A Byrd's Eye View-Nov 30, 2012

December 1, 2012

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ABOUT MOVIES, TV, ARTS AND EVENTS IN THE VALLEY

Skyfall Presents A Different Bond Experience That Doesn’t Disappoint

by Art Byrd I remember seeing my first James Bond movie in a theater for my birthday. It was Live and Let Die with Roger Moore as James Bond. I remember my pure excitement to see Bond on the big screen for the first time.

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Some years later, I would get that same excitement for each Bond movie released. Especially, now with Daniel Craig, who is a more tougher and straightforward Bond, than the campy Moore. For the record, Sean Connery is my favorite Bond.

I really have enjoyed Craig’s Bond in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Now his third turn as Bond, Craig doesn't disappoint in Skyfall.

Skyfall is a little different than the regular Bond movie because it goes more into the characters like “M” play by Judi Dench (Notes of A Scandal) and Bond himself.

The movie starts off with Bond and other agent, Eve played by Naomie Harris (28 Days Later) trying to get back a computer drive with the names of British agents that are deep undercover in terrorist cells.

After a great motorcycle chase, Bond and the bad guy with the drive are fighting on the top of a moving train. Agent Eve is on a mountaintop with a high-power rifle aimed at the two fighting men.

M, one of the heads of MI-6 who is in contact with Eve by ear remote, tells her to take the shot. Bond is in the line of fire but M still orders the shot be taken and Eve fires and hits Bond who falls off a bridge. He is presumed dead. The bad man gets away and the drive is gone.

“I think you've got to have your feet planted firmly on the ground, especially in this business, and you must not believe things that are said or written about you, because everything gets out of proportion one way or the other.”

Acclaimed British actress, Judi Dench,who is starring in the latest Bond movie, Skyfall as “M”.

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Later, we find Bond is alive living on the island and he wants to stay dead. M is in deep trouble for losing the agents list and is asked to retire but she refuses. Then, comes an explosion at MI-6, killing lots of people and a computer note to M as the reason the attack happen and a threat to slowly release the agents names.

When Bond hears about the attacks on MI–6 and the personal threat to M. He comes back to the agency to find the ones responsible.

Skyfall is a different Bond because we don't go through nonstop action as usual. The movie doesn't slow down per se, there is more talking. Skyfall reveals Bond’s past, we sort of find out how he became the super spy he is.

The villain, a mainstay in every Bond film, but this one was a little weird, not sure of his sexual orientation, yet interesting, Raoul Silva played by Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men). Silva tells Bond that he is a former MI-6 agent whom M betrayed by leaving him to be imprisoned and tortured at the hands of the enemy. Now, he is seeking revenge on her.

There were lots of surprises with the introduction of a young Q, the gadgets guy missing from the earlier Bond movies with Craig, the death of a beloved character and the revealing of another character who was a mainstay of the earlier 60’s and 70’s Bond films. All very cool elements that make Skyfall, the set up for the upcoming Bond movies.

For me, watching Bond movies brings out the same excitement of being the birthday boy again, in the theater watching his first big-screen Bond after years of watching on the small screen, television. What makes it special was the same person who was with me on my birthday for that Bond experience was sitting next to me during Skyfall, my dad, one of the biggest James Bond fans ever. He was very pleased with the movie.

In Skyfall, James Bond is shaken but never stirred, a must-see for all Bond fans.

The Barber of Seville Features A Valley Native Opera Western Reserve presents Gioachino Rossini's opera, The Barber Of Seville, at Stambaugh Auditorium on Friday, November 30th at 7:30 p.m . The opera features International and Metropolitan Opera Star, Youngstown native and East High graduate, Lawrence Brownlee, in his signature role as Count Almaviva. The Youngstown Connection will be part of the 60-member chorus that will back the 10 principal singers in the Opera Western Reserve production. The opera will be performed in Italian with English Supertitles.

Tickets and more information are available at www.OperaWesternReserve.org.

Students rush tickets will be available for $5 at the Stambaugh box office at 7 p.m. the night of the performance.

Stambaugh Auditorium is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue in Youngstown.

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What’s Happening Around The Valley: Nov 30th-Dec 9th Friday, November 30th Fall Graduating BFA Show The McDonough Museum of Art will present the Fall Graduating BFA Show. The show will exhibit works in various media by students graduating this semester from the Department of Art at Youngstown State University. The exhibit will run through Friday, December 14th. Museum hours and more information about the exhibit are available at (330) 941-1400. The McDonough Museum is located 525 Wick Avenue, Youngstown.

