LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Sunday, Sept. 8, a concert by the Lake County Symphony Chamber Orchestra will take place at Lakeport’s Soper-Reese Community Theatre.

In a departure from its usual practice the 3 p.m. concert will be presented free of charge to the public by its sponsor, Clear Lake Performing Arts.

Classical standards will include Haydn’s Symphony No 85 – often called the “La Reine” or “Queen Symphony” – because it was a favorite of French queen Marie Antoinette.

Music Director and Conductor John Parkinson also will lead the orchestra in the “Sinfonia in C Major” by Antonio Vivaldi, which features the local symphony’s noted string section. Vivaldi was not only one of the truly great composers of baroque music but was also recognized in his day as a violin virtuoso.

Also on the program will be the Horn Concerto No 3 in E flat by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It will feature soloist Mike Thompson, principal player of the Symphony’s horn section, who is an orchestra regular even though it means commuting from his home in Garberville for every concert.

CLPA president Ed Bublitz said his board’s decision to open the doors to the concert free of charge, was to introduce both his group and the orchestra to the public.

“We’ve found many people don’t even know we have a symphony, let alone one of the largest and best in the area, and others have no idea what Clear Lake Performing Arts is, and that it was founded some forty years ago for the precise purpose of creating and maintaining this orchestra,” Bublitz said. “When people hear what a treasure we have here, we hope they will be eager to support us.”

Prior to the official opening of the concert the string players will play Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3 as background music, with the annual Meeting starting at 3 p.m. with a couple of business items for CLPA members to address – including voting on CLPA officers for the new year.

Nominations for seats on the board of directors will be accepted from the floor. Bublitz stresses that he is actively soliciting greater participation from the public, as well as from current CLPA members.

Seating at the concert is open on a first-come, first-served basis, so members are advised to arrive early to ensure themselves a good seat.

“We hope our members bring others who may be interested in joining us in promoting good music in Lake County,” Bublitz added.

Complimentary desserts, prepared by members of the CLPA Auxiliary, will be served, and wine and soft drinks will be available for sale.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – “Decades,” Chico’s most successful cover band, will play Twin Pine Casino on Friday, Sept. 13.

The show starts at 9 p.m. at the casino, located on Highway 29 at Rancheria Road, south of Middletown.

The band just released its debut LP “Take Me Back,” produced by Grammy nominee Sylvia Massy, who has worked with Johnny Cash, Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Since forming in October 2010, Decades has performed more than 200 shows in Northern California and Nevada, with 110 shows booked so far for 2013.

The band currently has 125 songs from the 1940s through today in rotation, and is working toward its goal to learn 300 songs.

“Take Me Back” can be purchased for $15 at shows (or 2 for $20), $9.99 on iTunes, or $12 for a CD through www.MusicfromtheDecades.com .

For more on Decades' fall tour schedule, visit www.artistdata.sonicbids.com/decades/shows/ .

April Lindner is a poet living in Pennsylvania who has written a number of fine poems about parenting. Here’s an example that shows us just one of the many hazards of raising a child.

Dog Bite

The worst for him was his friend turned wolf,
and the blood that splattered as he ran. The worst
for us: the hospital, his upper lip tugged back
to show the gash—the flesh halved deeply,
cleanly—while I hold him for the needle
that rubs pain out. He submits
to the quick stitch, the thread black
against pink skin, calm now he sees
the doctor can be trusted, his voice
soothing, his face clean shaven,
the clues that signal kindness to a child.
He’s worried, though, about his pet
who didn’t mean it, Mom. His voice is flat.
He knows the months he’s tried to woo this dog
were over when it leapt for his throat
and caught his mouth. The scars, at least,
will be invisible. At home, he’ll sleep,
big boy between his parents, till he’s sure
no beast will tear into his dreams. And we
will want him there, our bodies makeshift walls.
We who led the stranger to our home,
fixed him a bowl, taught him to sleep
under our blankets, we who taught our son
to rub the muzzle that sheathes the teeth.

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 2012 by April Lindner from her most recent book of poems,This Bed Our Bodies Shaped, Able Muse Press, 2012. Poem reprinted by permission of April Lindner 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Konocti Art Society has a selection of painted saw blades on display this month at WestAmerica Bank in downtown Kelseyville.

You may win hand-decorated saw blades created by local KAS artists; tickets are available at WestAmerica Bank. Tickets are one for $1 or six for $5.

The winning tickets will be drawn at 3 p.m. at the bank during the Kelseyville Pear Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Local youth will benefit in the areas of art and music. Proceeds go to the Main Street Gallery's Summer Youth Art Camp and Clear Lake Performing Arts' Student Education Music Program.

