NOV 2017
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Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag By Stacy Begin / Owner, Two Fat Cats Bakery
THE SCOOP ON THANKSGIVING 2017 Attention all you peeps in Pieland: the day we wait for, the day we live for is almost upon us. Need I speak its name?! I think you know what I’m talking about: Thanksgiving. There are mere days to go before we can all eat slice after slice of pie with all the calories, glutton and joy we can muster! Grab a fork, gang. It’s almost “go” time. At Two Fat Cats Bakery, we’ve been thinking about this day since mid-August and actively preparing since October 1st. It’s a marathon filled with trials, tribulations, worry, sore hands, and lots and lots of dough! Last year, I shared with some fun facts about our process. Here, for what I hope is your enjoyment, is Part Two of Thanksgiving at Two Fat Cats Bakery: � �
This year, we will make close to 2,000 pies to grace holiday tables. We use about 1,500 pounds of apples. Yes, you read that correctly. 1,500 pounds.
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Here’s another big number – 560 pounds. That’s the amount of wild Maine blueberries we use for pies for that one day. The Wild Maine Blueberry Council is very happy with us! We are open for a few hours on Thanksgiving morning to accommodate our customers. Honestly, we really don’t mind – it’s actually fun. Our pies will be shipped all across the country to be served at family holiday dinners from Minnesota to California. We bake our pies at two locations and need an 18 foot U-haul to bring the pies back from the second location to sell that day here at the bakery on India Street. I spend an enormous time in the car driving back and forth between the two sites, ferrying pies and people to different locations. I have come to know the roads of Portland very, very well. It is all hands on deck – everyone at Two Fat Cats, and I mean everyone, learns how to make pies. That includes the dishwasher and office manager! And sometimes neighbours and friends. Just like last year, I force my children to help out and bribe them with food. Especially Cheetos. I should feel shame, but that’s for the day after Thanksgiving. My children complain about helping out – until they hold the bag of Cheetos in their hot, orange-tinged hands. If we do our job well, the day before Thanksgiving is the most fun and loving. We have the great privilege of handing a pie to a customer and saying “Happy Thanksgiving to you and your Family.” What could be better?!
I sincerely hope that I will see you at Thanksgiving. But just in case I am helping someone else or running around in my car, please know I wish you the Happiest of Thanksgivings ! From Two Fat Cats Bakery to your family, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
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Hackin’ The Net By Ted Fleischaker / Publisher OK, OK, so I have been informed by many of you that this column has been mired in security, back-up and other warnings, watches and bits of unpleasantry. Or as a friend put it: “When are you gonna write about something that’s interesting or fun, but not dire?” I think the key word there is “fun” so here are a few things I love to surf and look for which are at least interesting and things I’d be willing to bet many online visitors have not done or even (maybe) know exist... ---Got a friend on a ship or plane? If so, did you know that thanks to the net you can follow right along with them? The best part, especially for those waiting for someone flying in, is if you use this handy website, you can tell when a visitor’s flight is really due at the Jetport and see where it is in real time. That will eliminate your need for the Cell Phone Lot and long waits in the terminal, ‘cause, face it, there’s not a lot to do but wait if you arrive and the plane doesn’t. So which are our faves of the many tracking sites? By far the award goes to FlightAware (https://flightaware.com/live/) at left, which not only will tell you whatever you wish to know about when mom will be arriving from Baltimore, but for fun go to their page, and zoom in to our area and you will see every flight in the air in the Northeast! They also move with time, and clicking on one of the plane icons will tell you where the flight originated, where it’s going, how fast, how high and a whole bunch of other fun things. Flightview.com (below) is another great (and did I mention free?) service, and while it does let you let it pick a random flight to just track, I feel it’s a bit less entertaining as the whole sky doesn’t pop right up, and you will need a flight number, etc., to find the plane mom’s on so you will know when to go pick her up. Both (and there are others, including apps for the iPhone and droids) are great ways to get hypnotized and watch planes coming and going. They are also just two of myriad choices out there. Google “Flight Trackers” and a whole lot of options will be at your fingertips. Just do not get so excited watching someone’s
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private jet streaking over Portland enroute to Nashville from London that you forget to go to the Jetport and pick up mom! Oh, and since we said ships, do check out www.marinetraffic.com They track every ship everywhere in the world in real time, but be warned, anything past the “basics” requires registration and a premium fee, so do give a look and find your friends in the Caribbean or headed for MDI, but for a lot of the info you will need to pay! ---Radio & TV. I have touched on these before, but they belong in this category as if you tire of what’s on locally, there are 20,000 plus radio and TV choices online. A large number of stations have their own sites with a “Listen Now” or “Listen Live” button included. Click that and literally about any and everything you ever wanted to find will be on your desktop. But there are also a few “aggregators” which are sites that get streams from a whole bunch of those 10,000+ stations and put them out for you to listen to. Do keep in mind that often you will be stuck listening to one or two ads before your station starts, but the good news is once you get past those, it’s all your chosen station with no additional advertising aside from what the station plays, if it’s commercial. It’s as if with a click you are transported to London, Cape Town or even New York or Boston. If you have a stable internet connection, the quality will be as good or better than if you were in the chosen city or tuning in say WBZ, Boston from Portland, so whether you wish to just explore, find a format we don’t have on the Portland dial, just get another choice or listen to something “back home” or where news is being made this is for you. Our aggregator site of choice is tunein.com which will even let you find stations then save them to a free profile. Next time you log in, pick your profile, enter your password and your list will appear. Adding or deleting stations is as easy as couple clicks, and if you want their premium service for the phone or iPad it’s just a couple bucks and offers even more features, including the ability to record and listen to a fave show later or again. Other aggregators include www.iheart.com and www.radio.net and as I said on the last topic, visit “Mister Google” and you will find tons more. You might also wanna check out www.radio-locator.com which has links to 15,000 stations’ webpages, live streams and even offers coverage maps for over-the-air listeners to show what you can hear (or should hear) where! Want to watch and not just listen? We did mention that and while, due to rights laws the choices are many fewer, you can find bits of all sorts of things to watch online. www.cnn.com will let you watch live, but be warned there’s a ten-minute limit to how long you can view before you get asked to either enter your cable provider and info or log out and back in for another ten. If you want an international (and unlimited) stream, try www.france24.com (yes, it’s in English!) or www. dw.com (also English) which is Deutsche Welle (DW), the German broadcaster’s live stream, at right. There are others from Japan, China, India and elsewhere. Do note, however, that live news from the British BBC, aside from a one-minute brief, is not an option and the same (unless you are willing to pay for it) for Canada’s excellent CBC Television. A combination of rights issues, cable contracts (Spectrum,
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for example has the right for this area for BBC’s all news channel) and more are to blame. If you want more than news, just search --- everything from vintage comedy shows (from this country and elsewhere) to old documentaries can be found everywhere from YouTube to Netflix, though you’ll have to pay for the latter. Want more fun, old “stuff” free? Check out www.archive.org and especially their 35,000 old 78 r.p.m. records a guy named George Blood made into digital files. Yes, that really is 35,000 and they are all free at https://archive.org/details/georgeblood They have millions of movies, TV shows and more from their main page of www.archive.org too, so on one of those snowy Winter afternoons when boredom threatens to set in and you’ve already binge-watched Game of Thrones and more, go explore! ---Call this the “other fun stuff” part of our column as the internet has so many choices and places and things there’s no way I can come close to covering them all, but here are a few more fun options: --Check out several Maine lighthouses and seaside walks in real time. Visit http:// rocklandharborlights.org and you can catch live video from a link off the friends page and watch the waves crashing over the Rockland light breakwater. Or stop off at http://www.marginalwayfund.org/marginal-way/web-cam/ and you can visit (in real time) Ogunquit’s famous Marginal Way path. Or, for the best quality video and neatest live views, check http://nubblelight.org/discover/live-web-cams (at right) and you can be instantly transported to York County’s famous Nubble Light anytime! --Into weather? Everyone from the National Weather Service office in Gray (http://www.weather.gov/gyx/) to our very own Forecaster Jack (www. forecasterjack.com) are online. That includes the National Hurricane Centre (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov). Jack’s latest enterprise is www.weather.us which includes some additional forecasters, a lot of great (though some pretty technical) data from around the country as well as around the world. It’s for sure worth more than a brief look. --And finally, although most docs hate that it exists, you can look at all manner of info about ailments online. My partner loves a doc who removes skin lesions on camera and has gained the nickname of “Doctor Pimple Popper” while I much prefer checking real or imagined symptoms I have, but only at www.mayoclinic.org where I figure one of this excellent facility’s 3,300 researchers, physicians and scientists can give me valid, unbiased accurate info. Note that I mentioned Mayo Clinic. Not that I dislike many of the other “experts” online, but I find too many are sponsored by drug firms, medical centres and organisations (often in a foreign country) nobody’s familiar with. As my doc is want to say, if you do not really have anything wrong, too many of the “for profit” sites will convince you that you do so you will buy one of their “cures” or visit their facilities.
