UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The annual winter concert series at the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake continues on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m. in Riffe’s Meeting House next to the Hotel.

Read more …

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A diverse range of musical styles on the keyboard will be presented at the Soper Reese Theatre on Sunday, March 10, by seven well-known professional pianists from the region.

Musicians will combine their talent and years of experience to benefit fundraising efforts for the arts and education in Lake County.

The Lake County Friends of Mendocino College is partnering with the Soper Reese Theatre to sponsor the eighth annual Pianists Benefit Concert.

The afternoon begins at 2 p.m. with a no-host reception featuring fine regional wines from Lake and Mendocino counties, followed by the concert at 3 p.m.

A silent auction of items donated by businesses and individuals will be held during the reception and intermission. All proceeds benefit the two sponsoring organizations.

Lake County artists Tom Ganoung and David Neft will be joined by Mendocino County performers Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Patrick Fitzgerald, Elizabeth MacDougall and Ed Reinhart. The concert will feature all the pianists on stage throughout the performance as they converse about their life experiences and play a variety of musical selections.

Persons or businesses interested in supporting this fundraising effort are invited to become sponsors. Sponsors receive preference for premium reserved seats. Please contact the Soper Reese Theatre at 707-263-0577.

Sponsors to date include Anonymous Donor, Bernie and Lynne Butcher, Peggy Campbell CPA, Community First Credit Union, Annette and Jon Hopkins, Lakeport Furniture, Susie LaPointe, Law Office of Judy Conard, Natalie Marino, Pat and Lori McGuire, Dennis Rollins and Cindy Ustrud, Jim and Wilda Shock, Strong Financial Network and Tomkins Tax Consultants.

Tickets are $25 for regular reserved seats and $30 for premium reserved, and may be purchased online at www.soperreesetheatre.com or from the Travel Center, 1265 S. Main St. in Lakeport, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The theatre is located at 275 So. Main St., Lakeport. For more information call 707-263-0577.

“The Lake County Friends, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation, was created to benefit students and programs at the Lake Center. We are delighted that proceeds from this benefit concert will enable us to continue support for the Lake Center campus in Lakeport,” said Wilda Shock, chairperson of Friends.

Proceeds from past concerts have funded scholarships for Lake County students at Mendocino College, a chemistry laboratory and tutors at the Lake Center. Shakespeare at the Lake in Library Park this summer will also receive support for production expenses.

The Soper Reese Theatre is a restored performing arts venue operated by an all-volunteer management team under the auspices of the Lake County Arts Council. “Concert proceeds will be dedicated to the theatre’s Restroom Re-do renovation project which will modernize and expand facilities, and meet ADA standards,” according to Mike Adams, executive director.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The “Coffee House Concert Series,” presented by the Unitarian Universalist Community of Lake County, kicks off its third season on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Held at Fore Family Wines in Kelseyville, the season kick-off concert includes six talented local acts, each performing three songs.

Performers include singer Andrea Blair from Cobb, local guitarist Jim Williams, the singing duo of Brian and Deborah of Love Rocket, singer Gigi Cohen & Friends, the multi-talented Bill Bordisso and Humdinger, featuring Bordisso on accordion, and the bluegrass and Irish duo of Don Coffin and Andi Skelton.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Fore Family Tasting Room, located at 3920 Main St. in Kelseyville.

Tickets are $15 and are available in advance at Watershed Books in Lakeport, at the Fore Family Wines Tasting Room, online at www.uuclc.org, and also at the door. Award-winning wines and snacks will be available.

The Coffee House Concert Series will feature a concert each month, often featuring nationally know performers, including some Grammy award winners. In addition, many of Lake County’s finest Americana and Folk musicians will perform. For more information on the series, call 707-812-2788.

Liz Ahl was once a very talented graduate student in our creative writing program at The University of Nebraska, but she's long since moved on to teach at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.

The following villanelle is from her handsomely printed chapbook entitled A Thirst That's Partly Mine, from Slapering Hol Press, in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Her most recent collection, Beating the Bounds, was published in 2017 by Hobblebush Books.

Aquarium, February

When ice outside makes daggers of the grass,
I come to where the tides of life still flow.
The water here still moves behind the glass.

In here, the seasons never seem to pass—
the sullen shark and rays still come and go.
Outside the ice makes daggers of the grass

and coats the roads. The meditative bass
won't puzzle how the blustery blizzards blow.
The water here still moves. Behind the glass,

rose-tinted corals house a teeming mass
of busy neon creatures who don't know
"outside." The ice makes daggers of the grass

and oily puddles into mirrors. Gas
freezes in its lines; my car won't go,
but water here still moves behind the glass.

No piles of valentines, no heart held fast—just sea stars under lights kept soft and low.
Outside, the ice makes daggers of the grass;
in here, the water moves behind the glass.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2008 by Liz Ahl, "Aquarium, February," from A Thirst That's Partly Mine, (Slapering Hol Press, 2008). Poem reprinted by permission of Liz Ahl and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2019 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

‘WHAT MEN WANT’ Rated R

Flipping the gender in Hollywood remakes is nothing new.

