You can never be too careful It finally happened. I arrived at an assignment on my motorcycle and then couldn’t get the helmet off my head. Buckle was stuck shut. It might have been all right rushing into a shooting scene or blazing house fire with a helmet on my head – that’s just kind […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Shaking off the news gets harder after each tragedy
A couple of weeks ago there was a fatal car wreck in a nearby town. As a news story, it was pretty standard stuff. Time, location, number of cars involved. Get the identities of both drivers, throw in whatever police narrative is available and you’re done. Someone will follow up with the conditions of survivors […]
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Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Your top prime cut of meat
Thor punch to the eardrum Tuesday’s storm brought some of the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. I’m not saying I screeched at very first clap and sprang cat-like to the ceiling, where I clung upside down from a chandelier. But that’s totally what would have happened if I lived in a place with a chandelier. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: A Guide to Not Watching Netflix
I used to be like you, you know. I used to have a life. Oh, those were grand times. If we weren’t on some weekend vacation to exotic lands such as Wiscasset or Vassalboro, I was riding my bike deep into the woods and doing everything possible to lose my way back. Nights were forays […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Look what you made me do
Bare attack! On Thursday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. sharp, a young lady mooned me while I was riding by on Walnut Street, near the corner at Bartlett. Actually, I’m pretty sure she was mooning somebody else, but I want to believe she was thinking of me while she did it. Vaporized It’s been a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: You've got to fight! For your right! To pay-per-view.
Not many people know this, because of a shameful lack of media coverage, but on Saturday, a professional boxer named Floyd Mayweather Jr. squared off against mixed martial artist stud Conor McGregor in a fight that had been foretold in ancient prophecy. It was billed as “The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History,” and in […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Nursing your eclipse hangover
Elite Eclipse Viewer 6000 So, I’m afraid I cannot give a positive review to the cardboard box, pinhole brand of eclipse viewer. I tried one of these to view the Mega Awesome Once in a Lifetime Eclipse of 2017 and the results were disappointing. In fairness, I probably should have taken the doughnuts out of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Eclipse 2017: Weird scenes inside the shoebox
Not many people know this, because it hardly got any media attention at all, but on Monday, the moon passed between the earth and sun, causing what we semi-professional astronomers call a “solar eclipse.” There was virtually no hype for this event, which likely caused common laypeople like yourselves to miss it entirely. Fear not, […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Talk of the town: Have you been drinking?
How DARE you! So “merger” has become the local buzzword that is so emotionally charged it’s guaranteed to rile people no matter what the context or location. See a happy family enjoying a picnic in the city park? Just mutter “merger” and watch the fireworks. Ol’ dad, bouncing a kid on his knee just moments […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: A vague mass of unhappy plankton
The other night I was downtown where a group of about 60 kids were said to be attacking people “Children of the Corn” style near the corner of Birch and Knox. It was crazy, yo. According to the notes I scribbled at the scene, “a gargantuan toothache was roiling in the east while unhappy plankton […]