How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Arts & Life
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A diverse range of musical styles on the keyboard will be presented at the Soper Reese Theatre on Sunday, March 8, by seven well-known professional pianists from the region.
Musicians will combine their talent and years of experience to benefit fundraising efforts for the arts and education in Lake County.
The Lake County Friends of Mendocino College is partnering with the Soper Reese Theatre to sponsor the ninth annual Pianists Benefit Concert.
The afternoon begins at 2 p.m. with a no-host reception featuring fine regional wines from Lake and Mendocino counties, followed by the concert at 3 p.m.
A silent auction of items donated by businesses and individuals will be held during the reception and intermission. All proceeds benefit the two sponsoring organizations.
Lake County artists Tom Ganoung and David Neft will be joined by Mendocino County performers Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Patrick Fitzgerald, Elizabeth MacDougall, and Ed Reinhart. The concert will feature all the pianists on stage throughout the performance as they converse about their life experiences and play a variety of musical selections.
Persons or businesses interested in supporting this fundraising effort are invited to become sponsors. Sponsors receive preference for premium reserved seats. Please contact the Soper Reese Theatre at 707-263-0577.
Sponsors to date include Anonymous Donor, Mike Bielenberg, Bernie and Lynne Butcher, Arlene Hanlon, Susie LaPointe, Jim and Wilda Shock, and Strong Financial Network.
Tickets are $27 for regular reserved seats and $32 for premium reserved, and may be purchased online at soperreesetheatre.com or from the Travel Center, 825 S. Main St. in Lakeport, Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. The theatre is located at 275 So. Main St., Lakeport. For more information call 707-263-0577.
“The Lake County Friends, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation, was created to benefit Lake County students and programs. We are delighted that proceeds from this benefit concert will enable us to continue and expand this support,” said Wilda Shock, chairperson of Friends.
Proceeds from past concerts have funded scholarships for Lake County students at Mendocino College, a science laboratory, math and English tutors at the Lake Center, and supplies for art and ESL classes. This summer’s production of Shakespeare at the Lake in Lakeport and Clearlake will receive funds for student participation.
The Soper Reese Theatre is a restored performing arts venue operated by an all-volunteer management team under the auspices of the Lake County Arts Council. “Concert proceeds will be dedicated to the theatre’s Restroom Re-do renovation project which will modernize and expand facilities, and meet ADA standards,” according to Mike Adams, executive director.
- Details
- Written by: Ted Kooser
Tolstoy said, "Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness."
I found this poem by Dorianne Laux in Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, published by Grayson Books of West Hartford, CT.
The poet, whose most recent book of poetry is Only As The Day Is Long, lives in Maine.
For the Sake of Strangers
No matter what the grief, its weight,
we are obliged to carry it.
We rise and gather momentum, the dull strength
that pushes us through crowds.
And then the young boy gives me directions
so avidly. A woman holds the glass door open,
waiting patiently for my empty body to pass through.
All day it continues, each kindness
reaching toward another—a stranger
singing to no one as I pass on the path, trees
offering their blossoms, a child
who lifts his almond eyes and smiles.
Somehow they always find me, seem even
to be waiting, determined to keep me
from myself, from the thing that calls to me
as it must have once called to them—
this temptation to step off the edge
and fall weightless, away from the world.
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 ©1994 by Dorianne Laux, "For the Sake of Strangers," from What We Carry, (BOA Editions, Ltd., 1994). Poem reprinted by permission of Dorianne Laux 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.
- Details
- Written by: Tim Riley
‘BIRDS OF PREY’ (Rated R)
Just for the record and for whatever it is worth, the full film title of the DC Comics twisted tale of an anti-heroine’s antics is “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).”
The emancipation arrives in the form of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn letting everyone know during an animated opening credit sequence that no longer being the main squeeze for The Joker places her on the open market.
Independence comes with a stiff price since Harley is now missing the protection of Mr. J, as she calls her ex, has to fend for herself in a Gotham City that is an incredibly dangerous place, much more so than Detroit on a bad weekend.
Robbie’s Harley was first seen a few years ago in the borderline execrable “Suicide Squad,” but fortunately “Birds of Prey” is neither a sequel nor a spinoff of the first failed attempt to establish this flamboyant character as a tough cookie.
Having to operate on her own terms, Harley has a target on her back from an assortment of bad guys, the worst being the narcissistic Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), a mob boss backed up by his bleach-blonde henchman Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina).
