Arts & Life

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Written by: Ted Kooser

Published: 31 January 2016

When grief is so heavy that we need to set it down, poetry is a good place to set it.

Here's a fine poem by Minnesota poet Sharon Chmielarz from her book with photographer Ken Smith, “Visibility: Ten Miles,” published by North Star Press of St. Cloud.

Playing His Heart Out

That day we were trapped
between chartreuse living
room walls and the godly
cleanliness of afghans
saving sofas and chairs.

We were talking about
anything except Uncle Carl—
gone, how we'd miss him—
when Uncle Gus came down
the hall and stood in

the archway, his wiry
body strapped under a black
accordion. "Haven't played,"
he said, "for a long time."
So he played a waltz and I

squirmed in my chair under
the slow flow of grief. He
played a polka and I heard
my sister clapping lightly
for the mourner bending over

the keys. His cheek-bones,
red as Helgoland's
cliffs on the North Sea. Gulls
whirled and screamed around
the black load on his heart.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright ©2015 by Sharon Chmielarz , “Playing His Heart Out,” from Visibility: Ten Miles, (North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc., 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Sharon Chmielarz and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 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: 31 January 2016

It’s been more than a decade since “The X-Files” went off the air after a long run on the FOX Television network, but now FBI agents Mulder and Scully are resurrected for what is billed as a “six-episode event.”

FOX is also bringing the devil to reside on Earth, even if only temporarily, finding refuge in the City of Angels, where Hollywood itself is located in an area one would hardly describe as heavenly.

Based on DC Comics characters created by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth, FOX is taking a flyer on the otherworldly “Lucifer,” where smooth-talking Tom Ellis, all the more debonair for his British accent, is the titular figure in a new twist on the police procedural.

Tom Ellis, for those who may not recall, had a recent stint on the USA Network in the eponymous role in “Rush,” playing a hard-partying Los Angeles doctor with an unorthodox medical practice administered to wealthy clients and celebrities seeking anonymous treatment.

In many ways, Ellis’s role of Dr. William Rush is not too far removed on what he is called upon to do in “Lucifer,” considering that he has landed once again in California’s largest city, this time as the original fallen angel seeking a new adventure that puts him right in the middle of wealth and celebrity status.

Bored and unhappy as the lord of hell, Lucifer Morningstar has abandoned his duties down-under to set up shop on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, running the upscale nightclub Lux that is a magnet for rich hipsters and women who look like models.

Apparently one of the perks of being the devil is the ability to transform into a rakish character that is charming and charismatic. In the first episode, he’s hanging with a pop star brutally murdered outside his Lux nightclub.

The murder attracts the attention of LAPD homicide detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), who initially is dismissive of Lucifer. But she becomes intrigued by his talent for drawing out people’s secrets.

In what is a surprising twist, Lucifer, for all of his bad boy sensibilities, desires to dispense justice and teams up Decker to solve the pop star’s murder. Moreover, Decker is immune to the devil’s so-called charms, and this in turn creates a challenge for Lucifer.

Meanwhile, God’s emissary, the angel Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) has been sent to Los Angeles to convince Lucifer to either set up shop in Las Vegas, the original sin city, or return to the underworld. I am just kidding about the first part, but it would make sense, don’t you think?

In essence, what “Lucifer” delivers is a new turn on the police procedural of buddy cops, given that while Lucifer and Decker may team up to solve crimes, Lucifer’s interest is about why people choose to do evil.

The return of “The X-Files” after so many years comes at a time when tapping into rampant paranoia is made easier by the increasing number of conspiracy theories that abound on the Internet. “X-Files” creator Chris Carter mentioned researching more than 500 such Web sites for ideas.

Flashbacks to an alien crash site in New Mexico in 1947 sets the stage for contemporary mythology of government conspiracies to cover up everything from alien encounters to federal concentration camps set up by FEMA.

The first episode of “The X-Files” is heavy on exposition that serves to revive the folklore of Chris Carter’s fervid imagination channeled through Fox Mulder’s (David Duchovny) obsession with investigating the baffling mysteries of the universe.

In the intervening years, Gillian Anderson’s agent Dana Scully has moved on since the FBI closed the X-Files division.

Her work as a surgeon at a Washington, D.C. hospital is focused on helping children with physical deformities, and she exhibits little interest, at first, in being drawn back into exploring the unexplained.

For his part, Mulder has remained a true believer, living the life of a hermit obsessed with real and imagined conspiracies. Early on, to set the proper mood, Mulder mulls the question: “Are we truly alone, or are we being lied to?”

In his heart, Mulder agrees with second part to his question. One must ponder the thought of him sitting in his remote cabin wearing the proverbial tin-foil hat as a precautionary measure against the reach of the military-industrial complex spying on his every move.

Though Scully may be reluctant to pick up where the X-Files left off, Mulder manages to lure his former partner back into the fold when they meet alarmist talk-show host Tad O’Malley (Joel McHale).

The opinionated TV talker rambles about conspiracies from the false flag of 9/11 to NSA data mining and phone conversation surveillance, but his discovery of a mystery woman with an alien abduction tale is all that is necessary to revive Mulder’s instinctual fixations.

The show’s maxim of “the truth is out there” is the guiding principle to the revival of “The X-Files,” and that’s all that might be necessary for the legions of fans of the original series.

As for me, I am waiting for someone to explain the mystery of pop culture fascination with the Kardashians.  
  
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 30 January 2016

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Join LakeWorks, Watershed Books and the Main Street Gallery as they celebrate the first “First Friday” event of 2016 from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5.

Authors and artists will be on hand to share their insights and inspirations.

Dennis Purcell will delight with Americana music, and perhaps invite everyone to “sing along” at LakeWorks.

Hilarie will entertain at Main Street Gallery, and wine and delicious refreshments will be available.

Watershed books is located at 305 N. Main St., with the Main Street Gallery at 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport.

For more information please call Cheri Holden at 707-263-5787.