Quality of Life 21/01/28

Inspiring teen gets a book deal

Thirteen-year-old Brayden Harrington of Concord will write a picture book called Brayden Speaks Up, to be published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, according to a Jan. 20 article in the New York Times. Harrington got national attention when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention, after meeting President Joe Biden at a campaign stop and bonding with him over their stuttering. According to the article, Brayden Speaks Up will be published Aug. 10 and is part of a two-book deal; next year, he plans to write a novel geared toward kids ages 8 to 12. Brayden also spoke at Biden’s inauguration, reading aloud a passage from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address.

Score: +1

Comment: “What got me through and helped motivate me was knowing I could be a voice for other children who stutter as well as anyone else who has faced challenges,” Brayden said in a statement following the Democratic National Convention, the New York Times reported. “I only hope my story provides a little extra support and motivation for those that need it.

Only 424 days to go…

That’s how much time will pass, as of Tuesday, before Manchester will be able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with its annual parade, which was canceled last year and now this year as well. The decision to reschedule the 25th annual parade until Sunday, March 27, 2022, was announced on the event’s Facebook page on Jan. 14. The counter on the event’s website, stpatsnh.com, was recently reset to count down to the new 2022 date.

Score: -1

Comment: A message on the event website encourages locals to support downtown Manchester restaurants, which lose revenue when major events like the parade are canceled, by purchasing gift cards to use at a later date.

Blizzardly fun

The annual Blizzard Blast, a winter obstacle course race put on by the United Way of Greater Nashua, is going to be different this year (isn’t everything?). What has in the past been a one-day event in Mine Falls Park will now be a multi-day event with 5K, 10K and half-marathon options, according to a press release. It will take place throughout the city, and runners will stop at one or more of the 21 participating nonprofits, like the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, that serve the greater Nashua area. At each stop, runners will have to do non-running exercises like burpees, squats, lunges and army crawls. The event starts Saturday, Jan. 30, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 6, with runners choosing the course and time to run. Sign up as a runner, team or sponsor at UnitedWayNashua.org.

Score: +1

Comment: This year, proceeds from the fundraiser will support United Way’s Covid-19 Relief Fund.

More space for people in need

Two facilities owned and operated by Families in Transition-New Horizons (FIT-NH) in Manchester have been renovated, allowing the nonprofit to better respond to space and operational limits caused by Covid. According to a press release, funds for the renovations came from the CARES Act, and the project included moving the organization’s food pantry from 199 Manchester St. to a new property at 176 Lake Ave., across the street from the organization’s Family Emergency Shelter. The former food pantry was renovated to create additional sleeping quarters for people experiencing homelessness, the release said.

Score: +1

Comment: Joseph Campbell, president of North Branch Construction, which completed the renovations, said in the release, “[Those] struggling with food insecurity are able to visit the Lake Avenue food pantry for assistance, and 40 people experiencing homelessness on another cold winter night now have a safe and warm place to sleep tonight in the adult emergency shelter.”

QOL score: 54

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 56

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Down to a science

Volunteers needed for youth STEM learning program

The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is currently looking for new volunteers for its STEM Docent program, which provides opportunities for youth to engage in STEM activities and exploration. Program coordinator Megan Glenn discussed the program and what its volunteers do.

What is the UNH Cooperative Extension’s STEM Docent program?

It’s a program for K through 12 learners, so we work both in schools and outside of schools at libraries and the YMCA and those types of places. We train adult volunteers in the best practices of working with youth and teaching science, and we train them on a variety of specific content modules … like engineering and computer science. We coordinate collaboration between our volunteers and teachers to come up with projects or challenges for the kids, and our volunteers will bring all the materials. … We also focus a lot on building community and creating a space that’s comfortable for kids to try out an idea [that may] fail, and then try again.

How was it created?

It’s a fairly new program; our first training was in 2016, but the idea for the program started being worked on a few years before then … when [Sen. Maggie] Hassan’s task force on K through 12 STEM education put out a report that recommended that there be more opportunities and programs to inspire youth in the STEM field. … At the same time, UNH had a strategic initiative to increase the number of graduates in STEM fields. … The program was really prompted by those two things.

What are the short- and long-term goals of the program?

[Short-term,] we’re trying to create a safe space for kids to connect with other kids, connect with a caring adult … and [develop] critical thinking and problem-solving [skills] so that when they run into a problem or issue, instead of just throwing up their hands and giving up, they really look at it and examine it and try to fix it or solve it. … One of the big-picture goals of the program is to create a more science-literate society by increasing science literacy among youth … so if this program sparks a kid’s interest and somewhere down the road they go into a STEM field, that’s awesome.

Why do you think this program is needed?

