Sayings cause cup ruckus at Starbucks
The latest saying in the Starbucks’ “The Way I See It” series is causing a stir in Coeur d’Alene coffee shops. Controversial quote by gay S.F. writer Armistead Maupin on Cup No. 43? “My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don’t make that mistake yourself. Life’s too damn short.” Concerned Women for America has its cross-hairs on the Maupin cup. Ditto cuss-tomers at the local Starbucks. The giant java company sez it’s trying to “promote open, respectful conversation among a wide variety of individuals.” And, indeed, the cups include quotes from a range of thinkers, including conservative National Review Editor Jonah Goldberg. Mebbe that’s why Starbucks includes this mealy-mouthed disclaimer on the cups: “This is the author’s opinion – not necessarily that of Starbucks.” Nice try.
Be careful out there
You think we’re far removed from the mob that terrorized New Orleans for days after the levees burst? Think again. Huckleberries hears that customers at one Coeur d’Alene gas station were unruly at the height of the gas-price scare earlier this month and close to rioting. Seems one guy pinned another against a pump and a fist fight between refuelers sent another man to Kootenai Medical Center ER … BTW, the CdA fire department didn’t over-respond to an emergency when it sent a fleet of vehicles to Third and Locust Sept. 9, as some thought. The firefighters were loading food and supplies collected by a local title company for the ravaged Gulf Coast states. But it doesn’t hurt to let our public servants know we’re watching them, even when they’re doing good.
Overheard
“Let’s face it,” said one coffee sipper to another as they sat outside CdA’s Starbucks watching the girls go by, “Pam Anderson isn’t exactly an Academy Award winning actress.” Neither was Burt Reynolds … The good news about the “Mitch-A-Palooza” kegger hosted by four GU off-campus student houses on East Sinto Avenue/Spokane, according to the Gonzaga Bulletin? The 21-keg salute to a student who turned 21 Sept. 10 raised about $5,000 for hurricane relief. The bad news? Neighbors were ticked because partiers were out-of-control. In other words, a good time wasn’t had by all … That toilet paper trailing the Honeybucket being pulled on a trailer along Four Mound Road the other day reminded Jon Livingston/Spokane of the time, decades ago, that his 70-something mother-in-law approached the communion rail with about a foot of tissue sprouting from the top of her slacks.
Patty Duke at 16
OK, you know that Coeur d’Alene’s Anna “Patty Duke” Pearce is a great actress on screen and stage and that she played identical cousins at age 16 on her 1960s sitcom. But do you recall the hit single she cut about that time? And, for extra credit, can you tell Huckleberries which one of the following songs she did NOT cover on her album of the same name: “Say Something Funny,” “Danke Schoen,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry” and “Downtown.” You can find the answer at Huckleberries Online today ( www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/nhb) … Razzberries (Or, How to Beat Avista’s Price Gouging for Natural Gas and Survive the Winter): 1. Burn wood until Gang Green succeeds in outlawing its use, 2. Protest at public meetings, believing – ahaha, ohhoho, heeheehee – it makes a difference, 3. Cuddle, 4. Turn off the heater and hibernate from 4:30 in the afternoon until daybreak under six blankets and comforters, or 5. Say, “Damn the power company, I’ll freeze.”
Huckleberries
“At seventy-five,/they race bumper to grill:/the Indy 500,/but minus the skill” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“I-90 Speedway”) … On Mark Fuhrman’s pending departure from KGA: “They discovered early on that Fuhrman could not deliver the ratings they had hoped for but had to honor the contract they gave him to make the move from KXLY” – radio pioneer John Rook … It could be worse for Richard A. Nixon. He could be a politician or attorney rather than the new senior veep/loan manager for Coeur d’Alene’s BankCDA. Then, he’s probably heard every Tricky Dick joke in existence … Bumpersnicker on a tan Escort on Highway 95 spotted by Steve Granat: “I’m a musician and I support file sharing” … Huckleberries hears that Laurie Roth, the conservative radio firebrand critically injured in a motorcycle accident three weeks ago, “is speaking freely and able to move about her room on her own power.” Seems Laurie is eager to return home and resume her life, including her nightly national radio show.
Parting Shot
Gimlet-eyed Joel Smith wonders how Spokane City Council wannabe Judith Gilmore could be 61 and claim in an S-R article that her fave president was “John Kennedy, the first president I could vote for, who inspired young people.” At 61, Judith would have been 15 or 16 in 1960 when JFK was elected prez. Mebbe she meant woulda voted for JFK if she coulda? A lot of us teenagers were that way in the winsome days of Camelot.