Good morning from eastern Maine, where this week, I felt a great awakening in the force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in sheer disgust at the mockery which has been made of the most fundamental tenets of American society. I feel something incredible has happened.
Fog of existential dread starting to lift notwithstanding, I’ll admit it: I was a Schroedinger’s cat of feelings about Troy Jackson defeating Susan Collins. I both knew he would win, and simultaneously also thought he wouldn’t win given previous attempts to unseat her. I should have had more faith! I am so glad I’m a Mainer. I love us.
If it turns out LePage squeaks by with a CD2 win by a couple hundred votes, well, I relish the thought of his first term in Congress being as a junior representative in the minority party in which his style of politics (loud, obnoxious, MAGA) was soundly refuted by the electorate. It’s not too late to go back to Florida, Paul! It’s truly where you belong.
The city of Bangor this week condemned the Bangor Mall, after years of delayed maintenance, fruitless attempts to redevelop the property and lawsuits against its parasitic owners, Namdar. While anchor stores like JC Penney and Dick’s Sporting Goods remain open, no one quite seems to know what will happen with the rest of the stores inside. I will have much more to say about this at a later date, but for now, say a prayer for Hot Topic and Spencer Gift. RIP, my childhood.
I am so happy for Lily Robbins, the incredibly brave young woman who survived the Robbins Lumber fire in Searsmont this spring and who finally returned home on Oct. 31 after months of hospital care. Read the Midcoast Villager’s moving interview with her from last weekend.
This week in 1986 the BDN ran a full-page story about what’s on the menu at the various dining commons at the University of Maine. Now, I went to UMaine in the early 2000s, and I now work for an organization that has an office on campus so I’m there regularly - so I can say with some degree of certainty that UMaine food hasn’t looked like what’s described here in years. OK, sure, eggs cooked to order, or burgers and hot dogs; that’s perfectly normal. What I want to know is what is broccoli strudel? Did college students in the late 1980s love Jello so much that they wanted it for both lunch and dinner? I always find it so interesting to see how food trends change, and to me, this looks quite profoundly different from what I experienced in the early 2000s and what I see today. The “saucy seafood sandwich” recipe looks alien to me, or at least like something my grandmother would have eaten in the 1950s. I love the idea of a Gen Z student eating cream of asparagus soup. Anyway, times change, don’t they? Stodder Commons doesn’t even exist anymore. Students on campus get their food delivered by robots. At least ramen is still cheap and plentiful!
Music & Dance
Nov. 6: Belfast Flying Shoes Contradance, 6 p.m., First Church of Belfast, Belfast
Nov. 6: Songwriter Ali Warren, 6 p.m., Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast
Nov. 6: Plague Dad 5 p.m., I Want My MTV 7 p.m., Black Moon Public House, Ellsworth
Nov. 6: Griffin William Sherry and Jake Swamp and the Pine, 7 p.m., Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Nov. 7-8: Bangor Symphony Orchestra and Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band, 7 and 1 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono
Nov. 7: The Leftovers, Americana band, 7 p.m., First Congregational Church, Blue Hill
Nov. 7: Cara and the Crowd, 7 p.m., Underground Lounge, 17 Court St., Belfast
Nov. 7: Bruce in the USA, Bruce Springsteen tribute show, 7 p.m., Gracie Theatre, Husson University, Bangor
Nov. 7: Alumni Jazz Band dance, 7:30 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Nov. 7: Kill Them With Kindness EDM night feat. Elswerth, Mixed Up Mike, Angel Eyed, Risin Son and Timmology, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Nov. 11: Bagaduce Music house party feat. Lily Neill and Clive Carroll, 6 p.m., 49 South St., Blue Hill
Theater & Comedy
Nov 5-8: Penobscot Theatre Company presents “Broomstick,” scary play for adults, nightly, Bangor Opera House, Bangor
Nov. 6: “Kevin Kling: Unraveled,” NPR storyteller and host, 7 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Nov. 6-8: New Surry Theatre presents “The Roommate,” two-woman comedy play, nightly, Blue Hill Town Hall Theater, Blue Hill
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Nov. 5: Author talk with Travis Kennedy and Robert Monroe, 6 p.m., Barliman’s, Bangor
Nov. 6: “Saving Walden’s World,” documentary screening, 6 p.m., Black Bear Cinemas, Orono
Nov. 7: “How Maine Commemorated 1876 and 1976,” talk with UMaine public history students, noon, Bangor Public Library, Bangor
Nov. 7: “Downeast Hardcore,” documentary screening, 7 p.m., Black Moon Public House, Ellsworth
Nov. 9: “Research Diving in Antarctica: 37 Years Beneath the Ice,” talk by Jeff Bozanic, 3 p.m., Delano Auditorium, Maine Maritime Academy, Castine
Nov. 9: “Talking Trash: Municipal WasteHub and Blue Hill’s Trash,” talk by Michael Carroll, 4 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill
Nov. 10: “Growing Old Together in Belfast,” local documentary screening, noon, Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Nov. 5: Mushroom identification walk with Frenchman Bay Conservancy, noon, Jordan Homestead, Ellsworth; register here
Nov. 6: WWE Road to Survivor Series: “War Games,” 7:30 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Nov. 7-8: Penobscot Gem and Mineral Show, daily, Brewer Auditorium, Brewer
Nov. 8: “Quarry Stories from Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition,” guided walk through Oak Hill Quarry with geologist Chris Mattson, 10 a.m., Oak Hill Quarry, Swanville
Zach and I did manage to get ourselves out and about for Halloween! Behold, our costumes. On the left: Zach, as the two sides of his own personality (dirtbag contractor and fancy lad). He’s better with a sewing machine than I am! On the right: me as Mothman, my favorite cryptid. Let it be known that this costume was incredibly comfortable, even with the battery packs for the red lights shoved inside my bra.
Did you wear anything fun? Did your kids or friends or neighbors? Sound off in the comments below. Between Halloween, the time change and the election, everything feels pretty otherworldly right now!
Me too!
I used that EXACT analogy to Hannah’s husband and son when they got off the ferry last night. That is what it felt like!!