NICE, Calif. – Local favorite Ailura Fate makes a special appearance at the Sons of Italy Dance and Benefit on Saturday, April 13, with delicious food catered by Park Place Restaurant.
The event will be held at the Sons of Italy Hall, at 2817 E. Highway 20 in Nice.
The no host social hour opens at 5 p.m., dinner is served at 6 p.m., and music takes place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Ailura Fate is the combined local talents of powerhouse vocalist Kayla Bell, multi-guitarist Lindy Day, and Native American Music Awards nominee Kevin Village Stone on bass, keyboards, and Native flutes.
Bell, Day, and Village-Stone are professional working musicians and are donating their services for this event as part of their ongoing personal contribution to the community.
Complete with food and drinks the evening includes the full-band sound of Ailura Fate filling the night with dance originals and covers including those by John B, Alicia Keys, Van Morrison, U2, Santana, Adele, along with other popular favorites. Also included are smooth jazz/rock fusion performances of Native American flute and guitars by Kevin Village Stone and Lindy Day.
Tickets cost $20 and are available at the door or can be purchased in advance, which is recommended.
Please call Donna at 707-263-5476 to purchase advance tickets.
For more information on Ailura Fate and its members, visit www.AiluraFate.com .
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The duo “Not Two” and several guest musicians will perform this Saturday, April 13, as part of the monthly “An Evening With,” hosted by the Lake Community Pride Foundation.
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.
Not Two is a duo whose voices at times seem as one, hence the name. All the songs are originals written by Allen Markowski.
Markowski's lyrics are rich filled with humor, pathos, compassion, insight and are complemented by Barbarajo Bloomquist's inventive harmonies.
While Not Two is typically made up of Markowski and Bloomquist, Saturday night's concert will feature Max Lehman on the bass, Herb Gura on the drums, Doug Harris on the guitar and Barbara Christwitz playing her clarinet.
The musical style of Not Two varies widely from blues, folk, bluegrass, country, waltz and much more.
All proceeds go to support youth performing arts in Lake County.
Tickets cost $10 at the door. For tickets and information visit www.aneveningwith.org or call 707-701-3838.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – “The Invisible War” is Second Sunday Cinema’s free film for April 14.
The film will be shown at the Clearlake United Methodist Church, 14521 Pearl Ave., Clearlake.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., the film begins at 6 p.m.
Admission is free.
This Oscar-nominated documentary is the film responsible for the current nation-wide conversation about rape in the US military.
Over the past decade alone, “hundreds of thousands” of women have been raped while serving their country – by their fellow soldiers.
What happens next only deepens the wounds: They are ignored, refused military justice, and often it is they, not their attacker, who is dismissed from service and the career they were building.
Amazingly, this film is not depressing. In part, this is due to the superior production values and vision of the filmmakers.
It’s also due in large part to the strength and courage of the women (and one man) interviewed. The well-researched information is outrageous and galvanizing, but you probably won’t need to bring Kleenex.
As one enthusiastic reviewer wrote, “Even if you’re not in the military yourself, you should see this film and urge every young woman you know who is considering enlisting to see it first!”
UKIAH, Calif. – Gifted jazz woodwind player and composer Paul McCandless will be the featured musical entertainment at this year’s Gala on the Green Vine & Dine, Mendocino College Foundation’s annual fundraiser to benefit the college’s students and programs.
The event will take place at the main campus in Ukiah on June 1.
Best known for his membership in the jazz and world music group Oregon, McCandless is considered a pioneer of modern instrumental music, and an accomplished player of several instruments including oboe, English horn, bass clarinet, soprano and sopranino saxophones.
As a composer, his work has appeared in a number of film scores. A Grammy winner in 1996 for his work with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, McCandless has collaborated on more than 150 albums, and currently tours with the group Proteus 7.
For the first time, the Gala fundraiser will be held on the Ukiah campus of Mendocino College.
“The timing is right to bring it home,” said Richard Cooper, special events chair and foundation vice president. “Since the last Gala on the Green, we have seen the completion of the cutting-edge Library/Learning Center building while the old library is currently being renovated to become a brand-new student center. Our event will be a fabulous opportunity to see how the college has evolved to continue to be a vital asset to our community.”
Also new this year is the foundation’s partnership with the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program.
MESA’s annual fundraiser, Vine and Dine, will be a part of the Gala. MESA students are playing an active role in the planning and execution of the event now called Gala on the Green Vine & Dine.
“We are always striving to step it up year over year,” said Cooper. “Foundation staff as well as the MESA students led by MESA program director Margaret Sanchez, have been working hard to create this exciting new incarnation of the Gala.”
Prior to the start of the event, guests will have the opportunity to join a walking tour of the campus, including the new Library/Learning Center. After check-in they will find eight appetizer stations, each paired with a complimentary wine pouring.