I don’t think there is a shortage of STEM programs … but I think our program is unique for a couple of reasons. One, we work a lot with our volunteers and offer a lot of training so that they’re very highly specialized in science teaching. … Another thing that makes our program unique is that it’s not just a one-and-done thing. It goes on for a series of weeks … [allowing] our volunteers to really build a rapport with the kids … and [giving] kids a chance to try something, examine it and make it better. … In classrooms, teachers are really pressed for time, so kids may not be getting that opportunity to work on a single project over time and really figure it out.

What does being a volunteer entail?

[It requires] 20 to 30 hours of training and then around 20 hours for one full program over several weeks. … All of our volunteers go through an application process that includes a background check and [checking] references. Once they’re accepted, they go through a foundational training that’s really focused on positive youth development. If you’ve got 10 kids in the room, how do you make a cohesive group out of those kids? How do you build a community? How do you build a space where the kids respect each other and respect you and can collaborate and share ideas? After that, the volunteers go through a module training, which is training on the actual content they’ll be teaching. … We also have monthly get-togethers with the volunteers to check in and see how things are going … and I typically bring in speakers to talk about different science topics.

Who would be a good fit to volunteer?

Anyone who is interested in STEM and wants to work with youth. We have a lot of industry members, like engineers and computer scientists and teachers. Some are currently working, and then there are some who have recently retired and just want to share what they love and pass on their passion for the industry to the next generation.

Become a STEM volunteer
Virtual information sessions for prospective volunteers will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 27, and Tuesday, Feb. 9, from 5 to 5:30 p.m. RSVP at extension.unh.edu. To apply, visit extension.unh.edu/programs/stem-docents. Applications are due by Feb. 18. Mandatory training for volunteers will be held virtually on Thursdays in April from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Program coordinator Megan Glenn can be reached at 641-4391 and megan.glenn@unh.edu.

Featured photo: Megan Glenn. Courtesy photo.

TB 12 back for SB 10

Well, who can be surprised Tom Brady did it again? Despite a very shaky second half, he’s headed to his 10th Super Bowl after doing what he needed to do against Green Bay to get there as usual. Though I suspect a three-pick second half vs. KC will croak him. Jimmy Garoppolo got roasted for a lot less than that when the 49ers didn’t hold their fourth-quarter lead against them in the SB a year ago. So Tom had better be careful.

That aside, the Bucs earned their trip to the big game with a 31-26 win over Green Bay, where defending champion Kansas City is waiting following a 38-24 manhandling of Buffalo. It was a fun day of football that reinforced my belief that NFL conference championship Sunday is the best sports viewing day of the year. Some of it had nothing to do with the local football team, and with Brady in the mix some of it seemed to me all about Patriots decisions, what might have been and what they need to do to get back to playing on the second to last Sunday of the NFL year.

Here are some more observations on all that.

If you’re interested, losing Green Bay had a 34:27–25:23 edge in time of possession in Game 1, while despite KC’s runaway win they had only a slight 31:09–28:51 edge over Buffalo. That’s why I don’t think it usually tells you much.

Don’t get why Matt LaFleur went for the FG with 2:37 left and Green Bay down 31-23. Isn’t getting one play from a Hall of Fame QB to win it on fourth down better odds than needing four from his defense and still needing a TD to win from much farther away?

Having said that, despite the success, I never do escape the feeling watching Aaron Rodgers in big games that there’s something missing. Can’t quite put my finger on why, but it was there again Sunday. Maybe that’s why he’s lost four of the five NFC title games he’s been in.

This weekend showed how far off the Pats are. Forget quarterback for a second. The most glaring deficiency is team speed on offense and defense. KC has blinding speed. Buffalo and Green Bay have it on the outside and while besides Antonio Brown I’m not quite sure how fast Tampa Bay receivers are, they seem to get open down the field a lot and their linebackers can run.

Attention, Bill Belichick. Josh Allen went from 20 TD passes to 40 after Buffalo traded for Stefon Diggs. It wasn’t all because of Diggs, but their pedestrian 2019 offense transformed into the league’s second-ranked O as their prized acquisition led the NFL in catches and receiving yards. I also recall something similar happening after Randy Moss arrived in 2007. That’s also why Brady went from 24 TD passes last year to a second best in his career 40 with Tampa Bay. Speed on the outside makes a big difference.

While we’re on that subject, how is it that with good old Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and the out for the year O. J. Howard, Tampa Bay has three tight ends better than any TE the Patriots have?

Don’t buy the narrative being pushed by the Boston media Coach B didn’t have a plan for when Brady left town or retired. He did have one until Brady went up the back staircase to whine about it to the owner, who then made BB trade Garoppolo after he’d already traded Jacoby Brissett, which he wouldn’t have done if he were planning to trade Jimmy G. Then a short time after deep sixing the plan, Brady split to leave Coach B holding the bag. Basically he outmaneuvered Belichick in an act of self-preservation, so don’t make Brady out to be anything but a contributor to their QB dilemma.

