Episode 40: Escaping Hannah Montana

The Bosky, Billowing Berkshires
This westernmost county of Massachusetts, butted up against New York State, drew the interest of 19th Century industrialists for the power potential of its rivers. After the Civil War and the arrival of railroads, these hills drew wealthy and middle - class families escaping the steaming summers of New York and Boston. Artists, writers, musicians, and other performers were among them, setting up studios, galleries, recital halls, museums, and theaters. Those traditions continue, and the warm months bristle with cultural events, including dance modern and classical, plays by Shakespeare and Ibsen, and six weeks of concerts at the lush Tanglewood estate by the 800-pound gorilla, the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
While summer rules the cultural calendar, The Berkshires are a true four-season destination. The October foliage season brings as many visitors, there are several public golf courses, four major ski centers, yoga retreats and lavish spas, and many historic homes open to the public. To those attractions, add five engrossing museums and an intact historic village, Hancock Shaker Village (Rtes. 20 & 41, Pittsfield, 413-443-0188).
The museums, from south to north, are the Norman Rockwell Museum (Rte. 183, Stockbridge, 413-298-4100), which has a nearly complete collection of the beloved illustrator's
original Saturday Evening Post covers; the Berkshire Museum (39 South St., Pittsfield, 413-443-7171), displaying archaeological artifacts from Babylon and Thebes and paintings by artists of the Hudson River landscape school; the Clark Museum (225 South St., Williamstown, 413-458-2303), the gem of the lot, with a rich trove of paintings by many of the Post-Impressionists; the Williams College Museum of Art (15 Lawrence Hall Dr., Williamstown, 413-597-2429), with an emphasis on artists of the first half of the 20th Century; and finally, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (87 Marshall St., North Adams, 413-663-2111). Known as "MassMOCA", this last occupies a sprawling complex of former factory buildings, the better to house the vast works favored by many contemporary artists. The museum is credited with bringing its host city back from the brink of despair afflicting so many of New England's abandoned mill towns.
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"I've never thought my speeches were too long: I've enjoyed them."
-Hubert Humphrey

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What Are They Thinking?
If John McCain is elected President, he will be 72 when he takes office. Geezer was 72 last week, and he knows what it feels like: Not young. The two biggest events in my day are lunch and my nap. Even conceding McCain enjoys unusually high energy, taking on the most important job in the world is not a task for an old man. Did anyone notice that the last occupant of the Oval Office was showing signs toward the end of his second term of the Alzheimer's that eventually killed him?

Give him this, though, John has a sense of humor. Last week after a debate with Mitt Romney, he said:
"Don't try wrestling with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

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Don't Got No First Amendment Here
Rick Majerus works for St. Louis University. He is one of the winningest basketball coaches in the country. A while back, at a rally for Hillary Clinton, he declared that he supported abortion rights.
Thing is, his employer is a Catholic institution, and St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has asked officials of the university to take "appropriate action" against Majerus for making those remarks.
"These comments can lead Catholics astray. It's of the essence for people to understand as a Catholic you just cannot hold these beliefs."
No word about whether Catholics are allowed to vote for Hillary Clinton.

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"Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of them."
-Mark Twain

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Video Alert
Check out www.BlimpTV.net. There are several options, but start with "New Bush Coins". Then you might want to click "Vista Sucks".

Just once, wouldn't you like to vote for a candidate? Wouldn't it be great to be actually inspired by a politician's speech? If you haven't yet heard Barack Obama in full voice, go to http://my.barackobama.com/iowaspeech.

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If You Go To The Berkshires
It's no trick to find a room that costs $800 or more a night - look at hyper-deluxe Wheatleigh, Blantyre, and Canyon Ranch in Lenox if money is no consideration in your weekend plans. To squeeze the cost down, book rooms in mid-week in months other than summer, October, or between Christmas and New Year. There are motels along Route 7 between Great Barrington and Stockbridge where clean, if soul-less, rooms with all mod cons can be had for $120 or so.
But to wrap yourself in tradition and a somewhat lumpy charm, spend a little for The Red Lion Inn (Main St., Stockbridge, 413-298-5545). The late 19th Century inn sprawls across the south side of the short business district, its facade the very symbol of The Berkshires. Expect a wide range of room sizes and configurations, filled with antiques and merely old stuff. It has three serviceable-to-good places to eat and a pub with nightly live music. Depending on a wide list of variables, double rooms can be had for as little $120 or as much as $260.
Under the same ownership is The Porches Inn (231 River St., North Adams, 413-664-0400). A row of six workmen's houses opposite Mass MOCA were joined by constructing a veranda along the facing street and transforming the spaces between the homes into corridors. Call the decor Depression-Hip or perhaps Retro-Chic, with furnishings and decorative objets leaning to such campy items as by-the-numbers paintings and assorted kitsch along the lines of brass allegorical figures holding lamp shades aloft. Floors and lintels lean and tip throughout, but there is a computer for guests' use. Rates for doubles run from $140 to $305, including continental breakfast.
The odds of survival for restaurants are no more encouraging in this region than in larger cities, but here are a few entries likely to hang in there. Great Barrington, in the southern Berkshires, continues to enforce its reputation as the dining center of the region, with well over 50 eating places in a town of barely 2,500 residents. Worthy presences are the reasonably-priced Greek Aegean Breeze, 327 Stockbridge Rd., 413-528-4001, where a meal of mezedes (appetizers) is a happy possibility, and the very economical Aroma, 485 Main St., 413-528-3116, with a shabby pizza parlor setting but terrific tandoor specialities. Bizen, 17-21 Railroad St., 413-528-4343, isn't cheap, but sends out inventive twists on traditional sushi and sashimi constructions. All three are open for lunch and dinner. Allium, 42-44 Railroad St., 413-528-2118, is new and still struggling to find its path. Select with care from the New American menu and you should be content. Crispy, airy cod fritters with aioli was a winner.
Geezer's favorite restaurant in Lenox is Bistro Zinc, 38 Church St., 413-637-8800. It's a good-looking place, with a staff to match, and the eats are in the Contemporary French mode. They 're open for lunch and dinner all year, in a region where many places close for weeks or months at a time. The after-dark scene in Pittsfield is finding new energy, highlighted by the suave Brix Wine Bar, 40 West St., 413-236-5463, offering a remarkable fifty wines by the glass and sophisticated small plates that can constitute a late snack or a full dinner.
Within the Mass MOCA complex in North Adams is Cafe Latino, 1111 Mass MOCA Way, 413-662-2004, a fun spot for sampling creative takes on Latin American staples like fish tacos, Peruvian chicken, and latitapas (a tasty amalgam of black bean hummus, chorizo, queso blanco, guacamole, tostones, and piquillos). They throw in karaoke and live music Thursday through Saturday nights.
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