Saturday, Dec 1 Once Upon A Christmas The Ursuline Preschool and Kindergarten will present the 24th Annual Arts and Crafts Show entitled Once Upon A Christmas, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Ursuline Center. The event will include unique holiday artwork and crafts, homemade baked goods, creative gift items and more. More information about this event is available at (330) 792-4150. The center located at 4300 Shields Road in Canfield.

Holiday Arts And Crafts The Butler Institute of American Art presents its 42nd Annual Holiday Arts And Crafts Show from 10 a.m.until 5 p.m. and Sunday, December 2nd from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The show will include fine art, original crafts, holiday decor, jewelry, calligraphy, photographs, drawings, wood, metal, fabric and and leather works, and food. More information about this event is available at (330) 743-1107. The Butler is located at 524 Wick Avenue in Youngstown.

Memories of Christmas Past The Arms Family Museum presents Memories of Christmas Past, its annual holiday spectacular, running from Saturday, December 1st through Sunday, January 6th, 2013. The exhibit will showcase the historic mansion of Wilford and Olive Arms decorated with period lighting and rare, one-of-a-kind vintage holiday decor. Museum hours and more information are available at (330) 743-2589. The Arms Family Museum is at 648 Wick Avenue in Youngstown.

Holiday Pops Concert The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra presents a Holiday Pops Concert featuring guitarist and Youngstown native Phil Keaggy, at 8 p.m. in the Edward W. Powers Auditorium in the DeYor Performing Arts Center.

This concert will also include soloist Natalie Sprouse, the Youngstown Connection, fourth grade elementary students from Boardman schools, and string students from Canfield. Tickets and more information are available at (330) 744-0264. the DeYor is located at 260 West Federal Street in Downtown Youngstown.

Sunday, Dec 2 A Little Child Shall Lead Them Seraphim Chorus presents their Holiday Concert, A Little Child Shall Lead Them, at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick Church at 1420 Oak Hill Avenue in Youngstown. More information about the concert is available at (330) 707-2144.

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What’s Happening Around The Valley: Nov 30th-Dec 9th (cont’d) Sunday, Dec 2 Faculty Artist Recital The Dana School of Music will have a Faculty Artist Recital featuring Saxophonist James Umble, with accompanist, Nancy DeSalvo, on at 8 p.m. in the Bliss Recital Hall, on the campus of Youngstown State University. More information about this free recital is available at (330) 941-3636.

Wednesday, Dec 5th Carols and Cocoa Concerts Youngstown State University and the Dana School of Music presents the annual Carols and Cocoa and Dana Holiday Concerts at 7 p.m. at Stambaugh Auditorium These concerts will include seasonal favorites, the final movement of the Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and will feature soloists and ensembles from the school and the community. Tickets and more information are available at (330) 259-0555.

Holiday Festival A Holiday Festival presented by Howland Branch of the Warren-Trumbull Public Library and the Friends of the Howland Library will feature a performance by The Vocal Alliance. The event is free and open to the public. The festival will held at the Howland Branch Library at 9095 East Market St. Howland at 6:30 p.m.

Virtual Author Chat An Virtual Author Chat with author Debbie Macomber will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Warren-Trumbull County Main Library. Attendees will have the chance to interact with Ms. Macomber who has more than 160 million copies of her books in print worldwide. The #1 New York Times bestselling author is known for her heartwarming tales about small-town life, home and family, enduring friendships.

Friday, December 7 Inaugural Ugly Christmas Sweater Party The YSU chapter of the American Marketing Association presents “Our Inaugural Ugly Christmas Sweater Party” at Dooney’s Downtown Bar and Grill from 8-11 p.m. With pre-sale $7 or $10 at the door to enter the contest. Proceeds benefit the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.

Sunday, Dec 9th Holiday Concert of Giving The Youngstown Area Community Concert Band and the Stambaugh Chorus presents the 2nd Annual Holiday Concert of Giving at 4 p.m. at Stambaugh Auditorium. The Holiday Concert will include traditional holiday favorites, a special performance of the Stambaugh Auditorium organ, a visit from Santa, and an audience sing-along. More information about this concert is available at www.yaccb.org. The Stambaugh Auditorium is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue in Youngstown.

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On Stage Victorian Players: In The Spirit Of Christmas In The Spirit Of Christmas, a holiday show by the Victorian Players will be running weekends from Friday, November 30th through Sunday, December 9th. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m and the Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. In The Spirit Of Christmas is made up of four shorter plays: The Long Christmas Dinner by Thornton Wilder; The Truth About Christmas by Daniel M. Pearle; The Elf Rebellion and The Christmas Machine, both by Don Zolidis. Reservations and more information about these shows are available at (330) 746-5455. The Victorian Players is located at 702 Mahoning Avenue in Youngstown Youngstown Playhouse: Winter Wonderland The Youngstown Playhouse Youth Theatre presents the 2nd Annual Interactive Brunch, A Winter Wonderland, on Saturdays running from December 8th through the 22nd at noon each Saturday. The event includes interacting with Santa and some of his elves and reindeer, and even a Christmas tree. Reservations and more information are available at (330) 788-8739. The Playhouse is at 600 Playhouse Lane, Youngstown.

