Dancer Finds Legs in 'Diagnosis of a Faun'

I left the performance of Diagnosis of a Faun at Middlebury College last weekend exhilarated, but with lots of questions: what did it all add up to? Could it stand alone as a work of art without its inspiring back story? How much faun sex is too much faun sex? 

I was sure about one thing: the human body is awesome.

The hour-long show opens with Gregg Mozgala, the faun, sprawled in a loincloth across a huge Astroturf-covered rock, surrounded by birch trees. He starts to move, stretching, writhing, getting acquainted with his body, as if he's just woken up and is amazed to have one at all.

Here’s where it’s necessary to know the back story: Mozgala has cerebral palsy. A New York City actor, he had never danced before the choreographer, Tamar Rogoff, noticed him in a production of Romeo and Juliet. She asked him to work with her. He told her she was crazy. She persisted. He caved. Two years of rehearsals and intensive bodywork later, they had Diagnosis of a Faun — and Mozgala’s disabled body had a nearly miraculous new range of movement.

Dean Denies Rumor He'll Challenge Obama in 2012

Former Gov. Howard Dean is denying rumors that he's gearing up to challenge Pres. Barack Obama in the 2012 Democratic primary.

A widely-read political column posted on Politico today ("In 2010, could Dean beat Obama?" by Roger Simon) is raising new speculation that Dean, still a powerful voice among progressive Democrats, is laying the groundwork for a primary challenge.

Here's an excerpt from the column:

President Barack Obama sounded humble, almost meek, Wednesday at his news conference. “No one party will be able to dictate where we go from here,” he said. “We must find common ground.”

Howard Dean took a somewhat different tone on the phone with me the same day. “If Republicans think we’re going to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid and give tax cuts to those making a million dollars a year, we will wrap that around their necks and beat the hell out of them in 2012.”

Finding common ground with Republicans versus strangling and beating the hell out of Republicans — which one do you think an angry and dispirited Democratic Party might go for?

Both men were thinking about 2012, and Obama’s people have long been thinking — grimly — about Dean.

Some of the most influential members of Team Obama do not like or trust Dean and have long feared he would challenge Obama for the presidency if only given an opportunity.

So, is Dean trying to pressure Obama from the left as a way to possibly challenge Obama in 2012? Nope, says the former five-term governor.

"Neither. The reporter essentially re-arranged quotes and made this up. I am not running. Period," Dean told Seven Days via email.

Entergy Makes it Official: Vermont Yankee is For Sale

Entergy made it official this morning: They are exploring the sale of Vermont Yankee.

In an announcement posted to Entergy's website this morning, the company said, "The sale process is being conducted on a confidential basis and no additional details will be released at this time. While no decision has been made to sell the plant, the company expects interest from multiple parties," the company noted.

Entergy bought the plant back in 2002 for $145 $180 million. A possible sale of Vermont Yankee has been rumored for weeks and became a campaign issue when Democrat Peter Shumlin, now Governor-elect Shumlin, was circumspect when asked if he could support VY's continued operation if it was sold to a new owner.

Shumlin's opposition to VY's operation beyond 2012 was a key factor to his primary win. He led the effort in April in the Vermont Senate to ensure the plant was shut down as scheduled in two years.

Election Analysis: Don't Play with Fire

If there is any takeaway from Tuesday's elections in Vermont it's this: Don't play with fire.

The governor's race was always Republican Brian Dubie's to lose. Why? He was essentially running as the incumbent — a well-liked lieutenant governor who was the heir apparent to a popular chief executive, Gov. Jim Douglas. In recent polls, Douglas maintains approval ratings in the high 50s, which is rather remarkable given he's been in office almost eight years and has done battle with a very Democratically-controlled Legislature.

In any event, it was his to lose and he did, though not by much.

Shumlin ran an aggressive, smart ground game that, coupled with a strong Democratic get-out-the-vote effort, easily beat back the Dubie campaign's 100,000 door knocks and 11,000-plus Facebook friends.

Chalk that up to homegrown campaign manager Alex MacLean (more on her later).

Word Cloud from the Election Night Live Blog

Last night's live blog generated 2830 comments from our readers. This morning, I plugged the text from all of those comments into Wordle.net, and came up with some neat word visualizations. You can try it, too, if you want. Click here for Wordle.net, click here to download viewer comments. Another of my Wordles.

The Morning After: An Early Recap of Election Eve Results

*** UPDATE: Brian Dubie has conceded. Peter Shumlin will be the next governor of Vermont. Click here for archived video of Dubie's concession speech, and scroll down for more from the Dubie campaign.***

**UPDATE #2: Peter Shumlin declared victory before a raucous crowd of supporters at the Hilton in Burlington. He thanked Dubie for his graciousness and service along with family and campaign manager Alex MacLean. He then spoke to the challenges & opportunity ahead.***

The electoral tidal wave that swept Republicans into power in the U.S. House barely landed on Vermont's shores.

In the main event — the race for Vermont governor — early returns ran heavily in favor of Republican Brian Dubie, but as the night wore on Democrat Peter Shumlin began to close the gap. Before midnight, he had passed Dubie and remained ahead.

