Weekly Photo: Horse-Drawn Milk

Our last photo was of a bunch of happy kids hanging out on the East End Beach raft, back in 1938.

Here is another photo from Portland's bygone days, courtesy of Abraham Schechter, who runs the Portland Public Library's Portland Room. This time our photo is from downtown Portland, in a park just off Congress Street, taken in 1942. This location is clearly recognizable -- let's see if anyone can pick it up! Click on the photo for a larger version to inspect details. The horse is really gorgeous. You probably needed that kind of strength to haul a wagon up and down the city's sloping ways.

Laughing All the Way Down 95N

Thanks to Adam Belanger, we have another fun vanity plate for your amusement. Belanger remarked, "I saw the NEFRTT license plate and was reminded of a friend from NY that said everyone in Maine has custom plates. I saw this one yesterday on 95N and wanted to share."Thanks Adam!

Enormous Pumpkin Demands Motor

The Cumberland County Fair celebrates it's 136 year beginning this weekend. Along with the midway, food, animals, 4H, and rodeo, the competitions attract many a fair-goer.

Each year my interest is piqued by the battle for the largest pumpkin. The orange gourds are so enormous, they could swallow a child whole - if they were so inclined and carniverous.

But what to do with a gigantic pumpkin after the Fair, you ask? I'm not sure, but a few years ago some people in the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization came up with an ingenius idea for one such massive pumpkin. Use it as a motor boat.

Never thought I'd see a pumpkin zooming by on the river, but now I guess anything is possible.


If you want to see more photos of this unbelievable boat, head over to the
Pumpkin Boat Sea Trials page at the MePGO web site. And go see the Jabba the Hutt sized pumpkins at the Cumberland County Fair. Hurrah!

Weekly Photo: Summer Fun

Our last photo was of an ice truck on Federal Street (which no one guessed).

Here is another photo to give you a last taste of summer fun in bygone days, courtesy of Abraham Schechter, who runs the Portland Public Library's Portland Room. This time our photo is a waterfront photo, taken in 1938. I'm sure our modern, liability-lawsuit-happy society couldn't abide such fun nowadays, more's the pity. Click on the photo for a larger version to inspect details. See any familiar faces? You never know! Does anyone know where this photo view is from? Here's a hint that will give it all away -- it was taken from a Portland beach.

Joe Black update - Obituary and more

The Portland Press Herald posted a few kind words about Joe this week, and so they're online somewhere with the rest of this info, I'm going to put them in here for folks to read. His obituary is so short it's hardly more than two lines.

Joseph J. Black
BLACK, JOSEPH J. - 25, of Portland, Sept. 7, 2007. Memorial service, 6 p.m., Sept. 14, Norm's Bar & Grill, 617 Congress St., Portland. Benefit show, Geno's, 625 Congress St., Sept. 16.
[Source]

However, in other forums more was said...

SAYING GOODBYE TO JOE
Tonight 25-year-old Joe Black will be remembered and celebrated at Norm's Bar and Grill, 617 Congress St., starting at 6 p.m. The memorial service will be followed on Sunday with a benefit concert at Geno's, 625 Congress St., with a number of local bands performing.

Black died Sept. 7 when he fell six stories down an elevator shaft in the building where he lives. Police do not believe there was foul play involved.

Black was a vibrant musician and well-known in the Portland local music community, most recently as a member of the band Claymore Minds.

His family is asking people who knew and loved him to bring along any photos or stories to tell about him to either of the events.[Source]

-----------

Tribute People all across Portland's arts and music community were stunned to find out Claymore Minds guitarist Joe Black died last week. Police say Black fell down an elevator shaft by accident. Black's accident caught a lot of people off guard, and tonight friends and family are coming together to celebrate his life and help out his family. Tonight at Geno's Claymore Minds, Covered in Bees and Cryptic Overcast are playing starting at 8 p.m. It's a $5 ticket and all proceeds will go to help out Black's family.
[Source]

Thanks to Giselle Goodman and Justin Ellis, and thanks the rest of you, for not letting him go silently alone.

