Gypsy Dance Party in Burlington

For several days, you could find any one of the members of the Vermont Joy Parade roaming the streets of Burlington, busking on Church Street or outside a local coffee shop, maybe even driving YOU back from an eye doctor's appointment in a hydrogen-powered cab.
The band, a collective of Burlington musicians who mix gypsy jazz, old-timey, jugband blues and hillbilly punk, has toured the country since 2008 playing venues grand and small, from street corners in California to in front of thousands at Bonnaroo. In a veggie-powered bus and an entourage of street musicians, artists and hobos, they're just as much a moving force as they're a traveling band.
After teases around town all week, the full circus came to Burlington for an album release party at Parima on Tuesday night. (Notice I said album, as in vinyl: No CD or download.)
The big top atmosphere was present throughout the entire night.
During every song, the ringleader and band cheerleader Phinn would juggle glow-in-the-dark spheres, and after every song, he would grab a megaphone and shout "Give a hand for the Vermont Joy Parade! From Bur-ling-ton, Ver-mont!" Spontaneous dance circles busted out on the dance floor and at the start of the second set, an impromptu game of limbo was arranged, with the limbo stick a broken mop handle. For the encore, the band invited everyone on stage who had an instrument in what turned out to be twenty people on stage.

Phish in 3D? I'm freaking out man!

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Prior to the nationwide release of "Phish 3D," a film chronicling the band's epic Festival 8 in California, a special screening will take place on 4/20 at the Majestic 10 in Williston, Vt., a short hitchhike from Burlington.

The coincidence that the premiere is on April 20, a national holiday in Vermont and in the minds of many Phish heads, was not completely lost on cinema officials.

In preparation for the big night, officials at the Majestic 10 are pulling out all the stops. "For starters, we're gonna have Joseph Broseph making grilled cheeses in the lot and Suzy Dumpstadiva will be serving up veggie burritos in the lobby," said Majestic 10 Manager Harrison Hood.

For one night only, the cinema is affixing two-foot water bongs to each seat in the theater. "We want our patrons to get the full Phish experience," Hood explained. "Plus, we couldn't find a marijuana-scented smoke machine."

Interview with Hulk Hogan

So there I was, wandering around the Bear Mountain Lounge at snoe.down, looking for fallen food scraps and a ride home, and there he was. Modestly waiting in line for a shuttle bus, with the lay people, like he wasn't anything special. But, oh, is he something special. Six-time WWF champion, WWE Hall of Famer and reality-TV star, Terry Gene Bollea, better known to America as Hulk Hogan.
Always gracious and always flexing his pythons, The Hulkster took a few minutes to speak to a Trouble in Transit reporter.

TIT: Hulkster, what the hell are you doing here?
HH: Listen here brutha: Fee-fi-moe.-fum, I've been a fan of moe. since the beginning brutha! It was 1993 and I was headlining Monday Night Raw at the Utica Aud. Kicked the snot out of the One-Man Gang that night brutha. So after the match, me and Mean Jean decided to run wild with Hulkamania on the Hand Shake City brutha. We took a ride up the main drag there and saw a sign at Captain Trips for Monkeys On Ecstasy brutha.

TIT: Did you and Mean Gene know it was moe.?
HH: No way brutha, we were just looking for drugs and some trim. So we stopped. Every babe in the joint looked like Scary Sherry, so we decided to just watch the band brutha! We saw this guy playing guitar, kinda looked like Jimmy Hart with no hair. But Al rocked, brutha! And the bass player, he slapped that thing like I slapped around The Iron Sheik at MSG brutha! I've been a moe.ron since brutha!

TIT: Hulkster, do you have anything to say to all the moe.rons out there who grew up watching you?
HH: You better believe it brutha! All you Hulkamanics out there, just remember: Don't exercise, don't take vitamins, do drugs and alcohol, and gimme some moe. brutha!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Ha, ha, you are all suckers! Happy April Fool's Day!

This sign is pretty self-explanatory.

This is probably illegal in some jurisdictions. But this sticker has been on "my stop sign" for about 6 months. I do consider it "my stop sign," because as a Rule of Thumb: The residence that is close enough to hit the sign with a snowball, gains rightful ownership of said stop sign. The beauty is no one really cares. Now, I don't know who put that sticker on my stop sign, not me though, probably some Greenpeace activist, prancing through the night on their rebel crusade. But we've had no accidents there, and no one on the block has complained. Right across the street, on the corner of North Prospect and Henry streets, the sticker affixed to that sign looks as if it's been attacked by squirrels.