The Comet October 25, 2017

Wednesday, october 25, 2017

FOR MATURE READERS

“A big celebration of Matt” On Nov. 18, 14 local bands will play a show to raise money for the family of Matt Folden, who was killed by police this summer.

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EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE

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THIS issue co-editors: Ron Evans & Holly Thorpe contributors: Cory Calhoun, Dustin Hays, Dan McConnell on the cover: Matt Folden photo by Steph Helley WEB: thecometmagazine.com facebook.com/thecometmagazine instagram: @thecometmagazine info@thecometmagazine.com

twitter: @cometmagazine

Don’t quit your day job.......PAGE 4 crossword...........................PAGE 7 events..................................PAGE 8 matt folden.........................PAGE 12 b-sides..................................PAGE 16 comet tales.........................PAGE 18 edgar rue comic..................PAGE 20 the spacepod.......................PAGE 22

photo by steph helley

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COMET HEADQUARTERS october 25, 2017

meant for the punk rock and tattoo scene in Wenatchee.

But for me, one of the absolute coolest things about this issue is how much stuff the three of us didn’t make. We had so many different people reach out and offer to contribute their work to us. And it’s all awesome.

Cory Calhoun, the master anagrammist from Issue 1, designed a custommade crossword puzzle just for this magazine. The puzzle is Wenatcheethemed and pairs perfectly with a rainy Sunday and a hot cup of coffee.

On the same page is a comic by Dan McConnell, a local cartoonist who’s had work published numerous regional and national publications, including Readers Digest and The Good Life.

In our Comet Tales section, we asked for your writing and you delivered.

We have work published by three local writers who submitted short stories and poetry that range from funny to charming to absolutely chilling. I’m never surprised but always delighted by the talent that somehow resides in this funny little town.

Note From The Editors.

Earlier this month, I was responding to the question I get most often about The Comet: “So, what exactly is it about?”

“It’s an arts, culture and nightlife magazine for Wenatchee.”

“Wenatchee has culture?” They exclaimed, only really half-joking.

To that we say: Hell yes, it does.

Here’s all the art, culture and nightlife we managed to pack into Issue 2: My co-editor Ron wrote a piece about what happens when an artist quits their day job. With Shelby Jo Campbell, he discusses the topics that plague artists of every kind: what does it mean to sell out? How do you define good and meaningful work? How do you know when the time is right to give up the security of a paycheck in order to pursue your own work?

Dustin Hays, our in-house local music encyclopedia, does a deep dive into the story of one Wenatchee musician who somehow managed to get a South American release of his album. As he ponders just how this happened, he paints an interesting little vignette of the Wenatchee music scene of the 1960s.

Our cover story, about the Matt Folden Benefit Show this November, is really about two things: the impact Matt Folden had on the local music scene, and the wildly supportive underground arts community here that’s giving back to his family. We spoke to his friends, family and the people who were fans of his music and art about what his life — and death —

We also have some ghost stories. Because it’s still technically October, damn it! (That’s right, we said damn it. You might’ve noticed the mature readers notice on the cover this issue — that’s entirely due to the healthy sprinkling of profanity within.) Ron compiled some of the best paranormal stories from his podcast to share with us that may make you sleep with the light on tonight.

And because we both firmly (and correctly) believe autumn is the best time of year, we put together a massive events section for you, so you could make the most of this most magical season before it’s gone. There’s so much theater and music and other interesting stuff to do, that you’re going to have to be picky because you can’t see it all.

There’s art, culture and nightlife everywhere in this town — if you know where to look. And the place to look is right here.

Cheers, Holly Thorpe Co-editor, The Comet Magazine Ron Evans is the co-owner of RadarStation art gallery at 115 S. Wenatchee Ave., host of the Tales from the Spacepod podcast, author of “Edgar Rue,” and creator of many other things, many of which have robots in them. He is co-editor of The Comet and our lead designer.

Holly Thorpe is a journalist, a bartender and an okay poet. She has a cat named Stark and a puppy named Jameson that you should know about it.

She is co-editor of The Comet and owner/founder of BUZZ NCW, a beer, cider and spirits blog. Check it out at buzzncw.com.

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Don’t quit your day job: or do and see what happens

Shelby Jo Campbell painting on location at Red Top Lookout on Blewett Pass.

by ron evans

W

e have all thought or even fantasized about quitting our day job to pursue a dream. Burning down the old world to forge a new path with brazen but focused independence and perhaps even a dash of “take this job and shove it” thrown in for good measure. And while artist Shelby Jo Campbell may not have exited her day job in quite such a dramatic fashion, it was a thrilling and life-changing event all the same.

It was during a mundane afternoon at this very day job that Shelby had a realization.

“I was working in a boutique in Leavenworth where we were selling the creativity of other people,” she recalled. “Suddenly, it occurred to me that I should, instead, be focused on getting my own creative works out to the masses.”

This spark led to Shelby nervously but decidedly putting in her two weeks notice to do just that.

“I had to listen to that voice,” she said. “Don’t ask for signs and then ignore them when they show up.”

Born and raised in Cashmere, Shelby developed an interest in drawing and painting at a young age and was surrounded by support when

it came to her dream of making art She also takes on commercial into a full time situation. Her family work and commissions to help pull and friends were early supporters her share in between art sales. but when her high school art teach“Today I was painting the Beanieer, Claudia Eliot, offered earnest Babies Ty logo on a mural in Leavencouragement it had a profound enworth,” she said, laughing. impact on her. She did the running “I do a lot of sign-making and comstart program at Wenatchee Valley missioned paintings. This is the sort College where Art Department Diof thing that you just have to say yes rector Scott Bailey nourished and to. This is what pays the bills, along encouraged her with these little efforts as well. guys,” she said This continued to a “Don’t ask for signs and pointing support culmipair of vividly nated in Shelby then ignore them when colored landapplying and they show up.” scape paintgetting accepted ings drying on into The Art Ina counter in stitute of Bosher downtown ton. Early on, sketching and collage studio space she rents from The were the primary focus for her, but Wenatchee World. “It’s tough when in school she was mostly studying you want to be working on someillustration. After feeling unsatisthing that is a passion project infied with sketching and working stead, but this is a way to make ends with acrylics, she flirted and fell in meet while still keeping me paintlove with watercolors and gouache ing.” paintings, and these remain her meMost of her commission requests diums of choice. come via word-of-mouth suggesShe acknowledges she could not tions but many arrive through her have chased down an art career this website. vehemently on her own.

“It’s so encouraging and flatter“My husband has been very suping when people seek you out for portive and having that safety net a piece, even if it is not one that made it a less scary decision,” she speaks to you on a personal level.” said.

Shelby turns her gaze toward the

center of her studio.

“This is the new toy,” she said, pulling a bright pink silkscreen from the belly of what looks like a giant robot spider and places it on one of the beast’s legs. She stares at it with a mixture of pride and puzzlement.

