This Week's Haul, Aug. 14: It's not the heat...

... it's the stupidity. Er, the humidity? Timidity?

Kids enjoying themselves on a hot summer day at Dakin Pool, another Bangor Parks & Recreation facility. Photos from the Bangor Parks & Rec archive at the Bangor Public Library.

Good morning from eastern Maine, where most of my lawn over the past few weeks has burned up into a crispy carpet of dead grass. Even the bits that only get direct sun for a few hours of the day. Dead. Any rain we’re due to get in the next couple days won’t fix it.

• You, the Bangor citizen and taxpayer, do not get to vote on whether or not you think Bangor should invest in a badly-needed new recreation center because one city councilor isn’t sure about it. Years of studies, public input and recommendations - all of which have worked towards a plan to put the entire project on the local ballot, which was the entire point - and one dude gets to torpedo the whole thing. Now what happens? We’ve spent over $100,000 planning for a facility to replace a crumbling, asbestos-filled armory and an ice rink that’s ten years past its useful life - a facility that would serve multiple generations not just for sports and fitness, but also for child care, clubs, hobbies, workshops, rentals and more. One dude gets to say you don’t get to vote on it. Uh huh. Got it.

• At least Portland had the good sense to enact a moratorium on building a giant dumb Live Nation music venue that would push out local venues and make it harder for local bands and artists to perform. Portland’s hyperlocal music scene is one of the things that have made it such a cool destination over the years. A greedy corporation wants to ruin that. Thankfully, that’s not going to happen anytime in the near future.

• Burlington Coat Factory in Bangor is moving from its longtime location on Springer Drive near Target over to 6 Bangor Mall Boulevard, where Spirit Halloween has been for the past couple years. Will they have enough room to make the coats in their new, smaller digs? And, more importantly: wherefore art thou, Spirit Halloween? It was supposed to be at the former Borders/Books-a-Million this year, but I was out by the mall last weekend and I didn’t see nothin’ but a backhoe digging up some stuff (was it poop? Gosh, I hope it was poop).

• The Boston Globe is back with another hot take: Connecticut sucks. I have a different sort of modest proposal than kicking it entirely out of New England, however. I say we annex the pretty rolling farmlands of the northern quarter of the state and divide it up between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and then give the rest away to New York. The Globe is also rating the best rest areas in New England and says the one directly over the border in Kittery takes the cake for Maine. Sure.

• ANNABELLE THE HAUNTED DOLL IS COMING TO MAINE NEXT MONTH. Mere weeks after one of the leaders of the New England Society for Psychical Research’s leader was found DEAD. Should we allow Annabelle in the state if she maybe just killed someone? If you haven’t seen any of the movies in “The Conjuring” franchise, disregard this. If you have, how do you feel about the world’s most murderous Raggedy Ann doll coming to Augusta?

80 YEARS AGO / AUGUST 14, 1945 I think it’s safe to say that most of the people reading this have lived through very few truly life-changing historical events – the kinds of things that bring literally everyone out into the streets in either joy, relief, fear or sadness. Even if the means by which it ended were ultimately destructive, I often think about what it must have been like to witness the end of World War II, 80 years ago this week. I have nothing to personally compare to it.

You must check out Katahdin Kitchen in Old Town. I’ve not tried anything from their new location, but when they were in Veazie I tried a venison smash burger and it was FAB.

You also must try Bricks-n-Sticks at the Searsport Town Wharf. They make the best onion rings I’ve had in ages. Shrimp Po’ Boy is pretty darn good as well.

And, just for good measure, the cold-pressed pineapple juice with matcha and coconut milk at Mainely Juice in downtown Bangor is pretty stupidly great. I think it’s only on special this month? They do a bunch of Dubai chocolate thingies too, which, I mean: trendy, but whatever. Chocolate and pistachio do taste pretty good together.

And then, when it finally stops being ridiculously hot out, make these. They are absolutely delicious and are even better the next day.

