The Boston Phoenix January 19-25, 1996: Vol 25 Iss 3

114 Pages·113.3 MB·English

EST WEEKLY @ FOUR SECTIONS
Pd ' “ ¥
The State House a br Bulger:
Al Giordano on Tom & ingham
AIDS drugs: Have actfasts’
demands backfired?
by Jody Ericson
How hype selis hip
Alice K. confronts
her sex life
ARTS
ian McKelien’s Richard Ill:
perverse and hilarious
by Peter Keough
—
aes
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wo uU N TAIN
THE BOSTON PHOE©N SIECXTIO N ONE © JANUARY 19, 1996 , 3
5 UNITED COLORS OF MONEY by John Strausbaugh
Oliviero Toscani has made Benetton famous for caring on a global scale —
without ever saying what exactly it cares about.
9 DINING OUT
Robert Nadeau finds that Roberto’s Café doesn’t live up to its location. Plus, '
fresh and healthy Mexican food at the Purple Cactus Burrito Bar, and
cheesecake ice cream.
10 DINING GUIDE
Stepping out and filling up: our expanded neighborhood-by-neighborhood
PHOENIX FLASHBACKS guide to local restaurants.
THIS JUST IN 16 THE PUZZLE by Don Rubin
An impassioned plea for nonsmoking 19 PERSONALS
lounges; low scores for Plymouth’s nu- 22 CLASSIFIEDS
clear power plant; MBTA buses pa-
rade a pro-choice message; and the
left lives — in Central Square. THE RUSH for Alps drugs may kill
ARTS
10 DON’T QUOTE ME by Dan Kennedy more than cure. News, 14.
Why don’t Americans trust the media?
Try junk punditry, horse-race political coverage, and corporate control. So
says James Fallows, author of Breaking the News: How the Media Under- 2 8 DAYS A WEEK
mine American Democracy, in this Q&A interview. Turn to “Flicks in a Flash,” Boston’s
12
TALKING POLITICS by Al Giordano most inventive film guide, and read
The new state Senate president, Tom Birmingham, now has a gavel to wield “State of the Art” for news of the arts
against Weld. But will he use it? world. And in “Next Weekend,”
Catherine A. Salmons previews
THE AIDS DRUG RACE by Jody Ericson
Richard Cambridge’s The Cigarette
Activists’ loud cries have helped speed up the testing process for AIDS drugs.
Papers.
But when haste pre-empts caution, the effort to save lives can become a dan-
ger in itself. 6 FILM
Peter Keough is fascinated by the
NOBELIST ACCUSED by Tim Sandler
perversity of lan McKellen in
A former BU grad student has filed a civil suit for sexual harassment against
Richard II, and Steve Vineberg says
Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, claiming the charge fits a pattern of behavior
Brian Wilson is no less intriguing in
dating back to his stint at Harvard in the 1980s.
the documentary | Just Wasn’t Made
CITYSCAPE by Sarah McNaught
for These Times. Plus, City of Lost
Although the child-porn case against Cambridge photography student Toni
Children, From Dusk Till Dawn,
Marie Angeli has. been dropped, other charges remain. Now it looks as though
Mr. Holland’s Opus, Two If by Sea,
the DA has made a misstep with the evidence.
Bio-Dome, Lawnmower Man 2,
Don't Be a Menace in South Cen- DAVID EVITTS triumphs as Fal-
tral, Two Bits, and Midnight staff at the Emerson Majestic. Arts, 20.
TYLES
Dancers.
