Favorite Concord son, Goody, is spearheading an environmentally-friendly festival next month aimed at raising a little awareness – and a lot more money – so I wanted to give him a shout out. He’s been pouring his heart and soul into this for months now and, if I’m not getting my next wedding dates mixed up, I will be headed up with some other C-town legends to show some support – Wells, Maclean and Bryant are also involved. I’ll be twirling around with devil sticks whilst snacking on free-range chicken and organic goat cheese. I’ll be slathering my filthy, unkempt armpits with patchouli and clearing chambers on a 10 foot binger. I’ll be… passing the mic to Mike now:

The Legend of Don Dicisco is a one day art/music/ecology/energy/food festival that aims to illustrate the importance of contiguous habitat and contiguous thought. The event will raise money for a farm conservation project of the Vermont Land Trust and Audubon Vermont’s Environmental Education Program. The Legend includes a dozen artists exhibiting their work, six bands, a team of ecologists delivering talks/walks/demonstrations, working alternative energy displays and a celebratory feast comprised of foods from local farms. The Legend will take place Saturday September 17th at the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington. Notable participants include Bernd Heinrich, Susan Morse, Robert Spear, VINS, NECI, Sunweaver, Chelsie Bush, Michael Rothschild, Abigail Pratt, Seth Jarvis, Gordon Stone, Paul Asbell, Jon Fishman.

Tickets are available through the Flynn Regional Box Office and may be purchased at http://www.flynntix.org or by calling 1-802-86-FLYNN.

For a full description of the event please visit: http://www.legend2005.org or contact Legend director Michael Goodwin at michael@legend2005.org or (802)234-9415.

Saturday night, while up in Canada, our crew drove to Smiths Falls to an old family friend’s house. Wentworth has lived in the same digs on the Poonamalie Lockstation for as long as I have been alive. We used to keep our boat, the PyeSeas docked nearby, and I spent a good portion of my childhood annoying people in the general vicinity. I’ll mention this evening in greater detail when I get around to processing all the accompanying photos. For now – let’s just say you haven’t lived until you’ve heard 3 hours of Newfie jokes told by the drunken Newfies themselves.

“Did you hear about the Newfie 2-seater airplane that crashed near a cemetery? They’ve recovered 136 bodies and they’re still counting.”

The Rideau Canal System, was built by the British from 1824 – 1832: Back then, the Rideau was a wilderness of lakes, rivers and swamps. In the middle of this wilderness, with many men dying from malaria, an engineering marvel was created. Over 1,000 workers, the vast majority of whom were Irish or French-Canadian, died during construction. Considering the era and technology available, building the canal makes the Big Dig look like a half-assed sandcastle.

There are 23 locks on the system, and I’ve been through every last one of them. I carry many great summer memories of the community that surrounds boating up and down the waterway. As a child I was often bored – it can take hours to get through one station – but overall they were great times. I have to get crackin’ on the long day ahead, but if you’re interested read some more of the truly amazing history here.

Janet and I are headed up to Portland again tonight to see the parents – this time with Mike and Joanna in tow. JJV may even make an appearance. If someone asked me if I was sick of all the traveling I have had to do this summer, I wouldn’t give them some predictable, sarcastic answer. Not at all. Rather, I’d simply snatch up a blunt soup spoon and detatch one of their ears for them. Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you some outdoorsy topics as I’m looking forward to the woods:

1. Have you ever been camping? If yes, do you go often? If not, why not?

2. Are you an outdoorsy person, or would you rather stay inside the comfort of your house? Why?

3. Which do you prefer, hot weather or cold weather? Why/why not? How do you cope with each?

The 3rd redesign just got sent back to us – and I love it. Ladies and Hooligans, Chris and I are proud to present – GoonBlog. Be sure to refresh the page a few times to see how the design cycles slightly, and we welcome your comments. There are still some layout/content shifts to work out (Hockey news RSS feed, calendar, etc.) but this is 95% of the finished product. Thanks to Mike from EWebscapes for putting up with our pickiness. Tell a friend.