Think of the female versions of “Ghostbusters” and “Ocean’s 8,” notable as more recent examples that herald either an enduring trend or a fad of the moment.

Two decades later, one has to ponder the appeal of turning Mel Gibson’s “What Women Want” into a female empowerment statement with Taraji P. Henson playing the tough cookie in “What Men Want.”

Playing strong is what Henson does well, if you take note of her role of Cookie Lyon in the TV series “Empire.”

Here, as sports agent Ali Davis, she’s equally sharp, fierce, relentless, fearless and unstoppable.

The trouble for Ali is that she’s pigeonholed as doing her best work representing female athletes that are Olympic medalists and trophy winners. She’s need to break the glass ceiling in a business dominated by males.

Poised to be made a partner at the sports management firm, Ali anticipates securing the position at a company meeting only to be humiliated by her boss (Brian Bosworth) who gives the promotion to an unqualified male junior executive.

Grabbing the brass ring won’t come easy until she lands a big-time football, baseball or basketball star. Setting her sights on signing top NBA draft prospect Jamal Barry (Shane Paul McGhie), Ali finds his dad Joe “Dolla” Barry (Tracy Morgan) might be her biggest hurdle.

Meanwhile, following a party with her tight-knit girlfriends, Ali has an accident that puts her in the hospital. She wakes up to find that a concussion has rendered her with the ability to hear men’s thoughts.

With only her brow-beaten, nerdy assistant Brandon (Josh Brener) remotely on her side, Ali unlocks the mysteries of the male-dominated business to navigate the corporate minefield.

Meanwhile, a one-night stand with bartender Will (Aldis Hodge) turns into something more when Ali uses the widowed father and his young son to fool Jamal’s father into thinking that she’s in a stable family situation that enhances her ability to handle a superstar client.

“What Men Want” doesn’t move the needle in any big way on the scale of generic romantic comedy, nor does it hold much surprise in how a female dynamo gets the upper hand in the workplace.

Taraji P. Henson, of course, steals the show with her blazing ball of energy that shows she has mastered the ruthless corporate culture on an equal plane with her male peers.

WINTER-SPRING PREVIEW ON TV

The winter television critics press tour brings news of many midseason new shows on the networks, cable channels and a plethora of streaming services. It’s getting harder to keep up with all the options.

Among the big four networks, ABC appears to have the busiest upcoming season. Marcia Clark, the prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder, is one of the executive producers behind “The Fix,” about a Los Angeles prosecutor taking a second chance in a high-profile murder trial.

ABC’s “Whiskey Cavalier” dives into the international spy business with a mix of heroic action and wacky humor, while “Grand Hotel” explores family intrigue and scandal in the backdrop of a ritzy hotel in Miami Beach.

The catastrophic 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobyl gets the small screen treatment by HBO in a miniseries of the same name. Preview clips of “Chernobyl” reveal the sacrifices of the brave men and women saving Europe from unimaginable disaster.

Fans of the DC Comics are probably aware that Warner Bros. and DC Universe have teamed up for a streaming service that provides access to older DC live-action films and animated films and series.

“Doom Patrol” re-imagines DC’s beloved group of outcast super heroes, including Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Woman and Crazy Jane, led by mad scientist Dr. Niles Caulder. This band of freaks fights for a world that wants nothing to do with them.

The National Geographic Channel’s “The Hot Zone,” starring Julianna Margulies as a heroic U.S. Army scientist, dramatizes the high-stakes operation to head off an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus from the central African rainforest that arrived on U.S. soil in 1989.

“The Rook,” a Starz original series, tells the story of a woman waking up in the rain beside London’s Millennium Bridge with no memory, who turns out to be a high-ranking official in Britain’s secret service for people with paranormal abilities.

Acorn TV’s streaming service delivers the best in British entertainment. Derived by the memoirs of a London police detective, “Manhunt” is a gripping miniseries based on the true story of a murder investigation that riveted a nation’s attention and defined a detective’s career.

Ovation TV is a channel dedicated to the arts so it is only fitting that Julia Stiles stars as an art curator in “Riviera” whose husband is killed in a yacht explosion, causing her to figure who in his family she can trust to uncover if his death was an accident or murder.

This column will eventually explore in greater detail many new series in the coming months.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – In the second concert of a four part series produced by Beth Aiken, the newly formed Lake County woodwind quintet “Lake Winds,” will perform at the Soper Reese Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m.

Seating is open. Tickets are $20 for adults. Children 18 and under are free.

“Lake Winds” is composed of some of the most accomplished woodwind players in Lake County.

These talented musicians play separately in a variety of ensembles in Lake County and Mendocino County.

The woodwind quintet is composed of Patricia Jekel (flute), Beth Aiken (oboe), Nick Biondo (clarinet), Kathy Whren (bassoon) and Kelsey Vorce (horn).

This classic wind quintet has a very unique sound and will perform works of contrasting styles from Bach to contemporary masterpieces.

For tickets go to www.soperreesetheatre.com or to The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information call 707-263-0577.