THE COMET
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
THE COMET
THIS issue editor: Ron Evans contributors: Holly Thorpe,Cory Calhoun, Dustin Hays, Jamie Howell
WEB: thecometmagazine.com facebook.com/thecometmagazine instagram: @thecometmagazine info@thecometmagazine.com
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B-SIDES...................................PAGE 4 crossword...........................PAGE 7 events..................................PAGE 8 ZACHARY EDDY.......................PAGE 12 Howell at the movies........PAGE 16 comet tales.........................PAGE 18 JASON SIMS............................PAGE 19 edgar rue comic..................PAGE 20 Zachary eddy reading at WVC’s 2017 Earth Day.
the spacepod.......................PAGE 22
Top Gun May 31 @ 6:30pm www.NumericaPAC.org 509-663-ARTS
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
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COMET HEADQUARTERS may 2, 2018 Note From The Editor. I know what you are thinking. “Where’s that lovable snappy little tart (with love) Holly at? We have grown accustomed to her unique brand of wit and biting commentary for these editor’s notes. Get this gap-toothed old man out of my living room.” Well, Holly has decided to step down from an editor’s role (at least for now) while she focuses on her continued education. Don’t worry though, she will still be involved with writing and other aspects of this little pirate ship we call the SS Comet. I would never let her jump ship. Not fully anyway. So, you are stuck with me for a while. Now, I’m no Holly, but I look just as good in a dress. In fact, I wear dresses far more often than she and I’m convinced it’s because she knows this to be true. This change will likely free Holly up to do even more writing for The Comet, which ultimately is exquisite news for all of us. There’s another change starting in this issue and that is the addition of Jamie Howell’s column, “Howell at The Movies.” Jamie has been a vital driving force in the world of film around the valley for well over a decade. His unique take on the art of filmmaking and movie watching will have you running to the box office with a renewed sense of appreciation that we live in the glorious days of cinema. Imagine being born before movies. No, don’t. It’s too grim. We are lucky to have Jamie on board and are very excited to devour his monthly column. Likely with popcorn in hand. We are also lucky to have Dustin Hays continuously cranking out intriguing articles on the local music scene now and from the past. In this installment Dustin’s time machine travels to midcentury Wenatchee with a timely (dammit, pun) story on Apple Blossom recordings. This month I talked with local poet, Zach Eddy about the awkward and exciting transitional phase of truly discovering poetry for the first time. Eddy’s casual yet academic stance on this often-intimidating art form offers an insightful perspective, especially for those (like me) who have been poetrycurious, but never knew how to dabble into it without feeling like a goober. Have you been solving Cory “Damn You” Calhoun’s crossword puzzles? His devious brain has been tormenting many of us with his puzzles within the puzzles, tricky wordplay and all around smart shit. The last few were doozies and may have ended a marriage or two. My pen is ready, Cory. But my middle finger is even readier.
In spite of this photo, Holly and I had a lovely time at WEN-CON 2018.
Happy trails, Ron Evans Editor, The Comet Magazine
Ron Evans is the owner of RadarStation art gallery at 115 S. Wenatchee Ave., Finally in my Spacepod article I give you all a little break and let one of our host of the Tales from the Spacepod podcast, author of “Edgar Rue,” and readers speak up with a haunting and tragic ghost story. I tried to bookend it creator of many other things, many of which have robots in them. He is cowith something snarky, but I decided better on it. It’s too good as is. editor of The Comet and our lead designer. Have a swell May all you lovely Cometheads. Cometians? Cometnauts? We’ll work on that.
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THE COMET
B-SIDES: the apple blossom recordings T
he further you look back, the more sparse the recorded history of music in the Wenatchee Valley gets when it comes to looking for vinyl releases by local acts. In my ever-growing fascination with the area’s musical past there have only been DUSTIN HAYS a few relics Musician/Music Historian older than the Julian Records 45’s (released during the 1960s) that I’ve discovered. The “Panther Highlights” 45, pressed on transparent red vinyl, was recorded and released in 1955, and is the earliest local release to my knowledge. A compilation of sorts, the seven-track record released by the Wenatchee High School, features three recordings from a “Final Selection Event” held on February 21, 1955, for the final choosing of that year’s Festival Royalty. The second track on the b-side “Apple Blossom Royalty” is a recording of Pat O’Halloran announcing the Royalty picks and interviewing winners Sharon Redlinger (Queen), Anna Batterman (Princess) and Judith Emerson (Princess) before a reported capacity crowd at Pioneer Junior High. Redlinger, the 36th Apple Blossom Festival Queen, appeared on multiple nationally-broadcast radio and television programs that year, most-notably Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Ford Theatre and The Bob Crosby Show. The “Panther Highlights” disc also marks the first recorded appearances of multiple Wenatchee musicians who would find considerable success in the years to come. Jack Bedient was a senior at Wenatchee High School at the time, singing tenor in the school’s choir. Bedient appears on the last song of the records b-side, singing the Alma Mater with the High School’s choir. After graduation, Bedient attended
Gonzaga University in Spokane on a music scholarship, performing as a member of the school’s varsity quartet. Bedient lasted into his sophomore year before dropping out and returning to Wenatchee to raise his first-born daughter. In 1961 he released a 45 single on the Hollywood-based independent label ERA Records, and over the next nine years released 17 records (three being released on Columbia Records) with his Reno lounge act Jack Bedient & the Chessmen. The disc also features a duet by seniors Janet Otto and Rush Delaney titled “Sweethearts.” The song was performed during an intermission that evening. Similar to his classmate Jack Bedient, Delaney would seek fame and fortune by relocating out of state. First studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he secured work as an operatic singer in San Francisco clubs such as the Purple Onion, Hungry I, and Bimbo’s 365, often performing under the alias Johnny Rocco. Rush also found some notoriety in the early ’70s, performing a wide range of multilingual opera and gypsea music with Nick Alexander. Rush briefly performed with Jack Bedient & the Chessmen in Reno, only temporarily filling the shoes of a sick “Chessmen.” Rush never appeared on any of their recordings, having joined the group months after their final release. John Paine, a founding member of ’60s folk combo the Brothers Four, also made a quick appearance on the 45. Paine can be heard on the record’s A-side announcing his position as fall semester Student Body President along with the rest of the Student Body Officers for both semesters. While attending the University of Washington, Paine formed The Brothers Four with three fellow members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. After relocating to California, the group scored a record deal with major label Columbia Records. Their 1960 debut single “Greenfields” reached #2 on the Billboard charts and is still their most celebrated recording. Ap-
pearing on more than 20 full length albums and even more singles, Paine sang with the group until his retirement in 2004. Steeped in both Apple Blossom
Festival and local music folklore “Panther Highlights” is a true gem from Wenatchee’s past, preserving moments of our history that would otherwise be lost to time.
