An Open Letter Concerning Gun Violence to Congressman Steve Stivers by Colin Gawel

Sir, I'm writing you from Colin's Coffee. It's a small business I run in your district and where I have become increasingly weary of opening up the morning newspaper to find yet another story of a mass shooting on U.S. soil. Though I'm no expert, it appears our current gun policy primarily benefits two groups: mass shooters and lobbyists. It seems to be increasingly dangerous and depressing for the rest of us. 

 So, if anybody on Capitol Hill has any ideas on how to put a dent in the growing domestic body count, I for one, would love to hear them. Only Congress can get this ball rolling and as we both know, doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Perhaps it's time to explore a different approach to help solve this problem unique to our great country.  I would greatly appreciate your help in this matter. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully, Colin Gawel (Parent and small business owner residing in the 15th district.)

Colin Gawel writes songs both solo and as part of the group Watershed. You can read all about it in the best selling book "Hitless Wonder-A Life in Minor League Rock n Roll" by Joe Oestreich. He owns Colin's Coffee and is the founder of Pencilstorm.com . Cheap Trick is his favorite band.

To contact Steve Stivers you can call his office at 614 771 4968 or Click Here for more contact info or to find your representative. 

Surprised by Pope Francis' Stairway to Heaven?

As our Lifestyle blogger, I've asked Wal Ozello to provide some coverage on Pope Francis' historic visit to the U.S.  Here's his thoughts on why this Pope is  a rock star.

If Justin Bieber  released a song the quality of Stairway to Heaven, you'd be justified to be surprised.

If Coach Urban Meyer started spouting love and admiration for the Wolverines and that state up North, your shock would be understood.

A WTF would be completely okay if you saw someone walking on the water during your early morning run along the Scioto River. 

But no one should be astonished by Pope Francis' message or his actions during his trip to the U.S. In fact, we should have expected it. 

As humans, we pick and chose what we want to believe is right and wrong. We end up justifying in our minds are our actions and beliefs. For example, we may stand against abortion and gay marriage and cite a few biblical quotes to support our beliefs but things like supporting immigration amnesty may be in direct conflict of  our personal rules so we ignore the Catholic belief of "Love one another." 

The fact of the matter is, the Pope doesn't have the luxury of believing in some of the teachings of Christ and ignoring the others. He must be the voice of Christ in today's world, challenging everyone he meets to act completely like Christ - not just how your perspective says you should. He know that you can't always get what you want, but I'm sure he prays that we all get what we need.

And if there's anyone that should have the truest perspective of what it means to be Christ-like, it's the Pope. And not just this Pope... any Pope.

Which is probably why we're surprised by Pope Francis' message... many of his recent predecessors have not been as outspoken as him. Some of them may not have carried the cross like Pope Francis does. And certainly some of them may have been more focused on the nuances of the rules, rather than the golden rule itself.

"Be nice to each other," sounds simple and it's easy. All you need is love.

The best thing we can do as Americans, whether your Catholic or not, is to listen to Pope Francis' messages and admire his actions.

The worse thing we can do is forget about him after he's gone.

Remember...  "There are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on."

Wal Ozello is Music and Lifestyle contributor at pencilstorm.com. When he's not blogging about rock n roll or supporting others, he's writing science fiction novels. His suspense filled time-travel books, Assignment 1989, Revolution 1990, and Sacrifice 2086 can be found at Amazon.com.

Happy Birthday To Me: Cougs at Rutgers - by Brian Phillips

50.  Fiddy. Half a bill. Half a century. Embrace it, I say. The wife says "pick something to do and we'll do it. You are FIFTY after all." Hmmm.....cruise? Nah, that's more her style. Jump out of an airplane? Never once wanted to do that. The Replacements were supposed to be here, and had I known Paul Westerberg would contract scurvy and cancel I would have plowed in the van with our editor and gone to Minneapolis for the show last fall. Too late for all that. Too late for lots of stuff. More days past than future. What to do, what to do, what to do? I know!