“I have wanted a silkscreen setup for a while now and the opportunity arose, so here it is.”

Along with “painting for hire” gigs, she plans on earning income by selling boutique items bearing images of her work.

“Hats, t-shirts, hoodies and pullovers for now,” she said. “It’s all new to me and I keep messing up.

But I’m getting there.”

Her goal is to run her own boutique fully stocked with her art and products but for now she sells her handcrafted goods on her website.

The shirt-making robot spider is essentially the only reason she rents a studio at all.

“My passion is painting on location out in open air. It’s a completely different thing for me to be working inside,” she said. “I feel like a piece has a memory attached to it in some way when I paint there in the actual spot. When I’m painting a rowboat while sitting in 30 degree weather near a lake in Iceland, for example, there is a connection I have with

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WEDGE mountain

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there is a connection I have with that painting you couldn’t get in a studio. I could paint it from a photograph but none of that experience or process is quite the same for me.”

She discovered this phenomenon during her three years the art institute where students would spend many hours sketching the cityscapes of Boston on walkabouts for assignments. This training also came in handy after school when she began to travel more.

“I soon realized that I wasn’t painting at all because I was always on the go, so I decided to pare down and make smaller paintings with a setup that could fit in my backpack.”

While the practicality of this decision was somewhat based on a

COLCHUCK LAKE

THE COMET discipline, it also had a key impact on her work. Smaller, more focused pieces became a bit of a trademark for her while she began to shed the larger acrylic paintings she had been showing in galleries and cafes around the Wenatchee area. The gallery world is not one Shelby is comfortable with on some levels.

“I’m really an introvert so that part of the whole process is tough, but working in retail helped in teaching me how to approach people on that sort of level,” she said.

Learning to schmooze and pitch her work to others is an ongoing work in progress but she acknowledges the thrill and meaningfulness of selling her work, beyond padding the bank account.

“Selling a hat with my art on it is awesome, but selling an original is still a mind-blowing experience,” she said. “There is room for both but they are completely different things.”

For now, while Shelby is thankful for her decision to leave the comforts of a bi-weekly paycheck to dedicate her days to her dream, she’s not content with her current output or level of success.

“That’s what keeps you going.

That need. That’s why I left my job.

I knew I needed to or I was never going to put everything I have into it like this.”

There are many who find it tacky to even discuss money when talking about art which can make the waters

LAKE WENATCHEE STATE PARK

even tougher to navigate for people trying/daring to make a living on their creative endeavors. Of course, the topic of “selling out” is obligatory in the art world, but Shelby has her own take on that notion.

“I’m doing what I love even if it’s the commercial stuff. How is that selling out?” She said. “To me, working a 9 to 5 job that wasn’t fulfilling to me, solely for the paycheck, was the ultimate form of selling out.”

Follow Shelby’s journey online at www.shelbyjomichael.com Instagram: shelby.paints.mountains And shop at: heirloomclothingco.com All photos provided by the artist. c

THE COMET

MEETING RIVERS, CROSSING WORDS

By Cory Calhoun

This puzzle is custom-made for The Comet’s print edition. Readers and puzzlers will figure out pretty quickly what’s meant by that, but there are plenty of challenges and fun surprises to be discovered, too.

For those hardcore crossword fanatics keeping score at home, this also happens to be a pangrammatic crossword, using every letter of the alphabet at least once.

ACROSS 1 Feral 5 1983 Tony winner for Best Musical 9 Gorilla of sign-language fame 13 Beloved, in Arabic (or last name of Ellensburg native and former NFLer Brian) 15 Word on an octagon 16 Bon Ami competitor 17 What “that” is when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie 18 Actress Skye 19 Sorvino role opposite Kudrow’s Michele 20 37-Across recreation destination 23 Chap 24 Bickers 28 Meager 31 First name of 37-Across site with propeller vessels and flotation devices 34 Put on 35 Corrosive agent 36 Canadian prov. where BnL formed 37 Theme of this puzzle … and home to 1-Across + 5-Across and 68-Across + 69-Across 42 “_____ Had a Million Dollars” (BnL song) 43 Watchers of SEA, LAX, and JFK 44 Actress and first Lara Croft model Rhona _____ 45 First name of 37-Across site with propeller vessels and flotation devices 48 “Yes, it is your fault!”, in the schoolyard 49 January in Jalisco 50 “It is proven,” in math 51 37-Across celebration inspiration 59 Musical forte of 37-Across native Don Lanphere 62 Glowing review 63 “_____ quiet!”

64 Bygone Sony PDA 65 Done with 66 Fencers’ needs 67 Bay Area cops, briefly 68 Wheeze 69 That woman’s

DOWN 1 Comics impact sound 2 “_____ Said” (Neil Diamond song) 3 Some corp. mergers 4 N, S, E, and W, for ex.

5 CBS detective drama, 2004-2013 6 Suffix with comment or liquid 7 R&B’s Braxton 8 Went too fast 9 Mr. Abdul-Jabbar 10 Iberian eye 11 C hancellor of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” 12 Acne-fighting brand 14 New Orleans fritter 21 See 54-Down 22 Q uaker-founded Ore. sch. attended

by Pres. Hoover 25 Curved metal fasteners 26 Pesos 27 Current Microsoft head honcho _____ Nadella 28 Tennis great _____ Edberg 29 Sharp tooth 30 Turkish leader 31 Like an arrest-free record 32 “_____ Como Va” (Santana song) 33 Tolstoy’s untranslated first name 34 Use, or steal, a card 38 Top money exec at a co.

39 Belly-laugh syllable 40 Morphine-like drug with a name that looks like an impatient question 41 Ball cap, slangily 46 Picked at a buffet 47 Groove 48 It follows Guillermo and Benicio 50 Arcade pyramid hopper 52 Set object 53 Molten stuff 54 With 21-Down, plateau 55 Tenth-grader, briefly 56 _____’Pea (Popeye character) 57 ’80s host of MTV’s Remote Control Ken _____ 58 Military dining hall 59 DoD advisory grp.

60 Sitcom about a cat-eating alien 61 Bupkus

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GTFO: EVENTS WORTH LEAVING YOUR HOUSE FOR

AUTHOR PATRICIA MCCORMICK

Live music at Wally’s House of Booze all month long Wally’s is busy this fall with tunes all month long. All shows are $5 (unless otherwise noted) and music starts at 9:30 p.m.

• Oct. 27: Bad Habit, Children In Heat, plus guests • Oct. 28: Authority Zero, Mouse Powell, The Peculiar Pretzelmen; $15 tickets • Nov. 3: The Guessing Game, The Requisite, Papa T • Nov. 4: Thunderhound and Cobrahawk; $10 tickets • Nov. 11: The Co Founder, Himiko Cloud, These Guitars Say Sorry • Nov. 18: Matt Folden Benefit Show (read about the benefit and see the schedule on page 12)

Oct. 26-28: 12 Angry Men at Riverside Playhouse It’s the show’s last weekend, but we had to mention it.

