My Regrets

One of my favorite films of all time is Good Will Hunting. It was on TV the other day and the message I always take away from it is living your life without regret. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with my life over the past 37.5 years and there isn't really much I would do differently. That being said, there are a few things I would love a chance to go back and do. They aren't earth shattering moments or moments that would have changed the course of fate but rather opportunities that came my way but for some reason or another were not acted upon. Here they are:

Beach Boys Concert: When I was in high school The Beach Boys came to Maine for a show at Loring Air Force Base in the town of Limestone. I am 95% sure it was on July 4, 1988 but I haven't been able to find the exact date anywhere online. Limestone is 202 miles from my hometown and I did not have a car or driver's license in my high school years so the odds of me making it to this show seemed pretty minimal. Then out of the blue, my next door neighbor Doug, who was originally from that part of the state, said he was going to the show and offered me a chance to go. At the time I didn't know Doug very well so the thought of driving 200 miles to the middle of nowhere for a concert with some random dude wasn't very appealing. So I turned down his offer and missed what I assume is the Beach Boys first and only concert in the Pine Tree State.

Man Without A Face Extra: In 1992 they filmed the Mel Gibson movie The Man Without A Face in Maine. They filmed scenes all over the state all summer long. The climax of the movie is the graduation scene and to film it they needed tons of extras to be the crowd for the scene. It was a slam dunk, if you show up at this location, on this date, at this time, you will be an extra in the film. My buddy Aaron and I were all set to go but he ended up having to work unexpectedly that day and as a result I blew it off. It would have been pretty cool to say, "Oh yeah, I was in that film" whenever it was on TV for the rest of my life.

Dukesfest: Actor Ben Jones, better known as Cooter, started an annual Dukes of Hazzard fan gathering called Dukesfest in Sperryville, Virginia in 1999. It quickly grew tremendously in popularity, so much that he actually started having two festivals, one in Virginia and another in Tennessee. My buddy Drew and I were all set to go to the 2003 Dukesfest in Sperryville, Virginia which is a mere 50 miles from my house. But the morning of the fest I blew it off for a hot date with a gal named Angie. Low and behold, my date with Angie ended up being postponed so I missed the festival for nothing. Unfortunately, that ended up being the last Dukesfest in Sperryville. It simply grew too big for this tiny mountain town and moved 400 miles south to Tennessee the following year.

Last Game At Rosenblatt Stadium: If you know anything about college baseball you know what happens each June at Rosenblatt Stadium - the College World Series (CWS). Rosenblatt has been the home of the CWS since 1950. Like nearly all old things in the US, Rosenblatt is being replaced by a new stadium with tons of luxury boxes and fancy amenities. This means that the 2010 CWS was the last to be played there. The stadium is also the home of the Omaha Royals minor league baseball team, meaning their last game of the 2010 season would actually be the last baseball game ever played at Rosenblatt. I tried desperately to convince someone, anyone of my friends to make an early September road trip to go to the last game. In the end no one wanted to go so I missed my chance but not for lack of effort.

Mood: Nostalgic


Movie Quote of the Day:

"Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?" - Good Will Hunting

November 15, 1988

I was a 15 year old sophomore at Hermon High School on Tuesday, November 15th, 1988. It was just another day for me. Six hours of school and then walk home. My house was about a half mile from the school via a snowmobile trail that ran through the woods but over a mile away by road, so I always walked home the short way.

On that very afternoon, less than two miles away, a gunshot from a hunter changed the Maine Woods forever. That was the day that hunter Donald Rogerson shot and killed a young mother named Karen Wood while she stood hanging clothes in her own backyard. The most outrageous thing about this unnecessary tragedy was that the hunter was acquitted of any wrongdoing.

An innocent woman was killed and the hunter's excuse was literally - "I thought she was a deer" and that was good enough for a jury to acquit him. An absolutely unacceptable outcome in my opinion. The good news is that Karen's death did shake up the laws and attitudes about hunting in the State of Maine and things have changed for the better since then.

I think this is a perfect example of one of the things that is truly wrong with modern America - personal responsibility. The hunter never took responsibility for his actions. To this day he still won't admit he made a mistake that cost a woman her life. Karen Wood did not get a second chance and I don't think that Donald Rogerson deserved one either.

We are far too eager to let people off the hook for their mistakes or for circumstances beyond their control. Did your daddy molest you as a boy? Then it's OK to kill and eat your neighbors, it's not your fault. Hello, McFly? No, it's not! It's never OK to kill your neighbors or shoot up the school or kill your ex-wife. Certain actions demand consequences, period.

I certainly am glad that Dick Cheney wasn't hunting with Donald Rogerson that day. Who knows how many more innocent Mainers would have been taken out then!

Bangor Daily News Article

Mood of the Day: Empathetic

Song of the Day:

"We both got dreams, we could chase alone, or we could make our own."

-Want To

Sugarland

Marathon Monday

Growing up, the third Monday of April always meant one thing to me - the start of school vacation. Any day without school was a gift from the gods, especially in the spring after being cooped up for months over the long Maine winter.

Officially, the third Monday of April is Patriots Day, to celebrate the ride of Paul Revere - who in 1775 warned the American Revolutionists that the British were on their way and were ticked! Today, only Massachusetts, Maine and Wisconsin celebrate Patriots Day and really only Massachusetts does it in style.

