I saw these three things on my walk yesterday:
It’s the little, beautiful sights like this contained in one town that make me love Portland, Maine. Victorian architecture, perfectly aligned industry, and random encounters with nature. Suffice to say I’m rarely bored here.
First, let me say that this concert went by very quickly, which to me indicates that it was a very, very good show. I’m glad we found a place near the stage when we did because once the opening act started it was next to impossible to even turn around let alone get in and out of the crowd.
I always seem to end up behind a tall man. Oh, well! There’s Rose Guerin on the left.
The opening act was the alt-folk band Vandaveer, who were good, but not really my cup of tea. I was very taken by Rose Guerin, though, whose blonde and pink hair and subtly powerful voice captured my attention for their entire set.
Blurry John Linnell and his accordion
After a brief intermission, the lights dimmed and They Might Be Giants came onstage. I, rather against my control or better judgement, squeeled at the sight of John & John in front of me but no one minded because they were all beside themselves with joy too. They went into a song off their new record Nanobots called “You’re On Fire,” which whipped the crowd up even more. The show was a good mix of new and old songs, and they played up to that by pretending that the old songs were new (“and now a song off our new record ‘Lincoln’…”). They also played an impromptu version of the theme from The Rockford Files and told a story about how they’d once met the composer of the tune at an awards show and told him they wanted to cover the song and he’d responded by yelling the appropriate key at them.
(Photo by Bryan McLeod)
This was my first They Might Be Giants show and I’d heard how interactive the show can be, but I really enjoyed the games they played with us. The first one occurred when Flansburgh took out an oversized flashlight and pointed it down the middle of the crowd to divide us into two groups. He then said that everyone on the left side of the room represented the people and had to pump their right fist in the air and shout “PEOPLE!” for a certain part of the next song. The right half of the room pretended to be apes and had to pump their left fist and yell “APES!” when their part of the song came up. I was on the ape side and tried my best, but “apes” is a very hard word to shout repeatedly thanks to the “p” and “s” in the word. When the song was over, Flansburgh announced that The People had won and much booing from The Apes happened.
(Photo by Bryan McLeod)
The second game was that, according to Linnell, the band had nicknames for every single person in the room. When Flans shined his flashlight on one of them one or both of the Johns would reveal what the nickname was. Their favorite ended up being the last person named, whose name Flansburgh swore began with a J or an H but who Linnell suddenly exclaimed was called Rusty. They even dedicated “Istanbul, Not Constantinople” to dear Rusty.
They did two encores, one with three songs, including Ana Ng. The final encore just included one song, Twisting.
The available merch was good quality and not too pricy considering, but I wish they’d had smaller objects other than guitar picks (I’d been hoping for a button to add to my collection, but alas). We bought a Drinky Crow tee shirt and a signed CD of Nanobots, which was next to a bright pink sign that said “WHAT? That’s not even out yet!” The woman running the merch table had a jar that said “give me tips of they’l kill my cat,” which of course I found funny and put money into.
A signed copy of Nanobots (apologies for the light interference)
Here’s the set list from the show and the albums the songs are from, in case you were wondering:
1) You’re On Fire (from Nanobots), 2) When Will You Die (from Join Us), 3) Memo to Human Resources (from The Spine), 4) Celebration (from Join Us), 5) Call You Mom (from Nanobots), 6) Fingertips (from Apollo 18), 7) Cloisonné (from Join Us), 8) Whistling in the Dark (from Flood), 9) Drink! (from Mink Car), 10) Dr. Worm (from Severe Tire Damage) ,11) Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head (from They Might Be Giants), 12) Rockford Files theme , 13) Where Your Eyes Don’t Go (from Lincoln), 14) The Guitar (from Apollo 18), 15) Planet of the Apes Battle, 16) They’ll Need a Crane (from Lincoln), 17) Insect Hospital (from Nanobots), 18) Nanobots (from Nanobots), 19) Birdhouse in Your Soul (from Flood), 20) The Mesopotamians (from The Else) 21) Istanbul, Not Constantinople (from Flood)
Encore one: 1) Alphabet of Nations (from Here Come the ABCs), 2) New York City (cover), 3) Ana Ng (from Lincoln), Encore two: Twisting (from Flood)
It’s a beautiful snow day in Portland so far, but it’s promising to get worse. We’re talking blizzard proportions, so I don’t think I’ll make it outside to take some pictures. In place of pictures of today’s snow, here’s some pictures I took from the first snow last December because, let’s be honest, snow is snow and it’s pretty no matter when it happens!
