SEPT 2018
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Processed Media September Events at Eastern Cemetery Stone Carving Demonstration Sat., Sept. 15 - 9 am to 1 pm - Free
Peaks Island stonecutter Matt Barnes of Yankee Slate Cutting will demonstrate the art of carving slate gravestones by hand, using methods of the 1700s. Learn how some of our oldest gravestones were made. Mini-tours and stone conservation demos will be ongoing during this free open house.
By Randy Dankievitch — TV Critic / TVOvermind Dead Cells: An Amalgamation of Greatness Since the release of Spelunky in 2008, the “roguelike” genre has experienced a renaissance. A genre named after a challenging Unix title from 1980, roguelikes are games are built on the foundational belief that death is permanent, reclaiming the power of the Game Over screen, often rendered toothless in the age of auto saving and difficulty aimed at mass appeal. Games like The Binding of Isaac, Faster Than Light and Rogue Legacy have reignited an entire gaming philosophy – to the point of near-market saturation, making it hard for any new title to distinguish itself.
Sun., Sept. 23 @ 1 pm - Exploring Difficult History
Compounding the issue is the paralleled rise in prominence of the “Metroidvania” genre; a term broadly applied to any game with a complex map and engaging combat --- two trademarks of the Metroid and Castlevania series.
Regular tours every Wed., Sat. and Sun. at 11 am, and Thurs. at 5:30 pm. Tickets $10, students & seniors $5, children under 12 free. Tickets are available on Eventbrite or at the gate (cash/checks only please). Contact Tours@spiritsalive.org to schedule a private tour.
This genre has seen an oversaturation in recent years, especially in its application to nearly every single prominent, independently developed 2D action title in recent years. In 2018, trying to make a game that combines elements of metroidvania and roguelike, while making it stand out in the overcrowded release schedule, is a tall task: which, in many ways, makes Motion Twin’s new title, Dead Cells, one of the most impressive accomplishments of 2018.
A walk to the African American burial grounds in Eastern Cemetery.
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Originally released in Steam’s “Early Access” (aka “unfinished game”) programme in mid-2017, Dead Cells is a game that, on paper, seemingly has nothing unique or ingenious to offer. A 2D action platformer with procedurally generated levels was not a mind-blowing idea; nor was the idea of persistent player progress, seen here in the form of unlockable weapons, upgrades and skills. Punishing combat, pixelated graphics, challenging bosses… on paper, Dead Cells was just another in a long line of clones and homages; however, in practice, Dead Cells is one of the best games of 2018... an absolute breath of fresh air in a genre bogged down by uninspired releases and disappointing imitations. Opening in a nameless castle on an equally mysterious island, Dead Cells is an action platformer that forgoes any pretension of story and narrative themes, trading those common modern elements for extremely tight, precise movement and combat: there’s nothing like rolling and jumping through the numerous different stages of Dead Cells – and in a game that often rewards players with speed boosts for killing enemies in quick succession, gives the game an immediately distinguishable sense of rhythm and speed. Where the game shines most is the aforementioned combat. Dead Cells features over two dozen different enemies, each with completely unique attacks, movement, animations and weaknesses. This forces players to approach each level with the mindset of a surgeon; that is, only knowledge and practice will breed confidence in traversing the dangerous, crowded levels of Dead Cells’ fallen medieval-esque world. And with over 50 different weapons at a player’s disposal, from ice bombs and fire whips to quick knives and massive lightning broadswords, the game gives players an unprecedented amount of freedom and versatility with each new run, all while encouraging experimentation with the many abilities, skills, upgrades, and elemental effects by way of random starting weapons and blueprint drops (collecting blueprints allows players to unlock new weapons, provided they complete the level they collected said blueprint on). Even after 40+ hours with the game across Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch (it is also available on PC), each run in Dead Cells feels unique. Four unlockable runes open secrets in each of the game’s near-dozen unique levels, with puzzles and hidden areas in each I still haven’t had an opportunity to unlock. I haven’t beaten the final of the game’s three bosses, either: and yet, even though I’ve experienced zero victories and over 120 losses, Dead Cells keeps offering new and exciting ways to engage with its expansive, dangerous world of monsters and traps. Stemming from the game’s awesome, ambitious and wildly varied weapon system, it encourages explorers and speed runners alike to always strategise on the fly, the potential of new, deadly combinations and play styles driving the “just one more game” feeling behind any great game --- roguelike or otherwise. There may be other metroidvania/roguelikes with more ambitious scopes, or ingenious gameplay ideas, still on the horizon for the genre (since it is the gaming industry, it is a safe bet there are many, many more on the way), but the specific balance and combination of elements in Dead Cells distinguishes it from its many modern counterparts, with the confidence of an old family recipe, a tried-and-true formulation based on the mastery of classic ingredients, with just enough personal flavour and panache to keep it relevant for generations of gamers. Dead Cells may not be as transcendent as my great grandmother’s tomato sauce recipe and be preserved for over 80 years, but I think it is a stand-out title in a genre littered with mediocrity and imitation. If you will, a deserved entry in the upper echelon of roguelikes, and the best games of 2018.
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Hackin’ The Net By Ted Fleischaker / Publisher A couple of different topics this month, so let’s see how well we do... First off, a couple months back we wrote about “cutting the cord” --- in other words, cancelling your cable or satellite TV and just watching everything online, but since that story appeared, we have had some comments from readers about what’s technically called a “geo restriction,” so let’s try and explain. Those same copyright meanies who won’t let you watch the Pats on your phone without paying a fee, and the ones who shut down the likes of music “trading” services like the original “wild west, nobody pays” Napster are very alive and well online. A friend ran afoul of geo restrictions recently when he wanted to watch the news from England’s BBC. BBC has an excellent service called the iPlayer. Ireland, Australia and other countries have the same thing in different versions as well. They offer a chance to listen or watch live or again for up to a few weeks shows that were on the UK’s BBC, Ireland’s RTE and ABC from down under (not the U.S. one!) Trouble is, those rights cops only make money if they sell viewership or listenership rights in each country, so if you and I can watch a British TV show free from the BBC iPlayer (or the competing ITV “Hub”) in theory, we won’t watch it when BBC Enterprises (their international arm) or ITV offer it on a subscription service or laced with --- you got it --- ads, which the real British BBC doesn’t have as it’s “free” to viewers who need to buy a pretty costly annual TV licence.
