Featured Content – Page 108

Nomadland (R) | The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (PG-13)

Nomadland (R)

Frances McDormand gives one of the year’s great performances in Nomadland, a movie based on the non-fiction book by Jessica Brueder.

The two most common scenes in this movie are McDormand’s Fern talking to people in what feel like actual conversations people are just having with McDormand herself, and Fern by herself enjoying the beauties and working through the difficulties of life as a nomad. Fern became a nomad — specifically, a nomad who lives in a van and travels from one seasonal job (Amazon warehouse) to another (a harvest) — after, basically, losing everything. Her beloved husband died after a painful illness and her town essentially died when the factory employer closed and kicked the workers out of the company housing.

Shorn of everything — her possessions are in a storage locker, she even cut her hair we’re told — Fern packs up a few of her most precious things and heads out. First, she stays at an Amazon-paid-for RV lot while she works packing things at some massive distribution center. Later, we see her follow new friend Linda May to a job as a park host at another RV/campground near a national park. Fellow nomad Dave (David Strathairn, one of the few other people not essentially playing themselves here) is a worker at the park and helps hook Fern up with a job at Wall Drug (a tourist attraction in South Dakota). Dave takes a shine to Fern; she maybe likes him too. They’re both awkward as heck in their flirting but we also get the sense that Dave is an attachment Fern is not ready for.

According to posts on the Nomadland Twitter account, several of the people McDormand’s Fern meets along the way — including Swankie, Linda May and Bob Wells — are essentially playing themselves and had their stories told in the book. I think this approach helps to ground this movie and keep the story focused on Fern and her life, rather than letting it spin off into thinkpiece territory. Fern is working through grief and dealing with a life turning point when we first meet her and that makes her story (and all the socio-economic aspects to it) all the much more layered and meaningful.

I realize that projecting soul-deep authenticity is sort of a baseline of any McDormand performance but she really does knock it out of the park here. I cared about Fern, and the movie makes us understand why she makes the choices she does and empathize with them.

And on top of this, the movie is beautiful — beautiful to look at (so many shots of the western and midwestern country) and beautiful to listen to, with a really excellent score. Definitely add Nomadland to your awards season must-watch list. A

Rated R for some full nudity, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Chloe Zhao with a screenplay by Zhao (from the book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder), Nomadland is an hour and 48 minutes long, is distributed by Searchlight Pictures and is in some theaters and available via Hulu.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (PG-13)

Two teens are stuck in one of those Groundhog Day/Edge of Tomorrow-time loops in The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.

We enter in the middle of Mark’s (Kyle Allen) time-loop experience. He knows all the beats of this one day he’s been living over and over. Currently, he is using his knowledge of when and where everything happens, down to the second and the milimeter, to get the attention of a specific girl who always falls into the water at the neighborhood pool after getting hit by a beach ball. That is, she falls in if Mark isn’t there to catch her (and sometimes if he is; playing it cool takes a lot of do-overs).

But one day, instead of Mark catching the girl after the ball hits her, another girl walks by and swats the ball away. This new girl’s sudden appearance and the way she looks at and runs away from Mark makes him pretty sure that she, too, is in the loop. After a few “days” of looking, Mark finds and meets Margaret (Kathryn Newton). They are, as she says, marooned on this island together, so they hang out and become friends, even creating a project to map all of the little awesome moments (a guy getting pushed out of the way of bird poop, an eagle grabbing a fish, a girl showing up all the lesser skaters at a local skateboard hangout) that happen during their one day. But every evening Margaret mysteriously leaves him, and Mark isn’t sure how to turn these regular hangouts into something more. Or how to even have something more when he can never move forward.

Unlike other timey-wimey movies, Mark actually has a good group of people around him that he can lean on. We see him interact with his dad (Josh Hamilton), his sister (Cleo Fraser) and his best friend (Jermaine Harris), who don’t know about the “one day over and over” thing but are still able to help him work through some things. It’s all very sweet and allows the movie to examine the regular teen clash of emotions of wanting to grow up and also not being ready to move on. Newton in particular stands out as being a solid up-and-comer; I liked her in the recent Freaky and this movie similarly shows her skill with blending drama and humor, silliness and genuine emotion. B+

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some teen drinking and sexual references, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Ian Samuels from a screenplay by Lev Grossman, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is an hour and 38 minutes long and is distributed by Amazon, where it is available on Amazon Prime.

