Category: Featured Content

Dune (PG-13)

Dune (PG-13)

An interplanetary empire is set on the road to war in Dune, which a title card rather optimistically calls “part one.”

And just to set the scene for my Dune experience: I’ve neither read any of the books nor watched any of the previous Dune movies or TV series. So I am coming in fresh to this universe.

As the movie opens, an unseen emperor of the known universe orders a family/political entity known as House Atreides to take control of a planet called Arrakis, a desert planet that is the only known source of a substance called spice. Spice facilitates interstellar travel, er, somehow and has psychotropic qualities. It is super valuable, which is why House Harkonnen, the previous rulers of Arrakis, are pretty peeved at having Arrakis taken out of their control. But the House Harkonnen head, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard in a fat suit that seems to also allow him to float), thinks that this is just the emperor’s way of taking both Atreides and Harkonnen down a few pegs, since he knows this move will lead to war between the two houses.

Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) knows all this, but he has plans for Arrakis, plans that involve working with the Fremen, the oppressed local people of Arrakis. When he shows up at the planet with his family — including concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and son and heir Paul (Timothée Chalamet) — he is ready for danger but hoping for peace. Jessica, a member of some kind of magic-y lady religious order, has abilities including getting people to do what she says when she sort of Jedi-forces them using a power called the Voice. She has been training Paul to use similar abilities and has plans for him beyond just having him take over for his father one day.

Paul, in the tradition of all raw Luke Skywalker/Hamlet types, isn’t quite sure what he wants, but he has some inkling of what might be in his future due to dreams he has, many featuring Chani (Zendaya), whose glowy blue eyes identify her as one of the Fremen.

To some extent everything I’ve said here is just setup. The movie follows the Atreideses as they move onto Arrakis and what happens next. We meet Atreides warrior-types Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) and Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin). We also meet Fremen-associated people like Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and Dr. Liet-Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster). There are a lot of characters here with a lot of stories and “serves as the this for that group.” There is also a fair amount of explaining this universe and of getting all the pieces in place. This feels like “Season 1” of a Game of Thrones-type show, getting us all set up for a multi-season story arc.

And what a beautiful-looking and -sounding series that would be. Dune looks absolutely gorgeous. Every scene is visually perfect — lighting, set design, costuming, colors, camera angles. The dust-filled wind, the helicopters that look like insects. The movie is generally in muted tones but there are accents of bright color — many from story-significant elements, like the personal shields people wear that turn blue when impacted or the bright eyes of the Fremen. Nearly every shot of this movie is visually arresting (which, because this movie is on HBO Max through Nov. 21 as well as in theaters, you actually can press pause and gaze to your heart’s content).

The movie also sounds great. The score (by Hans Zimmer) is majestic — underlining bigness, vastness and importance when needed. It is haunting and when mixed with the human voices that are often whispery or at a throat-singing deepness or sometimes both the whole effect is kind of awe-inspiring.

So A+ work on all that.

My question about this movie is does all this loveliness weigh it down? Is that why this movie feels so slow and inert? Every one of these beautiful scenes has a kind of “walking through hip-deep water” pacing, as though the speed isn’t quite on slow-mo but is, like, halfway there. (I mean, there is slow-mo, lots of slow-mo, but even the regular- mo feels pretty languorous.) Even though the movie has battle scenes and plenty of action, it never feels like it’s truly energized. There is a half-asleep, still-need-my-coffee feel to everything.

Which puts the performances somewhere in between the down-to-the-smallest-detail impressiveness of the look and sound of this movie and the baffling, frequently boring pacing (another good thing about seeing this movie on streaming: you can go back and see what you missed if you fall asleep halfway through; I didn’t but awakeness did not come without struggle). Isaac, Ferguson and Chalamet are fine, even compelling and engrossing in moments. But they don’t quite escape the sleepiness around them, nor does Brolin, who feels more regular-speed but doesn’t get enough screen time to make a difference. Momoa also brings a kind of liveliness to things but again isn’t around nearly enough.

The strange result of all of this is a movie where everything about Dune — even the prospect of a sequel and the continuing story and the internet rabbithole I disappeared to reading the Wikipedia for the Dune books — is more interesting than the act of sitting through the movie itself. It is definitely worth a watch and it is definitely boring. I ended the movie not really caring about any particular character or storyline but absolutely fascinated by the movie as an art object. What kind of recommendation is that, you ask? Beats me — a shaky B?

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing images and suggestive material, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Denis Villeneuve with a screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth (based on, according to Wikipedia, the first half of the book by Frank Herbert), Dune is two hours and 35 minutes long and distributed by Warner Bros. In theaters and on HBO Max until Nov. 21.

Ron’s Gone Wrong (PG)

A benignly evil tech company heightens children’s sense of loneliness and their ability to bully each other via sleek new devices in Ron’s Gone Wrong, a pretty depressing read on the real world that is sort of cuted up with animation and a funny robot.

Barney (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer) feels very much like the odd kid out at his middle school: his family home is tended Old Worldily by his Bulgarian grandma Donka (voice of Olivia Coleman), his widowed dad Graham (voice of Ed Helms) is desperately busy trying to sell novelty items via Zoom, Barney’s various science-y interests (including rocks) have him branded as a bit of a nerd and, most deadly of all, he does not own a B*Bot, the hot new tech that all the other kids at school have. The B*Bot is part robot, part iPhone, part parental nightmare — all in kind of an EVE from Wall-E package. The B*Bots upload all available digital information about the child user and then “know” everything about them and can help them meet other kids who have the same interests. In addition the B*Bot follows the child everywhere, can dance with the kid, take the kid on immersive virtual reality adventures and take constant photos and videos to post to the kid’s various social media pages and instantly ask for likes and follows from surrounding kids.

