Up portland march 2016

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March 2016

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They Don’t Paint By Numbers Here!

By Paul Baresel For Up Portland

Now, as the saying goes, art is in the eyes of the beholder and art is a media for an individual to express themself.

Well, there is nothing new about this notion and we know that well on the Peninsula as Portland can boast of its First Friday Art Walks. The walks are a grand monthly opportunity to view the latest style from a paintbrush, needle and thread, camera lens, potter’s wheel and more.

But let’s dig a bit deeper. Located in a studio in the State Street Building is a unique studio — really, more of a lab.

No, it is not the "reality show" Breaking Bad. It is, however, a non-profit fine art conservation lab which two art conservators, Bonnie and Domenico Mattozzi, helped to establish here in Portland. They are the founders of the Maine Project for Fine Art Conservation, better known by the acronym “Project MEAC”. I was drawn to them (yes, yes, it's a pun) as a resource to restore an old oil painting I inherited from my father years ago. The oil painting was in need of a good cleaning. How did I know it needed a cleaning? Dirt and dust would fall from the back of the painting every time the canvas was moved. The lesson here is to never keep a painting near a wood stove, which is exactly where it was located in my grandparents’ home.

Once I decided the work needed restoring, I started to ask the three obvious questions: Who? Where? And how Much? This landed me on the doorstep of Project MEAC, and it has been a learning experience for me ever since and is one I want to share.

Firstly, do you understand that there is a difference between restoration and conservation? I did not fully grasp this notion so I had to learn that restoration is, in a simplified term, to remove and repair. Conservation, however, is to preserve and protect the original artwork. But why is it important to understand the difference? One really has to

Gatherings, recent Paintings of Portland and Beyond by Henry Isaacs March 10 - May 8, 2016 Opening Reception with Artist: Thursday, March 10, 2016, 5pm - 7pm Curated by Nancy Davidson

Celebrating his move to Portland, the paintings shown are recent works ranging from wanderings near his new home to visits with friends and places around the world. Whether it’s people at play or work, or islands strewn across the reaches of Casco, Penobscot or Frenchman’s Bays, he uses all as elements to build his images. The subject is constructed from these individual parts and the tangible atmosphere that lies between.

Isaacs has had a varied and impressive education, including the Slade School of Art in London, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Putney School in Vermont. Isaacs’ teaching career is even more impressive and varied, with stints teaching anatomical drawing at Dartmouth, drawing and painting at the Massachusetts College of Art, and drawing at several European colleges.

Maine Jewish Museum

267 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 (207) 773-2339 Monday - Friday 10am-2pm + Sundays 1pm - 5pm or by appointment

mainejewishmuseum.org

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do their homework to identify what they are attempting to accomplish and how to do it. I learned very quickly that soap and water are not the universal cleaning agents — certainly not in this situation.

Most people feel that an artist creates an expression of their individuality in their work. This may be a perception of many artists and non-artists alike.

Conservators use their creative prowess to prevent further deterioration of an artwork. Conservators use their knowledge and experience to clean a painting without destroying it, so they know and understand which colours are needed to match the original paint, how to repair a damaged canvas and bring vibrancy back to the work.

OK, so what has this got to do with Project MEAC and me? Everything!

Project MEAC wants to expose art conservation through internships.

Internships which offer students an opportunity to get their paint brushes dirty and experience painting conservation. Internships which will help the candidate make decisions in their career direction. An intern does receive college credits for one semester, but more on that topic in a few lines.

First, some background on the founders of Project MEAC. Bonnie and Domenico have upper level education in fine arts. Bonnie Mattozzi is a professional associate of the AIC and a member of the IIC and has been involved in fine art conservation since 1986. She studied at Syracuse University, SVA, FIT and NYU’s National Academy, School of Fine Arts. Bonnie also earned her certification from New York University in appraisal studies in fine & decorative arts.

Domenico Mattozzi is a Professional Associate of the AIC. He graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti located in Naples, Italy... Italy, not Naples, Maine. He earned a BA in art history from Fordham University and is a candidate for an MA in art history from Hunter College.

Also, there’s Katrina Jacques, Senior Conservator for Project MEAC. She earned her BA and MA in Art Conservation from the Latvian Art Academy in Riga, Latvia, and received her conservation and restoration certification from the Republic of Latvia. She also taught classes in the fundamental theory of conservation & restoration at the Latvian Art Academy and has worked in art conservation labs since 1999.

Melisande Lopez, assistant conservator, graduated from the Maine College of Art locally in 2007.

Bonnie and Domenico met while working in New York City for the renowned painting conservator, Margaret Watherston in the late 1980’s. Famous, you say?!

Why have you and I not heard about her then? Well, other than pushing up daisies, she developed the most intricate methods of colour field paint conservation ever. Margaret was the former conservator for The Whitney Museum. Her expertise led her to be commissioned to conserve several WPA murals.

The WPA, known as the Works Project Administration, was a Federally funded project to employ people during the depression. The murals were very large and measured up to seven feet wide and 17 feet long. These murals were all over the country — from railway stations and post offices to the then-new airports in cities and towns big and small. Most were forgotten and not respected over time. Working under Margaret Watherston’s watchful eye, new art conservation techniques and methods were created. Ms. Watherson did author a book about conservation methods and made prolific notes as reference material for conservators, which is why, today we can still enjoy these remarkable murals all around the country.

Bonnie and Domenico moved to Portland in 1997 and have been in the same studio / lab location for all this time. In 2011, The Maine Project for Fine Art Conservation-Project MEAC became a non-profit organisation to educate and expose the public to the field of art conservation. It is a 501-C3 organisation.

But back to the painting at hand. Do you know that a painting is mostly composed by organic material? It has a life cycle of its own and is considered orPlease Continue On Page 22

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Hackin’ The Net

By Ted Fleischaker / Publisher Several topics to cover this month, but they all deal with safety and security in the financial world online, so let’s get right to them...

Firstly, I was going to spend a lot of time here on user names, passwords and security questions, but am running late as I mixed up my user name with my Apple ID and found myself locked out of my computer for the better part of a day this week.

I am actually just joking, but I did talk to a few computer geeks I confer with for bits and pieces in this column and find that a whole lot of folks really do not know their own user names, passwords or their Apple or other IDs... and we all should. That does not mean to make that password so easy that anyone can find it, because a no-brainer to you is a no-brainer to those with nefarious reasons they want to hack into your computer.

Gizmodo.com, that wonderful website which keeps up on and shares all sorts

1.) 123456 (Unchanged) 2.) password (Unchanged) 3.) 12345 (Up 17) 4.) 12345678 (Down 1) 5.) qwerty (Down 1) 6.) 123456789 (Unchanged) 7.) 1234 (Up 9) 8.) baseball (New) 9.) dragon (New) 10.) football (New) Further down the list are other brainless ones like 111111 and 696969 which say either a lot of folks do not have or make time to figure out a proper password, or that they have too much time on their hands, but could care less about spending any of it on their own security.

There is also the issue of what a password is, when compared to a user name.

The latter being what you type in (usually) that first window to let the system know it’s you and the former being those combinations of numbers, letters and all those “special characters” (like £ or & or %) to let the system confirm your presence.

There is also an Apple (or other, though Apple’s is by far the most widely used) ID most of us walk around with. That’s the one we need to enter to buy an app or log in to the iTunes store or do much of anything with Apple.

And then there’s the name and password we choose to give our WiFi — or not.

Some of us get creative to the max, while others do not even bother to change the Netgear or other name which our router had out of the box. Are we all lazy, have poor memories or are we just not that concerned? It’s hard to say with certainty, but I do know an amazing number of folks show up at the Geek Squad, Genius Bar or other service location with no clue what their own user names, passwords or Apple IDs are. This not only makes it hard for the techs who try and help, but can leave you locked out of your own phone, pad or computer.

