This Week's Haul, Aug. 6: A whale of a time

And: 100 percent all beef never AI

Absurdly jealous of all the people that have seen whales close to shore along the midcoast this summer! More on that below.

Good morning from eastern Maine, where I can’t believe I’m saying this, but given some of the news this week, I am just confirming what I assume (hope?) is obvious: I have never and will never use artificial intelligence to write anything that appears on The Other Maine. Like, isn’t that obvious? I think it’s obvious. Maybe it’s not. I would feel really bad about myself if anybody thought I had asked Chat GPT to write this. I’ve never used Chat GPT and I feel a smug kind of satisfaction about it, quite frankly.

• I’m super interested in Troy Jackson’s very specific flavor of Maine accent, as this Press Herald story gets into a little bit. It’s certainly a different beast from the “r”-less coastal accent - an inland variety, perhaps, informed more by Irish and French ways of speaking than by the southern English folks that migrated here centuries ago. That’s just a guess, though. I’m no linguist, though at one point I thought I might want to be!

• Congratulations to Maine writer Virginia Schaffer on the publication of her culinary memoir, “Oyster Society,” out this week via Islandport. I think she and her crew are doing Maine culinary tourism in a way that respects the locals while also appealing to the tourists, and her story is very cool.

• Putting this very cool music festival on everyone’s radar: the second annual Farmer Fest Downeast. Three days of music, arts and makers, food, dance, yoga and much more, all at Swiftwater Farm in East Machias over the weekend of Aug. 28-30. Nearly 30 local bands! Screenprint your own t-shirt! Support local food and farmers! We love a homegrown festival experience.

• Happy birthday to my mom, Nancy, who turns 80 today! She is a Waldo County gal, through and through. If you leave a comment saying happy birthday to her I will read them to her and it will make her smile.

Remember a while back when they increased the speed limit on Interstate 95 in Maine from 65 to 70? People claimed at the time that there would be an increase in serious crashes, but that hasn’t ended up being the case - and the crashes that do happen almost always have to do with distracted driving (i.e. people on their goddamn phones). Anyway, that’s nothing compared with the statewide kerfuffle that occurred 70 years ago, when the state of Maine considered enacting speed limits at all. The plan then was to set a mandatory limit of 60 miles per hour (55 at night) on rural roads, 40 in residential areas and 30 in business districts, though the latter was eventually lowered to the still-standard 25. Though the limits weren’t officially approved until the summer of 1957, the public debate actually centered on “slow pokes” - folks that drove between 15 and 20 mph literally everywhere. The slow pokes sought to defend their glacial ways in letters to the editor. In the end, the only minimum speed that ended up being set was 45 on the highway - a highway that, in 1957, did not yet extend to Bangor.

Music & Dance

Aug. 6: Belfast Summer Nights presents The Class Machine and The Speed of Sound, 5:30 p.m., Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast

Aug. 6: Benefit concert for hospice volunteers feat. Rugosa Rose Trio, Andy Revkin, Bob Litman and Geoff Warner, 7 p.m., Burnt Cove Chapel, Stonington

Aug. 6. Sunset Series feat. DJs King Puma and Gonzo, 7 p.m., Hayford Park, Bangor

Aug. 6: How High The Moon: The Music of Ella Fitzgerald, 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 6: Nipmuck flutist Hawk Henries, Passamaquoddy singer Lauren Stevens and Salt Bay chamber musicians, noon, Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness, Bangor

Aug. 7: The Marshall Tucker Band, 7 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor

Aug. 7: Swingmatism jazz ensemble, 6 p.m., Surry Arts Barn, Surry

Aug. 7: The Sugar Snaps, 6:30 p.m., Milbridge Marina, Milbridge

Aug. 7: Mamma Mania, Abba tribute act, 8 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 8: Caroline Cotter, Tom DiMenna and Louisa Stancioff, 4 p.m., Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast

Aug. 8: Whatever It Takes local hip hop showcase, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town

