This Week's Haul, Aug. 21: Saved by axolotls?

And: Do you even run for Senate, bro?

Good morning from eastern Maine, where today I am celebrating my 15th wedding anniversary to my sweet, silly, hard-working, exceptionally attractive partner Zach. We got married at a small farm along the banks of the Passagassawaukeag in Belfast, accompanied by chickens, a bagpiper, a gigantic glacial erratic boulder, 120 people we love and an elderly llama. He’s still my favorite, ever (Zach, not the llama). We’re going to Serendib in Ellsworth tonight to eat a bunch of delicious Sri Lankan/Indian food and toast to another well-lived year together.

• This turd sandwich moved to Bangor last year and has qualified to run for city council. Where have you seen him, you wonder? Why, just on the side of the road, holding a big sign “supporting” ICE. And “not being a white supremacist”. And screaming at Janet Mills. Thankfully, there are multiple people running for council that aren’t turd sandwiches. Please, for the love of Paul Bunyan, vote for them instead.

• Over the top macho posturing in his campaign announcement video aside - we get it bro, you’re strong, enough with the kettlebells - the actual content of Graham Platner’s debut as a U.S. Senate candidate is very strong, and even, dare I say it, encouraging. I agree, big guy: oligarchs are ruining this country. If he ends up being the one to take down Susan Collins, he’s got my vote.

• More 👏 organizations 👏 like 👏 this 👏 should 👏 raise 👏 money 👏 to 👏 build 👏 affordable 👏 housing

• I went to elementary school with this kid who’s only dream seemed to be to become a NASCAR official and wave the checkered flag and wear the stripey shirt and whatever. He was obsessed with Ricky Craven, the NASCAR driver from Newburgh. Anyway, Ricky Craven bought Speedway 95 in Hermon from Del Merritt, the guy that also owns Judy’s in Bangor and Cap’s Tavern in Brewer. That may be the most Bangor-area sentence to ever be written.

• I loved this story about an MDI Biological Laboratory scientist who believes that axolotls - the freaky-cute Mexican amphibians that can grow back their limbs - could be the key to unlocking human regeneration of fingers, knees, even heart tissue.

• Wake up babe, new tick nightmare.

40 YEARS AGO - AUG. 25, 1985: Barely two years after she shot to international fame for writing a letter asking then-Soviet President Yuri Andropov why he would want to start a war with the U.S., Samantha Smith, the Maine activist and actress, died at age 13 alongside her father in a plane crash just outside of the Augusta airport. Smith had become a celebrity nationwide - and especially in Maine, where she was viewed as a local hero by young people across the state. It was horrible. She was one of us.

My colleagues at the Maine Trust for Local News just announced that they are forming One Big Union, composed of not just the employees currently represented by the News Guild of Maine, but also the 40+ employees that work for the Trust that are NOT currently represented by the Guild. You should sign their petition that asks management at the Trust to voluntarily recognize them! I did! As a former News Guild member myself, it made my freaking day!

ICE detained a Congolese immigrant in Westbrook last week, who arrived in Maine in 2016 as an asylum seeker and who has been living here for close to a decade. Michel Tshimankinda is a health care worker, a pastor and a father of four with no criminal record. He has been sitting in a detainment cell in New Hampshire for more than a week. His family has no idea if he’ll ever be released, or if he will be deported back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the place they fled in order to escape violence. They face a long, arduous process in order to attempt to bring him home, and have launched a fundraiser to help pay the legal bills. There are countless more people like Michel - taken off the streets by masked agents and held indefinitely. He just happens to be here in Maine.

