Arts & Life

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Written by: Ted Kooser

Published: 21 July 2014

Who hasn’t wished he or she could talk to a carnival worker and find out what their lives are like? Everybody, perhaps, but the carnival workers.

Here’s a poem by Mark Kraushaar of Wisconsin that captures one of those lives.

The Ring Toss Lady Breaks a Five

It’s all of it rigged, she says,
Bust-one-wins, Hi-striker, even the Dozer.
It’s like you think you’ll score that giant panda
for the wife except you can’t, or not
without you drop another twenty
and then—what?—then you win
a thumb-sized monkey or a little comb.
She hands me five ones and then stands.
She’s worked the whole of the midway,
she says, funnel cake to corn-dogs.
She’s worked every game
plus half the rides, Krazy Koaster,
Avalanche, Wing-Ding, Tilt-a-Whirl
and if there’s somebody sick she’ll do
a kiddy ride too, Li’l Choo-choo, maybe
the Tea Cup.
There’s a collapsing soft sigh
and she sits, opens the paper, turns a page
and as if she were the one assigned to face forwards,
as if it were her job to intuit the world
and interpret the news,
Anymore, she says, it’s out of our hands,
it’s all we can do—it’s not up to you.
You see that bald bronco tearing
tickets at the carousel?
We worked the Bottle-drop
and now he’s mine: he’s no genius
but he loves me and he’s mine.
Things happen, she says, you
can’t take them back.

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 ©2013 by the Alaska Quarterly Review. Mark Kraushaar’s most recent book of poems is The Uncertainty Principle, Waywiser Press, 2012. Poem reprinted from the Alaska Quarterly Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 & 2, by permission of the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2014 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

Published: 19 July 2014

PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE (Rated PG)

Disney Studios comes to the rescue for families with kids in a summer movie season filled mostly with adult fare and a fair share of lousy action pictures (think the latest “Transformers”).  

Anyone would be hard-pressed to find something objectionable about “Planes: Fire & Rescue” as family entertainment, most especially for impressionable young children under the age of ten.

In true Disney fashion, “Planes” cleverly imagines a fantasy world inhabited only by talking inanimate objects, namely anything motorized, from SUVs and campers, fire trucks and mechanical equipment on wheels, to various types of aircraft.

At the film’s opening, the ostensible star of this adventure comedy is world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook), a spirited single-engine airplane who’s preparing to put on an aerial display of speed and daring stunts during the upcoming Corn Festival.

During a test run, Dusty comes perilously close to his last ride when it is learned that his gearbox is irreparably damaged, thus not allowing him to push his speed to the ultimate racing limit.

Dusty’s not about to return to the crop dusting business, so he looks for a second chance to join a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire.

But first, Dusty needs to be certified for his new career, and this requires training exercises conducted by hardened veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter Blade Ranger (Ed Harris), who’s not that impressed with his trainee’s celebrity status as a well-known air racer.

Dusty gets a better reception from flirty female air tanker Lil’ Dipper (Julie Bowen), the inscrutable heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter (Wes Studi), ex-military transport Cabbie (Dale Dye), and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as the Smokejumpers.

To be sure, Dusty may be demoralized that his glory days are something of the past, but it is no surprise to any adult that the little airplane that could will have its chance to prove to be heroic.

To push into familiar territory that would allow for acts of valor, the story sets up a bad guy in Cad Spinner (John Michael Higgins), a luxury SUV, who happens to be the Superintendent of Piston Peak fixated on showing off the park’s refurbished old lodge as a great tourist attraction.
 
Interestingly, Cad Spinner wants to impress his boss, the Secretary of the Interior (Fred Willard), the overseer of the National Parks. Represented by a 1968 Ford Bronco, this rugged outdoorsman does not flaunt his authority, unlike the smarmy park superintendent.

Blade Ranger and his crew are not enamored with the self-centered Park Superintendent, who has been diverting a big chunk for the firefighters’ budget to his lodge restoration project.

Things go wrong on the night of grand opening of Cad Spinner’s beloved old lodge, where the guests include an old married couple, Harvey and Winnie (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara), two vintage campers wanting to celebrate their 50th anniversary of their honeymoon at Piston Peak.

The beauty of Piston Peak is lovingly advanced by loyal and trustworthy tour bus Ol’ Jammer (Barry Corbin), a gentle old soul who shares his love of the park’s history with a multitude of admiring daily visitors. Ol’ Jammer’s devotion is soon rewarded.

Predictably, a huge wildfire breaks out that threatens the major infrastructure of Piston Peak, putting a lodge full of automotive guests in peril. Naturally, Dusty, the neophyte firefighter, rises to the occasion, putting his own life in danger by exceeding the speed capacity of his gearbox to drop water on the forest flames.

There’s plenty of smoke, fire and water to go with the fast-moving action of “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” resulting in spectacular firefighting scenes that pay appropriate homage to dedicated wildlife firefighters everywhere.

Not surprisingly, this Disney film is lavishly illustrated to achieve a visual fluidity that is enhanced by the 3-D experience. The fire effects are especially dazzling and brightly realized.

A nice touch, mostly for the adults in tow, is the gentle spoof of vintage television. Erik Estrada provides the voice of America’s favorite helicopter cop Nick “Loopin” Lopez, star of CHoPs, a show about two California Helicopter Patrol choppers.

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

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Written by: Editor

Published: 17 July 2014

COBB, Calif. – Hot on the heels of its Aug. 16 45th anniversary Heroes of of Woodstock event featuring Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Imperial Messenger Service, and Country Joe McDonald, Hoberg’s Resort and Spa is excited to announce an Aug. 17 Summer of Love concert featuring Elvin Bishop, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood and It’s a Beautiful Day.

Doors will open at noon.  

The three bands could have played together at Fillmore West – and they haven’t lost a step since then. These are fiercely good musicians still at the top of their game.

Elvin Bishop came to notice in 1965 as a member of the legendary Butterfield Blues Band, the new generation of Chicago blues, yet he may be getting his best reviews now for his soon-to-be-released Alligator Records release Can’t Even Do Wrong Right.

Sizzlingly brilliant slide guitar chops mix with a good-timey feel that makes you laugh and dance.

Elvin’s had hits – “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” – and is a part of legend, but the fact is, he’s never faded as a great player committed to the blues.

When Entertainment Weekly sees that a CD – his 1998 The Skin I’m In – is nothing but “sheer, unpretentious joy,” you know he’s doing something right.

There were great women vocalists in the San Francisco scene – Janis Joplin and Grace Slick come to mind – but no one out-sang Lydia Pense, and Cold Blood was one of the truly great bands.

Mixing R & B with powerhouse rock and roll, Lydia and Cold Blood joined with Tower of Power and created what was known as East Bay Grease – funky, soulful, and truly delicious.

It’s A Beautiful Day is undoubtedly among the most distinctive of all the Summer of Love San Francisco bands, not least because it was created by violinist David LaFlamme, a veteran of the Utah Symphony Orchestra.

With his wife Linda on keyboards, they developed a truly unique sound fusing jazz, rock, folk, world beat and classical styles into a true thing of beauty, best remembered for the sad, lyrical masterpiece “White Bird.”

Unfortunately, the song came out of their experience of being caged by a most peculiar manager named Matthew Katz, one of the primary reasons they did not experience the success they deserved. Nonetheless, their musical quality endures – they are not to be missed.

Tickets cost $27 in advance and are available at www.Ticketfly.com . The cost for tickets at the door is    $35 per person.

For more information visit www.hobergsresort.com or call the Cobb Mountain Concert Series hotline 866-622-7709.