Merle Haggard plays at the Fox Theater, a professional tennis tournament takes over the Bakersfield Racquet Club, and was I guilty of bullying in remarking on Kim Novak's appearance?

* … TENNIS: I stopped by the Bakersfield Racquet Club on Saturday to watch the qualifying round for a big USTA tournament there. The club has never looked better, the players were phenomenal and I was pleased to see that Randy Martin and his crew from Covenant Coffee had taken over the snack

shop and were doing a brisk business. The tournament runs this entire week, and there is no cost to come watch tennis on a professional level. Drop by this week to catch the action.

 * … MERLE: Merle Haggard performed before a sold out crowd at the Fox Theater Saturday, and longtime Californian photographer John Harte (now retired) shot the concert. "My favorite Merle Haggard song is and always has been 'Silver Wings, ever since the day my longtime friend Bill Wheeler introduced me to his music, driving around Taft in the 1970s in his Datsun pickup. 'Mama Tried' is my second favorite. When I got the assignment to photograph Merle for The Californian, it came with an odd request: He was asking that we shoot songs 4, 5 and 6. I've been covering concerts for 35 years, probably hundreds of them, and this is the first time anyone has ever made 4 through 6 the songs we can shoot. It has always been the first two or three. Anyway, I waited out the first three songs, and song four started. Guess what? Yep, 'Silver Wings.' Then '[I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink,' and then, yep, 'Mama Tried.' This, my friends, is the first version of a story I will tell forever, the story of the night Merle Haggard gave me my own personal concert!"

* … BULLYING: After one reader accused me of "bullying" by questioning the appearance of Kim Novak at the Oscars, John Sarad wrote in with his take. "I usually smile when I read your blog. I did not when I read today that you are officially a bully. It’s about time we decide what bullying really is.  If you say something that is not threatening or coercive, but with which someone with thin skin takes offense or merely disagrees, is it really an act of bullying?  Is calling someone a bully under those circumstances actually bullying as well under that definition. I recall when the neighborhood bully beat up on the nerds and was an actual threat. My mom always told me to defend myself and remember what is now so out of favor…'Sticks and stone will break my bones, but words will never hurt me!'  What an age we live in."

 * … MORE BULLYING: And there was this from Phillip Anderson commenting on Kim Novak: "I agree with you. Way too much work. I am their age and look at me! Wait… forget that. But I do think you can comment on their looks as they are celebrities and they're the ones showing poor taste in their appearance."

 * … BAD FORM: Kathryn Guerra was driving to Tehachapi on Highway 58 when she witnessed some appalling behavior. A truck driver was passing another truck, and correctly signaled his intentions as he passed and then pulled back into the slow lane. But apparently he didn't do it fast enough for a car of young people that was behind him. "The 20 somethings paced themselves next to the truck, rolled down all four windows in the vehicle and proceeded to direct a one fingered wave at the truck driver for almost two miles," she said. "Do these young people not have any patience? Do they not realize that trucks deliver many of the things they use daily? ...Why must people be so rude? The truck signaled in plenty of time and did what was necessary."

 * … VILLAGE GRILL:  We all make our own traditions, and one that has been going on for over 10 years happens the first Monday of every month at the Village Grill. It's a reunion of a group of retired Bakersfield High School teachers, many of whom retired in June, 2004. Among them are Marjorie Bell, Jim Cowles, Maria Polite, Vicki Bousquet and Donna Long. "Darn good food and service," Bell told me.  "And our waitresses have always been great about writing separate checks. And don't forget to mention their special coffees.

Oddest story of the week: New Jersey teen sues parents for weekly allowance, and more on plastic surgery run amok at the Oscars

 * … JERSEY: The oddest story of the week has to be the New Jersey teenager who is suing her parents for $650 in weekly child support plus tuition at a private high school. Really? The parents say
they cut her off because she refused to do chores and honor a curfew, which sounds reasonable to me. As the skeptical judge said: "Are we going to open the gates for 12-year-olds to sue for an Xbox? For 13-year-olds to sue for an iPhone? We should be mindful of a potentially slippery slope." No kidding. (photo courtesy of CBS News)

 * … NOVAK: My comment questioning Kim Novak's appearance on the Academy Awards drew this response from reader Anne Russell. "I was so disappointed to see that you have joined the bullying bandwagon with your remarks about Goldie Hawn and Kim Novak. Gossipy comments about an individual's appearance are something I would expect to find on Twitter and other social media that are mired in poor taste, cruelty and 'judgey' mentality. I am saddened to see such unkindness from you."

