Actor Eric Roberts puts his foot firmly in his mouth and celebrating the "michelada," a beer spritzer perfect for a lazy day on the beach

 REALLY BAD FORM: Hollywood is known as the home of inflated egos, but what happened to decorum and common courtesy? This came to mind when KBAK TV aired an interview with actor Eric Roberts (brother of Julia Roberts) who is town filming a movie. After asking a KBAK cameraman if he lived here, Roberts said:  "Then you know how it is in Bakersfield. Bakersfield sucks. It's simple. It's a terrible place, geographically, weather-wise, everything. But, the people are the coolest. What can I tell you?" Gee, thanks for the compliment, Eric. I think.

* … MICHELADA: One of my pleasant surprises on a recent trip to Mexico was the discovery of the "michelada," a wonderful cocktail consisting of lime juice, ice and local beer served with salt around the rim. (I was berated by my older daughter for not knowing about it) It's available at a few places in town, but I am surprised it's not more popular during our sweltering summer.

* … GOOD FORM: Juliane Knowles wrote to share a good deed that happened at the El Pollo Loco in the Southwest. "My friend's dog had jumped out of her window as she was in the drive thru at El Pollo Loco. Two lovely women in a green compact car had noticed him and put him in their car and then circled the parking lot looking for the panicked owner. My friend and I wanted to let them know how grateful we are. Thank you for being great citizens!"

 * … FIREWORKS: Count me among those who agree with Lois Henry that it's time to ban fireworks in Kern County. The sheer number of reported illegal fireworks this past Fourth of July was simply stunning, not to mention the damages from roof fires and personal injuries. Enough should be enough.

 * … VETERAN: Here's a little tidbit that should bring a smile to your day. Jim Lopez is a 77-year-old Vietnam veteran who recently ate at the IHOP on Buck Owens Boulevard. "As I was enjoying my breakfast a nice looking gentleman with a white beard, glasses and a beautiful wife, came up to me and thanked me for serving my country," he said. "Being a Vietnam veteran, we didn't get many gestures of gratitude upon our return from combat except from each other. I want to let this man and his wife know how grateful a simple thank you can mean to a veteran… I hope he has the opportunity to see this note of thanks for being so kind and for being a patriot of this grate nation."

 * … ACHIEVER: And more in the good news department, this comes compliments of East Bakersfiel High principal Lee Vasquez. "I am very pleased to inform you that one of our alumni, Victoria Warner, has graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo University, Summa Cum Laude and will be attending Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts this coming fall. Victoria is a 2010 graduate of East Bakersfield High School and she is the daughter of Mike and Diane Warner.  Mike is the instructor for our East Bakersfield High School Historical Archiving Class, is president of the Ken Historical Society and has been a Master Teacher for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in the State of  Virginia for 19 Summers. Mike designs curriculum, teaches workshops and trains teachers in American History instruction in a re-created 18th Century America total immersion program. What a great example of a Proud Bakersfield family."

He's back from vacation, some kudos for our Kern County Parkway bike path, and more bad form after trashing our local city parks

 * … HE'S BACK: Yes, I am back from a two week vacation. It's amazing how time off can cleanse and sharpen one's focus, and when I travel, I am always in awe of what a small world we share. In Zihuatanejo, Mexico, I met a cabbie who lived for three years picking grapes in Delano. The work

was backbreaking, he was working without documents, and he went home. Another acquaintance told me he spent six years in Fresno and Los Angeles and knew Bakersfield well. And finally in Barra de Potosi, a picturesque fishing village, I met a young man named Hugo who spent several years in the same neighborhood of Atlanta where I was raised. And as always, no matter how good the time off, it is always good to come home.

* … BIKE PATH: Sometimes we all need the perspective of a visitor to appreciate what we have. This from my colleague Rachel Cook, assistant managing editor of BakersfieldLife magazine. "My mom and her husband were visiting from Idaho this weekend and we took two rides on the Kern River Parkway bike path. They raved about how wonderful the trail is and how well maintained it is. My mom in particular gushed that it was nicer than trails she's ridden in Vail and Boise because it's so smooth. They also noticed that the people of Bakersfield are very friendly and welcoming. Altogether, Bakersfield made a great impression on them!"

 * …. TRASH: And there was this from an anonymous writer: "It is a shame the amount of trash that has been left at Jastro Park following a large gathering yesterday. I don't know if the city requires a permit to have a party at the park, but whoever reserved the park should be charged for the cleanup. It is a disaster."

 * … PISMO: In contrast, the beach at Pismo was thoroughly cleaned by 8 a.m. the day after the Fourth of July celebrations.