“see” where you really are. Thus, even if you use a VPN set to bluff their system that you are in Canada, they will still block you by “double checking” to find out you aren’t. As I said in my earlier column, there are a lot of things to consider before you cut that cord, and I have touched on but a few of the “biggies” at our house in that and this column, so my advice is unchanged: Carefully consider what you want and use your cable for before you pull out that scissors. In some cases, there are legal “work arounds” and in others, not. Just go in with your eyes wide open and think before you act! Moving right along, I was amused at a recent insightful column by a guy who may be one of the best — if not THE best — writers in Maine: The Portland Press Herald’s Bill Nemitz. In case you missed his 26th August column, you can find it online, but the crux was Bill’s home internet connection went out and he was left without for a few days, despite trying a lot of different “fixes”. The headline, “Perhaps Net loss can be a gain” said a lot about what I feel when mine goes out --- even for a few minutes. While I shall leave the readers to look up Bill’s great humourous commentary about a failed internet connection, his work did remind me to tell you, my readers, that there are myriad things which can “just go wrong” between your desktop, iPad or phone and the internet. And panicking over them will likely result in frustration on your part, but little else. I am often reminded, in this day-and-age when we correspond, listen to music, watch TV, shop and do most anything and everything else online (short of taking a shower, and I am sure they’re working on that) that years back in the “dark ages” of the late 1990s a friend heard me whining about my British BBC Radio 2 broadcast not connecting online and said “well, remember, there’s no real way this should work, anyway!”
But that means trying to access iPlayer will bring you first a screen asking if you have a license, and second a message saying the content you want “cannot be accessed in your country”. In other words, it’s a no-go outside the UK. There are ways around geo walls, with the most widely used being Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) which “fool” the system into thinking you are somewhere you aren’t, but their use is usually not free, plus their legality is at best questionable and at worst unlawful. Many friends use these, with www.my-private-network.co.uk being most oftmentioned to me. They offer myriad choices --- from buying a spoof that you are in a single nation, to a wide net where you can pick from several dozen countries. But that’s not the end of this cat-and-mouse game. Some broadcasters, Canada’s CBC being the most stringent we have thus far found, have become wise to the use of VPNs and use first your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) location, then that same location services in your tablet or phone you use to tell Google Maps to find the closest coffee shop or hotel to
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Andy was not wrong. Consider that those broadcasts are broken into millions of packets and bytes, sent across the ocean on a cable, then reassembled in the right order to play your TV or radio station in high fidelity in under a second in your hand or on your computer. There’s no real way this should work! But somehow it does...excepting when, on rare occasion, it doesn’t. I recall in the very primitive early days of DSL having the firm I used to buy my high speed service from’s number on speed dial. The company was called Telocity (long since merged into DirecTV) and while they tried hard to keep my then three megabyte service up and running, it often was not there. Daily modem reboots were something to be expected, as were outages --- often for a day or three. Think how far we have come.... but yet, sometimes we are reminded of the “mortality” of the internet. Thus my advice and reason for writing about it is this: things sometimes really do break down or just not work... and sometimes
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that’s at your end and sometimes not. Bill took readers thru all the steps --- from replacing a modem and WiFi router on down, but in the end he still had no working service and was off to find a coffee shop to send in his column to the paper. So what about when Bill’s scenario happens to you? I get asked a lot what to do. My advice is simple.... First and foremost, show patience. I know this is hard... really hard, but try. Usually a simple reboot of your modem will get you back on track. Unplug it, unplug the phone cable. Wait a couple minutes then reconnect and see if that will fix the hiccup. Still no joy? Well, you could call your ISP and see if there’s an area-wide outage. Perhaps a bus hit the pole holding a main cable on the Western Prom. But maybe not. Also, perhaps your provider just pulled the plug for a minute to do a test or upgrade. We had a few of those and when they stopped, we found our speed had increased, so it was definitely worth the upgrade hassle. But my recommendation is that you wait (tough as it sounds) say a half hour, while periodically trying to reconnect. Also, keep in mind that if something “big” has happened you may see little or no service for a day or two. Something “big” like a severe thunderstorm. Or a Nor’easter. Or the like, I mean. Barring any of that, and having waited, you probably should call your ISP and ask. Before you do, check the very obvious. One month, many years ago, our service ceased and a call to the provider at our old home in the Midwest brought news that they’d turned us off for not paying our bill... a bill they later discovered was returned to them for a wrong address. Nonetheless, do make sure you are current and that billing likes you. Next, see what the rep tells you. The issue may be as easy as a major outage or as complex as you will need a new modem and have to either trade yours in at the firm’s offices or wait till a tech can get to you with a replacement. Also, be aware that there’s often a responsibility “line” you will need to see which side of you are on. That line is between the “stuff” your provider owns and includes and the “stuff” you buy or own. In many cases, the modem is theirs or leased, and the WiFi router is your property. This can get complicated! Finally, listen as well as you can to what the tech on the phone says. A service visit may be required (find out who pays for that) and often, too, as Nemitz implied, that voice at the other end of the line may not be easy to understand. I have found asking for either a “U.S. based representative” or “a supervisor” will help me get to speak to someone I will understand if I cannot get what the first voice on the line is trying to get across, because sometimes no matter how hard I try nothing else works. Finally, as a last resort, schedule a service call and let your ISP send someone out. But be aware that doesn’t always guarantee results. As Nemitz found out (and I long have known) there really is what he called “a rat’s nest of modems, routers and other modern-day essentials.” So just be patient and aware that this whole thing really shouldn’t work, anyway, as Andy said all those years ago. Remember, much as you’d not like to, that it did work, however, and with some patience and troubleshooting it will again, but do not be in a hurry. Find an old school radio or a good book and wait it out. No outage lasts forever... they all just seem like they do!
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Beyond The Forecast
By Jack Sillin / Weatherman & Meterology Student Hello everyone!
As we look ahead past Labour Day to the start of the fall season, there are plenty of changes in the air. The days have been getting shorter since back in June, but it’s only around now that we really start to notice. Supposedly, this is the time that the first rounds of crisp fall air begin to make their way in our direction. They’ll come, in time. However what I want to focus on this month is something we typically don’t think about here in Maine, but that is important nonetheless: hurricanes. The beginning of fall is also the beginning of peak hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin. Hurricanes are pretty unusual here in Maine, but occasionally we do feel their impacts. The last hurricane to directly impact our area (with wind/rain as opposed to just large swells) was Sandy in 2012, and it’s been since Bob in 1991 that we’ve seen major direct impacts from a tropical system. So why are hurricanes rare in Maine, what do we need to happen in the atmosphere to give us a hurricane hit, and what’s the outlook for September in the Atlantic Basin? These are the questions I’ll take a look at in this month’s Beyond the Forecast.