Joe Black benefit show SUNDAY

For those of you who knew Joe, possibly one of the nicest guys around, here is a final send-off for him, and some help for his family.

In case you missed it, here is what has been going on. Strange Maine it is, but some of the saddest Strange Maine I've ever seen.

Joe's death is finally in the paper.

Click here to read the Press Herald article.

I'll post the text here in case the link eventually expires, so folks can read it. To see it in print is a strange feeling. Barely a hint.

Missing man found dead in elevator shaft
By David Hench, Portland Press Herald Staff Writer
September 10, 2007 12:52 PM

Portland police say a man who was reported missing Friday was found dead Saturday night at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the building where he lives.

Joseph Black, 25, was found at the bottom of an unused elevator shaft at 18 Casco St. Police do not suspect foul play, but instead believe Black fell the six stories – 74 feet – by accident.

Black had been on the roof of his apartment building Friday night shortly before he disappeared and there were indications he may have fallen then, Lt. Tony Ward said.

Friday night at 6:00 is the get-together at Norm's on Congress Street for a memorial gathering. So far as I know the family is not holding any kind of public funeral service, and it is their hope that everyone can gather and toast Joe at these two meeting points. They are also hoping that anyone with photos of Joe will bring them to share.

It makes sense to find out that Joe was the youngest in his family. It's strange to hear him referred to as a "missing man." He was a perennial boy more than anything. So damn excited about everything, even when he was trying his damnedest to be cynical and hard. He could never quite seem to manage it convincingly because of all his enthusiasm. Here's to Joe, and here's to those left missing him.

EVENT: Poultrygeist premiere TONIGHT!

Well, there's nothing more strange than a Troma film, and this one has a touch of home in it. Covered in Bees, local punk friendlies and rabblerousers, are featured on the soundtrack, so Lloyd Kaufman, indy-filmmaker supreme, has gone out of his way to throw a Maine premiere of the movie here in Portland!

Go to the 7:30pm showing of the film at Nickelodeon Theatre on Temple Street, and follow up with a bang-up rock and roll show at Geno's tonight. Save your ticket stub, and save $2 on the $10 cover charge. They'll be serving hot wings for snacks!

Be forewarned, this tale of chicken zombies is not for the faint of heart, as Troma delights in pushing the envelope of acceptibility (which we love them for, but which might be upsetting to the unprepared).

Who: Covered In Bees, Confusatron, and Bass Box

When:
Friday Sep 07, 2007
at 7:30 PM, the Maine premiere of Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead by Troma Video, hosted by director Lloyd Kaufman
at 9:00 PM, the Tromafest show with all those crazy musician guys and Lloyd Kaufman as guest of honor

Where:
at 7:00 PM, at Nickelodeon Theater, 1 Temple Street, Portland (view map)
at 9:00 PM, at Geno’s Rock Club, 625 Congress Street, Portland (view map)

Linus, the unusual Rapunzel horse!

This great image comes from Buckles Blog. His site is a host for the discussion of Circus History from all over the world -- well worth checking out! On August 30th, he posted this scan of a photo postcard he has of this remarkable show horse. At the left of the image is the imprint of the photographer who printed it, namely I. L. Hammond and Co., of 129 Lisbon Street, Lewiston, Maine.

(NOTE: That same location is known today as the Osgood Building, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Description states that it was built in 1892 by architects J. L. Coburn & Son. The white enamel brick front was brought from Leeds, England, and is unique in the State of Maine. I'm not sure what year the photo of Linus is from.)

On the photo is notation of the length of Linus' magnificent measurements -- his mane is 14 feet long, and his tail is 12 feet 3 inches. Whoa! What a beauty.

