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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
I’d guess that many of you have looked at old snapshots taken of you by doting relatives and tried to recall what it was like to be that person in the picture who seems to be you yet is such a stranger today. Here Linda Parsons Marion, who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, touches upon the great distance between then and now.
Snapshot
My mother sends the baby pictures she promised—
egg hunting in Shelby Park, wooden blocks
and Thumbelina tossed on the rug, knotty pine
walls in a house lost to memory. I separate out
the early ones, studying my navel or crumbs
on the tray, taken before my awareness
of Sylvania Superflash. Here I am sitting
on the dinette table, the near birthday cake
striking me dumb. Two places of wedding china,
two glasses of milk, posed for the marvelous
moment: the child squishes the fluted rosettes,
mother claps her hands, father snaps the picture
in the face of time. When the sticky sweet
is washed off the page, we are pasted in an album
of blessed amnesia. The father leaves the pine house
and sees the child on weekends, the mother
stores the china on the top shelf until it’s dull and crazed,
the saucer-eyed girl grips her curved spoon
like there’s no tomorrow.
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 Linda Parsons Marion, from her most recent book of poetry, Bound, Wind Publications, 2011. Reprinted by permission of Linda Parsons Marion and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 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: Lake County News Reports
ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (Rated PG)
If you take your kids to the movies, you could do far worse than the fourth installment of “Ice Age.” You could have taken them to something wholly inappropriate, like “Savages” or the Katy Perry puff piece.
Actually, “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” nicely done in 3D, while it treads little new ground, is amusing and entertaining in a primitive fashion fitting for its prehistoric times.
“Ice Age 4” explains that Scrat the hyperactive squirrel, forever chasing the elusive acorn, is responsible for the continental breakup, as his pursuit takes him to the earth’s molten core.
This cartoon franchise succeeds or not, depending on your point of view, in rehashing the familiar themes of camaraderie and fidelity that bind a misfit bunch of mammals acting out the equivalent of a Fifties’ sitcom.
Leading the pack is the clueless woolly mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano). He and wife Ellie (Queen Latifah) cope with mildly rebellious teenage daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer), who’s thinking about the cute boy who has all the wit and charm of a drug-addled surfer.
Manny’s closest friends are Diego (Denis Leary), the grouchy saber-toothed tiger and Sid (John Leguizamo), the dopey sloth who provides immediate comic relief.
A sudden continental drift separates Manny, Diego and Sid from their friends and family members. Cast adrift on an ice floe, they try to figure a way home, a task made more complicated by less benevolent creatures.
Introduced to an element of danger and intrigue, the “Ice Age” pals discover they are not alone in being stranded on the high seas with land nowhere in sight.
A nasty orangutan named Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage), who flies a skunk from his mast to represent a pirate flag, is roaming the ocean with a mangy crew of thugs in search of illicit treasure.
One member of the pirate crew gets noticed by the crusty Diego. The slinky, silver-haired tigress named Shira (Jennifer Lopez), though initially hostile, proves to be a promising love interest for the bachelor tiger.
The slothful, doltish Sid provides enough laughs on his own. But this time, his wacky granny (Wandy Sykes), abandoned by other family members for constantly talking a nasty game, proves to be an amusing addition to the adventure at sea.
A meaningful plot and coherent story are not prerequisites for enjoyment of this lighthearted comedy. For good measure, homage to “Braveheart” is rendered an essential part of an uprising against the scurvy pirates.
Aside from great use of the 3D device, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” allows the greatest pleasure in the often absurd banter between the characters, with the best lines going to the sloths Sid and Granny and a dim-witted walrus (Nick Frost) on the pirate crew.
Moving at a fast pace, with a running time of 87 minutes, everything stays afloat in “Ice Age,” much like the unsinkable pirate iceberg. This franchise will continue to drift blissfully along to success as family-friendly entertainment.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
Some of the best television is occurring on the cable networks, from “Mad Men” on AMC to “Burn Notice” on USA to even several shows on the TNT network.
One of the fun series of cable’s last season was the TNT series “Franklin & Bash,” an offbeat legal drama about the escapades of two young, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants street lawyers.
Now in DVD release, “Franklin & Bash: The Complete First Season” captures the adventures of Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), the confident ladies’ man with a knack for connecting with the jury, and Jared Franklin (Breckin Meyer), his quick-witted best friend.
The unconventional duo, newly recruited by a legendary button-down law firm run by Stanton Infeld (Malcolm McDowell), shakes up the establishment with their quirky courtroom approach to every new case.
Operating as a team, Franklin and Bash are good lawyers, despite their wild antics, shocking tactics and irregular courtroom theatrics.
The three-disc DVD set, with all 10 episodes, includes many bonus features, including a blooper reel, behind-the-scenes specials, and a man cave tour of the Franklin and Bash bachelor pad/home office.
This amusing, smart series has already started its second season, so hurry now to get “Franklin & Bash: The Complete First Season” and catch up on the fun.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Lots of contemporary poems are merely little personal anecdotes set into lines, but I prefer my anecdotes to have an overlay of magic. Here’s just such a poem by Shawn Pittard, who lives in California.
The Silver Fish
I killed a great silver fish,
cut him open with a long
thin knife. The river carried
his heart away. I took his
dead eyes home. His red flesh
sang to me on the fire I built
in my backyard. His taste
was the lost memory of my
wildness. Behind amber clouds
of cedar smoke, Orion
drew his bow. A black moon rose
from the night’s dark waters,
a sliver of its bright face
reflecting back into the universe.
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 Shawn Pittard, from his most recent book of poems, Standing in the River, Tebot Bach, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Shawn Pittard and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 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: Editor
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sunday, June 24, saw the sixth outing for Lake County Live! Come to the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport with another outstanding evening of entertainment.
The show, which is performed before a live audience at the theater and broadcast on Lake County Community Radio KPFZ 88.1 FM, provided nonstop applause, laughter and a great time for all in attendance, whether in the audience or listening on the air.
Doug Rhoades, the show’s creator and host, presented the return of Pole Cat Rodeo, a group that performed on the very first program back in January of this year.
Jon Hopkins, Randy Johnsen, April Knoll and Janet Berrian played a variety of songs with a distinct western and folk flavor, in two different sets, much to the delight of the live audience.
A running “serial” continued this month, with the return of “Ladies of the Lake” featuring “the real stories of Lake County housewives” which is always played for laughs.
Suna Flores, Kris Andre, Pamela Bradley and Vicky Parish Smith provide the voices of Crystal, Mary Jo, Rhoda and Louise as they enjoy each others’ company, with a healthy dose of local Lake County wines.
The audience howled as Sascha the dog (a Borzoi) had another adventure, as well as a visit to the Full Saddle, a local western bar where anything can happen.
Also appearing during the show were musical guests Lucas Prahna and Gypsy Bayou, consisting of Lucas Swafford, Rama Deva and Sara Lyne, who delighted the audience with great music and unusual instrumentation, as well as amazing guitar skill.
“This show was great in talent, and the audience response was phenomenal,” said Rhoades, who added “We are so thankful for the reception the Lake County Community has given to the show and the performers we present. It’s very humbling and satisfying that we can present this venue for local talent, and the audience is so appreciative.”
The next presentation of Lake County Live! Will be on Sunday, July 29.
Lake County Live! Is presented on the last Sunday of each month at 6 p.m. from the Soper-Reese Theatre in Lakeport.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/lakecountylive or go to www.lakecountylive.com .
