Although Alice Cooper was conspicuously missing from the musical backdrop, a group of teachers recently celebrated their onset of summer with style. Pushing tables together on the sun-drenched deck, they spent the better part of three hours talking, noshing, and sharing their communal sense of relief and accomplishment. That, and their Grey Goose-induced raucous laughter […]

With astronomical summer just around the corner, the pace of southern Maine’s performing arts activities continues to accelerate. The big news for the early summer of 2016 is the launch of the Portland Bach Festival, a six-day celebration of the 18th-century German composer. Violin virtuoso Lewis Kaplan, a fixture on the Maine music scene since […]

Restaurants are breeding grounds for racism, sexism and, in general, disrespect for the beliefs and lifestyles of others. Sometimes it’s woven into the banter of a dish dog and a cook. It can be heard in a heated group conversation between regulars at the bar. And worst of all, it can be directed at a […]

Greater Portland Exhibits “Starting and Stopping,” oil paintings by Kathy Wagner, Townsend Real Estate & Art Gallery, 553 Shore Road, Cape Elizabeth, through June 30. The Studio Group, Thomas Memorial Library, Cape Elizabeth. Celebrates the Maine landscape, through June 30. The Community House Painters, featuring 11 area artists, Merrill Memorial Library, 215 Main St., Yarmouth, to […]

The past 10 days have consisted of a grueling duel-job work schedule unlike any I’ve foolishly agreed to in eons. With one last consecutive restaurant shift looming before a day off, I am in desperate need of an Ashiatsu Oriental massage, and 24-hours of uninterrupted sleep. But honestly, this rare occurrence of double shift-days on […]

Greater Portland Exhibits Thursday 6/2 “Starting and Stopping,” oil paintings by Kathy Wagner, Townsend Real Estate & Art Gallery, 553 Shore Road, Cape Elizabeth, through June 30. The Studio Group, opening reception 5-7 p.m., Thomas Memorial Library, Cape Elizabeth. Celebrates the Maine landscape, through June 30. Art in Exodus, Maine College of Art, Porteous Building, Portland. Opening […]

A no-holds-barred reader pointed out that I spend an awful lot of time firing off zingers at restaurants about what they are doing wrong. Apparently, I also “rip apart” the behaviors of many deserving diners and focus only on the negative. This seriously caught my attention; I fear I am at risk of having a […]

Greater Portland Auditions Portland Youth Symphony Orchestras, Instrumental Wind Ensemble, and Youth Choirs, USM School of Music, May 24-27 by reservation, Corthell Concert Hall, USM Gorham Campus, http://bit.ly/1V62j2h, brackett@maine.edu, 780-5003. Exhibits Thursday 6/2 The Studio Group, opening reception 5-7 p.m., Thomas Memorial Library, Cape Elizabeth. Celebrates the Maine landscape, through June 30. William Janelle, award-winning […]

This came in last Thursday: My son was hired at a restaurant in the Old Port and was promised a full-time schedule. He is home for the summer and only has a short period of time to make money before he goes back to school in the fall. His boss keeps saying there will be […]