LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County artist Ray Farrow created decoupage art with original 1898 cedar shingles from the recent reshingling of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lakeport.
Farrow also framed unique photos of the church’s historical building located at the corner of Clearlake Ave. and North Forbes Street.
He hoped his art would help defray costs for last month’s exterior restoration of St. John’s 115-year-old, west-facing wall.
The decoupage shingles are available for a suggested donation of $50; large framed photos for $25; medium-size framed photos for $20; and small-framed photos for $10.
All are now available at St. John’s on Sunday mornings and will be available during upcoming Wednesday noon concerts on Dec. 4, 11, and 18 at the church.
St. John’s building became a Lake County point of historical interest by California Historical Resources Commission in 1989.
In 2012, it earned an Award of Recognition for restoration and preservation by the California Heritage Council, California Trust for Historic Preservation.
All are welcome at 10 a.m. Sunday services, 1190 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
For further information, please call Parish Priest Fr. Leo M. Joseph, O.S.F. at 707-349-6563 or see the St. John’s Web site at www.saintjohnslakeport.org .
The annual American Film Market (AFM) has landed once again on the shores of Santa Monica Beach, at the Santa Monica Loews Hotel where convention-style lodging comes with the pleasant amenity of great ocean views.
Every year, members of the global film industry descend on this sunny seaside city for eight days of deal-making and schmoozing about films and television at every stage of development and production.
An interesting dichotomy was evident in the fact that this year’s market opened with over 8,000 participants, a six-year high, including over 100 new buying companies and 357 exhibitors in attendance from 33 countries.
With such a high level of participation, it would seem that everything is rosy in the independent film business.
Well, hold on. The talk of the town was that buyers couldn’t find enough good product and sellers couldn’t deny the film business is harder than ever.
Case in point was the surprising announcement at the start of the market that Focus Features International, a respected distributor of high-end art house and specialty films, will be closing its doors at the end of the year.
Despite going out of business, Focus Features International was still peddling its remain stock of films, even screening a few of them, such as the horror picture “Oculus” and “Sunshine on Leith,” a tale of two Afghanistan war veterans returning home to Scotland who take jobs in a call center.
One of the amazing things about the AFM is the ambitions screening schedule of more than 400 films during a short period of time. Of course, there’s no way to see that much product and even if you could, massive brain damage would likely ensue.
On sale are far more films than offered at screenings. I was most intrigued with “FDR American Badass,” if only because the artwork showed Barry Bostwick as Roosevelt, puffing on his cigarette holder, in a wheelchair outfitted with blazing rocket launchers.
It gets better with this film, which is promoted as FDR riding his “Wheelchair of Death,” tricked out by the CIA and Einstein with rockets and machine guns to stop the world from being taken over by polio-carrying Nazi werewolves during World War II.
Who needs history lessons when the film’s synopsis describes the “Axis of Lycan Evil,” consisting of a deadly menace led by Werewolf Hitler, Mussolini and Emperor Hirohito? Bill Murray’s “Hyde Park on Hudson” comes up empty against this cinematic classic.
Relying on the many screenings won’t give the full flavor of the weird, bizarre and truly offbeat offerings. You have to visit the distributors’ hotel rooms and suites where independent films are peddled in a sort of high-end flea market style.
No visit to AFM is complete without dropping in on the purveyors of schlock cinema at Troma Pictures, the masters of creepy sleaze and oddities with masterpiece classics like “The Toxic Avenger” and “Surf Nazis Must Die.”
You can rely on Troma to produce the worst possible films. Imagine my disappointment to find that their big push this year is for a sequel to “Return to Nuke ‘Em High,” which is peddled as Volume 2. It’s a strange combination of “Carrie” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.”
Just as I reported last year, Troma continues to rest on its laurels, still selling from a thick catalog of junk films. But all things considered, “Return to Nuke ‘Em High” is chock-full of maniacs, mutants and half-naked girls, so it has that going for it.
Zombie films are still the rage, so much so that the estimable Hollywood Reporter featured a “Zombie Edition” to highlight the most amusing and over-the-top promotional materials from the market, focusing on four zombie titles.
Robin Hood Films is still pushing “101 Zombies,” a tale of a small southern town that finds itself the center of a zombie apocalypse when tainted local moonshine transforms half its residents into the flesh-eating undead.
I think “Zombie Fight Club” looks most promising, and not because the promotional material added colorful interest. It’s just the thought of the first rule of “Zombie Fight Club” is not to talk about it. I mean, zombies are not naturally garrulous types.
The British film “Zombie Resurrection” promises a zombie Messiah with the power to bring the undead back to life. But “Ninja Zombies” has potential for combining fast-paced martial arts skills with the sluggish zombie method. I wonder how that will work.
