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 […]
Street talk
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 […]
advertisement
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 […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme, Uncategorized
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 […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Rock her, Martha! Pump the gas!
So. You’ve survived yet another blizzard without skidding off the road and into a ravine. Not a single time all winter have you been forced to dine on one of your own extremities in order to stay alive in your buried car. Congratulations, champ. Just don’t go busting your arm patting yourself on the back, […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Christmas gift ideas that probably won’t get you kicked out of the family
If I look deep within myself with unalloyed honesty, I’m not sure I ever completely forgave my brother for giving me an ice scraper for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong: As ice scrapers go, it was just fine. It had the little teeth on the edge to rip into ice and there was a nice […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world
A tip for you smart shoppers: All I want for Christmas this year is a one-way ticket out of Looneyville — a fast flight out of this goofy dystopian landscape that feels like equal parts George Orwell, Philip K. Dick and Dr. Seuss. You know what I’m talking about. Somehow we all woke up in […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Three questions for Christmas
It’s a miracle. A Christmas miracle. Just when I thought I was to come up empty in a search for this week’s column, an epic rant lands in my newsroom telephone mailbox. In this message, a fellow named Daniel poses three questions on the nature of the holidays — questions that I am to research […]