Kimball, Derek Kouyoumjian, Andrew Quemere, Jonathan Riley, Peter Roberge, Adam Sennott, Maya Shaffer, Miriam Wasser, Dave Wedge, Baynard Woods INTERNS Katie Martin, M.J. Tidwell
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 CHECK OUT JAKE MULLIGAN’S PIECE ON ‘BLACK SUNDAY’ AND OTHER OLD DOMESTIC TERROR CLASSICS ON PAGE 18
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Dear Reader, In the process of working with Britni de la Cretaz on “The Yawkey Way,” a feature that we ran in July about hate speech thriving and being rewarded in New England sports culture, there were some things we anticipated would ensue after the article dropped. We expected that faceless anonymous racists among us would soil their diapers. Furthermore, since Britni impressively moved Red Sox management to criticize its own broadcasting partner, WEEI, on the record, we also had an idea that the toddlers on that station would do some soiling themselves. And of course we knew that audiences would read and share the lengthy article enthusiastically, because while there has obviously been a lot of spot coverage and individual stories related to race and the Red Sox, it’s rare that someone takes the time and has the courage to begin assembling the puzzle in the face of guaranteed harassment. Amid the uproar, many readers and internet people in general came to the defense of Britni and DigBoston, both in public comments and in private correspondence. But there was also something we didn’t expect—it was surprising, if not baffling, to watch broadcast news icon Emily Rooney blast the feature on Beat the Press, a local weekly media show that she hosts on the Boston PBS station WGBH. As her colleagues cited points from Britni’s article without noting where they came from, Rooney pitched in extra insults, calling the reporting “trite” and even sympathizing with the proudly sexist jocks who have spurred their legionnaires and sycophants to harass female journalists. At a low point, Rooney even suggested that the Dig wasn’t worthy of a response from the Red Sox. As a talented icon at the top of her field who achieved significant broadcasting feats against difficult odds, I like to hope that Rooney was just jabbing with her tired brand of tough love in some kind of twisted recognition of our newspaper’s underdog gusto and the fact that we are incubating robust long-form journalism with the scant resources that are available to us. Considering her noted snobbery and disdain for everything from public transportation to transgender rights, though, I bet the truth is more that Beat the Press and Rooney are simply allergic to the mere idea of independent journalism entering their airspace. If they weren’t, they would have called Britni for a comment instead of only reaching out to WEEI. This newspaper, which Rooney refers to as the “Big Dig,” has been operating for two decades and has hundreds of thousands of readers between print and online every month. We have weathered recessions and outlived dozens of publications, including the Boston Phoenix. That last bit hasn’t rested well with Rooney and a number of others, but it’s a fact, and those of us who are trying to carry on the alternative press tradition shouldn’t have to bear the stubborn brunt of old allegiances. Nevertheless, our goal as an organization is to shine light on important issues to the point that large outlets like Rooney’s take notice and spark even further dialogue into the ’burbs and beyond. In that case we’ve succeeded, and if a part of that discussion happens to address why a major voice at a nationally recognized PBS affiliate feels comfortable condoning such contemptible behavior, then so be it.
CHRIS FARAONE, EDITOR IN CHIEF
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ROYALE
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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
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NEWS US
THE BRAWL FOR CITY HALL NEWS 2 US
An introduction to our coverage of races in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and beyond BY CHRIS FARAONE + DIG STAFF @FARA1 @DIGBOSTON
shorthand goes like this: Boston has a strong-mayor system, in which the City Council’s only significant power is to vote on the budget; Somerville is similar, but with an even stronger honcho in the corner office; Cambridge is a more or less inexplicable council and committee-led free-for-all that even Kennedy School profs barely understand (although those in the know say the whole show is run by the appointed city manager). But none of that really matters, because even the smallest political office has impact, which is why it’s so important that you pay attention. We will consider all of the above over the following few months as we pick apart a number of the races underway to the best of our ability. Over the past several weeks we have dispatched reporters and video interviewers from Dudley Square to Davis Square, so far just scratching the surface. In Boston alone, there are 44 candidates running for 11 seats, including mayor. Only four of the nine district council incumbents are uncontested, which isn’t too bad in a state where officials are often spoiled by apathy. In Cambridge, 29 hopefuls are vying for nine council chairs, one of whom will then be picked by their peers Rto FO be mayor after the election (like we said, it’s a ridiculous system that is seemingly good for no more than confusing voters). And in Somerville, 18 wannabes have thrown their hats into the ring for alderman positions, with only three of seven sitting ward leaders facing no challenge at all. We don’t know how much overlap there will be between our coverage and that done by other outlets, some of which, like SCATV in Somerville and CCTV in Cambridge, we will be collaborating with throughout the fall. Our regular ribbing of the newspaper of record aside, judging by the lack of interest that the Boston Globe showed during the last round of state elections, it seemed like we had scant choice but to invest resources in local politics this time around. We’ll need a hand from you, the reader, and encourage one and all to join our Brawl for City Hall Facebook group, where readers are encouraged to share tips and information. We can also use your help on primary day (Sept 26) and Election Day (Nov 7) for a project called “Scenes from the Polls.” On those occasions Dig will feature simple dispatches from polling stations all over the region, including photos of the sign-holders outside and reports on the number of votes cast, and with your assistance on the crowdsourcing front we can cover more territory. Finally, for now at least, we will not be making an endorsement in the Boston mayoral race. We threw the Dig bump under Marty Walsh last time—we were one of the few outlets to do so—and to view the reel in rewind you would almost think Mayor Olympics was jumping through hoops to make us regret it. From Boston 2024 to public-private partnerships galore, it’s hard to believe that Walsh is the same guy we pulled for four years ago. As for his biggest challenger, Roxbury Councilor Tito Jackson, such a nod would almost be too obvious. For starters, he’s the underdog. Like us. Plus Jackson more or less lines up with Dig priorities on issues ranging from development to cannabis. Still, we feel that as a small and scrappy news org, putting so much stock in one race is far less of a priority than focusing attention on as many corners of the region as possible. On that note, if you see us in your neighborhood, be sure to say hello. And if you don’t see us in your community when we should be there, be sure to holler at us even louder.
CITY
Whether you can’t freaking believe there is another election upon us or you had no idea that Mass was off to the races already, we have news for you—this shit matters! Take it from us, since we’re among the watchdogs and reporters who pay close attention to matters of local concern while most people are exhaling thick polemic boogers on Facebook in response to the disgrace of the hour in DC, whatever that may be. We don’t blame you for allowing President Donald Trump to suck up most of the air you allot to politics. For fuck’s sake, we had to tweak this article right before going to press due to the unceremonious ouster of goombah rodeo clown Anthony Scaramucci, whose tenure as White House communications director was shorter than the president’s pinkie. With that said, voters need to realize that local pols are using such distractions to great advantage, from current officeholders essentially campaigning against Trump (instead of the person whom they are actually running against) to their sleazing— pushing idiotic laws, taking money from unsavory donors—more than usual since local media, already up against the ropes, also obsesses over the bright orange object in Washington. Out of respect for the innumerable DigBoston readers who have been around a lot longer than I have been reporting on abhorrent Beacon Hill buffoonery
From Boston 2024 to public-private partnerships galore, it’s hard to believe that Walsh is the same guy we pulled for four years ago.
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and municipal mayhem, I won’t dabble too long on the regional political prerequisites. At the same time, considering the transient population of this area as well as our mission to engage one and all, here are some helpful reminders:
• Massachusetts has a notably notorious history of
corrupt politicians. From the past three speakers of the House of Representatives being indicted in office (and the one before that being found by an ethics committee to have used state employees to work on his house) to a pair of aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh being charged with conspiracy and extortion, it’s not exactly Stars Hollow or Mayberry around here. Nevertheless, there’s something much more subtle about lawmaker chicanery in Mass, with the lion’s share of truly awful deeds done legally and in plain view of voters (if they’re paying attention, which they probably aren’t).
