Pass me a tissue, would you, friend? Or I could just use your sleeve again and call it good. I’ve been trying to think of things that are as sad as the end of baseball season. A child at a birthday party at which no one showed up? A kitten placed in a beach pail […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Wearing black socks and a leather coat at the beach
Sometimes writing a weekly column is like being a cast regular on “Roseanne.” Or like scoring a walk-on part on “Gilligan’s Island,” or being one of those dorks with feathered hair and a neck chain on “Three’s Company,” but during the late seasons, after Chrissy has gone off to become a brain surgeon or whatever. […]
advertisement
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: What if only teens with beards were let on Facebook?
Weird beards The tradition of baseball players growing beards for the postseason has been around for a long time, but the Red Sox have really raised the bar. I would be shocked, for example, if Mike Napoli doesn’t have a small colony of wrens living on his face. When a man grows that much facial […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme, The Franklin Journal
Street Talk: Watching you watching hockey in hockey town
There’s an old man sitting in a seat just off center ice five or six rows back. He’s got the team jersey, the team hat, a bucket of popcorn and a gadget which, when you shake it vigorously, makes a hell of a lot of noise. The old man is sitting alone but in the […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the Town: It’s bigger than all of us
Trifecta A nearly perfect police radio call rolled into the newsroom on Wednesday. All I heard were three very significant key words, specifically: “urinating” “drive-thru” and “two small dogs.” The mind reels, doesn’t it? In my head, I hear circus music and at least one of the dogs is wearing a tutu. But that’s me. […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Firefighters get kudos for bravery and stuff
In baseball, if a pitcher makes quick work of every batter he faces, the opposing team will invariably say, “Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.” That’s how I feel pretty much every time I watch firefighters do their thing. I say this without snark or hyperbole. Watching firefighters work is humbling because A) […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: Picturing you in your underwear
The great debate I have no real insights on the Lewiston mayoral debate, which caused me to wear a tie for the first time since I graduated kindergarten. It was an orderly and dignified affair with no glaring faux pas or embarrassing moments. Don’t you hate when that happens? The highlight for me was two […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme, The Franklin Journal
Street Talk: Pull the blinds down on your way out
I’m not going to lie to you. I was a terrible paperboy. If you were on my route and wanted to skim the headlines before work, you were probably out of luck. I’d have it to you by noon, though, I swear. Maybe a little later if my bicycle chain broke or if I was […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: You can find the strangest things on the streets of Lewiston
A-maze-ing If you’ve been on Walnut Street in Lewiston lately – and you have, I just know it – you’ve probably noticed how crews spent the whole summer building a strange network of curbs that jut out into the street like the elbows and knees of sprawled giants. The bizarre configuration makes the already cramped […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Lewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Interpreting sirens for beginners
All your life, you tell yourself you’re prepared for it but, when the time comes, there’s shock and disbelief. There’s the disquieting sense that maybe there’s been some mistake. That this simply cannot be. I think I might be the Chosen One. Now, hear me out before you go spraying Irish coffee all over the […]