Worcester -- Valerie Crockett, 53, a singer, songwriter and musician, died Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, after a three-year battle with leiomyosarcoma.

She leaves her husband of 30 years, Walter Crockett, a son, Jackson Crockett, and a daughter, Emily Crockett, all of Worcester; her father Carlton Orchinik, and his wife, Beth, of Drexel Hill, Pa.; two brothers, Miles Orchinik of Phoenix, Ariz., and Jeffery Orchinik of Dresher, Pa.; two sisters, Leah and Julia Orchinik, both of Drexel Hill, Pa.; close family friends Judith Kasser of Philadelphia, Pa., Janice Morgan Jones and Eric Greece of Worcester, and many dear friends in Worcester’s musical community and beyond.

She was born Valerie Ann Orchinik in Philadelphia, Pa., daughter of the late Alma (Jenkins) Orchinik. She attended Oak Lane Country Day School and graduated from Cheltenham High School ranked first in her class. She graduated magna cum laude from Clark University in 1978 with a degree in sociology. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Valerie had a long-time interest in mathematics and childhood education, and she taught math early to her children, both of whom became statisticians.

WCCA TV's live-in-studio music showcase "BAND EDGE" has completed its fall season and will be resuming a new season in January 2009.

Thank you to the eight local Worcester area groups who have participated for the fall season:Beatles For Sale, Tall Heights, Dan Lewis, Matt Schwachman, Pueblo Nuevo, Johnny Dollar Experiment, WPI Stage Band, Carmen Spada.

Cars by Joe Fusco, Jr.

I'm suing my wife under the Massachusetts Lemon & Lime law. I'm hoping for a large “pain & suffering” settlement so I can afford a limo-driver the rest of my damaged-days on this god-forsaken planet because I now Hate ( we'll substitute the word “Prune” for the F-bomb throughout this essay) Prunin' Cars!

Here's the maze-like backdrop: Last month, we bought my wife a 2007 grey Entourage, our first new used-car purchase in ten years. It has all the bells-and-whistles including a sunglasses-holder. My wife loves it!
We gave my 1997 black Lumina to my son-in -law who euthanized his 1995 red Chevy truck. It was a bittersweet exchange because the Black Beauty and I shared almost 190,000 miles of road together. Tears flowed like the proverbial waterfall as I removed the orange Tic-Tacs, loose change, and small hand-gun from the glove-compartment.

For $1, I bought my wife's 1998 green Voyager van, 93,000 miles young with a virtually spotless repair-record. For ten years it's been coddled, driven nine miles to work five days a week with an occasional vacation jaunt to Cape Cod or New Hampshire.

The Road Ends Here

Eighteen years ago last month, the first issue of Roadside hit the countertops. Thirty-five issues later (and eight more of By the Way magazine), I regret to have to tell you that the trip finally comes to an end. I have put an enormous amount of thought and consideration into this decision. Roadside existed not simply as a vocation and lifestyle, for nearly two decades, Roadside became my very identity. A future without it seemed unthinkable. And yet, here I am.

About a year ago, I embarked on a concerted effort to drum up proper backing for a serious media publishing enterprise that once and for all set Roadside on a solid business foundation with resources akin to what we had during the Ball Publishing year of 2000. After a great deal of consultation with friends, associates, and industry professionals, I set a goal to raise $300,000 in start-up capital. To help sell the concept to potential investors, I cited Roadside's extraordinary performance during the Ball period in which we had attracted almost 20,000 new subscribers. For whatever reason -- the shaky economic climate, general reticence to invest in a media property, or a too-narrow network of contacts -- the effort came up short.

After a long year BCM is back. We will no longer be publishing a quarterly print issue. You can now find BCM online at: www.blankcanvasmagazine.com

Our new online version has all the features and quality you have come to expect from BCM. You will find artists interviews and profiles, feature articles in our "limelight" section, weekly & monthly columns(with Steve Siddle's "The Way I See..." leading the way), an upcoming poetry section (updated by Poetry Editor, Kristen Sbrogna), upcoming events, plus our new blog and photo blog sections.

On Wednesday, October 1st, 2008, from 6-9pm, an opening reception will be held for The Ghosts of Wormtown, a rock 'n' roll photo show by George Query. Mr. Query is a brilliant and passionate professional photographer and rock music enthusiast whose love of visual culture and rock music led him to shows all over New England in the 1970s and 80s. With his trusty camera in hand, he captured the spirit of an age when the music scene in Worcester was supposedly so dead it was said to have worms crawling in it.

WORM BROS CONTEST :

WIN CUSTOM 'LIVE FROM WORMTOWN' CDS !

COVER PICS OF PRIZE CDS ARE IN THE 'CONTEST' FOLDER.

LISTEN TO THE NEW SHOW (09/20/08) AT : HTTP://WWW.WURN.ORG

Lancaster Coffeehouse organizers have announced that, after the November 22 show, the 11-year-old music series will cease to exist.

Organizers Jean Syria and Denise Hurley told volunteers Saturday, before the Vance Gilbert show, that they were going to take time to re-evaluate the group’s mission, before relaunching the series, with a new name and new direction.

Hermis Yanis will air “A Tribute to Ralph Moberly,” including footage of the Memorial Service held at the First Unitarian Church on April 5, over the next two weekends on his “Hermis at Large” program on Charter TV 3.

That's right, get your "band" together and come on down to the Lucky Dog Music Hall for our weekly competition! "Bands" enter at the beginning of the game for $5 and compete round-robin style against each other trying to out play each other on the same song and same difficulty level. If your "band" plays that song the worst, you are eliminated. Every round, one band gets eliminated...The winner ends up with half the pot! We'll be playing ALL NIGHT, every Wednesday night. If you miss out on one competition you can get in on the next one!