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Arts & Life

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Konocti Art Society members produced fine art to be used for a raffle that benefited the Lake County Arts Council’s Summer Youth Art Program. Pictured, from left to right, are Karen Magnuson, Gaylene McComb, Diane Stawicki, Jeanne Landon-Myers, Jo Bergesen, Gerri Groody, Barbara Funke, Patty Oates, Jan Hambrick and Carolyn Morris. Courtesy photo.



LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The members of the Konocti Art Society made an annual donation to help support the Lake County Arts Council’s Summer Youth Art Program.

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The Guitarsonists will headline a benefit concert for Sulphur fire recovery on Saturday, February 3, 2017, in Lakeport, Calif. Courtesy photo.


LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, The Guitarsonists will be playing a Sulphur fire benefit concert from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Soper-Reese Theatre in Lakeport.

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Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.


I love poems that delightfully offer voices for otherwise mute things, and I like what the following cash register has to say about her life and times.

This poem is from Maria Nazos' chapbook, Still Life, from Dancing Girl Press & Studio.

For the past two years, Maria has been our graduate assistant at American Life in Poetry, during which time she's had a good deal of success with her own poems, including a recent publication in The New Yorker.

Cash Register Sings The Blues

This isn't my dream-job. As a young sheet
of steel and plastic I dreamt of being melted

down into a dancer's pole in Vegas. I wanted
a woman in a headdress glossy as a gossamer

to wrap her lithe limbs around me. I wanted
to be strewn in lights, smell her powdery perfume.

Instead I'm a squat box crouched behind the counter,
noticed only if someone robs me. I'm touched all day,

but never caressed. Listen: somewhere gold tokens
spew from slots. I want to drink space-alien-dyed martinis on black

leather sectional couches. Watch tipsy women with acid-
washed jeans and teased hair dreamily press their faces

against slot machines while people treat currency
carelessly as spit in the wind.

I'm everywhere you look, ubiquitous and ignored.
I'm the container of your dreams that tossed aside my own.

I've kept my clean, sleek lines but you never say a thing.
Feed me, feed me with the only love we know.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited submissions. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2016 by Maria Nazos, “Cash Register Sings The Blues,” from Still Life, (Dancing Girl Press & Studio, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Maria Nazos and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2017 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.
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THOR: RAGNAROK (Rated PG-13)

Fans of the Marvel Comics Universe are most likely to warmly and exuberantly welcome the return of Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-wielding Norse God of Thunder in his third run as the titular character in “Thor: Ragnarok.”

Let’s face it. While Hemsworth is greatly appealing as always in the role of Thor as the heroic guardian of the planet Asgard, the second chapter entitled “Thor: The Dark World” arguably had its share of shortcomings with a bland, generic blueprint.

“Thor: Ragnarok” does not fail to entertain beyond the usual tropes of a Marvel Comics superhero action film, and much of the credit goes not just to the good use of Hemsworth but to the vision realized by acclaimed New Zealand indie director Taika Waititi.

More than any previous installment in the “Thor” franchise, this third go-round turns loose Thor’s sense of humor and ease with wisecracks to create an enjoyable ride through the sometimes thin gruel of action scenes that play more like a repetition of everything we’ve seen before.

Understanding what the word “Ragnarok” means explains the basic mission of this chapter. In Norse mythology, it refers to the end of days in which the destruction of Thor’s homeland and the end of Asgardian civilization is threatened by sinister forces.

“Ragnarok” opens with Thor trapped in what seems like the devil’s lair on the other side of the universe without his all-powerful hammer. Captured by a fiery monster, his wit is part of his arsenal to break free of captivity to save his planet.

But first, Thor’s primary objective to save Asgard is burdened by a slew of complications, beginning with the fact that his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), currently imprisoned on Earth, is being impersonated by Thor’s duplicitous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Given that Loki shifts his allegiances like a spinning weathervane in a windstorm, his character has always been more complex and interesting than the upright Thor who adheres to the moral code of an honest custodian of Asgard’s security and the well-being of its people.

There’s nothing like sibling rivalry and a sense of self-preservation that could motivate one’s behavior. In this case, the return of the villainous Hela (Cate Blanchett), older sister to Thor and Loki, is a motivating factor in the new-found unity of the brothers.

Hela’s power is unlike anything else in the Nine Realms. Armed with the ability to unleash unlimited weapons in astounding and deadly ways, Hela has returned to seek vengeance on those who cast her out of Asgard.

Needless to say, this monster that grows antlers when summoning her powers has no love for her father Odin or her two younger brothers. Known as the Goddess of Death and resembling a wicked witch, Hela intends to usher in a new era of cold brutality for Asgard.

Meanwhile, before Thor can do much about his homeland, he finds himself captured by bounty hunter Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and taken prisoner on the planet Sakaar where the eccentric ruler Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) runs gladiator contests for pure sadistic pleasure.

At one point, Thor, whose long hair has been a significant feature of his superhuman façade, has his golden locks cut very short. But unlike Samson, this act does not cause him to lose his strength.

Still without his hammer, Thor is forced into a brutal competition with the brooding Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who has somehow gone two years without returning to the human form of Bruce Banner. This explains his now truly bad-tempered nature.

Things start to gel for the superheroes when Loki figures out the clash with Hela is inevitable, the Incredible Hulk turns into the soulful Bruce Banner and the hard-drinking Valkyrie decides her supreme warrior skills are a nice match for teaming up with Thor.

Along the way, Thor encounters Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) during a brief encounter where this denizen of the Marvel universe offers encouragement. Even Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow pops up in a flash.

The back end of “Thor: Ragnarok” is inevitably the most predictable and least interesting, unless of course the sight of Hela and her army of mercenary soldiers engaged in full combat with Thor and his crew is the most desirable aspect of this adventure.

It’s not quite a revelation that the Asgardian soldier Skurge (Karl Urban), who initially signed on to Hela’s reign of terror, suddenly decides in Asgard’s time of struggle to cast his lot with Thor’s army to repel the forces of evil.

“Thor: Ragnarok” is at its best when it embraces the comedic elements. Chris Hemsworth has terrific comic timing with his quips, and Jeff Goldblum does not disappoint with his whimsical portrait of an oddball tyrant who’s actually funny.

My guess is that the fan base will look more so to the film’s action sequences than its idiosyncratic tendencies to judge the merits of this latest “Thor” adventure. Whatever works for the audience is how its success will be measured.

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

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