I haven’t really explored this yet on this blog, but I love cemeteries. I love the history, the craftsmanship of the stones, the mystery of the stories of the people buried there, and the peace that tends to pervade the grounds. I’m fortunate to have visited graveyards throughout the world and they’re all gorgeous to me in their own way and I have photographed and enjoyed them since I was a child. Only this past year, however, have I realized one of my dreams of living near one. Meet my across-the-street neighbor, Eastern Cemetery.
Eastern Cemetery as seen from my window at sunrise (February, 2012)
Eastern Cemetery is Portland, Maine’s oldest major cemetery and in 1973 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Eastern Cemetery was an active burial ground until the 1860s and today is maintained by the preservation organization Spirits Alive (AKA- Friends of Eastern Cemetery). This group is extraordinary in their dedication to maintaining and recording the graves in the cemetery and during the warmer months they have events where you can help and learn the art of preserving the stones and stories of the graveyard’s inhabitants. They also give tours (and history-themed Halloween tours in October) to raise much needed funds. Eastern Cemetery was recently named one of Portland’s historic sites in peril by Greater Portland Landmarks because it needs significant amounts of funds to keep it from deteriorating completely. If you want to help support Eastern Cemetery, you can make a donation through the Spirits Alive website.
Alonzo P. Stinson’s grave in Eastern Cemetery (source)
Notable residents of Eastern Cemetery include veterans from the civil war, war of 1812, and the Mexican-American war and several US Congressmen (some of whom represented the state back when it was still part of Massachusetts!). My favorite grave in the whole cemetery belongs to Alonzo P. Stinson, who is buried near the corner of Congress and Mountfort Streets. He was the first soldier from Portland to die in the civil war and his tombstone is topped with a stone version of a bedroll and includes an excellent likeness of him.
If you’re in Portland and the weather is nice, stop by Eastern Cemetery at the intersection of Congress Street and Washington Avenue. Even if you just look through the beautiful wrought iron gates you’ll see why this Portland landmark needs to be preserved.
Learn more:
Notable graves in Eastern Cemetery
Greater Portland Landmark’s list of places in peril
I spent this past Sunday morning at the Maine Comic Arts Festival at the Ocean Gateway here in Portland, Maine. As far as comic enthusiasts go, I would probably be rated a 4 on a scale of 1 (being people who think Watchmen is about a team of guys who fix Rollexes) and 10 (being people who have a room dedicated to their favorite comic with memorabilia that includes the comic’s creator hermetically sealed in a glass case). I am in love with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman to the point where I have a tattoo based on one of Jill Thompson’s drawings of Delirium on my right arm, but I have yet to find another graphic novel or comic series that really grabs my imagination in the same way. I do, however, draw single page comics myself and there are several web comics I read on a regular basis so I have enough interest to get excited about a comic festival, even a small one. Here are some of the people I encountered at MeCAF
The first artist I met was Cathy Leamy. She was more than happy to talk to my friend and me not only about her art but about Portland, the weather, and my own comics. It was fairly early in the day and I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough money for everything I wanted to buy at the convention so I took her card and said I would find her work online later. I did, however, send my fiance to her table while I was at work to buy a copy of her book “Green Blooded: an introduction to eco-friendly feminine hygiene.” You can check that out and her other comics (like her series “Geraniums and Bacon”) at her website here: www.metrokitty.com/comics
What interested me at Kori Michele Handwerker’s table because of the 4×6 prints from her series “1,000 Idols,” in particular her portrait of Daria Morgendorfer (pictured above). I like the idea of a project like this because it not only makes you look at who you are and what influences you but it also stretches your creativity because you have to decide which aspects of your idols to portray. If you want to see more of her work, you can visit her website here: www.korimichele.com
