Freeze! Two men were promptly arrested last week after swimming across the Androscoggin River in an attempt to elude police. A few years ago, I suggested that anyone who makes it from one side of the river to the other should be given a free pass based on personal grit alone. Unfortunately, this rule only […]
Mark LaFlamme
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Don’t throw that junk away; it’s history!
Sometimes I think I’m too sentimental. The Pink Panther, who watches me sleep night after night, tends to agree. The Pink Panther is a 3-foot-tall stuffed toy I won at Old Orchard Beach when I was 7 or 8 years old. A real space gobbler is the pink one, but what am I going to […]
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Talk of the town. Or something.
Whatchamacallit Over the years, there has been much confusion about the title of my weekly columns. It doesn’t help that I have two of them with similar names. It also doesn’t help that most of my readers are heavy drinkers. Among other things, my columns have been mistakenly called Heard on the Street, Word on […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme, The Franklin Journal
Street Talk: The rules of Wiffle ball and how to break them
I was driving through one of Lewiston’s many fine neighborhoods one recent afternoon, when I came upon a loud spat — what we used to call a “row” — involving several preteen boys. The tone and wordage of the disagreement revealed at once what they were arguing about: Wiffle ball! In particular, one boy was […]
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Street Talk: Celebrating the Farce of July with illumination
Just after the American colonists unleashed a formal declaration of independence, a giddy John Adams said this of the coming victory: “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town
The rules are there ain’t no rules I know I made fun of the new traffic configuration on Pine Street in Lewiston a few times, but now that time has passed and I’ve had the opportunity to drive that route, I can honestly say, without reservation, that it’s even worse than I thought. If the […]
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Street Talk: One dollar? Are you kidding me?
Good morning, friends. I came here today to talk to you about a serious matter that affects each and every one of us. Unfortunately, I took a little break first to make a quick trip to the Dollar Store while mulling it over. Three hours and nine plastic bags later, I’m back at home, completely […]
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Talk of town: The Royals are in first place.
Pinball wizard As you can see in the story to your left (no, your other left) I got down with some pinball recently. When you have pinball on your mind, the great Who song “Pinball Wizard” is sure to follow. This time, I looked up the lyrics. When I was a kid, I thought the […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Doing town government old-school in Sabattus
I’m not going to lie to you. When I was assigned to cover the Sabattus town meeting a few weeks ago, I silently stewed. I considered flinging myself down a flight of stairs to get out of it. I toyed with the idea of claiming that religious convictions prevent me from entering towns with double […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Talk of the town: Stuff I found on the street edition
Unmasked For two straight days, police in Lewiston received reports of a suspicious fellow walking around downtown in a Halloween mask. Cops investigated. Turns out it wasn’t a mask at all. The dude was just ugly. I kid! I think it turned out to be a mask AND he was ugly. What’s for dinner? Whomever […]