But through either a strange coincidence or karma, it’s interesting that we’ll have gotten to see how the Pats QB drama played out in back-to-back Super Bowls against the rampaging Chiefs. So let’s see what Brady does next weekend vs. what Jimmy G did against them.

When Bullet Bob Hayes was called the world’s fastest human after winning gold in the 100-yard dash at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he brought blinding straight-ahead speed to scare the bejeebers out of Dallas Cowboys opponents all through the 1960’s. And through the years people from Billy White Shoes Johnson to Wes Welker have had the short-space quickness to find daylight to get free inside a refrigerator box. But Tyreek Hill has the best combination of both I’ve ever seen. He can score on any down from any distance on any type of play from go routes to wideout screens to Jets sweeps and everything else. He must terrify game planners about to face the Chiefs.

Speaking of blinding speed: The closest approximation of Hill is teammate Mecole Hardman, whose fumbled punt on Sunday handed Buffalo its first TD. He made up for it by taking a shuffle pass up the gut for KC’s first score and with a dazzling 50-yard run on a Jets sweep to put them in position for their second TD. Those impressed by that in Patriots Nation won’t love hearing the wideout/Pro Bowl returner went 24 picks behind N’Keal Harry in the 2019 draft

After watching him average 102 catches the last three seasons and tear up the Browns and Bills the last two weeks for 23 catches, 227 yards and three touchdowns, I’m starting to think Travis Kelce may be a better intermediate-range receiver than Gronk in his prime. The big fella is still a much better blocker and used to be a better deep threat, but Kelce is good and clutch.

If you think Buffalo was a fluke, guess again. They have a good young coach and a really good young QB. Sound familiar? The Pats now have to catch up to them.

News & Notes 21/01/28

Covid-19 updateAs of January 18As of January 25
Total cases statewide57,86462,768
Total current infections statewide6,4445,627
Total deaths statewide933990
New cases5,557 (Jan. 12 to Jan. 18)4,904 (Jan. 19 to Jan. 25)
Current infections: Hillsborough County2,2621,994
Current infections: Merrimack County585420
Current infections: Rockingham County1,3621,278
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

New Hampshire surpassed 60,000 overall cases of Covid-19 with its daily public health update on Jan. 21, according to state officials. Despite numbers continuing to climb, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said during a Jan. 21 press conference that overall test-positivity rates have been trending downward. “It’s at 6.8 percent, which is … at the same level that we saw back at the end of November,” he said. Hospitalizations have also been on the decline — 230 people were hospitalized as of Jan. 25, down slightly from the previous week.

With the state moving on to Phase 1B of its vaccine distribution plan on Jan. 22, opening up eligibility for roughly 300,000 Granite Staters to receive their first doses, Gov. Chris Sununu urged people to be patient during the registration process. “We put needles in arms as fast as we get them in … but we’re still only getting about 17,000 [doses] a week,” Sununu said. “As the federal government increases vaccines for the State of New Hampshire, we will add more reservation spots within our system and be able to move people up.” The online registration portal is accessed by visiting vaccines.nh.gov. As of Jan. 25, just under 200,000 Granite Staters have signed up to receive doses as part of Phase 1B, and more than 60 percent of those have already scheduled a location and time for their first shot. The first Phase 1B vaccines were administered Jan. 26. According to a press release issued by the state Department of Health & Human Services, the FAQs on vaccines.nh.gov have also been updated and clarified to note that only residents are eligible to receive the vaccine in New Hampshire.

On Jan. 22, Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 83, an order allowing local officials to postpone their 2021 town meetings and elections and to pre-process their absentee ballots due to Covid-19 concerns. The order, according to the paperwork, serves to “bridge the gap” by responding to timing challenges related to SB 2, which passed in the Senate on Jan. 6 but has an indefinite timeline for passing in the House. “The House of Representatives has scheduled a public hearing on Senate Bill 2 and expects to pass the bill in early February 2021,” the order states. “Some towns in New Hampshire have stated that an early February enactment date … would be too late for these towns to set their schedules.”

Also on Jan. 22, Sununu issued Executive Order 2021-1, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least Feb. 12. It’s the 15th extension he has issued since originally declaring a state of emergency last March.

Details of Sununu’s emergency orders, executive orders and other announcements can be found at governor.nh.gov.

