UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake continues its 2016 series of “Concerts with Conversation” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, with a talented chamber ensemble headed by the Laura Reynolds, principal oboist with the Santa Rosa and California Symphonies and instructor at U. C. Davis, Sonoma State and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Joining Reynolds for the evening will be local musicians Tom Aiken on harpsichord and oboist Beth Aiken together with visiting artists Eva von Bahr on bassoon and pianist Kymry Esainko.
Titled “Exploring Personalities,” the informal Tallman program will “explore the personalities” of the oboe through pieces showcasing the different “colors” of the instrument.
Five pieces will be on the program including a Vivaldi sonata in which Reynolds is backed by harpsichord and bassoon and a trio for oboe, bassoon and piano by Francis Polanc.
Tallman owner Bernie Butcher recounted the story of how this program came to be. Last fall well-known local musician Tom Aiken mentioned that he and Beth had been asked to join an exciting all-star ensemble for a January concert with Laura Reynolds in Mendocino’s prestigious Opus Chamber Series.
“I asked Tom if he thought it would be possible to repeat this program here in Lake County,” said Butcher. “Tom worked out the details and here we are. The reviews of the Mendocino concert were five-star, so this should be a fun evening.”
Tom and Beth Aiken are equally excited to be performing with this group.
“As an oboist myself,” said Beth Aiken, “it’s a great treat to play with Laura Reynolds who is one of the most acclaimed concert musicians in Northern California.”
“I’ll be playing the harpsichord on Saturday,” said Tom Aiken, “and leaving the piano to Kymry Esainko. He is an absolute master of the instrument and really wowed the crowd at our concert in Mendocino.”
This will be the fourth in the Tallman’s 2015-16 series of Concerts with Conversation.
The series concludes on April 16 with the Macy Blackman Trio, a jazz, blues and boogie woogie program featuring Blackman on piano, Nancy Wright on sax and Bing Nathan on bass.
Tickets for the March 5 show are priced at $25 plus tax and may be purchased by calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.
Sequels typically surface long before fifteen years lapse, but more important than that is the question of what merits revisiting the vapidity of the fashion world after the original “Zoolander” opened in 2001 to less than stellar box-office performance.
What changes the dynamics for “Zoolander 2” is that its source material found new life as a cult favorite on DVD release, achieving success that had eluded Ben Stiller’s satire of haute couture during its run at the multiplex.
The story of “Zoolander 2” has the slim weight and substance of a supermodel’s biggest meal of the day, which is another way of saying there’s not much there.
But that matters little for the reunion of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as the fashion world’s most supreme dimwits.
As the story unfolds in the beginning, Stiller’s Derek Zoolander has retreated to a cabin in the snowy mountainous region of Extreme Northern New Jersey, having become a “hermit crab” after the tragic collapse of his Manhattan center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.
Due to faulty construction and truly inept planning, Derek’s learning center fell into the Hudson River, causing the death of his wife (Christine Taylor), who reappears at times as a ghostly vision.
Meanwhile, Owen Wilson’s Hansel, hiding behind a mask for a minor facial injury, holds forth in the desert-like sand dunes of Malibu in a commune where his roving orgy includes a weird bunch of participants, including Kiefer Sutherland and others who look like circus performers.
Billy Zane appears at Derek’s mountain hideaway and delivers an invitation from the Donatella Versace-like fashionista named Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig, unrecognizable with bloated face and outlandish clothes only worn on runways) to come to a fashion show in Rome.
This allows for the idiotic Derek, the preening male model dumber than a bag of rocks, to team up once again with his off-and-on friend and fashion rival Hansel, who appears to be only marginally smarter, and that’s not saying much.
These two dim-bulbs could use a few smarts, and then they may have been wise to Alexanya’s scheme to mock the has-been models during a glitzy runway show.
Even more humiliating is how they are treated by her designer, an annoying hipster named Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), who is nevertheless a source of amusement.
Somewhere in the mix is a plot to assassinate pop stars and celebrities. Justin Bieber is just the latest victim, but his death is spectacularly staged when he is machine-gunned by a motorcyclist and still manages to take a few selfies during his last gasp.
Interpol detective Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz), assigned to the Fashion Crimes Division, has the task of solving the mystery of evil forces seeking to wipe out the beautiful and famous superstars, and for reasons hard to fathom, she recruits Derek and Hansel to help out.
Operating on the thin plot of fashion world follies, Derek and Hansel encounter the androgynous male model called “All” (Benedict Cumberbatch), who barely conceals his contempt for the duo, and cues his exit from any encounter with the pitchy catchphrase “All is done.”
