No Joke Journalism

Gianna Volpe is a professional freelance writer/photographer with an edge like no other.

[agentjanefox]

Guess who has super juicy news to tell you while @lamage plays @waterscrestwinery between 7 & 10 pm TONIGHT in Cutchogue?? Would it happen to be your favorite friend and photojournalist @agentjanefox ?! You can bet your bottom dollar; come see me TONIGHT!! #callmescoop

[agentjanefox]

A Conversation with Brigid Collins Stewart

Publications: The Sag Harbor Express & sagharboronline.com Online & and in print: April 14 2016 Story by Gianna Volpe

It’s been six years since Sag Harbor parents Jim Stewart and Brigid Collins lost their 12-year-old daughter, Katy, to a rare form of pediatric liver cancer known as hepatoblastoma, but it’s also the sixth year the East End community at large will come together to celebrate Katy’s courage this weekend with a 5K event that raises money for scholarships, cancer research and other causes.

I’m excited to be doing this because I covered Katy’s Courage [5K] two years ago and it was the most touching event I’ve ever covered. Your daughter was an incredible person and — especially because of her age — unbelievably brave. Did she ever get scared?



I think she definitely had times when she was scared—like anybody has times when they feel scared—but I think she felt a lot of love in her family and with her friends. I think she felt very supported through her whole journey. The Sag Harbor community and the whole East End community really reached out to her and everyone was so good to her. She often would go to the hospital for a chemo treatment, for example, and have a binder full of beautiful gifts and cards from the teachers and children from Sag Harbor Elementary School, so she always had all kinds of remarkable support — more than you can even imagine.

In that vein, has the success of Katy’s Courage [5K] been therapeutic for you and your family?


Definitely. I guess I feel, to be honest with you, that we’re not surprised by it because we felt about Kate that she was special and that we were blessed to be her parents and that she had a higher purpose in the world. That’s just the way we feel about it. In a small, simple way, she touched a lot of people because she was such a loving child.

And she continues to touch people. I remember two years ago you were going to be using the money to establish Katy’s Kids [Center for Grieving Children @ CMEE]. How has that progressed in the past year?


We were able to form a collaboration and last July we launched Katy’s Kids @ CMEE. 
We needed — of course — a space in the beginning. Our dream is to have our own space, but for now we’re so delighted. It’s such a perfect combination for us because we’re interested in children having the opportunity to express themselves through play. We provide peer group support and a lot of opportunity for children to play together who have similar grief experiences in their lives. The feedback that we have from participants and their families is that it’s really been a great help for the children who have been involved in the program. I think there’s a great strength and power as a child just knowing you’re not the only one and not to feel so isolated.

What coping advice do you have for parents who have just lost a child?


Well, it’s hard to tell anybody how they should feel. The truth is that we know everybody experiences grief in a different way and — however you experience grief — we believe that it’s okay. It’s not a place where you can judge people, but we do know that there is a lot of strength and solace in having the opportunity to share your experiences with other people and we know that from our own experience. Just to have a space where you’re understood or where you can talk about your child and don’t feel like you’re making other people sad because you’re talking to people who do understand — I think that’s important.

Is there anything new happening at this year’s event?


I don’t think there is anything big or new. I think it’s a pretty classic, traditional 5K day. We’re going to try to do some fun things. There is going to be a photo booth there this year for kids and people to enjoy. A friend of ours is donating services for that. There’s a few small things that we think is going to be fun, but for the most part, it’s just a day where we feel like there’s lot of community bonding and friendship and people feel the kindness in our community and is just a nice day for people to come out and celebrate together the work Katy’s Courage tries to put out there.

Katy’s Courage 5K will be held on April 16 on Water Street in Sag Harbor with check-in from 7 to 8:15 a.m. and an 8:30 a.m. start. The cost is $25 for pre-registration; $30 the day of the race. Visit katyscourage.org for more information.

[agentjanefox]

Elements Fitness Expands into New East Hampton Location

Publications: The Sag Harbor Express & sagharboronline.com Online & and in print: April 14 2016

Courtesy photo of Andrea Fornarola Hunsberger Story By Gianna Volpe

The synergy between two East Hampton fitness centers could be elevating to “exercise mecca” status this May as Elements — currently across the parking lot from Soulcycle — Moves next door to the popular spin studio on Newtown Lane in East Hampton.

The backbone of Elements Fitness is one based in ballet barre exercises, which safely challenges participants while lengthening, strengthening and toning accessory muscles, according to the studio’s founder and director, Andrea Fornarola Hunsberger.
“We stretch before and after each exercise,” the part-time East Hampton resident said of her barre classes, which employ a rhythmically-structured formula that systematically engages the entire human form. “That’s how we achieve long, lean balletic muscles rather than tighter, bulkier muscles and muscle fibers.”

Ms. Fornarola Hunsberger was already a dancer by the time she was three years old, something the 15-year exercise industry veteran credits to the instant bond she formed after attending her first class at Physique 57 while working between dancing gigs as a fitness trainer in New York City.
“My body had been used to moving in a certain way, so even though I have a personal training certification, I’m not someone who likes to run on a treadmill or train clients to run on a treadmill,” she said. “I feel like in the way ballet is the foundation of dance, barre is the foundation of functional training because it grounds you. You’re standing in a naturally turned out position, which is the natural way your head points and sequentially works through the body in a very smart way.”

But it’s not just dancers whom she said are catching the barre bug these days.

“Barre is definitely on its upward slope of trending;” Ms. Fornarola Hunsberger said, citing a growing demand and clientele that is driving Elements Fitness to expand into a brand-new 1,600-square-foot space with 16-foot ceilings and areas for private lessons as permits are sought for use of second and sub-level floors. “People love it because you see such dramatic changes so quickly. It’s a different way of moving the muscles and it never gets easy, but it’s also something…easily modified to fit all different body types and people at all different stages of their fitness journey.”

Accessibility and safety are what the local fitness guru said makes barre closer kin to Pilates or yoga than more explosive fitness forms like CrossFit, but CrossFit fans may find satisfaction in the brand-new “HIIT the Barre” class pairing barre exercises with high intensity interval training. “HIIT the Barre” will make its debut this May alongside an advanced level class for barre purists looking to add challenge to their practice. Olympic gymnasts are welcome to sign up for advanced barre without question, but others hoping to sign up need either instructor approval or to attend five or more classes at Elements.

Studio space and class schedule won’t be the only elements getting a boost by Elements’ move from 66 to 68 Newtown Lane as the street-level facility will now include 1,000 square feet of retail space.

“The Elements boutique added last season was very, very popular, so we’ll be offering more brands and debuting our own branded line of athletic wear in the [new] studio,” Ms. Fornarola Hunsberger said of increasing boutique offerings to shoppers seeking fitness fashion favorites like Big T NYC, Koral, Phat Buddha, Nomatera and Via Active.

“We’re on this upward spiral of not only athletic wear, but now of what we call ‘athleisure,’ which…is great for me because I love living in my fitness clothes.”

“Barre doesn’t make you super sweaty, so you just have a little glisten and don’t even have to shower afterward…You can go to barre class with your make-up on and your hair done and then go some place after that,” Ms. Fornarola Hunsberger said. “You can go from the barre to brunch, from the barre to the boardroom, from the barre to anywhere.”

