Local Color

Casting a romantic comedy is like eating. Just because you like sardines and cheese doesn’t mean you like them together. Sardines and cheese together is gross. As it turns out, so is the pairing of Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Individually, his sarcasm can be amusing, and her straining for comedy is occasionally funny. In “The Proposal,’’ neither brings out anything good in the other, and watching them try hurts the eyes, the tummy, and the libido. The nature of the genre, regardless of how it begins, ends with both parties in each other’s arms.

STOUGHTON - In 1821, young Asa Drake of Stoughton left his home and his parents on their farm on what is now Mill Street to settle in the new lands of the Western Reserve of Ohio. From 1821 to 1853, Drake and his wife, Charlotte, of Strongsville, Ohio, received letters from his family detailing the life and times of family members and other Stoughton residents. There were 58 letters in all, 33 of which pertained to life in Stoughton, and all of which were carefully preserved by the couple.

School Days , By Robert B. Parker, Putnam, 295 pp., $24.95 Robert B. Parker has been on a roll lately, so it is disappointing to report that the 33d Spenser adventure is a letdown. To his credit, Parker tried to vary the formula a little bit in "School Days. " Susan Silverman is out of town at a "shrink conference," so Spenser is unable to turn to the love of his life for advice and counsel, except in a couple of phone conversations (in one of them, she addresses him as "Hunko")

It’s the nation’s smallest state capital and, as far as we know, the only one without a McDonald’s. But Montpelier is far from sleepy. With its idyllic setting (beside the Winooski River, near the Green Mountains’ highest peaks), eclectic shops, and top-notch restaurants that emphasize local ingredients, the city has much to offer a weekender, along with a quirky friendliness that stands out even in a state known for being unconventional. Getting there: From Boston, it’s an easy three-hour drive on Interstate 89. The Visitors Center (134 State Street)

FRIDAY 1 p.m. Cannaregio check-in Le Mansarde B&B Rio Terra San Leonardo 1353/c 011-39-041-718826 cazzar.ola@libero.it Lodgings at this 18th-century palazzo have cooking facilities. $120-$145. 2 p.m. Join the crowd Basilica di San Marco Piazza San Marco 011-39-041-522-5205 View the interior of one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. 4 p.m. Dragonslayer Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni Castello 3259/a, Calle dei Furlani 011-39-041-522-8828 Renaissance oratory contains paintings of St. George and the dragon.

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday's Globe. Grant Llewellyn, music director of the Handel & Haydn Society, has preserved a relationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra that dates back to his appointment as assistant conductor in 1990. This week's program must be one of the highlights of his BSO career. The program featured a world premiere, Thea Musgrave's "Turbulent Landscapes. " Musgrave has written more operas than most living composers, 10 by now, and all of her music is dramatic in shape and progress.

Grant Llewellyn, music director of the Handel & Haydn Society, has preserved a relationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra that dates back to his appointment as assistant conductor in 1990. This week's program must be one of the highlights of his BSO career to date. The program featured a world premiere, Thea Musgrave's "Turbulent Landscapes. " Musgrave has written more operas than most living composers, 10 by now, and all of her music is dramatic in shape and progress. Whether or not it "tells a story," it always conveys emotion.

Mr Golightly's Holiday , By Sally Vickers, Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 356 pp., $24 You know a novel is going to carry big ideas when its opening sentence is 53 words long. "Mr Golightly's Holiday," Salley Vickers's third novel, invites you to sit back and consider the large issues of remorse, redemption, and creation. It begins as Mr. Golightly, head of the Golightly Enterprises, travels to the picturesque English village of Great Calne for a much-needed break from his business interests.

STOUGHTON - In 1821, young Asa Drake of Stoughton left his home and his parents on their farm on what is now Mill Street to settle in the new lands of the Western Reserve of Ohio. From 1821 to 1853, Drake and his wife, Charlotte, of Strongsville, Ohio, received letters from his family detailing the life and times of family members and other Stoughton residents. There were 58 letters in all, 33 of which pertained to life in Stoughton, and all of which were carefully preserved by the couple.

Verner Reed (1923-2006) appears to have been a restless man. Born in Denver, he graduated from Milton Academy and went to Harvard before wartime service in the Army Air Force. He later lived in Vermont, Boston, Vermont again, and a couple of places in Maine. He made furniture, sculpted, ran a restaurant, farmed, and tried his hand at jewelry-making and silversmithing. He also took photographs. There are some 26,000 prints and negatives in the Verner Reed Archive, now held by Historic New England.

