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| Published articles "Well, I'll be damned. Hey, Marge. Would you take a look at this article. This Mullikin guy's either a genius or a nut job. Hey, wait a minute -- what's all this stuff about death and dying? That's just not right. And what the heck's a pedorthist?" 
Below (and continued on subsequent pages) is a partial list of newspaper and magazine articles published within the past few years. After reading the lead, and if you so choose, click on the link. This will direct you to the complete article in the publication in which it appeared originally. Technology has replaced the book of yellowed clippings in one swift click of the mouse -- and in so doing killed the mucilage glue and oatmeal paper industries. What next shall fall? Peace & Love With The DeJorias
Call them the Patrón saints of charitable giving: John Paul and Eloise DeJoria of Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón Tequila fame and fortune. John Paul, sixty-five, would groan, then laugh, at that awful pun. But he’d probably write it down, maybe use it later to market his best-selling tequila. For a man ranked No. 65 on Forbes 2009 list of World’s Richest Americans (his personal wealth is estimated to be around four thousand million), John Paul or J.P. as he is known only to his closest friends, is an outgoing and generous man, one with a great sense of humor and unbridled laugh, a guy who, as his wife knows all too well, will stop to have his photo taken with virtually anyone who asks. He’ll even accommodate a pushy paparazzo by flashing him or her a quick peace sign. But that peace sign is heartfelt; he’s a man who signs his correspondence: “Peace, Love and Happiness.” (Click link belw for complete story.) http://www.sopdigitaledition.com/malibumag Jesse Billaeur Giving inspiration from the heart Jesse Billauer is both flattered and puzzled. “It’s amazing people still want to talk about my accident and what I do 13 years later. Even kids who are just surfing now know about me from a movie (there are two, actually) and are inspired. That’s huge.” Billauer, a handsome man with piercing hazel eyes, speaks these words with a mixture of pride and humility from the Third Street Promenade apartment in Santa Monica he shares with his ’round-the-clock caregiver, Raul. He depends on Raul to lift him from bed to wheelchair and to assist him with bathing and bodily functions. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.sopdigitaledition.com/malibumag Author's Top 10 1) Rock on ...
You might be surprised what people want played at their funerals That great journey into the afterlife might be made to the strains of Led Zeppelin’s 1971 hit “Stairway to Heaven” — or AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” — if a national trend continues.
Try this at a formal gathering, and hear the conversation die: Ask how many people have considered what type of music will be played for their own funeral or if they’ve prepared their own playlist. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060115/NEWS/60115001/1016/FEATURES07 2) You mean, like the song?
Some lyrically named Vermonters just can’t stanza it anymore So, just what is it about Leila Cosgrove, 22, of Burlington, and Cecilia Talamantes, 40, of Medford, Mass., that would make a man get down, begging, on his knees? First, follow the bouncing ball back to the year 1970 when Eric Clapton, masquerading as "Derek" of Derek and The Dominos, wailed: "Layla, you've got me on my knees. Layla, I'm begging darling, please," and Simon and Garfunkel harmonized: "Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees; I'm begging you please to come home." (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/NEWS/604230325/1016/EDUCATION05 3) In my father’s slippered footsteps Everybody works but father. He sits around all day. Feet in front of the fireplace, smokes his pipe of clay. Mother takes in washing. So does sister Ann. Everybody works at our house, but my old man.
Whenever I hear this silly old song sung by Groucho Marx I think of my father, Willard Everett Mullikin Jr., who was a ripe-and-retired 45-year-old when I was born. (Click link below for complete article.) http://vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060618/FEATURES/606180302/1002/FEATURES02 4) Not just another face in the crowd Jason Sand?
The name may not be recognizable, yet, but there’s no mistaking him for anyone else.
He’s a piece of work — in progress — who leaves a lasting impression. A friendly, hard-working family guy with kind eyes and whose face is tattooed completely. (Click link below for complete article.)
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070226/NEWS02/702260354/1003/NEWS02 5) Spare the Rod Serling and spoil the child Sometimes I like to fantasize that I’m on my deathbed, surrounded by keening family members. In the corner of the room lurks a shadowy figure in a sharkskin suit, cigarette in hand, speaking through clenched teeth into the big eye of a CBS-TV camera.
