Blue Sponge Newsroom: Vacation Wrap-Up

Today is the first day back at work after being on vacation all last week. Although our vacation rental in Maine has a TV, Shane and I didn’t watch any television during the week. We did watch a DVD – the original documentary of Grey Gardens. We had watched the new HBO movie version of Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange numerous times, but had never seen the entire original documentary with the real characters.

We did hear about some news items. For example, I called my mother and heard all about commercial pitchman Billy Mays’ death from falling luggage during a plane landing. The house also had dial-up Internet access, so we saw a few other headlines. Also, we bought a newspaper one day.

After coming back home, it was apparent that this was a good week to be out of pocket. I got to avoid hearing the endless “news” about Michael Jackson’s death. Sadly, it continues.

There were some good news stories: Sarah Palin is resigning (but unfortunately I’m sure she won’t go away). My prediction is that she will be the new OxiClean spokesperson or will be hocking jewelry on QVC.

Norm Coleman finally conceded and Al Franken is finally going to be Democratic Senator Number 60! It is about time a close one goes our way. Let’s cross our fingers and hope it lasts.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams won Wimbledon again. This is the first time in many years that I didn’t see a single second of the tournament. This is Federer’s 15th major victory, breaking his tie with Pete Sampras for most career majors.

My favorite headline in today’s Express newspaper is about the death of Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. The headline said: “Police: McNair’s Death a Homicide.” He was shot four times, including twice in the head. Those police are geniuses. His girlfriend, who had a single gunshot to the head, laid beside him, and the gun was found under her body. Luckily, OJ has an alibi.

A group called the Little People of America is asking the Federal Communications Commission to ban the use of the word “midget” on broadcast TV. It was prompted by NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice episode where they created an ad called “Jesse James and the Midgets.” Besides swearing, are there other words deemed politically incorrect that are banned from TV? I wonder if it matters what the context is? I could look these things up, but I don’t.

There seems to be a rash of plane crashes, train crashes, and celebrity deaths lately. There was a plane crash in the Indian Ocean of a Yeminia plane with a single 12-year-old girl surviving (152 people died). A man driving the monorail was killed at Disney World when it crashed. Karl Malden, Billy Mays and a slew of other celebrities have been dropping like flies and prompting fake reports that Jeff Goldblum, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Natalie Portman, and Rick Astley all died. Only Jeff Goldblum's career is dead.
One person that is alive and well is D.C. mayor for life Marion Barry, but he is in trouble yet again. Barry is on a never-ending exploration to discover what he can get away with and still be elected to political office. In this week’s episode, he was stalking some woman. Barry was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of stalking. Barry blamed his actions on homosexuals being allowed to marry. It may be worth pointing out that at least he didn't have to go all the way to South America to do his shenanigans like a certain Republican senator.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #199

My lawyer told me to wear my suit.

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #199. Since we were on vacation, I'm a little late in posting this week's caption entry. Let me know if you come up with a caption.

Crossing the Bridge into New Hampshire

Our vacation is over. We're crossing the bridge between Maine and New Hampshire headind south to DC. We plan on getting to Meriden, CT, tonight unless Shane is energetic and wants to drive all the way tonight. We'd get home around 4 a.m. in that case.

Happy 4th

We had a family Independence Day party at Shane's Mom's house near Augusta, Maine. Here, we are reenacting the Battle of Bunker Hill. Shane is to the far left and his Mom is in three people in front of him. His Mom's dog Lucy looks on.

Pumpkin Island Lighthouse's Other Side

Shane and I took the kayaks out again this afternoon and went to the
far side of Pumpkin Island.

A Land Remembered

This is the book I was reading this week on vacation. It is the story of a family settling mid-19th century Florida. It was recommended by my mother-in-law who was snowbirding between Maine and Florida, but
is now about to become a full-time Florida resident. The book gives some interesting insight into what life was like in frontier Florida. It reminded me a little of Lonesome Dove with it's cattle drives and adventures. It was a little corny, but interesting.

Kayaking with Dolphins

Shane took the kayak out in the harbor in front of Moose & Squirrel
and ran into a pod of dolphins. He said it was neat but a little
scary having them all around him.

Wednesday Already

The weather has been clear this morning. We went out again on the
kayaks. The water was so still it was more like being on a pond than
the ocean. It is clouding up again and could rain.

Shane's Mom is coming over this afternoon. She lives about an hour
and a half away. We'll take her out to dinner and we hope it will be
nice enough weather to enjoy the porch.

After kayaking, we took a walk down Snowman Drive, a private road just
up the hill. There was a house for sale that is way above our means.
He wanted to take a look anyway.

Shane found out, by talking with some of our neighbors, that the guy
that owns the house we're staying in owns 25 acres on Snowman Drive.
Shane's scheme is to write to him and ask about the possibility of
selling a few of his 25 so we could someday build on Little Deer Isle.

