Soundbites Extra: Of Men, Jerks and Nicki Minaj

Since I spent the bulk of my column this week reliving SXSW fun, we're busting out a special online addition to Soundbites, filling you in on all the news that wasn't fit for — or at least didn't fit in — print.

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Speaking of SXSW, I caught these guys while I was there. They rock. You should catch them when they're here this Sunday, March 25, at the Monkey House, with Nude Beach, Rough Francis and DJ Disco Phantom.

 

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And speaking of the Monkey House, it'll be awfully nice to see our old friends Crinkles, who relocated to Brooklyn from Burlington, when they hit Little Williamsburg on Tuesday, March 27, with Brenda, SpoftSpot, tooth ache. and, of course, the ubiquitous Disco Phantom. (Is it possible he is, in fact, a phantom? Dude. Is. Everywhere.)

 

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Why is being an asshole such an effective strategy for attracting the fairer sex? On “Jerk,” the lead single from their 2011 sleeper hit debut, Stephie Coplan and the Pedestrians cheekily cop to the frustrating but irrefutable fact that the quickest way to woman’s … er, heart is to have “I-don’t-give-a fuck-style.” The stylish video for that song has since gone semi-viral, rocketing the NYC trio to the top of many a “band to watch” list in 2012 and endearing them to legions of dickish lotharios and the women who love (and hate) them. This Friday, March 23, Coplan and company heat up Radio Bean. And here's that nifty video:

 

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In nonvideo news, comedian Nathan Hartswick and his wife — and fellow comedian — Natalie Miller, recently launched a podcast series as a multimedia arm of their Spark Arts venture. The latest episode features Vermont native (and, full disclosure, longtime friend of yours truly) Steve Waltien. Waltien was recently added to the Main Stage cast at Second City in Chicago, which is a big freakin' deal in improv-comedy circles. Anyway, on the podcast, Waltien talks about comedy, his career in improv and, of course, growing up in VT.

 

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Last but not least: Going to see Jay Sean this Saturday, March 24, at St. Mike's? Be sure to say hello to Rob Larow and Jeremy Skaller (ex-Belizbeha), two former Vermonters who flew the coop and made good. Larow and Skaller run Orange Factory Music, a studio and production company in NYC and have had a hand in a slew of Billboard chart-topping dance hits for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Beyoncé, as well as a bunch for Jay Sean. Here's one of them:

 

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The Vermont Brew Bracket: Results from Day 1, Voting Open for Day 2

Yesterday we kicked off the Vermont Brew Bracket with voting in half of the first-round match-ups. There are no big upsets to report so far; the higher-seeded brew won in all match-ups. Congratulations to Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout for winning with the largest margin, a 77.2% to 22.8% drubbing of McNeill's Pullman's Porter. The closest match-up popped up in the Nugget region, where Rock Art Ridge Runner edged out Zero Gravity TLA IPA by 9 percentage points.

Voting is now open for the Centennial and Simcoe regions, featuring the debut of more big Vermont beers (and Woodchuck Amber Cider, for the non-beer drinkers among us). Click here to cast your votes before the end of today.

Tomorrow we move on to the second round — the Sweet 16 Oz. The voting window for that will begin tomorrow and last through the weekend.

After the jump, see all the results from Day 1.

The Vermont Brew Bracket: Cast Your Votes

It's that time of year when just about everything gets tossed into a bracket. Here at Seven Days, we can't resist a good trend, so we thought we'd jump in with a subject near and dear to all of our hearts — local beer.

Our distinguished selection committee — staff writers Andy Bromage and Paul Heintz, food writer Corin Hirsch, and yours truly, deputy web editor Tyler Machado — put our heads together and came up with a list of 32 Vermont beers, including choices from the biggest breweries and the tiniest brewpubs. (We threw Woodchuck Amber Cider in there, too, just for you gluten-free types.)

Following in the footsteps of another big tournament that happens this time of year, we loosely ranked the beers and arbitrarily assigned them brackets named after varities of hops: Cascade, Nugget, Centennial and Simcoe.

Now, here's where you come in. Each of the beers is paired up in a head-to-head matchup, and the winner will be determined by you. We'll keep moving through the bracket, down to the "Final Pour" and on to the championship round. We'll start with first-round voting in the Cascade and Nugget regions today, followed by the Centennial and Simcoe regions tomorrow. Voting in the next round will be open all weekend.

Click here to visit the Brew Bracket page and cast your votes.

Start Your Seeds Struggle Free at the UVM Greenhouse

Aromatic purple tulips, tiny sprouting seedlings, pale-green pilot tomatoes, and hanging, spiky cacti contribute to the wondrous botanical array inside the University of Vermont Greenhouse these days. While most of the greenhouse is dedicated to ornamentals, there is banana and avocado arboriculture, too, and even a “fruit cocktail” tree — a grafted combination of peaches, plums and nectarines.

Visitors might be surprised by something else inside these transparent walls: that anyone in the community can lease greenhouse space here and start springtime seedlings for their home garden. 