“”Witness a sorry little man during his final hours. Throughout his life he’s cowered at the site of mannequins, fortune-telling machines, ventriloquist dummies, talking dolls and pig-nosed people. Tonight, we hear the sad tale of this pitiful specimen of humankind, a lifelong victim of . . . ‘The Twilight Zone.’” Theme music. (Click link below for complete article.) http://vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070225/FEATURES/70223002/1002/FEATURES02 6) Hobnobbing with hobos
Whatever you do, don’t call them bums
The deep laugh lines in King Tuck’s leathery face remain long after he’s stopped laughing. Twenty-five years of riding the rails have left their mark.
”I left home at 15. We’s a poor family, I always felt I was always just another mouth to feed, you know. I just left home to take the burden off of my parents kind of,” says the 46-year-old Texan.
As he exhales a thick cloud of smoke from a hand-rolled Bugler cigarette, it’s sucked out the caboose’s open door, floats across the makeshift hobo jungle, and mixes in with the smoldering campfire. The fire was lit when the ‘bos arrived late on Thursday and kept burning until they broke camp on Monday.
The caboose is a permanent fixture at the Railroad Museum of Long Island. The hobos aren’t; they’re here just for the Sept. 27-30 hobo gathering. (Click link below for complete article.)
http://timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071014/FEATURES05/710140312/1014/FEATURES05 8) Thinking outside the litter box
Vermont’s animal communicators are a different breed
Author Hugh Lofting was on to something back in 1922 when he wrote his second book in the series about the doctor who talked to the animals. He would doubtless find it fascinating that today, hundreds of people get paid to do just that.
They call themselves animal communicators, and Vermont has several who offer their services professionally. Nationally they number some 350, according to Penelope Smith, 60, of Prescott, Ariz., a driving force in the field since 1971. Of course, most pet owners (a word that animal communicators dislike) talk to their dogs or cats regularly, usually in silly baby talk. (Click link below for complete article.)
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070304/FEATURES07/703040339/1016/FEATURES07 9) Wiggle Room Greensboro Bend’s Wacky Worm Sisters wax on the ins and outs of fertilizer
Packed in quart-sized Baggies, the stuff looks rich, crumbly and decidedly illegal. But the label states otherwise: It’s nutrient-rich humus, a.k.a. Premium Quality Worm Castings — the end product, literally, of thousands of red worms, also known as red wigglers, tiger worms, manure worms, stink worms, fish worms, dung worms, fecal worms and striped worms. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.7dvt.com/2008/wiggle-room 10) Victrola’s Secret A spin doctor keeps old music makers alive St. Johnsbury’s Rod Lauman lives in a three-story, yellow 1883 house that’s furnished and decorated in a brooding Victorian style. One of his three cats, a white female, is named Victoria. Within these walls Lauman operates Victrola Repair Service, where he services and sells Victrolas. Yup, those wind-up phonographs with the big horns that make a vocalist sound as though he’s holding his nose while he sings something that invariably comes out "voh-doh-doh-dee-oh-doh" at 78 rpm. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.7dvt.com/2007/victrolas-secret The Ely (Nev.) Times White Pine Horse Race attendance up; county fair's attendance down fun at all-time high The wind howls across the White Pine County Fairgrounds, kicking up dust and threatening to send Dale Taylor's stock of Dora The Explorer inflatables airborne and McGill-bound.
Taylor and his wife, Vierla, travel the carnival, powwow and county-fair circuit, selling fair fare - cheap trinkets and baubles - to kids eager to spend their parent's money.
The wind doesn't bother the Taylors as much as the prospect of a sparse crowd at the Aug. 20-22 event.
Dale says he's seeing a disturbing trend: declining fair attendance across the country. At the close of business Sunday afternoon, he estimates his sales were down 10 to 15 percent over the previous year. "Maybe Elko will be better," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. (Click link for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/08/25/lifestyle/life01.txt Hot cars big and small draw envy
Dean and Ina Wakefield arrive early Friday morning, their orange 1954 Ford gliding across the grass at County Park.
In no time, the Maricopa, Ariz., couple is armed with spray bottle and chamois, buffing their two-door baby to a blinding sheen.