* … PITBULL LAWYERS: Reader Margie C. Casado rose to my defense after I referred to lawyers H.A. Sala and Daniel Rodriguez as being pit bull attorneys. "I did not read where you referred to counsel as pit bulls but, I would agree with you on that term. I own pit bulls and I am Hispanic. I fail to see the connection that Julie Womack was making and I don't know why she made a big deal out of your comment. Anyone living in this town knows what great attorneys H.A. Sala, Daniel Rodriquez and David Torres are. There are lawyers of other ethnic groups that are good at their profession also. I am glad you answered Julie the way you did without apologizing. To me, you were paying Mr. Sala and Mr. Rodriquez a compliment by calling them pit bulls."

* … MEMORIES: Ronal Reynier wrote to comment on the historic front pages that have been reprinted in the pages of the newspaper. "It would be interesting to see a reprint of sales advertisements.
Some years ago, while researching at the library, I pulled up the Californian printed on the day I was born. It must have been a slow news day. They did not even announce my birth. They did tell me that the city had about 37,000 people and 74,000 in the county. There had been 801 marriages and 800 divorces in the county. The most interesting page though was a full page advertisement by our local Ford dealer. They were announcing that 'credit is now available' on a car with a sales price of
only $909. That was real deal as at today's price it would be only $15,600. You could buy this car with only $303 down and finance the balance over three years at only 30 percent per year. Now is that a deal or what? "

New House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield gives a nod to his humble roots, pledges to fight for the Central Valley

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, newly election House Majority Leader, submits this to Bakersfield Observed. In his own words:

 "I want to thank my colleagues and constituents for the trust they have placed in me as the new Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. To say that I am incredibly humbled and honored would be an understatement. Only in America can the grandson of a cattle rancher and the son of a firefighter have the opportunity I now have to fight for you, your families, and our community’s ideals in our nation’s capital.

 "I was born and raised right here in our community.  It is where I met my wife, Judy, and where we brought up our two children in the first house we ever bought together. More importantly, it is where I learned my conservative values.

 "Here, I started a small business—Kevin O’s Deli—and learned the importance of self-reliance and entrepreneurship; to always show up first and leave last; that anything worth doing is worth doing right.

 "Here, I came to appreciate the importance of good family and friends; of taking care for one’s neighbor; and President Reagan’s wise words that “All great change in America starts at the dinner table.”

 "And it was here I was taught to value the service and sacrifice of those who fought to protect our way of life; to always shake the hand of a veteran; and that we are the land of the free because of the brave.

 "I am reminded of these lessons each day as your Representative, and I am committed to ensuring that our values and priorities will be heard in Washington, D.C. Though we have made many great strides—in combating Valley Fever and in supporting the top-tier research being performed at Edwards and China Lake—there is still much work to be done.

 "I will continue our fight against inflexible and ideological policies that keep vital water resources from our region. I will put the brakes on Governor Brown’s poorly planned high-speed rail project that would cut through our communities and hamstring our budget. I will work to create a better business climate so that the Central Valley will remain a leading energy producer in the nation for years to come. And I will not stop until we reform the broken VA system that has woefully failed to care for those who have bravely fought for our country.

 "To our community, I would like to simply and humbly say, Thank You.

If Hispanic lawyers like H.A. Sala are pit bulls in the courtroom, what about lawyers of other ethnic backgrounds, a reader asks. And domestic oil production skyrockets thanks to hydraulic fracturing

* … OIL: Thanks to a boom in domestic oil production and better fuel economy in cars and trucks, the United States is experiencing fewer shocks at the gas pump. According to The Wall Street Journal,

domestic crude oil production has shot up 47 percent since late 2010. In fact, domestic oil production in October surpassed imports for the first time in 20 years, the paper said. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is responsible for much of the increased production.

* … TANDY: Anne Stoken wrote in response to my earlier post about City Manager Alan Tandy. Said Anne: "Fans of the NHL, the Condors and ice hockey in general would greatly appreciate it if you would cease to refer to an alleged assault by City Manager Tandy 'during' an amateur hockey game.  It's clear from the video and the descriptions by eyewitnesses that whatever occurred happened 'after' an amateur hockey game." True enough, but Tandy is out of the woods after the District Attorney declined to prosecute.

 * … PITBULLS: And Julie Womack wrote to question my description of H.A. Sala and Daniel Rodriguez as courtroom pit bulls who could have squared off in the Tandy case.  "So if Hispanic lawyers are pit bulls, what breeds of dogs would be identified with attorneys of other ethnic lineages?" she asked. If any lawyer is as dogged (no pun intended) as H.A. Sala is in the courtroom, he or she is also a pit bull.