More than usual, this year’s AFM was drawing more celebrities just as likely to be raising funds for their own projects as they are pitching films in which they star. There were sightings of Vince Vaughn, Russell Crowe, Don Cheadle and Blake Lively.
Comedian Adam Carolla was on hand to give the keynote address to the AFM’s Production Conference. In a press release, Carolla said he was looking forward to sharing his experiences and “eating free deli food.”
Speaking of cuisine, Elton John and actor Tom Hardy kicked off the AFM by hosting a beachside breakfast for buyers, where they pitched “Rocketman,” a biography of Elton John starring Hardy as the iconic pop star.
Meanwhile, though they may not show up in person, the forgotten stars of old, even of the immediate past, turn up in a myriad of product that is standard fare at AFM. It used to be a game of seeing how many Baldwin brothers would appear in these independent films.
Now we’ve got tough guy Michael Madsen as a gun-toting banking mogul falsely set up by organized crime as a sex trafficker in “Ice Agent” and pulling off a Las Vegas casino heist in “Dirty Dealing 3D.” Even Wesley Snipes is attempting a comeback in “Gallow Walkers.”
This year’s award for the best rip-off of a well-known film goes to “God of Thunder,” for which the promotional material shows a guy wearing a red cape and holding a large hammer, in a pose that is almost identical to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.
The American Film Market is a fun place to get the full flavor of films from around the world.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is a likeable, relatable character, appearing more down-to-earth than his supreme being as the hammer-wielding Norse god would suggest to us mere mortals stranded on Planet Earth.
Inspired by Marvel Comics, “Thor: The Dark World” is the sequel to 2011’s “Thor” in which Hemsworth’s Thor, the Mighty Avenger, was somewhat arrogant and impulsive at first before gaining humility from time spent on Earth battling evil forces.
Unlike its titular character, “Thor: The Dark World” doesn’t seem very relatable, from the perspective of a superhero picture. At least for me, it has to do with a lack of true knowledge, and perhaps even interest, in Norse mythology.
Right from the start, there’s talk of the Nine Realms central to Norse cosmology and the fact that all realms will soon align offering the evil Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) an opportunity to annihilate all civilizations, whether human or alien.
Even the most casual observer is likely aware that Asgard is the home of the Norse gods, where Thor’s father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), sporting a nifty gold eye patch and carrying a royal scepter, rules with an iron hand.
Where it gets confusing is the talk of other realms like Vanaheim, Alfheim and Svartalfheim, the latter being the home of the Dark Elves which is under the ruthless thumb of the malevolent Malekith.
I know Anaheim as the home of Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth. One thing I could figure out was that any realm with a name ending in “heim” seemed to be far removed from the happy wonders of Walt Disney’s amusement park.
Even having the scorecard of the Nine Realms proved not so helpful to determine which one of the depressingly dark and gloomy places was the setting of a particularly violent skirmish.
However, it is not so difficult to appreciate the universal conflicts that have driven human drama since the beginning of time. One conflict, of course, is a son impatient to prove his worth to his father, explaining the tension between Thor and Odin.
The far more troubling tension is that of lethally resentful brother, in this case Loki (Tom Hiddleston) carrying a grudge against Thor, which was initiated as a polarizing relationship between siblings vying for the throne of Asgard.
Now there is pure hatred involved between the brothers, as Loki finds himself imprisoned, like Hannibal Lecter, behind an impenetrable acrylic plastic window in an all-white room that looks like the setting for a Vanity Fair photo shoot.
Meanwhile, setting up shop in London, the lovelorn Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), the astrophysicist who met Thor when he was exiled to Earth by his father in the first film, is pulled back into Thor’s world when Malekith causes some gooey substance to take control of her body.
In any case, this gives Thor the excuse to bring Jane to Asgard for her own protection and eventually reignites some of the old passion after Jane overcomes resentment for Thor disappearing for a few years as if he were a deadbeat father (which he’s not).
Also returning to earthbound duty are Kat Dennings’ quirky Darcy, Foster’s intern who now has her own intern, and Stellan Skarsgard’s Dr. Erik Selvig, who sits around in his underwear because his mind was previously possessed by Loki. Now he’s trying to figure out where he left his pants.
At this point in the story, I am trying to determine how many Dark Elves does it take to pilot the massive spacecraft that looks oddly shaped like a floating corkscrew or a jellyfish when the cloaking device is not turned on.
Malekith, King of the Dark Elves, is a nasty villain but his character is one-dimensional. Sure, he looks threatening but evidence of his motivations to commit horrific acts upon his foes is entirely missing.
