Clear Lake Performing Arts' youth orchestras will perform at a concert on June 5, 2011. Courtesy photo.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On June 5, the Clear Lake Performing Arts Youth Orchestra and the newly formed Junior-Youth Orchestra will present their end-of-the year concert under the direction of Susan Condit.
The six-member Junior-Youth Orchestra will open the program with standard beginning tunes in three parts – “Lightly Row,” “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Au Clair de la Lune.”
Four advanced members will end this portion of the program with “Trio in G” by Schradieck and Trio in C by De Beriot.
The seventeen-member Youth Orchestra, made up of students from middle school to college will begin their portion of the first half with “Raider’s March” by John Williams from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc.”
“The Basso,” a traditional tune arranged by Clovice A. Lewis Jr. will showcase “fast fingering” in gypsy style.
Lewis is a well-known local composer and cellist. The Emmy-nominated “Ashokan Farewell,” A favorite fiddle tune by Jay Unger, will feature a beautiful violin solo by Clayton Rudiger. It was the theme of the award-winning PBS special “The Civil War.” The first half will end with the amazing “M to the Third Power,” a minor meter mix composed by Carold Nunez.
The second half of the concert is a tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and will feature “Amadeus,” “Rondo K. 80,” and “Ave Verum Corpus.”
“Amadeus” is from Mozart’s “Symphony No. 25” which was also the theme of the academy-award winning movie “Amadeus.”
Andi Skelton, Marta Fuller, Eleanor Cook, Austin Ison, Patricia Jekel and Clovice A. Lewis, Jr., all members of the Clear Lake Performing Arts Lake County Symphony and mentors to the students will join in playing their final piece, “Allegro Vivace,” from “The Hunt.”
The program is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in the Friendship Hall of Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, 5340 Third St. in Kelseyville.
The concert is open to the public and is free of charge.
Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.
For me, the most worthwhile poetry is that which reaches out and connects with a great number of people, and this one, by Joe Mills of North Carolina, does just that. Every parent gets questions like the one at the center of this poem.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Akolouthia Institute, a newly formed technical and fine arts private school, emphasizes critical thinking skills and arts education.
Although online courses are available, the present focus is on providing meeting places in Lake, Mendocino and Napa counties for students who prefer classroom training.
Currently, three main courses are offered: “3D Modeling, Animation, and Game Design Using Blender,” “Introduction to LiveCode - Programming for the Rest of Us” and “Social Media Marketing and Web Design.”
The school markets to two main groups: 12 to 18 year olds and adults who are not receiving the practical skills needed for computer-related jobs from traditional junior colleges and universities.
Parents and school-aged children are especially interested in instruction that teaches how to create 3D modeled interactive games and apps for the iOS (iPad, iPhone, etc.) and Android mobile platforms.
Classes are taught in modules that range in cost from $75 for three-week ancillary courses to $200 per module for multiple module complex subjects. Classes are forming now for July.
The school focuses on saving students money by teaching either free open-source software that rivals their much more expensive competitors, or low-cost alternatives whenever possible.
Students also save money because they do not need to support a school IT department to maintain labs filled with computers; they are expected to bring their own laptops to class. The money students save is thus used for quality instruction instead of overhead in IT costs or expensive software.
Akolouthia Institute has scheduled four public presentations at the following times and places to introduce the school and its programs:
Thursday, May 26, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the State Farm Insurance, Conference Center's presentation room, 488 N. State St., Ukiah.
Tuesday, June 7, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Kelseyville Senior Center, 5245 Third St., Kelseyville.
Thursday, June 9, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Featherbed Railroad Bed & Breakfast Resort, 2870 Lakeshore Blvd., Nice.
Visit www.akolouthia.com for more information about Akolouthia Institute, or contact Renee Geare at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-533-3848.
Judd Apatow, the prolific producer of raunchy comedies such as “Superbad” and “Knocked Up,” has normally focused on a male-centric view of what is comically bad behavior.
With “Bridesmaids,” Apatow takes a detour into the uncharted waters of equal opportunity purveyor of humorously bad taste goofiness, as the female sensibilities attendant to an impending wedding are upended.
For a shorthand understanding of what is at stake, just think of “Bridesmaids” as the somewhat female rendering of “The Hangover,” if only slightly less crude.