Perhaps one of the most aptly titled plays of all time, ‘12 Angry Men’ is being performed at the Riverside Playhouse by Music Theatre of Wenatchee. Directed by Matthew Pippin and produced by Melissa Carlson, this show features a lot of local talent and a few new faces.

Check out the show’s description (tl;dr: a jury determines whether someone is guilty of murder) and get your tickets at mtow.org.

Oct. 27, 28 and 31: Scary Ranch 2017 Feeling brave? The Scary Ranch is an interactive haunted adventure that sends you wandering through a gory maze of monsters and into the haunted Old Barn on Sunshine Ranch. Tickets are $15 and visitors will park at the Hot Rod Cafe at 2960 Easy St. and take the scary shuttle to the ranch. You can get tickets early on eventbrite.com, just search “Scary Ranch 2017.” The ranch is for thrill-seekers ages 12 and up only.

REALLY, REALLY OLD FOOD

A DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR

Numerica Performing Arts Center

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center

• Oct. 28: Hallow-Queens Drag Show presented by YWCA NCW Every year, our local YWCA brings drag talent from around the state to Wenatchee for the Hallow-Queens Drag Show. Jessica Rabbid will be your host for a night of entertainment, humor and just so much dancing.

The show’s for a good cause too: all proceeds benefit YWCA’s emergency homeless shelter for women and women with children. Tickets are available at numericapac.org, and they tend to go fast. There are also VIP tickets for those who want to arrive early and get a picture with the queens.

• Nov. 1: Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) Celebrate Día de los Muertos with music, dancing and food on Nov. 1 form 6-8 p.m. at the museum. From their event page: “The event, sponsored by Columbia Valley Community Health, is free and open to the public. Visitors will have a chance to learn about this important Mexican holiday tradition of honoring the dead and see beautiful displays designed to memorialize deceased family members.” There will also be a free altar workshop from 9 a.m. to noon the same day. Altars are created to honor loved ones. Pre-register to create an altar to be displayed through Nov. 6 by calling 888-6243.

• nov 10: Femmes of Rock starring Bella Electric Strings If you’re like us, your first reaction to watching the trailer for the Femmes of Rock show coming to the PAC will be, “Frankly, I didn’t know violins could do that.” A group of badass ladies playing string instruments are going to melt faces this November with some impressive covers of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Queen, ELO and many others of classic rock legend. The touring show has received a lot of praise for not only being musically stunning, but visually awesome as well. Check out the trailer and get your tickets at numericapac.org/event/femmes-of-rock/.

• Nov. 14: “Seed: The Untold Story” screening Documentaries, especially the ones about agriculture and history, are badass, and don’t let anyone tell you differently. This one in particular sounds interesting.

From the event page: “In the last century, 94 percent of our seed varieties have disappeared. ‘Seed: The Untold Story’ follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000-year-old food legacy. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of food.” The film and discussion is from 7-9 p.m. at the museum. It is part of the ongoing Environment Film & Lecture Series at the museum.

• Nov. 11: In My Life - A musical theatre tribute to the Beatles This part-cover band, part-documentary musical tribute to the Beatles came to Wenatchee in 2015 with much success. The show is narrated by late Beatles manager Brian Epstein and spans the band’s career, from the Ed Sullivan Show to their final performance.

The music is by tribute band Abbey Road, who will perform over 30 Beatles songs. Tickets and more details are at numericapac.org/event/in-my-life/.

Wenatchee Public Library • Nov. 13: An evening with author Patricia McCormick In 2006, Patricia McCormick’s book “Sold” was published. It tells the story of a 13-year-old Nepalese girl who was sold by her family into sex slavery. On Nov. 13, the author will speak at the library following a 5 p.m. screening of the film based off of the book.

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• Nov. 15: “The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food

Tells Us About History, Culture, Love and Memory” lecture To be honest, we originally included this for the lecture title, which would make a great band name, if you ask us. But for those interested in storytelling, food and history, the lecture could be a lot of fun. From the library: “Author and broadcaster Harriet Baskas explores how and why ancient foods hold memories, tell stories, and connect people with family, culture and history. Baskas has written seven books and created radio programs and other projects for NPR, NBC News, CNBC, and USA.” The lecture is at 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 3-18: “The Turn of the Screw” presented by Full Circle Theatre Company Full Circle Theatre Company is back with their secondever fall production, “The Turn of the Screw.” The play is an adaptation of the Henry James story. From the event page: “This captivating and mysterious tale of a young governess, hired and left on her own to care for the children of Bly Manor, will have you asking: is she there to save the children from evil, seductive spirits, or is she simply going quite mad?” The show runs Nov. 3-4, 9-11 and 17-18. All shows are at 8 p.m. Nov. 9 is pay-what-you-can night and Nov. 11 is $10 admission for veterans. Regular ticket price is $15. Get more info and book tickets at fullcircletheatrecompany.org.

Nov. 4: Pray for Snow party It’s cold. And there’s a certain segment of the population that is really fucking stoked about that.

If that’s you, check out the Pray for Snow party and concert Nov. 4 from 6-10 p.m. in the parking lot behind Arlberg Sports (25 N. Wenatchee Ave.). The party is 21-and-up and features a beer garden and live music

by Buzz Brump and ANDONIMUS. There will also be a screening of “Lifted: A Ski Film for the Rest of Us.” Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Proceeds from the beer garden will go to Leavenworth Ski Hill, Badger Mountain Ski Area, and Echo Valley Ski Area.

Nov.9-11 & 16-18: the little mermaid In Disney’s beguiling animated romp, rebellious 16-year-old mermaid Ariel is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince. Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days. But when plans go awry for the star-crossed lovers, the king must make the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter. November 9-11 and 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. November 11 and 18 at 2 p.m. at the Wenatchee High School Auditorium. Tickets available at the PAC box office or numericapac.org

Nov. 11: 17th Annual Laugh Riot Get a case of the giggles at the Wenatchee Convention Center. Two comedians headline the show, which lasts from 7-10 p.m. Tyler Boeh began his comedy career in Portland, by taking second place in the Portland Comedy Competition and won the Oregon International Comedy Competition. Since, he’s performed across the country and is known for his high-energy delivery and clever use of beatboxing. Tracy Smith is well-known in the comedy world and on television, with specials on Comedy Central and Canada’s The Comedy Network, plus appearances on HBO, NBC and A&E. She’s wickedly honest with a charming, relatable on-stage presence. Get your tickets and more details at laughriot.net.

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Nov. 19: ReelRock screening at Riverfront

Rock Gym Even non-climbers will be impressed by the films being screened Nov. 19 at the climbing gym. They follow rock climbers who are daring, resilient and maybe just a little bit crazy as they scale mountains in breathtakingly pretty places. The ReelRock tour spans the globe and hits up many major cities in the States. Tickets for the screening are $15 and proceeds benefit Footholds, a new nonprofit that offers financial support to young people who want to learn to climb. Get the details and tickets at riverfrontrockgym.com. Screening starts at 7 p.m.

