By JERRI CHAPLIN PLANET VALENTI Arts (STOCKBRIDGE, Mass., Sunday, July 3) — When Tanglewood’s summer schedule came out last January, we were delighted to see “James Taylor and the Boston Pops” on the roster. Based on the assumption and expectation the concert would mean all-Taylor with the Pops all evening, we snapped up tickets. Assumptions […]
By DAN VALENTI EXCLUSIVE! BREAKING NEWS ON ‘NO SHOW’ (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Saturday, July 2, 2011) — THE PLANET is rather pressed for time this busy holiday weekend, but we have the final piece of the puzzle on the Beacon Hill Fix that will lead to the ascendance of Chris “No Show” Speranzo to the […]
By DAN VALENTI ‘GUESTING’ WIH THE ‘BESTING’ THIS AM ON “GMP” (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Friday, July 1, 2011) — THE PLANET starts with thanks to our Right Honorable Good Friend, John Krol, for his call yesterday. “Good Morning, Pittsfield,” needed a last-minute guest to fill the hour today. Krol called, and THE PLANET answered. We […]
By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, June 30, 2011) — Today we take on another of Pittsfield Third Rails. Everybody loves a parade, right? And when that parade is billed as “your Hometown parade,” loving comes as easy as a swan paddling through Lake Tranquility, right? However, what if “your Hometown parade” consisted of largely […]
By DAN VALENTI FIRST ADD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011 BUDGET BUZZARDS RUBBER STAMP JIMMY’S WISH LIST, 7-3 The city council’s 7-3 approval of the nearly $130 million budget submitted by Mayor Jimmy Ruberto marks another round of business as usual. Three councilors voted for THE PEOPLE of Pittsfield. Melissa Mazzeo, Mike Ward, and Christine Yon […]
JACOB’S PILLOW OPENS 70th SEASON WITH RAIN AND SPARKLE By JERRI CHAPLIN PLANET VALENTI Arts (BECKETT, Mass., June 29, 2011) — Rain dampened the new outdoor stage but couldn’t wash out the triumphant opening of the 79th season of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and honored guests marked the opening of the […]
By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, June 28, 2011) — Looking for the perfect summer vacation? The Planet knows what it looks like. We articulate herein, from the pen of our “Family” correspondent, Felix Carroll. Then, we present a review of the most “visual” and poetic motion picture The Planet has seen since Stanley Kubrick’s […]
By DAN VALENTI Four recent developments concerning the Pittsfield school department have cost the city’s taxpayers almost $6 million. They are: * The grand theft of $10,000 from a locked teacher’s desk, the caper known as PromGate. * $1 million dollars in raises for teachers as a result of the new contract between them and […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI Arts (LENOX, Monday, June 27, 2011) — An ensemble “relationship” play with a funeral, family dysfunction, and a ghost surely has the ingredients of a winner — especially in the hands of an ensemble without any weak links in the chain. So what’s missing in Shakespeare and Company’s production of The […]
By DAN VALENTI There’s Only One Right Call on the No Show Vote: “Rejected.” (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Saturday, June 25, 2011) — It’s No Go on No Show. That’s the verdict 99% of the 12 of 14 Pittsfield wards Chris “No Show” Speranzo represents, and 98% of everyone else. The other 1 and 2% consists […]
By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE & STATEHOUSE, BOSTON, Friday June 24, 2011) — Rejected. That’s the only possible answer for the Governor’s Council regarding the nomination of State Rep. Chris “No Show” Speranzo to the lifetime appointment to a $110,000 a year-plus-benefits, no-show job as clerk magistrate of Central Berkshire District Court. No Show, the […]
By JOSH CUTLER PLANET VALENTI Sports (PITTSFIELD, Friday, June 24, 2011) — Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.” This old melody is what the Pittsfield Colonials players and staff were singing to themselves as they attempted to play a doubleheader on a soggy and gloomy Thursday morning at Wahconah Park. While conditions prevented […]
By DAN VALENTI FIRST ADD 1, JUNE 25, 2011 — Part three of our school department expose shall focus on the phony bus purchase deal. We will say for the moment that “APPROVAL OF BUS BID” was agenda item VI-a from the June 22 meeting. Naturally, wanting to work from the facts, we went to […]
By DAN VALENTI (FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Wednesday, June 22, 2011) — It’s getting to crunch time with the municipal budgets, plural, and THE PLANET can predict another disaster for bedraggled taxpayers. Mayor Jimmy Ruberto’s fattened-calf spending plan will escape with nary a scratch after the council’s pathetic gumming of the document. The taxpayers needed councilors […]
By DAN VALENTI PLANET VALENTI Arts (PITTSFIELD, JUNE 21, 2011) — Certain words were invented to describe sounds for which no other words exist: a dog’s “bark” or the wind’s “whoosh.” This critic won’t bore you with the long, literary “O” word that refers to this phenomenon, but we will share that certain names conjugate […]
EDITOR’s NOTE: For the past three days, we have been experiencing problems with our remote server. THE PLANET’s webmaster has been addressing the issue all day today, and it appears the geeks have worked out the bugs. We apologize to the readers of the site for any inconvenience this has caused. We hope the fix […]