THE COMET
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
B-SIDES: The Orondo Street Bash F
or years and years the Apple Blossom Festival has been a great display of the area’s local music talent. Whether it be a week’s worth of music at memorial park or at the array of local business that host live music during the week, the annual spring festival (now in it’s 99th year) has always served the valley well with a wide range of live performances. During the ‘90s, an alternative musical outing existed only blocks away from Memorial Park’s food fair, the hub of the festival. One of the best events for local rock fans was the annual Orondo Street Bash, held at local musician Mont Holbrook’s home on Orondo Street in Wenatchee, just a short walk away from the festivities. Holbrook (a soundman and guitar player) hosted the house party on the festival’s final Saturday, to coincide with the day of the Grand Parade. I interviewed Holbrook last week about his memories about the Bashes, which ran for almost 15 years. The first Orondo Street Bash occurred in 1990, when Holbrook was playing in a rock cover band “Rough House”. Previously a member of TUXX and Mariah, Holbrook and fellow Mariah alumni Paul Graves formed the band that year along with Dan and Dave Smith formerly of Bandetta. The bashes would start the Saturdays of the grand parade, with large crowds of people watching the parade from the front porch, with kegs & tents set up in the backyard for the over-night partiers. Music was set up in the basement of the house, the regular rehearsal space for Holbrook’s bands. With the Memorial Park food fair so close to the bash, crowds would come and go throughout the day. No tickets were ever sold for the event, but souvenir shirts were made (courtesy of Jim Dolfay at Pine Tree Shirt Works) and sold to attendees in the backyard. Three shirts from past Orondo Bashes were displayed in the Wenatchee Museum for the “Rock n’ Roll T-Shirts of Wenatchee” display for the Apple Capital Records exhibit that closed in February of this year. The surviving shirts provide a rare record of bands that performed at the bashes. Flyers and newspaper ads were never made for the events, it was solely word of mouth that kept people coming back every year. After Rough House dissolved, Graves & Holbrook’s new band Moss Dog was a frequent performer, along with Limegrind, the band that Holbrook formed in ‘93 after leaving Moss Dog. As the years went on, a wide selection of other
local acts joined in on the fun - Railroad Avenue, Lopez, Back Alley Sally, 3 Finger Floyd, Blue In The Face are just a few of the bands confirmed to have played the Bashes. For more than 10 years the Bashes were hosted at the small unassuming Orondo Street house. Some of Wenatchee’s most popular bands of the decade packed Holbrook’s basement over the years, no doubt a more raw and genuine local music experience than the family-friendly tones presented in the park. The annual parties were halted in 2004 when Holbrook split with his wife and moved to Winthrop, where he still lives, performing in one of the areas most popular cover groups Honey and the Killer Beez. In the years following the Orondo bashes, local bands and music goers alike have had only few alternatives to the Festival-sponsored music selection. Like the years of cruising down the avenue now only exist in the memories of 30+ year old Wenatcheeites, the fondly remembered Orondo Street Bashes are now the things of local music legend. 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.
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
T-shirt design circa 1995.
and present.
Limegrind performing in the Orondo Street basement.
