“Life goes fast
It’s hard to make the good things last
The sun doesn’t go down
It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round”
“Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize?”
Listening to music on WXRT from 1974, I was unfamiliar with many selections since back then I was listening to “Top 40” fare on WLS, but I did sing along to “Takin’ Care of Business,” “The Bitch Is Back, and “Bad Company.” I enjoyed Brian Ferry’s rendition of “The In Crowd,” recorded ten years earlier by Dobie Gray and the jazz group Ramsey Lewis Trio. WXRT touted that evening’s Taste of Chicago Flaming Lips concert, which Marianne and Missy Brush attended. I put on the Lips’ “The Soft Bulletin” (1999) CD, which contains “The Spiderbite Song” and “Waiting for a Superman.”
above, Wayne Coyle of Flaming Lips; below, Flaming Lips fans
In a Time review of “Eighth Grade” was the acronym ASMR, which stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. The reference was to online videos evidently popular with teens and meant to relax viewers. Examples are gentle whispering, lip smacking, nail tapping, and rhythmic hand movements. I hope “Eighth Grade” comes to Portage or Valpo. In all likelihood, it’s more sophisticated than current hits “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.”
At Memorial Opera House VU student Carley Kolsch starred as Elle Woods in the lively musical “Legally Blonde,” based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon movie. The far-fetched plot has a California sorority cheerleader being accepted to Harvard Law School. The boyfriend she wanted to impress turns out to be more shallow than she, once she gains self-confidence. Westville theater teacher Erin Sharpe played lesbian law student Enid; two minor characters danced and kissed passionately once exposed as gay lovers. There were cameo canine appearances by tiny Bruiser Woods and huge Rufus MacDonald. In the sold-out audience were bowling buddies Gene Clifford and Dorothy Peterson, who recently returned from a road trip to the Grand Canyon and will soon depart for the Florida Everglades. “Mamma Mia!” is on the 2019 schedule!
above, Pussy Riot protest; below, Mbappe
In Moscow France leading Croatia, 2-1, in the World Cup when four Pussy Riot protestors dressed as law enforcement officials ran onto the field, protesting illegal arrests of dissidents, including Oleg Sentsov, sentenced to 20 years on bogus charges of conspiring to commit terror acts for opposing Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The TV announcers made no attempt to explain the interruption. One protester gave 19-year-old French star Kylian Mbappe a double high-five. A few minutes later Mbappe connected on a brilliant shot from 25 yards, the youngest player to score in the final match since Brazilian soccer god Pele in 1958 at age 17. Phil, Delia, Alissa, and Josh watched at Grand Rapids Garage Bar and Grill.
Helsinki, Finland was the site of a meeting between Trump and Putin, as well as the scene of anti-Trump protests. CBS correspondent Major Garrett appeared to be reporting from Market Square, as I recognized Helsinki Cathedral and government buildings in the background. Dan Rather posted: “The President trusts the word of a former KGB agent over the consensus of the American intelligence community. This is a shocking reality. Everyone who excuses Trump’s behavior must answer that now, and when history inevitably judges.”Trump’s refusal to acknowledge Russia’s past and continuing interference in our election process, despite a dozen recent indictments of Russian operatives by the Mueller investigators, produced this diatribe by Ray Smock:
For the first time in American History the United States has TWO presidents: Vladimir Putin and his puppet Donald Trump. This is appalling and unconstitutional. This was not a Summit it was an American capitulation! Do we have ANYONE in Congress who is still an American patriot? Anyone in Congress with Courage? This was grounds for IMPEACHMENT!
According to IUN student Brenda “Kay-Kay” Auxier, Lauren Winicky grew up in Glen Park and was the youngest of three. At age 19 she married Bruce Unland, and they got into bowling as a hobby they could enjoy together. Winicky wrote:
They joined a Sunday night bowling league at Hobart Lanes and went out and bought bowling shoes the night before. The first week they used house balls and shebowled a 112, the lowest score in the league that night. Humiliated, she decided to start taking bowling seriously. On Tuesdays and Fridays, she and Bruce worked on their bowling skillsat Hobart Lanes. A few weekslater,they bought their own balls. Since Kay-Kay had trouble keeping her wrist straight, she bought a brace for better ball control. Seven weekslater, Kay-Kay bowled a 178, a huge accomplishment for the young bowler.
What started as a casual hobby turned into a family lifestyle. In the late 70’s and 80’s, Bruce and Kay-Kay found themselves in bowling alleys most nights of the week. Their children competed in youth leagues. Daughter Brenda recalled, “My favorite thing about growing up in the bowling alley was always being around my friends. The regulars up at Hobart Lanes were pretty much family. It was such a great community feeling.”In addition to Sundays at Hobart Lanes, the couple also joined other leagues, which Kay-Kay believes made her a better bowler. She explained, “Every alley will oil their lanes differently. You have to bowl on a lane for a bit to see where you have to place your ball.”
Kay-Kay described reacting to her husband’s first 300: “I could not believe it at first. Then all of a sudden, over the loud speaker, the owner announces that Bruce Unland just bowled a perfect game. He ran over to me and spun me around. I was so happy for him but a bit jealous.”Her highest game was a 298.
