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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Editor
They play every Thursday for lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m.
They always need musicians and you don't have to be a senior citizen to join the band.
Visit the band's Web site at www.reverbnation.com/harmoniouswhale or call Flipper at 707-263-3391.
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- Written by: Editor
Auditions will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, and Wednesday, Aug. 3, at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.
Roles exist for 10 men and three women of all ages.
The show, written by James Rosenberg, will be directed by Deon Pollett and Linda Schreiber from Pollett Players.
The play will be the first two weekends in October. A dinner will be served on opening night with the play.
Dates and times are 5p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30; 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2.
The following weekend the show will occur at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 8, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.
The production also needs help with costuming, painting, set building, lighting and sound.
For more details visit www.pollettplayers.com or call 530-710-2353.
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Humans first prized horses for their strength and speed, but we have since been captivated by their beauty, their deep eyes and mysterious silences.
Here’s a poem by Robert Wrigley, who lives in Idaho, where the oldest fossilized remains of the modern horse were found.
After a Rainstorm
Because I have come to the fence at night,
the horses arrive also from their ancient stable.
They let me stroke their long faces, and I note
in the light of the now-merging moon
how they, a Morgan and a Quarter, have been
by shake-guttered raindrops
spotted around their rumps and thus made
Appaloosas, the ancestral horses of this place.
Maybe because it is night, they are nervous,
or maybe because they too sense
what they have become, they seem
to be waiting for me to say something
to whatever ancient spirits might still abide here,
that they might awaken from this strange dream,
in which there are fences and stables and a man
who doesn’t know a single word they understand.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2010 by Robert Wrigley from his most recent book of poetry, Beautiful Country, Penguin Books, 2010. Introduction copyright ©2011 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
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 (Rated PG-13)
It’s time to pay homage to Harry Potter, one of the most popular characters of literature and film in the contemporary world.
For the past decade, ever since “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” entered the global consciousness, the young wizard and his friends have cast a magical spell on filmgoers.
But all good things to come to an end, and now the eighth installment of the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” wraps up the franchise in a tidy package.
However, if you are coming late to the game and expect a neat summary of all that happened before, you are out of luck.
“Harry Potter 8,” as I shall call it, picks up immediately where the “Deathly Hallows Part 1” left off.
The good news is that “Harry Potter 8,” while packed with action, epic battles and tremendous energy, retains an emotional underpinning at its core that makes the young wizards amazingly engaging and compelling characters.
On the other hand, Ralph Fiennes’ evil Lord Voldemort kicks off the action with some grave-robbing of Albus Dumbledore’s tomb, searching for the Elder Wand that could make him invincible.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), and his pals Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), are desperately trying to track down the remaining Horcruxes in which Voldemort has embedded pieces of his soul in his quest for immortality.
This mission takes the gang of three to a goblin named Griphook (Warwick Davis) who works at Gringotts Bank, where the malevolent Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) keeps a magical sword in a vault.
Pulling off a bank heist is a daunting task, seeing how the vault is protected by a vicious dragon far below the earth’s surface.
The underground roller coaster ride to the bank vault is not only thrilling, but it just may be the signature piece of the “Harry Potter” franchise that could result in a theme park attraction.
You might say that the quest to find Horcruxes involves Harry, Ron and Hermione in a most dangerous scavenger hunt, one fraught with the greatest peril that requires incredible ingenuity to escape harm.
Harry Potter’s singular connection with Lord Voldemort has caused the young wizard fear and pain, but it has also provided him with a unique insight into the mind of the Dark Lord.
As Harry and his crew destroy each Horcrux, Voldemort appears inexplicably more emboldened than weakened, like a wounded ferocious animal that emerges all the more desperate and even more dangerous.
Inevitably, the quest takes the young wizard trio back to the Hogwarts School, which had once been a safe haven but is now enemy territory, with Death Eaters in control and Dementors patrolling the perimeter.
Returning to Hogwarts poses tremendous risk because the school, under the thumb of headmaster Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), is a grim place, more like a prison than a school of magic.
Fortunately, Harry is reunited with his old friend Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis), a Gryffindor resident who has been subjected to the brutality of Snape’s reign of terror.
The Hogwarts School, a once stately edifice, becomes a fitting place for an epic battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world that escalates into an all-out war.
Spectacular in every way, the riveting battle scenes are visually realized in thrilling fashion when Voldemort’s legions storm the school.
As an aside, it should be noted that there is more to the story than pitched battles. Key flashbacks explain certain relationships that involve Harry’s mother, Dumbledore, Professor Snape and others.
Also satisfying is how “Harry Potter 8” works so many of the old favorites back into this final chapter, from Maggie Smith’s Professor McGonagall to Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid to Gary Oldman’s Sirius Black, to name a few.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” one of the best in the series, is an extremely satisfying and entertaining conclusion to J.K. Rowling’s vision. It is the summer’s must-see movie.
One final note: The screening I attended was a 2D presentation, for which I am thankful as too many 3D releases now seem calculated to maximize revenue rather than the viewing experience.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.