Long neglected and abused, Portsmouth’s North Mill Pond can’t get healthy without help from the community. Not only have The Advocates for the North Mill Pond answered the call, but they’ve also teamed up with fifth grade students from New Franklin Elementary School to monitor water quality and pond cleanup.

Now the two, in conjunction with the Hodgson Brook Restoration Project, are asking local residents to attend their banquet Tuesday, April 1, at the New Franklin Elementary School in Portsmouth. The banquet will be a combination of informational messages—many of which composed by the children—and celebration, to begin at 6:30 p.m. and end around 7:30 pm.
The partnership between The Advocates and New Franklin Elementary school was forged out of the need to provide local residents with a basal level of knowledge regarding local watersheds.

The people Generic Theatre usually have their ear to ground when it comes to the cutting edge, the new, the hip and hot, or the really unusual. This year’s production, currently onstage at the Players’ Ring, fits all three categories.

Edward Albee’s “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” follows the playwright’s usual pattern of keeping the audience on the edge of the seat, wondering what’s really happening—Captain Subtext is generally the star of any Albee play, open sexuality has a strong supporting role. In 1963, his play “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?” was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. However, the board’s advisory committee was so horrified by the content of the play that they overruled the decision, and no drama prize was awarded that year.

Albee dares to speak of things the rest of us do not. He will always be celebrated for this, and he will always need to keep a bodyguard close by because of it.

When Three Graces Fine Art & Furnishings owner Kim Ferreira puts an art exhibit together, she hopes to reach all audiences with an eclectic array of works. Typically, the back half of her gallery boasts a bevy of styles and mediums while the front half displays a featured exhibit. This month’s feature, “Warm Woolen Paintings,” most assuredly will help her accomplish the goal of variety.
Tiffany Torre is a Vermont painter who, as she puts it, has been “trying to find my identity.” Her search became deeply introspective when she left the Northeast for college in Tennessee. Surrounded by an unfamiliar culture and landscape, Torre drew comfort from her New England roots, which prompted her artistic relationship with wool. 

NF Geria III-Produktion, 1980
starring: Catherine Mary Stewart, George Gilmour, Vladek Sheybal and Joss Ackland
written and directed by: Menahem Golan

The renowned American Boychoir will fill St. John’s Church in Portsmouth on Wednesday, April 2, and the group is encouraging local boys in grades 3-7 to stick around for an audition after the concert. No preparation or experience is necessary for the audition, but auditioners should love to sing.

The American Boychoir’s performance will celebrate with music from each of the choir’s seven decades, works highlighting contemporary American composers, and selections from its new CD. 

by The Fiery Furnaces
2003, Rough Trade Records

RPM bloggers reflect on the trials and triumphs of February 2008

The mainstream music industry is filled with savage competition and rabid money-grubbing, which has led to some damned ugly situations. In a nasty demonstration of this trend, Kid Rock recently sucker-punched Tommy Lee in the face. And remember when Axl Rose publicly challenged Vince Niel to a rumble? For that matter, remember the Guns N’ Roses song “Get in the Ring?” Here at RPM headquarters, however, we deplore violence. The RPM Challenge promotes a sense of collective musical camaraderie that has been reflected in countless blog entries on the RPM discussion board. Musicians across the globe found creative unity in the singular objective of writing and recording 10 songs or 35 minutes of original music in 29 days. Artists who were oceans apart went through the same daily rigors as they attempted to balance their RPM projects with day jobs, families and basic necessities, like eating and sleeping.

The 2,400-plus participants who signed up this year were propelled forward by a common motivation. The noncompetitive nature of the Challenge, which offered no reward other than the personal gratification of finishing, spurred determined participants to support and encourage one another throughout the month, bolstering each other’s spirits when they encountered inevitable setbacks, and congratulating one another when they successfully laid down a track or wrote a new tune.

Two upcoming shows at The Press Room in Portsmouth are the focus for this edition of The Jazz Universe. On Sunday, March 30, vocalist Chris Humphrey will host a release event for his excellent debut recording, “Nothing but Blue Sky,” accompanied by The Press Room Trio led by Ryan Parker. The following Sunday, April 6, one of Boston’s legendary jazz groups, The Fringe, will make its Press Room debut. Both shows begin at 6 p.m. and cost $10.

Chris Humphrey has long been one of the hidden gems of the greater Seacoast music scene. A talented musician who could have gone in a variety of directions, he chose to focus on being a jazz vocalist. But he’s not the kind of vocalist who is content to sit back, sing the lyrics and let the other musicians do all the work. Instead, Humphrey strives to be an integral part of the ensemble, interacting with his fellow players. It was this approach that led him to go with the quartet format for his debut album.

electric cars to be driven by faculty and staff

UNH faculty and staff have the opportunity to test drive two electric cars, thanks to a number of organizations concerned with the environment, including UNH Energy and Campus Development, the Office of Sustainability, and the UNH Energy Task Force in partnership with Maine Electric Vehicles of Falmouth.

Starting on March 17, the cars, which are called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, will be driven around campus for two weeks to assess the benefits of adding them to the Clean Fleet Program.

“Neighborhood Electric Vehicles are one potential niche market alternative fuel vehicle that might be useful as part of the UNH-Durham campus fleet,” said Steve Pesci, the Energy and Campus Development project director for special projects.

N.H. House moves along notable bills

Last week, there was a flurry of activity among New Hampshire lawmakers, with the Senate and House sending along several bills to each other. Global warming, marijuana, text messaging and negligent hiking were among the issues addressed by the House and that will now be taken up by the New Hampshire Senate.

