{"id":11160,"date":"2015-11-25T21:45:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T02:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11160"},"modified":"2020-04-30T10:55:52","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T14:55:52","slug":"urban-legends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/urban-legends\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Legends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"colin_2015\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even Christmas trash is sublime\u2013tinsel and glitter stuffed into the barrel beside the still-shocked tree. Which brings us to New Year\u2019s Eve, when we ring in the new. As we count down to the moment of truth, here are some urban legends\u2013both trash and treasure\u2013that we should either embrace or delete by then. See if you can guess if they\u2019re true or false before you seek the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

No. 1. When Natalie Merchant asked local artist Michael Waterman if she could see the paintings in his garret studio, he turned her down flat. <\/span>True. When Waterman learned she\u2019d bought two of his paintings and wanted to see more, his reaction was, \u201cI don\u2019t have to meet her, do I?\u201d The Grammy-winning singer\/composer (Carnival Wonder<\/em>) and former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs \u201ccame in after doing some recordings at Gateway Studios and was about to perform at State Theatre,\u201d says former Aucocisco Galleries owner Andy Verzosa. \u201cShe was in and out all week, rehearsing.\u201d But now something caught her eye. \u201cIs this for sale?\u201d she asked Verzosa of Waterman\u2019s extraordinary Woman With a Fish<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s $2,400,\u201d Verzosa said. \u201cI\u2019ll take it!\u201d she said and smiled, amazed herself. \u201cIt\u2019s the first painting I\u2019ve ever bought from a gallery. Can I see some more of his work?\u201d After buying a second painting, she said, \u201cI want to be his biggest patron. Is there any way I can meet him?\u201d Worried about losing more painting time yapping, Waterman 86\u2019d the t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eate<\/em>. When you live la vie boh\u00e8me<\/em>, you\u2019ve got to walk the walk.<\/span><\/p>\n

No. 2. Vikings visited the coast of Maine. <\/span>True, per Time<\/em> Magazine. On August, 18, 1957, the \u2018Maine penny\u2019 was discovered by Guy Melgren while sifting through Native-American digs at Penobscot Bay on Naskeag Point. According to Wikipedia, the \u201cNorwegian silver coin [dates] to the reign of Olaf Kyrre, King of Norway (1067-1093 AD).\u201d To some, it\u2019s sparkling \u201cevidence of Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact.\u201d To others, it\u2019s heads or tails. <\/span><\/p>\n

No. 3. Portland turned down the USS Constitution<\/em> as a mascot ship. <\/span>True. She was tied up at a Portland wharf in 1930, begging for a home. The city fathers said no. We had a shot at Old Ironsides<\/em>, but we were soft in the head.<\/span><\/p>\n

No. 4. Frank Sinatra once sang in a Portland nightclub. <\/span>True. He floated into the Morocco Lounge in the Wadsworth Hotel at 30 Preble Street in late August, 1940, after a stop at Old Orchard Beach Pier [see our story \u201cNear East, Downeast,\u201d September 2013, which is noted on Sinatra\u2019s Wikipedia page]. The Forest City has authentic Rat Pack credentials. <\/span><\/p>\n

No. 5. Giovanni da Verrazzano was mooned by Native Americans as his ships sailed along the coast of Maine.<\/span><\/p>\n

True. We so often extend this courtesy to visitors from away. In 1524, \u201cVerrazzano\u2019s men were mooned by jeering Indians who gathered offshore.\u201d\u2013The French and Indian War<\/em>, Alfred A. Cave, 2004. \u201cOn a subsequent visit to the West Indies, Verrazzano was set upon, butchered, and eaten by members of the Carib nation.\u201d \u2013Maine: The Wilder Half of New England<\/em>, William David Barry, 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrue at first light,\u201d these legends will surely crystallize as fact or fiction on New Year\u2019s Eve night. We\u2019re starting the countdown. Here\u2019s to challenging more assumptions in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

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Click here to\u00a0view past\u00a0Letters from the Editor.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

December 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-11160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editor","tag-december-2015"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11160"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18486,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11160\/revisions\/18486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}