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Food For Thought... Here come those words which strike fear into each and almost every cook reading this column: Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. There they are for all to see. And the reason they are in a food column is that last year, at our house, we did not cook for either one. After years and years of balancing meals with family visiting, friends’ invites and everything from trips to my sister in Florida, partner’s parents in Indiana, a holiday Caribbean cruise and returning to the family home in Kentucky, before most everyone passed on, my partner and I decided to let someone else do the cooking. And after many wonderful meals there since (and before) moving to Maine in mid-2015 we picked Harraseeket Inn in Freeport for those feasts... and feasts they are. The choices stretch on and on and literally from soup to nuts they have it on the buffets or at the carving station. Harraseeket General Manager Chip
here. It’s a certain coziness many places strive to achieve, but few succeed in doing. But back to the star of the holidays: The Meals. Staff hustles and bustles so the service is great, meaning few dish “pile-ups” on tables. Nothing irks this reviewer quite so much as to go eat anywhere and have staff whiz by, leaving dirty dishes with bits of this and that still clinging to them staring me in the face. But what’s really unique here is that while it’s a buffet (on holidays, a series of buffets set up around the inn) each and every dish is special, fresh and made in house. It is definitely not one of those mass-produced, take-it-out-and-thaw-it buffets so many of the big chain places serve. Everything is fresh and delicious, meaning that you can spend your hour or two away (Do not rush...take your time as my late father used to preach, often to no avail.) from the cares of the kitchen and enjoying the moments with family and friends. So what do we go for besides the staff, atmosphere and good food? We especially like the presentation of Maine’s favourite crustacean as their lobsters are
Gray and restaurant boss Robyn Persson seem to have thought of everything when planning these buffets. Just ask one of the 800 or 900 folks who will be there this Thanksgiving (presently sold out, but there’s a wait list) or the similar mobs expected on the 25th of December (there are a few seats left at presstime) after the packages are opened and the church services complete. So what’s unique about Harraseeket’s holidays? For one thing, the atmosphere amidst the building’s 23 fireplaces (which all work and are lit most cool days) and the traditional New England decor. Think a scene out of Holiday Inn or any film of that ilk. Harraseeket is also unique as unlike many of the other inns in Maine and New England, they are open year round. While the doors are locked at Black Point Inn and Migi’s Lodge for the season, they are open and the warmth radiates all the way to U.S. 1 out front
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DONUTS
handmade daily with whole ingredients split in such a way that one gets the “whole lobster” experience without most of the work. Add melted butter and the experience means that you may just forget about the turkey, beef, ham and many other items on the groaning tables.
Breakfast Sandwich & Coffee Combo $5.50
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But those items are also worth more than a passing mention. Scallops, shrimp, crab cakes and various other seafood items grace the plates. While menus vary Please Continue On The Next Page
30 City Center in Monument Square
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More Food For Thought... Continued From The Previous Page between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as year-to-year, there’s always the traditional turkey and stuffing (with cranberry sauce made in house) and everything from gravy and Yorkshire puddings to a roast beef carving station and some pretty awesome horseradish cream sauce to go along. It’s the “little things” like just the right accompaniments which serve to make Harraseeket holidays special, and while our menu photo is from Christmas of 2015, it will give readers a decent idea what to expect as we will confess we have (literally) two Christmases, a Thanksgiving and an Easter buffet under our belts as of this writing. Our recommendation (if you can snag one of the tables still available for Christmas dinner or make the waiting list for turkey day or plan way out and grab Easter 2018) is to be sure to venture off the beaten path and try something new. There are so many choices (and we didn’t even mention the dessert buffet, which is included) that it’s easy to be overwhelmed and “just” do turkey or roast beef or that lobster. It’s all wonderful but check out some of the side dishes, as well as things like the Wild Mushroom Soup served with Herbed Creme Fraiche or the Seafood Paella or the Spicy Pickled Shrimp or... We could go on and on and on. So what do we advise? One thing is pace yourself. Look over all of the buffet tables, the menus and the options when you first arrive and decide what things you really, really want, which you might or might not be in the mood for and the ones which you have a lot, but can do without this once. I will confess the last two trips we’ve made I ate neither any roast beef nor any turkey because I wanted to try the Paella, plus there’s no such thing as lobster that I won’t go for if given the chance. Add in those shrimp, a couple crab cakes and simply no space remains in my belt for even a bit of turkey. But never mind... I can have that most any day. Also, plan on staying for awhile. Don’t wolf down your meal but relax, enjoy, take breaks and chat with friends so that the meal becomes an event. Finally, Harraseeket Inn in just a few blocks north of L.L. Bean’s flagship (open 24/7/365) store, so after our meals we usually walk off a few (OK, a few, not many) of the calories with a bit of shopping. If the weather is decent we include a stroll down and back or if not, we drive. And do not miss whatever L.L. Bean has up their corporate sleeves for the courtyard out front across from the big boot.
some chains have this one is $80 a person with tax and tip on top of that. I feel it’s more than fair for the quality and quantity, but I leave that up to the reader to decide. And the other thing you need to know is that with over 800 folks coming to eat, you will need to stick to that reservation time and never, ever just show up without one.