The real jewel of this coarse chick flick is Kristen Wiig, the “Saturday Night Live” comedian, who shines in her disarming ability to be awkward, self-destructive and genuinely funny all at once.
Wiig’s Annie is careening through life as a thirtysomething failure at life, love and even business. Her Milwaukee cake shop just went under as the result of the sour economy.
As the story in “Bridesmaids” unfolds, where Annie is supposed to be the maid of honor for her best friend’s wedding, we discover her inescapable knack at tumbling even further into depths of despair.
The lifelong friend of Lillian (Maya Rudolph), Annie instinctively knows that she’s crucial to the success of the impending nuptials.
However, she does not reckon with the emergence of the annoyingly perfect Helen (Rose Byrne), who makes herself nearly inseparable from Lillian, thus threatening a longstanding relationship.
Snooty and fabulously wealthy, Helen has no compunctions about insinuating herself into a starring role in the wedding, setting up fittings in fancy dress shops and hosting social gatherings.
Meanwhile, as Annie struggles to hold on to her role of maid of honor, competition between Annie and Helen set up amusing battles at a reception and on the tennis court.
Comic disaster ensues when Annie insists on hosting a bachelorette party luncheon at a downscale Brazilian restaurant which leads to food poisoning.
The effects of the gastronomical fiasco strike when the bridesmaids visit an exclusive dress shop and while trying on expensive garments they become violently ill at virtually the same time.
An even greater calamity occurs when the girls decide to take a flight to Las Vegas, not figuring that Annie’s fear of flying would result in total comic mayhem aboard the airplane.
Meanwhile, an element of humanity is introduced when Annie meets cute with Wisconsin state trooper Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd), a likable fellow with an inexplicable Irish accent.
Nevertheless, Annie does her best to try to mess up the putative romance with the offbeat cop, even continuing shallow trysts with a despicable, conceited male chauvinist (Jon Hamm).
Other obstacles in Annie’s life include the oddball British brother and sister that awkwardly share her apartment and the strained relationship with her mother (Jill Clayburgh).
The best supporting role in the bridal party goes to the larger-than-life Megan (Melissa McCarthy), an assertive woman who throws around her considerable weight to great comic effect. In fact, she has some of the best lines.
Overall, “Bridesmaids” belongs to Kristen Wiig, since the movie chronicles her slide to the rock bottom of desperation, and she carries it off with great humor.
“Bridesmaids” may be the greatest comic anomaly of all time: a chick flick that might actually be enjoyed more by men than the opposite sex.
This is one hilarious, twisted comedy well worth watching and ranks high on the list of Judd Apatow comic masterpieces.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
Korean genre master Kim Ji-Woon delivers the ultimate revenge tale, filled with gory violence, in the DVD release of “I Saw The Devil.” Be warned that this film is not for the squeamish.
“I Saw The Devil” is the shockingly violent tale of murder and revenge.
Choi Min-Sik plays a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. The embodiment of pure evil, he has committed horrifying and senselessly cruel serial murders on defenseless victims, successfully eluding capture by the police.
On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancée of an elite special agent (Lee Byung-Hun).
Obsessed with revenge, the agent decides to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself.
When he finds the killer, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on the agent’s mind as the lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
Knut Erik Jensen will perform in concert at Galilee Lutheran Church in Kelseyville, Calif., on Sunday, May 22, 2011. Courtesy photo.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Knut Erik Jensen returns for his third musical engagement at Galilee Lutheran Church sponsored by the Vikings of Lake Lodge of Sons of Norway on Sunday, May 22.
The concert begins at 2 p.m. in the Galilee Lutheran Church sanctuary, 8860 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.
This talented 31-year-old, originally from Hell, Norway, will be entertaining vocally, on piano and with accordion.
A reception in the Fellowship Hall will follow the concert.
Meet the artist, enjoy Smørbrød (Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches), Scandinavian cookies, coffee and tea. Wine will be available for purchase. The Norwegians will be celebrating their “Constitution Day” – Syttende Mai (May 17).
The suggested donation is $10 per person
Proceeds help benefit the Adopt-a-School Program which provides book bags with supplies to needy students in Lake County.
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