The following is a list of the performances – dates, times and venues.

– Saturday, July 23, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Zino’s Ristorante, 6330 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Reservations: 707-279-1620.

– Sunday, July 24, noon to 3 p.m.: Calistoga Inn, Sunday brunch, outdoor patio. Reservations: 707-942-4101.

– Saturday, July 30, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: With “Short Stax,” (the new instrumental soul, funk, rhythm and blues trio including Neft and two other members of Bill Noteman & the Rockets), Lake County Wine Adventure Moore Family Winery, Bottle Rock Road, Cobb.

– Saturday, July 30, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Zino’s Ristorante, 6330 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Reservations: 707-279-1620.

– Sunday, July 31, noon to 3 p.m.: Calistoga Inn, Sunday brunch, outdoor patio. Reservations: 707-942-4101.

– Saturday, Aug. 6, 1:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.: Bill Noteman & the Rockets, first time ever, at the Sonoma County Fair.

– Sunday, Aug. 14, 6 p.m.; Short Stax are opening for blues great Robert Cray at Ukiah’s Park Concert series, 6 pm. Free.

For more information call 707-522-0283. E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to get Neft's monthly schedule sent directly to your inbox.

The films will be shown at the grange, located at 12982 Highway 20, Clearlake Oaks.

“Laughology” will be shown at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, with an accompanying laughter yoga session. For more information visit www.hopedance.org/events/icalrepeat.detail/2011/07/13/5428 .

At 6 p.m. Thursday, July 14, “Farmageddon” will be shown, to be followed at 8 p.m. by “First Earth.”

For more information about the films see www.hopedance.org/events/icalrepeat.detail/2011/07/14/5426.

The suggested donation is $10 for each night. No one will be turned away.

The Noble Singers by Max Seabaugh.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Auditions for this year’s annual Renaissance Christmas Pageant & Feast will be held at the Methodist Church on Armstrong street in Middletown on Saturday, July 23, at 11 a.m.

This will be the 18th year of the pageant, which is held the first two weeks of December every year.

They need singers, dancers, actors, musicians, jugglers and magicians.

This is interactive theater-in-the-round, and is a magical Christmas experience attended by theater-goers from all over California and beyond.

For the audition, singers will be singing a capella (without accompaniment) in four- to eight-part harmony, and will be expected to sing an a capella solo and be able to show an ability to harmonize.

A photo and theater resumé will be helpful but not required.

For more information call Claudia Listman at 707-350-4016 or e-mail claudja1@gmail.

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

I don’t often mention literary forms, but of this lovely poem by Cecilia Woloch I want to suggest that the form, a villanelle, which uses a pattern of repetition, adds to the enchantment I feel in reading it. It has a kind of layering, like memory itself. Woloch lives and teaches in southern California.

My Mother's Pillow

My mother sleeps with the Bible open on her pillow;

she reads herself to sleep and wakens startled.

She listens for her heart: each breath is shallow.

For years her hands were quick with thread and needle.

She used to sew all night when we were little;

now she sleeps with the Bible on her pillow

and believes that Jesus understands her sorrow:

her children grown, their father frail and brittle;

she stitches in her heart, her breathing shallow.

Once she even slept fast, rushed tomorrow,

mornings full of sunlight, sons and daughters.

Now she sleeps alone with the Bible on her pillow

and wakes alone and feels the house is hollow,

though my father in his blue room stirs and mutters;

she listens to him breathe: each breath is shallow.

I flutter down the darkened hallway, shadow

between their dreams, my mother and my father,

asleep in rooms I pass, my breathing shallow.

I leave the Bible open on her pillow.

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 © 2003 by Cecilia Woloch, whose most recent book of poetry is Narcissus, Tupelo Press, 2008. Reprinted from Late, by Cecilia Woloch, published by BOA Editions, Rochester, NY, 2003, by permission of Cecilia Woloch. 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.

LARRY CROWNE (Rated PG-13)

It’s only fitting that Tom Hanks is the titular character in “Larry Crowne,” seeing how the movie is nearly his own one-man show.

This is so because, in addition to being the star, Hanks is the director, co-producer and co-writer. He is also quite possibly the key grip and lighting technician, but I’m not sure.

