February and Future Happenings

February was a good month.

Jonny and I have started to have a movie night once a week checking out some great horror flicks. So Far we have checked out The World’s End, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, and Monster Squad.  We’ve drafted a rather large list of flicks to check out.

 

On February 27^th, John and I meet Nate & Jen at the Nickelodeon in Portland for a screening of Tromas Return to Nuke ‘em High Vol 1, also on hand presenting his film was the legendary Lloyd Kaufman!  I got a DVD signed, something of Jonny, and we got a large group photo together that included Toxie!  My DVD was already signed by B Scream Queen Tiffany Shepis.

The movie was exactly what I expected it to be.  Cheesy and nonsensicle with gratuitous nudity. 

WWE Network Launch on February 24^th and it was love at first sight!  A streaming network were $9.99 a month gives me access to every WCW, ECW, & WWE PPV ever, the monthly live PPV’s, other classic wrestling, original programming and much more!  I can watch it on my phone, Roku, or laptop. 

The first thing I watched was Starrcade 1983.  I’ve never seen the entire event before just three of the matches.  A lot of the classic NWA/WCW PPV’s I’ve only seen certain matches.  I love the classic NWA!  I had a few home video releases but they would edit the three house show down to a 2 hour home video release.  These shows are uncut so it’s cool to see matches for the first time ever available to people that were not in attendance.

I can’t decide if I’m going to watch the events chronologically or just jump around.   I’ve heard WWE is going to be adding all the Saturday Night’s Main Events & Clash of the Champions as well!  So awesome!

Kate and I are dieting, along with Mom, Momma Mueller, & Aunt Trish it’s called 20lbs to Fenway.   The 4 of us are going to Fenway park on May 21^st to watched the Sox play the Toronto Blue Jays.  My mom has never been to Fenway before and it’s going to be a great time.  Kate thought it would be good for us to lose a few pounds for the occasion.  I couldn’t agree more.  I got my scale today and was finally able to see the number and it’s more than I thought it would be.  To say I’m disappointed with myself would be an understatement.

Also planned coming up, a mini vacation get away to Rhode Island and Southern Mass area at the end of March.  Phantom of the Opera in June, and the Rhode Island Comic Con in November.  So much to look forward to!

Later Readers

Mike 

Please enjoy this video of my son crashing his sled!

A Weekend of Musical Enjoyment

The weekend of June 8th & 9th was quite a fun weekend indeed!  I was off thanks to some shift swapping with Rood because he needed time off for a Disney trip and I did for a concert, a birthday present from Kate!

We headed out Saturday afternoon with Emma and Caleb to Meadowbrook in Gilford, New Hampshire for Old Crow Medicine Show and Avett Brothers.

It was overcast, but he weather was nice and the drive there was excellent.  We stopped enroute at a Honey Dew doughnut place for a snack and bathroom break.  I'd never been to one before so I sampled the donuts.  They were pretty good, better than Dunks, but Bolley's is still my favorite. 

We arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare and staked out our place on the lawn.  We were surrounded by hippies and boy did they like to dance during Old Crow, it was like nothing I'd seen before!  We were sitting on the ground at first, but after I got stepped on and then fell upon we decided that standing was the only option. 

I would like to note that the drunk, pot smoking, and very apologetic hippie that fell on me never touched the ground as I caught him and then raised him back to his feet. 

Boy those hippies sure did like their Old Crow and didn't seem to care much for the Avett Brothers as when they took the stage it was a completely different type of audience around us.

My main reason for going was to see the Avett Brothers, but I enjoyed Old Crow a lot more! Kate says that Avett is much better in a small intimate environment like The State Theatre.  It was great to hear my favorite Avett Brothers songs live, but they didn't sing January Wedding which surprised me.

We had a great time! Here are some clips on your tube from the show while they last!

 On Sunday Kate and I went to the Old Port Festival in Portland and to attend the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's concert at the State Theatre. 

Neither of us had been to the Old Port Festival before and were surprised that they close down so many streets, such a large portion of the area and those streets are packed with food and merchandise vendors, to mention the local businesses having sales and events.  In total there are 6 stages with 4 - 5 lives acts on each through out the day. 

Due to the Facade falling on the side of the building at the State Theatre there was a fear that the concert would be cancelled.  In the end the start time of the show was pushed back and hour, which would cause a headache all it's own later.