Despite what some in Washington believe, it really is not always possible for the firm who made that device to break in for you (even if you are not a terrorist) so you would be wise to know what’s being used and how to get there ... even if that does mean writing it down and sticking it on a bit of notepaper in your fridge cheese drawer or somewhere no one would think to look for it. And please do not check MY cheese drawer as I took it out of there and moved my reminder note to the freezer last month!

Finally, on this topic, are other requirements which your bank, fave website or most every place you go (think the doctor’s office web portal or the stock broker’s site) might happen to have. These can be as simple as a picture which you are shown by the site to confirm it’s you (“If this is not your picture, do not enter your password,” our broker’s site cautions.) to something complex and which only you would know, like your mother’s home town or the name of your first pet.

The problem is that just like the passwords, user names and everything else the internet uses to identify us, all of these special characters, underscore lines and mom’s hometown as a kid slow down the process, frustrate a lot (OK, most) folks to pieces and are always said to be there for your (and my) protection. As I remind customer service reps who say that protection line, my set response is: Yes, and so are condoms, but I do not have to like them!

of fun, interesting and often — to we non-geeks — “trivial” bits and pieces said, after listing 2014’s most oft-used passwords, “We’re all doomed”. We might not find it quite that near melt-down, but check their 2014 top ten and see if you manage to make the list with any of your own user names or passwords. Note that unchanged, up, down, etc. mark what that password did between the 2014 survey and the one before it. And the top passwords are (the envelope please):

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If you forget one character or get two out of order or make a mistake, you usually get a couple tries before you are locked out of your chosen website — either for an hour, until you call customer service or (as the FBI found out to much ado) forever.

That’s why despite all the jokes about passwords and other info required out

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there you best be on your “A Game” when it comes to accessing anything more than the ball scores or the weather for greater Portland. Almost any and everything nowadays has a fence to climb or gate to walk through and just the slightest difference between what you entered when you first visited and now will leave you locked out. So remember — write down those passwords and user names and do put them in a safe (away from the phone, computer or pad) place.

Or select something you know and use it in most places and rotate it and change it every so often just to stay safe. And remember that i and I are not the same thing. And neither can you usually return for months (or ever) to an old password you changed somewhere. Nor can you avoid those special characters. So if you are like me, cuss and pound the table all you want when you forget and get locked out for an hour or till you make a call, but once things are back up and running, put your pride aside and write down the info so you won’t be back in the very same place next time you try and do mobile banking or buy an app from iTunes.

On a related topic, are you like me and frustrated about all the different payment options nowadays? A big fanfare was raised a year ago when we were all told we’d have chips in our credit cards and would have to use the chip and the PIN to do anything. No more “swipe” that card. Too bad only half or less of the stores and restaurants we visit have adopted the system. I read a few days back that some of the bigger stores purposely delayed implementing chip and PIN until recently because they were afraid it would delay customer checkouts during the busy holiday season. Instead they waited, let the smaller and less busy shops show us how to insert our card, wait for the chip to work and the directions on the screen and then go.

But the frustration doesn’t end with the chips. Recently, our bank implemented one of those systems where you can submit a photo from your smartphone of a cheque to deposit it. Too bad as yet the system is not available to business bank users at our small bank, so we are left trudging into the branch — though they do have great coffee and a smiling staff we like visiting with.

And several firms we deal with (AT&T among them) will now allow payment by cheque using a machine, a routing and account number and then will use the cheque without actually taking the paper. This means you get a receipt to prove payment but you also have your original paper cheque handed back by the machine or agent. It’s not only a quick way to get confused, but unless you do as I do (which is to staple the receipt the machine spits out to the cheque and then filing them with the bill I paid) it’s easy to forget what was paid what’s still due!

It’s almost as difficult as all those “special characters” — remember the £ or & or % — that password demanded back a few lines ago?

I do understand and I “get it” that all of this is for my security, safety and to make my life better and easier, but the more and more hurdles which the companies, computers and cards throw in front of me, the more appealing it seems to just write a paper cheque, put it in the envelope the company I owe sends, stick a stamp on it and mail it. Or even, God forbid, to pay cash.

Keep in mind I am not a millennial, a Gen X or Y or whatever, but an aging baby boomer with all the latest gear which sometimes makes me long for my college days of the 60s and 70s. We did not have all the immediacy we do now, we waited till after 11 p.m. for the long distance rates to go down to make a call home and the post office still had “Special Delivery” which cost 35¢. Those in many ways were the simpler days.

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Food For Thought...

What to eat as Winter makes every effort to slowly become Spring?

A lot of options as always here in Portland, but also as usual we have found plenty of possibilities. For one, we have been asked a lot by friends why we haven’t done a full review of many of the “big names” (dare we say “heavyweights”?) in food here. We did do Street & Co. and East Ender and on the other end of the price scale, Miss Portland, Becky’s Diner and Gilberts Chowder House. But to please the critics, this month we will take a full and delicious look at Duckfat on Middle Street.

In addition, and still on Middle Street, we will visit the venerable and not recognised enough for their great eats & atmosphere, Anthony’s Italian Restaurant. And we will offer some bits & bites about a few other spots, so grab your spoon and fork and let’s dig in...

First stop: Duckfat. One of the spots we ate when we visited Portland a year ago to house hunt. Not only because the hotel front desk recommended it, but because it was listed and written up in everything and everywhere from foodie magazines to websites as a “must visit” in Portland. Even my sister in Florida had heard of it and asked right away when she discovered we were in town looking for digs, “Did you eat at Duckfat yet? I’ve heard a lot about that place!” Fortunately, this is one case where all the hype was not just bluster, but Duckfat really IS that good. We did mention it in an earlier Up Portland review, but to give them their full day in our pages, we can say little aside from advising that you go there if you can get in.

In fact, that was what we mentioned previously because in season getting in the door of Duckfat is almost an impossibility. Hell, some days and nights it’s even nearly impossible to get a spot to stand and wait on the sidewalk out front You can find the restaurant easily: just look for the line of folks hanging out on Middle Street near India!

Going down on Commercial Street to hand out papers and talk to passengers on ships arriving here — and other tourists — which we at Up Portland did last Summer and Fall, it’s one of “the” places we most often got hit up for directions to — the others being DiMillo’s, Fore Street, Standard Baking Co. and Two Fat Cats Bakery. That said, now is we locals chance to go eat at Duckfat as aside from some weekends, during the off-season it is possible to fit in the door, especially if you wait until late in the evening to venture by. We walked in late one recent morning, too, about 11.30 and since they open at 11 every day (closing is at 9 p.m. every day but Fridays & Saturdays when it’s 10 p.m.) we were seated immediately. Try that in season and even some busy Winter weekends and you likely will come away with either a long wait or disappointment.

So what’s that good at Duckfat? So far we have found most everything on the small, but delicious menu is worthy of praise, and the staff here matches. We have never had a bad or grumpy server despite the fact that it seems most of the customers are out-of-towners, many of whom waited an hour or more for a tiny stool at one of the “communal” tables. I do not even want to think of what it would be like as a server here navigating that minefield of people, most of whom have never seen Duckfat’s menu so filled with queries with a heavy tray or a bunch of drinks. Somehow the staff here doesn’t just cope — they blossom at the task and always show grins, share stories and take the time to answer questions in great detail. More restaurants should send their staff to Duckfat for training time!

But at the end of the day what keeps we as locals coming back (and many visitors, too, as we seem to strike up conversations whenever we eat here) is what’s served. Duckfat does call themselves on their website, “...a small sandwich shop that has it all: classic Belgian fries made with local Maine potatoes fried in duck fat, panini, soups, salads, charcuterie, sodas and milkshakes all made in house...”

This reviewer would not only concur, but add that as has been the case with me at too many of the excellent eateries in Portland, I seem to get hung up on a few faves I order every visit. The result is I have to be “force fed” a taste of this or that I have never ordered by friends dining with me.

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Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

Best example: the salads and the Cream of Tomato & Fennel Soup. I generally am not a soup and salad as a meal kinda guy, but after recent tastes I might just be coaxed into converting from my usual three-item order.

