Three minutes with … Ben Armstrong

Published 9:10 am Wednesday, October 27, 2021

What do you like about Hermiston?

I like how rural it is and how in-the-middle-of-nowhere it is. It’s a small enough town where you can know everybody and walk around and feel safe. Definitely, when compared with other towns around, you can walk up and down streets and not worry.

Do you have a favorite quiet place in town?

The Butte is really nice. I really like the movie theater because its generally quiet.

What was the last good movie you’ve seen?

In theaters, I don’t know. I just watched the cartoon version of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” It was interesting.

What do you like about ‘The Lord of the Rings’?

The scale of it is big. You can read it again and again to find details you never saw. And the world is so deep, you can find answers to every question you can imagine.

Then, what would Tolkien say about the meaning of life?

It’d be very Catholic orientated, because he was a Catholic man, himself. He’d say his stories are based on home. Also, evil is greater than good but at some point, it will eat itself.

Do you agree with Tolkien?

Yeah, I believe so. You see a lot in our culture, now and in the past, when bad things arise, it destroys itself.

Are there examples of that in the real world?

There are catastrophes and crimes. Look at what the Nazis did during World War II. That wouldn’t have happened if the Nazis weren’t bad. If they were just chill, we would’ve left them alone. But they had to be bad guys; they had to be mean. So the world got back on them, and they brought it on themselves.

Do you have any favorite restaurants in town?

Denny’s or Shari’s. I never eat breakfast, but I love breakfast food.

What do you order when you go there?

Pancakes, hash browns, bacon and eggs over easy. Then, I mix my hash browns, bacon and eggs and ketchup, together. My dad used to do that when he was in the Army.