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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2016)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016 COMMUNITY 1B ‘AROUND THE HOUSE’ SALVAGE SURPRISE E A NEW KIND OF TRAFFIC JAM F rom the George Flavel)DFHERRNSDJHZZZIDFHERRNFRP JHRUJHÀDYHO ³$SULO ² 6RPHZKDW UXVWHG IURP WKHLU\HDUUHVWEHQHDWKWKHZDWHUVRIWKH&ROXPELD5LYHUEXW otherwise in excellent condition, a box of one dozen ship’s axes, from the bark Desdemona, were recovered by an Astoria snag pulling crew last week while clearing drifts in the lower river. ³7KHD[HVZHUHIRXQGMXVWVRXWKRIWKH'HVGHPRQDEHDFRQ (pictured in a )UDQN:RRG¿HOGSKRWRDQGMXVWDFURVVWKHFKDQ- QHO IURP WKH )ODYHO 'RFN ZKHUH WKH EDUN 'HVGHPRQD ZKLFK gave her name to the sands and beacon, ran aground, and was wrecked in 1856.” WHAT’S COOKING? WWHQWLRQ+RPH&KHIV´Cyndi Mudge posted on the Astoria 6XQGD\0DUNHW)DFHERRNSDJH³$casting agency contacted XVWRUHDFKRXWWRRXU0DUNHWIDQV´7KH\¶UHDXGLWLRQLQJFKHIVIRUWKH )R[79UHDOLW\VKRZFRPSHWLWLRQ³MasterChef´DQG&KHIGordon RamsayLVRQHRIWKHMXGJHVSLFWXUHGFRXUWHV\RI)R[79 Here’s the scoop: “(We’re) looking for amazing home cooks across America who do not work as a professional chef, but love to cook and/or bake ... fun personalities, a passion for cooking, and a solid foundation to build upon.” The auditions are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 23 at the Embassy Suites Portland Downtown, 319 S.W. Pine St., and you’ll need to SUHUHJLVWHU$6$3DWZZZ0DVWHU&KHI&DVWLQJFRPDQGSXW³2WKHU´ DQG³&DUULH´LQWKH³+RZ<RX+HDUG$ERXW$XGLWLRQ´VHFWLRQ Then, you need to email your name, age, phone number, city of residence and occupation, and that you want to audition in Portland, WR&DUULH&DVWLQJ&KHIV#*PDLOFRP%HVXUHWRLQFOXGHD³IHZVHQ- tences about your passion for cooking and anything unique or inter- esting about you unrelated to food.” You’ll also need to make a 30-second video about yourself: “With lots of energy, tell us who you are, where you’re from, how you earn a living, something fun and unique about you, and why you NQRZ\RXFRXOGZLQ´8SORDGLWWR<RX7XEHVDYHDV³8QOLVWHG´QRW SULYDWHDQGLQFOXGHWKHOLQNLQWKHHPDLO%RQDSSHWLW ‘A ROBOTS RULE THE WAVES H ere’s one for the history books: The Pentagon’s Defense $GYDQFHG 5HVHDUFK 3URMHFWV $JHQF\ DARPA) is cer- tainly accomplishing its mission “to make pivotal invest- ments in breakthrough technologies for national security” (www.darpa.mil) with the April 7 christening, in Portland, of a 132-foot robotic vessel designed to hunt and track enemy submarines. 2I¿FLDOO\LWLVDQ$QWL6XEPDULQH:DUIDUH&RQWLQXRXV7UDLO Unmanned9HVVHO$&789EXWLW¶VDORWHDVLHUWRFDOOWKHVKLS by its new name, Sea Hunter, which is pictured courtesy of DARPA. $FFRUGLQJWRWKH$UPHG)RUFHV&RPPXQLFDWLRQVDQG(OHF- WURQLFV $VVRFLDWLRQ $)&($ 6LJQDO 6HD +XQWHU ZDV XQRI¿- FLDOO\ODXQFKHG-DQKWWSWLQ\XUOFRP'$53VHD2QZDWHU WHVWVZHUHVXFFHVVIXOO\FRQGXFWHG)HELQ3RUWODQGDQGWKH vessel achieved 27 knots. So far, so good. Designed to be able to do a 70-day mission with a “high degree of autonomy,” sea trials begin soon in San Diego. steemed photographer and Astorian Robert Adams, and his exhibit and book con- taining a series of images of his home and home town, “Around the House,” were featured recently in the U.K. publication, The Guardian (http://tinyurl. com/TownAdams). He is pic- tured in a photo