Sean Stanton | Blue Hill Farm | Great Barrington, Massachusetts
When Sean Stanton started improving the pastures surrounding his small farm in Great Barrington, Mass., his efforts not only benefited the natural resources of this scenic southwest corner of Berkshire County, but also diners at an upscale eatery on the lower west side of Manhattan.
That's because he supplies the Blue Hill Restaurant in Greenwich Village with pasture-raised beef, veal and pork, as well as eggs and farm-fresh tomatoes. Standing among his 20 head herd in a field skirted by the Appalachian Trail and the rolling Berkshire hills, Sean explains how his farm products found their way to the Big Apple.
I started farming because I wanted to know more about food, where it comes from, how it's produced, explains Sean. I started on 10 acres that my parents own in Great Barrington. Then I met Dan Barber, a chef who owns Blue Hill Restaurant and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York City.
Dan and his brother David own the 135 acre Blue Hill Farm, which Sean now leases from the Barber family. It's a relationship that goes beyond customer and supplier, tenant and landlord. They share a belief that sustainable agriculture produces high quality food.
For help achieving his sustainability goals, Sean turned to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
I've been working with Sean since 2006. He came in as a beginning farmer, says Kate Parsons, District Conservationist in NRCS' Pittsfield office. We looked at all the issues on the farm and helped him with a milk house waste system and a nutrient management plan.
In the conservation plan that Kate developed with Sean, she included 35 acres of rotational grazing -- a management system where livestock is moved from one field to another -- to improve pastures that were dominated by vegetation that the cows had no desire to eat.
It's been amazing to watch the pastures change here, says Sean, explaining that the action of the cows on the pasture -- the regular grazing down and regrowth, and added nutrients from cow manure -- has turned the grass into a nutritious food source for his herd.
It's been exciting to work with a new farmer who's willing to try new things and to see him succeed and improve his farm and his business, says Kate.
Sean agrees. It's really been quite a pleasant experience.
Fairfield Farm, Williamstown, Mass. | No-till and Soil Health
The 400 acres of hay land and 220 acres of corn at Fairfield Dairy Farm in Williamstown, Mass. are set among sweeping vistas of the Berkshire hills. The beauty belies the challenges faced by the five generations of the Galusha family who have farmed this rugged land. Jay Galusha, who, with other family members, milks 240 cows, has found a solution with the help of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Choosing the Right Post-Hospital Rehabilitation Experience
Sweet Brook Rehabilitation & Nursing Center's Kira Breard explains some of the differences between options for post-hospital rehabilitation. This includes rehabilitation and recovery following elective procedures like a full knee replacement or hip replacement, or following a serious medical episode like a stroke, pneumonia, CHF or other illnesses. Sweet Brook Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Williamstown, Massachusetts provides seven days a week of an intensive interdisciplinary program with physical, occupational and speech therapy with important amenities, such as private rooms for short-term rehab patients, yoga, reiki and more.
Farms in Massachusetts continue to decline in number
Western Massachusetts is rich in soil, and it's great for growing, but there are fewer farms every year to take advantage of it.
Land for sale in Leyden, MA Video Tour
Land For Sale: Wilson Road, in Leyden, Massachusetts, close to the Vermont state line. 140 Acres of rolling fields, woodlands, and breath taking views in total privacy. 127+/- Acres of the land is under conservation restriction, for agricultural use. There is a 13.88 acre building lot with magnificent views to the south, east, and west. Great solar potential. A very RARE find. Offered at $425,000.
Contact Linda Webster at Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors.
413•575•2140 or LindaJWebster@yahoo.com
LINDA GETS YOU MOVING!
Horticultural Marketing - Food Bank Farm, Hadley, MA
Horticultural Marketing - Food Bank Farm, Hadley, MA - University of Vermont Extension 2005 - - University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Uploaded with permission. Noncommercial use only. * Large-Scale CSA Michael Docter and Linda Hildebrand, Food Bank Farm, Hadley MA. Farmers and their Diversified Horticultural Marketing Strategies. A 49-minute educational video featuring 8 farms in 4 northeastern states. Produced by: Vern Grubinger University of Vermont Extension with funding from: Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, USDA.