 * … WALL STREET: I stopped by the Wall Street Cafe the other day and was delighted to find the owners had rolled out a fresh new summer menu. The "summer salad" featured fresh strawberries and the caprese salad was outstanding. The cafe is located at 1818 L Street.

* … ACHIEVER: Hats off to Christopher Siebert, a Bakersfield student who was named to the Dean's List at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. He is a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering.

 * … REED: Joanna Reed, owner of Cricklewood Nursery and Landscape, dropped me a note to say her son, Mark Reed, was honored as Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association for the work he has done on behalf of diabetes research and outreach. Said his mother: "He shared the podium with Jakob Dylan and Michael Helfant who were also honored. All three men have children with Type I diabetes and have taken time from their busy schedules to help with a very worthy cause.  Needles to say I am quite proud. Mark is a graduate of Foothill High and the father of Ryan Reed, NASCAR Nationwide driver No. 16 who has Type I diabetes."

 * … MEMORIES: Ninety-year-old Irene Hageman Bower sent this note about the old St. Joseph's School.  "It was located on the north side of Oregon Street in the 500 block. I lived on the south side of Oregon Street in the 400 block, and attended Washington Elementary School for the second and third grades. When Washington Elementary School became a junior high, we students were transferred to Longfellow Elementary, where we attended until moving back to Washington Junior High.  After graduating from there in 1938, I went on to attend one semester at Bakersfield High School before being transferred to the newly completed East Bakersfield High, from which I graduated in 1941. Our home on Oregon Street, as well as St. Joseph School, was demolished for the creation of the cross town freeway."

The case against Bakersfield City Manager Alan Tandy pits the two most prominent Hispanic attorneys in town (H.A. Sala and Daniel Rodriguez), promising a pit bull of a dustup in court

 * … TANDY: One of the subplots in the dustup over whether City Manager Alan Tandy assaulted another man during an amateur hockey game are the attorneys involved, in this case two of the most prominent Hispanic lawyers in town. Criminal defense attorney H.A. Sala is representing Tandy, and plaintiff's lawyer Daniel Rodriguez is representing his accuser. As one observer of the local legal scene remarked: "I would pay to be in that courtroom if those two pitbulls square off."

 

* … SPINNER: I was saddened to learn of the death of Maurice Sneed, the 49-year-old man known for spinning a Little Caesars sign in the Southwest. I didn't know Maurice, but his daily presence across town, energetically spinning that pizza sign while waving at cars, provided a comfortable if false sense of intimacy. He will not soon be forgotten.

* … BAD FORM: Stephen A. Montgomery let off a little steam with this observation: "In addition to the self entitled jerks who litter our community and those who think there is value in tagging or putting stickers and decals on traffic signs to say nothing about all the yard sale, lost/found dog/cat signs that only leave when they rot off is that ambulance chasing attorney who every six weeks comes through our neighborhood sticking a slick color business card reading 'Que hacer en caso de un ACCIDENTE' with a triple 8 and a local phone number. Never mind the Oleander Sunset Neighborhood isn't an enclave of Spanish speakers or for the vast majority of the neighborhood don't read Spanish at all. In frustration I gather these up and blue can them but I do wish he would stop this pointless practice."

   * … JIM WRIGHT: With Rep. Kevin McCarthy poised to become the new House Majority Leader, Ann Cierley recalls when her cousin, longtime Texas congressman Jim Wright, held that position. "He made at least a half-dozen personal overnight trips to Bakersfield during that time and it was such fun to go out to the airport to pick him up with my car always being met by Secret Service before I could even park! One of Jim's favorite stories to this day (he's 91 now) is coming through the lobby at Meadows Field and being stopped by a local who upon recognizing him, gasped 'Didn't you used to be Jim Wright?'  He laughed delightedly and hugged the man warmly, saying in that great Texas drawl, 'Well, Ah still am and hope to be for a lil' while yet.'"

 * … POW: And finally there was this interesting historical footnote from another 90-year-old, Joyce Winter. It was February 1946 and her husband, Fred Winter, was in the 2nd Armored Division. "They were among the first to fight their way into Berlin at the end of WWII.  They also had occupation duty. When Fred was home from the war for a week, he captured a German soldier. How?  Fred was building fence for a friend in Caliente and a man approached him with his hands up. He was an 'escapee' from the POW camp near Lamont and was cold and hungry  Fred helped return the POW to the camp."

