Host Phil Mathewson sang his song “Lilly Langtry” about the famous actress and the well-known local winery to open the show and then introduced Hamed, who tickled the ivories on the house piano. One guest suggested Hamed should study at Julliard after high school graduation since he is that good.

Then Craig H., also a high school student, did his comedy routine covering subjects from old movie stars to Viagra. Maybe we’ll see him on “Last Comic Standing” someday.

Robert Stark, songwriter/singer, did a rock song and a torch song, “9:30 at Night”, which he had performed previously at the Art Council’s Winterfest.

The dynamic duo of Tom Nixon and Doug Kaufman performed their original tunes including “Headin' up to Clearlake” and “29,” both songs about Lake County. They both perform in a local band, as does Chris, whose band “From the Ashes” has a musical video “I’m a Ghost” on myspace.com/Thursdaysixxteen. Chris also performed “Smile” which will become a music video when he has a little more money.

Philip Martin changed the pace with his magic tricks which get better each time he performs. He always has different card tricks and this time he did tricks with cups and balls.

Allen Markowski sang “25 Years Ago” and ‘The Shoemaker” which had the audience joining in on the chorus. Allen was in charge of filming the performances for Channel 8 so everyone can see the open mic eventually. He has big plans for the Channel to make it more accessible to the public.

Dennis Crisp, who also assisted with the filming, came on stage to sing his songs about playing cards with the devil and a black widow spider.

Donavon, one of our regular performers, did two of his original tunes “ When I Come Home” and “Amnesia” in a forceful performance.

Greg Bloom, first-time performer, sang a two of his favorite songs.

Lourdes, as one of two poets, did three original poems. Her poems such as “Reflections on a Sunset” and “Homer” have great visual qualities. Dick Flowers recited two of his poems, “Liverwurst for Wear” and “G.W” which reflected his political views. Neon Napalm, which is her real name, did a great rap song that could rival any of the top rappers today.

The open mic went into extended time to have encores of Hamed’s piano genius, Tom and Doug’s road songs, and Philip Martin’s magic tricks. Philip’s tricks included card cutting and four aces which were inspired by Dennis Crisp’s "If You Cut Cards with the Devil” song.

We had 13 performers and an appreciative audience of many more at our biggest open mic ever. Next month should be even bigger so come early for a good seat and look for us on Channel 8. Last month’s open mic will not be televised due to technical difficulties with the equipment but this month’s filming went well.

The cafe is located at 301 Main St., Lakeport and welcomes drop in performers.

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This is an originals-only open mic, which allows only your own work or public domain work to be performed.

Listeners are encouraged to come by and clap, whistle or stomp for our performers. All ages are welcome.

Call Phil for questions, 263-3391.

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Counting cards while playing blackjack in Vegas casinos isn’t illegal, but it would be unwise to try to convince a pit boss on the finer points of the law. According to “21,” you could end up in the hotel basement, facing the business end of the fists of a casino enforcer, which in the case of this movie arrives courtesy of the very intimidating Laurence Fishburne. Since the mob has given way to corporate sharks, ejection from a casino is more often a case of being asked to leave and never return.

Loosely inspired by Ben Mezrich’s book “Bringing Down the House,” the story of math geniuses at MIT who beat Vegas at its own game, “21” is an obvious dramatization that seeks to punch up the caper with high stakes action, close calls with security staff and the glitzy seduction of the glamorous Vegas lifestyle.

Brilliant college students succeeded at raking in millions by card-counting, but they likely ran the operation as a well-oiled machine that stuck to a serious business model. As a movie is wont to do, “21” glamorizes Vegas as if it were on the payroll of the Chamber of Commerce.

The linchpin of the “21” caper is shy, brilliant MIT senior Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), who’s been accepted to Harvard Medical School but either needs to win a coveted scholarship or must cough up $300,000 for tuition.

On both counts, Ben’s prospects look bleak until he’s noticed by unorthodox math professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), who runs his classroom as if students were contestants on “Jeopardy.” Actually, the professor is on the lookout for talented pupils with an aptitude for numbers.

