Good morning from eastern Maine, where this week, I made a really good pot of white bean chicken chili (even if I forgot to mash some of the beans) for my friend who came to visit for a night after she hiked Katahdin. Wow, my life is riveting right now!
I just want to say that I have had to drive across the temporary bridge on Stillwater Avenue in Old Town many times over the past three years, while Maine DOT workers construct a new one immediately adjacent to it. Last week, that work-in-progress new bridge collapsed. While it was never fully clear how long it was gonna take to build it, I’m guessing we’ll be well into a new decade by the time the new one finally opens. The project started in 2023, so I’m gonna say… 2033? Have fun waiting in traffic once classes start at UMaine!
Join me in attempting to make this three-legged deer in Machias nicknamed “Tripod” the next Jimothy. Tripod even has babies! Move over, Jimothy. There’s a new little freak in town. If that doesn’t take, might I suggest Doris, the Bucksport Golf Course moose?
If you enjoy reading about cool science and conservation efforts in Maine, then I encourage you to read this well-researched article from The Maine Monitor about efforts to save seagrass habitats along the Maine coast.
Some extremely cool documentaries are coming to the Camden International Film Festival next month, including films about icons like Carl Sagan, Desmond Tutu and Jean-Michael Basquiat, films about people who think they’re icons, like Elon Musk, and films from iconic doc directors like Alex Gibney and Barbara Kopple. Here’s the full lineup. Good stuff!
Scheduling note: There will be no Tuesday post next week (Aug. 25). I will be out of town and away from technology. There will also be a slightly (slightly!) abbreviated Thursday post (Aug. 27). We’ll be back to our regular posting schedule on Sept. 1!
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like the core elements of the summer tourist season in Maine have changed all that much in the past 60 years. I mean, sure, influencers didn’t exist back then. Nor did lobster rolls made with gochujang mayo or Airbnb. You could make the case that something like glamping existed - were the rusticators of the early 20th century doing it? - but more to the point: people come here for the same reasons they always have. Seafood, shorelines, the wilderness, and so on. During the summer of 1966 the Bangor Daily News asked summer people to weigh in on their experiences traveling through our fair state, and the results were about what you might expect: a mix of complaining and rhapsodizing. One fellow was upset that Bangor was cutting down beautiful old trees, and found the Paul Bunyan statue on Main Street distasteful. Another was mad that they couldn’t find a roadside farmstand that had cucumbers and tomatoes for sale. One wondered why places like Quebec and Hermon were listed on road signs, considering the former is very far away and nobody’s ever heard of Hermon (ouch). At least one person was nice enough to say that Mainers are some of the loveliest people around, and that she hoped the state would do more to encourage folks to stay put and not move away (also still true).
Music & Dance
Aug. 20: Belfast Summer Nights presents Fully Funktional and The Sugar Snaps, 5:30 p.m., Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast
Aug. 21: Liberty Tune Co. presents Rebel Daughter, Deery, Emmet Lalor and Winnie and Anise Hyssop, 6 p.m., Cedar Grove Sauna, Montville
Aug. 21: The Hot Suppers, 6 p.m., Marshall Wharf Brewing, Belfast
Aug. 21: Jessi & the Rhythm Kings, 6 p.m., Harbor Park, Ellsworth
Aug. 21-23: Live music from The Wayside 6 p.m. Friday, Hymn For Her 6 p.m. Saturday, Chris Ross 4 p.m. Sunday, Fogtown Brewing, Ellsworth
Aug. 21: Plague Dad, 7 p.m., Nocturnem Drafthaus, Bangor
Aug. 21: Holy Filth, Drowning in Blood, Militia, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Aug 21: TheWorst, Gailesh, Vanity Crisis and Active Stationary, 8 p.m., Eye Candy Studio, Bangor
Aug. 22: Zach Top and The Marcus King Band, 7 p.m., Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor
Aug. 22: Contradance with the Big Moose Contra Band, 7 p.m., Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor
Aug. 22: Coelacanth, Wormhole, Opus Decay, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Aug. 23: Acadian Music from Maine with Steve Muise and Robert Sylvain, 7 p.m., Stonington Opera House, Stonington
Aug. 23: Allegheny Ensemble plays Dvorak and Joplin, 4 p.m., Surry Arts Barn, Surry
Aug. 26: One Night of Queen tribute show, 7 p.m., Criterion Theater, Bar Harbor
Theatre & Comedy
Aug. 21-22: Opera Acadia presents “La Traviata,” 7 p.m. nightly, Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Aug. 22: Queen City Improv, 7 p.m, Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Aug. 22: Comedian Dave Attell, 8 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Aug. 25: The Firefly Experience, multimedia performance from Wabanaki artist Firefly, 6 p.m., Stonington Opera House, Stonington
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Aug. 20: Readings from “Echoes in the Fog: Literary Reflections on the Liminal Spaces of Maine’s Coast,” 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Aug. 20: “The Last Navigator: A Young Man, an Ancient Mariner, the Secrets of the Sea,” presentation by Steve Thomas, 7 p.m., Stonington Opera House, Stonington
Aug. 20: “What Should We Remember About the Declaration of Independence?” talk by Liam Riordan, 6 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport
Aug. 22: Tour of historic orchards and old apple varieties, 1 p.m., Jonathan Fisher House, Blue Hill
Aug. 22-23: Black Cat Book Fair, annual radical book fair, panels, readings, music and more; The First Church and Basil Burwell Community Theatre, Belfast
Aug. 22-26: “Steal This Story, Please” documentary screening about Amy Goodman, nightly, Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
Aug. 23: “How Lucky Can One Man Get,” John Prine documentary screening, 6 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Aug. 23: “Mobile Commoning: How Sharing is Caring in Climate Hope World,” talk, 4 p.m. The Good Life Center, Brooksville
Aug. 23-24: Studio Ghibli Fest screening of “Castle in the Sky, daily, Black Bear Cinemas, Orono
Aug. 25: Author talk with Ann Packer and Ayelet Waldman, 4 p.m., Friend Memorial Library, Brooklin
Aug. 25: Zine making workshop with the Maine Women’s Lobby, 5 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor
Aug. 25: Left Bank Books presents a talk by mystery writers Tess Gerritsen and Paul Doiron, 7 p.m., The First Church, Belfast
Aug. 26: Maine Outdoor Film Festival, 7:30 p.m., Knowlton Park, Ellsworth
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Aug. 22: Butterfly Festival, free family-friendly nature fest, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden
Aug. 22: Bass Park After Dark, artisan market and food truck fair, 4-9 p.m., Bass Park, Bangor
You got a silly picture of my dog at the start of this post; now here’s a silly picture of my cat. I’m heading out of state for a few days. I need a break!
