UPPER LAKE, Calif. – On Saturday, Nov. 21, the wonderful local harmonic quartet InVoice will open the tenth season of intimate “Concerts with Conversation” in the Meeting House next to the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake.
“We’ve had each of these musicians here in various incarnations over the years,” commented Tallman owner Bernie Butcher, “so when they got together as a group a few years ago, I knew it would be something special. Their voices, instruments and personalities blend together perfectly.”
InVoice presents a primarily folk and folk-rock repertoire featuring the rich voices of well-known local artists Libbie Larson, Doug Harris and Bill Bordisso.
Libbie has been a featured lead in various jazz groups. With InVoice, she blends her voice with Doug and Bill in sweet harmonies backed by guitar, harmonica, accordion, banjo, dobro and saxophone. Keith Larson rounds out the sound on the bass guitar.
All of us have loved making music at the Blue Wing over the years,” said group leader Bill Bordisso. “But we’re really happy with the acoustic and harmonic blend we’ve been able to put together as InVoice and we’re looking forward to sharing it in the beautiful setting of the Tallman Meeting House.”
The Tallman Concerts with Conversation series continues monthly through next April and will feature artists including Paul McCandless and Christian Foley-Beining, Alisa Fineman and Kimball Hurd, the Laura Reynolds Chamber Ensemble and the Macy Blackman Trio.
According to TNT’s new action series “Agent X,” a clandestine chamber exists in the underground catacombs of the Vice President’s official residence, which contains a repository of secrets and the original copy of the U.S. Constitution.
History buffs and constitutional scholars will be interested to learn that there is supposedly a heretofore unknown Section 5 to Article II of the Constitution, which is almost certain to stir the passions of conspiracy theorists.
Setting the premise for the TV series, the passage reads: “An agent of unknown identity is hereby authorized to serve at the discretion of the Vice President for the purpose of aiding the republic at times of great peril.”
Maybe FDR’s first Vice President John Nance Garner was not aware of this extraordinary power, since he allegedly described the authority of his office as “not worth a bucket of warm spit,” or something to that effect.
“Agent X” allows for Sharon Stone, widely-known for titillating cinematic work occurred years ago in “Basic Instinct 2,” to have a starring role in a TV series as that of the nation’s first female Vice President Natalie Maccabee, having already served as a Senator.
That the newly inaugurated Vice President is a widow whose husband died in a fiery car crash that she managed to survive is noted more than once, possibly leading conspiracy theorists to wonder if this was purely accidental, or something more sinister.
But I digress. On her first night at the official residence, Maccabee is introduced to her steward, Malcolm Millar (Gerald McRaney), a faithful servant whose duties go far beyond standard housekeeping. He’s one of the few people clued into the secret powers of the Vice Presidency.
In a scene fraught with Masonic imagery, a special key unlocks the passageway to the underground bunker where Millar tends to the high-tech command center which runs the Agent X program. Who knew the Vice President had more duties than attending state funerals and breaking tie votes in the Senate?
Agent X is John Case (Jeff Hephner), a combination of secret agent and deadly operative who seems to represent an amalgam of James Bond and Jason Bourne, as well as Nicolas Cage’s adventurer in the “National Treasure” films and the lone wolf driver in “The Transporter” franchise.
Even though initially surprised by her mysterious obligation to national security, Maccabee takes to her newfound role with relative ease, having been assured by the former occupant of the office and the current President (John Shea) that she’s up to the task.
To be sure, all the heavy lifting is done by John Case, who wastes little time in a surreptitious operation to retrieve the kidnapped daughter of an American official, who’s conveniently targeted by Russian thugs and an illicit oligarch for a trade of a Russian agent.
The Russian agent, whose loyalties to any criminal or foreign government seem to be flexible, is former gymnast and circus contortionist Olga Petrovka (Olga Fonda), a deadly and brutal femme fatale who can easily kill any man in a grip between her forceful legs.
The villains are the standard-issue Russian and Chechen bad guys who are either in the business of selling nuclear arms to terrorists or trying to obtain the same for their own nefarious purposes. These clowns are no match for Agent X’s single-handed assault on their turf.
As the series moves along, political intrigue is almost certain to percolate on domestic soil, right in the heart of the nation’s capital. After all, James Earl Jones, as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, needs something more to do than show up on the cocktail circuit.