Because I am an Old, this all seems like a dystopic hellscape that we are probably six months away from here in the real world. But to Barney, the B*Bot, promising to be your “best friend out of the box,” is the sole object of his birthday desires. With B*Bot, he hopes, he will have a robot friend and maybe finally be able to make some connections with human friends too.

Unfortunately for Barney, Graham is both clueless and light on cash, so at first he doesn’t get Barney the desired bot. But after seeing him pranked by some bullies, Graham runs down to the B*Bot store, offering money and Donka’s goat in trade for a new B*Bot. The store turns him away, but in the loading area he meets a delivery driver who has a damaged B*Bot he’s willing to sell off the books.

When Barney meets the B*Bot he eventually calls Ron (voice of Zach Galifianakis), he’s initially delighted. But then he realizes Ron is off — he doesn’t have all of the B*Bot operating system, can’t seem to access the network and has only uploaded the “A” section of his system’s encyclopedia, which is why he starts off calling Barney Absalom. On the way to the B*Bot store to return Ron, Barney discovers that no operating system also means no safety controls and that Ron is quite effective at fending off bullies. Once corporate — in the form of a hoodie-wearing CEO guy named Marc (voice of Justice Smith) and a Tim-Cook-ish-looking older guy named Andrew (voice of Rob Delaney) — finds out about the rogue bot, they seek to capture him, but Barney, who teaches Ron how to do his friend duties, feels like he’s finally found someone to connect with.

My biggest problem with this movie (and this may be a mild spoiler) is that in the end, the omnipresent tech company spreading unhappiness throughout the land of tweens and teens isn’t the problem, it’s that their device isn’t, like, authentic enough or some techy meta-verse garbage. And if that sounds all “get your Instagram off my lawn” that’s a completely fair criticism of my social media mindset but also the suggestion that just some algorithm tweaks would make social media full of joy feels pretty cynical (which is particularly odd as Andrew’s cynicism about the purpose of B*Bots ultimately being selling kids stuff is one of the movie’s examples of his villainy). I understand the realities of the world, but that doesn’t mean I have to pay money to have my kids watch a movie with the message that what they really need is better social media and a more unpredictable robot.

I suppose if you put all of that aside, sure this movie is cute. Ron is a fun character, who, because his mission is friendship-based, the movie uses to explain the essence of friendship. Being friends isn’t just about people listening to you (or heart-click liking your posts) but is a relationship two people are in together, choosing to be friends and be there for each other. When compared to the more transactional nature of how the movie presents social media friendships (you make content and the other person follows you and they’re your “friend” and then you both move on to making new “friend” connections), the examination of friendship as an organic thing that needs continuous tending is interesting. And it’s presented in a tween/young teen-understandable way. And there are robot-y hijinxs and funny goat bits and kid social politics, played for gentle laughs. I don’t know that this movie would hold the attention of a younger audience but maybe for kids around 8 and up, who are starting to think about the nature of friendships and have some knowledge of the social media world and can deal with some scenes of conversation, Ron’s Gone Wrong is fun enough to keep them engaged. Me, I’ll be over here on my lawn, telling the B*Bots to shoo. C+

Rated PG for some rude material, thematic elements and language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine and co-directed by Octavio E. Rodriguez with a screenplay by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith, Ron’s Gone Wrong is an hour and 46 minutes long and distributed by Twentieth Century Studios in theaters (with at least a 45-day theatrical exclusivity window, according to BoxOfficePro).

FILM

Venues

AMC Londonderry
16 Orchard View Dr., Londonderry, amctheatres.com

Chunky’s Cinema Pub
707 Huse Road, Manchester; 151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua; 150 Bridge St., Pelham, chunkys.com

The Flying Monkey
39 Main St., Plymouth
536-2551, flyingmonkeynh.com

O’neil Cinemas
24 Calef Hwy., Epping
679-3529, oneilcinemas.com

Park Theatre
19 Main St., Jaffrey
theparktheatre.org

Red River Theatres
11 S. Main St., Concord
224-4600, redrivertheatres.org

Regal Fox Run Stadium 15
45 Gosling Road, Newington
regmovies.com

Rex Theatre
23 Amherst St., Manchester
668-5588, palacetheatre.org

Wilton Town Hall Theatre
40 Main St., Wilton
wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456

Shows

• Howl’s Moving Castle (PG, 2004) at Cinemark Rockingham Park, AMC Methuen and Regal Fox Run on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.

• Beetlejuice (PG, 1988) part of the Film Frenzy $5 Classics series at O’neil Cinemas in Epping with daily screenings through Thursday, Oct. 28.

• The Phantom of the Opera (1925), a silent film starring Lon Chaney, with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m at Park Theatre. Admission $12.

• The Thing (1982) screening on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. at Red River Theatres.

• Nosferatu (1922), a silent film, Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex, featuring live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis. Admission costs $10.

• The Shining (R, 1980) on Friday, Oct. 29, at 2 & 6:30 p.m. at Red River Theatres in Concord.

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (R, 1987) on Friday, Oct. 29, at 2:30, 5 and 7:30 p.m. at Red River Theatres.

• The Blackbird (1921), a silent film with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, at Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free; $10 donation suggested.

• The Innocents (1961) at Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Friday, Oct 29, and Saturday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m.

• The Invisible Man (1933) and The Wolf Man(1941) on Saturday, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. at AMC Londonderry, Cinemark Rockingham Park and Regal Fox Run.

