 RetroXpo is a one-day comic/pop culture convention that features over 100 artists/artisans, special comic book guest artists/creators, vintage toys/collectibles, tabletop gaming, and unique pop culture-themed vendors.
Highlighting this year’s event is G.I. Joe logo and figure designer Ron Rudat, who even has a figure (Leatherneck) designed after his likeness! Comic artist and writer Jim Lawson will also be joining us, best known for his work with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cover artist of the most #1 issues of Spiderman, artist Joe St.Pierre will be returning. Also appearing are multi-award-winning Godzilla artist Bob Eggleton, comic book artist & writer: Larry Stroman, Warner Bros, Universal, and Turner Entertainment Veteran Richard Maurizio, and comic book inker Keith Williams. Special cosplay (costumed) guests will also be offering photo-ops, and a cosplay contest will be held at 4pm! Tickets for this event are only $8 online, or at the door for $10. The first 150 tickets sold online receive a free show-exclusive print from one of our artists! Children 6 years old and under are free! “RetroXpo”, a fan-based pop culture convention, is produced by “I Think I’ve Created a Monstah! Studios” based in Tiverton, RI and is headed by Joe Souza III and Wendy McQuade. “We’re thrilled to bring this fun and affordable family event to our hometown,” comments McQuade, who has been participating and producing pop con expos for 6 years. The event will be held from 11am-6pm on April 1st at the Longplex Family & Sports Center, a massive family fitness and sports complex located right off RT. 24 in Tiverton, RI. More information, as well as a ticket link, can be found on our website at RetroXpos.com. WaterFire Announces the Addition of Two Full Lightings & One Partial Lighting to the 2022 Season8/25/2022  WaterFire Providence is pleased to announce the addition of two Full Lighting and one Partial Lighting of WaterFire to the 2022 WaterFire Season in October.
On October 1, 2022, there will be a Full Lighting of WaterFire supported by YPO Gold New England; on October 7, 2022, there will be a Partial Lighting of WaterFire in Memorial Park supported by Rhode Island School of Design to welcome their new president Crystal Williams; on October 22, 2022, there will be a Full Lighting of WaterFire supported by Brown University celebrating 50 Years of Medicine at Brown. October 1, 2022 Full Lighting of WaterFire Sunset (6:27 pm) - 11:00 pm Supported by YPO Gold New England October 7, 2022 Partial Lighting of WaterFire Sunset (6:17 pm) - 9:00 pm Supported by Rhode Island School of Design October 22, 2022 Full Lighting of WaterFire Sunset (5:54 pm) - 11:00 pm Support by Brown University Celebration 50 Years of Medicine at Brown The addition of these lightings to the 2022 WaterFire Season brings the total number of full lightings to 9 and a total 8 partial lightings. Additional events may be added to the schedule as funding becomes available. Details for these new lightings will be posted on the WaterFire Providence website at: https://waterfire.org/schedule.
Check out The Tony Jones Show #214 - With music from: Flogging Molly, Hayley Jane, Midnight Creeps, WORM, The Electric Mess, Russ Carrick, Glenn Robinson, silverteeth, Sugar Cones, The Knock Ups, Deer Tick, Eric and the Nothing, Dylan Sevey and the Gentlemen, and The Dirge Carolers.
World's Greatest Actions Figures. Hear directly from the Father of the Modern Action Figure about the history of MEGO and all the legendary tales around this staple of pop culture.
Recorded live at Rhode Island Comic Con 2019.
Check out The Tony Jones Show #212 - With music from: Ducky Boys, Tony Jones & The Jerktones, Deer Tick, The Quins, We Own Land, Midnight Creeps, The Can't Nots, Blitzkid, 61 Ghosts, Castle Black, Carpathia, Damone, Radio Compass, Willie Alexander, Russ Carrick, Dylan Sevey and the Gentlemen
Tony Jones Show #211 - With music from The Schemers, For The Love of Sloane, Blindside Thunder, Evil Streaks, Midnight Creeps, Neutral Nation, Shore City, Jets Can't Land, Time Out Timmy, The Amazing Crowns, Roz and The Rice Cakes, and Radio Compass
 Providence, RI: WaterFire Providence announces the details for the full lighting on Saturday, September 14, 2019. sponsored in part by Alkermes; the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals; and Rally 4 Recovery RI; in partnership with the RI Department of Health; and the RI Department of Corrections. With additional support from Gilead, CVS, Rhode Island PBS, and CODAC Behavioral Healthcare. Sunset is at 6:57 pm. The fires will be lit shortly thereafter and burn until midnight. The Rally 4 Recovery celebrations at Turk’s Head Plaza will open at 4:00 pm and include Arts Fairs, Food Vendors, and Special Performances with other events starting at 5:00 pm. In respect to the Recovery Month celebration, this WaterFire lighting is being presented as a dry event. On behalf of all of those in recovery, WaterFire Providence thanks you for your support and understanding.
