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new this week
wed, july 1, 09
some
ongoing events
bear
fest (art bears, not bears)
men's
volleyball
meditation
watch softball
shows to
check out
betty buckley (july 8-11)
speech & debate (thru july 26)
alegria (coming sept 16-20)
this weekend
Check out hunky-but-somehow-still-witty Ryan Reynolds in
The Proposal. Amazingly, the reviews are actually good, and—most
important of all—he gets down to his altogether up on the big
screen!
THIS
SUNDAY: get into the groove!
Hey,
guys. Check out the new gay/gay-friendly Tea Dance at the hip Ristorante DiPaolo
in downtown Turner's Falls!
Think about it: a nice summery Sunday afternoon out on the
patio with margaritas, while DJ Hush spins groovy house beats.
Complimentary hors d'oeuvres, indoor/outdoor bar, weather
permitting. (more info
here)
— your humble monoho webmaster
JULY 1, 2009
UPDATE: so that explains it!
After
my original post on the the new Dam Cafe in Holyoke, I received a
message from none other than Doug Fountain, of Northampton Social
Hour fame. He clued me in to a number of fun facts: (a) that's his
house on the left-hand-side of the pic, so he definitely knows the
neighborhood well, (b) it being his neighborhood, he was a little
less than thrilled with my calling the area "nowhere Holyoke"
in my writeup—OK, fine: "less-than-happening Holyoke" then, (c)
living as he does right across the street, he knows the owners and
had strong (gay) input as to the look of the interior, the choice of
dark woods, the colors, the lighting. In fact, Doug had one of his
carpenters contracted to build the bar. Good job, Doug! No wonder I
got gay whiplash driving by. Now all we have to do is make it a
scene. Hmmm, but who out there organizes social events? Who could we
possibly ask to get something going? :-)
— your humble monoho webmaster
JULY 1, 2009
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: get your
discount tickets now!
Check
this out: Cirque du Soleil's ALEGRIA is coming to
the Mullins Center in Amherst this September (16th through the
20th). I was contacted by the Cirque folks to offer monoho.com
readers the chance to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the
general public on July 6, plus you get a discount! You can choose any date and time you want
before the prime seats go on sale and become unavailable.
Please visit
this link. Simply register for free on their "Cirque Club"
and then you can
purchase your presale tickets at a discounted rate
of $10-$15 off per ticket (on Category 1 and 2 seating).
Please note: they're sayin' this presale offer will end on
Monday, July 6, at 9:59 am, so get a move on—get
your tickets now!
— your humble monoho webmaster
JUNE 26, 2009
COMING EARLY JULY: betty
buckley!
The
multi-talented Betty Buckley, renowned for her Tony-winning
portrayal of Grizabella in the original cast of Cats and the
show-stopping hit “Memory” brings her spectacular cabaret act to
Hartford Stage for five performances only! And she’s taking your
requests. You pick the songs and she does the rest, singing hit
after hit from Broadway and beyond, spiced up with touching, amusing
and inspiring anecdotes from her legendary career.
(official
website & ticket info)
— your humble monoho webmaster
JUNE 26, 2009
UPDATE:
meditation moves to thursday nights!
Just
found out: the weekly meditation, which used to be run by Paul, is
now being run by Brandon and two other meditation regulars. Fear
not: the group will still meet in the same place, but gatherings are
moving to thursday nights. Brandon sends out this message to
all:
Join us for a weekly queer men's mindfulness meditation group. No
prior meditation experience is needed, and people of all faiths and
wisdom-traditions are welcomed. We have a few cushions and blankets
to share, but please consider bringing your own sitting cushion or
pillow ... (click here
for the rest of the info)
— your humble monoho webmaster
JUNE 26, 2009
ANOTHER NEW HOT SPOT: venus, the
cellar bar!
Guys,
new places keep springing up all over. The latest: a cool, hip, chic
eatery (venus) and lounge (cellar bar) right on 95 Main Street in
downtown Easthampton. The chef comes from the Apollo Grill, so you
know the food is good, and the cellar fills the niche for a groovy
hangout for all our Sumoho (south of mount holyoke) people out
there. Come check it out! (how
to get there)
— your humble monoho webmaster
JUNE 24, 2009
THIS
JUST INN:
some new cafes to check out.
UPDATE:
OK, I know we're talking about cafes, not inns, but c'mon: a
little slack, please. Anyway, out and about in my travels
recently I have discovered a few new cafes. This only confirms for
me—once again—the
completely underrated benefits of global warming. You simply do not
go out and explore your world when it is cryogenically cold out: you
cash in your stash of Big Y coins for a large cheese pizza, curl up
with your Sony flatscreen, and watch Dancing with the Stars.
(When you consider that the New World was discovered by Columbus
staring icily at the Pole, saying "fuck that," and aiming his fleet
for the tropics you will see the irrefutability of my point.)