22 years it's been since I've seen my school play college football in person. Full disclosure: I attended a great university and had the time of my life. I wouldn't trade those years, that experience and all the people I met for anything. To this day I share with them great memories, friendship, and decades in the third circle of college football hell: I am a Washington State Cougar. And knowing we're horrible and will continue to be horrible I chose for my 50th birthday to drive to New Jersey (of all the Godforsaken places on the planet) to see a team so putrid they could only be the fever dream of a bacteria festering in Chris Christie's bellybutton. Yup. Washington State at Rutgers. Fuck me. 

When I hatched this plan I was not drunk. Not having a stroke. Nothing. A rational-thinking 50 year old man decided that to mark this milestone he would drive 8 hours to purposely see a defense incapable of tackling. Tackling is important in the game of football and the Cougs have - for most of our history - chosen not to do it. Every defensive staff at Wazzu, including the one currently led by prepubescent newbie Alex Grinch, pursue a strategy of running into, and bouncing off of ball carriers. That doesn't work, not even against reigning Big Sky conference 11th place finisher Portland State this past Saturday. 35 point u-dogs were the Vikings of Portland State. Clad in high school uniforms and led by a coach who has been held in interim captivity for a year now, PSU ran amok over the allegedly Pac-12 Cougs for several hundred yards and a 24-17 win in Pullman last Saturday. 

For this reporter it was too late. A Stub Hub 'bot had already belched forth tickets 20 bucks apiece off their face value into my mailbox. A neo-liberal free marketeer would praise the elegant efficiency of the transaction, but as the Vikings skipped off the Martin Stadium turf on their way back to what probably resembles an ironic West Coast take on Cleveland State's campus the wages of football sin were already being paid in full. 

Oh sure, the Cougars can score points almost at will on most afternoons. Last season we lost to Cal 60-59 after missing a 19 yard field goal as time expired. That's called "Coug-ing it." It's a verb, look it up. It means snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and all that cliched shit about teams that can't get out of their own way. We invented that! Even when we're decent, which ain't often, we Coug it. 

Coug-ing it predates current coach Mike "The Pirate" Leach by decades and despite his law degree, and civil war reenactment hobby or whatever the fuck, he's powerless against it. In fact Leach seems to embrace the concept. During his 11-25 tenure in "The Palouse" he's gone for it on multiple occasions on his own 30 yard line. Perhaps he remembered that the Cougs forgot to practice punt coverage, or for that matter kick-off coverage, because Cal scored a good chunk of their points running back kicks that night. 

Here's where it gets good! Guess who the highest paid public employee in the state of Washington is... Yup! Mike Leach. A man who may have stuffed the son of "television personality" Craig James into a metal lawnmower shed one windswept Lubbock afternoon. This has to be the first and only time WSU paid its coach more than those fucking Huskies over in Seattle. Hey, they have their own problems.....paying off former Coach Cutty Sark's bar tab being one of them, but the Dawgs have to be laughing. Leach's agent managed to bury a poison pill in the "Pirate's" contract whereby WSU will be "on the hook" for 60% of his salary should the entire fanbase wish to "mutiny" and demand he "walk the plank." AAARRGHHHH! (Hey, I admit it I fell for all this quirky "He loves pirates, he never actually played football, he's actually a Hobbit" shit.)

So while Ohio State is busy beating Hawaii (Hawaii? why does Hawaii have a football team? there can't be a reason for this) with a dead fish, think of me blowing four hours of whatever life I have remaining reliving my college years. Yay! Go Cougs! I'll let Tom Tuttle from Tacoma, Washington have the final word.

An Interview with Johnny DiLoretto about Mooch and Pinsky

Mooch and Pinsky: The Shocking Story of Two Comedy Legends will be performed at Shadowbox Live on Tuesday July 21st at 8pm. Tickets are $5 and are available @ www.shadowboxlive.org or at the door. Johnny DiLoretto was kind enough to answer a few questions from Colin G. about the show.