Ina does most of the buffing, while Dean does most of the talking. "It takes you back to a time in life when life was better," Dean says of his car and the other 91 entries at the White Pine Rodders 2010 weekend car show, the club's 17th event.
Most owners follow the Wakefields' lead, spraying and buffing as onlookers peer into windows
and under hoods. (Click link for complete story.) http://elynews.com/articles/2010/08/19/lifestyle/life01.txt
Shoshone community gathers, celebrates at annual Fandango
It seems most White Pine residents skipped the last Fandango - with nary a single city or county official or stumping candidate in site.
Even so, Alvin Marques, chairman of the Ely Shoshone Tribe, is pleased with the July 30-Aug. 1 event's turnout: a few hundred folks, members of the Ely Shoshone Tribe mostly, with visitors from neighboring Duckwater and Goshute.
"It's just basically a celebration," Marques says of the tribe's 13th annual event.
"A lot of tribes have fandangos or powwows. It's just really a community get- together."
Last year's event was held at Marich Park, and although it gave the event broader exposure, that off-site location was met with mixed reviews from the tribe, Marques says. "The people wanted it back at reservation. They felt like they were attending an event instead of being part of it. They felt like they were attending someone else's event." (Click link for complete story.) http://elynews.com/articles/2010/08/11/lifestyle/life01.txt
Wisconsin teenager gets his wish at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum
For Josh Hegge it's planes, trains and . . . chickens.
Chickens?
The 14-year-old raises them at his Verona, Wisc., home. And while airplanes fascinate him, it's trains that rule the roost - to mix metaphors - in the Hegge household.
On July 28 Josh's dream came true when he and his dad, Paul, rode the rails in the cab of Engine 93 (his mom, Judy, and brother, Jake, 19, rode in a passenger car) during a trip to Ely arranged by the Make A Wish Foundation(r).
Josh, beaming, and sitting in the waiting room at the East Ely Station, sums up the experience in four words: "It was totally awesome," he says.
(Click link below for complete story.) http://elynews.com/articles/2010/08/06/lifestyle/life01.txt
Hillbillies and Vikings, Sailors and Invaders avoid drowning during The Great Bathtub Race at Cave Lake
The irony is too much, almost scripted. On its maiden voyage, at 12:25 p.m., June 26, 2010, the SS Bathtanic capsizes just a few minutes after its launch into the Cave Lake.
Its lone navigator, Allen Nance, soaked from stern to bow, stands on the dock and utters two carefully chosen words: "Oh, s**t."
Ah, spoken like a seasoned sailor, Mr. Nance. Looking down at soaked shirt, pants and shoes, he says it again: "Oh, s**t."
The Bathtanic, with its flat bottom mooning the early-birds who have come to watch the launchings and to drink cold beer in the hot sun, is dragged back to shore, righted, emptied of 65-degree lake water and hauled to the parking lot/dry dock - but not before Nance agrees to pose for a photo in the water-filled tub.
He's a good sport. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/06/30/lifestyle/life01.txt
Artist impressed with Ely's murals adds several of his own The unmistakable aroma of paint permeates every inch of Andrew Sabori's art-studio-on-wheels at the Prospector Hotel & Casino's RV parking lot.
Sabori, 62, is leafing through a binder filled with samples of his work while his wife, business manager and sometimes background painter, Roberta, sits at the computer.
Space is tight in their RV/studio/home, and Sabori's portfolios, paints and art books take up the lion's share.
Roberta looks up from the screen periodically to provide missing information and to correct Sabori as he discusses his 45-year career as artist/muralist.
"I'm the only artist who has six paintings hanging in the Apollo Theater," he says with obvious pride. "And I'm the only artist who has a painting hanging in the Juilliard School." It's a portrait of the artist Georgia O'Keefe. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/06/23/lifestyle/life01.txt
When death is near, there are helping hands nearby White Pine County Treasurer Beverly J. Cornutt knows all about taxes.
And death.
As founder of Ely's Hospice Helping Hands, a group celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Cornutt says death plays an important role in her life.
"Weird, huh?' she says from the Clark Street office where she spends her days keeping tabs on the county's finances.
As a hospice volunteer, Cornutt forgoes ledger and spreadsheet and turns to helping families and terminal patients understand the dying process.
Her first brush with death was when her father died in 1994.