Dick Flint from Baltimore added an illuminating comment about the horse's history, and his relation to the state of Maine. "Linus was bred in Marion, Oregon, about 1884, then acquired around 1890/91 by C.H. and H.W. Eaton, brothers from Calais, Maine, who were the most successful promoters of the horse. Linus was 3/4's Clydesdale and his advertised weight was 1435 lbs."

They say the ferris wheel has a great view...

...but this is ridiculous! One of my coworkers mentioned seeing a story on WGME-13's news about a ride operator at York's Wild Animal Kingdom having sex on the ferris wheel with a woman while he was supposed to be running it. The rumor was that he did so at the same time as patrons were on the ride and no one else was running the ride. There are no such details in the only online account of the story I could find. But the story's still WILD!

Couple hot and heavy on zoo ride, police say
Arrest made after mom says kids witnessed the act
By Elizabeth Dinan
August 30, 2007 6:00 AM

YORK, Maine — A couple allegedly having sex on the Super Spiral ride at York's Wild Animal Kingdom "horrified" a mother with young children who witnessed the act at "Maine's largest zoo and amusement park," say police.

As a result, Adrian Levy, 26 — a native of Jamaica and amusement park employee — is charged with one count of indecent conduct, said York Police Sgt. Tom Baran.

Wild Kingdom general manager Amy Wheeler said Levy, a ride operator, was simply "dirty dancing with a girl" and was not charged by police on amusement park grounds. He was, however, fired immediately and sent home, she said.
...
"The complainant had young children who observed the incident," said the police sergeant. "It is a serious incident; it's very inappropriate and it's against the law."

[Read full article on Seacoast Online here: Source]

I found photos of another Super Spiral ride (this one's down in Virginia) that gives a good idea of what the machine looks like, if York's is the same kind.

Weekly Photo: Ice Wagons Ho!

We've slipped a bit since our last "weekly" photo, but better late than never they say! Our last photo was of a young Davy Crockett wannabe, sitting perched as lookout on Munjoy Hill, surveying Portland's Bayside neighborhood below.

Here is another photo, courtesy of Abraham Schechter, who runs the Portland Public Library's Portland Room. This time our photo is another downtown photo, taken in 1942. Just the sort of summer sight you'd see today if only there were still ice wagons about, instead of popsicle-dealing ice cream trucks. Click on the photo for a larger version to inspect details. I'm not sure how much of the street is the same, today, as it was then.

Strange UFO lights result of dancing?

Two weeks ago a Florida doctor in Lewiston saw something strange in the night sky... article from the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Doctor says he saw odd lights over Lewiston

By Kathryn Skelton , Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
LEWISTON - Dr. Barry Chandler has seen the space shuttle in the sky at night, and plenty of meteor showers, and this, he says, was definitely nothing like those.

The Florida man looked up in the sky Friday night at 10:05 p.m., from his mother-in-law's lawn on Marble Street and saw a rough string of 10 to 15 lights traveling together in clusters.
...
He, his wife and mother-in-law watched them move from the southern corner of the sky to the north, finally fading from view, after about four minutes.

"They were fairly pulsing. It was like a flame but it wasn't; I can't describe it," Chandler said. The lights reminded him of the flames inside hot air balloons when they take off. They seemed to pulse.
...
Chandler called the National UFO Reporting Center. It hadn't received any other reports. Neither had the National Weather Service in Gray.

Meteorologist Michael Cempa said Friday night was clear. The recent meteor shower, which peaked Sunday, would look like bright streaks across the sky, not steady lights, he said.

The German Web site Heavens Above noted that iridium flares - sun reflecting off satellites - could be seen from Lewiston at 6:14 and 6:23 that night, but nothing later.

A spokesman at Brunswick Naval Air Station said it wasn't anything of theirs. A Hanscom Air Force Base spokeswoman didn't have any information.

Androscoggin County dispatch didn't take any calls reporting strange lights Friday night.

