One of the wonders of poetry is a good poet’s ability to compress a great deal of life into a few words. Here’s a life story told small, by Ivan Hobson, who lives in California.

Our Neighbor:

Every family that lived in our court
had an American truck
with a union sticker on the back

and as a kid I admired them
the way I thought our soldiers
must have admired Patton
and Sherman tanks.

You once told me
that the Russians couldn’t take us,
not with towns like ours
full of iron, full of workers tempered
by the fires of foundries and mills.

It wasn’t the Russians that came;
it was the contract, the strike,
the rounds of layoffs that blistered
until your number was called.

I still remember you loading up
to leave for the last time,
the union sticker scraped off
with a putty knife,

the end of the white tarp draped
over your truck bed
flapping as you drove away.

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. Poem copyright 2013 by Ivan Hobson. Poem reprinted from Plainsongs, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3, Spring 2013, by permission of Ivan Hobson and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2014 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.

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST (Rated R)

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “Family Guy” and “Ted,” knows his way around comedy and satire, proving his willingness, even eagerness, to also delve into the swamps of gross-out humor and raunchy excess.

“A Million Ways to Die in the West,” in which MacFarlane has the unlikely starring role of an inept but oddly smart sheep farmer in the dusty, remote desert region of the Arizona territory in 1882, seeks to emulate another famous Western satire.

The comparisons to Mel Brooks’ classic “Blazing Saddles” are inevitable for many reasons, not the least of them being that scatological humor is in the mix, though MacFarlane, also the director and screenwriter, goes farther in bad taste than Brooks would ever contemplate.

Not to belabor the point, but MacFarlane clearly doesn’t have the measured comic timing or even boundary-pushing sensibilities of Mel Brooks, who seemed to instinctively know just how far to go with his routines.

For some odd reason, unlike Mel Brooks’ supporting roles as the lecherous Governor and an Indian chief, MacFarlane thought it a good idea that he should be the central focus of “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” as if he were somehow indispensable to the plot.

MacFarlane’s sheep farmer Albert Stark, unable to keep his flock from wandering aimlessly through town and on other lands, is better suited as a narrator. He starts off like a visitor from another planet describing, in colorful language, the woeful hardships of the Old West.

Irreverent comedy is the trademark of MacFarlane’s work, and here he seems to be at his best when he appears to be the outsider or the inner voice, such as when he spoke the dialogue for the stuffed teddy bear in the hilariously raunchy “Ted,” or here just casually observing the lunacy around him.

Indeed, there are many ways to expire in the West, from pistols at noon and ambushes from gunfighters to runaway tumbleweed that slits one’s throat or the horns of a rampaging bull taking out the random vendor of snake-oil remedies at the County fair.

As far as the story goes, the nerdy Albert is getting dumped by his vacuous girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried), because she’s fallen for the oily, obnoxious proprietor of a mustache toiletries supply store.

Neil Patrick Harris, delightfully funny as a fancy dude overly impressed with his handlebar whiskers, plays the part of the odious Foy.

Albert unwisely challenges Foy to a duel, though he sets the showdown date for a week hence, in anticipation that he may be better prepared than the last time he was confronted by a vicious gunslinger.

Still living with his parents on the homestead, Albert’s only real friends are the odd couple of Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and Ruth (Sarah Silverman), neither one of them adept at guns or advice for romance.

The ongoing joke, played to extremes, is that Ruth is the most popular prostitute in town, given to performing all sorts of perverted sex acts later recounted in some detail. Meanwhile, she and Edward have not had sex because they are saving themselves for marriage.

Having contemplated leaving the dreadful town of Old Stump for the more appealing San Francisco, Albert is dissuaded from leaving by the sudden appearance of the very pretty and smart newcomer, Anna (Charlize Theron), who is attracted to the sheep farmer’s gentle manner.

Having arrived in town to hide out while her mean, vile gangster husband Clinch (a taciturn Liam Neeson) is trying to stay a few steps ahead of the law, Anna reveals nothing about her past, though her alleged bodyguard tries to pass himself off as her brother but soon ends up in jail for killing several people.

