Big News Day

The Finn and Kai pre-game show. Go Patriots.

2012-02-05T10:44:00.001-08:00

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]These guys are super excited for the Super Bowl. But only because some of their buddies are coming over to play pre-game.

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Guess who skied hard today?

2012-02-04T13:18:00.001-08:00

Kai dialed in his Alpine turns. Now stopping. But I can tell he worked hard and learned a lot because he's zonked out cold. A good day with friends on a mountain in Maine will do that to you. ;)

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Pano from the park

2012-01-29T09:39:00.001-08:00

Pulling coverage for ski and board event at Lost Valley.

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Finn and Kai coordinated their outfits today.

2012-01-27T04:10:00.001-08:00

Grunge meets geek.

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Training yesterday. My turn to ride.

2012-01-07T13:36:00.001-08:00

Mike Webber training on Boris at Mt. Abram Friday. Good day on the hill sled runs for training. Plus Kendrick, some rope tricks, and an unexpected slide down Fearless Leader.

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Happy 2012

2012-01-01T10:39:00.001-08:00

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Happy Holiday cookies.

2011-12-18T13:00:00.001-08:00

Yum, yum. Amy and the boys made Christmas cookies. 100% sugar.

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Finn's building General Grievous' starfighter.

2011-11-20T12:39:00.001-08:00

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Bindings on skis? Check.

2011-11-20T12:06:00.001-08:00

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Today's #falsifiers feature Obama and Pelosi #mepolitics this is a kitchen sink campaign i

2011-11-07T15:46:00.001-08:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Funky falsiflyers #mepolitics

2011-11-04T17:17:00.001-07:00

This is some of the no on 1 distortion campaign. Likely paid for by non-Mainers.

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New Halloween banner

2011-10-08T06:39:00.001-07:00

Finn made the ghost.

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Kai is the DS co-pilot.

2011-09-18T12:31:00.001-07:00

After soccer, playing with Luke and homework Finn got a little DS time. Kai watches and offers commentary and advice.

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From Sluice headwall almost ready to fly #skyline #sugarloaf

2011-09-14T07:00:00.001-07:00

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Fort Sally (salamander)

2011-09-05T10:50:00.001-07:00

Todays labor: Finn gives the fort a little decoration.

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Tumbledown Saturday

2011-09-03T08:18:00.001-07:00

Made it to the pond at 11:11 a.m.

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Measuring rain from #Irene #Maine

2011-08-28T08:55:00.001-07:00

Testing/calibrating our rain gauge from 10:43 a.m. to 11:43 a.m. aprox. 1.5 inches in Auburn. Here Kai inspects the gear.

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A little swim.

2011-08-06T07:06:00.001-07:00

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A little a.m. paddle.

2011-08-06T06:07:00.001-07:00

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A little weekend study session. 5th Edition OEC

2011-08-06T05:10:00.001-07:00

Theses suckers get bigger every time. I can't believe I actually own four of the five editions. The first one given to me by Stub Taylor at Sugarloaf -- seems like yesterday, but was actually 16 years ago.

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CSA green and yellow beans are in

2011-07-30T08:51:00.001-07:00

Amy is putting these up for winter eats.

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We are with you Norge.

2011-07-26T18:02:00.001-07:00

Even in far away places like Auburn, Maine.

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A lot of the top.

2011-07-26T17:20:00.001-07:00

The boys and I got are "the rest of summer" haircuts today.

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Belly Boys

2011-07-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Some videos from the great MDI adventures, as promised.

2011-07-25T19:24:00.001-07:00

We spent three nights and four days on Mount Dessert Island in a heat wave. Here's a few shots from day three visiting Mt. Dessert Campground on Somes Sound.

And hours of fun fishing crabs with a hot dog in a net. Woo hoo

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At the pond, beating the heat.

2011-07-21T04:12:00.001-07:00

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Best thing about the Sunday paper

2011-07-17T04:00:00.001-07:00

Finn loves the Sunday comics. Here reading them to his little bro.

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Bros at the lake. Fun in the sun.

