UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Returning to the Blue Wing Saloon is CeeCee James, award-winning blues singer and songwriter.
James will perform from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16.
Recent winner of the 2013 Blues Blast Song of the Year award, James has been winning awards and selling out shows both domestically and internationally with her power house vocals and searing songwriting.
James is one of those performers who comes across with more fire and fever when experienced live than is able to be captured on a recording. Stevie Ray Vaughan was often described the same way.
James has a blistering voice that reaches for every ounce of emotion, sweat and raw power that she can muster.
She is old-school blues – a steamy, sexy delivery of smokey back room stories spread over a bed of greasy slide guitar and pumping rhythms. She oozes blues.
Also joining James for a few special songs will be Lake County local Kayla Bell, lead singer for Ailura Fate.
The Blue Wing Saloon is located at 9520 Main St., Upper Lake.
There is no cover charge, and tips are appreciated. Dinner reservations are recommended at 707-275-2233.
Many of us feel a great sense of pride as we watch our children discover the world for the first time.
Here, Kathleen Driskell, a Kentucky poet, shows us her own daughter taking that first taste of a late summer watermelon she has grown herself.
Seed
In first grade, you met Squanto, nearly naked and on his haunches, showing those thick-headed pilgrims how one must plant fish to grow maize. And in autumn you dove into the lobotomized pumpkin, into the gooey pulp and seeds, raising a clump like a slimy chandelier from the Titanic. And now in late summer, daughter, you smile, holding a ripe watermelon, cut in half, exposing the black seed within its bright red heart. Your melon. How proud you are to think you grew this delicious thing all on your own.
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 2009 by Kathleen Driskell, whose most recent publication is Peck and Pock: A Graphic Poem, Fleur de Lis Explorations, 2012. Poem reprinted from Seed Across Snow, Red Hen Press, 2009, by permission of Kathleen Driskell and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2013 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. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
In only his second feature film, director and writer Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”) takes audiences on an intense, brutal journey into the heart of a dying Rust Belt town where dreams are fading fast in “Out of the Furnace.”
The hardscrabble hamlet of Braddock, Pennsylvania, home to generations of American steel workers, is a recession-weary place that has taken its toll on the local citizens as jobs disappear.
Russell Baze (Christian Bale) is the stalwart grunt at the local steel mill, working under dangerous conditions at the blast furnace. Russell plies his trade as a matter of duty, honor and respect for family tradition, even while his father is dying of cancer.
Meanwhile, Russell’s younger brother Rodney (Casey Affleck), who had escaped the depressing confines of his hometown by enlisting for several tours of duty in the Iraq war, is having trouble finding an emotional or financial footing in the place where he grew up.
Impulsive and often volatile, the unemployed war vet Rodney tries to make ends meet by betting on horses and competing as a bare-knuckle boxer.
Getting deep in debt to his bookie John Petty (Willem Dafoe), Rodney is constantly bailed out of trouble by Russell.
Stoic and steadfast, Russell is loyal to his family, which includes beloved Uncle Red (Sam Shepard), a solid citizen and good hunting partner. Russell is also devoted to his girlfriend Lena (Zoe Saldana).
A cruel twist of fate lands Russell in a stretch of hard time in prison as the result of a very unfortunate circumstance. Sadly, there’s little he can do from the inside to help his family, particularly the trouble-prone Rodney.
With life becoming harder for the Baze family, it’s at this point that the film’s violent opening scene of senseless violence comes to be understood as a precursor of difficult times that now lie ahead.
Woody Harrelson’s Harland DeGroat, a vicious sociopath, is the leader of a ruthless backwoods crime ring that hides out from the law and civilization in the inaccessible Ramapo Mountains of New Jersey.
DeGroat’s penchant for casual cruelty is evident from the beginning when he terrorizes his girlfriend at a drive-in movie by viciously shoving a cigar down her throat as the result of some perceived slight.
Coming to her rescue is a bystander, but DeGroat, hopped up on drugs and fueled with rage, administers a ferocious beating that leaves the man prone on the ground like a victim of the infamous Knockout Game.
While Russell is away during his incarceration, Rodney gets deeper into debt and trouble, causing the normally even-tempered John Petty to become more agitated as the result of his own increased indebtedness to the depraved DeGroat.
Once released from prison, Russell comes to understand that the world has changed for the worse for him, and for his family. For one thing, Lena is living with the local sheriff (Forest Whitaker) and is now pregnant, causing emotional pain to be so evident in the way Russell carries himself.
Even more troubling is that Rodney has gotten completely out-of-control on his gambling debts, to the point that he’s unwisely begging his bookie to set up a lucrative bare-knuckle match that is run by DeGroat’s criminal enterprise.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing that Russell can do or say to dissuade his younger sibling from making an extremely bad decision to throw in with DeGroat’s corrupt and violence-fueled world.
Petty and Rodney set off for a big fight in the remote mountains of New Jersey and never return. At this point, it is clear that DeGroat’s depravity and Russell’s implacable moral code inevitably put them on a collision course that will alter the course of their lives.
After pleading vainly with the authorities for intervention, Russell decides that it is up to him to step in and bring justice for his brother where others are afraid to act.
Calm and collected, the brooding, reflective Russell seems an unlikely vigilante. There’s a scene where he could not pull the trigger with an easy shot on a deer. So how is it that he can take up arms to track down the man responsible for his brother’s disappearance?
The answer rests with Russell’s emotional journey to redeem both himself and his brother. He’s not exactly Charles Bronson in “Death Wish.” Keeping DeGroat clearly in sight, Russell’s moves are calculated to minimize any collateral damage and maintain a sense of balance.
