Baseball’s recent elevation of the old Negro Leagues to major league status was a long time coming, and recalls an era when barnstorming Negro teams played in Rhode Island, at sites including venerable Cardines Field in Newport. The decision by Major League Baseball, which came shortly before Christmas, acknowledged that racism denied many a superb […]
Columns
A look at What’sUpNewp’s latest columns.
Posted inNews
Watch Live: What’s Up Newp explores Housing Bond with HousingWorks RI
For many Rhode Islanders finding affordable housing – ownership or rental – is a struggle, forcing them to make critical choices between health care needs, food on the table, heating costs and mortgage or rent payments. Affordable housing is a critical issue in Rhode Island, and among the bond issues on the March 2 ballot. […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion
Just my Opinion: Raising the Minimum Wage
Those who oppose a $15 an hour minimum wage, please stand up. If you oppose a hike in the minimum wage because you believe it would cost jobs, remain standing. Now, if you you’re still standing, those who never use a self-serve check out aisle at the supermarket or other retailer – you can sit. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s Up at the Movies: We Review “Nomadland”
If you’re someone who follows the world of cinema, you’ve heard of Nomadland – this staple of best-of-2020 lists from Chloé Zhao became the first film to ever win the top prizes at both Venice and Toronto and has smashed the awards circuit so far. Yesterday, it finally became available for public viewing, releasing simultaneously […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: In a word, some private information
If there are children in the room as you read this, please shoo them away, because what follows is an intensely personal revelation on an issue they may not be old enough to understand. In the interest of journalistic transparency, here is my confession: I am a sapiosexual. How do I know? Because this new word, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s Up at the Movies: We Review “Judas and the Black Messiah”
With Judas and the Black Messiah, writer/director Shaka King takes on the difficult project of making a movie about a man who would balk at his own protagonism. Telling the story of Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter in the late ‘60s, as a more typical biopic would betray […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s Up at the Movies: We Review “Malcolm and Marie”
Malcolm & Marie, the newest Netflix release from writer/director Sam Levinson, will get a lot of attention from critics. Not because of its ascending stars or its black-and-white cinematography, which might be the usual reasons, and not even for being completely conceived, written, and shot mid-pandemic. No – critics will write about Levinson’s movie because, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s Up at the Movies: We Review “The Dig”
One of the few entertainment outlets not to have their 2020 output disrupted by the pandemic, Netflix looks to continue their dominance in 2021 by releasing at least one new movie every week, with 71 titles already scheduled and a few more festival pickups likely on the way. While these will run the gamut of […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Will Rhode Island change the way it chooses its lieutenant governor?
When Gov. Gina Raimondo heads to Washington in the next few weeks – or less – to become President Biden’s Commerce Secretary, she’ll leave a state struggling to find adequate vaccine supplies to bring COVID-19 under control, the state’s economy ravaged by the virus, and a state budget with a projected deficit of hundreds of […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: An ‘old’ friend takes new stab at writing Santa
“Dear Santa: I’m Jewish, but I really love U. Can U give me a present though. (Please don’t give me coal).” This letter to Santa, which often pops up in anthologies of communication with the jolly old gent, transports me to a long-ago time when as a Jewish kid myself, I also had a question […]
Posted inColumns, News
Hygge at Home in Newport – Week 4
This week’s Hygge at Home round-up is focused on celebrating and supporting artists who fill our homes with visuals and sounds that delight. SHOPPING Here are some Rhode Island-connected art, artists and galleries offering work that would make a great addition to your wall. Snow Barn by Anthony Tomaselli. Anthony is the resident artist at […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Columns
‘Alive on Central’ is the laugh that we needed
A group of friends has come together to provide Aquidneck Island with some much welcomed comedic relief. Jack Galvin, a local writer, director, and filmmaker who has a predisposition for comedy, recently launched episode one of the locally-based skit series entitled Alive on Central. The series, which is based at his residence on Central Street behind […]
Posted inColumns, News
Hygge at Home in Newport – Week 3
