New Listing! $417,000
New Price! $1,350,000
New Listing! $209,000
Oak Hill. Move right in! Well maintained Colonial features large master with bath, living room, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen, family room, porch, deck, lovely garden.
Classic brick Georgian steps from Blackstone Boulevard in pristine condition. 5 bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half baths, eat-in kitchen, spacious rooms, central air, lovely yard, fabulous basement, patio, 2 car garage.
Legal 3 family building in ideal location! Updated roof, exterior, windows and 3rd floor unit. Separate electric, hot water and gas on gas heating. Needs some TLC.
Suzie Prescott
Helen Macdonald
Daniel Byrnes
New Listing! $229,900
New Listing! $345,000
New Price! $399,000
Edgewood. Welcome home to this classic 1940’s Colonial in Mayflower Estates. Close to Roger Williams Park, Pawtuxet Village, Edgewood Yacht Clubs. Fireplace, hardwoods, central air, 5-zone sprinklers, new Sunroom and so much more!
Stately townhouse on Blackstone Blvd. Large fireplaced living room, formal dining, eat-in kitchen, sunroom, study, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, new windows, mechanicals, garage plus 1 car parking.
Rumford. Sun filled Colonial in top location. Full of charm and beautifully maintained. 4 beds, hardwoods throughout, freshly painted. French doors lead to lovely patio & landscaped yard. Beautiful home!
Thom Hammond
Suzie Prescott
Colleen Sullivan
New Price! $379,000
New Price! $249,000
New Price! $499,900
Elegant 2 bed, 1.5 bath condo on historic Benefit St. Original architectural details include soaring ceilings, marblefaced fireplaces, large windows. New high-efficiency boiler and water heater. Private patio and garden. 2 car parking.
Beautifully redone condo features wonderful details with modern conveniences. New kitchen, ss appliances, & granite countertops. New bath/windows, central air, gas fireplace, high ceilings, patio. Leased parking space. True move-in condition.
Fabulous Ranch located on large corner lot features 2 plus beds, dining room with pyramid ceiling, family room with cathedral ceilings and skylights. Atrium doors lead to beautiful, manicured grounds.
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Contents October 2011
This Month 17 Fall Arts Previews
Get the scoop on theatre, movies and more
23 Our Annual Halloween Story
The world of HP Lovecraft comes to life
29 Inside Wheeler
A look at the school’s artsy education
34 Good Night, Irene Photos from the storm
Every Month 7 Letters/Editorial 10 Other Side 13 Community News 26 Pajama Monologues Get well soon
41 Movies The Debt and Sarah’s Key reviewed
Your resource for eating out
Upper School musical CHESS by Robert Martin
62 East of Elmgrove Pawn shop dreams
44 Art Meet the Bell Gallery’s new curator
51 Finance Notes on panic selling
37 On the Menu ere in there: A of little as House the known local food culture o “Presenting 38 Dining Guide
here) in smaller
29
52 Education Raising smart online citizens
East Side Monthly is now online! Visit www.providenceonline.com to read the entire issue
54 Calendar All the info on October’s happenings
Presenting Luxury Living 148 Blackstone BLVD: Lovingly restored and updated from top to bottom. Beautiful 5 bed 3.5 bath colonial. All new appliances, mechanicals, roof, insulation, and front landscape. Mint condition, amazing cooks kitchen with 3 ovens, master suite with one of a kind bathroom. $1,200,000 Listed by Aleen Weiss
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785 Hope Street, Providence, RI 401-272-6161 • spitzweiss.com October 2011 East Side Monthly
5
New menu items coming October to a restaurant NOT far, far away...
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1070 Main Street, Suite 302 Pawtucket RI 02860 tel: 305-3391 | fax: 305-3392 esm@providenceonline.com www.providenceonline.com Publishers Barry Fain Richard Fleischer John Howell
Editorial
Publishing Director Jeanette St. Pierre Managing Editor Barry Fain
Is There a Financial Doctor in the House? At a recent speaking engagement at the Providence Rotary Club, Speaker of the House Gordon Fox had some interesting things to say about the special legislative session that begins this month and will deal with pension reform. Acknowledging the sorry state of the State’s current finances, Fox promised that that everything will be on the table. He noted that while he was originally elected as a “Progressive Liberal” from the East Side, he now prefers to call himself a “Pragmatic Progressive” in acknowledgement that the severity of our pension crisis demands flexibility and compromise. He also admits that many of the changes the legislature may implement will likely be open for legal challenges. “We’re heading into uncharted waters,” he conceded. “If we decide to change long-standing pension plans that have been negotiated in good faith,
and whose terms were not formally changed by statute, it will get sticky.” The problem, of course, is that the actuarial underpinnings of the pension calculations have been flawed for years. On the expense side, people were allowed to retire too early and now outlive the funding mechanism that was set up for them. On the income side, estimates of how much money the pension funds could earn in the market have proved to be laughably unrealistic given the real rates of recent years. Meanwhile, lobbyists on all sides of the issue are revving up their engines. So is the upcoming legislative session a waste of time? Fox doesn’t think so. He notes two major pluses have made him cautiously optimistic that there is hope for some fiscal improvement. One is that we’re not Washington, where the two party
City Editor Steve Triedman Executive Editor Julie Tremaine
system has created a paralyzing stalemate. Who ever thought that our being a one-party state might turn out to be a plus? In addition, Fox feels “the political wind is at our backs.” He points to the incredible work State Treasurer Gina Raimondo continues to do as she lobbies nonstop for what she feels must be done if there is to be any fiscally viable fund left at all. As she channels Cassandra, Fox believes this time the warnings just may be getting though to his legislative colleagues. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and whether this historic opportunity will be squandered. Fox, a student of history, notes that our country has always been blessed by the right person arriving at the right moment. Speaker Fox and his leadership team are about to have their moment. Here’s hoping they seize it.
Special Projects Manager John Taraborelli Art Director Alli Coate Assisant Art Director Karli Hendrickson Advertising Design Director Layheang Meas Graphic Designer Meghan H. Follett Account Managers Louann DiMuccio-Darwich, Ann Gallagher, Nicole Greenspun, Dan Schwartz, Elizabeth Riel, Sharon Sylvester, Kimberly Tingle, Jessica Webb Classified Advertising Sue Howarth Contributing Writers Keith Burkitt, Bob Cipriano, Mary K. Connor, Jill Davidson, Renee Doucette, Don Fowler, Mike Fink, David Goldstein, Bob Mariani, Betsey Purinton, Elizabeth Rau, Dan Schwartz Calendar Christina Evon
Letters
Interns Sara Celano, Erin DeVito, Samantha Gaus, Kimberly Tingle Contributing Photographers Mike Braca, James Jones, Dan Schwartz
A Helping Hand
The Green Mile
To the editor: I read the story on Theresa Fox (“Class Act,” September 2011) and wanted to know how she’s doing and how I can help. I am a former Nathan Bishop student, class of 1951, and also a cancer survivor.
To the editor: I just returned from a month-long business trip to discover that Bob Burke and Mayor Taveras finally made good on their threat to deface the city with their hideous, meandering green stripe. While Mr. Burke’s intentions were undoubtedly honorable, I find it baffling that I can’t get my dilapidated sidewalk repaired (going on eight years), and yet the mayor himself painted the first few feet of this sad imitation of Boston’s Freedom Trail – your city government hard at
Louis Araujo Editor’s note: The easiest way to contact Theresa is through her husband Kevin at his workplace (Residential Properties). His email address is kfox@ residentialproperties.com.
work. Were the citizens of College Hill notified that their Barrington brick footpaths would be receiving what looks like a neon trial of snail slime? Luckily, they didn’t add insult to injury by slapping this bile-colored, city-sanctioned graffiti on the crumbling walkway in front of my home, but if they had you’d better believe I’d be out there with a can of turpentine and a rag. Harumph! Nick Spooner Prospect Street
Contributing Illustrators Ashley MacLure, Jessica Pollak, Christina Song
Calendar announcements and news releases should be submitted by the 1st of the preceding month. We reserve the right to omit and edit items. Letters to the editor are welcome. We will not print unsigned letters without exceptional circumstances. East Side Monthly is not responsible for typographical errors. Corrections will be run at discretion of editor. Copyright ©2011 by East Side Monthly. All rights reserved. Printed by TCI.
October 2011 East Side Monthly
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East Side Monthly October 2011
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View complete list of events at www.ric.edu/pfa T I C K E T S W W W. R I C . E D U / P FA O R ( 4 0 1 ) 45 6 - 8 1 4 4 www.facebook.com/PerformingArtsSeries.RIC
Tap Kids Wednesday, October 19 7 : 3 0 P. M . | T H E A U D I TO R I U M I N RO B E RT S H A L L
October 2011 East Side Monthly
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Other Side by Barry Fain
Bumps in the Road New Street Rip-ups Coming to the East Side The First Annual Providence Paint-Off The Providence Rotary Street Painting Festival is always one of the great downtown family art events, but this year the festival is adding a little something different. The event itself will be held at the Bank of America Skating Rink on Sunday, October 2. In addition, there will also be a “Paint-Off” between six of the area’s best artists on Tuesday evening from 6-8pm at the Providence Art Club. The six will be given a theme, which in this case (and in honor Providence’s 375th anniversary) is the broad concept of “freedom.” As in social freedom, artistic freedom or any kind of freedom they can think of. The artists will then have two hours to make a painting that will then be auctioned off to raise money for the festival, which supports arts and the children of Providence. Meanwhile, the rest of us can cheer them on while we eat, drink and make merry. Contact ProvidencePaintOff@gmail.com to reserve a spot for what will be a new and excitingly creative way to help a good cause.
Brisket Fever Hits the East Side In what promises to be an evening of full-contact chow downs, Temple Beth-el on Orchard Avenue will be holding its first-ever World Series of Brisket competition on Sunday, October 16 from 4-6pm. Participants are encouraged to cook up their favorite brisket recipes that will be then be judged by a panel of celebrity judges. (They’ll be competing for a highly coveted “people’s choice” award as well.) Contact Brisket co-chairperson Karen Borger at 5215618 or kborger@aol.com for more info (or if you have a “beef” with the nature of the competition). Contestants can enter individually, or as part of a team with their children, their bubbe or anyone else who knows their milchik from their fleischik. No matter how you slice it, this is one brisket competition that promises to be a cut above average.
The Festival of Frightening Films Flush from their successful summer festival in August, the Rhode Island International Film Festival will be offering a three-day presentation of independent horror films during the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival at selected theatre sites around Providence from October 20-23. To
10
East Side Monthly October 2011
ensure you don’t get bored, the mini-festival will also include an H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour and a Zombiethon. It seems only fitting that any city that became a favorite haunt for the Lovecrafts and Poes of the world, certainly deserves its own zombiethon, no? For details and theatre sites visit www.filmfestival.org/horror.ri.
Library Laughs The Providence Public Library downtown will be hosting an interesting event called the “Improv Comedy Competition” on October 27. The contest will be set up like a sporting event, including teams, referees and audience participation where applause meters will help select the winners – who knows, maybe even cheerleaders too. While we always thought libraries were supposed to be laugh-free zones, this event certainly sounds like fun. Check www.provlib.org for details. That said, we’d also like to see the city’s two dueling library systems finally work out their differences, which as far as we’re concerned, is anything but a laughing matter.
We All Have a Steak In this One The good folks at Ruth’s Chris downtown will be hosting a fundraiser on Tuesday, October 13 to help support the noble efforts of WaterFire. Now a Providence institution, WaterFire always depends on the “kindness of strangers” to support their lightings. This fundraiser will include food, drink, boat rides and a silent auction. WaterFire certainly deserves our support so call 272-2271 for more specifics. Or stated another way, imagine our Capital City without it.
Oh, Canada! The good folks at Family Service of Rhode Island are bringing in one of the most respected names in urban education to receive an award at the Convention Center on Tuesday, October 11 at noon. He’ll hopefully share some of his secrets too. Geoffrey Canada is the president and CEO of the successful Harlem’s Children’s Zone in New York. For the past 20 years he has become nationally recognized for his pioneering work helping children and families and for his advocacy for educational reform. His Zone Project now covers over 100 blocks of Harlem and expects to serve over 10,000 children by the end of this year. Call 331-1350 or 294-6138 to get more information on the event.
Can You Dig It? Just as National Grid completes tearing up our streets for their pipe replacement project, the Narragansett Bay Commission announces they’re about to start a similar program in the next few weeks. To their credit, the NBC will be holding an open meeting on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:30pm at the Church of the Redeemer Parish Hall (655 Hope Street), where all will be explained. While there will be intermittent street closures and on-street parking dislocations, there will also be a Twitter feed (twitter.com/narrabay) that will provide daily updates. The project is phase II of the Commission’s Sewer Overflow Abatement Project. For the record, Phase I has prevented over 3 million gallons of sewage from going into the bay, so who are we to complain.
Getting a Taste of Afghanistan While much of the recent news coming out of Afghanistan has unfortunately been focused on combat deaths and governmental missteps, the International House of Rhode Island at 8 Stimson Avenue will be presenting something of a much more positive nature on Friday, October 21 at 6pm. The House will host a special authentic Afghan dinner including dishes like Asheh Lubia (a noodle and bean soup), Kabuli Pulao (a non-spicy rice dish with raisins and herbs) and Louleh kabobs (ground meat on a stick with special spices). The meal will be followed by a presentation on “Afghanistan Today” by a local Afghani student. All you need is a good appetite and to call 421-7181 to reserve by October 14. The cost is $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers.
Announcing the New Z-Mobile As part of his ongoing effort to spread the word about art, Berge Zobian, the owner of Gallery Z on Atwells Avenue, has just created The Gallery Z Artmobile. Made from a beautifully retrofitted FedEx truck, the gallery on wheels will feature an interior boasting hardwood floors, carpeted walls, a surround sound system and digital monitors. In addition to being available for festivals, as well as private, public and corporate events, this unique mobile art space sounds like just the ticket to create new visibility within the local arts scene – hopefully without attracting those pesky red tickets, as well.
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The Rescue 2011 EASTSIDE MONTHLY OCTOBER HALF PAGE AD.indd 1
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september 15th online ticket sales begin! october 1st online auction opens!
East Side Monthly October 2011
9/7/2011 1:13:45 PM
Community News Community News is space that East Side Monthly makes available to community organizations free of charge. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of this publication.
Blackstone Parks By Jane Peterson
Brown Street Park By Wendy Nilsson Friends of Brown Street Park Phone Number: 454-8712 Website: www.friendsofbrownstreetpark.org Email Address: wendy@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org Mailing Address: 30 Pratt Street, Providence, RI 02906 Upcoming Events Save the Date for our fifth annual “Fiends” of Brown Street Park Halloween event Monday, October 31 from 4-5:30pm Check out our website for more info on our Thanksgiving Veggie Sides Rhode Race, the Ice Skating Rink, Raku-Rhod-YO and most importantly, our annual fall cleanup and perennial planting day. We would like to welcome new board members, Kara Kelly, David and Carolyn Beale. We are looking forward to the fresh insight and experience they will bring to Friends of Brown Street Park. Also, special thanks to Marcellus Sharpe for volunteering his time at each of the four concerts this summer. We look forward to planning another successful series next year! Please contact wendy@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org to find out how you can donate or get involved in Brown Street Park.
Blackstone Parks Conservancy Phone Number: 270-3014 Website: www.blackstoneparksconservancy.org Mailing Address: P.O. Box 603141, Providence, RI 02906 To the Rescue The Blackstone parks depend on volunteers, including young people. Zoo Camp on the Move and City Year Rhode Island return every year. This fall, Providence College freshmen came to our aid when they were most needed, just days after Hurricane Irene had littered the boulevard with tree limbs and leaves. Parks Department employees did the heavy lifting, working into the night clearing roadways and lifting trees off houses. On the boulevard, the largescale pruning sponsored by Blackstone Parks Conservancy members and donors these last two years had greatly reduced the potential for damage. Still, there was considerable work to do. As for the Blackstone Park Conservation District, its expanse and relatively untamed state mean that trail work is always a work in progress. But the storm dumped so much natural debris on the woodland floor that it was hard to see the trails, so regular park users swept twigs and branches aside. Fallen trees and branches may stay in place except where trails are blocked. Happily, the coir logs we had staked to control erosion above Angell Street at Parkside, and the grass that had taken root around them, held up through the storm’s worst. So the parks took Irene in stride. The
Providence College volunteers added cleanup to their list of chores for the day in both parks – weeding, mulching and pruning on the Boulevard and staking straw “logs” in place for erosion control in the woodland. As many know, giving time can benefit volunteers as well as the parks. Young folks especially learn to identify various invasive plants and the correct way to remove them (trying to take them out the wrong way can actually spread them), and many discover the pleasures of teamwork. While City Year attracts 18-22-year olds focused on community service, Zoo Camp on the Move serves younger volunteers, grades 6-12, who are mainly interested in nature. This year, nine highschool-age kids with two counselors got involved with our park and seemed to love the experience. In August the Conservancy installed a new garden at the small shelter on Blackstone Boulevard at the intersection of Brookway Road. Already people are gravitating to the bench under this shelter in its soothing new environment. At the northernmost end of the boulevard we have removed the scrubby grass around the tree planted years ago to commemorate Peggy Sharpe’s contributions to the trees of Providence. Fieldstones now encircle the tree and the commemorative plaque has been raised so it can be easily seen. The concert series at the trolley shelter drew enthusiastic crowds of all ages once again, with over 300 people attending most performances. We want to thank our donors, again: Butler Hospital, Miriam Hospital, and Home and Hospice Care of Rhode Island. We’re looking forward to next year. Our vision? Healthy Urban Green Space for All East Side Market receipts? Please send to above address.