Two years ago it was music set to lights on some impressive Christmas Trees. Last year it was the Northern Lights, complete with Santa streaking across the sky and a grove of over 400 sparking trees. The entertainment is free and all the Bean complex is open, so it’s a grand way to wrap up your meal and move around a bit.
We cannot imagine Chip or Robyn sending anybody away hungry, but if there are no places at the table, there simply are no places. And trust us for these big days staff utilise every nook and cranny in the ballroom, dining room and elsewhere to try to fit in as many folks as they can.
So is there anything else to know? Yes, a couple things. One is that great food and service are not cheap. Unlike those open-the-carton-toss-it-out-there buffets
To find out the current situation, give a call to Harraseeket Inn at 800/342.6423 or check them out online at www.harraseeketinn.com Serving hours are 11 a.m. till 5 p.m. and Happy Thanksgiving!
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Up Portland is edited in Portland and printed the last week of every month in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We may be contacted at the e-mail or phone number below. 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 may 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 2017 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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Until the move, visit us at 84 Marginal Way in Portland Across from Trader Joe’s in the InterMed Building Compounding Pharmacy: (207) 899-0886 Health & Wellness: (207) 899-0993
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Parks & Recreation Welcome to Up Portland’s monthly crossword. And this time, we pay tribute to our “weekend warriors” who run, bike, swim and just relax in one of our great parks. You’ll find a lot of familiar (and maybe a few notso) words here, all having to do with the sports, parks (state and other) we visit in this area and all of the gear we all use and often take for granted. Be sure you put on that thinking cap, since while some are as easy as baiting the hook, others are a bit more difficult like trying to remain vertical on a skateboard while flying down Congress Street by the Observatory. Sharpen your pen or pencil and as always, comments are welcome at ted@upportland.com and the solution (no peeking) is on Page 15. Oh, and the photos are some “hints” to a few of the answers... Good luck!
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Cruise Season Finale The harvest moon rises and signals a successful & record cruise season finale for Portland. The final ship of the year departs at 7 p.m. on 2nd November as the Seven Seas Mariner ups anchor. Over 145,000 passengers and 48,000 crew have enjoyed Portland via ship this season. See you in the Spring! Up Portland 11.17 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook Page 13
Mark: My Words By Mark Gatti / Mark’s Hotdogs Many people have contributed to the success of my food stand in ways great and small, but I want to take this time to share a few remembrances about two key people who nurtured and mentored me, showing a lot of love to the stand and in me. Alex Alex was a mainstay and surrogate uncle in my first decade of business. A veteran of World War II, he grew up on Munjoy Hill and was retired from a local labour union when we first met. Widely known in local circles and greatly liked, his regular rounds always included checking in a few times a day to see if I needed anything. A lover of oversized cigars, his calling card was pretending to hide behind a nearby tree, which was impossible as the cigar extended well beyond the tree trunk. Whenever visiting the stand, Alex was always ready to make bank runs or pick up items that were in short supply after a busy rush. If I needed a rest room break, Alex would fill in. In these instances, I would remind Uncle Alex that he could sell chips or drinks to customers, but not prepare and serve hot dogs, as the ubiquitous cigar stuck in his mouth could land me in hot water with the health department. A wonderfully social man, but with the jittery and unsteady hands that sometimes come with advanced age, Alex hated to see me lose a sale or two while I was briefly absent. Always ignoring my instructions not to prepare and sell food, I would see Alex in full food serving action, with the customer very patiently waiting, as I hurriedly puffed back to my post. Never having the gumption to issue a reprimand to this kind man, I would thank Alex and quickly [seamlessly I hoped] take over the food preparation already in haphazard motion. Quite often there would be a hot dog on the ground, two or three broken buns and the steamer door off its hinges. Thankfully, Alex’ warmth and charm kept the customer entertained during this painful meal procurement process, thus these memories bring a huge smile to my face and tear to my eye, in retrospect far outweighing the occasional loss of food stock. Although a man with minimal education (he made it as far as his freshman year in high school) Alex was a wise gent with lots of practical common sense. Drawing from his life experiences, which included the loss of both parents by age 14 and fighting in Europe when he was 17 and 18, he gave me a lot of advice... and I was all ears. As time goes on, I still hear his voice and I’m still listening. Tragically, Alex was diagnosed with a very advanced stage of diabetes in 1994 at the age of 71. The illness so overtook him that within a matter of a few months he was nearly blind and had severe weight loss. Alex said goodbye to me one Fall day as best he could, but to me --- a young
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man in full denial --- I refused to accept this and said I’d see him soon. He, of course, knew better. Now that I am a middle aged man, I do too. Thanks Uncle Alex: the memories keep you alive. Mrs. C My second vivid memory is of a lovely lady with a cute flower pattern hat. Mrs C. started her patronage at the stand around 2000. Social, yet somewhat quiet and reserved with a regal charm, she took a shine to me as evidenced by her extended visits after her initial meal or two. Within a short time and a few conversations, I realised that I had a past connection with her. One of her sons, who had died suddenly a few years prior, had been one of my social drinking / sports buddies back in the 1980’s. Her husband, we concluded, had been a customer in the early years and his order was always two red hot dogs with relish and mustard. He also had also died several years previously. We rekindled memories of her two dearly departed and she would occasionally fill me in on her many daughters and her remaining son --- some of whom I had known briefly back in the day. Mrs. C. had an uncanny ability to adapt to her environment. Originally from a large working class family in Westbrook that knew hardship during the depression, she and her husband had done well and prospered post World War II; raising a large family in the process. During the dozen years that Mrs. C. was a fixture at the stand, Tommy’s Park was host to a rather motley bunch of characters with loud partying and carrying on ruling most days. Although the folks hanging at the park showed a decent respect to the stand, and many were daily paying customers, it was the last place you would expect a lovely older lady to be chilling nearby! A tough lady, this didn’t faze Mrs. C. in the least. When things got overly rambunctious and the air would be filled with swears, Mrs. C. would deliver an icy stare and reprimand. Everything would immediately quiet down. She was a mother hen and we were all her chicks! My wife organised a nice celebration for my 25th business anniversary and, of course, Mrs. C. was right there off to the side, handing out the anniversary coffee mugs with her quiet dignity. It was a busy day with a lot of fanfare and commotion. At the end of this frenetic and hot day my wife and I glanced over and there was Mrs. C., still sitting in her spot with her beautiful flowered hat holding a balloon in one hand and passing out mugs with the other. It was a Norman Rockwell moment that’s forever frozen in my memory. Temporarily giving up pretense of modesty, it was obvious that Mrs. C. developed a fair amount of maternal fondness for me. Examples of this would occur whenever anyone attempted to tease or critique my character in any overly negative fashion. She would immediately jump to my defence in an adept verbal manner, quashing any further attempts at this perceived impropriety. She once commented that I had a beautiful singing voice, which is a stretch indeed. I told my wife about this compliment and she burst out in laughter. Mrs C. died a few years ago and I’d like to imagine she is somewhere nice with her husband, who was the love of her life. Rest in peace old friends. Next month, a nice light column --- I promise! Happy Halloween witches and warlocks, and a very Happy Thanksgiving, as well.