2011-07-16T12:54:00.001-07:00

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Lincoln NH 4th 2011

2011-07-04T18:48:00.001-07:00

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Slip-n- slide squirt gun fun.

2011-06-20T10:56:00.001-07:00

Finn takes a blast from his buddy Luke during a birthday bash for Gabe, back left. Too fun.

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Tenex a new game by Finn.

2011-06-08T16:35:00.001-07:00

The rules are fairly straight up as illustrated by Finn. He and 3 buddies played this for 40 minutes today after swimming. :)

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Fruit smoothie day @SJ. Thanks HR.

2011-06-08T10:55:00.001-07:00

HR treats us right with a healthy mid-day snack.

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Amy catches a turtle on Mother's Day

2011-05-10T07:37:00.001-07:00

Amy — a.k.a. Mother Earth. Snagged a turtle on a Mother's Day Canoe voyage. We put it nicely back in the water after its alien abduction. The kids loved it.

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Writing the rabbit

2011-04-23T18:01:00.001-07:00

Finn wrote the bunny a note. Notice the carrots in the background. We don't mess around. ;-)

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Lewy

2011-04-12T17:04:00.001-07:00

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Some footage of skiing with the boys at Saddleback. #skime

2011-04-11T19:38:00.001-07:00

Here's Finn. He shot some, I shot some.

Here's the footage of Kai on a tether.

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Pond skimming at Saddleback today was a fun ... to watch here's the vid.

2011-04-09T16:07:00.001-07:00

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Erin go braugh!

2011-03-17T16:02:00.001-07:00

Finnegan wore the hat. He also drew these awesome pictures of him finding and then catching a leprechaun. Notice A. Him peeking through the grass.
B. The rainbow.
C. The pot o' gold.
D. The leprechaun getting away with at least a little. 2 coins of the gold.
This kid is details, details, details. ;)

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Here's the vid from the glade skiing trip, good trip barring the wind at Saddleback.

2011-03-14T05:41:00.001-07:00

You can read the story here.

Here's the outtakes from Sugarloaf.

And the hike-skiing at Saddleback on a wind hold day.

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Farmers. "Hey dad take picture of the farm we made."

2011-03-12T14:49:00.001-08:00

Finn and Kai made a farm.

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Happy Valentines

2011-02-14T16:08:00.001-08:00

Finn's awesome art!

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From the campaign trail 2004

2011-02-01T16:54:00.001-08:00

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Shark man.

2011-01-18T15:40:00.001-08:00

The boys got a sweet care package from Aunt Krista, Uncle Jay, Per and Bjorn. Finn's favorite was the wet suit shorty. " I look like shark man," he said beaming.

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You've heard of a snow dance before, here's one in action.

2011-01-10T14:57:00.001-08:00

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Spring skiing/riding in January!

2011-01-02T08:03:00.001-08:00

It's nice balmy and Spring-like today at Lost Valley. Come out and play L-A.
We even have a little reggae going in the base lodge!

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Flat Stanley goes skiing

2010-12-24T19:04:00.001-08:00

Finn and I took Flat out for some runs today.

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Candy cane kid

2010-12-18T09:32:00.001-08:00

Those candy canes are so tempting. At 3 and 43. ;)

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Nice glass

2010-12-15T19:35:00.001-08:00

In Rumford, Maine.

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Campaign memorabilia

2010-11-10T04:43:00.001-08:00

I found some old campaign memorabilia in a box in the attic including this worse-for-wear Wellstone bus replica, that was part of that fated campaign that claimed the Senator's life in a plane crash. Also found a photo of me standing with Laura Bush after an interview in Duluth, for balance sake. I liked both of them as decent people, who believed in their respective causes.

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Happy Autumn

2010-10-30T13:29:00.001-07:00

Uncle Larry decks the halls.

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Sleeping Polls #megov #mepolitics #harrytruman

2010-10-29T16:17:00.001-07:00

I've had this quote by Truman mulling around my brain all day so I wanted to look it up tonight. From the book, "Here's Harry"

Today I wrote a story about the impact of mobile phones on political polls. It's a so-so story but interesting for those wonkish types. All the chatter about polls drudged up a partial quote from Truman this a.m. and I've been curious about the complete statement so went back to the records.