Last Friday, I escaped the gray, slanting rain to tour the Main Campus Greenhouse, one of three that the university owns and operates. This branch — the only one routinely open to the public — serves an educational and social purpose that is not widely known.

My tour guide was UVM greenhouse manager Colleen Armstrong, who's had the job since shortly after construction of the building in 1992. She caught the “botany bug,” she said, at the University of Michigan, where she was the first female employee in her alma mater’s greenhouse program. 

Alice Eats: Jin Chinese Restaurant

135 E. Allen St., Winooski, 861-3338

Usually, one Chinese take-out spot is just like another. And greasy fried tidbits with gummy sauces aren't among my favorite cuisine types. But authentic Chinese flavors are one of my many culinary obsessions, so whenever I'm presented with the menu of a new Americanized Chinese eatery, I look for hints of the foods I love.

That was what brought me to Jin Chinese Restaurant in Winooski this week. The place is just a month old, and the menu is indeed more diverse than General Tso and lo mein, though the chefs do prepare both.

Some of the team worked previously at Zen Gardens in South Burlington, my go-to spot for more authentic Chinese choices in Vermont. Some trademark dishes are also available at Jin, including "Chicken Amazing" and stir-fries in Szechuan mala sauce.

I started more simply, with the pair of egg rolls that comes with any order of $10 or more.

With a thicker-than-usual wrapper, the chewy dough reminded me more of a meat pie than an egg roll. And there was more meat than I'd expect in a freebie. Finely chopped, red cha siu pork made the whole thing sweet, a nice departure from soy sauce and cabbage. I would have preferred a little less sugar, especially since it was served with a side of duck sauce. And as CKY's rappers have told us, "Only Americans eat duck sauce."

Montpelier Playwright Tackles Ridgeline Wind Debate

Feuding neighbors. Life-altering decisions. High tempers and even higher stakes. If Vermont’s pitched debate about ridgeline wind power doesn’t have the makings of a drama, I don’t know what does.

Lesley Becker thought so, too. The Montpelier playwright turned to the conversation about wind power in the Northeast Kingdom for inspiration for her latest play, Winds of Change. The play makes its debut on March 27 as part of the Fourth Tuesday Reading Series sponsored by the Vermont Playwrights Circle. 

Becker’s recipe goes something like this: Take one powerful utility company, add a landowner who has fallen on hard times, and mix. Her two-act play examines life in a town not unlike Lowell, Vt., before and after the installation of a utility-scale wind project. 

Becker stumbled on the story largely by happenstance. She works as a prevention coalition coordinator in the Northeast Kingdom, and about two years ago she was helping a group of teens in Craftsbury design a media campaign to discourage underage drinking. That’s how she found herself at a select board meeting where she heard an expert testify about the proposed Kingdom Community Wind project, now well on its way to completion.

“I was very inspired by the local people who were willing to take on this battle between the little guys and the big guys,” says Becker. She has an opinion — and not a favorable one — about the Lowell wind development, and expects that readers will pick up on the bias in her play. Becker says she didn't come at the project as journalist, but instead as a playwright trying to tease out the experiences of people living in and around the proposed project — those in favor and those against. 

Becker has been writing plays for eight or nine years, by her estimation, though she established a background in theater earlier in her life. She turned her back on that world for a time, disillusioned about theater’s relevancy.

“It seemed like theater was very far from what was important to anybody and what could make a difference,” she says.

She’s changed her tune now, having regained some faith in what the medium — and, she hopes, Winds of Change — can do. 

“I want to try to honor the people [in Lowell], and shed some light on the issues,” Becker says. “It would be very powerful and effective if it got out to enough people to be educational.”

Becker’s play will be read by a contingent of actors on March 27 at 7 p.m. at the Lost Nation Theater in Montpelier. The event is free and open to the public.

Photo by Kathryn Flagg

T.J. Donovan To Run for Attorney General — Will Challenge Sorrell In Democratic Primary

It’s official: Chittenden County States Attorney T.J. Donovan will challenge seven-term incumbent Attorney General Bill Sorrell, setting up a potentially divisive primary for the state’s highest law enforcement position.

“I believe it’s time for a change,” Donovan tells Seven Days. “Vermont today faces new challenges. With these challenges comes the need for new leadership. I believe it’s time for new ideas, new energy and greater engagement from the office of the attorney general.”

Donovan was elected to a second term as state’s attorney of Vermont’s most populous county in 2010. Long-viewed as among the more ambitious politicians in the state, Donovan took a pass on the Burlington mayor’s race last fall and on running for lieutenant governor in 2010.

“I think Bill has done some things very well: tobacco, auto emissions,” says Donovan about his opponent. “And while tobacco was the number one public health issue when that case was settled in the 1990s and is still a public health issue, I think the number one public health issue today is prescription drug abuse. That will be one of my priorities as attorney general.”

