LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County Theater Co. is presenting “A Christmas Carol in the Museum,” an adaptation of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol” during the first two weekends in December.
Performances will take place in the Weaver Auditorium at the Lower Lake Schoolhouse Historical Museum in Lower Lake.
The cast is made up of a variety of performers – mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers – as well as a gaggle of children who make up the children's chorus and street urchins.
Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future as well as the Cratchets and all the favorites who make up this full length drama make this a must see for the entire family.
There will be barrels in the theater for the audience to contribute canned and nonperishable foods and new toys for distribution throughout Lake County.
The performances at the Weaver Auditorium in Lower Lake will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 3, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11.
Ticket prices are $15 reserved, $12 general, with a $2 discount for students, seniors and Lake County Theater Co. members, and can be purchased at Watershed Books, 305 N. Main St. in Lakeport, 707-263-5787m and Lower Lake Schoolhouse Historical Museumm 707-995-3565.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Wine Studio is hosting local artist and Serendipity Boutique owner Diana Liebe, who will present two art workshop classes to learn how to paint on silk.
Class dates and time are Sunday, Nov. 13, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 20, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Liebe will demonstrate the process and each participant will paint and take home a hand-painted silk scarf for themselves or perhaps to give as a gift to someone during the holidays.
The materials fee is $15 for a scarf. Class space is limited to 12 persons each class – sign up now by calling Susan at 707-293-8752 or visiting Lake County Wine Studio.
A former art teacher at both the high school and college levels, Liebe has been very involved in the Lake County Arts community since moving here from Mendocino County seven years ago.
The Wine Studio is located on the corner of First and Main Street in Historic Upper Lake across from the famous Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon & Café. Regular hours for the wine studio are 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, and 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council's Main Street Gallery is very grateful to the artists and crafters who have donated many wonderfully created “Painted Wine Bottles” for a new fundraising event in support of the Main Street Gallery and its many art activities it provides for the community.
More bottles are arriving each day, and if you haven't painted and donated a bottle yet, you have until Nov. 27 to make that donation.
These artistic treasures are now on display at the gallery and the community is invited to stop by the gallery to see them and to cast a vote to determine which artist gets the "The People's Choice Award," the award will be presented at the First Friday Fling on Dec. 2.
Just in time for holiday season gift giving, the bottles will be part of a silent auction beginning Nov. 15. All have a starting bid of $10.
Come by the gallery at 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport and make your bid for one of these wonderfully created art pieces.
Bidding will close during the Friday Night Fling on Dec. 2, so if you made the high bid you will go home with one of these treasures.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Second Sunday Cinema will feature free showings of 'Money as Debt II' and 'DIVE!' on Sunday, Nov. 13.
The films will be shown at Clearlake United Methodist Church, 14521 Pearl Ave.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the films starting at 6 p.m.
Another film on monetary policy you ask? Yes, indeed, although “MaD II” is less than half the program, and is the new, improved second edition.
Folks loved the first edition because they recognized how rarely we get to learn about the very foundation of our economic system, the system that’s got us where we are now.
The film also is popular because it’s so mind-boggling that most of our money exists only as loans, and thanks to interest, requires exponential growth.
Thirdly, this film will help prepare us for the educational crash course by Chris Martenson, three DVDs over three Sunday evenings in January, telling us what’s coming globally in the next 20 years.
SSC is happy to be part of this vitally important series on the second, third and fourth Sundays in January.
The intermission will be informed by a 10- to 15-minute talk/discussion on hunger in Lake County – a local crisis and something we can help with here at home. Our speaker will be Lou Denny, who is working with the Hunger Task Force to get food to hungry families every day.
The second film on Nov. 13 will be “DIVE!: Living Off America’s Waste,” another 45-minute document featuring wholesome young people feeding their healthy families by dumpster diving for delicious, still fine meats, eggs, fruits and veggies behind Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.
We learn that the US wastes 96 billion pounds of food every year – or a full half of what we produce. How can that be?
This inspiring, upbeat doc is part of a movement to get supermarkets to give away their near-due-date goodies to local food banks that desperately need them.
Finally, we will hear from two dedicated local folks who spent weeks at Occupy DC. We’ll get inside information on the DC Occupation’s really positive, effective moments, what they’re still learning, and why the movement is so important for us all.
Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.
