Arts & Life

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Written by: Editor

Published: 07 September 2008

Sugar Pie DeSanto. Photo courtesy of Jasman Records.

PHILADELPHIA – At its 20 year reunion celebration this Tuesday, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation has chosen to present the San Francisco Bay Area’s own Queen of the West Coast Blues, Sugar Pie DeSanto, a distinguished Pioneer Award.

The grand gala will bring together the royalty of rhythm and blues, including past Pioneer Award Honorees along with a veritable “who’s who” of the entertainment industry. More importantly, the event provides an opportunity to support a compelling cause, as its proceeds will ensure the continuation of the doundation’s community outreach, education programs and emergency grants to rhythm and blues artists during their time of need.

Ms. DeSanto, who has performed in Lake County, joins a stellar group of awardees at this year’s ceremony including Chaka Khan, Teena Marie, Bill Withers, Kool and The Gang, The Whispers, The Funk Brothers, Donny Hathaway and Al Bell.

Hosts for the evening include Dionne Warwick, Bonnie Raitt and Jerry Butler.

Born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton of Filipino and African-American parentage, DeSanto was dubbed Little Miss Sugar Pie by the legendary Johnny Otis who signed her to her first professional contract in 1954.

In 1959 her first hit record, “I Want To Know,” was recorded on the Veltone label and produced by the Godfather of Oakland Blues, Bob Geddins Sr. The record rose to No. 3 on the Billboard charts springboarding Sugar Pie into a lucrative contract with Chess Records.

During her tenure at Chess she became the most prolific and highest-paid writer in their employ. Her songbook contains well over 100 compositions which have been recorded by the likes of Minnie Riperton, Billy Stewart, Fontella Bass, The Whispers, Little Milton, The Dells and Jesse James.

Also while at Chess, Ms. DeSanto recorded two historic duets with Etta James, “In The Basement” and “Do I Make myself Clear.”

For a two-year stretch, Sugar Pie opened for James Brown, pushing him to higher heights with her white hot, daring, dazzling, saucy stage presence. James Brown earned the moniker “the hardest working man in show business” legitimately. Anybody who follows Sugar Pie to this day has to work harder.

DeSanto’s career spans six decades. She is still a vibrant, multi-faceted performer. In the summer of 2008 she has performed to capacity crowds at Yoshi’s Jazz and Supper Club, The Chicago Blues Festival and the Poretta Soul Festival in Poretta, Italy.

For more information on The Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s activities and events visit www.rhythmblues.org.

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Details

Written by: Lake County News Reports

Published: 30 August 2008

Before we even get to the next summer Olympic Games in London, the post-apocalyptic world is upon us in “Death Race,” where senseless, mortal violence is a pay-per-view bonanza for a prison run by a private corporation.

The premise of extreme racing competition is inspired by Roger Corman’s classic B-movie “Death Race 2000.” Given false hope for early release, prisoners are fodder for reality TV bloodlust if they are willing to risk their lives to become road kill splashed across TV screens and the Internet.

Laconic action star Jason Statham, having established his bona fides wheeling fast cars in the “Transporter” series, is a natural candidate to race tricked-out cars. He could give Vin Diesel a run for his money.

At the opening of “Death Race,” Statham’s Jensen Ames is a steel worker getting laid off from his job, which is unfortunate because his prison days are behind him now that he has a supportive wife and baby daughter.

The fact that he was an excellent race car driver is not lost on the folks running the Terminal Island prison, where fatal car races are staged for the amusement of a bloodthirsty public hungry for increasingly violent TV programming.

On the same day he loses his job, Jensen is set up by masked men invading his home who intend to frame him for murder. Flash forward six months, and Jensen arrives at the bleak Terminal Island, an Alcatraz-like prison where escape is practically impossible.

The evil Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) runs the prison as if it were a caged ultimate fighting championship death match. Indeed, convict teams race customized vehicles that look like they were used in “Mad Max.” These cars are outfitted with more gadgets and weapons than James Bond’s Astin Martin.

Hennessey is raking in big bucks with her televised Death Race matches, where the winner is the only convict left standing. But she recently lost the most popular racer, the masked Frankenstein who racked up a series of wins with a souped-up Ford Mustang GT Fastback.

Jensen is picked as his replacement, only needing to don the rubber mask and stay alive by winning. Of course, the incentive for Jensen is that, by taking over Frankenstein’s place, if he wins the next race, he will be set free from prison and reunited with his daughter.

The proposition is fraught with peril, because Hennessey is untrustworthy and the race itself guarantees the death of all participants except the lone winner. Frankenstein’s nemesis is Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson), a sneering, brooding con who doesn’t know that Jensen is being substituted for Frankenstein. All that matters to Machine Gun Joe is that he permanently eliminates whoever is driving Frankenstein’s car.

In case you can’t see it coming, “Death Race” is all about high-speed violent chases where competitors meet gruesome death, by impalement, explosions, and highly dramatized crashes.

Clocking in at under two hours, “Death Race” spends most of its time running cars at full-throttle around gritty industrial areas, where booby traps await the unsuspecting. During the down times without racing, the action shifts primarily to the usual prison yard conflicts.

Some time is also spent with Frankenstein’s dedicated pit crew, including Coach (Ian McShane), the seasoned con who figures out the ultimate game, and Lists (Fred Koehler), the bookish crew member who delivers helpful intelligence reports.

Because a movie of this type demands an attractive distaff presence, Terminal Island allows female prisoners to become navigators. Naturally, Jensen gets the best looker in Natalie Martinez’s Case, a tough cookie who likely gets the assignment because she has the best cleavage and wears tight jeans. Keep in mind that we are dealing with a B-movie heritage that must be upheld at all costs.

Yet, the toughest female role belongs to Warden Hennessey, who borders on the comedic only because she’s called upon to spew profane threats to those impeding her path, while remaining rigid and uptight in crisp business suits.

“Death Race” is pure mindless entertainment that requires you to check your brain at the door. I enjoy slam-bang car chases and spectacular crashes as much as the next guy, but after awhile it becomes all too repetitive, losing its edge and impulsiveness.

As the crashes and explosions pile up, “Death Race” looks increasingly like a violent video game. Meanwhile, much of the dialogue is laughable and lame, while the acting is purely pedestrian. “Death Race” could have been a better action picture.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Morgan Spurlock, best known for exposing the perils of fast food consumption with “Super Size Me,” turns his investigate powers into a search for the world’s most dangerous terrorist, Osama bin Laden.

Now comes the DVD release of “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?”, which is billed as a tongue-in-cheek yet thought-provoking documentary.

Amazed by bin Laden’s continued success at evading capture, Spurlock set out to locate the terrorist by traveling through various international hotspots. I have not had the time to review this DVD, but I do know one thing: Spurlock does not answer the title of his documentary.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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Details

Written by: Editor

Published: 26 August 2008

“On my 78th birthday, I found about 60 rough drawings I had started to make as a teenager,” Schopplein said. “I originally planned to use them someday as a basis for more finished art to illustrate a book about my experiences of growing up in Nazi Germany. Instead, I decided to use them just as they are, and simply wrap some text around each drawing. To make sure my memories would not be adapted to anyone else’s ideas.”

In 2003 Schopplein retired to Lake County. He is now a member of the Konocti Plein Air Painters.

Wild About Books is located at 14290 Olympic Drive in Clearlake, next door to Lisa's clothing store.

For an updated list of times and dates for upcoming events, stop by the store, call 994-WILD (9453) or visit the store's Web site at www.wildaboutbooks.net.

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