Featured photo: Nomadland

Flavor impact

What you eat or drink affects your brew

In sort of a famous family incident several years ago during a get-together at a restaurant, my dad complained about the Wachusett Country Ale he was drinking. He didn’t like it. The flavor wasn’t quite right.

As the brew is one of my staples and frankly, unarguably, one of the least offensive brews on the planet, this concerned me. Was it skunked? Did the bartender accidentally give him the wrong beer? Was something wrong with my father?

After a little investigation, he admitted he had popped an Altoid just as he was drinking the beer. Look, I’m not going to question the big guy. He must have needed a breath mint. But I feel sure the brewers at Wachusett Brewing Co. didn’t brew any of their beers to be enjoyed with an Altoid.

The point is, juxtaposition matters when it comes to beer.

This is not an article about pairing food with beer. This is some commentary on at least considering how one thing might impact another. It’s also about encouraging people to give beers another shot — in a different context, you might find different results.

If you’ve had a couple rich, smooth stouts, and then you make the jump to an amped up double IPA, well, it might work but the bitterness might be a lot to take on the first sip.

Recently I was enjoying a delicious Velvet Moon Milk Stout by Mighty Squirrel Brewing of Waltham, Mass., just savoring the rich coffee flavor and decadence of the brew. Then I followed it up with a much drier stout. It was not a good experience and left me disliking the second brew. I even bad-mouthed it to a friend.

I gave the brew another shot several days later and it was a completely different, completely pleasurable experience. I’m glad I came back to it.

Juxtaposition matters, of course, when you’re making a dramatic shift from one style to another, but it also matters when you’re sticking with the same style. If you’re enjoying a bunch of IPAs, sometimes the combination of hops from the next brew can hit you right or wrong.

Food has an impact as well, potentially bringing out the right or wrong flavors from the beer you’re drinking.

Just keep it in mind. If you try a beer and you don’t like it, you might just not like it, but consider the possibility that other factors have impacted how you feel about it. Try it again in a different context.

Here are three random beers that can probably be enjoyed in succession but I don’t really know.

ArrrVP Oak-Aged Robust Vanilla Porter by Great North Aleworks (Manchester)

Great North Aleworks takes its terrific Robust Vanilla Porter (RVP) and ages it in rum oak cubes, which accentuates the vanilla in the brew and gives it a little “bite,” while the beer maintains a dry finish. At its core this is still RVP, just a little different. The ABV is pretty low at 6.6 percent, making it approachable too.

Blueberry Ale by Wachusett Brewing Co. (Westminster, Mass.)

Just a coincidence that I referenced Wachusett earlier in the piece, but when you have had more IPAs than you should, this is a perfect choice. The subtle sweetness from the blueberries and the light body provide the perfect counterpoint to all that hop bitterness.

Unraveled IPA by Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

This is good stuff: very juicy but also smooth, if an IPA can be that. It’s also a crystal clear pour, making it very unique for this style. It also has big citrus aromas.

What’s in My Fridge
60 Minute IPA by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales (Milton, Delaware) I hadn’t had this in forever and I’ll tell you what, this brew, now nearly 20 years old, absolutely stands up to today’s super-hoppy IPAs. Cheers.

Featured photo: ArrrVP by Great North Aleworks

Erofili Roesel

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Definitely a knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

A spaghetti and feta pizza. … It’s something we have on the menu that my mom created back in the day.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

We’ve been going to The Red Blazer [Restaurant and Pub in Concord] for the longest time. I get the chicken Parm there.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from your restaurant?

Adam Sandler.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

The cheese pizza is something we have all the time. I like simple stuff.

What’s the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

The steak and cheese sub, just because it has so many variations, and the gyro also seems to be upcoming as well. We have a beef strip or a grilled chicken option for our gyros.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like a simple piece of grilled chicken with Greek olive oil, oregano and some lemon, and then some mashed potatoes.