Fox Point By John Rousseau Fox Point Neighborhood Association Phone Number: 270-7121 Website: www.fpna.net Email Address: fpna@cox.net Mailing Address: P.O. Box 603177, Providence, RI 02906 Upcoming Events FPNA Monthly Board Meeting, 7-8pm, October 10 at the Vartan Gregorian Bath House Library. RIDOT Presents Landscaping Plan The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) presented its nearfinal landscaping plans for the “Gano Gateway” area at the August board meeting of the Fox Point Neighborhood Association (FPNA). The plans were met with board criticism for failing to adequately address noise complaints and for requiring high maintenance demands, in light of RIDOT’s poor maintenance performance record. Lambri Zerva, RIDOT supervising engineer, admitted that the department was “not geared to maintain small pieces of land,” and suggested FPNA connect with RIDOT’s “Adopt-a-Spot” personnel to address continued maintenance of the area. Ron Henderson, ASLA, L+A Landscape Architecture, noted that the Gano area is difficult since it joins a nexus of bike paths, including the Washington Bridge and East Bay Bike System, India Point Park and a future extension of the Blackstone Bike path from the north. “It is heavily used by pedestrians, bicyclist and drivers.” The Gano-India Intersection will be
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October 2011 East Side Monthly
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Benefit Street Antiques Community News continued... Come on in... Treasures Await!
straightened in 2012 by having the roadway go under the bridge archway to the east, Zerva said. The construction project will also add a much-needed parking lot. RIDOT is expected to offer revisions of the plan for FPNA review and provide a proposed schedule at a later time.
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FPNA Supports CityWalk Concept FPNA’s Board of Directors voted to continue supporting CityWalk, a major advocacy initiative of the neighboring Jewelry District Association, at upcoming meetings of the Mayor’s I-195 Technical and Advisory Committees and at public planning hearings slated for this fall. CityWalk, a proposed East-West greenway of connecting parks, bridges, promenades, streetscapes and sidewalks, emerged from the Old Harbor Forums on the future use of the I-195 parcels in 2006. The broadly scaled urban design would connect four neighborhoods: Fox Point to the East with the Jewelry District, across the proposed pedestrian bridge, then the Southside over Interstate 95 via the Clifford Street Bridge and continuing into the Elmwood neighborhood and ending at Roger Williams Park. Other FPNA Meetings Held FPNA Vice President Daisy Schnepel attended the mayor’s first quarterly meeting of neighborhood associations on ongoing issues that affect our communities. Schnepel also reports that FPNA’s Noise Committee is awaiting final results from some local monitoring of highway noise over the summer.
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East Side Monthly October 2011
FPNA Landscapes Bath House FPNA Green Committee members Mae Warner and Dennis Wood finished a landscaping project of the Vartan Gregorian Bath House Library’s façade in late August. The new landscaping includes dogwood, shrubbery and a lot of perennials, Warner said. The Green Committee also weeded and mulched the planter on the East Side of the building, which they installed last year. FPNA Fundraiser Tickets Available Tickets may still be available for FPNA’s cocktail fundraiser to be held Saturday, October 1 from 4-7pm, at the Joseph S. Cook House, 125 Hope Street. FPNA’s Board has planned an enjoyable event, including lots of food, beer and wine, musical entertainment, great surroundings and of course, conversations about what Fox Point needs. Constructed in 1819, the Joseph S. Cooke House was built by the grandson of the first revolutionary war governor of Rhode Island, Nicholas Cooke. There also will be a silent auction of donated,
tax-deductible items at the event. Tickets are $50 per person. For more information about the FPNA fundraiser, call 270-7121, or e-mail fpna@cox.net.
Summit Neighborhood By Ben Goulet Summit Neighborhood Association Website: www.summitneighbors.org Address: PO Box 41092, Providence, RI 02940 Join the listserv at: http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_ sna.providence.ri.us Second Annual Summit Music Festival a Success The Summit Music Festival was held on the rain date, Sunday, August 21. Due to the rain, there were a few lineup changes, with Route 44 and Miss Wensday and the New Medicinals replacing the ‘Mericans and Joe Fletcher, respectively. Midnight Honey, Bear Connelly and The Mighty Good Boys rounded out the bill. Everyone had a great time listening to great music, eating delicious food from the vendors and checking out the many crafts for sale. Planting on North Main Street Median Thanks to the North Main Street Merchants Association, the SNA, Miriam Hospital and Groundwork Providence, planting has begun on North Main Street. The trees will be planted approximately from Sandwich Hut to Providence Urology (running south). Groundwork Providence donated their time to plant. Crime Watch Block Captains Needed The SNA listserv has been active reporting recent break-ins around the neighborhood. The Summit Neighborhood Crime Watch needs Block Captains to volunteer. Are you interested? Please visit www.summitneighbors.org for information on how to volunteer. Farmer’s Market Dates The Farmer’s Market will be held in Lippitt Park at Hope Street and Blackstone Boulevard on Wednesdays from 3:30-6:30pm and Saturdays from 9am12:30pm. Come to an SNA Meeting! Every third Monday of the month at 7pm. The meetings are held at Summit Commons on 99 Hillside Avenue in Providence.
Wayland Square By David Kolsky Neighborhood Discussion Group at Books on the Square http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waylandsquare Upcoming Events Monthly Meetings: Wednesday, September 28 and Wednesday, October 26 at 7pm, Books on the Square, 471 Angell Street (at Elmgrove, next to CVS). Free and open to all. Commercial News Comina has now moved to the opposite side of The Edge coffee shop, in the former Chico’s clothes store next to Runcible Spoon. Comina, Runcible Spoon, Butterfield and Wendy Brown Fine Linen now form a nearly continuous strip along Wayland Avenue for those furnishing a home. Comina’s former home on the corner of Wayland and Angell will be taken in the fall by Alex and Ani eco-friendly jewelry, who declare that their “mission is to design products that adorn the body, enlighten the mind and empower the spirit.” Staying Abreast To check on our meeting dates and topics, as well as current news, please check the public message board at our Yahoo! Group’s website above. Or join the group to receive these notices (if you wish) by email.
By Allison Spooner College Hill Neighborhood Association Phone Number: 633-5230 Website: www.collegehillna.com Email Address: chna@collegehillna.com Mailing Address: CHNA, P.O. Box 2442, Providence, RI 02906 CHNA Annual Meeting: October 19 at MB CHNA received word from many of you recently on issues that affect our neighborhood. We are now moving ahead with what needs to be done to make improvements from the ground up. As such, this year’s CHNA Annual Meeting will offer a moderated panel discussion on what it takes to fix potholes and repair or replace roads and sidewalks.
Next CHNA Board Meeting The next CHNA meeting will be held on October 3. Our meetings are held at the Governor Henry Lippitt House Museum, at the corner of Waterman and Angell, from 7-8:30pm. If you have an issue or inquiry you would like to discuss with the Board, please send an email to Allison@collegehillna.com to be placed on the agenda. Open CHNA Board Member Positions Consider tackling neighborhood issues by becoming a CHNA Board member. If you are interested, please contact Allison at Allison@colllegehillna.com for further details, including time commitments and responsibilities. Our thanks to those who have expressed their interest. We encourage residents to join CHNA. Dues are $20 per calendar year, and membership, which is open to all, includes invitations to events, timely email crime alerts and our free, mostly monthly e-newsletter. All new members receive a welcome packet with coupons, so your membership practically pays for itself. To join (or renew), visit our website, www.collegehillna.com and click “Join CHNA.” Or send a check for $20, made out to College Hill Neighborhood Association, to the Treasurer, Box 2442, Providence, RI 02906. Be sure to include your email address.
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Our special guests will include William Bombard, Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Works (or another representative from DPW), Jeffery Padwa, City Solicitor, Jason Martin of the Historic District Commission, and Councilman Sam Zurier who will offer a financial perspective on these issues. CHNA wants to hear from you! Send us your questions or comments regarding potholes, roads and/or sidewalks by Friday, October 7 to have them considered for the discussion. Emails may be sent to CHNA@collegehillna.com or call 633-5230. The Annual Meeting will take place from 6- 8pm on Wednesday, October 19 at the Moses Brown School in Alumni Hall. We will have a meet and greet and a short community award ceremony from 6-6:30pm. The discussion will go from 6:30-7:30pm with a 15 minute Q & A wrapping up the panel discussion. This event will be recorded and made available on the CHNA website and YouTube. CHNA is ready to take the lead on addressing so many of the changes you that you are demanding. This event will begin our series of panel discussions that will provide answers to College Hill’s priority issues. Join us for CHNA’s Annual Meeting event and have your voice be heard.
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Theatre Get ready for a theatre season filled with hits and miz-es By Don Fowler Providence Performing Arts center PPAC opens its 34th season with the five-time Tony award-nominated musical, Rock of Ages, described as a “hilarious, feel-good love story” set on the Sunset Strip in 1987. The theme is a familiar one: a small town girl meets a big city rocker and they fall in love in LA’s famous rock club amidst music that’s infectious. If you like the rock songs of the ‘80s by groups such as Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister and many more, you’ll love Rock of Ages. And even if that wasn’t your particular music era, you’ll at least get an education. The show plays October 4-9. The big news this season will be a return of one of the big blockbusters that still can pack a wallop. It’s the new 25th anniversary production of my all-time favorite musical, Les Miserables, coming to PPAC November 1-6, with new staging and re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. Cameron Macintosh’s new production has been acclaimed by critics, fans and new audiences around the world. We have seen the musical four times, have the PBS CD of the three-and-a-half hour staged production, and never tire of the story and music. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas certainly promises to be a can’t-miss way to get us all in the holiday mood, as the classic holiday tale comes to life on stage. You remember the story: the Grinch, whose heart is “two sizes too small,” decides to steal Christmas away from the Whos, but discovers there’s more to Christmas than he bargained for. It makes for great family entertainment, and will run November 15-20. Cirque Dreams Holidaze is this year’s second holiday special. An international cast of over 30 talented, cos-
His Girl Friday at Trinity rep
tumed artists perform “amazing feats of disbelief.” There’s an original score with some seasonal favorites thrown in as well. Cirquel the dates December 13-18 on your calendar. 220 Weybosset Street. 421-ARTS, www.ppacri.org
gAmm theAtre The Gamm’s 27th season continues with Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation, directed by Rachel Walshe, on stage through October 9. “It’s a season of transformation,” Artistic Director Tony Estrella promises. “We have chosen four plays about transforming the individual, society, the family, even the earth itself. Baker’s Obie Award-winning play is a poignant comedy about a creative drama class for adults in a very small Vermont community, a revelatory, surprising mini-masterpiece about how empathy keeps us human.” There’s something rotten in Denmark (but it will be wonderful for us) from November 3 to December 11, as the Gamm brings back Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, Hamlet. I still remember their brilliant 1997 production (starring Estrella in the title role) performed in a garage in Providence. Estrella promises an “unforgettable, reinvigorated production” in their Pawtucket theatre this time around. 172 Exchange Street, Pawtucket. 7234266, www.gammtheatre.org
trinity rePertory theAtre Trinity Rep opened its season with His Girl Friday directed by Curt Columbus, an adaption by John Guare of the movie of the same name by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur based on their own 1940 play, The Front Page. The show runs through October 9. It’s a classic screwball comedy of its era, but
the wit and banter remain timeless. From October 14-November 13, Trinity will bring Bruce Morris’ new comedy, Clybourne Park, to Rhode Island for the first time. This play about race and real estate in Chicago has made just about every theatre critic’s top ten list. Last year’s successful radio play, It’s a Wonderful Life, will return to the downstairs theatre December 9-31, while upstairs the annual production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (November 18-December 30) will delight families once again. Trinity’s timeless Christmas gift to the community always manages to come up with something new, so let’s see what’s up its theatrical sleeve this year. 201 Washington Street. 351-4242, www. trinityrep.com
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Brown University theAtre We are pleased to see Brown University’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies finally getting the local and national recognition they deserve. Given they are right here on the East Side and their performances are winning so much regional and national praise, they certainly are deserving of our support. Brown’s fall season opened with Moises Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, directed by Kym Moore, playing through October 9. Kaufman’s play will be followed by Wilde’s classic, Lady Windermere’s Fan, directed by Lowry Marshall, on stage November 3-13. Sock and Buskin’s third play of the fall-winter season will be Dead City by Sheila Callaghan, directed by Alexandra Keegan, class of ’12, and performed December 1-4. Leeds Theatre, 77 Waterman Street. 863-2838, www. brown.edu/tickets
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abound in fall film George Clooney stars in and directs The Ides of March
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THE IDES OF MARCH October 7 George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman Based on the play by Beau Willimon, Ryan Gosling stars as a young press spokesman who is introduced to the world of dirty politics while working on the campaign trail for a new presidential candidate (George Clooney). Clooney also returns to the director’s chair for this political drama.
THE BIG YEAR October 14 Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Steve Martin Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin star in this comedy about three bird watching fanatics. These opponents take it to the extreme in a competition to be the first to spot North America’s rarest birds. In their individual pursuits to come out on top, they learn that there are more important things than being number one.
THE THREE MUSKETEERS October 21 Logan Lerman, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans The hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Lerman), along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite to stop a beautiful double agent (Milla Jovovich) and villainous employer (Orlando Bloom) from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.
LIKE CRAZY October 28 Anton Yelchin, Felicity jones, Jennifer Lawrence Anna (Felicity Jones) is a college exchange student from Britain who
falls for an American student, Jacob (Anton Yelchin). However, after graduation, Anna’s visa expires and she is banned from the U.S., forcing Anna and Jacob into a long distance relationship where their love and commitment to each other is put to the test.
PUSS IN BOOTS November 4 Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifiniakas Puss in Boots follows the events leading up to the sword-fighting cat’s meeting with Shrek and his friends. Puss is informed that two murderous outlaws called Jack and Jill have discovered an ancient power that can destroy the world. He then sets off with his sidekicks Humpty Dumpty and Kitty Softpaws for his most dangerous adventure yet.
TOWER HEIST November 4 Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick Financial giant Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) has just been placed under house arrest in his luxury New York City penthouse for cleaning out his investors to the tune of two billion dollars. Meanwhile, on the complete opposite end of the financial spectrum, Josh Kovacs (Stiller) earns a modest living as the manager of the luxurious building where Shaw resides. Upon learning that the tower staffers who entrusted Shaw with their retirement funds are about to lose their life savings, and that the thief will likely get off scotfree, Josh recruits crafty swindler Slide (Murphy) to help get their money back.
HAPPY FEET TWO November 18 Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Pink, Hank
Azaria Mumble (Wood) and his pals are back with their smooth dance moves for this sequel. Now with a family of his own, Mumble must contend with a potentially dire threat to his family and friends. Just when it begins to look like all hope is lost, the penguin nation bands together to dance the darkness away.
TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 November 18 Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner After their wedding, Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattinson) travel to Rio de Janerio for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward fulfills her wish to become immortal. But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.
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THE MUPPETS November 23 Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Segel) and Mary (Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the wicked plan of oilman Tex Richman (Cooper) to destroy the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage the Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways.
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Brown University welcomes friends and neighbors to campus this fall! Friday, September 30
Outdoor Movie Night Chicken Run Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, 154 Angell Street, 7:15 PM Enjoy the crisp, early autumn weather as Brown screens the movie at our outdoor amphitheater. Bring a blanket, a sweater, and maybe some hot apple cider. Entrance is complimentary and all are welcome. Rain date is Tuesday, October 11 at 7:15 PM.