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
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POETRY LESSON
Made exclusively for The Comet by Cory Calhoun
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Constructor’s Note: Dear puzzlers, last month’s themeless crossword (see answer below) was admittedly pretty brutal. (Heck, it looked like an angry creature face.) This month’s themed puzzle is decidedly on the easier side of things … to a point. Enjoy! 61 62 63
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here Ch. Merkel W governs Vinegary French architecture style Battle of Hastings site With 61-Across, reproduction Animation sheet Mule in a song Baywatch actress Bingham The Mother of Dragons, for short Political league “99 Luftballoons” singer Flat sound? By now
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input See 46-Down “Skylarking” rock group They had temples
DOWN 1 Coll. prep exam 2 “Am _____ best or what?” 3 Vending machine input 4 Sleep aid brand 5 Gravelly ridge 6 It may be cold and hard 7 Punk-like genre 8 Permit type 9 Apply wax to 10 Flying 11 Infamous 1993 Holyfield-Bowe boxing match “attendee” 12 Rank on a ship 17 Show on a ship 18 “Alas!” 21 Long-running CBS drama 23 Resolve 25 _____ Mahal 26 “Alas!”: Lat. 27 Silky sash 28 Shakespeare’s sister 30 Lucas creation 31 Key on the bottom row 32 Ash-Wednesday monogram 34 Game type 35 Palindromic ruminant 36 Wicked 37 Approx. ⅖ of an in. 38 Mixer option
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ACROSS 1 Vexation 6 Shriner topper 9 Not out 13 Floors 14 Te _____ (I love you) 15 First name in 2017’s Tony winner for Best Musical 16 First part of poem about itself 19 Most crisp 20 Like nearly 24% of all people on Earth 22 Craftsman alternative 23 Tats 24 Graffiti signatures 25 The opponents 27 Web ending 28 They’re all bottled up 29 _____ Lingus 30 Mexican resort spot 32 Excessively 33 Next part of poem about itself 39 Prone 40 Children of Men actor Clive 41 RN locale 42 Film legend 45 File charges 46 Rough it 47 Silent Spring subj. 48 Knife 49 Knife 51 Draws back 53 The Economist competitor 56 Last part of poem about itself 58 Small image of a folder, e.g. 59 Hiring ltrs. 60 Vending machine
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SOLUTION TO april’S PUZZLE P A N C A K E M I X
L I L U Z I V E R T
A N E M O M E T E R
A S E S
N A U T
G Y R A
Y U R I N I P N P A L N E A G E L N O O V S E
A C A S A R S E B O S C P I O T I S N E R I D A R R L I C E G O D C A N S O T A C S I N A T O R A N E S
T S O T O O L T A M A G O
S I M O M A A N I B R O N I T T T T A S E H I E M E N C A R E J E R B E R I C T A T A O T I S N E S H
M R M X Y Z P T L K A T M Y
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GTFO: EVENTS WORTH LEAVING YOUR HOUSE FOR Guys and dolls
lee dewyze
the columbia rolls on
May 2- June 2: Multiple events Icicle Creek Center For The Arts May 2 - May 18: Bird Fest Art Exhibition May 20: Abra-Key-Dabra May30: Chef Fest
May 2nd - May 12: Guys & Dolls
Numerica Performing Arts Center Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy involving the unlikeliest of Manhattan pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, a showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager who is anything but. Details at numnericapac.org
May 4: May The Fourth Be With You
Wenatchee Public Library It’s a celebration of all things Star Wars. There will be prizes, coloring, trivia and more. Arrive in costume to earn a raffle ticket!
11-11:45 a.m. - Jedi training for younglings 1-3 p.m. - Chewbacca bookmark craft 3-6 p.m. - Movie viewing
May 4: - Arts & Crafts Weekend Ye Olde Books 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 12-4 Focusing on our local crafters all weekend, including a fundraiser for a local high school student. “My name is Priscilla from Eastmont High School. My two friends and I are raising money to study abroad in Japan for the summer of 2019. Come by and check out what we have to offer! Thank you!” Jewelry, journals, cards, art, chocolate, bath bombs, stones, and more!
may 4-19: Multiple events at wally’s house of booze
to everyone as well as encouraging seasoned climbers to push their limits in fun and competitive ways. The culmination of these elements is a festival for climbers and non-climbers alike! Visit leavenworthrockfest.com for tickets and details.
MAY 6: Pybus Market Art Lover’s Sunday
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Art Lovers Sunday is Sunday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the concourse at Pybus Market. It is the public’s chance to meet and visit with local artists who are actually practicing their craft.
may 4: Thunderhound, KLAW, Nephelim Rising May 5: OC45, Burn Burn Burn, Mables Marbles May 8: The Columbia Rolls On: A Vision for the FuMay 5: The Nightmares, Gerbil Turds, Weird Animal ture May 16: The Briefs with The Rich & Rare Rebels 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. May 18: Zenitram JR, Dustin Hays, Dave Savage, Plus Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center guests
May 19: Gutter Demons, The Lucitones, Rich & Rare Rebels
may 5: Leavenworth Rockfest
12000 Sunitsch Canyon Road - Leavenworth All Day Event Leavenworth Rockfest is a grassroots rock climbing event, it has been Washington’s largest climbing festival for the past 18 years. The festival has several different elements aimed at educating and introducing climbing
Modernizing a treaty to sustain a river and its people into the 21st Century Speaker panel discussion highlights the history, status and opportunities related to the historic Columbia River Treaty and its renegotiation.
may 9-26: Multiple events at radarstation may 9: Jason Hawk Harris solo acoustic show. May 16: Drink ‘N Draw May 21: American Idol winner Lee DeWyze
acoustic show. VIP meet & greet tickets available.
May 26: The Radar Dames: An Evening of Burlesque
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Poet Laureate claudia castro luna Check RadarStationArt.com for more info.
KEEN, the Kittitas Environmental Education Network.
MAY 11-13: The Rendezvous Festival
may 15: Environmental Film & Lecture Series: The Garden
Sun Mountain Lodge - Winthrop A festival of music and outdoor recreation in the Methow Valley! Joshua James, RVIVR, the Lowest Pair, the Pine Hearts, and many other bands.
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. The Garden follows the plight of a 14-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles, the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as May 12: e-Bike Burrito Ride a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, Pybus Market the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods by Plug-In NCW is sponsoring a gathering of e-Bike (pedal- growing their own food, feeding their families and creatassist) riders to compare experiences, talk about rides ing a community. and to show their pedal-assist e-bikes to the public. We will gather near the electric car charger at the Pybus May 15: A visit with our Poet Laureate Market on Saturday, 12 May from 10 a.m. until about 2 A Book For All Seasons - Leavenworth p.m. We will have demonstration bikes available for test 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. rides so if you are interested in learning about these biClaudia Castro Luna served as Seattle’s Civic Poet. She is cycles we invite you to stop by and ride. the author of Killing Marías and This City, and the creator of Seattle Poetic Grid (seattlepoeticgrid.com), an May 13: Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe interactive poetic cartography of the city with voices in Umtanum Recreation Area, 13 miles south of Ellensburg English, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese, from youth poets in the Yakima River Canyon (highway 821, between mile- to senior citizens, new writers to renowned poets includposts 16 & 17) ing Levertov, Roethke and Hugo. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m Come learn more about the Shrub Steppe at Get IntiMay 17 -20: Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest mate with the Shrub-Steppe. GISS is a day packed-full Barn Beach Reserve - Leavenworth of expert-led field trips, and educational and hands-on All Day Event science booths with great activities for kids. Bird whisCome bird with us the third weekend in May and celpering, snake-sneaking, beaver tales, geology, plants, fish, ebrate the 16th anniversary of the Leavenworth Spring insects, cultural landscapes, and more! Sponsored by
Bird Fest! Enjoy the unforgettable experience of witnessing the vast array of returning migratory birds in the midst of the peak wildflower season in the incomparable natural beauty of North Central Washington’s Wenatchee Valley. This years keynote speaker is David Sibley!