Moonlighting as the head of a card-counting ring, Professor Rosa recruits Ben to his inner circle of gifted students who take weekend trips from Boston to Vegas for fun and profit. Clandestine meetings take place at night in vacant classrooms, as Rosa instructs his charges on the intricacies of counting cards and employing strategies to evade detection by casino security.

Ben is quickly attracted to the cause by the presence of smart and sexy teammate Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth). It’s not surprising, then, that they later find more in common than just a deck of cards. What’s a caper without the romantic angle that threatens the whole setup?

Seduced by more than a pretty girl and a ton of money, Ben pushes the limits of his mathematical abilities. In the process, his exceptional skills rather quickly alienate the team’s blackjack prodigy, the mercurial and arrogant Fisher (Jacob Pitts), who proves exceedingly resentful at becoming second fiddle to the newcomer. The estrangement between the two card players kicks in the right note of tension to spice up the plot. Otherwise, we just have to marvel how Choi (Aaron Yoo) and Kianna (Liza Lapira) go about the task of playing spotters, flashing signals about a table being hot or whether it is time to flee in haste.

The signal-calling doesn’t come fast enough to save Ben from a particularly nasty encounter with Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), an old school security specialist with a knack for finding card counters just by simple observation and gut instinct. Before getting caught, Ben and his crew are very audacious, but since the kids are perhaps too smart for their own good, they get caught up in the idea of their perceived invincibility. “21” turns on a character study of how the mild-mannered Ben is swept up by the glitzy lifestyle. More than just being seduced by the heady rush of gambling, Ben also has a showdown with the professor over his authoritarian style.

In the end, “21” strains to find a reasonable climax to the mounting tension induced by turmoil within the ranks and the unraveling of the team’s anonymity. As if playing cat-and-mouse with the casinos is not exciting enough, the plot winds up with a series of double-crosses that seem forced and gratuitous. And yet, “21” is fun to watch because Kevin Spacey is chewing up the scenery as usual.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

To be sure, there are plenty of newer film titles being released on DVD. I choose instead to point out the new Collector’s Editions on some old favorites, which are closely timed to the start of the baseball season.

“Bull Durham” is the comedy classic about sex and sport that follows a minor-league baseball fan (Susan Sarandon) and the love triangle she creates in the clubhouse between an up-and-coming pitcher (Tim Robbins) and the mentor catcher (Kevin Costner) assigned to him. The Collector’s Edition contains five all-new behind-the-scenes featurettes.

The true story of the “Black Sox” scandal of 1919 where the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series is sharply realized in the underrated “Eight Men Out.”

Lastly, acting legend Gary Cooper stars as the legendary Lou Gehrig in “Pride of the Yankees,” featuring seven brand new featurettes.

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

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"Everything's Cool," says the White House. Go on, buy that big, bad SUV (you know you want it!). Buy those expensive gallons of gas to get that SUV from Point A to Point B. (If you don't, that SUV won't budge.) Besides, Fox News knows a scientist or two still declaring that global warming is a harmless prank played from time to time by a feckless Mother Nature.

However, most scientists and many others, including government experts, have known the facts about climate change (far more complex than mere "warming") for decades. Why didn't we, the people, hear about its reality and its effects back in 1987? After all, we would have had a 20-year head start on making the many changes needed to prevent climate change's worst extremes.

The inspiring documentary "Everything's Cool" chronicles the history of efforts by big media and the White House to completely suppress, distort, and misrepresent the science and the facts. Along the way we get to know some of the quiet heroes whose determination to get the facts out have resulted in our current knowledge – however tardy.

One is Bill McKibben, environmental activist and author of the seminal 1987 book, "The End of Nature." Another is the self-effacing, Pulitzer-Prize-winning NYT journalist Ross Gelbspan. Both have fought the good fight for over 20 years, even though they often felt despair in the face of the facts on the one hand, and censorship and lies on the other.

