On the Road: Art in the Berkshires

Last week, we made our third visit to North Adams in the past year.  As always, the trip revolved around the art at Mass MoCA and the hot tub and heated pool at Porches Inn.  Current exhibits at the museum...

Dirty Disorderly: Contemporary Artists on Disgust:

Belly of a Gracier by Ohan Breiding:

This Is Not a Gag by Richard Nielsen:

Cultural Apothecary by Alison Pebworth:

As noted previously, I've been trying to figure out the vibe of North Adams.  The museum is housed in an old factory, the unusual design and configuration of the buildings themselves playing a crucial role in the overall aesthetic experience.  This visit, I realized that it's not just the museum.  Restaurants, bars and coffeehouses have reclaimed the old industrial buildings, too.  Porches occupies former middle-management houses.  In effect, the entire town has taken on the feeling of an art installation.  A glimpse of Bright Ideas Brewing for reference:

On the way home, we stopped at Clark Art Institute in Williamstown.  Affectionately known as The Clark, it is another of the Berkshires "Big 3" art museums.  (The third is the Williams College Museum of Art, also in Williamstown.  We'll save that one for another time.).  The Clark is a legacy of the vast wealth and astonishing art collection of the Clark family, heirs to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune.  The art itself draws from the traditional masters, though the building itself, designed by Daniel Perry, is quite modern indeed.  A couple of my favorites from the permanent collection:

The Cliffs at Étretat by Claude Monet

Woman with a Parrot by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta 

The museum includes a great deal of silver works, including a few pieces by famous American Revolutionary Paul Revere (and some by his father).  With the 250th anniversary of Lexington & Concord, it was a big week for Revere enthusiasts.  Portsmouth has Revere connections, too.

Sugar Bowl and Cover by Paul Revere, Jr.

The library has its own Paginations exhibit series, currently featuring A-Z: Alphabetic Highlights from the Library's Special Collections.

Forced to choose, I'll take Mass MoCA over The Clark.  All else being equal, I'll take modern over classical.  I like weird.  The proximity of Mass MoCA to lodging and restaurants also makes for a more satisfying travel experience overall.  Even so, The Clark is definitely a satisfying side adventure.

Star Trek: Alliances

Episode: "Alliances"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 14

Original Air Date: January 22, 1996

via Memory Alpha

The Kazon are making life pretty rough for Voyager's crew.  Continuous attacks are costing lives and repeatedly exacting damage to the ship.  Times are getting desperate.  If something isn't done, the mission to get home may be doomed.  Against her better judgement, and in clear defiance of the Prime Directive, Captain Janeway pursues an alliance with one of the Kazon factions, beginning with the Nistrim, Culluh and Seska's band.  In the process, our heroes encounter the Trabe, the sworn enemies of all Kazon.  That's when things really get complicated.

Once again, we have an episode which I like while most critics are at best, indifferent.  For me, "Alliances" hits on all the dilemmas that had the potential to make Voyager, the series, truly great.  The worries over getting home bump heads with Starfleet absolutes and much of the split is along Federation/Maquis lines.  There are a few surprises on the character moral spectrum as Tuvok reveals openness to the idea of an alliance.  The Trabe's history with the Kazon turns out to be a lot more complicated than initially assumed.  In the end, nothing really changes.  But asking the questions is important.  Janeway's episode-closing lecture is a bit over-the-top preachy but Trek often fumbles on that play.

Overall, this is good stuff.  More, please.

Acting Notes

via Charmed Wiki

Raphael Sbarge played the part of Michael Jonas, a crew member whose treacherous tale is just beginning.  Sbarge was born in New York City, February 12, 1964.  He was born to theater people, his mother a costume designer, his father a stage director.  He was named after the Renaissance painter Raphael.  He made his screen debut at five years old on Sesame Street.

Especially given the family connections, it's not surprising that stage success came first.  He performed in Henry IV, Part 1 at Shakespeare in the Park, then made his Broadway debut at 19 in The Curse of an Aching Heart.  Film credits include Risky Business, Independence Day and Pearl Harbor.  On television, he has had principal cast roles on The Guardian, Once Upon a Time and Murder in the First.

Sbarge is also a director.  His documentary LA Foodways was nominated for an Emmy in 2019.

On the Road: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Boiled lobster at Water View Grill

I love the ocean.  The ocean is endless possibility.  The ocean is beauty, power and life.  It is the unknown and the unknowable, its depths the earthly realm most inaccessible to humanity.