She said Elements plans to open its doors at 68 Newtown Lane on May 1, adding the fitness company “won’t miss a beat” while the new location gets up and running as classes will continue at its original 66 Newtown Lane location until the new studio is fully functional.

For more information, visit Elements Fitness Studio’s website at elementsfitnessstudio.com.

[agentjanefox]

Doctor Debates Medicinal Marijuana

Dr. Luther Quarles - GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

Publications: The Express Magazine ‘XO Spring’ & sagharboronline.com Online & and in print: March 2016 Words and Photo by Gianna Volpe

Long Island became home to two of New York’s first legal medical marijuana dispensaries this January, with Columbia Care opening in Riverhead offering its services under state law to those facing cancer, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy and Huntington’s disease. Under the law, patients must have a prescription and can only gain access to liquid, vapor or pill forms of the drug – smokable marijuana is not legal under current New York law. Dr. Luther Quarles, a resident at Southampton Hospital, weighed in on the subject.

What has your experience been with medical marijuana?

I’ve met more people who have obtained it illegitimately, but they’ve used it for nausea or other [medicinal] purposes such as pain. I’ve heard arguments of people using it for seizures, but I personally haven’t seen that or seen the data behind that.

We use a version of it here [at Southampton Hospital] called Dronabinol or Marinol for patients who are older, need to eat and have good gastro-intestinal systems, but aren’t eating because they’re not hungry. Using what the gut — or the body — has is much better than using an IV or tube feeds, so we give them the Marinol to get the appetite going. That seems to promote wound healing and nutritional status overall, so they’ll generally do better and heal better. That’s been my limited experience with it.

What are the pros and cons to its user?

It has good appetite stimulation and anti-nausea/vomiting benefits for people going through chemo, but is really hard to regulate because different states have different levels of regulation. So there are logistical issues, but it’s also not controlled because there are so many different types — or strains — which is more what [a clinician] would worry about. When you take an aspirin, well, an aspirin is an aspirin is an aspirin; but the marijuana you get from “place A” and “place B” can be different. If it were a national FDA-regulated substance then I think we could say sure, but we don’t have that yet.

It hasn’t been properly vetted and carries a social stigma, as well as the fact that it’s still considered illegal. That’s where the problem lies — in having the ability to do that type of research in a legitimate setting without the legal ramifications.

Where do you stand on the subject?

In my opinion, if [medicinal marijuana] could be properly vetted, studied and regulated so you know you’re getting what you’re paying for, then I think there might be some benefit to it, but I don’t know enough about the data overall to say, ‘Yeah I’m 100% for or 100% against it.’ Right now I’m kind of caught in the middle because there’s so many different sources of data I’m trying to vet through that it’s hard to even have this discussion. It’s not like something I can pull up and say, ‘Lipitor is a good drug that lowers your cholesterol or cardiac risk.’ I can’t do that with marijuana because every strain is different and gives a different effect.

What does a dispensary opening in Riverhead say to you as a clinician?

I think it says there’s been some progressiveness in the thought of using marijuana as medicine, though you always worry about people misusing it the way people misuse Percocet or oxycodone.

Is medical marijuana a better option for treating pain considering the addiction risks inherent to using opiates?

We [doctors] need to use our best clinical judgment to do what’s best for the patient, so I would most likely go with the oxycodone because as a clinician I have a better understanding of it and the data behind it. When it comes to a medical marijuana dispensary, I don’t really know the strains of marijuana there, who is supplying them, etc. You use what you’re familiar with and what you know works and most of the data says there really hasn’t been a benefit to using [Percocet or oxycodone] outside of two to four weeks—it’s good for that acute ‘get you over the hump’ pain or ‘you just had surgery’ pain. So the person with a broken arm may just need the Percocet to get through those first few day, though some people—like cancer patients with bone metastasis—may need it on a longer term basis. Treating pain does get difficult though because pain is so subjective, so we just need to use our best clinical judgment when it comes to do what’s best for a patient.

[agentjanefox]

Publications: The Express Magazine 'XO Spring' & sagharboronline.com Online & and in print: March 2016 Words by Gianna Volpe Photos by Michael Heller It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had one to update you, digital portfolio, but I’ve been writin’ and shootin’ as usual - You know me! There’s been a number of pieces I haven’t uploaded here, including a front cover exclusive on our country's second organic game bird farm, which I pitched/wrote/photographed some months back for The Express Magazine. After spreading myself far too thin laboring for eight(?) publications last year - often for very little, if any money - I decided to dedicate myself to The Express for a while because they’ve not only been the most professional - And least political - of the publications for whom I’ve worked, but also the most appreciative/understanding regarding the very real difficulties I’ve faced as a single woman trying to independently establish herself on the East End. I know that’s next to impossible because it took me two years of working all day and all night just to pull myself up from my boot straps after unjustly losing my first reporting position, but I wouldn’t have traded any of the experience for the world and am never, ever going to give up. In fact, I’ve noticed the longer and harder I fight, the more respect I’ve begun garnering among all the others who wake up here ready to FAIRLY fight the good fight just to remain on the East End.

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell you something”. (Wesley, The Princess Bride)

Anyhow, I've also continued airing/YouTubing my weekly talk news show "The Gianna Volpe Report" on 1390 WRIV/1390WRIV.com, which I’ve done for a year now and am finally warming up to the idea of taking on program sponsors. I’m very excited about this summer and after FINALLY finding the ideal place to live after moving 11 times in the past two years - No Joke - My current goal is not to move more than twice in the next 11 years.

[agentjanefox]

Journeys to the Bottom of the Sea

Publications: The Express Magazine ‘XO On The Go’ & sagharboronline.com

Online and in print: July 2015

Words By Gianna Volpe  Photos By Captain Chuck Wade 

Wreck Valley is the term old salts use to describe the vast stretch of sunken ships that lie beneath the waters between New Jersey and Block Island, which includes hundreds of man-made structures for certified scuba divers of all classifications to explore.

The East End is home to more than 20 unique examples of such wrecks, all regularly visited by experienced seamen like Captain Chuck Wade of The Sea Turtle in Montauk.

The Express Magazine followed up with Captain Wade to talk East End wreck diving this summer after last June’s first-hand report on the rare, but exhilarating shark dives that annually take place on his 36′ BHM downeast style boat.

For families skittish about placing their kiddies in steel cages amidst infamous ocean predators, Captain Wade suggested wreck diving the Montauk area as a tamer alternative.

“I try to steer families to Fort Pond Bay for diving off the old Navy pier,” he said. “There’s a lot of fish and lobsters there and it’s a really safe, fun, easy place to dive because it’s only maybe 15-18 foot deep without a lot of current.”

Early 20th century Naval artifacts are occasionally uncovered at Fort Pond Bay, but, to the north at Culloden Point, winter storms annually reveal – in varying degrees – 170 feet of the 18th century shipwreck that is slowly tucked back beneath the shifting sands as spring shoots into summer.

The propeller of the Suffolk shipwreck off Montauk in 190' of water.  This means the earlier in the season one can get to Culloden Point, the better chance one will have to actually see the ship, according to Randy Randazzo, the man who dive-certified Captain Wade in the early 1980s.

“Culloden Point’s only 25 feet deep, so you really don’t need much [higher certification] than Open Water Diver,” said Mr. Randazzo, owner of the Hampton Dive Center in Riverhead where divers of all classifications are trained year-round, adding underwater explorations down to 60 feet should be safe for supervised, certified children under the age of 15.