What’s that, you ask? Why some of those famous duck fat fried Maine potatoes, a BGT and one of the shakes, which I always tell the staff to “hold” so I can enjoy it as dessert toward the end of my meal.

What’s a BGT? That’s one above, actually. Menu says Panini with bacon, Fern Hill Farm goat cheese and fresh tomato. I adore goat cheese and this sandwich is indeed to die for. Partner Ivan happens to prefer the House Smoked Brisket, but friends have raved (and handed over tiny tastes) of the meatloaf and Cuban,

too, and left me nothing but smiles. As far as the shakes, what can we say but thick, thick, thick. The folks at Duckfat also do not shy from non-traditional, so before you grab your nose and go, “is he crazy?” grab a sip of one of their shakes with buttermilk in it (if it’s on the specials list the day you visit) or try the sea salt caramel one.

The traditionals are also as thick as my mother-in-law’s head and that, my friends is pretty thick, though not bad since she had one herself on a recent visit from Indiana and proclaimed it one of the best ever. There is hope for everyone here!

Are there any down-sides to Duckfat? None for us, but if you re wanting privacy or intimacy, best book at Fore Street, Street & Co. or somewhere else as not only do they not take reservations here, but there are no “single” or “two-top” tables and the space (even if you are not carrying a tray) is claustrophobic so you are gonna eat your seat-mates whether you want to or not. Before you grimace my comment on that is “great” as we never cease to meet interesting folks in line and sharing our table at Duckfat.

And oh, yeah, there’s that little thing about a wait I mentioned previously, though at our house in season we cheat by sending someone down to put in our name and give his or her cell number then coming back home.

When they give the “soon” notice we walk down and get seated. But we know, we know, not everybody lives within a block of this noted restaurant! Good thing American Eagle makes those flex core jeans is all I’m sayin’.

Come puoi dire (How can you say) you have never been to Anthony’s?

• 24 years on Middle Street • 100 year old recipes • Home of the Real Italian • 60 sandwiches

• 15 Italian dinners • 10 pizzas • Beer and wine • FREE parking

151 Middle St. • Portland, ME • 774-8668 Boston atmosphere with Portland prices anthonysitaliankitchen.com

Cost for meals is same open to close at Duckfat, meaning there’s no lunch menu or dinner menu, though specials do change depending what’s locally freshly available and all that good stuff. A meal for two with no alcohol (website says and we have seen a “killer beer and wine list...”) seems to almost always run us $30-35. Add a more than fair tip for a staff which works hard for its money and it still is one of the better deals for great food in Portland.

Head over to Duckfat soon. Do not wait for the lines to sprout with the Spring tulips or if you do (or have season guests) try right at 11 a.m. when they open or just before close on a mid-week day. Whatever the wait ends up being, we find it’s worth enduring.

More info: www.duckfat.com Worth doing with no long waits we have found so far (but deserving of one as it is that good) is Anthony’s Italian Kitchen at 151 Middle Street. A word here about full disclosure: we generally do not accept free meals when we review and if we are “caught” by management making notes we usually decline freebies if offered. In truth, we have paid at Anthony’s before so when we were there for a recent meeting and Anthony took care of the bill, we happily accepted but we felt readers deserved to know.

That said, we have never had a bad meal here...or a bad carryout as they do package things up to go if one wishes. In Anthony’s kitchen or in ours the result is “bella!” as in beautiful. The biggest thing readers need to know about Anthony’s (and which took us forever to learn) is this is not “just” a pizza parlor. We were under the impression when we moved here this was “a pizza place” and while they do have excellent pies, they really are a full-service Italian restaurant so do not leave without trying their Antipasto Salad with Anthony’s secret dressPlease continue on the Next Page

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More Food For Thought... ing from a recipe his grandmother brought from Italy and dates back over 100 years or the best Chicken Marsala we have had anywhere (the Prosciutto makes it). Anthony also has the usual Italian menu of tortellinis and there’s a dish called Chicken Anthony which the menu describes as “Chicken, broccoli & ziti in a garlic butter sauce” and we will describe as as close to heaven as you can find for $13.99 anywhere in Portland!

Add in the home-made “family recipe” meatballs served with sauce and angel hair pasta, the garlic bread (worth a crispy mention) and add in good staff and some great pricing and it’s hard to see why they don’t line up at Anthony’s door every day.

On several recent visits, we did discover it’s popular with the student and budget lunch crowd for a daily $5 lunch special including a slice of the pizza of the day, a bag of chips and a drink from the cooler. But even if you don’t stick to the $5 deal, Anthony’s is known for huge portions... so huge that we both took our Marsala and Chicken Anthony home and had enough left for an additional meal the next day.

And if food and staff (mostly, but not all the family of owner Anthony Barrasso) is not enough to get and keep you coming through the door, then give a look for this Spring and Summer’s dinner theatre performances.

To quote from the website: “Why just go out to dinner when you can go grab something to eat, and see a show at the same time? Anthony’s Dinner Theatre features creative performances that change monthly. You do have to call in advance to make a reservation, and depending on the month, some shows tend to sell out quickly, so be sure to plan ahead.

Please check out our website for details at www. anthonysdinnertheater. com” It’s on our “to do” list for sure.

Anything else? Anthony’s delivers downtown, but only during lunch hours from 11 to 1 weekdays, with a $25 minimum, and the place (Did we mention this?) is hard to find, but well worth the effort.

Why hard? Because it’s in the basement of their 151 Middle Street building, and from the outside nothing looks too spectacular. Go down the stairs and prepare for a real shock. I know we got one the first time we descended to find a smiling

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Anthony, a hard-working staff and some super eats in huge portions with very cool Italian decor and photos including some of Anthony with his real friends who starred in the Sopranos! The best things are indeed worth looking for.

Anthony’s is open daily, except Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More info: www.anthonysitaliankitchen.com So what else do we need mention in the bits & bites department?

Well a reminder that it’s still Winter and that means you get a “deal” over at Gelato Fiasco on Fore Street when the mercury drops. When the temperature dips below freezing, stop by and get one percent off gelato dishes for every degree below freezing it is outside at the time of purchase. This offer applies to dishes only (not pints) and melts away when Spring blossoms. With any luck, we won’t be setting any records in the remaining weeks, but hey, when it’s 20 (for example) you won’t find it hard to swallow a 12% discount and if it magically hits zero you will get 32% off. It’s a great deal for some memorable desserts downtown.

Speaking of memorable, if you have memories (good or bad) about White Cap Grille you might want to hang onto them as it appears there are some major changes at their Middle Street address. The doors were locked (and remain so at presstime for this edition of Up Portland) and signs stating “remodelling” went up in January, but so far on several looks in the window we have seen nothing stirring inside one of downtown’s largest restaurant spaces, so we contacted the owner and got this e-mail reply to our query: “White Cap Grille is currently closed for renovations. During this period we have successfully re-positioned our fantastic staff at other owner-operated restaurants in the Old Port. For this I want to personally thank our good friends Brad Monarch at Sebago, Steve DiMillo at DiMillo’s, Tom Bard at Zapoteca and Doug Fuss at Bull Fenney’s. While we definitely expect to re-open as soon as possible, other factors are being addressed, including the needs of investors, better utilisation of the entire space, a fresh menu and even a change of concept and ownership.

164 Middle Street has been an outstanding location for great food and service for over 30 years, and I expect that to continue. More information will be provided when and as we know it. — Michael F. Mastronardi, Managing Partner, White Cap Grille, 164 Middle Street.”

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If this is indeed the end of White Cap we as reviewers can only say we wish the owners of the property and the rest of the staff good luck, though we must admit at the same time when we did eat there last Summer we honestly found it unremarkable in both service and food, aside from some great French Onion Soup.

LOVE Downtown. LIVE Downtown www.portlandmecondo.com

We will keep readers posted on any developments which reach our desk and hope this tale ends up happy.