Nov. 27: Fundraiser for Chelan County Mountain Rescue Fact: Beer tastes better when you’re drinking it for a good cause. There will be trivia and a raffle at Saddle Rock Pub & Brewery from 4-8 p.m. to support the Chelan County Mountain Rescue. Chelan County Mountain Rescue is a volunteer organization that keeps the outdoorsy folks who venture into the backcountry safe.

Are you putting on a cool event? Is your band playing in town? To have an event listed in The Comet, email info@thecometmagazine.com

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wenatchee first friday Colder weather shouldn’t stop you from checking out the First Friday art walk this November. Eleven venues bring a wide variety of local art to Wenatchee. Cindy Rietveldt with Wenatchee First Fridays helped put together this list of shows, along with their First Friday hours. Remember, while most places have special events, artists receptions and free admission during First Friday, the art itself is on exhibit all month long in most locations.

Mela

17 N. Wenatchee Ave. caffemela.com

First Fridays artist’s reception: 5-8 p.m.

Alessandra Piro exhibits “Confluence”, a new collection of encaustic paintings inspired by the topography of local streams and rivers at their convergence. The show runs through Nov. 28.

Guests can enjoy complimentary refreshments.

Tumbleweed Shop & Studio 105 Palouse First Friday hours: 5-8 p.m.

Sarah Sims, the creator of Third Eye Designs Jewelry, started her business in 2007, and it has been growing ever since. Her love of nature, stones and crystals became her inspiration for creating simple, sustainable, wearable art. Her Earth-friendly jewelry is made with recycled sterling silver, gold fill wire, and semiprecious stones. She handcrafts each piece in her cozy studio in downtown Wenatchee.

Two Rivers

102 N Columbia 2riversgallery.com Frist Friday reception: 5-8 p.m.

In November, Two Rivers is featuring acrylic paintings

by Marti Lyttle. Her landscapes, figures and botanicals are an emotional impact of form and color. Music for the opening reception will be provided by “Well Strung,” Jac Tiechner & Steve Sanders. Wines for the evening will be from the Horan Estates Winery.

Robert Graves Gallery

Wenatchee Valley College First Friday reception: 5-7 p.m.

“Laguna Beach California Artists from the Mid-20th Century” will be on display through Nov. 19. Selected items from the collection of over 300 works of contemporary art, drawings, sculptures, ceramics and artifacts.

These items were a gift to the Robert Graves gallery from art collector Dr. Don Smith. Smith collected choice works of Southern California artists in the 1960s and 1970s. This unique and stunning collection shows the scope of a collector’s skill in putting together representative period works. Complimentary refreshments will be available.

Two Rivers

102 N Columbia 2riversgallery.com First Friday reception: 5-8 p.m.

WATER, EARTH & SKY is the featured work of artist Lynn Wright Brown. She says, “For many years I have enjoyed painting pastel landscapes and sometimes portraits of animals and children on commission. Recently, I decided to try my hand at painting more abstracted pictures using acrylics. This show is the result.” Music

by Connie Celustka on hammered dulcimer; wines by Ryan Patrick Winery.

MAC Gallery

Ye Olde Bookshoppe

11 Palouse St. First Friday hours: 5-8 p.m.

This First Friday will be a book signing by Larry Wayne Miller, AKA The Peanut Butter Kid. About the books: “Set in the northeastern plains of Colorado, these are coming of age tales about a country boy’s life on a hard-scrabble farm in Weldon Valley in the 1950’s and 1960’s. These stories will make you laugh and make you cry, they will surprise and uplift you. Hear the strains of an old Gospel hymn being whistled in the dark, and learn how Larry got the nickname, ‘The Peanut Butter Kid.’ You will learn a little about farming and a lot about neighborliness. Most of all, you will read this book from cover to cover, and then read it again.”

Wenatchee Valley College Music and Art Center First Friday reception: 5-7 p.m.

Sara Jane brings attention to the serious issue of sexual violence with a poignant installation of suspended glass globes in her exhibit “Mere Objects.” “I reached out online and in person, inviting participants to choose objects to represent themselves and their stories. It is a concrete act of reclaiming agency and bearing witness to this important truth: that sexual violence may affect us deeply, but it can never define us.” The objects are suspended in tiny round bottles and bathed in light, suggesting wholeness and transparency. And yet they are fragile; after all, these are not easy stories to tell, or to hear. The show is on display until Dec. 15. There will be an artist reception and lecture on Dec. 1.

Lemolo Cafe & Deli

114 N Wenatchee Ave. Open First Friday until 6 p.m.

Lemolo presents local landscape photography by the amazing duo Brian Mitchell and Josh Tarr of American Shoe Shop. They showcase Pacific Northwest scenes on printed canvas and aluminum that really make our area look spectacular!”

The Hunter’s Wife 112 N. Wenatchee Ave. Friday hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In November, The Hunter’s Wife will be featuring paintings by Martha Flores. Martha’s expressionist art comes from the heart and her canvases range from abstract organic forms to figurative works all in her trademark bright colors.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center 127 South Mission Street wenatcheevalleymuseum.org First Friday hours (FREE Admission): 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Come and see the altars assembled for Día de los Muertos throughout the lobby and performance area. In the main gallery view “Apple Capital Records: A musical history of the Wenatchee Valley.”

From the earliest days of the pioneers entertaining themselves on the back porch to those who left here in search of stardom, we look at the music produced in our valley through the decades. Upstairs in the Blue Gallery “Washington’s Great War” is on display through Veterans Day

RadarStation 115 S. Wenatchee Ave. First Friday hours: 4-9 p.m.

This month’s show is “CONTRAST: A Black & White Art Show.” From the gallery:” It’s our annual Black & White show featuring drawings, photography, paintings and sculptures absent of color. This is always our most eclectic show and we highly encourage (but don’t demand) guests to arrive wearing black and white. All grey-scale mini paintings in the Dish of Fate!”

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‘A BIG CELEBRATION OF MATT’:

Matt Folden benefit show will be a showcase of local music BY holly thorpe

O

n Nov. 18, Wally’s House of Booze will host the Matt Folden Benefit Show.

The show will be the largest showcase of local music in recent history at Wally’s, featuring 14 bands. The show is to raise money for the family of Matt Folden, a local tattoo artist and musician who was killed by police in July.

Folden was shot to death outside of Albertson’s by Wenatchee police officer Albert Gonzalez. Folden was 31 and is survived by his two young children.

Raising money for them is the main goal of this benefit, said co-organizer Andy “Ando” Peart. Peart is a longtime bartender at Wally’s and co-owner of Snatchee Records, a music label that does booking, promotion and merch for local bands.

“If we can get his kids some Christmas presents or help with the funeral costs, or anything, that’s something we could do,” Peart said. “We’re a small little tattooed punk rock circle in this town, but we can still do a little bit of something for some people.”