Education funding

Sixteen mayors and School Board chairs from cities across New Hampshire sent a letter on Jan. 21 to New Hampshire Department of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, Gov. Chris Sununu, Senate President Chuck Morse and House Speaker Sherman Packard regarding concerns over education funding. “Covid-19 has put tremendous strain on school districts across the state … and as districts begin the budgeting process for the next school year, there are three particular areas of concern that we … wanted to bring to your attention,” the letter starts. The first concern is lower enrollment in free and reduced lunch programs due to national expansion of program eligibility during the pandemic, which affects the amount of funding given to school districts. The second is that there has been an “unprecedented decrease” in school enrollment during the pandemic as many parents have chosen to send their children to private school or to home school until public schools are able to return to fully in-person education safely, the letter says. Since

adequacy aid is based on the enrollment of the previous year, districts are concerned that they will end up educating students for whom they did not receive adequacy aid. “For example, Nashua would see a reduction of $1.6M in adequacy aid in the 2022FY budget if enrollment numbers increase close to pre-pandemic levels for the next school year, as districts are anticipating,” the letter reads. The final concern is the rate increases for state retirement contributions. “This downshifting of costs from the State of New Hampshire to local municipalities and school districts will result in considerable budget shortfalls,” the letter says. The letter ends by asking the Department of Education and the state’s government to take the anticipated revenue shortfalls into account as they allocate funding.

Friends funding

On Jan. 24, the New Hampshire delegation — U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas — announced that the Friends Program in Concord has been awarded $149,811 in AmeriCorps funding. According to a press release, the funding is specifically in support of the AmeriCorps volunteers in the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, which focuses on volunteers who are 55 and older. “These federal funds make important investments in New Hampshire’s community service programming, bolster volunteer opportunities for seniors and support the Friends Program’s mission to empower Granite Staters with the tools they need to give back to their communities,” Shaheen said in the release.

FIT grant

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health has given a $20,000 grant to Families in Transition in Manchester, to support the nonprofit’s work with people experiencing homelessness, providing funding for its adult emergency shelter program. “More than ever during Covid-19 members of our community are struggling to meet their basic needs for shelter, food and social contact,” Greg Norman, MS, director of Community Health for Dartmouth-Hitchcock, said in a press release. “D-HH can help community-based organizations like Families in Transition continue to meet the safety net needs of our patients and other members of the communities we serve.”

Winter gear

On Jan. 20, Girl Scouts in Manchester placed about 180 scarves, hats, gloves and blankets around Veterans Park. According to a press release, the items were left on trees, fence posts and other places throughout the park with tags to let people know they were free to take.

Two new specialty clinics, NeuroOncology and Gynecologic Oncology, are set to open at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock location at the Catholic Medical Center’s Notre Dame Pavilion in Manchester. According to a press release, the clinics will focus on specific cancer diagnoses, including even the rarest cancers.

OLLI — the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, for people ages 50 and up — at Granite State College in Concord announced in a press release that it will offer 81 non-credit courses via Zoom during the spring term, which starts Monday, Feb. 22. There will be classes on history, politics, arts and literature, computer skills, health and food and more. Visit olli.granite.edu.

Dr. Jahmal Mosley, superintendent of the Nashua School District, has announced his resignation, effective at the end of this school year. According to a joint statement from the District and the Board of Education, Mosley has taken a job as superintendent in South Hadley, Mass. The board thanked him for the services he’s provided since 2017.

The Bedford Police Department recently issued an announcement reminding residents not to leave remote key fobs unattended in their vehicles. According to the announcement, Bedford Police have responded to three incidents in the last month where vehicle owners left key fobs in their vehicles, “allowing criminals to easily steal their vehicles.”

Lift one another up

At a religious ceremony last weekend, in the beautiful woods of New Hampshire, the priest counseled us to come together across our differences and to pray for one another. While that sentiment seemed reasonable among the small group of relatively like-minded folks gathered in the snow that morning, I realized it was directed ultimately not just to us but beyond, even nationally across our country. The challenge of that admonition was for each of us to look above what divides us to what we have in common. But in all honesty, that’s hard to do when so much of what has happened recently seems inevitably to drive us even further apart.

Tonight, as I write this, while watching the memorial service for the victims of the pandemic who were grieved at the National Mall, and especially when the 400 lights came on along the Reflecting Pool, each one casting a reflection in the shimmering water, as if to ripple out through each glistening reflection the individuality of every single tragically lost life from families across our nation, it became so very clear that that truly is what we have in common.

For regardless of partisan identity, as human beings we all grieve the loss of our loved ones.

In that other, almost religious service this evening, we were counseled, “To heal, we must remember. It’s hard sometimes to remember.” Yes, it is hard to look beyond the tragedy of our personal losses: the deaths of those who didn’t die with their families at their side, who died in the compassionate care of nurses and doctors who maybe knew them only by name and brief acquaintance, but who gave them tender ministration in our place. Yes, to hold that sorrow and look around to so many others with whom we share loss and to remember they, too, are our brothers and sisters.

Ancient wisdom tells us that “Nothing is as strong as a heart that has been broken.” Might this nation of broken hearts look up through our pain and remember who we are?

Rituals are things we do as a community at times of profound change and deep feeling. They can bind us up as individuals, but they can also urge us as fellow human beings to lift one another up. Truly, this I believe.