“If you do it early in the season you may see some cannons and things like that, which is always cool, but there’s really not a lot of wreckage to see,” he said.

Beginners who want a bit more wreck for their buck are recommended to check out The Panther in Southampton.

“That’s in 60 feet of water, but is a couple miles off-shore, so they would have to take a boat whereas the Culloden can be done from the shore,” said Mr. Randazzo.

The Halftime is the boat used by Hampton Dive to charter trips to The Panther, the 110-foot ocean-going tug that foundered in the 1893 “Midnight Storm” hurricane and resulted in the death of 17 crewmembers.

Families and others with diving certifications limited to 60 feet can access another shore dive just east of the Ponquogue Bridge in Hampton Bays where – decades ago – a decommissioned drawbridge was turned into an underwater marine park and fishing pier.

“The bottom is an entire mussel bed so it brings a lot of fish in,” Mr. Randazzo said of Old Ponquogue Bridge Marine Park. “It’s only 30 feet deep, so it’s a nice easy dive, but you’ve got a strong current moving in there, so you have to get a tide chart and dive it at slack high tide.”

Wreck sites are often chock full of marine life, which make them popular, not just among divers and fishermen, but marine biologists as well.

James Reese Europe IV, who grew up on the North Fork and now works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is one such scientist.

“There tends to be a lot of life around structures whether it’s a reef, rock or wreck,” Mr. Europe said of the reason shipwrecks are often hotspots for fish and other sea creatures. “So, just like a coral reef or a rocky bottom, a wreck is going to provide a lot of coverage for small things and a lot of food for larger things.”

The Gurney’s Barge wreck off Gurney’s Inn in Montauk in 60′ of water. CHUCK WADE PHOTO It is because of this that organizations like the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation actually sink ships on purpose – following a lengthy cleaning, permitting and planning process – to form artificial reefs. And it’s not just ships that find themselves on the briny bottom for this reason.

Mr. Randazzo said The Halftime will also bring folks to an artificial reef comprised of unique vehicles found two miles out from Shinnecock Inlet.

“The DEC sunk a few vessels out there in about 85 feet of water,” he said of the local site, known to include great balls of schooling fish. “There are some tanks from Desert Storm, armored personnel carriers, some trawlers – things like that. It’s designated as a place to create habitat for marine life by sinking wreckage, so we dive that frequently and do see quite a bit of marine life there.”

One can also find Mr. Randazzo’s favorite East End wreck nearby, albeit 125 feet down.

“It’s called the ‘Panty wreck’ because when they found it, there were a pair of panties on it,” Mr. Randazzo said with a chuckle of the old, wooden schooner that mysteriously appeared just South of the Shinnecock Inlet four decades ago. “It usually has good visibility, some nice lobsters and beautiful fish on it and is not too far or too close, so it’s not one everybody dives.”

According to Captain Wade, a whole world of wrecks can be found for adventurous divers of all certification levels who take the 15-mile trip out to Block Island on The Sea Turtle.

Beginners are encouraged to explore the broken-up Texaco steam tanker lying 30 feet down from the Block Island Southeast Lighthouse, while advanced divers can check out the German U-853 submarine sunk near the island in 1945.

“That tends to draw people in from all over the world and is in 120 foot of water,” said Captain Wade. “It’s considered an advanced type of dive – not for beginners, or even intermediate divers. It’s still mostly intact and you can penetrate it, which makes it a little risky.”

[agentjanefox]

The View From Above

Publications: The Express Magazine ‘XO On The Go’ & sagharboronline.com

Online AND In Print: July 2015

Photos and Words by Gianna Volpe

Pilots say the East End’s unique beauty is exponentially magnified when viewed from above. GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

Any local is apt to say the region’s best kept secret is the East End itself; especially those few who have been fortunate enough to see her from the sky. Though the area’s airspace is known for having controversially heavy air traffic in summer, a far less divisive issue is the roughly 150 active pilots that soar the region at will by keeping their single-engine airplanes year round in hangars between the now-defunct Mattituck, Montauk and East Hampton airports as well as the Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach.

It’s a paltry pool of pilots to be sure, but one peppered with nearly peerless passion. Those who do fly the region regularly – whether for recreation or other reasons – are rarely lacking in real life skylust and the sport seems as addictive as it is an antidote for whatever woes are left behind on the ground below.

“It’s like therapy,” explained Montauk pilot Mike Rusinsky, who said his 1967 Cessna Skyhawk is one of six small planes kept at the privately-owned, public-use airport. “Sometimes when I go up there my friend will ask, ‘Why didn’t you call me?’ and I say it’s because I just needed some time. The sky is the only place where you can just disconnect from everything and not just do what you love, but focus on it because, well, you have to. That’s my sanity – it clears my mind of everything else like a meditation.”

Pilot Peter Boody at Gabreski Airport on Memorial Day GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

Senior East Hampton Airport attendant and veteran journalist Peter Boody – who counts Flying Magazine among those publications for which he served as editor – said this is a common characteristic among the airborne.

“There is a kind of pilot that – they aren’t crazy; they tend to be good pilots – but they are addicted to the whole feeling of flying; the process of flying; the aesthetic of it; the procedure of it. It gives you a feeling of control and organization and total focus that you need because if you don’t have it you’re going to screw up,” the Sag Harbor resident explained. “I am very focused when I am at work as an editor, but when I don’t have a task in front of me that I really am committed to and understand and love, I tend to be a little ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder]. I tend to daydream; tend to realize, ‘Oh, people are talking and I didn’t listen to the last 30 seconds.’ That doesn’t happen in a plane and I love that feeling.”

“One of the pleasures of flying is that it clears away the noise of life with an activity that is totally absorbing and challenging,” said the former editor of The East Hampton Press and The Shelter Island Reporter.

Like Mr. Boody, Mr. Rusinsky was bitten by the flight bug long before he ever left the ground. Having the proclaimed “Original Pepsi-Cola skywriter from the 1950s” take him on a sight-seeing tour throughout the Bayport area in a 1941 open-cockpit bi-plane for his very first flight was “the equivalent to trying crack,” he said with a laugh.

“I was hooked,” said Mr. Rusinsky. “It’s like music. You see the glaze in guys’ eyes when they talk about music or aviation. We all want to share our experiences to help each other be better and safer at it.”

When it comes to recreational flying, the pilots say safety is – and always should be – a pilot’s top priority, with real flight experience the only way in which to develop needed skills.

Sport, recreational and private class pilot licenses require 20, 30 and 40 hours of respective flight time, which Mr. Rusinsky said is vital in learning to properly operate aircraft.

“It usually takes people about six months to a year to get their license, if they really push; and though you can go down to accelerated training schools and – they say – get one in as little as 30 days, I don’t think you’re a safe pilot after 30 days,” he said. “There’s just not enough experience had there. When you are getting your pilot’s license it’s almost as if we’re the most paranoid people in the world because we train for every eventuality.”

“During almost every flight when I was training, my instructor would have me do a landing while he simulated engine failure,” he added.

But if single-engine airplane flying is indeed a sport, it’s not only a poor choice for those weak in patience, but for those weak in the wallet, according to Mr. Boody.

