This Week's Haul, July 24: Peak summer in Maine
Going off the rails on the crazy train?
Good morning from the exceedingly pleasant greater Bangor region, where the weather is about as perfect as it gets each summer (which is pretty perfect.)
The new welcome center at Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument is one of the most interesting works of architecture to have been built in Maine in many years, and I can’t wait to see it for myself.
I don’t know about you, but I would feel very weird about my face being carved out of a cornfield so people can walk their children around on top of me. Then again, I’m not Cooper Flagg.
This beautiful New York Times profile of Patty Griffin goes into her childhood in Old Town and her time back in the area in more recent years.
There’s a guy in Bar Harbor who only wants to be known as “Professor Puzzles”. In other news, I now only want to be known as Chancellor Cheez-it (they’ve been on special at Hannaford, dammit).
BIG NEWS: Boston Globe writer makes shocking discovery that Maine is famous for seafood.
Extremely justified criticism of the “barnacle” parking enforcement tool notwithstanding, Bangor’s parking ticket amnesty period ends on July 31, so if you’re deep in the hole with unpaid tickets, now’s your chance to wipe the slate clean.
The Bangor State Fair’s in town but I don’t see no Zippah! Is there a Zippah? What about the Gravitron? Bumpah cars? Bumpah boats? I want to both throw up while spinning violently in a circle, and throw out my neck to the point that I have to turn my entire body in order to face you.
People still can’t afford a house in most parts of the state, even though Bangor is, by comparison, much more affordable compared to Portland.
Oh well. Maybe when I go to the beach for my birthday this weekend the sharks will come take me away.
In the span of one week, the private sector canceled Stephen Colbert because of “financial reasons” (which is totally what happened and not at all related to Trump’s lawsuit against CBS and Paramount upcoming merger, right?) and the public sector canceled the entire concept of public broadcasting. The defunding of public media is an incredibly stupid and unfair move - another shitty decision that will hurt people, to add to the long list of hurtful, shitty decisions made in Washington this year. Here in Maine, we are so lucky to have such thoughtful, eclectic and homegrown programming on both public radio and TV. I’m sure a lot of you reading already support Maine Public through regular donations, but if you don’t, now would be an excellent time to contribute any amount to making sure it stays on air. This is a very specific way to not only support public media, but to also use your dollars to combat this blatant act of censorship.
AND, more local to the Bangor region, our friends at Bangor Beautiful have launched a campaign to fund their next mural - an ambitious project that will partner with Maine Audubon to transform the ugly cement retaining wall at the corner of Broadway and State Street into a colorful depiction of Maine bird life. In addition to artist Allison Ross of Eastport, the project will also feature work by student artists from Bangor and Brewer high schools, and a native plant garden. You can help them make this happen by donating any amount to their fundraiser!
30 YEARS AGO/JULY 26, 1995: Auditioners didn’t know it at the time, but the cattle call for extras during the filming of “Thinner” in midcoast Maine would be the last time a Stephen King feature film was shot in the state. Now, it’s so rare for a feature film to be shot in Maine at all - and certainly not one with recognizable actors and directors - that it’s unlikely anybody under the age of 30 in Maine has ever seen a film crew shoot a movie in their neck of the woods. I remember when they shot “Thinner” – a very bad movie, by the way - just a few miles away from where I grew up. People still talk about it in Belfast and Camden. Do you remember it? Email me and tell me your story, or any other story about having a movie shot in your hometown.
Music & Dance
July 24: Panstorm, steel pan group. 6:30 p.m., West Market Square, Bangor
July 24: Lucius, Spencer Albee and Zachary Bence, 7 p.m., Criterion Theater, Bar Harbor
July 25: Bangor Contradance feat. Ben Foss, Sophie Wellington and Will Mentor, 6 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Society, Park Street.
July 25: Gordon Thomas Ward, 6 p.m., Union River Harbor Park, Ellsworth
July 25: Takoda Dionne, 6 p.m., Orono Brewing Company, Orono
July 25: Mark Neslusan and friends, jazz night, 7 p.m. Surry Arts Barn
July 25: Bailey’s Mistake, Celtic folk rock, 7 p.m. Stonington Opera House
July 25: Griffin William Sherry, Chris Ross and Adam Fox, 8 p.m., Criterion Theater
July 26: Smoke & Mojo, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing, Ellsworth
July 26: Bailey’s Mistake, 7:30 p.m., Hey Sailor!, Searsport
July 26: Roots, Rhythm & Dub, Three Tides & Marshall Wharf Brewing, Belfast
July 26: Forked Tongue, On the Outside, Ratblood, Fake Smile, Last Embrace, Old Town Theatre, 261 Main St., Old Town
July 29: Dead Gowns, 7 p.m., Stonington Opera House
July 29: The Black Crowes, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor
July 30: Dirigo Strings, 6 p.m. Bangor Public Library outside
July 30: Live and Collective Soul, Maine Savings Amphitheater
Comedy & Theater
July 24-27: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Ten Bucks Theatre Company, 6 p.m., Indian Trail Park, Brewer
July 26: “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” Camden Shakespeare Festival at the Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
July 26: Colin Quinn, 8 p.m., Criterion Theater
July 22-Aug 10: “Theater People; or, the Angel Next Door,” Acadia Repertory Theatre, Somesville
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
July 24: Horror Film Club, 7 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar, Columbia Street, Bangor
July 24: “Expressive Abstract Painting: Processing Emotions Through Art,” outdoor art workshop, 2 p.m., outside Bangor Public Library
July 24: Author talk with Jessica Berger Gross on her book “Hazel Says No,” 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library
July 24: Murder Mystery Night at the Ellsworth Public Library; come prepared to be a suspect; 6 p.m., sign up online
July 24: Premiere of season four of “Greenwitch,” locally-produced sci-fi TV series; 7 p.m., Old Town Theatre
July 24: End of session workshop tours and artist’s auction, 4 p.m, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle
July 24: Great Bangor Fire of 1911 walking tour, 6 p.m., leaving from Thomas Hill House, Bangor Historical Society.
July 26: Pop-up sale from horror and arthouse film studio Severin Films, The Emporium Spooky Goods, 22 State St., Bangor
July 27: “Cultivating Community: The Power of Gathering Spaces & The Impact of Belonging,” talk by Kyle Warnock, 4 p.m., the Good Life Center, Harborside
July 27: Robert Shetterly, Americans Who Tell the Truth presentation, 4 p.m. Surry Arts Barn
July 28-Aug. 1: 2025 College of the Atlantic Summer Institute: Path Breaking, with speakers including Doris Kearns Goodwin and David Hogg; College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor; coa.edu.
Fairs, Festivals, Markets & Food
Through Aug. 9: Schoodic Arts for All Festival, 60+ workshops and 11 performances, Winter Harbor, more info here
July 24-27, July 31-Aug. 3: Bangor State Fair, Bass Park, Bangor
July 27: Community clothing swap, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Red Rabbit Bazaar
July 27: 5th annual Armenian Picnic, 11 a.m., Searsport Shores Ocean Campground
HEY! Got a cool event? Email me at emilyburnham207@gmail.com, or leave a comment.
Your soundtrack for the morning. What else could it be? Rest in Power to the Prince of Darkness, John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne. Here’s my favorite (I think? Hard to pick) solo Ozzy song.