CG) You and Jimmy Mak go way back. Do you remember when you first met and what was the first idea you guys performed together in front of an audience?

JD) Yes, absolutely I remember the first time I met Jimmy. How could I forget? He was sporting one of those Michael Jackson red-leather Thriller jackets, a spiked mullet, and no pants. Hard to shake, really.

Jimmy and I were best friends and creative collaborators through high school and college and we made a hundred silly video sketches, but until Mooch and Pinsky, we'd never performed an entire show - that we conceived of - together on stage. This is kind of a silly dream come true. 

CG) Can you give a brief rundown on what Mooch and Pinsky is all about? 

JD) The basic idea behind the show is a theatrical mockumentary. Kind of like This is Spinal Tap, but done live on stage and about a comedy duo instead of a heavy metal band. Mooch and Pinsky were a 1950's comedy nightclub act that hit it big in Hollywood. They made three of the greatest comedy movies of the 60's then vanished. The show is a search for the answer to their mysterious disappearance - and also an excuse for me and Jimmy to dress in drag a couple times...

CG) So at what point did Mooch and Pinsky transform from an idea that sounded good after eleven cocktails to "Let's really do this thing?" Was there one moment when the idea became a reality?

JD) This is exactly the kind of idea Jimmy and I would have had when we were 19. We were drinking one night and kicking around the idea of doing a live mockumentary. Once we settled on that it was just a matter of figuring out the subject. Being Steubenville boys, we thought Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis seemed like a good jumping off point. 

CG) How difficult was it to decide on the names Mooch and Pinsky? Were there other names in the running?

JD) HA - great question. I think we sat around one evening and spent the better part of the night drinking and tossing around names. We wanted one Italian name and one Jewish name. Then we just started throwing them at each other until we started laughing. There were certainly other names in the running. Probably Poppatoozi and Bergman; Nippoli and Klein; Frappatelli and Gould... You get the picture. 

CG) How did you decide who got to be Mooch and who got to be Pinsky?

JD) We just kind of fell naturally into those two parts. The smooth Italian singer turned comedian fell to me; and the wound-up goofball went to Jimmy. But somewhere along the line they both turned ridiculous.  

CG) Does the show change each time you do perform or does it stay pretty close to your original draft? 

JD) This is only the second time we've ever done it. There are only a few tweaks between this and the first performance. But we love the idea. And plan to keep working on it to see where it goes. 

CG) Without giving away too much, do you have a personal favorite moment in the show that people should keep an eye out for?

JD) I definitely think drag turned out to be a surprise highlight of the show. There's a fun "interview" with Mooch's parents with me as the Italian mom that's a lot of fun. But later both of us play a pair of dancing sisters who used to open for Mooch and Pinsky and that bit gets out of hand pretty quickly.  

CG) Do you and Jimmy have any future/bigger plans for Mooch and Pinsky or do you take it on a show by show basis?

JD) A part of the show consists of seeing "clips" from the three Mooch and Pinsky films. We tried to make them look like zany B-comedies from the 60's, but we didn't have the time or resources to pull them off exactly like we wanted. I think that element of the show has a lot of potential -- seeing scenes from the movies, maybe old interviews with the duo, or seeing video from their live TV show, The Milk of Magnesia Comedy Hour.....

Truth be told, midway through writing this show last year we thought it might be a little too out there, but the audience got the concept and loved the characters. Some people even thought they were a real comedy team! So, I think the plan is to just keep pushing the concept forward and see how far we can take it. 

CG) Thanks for answering my questions and best of luck to Mooch and Pinsky.

JD) Thanks Colin! We appreciate the chance to shamelessly promote the show. By the way, tickets are only $5, so if it's abysmal just order a pizza. 

Thank You For Your Service and Sacrifice

Just this past week, my son went on his eight grade Washington D.C. trip.  He won an essay contest about patriotism & sacrifice and was chosen with three other students to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery.  It was a once in a lifetime honor and I’m an extremely proud father.  Not just because he did this, but more so because he understands the significance.