I enjoy being in a place with deep connections to the sea.  A nautical community has an entirely different vibe from what I've experienced for most of my life.  Yes, I grew up in a tiny state - Maryland - with over 3,000 miles of coastline, the highest coastline-to-area ratio of any state in the US (depending how you measure).  Between the Chesapeake, the Atlantic and the Potomac, Maryland often feels like it's more water than land.  But I grew up well inland and family vacations more frequently took us towards woods and mountains.  They still do.  

Oysters at Row 34

Proximity to the ocean inspires romantic longings for an historic past rather than a personal one.  I'm currently reading Moby Dick, too, which feeds my faux nostalgia.  A beach has its place but it's not what I'm after when I visit the coast.  I want a view of a serene harbor, the salty air in my nose and a boiled crustacean in front of me along with the crude implements required to eat it.  I want the iconography of the sea on the signs around town.  I want time in a place like Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Tide clock

We went to Portsmouth for the first time 22 years ago for an anniversary weekend.  I planned the adventure without telling my wife where we were going.  We hadn't been back until this past weekend.

South Meeting House

South Street & Vine (left) and Sanders Fish Market

Portsmouth is a small city with a population of 22,733 and manageable on foot.  Lots of clapboard on the older buildings, especially close to the shore.  I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition between the hippie vibe of the local community and the trappings of a working harbor, the huge road salt mounds in clear view from the yoga studios.  

Portsmouth is sort of a smaller version of Portland, Maine, a city we agree that we prefer.  It's easier to imagine going back to Portland simply because there would be more to do in a larger community.  But I can't deny the quieter, more manageable charms of Portsmouth.

Star Trek: Prototype

Episode: "Prototype"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 13

Original Air Date: January 15, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes discover a robot floating in space.  B'Elanna Torres gets to play miracle worker multiple times this episode.  First, she revives the robot which identifies itself as automated unit 3947.  Soon after, 3947 kidnaps our favorite engineer and coerces her into helping his robot companions develop new units, a clear violation of the Prime Directive.  The Voyager crew must save Torres and hopefully she will find a way to complete her assigned task without upsetting the power balance of the Delta Quadrant.

Tall order for all involved.

I enjoy this episode very much, going against the grain of conventional reviews, both internally and externally.  Many within the creative staff, including executive producer Jeri Taylor, pushed against the story idea initially, feeling that robots turned evil was an old sci-fi trope, not Trek enough.  Plus, the robots themselves turned out rather boxy - again, old school.

These are the very reasons I like it.  First of all, the Trek precedent for war machines turning against their creators is strong, going all the way back to "The Doomsday Machine" from the original series.  If one wants political metaphor from Star Trek - and I do - what better representation is there for our own military industrial complex, still alive and well 64 years after Eisenhower warned us about it?

And I like the clash between Trek philosophy and classic sci-fi anxieties.  The creation turning against its creator goes back to Frankenstein, at least.  That basic industrial age fear is exactly why Isaac Asimov invented his Three Laws of Robotics for his own stories.  A confrontation with Trek's Prime Directive is natural and deeply interesting.  At least, it is to me.

Plus, "Prototype" is a great Torres development episode.  We see her inventiveness, her determination, her grit and her compassion all at once.

Once again, I need a few episodes like this to make up for all the Data and Q stories other people love and I don't.

Acting Notes

There are four robot characters with lines in "Prototype" but only two actors performing those four characters.  Rick Worthy played 3947 and Cravic 122.  Hugh Hodgin played 6263 and Prototype.

via Battlestar Wiki

Richard Worthy was born in Detroit, March 12, 1967.  He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.  "Prototype" was one of 15 Trek appearances.

Most of Worthy's high-profile work has been on television.  Science fiction has been particularly kind.  He made eight appearances as Simon O'Neill in the later Battlestar Galactica series.  He was a series regular on both The Magicians and The Magnificent Seven.  Guest appearances include The Man in the High Castle, Heroes and Supernatural.  Films include While You Were Sleeping, Star Trek: Insurrection and Holes.  

Squid Eats: Highland Center for the Arts

I wouldn't normally categorize a small town performing arts center as a dining destination.  But most small town performing arts centers aren't like Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro, Vermont.  First off, I'm not kidding about "small town."  Greensboro boasts a population of just over 800.  That's two zeroes - no typo.  This tiny, remote community has quite a lot going for it including Hill Farmstead Brewery, genuinely one of the best beer producers in the world, and Jasper Hill Farm which has won global awards for its cheese.  So while there aren't many people, the community does have money and they use it to support the arts.

