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Beth Aiken, longtime member of the Lake County Symphony is a soloist in the Baroque Concert. She will play “Oboe Concert in B Flat Major” by German-born English composer George Frideric Handel. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Symphony's Chamber Orchestra will play Baroque music on Sunday, Aug. 18, at 2 p.m. at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport.

This concert will have open seating along with tables set up in “Night Club" style. There will not be a discounted open rehearsal performance for this concert. Tickets are $15 for adults with no charge for those under 18.

A chamber orchestra is a smaller group of musicians which, during the Baroque period (1600-1750), would often perform at peoples’ homes and in smaller venues.

The concerto and the sonata were new styles at that time, pioneered by Bach, Vivaldi and Handel.

Much of what we know as “Baroque” originated in Italy, including the cantata, concerto, sonata, oratorio, and opera and uses contrast as a dramatic element.

Music for this concert will include “Serenade in D” by Wolfgang Mozart. Although he is an early classical composer, this piece was written in the Concertino-Ripieno style which was popular in the Baroque era in which a smaller group of virtuoso instrumentalists (Concertino) plays in contrast to the larger group (Ripieno).

The soloists in the “Concertino” group are Andi Skelton and Sue Condit, violins; Jeff Ives, viola; and John Weeks, cello.

Another selection by Austrian classical composer Franz Joseph Haydn is Trumpet Concerto in E Flat, and features local musician and symphony member Gary Miller as soloist.

Beth Aiken, another longtime member of the symphony, will be soloist for the “Oboe Concerto in B Flat Major” by German-born English composer George Frideric Handel.

The orchestra will also play Symphony No. 5 by Baroque English composer William Boyce. It is in the three-movement format that was popular in the Baroque era before the four-movement symphony of the classical era.

The program will also include the familiar “Entrance of the Queen of Sheba,” the Sinfonia” that opens Act 3 of Handel’s Oratorio “Solomon.” It is a bright and sprightly orchestra piece featuring two oboes and strings. This piece has often been used outside the context of the oratorios as a processional piece, as when it was featured at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.

Tickets may be purchased at www.soperreesetheatre.com or by phone at 707-263-0577.

Tickets will be available the day of the performance two hours before show time.
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Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.

There are so many delightful poems by Faith Shearin that it can be difficult to select just one to show you.

This one is from her sixth book, “Darwin's Daughter,” published in 2017 by Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Faith Shearin lives in West Virginia.

Blue Elvis

It was August 1977 when Elvis Presley fell
face down on his Graceland bathroom floor;
by the time paramedics arrived, he was

cold and blue. I knew this because I was with
my grandmother, Belle, who called her sister,
Geraldine, who came over at once so we

could watch the news. My grandmother knew
Elvis liked peanut butter on white bread
with American cheese, eaten in his jungle room

which had Tiki chairs, fur lampshades,
a waterfall. Other neighbors arrived:
women in short skirts, women who

brought with them more of the food Elvis
loved: coconut cakes, fried chicken, bacon.
Elvis was dead, and summer had been so

hot the things we touched burned our hands:
handles of garden hoses, car doors,
the metal swing set my grandfather

built for me on the back lawn. I listened
to the sound of southern women's voices
expressing disbelief; they said I swan

and I pictured something rippling
and solitary; they said Well, shut my mouth and
I saw blue Elvis, falling.


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 ©2018 by Faith Shearin, "Blue Elvis," from Darwin's Daughter, (Stephen F. Austin State University Press, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Faith Shearin 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.
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – “Smallfoot” is Middletown’s “Movies in the Park” feature for August.

The film begins at dusk in the park in front of the Middletown Senior Center and Library, 21266 Calistoga Road.

“Smallfoot” tells the story of Migo, a friendly Yeti who encounters a human and takes him back to his village.

The film is free and open to the public, and suitable for the whole family.

Bring chairs, blankets and a picnic.

The August film is hosted by Callayomi County Water District, and underwritten by Hardester’s Markets and Hardware.
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“Witnessing” by Alana Clearlake.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center announces its upcoming fourth wildfire commemorative exhibit “All That Is Now.”

This year, the MAC has invited artists from all over the Northern California region to participate with work that explores the breadth of the wildfire experience, its aftermath, ongoing recovery, and the acceptance of what Is now.

There is still time to submit work. The exhibit will open with a reception on Friday, Sept. 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. and runs through mid-November.

Each year since the devastating Valley fire of 2015, the MAC has hosted a commemorative exhibit and poetry reading to honor our collective experience, memorialize loss, and celebrate our healing.

About half of MAC's 60 affiliated artists at the time lost their homes and studios or place of work in the Fire.

The Valley fire of 2015 still burns in the fabric of everyday life in south Lake County, and that loss is reinforced each year with more fires.

Since 2012, more than 50 percent of Lake County has burned, and Lake County shares the wildfire experience with communities throughout the region.

“Making and viewing art has the capacity to heal and reframe trauma by giving expression to the experience through materials, color, and form,” said Lisa Kaplan, director of the MAC. “We are honored that artists from neighboring counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte and the rest of California are submitting work. We continue to encourage artists who have responded to the experience in their work to join us for what is sure to be a very compelling exhibit.”

Artist submissions close on Wednesday, Aug. 21, with accepted work delivered to the MAC on Monday, Sept. 9.

For information on how to submit, visit www.middletownartcenter.org/artists.