"I was with my dad when he died, the week after I got elected. He waited for my election."
At the moment of his death, Coruntt says she saw her father leave his crippled body - running. "I was with him when he died. That was the most awesome experience."
Some folks might find Cornutt's alter ego and volunteer work a bit on the macabre side. She shrugs this off. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/05/19/lifestyle/life01.txt Nevada Northern Railway strikes the mother load Sunday morning's trip was the mother of all train rides - the spring weather warm enough for passengers to sit outside in the observation car as Engine 93 chugged along, spitting out an occasional cinder and perfuming the air with the spent-match scent of sulfur.
Better yet, moms, grandmas and great-grandmas (and kids under four) rode for free on The Nevada Northern Railway's "Mother's Day Train."
For Idaho Fall's Suzanne Hobbs and daughter, Lillie, 6, the train ride has become an annual tradition - and then some. She and Lillie haven't missed it in five years. Each Mother's Day the duo drives down to Ely - past the defunct Club 50 - and puts flowers on Lil Sunrud's grave before boarding the train. Sunrud and her husband, Sunny, owned and operated Club 50, and Lillie was named after, Lil, her great-grandmother. "Lillie was born six weeks after my grandmother died," Hobbs says looking out the window as sage brush whisks past. "We try to ride the train as often as we can," she adds. Lillie looks at her mom and smiles.(Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/05/12/lifestyle/life01.txt Loren O'Donnell has family history of volunteerism Loren O'Donnell has fire in his eyes and compassion in his heart.
Just 18, though he looks and acts much older, the White Pine High School senior is the newest and youngest member of the 104-year-old Ely Volunteer Fire Department.
A few years ago, in an effort to recruit more volunteers, the department lowered its age requirement from 21 to 18, says Jim Alworth, a volunteer fire fighter and Ely City Clerk.
"With volunteerism being at an all-time low throughout the United States, the Ely Volunteer Fire Department voted to change its bylaws in an effort to boost its membership and welcome other young men and women, 18 years or older, to accept the challenge."
Enter Loren O'Donnell.
O'Donnell, an EMT-B, got his feet wet last year at the Ely Fire station as a paid summer hire - testing hoses and making sure all the equipment was ready for action - though he'd been around EMTs all his life. (Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/05/12/lifestyle/life02.txt
Ely City Corrals take on a new life -- and it's not just the balmy spring weather The animals at the Ely City Corral couldn't be happier these days.
Months of snow and muddy slush under foot, hoof and claw have given way to drier ground, and the first sprigs of tasty spring greenery are poking through brown manure pack.
This weekend was as good as it gets, and both man and beast were basking in warm sunshine.
Jack, Bessie and Bunny, a trio of Corsican sheep are running circles around their pen. Bunny, still a little wobbly on her spindly legs, was born the day before Easter. Jack shows no shame or restraint in his affection for Bessie. The ram's owner, Aaron Martinez, laughs at Jack's display of machismo, and tosses out a few racy comments. He's obviously proud of Jack. Corral Boss Dave Conger, 59, leaning on the fence of Martinez's corral, laughs at the display. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/04/28/lifestyle/life01.txt Abandoned houses are more than an eyesore; they pose serious health and safety threats An overpowering stench of cat urine brings tears to your eyes as you step into the tiny abandoned house on this cold Ely morning.
Once the weather warms up, look out. That rank ammonia smell will permeate every inch of this decades-old structure. It is embedded in the walls and floor.
The last human residents, meanwhile, left behind a mountain of refuse - old clothes, a cupboard full of canned and dry goods and a family bible, which rests on table in front of a broken window.
This ramshackle house is not only an eyesore to neighbors, it's also a breeding ground for vermin, a hazard for curious neighborhood kids, and a possible spot for deviant behavior, says Chris Flannery, White Pine County building official. (Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/04/21/lifestyle/life01.txt Home Health Services of Nevada An independent option to nursing-home care
Ellen Laird had to make a big choice about a year ago: Move into a nursing home or move in with her daughter and son-in-law. She had fallen and cut her head, and her doctor said living alone was no longer an option for the 98-year-old. Laird chose the comfortable, comforting and familiar surroundings of her daughter's home in Ruth, where she'd have her own room (with the sewing machine she uses for quilt-making), a comfortable reading chair in the living room, and meals shared with her daughter, Polly and son-in-law, Melvin Fisher.