Seemingly ambiguous about being on either side of the law, Harley takes the sticky-fingered pickpocket street urchin Cass (Ella Jay Basco) under her wing for lifting an extremely valuable diamond belonging to Sionis, the sadistic crime lord known as Black Mask.
The problem for Harley is that she initially sought favor with Sionis for his protection by seeking to earn the bounty on Cass’ head until switching gears to save the annoying kid from an ugly fate despite the risk to her own survival.
Harley teams up with Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), an outcast detective ready for some vigilante justice; the revenge-minded Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Black Canary (Jumee Smollett-Bell), a singer with the supernatural power of a devastating scream.
On the heels of the subversive energy and madcap behavior of Harley, the next most interesting character is arguably the crossbow-wielding Huntress whose backstory about witnessing as a child the murder of her entire family explains her focused goal of rage-fueled retribution.
A suspension of disbelief is required to accept that the “Birds,” as Harley’s gang would be known, engage in implausible action scenes of girl power pummeling the stuffing out of the many, and stronger, male antagonists that outnumber them.
That “Birds of Prey” takes flight on its dazzling acrobatic fast-paced action sequences may not be enough to overcome the feeling that an exciting female action hero will be much better realized by Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in the coming film “Wonder Woman 1984.”
‘CABLE TV WINTER-SPRING PREVIEW – PART 3’
During the winter TV press tour, the subscription service YouTube Originals announced the debut of the documentary “This is Paris,” set to premiere in May, that is billed as an authentic look at the woman behind the global icon known as Paris Hilton.
A ballroom full of critics were treated to a trick demonstration by magician David Blaine whereby he sows his mouth shut with needle and thread while a squeamish Paris Hilton stands by to witness a playing card pulled from his mouth.
Susanne Daniels, YouTube’s head of Original Content, let it be known the death-defying illusionist would partner with the subscription service for an unprecedented live event that would presumably offer a lighter and brighter side of David Blaine.
With previous launches of music livestream events featuring artists like Coldplay and Taylor Swift, YouTube is a natural platform for the documentary “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert,” premiering March 31, for behind-the-scenes stories of the famed music festival.
The AMC Networks, which includes IFC and BBC America programs, has demonstrated it has the magic touch in developing popular series like “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “Killing Eve,” to name only a few.
The AMC series that elicits the most inquiries from friends about its inevitable return is “Better Call Saul.” Well, the wait is nearly over for a two-night premiere event of the fifth season scheduled for Feb. 23 and 24.
As reported during the press tour, Bob Odenkirk’s Jimmy McGill decides to practice law in Albuquerque as “Saul Goodman,” creating unexpected and profound waves of change in New Mexico’s legal and illegal circles.
Series co-creator Peter Gould announced they are about to start work on a sixth season, which sad to say he said would be the last, while noting that his team doesn’t “have much of an idea” of how it will end, only that they are aiming to wind up with a total of 63 episodes.
AMC’s “Dispatches from Elsewhere,” premiering on March 1st, is an anthology series created by and starring Jason Segel that is described as a modern take on a “Wizard of Oz” story in a series that is a weird journey of four diverse strangers on a quest for connection and meaning.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Western Swing Hall of Famer Tommy Thomsen and his six-piece band including steel guitar, sax and fiddle will bring a uniquely American style of dance to the Soper Reese Theatre at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22.
Start practicing your two-step and be sure to bring your dancing shoes.
Reserved seating tickets are $25, 20 and 15.
Western Swing is an amalgam of blues, Dixieland, ragtime, big-band swing, country, pop and breakdowns.
Groups like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys attracted huge crowds to dance halls and clubs in Texas, Oklahoma and California during the 1930s and 1940s.
Contemporary bands include Asleep at the Wheel and the Hot Club of Cowtown.
Thomsen grew up in Sonoma, mixing it up with the likes of Commander Cody and Norton Buffalo, but he may be moving on.
Recently he purchased a roadhouse called the Church of Western Swing in the tiny West Texas town of Turkey, once the home of Thomsen’s musical idol, Bob Wills.
The concert is sponsored by Arlene Hanlon, Strong Financial Network, and Carol and Steve Schepper.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.soperreesetheatre.com or at The Travel Center, 825 S. Main St., Lakeport, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or at the theater box office up to two hours ahead of showtime.
The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577.