And finally, with Spring around the corner (one of them, anyway) now is the time to run by Two Fat Cats Bakery over on India Street and get one of their savoury pies before they go on Summer vacation.

If you have not had one of these, they make a Chicken Pot Pie (below) and a Chili Pie in both large (nine inch) and small (seven inch) sizes. Ask for one of Two Fat Cats “green sheets” when you buy one. Those contain detailed heating directions and when followed really make their savory pies shine even more brightly.

Also on their menu, and new, is Two Fat Cats cookie dough you can buy refrigerated to take home and use to make your own cookies fresh from the oven. We have yet to try it, but if the cookies they have already made are any indication, this one will be a winner for you folks wanting fresh right at home (not to mention the aroma of cookies baking filling your house on a chilly, wet March day).

ANDREW ROY Associate Broker

c: 207.649.1166 o: 207.619.7571 andrew@portsidereg.com portsiderealestategroup.com

Two Fat Cats is open six days a week this time of year, so don’t go by Monday (Exception: Pi Day. You know: 3.1416 which is “pi” and is also Monday the 14th of March when they will open for special treats!) Hours the rest of the week (and Pi Day) are from 8 a.m. till 6 weekdays, 5 Saturdays and 4 Sundays. It’s at 47 India Street just below Munjoy Hill. Stop by and you will see why Two Fat Cats Bakery has been recognised in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit Magazine, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Travel & Leisure Magazine and Yankee. Not to mention The Food Network.

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The Standard Reviewer

By Bill Elliott / Up Portland’s Film & Theatre Reviewer

Joel and Ethan Coen have been a collaborative force in Hollywood for more than 30 years. While both share writing duties on their films and the pair works as a creative team, Joel has generally been regarded as the director while Ethan has assumed the role of producer (since 2004’s The Ladykillers, they have shared “co-director” credits).

Coen brothers films are noted for crossing genres (they have covered film noir, comedy, westerns, crime dramas, horror and romance), their quirky, often surreal humour, and references to classic Hollywood cinema.

The brothers’ latest film, Hail, Caesar!, is their 17th full-length feature film together and is probably one of their lightest, gentlest, and most unassuming films to date.

Hail, Caesar! is a love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood, referencing classic musicals, Busby Berkeley extravaganzas, Roman costume epics and Broadway living-room dramas.

The film focuses on Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), Capitol Studios’ “minder” and “fixer.” He is tough on the outside and soft in the middle, a devout Catholic and family man, whose job it is to ensure that the image of the studio and its main assets remain squeaky clean. In 1951, Hollywood was still in the grip of the restrictive Hays Code and America’s puritan-hypocritical ethos demanded stars who were uncompromised.

Mannix has a job on his hands. On the periphery of Janus-faced Hollywood circle predatory gossip columnists looking for juicy stories of drinking, drugs, adultery, orgies and connections to organised crime.

Hail, Caesar! begins with the Coens rummaging through their catalogue of favourite films to reference. In this case it is The Big Sleep, the 1946 Howard Hawks film featuring another pair of Hollywood collaborators, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Early in The Big Sleep, Bogart’s Philip Marlowe has to rescue the daughter of a wealthy businessman who is being blackmailed. The girl has been drugged, and (though it is implied and not explicitly stated in the film) unwittingly coerced into posing for pornographic photos.

In the opening sequence of Hail, Caesar!, Mannix, in a Bogart suit and hat, rescues a minor Hollywood starlet from a similar fate. He ensures that no trace of what has happened finds its way into the press. Like Bogart’s Marlowe, he makes bad things disappear.

Meanwhile, Hollywood megastar Baird Whitlock (George Clooney as a Hollywood idol in the mould of Clark Gable or Charlton Heston) is shooting a Roman biblical drama that is an amalgamation of Ben Hur and Quo Vadis (the film within the film, Hail, Caesar!, even sports the same subtitle as Ben Hur, “A Tale of Christ”).

A plot initiated by two of the film’s extras results in Whitlock being drugged and kidnapped by a disgruntled group of Communist screenwriters and academics.

Over sandwiches, the motley group of socialists engage in urbane and intellectual analyses of economics and history that intrigue Whitlock and draw him to

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support the Communist cause. He is a quick study and catches on that he and every other Hollywood schmo is being ripped off the by studio fat cats.

While Mannix is desperately searching for Whitlock (who is known for his drinking escapades and womanizing), he has to fend off the vulture-like swooping of two Hollywood gossip columnists, Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both played by Tilda Swinton).

Intertwined with the kidnapping plot are vignettes featuring a Busby Berkeley/ Esther Williams-like synchronised-swimming spectacle and a “sailors-on-shoreleave” musical (an amalgamation of classics like Anchors Aweigh and On the Town; the sequence’s feature song, No Dames revisits South Pacific’s There is Nothin’ Like a Dame).

These vignettes are really less than the sum of Hail, Caesar’s parts. While there is an obvious connection between several of the film’s threads, the whole really lacks a cohesiveness that would make Hail, Caesar! a really memorable Coen brothers film.

It feels more like one of Woody Allen’s throw-away films, the kind he makes between classics like Annie Hall, Match Point and Midnight in Paris.

There are some understatedly hilarious scenes dotted throughout Hail, Caesar!

In one, Mannix meets with representatives of the Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish faiths to discuss Hail, Caesar’s theological content. Mannix wants to ensure there is nothing in the film that is offensive to any religious group. However, rather than discussing Christian doctrine, the group of theologians quickly devolve into name calling.

The rabbi (played by Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Picardo) dismisses the film because he does not recognise Christ as the son of God. The Eastern Orthodox priest takes exception to some of the film’s action sequences: “the chariot scene is fakey. How could he jump from one chariot to another at that speed?”

Another scene features guileless singing cowboy actor Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich), who the studio is trying to groom into a matinee idol. The studio boss insists to Mannix that Doyle star in the latest Broadway adaptation, Merrily We Dance, by British director, Lawrence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). Doyle stumbles over Laurentz’s last name (calling him “Mr. Lawrence”) until Laurentz insists Doyle call him by his first name.

As the film begins shooting, Doyle struggles to open the luxurious living room door and shuffles over to a settee where a society ingénue sits waiting for him. If his entrance is awkward, when he opens his mouth it is a disaster. His hillbilly accent is clearly unsuited to the affected faux British speech patterns of Hollywood cinema in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Laurentz tries to coach him through his opening line: “Would that it were so simple.”

Doyle speaks the line like an Oklahoman drunkard struggling with Shakespeare.

Laurentz initially draws on all of his British charm as he tries to give instruction to Doyle, until he realises that Doyle will never speak the line in the way he wants. So, Laurentz blows his top.

Later, in another hilarious episode featuring Frances McDormand as a studio film editor, we see that the finished sequence from Merrily We Dance captures Doyle as a James Dean-esque method actor, broody and aloof, delivering the line perfectly. It’s a stroke of genius editing that the Coens would have been proud of.

Hail, Caesar! occasionally has more of a Wes Anderson than a Woody Allen feel to it. In places the film is witty, charming, and wonderfully wacky. But while Anderson’s films are built around surreal surfaces, there are always layers of substance beneath. Hail, Caesar! recreates the Golden Age of Hollywood not with a critical eye but as the studio system would have been happy for it to appear. I think audiences might expect a little more from a Coen brothers film.

Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag

By Stacy Begin / Owner, Two Fat Cats Bakery If You Don’t Like the Weather, Don’t Make Meringues Anyone peeking into our kitchen on one of the few cold days in February would have seen three aproned, intense bakers (including me) with furrowed brows hunched over a tray of shriveled and wizened meringue cookies. Finally, one of the three spoke up and said: “I really think it’s the weather.” Ah!! They all nodded and sighed in agreement. What else could it be?! Every other possibility had been considered and rejected. It was, no doubt, the weather. That explained everything.

If you think weather isn’t a real thing in baking, then you haven’t tried to make meringue, divinity fudge, cakes or any other sundry pastries on an inhospitable day.