Peart said this isn’t the first benefit show they’ve held at Wally’s, but it’s one of the closest to him personally.

“Matt has always been a staple of Snatchee Records. When I’d go to the studio he would be there, when he’d go to the studio I would be there, even when he moved away and did his tattoo thing and started playing with the EDM guys he was still punk rock Matt to all of us, still Matt from The Wreks.”

Folden most notably performed with The Wreks, Jipsea Party and The Rich and Rare Rebels and was well-known and liked among the local music community, said local music historian and musician Dustin Hays.

“He was in the three most important punk bands in Wenatchee over the last decade,” Hays said. “He just had a huge reach — a ton of people were affected by this. A large percentage of the people that knew him or knew of him are like, ‘Yeah, this is fucked up, we want to help.’ ”

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The benefit show will last from 3 p.m. until last call. The line-up is all local, except for one band from Yakima that plays Wally’s frequently.

Peart said all of the musicians were eager to participate and help out.

Two of the bands playing have family members of Folden in them, including Himiko Cloud guitarist Kyle Folden, Matt’s cousin, and singersongwriter Troy Lindsey, Kyle’s uncle.

Lindsey knew Matt mostly through the music scene, although he said they interacted at family gatherings as well. He described Folden as a “calming soul” and a “hippie.”

The main reason he wanted to participate, he said, was to raise money for Folden’s children. But he also thought the event would continue an ongoing conversation about law enforcement locally.

“I’m not here to point fingers, but this can’t happen and it can’t occur again. That’s a high price to pay for a knife… I’m appalled that three bullets went inside his chest,” he continued, adding, “Any of us could have been in that situation.”

Lindsey is the first in the lineup, which Peart said goes from quietest to loudest. Himiko Cloud, the band

Kyle said Matt also introduced him Kyle Folden plays with, will be the to punk rock and was the one that last of the evening. taught him his first power chord.

Kyle, 27, said he grew up spending “It totally changed my life,” Kyle a lot of time with Matt and his two said. “I owe a lot to him. So this is siblings. As they got older, the two really cool to be a part of this show.” often played shows together in their Peart said the show would be own bands. standing-room only and that he ex“He’s in general a very special hupected there would be people waitman being. Matt’s overall philosophy ing to get in throughout most of the was heavily based on the human race show. Cover from the door (a sugcoming together and making the gested $5), jell-o shots from Wally’s, world a better place, his vision was Snatchee Records merchandise and kind of just about love and expresproceeds from sion and art and a raffle being family. He was a co-organized huge family guy,” “We’re a small little

by Hays will Kyle said. “The tattooed punk rock circle in all go to Matt’s biggest thing this town, but we can still family, he said. that I got from Already, gift Matt is when I do a little bit of something certificates was younger I for some people.” from multiple was really, like, tattoo shops, kind of weird and items and self-confrom Lemolo’s, Avalon and The Hapscious and introverted and trying py Crop Shoppe have been donated. to navigate the world and I kind of Hays said many more donations are felt like, ‘Why am I so different?’… coming in. Neither he nor Peart were and Matt was like, ‘Dude, you are surprised by the support. weird, but it’s good to be weird, it’s “Our music community, our art awesome. Weird is the spice of life.’ community has always been supHe kind of helped me embrace who portive, has always stepped in when I was and express myself without needed, and I didn’t think this would worrying what anyone else thought.”

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be any different,” Peart said. “We’re a small community that gets overlooked quite a bit. We won’t let that stop us from doing what we can.”

This isn’t the first benefit for Matt.

In August, a tattoo benefit was held

by Michael Graham and Wonderland Tattoo in Wenatchee, and a separate benefit concert was held in Leavenworth.

Peart adds that the benefit is just that: a benefit, and not a rally of any kind.

“I’ve been trying to promote this as not an anti-anything show. It’s not anti-cop, it’s not anti-this or -that, it’s strictly to raise money for his children,” he said. “We’re going to have the same rules at Wally’s that we have any show or any night: if you come in there and cause problems you’re going to be asked to leave very quickly.”

Peart said he was one of the first of his friends to hear the news that Matt had been killed.

“You see it, and you already think ‘I wonder if I knew that guy.’ But then I started scrolling through the comments and I started seeing his name.

And that’s when all of the sudden my friends started texting me and asking if it was true. It was very confus-

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THE COMET ing and shocking,” he said.

“Oh, obviously I was mad. I was sad. But I’m almost 40 years old, so I’ve lost quite a few friends. But I was shocked to see that that happened in this town. You watch that stuff on Facebook all the time and you never think it could happen to someone you know three blocks from your house.”

Kyle said he was on tour when he got a call from his partner. He’d just finished a show out of town.

“It was ridiculously hard. The first night I was in shock,” he said.

“I wanted to come back, but Matt would have wanted me to finish the tour. I told him about the tour before it happened and he was incredibly stoked, like really happy for us and wanted it to go really well, and I know he would have wanted me to

continue and finish it, so I did and then I came home.”

Kyle said one of the things that has helped him heal after Matt’s death was seeing people come together at the benefits.

“One thing that’s made me better since his passing is seeing everybody come together, because that was kind of part of his vision. The sense of community and everybody working together, that’s what he always talked about: working together and making something beautiful,” he said. “Unfortunately it’s under these circumstances, but that’s really something he strove for.”

The shooting moved Kyle to get involved collecting signatures for Initiative 940. If passed, it would make changes to law enforcement training and standards for using deadly force.

THE COMET Among other things, the initiative would require law enforcement officers to receive violence de-escalation and mental health training. Kyle said he would be collecting signatures at the show.

As for the concert, he said most of all he hopes there will be a lot of energy.

“That’s what we’re going to bring to the table. I’m ready to give it my all and I’m pretty confident that the crowd will join with us and we’ll bounce energy back and forth,” he said. “I’m just hoping for a great time with everybody. Just for a big celebration of Matt.”

And even for those who didn’t know Matt well, he said the show will showcase Wenatchee’s local talent.

“You should come if you want to

see all the different types of local music th at we have to offer,” he said.

“Come check out all the local talent, come see what Snatchee’s all about and come celebrate Matt’s life with us.”

All photos by Steph Helley.

Illustration by Vanessa Ruff. c

Wednesday, october 25, 2017

MATT FOLDEN BENEFIT SHOW

performance SCHEDULE 3:00 p.m.: Troy Lindsey 3:25 p.m.: Cowboy Dan 3:50 p.m.: Michael Carlos 4:15 p.m.: Jake & Maggie 5:00 p.m.: Devil’s Gulch and The Missionaries 5:45 p.m.: Human Element 6:30 p.m.: The Nightmares 7:15 p.m.: Children in Heat 8:00 p.m.: Bad Habit 8:45 p.m.: Not All There 9:30 p.m.: Fresh 2 Death 10:15 p.m.: Rich & Rare Rebels 11:00 p.m.: Heavy Petting 11:45 p.m.: Himiko Cloud

Want to buy a raffle ticket or donate an item to be raffled off?

