Good morning from eastern Maine, where I struggled to sleep last night over the fact that the federal government is using its ability via the FCC to approve or deny telecom mergers as a cudgel with which to force individuals and companies to bend to their will and silence critics of the Trump Administration, thus violating the First Amendment and further eroding what I believe is the most sacred right afforded to us as citizens of the United States: freedom of speech. On Constitution Day, no less. OH WELL HERE ARE MY QUIRKY SARCASTIC BUT ALSO THOUGHTFUL MAINE TAKES.
Marden’s is moving from Brewer to Bangor! I have no clue why they are making what appears to be a lateral move as far as size and convenience, but I will be a little sad if they make this new location all organized and cleaned up, instead of the filthy chaos of the Brewer store.
The latest Bangor Beautiful mural (a collaboration with Maine Audubon) is almost done, and wow, it has really transformed a bland, ugly retaining wall into something really special. I’d say it’s the little things like this that make life worth living, but actually, this is a big thing - both physically and in the number of volunteers it took to make it!
Can this stupid debate about replacing slate roofs with visually identical shingles end now, please? For the love of Pete, let these two people replace their roofs and not have it cost more than the house itself is worth. I am all about preserving historic buildings, but there’s a difference between making sure a building is maintained so that it retains its historic characteristics, and being such strict sticklers about the letter of the law that the idea of preservation becomes completely unsustainable. I remember a while back when Bangor’s historic preservation commission raised a fuss about people installing solar panels or wheelchair ramps in their historic buildings, which seems ridiculous today - backwards, even.
This New York Times article about a couple of New York transplants to the midcoast that allegedly poisoned their 90-something-year-old neighbor’s trees reads like some brutal literary satire of wealthy WASPS from the 1970s. What is it about being rich that makes one so much more likely to suck?
Speaking of rich people: somebody bought Bette Davis’ Cape Elizabeth house - dubbed “Witch Way” - for $13.4 million. I really would like to think that Bette Davis was actually a witch, and was actually putting hexes on Joan Crawford there.
Did you know that “The History of Sound” - the sad gay romance starring certified cutie pies Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor as music students who are tragically in love - is set mostly in Maine? The film is based on two short stories by Massachusetts author Ben Shattuck, in which our two sad boys head to Maine to sadly study folk music during the 1920s. Ironically, it’s only screening at the Nickelodeon in Portland right now, and not anywhere else in Maine.
It always makes me feel a little sad when I hear about a Maine town unincorporating. Tiny villages like Magalloway and Codyville in Washington County, Cary in Aroostook County and Drew in Penobscot County have all chosen in recent years to unincorporate rather than continue having an organized town structure. I can’t blame them; I’m sure it makes more financial sense to not have to maintain all those services when the tax base is so miniscule. It’s not really a new phenomenon - it’s been happening for decades in the far-flung rural areas of the state. 75 years ago, the few remaining residents of the tiny town of Burdin Corner, located halfway between the towns of Guilford and Athens in Piscataquis County, chose to lay their burden down and all move elsewhere. A chapel and a one-room schoolhouse are all that remain of Burdin; the schoolhouse is abandoned, but the chapel appears to have been restored.
Side note: does anybody else love zooming in real close on Google Maps to find all the weird little villages and old place-names in Maine? Gone, but not forgotten.