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Sauntering With Mat
By Mat Robedee / Up Portland Commentator
As the dirt road twisted its way deeper into the forest, we began questioning whether or not we took a wrong turn along the way. With minimal signs or markers, it was of no surprise that such a magnificent place had remained relatively unheard of. My partner and I were on our way to explore Madame Sherri’s Castle & Forest, ruins of an extravagant house with a rich and mysterious history. This place had been sitting on the top of my New England bucket-list for quite sometime. It was one of those sacred autumn days where the foliage was at its peak and air still warm on the skin.
These rare days of perfection are worth making special plans for, especially with such an electric past as Madame Sherri’s Castle. Madame Sherri was born Antoinette Bramare, in the France of 1878. She married actor and dancer Andre Riela, who was many years her junior, and together they moved to New York City in 1911. Soon after, the couple changed their last name to Sherri and pursued a very successful career as elaborate theatrical costume designers. Andre unexpectedly died in 1927 and with the help of her assistant Charles Lamaire, Madame Sherri pushed on with her success and fame. In time Lamaire would claim his own fame, eventually even winning four Academy Awards. Madame Sherri regularly visited her friends who owned summer houses in Chesterfield, New Hampshire. She quickly fell in love with the land and slowly purchased parcels of property over time. In 1931 she had her “castle” built from
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a design of her own unique vision. This castle was constructed not to live in, as Madame Sherri herself lived in a more modest farmhouse nearby. Instead, the castle was built to hold wildly lavish parties for New York’s theatrical elite. She was known for being eccentric and living large. Madame Sherri adorned magnificent outfits and flashy hats from her Broadway shows and would even greet her guests from the top of the castle’s spiral staircase. As if that were not enough, it was said she was driven around in a customised cream-colored Packard car, sporting a pet monkey on her shoulder. Yes, you read that right – a monkey. She was a true Jay Gatsby of her time. Eventually Madame Sherri’s money ran out, the parties came to an end, and the castle fell into disrepair. On the 18th of October 1962 it burned down and shortly after in 1965, Madame Sherri passed away at the age of 84. Nowadays, only the ruins of the property remain. The rock walls have nearly all collapsed, the gardens are either absent or overgrown and only the stonework from the castle remains. The iconic stone-arching staircase once leading into the castle was the main attraction. The staircase collected fallen leaves of various colours as it curved upward, ending mid-air in the midst of a forest. The entire scene truly felt as if it were pulled straight out of a fantasy book. As if finally, after all these years, I discovered the entrance to Narnia… Please Continue On The Next Page
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Continued From The Previous Page Madame Sherri’s Castle and Forest can be found in the southwest corner of New Hampshire in the town of Chesterfield. Thanks to the incredible work of the Chesterfield Conservation Commission, the trails surrounding the 488 acres have been improved. Open and free to the public year round, this is truly a place worthy of exploration. After exploring the ruins and taking in the absurd amount of beauty, we decided to take a walk along the trails. Perfect for a day trip and allowing for some great views of a nearby pond and neighbouring hills, it is worth the extra energy, even if, unlike me, you do not choose to do a head-stand and get your photo made while doing so. Recreation aside, those with a taste for the supernatural should take note. As legend has it, if you listen closely enough, you may just hear the faint sounds of laughter and music near the castle remains. And Madame Sherri herself has been reported to be seen standing atop the grand staircase welcoming more guests to her latest party.
A Short P.S. To Mat’s Story... As the editor of this publication, I could not help but note the watermark on the old photos and the great restoration job done on them, both of which led me to contact Jeff Newcomer. Jeff has been a physician practicing in New Hampshire and Vermont for over 30 years. Over that time, as a member of the Conservation Commission in his home of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, he has used his photography to promote the protection and appreciation of the town’s wild lands, including the castle and it’s remains. He is a member of the Chesterfield Historical Society as well, and in exchange for the use of his photos and their efforts to save what’s left of the castle, Up Portland has made a donation to the society. Meanwhile readers wanting to read more and see more of his photos (of this site and others) should visit http://jeffnewcomerphotography.blogspot. com and go from there. Jeff has a strong commitment to sharing his excitement about the special beauty of our region and publishes a weekly blog about photography in New England. We at Up Portland are thrilled to have “met” him and look forward to working with him more in the near future. Oh, and if you visit the castle, he and the society ask that you not climb the arch or walls as they are barely hanging on despite the best efforts of the historians trying to save them! ---Ted Fleischaker.
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Eric’s Optimal Corner Eric Hilton / Owner, Optimal Self Community Health and Wellness Center
My First Marathon So, one day my training buddy Tom Watson asked if we could start running along with our regular weight training. I said, “Sure, Bro!” Then on one of our runs he says, “It would be great if we plan to run 12 miles sometime.” I say, “Sure, Tom! That is doable!” Next, he sends me over a training plan from The Maine Marathon group. It was a training plan to run a whole marathon. I reply to his e-mail with “Tom, are we running a whole marathon now?” He replies, “OK. As long as my knee doesn’t give out.” I rarely pondered running a full marathon. I have run, at the most, maybe 12 or 14 miles years ago in the Army, but I never really desired to try a whole marathon because I didn’t feel my body was built to run that far. I, being a person who believes anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it, was inspired and accepted the new challenge in my life.
I decided to be the beast and overcome by pushing my body to new heights. When I went out for runs past 12 miles for several hours I sometimes started to go to very deep places in my psyche. It was an extreme meditation where all my daily life challenges were contemplated and cleansed. The power of pushing my body beyond its comfort zone was so humbling... It brought me great peace and calmness in my everyday life. My last big run of 20 miles was seen by me as an opportunity to explore the unknown territory of my consciousness, like Captain Kirk discovering new realms of the universe. I then took it easy for the last two weeks leading up to the actual event, running three to seven miles throughout the week. The day before the event I went to USM to pick up my marathon packet and saw all the people who were also committed to this event. I was overwhelmed... and a bit scared. I had been doing this on my own for myself and didn’t think about the fact that there would be 4,000 other people out there. That night,, I did a float at Float Harder (sensory depravation chamber) and got some good sleep. I woke early, had a smoothie, stretched and enjoyed a big cup of coffee on my way to the event. Starting the race I maintained my normal solid pace. I was good for the first 16 miles and then things started to slow down. My heavy body was really heavy at that point and there was nothing I could do but keep moving forward. Seeing all the people along the road was super inspiring and encouraging.
