Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.

Here is a lovely poem by Robert Cording, a poet who lives in Connecticut, which shows us a fresh new way of looking at something commonplace. That’s the kind of valuable service a poet can provide.

Old Houses

Year after year after year

I have come to love slowly

how old houses hold themselves—

before November’s drizzled rain

or the refreshing light of June—

as if they have all come to agree

that, in time, the days are no longer

a matter of suffering or rejoicing.

I have come to love

how they take on the color of rain or sun

as they go on keeping their vigil

without need of a sign, awaiting nothing

more than the birds that sing from the eaves,

the seizing cold that sounds the rafters.

American Life in Poetry 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 ©2010 by Robert Cording from his most recent book of poetry, Walking with Ruskin, CavanKerry Press, Ltd., 2010. Reprinted by permission of Robert Cording. Introduction copyright ©2011 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

The night kicks off at 6 p.m. with drinks and gourmet finger foods at the Saw Shop Bistro in Kelseyville.

Then the party moves on to the Taylor Observatory with more great dining, silent auction and a planetarium show.

The theater invites everyone in the community to join in the party and support all the first class performing arts and film events that are now offered at the Soper Reese year ‘round.

Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased on line at www.soperreesetheatre.com, or at the theater box office at 275 S. Main, Lakeport, Thursday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

For more information call 707-263-0577.

Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.

I’d guess that nearly everyone is aware that time seems to speed up as we age. Whenever I say that something happened ten years ago, my wife reminds me that it was twenty. Here’s a poem about time by the distinguished Maryland poet, Linda Pastan.

Counting Backwards

How did I get so old,

I wonder,

contemplating

my 67th birthday.

Dyslexia smiles:

I’m 76 in fact.

There are places

where at 60 they start

counting backwards;

in Japan

they start again

from one.

But the numbers

hardly matter.

It’s the physics

of acceleration I mind,

the way time speeds up

as if it hasn’t guessed

the destination—

where look!

I see my mother

and father bearing a cake,

waiting for me

at the starting line.

American Life in Poetry 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 ©2010 by Linda Pastan, whose most recent book of poems is Traveling Light, W.W. Norton, 2011. Poem reprinted from Nimrod International Journal, Awards 32, Vol. 54, no. 1, 2010. Rights granted by Linda Pastan, in care of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. Introduction copyright ©2011 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

You’ve probably already heard about “The Playboy Club,” a controversial entry in the fall programming sweepstakes that trades on a renowned sexy brand.

The NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City refuses to air the new series. And it probably won’t get much traction in the Amish country of western Pennsylvania.

Gloria Steinem and Gloria Allred are not expected viewers for “The Playboy Club,” though the feminist writer Steinem once went undercover as a bunny for an expose.

Out of prurient interest and a measure of curiosity, adult men may tune in to watch, but are likely to slip away once they realize the drama should be titled “Desperate Bunnies.”

Like the new drama “Pan Am” on ABC, “The Playboy Club” hopes to cash in on the popularity of “Mad Men,” if only because of the swinging early Sixties vibe. The NBC show even has a main character that looks vaguely like Don Draper.

This is the time of the year for the summer edition of the biannual TV critics press tour, where lowly scribes get the lowdown on the new fall season.

Unlike last January, this time around NBC trotted out its newest Chairman of Entertainment, Bob Greenblatt, who told the assembled critics that he’s “very excited and bullish” about the fall season.

What else can you expect him to say? A network executive is like a politician trying to reassure doubtful constituents that he can deliver on a wide range of goals difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

But then, for the sake of having something decent to watch on a dateless Friday night, you hope that Mr. Greenblatt’s optimism is well-founded.

During the question and answer period, of course, critics asked about “The Playboy Club” and whether the network was trying to tap into the “Mad Men” craze, even though in reality the hit cable show doesn’t draw the kind of big audience a network needs.

