Good morning from eastern Maine, where we have reached peak fall festival season. For my money, the top pick in the Bangor region this weekend is FallFEST at Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden, which coincidentally is also my favorite birdwatching spot within 15 minutes of my house. The day kicks off with a 5k trail run at 9 a.m., followed by the festival from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring crafts, activities, a taco truck, live music from the band Free Parking and other nature-inspired fun. Learn more at the Maine Audubon website, and thanks to them and the folks at Fields Pond for being such awesome community partners!
Hampden Academy is banning phones in school. Pro: students shouldn’t be scrolling TikTok and sending each other texts during class because it makes your BRAIN DUMB and your attention ZERO. Con: I totally get that parents are terrified that something horrible will happen and their kids won’t be able to call them for help. What is the compromise? I don’t know. Maybe it’s this? Get your kids a landline. They will totally love it lol.
I tried to think of something witty to say about this whole missing Maine absentee ballot thing, but quite frankly, the situation is so stupid and reeks so pungently of poorly-planned Project Veritas bullshit that I was stumped. Golly gee, I can’t wait to see which idiot(s) gets charged with both tampering with the mail AND election fraud!
Massive congratulations to Jeremy Frey, the incredible Passamaquoddy artist and Eddington resident, for his MacArthur Fellowship (aka the “genius grant”). Richly deserved.
I’m excited to read this new thriller set in Maine, “The Glass Eel,” but man, there are few words that make me cringe the way that word “quaint” makes me cringe. Some people hate the word “moist.” I hate the word “quaint.”
I was on Mount Desert Island recently and treated myself to some MDI Ice Cream Company. The Pain Perdu flavor - cinnamon and maple ice cream with a swirl of blended bread, butter and egg. Unbelievable. The best new ice cream flavor I’ve had all year.
UMaine men’s ice hockey starts this weekend! In the newly renovated Alfond! Let’s do this! GO BLACK BEARS.
The Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act was signed into law 45 years ago this week, an agreement between the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and Maliseet Tribes and the State of Maine to settle legal claims over millions of acres of land. In theory, it would close decades of claims from tribal people against the United States for lands taken in violation of federal law. In practice, it has denied tribal sovereignty to Wabanaki people in Maine, with the inclusion of a state-level law that limits the federal self-governance laws that all other Tribes across the country now enjoy.
While the State of Maine is immune from certain lawsuits and exercises jurisdiction over tribal lands, Wabanaki people are denied the benefits of the federal laws that allow other tribes to create opportunities for economic growth, improved health and services, and allow for self-management of natural resources. It has created a reality that is fundamentally unequal, with tribal people treated as wards of the state, and reservations in Maine treated as municipalities. Generations of Maine legislators and governors have refused to grant Wabanaki tribes the same rights afforded to all other federally-recognized tribes.
Indigenous People’s Day is this Monday, and we must not only recognize the original stewards of this land, but the fact that our state government perpetuates these unfair and unjust laws against tribal people in Maine.
PS: Donna Loring put it way better than I did earlier this year.
