Islander

Islander Written and directed by Ian McCrudde (2006)

Somehow when this movie came out in 2006 I missed it. Oops. I was in grad school at URI at the time … can you really blame me? Nevertheless, I stumbled upon it recently and finally found time to watch it. Overall a lot of fun, there are some great aspects of it, some silly and some that I could have done without.

The story is great … a lobsterman caught up in a turf war gets carried away with anger and makes a big mistake. He pays for it dearly then tried to return to the community where he grew up. This isn’t easy, Mainers do not forgive and forget readily, so he is left to work hard to establish himself and get back on his feet on his own. There are a few that never accept him, but many learn to accept and move on.

Some from the area did not like this flick one bit and felt that it painted lobstermen in a negative way. I disagree, alcoholism and violence are present along with poor decision-making, but in what field of work is it not? I think that just as this movie shows the negative side of lobstering it equally shows the compassion, hard-working nature and forgiveness of many of the characters.

The accents are funny. I literally burst out laughing at some of the attempts. Generally the lead, Thomas Hildreth, butchers the Maine accent pretty badly, but there are moments when he nails it and he sounds exactly like one of my cousins. Loved that! Many of the other actors never really get it, but their efforts and exaggerations were humorous.

Some of the added drama could have been left out here. The story itself is compelling enough that the added side drama was not needed. I think the story would have been more effective if the audience was left to feel what the islanders must have been feeling, confusion to some degree. This man did something bad, dose that make him a bad man? Should be welcomed back because he was one of them, not “from away?” Is the decision to turn ones back on him right or wrong? All of the questions seem to be answered by the story, not left for the audience to ponder.

Like I said it was fun to watch, even though it is certainly not a fun story. I hardly think that someone “from away” would think it was fun or funny at times like it did. It is still a great movie with beautiful scenes, good minimalist acting and a great story. It would recommend this one to other, Mainers and otherwise. Watch it. Laugh at the accents. Think about what it is that make people “good” and “bad”. Take in the beautiful Maine island and ocean.

NO on 1

Today was a big day for Maine – voting day! The big question on the ballot this time around is question one. This question states "Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?”

This issue, it appears, has really drawn people out the polls. Today we saw huge numbers of people making it out to vote, much more than expected. I am now waiting to watch the results roll in, hoping the “no” camp can pull it off.

The part about this issue is that it is an issue at all. My view is that if the State is going to recognize marriage between a man and a woman than, of course, a same-sex marriage should also be recognized. In my opinion marriage is a vastly a religious practice and it may not have a place in the government.

At this point, it makes more sense to me to separate church and state. For the purposes of the government and health care and other legal realms all couples should be required to join themselves in a civil union. Then beyond that, for religious or family reasons those couples can get married. I’m sure there are tons of problems hidden in this idea, but to me it seems like the fairest solution for the issue at hand.

There you have it, my opinion on civil unions and marriage and all that. Here is to hoping that the “no” voters came out in force in Maine today. I would be proud to reside in a state that recognizes gay marriage!

Five Fifty-Five

I have long been a fan of 555 in Portland. It is a great place for terrific food with a cozy atmosphere. However, my appreciation has grown considerably since Monday, 10/5/2009 when the doors were open for a sampling of the new bar menu. Fun drinks together with complementary snack samples. An absolutely great time.

Here is what we noshed on:

-Mini Cheeseburgers – mouthwateringly awesome

-Cauliflower Soup – Good, but too much smokiness for me

-Mini Pulled-Pork Sandwiches – Very good, but with slightly more pickle flavor than I care for

-French Fries with Basil Dipping Sauce – So yummy, salty and perfect

-Chili – Good flavor with just the right amount of heat

-Flatbreads – The bacon on top made them awesome, as bacon generally does

-Oysters – No thanks

-Mac & Cheese – The famous 555 Mac and Cheese! By far the best sample of the night. It had great flavor, perfect creaminess and the noodles had just the right texture. Honestly, I have thought of this Mac & Cheese since … a lot.

Now I’m obsessed with the Mac & Cheese and can’t wait till I can get my butt over there again to have a whole bowl of it to myself! If you, yourself are looking for a fun, fancy time in Portland – check out 555, no doubt.

Garage Sale

Today was my first garage sale. Let me tell you, it was an experience! It was so interesting to see all the different types of people showing up and even more interesting to see what people did and did not choose to buy.

We were selling many of the trinkets that my grandparents have collected over the past 50 years. Items ranged from 600 National Geographics, different varieties of chairs and puzzles to seemingly endless collections of Christmas and Halloween decorations. It was eye-opening to see what people were interested in and the things that people passed by.

In the end I think it was a success. We sold a lot, but we also still have a lot left. I guess we will be having another one in the spring!

Lars and the Real Girl

Perhaps, no definitely, one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. It’s bizarre, quirky and fun. Def. a real “feel-good” movie. Lars and the Real Girl is about a lonely man who decides, simply, not to be lonely any more. The cast is outstanding: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider … just to name a few.