10 THEATER
Carolyn Clay says the ART has unearthed a most interesting version of Sam
2 BEST BUYS Shepard’s Buried Child. Plus, Andrew Lloyd Webber: Music of the Night,
Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, and Like the Rain.
by Mark Bazer
So you thought you 12 MUSIC
didn’t need.a rubber Brett Milano talks with Aimee Mann as her I’m with Stupid is, finally, re-
chicken or a six-shot cup leased; Jeffrey Gantz explains why you should drop everything and listen to
of espresso? Mahler’s Tenth Symphony; and Lloyd Schwartz says the Boston Lyric
OUT THERE Opera’s Falstaff is better than its Falstaff. Plus, Tori Amos, Butch Morris,
Dar Williams, and the Golden Smog.
by Caroline Knapp ain
It’s all in the sex. Dr. Y. MARCHING to the pace of the Benetton
thinks so; Alice K. drummer, Oliviero Toscani. Styles, 5.
writhes.
21 HOT DOTS 31 PLAY BY PLAY 36 FILM STRIPS
THE STRAIGHT DOPE by Cecil Adams
22 LISTINGS 34 OFF THE RECORD
SELLING HIP by Tom Frank
Once a style of resistance to the System, hipness has become its lifeblood. 28 ART LISTINGS 35 FILM LISTINGS
} ILL USTRATION BY ROBERT PRIEST; ARTS PHOTO BY RICHARD FELDMAN
itro]
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When you buy any Snowboard or pair of
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HARVARD SQ.
497-1250
THE BOSTON PHOENIX ¢ SEUILIUN UNE °* JANUARY 19,
weeter r MUSIC
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can't remember the last
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Prooucnon Manacer: Christopher Young; Aovernisina Art Dinector: John Moss, Assistant Aover-
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INCORRECT ISSUE NUMBER, SHOULD READ NUMBER 3.
H ANNUAL
Phceanix
Tt
Now’s the time to nominate your favorite artists in
the 8th Annual Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll.
Your votes will determine who gets on the final ballot in February.
The winners will be announced in April at our
Best Music Poll celebration.
Presented by C=-7 wider® See 8 DayA sWee k for more details.
nn
OFFICIAL BALLOT
Nominate your current favorites.
Best Local Best National
MALE VOCALIST MALE VOCALIST
FEMALE VOCALIST FEMALE VOCALIST
NEW ARTIST NEW ARTIST
ROCK ACT ROCK ACT
HEAVY METAL ACT HEAVY METAL ACT
ALTERNATIVE ACT ALTERNATIVE ACT
JAZZ ACT JAZZ ACT
INTERNATIONAL ACT INTERNATIONAL ACT
R&B/SOUL/BLUES ACT R&B/SOUL/BLUES ACT
RAP/HIP-HOP ACT RAP/HIP-HOP ACT
FOLK ACT FOLK ACT
COUNTRY ACT - COUNTRY ACT
DJ/DANCE MUSIC PRODUCER DJ/DANCE MUSIC PRODUCER
I a PRODUCER
CD/RECORD/TAPE . CD/RECORD/TAPE
aee CS S e ee cen SONG
re) | fo IVI Cb In order for your vote to count, you must fill
r ii te this out! You'll be automatically entered in a
= i drawing to win a pair of VIP tickets to the
Video Entries! BEST MUSIC POLL Concert in April!
A special award for BEST LOCAL MUSIC VIDEO will be NAME
presented by the Phoenix/WFNX Best-Music Poll Judges.
Aon ol-m-1ile}le)(-maclmaelariie(-1e-)dle)ame ie]e laniiac-leme-|el--maglery e ADDRESS
be VHS format dubbed directly from the master.
Only one video clip per cassette will be eligible for CITY/STATE/ZIP
consideration. Send clearly labeled tapes to
BMP VIDEO at the address below by 3/18/96. SIGNATURE
Asn causc ommm ms cou:G DSs et Gam ie coumc n cathS inm ca) einG omme minG umse th 00h) em om ony os Oe os oe ee
The final ballot will appear in The Phoenix beginning February 22, 1996
MAIL BALLOTS TO:
PHOENIX/WFNX BEST MUSIC POLL, 126 BROOKLINE AVE., BOSTON, MA 02215
&
presented by e ee a wide ; ® sponsored in association with
Only original ballots will be accepted. No photocopies. Ballots must be received by mail. Name and address must accompany each ballot, and only
one ballot per person per envelope. Ballots must be postmarked by 2/12/96. Decisions of the judges are final.