40. Hurricanes can still draw some energy from Cape Cod’s 70-75 degree waters, just not enough to retain all of their strength. Now we know that hurricanes have “inertia” of sorts, in that they’ll keep on spinning even after they move away from ideal water temperatures. However, they will be weakening. So in order to get a strong hurricane hit in Maine, we need the storm to be moving quickly, so that by the time the cooler waters can really take a toll, we’ve already experienced the brunt of the storm. This idea is perfectly illustrated by New England’s most powerful recorded hurricane, which hit Long Island (and then Connecticut) in 1938. The storm was a category three at landfall, which is extraordinarily rare for New England. It brought catastrophic damage to the entire region. In order to maintain its category three (winds sustained above 111 m.p.h.) strength, it needed to move over 50 m.p.h. from the tropics east of Florida to the Long Island coast. Most storms don’t move that fast, and as a result arrive in New England much weaker. However the case of 1938 illustrates that if the conditions are right, we can get hurricanes just as strong as those that hit Florida. So what about this year, are we expecting any tropical trouble heading into September? The short answer is that while we cannot predict landfall strength/location of storms that haven’t even formed yet, or are still thousands of miles away, we are in a pattern generally conducive for tropical cyclone impacts. Additionally, the Atlantic is heating up with one tropical storm, Florence, as of this writing on 2nd September and several more tropical waves (disturbances that could become tropical cyclones) set to move off Africa in the coming weeks. While the actual threat to Maine, or anywhere on the East Coast for that matter,
To start, it’s probably good to review quickly what exactly a hurricane is. This will help us answer the first question, about why hurricanes are rare in Maine. A hurricane in its simplest form is just an organised group of thunderstorms rotating around an area of low pressure. These thunderstorms, like all thunderstorms, need a few basic ingredients to get going: moisture, instability and lift. Down in the tropics, the warm ocean waters provide the first two ingredients, and the low pressure area provides the lift. Once the thunderstorms form, it’s up to the Coriolis force to get them spinning around the low’s centre. That’s why hurricanes don’t form along the equator, even though that’s where the warmest waters are. Below about 5N, there isn’t enough Coriolis force to get the storms spinning. If hurricanes need warm tropical water to sustain their thunderstorms, it won’t take too much time spent on the beach at the Eastern Prom to figure out why hurricanes weaken as they approach Maine. The water up here is chilly! Hurricanes need water temperatures above 80F to sustain themselves, and our water temps top out around 70 at their warmest. Often, they’re a bit cooler than that. So if our cool waters are hurricane kryptonite, how do they occasionally make it all the way up here? The answer to question number two, what needs to happen in the atmosphere to give us a hurricane hit, can be found in (a slightly adapted version of) Newton’s first law. Just like an object in motion tends to stay in motion, a hurricane that’s spinning tends to keep on spinning, even a little bit after its energy source is removed. When a hurricane crosses into waters below 80F, it’s not like the whole system just evaporates. There are so many powerful dynamics present in a strong hurricane that will maintain the storm for a little while after the warm waters disappear. Furthermore, while there is a strong temperature gradient in the waters south of New England, it’s not like the temperature drops from 80 straight to
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will depend on exactly how these individual disturbances behave, the overall pattern is a dangerous one. Why is that? Well you may have noticed that it’s been pretty warm out recently, by and large. We’ve had a few cool days here and there, but they’ve been far outnumbered by warm and humid days. This is due to an area of high pressure aloft, known as a ridge. This ridge has parked itself over New England for the past few weeks, and is showing signs of strengthening even more heading into the first week of September. How does that relate to hurricanes? Well that ridge
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will be blocking the typical “exit path” for storms near the East Coast. Remember that winds blow clockwise around areas of high pressure, so high pressure over New England means easterly winds near Bermuda. If a tropical system arrives somewhere near Bermuda, as tropical systems like to do, it would be steered westward towards the coast, as opposed to eastward out to sea. Again, this pattern is only really dangerous if we get an actual storm, but there will be several contenders over the next few weeks. While it’s far too early to be concerned, now is a great time to take a look at what your plan would be should a hurricane head our way. Stocking up on basic supplies like bottled water, batteries, and nonperishable foods before a storm is in the forecast will save you the hassle of long lines at the store once everyone else realises they need the exact same things. As an added bonus, if you don’t end up needing those supplies for hurricane season, nor’easter / ice storm season is right around the corner, and you’ll be a step ahead of the game heading into the winter. I’ll be back next month with more weather! -Jack
Jack’s Weather Terms Tropical system classifications. This month’s terms will be tropically themed, with explanations of how tropical waves, tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes are different. Tropical wave: an area of disturbed weather that isn’t organised enough to be a tropical cyclone. Typical impacts include breezy and showery conditions. Tropical depression: an organised cluster of thunderstorms rotating around a weak area of low pressure. Maximum sustained winds (not including gusts) below 39 m.p.h. Tropical storm: a tropical cyclone (organised cluster of thunderstorms rotating around an area of low pressure) with maximum sustained winds between 40 and 73 m.p.h. Hurricane: a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds above 74 m.p.h. Because this spans such a wide range of intensities, hurricanes are further classified into five categories by maximum sustained wind, defined as follows. Category 1: 74-95 m.p.h.; Category 2: 96-110 m.p.h.; Category 3: 111-129 m.p.h.; Category 4: 130-156 m.p.h.; Category 5: >157 m.p.h. Also, since I used this term earlier in my main column, what is the Coriolis force? The Coriolis force is a force acting on objects not rooted to the earth’s surface as they move over long distances (in this case, parcels of air moving from Africa into the Atlantic Ocean). The Earth rotates faster at the equator than the poles, by a lot. Someone standing on the equator has to move around the entire circumference of the Earth in a given day. Because the Earth rotates on an axis, a point directly on that axis (i.e. the North and South poles) doesn’t move at all in a given day. The dramatic difference in rotational speeds will lead to air parcels (or anything else for that matter) being deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere as they move across long distances. This curving motion is what clusters of thunderstorms need to start spinning around an area of low pressure to form a tropical cyclone.
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Layne’s Wine Time
Layne V. Witherell / Up Portland Wine Critic WINES IN A CAN
The great wine writer Mike Veseth said in the early 1990’s that bottles were “traditional, accepted, inefficient and doomed”. Pretty rough stuff. He was referring to the then emerging phenomenon of the bag in the box. Canned wines were not yet over the horizon. Today they are the future --- right now. BLUE LOBSTER WINE COMPANY --- LOCAL URBAN WINERY: I sat down with Chris Gamble in his local Portland, no frills, just barrels, tanks and canning equipment, (with a couple of tables and chairs) urban winery on Anderson Street to taste and ask. Why cans? What about that tinny taste we expect? We both got eyeball-to-eyeball peering into the innards of a fresh out of the carton, ready to be filled can. This was not what I expected. There was a lining inside that was very different in look and feel from the aluminum casing outside. Ah, glorious technology. It is a liner with a nitrogen seal. The goal here is freshness and pure taste, without the tininess we associate in our minds with cans.
