"The Crucible" - Woodland Opera House - April 4, 2026

Just a note to thank the folks at the Woodland Opera House for "The Crucible," directed by Gil and Lenore Sebastian. I hadn't seen "The Crucible" before. 

I understand playwright Arthur Miller wrote this Salem-Witch-Trials drama, in part, as a reaction to the Red Scare of the 1950s, but I didn't quite get that McCarthyite vibe. I thought instead that "The Crucible" is good as a standalone work about the Puritans, who remain one on the most fascinating groups of people ever (since we are their descendants). 

First there were actors I knew mostly by seeing them on stage, particularly Joe Alkire and Kristarae Flores. Then there the actors I knew from having been in shows with them at one time or another: Katie Smith-Induni, Emily Delk, Amaralyn Ewey, Charlotte French, Jeff Nauer, Chris Taloff, Spencer Alexander, and Bryan Pro. 

Coty Soltus as Judge Danforth was excellent, as was Katie Smith-Induni as Abigail Williams. Colin Johnston and Kristarae Flores as John and Elizabeth Proctor were good too. 

I got a kick out of Jeff Nauer's disarmingly-casual portrayal of farmer Giles Corey. It was no surprise that the Puritans wondered if Giles might instead be one of those hated Quakers. 

At any gathering of well-dressed Puritans basking in God's favor, always be the naked Quaker doing paddle turns in the snow.

I Don't Think Your Missing Cat Is Here

Saturday afternoon, one of my neighbors came over and asked if she could search my back yard for her missing cat. I had never seen her cat, and had no reason to think her cat was in my yard, but there was no question my yard, garage, and basement had many places for a cat to hide. And she had reasons to think her cat had been passing through my yard. So, she searched, and searched, and searched, with my approval. The flash light on her smartphone was almost like a candle. Her faith that her cat was in my yard was touching.

Wherever the cat had been, it showed up at her home around midnight.

Met John Wright in Concord - April 7, 2026

Yesterday was fun, meeting John Wright (Pro Bike Oklahoma City) in Concord, CA, on his rail tour. We first became friends as freshmen at New Mexico Tech 52 years ago, in 1974. 

Our friendship remains stable and productive all these years later. Neither one of us joined a religious cult, or became a political zealot. We poke fun at the powerful and help the underdog. 

After breakfast at Chick's Donuts, we walked around part of downtown Concord. We went to a trampoline joint and puzzled over a curious tall skeleton Easter Bunny. We also looked at several murals.

The Lunatic

This last Saturday, April 4th, was like previous Saturdays, featuring foremost the early afternoon anti-ICE, anti-regime protest at the intersection of Howe and Arden in Sacramento.  We raise anti-MAGA awareness and gather horn honks.  

You meet many wonderful people at these protests; people who have decided to fight back against the fascism being imposed on us all.  Nevertheless, this Saturday there was something new - a stranger I hadn't seen at previous protests - namely, a lunatic.  As a class, lunatics are an interesting group of people.  Always something new with them.

The man was bicycling past and started shouting at the protesters.  I decided to see what he was shouting about, in part, because he seemed to be a bit menacing. What I found was, like all lunatics, he just wanted to be heard.

First, he denied that this was a proper protest at all, and complained about the organizers.  "These people are just trying to get money, to be useful to politicians, hoping to gain power for themselves," he said.  I replied, "No, these people are all volunteers. It's not the best place for political ambition, The organizers are two brothers. We're all unpaid."  "No," the lunatic said, "they aren't brothers, they are 'brothers': they're gay!" I replied, "The brothers are brothers in the sense they both have the same parents."

I noticed he man emphasized God and Jesus, and had an East-Bloc accent.  The man noticed my "Ukraine WILL win!" protest T-Shirt, and said, "I'm from Ukraine.  I was hunted like a rabbit as a child, for my beliefs, until I came here." 

So, the man appeared to be a Christian dissident of some sort from the East Bloc; full of conspiracies, convinced of his superiority, and probably prone to East Bloc vices like anti-Semitism and homophobia.  

The man also seemed to feel he had control of the Heavens. He said, "Have you noticed the last several evenings the Moon has always been in the same part of the eastern sky?  That's me!"  By this time he had laid down his heavily-laden bicycle and sat on the pavement.  I used the shadow of my protest sign to shield his eyes from the Sun as he spoke upwards to me.  "Watch this!" he said. "Let me see the Sun."  I moved my sign and he addressed the bright Sun: "INTENSIFY!" he shouted.  He smiled with self-satisfied pleasure.  I looked around.  Everything seemed just as bright and sunny as it had been before.

I thought about the philosopher Michel Foucault, who proposed that in the West there were three successive  systems of knowledge, or épistèmes: classical, medieval, and modern. Shortly before Foucault passed away in 1984, people asked him whether we were at the dawn of a new épistème, or not.  "No," he replied. People asked what would succeed today's modern épistème then? "Nothing," Foucault replied.  

That's a problem, because it means there will be no common mode of understanding.  All modes will co-exist.  People will reach back to previous understandings for support as the modern épistème degrades.  That's among the reasons we see Flat Earthers gaining in popularity today, as well as people who are convinced that their thoughts move the Heavens. Instead of seeing a lunatic, Foucault might see someone whose time has not quite yet arrived.

The lunatic was thankful that I listened to him.  He grabbed my hand and prayed to Jesus for me.

