2009: A PASSION = TRUTH Retrospective.

End of an old year. Beginning of a new. It's retrospective time. PASSION = TRUTH style. The following highlights aren't PASSION = TRUTH highlights as much as they're highlights in my life over 2009. Just click on the colored links and you'll be whisked away to the post as it appeared in PASSION = TRUTH...in no particular order.

1. Dear California: I'm dumping you. My letter to the state of California upon my departure mid-September and subsequent move back to Wisconsin.

2. Best thing about California. My best friends in California - Donovan & Maria McCann-Glover, and their daughters, Grace, and my goddaughter, Gwyneth.

3. Jeff named "Godfather" to Gwyneth McCann-Glover. First time I've been chosen to be a godfather - and a very proud moment for me.

4. Concerts, concerts and more concerts. The Zombies at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, Cali., Terri Nunn and Berlin three times in 2009 and Gordon Lightfoot at the Canyon Club. Can't tell you which one was a highlight 'cause they were all highlights. Top-notch performances by every artist. And I got to meet with Terri Nunn. One of the most engaging solo artists (apart from her band Berlin) I've ever witnessed (I'd toss Minnie Driver in that category but I saw her perform three times in 2008).

5. Keeping with the live performance theme theme, I saw Brian Wilson perform at the Hollywood Bowl in late 2008 and then again in Milwaukee a couple months ago. In between that, I met one of Brian's back-up singers, Taylor Mills, via Facebook - then I met with her personally at her husband's gig (Todd Sucherman of Styx) in Manhattan Beach. I got to introduce her to my brother, Jason, at her Milwaukee gig. Very nice person and a great singer.

6. My award-winning, 10-minute play, "Pass the Salt, Please." was performed at festivals in Miami and Seattle. Very, very successful runs in both cities. If you're bored, you can type in "Pass the Salt, Please.", in the search box in the top left corner of the blog and all the related posts will pop up for you, including reviews. You can also type in that search box, "Grace Notes from a Bohemian in Wanderlust" and every post associated with my 3-week vacation in May will pop up.

Above: Me, Bo and brother Jason, day before I moved from California, September 2009.
7. Jeff knows Bo. Had the pleasure of striking up a friendship with actor Bo Svenson, "North Dallas Forty", "Walking Tall II", "The Great Waldo Pepper". Very, very nice gentleman.
8. Brett Favre signs with the Minnesota Vikings. The Ironman. The Legend. The future Hall of Famer. 19 years in the NFL. Owns every meaningful QB record that is and has never missed a start all that time. After one season with the New York Jets, Brett signed with the Vikes, who sit at 11-4 and are in the NFL playoffs this season. Like #6, type in "Brett Favre" and every post I've ever written, including this season, will come up.

9. My visit with Tina in Chicago. I usually visit my best friend from high school a couple times a year. Our time is meaningful and priceless.

10. Walleye fishing trip. This happens every May in Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Going on...well, it's over 20 years. For some reason I can't find the actual fishing post but I found the golfing post.

11. "Dia duit, Eire!" Visited Ireland at the end of September. 3rd trip. Visited Galway, Ardfinnan, Cork, Waterford, Dublin and Cahir among other towns. Good food & drink great weather and as hospitable people as you can get. FYI: I set this particular blog up separately from PASSION = TRUTH.
12. Santa Barbara. My favorite spot in California. We have family there (by marriage) so I try and spend some time up there. I don't have a post here, but if you're on my blog, go to that search box in the upper left and type in "Santa Barbara", "Tom or Greg Nowak", "wine tasting", "Solstice" or "Fiesta" and you'll find a few posts. Beautiful country up there. And good wine (hiccup!).
BONUS: 13. Notes from Lost Man's Lane by Richard le Breton. I took a trip to Nashville, Indiana to visit my friend Katie and we had a ball. This is the first post in the series and, though the trip occurred in November 2008, it was a cool series of posts so I'm including it anyway. Again, if you type "Notes from..." in the upper left search box, the entire series of post will pop up.
There it is...2009. A lot of shit happened. These are just some of the special ones. You can check out the rest of the blog by searching topics toward the lower section of the right panel. Been doing this since March 2007 - with over 2,000 posts, you're bound to find something that's of interest. Happy New Year and a better 2010 for us all!

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Passion = Truth! The book! Now available!

It's been two years since I first self-published my photography book. I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality all-around. I just revamped the cover and credit page and added several new photos. This'll make a great Christmas gift - though Christmas orders aren't shipping until Dec. 22nd...but this book makes a great gift anytime). Softcover's only $42 and the hardcover (with dust jacket) is $55. 132 pages of great photography and text. A truly unique coffee table book.

CLICK HERE for a hardcover version. Or CLICK HERE for the softcover version.

