Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography. Karla Huston was Wisconsin’s Poet Laureate in 2017 and 2018, and lives in Appleton. She’s published several books and chapbooks and does the good work of reviewing poetry for various journals. “Lip,” this lively portrait of her father, is previously unpublished, and our column was lucky to get first dibs on it.
Lip
When my father tuned his sousaphone, he fiddled with tubes and oil
like when he restored the Model T, his hands working the pipes and joints. And all around him
it’s polka polka, big oom-pas, little dancing girls on the tips of the valves while he worked his embouchure
into the proper purse of lips. Somewhere bar lights glinted off the big bell, the name “Bob”
engraved inside the swale, hill and valley little dancehall at the end of a corn maze,
small towns in Wisconsin, a fireman’s dance in a cavernous hall, a wedding gig or two.
He said nothing while he adjusted the weight on knees already bruised and aching. When
cancer took a wedge out of his lip, he had to give them up—The Beer Barrel,
the She’s-Too-Fat, the Blue-Eyes-Cryin’-in-the-Rain Polka, the Liechtensteiner, a schottische or two.
The music lived in his head, the tip of his tongue, the records stacked and dusty on the floor.
Even though a big question mark hangs over the fall schedule for any major television network, CBS has announced plans to bring back, in its own words, “80 percent of its top-rated television lineup.”
At least for the fall, the math suggests a higher return of established series, as only two series appear to be on the schedule.
Yet, the long-running, popular “Hawaii Five-O” called its quits after 10 seasons with an episode last April aptly titled “Aloha.”
One new series, reminiscent of the reboot of the departed “Hawaii Five-O” is “The Equalizer,” which is described as “reimagining of the classic series” that starred British actor Edward Woodward as a retired American intelligence agent acting as a pro bono protector.
The new version stars Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn.
Appearing to others as an ordinary single mom quietly raising a teenage daughter, Robyn McCall is known only to a few as an anonymous guardian angel and defender of the less fortunate.
A series that ran four seasons, the original “The Equalizer” also spawned two movies of the same title, starring Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, doling out vigilante justice to nasty Russian mafia thugs.
There has been some speculation that a third installment of “The Equalizer” could be realized on the big screen in another two years, but that would only make sense if Denzel Washington takes the lead role.
With prolific writer and creator of television series Chuck Lorre (“Two and a Half Men”) the driving force, the new comedy series “B Positive” will star Thomas Middleditch as a therapist and newly divorced dad who is faced with finding a kidney donor.
Middleditch’s Drew finds a donor when he runs into Gina (Annaleigh Ashford), a rough-around-the-edges woman from his past who volunteers her own, thus forming a friendship that will forever impact both of their lives.
“The Silence of the Lambs,” a movie almost three decades old, provides the source material for a new midseason series entitled “Clarice,” which was the given name of Jodie Foster’s rookie FBI agent.
Starring Rebecca Breeds in the titular role, “Clarice” dives into the untold personal story of FBI agent Clarice Starling as she returns to the field in 1993, six months after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs.” We may have to revisit the film to refresh fading memories.
‘THE VAST OF NIGHT’ ON AMAZON PRIME
Playing as a movie within a television program, the first image of “The Vast of Night” is a black-and-white television set announcing that night’s episode of a program named “Paradox Theater.”
The announcer’s voice sounds so eerily like that of Rod Serling that one momentarily gets the feeling of being transported back nearly six decades ago to the science-fiction realm of “The Twilight Zone.”
The voice intones “You are entering a realm between clandestine and forgotten, a slipstream caught between channels, the secret museum of mankind, the private library of shadows – all taking place on a stage forged from mysteries.” This is pure Serling-type monologue.
Running at 90 minutes including the credits, “The Vast of Night,” eschewing overwrought special effects, is a character-driven science-fiction story that focuses on one night’s experiences in the 1950s of a teenage girl and a late-night radio DJ in a small New Mexico town.
Though young, winsome high school student Fay (Sierra McCormick) works nights as a switchboard operator, she’s first seen meeting up with radio host Everett (Jake Horowitz) before the start of the season’s first big basketball game.
Going on duty that evening at the switchboard, Fay hears a strange audio frequency that disrupts phone calls, and a sense of odd happenings start to mount with a woman’s panicked call about something hovering in the sky.
A mesmerizing stretch of time with Fay at the switchboard, alternately trying to figure out what is happening with crossed lines and then experiencing a growing sense of disquiet, is itself enthralling.
Fay and Everett get pulled down the rabbit hole of what Rod Serling would surely craft for mystery when a guy named Billy (the never seen Bruce Davis) reveals unsettling government UFO secrets during a spellbinding phone call to the radio show.
Then comes another call from senior citizen Mabel (Gail Cronauer) who beckons Fay and Everett to her home to talk about similar activity in the past she does not wish to discuss over the phone.
Not to be overlooked is Fay’s absolute fascination with futuristic inventions that would include radio-controlled cars, underground trains crossing the country in one hour, and everyone being assigned a telephone number at birth.
First-time director Andrew Patterson, working with few gimmicks other than stealthy long camera movements and the screen spookily going black on occasions to heighten suspense, delivers a twisty plot with a bold cinematic style in the appealing “The Vast of Night.”