At first when I read the plot (guy falls for sex doll) I thought this might be a laugh, but is prolly a little to over the top for my taste. I stand corrected. This movie was hilarious, terribly sad, heart-warming and heart breaking. The range of emotion felt while watching this film was intense. Literally LOLing throughout, this movie has some really funny aspect to it. However, it turns out, that isn’t why this movie captivated me as it did. The underlying story line of compassion and community are really was struck me with this film.

It is, in fact about a guy who falls for his sex doll. The best part (according to me, at least) is that he doesn’t even sleep in the same room with her! Lars’ bother and sister-in-law put her to bed each night, while he sleeps in his garage apartment. At first everyone is appalled that Lars is in love with a doll, but it doesn’t take long before the community embraces his doll as one of them. The reasons for Lars toting around this doll are explored throughout the movie as well as how much the community takes her in.

Absolutely, I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a good film to make them laugh and cry. This is not a light comedy, but at the same time it does not at all get bogged down with some of the more serious aspects of the story.

Apples, Apples, Apples

The fall is my favorite season. I love the change in weather, the changing of the leaves,breaking out the warm sweaters and eating yummy fall food. This Saturday (Chris’ 1^st Saturday off, woo-hoo) we went apple picking at Snell Family Farm. It was a gorgeous day. A bit brisk because the wind was a blowing…but a perfect fall day with bright sunshine! We picked Cortland (for pie) and McIntosh. We picked and we picked a lot. So much fun! In the market they had some other really yummy stuff that we couldn’t resist including: cucumber, fingerling potatoes and CIDER! Warm cider might be my favorite thing about fall, so I was all over that.

What could be better than watching some football and baking an apple pie? Yes, I know, watching basketball and baking an apple pie, but alas this was not an option in mid-September. So, football watching and apple pie baking it was! It was a great time, except that the Patriots were terrible. Terrible.

We bought frozen dough from the IGA because we are lazy, and used a Cooking Light recipe for the filling of our awesome apple pie. Also, we had no lemon juice, so we went without, again because we are lazy. The recipe called for eight apples, so that’s how many we peeled and sliced.Eight was too many…way too many apples. When filling the pie crust we used about half. Lucky for us, we had a bit of dough left over as well. I placed the leftover dough in a little ramekin (so much L.O.V.E. for ramekins) and filled it with some of the leftover apples. Into the oven went the ramekin treat with the pie.

The ramekin treat and the apple pie turned out perfectly! They were finished about 10 minutes early. Everything came out of the oven browned and looking tasty. Our house smelled so good.We had dinner. We ate some pie. We were tired.

Ta-da!

The Grill Room & Bar

Ventured to The Grill Room this evening (9.14.2009) for a business meeting dinner. Walking through the door I knew it was going to be a good time, the smell…was…good. The space had a very relaxed laid-back feel. From our table I was easily able to watch the Patriots season opener against the Bills. That is a good thing … when the conversation got to be to business like I could just look up and watch some football.

The draught list was pretty good, not that it really matters too much to me though … they had Allagash White … I was happy. I heard that the wine list was good too, although I wouldn’t really know, I never looked at it. The waitress was very nice and seemed to be quite knowledgeable about the wine they offered. She successfully made suggestions for two of my colleagues. Although I do not enjoy wine, I do enjoy listening to people go on about it.

For starters I had the cajun shrimp salad. The presentation was lovely and made me want to gobble it all up in one bite. Very Top Chef “elimination challenge” esque. I restrained myself quite well. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. The corn and pepper salad was also great because the peppers and red onions were chopped into tiny pieces, just the way I like ‘em.

For dinner I chose the hanger steak and chorizo with chimichurri sauce, spinach and white beans. There is this thing I have right now for both hanger steak and chorizo, so to find them in the same dish was like a message sent straight from the heavens saying “eat this, not that … don’t even consider anything else”. The hanger steak was wonderful and perfectly cooked! The spinach and white beans were also delish and work well together and with hanger steak. The chorizo on the other hand left me wanting. It was not bad tasting by any stretch, but I so wanted it to be better. There was more heat then flavor, which left me feeling disappointed. Overall a good dish, but not one I would order again, message from the heavens or not.

Dessert was a good thing. I had the warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. It was super yummy and the ice cream was the prefect creaminess. The only thing that could have been improved with this would be my fullness from earlier dishes. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had not been so full.

Overall – great meal. I would def recommend the Grill Room to anyone looking to a tasty and relaxing meal with style. I had a great time and will surely return for more.

Abby Blogs

So everyone else blogs and I want to join in the fun!

There are some many things going on in and around my life these days and I think "the blog" will be a great place to share all that. A writer I am not, so you will have to bare with me on that. However, I have options aplenty (you will have to bare with me on that too)!

Here you will find posts about anything and everything relating to the life of Abby. The wedding planning (9 months to go now), being a doctor of audiology, living in my grandparent’s house will probably be in the forefront. Also, there will be posts on the great adventures to be had in Portland and beyond!