06/10/2008

Obama books pouring forth from all sides
Several works about Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential candidate, are planned for the summer and fall, from children’s stories and photographs to attacks from both the left and the right.

11/18/2007

For a centerpiece, think small and it’ll be grand
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — When it comes to creating Thanksgiving centerpieces, there seem to be several schools of thought: One, they are too hard to make; and two, they are impossible to make.

10/30/2007

Piling on the gore for Halloween
This year’s Halloween decorations may not just spook you, they might turn your stomach.

South County Halloween Events
Halloween party: The South Kingstown Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring a Halloween costume party for children age 3 to 7, tomorrow from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Neighborhood Guild, 325 Columbia St., Peace Dale.

10/28/2007

On TV these days, every day is Halloween
It’s almost Halloween, but there’s no need to run out and rent a spooky movie to get yourself in the mood. Just turn on the TV: Is there a rational explanation for all the supernatural phenomena on television this fall?

Carve out time to appreciate the Great Pumpkin
The late Rodney Dangerfield could probably relate to pumpkins: They don’t get no respect.

Go out and pick your own
Go out and pick your own

Dark lore for sharing and scaring!
Want a few more fun facts to share this Halloween?

Time again for frightful fun
Tom Nardone wants to bring scary back. The author of Extreme Pumpkins: Diabolical Do-it-Yourself Designs to Amuse Your Friends and Scare Your Neighbors (Home Books, $13.95) believes that Halloween and its symbol, the jack-o’-lantern, have become too wimpy.

10/25/2007

Halloween haunt is months in the making
Halloween is a way for Highland Farm to stay in agriculture.

The Salem Witch Trial Memorial
Salem has long been known as the Witch City for the infamous witchcraft trials of 1692, a terrible period in American history that has nothing at all to do with Halloween.

Halloween hits Smithfield and Pawtucket
You can run, but you can’t hide; certainly not in Smithfield or Pawtucket. Between the two are three Halloween happenings.

Salem’s nightmare: Historic seaport’s Haunted Happenings festival is just fright for Halloween
SALEM, Mass. In the season when nightmares are all for fun, this historic seaport on Boston’s North Shore hosts the biggest nightmare of them all.

Halloween Events: Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 25-28
Boo Bash, Providence Children’s Museum, 100 South St., Providence. 273-5437. Ages 3-11 join the friendly witch from the Pumpkin Patch Cafe for special treats, meet creepy critters like scorpions, snakes and lizards, play bewitching games and more. Wear your costume. Sun, 1-4 pm. $6.50, free under age 1.

Olneyville Fall Festival is Saturday
Celebrate fall. Do it in Olneyville. Attend the Olneyville Fall Festival. It’s Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., at Donigan Park on Valley Street in Providence.

10/24/2007

Halloween welcomes our pets
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Matt Good has never dressed his dogs in Halloween costumes. Until now.

Ghoulish-green cocktail is a delight under black-light
Midori has come up with some Halloween-themed cocktails because its ghoulish-green coloring complements a spooky decor. One seems so perfect I had to share. It’s a Spider’s Kiss. It has tonic water in it. It glows under a black light from the quinine in the tonic water.

Recipe: Spider’s Kiss cocktail
SPIDER’S KISS

10/21/2007

Walk your dog in the SPCA’s Halloween parade
Want to dress up the dog? The Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is going to give you that chance next Sunday with its fifth annual Howling Hounds Dog Walk at Goddard State Park, a beautiful stretch of green on the water in East Greenwich. Participants are invited to dress up their four-legged best pals in their finest costumes to support and raise funds to “Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves” — which is essentially the motto of the organization, whose purpose is to protect animal life.

Halloween ‘haunters’ are frightful decorators
Never mind the Christmas junkies who fantasize about hanging icicle lights on Thanksgiving, even before the turkey is carved. They’ve got nothing on the Halloween freaks — in whose ranks, I confess, I am now permanently entrenched.

10/18/2007

Frightening fields, terrifying trails, bloodcurdling buildings: A goulish guide to Halloween haunts
What is it about this time of year that makes us both terrified and terribly amused by things like skeletons shooting out of babies’ cribs or devils that can bring us to our knees and make the ground shake beneath us, as well?

Hold hands this weekend at Fort Adams
Be afraid of the Fort, very afraid.

R.I. International Horror Film Festival: Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 18-21
www.RiFilmFest.org. $10 per screening; $40 festival six-pack.

Scare up some time for horror film fest
Run for your life! The Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival is coming!

Frightening fields, terrifying trails, bloodcurdling buildings: A goulish guide to Halloween haunts
What is it about this time of year that makes us both terrified and terribly amused by things like skeletons shooting out of babies’ cribs or devils that can bring us to our knees and make the ground shake beneath us, as well?

Halloween Events: Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 18-21
Flames of Fall, Aitken School, 165 Newman Ave., Seekonk. More then 150 lit jack-o’-lanterns on display, music, refreshments. Children are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes. Fri, 7-9 pm. Proceeds benefit the Aitken PTO for 5th grade educational and social events.

10/17/2007

Hollyween
NEW YORK Pretty soon, we might be calling Oct. 31 Hollyween instead of Halloween.

10/12/2007

The hunt for a red October
New England has seen more brilliant displays of foliage in recent years, with this summer’s lack of rain starving most plants of the water needed to transform the summer greens to golden yellows, bright oranges and deep reds.

10/11/2007

The Blackstone Valley in living color
The colors of fall illuminate every corner of Rhode Island, but they may be brightest in the Blackstone Valley. In the state’s northern tier, away from the moderating influence of the ocean, the nights are typically cooler and the altitude just a little bit higher — both factors that accelerate the leaf changes that lead to the brilliant reds, glowing oranges, and warm yellows that we associate with foliage season.

