Cereal For The Soul

Our Daily Bran
Warren Anderson
Self Published
Five Scoops of Bosco

Reviewed by Allen Bacon, BOSCO Fullerton

One thing I love about self-published books is that usually these are books that the big publishers don't have the vision, patience or the courage to produce. A lot of these books miss the mark, mind you, but every once in a while you run across a real gem.

Our Daily Bran, a collection of poems by Fullerton Resident Warren Anderson definitely falls in the latter category.

First of all, you have to love an author who paints his own cover. Anderson is an accomplished landscape artist and his cover sets the mood for his book of poems. It is calm and pastoral with just a hint of mischief. As a publisher myself, I would have tied into the Bran theme more. I would have probably created a faux Bran cereal box for the cover. But that's just me and my graphics background coming through.

I love where Anderson gets his inspiration for his interest in the written word . "My word hero is Vin Scully (the LA Dodger broadcaster), says Anderson. "who can colorfully describe the action without distortion, use metaphors and similes that sparkle and call a game without umpiring or rooting for the home team. For instance, Vinny described a huge base runner who stumbled, fell down and tried to get back to the bag, as looking "like a beached whale trying to get back in the water! He described the floating knuckle ball as a butterfly or debris and described the pitchers for tomorrow's game as a Dodger with all of his strikeouts and a pitcher who has a long name as the Cub with all of his syllables.", continued Anderson.

In fact one of my favorite poems/stories in the book, The Sights of Mexico is an account of Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitching. Or the hilarious Next of Kin is another personal favorite.

I suppose the best way to describe Anderson's style is that he is like a cross between Charles Osgood of CBS radio, Shel Silverstein, Garrison Keillor and Billy Graham. The first part of his book is devoted to religious themes while the second part is primarily whimsical and clever poetry on everyday life.

The son of Swedish immigrants, Anderson grew up in Minneapolis. He earned his degree in Southern California and entered public school work as a teacher, counselor and administrator. He is a Christian and enjoys writing poems on Biblical themes. "I will read a text several times for inspiration, not looking for doctrinal evidence or debate but for pathos, triumph, personal edification or even enjoyment. I am interested in what the text says to me, rather than what I can prove from the text.", Anderson said.

Mr. Anderson's book is available through BOSCO Books. This book is $12 plus $5 for shipping and handling. Paypal is accepted. Email orders to: boscotheblog@earthlink.net

Want to Get To NoCal Fast? Take a Plane

By Allen Bacon, BOSCO Fullerton

I can't believe that I of all people do not want High Speed Rail in my home state of California.

Don't get me wrong...this avid train and public transportation rider would love nothing more to ride a Bullet train from my home town in Fullerton to San Francisco. That would be very cool.

But at what cost?

The price tag for this boondoggle is now estimated over 100 Billion Dollars which is going to come out of the taxpayers pocket.

The original plan was to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than five hours. With changes in the route plans that trip is going to take longer.

This is why God invented airplanes. If the goal is to get to San Francisco from Orange County fast...then, and I can't believe I am saying this: Take a plane! That works for speed.

The rest of us that take rail know that it takes around seven hours to get to San Francisco from Fullerton by train. That's why we plan ahead and take our work, our lap tops, cel phones, etc. We have meetings on the train and we get work done while we are going toward our destination. There is no reason to throw over 100 Billion Dollars so we can get there a couple hours faster when we can hop in a jet and be in San Francisco in under half the time.

But you know what we can spend money on? The infrastructure of the current train system and the trains itself. Tracks need to be repaired and trains need to be brought into the 21st century.

This will not take over hundred billion. We can do it for the fraction of the cost and this will still...the other goal...put a lot of Californians back to work.

And by the way, while we are on that subject... let's stop hiring people from out of state to work on our projects. Keep it in the family. Put Californians back to work. We're paying for this...we get to choose who builds it.

As I was on a recent train excursion...through the Northwest from Southern California to Seattle, I was reminded of what the nation's passenger rail service, Amtrak, is and I thought about what it could be.

First of all, the scenery from Los Angeles to San Francisco and on to Seattle, as seen from the comfort of the Amtrak observation lounge rivals the best in the country. From the ocean views to the Northern California and Oregon mountains to the lushness of Northern Oregon into Washington and the Puget Sound area near Seattle..it's hard to beat for breathtaking beauty not only in the US but in the world.

The people I met on this journey were incredible. People from Northern California and the Northwest are generally generous, educated, and progressive, and this makes for wonderful and interesting conversation. And since you have to sit with somebody at the dining car you have the opportunity to get into some wonderful discussions with fascinating people.