"It sounds strange," said Sheriff Guy Desjardins. "But strange things happen."
[Read full article here: Source

The most interesting of comments following up the article is this one, from Bub: "At just after 10:00, for the finale of a performance at the Bates Dance Festival at Lake Andrews (on campus) -- just south of the good doctor's position -- about a dozen or so medium-sized balloons were sent aloft by performers. These balloons were about 3 feet tall, and indeed looked like miniature hot-air balloons. The flames in the balloons lasted about 5 minutes or so before fading out. End of story."

Mystery Pterodactyl enters Maine!

Loren Coleman had an interesting field trip this week. He has an aside for an anonymous New York driver he encountered on his way back home with the thunderbird:

By the way, if you were the passenger in a car with New York plates driving on I-84, who rolled your window down to ask me “What is that?” - and then had a short dialogue with me about the above - I hope you and the driver had a safe journey home. It certainly ranks as the first time I’ve been interviewed at 65 mph about a fictional cryptid model in my vehicle and a sci-fi television series.

Read the full story and see more photos here on Cryptomundo!

Congrats on bringing such an exciting trophy home to Maine!

Another fine vanity find

Pulled into a McDonalds in Gardiner, Maine, behind this clever little vanity plate this morning.

Subtle, it ain't

The sign says it all. Snapped this back in July on my first trip out to meet Glenn Chadbourne and nip around the mid-coast area in general. Newcastle, Maine, is the home of Cowsh*t Corner, on Route 194. No, I didn't make this up. Someone has a sense of humor!

mysterious recycled R found on old Maine map

"Hey Chummy, would that be the AHH you
drawped the othah day???"

Indeed, a good thrifty Maine Yankee would
surely hesitate to waste a good re-usable item,
and that would include the Rs (pronounced AHHs)
many of us will drop left and right like mussel shells
on the beach.

Well, in the midst of conserving a map of the Portland
region, the crew in the Portland Room (Special Collections & Archives) at the Portland Public Library, came across an amazing example of an apparently recycled R.

The Map of Cape Elizabeth, albeit produced in the far-off, foreign land of Massachusetts (see bottom photo), shows the Katahdin Road (for which we locals will take our liberties in drawing out the already- existing "ah" out as our musical speech of the moment will dictate) indicated with what seems to be a reconstituted R.

A detail on a map so tiny, yet so noticeable, reveals the name Katardin in plain capitalized block type (see detail immediately below).

Strange Things do happen
when our local cadences are
misinterpreted- and then
re-interpreted again,
even on road maps!

Another good reason, especially in this
area-rrr to use care when treading, as you
might find yourself stepping right over a
discahhded R.

Stephen King turns up down under

Thanks to Loren Coleman for pointing out this funny little King of Horror tidbit in an article from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

Stephen King mistaken for vandal in Alice
August 16, 2007

One of the world's most famous authors, Stephen King, was mistaken for a vandal in an Alice Springs bookstore on Tuesday. Dymocks store manager Bev Ellis says a customer saw the horror novelist walk into the store.

Once inside, King found copies of his books and began signing them.

"As the owner of a bookshop, when you see someone writing in one of your books you get a bit toey," Ms Ellis said. "So we immediately ran to the books and lo-and-behold here was the signature in several books. We sort of spun around on our heels, [saying] 'where did he go, where did he go'."

Ms Ellis says she saw the author standing in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket across the road.

"So I went over and introduced myself ... He was lovely, very nice, charming," she said. Ms Ellis says she asked him if he was staying long in Alice Springs and he just smiled. "[Then I said], well if we knew you were coming we would have baked a cake."

King signed six books in total. The customer that mistook the author for a vandal bought one. Ms Ellis plans to give the remaining five copies to community groups who can auction them off to raise funds.

King's rep in Sydney confirmed that they did not know the author was currently in Australia. Ms Ellis says King was travelling with a friend.
[Source]

Dark Shadows returns to the screen

Fans of the Dark Shadows television series are in for a sweet surprise -- Johnny Depp has done some Hollywood magic and is opening the creaky, locked gate of Collinwood up to the public once again! Guard your necks, and lock your doors, and.... well, it wouldn't hurt to buy some garlic and a satchel full of crucifixes along with your summer sunscreen! Read on...