I am 37 years old. My body has been beat up by life, but I work out every day. I am super healthy and I have achieved very difficult physical feats before. I have learned that the more you do the more you can do. So running a marathon was totally doable! My main challenge, however, was my body type: I am a little guy standing five foot, seven and a half inches, with a lot of muscle. People who run marathons usually are light and skinny and don’t have much muscle. So I was confronted with the obstacle of being able to carry my heavy body for a long time to complete running 26.2 miles. I had less then three solid months to train for this, but I knew I had to plan for success. I am a personal trainer and I love creating training plans. So for this challenge I created an ultimate training plan called “The Ninja Beast Mode Training.” I also created a second plan for a weekly running regimen. My goal was to complete the marathon and to not be completely destroyed afterward. In order to preserve my body to be able to carry it for so long, I needed to keep it strong. I trained five days a week working with a high volume of reps, usually 20 reps with kettlebells and weights, some agility training, body weight exercises, good resistance training for strong joints, and some brutal heavy bag and battle rope work: A good blend of tough training to keep my body at an intense state along with training my mind and will. My running plan started the first month with small runs (two to five miles) three times a week. From then on my running consisted of two short runs ranging from three and a half to five miles, along with one long run a week. Each week I would increase the long run by two miles, starting from eight. Each week was a new, hard challenge of conditioning my body to be able to take the abuse. The only way I could continue was to stretch daily. I had no choice if I was going to condition my body to be comfortable with running and be victorious. Once I reached my first 10-mile run my body went through a shift where I had to make a big decision: I found that running long distance was engaging my muscles in a way where I was releasing more testosterone and getting bigger. That was not the original plan. So it was either I cut back on the weights and reduce my food intake, or train like a beast and overcome!
Once I got to mile 21 I was not moving that fast and I also accepted that stopping was not an option. Each mile after was longer and more challenging. Again I was in new territory of how far I have ever been before. Approaching the end I saw all the people cheering me on. In honour of my my commitment to this mission I engaged all my muscles and strength and gave it the best I had as I sprinted like a super beast to the finish line. I completed the run in 4 hours and 37 minutes. I felt great! I was so satisfied and my body was not destroyed. The next day I stretched and started a new training plan. Unfortunately, my buddy Tom couldn’t do the marathon due to an injury. I, myself, found that there is no limit except the limits we put on ourselves. Now I will continue to push myself to new limits, expanding the borders of myself and discovering new ways to find happiness. I am the owner of Optimal Self Community Health and Wellness Center here in Portland. If you have similar goals (or bigger ones!) and want some help, come down and see me. Let’s grow ourselves to grow the potential of what we can achieve on this planet! Remember to always believe you can! ---Eric Hilton
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Beyond The Forecast
By Jack Sillin / Weatherman & Meterology Student Hello everyone!
Finally, it’s that time of year. The leaves are coming down, and the cool breezes of Autumn are pushing the oppressive heat and humidity of Summer well to the south of our area. This time of year also brings a question that has been asked for generations: “What will the Winter be like?” While long range forecasting is still in its infancy as a science, and large errors are common this far out, I’ll attempt to present an outline of some of the main features that I expect from this Winter, along with some of my reasoning. As always, the first place to look when coming up with a winter forecast is to the tropical East Pacific. The oceans off the Peruvian coast can become warmer or colder than normal due to shifting trade winds. These shifts can have profound impacts on the weather across the globe. So what’s going on in this area now?
Sea Surface Temperature anomaly maps can give us a number of clues as to what the winter pattern may look like. The first place to start, of course, is off the coast of Peru. Colder than normal waters across the tropical Eastern Pacific indicate La Nina conditions, and these conditions are expected to continue through the winter. So what do La Nina Winters bring to Maine?
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This is the pattern we’d expect with a typical La Nina. La Nina helps to set the background environment for our Winter pattern. The pattern won’t look like this graphic all Winter, but the dice are weighted in that direction. The actual Winter pattern will depend on some additional factors working with, around, and/or against the La Nina base state, which favours warmer and wetter than normal conditions with a storm track through the Ohio Valley. La Nina isn’t the only thing of note on that SST anomaly map, however. Because water can hold more heat energy for longer, compared to air, patterns in the air (weather) are often a function of patterns in the ocean. With that in mind, look back at the SST anomaly map and see if you can spot areas that would favour high pressure (warm water) and areas that would favour low pressure (cold water). The feature that stands out to me is the pool of very warm water in the Bering Sea region. This would favour the development of ridging in this area, which would favour troughing over the West Coast of the U.S., and another ridge over the East Coast, where more warmer than normal waters are found. All oceanic temperature indicators point to a warmer than normal Winter with ridging present near and along the East Coast. However, while oceanic factors do play a big part in the weather, they’re not the only piece of the puzzle. Next, let’s look into the atmosphere for some clues as to what patterns might shift the odds back in the other direction. One big piece of the puzzle atmospherically speaking is a pattern known as the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, or QBO for short. The QBO measures the wind speed anomaly in the stratosphere. When the winds in the stratospheric polar vortex are weak (-QBO), the odds for Sudden Stratospheric Warming events increase. Why is that important to us? SSWE’s disrupt the polar vortex and send fragments of the vortex south into the Mid Latitudes. Unsurprisingly, when the polar vortex comes to town, you can expect some pretty cold and snowy weather. If there’s one thing snowhounds get excited about, it’s a Winter with a strongly negative QBO... and sure enough, that’s where we are right now. The QBO is one important factor that might deliver enough cold air to avoid a season of rainy heartbreak for the skiers, boarders and snow lovers. Another pattern I like to look at is snow cover across the Northern Hemisphere. While some recent data has called into question the validity of the snow cover as a pattern driver theory, I think there’s still some value in a “snow cover as a pattern reflection” approach. As with the sea surface temperature map, we can approximate areas of warmer and colder than normal temperatures by looking at snow cover anomalies. Areas with more snow cover than expected are likely that way because of colder than normal temperatures. The above normal snow cover could then create more cold air simply by existing, which can create a feedback loop. So what do snow cover anomalies show this year?