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
Youth collaborate in the making of Acorn Woodpecker for the 2019 EcoArts Sculpture Walk. Courtesy photo. MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center is welcoming the community back to engage with the arts and culture.
The ECO Zoology Summer Camp begins Monday, June 22.
Marcus Maria Jung is busy teaching sculptural woodworking on site on Rabbit Hill, and the MAC Art Garden at the junction of highways 175 and 29 is getting a facelift.
The MAC gallery is now open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment, (with a private tour), and the current exhibit, “Dreams,” is accessible online.
ECO Zoology Summer Camp will be held Monday, June 22, through Friday, June 26, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at MAC, with teaching artists Laura Kennedy, Emma Wakefield and Darina Simeonova.
Activities will include collaborative creation of an owl sculpture to install at the EcoArts Sculpture Walk at Trailside Park, animal and nature explorations, drawing, painting, collage making, and more. The first day will include painting and tie-dying bandana masks.
”We’ve learned that birds and raptors are the biggest missing pieces of the ecosystem at Trailside Park because there are so few trees left. I chose the Owl for our collaborative sculpture to call attention to the animals that are busy at night,” explained Artist and Instructor Laura Kennedy. “As a team, campers will select an owl species native to Lake County, then we’ll use wood collected from the park and jute string to lash, tie, and bind wood together to create our sculpture.”
Children and youth ages 5 to 15 are welcome to join. Current health and safety standards will be observed.
“We’ll have creative fun in smaller groupings by age inside and outside spread throughout the studio, gallery, and Art Garden. Each child will also have their own supplies,” added Programs Director Lisa Kaplan.
A second camp session, “Art for Art’s Sake,” will take place at MAC July 13 to 24.
The MAC’s reopening has been filled with artistic activity. Marcus Maria Jung has been working with community members on Animate Earth (working title), a new sculpture on the western slope of Rabbit Hill.
The public is invited to join him and learn the art of natural wood sculpture through the making of this site-specific installation.
Work takes place most days between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. through June 26, with a few exceptions.
Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-809-8118 at least a day in advance, to coordinate with MAC as Jung will be taking Sunday and other days off.
Work beautifying the Art Garden is being done by Frankie White and local youth. Community service hours are available for Middletown High School students who wish to earn their hours engaging in art-making while learning practical skills for working with natural wood or rocks.
The MAC Gallery has reopened and will gradually open for additional hours in the weeks to come. This week MAC will be open Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., next week Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and other days by appointment.
Call 707-809-8118 a day in advance to schedule your visit. You can even request a guided tour.
In addition, the current show “Dreams” can be viewed in 3D online at https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=pMxYvxv5tAZ . The virtual gallery was created by Third Eye Visuals and presents an excellent option for enjoying the exhibit from home.
Calls for work and proposals can be found at www.middletownartcenter.org/artist s. For the time being, all new exhibits will also be available as virtual tours.
There’s lots happening at the MAC. Find out more about programs, opportunities, and ways to support the MAC’s efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County at www.middletownartcenter.org .
Garth Brooks will give a special virtual concert on Saturday, June 27, 2020. Photo Copyright 8 Ten, Inc. LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport Auto Movies will be among 300 drive-in theaters to feature a special concert by country music superstar Garth Brooks on Saturday, June 27.
The concert will be created exclusively for this event, making this a once in a lifetime experience. The concert will be the largest ever one-night show to play at outdoor theaters across the United States and Canada.
The event will be produced by Encore Live, a leading event production company.
“I am so excited to get to play again. I have missed it so much and want to get back to it,” said Brooks. “This drive-in concert allows us all to get back to playing live music without the uncertainty of what would be the result to us as a community. This is old school, new school, and perfect for the time we are in.”
“Families need safe entertainment options that they can enjoy together this summer,” said Encore Live Founder and CEO Walter Kinzie. “We’re excited to partner with Garth, who’s already done so much to help the entertainment industry during these tough times, to provide a truly unique and incredible concert that will do a whole lot of good for local businesses and communities.”
Tickets will be on sale Friday, June 19, at 9 a.m. Pacific time. They will be on sale at www.ticketmaster.com/garthbrooks . There, you will also be able to review the drive-in theaters available in your area.
Tickets are general admission and of limited availability. They will cost $100, all-inclusive. Each ticket will admit one passenger car/truck. The event will take place rain or shine and will begin at dusk.
The show will adhere to guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as all state and local health mandates. Encore Live has partnered with leading health experts to establish procedures for staff and fans.
These will include maintaining at least 6 feet of space between vehicles, the use of personal protective equipment by staff, leveraging contactless payment and ticketing systems, and limiting capacity in restrooms. Guidelines around concessions will also be enforced to abide by individual state regulations.
Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.
Here’s a delightful poem you can almost smell.
Don’t we all know that old-shoe-plus-shoe-polish odor? I don’t remember oxblood smelling different from plain old black or brown, but Andy Roberts, writing so vividly of his father, makes us feel that it does.
