8 Fun & Cheap Things To Do Near Amherst, MA

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John Shaver is a junior History major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He plays guitar in a local band called "The Futurenows" along with fellow UMass juniors Sean Nolan and Brian Goss. Gigs have been few and far between for the band this past semester.

Not the least bit discouraged by yet another canceled show on Dec. 5, 2009, the band practices at friend and drummer (who is not in the band) Dave Stipo's apartment. (Left to right: Brian Goss, Sean Nolan, John Shaver)
Taking a break from working on some physics homework, Shaver dons a Snuggie and smokes a hand-rolled cigarette. "Regular cigarettes are too f***ing expensive, so I just roll my own," Shaver said.

Shaver has worked at Best Buy in Hadley, MA for over 2 years now. He specializes in portable electronics, but knows a little bit about a lot of things the store offers. "I know pretty much everything there. I help people with routers, TV's and I do some computer stuff," he said.

Bassist Sean Nolan adjusts his amplifier as the two of them get set to practice a few Futurenow songs. Soon thereafter, the two got sidetracked and began to play other random songs such as "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan and "99 Red Balloons" by Nena.

Shaver lives with Nolan and two other UMass students in a house in Amherst, MA. His bedroom is filled with random "treasures," such as a life-size R2D2 cooler and a mini-Stonehenge (still in the box). He has a large collection of vinyl records; his favorite of which he has framed and hung on his one of his walls.

Sitting with housemates, Nolan and Zachary Fischer, Shaver attempts to work on his homework, but is constantly sidetracked by his friends. In regards to his friends, he simply said, "I just like to have fun with them around."

The band does not currently have any gigs scheduled and will not for a while. English major Nolan will be traveling to Manchester, England to study abroad next semester. Shaver and Goss don't intend on replacing Nolan, but will continue to play together in his absence in anticipation of his return from the UK.

The whole take can be seen here.

Sports

UMass Sophomore David Gibbs lays up a shot from the middle of the key last night in a close win versus Quinnipiac. The Minutemen will face Holy Cross at the DCU Center in Worcester this Saturday.

The whole take can be seen here.

Melissa Lyttle Photo Story

Link to photo story

The story is very interesting, but has one glaring flaw: no captions. This was clearly a decision the photographer made on purpose, but I personally wish there was at least one caption or even a title that would simply say how old the mother in the story is. The message is clear though; this young mother has a child of her own while living at home with her mom and siblings. There are no adult males present in any of the pictures which is important for the story. It makes me think that Lyttle was trying to emphasize the absence of a father figure for both the new mother and the new baby, which may or may not be an even bigger message. I like how powerful the shots are. They are very dark (primarily because they are all black and white), but intimate and personal mainly because of the context.

Higgins returns as Mayor of Noho

Claire Higgins addresses her supporters at the Paradise City Restaurant in Northampton, Mass. after just being re-elected as mayor in a close race with Michael Bardsley. She said that she was relieved that the day was over, and could just relax for the night after a long, hard campaign.

The whole take can be seen here.

Halloween Portrait

Sophomore Katie Auer of Weymouth, Mass. poses in the butterfly costume she made for Halloween. She has always loved how simple, yet extravagant specifically the blue morpho butterfly is and thought it would make a great costume. "I really wanted to wear a lot of make-up, too, so that was important," she said.

The whole take can be seen here.

Compostion of Colbie

Colbie Caillat performs her song "Begin Again" at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, Mass. on Oct. 11, 2009.

The whole take can be seen here.