She'd also have visits from Marguerite Vigil, a certified nursing assistant, and Marie Carrick, a registered nurse, of the Ely branch of Home Health Services of Nevada (HHSN), a private non-profit corporation. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/04/07/lifestyle/life01.txt
Feline over-population in Ely creeps up on little cats' feet
By feral-cat standards, the rag-tag pride of urine-scented, big-jowled toms, pregnant and soon to be females, and litter of skittish kittens is living in relative comfort among the junk heap outside the vacant house at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Crawford Street. Some well-meaning (though uninformed) person feeds the felines regularly, and this keeps the cats alive - just healthy enough to reproduce. And reproduce they do, with a vengeance (Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/03/31/lifestyle/life01.txt Senior Moments For many, Ely's senior citizen's center is their home Willie Lee, Nancy Kobasziar, Inge Shielke and Vi Thompson are plain puzzled. There's a move underfoot by the National Council on Aging to do away with the term senior and replace it with a kinder, gentler, more politically correct word.
As for an appropriate replacement word? Some of the suggestions for use at the White Pine County Senior Citizen Center, says Senior Program Administrator Lori Romero, include congregants, participants, older residents and mature residents. "I've even used 'young at heart,'" she says with a laugh. "The Council on Aging keeps telling us to get away from seniors; some older people look at it as a stigmatism."
The quartet - the youngest is 74, the oldest 89 - scoffs at the senior debate. They're proud to be seniors. They like the word, and, face it, they are seniors after all. (Click link below for complete story.)
http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/03/19/lifestyle/life01.txt Ely ham radio operators still making waves The outside of Bruce and Gwyneth Palmer's home on Mill Street, falls somewhere between Dr. Seuss and Rube Goldberg: a landlocked schooner tethered with guy wires and outfitted with antennae of all shapes and vintage, including a 1957 Yagi 3-band antenna - a TA-33 Junior to be precise - salvaged from The White Pine Middle School and restored lovingly by Bruce.
The Palmers' neighbors have learned to grin and bear it; on occasion a curious passerby will knock on the door.
But there's method to his madness, the bearded and bespectacled 60-year-old Palmer insists.
The metallic web he's spun around the home the Palmers share with their three rescued wiener dogs, along with the arsenal of receivers, transmitters and transceivers housed down in his basement, allow Palmer to send and receive radio signals worldwide. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/03/03/lifestyle/life03.txt
Minnis Alderman in harmony with life
Minnis Alderman, sandwiched between the Hammond digital organ to her left and the Baldwin concert grand piano to her right, stands military-straight atop the conductor's platform at the Centennial Fine Arts Center, facing members of the Ely Community Choir. The diminutive 81-year-old commands respect, and the two dozen or so choir members who've gathered for their Wednesday-night practice wait quietly for their cue.
As the dual keyboardists inch their way into this evening's section of Theodore Dubois' daunting The Seven Last Words Of Christ, Alderman - knees bent slightly, as if ready to spring into the choir loft - launches into the score, gesticulating, singing. (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/02/24/lifestyle/life01.txt Local bargain hunters stalk thrift shops
The salt-and-pepper shakers, a pair of pink feet bearing the inscription: I walked my feet off at Movieland Wax Museum, Buena Park, CA, are a steal at just $2. Not only does salt and pepper trickle from each red-tipped toe, the shakers are real "museum" pieces and collectibles. The Movieland Wax Museum closed its doors in 2005. Better act fast, though. Someone's bound to see these on the shelf at Thrifty Tails, 1144 Aultman St., and walk off with them. (Click link below for complete story.) McGill author cooks up 'Jane & Friends' For McGill's Jane Hurlock the proof is in the pudding - actually it's in her rum cake, one of the mouth-watering recipes featured in her recently published 139-page cookbook, Jane and Friends.