Music & Dance
Oct. 9: Monthly sea chantey singalong, 4 p.m., Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport
Oct. 9: Swingmatism Jazz Ensemble, 6 p.m., Bangor Public Library
Oct. 10: Jam Company, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing Company, Ellsworth
Oct. 10: Rhett Miller, 8 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Oct. 11: Jude Bros, Hamilton Belk and Is She?, 6:30 p.m., Working Loose, 49 Main St., Blue Hill
Oct. 11: Steve Earle, 8 p.m., Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Oct. 11: Metal show feat. Seasons of Ash, Castle Crusher, Neon Collapse and Perpetual Affliction, 7 p.m., The Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Oct. 11: Glassfishis, Oodelally, Telescope Club and Squore, 7 p.m., Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Searsport
Oct. 11: Live from Laurel Canyon: The Music of Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, 7 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, Orono
Oct. 13: Songwriter Jim Scott, Indigenous People’s Day-themed concert, 7 p.m., UU Church, Belfast
Oct. 15: Grand Kiev Ballet presents Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” 7 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, Orono
Theatre & Comedy
Oct. 10-12: The Grand Players present “Grease!,” at the Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Oct. 10-13: Some Theatre Company presents “The Addams Family Musical,” Fridays-Sunday at their theater space at the Bangor Mall
Oct. 10-13: Belfast Maskers present “One Blue Tarp,” by Maine playwright Travis Baker, at the Basil Burwell Community Theatre, Belfast
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Oct. 9: Author talk with James B. Wells on his new book, “Because: a CIA Coverup & a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew,” 5 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library
Oct. 9: Sip and sign wine tasting and book signing with author Katherine Langone, 5:30 p.m, The Store Ampersand, Orono
Oct. 9: Author talk with Matt Cost on his new book, “The Merry Adventures of Max Creed,” 6:30 p.m., Jesup Public Library, Bar Harbor
Oct. 9: Author talk by Martha Tod Dudman on her new book, “Curio,” 7 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library
Oct. 10: Silent book club; read a book in silence with others, 5:30 p.m., The Stage Door, Main Street, Bangor
Oct. 11: Workshop on kokedama, Japanese moss ball art, noon-1:30, Brewer Public Library
Oct. 14: Author Shannon Bowring reads from her new book “In a Distant Valley,” 7 p.m., Bookspace, Columbia Street, Bangor
Oct. 15: Hoppily Ever After romance book club, reading “Well, Actually” by Mazie Eddings, 7:30 p.m., Bookspace, Columbia Street, Bangor
Oct. 15: Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation Residency Project series presents readings from the first group of residents, writers Gemma Sieff, Anthony Varallo, Melinda Moustakis and Michael Shayan; 6 p.m., Bangor Public Library
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Oct. 11: Fall festival at Reigning Hope Equine Therapy Ranch, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., 305 Center St., Orrington
Oct. 11: Twilight tours of the museum, feat. ghostly storytellers, 3 p.m., Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport
Oct. 11: Hirundo Fall Fest, featuring naturecraft vendors, a jack o’lantern display, food, games and more; 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Hirundo Wildlife Refuge, Old Town
Oct. 11: Dark Market, local vendors selling spooky goods, 3-9 p.m., 35 Main St., Bangor
Oct. 11-Nov.1: Maineiac Manor Haunted House, weekends through Halloween, with limited no-scare days, Bangor Mall, Bangor; visit maineiacmanor.com to buy tickets.
Are you watching “The Lowdown” on FX and on Hulu (if you still have your Disney+ account)? If not, you should be. From Sterlin Harjo, the creator behind the incredible “Reservation Dogs,” this Oklahoma noir crime comedy caper stars Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon, an independent investigative journalist, antiquarian bookseller and general ne’er do well trying to take down white supremacists, a corrupt gubernatorial candidate and the family that runs dirty business in Tulsa. It is hilarious, exciting, wacky, weird and wonderful. It’s career-best work from Ethan Hawke. I truly believe Sterlin Harjo is perhaps the most exciting creator working in TV today.
Similarly, “Slow Horses,” on Apple TV+, is now in its fifth season and remains as gripping, well-written and mordantly funny as ever. Every second that Gary Oldman is on screen is a masterclass in sarcasm and subtlety. River Cartwright – or River Cartwrong, as his character so often is - is actually second fiddle on this current season, which puts the focus on the simmering rage and brilliance of Jackson Lamb, the acidic hyper-competence of Diana Taverner, and the utter buffoonery of techie Roddy Ho.
Both shows do two things amazingly well: creating an intricate, surprising, expertly paced plot, and drawing characters that are grounded enough in reality to be believable, but are still extraordinary enough to be fun. It kind of makes me sad (and, honestly, a little mad) that more people don’t watch them. Most people are watching football and reality TV and reruns of “The Big Bang Theory.” They don’t want to see Ethan Hawke get his mouth shoved full of raw paddlefish eggs by John Doe of the iconic punk band X. They don’t want to see Gary Oldman’s fart acting. I certainly want to see that. Don’t you? Don’t answer that.