If Bakersfield Rep. Kevin McCarthy loses his bid to become House Majority Leader, at least he will still have 12,000 followers on Instagram, and the Mac 'n Cheese Festival is coming back to Bako next year

 * … MCCARTHY: We will know next week if Rep. Kevin McCarthy will become the new majority leader of the House of Representatives. With the stunning election defeat of Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the Bakersfield Republican has to be considered the frontrunner for the post. And now that he is in the spotlight, he is getting a lot of attention for his Instagram account of all things. The account,

which has 12,000 followers and is logged under "repkevinmccarthy," is being widely praised for its self deprecating wit, charm and sheer breath of coverage. There are posts of McCarthy with Prince Harry, actor Kevin Spacey, at the inauguration, sitting for an interview with a coat, tie and shorts and others taken when he was a young man sporting a mullet. All in good fun.

 * … MAC 'N CHEESE: The recent Mac 'n Cheese Festival out at Cal State Bakersfield was so successful the organizers have decided to bring it back next year. The folks over at American General Media, owners of seven radio stations in town, have set April 18, 2015, as the date for the return of the highly popular event. Once again, it will be held at the CSUB amphi-theater.

* … EMAIL SCAM: I consider myself pretty savvy about email scams, but I almost fell for one the other day. It arrived looking like an official Bank of America alert saying my account had been suspended because of suspicious activity. It took me to a page to "confirm" this activity and then asked for my Social Security number, account number and password. That was enough to get my attention so I went to the real Bank of America account and read this: "Bank of America emails will never ask you to reply in an email with any personal information such as your Social Security number, ATM or PIN." Be careful out there.

 * … TEMPLE: Hats off to the folks at Temple Beth El who are raising money for the Kern County Homeless Collaborative through the Rabbi's discretionary fund. A memo to Temple members noted: "Once again, we are inviting Bakersfield's Jewish community to join forces in participating in a national campaign sponsored locally by the Kern County Homeless Collaborative to address a very volatile aspect of homelessness - the fact that some living on the streets will die there due to their medical vulnerability."

 * … OBITS: Walter E. Stewart had this take on obituaries: "They are not intended to be amusing. Nevertheless the people who submit obituaries to The Bakersfield Californian give me a chuckle when they consistently state the deceased, who was in their 80s and 90s, was 'preceded in death by their parents.' Gosh, thanks for the edification."

* … MEMORIES: Ronal Reynier wrote to tell me about life in Bakersfield in the 1950s, which he compared to a scene straight out of the movie American Graffiti. "Though the movie takes place in Merced or Madera in 1964, it is the Bakersfield I knew when I came home from the Army in the 1950s. I am sure that you out there had friends and acquaintances that were as portrayed by the actors on the screen; I know that I did. There is even a very, very small part where can see myself. Look and you may even see yourselves… Was the time all good and great? Of course not. Remember, when we look
back nostalgically, we tend to overlook the bad. Which can also be good."

Downtown Bakersfield gets a new restaurant, Texas 28, and a new study links sunburns during youth with a higher incidence of cancer

* … EATERY: Another new restaurant is opening in downtown Bakersfield. It's called Texas 28 and it is located on 18th Street between Eye Street and Chester Avenue. Shawna Haddad, owner of

Muertos just a few blocks away, conspired with the owners to create a menu featuring a variety of waffle dishes as well as items like Chicken Fried Steak Strips, Blue Pig Quesadilla, Pulled Pork Salad and a Fried Chicken Sandwich. It opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

 * … SPOTTED: Sarah Audelo, a Ridgeview High graduate who went on to attend Georgetown University, was spotted in a picture in the Californian of President Barak Obama signing a presidential memorandum reducing the burden of student loan debt. Sarah now works for the Center of American Progress in Washington, D.C. She is the daughter of Joe and Mimi Audelo, who recently moved to Santa Barbara.

 * … HEAT: Here's another cautionary tale about staying out of the sun. A new study suggests that the risk of developing skin cancer is directly tied to sunburns in childhood. As reported in The New York Times, the study found that "women who had at least five blistering sunburns during their teenage years had a greater likelihood of developing any of the three main forms of skin cancer." It went on to say that the "risk was particularly high for melanoma, which kills an estimated 8,800 Americans every year."

* … BAD FORM: The following image is compliments of reader Pearl Birchard-Adam: "Just before noon (the other day) both my husband and I saw at Sam's on Gosford a darling 2-foot Pekinese in the basket of a shopping cart scratch his anus on the same wire where we place our fruits and vegetables. The manager who we had called insisted that the store could not keep out guide dogs for the disabled. I repeated the dog's size several times to no avail. My description of the two well dressed ladies caused him to say that they have signs posted saying no dogs are allowed. My husband added that this is the second time he has seen cute dogs in Sam's shopping carts. This must be a concern for all shopper's health. I do not want any of my food to have had contact with dog excretions. The employee at the entrance who verifies Sam's cards can and should also verify a dog's size and utility. Adorable is not sufficient."