• The Witches (PG, 1990) on Saturday, Oct. 30, at 1, 4 & 7 p.m at Red River Theatres.

• Outside the Law (1920) and The Unholy Three (1925), silent films directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney, with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, at Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2 p.m. Admission is free; $10 donation suggested.

• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) at Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 30, at 2 p.m.

• Psycho (R, 1960) on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2, 5 & 8 p.m. at Red River Theatres in Concord.

• The Exorcist (R, 1973) on Sunday, Oct. 31, at 2 & 5:15 p.m. at Red River Theatres.

• Where East Is East (1929) a silent film with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, at Wilton Town Hall Theatre Sunday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. Admission is free; $10 donation suggested.

• Night of the Living Dead(1968) on Sunday, Oct. 31, at 1:30 & 4:30 p.m. at Red River Theatres in Concord.

Lon Chaney Weekend

Wilton Town Hall Theatre (40 Main St. in Wilton; wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456) will present a series of silent films starring Lon Chaney and featuring live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis this weekend. On Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. catch The Blackbird (1921). On Saturday, Oct. 30, the lineup features Outside the Law (1920) and The Unholy Three (1925), starting at 2 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 31, see Where East Is East (1929) at 2 p.m. Admission to all films is free; a $10 donation is suggested.

Featured photo: Dune. Courtesy photo.

Adventures in Tequila

How the versatility of agave is gaining tequila and mezcal a new following.

Eddie Leon of La Carreta in Derry and Londonderry is one of several Granite Staters who has flown down to Mexico to hand-select their own single-barrel tequilas. He first learned of the opportunity about eight years ago through a barrel buying program from Brown-Forman Corp., the owner of Tequila Herradura in Amatitán, Jalisco.

“We did it a few times with Herradura and it was very, very popular. … Then we opened it up to other brands like Patrón and Casa Noble,” Leon said. “People really liked the idea of being able to try something different that is not available in the normal stores.”

Over the years, pre-pandemic, Leon has since been joined by owners of some other local eateries and bars, including Cask & Vine in Derry, New England’s Tap House Grille in Hooksett, and 815 Cocktails & Provisions in Manchester. Even New Hampshire Liquor Commission spirits marketing and sales specialist Mark Roy has followed suit.

Agave plants are harvested in Mexico by farmers called jimadors. Photo by Eddie Leon.

The group lands and stays in the state capital of Guadalajara, taking day trips to nearby tequila distilleries. Tequilas are bottled before they cross the border, shipped to New Hampshire through a local broker and then purchased from the state to pour at each establishment.

“I’ve kind of become the tour guide for them, and I end up being the translator for a lot of things,” Leon said. “Guadalajara is actually the area where my parents came from originally, so it’s a really great experience. We’ve probably done at least eight or nine trips now.”

More and more premium barrel-aged selections of both tequila and its cousin, mezcal, have become available in New Hampshire in recent years, thanks to a continuously growing demand.

“We’re definitely seeing a huge upswing,” Roy said of tequila sales in Liquor & Wine outlets. “I think when you ask a lot of people who say that they’ve had a bad experience in the past with tequila, it usually ends up being a lower end or even a mixto, which is technically a tequila but is sometimes a blend of liqueur and tequila with higher sugar. … So I really try to encourage people not to associate tequila with the experience they’ve had before and to try to reintroduce themselves and come into it with an open mind. It’s an incredible experience and I think people could be missing out on a category of spirits that they’ve kind of pushed to the side.”

As part of New Hampshire Distiller’s Week, returning for its third year, the Liquor Commission will host “Hold the Lime and Salt: Exploring Premium Tequila and Mezcal,” a tasting seminar on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford. The event will feature a panel of five brand ambassadors of premium tequilas and mezcals from multiple regions of Mexico.

Here, local restaurateurs and Distiller’s Week presenters talk about the types of tequilas and how they differ from mezcals.

“Ultima Palabra” cocktail
Courtesy of Kendra Malone of the 7-20-4 Lounge in Londonderry

1½ ounces Casa Noble joven tequila
¾ ounce green Chartreuse liqueur
¾ ounce luxardo maraschino liqueur
¾ ounce lime juice

Shake and strain. Garnish with luxardo cherries.

Tequila time

Kurt Kendall of Twins Smoke Shop and the 7-20-4 Lounge in Londonderry, who has accompanied Leon on the trips to Mexico, agrees that tequila can be somewhat misunderstood.

“Tequila truly is a premium spirit that is meant to be sipped and enjoyed,” Kendall said. “We’ve turned on many customers that typically would enjoy Scotch or bourbon to these ultra-premium tequilas, and it really starts with a little bit of education to understand what it is, how to drink it properly and what you’re discovering. … Once people go through that little process, they become tequila sippers. It’s pretty amazing.”

Both tequila and mezcal are made from the agave plant, of which there are dozens of varieties that are indigenous to Mexico. The main difference between the two spirits, Leon said, is that tequila is made from only one species — the blue Weber agave, or agave tequilana. Mexican laws decree that tequila can only be made in certain regions of the country, he added, including in the state of Jalisco and a few limited areas in other states.

The agave plant can take anywhere from seven to 10 years to reach maturity. A farmer called a jimador harvests the plant by pruning it down to the piñas, or the agave hearts. Those hearts are then chopped up, cooked and juiced before the fermentation process begins.

There are four categories of 100 percent blue agave tequila: blanco (or silver), reposado, añejo and extra añejo. Their differences, Kendall said, have to do with how long each one is aged for.

