Patsy Hillman Park lake ready to rodeo

LUZERNE TWP. — One thousand catfish have been stocked at the lake in Patsy Hillman Park in preparation for Saturday’s fishing rodeo.

Luzerne Township Supervisor Greg Downer said at the park board meeting Wednesday that the free fishing event for children ages 6-12 will run from 9 a.m. until noon. The Brownsville chapter of the Izaak Walton League is sponsoring the event for the second straight year. Prizes will be given out for the largest fish caught during the event and for the largest fish caught by participants in several age brackets. All of the children will receive treat bags and a light lunch will be provided.

‘Snoopy’ sequel to be performed at Geyer Performing Arts Center

SCOTTDALE — “Snoopy,” the sequel to “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” will be presented June 5-8 at the Geyer Performing Arts Center, 111 N. Pittsburgh St., Scottdale.

The show will be performed at 8:15 p.m. June 5-7 and 3:15 p.m. June 8.

Tickets for the show are available by calling the theater at 724-887-0887.

Cast members include Nick Onesko as Snoopy, Jonathan Rohlf as Charlie Brown, Whitney Weimer as Lucy VanPelt, Kelly Tunney as Linus, Lexie Rohlf as Sally, Lienelle Gibson as Patty and Kara Rohlf as Woodstock.

As the curtain rises, each “Peanuts” character enters to join together in the first of many numbers — “The World Accounting to Snoopy.”

The series of vignettes, songs and dances, which follows, pulls the audience into the entertaining world of these 5 year olds and their furry friend.

Calkins’ critic reviews ‘Rambo’

For fans of hard-core exploitation movies, “Rambo” rocks.

The rugged R-rated picture, starring and directed by Sylvester Stallone, is the fourth title in the John Rambo franchise. It follows “First Blood” (1982), “Rambo: First Blood, Part II” (1985) and “Rambo III” (1988), which grossed $42.2 million, $150.4 million and $57.7 million, respectively, just in the United States and Canada.

In terms of action, “Rambo” (Lionsgate; $29.99, DVD; $34.99, two-disc special edition DVD; and $39.99, two-disc, special-edition Blu-ray Disc; May 27) is in a league of its own.

The intensely violent action picture might be titled “Apocalypse Pow.”

In this wild adventure, which grossed $42.7 million, Rambo is now living in Bangkok. He agrees to travel up river to Burma to rescue missionaries being slaughtered by a crazed military officer.

‘Sex and the City’ comes back on the big screen

They’re back.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall, who portray the stylish Carrie, the sweet Charlotte, the fiery Miranda and the sexy Samantha, respectively, move from HBO to the big screen in “Sex and the City: The Movie,” which opens May 30.

Four years have gone by since the actresses played New York City dwellers obsessed with beautiful clothes, expensive shoes, exotic drinks, fancy restaurants and available men. The R-rated picture, written and directed by 53-year-old Michael Patrick King, remains true to the appealing characters and follows them as each enters a new chapter of her life.

“Sex and the City: The Movie” was made under a veil of secrecy so that fans wouldn’t know what to expect, but that doesn’t mean that the four stars aren’t talking about some aspects of the highly anticipated film.

Pittsburgh musicians land first CD

By Julie Toye

When Bill Deasy and Rich Jacques, two of Pittsburgh’s most highly showcased musicians of the 1990s, got together in 2007 in Los Angeles to write music, they ended up forging a comfortable partnership called Thomas Jefferson’s Aeroplane that took off and landed with the duo’s first CD, “The Invisible Ocean.”

Initially, Deasy, former lead singer of The Gathering Field, and Jacques, former lead guitarist of Brownie Mary, hoped their collaboration to write a few songs would lead to opportunities to market their music for television and/or movie soundtracks.

Jacques has already been establishing himself on the west coast by working with Ben Affleck on the music for “Hollywoodland” and has had songs featured in the film, “The Breakup,” with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. His songs also have been included in television soundtracks on ABC’s “Men in Trees,” the PBS special, “Carriers” and MTV’s “Newport Harbour.”

For more details, see Friday’s Weekend Scene.

