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OPINIONOPINION

Mountain Views-News Saturday June 29, 2024 

RICH JOHNSON 

NOW THAT’S RICH

MOUNTAIN 
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STUART TOLCHIN


PUT THE LIGHTS ON

CAMEOS ON THE BIG AND

 NOT SO BIG SCREEN

OUR TRIP TO THE EAST COAST

My wife and I flew to Boston to attend a friend’s wedding. 
Afterwards we took a train up to New York City. We did 
many interesting things including visiting museums 
that emphasized the creation of American Democracy. 

 Right now we are still in our hotel room as I 
scribble this attempt at an article by hand and hope that my wife will be 
able to retype it and send it off to the editor in time for publication.

 The television is on describing the Presidential debate which will 
occur tomorrow. I wonder what is happening to this country?We have 
progressed so far and have reached a time of potential loss. We had an 
experience today that coincided with my view of America. While on a 
sightseeing tour I received a phone call from a friend in California who 
had formerly lived in New York.

 He suggested that we visit a building called the Vessel which was a 
new building with a fancy spiral staircase. The staircase was intended as a 
focal point wherein people could enjoy new perspectives of the city and one 
another from different heights, angles, vantage points. 

 Alas, we learned that the Vessel is temporarily closed while floor to 
ceiling steel mesh and safety netsare added to the structure.

Why is this necessary? We were told by someone giving information that 
the new additions are necessary because many people had jumped from 
the high vantage points in an attempt to commit suicide.

 My wife and I visited various other sights including a boat trip 
around the Statue of Liberty. On the boat a photographer took pictures in 
front of the statue and we both felt a certain pride in our country.

Today we look forward to bringing those pictures home and showing them 
to our granddaughter and expect in the future to talk to her about what 
America represents.

 As my wife and I stopped at a store looking for souvenirs to bring 
to our granddaughter we noticed an overwhelming number of articles 
picturing Donald Trump. I asked the lady behind the counter to explain 
and she told us that Trump was all that was interesting to the tourists.

 What can I say? Does Donald Trump represent the life or death of 
what was our democracy? Are there sufficient structures and safety nets 
which protect us from destroying ourselves?

 At one of the stores my wife saw an exhibit titled “The Strangers 
Project “ . The artist is collecting stones from people about what it’s like 
being you. Much of the time in my articles and agonized about my own 
confusion. How is it that there exists so much abundance together with so 
much deprivation.

 Is there something more important than achieving wealth, fame, 
and celebrity? On our sightseeing trip we were told that huge buildings 
of wealthy celebrities such as the Kardasians. If the Kardashians are the 
heroes of this society I fear we be on the eve of destruction.

 What do you think? I am interested in learning what is like being 
you. Email My email address is stuarttolchin@gmail.com I would very 
much like to hear from you. I will include your thought in future articles.i 
can take it. In my over 80 years I believe I have incorporated sufficient 
structures and safety nets and still survive. 

 I hope we all can! In any case, these next few months, just like New 
York Coty will be challenging and interesting. Really so is present day 
America. 

 I very much want to understand perspectives other than my own. 
I look forward to hearing from you.

Let me give you a brief commercial interruption before the column 
this week. My rock and roll band, JJ Jukebox, is performing Saturday 
night, July 6th at the Nano Café in Sierra Madre. Showtime 6:30-9:30. 
Great food, a full bar, good people and great rock and roll from the 60’s and 70s to dance 
to. Questions, call (626) 325-3334 after 4:00 Wednesday through Saturday.

Now…back to the message!

In case you’ve never come across the word “cameo” before, a “cameo” is a small, noticeable 
part in a movie, TV show, or play performed by an otherwise famous actor. I was not yet 
10 years old when I experienced my first cameo sighting. I was watching an otherwise 
forgettable Bob Hope comedy set in the old west. Bob was a life insurance salesman who 
sold a policy to Jesse James, the outlaw. There is a big gunfight at the end of the film. A 
bumbling Bob Hope against a dozen bad guys. Bob keeps firing his gun in no apparent 
direction and bad guys keep dropping. We then see why:

Every time Bumbling Bob fires his rifle, the screen shifts to the Western TV or film hero 
who actually surreptitiously is helping poor Bob. In order they appear:

 (Hugh O’Brian) Wyatt Earp, (Ward Bond) Wagon Train, (James Arness) Matt Dillon 
Gunsmoke, Roy Rogers, Fess Parker Davy Crockett, Gary Coopers, (Jay Silverheels) Tonto 
The Lone Ranger, and the last “hero” was none other than Bing Crosby.

Thinking of surprises, here is a anecdotal list of select celebrity cameos by special, and 
sometimes surprising faces show up in movies and tv shows:

“Hook” You remember where Robin Williams portrayed an adult Peter Pan. Our celebrity 
cameo played a bearded pirate. The celebrity, none other than Glenn Close…Ms. Glenn 
Close

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” The stormtrooper who keeps watch over Rey (Daisy 
Ridley) was played by none other than Mr. Bond… Daniel Craig. You will have to take 
our word for it. Mr. Craig has the storm trooper uniform including helmet.

“Miss Congeniality 2” Sandra Bullock as FBI agent ’Gracie’ chases down a suspicious 
Dolly Parton impersonator, only to discover it was the real Dolly Parton she just tackled.

“Men in Black 2” The then reigning King of Pop loved the first Men in Black so much he 
personally asked if he could make a cameo in the second film. “Of course!” the director 
said. Our cameo star played an alien agent called “Agent “M”. (The ‘M’ was for Michael…
Jackson that is).