 * … ST. JOSEPH'S: Cecilia (Aughinbaugh) Bishop called to respond to an earlier reader's comments about the old St. Joseph School. "There are plenty of us still around," she told me. "But I don't remember the school being on Baker Street. I was there from 1956-1960 and I remember it as being on Oregon Street, or somewhere around there." Any other St. Joseph alumni out there who can shed light on this?

 * … MEMORIES: And finally, this last memory of Tiny's Restaurant from reader John Kidd. "During the early and mid 1960s our bunch of couples would hang out there after the game or movie. We always tried to get the big circular booth in the southwest corner of the building, and succeeded dozens of times. It was adjacent to the staircase that led downstairs to the bathrooms in the basement. It eventually dawned on us that a lot of people who went down there never came back up the staircase. We even went so far as to go down there, and see if there were people still in the bathroom. In addition to the two bathrooms, there was a third door through which we could make out the sound of machines  (perhaps cooling or heating equipment). Does anyone else remember this or know what was going on down there? I have always thought it was probably illegal gambling, and may have been tied in with the infamous downtown tunnels."

Monday: Tony Martinez is spotted downtown and more readers reminisce about Tiny's restaurant downtown

* … TONY: I ran into retired Bakersfield Police officer Tony Martinez this weekend while viewing a terrific exhibit of Instagram art photos at Metro Galleries. Tony is the former community

liaison officer at BPD who suffered a stroke almost exactly a year ago. He looked terrific and it was good to seem him back in the community.

* … TINY'S: The dispute over the location of the old Tiny's restaurant (southeast or northeast corner of Chester and 18 Street?) is resolved. Randy Fendrick was one of more than a dozen readers who shared this take: "The simple answer is that Tiny's was on both sides of the street.  It existed at least from 1938 until 1962 on the southside of 18th Street but was closed to make room for the construction of the Bakersfield Savings and Loan Building, which I believe became Paramount later. They then opened  on the northside of 18th and Chester in about March 1962 and were at that location until 1970.  There is an excellent article in the Californian dated January 30, 1962, tracing the history of the southeast corner building.  I recall that  on the date our daughter was born November 3, Tiny's was at the northeast location as I had breakfast there that morning.

 * … MORE TINY'S: Greg Baziuk had this take: "Tiny's was on both corners. The southeast was the first location.  In 1952 the earthquake damaged the building and it was eventually taken down and replaced with the existing one. Tiny's moved across the street north, on the east corner.  I have dined in both locations with my father back in the 1950s. His office was a block away from the old clock tower.
The southeast location was next to a bank known as Bakersfield Savings and Loan, where I had my first bank account. The bank would give a child a plastic bank with no way to take the money out.  When the bank was full we would take it to the bank and the teller would smash it to retrieve the loot."

 * … AND MORE: Add this from retired oil executive Lynn Blystone: "When I came to Bakersfield in 1963, I ate many a good meal at Tiny's restaurant on the northeast corner of Chester and 18th Street in what is now the old bank building being remodeled.  A favorite was the 'Chubby Steak;'  featuring a small filet from Willard Gold's Quality Meats with a small baked potato, green peas, a small but tasty green salad, roll and drink for $1.50.  Patti and I had our rehearsal dinner in the upstairs.  Yes, Tiny's was definitely on the northeast corner."

 * … LASTLY: And lastly, Billie Lardy said her mother, Ann Jones, worked at Tiny's for many years.  "Tiny's was located on the southeast corner.  The owner's lease ran out and he moved to the northeast corner of Chester band 18th Street across the street. The restaurant never did as well as it did in the original location.

* … MEMORIES: And Vince Calaustro remembers Tiny's when he used to cruise Chester Avenue. "I used to cruise Chester Avenue, 18th and 19th streets back in the mid to late 1960s and Tiny's was on that cruise route, along with Stan's, Jumbos,Micheners, Warrens, Winchells and Andres. Eighteenth and 19th streets had the night life hang-outs which included the Oahu Club (I believe it was the old YMCA or Boys Club Building) and Billy the Blue Grasshopper club which was towards Union Avenue near the old 7-Up Bottling Co. As real cruisers we came into contact with the local BPD on a regular basis. I still remember Officer Middleton and Officer Cerin the traffic cops who patrolled our cruise routes. They were actually pretty cool (even after receiving citations from both) they would park along with us just to make sure we stayed out of trouble. Great community relations! … Back then, I always thought Bakersfield was the epitome of the American Graffiti culture..... Small town, strong values."