An aerial view of Greenport Village and Shelter Island taken by the author shows traffic was bustling this Memorial Day. GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO “[Flying] used to be something that you could swing on a middle class salary if you were really into it, had a little plane and were using it for fun; but if you want to use it for serious transportation you need equipment like this $40,000 dollar GPS system,” he said from inside the estimated $350,000 Cessna he sometimes borrows from a friend to fly out of Westhampton’s Gabreski Airport. “[Maintenance] is also very significant and it costs about $700 to fill the fuel tank for maybe five or six hours of flight time.”

Mr. Rusinsky said he overcame this obstacle by purchasing an older version of the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which he said is the most common type of airplane in the world.

He estimates his airplane is currently worth $35,000, adding the most expensive part of owning a plane has been in renting his hangar at Montauk Airport. Even so, Mr. Rusinsky said owning his airplane is “actually, probably cheaper than owning a boat that you keep in the water all year because my maintenance on the plane – if you add up everything – is only about $3,000 a year.”

Instead of purchasing their own personal plane, some pilots buy into one with partners as manager of Greenport’s Mitchell Park Marina, Jeff Goubeaud, did just this year.

“I’m a one-fifth partner of a 1946 Piper Cub,” Mr. Goubeaud said with pride. “I’m flying it now with my instructor about once a week and it’s awesome; just beautiful. You have to be careful, put your time in and be responsible, but the rewards of flying are well worth it.”

[email protected]

[agentjanefox]

Mike Birbiglia Fresh Off 'Orange Is The New Black,' Heads For East End

Mike Birbiglia Fresh Off 'Orange Is The New Black,' Heads For East End Publications: The East Hampton Press/The Southampton Press/27east.com Online : 30 June 2015  In print: 02 July 2015

Comedian Mike Birbiglia will grace the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center stage on Sunday. EVAN SUNG PHOTO Words By Gianna Volpe

Mike Birbiglia is a master of the monologue, a soliloquist of the stars, a ruler of rhetoric, an aristocrat of—okay, enough alliteration.

He is a stand-up comedian, one who doesn’t shy away from putting himself on the proverbial chopping block, and he is bringing his new show, “Thank God for Jokes”—which is all about “how jokes can get us in trouble, but, ultimately, make us feel closer to each other,” he says—to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

This 37-year-old New York transplant—he originally hails from the far reaches of the Boston suburbs—has been on the scene for years as a comedic writer and performer. While his last two major projects, “Sleepwalk with Me” and “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend,” have garnered him some attention, his recent acting gig as Danny Pearson on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” has vaulted him to subway-famous notoriety.

The rising comedian recently took time out of a busy shooting schedule to talk television, Trump, Hamptons traffic, social awkwardness and Sleepy Karl just ahead of his trip to the East End.

You’ve been doing quite a bit of television. Do you have any favorite shows, or are you strictly cable news?

Mike Birbiglia: Ha! I’m off cable news! New York Times only—less noisy. Lately, I’ve been watching “Girls,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” “John Oliver” and “Orange Is the New Black.”

How did you get involved with “Orange Is the New Black,” and what has that been like for you as a comedian?

Birbiglia: I just auditioned and I got it. It’s been so cool but also so, so, so strange now that it’s aired. Sometimes people on the subway just wave at me now. They don’t even say what they know me from. But I know.

How did you find your way to comedy in the first place?

Birbiglia: A long, long road, starting in high school. School plays, writing satire issues of my high school newspaper. My brother, Joe, got me into comedy very early, and I’m lucky enough to work with him professionally now. He co-wrote my first movie, “Sleepwalk with Me.”

Who is Sleepy Karl, and how do you combat him during these busy times in your career?

Birbiglia: Sleepy Karl is a mysterious man who haunts my morning dreams and convinces me to stay in bed. Around 7 a.m., he’ll say, “Why would you go out there when you could stay here and go skiing, and your skis will be French toast sticks?”

Does your social awkwardness inspire your joke telling, or make you feel like you’re an alien?

Birbiglia: Sure. But we’re not alone. I find most people are just struggling to not say the wrong thing—except the people who aren’t worrying about [it] and are entirely unaware that they are always saying the wrong thing. I’m looking at you, Donald Trump.

Let’s talk more about the writing process. How do you come up with new material?

Birbiglia: Well, I try to dig into the more painful moments of my day. Like, for example, it drives me crazy when people are late for things. I think there’s a huge difference between late people and on-time people, and what late people don’t understand about us on-time people is that we all secretly hate them. I used to get mad about this stuff. Now I just talk about it on stage.

What’s it like for a Boston comedian to perform in New York, or vice versa?

Birbiglia: Well, I’ve lived in New York for 15 years, so at this point I feel like a New Yorker. For example, I’m spending the entire week strategizing on how to avoid traffic driving to the Hamptons. How can I do this?!

Do you prepare different sets based on location and, if so, how do you decide on jokes to tell?

Birbiglia: I like to spend time wherever I am and, if something strikes me, I’ll talk about it. With the Hamptons, all I know is that I should be wary of Ponzi schemes and make friends with Billy Joel. Is there anything else?

“Thank God For Jokes” with Mike Birbiglia will stage on Sunday, July 5, at 8 p.m. at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. Attendees must be age 16 or older. Tickets start at $50. For more information, call [phone], or visit whbpac.org.

[agentjanefox]

New York Runners Dominate Shelter Island 10K

New York Runners Dominate Shelter Island 10K Sag Harbor Express/sagharboronline.com

Online: 25 June 2015 In Print: 25 June 2015

Words and Photos by Gianna Volpe

Peter Hawkins of Malverne racing in the Shelter Island 10K on Saturday. Gianna Volpe photo By Gianna Volpe For the first time in 36 years, rain fell upon runners Saturday at the Shelter Island 10K, though more than 1,000 crossed the finish line and were led by New York-based runner Eliud Ngetich, 21, who left the pack behind in the second mile to easily win in 28:52.31 (4:39 mile pace). Diriba Degefa Yigezu, 27, of New York finished second in 29:43.42, while Ayele Megersa Feisa, 27, also of New York finished third in 29:50.11. For the second consecutive year, 2014 Boston Marathon winner and Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, 40, ran and placed fourth with a time of 29:58.54(4:50 pace), setting a new Masters record in the process.

“I try to be consistent,” Keflezighi said with a smile about placing fourth in the race for the second year in a row.