The Highland Center for the Arts (HCA) opened in 2017.  A lot of small towns in New England have what are called "opera houses" which are actually decades-old vaudeville venues.  The HCA follows somewhat in that tradition but with a significant upgrade in style (and monetary investment).  It's still charmingly small.  The main theater only seats 300, though in multiple tiers so it feels more spacious - intimate without feeling cramped.  

For Friday night's Le Vent du Nord concert, the HCA hosted a dinner beforehand.  The set up felt like a country potluck, though all of the food was provided by the HCA kitchen: meat pies, multiple salad options, chips and various dips, a few desserts and so on.  It all seemed homemade but wasn't really - a good thing.

It's also smart.  A town of 800 people can't support much in the way of restaurants.  Nearby communities are similarly small with limited offerings.  So if you're trying to encourage people to come out for a show, feeding them is a wise move.  There was an extra cost for dinner tickets: $22 per person.  Drinks (including Hill Farmstead beer, naturally) were extra.  Well worth it, I think.

The show itself was great.  Le Vent du Nord (French: the wind of the north) is a five-piece Quebecois folk band.  If you can imagine a French Canadian version of the Chieftans, you've about got it.  A lot of their music is traditional but they have original songs in their set list, too.  They've been around in one configuration or another since 2002.  The tour heads to Europe next, beginning with several dates in Sweden.  Check them out.  Here's the schedule.

All five musicians play multiple instruments and all have wonderful singing voices.  My favorite song of the evening was an a cappella number, "L'auberge":

Star Trek: Paradise Lost

Episode: "Paradise Lost"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episode 12

Original Air Date: January 8, 1996

via Memory Alpha

"Paradise Lost" is the second installment in a two-episode story begun the previous week with "Homefront."  Whereas Part 1 devoted significant material to the Benjamin/Joseph Sisko relationship, Part 2 goes all in on the Changeling invasion scare.  Benjamin and Odo piece together the truth: Admiral Leyton has engineered the crisis himself with the intention of carrying out a military coup.  Fortunately, our friends save the day before he does too much permanent damage.

Overall, the story plays like a classic, counter-espionage thriller.  There are crosses and double-crosses.  Sisko is arrested, then rescued.  Doubts rise and are then assuaged.  Rock solid storytelling.

Of course, the Changelings are already on Earth.  One of them reveals himself to Sisko, part of how our captain was able to piece the puzzle together.  But the plan is more long-term and insidious than the crisis Leyton has invented.  

Allusions

The names Sisko reads off as former crew members from the USS Okinawa - Daneeka, McWatt, Snowden, Orr and Moodus - are all characters from Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Captain Benteen is named for Frederick Benteen, a US Cavalry Commander who survived the Battle of Little Bighorn.  Meaningfully, the real Benteen and his battalion survived because he failed to follow orders.

Worf's line "Bartlett and Ramsey are dead, sir" is likely a reference to two characters in The Great Escape.

Acting Notes

via Transformers Movie Wiki

Robert Foxworth (Leyton) was born in Houston, November 1, 1941.  He graduated with a BFA in acting from Carnegie Mellon.  As with many screen actors, he got his start on stage, primarily at the Arena Stage in Washington.  He was offered the role of JR Ewing on Dallas, the one that eventually fell to Larry Hagman.  Amazingly, Foxworth turned it down.  Probably a mistake.

Mind you, he's done alright anyway.  On television, he had principal roles on both Falcon Crest and The Storefront Lawyers.  He has a long list of guest appearances, including West Wing, Law & Order and Columbo.  His tangential Star Trek association goes way back as he was the star of Gene Roddenberry's 1974 film The Questor Tapes.

Foxworth's second wife, Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha of Bewitched), was more famous than he is.  In total, he's been married three times.  He has two children.

Squid Eats: Pizzeria Verità

Burlington's Pizzeria Verità has long been one of our favorite choices for a pre-concert dinner as it's right around the corner from the Flynn Theater and it combines high-quality food with relatively quick service.  This week, we went after a movie, the recently Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land (5 stars out of 5 - go see it if you can).  It was a heavy film to watch, especially during troubling times.  A comforting meal was definitely in order.

Verita is definitely on the upscale side for a pizza joint.  It is owned by the same folks (and occupies the same city block) as both Trattoria Delia and Sotto Enoteca.  Like the other two, it emphasizes Continental European atmosphere and fresh, locally sourced ingredients.  The offerings are wonderfully varied, especially for a relatively short, two-page menu.  The cured meats for the pizzas are especially nice.

