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

This is Blog 100

Welcome to my 100^th blog! 

This is a blog of sadness for after 7 years 8 months and 107,946 miles I drove my 2000 Chevy Blazer for the last time.  Purchased on October 7, 2005 at Thompson Volkswagen, Audi in Waterville with the intent of having a good 4 door four wheel drive vehicle for when Canaan was born.  It had 66,720 miles on it when I acquired it and 174,666 miles when I parked it May 30, 2013 for the final time.

The engine isn’t dead yet, but it’s moments away.  The antifreeze is circulating through the entire engine, not the way it should be, and draining out the exhaust.  It was over heating terribly and in fact prior to have the issue diagnosed it overheated so badly that it stalled out, twice.  So today I filled it full of water, got a jump start, and rode her on her final 6 mile journey with the music just a blaring.  The final song being The Lumineers: Stubborn Love on a CD Kate made me.

It may seem odd, but I was very attached to me blazer and it saddens me

Also today my boots blew out on me with half the sole detaching on my left shoe!  Yesterday I accidentally dropped my external hard drive and now it won’t boot up.   Data recovery is quite expensive so I hope my buddy John will be able to fix it for me. 

My brother John and is wife Leah are coming to Maine to attend my wedding!  They haven’t been home from Minnesota in a few years so I’m glad my wedding could be the catalyst that brings them back.  It will be great to see them again!

We moved the Coon Dog to another field today.  15 – 20 acres for him to roam around in.  We brought him a half mile into the pasture to his water source to show him.  After some splashing around he headed back to the field and once be passed the stone wall he broke out into a run like I’ve never seen before!!  He was so fast, and so loud it was unreal, Kate commented that in Kentucky they called him thunder hoof and I can see why!

June is Saturday and it’s going to be a busy month between overtime, I have 7 shifts, and events, not to mention my birthday!

Later readers!

Four Months to Nuptials!

Can’t believe it’s May already and in just 4 months Kate and I will be getting married. YAY!!!

Kate posted her bed on Craig’s list giving away her box spring and mattress just to see if there was interest.   A few hours later 21 responses told her there was.  So she gave them away that night and spent her first night at our apartment.  It’s been three weeks already and I love it!

The kids, Kate, & I have spent some time with her Cousin Krista’s kids recently.  Kamryn and Addison are so cute together and the boys have a lot of fun playing with each other.  It’s really nice that they all get along so well!

After church on the May 5^th 25 or so of Kate’s family meet at Reid State Park for an afternoon of kite flying and fun.  It was very windy, a bit chilly in fact, and the water was freezing!!  Still Canaan and Landen toughed it out getting soaked playing in the ocean!

It was so nice having everyone there together.  I was introduced to something called cowboy cookies.  Made by Mama Mueller, or Mrs. Mom as Canaan has decided to call her, they are chocolate chip cookies with oats added in, delicious!

It’s time for the movie summer season, already in theatres that I want to see is Iron Man 3 that John said was disappointing.   Here are the other movies that I want to see…

Star Trek: Into Darkness - May 16 

This is the End – June 12

Man of Steel – June 14

Despicable Me 2 – July 3

The Lone Ranger – July 3

R.I.P.D. – July 19

The Wolverine – July 26

Kick Ass 2 – August 16

The World’s End – August 23

You’re Next – August 23

Escape Plan – September 27

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – October 4

Old Boy – October 11

Thor: The Dark World – November 8

Kate and I have been hooked on Game of Thrones as of late.  We are almost done season 2.  There are a couple really cool characters that we both really enjoy and I like the constant tongue in cheek dialogue.  I can see what it has developed such a following.

If you get a chance check out my other blog, it’s a work in progress and I’m hoping to add a bunch more very soon!  Hot Dogs of Maine

That’s all for now

Later readers!

Mike

Taco blowout & Jewel, what a weekend!

I wrote this a week ago now just about so there's your time frame:

Had a wonderful weekend this past weekend!  Huge taco party at Kate’s parents with the whole family there!  Mama Mueller and the girls put together about 80 taco’s for us, I ate 8 and they were delicious!  Canaan thought his smelled like a fart, he really missed out!  We also celebrated three birthdays with awesome cake for AJ, Kate, & Emma! 

After the party I went with Kate’s dad to play poker with a bunch of other guys and Justin.  I lost $7 but had a great time! 

Sunday Kate and I went to the Merrill Auditorium for a concert.  It was Kate’s first time there, beautiful venue!  We saw Jewel, who we both love and have never seen in person, and her opening act was the fantastic Holly Williams, daughter of the legendary Hank Williams Jr.   Both performed solo acoustic sets and they were both fantastic!  In total the show was 2.5 hours, and that included the intermission.  We bought the live show recording, we can download it in a few days.

Recently Canaan to raised money for the American Heart Association through a school fundraiser called Jump for the Heart where you raise money and participate in jump roping.  Canaan raised with the help of us, $100.  Apparently it was the most money ever raised by a single student in the 10 years the school has been doing the event and at an Assembly a couple weeks after the even he was given a Special Recognition Award by the Principal!  

Found some new Skittles at J&S Oil in Farmingdale.  I love Skittles but I don’t eat them very often any more but I had to try them!  Dark Side of the Rainbow and the rainbow is upside down on the packaging….clever!  The flavors are Dark Berry, Pomegranate, Forbidden Fruit, Midnight Lime, & Blood Orange.   I like the Forbidden Fruit the best but they are all flavorful.  The Midnight Lime has a zingy after taste to it!

I love Skittles, my all time favorite was the very limited edition Carnival flavors of Bubble Gum, Candy Apple, Liquorice, Cotton Candy, & Green Slushy.   I wish they would bring those back!

The wedding plans are coming along nicely and we will be mailing out the save the dates later this week!

 

Later Readers!
Michael