One of these days, I’m going to up and run for mayor. It’s not that I have an interest in helping to run the city, mind you. I don’t like making decisions very much and I have trouble sitting through meetings that last longer than three minutes — which is how long all meetings should […]
Street talk
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Driving you crazy
I thought the guy in the pickup was going to blow a blood vessel and die right there on Longley Bridge. At every stop between Auburn and Lewiston (there are an estimated 900 traffic lights between Court Street, Auburn and Main Street, Lewiston) the dude found new fuel for his road rage. First it was […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Let's go to the movies!
The kid with the baseball cap was sitting just a few rows ahead of me, but that didn’t matter. I could have spotted his game a mile away. The way he leaned in close every time he offered the girl his popcorn. The way he laughed whenever she did and of course, the classic yawn-and-stretch […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Hit me with your best shot, yo
Boy. If I had a nickel for every person who has asked for my thoughts on the Pat Benatar concert last week, you know what I’d have? I wouldn’t have a nickel, that’s for sure. Nobody gives a hang about my penetrating thoughts on Benatar, but I’m going to tell you anyway, and do you […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Down the street from rock bottom
It’s odd how no one ever talks about the Fellowship House. Back in the day, it occupied a low brick building near the corner of Blake and Ash streets in Lewiston. The building is still there. The Fellowship House is not. It was an alcohol detoxification facility, and only God knows how many lives were […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Thou shalt not exercise unauthorized control
I think it’s only fair to warn you: I am in possession of a shod foot and I’m not afraid to use it. Forgive my surliness. I’ve been reading through the latest list of criminal indictments, where court folks take exciting local crimes and twist them into confusing, dull and overly long paragraphs of legalese. […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme
Street Talk: History repeats itself
You must forgive my disheveled appearance this morning. The uncombed hair, the week’s worth of beard, that distinct man scent that follows the terminally unwashed … I’m just back from vacation, you understand, and I’ve been on a bender. Not the old-style bender, mind you — surely you would have read about that in the […]