PROVIDENCE

Sonic youth
California Smile bring the noise - BY CHRIS CONTI

Playing to our strength

Nothing like a mass bust for a sense of old-time mobbed-up Rhode Island
Well, despite the fact that Little Rhody has become the poster child for the national recession, leading all states in statistical categories like unemployment and debt per capita, it is nice to know that we are able to deflect public attention from our economic crisis by playing to our traditional strength: organized crime.

By: PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 19, 2008

A self-help guide for the uninsured

Where to turn if you need health-care and don't have coverage
For the vast majority of Rhode Islanders — the insured — health-care is something you get when you need it. Feeling sick? Call the doctor. Slip and fall? Go to the emergency room or an urgent-care center. Need surgery? It's not fun, but it's covered.

By: MARION DAVIS | November 19, 2008

Unchecked power and secrecy — not gays — are the church’s problem

Vatican Myopia
Presenting more evidence that it just doesn't get it, the Vatican recently issued new so-called, "psychological screening guidelines" to weed out priest candidates with "psychopathic disorders," but only those related to sexual misconduct — specifically homosexuality.

By: MARY ANN SORRENTINO | November 19, 2008

Mister Sister picks up where Miko left off

Sex In The City
When Miko Exoticwear on Wickenden Street closed its doors for good this summer, Providence lost a local landmark.

By: AMY LITTLEFIELD | November 19, 2008

Heslin's rise: A change of the guard, but to what effect?

As The ProJo Turns
Thomas E. Heslin, the Providence Journal's new executive editor — like his storied predecessor — bridges two distinctly different journalistic eras.

By: IAN DONNIS | November 19, 2008

Down and out at Thanksgiving

Social needs are rising across Rhode Island, and things will get worse before they get better
In a time of widespread layoffs, decimated retirement accounts, and uncertainty about the fallout of the ongoing fiscal crisis, downsized requests for help are a sign of the times.

By: IAN DONNIS | November 19, 2008

El Tapatio

South of Providence, south of the border
Once upon a time, Rhode Islanders would have been enormously grateful to have a Mexican restaurant like El Tapatio in our midst: good burritos, enchiladas, and fajitas

By: JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | November 19, 2008

Review: Twilight gives life to the undead

Twilight puts the life back into the undead
Twilight puts the life back into the undead

By: PETER KEOUGH | November 19, 2008

Wandering Eyes

Ask Dr. Lovemonkey
I find myself lusting after some of the attractive young women with whom I work.

By: DR. LOVEMONKEY | November 19, 2008

Review: The Women of Lockerbie

Lockerbie overdoes the melodrama
Playwright Deborah Brevoort looked at the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, shook her head, and reduced the tragedy to its effect on one family and one town in The Women of Lockerbie , being staged by Roger Williams University Theatre (through November 22).

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 19, 2008

Review: Oklahoma! deserves the exclamation

It's hard not to enjoy a rousing production of Oklahoma!, for more reasons than any musical needs in order to get audiences smiling and humming afterward. URI Theatre is pleasing those familiar with the classic and winning new fans with a production (through November 23) that just can't stop moving.
URI heads to Oklahoma!

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 19, 2008

Harry Callahan's Eleanor photos

Harry Callahan’s photos of Eleanor at RISD
"I think I've photographed the same things all my life," Harry Callahan said in 1991. "Buildings and grasses and people walking." And, for a stretch running from about 1941 to 1963, that included his wife, Eleanor.

By: GREG COOK | November 19, 2008

Goldberg photos breathe life into Providence's underground

Photographer Peter Goldberg documents the subterranean world of the Combined Sewage Overflow project
Photographer Peter Goldberg documents the subterranean world of the Combined Sewage Overflow project

By: | November 13, 2008

Review: Portuguese restuarant Estoril

Inexpensive elegance
Usually, an ethnic restaurant in Rhode Island means one of two things: cheap eats or fancy surroundings. Estoril, in Fall River, offers a twofer — chandelier and cloth napkin elegance, plus good Portuguese food that’s surprisingly inexpensive.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 12, 2008

Providence music: The Cobra-matics, Coming Weak, and more

The return of the Cobra-Matics
Johnny Maguire, aka the Colonel, dropped a line to give the heads-up on his newly reformed rockabilly outfit, the Cobra-Matics.

By: CHRIS CONTI | November 12, 2008

Girl power at Halitosis Hall

Paiva Weed to reach lofty height in old boys' club
Phillipe + Jorge have always been strong supporters of state Senator Teresa Paiva Weed, the presumptive (God, do we hate that word) new Senate president.

By: PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 12, 2008

Grand union

Ask Dr. Lovemonkey
I have been together with a man for 14 years. We have a strong, stable relationship, a seven-year-old son who we adore, and everything is just fine except for the fact that his family has been constantly (and increasingly) pressuring us to "make it legal."

By: DR. LOVEMONKEY | November 12, 2008

Little state of RI brings big opportunities

Techwatch
The revelation that Rhode Island faces a $300 million-plus deficit for the current year is just the latest bit of dire economic news about the state.

By: IAN DONNIS | November 12, 2008

Newport Biodiesel's pipeline

Energy
While the return of gas prices to a more palatable level has stifled public discontent for now, it's hard to predict when the next oil shock may occur.

By: CARROLL ANDREW MORSE | November 12, 2008