“Star Trek Beyond” Check out that alien Starfleet official. Looks an awful lot like Jeff 
Bezos…the billionaire and founder of Amazon. And speaking of billionaires…

“Iron Man 2” Billionaire “Tony Stark” played by Robert Downey Jr. runs into a billionaire 
buddy. You might know him. His name is Elon Musk.

“Deadpool 2” We meet a fleeting superhero named the Vanisher whose power is 
invisibility, that is until he gets electrocuted and we see his face. Looks an awful lot like 
Brad Pitt.

“Jurassic World” Jimmy Buffett running away from two dinosaurs. You can tell its Jimmy 
because he has a margaritas in each hand.

“Home Alone 2” In this Christmas classic, “Kevin” runs into the Plaza Hotel in New York, 
looking for directions. Kevin gets help from the owner of the hotel. A guy by the name of 
Donald Trump. (Where have I heard that name before?)

“Pirates of the Caribbean” was a successful film franchise starring Johnny Depp as 
Captain Jack Sparrow. A character Johnny patterned after Rolling Stone’s guitarist Keith 
Richards. It made perfect sense when they cast the character of Jack Sparrow’s father in a 
subsequent Pirates movie that they actually cast Keith Richards.

“Monty Python’s Life of Brian”, Appearing as Mr. Papaduopolous, is Beatle George 
Harrison. (George was friends with a number of the members of Monty Python and even 
got involved donating to save the production.)

In every Marvel movie made from 1989-2019 Stan Lee, creator of the Marvel Comics 
Universe. His cameos included Iron Man playing himself cavorting with three blondes. 
Tony Stark mistakes him for Hugh Hefner. In the Incredible Hulk, Stan takes a drink 
from the wrong bottle. In Iron Man 2, Stan is mistakenly greeted by Tony Stark as Larry 
King. In Captain America: The First Avenger, Stan plays a general who mistakes another 
man for Steve Rogers/Captain America. In another Captain America filmStan plays a 
security guard at the Smithsonian who discovers Captain America stole his old uniform. 
Stan also played a fedex driver, bartender, postman. He played Peter Parker’s school bus 
driver in Avengers

And finally, the greatest ensemble cameos ever came at the beginning of the film “Austin 
Powers in Goldmember”. Before “Austin Powers in Goldmember” the movie trailer, there 
was a short parody coming attraction clip of “Goldmember”, Austin Powers was played 
by Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow played Dixie, Kevin Spacey played Dr. Evil, and Danny 
DeVito played Mini-Me.

Very clever

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TOM PURCELL


HOW AIR CONDITIONING CHANGED 
POLITICS AND THE WORLD

Thank God Willis Haviland Carrier invented air conditioning 
— for the most part.

Before air conditioning, the heat drove us outside and brought 
us together. Friends sought the shade of trees or a refreshing 
dip in a lake or river.

On the hottest nights, whole families brought their blankets 
and pillows to riverbanks, where it was cool.

In the evening, neighbors sat on their large front porches, enjoying a cool breeze as 
they sipped lemonade and told stories.

Even in the 1970s, when I was a kid in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, few homes had air 
conditioning. Our windows were always open.

At night you could hear neighbors talking, a distant baby crying and Pirates’ 
announcer Bob Prince calling a game on somebody’s porch radio: “… he missed it 
by a gnat’s eyelash!”

In the mornings, I’d wake early to the sound of chirping birds. I could smell the 
cool dew outside my window and the scent of toast and scrambled eggs my father 
was cooking up in the kitchen.

Air conditioning has certainly changed many things for the better — I’m nice and 
cool as I write this column — but it has brought with it some downsides.

Most neighborhoods are sealed shut now. Rather than the voices of children 
playing, all you hear is the hum of air conditioning motors.

My Uncle Jack’s 1920s home was designed with high ceilings, cross ventilation and 
large hallways to dissipate heat — magnificent features that are no longer necessary 
in today’s low-ceilinged suburban houses that put the porch in the back and the 
garage in the front.

No lemonade for you!

Commercial buildings used to have windows that opened, but that isn’t necessary 
anymore.

Today’s glass-plated buildings are designed to keep the light and air out, making us 
oblivious to whatever season it may be.

Before Congress got air conditioning in the 1920s, hot, humid Washington was 
empty from mid-June to September.

Now the Congress can spend lots more time working on — as the great New York 
Times columnist Russell Baker once put it — “… the promulgation of more laws, 
the depredations of lobbyists, the hatching of new schemes for Federal expansion 
and, of course, the cost of maintaining a government running at full blast.”

Sure, air conditioning has dramatically improved life for the elderly and others 
with respiratory problems. It’s saved a lot of lives. And our productivity has been 
vastly improved by the cool air.

I’m just saying that sometimes it’s good to be hot, sweaty and uncomfortable.

When I lived in the D.C. area in 2004, a group of us sat next to the Capitol Building 
in 102 degree heat during a Fourth of July ceremony.

Thousands of people were jammed together dripping with sweat, but nobody really 
minded.

We sang the National Anthem together and it was a moving event. We watched the 
fireworks go off above the Washington Monument. It was a spectacular experience 
to be together in the heat with so many others.

But as soon as the last of the fireworks exploded, most people fled to their air-
conditioned cars and homes and went quickly back into isolation.

I didn’t.

I put my car windows down. We drove slowly through the streets of Washington, 
listening to the occasional firecracker and people talking as children played with 
sparklers.

Of course, as soon as I got to my Virginia condo, I cranked the AC as high as it would 
go — happily enjoying the incredible upside of Willis Carrier’s cool invention.


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

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