Homemade grilled chicken and mashed potatoes
From the at-home kitchen of Erofili Roesel of Brookside House of Pizza in Loudon

3 pieces chicken breast, butterflied
5 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
¼ cup milk
½ stick butter
Dash of fresh oregano
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 fresh squeezed lemon
Greek olive oil

Cook chicken breasts on the stove top in a cast iron pan, with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add oregano, salt, pepper and lemon. Boil the peeled and cubed potatoes until soft. Blend potatoes with milk, butter, salt and pepper. (Optional: Add another squirt of lemon when chicken is done).

Food & Drink

Farmers markets

• Cole Gardens Winter Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road, Concord), now through April 17. Visit colegardens.com.

• Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market is Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon, in the Families in Transition building (20 S. Main St.). Find them on Facebook.

• Rolling Green Winter Farmers Market’s final dateis Saturday, Feb. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Rolling Green Nursery (64 Breakfast Hill Road, Greenland). Visit rollinggreennursery.com.

• Salem Farmers Market is Sundays, from 10 a.m. to noon, inside the former Rockler Woodworking building (369 S. Broadway, Salem). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org.

Featured photo: Erofili Roesel

Coffee is brewing

Game of Thrones-inspired cafe now open in Amherst

A new cafe in Amherst is inviting you to transport to the lands of Westeros while enjoying locally roasted coffees, teas, breakfast burritos, baked goods and more. The 7Kingdoms Cafe, which arrived last month in the town’s Salzburg Square shopping center, is inspired by Game of Thrones, a favorite show of co-owners and sisters Kareya and Karina Flores. The casual spot features medieval cloth shields, gargoyle light fixtures, chess boards, books and other themed decor and some drinks with names that call to mind the popular HBO series.

Kareya Flores, whose family also owns El Arroyo Mexican Restaurant just a few doors down in the same plaza, said she and her sister became inclined to take over the space following the closure of its preceding business, Hodlbyte Coffee.

“We’ve been [at El Arroyo] since 2018 … and we always liked to walk over to that cafe to grab a coffee and relax. Our restaurant staff would also head over there on their breaks,” Flores said. “So once we saw that the landlord there was renting that area out, we wanted to see if we could get it up and running again.”

According to Flores, it was a conversation among family members about what the new cafe would be named that sparked the idea of a Game of Thrones theme.

“We were trying to think of what would be different,” she said. “My husband suggested that it would be neat to have that as a theme … and everything kind of evolved around that.”

The cafe features espresso drinks, in addition to hot or iced drip and nitro coffees, using beans roasted from A&E Coffee & Tea. Many of the options are named after Game of Thrones characters or places, like the “latte of Winterfell” made with Irish cream-flavored syrup, the “Cersei chai latte,” and the “mocha Stark,” with either white chocolate or regular cocoa. If you prefer your own unique coffee creation, there are several other flavors of syrups available, from vanilla, caramel and hazelnut, to tiramisu, amaretto, strawberry and raspberry. Other featured drinks are hot or iced teas, hot chocolate, freshly squeezed orange juice, and mixed refreshments with fruits like strawberries, passion fruit and mango.

Food options include several varieties of breakfast burritos premade the same day they are available, like those with Mexican chorizo sausage, jalapenos, scrambled eggs, cheese and house salsa. There are also paninis, like an Italian option with ham and salami, and a vegetarian option with mushrooms, tomatoes and romaine lettuce.

At the cafe’s counter is a display case of fresh baked goods, several of which are either prepared at El Arroyo or sourced from the Manchester-based Dulces Bakery. There you’ll find items like conchas (Mexican sweet bread), cuernitos (Mexican sweet croissants) and assorted cookies.

Flores said the 7Kingdoms Cafe is already fast becoming a regular stomping ground for local Game of Thrones fans.

“Some people have said that as soon as they heard the name they knew it was related to Game of Thrones and were very excited,” she said. “They love discussing the show.”

7Kingdoms Cafe
Where: 292 Route 101, Amherst
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
More info: Visit 7kingdoms-cafe.business.site, find them on Facebook @7kingdomscafe or call 213-5390

Comfort to go

Red Beard’s Kitchen offers ready-made farm-to-fork meals

From soup, chowder and chili to beef stew, veal Bolognese and shepherd’s pie, a new ready-made meal business is offering a variety of locally sourced comfort options, available at a few area farm stands and also via weekly pickups in Manchester.

