A tree grows in Lisbon A nice woman from Hebron called me to inquire about the tree that sits atop the now doomed Worumbo mill. Why is she calling me about the tree, you ask? Don’t know. Apparently my new superhero name is Worumbo Man. Which I’m fine with, by the way. The point is […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: Just one guitar, slung way down low
Hot Blooded How stoked are you that Foreigner is coming to Maine? Pretty stoked, I’ll bet. You got your roach clip feather hanging from the pocket of your denim coat. You got your bright red bandanna hanging from your back pocket. You’ve got your Bic lighter, your feathered hair, your 12-pack of Stroh’s. Rock on, […]
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Street Talk: Is Waterville the new Lewiston?
The young man in the shopping cart appeared to be comfortably asleep. He had a big puffy coat for a pillow and his legs hung neatly over the side. He was parked just outside the door at T. Woody’s bar in the Concourse, where even curious alley cats paid him no attention. I made a […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: In lieu of flowers, please send crayons
Color me impressed That Eldridge character is at it again. This time he rendered a drawing of me hard at work coloring lovely flowers and designs, complete with that dang tongue hanging out of my mouth. This was a response, I assume, to my recent piece on the joys of coloring. Eldridge’s artwork captures the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Man enough to admit: ‘I love the flea market’
I thought the man was coming to kill me. He had a long sword in one hand, a mace in the other and about 10 other implements of pain and destruction in a grungy bag slung over his shoulder. Weird, right? I started thinking about how my obituary would read: “Rakishly handsome Sun Journal reporter […]
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Why are there so many murders of crows?
Super Lice Oh, that is just a horrible name for a super hero. But apparently a super strain of head lice are crab-crawling their way across the world of hair. How does one treat a case of Super Lice? It’s the same as with regular lice, but the comb you get in that kit at […]
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Talk of the town: Like this status update or die
Mainecare vs. opioids This was a headline on Wednesday’s front page and you have to admit that it creates a nice visual. Me, I picture a frowning, suited, stuffed shirt in one corner, a sleepy-eyed poppy plant nodding on a stool in the other. One has the sprawling power of the government behind him, the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Who has been scribbling in my notebooks again?
I have notebooks. So many notebooks. Everywhere I look lately, I find stacks of ragged notebooks with incomprehensible hen scratchings and suspicious stains. Notebooks in the car, notebooks in the basement, notebooks stashed in drawers I haven’t opened in years. I bet if I looked hard enough, I could find every notebook I’ve ever used […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: Haunted doughnuts and canine coffee
Krispy Kreme I once had a spooky experience at a Krispy Kreme in Myrtle Beach. The young clerk there appeared to know my name and my wife’s name, even though it was our first visit to the business and to the state. We later found out that the clerk was a young man who had […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Local crime drama demands script
I’ll be honest with you. “Breaking Bad” completely ruined local meth raids for me. A few weeks ago, when a pair of men were accused of whipping up tasty batches of the stuff on Lisbon Street, I had high hopes. “Let’s not be so fast to condemn these fellows,” I said. “There’s a chance that […]