THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015
COMMUNITY
1B
Bird whispering
Astorian MICHAEL “SASHA” MILLER, pictured in-
set, had quite an experience recently while walking with
his dog and cat along Pipeline Road. He noticed a BALD
EAGLE standing behind a log, eating, less than 20 feet
away. Sasha approached, and was able to get “ridiculously
close.”
Alas, he didn’t have a decent camera handy. Luckily, he
remembered that JEANY POTTER lived close by, so he bor-
rowed her smartphone. When Sasha approached the eagle
again (“it was huge”), the bird got spooked and walked —
not flew — away, looking like a “lumbering dwarf.” Clearly,
it was injured. One of Sasha’s photos is shown.
What to do? Sasha grabbed a sleeping bag from the truck,
and dropped it over the eagle. “The bird was panicked and I
was trembling. I paused and looked down at it. ‘Calm down.
It’s OK,’ I said. I wouldn’t have believed me, but the bird
seem to accept at least a momentary standstill. I managed to
wrap the bird up, and carried it down the hill, so amped up
with adrenalin, I’ve no recollection of its weight.”
He set the bird-bundle down on the grass. Now what?
Just then, a police officer showed up, and with the game
warden’s help, contacted JOSH SARANPAA, assistant
director of the WILDLIFE CENTER OF THE NORTH
COAST (www.coastwildlife.org).
“The young man showed no hesitation,” Sasha wrote.
“He knew what he was doing.” Josh examined the eagle,
then took it to the wildlife center. It turns out they had been
searching for the bird, which had been badly injured by
hitting a power line. Its wing was ruined, it was emaciated,
and it would never fly again. Sadly, the eagle had to be
euthanized.
First a white pelican, then a Northern Fulmar. The eagle
makes the third wild bird close encounter Sasha’s had in the
last year. What’s next for Astoria’s bird whisperer?
A rare sight
Something fun for marine life fans: An ALBINO BOTTLENOSE
a river in Central Florida in December by DANIELLE CARTER of
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
LiveScience.com (http://tinyurl.com/albdolphin) has the story,
and the video. A screenshot from the video is shown.
BLAIR MASE, the Southeast region marine mammal stranding
coordinator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion (NOAA) told LiveScience that the dolphin, which appears to be
noted that albinism in marine creatures is rare, but has been observed
in 20 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises; NOAA has only re-
corded 14 previous sightings of albino bottlenose dolphins since 1962.
Nostalgia nook
: “LAURIE
and JEFF MARTIN, owners the SILVER SALMON GRILLE, last
Friday turned their lounge into the Pine Valley Inn located in TV’s
fantasyland, Pine Valley, Pa., on the four-decades soaper, ‘ALL MY
CHILDREN,’” Astorian BILL W. DODGE told the Ear.
“The much-loved soap opera aired its last episode on that date,
and fans of the show gathered to make champagne toasts to its depar-
ture. Silver Salmon also served tearful guests replica culinary treats
characters on the series had eaten over the years.”
Bill, our multitalented local artist, provided hanging art for the
permanent sets of the characters Cliff and Nina on the show for
almost four years. Pictured above, Bill and Laurie. She’s holding
“WINTER ACTIVITY,” one of the pieces that appeared on the se-
ries for several years.
TV. “It involved two-time Academy Award winner KATHERINE
HEPBURN, and Broadway star and Tony Award winner DOROTHY
LOUDON,” he explained. “It was a matter of being in the right place at
the right time. Loudon and Hepburn didn’t know me from Adam until I
was in the right place: San Francisco’s venerable luxury hotel, the Mark
Hopkins, where my work was represented in their tiny art gallery.”
“The right time was the two stars being in town co-starring in the
pre-Broadway opening of a new play, ‘Westside Waltz,’” he continued.
“Through two of my collectors, I ended up backstage after a perfor-
mance to spend time with Loudon and Hepburn in their dressing rooms.
Loudon ended up acquiring some of my work. Alas, Hepburn did not.
“But TV design friends of Loudon’s in New York saw my work
that Loudon had acquired, and recommended me to the Emmy-win-
ning scenic designer, WILLIAM MICKLEY of the hit soap opera.”
And the rest is art history.