May 31: Top Gun
Numerica PAC 6:30 p.m. TICKETS: $3 This month’s movie on the big screen is Top Gun. Need we say more?
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 Kasey Koski 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.
Tumbleweed Shop & Studio
Pans Grotto
William and Mae: Accessorizing your Little’s.. handmade with love! W&M was started by a creative mom who was inspired by the little’s in her life. Ashley started making bows for her daughter Leela Mae which then expanded to bow ties which were requested by her son Henry William. Ashley hopes that her creative niche can help to accessorize the Little’s in your life.
The Brothers Grimm: A group show featuring work inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, showcasing local artists with their spin on some of the most well-known stories in history, from “The Raven” to “Hansel and Gretel.
105 Palouse Tue-Sat:11-6, Sun:11- 4, First Friday 5-8
Lemolo Cafe & Deli
114 N Wenatchee Ave. Sun & Mon 11-4, Tue-Sat 11-6 Open First Friday until 6
3 N Wenatchee Ave, Suite 2 Wenatchee Wa 98801 509-293-9881 Don@pansgrotto.com
Two Rivers Gallery
102 N Columbia 2riversgallery.com Wed-Saty: 11- 4, Sun: 1-4 First Friday Reception 5-8
“This is Where We Live” Featuring premier artist Jan Cook Mack. Meet the artist and see why she is considered one of the finest Northwest Cory Pearson is a local artist working in various mediums. This is not his first show at Lemolo Café artists. Plus over 50 local artists providing a new but you wouldn’t recognize the work from his past show for May & June. Music by jazz duo Patric Thompson and Glenn Isaacson. Wines by Cougar presence. This year he chose to express himself Crest Winery and complimentary refreshments. with found object sculptures. His inspiration and materials come from local thrift stores and garage Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center sales. 127 South Mission Street wenatcheevalleymuseum.org The Hunter’s Wife Health Bar T-Sat: 10-4, First Friday (FREE): 10-8 112 N Wenatchee Ave Mon-Thurs 7-2, Fri 7-5, Sat 10-3 Last chance to see the Regional High School Art (509) 888-3557 Show! Sponsored in in cooperation with the North Central Educational Service District and the This month The Hunter’s Wife features the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. artwork of Catey Luna. Her beautiful paintings In its 39th year at the Museum, this exhibit is a combine the magic of animals, nature and wonderful opportunity to showcase the creativity vibrant earth tones. Join us and be nourished by and talent of the students in our district. Come plant powered food, smoothies, treats and truly vote for your favorite in our People’s Choice remarkable art. Award.
Mela
17 N. Wenatchee Ave. caffemela.com Mon - Fri: 6- 6, Sat- -Sun: 8- 4 First Fridays Opening Reception: 5-8 Nicolas Gerlach: Scenes from the Northwest The pacific northwest is a beauty not yet fully discovered. As a photographer in love with nature, and as someone who grew up in the pacific northwest, I want to unveil the rare gems we might overlook or not even know of. From the hidden waters to the mountain tops I aim to share the beauty of this land through my aerial photography so that we may all enjoy and discover this area we live in through a different point of view.
Ye Olde Bookshoppe
11 Palouse St. Mon: 11-6, Tue-Thur: 10-6, Fri-Sat: 10-8, Sun 12-4 Art Walk Hours 5-8 Focusing on our local crafters all weekend, including a fundraiser for a local high school student. “My name is Priscilla from EHS. My two friends and I are raising money to study abroad in Japan for the summer of 2019. Come by and check out what we have to offer! Thank you!” Jewelry, journals, cards, art, chocolate, bath bombs, stones, and more!
Robert Graves Gallery
Wenatchee Valley College, Sexton Hall, 9th St. Gallery hours: Mon-Thurs: 9-1, closed Fri-Sun. Or by appointment 509-663-0100 Robert Graves Gallery presents Highlights from the Permanent Collection, featuring works from the Gallery’s own archives, including the recently acquired Dr. Donald S. Smith collection. The show runs May 4-June 1, with the opening reception on Friday, May 4, 5-7 pm. Hours: MondayThursday, 9 am-1 pm. Location: Sexton Hall, Wenatchee Valley College, 9th Avenue entrance.
MAC Gallery
Wenatchee Valley College Music and Art Center 1300 Fifth Street Mon-Fri 9-5, Open First Friday 5 -7 May 4-25 First Friday Opening Reception: May 4, 5:00-7:00 With this exhibition, the WVC Art Department proudly displays the fruits of the talented students who take Art classes at WVC. Works are selected for their excellence in technique and concept among the variety of forms and disciplines taught at the college (including Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Design, and Printmaking).