THE BOSTON PHOENIX * SECTION ONE * JANUARY 19, 1996
McBeth / Phoenix
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Sar ph (617)354-888S fax [phone] The Boston Phoenix has been covering the In fact, general secretaries — ‘as opposed |
Music by trends and events that define our times since to legal secretaries, medical secretaries,
1966. The following selections, culled from and so on,’ advises Peter Maloy, senior la- |
Joint Chiefs
our back files, were compiled by Mark Bazer. bor-market economist for the Labor Area |
An Acme Theatr Research Department of DES — will be |
Production NAILS RAILS in about as much demand as the next two |
Five years ago: January 18, 1991 most-sought-after categories combined: |
January 19, 20, 21
>» Previewing Nine Inch Nails’ performance sales clerks and cashiers. The projected |
and 26, 27, 28
at Citi, Amy Finch listened to Trent Reznor positions in the latter two fields, as well |
8:00 pm (7:00 Door) complain about his record company. those in the fourth-most-in-demand cate- |
80 Arch Street
“They [TVT] panicked and thought, gory, waiter/waitressing, aren’t even all |
MAMA KIN’‘S
Boston, MA ‘Someone might make a penny off Trent full-time jobs, Maloy notes.”
Landsdowne Reznor other than us.’ The beauty of Pretty
617-338-4234
Playhouse Hate Machine, he says, was that ‘although LITTLE RED ROOSTER
there were plenty of heated screaming bat- 20 years ago: January 20, 1976
36 Landsdowne St.,
| tles about what the outcome of the album >» With his big voice and rhythmic intrica- |
Take us for a spin Boston
would be, I stuck to my guns and did what cy, blues legend Howlin’ Wolf was a link |
FREE $12.00 or I wanted to do. When I delivered the between early blues singers and contem- |
$10.00 advance | record, the president of the record label porary rock and soul. Howard Husock re-
told me it was an abortion and I'd be lucky membered the Wolf, who died at 65.
AUDIOBOOKS RENTAL. Call Mama Kin | if it sold 20,000 copies.’ “Howlin’ Wolf’s contribution to Ameri- |
536-2100
“Now that Pretty Hate Machine has sold can music far exceeds the inspiration he |
Avaifolr naewb culstoemer s 250,000 copies, the label is more adamant afforded commercial imitators. He was |
only with refundable deposit. than ever about what Nine Inch Nails’ next one of a handful of Mississippi-born blues
eyqSErOeue eeerL s osoekn sf oers ntheew nBeesets aNuews neResvnicewoss ainn dN ext Week’s Issue | alilkeb.u mB ecasuhsoeu ldt he saonutne’ds KATHY CHAPMAN mruursailc ifaonlks muwshioc atnodo,k bya
Coupon. Goop ror ONE of the Phoenix Literary Section (PLS) been upped, Trent says, adapting it to bands fea-
Free Auvio Book RENTAL.
| he’s now supposed to turing electric guitar,
MUSIC pay rapt attention to the bass, and drums, even-
| input of the ‘marketing tually transfigured pop-
genius team’ at TVT.” ular music.
ergy SERIES
“His rural roots
WHEN LEAH
showed, too, in his slide |
Vv MET NORA guitar and harmonica
10 years ago: playing as well as in his
| January 21, 1986 lyrics. Always the sexual
> No one’s ever been boaster, he characterized
able to make feminist himself as ‘the little red
issues both as funny rooster on the prowl.’”