34 Crittenden Hill Road, Buckland MA
Multi-Family property for sale in Buckland, MA within walking distance of the scenic town of Shelburne Falls. Go to 34Crittenden.com from your computer to experience a state-of-the-art interactive Virtual Tour including: (a) this video in high definition; (b) over one hundred photos, (c) floor plans; and, (d) an interactive space planner.
4.85 Acres, Sterling MA - Land for Sale $200,000
Hunting Cabin Southern Vermont for Sale Heartwellville
This cabin in the woods is perfect for recreational uses and vacations. Located next to acres of state owned land, near fishing, hiking, and hunting areas. 3 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 bath plus huge deck across the back of the cabin.
Southern Vermont- Swallow Hill Rd, Pownal VT
Pownal Vermont real estate for sale. Attractive and bright Cape Style home built to last generations with authentic post and beam construction. Oversized rooms for comfortable and enjoyable living. Eye candy beams that are hand pegged, beautiful oak floor, ceramic tile, in-law suite, playroom and lush green lawn with mature landscaping. Nature comes free with the home as does the sound of the babbling brook out back.
You Bet Your Life: Secret Word - Light / Clock / Smile
Julius Henry Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 -- August 19, 1977) was an American comedian and film and television star. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous and recognizable novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses, a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.
Groucho Marx was, and is, the most recognizable and well-known of the Marx Brothers. Groucho-like characters and references have appeared in popular culture both during and after his life, some aimed at audiences who may never have seen a Marx Brothers movie. Groucho's trademark eye glasses, nose, mustache, and cigar have become icons of comedy—glasses with fake noses and mustaches (referred to as Groucho glasses, nose-glasses, and other names) are sold by novelty and costume shops around the world.
Nat Perrin, close friend of Groucho Marx and writer of several Marx Brothers films, inspired John Astin's portrayal of Gomez Addams on the 1960s TV series The Addams Family with similarly thick mustache, eyebrows, sardonic remarks, backward logic, and ever-present cigar (pulled from his breast pocket already lit).
Alan Alda often vamped in the manner of Groucho on M*A*S*H. In one episode, Yankee Doodle Doctor, Hawkeye and Trapper put on a Marx Brothers act at the 4077, with Hawkeye playing Groucho and Trapper playing Harpo. In three other episodes, a character appeared who was named Captain Calvin Spalding (played by Loudon Wainwright III). Groucho's character in Animal Crackers was Captain Geoffrey T. Spaulding.
On many occasions, on the 1970s television sitcom All In The Family, Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), would briefly imitate Groucho Marx and his mannerisms.
Two albums by British rock band Queen, A Night at the Opera (1975) and A Day at the Races (1976), are named after Marx Brothers films. In March 1977, Groucho invited Queen to visit him in his Los Angeles home; there they performed '39 a capella. A long-running ad campaign for Vlasic Pickles features an animated stork that imitates Groucho's mannerisms and voice. On the famous Hollywood Sign in California, one of the Os is dedicated to Groucho. Alice Cooper contributed over $27,000 to remodel the sign, in memory of his friend.
In 1982, Gabe Kaplan portrayed Marx in the film Groucho, in a one-man stage production. He also imitated Marx occasionally on his previous TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.