It’s Day 3 of our (hopefully only) two-week pause in Rhode Island, and week 3 of Hygge at Home in Newport. If you temporarily lost power, heat, and internet during the storm yesterday afternoon as I did, how did you pass the time? I put on some extra layers and played backgammon and cards by […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Even in a year of COVID, political turmoil, and racial strife – there is reason to be thankful (Part 2)
This Thanksgiving it might seem difficult to find those things for which we are thankful. We are amid a raging pandemic that is keeping families apart during this holiday. Our country is divided, struggling to find our footing after a bitter election, a growing racial divide, and more Americans struggling to even put food on […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Even in a year of COVID, political turmoil, and racial strife – there is reason to be thankful (Part 1 of 2)
Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving and it might seem difficult this year to find those things for which we are thankful. We are amid a raging pandemic that is keeping families apart during this holiday. Our country is divided, struggling to find our footing after a bitter election, a growing racial divide, and more Americans struggling […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Columns
Gerry Goldstein: Classic toys with Hall of Fame credentials
Now that the holiday season is officially upon us, it’s a relief to hear from Dr. Anthony Fauci that Santa Claus, because he is the quintessential good guy, has innate immunity to the coronavirus. After all, this is no year for kids to wonder whether he’ll make his annual rounds – especially because he’s older […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Columns, Food & Drink, Style & Shop
Hygge at Home in Newport – Week 2
Hygge at Home in Newport is a weekly column celebrating comfortable, calm, and charming indoor experiences. Hygge (pronounced hue-gah) is a Danish word that translates to “the quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” While the concept of hygge is immaterial and a bit subjective, we’ll be offering […]
Posted inColumns
Tiny Kitchen Magic: It’s (Lentil) Soup Season!
I absolutely love this time of year. I prefer sweaters over shorts. I prefer falling leaves over sweat falling from my body. What I also love about this time of year is that it is officially soup season!! Now is when we make the soups to warm our bodies and our souls. This lentil soup […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Columns
What’s Up at the Movies: We Review “Kindred”
Hoping to follow up last week’s exciting British horror debut with another, I decided on director Joe Marcantonio’s first feature film Kindred as my review for this week, and His House proved to be a more useful direct comparison than I expected. Though the two movies share a focus on Black protagonists under threat in […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: RIP Whitey, but…
The recent death of New York Yankees hall-of-fame pitcher Whitey Ford provides me personal recollection of how, as children, we choose our role models and heroes. Ford won 236 games, more than any other Yankee, and was a mainstay on legendary teams including the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Yogi Berra. He shined […]
Posted inColumns
Brian C. Jones: A sign of the times? Too few signs for Biden. Or for Trump
As I drive around my corner of Aquidneck Island, I’ve noticed something missing: political signs supporting the presidential candidates. So far, I’ve seen just two places where there are Biden signs – one of which doesn’t count, since it’s sprouting from the hedge of my home in Newport’s “Fifth Ward” neighborhood. And I have yet […]
Posted inColumns
Tiny Kitchen Magic: Simple Risotto
Oh I’m so glad to see you. Take a look at this. This right here is the risotto. Now let’s talk about the risotto. Can we please talk about the risotto? Please, Newport, I’m dying to talk about the risotto with you all day, ok. I feel like the word risotto stresses people out. It’s […]
Posted inColumns
Tiny Kitchen Magic: Pasta alla Puttanesca
Well, hello there Newport. My name is Jay. I’m a lifelong eater. I am also a (mostly) self-taught cook. In this monthly column, I’m hoping to show that no matter the size of the kitchen, you can cook seriously delicious food. I have a tiny kitchen, hence the name of the column. One thing you […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein, cell phone millionaire
In these disturbing times it’s comforting to know that one has friends who can be relied on to come through when the chips are down. In my case, I know I can depend on a stable of folks who have my best interests high on their minds. My special gratitude goes to the likes of […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Columns, People & Profiles
Brian C. Jones: For seniors touched by a pandemic, parking lot paintings told of their talents and dreams
The Lorax presumably still speaks “for the trees,” but from now on the Dr. Seuss character won’t have a high school’s asphalt parking lot from which to broadcast his warnings against environmental folly and ruin. THE LORAX, a character in a book by children’s author Dr. Seuss, “speaks for the trees” in warning against the […]