LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council will host its next First Friday Fling on May 4.
The fling will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.
Besides, enjoying the work of new artists showing at the First Friday Fling and reviewing the work of artists continuing in the show, you will be able to enjoy the talent of singer/song writer Tom Xavier, whose music captures the spirit of Northern California.
Xavier's original music captures country life style and blends in the beauty of nature while combining his works with Jim Croce, John Denver, Harry Chapin, Hank Williams and Waylon Jennings as major influences.
Xavier prefers performing in intimate surroundings, as acoustic as possible, and sharing a good story and interactive evening with the audience.
As a singer/songwriter he writes about the events and experiences that have most influenced his life – sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always with truth and, hopefully entertaining.
For more information call the Main Street Gallery at 707-263-6658.
E.B. White, one of my favorite writers, used to say, “Simplify, simplify, simplify,” but that doesn’t mean that writing has to be simple, which is a different matter.
Here’s a fine poem by Laurel Blossom of South Carolina that’s been simplified into a pure, clean beauty.
Red Balloon Rising
I tied it to your wrist With a pretty pink bow, torn off By the first little tug of wind. I’m sorry.
I jumped to catch it, but not soon enough. It darted away.
It still looked large and almost within reach. Like a heart.
Watch, I said. You squinted your little eyes.
The balloon looked happy, waving Good-bye.
The sky is very high today, I said. Red went black, a polka dot,
The Farrelly Brothers (Peter and Bobby) have been pushing the comedic envelope ever since their first feature film, “Dumb & Dumber,” and right up to the recent “Hall Pass.”
Given their affinity for uncultured humor, it seemed only fitting that the Farrellys would be drawn to the unique style of physical comedy found in the wacky misadventures of Larry, Curly and Moe.
Surprisingly, “The Three Stooges,” which does not compromise the iconic slapstick physical antics of the cinema’s most famous knuckleheads, is at its core a heartwarming story.
Set to three episodes, the first one involves their childhood story, starting from the day that three little tykes in a duffel bag were tossed on the doorstep of a Catholic orphanage.
Even as babies, Larry, Curly and Moe had the same distinctive physical features carried to adulthood, from bad haircuts to the complete lack of physical dexterity and agility.
The orphanage is run by the no-nonsense Mother Superior (Jane Lynch), assisted by the singing nun Sister Rosemary (Jennifer Hudson) and the tyrannical Sister Mary-Mengele (crusty comedian Larry David in drag).
From day one, the good nuns of the Sister of Mercy Orphanage try to get the boys placed with adoptive parents, but to no avail, though Moe comes awfully close to being adopted by a wealthy couple.
At the start of the second episode, the boys are fully grown, at least physically, but they still live at the orphanage, serving as handymen, performing the type of jobs that take comic advantage of their misuse of hammers, mallets, saws and ladders.
The bossy, overbearing Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos), the dark-haired leader with the ridiculous bowl-style haircut, constantly expresses his intolerant indignation.
Will Sasso’s rotund, bumbling Curly is a spot-on imitation for the original Stooge whose trademark “nyuk-nyuk-nyuk” speech and outrageous physical mannerisms made him stand out from the rest of the trio.
Even in childhood, the sour-faced Larry (Sean Hayes) had two shocks of bushy hair sprouting from a bald pate, and his sad sack demeanor grew gloomier with age.
Sadly, the only place they have ever known as home is about to be foreclosed unless someone comes up with $830,000 by the end of the month.
The troika of lunkheads heads off to the Big City in search of quick cash to save the orphanage. Hilarity ensues as they try to cope with a world completely foreign to them.
Then, the bumbling buffoons encounter a hot tamale named Lydia (Sofia Vergara, oozing sexuality), who offers the Stooges a chance at some easy money; all they have to do is put her poor suffering husband out of his misery.
Despite their relentless valuelessness, the Stooges smell something fishy in Lydia’s scheme, especially when they find out that the mark is their boyhood friend Teddy (Kirby Heyborne), a former orphan adopted by a wealthy family.
In typical boneheaded Stooge fashion, the involvement of Larry, Curly and Moe in an oddball murder plot leads to so many complications and misdirection that you can’t help but laugh at the fallout.
Another strange bit of happenstance is when Moe is mistaken for a brilliant actor and is enlisted as a new cast member of “Jersey Shore,” where he gets to slap around Snooki, the Situation and the others. Now, that’s truly rewarding and funny stuff.
The history of the cinema has brought us many great comedy teams, from the Marx Brothers to Laurel and Hardy as well as Abbott & Costello. In this pantheon, the Three Stooges stand out for their brutal physical antics.
What the Farrelly Brothers have achieved with “The Three Stooges” is a loving homage as well as a contemporary take on the trio of time-honored boneheads.