Red Beard’s Beef Chili to go. Courtesy photo.

Known as Red Beard’s Kitchen, it’s the latest culinary project of Matt Provencher, who has held executive chef positions at multiple Granite State eateries over the years, most recently at The Foundry in Manchester. The business launched earlier this month with its first curbside pickups in front of the temporarily closed Noodz restaurant on Elm Street. For now, pickups will continue there every Saturday between 10 a.m. and noon.

“We’re working with local farms as much as we can,” said Provencher, who’s been putting out Red Beard’s Kitchen’s meals with the help of his wife, Dalila. “We’re dealing with New England Fishmongers for our scallops and haddock, and Bohanan Farm [in Hopkinton] for ground beef, dairy and cheese. … The goal is to do some self-distribution.”

Ordering is available through Red Beard’s Kitchen’s Facebook page and through its website. All items are sold frozen, with specific heating instructions depending on what you get. Most meals will serve two or three people per order

Some of Provencher’s hottest-selling items right out of the gate have been seafood chowder with scallops, haddock and veggies, and shepherd’s pie with ground beef. He has also done beef chili with kidney and pinto beans; veal Bolognese; split pea soup made with chicken stock, bacon and veggies; beef stew, and broccoli cheddar soup. Several of the meals, including the chili, the shepherd’s pie and the Bolognese, are gluten-free. Provencher has also tested the waters with different products and worked with potential items like meatloaf and meatballs.

In addition to ordering online for Saturday pickups at Noodz, you can get Provencher’s meals at a few local farm stands — he’s working with Vernon Family Farm in Newfields and Brookvale Pines Farm in Fremont, and will soon have his products available through the Three River Farmers Alliance, an online network linking customers to locally sourced food.

Red Beard’s Kitchen
To order, visit red-beards-kitchen.square.site, email redbeardskitchennh@gmail.com or find them on Facebook. Place orders for weekly pickups on Saturdays, between 10 a.m. and noon, at Noodz (968 Elm St., Manchester).

News & Notes 21/02/25

Covid-19 update	As of February 15	As of February 22
Total cases statewide	71,017	73,665
Total current infections statewide	2,953	2,883
Total deaths statewide	1,135	1,154
New cases	2,518 (Feb. 9 to Feb. 15)	2,648 (Feb. 16 – 22)
Current infections: Hillsborough County	922	807
Current infections: Merrimack County	217	232
Current infections: Rockingham County	678	650

Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

On Feb. 16, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services received nearly $20 million from the federal government to support child care programs in the state, as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. The funds, according to a press release, will be distributed to family child care providers, child care centers and licensed-exempt providers.

During a Feb. 18 press conference, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said the daily number of new infections of Covid-19 in New Hampshire has been on a slight increase, due in part to those at colleges and universities in the state. Hospitalization rates, he said, have continued to be stable over the last several weeks.

Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, also said during the press conference that the state is expected to receive about 27,740 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine this week, an increase of more than 5,000 doses from the week prior. “In addition to state allocation, additional vaccines are coming into the state through the federal retail pharmacy partnership with Walgreens,” she said. First-dose appointments for people in Phase 1B of the state’s vaccine distribution plan are still available.

A recent change in federal unemployment policy, according to a Feb. 18 report from WMUR, has rendered hundreds of Granite Staters ineligible to receive their weekly benefits. Those who are temporarily laid off or whose hours are reduced but who have employers that remain open are no longer eligible. According to the report, U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan said they are working to get the policy reversed.

On Feb. 19, Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 85, an order mandating that Granite State schools offer in-person instruction to all students for at least two days a week starting March 8. “It isn’t just so the kids come back and have a more full, robust learning model,” Sununu said during the Feb. 18 press conference. “It really is for the behavioral and mental health, the isolation issues that so many of our students have been bearing with.” Under the order, a K through 12 school may transition to required full-time distance learning for students for up to 48 hours without state approval if officials deem it necessary to address Covid-19 concerns related to infections or staffing shortages. But if a school wishes to transition to fully remote learning for more than 48 hours, it must receive approval from the Commissioner of Education. Virtual Learning Academy Charter Schools are not impacted by the order. All K through 12 staff will be able to receive their first vaccine dose in Phase 2A of the state’s vaccination plan, which is expected to be between March and May.