Friday, November 4
Theatre Night Brown University Theatre Arts and Performance Studies Presents
Lady Windemere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde, directed by Lowry Marshall Stuart Theatre, 77 Waterman Street, 8:00 PM Please join us for a complimentary performance of this classic play and a reception before the show at Faunce Memorial Room in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, 7:00 PM. For complimentary tickets, contact the community liaison: Jennifer_Braga@brown.edu or 863-3717 For more information on these and other events at Brown, visit our Featured Events website: http://events.brown.edu
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RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE November 9: Direct from Beijing, the National Acrobats of the People’s Republic of China are here to dazzle and amaze with stunning costumes, incredible balancing acts and fast-paced acrobatics. The Company’s repertoire includes a myriad of International and National Gold Prize winning acts, such as “Slack Wire” and “Diabolo,” both Presidential Gold Award winners of the Cirque de Demain Fesital. November 14: Over this season and next, the Muir String Quartet will perform the complete Beethoven String Quartet Cycle in six concerts. This inaugural concert will include String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127, String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1 and String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3. 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue. 4568000, www.ric.edu/pfa/pas.php
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October 29: A coproduction between PPAC and FirstWorks, Momix: Botanica is where nature and theatre collide. This revolutionary dance company brings you to a fantasy world through a mix of life-sized puppetry, circus athleticism and magical effects set to an eclectic score that ranges from birdsong to Vivaldi. You’re sure to walk away with something to talk about. Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset Street, Providence. 421-2787, www.ppacri.org
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This multimedia, multi-venue sprawling arts extravaganza is back with a full slate of cutting edge performances for 2011. Here are some of the highlights. Information on all can be found at www.first-works.org. October 1: Brooklyn Rider, a spirited and innovative string quartet, will make its Rhode Island debut at Brown’s Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. As members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, the four musicians fuse their talents to create an eclectic, original sound. NPR proclaims, “This isn’t your grandfather’s string quartet.” 145 Angell Street, Providence. 863-1362, www.brown.edu Through October 2: FirstWorks’ groundbreaking exhibition of the new media revolution, Pixilerations (in its eight installment), continues at RISD’s Sol Koffler Gallery and Brown’s Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. Featuring media installations, performances and film/video screenings, and compiling the ideas of local, national and international artists, Pixilerations explores the increasingly relevant spectacle that is new media art. 169 Weybosset Street and 154 Angell Street, Providence. www.pixilerations.org October 22: Laurie Anderson returns to FirstWorks with her magical multimedia performance, Delusion. Inventively combining words with impressive music and imagery, Anderson’s performance is not likely to be something you’ll forget. The Vets, 1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence. 421.2787, www.vmari.com October 28: Renowned storyteller and one of the world’s greatest balafon players, Balla Kouyaté and his ensemble World Vision, makes its Rhode Island premiere at Roots Café this fall. Kouyate blends jazz, blues and Caribbean for a dynamic sound and danceable rhythms. 276 Westminster Street. 272-7422, www.rootscafeprovidence.com
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Manuscript Found in a Rare Book Store by James Arthur Anderson
Editor’s Note: One of our ongoing ESM traditions is our annual Halloween fiction from James Anderson, a writer and longtime English professor at JWU. Here’s this year’s story.
One of the things I miss most about New England are the antiquarian bookstores, piled high with rare books, first editions and literary treasures of all sorts just waiting to be unearthed. Over the years, I’ve acquired some of my most prized items in these little stores, including a first edition of The Illustrated Man, signed by Ray Bradbury himself, an autographed copy of Ginsberg’s Howl, and the first Arkham House editions of my favorite author and the focus of my scholarly studies, Providence’s own H.P. Lovecraft. Transferring to a new university in Florida ten years ago put a stop to my weekly rounds in the local bookshops of Providence and nearby New England, and while I love the year-round summer of Miami, I soon learned that rare bookshops are rare indeed in Florida, and what they consider old are 1960s Harlequin Romances. However, business brings me back to the old city from time to time. When I’m there, book hunting is always on my agenda. In fact, since my visits are less often, I treasure them all the more. So when I was asked to travel to Providence to be involved in a documentary film project about H.P. Lovecraft, I jumped at the chance. Not only would I be able to share my expertise on the old gent from Providence, but I’d also have a chance to go book hunting. When I called up Robert at Hidden Treasures bookstore to let him know I’d be in town, he told me he’d just been about to call me. He had an extraordinary volume that he thought I might be interested in. Although I did my best to query him over the phone, he wouldn’t give me any details until I could look at the book for myself. Needless to say, I went nearly insane waiting for the next two weeks, and once I took care of the rental car and settled into my hotel, I could stand it no longer. I immediately set off the see what Robert had waiting for me. It was late in the afternoon when I arrived, and Robert was waiting
behind the counter. We spoke for just a few minutes before getting down to business. “Follow me,” he said. “This isn’t for just anyone’s eyes.” I couldn’t imagine what he had found – maybe an unpublished Lovecraft letter, or a book from his library. Robert just smiled slyly and led me into a back room, a room I didn’t even know existed. He offered me a seat at a table and handed me a pair of white cotton gloves to put on. He opened a wall safe and put on a set of gloves of
I felt the blood drain from my face. If I didn’t know Robert so well I would have sworn this was a joke, a hoax, that I was being pranked by someone. But Robert’s not that kind of guy. I looked up at him. This was a fictional book, a book invented by H.P. Lovecraft as part of his so-called Cthulhu mythos stories. This book wasn’t supposed to exist. “It’s authentic,” Robert said. “Look at the inside cover.” There, in faded but legible ink, H.P. Lovecraft had written his name, and
his own. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to – his look said it all. It was the look of satisfaction, the look a big game hunter might have after bagging a wild lion. But it was also a look of worry – maybe even fear. “I’ve been holding on to this,” he said. “But now I’d like to be rid of it.” He placed the book on a protective sheet on the table and stepped back. I could tell at first glance that this thing was old – old beyond belief. The binding was black leather, but not the modern bookstore leather. This looked like it had been handcured by an ancient craftsman. There was no title or identifying marks on the cover. I opened it to the title page. “The Necronomicon,” it said. “By Abdul Alhazed.”
an address, 10 Barnes Street, Providence, Rhode Island, where he had lived in 1926. I noted that there was no zip code, which would have made it an obvious forgery, since zip codes weren’t created until the 1960s. I recognized Lovecraft’s handwriting. I’d seen it often enough at the John Hay Library while I poured through his original letters and manuscripts while writing my book about him. “Lovecraft… owned this book,” I stammered. Robert nodded. Very carefully, I turned the pages. It was a Latin translation, first translated by Olaus Wormius in 1228 A.D., according to Lovecraft mythology, and banned by Pope Gregory IX in 1232. Although I’m not a Latin scholar,
I did acquire a reading knowledge of the dead language in graduate school and, surprisingly, the skill returned to me as I read at the words. I looked up at Robert. He knew I wanted this book. I was afraid to ask the next question, the price, because I would have paid whatever he asked, even if I had to remortgage my Miami condo to get it. This book wasn’t just rare. It was impossible. It wasn’t supposed to exist. “A thousand dollars and it’s yours,” Robert said. My initial shock at the existence of the book was compounded by the ridiculousness of the price. A thousand dollars! This book was priceless, and could have sold for a hundred times that at auction. I pulled out the debit card and the deal was done. I don’t remember leaving the bookstore or returning to the rental car. The next thing I knew I was back in my hotel sitting on the bed with the book opened before me. Although it had been years since I’d read Latin, the language came back to me as if I’d known it all my life. The book was arranged in verses, many of them quatrains, which made me think of Nostradamus. Some of the verses made absolutely no sense, even though I knew I was reading them correctly. It was obvious that there was a reason Lovecraft had referred to The Necronomicon’s author as the “mad Arab.” There were other parts that made perfect sense to anyone who was familiar with Lovecraft’s cosmic horror fiction: references made to Cthulhu and Elder Gods and “The Old Ones.” Then there were spells. I call them spells for lack of a better word, but “spells” doesn’t really describe these verses. There were spells to summon things, including things that we can only imagine. There were spells to make things go away. There were spells to create, spells to reanimate and spells to destroy. And some of the spells were just beyond my comprehension. Some of the verses were immaculately beautiful, and some were obscenely grotesque. Some gave me cold chills that seeped into my very bones. None of them were ordinary or mundane. None of them October 2011 East Side Monthly
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can be paraphrased. For the first time I understood what Lovecraft was talking about when he wrote about “nameless things.” The book both fascinated and repelled me at the same time, but the hour grew late and I had an early morning interview with the film crew of the documentary, Finding Lovecraft: Life is a Hideous Thing, and I wanted to be fresh. So with great reluctance I carefully placed the book on the dresser and forced myself to turn the light off. Remarkably, sleep came quickly. I suffered with horrible nightmares and when my alarm clock finally went off I found myself sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room reciting a passage in fluent Latin from the book, which was open on the floor in front of me. Shivering in cold and disoriented, I was jarred into reality by the persistent buzzing of the alarm until I had to scramble to it and shut it off. I looked back at the passage I had been reading. Much of it made no sense, yet I felt that reading the passage out loud had somehow changed things. The verse contained descriptions of coldness and an abyss, and the room seemed to warm up only after I’d put the book down and closed it. Shaken, I took a hot shower and dressed for my interview. I met with Cat and Jim, the producers of the Lovecraft documentary, at the Rhode Island School of Design, and I talked about Lovecraft while Cat rolled the camera. The interview went very well, I think, despite the fact that I’d been so rattled that morning. I’d never suffered from sleepwalking in my life, and to wake up reading from an ancient book of spells unnerved me completely, especially when it seemed that one of the spells had actually been working. I could only imagine what might have happened if the alarm clock hadn’t been set. I desperately wanted to tell Cat and Jim about my discovery of the book, but I was afraid they’d think I was out of my mind. They had hired me as a Lovecraft scholar to comment on the literary merit of the author’s work, not to rant on and on about a fictional book that actually did exist. There would be a time and a place to let the world know about the dreaded Necronomicon, but this wasn’t it. After the interview was finished
I rushed back to my hotel, anxious to look at the book once again. I’d somehow lost memory of the passage I’d been reciting that morning, and I couldn’t seem to find it again. That comforted me somewhat. The whole thing had been nothing but a dream – a very bad dream. Still, it was with trepidation that I turned off the lights that night and tried to fall asleep. Usually my overactive mind keeps me awake until all hours of the night, and I leave the television on to watch a cable news network, hoping that will do the trick. It usually fails, but again, surprisingly, I fell asleep before midnight. If nothing else, it seemed that the book had cured my insomnia. Once again I woke up, strictly by accident, and it was a good thing I did because, again, I sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor reciting a passage from the terrible book. If I’d gone on for even another minute, the unthinkable would have happened, for when I awoke, thanks to a sudden change in volume of the television, I felt as if I were floating in some great, freezing void, and already the walls and ceiling were beginning to peel away and the floor was dissolving beneath me, allowing the vastness of space inside my room. Before me stood a yawning gape of nothingness, as if I were looking down into an endless well that fell completely through the earth itself. It was empty and cold, a gigantic echo of nothingness. And yet, in that nothingness there was something, a presence, a being that was so strange and alien as to defy description. Even its color wasn’t right; it was neither black nor white nor any known color or combination of colors. It was beyond the visible spectrum, and yet I could see it. The force, the power, the being – whatever it was – seemed to be calling out to me, urging me on, imploring, demanding that I finish reading the passage. It took every last speck of my will to defy that command as I clamped the book shut like a sprung trap. Only then did the room put itself back together and refocus. I looked over at the television. The news reporter was talking about the economy again. Nothing had changed. The world was as it had always been. I wanted to dismiss the whole thing as a dream, but I could not. It had
been real; it had been happening. I knew I had been summoning something – Cthulhu, perhaps, or something worse. And it had almost gotten in. The evidence was there before my eyes. The paint on the hotel walls was peeling. The ceiling looked porous, as if there’d been a water leak. The floor felt like foam. I turned on every light I could find and made a pot of strong coffee. I couldn’t let myself fall asleep again that night. I’m back in Florida now, and I try to stay outside in the sun as much as I can. I’ve become strangely phobic about the dark. The book is stored away in my gun safe, along with an AR15, a 12-gauge shotgun and a Glock 34 that I hope never to have to use on myself. But it’s an option if things get too bad. I don’t think any of the guns, not even the 12-gauge with half-inch slugs would work against whatever it was that I’d let in, if I wasn’t vigilant and did let it in. For now I’ve been able to keep it in check, mostly because my dyslexia makes it almost impossible to open the combination safe on the first, or even second try, and so far I have woken up before it was too late. I sleep as little as possible now. The irony, though, is that I can sleep, I want to sleep, I crave sleep. My insomnia seems to be cured, but I can’t let myself sleep for too long. I keep an alarm clock set for every two hours, just in case, and one time it went off just when I had actually managed to unlock the safe and was about to open it up. I’ve thought of destroying the book, but I can’t. I don’t think it would let me anyhow. I can’t give it away or sell it; whoever I gave it to would open the portal. I just know they would. Now that I have this terrible knowledge, it’s my responsibility to control it as best as I can. James Arthur Anderson is professor of English at Johnson & Wales University’s Florida Campus. Out of the Shadows, his critical study of H.P. Lovecraft has just been released by Wildside Press, and yes, he is the Lovecraft scholar for the film Finding Lovecraft: Life is a Hideous Thing, which has received funding from the Rhode Island Council for on the Humanities and is currently in production: see www.findinglovecraft. com to watch the trailer.
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I hope this letter finds you well, but my guess is that it will find you grumpy and P.O.-ed, because I know I would be if I were about to be spending the holdays in a hospital. I’m just writing to let you know I’m thinking of you, as are so many of our mutal friends. I understand the lovely and talented Ms. K was in to see you last week. She told me you were struggling manfully against your “pancreatitis.” Pancreatitis! Hell, John, my spellcheck doesn’t even list that word. Leave it to you to come up with something obscure and exotic like that. After a little research on the web, I finally learned that the pancreas was actually invented back in 26BC by a Greek guy named Pancryanus Crapopulus. He was the same guy who invented the appendix, the hernia and the cumerbund. The main purpose of the pancreas seems to be to turn perfectly good food into perfectly bad mush and then re-circulate it back into the digestive track. Thanks, Panc. Seems about as useful as a Wet Nap at a pie fight. I often wonder how we ended up with all these unnecessary parts like tonsils and earlobes and navels anyway? I mean, what the hell is the “Adam’s Apple” for? Or the belly button for that matter. On a different topic, my wife and I are heading out to Albuquerque (which I always have to spellcheck, but don’t you love how Bugs Bunny used to say it?) to visit my younger daughter for the holidays. She moved there because she hates our winters and doesn’t mind living in a place where in the summer you can cook a pot roast on the hood of your car and the only green things you ever see are those hot chili peppers. Speaking of holidays, any idea what
kind of festivities they have planned there at the hospital? My guess is that if they do anything, it will probably be something like a rubber-glove puppet show followed by a sponge bath and then maybe some high speed gurney racing in the halls. And then there’s the food. A gourmet friend of mine once told me that even French prison food is like ten times better than most American hospital food. Of course, I guess there’s also a chance you’ll be back home here in “The Biggest Little” for the holidays. That would be great. If so, please, please let me know, because frankly visiting you in the hospital gives me the willies. All those crazy cartoon pajamas the nurses are wearing now – what ever happened to those nice starchy white uniforms nurses used to wear? The ones with those cute little origami hats? A lot of mutual friends have been asking me to keep them up-to-date on your progress. Not sure why I got put in charge of that but, hey, I don’t mind – as long as it’s only good news I’m reporting. I ran into our old friend Ben in the locker room at the Y the other day. I’d never seen him naked before, and never want to again. He is also aware of your present state and is pulling for you to make it back here in good shape ASAP. So with all the good karma I can possibly aim your way, John, I feel fairly sure that we can expect to be seeing you sometime early next year, if not sooner. Please keep in touch. Happy Holidays. Bob Mariani and his brother, John, have published a memoir, Almost Golden, about growing up in the North Bronx in the fifties. Available at www. bbotw.com or on Amazon.com.
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October 2011 East Side Monthly
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Inside the Wheeler School’s thriving arts community By Mary K. Connor
“the culture of Wheeler celebrates the arts, but what it really celebrates is the freedom for kids to pursue their passions.”
is there something in the water at the Wheeler School? Or maybe is has something to do with its founder, the artist Mary C. Wheeler? But when it comes to the arts, the school is in a class by itself. Success comes in many forms, certainly, but Wheeler, an independent, N-12 coed day-school on the East Side of Providence, seems to have graduated an inordinate number of overachievers in the highly visible – and highly competitive – world of the performing arts. Consider the (highly abbreviated) bios of these six Wheeler School alums. Allison Argo, Class of 1971, is a six-time Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her very first documentary, The Urban Gorilla, broadcast by National Geographic in 1990, received two Emmy nominations. Argo Films has since won numerous coveted awards and earned top recognition at the Missoula, Jackson Hole and Japan Wildlife Film Fes30
East Side Monthly October 2011
tivals, among others, for films such as The Last Frog, The Secret Life of Cats and Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History. Argo’s most recent documentary, 9/11: Where Were You?, broadcast by National Geographic, aired on August 30. The film takes an unusual and compelling look at 9/11 through the stories of ten people who survived the attacks. Her next project, The Story of Dao, is currently in pre-production. Michele Steckler, Class of 1980, is a Senior Vice-President and Senior Producer for Disney Theatrical Productions in New York City. She joined Disney in 1997, first as assistant director and then as associate producer of the original production of The Lion King. Steckler is responsible for the ongoing creative oversight of The Lion King, which includes bringing new companies of the musical to stages all over the world. She oversees the entire production process for new Disney Theatrical projects as well, from first readings through openings and
continuing oversight. Current Broadway, touring and international companies Steckler manages include Mary Poppins and Tarzan, in addition to The Lion King. Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh, both Class of 1990, are writers and coexecutive producers of the hit ABC comedy Modern Family, the highest-rated scripted program last year in the all-important 18-49 year-old demographic. The show has won six Emmys and three Golden Globes, a Peabody and was nominated for four Writers Guild awards, among many others. The syndication rights to the show, whose third season premieres September 21, have already been sold. Corrigan and Walsh began their careers in 1997, writing for the television series Married With Children and have written for many other network shows. In 2008, Corrigan and Walsh were nominated for an Emmy for their work as writers and producers on King of the Hill.
