Movin’ to Music

Tip-top tunes to consume while packing….

THE DECEMBERISTS

“There’s a bend in the wind and it rakes at my heart
There is blood in the thread and it rakes at my heart
It rakes at my heart”

We’s Got’s the UHaul Blues…

The time has come to pack up our cozy house on Salem St in Portland, Maine and head to the woods of upstate New York. The hospital housing will be ready in 2 days, and we hope to be there and unpacking soon thereafter…

Dennis leaves for Miami around the 9th or so of August…
and
Gretchen will be heading home to Flagstaff, Arizona for a Selective Rotation on August 10th.

We will be together in spirit until Dennis comes back to NY in mid-October.

I’m sure we will have photos galore…
See you on the flip side.

Do you have 15-20 minutes?

If you do, and only if you have that time to pay attention…PLEASE read the following Adbusters article (read first) and watch the video (about 10 minutes) below that, they are from different sources, but paint a distinct picture. When I get this feeling in my heart, this feeling in my gut…I want to share it. What do we do as American citizens about this administration…about our fellow Americans dying in Iraq as well as struggling with so many psychological hurdles due to this war….read…read on…

ARTICLE:
Chris Hedges — The rage soldiers feel after a roadside bomb explodes, killing or maiming their comrades, is easily directed to innocent civilians who are seen to support the insurgents. It is a short psychological leap, but a massive moral leap. It is a leap from killing – the shooting of someone who has the capacity to do you harm – to murder – the deadly assault against someone who cannot harm you. The war in Iraq is now primarily about murder. There is very little killing.
http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/72/The_Death_Mask_of_War.html
——
VIDEO:
“I challenge anybody in congress to do my rotation.” — Spc. Vassell, 2nd Platoon Apache Company

http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,2125978,00.html

Rusty Chain, Town of Water, Iron Man, Litter DeBugging, Ad A Ron Dack, Green, White. MOOSE!

What up y’all? Una fin de semana muy buena! It was a great weekend! Dennis has been playing around with video lately…we are going to see if we can post some video on the blog! For now…pictures…

**The president of the Miami Dolphins signed the contract on Friday, so Dennis is definitely heading the photo project for them for a few months! Great for him!! Sad for me But happy for him We’ve done distance before, and can do it again…it’ll just be for a few months.

**I’m reading the book Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance…a must! It has answered so many questions I’ve had about taking care of my bike. It is a great reference. I put it to use on Friday and changed the chain on my old Trek Townie Cruiser. The cassette looks pretty shabby too, but wanted to get the chain taken care of. It’s fun playing bikes!

**Dennis and I had planned a trip to New York this weekend to check out Watertown and to take a load of stuff to storage since the apartment is not ready until the 1st of August. It was so much fun!!! We went the “fast” way on the way there…and got stuck in traffic on a I-90 going through Mass because ONE silly exit for New York City! So after driving the width of Massachusetts and a lot of NY, we made it. We don’t have any pics of Watertown itself, it was dusk/dark by the time we dropped things off in storage, (I found my keys…which I lost for about 20 minutes that were on top of the car ), and we found something to eat. The place is very laid back…more so than the chaos of Southern Maine…it’s going to be great!

**We drove for a couple hours west on Rt 3 into the Adrirondack Park (the entrance is only about 1 hour from Watertown!)…by this time it was really late…so we found the first campground and pitched a tent…by Cranberry Lake. So the next morning, this is what we woke up to…not shabby.

We packed up our campsite…and were on our way for a BEAUTIFUL day in the Adirondack Mountains…yay! We stayed on Rt 3 and ate at a really sweet cafe and continued on…as we approached Lake Placid…we started to see signs for the Ironman Lake Placid!!!! It was so cool….I’ve seen lots of tri’s in the past (thank you so so much Kev and Deb -one of my all-time althetic heroes- for exposing me to it!!!) …and competed in some…and seeing 2,200 people competing was so inspiring! I declare that my life goal (besides the small task of becoming a doctor) is to complete a full Ironman! It was Dennis’ first exposure to such a race and it was fun explaining what it’s all about. These monster athletes that we saw on their bikes, had already completed their 2.4 miles swim, and we got out to take pics at the 50 mile mark on the bike…they still had 62 more miles to go and a marathon to run (26.2 miles) before the day would end. Here are some cool pics…beautiful Lake Placid! Dennis got some killer film, so check back!

**We continued on our journey and found this sweet low river which we decided to wade across…we found some trash on our way and packed it up to throw away/recycle appropriately!!