And this is the other really good reason to come to see this free movie: In the face of a scary reality, these and the other quirky heroes in this lively, fascinating film find the courage and heart to remain optimistic while working every day to be as effective as they can be in their self-appointed jobs. They make inspiring role models.

"Everything's Cool" will be screened on Sunday, April 13. As always, Second Sunday Cinema's films are free.

The much-appreciated venue is the Clearlake United Methodist Church at 14521 Pearl Ave., in Clearlake.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for early birds who want to grab a good seat, a snack, perhaps, and a chat with an acquaintance. (We encourage this friendly behavior!) There's also time for discussion or schmoozing after the film. More information is available at 279-2957. We hope to see you there!

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If you're wedded to conventional architectural design from other times you're not likely to see the beauty of these buildings. Might as well stop reading right now.

Lance Hosey, an international specialist in green building who wrote the introduction, is a columnist for Architect magazine. In April, 2007, he wrote “Sustainability need not hamper innovation — in fact, it requires it — but green architects have focused their ingenuity almost exclusively on materials and methods. As a result, the work is not always easy on the eyes. The ugly truth about green building is that much of it is ugly.”

You won't find ugly in this collection of designs from Europe to Australia (several in California). You'll find space and light, consideration of the landscape and a great deal of practical information on building green and sustainable.

Author Sergi Costa Duran lives in Barcelona and studied agricultural engineering with an emphasis on environmental preservation at Spain's University of Lleida. That seems worth noting for a couple of reasons; Spain's very long coastline and desert interior give it some serious environmental vulnerability. And, since the end of the Franco regime, the long-repressed country has been fairly bursting with innovation in the arts.

Green Homes presents some fascinating innovations in sustainable architecture and fresh design. For instance, Seatrain House, in a Los Angeles community of 300 lofts incorporating shipping containers, with grain trailers used as a small pond and a lap pool.

The book features 35 projects, including houses, apartments, offices, sports facilities, and factories. It explores various aspects of green design, from its ecological and economical benefits, to factors considered when choosing materials: how much energy went into manufacturing the product, whether it is long lasting, and whether it can be recycled or safely disposed of as it breaks down over time. Specific topics covered include climate regulation, drainage systems, and regional planning. Each project contains photographs, floor plans and detailed drawings that illustrate certain sustainable features, revealing how much the parameters of ecological design have expanded in recent years.

E-mail Sophie Annan Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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“Duma Key” is one of those for me, with mesmerizing sections on his protagonist's newly discovered talent for painting, interspersed with sections I'd just as soon skip on horrors and creepy crawlies. That's not because they scare me – they don't, in fact, I usually find them pretty amusing – but because they seem shallow next to his explorations of relationships and the psyche.

Interspersed with chapters on the horrific history of a longtime Florida family, he gives us some little gems on creation, titled

How to Draw a Picture. They could just as well be called How to Write, or How to Live. Samples:

I: “Start with a blank surface.”

IV: “Start with what you know, then reinvent it.”

XI: “Don't quit until the picture's complete. . . . Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter.”

In some ways, his best yet, especially for explorations of male friendship, female variety and the art world.

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Lake County author Kit Sloane, drawing on visits to her daughter-in-law's home in Panama, moves her movie-themed mystery series there from its usual wine country locations.

Film editor Margot O'Banion and director Max Skull are about to make their first independent feature film, The Big Ditch, with their own money and an investor. Trouble is, the investor disappears almost as soon as they arrive in Panama, before he tells them where the money is. Their male star arrives with his spiritual guide from a cult called Fateology and his flamboyant agent, two women with nothing in common except a desire to control the poor guy. The cult has the motto "stardom is coming", and should be more fun than it is.

While Margot races around the country trying to find the missing investor, a new money man with some dubious Colombian ties appears, quickly followed by another Fateologist, a movie star turned enforcer, who wants the Colombian off the scene.

E-mail Sophie Annan Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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