and poignant as writ-
er/humorist Nora KEEP IT FUNKY, NOW
Ephron. But, as Leah 25 years ago:
Rosch observed at a January 26, 1971
talk in Worcester’s Me- » James Brown took it
= chanics Hall, some of REZNOR duked it out to the stage at the Sugar
n Ephron’s points were with his record label. Shack, and Stephen
o lost in the laughter. Graham had only good
K
“ “Sometimes, [the things to say about the |
Jewish Prince] doesn’t say, “Where’s the man who put the funk in your hip and the |
special butter?” when he wants butter. He says, dip in your stride. |
“Is there any butter?” This is when he’s “The crowd at the Sugar Shack was |
reT UTE€
feeling hostile. At times when he’s trying to mainly black, ranging from ecstatic high-
be very clever, he says, “How do you think school girls to prosperous-looking mid-
& Life Of Agony butter would taste with this?” As if he dle-aged couples. By the time James was
needs a college graduate to tell him — five minutes into his act, the club was
5 im ey WHE: when he’s referring to dry toasts’ Ephron electric with excitement. ‘I’m super bad,’
delivered this all with the timing of the best he shouted, ‘I’ve got soul. So y’all try to
comedienne, but perhaps because of that, get down, now . . . get down to where we
| everyone was laughing too hard to grasp are.’ James Brown and his band, the
her message.” ].B.’s, generate as intense a reaction in
THIS SATURDAY JAN 20 7:30pm black audiences as the Beatles and the
Stones used to generate in white ones
All Tickets *25* GA Floor, Reserved Stands | 15 years ago: January 20, 1981 during their tours in the 60s. And James
Tickets for 10/13 Worcester Auditorium are honored. Refunds available at point of purchase. | » Chances of getting a job as an expert has been around a lot longer than either |
suntan-lotion applier in Hawaii were slim, of the latter two.”
according to a report by from the Division
of Employment Security. But entry-level Where are they now?
positions were easy to come by. Good Amy Finch writes about music for the Bos- |
| thing we elected Reagan. Barbara Wallraff ton Phoenix. Barbara Wallraff is a senior
| reported. editor at the Atlantic Monthly. Howard |
“Namely, general secretaries make up Husock is the director of the Case Program |
1981’s_ number-one expansion category. at the Kennedy School of Government.
TESTIMONIAL FROM |
eVEERSPACE
Now T see +hatreal }
Communication can }
SHi\ Go On in this
worldjand truly mean-
i ing ful connections be- ¥
4ween people are still am
h possible. ae
PEPPERS#. e ee: |
te ‘
os
wit
DUE TO
ZW Cc A4 Ir ree POPULAR
DEMAND
CENTRUM FEB 127-200 ane
CALL FOR TICKETS *==Z=2== [phone]
Tickets available at The Worcester Centrum Box Office, and all Ticketmaster locations. *Dates, times, & ticket prices subject
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THE BOSTON PHOENIX © SECTION ONE © JANUARY 19, 1996
ROUGH SLEDDING [PUFF PIECE |
Middle East hosts second To air is human
Sargent/Conway benefit
For many nonsmokers, the smokers in my office. The guy
war against smoking in the who sits at the desk next to me is
On Tuesday, January 23, the second of two local benefits for workplace has been won. It’s a smoker. He always comes back
singer/songwriter Laurie Sargent and Morphine drummer Billy Conway will hard to find a company that lets from the smoking room with
be held at the Middle East, in Central Square, Cambridge. Morphine front- its employees light up at their great gossip. (Are smokers more
man Mark Sandman is putting together a band to perform on a bill that will desks. Instead, smokers in need inclined to gossip than nonsmok-
feature NYC avant-pop band Soul Coughing, along with local bands of a cigarette are sent off to des- ers? Is the gene for smoking lo-
Groovasaurus and the Bristols. ignated smoking rooms in the far cated on the same chromosome
Sargent and Conway were seriously injured when a speeding snowmo- corners of office buildings. As a as the gene for gossiping?) My
bile slammed into their sled on New Year's Eve. A successful benefit was onetime smoker (I puffed from coworker makes friends in the
held at Johnny D's on January 6, where a capacity crowd was treated to ages four to seven) who has
performances by Conway's bandmates Mark Sandman and Dana Colley, as since kicked the habit, I
well as sets by Peter Wolf, Russ Gershon, and Jamie Ruben. would love to think I’ve won
™ “We far exceeded the expectations of what some sort of battle. But the
_ we thought we'd make at that first benefit,” truth is, the smokers are
} says Dinty Child, a Sargent bandmate who is laughing all the way to the
coordinating the fundraising. “We were look- smoking lounge.