Cold days, hot days, too much humidity, too little humidity all affect the quality, baking times and sometimes success or failure of your baking. At the bakery, we battle the weather in every season. My bakers have become so accustomed to changing baking times and recipes according to the weather that I swear I see a few of them out in the parking lot with their fingers in the air gauging the wind and temperature.

For instance, during this time of year we adjust all our baking times for cupcakes and cakes ...and sometimes even add extra liquid to the batters.

Why? Well, cupcakes seem to bake faster during a season with cold, dry air. Adjusting the bake time so that it is a minute or two less than normal ensures that we do not over-bake them and they retain their moist, delicious texture. It’s all about a baker’s instinct — knowing the recipes and how they react to weather, and keeping your eye on old Mother Nature.

Which is how three bakers (me included) came to be standing over a tray of meringue cookies that, although, really delicious, looked like shrunken heads, and concluded weather was the culprit.

We were using an old fashioned baking technique: not the culinary school style of baking at a low temp, turning off the oven and allowing the meringues to continue baking in residual heat for several hours. Oh, no! That would have been too easy.

We were testing the grandmother rule – slightly higher heat, shorter bake. The first batch was beautiful. Clouds of meringues that were crisp on the outside and marshmallowy (if there is such a word) on the inside. Perfect! We thought we had it. And, then, batch after batch failed. One after the other.

Frustration set in. Was the meringue over-whipped? Baked too long? Not baked long enough? Was the oven too hot? The cream of tartar inactive? The scoop size too small? Every lead was run down to no avail. That’s when one of the bakers remembered the first batch had been made on a dry day with temperatures pretty close to 60. We were now making them on a day with temperatures in the 30s and snow blowing outside. Yup, had to be temperature, right?!

You will be happy to know that we did finally find success with our meringues.

They came out perfectly lovely on a clear day with temperature in the 50s. What was the secret? Turns out it wasn’t weather at all – just whipping the egg whites a little more, a conclusion that had been rejected earlier by three bakers (me included). Well, we can still blame it on the weather, can’t we?

Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com Page 11

Customs House Is Bit Of History Among Commercial Street Shops & Restaurants

by Peter Michalakes for Up Portland On the first Independence Day after the conclusion of the Civil War, a Great Fire swept across the Portland waterfront. It was the most expensive and destructive blaze that any city in America had suffered until that time. While historians still speculate the actual cause of the fire, most direct their blame to a young boy, who just before the onset of the fire had taken an extraordinary interest in his small firecracker collection. Alone in a small boathouse near the wharf, this boy lit his firecracker and sent it flying across the room: Unfortunately, it landed next to a decidedly flammable pile of wood shavings and exploded. One can only imagine how he explained the incident to his family at the dinner table that evening — assuming their dinner table was not, by then reduced to ashes.

And so began the worst disaster Portland had ever endured. On this day in 1866, one of the most profitable shipping cities in the country had been burned to the ground by what had been a young boy’s game of solitary hot potato with an explosive twist. Treasured local poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow famously described what remained as “Desolation! It reminds me of Pompeii, the ‘sepult city’”.

Many residents shared this sentiment: That Portland had enjoyed its moderately successful run atop the economic food chain, but that this epoch was wholly buried under the ashes of July 4th. After the Great Fire, some thought, Portland was dead. Even the Exchange Building, the centre of customs services, post office, and local courts, was destroyed.

What the more derisive members of the Portland population had neglected to consider was a new kind of renaissance that was ready to rise from the ashes of the Great Fire. Only a short time after the blaze, blueprints for the next cornerstone of Portland maritime trade had been finished and construction was underway. The planned structure was

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Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

the United States Custom House, which was to be the new headquarters for the city’s entire Customs Service. By 1872, esteemed architect Alfred B. Mullet had finished the building. Like the other burgeoning Portland construction projects of the time, it was made from New Hampshire granite and slate composites — impervious to boyhood firecrackers of every kind.

The government-owned U.S. Custom House maintained its status atop the maritime trade industry and customs regulation from the date of its opening, where it was a constant force in the control of trade and tariffs. In addition to the regulation of imports and exports in the city, the Custom House also served to diminish smuggling and fraud in the shipping community at-large. The building had been in planning for some time before the Great Fire spurred it into creation: Annual customs duties profits were exceeding $900,000, and it was clear that Portland needed more developed resources to support that sort of income.

It was integral to the success of Portland’s economy that the Custom House be built, and although government funds for such a project were limited in the aftermath of the Civil War, the will of the population to keep its maritime industry strong brought the building into fruition. At no point in Portland’s history was this attitude more important than in 1866.

Today, the Custom House remains one of Mullet’s most preserved architectural feats. In 1973, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2013 the building reopened for business after a two-million dollar renovation. A century-and-a-half after its construction, the building persists as a government office for the Customs Service and may soon house office space for non-profits and other businesses as well.

In addition to its status as a tenant of Renaissance and Second Empire architecture, pleasing architect enthusiasts across the nation, the Custom House represents the will of Portland to bounce back from certain turmoil.

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Though now almost, it seems, “lost” during season among the tourists, t-shirt vendors, restaurants selling lobster rolls and traffic, the U. S. Custom House remains on the waterfront of downtown Portland and it’s still going strong.

Ever wonder about the inside (assuming you are one of those who drive or walk by the Custom House)?

Now, you can see and learn about this gem of history as Greater Portland Landmarks offers regular guided tours. To inquire about the next one, contact them at info@portlandlandmarks.org or stop by at their office at 93 High St. and learn about some local history.

All information for this piece originates from the National Register of Historic Places and the United States General Services Administration. Peter Michalakes can be reached at pmichalakes16@waynflete.org

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Eric’s Optimal Corner Eric Hilton / Optimal Self Community Health and Wellness Center I wanted to take some time to tell you about the simple aspects of life that are most important and totally overlooked: food, water and sleep. All are a basic formula that keeps us functioning. I call this “simple math”. Without the proper amount of each every day, our body will not work properly. Our bodies are probably the most amazing inventions on earth, aside from the planet itself. In today’s age we do not value our bodies enough and they are the vessels that allow us to accomplish everything we do. Our society has taught us to focus on external things to bring us happiness. The true key to happiness is what is inside.

To attain this happiness let’s look at the gift of our bodies and how to keep these beautiful machines running efficiently and smoothly, and see the profound difference that we can make with the right amount of food, water and sleep.

Food is the nutrients that we consume to provide energy — the building blocks of life. Our body is made up of a certain amount of necessary materials that all have a specific purpose and ratio. Without enough carbohydrates we will not have enough energy to accomplish the basic tasks of our day. Without protein we cannot replace all the nutrients which are used to grow everyday.

Certain fats and micro nutrients are needed to maintain the delicate functions of our brain, organs and basic bodily functions. If any of these nutrients are neglected our body will take from our existing structure to keep itself operating.

If we are already depleted, then our body will be in a deficit and may stop functioning on certain levels, inhibiting balance. If our bodies do not have enough nutrients to produce the proper amount of neurotransmitters in the brain (such as serotonin or dopamine) then they will not be able to create the proper balance of happy brain chemicals, which can cause depression and anxiety. If we do not have enough protein to build our body when we work out, then it will start to break down existing muscle tissue to survive.

There are certain functions of the body which are priorities. If these basic priorities are not met, then the body, like a house of cards, starts to collapse. It’s best to have more than just enough to allow the body to maintain its balance. So please do not deprive yourself of food for the sake of fat lost or for the desire to spend money to rent a video. Food allows you to enjoy everything.

Without it you will have nothing.

Next, you are water. The human body is made of approximately 60% water.

Water is used in every function of our bodies — hydration, digestion and maintaining proper homeostasis (the happy balance of our whole bodies). Our bodies are constantly using water. Besides what we drink, we absorb water from the air and through our skin. When we exert ourselves our body needs more water to replace what was used. For physical fitness activities we need more water to maintain our happy balance; especially when we sweat.