Contact Snatchee Records on their Facebook page or by emailing snatcheerecords@gmail.com.

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B-SIDES: 1961 - Wenatchee Musician Gets South American Release… Somehow D

igging for old local music gets to be a daunting task once you’ve been doing it for a few years. Rummaging through thrift stores and hitting the occasional yard sale only goes so far, so eBay ends up being the most promising source for cool We n a t c h e e music from DUSTIN HAYS Musician/Music Historian years past.

Late last month I got an eBay notification that said “JACK BEDIENT CHILE RARE.” In a matter of seconds, I had the email opened, link clicked, record purchased and payment sent. There are only a handful of albums that I would buy that quickly…

The record was a Chilean pressing on London Records of Jack Bedient’s songs “Mystic One” and “Questions” that were released as a single on Los Angeles’ ERA Records in 1961.

How in the world did this record get a foreign pressing? It would make sense that a single by Roy Orbison or Buddy Holly would get a British or South American release. Both were huge American artists, and both toured across the country promoting their music. Why would a record company put money into a foreign release of this one-off, debut by a small-town singer?

Jack Bedient was a Wenatchee-raised musician most known for a handful of records he released during the 1960s with his group The Chessmen. The group was originally made up of three other local players: guitarist Kevin Woods, bassist Glenn Taylor and drummer Bill Franklin. After relocating first to California, replacing a few members and settling in Reno, Nevada, they recorded some killer garage rock singles along the way. Arguably the highest point in the group’s career was signing with Columbia Records in 1967. Aside names like Johnny Cash, Barbara Streisand and Aretha Franklin, the group released four singles on the label before breaking their contract and parting ways the following year. After putting out two more singles and a

full-length album, the group disbanded in 1970. Bedient briefly re-appeared in the Reno scene in the mid-’70s with his new group The Royale Brothers. In 1998, Bedient passed away after a short battle with cancer.

Though Bedient’s first solo record “Mystic One” was released in 1961, his music career began six years prior, as a member of the Wenatchee High School choir. In 1955, (Bedient’s senior year) Wenatchee High School released a 7-inch record featuring recordings of the Apple Blossom Royalty announcement ceremony, the band playing a song and the choir singing the Alma Mater. That rare 7-inch became the first of 19 records he would appear on in his lifetime.

After graduating, Jack attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, performing in the university’s Men’s Quartet and Men’s Glee Club. The following year, Jack was forced to drop out and move back to Wenatchee after his girlfriend

found out she was pregnant.

Back in town, Bedient and a fellow Wenatchee High School Class of ‘55 alumni began writing songs together. Alvin Griggs hadn’t been friends with Jack in high school, but the pair bonded over music when they reconnected. Griggs wasn’t much of a musician at the time and didn’t know much about song writing, but he had a knack for writing lyrics.

By the end of 1960, Jack had recorded two songs of their creation. Demo versions of “Mystic One” and “Questions” were recorded in a small studio in Seattle by veteran engineer Kearney Barton. A few years ago Chessmen guitarist Kevin Woods showed me the stripped down recordings. The demos featured a four-piece band backing Bedient, with a Celesta (a keyed idiophone instrument, similar to a piano) accompanying Jack’s voice, and the rest of the instrumentation sitting low in the mix.

By May 20, 1961 Herb Newman the

president of Los Angeles based ERA Records released a statement in Cash Box Magazine that they had just signed Jack, a “new singer from the Northwest, with first sides skedded for early release.” Jerry Dennon, a friend of Kearney Barton, fellow audio engineer, and distributor for ERA Records no doubt had a hand in getting Bedient’s music to California.

By July of that year “Mystic One” and “Questions” were released as a single on ERA. The recording had been redone and now featured string arrangements, a lead guitar, and female backup singers.

The label boasted in Billboard Magazine that they had signed Jack for a five-year contract and an LP release would soon follow his debut single.

At the time of the record’s release, lyricist Griggs had been drafted into the Army and was stationed in Colorado.

Bedient was 24, living in a house on the corner of Methow and Peachey streets in Wenatchee and working as an attendant

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at a gas station on Wenatchee Avenue.

The studio musicians that appeared with Jack on the recording never played with him live, and Bedient never toured to promote the record. By December 1961 Bedient had formed Jack Bedient and the Chessmen, with a few members from Chelan’s recently disbanded rock group The Furys. “Mystic One” got minimal play across the country and his 5-year contract with ERA was never fulfilled.

In October, I got a hold of Griggs, one of the few surviving members of this story. Griggs, 80, still lives in the valley.

After returning from the army he worked in his family’s orchards in Orondo. Since retiring, Alvin’s brother Marcus still runs their families orchards, now known as G&C Farms.

Alvin can remember exchanging lyrics with Bedient in their early 1920s on multiple songs, some that were never released.

He couldn’t recall ever hearing that the record was released anywhere except in America. After a high school reunion in the ’90s the pair reconnected and began writing music again. Bedient passed away a short time after before their new creations could be finished.

The answer to why “Mystic One” or “El Mystico” (as it’s typed on the Chile pressing) exists may never be known. This is a disappointing reality that I’ve been getting used to while digging for old local stories. Memories faded, musicians died, contracts were tossed and time kept moving. Only these records are left to tell the story of the musicians who were here before us.

The real takeaway here is that a 24 year old local musician that lived on Methow Street and worked at a gas station got a record released in South America, and that’s incredibly cool.

Dustin Hays is a Wenatchee musician, local music history aficionado and enthusiastic member of the local music scene.

He performs as a solo singer-songwriter around the area and as a member of one of the valley’s newest groups The Nightmares.

Hays also hosts “Sounds of the Valley” a weekly radio show on KORE FM Community Radio (99.1/105.9 FM) focused on the local music scene, both past and present. C

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COMET TALES: rEADER SUBMITTED WRITINGS wide open BY lauren loebsack “Please don’t do this, please.”

She had been repeating this all night. They were both crying. She tried to comfort him but he didn’t want it. He would submit but he would not release into her embrace, and his wooden posture felt strange in her arms.

“Please. I’ll take my meds. Please don’t make me go.”

But he would not change his mind. He gave her a deadline to be gone. In the bathroom, later, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her hands. “Am I really that terrible?” she asked. Apparently, the answer was yes.

It wasn’t specifically because she always had her eyes open, but that was sort of part of it. She didn’t close her eyes to go to sleep, she let fatigue close them. Because when she closed her eyes things were there, a world that fluttered and groaned and moved in the darkness of her mind. The usual company was a twisted skeleton with a jigsaw jaw bone, dripping a red, wet tissue. It would move its jaw but the jaw didn’t work right because the bone was a Mobius loop and the thing would shake its head in frustration, flinging bits of red wet. There was also a broken, whimpering puppy, a black lab, cut with a tire track, guts spilled out.