ing for $1500 and we ended up with $4700 Consider this scene from
— and a lot of people who lined up outside the smoker’s point of view.
couldn’t even get into the show.” As he strikes a match, a
According to Child, the Middle East benefit coworker scolds, “You’d bet-
came together when more people started ter take that to the smoking
contacting him about wanting to help out. room.” And so he
And a third benefit is being planned in Provi- wanders off, think-
dence at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel on ing: “Okay, let me
Wednesday, January 24. get this straight. I
“Basically, Laurie and Billy are okay,” re- can’t smoke at my
ports Child. “They're home, they're resting, desk while staring
Billy Conway and they’re both MARK MORELLI at figures on my
still feeling kind computer, but it’s fine if
of beat up. We're still not sure much of their I take seven 10-minute
medical bills is going to be covered by insur- breaks throughout the
ance, but, after talking to Laurie, she feels day to sit on a nice,
strongly about using any money that is left cushy couch, relax, hear all
over to start a fund for musicians who get in the gossip from my fellow
accidents and don’t have insurance.” smokers, and enjoy a tasty
The Middle East benefit begins at 8 p.m. cigarette. Well, I guess I'll
Tickets are $10. For more information, call go along with that.”
the club at 497-0576. Contributions can be I won’t pretend that |
made by writing to Child at 220 Pearl Street, spend my entire day diligent-
Cambridge 02139. ly concentrating. But I don’t
— Matt Ashare get to leave my desk to loaf.
And that’s why I propose
that each office in America
(or — I can compromise —
just my office) establish a
OUT OF CONTROL nonsmoking room, where we
nonsmokers can take non-
smoking breaks.
Mayor Menino’s latest home ruling
As it is now, companies are
PCAUTNRNIICNKG HAM
telling their employées that it’s
may ease tensions for renters
fine for people to take paid
breaks to suck tar and nicotine smoking room. He meets em-
Boston Mayor Tom Menino activity. Landlords may also into their lungs. But taking a ployees from the far reaches of
has filed a home-rule petition evict tenants in order to free an breather just to breathe is strictly the company — people I’ve only
with the City Council to regulate apartment for occupancy by a out of the question. Everyone ac- dreamed about on hearing their
residential evictions in the wake family member. cepts the fact that smokers need names over the intercom. He
of the anti-rent-control vote of In the fall of 1994, voters, in a to smoke, and that they need to gets invited to parties, makes
1994. statewide referendum, eliminat- take smoking breaks. But I have dates, and enjoys life (albeit most
As of January 1, the last of the ed rent control (which was in to breathe just as much as, if not likely a shorter one).
city’s 82,000 tenants who en- effect in Boston, Brookline, and more than, they have to smoke. Hmm. If things don’t change,
joyed the benefits of rent control Cambridge) as of January 1995. I wouldn’t be taking this so se- maybe I'll start smoking again.
— some 22,000 renters — lost But because some polls failed to riously if | weren’t envious of the — Mark Bazer
that protection. And, according provide voters with full descrip-
to tenant activists, landlords all tions of the ballot questions, a
over the city are preparing to bill was passed, early last year, TAXING CREDIBILITY
initiate rent hikes and evictions. that extended limited protec-
If approved by the City Coun- tions for another year to certain
cil and the state legislature, qualifying individuals based on Putting corporate money where Weld's mouth is
Menino’s petition would require age, income, and health.
