Police are not generally associated with poetry. It is not often you get to hear the police officers of your city pouring out their souls in poetry they wrote, but on Thursday March 5 at the Portland Public Library the citizens of Portland got a chance to hear the members of the Portland Police Department read poetry they had written about what it is like to be a police officer.
Category: Arts & Culture
Epicurean Epics
At the end of spring break, Kate and I flew to Philly to visit our sons at college. Jeremy is at Philadelphia U and Connor is at St. Joseph’s University. Too busy with a full class load last semester, I never got down. I wanted to check out his on-campus apartment, and, of course, hang out with him.
Featured artist
Drawing from personal experiences, Justin Levesque creates artwork in a variety of mediums. Levesque recently agreed to be interviewed by Free Press’s Kathleen Wilber.
Free Press: What is your major and concentration?
Justin Levesque:I’m majoring in arts for a BFA and am concentrating in photography.
“New Mainers” photography exhibit
Portraits from recently the published book, “New Mainers: Portraits of Our Immigrant Neighbors,” will be on display from now until the end of March in the Woodbury Campus Center.
The portraits are by Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest, who moved to Maine from the Netherlands in 1970 and took photography classes at Portland School of Art, now the Maine College of Art.
Puzzle Answers
Sudoku and crossword puzzle answers from the 3/9 issue.
Depicting disaster as art
Michelle Forsyth recalls that she came face-to-face with danger at a young age; from age eight until age sixteen she lived on a sailboat every summer with her family. Forsyth recalls how every day was filled with anxiety: helping her father steer clear of rocks, battling the winds, and fear of shipwrecks.
Internet television on the rise
With the increased original content, overall video quality and syndication of television shows from major networks, Internet television is becoming bigger than ever, and I invite you to join the revolution. Many of us know how it started. Google Video and YouTube launched in 2005, and from then on hundreds of thousands of videos have been submitted, ranging from Vlogs (video blogs) to cute animal videos to music videos of up-and-coming indie artists.
Bringing back Burlesque
Burlesque performances are traditionally humorous theatrical productions, a form of musical and theater parody in which a play or other piece is adapted in an often risqué and sexual manner. Rarely are true Burlesue performances seen anymore. But on March 12 the Portland community will have the chance to see an updated Burlesque show put on by our very own USM community.
The competition heats up
USM’s menu got some local flavor peppered into the mix on Tuesday when WMPG held their 14th annual Cajun Cookin’ Challenge.
The familiar strains of New Orleans jazz, and dangling strands of beads brought out the “Fat Tuesday” atmosphere, and the spicy dishes warmed up a student body in the thick of a Maine winter.
Huak
Portland’s post-punk quartet Huak has an incredibly agitated sound-it is loud, fast and heated. The songs take turn after turn, stop, go, stop, go and explode. They seem to be powered by some sort of schizophrenic engine over which they have no control.
Jake Lowry and Joel Glidden’s guitars are jagged, crunchy and often panned to the left and right like a pair of armed guards.
Vagina Monologues
Taryn Yudaken
Staff Writer
Rarely do you hear the word ‘vagina’ spoken multiple times within a two-hour period, unless of course your profession happens to be gynecology. It is also rare for the subject of an entire performance to be about vaginas, unless of course you are talking about “The Vagina Monologues.
Oscar results
The majority of audience members usually know who is going to win before the big night goes down. However, it is always exciting when the academy decides to shake it up and shock movie buffs and critics alike.
“Slumdog Millionaire” managed to snag the Best Picture and Director Categories; this was expected if you had watched the build up before the Oscars filled with other award shows.
Puzzle Answers
Sudoku & crossword puzzle answers for 3/2.
Out with the old, in with the crew
The opening reception was crowded with old friends, students and colleagues. As Portland’s Channel Six attempted to get a few words with Juris Ubans, aglow in suit and tie and standing taller than the camera man, he kept interrupting the interview, surprised as another familiar face brushed by,
“Oh Hello!” Juris belted, ignoring the camera and energetically shaking hands with a former student who had returned to USM for the art show, a retrospective exhibit of the work and history of Juris over his long career.
Not taken for Grant-ed
Travis Grant, a costume designer and theater major at USM, has created many of the wardrobes seen on the Russell Theater stage. It was Grant’s ten designs for last spring’s play, “Last Easter,” that got the attention of a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) respondent.
“A great kick” in the snowpants
A bowl of hearty chili spiked with sweat inducing spices is a welcome dish in the midst of any chilly month; especially one with a Superbowl in it. As a first time chili maker, I took an opportunity to send a container to my son at UMO (for critique and, hopefully, enjoyment).
Travis Grant
Award winning costume designer, Travis Grant took the time to answer some questions with The Free Press’s Kathleen Wilber
Free Press: What is your major and concentration?
Travis Grant: I am a fourth year Theater major originally from Waldoboro, ME.
FP: How did you get into costume design?
TG: I started by assisting a volunteer costume designer in high school, which in turn led to outside work with community theater, and eventually branched out into semi-professional and professional work.
Battle of the bars
Sometimes enjoying your favorite pint in the comfort of home isn’t enough. Sometimes it’s just plain better to belly-up to the bar and enjoy a fresh ale. But, if you’re a craft-beer nut like me, it can be tough to find a place that couples the right atmosphere with a robust selection of beers at a decent price.
Review: PMA Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography
The Portland Museum of Art’s current photography exhibit, Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography, is a reasonably comprehensive glance at the pop musicians of the second half of the twentieth century as cultural icons.
The featured photographs do not show musicians at work.
Coming soon to a theater near you
April showers bring May movies? Not really.but “Terminator Salvation” does come to the silver screen. I am not personally a huge Sci-fi fan or James Cameron fan, but seeing how the latter is missing from this endless saga, it does seem promising. Having the most sought after man in Hollywood right now, Christian Bale, play a post-Judgment Day John Connor doesn’t seem to hurt either.
It’s a grace (only bodies can impart)
On the night of Saturday, Jan 31, the Gorham campus was graced by the beautiful folk music of USM resident Jakob Battick with his friends (Mark Dennis, Milo Moyer-Battick, Jesse Meuner, Wade Linebaugh, Ryan Higgins) and Biddeford-based duo South China in the Hastings Formal Lounge.
Greil Marcus riffs on Rock ‘n Roll photography in Portland
It was 1968 and he saw something in the window of a California record store that as a fan, he was thrilled about; a copy of The Who on Tour.
Griel Marcus paid the $1.99 and rushed home to discover that that album was not a live album at all but a studio recording with a misleading title.
Maine pulls in grant dollars for local Rock ‘n Roll
Joshua Loring, singer and guitarist for the rock group Brenda, pledges a strong allegiance to the veiled music culture of Portland-or, rather, to its unveiling. He is Portland’s adamant champion, its believer, and most recently, its spokesperson.
With a grant of $7,500 from the Maine Arts Commission, Loring, a resident artist at the Space Gallery, is creating a multi-platform audio-visual project to document the art and lives of a thriving yet largely hidden treasure trove of Portland musicians.
Featured Artist
As a growing artist, Fletcher Keene takes in all that he can in hopes of portraying his truely unique and interesting artistic vision.
Keene was recently interviewed for The Free Press by Kathleen Wilber.
ajor and concentration?
Fletcher Keene: Technically I’m an English major, but I’m switching it to art as soon as I can get through my art history requirements.