• To piggyback that last note, when dealing in
municipalities it is important to remember that development is pretty much the only thing that matters. Though many politicians enter office to catalyze positive impact of some sort, all too many wind up licking the boots of businessmen, builders, and billionaires. For proof of this phenomenon, look no further than the Commonwealth’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), pick any wellknown politician, then search for how much money their campaign takes from attorneys and real estate interests. From Walsh to Mayor Joe Curtatone in Somerville, you’ll find that the number of donors from realty, contracting, and related professional firms flood the market.
• Another critical background item (there are a
googolplex, but for the sake of relative brevity we’ll keep it at this) is that no two city governments are anything alike, from their administrative mechanisms to their casts of creeps and bureaucrats. The common
I don’t know that there’s a grading system you can give because the schools vary so much, and my concern about standardized assessment of all the schools in general is that they don’t account for all of the differences the schools have. In East Boston, for example, we have one of the highest if not the highest rate of ELL students. Some schools in my district have taken on more students with disabilities and learning disabilities in general. So to give a standard that is across the board, I kind of reject BRAWL FOR CITY HALL that. I don’t know that I’m going to give a grade, but I will say I’m excited about what a lot of them are doing. I’m hopeful for our future and I think that a lot of our Lydia Marie Edwards (Boston City Council Candidate, D1) teachers are dedicated to making [our schools] the best institutions INTERVIEW BY PETER XIONG they can be. In terms of when Mayor Walsh Though there are three viable candidates gunning for started, again I don’t like the grading system. I will say some the Boston City Council seat that touches East Boston, of the things I do like coming from his administration [like the North End, and Charlestown, there’s no denying that a] commitment to universal pre-k. I think it’s a real support attorney Lydia Edwards stands out. Currently on break for our school system and that is the kind of standardized from her job as the deputy director for housing stability movement I would like to see more of. In terms of the in the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development, ability to continue to improve and assess our schools, we the candidate’s credentials also include work as a need to be looking at all of the challenges they deal with. Massachusetts Superior Court clerk, as well as a stint with Graduation rates are one factor, but in many cases if you’re Greater Boston Legal Services, where Edwards served as dealing with special ed or folks with disabilities who don’t the equal justice works fellow. We asked her two questions graduate, a lot of schools get dinged in their assessments about Boston Public Schools that we are asking all of the and I don’t think that’s fair. candidates.
TWO QS ON SCHOOLS
What do you believe is the current state of BPS? What grade would you give them now? And what grade would you give them when Marty Walsh started four years ago?
What specifically are you going to do to improve schools? How many are you going to visit? What programs would you add or subtract? How much more money, if any,
I would echo what the superintendent [Tommy Chang] has said quite often, which is that we’ve made improvements but we have a very long way to go. I don’t think this is a situation where we can rest on any laurels about the improvements that have been made. The graduation rate has gone up to 72 percent as of a few months ago, which is the highest it has ever been in Boston, but the dropout rate has gone up slightly, so we still have 4.5 percent of our students who are dropping out every year. And 4.5 percent of 56,000 students is a large number. We can’t have that number of people dropping out every year and going out in the streets with slim or no job prospects. What are they doing? How are they providing for themselves? That can’t continue. Half of the students who do graduate from Boston Public Schools and go on to college don’t graduate in six years. That’s unacceptable. The varying rates of high school graduation are astounding. At the three exam schools, 94 percent of those students graduate. It’s just 72 percent overall throughout the system, while some schools have as low as a 39 percent college [matriculation rate]. So my main thrust would be that there has to be parity throughout the system. We can’t have a two-tiered educational system where some of the students are pushed in the direction of what’s called general education, and other students are in the more advanced studies programs. For those who need extra tutoring or remedial work, then that has to be provided to them.
TWO QS ON SCHOOLS BRAWL FOR CITY HALL
Joseph Wiley (Boston Mayoral Candidate) INTERVIEW BY KEVIN MCCREA
There’s a good chance that you haven’t heard of Joseph Wiley. Though the studied actor riffs on issues in the manner of an articulate old hat policy wonk, the Roxbury native and current East Boston resident and health insurance customer service worker has little political experience. With that said, Wiley is the candidate who, by simply entering the race, triggered the mayoral primary that Boston deserves. We asked him two questions about Boston Public Schools that we are asking all of the candidates. What do you believe is the current state of Boston Public Schools? What grade would you give them now? And what grade would you give them when Marty Walsh started four years ago?
NEWS TO US
do you think the schools need? When it comes to improving schools, you need to be first assessing what they’re dealing with. Most of the schools, a lot of the issues come outside of the schoolhouse, and we need to acknowledge that in many cases there are schools dealing with so many more social problems that come into the school that, unless we’re really preparing and looking at them in a holistic way, that we’re not really giving them a fair shot anyway. I also think we need to be focusing on accountability and standards that are fair, and that make sure adults are held to a standard without punishing the kids. Again, I look at MCAS and these standardized tests, and I understand the goal of them was to have a measure, but I feel that they have become the goal instead of just a measuring bellwether. And when they become the goal, you can end up forfeiting things like the arts. I was in band, I had home ec, I had shop, I had life skills training, I had driver’s ed in my public school. All of that was for free, and I think when you’re dedicated just to a test you’re going to forfeit a lot of basic things. I think our schools should be really investing in vocational training. We should be preparing kids to be on the college-bound track, but those who aren’t should [also] be on a career track, and our schools could be partnering more with either our unions or other vocational training schools to make sure that if you want to be a painter or an electrician that you can get the skill set. In terms of money and funding, I know that we do have some of the higher spending on individual students, but I want to make sure a lot of that is going to the actual education process. I think we need to look at our budget—I am sad to see the shortfall that has happened, and I think that we should be looking at partner institutions— nonprofits in the area and universities—that are dedicated to education in making sure that they increase their programs with direct line items that benefit BPS and BPS students.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CANDIDATE AT LYDIAEDWARDS.ORG What specifically are you going to do to improve schools? How many are you going to visit? What programs would you add or subtract? How much more money, if any, do you think the schools need? The politicians that I admire the most have entered office with specific goals in mind. There are issues they wanted to confront and attack, and those were their main focus. As mayor of Boston I would put education at the top of my list. In my first year I would visit every school in the City of Boston. On a daily basis, the mayor has to deal with some educational issue in some shape or form. I would do that. In Germany they don’t have many labor disputes, because the unions are always at the table when decisions are made. We need a coalition of everyone that’s involved— parents, unions, teachers, principals, administrators, student representatives—to sit down and work through the reforms that we need to put in place. We don’t have decades—for the last 50 years [people have been saying they are] going to make our schools excellent. Well it hasn’t happened yet. I don’t know why, but I know that we don’t have another 10 to 15 years to be working on this. What I do know is that if you put everyone at the table doing what we need to do, we can make these necessary reforms within a mayor’s first term. Kids from Wellesley and Brookline are no more intelligent than our children are in the City of Boston. It’s just that they’ve had all of these cultural advantages that our kids haven’t had. So we need to enact cultural programs that give our kids an equal opportunity to do that kind of enrichment as well. Whatever needs to be done, we’ll do it.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CANDIDATE AT JOEFORBOSTON.COM
FEATURE
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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
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#CONDEMBTA (THE RECAP)
BEYOND BOSTON
A public conversation about transit infrastructure BY DIG STAFF @DIGBOSTON
ON LABOR
George Mokray (Cambridge resident and clean energy advocate): We ride the T. They work the T. I know this guy who works like a dog, hours at night when the T isn’t running. The maintenance workers are the ones who are going to get hurt, who are going to get killed before the riders do. So what is the relationship between the pictures that [Derek] took and the unions, and the issues? Because those guys and gals know that the stuff is wrong, and they have to fix it, and they’ve been working with 20 to 30 years of deferred maintenance. Doherty: I talk to a lot of the machinists. A lot of the parts they’re working with are 70 years old. They don’t even make them anymore. As for outsourcing, they’re not going to get any machinists who know how to work on 15 different models of trains [from the past] 70 years. They have to fabricate a lot of those parts, [and management is] talking about using the same machinists who are there right now, but for substantially less money.