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Chris is the ideal urban winery guy. A jack of all trades, he worked at a winery and saw what was happening in places like San Francisco and Oakland, California. Urban wineries lack the Liberace Candelabra ambiance but choose to provide an unpretentious tasting environment as fresh as the wines themselves. The concept is simple: source the best wines, taste and continually think about what you are making and where your audience may be headed. And offer value. The present lineup of cans is 375 ml (half a bottle), priced at $5.99 each; the equivalent of a $12 bottle of wine. Chardonnay (Yakima sourced) --- This is the definition of light, fresh, crisp, dry, green apple-inspired chardonnay in a can. He had no interest in going the oak aged route. “If you want Kendall Jackson, head on out and buy some K.J. (in a bottle)”. Rose (Paso Robles sourced) --- 100% Grenache. A dry, tasty, fruity rose at 13.4% alcohol. Many roses have some sweetness; his do not. This is ideal picnic with cheese and salami wine. Chilled, sure. Bayside Blend, (Lodi) --- A new release of zinfandel, merlot and, the always compatible white, viognier. 14.2% alcohol. A sit on the deck red with freshness of flavour. Or, throw them into a bag and tow them behind your kayak. Zinfandel (Lodi) --- Old vine zin in a can! Fire up the grill for this serious 15.5% alcohol, intense, full bodied zin. Not for the faint of heart. “For the millennials cans are a no brainer. Some of the boomers who come in are a bit taken aback with the idea. Once they taste them, they come around”. These are wines that are jocular in look and pure of taste.
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THE NATIONAL BRANDS: COPPOLA: Sofia Blanc de Blancs mini, 187 ml with its own straw. $4.79 This was the debut adorable sparkler from the famed Coppola family that hit the U.S. market with a frenzy of refreshing pinkness in an equally adorable can and box. More to come from Francis Ford Coppola in the form of his Diamond Collection Monterey County Pinot Noir at $5.99 a 250ml can. DARK HORSE: Rose and Pinot Grigio, $3.49 a can, 375 ml. You know it will be a serious battle when Ernest and Julio Gallo, the world’s largest winery located in Modesto, California, enters the ring. Aside from their legendary distribution and merchandizing muscle “put highly advertised bottles at eye level”, from their 300 page in-house manual, the bible for their reps selling wine, their real talent is trend spotting and their creation of personas. Enter Beth Liston, “renegade wine maker” with “game changing innovation” and introducing “kickass flavour” (what a great website!). Or, in other words, Beth is a very attractive blond, heavily tattooed, Instagram photo perfect AND a millennial. She joins that long list of Gallo character ad personalities dating back to Madria Madria Sangria, folksy Carlo Rossi, even folksier Bartles and Jaymes and beyond. Where there is a hot, new trend emerging, you will see it from them in a store --- of course, at eye level. Her winemaking technical prowess is a perfect match for their marketing prowess. GETTIN’ JIGGY WIT IT: Local Baroque in a can: HONEY MAKER MAINE MEAD WORKS Mead, the honey based wine of the gods predates history. Picture some old dude in 7,000 B.C. sitting wrapped in a caftan sucking on a three foot long reed sticking in a piece of primitive pottery... he is drinking mead. Fast forward about 5,000 years to a group of Vikings hanging in their “Mead Hall” listening to their “skald”, or official poet and storyteller relating seafaring, raids, gods and goddesses, women chieftains, etc. Long winters fueled with lots of mead. They did add one major new touch: the Viking drinking horn. Just Google up this miraculous drinking vessel. It exists in all sizes and prices, and for a bit extra you can purchase an adjustable belt holster. Norse sagas not included. Honey Maker Mead Works on Washington Avenue here in Portland has brought back this ancient beverage and crafted it in eye-popping new forms. They are in an industrial themed space that is a far cry from a “Mead Hall”. The modern drinking horn, of course, is the can. In their case, two creative meads are available in cans with, hopefully more coming from Ben Alexander, founder and expert in all things mead. Iced Tea Mead, 12 oz. $16 a four-pack . “Black tea, fresh squeezed lemons, mint and honey”. It is a far cry from traditional mead. The 6.9% alcohol is just right as a balance to the tea and mint flavours. Lavender Lemonade Mead , 12 oz. $16 a four-pack , 6.9% alc. In a distinctly psychedelically inspired can. Mead, lemon juice, lavender and mint, this is one of my all-time favourite hot afternoon beverages. The Vikings claimed that mead was the origin of poetry and this is the modern equivalent. This is a mere sliver of what you will be seeing in the not too distant future in the can world. It is NOW a world. (EDITORS NOTE: Layne is a professional in the wine business with over 30 years of experience. He can be reached at lvwitherell@gmail.com for talks and consulting. His website is http://winemaniacs.wordpress.com/blog
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Food For Thought... Too many times, when we wait (with what most would call “bated breath”) for something to happen, by the time it does, we are either so excited with anticipation, that the actual event is an anti-climax or, worse, an utter disappointment. Fortunately for Portland clam lovers, the recent several-months-late opening of Bob’s Clam Hut was neither disappointing nor anti-climactic. It was (and is) little short of wonderful. Not only has the ownership of the original on U.S. 1 in Kittery (where they have been for 62 years), managed to pull off their first branch, but they have done it with what to the diners is ease. Talking to the crew and management here tells a different story, however, as changing the former rag-tag building that housed The Three Buoys, at Washington and Cumberland avenues into a great, airy space was not easy. In fact, if you were ever in when it had the former name and eatery, forget everything you heard, saw and ate... this place is delightfully different and is filled with good food, happy customers and a staff which we have yet, after three visits, caught frowning. These are happy people and they show it. So does what ends up on the plates: Huge portions, New England seafood cooked correctly and that happy crew to hand over the goods. In fact, along with our long-time fave, Dock’s Seafood in SoPo, Bob’s is now one of our “go to” places for anything that swims (make that swam) in Casco bay or elsewhere. Bob’s is not quite as visible as what this reviewer feels are the over-priced and overly-touristy spots on Commercial Street, so it’s more a local “secret,” meaning that like Dock’s, Bob’s is one of those places for “we locals” and thus it will be year-round now that they finally got the doors open. So what’s good here? Well, the correct term is “great” and not merely “good” but we have loved (ta-da!) everything we’ve had, but especially (no shock) the clams. My New England friends chide me as I like the strips and not the whole belly variety best. Both are excellent at this clam specialist restaurant. And before I go on to other menu items, I must confess that being “from away” as I am often reminded, I like the clam strips best as all-too-often the whole
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belly ones taste gritty to me. I am told by my Maine neighbours that’s because too many places do not take the care needed to prepare them right. I do not honestly know, but I did have a whole clam “borrowed” from a friend’s plate on one visit to Bob’s and found it delicious, so who knows... maybe I’ll become a convert, though I will always be “from away.” Anyway, Bob’s original (and the new Portland location) is known for both the Bob’s and the Lillian’s recipe clams. What’s the difference you ask? Despite staff in Portland, and before that Kittery, explaining many times, all I know is that Lillian’s is slightly crisper than Bob’s, and one slightly “fluffier,” which is accomplished by being dipped in an egg wash before being breaded. I do know I have had both and never had a bad clam, though each has supporters... and most of those fans are as loyal to “their way” as the Sox versus Yankee rooters are; meaning almost with a religious fervor. By the way, just so you know, Lillian Mangos was a long-time staffer at the Kittery Bob’s who kept insisting that Michael Landgarten, who bought (and still owns) the restaurant in the mid-1980s from founder Bob Kraft, did not have the recipe he inherited with the place quite right. She said clams HAD to be egg washed before breading, and he said not so. That’s why to this day there are “duelling” recipes, and both sell well I’m told. Along the way, Bob’s and the “two ways” has caught a lot of national attention, including a 2010 appearance on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, which was followed by even more popularity.