Actor Frank Ferrante has performed as Groucho Marx on stage for more than two decades. He continues to tour under rights granted by the Marx family in a one-man show entitled An Evening With Groucho in theaters throughout the United States and Canada with piano accompanist Jim Furmston. In the late 1980s Ferrante starred as Groucho in the off-Broadway and London show Groucho: A Life in Revue penned by Groucho's son Arthur. Ferrante portrayed the comedian from age 15 to 85. The show was later filmed for PBS in 2001. Woody Allen's 1996 musical Everyone Says I Love You, in addition to being named for one of Groucho's signature songs, ends with a Groucho-themed New Year's Eve party in Paris, which some of the stars, including Allen and Goldie Hawn, attend in full Groucho costume. The highlight of the scene is an ensemble song-and-dance performance of Hooray for Captain Spaulding—done entirely in French.
In the last of the Tintin comics, Tintin and the Picaros, a balloon shaped like the face of Groucho could be seen in the Annual Carnival.
In the Italian horror comic Dylan Dog, the protagonist's sidekick is a Groucho impersonator whose character became his permanent personality.
The BBC remade the radio sitcom Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, with contemporary actors playing the parts of the original cast. The series was repeated on digital radio station BBC7. Scottish playwright Louise Oliver wrote a play named Waiting For Groucho about Chico and Harpo waiting for Groucho to turn up for the filming of their last project together. This was performed by Glasgow theatre company Rhymes with Purple Productions at the Edinburgh Fringe and in Glasgow and Hamilton in 2007-08. Groucho was played by Scottish actor Frodo McDaniel.
Dragnet: Homicide / The Werewolf / Homicide
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a dragnet, meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program's format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday's deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring. (Dunning, 210) Friday's first partner was Sergeant Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. After Yarborough's death in 1951 (and therefore Romero's, who also died of a heart attack, as acknowledged on the December 27, 1951 episode The Big Sorrow), Friday was partnered with Sergeant Ed Jacobs (December 27, 1951 - April 10, 1952, subsequently transferred to the Police Academy as an instructor), played by Barney Phillips; Officer Bill Lockwood (Ben Romero's nephew, April 17, 1952 - May 8, 1952), played by Martin Milner (with Ken Peters taking the role for the June 12, 1952 episode The Big Donation); and finally Frank Smith, played first by Herb Ellis (1952), then Ben Alexander (September 21, 1952-1959). Raymond Burr was on board to play the Chief of Detectives. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio's top-rated shows.
Webb insisted on realism in every aspect of the show. The dialogue was clipped, understated and sparse, influenced by the hardboiled school of crime fiction. Scripts were fast moving but didn't seem rushed. Every aspect of police work was chronicled, step by step: From patrols and paperwork, to crime scene investigation, lab work and questioning witnesses or suspects. The detectives' personal lives were mentioned but rarely took center stage. (Friday was a bachelor who lived with his mother; Romero, a Mexican-American from Texas, was an ever fretful husband and father.) Underplaying is still acting, Webb told Time. We try to make it as real as a guy pouring a cup of coffee. (Dunning, 209) Los Angeles police chiefs C.B. Horrall, William A. Worton, and (later) William H. Parker were credited as consultants, and many police officers were fans.
Most of the later episodes were entitled The Big _____, where the key word denoted a person or thing in the plot. In numerous episodes, this would the principal suspect, victim, or physical target of the crime, but in others was often a seemingly inconsequential detail eventually revealed to be key evidence in solving the crime. For example, in The Big Streetcar the background noise of a passing streetcar helps to establish the location of a phone booth used by the suspect.
Throughout the series' radio years, one can find interesting glimpses of pre-renewal Downtown L.A., still full of working class residents and the cheap bars, cafes, hotels and boarding houses which served them. At the climax of the early episode James Vickers, the chase leads to the Subway Terminal Building, where the robber flees into one of the tunnels only to be killed by an oncoming train. Meanwhile, by contrast, in other episodes set in outlying areas, it is clear that the locations in question are far less built up than they are today. Today, the Imperial Highway, extending 40 miles east from El Segundo to Anaheim, is a heavily used boulevard lined almost entirely with low-rise commercial development. In an early Dragnet episode scenes along the Highway, at the road to San Pedro, clearly indicate that it still retained much the character of a country highway at that time.