Jake and Kay-Kay
Kay-Kay’s grandson Jake was present for Bruce’s second 300 at Camelot in November of 2004. He and brother Dustin were bowling in a youth league before the adultleague started. Jake recalled: “When I saw my grandpa get his second 300, I knew that I wanted to be just like him. He had gotten pretty big around the area. When he walked into bowling alleys in the region, everybody knew him.”Seeing Jake’s passion for bowling andwatching him improve each weekled Kay-Kay to apply for a bowling coach position at Thomas A. Edison Junior-Senior High School in Hobart. She was hired on the spot. Kay-Kay coached girls bowling at Edison for four years and turned the program around. She said, “When I first got there, the team was not even practicing together. They would practice on their own and an honor system was in place. The first thing I told the girls was that from now on, we practice three times a week as a team.” Sometimes Jake came to the practices and later bowled varsity for Portage, following in Dustin's footsteps. Her third and fourth year at Edison, they were sectional runners-up. Unfortunately, Kay-Kay had to resign from coaching at Edison when Bruce got sick. “I am so proud to be a part of what that program is today. I have been able to coach so many great kids. It makes my heart warm to know how many lives I have influenced,”Kay-Kaysaid, adding, “The whole dynamic changes when you start coaching. You start thinking about strategy. It becomes more than just trying to throw strikes.”
Kay-Kay continued to coach Jake through high school. She recalled: “It was hard his senior year because Bruce had passed away the year before. But we knew that Bruce would be looking down on us and watching us do what we love. In the sectionals Portage upset Michigan City, winning just by one spare. The tension was insane. No one said a word as we watched both teams tie up with one another over and over.”She admits shedding tears when she saw her grandson garner individual honors and his team win the match.
In Richard Russo’s Bridge of Sighs” Lou Lynch wonders, “Who cares about a single life beyond the one whose task is to live? Why scan the past for the shapes and meanings it surrenders so reluctantly, if you mean to suppress some and exaggerate others?” Tess, Lou’s mother, was strong and practical while his dad was a dreamer whom Lou invariably sided with, to the extent that she sometimes believed he didn’t love her. Lou Senior’s had a brother named Declan (Elvis Costello’s given name), who knew Tess during her wild teenage days and whom young Lou rightly regarded as an untrustworthy scamp.In Bridge of Sighs”
Waterfront Inn before and after fire; Post-Trib photos by Carole Carlson and Craig Lyons
Fire destroyed Waterfront Inn, a former bar and dance hall located in New Chicago on the banks of Deep River just days before the eyesore was scheduled to be demolished to make way for a park. The fire may lead to a more rapid demolition since the site is now a health and safety hazard. Located in Hobart Township, tiny New Chicago, whose total area is less than one square mile, has fewer than 2,000 residents. New Chicago’s website contains this information:
New Chicago boasts its own police station, a volunteer fire department, water department, three small parks, one gas station, Pizza Hut, [La Ranchero] Mexican Restaurant, and many other businesses. Up until 1977 there was one police officer in town and the dispatcher answered the phones from his home day and night. New Chicago has Interstate 80/94 to the North, Route 6 (Ridge Road) to the South, Interstate 65 to the West, and Indiana Route 51 to the East. We are a small blue-collar community where everyone knows your name. According to a former barber in town, there were 30 drug store licenses in New Chicago at one time. During Prohibition, if you had a drug store license, you could set a bottle of aspirin on the shelf, call yourself a drugstore, and sell wine and beer. It was quite a bootleg place in those days.
Barbara Mort and History student Courtney Nagel communicated by email before they met in person at her home in Chesterton. Barbara showed Courtney photos of her family, friends, and beloved pets, and provided her with the following information:
Born on September 1, 1935, Barbara grew up in North Manchester, Indiana. An only child, she was very close to her maternal grandfather John, who passed on to her his love of horses. Her grandmother Cora ran a kennel and bred show dogs. Thus, Barbara grew up around horses and dogs. She could teach a pony to sit and lay down like a dog and got her own horse when just nine. Soon after high school Barbara got married and by the age of 22 had three children, Penny, Kathy, and Greg. She went on to have a successful career in banking, eventually rising to the position of vice president. In 1983, she moved to Chesterton when a bank manager offered her twice the salary she was earning downstate. She loves to travel and is very active in Rotary. Her toughest challenges were undergoing a divorce and losing both her daughters to cancer just nine months apart. She said if she could change anything in her life, she would not have gotten married so early and gone to college instead. Barbara passed on her love of horses to granddaughter Brogan, who has competed in jumping shows.
A large part of Barbara’s life involves bridge. She grew up playing euchre, which uses a 32-card deck (nine through Ace) and involves winning tricks and playing with a partner. She didn’t learn bridge until she and her husband were living in Tampa, Florida. A military couple taught them on condition that they’d agree to play at least two times a week. Later Barbara had a boyfriend named Fred who played gin rummy, and Barbara persuaded him to take bridge lessons with her at Woodmar Country Club. She said that in bridge one never stops learning. On Tuesday evenings she and bridge partner Kris Prohl compete in duplicate, and most Mondays they get together at her home to practice bidding. Barbara often makes soup or a salad for the occasion.
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