Here's what Harry S. Truman said about political polls in 1948:

"This polls are like sleeping pills designed to lull the voters into sleeping on election day. You might call them, "sleeping polls."

The same doctor I told you about the other night in Pittsburgh -- the Republican candidate -- keeps handing out these sleeping polls, and some people have been taking them. This doctor keeps telling the people, "Don't worry, take a poll and go to sleep."

But most of the people are not being fooled. They know that sleeping polls are bad for the system. They affect the mind. An overdose could be fatal."

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Jack and Friends 2010

2010-10-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

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Here's what happens when Jack gets a little too much Halloween punch. #halloween2010

2010-10-23T12:29:00.001-07:00

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A very short video of some fall foliage in Norway Maine, watch for the spook at the end.

2010-10-21T10:45:00.001-07:00

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Fall fun

2010-10-16T14:02:00.001-07:00

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Trick or treat

2010-10-02T13:35:00.001-07:00

Osama on acid.

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Kai and Finn or Hulk and Batman

2010-09-29T16:18:00.001-07:00

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2009 wife carrying video. People are getting ready. #sundayriver #skime She ain't heavy she's my baby.

2010-09-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

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Poll on LePage homestead tax issue. #mepolitics

2010-09-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

The Kennebec Journal had an interesting story today about homestead exemptions Paul LePage's wife has benefited from. The two states have laws that prohibited people from collecting homestead tax exemptions in multiple states. LePage is the Republican party's candidate for governor in Maine. It's an interesting story and has created a dust-up in some political sectors. I'm curious as to whether people are viewing this as crooked or just a basic and honest bookkeeping error that could happen to anybody.

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Tough Mountain Challenge 2010. The rough edit and bad video.

2010-08-30T05:53:00.001-07:00

This is my rather bad, but short, video -- about 1 minute long, from the Tough Mountain Challenge at Sunday River. My goal was to shoot more of the obstacles but I got caught up in the spirit of the race and also was too whipped to think about pulling the Flip cam out of the plastic bag I had it in to save it from the mud and the water. Next year a waterproof case or cam with a some kind of headband mounting system. You got to have a goal.

Here's the three stories that we wrote about this race:

The mud, the blood and the beer.

Tough nut to crack; course lives up to its name.

Sunday River's grueling debut obstacle course race draws 197.

One by Staff Writer M. Dirk Langeveld who was a half second faster than I.

The winners of this thing, both men and women, were amazingly fit. It was 2.1 mile run but uphill and the 12 obstacles, of which you see about three, on this video, really zapped the energy out of you. Sunday River did an awesome job putting this race on for the first time and it should only get better and bigger over time.

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Jack launches #gfballoonfestival

2010-08-21T05:14:00.001-07:00

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We checked out the Balloon Festival launches this morning. Pretty.

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Studying some wild edibles with Finn.

2010-08-17T16:20:00.001-07:00

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This kid loves plants, bugs and rocks. Oh yeah and Legos.

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What a peach. #Maine #eatlocal

2010-08-17T07:08:00.001-07:00

These peaches are small but oh so tasty.

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Thorn sighting.

2010-08-16T11:43:00.001-07:00

Saw this on my run today. Figured it's a good omen.

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Taylor Pond

2010-08-10T15:22:00.001-07:00

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The boys and I went to Taylor Pond Yacht Club today. Virtually had the place to ourselves. It was so quiet Kai even took a nap.

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1776

2010-08-09T21:24:00.001-07:00

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Photo #

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Borque's Market Lewiston Sirloin. Yum.

2010-08-07T16:08:00.001-07:00

This will feed four. At least. Lewiston's most famous steak.

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Duct tape and carabiners #ducttape #carabiners #adventure #mishaps

2010-08-05T17:55:00.001-07:00

I just registered the domain name ducttapecarabiners.com I'm not sure why yet but think it may come in handy, both items usually do on any extraordinary field trip.

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Kai at Joe's.