non-resident landlords of build- Menino’s home-rule petition You could practically hear poration — last month, over the Weld’s speech was like a cynical
ings with three or more units to also calls on the judicial system Senator Dan Leahy’s jaw drop $26 million tax break Weld had joke at the expense of Raytheon
prove just cause for evictions. to consider the financial situa- during Governor Bill Weld’s pushed for the company. (It was workers — many of whom live in
The mayor’s guidelines for legal tion of the elderly, disabled, or State of the State speech last part of a $200 million tax cut for Leahy’s district — and other
eviction stipulate that landlords poor when the cause for eviction week. state manufacturers.) Weld had manufacturers. Weld’s speech
prove a tenant is in violation of is non-payment of rent or failure Leahy, a Lowell Democrat, has said the tax cut was necessary to proclaimed: “It’s time that we
his or her lease, has become a to pay rent increases. been a State House champion of keep Raytheon’s 20,000 jobs in spoke seriously about the side ef-
nuisance, or is involved in illegal — Sarah McNaught manufacturing workers displaced the state. Leahy called his bluff fects of all this corporate aerobi-
by corporate flight and downsiz- and tried to attach a condition: cizing: the insecurity people feel
a en ee ing. And Weld has stood in the that any company receiving the in their work lives and about
CORRECTIONS
way of most of his efforts to pro- tax cut must keep 80 percent of their futures. It’s time we consid-
The name of the executive tect those employees. So when its employees in Massachusetts. er what government can do about
director of Mass Choice was Weld waxed poetic about his Weld vehemently opposed the that.”
misspelled in “Aftermath” newfound concern for the “men amendment and prevailed in the “When he had the chance to
(News, December 29, 1995). and women in Massachusetts legislature, with the help of do something,” says Leahy, “he
She is Melissa Kogut. who live with the nagging fear Raytheon’s muscle. didn’t. This is the man who says
Bruce Marks was a that their jobs, too, might turn to “Weld was the chief lobbyist the minimum wage is high
dancer, not director of Salt ashes at any minute,” Leahy for Raytheon and the other man- enough, then gives a $200 mil-
Lake City’s Ballet West could hardly believe his ears. ufacturers,” says Leahy. “When | lion corporate tax break on the
Company, as stated in a pro- “If I were naive,” says Leahy, confronted them, asking, “Will heels of a $160 million tax break
file of dancer/MD Clay “I'd love to think I converted you guarantee the jobs?’ they for the banks. He is uncanny in
Miller (This Just In, News, | him. But I’m not.” said, ‘No.’ That was most hypo- how he cannot relate to the
January 5). Leahy locked horns with Weld critical of all.” working people.”
— and with the Raytheon Cor- In that light, Leahy says that — Al Giordano
THE BOSTON PHOENIX * SECTION ONE JANUARY 19, 1996
URBAN EYE
A left-wing bookstore for right-wing times
It’s a few minutes past 10 a.m., new radical politics for the cur- Mother Jones are considerably new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a sive apparatus is stronger than
the official opening time, when rent era.” more obscure titles, such as the Philadelphia-based left-wing jour- ever.”
James Herod unlocks the front The center, founded in 1971 as Labor Page (“News for Boston nalist who’d been sentenced to Right now the collective is mak-
door of the Lucy Parsons Center, the Red Book Store, on River Area Workers”), the Neighbor- death in connection with the mur- ing plans to expand the space it de-
an independent, radical bookstore Street, in Cambridge, moved to hood Window (“Building Alterna- der of a police officer. (Abu-Ja- votes to periodicals so that it can
in the heart of Central Square. Jamaica Plain in 1983, and nearly tive Views for the City”), the Rev- mal’s supporters say his trial was add more leftist academic journals,
Herod, an “anti-Bolshevik com- expired for lack of customers be- olutionary Worker, and Earth unfair; his death sentence was organizational publications, and
munist” with anarcho-syndicalist fore its return to Cambridge, in First!, published by the radical en- postponed last fall while he pur- ‘zines. Even then, Herod says, the
sympathies, is late middle-age, May 1994. Herod, a nine-year vironmental group of the same sues a new round of appeals.) The store won't be able to keep up with
soft-spoken, bespectacled, and veteran of the 25-member collec- name. store sponsors occasional lec- the explosive growth of what’s
balding, with a formidable gray tive that runs the store, says busi- The Parsons center also carries tures, as well. sometimes referred to as the “un-
beard. Blue-and-red suspenders ness has been much better at the between 7000 and 8000 books, Collective members have been derground press.”