Bo Svenson (Walking Tall II, The Great Waldo Pepper, North Dallas Forty, Inglourius Basterds, Kill Bill II) and Earl Hamner, Jr. (creator of The Waltons, Falcon Crest, writer of the movie, Charlotte's Web and various Twilight Zone episodes) each have one.

You can click on the Blurb widget near the top of this blog on the right panel (widget is for softcover version only).

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Jeff knows Bo.

"Brother Jeff - Write on! Act on! Live on!" Bo Svenson.

I first met Bo, ohhhh....6 months ago or so. We've stayed in touch. I've read his screenplay (above, which I enjoyed). I met Bo at his home Friday. Beautiful place. Gorgeous garden - I must've seen 10-15 hummingbirds feeding. Never have I seen so many in one place. Spectacular view of the ocean. Wanted to say "see you later" (my move back home). Wonderful man. We had such a good time that he invited me and my brother back with Jason gets here to drive me back to Wisconsin. Jas is excited.

Bo as Reverend Harmony in Kill Bill II. Tarantino loves films from the 70's, particularly Italian cinema.

Bo starred in the original The Inglorious Bastards with Jim Brown. Tarantino's premise in his new film is similar. Bo also has a cameo in Tarantino's "remake".

Bo played Jo Bob Priddy in North Dallas Forty, alongside Mac Davis, Nick Nolte and John Matuszak (pictured above with Bo) and the gorgeous Dayle Haddon. Walking Tall's another film you may remember Bo from. He owns his own production company, is a producer, writer, director and Judo champion (and still competing).

Stay tuned for more on my visits with Bo.

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"Jo Bob" is still Walking Tall - and he gave me a buck.

So I was having a conversation with our head of acquisitions outside our offices Tuesday when I noticed this very tall, "heap of a man" with his dog across the street near Winchell's Donuts talking on his cell. He looks our way; I look his way and I immediately yell out, "Hey - you're the actor...Bo...Hopkins. No - Svenson. Bo Svenson!"

Yep. It's Bo. He comes over and we shoot the shit and I tell him that when I lived in Bel Air, singer/actor Mac Davis was my neighbor (he still lives there) and Mac and Bo starred with Nick Nolte in the classic football flick, North Dallas Forty, in 1979. People forget about actors as the years go by. Not me - it's an obsession of mine to scour the Internet to find out where a certain actor disappeared to, what they look like now and if they're still in the business. Bo still acts - apparently Quentin Tarantino remembered him and found him relevant enough to cast him in Kill Bill 2.

Very congenial, pleasant man to talk to. Great stories. I did some research on Svenson's career (Wikipedia stuff mostly) - if you're interested.

(WAIT! There's more on Bo.)

Above: Bo's business card I snagged from my co-worker.

Why did Bo give me a buck? That's between Bo and I.

Anyway, Svenson was born in Sweden - his father was a personal driver, athlete, and bodyguard for the King of Sweden. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, then pursued a Ph.D. in metaphysics and attended UCLA.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28, Bo is considered among the tallest leading men of all time, at 6' 5" being an inch taller than John Wayne and two inches shorter than 6' 7" fellow soldier-turned-actor James Arness.

Svenson's most memorable roles are The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Walking Tall Part II (1975), Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), North Dallas Forty (1979), The Delta Force (1986) and Solitude Point (1998) and has appeared in several films with his friend Fred Williamson. Svenson is an accomplished athlete and has competed in world championships, Olympic selections and international competition in judo, yachting, track, ice hockey and auto racing (NASCAR, PRO-SCCA and F1A). He was television's highest-paid actor for his reprisal of Buford Pusser in the television series "Walking Tall" (1981) - Johnny Carson being the personality who made more.

Check out this recent Variety article about the DVD release of the WWII cult classic "Inglorious Bastards" with Fred Williamson and Bo. It's a "spaghetti WWII" flick and Quentin Tarantino is involved in writing and directing something of a remake. Watch a trailer for the original movie with brief commentary by Quentin. It's reminiscent of "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Great Escape".

Above: Bo with David Carradine at the Kill Bill 2 premier.

Although he's best known as an actor, Bo's also an accomplished writer, director and producer. He hosts PBS Television's "The Di Palma Forum at UNLV" (1999) and is a sought-after speaker and seminarian. Chairman of the Board and CEO of Motion Picture Group of America from 1984-1995, Bo is president of MagicQuest, a Hollywood-based international motion picture and television development, production, distribution and branded advertainment company.

While he has received numerous awards and nominations for his body of work, he especially values the Italian Institute of Art Award of Merit, the American Culture Foundation Man of the Year Award, Italy's Legione Garibaldina Ruole D'Onore, the NAACP Image Award, the Academy of Science Fiction and Fantasy Golden Scroll Award, and the Hollywood Women's Press Club Golden Apple.

If you're curious to learn more about Bo, go to his website: http://www.bosvenson.com/

One last thing about Bo I don't think he'd mind me sharing with you - he's been married to the same woman for 41 years. Imagine that - in Hollywood no less.

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