Monday, 25 November 2024

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Arts & Life

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Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.

To celebrate the end of summer, here is a sonnet full of explosions by Maryann Corbett, who lives in Minnesota. It's from her book Street View, published by Able Muse Press.

State Fair Fireworks, Labor Day

Look up: blazing chrysanthemums in rose
shriek into bloom above the Tilt-a-Whirls,
hang for a blink, then die in smoky swirls.
They scream revolt at what the body knows:
all revels end. We clap and sigh. Then, no—
another rose! another peony! break,
flame, roar, as though by roaring they might make
the rides whirl in perpetuum. As though
we need not finally, wearily turn, to plow
back through the crush of bodies, the lank air,
two buses that inch us, sweating, across town.
As though we were not dropped in silence there
to trudge the last blocks home, the streetlamps low,
the crickets counting summer's seconds down.

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 ©2017 by Maryann Corbett, "State Fair Fireworks, Labor Day," from Street View, (Able Muse Press, 2017). Poem reprinted by permission of Maryann Corbett and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2018 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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“Honey There Are Squids Under the House” by Sage Abella. Photo by Middletown Art Center staff.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown Art Center is offering the “Surreal Collage Box – Mixed Media Assemblage” class this Saturday, Sept. 8, from 1 to 5 p.m. as part of the Restore project.

During the class participants will transform a finely-crafted cigar box into an expression of dreams, inner life, fantasy or treasures.

“We’ll engage in an artistic process of personal exploration and compositional considerations in 2-D and 3-D,” explained longtime artist and art educator Lauren Schneider who will be teaching the class.

MAC will provide cigar boxes, magazines, objects to choose from, paint, adhesives, inspiration and guidance.

Adults and teens 12-up of all levels of experience and skill with art making, newbie to pro, are invited bring photos, jewels, shells and mementos of all kinds to further personalize their work.

Space is limited so pre-registration is required at www.middletownartcenter.org/restore , or call 707-809-8118.

Restore workshops will run through May 2019. The project includes classes in sculpture, mixed media, creative writing and printmaking.

Through January, participants may come to one or many sessions and learn or refine skills in a variety of materials and techniques including clay, woodworking, metalworking, concrete, fiber, assemblage, drypoint and block printing among others.

Late winter and spring classes will focus on personal and collaborative projects, studio time, mentoring and guidance to create work.

MAC encourages folks to come to a series of classes and collaborate in project design and implementation for a new art walk on Rabbit Hill, and/or to work towards a large-scale personal work for exhibition at the EcoArts Sculpture Walk.

A public call for work for the sculpture walk will be posted in January. Entries to the sculpture walk will be juried.

The Restore project was made possible with support from the California Arts Council, a state agency, with additional support from local organizations, businesses, and individuals.

Learn more about Restore class scheduling at www.middletownartcenter.org. Visit www.ca.arts.gov to learn more about the California Arts Council’s important work in community’s and schools throughout California.

On Sunday Sept 16, also from 1 to 5 p.m., Russell Reza-Khaliq Gonzaga, Lake County Poet Laureate Emeritus, will return to MAC to lead the writers workshop a part of the Restore project.

On Sept. 29, the project will feature block printing with John Jennings. Both workshops will contribute to MAC’s second chapbook of writings and images, as well as work for readings or exhibition.

The first chapbook “Resilience - a community reframes disaster through art,” is available for purchase at MAC or on the MAC Web site.e

Be a part of the growing arts scene in South Lake County by becoming a MAC member, by joining MAC this Saturday and participating in Restore, or by coming to any of the many arts and cultural events or classes at MAC.

Visit www.middletownartcenter.org or like Middletown Art Center on Facebook to stay up to date with what’s happening at MAC.
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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Calling all parents to bring your mini Picasso to the Kelseyville Pear Festival on Saturday, Sept. 29, between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to have them be a part of the free collaborative community mural by the children of Lake County.

This free project will be set up in the children’s area next to The Saw Shop and all of the paints and art supplies will be provided.

Each participating child will receive a square block on the mural board to paint.

The murals will be displayed around our county.

There will be “artist support” to help little ones with their design’s, but a parent or guardian must also be present.

Let’s get “artsy” Lake County!

For more information on volunteering or sponsorship, please call Amber Sheridan at 707-245-5432.
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‘CARTER’ ON WGN AMERICA

The end of summer turns out to be the graveyard for the release of new movies. Nothing major looks to be on the horizon until after Labor Day. Cable networks try to fill the void with new series and WGN America brings us the Canadian series “Carter.”

Jerry O’Connell stars in the titular role as a Hollywood TV star by the name of Harley Carter who plays a fictional detective in the television crime procedural “Call Carter,” in which his screen name is Charlie Carter.

Harley’s career goes on hiatus after an embarrassing moment on the red carpet is caught on tape by one of those tabloid entertainment TV shows. He retreats to his hometown in Canada where people mostly call him Charlie and pester him for help to solve crimes.

One of his childhood friends, Sam (Sydney Poitier Heartsong), is on the police force in the town of Bishop, a small community that seemingly has a lot of crime for which Harley offers unsolicited advice based on his fictional sleuthing.