Music & Dance

Aug. 21: Brit Floyd, Pink Floyd tribute band, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor

Aug. 21: Songwriter Pete Kilpatrick, 6 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library lawn, Ellsworth

Aug. 21: Bookhead Sweettooth and the Sirens, 5:30 p.m., Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast

Aug. 21: St. John’s Organ Society recital feat. organist Jennifer Velazquez performing Mendelssohn and others; 7:30 p.m., St. John’s Catholic Church, Bangor

Aug. 22: Takoda Dionne, 6 p.m., Harbor Park, Ellsworth

Aug. 22: Songwriter Aaron Nadeau, Marshall Wharf Brewing, Belfast

Aug. 22: Chris Young, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor

Aug. 22: Scoby, 8 p.m., Hey Sailor, Searsport

Aug. 22: Pink Talking Fish, 8 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 23: Maine Saint Andrews Fife and Drum, 10 a.m., Ellsworth Public Library lawn, Ellsworth

Aug. 24: Sasha Beresovsky (piano), Yun Wen Chen (cello) and Ellias Dagher (piano), 4 p.m., Surry Arts Barn

Aug. 24: Luke Bryan and guests, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor

Aug. 26: Billy Idol and Joan Jett, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor

Aug. 27: Asleep at the Wheel and Jay Bragg, 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Theater & Comedy

Aug. 21 and 24: Broadway Comes to Stonington, musical theatre revue, 7 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Stonington Opera House

Aug. 22-24: “If a Tree Falls,” new original musical, nightly and Sunday matinee, Belfast Maskers’ Basil Burwell Theatre, Belfast

Aug. 23: Hot Summer Nights Burlesque from Eye Candy Dance Studio, 8 p.m., The Stage Door, Bangor

Aug. 23: Queen City Improv, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer

Art, Books, Film and Culture

Aug. 21: Moonlight Movie presents “Shrek,” 8 p.m., Knowlton Park, Ellsworth

Aug. 22: Movies in the Park presents “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” 8 p.m., Riverfront Park, Old Town

Aug. 23: “High Noon,” classic western, 2 and 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 23: Black Cat Radical Book Fair, author talks and workshops, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., First Church of Belfast and Belfast Free Library

Aug. 24: Hiyao Miyazaki Film Series, “Ponyo,” 7 p.m., Black Bear Cinemas, Orono

Aug. 24: “The Terminator,” 4 p.m., Black Bear Cinemas, Orono

Aug. 24: “Re-Animator,” 4 and 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 27: Chaplin at the Barn screening series shows “City Lights,” 7 p.m., Surry Arts Barn

Aug. 27: Author talk on “The Whyte Python World Tour” feat. Travis Kennedy, 6:30 p.m., Bookspace, Columbia Street, Bangor

Aug. 27: Horror Film Club, 7 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Bangor

Aug. 27: “Aquaculture for the People and the Planet,” screening and panel discussion, 7 p.m., Stonington Opera House

Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Food & Misc.

Aug. 22-23; Summer Art Market on Friday and Art Supply Sale on Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m., Waterfall Arts, Belfast

Aug. 22: Fourth Friday Art Walk, throughout downtown Belfast, 4-9 p.m., downtownbangor.com

Aug. 23: Butterfly Festival, feat. butterfly tagging, crafts, workshops and more; 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden; wear butterfly costumes!

Aug. 23: Hermon Recreation Summer Sizzler, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., 235 Billings Road, Hermon

Aug. 23: Bangor Area Derby vs. Casco Bay Roller Derby, 3 p.m., Piscataquis Ice Arena, Dover-Foxcroft

Aug. 24: Sunrise Paddle, 5 a.m., Hirundo Wildlife Refuge; meet at 35 Hudson Road, Alton

Earlier this week we watched the documentary “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted.” I love a music documentary, but in more recent years I’ve found that, more often than not, these films end up being sanitized portrayals of their subjects; hagiographies that don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, and present a version of the artist that’s been vetted by their entire team. Case in point: they’re never going to release the nine-hour Prince documentary because his estate didn’t want to allow ANY criticism of the artist, and have instead opted to make their own film that will show exactly the version they want you to see.

Anyway, I say this because “Swamp Dogg” is NOT one of those vanity pieces; it’s a weird, heartfelt and hilarious look at a truly unique cult figure in rock/funk/hip hop/bluegrass/whatever genre Swamp Dogg feels like playing this week. Swamp Dogg can’t help but be anything but himself, and the film shows exactly that. I loved it. Plus, now I’m a big Swamp Dogg fan. I highly recommend it. You can rent it on VOD for now; I don’t know when it’s coming to regular streaming platforms.