Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 20, 2022

1212 Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 20, 2022 OPINIONOPINION 1212 Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 20, 2022 OPINIONOPINION 
PUT THE LIGHTS ON

STUART TOLCHIN 


SUCCESS 

comes home from school very morose and 
depressed. He tells his dad that at School 
he learned that “Nitch” said that life had no 
point and that everything was meaningless 
and there was no point to living.

I absolutely loved that a TV series 
was attempting to discuss existentialism 
and Nietzsche and that it even mentioned 
Sartre and Camus. There was a time, there 
still is, when I pictured myself along with 
Sisyphus pushing that big rock up the 
mountain knowing that it is going to roll 
down back to where I started from and that 
I would just have to try and push it up again. 
That’s who I see in the morning mirror, that 
man who has chosen to live another day 
and who will try again to push that rock 
up that mountain again and will fail every 
time. That is our life and if we choose to 
face another day of guaranteed failure one 
can realize the nobility and the beauty and 
the courage it takes to keep trying.

There will be no ultimate success 
and for that we apologize to ourselves and 
to everyone we meet. The importance of 
our individual lives can be seen as our courageous 
attempt every day to do better, to 
make the best out of the life we have and 
with our every breathe we are affirming the 
importance, the miracle of our own awareness 
and existence. Contained within this 
efforts is a truth, a truth I try my best to 
share in these articles which I began writing 
in 2008. All these articles say the same 
thing but the message is blotted out by the 
words. Do you get any sense of my message? 
With every breath we are affirming 
the importance of our own lives and we owe 
it to ourselves to focus, to pay attention and 
not be diverted by the problems that circulate 
around us every day. That same damn 
rock that never changes. It is a challenge to 
have consciousness, consciousness of our 
own inevitable death and consciousness of 
everything else. Knowing all that we know 
each of us chooses to battle on and have no 
reason to apologize no matter what WoodyAllen says.

Yes, it’s been a tough week for me. 
The neighbor across the street died and 
his funeral was incredibly sad. One of the 
things each of us can do is to at least notice 
all that we love about our life and do our 
best while we have the time to share that 

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS 


One

NEWS 

of my favorite 
Woody Allen

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR 

lines is his re-

Susan Henderson 

mark that when 

first meeting

PASADENA CITY 

people he cus-
Dean Lee 

EDITOR 

tomarily apologizes 
for not 
being someone

PRODUCTION 

else. I identify 
with that feeling particularly when I see 
SALES myself in the morning mirror. “I’m so sorry 
Patricia Colonello for not having done better.” Better at what 
626-355-2737 I wonder? It doesn’t make any difference 

626-818-2698 

“what” and the apology contains a promise 
that I will do my best to try and do better in 
the coming day. I think this is not altogeth-

WEBMASTER 

er craziness. I have a picture in my mind

John Aveny 

of what it would “feel” like to have done or 
to be doing better. The picture is there but

DISTRIBUTION 

words and thinking keep getting in the way.

Peter Lamendola

 Lately my wife and I have been 
watching reruns of the television series

CONTRIBUTORS 

“The Sopranos”. If you have never watched 
Stuart Tolchin 

the series I strongly recommend that you 
find the time to watch or re-watch it but

Audrey Swanson 

why should you listen to me? Okay, so

Meghan Malooley 

don’t watch it and don’t continue reading

Mary Lou Caldwell 

this article for all I care. But the real point

Kevin McGuire 

is that I DO CARE. I want to write some-

Chris Leclerc 

thing meaningful that becomes a part of the

Bob Eklund 

better life I want for you and me. Actually

Howard Hays 

everything I do is a part of this wish and to

Paul Carpenter 

some extent I succeed. This is what I took

Kim Clymer-Kelley 

from the particular episode of the Sopranos

Christopher Nyerges 

that I want to talk about.

Peter Dills 

To review the Sopranos involves the

Rich Johnson 

plight of a man, Tony Soprano, a mob boss

Lori Ann Harris 

who commits terrible crimes on a daily ba-

Rev. James Snyder 

sis. At the same time his mother, his beloved

Katie Hopkins 

uncle and his best friends are planning to

Deanne Davis 

kill him. Concurrently he is attempting to

Despina Arouzman 

be a good father to his son and daughter

Jeff Brown 

and be a good husband to his wife although

Marc Garlett 

he breaks the fidelity bond every day. The

Keely Toten 

magic of the series is that we, the audience,

Dan Golden 

are made to care about Tony and his unac-

Rebecca Wright ceptable life as he discusses the problem 
Hail Hamilton with his psychiatrist. The whole thing is 
Joan Schmidt made more poignant by the fact that the 

LaQuetta Shamblee huge man that plays Tony, James Gandolfini, 
actually died unexpectedly in 2013.

Mountain Views News 

has been adjudicated as In the episode I am talking about, Tony’s 

a newspaper of General son, who is supposed to be about ten or 11, 

Circulation for the Coun


ty of Los Angeles in Court 


RICH & FAMOUS 

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL 
QUESTIONS? 

Ahhh, summertime; the season filled 
with backyard barbecues, pool parties 
and other groovy social gatherings is 
winding down. Good friends, good food, 
good grog and good grief…the economy?
No, no, no, lets not go there. I know the temptation to focus on these turbulent 
times may be too hard to resist. 


Well, permit Famous and I to ride up on our handsome metaphorical 
steeds and attempt to save the day. A diversion is called for. As unofficial 
Sierra Madre Court Jesters we suggest you take your eyes off the depressing 
news of the day and shift to the deep, perplexing mysteries of life. I have 
the ticket! Hypothetical Questions. Bound to stimulate…something.
Shall we? Let’s commence: 

Which three to five famous people, living or dead (or even imaginary) 
would you invite to your imaginary dinner party? 

If you could choose to be born at another time, when would you be born? 
Why? 

You can go back in time and uninvent something. What would you 
uninvent? 

Stranded on a desert isle, you come across an abandoned backpack. What 
three items do you want to find in the backpack? 

Your house is on fire. What material possessions do you save? 

If you could instantly become a master of any one skill, what skill would 
you pick? 

Stephen Spielberg is filming a blockbuster movie about you. He wants to 
know who you want to play you. Well…who? 

If your girlfriend is a florist and chocolate didn’t exist, what would you buyher to say you’re sorry? 

If you had to live and be a character in a TV show, comic book, or movie, 
which would you choose and what/who would you be? 

If you could go back and change one decision, what would it be? (Careful 
lol) 

And finally, the ultimate question: “What if everyone on earth jumped at 
once?” 

If you pick up the paper early Saturday, August 20, my band, JJ Jukebox is 
performing at Nano Café tonight, August 20. 6:30-9:30. Drop in for dinner,
dancing, drinking and general destabilizing. We’ll go over some hypothetical 
questions during the break. 

Jane Fuller is performing next Saturday night (August 27) at our favorite 
Mediterranean Restaurant, Corfu. Call the restaurant (626) 355-5993 for 
details. Good food (yummy and good for you) and great music. 
Finally, there are rumor that one of the best guitarists I have ever, ever 
heard is going to start teaching select students. He’s local. I will try to find 
out more and report back to you next week. If you ever thought about playing 
the guitar, now is the time. His name is Eric Byak, he’s local and I will 
keep you posted. Have a great week my friends. 

Case number GS004724: 
for the City of SierraMadre; in Court CaseGS005940 and for the 
City of Monrovia in CourtCase No. GS006989 and 
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love. Have a good week and keep pushing. 
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com