http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large Owen at Large RSS Feed http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-29_tattoos__lizards_and_mugwumps__oh_my_ It must have been four or five years ago when Your Obedient Correspondent voiced a warning.  "We've got trouble, trouble, trouble, right here in South Snohomish," I cautioned. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-29_tattoos__lizards_and_mugwumps__oh_my_ 2010-07-29T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-22_civic_improvements__we_need_a_mussel_joint In 1884 the local newspaper proclaimed the surrounding community "one of the pleasantest towns on Puget Sound.  It is comprised of two stores of general merchandise, one drug store, three hotels, two saloons, one blacksmith and wagon shop, courthouse, post office, schoolhouse and about 25 dwelling houses and a church of the Methodist denomination. Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-22_civic_improvements__we_need_a_mussel_joint 2010-07-22T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-15_the_other_dylan__not_bob He wrote about the sights and sounds of a rainy autumn day,  "the call of seagull and rook... the knock of sailing boats on the webbed wall" and how "the mussel pooled on the heron priested shore." Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-15_the_other_dylan__not_bob 2010-07-15T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-08_the_great_edmonds_montana_barbecue It's really a spectacular state, stretching from Wood River and   Sun Valley in the south to vast mountain lakes like Coeur d'Alene to the north.   Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-08_the_great_edmonds_montana_barbecue 2010-07-08T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-01_taking_on_the_real_russell_crowe Did you notice how quickly Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the Gang ran Robin Hood out of town? Robin and his Merry Men lasted only about three sacks of popcorn before they were replaced at the Edmonds Theater by Toy Story 3. Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-07-01_taking_on_the_real_russell_crowe 2010-07-01T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-24_shopping_with_the_family_mutt A sign posted over the fresh salmon stall at the Edmonds Saturday market reads, "Vegetarian:  Ancient Indian word meaning Poor Fisherman." It was good for a laugh.   So is a list of rules regarding admission to the market, which is supposedly limited to "Dogs with social skills."   Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-24_shopping_with_the_family_mutt 2010-06-24T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-17__fill__er_up__in_downtown_edmonds The finger of blame has been pointed directly and frequently at the petroleum industry.   Nobody yet has indicted the oil barons for an epidemic of obesity in this country.  But it's about time they did.  Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-17__fill__er_up__in_downtown_edmonds 2010-06-17T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-10_beach_bongs_to_balance_burdensome_budget Edmonds' merchants are always looking for new customers.  But they won't find any in the back booths at Skippers. We might find some south of the county line, in the kingdom now ruled by Mike McGinn.   Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-10_beach_bongs_to_balance_burdensome_budget 2010-06-10T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-03_great_food_is_plentiful_in_suquamish During a recent stroll through the Edmonds Marina I noted a fleet of well-worn fishing boats that were similar to the Suquamish Tribal fleet we had previously seen offloading shrimp at the local docks. Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-06-03_great_food_is_plentiful_in_suquamish 2010-06-03T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-27_great_music___hollywood_to_edmonds When you are a teenager, just out of high school, anything seems possible.   Like hitchhiking from Great Falls, Mt., to Hollywood, to catch a few rays of California sunshine, to hit a beach or two that did not involve the Missouri river.   Thu, 27 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-27_great_music___hollywood_to_edmonds 2010-05-27T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-20_sam I don't want to be an alarmist, but we clearly are experiencing a crime wave in Edmonds. And I know "who did it." Thu, 20 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-20_sam 2010-05-20T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-13_skippers_property__you_ve_got_meh_ I was recently convinced that as a resident and registered voter in Edmonds I was required to take a position on Skippers.   Thu, 13 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-13_skippers_property__you_ve_got_meh_ 2010-05-13T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-06_old_economics_lessons_still_relevant Nobody ever accused me of being a mathematical genius and I blame this on my stutter-start to formal education.  Which is to say that in my first five student years I attended six different elementary schools in five different communities. Thu, 06 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-05-06_old_economics_lessons_still_relevant 2010-05-06T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-29_much_more_than_just_global_arms_trade If somebody at the Creative Retirement Institute had a flair for hyperbole, they might have introduced a guest lecturer in a spring quarter class as: "The Most Dangerous Man in America." "Terrorist and Death Merchant." Or "The Great Gatsby of the Spook World." Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-29_much_more_than_just_global_arms_trade 2010-04-29T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-15_the_long_journey_of_the_milk_we_drink You know how your Super Froster Frickers arrive at your breakfast table. Tony the Tiger brings them. But did you know that the milk in the cereal bowl might have been transported to your Edmonds grocery store over a distance of 200 miles and 500 years? Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-15_the_long_journey_of_the_milk_we_drink 2010-04-15T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-08_of_innkeepers_and_nude_tap_dancing "I don't think I have ever met a happy innkeeper," I was telling my wife.   At the time I was savoring a glass of cabernet while seated in a raised antique bathtub surrounded by steam in the Van Dyke Room of the Ashford mansion on the road to Mount Rainier. Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-08_of_innkeepers_and_nude_tap_dancing 2010-04-08T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-01_memorializing_community_activism It seems as though our community was standing behind a door, when civic statues were handed out. I wouldn't donate a large sum of money to immortalize Captain Vancouver or George Brackett.  I might be inclined to kick in a few bucks so that we can long remember Henry Gasparian. Thu, 01 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-04-01_memorializing_community_activism 2010-04-01T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-03-25_surge_milers_and__buddy__awards The Toyota Prius probably does pose some safety risk but not nearly as much as a milk cow who doesn't want to be milked. Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-03-25_surge_milers_and__buddy__awards 2010-03-25T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-03-18_local_musical_s_influences_range_from_trombone_to_der_bingle You might call Mark Press "The Music Man." He can't play 76 trombones by himself.  But he can play one of them and does so often with the North Sound Jazz Band, sometimes on the Joan Longstaff lawn on Main Street in Edmonds. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-03-18_local_musical_s_influences_range_from_trombone_to_der_bingle 2010-03-18T05:00:00Z http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-03-11_you_don_t_see_norwegian_doughnuts_much_anymore Years ago, when local residents John Booth and his late wife Joanne disclosed that they had purchased a substantial property in Ballard, acquaintances threw up their hands in dismay.  It was viewed as though they had invested their life savings on a tent site in a hobo jungle. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT http://edmondsbeacon.com/columns/owen-at-large/article.exm/2010-03-11_you_don_t_see_norwegian_doughnuts_much_anymore 2010-03-11T06:00:00Z