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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Surely, some of you have paged through an old book and come upon a dried flower, fragile as a spider web, the colors faded.
Here’s a fine poem about pressing flowers by Chelsea Woodard of New Hampshire, from her book Vellum.
The Flower Press
It was the sort of thing given to little girls:
sturdy and small, round edged, wooden and light.
I stalked the pasture’s rough and waist-high grass
for worthy specimens: the belle amid the mass,
the star shaming the clouds of slighter,
ordinary blooms. The asters curled
inside my sweat-damp palms, as if in sleep. Crushed
in the parlor’s stifling heat, I pried
each shrinking petal back, and turned the screws.
But flowers bear no ugly bruise,
and even now fall from the brittle page, dried
prettily, plucked from memory’s hush.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright 2014 by Chelsea Woodard, “The Flower Press,” from Vellum, (Able Muse Press, 2014). Poem reprinted by permission of Chelsea Woodard and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
One of the first uses of language must surely have been to tell others what happened beyond the firelight, out in the forest. And poems that do just that seem wonderfully natural and human to me.
Here’s Anya Krugovoy Silver telling us something that happened far from home. She lives and teaches in Georgia.
Doing Laundry In Budapest
The dryer, uniform and squat as a biscuit tin,
came to life and turned on me its insect eye.
My t-shirts and underwear crackled and leapt.
I was a tourist there; I didn’t speak the language.
My shoulders covered themselves up in churches,
my tongue soothed its burn with slices of pickle.
More I don’t remember: only, weekends now
when I stand in the kitchen, sorting sweat pants
and pairing socks, I remember the afternoon
I did my laundry in Budapest, where the sidewalks
bloomed with embroidered linen, where money
wasn’t permitted to leave the country.
When I close my eyes, I recall that spinning,
then a woman, with nothing else to sell,
pressing wilted flowers in my hands.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2014 by Anya Krugovoy Silver, “Doing Laundry in Budapest,” from I Watched You Disappear: Poems, (Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2014). Poem reprinted by permission of Anya Krugovoy Silver and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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- Written by: Tim Riley
MINIONS (Rated PG)
The “Despicable Me” films were so wildly popular, thanks in large measure to the Minions, that the single-celled yellow organisms, having delighted audiences young and old as the henchmen for the evil Gru, would inevitably get their own film.
Designed as a prequel to the “Despicable Me” franchise, “Minions” is much more than that. It is a delightful origin story that informs as to how these freakish survivors of nature have been on planet Earth since the dawn of time.
One might fault this film, directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, for the lack of a cohesive, well-structured story, but that is of little concern for the comic relief provided by the Minions. It’s no small matter that Coffin provides the voice for the trio of primary Minions.
The Minions have always sought to serve the most evil master they could find, starting in prehistoric times when they worked for Mr. T Rex, accidentally causing his demise after bumping him into a volcano.
Every villain to whom they pledged unwavering allegiance somehow meets a bad end, whether it’s during a celebration of Dracula’s 357th birthday or being held responsible for the rout of Napoleon and his soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo.
As a result of centuries of misfortune in the service of villains, the Minions were banished to the dreary loneliness and depression of the South Pole, where games of makeshift soccer failed to alleviate their boredom.
Acting like the big brother to his fellow Minions, Kevin takes the lead in suggesting an expedition to find a world where the yellow-skinned creatures can find their true calling once again.
Kevin is joined by one-eyed Stuart, the rebellious teenager type who doesn’t care about the mission but wants to play music and talk to girls. The Bob, the wide-eyed innocent and the smallest Minion, reluctantly signs up for exploratory duty.
The trio of Kevin, Bob and Stuart, often bickering and slapping each other around, reminds one of The Three Stooges for the physical comedy of their slapstick antics. But Bob may be the funniest of the bunch, as he is easily distracted by bright lights, a flickering TV set or a teddy bear left on the ground.
Venturing forth from the South Pole, our intrepid trio of explorers ends up in New York City, circa 1968, where they find their signature denim dungarees hanging out to dry on a clothesline, ripe for stealing.
By watching TV (there’s a funny bit with three contestants on “The Dating Game” having the same names as our Minion trio), Kevin and his buddies learn of Villain Con being held in Orlando, Florida, which is viewed at the time as undeveloped swamp land.
Hitchhiking to Orlando, the Minions are picked up by the appearance of an all-American family driving a station wagon packed with children. But Walter Nelson (Michael Keaton), his wife (Allison Janney) and the kids are accomplished bank robbers also on their way to Villain Con.
Once in Orlando, and still on a quest to find the most evil employer (the Nelson family is just not bad enough), Kevin and his pals are entranced by Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), billed at Villain Con as the world’s first female super-villain.
Elegantly attired in a bright red dress and sporting a bouffant hairstyle popular in that era, Scarlet puts on a dazzling stage show to find worthy new henchmen. No surprise here to tell you that Kevin, Bob and Stuart have found new employment.
With the help of her foppish, mad scientist husband Herb (Jon Hamm), Scarlet hatches a ludicrous plan to become the Queen of England by having the Minions steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
To be sure, it is cockeyed scheme, but it allows for great scenes inside Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth (Jennifer Saunders), who proves feisty when her throne is under siege.
Of course, the Minions screw up Scarlet’s grand plot when Bob manages to retrieve the Sword in the Stone (think Excalibur) and briefly becomes the King of England, much to the consternation of an unhinged Scarlet.
Bob, like all Minions, doesn’t speak English, so his public speech to his subjects is baffling until he utters a single word they understand. That’s part of the fun of the Minions is how they speak in excitable gibberish, only rarely dropping an intelligible English or Spanish word.
“Minions” is rife with agreeable nonsense, where chaos follows the Minions, resulting in havoc at every turn. These lovable creatures provide a great deal of laughs.
The very funny “Minions” should prove enjoyable for all ages. Adults will appreciate many cultural references that youngsters are not likely to recognize.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Editor
COBB, Calif. – The Friends of Boggs Mountain (FOBM) invite kids ages 5 to 105 to free outdoor “nature meets art” mini workshops to be held at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest this July.
Two arts and crafts instructors, including Cobb artist Hannah Meredith, will combine a delightful outdoors experience with creative artistic expression using “forest litter” – pine cones, leaves, lichen.
The nature experience may include a brief hike combined with qigong, an energizing and mind-calming body-mind exercise.
The workshops will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 11; Wednesday, July 15; and Saturday, July 18.
The mini-workshops are free of charge; however, children under 18 must be accompanied by their parents or guardians who will need to sign a liability waiver.
The site is wheelchair-accessible with assistance. Bring folding chairs and something to drink. Water and light refreshments will also be available.
Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest is at the end of Forestry Road, about 1.5 miles north of Cobb off Highway 175.
To RSVP and for more info, please contact Gigi at