Casting a romantic comedy is like eating. Just because you like sardines and cheese doesn’t mean you like them together. Sardines and cheese together is gross. As it turns out, so is the pairing of Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Individually, his sarcasm can be amusing, and her straining for comedy is occasionally funny. In “The Proposal,’’ neither brings out anything good in the other, and watching them try hurts the eyes, the tummy, and the libido. The nature of the genre, regardless of how it begins, ends with both parties in each other’s arms.

Verner Reed (1923-2006) appears to have been a restless man. Born in Denver, he graduated from Milton Academy and went to Harvard before wartime service in the Army Air Force. He later lived in Vermont, Boston, Vermont again, and a couple of places in Maine. He made furniture, sculpted, ran a restaurant, farmed, and tried his hand at jewelry-making and silversmithing. He also took photographs. There are some 26,000 prints and negatives in the Verner Reed Archive, now held by Historic New England.

FRIDAY 1 p.m. Cannaregio check-in Le Mansarde B&B Rio Terra San Leonardo 1353/c 011-39-041-718826 cazzar.ola@libero.it Lodgings at this 18th-century palazzo have cooking facilities. $120-$145. 2 p.m. Join the crowd Basilica di San Marco Piazza San Marco 011-39-041-522-5205 View the interior of one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. 4 p.m. Dragonslayer Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni Castello 3259/a, Calle dei Furlani 011-39-041-522-8828 Renaissance oratory contains paintings of St. George and the dragon.

MILTON -- Twice a week, the "foliage king" surveys his kingdom, checking up on the bellwether sugar maple just outside the Blue Hills Reservation, circling swampy Fowl Meadow where trees change colors first, and cycling up to the top of Great Blue, where he'll spot the bright orange, yellow, and red splotches rippling over the green hillsides. From atop Great Blue, Dave Furey -- a Blue Hills park ranger given the weighty responsibility of telling the rest of us where and when the local color is peaking -- gauges just how the foliage season is progressing and how many days are left in the fall display, and...

School Days , By Robert B. Parker, Putnam, 295 pp., $24.95 Robert B. Parker has been on a roll lately, so it is disappointing to report that the 33d Spenser adventure is a letdown. To his credit, Parker tried to vary the formula a little bit in "School Days. " Susan Silverman is out of town at a "shrink conference," so Spenser is unable to turn to the love of his life for advice and counsel, except in a couple of phone conversations (in one of them, she addresses him as "Hunko")

Reprinted from late editions of yesterday's Globe. Grant Llewellyn, music director of the Handel & Haydn Society, has preserved a relationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra that dates back to his appointment as assistant conductor in 1990. This week's program must be one of the highlights of his BSO career. The program featured a world premiere, Thea Musgrave's "Turbulent Landscapes. " Musgrave has written more operas than most living composers, 10 by now, and all of her music is dramatic in shape and progress.

MILTON -- Twice a week, the "foliage king" surveys his kingdom, checking up on the bellwether sugar maple just outside the Blue Hills Reservation, circling swampy Fowl Meadow where trees change colors first, and cycling up to the top of Great Blue, where he'll spot the bright orange, yellow, and red splotches rippling over the green hillsides. From atop Great Blue, Dave Furey -- a Blue Hills park ranger given the weighty responsibility of telling the rest of us where and when the local color is peaking -- gauges just how the foliage season is progressing and how many days are left in the fall display, and...

It’s the nation’s smallest state capital and, as far as we know, the only one without a McDonald’s. But Montpelier is far from sleepy. With its idyllic setting (beside the Winooski River, near the Green Mountains’ highest peaks), eclectic shops, and top-notch restaurants that emphasize local ingredients, the city has much to offer a weekender, along with a quirky friendliness that stands out even in a state known for being unconventional. Getting there: From Boston, it’s an easy three-hour drive on Interstate 89. The Visitors Center (134 State Street)

Grant Llewellyn, music director of the Handel & Haydn Society, has preserved a relationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra that dates back to his appointment as assistant conductor in 1990. This week's program must be one of the highlights of his BSO career to date. The program featured a world premiere, Thea Musgrave's "Turbulent Landscapes. " Musgrave has written more operas than most living composers, 10 by now, and all of her music is dramatic in shape and progress. Whether or not it "tells a story," it always conveys emotion.

Mr Golightly's Holiday , By Sally Vickers, Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 356 pp., $24 You know a novel is going to carry big ideas when its opening sentence is 53 words long. "Mr Golightly's Holiday," Salley Vickers's third novel, invites you to sit back and consider the large issues of remorse, redemption, and creation. It begins as Mr. Golightly, head of the Golightly Enterprises, travels to the picturesque English village of Great Calne for a much-needed break from his business interests.