KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Business Association (KBA) will host its next “Kickin’ in the Country Street Dance,” Thursday, Aug. 15, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Main Street.
This is a show not to be missed with the Fargo Brothers. They deliver a brand of blues and rock n’ roll with fire and intensity.
Since 1979, they have been burning up the stage with their vocal harmonies and tight ensemble playing.
The band members are Michael Lester, song writer, guitar and vocals, Russ Whitehead, bass and vocals, Joost Vonk, drums and vocals, and “Mojo” Larry Platz, guitar and vocals. They have played all over California to Canada.
The sponsors for this dance are Aardvark Termite Control and Kelsey Creek Brewing, both KBA members.
Aardvark Termite Control offers inspections, repairs and full range of treatment options with wood destroying pest and fungus.
Kelsey Creek Brewing brews some great beers and ales with a warm and fun atmosphere on Main Street.
The KBA will be serving ice cold beer and wine highlighting Wildhurst Vineyards. Wildhurst Vineyards has a nice tasting room with a gift shop and courtyard.
Come by the KBA booth and enjoy the wine selection. Martha Munoz will be selling snow cones.
There will be a raffle with prizes. Kelseyville Food Pantry will be collecting nonperishable food donations, and KBA will give a free raffle ticket per person for any food donations.
Our last street dance for the summer is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19, 7 p,m. to 10 p.m. featuring the C.A.M. Band.
The energy from the crowd and the great music is what makes the street dances fun, so come out and join us in Kelseyville.
Bring your folding chairs and friends and family to enjoy the summer evening.
For more information, call Jeanette at 707-279-2304.
One of the first things an aspiring writer must learn is to pay attention, to look intently at what is going on.
Here’s a good example of a poem by Gabriel Spera, a Californian, that wouldn’t have been possible without close observation.
Grubbing
The jay’s up early, and attacks the lawn with something of that fervor and despair of one whose keys are not where they always are, checking the same spots over and again till something new or overlooked appears— an armored pillbug, or a husk of grain. He flits with it home, where his mate beds down, her stern tail feathers jutting from the nest like a spoon handle from a breakfast bowl. The quickest lover’s peck, and he’s paroled again to stalk the sodgrass, cockheaded, obsessed. He must get something from his selfless work— joy, or reprieve, or a satisfying sense of obligation dutifully dispensed. Unless, of course, he’s just a bird, with beaks— too many beaks—to fill, in no way possessed of traits or demons humans might devise, his dark not filled with could-have-beens and whys.
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 Gabriel Spera from his most recent book of poems, The Rigid Body, Ashland Poetry Press, 2012. Poem reprinted by permission of Gabriel Spera 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
An action picture, packed with suspense and violent thrills, should contain surprises that are not revealed in the promotional trailers. That’s not the case for the buddy caper “2 Guns.”
Fortunately, Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg have such good chemistry that the central conceit that their initial foray into a seemingly criminal act of robbing a small town bank is a cover for their undercover mission does not spoil what follows.
When the film opens in a dusty Southwest town, Washington’s Bobby Trench and Wahlberg’s Marcus “Stig” Stigman are bickering about what to order for breakfast while getting a sense of the lay of the land and plotting their moves.
Smooth as silk, Bobby is calm and the clear-headed thinker. In contrast, Stig, a fast-talker, is given to making wise cracks at inopportune moments, and he loves to flirt and wink at pretty waitresses, even though he comes up short in the romance department, at least compared to his comrade.
The object of the Tres Cruces bank robbery is to steal $3 million in the bank vault belonging to Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos), the sleazy head of a Mexican drug cartel who appears to operate with impunity.
While planning the robbery, neither Bobby nor Stig knows that his partner in crime is an undercover agent. Bobby is a DEA agent and Stig is a naval intelligence officer. Both were charged by their superiors to infiltrate the drug cartel.
Additionally, of course, neither agent knows that they’ve been set up, as they believe the goal of the caper is to put a dent in Papi’s operation, causing him to emerge from the shadows and expose his vulnerabilities.
Surprisingly, the safety deposit boxes contain more than $40 million in cash, and after Bobby and Stig make off with the loot, assorted bad guys and dubious government operatives give chase.
As befitting a caper film, the folks who materialize out of the woodwork are often mysterious. For instance, Paula Patton’s Deb, a DEA agent who has been at times romantically entangled with Bobby, is a player in the complex web of secrecy and possible deceit.
