Ed Barrett’s mustache For the first time ever, I found myself in the same room with our distinguished Lewiston city manager and I’ve got to say it. His mustache is glorious! Full-bodied and perfectly silver, it commands attention and respect. I have not seen a mustache of such distinction since the late police Chief Richard […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: The Magic Man inspires debate, disagreement
A controversy brews in Lewiston. And in Auburn and Portland and on every street that snakes between them, because that is where you find the famed peripatetic we call Magic Man. He wanders at all hours and in all places, carrying his bags of bottles and cans and wearing the iconic doo rag upon his […]
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Talk of the town: So, a man and three sheep go to Walmart…
Pretty in pink At the St. Dom’s graduation last week, an ebullient young lass in a gown handed me her bright pink phone and requested – nay, demanded! – that I take photos of her and her classmates as they arranged themselves at the front of the room. It was strange. I had that phone […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme, The Franklin Journal
Street talk: Paint fence, wax car, play piano
It’s a gloomy day in November. My cat is dead. Morose and thoughtful, I sit down at the piano to play — the “Funeral March,” of course; dolorous, haunting and somehow soothing. A sunny day in June. The Royals have gone on to beat the reviled White Sox after a dramatic ninth-inning comeback. Elated, shocked […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: I am not wearing pants.
Between the lines More white lines have been painted up the length of Pine Street with no explanation whatsoever. Lanes for biking? Jogging? It’s like Nazca (look it up) all up in here. I swear, if you fly high enough above the city, all those seemingly random street lines will connect to spell out a […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme, The Franklin Journal
Street talk: From slacks to jeans: The evolution of reporter attire
The assignment was out in the woods of Durham at one of those houses that sits far back from the road. Dogs barked. Chain saws buzzed. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a shotgun racking a round. It was raining and the yard was a minefield of deep puddles. I sloshed my way toward […]
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Street Talk: So, you want to be a job shadow
Here at the Sun Journal, we get requests all the time from people who are interested in following around a reporter on his or her daily rounds. Job shadow, we call the concept. It’s a term we made up ourselves and which you can never use without our permission. And don’t think we won’t notice […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: Space lizards are coming to eat your eyes
If Gov. Christie visits Lewiston Watch for traffic problems on the Longley Bridge. My apologies To Bill Lepack, the Livermore hippie whose name I defiled by inserting a capital P into it. In some cultures, the capital P represents respect and admiration. Don’t ask me where those cultures are because they don’t exist. Anyway, I’m […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme, The Franklin Journal
Street talk: Good news! Matilda is getting married!
Invariably, it works this way. It’s a random day in September and a lovely wife is opening the mail. Lovely wife: “Oh, look! My old friend from high school is getting married.” Husband: “How special. Say, do we have any Pringles?” Wife: “They’re having the ceremony on the seashore in May and the bridesmaids will […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: Dam you vile woman! And other important news
Person of interest The cause of a recent fire that destroyed a mobile home was described as the result of “human element” and investigators had developed a “person of interest” in the matter. Whenever you see this kind of ambiguous cop speak under my byline please know that every inch of my squishy reporter’s soul […]