Hit the ice

Hit the ice

Local ponds are open throughout southern New Hampshire for ice skating fun. Find out why you might want to lace up and hit the ice, plus where to go and how to find the perfect pair of skates.

Also on the cover, it’s time for the Best of 2021 readers poll! Voting starts Feb. 1; see details on p. 22. As part of its anniversary celebration, the Hippo looks back at the last 20 years in local food happenings, p. 16. And a purple zombie might be just what you need to de-stress, p. 24.

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Playing out, in

Winter Warmer showcases regional talent

The spark for Winter Warmer, a virtual music festival that kicked off Jan. 16, came in the sweltering days of August. Along with fellow musician Nick Phaneuf, Mike Effenberger and his wife, videographer Amanda Kowalski, produced an outdoor, multi-camera video project and came away elated with the results.

As they watched the playback, the thought occurred to them that filming a series of professionally staged shows could provide a boost to the area scene when gigs grew scarce. They reached out to Martin England, who frequently uses his barn, dubbed North Buick Lounge, for house concerts. With plenty of space and good ventilation, it was a perfect venue for what they had in mind, Phaneuf said in a recent joint interview with Effenberger.

“The idea was to film when it was warm and safe, so that musicians could … monetize their work in the winter by having a high-quality concert to sell tickets to,” he said. “It would keep the local audience engaged with the scene by providing them with content to keep them caring.”

Area bands, spanning multiple genres, jumped on board immediately. Eleven sets were shot over two weekends, straddling the end of September and the start of October. The first performance filmed was by Boston rap group STL GLD (pronounced “Still Gold”). Effenberger wasn’t sure how the neighbors would react, even though they’d been advised of the plans.

“It’s 11 in the morning and there’s high-volume hip-hop happening that was exciting and briefly nerve-racking, but nobody complained,” he said. “Their set was incredible.”

The livestreams premiered in mid-January with New Orleans channelers Soggy Po’ Boys, and the March 27 finale stars Dan Blakeslee and the Calabash Club. Effenberger and Phaneuf are members of both groups. Upcoming shows include bluegrass from Green Heron (Jan. 23), Americana trio Young Frontier (Feb. 27) and harmony-rich quartet River Sister (March 20).

Phaneuf’s favorite was Seacoast rockers Rick Rude.

“I’ve only got to see them a couple of times over the years, and it was great being up close while we were capturing the concert,” he said. “Their music is joyful and chaotic, in all the best ways. That was a refreshing set to listen to.”

A key benefit for participating musicians is that they’ll retain full ownership of their performance video.

“Creating high-quality content that the bands could then continue to monetize or utilize after the series is done” was a key goal of the effort, Phaneuf emphasized. “We feel pretty good as an outcome of this that we can give them that.”

Both Effenberger and Phaneuf had a limited schedule during 2020, but when they did perform, they were pleased by the outpouring of support from the community.

“I was personally blown away at the dollar value that people put on the thing that we do,” Phaneuf said. “Doing this for a living, you spend at least some amount of your time as musical wallpaper. … You’re seen and not heard. People paying $50 to lock down a table at a Portsmouth pop-up to hear a show made me feel the community really valued music more than I thought they did. It was sort of an ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ situation, where there was less music, but the audience dedication to being at those shows was impressive.”

Effenberger liked how venues adapted, and how a few new ones sprouted up overnight. “It was an uphill battle,” he said, noting a farm in Kensington that “simply built a stage and bought a PA, and said, ‘Let’s do this and see if the community bites’ — and they did.”

Almost all the money from Winter Warmer will go to the artists, with five percent benefiting Continuum Arts Collective, an effort run by Martin England that puts musical instruments and equipment in the hands of kids who don’t have access. The series also received critical assistance from Seacoast nonprofit Project MusicWorks.

Shows will be available for viewing after they premiere, for the rest of 2021.

“We’re encouraging people to have a group experience,” Phaneuf said, “but if you miss it on that Saturday, you can watch it later.” Winter Warmer Online Concert Series

Winter Warmer Online Concert Series
Shows debut on Saturdays at 8 p.m. on seacoastmusicsupport.com

Premiere dates:
Green Heron, Jan. 23
Rick Rude, Jan. 30
STL GLD, Feb. 6
Jim Dozet Band Record Release Show, Feb. 13
Jazzputin and the Jug Skunks, Feb. 20
Young Frontier, Feb. 27
Earthkit, March 6
Sojoy, March 13
River Sister, March 20
Dan Blakeslee and the Calabash Club, March 27

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 21/01/21

Rocker: When playing plugged in with his band, Max Sullivan can positively wail, channeling guitar gods from Jimmy Page to Stevie Ray. Solo, Sullivan gets soulful, doing a cool version of Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands” and the Stevie Wonder groove fest “Boogie On Reggae Woman.” His set list mixes things up; he can pivot to punk rock as easily as to a Motown hit. Thursday, Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m., Homestead Restaurant & Tavern, 641 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 429-2022.