Aug. 11: An Interdisciplinary Performance feat. Laura Cromwell, Philip Greenlief, Claudia La Rocco, Leslie Ross and Meg Wolfe, 7 p.m., The Cannery, Penobscot

Aug. 11: Billy Idol and Devo, 7 p.m., Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor

Aug. 12: Trio Mundo, Cuban-inspired chamber ensemble, 5:30 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport

Aug. 12: Bagaduce Music house party feat. Indian-Roots fusion duo Aditi Sethi and Jay Brown, 6 p.m. 49 South St., Blue Hill

Aug. 12: Twisted Swing Big Band, 6 p.m., lawn area, Bangor Public Library, Bangor

Theatre & Comedy

Aug. 6-9: Opera House Arts Presents John Cariani’s “The Darker The Night, the Brighter the Stars,” nightly, Stonington Opera House, Stonington

Aug. 7-9: The Belfast Maskers present “Pippin,” nightly, Basil Burwell Community Theatre, Belfast

Aug. 8: Comedian Matt Rife, 7 p.m., Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor

Aug. 9: Comedian Bob Marley, 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor

Aug. 9: “The Log of the Herring-Pumper Beryl,” live play reading based on herring boat logs from the 1950s, 4 p.m., Sargentville Chapel, Sargentville

Arts, Books, Film & Culture

Aug. 6: “Grow Food Safely in Urban Soils,” panel presentation, 5:30 p.m., Food AND Medicine, 20 Ivers St. Brewer

Aug. 6: Book reading with author Nomar Slevik, 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill

Aug. 7: First Friday Art Walk, 4-8 p.m., throughout downtown Bangor

Aug. 7: Book talk and reading with author Laura Emack on her two new novellas, 6:30 p.m., Bookspace, Bangor

Aug. 8: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts public open house, 1-5 p.m., Haystack, Deer Isle

Aug. 8-11: Studio Ghibli Fest screenings of “Tales From Earthsea” and “Only Yesterday,” daily, Black Bear Cinemas, Old Town

Aug. 8: Historical cooking demo and campus tour, 1-4 p.m., Jonathan Fisher House, Blue Hill

Aug. 8: Sam Neill memorial screening of “The Piano,” 7 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast

Aug. 9: “How To Find Hidden History,” talk by writer Avery Yale Kamila, 2 p.m., The Good Life Center, Brooksville

Aug. 12: Sailing heritage and ship talk with Capt. Daniel S. Parrott, 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill

Aug. 12: Left Bank Books presents talk and book signing with Richard Russo, 7 p.m., The First Church, Belfast

Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.

Aug. 6-Aug. 9: Bangor State Fair, daily at Bass Park, Bangor, click here for full schedule

Aug. 7-9: Belfast Harborfest, annual waterfront celebration feat. music, food, boating, kid’s activities and more, Belfast waterfront; full schedule available here

Aug. 9: Bucksport Arts Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Bucksport waterfront

Aug. 12: Mr. Drew and His Animals Too, animal presentation, 6 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library, Ellsworth

Aug. 12: Blue Hill Heritage Trust stargazing party, 8-10 p.m., Blue Hill Mountain, meet at Hayes parking area, Blue Hill

All summer long, the coast of Maine along the midcoast and Down east has been absolutely packed with whales - mostly humpbacks, but fins, too – following record schools of menhaden (aka pogies) into the bay and getting unusually close to shore. While our cetacean friends gorge on fish, Mainers and visitors have been treated to free whale watching from the comfort of dry land - something I personally have not yet been witness to, and which I am incredibly jealous of.

Have you had a close encounter with a whale this summer? Let me know in the comments. If you’ve got a photo or video, I’d love to see it! If I get a few I’ll share some in next week’s post. Oh, and just so we’re clear and so I can do my due diligence: if you happen to be out in a boat, don’t get too close to the whales! Stay 100 feet away, at least. We are so lucky we get to share a planet with them!