“Out of the Furnace” is not always fluid in its storyline, but it does set up many scenes that are at once electric, powerful and poignant. The superb cast brings great strength and intensity to the performances.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
I once wrote a not-so-very-good poem called “Picking Up After the Dead,” about the putting-in-order we feel compelled to do when a family member has passed on.
In this poem Sherod Santos, who lives in Chicago, writes what I wished I could have written.
Out of the World There Passed a Soul
The day of my mother’s funeral I spend clearing out her overgrown flower beds, down on my knees in the leaf rot, nut shells, tiny grains of sandlot sand spilling from the runoff gullies. The hot work was to see not feel what had to be done, not to go on asking, not to wonder anymore. Full from scraps I’d found at the back of the refrigerator, her mongrel dog lay curled on a stone and watched me work. It was Sunday. The telephone rang, then stopped, then rang again. By the end of the day, I’d done what I could. I swept the walk, put away the tools, switched on the indoor safety lamps, and then (it hardly matters what I think I felt) I closed the gate on a house where no one lived anymore.
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 2012 by Sherod Santos, whose most recent book of poems is The Intricated Soul: New and Selected Poems, W. W. Norton & Co., 2010. Poem reprinted from The Kenyon Review, Vol. XXXIV, no. 4, by permission of Sherod Santos and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2013 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. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
Just in time for the holidays, Disney delivers classic visual beauty in “Frozen,” an animated film infused with so many fitting musical numbers that it could mark the origins for yet another big Broadway musical production from the Magic Kingdom.
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” the tale of two princess sisters in “Frozen” is familiar, but the Disney touch adds some twists and turns to make it more interesting for audiences old and young alike.
As young girls, Princess Elsa and Princess Anna, residing in the imposing royal castle of the Nordic kingdom of Arendelle, are constant companions and playmates until a fateful accident reveals older sibling Elsa’s dark secret of the magical power to turn things into ice.
The sisters grow more apart, and then tragedy strikes Arendelle with the accidental death of the King and Queen, leaving now young adult Princess Elsa (voiced by Broadway “Wicked” star Idina Menzel) in line to succeed as the new Queen at a ceremony that draws diplomats and royalty from afar.
The coronation affords Princess Anna (Kristen Bell) the opportunity to reconnect with her sibling, but the joy is short-lived when Elsa removes the gloves that have managed to keep her ghastly magical powers in check.
Suddenly, the joyous occasion of Elsa’s ascension to the throne results in catastrophe as the peaceful Nordic kingdom is quickly covered in snow and ice, resulting in a depressing state of perpetual winter.
The disgraced Queen Elsa flees the kingdom for a mountain hideaway, an ice palace suited to her dark powers.
Knowing that her unnatural gift is not a force for good, Elsa seems resigned to her fate and won’t fight the evil power.
The warm and loving Anna will not give up so easily on her beloved sibling, and so she sets out to find her sister and bring her back.
Along the way, she encounters the hunky ice-seller Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) who kindly offers to help navigate the treacherous mountain passes.
Pulling Kristoff’s ice wagon is the very expressive reindeer Sven, a trusty sidekick who thankfully does not speak but conveys plenty of emotion and comic relief with knowing shrugs and sighs.
On the other hand, Olaf (Josh Gad), a buck-toothed snowman magically brought to life, is an incessant talker who provides an abundance of one-liners. He’s also a sun worshipper oblivious to the dire consequences of his wish for solar relief from Elsa’s ice age.
A fairy tale story, naturally, requires a villain, which would outwardly appear to be Queen Elsa, but she’s more a victim of a cruel fate, though she seems to adapt all too easily to her dark magical power.
Then, there’s the scheming diplomat Duke of Weselton (Alan Tudyk) who mostly frets about the loss of trade opportunities, while the initially charming Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) proves to be a conniving fortune hunter.
The duke and the duplicitous Prince Hans set out on their own quixotic expedition to find Queen Elsa, and though their intentions are less than honorable, they do not emerge as figures of over-the-top villainy and evil.
These wretched bad guys are merely accessories to the plot, as the main conflict arises between the two sisters, who were once close-knit best friends and could regain that cohesive familial bond if the power of true love is allowed to emerge again.
The ice palace that becomes Queen Elsa’s sanctuary from her Scandinavian homeland is a visual sight to behold.
Enhanced by the power of 3D imagery, the frozen castle evokes the stunning retreat of a super villain that would seem fitting for a “Batman” or “Superman” movie.
At its core, “Frozen” is a formulaic fairy tale with the obligatory happy ending. For family fun, we wouldn’t have it any other way. But there are enough twists and surprises on the road to eventual happiness to sustain interest for everyone.
What’s magical about “Frozen” is the marvelous use of cartoon technology to deliver a visual treat rooted firmly in the old tradition of Disney’s feature-length animation.
An added bonus to the 3D viewing of “Frozen” is that the main feature is preceded by the classic Mickey Mouse cartoon “Get a Horse,” which has been cleverly rebooted with an infusion of new scenes combining old and new animated techniques.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Sunday, Dec. 15, the Lake County Symphony will present its annual Christmas concert at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport.
John Parkinson, conductor of the 60-piece orchestra, promises a full program of holiday favorites, including both secular and songs of faith.
The concert will feature the vocal talents of Shelly Trumbo-Mascari singing spectacular jazz arrangements by Parkinson.
The perennial carol sing-along and “Hallelujah Chorus” with audience participation will again be a mainstay of the program, as it has for many years.
The symphony’s Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Susan Condit, also will be featured.
The Open Rehearsal concert will be held at 11 am. Admission is only $5 and under 18 will be admitted free. The concert at 3 p.m. is $25, with premium seats at $30. There is a $5 discount for all CLPA members.
Tickets for both concerts may be purchased through www.soperreesetheatre.com or by phone at 707-263- 0577, or at the theater box office, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
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