Connor Gill, 12, rocked the Soper-Reese Theatre last April, and was chosen to play Cobbstock on June 11, 2011. Photo by TAC Studios.
COBB, Calif. – The fifth annual Cobbstock, set for June 11, will feature a local music teen wonder who got his start right here at home.
One of the event's youngest performers is 12-year-old Connor Gill, who will perform as the second act at 1:30 p.m.
The wunderkind performer has been taking guitar lessons from Mark’s Mountain Music since he was 7, and started his musical career at the age of 10 when he was called to the stage to play with blues legend Buddy Guy at the Marin Civic Center.
That same year he placed second at the “Lake County Has Talent” contest with a blues jam, and took home a first place ribbon from the Lake County Fair Talent Show the following summer.
He is a regular performer at the Mountain High Coffee “Open Mic Night” night on Cobb, and has appeared as a special guest with The Lost Boys.
He recently opened a sell-out show for The Lost Boys at the Soper-Reese Theatre in Lakeport.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Old Time Bluegrass Festival at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park will not be affected by the fact that the park is among the 70 parks slated for closure by the state Department of Parks and Recreation, according to the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA), producers of the event.
AMIA has been assured that any park closure will not occur until after the Festival is held on Sept. 10.
The Sixth Annual Old Time Bluegrass Festival features continuous music on two stages, with an array of Northern California and local musicians and bands that are well-known in the world of bluegrass.
The event also features day-long activities for children, an art exhibit, craft vendors, great food, a wine and beer garden, musicians’ workshops and fiddling, clogging and spinning demonstrations.
The festival is a wonderful community event that also serves as a fundraising opportunity for many local groups, says Henry Bornstein, who is helping to organize the Festival for AMIA.
Organizations participating include the Explorer Scouts, the Children’s Museum of Art and Science (CMAS), school groups that have booths to sell food or drinks and Carlé Continuation High School, which raises vital funds by helping to set up and break down the event.
The Bluegrass Festival is an important fundraiser for AMIA, which works to support the Park in a variety of ways, including funding vital maintenance at the Park and leading interpretive nature walks and tours of the historic ranch house.
According to AMIA Board President Roberta Lyons, the members of AMIA are committed to working to keep the Park open despite the current closure notice.
The state Department of Parks is working on a mechanism that will allow an operating agreement to be entered into with non-profits and other organizations that would allow the Park to remain open, at least on a limited basis.
When this mechanism is approved, AMIA, along with other local partners, plans to pursue such an agreement.
Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.
Joe Paddock is a Minnesota poet and he and I are, as we say in the Midwest, “of an age.” Here is a fine poem about arriving at a stage when there can be great joy in accepting life as it comes to us.
Director Todd Phillips’ followup to his blockbuster comedy film “The Hangover” is just about as good as it gets. For one thing, the successful formula remains the same in “The Hangover Part II.”
The setting has changed from the tawdry glitz of Las Vegas to the dingy back alleys of Bangkok. But the story of regular guys looking to have a good time remains the same.
As we well know, these regular guys have a knack for ending up in serious trouble after a hard night of debauchery, public drunkenness and other unspeakable acts.
The usual suspects travel to exotic Thailand for the wedding of their pal Stu (Ed Helms), the nerdy, excitable dentist, who is marrying the lovely Lauren (Jamie Chung) in her homeland.
Stu, you may recall, was previously married briefly to a hooker during their misadventures in Vegas. But this time, he has found true love and doesn’t want to mess it up.
The fact that Lauren’s father, a physician, strongly disapproves of this union is a source of great amusement. His toasts at the rehearsal dinner snidely disparage Stu’s career and equate his personality to that of soggy white rice.
Not wanting to lose any more teeth, Stu had proposed, before the overseas trip, a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch, with pancakes, coffee and no alcohol, at the local IHOP.
His pals, Phil (Bradley Cooper), the smooth talker, and Doug (Justin Bartha), the prospective groom during the ill-fated Vegas trip, want a real bachelor party.
Joining the Wolfpack for the trip to Thailand is Doug’s brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis), the foolish nitwit and walking man-child disaster who constantly wreaks havoc and offends with his tactless remarks.
As fate would have it, the four guys who ended up in so much trouble in Sin City are headed unexpectedly for more of the same in the sinful city of Bangkok.
Once at the beautiful beach resort in Thailand, Phil rekindles the idea of some form of a bachelor party, at least one that might avoid the problems that come from unwittingly ingesting roofies.
With the blessing of Stu’s future bride Lauren, the boys gather around a campfire on the beach for one drink from unsealed beer bottles, while bringing along Lauren’s younger brother Teddy (Mason Lee), a teenage prodigy and gifted pre-med student.
Next thing you know, Stu, Phil and Alan wake up in a stupor in a sleazy, dingy Bangkok hotel room. Teddy is missing, but apparently his finger, complete with a school ring, is found floating in an ice bucket.
What’s more, Stu has a raw, fresh tattoo on his face that resembles the one adorning Mike Tyson. Alan’s head is now shaved. A chain-smoking Capuchin monkey runs loose in the bathroom.
Just like the original “Hangover,” the dazed bachelor party celebrants must piece together clues of their night of revelry to not only find out what happened, but to locate the missing Teddy.
What comes next is an adventure through the seedy underbelly of Bangkok, including unsavory encounters with thugs, Russian mafia, a Buddhist monk and pole dancers of dubious sexuality.
The gangster Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) has also returned, losing none of his swagger as he goes up against crime lord Kingsley (Paul Giamatti), who in turn threatens the Wolfpack for the delivery of bank account numbers.
“The Hangover Part II” is rated R for its “pervasive language, strong sexual content including graphic nudity, drug use and brief violent images.”
By all accounts, the MPAA seems to have gone easy on a film that is filled with raunchiness and plenty of gratuitous sexual images and depraved humor.
But, hey, “The Hangover” is all about pushing the boundaries of good taste in pursuit of outrageous laughs. If you loved the original, you will feel the same about this one.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council will hold its monthly First Friday Fling on June 3 at the Main Street Gallery.
The event will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be finger food, music, local wine and the chance to meet local artists.
New work will be introduced by local artists include Bruce Vandraiss, colored pencil; Terry Durnil, pastels; Wanda Quitiquit, turn-of-the-century Pomo design handpainted gourds; Bill Rose, stained glass, fused glass, carved ostrich, emu, duck and rhea eggs.
Artists currently on display at the gallery include Gary Bosman, unique one-of-a-kind presentations made of recycled materials, silver card holders, desk sets of deer antlers and more; Marilyn Crayton, handpainted gourds; Lana Dooleage, handcrafted silver jewelry; John Eells, acrylic paintings; Meredith Gambrel, local original landscapes and barnyard scenes in oil; landscapes of Lake County painted on location by the Pleine Air Artists Group; Carmen Fox-Ross, photography; Paula Strother, original acrylics; Amy Heppen, figurative art; Diane Constable, acrylic; Linda Richmond, acrylic/collage; and Joe Borg, oil landscapes.
The Main Street Art Gallery is located at 325 N. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-6658.
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