The Dawn of September 2007

Having been absent from the blogging scene over the past week, I thought I would take a moment to review and summarize these last several fleeting days of summer in New England.

Labor day weekend: Distanced from Jerry Lewis's ill-thought late night prose, I spent my weekend amongst friends and family in Vacationland (Maine for all of you who are not in the know). Friday into Saturday I caught up on errands and housework as I typically do. This even involved me getting up to bring the Focus in for it's annual emissions test. Returning home from the local auto garage I collapsed onto my unmade bed. I lost miserably at a struggle to stay awake and make productive use of my Saturday. Around 1:00 pm I finally pulled myself up, showered, and began completing my list of chores.

Eventually I made the 1 hour 30 minute trek to Portland, Maine where I met friends John & Michelle around 5:30 pm. First we went to Silly's, a little bohemian themed cafe on Portland's East Side. Silly's has a makeshift bar and tables in a quaint backyard setting. As the weather was absolutely gorgeous we took advantage of this feature. The food and atmosphere is always great at Silly's making it a favorite of my friends who reside near Portland. After supper we headed back to Michelle's apartment in the Bayside neighborhood and had a couple of beers. John and Michelle had suggested seeing a concert, local act "Phantom Buffalo" at a venue on Congress St. called "Space". We were nearly ready to head out when John received a text message about a potential no-hitter currently in progress by Red Sox Rookie Clay Buchholz. It was only Buchholz's second major league start. We were probably going to miss Phantom Buffalo since they were opening the concert, however after a brief (very brief) discussion, John and I headed to Rivalries Sports Bar to watch the final two innings of the game. We could not pass up the chance to see this historic Sox event. Our choices was rewarded with a stunning performance by Buchholz, and an ecstatic fervor in the bar. This was a pale extension of the deluge of excitement streaming out of Fenway that night. We lingered and participated in the collective joy of chowder-heads everywhere before finally heading over to Space. Space is a new concert hall to me although it is my understanding that it has been operating for several years. It has a very minimalist interior that does not distract by catering to conflicting interests as many small clubs do. Near the bar a projection of dancing points of light on a dark blue expanse illuminates a large empty white wall. The ceiling is open beamed, and furnishings are limited to some modern looking benches along the wall that slightly resemble church pews in design.

Michelle had gone straight to the concert and informed us that we had unfortunately missed all of Phantom Buffalo. There were two more acts however and we moved towards the stage in anticipation of the first band, "The Dodos". The Dodos consisted of a vocalist/guitarist and a drummer. While there were only two Dodos, they had no problems projecting a captivating sound with excellent depth and spirit. We were honestly not expecting much, and I was (and I believe I speak for John & Michelle as well) blown away. It was one of the sincere heart felt acts I've ever seen on a stage. The finger picking of Meric Long was mesmerizing, and the drummer Logan Kroeber was unconventional and fierce. Long's vocals are driven bursts of intensity that can give way to shimmering segments of introspection. Long would sing into two different microphones to better capture a dichotomy of sound that his ballads contained. John aptly described it as though Long had "two faces".

I looked up The Dodos tonight so I could purchase an album. They have no label and two albums out which I would guess you'll have trouble finding at any corner record shop. I got "Beware of The Maniacs" and I'll likely purchase their other effort "Dodo Bird" which is marketed as a solo album by Long. Anyway, enough raving about this act... following The Dodos was band Jennifer Gentle, which we collectively decided was anything but gentle. The music was like late 60s or early 70s psychedelic rock with a medieval-minstrel bent. It was laden with power chord rock interrupted by a periodic calms where the lead vocalist would warble in a cryptic falsetto. I was reminded slightly of Frank Zappa, however not being a Zappa aficionado myself, I may be speaking out of my ass. Anyway we left after two songs and headed back to Michelle and John's.

John & I stayed up late sipping at PBR and listening to music piped out of his Ipod-Bose sound system. The next day we had brunch at Marcy's Diner and then I headed North to Sabattus.

As I pulled off the Franklin Artery onto 295N I rolled all of the windows down and rolled back the moon roof completely. The sky was crystal blue with only a few wisps of white to be noticed. As the sun warmed my skin, and the wind tossed my hair I listened to Crowded House and Blind Melon occasionally finding myself joining in Neil Finn or Shannon Hoon on a chorus.

Arriving at my parents I saw that my Aunt Gigi was there. To my delight in the kitchen was waiting a pile of Lobsters. My parents hadn't bought any all summer. They decided to celebrate my birthday a week early with a Labor Day Feast. I managed to take some left over birthday cake, as well as a couple of extra Lobsters back to Massachusetts.

Wednesday Kate and I when out for our routine mid week meal. I had searched for a new dining experience online and dug up R.F. O'Sullivan's (also known as Sully's) which is a hidden gem in Somerville known for it's burgers. This place did not disappoint and it moves up past Bukowski's easily for appetizing Burgers and great atmosphere.

Today I had our company retreat at Kimball Farm which was a blast. I had a BBQ/ clam bake lunch that included Lobster and Steamers, an open bar, and ice cream. Additionally we had complete access to Kimball Farm's recreational facilities which include bumper boats, mini-golf, a driving range and a 9-hole golf course. I played two different 18 hole mini-golf courses with a couple of coworkers.

When I got home I of course passed out, tired... as usual.