Soaring

By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

My childhood friend Jim invited me to go with him to fly his radio controlled glider recently in the hills overlooking my hometown.

It was a slightly breezy day in Southern California. There was no evil and ferocious hot Santa Ana wind... it was a cool, gentler winter wind. As we stood on a hill overlooking all of Orange County and could see the Pacific Ocean, my mind went racing back to the time when we were kids and the simpler days of flying model airplanes, gliders and kites.

You can learn a lot about life from flying gliders and kites.

The first lesson is: Respect Others Space. Sometimes I would get too close to my brother's kite while we were flying when we were kids. This would result in a tangled mess of string, torn paper and broken wooden cross bows. Get too close in flying a glider and you end up with a pile of broken balsa wood and dreams.

One time while I was in San Francisco I was out walking by the Golden Gate bridge when I noticed a man flying a kite. The kite was so high in the sky I couldn't see it. The kite was so high I'm sure he had to get clearance from SFO. I'm going "Wow, that must be a special kite...that's really far up there". To which he replied, "No I bought it for ten cents in China Town.." which reminded me that Sometimes the Best Things In Life Are The Things That Cost Little Money Or Are Free

I was in the park walking my Labrador Chad recently and I was observing a father flying a kite with his young son and it reminded me of the times when I used to do the same with my kids and how my dad used to teach me about life while flying kites. The little boy hadn't got the idea down quite yet of how to fly a kite properly...but his dad was teaching him. As the kite was in the air, the little boy ran toward the kite as fast as he could...making the kite dive down and crash with a thud into the ground. The dad was there to get the kite flying again and show his son that he needed to walk back letting the air lift the kite into the sky.

A lot of times it's good not to rush so fast into something. A lot of times it's better to step back, reflect and enjoy. And the other thing I couldn't help notice is that it's always nice to have a parent or a good friend to teach life's little lessons...no strings attached...so to speak.

It's strange how I never became a pilot or an astronaut because I really wanted that when I was a kid. When I was a child I used to secretly wish that I could shrink myself and get aboard the kite and soar above the earth....but of course my brother would actually have to fly the kite and that could be a disaster. As I got older my desire to be like the birds lessened. Maybe it was the fact that I was almost involved in two air crashes that kept me out of an airplane for almost 25 years...flight became less appealing to me.

Unless I am at the controls of a kite or a glider. Then the fascination all comes back.

This morning the wind is gently blowing again. It's a good day to fly a glider.

Strings Attached

By Jim Helm, The Daily Bosco

I can't tell you how upset I was when my dad told me that he was going to be picking one of my two elective classes for 7th grade. I had my eyes set on both wood shop and metal shop. He browsed through the course guide for a moment and then looked up and said "Guitar". "I don't even have a guitar" I said. "You're taking Guitar".

I walked into to the first class with no expectations at all. I could be making a cool chess set in wood shop but here I was going into a music class. What made it even worse was the teacher. Mrs. Zincke. She was one of those bright eyed, cheery Teachers that resembled Mrs.Cleaver. Way too nice. Always a smile and always asking for us to do our best. This was going to be a long year. It was pretty cool though when I told my Dad that I needed to have a guitar in a week or so. It was kind of a revenge for making me sign up for the class. We jumped in the truck and headed down to the music store.

After long consideration, we picked a medium quality acoustic just like Mr Zincke suggested. I started to enjoy the classes a little bit more and although I could get through a few songs, it was painfully apparent that I was no guitarist.The semester ended with a live performance with two of my classmates at the schools talent. No one laughed, everyone applauded and we made it through the evening.

What was a blast though was playing with my friends, learning new songs and trying to figure out how to do those cool Jimmy Page riffs. If you play the guitar one thing you learn fast is that others that play are either worse than you or better than you. It's something you just have to get used to. I never got to the Jimmy Page stage, but I was able to knock out enough chords to get through a song or two. Mrs. Zincke ended up becoming a pretty cool teacher and off to 8th grade I went. The guitar sat in the corner of my room and when friends came over it would come out and I would play the 15 or 20 songs I knew. More friends and more songs over the years and I was building up a pretty good repertoire to keep everyone entertained.

After my school years it followed me from place to place until it finally could not take any more abuse. The back was de-laminating and the neck was so warped from propping it up against the wall that the strings would barely touch the frets. I finally broke down and bought a nice one and was amazed that the first one lasted into my 20's.

As I began to get older I found myself picking it up more often. Stress from work and worry about making ends meet went away, if just for a moment, while I was playing. We had all of the pressures of a young family just starting out but when I needed it, the guitar was always there. I have always felt so bad for Shellyanne because I am such a huge James Taylor fan and she has endured twenty five years of Fire and Rain, Sweet Baby James and You've Got a Friend. Every time JT releases a new album it's a slightly different version and I've got to learn it. It's not the playing it that's so painful, it's the learning how to play a specific song that will make your wife crazy. She's a good music person.

I played a few gigs in restaurant bars and decided that was not for me but continued to play at home over the years. Shellyanne bought me a new Ovation many years ago and that has been my main guitar since. Durable and yet still sounds pretty good. I have my Autographed Steven Tyler Guitar tucked away in a safe and my Ibanez electric is in the hands of a friend right now being played like it should be. In an effort to thank my dad, concede he was right and show him how much I love the music he gave to me, I bought him a nice Ovation to replace that old Fender he had. It's a mouse gray cutaway and I had his name engraved on the headstock plate. That was about 20 years ago.

