Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, February 23, 2019

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Mountain View News Saturday, February 23, 2019 

KATIE Tse..........This and That

WALKING SIERRA MADRE by Deanne Davis


BRAIN FIZZLES: THE FIRST IN A SERIES

 

 I have good news and bad news. The good news is that 100% of my New Year’s 
resolutions are still live! Of course I only made one, but still, that’s progress. 
I haven’t recycled any old articles this year --yay for me! This week I even 
mustered the gumption to draw a new picture, I feel so accomplished. The bad 
news is that I have nothing wonderfully thrilling for you this week. 

 You may not be as excited as I am that I haven’t recycled anything. You may 
not care if the article in my column first appeared several years ago. You may just want something 
entertaining to read. If so, then my good news about not reusing old stuff may not be such good 
news to you. In that case, I apologize for 
getting your hopes up.

 Since I have nothing particularly titillating 
to share this week, I thought I’d dedicate this 
article to random observations you might 
find amusing. I wanted to title it “Brain 
Droppings,” but that’s already been taken. 
And “Brain Shavings” sounded a bit morbid. 
So “Brain Fizzles” it is. Because haven’t we all 
felt that way at one time or another?

 I was at Ralph’s the other day with my 
husband in the cereal aisle. Sometimes 
when I’m shopping I ponder all the options 
for a while. But he’s made dithering an art 
form. While he was in deep deliberation over 
whether to get Honey Bunches O’ Oats or 
some Kashi thing, I noticed that the cartoon 
bee on Honey Nut Cheerios has no pants.

 This is nothing new, but it reminded me 
of a meme I saw about a lot of the original 
Disney characters having no pants. Winnie 
the Pooh --no. Donald Duck --none. Daisy 
Duck --nope, that’s real bad. Mickey Mouse, 
on the other hand, has pants but no shirt. 
Depending on the era, Minnie’s the same way. 
Having a skirt, but no top, I mean.

 Somehow they seem adequately dressed if 
they have at least one article of clothing. And 
then there are the ones who are just animals, 
and have no need of gilding the lily. Everyone 
in Lion King and Bambi fall under this 
category, as do the rest of the characters in 
Winnie the Pooh. Except Piglet. I don’t know what that thing he’s wearing is, but it’s quite catching.

 We’re okay seeing otherwise naked cartoon animals, but I bet if the artists added only shoes, they 
would suddenly seem a bit scandalous to us.

 The only one who’s properly clothed is Goofy, despite all that his name implies. He’s practically 
sporting a three-piece suit compared to the rest of them! And what animal is he supposed to be, 
exactly? Is he a dog? In that case, isn’t it kind of weird for him to own Pluto? That’s a dog owning 
another dog. If you think about it too much your brain hurts. Causing brain fizzles. 

 I’ll leave you now with the exhortation to take a closer look at the cartoon characters who cross 
your path, whether it be on cereal boxes, stationary, or your TV. Check out the degree to which they 
are clothed. Until next time...

“Playmate, come out and play with me,

And bring your dollies three,

Climb up my apple tree.

Look down my rain barrel,

Slide down my cellar door,

And we’ll be jolly friends forever more.”

This innocuous little ditty was supposedly written by somebody named Saxie Dowell. Interestingly, 
the main theme was note-for-note plagiarized from the 1904 intermezzo “Iola” by Charles L. Johnson, 
for which Johnson sued, settling out of court for an undisclosed sum. (Thanks, Wikipedia!) Kay 
Kyser recorded it in 1940 and even Willie Nelson got involved, recording it in 2001 with somewhat 
altered lyrics. But I digress...

The main topic here today is the Rain Barrel Truckload Sale at Lake Avenue Church between 9-11 
a.m. today, February 23rd which would have been my mother’s 99th birthday, hosted by the Foothill 
Municipal Water District. These babies will be available at a discounted price of $65.00 + tax. Having 
taken a peek at what rain barrels cost: anywhere from $74.99 at Target to about $100.00 give or take 
a few bucks at Amazon.com, this is a great deal! My mother, btw, would have hated being 99!