Music & Dance
Sept. 18: Swingmatism Jazz Ensemble, 6:30 p.m., Bangor Public Library
Sept. 19: Brooke & Haley Duo, 6 p.m., Orono Brewing Company, Orono
Sept. 19: Midcoast Metal Meltdown feat. In the Kingdom of Nightmares, Midnight Possession and Revenant, 7 p.m., Hey Sailor, Searsport
Sept. 19: Smoked Salmon, jam band, 8 p.m., Paddy Murphy’s, Bangor
Sept. 20: Songwriter Joan Kennedy, 3 p.m., Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft
Sept. 20: River Bottom Funk, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing, Ellsworth
Sept. 20: Papa Roach and Rise Against, Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor
Sept. 20: G Herbo, Zeddy Will and Sisko, hip hop show, 8 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Sept. 21: Diderot String Quartet, 3 p.m., Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine
Sept. 24: Proletariat Pickers, bluegrass band, 5:30 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport
Theatre & Comedy
Sept. 11-14: Final weekend of Penobscot Theatre Company’s “Steel Magnolias,” daily, Thursdays-Sundays, Bangor Opera House
Sept. 20: September playreading group reads “The Corn is Green” by Emlyn Williams, 2 p.m., Bangor Public Library
Sept. 20: The Focus Group, improv comedy, 7 p.m., Next Generation Theatre, Brewer
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Sept. 18: 5th annual Ashley Bryan lecture, feat. poet and writer Anthony Walton, 7 p.m., Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor
Sept. 18: Maine Outdoor Film Festival, 6 p.m., Alamo Theatre, Bucksport
Sept. 19-21: Cat Video Fest, screenings daily, Alamo Theatre, Bucksport
Sept. 19-20: Screenings of Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” Criterion Theatre, Bar Harbor
Sept. 20: Singalong screening of “Grease,” 7 p.m, Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Sept. 20: Rock painting workshop with Holly Degen, 11 a.m., Ellsworth Public Library
Sept. 20: Screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Nausicaa the Valley of the Wind,” 2:30 p.m., Blue Hill Public Library
Sept. 22: “Why Superstitious Puritans Put Shoes in the Wall,” talk by cultural historian Jan Eakins, 7 p.m., Belfast Free Library
Sept. 22: “Hunting for Truth: PFAS Impact in Maine’s Natural Food Sources,” talk by Caroline Noblet and Dianne Kopec, 3 p.m. Norman Smith Hall, University of Maine, also on Zoom
Sept. 23: Book release party for “Alchemized,” new book by Sen Lin Yiu, 6:30 p.m., Bookspace, Columbia Street, Bangor
Sept. 24: Author talk with Martha Dudman, 5:30 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library
Sept. 24: “Parenting Talk: Anxiety & Worry,” with counselors Tara McKernan and Andrea Howell, 5 p.m., Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Sept. 20: Sunrise paddle, meet at Gate 3, 6 a.m. Hirundo Wildlife Refuge, Alton
Sept. 20: Fall foraging walk with David Spahr, 1 p.m., Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden
Sept. 20: Old Town Riverfest, annual community celebration feat. parade, music, kid’s area, food and vendors and more; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m, throughout downtown Old Town
Sept. 20: Cole’s Classic Car Show, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Cole Land Transportation Museum, Bangor
Sept. 21: Stephen King Birthday Carnival, feat. Stephen King-themed vendors, music, games, dog show and more, 2 p.m., Columbia Street, Bangor
Sept. 21: Belfast Paws-a-palooza; dogs only pool party for both big and small dogs; four time slots available to sign your pup up by visiting belfastme.recdesk.com; 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Belfast City Park pool
We’re only two episodes into this season of The Great British Baking Show, and I’m already very upset. They already sent home this year’s Nice Older Gay Man. There’s already been a technical challenge that is perhaps the most obnoxiously impossible one they’ve ever had (decoy ingredients? No recipe AT ALL? JFC). My current favorites are Nataliia, Jessika and Pui Man (that floating restaurant gingerbread creation!), but I feel pretty certain that, once again, Highly Competent and Handsome Gay Man (Tom, this year) will win (see: Peter, David, John). Noel is sleepwalking through the show, but hey, let the man get a paycheck. Alison is carrying the entire thing on her beautiful Brummie back. I read a great article in The New Yorker that said that Paul Hollywood is constantly huffing butts between takes.
I love this show. The stakes are present, but they are so low as to hardly register in terms of actual drama. It is televised valium.