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Every American Should Visit.” Coastal Living has also recognised the lobster roll at Bob’s as one of the best in the state and Yankee Magazine spotlighted the clam hut as having one of “The 10 Best Fried Clams in Maine.” Whew! But you know what? All those clams, er, ah, claims are justified. The clams really are that good. OK, but what about non-clam lovers? The Portland menu is chock full of options --- ranging from salads and chowders to burgers, fried fish, oysters, chicken, calamari and more. A friend I went with had what she said was an excellent lobster roll. And a neighbour was raving about her fish taco at Bob’s, too. I do want to try one of the fried lobsters the Portland store is offering, and one of their milkshakes, also, since they have brought in Rococo’s Artisan Ice Cream from Wells to make those with. I can see a lot more visits to Bob’s Clam Hut in my future, providing I can walk there and back to keep my already-ample waistline from getting more ample! Pricing at Bob’s is fair, too. That said, I will add, not cheap, but fair. Things vary due to market prices and supplies, but the clam strip basket, which came with a ton of fries and some nice coleslaw, was $17.95. The friend’s lobster roll, with fries, a pickle and grilled bun was $20.95 and that single fish taco (they sell doubles and triples, too) was a mere $5.95. Bob’s also has combo platters for one or more. The Seafood Basket the menu says “serves two to three” is $35.95 and has clams, fish and scallops, along with fries and the slaw. And they offer boxed sides, so one can get up to quart-sized containers of everything from the clams to onion rings and back. Think office party here. So what’s the down side of the new Portland Bob’s Clam Hut? None, really. We have yet to wait for a table, though the inside dining room seats just 24. That’s because an additional 56 can fit in their mural-clad airy patio. Of course, when the Nor’easters blow and the winds get chill that option will go away until Spring. As they say: Grab a seat out front while you can, but this place looks and tastes like it’s going to be great in any season. We can see ourselves popping in at Bob’s Clam Hut for a quick lunch or dinner; a take-away for home or to impress guests when they visit. It’s truly, as they say, just a little typical New England Clam Shack now happily here in the “big city.” Go try it and we guarantee you will be back...and back...and back! More info on the website at www.bobsclamhut.com Hours are from 11.30 a.m. every day, till 9.30 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; and 10.30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. All major plastic accepted. And look for the smiling staff when you go, too! Bits & Bites... more restaurant news... A friend of ours is one of those guides who hops on the buses down at the Ocean Gateway when a ship is in to take visitors for a look-see at the Portland we all know and love. That’s why this reviewer, while strolling round the Old Port, keeps a careful ear whenever I spot a tour or group coming by... just to hear what the visitors hear. And it’s why I got a huge laugh when The Bufflehead, the Maine Duck Boats land and watercraft, paused by where I was standing at Middle and Franklin streets one recent day. To finish the Lillian story before I move on, after many years behind the counter in Kittery meeting folks and touting “her way”, she suffered a stroke and died a few years later in 2013, but Landgarten still offers the clams “her way” as well as his. And to further honour her, he opened a little cafe in Kittery called Lil’s, which Portland friends say is well-worth the drive just for one of their light-as-air crullers. It’s gonna have to be darn good to beat my fave crullers at Hi Fi Donuts at 30 City Centre here in Portland, but that one’s for another review. I will say, quoting here from Bob’s website, that Bob’s Clam Hut is pretty famous nationally. They’ve been featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, named a “Great American Lobster Destination” by USA Today and took a spot on Thrillist’s list of “50 Essential Restaurants
There, the tour guide, loudly and clearly on the microphone pointed out Eventide and then proclaimed, not once, but twice, that they have “won top restaurant awards from James Beardley...” I have no clue who James Beardley might be, but I do know that they have taken (and deservedly so) a number of top prizes from the James Beard Foundation. Oh, and just to finish the correction, Mr. Beard (not Beardley) himself died in 1985, so while his foundation recognises great eats, he has been “elsewhere” for over three decades! And finally, We love reviewing food in the recently-named “foodiest city in America” but we have to ask: are we locals looking for different things than the magazines and national reviewers, do those guys and gals have any real taste or did we miss something they found? What I mean is, we find some of the spots which have had rave after rave nationally to be nowhere close to our liking (and that of many friends) and have given thumbs down reviews to a few of the so-called “hidden gems” those big magazines and newspapers seem to gush with praise about. I would name some names here, but readers can visit our website and see our past reviews (www.upportland.com) both good and bad. And, it should be pointed out that a review is one (or several) writers’ opinions and reactions to what they got on a specific day or days, but, that said, several of the national reviews have been so opposite to what we, and local friends, have found that I must ask if we even ate at the same locations! I am going to be returning to a couple spots which got glowing reviews from the “big boys” and not-so-hot ones from us to see if things have changed. If so, I will recant past criticism, but if not, I do plan to call out those big national guys as, above all, I try and tell it like it is... not what I hope it may be! That’s why you --- the reader --- can believe what we have to say and trust us (we hope) to give you the real story, with no “fake reviews” here!
Up Portland 09.18 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook Page 13
Eric’s Optimal Corner Lynette Spring Baker / Optimal Self Community Health and Wellness Center
Learning to Run
perpendicular to the ground with light shoulder action, “simply pull the elbows back, not side to side, keeping them close to your body.” Before the session was over, I would have run for a half a mile, engaged in light hill sprints, all the while pushing through the inner awkwardness of learning. Mike was patient, answering all my questions (and there were a lot). Mike walked me through post-run stretching, complete with the “whys.” My at home protocol includes this little, ever-important number: laying down on the floor with my head on a pillow and my legs straight up against a wall for about 10 minutes, give or take, preferably give. This is surprisingly important for circulation and blood flow. Who knew? Definitely not this gal. But this seriously makes a positive impact. And now I do know this…from experience.