ON CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
ON OLD EQUIPMENT
John Doherty (Organizer with INVESTNOW): The T is grossly underfunded. There’s been divestment that’s been going on for years and years that has basically brought it to where it is. You have 15 different models of trains that go back 70 years that are being worked on… In order to bring a more modern and reliable service, there needs to be investment in the MBTA. The workers who are performing those jobs need better tools, better access to technology, and they’ll be able to provide a more sustainable MBTA.
I know this guy who works like a dog, hours at night when the T isn’t running. The maintenance workers are the ones who are going to get hurt, who are going to get killed before the riders do.
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Derek Kouyoumjian (#CONDEMBTA photographer): What really hit me was seeing things like the Central Square station [in that light]. I can remember when it was very dim, and dark. It was a very dismal-looking train station, and in the late-’80s they renovated it and made it very spiffy and cute and they extended the platform to accommodate six train cars. And it looked great. And now you see it all corroding away.
ON PRIVATIZATION
Doherty: Privatization was always a factor. If [the state] could provide as good or better service with no cuts to jobs, then they could pursue [private contracts]. Every [example of such] outsourcing so far has been a disaster. Look at the janitorial workers, who ended up having their hours cut, and ultimately having wages cut. These companies come in and show you numbers that you want to see, often through consultants who end up getting the contracts. Louise Baxter (Organizer with T Riders Union): We want to save the middle class jobs, and [state government] wants to sell off the T to private industries. We’re fighting to keep what we have, but there’s a traffic problem, there’s a parking problem.
ON HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS
Doherty: The MBTA could be an economic driver. It’s important that we keep it reliable. Look who benefits— there are tons of corporations that benefit from having their workers use the MBTA. You look at cities and you see luxury developments getting put up while some people are getting pushed out farther and farther, driving the socioeconomic divide. Those people need to get to work. If they can’t get to work, they can’t pay taxes, and they can’t put food on the table. We need something that doesn’t just benefit the well-off areas… All you have to do is look at the Orange Line and the Red Line and you can see where money is being spent and where it isn’t being spent. All you have to do is drive around the different neighborhoods. Suren Moodliar (Coordinator at encuentro5): New Balance gets a new station just because they’re New Balance. Right now in Lynn there’s a plan near the River Works, which is [the formerly private GE station] being turned into a public station [because of an adjacent development project]. The same thing with Suffolk Downs and the Revere Beach station, and with Assembly Square. It’s literally pay to play.
Tim Lasker (MBTA sustainability specialist, OPEIU Local 453 union president): You can’t manage that kind of process when you have your sixth GM in five years. We don’t have consistency. We have international consulting agencies that are raping and pillaging our funds. I’m talking about construction projects—a fine example is Union Square over in Somerville… you have two or three holes in the ground. For $400 million? If anybody ever did any sort of audit on that they would see that 80 to 90 percent of it was put together to pay off consultants. And it went nowhere, because it was mismanaged. Ingenuity comes from necessity... We’re working with trains that go back 40, 50, 80 years. I am sick and tired of hearing [workers] being blamed for the problem when they [MBTA administrators] don’t run it like a real company.
ON SOLUTIONS
Saul Schlapik (Brookline resident): It’s one thing to talk about [transportation infrastructure], but it would be very difficult to make any real changes—especially with the current [Gov. Charlie Baker] administration. John Businger (Public transportation advocate and former state representative): I’m the guy who started the advocacy for connecting North Station and South Station… I am a member of the Regional Transportation Advisory Council, and we believe in connecting rail corridors across the country. [People should] not only attend [MBTA control board] meetings, you should attend many of them. Don’t go away, don’t just do it one time. The people in power are going to be there every day and you’re not. I don’t want to discourage anybody, I just want to show you what you’re up against. A lot of these meetings are really run by the hierarchy. So don’t go away—say it once, say it twice, say it four times, because it will go down the drain unless they think you’re down for the long haul. Learn more about MBTA privatization, infrastructure, and equity at Boston Green Fest. The forum “Transportation Tomorrow Today” takes place at Faneuil Hall on Fri. 8.11 at 10 am.
PHOTOS BY DEREK KOUYOUMJIAN
As regular Dig readers couldn’t have possibly missed, along with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) we asked ace photographer Derek Kouyoumjian to spend a month snapping pics of utterly dilapidated MBTA tracks, stations, and trains. His images of so much beautiful decay, meant to scare the crap out of you and perhaps even spur a few riders into action, appeared as a photo essay titled #CONDEMBTA, and was followed up with a public event, discussion, and art show at Workbar Cambridge. What transpired during the Workbar panel, which was sponsored by the INVESTNOW coalition of T labor and advocacy groups, was a rare conversation that cut to the heart of these regional issues. Hardly a venue for the opinions of transit officials and privatization proponents, whose opinions are already heard in the creaks and screams of trains that should have been removed from service years ago, the event was a platform for perspectives that are typically shut out of the mainstream—particularly those of T workers, T activists and advocates, and of course people like you, T riders. Here are some highlights …
Tommy Vitolo (Brookline Town Meeting member): With $7.3 billion in backlogged capital projects, there are two problems: one is convincing the Commonwealth to find the money, that’s a problem, but the second problem is: can we spend that money well? Do we believe that the MBTA, if it started receiving that money, could spend it on capital projects that we believe can be done well? Because if we don’t believe that, we’re not going to find the money. And also, if we don’t believe that, maybe we should wait before we find the money. And so this is this question I don’t know how to answer. Can the MBTA spend that kind of money on backlogged projects in a way that is sensible and responsible?
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For all the holy hell that we have given countless Beacon Hill lawmakers over their meddling with the cannabis law passed by voters last year, there are also a few legislators who stood firmly during the negotiation process, who helped salvage several important components of the original law, and who have been keeping constituents up to date with blog posts that drill into every last detail. We recently cited the explainers of Boston and Belmont Sen. William Brownsberger, whose website features a lengthy discussion with voters about the cannabis compromise bill. It’s recommended for anyone who wants to grow or be involved with weed in any way in the Bay State to check out that resource, as well as the recent public letter on the matter penned by Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville Sen. Pat Jehlen, whose bullet points we’ve quoted, chopped, and paraphrased below to help break developments down into plain English. As for input and criticism, our view at this point is that it is far too early for conniption fits. What’s done isn’t even technically done yet, as there will certainly be lawsuits and a whole lot of municipal maneuvering before all of the chips land. We’re already looking into countless stories and the various committees and initiatives formed under the bill, but for now it’s critical that both users and those who have plans to get involved in the recreational industry learn the basics. If for no other reason than that you stop asking us pot reporters about this stuff at parties. For all the cold hard facts, we recommend perusing the “Act to Ensure Safe Access to Marijuana” in its complete form. In the meantime, these helpful notes from Sen. Jehlen and her staff are a good primer: • In the vast majority of communities, voters supported legalization. In those communities, any ban or restriction on the number of marijuana establishments greater than those permitted under the ballot question must be approved by referendum. In communities that opposed legalization, elected officials can ban or severely limit production and sale. • The bill allows retail producers who don’t already have medical marijuana licenses to apply without a one or two-year waiting period. • The bill places responsibility for implementation with three state officials who will all face re-election in 2018. They have an incentive to make sure the law works and a safe legal market is developed. • The bill contains Senate priorities for addressing social justice and remedying the damage to people and communities from decades of arrests and incarceration based on previous marijuana laws. • The bill preserves opportunity for people with non-violent drug offense records to have a second chance as employees in this new, legal industry. • The bill gives priority to license applicants with demonstrated experience in promoting economic empowerment in communities disproportionately impacted by high rates of arrest and incarceration due to previous marijuana laws. • No one will go to jail for possessing small amounts of marijuana, including 18 to 21 year olds. • The bill contains protections requested by medical marijuana patients. It ensures confidentiality of their records and allows electronic filing of healthcare provider certifications, allowing immediate access to temporary registration cards and to medical marijuana. • Medical marijuana remains untaxed. • The bill legalizes the production of hemp, which can be a valuable crop for farmers. • The bill requires the Cannabis Control Commission to develop ways for small producers to form coops, and to establish license fees based on the size. • The state tax will total 17 percent, with a 3 percent local option. Massachusetts marijuana taxes will still be among the lowest among the eight states that have legalized marijuana. It will be the same as Oregon, which is seen as among the most successful states.
The bill contains Senate priorities for addressing social justice and remedying the damage to people and communities from decades of arrests and incarceration based on previous marijuana laws.
FORCE & ORDER NATIONAL WIRE
Trump’s latest LGBTQ moves draw criticism on Mass front BY MIKE CLIFFORD
The US Justice Department says federal civil rights law doesn’t protect lesbians and gay men from workplace discrimination. The DOJ took that action just hours after President Donald Trump fired off tweets banning transgender Americans from serving in the military. Jennifer Levi, director of the Transgender Rights Project for GLAD Legal Advocates and Defenders in Boston, says thousands of people who proudly serve in the military are potentially harmed by Trump’s tweets. At the same time, she calls the administration’s stand on the lack of federal workplace protections for gay workers unprincipled. “I think that this administration is playing politics with people’s lives, which is unfortunate, so, you know, they are both terrible steps,” she states. “And I hope we’ll see the courts reversing any potential negative impacts.” Trump tweeted that transgender troops could hamper military readiness. But Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that tweets from the commander-in-chief do not have the force of orders. He adds that until the US military receives an official order, it will continue to treat all of personnel with respect. In the workplace protection case, a civil lawsuit involving a fired skydiving instructor who came out as gay, the Justice Department argues that Congress has not extended Title VII to include sexual orientation. Greg Nevins, director of the Employment Fairness Project at Lambda Legal, says courts have long held that the law’s protections are not confined to narrow definitions of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. “These things often have very different roots, very different social histories, but they’re all prohibited to the same extent,” he points out. “So, the fact that discrimination against one group is not rooted in believing them to be inferior doesn’t mean it’s not prohibited by Title VII.” Levi says there is no telling where the first legal challenge to the transgender ban will be filed, but she says the doors of the GLAD office in Boston are wide open. “Absolutely, we’re very interested to hear from active service members who are potentially impacted, and we’ll bring a lawsuit if the federal government treats our proud, transgender troops in a harsh and negative way,” she states.
“I think that this administration is playing politics with people’s lives, which is unfortunate, so, you know, they are both terrible steps,”
Mike Clifford is a reporter for the Commonwealth News Service.
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9
NOT ‘NOT NORMAL’ DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS
Stop fetishizing normalcy to condemn Trump BY BAYNARD WOODS @BAYNARDWOODS I went down to the White House to see Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner give his excuses surrounding the meeting that he, Trump’s son, and Paul Manafort, among others, had with Russians, hoping to get dirt on Hillary. “This is not normal,” I hear, echoing through my head as I walk from the Metro Station and around the corner onto the freak-show between Lafayette Square and the White House. They actually didn’t let me into the White House, because I hadn’t updated my day pass. And Kushner ended up saying absolutely nothing that was not in the written statement that had been released that morning. After all of the non-televised press briefings, Kushner’s little spiel in front of a tiny podium was solely for the cameras. Both of these things—forgetting to request a pass and not missing anything after all because the press events are total bullshit—are totally normal. Since I got turned away from the traditional White House, though, I figured I would go futz around at its bizarre corporate shadow, Trump International Hotel. The Trump International really is not normal. In the Old Post Office building, it now looks like a castle. Big American flags wave above the word “Trump.” As I walked around, towards the door, I passed The Spa, by Ivanka Trump ™. Then I saw the sign for “Presidential Ballroom.” Yes, yes, it is creepy as fuck. It’s not a real presidential ballroom in the White House, but instead a ballroom in a hotel owned by the the president near the White House that is branded as such a ballroom. No, not normal. The Inside of Trump International is also exactly what you might expect—an ostentatious display of gaudy luxury being soaked up both by the truly rich, perhaps hoping to please our plutocrat, and the vacationing redhats who treat Trump’s place just like they’d treat a hotel 10
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at Disney, only holding out the possibility that they may glimpse the maestro known for small hands rather than the mouse known for his big ears. Some of these people may be foreign leaders, by the way, so this kinda gross hotel is also the site of the lawsuit filed against the administration by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and DC Attorney General Karl Racine. As Frosh recently told Marc Steiner on the Democracy in Crisis podcast, “The objective is to stop him from doing this because we don’t know whether he’s putting his financial interests first or the American people’s interests first.” Hell yeah it’s fucked up if foreign governments use the hotel to give money to Trump and gain his favor. That’s the same reason I wasn’t going to spend a goddamned penny in that joint. But I was interested in seeing if they’d kick me out. I sat down on one of the overstuffed chairs. There were several newspapers laid out. The “failing” New York Times, and the Amazon Washington Post, which the president has spent a lot of time attacking. I love the Times and the Post, but alt-weeklies like this were founded to provide something alternative to their sense of normalcy. We know what happens to even our best papers when the war machine starts moving. I mean, if Colin Powell says it, it must be true. That’s where my air-conditioned mind started to drift as I sat in this hideous hotel. Why are we fetishizing normalcy? Whenever Trump does something illegal, immoral, or insane, we say it is “not normal,” to the point that it is almost the official Democratic slogan (and much better than their actual slogan announced last week: “A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future.”) I mean, sure, I get it that normal sounds pretty good in comparison with the Trumpian chaos that has engulfed us all for the last six months. But if he falls tomorrow, the
Democrats won’t have any better ideas than they had in November. They could float by for a while, but that’s it. They will look like the idiot Republicans—who spent seven years railing about healthcare and can’t come up with a plan—do now. Trump was right when he said that the system was broken. He is proof of that. He is a product of our normal, its culmination. He was able to make all of his opponents look like assholes because they were assholes. It’s not normal that a psycho rich guy like Trump takes over the office to make profit for his family. But it is normal for rich guys to hold the office. When Obama was first elected, the entire Tea Party was basically screaming, “This is not normal!” because we had never had a black president before. The Klan and the Red Shirts noted that Reconstruction was not normal. George Wallace cried out that integration was not normal and the homophobic religious right still hollers about how abnormal gay marriage is. By saying that the Trump regime is not normal, you give power to his followers who voted for him for exactly that reason. It validates them. If Democrats and the mainstream opposition instead embrace some other terms, it might help them develop their own vision. “Not right.” “Not moral.” “Not smart.” “Not patriotic.” And of course, “not legal.” I did not get kicked out of Trump International, because, like the Democrats, I didn’t do shit—I just sat there checking email and taking notes. But when I walked back out into the DC summer, I felt acutely how vulnerable we are. The regime is belligerent, woefully uninformed, and ill-prepared. The odds are great that someone will attack us. And when they do, the same people now calling for normalcy will likely fall in line behind the leader. And when they do, that will be normal.
nd a 5 3 il c n u o C t ic s Distr e d a r T d ie ll A d n The Painters a of n io t ia c o s s A s r ploye m E g in h is in F & the Painting lls a W d n o y e B # k to than e k li ld u o w d n New Engla e h t n o n io is v d e r ir sha e h t r o f n n y L f o and the City t to r a f o s k r o w w e ht 10 n g u o r b t a h t t c je mural pro f o d in k is h t t a h t elieve b e W . y it n u m m the #co d of in k e h t r o f t s ly a t a ca #engagement is all! r o f s k r o w t a h t ment p lo e v e d # ic m o #econ
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11
THE AULD AND THE HYSTERICAL COMEDY
Meet the comics behind a new showcase at Club Café BY DIG STAFF + TRICIA AULD @TRICIAAULD When we put Tricia Auld, then a fairly new comedian on Boston’s scene, on the cover of our newspaper two years ago, the reaction was what one might expect from some of the Hub’s less-than-enlightened male comics. Not surprisingly, a few took umbrage at her joke that as a woman working the clubs around here, you’ve made it to the big time when more popular performers start sending you dick pics. Since Auld handled the blowback like a professional and deflected the punches so brilliantly, we knew that she would be Dig family forever. So when she recently approached us with news of a fresh monthly showcase that she is running at Club Café in Back Bay, we asked Auld to conduct some interviews herself. Without further ado, here she is chopping it up with her co-hosts Maya Manion and Corey Rodrigues. “It’s such an open and welcoming venue,” Auld says of Club Café . “I love running these shows because I get an opportunity to give everyone— especially women and minorities—in comedy more opportunities to do what they love in a welcoming space.”
supportive, skeptical, cynical, excited, curious, and frustrated. TA: What has been your favorite moment in comedy so far? MM: Performing at Mohegan Sun during the Funniest Comic in New England. I was focused and felt unstoppable, I was in a good creative place.
TA: When did you connect the dots and realize that you could pursue a career out of making people laugh? MM: I have not realized any such thing. In fact, quite the opposite. CR: Honestly, I never connected any dots. I just continued to do it, the work increased, and I continued to do more. TA: Can you describe the events leading up to the decision to pursue comedy as a career and what the response has been like? MM: I can’t type, I’m terrible at math, and I have no other desirable/marketable skills. My parents wanted me to pursue my natural talents as a stage actress. I rebelled and went to college for political science. I got knocked up in college and started doing stand up by default. All of the aforementioned has not been well received as it shouldn’t. CR: I’ve worked many day jobs and initially started with improv comedy. I knew nothing about the process or the road to becoming a stand up comedian. I just wrote some “funny” ideas down and decided to hit an open mic and see if it was possible to make people laugh with some words I had put on paper. Needless to say I became an ice pop and froze and just ended up watching the first couple of times. Until I saw a few people that were so bad they gave me the confidence to try. The response from others in general has been varied throughout the years. Ranging between
When they are resting I am working and vice versa. That goes for weekends, holidays, cookouts etc – so many relationships become strained.
influence in comedy is Richard Pryor. I saw him on HBO when I was 11 and was mesmerized. I thought, “This guy’s childhood was as bad as mine and he’s making people laugh. I want to do that.” CR: My grandfather. He’s a barber. I grew up in the barbershop. He’s funny. I guess it would just be him. I was never really influenced by other comedians. What inspires my material is life, people, human nature. Nuances, similarities in people etc… I like people, I like talking to them, I like learning new things from them and sharing what I’ve learned. I love positivity and I enjoy being surrounded by it. Being a comedian allows me the ability to control that dynamic. Positive vibes are infectious when people are laughing and I enjoy seeing others as well
CR: I don’t have a favorite moment yet. I feel like everything so far that has happened was supposed to happen. I have so much more work to do so I can feel like I’ve earned something significant enough to me that warrants a favorite moment. But to date nothing sticks out. TA: What has been the biggest challenge in following your dream? MM: Performing. I hate being on stage. I love writing, but the performing to me is brutal. CR: The biggest challenge so far is time. I happily spend a lot of time dedicated to some form of entertainment but you miss a lot. You sacrifice so much family and friend time. The schedule is opposite in comparison to the average person. When they are resting I am working and vice versa. That goes for weekends, holidays, cookouts etc… so many relationships become strained. TA: Who are some of the people who inspire you? Where does your inspiration for material come from? MM: My family and friends inspire me. My biggest
as myself in that state. TA: What does the future look like for you? What’s next? CR: The future looks great! Especially with this show. In all seriousness, join me on the various social media platforms, come to shows, and allow some of this good time to rub off on you and you will see first hand what the future looks like.
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13
OLDSOUL MUSIC
Lower your guard and embrace the Lowell scene BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN
LIVE MUSIC • LOCAVORE MENU PRIVATE EVENTS 8/3 Aurelio Voltaire, Bella Morte, The Seeming A mix of dark wave, cabaret, and gothic rock. 8/4 Particle A progressive livetronica jam experience. 8/5 2PM 10th ONCE BBQ/ Luau & Beer Garden Feat. Michael Tarbox, Keytar Bear, Matt Heaton 8/5 The Spearmint Sea, Kelly Spyglass, The Milling Gowns Aristocratic fop roque. 8/9 The Moth: True Stories Told Live Good Intentions
156 Highland Ave • Somerville, MA 617-285-0167 oncesomerville.com @oncesomerville /ONCEsomerville
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>> SHIVER, OLDSOUL, PUSHFLOWERS, ANOTHER MUSICIAN. THU 8.3. O’BRIEN’S PUB, 3 HARVARD AVE., ALLSTON. 8PM/21+/$8. OBRIENSPUBBOSTON.COM
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It may be shy of an hour north of Boston, but Lowell has a community that could rival our city’s. Listen close enough and you can hear it. That buzzy, warm, emo sound you hear? That’s oldsoul, and they’re on the brink of bursting out from the city’s limits. Like most bands from Massachusetts, oldsoul came together through school connections. The four-piece—singer-guitarist Jess Hall, singer-guitarist Tom Stevens, bassist Tyler Heisler, and drummer Chris Henault—met while studying at UMass Lowell. But originally, it was just Hall and Heisler writing songs together. Immediately after forming, the group played a few small shows around Lowell and Worcester. They recorded a “weird” EP, the four songs all stylistically different from one another. Once Stevens and Henault joined, though, things mellowed out. oldsoul found their voice, and by that, it means the band’s sound shifted on a song-by-song basis. Most listeners would describe oldsoul as a shoegaze band. It’s a lazy descriptor. There’s obvious layers of alt-rock, dream pop, and emo in oldsoul’s music. The band’s debut EP, 2015’s loverboy, makes that clear immediately, but it’s their impressive 2016 Split with Speirs that digs the shoegaze tag deeper. “Slow Down, Senpai” opens with cold, echoing guitar before it sloshes through a slowcore tempo and Hall’s voice comes in with a scratch. It’s like a blend of Paramore, Manchester Orchestra, and the Dear Hunter, not the shoegaze staples like My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive. “Jess went through a pretty heavy shoegaze phase, but I don’t think any of us particularly love the genre now,” says Stevens. “I think the biggest reason for this shoegaze ‘revival’ is because effects pedals are so sick. We’re kind of in a golden age of music gear. Less people are buying guitars than in decades past, but the market keeps chugging out guitars, effects, amps, etc. Part of the appeal of being in a band is in the equipment itself. It just so happens that, when several guitar effects pedals are combined, it often tends to sound like shoegaze.” All four members seem fond of the area. They cite the active college population as a breath of fresh air, Mill No. 5 as a rejuvenating community-oriented art space, and Uncharted Gallery as a key venue to see music and grab a slice of pizza. On top of all of that, there’s the house shows, a music outlet that’s louder than Boston’s house shows if only because there are fewer police scoping out the neighborhoods in hopes of shutting some down. “It seems like more and more out-of-town musicians are realizing Lowell, MA, as a place to play. Although I don’t book many shows anymore, it’s been really rewarding to be a part of that growth,” says Stevens. “For a lot of people, inclusivity is as important as the music itself. Actually, more important. It’s wonderful to be a part of a scene which makes an effort to create more sensitive, equitable communities. At times, I’ve been a little concerned about how the scene’s progressive ideology becomes a sort of social capital. In other words, it’s conceivable that people may outwardly express certain beliefs for the sole purpose of endearing themselves to the music scene. It’s important that we create communities which are more empathetic as well as being more sensitive and inclusive.” Those eager to devour more of their music are hopping on board just in time. This fall, oldsoul will release their debut fulllength. “Our new album definitely packs more of a punch and is easier to connect to,” says Hall. “We tried to get away from the idea of being ‘shoegaze’—we still don’t know why people refer to us as shoegaze—by writing music that people could catch on to and that was more structurally sound.” While the specific release date and title have yet to be revealed, oldsoul can share that Jake Checkoway of Honest Face Records helped record the LP, it includes rerecorded versions of the two songs on the split, and it currently sits as a nine-song track list that’s varied and thick. From what the four-piece can share, it seems like a perfect record to cradle close in the colder months to come. Given how big of a sound they’ve built out of Lowell already, it’s safe to say it’s worth the wait and entirely worth counting down to.