But, those are all the benefits of taking the train...anywhere. What I want to talk about is what Amtrak is doing right and where they fall short.

I was actually on two trains this trip through the northwest. For those who were not following the trip on this webzine as it was happening, my son Felix and I took the Coast Starlight from Fullerton, CA to San Francisco...stayed two days in San Francisco...got back on the CS and went to Eugene, OR where we stayed with my good friends Mark and Greg. After we left Eugene we switched to the Cascades which is the run from Eugene to Seattle. The two trains were like night and day.

First of all, in all fairness, the train they use for the Coast Starlight is similar to the trains they use on the Southwest Chief (LA to Chicago) or the Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco). These trains were built in the 70's in an era where there were no cel phones, no laptops, no personal DVD players. So there are very few electrical outlets and the first thing that everybody looks for is an outlet but with an average of one or two per car it's tough going.

The second thing, I noticed was the service is suffering and I had wonderful experiences last year on the Zephyr and Southwest Chief. I think it has to do with teams that they put on the train. All it takes is a couple of disgruntled employees to permeate the group and the experience becomes less than satisfactory. The service from LA to Oakland fell into the less than satisfactory category. But the Emeryville to Eugene ride was much better.

On the LA to Oakland run, the Amtrak employees were rude, obnoxious, and let you know that they were understaffed and overwhelmed. OK that last part is probably true...but it doesn't mean you have to take it out on the customers. We're trying to have a good time and get to where we need to go...lose the attitude and work out whatever differences you have with your employer.

I was really disappointed in the service in the dining room. Plastic eating utensils, high prices, paper table cloths, less than satisfactory food and again waiters with bad attitudes. What happened to the golden age of train travel where you had wonderful service, china, cloth table cloths, and beautiful silverware and glasses for your drinks? No wonder people don't like taking the trains anymore.

Then the lounge is not showing movies anymore because the motion picture industry wants a cut for them showing the movies. Give me a break.

Contrast that with what I experienced on the Amtrak Cascades train from Eugene, OR to Seattle, WA. This train service is a cooperative between the states of Oregon, Washington and Amtrak. It's all the things Amtrak does right. First of all the train is always generally on time because they split the ride in two trips. One train starts in Eugene and runs to Portland. Then another train takes you to Seattle. Also, I understand they don't have the freight train right of way issues that are experienced in other parts of the country.

This train was built within the last few years and they did it right. An electrical outlet at every seat, tv screens for movies in every car with plugs on the console for headsets to listen to the movie, a wonderful lounge and Bistro, large and beautiful bathrooms, an onboard systems for telling you time, weather, how far ahead or behind the train is on schedule. This is on when the movies are not going. And by the way, with every Amtrak train I've been on...much more leg room than an airline seat. And the crew on this train were happy, neatly dressed, and extremely helpful.

And now comes my modest proposal.

Why can't they run Amtrak like National Public Radio or Public Television? Since it is a government subsidized service, get corporate sponsorships and have fundraisers to create more money. Here's some ideas what you could do with corporate and individual involvement.

Have a major restaurant run the Dining Room. Have Outback Steakhouse, as an example, be responsible for the dining room. They would staff it, they would design the inside of the rolling restaurant, they could have their menu. And they would do a great job, because it would be a great advertisement for their traditional restaurants.

Create free enterprise aboard the train. There could be a mini McDonalds, a Starbucks, some small shops like a mini-mall all on the train. Can you imagine the bidding war companies would get into to get those spots and how much more money it would generate for the railroad?

Yes, have a movie theatre, sponsored by AMC or another chain or at least do what they did in the Northwest with a screen in view near the seats with a plug to listen at your seat.

Get an interior designer to sponsor a redesign of the interiors of the trains. Again, a bidding war would insue and the winning bidder would generate a lot of publicity. And of course, put an electrical plug at every seat and hook up the trains for wi-fi. Because of these innovations, train travel would be fun and sexy again.

There is so much that could be done with the current Train system in America. We have a beautiful country and traveling by train is a wonderful way to meet the people and see the sights of this great land. Europe and other countries are way ahead of the US on this So any investment we put into this venture is going to pay dividends in the economy as more people get out and spend more money in the areas around the country.

Baseball Season Interuptus

By Allen Bacon, BOSCO Fullerton

The start of the month of February used to be a very happy time of the year for me. This is the month that my baseball season used to start.

This used to be the month that the Cal State Fullerton Titans, the four time national champions, my hometown team, and my alma mater, with their ballpark within "hearing and throwing distance" from my home would usually start the baseball season against our longtime rivals the Stanford Cardinal.