A blanco or a silver is either unaged or aged for a very short time, depending on the brand, while a reposado could be aged anywhere from a few months to a year. Añejo tequilas are typically aged a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years, and the extra añejo can be aged for three years or longer to reach a greater complex flavor profile.

According to the website of the Tequila Regulatory Council, the governing body for tequila in Mexico, a blend of aged and unaged tequilas is known as a joven, which means “young” in Spanish. The aging process also gives each tequila a distinct color, ranging from a clear silver to a golden yellow, a lighter brown, and finally a dark amber.

Graciela González, a fourth-generation distiller and the brand ambassador of her family’s company, El Mayor tequila, will be one of the featured presenters at the New Hampshire Liquor Commission’s “Hold the Lime and Salt” seminar. El Mayor features a full line of tequilas, each of which is distilled with agave grown on its own plantation just outside of the city of Arandas.

To demonstrate the evolution of each of her family’s products, González said she plans to showcase El Mayor’s blanco, reposado and añejo tequilas. She’ll also be offering samples of a new cocktail they’ve never done before: a spiked tepache, featuring their añejo tequila as the base.

“It’s going to be very unique and very fresh,” she said of the cocktail. “We’re using pineapple and tamarind … so with the tamarind having a tart flavor and the pineapple being more on the sweet side, it balances out perfectly well.”

Spiked tepache
Courtesy of Graciela González, fourth-generation distiller and brand ambassador of El Mayor tequila in Jalisco, Mexico

2 ounces El Mayor añejo tequila
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce tamarind syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters

All about mezcal

Leon remembers a time in the not so distant past when he could find only one brand of mezcal in the entire state. Now he estimates there to be well over 20 of them across store shelves.

“We’re starting to carry more because there has definitely been a growing call for it,” he said.

Even though mezcal is an agave-based spirit just like tequila, there are several distinct differences between the two. While tequila is made only from the blue Weber agave variety, mezcal can be made from combinations of dozens of other agave species, all with their own sizes, flavor profiles, growing conditions and maturation periods.

Piñas, or agave hearts, are cooked in an underground pit oven or above ground and covered with dirt, giving mezcal its distinct smoky flavor. Photo by Eric Timmerman.

A majority of mezcal comes from the state of Oaxaca, several hundred miles southeast of Jalisco, but agave varieties used to make the spirit are also known to grow in Durango, Guerrero, Zacatecas and a few other states. Eric Timmerman, national sales manager of the Sonoma, California-based 3 Badge Mixology, will be participating in the “Hold the Lime and Salt” Nov. 3 seminar with selections of the company’s Bozal mezcal brand.

“A lot of people think about mezcal as a smoky tequila. … Tequila for the most part is done in steam and ovens and autoclaves … but mezcal primarily is done in an underground pit oven, or above ground and covered with dirt. It’s almost like barbecue, is what I like to equate it to,” Timmerman said. “Those piñas are roasting slow and low and they are absorbing that smoke, so that’s why obviously mezcal has that smokier profile.”

Mezcal is also known for being much older than tequila, dating back at least to 9th- or 10th-century Oaxaca with the Zapotec culture, Timmerman said. Many of the practices that have been in place for hundreds of years are still in use today for Bozal products, including the use of the tahona, a stone wheel pulled in a circle by a donkey or horse to mash the agave hearts.

“It truly is one of the last handmade spirits in the world,” Timmerman said.

About 90 percent of all of the mezcal coming to the United States is crafted using the espadín agave plant, a variety characterized by its rich, smoky flavor profile, according to Timmerman. Bozal mezcal products, however, are distilled with all kinds of other agave species. Its Ensamble mezcal, for instance, features a blend of espadín, barril and Mexicano agave plants, while the Cenizo mezcal comes from a variety that grows in cool conditions and high altitudes in Durango.

During the seminar, Timmerman said he plans to showcase a Oaxacan margarita using

Bozal Ensamble mezcal, a riff on the classic cocktail with a bit of smokier profile.

“Obviously, everyone loves a good margarita and it’s such a universal cocktail, so we’re going to show them how it’s done with mezcal versus tequila,” he said.

Bozal Oaxacan margarita
Courtesy of Eric Timmerman of 3 Badge Mixology in Sonoma, California

2 ounces Bozal Ensamble mezcal
1 ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce agave nectar

Add all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake for 10 seconds and strain into a double rocks glass over ice. Garnish with sal de gusano (agave worm salt) and a dehydrated citrus wheel.

Your guide to Distiller’s Week

Eighth annual Distiller’s Showcase of Premium Spirits

When: Thursday, Nov. 4, 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown, 700 Elm St., Manchester

Cost: $60 per person; “sip and stay” packages are also available to purchase through the hotel

Visit: distillersshowcase.com

Event is 21+ only.

More New Hampshire Distiller’s Week happenings

The third annual New Hampshire Distiller’s Week will take place from Monday, Nov. 1, through Friday, Nov. 5 — check out this list of events and happenings for the week. For the most up-to-date calendar of Distiller’s Week events, visit distillersshowcase.com/events or follow New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets on Facebook @nhliquorwine.

Distiller’s Week. Matthew Lomanno Photography.

• National Hockey League Hall of Famer and Belfour Spirits owner-operator Ed Belfour will participate in multiple bottle signing and tasting events this week, including at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet No. 38 (100 Rotary Way, Portsmouth) on Tuesday, Nov. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m., and at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet No. 50 (294 Daniel Webster Hwy., Nashua) on Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission is free, and bottles of Belfour’s rye and Texas pecan-finished bourbon will be available for purchase.