RadarStation
115 S. Wenatchee Ave. First Friday Reception 5-9pm 4x4 - A Big Showing of Tiny Pieces A group art show of pieces around 4”x4”. Paintings, drawings, photos and sculptures demonstrating that bigger isn’t always better. Also still on exhibit: LUNA a Group Art Tribute to The Moon. The Atomic Bar is now open with beer, wine and cider available!
Soon Choi Galleries
Wenatchee Eagles Club, FOE 1208 Wenatchee Avenue North First Friday Watercolor Paint – Free Workshop Come enjoy an interactive watercolor paint project with your friends and family. This Month we will be announcing the winners of Soon Choi Galleries, Show Your Stripes, free art contest! Come see the winning art work and meet the artist being awarded enrollment for 4 to Water-coloring Wenatchee Valley and 4 watercolor paint sets.
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POETRY IS WEIRD: A CHAT WITH POET ZACHARY EDDY
BY RON EVANS
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oetry is weird. I suppose everything is from the right angle, but poetry is often one of those things that sort of just sits there in our peripheral view. We see it. We are aware of it. But to engage with it — to truly attempt to see what it’s all about — can sometimes seem like too much work. Or maybe many of us associate poetry with stuffy academia, snooty wine glass twirling and fingersnaps. Seriously, what the hell with the fingersnaps? Of course, I’m speaking for myself here. I admit it. Poetry and I have a puzzling, quasi-unhealthy relationship. I love it and yet I hate it. I don’t get it and yet I revel in it. After speaking with Wenatchee poet Zachary Eddy, it’s clear (and reassuring) that I’m far from alone in this standoffish approach to this often misunderstood art form. “I’m new to poetry. The last two years my focus has been on poetry and the two years before what, I was just discovering
poetry. For a long time I didn’t really un- kinship when Eddy pondered Levine’s derstand it. It’s so simple how the thing is words a little further. “There are those bumper stickers you just the thing. There are a lot misconceptions about poetry and it can be daunt- see that say ‘Artwork Is Work.’ Society has ing, but I just started reading it to see this notion that art isn’t work. Phil was taking night what I would be classes (on drawn to. I have “There’s that fear of starting writing) while a background in from nothing. That white page can the automosongwriting so I thought poetry be overwhelming. So I just tend to tive industry in wasn’t that much start with what comes to mind, just Michigan was failing. He was further out.” free flowing words.” making a difOne piece in ferent life, like particular resomyself. So that kind of clicked and hit me nated with Eddy on a deeper level. “Phil Levine’s ‘What Work Is.’ (Levine) like a ton of bricks.” On the topic of work, Eddy has a strong has a blue-collar background like I do. Me and my nuclear family worked at Alcoa. appreciation for the discipline of writI got out just before the bottom fell out. ing beyond just the romance of it. Call it Levine also has a twin brother like I do, so a holdover of his blue-collar heritage. “I do usually carry a notepad around and I identified with him on that level.” That somewhat surface-level connec- try to get those ideas down because they tion shifted into a more philosophical are here and then gone. But the important
thing is to just keep writing. Emulation is normal at first but hopefully you find your own voice if you stick with it. It’s about getting the work in, as long as you’re putting pen to paper.” Eddy says he is still searching for that voice to some degree. A quest that perhaps never ends. A constant evolution. “Sometimes I do look back on older pieces and cringe, but I think that’s good. It means you’re making progress. That encourages me more.” As for how to take that first step, one of Eddy’s mentors, Derek Sheffield — an English professor at Wenatchee Valley College and fellow poet — offered some pointers. “He uses a term called page vomit. There’s that fear of starting from nothing. That white page can be overwhelming. So I just tend to start with what comes to mind, just free flowing words.” Words are the star in poetry. It’s not like
THE COMET screenwriting, fiction or songwriting which are, in some ways, a means to an end. Poetry, as mentioned earlier is the thing. The words stand on their own or they don’t. No safety net. No special effects. No killer reverb or autotune. Just naked words standing in front of you in the harsh light of day awaiting your judgement. This doesn’t deter poets. Eddy claims it’s what he really respects about the craft. “I was watching a John Lennon interview recently and he was asked what his favorite songs he’d written were. He said it was the ones where it was just the words that mattered. When every word is just right there’s something amazing and effective about that.” Out here, they’re syphoning those of us who think for ourselves, those who no longer long to suckle that gnarled teat that kept us all so full. ~Excerpt from Eddy’s unpublished poem “Pumpkin Heads” Page vomit. “Richard Hugo’s ‘The Triggering Town’ talks about the difference between an initiated subject and a generated subject. So from the page vomit maybe something will strike a chord and you can go from there.” This reminded me of the Hemingway quote, “Write drunk, edit sober.” This quote has a lot going for it, but even when you remove the booze, there’s a truth to coming back to a work later on with a different pair of eyes. Going to bed hating a piece you wrote only to find that a re-read in the morning can make the piece appear a bit more worthy, for example. “I’ve heard that referred to as emotional distance.”, Eddy said. “Often the next day I’m more or less lucid than when I was writing. I tend to write late at night after doing all my homework and I’m just kind of in this black out mode. I have heard of many writers taking the quiet hours of the morning to focus on getting things written.” This quiet time may be connected to a type of meditation. We have all experienced that wave of creativity that floods into our minds when we should be busy dreaming of mermaids and unicorns
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doing battle on Mars. Or whatever. A quiet mind is likely more receptive to the unique focus required to hone a creative vision to a point of clarity that you can almost touch the finished product. This is where a pen and notebook on the nightstand can be a life-saver. “I’ve definitely tried to capture that dreamlike surreal world. Unfortunately I never remember my dreams. My wife, however, tells me about her dreams and I do use those.”