**Finally, our weekend was coming to an end…we had to get back to Maine. We took a different route back home through the Green Mountains of Vermont…

**…the White Mountains of New Hampshire…

**We also saw a Moose on the way out of the White Mountains, but Dennis got the best video/photos of her, so we’ll save that for another day.

MUCH LOVE and word to yo mutha.
G&D

Alive at Five

Happy Thursday y’all! Dennis and I headed to Alive at Five in Downtown Portland…they have live bands outside every Thursday evening…it rocked! Especially since friends (thru Dom’ girlfriend Kim..miss you Kim!)…and a GREAT local band
Dominic and the Lucid

played with the main band on stage

The Cat Empire

If you have not heard of either of these bands…do it!!! They are in the business of knockin’ off socks…

Portland has a great music scene and it seems as though I have met their acquaintance periodically at JavaNet. If you refer to one of my first posts ever you can read more about the coffee shop…I think it was in May. These fabulous musicians seem to love their coffee and tea. This is where I met Spencer and Zach from:

As Fast As

(photo from Wikipedia!)

and you may also know Spencer’s other group Rustic Overtones who he reuniting with here in Portland. They are such nice guys…Enjoy their music as much as they enjoy bringing it to you.

Hmmm….oh yeah and this guy came in while I was on the computer at the espresso bar the other day…he ordered a tea quietly…I looked up made eye contact smiled, and he quietly finished his order and walked out. I wanted to meet him, but decided that letting him enjoy his day in peace was more important….

…that’s Ray LaMontagne…he is from Lewiston, ME.

Here he is singing one of his most popular! Trouble…enjoy…love you Ray!~~~~

I’m in Psychoville and Finkle’s the Mayor

When I think of the Miami Dolphins all I think of is one thing and one thing only …

We are not huge fans of professional sports, but it seems as though they may be an intricate part of our lives for a few months.

I picture the man below:

and this man:

coming together to make us laugh over and over again…obviously…Ace Ventura.

Dennis and I are kinda posting this part together to let family and friends know our new plans! Dennis was offered an amazing promotion to head a project to archive all of the photos for the Miami Dolphins through the company Photopia here in Portland whom he has been working for the past few months. There is just one more small approval step for the project and then it’s official.

Dennis would be moving to Miami Florida in a couple weeks until about November, and Gretch would either use her open rotation block from 8/6-9/14 to go back home to Flagstaff and then head to NY. Or, once we get dates, she could head to Miami with Dennis for a rotation and then to NY….

either way the point is that Dennis has worked so hard the past few months and I am so incredibly proud of all that he has done and have been nothing but supportive of this opportunity! So regardless of what I can figure out, he will go and further his photography career and take advantage of this rare opportunity. Although he doesn’t want to be a Photographer who takes Photos of Photos of Professional Sports forever , the photoshop skills, etc are invaluable.
~~~~~~
Tonight we are heading to Spring Point Lighthouse….we are trying to get in as much as we can before leaving Maine…

~~~~~~~~~Much love all~~~~~~~~~~
Reporter: [skeptically] Where is Snowflake?
Ace Ventura: Why do you care about Snowflake? Do you know him? Does he call you at home? Do you have a dorsal fin? To train ze dolphin you must zink like ze dolphin! You must be getting inside ze dolphin’s head. I am saying to Snowflake, “Akay!… Akay Akay Akay?” und he is saying “AKay Akay!” und he is up on ze tail “Eeeeeeeeee!” und you can quote him!

Bye Bye Board Bowels…

So, not the most appropriate subject for a post, but I think more people should look into this! I saw a doctor (Dr. Weiner…it’s pronounced ‘w-i-ner’ comprende?) about doing some sort of detox last fall because I was exposed to chemicals in a coffee shop. He suggested an UltraPlusMeal pH Balance shake-thingy that I didn’t have a whole lot of time or energy to do at the time.