Dinner will be provided by Nicholas Petti and the Mendocino College Culinary Arts program. Live and silent auctions will feature many unique items, while a wine raffle will provide the chance to win a variety of high-end Lake and Mendocino County wines.
This year’s major sponsors include 94.5 Kwine, Max 93.5 Radio, Skunk Train, Mendo Lake Credit Union, Savings Bank of Mendocino County, Selzer Realty, TLCD Architecture, and Ukiah Valley Medical Center.
Sponsorship of the musical entertainment for the evening is provided by Kit Elliott and George Husaruk.
Registration for the June 1 event is available online at www.galaonthegreen.org . Admission is $100 per person, with a table of eight for $700, or a premium table of four for $500. The Ukiah campus of Mendocino College is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road.
For more information about the 2013 Gala on the Green Vine & Dine or the Mendocino College Foundation, visit the foundation’s Web site at http://foundation.mendocino.edu .
It pains an old booklover like me to think of somebody burning a book, but if you’ve gotten one for a quarter and it’s falling apart, well, maybe it’s OK as long as you might be planning to pick up a better copy. Here Ron Koertge, who lives in Pasadena, has some fun with the ashes of love poems.
Burning the Book
The anthology of love poems I bought for a quarter is brittle, anyway, and comes apart when I read it.
One at a time, I throw pages on the fire and watch smoke make its way up and out.
I’m almost to the index when I hear a murmuring in the street. My neighbors are watching it snow.
I put on my blue jacket and join them. The children stand with their mouths open.
I can see nouns—longing, rapture, bliss— land on every tongue, then disappear.
At this early stage, the year 2013 is shaping up as a busy one for hardcore action films, often starring or featuring aging superheroes who still have drawing power at the box office.
Dwayne Johnson, not yet old but who’s been around for awhile, and Bruce Willis, who is charitably almost a member of the senior action circuit, have starring roles in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”
This latest film, based on the Hasbro toys, is a sequel to “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra,” a film I did not see due to some valid excuse. I think I have a doctor’s note for missing the screening.
In any case, with this type of action film, it hardly matters if you miss one of them, what with the action being largely generic and cartoonish, easily explained by any twelve-year-old boy.
The film begins with some promise as Channing Tatum’s Duke and Dwayne Johnson’s Roadblock, elite squad members of the G.I. Joes, bond over some video games and family life.
Unfortunately, Tatum doesn’t stick around very long. He may have had a commitment to appear in another film that looked more promising for his future.
The action begins with an incursion into North Korea to extract a prisoner. Maybe that lunatic Kim Jong-un got an early look and decided this was as good a time as any to threaten nuclear war on the United States.
Out in the field, the G.I. Joes are betrayed by sinister forces, resulting in most of the group being eliminated in one horrific aerial attack of their base camp.
The sole survivors are Roadblock, the new recruit Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and the tough but sexy Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). The assault appears to be the handiwork of Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey), but I am not entirely sure.
What is apparent is that the President (Jonathan Pryce) is a clone of the duly elected commander-in-chief. As part of the Cobra conspiracy, the faux U.S. leader ordered the termination of the G.I. Joes.
Meanwhile, up in the Himalayas, Snake Eyes (Ray Park) and Jinx (Elodie Yung) are engaged in great martial arts combat as they attempt to capture the traitorous Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee).
The fight sequences are even more dramatic and exciting when Snake Eyes and Jinx battle a slew of ninjas while flinging themselves on ropes tied to the sheer mountainside cliffs.
Given that the alien force of Cobra has taken over the White House, Roadblock and his decimated crew turn to the only person who can help them in their dire need.
Retired General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis), who coined the nickname for the G.I. Joes, is the only soldier to be trusted. He also knows something combating diabolical plots.
For someone no longer on active duty, General Colton’s private residence contains more weaponry and ammunition than an entire Army base. In every room, there are hidden closets and cabinets full of assault weapons.
Meanwhile, the fake President has convened a summit of nuclear powers, including North Korea, China, Russia, France, Britain, and India. His dastardly plan is a game of nuclear chicken aimed to force all others to disarm.
For reasons that are not really evident, the President appears bent on total nuclear annihilation of planet Earth. A total wipeout of civilization seems counterintuitive if you seek world domination. What is to be gained from a scorched earth?
Of course, not everything makes sense in an action film like “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” It’s all about the choreography of great gun battles, martial arts stunts and hand-to-hand combat.
One thing “G.I. Joe” is not about is a sensible plot and snappy dialogue, though the faux President, smarmy and oozing with villainy, spouts some of the best nasty lines as if he were the bad guy in a James Bond film.
The most underused character is Cobra Commander. You’d think he would be a commanding figure of sheer malevolence and supreme villainy. Instead, he’s practically a cipher.
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a film likely to be reviled by critics. Bu I think it offers its target audience pretty much what they want in an action film of this kind. On the plus side, the film moves at a great pace with plenty of thrilling stunts.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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