House Bill 1434 commits New Hampshire to a 10-state regional effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Approved 214-107, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would allow New Hampshire to adopt its own laws and regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. The bill would also establish an energy conservation and efficiency board.

high prices are hurting local businesses

Oil isn’t the only commodity inflicting sticker shock these days. Wheat prices have increased dramatically over the last year, leaving many local business owners struggling to adapt.

For Me & Ollie’s owner Roger Elkus, the price of wheat has more than tripled in the last three months. He use to pay $11 for a 50-pound bag of wheat, but lately, he has had to shell out around $30 per bag.

Unlike larger bakeries, which buy their wheat a year in advance and therefore enjoy a set price for the entire year, Me & Ollie’s purchases flour as the need arises. The price they charge for a loaf of bread reflects the most recent price they paid for a bag of wheat. “Unfortunately, because we’re small, we have to react pretty quickly,” Elkus said. When the price of wheat is up, Elkus charges more for bread. Eventually, the bigger bakeries will change their price, too. “They let the little guys pave the way for sticker shock, so they can kind of ease their prices up,” Elkus said. “We have to go in unprotected.”

two-person art exhibit on display at Nahcotta

It was accidental at first, the juxtaposition of artwork by Beth Pearson and Lillianna Pereira.

The two artists were among the many who had a few works featured in the Enormous Tiny Art Show II at Nahcotta last year and, because the pieces happened to be arranged alphabetically, they were right next to each other.

Deb Thompson, owner of the art gallery on Congress Street in Portsmouth, said both were well received and people wanted to see more.

“I thought they had a lot more to say, both of them, visually,” she said.

by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
222 pages, William Heinemann Ltd., 1990

Few people like to be preached at—especially when they have already taken it upon themselves to read a book about a heavy subject, like endangered species, for example. We already know the facts: Since our appearance on this planet, humans have polluted and poached their way through all corners of the world, destroying and eliminating thousands of different species of animals, birds, insects and plants. In short, we suck. We know this. But our simple little brains don’t want to feel guilty, they want to be entertained. So why not take a man famous for writing funny books that include aliens, the existence of which has yet to be proven, and let him tell the story of creatures who may not exist much longer?

Stonyfield CEO to talk business in Portsmouth

There’s a belief in many business circles that you can either focus on attaining wealth or center your efforts on environmental issues—but you can’t do both. Gary Hirshberg, chairman, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, begs to differ. Hirshberg was one of the first to purposely build an empire on a green philosophy. His new book, “Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World,” describes the rise of Stonyfield’s organic dairy products in the national marketplace. Hirshberg will discuss his new book at Portsmouth’s RiverRun Bookstore on Thursday, March 20.

Drawing from both his hardships and successes, Hirshberg’s book is an attempt to inspire those who hope to improve the world’s deteriorating ecosystem while still making money.

“For me, it’s been a long journey from youthful naïveté to aging clarity, but every step, however difficult, has given me the pleasure of discovering how nature’s wisdom can become humankind’s salvation,” Hirshberg writes in the new book.

Stonyfield Farm’s journey began in the early 1980s, when the company was established as an organic farming school based in Wilton, N.H. The initial mission was to teach sustainable farming practices, but this changed after a few serendipitous turns of fate.

PMS Filmworks, 1987
starring: Rick Burks, Carl Crew, Lisa Elaina and Drew Godderis
directed by: Jackie Kong

rated R

“Doomsday” could have easily been billed as “Grindhouse 2.” A mishmash of bits from the last 25 years worth of post-apocalyptic flicks, “Doomsday” is derivative, but fun. Part “Mad Max” and part “Escape from New York” with a dash of “28 Days Later,” “Doomsday” is like downing a dozen Twinkies and drinking a gallon of Mountain Dew. It’s a momentary indulgence in excess that’s thrilling but not necessary to repeat.

“Gravityland” takes viewers on an online journey

The Internet has diversified to offer numerous forms of interactive entertainment, including many Web-only TV series. John Herman’s new project, “Gravityland,” launched on March 3, fits that category, but that does little justice to his creative foresight.

“I feel like I’m putting together a lot of things at the same time,” Herman said with a chuckle. 

If you have already made the trip to www.gravityland.com, you understand what he means. The “Web series” is a set of five- to seven-minute episodes, but that’s just the beginning.

Viewers can interact with the show’s actors and writers through the Internet and make suggestions as the plot unfolds. “There is always some way you are interacting with the show,” said Herman, who has spent much of his life as an improvisational actor. “It gives me an outlet.I’m really into collaboration.”

Biddy Mulligan’s Wednesday night series ends after 11-year run

The evening’s lineup began shortly before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, with vocalist Kathleen Soldati and guitarist Curt Bessette executing a lusty performance of a Nina Simone classic.

“Do I move you, are you willin’ / Do I groove you, is it thrillin,’” Soldati crooned.

The red-headed singer, who later offered renditions of The Beatles’ “When I’m 64” and Janis Joplin’s “Turtle Blues,” had never sung publicly until she stepped up to the mike at Biddy Mulligan’s two years ago, according to Bessette. Since then, she has become a regular fixture of the Wednesday night open mikes in Dover. Judging from the way she belted out the lyrics, it seems her confidence has grown.

a more experienced  As Fast As unveils its second album

When Portland, Maine-based rock band As Fast As signed with Octone Records to release its first album, front man Spencer Albee saw it as a tremendous opportunity. The label was already home to Maroon 5, and Albee thought the contract would help him market his unique artistic vision. But the resulting release, “Open Letter to the Damned,” fell short of Albee’s high expectations.

“I was under the impression … that the artist made the records and decided the direction of the band, and the record label would then decide the best way to market that. But what Octone likes to do instead was to be a little too active in the shaping of the sound, which never works,” Albee said. “Executives have no business shaping music.”