We walked every street and looked at every booth and caught a song or two at most all stages.  We had a cupcake at East End Cupcake, as seen on Cupcake Wars, I had a NEHI Orange Soda finally, it was so good!  Ice cold glass bottle!  Best of all we found that there is a Cabot Cheese Annex store where I can buy White Cheddar Shake!!!!  They have a dozen cheese's for sample, some dips, the cheddar shake, and a root beer and we sampled them all. 

At the WCLZ stage we watched the whole set of Charlie Mars, he was great!  I would see him again that's for sure!

He told very entertaining monotone stories before each song. It was great!

Other acts we caught at various stages, Northern Lands, Sha Sha Sha, The Pete Kilpatrick Band, Vicci Martinez, Morgan Frazier, Eric Paslay, and Enter the Haggis.

Kate's best friend Erin and her boyfriend Chase joined us for the Edward Sharpe concert. It was a good show but I've got more than just a few complaints.  The show was supposed to start at 8pm, but was pushed back until 9pm, and they didn't come on stage until 915pm.  They were their own opening act singing and acoustic set of cover songs for half an hour with the audio all messed up so we couldn't even hear them.  Then after their set they took a half hour break and came back on stage with their songs at 1015pm. 

Finally the show got good and the audio was perfect.  But as the night wore on the concert was getting later and later, bad for us because the garage we parked in closes at midnight.  Finally at 1150pm we decided to leave, but Kate couldn't go because we still hadn't heard Home or Om Nashi Me, our favorite songs. 

So Erin and Kate stayed while Chase and I went and got the cars and pulled them around parking near the State and waited for the girls, where at least Kate got to hear them perform those songs.  Click the link below for a you tube video of Home, I couldn't get it to embed.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the State Theatre Portland

All in all it was a good show, there was just some very frustrating parts like every song being extended and not getting to hear Home or Om Nashi Me.  I did get to hear some wonderful versions of Man on Fire and Fiyi Wata.

It was a wonderful weekend with two very long days and some great music! 

Later Readers

Ricker-Heinold Respite Day 1

Today I awoke a bit past 8am and within the next few minutes I was dressed and heading to Portland with my mom to meet my brother and his family for what turned out to be and impromptu and unexpected day of fun!

First up was the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland.  Today was one of the rare days where they run the Steam Engine.  The train ride, which takes about 35 minutes, is nice and runs a couple miles on the Portland Waterfront in a mostly straight line.

It was great seeing my brother Jason, his wife Jillian and their three kids Bailey, Ethan, & Aidan.  Next we popped over the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse that is only about 5 miles away.  Jillian wanted to see a Lighthouse that she hadn't seen before.

 Today was an open house but the little kids weren't allowed to go in.  That coupled with the dangerous gaps in the breakwater only Bailey and I forged ahead to take the tour.

The breakwater looking back to land from the light

The Lighthouse itself is was first lite in 1897 with the breakwater added in 1951.  The lighthouse has a basement and 4 levels plus the lantern room.  The first level is the common area with the kitchen, the second level is the head lightkeepers quarters.  The 3rd level is the assistant keepers quarters and the 4th level is called the watch room.

Kitchen

Head Light Keepers Quarters

Assistant Keepers Quarters

While we were in the light the others check out Fort Preble and the shore line.  We could see Portland Headlight from here as well.

Next up we hit the Sea Dog for lunch after the wait to Becky's Diner was too long.  We then traveled to Gray to take in the Maine Wildlife Park because Jillian had never seen a Moose before and really wanted to...plus the kids would probably like it.  

I didn't take as many pictures because most of the shots would have been the animals in the background and mesh fence in the foreground.  Ethan just kept asking too see the bears over and over, and when we finally did he was so excited.

There was a black and a brown bear.  We then headed over the the moose and the bull was laying down on the far side of his area.  You could see him just not as well as we would have liked. 

One of the cooler animals there was this albino Raccoon! 

It was a great day!!  Bailey road with us for the majority of it and the weather was beautiful.  When we got back I assist Gram-Gram in getting her wi-fi up and running which consisted of another call to Time Warner Cable.  Jason & Jillian got her an IPAD and she appears to love it.

I found out today that Bailey is huge Rush fan, which is odd because he just turned 12, but he does have awesome taste in music.  So this it Rush track has been stuck in brain all day and this particular clip has a pretty bad ass opening bit!

That's all for now, have a great day!

Later Readers!!

Mike