CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Linda Guebert, local educator and author, will read from her memoir, “The Hardest Thing I’ll Ever Do,” on Saturday, Nov. 16, at Redbud Library.
The reading will begin at 3 p.m.
Guebert lost the love of her life Ken Kysely in a car crash nine months after their wedding.
Her book lays bare the sorrow and pain that she felt as she learned to live as a widow and to find hope and joy again.
Guebert says that she hopes that sharing her experience will help other people with their own losses.
This free program is open to the public.
The Redbud Library is located at 14785 Burns Valley Road.
For more information, contact Redbud Library at 707-994-5115.
This week is a double bill of R-rated fare, one of them a comedy and the other a crime thriller that is mostly laughable. One film is funny, while the other is cartoonish in its violence and absurd in its dialogue.
“The Counselor” represents the maiden original screenplay written by acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy (“No Country for Old Men”). This film is proof that his work is best translated to screen by others.
Ostensibly film noir dressed up with some bleak humor, “The Counselor” seemingly had great promise, or so it seemed from trailers that suggested exciting action with interesting characters at the core.
On the plus side, there is a surfeit of talented A-list actors, though a few are wasted. Lovely as ever, Penelope Cruz, as the standout example, has little to do as the lone innocent victim.
Cruz’s Laura is the object of affection for an El Paso lawyer who is known only as Counselor (Michael Fassbender).
We assume this criminal defense attorney is successful because he drives a Bentley and flies off to Amsterdam just to buy his girlfriend Laura a huge, sparkling diamond ring.
One of the Counselor’s wealthier clients is the eccentric Reiner (Javier Bardem), a shady nightclub owner connected to drug cartels. Sporting a horrible fright wig, gaudy clothes and oversized glasses, Bardem often seems to be channeling a bad impression of Christopher Walken.
Reiner’s partner and love interest is Cameron Diaz’s Malkina, an emotionless, cutthroat vixen and true sociopath (she’s got a terrible outdated two-tone hairdo, which supposedly makes her look the part).
Outside the violence, the film’s most shocking scene involves the insatiably demented Malkina having sex with Reiner’s sports car, while he watches from the passenger seat. Don’t ask me to explain this.
The convoluted story of “The Counselor” involves Fassbender’s attorney, overcome by greed, asking to get in on a big drug deal, where Brad Pitt’s philosophizing Westray, decked out in a Stetson and Western garb, serves as the mysterious middleman with the cartel.
That the Counselor, fully aware of the dangers, would get involved with the Mexican drug traffickers on a big score is ludicrous. One has to wonder how stupid this guy is. How many times did it take him to pass the bar exam?
Naturally, it doesn’t take long for the Counselor to find out that he’s way in over his head, putting his life and that of his loved one in great danger. Ruthless, graphic violence follows suit.
Assume the worst, grisly behavior by vicious cartel thugs, and you’ve pretty much summed up where “The Counselor” is headed. The fake eloquence of the dialogue doesn’t make it any better.
The most interesting of the bad guys is Brad Pitt’s cowboy philosopher, who often speaks in riddles but dispenses advice with teasing amusement. Sadly, there is little to recommend for “The Counselor.”
It’s hard to imagine that the better movie of the week involves Johnny Knoxville doing his usual “Jackass” stunts, fooling ordinary citizens as the homespun and slightly tamer version of Borat.
The comedy of “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” operates from a simple candid camera premise. Donning geriatric makeup, Knoxville’s 86-year-old recently widowed Irving Zisman journeys across the American heartland with his 8-year-old grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll).
Irving has custody of Billy because the kid’s mother is heading back to jail on a drug charge, and the duo are traveling to North Carolina so the boy can be reunited with his deadbeat father. They hit the road in Irving’s vintage Lincoln, with the dead grandma in the trunk.
Right from the start, the precocious Billy proves adept at improvising shock-inducing lines, such as telling strangers in a waiting room that his mother’s bad breath is from smoking too much crack.
Actually, Nicoll’s Billy is a natural at pulling pranks, a sort of Johnny Knoxville mini-me, but at times even more mischievous and adroit at teasing the adults with his sly, playful demeanor.
As Billy and Irving get to know each other better, a tender bond develops, though mostly they put their minds together to wreak the maximum amount of havoc and surprise upon their prank victims.
More often than not, those on the receiving end prove to be warily receptive, even accommodating to their bizarre behavior. Things don’t go as smoothly when Irving knocks over a restaurant’s large plastic penguin while trying to park his car, incurring the owner’s verbal wrath.
Now widowed, Irving’s libido is in overdrive, and he’s mildly provocative in his attempts to pick up women of all ages, sizes and appearances. Otherwise, he’s pretending to endanger Billy, such as when they sit drinking from beer cans at a picnic table in front of many passersby.