offset his fraying purple-and- new location. The store changed new and used, the latter all donat- less than pleased with some of the “If we had as much organizing
black checked shirt, the pocket of its name in 1992 to honor the ed. The most popular, Herod publicity they’ve attracted, Herod going on as we had publishing,”
which is held together with a safe- well-known labor organizer, an says, are on anarchy and African- says, pointing to clippings that he says, shaking his head, “we'd
ty pin. anarchist who helped found the American topics. “I don’t know portray the store and its volun- be halfway to the revolution.”
“We think of the store as a Industrial Workers of the World whether that’s important to men- teers as some sort of throwbacks — Dan Kennedy
weapon in the struggle against (i.e., the Wobblies), in 1905. tion or not,” he adds. “All the to the 1960s. Herod concedes
cultural hegemony,” says Herod The store’s main draw is its pe- Trotskyites will be offended.” that leftist politics are out of The Lucy Parsons Center, locat-
as he settles in behind the desk riodicals section — an eclectic Also for sale are leftist bumper vogue, but says it’s nevertheless ed at 3 Central Square, in Cam-
near the back of the store and un- mix of more than 200 magazines, stickers and buttons, T-shirts, becoming increasingly obvious bridge, is open Monday through
packs a cup of coffee and glazed journals, and newspapers. Along- Spanish-language books, and fic- that the global capitalist system is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
doughnut. “Most of us see the side well-known fare such as the tion. And the store is involved in slowly coming apart. The prob- For more information, or to volun-
need as trying to hammer out a Nation, In These Times, and causes such as the bid to win a lem, he adds, is that “its repres- teer, call 497-9934.
EEaSRaa L R
BOOK OF REVELATIONS
Mick and Madonna tell all? Testing Pilgrim's core curriculum
In last month’s Rolling Stone, editor Jann Wenner devoted 23 It sounds like a story line right out of The nearly all of those who took the senior-operator
Simpsons. test in the last 10 years have passed.
pages to what the magazine called the “most comprehensive inter-
Homer is nominated, as one of the Springfield Maybe so. But that doesn’t ease the concern of
view Mick Jagger has ever given.” This month, Spin struck back with nuclear power plant’s best and brightest, to become residents around the plant, who have grown accus-
a senior reactor operator. Mr. Burns pays Simpson tomed to such unnerving news in the past couple of
“The Real Madonna,” a |0-pager that publisher Bob Guccione Jr.
full salary while he spends 18 months doing class- years. Last April, for instance, plant operators des-
plugged as “perhaps her most revealing interview yet.” room and reactor-simulation work to prepare for perately searched for costly radioactive-monitoring
the licensing test required by federal regulators. instruments that were, shall we say, misplaced
Besides wondering whether we care about these aging beauties,
Homer takes the test. Homer fails the test. (“Hey! Who’s Got the Uranium?”, This Just In,
we have to ask how “revealing” the landmark chats really were. If only this scenario were merely the musings of a April 14, 1995). Some turned up in Tennessee.