What drew me to Kate Leth’s table was the poster you see in the top right corner of her display: a plump cat wearing a crown under a quote from a Bikini Kill song. What kept me at the table was seeing that she had done a drawing of Death, the sister of Delirium from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I bought a copy of her book “Ultimate Kate or Die” (which she signed for me with a drawing of a happy looking taco) and she was nice enough to let me take a picture of her and her awesome set-up, which included a cute tablecloth with colorful eyes that she got at IKEA. If you want to look at her comics, you can find them on her site here: kateordiecomics.com
I admit, my main reason for meeting Kazu Kibuishi was to get an autograph for my friend Brooke, who is a children’s librarian and a fan of his series Amulet. He was, as I expected, very friendly and more than happy to sign a piece of paper for Brooke in leu of a copy of his book and even drew a picture to go with it. His work can be found here: boltcity.com
The last table I visited at MeCAF was Kate Beaton’s. I won’t lie to you, meeting her was a big deal for me. I was first introduced to her web comic “Hark! A Vagrant!” in 2010 by a friend and seeing her translate historical events and stories into art inspired me to start drawing again after years of being discouraged for having a style that was usually described as “too cartoonish.” Like everyone else I met at the convention, she was personable and asked me what my favorite comic of hers was. I told her my favorites were her comics that elaborated on book covers drawn by Edward Gorey so she drew a character from one of those in addition to signing my copy of her book. You can find her comics here: harkavagrant.com
For my first comic convention, I consider this a success. I bought interesting art, met interesting people, and got the rather interesting inclination to focus more on my drawings so I can someday justify having a table of my own there. So explore the links above, enjoy the art, and be inspired- you never know what will catch your eye!
Pictured: hipster girl holding the most in demand record in Portland, Maine.
As you may remember from my Valentine’s Day post last month, my fiancé is a fan of Leonard Cohen. If we’re at home and he has an acoustic guitar in his hands, the odds are good that he’s playing a Leonard Cohen song so I have a very strong connection in my mind between the two men. Since it’s our two year anniversary this month I decided that the best present I could give him would be Songs of Leonard Cohen on vinyl. I was surprised he didn’t have it already but once I began my search I didn’t wonder why anymore.
In the city of Portland, Maine, Leonard Cohen records are impossible to find. The stacks of Simon and Garfunkel records one finds in every shop are like Two Buck Chuck compared to the 1787 Chateau Lafite that is a record by L. Cohen as far as shopping on this peninsula is concerned. In the words of one shop owner: “his records are kinda rare here- if I do get any in they’re snatched up right away.”
The last stop on the journey from my apartment into the black hole of record searching was Enterprise Records on Congress Street. Although I was a frequent scavenger of their free bin when I was a broke art student in 2005 I had never been inside to properly look for an album before. I asked where I could find any Leonard Cohen albums, if there were any to be found, and was directed to a section in the back corner of the store. As I’d feared there weren’t any and I headed toward the door. The owner stopped me and said “wait, I might have something for you,” and walked around the counter to a stack of records sitting in a plain cardboard box, “I just got these in and haven’t gone through them yet.” With bated breath I watched him flip past two or three records before he said “ah, here’s one,” and pulled an album from the stack to show to me:
“you, sir, have magic powers,” I gasped, “I’ve been looking everywhere for this record!”
“next time,” the owner replied, “come here first. We’re in the record business.”
Well said.
Next time I’ll go to Enterprise first and if you’re in the Portland area stop by and see what else they’re hiding.
