It's both a real and mythical place in Western Massachusetts that fuels contemplative thoughts of achievement, fame and defeat. The Hotel Warren, just known as the "Hot l" in South Deerfield, Mass is the epitome of the decaying grandeur of Western Mass. A lonely outpost in the middle of nowhere, the Hotel Warren served the area as meeting place. The Hot l Communique meets at the confluence of yesterday and today.
Perhaps I'm too sentimental, or overly emotional, in either event it's taken me this long to say goodnight to Lou Roscher aka "Buddy Rubbish." Longtime DJ and personality in the Pioneer Valley, "Buddy" was someone whom you either loved or hated. I had mixed emotions. On one hand, he was the embodiment of the radio theater that I loved, and on another level, I hated his enthusiasm for sports. He kept me company on lonely Friday evenings on Memory Lane , an oldies show on WRSI in Greenfield. He pissed me off when he moved to WRNX for the morning drive and his show sucked because of their playlist. Through it all, I saw the genius that was Buddy. He did radio the way it was meant to be, personable, innovative and smart. He passed on April 11th of this year. I just want to salute him tonight and thank him for making commercial radio acceptable and interesting. WRSI paid tribute to him tonight. Johnny Memphis and Leo T. Baldwin did a great job that I'm sure Buddy would've approved. Remember me Buddy, I once threw an f-bomb at you at a "Transperformance" show in Florence.
It’s hard to believe that nothing significant has happened up until this weekend in the Valley since the last entry. (Oh sure, there have been court appearances by Jack Robison, the death of radio personality Buddy Rubbish and the first asparagus crop.) But nothing beats the “Pierogy Festival” that starred Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra along with Eddie Forman and His Orchestra (how about calling your band “And His Orchestra”?) this past weekend at the Elks Lodge in West Springfield. Sponsored by “Mrs. T’s Pierogis” (as in “terrible”), this festival celebrating polka’s excesses: terrible food, cheap draft beer and old people hopping around in circles was the entertainment highlight of this spring.
Indeed
You have not lived till you have experienced this genre of music at its best—live. Not necessarily the music either, but rather the fan base—the really old fan base. Dancing to polka music is the real show, whether the couples are hopping around in circles, or holding onto each for life. Within that spectrum there are many variations on the polka dance.
Better than "Dancing with the Celebrities"
Both bands have hard-core fans and their own tribal dances which are bewildering and entertaining.
What you would call a "polka slut"
Jimmy Sturr constantly touted his Grammy wins and collaborations with Willie Nelson (leading up to my confrontation with him, when I asked if he smoked weed with the Willie, he smiled and pretended to punch me in the mouth!), and Eddie Forman worked the crowd with regional ties and dance moves all to his following.
Let us not forget that I was lured to this event with the singular pursuit of pierogis, and it was advertised as a “Pierogy Fest.”
This was yucky!
In fact, the “Mrs. T’s Pierogis” sponsored fest was a complete letdown and false advertisement. Anyone who has supped on these atrocious doughy pieces of shit will attest to the fact—these are not edible. Neither was the kielbasa or sauerkraut or hamburgers offered. But, thank you to all the colorful folks and the polka slut for making this event worthwhile!
A little late than never, but this story appeared last week (4/8/08) on Masslive.com.
NORTHAMPTON - A teenager accused of making explosive materials and blowing up a flag pleaded innocent to all charges today.
John E. Robison Jr., 17, of 23 Dartmouth St., South Hadley, was arraigned in Hampshire Superior Court this afternoon on three counts of malicious explosion and one count of willful placing of explosives near property. Robison was released on his own recognizance.
At the request of assistant Northwestern District Attorney Alice E. Perry, Judge Judd J. Carhart ruled that as a condition of Robison's release, he must not possess any chemicals, report to a probation officer by phone once a week and must live with his father, John Elder Robison of Amherst.
Robison's legal saga will resume on May 20, when an out-of-court pretrial conference has been scheduled. A pretrial hearing will then be held in court on June 26.
During the arraignment, Perry said Robison videotaped himself blowing up a flag using chemicals he mixed at the South Hadley home owned by his mother, Mary L. Robison. Perry also said the chemicals discovered there included some of the same ones used in the fatal London subway bombings in July 2005 and possessed by Richard Reid, the so-called "Shoe Bomber" who unsuccessfully tried to blow up an airliner in December 2001.
John Robison's lawyer, David P. Hoose of Springfield, said in court he was unaware of the accusation against his client of possessing such deadly materials.
"This is the first I've heard of anything," Hoose said, adding, "This kid doesn't have a malicious bone in his body."
After the arraignment, Hoose added that Robison did not blow up a flag, but declined to elaborate. "When the proof is done, you'll see it wasn't a flag at all," Hoose said.