Joshua Schwartz, Class of 1994, at 26 became the youngest person to create an hour-long drama for a television network. The O.C., a teen drama series set in Orange County, California, premiered in August 2003 and ran for four seasons on Fox. The show was broadcast in more than 50 countries. Schwartz is the also the co-creator of Gossip Girl, a CW Network teen drama show set in New York City, and Chuck, an NBC action-comedy/spy drama series which has been applauded by publications such as Rolling Stone and USA Today. Both series return this fall for their fifth seasons and have been nominated for and won many industry awards. Schwartz is the executive producer of Hart of Dixie, a new American medical drama series premiering on the CW Network September 26. Nico Muhly, Class of 1999, has been called “the hottest young composer around.” Indeed, in 2008, The New Yorker published an in-depth profile of
Photo: (top) Wheeler School Archive (bottom) Amy Amerantes
- Dan miller, Wheeler’s head of school
Photo: Amy Amerantes
the then 26-year-old Muhly, calling his music “sonic magic.” [The profile, by the way, includes a wonderful section on Muhly’s Providence and Wheeler roots.] The American Symphony, the Aurora Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony have all premiered Muhly’s work. His third album, Seeing Is Believing, was released earlier this year. His first opera, Two Boys, based on a true Internet crime, premiered in London this past June and will come to New York in 2013. Dark Sisters, an opera about polygamy, opens this November at the John Jay College Theater in New York. Muhly composed the concerto, The Edge of the World, for The 5 Browns, famous young sibling pianists who performed the concerto’s world premier with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in August, at the Ravinia Festival outside Chicago. Nico Muhly has film score credits, too, for the 2007 movie Joshua and for the Best Picture Academy Award nominee The Reader. What is in the water at Wheeler? Perhaps it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Wheeler School counts among its alumni a disproportionately high number of students who have gone on to great success in the arts. After all, its founder, educator Mary Colman Wheeler, was herself an artist: an American Impressionist who studied art and art history in France and spent summers in Giverny, France painting alongside her friend, Claude Monet. An appreciation for the value of the arts in education came naturally to Mary Wheeler. Born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1846, her family’s friends included the Alcotts, Thoreaus and Emersons. Mary Wheeler believed that girls deserved more than a “finishing school” approach to education. She decided to start her own school, where arts would be a critical part of the curriculum. The founder is thought to have been the first educator, or at least among the very first, to bring students abroad to study. Mary Wheeler was an innovator and an activist and, happily, her commitment to the arts lives on at her namesake school today. Dan Miller, Wheeler’s Head of School, points to that “institutional DNA” as one reason for the school’s seeming concentration of very talented and successful students in the creative arts. Wheeler fosters a certain zeitgeist, he says, a psychology that
embraces creativity and risk-taking. “This is very influential, actually, in every aspect of the school, not just the arts.” Young children all have an incredible potential to be creative, says Miller, and the culture of Wheeler is to embrace that creativity across the board. “And that is so different than having a kid with a creative interest who feels they are operating in a silo of the arts – if I go to the art studio, then I get to be an artist.” Art is not restricted to the art studio. A second reason for Wheeler’s success in the arts is its reputation, says Miller. “We attract families and kids who are not necessarily artists, but who really value the arts, who value the culture that allows arts to flourish.” A culture that encourages risk-taking is as important as Wheeler’s programs, Miller states. “They work hand in hand. The faculty create the program, and the faculty and the students together create the culture.” Parents appreciate this culture of creativity, says Miller, and so do colleges. Wheeler graduates are often seen as risk-takers, independent thinkers and problem solvers. They are seen as being open-minded and adventurous. “Of course, when you have that kind of environment for every kid, there are going to be some kids who take it and run with it. And then you end up with these luminaries,” he adds. Wheeler’s curriculum is meant to maximize the academic, artistic, social and physical development of each student. The performing arts – drama and music in particular – are deeply embedded in the curriculum of the lower school. This continues all the way through high school, where each student is required to take a year of visual arts and at least a year in the performing arts. Even for students who are shy, or not interested in being an actor, for instance, Wheeler’s philosophy is that it is important for them to get involved, and there are many options from which to choose: choral, guitar, hand bells, jazz and theater included. “The majority (of kids) take well beyond the minimum requirement,” notes Miller. Lisa Brackett, Director of Wheeler’s Performing Arts Program, cites a dedicated faculty and a supportive and encouraging administration for the success of the curriculum. Requiring performing arts classes for graduation in the Upper School, says Brackett, gives students “the tools to create, to
so What Was it about Wheeler? three of its creative stars look back nico muhly “The thing I most appreciate about Wheeler after the fact is how uncurated my experience was, musically. Marilyn Levine, Kristin Sprague and the rest of the music and theater faculty were unbelievably supportive, but really allowed me to wander, in a sense, in my own direction. It was just the right combination of structure and laissez-faire. The faculty did an unbelievable job with very limited resources.” allison argo “The two biggest benefits I received from Wheeler are that I am selfmotivated. I created my career – I didn’t go to school for it. The other was that I got an incredibly solid education at Wheeler – a good, basic education. Creativity was encouraged, but you had to do sports, too. I am still in touch with my modern dance teacher. My biology teacher inspired me. I had a wonderful art teacher, Narciso Maisterra, who thought outside the box. I remember a fifth grade French teacher who had us write a poem in French. It was a creative approach that married art with language. I recently went back and spent the day at Wheeler. I was so impressed with the kids. I was so energized. The school still has it!” paul corrigan “While the school’s dedication to the arts stands out, what makes it so impressive to me is that it’s balanced with rigorous academics. Without the history classes, English classes, etc., the arts education would exist in a void. I think the strength of Wheeler’s art curriculum is that it is one part of a well-rounded curriculum. There was a lot of freedom to explore what interested you. The teacher who stands out most to me is Mark Harris. You would talk to him, if you could see past all the papers stacked on his desk, and say you were interested in anything, from learning Chinese to making a movie and his response would always be, ‘Let’s make that happen.’”
October 2011 East Side Monthly
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The Wheeler School made news over the summer, first with the July announcement that it was dropping its contract with Brown Student Radio, which had been leasing FM airwaves on the Wheeler-owned channel, WEHL 88.1 FM. Then, in August, it was reported that Wheeler would be leasing its airwaves to WRNI, Rhode Island’s National Public Radio station, 24/7. The lease will be for 10 years, at $75,000 per year, plus 3% of any additional revenues. What was Wheeler doing with this coveted FM station in the first place? That, says Miller, is the big story. Wheeler’s curriculum includes a radio and broadcast journalism program. “We teach kids how to do radio production, and that is how this whole thing came to be,” he explains. Twenty years ago, two students became interested in radio and in purchasing a frequency. Wheeler, through its Aerie Program, guided the students through the FCC application process, and, as a result, the school obtained the last FM frequency available in the area. Under the new lease, Wheeler’s station will become the flagship for WRNI, which previously broadcast on 102.7 FM in southern Rhode Island, and on 1290 AM in Providence. Latino Public Radio, which also used to broadcast on WEHL 88.1, will now have full-time programming on 1290 AM; WRNI has granted its lease with 1290 AM to LPR at cost. While Brown Student Radio has lost the six hours of late night programming, Brown University, which has its own broadcast station, understood that the opportunity to bring public radio to a larger audience was a good thing. Brown Student Radio has already turned to live streaming. Wheeler’s student station will do the same thing come fall. Miller believes that in the long run streaming is a more effective way to reach student audiences, given the way they use technology.
32
East Side Monthly October 2011
work in ensemble situations, to listen and problem solve, and to improvise and think quickly on their feet to articulate a thought or point of view.” The important thing, she adds, is to allow students to “explore, create and take risks in a safe environment.” It would be hard for even the most casual of East Side observers to not notice that Wheeler, in the tradition of its founder, is fully committed to the visual arts as well as the performing arts. “If you walk around the Wheeler campus,” Miller points out, “there is art everywhere. Art is in the air.” This is true. In 2007, Wheeler began to implement an ambitious Public Art Initiative, commissioning significant pieces by renowned artists such as sculptor Howard Ben Tre and internationally known glass artist Nichole Chesney. As part of the initiative, faculty members contributed a large tile mosaic of Mary Colman Wheeler and her students painting in France. The newest installation is underway – an outdoor mural by Ecuadoran muralist Agustin Patino. Agustin has been in the news for his recently completed, 140-foot long, dreamscape mural on Broad Street. His work at Wheeler – notice the scaffolding on the Meeting Street side of the Madden gymnasium – will continue through this school year, as Agustin will be an artist-inresidence at Wheeler. “We want the kids to see the art, but they also get to see the people making the art,” explains Miller. Students are able to engage regularly with artists who exhibit at the school’s Chazan Gallery. The gallery, widely perceived to be one of the best in the city, exhibits the contemporary work of Providence-area artists, whose works are chosen through a juried process. “It is great for our kids who are interested in art,” explains Miller. “Part of the curriculum is to be involved in the setting up of the shows, to be involved with the curators and the art teachers in this way.” Students also engage with the many artists who are on the faculty at Wheeler. “Our faculty are very established, accomplished professionals in their own fields: a successful actor, artists who show their own work in galleries, a jazz instructor who is very well known. They all love to teach. We are committed to hiring artists.” The culture of Wheeler celebrates the arts, but what it really celebrates, says Miller, is the freedom for kids to pursue their passions, which stretches
across disciplines. An important component of ensuring students this freedom is the fourdecades-old Aerie Program, one perhaps unique to Wheeler. The Aerie Program, named for “the lofty eagle’s nest from which fledglings learn to fly,” according to the school’s website, is directed by Mark Harris, a Brown graduate who is entering his 40th year at Wheeler. To call Aerie an enrichment program would do it a great disservice. Harris and his staff coordinate for-credit independent study projects proposed by students, curricula support for teachers and supplemental course offerings, in addition to guiding various school teams and clubs. If a student has an interest in something that is not typically offered – it could be anything, from Arabic to animation, from microbiology to film history to astrophysics – the school finds a way to bring people in from the outside to work with that student. By all accounts, Harris is a genius at this. One student couldn’t find room in her schedule to take a philosophy course, so Harris arranged for her to have periodic Philosophy Lunches with Brown graduate school students – a Plato Lunch here, a Socrates lunch there. “I have this vain hope that one of (the students) will make me rich and famous one day,” Harris jokes. So, with all this art (and success) in the air (and in the water), what does Head of School Miller consider to be Wheeler’s biggest challenge? “Helping the kids find a balance,” he says, without hesitation. “They are all very motivated. They are all very ambitious. And we also want them to be kids.” Is there pressure to succeed, or the kind of competition one might expect? Miller thinks that the benefit of a place like Wheeler, where a broad spectrum of interests and passions are encouraged and respected, is that equal value is given to all interests, which mitigates pressure. “The arts vibe,” Miller adds, “is kind of the antidote to competition. Art is not inherently competitive.” A broader challenge, he notes, comes from the fact that society does not always respect the importance of arts for everyone. “We think that arts education, like athletics or science, is essential for every kid,” Miller declares. “I am not sure the broader society values it in the same way. Art is a powerful part of making kids successful adults.” Mary Colman Wheeler would surely agree.
Photo: Allie Chernick
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East Side Monthly October 2011
Driving around the East Side on the Sunday of Tropical Storm Irene proved to be a challenging, often almost mazelike experience. Many streets that started harmlessly enough, soon became impassable. The number of uprooted trees, truly impressive. Equally impressive was the number of locals who braved the wind gusts and hunkered down for a semi-cold (there was no power) libation in the protected confines of the Hot Club as they checked out whether the Hurricane Barrier actually would function as advertised. (It did.) Inside there was a sense of shared excitement as strangers exchanged stories of power outages and near arboreal disasters. As the winds abated, the East Side took on an almost quaint village feel as residents came together to watch city foresters carve up fallen trees and linesmen attack downed power lines, cheering and snapping photos at the appropriate moments. There were places like the little convenience store on the corner of Elmgrove and Lloyd who opened up “just in case” someone needed something to ride out the storm. Give us our bread and milk, and we’re good to go with the best of ‘em. Photography by Barry Fain.
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East Side Monthly October 2011
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On the Menu by John Taraborelli
Make a Way Out of No Way
Photo: Rhode Island Historical Society
A new exhibit documents black food traditions in Rhode Island The Johnson and Wales Culinary Arts Museum is one of our city’s underappreciated treasures – in fact, it is one of, if not the, premier institutions of its kind in the country. Its collections document the history of not just food sciences and traditions, but advertising, menus, packaging, commercial and home kitchens – in short, all aspects of gastronomy and the surrounding culture. Of course, perhaps its best known feature, and the one with the strongest local ties, is its exhibit on the history of the diner, which was born right here in Providence. Another unappreciated piece of culture in this state is the often-overlooked black culinary tradition. However, a new exhibit at the museum, Creative Survival: African American Foodways in Rhode Island, aims to correct this oversight. A collaboration between museum Curator and Director Richard Gutman, Project Director Ray Rickman and Guest Curator Robb Dimmick, the exhibit will, in Dimmick’s words, “showcase the never-before-told story of the genius and enterprise of black cooks, chefs, caterers and farmers, dating back as early as 1726.” Here in the liberal north, we tend to underestimate the history of slavery, regarding it as the province of the Deep South, but Creative Survival will shed new light on the prevalence of slavery in Rhode Island, and ways that food was an integral part of the struggle to survive. “The complexities of food and Africans in America go far beyond the necessity to eat,” explains Dimmick. “Food in early Rhode Island is a powerful symbol of the racial symbiosis between blacks and whites that is rarely, if ever, discussed or acknowledged, but exists as the very foundation of racial discord and cooperation in America.” Such discord and cooperation, he notes, is exemplified in the way slaves were forced to work in the distilleries of Newport making the rum that fueled the notorious Triangle Trade, their sweat and labor producing the
liquid currency that would ensure more Africans would be enslaved. Of course, an exhibit called Creative Survival could not just dwell on the horrors of slavery. It also illuminates the incredible ingenuity and industriousness of black foodways throughout Rhode Island’s history, and the remarkable dishes they produced. Dimmick points to the way that slaves were able to ply their culinary prowess both to prepare food fit for a president, and to turn the scraps left over into palatable meals for their own families. The exhibit documents the
“Black food is uniquely American.” Artifacts unearthed for this exhibit include a Frederick Douglass souvenir spoon, previously thought not to exist, made by black inventors William Purdy and Leonard Peters of Providence; a 17th century cheese press from South County, evidence of the area’s cheese industry and the slave labor that drove it; and a copy of The Jonnycake Papers (1880) by Shepherd Tom of Narragansett, which recounts the culinary wizardry – especially when it came to the iconic johnnycake – of the Hazard family’s cook, Phillis. “As we unveil Black food traditions unique to our state, we will show how African, Narragansett, Cape Verdean, European and North Carolinian practices and palates meld into a cuisine singular and enduring,” says Dimmick. This cuisine is carried on, he notes, in modern day Providence restaurants like Food for the Soul (149 Admiral Street), Blaze (776 Hope Street) and Wes’ Rib House (38 Dike Street).
RIP STEVE MARRA On Wednesday, August 31, legendary restaurateur Steve Marra was found dead in his WarThomas Moke: 1882 fruit and wick home. As one half of the peanut vendor on College Hill Pinelli-Marra Restaurant Group, he once presided over a miniattendees and food served at a slave empire of restaurants throughout the picnic in Portsmouth, taken from the state, including Waterplace and Twist diary of Newport slave Caesar Lydon. It on Angell in Providence, the Post Office also goes beyond the slavery days, into Café in East Greenwich, Twist in Warthe 18th and 19th centuries, when free wick and Cucina Twist in South Kingsblacks who managed to carve out a liv- town. The two split in 2009, and the ing pushing food carts were confounded following year Marra took the remaining by laws and licenses that made it dif- restaurants into receivership, facing a ficult for them to do business. class action lawsuit over illegal faxes. “African American food provides Shortly thereafter, Pinelli sued Marra a marvelous classroom in which over charges of embezzlement. Despite to examine the confluences of the the legal and financial troubles of the humanities. Race, culture, religion, past few years, Marra remained a wellpolitics, biography, social sciences respected member of the Rhode Island and the arts all intermingle on a plate hospitality community known and a piled high with history and identity. great many people will miss him. Black cooking is black life. It is struggle, survival, celebration and pride in Got food news? Send it to John at onthea spoonful,” notes Dimmick, adding, menu@providenceonline.com.