The rum cake is Hotel Nevada & Gambling Hall co-owner Bert Woywood's favorite. Hurlock, a part-time slot hostess at the hotel, is partial to the pistachio cake featured in the book. Because of her passion for baking, colleagues at the hotel refer to Hurlock as "Mrs. Betty Crocker." (Click link below for complete story.) http://www.elynews.com/articles/2010/02/10/lifestyle/life03.txt
Any day fishing is good: $5,000 makes it better
The fish stories flew freely Saturday afternoon as did snow flurries at the 11th Annual Ely Rotary Club Ice Fishing Derby.Moapa's Pauline Drinnon, bundled head to toe against the cold, stood next to her augur hole and lied outright:
"I hooked one so big it wouldn't fit through the hole." (For the record the biggest fish of the day was a 12.5-inch lake trout. The smallest, a puny 7-incher. Each was worth $100, as was each of the tagged fish.) St. Bartholomew was larger than life... still is Thomas and Margaret Bath can thank a road trip through Reno for the larger-than-life bronze statue of St. Bartholomew that graces the garden at his namesake Ely church The Baths were on vacation, Margaret says, when they came across a bronze statue of wild stallions by Auburn, Calif., sculptor Doug Van Howd. "We were oohing and awing over this sculpture," she says. (Click link below for complete story.) The Malibu Times Newspaper Michael Madsen's poetry softens tough-guy image “American Badass,” Madsen's latest book, may give Mr. Blonde a run for his money
Actor and Malibu resident Michael Madsen laughed as he recalled reading an article about the death of tough-guy actor Richard Widmark.
Madsen, a self-described fellow tough-guy actor, was in Canada working on a film when he spotted the Widmark obit in the local paper.
Widmark, Madsen explained, was quoted in the article as saying that while he had made more than 60 films during his career, he was fearful he'd be remembered only as the giggling psychopath who pushed the old woman down the stairs in a wheelchair (in 1947's “Kiss of Death”). Widmark's fear was realized; the headline accompanying the piece read: “Giggling psychopath dead.” (Click link below for complete article.)
Malibu author Tim Gallwey's new book helps stressed individuals stay balanced Stressing over which stress-relief book to buy?
Sounds silly, but minor stress, such as fretting over which book to buy, has become part of daily living. We simply grin and bear it and move along.
Major stress? That's another matter. Malibu author W. Timothy Gallwey estimates that up to 75 percent of all visits to primary-care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders.
Simply stated: stress is making us sick, even killing us. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/09/30/malibu_life/art2.txt Malibu's music corner: ‘Twilight & Blues' In her latest CD, pianist Lisa Hilton establishes new standards in jazz
Amalgamating her concern for today's social issues with iconic songs from decades passed, pianist Lisa Hilton last month released her 11th jazz album, “Twilight & Blues” (Ruby Slippers Productions 1012). Alongside new songs penned by Hilton, the album also features her own versions of legendary tracks such as Marvin Gaye's, “What's Going On,” Joni Mitchell's “Woodstock” and Janis Joplin's “Kozmic Blues.”
And though it may have seemed strategically scheduled, Hilton insists the CD's release just in time for the 40th anniversary of Woodstock was pure coincidence. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/09/02/malibu_life/art2.txt She's the surreal thing Malibu resident Tiffany Trenda is one of more than 40 artists whose work will be showcased this weekend at the first annual Malibu Contemporary Art Fair. Look into video installation performance artist Tiffany Trenda's face, and you might see yourself peering back -- literally.
It's narcissism of sorts, with a wink, a nudge and a nod to technology. Rigged with cameras and video screens, Trenda creates odd -- sometimes eerie -- personalities and characters during her live performances that leave children entranced and some grownups more than just a little creeped out. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/08/26/malibu_life/art1.txt A mountain lion's share of attention Big cat population faring well in Santa Monica Mountains, but urbanization poses ongoing threat It's been an ongoing game of cat and mouse between the area's mountain lion population and staffers at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area for the past seven years.
For the SMMNRA staff, capturing, collaring and monitoring these solitary animals is no easy task. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/08/19/news/news5.txt National spearfishing championship lures hopeful anglers from across U.S. The line of soggy burlap sacks snaked its way from shoreline to a makeshift weigh station late Thursday afternoon.
Tied and tagged, each bag contained a briny assortment of California sheepshead, opal-eye perch, rubber-lip perch, calico bass, sand bass and other fish that were either too slow or not paying close enough attention to the stealthy spearfishers who invaded the reefs at Leo Carrillo State Beach last week.