Music and Dance

Aug. 14: Belfast Summer Nights presents The Right Track, 5:30 p.m., Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast

Aug. 14: St. John’s Organ Society recital feat. organist Edith Yam performing Liszt and others; 7:30 p.m., St. John’s Catholic Church, Bangor

Aug. 14: Bay Bash, fundraiser for Penobscot Bay Watershed preservation efforts, feat. Suzanne Rico and the Boneheads, 5:30 p.m, Bayview Point Event Center, Belfast

Aug. 15: Ciera McKenzie, 7 p.m., Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast

Aug. 15: Lazers in the Jungle, 6 p.m., Harbor Park, Ellsworth

Aug. 15: Guitarist Juanito Pascual, 7 p.m., Surry Arts Barn, Surry

Aug. 15: Gunshot Glitter, Gerrymanderers and And Then Some, 8 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor

Aug. 16: Bridge Street Summer Jam, feat. live music and barbecue, noon to 10 p.m., 20 Bridge St., Bucksport

Aug. 16: Doom and black metal night feat. Funeral Thirst, Mordhau, Ergi and Verhold, 7 p.m, Old Town Theatre, Old Town

Aug. 16: Chris Thile, 8 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 16: CEO and the Company, 6 p.m., Orono Brewing Company, Orono

Aug. 17: Essex Piano Trio, 7 p.m., Surry Arts Barn, Surry

Aug. 17: Old Time Music and Square Dance, feat. Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms and Golden Shoals, 4 p.m., Marsh River Theatre, Brooks

Aug. 20: The Outlaws, 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 20: Larry & Leslie Latour, Willy Kelly and Cafe Daze and Chris Fyfe, 7 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport

Aug. 20: Allegheny Ensemble and Amos Lawrence, 7 p.m., Surry Arts Barn, Surry

Theater and Comedy

Aug. 14-17: “Hello Girls,” new musical from Some Theatre Company, nightly at Some’s theater space at the Bangor Mall

Aug. 14: Season preview of the 52nd season of Penobscot Theatre Company, 6 p.m., Bangor Opera House

Aug. 14-17: “Rooted,” new play, nightly at the Stonington Opera House, Stonington

Aug. 15-17: “If a Tree Fails,” new original musical, nightly and Sunday matinee, Belfast Maskers’ Basil Burwell Theatre, Belfast

Aug. 19: “Bubblemania!,” family performance, 6 p.m., Stonington Opera House

Art, Books, Film and Culture

Aug. 14: Book launch for “Here in New England” by Mel Allen, 5:30 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport

Aug. 14: Author talk with Tess Gerritsen, 6 p.m, Ellsworth Public Library

Aug. 14: Moonlight Movie, “Inside Out 2,” 8 p.m., Knowlton Park, Ellsworth

Aug. 15: Goldenrod Guided Nature Walk, 4:30 p.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden

Aug. 15: Author talk on “On Media and Tyranny” by Fred Turner, 5 p.m., Hidden Barn Books, Bar Harbor

Aug. 16: Bangor Historical Society’s annual Great Bangor Art History Hunt, scavenger hunt through downtown Bangor, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Aug. 16: Horror Film Club, film selection TBD, 8 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor

Aug. 19: Book launch for “The End of the World As We Know It,” anthology of stories set in the world of Stephen King’s “The Stand,” featuring writers Catherynne M. Valente and Michael Koryta, 6 p.m., Bookspace, Columbia Street, Bangor

Aug. 20: Screening of Stephen King’s “Christine,” sponsored by the Bangor Historical Society, 8 p.m. at Mount Hope Cemetery; tickets available at bangorhistoricalsociety.org.

Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Food & Misc.

Aug. 14-16: Tractors, Treasures and Treats family fun day, including lawnmower races, flea market, tractor pulls and more; Randall Farm, 1075 West Plymouth Road, Etna

Aug. 15-17: Belfast Harbor Fest and Classic Boat Show, three days of activities for all ages on Belfast’s Waterfront; belfastharborfest.com.

Aug. 16: Champion the Cure Challenge; run, walk or bike, fundraiser for local cancer patients; race kickoff at 9 a.m. from Brewer; register here.

Aug. 16: Fort Knox Paranormal Fair, 1-4 p.m., Fort Knox Historic Site, Prospect

Aug. 16: Kenduskeag Days community festival, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., 536 Kenduskeag Road, Kenduskeag

Aug. 16: Maine Honey Fest, celebrating Maine honeymakers, food, vendors, etc; 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Bangor Waterfront

Aug. 16: Bass Park After Dark, food trucks, market and music, 4-9 p.m., Bass Park, Bangor

Karl Ramsdell’s photos on Instagram of otters, seabirds, owls, foxes and other Maine creatures are utterly delightful, but none of them are quite as delightful as his pictures of harbor and gray seals along the coast. From roly-poly big-eyed babies to massive bull males hauled out on the rocks, they are pretty much my daily moment of zen. Really makes me miss going to the beach when I was seven years old and pretending to be a mermaid. His account is very much worth a follow.

Photo courtesy Karl Ramsdell.