Greenblatt described “The Playboy Club” as a “much more energized soap opera,” a genre that works well on network TV. Additionally, he claimed this show would not “feel like ‘Mad Men’ when you ultimately see it.”

Since Hugh Hefner is not going to send me a club membership any time soon, let’s focus on to the rest of the fall schedule, which includes two additional new dramas and three new comedies.

Moving on to the next drama, “Grimm” is inspired by the classic Grimm Fairy Tales, a Friday night entry for shut-ins and members of the lonely hearts club.

Portland homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) discovers he is descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as “Grimms,” charged with keeping balance between humanity and the mythological creatures of the world.

As he tries to hide the dangers of his newfound calling from his fiancée (Bitsie Tulloch) and his partner (Russell Hornsby), Detective Burkhardt becomes ever more entrenched in the ancient rivalries and alliances of the Grimm world.

“Prime Suspect” is a fitting title for a crime drama that takes a probing look inside a New York City homicide department.

The series stars Maria Bello as tough-as-nails NYPD homicide Detective Jane Timoney, an outsider who has just transferred to a new squad where her new colleagues already dislike her.

Though confident and focused, Jane is also rude, abrupt and occasionally reckless. She has her vices and rumors of a questionable past follow her everywhere.

At the end of the day, Jane is an instinctively brilliant cop who can’t be distracted from the only important thing: the prime suspect.

In the Thursday night comedy rotation, NBC adds “Whitney,” a look at modern love in a comedy series about Whitney (Whitney Cummings) and Alex (Chris D’Elia), a happily unmarried couple.

Together for three years, the duo is no rush to get hitched, but attending one too many weddings and listening to their opinionated friends causes the couple to grapple with relationship issues.

NBC also seems to be carving out a comedy block on Wednesday nights, adding to two new comedies to precede “Harry’s Law.”

“Up All Night,” which is up first, has an impressive creative team with links to “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Christina Applegate takes another turn at comedy in the role of Reagan Brinkley, a loving wife, successful career woman, life of the party and, most recently, mom.

Determined not to compromise her career or cool reputation to the clichés of motherhood, Reagan adjusts to life with a baby and returns to work with the support of her stay-at-home husband, Chris (Will Arnett).

Dealing with sleep deprivation may be the reason for the show’s title, but Reagan has bigger problems in handling the endless needs of her ambitious boss (Maya Rudolph).

The second mid-week comedy show is “Free Agents,” a romantic comedy that explores the trials and tribulations of finding love and companionship the second time around.

Hank Azaria’s Alex is newly divorced, missing his kids and trying to keep himself together. His co-worker Helen (Kathryn Hahn) thinks she has it together but drinks too much in order to cope with her fiancé's untimely death.

When these two overworked public relations executives share an ill-fated night of passion, they are forced to cope with the awkward aftermath.

Meanwhile, NBC Chairman Greenblatt must be hoping that his passion for his fall lineup is not ill-fated.

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

Short Stax will perform on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011, in Ukiah, Calif., as the opening band for The Robert Cray Band. Courtesy photo.

UKIAH, Calif. – This Sunday, Aug 14, local boys Short Stax (you might remember them as Taste Like Chicken) are going to be opening for The Robert Cray Band at Todd Grove Park in Ukiah.

Be sure to come and say hi to the group, which includes David Neft on keyboards an bass, Steve Dubois on drums and “Mojo” Larry Platz on guitar.

The show starts at 6 p.m. and is free to all ages.

Short Stax is three-fifths of Bill Noteman and the Rockets, kind of rockin' jazzy, kind of funky bluezy, but all fun.

COWBOYS & ALIENS (Rated PG-13)

If Steven Spielberg and Sergio Leone teamed up to create a film blending science-fiction with classic Western themes, the result might be something like “Cowboys & Aliens.”

As it stands, this shrewd merger of two distinct genres is the genius work of director Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) and a bunch of screenwriters too numerous to mention by name.