Twanger: Start the weekend with comfort food and country comfort as Eric Grant performs solo at a Lakes Region haven. Over a dozen years fronting his eponymous band, the singer, songwriter and guitarist has won awards and a solid following, opening for stars like Blake Shelton, Lady A, Sugarland and others. “Who Would You See,” his 2017 tribute to a friend and fan who battled cancer, is a gem. Friday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m., 405 Pub & Grill, 405 Union Ave., Laconia, 524-8405

Joker: While the quest for herd immunity goes on, laughter is a great medicine; Brian Beaudoin will provide plenty. The veteran comic performs consecutive nights, drawing from absurdities in everyday life while engaging in crowd banter to hilarious effect. He’s won awards in his home state of Rhode Island, including the annual Comic Throwdown’s Grand Prize. Friday, Jan. 22, and Saturday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m., Chunky’s Cinema & Pub, 707 Huse Road, Manchester. Tickets $20 at chunkys.com.

Etcher: Live music is back at a Queen City craft brewery as Nate Cozzolino entertains. The Providence singer-songwriter has serious guitar prowess and an ethereal vocal delivery; writer Vic Garbarini likened him to “early Van Morrison,” calling him “one of the most promising artists working today.” Along with his musical prowess, Cozzolino is a talented visual artist; his etched glass work is particularly striking. Saturday, Jan. 23, 4 p.m., To Share Brewing, 720 Union St., Manchester, 836-6947.

Promising Young Woman (R) – One Night in Miami (R) – News of the World (PG-13)

Promising Young Woman (R)

Carey Mulligan plays a woman who can’t move on from the wrong done to her friend and the resulting devastation in Promising Young Woman, a dark, occasionally darkly funny, brutal revenge thriller that is expertly well made.

Promising Young Woman is so much more emotionally torturous than comes across in the trailers, which highlight the revenge element but serve it up with dark humor. While it does have dark humor, actually seeing the story play out and knowing the characters, makes everything so much grimmer. I’ve read and heard lots of commentators point this out but it’s worth really highlighting this fact now that the movie is available for home viewing. (I believe this movie is still in area theaters as well.) Be warned: This is not a “bad-girl” funny good time.

That said, this is also an exceptionally well-made movie. It is surgical in its writing; every line has a point. It looks great; so much care has clearly been taken with every shot and with where characters are in the frame and where the movie is directing you to look. I was amazed with how it is all staged and how everybody is costumed and how that all works into what is being conveyed with each scene.

And the performances are strong. Carey Mulligan brings a lot of layers to Cassie, a 30-year-old woman who is stuck in her grief. During the day, Cassie is being her “real” self — but with a wall of dry humor and disinterest to keep people at arms length.

At night, Cassie goes out as someone else. She’s made up and dressed up and nearly-falling-down drunk. Or really “drunk,” because the unsteady walk and halting speech are just an act. Eventually, some Nice Guy (played by Adam Brody or Sam Richardson or Christopher Mintz-Plasse) comes over to “help her,” to “protect her from those jerks.” This seems to eventually involve taking her to their house, offering her more intoxicants and starting to make out with her, or really make out on her because she doesn’t engage. And then, suddenly, she soberly looks them in the eyes and asks them what they think they’re doing, to their absolute terror.

Cassie does this in the name of Nina, her best friend from childhood through their time in medical school. We learn piece by piece that something terrible happened to Nina, who is always talked of in the past tense. The terrible thing — which the movie makes clear involved sexual assault even before we know the details — has traumatized Cassie too. She lives with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge, Clancy Brown), who seem supportive but also scared and sad for their daughter. She works at a coffee shop and won’t even consider the promotion offered by her kind boss (Laverne Cox). And she has no contact with any other friends or anybody from school, at least until Ryan (Bo Burnham) comes into the shop and, after some chat, asks her out. She is wary with him too but slowly starts to wonder if maybe he really is a nice guy and maybe there could be more to her future.

This movie is written and directed by Emerald Fennell (known, as an actress, for roles in Call the Midwife and The Crown). This is her first feature-length movie, which makes the excellence in execution seem all the more extraordinary. I heard somebody on a podcast (maybe This Had Oscar Buzz) compare her to Jordan Peele and his initial outing Get Out and I thought of that comparison while watching the movie. There is a similar thoughtfulness and preciseness in both movies. It’s rare to see someone completely ace their first outing the way Peele did and Fennell does here. I don’t know that I’ll ever bring myself to watch this movie again but I can’t wait to see what she does next. A

Rated R for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material and drug use, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman is an hour and 53 minutes long and is distributed by Focus Features. It is in local theaters and available for rent.

One Night in Miami (R)

Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown hang out together after Ali’s fight with Sonny Liston in One Night in Miami, a movie based on a play of the same name and directed by Regina King.

