Arts & Life

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Written by: Ted Kooser

Published: 13 July 2020

How much pain and anger can a good poet pack into just a few words?

A lot, in this fifteen-word haiku by Laura Foley from her 2019 collection of poems from Headmistress Press entitled “Why I Never Finished My Dissertation,” her seventh book.

Foley lives in Vermont.

Black Belt

Her husband in a coma,
she in the dojo,
learning to kill with her toes.


American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It 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 ©2019 by Laura Foley, “Black Belt,” from Why I Never Finished My Dissertation, (Headmistress Press, 2019). Poem reprinted by permission of Laura Foley and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2020 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.

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Written by: Tim Riley

Published: 12 July 2020

‘DESPERADOS’ ON NETFLIX

With feature-length film options rather limited at the moment, the Netflix original movie “Desperados,” desperately hoping to be a romantic comedy with women acting badly, was hopefully going to be worth a look.

If there’s a Stockholm syndrome for watching a movie where you feel like you have been taken hostage beholden to your captor, that might be the case if you keep vainly hoping the viewing experience of “Desperados” will somehow improve.

Well, it doesn’t, but why no improvement? A neurotic central character in Wesley (Nasim Padrad), an unemployed guidance counselor, has a knack for undermining herself at every turn, whether at a job interview that goes horribly wrong or a blind date.

Let’s move past the lewd humor during Wesley’s interview at a Catholic school with a benevolent nun solemnly listening to the applicant’s awkward blathering about sexual acts.

A blind date with Sean (Lamorne Morris) lasts only a matter of seconds as Wesley lacks any filter for her small talk. But this is not the last we’ll see of the charming Sean.

Upon leaving the restaurant, Wesley takes a sidewalk stumble, only to be assisted back on her feet by Jared (Robbie Arnell), a sports agent who becomes her next romantic interest.

Getting her act together this time, Wesley finds bliss in a relationship with Jared. All goes well until he takes off on a business trip to Mexico to help one of his clients.

When days pass without hearing from Jared, Wesley joins her best friends Brooke (Anna Camp) and Kaylie (Sarah Burns) to send an appalling email to the boyfriend, and discover moments later he’s been in a coma.

The three amigos head south of the border to a resort hotel with a misguided mission to erase the email before Jared gets out of the hospital.

Not surprisingly, pointless hijinks ensue, with few hitting their mark. As a comedy, “Desperados” desperately fails at the task. Best to skip this one.

‘PETER GUNN’ CLASSIC TV ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Should new offerings on streaming services prove to be wanting, more satisfying options for viewing pleasure may be found in the abundance of classic television programs that are now available.

The private detective series “Peter Gunn,” starring suave and nattily-dressed Craig Stevens in the titular role, began its three-season run in 1958, and now it is available on Amazon Prime Video.

With a musical score by Henry Mancini, “Peter Gunn” established a film noir atmosphere where the gumshoe worked mostly at nights and was most often found at Mother’s nightclub enjoying jazz music and the songs of vocalist Edie Hart (Lola Albright).

The mood is appropriately set with all episodes in glorious black and white, underscoring a fitting environment in which someone like Humphrey Bogart’s private eye Sam Spade operated in “The Maltese Falcon.”

This is not to compare Peter Gunn to Sam Spade, as these characters are vastly different. While Spade proved to a fast-talking antihero with a penchant for fast women, Gunn is cut from a different cloth.

Stevens’ Peter Gunn is a polished person with sensible manners who usually speaks without bravado or impertinence. His smooth manner is reflected in the way he goes about the business of representing his client.

Every episode appears to start with someone getting killed or maimed in brutal acts of violence. The musical score sets a foreboding tone of whatever criminal acts set the program in motion.

Invariably, Gunn will be found at Mother’s Jazz Club, where he’s friends with the proprietor (Hope Emerson) and much friendlier still with the singer Edie, who just happens to be his girlfriend.

The first episode, “The Kill,” involves crime boss George Fallon (Gavin MacLeod “The Love Boat”) muscling out his competition and setting his sights on extorting Mother’s nightclub for protection money.

When Mother’s is bombed by Fallon’s goons, Gunn does not take it kindly since the club also serves as his office where he fields calls from a client or his pal at the police department, Lt. Jacoby (Herschel Bernardi).

One could say that “Peter Gunn” follows the private sleuth formula that has worked over the years for many series. Gunn works alone with frequent assists from one source at the police department.

James Garner’s Jim Rockford in “The Rockford Files,” Mike Conners’ Joe Mannix in “Mannix,” and Stacy Keach’s Mike Hammer in another eponymous series were also solo operators with their own go-to law enforcement contact.

In many episodes with Gunn spending so much time at Mother’s, a musical interlude leavens the rough-and-tumble criminal world with a pleasing jazz band set and Edie belting out a tune.

The cool factor was Peter Gunn’s ability to mingle with all sorts of people, from upper-crust clients to shady underworld types to the occasional beatnik uttering period dialogue.

“Peter Gunn” moves at a fast clip in its half-hour episodes. If only this stylish series had run more than three seasons, but at least there are 114 episodes to enjoy.

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

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Written by: Middletown Art Center

Published: 10 July 2020

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center invites children ages 5 to 15 to engage in Art for Art’s Sake summer camp.

This enriching and fun creative adventure begins July 13 and runs through July 24, Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Instructors for this second session of camp at MAC are Jessie Beck, a first-grade teacher at Cobb Mountain Elementary, and dance teacher and artist Lauren Schneider, who has taught grades kindergarten through eighth in multiple subjects, art at Lower Lake High School and homeschool art classes at MAC.

Art for Art's Sake provides children with a foundation of familiarity and understanding of renowned artists and artworks.

“We're excited to explore a range of artists and artistic movements from Van Gogh, Seurat, Matisse and Picasso, to O’Keeffe, Ringgold and others. We’ll be making art with a variety of media and materials,” said Schneider. “I always look forward to seeing children’s creative expressions and interpretations of artistic approaches in their own unique and individual voices, as well as in their shared collaborative projects.”

Beck and Schneider will be team-teaching MAC’s summer camp for the third time this year.

“Their collaboration and the excellent quality of the projects and activities they offer keeps getting better,” said MAC Programs Director Lisa Kaplan. “I love to drop in and see children and teachers so engaged in the artistic process!”

MAC will uphold all health and safety requirements including distancing and masks or bandanas. Campers are required to bring their own face covering, a water bottle and daily snack. Children will be provided a personal art supplies kit for use at camp.

Activities will take place in smaller groupings by age, in the studio and gallery, and each group will have at least one full-time assistant teacher.

“The shutdown has been rough on us all, and I miss interacting with children in person,” said Beck. "I am thrilled to be teaching at MAC and look forward to getting creative with new and returning campers!"

Learn more and sign your child up at www.middletownartcenter.org/camp . Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Some partial work-trade options are available.

In addition to summer camp, there is a lot happening at the Middletown Art Center.

The gallery is now open Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also call 707-809-8118 in advance to schedule a weekday visit.

To support art lovers, local artists and the MAC, artwork from the current exhibit “Dreams” is available for purchase at 20 percent off until the show closes at the end of July. The exhibit can also be viewed in 3D online at https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=pMxYvxv5tAZ thanks to Third Eye Visuals.

The Middletown Community Farmers Market and Makers Faire is happening on Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m., with social distancing and masking observed.

Find out more about programs, opportunities and ways to support the MAC’s efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County at www.middletownartcenter.org .