Samples of work from previous commemorative fire exhibits at MAC can be viewed at www.middletownartcenter.org/exhibits.

Middletown Art Center is an arts nonprofit located at 21456 State Highway 175 at the junction of Highway 29 in the heart of Middletown.

To stay up to date on classes, exhibits and events, and support this valuable Lake County arts and culture resource visit www.middletownartcenter.org.

“Time for Mending” by Terry Church. Photo courtesy of the Middletown Art Center
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‘FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW’ (Rated PG-13)

The appeal of the latest film in “The Fast & Furious” universe requests squarely on the broad shoulders of fan favorites Dwayne Johnson (still “The Rock” to many of us) and Jason Statham.

A shorthand review need only state that if you liked the previous films in the franchise, then chances are “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” has to be on your radar.

On the other hand, if you are the least bit ambivalent or worse, or you couldn’t make the slog through all of the previous eight films, skipping this one could be an option.

Keep in mind, however, that “Hobbs & Shaw” is a departure from the norm. For instance, Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto is neither present nor mentioned, and as a result, this one doesn’t feel like an entry in the “Furious” canon.

Hulking lawman Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a loyal American agent, and lawless outcast Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s “Furious 7.”

The duo were not in any way compatible, swapping smack talk and body blows as they tried to take each other down. What happens when these two sworn enemies have to team up is the genesis of “Hobbs & Shaw.”

The bad guy is a superb Idris Elba as the cyber-genetically enhanced Brixton, an indestructible super soldier with the misguided notion of unleashing biological destruction of most of the world’s population.

Shaw’s estranged sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), a fearless MI6 agent, has gone rogue after retrieving the top secret bio weapon that Hobbs and Shaw are tasked to find. Needless to say, Brixton goes on a wild killing spree while in the hunt.

With plenty of banter and one-liners mixed in with the action-packed globetrotting adventure, the incessant physical battles and shootouts are occasionally interrupted by family reunions, such as Shaw visiting his imprisoned mother, the wonderful Helen Mirren.

“Hobbs & Shaw” checks the boxes of action and car chases, and of silliness and humor. Late in the game, the thin plot becomes even more noticeable but by then no one cares. You came to see Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in action, and that’s what matters most.

AMAZON SUMMER SHOWS ON TV

Just like its competitor Netflix, Amazon Prime Video does not adhere to network television’s traditional rollout of new shows. New series pop up in every season, offering more choices than any sentient being has time to consume.

Amazon’s successful global network is undeniable, as Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, noted during the summer TV press tour that the “most successful shows ever on the history of our service are the ones that have debuted over the last year.”

For the summer, Amazon provides an antidote to the excesses of the superhero genre with the new series “The Boys,” which is a counterpart to the world of the costumed idols in the Marvel and DC Comics universe.

Superheroes are no longer noble or even heroic in a place where Hughie (Jack Quaid) suffers a devastating loss at the hands of a reckless superhero and discovers there is no legal recourse for victims of their collateral damage.

While still reeling from his trauma, Hughie meets mysterious operative Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who recruits him in his pursuit of some vigilante justice against those who are not exactly caped crusaders for the public good.

“The Boys” is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods, abuse their superpowers.

A band of outsiders embark on a quest to expose the truth about The Seven, which consists of warriors that bear a thinly-veiled resemblance to the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, among others.

Arriving in late August is the one-hour drama series “Carnival Row,” set in a Victorian fantasy world filled with mythological immigrant creatures whose exotic homelands were invaded by the empires of man.

This growing population struggles to coexist with humans, forbidden to live, love, or fly with freedom. But even in darkness, hopes lives when two central characters spark an illicit romance.

Orlando Bloom’s human detective Rycroft Philostrate, and a refugee faerie named Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevigne) rekindle a dangerous affair despite an increasingly intolerant society.

Vignette harbors a secret that endangers Philostrate’s world during his most important case yet, consisting of a string of gruesome murders threatening the uneasy peace of the Row.

Not surprisingly, peculiar characters inhabit the series. Simon McBurney is an eccentric traveling showman leading a troupe of strange creatures.

David Gyasi’s Agreus is a mysterious wealthy faun who moves into an affluent human neighborhood in defiance of the social order. Many more odd characters populate the social divide.

Amazon has faith in “Carnival Row” because Jennifer Salke revealed, even before the series’ debut, that the company is so excited and invested in the show that it’s been renewed for a second season.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.

Lately I've been worried about the welfare of a young groundhog who lives under our front deck. His back legs won't support him and he drags them behind.

This poem has been a good lesson for me. That groundhog is neither MY groundhog, nor does he need my pity.

This poem is by Gary Whitehead of New York, from his book A Glossary of Chickens: Poems, published by Princeton University Press.

One-Legged Pigeon

In a flock on Market,
just below Union Square,
the last to land
and standing a little canted,
it teetered—I want to say now
though it's hardly true—
like Ahab toward the starboard
and regarded me
with blood-red eyes.
We all lose something,
though that day
I hadn't lost a thing.
I saw in that imperfect bird
no antipathy, no envy, no vengeance.
It needed no pity,
but just a crumb,
something to hop toward.


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 ©2013 by Princeton University Press, "One-Legged Pigeon," by Gary J. Whitehead, from A Glossary of Chickens: Poems, (Princeton University Press, 2013). Poem reprinted by permission of Gary J. Whitehead 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.You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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