Before a workout it is important to already be properly hydrated so all we have to do is maintain the water we have during and after exercise. While we sleep our body is still using the water it has to continue its functions. Drinking a tall glass of water is vital upon waking. To be safe drink at least four glasses of water daily to maintain the balance — and for challenging or hot or workout days increase your intake. A good guide is the colour of your pee. If it’s dark, drink water. If you have a lot of salt in your day, drink more water. Every cell in your body is made up of water. So please honour your body and give it what it needs to be happy.

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Finally, there is rest. Sleep is undervalued in our lives. Sleeping restores your body. When we sleep our bodies go into a deep state of healing. If we do not get enough sleep, then we feel run down. We can start to feel agitated and restless.

If we suffer from a lack of sleep, we will never be in balance and the long term effect can start to wear the body down, inhibiting your ability to be happy day to day.

My recommendation is six hours minimum, seven for sufficiency, eight hours is perfect and more than nine is too much.

We should discuss that last thing. Yes, getting too much sleep is a negative, not a positive for our bodies. Sleeping too much makes us stagnant, which can make it hard to start moving in the morning. Every body is different and it’s up to you to listen to yours to know what it needs. Always get enough sleep and please do not neglect this essential part of the balance.

The simple math explained above is a guideline to living a balanced life. If any part of this equation is neglected, then the whole is neglected. Life can be hard day to day and sometimes we forget to nourish ourselves. Please create a structured lifestyle that provides this balance. This can be difficult if you are not used to it. It takes practice. However, the practice can help you achieve perfection.

The perfection of your body has an effect on everything in your life — including the world outside you. So strive to find your balance and be happy! You deserve it!

I am the owner of Optimal Self Community Health and Wellness Center here in Portland. If you have any questions, please come by and see me. Together we can find your happy balance.

Thank you, Eric Hilton.

The Essay

Our Occasional Personal Observation Column Voting is important and thus we urge all of the readers of Up Portland to take part in the March Maine Caucuses. To give a special perspective, upcoming in the April issue of Up Portland, staff writer Peter Michalakes will be providing a look back at the Democratic and Republican presidential caucuses for the 2016 election. Additionally, he will seek to recall some of its historical significance and the larger role that we each play in the election of our next President of the United States.

What makes this so special is that Michalakes is a high school senior who plans to caucus with the Democratic Party and to vote for the first time on March 6th.

At the time of this issue's release, Bernie Sanders is offering a spirited challenge to Hillary Clinton's presumed assumption of the Democratic nomination, and Peter reports that he looks forward to researching the positives and negatives of each candidate in order to make an informed decision at the caucus — a decision he plans to discuss in this space next issue, after he’s made it and voted.

For inquiries, questions, or concerns (but no electioneering e-mails, please), Peter Michalakes can be reached at pmichalakes16@waynflete.org We look forward to presenting a brand new young voter’s take on this hotly contested election and how he felt walking into the poll for the very first time. Don’t miss it!

—Ted Fleischaker, Publisher.

Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

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The Buck Stops Here

By Luke Reinhard / Advisor — Ameriprise Financial

Simple Steps for a Stress-Free Tax Season To set yourself up for a successful and stress-free tax season, and to ensure you hit the upcoming tax filing deadline, start getting ready now with these simple steps. �

Break tax preparation tasks into small manageable parts so that they don’t seem so daunting.

�

Decide who is going to prepare your taxes. If it’s a professional, ask for a checklist of items they need from you. If it’s you or your spouse, check last year’s tax documents for a sense of the information you’ll need this year.

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Create a paper or electronic folder for tax-related documents, such as W-2 or 1099 forms, so that you can store them in one easy-to-find place. Make a checklist for all the items you’ll receive, so you know when everything has arrived.

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Sort your receipts into categories and put the receipts for tax-deductible expenses — such as mortgage interest, charitable donations, childcare expenses, your FSA or HSA or other medical expenses — in a special file. If you have a home business, be sure to include relevant home maintenance, utility bill, business supply and parking receipts, as well as any other business expenses that may be tax deductible.

�

Total your paycheques. When you receive your W-2 or 1099 forms, check them against your records to verify the forms are accurate.

�

Track your mileage for charitable or business activities, including date, distance and the organisation or business partner you were working for, as the mileage may be tax deductible.

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Shred non-tax documents that contain personal information, such as account or Social Security numbers, name, address, date of birth, etc., to help protect yourself against identify theft. Do retain documents that help determine the cost basis of assets, like your home or securities.

�

Schedule time on your calendar or make an appointment with a professional to prepare your taxes. Given today’s busy lifestyles, this will help alleviate the stress of trying to find time last-minute.

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After your tax forms are complete, make copies of them and any other pertinent information. Save this documentation in a safe place for at least seven years, or as directed by your tax preparer, in case you experience an audit.

To get a jump start on next year’s taxes, save your checklist on the materials you needed this year and the steps you took to prepare them so you can repeat the process with ease. For additional advice, consult a tax professional.

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Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

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Processed Media

It’s no surprise Rocket League would go on to be downloaded over five million times, with an average of about 120,000 people playing at any given time. In a time of the year normally dedicated to not playing video games, millions of players (like myself) found themselves entranced by the game’s floaty physics, teambased gameplay and sense of strategic death; the most satisfying feeling I had playing a video game in years was scoring my first goal off a successful front flip at top speed, my blue car with bright green racing stripes careening into the goal at over 60 m.p.h. to score in sudden-death overtime against an opponent.

By Randy Dankievitch — TV Critic / TVOvermind (EDITOR’S NOTE—Welcome to our newest Up Portland column by Randy Dankievitch. Randy is a television critic hailing from central New York, who started writing about TV after moving to Portland in 2010. Currently, he writes about TV for TVOvermind and PopOptiq – and now Up Portland, where he’ll be writing about TV, video games, film, comics and anything noteworthy in the world of pop culture in our newest column, Processed Media.)

A Love Letter to Rocket League Back in the dusty yesteryear of 2008, scrappy indie developer Psyonix (whose team members worked on games like Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War) self-published their first title, a little game called Supersonic Acrobatic RocketPowered Battle Cars on the Playstation 3. Dubbed the first “physics-based, battlecar soccer game”, SARPBC was a genius nugget of an idea – but despite selling over 2 million copies on Playstation Network, never quite caught on because of its own technical limitations, not to mention what little content the game actually had to offer.

So nobody thought much of it when Psyonix announced in February of 2013, they were beginning development on a sequel to SARPBC, a game that would eventually be titled Rocket League. After a closed alpha test on the PC in early 2014, Psyonix then announced Rocket League would launch on the Playstation 4 and PC as the first truly cross-platform multiplayer game.

Still, it didn’t seem like people were all that excited to punch around an oversized soccer ball around with cars powered by turbo rockets; to suggest Rocket League would launch to a niche audience seemed obvious – even after Sony announced in early 2015 they had reached a deal with the developer to release Rocket League for free as part of their monthly “Instant Game Collection” offer to Playstation Plus subscribers.

On 1st July 2015, Rocket League hit the Playstation Store and Steam, and my daily dose of video games changed forever.

Opening Rocket League for the first time last Summer was more out of curiosity than excitement: how does one make a soccer game with cars not feel completely ludicrous and random (as many people complained about with the game’s predecessor?).

A few short tutorials and couple exhibition bots against matches, and it was already apparent Psyonix had stumbled onto something: with some seriously responsive controls and low skill barrier for entry, it wasn’t long before I felt empowered by Rocket League’s tools, a combination of easy-to-understand controls and car physics that translated wonderfully to the ‘beautiful game’.

The concept is unabashedly simplistic – at least on the surface – to grasp: players control one of a dozen-plus different customizable cars, battling them in arenas in matches from 1v1 up to 4v4, in either casual or competitive ranked matches. The best way to describe Rocket League is a mix of indoor soccer and Twisted Metal without the weapons: players have the ability to double jump their vehicles, utilising the rockets on the back of their cars to turbo boost up walls, through the air, and into other players to temporarily immobilise them, a game as strategic as it is chaotic, and as beautiful as it is accessible.