It could be coincidental to also serving as one of the executive producers, but Sharon Stone looks far too glamorous to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office, given that she is usually dressed more like a fashion model than a serious political figure.
But then, “Agent X” is all about the mission heroics of stone-cold, straightforward deep undercover operative John Case, who can be as charming as Sean Connery’s suave Agent 007 and as ruthless as Liam Neeson’s former CIA operative Bryan Mills in the exciting “Taken” franchise.
Come to think of it, Jeff Hephner’s character also bears a lot of resemblance to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” a former CIA agent forced to operate as a solo operator in taking down the international criminal enterprise known as the Syndicate.
The point of “Agent X,” which is not far removed from familiar territory, may be formulaic espionage storytelling but it still offers plenty of fun for anyone who enjoys spy thrillers and the intense action scenes attendant to showdowns between the good guy and the bad ones.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Artist Anna Sabalone and Lake County Wine Studio are presenting an ongoing series of art classes/parties.
The next class will be held from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at the studio, 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake.
During the two-and-a-half-hour class, Sabalone will give an overview of perspectives and participants will be able to choose what they want to draw as their subject.
All supplies will be provided along with a glass of wine for sipping for $40 each class. Each class in future months will focus specifically on a different art medium.
Sabalone was born and raised in Lake County. She has been involved in the Lake County Arts Council since her teen years.
She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Leeds, England for her undergraduate degree in English, history and anthropology. She earned her teaching credential and Masters of Education from UCSB and has been teaching art, English, history and Academic Decathlon at Upper Lake High School since 2008.
For class schedule, reservations and additional information, contact Susan at 707-293-8752.
Lake County Wine Studio is both a gallery for display of arts and a tasting room, wine bar and retail shop for the fine wines of Lake County. Artist's shows are held on a monthly basis with art and wine receptions held the first Friday and subsequent Saturday of each month.
The gallery scheduled is Monday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m.; and Friday from 1 to 8 p.m.
For more information call Lake County Wine Studio at 707-275-8030.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Fire Recovery Blues Benefit will be held Sunday, Nov. 15, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Twin Pine Casino Event Center, 22223 Highway 29 in Middletown.
General admission is $25 and $20 for firefighters with ID. Appetizers and $5 free play by Twin Pine Casino are included in the ticket price. There will be a no host bar and silent auction.
David Neft and Bill Noteman & The Rockets will open the evening's entertainment. They're well known and beloved in Lake County for "having a good time on purpose."
The Anthony Paule band from the Bay Area will feature guests Steve Willis and Alvon Johnson from 5 to 7 p.m.
International artist Alvon Johnson is known locally for his exciting performances at the Blue Wing Blues Festival and Catfish Blues Festival. Steve Willis plays harmonica, keyboards and accordion with the Elvin Bishop Band and S.E. Willis & The Willing.
Anthony Paule has played the Soper Reese Theater and Blue Wing Blues Festival with Nancy Wright and the Rhythm and Roots Band. His band with Philadelphia soul singer Frank Bey is currently nominated for two Grammys.
Proceeds will go to the Salvation Army in Clearlake, which is located at 14420 Lakeshore Drive.
Following the recent Lake County fires, the Salvation Army was instrumental in providing meals and gift cards to survivors. Gift cards are still available during office hours of 1 to 3 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and Fridays by appointment only. Call 707-995-1128 for appointments.
The Salvation Army plans to hold an early Christmas dinner for the Valley fire survivors so they can distribute gift cards before the holidays.
"We may never brush our teeth together again" is the axis about which this poem by Jim Daniels turns. Surely we all have moments like this. Jim Daniels’ recent books include Eight Mile High (Michigan State Univ. Press) and Birth Marks (BOA Editions). He lives in Pennsylvania.
Brushing Teeth with My Sister after the Wake
at my kitchen sink, the bathroom upstairs clogged with family from out of town spending the night after the wake and the after—wake—cold beverages have been consumed and comfort food, leftovers bulging both the fridge and the mini-fridge. In our fifties, both half-asleep half-awake, we face each other. My sister's smile foams white down her chin at the end of a day on which no one has smiled. We laugh. We may never brush our teeth together again. No mirror down here to see our haggard faces. We rinse, we spit. As we were taught.
