May 14, 2009

Make time for JBS this weekend

And since you're already in Freeport, why not check out the one year anniversary bash at Venue (formerly Freeport Cabaret). Happy hour runs from 4-8 pm with $3 drafts and two bucks off wine and mixed drinks. You can also feed your face with free munchies and win door prizes. Then, from 8-11:30 pm you can listen to Retrospecticus play and there's no cover charge.

Or you can have your fun back in the city at Portland Stage Company, where the Little Festival of the Unexpected rolls on. Tonight's new play is "The Real McGonagall" by Willy Holtzman and it's about the main character's experience reciting his very bad poetry at a saloon in New York's Hell's Kitchen. Show starts at 8 pm and suggested donation is $5.

Craving a good dog? Check out Friday Happy Hour at Scarborough Downs where you can get $1 hot dogs and $1 drafts in the Grandstand/Winner's Circle Bar from first post (4 pm) to 6:30 pm.

If found art is more your thing check out the "Walking in their Shoes" show at Hope.Gate.Way on High Street in Portland. Students of Jobs for Maine Graduates have taken shoes and boots and transformed them into sculptures that reflect their thoughts about domestic violence. They're hoping to get the word out that domestic violence is unacceptable. The opening is from 3-7 pm and there will be refreshments.

Freeport may not usually be your cup of tea - unless, of course, you need a new pair of Maine Hunting Shoes. But this weekend is a good weekend to head up to Maine's shopping mecca. The shops in the new Freeport Village Station are getting set to open and the doors of the Nike store will be spread wide Saturday for an autograph signing and Q&A session with our running queen, Joan Benoit Samuelson. While you're there, check out some of the other stores and restaurants that are part of the 120,000-square-foot shopping space.

If you're more the woodsy type, there's another shop 'til you drop spot for you to visit. Cabela's is hosting a free camping weekend in its Scarborough store with seminars, product demonstrations and giveaways. There will be reps from more than 15 local campgrounds just waiting to answer any questions you have.

If you didn't get a chance to partake of some of that freebie wine on Friday, you have another chance today. Old Port Wine Merchants is holding a tasting from 4-7:30 pm.

And finally for today, remember how you loved collecting those fun and colorful marbles when you were a kid (and maybe you still do)? You can take yourself way back in time by visiting Governor's Restaurant in SoPo between 9 am and 3 pm today for the Maine Marble Show. Admission's just $3 and you may just find that Cat's Eye you always coveted.

Sunday also has an event to take you back to childhood when Green Hornets and Aquamen filled your free hours. The Maine Comic Arts Festival is being held from 10 am-5 pm at the Ocean Gateway Terminal in Portland and it costs a mere $5 to get in and browse. Listen in on panel discussions or take part in the workshops dealing with comic books, strips, graphic novels and web comics.

If the weather's good take advantage and get outside. Grab a cup of your favorite java and take to the walking paths at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth. The warblers are out, so listen carefully as you enjoy a Sunday morning filled with nature.

And finally this weekend, hold off on the prep for another long week of work for a little longer and get on over to Styxx tonight for Kamikazee Karaoke with Bunny Wonderland. The tunes go from 8-11 pm and Bunny's sure to get you feeling the music in no time.