Yet, aside from Papi Greco and his trigger-happy henchmen, the most serious threat to Bobby and Stig is the sadistic Earl (Bill Paxton), a CIA operative, who may well be a rogue agent but is viciously committed to retrieving the purloined booty that supposedly belongs to the CIA.
Meanwhile, Stig is also being pursued relentlessly by corrupt Navy officer Quince (James Marsden) whose motives are unknown, except possibly he just wants the whole share of ill-gotten fortune for himself.
The villains in “2 Guns” are a menacing bunch, often to cartoonish effect. At Papi’s Mexican ranch, the head of a rival is found stuffed in a bag. Equally brutal, Earl loves to play Russian roulette while interrogating people.
The plot is complicated by a slew of double and triple crosses, but mostly it is all about the chases and shoot-outs, along with the occasional explosions, whether blowing up a diner or a classic car stuffed with illegal cash.
Since the true identities of Bobby and Stig were revealed so regrettably by the film’s advertising, the least we can do here is not give away too much about the unfolding of the convoluted plot.
What is apparent, however, is that Bobby and Stig are entangled in a growing number of intricate plot twists that put their very lives at risk, and so most of the action becomes an elaborate survival effort on their part.
The best thing about “2 Guns,” aside from the fact that the action is clever and entertaining, is the evolving buddy relationship between the two lead characters.
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg make an amusing odd couple, the best of their scenes being when they quarrel about plotting escape moves and banter about the seemingly innocuous and mundane aspects of daily life.
Director Baltasar Kormakur, a native of Iceland, has produced and directed many films known mostly in his homeland, though he directed “Contraband,” which also starred Mark Wahlberg.
Though I have no factual basis for making this claim, the Icelandic director seems to have been inspired by American action films like the original “Lethal Weapon” and “The Last Boy Scout.”
Regardless of cinematic influences derived from the past, Kormakur’s “2 Guns,” though it may be outlandish, is a very enjoyable buddy caper, with great action and plenty of humor.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
COBB, Calif. – The Cobb Mountain Artists’ second Wednesday “Artist Presents” series will be held Aug. 14.
The forum will begin at 7 p.m. at The Artisan Realm, 16365 Highway 175, Cobb.
The event is free and open to the public.
This month’s feature in the series will be a forum on taking pictures of art.
Some successful artists spend more time with marketing than making their art. Good photos of your work are critical.
Are you perplexed? Do your results end up misrepresenting the quality of your work?
They will discuss various elements of taking a good shot and what type of photos are required or expected for various press efforts. These standards and expectations are not the same for every venue.
Are slides still important for gallery viewings? What's typical for the Internet? Newspapers? It can be very confusing. One thing is certain, and that is the importance of the best photos to represent your work.
Come and join the monthly series, share your ideas and listen to what has worked for others.
LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lucerne Alpine Senior Center will host its monthly open mic night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.
The center is located at 3985 Country Club Drive.
Looking for an opportunity to perform? Got talent? Music, comedy, mime – any other activity that is family-oriented will be appreciated.
If you have no special talent, be audience member, come join the fun. Room is available for dancing and relaxing. There is no charge for attendance.
“We had a fabulous time last month and are looking forward to the great music,” said Executive Director Rae Eby-Carl.
For those wishing to have dinner, spaghetti with beverage, salad and garlic bread will be available for purchase at $7 per plate for adults and $5 for children under twelve.
This is a monthly event which will switch in September to the third Saturday of every month.
Bands are already signing up for August including house band FOGG. More signups will open at 5 p.m. Saturday night. You can call 707-245-4612 or 707-274-8779 to sign up or ask questions.
All proceeds from the meal benefit the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center. This nonprofit serves the senior populations on the Northshore with lunches on site and Meals on Wheels.
For more information call Lucerne Alpine Senior Center at 707-274-8779.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake Community Pride Foundation will present a concert by the duo “Flashback!” on Saturday, Aug. 10.
The concert will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lower Lake High School Little Theater, located at 9430 Lake St. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
“Flashback!” is the duo of Moe Sampson and Hilarie Wilt, who play classic American music. Sampson performs on his 12-string guitar and Wilt plays a six-string guitar, with both doing vocals with harmonies.
All proceeds go to support youth performing arts in Lake County.
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