KAS members displaying saw blades at Westamerica Bank are Leah Adams, Judy Cardinale, Patricia Courtney, Barbara Funke, Gerri Groody, Jan Hambrick, Annette Higday, Jeanne Landon-Myers, Diana Liebe, Karen Magnuson, Gaylene McComb, Ruth Morgan, Carolyn Morris, Patty Oates and Diane Tembey-Stawicki.

The US Open tennis tournament, held this time of year in Flushing Meadows, New York, is one of the greatest venues in the sports world, and it’s about to get even better.

The brass at United States Tennis Association know as well as anyone that the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the US Open venue’s official name, needs a complete transformation for the modern age.

Many of the proposed changes recognize that enjoyment of the US Open is as much a lifestyle event as it is a major sporting experience.

At a press conference on the first day of the tournament, USTA executive director Gordon Smith pointed out that there is “an insufficient area for the number of fans on the grounds,” and that moving about can be “crowded and uncomfortable.”

The grand vision for remaking the US Open venue includes a movable roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the main venue with assigned seating.

The next two largest venues, Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand, have narrow passageways and inadequate seating.

All of this will change over the next five to six years, if all goes according to plan. The lifestyle element will bring even more food facilities and concessions to benefit the fans.

When I speak of the US Open as a lifestyle event, it has much to do with the cocktail lounges and the impressive array of food offerings you would never see at a baseball or football stadium.

Heineken, an upscale beer importer and a major sponsor, opened the Heineken House, a unique oasis built on top of its existing Red Star Café, where fans can get VIP service in cabanas while watching live screenings with an ice-cold Heineken in hand.

New this year, the club level of Arthur Ashe Stadium features the Oyster Bar, where patrons can dine on a variety of oysters, caviar, lobster rolls and shrimp cocktails. Try to imagine this dining option at another sports setting.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be allowed on the club level, but a media credential lets you wander about Arthur Ashe, though you won’t be allowed into private suites or club seating areas.

The Oyster Bar sounded fascinating, but when I spotted caviar being offered at a price north of $50 I moved away faster than Roger Federer lunging for a backhanded return.

For persons on a more modest budget, the expansive Food Village brought new selections with Hill Country BBQ and Fresca Mexicana, in additional to the regular assortment of international flavors already on offer.

On the other hand, the Village Market is now tossing fresh salads, handmade sandwiches and vegan options. Frankly, I choose the less healthy options, because that just seems to be the preferred stadium experience.

One of the biggest questions at the US Open this year is what has happened to the American men. The highest ranked US player at the No. 13 seed is John Isner, who played exceptionally well in the first round. But he’s already out in the third round.

My favorite player is James Blake, seeded at No. 100, who announced that this would be his last tournament. He’s also beloved by New Yorkers, and he played his heart out in the first round with some of the most exciting play.

You can’t do much better than seeing a match where three sets are decided by the back-and-forth of tie-breaks. That’s what happened in the match between Blake and Ivo Karlovic, though the Croatian won the last two sets with tie-breaks to defeat the American.

At the post-match press conference, the ever classy Blake said he was lucky enough to have had fans “cheering for me, chanting U-S-A,” for 14 years. He said there is “no good way to go out unless you’re holding that trophy.”

Contrast the Blake interview with the one given by Sam Querry, who was upset in the second round. Querry got testy when he said “I don’t give a crap what anyone thinks. I mean, it’s my life and my career.” The spirit of John McEnroe lives.

Though the championship days of Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi are a thing of the past, the American women are faring much better, with Serena Williams having won last year and being still very much in the running again.

Two years ago, Australian Samantha Stosur won the US Open. This year, seeded No. 11, Stosur was up against American teenage prodigy Victoria Duval in the first round.

In case you missed it, Duval had a stunning upset victory in three sets. The win was extremely impressive but Duval’s personal story is even more compelling.

Born in Miami and raised in Haiti, Duval endured an armed robbery home invasion hostage situation as a child, while her father nearly died in the massive earthquake in 2010.

Though she lost in the second round, Victoria Duval is an American player to watch for the future. Now if only the American men could find their own teenage prodigy.

In the few days remaining before the end of the US Open, you can catch the action on CBS, ESPN or the Tennis Channel. Better yet, sports fans, add the US Open to your bucket list.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

With modern technology offering so many new ways to view and enjoy entertainment content previously confined to a television set, it’s no wonder that streaming media companies like Hulu and Netflix have become major players in the TV game.

