DECEMBER 13, 2018 // 3
SCRATCHPAD
Reporters attempt
karaoke at Portway
By ERICK BENGEL
COAST WEEKEND
T
THOMAS ROTT PHOTO
Features Editor Erick Bengel.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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arts & entertainment
COAST WEEKEND EDITOR
ERICK BENGEL
CONTRIBUTORS
KATHERINE LACAZE
DAN HAAG
ON THE COVER
Artist Sally Lackaff autographs
the new book she co-wrote and
illustrated during a signing event
at the AVA Gallery in Astoria.
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
See story on Page 8
THE ARTS
4
Doo-wop to Thin Lizzy
7
Toy drive recital
8
Musical revue returns to Seaside High School
COASTAL LIFE
Encore dancers bring in Christmas gifts for kids
FEATURE
‘Sarah’s Circus’
Sally Lackaff, ‘Jake’ Jacob co-authored children’s book
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Chinook Observer.
he Daily Astorian’s
Edward Stratton
got it into his head
recently that we writers
should do karaoke together
sometime. He’s been using it
to venture outside his social
comfort zone, he said. Good
on him. Karaoke, if nothing
else, forces you to care a lot
less about what others think
of you.
Normally I don’t want
people hearing me sing
any more than I want them
watching me crawl around
in a dark parking lot looking
for my car keys. And the two
activities aren’t dissimilar.
My strategy for singing is
to grope blindly around the
musical scale in hopes that,
by touching every note in
a general range, I’ll hit the
right one by accident.
But since the newspa-
per folk rarely hang out en
masse, and much of our dai-
ly banter is buttoned-down
and mission-oriented, this
seemed like it could be
an interesting exercise in
reporter bonding. Plus, we
wanted to support this new
devil-may-care version of
Edward.
We showed up at As-
toria’s Portway Tavern on
Friday night — I, Edward,
Daily A reporters Katie
Frankowicz and Jack Hef-
fernan, the Cannon Beach’s
Gazette’s Brenna Visser,
and the Chinook Observer’s
Natalie St. John and Alyssa
Evans.
Karaoke, Brenna cheered,
is a good winter sport. But
for non-singers, there’s defi-
nitely a time and place.
The Portway, I’ve found,
is a pretty safe space — not
one of those venues where
patrons act as if they paid
good money to see real sing-
ers and make vocalists like
me feel we somehow ripped
them off. During our Port-
way outing, no one treated
karaoke like a competition.
Even the bad singers earned
good-sport applause.
That said, we had to
give Edward props for his
audacity. This isn’t his
natural habitat, and he went
all in. So we played along.
Jack and I even joined him
for an awkward rendition
of “Tequila,” that cop-out
karaoke classic, emboldened
by the eponymous spirit.
(“I’ve never heard that one
before,” the bartender said to
the room at large.)
Meanwhile, Brenna
gave us “Hey Jude,” and
Natalie, “Saving All My
Love.” “This is all off the
record,” Natalie warned,
inspiring Jack to wonder
if “Off the Record” should
be the name of our musical
group.
As for Edward himself,
well, mere words can’t cap-
ture how jarring yet oddly
compelling it is to watch this
mild-mannered reporter belt
out: “You gotta fight! — for
your right! — to paaaaart-
ayyy!” Let’s face it, though:
The Beastie Boys don’t
exactly demand a set of
polished pipes.
But then he chose to sing
“Blue Skies” … and actually
hit the notes without wob-
bling. He killed it.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
We all wanted to encourage
Edward in his endeavor to
become a crooner, but we
all assumed we’d make
fools of ourselves together.
Sure, we’d bring ignominy
to our corner of the Fourth
Estate, but we’d be closer as
co-workers and, dare I say it,
friends. That’s how much we
love Edward.
Turns out, though, Ed-
ward just wanted to show
off. We felt hustled. CW
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