• Get your tickets before they’re gone to a Casa Noble tequila dinner scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m. at The Birch on Elm (931 Elm St., Manchester). The dinner will feature five courses paired with Casa Noble tequila-infused cocktails. Tickets are $99 per person. Visit thebirchonelm.com/tequiladinner to make reservations.

• The Birch on Elm is also hosting a New Riff Distilling Kentucky bourbon dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m., another five-course meal prepared by chef Nick Provencher that will feature cocktail pairings from New Riff bourbons. Tickets are $99 per person. Visit thebirchonelm.com/bourbondinner to make reservations.

• The New Hampshire Liquor Commission will host Hold the Lime and Salt: Exploring Premium Tequila and Mezcal on Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Manchester Country Club (180 S. River Road, Bedford). Five leading industry experts will present their tequilas and mezcals during this exclusive seminar-style tasting. Each panelist will talk about three of their products and offer a signature cocktail sample during the event’s reception. At the conclusion of the seminar each product that was presented will be available for purchase. Tickets are $60 per person and can be purchased through Eventbrite.

• Brain Brew Custom Whiskey founder and former Nashua resident Doug Hall will host a seminar at New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet No. 50 (294 Daniel Webster Hwy., Nashua) on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. Participants will learn about the history of whiskey, how New Hampshire wood is used in different products and the use of woodcraft finishing. Featured products will include Dexter three wood straight bourbon whiskey, Paddle Wheel triple oak bourbon, and Brain Brew’s custom bourbon blending kit. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased through Eventbrite.

The Distiller’s Showcase

First introduced in 2013, the Distiller’s Showcase of Premium Spirits is now the flagship event of New Hampshire Distiller’s Week and one of the largest tasting events for spirits on the East Coast. After the pandemic caused it to transition into a series of virtual tastings in 2020, the Showcase is back in full force — the event returns for an 8th year on Thursday, Nov. 4, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown.

“We’re hoping to get back to some sense of normalcy,” said Mark Roy, spirits marketing and sales specialist for the New Hampshire Liquor Commission. “We were blown away by the response to some of the virtual programs last year, [but] the goal is to go back to the regular forte of the Showcase and the different events leading up to it.”

Roy said the idea of the event came after he attended the Winter Wine Spectacular, normally held in late January. Like during its Wine Week counterpart, brand ambassadors and industry leaders from all over the world come to the Showcase to present their products. Attendees are given a program booklet with a full map of the dozens of tables of spirits that are featured, totaling more than 700 premium whiskeys, bourbons, tequilas, rums, vodkas, gins and other spirits to try. Because of the large volume of products available, Roy said, it’s always a good idea to go into the Showcase with a game plan, by seeking out what you may be most interested in or curious about.

This is the first year that Eric Timmerman, national sales manager of the Sonoma, California-based 3 Badge Mixology, will be participating. He’ll talk about and offer samples of the company’s lineup of products, which include Uncle Val’s botanical gin, Benjamin Chapman whiskey and Kirk and Sweeney rum, in addition to its Bozal mezcal and Pasote tequila.

“As much as I enjoy doing talks on Zoom, there’s still something to be said about being able to have those conversations with people and seeing their reactions when they try the samples,” Timmerman said. “[The Showcase] is a really great opportunity to try a lot of really great products that are on the market … and it gives people a chance to experience things that they may not necessarily have otherwise tried. So we’re excited to be part of it.”

Other participants will include National Hockey League Hall of Famer Ed Belfour, who owns and operates Belfour Spirits; Graciela González, a fourth-generation distiller and the brand ambassador of El Mayor tequila in Jalisco, Mexico, who will be one of the five panelists at the Hold the Salttequila and mezcal seminar the evening before; and Tim Smith, founder of Tim Smith Spirits and star of the Discovery Channel reality series Moonshiners.

The Showcase wouldn’t be complete without its lineup of Granite State spirits purveyors, either — Charles “CJ” Lundergan of Steadfast Spirits Distilling Co. in Concord will be pouring his moonshine-mixed cocktails at the event for the first time, while Brian Ferguson of Flag Hill Distillery & Winery in Lee is also expected to return with his bourbon and rye whiskeys.

More than two dozen New Hampshire restaurants and catering companies will have tables of their own, offering various hors d’oeuvres and appetizers. Several are first-time participants, including Manchester’s Elm House of Pizza, and Red Beard’s Kitchen, a takeout business that chef Matthew Provencher launched earlier this year featuring ready-to-eat comfort meals. Returning businesses will be The Crown Tavern, the Hanover Street Chophouse, The Common Man, Stark Brewing Co., and Twins Smoke Shop and the 7-20-4 Lounge.

If you sample something during the Showcase and decide you want a whole bottle of it, you can purchase it at the conclusion of the event and arrange to pick it up at any one of the 68 New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet stores in subsequent days. The hotel is also once again offering “sip and stay” packages, which include tickets to the event along with a room.

Proceeds from the Showcase will benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank, a new partner for 2021. Last year the New Hampshire Food Bank distributed more than 17 million pounds of food to its hundreds of partner agencies statewide. Executive director Eileen Liponis said there were 71 mobile food pantries held in 2020 — compared to only around a half dozen during a normal year pre-pandemic — serving just under 30,000 New Hampshire families.

“We’re extremely delighted to be part of such a premier event, and we think it’s very important to come out and support the New Hampshire Liquor Commission,” Liponis said. “I think if there’s one thing that Covid may have given us as a silver lining, it’s that our biggest enemies are always shame and stigma. … I think in everyone’s social circle they saw someone being challenged by the effects of the pandemic on them … and I hope that because of that we have more empathy for the fact that food is a basic necessity we all deserve.”