OMG. Learning to run. How could this even be a thing? Do we not already know how to move our two lower limbs in rapid succession? Well, I must confess: I did NOT know. And I still do not “know” as of yet, but I am learning. I am learning because I actually hired a professional to teach me. I’ve heard that you can read books, talk to folks and watch YouTube instructional videos about “how to run.” Honestly, none of those avenues appeal to me because I did not pursue them. Instead, I printed off a training plan to “Run a 10K in Four weeks” that I stuck in my purse where it did zero to help me along my path to run a six-mile leg in the Maine Marathon Relay event. It was disappointing, yet not surprising, when I found myself five and half weeks from race day with the eye-rolling acceptance that I would have to back out of my commitment to a team that I put together, “Sorry folks, I thought more of myself when I got you all excited to run this relay…” But before I conceded, I had a last resort lightbulb moment: “This is a job for a professional.” I arranged to meet with Mike Hickey, left, NASM Certified Personal Trainer at Optimal Self, lifelong athlete and running enthusiast for a consult opening with, “Look, what I want to accomplish may not even be possible within the timeframe I have left to accomplish it. I may have procrastinated my opportunity away here…” We discussed my immediate goal of simply finishing a run of six miles... not with amazing speed, but just to “finish.” Mike was so confident that I could do this with one training session with him and one long run on my own each week that it was contagious. Ultimately, it was a test of “trusting the process,” trusting my would-be trainer and ultimately trusting myself to do the work. The latter was the most ominous. My first training session with Mike was truly enlightening. Wowza! The depths to which I do not understand how to efficiently move my body never cease to amaze me! “Run on your forefoot keeping your legs directly below your centre of gravity --- essentially behind you.” Whaaaa? “Running is essentially falling forward and catching yourself.” During this first conditioning session, I let my body fall forward, catching myself on my forefoot and moving into a slow jog for a few paces. It was challenging as my brain tried to imitate Mike’s demonstrations of form and “arm carriage.” Arm carriage, by the way, is how you hold and move your arms when running; I was advised to consider this movement as that of an elbow pull: arms directly at my side with my forearm
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With my first conditioning session under my belt, it was my job to fulfill my “long run.” This consisted of paying more attention to “time on my feet” than distance. I was to run what we would all agree is a very slow pace (“You should be able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance without huffing and puffing through it”) for 10 minutes and then walk for 60 seconds and repeat that two more times until I had run for 30 minutes total. I chose Portland’s beloved Back Bay for this, along with everyone else on a Sunday morning. It’s a pretty simple plan, but not without it’s pain. Since my trainer advised against listening to music or anything at all, my mind chatter was a constant cycle of, “Lean forward, feet behind me, arms at my side, elbow pull, chest up, breathe in through the nose out through the mouth, has it been 10 minutes yet? Is my stopwatch broken?” This self-talk, while less entertaining than Hall & Oates, proved valuable as I was in constant contact with what my body was doing and how it was feeling, as well as instilling that 10 minutes in motion is longer than I anticipated. In any event, after what felt like an hour, I totally finished 30 minutes of running... and running comfortably at that! And I feel EMPOWERED! At the time of this article, I have had two conditioning sessions with my trainer and a single long run. I am now learning to incorporate my midfoot when running at slower paces. I am becoming attuned to how my body feels moving through space and how to adjust while doing so to minimise energy waste. What is sticking with me, more than what I am learning about how to approach the physical act of running, is confidence in my ability to actually do it. Working with a trainer for this has made all the difference. If you would like more information on how personal training can help you achieve your fitness goals, please contact Mike Hickey of Eric Hilton’s Optimal Self Community Health and Wellness Center at mhickey49@gmail.com
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The Standard Reviewer
By Andrea Rouda / Up Portland’s Film & Theatre Reviewer
Somewhere Over the Rainbow The most rewarding movies take us out of ourselves for a couple of hours. Whatever it is that’s getting us down, sapping our energy, or just plain boring us to tears, we can leave it all behind and go “somewhere over the rainbow,” like we did with Dorothy and Toto so many years ago. Documentaries are especially good for this, since they allow us to enter a different reality that actually exists. Following are reviews of five memorable ones, all available for viewing either at iTunes or Netflix. CHICKEN PEOPLE One of my favorite Seinfeld moments was when Elaine said to Jerry, “I will never understand people,” and Jerry replied in a disgusted tone, “They’re the worst.” The line may have been spoken by Jerry, but it was written by the show’s creator, Larry David, and surely reflects his take on humanity. It’s one I share. So I found it easy to understand why some people choose to spend the better part of their days, and lives, with chickens. To see these folks up close and personal, I suggest settling down with the superbly entertaining documentary Chicken People. We got it from iTunes for 99 cents, and it was the best bang for a buck you’ll ever get. Smartly directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes, with amazing photography and even more amazing film editing, this 2016 film will knock your socks off, plain and simple. It’s a funny, heartwarming, eye-opening and somewhat scary look into a unique world I never knew existed, and chances are neither did you: the world of show chickens. It’s the Westminster Dog Show for fowl, only more esoteric and bizarre. The Marilyn Monroes of poultry, each one is more beautiful than the last. The film delves into the lives of a handful of endearing and quirky competitors for the 2015 Ohio Chicken-Off (not its real name but you get the idea) in the months leading up to the big day. We see them at home in their daily routines, meet their families and eventually understand that raising chickens is the reason each one of them gets out of bed in the morning. We see them breeding the chicks and watching them grow, then getting their prized ones ready for the competitions. They bathe them -- one woman said she would be “spending the next 48 hours washing chickens” --- then fluff them with hair dryers, clip their toenails (talons?), spray their feathers with conditioners, redden their wattles to make them shine, and dote on them like, you should excuse the expression, mother hens. Sadly not everyone can win, and there are disappointments, for them and for us. But no matter: They may lose this time, but there’s always another show on the circuit. And besides, none of them care. After all, they’re chicken people, through and through. ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME Have you ever wished you could give up the starring role in your life and instead
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just have a small part in a crowd scene; maybe even one without any lines? Being the centre of your own attention can get exhausting. And the worst part is that the performance is on-going; there are no days off or nights when the theatre is dark. It’s work, work, work until the show closes. But some people seem to enjoy it, and they’re the ones who enter show business. Elaine Stritch was clearly one of those. Released in 2017, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is a rewarding documentary about the former Broadway legend and early film and TV star who died four years ago at the age of 89. The film centres on her life just two years earlier when, at 87, she was still a crowd-pleasing pistol with legs to die for. Pitching her salty personality and a lifetime of show tunes to sell-out crowds around the country, she was reluctant to give up entertaining despite her failing health, determined to drain every last drop of flavour from life. We are privy to her sometimes bawdy, always boisterous cabaret acts in posh New York clubs, where her unique talents are on display. These are interspersed with darker moments: her bouts of depression and fears concerning her failing vitality as she approaches the inevitable. For those too young to remember Stritch, there’s a wealth of information and plenty of clips from her earlier days when she was a beautiful ingenue, making you wish you had known her then. The film is full of important truths, but one which stayed with me was when Stritch, battling her diabetes and losing, recounted her father’s favourite expression: “Everybody’s got a sack of rocks.” It’s a good thing to remember, helpful in almost every situation that might otherwise dissemble into negativity, anger or frustration. It’s sort of like realising, when you’re stuck in traffic, that you are also “the traffic,” it’s not just the other people in those other cars. Everyone’s trying to get somewhere, just like you, and they’re all lugging their own sack of rocks. OKLAHOMA CITY For anyone wondering why the World Trade Centre was bombed on 9/11, or what’s behind all the NRA and 2nd Amendment chatter, the 2017 documentary Oklahoma City may help explain things. It blew my mind and will likely blow yours, too. Writer/director Barak Goodman explores in riveting detail 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. At the time of this tragedy I was busy raising my son, concentrating my efforts on Halloween costumes and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so I missed a lot. This film fills in all the blanks regarding the roots of today’s anti-government sentiments, in case, like me, you’ve wondered how the heck we got where we are. With incredible historic footage, Oklahoma City describes the path starting from McVeigh’s growing fear and mistrust of the government and ending in 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 teenage son, 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 76 people, 20 of them children, were killed by our government -- Bill Clinton was president at the time -- for owning too many guns and retreating from normal society. All of the dead were white, which may or may not have added to their purported crimes, but who knows. 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. And if you’re white, or weirdly religious, just stop it right now.