Another old friend, Dave (Kristian Bruun), runs a coffee truck, which makes him the caricature of the informant who knows what’s happening on the streets. Witty and sarcastic, Dave enjoys needling Harley because of some old lingering grudge.

Much to her annoyance, Sam starts to find that Harley’s goofball theories about the criminal acts of suspects are not so far off the mark. Of course, the competitive relationship between these two old friends becomes a bit flirtatious on a personal level.

Hardly past the first episode, the premise of “Carter” started to remind me of other shows, including the Canadian procedural, “Private Eyes,” which stars Jason Priestley as a pro hockey player who hooks up with an attractive partner to go into the detective business.

Not that there was anything inherent wrong about Priestley’s turn, but Jerry O’Connell slips very comfortably into his quirky role of the amateur detective who operates solely on the basis of intuition gleaned from a hit TV series.

Once Harley proves his worth and as ridiculous as it sounds, the town’s mayor wants to make him a “consulting detective.” Well, you can imagine how distasteful this proposal is to the chief of police who constantly threatens to lock up Harley for meddling at crime scenes.

Granted, “Carter” may not be great television destined to run for years. Yet, Jerry O’Connell’s character exudes boyish charm that makes the show a pleasant diversion.

LIFETIME CABLE’S FALL LINEUP OF TV FILMS

Lifetime has plans for an ambitious fall schedule of original movies that drop under the realm of a parent’s worst nightmare, tackling topics like mental health, suicide and teen domestic dating violence.

The TV films start off with “The Bad Seed,” which reinvents the iconic 1956 psychological horror film. Rob Lowe stars as a single father who seems to have everything under control, until a tragedy takes place at his daughter Emma’s (Mckenna Grace) school.

The father is forced to question everything he thought he knew about his beloved child, but slowly begins to question whether Emma’s exemplary behavior is a façade. Patty McCormack, who had the child’s role in the original film, stars as the psychiatrist who treats Emma.

“No One Would Tell,” a remake of a 1996 TV movie, explores the physical and emotional abuse in teen relationships. Shannen Doherty’s Laura is the single mom to Sarah (Matreya Scarrwener), who dates the charismatic Rob (Callan Porter).

When Sarah goes missing, Laura must fight for justice for Sarah when it turns out Rob has a dark, possessive side and has to be brought to trial presided over by a powerful judge (Mira Sorvino).

Inspired by a true story, “Conrad and Michelle: If Words Could Kill” reveals the tragic tale of Conrad Roy (Austin P. McKenzie), who was encouraged to commit suicide via text messages from his girlfriend, Michelle Carter (Bella Thorne).

Michelle and Conrad, two troubled souls, had a toxic relationship of dependency shared mainly by text messages. After encouraging the suicidal Conrad to take his life, Michelle ends up on trial and convicted of manslaughter for using words that result in tragedy.

“Believe Me: The Lisa McVey Story” is the true story of Lisa McVey (Katie Douglas) who was abducted and able to escape her captor only to have police and family question the validity of her claims.

Only a veteran detective finds credence in the details of Lisa’s story and his subsequent investigation brings about the realization that her abductor is the notorious serial killer that the Tampa police are hotly pursuing.

The dark, psychological drama “The Girl in the Bathtub” is inspired by the true story of Julia Law (Caitlin Stasey), a young paralegal who was found dead in the bathtub of her boss, a prominent Philadelphia attorney (Jason Patric).

The investigation of her death gets complicated by the fact that the boss was just of one of her three lovers, thereby raising questions about whether any of them may have had a motive to kill her.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown’s final “Movies in the Park” event of the summer will feature “Breaking Legs” on Saturday, Sept. 8.

It will be shown beginning at 8 p.m. in the park in front of the Middletown Senior Center and Library, 21256 Washington St.

The movie is rated PG-13 and geared toward junior high or high school students.

The event is free and open to the public.

Bring blankets and chairs.
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Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.


Carol V. Davis lives in California, and once was an artist-in-residence at the Homestead Monument in Nebraska, where I met her.

The following poem, her fourth to be published in this column, is from her 2017 book from Truman State University Press, “Because I Cannot Leave This Body.”

I'm a sucker for poems about customs.

Covering the Mirrors

After a funeral, they were covered with black cloth,
some draped with shawls like a scalloped valance.
Leftover sewing scraps, wool, linen, synthetic,
anything to shroud the odd-shaped mirrors,
though sometimes a corner was exposed like a woman
whose ankle peeks forbidden from under a long skirt.

A mourner must shun vanity during shiva, focusing inward
but as a child I wondered if this were to avoid ghosts,
for don't the dead take their time leaving?
I'm of a generation where grandparents disappeared,
great aunts with European accents,
rarely an explanation provided to us children.

My mother died too young.
With a baby in arms I couldn't bear to fling
that dark cloth over the glass.
After all she had come back from the dead so often,
even the doctors could not explain it.
Each time I looked in a mirror my mother gazed back.
I could never tell if she were trying to tell me something
or to take the baby with her.

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 ©2017 by Carol V. Davis, "Covering the Mirrors," from Because I Cannot Leave This Body, (Truman State University Press, 2017). Poem reprinted by permission of Carol V. Davis and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2018 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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