Not that many years ago, Hulu began to offer a user-friendly model for enjoying TV series running on other networks.

As Acting Chief Executive Officer Andy Forssell told TV critics recently, Hulu “was all about last night’s TV.” The program you missed on FOX or NBC could be seen the next day.

Popular for current and vintage TV shows, Hulu now finds itself up against cable providers offering “Video on Demand,” and so Hulu started to look for opportunities to offer programs, even from other countries, that have been missing from traditional television.

Forssell observed that Hulu is “really not a network, we’re not a studio, we are a distributor at heart,” and that Hulu is all about trying to “connect people with content they love, no matter where it comes from.”

However Hulu wishes to define itself, the obvious thrust of its streaming video content is to focus on upcoming original programs, of which there are ten shows to roll out the rest of this year during the major networks’ customary fall season.

First out of the block this summer is “The Awesomes,” an animated show for adults that combines the thrills of comic book storytelling with the irreverent comedy that springs from the minds of Seth Meyers (“Saturday Night Live”) and Michael Shoemaker (“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”).

Seth Meyers gives voice to Prock, the son of America’s greatest superhero, who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps but is utterly unqualified for the job.

With the help of the dimwitted Muscleman (Ike Barinholtz), Prock puts together a team of D-list superheroes, trying to keep federal funding for his outfit.

“The Awesomes,” though it has its moments of comic amusement, is not particularly awesome, but that’s because there’s not enough inspired lunacy to distinguish this series from the standard animated superhero fare found on any number of similar shows on cable channels.

There’s an argument to be made that there is nothing original on TV anymore. Everything is derivative, or so it often seems.

A case in point is Hulu’s “Quick Draw,” a comedic half-hour western set in 1875 that centers on a Harvard-educated sheriff and his quest to introduce the emerging science of forensics to an unruly Kansas town.

In the early days of the FOX network, a series called “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.” starred Bruce Campbell as a Harvard-educated lawyer-turned-bounty hunter who was hired to capture an outlaw’s gang. Humor was a big part of the show.

Similarly, “Quick Draw” is campy and cheeky, with John Lehr’s Sheriff Hoyle constantly reminding the unimpressed yokels that he was educated at an elite school. He has no compunction about feeling intellectually superior, boasting that he graduated 327th in his class.

The citizens of Great Bend, Kansas include the brassy blonde owner (Allison Dunbar) of the town’s brothel, who runs an odds-making wager line on when the new sheriff will meet an untimely death.

Sheriff Hoyle also boasts of getting a B-plus in sharp shooting at Harvard, which he says is an actually an A anywhere else. Meanwhile, he’s assisted by reluctant Deputy Eli (Nick Brown) to hunt down Cole Younger and his murderous gang.

Have you ever wondered about the person inside a mascot’s uniform, whether at a high school game or in pro sports? Well, later this fall, “Behind the Mask” takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes adventure into the colorful world of sports mascots.

The series focuses on four mascots: Lebanon High School’s Rooty the Cedar Tree, UNLV’s Hey Reb, minor league hockey mascot Tux the Penguin, and NBA mascot Bango of the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Behind the Mask” tells the moving stories of these real-life Clark Kents, capturing their highs and lows, both inside the suit at games and outside the uniform at home and regular life. The tales are funny, entertaining and at times poignant.

A lot of Hulu’s original programming comes from the United Kingdom. One show produced by the BBC that looks very promising is “The Wrong Mans,” centered on two lowly office workers caught up in a deadly criminal conspiracy. By the way, it is a comedy with a twisted sensibility.

Part of the appeal of this show is that one of the main characters is played by James Corden, a truly gifted comedian. I had the great pleasure of seeing him as the leading man in the Broadway show “One Man, Two Guvnors,” arguably one of the funniest stage productions ever. Corden won the Tony Award for best actor in that show.

In “The Wrong Mans,” Mathew Baynton’s Sam discovers a ringing phone at the scene of a horrific car crash. Answering the phone turns his world upside down, as he and Phil (Corden) soon realize it’s up to them to save the day.

Sam and Phil are in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong skills to get involved in sleuthing. Now you know why the show is called “The Wrong Mans,” a comedy that seems ever so right.

Several other new programs are on the horizon for Hulu. “Mother Up!” stars Eva Longoria as a disgraced former music exec who transitions from the towers of Manhattan to the carpool lane of suburbia.

I’d like to tell you more about “Mother Up!” and a slew of other new series, but Hulu has not yet provided screeners for review. Nevertheless, there may be a few good reasons to check out Hulu for more than just the next-day airing of TV programs.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.