Celebrities born on this day: Topher Grace, 31; Brock Lesnar, 32; Cheryl Ladd, 58; Bill Cosby, 72 Happy Birthday: You will see things differently this year. Be quick to make decisions and honor any promises you’ve made. For all you give out, you will get back. Be a participant in life and love. Travel, education […]

My gripe is directed toward the drivers — male, female, young and old, who, when traveling south on Center Street, Auburn, turn left onto the bridge using the ramp that consists of two lanes merging into one (merging being the operative word). These drivers become “would-be” NASCAR racers and challenge anyone to make them take […]

When faced with tough decisions, many people look for outside input, either from friends, parents, etc. The accepted wisdom is that collective knowledge can inform individual experience. Hunch (http://www.hunch.com) follows that maxim, harvesting the communal brainpower stored in social networking to help users make smart decisions. Hunch helps you narrow down your options by asking […]

With the summer movie season past the halfway point – it officially started on May 1 – it’s a good time to check our cinematic scorecard. And guess what? Most of the big, ballyhooed releases were disappointments. Still, since May 1 I’ve handed out nine 3 1/2-star reviews … highly unusual in a season when […]

Good morning! My ark has been constructed and although it may have stopped raining by the time you read this, the way things are going I may have already set sail. But, be advised, besides collecting all of the animals possible, the plants will be on board as well! I have run out of things […]

Road Trip: Damariscotta Take in the history, heritage, beauty and fun of Maine’s midcoast. By H. Joie Crockett Special to b Damariscotta is in midcoast Maine between Bath and Rockland. Some of the first inhabitants of the Damariscotta area were the Wawenock (or Walinakiak, meaning “people of the bays”) Abenaki Indians, who left behind 2,500-year-old […]

By Dagny Leonard McClatchy-Tribune One of the best parts of summer, besides the weather, is the fashion. Bright colors and billowy dresses fill the streets, and let’s not forget everyone’s favorite staple summer item: the flip-flop. But with so many outfits and summer colors, it is hard to find a shoe that can match everything […]

“Bruno” contains moments of explosive, outrageous, I-can’t-believe-what-I’m-seeing hilarity. At the same time, the second feature (after “Borat”) from satiric agent provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen points out the limits of his guerrilla comedy style. Drawback No. 1: Because so much of his films are improvised, it’s impossible to create a satisfying story. A Baron Cohen film […]

As I turned my car onto Wendy’s street, a sense of calm came over me, despite the fact that I had three kids in the back seat, eager to get out after the 35-minute drive. Wendy is my childhood friend from upstate New York, but we have the good fortune of having both settled Maine. […]

Though he settled down for a time to start a farm in Freeman Township after selling his Web development company, Ross Lasley said his inner geek wouldn’t stop calling. Still based out of Freeman, Lasley now calls himself The Internet Educator and teaches clients around the world how to use the Internet for entrepreneurial purposes. […]