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Let’s look primarily at North America in the map at left. I see two areas of note: above normal snow cover in Central Canada, and below normal snow cover in Northern Quebec. The colder and snowier than normal weather in the Central Canada area is a classic reflection of a La Nina pattern, as the other graphic shows. If this continues to be an area of colder than normal temperatures through the Winter, we could see some of that cold air spill east, which would help to combat the warming influences of La Nina. The warmer than normal area in
Northern Quebec is interesting because if that trend continues, we could see a blocking area of high pressure develop in that region. High latitude blocking is a notoriously important ingredient when looking for big Nor’easter type snow events. Both the -QBO and the current snow cover pattern favour colder than normal conditions, especially to our west in Canada. La Nina and the mid latitude sea surface temperature anomaly map favour warmer than normal conditions, especially to our southeast. How do I think those clashes manifest themselves? I think that, unlike last year, we will have a dominant event type this year. I think that Great Lakes cutter storms that bring snow as warm air rises up and over low level cold air will be common. With very cold air in Central Canada, we’ll have a good supply of Arctic high pressure systems, and with ridging off the East Coast, low pressure systems will likely be forced to cut west of New England. This doesn’t necessarily mean a snowless Winter! Overrunning snow events can produce totals just as high as Nor’easters, especially where the cold air hangs on the longest in the mountains. Overall, I think our Winter 2017-2018 average temperature will end up above normal, due to the SST anomaly patterns including La Nina. I think that due to the storm track being over/to the west of us, we’ll see above normal precipitation, and a pattern that favours overrunning snows ahead of Great Lakes cutter systems. There are some hints that based on how -QBO/La Nina winters typically go that we might see a “frontloaded” Winter with more cold and snow during December than February. If that were to happen, it would be a dramatic change from previous years, several of which have featured short sleeve weather on Christmas. Regardless of how the overall pattern ends up, remember that this is the state of Maine. Even if the winter is “warmer than normal”, it will still get cold. Even if our snowfall ends up slightly below normal (I don’t think it will, but it’s always a possibility), it will still snow. Also remember that forecasts two weeks out are dicey, let alone two months. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the Winter, but don’t take them too seriously! They’re only my thoughts and suggestions, so as always, if you need to make any important decisions based on seasonal forecasts, it’s best to consult the pros who spend their entire lives studying and working on this stuff. I’ll be back next month with more weather! ---Jack
Jack’s Weather Words Decoupling: Decoupling refers to when the boundary layer decouples from the larger airflow. The boundary layer is the very lowest part of the atmosphere. During the day, the boundary layer can extend over a mile into the sky, but at night, as the turbulence generated by daytime heating dissipates, the atmosphere stratifies into better defined layers, resulting in the depth of the boundary layer shrinking. If the thin nocturnal boundary layer “decouples” from the winds surrounding it, the temperature inside the layer, and at the surface, can plummet as radiation is lost to space, and energy is not replaced by the kinetic action of the winds. Our coldest nights, in the Fall when we look for frost, and in the Winter when we look to start our cars, happen when the boundary layer decouples. That’s why the very coldest mornings don’t have wind, and the actual temperature on a windy morning isn’t usually that cold, even though it might feel like it. LLJ: The Low Level Jet (LLJ for short) is a version of the jet stream that occurs in the lower levels of the atmosphere, usually around 5,000 feet. LLJ’s are smaller in scale, shorter in duration, and weaker in intensity than upper level jets, but they can play an important part in our weather at the surface. Southerly LLJ’s can transport warm, moisture laden air northward where it can meet and clash with cold Canadian air rushing south on a northerly LLJ. The ferocious winds contained in the LLJ can be mixed down to the surface as gusts, given the right conditions. LLJ’s form in response to divergence created by upper level jet streaks, which I talked about a few months back.
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Processed Media By Randy Dankievitch — TV Editor of Goomba Stomp
It Is Finally Time to (Nintendo) Switch Early this year, Nintendo released a much-hyped, seemingly under-powered new console to the market, the Nintendo Switch. It launched with one of the best titles of the generation, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and just about nothing else (Snipperclips? No thank you). At the time, I wrote – in this very column space - about how the console would need to do something besides offer up a (really, really awesome) openworld adventure game to draw in gamers, suggesting that jumping on the initial Switch bandwagon was a terrible idea. Lack of games, issues with controllers staying connected, a lack of online features... there just wasn’t a lot to the Switch at launch. I saw it as a console with a ton of untapped potential and an uncertain future. Fast forward to October; the Switch is consistently the best-selling console each month, the controller problem has been addressed, and the console is beginning to line up some really strong titles. Becoming an instant home for indie titles like Steamworld Dig 2, Thumper and others has really helped the Switch establish a foundation of software beyond Nintendo’s first-party titles --- a surprisingly important part of helping the console develop an audience (lest we forget, the Wii U barely released any titles not developed or published by Nintendo, save for a few awful launch ports). That’s not to say Nintendo has slacked on delivering content, either: this Summer saw them release three in-house titles, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, and ARMS, Nintendo’s first non-Smash entry in the fighting genre (not that anyone thinks motion-controlled fighting games are going to change the world anytime soon). As we enter the holiday season, Nintendo Switch is offering a surprisingly strong suite of games to attract gamers away from Sony and Microsoft’s juggernaut platforms – an unprecedented turn of events, given how tepid the launch of the system (outside the Zelda hype) was, just eight short months ago.
ingenious, hat-throwing, identity-swapping, globe-trotting adventure the eponymous Nintendo hero experiences in Super Mario Odyssey, perhaps the single most inventive, joy-inducing game Nintendo’s ever created. This, folks, is what the kids call a “killer app”; Super Mario Odyssey is the game that finally got me to purchase a Nintendo Switch, and it has already left my gaming laptop and Playstation 4 Pro collecting dust, as I run around collecting moons, changing into toads and dinosaurs and other creatures as I explore the dense, puzzle and action-laden kingdoms designed by Nintendo’s finest minds. In what is shaping up to be a tepid release season for both Microsoft and Sony’s consoles, Super Mario Odyssey is by far the biggest game to release in the holiday window (sorry, Destiny 2), and the most critically-acclaimed game of 2017 not named Breath of the Wild --- a double-whammy that is going to have Nintendo absolutely crushing the competition in console and game sales this Winter. Launching a title as revolutionary and refreshing as Super Mario Odyssey is an abundantly promising sign for Nintendo: after the disaster of the Wii U (which sold about 13 million copies over 4.5 years – by comparison, the Switch has sold five million in eight months, with no holiday season to boost sales), Nintendo’s future is brighter than ever. Unlike when the Wii was becoming the best-selling console ever made, and Nintendo was struggling to innovate with its mainline titles and attract meaningful third-party development, 2017 seems to be the year we’ll remember as the time Nintendo put themselves back on course. With games like Doom and Rocket League scheduled to launch on Switch in the near future, and Nintendo announcing new Kirby, Yoshi, and Pokemon games for the Switch in 2018 (not to mention Metroid Prime 4, which will probably arrive in 2019), it’s clear Nintendo’s Wii U woes are far behind them --- a signal of health that’s not only good for Nintendo, but good for the competitive balance between console manufacturers and game publishers as a whole. When Nintendo is pushing the bounds of creativity, it forces other developers to push away from the cyclical “make sequels until nobody buys it anymore” business model, and actually pushes people to make something different, and truly exciting. I can say for a fact purchasing my Nintendo Switch was more exciting than any other console purchase of the past 15 years. Nintendo has found the magic again, and just as when I first played Super Mario Bros 3 about 27 years ago, I cannot wait to see what comes next from the world’s most enigmatic game company.