The James Bond films have been around more than fifty years, and yet the latest entry in the field, the aptly-named “Spectre,” representing shades of the early glory days of the franchise, is fresh, vital and stimulating even if its roots could be considered dated in a modern world.
As any self-respecting Bond aficionado would tell you, the titular international crime syndicate trades heavily on such wicked ploys as terrorism and extortion, considering its name is Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.
SPECTRE, identified symbolically by its menacing octopus logo, turned out to be the strategically nefarious organization that Bond had to confront head-on during the Cold War era, most memorably in the truly great Sean Connery films “From Russia With Love,” “Thunderball,” and “You Only Live Twice.”
Daniel Craig returns for the fourth time as James Bond, infusing the role with even more gravitas and commanding physical presence than before.
Unlike the more sentimental approach in “Skyfall,” this time around Craig’s Agent 007 is playing the hardcore old-school spy legend.
This hard-nosed method is absolutely essential for Bond in the eye-popping opening scene taking place in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead festivities, where the secret agent is on a rogue mission to eliminate an assassin named Marco Sciarra.
Doing his reconnaissance in a skeleton costume with a pretty girl in tow, Bond mingles with the festival celebrants, and then faster than Superman in a phone booth, he’s changed clothes into a crisply tailored suit for an exquisite foot chase that ends up in a helicopter ride.
With Sam Mendes at the helm directing the action, Bond fights his prey inside a helicopter flying perilously close to the festivities in the main square, and it proves to be the adrenaline rush that jump starts the dazzling action right from the get-go.
Meanwhile, back in London, an officious bureaucrat named Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), codename C, has been appointed head of the Centre for National Security and immediately challenges the relevance of MI6 in a contemporary world becoming all too dependent on surveillance and drone warfare.
Since Bond left in his wake very extensive destruction in Mexico City, Denbigh seizes an opportunity to question the utility as well as probity of good old-fashioned field work, thereby putting at risk the entire Double-O section.
Bond’s superior is M (now played by Ralph Fiennes), who’s put in a tough spot to justify the venerable and true methods of MI6, and as a result, vainly attempts to put constraints on Agent 007’s free-wheeling ways.
Not surprisingly, Bond does not countenance the interference of bureaucrats who have no idea of the value of a boots-on-the-ground skirmish. Enlisting help from tech wizard Q (Ben Whishaw) and the faithful Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Bond ignores orders to stand down.
Instead, after appropriating a $3 million customized Aston Martin DB10, Bond takes off for Rome to attend the funeral of Marco Sciarra, taking time after the services to become better acquainted, shall we say, with not-so-grieving widow Lucia (Monica Bellucci).
The inevitable liaison with the Italian beauty allows Bond to ascertain the whereabouts of a secret SPECTRE board meeting, presided over by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a really nasty bit of business who does not countenance failure or incompetence.
A wild street chase through the streets of Rome finds Bond pursued in a tricked-out Jaguar by SPECTRE henchman Hinx (former wrestler Dave Bautista). Then it’s off to snowy Austria in search of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), an old foe from “Casino Royale.”
The brief reunion with Mr. White puts Bond on the trail of Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), practicing at a mountain top retreat that recalls another Bond film.
In the hunt for clues, Madeleine and Bond end up in Tangier, before embarking on a desert train ride rudely interrupted by a violent confrontation with Hinx.
Winding up in the middle of the Moroccan desert, Bond and Madeleine are drawn to a fortified hideaway where the secret agent’s life is greatly imperiled. Without saying too much, there’s a scene of intense torture that is disturbing to witness.
Should Daniel Craig decide that “Spectre” is his swansong for playing the role of the world’s most famous secret agent, then both he and the franchise shall benefit from the fact that the rather mediocre “Quantum of Solace” is likely to disappear from the public memory.
The spectacular strength of “Spectre,” as the vessel carrying the most essential fragments of Bond lore, is that it comes across as true to the literary roots of Ian Fleming’s novels while carving new ground consistent with 21st century sensibilities.
The most fervent James Bond fans may most certainly argue about the merits of “Spectre” and its ranking against the twenty-three other official films.
An argument is to be made that “Spectre” is even better than “Skyfall,” and this is particularly relevant for the traditionalists.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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