Depp Steps into Shadows
by Josh Grossberg
Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:15:25 PM PDT

Johnny Depp has never shied away from dark films like Dead Man, The Ninth Gate, Sleepy Hollow and From Hell. Now he's really found a role he can sink his teeth into. The actor is teaming with Warner Bros. on a movie version of the classic supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows, with Depp playing lead vampire Barnabas Collins.

Depp has long counted himself among the legion of Dark Shadows devotees and has stated in past interviews that he's dreamed of playing Barnabas ever since he was a kid. Through their respective production companies, Depp and Graham King purchased the rights to the spooky ABC serial from the estate of the show's mastermind, Dan Curtis, according to Variety.

The groundbreaking Dark Shadows ran for 1,125 episodes from 1966 to 1971, chronicling the strange goings-on around the mysterious Collins family in their estate in Maine. Populated by myriad macabre characters, including vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts and zombies, the show spawned a cult following, numerous fan conventions and various attempts to resurrect the program after the network put a stake in it.

Curtis directed House of Dark Shadows, a 1970 movie adaptation starring Jonathan Frid, who originated Barnabas in the series. Curtis later updated Shadows in 1990 with a new TV series that lasted one season with Ben Cross in the immortal role. Another short-lived remake, not supervised by Curtis, featured Alec Newman as the head vampire and aired in 2004.
...
King and Depp will produce the film from a screenplay by Bruce Robinson (Withnail and I).
...
The Dark Shadows news was just one tidbit to emerge from Warners' presentation at Comic-Con in San Diego on Friday, as the studio offered previews of some of its highest profile 2008 releases.

[Read full article here: Source]

Maine State Film Commission, are you listening? We're getting a little tired of having Vancouver, et al, beat us out as settings for things that are supposed to be set in our home state.

Tales from Lighthouse Keeper's Children

Many of you may be familiar with the purportedly haunted Wood Island lighthouse. Recently, some surviving children of one of the lighthouse's keepers from the distant past sat down to tell some of their tales to an appreciative audience in Saco. You can read about it here at the Haunted Lighthouses blog, where tales of Spectral Keepers of the Lights and news about haunted lighthouses are faithfully kept alight. Click here to read the article.

For more on the investigation of Wood Island's hauntings, click here.

Photo from the CyberLights website, which has more photos of the lighthouse, video, directions, etc.

Horse Dies after Mystery Attack

Thanks to Amos Quito over at New England Anomaly for picking this up. A sad story, and another question mark on the board of possible mountain lion encounters in northern New England of late.

Officials Say Mountain Lion Unlikely In Horse Attack
Family's Show Horse Fatally Wounded

WHITEFIELD, N.H. -- A Whitefield family said Monday that their beloved show horse was attacked and killed by a mountain lion, but experts said that's not possible.

Shirly Smith said that something attacked her 15-year-old palomino, Miss Dixie, nine days ago.

"She was just whinnying, and then we saw blood everywhere," Smith said.

The Smiths moved their other horses inside after they found Miss Dixie with scratches and gouges in her flesh.

"We got cold towels to put on the worst wounds on her chest to stop the bleeding," Smith said.

Despite emergency surgery, the horse didn't survive.
...
"Just judging from the width on the flank, it could possibly be a bear," Fish and Game Officer Matt Holmes said. "Considering what animals inhabit the area, that was the only thing I could come up with."

The Smiths said they believe a mountain lion could be responsible, but experts said that's unlikely. The Fish and Game Department gets about 100 reports of mountain lion sightings every year, but they said it has been 100 years or more since mountain lions roamed the Granite State.

Wildlife expert Rob Calvert said that he believes a bear might have startled the horse, setting off a chain of events that fatally injured her. Because of his finding, the state will pay for the Smiths' veterinarian bills, which added up to $600.
[Click here to read full story: Source]

Photo of Miss Dixie from WMUR site.