As I watched video of my son laying the wreath on the Tomb, I thought about the soldier in that Tomb.  No one knows his name or where he’s from.  But also - somewhere there’s a father, mother, son, or daughter who is wondering if that is the remains of their Loved One in that Tomb.

The servicemen & women who have died for our country have given us a tremendous gift, but the loved ones that they’ve left behind have also sacrificed for the Red, White, and Blue.  They are wives who’ve struggled to raise a family as a single parent. They are sons and daughters who don’t have a father to cheer for them on the sidelines of a soccer game or a mother to nurture them and hold them when they cry.  They are dads who don’t get to walk their daughters down the aisle and moms that don’t get flowers from their sons on Mother’s Day.

There are families that have been able to bring their Loved One home and honor them in a military burial.  But there are those who have lost that have never recovered any remains.  All they have is a memory and the hope that one day, they’ll be found.

So this Memorial Day, before you baste that first chicken-wing with BBQ sauce on the grill, before the friends and family come over, and even before you ice the beer in the cooler - drop your head for a moment and remember our fallen soldiers.  Say a little thank you for their sacrifice.  And remember those that they’ve left behind.

Wal Ozello is the author of the science fiction time travel books, Assignment 1989 and Revolution 1990 and a frequent customer at Colin's Coffee.  He’s never served in the military, but is extremely grateful for the men and women who have served.

Eek. Mother's Day. - by Kellie Caldwell

Eek. Mother's Day. The holiday almost everyone forgets for those who lost their mothers. It is a bit of a club. You cannot understand the loss until it happens to you. Yes, you say you can sympathize but you, in no way, can empathize.

When my late mom passed away when I was in college, it was before Mother's Day. I remember sitting at a table in my sorority house for breakfast one day. Everyone was talking about their moms, the day, and what gifts to give their moms. I sat there. Nada. No mention my mom died twenty days earlier. I recall mumbling, "I do not like Mother's Day." I probably said hate, but my late mom forbade us from using the word hate or using slang.

Mother's Day was tough for twenty years. No joke. She missed my college graduation, my heartbreaks, my move to Atlanta, my job promotions, my pets I adopted, my cars, my homes, my future husband, my wedding, our three failed adoption agencies, my miscarriage, our other ivf trials, LP finally finding us, LP's baptism, and dealing with a year-long adoption trial.

I am now a teacher, just like she was. I am a mother, just like she was. I live out West, as she always wanted to do. I carry on her traditions: cheese fondue in front of the Christmas tree, Mass, annual Christmas ornaments for LP and our nephew, among many others.

I think of her every day. My entire being no longer aches. I do not feel her presence like I used to but I miss her nonetheless. She rarely visits me in my dreams. I know she is gone yet she makes an appearance now and then to have lunch in my dreams. I ache for more of those dreams.

After eleven years of trying to become a mother, I gave up and our adorable son "LP" found us. She brought him to us. He is chatty and social. He is just like her. We call him the mayor because he is definitely not shy. I was a quiet child with my mom constantly shoving me toward a cashier to buy a candy bar saying, "Be assertive!" LP is total payback. I cannot, I repeat, cannot go anywhere without him talking to absolutely everyone. Touche, Mom.

At any rate, after 21 years without my mom, and being a new mom myself, Mother's Day is okay for me now. May I have a moment with my ipod and cry? Sure. All of us in the "club" will probably do so. Husbands, please let us have that moment. Ten minutes of crying in the shower or bath will make it a better day. Motherless daughters deserve at least ten minutes on Sunday. Please let us have it. It is healthy and normal. Thank you.

Happy Mother's Day to all who have lost their moms. Although they are gone, they still deserve honor on Sunday. Xo.

Kellie Caldwell wrote the acclaimed blog "I Should Have Had 10 of You". Click here to read the first entry.

She is also Colin's Gawel's sister.