Funny how sometimes the timing in your life just works out. I noticed that the face of my Ovation is warping. I saw it beginning a few years ago but recently it has been getting worse and worse. A month ago while talking to my dad on the phone he asked me. "Do you have any use for my guitars?", "Just can't play them anymore and was thinking of giving them to someone". They have been in cases in his closet for many years only coming out occasionally play a few memories. Give them away?...Are you kidding me? I asked my dad tonight to check into shipping them to me but I'd be willing to walk to Idaho to have them.

Mrs. Zincke was probably about 35 or so when it all began in 7th grade and I'm not even sure if she's around to hear how important a contribution she made to my life. I'd love to be able to tell her how much my guitar helped me get through tough times and how much joy it brought to my friends and family. I'm sure there are many others she taught that feel the same. And, after all of the good memories, all of the crazy nights and all of the fun I've had over the years playing music, I feel a little guilty when I remember myself saying....."Dad, I Don't Want To Play the Guitar"....... and wonder if that chess set would have lasted this long?

Fixing The NFL Pro Bowl

By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

You know me. I'm a Problem Solver.

For years I've been working on the major issues. You know...World Peace, World Hunger.....finding the right formula for the NFL Pro Bowl.

I don't know about you, but I can not find a more boring All-star game than the NFL Pro Bowl. Out of all the major sports, this has to be the worst and most uninteresting.

First of all, two teams...the Super Bowl teams, aren't even represented. So this year we didn't even get to see Tom Brady and Eli Manning in the All-Star Game. Second of all, half the guys don't even want to be there. The other half that actually go usually half ass it. Thirdly, they always play it in Hawaii. A lot of us don't even get to go see it in person.

So I was watching the National Hockey League All-Star game on Sunday and then it hit me. The NFL could learn a lot from the NHL.

What the NHL has done is pick two captains and they choose up sides for their All-star game. No East - West matchup. No AFC-NFC matchup. No US vs. the World format. Just like when the guys were kids when they would play out on the frozen pond. They brought the fun back to the game.

With that in mind, here is my modest proposal for the NFL Pro Bowl. Are you ready for this?

Play the NFL All-Star game on Thanksgiving Day...Roughly in the middle of the season....like most All-Star games.

Then you pick two captains who choose up sides from a pool of All-stars and play a flag football game on some field in Mid-America or somebody's backyard....at an undisclosed location then televise it.

No coaches either. Seriously, how many times have you watched an All-Star game to watch the coaches?

Can you think of anything more American than playing touch or flag football on Thanksgiving? Having the bye week during Thanksgiving will allow the players to rest up and get ready for the playoff run. Playing Flag football will minimize injuries which is always a concern about the NFL All Star game.

And I don't want to hear about scrapping the traditional Thanksgiving Day NFL games in Dallas and Detroit. We can watch this new game on Thanksgiving now and instead of overeating and sitting down in front of the television to watch another game or two...maybe this will inspire a lot of us to go outside, get some exercise and play our own family/friends touch football games.

And if you really need a second game to watch on Thanksgiving maybe they could have a flag football game between two teams of NFL Cheerleaders on the under card.

Love, Loss, Truth, and Transparency

Subterfuge
STAGES Theatre
400 E. Commonwealth Ave.
Fullerton, CA
Written By Tiina Mittler
Directed By Andrea Freeman
Through February 18
Five Scoops of Bosco

Reviewed by Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

One of the biggest challenges of being a parent is making decisions on what to tell your child and what not to tell them.

A lot of us are inclined always to be transparent and honest with our kids. But what if there is something in our past lives that we did that could potentially be harmful in the development and the well being of our children? Then what do you do? Be cautious and not say anything? Or, be forthcoming?

That is the dilemma facing Maeghan (Cleta Cohen) in Playwright Tiina Mittler's first effort "Subterfuge". The play runs at Fullerton's STAGE's Theater until February 18.

Laurel (played wonderfully by Candice M. Clasby) returns to her Midwestern home after the death of her husband to try to sort out her life, grieve, and try to figure out what the next step will be when she stumbles across some old family secrets. The play centers around Laurel attempting to unravel the mysteries of her family's life with the help (or more aptly, the non-help) of her mother Maeghan, family friend Grace (Judy Jones) and Grace's daughter and Laurel's childhood friend Laci (Tanya Raisa Mironowski).

Wonderful and warm performances by the elder members of the cast, Cleta Cohen and Judy Jones and great Direction by Andrea Freeman.

The only criticism of this play is that it is too short. Clocking in under just 50 minutes, the play almost feels as if you are watching a Pilot episode of a Television series. That is not necessarily a bad thing but I really wanted to know more about these characters and what happens next in their lives. On the other hand, knowing how to "write tight" is a skill a lot of writers don't necessarily grasp. Tiina Mittler seems to understand the concept.

This is a great first effort by playwright Mittler, who is the Stage Manager at Brea's Curtis Theater. Subterfuge leaves you wanting to see more from this writer.

I also love the fascinating and busy set design by Fred Kinney. The story takes place in Maeghan and Grace's antique store in the Midwest which doubles as Maeghan's home. Having an antique and collectible business, I didn't go anywhere during intermission checking out all the collectibles and antiques on the stage. Shhh! The set is also used for American Buffalo which is also running now at Stages.

And speaking of American Buffalo, this is the opening of the 20th season at STAGES Theater in Fullerton and along with Subterfuge , these two shows really define what STAGES is. On one hand you have the new, fresh and original Subterfuge and on the other hand you have the troupe doing an established and seminal work by David Mamet.

If Subterfuge is any indication, this is going to be an exciting year for live Theater in town.

On Snow, Daughters, and Winter Memories

By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

Today 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 sledless 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 23 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 Nadia did in 2008 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 a few years ago, 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.