Prairie Home Companion at the Bangor Auditorium

This Saturday, I went up to Maine to see "Prairie Home Companion" live from the Bangor Auditorium. Though the traffic was atrocious, stretching all the way back to way before the exit ramp & we didn't think we'd make it in the show on time, we still were able to see all 2 and a half hours of (15 before going live, 2 hour live show, 15 after off air). It was mighty fine.

The set looks just like the one in the movie. Garrison Keillor wears a suit but also wears Chucks--red ones to match his red tie, in this case. They had a "Bob the Artist" skit, the ennui couple skit (not the ones who need ketchup, though), attack of the mutant lobsters necessitating time for Powdermilk Biscuits and the news from Lake Wobegon, but no Guy Noir or Dusty and Larry. They did some jokes about Stephen King, played the Stein song (my favorite part because I'm a dork) and did a little song about the screwy manner of talking about directions in Maine. That is, up is down because from Lewiston you go "up" to Portland. North is over, because Down East is the northeastern most coastal region and...I can't remember the third one. But it was funny. And we all sang "You Are My Sunshine" which was fun.

Afterwards, we went to the Bangor Sea Dog, which I hadn't been to since November 2006. (I'll always remember that time because its when I met my friend Curt, who is now a GM for a minor league baseball team in Reno, which is a pretty cool job--if you like baseball, which I clearly do.) The sound effects guy, Fred Newman, and Andy Stein of the "Guy's All-Star Shoe Band" were at the table behind us. Sadie and I started chatting with them. Some of the band members played a concert in Rumsford tonight (gag). Sadie told Andy (we're BFFs now, so I just call him Andy) that there's a lot of cocaine use in Rumsford Mexico and also, a dirrrrty strip club with picnic tables for seating. Then she told Andy about her husband's bachelor party, in which 2 of the strippers from Rumsford were hired and they took off the belts of all the guys in the wedding and whipped them with their own belts. Yeah. Upon 1st meeting the PHC guy, this is what Sadie tell him. Andy was a pretty good humored guy and thought Sadie's stories were entertaining, or at least laugh about them and everything, and was really nice, but I can only imagine him thinking, Who the eff are these people?" Hilarious.

Fred Newman is not the sound effects guy in the movie version of PHC. When I asked him about this, he kinda freaked out in a joke-but-serious way, telling us that there was a sound effects guy who did all the shows in St Paul, and him, who did all the shows on the road, and he was, "the only cast member who wasn't in the movie so thanks so much for bringing that up because I'm not bitter AT ALL." But I just looked him up on IMDB, and he has way more teeny bopper connections than the rest of the cast -- who are all now one degree from LiLo. Because he used to host the Mickey Mouse Club, so he's got THREE tabloid stars in which he is one degree from (Britney, Justin, Christina), not to mention Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling and also Kerri Russel, so what's he complaining about?



(Fred Newman's at the end....)

Alright, I'll Admit It--I'm in Love

I know, I know. It's so early to declare, but after the crab rangoons & water-cress laden veg fried rice I bought at 11:15 last night, which I walked to go pick up, I am ready to declare: I love West Roxbury. Not only was the Chinese food tasty, close by and available late, it only cost $7 and made an excellent dinner then lunch (hence the mid-day, after lunch blog). Now, I know it's early. And I'm sure they'll be plenty I don't like the longer I'm there; there's always something. And it's not Maine, which is Maine and therefore, by nature, better. But people, think about it--I'm moving from Weymouth. There's no way I'm going to sit in my room and think: "I wish I were closer to the Pleasant Shoppes!" Or "I miss the 8000 Dunkin Donuts of Weymouth."
I'm thinking about it here in the middle of the work day because I have to go to Weymouth tonight. Mom and I leave early to get to Bangor for "Prairie Home Companion" tomorrow with the Lewiston clan. [Note: friends in the area, I will only be there for the show and dinner then heading back south. But I will be visiting once this crazy month of May is over. I always liked it a little thinned out up there anyway. May Term was always the funnest time...]
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how much time I can spend at the apartment before heading to lousy Weymouth.
Alrighty, back to work.

Payola from the Clintons?

Does anyone else besides me suspect the Clintons paid Rev Jeremiah a crapload of money recently? I know it's a very conspiracy-theory thing to think but, I can't help it. I mean, look at this "performance" at the National Press Club:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYr6jwqzEnE

Oh Yeah, One More Thing-The Story of Mural on the Liquor Store

As I was walking from the grocery store back home, I noticed that the side of Macy's Liquors (one of the many liquor stores on Centre St, not the department store chain) has a mural of a farm. Without context, it seems so anathematic. Why on earth would a liquor store have a mural of a farm on it in the city of Boston?

I can't be positive about why, but after a little investigating, here's my guess:

The neighborhood was home to an experimental transcendentalist Utopia community called Brook Farm, which attracted notable figures like Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne whose 1852 novel A Blithedale Romance, is based on his stay there.

I got that from Wikipedia, and then checked the sources (AS EVERYONE MUST DO WHEN IT COMES TO READING THINGS ON WIKIPEDIA) with the U S Register of National Historic Places, American Utopia listing. So, I think that that mural is a nod to the history of the neighborhood. I'm going to the library on Monday. Maybe they'll know.

Carrier on PBS

Please note: this is the USS America. The carrier in the PBS doc is the USS Nimitz.

Carrier on PBS

Has anyone else been watching this documentary? It's totally fascinating. It's all about life in the Navy on an aircraft carrier. Usually you only get the Hollywood story of the pilot (I can hear "Take My Breath Away" right now...). But for this documentary series, they tell about the lives of everyone: pilots, deck swabbers, chaplains, personnel liasons, everyone.

Last night they focused on religion & faith "on the boat." These carriers are like tiny floating villages -- but unlike the uniformity found in most small communities, this floating village has people from all walks of life. The two most remarkable stories were that of the younger Catholic man & a younger Pentacostal man.

The Catholic guy was actually considering becoming a priest. He is funny, silly but clearly intelligent. He has trouble concentrating and taking things seriously when being trained. However, he is also devout in his faith. He says, "I am Creationist. I mean, I don't walk around with a t-shirt that says, 'I believe in Creation Theory' or anything like that...but yeah, I believe."

Then we see him giving the readings at Mass on the ship. The priest, he explains, has been giving him public speaking lessons. There's also a scene with him talking to other shipmates about becoming a priest and what that entails giving up. One other guy says, "Nah, I couldn't do it." Then the conversation gets a little --well, they talk like sailors because...they are.

I must also mention the best friend of this guy. A different kind of guy, one who clearly doesn't know who he is and what he believes, but he likes having this friend he met on the boat. He departs early, from Australia, and says at his good bye dinner, "I learned a lot from you."

I'd be lieing if I didn't say there was a tinge of fondness that seemed more than friend-like in both of them, but that's conjecturing on my part. It's more like those close friendships gentlemen used to have in the old novels from England. Close but not flat out gay just because they're close.

More on the other man in the next entry....