Youngstown Playhouse: Not On This Night The Youngstown Playhouse presents Not On This Night. The play is set 1944. The Battle of the Bulge rages near the French border. Alone on Christmas Eve, Jacqueline is startled by the sudden appearance of two lost soldiers, one German and the other American, who confront each other in her farmhouse kitchen.

The play will run from Dec 7, 8, 14 & 15 at 7:30 p.m and Dec 9, 16 at 2:30 p.m.

Rust Belt Theater: How The Drag Queen Stole Christmas How The Drag Queen Stole Christmas happens at the Rust Belt Theater Nov 30, Dec 1, 7, 8 at 8 p.m, with an additional midnight show on Dec 8. Reservations call or TEXT 330 507 2358. The Rust Belt Theater is located at 755 Mahoning Avenue, Youngstown.

Ford Family Recital Hall: Journeys A Broadway Style Musical Nativity Move Over Broadways Productions will present the Christmas story “Journeys” on Sunday Dec. 2 at Ford Family Recital Hall, 260 W. Federal St. Youngstown. Journeys, with script and music by local playwright Mark Samuel, tells the story of the birth of Christ in a fresh and exciting way, examining the emotions and joys of those who experienced the first Christmas.

For times and tickets call 330-744-0264

Santa Book Sale At The Lemon Grove All Classes North High School Reunion is holding a Santa Anytime Project Book Sale that will take place on Saturday, December 8 from Noon-4 p.m at The Lemon Grove Cafe in Downtown Youngstown.

There will be new books, puzzles and gift items from a national retailer. $2 per item and any 3 for $5.

Sponsored by Santa Anytime Project Committee for the All Classes North High School Reunion

December 1, 2012

Shale Tavern & Grille Drills Culinary Bullseye

By Monnie Ryan Editor's note: To read the full version of this review, visit http:// mahoningvalleyeats.blogspot.com Have cameras, will travel, is a motto that prompts my husband Jack and I to hit the road every chance we get – and one of our most recent sunny-Sunday excursions took us to the Ohio River and East Liverpool. On the way home, we decided, we’d stop at the Shale Tavern & Grille near Lisbon.

The Tavern, located next to a Days Inn, used to be the Saratoga Restaurant - and it sure is impressive to look at. Inside are two beautiful stone fireplaces (the one on the bar side was fronted by two overstuffed easy chairs that were especially tempting).

I should note that the restaurant reportedly is owned by Mike Naffah, also owner of the Days Inn. The decision to reopen the former Saratoga (and the choice of name) came because of the increased motel business as workers come to the area as part of the burgeoning Utica Shale development in Columbiana and nearby Carroll counties.

The restaurant is open for lunch only on Sundays, by the way - so we just weren't hungry enough to go for the crabmeat stuffed haddock topped with Hollandaise sauce ($15.95), Tavern Beef with smashed redskin potatoes ($13.95) or the jumbo shrimp scampi on a bed of linguine ($14.95). There are daily specials that sound great as well, but they're weekdays only when the tavern doesn't open until 4 p.m.

So, we stuck to the list of sandwiches and burgers. Jack picked the steak hoagie for $6.99, adding grilled onions, mushrooms and peppers for another $1.29 and substituting cole slaw for the usual fries. Once I saw the Blue Devil burger - half a pound of Angus beef topped with bleu cheese crumbles and haystack onions with fries ($8.99), it was mine, all mine.

The fries were good - thin Idora Park style - but they were barely warm and I suspected they might have been fried much earlier in the day and reheated.

Everything else we ordered, though, got four thumbs ups. The slaw was particularly good, Jack said (I took a bite and agreed). And his steak hoagie was excellent as well as provided enough to bring half of it home.

That burger, though, was the real standout. The beef was very tasty, and I loved the buttered and grilled bun. Truthfully, I'd probably eat sawdust if it were covered in bleu cheese, but those onion straws really made the difference. Somehow, they managed to stay amazingly crisp until I'd polished off the entire burger.

And, they were delicious; the result is that I pledged to order the haystack onion blossom with bistro sauce appetizer ($5.99) next time we visit!