Each of the bagged fish bore a distinctive puncture wound, and if the spearfisher's aim was right on the mark, the wound was near the head. (Click link below for complete article.) Vernal (Utah) Express Dogged determination has boy in command Darby and Jack stretch out on their bellies, their eyes glued to the dinner table.
Begging is a dog’s lot in life, but Darby, an Irish setter, and Jack, a miniature Yorkshire terrier, know better.
They have been trained to stay put, Jack by Necia Betts and Darby by Dylan, her 8-year-old son – the youngest student at K-9 College.
"She stays there the whole time until we release her," the Discovery Elementary School second-grader says from the kitchen table of his Vernal home.
Technically Darby is the family dog, one of five (three hounds are relegated to an outside pen) but, in Darby’s eyes, Dylan is her captain.
Once a week Dylan joins six other "captains" who bring their dogs to K-9 College at Western Park. Their goal: bringing order to canine chaos. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?article-Dogged-determination-has-boy-in-command%20=&page_label=news_features&id=1993550-Dogged-determination-has-boy-in-command&widget=push&instance=lead_story_left_column&open=& Eastwood film features Showalter’s showroom showstopper Climb in the back seat, Mr. Eastwood.
This is Gary Showalter’s 15 minutes of fame. Well, more like 1 hour and 56 minutes of fame, complete with buttered popcorn.
The 1972 Gran Torino Showalter bought roughly a year and a half ago from a dealer north of Branson, Mo., is the namesake and "star" of the new Eastwood blockbuster, "Gran Torino."
How this particular car ended up in a major film is the stuff of Hollywood legend. (Click link below for complete article.)
http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?article-Eastwood-film-features-Showalter-s-showroom-showstopper%20=&page_label=results_content&id=1600503-Eastwood-film-features-Showalter-s-showroom-showstopper&widget=push&open=& Businessman riding on crest of a wave Walking, talking, waving – a human billboard in cowboy boots – George Burnett is all smiles as he flashes a thumbs up to a deafening diesel-horn blast from an eastbound semi.
Burnett is holding a sign that reads: "Honk! If You (Heart) Drilling"
In Vernal, it seems, everyone does. And honk, they do.
Burnett estimates that in the six weeks he’s been out hitting the pavement near the intersection of 500 East and Highway 40, in front of his recently opened Covers & Camo Custom Seat Cover Shop, he’s been honked at and waved at roughly 5,000 times. http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?page_label=results_content&id=1253878-Businessman-riding-on-crest-of-a-wave&widget=push&article-Businessman-riding-on-crest-of-a-wave%20=&open=& Gateway to the New Year This is definitely not your regular Wednesday night crowd at Vernal’s Gateway Saloon.
Tonight is New Year’s Eve, and the door checkers and bartenders are working at breakneck speed as the minutes tick closer to midnight. The walls appear to bulge as 300-plus people squeeze into the Gateway.
"We usually have 40 people on Wednesday," shouts Jaime Slaugh, who’s been working as a door girl since August. Most of the regulars are here tonight, she says, plus some others — oil-field workers, cholos, cowboys, wannabe cowboys, single women, couples — straight and gay — and couples in the making. (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?page_label=results_content&id=1253378-Gateway-to-the-New-Year&widget=push&article-Gateway-to-the-New-Year%20=&open=& Vernal couple yak it up The seven bos grunniens penned in Randy and Lou-Ann Merrell’s backyard let out happy grunts and come running, en masse with nostrils twitching, as they catch wind of the treats. A bunch of big galoots bellying up to the bar for the free snacks at happy hour.
“They don’t like being separated,” says Lou-Ann as she hand feeds each member of this tightly knit herd. Family might be a better way to describe this yak herd, which is overseen by Balu, a testosterone-charged 5-year-old bull who keeps everyone – including the Merrells at times – in check. http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news_features&id=830489-Vernal-couple-yak-it-up&widget=push&article-Vernal-couple-yak-it-up%20=&instance=secondary_story_left_column&open=& A sole proprietor Meet Vernal’s premier pedorthist We gangly bipeds rely on our feet to propel us, absorb the shocks as we roll merrily along, and keep us from falling flat on our Homo sapiens faces.
Shod in shoddy shoes, and pounding paved surfaces of civilized society, it’s no small wonder our feet are killing us.