Calkins’ critic reviews ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

One of filmdom’s toughest action heroes goes slightly soft in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

It’s nostalgic fun to see Harrison Ford put on his fedora and snap his bullwhip in this awaited follow-up, but even though the actor still looks ready to rumble at age 65, there’s a more-tired-than-inspired quality to the adventure epic.

Director Steven Spielberg, co-writer/producer George Lucas and Ford long wanted to create a follow-up to the first three titles — “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984) and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) — in the wildly successful franchise. They pledged to provide some old-school fights and plot surprises, and they partially deliver on that promise.

The story is punctuated by plenty of complicated crashes, gun shots (by villains who seem to constantly fire and never hit anything), raging battles and great escapes, but the talents involved, who took 19 years to bring “Crystal Skull” to the screen, seem to be following a simplistic formula and often forget a key ingredient: thrills.

For more entertainment news, see the Weekend Scene in Friday’s Herald-Standard.

Kennywood owners OK amusement park sale to Spanish firm

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) _ A spokeswoman for Kennywood Entertainment says the family-owned amusement park chain has approved its sale to a Spanish firm that manages dozens of amusement, animal and water parks in the United States and Europe.
Kennywood’s owners are 76 descendants of two men who bought the suburban Pittsburgh park in 1906, F.W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan.
Madrid-based Parques Reunidos hopes to close on the sale by the end of the month.
Terms have not been disclosed and the deal must still be approved by the Federal Trade Commission and Connecticut regulators.
The sale includes Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Idlewild & SoakZone in Ligonier and Sandcastle Waterpark in West Homestead. It also includes Lake Compounce Theme Park in Bristol, Conn., and Story Land in Glen, N.H.

Copyright Associated Press 2008

Uniontown Art Club to hold Fine Art and Craft Exhibition

By Christy Murdoch

FARMINGTON — Art is alive and well in the Laurel Highlands and can be appreciated in its many mediums now through May 31 when the Uniontown Art Club holds a regional juried Fine Art and Craft Exhibition and Sale in the Great Room of the main lodge of the Touchstone Center for Crafts.

An opening reception for artists’ awards took place from 5 to 8 p.m. May 10. A “meet the artists” reception will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, which will coincide with Touchstone Center’s spring open house and the National Road Festival.

The Uniontown Art Club and the Touchstone Center are distinguished art entities in their own right, but board members for each said that the organizations are aligned in representation of all mediums of residential crafts and are thrilled to be partnering for this exhibit.

The art club has been in existence for 81 years and according to Nancy McChesney, club president, it has consistently and visibly brought the finest arts and crafts to the area.

‘Stargess Goes to Hollywood’ coming to Scottdale Performing Arts Center

By Christy Murdoch

SCOTTDALE — He’s back for a second act. That outrageously whacky character, Roy Stargess, who keeps audiences rollicking as he absurdly, yet astutely solves a murder mystery is in a new comedic play “Stargess Goes to Hollywood.”

The play is a sequel in a series and second after “The Cold Man,” which was recently presented at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale.

“It was received well,” according to Richard Means, general manager at the Geyer and director of production for the “Cold Man” and “Stargess” plays.

“The Cold Man,” a detective story set in Scottdale, centers around the fictional character, Roy Stargess, a former cop fired from the force for his chronic over-indulgence of alcohol. A failed attempt as a private detective leads Stargess to yet another career — journalism. He joins the staff of the Scottdale Sentinel as a reporter and is disappointed when he is assigned to school board and municipal authority board meetings.

Vincent’s Gallery opens in Hopwood

HOPWOOD — A ribbon-cutting and grand-opening ceremony was held recently for Vincent’s Gallery in Hopwood, which is operated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

In addition to handcrafted items from Fayette County, the gallery will see handcrafted items from other parts of Appalachia.

The gallery will sell the items for the artists/crafters, reserving a small consignment fee to help offset the monthly utility and rent costs.

Volunteers from local churches will staff the store.

The gallery will provide supplemental income for the poor, seniors on limited income and anyone else with artistic talent.

By selling arts and crafts at the gallery, poor people and people living on limited incomes will have an opportunity to survive and improve the quality of their lives while building up the local community and economy.