Self Immolation in Kittery

Strange news out of Kittery, Maine, as a man sets himself on fire and calmly kills himself on a Kittery sidewalk.

Suicide by fire may have been planned
By Karen Dandurant
August 13, 2007 2:11 PM

KITTERY, Maine — A Kittery man who set himself afire Sunday afternoon was troubled and may have been considering suicide at least 24 hours earlier.

According to a local gas station owner, Nathan C. Gagner, 27, of 135 Whipple Road, had come in on Saturday to purchase a gas can and razor blades, then returned the following day to fill up the can with gas.

On Sunday, at 4:03 p.m., police received a 911 call advising that a man in the vicinity of 75 Whipple Road had poured gasoline over his body and set himself on fire while sitting on the sidewalk.

Kittery Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene extinguishing the fire. An ambulance transported Gagner to Portsmouth Regional Hospital where at 5:30 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Police said that according to family and friends he had been suffering from depression. Chief Ed Strong said he has known Gagner all his life, that he grew up in Kittery.

“His parents are good friends of mine,” said Strong. “I talked with them and Nathan had been depressed. He was having issues and was on medication at times. He recently had suffered a breakup of a relationship.”

Ken Lewis, owner of the Exxon gas station where Gagner bought a gas can and then filled it with gasoline said he had been in there the day before.

“He came in on Saturday to get a gas can and razor blades,” said Lewis. “He paid for them and then put them back on the counter and left them.”

One employee, Tyler Eidell, said he saw Gagner earlier Sunday, riding a bicycle.

“He seemed fine to me then,” said Eidell.

Both men said Gagner was local, a person they often saw.
...
“When a customer ran in and said a guy set himself on fire, I knew it had to be him,” said Lewis.

Katie Bayer of 66 Whipple Road said Gagner was calm as the flames consumed him.

Bayer, 15, was looking out of her bedroom window late Sunday afternoon and watched from the beginning as the man walked to a spot on Whipple Road across from her house, poured gasoline over himself, and set himself ablaze.

Bayer said she didn’t see the gas can at first, when the man first stopped walking. She saw him pouring something over his head and thought it was water.

“I thought it was a homeless guy taking a bath,” she said.

The man looked like he was in his 20s, with long brown hair, the teen said.

“All of a sudden he just burst into flames,” she said. “He didn’t scream. He sat there calmly with his arms crossed. It looked like he was meditating.”

She said she and her brother tried calling 911 but all the operators were busy. By that time, cars had pulled over on the side of the road, and she thinks they were all calling too.

While she was watching, neighbors across the street came out with a fire extinguisher and then a hose, and put out the fire.

“I was shocked,” she said of the incident. “I couldn’t believe someone would do something like that. People do a lot of things for strange reasons, don’t they?”
...
Sgt. Ken Grimes at the Maine State Fire Marshal’s office said the incident was over when Dan Young, their senior investigator arrived.
...
Grimes said they have seen suicides by fire before but it’s usually done in private, in a home or a car.

“I never remember one happening in such as open public place,” said Grimes.

Police say Gagner committed “suicide by fire” and say their investigation is complete.

[Read the full article by clicking here: Source]

There is a second article online, also at Seacoast, written by one of the first bystanders to come upon the scene. An interesting read.

As we drove back to Eliot, we noticed an intense fire approximately in a 6-by-6 area, at least 10 feet high, on the sidewalk across from the entrance to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I stopped 50 yards short, noticed no traffic, evaluated that the blaze was contained, and proceeded by crossing the center line. It wasn’t until we were directly in front of the roaring blaze that we noticed him, sitting like a buddha. Only his face and chest were visible. He was statue-like, serene, showing no signs of discomfort as the fire was consuming his body.

Click here to read the full account.
Photo of location of suicide by Deb Cram, from Seacoast Online.