But now I do! Especially being done with my boards, I am positively positive that my body is not happy with me after the stress of studying for boards and the coffee I was drinking. Dennis and I have both been so stressed, so we decided to start eating a more alkaline diet…eliminately the bad and scarfing the good…which won’t be much change as we eat really good food (when we do eat) anyways. So if you’ve ever been wondering about a detox that is doctor recommended look at some of the products on Metagenics.com If you decide you really want to go through with it, make sure to talk to a local doc or someone who does detoxes (click on ‘Dr. Weiner’ above and check out what his background is….he is INCREDIBLY nice and could probably even recommend a doctor in your area, I did a day in the office with him as a med student and he is a wonderful physician)

We are not doing the one where you don’t eat…we just exclude foods that are highly antigenic…like gluten, eggs, dairy, soy (yes soy! go with rice milk instead…or almond milk…mmm) but include all fruits and vegetables! (except oranges and corn respectively….acidic…) There are also all kinds of grains and even vennison or farm raised local turkey and fish (if you eat meat). There is actually a lot on the list that is good to have in your diet…I have a whole list…if you want to play along.
——–

Your Mainah English Lesson for Monday…

Ankle biteah

n., Young child: “Looks like you and the wife got another little ankle biteah.”

The Wicked Good Guide to Mainah English

In our dwinlin’ days heah as Mainah’s we thought we would give you a taste of the local language now and then heah’s the first…it’s an easy one…
———
Cah

n., “what you drive to work or PAHK in the BAHN or maybe in the Wal-Maht pahkin lot”

Alice Winslow and Fire Flies

Dennis and I are realizing that our days in Maine are numbered. Today Dennis was sick fever kinda stuff so we just chilled most of the day and then decided it was time to get some fresh air. We rode our townie bikes over the Casco Bay Bridge once again around dusk and caught this tugboat heading right under our feet and bike tires! We waved and stared off into the beautiful violets and radiant pinks in the sky.

We decided to keep going over the bridge into South Portland and to Bug Light…one of the nearby lighthouses. It was getting dark by that time, but cool to see the city lights from the lighthouse…Dennis had never actually touched a lighthouse, so he got to tonight! Its right on the rocky beach and low…awesome.

Here’s a picture of it in May when my dad was out here visiting in the creepy New England fog….there’s nothin’ like it (the fog or the lighthouse!)

Bug Light

We rode the bike paths in the dark back into town and along the way we saw fire flies! I had seen them previously in Iowa and Cuernavaca, Mexico when I studied abroad, but not yet in Maine. Dennis had never seen one! So it was great to stand in the stillness and watch them for awhile. We continued on our way and snapped this great pic of Portland from across the Bay…

We will keep you posted as our time as “Mainah’s” comes to an end.
Love you all!
G
PS See SiCKO by Michael Moore, but be prepared to want to move to Canada or Europe!

The Telluride Bluegrass Adventure

Howdy Friendos,

I’m Sure that by the last few posts you’ve figured out that we went to my home in beautiful Colorado.It was great to be at home and back out west again.. oh how we’ve missed it. It’s pretty out here in Maine, but we’re partial to the dry thin air, the dust and the fierce sun that inhabits those parts.
While in Colorado we attended the Telluride Bluegrass Festival; This is where Gretchen and I met last year. We saw many of our favorite musicians and met them as well. People such as Chris Thile and Mike Marshall

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

Alison Krauss

and Sam Bush

Telluride Has beautiful places around every corner and the fact that this festival is 100% carbon neutral helps to keep it that way… However, all the overprivilaged, narcissistic people whose proportion of dollars to sense is astronomical that have moved in during the past 30 years are kind of ruining it by building pointless mansions everywhere, (all over the southwest and pristine wilderness!) but… this is a happy post. Look at those mountains; it’s great to be home.

We were there with many good friends whom I’ve known most of my life, are just as close as family. I must thank them for everything they’ve let me be a part of and everything they’ve given me. A special thanks too as always to the O’Kelly family and Johnny & Jodi.
The days there in the mountains were perfect, hot enough to jump in the river and feel great, take a nap under the aspens that are dancing with the breeze and cold enough at night to put on a sweatshirt, warm up with some Tullamore and listen to friends and the stars.
On our last day in the mtns. we went on a hike and saw some very beautiful things.Things like A GIANT rock,

Streams patiently showing the mountains where the oceans are,

Remnants of the old uranium mines that cover the southwest (responsible for the first atomic bomb),

And un utterly heartstopping waterfall, beautiful, powerful and COLD!

This is another couple that shows how massive these falls actually are.

How exactly does one go about getting to these magnificent spots, well… I couldn’t say.
Back to the festival for some more music on the final night. Here’s a shot of the whole festival.

I’ve been coming to this town my whole life and still cannot ignore or belittle its magic I hope that the streams here flow far longer than people can sit beside them,

this is an amazing place and a place that does not inspire music… it forces it! the perfect place for the enjoyment of life and love…

Hasta Luego Telluride!

P.S. I have more panoramas that I’m still working on and they should be up soon… Relatively.

(click on these pictures to get a better image)