You can still feel the play in elements of this movie, which is largely made up of the four men hanging out in a hotel room, talking and arguing. Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir); Muhammad Ali, still going by Cassius Clay (Eli Goree); football player-turned-actor Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) gather in Malcolm’s room after the fight in 1964. The plan is to have a party but Malcolm offers only vanilla ice cream and conversation. Cassius is on the verge of announcing his conversion to Islam. Malcolm seems proud but also conflicted — he is in the process of making a break from the Nation of Islam. Jim has recently shot his first movie and seems to be considering leaving the NFL. Sam is preparing for a show at a venue where he previously bombed — and working on some new music. The friendship of these men is strong but the momentum of their own careers and their various approaches to the civil rights movement are points of friction between them.

To some extent the movie at its core is “just” conversation, but it’s engrossing conversation between people who feel multidimensional, with more layers than just “history’s Malcolm X.” We see just enough of these men’s lives to get a hint of what they’re bringing into the room, their hopes, their insecurities, what things inform their point of view.

The performances here are stellar across the board but I will admit that my eyes kept landing on Odom and his take on Cooke. He plays Cooke as someone who is canny about his profession and how to make it make money for himself and for other African American artists but he still has those desires to say something more through his songs. Maybe Hamilton just sort of taught me to look for “guy working at several levels” from Odom but I feel like he’s doing it again here and it pulls his Cooke to the center of the story even if Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali have the bigger personalities. A

Rated R for language throughout, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Regina King with a screenplay by Kemp Powers (who also wrote the play), One Night in Miami is an hour and 54 minutes long and is distributed by Amazon Studios and available via Amazon Prime.

News of the World (PG-13)

Tom Hanks plays the Tom Hanks character who is unexpectedly tasked with bringing an orphan to her distant relatives in post-Civil War Texas in News of the World.

This is basically Hanks’ Greyhound if you replace “get convoy of ships to the U.K.” with “get little girl to the Texas Hill Country” and “outrun Nazi submarines” with “outrun Old West-y villains.”

I mean that in the best way; I liked Greyhound. Here as there, Hanks is a man who calls on his quick thinking and basic decency to complete his hero’s journey. Is chicken parm the most inventive dish in the world? No, but few things are better than a really good chicken parm. Hanks is serving up some very classic cuisine and doing it expertly.

Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), mostly just called Captain, was once a Confederate soldier but he seems very “bind up the nation’s wounds” for some “just and lasting peace” about the whole thing. Now, 1870-ish, he travels the Texas countryside and reads newspapers to audiences who pay a dime a person for this in-person Walter Cronkite action. Captain is lively but down the middle with his news reading, not allowing meetings to turn into anti-federal-troops gripe sessions, for example.

While on the road, he comes across a wrecked wagon and an African American federal agent who has been lynched — which, the movie makes clear, Captain finds appalling. He figures out that the man was tasked with transporting Johanna (Helena Zengel), the young blonde girl hiding nearby, who had been living with the Kiowa tribe. When the Kiowa were forced off their land, Johanna’s Kiowa parents were killed and Johanna, who only knows her name as “Cicada,” found herself orphaned for a second time. She lost her biological parents as a young girl when their settlers’ village was raided. She doesn’t appear to retain any memory of that life — or of being called Johanna — and doesn’t speak English.

Captain tries to turn her over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the next town but he’s told that the agent won’t be back for months. Eventually he agrees to take her on the several weeks’ drive south to find a biological aunt and uncle. Along the way they encounter various people who want to kill (or in Johanna’s case, kidnap) them, but Captain’s Hanks-y cleverness helps them deal with dicey situations. To pay for their journey, he continues his news-reading work, with Johanna collecting dimes from the crowd and learning to enjoy his stories.

There is nothing surprising here but everything here is done really well. Zengel is a solid child actor, communicating a lot with her face. Hanks, of course, is top notch, turning in the high-quality performance that seems like rote for him but is really the demonstration of extraordinary skill. Director Paul Greengrass is able to show us a country still mired in all kinds of conflict and aware of what our modern opinions will probably be without turning Captain into some kind of anachronistic saint. Even when the movie veers into “OK, this is a bit much” it is able to pull off the sandstorms and the town full of weird and violent separatists thanks to the skill of everybody involved. B

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, thematic material and some language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Paul Greengrass with a screenplay by Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies (from a novel by Paulette Jiles), News of the World is an hour and 58 minutes long and distributed by Universal Studios. It is playing in local theaters and available for rent.

Featured photo: Promising Young Woman (R)

Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter

Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter (The Countryman Press, 205 pages)

During the Covid lockdown, a few creative and bored people entertained themselves by making videos and posting them online. Some people lip-synced Trump’s speeches. Some put events to music. Professional sportscaster Andrew Cotter narrated his two Labrador retrievers eating breakfast.