Need something to do on your holiday Monday? How about getting up early and running 26.2 miles with 25,000 of your closest friends? If running the Boston Marathon isn't your thing no problem, you know the Sox will be at Fenway for a game that day. They have played a game at the Fens on Marathon Monday every year since 1959. Just don't sleep in or you may miss it, first pitch will be mighty early. It was an 11:00am start this year but it has been as early as 10:00am in the past. Nothing like a Fenway Frank and some Narragansett for breakfast.

This year's Marathon Monday had an extra twist to it. A Game 7 match-up between the Bruins and Canadiens. Unfortunately, that one didn't turn out so good for the Habs. They lost 5-0 but nobody said they'd even get as far as they did, so no reason for shame there.

My part in Marathon Monday this year was simply to cheer the Sox onto victory in their match-up against the Texas Rangers via NESN HD. It didn't start out real pretty, but they pulled it out of the fire and came out on top in the end. Their 8th come from behind win of the young season. Looks like we do have a legitimate shot to repeat in 08. Oh my, doesn't that have a nice ring to it!

Mood: Victorious

Song of the Day:

"Hands, touchin' hands. Reachin' out. Touchin' me. Touchin' you!"

-Sweet Caroline

Neil Diamond

The Ghost of Shamrocks Past

I love St. Patrick's Day. It's one of those fun days where adults can dress up, drink profusely and act like an ass for a few hours. It's like Halloween but with a few less women dressed like whores. I believe that EVERYBODY is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

I do have my limits though. There was no green beer for me today. Strictly the good stuff, the high test, numero uno - Guinness on tap. That's what I am talking about!

Besides Guinness, St. Pattie's Day always makes me crave big time for one other thing - a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's. I had a major jonesing for that light green concoction today. Growing up it was the first real sign of spring. The grass in Maine didn't turn green until April but you could always get a mint green Shamrock Shake at Mickey Dees in early March.

I strolled happily into McDonald's this afternoon to get me one. Alas, it seems that the Shamrock Shake has gone the way of the McRib sandwich. The girl at the counter looked at me like I had 3 eyes when I asked if they still sold it. No Shamrock Shake for me it appears. Looks like I will have to drown my sorrows in Guinness, what a shame!

Holi-daze

I remember growing up how much I hated Labor Day because it meant that summer was over for sure and it was back to school the next day. But once that was behind me, it was only a few short weeks to Halloween. Halloween was cool because I got free candy. I believe in anything that gives me presents, candy or money - tooth fairy, Santa Claus, porn fairy - it's all good in my book. Even as an adult I enjoy Halloween. A chance to dress up in a Ron Burgundy costume, get drunk and act like an ass for 6 hours - what is not to love?

Then of course came Thanksgiving, a chance to reflect on the year, spend time with family and be glad to be an American, with my humblest apologies to the natives of course. Something we always had at Thanksgiving was those little square after dinner mints. You know the ones in pastel colors of pink, white yellow and green. They just melted in your mouth. To this day, I can go to my mom's house and she will have a dish of those out for Turkey Day. They are conspicuously absent the rest of the year however.

Then along came Christmas, we always put the tree up the first weekend of December. It was a fake tree because my brother was allergic to the real thing. Up went the advent calendar and we began the countdown to Christmas - 25 days, 24, 23.... Shopping downtown and at the mall, it was fun for the whole family.

So what happened? Now Christmas is acting like some strung out whore, offering up hummers on the sidewalk. You walk into Tar-mart on October 23rd looking for Halloween candy and sure enough there she is all hopped up on tinsel begging you to squeeze her tits. No Christmas, I don't want to feel your tits! Yes, they are very nice. Now put them away and stop acting like such a whore!!!

Speed Limit 55!!!

Growing up, the Speed Limit on the highway was always 55. My mom would always drive the speed limit, no matter what it was or where she was going. My dad would adhere to the speed limit in a general, roundabout sort of way. That is until mom would notice that he was speeding. Then she would then tell him to "slow down, Marty!" He always obliged, for a few miles at least.

There was this one spot on the Maine Turnpike, just North of Augusta, where the highway goes up over a little ridge and another road passes overhead via an overpass. On this particular overpass, the MTA (Maine Turnpike Authority) bolted up this big electronic sign that said "Speed Limit 55". The catch was, it only lit up if you were speeding, to slow people down. You had to be going a good ways over the limit for it to light up, 65 would do it, but I am not sure that 62 was fast enough to light it up.

We only went through this area two or three times a year. Us kids always egged my dad to "light up the sign" as we went by. It was a special moment for us to see that sign light up. Having "Speed Limit 55" flashing in big red neon letters was the highlight of many trips to my grandparents house. It didn't matter if we were in our 1970 Pontiac, the 1980 Chevy Impala, my dad's 1983 Mazda SE-5 pickup or our 1987 Chevy Blazer - my dad would always oblige.

They took the sign down after the speed limit was increased to 65 sometime in the 1990s. (Nice energy policy!) But you can still see the holes in the concrete and see the faded paint where the Speed Limit 55 sign once was. I always smile as I drive North and see my favorite overpass and I remember all those trips when I was young.