The most convincing confrontations are between Loki and Thor, but even that is somewhat limited, given that the brothers so infrequently share the screen, until Thor decides to risk using Loki’s help when their mutual demise appears so imminent.
The scenery in London is visually interesting, even though Malekith’s invasion of the city results in the type of CGI-generated destruction that has become so commonplace in alien invasion movies.
Dressed in a flowing red cape, the long-haired Chris Hemsworth’s Thor cuts a dashing figure as a Norse god, demonstrating an engaging charisma befitting his status as an attractive superhero.
“Thor: The Dark World” delivers the swaggering explosive exploits that its audience wants. It’s the kind of action adventure from the Marvel Comics universe that may be formulaic but advances the franchise along a pleasurable path for its loyal fan base.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council invites the Lake County community to stop by the Main Street Gallery in Lakeport to view and bid in the silent auction now taking place through Dec. 18.
The auction is a collection of paintings donated by local artist Ray Farrow of Kelseyville, who hopes that the auction will provide needed revenue to support the goals of the gallery and help with its ongoing maintenance.
The Main Street Gallery provides an opportunity for Lake County artists to exhibit and sell their work, an opportunity that many local established and emerging artists might not have if the gallery was not an established presence on the Lake County arts scene.
The gallery is maintained by tax-deductible donations, a dedicated group of volunteers as well as local musicians and many local wineries, all of whom donate their talents and product to keep the doors open and the gallery operating.
You too can be part of this wonderful arts endeavor by stopping by the gallery to view its current exhibition by local artists and help support its purpose by making a bid in the auction.
The Main Street Gallery is located at 325 N. Main St., telephone 707-263-6658.
Most of us will never touch a Klansman’s robe, or want to touch one. Rachel Richardson, who lives in North Carolina, here touches one for us, so that none of us will ever have to.
Relic
The first time I touched it, cloth fell under my fingers, the frail white folds softened, demure. No burn,
no combustion at the touch of skin. It sat, silent, like any other contents of any other box: photographs of the dead, heirloom jewels.
Exposed to thin windowlight it is exactly as in movies: a long gown, and where a chest must have breathed, a red cross
crossed over. The crown, I know, waits underneath, the hood with eyes carefully stitched open, arch cap like a bishop’s, surging to its point.
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 2011 by Rachel Richardson from her most recent book of poems, Copperhead, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Rachel Richardson and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2013 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. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, still a Lake County favorite even well after his 200th birthday, will be back again on Sunday, Nov. 24, with the Lake County Symphony’s “Mozart Masterpieces” concert.
To open the program, music director and conductor John Parkinson has selected one of the famed composer’s best-known and best-loved pieces, the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola featuring the solo talents of Holly Fagan on violin and Sienna S’Zell on viola.
The piece is a meld of symphony and concerto, which Mozart was experimenting with, and is generally considered to be one of his most successful compositions in this genre, with the techniques he perfected often copied by others.
S’Zell started her music career in third grade, and has since graduated, along with a B.A. and Master’s work, to play with orchestras and chamber groups all over the United States.
She is well-known in the north counties for her work as a teacher in both public and private schools, most recently at the Ukiah School of Music.
She also is an experienced bluegrass music fiddler. On the Sinfonia Concertante she will play the viola with violinist Holly McElroy Fagan, a graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music.
Fagan has been an orchestra member in St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City and Palo Alto and also has taught music for some 36 years. Both featured soloists are current members of the Lake County Symphony.
The second selection on the program will be Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D and will feature quick-change artist Sienna S’Zell again, only this time shifting from viola to violin.
The concerto was written in 1775 and its structure in D gives a special brilliance to the music. It is also presented in three movements.
Following intermission the orchestra will play one of Mozart’s most beloved symphonies, the ever-popular G Minor Symphony No. 40.
The Lake County Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Susan Condit, continues the Mozart theme with the composer’s Menuetto and Trio from his Symphony No. 35 – the well-known “Haffner” – and also “Amadeus” the music from the movie of the same name which was derived from Mozart’s Symphony No. 25.
The 11 a.m. open rehearsal concert costs $5 for adults and is free to those 18 and under.
The main concert takes place at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport beginning at 3 p.m. with general admission tickets at $25 and premium reserved seating at $30.
Symphony association members (formerly Clearlake Performing Arts – CLPA) are granted $5 discounts. Some season-ticket seats are also still available.
Tickets may be obtained on line at www.soperreesetheatre.com or by phone at 707-263-0577. They may also be bought at the Travel Center in Lakeport’s Shoreline Shopping Center, or at the theater box office on Fridays between 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
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