2010-08-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

This e-mail is a private communication addressed to the intended recipient and no one else. The private and privileged nature of this e-mail is not waived by accidental delivery to the wrong person. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message immediately and do not keep any copies. Thank you.

Sent from my iPhone.

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Fun at the Loaf today. #zipline #skime #sugarloaf

2010-07-30T16:28:00.001-07:00

Sugarloaf and Sunday River are opening up their zip lines next weekend. The folks at Sugarloaf gave us a pre-season to ur of the set-up there today. It was great fun and during the late summer and early fall this is going to be a great way to get a kick in the mountains. The resorts are still dialing in the specifics. All and all a lot of fun in the trees. Amber Waterman of the Sun Journal photo staff got this shot of me shooting video...yes that's my tongue wagging. Thanks to Ethan Austin and Jim McCormack at Sugarloaf for their hospitality today. Always fun to get back to the 'loaf for a thrill ride or two. I've had many on that mountain during all four seasons and just a few hours there reminds me of what special place those Western Mountains of Maine are.

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Fun trip for work.

2010-07-26T14:09:00.001-07:00

Staff Photographer Daryn Slover and I had a blast covering the anniversary of the Northern Forest Canoe trail. Here's the video by Slover.

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McCall, Idaho

2010-07-22T18:11:00.001-07:00

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Shore Lodge on Lake Payette.

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Going to Idaho

2010-07-16T06:38:00.001-07:00

On the ground in Chicago.

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On the balloon ride

2010-07-14T17:45:00.001-07:00

This is from the storyland trip. Fun with the boys but sweltering warm.

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Guess who turns 7 today

2010-07-04T05:33:00.001-07:00

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Sir Finnegan H. Thistle

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Nateva Oxford Fairgrounds 2010

2010-07-04T05:31:00.001-07:00

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Teddy from Kittery waits takes in the view #nateva

2010-07-04T05:30:00.001-07:00

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Finn did a little rock hounding this morning on the porch.

2010-07-01T06:10:00.001-07:00

Here's the quick vid.

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Some Senate video of Minnesota's junior Senator, that's worth watching or at least interesting.

2010-06-30T10:27:00.001-07:00

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Planning coverage for the upcoming Nateva Festival in Oxford. Here's a trip down memory lane for all you old Dead Heads.

2010-06-29T08:23:00.001-07:00

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That's Finn. Nice job buddy. Finn ran the kid's race during the LADU and he made the shot..

2010-06-28T06:42:00.001-07:00

Finn's in the tie-dye t-shirt, everybody had a No. 1. what fun. Our team did pretty good too. LADU.

Nic shot Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

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Bud Light Lime? Really? Isn't that what veep drinks or one of those brews? Is that sketchy? #uppercheleonproductplacements

2010-06-23T17:10:00.001-07:00

I found it only partially amusing that Rolling Stone is quoting McChrystal saying his favorite beer is Bud Lite Lime?

That seems only slightly implausible to me but wholly possible. A reporter today said that, in the end may be the general's biggest transgression, saying Bud Lite Lime was his favorite beer? Still, what a product placement that is. I'm not criticizing the general or the beer but just saying. You know. It's not what you expect the commandos to be drinking. The other interesting part of the story is Budweiser is now more or less owned by a French or maybe Belgium company -- google it -- again just saying. Odd switcheroo in Afghanistan. In the interim the Brits are in charge, which is probably actually not a wholly bad thing -- I wonder what the British dude's favorite brew is?

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New American gestapo emerges. Talk about scary. #policestate #scary

2010-06-23T05:43:00.001-07:00

Should recording public servants, paid with state and federal taxes, at work be made illegal? That's what is occuring in three state's where it is now against the law to record police in the process of making an arrest -- seriously. Here's an interesting story from the perspective of what it means for journalists, but really what it means for the American people is concerning to me. Have we slipped this far?

Funny we haven't heard any Tea Party concern about this scary new trend. Also did anybody ever answer the question about where they were when rights of habeaus corpus were being suspended during the previous administration. I can't believe these three states that have adopted this law and would be very concerned to see how the sitting U.S. Supreme Court handles this. Freaky...

