Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, June 29, 2019

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, June 29, 2019 


WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side by Deanne Davis

“...and when the night is cloudy there is still a light 
that shines on me. Shine until tomorrow, let it be.”

“I get by with a little help from my friends.”

“My model for business was the Beatles. They were 
four guys that kept each others’ negative tendencies 
in check; they balanced each other. And the total was 
greater than the sum of the parts.” Steve jobs

Somebody famous once said that the music you loved 
in high school will be your favorites all the rest of 
your life. They were right. Got to spend an evening 
with Rich Johnson and the amazing J J Jukebox 
band last Saturday night. As Rich says, “we may not 
be entertaining you, but we’re certainly entertaining 
ourselves!” They kicked off their set with the Beatles, 
Day Tripper, recorded in 1967. Haven’t heard that in a 
while and, my gosh, was that fun to sing along with!

 “Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out
Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out now
She was a day tripper
One way ticket, yeah
It took me so long to find out
And I found out.”

Rich tossed a whole bunch of Hershey’s Kisses on every table at Nano’s so folks felt loved and appreciated. Nano is right there at the 
corner of Lima and Sierra Madre Blvd and the place was packed with folks dancing, laughing, eating...I had the Tiki Salad, which 
was a bed of mashed potatoes topped with some salad greens, a nice piece of salmon and a bunch of mango slices. And dancing, 
friends and neighbors, there was a whole lot of dancing going on. It’s nice to see people having such a good time. 

The Beatles didn’t appear on the scene till I was out of high school, but you can’t help but love their music. I remember seeing them 
on Ed Sullivan on black and white TV in 1964, can you believe it? And so many memorable songs: Here Comes The Sun; I Want To 
Hold Your Hand; Eleanor Rigby; Let It Be...Wikipedia says there were over 300 songs recorded by the Beatles. I don’t think Rich does 
all of them, but he does a bunch and everybody sings along.

If you’ve been to the movies lately, and I have, to see Secret Life of Pets 2, with my Arizona granddaughters Jessie and Emily, loved 
it. As I was saying, if you’ve been to the movies lately, you’ve seen the preview for a new movie, Yesterday, which is a 2019 British 
musical fantasy comedy movie about a musician who, after an accident, finds himself as the only person who remembers The 
Beatles. He becomes a major star and everybody thinks he’s written all these amazing songs. I want to see it. You probably do, too. 
Still speaking of movies, saw the Elton John movie, Rocketman, and loved that, too. Taron Egerton, who plays Elton, looks so much 
like him it’s scary. It’s amazing that Elton lived through his life! The ending was so good, though, showing him now, 28 years sober. 
Don’t take the kids!

It also rained last Saturday, proving that June Gloom is going to last forever. Daughter, Leah, keeps telling me she’s grateful for the 
fog, damp, cold and rain because the heat is coming. I’m sure that’s true, but waking up every day to gray and wondering why I’m 
not wearing a thicker sweater is....well....gloomy. But the jacarandas are glorious. Enjoy them, folks, purple clouds all over town.

J J Jukebox is always a blast to see and they start and finish early, which is also wonderful. Rich calls it the “In bed by 10 tour.” If you 
have a chance to see them anywhere around town, go as I know you’ll have a great time.

As you can see below here, my new book is available and there’s a copy at Amazon.com just waiting for you to order it for yourself 
or for that special someone who deserves a special gift.

“Sunrises & Sunflowers Speak Hope” is here! 

Look for it on my book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 

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


KATIE Tse....This and That

A YEAR AT APEX

 This week my column’s going to be a 
little different. I’m excited to announce 
that I have finally finished my novel! “A 
Year at Apex” is now available in paperback 
on Amazon, and ebook on Amazon and 
Barnes & Noble (Barnes & Noble paperback 
coming soon).

 A classic love story between a school 
teacher and a one-handed plumber, Apex 
has it all --humor, romance, the human condition, and public 
education. Perfect for you and the educator in your life! And to 
whet your appetite, I’ve included the first chapter below. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

 No one had the nerve to tell Principal Frisch that his fly was 
down. More specifically, none of the assembled staff knew him 
well enough to share this vital information with him. This 
despite the fact that they’d had ample opportunity thirty minutes 
ago, when they were casually milling around the cafetorium 
before orientation began. But now he was fifteen minutes into 
his opening remarks for the new school year, and there was no 
turning back. 

 At first, staff compensated for the awkwardness by looking 
Frisch straight in the eye, avoiding any glances toward nether 
regions below. Nothing, say, beneath his shirt collar. He, on the 
other hand, seemed to be focusing on some point just above their 
eyebrows, their hair lines, or off-center, near the tips of their ears. 

 You got the impression that he’d taken a course on public 
speaking in preparation for his first year as principal in a new 
school district. But any strategies he’d learned hadn’t worked 
themselves into the actual delivery. 

 Not only was Frisch expected to fill the enormous shoes left to 
him by the previous principal, Athena Galanos, but he was also 
tasked with somehow shoring up Apex’s sagging standardized 
test scores, currently ranked second to last in the district. But 
not for long! Frisch told himself. 

 Another reason no one felt comfortable telling Frisch about 
his wardrobe malfunction was that, like many schools, the staff at 
Apex was overwhelmingly female. The few guys on campus held 
mostly non-classroom jobs --PE coach, guidance counselor, and 
psychologist. And then there was Mike Hughes, the only man 
in the world who could pull off teaching kindergarten without 
seeming creepy. If any of them noticed Frisch’s dilemma prior to 
the start of the meeting, they must’ve each assumed someone else 
would warn him.

 Now Frisch was holding up the red emergency folders used for 
fire drills, and asked everyone to store them near their classroom 
door. As he continued on to the uniform policy, mandated 
reporting of suspected child abuse, and procedures for daily 
attendance, his audience’s eyes started to glaze over, and one or 
two of them slumped in their chairs. The majority of teachers 
had been tenured for over twenty years, and none of this was new 
information to them. 

 The only fresh face was Ashley Fitzgerald, a wisp of a girl 
who barely looked old enough to buy cigarettes. She was the 
new speech pathologist, and she listened to Frisch with all the 
intensity of a graduate student preparing for finals. Because, just 
three months ago, that’s exactly what she had been.

 At last Frisch seemed to be wrapping it up. The unspoken rule 
at Apex was for the principal to make a brief “welcome back,” 
distribute staff handbooks, and dismiss teachers to work in their 
rooms or, as many of the old guard did, to take a very extended 
lunch break. 

 But clearly Frisch was unaware of this cherished tradition, and 
people were starting to get antsy. It wasn’t his fault. He thought 
it was going great. Toward the end, he even started looking a few 
of them in the eye. 

 By the time he finally wished them all a great year and “to be 
the ones who make a difference in children’s lives!” he was smiling 
proudly like the brave captain he felt he was, hands planted at his 
waist. The gesture caused his fly to peek open a fraction more. 
Yes, this was his school, this was his year, and it was all going to 
be great!

 The last couple teachers had just filed out when he bent over 
to pick up his papers and realized with horror that his zipper was 
down. Well, he thought, at least no one seemed to notice. 

 Before he had a chance to correct the problem, Stephanie, 
his office manager, walked in. Frisch strategically hid behind an 
open laptop.

 “You got a call from the district office,” she stated, handing him 
the yellow memo slip. “Also, a lot of the teachers are complaining 
that you kept them too long. Ms. Galanos always used to dismiss 
them after half an hour --max.” 

 “Thank you, Stephanie,” he replied, a little crestfallen. 

 “Oh, one more thing,” she paused on her way out.

 “Yes?”

 “Your fly’s down.”


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