THE COMET sible. “I took an American litera-
Self-digestion has ended. Phase two comes the bloating. The eyes of your old face resemble the bugs feeding on your new face. How long before you’re forgotten? -Excerpt Excerpt from Eddy’s poem “Secrets of the Dead”. Step one is writing the poem and many poets call it a day there, but as Eddy points out, poetry is meant to be read aloud. “Poetry is very personal, so reading it in front of people can be very intimidating. Coming from a music background where everybody claps and you get that reassuring affirmation, in poetry you sometimes get the fingersnaps. Sometimes people clap but from what I understand, you’re not supposed to. So that silence can kind of mess with your mind a little bit. It wasn’t until my poem ‘Secrets of the Dead’ that I actually enjoyed reading in public because halfway through that poem it’s gets really dark and the air just gets sucked out of the room. I’m proud of reading that one. If you are afraid of reading your work in front of an audience it’s probably a sign that you shouldn’t read it in front of an audience.” The Fairy Tales, she recorded after that, are giant-sized, dark in my mind. In one, a glowing pine tree’s color mutes and fades when the sky transforms into night. ~ Excerpt from and untitled poem by Eddy. As for advice for anyone looking to get involved with reading poetry, Eddy encourages an academic approach if pos-
ture course and we covered the R o m a n - tic Period to the Modernists which brought us the free verse poetry we all know now. I think that’s the best place to start. It can be overwhelming with all the periods but getting a little background on the art form is important.” When asked how someone should get started in writing poetry themselves, his answers are succinct and lacking tricks. “Start writing. And if you get writers block, you’re probably not reading enough.”
Zach’s work is Published in Mirror Northwest and Manastash from Central Washington University. Read a piece from Derek Sheffield on page 18.
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Monkeys Hypnotized by Fire - by Zachary Eddy There’s Kerosene around. —Steve Albini
Homo erectus played with fire, looking inside temptation’s flare. Did he control it? Can anything be tamed? I watched an ember float once from the mountains above our town down onto the valley slack-jawed as an imp. Ammonia crept the avenue. I stood drooling while fire unzipped the hillside like my black Jansport backpack pulling apart for the last time. I moved in with the wind drawing myself closer to the flames. Part of me knew better. Part of me didn’t care. If your roof was on fire, would you want to know? Would you help your neighbor? Or sniff the silent smoke till it wafts too close? What I’m proposing is this: when you feel the urge to act —we all do— place your hand, if only for a moment, into the burning sparkler before launching it into the sky for fun.
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THE COMET
Howell at the movies: Movies with Myself - The Joys of Solo Cinema
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ou’ve seen this guy. He wanders in, small popcorn in hand, and takes an off-center seat in the fifth row. He’s solo movie guy. Friendless, anti-social, lonely. The more judgmental in the crowd start ticking off the social stigmata, imagining his life in his aging parents’ BY jamie howell basement, the purposeless churn of his shifts at Panda Express, the fantasy pulp he reads while walking the sidewalks of town, and, oh, the endless masturbation that must constitute his love life. But I LOVE a good movie on my own and find myself relatively free of such sad meaninglessness (no dis intended to fantasy pulp, but Panda Express, you can gum my deep-fried egg roll). Given a choice on movie night, with all kindness and respect to my friends and beloved spouse, I’d leave you behind every time. A movie isn’t a good date anyway, not like it was back in junior high when the
point of being there wasn’t to watch anything at all but rather to mash in the back row and maybe touch something new before the parents arrived for pickup after the show. A good date for adults should be about time with each other, not time next to each other — a dinner, or a walk or an art opening where you can actually speak to each other, enjoy the company, perhaps even reinforce a few of the reasons why you came together in the first place before they fade inevitably into ennui. A movie, like a good novel, is for escaping. For fifteen bucks, I get two hours in someone else’s world — super helpful when my own world has grown tiresome and, holy bunion cakes, Batman, on occasion it does. Bringing a buddy dilutes that. It sits my current world down in the seat right next to me and guarantees that I’ll be yanked out of the onscreen world repeatedly when one of us feels the need to demonstrate that we’ve caught the RoboCop reference in Ready Player One, or your pal knocks your elbow off the armrest to tell you, “Dude, that was totally the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!” Naw! I want to ensconce myself in one of those electric La-Z-Boys down front at the Gateway VIP, rock it into full recline, maybe a little puff of something legal and relaxing onboard* (which can also help to
remove your compunction about paying seven bucks for three cents worth of popcorn) and hang out in the world(s) Spielberg has made for me. [*I’m not admitting to anything here. Just think of it like a “serving suggestion” on the front of a box of Hot Pockets.] Another undeniable benefit of solo movie-going is the utter absence of the group decision. How many shit movies have you endured because, out of some misguided need to be nice to your best buddy’s blind date, the only thing the group could agree on was Daddy’s Home 2? When you go it alone, you go to the movie you want to see — every time. Walking down the sidewalk in Seattle just last week, at roughly the spot where Belltown bumps up against downtown, I passed in front of El Gaucho, a swanky steakhouse which just so happens to sit atop a tasty morsel of a movie theater called Big Picture — perhaps my favorite movie venue in all of the Emerald City. The movie times in the window showed Isle of Dogs starting in 30 minutes. Decision made. That’s precisely the amount of time I need to cross the street for a Dalwhinnie at the Cyclops and get back for the show. There’s no one kvetching, “Silly rabbit, stop motion is for kids!” There’s no debate over whether it wouldn’t be more
edifying to go watch Amy Schumer advocating for the chubby in I Feel Pretty or Oprah Winfrey take her Disney bedazzler to an otherwise perfectly good book in A Wrinkle in Time. I was headed for Wes World and, sure enough, I had more fun with the animated mutts on Trash Island than I could possibly ever have with the Rock and his big monkey in Rampage. I’m not saying I can’t enjoy attending movies with others. Documentaries are especially great for groups because they can be followed by at least moderately informed discussions about the disappearing Arctic ice caps or the horrific plight of the mountain gorillas. And I will never stop loving holding my wife’s hand in a darkened theater. But my all-time favorite escape is that special solitude among company where I can sit, unmolested by the world outside, in a deep chair and a dark room, immersed in the stories unfolding before me. If it’s not your thing, give it a try. Maybe steal away for a lightly attended matinee. Screw the stigma. They’ve got you all wrong anyway. Heck, even if your love life is the tug-a-thon they’re imagining, it’s okay. Let ‘em run those dirty little movies in their minds. Who’s the movie star now? Enjoy the show.
