blechhhh

I am officially breaking up with both HULU and Gravina.

Rain Clouds, A Bottle of Gravina and HULU.

I've always been a night owl, but ever since I started bar tending at Local 188, it's really gone over the edge. Noon is the new 9:00am and dawn is the new bed time. After sharing a few short hours with the people I love after they get out of work, they usually dissolve into PJ mode just after dinner (aka: my lunch) and toddle off to bed. This of course leaves me wide awake and for the most part, friendless for the coming hours.


Fret not. Obviously, one can only cry alone in the basement for so long before finding a way out. Meet my new best friends.



These guys are great. I love Gravina for it's delicious drinkablilty, crisp flavor and low price (under $10 at most every reputable wine dealer, thanks Joe from Portland Food Coma) , and I love HULU because it has countless hours of brain draining skits, TV shows and movies that keep me somewhat current in pop culture references with the rest of the world. Sometimes people like to break in to a chorus of "I'm on a Boat" and were it not for HULU, there would be no nautical themed pashmina afgans for me.



Also were it not for HULU and wine I wouldn't have gone to Taco Town, got Jamie hooked on the new Dr. Who, watched nearly as many Obama addresses, reaffirmed Alec Baldwin as my hero OR been so confused by how Kristina Wiig makes me squirm with laughter and discomfort AND gives me a boner.



So HULU and wine, here's to countless overnight hours of laughs, tears, rediscovered classics and misguided erections!
I need to take a vacation from my problems. Anyone want to go see Star Trek...

...again?

Love
-s

Spencer and the School Spirit Mafia

Probably seems redundant to write about my own band in my own blog, but holy shit, I love these people. On Memorial Day we got together with my favorite photographer of all time Matt Robbins and took our first ever, all 11 members, group photo. What was amazing is that this shot was achieved in roughly one hour soup to nuts and nobody cried.

There's really something to be said for assembling a Super Group in which everyone is super talented and everyone has an "up for it" attitude. I remember Jamie (the blonde on the left: vocals, trombone, keys AND guitar) asking what she should be looking like, to which I responded "It's your face, do what you want.

I encourage you all to check out all these people's Facebook pages and learn more about them, because each and every one of them are incredibly talented and very special to me.

Megan Jo Wilson
Holly Nunan
John MacLaine
Charles Gagne
Dominic Lavoie
Stu Mahan
Sean Morin
Katherine Albee
Emily Dix Thomas
Jamie Colpoys

All killer, no filler.

Love
-s

Buffalo Wing-tini!

I know I'm more of a music and arts-centric blog, but from time to time something crosses your lips that you simply MUST write about. This little doozy comes to us from our friend Joe Ricchio at Portland Food Coma. It's (very cleverly) called the BUFFALO WING-TINI!!!

Here's Joe's recipe:

3oz Grey Goose Vodka
1/2oz Olive Juice
8 dashes of Frank's Red Hot

Shake over ice and serve straight up with olive and pepper garnish and a wet nap.

Now when Joe told me about this drink and how delicious it was, I had a hard time believing him. After about a half an hour of cajoling, I finally caved and ordered one. Man was I wrong. Joe really knows his drinks, and even though this sounded completely disgusting, it was a real treat for the senses. Thanks Joe for your terrific idea and for convincing me to try something new. THE BUFFALO WING-TINI!!!







Love
-s

Ten Portland People To Keep Your Eyes On

Here's a list of ten Portlanders who have either a) been bringing the thunder for years or b) have a storm a brewin.


1) Kyle Gervais

Kyle historically has fronted Cosades, who split, but now fronts Grand Hotel. He works at the mall and lives with his babe of a girlfriend. He, in my opinion, is the best performer in town and to boot, he's a killer dude. He'll even come back to your house the morning after the big party to clean the puke off your front steps. Thanks Kyle!


2) Dominic Lavoie

Fronts Dominic and the Lucid, is an awesome classic rock DJ, has a pug, sings like an angel, smokes a lot of pot and is pretty sure he was abducted by aliens at some point in his life. Dominic would love to listen to a David Bowie record with you. I can't wait to see what he has tucked up in his little flannel wizard's sleeve.

3) Patrick Corrigan

Pat is art. Painting, drawing, sculpting, performing, music..ing? A renaissance man whose work has and will continue to shape the way Portland looks and feels. We're lucky to have him.

4) Lauren Wayne

Concert promoter, DJ, rager, facilitator of good times, babe. If you've seen a show here by a non local that you loved, she probably made that happen. Lauren nearly single handedly keeps Portland from being totally boring.

5) Ian Paige

Books SPACE Gallery, plays music, does psychedelic drugs, has probably NEVER given anyone the finger. Ian tirelessly seeks out people doing innovative things and gives them an avenue to express themselves, sometimes for profit. How cool is that?

6) John MacLaine

wait for it...

...there it is. John plays trombone, sings, plays percussion, can dissect complex horn and string arrangements by EAR, gardens, has a dog, two fish, a turtle AND works for the government saving the environment. What did YOU do today?

7) Dilly Dilly

Sings, writes songs, remixes jams, tours, plays ukulele, drums, guitar, trumpet and THE FUCKING SAW and she can do it all sober. Check please.

8) Aren Sprinkle

Aren loves The Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison. She writes songs, plays guitar and when she sings, I DARE you not to cry. She is a super positive, super powerful person that is small enough to fit in your pocket.

9) Davis Drown

Paints, drums, sings, uses potty. At his age all I could do was shit my pants.


10) Frank Bishop

Frank is an attorney, writer, foodee, a lover of film and family man. He's well on his way to being Maine's most arts-friendly lawyer. With more people like Frank in the world, we'd have less to fear.



Love,
-S

How cool is THIS guy? #1

Initially I kind of had this pipe dream about having a blog that would allow me to rant on and on endlessly about the things around town that drive me fucking nuts. While I still kind of do that to a certain extent, I came to the realization that if I wanted to continue to be able to work in this town or walk down the street without getting my face bashed in or be able to put out a record without it being absolutely slandered in the press, that I'd need to keep the pointed criticism to a minimum.

So I was left with my thoughts (often a scary premise) and decided to listen to my inner hippy and use my energy for something positive. That's why I've decided to start profiling people about town that I admire. These are people that are constantly holding it down, doing their own thing and AREN'T dicks. By dick of course I would mean people like that shit show of a human being Norm Jabar (Jafar? Who knows, who cares, he's a dick) who owns The Downtown Lounge and both of the Norm's restaurant locations and is constantly subjecting local goddess Katie Schier and all of his customers to his idiotic rants and shitty loud music. No I will not be focusing on unwanted children like Norm but rather celebrating the coolness of people like...


MARK BELANGER
How cool is THIS guy? #1



Mark Belanger is a musician, a drinker of beer and a maker of glass who is currently collecting unemployment. Does he rock? YES. Is he cool AND nice? YES and YES. Does he know how to abuse government financial relief? YES.



Mark can often be seen walking about town listening to music on his headphones. If you approach Mark, you will be greeted with pleasant, funny, bright and relevant conversation. Mark also fronts a band called PIGBOAT. Guess what they do. THEY ROCK. With what do they rock?

WITH THIS:



And when he was in high school, he looked like this:


So I ask you, all of you. HOW COOL IS THIS GUY?



Pretty fucking cool, methinks.

Love
-s