In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I’m treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, “Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?” “No,” I answered, “but I served in a company of heroes.” -Mike Ranney Easy Company, 506th, 101st Airborne WWII This Veterans Day, 96 years to the day since the WWI […]
If the thought of the holiday season fills you with an icy, quivering dread, if the sound of silver bells sends flurries of cold nausea tinkling down your spine, if the idea of holiday gift shopping invites a retching panic to engulf your heart, then you are experiencing a completely normal mammalian stress responses to […]
There’s no reason that, after over 35 years, Casa Diablo should close up, shutter the doors and windows, and clean out our lockers. So here we are, in the pages of Motif. We think you all know what happened to The Providence Phoenix and while we mourn the loss of our longtime home, your superior […]
The election 2014 is nigh upon us, and I’ve been contemplating the Mayoral race more than any of the others. It looks to be one of the closest races this election cycle, and I think it may be the most important. The mayor certainly doesn’t outrank the governor or other state-wide offices. But this year, […]
Other voting thoughts: Vote Bob Healy in the Governor race – not so he’ll win, but so he’ll get a big enough showing that others will take some of his ideas more seriously, and understand that we like it when a candidate actually answers questions in a debate, rather than dancing around them. I plan […]
Rhode Island is at a crossroads. A fumbling economy that can’t seem to get itself on track, corruption everywhere, and candidates who are using their positions to try to slingshot to a more prominent position rather than do work in the role for which they were elected; nothing seems to be working. Maybe we need […]
Dear Nick, Imagine this: a pudgy, tiny, toupee-sporting man hatches a cocaine- and alcohol-fueled plot to recover his divorce settlement money (as much as $500,000) by kidnapping his ex-wife’s friend and extorting the money from him. If the man refuses to comply, the tiny, pudgy, toupee-sporting man will threaten him, then hit him and then […]
The closing of The Providence Phoenix last week after 36 years is “a sign of the times,” said Ty Davis, the founding publisher of The NewPaper in 1978. He continued in that role until its sale to The Boston Phoenix group that led to its eventual re-branding as The Providence Phoenix. During that decade running […]
The Phoenix Media/Communications Group (PMCG) announced today that, after 36 years, it will stop publishing the venerated alt-weekly The Providence Phoenix. This news comes a little over a year after publisher Stephen Mindich and COO Everett Finkelstein announced the closing of the sister publication The Boston Phoenix. The Portland Phoenix, in Maine, remains in operation. […]
In the upcoming election, Question 5 is an important issue for arts-aware voters to consider. The first of its kind in Rhode Island, if passed it would allocate $35 million in bond funding specifically for arts and culture facilities, as well as historic sites throughout the state. David Beauchesne, executive director of the Rhode Island […]