courtesy of PBS. Well-known for his land- scapes and architectural pho- tos, this time the photographer worked on a smaller scale, con- centrating on his domestic life in Astoria. “Beauty, which I admit to being in pursuit of, is an extremely suspect word among many in the art world,” the artist noted. “But I don’t think you can get along ZLWKRXWLW%HDXW\LVWKHFRQ¿UPDWLRQRIPHDQLQJLQOLIH,WLVWKH thing that seems invulnerable, in some cases, to our touch. And who would want to do without beauty? There’s something perverse about ruling out beauty.” The Ear expects most Astorians would agree with what Robert Adams’ photos show — you don’t have to do without beauty if you live in Astoria. CAM CUDDLES F ormer Astorian Jona Bechtolt and his partner Claire Evans (pictured), who perform as the Los Angeles-based indie pop group Yacht (http://teamyacht.com), are nomi- nated for a Webby People’s Voice Award, and you can get in on the voting to help them win at http://wbby.co/gH7TR So, what’s this Webby award Yacht is being nominated for, you may ask? Webbys honor excellence on the internet. Spe- FL¿FDOO\WKHJURXSLVQRPLQDWHGLQWKH$GYHUWLVLQJ0HGLD :HEVLWHV0LFUR6LWHVDQG5LFK0HGLD0HGLD(QWHUWDLQ- ment categories for a highly successful team-up with Uber to promote a single from their I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler album, “L.A. Plays Itself.” How the promotion worked was that whenever a car was ordered for a ride, and Uber surge pricing went into effect — prices multiplying based on the demand for cars, a common occurrence in L.A. — the Yacht song would play. The tagline ZDV³,W¶VDQHZNLQGRIWUDI¿FMDP$VN\RXUGULYHUWRWXUQLWXS´ Did it work? Like gangbusters. They got huge media cov- erage, and it was their most successful album launch.You can watch the video for the song here: http://tinyurl.com/ PlayYacht. “We wanted L.A., the city, to play the song, liter- DOO\VRZHGHFLGHGWRWLHLWWRWUDI¿FSDWWHUQV´&ODLUHWROGWKH Los Angeles Times in an interview (http://tinyurl.com/Yacht- LAT). “... By bonding it to that, then we allow Los Angeles WUDI¿FSDWWHUQVWROLWHUDOO\SOD\WKHVRQJIRUYLHZHUVDQGIRU us that’s a nice way of connecting the city to the music that inspired it.” IT’S JUST A FLUKE RUPHU DUW PDMRU DQG 6HDVLGH UHVLGHQW \HDUROG Cameron McKirdy (pictured) has found a new occupation — and a new moniker — in Samantha Hess’ highly successful Portland business, Cuddle Up To Me (http://cuddleuptome.com), which offers “fully clothed, completely platonic cuddle sessions of 15 minutes to 5 hours.” As Cam Cuddles (www.facebook.com/camcuddles), he is the ¿UVWPDOHFXGGOHUVKHKDVKLUHG&DPDQG6DPDQWKDZHUHLQWHUYLHZHG DQGIHDWXUHGLQD³.HHS3RUWODQG:HLUG´VHJPHQWRI.379¶V³More Good Day Oregon´ RQ $SULO KWWSWLQ\XUOFRP&DP&XGGOH ³,¶YHKDGDJUHDWUHVSRQVHIURPSHRSOH´KHWROG.379³2XUFOLHQWV DUHSHRSOHWKDWPD\EHMXVWJRWRYHUDEUHDNXSRUDGHDWKLQWKHIDPLO\ or even lost a pet, so I’m here for those people.” He’s not only making his customers happy, he’s pleasing his boss, DVZHOO³+H¶VGRQHDIDQWDVWLFMRERIPDNLQJSHRSOHIHHODVWKRXJK they do matter,” Samantha said, “and that whatever they’re going WKURXJKLW¶V2.