Your rain barrel would be stationed in a handy spot to catch rainwater coming off your roof for you 
to use later in your garden. I’m not so sure I would want to drink anything that came off my roof 
but my flowers and trees would love it. In case you didn’t know, the use of rainwater collection can 
be traced as far back as ancient times, some 3,000 years, when somebody or other thought it was a 
shame that all that nice rainwater was just running down the cobblestones, instead of being available 
later to dampen one’s parched lips or rinse off one’s sweaty brow.

I’m not sure you’ll have time to go to rainbarrelsintl.com/events-order to get yourself one of these rain 
barrels, but at least you’ll be thinking about having one. Another great selling point, the Metropolitan 
Water District is currently offering a $35/barrel rebate for up to 2 barrels per household, which is 
also pretty nice. 

Sierra Madre has a rain barrel going on behind our Police Department. Not sure what happens to 
that water, but at least it’s saving some of this rain we’ve been enjoying. As American Naturalist John 
Burroughs put it: “To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; 
to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter...to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be 
elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.” 

Speaking of rewards of the simple life, food is definitely one of them. Having recently seen “Oliver!” 
at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach, my mind is still warbling away about...

 

“Food, glorious food, 
Hot sausage and mustard! 
While we’re in the mood -- 
Cold jelly and custard!” (Lionel Bart)

While I wasn’t able to make it to the Valentine’s Day extravaganza at Nano Café right here in town, 
featuring Rich Johnson and the JJ Jukebox band, I did get to drool over the menu for that glorious 
night which included Sea Scallop Scampi. You could also have Filet Mignon Medallions, Grilled 
Atlantic Salmon, Chicken Spinach Roulade or Butternut Squash Ravioli.

These are all splendid dishes but, oh my friends, I need to rhapsodize over the Sea Scallop Scampi, 
which I had the pleasure of devouring the week before Valentine’s Day. These scallops were so 
succulent, so tender, so fresh, so perfectly cooked, with a garlic butter sauce that made your salivary 
glands go to town just smelling it, that it was hard not to lick the dish. Andrew, the new chef at Nano, 
has brought a heightened level of excellence to the menu and if you haven’t been in to Nano lately, 
ya need to go! Get the sea scallops scampi...trust me! Nano Café is at 322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. and 
if you need to phone ‘em, it’s: (626) 325-3334

“I’m a big lover of fish. Cooking fish is so much more difficult than cooking protein meats because 
there are no temperatures in the medium, rare, well done cooking a stunning sea bass or a scallop.” 
Gordon Ramsey

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis – check out

Noah & The Unicorns...or maybe The Vuillaume Violin

Both available there, along with other goodies!

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@playwrightdd


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

February 10, to February 17, 2019 


During this period, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to approximately 206 day and 
night time calls for service. 

Tuesday, February 12 
Officers responded to a call of a welfare check at about 9:58AM, of a male subject who had threatened 
to harm himself and fellow patients at a local health care facility. Upon arrival and using 
extreme caution, officers made contact with the subject. Following the interview process, officers 
determined that he was a danger to possibly himself and to others. The subject was transported to a 
local hospital for evaluation. 

HUCK FINN FISHING DERBY

On your marks…..GET SET…….FISH! Sign-ups will begin Monday, February 25th at 
7:30am in City Hall for the Huck Finn Campout and Fishing Derby! Signed waivers are 
required for this event. 

 

The waivers are available on the City of Sierra Madre website at www.cityofsierramadre.
com or at City Hall and the Library. Come early and get the site you want to so you can 
be camping where you prefer on Friday, March 29th and fishing in your favorite spot on 
Saturday, March 30th.

 

We cannot wait to bait, hook and weigh those fish to see who brings home the biggest trout 
of them all.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com