October 2017 will be remembered as the month the Nintendo Switch became a must-own console; after months of building up a library of strong releases, Nintendo’s console was still more intriguing than it was necessary to own, for serious and casual gamers alike. Though Zelda was masterful, games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Assassin’s Creed: Origins offer players similar gameplay and mechanics, making Breath of the Wild simply the best of an overcrowded genre, limiting the game’s impact as a console-selling title. Super Mario Odyssey, which launched 27th October, is the exact opposite: there is no game available, be it a previous Mario title, Nintendo game, or any game I’ve played in my 25 years of gaming that is comparable to the
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Financial Focus By Bryce Kronk & Jeremy Urquhart — Edward Jones To help achieve your long-term goals, such as a comfortable retirement, you should save and invest regularly. But that’s only part of the picture. You also need to protect your financial assets in various ways. One such method is guarding your personal information – especially any information that could be linked to your financial accounts. It’s obviously important to be vigilant at any time, but you need to be even more on your toes during the upcoming holiday season, when fraudsters are particularly active. So, to help keep your important data under wraps during the holidays, consider these suggestions: --Extend your protection to all mobile devices. Identity thieves can now compromise your mobile devices by installing spyware that steals usernames, passwords and credit card information. Fortunately, you can fight back. By doing a little research online, you can find the best mobile security software for your needs. --Use multiple passwords. Online security specialists recommend that you use different passwords for each new online shopping site you visit during the holiday season. Although this might seem like a hassle, it can be helpful, because even if identity thieves were to grab one of your new passwords, they still couldn’t use it for other sites you may visit. And you can even find a free online programme that can help you keep track of all your passwords. --Be suspicious of “huge savings.” It happens every holiday season – identity thieves develop fake sites with attractive graphics and stunningly low prices on a variety of items, especially digital devices. If you fall for these pitches, you won’t get any merchandise, but you might get a handful of headaches once the bad guys have your credit card number and other personal information. To prevent this, be wary of any deal that sounds too good to be true, and do some digging on the websites that offer these mega-savings. --Watch for fake shipping notices. During the holidays, when you may do a lot of online shopping, you will probably receive some legitimate shipping notices. But the bad guys have gotten pretty good at generating fake notices designed to resemble those from UPS, FedEx and even the U.S. Postal Service. If you were to click on the link provided by one of these bogus notices, you could either take on some malware or get taken to a “phishing” website created by the forgers. Your best defence: Only shop with legitimate merchants and use the tracking numbers given to you in the e-mail you received immediately after making your purchases. --Keep your Social Security number to yourself. As a general rule, don’t give out your Social Security number online — to anyone. No legitimate retailer needs this number. And, finally, be aware that not all attempts at stealing your personal information will come online. When you’re out shopping at old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar stores, consider bringing just one credit card with you — and protect that card from prying eyes. By following these precautions, you should be able to greatly reduce the risk of being victimised by identity thieves and other miscreants. And the more comfortable you are in doing your holiday shopping, the more you can enjoy the season.
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The Standard Reviewer
By Andrea Rouda / Up Portland’s Film & Theatre Reviewer
Real Life Trumps Hollywood Bunk Since first hearing about it I have been eager to see the sequel to one of my favourite movies, Blade Runner, despite a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach based on a few of the promos that it could be disappointing. Then my cousin Brian, a graduate of NYU Film School, former independent filmmaker and current creative director, and my personal “What To See” guru, posted his short but pithy review on Facebook: “Many of you know I recently smashed my face when I fell running. Now you'll also know that yesterday I saw Blade Runner 2049. As I was falling, there was an interesting moment when I thought I could save myself. There are no interesting moments in Blade Runner 2049. Smashing my face was better. Keep your hovercraft away.” Unwilling to spoil my memories of Harrison Ford in his prime, I decided to pass on the new version wherein he is instead an old coot. Besides, it’s becoming more obvious each year that the real movie gold, Oscars aside, is buried in documentaries and independent films, where real life trumps Hollywood bunk. These days, anyone who is plugged in to anything has access to these films, either for free or for a monthly fee at Netflix, HBO and similar streaming media sites. I implore you to check out any or all of the following movies in the comfort of your own home, where the popcorn is always fresh and bathroom breaks are unlimited. The Search for General Tso I had the good fortune of seeing The Search for General Tso at the SPACE Gallery in downtown Portland, where perhaps 100 lucky souls sat on folding chairs and watched it projected off a computer onto one of those pull-down screens used in high-school science classes. Besides being exceedingly funny, the film is packed with information on Chinese-American history, beautifully shot and amazingly well edited. Throughout, charming and uniquely drawn animated graphics are interspersed with live interviews to help tell the story in a wholly entertaining way. To satisfy his own curiosity, and also sensing a story demanding to be told, filmmaker Ian Cheney went off in search of the inventor of that ubiquitous chicken dish found on virtually every menu in every Chinese restaurant in America. To that end we follow him on jaunts to New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Taiwan, Arizona, Texas and many lesser towns in between, meeting an eclectic bunch of unabashed foodies along the way. Much of the fun comes from up-close interviews with regular folks – some sane and others quite batty – and several "experts" including famous chefs and historians, none of whom have the answer, but all of whom are willing to share their hilarious opinions on who originally devised the General Tso dish. One memorable character who has been saving menus from Chinese restaurants for decades is thrilled at the opportunity to show the world his oddball collection, carefully opening dozens of storage boxes stacked to the ceiling to share them with us. This film is a true treasure, one that will open your eyes and awaken your senses to the wide, wide world – and your next Chinese meal.
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Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work Wallowing in grief after the death of my favourite comedienne, I fired up Netflix and watched an acclaimed documentary about her. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work was made in 2010 by people I never heard of and likely you haven't either so I won't bother to name them here. (When you watch the movie you'll find out.) Several things make this film a standout. The photography is so delicious it’s almost edible, with a sharpness and eye for detail that puts you in the middle of things. Whether it's backstage with Joan and her pre-show jitters, in her limo whizzing through traffic, or hanging out in her ridiculously grandiose penthouse apartment that makes the Palace of Versailles look shabby, you're there. And Manhattan never looked better, topping even Woody Allen's customary fairy-tale take on the worlds' greatest city. Here, it's gritty, throbbing and yet appealing, encouraging you to plan your next visit. As for Joan herself -- who knew she was so nuts? I loved the woman dearly and was a huge fan of her stand-up comedy, feeling a kinship to her for several reasons. She, too, was born in Brooklyn, a Jewish Gemini who said whatever the heck she wanted without fear of reprisals. But she craved the spotlight, the attention and the constant adoration so much that she seemingly gave up normal life. At 75, her age in the film, she schleps all over the country, flying to Podunk towns in the middle of Winter, catching a red-eye to spin her same shtick over and over, be it at tiny nightclubs or huge 4,000-seat theatres. We see her pitching stage productions and hoping for a TV commercial. In fact, hoping for anything at all. Joan was in it for the gold and the glory, but mostly because she had no choice. She was addicted to fame, that much is clear. As she said, "I'm a performer. That's what I am. It's my life." And what a life she led! It looked horrible to me, as it surely would to many people, but she seemed happy as long as her appointment book was full. The one and only moment of normalcy was a scene where she and her young grandson were cuddled together in the back seat of her limo, holding hands and making small talk. Other than that, Joan’s days seemed like a living hell of relentless makeup sessions, nit-picky meetings with her agent, business manager or assistant and frustrated phone calls to potential employers, all punctuated by a few unpleasant moments with her daughter Melissa, herself a piece of work already starting down that bizarre road paved with plastic surgery her mother had pioneered. The movie is fun, fascinating and incredibly watchable. My only cautionary note: It will eradicate all aspirations you may have of a career in comedy. As Melissa says, having grown up mired in her mother's career, "All comics are damaged somehow." This movie is an extreme close-up of that truth.