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East Side Monthly October 2011
Dining Guide
Br brunch B breakfast L lunch D dinner $ under 10 $$ 10-20 $$$ 20+
RUE DE L’ESPOIR 99 Hope Street; 7518890. In business for over 30 years, the Rue has only gotten better. Beautifully prepared with the freshest ingredients, the innovative, constantly changing menu keeps diners on their toes. Superb brunch. BBrLD $$-$$$ SAWADDEE THAI 93 Hope Street; 831-1122. Serving authentic Thai cuisine since 1984 (originally under the name Bangkok Cuisine), Sawaddee Thai continues to set the standard, while providing a comfortable, neighborhood atmosphere. LD $
Not Just Snacks 833 Hope Street; 831-1150. Indeed,
it’s not just snacks, but rather some of the tastiest, most authentic Indian food around served in a comfortable, homey setting right in the heart of Hope Street. LD $-$$
Downtown CAV 14 Imperial Place; 751-9164. The New York Times’ choice as one of Providence’s five best restaurants, CAV’s contemporary, award-winning cuisine is available for lunch and dinner daily. They also feature Saturday/Sunday brunch. LD $$-$$$ HEMENWAY’S 121 South Main Street; 351-8570. A true Providence classic, Hemenway’s has been serving topnotch seafood for 20 years. Their oyster bar features everything from the famed Prince Edward Island variety to the local favorite Poppasquash Point. LD $$-$$$ MILLS TAVERN 101 North Main Street; 272-3331. The only restaurant in RI to receive the Mobile Four Star Award for five consecutive years, Mills Tavern provides traditional American cuisine in a warm, friendly setting. LD $$-$$$
Wayland/Elmgrove HARUKI EAST 172 Wayland Avenue; 223-0332. The chefs behind this sushi bar provide a minimalist, upscale, comfortable dining experience. Try the toro ankimo – sauteed fatty tuna and monkfish liver pate with eggplant tempura, served with a black bean sauce. LD $-$$$ MAD ERNIE’S 485 Angell Street; 3311031. Mad Ernie’s serves an array of soups, homemade ice cream, and sandwiches, including corned beef, reuben, chicken salad and lobster rolls. LD $
RED STRIPE 465 Angell Street; 4376950. Red Stripe serves classic comfort food with a French influence. Their food is reasonably priced and made with passion. LD $$-$$$ WATERMAN GRILLE 4 Richmond Square; 521-9229. With its covered outdoor seating overlooking the Seekonk River, Waterman Grille offers seasonally inspired New American fare in a comfortable setting. BrD $$-$$$
Hope/Thayer CHEZ PASCAL 960 Hope Street; 4214422. Chef Matt Gennuso’s East Side kitchen offers French food with a modern twist. Try the Bistro Menu (TueThur), which features three courses for $30 per person. Delicieux! D $-$$$ GOURMET HOUSE 787 Hope Street; 831-4722. Beautiful murals and décor set the mood for delicious Cambodian and Southeast Asian cuisine, spicy curries and noodle dishes. The tamarind duck is a must. LD $-$$
Wickenden BRICKWAY 234 Wickenden Street; 7512477. With creative omelets and French toast and an artsy décor, this iconic morning stop on Wickenden remains a neighborhood favorite. Be sure to check the specials board. BL $ Z-BAR 244 Wickenden Street; 831-1566. This cozy, classic bistro offers value, and a wide range of fare including, steaks, panini, salads and house made ravioli with an emphasis on fresh, local and organic ingredients. BrLD $$
Jewelry District/ Waterfront RUE BIS 95 South Street; 490-9966. This intimate eatery provides breakfast and lunch in a cozy, neighborhood bistro atmosphere – all with the gourmet pedigree of Hope Street dining staple Rue De L’Espoir behind it. BBrL $ BAKER STREET RUE 75 Baker Street; 490-5025. Chef Twillia Glover expands the Rue De L’Espoir empire with this comfortable neighborhood café serving “upscale diner food” BBRL$
Outside Providence
KARTABAR 284 Thayer Street; 3318111. This European-style restaurant and lounge offers a full menu of unique dishes with Mediterranean flair and eclectic flavors. They also offer a top-notch wine list and martini menu. LD $-$$
LJ’S BBQ 727 East Avenue, Pawtucket; 305-5255. LJ’s features ribs, pork, chicken and beef cooked low and slow in their customized pit, made with recipes from co-owner Bernie Watson’s grandmother, Miss Leola Jean. It’s great food at a great value. LD $-$$
NICE SLICE 267 Thayer Street; 4536423. Hip and healthy are the best descriptions of this pizza place. It’s whole wheat, New York style pizza with plenty of choices for toppings, including vegan and vegetarian options. LD $
VINE YARD EAST 315 Waterman Avenue, East Providence; 432-7000. Wine-influenced dining meets casual down home atmosphere, and an eclectic menu of regional fare like local seafood favorites and Italian and Portuguese classics. LD $$
Photography: Dan Schwartz
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East Side Monthly October 2011
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The Debt
The Past Isn’t What It Used To Be The Debt and Sarah’s Key reviewed Two current films play interesting flashback techniques, contrasting Nazi brutality with contemporary duplicity and angst. Both are serious and well made, and are therefore welcome closing bells after the endless summer of dubious comedy and routine adventure. With the impeccable Helen Mirren and Kristen Scott-Thomas heading the casts of the two films, the pleasures of craftsmanship spread to performance. The Debt, director John Madden’s remake of the 2007 Israeli film, features a fine ensemble of six actors playing the same three characters. In 1966, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas kidnap vicious Nazi fugitive Jesper Christensen in East Germany, and devise an ingenious escape plan to get him to a public trial in Israel. In Tel Aviv, in
1997, Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds wrestle with the kidnapping’s 30-year-old guilty secrets and their consequences. Mirren and Wilkinson’s daughter (Romi Aboulafia), just one of the consequences of the event, has written a book about the nationally celebrated adventure of 30 years before, based largely on Wilkinson’s memories. Something about it has dredged up a particularly anguished Ciaran Hinds and several severely dirty looks from the regal Ms. Mirren. Jump back 30 years and the welltrained trio of Chastain, Worthington and Csokas meet, plan and rehearse their stories. The shy, disciplined Worthington and the wry, outgoing Csokas both fall for the wary Chastain, who reveals an ambivalent attraction to both men.
Their prey, Christensen, a practicing gynecologist in East Berlin, takes on Chastain as a patient. Tense scenes between the fragile-looking Chastain and the documented butcher of innocent people build to a climactic kidnapping that lands Christensen in a small apartment with his three captors. Christensen, in an electric performance, is the personification of evil, taunting the sensitive Chastain and Worthington while looking for a slip that might set him free. Amid the tension, Chastain takes the uncomplicated Csokas as a lover, in spite of her more genuine attraction to Worthington, who is too concentrated on the job to seize the moment with her. Thirty years later, Mirren and Wilkinson find themselves the proud, estranged parents of the author of the book about their exploits. But guilty
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October 2011 East Side Monthly
41
Over 25 Years of Building and Remodeling
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secrets always surface, so Mirren and Wilkinson make an uneasy truce to deal with an inconvenient truth that could be devastating. The film works best in its early scenes, particularly the ones with Christensen spouting his slurs with a mesmerizingly bizarre mixture of raw bigotry and bedside-manner tenderness, and the ones in which the young patriots earnestly stalk their quarry while dealing with their own awkward domesticity. The last segment of the film deteriorates into something resembling a standard thriller. But Mirren, with a splendid world-weariness, handles the situation with aplomb. The result is a complex story about behavior under different kinds of pressure, lies in the face of difficult truths, and the ways that fundamental things apply as time goes by. Sarah’s Key parallels The Debt with its two stories (one involving Nazis, again), separated by many years, coexisting in a single movie’s timeframe. In 1942, in Paris, French police seize 10-year-old Sarah (Melusine Mayance) and her family in the notorious Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup. Mayance locks her little brother in a closet to save him, and guards the key as she begins a horrific journey at the hands of Nazis and their collaborators. Some 60 years later, American journalist Kristen Scott-Thomas researches an article about that roundup. Married to a Frenchman, she links their Paris apartment, which once belonged to her husband’s grandparents, circa 1942, to the roundup and to Mayance. The girl, the key and the closet become obsessions for her as she begins to question how much
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Sarah’s Key
42
East Side Monthly October 2011
continued... people in general and her in-laws in particular knew about what went on during the Occupation. As the film flashes back to Mayance and her frustrated attempts to return to her brother, a gripping drama unfolds. Meanwhile, Scott-Thomas, undergoes a personal crisis. Pregnant, wanting to keep the baby while her husband doesn’t, she begins a journey of personal development as her research intensifies. Scott-Thomas is wonderful as always. The film works splendidly as long as the truth about the past is on center stage, but her personal issues are a different story. There is a major disconnect because the gap between the stories is too wide. The logical extension of characterization that worked in The Debt (same people, same issue, 30 years later) is a lot trickier in Sarah’s Key, as the horror of Nazi-occupied Paris competes with contemporary life there. Scott-Thomas’s personal growth is valid, even inspiring, but her contemporary problems don’t amount to a hill of beans when compared to a crazy world that could tolerate what Mayance went through. For all the depth Scott-Thomas brings to her character and concerns, and all the life-and-death desperation of Mayance’s mission, their ties don’t bind. There’s undeniable drama in both stories, more than enough to make the film watchable and thought provoking, but Mayance’s ordeal is supposed to somehow enrich and intensify Scott-Thomas’s. It doesn’t. Some struggles don’t invite comparison, and shouldn’t. Save for that one stretch that exceeds the film’s grasp, Sarah’s Key works.
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401.434.6913 • www.oceanstatemontessori.org October 2011 East Side Monthly
43
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44
East Side Monthly October 2011
This past summer, Brown University announced the appointment of the new curator for the David Winton Bell Gallery. After the departure of Maya Allison, the previous curator, perhaps people were concerned about what the future would hold, but Bell Gallery is about to enter a whole new age in extremely capable and visionary hands. Ian Alden Russell, who hails from Dublin, Ireland by way of Richmond, Virginia, moves into this role with a sense of smart ambition and unique experience to revitalize Bell’s exposure in Rhode Island. Russell’s academic studies focused on archeology and anthropology in Dublin at Trinity College, but while he spent time researching, he also had a job working at the Douglas Hyde Gallery. It was here he had his first hands-on experience with the contemporary art world, working as both a gallery assistant and installer. This modern day take on an apprenticeship introduced him to the skills needed to hang an exhibit, but more importantly, the people skills to work with artists. Over his years both studying at university and learning at the gallery, Russell realized his desire to find an intersection between his academic knowledge of anthropology and the world of art. Through his research, he discovered that his ideas of how
to present objects and communicate the past into present were viable, but the only way to truly prove this was to put it into practice himself. So, after spending several years at the gallery while earning a doctorate degree, he started working as an independent curator in Dublin. In 2010, he accepted an academic fellowship at Brown University. Even though at the time he had not planned on returning to the States, the decision to accept the position proved life altering. In this new role as curator, he will be managing the university’s collection of 5,000 works and helping with the programming. A major contribution Russell has already made to Brown is bringing the work of Dennis McNulty to the Nightingale-Brown Gardens at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, the same building in which Russell was a fellow and McNulty was the artist in residence. During the late 1930s, John Brown commissioned the construction of a new home on Fisher’s Island, New York. The home was called “The Windshield House” due to the amount of floor-to-ceiling windows. It was destroyed first by a category 3 hurricane in September of 1938 and then by a fire. McNulty’s sculpture, Windshield, is inspired by the windows of Brown’s house. It is installed
to appear as though the sculpture is a piece of the glass from that house that has landed as a piece of debris in the garden of the Brown Center. The glass from the frame has been replaced with mirrors and plays on themes of historic preservation, environment and modernist design. Russell worked with several foundations to have this work made and installed at Brown, proving his ability to collaborate with several parties and exhibit work that is relevant on several levels. The public art sculpture was installed in late April and will be displayed for the rest of this current academic year. The most refreshing thing about Russell is his humbleness and intelligence. His ability to navigate around different circles in Rhode Island will undoubtedly be beneficial in this next stage of his journey. Russell identifies the endless possibilities in Rhode Island and specifically Providence, because it is a different kind of artist who chooses to call this home. He recognizes their sense of fearlessness and their desire to create the best work they possibly can. David Winton Bell Gallery List Art Center at Brown University 64 College Street 863-2932 brown.edu/Facilities/David_Winton_Bell_Gallery/
Photo: Warren Jagger
831-1566 244 Wickenden St., Providence
Windshield by Dennis McNulty at Brown, one of the first new works brought in by curator Ian Alden Russell
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October 2011 East Side Monthly
45
Spotlight
by Dan Schwartz
special advertising section
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A men’s clothier should have everything that the discerning man could want, and Marc Allen has it all. What is special is that in addition to the bespoke clothing his three master tailors create under the MA line, the shop also carries luxurious sportswear exclusive to Marc Allen. It took three years to bring in the esteemed Loro Piana to complement their selection of Luciano Barbera, Incotex and Brunello Cucinelli. Owner Marc Streisand enthuses, “The success of Loro Piana has allowed us to bring in uber luxury.” Chief of staff Jim Fortier adds, “We have cashmere coats with a sheared beaver lining and Windmate vests with a quilled goose down fiber (that’s with the end of the feather cut off so it’s softer), lined with cashmere – it’s luxury at its very finest.” Marc relates a story to me about how he recently heard from clients who traveled to tony places abroad – like Monaco and St. Moritz – and got excited about the fashion they were seeing, specifically white jeans. Marc Allen’s selection of Loro Piana white jeans sold out in two weeks time, a testament to the forward thinking of Marc and Jim to bring in what is up-and-coming in the fashion world while also maintaining the classic style for which they are known. Marc Allen opened an office in New York City at 53rd and 5th Avenue, so clients who find themselves there for pleasure or business can meet with Marc by appointment. Marc Allen will also soon offer a whole new custom line that will be more made-to-measure and not completely bespoke. Marc explains, “It is for the man who is just getting into clothing, so he can get some aspects of bespoke with great fabrics at a price point that’s more palatable.” You can keep up with the latest on Marc Allen with their new website, TheClubChair.com, which highlights style and profiles. Marc has also begun a fashion column on GoLocalProv.com. Drop by the store to see the best in men’s clothing and experience firsthand their motto: “We Understand Your Desires.”
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46 East Side Monthly October 2011 esm_sept_ad_munroe.indd 1
8/10/11 12:48 PM
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Spotlight
by Dan Schwartz
special advertising section
Infant . Toddler . PreSchool PreK . School Age Locations in Riverside, Rumford & Providence
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Play based Pre-K to Before-and-AfterSchool Speaking with The Children’s Workshop director of business, Maggie Teller, in the recently renovated Riverside location one feels the great vibe from both the quality of the facility to the mission statement about how children learn best when they are playing. The school was created by Maggie’s father, David MacDonald, 21 years ago when he owned his own business and soon realized that he was losing his employees to maternity leave because they couldn’t find the right programs in the area for their kids. So he teamed up with two women with backgrounds in childhood education and founded his own school, which today has grown into 16 locations throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It is easy to understand why The Children’s Workshop has taken root in so many communities: each location’s program is individually tailor by the needs of the parents and kids, and the instructors don’t have to follow a strict curriculum like many of the large corporate childcare centers. “We’re founded on the principle of learning through play,” Maggie explains. “We used the nationally recognized Creative Curriculum approach you see in many places, but in the last year we wrote our own played based curriculum drawing from the best methods and some of our own original ideas.” Parents are encouraged to have a major role in the school and they often come in to read to children and lead activities. The schools have an open door policy and each facility has its own parent committee. Beyond the high quality of the teachers involved the schools are extremely convenient regarding flexibility, with hours beginning at 6:30am and ending at 6pm. The youngest they will accept a child is 6 weeks and for before-and-after school care the age extends up to 12 years. The Children’s Workshop has pickup and drop-off service for most area schools. And for East Siders there are schools conveniently located in Providence, Rumford and Riverside. Each location has extensive playgrounds with fun gyms and extras, like miniature golf. Join The Children’s Workshop family today.
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Providence 383-9958 / Rumford 434-1118 / Riverside 228-6209 www.ChildrensWorkshop.com / 16 Locations
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1904 Warwick Avenue • Warwick • (401) 738-9111 October 2011 East Side Monthly
47
Spotlight
by Dan Schwartz
Beautiful Pre-Owned Jewelry
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Tom’s Tree Care Ornamental and Shade Tree Specialists fine hand pruning • tree preservation hazard tree removal • tree evaluation & diagnosis shade and specimen tree planting 401-331-8527 • www.tomstreecare.net 48
East Side Monthly October 2011
special advertising section
Better Burger Company (BBC) Gourmet Grass-Fed Burgers Better Burger Company just celebrated their first year anniversary and the owners certainly have a finger on the pulse for what the most demanding customers seek: grass-fed beef burgers. All of the regular hamburger meat for BBC is comprised of top shelf certified Angus, but it is their Rancher’s Pride burger consisting of all natural pasture-fed Angus meat from award winning Blackbird Farm in Smithfield, Rhode Island, that has become their new best seller. BBC aims to use the best quality meats available, for example there is an aged prime rib steak sandwich with meat sourced from Creekstone Farms. Soon other regional farms will be featured on the menu. BBC’s slogan is “Enjoy Life One Burger at a Time,” and what goes better with a burger than some quality beer or even red wine? They carry bottled Blue Moon, Guinness, Sierra Nevada, Shock Top, Sam Adams and others. Californian, Chilean and French wines are available as well, plus fresh fruit sangria. Affordable luxury is a $6.75 Ranger’s Pride gourmet burger with a cold bottle of Belgian White. For kids there are milk shakes, including the recently added Nutella shake and the Lemon Pie shake containing British lemon curd, cookies and fresh lemon juice blended up. In addition to burgers, BBC has lots of wraps, sandwiches and salads as well as their popular three cheese quesadilla. A chef from Lowell is working closely with the restaurant to develop a soon-to-be-released signature house made ketchup. Free delivery throughout Providence is available ($12 minimum), but if you want to visit their bright dining space they have their own parking lot which is a bonus for Thayer street. BBC also does breakfast starting at 8:30 in the morning, with fresh orange juice and Fair Trade organic coffee from George Howell out of Boston. The menu boasts organic eggs benedict, fresh fruit pancakes and a variety of omelettes. BBC is open until 12am weekdays and until 1am on weekends. Stop into BBC or place a delivery order to experience top quality food delivered fast and fresh.