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THE WITNESS Prepare to be mesmerized by the gripping 2004 documentary The Witness, which deals with the 1964 true crime story of Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bar manager in the affluent Queens, New York, neighbourhood of Kew Gardens. For those of a certain age she’s a household name, but for most of you her story will be brand new. Kitty often worked until two or three in the morning. One night she returned home, parked her car in her usual spot in front of her apartment building, and was raped and stabbed to death by a man whose stated motive was that he was “looking for a girl to kill” that night. The reason it stayed in the headlines, turning Kitty’s 15 minutes of fame into 50 years, was a front-page story in The New York Times claiming that 38 of her neighbours had witnessed the ongoing crime for a full half-hour, gaping out of their nearby apartment windows as if they were watching a play being performed, and not one of them did a thing to stop it. I was 18 at the time, living just 20 minutes from the crime scene and about to go off to college. The story blew my already fragile nervous system to smithereens and added to my inherent distrust of just about anyone and everyone.
Fortunately, owing to the callousness of youth I forgot about it soon enough, but I always believed the premise that nobody gives a damn about you unless they are family, and sometimes not even then. This film details the obsessive detective work of Kitty’s surviving younger brother, William Genovese, revealing that not all was as reported by the newspapers and the many TV specials and books devoted to the murder. It turns out that nobody watched it happen, although a few neighbours were awakened by screams. We learn from interviews William conducted with several editors who worked at The Times back then, as well as a leading TV news anchor of the day, that the story was more compelling -- meaning it sold more papers -- when it was “tweaked” a bit. So “fake news” isn’t really all that new after all. The Witness is compelling cinema, offering an always-interesting look at life in a simpler time and a harrowing audio reenactment of the crime you will not soon forget. In the not-dying-in-vain department, the murder of Kitty Genovese was the catalyst for the 911 telephone Emergency System we have today. KING GEORGES (2016) As an artist I often ask what people do with themselves if they don’t write, paint, dance, sing or do something creative like that. The wonderful documentary King Georges, about an esteemed French chef, Georges Perrier, who owned a restaurant in Philadelphia for 40 years, answered my question: some of them cook. The restaurant, closed in 2013, was Le Bec-Fin (French idiom meaning “the good taste”), and after seeing this film you’ll likely be sorry you never ate there when you could have done so. From the opening scene, showing Perrier shopping for ingredients at a produce market at the crack of dawn, King Georges takes you inside the heart of this great chef, as well as the kitchen of his fabulous, high-end restaurant. It’s crazy in there! There’s a lot of cursing and sweating and chopping and tasting. Perrier has continual screaming tantrums (English subtitles help you understand what he’s saying) over burnt galettes and just about anything else.
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There are kitchen disasters like exploding gas burners, with 80 diehard foodies in the elegant dining room waiting to be fed. There’s also a lot of butter and flour, in case you’ve wondered why French cooking is so delicious. It seems like every time Perrier walked by a pot of something cooking he threw in a big clump of butter, just because. Perrier recognised his gift early on and never wavered. He cooked for a living all day and then cooked some more at home each night. It was his one true passion, except for his fluffy little dog who stayed with him, unlike his wife who left him because all he did was cook, putting in 16-hour days at his restaurant, six days a week. Old photos show him growing up in France, where his grandmother asked him for cooking advice when he was just a child.
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Invited to America by a benefactor, he opened his restaurant and became a huge success, eventually becoming one of the greatest chefs in the world. Perrier won culinary prizes, appeared on TV and was profiled in newspapers and magazines. Interviews with his daughter attest to his not having been much of a father all those years, but of course she loves him anyway. Watching the movie makes you really hungry, so eat beforehand, or have snacks handy.
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Sauntering With Mat
By Mat Robedee / Up Portland Commentator
It was 6 p.m. when I parked at the trailhead and from there, a three-hour hike until I reached the mountaintop. I planned to watch the full moon from the summit and descend afterwards towards a nearby tent site. Once my bags were packed, I set boots to trail and made haste into the forest. A grin stretched from ear to ear as I caught glimpses of the sky above. One of my favourite days of the year is that of the August full moon, and I was thankful this one would not be missed.