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WHEEL OF TUNES MUSIC
Alt rockers Great Grandpa talk weed, 3 am burger trips, and Scrubs BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN Since then, Great Grandpa have seen a frenzy of coverage from everyone, from The Fader to NPR, who fell in love with the sound. It’s easy to blame the band’s stacked vocals. Each member in the band sings on the record, creating a type of layered sound reminiscent of screaming lyrics with your friends in a basement or 10-hour road trip. “A lot of folks who had never heard us before caught a glimpse, and our music spread in a way that’s cool to see. We’re all so humbled,” says Hanwright. “It’s even validated this tour and our band to our parents,” he adds, laughing. To dig deeper into the band’s backstory, we interviewed Hanwright for a round of Wheel of Tunes, a series where we ask bands questions inspired by their song titles. Turns out Great Grandpa is even more lively than the name suggests. 1. “Teen Challenge” What’s one stereotypically teenage problem/issue/ challenge you encountered growing up and how did you
handle it? Oh man. It’s typical and possibly problematic, but my experience with the opposite sex. However you want to say that. Let’s just say with emotions and love and feelings for other people in general; that was something I had a lot of trouble with [laughs]. I grew up with three older sisters, so I feel like they had a lot to do with my confidence as a preteen, getting out of childhood, and figuring out who I was. They were all very different from me, and then I did my own thing: the music thing, the skateboarding thing, just coming out of my shell and experiencing emotions I didn’t know how to deal with. 2. “Favorite Show” What’s the most underrated TV show that’s now off air? You know, I don’t know if it’s underrated, but I definitely
>> ROZWELL KID, CHRIS FARREN, GREAT GRANDPA, LEANER. SAT 8.5. MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS, 472 MASS. AVE., CAMBRIDGE. 6:30PM/ALL AGES/$13. MIDEASTOFFERS.COM
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SYNTH POP FOR THE RADIO GRACE MITCHELL + SURF ROCK IS DEAD
[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$10. greatscottboston.com]
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PUNK ROCK FOR THE KIDS SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG + SHANNEN MOSER + GIFT SHOP
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FRI 8.04
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[Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. 7pm/all ages/$18. passim.org]
[Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave., Boston. 7:30pm/all ages/$60. bostonpavilion.net]
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[Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave., Boston. 7:30pm/all ages/$60. bostonpavilion.net]
WHY DON’T YOU HARP ON IT LONG IS THE WALK + AUDREY HARRER
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HOMETOWN METALCORE NEUROSIS + CONVERGE + AMENRA
EMOTIONAL ROAD TO RAP LOGIC + JOEY BADA$$
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Pezople Like You chose a better band name than they could By now, ’90s slacker rock bands should be over, but there are a few bands who pull off the sound too well not to fall in love with it. Cue Seattle rock group Great Grandpa. They’ve been able to find their own sound within the genre, offering up a cozy, faded sound. The modest five-piece—comprised of vocalist Alex Menne, guitarist Pat Goodwin, guitarist Dylan Hanwright, bassist Carrie Miller, and drummer Cam LaFlam—formed barely two years ago, but they’ve been honing their songs ever since then. They finished recording their debut fulllength, this year’s excellent Plastic Cough, in summer of 2016, which means the band had been sitting on this record, waiting to release it into the world, for over a year. “We wanted to get everyone’s individual happiness across, and I think we did the best we could,” says Hanwright. “[The release date] seemed so far off, an intangible time, but then it all happened all at once. It was a rush.”
don’t hear people talk about Scrubs as much. I love that show. It might be my favorite show of all time. I think it’s dated now, so maybe it’s underappreciated in that some of the jokes don’t land anymore. But if you put yourself in that time, the early 2000s, it fits. I think we have a Scrubs sense of humor as a band. I think Scrubs jokes are so wholesome at the heart, that type of comedy that doesn’t need to be shocking for humor. As funny as that can be, I love the humor you can get across that’s so basic or stupid that it becomes clever, and I think Scrubs accomplished that pretty well. 3. “No” What’s the hardest offer you’ve ever had to turn down? Hm. When I graduated from college in Boston, I got a job back in Washington where I grew up. I left Boston, went back to my parents’ house, and had this job for less than a month before the start-up fell through. Shortly after that, I got an offer to move to LA to work a similar start-up job. From my past experience, I panicked and said no, because I couldn’t uproot everything again. Later on, I found out that company is doing really well now, but I’m also stoked I said no, because I met everyone in Great Grandpa and we started this band.
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4. “Fade” Name two things, people, places, or habits that, for whatever reason, faded from your life that you wish were still a part of it?
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I guess going along with that last question, Boston has faded from my life as a home. I go back as often as I can, and I’m psyched to go back on this tour. Our Boston show is already sold out, which is awesome. It’s definitely hard to move from where you made friends, played music, and had a huge friend group succeed, but you’ve been watching it from the other part of the country and aren’t a part of it anymore. You start a new life. Associated with that, I used to play in a band there called I Kill Giants. I was in that band up until I was 21, so it was very adolescent feeling, but we got a good following in Boston and the East Coast right up to when I left. It feels like I’m a quarterback in high school looking back on the good times, like holding on to that but having to let go while understanding it’s run its course. No more reunion shows. We’ve all gone our separate ways. We had our last show filmed, back to front, so I’ll watch that sometimes to get nostalgic.
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5. “All Things Must Behave / Eternal Friend” How long is your longest friendship?
SAT 8/5 - 10:30PM
I’ve been pretty good friends with an old bandmate of mine who I met in seventh-grade math class. We were the two metal kids, right? His name is David. We met and realized we both played guitar, so we started our 400 bands together, sit and write songs together for the entire weekend, and went through high school together. Then we both went off to college, came back, and both live in Seattle. We hang out pretty consistently. It’s been 12 years. 6. “Expert Eraser” Which eraser would you endorse if you could only use one for the rest of your life: the tiny one on the end of a wooden #2 pencil, the tiny one on the end of a mechanical pencil, the pink rectangular ones, the cute animal- and food-shaped ones, or the amorphous gray putty one? You know, I have to go with the pink eraser at the end of a Ticonderoga. Specifically that one. Because I remember that one, like that eraser and the pencil, worked so well together. You could get rid of any trace of the pencil ever being there. All the other ones might smudge it or leave an outline. That Ticonderoga did the job, every time [laughs]. We strongly endorse Ticonderoga pencils. 7. “Faithful” Have you ever been religious?
ILL GATES WED 8/9 - 7PM
SHAKEWELL, GERM, RAMIREZ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DOWNSTAIRS
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SAT 8/5 - 10PM
THE RATIONALES,
THE CURTIS MAYFLOWER THU 8/3 - 7:30PM
VERSUS
BEYONCE VS. LADY GAGA SAT 8/5 - 10PM
No, I haven’t. I was raised secular. I was strongly atheist when I was in high school and stuff, but I’m not very active about it. Yeah, I had an experience when I was 5 where my next door neighbor, who was 7, made sure I knew that I was going to go to hell if I didn’t believe in God. From then on, I was terrified of religion. My parents didn’t practice anything either. You didn’t have to do whatever you didn’t want to do, and that always stuck with me. I feel really lucky that my parents let me choose. My sister went to youth group for a while, she got to choose her own path, and my parents didn’t object to that either.
EVERYBODY LOVES THE 90’S SUN 8/6 - 8PM
WORLD/INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
8. “Pardon My Speech” What’s a phrase or word you use that isn’t from your native region?
UPSTAIRS
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I grew up an hour south of Seattle. Going to school in Boston definitely added some weird words to my vernacular. The thing about Berklee [College of Music] is that it’s such a melting pot of people from around the world and US. I hung out with people from Texas a lot, so I took up “y’all” pretty heavily. It’s also becoming a more popular word since it’s gender neutral and rolls off the tongue better. I also started staying stuff like wicked as an adjective … wicked smart. 9. “Grounded” How often were you grounded growing up?
THU 8/3 - 7PM SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG, SHANNEN MOSER, GIFT SHOP
FRI 8/4 - 8PM
LOW CUT CONNIE SAT 8/5 - 6:30PM
Well, I tried to go the opposite route of my sisters. They were into drinking and stuff, but I wanted no part of that. So my friends and I didn’t drink at all. We just played video games. We were nerds. But when I started to date and sneak out of the house to meet up with people, that was definitely when I started to get in trouble. I wasn’t grounded pretty much beyond age 13. If I was out too late, my parents would scold me, but it was nothing compared to some of the stuff my sisters did. One time, me and my buddies went to Seattle to go to a show, and we really wanted to stop at this burger chain after the show. This was before GPS so we were going based off instinct. We were out until probably 3 am looking for this burger spot. None of us told our parents. We definitely got into a lot of trouble for that. Pretty wholesome [laughs]. 10. “28 J’s L8R” Where did the best weed you’ve ever smoked come from? It’s legal in Seattle. I smoke, but I’m not very particular about it—though I am the only member in the band who currently smokes, so I’m glad you came to me with this. Weed is weed, in my opinion, but Seattle has some of the coolest shops. So let’s just say, “Washington: best weed.”