Featured photo: Spiked Tepache Courtesy of Graciela González, fourth-generation distiller and brand ambassador of El Mayor tequila in Jalisco, Mexico.

Natural canvases

Local artist paints spiderwebs, leaves, grains of rice

It started with leaves. After 40 years of building stone walls and fireplaces, Tom Abruzese of Londonderry turned to more delicate endeavors, picking up a paintbrush for the first time in his life and experimenting on traditional canvas. He was good at it, but he got bored quickly. So he started painting on leaves instead.

“I just had a knack where I could paint anything on a leaf, [and] it took off,” he said.

There is, presumably, a leaf with a painting of the White House somewhere in D.C., or possibly in the possession of former President Barack Obama.

“[I figured] no one’s ever going to buy the White House on a leaf, so I mailed it to the president,” he said. “About seven weeks later, I got a letter from the president, thanking me for the unique gift.”

The leaf painting of the Old Man on the Mountain that he sent to Gov. John Lynch when he was in office might still be in the Statehouse, Abruzese said, and he sent one to Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s office in Manchester too.

Abruzese makes prints of the leaves as soon as he’s done painting them, because eventually the colors of the leaf fade. He sells the prints at local craft fairs, and he said he gets a lot of commissioned work as well.

“The leaves are the big sensation,” he said.

Despite their popularity, after a while Abruzese wanted a new challenge.

“You can only paint so many leaves before you get bored or crazy, and I was borderline crazy,” he said.

Seeing a woman on TV painting feathers who said it was nearly impossible, Abruzese had found his next canvas. He uses turkey feathers and typically paints birds and other wildlife on them.

“Most of my [subjects are] from nature, because I use materials from nature,” he said.

Abruzese then turned to small rocks, painting them for use as jewelry.

“Everything I do, people seem to like,” he said. “I’m always looking for something else to create from.”

The latest something else? Spiderwebs, naturally. Abruzese lives in an old house with a carriage house attached, so they’re plentiful, and he thought it might be a bigger challenge than feathers or leaves. He was right ― but he’s figured out how to make it work.

It starts with a bottle cap that he pushes through the web, which clings to the sides of the cap so the web is suspended and not touching the front or back of the cap. Once it’s secure, it’s ready for acrylic paints.

“Because the web is sticky … I wet the brush just a little bit so the paint actually slides across the web; otherwise the paint would tear the webbing,” he said. “Once you get the first coat on, then it becomes a little easier.”

Abruzese puts his spiderweb paintings inside clear plastic containers so the whole thing is sealed.

“It’s so easy to forget that it’s a spiderweb,” he said. “One misplacement of your finger and the spiderweb is gone.”

Plus, he said, the sticky nature of the webs mean they collect dust if they’re not covered.

Abruzese said he paints whatever comes to mind, usually things in nature. But he couldn’t resist one obvious choice.

“Spider-Man ― how corny is that? You gotta put Spider-Man on a spiderweb!” he laughed.

As part of his repertoire, Abruzese also paints caterpillar webs, which are bigger and thicker, plus moose or deer antlers, birch bark, mushrooms, butternuts and grains of rice.

“My wife asks, ‘Why do you paint things people can’t see?’” he said. “To me it’s the challenge. [And] you can see it with a magnifying glass.”

The smallest he’s gotten is a sesame seed. The trick with these tiniest canvases is to use the very tip of the paintbrush and keep the brush in motion so only a finite amount touches the surface. Having a steady hand is key too.

“I don’t drink anything that has caffeine [when I paint],” Abruzese said. “The blood going through your finger makes it like a jackhammer.”

He hasn’t attended any craft fairs recently ― mainly because there haven’t been many to attend ― but Abruzese will be at the Londonderry High School Craft & Vendor Fair on Saturday, Nov. 20. He said none of his items have price tags because he wants his prices to be flexible for kids who are looking to buy gifts.

“The kids don’t have much money, [and] I do it for the pleasure and challenge,” he said. “I’m not there to make money.”

Still, he sold just about everything on his two tables at this fair two years ago.

“Someone looking for a Christmas gift, they can pick up something that is unique,” he said.

For those who can’t make it to the fair, Abruzese accepts requests for personalized art.

“I’ll have people bring in deer antler or moose antler [and ask me to] do something specific on it,” he said. “Once it’s done it’s one of a kind.”

Find Tom Abruzese’s art

Abruzese will be at the Londonderry High School Craft & Vendor Fair on Saturday, Nov. 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can also email him at [email protected] to see more of his collection or to commission a piece.

Featured photo: An array of Tom Abruzese’s work. Courtesy photos.

News & Notes 21/10/28

Covid-19 update As of Oct 18 As of Oct 25
Total cases statewide 129,663 129,663
Total current infections statewide 4,430 4,430
Total deaths statewide 1,524 1,524
New cases 3,920 (Oct. 12 to Oct. 18) 3,920 (Oct. 12 to Oct. 18)
Current infections: Hillsborough County 1,210 1,210
Current infections: Merrimack County 522 522
Current infections: Rockingham County 683 683
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

As of Oct. 25 there were 3,295 active infections of Covid-19 statewide and 220 current hospitalizations. One additional death was announced on Oct. 25, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,544 since the start of the pandemic last year.

Last week the U.S. Food & Drug Administration greenlit the “mix-and-match” approach for Covid-19 booster shots in eligible individuals, or the receiving of shots from different manufacturers. According to an Oct. 25 report from WMUR, booster shots in New Hampshire are currently available for certain at-risk groups who previously received both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, including people over the age of 65 and people over the age of 18 with underlying medical conditions. For those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, boosters are recommended for all adults regardless of any risk factors. Boosters can be administered at least six months after the second Pfizer or Moderna dose, and at least two months after the Johnson & Johnson dose, according to the report. In New Hampshire, boosters are available through doctor’s offices, pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens and at weekly clinics in Manchester and Nashua. Visit vaccines.gov to book an appointment.