He’s from Columbus, Ohio, and his most recent book of poetry is “Leaning Toward Greenland,” (Night Ballet Press, 2020).
We found this poem in Atlanta Review, edited by Karen Head, one of our former colleagues here in Nebraska.
Oxblood
I squeeze into nine pounds of my dead father’s Brooks Brothers wingtips, heels worn down from running between women. Slip on his herringbone suit coat, flash on him snapping his fingers, popping his Dentyne, swinging along to “The Great Pretender.” The suit’s too big, it can go to Goodwill. But they don’t make shoes like these anymore. The old tin of oxblood I prize open, shift to my nose and remember all he ever needed was Nat King Cole, a slice of phosphorescent moon and a blonde in the passenger seat down Wainwright Road to the quarry.
A QUESTION MARK FOR FOX TV AND NETWORKS FOR FALL SEASON
Readers of this column may recall past references to the television press tours that occur during the winter and summer to preview upcoming series in panel discussions with cast and production crew.
The Television Critics Association canceled the 2020 summer tour that was scheduled to start at the end of July due to the uncertainty that attends the public gathering restrictions which remain unabated.
An equal concern is that film and television production of new films and series, which have been on hold during the pandemic, may not be ready for the fall season.
First out of the box, the FOX network has already announced new series for the upcoming season, if such a thing is remotely possible at this moment. Savvier folks are betting that January 2021 is a likelier scenario for the networks.
Nevertheless, FOX may have an opportunity for new series only because some series were expected earlier this year as mid-season replacements or the product was already in the can or in the case of “L.A.’s Finest” it ran elsewhere.
From the universe of the Jerry Bruckheimer “Bad Boys” franchise, the one-hour series “L.A.’s Finest” has been a Spectrum Original, which means it probably hasn’t tapped into the wider audience available on a network.
This series looks to be the female version of “Bad Boys,” with Gabriel Union’s Syd Burnett, moving on from taking down drug cartels in Miami to become an LAPD detective, and then pairing up with Jessica Alba’s Nancy McKenna, a working mom with a complex history.
“Filthy Rich,” a southern Gothic family soap in which wealth, power and religion collide, was thought to be a mid-season replacement. When the patriarch (Gerald McRaney) dies in a plane crash, his wife and family are stunned to learn he fathered three illegitimate children.
A thriller about rogue artificial intelligence, “NeXT” stars John Slattery as a Silicon Valley pioneer, who discovers one of his A.I. creations might spell global catastrophe, leading to teaming up with a cybercrime agent to fight a villain unlike anything seen before.
‘GOLIATH’ ON AMAZON PRIME
Recommendations from friends certainly come in handy to choose a streaming series to fill the void. This is the case with Amazon Prime’s “Goliath,” which is now in its third season. As with “Bosch,” I have some catching up to do with this series.
As a legal drama, “Goliath” may not break any new ground in courtroom scenes, except when you have Billy Bob Thornton’s Billy McBride pulling tricks in a courtroom, where his exchanges startle with a gut punch.
Abundantly clear from the start, McBride is the David of this linear series, a once stellar lawyer who co-founded a major firm before descending to his present status of conducting business from a Santa Monica motel room across from the bar when he spends a great deal of time.
The Goliath is the Cooperman McBride law firm, to which the down-but-not-quite out lawyer’s name is still attached and where his aggressively assertive ex-wife Michelle (Maria Bello) fits perfectly in a toxic corporate culture.
Arranging plea deals for petty criminals, McBride’s low-rent legal practice allows him to spend more time at the Chez Jay bar or parking himself on the beach with a bottle in a paper bag.
The persons closest to McBride’s orbit turn out to be his estranged teenage daughter Denise (Diana Hopper), who now hopes to set him straight, and his off-and-on legal assistant Brittany (Tania Raymonde), an attractive sex worker plying her trade on the side.
A big case comes McBride’s way when the excitable, motor-mouthed Patty Solis-Papagian (Nina Arianda), a defense lawyer for DUI clients and real estate agent in the Valley, seeks to help her neighbor Rachel Kennedy (Ever Carradine) to sue for the wrongful death of her brother.
Not interested at first in the case, McBride changes his tune when learning Rachel’s brother died in a boat explosion and the target for the wrongful death lawsuit is Borns Tech, a major client of the Cooperman McBride firm.
That there is plenty of ill will between McBride and his former partner Daniel Cooperman (William Hurt) turns out to be enough motivation for the David vs. Goliath legal battle to play out for the entire first season.
Cooperman, disfigured from facial burns, is an odd fellow and recluse hiding in his darkened office where he spies on his employees and monitors depositions and courtroom proceedings on surveillance cameras.
Taking a look at the Cooperman firm’s legal team defending Borns Tech is all one needs to know about which side to root for, though that’s hardly a challenge because Thornton’s flawed McBride is the underdog that draws sympathy.
Rooting for McBride is easy when compared to Cooperman’s lead attorney, Callie Senate (Molly Parker), an ice queen yet brilliant lawyer eager to skewer anyone in her path, even fellow colleagues.
“Goliath” rises above the conventional with the basic construct of Thornton and Arianda bringing quirkiness to adversarial courtroom theatrics.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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