We kept it simple this time, sharing the Pizzarao Pizza (fior di latte, crushed tomatoes, caramelized onions, fresh basil, oregano and extra virgin olive oil), a salad and a tiramisu.  Even with drinks and dessert, the price for two was pretty good, especially compared to the sister restaurants.  Service was excellent as always.

Star Trek: Homefront

Episode: Homefront

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episode 11

Original Air Date: January 1, 1996

via Memory Alpha

There has been a terrorist attack on Earth and evidence indicates the culprit was a Changeling.  Captain Sisko is called to Starfleet headquarters to advise and Odo tags along to provide insights on the new adversary.  The trip also provides an excuse for Benjamin and Jake to check in with Joseph Sisko, Benjamin's father.

Watching this episode 25 years later with historical hindsight is a bit eerie.  The 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks occurred only five years afterwards and the paranoia was awfully similar.  The threat in the United States was already building by '96 and, of course, it was an ongoing concern in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world.  

It also puts a Trek fan in a difficult position.  Watching a Starfleet admiral argue for martial law is more than a little unsettling.  We know the threat is real.  In fact, we probably understand the threat better than the Federation President does.  But we also know that Joseph Sisko is right when he argues anyone clever enough will find their way around whatever draconian security measures are imposed.  

Star Trek thrives on moral dilemmas and this is an awfully good one.

The family story is deeply important for reasons beyond science fiction.  I've already covered the unusually open portrayal of family intimacy between Black men in previous episode posts, specifically those for "Explorers" and "The Visitor."  The introduction of Joseph Sisko demonstrates this is no generational fluke.  These men love each other and are not shy about expressing their affection - note Benjamin kissing Joseph on the forehead as a reflexive greeting.  This is a big deal, even in 2024, and especially for a program with an overwhelmingly white audience.  

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Brock Peters (Joseph Sisko) was born George Fisher in Harlem, July 2, 1927.  He attended the City College of New York until dropping out when he got a touring spot with the Leonard DePaur Infantry Chorus.  Prior to taking on the role of Joseph Sisko, Peters played Admiral Cartwright in two Star Trek movies.  

Brock Peters had an undeniably extraordinary and varied career.  He caught on first as a singer.  In 1949, he joined a touring company of Porgy and Bess, playing the role of Crown as well as understudy for Porgy.  Low Bass God Paul Robeson himself called Peters "a young Paul Robeson."  He was heavily involved in Harry Bellafonte's iconic Calypso album as both background vocalist and chorus director.  (I hate the current overuse of the word iconic but if ever it fit...)  Peters also released two solo albums of his own.

Hollywood came next.  In 1962, he landed the career-highlight role of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Other films include Carmen Jones, Soylent Green and Ghosts of Mississippi.  His geek cred is rock solid on the Star Wars side, too.  He voiced Darth Vader in the radio adaptations of the original trilogy.  He received a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.  By the time he became Joseph Sisko, Brock Peters was already a legend.

He gave the eulogy at Gregory Peck's funeral in 2003.

Brock Peters passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2005.

Squid Flicks: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Title: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Directors: Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham

Original Release: October 27, 2024

My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Quirky Wallace and his faithful hound Gromit are back.  Wallace's latest invention is Norbot, a robotic garden gnome who's a little too eager to be helpful around the house and yard.  The neighbors are impressed and Norbot's calendar is quickly filled up, a surefire means for Wallace to clear up his considerable debts.  The master thief penguin, Feathers McGraw, now in jail (the zoo), learns of Norbot and hatches a plot to turn the robot's personality from good to evil.  From there, no end of trouble ensues.

As ever, the eternally under-appreciated Gromit saves the day.

First things first: Nick Park is a genius.  I don't use that word lightly.  The three original claymation W&G shorts - A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave - are masterpieces.  The Wrong Trousers, in particular, is about as close to perfect as a movie gets, complete with one of the most inventive chase scenes in the history of film.  The original trilogy have been family favorites of ours for many years so watching further Aardman productions is essentially obligatory.

For me, none of the Wallace & Gromit stories since the originals quite live up.  Park is at his storytelling best in shorter form.  Vengeance Most Fowl is fun but it's just too long.  That said, the production value is still amazing.  True to form, Wallace's inventions are as dazzling as they are absurd.  The slow-speed chase scene with canal boats is inspired.  And poor Gromit is still just as lovable.

If you've never seen Wallace & Gromit before, start with the originals.  If you're well-acquainted, Vengeance Most Fowl will provide ample reassurance that the creative juices are still free-flowing.