So she kept her eyes open until fatigue shut them. She understood that rolling over in bed in the night and seeing her staring silently at the ceiling could be disconcerting. He also thought it was weird how much she sat in silence, how she drove around in her car without the radio on. Silence kept the undersounds away. The undersounds, whispers and crying that she could detect under sounds. In the silence, there was only silence. But they came when there was a sound to hide under.

Conspiratorial whispers. Something weakly begging for mercy. When things got bad, the undersounds even came when water was running. She washed her face and looked at herself in the mirror and under the sound of the running water a voice said “That is not your face.” So when things got really bad she avoided running water.

So that was sort of part of it too.

This all went away when she drank. But drinking fucked with her meds and made her nauseous. So she skipped her meds to drink so she could talk and just be and relax some but then everything would get really bad. When she had to be sober, the red wet skeleton would peek out from the darkness behind her eyes and she would have to try not to look at it or engage it.

“You’re not here.”

Saying that never changed anything.

These were the things she couldn’t share. How to explain the shadow world inside that was leaking out?

In the little apartment, she was comforted by the sounds of mice in the walls. It was good not to be completely alone. Because at night, the red wet skeleton wanted to cuddle. She hated the idea of touching it but often wondered if I pet it and make it my friend, will it leave me alone some? If I stomp on the puppy’s head, will it finally stop whimpering?

She took enough meds to where she could shower again and a man asked her out for a drink. There had to be drinks, or the undersounds and the red wet skeleton would be so distracting that the date would get bored with her inability to concentrate. If she could get fucked, for a moment she at least felt something other than haunted. But he went in for a kiss and she didn’t close her eyes, because it was hard to get turned on when the red wet skeleton was hanging around, and no amount of joking after could wipe the distrust off his face. So the date went home and she went to the apartment to listen for the mice so as to not feel alone.

She only had so much time off from work before she had to go back, red wet skeleton, whimpering puppy and undersounds notwithstanding. She looked at her hands,

one held her meds and the other held a bottle and tears fell out of her eyes even though she didn’t think she was crying really. She opened one bottle and popped some pills and opened another and washed them down and after a while she slept.

She drove in usual silence, making a mental list of the things she needed to get done before lunch, no matter what was happening in her darkness. Closing in on the intersection to the bridge she saw a small thing moving about between the middle lanes. Her eyes focused on a harried and battered juvenile quail, scurrying between cars and trucks and semi trucks and more cars. The bird would get going, almost for a clean dash to the other side of the road and ditch where her family waited. Then a truck roared by and the bird turned in terror and scurried to the other lane and then a car went by and the bird barely squatted down in time to miss the bumper and was blown into the other lane again.

The woman slowed her car. Behind her another car honked. She replied with her middle finger. She tried to pull over but there was traffic pushing her forward and she watched the little quail dodge and hustle, feathers rumpled and black eyes wide.

The bird wasn’t even old enough to have all its color, just a dark thing in the path of destruction, only feet from salvation.

She knew she shouldn’t be crying when she walked into the office, but she was and she kept her sunglasses on until she was safely in her hidey hole. “Please save her,” she prayed to a god she didn’t trust to be listening. She wiped her eyes hard and pulled on her face to try to rub out the image of the bird. She saw it all and couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t fix anything. She couldn’t save anything. But she saw it all, eyes opened or closed.

buffering BY tara graves I want to run away From the wide world To hide In the hills and forests Of an older world That is both smaller And more vast I want to worship Old gods And revel In the authenticity Of old things But I won’t run Too far Because high speed internet Is pretty nice

new friend BY kyler (rachel) kyzar I watched as Autumn settled her chilly fingers into the fabric of the pumpkin patch. She lifted the jewels from the trees, blowing them around to greet the animals beginning their hibernation. At the edge of the patch, I, the farm’s lone scarecrow, hung over the soil. My straw innards poked through the holes in my overalls, threatening to spill out with the next breeze. I groaned. If only I had a sewing needle and some scrap fabric, I could fix myself up in no time. Distant calls and the noise of heavy wings startled me. Crows fought over stray seeds, slapping each other with their inky feathers. I gazed intently at them. Drinking in the details of their movements, the subtle iridescence in their wings.

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The sprinklers kicked on, scaring the birds away. I sighed. The sun set, moon rose, set again, giving birth to a new day from a blush sky.

I combed my gaze across the pumpkin scattered fields, searching for some entertainment to last the day and bring me to the next. Suddenly, I heard more flapping and a weight settled on my shoulder. A sharp pressure dug into my neck, ripping noises erupted in my ear. I struggled against the post I had been tied to since my creation, trying to shake off the assailant. They continued to poke and tear, shoveling straw out of my neck and dropping it onto the dirt. The support in my neck fell apart, letting the weight of my head fall to the shoulder without the damned creature. They cawed in my ear, pleased with their achievement. I decided to curse at them. They simply flew away.

Nothing happened for the rest of the day, my view of it all permanently skewed sideways. Sun set, moon rose, new day.

Our resident rooster signaled the morning, waking the farmhands, reminding them of their daily chores. A small human child ran up to me, eyes turned up in wonderment. I attempted a smile at her, but I doubted she could see my mouth move, few can. She waved her chubby fingers towards my face, smiling eagerly. I enjoy these short times of socialization I am allowed occasionally. The child tilted her head to the side, copying how mine rested. Her eyes trailed up my side, across my shoulder, landing on the straw rustling in the breeze through the gaping hole. Moments passed.

She turned back towards where she had come from, the dusty blue cottage nestled between the barns. One final glance at my neck, and she was gone, running home. I sighed. She returned soon later with a sewing needle and thread, but quickly realized she was too short to fix me up herself, and ran away again. Back again she ran, a murder of crows in her wake. They settled themselves in a sloppy circle around her. She

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lowered to her knees, her pale dress brushing the dirt, and offered the sewing needle to one of the crows. They took it into their beak. She fished out a spool of thread from her pocket, carefully lined it up with the eye of the needle, and signaled the bird to go once it was threaded. The creature flew to my shoulder, the side in which my attacker had ripped, and waited. Looking back at the girl, I could see her speaking to a few of the crows, but I couldn’t understand her babbling. They flew off into the trees and returned with crisp leaves in their beaks. Taking turns, they slowly stuffed my neck back to how it had been. They returned to their master’s side. It seemed like she told the bird on my shoulder to start sewing, because that’s what they did. They carefully ran seven even stitches along the hole until I was patched. The girl reached up as far as she could with scissors and cut the thread. She gathered her murder and left me, cawing with the crows as they ran off to play.

The next day I found a shiny new button sewn onto my overalls, and one of the smaller crows sitting at my feet. I looked at him, he looked at me. He cawed at me, I cawed back. He jumped in place, I stared at him. He flew up to the height of my shoulder, gently cawing at the stitches.

Was this crow confessing?

