WEEKLY HUM ( 06-23-06 )

LETTER HEADER
Our HumDrum award, which picks out the week's best letter to the editor, goes to Roger Donegan of Hinesburg. In a dispatch appearing in the June 21 Seven Days, Donegan rails on columnist Peter Freyne with regard to Freyne's rubberstamping of candidate Bernard Sanders. Donegan then goes on to Bernie bash:

• Sanders backed Nicaraguan general Daniel Ortega.
• Sanders tried to halt NATO's rescue in the Balkans.
• Sanders kibitzing with America hater, Venezuelan chief Hugo Chavez.
• Sanders has a prob with Tarrant selling IDX to GE, but no prob with Ben & Jerry selling out to dreaded corporate monolith Unilever.
• Sanders blasted U.S. government for hiding info about WMD's in first Gulf War.

At the end of the letter, the writer suggests that Sanders is less Nathan Hale and more Nathan Hotdog.

Editor's note: our picks are not so much the ideology of the writer, but more the power, style or humor of the submission.

REVE-NEW
"Gee, we need additional revenue. We need to increase profits. We need more money. Hey, let's build a golf course!"
Hell, yeah. That's what many garden center operators, farmers, winter resort managers and investors are saying all across the northeast. If you plan well and have a half decent location, they will come. For every senior who can't afford a 90 dollar prescription, there is a self-involved golfer who will happily pluck down 90 dollars for an afternoon chasing a little white ball. How often do you hear of a golf course going out of business? Like insurance companies, not often.
By the way, the newest golf course in the area is the Catamount Country Club, located in Williston. They've got a nice spot with a restaurant and large space for big parties.

MORE-ZART
Gem of a show on July 20 at the Round Church in Richmond. The Vermont Mozart Festival presents In His Own Words, a showcase of the little guy's sonatas, along with a reading of Mozart's letters to family and friends. Guest reader is VPR's Cheryl Willoughby.

LITTLE SAYS A LOT
Pick up a copy of the Vermont Times for a compelling cartoon by Mr. Brunelle on the subject of abortion
clinics. As far as we know, Vermont Times does not have a web site and anyway, they flood the market with so many copies that don't get picked up - PLEASE! - pick one up, if only to validate the death of the tree used in making the newsprint!

FIVE CORNERS UPDATE
The wait at the Essex Junction Five Corners Light took so long, we were able to leave our vehicle, walk over to the old bowling alley site, wonder how they were going to fit the new Mac's Market in there, buy a forty at Fairgrounds Beverage and still get back to the intersection before the light changed. By the way, on a not-so- interrelated point, the state is going to give the Essex part of the Circ a FRESH PAVING! Yes!

ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION
Although the Hum is weekly during the summer months, check back frequently for updates, sentence changes, tricks and breaking stuff. See ya at the Five corners.
Over and out, Doc Ock.