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COMET TALES: rEADER SUBMITTED WRITINGS something more than solitude By Ali Ferrier
Elegy for Bob Ross of Public TV By Derek Sheffield
Far up the Icicle, I won’t tell you where, is the place where others seldom are. The path is treacherous but worth the risk. Only the trained eye knows where on the road to pull over. The entrance is an arboreal archway where one disappears behind a living curtain of leaves. The first obstacle is a boulder perfectly positioned to keep one from traveling anywhere but over its hard granite. There is only one path across this marble-shaped rock, the slightest indentation along its gray face, lined erratically as a fracture in bone. One misplaced foot means scrapes or more. After this crossing, the sheer trail requires balance and precision. But work for a worthy place pays in ways only the body can tell. I sprawl on the huge slab of rectangular rock that juts from the earth and into the current, far enough to create a small inlet where the water slowly whorls. Above the water, one strand of spider silk stretches from one branch to the next, catching the sun like fishing line. The river glistens. In the shade its grooves flow black as obsidian. Here I will be. Don’t look for me. I’ll be back. Maybe.
Let’s begin thinking about the bard of shades, how years after he left us for another landscape we replay him for the aspiring, the overly lonely who turn finally to this dabbler dressed in longcollared, primary-colored shirts, pants hinting width around the ankles, this crooner whose voice begins high as lazuli buntings all warbling from pine-tops before bouldering down to waves, easing as velvet spills from canvas. One stranded afternoon, a chance of channel, framed in motel wood, he found me. I listened as knife scraped palette to mix the oils, brush flipperflapped against wood as a duck dries wings. He said I had my own world where sap-green and cadmium-yellow bloomed a lively meadow, where prussian-blue and titanium-white merged into sky, the sun a blob of ochre. From empty hands and easel-less rooms I listened. At last, here is my vision. If only he could step from the screen for this unveiling, brush in hand, ready to drink the town canary. I dab my last dab and, as he advised, step back to see evergreens edging a lake, a scattering of little bushes climbing the shadows of a snowy range and . . . what’s this? glittering in the lake’s virescence, his frizzy visage. I lean in to see how wind sneaks a ripple into his smile, how bristling needles flare his hair, and hear his voice swishing back and forth in long grasses.
Ali wrote this poem as a student in the summer 2017 Northwest Nature Writing course at Wenatchee Valley College. This special learning community taught by Professor Derek Sheffield and Dr. Dan Stephens combines the study and practice of ecology with creative writing. It will be offered again this summer quarter. More information can be found on the college web site: https://www. wvc.edu/academics/learning-communities
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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JASON SIMS: 8 questions with a MAGICIAN
BY RON EVANS
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hy do we loved to be tricked? What part of our brain gets satisfaction from not being able to figure out how something is done, even if it was done right in front of us? When performed well, magic can have that pleasantly-stumped effect on us, along with a dash of frustration perhaps. Some of us approach magic as a puzzle to be solved, but many of us never want to know the secret of the trick. The secret is where the real magic often lies. Wenatchee magician Jason Sims has plenty of secrets in his top hat. I tried to pull a a few out by asking him 8 Questions. Who was the first magician you saw in action that made you want to be a magic man? In the early 90’s there was a show on ABC or something called “World’s Greatest Magic” that I remember seeing. The program showcased a plethora of amazing magicians including some guys I didn’t know at the time but really enjoyed, including Mac King and Guy Hollingsworth. That show fanned the spark, but it wasn’t until David Blaine’s “Street Magic” that I really caught the bug. He changed magic
amazement and work solely on my story and character. That character has, so far, been more crass and vulgar, but also exponentially more honest. I get to talk about my war experiences without a filter, good or bad, and that is both cathartic and therIs there really a magician’s code? It’s more of a passive aggressive sugges- apeutic. Magic is more of the lighter, fun, tion. I don’t share secrets with laymen (a family side of my personality and standmagic term for someone who doesn’t do up is me without kid gloves. So far, it’s the magic) but I’ll share ideas and concepts difference between no masturbation jokes with fellow conjurors. The bottom line is (magic) and almost exclusive masturbathat most of us didn’t invent the work we tion jokes (stand-up). perform, so it is a bit of a dick move to share a method that isn’t yours. I can say If one trick could be real as opposed to illusion, what would it be and how dick move, right? would you use it? Seriously, where do you hide all the Telekinesis. I’d do the same routines in my show without all the “magic stuff” as shit you make disappear? well as have the ability to force-choke idiExactly where you think *winks. ots like Darth Vader does. You have recently crossed into stand up comedy. Other than not making people’s shit disappear, talk about What’s in your top hat? Be honest. some major differences in how you ap- It used to be a rabbit. That reminds me, I proach entertaining a comedy crowd should clean that out… vs. the audience of a magic show? Stand up has been a new creative outlet Many tricks have been established, where I can set down the safety net of which means performing them is a forever by putting the focus on the audience instead of the magician. He reminded all of us of the power and beauty of magic. He also blew our fucking minds.
matter of learning them. How do magicians progress the art to keep it from growing predictable or at least “debunkable”? I like to consider myself an ambassador of magic. I belong to a growing community of serious artists that seek to elevate magic beyond the historically lame stereotype. We take our art seriously and that means being adept and proficient in our sleights as well as knowledgeable about magic history and theory. Like all artists, I’m constantly fighting mediocrity and seeking out new methods to express myself. To that end, I’m also always looking for opportunities to perform. You must keep testing, pushing, and over-extending yourself to break through your own limits. One thing or person you wish you could make disappear I’d get rid of all my doubts, fears, and insecurities… or Trump. Probably Trump. Catch Jason Sims in the act along with fellow prestidigitator, Fletcher Ellingson on June 2nd at Andante’s Restaurant in Chelan.