Even those who dismissed Rocket League as a goofy sports game couldn’t help but become addicted. I could name a dozen friends who have absolutely no interest in sports, who would drop a crying baby if they heard a session of Rocket League was about to go down.

Rocket League speaks not just to the sports lover, but the game lover: it offers a sense of progression with an experience system that is constantly unlocking new cars and accessories (like a shark fin hat, or a Fallout 4 antenna topper), and it never, ever tries to pander itself to either the ‘casual’ or ‘hardcore’ gamer: in the latter sense, Rocket League is a lot like a jet-fueled version of chess (with wall-jumping, backwards movement and huge explosions, of course). Chess can be played by anyone with a simple grasp of the game’s basic rule set: but it takes hundreds of matches to truly master the mechanics of Rocket League, the rare multiplayer game that engages players young and old, skilled or not, with a true sense of personal progression, not just a bunch of numbers on screen getting bigger after each game.

The first time someone completes an aerial hit by jumping off the side wall and turbo-ing into the ball in mid-air for a goal, for example, is a joyous moment not only for the player, but for his teammates; and it’s that sense of community and achievement that drives Rocket League’s surprising amount of engagement eight months after release.

With announcements of new modes, maps, and platform releases (an Xbox One version launched in February, and Psyonix plans to release physical copies of the game, not to mention digital versions for Mac and Linux), Rocket League is a game that’s here to stay.

Since a game only takes about 5-7 minutes to complete, it’s the kind of game players can fire up and play for 15-20 minutes at a time – and with anywhere from 85,000 to 110,000 players in the game at any given time, there’s no shortage of quality competition to be found.

Simply put, if you haven’t played Rocket League yet, you’re missing out on the best game of 2015, a game that stole my heart with its wonderful gameplay, thriving online community, and thumping original soundtrack. See you in the battle arena!

Sauntering With Mat

By Mat Robedee / Up Portland Commentator

Mat is off sauntering around the U.S.A. this month, going from Portland to New Mexico, then home via Austin, New Orleans, Florida & the East Coast. Look for a trip report & more in the April Up Portland.

Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com Page 17

Beyond The Forecast

By Jack Sillin / Weatherman & Meterology Student Hello everyone!

Any hopes Winter would make a triumphant return have been dashed bit by bit by our weakening but still powerful El-Nino (see January’s Factors Behind The Forecast for more on how that has killed our Winter). While you may be thanking your lucky stars this Winter has been a respite, remember many in our area depend on snow for a living, and some, including my publisher, just adore and live for cold, snow and more snow. Ski areas have struggled amidst warm and rainy conditions, those who depend on snowmobile traffic have been out of luck and anyone who plows or ice fishes hasn’t found this Winter to be very hospitable. Just a little perspective on the downsides of our mild February.

The mild February has been driven at the world-wide scale by El-Nino but seeing as I’ve already covered that, I’m going to zoom in a little bit and examine a type of storm we’ve seen several times this year, the Inland Runner. An Inland Runner is a type of storm that forms in the Deep South, usually over Texas then tracks NE just to the west of or just to the east of the Appalachian Range (large scale storms hardly ever track directly over mountain ranges). They are different from Nor’easters which track offshore and are also slightly different from Great Lakes Cutters which track more towards Chicago than Buffalo.

The cold lurks behind the cold front. In between, warm air is moving into the area but there’s nothing to make it rise, cool, and condense in an organised way. Near the warm front, there was cold air at the surface that the warm air was forced up and over resulting in precip. Near the cold front, cold air was sliding under the warm air which was forced to rise resulting in precip but in between, there was nothing to result in rising motion and so precip shut off. This is why precip from Inland Runner events typically plays out in two stages.

The first stage of precip was the snow and freezing rain from the warm front.

The second stage of precip was the heavy rain, high winds, and thunder from the cold front. This wave of precip was much more intense but didn’t last nearly as long. Winds ahead of the cold front were racing at hurricane force speeds just a couple thousand feet off the ground. The thunderstorms mixed down some of those winds to the surface through a process known as momentum transfer.

I’m going to take a more detailed look at our most recent Inland Runner which began impacting the region on the evening of the 23rd of February and finally moved out the morning of Friday the 26th. I will use this event to talk about some of the general traits of Inland Runner events and what impacts they typically bring.

Most Inland Runner events this year have been preceded by very cold air. We had one following an impressive Arctic blast that even set record low temps to our south. However, just a mere day later, temps were in the 50’s with heavy rain. The 23rd event was also preceded by cold air, just not as cold as the one the week prior. On the evening of 22nd February, Arctic high pressure was strengthening as it moved into the region. Temps were in the teens and single digits. This Inland Runner event was unusual in that it had a vanguard of sorts in a weaker storm that passed offshore on the 24th. This weak storm turned winds northeasterly which helped to keep that cold air around.

As it passed offshore, we saw moderate precip which brought about an inch of snow to Portland. As that storm passed offshore and the Inland Runner began moving up the Ohio Valley, we saw a lull in the precip in Portland. Farther north, a warm front kept precip going in the mountains where more freezing rain fell through the day on the 24th. This is one of the hallmarks of Inland Runner events: usually there is an initial wave of frozen precip associated with a storm and / or a warm front.

Another hallmark of Inland Runner events is a lull between the warm frontal precip (frozen) and the cold frontal precip (liquid). Why does the warm front bring cold precip and the cold front bring warm precip?

That has to do with the fact that fronts are named after the air that follows them. When a warm front approaches, the warm air is coming but hasn’t gotten here yet meaning we still have cold in place. When a cold front approaches, the warm air has already arrived and the cold is coming, thus we see liquid precip.

Page 18

As The Warm Winds Hit Cold Air, They Either Must Go Up Or Down Momentum transfer occurs when warm winds crash into a nose of cold air.

Think of a rock in a stream. Some water goes around the rock one way and some water goes around the rock the other way. The rock is like the nose of cold air while the stream represents the stream of warm air aloft.

While some of the winds turn harmlessly up into the upper atmosphere, some are deflected down towards the surface bringing very high gusts. This process is helped greatly by heavy precipitation which churns up the atmosphere even more, resulting in more forces (downdrafts, most specifically) to direct winds downward.

The crashing of the warm air into the cold air is the driver of the precip so this

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is a self sustaining cycle which is why lines of heavy thunderstorms can march east well through the night, even when there’s no daytime heating.

Portland’s thunderstorms on the morning of 25th February formed well to our Southwest where they brought very strong winds and tornadoes to the Southern U.S. They lasted through the night and survived a journey into much more stable, colder air in New England because the force of the warm air smashing into the cold air was so great.

We are more than just copies…

This explains why we heard thunder even in February and even in the early morning hours — usually the time of day least conducive to thunderstorms. It also explains why, if you own a NOAA Weatheradio you got first a severe thunderstorm watch which woke you about 2 a.m. that night and were roused from slumber again with a warning for the Portland and southwest Maine area when the actual line of storms rumbled through about two hours later.

and

As the cold air pours into the area following the cold front, things usually quiet down. Sometimes there are upslope snow showers in the mountains but usually things are pretty much done after the violent cold frontal passage.

and

The low races Northeast through the St. Lawrence Valley and high pressure moves in.

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So what’s ahead? As is my usual policy I don’t put anything in stone very far out (that’s what my Up Portland forecast is for every day on our website at www. upportland.com), but looking briefly towards March, Winter may have one last gasp around the beginning of the month but after that, for we snow and Winter lovers, Spring is quickly approaching, which is my way to say Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday 13th March at 2 a.m. Set your clock ahead one hour and put those boots, boards and skis away until later this year when we can hope for a La-Nina and colder than normal Winter of 2016-17. —Jack

and

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While an upper level disturbance interrupted this process in the late February event, that’s usually how Inland Runners end.