“Larry Crowne” is a light comic soufflé, somewhat akin to a television sitcom, possibly as a result of script collaboration with co-writer Nia Vardalos, of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” fame.

For a story that involves its central character getting cashiered from his middle-level management post at a big-box store, “Larry Crowne” is surprisingly upbeat and almost cheerful in the face of such adversity.

Of course, Tom Hanks is always suited to the role of an Everyman, in this case one middle-aged Larry Crowne, recently divorced and one missed mortgage payment away from foreclosure.

On a sunny morning at a bland suburban location, Larry shows up for work as his usual chirpy self, expecting that he may likely be once again the company’s employee of the month.

To his shock and dismay, Larry learns that his bosses have decided to fire him because he lacks a college education. His service in the U.S. Navy just doesn’t cut it in the big-box retailing world.

After a fruitless search for a new job, Larry decides to enroll at the local community college. The economics class is taught by a weird professor (George Takei in a truly wacky, funny performance).

The far more challenging class is the one on public speaking, taught by the nonchalant Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), who has a less than positive attitude about her job and her pupils.

For obvious reasons, the story gets caught up in the tawdry details of Mercedes’ personal life. If only for the moment, the professor is stuck in a crumbling marriage.

Coming home from another day of educational drudgery, Mercedes finds that her husband (Bryan Cranston), once a respected author, is more interested in spending time on the Internet in search of porn.

Meanwhile, as his financial situation deteriorates, Larry shuns his SUV in favor of a motor scooter to commute to school. This leads him to fall in with a group of like-minded scooter enthusiasts.

The affable Larry is soon caught up in a flirtatious relationship with pretty, spirited Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), leader of the motorbike crew, much to the dismay of her jealous boyfriend Dell (Wilmer Valderrama).

In relatively short order, Talia brings a much-needed makeover to the staid Larry, changing his entire wardrobe, bringing feng shui to his house and renaming him with the hipster moniker of “Lance Corona.”

While this innocent flirtation between Larry and Talia is diverting, the real chemistry heats up when Mercedes takes greater notice of her best student.

It all begins in a moment of weakness after Mercedes has had one too many drinks. Seeking to cope with myriad problems, the hard-drinking professor has an affinity for margaritas and a sudden hankering for her mature pupil.

Henceforth, the storyline of “Larry Crowne” inhabits a rather obvious direction that one would expect from an easily predictable romantic comedy.

Though “Larry Crowne” is a modest confection, it is one that is entirely satisfying because the amiable Hanks and the charismatic Roberts are eminently watchable and enjoyable together.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

I’ve mentioned it before that the detective TV series “Mannix” was always one of the best shows of its genre.

The release of “Mannix: Season Five” is further proof that my assessment stands the test of time. Mike Connors, in the role of the hard-boiled and gritty private eye, continued to succeed in bringing excitement to his role of Joe Mannix.

“Mannix: Season Five” includes all 24 action-packed episodes. So far, I have watched about a half-dozen of the episodes, and I can say they are as good as any from the previous four seasons.

Like many TV detectives, Mannix defied the rules and regulations and was able to handle all the fist fights, high-speed car chases and bullet wounds that came his way.

Yet, Mike Connors was unlike many of his peers, because he truly delivered the goods in great style. “Mannix: Season Five” is a must for those who love the adventures of a tough and cynical private investigator.

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

The films will be shown at Clearlake United Methodist Church, 14521 Pearl Ave. in Clearlake.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The films will start at 6 p.m.

“The Life of Rife” describes a nontoxic procedure to harmlessly destroy pathogens and harmonize the human system.

Royal Rife, an American scientist, invented one of the world’s strongest microscopes. Then he created a radio frequency machine that destroyed specific problematic microorganisms without harming the host’s cells or anything else. The film shows a "germ" explode when exposed to the appropriate frequency. The film runs one hour.

In “In The School” views will meet the students and founder of the Tekos School in Russia, which achieves impressive results using a holistic approach to education.

It fully empowers students to take responsibility for their education, freeing the inherent genius (and happiness) of each. The film lasts half an hour.

Follows the films, naturopathic doctor will speak on his practice of naturopathy, which takes the way of nature, using herbal, nutritional, homeopathic and lifestyle measures to strengthen the body's innate ability to heal.