The night felt a lot like the five-way Democratic primary, but with fewer lead changes between the top vote-getters. The morning after feels a lot like the Democratic primary, too. We just don't know for sure who won as results from about 20 towns were missing as of about 5 a.m.

With almost 95 percent of the returns in, WCAX is reporting Shumlin is ahead of Dubie by a 113,260 to 108,892.

Election Night 2010 Live Blog

***UPDATE: 10/3, 1:10 a.m.***

We shut down the live blog at 1:00 a.m. Thanks to our panelists, the many sources who gave us results, and especially to everyone who stopped by to chat with us, many of whom stuck it out until the bitter end.

The governor's race is too close to call right now, but WCAX is reporting that Democrat Peter Shumlin leads Republican Brian Dubie by about 4500 votes with 94.4% of precincts reporting results. Stay tuned for more coverage in the morning.

******

We've been hosting CoverItLive election-night live blogs at Seven Days for a few years now — it seems like every media outlet in the state has picked up on this trend, probably because CoverItLive is free, and easy to use and basically awesome. So you'll have a number of live chats to choose from tonight.

Why should you hang out with us? Because this time around, we decided to try something a little different. In addition to Seven Days' news team, this live blog will feature commentary and analysis from observers on the ground all over the state, including Angelo Lynn (Addison Independent), Jeff Potter (The Commons, Brattleboro), Ethan Dezotelle (ethaninenosburg.com), Neil Goswami (Bennington Banner), Geoffrey Norman (Vermont Tiger), Jess Wilson (CCTV), Meghan O'Rourke (CCTV), Ed Adrian (Burlington City Councilor) and Kevin Ellis (Kimball Sherman Ellis). We even invited a "court jester" to entertain us — Vermont Comedy Diva Josie Leavitt.

And of course, we'll be streaming tweets and reports from news organizations around the state.

I won't claim that our coverage will be the state's most comprehensive, but I'm hoping that it's the most entertaining. I mean, we're all just sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for numbers. Might as well have fun while we wait, right? -- Cathy Resmer, Seven Days online editor/associate publisher

Alice Eats: Rotisserie Restaurant

1355 Williston Road, South Burlington, 802-658-1838

Usually I'm the one telling my co-workers about great restaurant deals. Not this time. I'm giving credit for this particular discovery to Robyn Birgisson, an account executive here at Seven Days.

A few months ago, I tried the Rotisserie for the first time. The place's forty-year history and old school Burlingtonian-clubhouse feel drew me in. The bacon-wrapped filet I tried was very satisfying, too. But when I told Robyn about my meal, she looked at me like I was an idiot. Then she explained the wonders of the Rotisserie steak sandwich. Eight ounces of prime rib or New York strip over bread, with gravy on the side, all for less than $14. Brilliant. Why drop more than $20 for a steak, when I could get almost the same amount of meat for so much less?

F-35 Opposition Rallies Outside Leahy's Office

*** UPDATED BELOW, with comments from Leahy's spokesman ***

Photos and text by Seven Days contributing writer Kevin J. Kelley.

An angry crowd assembled outside Senator Patrick Leahy's Burlington office yesterday on the eve of the election.

No, it wasn't a Tea Party contingent protesting the “socialist” voting record of one of the more progressive U.S. senators. It was a leftist segment of Leahy's constituency that might be expected to agree with him on many issues but is vocally opposed to his efforts to base F-35 stealth fighters at Burlington International Airport.

“I especially find the argument of Senator Leahy that this is good for jobs to be very offensive and not true,” said UVM English professor Nancy Welch.

Old North End resident Peggy Luhrs shouted through a bullhorn that Vermont's congressional representatives “celebrate bringing home the bacon or pork with a murder weapon that would be based in Vermont.”

Many of the 65 or so demonstrators gathered in Courthouse Plaza on Main Street alongside the “democracy puzzle” sculpture were incensed that Leahy had spurned their requests for a personal meeting on the planned F-35 deployment.

Dubie, Shumlin Make Last Ditch Efforts to Boost Turnout

It all began in January 2009 when the first Democrat announced he was running for governor, just days before Gov. Jim Douglas was sworn into office for the fourth time.

The Democrat was Sen. Doug Racine, the man Douglas defated in 2002.

Now here we are — 22 months later — and it's come down to a near dead heat between Republican Brian Dubie and Democrat Peter Shumlin. See my predictions below the jump.

Shumlin was the last to get into the race — officially — among the Democrats, but he managed to beat Racine by 203 votes in a five-way primary. Racine requested a recount, which took less than a week to complete.

Dubie leapt into the race only after Douglas decided he wouldn't opt for a fifth term. Other Republicans flirted with the idea, including Auditor Tom Salmon (who had just left the Democratic Party), former Ambassador Rodolphe "Skip" Vallee, among others.

Both Shumlin and Dubie held rallies today to pump up the faithful. Vice President Joe Biden stumped in Vermont for Shumlin. I posted a video of Shumlin and Biden's speeches in two parts: Part One & Part Two.

About 500 people crammed into a cordoned off section of the Patrick Gymnasium — a rather small crowd given the main attraction was a sitting vice president. Biden, too, at times seemed like he was having an intimate chat with friends over a coffee than in a roomful of people who wanted to be, well, inspired.