Sorrell was appointed attorney general in 1997 by former governor Howard Dean, for whom he also served as Secretary of Administration. He has not faced a serious challenge since. Sorrell also served two stints as Chittenden County State’s Attorney.

Last week, before Donovan formally entered the race, Sorrell said about his potential opponent, “I think he’s done a lot of very good work in Chittenden County, the busiest court in the state with the most diverse population in the state.”

“I’m looking forward to defending my record,” he added.

In Race's Final Days, Burlington Mayoral Candidates Poured on the Cash

In the closing days of the most expensive mayor’s race in Burlington’s history, two of the candidates — and one political party — continued to pour cash into their campaigns.

According to filings due Friday, Democrat Miro Weinberger, who won by 20 percent, raised $16,469 and spent $25,050 in the last week and a half of the race. The Vermont Democratic Party spent another $8,631 on his behalf during that period.

In total, Weinberger and his party raised $143,940 and spent $140,118 on the campaign, dwarfing all previous records. Close to $50,000 of that was spent on a heated four-way race for the Democratic nomination last fall.

Republican Kurt Wright also continued to raise and spend in the closing days of the race. He took in $11,694 and spent $18,074 in the same period. In total, he raised $60,358 and spent $58,261 on the campaign. Wright received no help from the state GOP and ran uncontested for his party’s nomination.

Independent Wanda Hines raised and spent just $2,930. Though she came in a distant third, Hines certainly got the best bang for her buck. She spent just $5.80 per vote, while Wright spent $15.55 and Weinberger spent $24.15 per vote.

Most voters, one might imagine, would have preferred a check in the mail.

Given that candidates don’t have to report what they raised or spent in the campaign’s final days until after voters head to the polls, post-election filings tend to include a few goodies. This batch is no exception.

"Death With Dignity" Bill on Life Support

A right-to-die bill was near death in Montpelier on Friday after failing to make it out of committee by the mid-session "crossover" deadline.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to vote on the contentious "death with dignity" bill Friday morning following an emotional three-hour hearing on Wednesday. But the vote was cancelled because one of the committee members, state Sen. Alice Nitka (D-Windsor), was hospitalized last night after falling six feet off a staircase at an apartment she rents with two other lawmakers.

Nitka's absence didn't change the bill's fate: she was opposed, as were two other members of the five-member Judiciary Committee. A 2-2 tie would have effectively killed the bill in committee.

But committee chairman Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington, pictured), who opposes the bill, felt it wouldn't be right to vote on the legislation without Nitka present. Sears held firm despite pressure from Gov. Peter Shumlin, a backer of "death with dignity," to vote the bill out of committee with an "adverse" recommendation so that the full Senate could debate it. Sears conferred with Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell and determined that was the "wrong thing to do."

Backers of the bill said they are prepared to fight for the vote on the Senate floor this year, but the prospects for that happening appeared uncertain.

Grazing: Tucking In at Tuckerbox

There are lotsa lovely cafés in the Burlington area, and I surf them in a circuit whenever I try to come up with decent prose outside the office. Even after 14 months here, though, my favorite place to caffeinate and attempt to look busy is still a few miles away — well, about 90 miles, on a corner with a view of often-deserted railroad tracks.

For years, the building at the confluence of North and South Main in White River Junction was either a food incubator or a cursed space, depending on perspective. For a blip in time it was A Taste of Africa, which went on to become a local catering powerhouse. Then it became Como Va, an Italian place that suffered from the sleepy WRJ after-dark trade. Eric Hartling, who owns Tip Top Café down the road, took over the space in 2008 and turned it into Tuckerbox.

I'm still no sure what a Tuckerbox is, and after years of going here, I may never know. For me, the word conjures brick walls and the rumble of a bean grinder and a massive, communal farm table covered in the scattered remnants of three daily newspapers; a quartet of comfy, cracked leather chairs, a chalkboard sometimes etched with irreverent scrawl, and floor-to-ceiling windows that let you watch every move in this berg that usually feels a bit too small. (If you live in the Upper Valley, it's hard to come here without running into someone you know.)

Tuckerbox seems to serve as a virtual office for every creative type in the area, from cartoon studies students to web designers to furrowed-brow writers. We park ourselves in its midst (if we can find a seat) to tap away on our keyboards or hold impromptu meetings. An extra perk is that the food is so damned fresh and delicious — carrot-ginger muffins, tangy soups (there's a split pea and garlic), towering BLTs, almost-neon-fresh salads — that if I'm nearby, I rush to get here before the kitchen closes at 2. Then I finish off with oversized cups of bracingly strong coffee (roasted by Vermont Coffee Company) or White Heron Tea from New Hampshire. Or just linger — no one at the mellow Tuckerbox ever seems to mind WiiFi or outlet use or abuse, which may help explain why seats become scarce.

There used to be beignets, too, but they're a distant memory. I'm not quite sure why they disappeared from the menu. You can still start your day with a peanut-butter-and-bacon sandwich, though. But who gets up that early?