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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
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.
How You Know
How do you know if it’s love? she asks,
and I think if you have to ask, it’s not,
but I know this won’t help. I want to say
you’re too young to worry about it,
as if she has questions about Medicare
or social security, but this won’t help either.
“You’ll just know” is a lie, and one truth,
“when you still want to be with them
the next morning,” would involve too
many follow-up questions. The difficulty
with love, I want to say, is sometimes
you only know afterwards that it’s arrived
or left. Love is the elephant and we
are the blind mice unable to understand
the whole. I want to say love is this
desire to help even when I know I can’t,
just as I couldn’t explain electricity, stars,
the color of the sky, baldness, tornadoes,
fingernails, coconuts, or the other things
she has asked about over the years, all
those phenomena whose daily existence
seems miraculous. Instead I shake my head.
I don’t even know how to match my socks.
Go ask your mother. She laughs and says,
I did. Mom told me to come and ask you.
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 Joe Mills, whose most recent book of poetry is Love and Other Collisions, Press 53, 2010. Poem reprinted from Rattle, Vol. 16, no. 1, Summer 2010, by permission of Joe Mills and the publisher. 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
BRIDESMAIDS (Rated R)
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.
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- Written by: Connel Murray
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- Written by: Claire Grieve
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.
Visit the Vikings of Lake Lodge's Web site at www.vikingsoflakelodge.org.