A motorist waiting for the traffic light honked at our protest.  The lunatic took offense. "Hey, maricón, why are you honking at me?" he demanded.  "In solidarity?" the motorist replied.  Embarrassed, I stepped forward told the motorist "Thank you for your horn honk."

Thinking also about Pink Floyd's 1973 "Brain Damage." I was never too fond of this song, but it's gaining relevance with the passage of time:

The lunatic is on the grass
The lunatic is on the grass
Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
Got to keep the loonies on the path
The lunatic is in the hall
The lunatics are in my hall
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day, the paperboy brings more

And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You rearrange me 'til I'm sane
You lock the door and throw away the key

And there's someone in my head, but it's not me
And if the cloud bursts thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

(I can't think of anything to say really, except)
(I think it's marvelous)

Home, Sweet Home

At one a.m. on Easter morning, I took Jasper out for his regular nighttime walk.  Walking down the street we soon saw a woman, elderly, frail, and maybe impaired as well, walking down the street. She called out, asking where a certain intersection could be found.  I realized that she was in the wrong neighborhood: about 3/4 mile away from where she wanted to be.  She could walk through dark neighborhoods to get there, but given that she was frail and it was so late, the only reasonable solution was to give her a ride home.  

So, I told the woman to wait by a fire hydrant.  I took Jasper back home, got the car, picked the woman up, and dropped her off in front of a small two-story apartment building sporting an unoccupied balcony.  She seemed confused, though.  Was this her home?  She wasn't sure. She was also unsure if she had her small purse with her. She said if I somehow found her purse she would still be here, at least until 2 a.m.

I returned home, got Jasper, and started walking him again.  I was bothered by the possibility of a missing purse, so I examined the area near the fire hydrant.  I didn't find a purse, but I did find a notebook of phone numbers and a pair of glasses.  I decided to return these items if possible, but first I had to finish walking Jasper.  His nighttime walk is very programmed and nothing can stop him once he gets going. So we walked first.

Forty-five minutes later, I arrived back at the apartment building where I had dropped the woman off.  The woman was gone, but a husband and wife now sat on the balcony.  I exited my car and started asking if they knew a frail elderly woman.  I told them I had dropped such a woman off in front of their building about 45 minutes before. They hadn't seen her.

It slowly emerged that the woman was the mother of the husband.  She had taken the Light Rail to shop at Walmart at 1:00 p.m. and she still hadn't returned, and that she might be showing signs of dementia.  "We've been thinking maybe she should get tested."  The wife came downstairs and looked at the notebook with phone numbers.  She called up to her husband, "This must be hers.  Here's your phone number."  Suddenly, the wife saw the frail woman far away in the darkness.  She had wandered about a block away.  The wife quickly went to retrieve her and bring her home.

I went home and reflected on events.  The woman had likely taken the Light Rail Gold Line, whose station was just a few blocks from her house, to Walmart, but returned on the Light Rail Blue Line, was dropped more than a mile away from her house, and so after much walking ended up in my neighborhood.  Through a complicated chain of events we were able to prevent much suffering without involving authorities, "Silver Alerts," and all the rest.  I hope the family begins to take precautions.  It's so easy to for solitary people with dementia to get into trouble.

Marc And Scott Talk With Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate Butch Ware About ICE

@fabfloresfox Butch Ware with the people Episode 3 Dr. Butch Ware joined the people at local Ice protests in Sacramento, in support of abolishing Ice and taking the opportunity to talk with the people, answer questions about his governor‘s race, and support the people in their protest. @Butch Ware @K9 Life Coach. @O’Brien Goes Potatoes #greenwave2026 #butchware4gov #icegohome #butchware #gpca ♬ original sound - Sayra

Artemis 2 Launches

Ah, after the unforgettable spacefaring moments of my 60s childhood, the lunar romance is still there! (Advance to 5:00 for liftoff.)

 

Allen O'Brien's Speeches at California State Capitol's " No Kings" Protest in Sacramento - March 28, 2026

Allen and his brother Tommy are the co-arrangers of the weekly Howe at Arden protests I've been attending since - July?

 

Main Stage Speech

Most of Side Stage Speech

"No Kings" - California State Capitol - March 28, 2026

Overheard: “Sorry about being weird, but it’s my first dictatorship.”

RIP, Dash Crofts

The talented duo, Seals and Crofts, are gone now, but their songs remain, the heart and soul of the Seventies, including this one, chosen by the student graduation-ceremonies committee at West Mesa, my high school in Albuquerque, as one of the two co-class songs (the other song was Cat Stevens' "On The Road To Find Out"). Excellent songs both!

 

Neighborhood Watch

Jasper’s progress through the streets on his 1 a.m. walk is monitored by the Neighborhood Watch.

"Hello Dolly" - RCTC - March 28, 2026

I went to see Saturday's performance of River City Theatre Company's (RCTC's) "Hello Dolly," at Natomas High School's theater, since Jack was in the ensemble. At his 80th birthday, this Ron Cisnero's last production with RCTC, so it's a historic production in that sense. The show was good, but I found it confusing. I've seen "Hello Dolly" once before, and that production was confusing too. I think I really don't really understand "Hello Dolly." Period.

International Day - March 27, 2026

Rachel needed some help taking down the display for her new upper EL class at the end of International Day at the American River campus of the California Montessori Project in Carmichael, so I volunteered to help. Her "Monarch" class made displays on a French theme.

This was my first visit to this campus.
 

An Occasional Series on Bumper Stickers and Other Signs