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

House lawsuit

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty ruled that Republican House Speaker Sherman Packard does not have to use remote technology for the two House sessions scheduled for this week, according to a report from WMUR. On Feb. 16, Packard released a statement following a lawsuit filed by Democrat state representatives against him, which argued that Packard was refusing to provide remote accommodations for House members with disabilities. “We are reviewing the complaint and working with counsel on our response,” Packard said. He pointed to the House sessions that have been held at the Whittemore Center, “where we had high attendance levels by legislators, numerous legislative and UNH employees, police, paramedics, contract employees, firefighters and others. No one contracted Covid-19 at the Whittemore Center indoor events in 2020.” He said the new venue for this week’s meetings, NH Sportsplex in Bedford, has more than double the usable area of the Whittemore Center and assured “an accessible, risk-mitigated and secure environment for all members and staff in attendance.” McCafferty wrote in her ruling that Packard is “immune” from the Democratic lawmakers’ suit “challenging his enforcement of a House rule that is closely related to core legislative functions,” according to WMUR’s report, and she based her ruling on the argument on legislative immunity. After the ruling, Packard issued a statement thanking the court and saying, “We were confident in our position that remote participation could not be reasonably accommodated at this time.” Democratic Leader Representative Renny Cushingreleased a statement saying, “Unfortunately, this case has exposed the callous indifference of House Republican leadership toward our most vulnerable members during the Covid-19 crisis that has taken the lives of a half a million Americans.”

There is now a bobblehead of the nation’s 14th president, Franklin Pierce, who was born in Hillsborough. The bobblehead is part of the “Neglected Presidents” collection, according to a press release, produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum and available for purchase at store.bobbleheadhall.com.

On Feb. 18, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan visited small businesses in downtown Laconia, speaking to owners about the pandemic-related challenges they are facing, according to a press release. Hassan helped get the Employer Assistance Coordination Act included in the end-of-year funding bill that was passed in December, so now small businesses can participate in the Paycheck Protection Program and also claim the Employee Retention Tax Credit, the release said.

The Granite State Leathers Superfund Site in Nashua, also known as Mohawk Tannery, will be cleaned up and eventually redeveloped to include mixed-use commercial space and residential housing, according to a press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will share remediation costs with local developer Blaylock Holdings and the City of Nashua. The cleanup will address hazardous substances in soils, sludges and contaminated waste originating from the site.

The Palace Theatre in Manchester has a new performing arts series sponsor. According to a press release, St. Mary’s Bank has made a three-year, $180,000 commitment, having given an initial gift of $30,000 at the end of 2020 to support the Palace’s virtual shows, which are streaming during the theater’s intermission.

We are connected

I’ve been hearing and thinking about annual cycles lately including Black History Month, the Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, and the last day we worked in person — or the day our lives changed dramatically — due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At our house, this one-year mark coincides with my 89-year-old mother getting her second Covid vaccine and that’s a really big deal for us. For the last year, we have been working so hard to keep her safe in the midst of this pandemic. Her health has been our primary motivator to keep wearing masks and physically distance when our longing for social connection was pulling us to congregate with friends – she is the reason we’ve been so cautious. We’re really grateful that she was able to get the vaccine.

Many people who are vulnerable and at risk are waiting eagerly for their turn; others are more hesitant for a variety of reasons. We know that this virus has disproportionately affected some populations at higher rates because of the unique combination of factors that make certain groups more vulnerable — being older, having multiple chronic medical conditions, or being a member of certain racial/ethnic groups. These differences, known as health disparities, arise not because of any biological differences between groups as we are all part of the same human family. Rather, it is for reasons such as being more likely to be employed in essential work settings and thus at greater risk of being exposed to the virus, and more likely to be uninsured and have less access to health care with more chronic medical conditions. These factors are called the social determinants of health, where longstanding underlying inequities have been revealed by the pandemic. That is why some of us say that everything contributes to health, and health contributes to everything — because good health is requisite for our ability to be successful in school, to be productive workers, to enjoy time with our families, and to live long, fulfilling lives.