Somebody tells somebody else about something that happened. It comes naturally. We’ve been doing that for as long as our species has been around. But to elevate an anecdote into art requires more than just relating an incident. It requires a talent for pacing, for detail, for persuasion, and more. Here David Black, of Virginia, tells a good story in an artful manner.
Sleepers
A sleeper, they used to call it—
four passes with the giant round saw
and you had a crosstie, 7 inches by 9 of white oak—
Don’t be fooled by the holiday spirit of Christmas being included in the title of the raunchy comedy “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.”
This warning is a superfluous bit of information if you have even the vaguest familiarity with the two previous “Harold & Kumar” comic misadventures into the land of political incorrectness.
Fueled by a casual use of weed that would make Cheech and Chong proud, “Harold & Kumar” delights in being the outrageous stoner comedy that gets kicks out of a toddler high on everything from cocaine to ecstasy.
Of course, the little tot in question is only accidentally exposed to the fumes of marijuana smoke, a dust storm of blow and ecstasy pills mistaken for candy.
There are plenty of hijinks in this movie that should prove offensive to just about every conceivable ethnic and religious group. Even Jesus shows up in the company of two lovely topless angels.
While plot is not necessarily important here, the action revolves around the titular characters, estranged old buddies from college days who become reunited during the holiday season.
Harold (John Cho), now a successful Wall Street financier, lives in a nice suburban home with his beautiful Maria (Paula Garces).
On the other hand, Kumar (Kal Penn) remains a slacker living in a shabby Manhattan apartment. His girlfriend has given up on him becoming a responsible person. But for the recent news of pregnancy, she would probably move on.
On Christmas Eve, Harold finds that Maria’s extended Mexican family has descended on their home, including a hostile father-in-law (the wonderfully menacing Danny Trejo) who is abnormally exuberant about the holidays.
Meanwhile, Kumar discovers a package addressed to Harold at his door, and decides to deliver it in person to Harold’s New Jersey home.
The content of said package is an enormous joint. Naturally, Kumar lights up the doobie, only to cause a fire that destroys the beautiful Christmas tree that Harold’s father-in-law had lovingly arranged.
Of course, complications arise and mayhem ensues as the bickering old pals set out on a desperate quest to locate a replacement tree of similar quality.
With Maria’s family attending Midnight Mass, the boys have only hours to find the perfect Douglas fir, no easy task late on Christmas Eve.
Their first encounter is with two perfidious African-American tree vendors who just sold the tree they reserved over the phone to someone else.
As a consequence, a chain of events is set in motion that leads to a car chase, an encounter with the Russian mob, the accidental shooting of Santa Claus in the face and a reunion with Neal Patrick Harris, though not necessarily in that order.
Along the way, Harold and Kumar get stoned and end up in a hallucination that involves an inventive use of Claymation to illustrate the fierce power of a deranged oversized snowman.
Much of the slapstick and the sight gags are random silliness, from topless nuns in a shower scene to Harold’s elderly Mexican relative being mistaken for a flower vendor in his own home.
“A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” is, above all, a collection of often disconnected gags that are designed for maximum outrageous fun.
On that score, this film succeeds and proves to be very funny. Seeing the threatening Danny Trejo wearing a colorful Christmas sweater is priceless.
At long last, “Harold & Kumar” makes spectacular use of 3-D technology as the audience is frequently assaulted by various projectiles, including huge puffs of pot smoke, traffic cones, shards of glass and a massive private part.
ENTERTAINMENT BOOK UPDATE
This column did not intend to initiate a regular book feature, but I can’t resist a mention of the astonishing “Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis,” a spectacular collection of original photographs.
Curator and photographic preservationist David Wills has amassed one of the world’s largest independent archives of original Marilyn Monroe photographs.
The book catalogs a dazzling portfolio of images from every period of the star’s adult life, from her wedding day in 1942 until just weeks before her death two decades later.
Included are many previously unpublished and rarely seen shots. The works of noted photographers Richard Avedon, George Barris, Bernard of Hollywood, Philippe Halsman, Milton Greene and many others are on full display.
Highlights include rare candid shots of Marilyn with Marlon Brando, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable and Joe DiMaggio, to name a few.
Arriving in time for the holidays, “Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis” is the perfect coffee table book gift for the fan of this iconic Hollywood star.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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