At a young age I learned the importance of developing comfort in being alone and I will forever be grateful for that. It seems as a society, we no longer find ease nor take pride in our own company and solo ventures. Instead, living seems to only be validated when experienced with others or streamed live for an audience to see. The simple idea of going to dinner or the movies alone puts many at unease, let alone hiking or camping in the wilderness. More often that not, it seems as if our time and attention have become a commodity. Yet, when you are alone in the wilderness, you are immersed in the moment, tapping into a certain mindfulness often missed or exploited elsewhere. Throughout my life, solo adventures such as hiking and camping have not been just recreation, but rather a therapeutic practice. Meditation is often too passive for me. Being alone in nature though, has similar effects. It quenches a deep and ancient thirst in the spirit - a reset button for the soul. And if there were ever a time when one’s needs to disconnect from the world around them for a bit was a priority, that time is now. The moon shone across the valley below. Small patches of fog settled in the lowest areas, giving the impression of mountains bursting from cloudscapes in the sky, like something you would likely see in a National Geographic article about the Himalayas. After gazing out upon the horizon for over an hour, I stood up to begin making my way down. Knowing the potential dangers of descent, I thanked the moon but decided to rely on my headlamp instead. No need for an injury this far out and alone in the woods. Yet when I grabbed hold of the light from my pack’s side pocket, I noticed it had broken open and a battery had fallen out somewhere along the trail. The view was grand and my body was exhausted, so I only searched for the battery quickly before calling it quits. Instead of risking a foolish decent in the dark, I gladly rolled out my ground pad on some flat rocks and camped on the range itself. It was a beautiful night, in the mid 50’s with a slight breeze, which meant bugs would be of no major concern. I nuzzled up in my sleeping bag and fell asleep under the moonlight - listening to the far off calls of an owl, which sent chilling hoots that echoed across the valley below.
I was ascending the east peak (3,794 feet) of Goose Eye Mountain in Maine, one of several mountains that make up the Mahoosuc Range. This is a northern extension of the White Mountains that straddle the border between Maine and New Hampshire. Several miles in and an hour before reaching the top, I stepped out of the tree line and turned my headlamp off. The moon was magnificent and allowed me to hike under its light alone. Around 9 p.m. I finally reached the peak and sat down to rest my legs. It was quiet. I was alone. Moments like those seem so rare nowadays.
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For many of us, there has always been a certain romance, a primal need, to disappear into the wild; to escape into secluded places. Some of greats like Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman write extensively about this. For many, the greatest fear is not that of bears, mountain lions or getting lost - rather, of one’s own brain. Solo escapes shape our mental landscapes, shape our thoughts and test our strengths. They challenge us to confront the one person in this world who knows us better than anyone else…ourself. I awoke at 5 a.m., knowing the first light of day was soon approaching. I tossed on my down jacket and sat in silence for the next couple hours. The sunrise I experienced was incredible. Low-lying clouds blanketed the lands below while
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mountains broke through the canopy, upwards into the light of the morning sky. There are many of us out there, ones who are not unhappy nor are we completely content. Those who continue to explore life for all its beauty and secrets and continue to explore ourselves, hoping to know more than we did yesterday. We pursue adventure and endure challenge, testing our minds and bodies --- knowing that afterwards, we are a bit more whole than we were yesterday. So go to the movies alone, get a table for one at a nice restaurant or wake up early and watch the sunrise. This is your solo adventure, do not miss out.
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albeit small, business. As much as I enjoy owning a small business and the independent emancipation of not working “for the man”, working at the hospital with some great coworkers provides me secure extra employment, great camaraderie, teamwork and new friends.
Mark: My Words By Mark Gatti / Mark’s Hotdogs A lot of people have multiple places of employment these days. Sometimes this is because of choice, sometimes necessity, or it’s a combination of both. I am one of these people at present as I continue owning and operating my food stand while moonlighting shifts at an area hospital. What is wonderful about this work lifestyle is the variety it presents. I would like to take the time here to describe differences of both employments and a similarity as well. At the hospital, I transport medical supplies of all nature throughout the huge maze-like structure of the campus. At the food stand I am the head honcho, self-tasked with the responsibilities of owning and operating this,
While wearing my self-employment hat, there is satisfaction in creating a way to make a living independently from any other entity or safety net. I am on my own and it’s sink or swim. Through hard work and luck I have been able to swim right along with no near threats of sinking. But that’s not to say that once in a while I have had to tread water. My own business has forced me to be disciplined in areas of bookkeeping, budgeting, cleaning and repairing the food stand and product procurement. It keeps me on a strict daily work schedule to ensure that I am ready to serve patrons by 10.30 a.m. Yes, people do eat hot dogs that early. Some of these skills I did not possess in early adulthood and the skills I did have were not that well advanced. Also, working on the street with the general public has resulted in a lot of personal growth as I have had to learn how to deal with some difficult social interactions. Luckily for me, most interactions are quite normal and some rate as fantastic. Toughing it out on bad weather days has also helped aid in the maturity of Mark. Along with getting married and raising children, this job has made me grow up. The common thread here obviously is that in any
Maine Jewish Museum | Current Exhibitions September 6 - October 26, 2018
First Friday: September 7th & October 5th 5pm -8pm
Moon Series
NewWork
Forest Leaves & Family Trees
Spiegel Gallery
Fineberg Community Room
Shelley Jordon
Joan Busing
Sara Crisp
Third Floor Sanctuary
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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self-employment you are basically on your own. Working at the hospital provides a welcome variation, much as I still love my business. It is not sink or swim here. As long as I do my job there are no worries about bad weather days, turndowns in the economy, car or cart breakdowns, or invasions of angry vegetarians. Full disclosure: I have some friends and relatives who are vegetarians. The hospital job provides a secure “nest-like” feeling for me as I am just one tiny cog in a huge machine. Essentially, this job has the same coddling effect you get in a mother/child relationship. As long as you don’t act up, you are fed and cared for. The substantial differences in my two employments keeps me refreshed, balanced, and, most of all, happy. Of course, you can find similarities in a sea of differences. One similarity I can point to is teamwork. It is easy to see this at my hospital job. We have a great shift leader and very organised dispatcher in our transport department. There are enough of us on the evening shift that we help each other out wherever possible, just like on a sports team. This is not always easy. Some evenings are extremely busy and filled with numerous emergencies in all corners of this huge structure. But we always
make it through. Teamwork also occurs on occasion at my hotdog stand. I will cite one recent example. A couple of weeks ago I hosted 88 kids and a dozen counselors from a summer day camp in Hollis, Maine. It was my 10th straight year hosting this group and it is always busy, but great fun. The kids come in four or five waves over a couple hours. As can be imagined it is a big undertaking. I try to still be fairly quick and efficient, but I’m sure I have lost some speed off my fastball over the years. However, I have a small cadre of cart friends who stepped up to the plate big-time without even being asked to “pitch in” on the camp day. Over in the park I saw Scotty chasing all the seagulls away so the kids could eat their lunches in peace. Over to my left was Diane, gathering all the cans and trash; keeping things orderly. Then out of the blue came Richard, taking the trash out of my overloaded waste cans and putting in new liners several times. Camp counselors themselves helped out with some of the younger kids’ orders and money taking. All in all it was a great day, made a lot easier by my friends who chipped in just like we do at the hospital. Until next time, keep cool all and drink plenty of fluids. Happy beginning of fall to all! Warm regards, ---Mark
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Up Portland 09.18 In Print * On The Web At: www.upportland.com * On Facebook