How to resolve AdBlock issue? Arts & Life
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKEPORT – The opening night of the 19th annual Summer Concerts in the Park series played out under warm but breezy skies Friday.
The audience, estimated at 1,200 welcomed, KNTI DJ Eric Patrick as the master of the stage for the two-hour concert by the Hopland based band, II Big.
The five-member band had a bit of a slow start as wind gusts caused excessive noise across the singers' microphones. They also had problems with feedback for the first few tunes but once the bugs were worked out the band sounded great. II Big played a 80-20 split of original numbers with a few rock and roll favorites thrown in.
Their newest CD, "Face In The Glass," hits the stores next week.
Intermission was, as always, a crowd favorite as Eric Patrick awarded sponsor-donated prizes in response to requests for "Dumb Stuff" from the audience.
The second show in the 10-week series will feature Chicken and The Defenders starting a 6:30 p.m. June 22.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
NANCY DREW (Rated PG)
But for the Warner Brothers studio putting a timeless literary teen heroine on the big screen, “Nancy Drew” is the kind of production that would more appropriately be running on the Disney Channel or the family hour of a major network.
Though made contemporary for the cinema, the Nancy Drew character emerges from a venerable franchise of books authored under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene, and in the translation to the screen this teen sleuth is realized by Emma Roberts, who fittingly enough has made her mark in the Nickelodeon hit comedy series “Unfabulous.”
For the uninitiated, it should be noted that Emma has a famous aunt by the name of Julia Roberts, and clearly this winsome teenager has inherited some charismatic genes.
Even if it has a strong TV sensibility, “Nancy Drew” has plenty to recommend itself, going beyond its obvious adolescent audience appeal. The film is righteous in its celebration of old-fashioned virtues, namely because Nancy Drew the resourceful teen detective is smart and sensible. She's the very antithesis of Paris Hilton and all the other dimwitted young celebrities who so unfortunately dominate the pop culture with their lack of grace and charm, to say nothing of the complete absence of redeeming qualities.
In what is an almost radical notion, the young amateur sleuth has a mind of her own and a passion for helping people and solving mysteries, all the while remaining true to an honorable code of conduct. Nancy will need all of her virtues when she gets uprooted from her friendly hometown of River Heights, located somewhere in “flyover country.”
After solving one more murder case that baffled local law enforcement, Nancy finds out that her lawyer dad Carson Drew (Tate Donovan) is moving them to Los Angeles for an extended stay. Since Nancy is allowed to pick their temporary residence, they settle on the decaying Draycott Mansion, rumored to be haunted because famous actress Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring, seen in flashbacks) died there under mysterious circumstances.
Though having promised to give up her detective work and to settle into normal teen living, Nancy is unable to resist a mystery, especially since the house comes equipped with secret passageways and a strange caretaker named Mr. Leshing (Marshall Bell) who has the odd habit of materializing unexpectedly.
Nancy’s biggest challenge is fitting in with new classmates at Hollywood High School, where her unique personal style, which includes wearing retro clothing and penny loafers, sets her apart from her self-absorbed, fast-living peers.
She clashes with fashionistas Inga (Daniella Monet) and Trish (Kelly Vitz), who actually look more like streetwalkers. Excelling in all her academic work and even in an exercise for making sandcastles, Nancy comes off as a female version of Alex Keaton (another TV reference), demonstrating her smarts without fearing rebuke from her contemporaries. That she won’t bend to the will of others makes her so admirable and appealing.
The young sleuth’s tenacious behavior draws admiration from the wisecracking Corky (Josh Flitter), her unlikely new best friend. Though he is considerably younger, Corky has a crush on Nancy, which creates some amusing tension when her longtime confidant and quasi-boyfriend Ned (Max Thierot) shows up on a visit so that he can deliver Nancy’s beloved button-cute roadster, a vintage Nash Metropolitan convertible.
While concealing activities from her father, Nancy’s sleuthing activities pick up steam as she pieces together some important facts that unknown people want to keep concealed. The trail leads to struggling single mother Jane Brighton (Rachel Leigh Cook), menacing thugs who chase Nancy through Chinatown, and the high-powered Draycott estate attorney (Barry Bostwick).
One of the odd things about “Nancy Drew” is that the flashbacks to Dehlia Draycott’s salad days in the film business have the look of the bygone Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s, and yet this was an actress who had her fame in the 1960s and 1970s before dying at a relatively young age circa 1981. Then again, Nancy herself has a personal style more suggestive of the 1950s.
Maybe the real mystery is that “Nancy Drew” is in search of its era, but that will be of little concern for the family audience that should find enjoyment and pleasure in watching a spunky teen saving the day and tidying up a whole bunch of loose ends by doing what she does best.
Tim Riley writes film reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
I was going to write about the Quibley Brothers' "Go Weird," one of those great albums you never heard of. But, I'll write about this one instead.
You may have heard of it or, at least, of it's starting point.
Back in 1995, good ol' Atlantic Records released the stateside version of "Starways To Heaven," a product of 12 demented Australians and their groups. It contained versions of Robert Plant's freak out, "Stairways To Heaven," by the Australian Doors Project, the early and the late Beatles (Down Under chapters), the Rock Lobsters, two opera singers, Elvis (Ned Pepper) and la creme de la creme, a shout out by the venerable Rolf Harris and his digereedo or wobbleboard.
"There's an old Australian stockman ... er ... rock band ..."
I got mine at a defunct junk shop on Clear Lake's Lake Shore Drive (no, not that Lake Shore Drive) for a couple of quid and you can get yours, as it is currently out of print, on amazon.com for a measly $18. The original Aussie release, has 22 takes on "the lady who's sure ..."
Overkill? You be the judge. That one runs about $45 but could be worth it, judging from the domestic offering.
Play this at your next party.
Leonard Teale offers up the spoken word version and if you have never actually heard the words – what the hell is a "spring clean for the may queen" anyway? – well, you should, at least ... once.
These takes all come from the Australian TV show, "The Money Or The Gun," which featured a different reading on the "lady who's sure all that glitters is gold" at the conclusion of each broadcast.
Andrew Denton's liner notes are also not to be missed.
"Some of the rejections make a veritable Who's Who of rock 'n' roll," he writes. "Shane McGowan of the Pogues couldn't remember his name ... Peter Gabriel gave up after almost a year of trying to teach it to the hill tribes of Southern Yemen and Midnight Oil refused to sing 'Stairway' because they felt it represented US interests in the Caribbean."
Oh, and "Bruce Springsteen somehow made it longer."
But, "if you listen very hard, when all is one and one is all."
You get "a rock that doesn't roll."
"And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason" or maybe just to Rolf Harris tying down the May Queen ..."all together now!"
E-mail Gary Peterson at
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- Written by: Adam Navin
For devotees of true-life crime, there is a non-fiction account of the George Edalji case published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie, “Conan Doyle and the Parson’s Son: The George Edalji Case.”
Researched and written by Gordon Weaver, is the only nonfictional account of the George Edalji miscarriage of justice case.
This book goes behind the scenes to explore the complex issues that surround the harassment of the Edalji family and the conviction and trial of George Edalji.
The wealth of Home Office documentation held at the UK’s National Archives provides additional dimensions to what in fact was the case that changed the face of English law.
It's an invaluable read for students of many subjects, for lovers of mystery and for those who believe that fact can be stranger than fiction. For a synopsis visit the www.theplebeian.net.
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