Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/395923
J.Harropdevotedhislast week's column to recommend that voters vote on November 4th, and that vot- ing for Candy Carlson would not be a bad idea. I second the mo- tion. She ap- pears to have the smarts and an in- dependent mind that might shake up the present stolid Board of Supervisors who, as you recall, passed on the chance to discard the idea of dividing the state in favor of the ballot box. Dr. Joe discovered that the Board of Supervisors is unan- imous in their voting 99 per- cent of the time, and that the present board contains three former county employees. Is this bad? Well, it does suggest that double dippers get en- trenched in their jobs. They apparently never tire of lis- tening to complaints and then voting as an entitled group without a moment's discon- tent. This November would be a good time for a confidence or non confidence vote from the security of your voting booth or via the mail-in method. I suspect the fire has gone out of these long tenured county employees. The present board members undoubtedly have the best of intentions, but the road to hell is paved with just that. ••• An obituary in last week's DN indicated that Edith Mabe went to her reward surrounded by her loving family, which is, of course, the way to go. In the obituary, however, it was mentioned that she was fond of the books of Louise L'Amour. To my knowledge, Louise did not write a lick. Louis did, wrote a plethora of books and was married to Elizabeth Adams, an aspiring actress, by whom he had two children. The couple both died in 1988. That's about it except that as far as I can tell Louise never made it into print. ••• The missus and our son and daughters put on quite a pre-nuptial party last Satur- day for a young couple of our close acquaintance. Although I was congratulated for the spread, I had nothing to do with it. I was not consulted nor conscripted to set up the ta- bles and chairs and arrange the sumptuous feast of baked salmon with all the trimmings, and to top it all off outside of the pending bride and groom and several of their relatives, I knew virtually no one at the party. How could that be when in the past I was often de- scribed as the life of the party? The answer is obvious. I have outlived many of my con- temporaries, I was confronted with a new generation whose facial and sartorial attire was often foreign to me, and what's more, I was not needed. I was assigned to walk among some 50 guests and mingle. How do you mingle when you don't know anyone? You stick out your hand to someone who holds your eye for a second; you state your name and ask how they are. Their re- sponse is perfunctory and you move on. After a few moments, not capturing any more eyes, you move to neutral ground and wish you were watching the Giants beat the Nation- als. As that game went on for 18 innings, I was able to sneak a look at the telly from time to time, but found little solace therein. So the evening went. The next day, we attended the unusual wedding nup- tials of said couple which fea- tured a mowed grassy area at a ranch in Dairyville festooned with a large white tent and a hundred chairs arranged fac- ing a lagoon. The beautiful beaming bride was escorted into the area sitting side-sad- dle on a roan horse. She lightly de-horsed and was then rowed across the lagoon where she met the groom. The minister, who was also a helicopter pi- lot, was in a military dress uni- form with sword and matching regalia. Once they were united in matrimony and engaged in a lingering loving embrace, they were rowed back to shore and joined the crowd eager to savor the wedding feast. A good time was had by all including, a grandfather in England and a relative in Aus- tralia. How they did it with iPhones I have no idea, but they were the voyeurs in vicar- ious attendance, and the show came off without incident, as did the horse ridden in on. ••• The police logs get lon- ger when marijuana and con- trolled substances are listed as the offense. This Tuesday's log listed 19 bookings and 15 were pot related. Is this why the jail house needs to expand? Couldn't we just slap the al- leged offenders with a ruler on the hand and let them go to self-destruct on their own? ••• Sorry to see Phil Gunsauls go to his reward at 80. He was a friend and reader who dropped by the office on occasion to give me his pragmatic take on local happenings and was always, in my opinion, right-on. He passed away at home, which is the pre- ferred way to go. R.I.P. Phil. ••• Awfully glad to see the Gi- ants are in the playoffs for the National League Pennant, but agree with the Peter Funt col- umn in the DN Wednesday in which he deplored the juvenile antics of teams, SF Giants in- cluded, who perform the rit- ual of after-game celebrations where the locker rooms are shrouded in plastic and play- ers supplied with goggles while they endure the inane spraying of champagne upon themselves. ••• A little girl in church told her mother she felt sick. The mother said, "Well, go outside and use the bushes by the front door of church." The girl went out but was back in a minute or two saying, "I didn't have to use the bushes…I used a box near the door with a sign on it that said "For the Sick." A small boy went on a school trip to a local church. On the wall he saw a gallery of photos of men in uniform. He asked an usher who they were. The usher said, "Those are our boys who died in the service." The youngster queried, "Was that the morning service or the evening service?" RobertMinchisalifelongres- ident of Red Bluff, former col- umnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmur- ray@hotmail.com. Isay