Causing innumerable laugh-out-loud moments, this film brilliantly recreates the classic and iconic Stooge sound effects, including “boinks,” finger snaps and Curly’s nyuk-nyuk-nyuking.
One may be tempted to claim that the original Three Stooges invented lowbrow comedy, but their slapstick antics were hilarious. The new guys live up to this great tradition and deliver a truly funny entertainment.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
UKIAH, Calif. – Hip hop, contemporary, jazz, Mexican Folkloric, Middle Eastern, traditional Chinese dance – just a handful of dance forms that will delight those who attend Mendocino College’s Spring Dance Festival.
The festival will be held on Friday, May 4, and Saturday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 6, at 2 p.m. in the Mendocino College Center Theatre.
“Our Spring Dance Fest has become one of our most popular performing arts events at Mendocino College,” said Leslie Saxon West, director of the dance program. “The production this year will not be as expansive as it has been in recent years, however the show will include a wide variety of dance that will surely be enjoyed by all ages.”
Diversity is a key component of this annual event. In addition to the theatrical forms of dance that most people are familiar with, such as jazz and modern dance, the production will feature many forms of dance that represent the diverse populations in our communities, the college and the world.
This year’s festival will include traditional Chinese dance presented by the Developing Virtue Boys and Girls Schools.
The boys' school will perform the spectacular Dragon and Lion dances which feature huge dramatic costumes with moving eyes and tails.
The girls' school will present three beautiful dances reflecting traditional Chinese dance fused with elements of martial arts and storytelling.
One dance, entitled “Compassion,” explores compassion as the eternal state of the spirit. Elly Shulee, who choreographed the piece, said, “Guanyin is the manifestation of great kindness and great compassion. Her thousand hands rescue beings from the ocean of suffering, and her thousand eyes behold all beings.”
College instructor Bernadette Alverio-Gray has choreographed five dances for this year’s festival. Her dances include a wide variety of accompaniment and flavor.
“'Old School' is a fun upbeat piece that explores hip hop at an older age in life,” she said. “From wheelchairs to walkers, these folks know how to get down!”
In a lyrical contemporary dance that she has choreographed, entitled “Letting Go,” she explained that the piece represents a collection of personal stories.
“In our journey through life, we all have to let go of things,” she said. “The duets in this piece were choreographed by the dancers and represent their personal stories related to letting go, especially of significant people in their lives.”
Many Mexican Folkloric dances also will be featured in this performance. Under the direction of college dance instructor Juvenal Vasquez, a variety of festive and colorful dances will be performed by many of his students.
These festive and colorful folk dances are a highlight of the shows and this year include La Moda, El Gusto and Luz y Sombras.
Another highlight of this year’s show will be Troupe Satya, a Middle Eastern Dance group directed by Janice Re, who will be appearing as guests in this performance. This exquisite group of dancers will be performing two dances, “Unknown Hand II” and “Saplak II.”
All tickets are $5 for everyone and may be purchased in advance at the Mendocino Book Co. in Ukiah, the Mendocino College Bookstore on the Ukiah campus or by calling 707-468-3079.
Tickets also may be purchased at the door, if available.
The Mendocino College main campus is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – The American Philharmonic-Sonoma County will host a concert on Sunday, May 6, focusing on the work of Beethoven and Saint-Saëns.
The concert will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center For the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa.
The orchestra concludes its season with some of the most majestic music ever written, featuring the piano and organ and fit for emperors and kings.
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 – the “Emperor” concerto – and Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 will be performed, featuring Conductor Norman Gamboa, pianist Brigitte Armenier and organist James Warren.
Ticket prices include adult, individual reserved – $20; adult, premium reserved – $30; children age 16 and under – $5.
Individual tickets are available online at http://www.apsonoma.org or by calling the Wells Fargo Center Box Office at 707-546-3600.
Additional fees are charged for online and phone orders.
There are no fees for tickets purchased at the box office or by mail, Wells Fargo Center Box Office, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.
The Wells Fargo Center Box Office is open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., and one hour before concerts.
My mother kept a handwritten record of every cent she spent from the day she and my father were married until the day she died. So it’s no wonder I especially like this poem by Jared Harel, who teaches creative writing at Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
Numbers
My grandmother never trusted calculators. She would crunch numbers in a spiral notebook at the kitchen table, watching her news. Work harder and I’d have more to count, she’d snap at my father. And so my father worked harder, fixed more mufflers, gave her receipts
but the numbers seldom changed. There were silky things my mother wanted, glorious dinners we could not afford.
Grandma would lecture her: no more garbage, and so our house was clean. The attic spotless. In fact, it wasn’t until after she died
that my parents found out how much she had saved us. What hidden riches had been kept in those notebooks, invested in bonds, solid blue digits etched on each page. She left them in the kitchen by her black and white television we tossed a week later, though it seemed to work fine.
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