TV-comedy writer. But Bay Staters need only tune Then there was
in to the goings-on at Plymouth’s Pilgrim nuclear the time in December
On society and power plant to see the gag played out. 1994 that alarms
commercialism: “[WlJe The results of Pilgrim’s senior-operator-licensing were set off at the
exam, approved and administered by the Nuclear plant when a worker
have to realize that the same Regulatory Commission (NRC), were announced attempted to smuggle
country that acquitted OJ. is late last week. And of the eight people Pilgrim’s up- out a duffel bag filled
‘« per brass trained to run the plant, only four passed. with rags, which, un-
the same country that makes a Two of those who failed the test are currently reac- beknownst to him,
° '
is complete piece of shit movie tor operators; two are senior operations engineers. were radioactive
The NRC’s resident inspector at Pilgrim, Beth (“Mop and Glow,”
No. |, that buys Mariah Carey Korona, calls the results “disappointing.” Perhaps This Just In, February 17, 1995).
records.” particularly so in light of the fact that this was a pi- But there may be an opportunity for residents
lot program. Unlike previous tests, which reaped within the plant’s fallout zone to take matters into
< On sex: “Some unknown en- better results and were developed by the NRC, this their own hands. Markson says six senior-operator
a tity can put out a magazine with test was drafted by the very people who trained positions are currently open at Pilgrim, and anoth-
staffers to take it. er round of test training is scheduled for February.
é erotic photographs, but a fa- Plant spokeswoman Peggy Markson contends So, if you’re interested in an exciting career as
ww mous person young girls identi- that the latest test results are nothing to worry an atom splitter, please contact:
about, and that the plant still has 22 highly trained Plymouth Nuclear Power Station
fy with can’t do that and make senior reactor operators who know the difference Human Resources Department
money off of it.” between a tuna melt and a meltdown. 600 Rocky Hill Road
“We feel it’s an isolated incident based on our Plymouth, MA 02360
On religion: “Catholicism is previous test results,” says Markson, noting that — Tim Sandler
Madonna what | was raised with, that’s
the religion | know, but | dis-
agree with almost every prin-
ciple of it.” Abortion-access message
to hit MBTA buses broadside
On becoming a rock-and-
roller: “My father was furious with me,
The Abortion Access Project (AAP), a national non-profit orga-
absolutely furious. I'm sure he wouldn't nization that raises awareness about the lack of abortion accessi-
bility in the US, is taking its message to Massachusetts streets on
have been so mad if I'd have volunteered
the sides of 550 MBTA buses statewide. The $8000 poster cam-
to join the army. Anything but this.” paign is timed to coincide with the 23rd anniversary of Roe v.
Wade and the projected start of the trial of John Salvi for the
On chicks: “Stupid Girl” is much nas-
shootings at two Brookline women’s-health clinics a year ago.
tier than “Under My Thumb.” Obviously | “We are just sick of seeing Massachusetts Citizens for Life
posters everywhere,” says AAP’s Rosemary Candelario. “We need
was having a bit of trouble. | had so many
to show people that abortion is not a bad word.”
girlfriends. None of them seemed to care The posters, which read ABORTION ACCESS: WITHOUT IT YOU'VE
GOT NO CHOICE, will also feature abortion-access factoids based
they weren't pleasing me very much. The
on AAP data. For example, one in five women who need abor-
pain | had to go through.” tions can’t get them, and 84 percent of all counties in the US
provide no abortion services.
On drugs: “| don’t find it easy dealing
The effort ran into a snag when Royal Screen Printers in West
with people with drug problems. It helps if Roxbury, the printing company suggested by the MBTA, refused
to print the posters because of their content. The posters were
you're all taking the same drugs. Anyone
printed by another company and mounted on buses last week.
taking heroin is thinking about heroin “The printing issue was a minor problem,” says Candelario.
“The MBTA seemed to be much more open to our proposal than
more than anything else.”
we thought they would.”
Mick
On how he felt after Altamont: Organizers at AAP hope to raise additional money to keep
some of the posters up longer than a month. They have also been
“Well, awful. | mean, just awful. You feel
offered billboard space from Ackerley Communications at a dis-
a responsibility. How could it all have count rate.
For information on sponsoring posters, contact the Abortion
been so silly and wrong?”
Access Project at 494-1161.
— Geoff Edgers — Sarah McNaught