Eliud Ngetich, 21, won Saturday’s Shelter Island 10K race. Gianna Volpe photo

Ngetich, the 10K winner who hails from Kenya, said the rainy weather had initially put a damper on his confidence. “I was hoping to win the race, but when it started raining I wasn’t sure I was going to win it,” he said. “After the one mile, I knew I was going to win. I was running my own race.” The women’s race was much more competitive with Elfnesh Melaku, 29, a native of Ethiopia and resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, winning in 34:04.45 (5:29 pace). Katie DiCamillo, 27, of Providence, Rhode Island, finished second among women roughly five seconds later with a time of 34:09.83. Amos Sang of Massachusetts, who remained hot on Ngetich’s heels through the first mile, said after his 31:34.59 finish that he was disappointed to take seventh place.?“I felt good in the first two-and-a-half miles, but my body went numb after that,” the Massachusetts runner said. Complete results are available at auyertiming.com. Though racers and spectators initially huddled beneath tents and umbrellas before the event began, most slowly began meandering about the field near the finish as rain fell harder and harder. Peter Hawkins of Malverne, 51, one of two entrants who competitively raced in wheelchairs, was found at the finish line telling the story of the tight race he’d won against Southold competitor, William Lehr, despite getting a flat tire. “I saw my friend Billy go by me and I was like, ‘I gotta catch him,’” said Hawkins, who finished in 36:37.42, about a second ahead of Lehr. “I had a mile-and-a-half to catch him—and I did catch him and won—but only by about half a chair length.” The two weren’t the only participants to use wheelchairs, however. ?Seven-year-old Isaiah Bird—a Long Island wrestler recently featured on ESPN—was one of 18 representing the Long Beach Gladiators summer wrestling camp on Saturday. Bird was found in the Shelter Island High School gymnasium alongside his team in a wheelchair with a lacrosse stick taped to it so that Coach Miguel Rodriguez, who both mentors and, at times, houses the boy, could help him keep pace during the race. “Isaiah lives with his parents on the West side of Long Beach, but during the wrestling season and certain school times he stays with us. My father works for the school district—he’s Isaiah’s one-on-one TA—so living with us makes it easier to transport him when his mom is working and his dad is busy doing his thing,” said Coach Rodriguez’s 14-year-old son, Elijah. “We’re all here on a team trip to run the 10K and a lot of us here are motivated for two reasons—for Isaiah, of course—and to help one of the people in the wrestling community who was recently diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer.” Proceeds from Saturday’s race will benefit the Shelter Island 10K Community Fund, which gives scholarships to Shelter Island High School seniors, as well as other beneficiaries that include the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, East End Hospice, Reach Within, and the Lt. Joseph Theinert Foundation.

Over a thousand runners competed in Saturday’s Shelter Island 10K. Gianna Volpe photo

[agentjanefox]

      The Search for Robert Johnson in the Soggy Mississippi River Delta                                              Bonus Edition

Online & In Print: May 2015

13th Annual Blues Festival Guide 2015 (Baby’s first national magazine)

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO - ROB EUROPE’S CAR EXITS THE GROUND ZERO BLUES CLUB HEADING SOUTH IN SEARCH OF ROBERT JOHNSON’S GRAVE IN JAN. 2015 Words and Photos by Gianna Volpe It was dusk on Jan. 23 when the 2015 IBC semi-finalists took on Memphis' Beale Street and rain began to fall deep in the heart of the Mississippi Delta where a young couple headed South from Clarksdale in search of Robert Johnson's final resting place. The act itself is a metaphor; a funny thing to try and find. 

As Cat Head's Roger Stolle would say – and did the following morning at his shop where this reporter scored some EXCELLENT records like Tommy Johnson & Ishman Bracey's 1928 recording session and T-Model Ford's first album, Peewee Get My Gun – Looking for Robert Johnson's grave is rather like looking for Santa's workshop.

GIANNA VOLPE (@agentjanefox) INSTAGRAM PHOTO OF RECORDS PURCHASED AT CAT HEAD DELTA BLUES & FOLK ART, INC. OF CLARKSDALE, MS AND MEMPHIS MUSIC IN MEMPHIS, TN. To better understand the mythological breadth of Robert Lee Johnson's life and death, definitely check out “Love in Vain,” along with whatever reading material Mr. Stolle recommends. You see, some consider the legendary Mr. Johnson himself to be a metaphor; a proverbial blues unicorn I hunted with one guit-fiddlin' Robert “Johnson” Europe that stormy night in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Metaphor or not, this trip was an important one; the only thing I knew that stood the chance of getting off my good boy's mind the competition roaring up in Memphis. It had been Rob Europe's second time visiting Beale Street and though it was his first time there to compete among the International Blues Challenge quarter-finalists, it had come as a genuine surprise to us both that he hadn't made the semi-finals cut. 

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO - NICO WAYNE TOUSSAINT PERFORMING IN THE 2015 IBC QUARTERFINALS. MR. TOUSSAINT WAS AWARDED THE LEE OSKAR HARP AWARD AND HIS BAND TOOK THIRD PLACE IN THE OVERALL COMPETITION. After last year's solo/duo champion, Tim Williams – whose sets abutted his at The Pig –  said Rob was “the best thing [Mr. William's had] seen on Beale Street this year,” the pre-country war blues lovin' boy had confidently – and skillfully – rocked his second quarterfinals set, so what exactly happened?

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO- VENUE MANAGER CHRISTIAN STANSFIELD HELPING OUT DURING THE SECOND QUARTER FINALS SET OF TIM WILLIAMS - 2015′S DEFENDING SOLO IBC CHAMPION - AT THE PIG ON BEALE Well, that's hard to say, but it is in this reporter's opinion Rob Europe is merely paying his dues as a new kid on the block. You see, The Pig's venue manager – a jazz scholar from Georgetown – had introduced Rob not only as blues and jazz “royalty” because he's the great-grandson of the Clef Club's James Reese Europe, but as being the “New School” to Mr. William's “Old School.” “Can I say that,” Christian Stanfield said that second night while Rob took the stage and I nervously eyed the judges for reaction.

“Well, you just did,” one judge said of the comment; she considered it “a black eye to Tim Williams.” I tried to explain “it isn't like that;” that “Rob and Tim are friends,” but the woman had been so affronted by the comment I'd sighed against the jukebox and set to recording his set. She was flipping open her IBC booklet to find the biography I'd penned on him and wondering aloud, “Who is this Rob Europe kid?”

*Author’s Note: If I am correct about this, the IBC judge in question not only gave Mr. Europe high marks - all 9s and 10s - but wrote in her scorecard notes a thank-you for keeping the blues alive, noting one day Rob Europe will be in the same (metaphorical) place as Tim Williams. 

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO - TIM WILLIAMS AND ROB EUROPE AT THE PIG ON BEALE DURING THE 2015 IBC QUARTERFINALS Well, he's the definition of an “Old Soul,” someone who cares more deeply for  – and is more knowledgeable of – the blues than anyone I've known; the kind of guy whose first order of business after not making the IBC's semi-final cut is trying out the Gibson Factory's L-1.

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO - ROB EUROPE PLAYING THE L-1 AT THE  GIBSON FACTORY IN MEMPHIS, TN The L-1 is famously associated with Robert Johnson, though Robert Europe had found the experience of playing it before we left for Clarksdale that Friday morning an “oddly disappointing” one. That's when I knew what needed to be done. This was the exact stuff of which Rob's beloved blues are made, so when he asked me if we should call the game on account of the rain, I assured him there would be no better time to look for Robert Johnson's grave than during a down-pour amid the dead of night and winter all at once. The legend himself had reminded me of that. I'd spotted Robert Johnson's graffitied portrait smiling at us from the door frame of Muddy Waters' birth house, which has been reconstructed within the new wing of Clarksdale's Delta Blues Museum. 

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO OF ROBERT JOHNSON GRAFFITI THAT CAN BE SEEN FROM MUDDY’S HOUSE RECONSTRUCTED AT THE DELTA BLUES MUSEUM IN CLARKSDALE, MS He was out there, yards away in the rain, reminding me the kind of satisfaction we sought would not be found within any four walls. We came close to visiting two of Robert Johnson's three disputed grave sites that night, but when Rob announced our arrival to the first  – a Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Morgan City, Mississippi – I'd said, “no, No, NO” we're looking for “LITTLE Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Greenwood,” where an alleged eye witness placed his burial.

