Stop @$*?! 'n Messing With Twede's!
Sara Packwood
Someone's painted over the TP mural on the back wall of Twede's (the
Double R Cafe) Cafe (formerly the Mar-T).
"On at least four occasions in the past month, police and cafe owners
say, a man has bicycled and bused from his Issaquah home to the 'Twin
Peaks Cafe,' paint buckets and brushes in hand.
Without permission, and for reasons known only to him, the 36-year-
old man allegedly painted the exterior a hodge-podge of gray and cream."
According to the article, he seems to be mentally ill. I'll type the
whole article later when I have the time... This is sad. I was
awfully fond of that mural. It was a picture of the opening scene of
TP with the "Welcome to Twin Peaks" sign. I was so glad it survived
the arson fire this summer and now this happens. Sigh...
Sara
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
peaks...@my-deja.com
Mysterious man coats famous cafe
Wednesday, October 4, 2000
By LEWIS KAMB
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
NORTH BEND -- Perhaps it's a case of life imitating art.
After all, the diner immortalized in the quirky TV series "Twin Peaks"
served up a host of eccentric characters, whose peculiar and sometimes
incomprehensible actions were motivated by mysterious compulsions known
only to them.
There was Margaret the log lady, a dancing dwarf, a one-armed man and
Killer Bob -- unforgettable on-screen oddballs who helped garner the
darkly comic mystery cult status, though it was canceled in 1991 after
only two seasons.
Now, to hear the accounts of locals and police here, another player has
cast himself at Twede's Cafe -- the current name of the real-life stand-
in for the show's Double-R Diner -- in a role that may rival any
scripted by "Twin Peaks" creator David Lynch.
Call him the Rogue Painter.
On at least four occasions in the past month, police and the cafe's
owners say, a man has bicycled and bused from his Issaquah home to
the "Twin Peaks Cafe," paint buckets and brushes in hand.
Without permission, and for reasons known only to him, the 36-year-old
man allegedly painted the cafe's exterior a hodgepodge of gray and
cream.
Locals first thought the uncommissioned painter was one of the
construction workers who have been restoring the old cafe since it was
gutted by arson in July.
Then the painter's odd demeanor and work habits made them think
otherwise.
"He was out here, tongue wagging, painting like a madman," said Trevor
Crow, a cafe cook and maintenance man since 1987.
Over the course of two days last month, he painted over most of the
cafe's outside walls, sparing little from the quick flicks of his
rollers and brushes.
He painted over the brick facade. He painted over a wooden awning that
was to be restored to a natural finish.
He even painted over a professionally crafted mural on the back of the
building, hiding the famous Twin Peaks -- Mount Si, in real life -- in
a neutral blizzard.
He didn't seem to know or care that the government must approve any
alteration to the exterior of the registered landmark.
"Finally, I asked the guy, 'Who are you?'" Crow said. "He just ran
away, climbed over the fence and hid. That's when I called Kyle and
told him: 'Look, this guy's crazy. He's painting over the bricks and
everything.'"
Alerted to the bizarre incident, Kyle Twede, who leases and operates
the cafe, called the building's owners. Local deputies also were
informed.
"I ran into the guy, and said, 'Listen, bud, they're going to call the
police unless you stop this,'" Twede said. "He said he'd stop, and took
off with his paint bucket. It just didn't make any sense."
After the encounter, Twede called Doris Wade, one of three sisters
acting as trustees for their mother, building owner Olive Tjersland.
Wade hurried to the cafe, followed the man to a nearby bus stop and
tried to get some answers.
They might as well have asked him how the fish got in the percolator.
"He just looked wide-eyed and answered me right away," Wade said. "He
told me his name and where he lived. I asked him why he was doing it,
and he said that the managers told him to."
But "managers" weren't the only ones who ordered the mysterious man to
paint.
He told Twede and Crow that "the insurance company" hired him.
He told police that "people call him and tell him to paint the
buildings."
He also said, "Ann-Margret told him to do it," said Donna Sams, Wade's
sister.
And even though everyone told him to scram and not come back, he did.
This time, bearing a gift: a door with the words "New Lincoln" painted
on it.
He propped it up against the front of the cafe, sat beside it and began
chanting, Crow said.
"I guess he thought we needed a new door," Wade said.
When the man showed up for a fourth time last week carrying a 5-gallon
paint bucket and brushes, a King County sheriff's deputy made an arrest.
The rogue painter, a slight man with hazel eyes and receding brown
hair, spent the night in the King County Jail.
He was released the next day, but vandalism and malicious-mischief
charges are pending.
Neither he nor Ann-Margret could be reached for comment yesterday.
"We didn't want to put him in jail," Wade said. "We just wanted him to
leave us alone. But for whatever reason, he seems to have a fixation on
the place."
Cafe owners are still scratching their heads.
"Maybe he had a higher calling," Twede said.
"I think he was possessed by ancient shaman spirits," offered Crow.
But sisters Wade and Sams believe the matter is just the latest in the
ever-growing history of bizarre events at the cafe their father built
in 1941.
Over the years, the cafe has stood as a local favorite, despite
changing owners and changing names, they said. (It was formerly known
as the Mar-T Cafe.)
As a television icon, it still draws legions of tourists from as far
away as Japan and Australia.
And, the sisters said, when the cafe is restored and reopened within
the next three months, it will still offer the same "damn fine coffee"
and cherry pie made world-famous by its on-screen alter ego -- no
matter what's painted outside.
"Our other sister suggested we ought to call the 'Twin Peaks' people
and tell them we have a new plot for them," Wade said.
In article <8rfgf5$78$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
Whorror13
Jason Henwood
Twede's Cafe to the Double R. It looked totally different inside, before
the fire at least.
--
Jason Henwood
409 Copo In
1-4-12 Abo
Matsubara City, Osaka
580-0043
Japan
Sara Packwood
I was thinking that too. I guess we'll find out in a few days after
the police have interrogated him. I'll post it if I see anything in
the paper about it in the next few days. Or maybe Lynchnet will have
it before then. Kudos, that was fast Lynchnet!
Sara Packwood
Sara Packwood <pack...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> In article <20001005021605...@ng-fq1.aol.com>,
> whor...@aol.com (Whorror13) wrote:
>
> the police have interrogated him. I'll post it if I see anything in
> the paper about it in the next few days. Or maybe Lynchnet will have
> it before then. Kudos, that was fast Lynchnet!
>
> Sara
That's extra kudos since I credited the wrong newspaper. I picked
the paper up from a table at a coffee shop and assumed it was the
Seattle Times and not the PI. Don't make assumptions, people tell me.
:b
Bxcrangl
ARSON! No one knows how reverently this place should be treated! What kind of
beef did said mentally ill vandal have with that mural, which has been a
fondness for me, too!
Garmonbozia10222
a damn sad event.