Better Burger Company (BBC) 228-7373 215-217 Thayer Street, Providence
Spotlight
by Dan Schwartz
special advertising section
Tomasso Auto
We service and repair ALL foreign and domestic models
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For superb home theater systems, music systems, HDTV’s, and multi-room systems, call Jon Bell for a free in-home consultation.
Tomasso Auto Swedish Motors
www.simplysas.com
Bayside Chiropractic, PC Welcomes our new Associate, Dr. Meghan Schaffer. Dr. Schaffer specializes in women and children’s care including pregnancy, cranial pediatrics, whole health nutrition, and wellness. Dr. Schaffer
Bayside Chiropractic | 291 Waterman Street | 401.223.0111 See www.BaysideChiroProvidence.com for information
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Est. 1970
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Come Work With Us Providence Media, is now accepting resumes for: Westminster’s
the sound of
an artfuL LEgaCy: The creative work of the Anthony Quinn Foundation
local art
PROVIDENCE new tapas bar
the Union Street Collective
for a global cause
09.11 Issue 49 Free
A sneak peek at what’s on stage this fall
New fine dining
Monthly
September 2011 #178
in Charlestown
September 2011
Community All-Stars
Are You Ready For Some Football?
Meet local do-gooders who are working towards a better South County
Another night game set for Brown Stadium
TheBay Living Well on the East Bay & South Coast
A Fresh
Taste
From new restaurants to revamped menus, our guide to dining right now
LOOK BOOK the providence
Get a street view of real city style Pre-Sorted Standard US POSTAGE PAID Providence, RI Permit No. 34
+
walk through history on the Independence trail
The disaster in Japan, up close and personal pg 21
Nathan Bishop supports a beloved teacher pg 17
a walk through URI’s + Alton Jones campus
SEptEmBEr 2011 #25 Bud McLeod, Jenny Miller and Roberta Mudge Humble at the Westerly Armory
The newly reopened Wharf Tavern in Warren
Editorial Assistant
• Strong writing and editing skills required • Must submit 2 writing samples
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Tomasso Auto Swedish Motors
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Helping you make a healthy adjustment to your lifestyle.
Protecting Your Auto Investment The car experts at Tomasso Auto Swedish Motors explained to me that new car sales are struggling because of taxes, insurance and the bumpiness of our current economy; as a result, used cars have gone up in value due to demand. This is all the more reason why you should think of your vehicle as an asset requiring protection. Routine oil changes at a place that performs extensive mechanical work mean that your car is being inspected every time it is brought in. “People try and save money by skipping maintenance,” Jason, a technician, explains.”Spend a little now and you will save a hell of a lot more later.” Preventative measures are the name of the game with keeping a well running car and that can begin with having the right car for your needs. When purchasing a used car it is very important to bring it to a trusted service center to make sure that everything looks good. While Tomasso Auto can facilitate a car inspection, they also need to know about the car’s maintenance records. Susan, one of the owners, says, “The proof is in the paperwork history for the vehicle.” I myself almost purchased a lemon before the folks at Tomasso pointed out numerous problems. When I did buy a nicer used car from a local dealership they said the one concern they had was a section of the trunk looked like it might leak in heavy rain. I had the dealer put that into the warranty agreement; sure enough, it did leak. It was also explained by Eric, a technician, that newer cars with newer technological features tend to be more expensive to repair when features break. John, another technician, adds, “All the computers in the car are tied into one another.” It is good to keep in mind when purchasing a car that often the older models can be less expensive to maintain. For all your car needs, Tomasso Auto Swedish Motors is right up the street and ready to help.
Jbell@simplysas.com
The leader in local lifestyle
Send your materials to: resumes@providenceonline.com October 2011 East Side Monthly
49
Neighborhood Meeting:
Why do this?
Clean Water Construction Slated for Summit Neighborhood Beginning in October, the Narragansett Bay Commission will be installing pipes around your neighborhood for Phase II of Commission’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Abatement Program. These pipes are helping to keep Narragansett Bay and our urban rivers clean. Thanks to Phase I of the Narragansett Bay Commission’s CSO project, more than 3 billion gallons of sewage already has been prevented from flowing into Narragansett Bay. Phase II will help make our waters even cleaner.
When you can do this?
As we embark on this important work, we invite you to a neighborhood meeting to discuss the details of the construction. Please join us Tuesday, October 18th, 6:30 PM Church of the Redeemer, Parish Hall, 655 Hope Street
Maintenance-Free
Living
EPOCH Senior Living . . . Serving Seniors in Your Neighborhood for Over a Decade. Assisted Living on the East Side One Butler Avenue • Providence, RI 401-285-1213 www.epocheastside.com
While we’re at work, we appreciate your patience, as on-street parking will be limited and there will be intermittent street closures during this time. You can get daily updates of construction by following the Narragansett Bay Commission on Twitter at http://twitter.com/narrabay. For more information go to www.narrabay.com www.twitter.com/narrabay or call the Narragansett Bay Commission Public Affairs office: 401-461-8848
Senior Living on Blackstone Boulevard 353 Blackstone Boulevard • Providence, RI 401-237-0024 www.epochblackstone.com Assisted Living Skilled Nursing
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working for a clean bay today
Need Help Picking Colors? Fabrics?
Two for Tuesdays A space to create, hosted by The Paint Shoppes
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osted by The Paint Shoppes in Providence and East Providence, this airy new space offers plenty of workspace to enjoy personal consultations with our friendly interior decorators and color consultants. Spectrum Studio now offers workshops, free use of giant corkboards for sample displays, and hundreds of fabric samples for draperies and furniture. From rods and hardware to area rugs and wall coverings, Spectrum Studio is YOUR space to create your dream room with the help of our experienced consultants.
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50
East Side Monthly October 2011
Finance by Betsey Purinton | illustration by Ashley MacLure
Gold Rush Notes on panic selling and buying I was surprised
this past summer that I didn’t get more calls when market volatility was extreme. Stocks were moving 400 points (either direction) in successive days. The 17% drop on the S&P happened over a very short period of time: three weeks. You would think that the frenetic, dizzying price changes would be enough to unsettle any investor. Only, for many investors, the panic didn’t set in. Back in 2008 I was talking to, or meeting with, close to a dozen clients a day right after the market collapse. Fear was rampant; people were in shock. The biggest worry was whether the loss in their portfolios would affect their financial future. In July and August of this year, even after stocks tumbled, I was much more apt to get calls that began, “I know you think I am contacting you about the markets, but I really have a concern about …” And then I would hear a question about refinancing a mortgage or changing a job or what account to pay college expenses from. 2011 is not 2008. I think many people’s mild reactions to recent market volatility have more to do with what happened in 2009 and how portfolios have performed in 2011 than what happened in 2008. The resurgence of stocks following the 2008 market crash provided some reassurance that what goes down can go back up. This time around, some asset classes held onto their valuations or even rose in price. This meant that while opening monthly statements wasn’t cheery this past summer, it wasn’t necessarily painful either. Statistics show that by avoiding panic, investors have a much better chance of outperforming those who sell into a down market. That is because the best up days typically follow closely on the heels of the worst days. Since 1960, only three of the top performing days did not fall within 20 days of declines greater than 2.5%. During that same time period, investors who avoided panic-induced selling outperformed those who succumbed to fear and bailed on their holdings. (Source: Bank of America). That does not mean that selling isn’t an important tool in investing – precisely the opposite. One of the worst mistakes people make is hanging onto a particular position long after it deserves to go. The stock or fund languishes in the portfolio as the investor winces over locking in losses. While the refrain ”It will come back” has been way overplayed, it is also hard to overcome. Often investors will throw in the towel only after a holding has experienced a long descent, and potentially right before it turns around. Selling can be used to reduce risk, but it is best utilized in the early stages of doubt, when an investor is positioning for increased risk, but is able to
take some profits. If bear market conditions are avoided, at least gains, not losses, can be locked in. Moreover, judicious selling is generally done around the edges of a portfolio, pulling back on one or two holdings as opposed to bailing out of equities or commodities all at once. Portfolios should be designed to handle a range of risk, so large moves are unnecessary. The challenge is to pick the right level of risk for you in the first place. If you aren’t too greedy for the upside, you can avoid being too fearful on the downside. If investors were wiser this summer when it came to selling, they were still susceptible to fear. Much uncertainty was swirling around – be it Europe’s relentless sovereign debt issues, our
debt ceiling crisis, the U.S. downgrade or the concerns over another global recession. Our economy was proving very fragile, and many people recognized that another shock could tip it into a contraction. That meant that investors wanted to buy security. I received a number of calls in the summer that ended with, “And I think we should buy more gold.” (Caveat: most of our portfolio models hold 5% or 7% gold). I have talked about gold and its multi-faceted attraction in a previous column. It is the quintessential risk-off trade. When stocks look too risky, gold is deemed to be a safe haven. (It is also an
inflation fighter, reserve currency, dollar play and as a commodity itself, but for the summer, it acted mostly in its safe haven capacity.) It is also a speculator’s dream: highly volatile and prone to rapid movements. Just like panic selling, panic buying can be overdone. Gold isn’t safe – it simply feels safe. Investors love gold, because for the last several years it has gone up and up. In 2010, the metal rose approximately 31%. From its lows in January it is up 27% (closing at 1827 at the time of this writing). It has outperformed equities since 2008. And judging from the headlines, many commentators are pegging the top for gold at 2500, 3000 or more. Who wouldn’t love gold? Unfortunately, lots of people: speculators, hedge funds, traders watching pricing trends, computers programmed for the risk on trade, etc. etc. Gold is hard to price. Its intrinsic value as a commodity is limited (example: demand for use in jewelry). Unlike silver and other precious metals, it is rarely used in industry. And gold doesn’t pay a dividend, so it provides no cash flow except for what is assumed as an inflation hedge. It is worth what people want to pay for it, and that price can change rapidly. By many measures gold is overvalued at 1827. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t own it. Valuation is an imprecise timing tool, as trends often carry more momentum than price. Gold is likely to continue its overall upward trajectory, as long as the risk-off trade is in place. That could be a while longer, given low interest rates, the potential for a second recession and longer term U.S. debt issues. This past summer, owning gold meant less volatility in your portfolio and some downside protection. But if equities start going up and the gold trade reverses, you will again have muted volatility – this time on the up side. When my clients ask for more gold, I caution them about the risks and tell them we are happy with the small percentage that they own. We like gold, we just don’t like too much of it. Panic selling and buying can destroy the balance within portfolios. Spreading out the risks amongst a variety of asset classes is often the best way to keep volatility low in rapidly changing markets. If you have a good mix of holdings in your portfolio to begin with, you can make appropriate adjustments without caving to fear. In the long run, controlling emotions can be one of your best investment strategies. Betsey Purinton, CFP® is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at StrategicPoint Investment Advisors. You can e-mail her at bpurinton@ strategicpoint.com. October 2011 East Side Monthly
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At School Today by Jill Davidson | illustration by Jessica Pollak
This Digital Life Raising smart online citizens Recently, our family traveled internationally. My kids left the country for the first time, a fantastic experience that allowed them to see the world from an alternative perspective, hear the business of daily life conducted in a different language and, because we didn’t purchase international data plans for our phones, interact rather more than usual with their father and me. This unanticipated benefit revealed how habitually we tend to peek at email and other information served up on our little handheld devices. This is a real boon, as it un-tethers us from our desks, but it also chips away at sustained interactions with our kids – not to mention each other and the world around us – in ways of which I had not been particularly thoughtful. Now that we’re back in Providence with data flowing freely, I’m incorporating aspects of lessons learned from our analog week into our daily lives. After absorbing the insight my inadvertent or intentional uses of interactive technology teach my kids about the role and value of technologically mediated communication, I’m committed to spending far less time and attention monitoring messages while we’re together. This, of course, increases my chances of thinking an uninterrupted thought, and one of those thoughts prompted me to wonder about the ways family members can learn from each other about our increasingly digital lives. To get my head around this issue, I connected with local experts Trevor O’Driscoll, Wheeler Middle School’s dean and creator of its parent technology handbook; Anisa Raoof, founder and publisher of Kidoinfo.com; and David Niguidula, educational technology researcher and founder of Ideas Consulting. In addition to their professional perspectives, they live what they learn: O’Driscoll, Raoof and Niguidula are parents of kids ranging in age from preschool to college. Here are some of the takeaways: According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 93 percent of children in the United States between the ages of 12 and 17 are online, and that online connection increasingly comes from any form of technology that has a screen. 52
East Side Monthly October 2011
The days of using a desktop or laptop to get online are long past. For many parents and educators, this ubiquity of social media may make us feel like we’re at the fabulous hub of technological innovation – as Anisa Raoof put it, like “kids in a candy store.” While this newly digital life feels tempting to many adults, it’s the native habitat of our kids. Many adults formed interpersonal and work habits without the current presence of constant connectivity. Our kids are digital natives who can help us understand our world now, and in turn often need help understanding how to navigate it. Parents and teachers can help by “modeling good behavior,” says Raoof. “As parents we need to set boundaries for ourselves. What
messages am I sending to them if I behave as if it’s okay to be online all the time? It’s extremely important to have boundaries that apply to everyone in the family.” The analogy of teaching kids about building lifelong healthy nutritional habits applies. At the same time, expressing interest in our kids’ online lives allows us to become more fluent in the online world’s opportunities and challenges and helps parents stay connected to our kids’ interests. All three experts strongly advocated situating online access in a family’s public spaces when possible in order to encourage family interaction as well as visibility. Raoof notes, “Putting the computer in the kitchen works well for us. When my kids use it, we can have a discussion. I
am right there and they are excited to share what they find with me.” Online access made visible to parents also allows us to coach our kids to make good decisions about their technologically mediated interactions. The best filter, Trevor O’Driscoll suggests, is between a kid’s own ears rather than site blocking software, and that filter is best installed through family conversations. “First of all,” says O’Driscoll, “You have to know what kids are expected to do and want to do with technology. Adults in kids’ lives have to stay up to date and everyone needs to keep talking. If we never have the conversations with kids, then they have no guidelines. If your decision is to ban online access or install site blocking programs, that will backfire, because when you release them into the wild, which will happen sooner or later, they will have no concept about how to filter any of this independently.” David Niguidula offers another useful analogy, suggesting that teaching kids about how to conduct healthy online lives is similar to teaching children to be safe drivers. He explains, “You’re in control of a machine that is very cool and gets you to places you want to go. The skills and understanding about how to work that machine don’t come automatically; adults need to teach levels of safety and consciousness. We want kids to have the ability and benefits, and that requires training and conversations about behavior and an awareness not only of your own actions bout also about what everyone else could do.” Your family may already have agreements and ongoing conversations about your online lives. If your family is more like mine and could use some help thinking more coherently about the benefits and possible pitfalls of online interactions, here are a couple of resources: check out Common Sense Media at www.commonsensemedia. org and the Family Online Safety Institute at www.fosi.org. In whatever way makes sense, take the time to talk with the people in your life about how to be smart digital citizens. Jill Davidson can be reached at whathappenedatschool@gmail.com or her blog, providenceschools.blogspot.com
Medway Place
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OPEN HOUSE Saturday, October 29 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
•
Registration 10:00-10:15
229 Medway St. Providence, RI For more information or a tour, call 401-751-3582 or visit our website at www.medwayplaceofri.org
660 Waterman Ave. • E. Providence, RI 02914 • 401.438.5170 www.providencecountryday.org
A TAsTe of BrisTol And Beyond
NATION’S #1 INT’L BEER FESTIVAL
Live Music • High-end Raffle
Tons of restaurants and wineries participating TickeTs: $50 in advance; $60 at the door. space is limited. reserve yours by calling 401-253-0390 for up-to-date info on participating restaurants, breweries, and vineyards, visit lindenplace.org
Proceeds benefit the restoration and Preservation of Linden PLace sponsored by
2 BIG EVENTS
Sat. November 5, 2011 R.I. Convention Ctr., Providence, RI 1pm - 4:30pm and 6:30pm - 10pm
ONLY
Linden Place Mansion, Bristol
250 BEERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
sunday October 23rd 4-7 pm
GREAT INTERNATIONAL BEER FESTIVAL
$40
LIVE MUSIC
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Tickets Go On Sale Aug. 15
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FOOD & UNLIMITED SAMPLING!
by Portions of proceeds to benefit Rhode Island Community Food Bank
We Own Land
SHOW INFO: (401) 351-2632 EXHIBITORS/VOLUNTEERS: (401) 272-0980
MICRO & MACRO BREWERIES
a feast for the food & wine lover’s senses
The 19th Annual
O Largest Int’l Beer Competition in New England
ALS
sponsored by Yankee Brew News
October 2011 East Side Monthly
53
Invest in you . . .
Life Coaching For anyone who yearns for a better life and has the guts to go for it.
Calendar
by Samantha Gaus
October music | performance | social happenings | galleries | learn | sports
Steven M. Kane, Ph.D. Providence, RI 401-454-5700 kanesmk@verizon.net
DON’T MISS
Inquiries invited
THIS MONTH: 10 events at the top of our list
The Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, Oct 20-23. Check site for venues. www.film-festival. org/horror_ri.
1
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54
East Side Monthly October 2011
AREnA & CLUB FOXWOODS Oct 15: The Script with special guest Hot Chelle Rae. Oct 29: Willie Nelson & Friends. 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket, CT. 800-200-2882, www.foxwoods.com. LUPO’S Oct 7: Zed’s Dead. Oct 16: Method Man, Curren$y, Big Krit, Smoke DZA, Fiend, The Pricks and Corner Boy P. Oct 19: The Smashing Pumpkins. Oct 23: J. Cole. Oct 29: Panic at the Disco. 79 Washington Street. 331-5876, www. lupos.com THE MET Oct 1: Dark Dark Dark A Hawk and a Hacksaw. Oct 14: The Lemonheads. Oct 15: Max Creek. Oct 18: Viva Brother. Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket. 729-1005, www. themetri.com. MOHEGAN SUN Oct 1: Eddie Money. Oct 14: Boyz II Men. Oct 14-15: Sugarland with special guest Sara Bareilles. Oct 30: Chris Brown, Tyga and special guests. 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT. 800-477-6849, www.mohegansun.com ROOTS CAFÉ Sundays: Blues Jazz Jam, open to all musicians who want to come down and play with some of New England’s
best. Wednesdays: Mid Week Rumba, dance lessons and live music. Oct 13: Sweet Little Variety Show. Oct 28: Balla Kouyate. 276 Westminster Street, Providence. 272-7422, www. rootscafeprovidence.com. TWIN RIVER Oct 1: Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents. Oct 8: Kool & The Gang. Oct 9: Physical Graffiti, a Led Zeppelin Tribute Band. Oct 21: D5 & After Effect. 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln. 877-82RIVER, www.twinriver.com CLASSICAL & SUCH OPERA PROVIDENCE Oct 29:Swedish tenor, Mats Carlsson, A Tribute to Jussi Björling at the RI Center for Performing Arts, 848 Park Avenue, Cranston. 331-6060, www. operaprovidence.org VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM Oct 15: RI Philharmonic Presents A Stern Re-encounter with guest conductor Michael Stern. Oct 22: FirstWorks Festival Presents: Delusion by Laurie Anderson. 83 Park Street, Providence. 222-1467, www.vmari.com.
PERFORMANCE comedy | dance | theatre COMEDY COMEDY CONNECTION Oct 1: Pete Costello. Oct 6: Scott Thompson & Kevin McDonald. Oct 7-8: Cal Verduchi. Oct 13: Kitty Lit-
Scituate Art Festival, Oct 8-10. W Greenville Road, North Scituate. www.scituateartfestival.org.
2
Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, Oct 6-31 at Roger Williams Park Zoo. www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org.
3
Momix: Botanica, Oct 29 at the Providence Performing Arts Center. www. ppacri.org.
4
International Oktoberfest, Oct 8-10 at the Newport Yachting Center. www. newportwaterfrontevents.com
5
Brown Football vs. University Of Rhode Island, Oct 1 at Brown Stadium. www. brownbears.com.
6
RISE Bootlegger’s Bash, Oct 29 at the Hope Club. www.risebootleggersbash.org.
7
Flames of Hope, Oct 8 at Waterplace Park. www.waterfire.org.
8
The 16th Annual Providence Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Show, Oct 21-23 at The Rhode Island Convention Center. www.riconvention. com.
9
Pumpkins, 10 Smashing Oct 19 at Lupo’s. www.
lupos.com.
Get Crafty ter and Friends Drag Extravaganza. Oct 14-15: PJ Thibodeau. Oct 20: Dom Irrera. Oct 21-22: Mike Hanley. Oct 28-29: April Macle. 39 Warren Avenu, East Providence. 438-8383, www. ricomedyconnection.com. FOXWOODS Oct 1: So You Think You Can Dance Tour. Oct 8: Norm MacDonald. Oct 14: Louis C.K. Oct 15: Billy Gardell. Oct 22: Kathy Griffin LIVE. 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket, CT. 800200-2882, www.foxwoods.com. PERISHABLE THEATRE Thursdays & Saturdays: Improv Jones 10pm. Fridays: Bring Your Own Improv (BYOI) 11pm. 331.2695, www. perishable.org. PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY Oct 27: Laughletics Improv Comedy Competition, an improv show that plays like a sports match with teams, a referee and audience applause deciding the winner. 7pm-8pm, 3rd Floor Auditorium. 150 Empire Street. www. provlib.org. TWIN RIVER Oct 7-8: Jeff Pirrami. Oct 14-15: Colin Kane. Oct 21-22: Melvin George II. Oct 28-29: Nick Griffin. Catch a Rising Star, 100 Twin River Road, Lincoln. www.twinriver.com
THEATRE
Bear Republic
BROWN THEATRE Thru October 9: Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Lyman Hall, 77 Waterman Street. 8633283, www.brown.edu.
Butternuts Full Sail Nectar Ale
GAMM THEATRE Thru Oct 9: Circle Mirror Transformation. 172 Exchange Street, Pawtucket. 723-4266, www.gammtheatre.org.
Thirsty Dog Mikkeller
PAWTUCKET COMMUNITY PLAYERS Oct 7- 23: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Jenks Auditorium, Division Street, Pawtucket. 726-6860, www.thecommunityplayers.org.
Delirium Trappistes Rochefort Ithaca...
PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Oct 4-9: Rock of Ages. Oct 22: Old School Block Party featuring Lenny Williams, GQ, Blue Magic & more. Oct 29: Momix: Botanica. 220 Weybosset Street. 421-2787, www.ppacri.org.
(ask about our rewards prgm)
Madeira Liquors 174 Ives Street 272-5911
SECOND STORY THEATRE Thru Oct 23: Communicating Doors. 28 Market Street, Warren. 247-4200, www.secondstorytheatre.com. RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE THEATRE Thru Oct 2: Almost Maine. Forman Theatre in the Nazarian Center Audi-
Feel Stronger. Feel great! Call uS! ■ Fully
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FRENCH-AMERICAN SCHOOL OF RHODE ISLAND learning through languages
open house 10am to 1pm Saturday, November 5, 2011 Book Fair too! We welcome non French-speaking children up to and including Kindergarten. Circle Mirror Transformation at Gamm Theatre
75 John Street, Providence, RI 02906
•
Tel 401.274 3325
•
www.fasri.org
October 2011 East Side Monthly
55
A Ve vai nd lab a R le av at iol i
Calendar
continued...
torium, 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue. 456-8144, www.ric.edu.
Staying Healthy Never Tasted So Good!
TRINITY REPERTORY COMPANY Thru Oct 9: His Girl Friday. Oct 1: Richard III presented by the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street Providence. Oct 14-Nov 13: Clybourne Park. 201 Washington Street. 3514242, www.trinityrep.com.
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56
East Side Monthly October 2011
BOTTLES FINE WINE & CRAFT BEER Thursdays: Wine Event, come enjoy a selection of fine wines and cheeses at this free weekly event. 141 Pitman Street. 372-2030, www.bottlesfinewine. com PROVIDENCE/DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET Fridays thru Oct 28: New location on the Fulton Street side of Kennedy Plaza along the tall buildings. 11-2pm. www. farmfresh.org.
FESTIVALS ALL HALLOWS EVE PSYCHIC FAIR Oct 30: This first annual event will include angel readings, tarot card readings, feng shui consultations, massage therapy, reflexology, energy modalities, seminars, vendors and more. 10am5pm. 1850 Post Road, Warwick. 7691325 x11. NEWPORT YACHTING CENTER Oct 1-2: Stop & Shop Harborfest: A Waterfront Block Party Featuring Festival Fete. Oct 8-10: International Oktoberfest. Oct 20-31: The Haunted Shipyard. 4 Commercial Wharf, Newport. 846-1600, www.newportwaterfrontevents.com. RHODE ISLAND CONVENTION CENTER Oct 7-9: The Whole Bead Show. Oct 21-23: The 16th Annual Providence Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Show. One Sabin Street. 458-6000, www.riconvention.com. SCITUATE ART FESTIVAL Oct 8-10: This annual event began in 1967 in the village of Scituate. Starting with just twelve local exhibitors that first
year, this well-established and muchanticipated event now draws close to three hundred exhibitors from all over the United States and Canada. Scituate, RI. www.scituateartfestival.org.
FOR MOVIE BUFFS THE RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL HORROR FILM FESTIVAL Oct 27-30: Including the best new independent horror films from around the globe, this year also offers an H.P. Lovecraft walking tour, a “Zombiethon” battle and classic horror films in high definition. Check website for locations. www.film-festival.org/horror_ri.
FUnDRAISERS FAMILY RESOURCES COMMUNITY ACTION Oct 15: 23rd Annual Shelter Walk to benefit the Woonsocket Shelter and homeless prevention programs. Contact Tracy Abrams for specific information at 235-6061. River Island Park, 100 Bernon Street, Woonsocket. www. famresri.org. FLAMES OF HOPE Oct 8: Enjoy the classic Providence WaterFire while benefitting cancer research at the annual Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation event. The final lighting of the season starts at 6:20pm. Waterplace Park. 2731155, www.flamesofhoperi.org. FREE TO BREATHE Oct 15: 5k run and 1 mile walk to benefit the National Lung Cancer Partnership’s research, education and awareness programs. Roger Williams Park Zoo, Carousel House, 1000 Elmwood Avenue. 608-233-3786, participate.freetobreathe.org RISE BOOTLEGGER’S BASH Oct 29: “A step back in time… A benefit for the future.” A 1920s era speakeasy style party featuring jazz, cocktails, dancing and more to benefit Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education, a nonprofit providing mentors and scholarships to children of incarcerated parents. The Hope Club, 6 Benevolent Street. 421-2010, www. risebootleggersbash.org. RUTH’S CHRIS FUNDRAISER TO BENEFIT WATERFIRE Oct 13: Head over to Ruth’s Chris downtown for a special fundraiser featuring a basin fire, Thai boat rides, good food and drinks from the restaurant and a live auction. GTECH Center, 10 Memo-
Do you have a great Dog Groomer? We’ll pay you $500 to meet them. We’re Plaid & Stripe and we own Providence’s Best Pet Shop*. We need a great groomer to join our expanding business. We’ll pay you $500 for an introduction to the groomer we hire and we’ll give them a terrific opportunity to become Providence’s Best Dog Groomer!**
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Momix: Botanica at PPAC
rial Boulevard. 272-2271. WALK THE WALK WITH ADOPTION RHODE ISLAND Oct 2: Gather your friends and enjoy a scenic 2.5-mile walk through Lincoln Woods to help raise awareness for the children in Rhode Island waiting to be adopted. Registration opens at 11am, the walk starts at 12pm. Lincoln Woods State Park, Lincoln. 865-6000, www. walkthewalkari.org.
SEASOnAL ASPIRE RESTAURANT Saturdays: Dance with Spogga Hash of WaterFire Fame, fire dancing and a mix of all styles of music and performance, every week rain or shine. 311 Westminster Street. 521-3333, www.aspirerestaurant.com. PRESCOTT FARM Oct 26: Windmill Wednesday, discover the inside of the 1812 Prescott Farm windmill then enjoy a family friendly evening with johnnycake tastings and hands-on activities. 4-6pm. 2009 West Main Road, Middletown. 849-7300. RIVERWALK: BEFORE THE FIRES ARE LIT Oct 8: Take a walking tour and learn about the history and importance of the Providence rivers. Learn about this beautiful capital city and the history of WaterFire. Sixty-minute walk departs from the John Brown House Museum at 5:30pm. 52 Power Street, Providence. 273-7507 x62, www.rihs.org.
GALLERIES BANK RI GALLERIES Thru Oct 5: Urban Landscapes: Paintings by Melissa Mastrangelo, exhibit hours Mon-Wed 8:30am-4pm Thurs-Fri 8:30am- 5pm. Turks Head Building, One Turks Head Place. 456-5015 x1330, www.bankri.com. FOXWOODS Thru Jan 15: Diana: A Celebration of Princess Diana. Great Cedar Exhibition Hall, 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket, CT. 800-200-2882, www.foxwoods.com. GALLERY NIGHT Oct 20: A fun, free educational tour showcasing artists from around the globe. Choose from the bike tour, bus tour, walking tour or pick up a program of the evening’s galleries and drive yourself to your favorites. Options available for a celebrity guide and a number of diverse local galleries. 4902042, www.gallerynight.info. GALLERY Z Thru Oct 8: Ewa Romaszewicz, The Emotional Landscape. Oct 6- Nov 5: Gagik and Hovik Dilakian, The Dilakian Brothers, Renaissance Artists Gagik and Hovik, Oct 20: Opening Reception. Oct 27: Art, Food & Wine. 259 Atwells Avenue. 454-8844, www.galleryzprov.com MUSEUM OF WORK AND CULTURE Thru Oct 30: Warren Mills Project, an imaginative blending of art and his-
Samuel Wilkey House: Charming c1794 authentic colonial in the heart of the East Side just off historic Benefit Street. Four working fireplaces, wide pine floors, 12-over-12 windows, bulls-eye windows over handsome front door, and gourmet kitchen that opens to a rear patio. $429,000. Michelle Drum, 401.848.6720, mdrum@gustavewhite.com
Constitution Hill Townhouse: Elegant single family 3-bedroom townhouse in a prime downtown location with dramatic views of the Capitol. Open plan with ample light & spacious rooms. Integral garage offers two parking spaces and add’l storage. Central air and private patio with landscaped yard. $599,000. Liz Taber, 401.447.8396, liz@gustavewhite.com
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57
Amos House Builds
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tory as a means to tell the story about the Warren Mills and their workers. 42 South Main Street, Woonsocket. 7699675, www.rihs.org.
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SANDYWOODS ARTIST CO-OP Oct 21- Nov 20: Rediscovered Returns – New Prints from Old Negatives. The “Rediscovered: Glass Negatives from Providence Public Library’s Special Collections Printed at AS220’s Paul Krot Community Darkroom” exhibit was hugely popular during it’s first public showing last year and now returns once again. 63 Muse Way, Tiverton. www. sandywoodsfarm.org.
KIDS +FAMILY ANGEL CARE MONTESSORI OPEN HOUSE Oct 22: Programs for ages 2-5 years. 10am-12:30pm. 150 Waterman Street. 273-5151, www.AngelCareMontessori. com. CLOUDS HILL VICTORIAN MUSEUM Oct 10: A Day in the Country, come enjoy carriage rides, old fashioned children’s games, a cider press demonstration, horse plowing, farm tool demonstration, secrets of canning and preserving and “be a farmer for a day” for young children. 12pm-5pm. Oct 22-23: Family Threads, a showcase of old fashioned formal wear, daytime wear, household items, lace, satin and a look at textiles through the generations. Oct 22: noon-3pm; Oct 23: noon-4pm. 4157 Post Road, Warwick. 884-9490, www.cloudshill.org. PROVIDENCE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM Oct 1-2: Balloon Badminton. Oct 4-5: Bead Bounty. Oct 6-7: Re-Construc-
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East Side Monthly October 2011
tors. Oct 8-10: Pilgrim Games. Oct 11-12: Ramps & Balls. Oct 13-14: Shape Play. Oct 15-16: No Time to Waste. Oct 18-19: Bugs in Boxes. Oct 20-21: Pulleys & Gears. Oct 22-23: Balls & Tracks. Oct 25-26: Play and Learn: Around Town. Oct 27-28: Spooky Studio. Oct 29: Boo Bash. Oct 30: Creepy Creatures. 100 South Street. 273-5437, www.childrenmuseum.org. PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Oct 1-2: Gazillion Bubble Show, bring the whole family to this magical show with Guinness Record holder Fan Yang and his amazing bubbles! 220 Weybosset Street, Providence. 4212997, www.ppacri.org. PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY Oct 15: Book & Author Event: Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman & Rebecca Jackson – Good Night Books for Parents & Children. 2-3:30pm. 150 Empire Street. 455-8000, www.provlib.org RHODE ISLAND FESTIVAL OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND AUTHORS Oct 15: Meet local and nationally acclaimed authors and illustrators featuring presentations and book signings. 9am-5pm. The Lincoln Schoool 301 Butler Avenue. www. lincolnschool.org ROGER WILLIAMS PARK ZOO Oct 6-31 Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, open nightly from 6-11pm (last entry at 10pm). Oct 29-30: Spooky Zoo, a daytime Halloween event featuring trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, live entertainment, animal encounters and more. Half priced admission for kids 12 and under who come in costume. 1000 Elmwood Avenue. 7853510, www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org.
Welcome to the
Rue De L’Espoir
Experience the Magic, Warmth and Friendship of Hamilton House
Family of Restaurants
LEARN discussion | instruction | tour DISCUSSIOn ALDRICH HOUSE Oct 13: Poet Rosemarie Waldrop reads selections from her poetic reenvisioning of Roger Williams’ 1643 text, A Key into the Language of America, highlighting the history of cultural tensions between Native communities and English colonists. 331-8575 x45. Oct 26: The Jireh Bull House at Pettaquamscutt: Archaeology of a Fortified House in Narragansett Country, a historical talk about events and intercultural interactions on the land of the Narragansett tribe. 110 Benevolent Street. 273-8107 x12, www.rihs.org. DUNKIN DONUTS CENTER Oct 3: Get Motivated Business Seminar, featuring Rudy Giuliani, General Colin Powell, Bill Cosby and many more. 8am – 4:45pm. One LaSalle Square. www.dunkindonutscenter. com. GOVERNOR HENRY LIPPITT HOUSE MUSEUM Fridays: Tour this incredible 19th century house at 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm. Adults $10, children under 12 free. Tours can also be scheduled by calling the Museum office in advance. 199 Hope Street. 272-5101, www.preserveri.org. PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY Oct 8: World Slavery: The Haitian Revolution and the Rise of American Music. This discussion and musical performance will trace the development of slavery from ancient times into the early jazz age and will show the link between American music and world history. Oct 16: Living Literature Presents Louisa May Alcott: Life Sketches & Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women – Film Showing & Book Signing with Harriet Reisen, author of Alcott’s biography. 150 Empire Street. www. provlib.org RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY Oct 29: A Walking Tour: Providence at the Time of Louisa May Alcott, a 90-minute tour that observes how Alcott changed the cultural landscape of New England in the 19th
century. See neighborhoods that were home to Alcott’s contemporaries and learn about some of her most influential relationships. To sign up visit, www.provlib.org/events.
InSTRUCTIOn
Baker Street Rue Your Neighborhood Bistro
75 Baker Street Providence, RI 02905 t. 401-490-5025 / f. 410-490-5026 open mon-fri. 7:30-4:30 sunday brunch 8-2:30
AS220 Oct 3-24: Intermediate Silkscreen. Oct 4: Open House 6pm-7pm. Saturdays Oct 15-29: Introduction to Letterpress. Oct 28: Experiments in Monoprint/Type. www.as220.org/ shop. PERISHABLE THEATRE Sundays: American Tribal Belly Dance 10am- 12pm. Intermediate Ballet for Adults 12:30pm-2pm. Wednesdays: Intermediate/Advanced Modern Dance 6:30pm-8pm. 331.2695, www. perishable.org.
95 South Street Providence, RI 02903 t. 401-490-9966 / f. 410-490-9955 open mon-fri. 7:30-3:30
Rue De L’Espoir open daily breakfast, lunch, dinner 99 Hope Street Providence, RI 02906 info/reservations 751-8890 www.therue.com
BROWN UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL Oct 1: Rhode Island (night game). Oct 8: Holy Cross. Oct 15: Princeton, Family Weekend & Homecoming. Oct 29: Penn. Brown Stadium, Elmgrove Avenue. 863-2773, www.brownbears. com. PROVIDENCE BRUINS Oct 7: St. John’s IceCaps. Oct 9: Worcester Sharks. Oct 14: Manchester Monarchs. Oct 16: Portland Pirates. Oct 21: Worcester Sharks. Oct 23: Albany Devils. Oct 28: Norfolk Admirals. Oct 30: St. John’s IceCaps. Dunkin Donuts Center, One LaSalle Square. www.providencebruins.com. PROVIDENCE COLLEGE MEN’S HOCKEY Oct 14: Boston University. Oct 15: University of Massachusetts. Oct 21-22: Minnesota Duluth. Schneider Arena, 1 Huxley Avenue. 865-2168, www.friars.com. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND FOOTBALL Oct 8: Old Dominion. Oct 22: Delaware. Meade Stadium, South Kingston. www.gorhody.com. To have your listing included in the East Side Monthly Calendar, please send press releases or event information to esm@providenceonline.com. Please send submissions at least one month prior to event date.
HAMILTON HOUSE Community Center For Active Adults 55+
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Established in 1972
Fine Arts • Yoga Personalized Computer Instruction Tai Chi • Bridge and other Games Book Club • Discussion Groups Music Programs • Billiards Room Foreign Languages Educational Presentations and Group Travel 276 Angell Street, Providence 401-831-1800 hamiltonhouse276@hotmail.com www.historichamilton.com
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Top of the East Side, next door to Rite Aid
October 2011 East Side Monthly
59
Classifieds
To place your classified ad, please call 732-3100.
Need A Tenant?
JOBS BY JIM
Cellars, Attics & Garages Cleaned
Kate C. Foster
401-477-6314 Century 21 Butterman & Kryston, Inc. A+ INTERIOR PAINTING Fine interiors. 20+ yrs. experience. Highest quality work. Many references. Fully insured. Based on the East Side. (RI Reg. #19226). Call Patrick, 226-8332. AUDIO/VIDEO HELP If you need some help with your TV, home theater or stereo, call me at 401-383-4102. Jon Bell, Simply Sight & Sound. Reasonable rates. 25 years of experience.
CEILING WORK, DRYWALL Plaster (hang, tape & paint). Water damage repair. All phases of carpentry. Reg. #24022. Fully insured. Steven, E. Prov., 401-641-2452.
DOG WALKER/PET SITTER Trained to administer medications. Reliable, bonded, references available. Home visits. Call Susan 5273914. Loves animals. DOROTHY’S CLEANING We clean your home as our own! References & free estimates. Call 401-274-7871 or 401-524-7453. EAST SIDE HANDYMAN 34 years. Repairs, upgrades & renovations. References. Insured. Reg. #3052. Call 270-3682. ELDER CARE AVAILABLE Compassionate, intelligent, mature woman seeks sleepover position with elderly person. 20 years experience. Impeccable references. Please call 781-3392 or 497-3392. ELECTRICAL SERVICES All types. New circuits. RI #A3338. MA #16083A. Insured. Larry 5292087. Also, small handyman jobs. HOUSE CLEANING Experienced. Local references. Free estimates. Call Lilly, 401-419-2933.
East Coast Mason Contractors Stamped Concrete ~ Brick Pavers Stone Walls Walkways
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Tony 821-9914 60
East Side Monthly October 2011
Reg. # 12530
HOUSECLEANER Available Crystal Clean, a quality housecleaning service. We don’t cut corners. Weekly or bi-weekly. We use environmentally friendly products. Bethany 265-0960.
KIND CARE ~ SENIORS Appointments, errands, shopping, cleaning & maint. Refs. Safety bars installed. Reg #3052. 270-3682.
WANTED GARAGE SPACE for 1 car. All or at least winter months. 401-447-5443.
I BUY BOOKS Old, used and almost new. Also buying photography, art, etc. Call 401-421-2628. jcvp@cox.net
MALIN PAINTING Most ceiling & wall repairs, wallpaper removal, oil-based and latex finishes, staining, varnishing. Fully insured, many local references. Safe, secure, fast service. Call 226-8332. Reg. #19226.
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Unwanteds Removed Small Demolitions Garages, Sheds, etc.
Cell 742-7258 Reg. #4614 Serving the East Side of Providence for over 15 years!
MASTER ELECTRICIAN Install, service, repair. Expert troubleshooting. Free detailed computerized estimate. Deal direct with owner. Lic. #AC 004110 & insured. Small jobs done promptly. All work guaranteed. Save $$$. Family owned & operated. Local resident. Calls returned immediately. 401-258-4793, John. MATH TUTOR AVAILABLE Proven results. East Side/Oak Hill. 35 years experience. Algebra I & II. SAT preparation & remediation. Call 751-4848 PARKING SPACES 126 Congdon St., $125/mo. Near Brown & RISD. Call Roger, 3394068. rogernc@mac.com PRESERVE YOUR MEMORIES Photos, slides and papers saved to CD or DVD. Comen Co., 7516200. Email: hcomen@cox.net PROACTIVE Computer Services Home or office. Computer repairs, data recovery. Fully equipped mobile service. Service calls $40/hr. Call 647-7702. www.pcsllcri.com
Classifieds
To place your classified ad, please call 732-3100.
LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
Outside & Inside Painting Clean Cellars, Yards & Garages Install Fences
Spring & Fall Cleanups Bushes Trimmed â?Š Tree Removal Pine Bark Mulch
We also Clean Apartments & Houses Specializing in Removing Boilers and Oil Tanks Bennie Woods Office 438-5708 â—? Cell 286-6338
Landscape Construction Parking Lot Cleaning Handyman â?Š 26 Years Experience
MG Landscaping 743-6015 â?Š 831-5109
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SALE! ROOFING, CHIMNEYS & Decks. Cash & carry Harvey windows, doors, patios, etc. Lic. & insured. Reg. #27807. Call Bradshaw Contr., 401-365-9194.
PROPERTY MANAGER AVAILABLE 24/7 on call. Rent collection. Rentals, evictions. Call 421-0092.
SCREEN PRINTING & Embroidery. Max Formal & Co., 1164 North Main St., Providence. 401-421-3268.
Vinny’s Landscaping
BOBCAT SERVICES
Lawns Cut -Weekly or Bi-Weekly SPREADING MY WINGS Looking for a partner for a successful, established women’s designer clothing collection shown 4 times a year in home. Must be active in community and/or professional world. 401-575-1610. STONE MASON 30 yrs. exp. Stone, brick, veneers, walls, fireplaces, patios, chimneys. Design work. Reg. #7445. Call 641-0362. lousstonework.com SUPERB HOUSEPAINTING High end workmanship. Small jobs a specialty. Call Ron 751-3242. Reg. #18128.
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497-1461 � 231-1851 USED MUSIC WANTED! Round Again Records needs your used CDs and records. Cash paid. Call 351-6292. YARD SALE Saturday, Oct. 1st., 9am-3pm. Providence Friend’s Meetinghouse, 99 Morris Ave., at Olney St. Household, furniture, clothing, books, collectibles. Bake sale.
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Please complete form and fax to 732-3110 or phone in your ad to sue at 732-3100 or email sueH@rhodybeat.com mail Payment in full tO: East Side Monthly, c/o Beacon Communications Classifieds, 1944 Warwick Ave. Warwick, RI 02889 October 2011 East Side Monthly
61
East of Elmgrove
by Elizabeth Rau | illustration by Jessica Pollak
Family Values Finding pawn shop fortunes among miscellany Pawn Stars is making us happy. There is nothing naughty about the program other than the title, which is too predictable to be offensive. It’s good family entertainment. My 10-yearold son Henry, a student of contemporary culture, discovered the show during one of his channel surfing exercises a few weeks ago. I walked into the TV room and there he was, sitting in the brown chair, remote in hand, baby blue eyes riveted to Rick “The Spotter’’ Harrison delivering the news (“first the good, then the bad’’) to the convivial woman from the Catholic charity: Yes, that’s Al Pacino’s loopy inscription in your leather-bound script of The Godfather, but, sorry, I’m only giving you 400 bucks. Tops. “Gosh,’’ the woman replied. “I can do better at the church auction.’’ When the show was over Henry asked me if I wanted a peanut and then he asked me if I wanted to watch a second episode. (All of the 100-plus shows are available to us through On Demand.) By evening’s end, we had watched four 30-minute episodes, all reruns. Oh, just one more. We even ate our dinner in the TV room. I won’t apologize. The show is what’s called in the biz a reality show. It’s probably scripted, but I don’t care. The series is filmed in Vegas at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a familyowned joint run by “The Spotter” and his dad, also known as “The Old Man,’’ a rascal with well-tended hair and snake eyes who can spot a fake Rolex a mile away. Their sidekick is Chumlee, a lovable kid who seems guileless, but is not. Everyone wears black. It’s no surprise that in this sputtering economy the show is a hit. It’s the highest-rated program on the History Channel and among the top 10 shows watched by men. I can only imagine the joy that comes from strolling into a Vegas pawn shop and discovering that that rusty buck knife from your great uncle will pay the heating bill. After our marathon session in front of the TV that evening, Henry asked if we had goods to pawn. Hmm. I thought about all that stuff I lugged home from my mother-in-law’s house on a dark and stormy night five years ago. Carol never
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East Side Monthly October 2011
threw anything out and neither did her mother, brother, uncle and aunt, so we own a truckload of fetching oddities that might interest Gold & Silver. My husband’s great uncle, Gordon Alf Lawrence Johnson, was a huge fan of the funny pages, especially the Peanuts comic strip, which he read up until the day he died at 83. He took great pleasure in giving Peanuts books and memorabilia as presents on birthdays and all the major holidays. We have a dozen or so musty-smelling books by Charles Schulz from the 1960s, as well as a porcelain bobblehead of my favorite depressive, Charlie Brown. Time has been kind to him. He has a rough patch on his big head, but otherwise is in remarkable shape. The red tag on the bottom of his stand says, “Fine Quality Lego. Japan.’’ His age is a mystery. I’m guessing 50, but I’ll leave it up to Vegas to figure out. There’s nothing better than a good signature. Reagan might titillate some; others go for Pauly D, the Johnston DJ and star of the mega-hit reality series, Jersey Shore. In our house we have Douglas Fairbanks, and his wife, Mary Pickford. In the 1920s, Fairbanks and Pickford were the Brangelina of Hollywood. Their Beverly Hills mansion was called Pickfair. Need I say more? We are in possession of five signed
photos of the stars. They came to us through Carol, who received them from her mother, Sophie Johnson. Sophie’s husband, Capt. Peder August Johnson, was a tanker captain for Esso, now Exxon, from 1920 to 1943. Family lore has it that he befriended the actors when his ship was docked in Long Beach, California, for a few days. Maybe they had a few drinks together. Captain Johnson, as smitten with the couple as the rest of the country, asked for autographs. A few weeks later, Sophie received a package in the mail at her house in Smithfield – Rhode Island, that is. “To the nautical Johnsons and their tiny crew – Best wishes from Douglas Fairbanks, 1927,’’ the mustachioed swashbuckler wrote, referring to the couple’s three children, who, in addition to Carol and Gordon, also included Stanley. (Sadly, Capt. Johnson lost his life in June, 1943, when his ship, the Esso Gettysburg, was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Savannah, Georgia, during WWII. We still have the telegram notifying Sophie of the tragic news.) Then there is the fine but gloomy art from the aforementioned Stanley. In the early 1950s, Stanley, a graduate of Brown University and raconteur fluent in Russian, worked as a reporter for
the Associated Press in Moscow. When he returned home he brought back lithographs of barges on a foggy Volga River. Is Vegas biting? What about my husband’s Great Aunt Gertrude’s glass knife? Or his Great Uncle Harry’s charming six-inch wooden ruler from the “Providence Electric Blue Printing Co., 86 Weybosset St., Providence, R.I. Established 1905.’’ What about that elegant amber cigarette holder, still in its red leather case? The chrome flour sifter from Benny’s with the 68-cent price tag intact? The boomerang from Australia? The armadillo basket? (Too dreadful to reveal details.) Maybe there’s interest in my husband’s collection of racetrack programs and losing pari-mutuel tickets from Lincoln Downs, Narragansett Park, Hialiah Park, Marshfield Fair and AK-SAR-BEN, which is Nebraska spelled backwards, a tidbit only those who know the difference between a filly and a colt will grasp. The Vegas boys look like a betting bunch, but, who knows, maybe they don’t play the horses. If that’s the case, we’ll go elsewhere. Surely Saratoga has a pawn shop. Elizabeth Rau is an East Side resident who can be reached at erau1@ verizon.net.
Join us
View complete list of events at www.ric.edu/pfa T I C K E T S W W W. R I C . E D U / P FA O R ( 4 0 1 ) 45 6 - 8 1 4 4 www.facebook.com/PerformingArtsSeries.RIC
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Loring. Majestic brick Georgian overlooking river & woods. Beautifully renovated with professional interior design. Elegant details, open layout, hardwoods, 3 fireplaces. New kitchen. Refurbished baths. Upgraded utilities. Garage. Exceptional landscaped yard! $1,375,000
Loring. Gracious 1931 Colonial overlooking Blackstone Park & the river. Spacious rooms, great flow, exceptional details, hardwoods, 2 fireplaces. Large kitchen open to sunny family room w/doors to patio & in ground pool. 5 beds on 2nd. Garage. Freshly painted!$1,250,000
Pratt. 3 levels of sophistication & style mixed with original & modern details. Roof deck overlooking city, A/C, garage. Open & airy, this impressive 4 bed, 3.5 bath renovation is a dream city house unlike any other! $995,000
Hazard. Stunning renovation of 1920 Tudor! All new interior & mechanicals! 4 bedrooms, 2 full plus 2 half baths. Beautiful original details preserved. 3 fireplaces. Outstanding custom kitchen. Finished lower. Garage. Yard. $875,000
Waterman. Incredible 2 bed, 2.5 bath Condo in the exclusive & elegant “Gammell House”. Includes 2 car garage, elevator in building, A/C, laundry room in unit, high ceilings with gorgeous moldings and details, 3 fireplaces, library & outdoor space. $849,000.
Oriole. Historic Victorian in Patterson Park. 5 beds, 3 baths, charm & attention to detail. Beautifully proportioned rooms w/high ceilings & oversized windows. Steps to Wayland Sq., the Blvd. & the river $749,000
Wayland. Stunning top-to-bottom renovation of grand duplex loaded w/period details. 4 beds, 3.5 baths. New roof, windows, A/C, heat, electric, kitchen & baths. Manicured grounds. 2 garage spaces. Steps to Wayland Square. $639,000
Thayer. Sensational! The coveted William Henry House sits on a sunny corner lot w/ many details intact. 4 fireplaces, wide pine, newer soapstone eat-in-kitchen. Walk to Universities, shopping, & Downcity. Delightful private garden oasis & parking. $549,900
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