Bridge of squirrels
The one that didn’t get away
A story on the Weather Channel caught the Ear’s eye: A
400-pound PACIFIC BLUEFIN TUNA recently sold for $37,000
market.” KIYOSHI KIMURA, who is the president of a popular
sushi restaurant chain in Japan, had the winning bid (http://tinyurl.
com/richtuna). The unlucky tuna and Kimura are pictured in screen
shots from the video.
According to Japan Times, the sushi maven was tickled, and
thought it was a great deal. Why? In 2013 a bidding war broke out
Squirrel lovers, and squirrels, rejoice. The NUTTY NARROWS
BRIDGE, pictured, dedicated to the safe passage of squirrels over
and above a Longview, Wash., street, has been added to the National
Register of Historic Places.
A little background, from the Washington State Department of
Archaeology and Historic Preservation website (http://tinyurl.com/
nuttyhistory), which also provided the photos shown: “AMOS PE-
TERS, the bridge’s designer and builder, discovered the need for the
bridge when he noticed a red squirrel ... that had met a vehicular
demise. Peters collected the remains of the dead squirrel and carried
it home to show his three children.
“After some months in the family freezer, the children ... pooled
their allowance money and took the frozen squirrel to a taxidermist
... It was their 1963 Christmas gift to their father. This stuffed squir-
rel, the inspiration for the Nutty Narrows Bridge, is on display at the
As Paul Harvey used to say, “Now you know the
of the story.”
News from the Goondocks
Goonie fans have been waiting with bated breath for news of a
“GOONIES 2” after director RICHARD DONNER announced to
the original Goonies movie is shown.
On Jan. 8, Collider.com (http://tinyurl.com/gooniesup) caught up
with producer FRANK MARSHALL at the Television Critics As-
sociation (TCA) Winter Press Tour, and asked him if there was any
“real heat” behind Goonies 2.
“It’s in discussion,” Marshall said. “(Donner’s) talked to us about
it, and we’ve talked to him. It’s all about the story. We don’t just do
sequels to do them. The story has to be there.”
No, there’s isn’t a script yet. “You don’t want to disappoint the
fans by just doing a schlocky movie,” Marshall emphasized. “You
want to do a real legitimate movie. It’s not going to be a sequel. In
the Amblin spirit of Goonies, that’s what has to be.”
“I believe that the audience wants to discover the movie in the
movie theater,” he added. “... You want to see ‘Star Wars’ like you saw
or ‘Goonies’ or ‘Bourne.’ You don’t want to know what’s coming.”
I’ll be back?
Get the lead out redux
Is the Finnish New Year’s tradition of UUDEN VUODENTINA
is still practiced in Astoria? Yes.
“Our family has done this tradition for years, going back to when
I was a child in Astoria, and we continued it for our children,” JOHN
NIEMI replied. “Each person takes a turn melting the lead ... and
then throwing the melted lead into a bucket of ice water. The lead
interpreted as “Togetherness.”
“The oldest woman present, or someone representing her wear-
ing a ‘huivi’ or head scarf, is the ‘Vollentina’ (as we called her), and
KING5 news showed an interview with JOSH BROLIN by enter-
tainment reporter Kim Holcomb of Evening Magazine in Los Angeles
(http://tinyurl.com/jbrolin30). While they were talking, she asked him
about the 30th anniversary of “THE GOONIES,” which is coming
up this year. The actor is pictured in a screenshot from the interview.
“I was at Warner Brothers yesterday shooting and I was by Stage
16,” he said. “It’s the big stage, and I just asked if I could be let in …
and I went in and that was ‘The Goonies’ stage where the ship was.
I have not seen that stage since 1984.”
“Have you been back to Astoria?” asked the reporter.
“I haven’t,” he replied. “I went back a year later because we did a
signing or something, but I haven’t been back there since.”
“I think the 30th anniversary would be a good time,” she said.
“That would be appropriate. Yes. OK, buying my plane ticket
now,” he said, laughing.
So will he really turn up here in Astoria for the 30th anniversary
festivities? Time will tell.
Oregon history buffs might want to take note that a fea-
ture-length documentary “The Gentleman of the Senate: Ore-
gon’s MARK HATFIELD,” which highlights the life and legacy
of the late governor and U.S. senator, is being aired on Oregon
Public Broadcasting (OPB) from 10 to 11:30 p.m. Monday.
iconic moments in history,” said RICK DANCER, an executive
producer of the project. “There are important lessons here for
today’s leaders and the citizens who elect them.”