But five years ago the powers that be at the NCAA (the same people that refused for so long to have a playoff in Division 1 football) decided that the teams in Southern California and Florida had a distinct advantage by being able to start the season at the end of January over schools whose baseball fields are covered in four foot of snow at this time of the year.

So, the NCAA decided to move the start date for the College baseball season until after the middle of February.

I can't help it if your school is not smart enough to locate itself in a sunny climate.

I can't help it if your school won't build or play in a stadium with a retractable roof and astroturf.

I can't help it if your students and coaches are unwilling to get on a bus and do a Western swing to start the season.

You have interrupted the joy of starting the College Baseball Season for me!

So in the meantime, I have to get my baseball fix by watching the Carribean Baseball Playoffs on ESPN3 or my DVD of the Japanese Pro Yakyu 2007 allstar game...or even my DVD of the Angels 2002 World Series victory over the Giants.

I love the Spanish announcers on ESPN Deportes. One guy described a strike out this way...Buenas Dias, Buenas Tardes, y Buenas Noches Yes, baseball announcing cliches are universal.

Of course, baseball is a birthright here in my hometown of Fullerton. Hall of famers Walter Johnson, Arky Vaughan, and Gary Carter all played on Fullerton fields before heading to the Big Show along with Del Crandall, Keith Ginter, Jeff Robinson, Steve Trachsel, Steve Busby, Tim Wallach, Aaron Rowan, Phil Nevin and many other major league greats.

Last week, my neighbor was up early taking his son to tryouts for Pony League baseball...a scene that is repeated every year at this time for decades with hundreds of dads and sons and daughters.

My son Felix and I were no exception.

Nobody knew it except me, but Felix could have been in the Hall of Fame if he hadn't been called away by the movie business.

Felix has the only distinction, I think, of getting a base hit in his last at bat in all levels of baseball that he played. He got a base hit in his last at bat for West Fullerton Little League. He got a base hit in his last at bat for Fullerton Pony in the Western Regional playoffs. And he got a base hit in his last at bat for Fullerton High School.

Felix was a slap hitter, like Ichiro Suzuki, except nobody knew about Ichiro at the time (this was when he was playing Pro Yakyu in Japan before coming to Seattle) He wasn't flashy. He never hit an over the fence homerun in his entire baseball career. But he had a phenomenal on base percentage and batting average.

Because I kept score for the teams he played on, I had to bring this to the attention of the coaches who always had a tendency to bat him low in the order because of his lack of flash and power. And he also hustled like Darrin Erstad. In fact, even to this day people will remind me how he used to run full bore out to his position when he took the field and run back just as fast back to the dug out after the inning was completed.

My favorite baseball moment with my son, and there were lots of them, and the instant that I realized he would not be long for this game was on one Saturday afternoon.

Felix was playing for the Angels in a game against the Yankees in the West Little League Major division. There was a great pitchers dual going on between the two pitchers, our guy RJ Hively (who went on to pitch for Mississippi State and is currently in the Minor Leagues) and another guy for the Yankees, Geoff Henderson who would go on to have a great High School career and remain a good friend of Felix.

The game went into extra innings. In the top of the eighth RJ was walked by Geoff. Felix was the next batter. RJ stole second base. Felix battled Geoff to a 3-2 count.

Geoff didn't throw a bad pitch but his slider was within Felix's reach on the outside corner and as Felix would often do, he lunged and slapped the ball over the Yankee second baseman's head in front of the center fielder, scoring RJ and winning the game. His team mates mugged Felix for being the hero and the parents were going wild in the stands.

I'll never forget what happened next.

Felix went to his bag in the dugout, quietly put away his gear, and said, "Let's go dad." As we were walking back to the car...the baseball hero and the proud Dad, side by side, he turned to me and said, "I have this idea for a movie..."

I knew he wasn't going to be a ballplayer for long.

On Snow, Daughters, and Winter Memories

By Allen Bacon, BOSCO Fullerton

Next weekend it will snow in my hometown of Fullerton, Southern California, USA

It never actually really snows in my hometown but that doesn't stop us from going up to the nearest mountain and bringing back a big truckload of snow and depositing it by the Dam so we can play in the cold white stuff.

I bet if you go to above the Arctic Circle in Alaska about now, I'm sure most of those folks would think we were crazy. "You can have OUR snow", they would be saying..."Take all you want!...You crazy looney tunes"

If you can't go to the mountain, bring the mountain to...

Which got me to thinking that this probably isn't such a bad idea really.

That's because most of my fondest memories of my kids and family had snow added.