 * … TRASH: This note popped up in my mailbox: "Just returned from a trip and noted that Bakersfield has achieved the dubious honor of having more trash than New York City.  Congratulations, Bako!  Many people, organizations, etc. are working hard to reverse this trend; however, the Litterazzi seem to be several steps ahead. What's it going to take?"

 * … TREES: The big fund raiser for the Tree Foundation of Kern next week has been postponed. No word on when it will be rescheduled.

 * … SCOUTS: Who can say no to the Boy Scouts? Troop 147 will hold its 25th annual car wash this Saturday at Brookside Market on the corner of Coffee and Hageman roads. It will run from 8 a.m. until noon.

 * … SWENSEN'S: From reader Greg Laskowski: "I remember working at Swenson’s Ice Cream when it was located next to a hair salon and the Brocks department store at Valley Plaza. It was my first summer job after eighth grade.  Dr. Russ Karlen, former mayor of Bakersfield, was one of the owners along with his brother in law Dewey Langdon.  He hired me to show silent old time movies during the day.  People would come in and enjoy ice cream and some Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd flicks. Sometimes I would have to go in to the back kitchen area and splice film when it came off the sprockets. I think people got a kick out of watching the film melt when the 16 mm projector jammed on several occasions. Best part though was the free ice cream I got while working there."

 * … MEMORIES: Gene Bonas offered these thoughts of growing up in Bakersfield. "As a child of four or five during World War II, I remember walking with my mother from east Bakersfield to a building on the corner of 23rd and L streets to buy meat and sugar. If I'm not mistaken, this building was a small market and had its meat cooler right in front. One could only buy meat or sugar on certain days and you had to have coupons for each item purchased. In going through old family pictures and momentoes, I found a couple of 5 pound sugar coupons. They, along with three brothers' Navy uniforms and letters, are carefully stored for my grandchildren. A previous writer indicated a building at 21st and L Streets was a pool supply store. I believe the building at 2230 L Street was once a pool supply store, too. Maybe one of your readers can shed clarifying light on these buildings.  I would like to know if the building at 23rd and L was actually a market during WWII."

RIP Nadene Steinert, celebrating the new cul de sacs downtown and when is enough plastic surgery enough?

* … RIP: I was sad to hear of the passing of Adala "Nadene" Steinert, one of the truly gracious members of our community. Nadene was 92 when she died. She is survived by her husband of 71
years, Marvin Steinert, a local businessman who has been so generous to many worthy organizations in town.

* … CUL DE SACS: Not everyone may agree on the widening of 24th Street downtown, but Westchester residents could not be happier with the new cul de sacs being installed on the "tree streets" (Pine, Spruce etc). This weekend, I spotted no fewer than 10 small children playing in the middle of Pine Street near 24th Street now that the street has become a dead-end.

 * … TREES: A reader, who asked not to be named, had a terrific suggestion for the Tree Foundation of Kern to encourage "tree literacy." Said the reader: "I have long thought an interesting series of articles could be written about the trees in Bakersfield. Perhaps a contest of sorts. Each month, you or the Foundation could pick a kind of tree (Redwood, Sycamore, Beech, etc.) and ask people to nominate outstanding examples of that tree. Size, conformity, beauty in location, etc. could be judged and you could do a photo essay, pick outstanding examples, give a plaque to mount by 'the best example,' etc. It would encourage people to plant and admire trees and be a positive story about something nice in Bakersfield."

* … OSCARS: Apropos of nothing, but how surreal did Kim Novak and Goldie Hawn look at the Academy Awards? When is enough plastic surgery enough? (photo by the Associated Press)

* … CEMETERY: Lillie Rose wrote to recall the old Chinese cemetery off Terrace way. "My parent's friends, Bob and Molly Hawthorne, lived in a house that sat rather far back on a lot near where Baldwin Road meets Terrace Way. The Chinese cemetery was almost in their backyard. I was born in Bakersfield in 1943, and as soon as I could walk I was in their yard and fascinated by the cemetery.  It was a lovely place back then. Both the Hawthornes and my parents impressed upon me that it was a place to be treated with the utmost respect. I was sad when the graves were relocated and houses on what had once been holy ground."

 * … TUNNELS: And yet another reader, Kevin Schmidt, suggested making our underground tunnels a tourist attraction. "As an amateur historian, it is with fascination that I read your stories about the underground tunnels in downtown Bakersfield.  It reminded me of my visit to Seattle.  My favorite part of the city was the 'underground city tour' that took you literally underground in old Seattle to visit some of the business and speakeasy's that existed in those times. The city went 'up' while the existing businesses stayed put, with the streets above them. It is one of Seattle's most popular tourist attractions.
Perhaps some enterprising individual can reopen and explore the tunnels under Bakersfield, bring it back to its old mysteries, culture and history to become a unique Bakersfield attraction."