If you go: Shale Tavern & Grille 40964 State Route 154 Lisbon, Ohio 44432 (330) 420-0045

December 1, 2012

Bossypants Misses the Funny Mark

By Monnie Ryan 3 stars (out of 5) At the outset, I admit that I don't know a lot about Tina Fey except that she's exceptionally talented and I smile every time I even think about her spot-on impression of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. But I've never watched her popular 30 Rock TV show or, for that matter anything else she's ever been in.

But what little I do know was enough to entice me to take a peek at her autobiography - figuring at the very least I'd get a chuckle or two out of it.

In fact, I told my husband Jack to be prepared to hear me chortle as I read through this one (having worked my way through the gut-bustingly hilarious Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore, I know how much it irritates him when I start guffawing loudly while he's trying to watch a football game).

And chuckle I did, at least at the outset. But alas, the laugh-out-loud stuff came to a halt rather quickly, and the best I could muster from then on was an occasional smile. Although it was somewhat interesting overall, discovering such life-of-Fey trivia like what she learned from Lorne Michaels (creator and producer of the aforementioned SNL) just didn't grab me much.

What I learned, in fact, isn't much beyond what I already knew: She's exceptionally talented and her Sarah Palin thing was a bit hit, at least in part because they look so much alike. New to me was that she has a scar on her face that she got as a child that has helped mold the person she is today (see, I told you I've seen her only on SNL sketches, and most of that time I was half asleep).

That's not to say the book isn't interesting; it's just that it's written much like one of her TV sketches - and sketches work best when they're seen, not read. In fairness, the book is punctuated with a few real gems. Her observation that "Politics and prostitution have to be the only jobs where inexperience are a virtue," for instance, almost made me snort coffee out my nose. And near the end (when the book starts getting really funny again), her bit on breastfeeding is a hoot.

I certainly wasn't disappointed after reading her life story as it's happened so far; for such a well-known, public "personality," she's a relatively normal woman with a good head on her shoulders, feet solidly on the ground and a work ethic that would put a Midwesterner to shame -- and in my world, by golly, that's a Martha Stewart good thing.

Bossypants by Tina Fey (Reagan Arthur Books 2011, 288 pp.)

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2012 Youngstown Holiday Parade & Festival The holiday season will be kicked off in style on December 1st in Downtown Youngstown. Enjoy the Holiday Festival from 1 7 p.m inside 20 Federal Place. Come outside for the Holiday Parade at 3 p.m on Federal Street, followed by the Tree-lighting on the Central Square. Fun for everyone with YSU SMARTS, Santa’s workshop, food and holiday vendors.

Meet the Artist Night A Moment for Me Yoga and Wellness Center will hold their first Meet the Artist Night, with local photographer, Michelle Joseph-Long at 6:30 p.m-8 p.m. in Warren.

Joseph- Long is a Lisbon artist, whose photography is featured throughout the studio. Her work covers Nature, Mill Creek Metro Parks, Waterfalls, Architecture and Cityscapes. A self-taught photographer, Joseph-Long's work has been lauded in juried shows.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. The center is located at 8309 High St NE, Warren.

For more information, please call A Moment for Me Yoga and Wellness Center at 330-568-0419 or 330-506-06

Winter Celebration: The Snow Garden Fellows Riverside Gardens is transformed into a winter wonderland for the holidays. Enjoy the decorated trees and holiday florals throughout the Davis Center. Add more fun by visiting the Courtyard of the Snow Kingdom. Stop by the Shop in the Gardens for unique holiday gift ideas and treasure the view of Lake Glacier while dining in the Garden Café. For the holidays, the Davis Center will be open Tuesdays – Sundays, 10 am – 5 pm.

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PRIVACY POLICY Some of you on A Byrd’s Eye View newsletter mailing list came to us from other e-mails sent to us regarding stories about Arts events in the area.

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Excerpts from A Byrd’s Eye View can be read in The Review, Newspaper, available throughout the Valley and online at http://www.thereviewnewspapers.com/

Movie reivews from A Byrd’s Eye View can be read in The Buckeye Review Newspaper, available throughout the Valley at various newstands.

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Art Byrd Jr. has won awards as a filmmaker and journalist. After working many years as a videographer and director for WFMJ TV News, he retired from broadcasting to share his experience and insight with students as an instructor at Youngstown State University. Art has written and produced numerous Indie films, which have been shown at prestigious film festivals. In addition to teaching and writing/ producing A Byrd’s Eye View newsletter, Art also does freelance media work. He is based in Youngstown, Ohio.

Monnie Ryan retired in 2003 after 14 years as managing editor of The Business Journal in Youngstown, where she continues to contribute to the print and online editions.

Articles she has written have appeared in more than 20 national publications and at several travelrelated Web sites, and she has won numerous awards for photography.

Contact her at mryan62692@aol.com.

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