He looked down at the ground again and landed, mumbled an apologetic sounding noise, then slowly turned to leave. I grunted, gaining his attention. Staring. I gestured to my shoulder, you can sit here I implied. The beautiful creature lifted himself up and rested in the very spot he would stay until the rest of our days.

Are you a writer? Send your short story, poetry, essay or excerpt to comettales@thecometmagazine.com and we may publish it in the next issue.

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by ron evans

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Wednesday, october 25, 2017

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE COMET

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THE COMET

the spacepod: is there a ghost?

BY ron evans

G

reetings from the Spacepod. It is that most wondrous time of the year. The leaves are yella. The air, she’s crisp. The sweaters are...sweatering. Everything’s coming up October and it’s time to get spooky. Last issue I shared my two craziest UFO experiences and over my life I have had some other odd occurrences that I couldn’t explain. However, I have never had what I would consider a ghostly encounter, not that I’m complaining. Over seven years of recording weekly episodes of Tales From The Spacepod we have received hundreds of emails from listeners, many of which were ghost stories they had experienced. I went looking back through the archives to find some to feature this week and holy snykees, I found a couple of doozies. First, the sad one, and while I’m not really a “trigger warning” kind of guy - anyone who has dealt with suicide may find this one a bit rough.

This is from Lesley C. “This is not a very long story and I have never talked about it outside of family gatherings for all the usual reasons I suppose. But this is right out of Paranormal Activity.

I was washing dishes at my parents’ house one night and everyone else was watching TV in the living room. Out of the blue I felt my neck hairs stand on end and I felt like someone was standing right behind me. Assuming it was my dad who was always sneaking up behind me to scare, I turned around but saw no one.

So I went back to the dishes in the sink.

Suddenly, I couldn’t move. Like, at all. I couldn’t see clearly as everything went red and blurry. I thought I was having some sort of a medical emergency but I couldn’t even yell for help. This only lasted a few seconds, and as the red in my vision faded I dropped the plate I was holding and it shattered across the kitchen floor and I screamed. This brought everyone else into the kitchen and I was able to tell them what had just happened.

My dad asked. “Did Aaron scare you?”

Aaron was my boyfriend but he was not at the house this evening. I said “No, I thought I was having some sort of stroke or something, I was frozen and blind.” My mom said, “Why did Aaron go running out like that? Did you guys fight?” I said “No! Aaron is not here, he hasn’t been here all day.” They both looked at each other and my mom said, “Lesley, he just ran out of the kitchen and out the front door.”

I was confused and weak, so I sat down at the table to and called Aaron. He didn’t answer his phone. This was not a strange occurrence and I was out of it so I went to bed.

I had barely fallen asleep when the phone rang. It woke me up but I didn’t answer it. I heard mumbled voices and then crying. I could hear my parents coming up the stairs to my room. My mom grabbed me and said Aaron was just found dead in his garage by his parents.

He had killed himself with a makeshift noose. It was only after the shock of all of this started to fade that the timeline of the events of the night came into focus. Aaron would have been dying around the exact time that I was frozen in the kitchen, and when my parents saw him running out the front door. He lived 12 miles from me and he was never at my house that night. And yet somehow, he found a way to come and say goodbye to me.

Eventually I was somewhat comforted by this but as you can imagine, for a while this really fucked me up.”

We were a little speechless after I read this on the show. It’s a fairly common report though - people visiting to say goodbye, or reaching out through some apparition or voice right as they are departing this realm. It’s easy to see how, ultimately, one may find comfort in such a shocking and devastating encounter.

This next two emails feature apparitions in mirrors. I don’t know why, but these reports trouble me. I find it all too easy to imagine seeing something sneaking up behind me or suddenly appearing through the glass itself. Loaded with built-in metaphor, mirrors are primed for troubling doings.

Katy writes: “Until recently I worked in the Pike Place Market, upstairs on the 3rd floor of the Economy Marketbuilding. There are only offices on this floor so it’s fairly uncommon to have much foot traffic from tourists, which makes it pretty quiet.

These offices have a communal restroom that requires a key card to access.

Since the building is so old the doors don’t open easily (or quietly) making it necessary to use a little effort to get the bathroom door open. I worked early, so it was about 6:30am one morning when I went into the bathroom to put on some makeup before we opened at 7am. The bathroom is small, with just two stalls and a sink. When I walked in both stall doors were hanging open and I set my things on the ledge of the sink. The only door was directly behind me. I was looking in the mirror putting on my mascara when as clear as day in the mirror behind me I saw a young dark haired woman walk behind me into one of the stalls. This made me jump because the door, which I could also see in the mirror, did not open. I was startled that I didn’t see or hear the door open so I looked into both stalls which both still had the doors open. They were both empty.

I’d always heard the Pike Place Market is one of the most haunted places in Seattle, but this was the first and only experience I had during my time there.”

Paul writes: “The single most terrifying event of my life happened in a park in downtown Seattle. I had eaten a corndog at a sketchy joint under the shadow of the Space Needle while on a walkabout with my girlfriend at the time. About an hour later I had all the regrets one expects from eating a corndog from a sketchy joint and I found myself scouting for the nearest public facilities. We found one near Key Arena and I ran in and did my thing. Just as sweet relief was setting in while washing my hands, I look up in the dented unfocused mirror to see a dark shadowy

figure standing immediately behind me. I jumped and turned around to see a completely empty restroom. I mean, completely empty. No swinging door, no footsteps - nothing. I chalked it up to a visual trick or something and finished washing my hands.

As I reached for the towel dispenser I saw the figure again right behind me.

And again I turned to face nothing. My heart jumped and I knew I had to turn back to look at the mirror but I hesitated. I thought about just walking out, but I didn’t. I whipped my head back to face the mirror and saw the figure laughing at me. Like you would expect a bully in the 7th grade to laugh at you when you peed yourself in class. He was there. He was real. It was not a trickery of light or an eye floater, it was a shadowy mass of a man towering over me laughing at my fear of him.

I muttered something like ‘wtf...’ and he stopped laughing and stared into me. Not at me. Into me. I backed away and his eyes followed me. As I slowly crept toward the exit he lept (and I know how this sounds) he leapt from that mirror to the next one down the row of sinks. Then the next. Following me with his eyes the whole time. I lost it. I threw opened the door ran to my girlfriend and did what any caring boyfriend would do in this situation. I made her go back in with me to see it. He was gone. And not long after the hysterical rant I went on to her about the figure... she was gone too. I can’t blame her. And I don’t blame anyone for thinking I’m just taking a piss here. I wish I could have that reassurance. I really do.”

Well, I’m creeped out. That business with the mirror hopping really paints a picture, does it not? DO NOT WANT. Well that’s probably enough reflection for now. Oh, go sigh somewhere else!

Happy Halloween, my lovely creeps. And don’t forget to listen to our Annual Drunk Around The Campfire Halloween edtion of Tales From The Spacepod, online now at talesfromthespacepod.com c

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