I was thinking specifically this week about the winter season of 26 years ago. I was spending some time with my young family in the Southern California mountain community of Big Bear. My daughter, 6 at the time, and I took some time off from the rigors of playing in the snow by our cabin or roasting marshmallows to take a drive into Big Bear City for a bite to eat.

This was when we came across this luge ride out by the lake. We had to try it.

As expected, we became instantly addicted to it and spent the whole afternoon there. We were pretending to be a part of the USA two man luge team and we were timing ourselves on the run to get better so we could qualify for the Olympics...in our minds.

I remember this so clearly. The cold clean mountain air was rushing into our faces as we kareemed down the mountain...faster and faster. With every turn we would lean in unison and with every trip we got faster and better.

On about the fourth trip down we took a turn too fast...the sled almost went over the enbankment which could have been really disasterous.

I remember watching Wide World of Sports and they had this happen in a luge race...They never found the guy. We kept it on the track but both my daughter and I broke away from the sled and started to slide sled-less and on our backs and apart from each other down the track.

For a moment I stopped being a kid and went back to being the responsible parent. Maybe this wasn't the safest thing for a six year old and her father to be doing...and I suggested that we go back to the cabin. And my daughter, in a way that would become her persona as an adult said "Let's try it again Dad. I'm OK."

Fast forward 24 years later. A couple of things triggered this memory about my daughter. In March 2008, my daughter, then 27 and I decided on a whim to run the Los Angeles Marathon. She had never ran or walked more than ten miles before in her life.

At the ten mile mark her hip started hurting. She could have packed it in at that point. Especially since her apartment was literally a two minute walk from that point of the race. But she didn't give up. She got to an aid station, took some Advil, and continued on. She finished the race. She and I went across the finish line arm and arm.

The other thing my daughter did that year was start a new business...in the horrible economy. Nadia is like me in the aspect that we are either too naive or stubborn to listen to naysayers that say this is not a good time to be starting businesses. So far, her business is doing quite well.

One Saturday, I went to Los Angeles to help her get some furniture for her apartment. We could have had the stuff delivered...we had to make four stops to pickup stuff she had bought and load it into the apartment...but it gave us a rare moment to be together. A lot of funny stuff happened and we laughed a lot as we wove around West LA and Hollywood, well kind of like we were on that sled going down the mountain 25 years ago.

My daughter is scheduled to come over this weekend. Maybe we'll go over to the snow they have dumped in Fullerton and do Luge runs...For old times sake.

Dixiedelics Release "Live At Steamers" Album

The Dixiedelics 
Live at Steamers 
Independent Label 
Available at CDBaby.com
Five Scoops of Bosco 

Reviewed by Allen Bacon, BOSCO Fullerton

If there is ever a sweeter sound than hearing the Dixie Jazz Stylings of The Dixiedelics on a Sunday afternoon in my hometown of Fullerton, I don't know what it is.

This style of music, besides being an American original, evokes memories of an era gone by.  It's usually a joyous and happy sound and like comedian Steve Martin is fond of saying, "It's hard to play a sad song with a banjo"

For me I think about the trips to Disneyland as a kid,  where I first heard this music coming from venues like the Carnation Plaza on Main Street or the Horseshoe Revue in Frontierland.

The Dixiedelics is a seven-piece jazz band consisting of cornet, clarinet/sax, trombone, banjo, tuba, piano, and drums.

They play in Fullerton every other Sunday at Steamers Jazz Cafe (In fact they have a 1 PM show Sunday at 12.23.12)  and on Friday nights at Bourbon Street.

Thank goodness the group has put their music on an album and it's definitely a must listen.  The album entitled The Dixiedelics: Live at Steamers is available online at CDBaby.com

The style of traditional jazz that Dixiedelics played is inspired by the great jazz masters of the 1920's including King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke and others.

While much of the repertoire in their live show and on this album is from the 1920's, they also have interesting spins on the Beatles "When I'm 64" and the Star Wars Cantina song on this album.

Cornet player Steve Kraus, reed man Dave Kraus, piano player Kurt Wahl, and drummer Rich Arbuckle all began playing early jazz as members of the Fullerton College group The Lemon Street Stompers.

After college, while involved in other pursuits, musical and otherwise, the friends played together only occasionally, but enough to keep their interest in making music alive.

Other musicians were added along the way: Bob Aul on tuba, is also an authority about the jazz age.  Jerry Wheeler on trombone and vocals – was a college mate of Steve Kraus and was a singer with the The Poxy Boggards.

Bob Scarano, banjo/guitarist, Tim Catlin on drums,  John Kraus and Bobby Henry on banjo round out the group.

Since 2007, the Dixiedelics have been a regular feature at Steamers Jazz Club and Bourbon Street Restaurant in downtown Fullerton, California.