WaterFire for Recovery – National Recovery Month 30th-Anniversary Celebration – 4:00 pm in Turk’s Head PlazaThis year is the 30th anniversary of National Recovery Month, Rally 4 Recovery RI has partnered with WaterFire Providence to host an honorary WaterFire lighting on September 14th that will include a rally held in the Turks Head Plaza of downtown Providence. The rally will start at 4:00 pm and will feature different food vendors, resource tents, and non-profits who will provide information on addiction and recovery. The rally will conclude at sunset with a procession to the river and lighting of the fires. The resource fair and live music will go throughout the night, continuing to make it a destination for visitors. On the night of September 14, there will be no alcoholic beverages served because we are committed to standing behind those in recovery. WaterFire Walking Tours, take a walking tour with our knowledgeable interns and volunteers to get an inside look into the history, theory of design and management of WaterFire. Tours begin at 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00 pm; book now by making a reservation waterfire.org/walkingtours. For a donation of $15 registrants will walk the length of the canal with a tour guide and land at the basin just in time for the lighting. The WaterFire Arts Festival Plaza, in partnership with Bryce Studio, is happening again on Washington Street from 5:00 - 11:30 pm. This outdoor artisan fair will showcase some of the great artwork created in Rhode Island featuring mediums such as glass, photography, sculpture, jewelry and more. The WaterFire Arts Festival Plaza will offer visitors the opportunity to support the local arts economy by purchasing work by Rhode Island-based artists. Visit the WaterFire Marketplace on Canal Street and help light up Providence. Support WaterFire with a donation or a purchase of locally designed apparel, glassware, and gifts. Pin where you are from on Map Center’s maps and watch glass blowing by Gather Glass. The Starry, Starry Night Installation will shine brightly in Memorial Park. Join thousands of WaterFire visitors in Memorial Park where the public is encouraged to add their own light to the night. For a small donation to WaterFire, make a wish upon a star or place your very own message and luminaria candle lantern in the park. The park will be aglow with hanging blue stars and a constellation of twinkling luminaria candle lanterns below. WaterFire Signature Performers & Attractions will include:
WaterFire is an independent, non-profit arts organization whose mission is to inspire Providence and its visitors by revitalizing the urban experience, fostering community engagement, and creatively transforming the city by presenting WaterFire for all to enjoy. The powerful work of art is installed on the three rivers of downtown Providence as a moving symbol of Providence’s renaissance. To learn more about WaterFire or make a donation visit https://watefire.org or https://www.facebook.com/waterfireprovidence. There are 4 full fire dates remaining for the 2019 season: September 14th, September 28th, October 5th, and November 2nd.
Tony Jones Show #210 - With music from Castle Black, Jenn Vix, Deer Tick, The McGunks, The Callouts, Ravi Shavi, Damone, The Sheila Divine, Silverteeth, and Tammy LaForest.