Anna’s presence is fortuitous for Albert because she’s as talented with guns as any sharpshooting desperado. Her skills go far in helping Albert overcome his ham-fisted handling of weapons, where target practice is an exercise in futility.

Filmmaking is often an untidy business, and there are scenes that seem more like filler than essential to the plot. One such extended scene is Albert being captured by Indians before they realize he speaks their language, and then he ends in a wild state of hallucination after too much peyote.

“A Million Ways to Die in the West,” trying to live up to its title, may be the only movie ever to show an unfortunate bystander being killed by a giant block of ice. Crazy stuff happens in the Old West and MacFarlane aims to show much of it, and often to hilarious effect.

Very few comedies will ever measure up to the zany comic standards of “Blazing Saddles,” and so let’s put that aside and just enjoy the wacky humor of Seth MacFarlane as best we can. There are plenty of reasons to laugh, and even to gag in disbelief, in this film.  

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

LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, 3985 Country Club Drive, Lucerne is hosting the premiere gathering of North Shore Poets & Song Writers on Wednesday, June 11.

This will become a monthly event on the second Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m.

All poets and songwriters from Lake County are welcome.  

Coffee, tea and refreshments are provided but feel free to bring other snacks to share.  

This is a free event and all present will have an opportunity to read and/or sing.

If you want to accompany your shared writing, feel free to bring your instrument.

At this premiere event, suggestions will be gathered for format and activities for future monthly events.  

If you are a poet or songwriter, join this kickoff event. All ages and styles are invited to the gathering.

For more information about services or the North Shore Poetry & Song Writer Gathering, call Lucerne Alpine Senior Center at 707-274-8779.

Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, is a not-for-profit that serves north shore senior populations with on site lunches, Meals on Wheels and advocacy. 

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council has successfully renewed a grant that supports the free public writing workshop offered monthly in Lakeport.

The workshops take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at the Main Street Art Gallery, 325 N. Main St.

This grant allows Poets and Writers, a national organization that supports working writers, to fund former Lake County Poet Laureate Mary McMillan who facilitates the workshop.

Residents from all over Lake County attend the Writers Circle and join other writers who share memoirs, fiction, essays or poems they have written – or just listen and get inspired.

Aged 19 to 90, some people come only one or two times, and others show up every month.

Poets and Writers provides this funding through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.

For more information contact Mary McMillan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A theater class will be offered this summer at Mendocino College's Lake Center campus, located on Parallel Drive.

John Tomlinson will teach “Narrative Theatre,” which is listed as THE 105 in the course catalog.

The class begins Monday, June 9, and meets from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays.

Students will get elective credit to build a fun and original theater project from scratch – in just six weeks. The theme of this project is the human spirit.

Tomlinson said the course is a great class for artists of all kinds.

For more information call Tomlinson at 707-355-2211.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Awardwinning composer and professor Clovice A. Lewis will be performing on cello at Lake County Wine Studio from 5 to 6:30 p.m. during the art and wine reception on Friday, June 6.

When he was 17 years old Lewis composed his first symphony, “Portraits of the Gulfcoast.”  The piece was performed by the Gulfcoast Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Shannon as part of their Bicentennial salute to American Composers.

At the age of 22, he was appointed as an associate professor of computer music at the University of California in Santa Barbara and founded Technology Media Enterprises in 1984, a consulting firm which specializes in the creation of all aspects of multimedia production.

The music Lewis has composed has been performed by numerous orchestras in California, including a Concerto for Trumpets and Orchestra, a Poem for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra, and a Multi-Media Cantata for Soprano Voice.

He is the recipient of numerous awards for composition, including the 1985 Cabrillo Music Festival award for outstanding composition for a string quartet composed in 1976.

Lewis teaches both composition and cello at the Ukiah School of Music. He also is the president and principal instructor at Akolouthia Institute, a private college teaching 3D modeling, animation, game design, computer programming, and app development in Lake and Mendocino counties.

The Lake County Wine Studio is located at 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake. For more information call 707-275-8030 or 707-293-8752.