Several of New Hampshire’s largest health care systems, including Catholic Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, and SolutionHealth, the owner of Eliot Health System and Southern New Hampshire Health, issued a joint statement on Oct. 21 announcing mandatory Covid-19 vaccine policies for their organizations. “Each of our institutions has taken time to craft vaccine policies that achieve our shared goal of patient and staff safety while accommodating for medical and religious exemptions,” it read in part. “We are also confident that our policies will align with the forthcoming guidelines of the White House’s vaccine mandate for health care workers.”

Vaccine funding

On Oct. 25, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, along with Representatives Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas, held a virtual press conference with health care stakeholders to talk about the consequences of the New Hampshire Executive Council’s decision to reject $27 million in federal vaccine funding. According to a press release, the delegation discussed how this move has hurt prevention efforts across the state as Covid cases and hospitalizations continue to surge. “New Hampshire is one of four states with the highest numbers of infection rates,” Shaheen said in the press conference. “We’ve done our jobs. The federal delegation got the money that the State of New Hampshire said it needed. And when the federal government wasn’t forthcoming with what the state said it needed, we went back and we got those additional funds. Now it’s time for the Governor and the Republican Executive Councilors to do their jobs and to protect the health and safety of the people of this state.” Gov. Chris Sununu had encouraged the Executive Council to approve the federal funding and said in a statement after the vote that the council had shown “a reckless disregard for the lives we are losing while they turn away the tools our state needs to fight and win this battle against Covid.”

Meanwhile, the Joint Fiscal Committee voted to accept a proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services to use $4.7 million in ARPA funds to help compensate for the money that was rejected by the Executive Council, according to a press release. “New Hampshire is the only state in the U.S. to reject CDC vaccine funding, which has limited our ability to control how the vaccines are provided to Granite Staters. Today’s vote was long overdue and I hope the approved funds can be quickly implemented to make up for lost time,” Rep. Mary Jane Wallner said in a statement after the vote. In a statement, Gov. Chris Sununu said, “This funding is critical to ensure boosters are available to the State’s vulnerable and at risk populations, and will support Regional Public Health Networks to set up efficient vaccine clinics to improve access for individuals and parents who wish to have their children vaccinated.”

Sports betting

Nashua residents will vote on whether to allow physical sportsbook retail locations in the city, while Portsmouth residents will vote on KENO 603 during city elections on Tuesday, Nov. 2. According to a press release, the sports betting legislation was written to provide individual communities with the option to vote on whether to allow the operation of sportsbook retail locations within their communities, while the KENO 603 legislation allows communities the option of allowing that game by putting it on election ballots or town meeting warrants. So far, the release said, 20 communities have approved retail sportsbooks over the past two years, including Manchester, Candia, Derry, Hudson, Londonderry, Pelham, Pembroke, Salem and Windham, and 89 New Hampshire communities have approved KENO 603 during city elections and town meetings.

Police walks

The Manchester Police Community Affairs Division’s 2021 Fall Senior Walks continue, with the next one happening Monday, Nov. 1, at Livingston Park (meet in the parking lot near the playground), followed by one on Monday, Nov. 8, at the Massabesic Lake Trail (meet in the paved parking lot off Londonderry Turnpike, just south of the Massabesic Traffic Circle). According to a press release, these walks allow seniors to spend time with Manchester Police Officers while exercising, socializing and exploring different parts of the city. The walks are about 2 to 3 miles and take about an hour. Both of these walks start at 9 a.m. Visit manchesterpd.com for a full list of walk dates and locations.

Bilingual liaisons

The Manchester School District will hire three additional bilingual liaisons to improve communication with families who don’t speak English, according to an Oct. 25 report from NHPR. The Board of School Committee approved the positions at its Oct. 25 meeting and increased the starting salary from $20 per hour to $25 per hour. The district currently has two Spanish-language liaisons to serve approximately 1,600 Spanish-speaking families, the NHPR report said, and the district is hoping to hire additional staff to work with families who speak some of the city’s most common non-English languages, like Spanish, Vietnamese, Nepali or Portuguese. According to the report, the decision was made amidst pressure on the district to better serve English language learners and recently arrived immigrant families. Bilingual liaisons will interpret between English and a parents’ home language, as well as host workshops and conduct outreach to families. Federal Covid relief funds will provide a portion of these salaries, the release said.

More than 100 people gathered at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner on Oct. 11 to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. According to a press release, a panel discussion aimed at supporting local Native voices was followed by drumming and dancing.

The Bedford Police Department has teamed up with BeBOLD, a Bedford-based nonprofit drug awareness, education and prevention coalition, to recognize Red Ribbon Week (Oct. 23 through Oct. 31) with an initiative called “Bedford Goes Red.” According to a press release, the community is invited to use red lights and/or red bows or ribbons on their homes and businesses. Free ribbons and lights are available for free while supplies last at Primary Bank in the Harvest Market Plaza and at Cohen Closing and Title on Route 101, and red light bulbs are available at Bedford ACE Hardware.

The Merrimack Rotary Club will host an electronics recycling fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Merrimack Town Hall from 8 a.m. to noon, raising money for scholarships and community projects. According to a press release, the event is a drive-by dropoff for electronics ranging from telephones and speakers ($5) to computers and laptops ($20) to air conditioners and large flat-screen TVs ($35). The club guarantees a 95-percent recycling rate, with components disassembled and recycled, not ending up in landfills, the release said.