State and federal authorities raided the South Hadley home on Feb. 15 and discovered John Robison's home laboratory. Officials from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Massachusetts Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit, and the state hazardous materials response team removed chemicals from the laboratory and exploded them at the town landfill.
A portion of Dartmouth Street was closed for three days as officials entered and exited the home. South Hadley Fire District 1 Fire Chief William J. Judd hopes to recover the $17,619 his department spent on the incident. Labor alone has been placed at $8,844.
In addition, Judd has said he has seen footage on the Internet site YouTube of the local teenager detonating explosives near high-tension wires, but the video was later pulled from the Web site.
The interesting thing about this story is the synergy swirling around this family. Let's review: John Robison Jr., son of author John Elder Robison, nephew of author Augusten Burroughs, who's new book "A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father" is perhaps the most compelling of his "stories" thus far. It seems the Robison boys are hard-wired for eccentricity and non-traditional exploits.
In the interest of fairness, I believe all the flag blowing-up business is nonsense and that David Hoose will brilliantly defend his client (my lady-friend and I called it!).
“Oh honey, the cops are at the Robison’s again.” “Geez, is it that freak son of theirs? What’s he done now?” “Christ, who knows? Oh geez, the bomb squad just pulled up.”
Sound familiar? Only if you live in South Hadley and just happen to live next door to John Elder Robison’s son, Jack Robison. John, the brother of famed memorist Augusten Burroughs, and himself a memorist (“Look Me In The Eye”), recently had a crappy weekend. You wouldn’t know it though by his recent posting on his blog:
I bought my first house in 1979, to celebrate the end of the KISS Dynasty tour, and my getting a real job. I lived in that house for over 16 years through several changes of career, acquisition of a wife, creation of a kid, and all manner of ups and downs.
When I got divorced and moved, I left many things behind, thinking I’d go back and get them one day. My ex-wife remained in the house; she’s still there now. Time passed and “one day” never came for all the other stuff I left behind. This weekend, thanks to Cubby, it arrived. I found myself unexpectedly cleaning up the basement and I found these gems from my past. jerobison.blogspot.com
The “Cubby” he refers to is his son, Jack. The back story to John’s post is this from the Daily Hampshire Gazette (2/19/08):
Jack Robison impressed experts with his knowledge of chemistry and his love of science, officials said. They would have been even more impressed, however, if they hadn't been called to the 17-year-old's 23 Dartmouth St. home to investigate why loads of hazardous chemicals purchased on the Internet were being stockpiled. 'He's a very intelligent kid,' Fire District 1 Chief Bill Judd said Monday. 'He just needs to apply his goodness to other things.'
Last Friday, a small army of state and local emergency officials converged on the quiet residential neighborhood in search of vats of hazardous mixed chemicals stockpiled by Robison.
Authorities with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit responded to the home. After a busy weekend of investigation that included some house evacuations, the neighborhood is returning to normal.
Judd, the first chief, said he understands Robison is involved with Boy Scouts and had dropped out of high school because he was bored. Robison attends Holyoke Community College, he said. 'I think what he did was wrong,' Judd said. 'But I do think he learned his lesson.'
Board of Health officials on Saturday ordered the home condemned. Judd said the order, posted on the door of the home of anthropologist Mary Robison and her son Jack, stated the dwelling was not habitable because of hazards to health and safety. The order was made because the house had no heat or hot water - which had to be shut off during the investigation, Judd said. Clutter was also a factor. The family is now back in the home on the condition that they clean up the clutter and that no more chemicals are stored.'The neighborhood is back to normal now,' said Judd. Officials said the student will not be charged by local police with any offenses. Selectmen did not return calls for comment Monday, nor did members of the Robison family.
Leonard J. "Bunky" Collamore has died at age 76. He was born in Holyoke on March 18, 1931.
He became chief of staff to Mayor Charles V. Ryan from 1961-67 in his first administration. Collamore, a lifelong Democrat, also served on the Springfield City Council for 12 years and was president and acting mayor in 1970 and served 18 years as a Hampden County commissioner and numerous years as chairman.
Leonard also wrote a book in 1978 called "The Quiz Game." He was a founding professor at Springfield Technical Community College for over 30 years teaching European history and Western civilization. He retired from S.T.C.C. with the title of professor emeritus and then served many years as an adjunct professor.
Leonard was the president of S.T.C.C. from 1981-83. He was the founding member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Peach Basket Festival Tip-Off Classic and was the creator, producer and judge of the award-winning high school quiz show "As Schools Match Wits" on Channel 22, which was the longest-running quiz show program in the history of television. Leonard was also the head writer for the show for over 25 years. He was known as a history expert on Christopher Columbus discoveries around the world.
Excerpted from the Hampshire Gazette, February 4, 2008.