Jason Sims will be hosting The Radar Dames: An Evening of Burlesque at RadarStation in Wenatchee on May 26th.
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THE COMET
by ron evans
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CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE COMET
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the spacepod: CREEPY LETTERS FROM READERS part I
BY ron evans I have been blathering about over the past eight issues so over the next few issues I thought I’d let some of our readers speak up with some spooky tales of their own. This has become one of my favorite parts of putting anything paranormal out. The feedback. Not just the heralding and praise. Not just that. But hearing ghost stories, UFO encounters, bigfoot sightings, and my personal favorite: my dad works for the government and just found out-type stories. Anyone who has experienced something paranormal knows that there is both strength and comfort in numbers. I know it’s easy to snicker at the redneck goobers on channel 5 when they are talking about a flying saucer scenario all while whistling through their teeth on the S’s. But all I ever ask of my skeptical pals is to perform one simple exercise: Genuinely imagine seeing something crazy that could only be explained as...impossible. Imagine you try to relay this tale
to your loved ones only to be ridiculed, laughed at or looked at a bit sideways. It’s a big universe. And we don’t know shit about shit. So at the very least, it’s worth an open-minded listen or two. So pull a comfy log up to the campfire, spike that cocoa and enjoy this week’s reader feedback edition of The Spacepod. Letter I is from Jillian. Enjoy? Letter I
He never talked about all this though, I later learned those details from my nana. Anyway, the story he would tell us was involving a man who committed suicide in his room. Room 181. In fact, that’s what we kids came to call the story. “Grandpa. Tell us the story of Room 181!”. He would only tell it if someone new was in the house. So we brought a lot of neighbor kids to visit. The story went like this.
“It was Wednesday night around 7:00 PM. Hi Ron, I was mopping up some lasagne off the I thought I would share a story my grand- carpet near the banquet room when I got pa used to tell us when we were kids. He a call on the radio. ‘A confirmed in room worked as a custodian in a major hotel in 181. Police have wrapped.’ ” Boise, Idaho all through the ’70s and ’80s. Over those years he’d seen many bizarre Confirmed is what the hotel, and apparthings as you can imagine. All the things ently the police, called a definitely dead that go on in hotels. He saw comatose person. Get it? Confirmed? My gramps rock stars being wheeled out on gurneys, knew that this was a priority over lasagne. bodies floating in the indoor swimming You can’t book a room with dead people pool, orgies happening when he went in to stains (the body removal was another’s clean a supposed vacant room, and more. responsibility of course). So up he went.
To Room 181. As I mentioned, grandpa had seen many crazy things in his years at the hotel so he casually entered what he thought would be a familiar scene. And it was. A little blood, some mess and a few stains. He would never tell us how the man killed himself. Maybe he didn’t want to truly disturb us, or maybe he just knew it made the story better. He went on. “I cleaned the area and called housekeeping to turn the room over. As I was leaving I heard whispering right behind me. I turned to look and nobody was there. But I know I heard something. I felt a presence in that room with me. So I stood there looking over toward the window. The man took his life by that window. It overlooked the south side of Boise, which was likely the last thing the man had ever seen.” Grandpa always paused at that part of the story. That thought affected him some-
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and tried to find any information he could, which wasn’t much. Years later when my grandpa passed away “I was just about to walk out the door my nana discovered a little notebook in a when I just got an urge to say ‘Are you still box under his side of the bed. There was here?’ When me and my cousins were little we only one sentence written on one single ‘Yes.’ I heard, again in a whispering voice. assumed this was just made up. Spooky page. It said ‘I’ve made a mistake.’ I have My heart thumped but I wasn’t scared if This voice was so frightened and so re- tales around the fireplace. But as I said be- that notebook in my possession to this day. that makes sense. I said ‘Why did you do gretful that it sent a shiver down my fore, nana later confided many of grand- I don’t know what it means and neither that?’ It was silent again for a minute and spine. I said ‘Fight it! You don’t have to pa’s secrets. Including the fact the the sto- did nana. But given the tone of his voice then he said, ‘She doesn’t love me any- go!’ I heard a faint, far away scream and ry of Room 181 was 100% true. That night when he told us that part of the story, it’s a more.’ then the room went silent and cold. And my grandpa came home trembling and phrase that haunted him till his last days. I mean cold. The temperature dropped told nana that story. He had nightmares ‘Who doesn’t?’ I said. More silence and and my skin crawled. The cleaning la- about it for weeks. He read the man’s -Jillian then, crying. I looked all around. The dies came into the room and went right obituary, asked the hotel staff about him how.
room was empty. This was his ghost, I have zero doubt to that. Suddenly the crying stopped. I said ‘Are you here?’ After a second or two of silence he said… ‘He’s taking me. I don’t wanna go. I made a mistake.’
for the thermostat it was so cold. After standing there staring out the window a while I forced myself to get back to work. I walked out of Room 181 a different man.”
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