K2: The Siren of the Himalayas K2: The Siren of the Himalayas is a 2014 documentary about a climbing expedition on that famous mountain, second in height to Mt. Everest but first in danger and technical difficulty among all mountains on earth. While newbies and novices with enough cash are ferried up Everest like kids getting towed up the local sledding hill in Winter, even the best international alpinists, an elite group if there ever was one, fail to summit K2 year after year. This film gives a thrilling and personal account of a team attempting to summit K2 in 2009, just a year after a horrific jumble of accidents on the mountain killed 11 climbers. Still, off they go, spending months travelling in Pakistan just to get to the bottom of the beautiful beast – the starting point of their dangerous, 60-day pursuit of pain, hardship, fatigue and possible death (statistically, one in four die trying), all to avoid the boredom of the everyday and experience life "focused on the moment." Many of them regard the trek as a form of "walking meditation."
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Aided by stunning cinematography and interspersed with a good bit of history about earlier expeditions, the film is immediately infectious. It's hard not to be envious of these intrepid climbers who at the very least have found something to live for, even if they die for it. I was jealous, wishing I could join them even as I concluded they were all downright nutty. Still, if movies are supposed to transport us to a different time and place, and hopefully teach us a few lessons on the way, K2 achieves that brilliantly. Oklahoma City Putting it bluntly, the 2014 documentary Oklahoma City blew my mind. In riveting detail we learn the events leading to the 1995 bombing and resulting death of 168 people in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, caused by a young white man named Timothy McVeigh. This documentary fills in all the blanks regarding the roots of today's anti-government sentiments, just in case, like me, you've wondered how the heck we got where we are. And with all of us now confronting terrorism daily, it’s almost required viewing. Using historic footage of all the events, Oklahoma City describes the path leading from McVeigh's growing fear and mistrust of the government to his horrific extremist act. Beginning with the FBI's 1992 siege on Ruby Ridge, the Idaho home of Randy Weaver, an off-the-grid gun owner who caught the attention of the authorities, one can understand how the impressionable McVeigh saw the cops as the bad guys. After an 11-day standoff, Weaver's 14-year-old son, his wife and the family dog were all dead, as well as a deputy U.S. Marshal. Then came the 1993 conflagration at Waco, Texas, wherein our government killed 76 Caucasian Americans, 20 of them children -- Bill Clinton was top dog at the time – for the crime of stockpiling guns and retreating from normal society. With a running time of 102 minutes, Oklahoma City flies by. It's one heck of a nail-biter, and a great history lesson, too. And hey, if you've got any guns you might want to get rid of them. If you're white, or weirdly religious, just stop it right now.
Make-A-Wish To Benefit From Show At Anthony’s Things are always special at Anthony’s Italian Kitchen on Middle Street, so it should come as no surprise that Anthony has scheduled “An Enchanted Christmas”, starring 10 characters, including Cinderella, The Prince and several Princesses, not to mention other kids’ favourites. The show will take to Anthony’s stage two Saturdays in December: The 9th and 16th, with showtime at 1 p.m. each day. Anthony notes, “The characters will sing and dance and take photos with the kids as well as having a pizza party, with 25% of all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.” Tickets are $20 per person and space is limited so early reservations are a must. To reserve, ring Anthony’s Dinner Theatre on 207/221.2267. Anthony's is at 151 Middle Street in Portland and has free parking at the back of the restaurant. Up Portland 11.17 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook Page 25
Fierce Interest In Fierce Females Holocaust Show At The Maine Jewish Museum
Artist Linda Stein has been obsessed with the theme of protection since 9/11, and was drawn to researching the Holocaust. While many people have been recognised for their courage in facing these horrific times, less attention has been placed on the women who made a difference, until now. Stein’s show at the Maine Jewish Musaeum, Fierce Females, which closes after the Friday 3rd November Art Walk, features tapestries, sculptures and more. Activities have included presentations by the artist and visits from high school artists from as far away as Bridgeton, exploring both the Holocaust and how Stein has depicted it in art.
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Union Of Maine Visual Artists Presents Memories
The Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA) Gallery at Portland Media Centre (PMC), 516 Congress St., presents “Memories”, a group show by members of UMVA, curated by Ann Tracy, opening First Friday, 3rd November, with an artists’ reception from 5.30 to 7.30 p.m. In addition to being available for showing during PMC office hours, UMVA volunteers will be at the Gallery from 1 to 4 p.m. 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th November. So what’s it about? Tracy said, “Memory is invoked by many of our senses and for Proust it was the smell of a madeleine. In an NPR interview with Alain de Botton, author of How Proust Can Change Your Life, he tells the interviewer:
“I think the odd thing about memory is that not all memories are as clear as one another, just as not all moments of the present are that clear. So it’s very possible to remember with incredible clarity a moment that occurred to us, you know, in early childhood, while the whole of last week seems lost in a kind of murkiness.”
One of the things that Proust brilliantly brings out is the way that suddenly a bit of our past, a bit of memory, can surge in front of us when, for example, we smell a certain kind of aroma that might have been around in our childhood, or we taste a long-unfamiliar food that we once had known. How do visual artists use memory? For some UMVA artists memory pieces might be in the forefront of their minds at the onset of creation, while for others the process might not reveal itself until the art is finished. The Union of Maine Visual Artists is an artist-run, non-profit organisation, dedicated to upholding the dignity of artists and creating positive social change through the arts. The UMVA represents visual artists statewide in all fields of endeavor and welcomes those who support contemporary artists in Maine. For more information, point your browser to http://www.umvaonline.org/
Maine Jewish Museum Three New Exhibitions: November 9, 2017 - January 7, 2018 Opening Reception: November 9, 2017 5pm-7pm First Friday Art Walk: December 1, 2017, 5pm-8pm
2017 Menorah Exhibition
Artifact and Artifice
Hours and Days
3rd Floor Sanctuary
Spiegel Gallery
Fineberg Community Room
20 Maine Artists
Jeffrey Ackerman
Kathy Weinberg
Maine Jewish Museum
267 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 (207) 773-2339
Monday - Friday 10am-4pm + Sundays 1pm - 5pm or by appointment mainejewishmuseum.org
Nancy Davidson, Curator
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SMCC & Big Name Restaurants Team Up For November Event
Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) has scheduled “A Light on the Point”, a celebration of SMCC’s many partners who help students grow into leaders of Maine’s most defining industries. Enjoy an unparalleled evening of food and drink featuring renowned Portland area chefs and alumni partnered with SMCC students on 8th November. This year’s event honours the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Casco Bay Association for its long-time support of the SMCC culinary students. The event will include a VIP Cocktail Hour from 5 to 6 p.m., featuring the area’s top mixologists from Portland Hunt & Alpine Club and Fore Street, plus oysters from Eventide. This will be followed by the reception from 6 till 8.30 p.m., including creative fare prepared by SMCC students under the expert guidance of local celebrity chefs and hospitality professionals. It includes beer and wine. Organisers noted, “The SMCC students will be working with some of Portland’s favourite restaurants: Eventide Oyster Co., Evo Kitchen + Bar, David’s Restaurant Lolita-Munjoy Hill, Piccolo, Sur Lie, UNION Restaurant, The Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, Fore Street and Chaval.” To purchase tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-light-on-the-point-tickets-35757445482
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Up Portland 11.17 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook