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Adoption Option
The Pottery Invitational returns to the Worcester Center for Crafts. PROMOTIONAL
Pottery Invitational at Craft Center
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The Worcester Center for Crafts presents its annual Pottery Invitational, providing an opportunity for everyone from pottery aficionados to the casually interested to discover an accomplished group of American ceramic artists and to shop their beautiful wares. Juried this year by returning guest curator, Lindsay Oesterritter, the Invitational will feature a limited selection of works from nationally recognized artists from across the country, demonstrating the breadth of the ceramic field. Pottery will be for sale both in-person and online through the Gallery Store. What: Pottery Invitational — Worcester Center for Crafts When: Now through May 7 Where: Online and in store. Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester. Gallery Store hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; closed Sunday and Monday. www.worcestercraftcenter.org
Medium Tyler Henry brings ‘Hope and Healing’ to Hanover
Tyler Henry is known as the “Hollywood Medium” and he may have some messages when he comes to The Hanover Theatre & Conservatory for the Performing Arts with his show “An Evening of Hope and Healing.” Henry is the star of the NETFLIX series “Life After Death with Tyler Henry,” and E! Entertainment’s “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry.” He has given private readings to A-list celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Sophia Vergara, Howie Mendel, Jim Parsons, RuPaul, Allison Janney, Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian, among others. During “An Evening of Hope and Healing,” Henry shares stories about his journey, and audience members get the chance of their own live reading and having their questions answered. What: Tyler Henry — “An Evening of Hope and Healing” When: 7 p.m. May 6 Where: The Hanover & Conservatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester How much: $85, $60, $48 and $38. (877) 571-7469; www.TheHanoverTheatre.org
Tyler Henry JOANNA DEGENERES PHOTOGRAPHY
ADOPTION OPTION
Jitterbug is available for adoption through WARL. SUBMITTED
Meet Jitterbug
Meet Jitterbug! This fun loving young gal is ready to leap into your hearts and receive some love! Jitterbug is outgoing, playful and loves a good game of fetch. Jitterbug has become a favorite among our dedicated volunteers who walk her, play fetch with her and often simply enjoy relaxing outdoors with her. The one thing Jitterbug does not enjoy is being around other dogs. She is doing very well on walks with seeing dogs at a distance and receiving treats from our training team. However, physical interaction with other dogs is not something Jitterbug is comfortable with. So, if your house doesn’t feel like a home without a dog, Jitterbug may be the girl for you. To learn more about this beauty or to schedule an appointment to meet with her, please email dogs@worcesterarl.org
Adoption Option is a partnership with the Worcester Animal Rescue League highlighting their adoptable pets. Check this space often to meet all of the great pets at WARL in need of homes. WARL is open seven days a week, noon-4 p.m., 139 Holden St. Check them out online at Worcesterarl.org, or call at (508) 853-0030.
COVID-19 Protocols: The Worcester Animal Rescue League remains closed to walk-in visits with the animals and appointments must be made, in advance, to meet with any of the animals. Masks are required. Visit https://worcesterarl.org/ for more information.
Cannabis
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While cannabis retailers in Massachusetts are allowed to sell accessories such as bongs, vaporizers and the like, their selection is generally much smaller than what’s available at Green Zone. This results in nearby dispensaries often referring their customers over to the shop to purchase various devices to consume their cannabis.
But perhaps the most important impact of legalization for employees of head shops like Ethan is the fact that they can now freely discuss the products they are selling to customers, allowing them to use precise language to make sure they are getting exactly what they are looking for.
“You can say bong now. You can say weed. You don’t have to say water pipes, or tobacco use only.”
The concept of a head shop dates back to the mid 1960s, when they first stopped popping up in places like New York’s West Village and San Francisco. Like modern head shops, these businesses were not strictly selling marijuana-related items; they were also social hubs and places for purchasing underground publications, comic books and records.
As the general crackdown on hippie culture began in the Nixon era, head shops frequently became the target of police raids, whether it be for selling drug paraphernalia, or materials deemed to violate local obscenity laws.
The crackdown on head shops really ramped up in the early 2000s, when George W. Bush’s killjoys over at the Drug Enforcement Administration got involved. Two nationwide stings — dubbed Operation Headhunter and Operation Pipe Dreams by the guy in charge of silly operation names over at the Department of Justice — resulted in the arrest of 53 people at various shops and paraphernalia companies across the country. The most famous victim of these raids was comedian and actor Tommy Chong, who received nine months in federal penitentiary for selling bongs on the internet.
Head shops remain a frequent target for law enforcement even today in states that lack legal cannabis, which explains why shops in places like North Carolina continue to police their customers' language while in the store. Many of these establishments sell products containing delta-8-THC, a cannabis-derived compound that gives users a somewhat similar experience to delta-9-THC, the most famous member of the cannabinoid family. The legality of delta-8 is a gray area in many jurisdictions.
So remember this if you hit the roads this summer and decide to check out a head shop to purchase some local glass: Check the state’s laws before saying the B word. Until other states decide to join Massachusetts and leave their prohibitionists past behind, head shops in other states will have to keep policing language and keep a wary eye out for police raids. They also have to keep waiting for the many benefits that ancillary cannabis businesses such as head shops see from legalization.
Box office
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rors “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.” The film’s path to profitability was unlikely even before launching in theaters, but it opened on the higher side of expectations with $12million in ticket sales. It added $6.3million internationally in 26 territories.
“The Northman” stars Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicole Kidman star in a brutal and bloody revenge saga.
“First and foremost, we wanted to work with Robert Eggers,” said Lisa Bunnell, head of distribution for Focus, which had handled international distribution for Eggers’ first two films. “The key here is that we got to make a film that we wanted to make with a filmmaker we feel is part of the future of American cinema. He’s got a very distinctive voice. He’s making film with original IP, not just going in: ‘Let’s make a sequel!’”
Meanwhile, a new installment in a once all-powerful brand, the Harry Potter spinoff “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” fell off a cliff in its second weekend in theaters. The Warner Bros. release, the third “Fantastic Beasts” movie, dropped 67% in it second week with $14million. That’s a bad sign for the future of the franchise, should it be continued by Warner Bros. (The studio has thus far held off on greenlighting a fourth film.) Still, “Secrets of Dumbledore,” last week’s top film, is doing better overseas. International sales of $213.2million account for the lion share of the film’s $280.3million global haul.
Lionsgate’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a gonzo meta comedy starring Cage as an exaggerated version of himself, opened with an estimated $7.2million. The film, which first launched to warm reviews out of South by Southwest, will depend on good word of mouth to approach netting its $30million budget.
That’s the kind success that “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has had. The A24 release, a madcap metaverse fantasy starring Michelle Yeoh, has been one of the brightest signs for the specialty film business, another sector of the industry that struggled theatrically during the pandemic. In its fifth week, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” grossed $5.4million, a drop of just 12% from the week prior.
But the biggest breakthrough in theaters this April has been for family moviegoing. It’s good timing for the film industry, which will this week convene in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, the annual convention and trade show for trumpeting theatrical exhibition. Expect plenty of proclamations that movie theaters are back.
Podunk
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“If we let him out in the taproom, he would be on everyone’s table,” she said. “We don’t let him in when we’re open. We had a couple of times we thought people would think he were a stray and take him home. He’ll jump right in your car. He’s really sweet; he’s more like a dog.”
Celebrating all pets rescued and soon-to-be rescued, Timberyard hopes to use Podunk’s birthday to shine a light on Second Chance’s mission and raise money for the shelter. Second Chance, 111 Young Road East, needs a new roof, as well as a van to transport animals. And the shelter will be at Timberyard all day with pets available for adoption. Party-goers can donate to Second Chance directly or by purchasing raffle tickets. Timberyard has put together three prize packages worth a combined $625 and buying five tickets gets you a Podunk T-shirt.
At noon, the brewery will cut Podunk’s cake. Grafton’s Quite Fetching Barkery and Pet Boutique baked the special dessert for Podunk using rice flower, beet juice and beet powder, with dollops of yogurt, cod skins and salmon sprinkles as toppings. Don’t worry, there will be human cake, too.
“I think we might actually even bring a little ice cream for Podunk, as well, so he can have an a la mode cake. That is a goat’s milk ice cream with Screaming Bonito fish flakes in it. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?” said Quite Fetching co-founder Emily Ascolillo-Downey.
I will be celebrating National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day with my own two black cats, Vivian and Victoria. My fiancé adopted them in 2017 from the MetroWest Humane Society in Ashland. Sisters, they both have their own multifaced personalities: Vivi loves affection at every turn and, like Podunk, is sometimes more dog than cat; Victoria is skittish, sweet and comes around every so often demanding your attention and pets.
My cats won’t be attending Podunk’s birthday, but at least one other rescue cat may. Timberyard sent an invite to another well-known brewery cat, Jimmy, of Redemption Rock Brewing Co. in Worcester.
This Week’s Answer