Robert Johnson was singing “I believe, I believe I'll go back home” through the stereo speakers of Rob's Sonata as it pulled up the muddied road leading to Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church twenty or so minutes later. “I feel like I should probably just google this,” I said to my recording iphone. I'd exited the vehicle and had begun shining a flashlight on each headstone I came across. “But part of me doesn't really want to,” I narrated into the darkness. “Doesn't feel right. What does that say? Willie? Willie Johnson? Willie Johnson died 1993.” I'd insisted on hunting down Robert Johnson “the old fashioned way,” which was as hypocritical of me as it was, well, hypocritical, but I'd be almost instantly punished for such hypocrisy.

“I'm a snoop,” I'd been convincing – well, nobody – when the glowing eyes of a beast watching from the bush line momentarily distracted my gaze and my sneaker became wholly submerged in some watery rut. “Oh my God, I just walked right into a swamp. There is literally a puddle inside of my shoe.” True to form for a dead bluesman famously associated with selling his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar prowess, we found Robert Johnson's best-known gravestone under a creepy tree toward the back of a boneyard in Greenwood, Mississippi. Though we said no words to Robert Johnson that night, Robert Europe left a glass medicine bottle slide on the legend's headstone, then handed me a petal from one of the roses and instructed me to take a piece of the cotton flower sticking out from a beer bottle vase.

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO - ROBERT JOHNSON’S GRAVESITE IN GREENWOOD, MS I've since placed a chunk of the cotton tuft inside the body of one of Rob's guitars, gave the seed to his mother to propagate – which it has –  and have taken to calling my good boy Robert “Johnson” Europe because, well, it just feels right. I'd also taken an orange guitar pick from Mr. Johnson, something my Robbie has convinced me ol' R.L. won't miss. Neither Roberts are known for using a pick when playin' the blues. And – As Mr. Stolle at Cat Head had assured me back in Clarksdale the next morning – shortly before Robert Europe and I stood on the same section of Mississippi River levee Robert Johnson did more than a century ago – Musicians share.

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO - ROB EUROPE FOUND ONLY A DOLLAR IN THE GRAVESIDE DONATION BOX AT ROBERT JOHNSON’S GRAVESITE IN GREENWOOD, MS. 

[agentjanefox]

The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press/27east.com

‘Royal Pains’ Says Goodbye, Almost

Online: 28 April 2015 In Print: 30 April 2015 

Photos and Words by Gianna Volpe

Standing on the steps of a sprawling Meadow Lane mansion last week, actor Mark Feuerstein found himself awash with nostalgia—not only for the leading man’s start on “Royal Pains” seven years ago, but for his own childhood and a healthy dose of mischief.

“This is where we shot the pilot,” he recalled of USA’s medical drama/comedy, “and this was the beach where, in my past, my brother and I would try to get on the beaches of Southampton and Bridgehampton.”

It never ended well for the city kids, he laughed, turned away by Coopers Beach parking attendants many a time when they failed to produce a residential parking pass.

These days, Mr. Feuerstein doesn’t need one.

“Suddenly, I was here shooting ‘Royal Pains’ and we’d taken over the whole entire beach,” he said, “and it was like, ‘How you like me now, fellas?’”

He soon found himself on set and in character as Dr. Henry “Hank” Lawson—the concierge medicine go-to for the über-rich Hamptons elite—and ready to shoot scenes for seasons seven and eight, which will air this June and next summer, respectively.

And that will mark the end, according to writer and co-creator Andrew Lenchewski.

“We’re incredibly lucky,” Mr. Lenchewski said on location. “Not many shows get the opportunity to tell the story of a show this full, this complete … We’ve had a really, really good run and, at this point, we—along with the network and the studio—have decided it’s the right time to wrap up the journey for Hank and all these characters that we’ve been following for eight seasons.”

More than 200 cast, crew and others descended upon Southampton for a three-day shoot from April 22-24, roaming the beachfront mansion’s property and nearby Coopers Beach parking lot, where the USA show had set up a staging area. Among them were former NBA star Muggsy Bogues, who will appear in a party scene, and actress Reshma Shetty, who portrays Divya Katdare, Hank’s physician assistant.

“I don’t think I even came out here last year,” Ms. Shetty recalled on location. “It’s a nice day, it would be nice if it were a little warmer, but everything is good. It’s a great show with a great cast and great fans that help us to stay on the air, and that’s a fantastic situation for anybody.”

A bittersweet camaraderie hung in the chilly air as the cast and crew cracked jokes and complained about the cold. This is a show the teamsters will miss when their work on the final season wraps October 2, they explained. Three days later, they will be shooting “The Americans,” they said.

“It sounds cliché, but it’s truly like a family,” location manager Michael Fucci said. “Most of us have been here since season one.”

For audiences who have been watching just as long, they won’t be disappointed by the two-season renewal, Mr. Lenchewski said. The action picks up right where season six left off: Hank and his brother, Evan, searching for their half-sister, Emma, while Divya continues to fight for custody of her daughter, Sashi.

“It’s going to be a really exciting season,” Mr. Lenchewski said. “There’ll be some surprises for Hank in terms of his romantic life that will send him on a whole new journey unlike anything he’s been on before. We’ll also see some old faces—Boris, who’s now going to be owning the hospital and will be up to his old tricks.”

Born nearly a decade ago, “Royal Pains” came to be when NBC was seeking a medical show “with a twist,” Mr. Lenchewski said, and a friend of his suggested the unique medical care as a plotline concept. It just so happened he was a concierge doctor himself, the writer said.

“I thought it was awesome, but it wasn’t exactly the medical show with a twist that NBC was looking for,” he said. “So we brought it to USA and the timing was really good because they had just bought the rerun rights to ‘House’ and were looking for an original medical drama to pair with that, so this fell right in their sweet spot.”

A Roslyn native, Mr. Lenchewski said picking a backdrop was simple, having visited the Hamptons as a child. “It made sense for the community to need a concierge doctor because there’s only one hospital here, and a lot of really wealthy people who would love to have a doctor come to them,” he said.

“And then of course, look outside the window,” he continued, motioning out the second-floor window, watching the waves crash on Coopers Beach just beyond the dunes. “That looks very good on TV.”

The cast and crew enjoyed it while it lasted. Traffic and hospitality limitations associated with the East End summer season mean they will be unable to shoot in the region again until after Labor Day—if at all.

“This is really our last moment out here, so it’s actually very emotional,” Mr. Feuerstein said. “This is where our pilot was made, this is where the show is set; this is where, when I jog on the road, people go, ‘Hey, Hank!’ instead of, ‘Hey, Mark.’”