With music from: Sugar Cones, 61 Ghosts, The Can't Nots,
The Copacetics, Brunt Of It, Amazing Royal Crowns, The Safes, Russ Carrick, The Schemers, Neutral Nation, The Proletariat, The Jabbers / GG Allin & the Jabbers, The Evil Streaks, and Deer Tick  NARRAGANSETT– Rhode Island Sea Grant is now accepting pre-proposal submissions for research projects to help improve understanding and management of Rhode Island’s coastal and marine ecosystems. Projects will be funded from February 1, 2020 to January 1, 2022. Over $2 million will be allocated towards research projects focused on the effects of ecosystem change: from ocean acidification and harmful algal blooms to the impacts of rising water temperatures and microplastics on shellfish and changes to the seafloor ecosystem in Narragansett Bay. Proposals receive extensive peer review to ensure funded projects are of high scientific caliber and are relevant to stakeholders. Applicants are encouraged to use the mesocosm facilities at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography for experimentation. Although their use is not required, mesocosms have been shown to be useful in mimicking the ecology of Narragansett Bay and its responses to various changes. Pre-proposal submissions are due by 4:00 p.m. Friday, February 22, 2019. For more information please visit: https://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/research/  * Statements below from the Marijuana Policy Project, a member of the Regulate Rhode Island coalition *
Legal adult marijuana sales will begin in Massachusetts Tuesday, with retailers in Northampton and Leicester reportedly set to be the first to open. The state is the seventh in the nation to establish a regulated marijuana market for adults. Marijuana policy reform advocates say they are hopeful it will set an example for Rhode Island and other New England states, where lawmakers are expected to consider similar legislation next year. “New England’s first regulated marijuana market for adults is now up and running in Massachusetts,” said Matthew Schweich, deputy director for the Marijuana Policy Project, a member of the Regulate Rhode Island coalition. “It’s only a matter of time before more states in the region follow its lead. Rhode Islanders are ready to move forward with a similar system, and it’s time for Rhode Island's legislative leaders to allow a vote on the issue. If lawmakers continue to delay, the state will essentially forfeit significant economic opportunities to neighboring states like Massachusetts, including substantial tax revenue and good jobs." An October poll commissioned by WPRI and Roger Williams Law School found likely Rhode Island voters in support of marijuana legalization by a 19-point margin, with 56 percent of respondents in favor and only 37 percent opposed. In Massachusetts, adults 21 and older with a valid ID will be able to purchase up to one ounce of marijuana from licensed marijuana retail stores, of which no more than five grams can be in concentrate form. It will remain illegal to consume marijuana in public. Marijuana products sold for adult use will be subject to a 6.25 percent state sales tax and a 10.75 percent state excise tax, and municipal officials have the option of levying additional local taxes of up to 3 percent. A study released in June by the state Department of Public Health estimated adult marijuana sales would generate more than $200 million for the state and up to $3 million for local governments in the first two years alone. “Marijuana prohibition is officially coming to an end in the Bay State, and it will not be missed,” said Schweich, who oversaw the successful Question 4 campaign in 2016. “Voters in Massachusetts wanted a more sensible policy, new tax revenue, and safer communities, and that is what they are going to get. “Finally, adults will be able to purchase marijuana safely and legally in regulated, taxpaying businesses instead of resorting to the underground market,” Schweich said. “Adults will simply stop at a licensed store, show their ID, pay, and be on their way. It won’t be long before the novelty wears off and it feels just like buying alcohol from a liquor store.” Marijuana possession has been legal for adults 21 and older in Massachusetts since Question 4 took effect on December 15, 2016. The initiative was approved by 53.7 percent of voters on November 8, 2016, and legislation to implement the initiative was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on July 28, 2017. Voters in nine states, including Massachusetts, have enacted laws to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use, and similar legislation was approved by lawmakers in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands and signed into law in September. Lawmakers in Vermont and voters in D.C. have adopted laws making marijuana possession and cultivation legal for adults, but not regulating commercial production or sales. Legal adult marijuana sales began in Colorado in January 2014; Washington in July 2014; Oregon in October 2015; Alaska in October 2016; Nevada in July 2017; and California in January 2018. In Maine, they are expected to begin in fall 2019. In Michigan, where the law was just adopted during the midterm election earlier this month, adult sales are expected to begin in 2020. The Marijuana Policy Project is the nation’s largest marijuana policy organization. It has been a leading advocate for federal marijuana policy reform since its founding in 1995, and it has played a leading role in most major state-level reforms that have occurred over the past two decades. For more information, visit https://www.MPP.org.  