The road is very secluded and wooded. Some lots have a water view,
but I'm sure that would be too pricey for us. Even a wooded lot with
no view would be just a short stroll to an amazing view.

Hump Day Art -- A Founder of Impressionism

On a visit to the Blue Hill Bay Gallery, in Blue Hill, Maine, this painting was on display, but was just sold for (listed price $4,500). It is by Charles-François Daubigny, a French artist that lived from 1817-1878. He was one of the painters of the Barbizon school (not to be confused with the modeling school), and is considered an important precursor of Impressionism.

Daubigny was born into a family of painters and initially he painted in a traditional style, but this changed after 1843 when he settled in Barbizon to work outside in nature. On his famous boat Botin, which he had turned into a studio, he painted along the Seine and Oise, often in the region around Auvers. From 1852 onward he came under the influence of Gustave Courbet.

In 1866 Daubigny visited England and met Claude Monet, and together they left for the Netherlands. Back in Auvers, he met Paul Cézanne, another important Impressionist. It is assumed that these younger painters were influenced by Daubigny.

The director of the Blue Hill Bay Gallery told the story that the idea of using his boat for a studio to capture the changing light of the landscape was imitated by Monet, who did the same thing, but with much greater success. The historical significance of Daubigny's work is its influence on these great Impressionists. This landscape depicting a sunset was professionally laid onto a canvas by a restorer, probably in the first half of the 20th Century. It was sold in its original gilded frame. The photo was taken with my iPhone. It is an oil painting on canvas (relaid onto canvas).

We purchased a painting from this Blue Hill gallery on Monday. More about that later.

The Porcupine that Lives Under the Porch

This porcupine stays under the porch all day and comes out at dusk.
Welcome to Maine.

Sunny Foggy Day

The sun has finally come out, but the fog is thicker than before. The
lighthouse isn't even visible from our porch. At least it is warmer.

Lobster Roll Ready for Pick-up

The sun is out and it is warm in Blue Hill -- in the mid-70s. I'm
writing this from back at the house on Little Deer Isle, only about 10
miles away. It is still foggy and in the low 60s here.

Though I didn't get a lobster roll, this is what they look like. It's
chunks of lobster in mayo on a hotdog-like bun. I have had them
before. They are very rich and delicious.

Fishnet Menu

Late Lunch at the Fishnet

We're having a late lunch at the Fishnet, a roadside food stand in
Blue Hill, Maine. It isn't exactly fancy, but the food is very good.
I'm going to try the crabcake sandwich. I'm sure Shane will get a
burger.

I'm waiting on Shane to check his work emails on his Blackberry. He's
been very good about not doing it too often. It helps that we don't
get a signal at our house and he can only do it when we come into town.

Shane Kayaking in Maine

Kayaking on Eggemoggin Reach

Shane and I took the kayaks out on the reach in front of our house.
Though it is still foggy and it started misting a bit, the water was
dead calm. It was beautiful.

Foggy Morning at Pumpkin Island Lighthouse

At least the rain has stopped for now. It is a beautiful, quiet
morning. This is the scene from our porch. We hope to see a little
sunshine later today.

Popovers at Jordan Pond House, Acadia National Park

It was another bad weather day here in Maine, but we made the best of it. I went for a cool, misty 5-mile run this morning from Moose & Squirrel to the Little Deer Isle, ME, post office. After my shower, we went into nearby Blue Hill and did a couple galleries. We actually bought a painting, but I write more about that later. Then we drove over to Acadia National Park to have a late lunch at the famous Jordan Pond House, which is famous for its popovers.

For anyone who hasn't had a popover before, they are buttery, eggy rolls that are quite a challenge to make well. I have made them before, and have had spotty luck with them. Jordan Pond House does an excellent job, especially when you drown them in butter and strawberry jam. They bring you one as an appetizer and we had one for dessert also.

For a main course, Shane had the lobster quiche with a side salad. It was awesome. I had a few bites. I had the crab cakes covered in some kind of sauce with rice and steamed veggies. It was OK, but I should have gotten the quiche.

Afterwards, we drove into Bar Harbor and did some shopping. By the time we got home, the misty rain had turned into a heavy fog, and we could hardly make out the lighthouse from our porch.

By the way, it is quite a tech challenge to post on my blog. The only computer at the house is a laptop with a dial-up connection, which is very slow and loses the connection constantly. I have been able to post some things directly from my iPhone, but it is very difficult to get a signal on my phone also. I have to stand on one foot out on the porch with the phone aimed in just the right direction. I managed to email the above photos to my email account, and slowly download them onto the very slow laptop and then upload them onto the blog. Very tedious. More later.

Wine by the Fire

We're back at Moose & Squirrel and relaxing in front of a roaring fire with some Cabernet Sauvignon.

Sunday Dinner

I got a mess of fried shrimp at the Bagaduce Lunch, a roadside joint on the Bagaduce River. Shane had already wolfed down his cheeseburger by the time I took this picture. They have picnic tables, but because of the weather we ate in the car.