Nothing beats seeing them live, but the album is a good alternative between the shows.

The Return of Dave Barton

By Allen Bacon
BOSCO Fullerton

When Director Dave Barton was closing down his Way-Ahead-of-it's-time Monkey Wrench Theater last December in Fullerton, CA and moving the troupe to Los Angeles, we got into a conversation about if he ever thought about directing for one of the Fullerton theaters like STAGEStheater, Maverick or Hunger Artists Theater.

Barton didn't think he would, because, at the time, the three aforementioned small regional theaters were going in opposite directions from what he wanted to do.

Barton has a knack for going to Europe and securing the rights to never-before-seen plays or lesser known playwrights who write with an edge and controversy and directing and performing them here in intimate settings before anybody else does....right in the middle of conservative North Orange County, CA.

What a big difference a year makes in the life of local theater.

Hunger Artists Theater, after a long run, has closed it doors and in a very interesting move STAGEStheatre has come to terms with Dave Barton to be it's First Programming Director.

“Having run—and closed—two storefronts myself, I’ve been friends for many years with members of this company, despite having decidedly different theatrical values, says Barton.

"When they asked me to come on board, needless to say I was both thrilled to work with my friends and a little tentative, stepping into uncharted territory for the both of us. It’s been exciting and rewarding to see whether we could meld those two philosophies, creating a new and exciting direction for the season,” continues Barton.

STAGEStheater will have two rarely-performed absurdist classics opening the new year, followed up by a Yazmina Reza comedy making its debut in OC, farces from British playwright Alan Ayckbourn and American playwright Christopher Durang, two socially-concerned short plays by Howard Korder, one of the writers behind Boardwalk Empire, two US premieres from avant-guard Scottish playwright Linda McLean, a new work from the All Puppet Players lampooning a literary classic, the musical version of the outrageous cult film Eating Raoul

The only mainstays from past seasons at STAGEStheater will be a revival of two very popular STAGEStheatre productions The Woman in Black for Halloween and It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play for Christmas.

Currently celebrating its 20th year in business, STAGEStheatre is one of Orange County’s most innovative community theaters.

It produces nearly 15 productions annually, showcasing local playwriting, acting and directing talent. STAGEStheatre is, and will continue to be, dedicated to the development of the artist. It is located at 400 E. Commonwealth in Downtown Fullerton (between Lemon and Balcom).

STAGEStheatre first offering for the 2013 season will be Jean Genet’s controversial The Balcony directed by Barton.

First staged at a private club in London because it was considered too scandalous for Paris audiences in 1956, The Balcony is set in the Grand Balcony, a brothel in a contemporary European city aflame with revolution. The Grand Balcony is a palace of illusions where men come to indulge in their secret fantasies. Inside, prostitutes assist patrons in play acting a variety of roles: a judge inflicting punishment on a beautiful thief, a bishop dealing with a penitent sinner, a general meditating on his relationship with his horse.

However, fantasy and reality become clouded when the insurgents in the street overthrow the Royal Palace and presumably kill the country's queen and her court. It is then that the Police Chief replaces these dignitaries with their counterpart from The Grand Balcony, including the bordello's Madame Irma assuming the role of Queen. As the masqueraders warm to their roles, they convince even the revolutionaries that the illusion created in the bordello is preferable to reality.

After directing a very successful production of his play The Maids several years ago and reading Edmund White’s painstaking biography of the thief, ex-con and political activist that became one of the greatest absurdist playwrights of all time,  Barton long wanted to direct this play.

It wasn’t until earlier this year that he discovered the hilarious British script from the late 80s by Barbara Wright and Terry Hands, however, and I think it’s the most entertaining and bawdy of the available translations.

The Royal Shakespeare Company used the script in its 1987 production, revising and restoring poetic and erotic moments from all three of Genet’s previous versions. “Banned and censored throughout its production history, this epic three-hour play (two intermissions!) is loaded with sex, political comedy, beautiful woman, philosophy, murder, movement and revolution.

More raunchy (and timely) than when it was written over 50 years ago; this is a unique opportunity for OC audiences to get a delightfully absurd peek at this acclaimed writer’s work,” says director Barton.

Starring in The Balcony are: Cynthia Ryanen, Rick Kopps, Katrina Klein, Sean Hesketh, Adam Poynter, Joey Walsh, Sabrina Zellars, Jack Millis, Austin McCoy, Jonathan Delamora, Robert Dean Nunez, Michele Greco-Lucchina, Evelyn Goode, and Wade Williamson.

Tickets for The Balcony are $20.00, $18.00 for students and seniors. Performances are January 11-February 16, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m.