In December of 2017, a big blown was dealt to rock fans everywhere with the passing of Smithereens founder and lead singer Pat DiNizio. While Smithereens fans were, and are, deeply saddened by Pat's passing they also overwhelmingly wanted the band to continue. Fast-forward to today, with the remaining original members of The Smithereens: Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Mike Mesaros currently out on tour with singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw, who is sitting in as the band’s guest vocalist. I caught up with the singer prior to the band's stop in Rhode Island Tony Jones: What can folks who attend the upcoming gig expect, as far as material, is it strictly Smithereens tunes? Marshall Crenshaw: Yes, Smithereens Only. I do my stuff at my shows; this is their show. It’s fun for me to play in their band.. Tony Jones: Your association with The Smithereens goes way back, tell us about that? Marshall Crenshaw: I have known the guys since forever, played a little bit on their first album. At Pat’s memorial back in January it felt like a giant family-reunion. I sat in with the band for 3 songs that night; a little while after that they reached out to me about doing what we’re doing now. Tony Jones: Are there any plans for you to record new music with The Smithereens? Marshall Crenshaw: Not that I know of. Tony Jones: What keeps bringing you back to touring? Marshall Crenshaw: Playing music keeps my spirit intact. God knows what I would turn into if I stopped doing it. Maybe I will stop sometime but I’m not there yet. Tony Jones: How do you prepare for a tour? Marshall Crenshaw: I don’t always prepare, actually. Sometimes I just show up at the first gig and wing it from there.. Tony Jones: You and I both share a passion for independent radio, is there any chance that The Bottomless Pit will someday return to the airwaves? Marshall Crenshaw: Ah, thanks for asking. The show went on hiatus in January so I could focus on a film production that I decided to attempt. Once I’ve completed that (unless I die trying), I’d like to do the show again, probably will. Tony Jones: What advice would you give to new and up-and-coming bands and musicians? Marshall Crenshaw: Be yourself. The Smithereens tour hits Rhode Island on Saturday, November 17th at The Greenwich Odeum. Tickets are available at: http://www.greenwichodeum.com/ Donations to the Pat DiNizio Scholarship fund can made online at: http://www.countbasietheatre.org/commemorative-giving/ (Select “Pat DiNizio Musical Performance Scholarship” in the drop-down menu)  Money is the root all of evil. That Statement is never truer than in RI Politics. You can call corporate donations “Pay to Play” or “Corporate Influence” or “Favor for a Favor” or any other term. But let’s call it what it is: Bribery. Pure and simple Bribery!
I am not talking about the $20, $50 or $100 donation you might make to you son’s former soccer coach running for town council. You don’t raise $1 Million to 7 Million dollars from $20 donations. $50 doesn’t buy the constant TV ads. What gets you the big money is the Pac contributions, the people who work for them, and the corporate lobbyists who write the laws our reps vote on. And those people want value in exchange for the big money they contribute, and if you believe otherwise then I have a really good video game company run by a former MLB pitcher to sell you. And what does that money buy? It buys TV ads that call a sitting US Senator a “dufus”, or ads that list statistics of more than dubious nature (how can we be 12th in college preparedness and only in the low 20’s in math proficiency?), or perhaps the one that claims that his opponents’ donations are from organizations less holy that the PAC money he takes. Because it really doesn’t matter if you take your money from Big Pharma, or the NRA, Wall Street, Insurance companies or if it is from the Teacher’s, the Firefighter’s, Construction Trade Unions, Environmental or affordable housing construction. They all donate in the hopes of getting a candidate who will give them something in return. Or the big individual contributors who plan on getting state jobs from the candidate elected. A bribe is a bribe and these are all definitions of bribes. My friend Bob Healey ran for office for years not taking these bribes. The media often treated him as a joke. He certainly could have raised big money in the last cycle, where Bob Healey received 21% of the vote spending $35 to get it. If he ran this year I think he could have either won or have been very, very close. Bob was proving a point that people would vote for you without saturated TV airways, hundreds of mailings, and dozens of phone calls at all hours, that you can keep your dignity just run on the issues and still run for office. A lesson that is regretfully is still lost on most candidates today. But what is worse the media that uses money raised as a yardstick for candidate’s viability. The prevalent view that unless you raise big money, unless you are bribed, that you should not run, and cannot win. And it is the media that dismisses a candidate that doesn’t raise the big money. On Lively Experiment last Friday it was suggested that the lack of money should keep people out of debates because it might take votes from the highly bribed candidates. Are our elections to be wholly bought and paid for? I find this despicable. Is it any wonder that we have such poorly functioning government? Is the media saying that someone cannot be an acceptable candidate because he didn’t take enough BRIBES? Well Bob Healey didn’t think so. I had breakfast with him a couple weeks after the last election, I was amazed he did so well on $35 and I told him that if he ran again I would run for LT Governor. Sadly Bob passed away 3 Months later. I felt honor bound to run anyway. Will I win? I don’t know. Put me in the debates and I might. But I won’t be taking any Bribes. Excuse me, big corporate donations. Like there is a difference. -Joel Hellmann 2018 Moderate Party of Rhode Island Candidate for Lieutenant Governor |
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