[thefreelancereport-blog]

IN THIS EPISODE: Amid USA television show, Royal Pains’ three-day-shoot in Southampton, location manager Michael Fucci comes on thefrEElanceReport to talk about the inner-workings in producing both television and feature films before a North Fork lovefest as Greenport’s prodigal son, Dennis McDermott, comes on the airwaves to discuss his return to the Village with the opening of Stirling Square’s “americanbEEch” (That’s how your host, Gianna Volpe, imagines the name will look)

For more photos from the Royal Pains set and words from both the cast and creators of the show, see Gianna Volpe’s story on 27east.com About thefrEElanceReport: Freelance Journalist Gianna Volpe discusses breaking news on Long Island’s North and South forks, the latest trends in the rapidly growing culinary scene and brings interesting guests to the microphones. Gianna is an award winning journalist who has written for Times/Review Newspapers, RiverheadLOCAL, the Sag Harbor Express, Dan’s Papers and others. Her credentials are outstanding, her contacts numerous. And that makes it radio by appointment. thefrEElancereport is brought to you by Maximus Health & Fitness 130 East Main Street in Riverhead and Michelangelo’s in Mattituck Plaza. BONUS PHOTOS:

Mark Feuerstein of Royal Pains on set in Southampton. Wednesday, April 22. Mr. Feuerstein plays the show’s protagonist, Dr. Hank Lawson.  GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

Behind the scenes at the Cooper’s beach waterfront mansion that serves as Ms. Newberg’s estate in the USA show, Royal Pains, which had a three-day-shoot of its final seasons 7 & 8 last week week in Southampton. Ms. Newberg, played by Christine Ebersole, is dating recurring character, Eddie R. Lawson (Hank and Evan Lawson’s estranged father) played by Henry Winkler. GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

The Royal Pains team moves props into a Cooper’s Beach waterfront mansion in Southampton that served as a location for an upcoming episode in season 7 of the show. GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

The creator of Royal Pains, Andrew Lenchewski, took time to speak to freelance writer/photographer Gianna Volpe on behalf of the Press Newsgroup, amid a busy three-day shooting schedule in Southampton. Royal Pains will be shooting final seasons 7 and 8 on locations throughout Long Island until October 2. Season 7 airs this June on USA. GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

[agentjanefox]

East Hampton Press & Southampton Press/27east.com The New Generation: Tripoli Gallery Expands to East Hampton  Online: 21 April 2015 In Print: 23 April 2015 Photos and Words By Gianna Volpe Tripoli Patterson is all about the natural life. Whether referencing how he was born into this world, or his approach to, well, anything that captures his interest, Mr. Patterson credits his mother, Terry, for raising him to embrace the bold, creative and organic parts of life, just as she has. Thirty years ago, that meant giving birth to her son on her own terms: at their home in Sag Harbor. Twenty years ago, it meant learning to ride the world’s waves together, wherever they lived—from the East End to Bali to New Zealand—and well enough to be called championship surfers. Ten years ago, it meant introducing his late godmother, Lisa de Kooning, to fellow surfer and abstract artist Félix Bonilla Gerena, fueling a partnership and mutual admiration that would ultimately lead to the opening of Tripoli Gallery in Southampton. Today, it means continuing the legacy Mr. Patterson has started. On Saturday, he will open his second eponymous gallery with, appropriately, a new collection of Mr. Gerena’s work, dedicated to Ms. de Kooning’s memory, on the ground floor of Glenn Horowitz Bookseller in East Hampton. “I like the path that I’m on; I think life steers you onto different paths and you have to be [accepting of] that,” Mr. Patterson said last week inside the unfinished East Hampton space. “A lot of times, I compare things in life to things I’ve learned in the ocean: if you’re in a current, you don’t fight it because you’re not going to get anywhere. The ocean’s always more powerful than you are. The second you start battling, you’ll lose your energy, sink and drown. It’s the same thing in life.” Born to a mother with an extreme case of wanderlust, Mr. Patterson—who is one quarter Jamaican, Cuban, English and German—learned quickly to ebb and flow, living as other cultures do with his three siblings, the youngest of whom is rapper and artist Yung Jake. What he saw has shaped his perspective forever. “There are people out here that have so much and still find things to be upset about, or annoyed about, or angry about,” he said. “But when you go to other places and see kids that have absolutely nothing smiling, and they’re glowing because they’re happy, it just goes to show that the material stuff isn’t the stuff that’s going to bring you happiness.” “Life brings you happiness, love brings you happiness,” he continued, “and growing up out here, I think there’s a responsibility for locals from this area to uphold what we were born into. I want the galleries to speak to that.” Mr. Patterson has never been the artist himself, at least not in the traditional sense. But he could appreciate it: art by his peers—he helped them organize pop-up exhibits before ever dreaming of opening his own gallery—from his mother’s watercolors, to the abstract expressionism of her childhood friend, Ms. de Kooning. “I curated her first exhibit, even though she’d been an artist her whole life,” Mr. Patterson said of Ms. de Kooning, daughter of abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning. “My Mom said she remembers when they were younger, Lisa was always a great artist, but she could never really be one because her father was so well known. She’d get offered shows, but nobody wanted to see the work. She said the reason she let me show her work was because I was the first person that wanted to see it before giving her a show.” In 2009, Ms. de Kooning fronted the first month of rent for Tripoli Gallery in Southampton. Mr. Patterson had moved back to the East End with next to nothing—no family estate and no trust fund or inheritance to speak of. He had to make it on his own, crashing with friends that first summer. After all, he had assured Félix Bonilla Gerena a solo exhibition. “I had promised him a show even though I didn’t have a space for him yet, so I brought Lisa down to see it,” Mr. Patterson said of Mr. Gerena’s art. “She loved the work and ended up offering her private plane—a G-IV—to take back as many paintings as we wanted … When we landed in Westhampton, Lisa asked if Félix wanted to un-stretch the paintings in her Dad’s studio and, when I told Félix that, he was just so beyond himself … stretching the whole exhibition using Bill de Kooning’s old tools. When I saw in his eyes how important that was for him, it kind of instilled into me that I’m doing this for a reason. That levitated me into starting the gallery.” Mr. Patterson’s energy is that of pure- and positivity-laden passion laced with critical thinking. And if the success of his flagship location serves as any barometer—his initial six-month lease morphed into six solid years of operation, despite seasonality—there is no telling where globe-trotting art lovers could see the gallery’s growing brand next. Tripoli Gallery East Hampton will open its doors with a reception for “Félix Bonilla Gerena: For Lisa” on Saturday, April 25, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will remain on view through May 17. For more information, call [phone], or visit tripoligallery.com.

[thefreelancereport-blog]

thefrEElancereport is brought to you by Maximus Health & Fitness 130 East Main Street in Riverhead and Michelangelo’s in Mattituck Plaza.

IN THIS EPISODE: Host Gianna Volpe makes good on her promise to update listeners with an East End music scene update every five shows for the 15th featuring special guests Mick Hargreaves of the One Guitar project benefiting Maureen’s Haven Homeless Outreach Program and world-class guitarist Steph Paynes of Lez Zeppelin.

ALSO: Connections between musical legends Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page as well as Les Paul and the One Guitar project, Aquebogue’s sister hamlet Abequogue, the “American Dream” according to Nofo Crunch Granola owner & musician Dan Reyburn, a lesson in recording studios, the importance of thinking\dreaming BIG and the rise of female role models in traditionally male industries.

Freelance Journalist Gianna Volpe discusses breaking news on Long Island’s North and South forks, the latest trends in the rapidly growing culinary scene and brings interesting guests to the microphones. Gianna is an award winning journalist who has written for Times/Review Newspapers, RiverheadLOCAL, the Sag Harbor Express, Dan’s Papers and others. Her credentials are outstanding, her contacts numerous. And that makes it radio by appointment.

thefrEElancereport is brought to you by Maximus Health & Fitness 130 East Main Street in Riverhead and Michelangelo’s in Mattituck Plaza.