Anyway, the places I have recently stumbled upon:
Mosaic Cafe, Masonic Street, Northampton, MA.
On my way to Woodstar one day, after happily surviving
haircut-roulette at Bucci's, I walked by that run of small houses
and businesses on Masonic and thought that something looked
different: namely that there was one more cafe on the street than
there was a week ago. Sometimes I can be uncannily observant.
Anyway, I stopped in to grab a menu, learned it was their first day
in existence (that explains it), and was pleasantly surprised by
what I saw: though small from the outside, there are a good number
of tables within, and—much more
important, at least as far as Northampton is concerned—there
was a good handful of tables outside. Not on the sidewalk,
mind you. On an actual terrace. No longer will you have to
sip your coffee while one eye scans the immediate horizon for that
guy with the one sandal and the three strings on his guitar. Mosaic
Cafe handily inserts a wooden rail between you and the rest of the
world ... well, at least as long as you still have coffee in your
cup, that is.
The Dam Cafe, Northampton Street, Holyoke, MA
So
new that it doesn't even show up on Google's "street view" yet, The
Dam Cafe came into view the other day as I missed the entrance
for I-91 South, said screw it, and decided to off-road it to the
Holyoke Mall. I had to actually turn around in a Dollar Store
parking lot half a mile down the road and go back to see what I
thought I saw but couldn't possibly believe: a totally gay-aesthetic
coffee shop in the heart of nowhere Holyoke. (Across the street is
an aging public school and next door is a an old-timey barber shop,
just to
give you an idea.) Anyway, I pulled up and got out of my car. It was
not a mirage: there it still was, a totally gay-aesthetic coffee shop. I went in and it
was all there, the funky chairs and dark wood tables, the coffee bar
with hand-made baked goods, the soft warm light that hides all hair
loss. The only thing missing was the gays. Of course, I caught the
place on the first night they had ever stayed open past 5 pm.
(They've been open a month, I learned, by peppering the barista with
lots of
questions.) In the corner sat one hip girl with a laptop, writing
her dissertation, or tweeting—who can tell
anymore. So I ordered my obligatory coffee and wandered
around the open space, as agog as a Serbian refugee in a Lexus
dealership. The barista, perhaps sensing my mini-wanderlust, told me
there was a patio out back as well, which I then felt compelled to
confirm. Like a hologram sent by beneficent beings from the future,
I could suddenly see this place in all of its potential glory: a warm summer
night, lit by pastel paper lanterns, packed with gays sipping their
cinnamon-tinis and tossing scathing remarks around like little pink
hand-grenades. I asked the counterperson if they had a website yet:
nope. An email list? Still nope. A schedule of coming
events, of live music? Working on it. As a parting note, the
barista offered that she thought—maybe—that
they might have a facebook page, but she couldn't quite confirm
with actual certainty. I get it, you don't know. But anyway, I sure
do hope they get it together, because this place could be the start
of something great. It could be the birth of Sonoho—South
of Noho, or Hoyo, or some other crazy business.
— your humble monoho webmaster
JUNE 17, 2009
DON'T FORGET
ON TUESDAYS: come on out and slam it!
Guys,
it's no lie. This is the funnest thing going. If you have not been,
you need to come. Cute guys, shorts, shirts, bare feet, (the
occasional bare chest, even), sweet sweaty exertion, and lots of
laughs in the soft light of summer. What's not to like? We welcome
all levels of player, and afterward the guys head down to the
Brewery for drinks and more. Tuesday nights at 6:15pm at Maines
Field in Northampton.
More info
here.
— your humble monoho webmaster
UPDATED MAY 28, 2009
DO YOU
REALLY WANT TO HURT ME? ...
I'm
still updating it every week, so be sure to check out the monoho community board!
(or I'll cry)
Fear
not! It is still the same old "community board" webpage all three of
you who have previously used it know and love—it's
just a little bit more organized and a lot less Coyote Ugly.
No longer the shoebox full of post-it notes it once was; now it is
much more like, well ... an actual organized webpage.
I was up latey-late-late last night—while
all of the rest of you were happily cruising Manhunt—making
sure the list was at least preliminarily complete. (By the way, that
is the first and last time I will ever use the word
"preliminarily" on this website; what a buzzkill.) Anyway,
please go to the community board page
frequently, please let me know what you think is missing, please use
it, and—most importantly—please
don't make poor Kenny cry and tear at his remaining hair over all
his wasted effort. It could really be a useful page for the
community if (a) anyone cares to use it, and (b) we keep it freshly
stocked. Granted, "community board" conjures up all the excitement
of a Department of Public Works meeting in a Unitarian church
basement. Maybe I should call it the Bear Board? Hmmm, now we might
be getting somewhere. Anyway, click here to
breathlessly visit the community board right now!
— your humble monoho webmaster
JUNE 4, 2009
BELIEVE IT OR NOT! there are still more events on the calendar.
