HELLO FRIDAY, YOU CHARMER...
Will these fronts ever make up their minds? Warm front, cold front, warm front... It makes the head spin. But the long and short of it: Cloudy today, temps mild but nothing to write home about. Probable rain tonight (that's the cold front coming in). And then tomorrow -- break out the stationery! -- sunny and grazing 70. Unreal. But also: Don't get used to it.Mink's back... but this time in Woodstock. That would be Mink as in the mother bear who drew international publicity last year for her and her cubs' forced move from Hanover to the NH north woods. She spent the winter denned up in Pomfret, then was spotted in Woodstock the other day, though has since moved on. The VN had the story first, but this is a non-paywalled version. Oh yoohoo, Hanover...Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren will be at the Hanover Inn for a "meet and greet" tomorrow. The Massachusetts senator is doing a house party in Lebanon earlier in the day, and then this public event. It starts at 1:15, doors open at 12:45. Tix aren't required, and it's first-come, first-served. Oh, and while we're at it, Calif. Sen. Kamala Harris will be at Dartmouth April 23.Ever wonder why your film choices around here are what they are? The VN's Sarah Earle says it's complicated, as much about data as about hunch. And the studios have a lot of control. "I get told what I can play, and I do the best I can from there,” says Nugget manager M. Kaufman. “It’s crazy.” When the Nugget and Leb's Entertainment Cinemas go mano-a-mano for the right to show a given film, the chain usually wins. But the Nugget has a secret weapon: its booker, Bill Pence. (VN, subscription reqd)Northern Stage has announced its 2019-2020 season. A Doll's House Part 2, The Sound of Music, King Lear... Also, a couple of world premieres, including Citrus, a "choreopoem" about black women in America by Celeste Jennings, a Dartmouth grad. Bringing up the rear a year from now? Million Dollar Quartet, the jukebox musical about the 1956 Sun Studio recording session with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Oh, man!Now Mt. Ascutney Hospital says it's struggling. It's been one of the few success stories among small Vermont hospitals. But in testimony before the Green Mountain Care Board, administrators from the Windsor hospital warned that this year is looking different. Inpatient volumes are down, due in part to a glitch in referrals from D-H. But there are other factors at play as well. It's "death by a million paper cuts," says the hospital's CFO. Though he adds, "I don’t think we have any one thing that is running away from us or creating chaos that we cannot get in front of.”Avalanche near Tuckerman's Ravine kills skier. The US Forest Service reported yesterday that an avalanche in the area known as Raymond Cataract caught the lone skier. Rescuers were unable to revive him. He hasn't yet been identified publicly.NH House passes budget, sets legislature on collision course with governor. It includes about $500 million more in spending than Gov. Chris Sununu proposed, imposes a capital gains tax, and replaces Sununu's voluntary family and medical leave plan with a mandatory version. The measure now moves over to the Senate.Meanwhile, the Senate voted to repeal New Hampshire's death penalty. The measure passed with a veto-proof majority, as did its counterpart in the House last month. Sununu vetoed similar legislation last year; he has five days to decide whether to do so again this year.In the mood for summer? Consider vacationing in Vermont, which has "a surprisingly low crime rate." No, not satire. It's a piece in Britain's Travel Weekly. The first thing you hear if you're visiting from abroad, apparently, is "We did not vote for Trump." Also, around Stowe, there are "hundreds of hectares of rolling green pastures and lush woodland – a veritable feast of Canadian sugar maple." Stowe, Jay, the Mad River, Burlington... It's actually pretty refreshing to see the state through someone else's eyes. Though maybe they should keep their voices down when talking sugar maple..."If you have fish photos, I'm swiping left." The fantastic NHPR podcast Outside/In is up with a new episode on online dating and how de rigueur it's become on the New Hampshire scene to be outdoorsy -- or is that outdoorsesque? "Eighty percent of profiles, the first thing you see is hiking," says one guy. "Makes me wonder how there aren't massive traffic jams of human beings on every mountain in New Hampshire every weekend." Oh, and also, guys posing with fish. And women, as that first line suggests, who aren't interested in guys who fish. It's a dating jungle out there.Finally, Daybreak doesn't come out on Sunday but if it did, this would be on it: Pod Tours America will be at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. If your politics run to the left, you've probably encountered Pod Save America, the rowdy and iconoclastic podcast hosted by former Obama staffers Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor. They go on the road from time to time to dissect events of the moment before a live audience. On Sunday, they'll be swinging through Concord. There's a chance they'll be talking presidential stuff. There are still seats, but not a lot. GREAT, BUT WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TONIGHT?Well, for one thing, you could go see the Seldom Scene at the Chandler in Randolph. They're "one of the most influential and durable bands in modern bluegrass history," according to Bluegrass Unlimited, who you've gotta figure know what they're talking about. A lot of bands over the years have stretched the bounds of the genre, but the Seldom Scene paved the way. Starts at 7:30.Or you could go check out the Side Drop release party at Worthy Burger in South Royalton. The beer -- a double IPA with "dank dank dank hops" is a collaboration between Upper Pass (Tunbridge) and Green Empire (Colchester) brewing companies. Worthy Burger will be hosting the people behind the beer, along with a couple of other beers from each brewery. So, like, should the label say Green Pass? Upper Empire? Green Upper...?Or you could always go see someone living through a much worse winter than you did. Arctic, at the HOP, features Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen as a cargo pilot whose plane has crashed in, well, the Arctic, and who's got not much more than his wits to survive with. As in, using his own hair as fishing bait. It's got minimal dialogue, but Mikkelsen, by all accounts, is extraordinary. The film "manage[s] to immerse us in a tale that plays out as something pure and instinctual," says The Washington Post.And look, if you've never been: Montshire Unleashed. Just go already. Jasper Murdoch beer, Blue Sparrow food, and so much to play around with. Have a fantastic weekend. See you Monday.
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