[agentjanefox]

The Sag Harbor Express/sagharboronline.com Trustees Talk Role in the Modern World Online: 11 March 2015 In Print: 12 March 2015 Photo and words by Gianna Volpe About 50 residents and community members gathered at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons on Monday at which representatives of the East Hampton and Southampton Town Trustees discussed their role in modern government. The Trustees of both towns trace their authority to colonial-era patents and were once the local governing bodies when King James II was on the throne in England. They remain to this day, with a primary focus on protecting the East End’s undeveloped common lands, including beaches and the bottomlands of ponds. The forum took place at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton. “The Trustees were the governing board long before there was a town board, long before there was a supervisor, long before there was a United States of America, so our patents are recognized right up ’til now,” explained Southampton Town Trustee Ed Warner Jr. “We had a lot of natural product that was here and was very important to England and that’s why they made sure we had good management practices in the colonies.” Mr. Warner, a commercial fisherman, said this focus on protecting natural resources has led to his interest in educating the town board and others on the ways of the bays and oceans, particularly in terms of the town’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. “When I first became involved in this program they didn’t even recognize sea level rise,” Mr. Warner said of Southampton’s LWRP. “One of the things that I brought to the Urban Harbor Institute is the understanding that we live on a barrier beach…that protects the mainland, and the town or the village is allowing people to build very big residences right close to the dunes…. Something that should be incorporated into this is a fallback plan. Basically, these houses should be moved back as the dunes and the beaches wash away slowly, which is inevitable.”

He said such plans should focus on things like making sure hard structures like rock abatements and bulkheads are avoided or only temporary solutions, and said care should be given to dredging projects. “You can only dig so much sand out of the ocean, and you’re losing fish habitat,” he said of the importance of doing environmental impact studies of dredging projects. “I’m a commercial fisherman and my son is a dragger and we work in these areas every year. It’s one of the most productive squid fisheries on the East Coast. It’s a multi-million dollar fishery, and if we take away the habitat for these squid, which is a bait for larger fish like striped bass, we’re going to lose all the bigger fisheries out here.” East Hampton Town Trustee Diane McNally stressed the importance of establishing such plans when there is not an emergency. “The LWRP was drafted at a time when everyone was…thinking about the resources on multiple levels as they need to be protected,” she said. “When people see that water coming at them, they panic and that’s when mistakes get made.” Southampton Town Trustee Scott Horowitz said he is interested in working respectfully alongside the town board when it comes to resolving such issues. “I think it’s important that there is a mutual understanding and a respect that each board has an authority and a jurisdiction and if there’s a respect for that, I think we can get along and work together just fine,” he said. “The press always likes to paint that there’s a big rift or a problem. Sometimes we do disagree, but there’s a lot of things we do have common ground on, that we do have respect for each other and we work hard on, but people don’t want to write about the train running on time, they write about the train wrecks…I’m very, very happy to work with whatever department it is – federal, state, the town, the county whoever it is…. The only thing I require is a mutual respect back and forth to the fact that we’re trying to solve a problem in the best interest of the people we represent.” That resonated with Southampton Town Board member Bridget Fleming, who said she came to the meeting because she also believes board and Trustee members should work closely with one another. “Our coastal resources are our greatest assets, so we have to work closely with the Trustees who have so much experience,” said Ms. Fleming. “They’re out there on the bays every day, so I really admire the effort and the experience. I think it’s always best for the community when two important decision making boards are working…with mutual understanding because we do sometimes have different points of view, different interests and different constituencies protecting different parts of our coastal assets and our resources, but if we have mutual respect we can learn from experience.”

[agentjanefox]

The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press/27east.com

Vines & Branches To Close Doors, Hamptons Chocolate Moves To La Parm

Online: 17 Feb. 2015 

In Print: 19 Feb. 2015

Words and Photos By Gianna Volpe

As Southampton’s Vines & Branches prepares to close its doors, chocolatier tenants Caroline and Evan Gappelberg of the Hampton Chocolate Factory have relocated just down the road to a brand new café that opened Tuesday morning inside La Parmigiana, taking over the Italian restaurant’s former deli space.

“It was a great stepping stone for us, because everything in life leads you to the next door,” Ms. Gappelberg said on Monday during an American Heart Association tasting event in the new space. “So, it was great, and now it’s going to be even greater.”

It was only one year after Rita Winkler opened her flagship olive oil and vinegar tasting room in Greenport Village that she expanded to two additional locations in Westhampton Beach—the phone number of which has since been disconnected—and Southampton, which restricted its hours to Friday and Monday effective January 31, a consequence of the East End’s seasonality that some business owners know all too well.

“You bite what you can swallow, and I think she started to realize … this is a resort town, so it’s a lot to take on,” Ms. Gappelberg said of the imminent closure of Ms. Winkler’s Southampton Village location. “She wanted us to take the space, and we can’t.”

In just a matter of days, Hampton Chocolate Factory has made itself right at home inside La Parmigiana, with chocolate bars, bon bons, baked goods, barque and toffee crisps sold behind the counter, and new products on the way—coconut macaroons and tiramisu almond, to name a couple. Additionally, the cafe will sell espresso, wine and paninis.

“We have a lot of things we’ll be rolling out in the next month,” Ms. Gappelberg said.

Ms. Winkler could not be reached for comment.

Hampton Chocolate Factory co-owner Caroline Gappelberg toasts the new cafe inside La Parmigiana in Southampton. 

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO

[thefreelancereport-blog]

thefrEElancereport is brought to you by Maximus Health & Fitness 130 East Main Street in Riverhead and Michelangelo’s in Mattituck Plaza IN THIS EPISODE: East End Eats Scoops - restauranteur Dennis McDermott’s official plan to return to Greenport Village, Paw Paw chef Taylor Knapp and North Fork Chocolate Company’s plan to partner with Riverhead’s Goodale Farm, Noah’s (former location of McDermott’s former Frisky Oyster) of Greenport prepares dinner at NYC’s James Beard House, the history behind the 8th wonder of the world aka the PHILLY CHEESE STEAK GYRO and how its creator, Dimitra Laopodis and restauranteur Kenny Loo are helping to address a dearth in delivery on the North Fork. ALSO: An update on Polishtown’s Birchwood, the etymology and correct pronunciation of the word “gyro,” the rise of Asian influences in NYC restaurants, how Gianna likes her cheese steaks, how to eat like a girl after her break-up, the difference between Middle Eastern and Greek baklava and everything you’ve always wanted to know about Kenny Loo as he gets taken back 30 to 300 years(what’s on his bed and in his car, his views on predestination, what he does on dates, how he fell in love with cooking) PLUS: Japanese influenced cuisine in Greenport, A reminder that the road you take to avoid your destiny is the one that takes you to it and answers to questions like, “Who paid to keep the lights on at Haiku Sushi in 2014” and “Why did those Crazy Greeks who converted the Carvel in Moriches into a Greek restaurant decide on Mattituck Plaza for a second location after a failed Southampton experiment and BRUCE BLOWS HIS NOSE. thefrEElancereport is brought to you by Maximus Health & Fitness 130 East Main Street in Riverhead and Michelangelo’s in Mattituck Plaza