Caring is sharing

On Nov. 9 UNH will be hosting its second program in the 2021-2022 Sidore Lecture Series. The topic will be Caregiving: Honor and Burden, Contributions, and Impact, and it will feature local and national subject matter leaders. All are invited to attend this virtual (and free) Zoom session.

My own involvement with caregiving is a personal one at both a familial and a community level. Having spent my entire life in New England, I have seen the ways the belief in individualism can ripple out into communal care. My grandmother hid her memory loss from her family and my Péperé struggled with managing his diabetes because neither one wanted to be seen as a burden. Relying on one another can seem counter to many of the values I’ve seen espoused in whiteness.

Intergenerational relationships have been paramount in my life and I see the ways that these connections have held mutual benefit for all involved. I can literally say I wouldn’t be where I am in life without them. There is something beautiful when we can honor the experiences and humanity of each other and, especially for me, when it transcends many of the social norms we’ve been conditioned to expect.

Being a member of the LGBTQIA community has given me heightened appreciation of the role of caregiving. The experiences shared with me from the “elders” are ones I’ll never find in the history books.

As the AIDS epidemic devastated the gay population, there were many members of their chosen family who were there to offer the care needed to navigate the virus. The stories I’ve heard are both heart-wrenching and uplifting as they have demonstrated the true value of love when we are at our most vulnerable.

As I’ve navigated this process, I can sense the fear of becoming too needy or overly relying on other people to live my life. I find this to be a devastating side effect to the notion of freedom and I often wonder what lies beneath these fears. Do we truly believe we are not an interdependent species? That without you there really cannot be a me?

Caregiving is a two-way street and I encourage all readers to tune into this important program on Nov. 9. You can find more information by searching “UNH Sidore Lecture” or just email me for the link. I am excited about the possibility presented in how we view this critical part of our society. We may be the “Live Free or Die” state but, maybe, we can begin to consider a new path grounded less in burden and more in honor, contributions and impact.

Industrial night

Triple bill leans to heavy sound

As a genre, mathcore occupies the intersection of punk, metal and jazz. Among its practitioners is Willzyx, a Manchester quartet with influences including industrial rock pioneers Ministry, late-stage John Coltrane, and modern exemplars like Daughters and French avant-prog trio PoiL.

Willzyx’s latest EP, i don’t feel anything, was released in September. With six tracks clocking in under 15 minutes, it’s at times relentless, as on the whisper to a scream “Feed Your Feelings,” and “Flexible Lies,” which echoes Red-era King Crimson. “We Can Live Our Deaths in Peace” closes out the new disc perfectly, with Ian Seacrest’s screamo vocals soaring over a progression always on the verge of exploding.

For the curious, their name is pronounced Will-Zee-Ack and comes from the killer whale character in a 2005 South Park episode that parodied Free Willy. In a recent phone interview, Willzyx guitarist Alex Hunt and drummer John Funk talked of plans to tone down the band’s wildness.

“When the pandemic hit, we decided to record stuff we hadn’t done yet … in between the next stage of where we’re going sound-wise,” he said. “What we’re working on is branching toward a more choreographed and organized effort, instead of trying to be heavy and chaotic for the sake of being heavy and chaotic.”

Though based in Manchester, Willzyx hasn’t done many local shows lately, with Boston, Providence or Portland, Maine, more frequently on their calendar, with an occasional New York City gig.

“I think we just kind of want to branch out, try to space it,” Funk said. “All of our friends are here, so when we play, it’s fun for everyone to come hang out, but we also want to share with people who don’t know who we are, so we try and go outward.”

The band’s formative period happened in its hometown, however. They’ve appeared at Shaskeen, and a key venue was the now-shuttered Bungalow.

“The whole thing started almost as a joke,” Hunt said. “It was … free experimentation and trying not to repeat riffs, things like that. We tested all of that at Bungalow; it was the main place for us at the beginning.”

They’re back home on Oct. 23 for a show at Candia Road Brewing Co., with two other acts joining in.

Tweak also hews toward a heavier, industrial rock sound.

“They’re kind of in a similar vein to us in that I feel like we listen to a lot of the same music and share a lot of similar kinds of ideas of why we make music,” Hunt said.

Rounding out the night is Doth, the latest moniker for an ambient band that’s gone by Cain Sauce and Sugar Potion, among other names.

“It’s all the same people; this is just one formation,” Hunt said. “It’s a more sparse, electronic kind of thing.”

The event is a bit of a departure for the craft brewery, which frequently hosts solo singer-songwriters, and it’s also the final appearance of Tweak’s current configuration, as one of its members will soon relocate to Chicago.

“They’re definitely an experience I think people should come and see,” Hunt said. “It’s part jump-scare, part dissonant ambient, and part you can’t really follow the rhythms, but you know they’re there somewhere.”

Willzyx members Hunt, Funk, Seacrest and bass player Colin Ward are pleased to present a diverse night.

“There aren’t a lot of shows that cross genre boundaries,” Hunt said. “There’s the metal scene, there’s the songwriter scene, and they don’t really interact very much. Doth is totally not in the same sound as us, but they have the same mentality of bridging those gaps, exposing people to different things that they might not have known they were interested in. It’s cool to have those different styles on the same bill.”

Willzyx / Doth / Tweak

When: Saturday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m.
Where: Candia Road Brewing Co., 840 Candia Road, Manchester
Tickets: $5 – see facebook.com/WillzyxBand

Featured photo: Willzyx. Courtesy photo.

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