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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2015)
4B THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2015 Walla Walla busker gets attention in unicorn mask By VICKI HILLHOUSE Union-Bulletin WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) — A man walks into a bar carrying a violin in one hand and a unicorn head in the other. If you’re waiting for a punch line, you’d better settle in. This isn’t the setup to a joke. For musician Ben MacSpadden, it’s your run-of-the-mill Thursday night as he navigates through a local - ple celebrating the holiday at a clus- ter of tables pushed together for the occasion. He introduces himself, dons the head that so many have seen him wear during his busking performanc- es at First Avenue and Main Street, and begins a medley of Christmas tunes. He calls them Uni-Grams. The AP Photo/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Greg Lehman Violinist Ben McSpadden poses for a photo with his violin in Walla Walla, Wash. AP Photo/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Greg Lehman For $10, he delivers a message and a song while wearing his unicorn mask. At Christmas, he adds an ugly sweat- er to the get-up. Additional songs are $5 each. Though started as an idea for the holidays, he sees no reason to stop now. This unicorn will be for hire as long as there’s demand. It’s another layer to the live per- formances that kicked off when Mac- Spadden began playing at Land Title Plaza earlier this year. A game buyer for Book & Game Co., MacSpadden considers himself a student of busking — street perform- ing for tips. The son of a music teacher, he’s played violin since he was a tot, al- though he says without a hint of iro- ny he didn’t become serious about it until he was 5. That was when his teacher was covering the letter “V” with a depiction of a violin, which MacSpadden announced he could play. The teacher was awestruck, and recommended an instructor. The rest is history. Violinist Ben McSpadden plays his violin in Walla Walla, Wash., Dec. 24. McSpadden can often be seen in his unicorn mask playing at venues around Walla Walla, or busking downtown. For $10, he delivers a message and a song while wearing his unicorn mask. At Christmas, he adds an ugly sweater to the get-up. Additional songs are $5 each. It hadn’t occurred to him to play on the streets until he unearthed the unicorn mask during a move. Purchased for a Halloween cos- tume last year, he stumbled upon the mask and wondered to himself if he could play his acoustic violin dubbed “Oskar” while wearing it. take his act on the road. Or, rather, on the street corner. So excited was MacSpadden to make his downtown debut last sum- mer in a kilt and the mask and with a sign that read “Cursed by a wizard, need money for magic lessons” that he hadn’t noticed he’d set up camp on a different day of the week than originally planned. Nevertheless, he decided to play and see what would happen. The Celtic tunes from MacSpad- den and Oskar turned heads. It was exactly what he was going for. “The reaction was immediate and amazing,” he said. “Folks were tak- en completely off guard. I could al- most see people’s thoughts sliding from ‘What’s going on? Is this really happening?’ to ‘Hey, this guy’s pretty good.”’ And he is. When he was young, MacSpadden set a record for himself of practicing about 3,000 consecutive days. He fell out of that habit once he hit high school and college, but by then he knew what he was doing. Music education was his career path in college at Central Washington University, though he left early. With Oskar — a roughly 60-year- old instrument made in Germany — and “Sparky” — his electric violin with the extra low string that gives him depth with chords and noodling around — his passion for performing has awakened once again. To describe his motivation for busking, MacSpadden turns to Aman- da Palmer who penned “The Art of Asking.” He characterizes her de- scription of busking as the best he’s succeed or fail by virtue of their raw ability to create a show in unexpected circumstances, to thoroughly entertain an audience that did not expect to be one, and to make random people care for a few minutes. The passers-by are trusting you to give them something valuable in exchange for their time and attention, and (possibly) their dollars,” MacSpadden quoted. Those looking for a surprise from MacSpadden — apart from the cos- - sional Pink Floyd song in his set list. downtown Walla Walla, MacSpadden has not only returned to the streets weekend after weekend, he’s also attended the Thursday jam nights at Sapolil Cellars, performs at open mics, debuted an original composition during a performance at Mace Mead Works, traveled to Portland to busk (where he surprisingly made fewer tips than in Walla Walla, he said), and has now added his Uni-Grams, com- plete with dedicated social media page on Facebook. He’s considering adding other heads to his lineup to keep things fresh. But whether he’s on a street cor- ner or surprising an unsuspecting guest in a restaurant, the reward is the same. “I really do love it,” he said. “One of the best things — the thing that sort of kicks into my mind every once in a while — it’s a disruption. It’s a gentle disruption, but it snaps people out of what they’re doing. “It’s so easy to end up in autopilot mode and just sort of making your way through the day. I really enjoy that I get to disrupt that cycle for a moment and make people happy.” Newborn killer whale a good sign for imperiled pod SEATTLE (AP) — A new- born orca has been spotted in the endangered pod that fre- quents Puget Sound in Wash- ington state, a good sign af- ter the death of a pregnant killer whale from the same group earlier this month. The baby orca was dis- covered Tuesday by Center for Whale Research scientist Ken Balcomb and another scientist monitoring mem- bers of J-pod off the Cana- dian Gulf Islands of British Columbia. Balcomb says the pre- sumed mother is J-16, a 43-year-old that has had three surviving calves. The baby killer whale is estimat- ed to be a day or two old and appeared healthy. It’s been designated J-50. Howard Garrett of the Orca Network says the birth is encouraging after the loss of the breeding female and its fetus. The baby brings the Puget Sound orca population to 78. A new baby orca whale swims alongside its mother near Vancouver