As a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel begins to shine with increasing numbers of people vaccinated, and hospitalizations and deaths finally beginning to decline, we can dare to look forward to resuming the in-person celebrations we had to cancel or put off. And I imagine that even the mundane activities of our daily lives will seem celebratory — going to work and chatting around the water-cooler, convening in person, exchanging handshakes and hugs.

The infectious nature of this pandemic has illuminated how we are all connected, that any one of us is only as healthy as others in our community, that we are all in this together — and that at heart, we all want the same thing.

Dr. Trinidad Tellez is a family physician and health equity strategist, community advocate, and consultant.

Write through it

Tyler Allgood shines on soul-baring Through The Empty

Surgery and its aftermath are often challenging; for a recovering addict, the experience can be harrowing. As Tyler Allgood faced a spine operation in early 2019, he worried about whether essential pain medication would lead to relapse. For six to eight months prior to entering the hospital, this fear had him “staring at the ceiling … going crazy wondering if my life was ever going to change,” Allgood said in a recent phone interview.

“Knowing I’d have to take drugs again to go through this,” he said, “I kind of had to revisit my past and revise it.”

The answer came through his music, on songs like “Downtime” and “Who Am I Now.” The latter is a dreamy meditation about being “always off, lost in the fixtures,” while keeping vigilant. Both appear on Allgood’s soon to be released album Through The Empty, a 13-track cycle that’s both starkly honest and expertly composed.

“The writing saved me,” Allgood said. “I had to keep writing; it’s really saving my life.”

Though this is his second LP, Allgood feels the new effort is a lot like a debut.

“It’s kind of a wrap-up of all those years,” he said, noting that 2019’s The Weight of Thunder “was whipped together kind of quickly [when] a friend of mine had had an opportunity and he was an engineer. It’s still very meaningful, but on [this] record I finally bring my composing all together … and really produce the sound that I’m going for.”

Allgood, who also deals with alcoholism, “depression, PTSD and plenty of other mental issues,” said his songwriting is “ninety percent personal experience and stories.” Some can be heartbreaking — “Love In Vermont” deals with a love affair that ends in suicide.

There’s also hope. One of the record’s highlights, “No Visions of Fear,” contains the memorable line, “I’m too miserable to die.” Allgood is quoting a friend who succumbed to breast cancer.

“I don’t think he knew how powerful it was coming from him as he was dying,” he said, adding the statement was a reflection of his friend’s giving nature. “He hadn’t done all of his work helping people … that was the reason he was miserable. That he would have to leave other people behind.”

Along with strong songwriting, what distinguishes the new album most is its music: densely layered guitars, delicate keyboards, deft time changes and Allgood’s haunting vocals. He played and sang nearly every note.

Through The Empty was recorded at Loud Sun Studios with producer Ben Rogers, who also plays drums on the record. Dan Labrie, from Allgood’s old group BandBand, played slide guitar on a couple of tracks, and Eliot Pelletier contributed guitar as well.

Allgood got into music as a teenager.

“A friend of mine, Kyle Weber, was this really talented guitar player right from the get-go,” he said. “He played the talent show at our middle school, and that was where I realized that I really wanted to do that as well.”

He agrees that most listeners will detect a clear influence running through the new album.

“Jerry Garcia was hugely important finding my way through whatever it is I’m doing with music,” Allgood said. “The Grateful Dead, George Harrison’s solo stuff, all helped open my eyes to what was possible on my own, to create, to not have limits.”

When a release event happens — never a certainty these pandemic-limited times — Allgood plans to assemble a band to back him. For now, though, he plays solo and eschews looping sounds.

“I might incorporate that soon, but I tend to keep it as original as I can, I suppose,” he said.

His shows also include judiciously chosen covers of artists like The Beatles and Johnny Cash.

“I try to cater to everything, and then also mix in my original work,” he said.

Allgood expects to release the album in early March — “It’s coming as soon as possible,” he said.

He’ll play a lot of it during a livestream show hosted by Nova Arts on March 19 (novaarts.org).