Chance to cast a vote for change Cartoonist's take That's what all the rock and roll radio stations call this, the 10th month of the year. Doesn't re- quire more than a casually cocked ear to realize the airwaves are flooded with con- certs and give- aways and pro- motional tie-ins. All in the name of Rocktober, Baby. This amiable etymological contraction of Rock and Octo- ber is just another example of how impatient our society has become. No one has the time to say Rocking October. We're busy people, here. It's Rockto- ber, Baby. And the "Baby" is permanently attached like a vestigial accentuater. This blended word invention was described by Lewis Car- roll as a portmanteau. But lin- guistic compression has picked up considerable generational speed since Humpty Dumpty explained to Alice how "mimsy" is mix of miserable and flimsy; a word that today is often used to describe the Democratic Party's chances of recapturing the House. Our enormous appetite for abridgement can also be seen in how Beefalo, frenemy, bro- mance and Sharknado have squirreled their way into the national lexicon. As has the manner of conjoining proper names: Bennifer, TomKat, Brangelina and Hillbilly. Won't be long before history books laud the adventures of the out- laws Clonnie. The majesty of Antopatra. Turner Classic Movies hosting a Traburn Film Festival. Ken & Barbie become Karbie. Most baffling is why more folks aren't jumping on this phonetic phenomena band- wagon. Why doesn't ESPN cel- ebrate the only month where all the major sports; baseball, football, basketball and hockey are televised, as Jocktober? Star Trek fans could enjoy 31 days of Spocktober, maybe with an assist from the Baby Doctor people who could pig- gyback on the same push. Create a hybrid of baby Trek- kies. Pointy ears and pac- ifiers. Often referred to as Comic- Con. Socktober and Frocktober for department stores. Chinese restaurants featuring Wokto- ber specials. Bachtober, a sta- ple of classical radio stations. Pawn shops hawking Hock- tober. And pet stores hock- ing Hawktober. Crocktober for the Society of American Cas- seroles: Slow Cooker Division. Cocktober for chicken restau- rants, right wing political do- nors and porn sites. Easy to envision Doctober as the Mother of All Tobers host- ing such tober tributaries as 1. A paean to the advancement of polio research with Jonas Salktober. 2. Biological Clock- tober saluting all the brave women who didn't start moth- ering until the age of 50. And finally 3. Extolling the virtues of that diverse group of Amer- icans who go to work every day wearing green cotton with Smocktober. Wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity for the NRA to focus on 2nd amend- ment rights with Glocktober? And what keeps The CW from plugging their sit-com lineup as Mocktober? Oh, because they're not funny. That's right. Well then, why not substitute Schlocktober? Stocktober is an umbrella name designed to encompass the NYSE, the Cattlemen's As- sociation, warehousemen all over the country, road com- pany productions of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and makers of broth. And who can forget Stalktober, dedi- cated to the appreciation of celery, asparagus, fennel and rhubarb? Bangkoktober for the Asian tourist industry. Shocktober for Halloween and midterm election fans. And of course, let us not forget, the very rea- son for this column, Writer's Blocktober. Bringing us to the future: and isn't it about time we see an impassioned push for Blowvember? Gleecember? Pecanuary? But until then, en- joy it while you can. Talking about Rocktober, Baby. Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed political comic. Go to willdurst.com for a calendar guide to personal appearances such as his hit one- man show "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG." Email Will at durst@ caglecartoons.com. Will Durst Welcome to Rocktober, Baby I knew virtually no one at the party. How could that be when in the past I was often described as the life of the party? Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. Sogladtohearthischildandfamilywere spared the agony of something more. We hope he has a speedy recovery and that these cowards are caught and brought to justice. Elaine Hobbs: On report of a hit-and-run that injured a child on a bicycle A man is arrested for L&L on a child under 14and gets $50,000bond. 7people are arrested for growing pot and get $100,000 bond each. Seems a little backward. Penny Bextel : On items listed in the daily police logs for Oct. 3-5. Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Robert Minch Will Durst Assemblyman Dan Logue 150Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95928, 530895- 4217 Senator Jim Nielsen 2634Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530879-7424, senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown State Capital Building, Sacra- mento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916558-3160, governor@ governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393- 0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer 1700Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286-8537, fax 202224-0454 Contact your officials This blended word invention was described by Lewis Carroll as a portmanteau. But linguistic compression has picked up considerable generational speed since Humpty Dumpty explained to Alice how "mimsy" is mix of miserable and flimsy; a word that today is often used to describe the Democratic Party's chances of recapturing the House. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, October 10, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4