Island in the Canadian Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Dec. 30. The newborn is being called J-50. With the new addi- tion, there are now 78 of the endangered whales in the waters of British Columbia and Washing- ton state. AP Photo/Center for Whale Research, Ken Balcomb CL ASSIF IE D M ARK ETPL A CE P lace classified ad s o n lin e at w w w .d ailyasto rian .co m o r call 503-325-3211 CL ASSIF IE D IN DEX ANNOUNCEMENTS 055 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Care Centers 035 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lost & Found 040 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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Automobile W E GE T RESU L TS 74 % OF CLATSOP COUN TY RESIDEN TS read The Daily Astorian AND RATED CLASSIFIEDS #1 FOR THE M OST READ SECTION ! (From 2010 Astoria market study by Marshall Marketing & Communications, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA) WE CAN PUT YOUR AD IN ALL OF OUR PUBLICATIONS: In Print • The Daily Astorian • Coast Weekend • The Chinook Observer • Coast Marketplace Online • dailyastorian.com • coastweekend.com • chinookobserver.com DEADLIN ES The deadline for classified ads is 1:00 p.m. the day before your ad is scheduled to run All classified ads require pre-payment TO PLACE YOUR AD: Call The Daily Astorian classifed department at: 503-325-3211 ext. 231 or 800-781-3211 ext. 231 Web: www.dailyastorian.com Email: classifieds@dailyastorian.com THE DAILY ASTORIAN P.O. Box 210 • 949 Exchange Street Astoria, Oregon 97103 www.dailyastorian.com Grounds Coordinator: City of Astoria is accepting applications for a Grounds Coordinator. Salary range $40,463.00-$49,183.00 plus benefits- Health Insurance, Paid Vacation & Sick Leave. This position plans, coordinates, and executes the upkeep and design of the exterior landscapes surrounding recreation facilities, parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, walking trails and other city owned or used streetscapes and landscapes. Position closes January 18, 2015. College experience or a degree in a related field, such as landscape design and planning, park planning and/or two years of progressively responsible related work experience is preferred. Additional progressively responsible related work experience may substitute for a degree on a year-for-year basis. To apply for this position, go to www.astoria.or.us or for questions, email jdart@astoria.or.us WE DELIVER! Please leave a light on or install motion detector lights to make your carrierʼs job easier. Thanks! THE DAILY ASTORIAN 30 G ENERAL A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE CHINOOK OBSERVER really makes cents! 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To cancel or correct an ad, call 325- 3211 or 1-800-781-3211. 35 L OST & F OUND Found: East end of Burnside Loop. Large gray cat. Call to identify or with info. (503)861-2003 Lost: Sometime in Aug/Sept in Burnside area. Rainie a shorthair calico cat very shy. May seem feral but she is not. If you have seen a cat like this, please call River Song Foundation at (503)861-2003 45 P UBLIC N OTICES Occasionally other companies make telemarketing calls off clas- sified ads. These companies are not affiliated with The Daily Asto- rian and customers are under no obligation to participate. If you would like to contact the at- torney general or be put on the do not call list, here are the links to both of them Complaint form link: http://www.doj.state.or.us/ finfraud/ 61 B ANKRUPTCY BANKRUPTCY $250 24 Years Experience. (503)440-0281 / (503)678-7939 Find it, Tell it, Sell it! Classified ads! 325-3211 70 H ELP W ANTED Are you a digital Mr./ Ms. Fix-It? Our team needs a digital support tech to make our digital products function better. You will gather information from team members, local staff and vendors in order to troubleshoot, assess and fix issues. You will work in our office in Salem, Astoria or Long Beach, WA. You must be able to communicate well with supervisors and co-workers, but be able to fix issues in a timely manner without close supervision. You must be proficient in HTML/CSS, web content management systems (WordPress, Drupal or similar) and Google Analytics. Familiarity with responsive design, mobile plat- form, Newscycle and JavaScript preferred. At least two years experience in the world of digital content, including text, graphics, and other assets or the equivalent combination of experience/ education is preferred. Benefits for this full-time position include Paid Time Off (PTO), 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan and health insurance. Send resume and letter of interest stating salary requirements to EO Media Group, PO Box 2048, Salem, OR 97308-2048, by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com 70 H ELP W ANTED $3000 Sign-On Bonus for EXPERIENCED Service Technician. Apply in person at Warrenton Kia 801 SE Marlin Ave, Warrenton or email resume to Jim@warrentonkia.net. EOE. Bornstein Seafoods, INC. Currently hiring for the following positions: Experienced Quality Assurance, HACCP certified a plus but willing to invest the time to train the right person. Filleters, experience preferred. 9 PORTWAY DRIVE ASTORIA, OR NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE CASE MANAGER Warrenton, OR “Salary typically starts at $3,367/mo. with excellent benefits. A great job opportunity to practice great people skills with case management! Juggle these skills with the ability to develop and monitor care plans and complete required paperwork. Bachelor's degree in social sciences or related field plus two years of social service experience working directly with clients, or equivalent. Prefer experience with seniors and people with disabilities. Closes: January 7, 2015. Apply at www.nwsds.org. EOE. Driver needed to deliver Daily Astorian publications. Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds, have a valid driver's license and a good driving record. Full Time and Part time, 20-25 hours per week. Shifts will vary. Weekends off. Drug test, driving record and crimi- nal background checks will be completed before hire. Benefits in- clude retirement plan and paid leave. Request an application at 949 Exchange St, Astoria, Ore., or send resume and letter of interest to East Oregonian Publishing Co., PO Box 2048, Salem, OR 97308-2048, by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail hr@eopubco.com.