One of the more outrageous antics involve Irving trying to pick up black ladies at a male strip joint, where he decides to join the action on the dance floor, much to the horror of the patrons. I’ll leave out the part about the exposure of certain body parts.
Fans of the “Jackass” franchise will likely be thrilled. Others should be cautioned that there is plenty of low-brow humor and the usual scatological gags that may be off-putting.
Overall, taking away some of the more vulgar set-pieces, “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” offers plenty of laughs and is considerably less offensive and degrading than Sasha Baron Cohen’s antics in “Borat.”
If you enjoy the film, don’t make a mad dash for the exits during the credit roll. You don’t want to miss the behind-the-scenes outtakes and discover that many who fell for the pranks were good-natured.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Friday, Nov. 8, the Old World Tavern in Lakeport presents the Dorian May Piano Trio with special guests vocalist Reni Simon and Lake County tenor sax-man Jim Leonardis, performing an eclectic mix of jazz, blues, swing and Latin tunes.
Dorian May, premier local bandleader, teacher and keyboard artist, his wife Dorothea May on upright bass and Tom Rickard on drums form the area’s top up and coming Jazz trio.
Playing in a classic jazz piano trio style reminiscent of Oscar Peterson, the trio can be heard performing throughout Mendocino and Sonoma County.
Renowned vocalist and recording artist Reni Simon is joining the trio for this performance.
Having performed and recorded with some of the best in the business, including the Elvin Bishop Band and Roy Orbison, Simon’s bluesy and expressive vocal styling is sure to captivate the audience.
Local tenor artist Jim Leonardis who has over 50 years of experience on his sax completes the lineup for this evening.
Seating is limited so come early and stay late.
There is no cover charge. The music begins at 8 p.m.
The Old World Tavern is located at 175 N. Main St. in Lakeport, telephone 707-263-7777.
I’m a sucker for miniatures, I suppose because it’s easy to believe I have control over my world when some of its parts are very small and I have positioned them to my liking.
Here’s a telling poem about a tiny plastic soldier by Mary M. Brown of Indiana.
Classic Toy
The plastic army men are always green.
They’re caught in awkward poses, one arm outstretched as if to fire, legs parted and forever stuck on a swiggle of support, as rigid and green as the boots.
This one has impressions of pockets, a belt, a collar, a grip on tiny binoculars intended to enlarge, no doubt, some tiny enemy.
In back, attached to the belt is a canteen or a grenade (it’s hard to tell). The helmet is pulled down low, so as to hide the eyes.
If I point the arm, the gun, toward me, I see that this soldier is very thin.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Jeanne Landon-Myers of the Konocti Art Society presented two local beneficiaries with raffle proceeds from saw blade art created by local artists society.
Three hundred dollars was presented to Connel Murray, representing Clear Lake Performing Arts and Lake County Symphony for the Student Education Music Program, and to Barbara Funke representing the Lake County Arts Council for the Summer Youth Art Camp.
These funds help with the arts council's summer art classes and music classes at the Lake County Symphony, both serving local youth.
Each year the Konocti Art Society donates the raffle money earned from its art show in the WestAmerica Bank at the Kelseyville Pear Festival to local organizations.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce will hold its 70th Birthday Party Celebration and Fundraiser beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.
The event will take place at the Clearlake Community/Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave.
The highlight of the event will be a performance by comedian Joe Klocek.
Klocek's crowd involving hilarious storytelling has earned him a great list of comedic accomplishments including appearing on Comedy Central’s, “Live at Gotham” NBC's “Last Comic Standing,” commentator for the Emmy Award-winning documentary “A Bridge so Far” and co-creator of the critically acclaimed storytelling show, “Previously Secret Information.”
He also has been a runner-up in the “San Francisco International Comedy Competition” and the “Seattle Comedy Competition,” and voted “Best Comic” in the 2011 SF Weekly Readers Poll.
The night also will feature a special presentation honoring the past CLCC presidents and officers.
Dance music and other entertainment will be provided by Tony Barthel of the Featherbed Railroad.
The no-host bar will include local wines from Steele Wines, Moore Family Winery, Six Sigma Ranch and Winery, Casey Flat Ranch, Cougar’s Leap Winery, Laujor Estate Winery and Brassfield Estates.
Tickets are $30 per person and include a gourmet steak and chicken dinner with dessert. Tickets can be purchased by calling 707-994-3600, going to www.facebook.com/ClearLakeChamber or emailing www.clcccontactgmail.com . A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and serving your business and community.
Its goal is to sustain a unique and high quality of life by achieving economic vitality, with sensitivity and respect for the environment as we foster economic opportunity and a favorable business climate within the region.