´ F HIS GREAT GIFT T he Ear received a surprise recently from Jan Johnson: an envelope full of old photos of the 1987 dedication of the Indian head statue near the New Youngs Bay Bridge. Shown, are a few samples: Peter “Wolf” Toth, the artist (www.dcschumaker.com), is pictured inset, left, and climbing on the statue; the group gathered for the ceremony are pic- tured inset, right. Just in case you don’t know, the cedar statue, made from a giant log, was created by Toth, as part of the Trail of the Whis- pering Giants, to honor Native Americans. The Astoria ver- sion, Ikala NawanRU0DQ:KR)LVKHVKRQRUVWKHWULEHVRI WKH1RUWK&RDVWDQGLVQXPEHULQWKHVHULHV$VDOLWWOHVLGH note, Toth himself is not Native American — he was actually born in Hungary. But did you ever wonder how one of the giants came to be in Astoria? Jan’s husband, Ed Johnson, has the answer. Sometime back in the 1980s, he told the Ear, he taught sum- mer classes in Reno, Nevada. He and his children would go to the city park often, and that’s where he met Toth, who was carving statues there. Toth told Ed he was putting Indian stat- ues in all 50 states (which he eventually did), so Ed asked if WKHUHZHUHDQ\SODQVIRU2UHJRQ7RWKVDLGQRW\HW When Ed got back home from Reno, he started a letter writing campaign to invite Toth to Astoria to carve a Whisper- ing Giant here, beginning with then-mayor Edith Hennings- gaard-Miller. She wrote Toth an invitation letter, and so did the .LZDQLVWKH&KDPEHURI&RPPHUFHDQGWKHVFKRROGLVWULFW Toth accepted, and stayed at Joe Herman’s (who did the rock work around the base). The sculptor did not get paid for his work, by the way — he considers the Whispering Giants a gift to his adopted country — usually local governments and citizens cover his expenses and materials. It took several months to hand-carve the 18-foot statue, which has presided over the Roundabout ever since. ³,WZDVMXVWDÀXNHKRZLWDOOFDPHDERXW´(GQRWHG Photo courtesy of National Geographic and photographer Lynn Johnson ‘I was belatedly looking through my April National Geographic over breakfast this morning, when I turned a page and suddenly saw a very familiar face looking back at me,” Astorian Stewart Bell wrote. “Sure enough, the caption named Rod Gramson, one of four prominent Warrenton brothers (Gil, Terry and Loren being the others), DOWKRXJKKHZDVLGHQWL¿HGE\QDPHRQO\7KHVWRU\LVFDOOHGµ&URVVLQJ 2YHU¶DQGLVDERXWGHDWKQHDUGHDWKDQGWKHFRQWLQXLQJOLIHRIRUJDQV transplanted from the dead (http://tinyurl.com/GramsonPic).” A portion of the photo is shown, courtesy of National Geographic and Lynn Johnson. Rod Gramson is in the middle, with Deanna and Rich Santana. The couple’s teenaged son, ScottGLHGLQDWUDI¿F accident, and his heart was transplanted into Rod’s chest. The parents PHWZLWK5RGDQGWKHRWKHUUHFLSLHQWVRIWKHLUVRQ¶VPDMRURUJDQVRQ the road where he was killed, accompanied by photographer Lynn Johnson KWWSWLQ\XUOFRP*UDPVRQ9LG ³2ULJLQDOO\,KDGVRPHUHDOJXLOWEHFDXVHKHUH,ZDVDW\HDUV ROGDQGWKLV\RXQJIHOORZZDV\RXNQRZDQG,MXVWIHOWOLNHKH¶G been cheated, and I thought at my age, somebody younger should have gotten that heart,” Rod said. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t be a disappointment where their son’s heart went. I’m really happy to be able to meet them.” “The family of this boy felt like he was still alive in the bodies of those who were surviving because of his great gift,” the photog- rapher said. “At one point, the father put his head on the chest of the HOGHUJHQWOHPDQZKRQRZFDUULHGKLVVRQ¶VKHDUWDQGKHVDLGµ<RX hear that heart beating? Tell me my son is not alive.’”