Given his dubious sexuality, All plays the transgender role as if cosmetic surgery had so extremely botched his face that he’d be mistaken for a blemished female impersonator.
But All may be mono-sexual after all, as he announces that he has married himself, considering that particular marital status is now legal in Italy.
Another subplot involves Derek’s son (Cyrus Arnold), who was taken long ago by child services when the fashion model was deemed to be an unfit parent after the death of the child’s mother during the horrific collapse of the learning center.
As luck would have it, Derek Junior is resolutely chubby and uninterested in his father’s profession. But Derek Junior is the fixation for nefarious forces that believe he’s the Chosen One, and that his blood would tap into the Fountain of Youth during a ritual sacrifice.
Deep into the story, Derek visits the Fashion Prison to confront the evil Mugatu (Will Ferrell), who much like Hannibal Lecter gets the better of Derek and manages to break out of his confinement and return to the fashion underground.
“Zoolander 2” comes down to climactic showdown of evil machinations in a ritual ceremony where real-life fashion icons such as Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Anna Wintour, and Kate Moss allow themselves to be spoofed in a sinister sideshow.
When first meeting Valentina, Hansel remarks: “She’s hot. I trust her.” It’s one of his best lines. Sadly, the same sentiment can’t be expressed for “Zoolander 2,” as the hotness factor doesn’t apply to the film itself.
The disappointment of the “Zoolander” sequel is palpable in spite of the funny moments when Stiller and Wilson do their best to utter idiotic dialogue. Yet, moronic witticisms, as fun as they are, can only go so far.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The search is on for the ninth Poet Laureate of Lake County.
Any Lake County resident can apply or nominate a fellow resident for this position.
For more information, including application guidelines, please visit the Lake County Art Council Web site at http://www.lakearts.org/ and click on the “poetry” link.
Application information is also available at Lake County public libraries.
Applications are due March 18.
To apply:
– Collect up to eight of your original poems (10 pages maximum). Submit five sets of each poem, one set with your name on each page, and the other four sets without your name. This guarantees as much anonymity as possible when the poets laureate read the submissions.
– Ask a community member to write a letter of recommendation for you.
– Write a mission statement of how you would serve Lake County’s literary community, including any current or previous activities or involvement. Include your name, address, email, telephone number, and best time to call.
– If any of your poems have been published, list the titles, names of the publication and dates they were published.
– Be available on Friday, April 8, for an interview and public reading.
Send five copies of each of the above to Casey Carney, P.O. Box 84, Lower Lake, CA 95457. Email a copy of the same items to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
If you do not have Internet access, mail six copies of the listed items by March 18.
You may nominate someone for the position by sending an email or letter to Casey Carney at the above addresses.
Include the person’s contact information, phone number, and a short statement about why you are nominating them.
Here's a poem of loss by Jo McDougall, from her collected poems, In the Home of the Famous Dead, from The University of Arkansas Press. Like many deeply moving poems, it doesn't tell us everything; it tells us just enough. Ms. McDougall lives and writes in Little Rock.
This Morning
As I drove into town the driver in front of me runs a stop sign. A pedestrian pulls down his cap. A man comes out of his house to sweep the steps. Ordinariness bright as raspberries.
I turn on the radio. Somebody tells me the day is sunny and warm. A woman laughs
and my daughter steps out of the radio. Grief spreads in my throat like strep. I had forgotten, I was happy, I maybe was humming "You Are My Lucky Star," a song I may have invented. Sometimes a red geranium, a dog, a stone will carry me away. But not for long. Some memory or another of her catches up with me and stands like an old nun behind a desk, ruler in hand.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake Country Grand Jury invites Lake County young people ages 6 to 18 to submit their original artwork for inclusion in the 2015-16 grand jury report.
The grand jury publishes a written report every summer which is distributed to all departments in the county government and to the state archivist.
The artwork should express one or more of the following themes:
– The natural beauty of Lake County; – Unique Lake County culture; – Rebirth and renewal.
To participate, submit a photo or a good copy of the original art that is packaged safely so it does not bend. Please do not submit original art work as they will not be able to return it.
Label the package “Grand jury artwork” and send it via the US Postal Service to Lake County Grand Jury, P.O. Box 1078, Kelseyville, 95451.
Digital files of the artwork – in JPG or PDF formats – also may be submitted to the grand jury at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please indicate “Grand jury artwork” in the email header.
All entries – whether hard copy or digital – must include the artist’s name, age, address, email address and phone number.
The deadline for entering is March 30.
If your artwork is chosen, the grand jury will contact you for further information.
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