Tyler Allgood
When: Thursday, Feb 25, 6 p.m.
Where: Village Trestle, 25 Main St., Goffstown
More: instagram.com/tgood_extrabetty
Allgood also appears Saturday, March 6, 6 p.m. at Village Trestle in Goffstown

Graig Murphy, Francis Birch & Mike Smith
When: Saturday, Feb. 13, 8 p.m.
Where: Strikers East, 4 Essex Dr., Raymond
Tickets: $20 at laughriotproductions.com or call 895-9501

Featured photo: Tyler Allgood. Courtesy photo.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (PG-13) | Judas and the Black Messiah (R)

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (PG-13)

Everybody is wonderfully game in the delightfully silly Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, a movie co-written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, the writers of Bridesmaids.

Comparatively, Bridesmaids played it straight. Barb and Star goes all in on its weirdness.

Barb (Mumolo) and Star (Wiig) are poofy-haired besties whose favorite flavor is “plain,” whose wardrobe is built on culottes and who work together at a Jennifer Convertibles in Nebraska. When their store is closed and they are kicked out of Talking Club (run with an iron passive-aggressive fist by a woman played by Vanessa Bayer, so well used here as so many of the movie’s supporting roles and cameos are), Barb and Star decide to throw caution to the wind and go on an exotic vacation — to the middle-aged-vacationer-friendly Vista Del Mar, Florida. They end up at a hotel with a real “cruise ship but on land” vibe and, during their first night, end up at the bar sharing a giant hallucinogenics-containing scorpion bowl with Edgar (Jamie Dornan). Edgar is drowning his sorrows over his would-be girlfriend, Sharon Gordon Fisherman (also Wiig, looking very “Dr. Evil meets 2013’s Snowpiercer” but chic). Sharon won’t become an “official couple” with him until after he helps her release a swarm of genetically modified mosquitoes meant to kill the residents of Vista Del Mar because they were mean to Sharon when she was a kid.

Other things that happen in this movie: A character has a conversation with a crab. Andy Garcia shows up in a cameo, still in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! mode. A human cannon serves as a significant plot point. Dornan shows an almost superhuman lack of vanity (there’s a power ballad! on a beach! I have never liked him more than I do here).

I did wonder, occasionally, if this movie was being cruel to Barb and Star, if it was punching down at these ladies with their haircuts and their general middle-ness. But I don’t think it is, ultimately. Through all the silliness, Wiig and Mumolo, who seem to be having such a sunny great time here, give these characters a core that includes general decency and their deep love and friendship for each other.

Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar is great goofy fun and I highly recommend it. B+

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual content, drug use and some strong language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Josh Greenbaum with a screenplay by Annie Mumulo & Kristen Wiig, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is an hour and 47 minutes long and is distributed by Lionsgate. It is available to rent.

Judas and the Black Messiah (R)

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield do standout work in Judas and the Black Messiah, a movie about the real-life activism and death of Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party.

In the late 1960s, Bill O’Neal (Stanfield) is arrested after a rather inventive car theft and given a choice by FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons): prison time or becoming an informant for the FBI. Bill picks not-prison and is sent to join the Black Panther Party in Illinois, where Fred Hampton (Kaluuya) is the Illinois party chairman. As Bill finds his way into the party and Fred’s inner circle, he sees Hampton attempt to unite different social-political factions in Chicago to work for similar goals, largely related to poverty and police brutality.

We also see the charismatic Hampton begin a relationship with Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback), now known as Akua Njeri. They try to build a life of activism together while the FBI relentlessly pursues Hampton and the Panthers however they can.

Judas and the Black Messiah shares some of the same historical space as fellow award-season hopeful The Trial of the Chicago 7. But where that movie was filled with big Aaron Sorkin speeches and cutesy Aaron Sorkin character notes, this movie feels like it is about real people with real motivations and personalities. There are little moments, particularly with Kaluuya and Fishback as Fred and Deborah, where you feel like you’re watching a fully-formed person wrestle with not just Big Political Ideas but with what those ideas mean to them and the course of their life. Stanfield makes you feel O’Neal’s uncertainty about what he’s asked to do by the FBI and his growing difficulty of balancing what seems like a genuine respect for Hampton and the aims of the Black Panthers with his willingness to help Mitchell (and his desire to stay out of jail).

This is a well-told story filled with strong performances about a slice of history the movie makes feel fresh and relevant. A

Rated R for violence and pervasive language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Shaka King with a screenplay by William Berson and Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah is two hours and five minutes long and distributed by Warner Bros. It is in local theaters and on HBO Max until mid-March.

