This Week's Haul, Feb. 19: Smell like a Maine vice president
And: Pro Libris is BACK, baby!
Good morning from eastern Maine, where tonight, I will be genuinely happy with any outcome at tonight’s gold medal matchup between the U.S. and Canadian women’s ice hockey teams at the Milan Cortina Olympics. I love my country. I love Canada. I love these badasses and their - dare I say it? - heated rivalry. Either way, it’s a huge win for women’s hockey. And it’s bound to be a hell of a game.
Thrilled to learn that Pro Libris, the beloved indie bookstore in Bangor that for 45 years was owned by Eric Furry (RIP) has new owners! Local writer Foxx Emm and their partner John Dixon purchased the store this week and have immediately reopened, with an eye to modernizing the store’s vast inventory. And - can you believe it? - Pro Libris is now on Instagram and has a website! Best of luck to them!
More cool Bangor business news: Shamee in Maine, a Middle Eastern restaurant that until very recently has operated part-time out of the Korean Dad shared kitchen space in Veazie, will open a permanent location in downtown Bangor later this year. The owners have leased 23 Hammond St., the former location of Bahaar Pakistani, and intend to expand the menu to include even more Levantine goodies.
I’ve never been much of a reality TV or reality competition person outside of a few notable exceptions (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”, of course, and the first ten or so seasons of “Project Runway,” namely), but I do love the fact that products of the show “Survivor” hid immunity idols in all 50 states and chose Monhegan for Maine. Quite a haul in the dead of winter to go find it, but these intrepid survivors were up to the challenge!
RIP to Frederick Wiseman, the landmark documentary filmmaker whose more than 50 films over the course of nearly 60 years are among the finest documentaries ever made. Wiseman directed “Belfast, Maine,” the stirring - and locally controversial - film about our beloved town of the same name, released in 1998. He lived part of the year in nearby Northport for decades, though he kept a low profile.
60 years ago this week, Maine voters narrowly chose to keep a ban on the sale of alcohol on Sundays. More than 30 years after Prohibition had ended, Maine still had many folks that believed the state should have some strictures on access to alcohol - and certainly on Sundays. You should be at church, not at the bottom of a bottle! After all, in 1851, Maine became the first state to outlaw alcohol altogether, nearly 70 years before the 18th Amendment outlawed it nationwide. It would take another ten years for Maine to approve Sunday sales of alcohol in the mid-1970s, and even then, you could only buy hard alcohol (liquor) at state-run and regulated stores. That practice ended in 1991. Now you can buy Fireball nips at the Irving, my guy. Drink ‘em and toss ‘em right outcha truck window.
Music & Dance
Feb. 20: Mood Honey, funk-soul band, 7 p.m., Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast
Feb. 21: The Met in HD presents “La Boheme,” 1 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 21: Thy Enemy, Horse Funeral, Dungavenhooter and Witch Spire, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Feb. 22: Belfast Flying Shoes presents English Country Dance with music by Carol Bittenson, Cecile Leroy & Daniel Raine and calling by Maura McCampbell & Chrissy Fowler, 2 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Church, Belfast
Feb. 26: Hot Ticket Hootenanny: A Very Feminist Variety Show fundraiser for the Maine Women’s Lobby, featuring songwriters Darcy Withers, Sara Trunzo and Sunny Marie, punk band TheWorst, ImprovAcadia, Eye Candy Burlesque and a feminist singalong, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Theatre & Comedy
Feb. 20: Cirque Kalabante, 7 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Jan. 29-Feb. 22: Penobscot Theatre Company presents John Cariani’s “Almost, Maine,” Wednesdays-Sundays, Bangor Opera House, Bangor
Feb. 12-22: Ten Bucks Theatre Company presents “Pride and Prejudice,” Thursdays-Sundays, Cyrus Pavilion Theatre, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 13-22: The Grand Players present “Murder on the Orient Express,” Fridays-Sundays, Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Feb. 21: Queen City Improv comedy night, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Feb. 21: “Girls Night: The Musical,” 5 p.m., Gracie Theatre, Husson University, Bangor
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Feb. 21: Screening of “Mississippi Masala,” 2:30 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Feb. 21: Black History Month film series screens documentary “Amazing Grace,” 4 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Feb. 22: “Serf’s Up: Home and Happiness in the New Feudalism,” documentary screening, 3 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Feb. 22: “A Tale of Two Adoptions,” talk by author Robert Klose, 4 p.m., Left Bank Books, Belfast
Feb. 24: “Interrupting a Screen-Based Childhood,” parenting workshop, 5 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Feb. 24: Creative Career Lab Skill Builder series workshop, 5 p.m., Bangor Public Library, Bangor
Feb. 24: Black History Month film series screens “Black Queer Short Films,” 6:30 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Feb. 25: Derry-Free Horror Book Club reads “This House Will Feed” by Maria Turead, 7:30 p.m., Bookspace, Columbia Street, Bangor
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Feb. 20-22: Bangor Anime Con, three days of anime panels, vendors, dance parties, cosplay and more, Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Feb. 21: Winter wildlife walk, 11 a.m., Hirundo Wildlife Refuge, Old Town
Feb. 22: Gabby’s Dollhouse Live, 6 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
(Re: The feature image for this post) I popped into Tiller & Rye in Brewer this week, to buy some treats for a friend and grab a quick lunch. As I perused the aisles, I came across this odd bit of marketing: body wash themed to historic Maine figures. I know when I think of Joshua Chamberlain, I think of the scent of warm sandalwood spice. Who hasn’t smelled refreshing citrus when considering the legacy of Bangor’s Hannibal Hamlin, who could have dramatically changed American history if he’d been allowed to stay on as Abraham Lincoln’s vice president? A little disappointed that Fly Rod Crosby’s body wash is unscented, however. This woman tramped through the Maine Woods and gutted presumably thousands of fish in her time. Surely she deserves, say, lavender and sage? Buttery vanilla? Cedar and pine? Freshly caught brook trout?