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Appears somebody has some 'splainin' to do. Talk about the hot seat. #afghanwar

2010-06-22T12:02:00.001-07:00

News today about General McChrystal's comments to Rolling Stone has Washington in a buzz. Interesting story from the Associated Press on this issue.

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IPA in a can. Not bad.

2010-06-18T16:46:00.001-07:00

This could bode well for Livingston plan for Lewiston craft brewry.

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Lots of federal attention and funding for offshore wind energy R&D #windenergy #maine

2010-06-14T11:37:00.001-07:00

This is an interesting visit of an important cabinent-level official to Maine. The visit comes with some serious federal funding to help advance off-shore wind energy in the U.S.

Northeastern U.S. states are also working to streamline siting regulation for federal waters. If we can plop deep-water oil wells in federal waters without too much regulation why not wind energy -- ever here of a wind spill? Here's the latest Sun Journal and AP report on Chu's visit to Orono.

This is a deep-water turbine as it was being installed in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. (Company file photo)

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Ok the primaries are over but the news hasn't stopped

2010-06-10T15:19:00.001-07:00

What a busy day even two days post election and we are "out straight" so to speak. The biggest story of interest for me today was the change in management at Saddleback which appears to be a friendly transition of power. I find this story interesting, mainly because I'm a skier, but also because I think highly of Cook personally. He's a real Maine leader in both business and charity and a quiet but thoughtful man who has done a lot for the state and the community in Franklin County. Besides that he's a former Marine and a strong supporter of our veterans and an advocate for healthy outdoor activities for kids. The next big story will be what he does next. IMHO.

Saddleback along with Sugarloaf and Sunday River are among our gems here in Maine for skiing -- some of the best skiing in New England and me thinks the U.S. because I'm biased towards Maine but also because all three of these mountains are very family-friendly and all have outstanding Ski Patrols. :)

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If you don't have one, get one.

2010-06-07T20:21:00.001-07:00

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At Taylor Pond Yacht Club

2010-06-05T14:05:00.001-07:00

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We had some fun at the pond today. Got a little naked too. :)

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Don't ask just watch....#sledgehammer

2010-06-04T08:42:00.001-07:00

"I'll be your ....sledge hammer... this is the new stuff... come on, come on, come on ... help me dude..."

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Svart in the garden jungle.

2010-06-03T16:24:00.001-07:00

Hey. It's the jungle for him. Good kitty.

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Wind power from the Gaspe' to Maine. #mepolitics #mewind #greenenergy

2010-06-01T08:57:00.001-07:00

We recieved a few messages from folks concerned we hadn't done enough to show the negatives of industrial wind energy in regards to the story of Gaspe' and the update on where Maine was headed. One complaint was the economics of wind energy was fully explored. Sun Journal Staff Writer Kathryn Skelton did an excellent two-part series on this precise issue and several related issues especiall they topic of subsidies for green energy.

You can read Kathryn's stories here and here.

Our weekend report on Gaspe' was meant to show a region that has been dealing with a wind energy build out for the last decade and how that region had become known as a leader in the field contrasted with the where Maine was at in it's efforts to carve out a slice of the green-energy pie.

The weekend stories can be found here and here. I've recieved a good deal of feedback both positive and negative and also some good ideas for other stories in this genre, if you will. We owe a great thank you to the people of Gaspe who helped us with this story and also the folks within Maine who made themselves so accessible even while many of them were out of state during the interviews.

If you want a quick synopsis of the Gaspe story, Russ Dillingham's excellent video below is a great primer on the Gaspe' experience.

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Finn lands one. :)

2010-05-31T14:28:00.001-07:00

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Would you call this a fence or a wall? #politics #palin

2010-05-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

Don't fence me in -- yikes.

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Signs continue to multiply

2010-05-28T07:14:00.001-07:00

It's so riddiculous in on spot a Poloquin sign is sandwiched between a LePage sign on one side and a McGowan on the other, popping above it is a Rosa sign. Oh which party, which candidate?

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