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MIDNIGHT UPDATE
FILM
Late-night cinema in Boston continues to expand BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN The Coolidge After Midnight film program runs on a consistent schedule: screenings on Friday and Saturday nights, almost always listed for 11:59 pm. But that doesn’t mean everything stays the same. It used to be that one film would play twice per weekend, once on each night—and the films programmed from one weekend to the next didn’t usually have much to do with one another. In recent years, series programmer Mark Anastasio has altered both practices. Now every single month features a collection of films that are joined together by some unifying thread—a midsized repertory series, then, held only for late-nighters. And for the past year, the program has also experimented with screening two separate films per weekend, meaning no repeat shows. “We’ve doubled the amount of film that we’re playing, and that has doubled our attendance, which I didn’t think would happen,” Anastasio told me during
our most recent interview (midnight shows are typically projected via 35mm, so in this case the word “film” refers to both the movies and the format). “It allows us to play those deeper cuts that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to play … now I can play the hits, and then play a follow-up that I might never have programmed otherwise.” In July of last year, Anastasio gave the two-films-perweekend model a tryout with the “Summer of Psychosis,” a series dedicated to films depicting highly aestheticized breakdowns—playing both “hits” (Taxi Driver [1976], The Shining [1980]) and “deeper cuts” (Don’t Look Now [1973], Fear [1996]). Over the 12 months that followed, the midnight program has given focus to other highly specific subgenres: One month co-programmed with the Boston Yeti was dedicated to rip-offs of Jaws [1975] (Alligator [1980], Razorback [1984]), another collected films from a more disreputable era of comic-book cinema (Swamp Thing [1982], Red Sonja [1985]), and this past spring brought pairs of films by the same director (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me [1992] and Lost Highway [1997] from David Lynch on one weekend, Near Dark [1987] and Point Break [1991] from Kathryn Bigelow on another). As in that last example, the choice to have two films
per weekend has allowed Anastasio to book faux double features, with closely linked films separated by 24 hours. “They would make for great double features,” Anastasio said about the films he pairs together for specific weekends. “This is the only way I can have a double-feature program, because beginning at midnight it’s impossible to run another film right after.” These programming changes were even given a low-key celebration over the past month, as the midnight series reprised the idea that started it all off: July 2017 brought a second “Summer of Psychosis,” once again playing both the repertory canon—The Silence of the Lambs [1991] and Manhunter [1986] was one pairing—and films that don’t show up as often—Shock Corridor [1963] and Psycho II [1983] were another one of the faux double features. Over the course of the next month, the Coolidge’s midnight series will exhibit one of its most ambitious programs yet: a collection of studio-produced genre films that all involve terrorism, or just violence committed in public spaces, as a plot device. Anastasio tells me that his interest in the concept was provoked by our current administration’s many proposed travel bans and by the way those calls intersected with stereotypes seen in movies and other media. He says that got him thinking about the stereotypes that were associated with political violence in earlier eras of American cinema—thinking about the way, for instance, that 20th-century movie terrorists were often written as little more than capitalists in disguise. All of the films in the program were made long prior to 9/11—so that particular cliche is what the series, for the most part, seems to be documenting. One weekend will feature some of our most tenured action-movie standards in films where they foil hostage-based plots, with Sylvester Stallone in Nighthawks [1981] (screens on night of Aug 11), and JeanClaude Van Damme in Sudden Death [1995] (Aug 12). On the next Friday and Saturday, top-shelf examples of ’90s stunt-based filmmaking will take the screen, with Jan de Bont’s still-exhilarating Speed [1994] (Aug 18) followed by action-sequence maestro John Woo’s Broken Arrow [1996] (Aug 19). And during the last weekend of August, the midnight series will play two films related to Die Hard [1988], which itself may be the prototypical example of the “grizzled badass foils a financially minded terrorist plot” subgenre: First it will be one of the movies that ripped it off, in Passenger 57 [1992] (Aug 25), then it’ll be one of the film’s official sequels—and the only worthwhile entry beyond the original—in John
McTiernan’s Die Hard with a Vengeance [1995] (Aug 26). Of all the pairings, the standout is this coming weekend’s, which also may be the most specific: The Coolidge will screen two films from the mid-’70s wherein Robert Shaw plays a weary professional killer at the center of a major plot threatening an American institution. In John Frankenheimer’s Black Sunday [1977] (Aug 5, 11:30 pm), he plays Major David Kabakov, an Israeli agent working to stop a plot to bomb the Super Bowl via the Goodyear blimp—an attempt being funded by the Black September group, to be carried out by one of its agents (Marthe Keller) and by the pilot she’s chosen as her mark (Bruce Dern). It’s the one film in the series that takes real events as its influence—the starting point being the massacre at the Munich Olympics, carried out by the group of the same name—but that’s not to say it’s an explicitly political movie. Black Sunday is most interested in making tension out of the process of pulling off a job—it spends two hours dramatizing the planning, then makes a gloriously oversized set piece out of the execution. In that, it almost plays like a heist movie. Which befits the film it’s partnered with. That would be The Taking of Pelham One Two Three [1974] (Aug 4), a film which takes an abiding interest in bureaucratic process and the way that it’s deployed against unforeseen emergencies. The American institution being threatened in this case is the New York City subway, with Shaw as one of four men who’ve hijacked a train car for ransom and Walter Matthau as the lieutenant on the transit authority who’s stuck negotiating with him. Pelham displays an almost profound interest in the way that a workplace actually works: There’s essentially no background or exposition offered regarding any of the characters, so all we have is the information we can glean from the way they do their jobs. The structure of the film is built around the various lines of communication used to manage the ransom demand, with Matthau as a living control room—fielding radio calls from the cops, the hijackers, ambulances, coworkers, and anyone else in listening distance, all on separate frequencies—with the increasing frustration that comes along with all that being expressed, quite beautifully, by the performances and the editing and the sound design. Pelham is a standout of its own—in this program, in this genre, and, hell, in the whole of American movies.
>> THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE. FRI 8.4. MIDNIGHT. COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, 290 HARVARD STREET, BROOKLINE. $12.25. RATED R. 35MM. >> BLACK SUNDAY. SAT 8.5. 11:30PM. $12.25. RATED R. 35MM
FILM EVENTS THU 8.03
FRI 8.04
FRI 8.04
MON 8.07
MON 8.07
TUE 8.08
[Museum of Fine Arts. 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 7:30pm/NR/$11. Also screens on 8.4 (5:30pm), 8.10 (5pm), 8.11 (5:30pm), and 8.24 (7:30pm). mfa. org]
[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 9:30pm/ NR/$7-9. DV and 16mm. hcl. harvard.edu/hfa]
[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 4:30, 7, and 9:30pm/R/$911. Screens through 8.6— see brattlefilm.org for other showtimes.]