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Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com Page 19

Red Claws Hoping To Help Claw Back Historic Abyssinian Meeting House It’s one of Portland’s oldest, most historic buildings. It’s one which was barely saved from the Great Fire of 1866, and yet The Abyssinian Meeting House on 73 Newbury Street in Portland, the third oldest African American Meeting house in the United States, has been sitting in an unrestored state for years — ever since being rescued from the wrecking ball, following stints (after the meeting house left) as a garage, shop and boarding house.

Built by free African-Americans just eight years after Maine entered the Union as a “free state,” it was once an important cornerstone for Portland’s African-Americans.

The congregation assisted those on the Underground Railroad find their way to freedom, which was in Canada.

150 years ago, ships with runaway slaves disembarked on the Maine State Pier.

The slaves would walk up to the Abyssinian Meeting House on Newbury Street in

group attempting to restore the building’s efforts to do so. Such involvement is nothing new as the Red Claws’ parent team, The Boston Celtics, played an integral role in the civil rights movement dating back to the 1950s. It was in 1950, that The Celtics became the first NBA team to draft an African American player when they selected Chuck Cooper in the second round. In 1966, Bill Russell became the first African American coach in North American professional sports.

The players and Red Claws officials got to see the inside of the East End building up close and personal, as well as to hear from members of the restoration group about what was required to get this far, including inclusion of The Abyssinian Meeting House on the National Register of Historic Places and authentication with several Underground Railroad historic organisations. Most vital, they heard about what will be needed to finish the restoration of what organisers hope will become a community centre on Newbury Street.

search of help. It was the first place the self-emancipated slaves went. They’d come up to the Meeting House and a hack driver would quickly take them away to safety.

A close-by second hand clothing store provided them with clothes as disguises and a barber in the area could cut their hair and provide them with things so they’d look different.

Also in this building, William Lloyd Garrison and, local legend has it, Frederick Douglass, gave impassioned speeches . It's a very significant building and historic site which addresses civil rights, personal freedom and equal opportunities for all — not only African-American history but Portland and Maine history.

Recently, in honour of Black History Month, and as a part of the National Basketball Association’s involvement with observaces across the country, the building was toured by members of the Red Claws, together with the NBA affiliate’s president and director of community and public relations. The group, hosted by Pam Cummings President and Director of Education, Len Cummings Sr. and James Ford, Co-Director of Education, visited the site to learn of The Abyssinian and its historic significance to city and state history, and hopefully to play a part in the non-profit

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The group was transfixed as they saw historic photos, viewed the interior of the almost 200-year-old structure and heard stories, including one of the building’s narrow escape from the 1866 Great Fire. It was only saved when a Black member of the fire department and member of the church ran to the building during the blaze, soaked blankets in an ancient stream which ran through the basement and hoisted them to the rooftop, where he and other members spent that entire July 1866 night stamping out embers and rewetting the blankets. As a result, The Abyssinian was one of only two neighbourhood structures to escape the flames, the other being The Observatory, further up Munjoy Hill.

Those gathered also heard that recent excavations have found the remnants of the 1800s stream and attempts are being made to showcase the basement as a part of the restoration. It is hoped that the Red Claws involvement and other educational efforts will spread word of the work being done, and the final result will be a restored Abyssinian Meeting House in the not-too-distant future.

For more information on the project, or to see inside yourself during a tour after the weather warms a bit, contact Pam at cummipa@aol.com or friend the Abyssinian Meeting House on Facebook or visit www.Abyme.org The phone is 207/233 8387.

Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

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Paint By Numbers...

Continued From Page Three ganic. Early painters used materials available to them at the time of their work.

A conservationist’s goal is to match the colours in damaged areas and not paint over the original work. Also, where a painting is displayed is a major factor affecting the painting's life. Light, moisture, dust and temperature change are just a few of the conditions which will cause the painting to deteriorate, so the goal of conservators is to slow or minimise deterioration, Bonnie explained to me.

Project MEAC recognised a challenge within many public buildings, schools, historical societies and other spots where art is exposed to the public. This art is known as civic art as it belongs to the people. "Who decides what art is to be conserved for future generations?

Is civic art to be considered a lesser form of historical and artistic representation? Is it less glamorous than renowned and fashionable artwork?

The art we see in our city halls, public schools and public libraries is the real ‘People's Art’. It is the art we don't pay a fee to see, yet, regretfully, we get use to it and sometimes we also forget and neglect it. Civic art is an integral part of our cultural patrimony so we need to take care of it properly, before it disappears forever," Domenico told me.

Currently, Project MEAC is working on a portrait of William Pitt Fessenden, 18061869. He was the Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln and a Maine State Senator. The portrait was painted by Max Weyl in 1871 and was found (Found!) laguishing in the attic at Portland City Hall.

Keeping the notion of civic art and art belonging to the people, Project MEAC is trying to raise funds as a grass roots community involvement because the public and not one person "own" paintings like that of Fessenden. Project MEAC wants the public to actively participate in the conservation of this portrait to generate pride in ourselves, Maine’s history and foremost, to preserve these and other paintings from deterioration. Community involvement is not just located in Portland, either, but across the state from small historical societies, libraries and other public entities all looking to have art conserved.

Sadly, there are but a handful of conservators in the state so Project MEAC is working to find a new location to work with its goals. Yes, the sales pitch is coming: any donation will help the non-profit save art. Meantime, are the lab’s doors open for First Friday walks? Normally, no, because the space is small and Project MEAC has client paintings they need to protect from accidental harm. I have been there and it is very crowded with tables, storage and current projects. So please understand. Project MEAC have opened up the doors to school groups to observe and learn about art conservation. They’ve given lectures to universities, art organisations, museums, insurance companies, agents and adjusters, to raise awareness of conservation and just to get the word out as to what Project MEAC is all about.

So why not give them a call and set up an appointment to learn about art conservation? You may be really impressed by the non-profit's goals. Project MEAC does also need volunteers to be involved as directors, too. Domenico and Bonnie are wearing many different hats and now is a good time to take civic action. Please, too, keep in mind that Project MEAC also conserves artworks belonging to private individuals and the profit from that helps with the civic work. Find out more at www.projectmeac.org, ring 207/871.1687 or visit them at 142 High Street, Suite 420, Portland.

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Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com

The Gossip Column

By Britain & Sydney / The Up Portland Office Gossip Cats This is a gossip column about backwards vehicles and we got two of them. Look at that pretty jeep we caught over on Exchange Street at Middle on a recent Sunday morning. Too bad the owner was apparently in such a rush for his or her coffee (there’s Bard and Starbucks at the intersection) they took a right when they really shudda took a left (so they took a wrong right) and parked going the wrong way on a one way street just below the sign on the pole at right which says no parking here to corner. They’d seen that, too, had they been going the correct direction. Fortunately it was a Sunday and apparently no police happened by because the Jeep was gone when we cats pased a second time, but can you say cats (or ass) backward?... Speaking of second times, if you visit somewhere infrequently, check signs and see if they’ve made changes to the roads since your last visit. We hear tell a Portland rabbi we know recently was back in Israel and headed down a street he’s driven down many times before.

Problem is since last visit it’s been made trams only so he was wondering why folks were looking, pointing and then he noticed that aside from the train, he had the only motorised vehicle on the roadway. We are glad to report he made it to a corner and fled safely, but just like the Jeep driver we cats are willing to bet he will be looking at the signs way more carefully next trip! Meow!

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Friday 25th March Papers On Street: Tuesday 29th March

Up Portland is published the last week of every month at 22 Hancock Street, Suite 403, Portland, Maine 04101. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and fairness, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors. Liability is limited to the cost of said ad. Ads not cancelled by published deadlines will be billed at agreed-upon price. Ads may be edited or rejected for content at the discretion of the publisher. All items appearing in Up Portland, as well as the name, logos and design are copyright 2016 by BBS, A division of High Speed Delivery Fork Ltd. & Ted Fleischaker and may not be reproduced in any form without prior written approval.

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Up Portland 03.16 On The Web At: www.upportland.com