The film’s title, succinct and to the point, is the best truth-in-advertising for the terrific gimmick of amped-up action that is sure to flow from this offbeat mix.

The brilliance of “Cowboys & Aliens,” respecting its setting of late 19th century New Mexico territory (or is it Arizona?), is its primarily Western genre put under siege from an alien invasion that consumes about a third of the action.

The hybrid film opens with a dazed and wounded cowboy (Daniel Craig) wondering why he is bleeding from a stomach gash and sporting a strange metal device firmly attached to his wrist.

Craig’s cowboy, suffering from amnesia, does not recall the circumstance of his ending up abandoned in the middle of the desert, let alone the fact that he can’t recall his own name.

At this point, it would have been great if Sergio Leone were still alive so as to revive his character, the Man with No Name, in a new “Spaghetti Western,” befitting his glory days of having directed Clint Eastwood.

But then we in the audience, as well as a trio of highway robbers, learn very quickly that Craig’s laconic stranger, an updated Man with No Name, is not one easily pushed around or manhandled by wicked ruffians.

Still unaware of his identity, the stranger rides into one of those iconic, lawless frontier towns, where the gentle townsfolk live in perpetual fear of a tyrannical cattle baron with an outsized sense of entitlement.

The local tycoon, Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), doesn’t so much run roughshod over the town as he condones the odious behavior of his obnoxious, overbearing son (Paul Dano), who terrorizes the locals for sheer amusement.

Into the breach steps the Man with No Name, a hardened gunslinger unafraid of lurking danger and not intimidated by a gutless punk who hides behind his father’s army of goons.

Meanwhile, the town’s stressed-out sheriff (Keith Carradine) normally crumbles in the face of Colonel Dolarhyde’s eagerness to throw his weight around.

Upon discovering that the stranger is actually a wanted criminal named Jake Lonergan, the sheriff mistakenly thinks that locking up both Dolarhyde’s son and the mysterious gunslinger is the answer.

The sleepy town of Absolution is then rudely awakened and greatly disturbed by an alien attack from low-flying aircraft that alternately strafes the village with rockets and snatches random victims like cattle being lassoed at the rodeo.

Inevitably, of course, Lonergan and Dolarhyde become reluctant allies who must find a way to mobilize the villagers and make peace with a local Indian tribe in order to fight a common enemy.

Director Favreau cleverly develops his human characters with keen dialogue and an earnest mission to save the Old West from extraterrestrial forces.

To his considerable credit, the director minimizes the obvious default to a surfeit of special effects nonsense involving the aliens that might have emerged from an inferior endeavor.

In a nod to the famous roles played by Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, much will be made of the teaming of James Bond and Indiana Jones. This is totally irrelevant save for the fact that these guys are bona fide action heroes.

Now that these two great actors have established their authenticity in Western roles, I’d pay good money to see them together again in the setting of the post-Civil War Western frontier without the science-fiction angle.

Nevertheless, “Cowboys & Aliens” mixes two genuine and identifiable film genres into a nearly seamless action picture for the sheer fun of delivering a wonderfully entertaining summer pleasure.

Indeed, from slimy, malformed and bug-eyed alien creatures to hardened range-roaming bandits, “Cowboys & Aliens” does not lack for warring parties in full-tilt battles that are exciting and thrilling.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

In this space, it is our frequent intention to highlight independent films that may not have been noticed elsewhere.

Premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, the gripping family “Trust” is now on DVD.

At its core, this is an unsettling film, in which 14-year-old Annie (Liana Liberato) meets her first boyfriend online, only later to discover in person that he is not what he claimed to be. No, this guy is a monster who brutally and too graphically rapes the young teen.

The best thing about the movie is the girl’s parents, played by superb actors Clive Owen and Catherine Keener, who are great to watch.

But the subject matter is disconcerting, to say the least, and the reactions of the rape victim’s peers are patently offensive.

A sexual predator preying on an underage girl is disturbing enough that “Trust” is the type I would prefer to avoid altogether.

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