Anyone with the nickname, "Bunky," is cool with me.
I used to work at a college. English teacher. I was really pretty good. Anyhow my beautiful fiancé began sleeping with students. One was called Mike. I’m not into the whole “Well, there’s too much of a power difference involved” saying of folks who disagree with faculty-student intimacies. But funnily enough she married a guy who also screwed his students. It is so, so, so tempting to ask them which of their students was the father or mother of their kids. Screwing your students is tempting, yes, but ultimately tacky.
Is it tacky on the students’ part? Nope. I know more about grades than anyone alive. And if you have sex with your prof (good sex) you are going to get a better grade. And even if you don’t, if we like you, you’re going to get a better grade.
So, should you sleep with your prof? My instinct says no. But if you want to…hey!
I’ve had many, many, many opportunities to have sex with students in my thirty-six semesters teaching at the college level. Once in snowstorm. Many times in my office. Once on the auditorium stage! Etcetera. Tempting as these opportunities were, I couldn’t bring myself to screw my students. It’s not illegal. They are after all adults. Hell, Ted Hughes did it! Why not me? Because I have a respect for the teacher-student relationship. I just didn’t do it. It’s tacky. And I don’t like tacky. Ya, ya, ya. I know I sound like the goddamn Pope.
But if you do want to sleep with your prof here’s what to do. It’s called the SLANT-V method. Incidentally, (screwing or not) this will probably raise your grade as well give you a better grip on the material. Trust me. S: sit up front, smile. L: lean forward like everything he/she says is gospel and deserving of apostolic attention. A: ask questions! Show up smiling in your front row seat with one or two questions from the reading. If you can, do outside reading—especially any articles or books published by your prof. This is important. Teachers are show offs. And professors are big show offs. So am I. They know more about their subject than you ever will. Most of them will love questions about their subject. N: nod like all is making wonderful, wonderful sense. T: track. Teachers tend to walk back and forth, so keep your eyes on the woman or man and make eye contact (nodding and smiling) when you can. V: visit them during their office hours. I can’t stress this one enough! Very few profs have students take advantage (no pun intended) of office hours.
Should you slide into the prof’s office wearing tight clothing and (if a woman) loads of makeup like they do in the movies? Nope. Just follow the above advice. And show up with a few questions about your work and his or her work. This is a perfect time to ask clarifying questions about the material and make sure the prof can match the name on the roster to the face of this bright, diligent and really quite attractive and sexy student.
Colleges (including our five) frown on faculty-student screwing. I believe that’s good policy. However, many of my colleagues disagree. And some of the folks I went to college with have various opinions.
One of them, Ben, spoke of a Umass math prof who was “banging” a student and eventually married her! But Ben added that “[professor-student sex] smells like taking advantage of inherent inequalities in realms of age, maturity, power etc, even if it isn't clearly across the line vis-a-vis legality,” Ben adds that “she [the student] was the aggressor. Started actual banging the prof after semester ended, though they were heading there during.” This is an important point. More potential ethical and legal headaches for school and professor will arise if the banging happens while the student is still in the course—or, even, still in the school.
Another Umass alum, “Kelley”, now a high school teacher, believes of teacher-student sex that “it's a bad scenario for the person who doesn't have the power in the situation (usually the *younger* girl.) The adult in the situation should know better and not react to such temptation.”
Power. We teachers do have it. Some of us abuse it. Think of the cutest teacher you ever had a crush on. The one you think must have clawed her way out of the cover of Hustler or whatever the boy version is. Why didn’t you have sex with him or her? Why? Because it’s probably a bad idea. One very little known (and very little) power of even the lowliest college instructors is that we can change the grades given whenever we want. Granted, only a petty scrub would do that because of a fling that turned bad; however, it’s still something to think about.
But if you really, really want, need, have to get with your prof…go for it…preferably after the course is done.
john frances has been teaching college courses since 1993 at four different colleges including UMass-Amherst. He's published and presented on issues relating to composition, gender, and education.
O.k., it’s really winter now. Tomorrow we’re expecting up to a foot of snow. I thought today would be the perfect day to break in my new snow shoes.
My lady friend and I trudged down the street to the conservation area that has miles of trails which the snow mobilers have been ripping up for the past two weeks. The temperature was in the low 40’s and the sun was pale and tired looking. Layers were quickly shed as we trekked down the trail and across some rather narrow footbridges that spanned an ever-widening melt stream.
We followed the hoof prints of a rather large buck that had been stripping a branch of its bark.
The wood was quiet, expect for the low gurgling of the stream that ran parallel to our trail.
We trekked for an hour up to a horse pasture off Glendale Road that was desolate. Not a single animal was showing itself. From the pasture you could see a glorious panoramic view of the “Seven Sisters” mountain range.