The video of Olive and Mabel was cute, and most internet people agreed that it was clever to hear the routine canine event treated as if it were high sport. It served as a much-needed break from the tediousness and frustration of not being able to go to live sports events. Soon Cotter created more videos featuring his dogs.

The videos all went viral on Twitter. And, from this experience, Cotter wrote the book Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs.

When I’ve taught writing classes and we discuss memoirs, I tell my students that with this genre in particular you have to be careful.

A person winning a $20 million lottery is not a compelling story.

A person winning a $20 million lottery and then using that money to build wells in Africa or to create educational systems that change people’s lives is a compelling story.

In this case, Cotter simply won the internet lottery. Which makes this a very non-compelling story. It’s a tale retrofit to justify the emergence of a good idea for videos.

All true dog lovers treat their dogs like children and shower them with love, but other than simply being pets these two dogs are not extraordinary in any way. They didn’t save Timmy from the well like Lassie did. They didn’t alert anyone to an impending epileptic seizure. These two dogs simply grew up together in a household. There is no real plot or journey line in this book. It’s simply a story about two good dogs who belong to an unemployed sportscaster.

Beside there being no journey or plot in this book, there is also a significant issue with the author’s voice. He is clever, he is witty. But it’s to the point where every paragraph has some kind of snarky comment or joke in it. This causes a problem for the reader because it quickly becomes apparent that you can’t trust what the author is saying. While reading a sentence, I found myself constantly wondering if this was factual or if it was a setup for a joke. Losing faith in a reader’s message is the kiss of death for any book.

It’s clear that Cotter is not a writer. Oh, to be sure, he wrote a book (won the lottery again!) but to those of use who are writers, it feels like cheating. He is not disciplined. There is no solid construction to the story. It simply exists as a retelling of fond dog memories with a lot of jokes tucked in.

“All I would say is that despite the fact that our house is not what it was and the sofas are now a hue that a paint catalog might call ‘Displeasingly Off-Beige’ in their color chart, despite the fact that all clothes are now made of a dog-hair blend and getting more than six hours sleep is a thing of the past, despite the fact that their wants and needs can seem to rule our day, I couldn’t imagine ever living that clean, tidy, sane, dog-free life again.”

And yes, that paragraph was one sentence.

On the plus side, anyone who has raised dogs will be able to relate (somewhat) to the stories of puppy love and damage, new dogs in the house, and going on walks with your best buds. I’m just not sure that that connection is enough to hold anyone’s attention for the entire book.

And in the way that I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed the chapter on the history of whaling in Moby Dick, I did find the chapter on how the Labrador breed came to be interesting. I actually learned a few things that I hadn’t known, so for that I am grateful to this book.

Look, I take no pleasure in giving a book a bad review. I hope to be published myself someday and I know it would break my heart if someone didn’t like or appreciate my work. But I’m here to tell you my book review opinions based on my reading and writing experiences.

If you are thinking about what book to read next, you’d be doing yourself a big favor by taking a pass on this one. C-

Wendy E. N. Thomas

Book Clubs

Author events

REBECCA CARROLL Author presents Surviving the White Gaze. Virtual livestream hosted by The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Tues., Feb. 2, 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5. Call 436-2400 or visit themusichall.org.

SUSAN CONLEY Author presents Landslide. Hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Online, via Zoom. Thurs., Feb. 11, 7 p.m. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

DIANE REHM Author presents When My Time Comes. Virtual livestream hosted by The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Tues., Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5. Call 436-2400 or visit themusichall.org.

THERESA CAPUTO the star of TLC’s Long Island Medium will present “Theresa Caputo: The Experience Live” at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St. Concord, ccanh.com) on Wed., April 7, 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $39.75 (with option for a VIP Photo Op for an additional $49.95).

BOOKERY Online. Monthly. Third Thursday, 6 p.m. Bookstore based in Manchester. Visit bookerymht.com/online-book-club or call 836-6600.

GIBSON’S BOOKSTORE Online, via Zoom. Monthly. First Monday, 5:30 p.m. Bookstore based in Concord. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.

TO SHARE BREWING CO. 720 Union St., Manchester. Monthly. Second Thursday, 6 p.m. RSVP required. Visit tosharebrewing.com or call 836-6947.

Language

FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE CLASSES Offered remotely by the Franco-American Centre. Six-week winter session runs Jan. 21 through Feb. 25, with classes held Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Spring session dates TBA. $225. Visit facnh.com/education or call 623-1093.

Special events

EXETER LITFEST Literary festival will feature local authors, keynote speaker Victoria Arlen, book launches, a Saturday morning story hour for kids, and programs on various topics including publishing tips, mystery writing and homeschooling. Hosted virtually via Zoom by Exeter TV. Thurs., April 1, through Sat., April 3. Free and open to the public. Visit exeterlitfest.com.

Featured photo: Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs

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