Featured photo: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

Honolulu Cooler

Early on in the Covid lockdown, I decided to take ice cream to the workers at my dump. I wanted to do something for someone in essential services and I have a lot of respect for people who do hard, thankless work.

Every week during hot weather I would swing by the general store in our town on the way to the dump and grab them some ice cream bars or cold sodas. A small gesture of thanks.0

So I was at the dump transfer station, dropping off our trash and talking with one of the guys there, telling him some sort of stupid joke, something like:

Q: Why did the dolphin flunk out of ballet school?
A: Poor poise.

My friend laughed loudly enough to get the attention of one of the other guys working behind a giant stack of cardboard.

“IS THAT THE JOKE GUY?”

“YEAH!”

“DID HE BRING ICE CREAM?”

I’d kind of like that on my grave: THE JOKE GUY. HE BROUGHT ICE CREAM.

Anyway, one of my friends at the transfer station gave me a gift one week, a 1963 copy of The Barmen’s Bible — a well-worn cocktail manual from the time when bartenders could reasonably be expected to wear bowties.

This week, I was looking through The Barmen’s Bible and ran across a drink recipe that stopped me cold. Under a section devoted to “coolers” was something called a Honolulu Cooler — a solid name. A promising name. Until you get to the Southern Comfort.

Crushed ice — check

Lime juice — check

Pineapple juice — check

Southern Comfort … ?

Really, Oscar Haimo, President of the International Bar Managers Association, circa 1963? Southern Comfort?

As my wife pointed out, though, this drink is obviously called Honolulu because of the pineapple juice. It doesn’t necessarily have anything more to do with Hawaii than that. It could have been invented in an Elks Club in Akron.

So, this is what I figured. I’d make this clearly awful drink, figure out what was wrong with it (the Southern Comfort), then reformulate it to taste better.

As it turns out, there was a flaw in that plan.

The Honolulu Cooler is a solid, tasty drink. It’s shockingly good. You would think that Southern Comfort and pineapple juice would be cough-syrupy sweet, but the fresh lime juice keeps them on a leash. “Shhhh, boys,” it says, “these are our friends; be nice.”

It is refreshing and delicious. You could easily drink an injudicious number of these.

Honolulu Cooler

Juice of half a lime, about 1 oz.

1 jigger (1½ oz.) Southern comfort

Approximately 5 oz. pineapple juice

Fill a tall glass with cracked ice.

Add lime juice and Southern Comfort

Fill to the top with pineapple juice

Stir with a bar spoon.

A little research on this drink hints that it was actually invented and served in a large hotel in Honolulu. The more I thought about it, the more this made sense. It would be incredibly fast and easy to make for wide-eyed tourists and the use of a name-brand alcohol would allow the hotel bar to bump the price by a good 30 percent.

Of course, the fact that this is a perfectly good drink already did not stop me from reconfiguring it anyway.

My version uses lime syrup instead of lime juice, which would make the drink too sweet, but I countered that with the bitterness from Campari and a bracing note from gin.

Existential Luau

1 oz. lime syrup (see below)

1 oz. Campari

2 oz. gin (I like Death’s Door)

4 oz. pineapple juice

cracked ice or tiny ice cubes

Fill a tall glass – a pint glass or a Collins glass – with ice.

Add lime syrup, Campari, and gin.

Top off with pineapple juice.

Stir with a bar spoon.

This drink is pink, but not bubble-gum pink. It’s the color of a sunset. An apricot that someone has whispered a dirty suggestion to. The color of contentment at the end of a hot, trying day. The ingredients have a tendency to separate very slightly, so the Luau starts out a little bitter-sweet, then becomes more limey as you drink it.

As do your thoughts.

Lime Syrup

Juice of 3-4 limes

An equal amount (by weight) of white sugar

Zest of 2 limes.

In a small saucepan, bring the lime juice and sugar to a boil. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 10-15 seconds, once it’s boiling.

Remove from heat and add lime zest. Let it steep for 30 minutes.

Strain the zest from the syrup, so it doesn’t get bitter.

Label your jar so you won’t have an awkward moment a week from now, when your wife wants to know what’s in that jar in the door of the fridge. Or maybe that’s just me.

Featured photo: Photo by John Fladd.

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