[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$7-9. 35mm. hcl.harvard.edu/ hfa]
[Coolidge Corner Theatre. 290 Harvard St., Brookline. 7pm/G/$12.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]
[Greenway’s Wharf District Park, btwn Milk St. and India St., Boston. Sundown/NR/free. 35mm. Rain date 8.9. coolidge.org]
BRUNO DUMONT’S SLACK BAY [2017]
18
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LAST NIGHT OF ‘PSYCHEDELIC SURF FILMS, 1966-1979’ DALMAS [1973] AND BONDI [1979]
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NEW DIGITAL RESTORATION THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE [1973]
THE FILMS OF JEAN RENOIR CONTINUE AT THE HFA THE GOLDEN COACH [1952]
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS PRESENTS HAYAO MIYAZAKI’S MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO [1988]
COOLIDGE AT THE GREENWAY PRESENTS AN OUTDOOR 35MM SCREENING OF KING KONG [1933]
TITO
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19
BOOKS
BOSSTOWN
A Q&A with homegrown Boston author Adam Abramowitz BY M.J. TIDWELL @MJTIDWELL781 early on. I grew up in communes in Allston in the ’70s. There used to be this great big penny poker game at the Spanish House commune; it was in the former Spanish consulate on Commonwealth Avenue. Poker was a huge thing for me. When I moved into [Boston], I would run a few games at the moving company where I worked. We used to have these backroom poker games. And then when I moved to New York City, I bumped into somebody who said, “Oh, there’s this poker game on Monday nights. It’s all stand-up comedians.” So my entry in there was Sarah Silverman … Sarah’s older sister is married to my brother. It used to be every Monday night. The game would start at 10 pm and go til about 5 in the morning, and then we’d all go out to breakfast.
“Everything you’ve heard about Boston drivers is true: Signaling is for the weak. Sideview mirrors are purely decorative. Stop signs are optional.” And for caffeine-fueled bike messenger Zesty, a run-in with a car door is not a matter of if, but when. In Boston native Adam Abramowitz’s debut novel Bosstown, it’s not a car door that gets him but instead, a gold Buick aiming for the cash he unknowingly carries in his messenger bag. Bosstown is an adrenaline-pumped, free-wheeling dive into Boston during the Big Dig where Abramowitz mixes a zany zigzag of youthful storytelling with a nostalgic homage to a changing city. He’ll talk more about his book at the Brookline Booksmith on Aug 9, just a day after Bosstown is officially released. Ahead of the talk, I met up with Abramowitz in the South End across from a fancy brick apartment building Abramowitz tells me used to be a laundromat where he (and Zestzy) could use a pay phone. A central part of this book is Boston changing and gentrifying, using the Big Dig as a time marker. What would you say has changed most about Boston in your lifetime? Boston used to tolerate fuckups, basically. It used to be a place where you could afford to live here with jobs that aren’t professional. I’ve worked in the moving business, in an ice cream shop … [you] used to be able to just cobble shit together. It let you grow into the city. That’s the biggest change. Now that it’s so expensive … it’s kind of lost that friendliness and ability to … let people figure out who they want to be. But I still love Boston so much. I love Boston in that way you love an old girlfriend or boyfriend who totally screwed you over. The book, to me, is a love letter to Boston. I wanted my kids to know … that I was just knockin’ around and shit was just happening all the time … that this is the
way the city was. When you wrote this book, were you thinking about connecting with Boston locals to kind of reexperience that sense of what it used to be like, or were you thinking of giving the outside world a taste of Boston? It was very much written for people who had lived in Boston. For those who haven’t lived in Boston a long time, to give them a taste of what it was like, and for those who were here at the beginning, give a little wink and a nod. It really is a love letter to Boston. You chewed me up, you spit me out, you hurt me so bad, but I still love you. I can’t get over you! So, how much of the book is actually based on your own bittersweet experiences? It’s funny, they made me get a Facebook … and all of a sudden people from my past pop up. And one happens to work in the film industry, so we sent him a copy of the book. A few days later, he writes back, “Hey Zesty…” So, yes I am Zesty. I’m ashamed and I’m proud at the same time. The addresses, the loft where he lives, that is where I actually lived. Harrison Avenue and Baker Street were exactly as I said in the book … A lot of it is so real. Poker is a key plot device in the book. I’m not a gambler. I play poker, but I don’t gamble, I like to say, because poker is a skill game. I was drawn to poker
What is it about poker? The skill. And… well… you’re expected to lie. You’re not expected to tell the truth. And everyone knows that everyone else is trying to screw them, and yet you sit at that table in relative peace and harmony, telling lies to each other. And even with skill, you still have to depend on Lady Luck to be with you. Sometimes you just have to give it up and hope for the best. As a first-time book author, what was the process like? What was most surprising, most challenging? The best part was realizing how much I lived in this city. How much I did, and really did it in the way I wanted to do it. I wasn’t chasing money. I certainly wasn’t chasing fame. It just allowed me to grow into who I really felt that I was. And that was just the best thing to realize that. So much of [the book] is true, and I wanted that to be recorded. The hardest part was two parts: one, the realization that it will never be this way again. Just like I’ve changed in many ways, the city’s changed. In some ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. The other part was that I didn’t get a chance to put everything that I wanted into the book. But there’s the next book! How many car doors have you hit in your life as a bike messenger? I’ve hit four car doors, and I’ve gone through a cab windshield and walked away. That was exciting, that one. The crazy thing is—and Zesty will talk about it in the second book—the more you get hit, the more invincible you feel. You keep walking away from it. You don’t feel like you’re using up your chances? No, that didn’t enter my mind. Zesty goes through a bunch of bikes, and that’s really his attitude. I felt that way too. And boy is that a dangerous way to go through life.
>>ADAM ABRAMOWITZ. BOSSTOWN. WED 8.9. BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH, 279 HARVARD ST., BROOKLINE. 7PM/FREE. BROOKLINEBOOKSMITH.COM
ARTS EVENTS WINE AT THE ZOO SUNSET SIPS
[Stone Zoo, 149 Pond St., Stoneham. 7.22. zoonewengland. org]
20
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FREE NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM NEIGHBORHOOD NIGHT: LOCAL WORLDWIDE
[Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way, Boston. 7.27. gardnermuseum.org]
DELECTABLE COMEDY WAITING FOR WAITING FOR GODOT
[Hub Theatre Company, 209 Columbus Ave., Boston. Through 7.29. hubtheatreboston.org]
FREE THEATER IN THE PARK THE VISIT
[Apollinaire Theatre Company, 99 Marginal St., Chelsea. Through 7.30. apollinairetheatre.com]
FUNNY, IRONIC, & MOVING AMERICAN MOOR
[O.W.I. (Bureau of Theater), 527 Tremont St., Boston. Through 8.12. officeofwarinformation.com]
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SAVAGE LOVE
CREEPERS
WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST BY PATT KELLEY WHATS4BREAKFAST.COM
BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET I’m a 25-year-old man who is mostly interested in women but I like to mess around with men sometimes. I also love wearing high heels and makeup—not to “pass,” but just because I love it. Most women seem to be instantly turned off by these two things. I usually do very well with women, but they bolt when I tell them, and some have been quite hurtful. My family is very understanding about the high heels and my sexuality—even my father—but the average woman doesn’t seem to like it when I do something that they deem “theirs.” Which is so unfair. Women can do anything they please—wear pants if they like, have samesex experiences—but I must submit or face the life of an outcast. Any advice on how to deal with this while also dealing with the bitterness and envy I feel? Enraging Gender And Double Standards Let’s start with those feelings of envy, shall we? While it’s true that women can wear pantsuits without causing alarm (or winning the White House), and while it’s also true that women can have same-sex experiences without freaking out the men in their lives (because straight men are likelier to be aroused than repulsed), women’s choices and their bodies are subjected to much more scrutiny, control, and violence than our male bodies are, EGADS. Until politicians legislate against your right to control your own body (and wear your own heels), you can note the few areas where women enjoy more latitude than men, but you aren’t allowed to bitch about them. And this should put your pain in perspective: According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half the women murdered in the United States every year—55 percent—are killed by their husbands, boyfriends, or exes. It sucks to be dumped for your sexual orientation or gender expression, I know. And people kink-shaming is more painful than non-kinksters realize. But none of your exes have stalked and murdered you. Now the good news: There are women out there who dig men in high heels, there are women out there into bi guys, and there is a significant overlap between those two groups of women. If you succumb to bitterness at your young age because you’ve been dumped a few times, you’re going to scare off the women who are genuinely attracted to guys like you. The women who bolted did you a painful favor, and you should be grateful. Because with those average women out of your life, EGADS, you’re free to go find an above-average woman who wants an aboveaverage guy like you. Good luck.
On the Lovecast, “sub space” with Mollena Williams: savagelovecast.com.
THE STRANGERER BY PAT FALCO ILLFALCO.COM
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