10/04/2007

Sights and tastes of Germany come to Newport for Oktoberfest
Look around for your lederhosen.

Art fairs alfresco, from Providence to Scituate to Block Island
Along with changing leaves, cooler temperatures and plans for scarier-than-ever Halloween costumes, October traditionally brings a flurry of outdoor art fairs and festivals. This weekend, Rhode Islanders have three to choose from: the RISD Alumni + Student Fall Art Sale, in Providence, the 40th annual Scituate Art Festival, in North Scituate, and the Block Island Arts and Crafts Guild Fair, on Block Island.

09/28/2007

Leave the earth behind
 Fall  Fall foliage in the other New England states, as well as northern New York, can be just as grand, but let’s face it, when people from all over the world think spectacular fall foliage, they think of Vermont, where wide valleys sprawl against a backdrop of high hills, and a flourishing industry produces a half-million gallons of maple syrup annually.

Tips on taking photos of New England scenes in the fall
NEW YORK (AP) — Photographer Ferenc Mate lives in Tuscany, but his latest book, A New England Autumn: A Sentimental Journey (Albatross Books/W.W. Norton, $39.95), portrays the colors and landscapes of the woods, coast, farmhouses and even the doorsteps and porches of New England in the fall.

09/22/2007

Pagans usher in autumn
Celebration and seminars draw several hundred people to a Pagan Pride event marking the equinox.

09/20/2007

Fall Guide: Art galleries, museums run gamut from Napoleon to Pollock
Question: What do Jackson Pollock, Napoleon Bonaparte, contemporary art star (and former Providence resident) Kara Walker and costume jewelry king Kenneth Jay Lane have in common? Answer: All are the focus of must-see exhibits at area galleries and museums this fall.

Fall Guide: Dylan and His Band, and much, much more
The big arenas are pretty quiet this season. The Dunkin’ Donuts Center, in Providence, is still under construction and has no concerts until the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Nov. 20. The Providence Performing Arts Center has the Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt on Oct. 20, the Beatles tribute band Rain on Nov. 3, and the return of Zappa Plays Zappa (that’s Dweezil playing father Frank’s songs) on Nov. 4. That means the biggest arena show is Bob Dylan and His Band, with an opening set by a young acoustic singer-songwriter that you may have heard of, named Elvis Costello, at the Ryan Center Sept. 29.

Fall Guide: Trinity, 2nd Story, Black Rep have productions worth seeing
The fall theater season is already well under way, with Trinity Rep revisiting the Adrian Hall adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s tale of political corruption, All the King’s Men, and Pawtucket’s Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre staging a powerful production of The Elephant Man, the true story of John Merrick, the sideshow freak who became the darling of Victorian society.

Fall festivals 2007: Cool, crisp weather brings on fall festivals
If you like festivals, then fall is your season.

A heady mix — even hurdy-gurdies
The fall brings with it a heady mix of classical music, from Chinese opera and a new work by Providence composer Paul Nelson to an evening of original music for hurdy-gurdy and world premieres by A Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess.

09/19/2007

Fall Guide: So many new restaurants to satisfy hunger
The bounty of a fall harvest is nothing compared with the riches of all the new restaurants that have opened their doors in Providence and beyond in the past 10 months.

Fall Guide: Pop Music, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
SEPT. 20

09/20/2007

Historic sites, house tours, exhibits: Sept. 20-Nov. 22
PROVIDENCE

09/19/2007

Fall Guide: Comedy, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
SEPTEMBER

Fall Guide: Halloween a time for frights
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Fall Guide: Performances, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
CABARET

Fall Guide: Theater plays, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
ONGOING

Fall Guide: Halloween Events, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
www.projo.com/seasonal/autumn/content

09/20/2007

Fall Guide: Trinity, 2nd Story, Black Rep have productions worth seeing
The fall theater season is already well under way, with Trinity Rep revisiting the Adrian Hall adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s tale of political corruption, All the King’s Men, and Pawtucket’s Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre staging a powerful production of The Elephant Man, the true story of John Merrick, the sideshow freak who became the darling of Victorian society.

Fall Guide: Three more WaterFires this year
The WaterFire season is winding down, but there are still opportunities to experience one of Providence’s best-known arts events. Three more WaterFires are scheduled for this year: Sept. 29, beginning at 6:31 p.m.; Oct. 6 at 6:19 p.m.; and Oct. 27 at 5:47 p.m. All will be full WaterFires, with 100 braziers burning on Providence’s downtown rivers.

09/19/2007

Fall Guide: Dances, Sept. 20-Nov. 22, 2007
SEPTEMBER

Fall Guide: Museums, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
PROVIDENCE

Fall Guide: Kids’ Events, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
NATURE

Fall Guide: Fairs and Festivals, Sept. 20-Nov. 22

Fall Guide: Classical music concerts, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
SEPTEMBER

Fall Guide: More Fall Events, Sept. 20-Nov. 22

Fall Guide: Dance, Sept. 20-Nov. 22
SEPT. 22

Fall Guide: Art Events Sept. 20-Nov. 22
ARTS AND CRAFTS

09/20/2007

A heady mix — even hurdy-gurdies
The fall brings with it a heady mix of classical music, from Chinese opera and a new work by Providence composer Paul Nelson to an evening of original music for hurdy-gurdy and world premieres by A Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess.

09/18/2007

Seize Wednesday: Pumpkins on Prudence Island
Never been to Prudence Island?