Welcome to the world of Randal I. Merrell, world-class boot maker and pedorthist.
Podiatrist? No, that’s pedorthist.
Some clarification is in order.
"‘Ped’ is step. ‘Pod’ is foot," Merrell, 58, expl ains from Merrell Footlab located near the mouth of Dry Fork Canyon. ‘Ortho,’ he continues, "means straight, correct, pure – as in the Orthodox Church. ‘Ist’ is a suffix, meaning ‘one who is concerned with.’ So being a pedorthist, I am concerned with making steps pure, straight, correct, etc." (Click link below for complete article.) http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news_features&id=693277-Meet-Vernal-s-premier-pedorthist&article-Meet-Vernal-s-premier-pedorthist%20=&widget=push&instance=lead_story_bullets_left_column&open=& Frozen-turkey bowling Poultry in motion Part urban legend, part stock boy’s reprieve from the tedium of restocking shelves at 3 a.m., frozen turkey bowling, talons down, is the most creative, if not most bizarre, use of Meleagris gallopavo.
For the record: Bowling with a frozen turkey is not the same as getting a "turkey" in regular bowling.
That turkey, explains Dinah Bowl Manager Larie Dawn Oaks — L.D. to the Vernal bowling crowd — is league lingo for making three consecutive strikes. When that happens, a turkey, sometimes an animated turkey, appears or dances on the scoreboard.
But back to frozen turkey bowling. (Click link below for complete article.) http://vernal.com/pages/full_story?article-poultry-in-motion-Turkey-bowling-%20=&page_label=news_features&id=723001-poultry-in-motion-Turkey-bowling-&widget=push&instance=secondary_story_left_column&open=& Karate instructor earns his chops With his bald pate, body locked perfectly still in lotus position, eyes closed to the hectic outside world, Tang Soo Do Master Instructor Steven Wallenda, a fourth-degree black belt, certainly looks the part.
But make no mistake; he has the chops to go with his newly minted title. He’s also a direct descendant of the world-famous Flying Wallendas, known internationally for their expertise in the art of flying trapeze. (Click link below for complete article.)
http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?page_label=results_content&id=294134-Karate-instructor-earns-his-chops&article-Karate-instructor-earns-his-chops%20=&widget=push&open=& Way to go Thomson-Blackburn Vernal Mortuary Alone upstairs in the casket showroom is fascinating, more than a little creepy, but surprisingly peaceful.
Aligned head to toe are some 20 polished metal and varnished wooden caskets. With their white, padded liners, they look much like twin beds. Comfortable twin beds at that.
To lie down in one (keep the lid open, please), while still on this side of the grass, is tempting – just to see how it feels.
But the opportunity to "play dead" ends with the arrival of TyAnn Blackburn, 37, who, with husband, Mitch, 42, owns and operates Thomson-Blackburn Vernal Mortuary at 15 E 100 N, Vernal’s sole mortuary and funeral home. She is at ease in the casket room, pointing out their features as if she were describing mattresses, cars or appliances. She does so with a smile and unbridled enthusiasm. (Click link below for complete article.)
http://www.vernal.com/pages/full_story?hash=comments_333186&page_label=full_story&id=333186&article-Way-to-go-Thomson-Blackburn-Vernal-Mortuary%20=&widget=push&open=&#comments_333186
PM Magazine
Bill “Rusty” Fraser City manager and musician is Montpelier's main attraction "It's like a benevolent dictatorship," Montpelier City Manager Bill Fraser says with a wry grin from his office at Montpelier's city hall. Fraser, 48, is referring to his lead role in Rusty Romance, the “roots ‘n’ roll” band he fronts under his alter ego, Rusty: cowboy-hatted, often hidden behind shades, and always closing the show with his upbeat song, “We Brought the Fun.” The band functions somewhat like the city, Fraser says, in that it has “really great people” who bring in ideas and initiatives. “We sort them out. . . . I might try to say, ‘Well, here’s the general direction I’d like us to go in,’ and then everyone figures out, as a team, how we’re going to get there.” Ah, spoken like a true diplomat. Diplomacy, it seems, is city manager Fraser’s forte. (Click link below for complete story.) http://icma.org/pm/9006/public/profile.cfm?author=&title=Profile
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