Barbie and Ken were – well, let’s face it, they were mannequins. Plastic, life-size, and for years they sat out in front of Coffey’s Frame Shop in Lakewood. Every day the shop owner would dress them appropriately and seat them in their own chairs in front of the store. As time went on, it appeared […]
Riverside Jazz Festival
All Peg and I knew was that our grandson Riley was participating in the Riverside Jazz Festival on January 19th at Auburn Riverside High School. We walked through the halls of the high school to the auditorium, past the library and cafeteria where various school jazz bands were warming up. Meghan Wagner and her people […]
Letter: Protest Signs
They seem to be popping up more lately. Anonymously stuck in the ground through obviously no little effort, they are there to declare and denounce in no uncertain terms the protestors’ grievous feelings toward matters so heinous, so outrageous, so egregious that nothing will do but to leave behind a monument to their misery, a […]
Westside Story – 70 X 70
Let’s start my column today by asking, what does my title, “70 X 70”, mean? Creating titles is a favorite part of my writing process. More often than not, every story I draft will have several proposed titles. In fact, my title for this column just changed a minute ago from 70 – 4 – […]
Not One Less – Persistence and Perception
“Not One Less is a 1999 drama film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, adapted from Shi Xiangsheng’s 1997 story ‘A Sun in the Sky.’ . . . The film addresses education reform in China, the economic gap between urban and rural populations, and the prevalence of bureaucracy and authority figures in everyday life.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_One_Less […]
Letter: Hire the homeless – Lakewood should apply
Bipartisan Senate Bill 5261 would create a pilot program to hire homeless persons for local beautification projects. Lakewood should support passage of the bill and at the same time apply to be one of only three cities statewide to be so honored.Lakewood has long advocated for help to the homeless. “The City of Lakewood is […]
Film Review: King Kong vs. Godzilla
The popularity and evolution of Godzilla films in the 60’s and 70’s is an interesting genre to learn about, especially concerning its demographic. The original Godzilla, released in 1954, was metaphorical of the dangers of nuclear weaponry, and was a harsh but fantastical reminder of what the Japanese people had to go through during the […]
The Float! – The Flotation Device Restaurant Review
We met our friends this side of the Narrows Bridge and traveled together to Purdy for breakfast at The Floatation Device Pub & Grill. http://thefloatationdevice.com/ “The Float” as it’s called is a sports bar, but more importantly it’s a football bar. There are life-sized statues out front of a troll and a bear. The troll […]
Westside Story – B.O.A.R.T.F.B.
Does anyone know what the new acronym, B.O.A.R.T.F.B. means? I am guessing not because I just invented it a minute ago. B.O.A.R.T.F.B. stands for Boyle’s Old Age Retirement Tax-Free Benefit. You can pronounce it “BOART FeeBee” to show how hip you are with cutting-edge acronyms. So when I think back my first recollection of a […]