Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 25, 2011

11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, June 25, 2011 


SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS: 

BON IVER

The 
ubiq-uitous 
Justin 
Vernon 
returns to 
his solo 
venture, Bon 
Iver for his self-titled sophomore release. In 
2008, “For Emma, Forever Ago” was graciously 
presented to our listening ears. It was a deeply 
personal, heartwrenching, and desolate record. 
Justin Vernon has been involved with numerous 
music acts prior to materializing songs under this 
moniker. He even did some guest vocals on Kanye 
West’s previous album. However, the songs under 
Bon Iver are Justin Vernon’s most compelling and 
preeminent work. While the direction is faintly 
down a different path than his debut, Bon Iver’s 
music has never sounded so tranquil, transcendent 
and heartrending. Vernon has taken some new 
liberties with his own artistry and yet nothing 
presented here feels false or misguided. Every song 
significantly matters and holds something vastly 
consequential. Many fans and journalists have 
vocally and verbally hailed “For Emma, Forever 
Ago” a modern masterpiece and therefore, Vernon 
had a lot riding on his latest endeavor. While 
perfection is difficult to replicate second time 
around, Vernon may have figured it out. Instead of 
purely creating a beat-for-beat sequel to his debut, 
Vernon adds more instruments, higher production 
values and focuses his songwriting on an entirely 
different theme. All of this translates to a bigger 
and arguably more well-rounded soundscape. Bon 
Iver never overstays his welcome, yet at the same 
time, you wish he wouldn’t leave. That’s how this 
new album feels. At just shy of forty minutes, I 
don’t think there’s anything else you can be utterly 
inspired by in that period of time. 

The music Bon Iver creates is for the fractured 
soul and wounded heart listener. The confused 
and perplexed entity will also find meaning 
and comfort in this resonance. Vernon’s falsetto 
voice and sincerely powerful lyrics are both as 
potent as ever. Not only does the record feel like a 
companion piece to “For Emma, Forever Ago”, but 
also an entirely new enchantment. The love songs 
here differ than the ones on the previous record. 
This time around, he’s writing them not to a girl, 
but to places. Some places are real (“Lisbon, OH”, 
“Wash.”, “Calgary) and others through Vernon’s 
own pretenses (“Hinnom, TX”) Either the case, 
these songs will point you in the right direction. 
No matter where the individual listener may be 
wandering, they’re bound to reach their personal 
destination through the aid of these sensitive, 
cogitating, and marvelous tunes. 

The change in both tone and musical 
arrangements should be wholly embraced because 
“Bon Iver” easily stands toe-to-toe with the best 
records of the year. The scope of Vernon’s focus 
and creativity has increasingly widened. Fans of 
the first album might be taken by surprise, but 
rests assure this unequivocally feels like a Bon 
Iver record. While it may have a little more bells 
and whistles and laden vocal effects, the allure is 
ever so apparent. The tracks here represent pages 
in one’s own personal journal. Since you have 
permission to take a peak inside, be prepared for 
what’s to come. Once you finish page one, you’ll be 
hooked to find out how this story ends. 

Sean Kayden

“Cinderella asks the nice man at Arnold’s Hardware for some help.”

The Fairytale Theatre production of Cinderella 
at the Sierra Madre Playhouse is going for a 
second run of the play, which was very successful, 
selling out shows.

It is a participation musical that engages adults 
as well as children. The script was written by 
producer/director June Chandler.

Jane Fuller, Sierra Madre resident, wrote the 
songs and stars as Cinderella. It has great comedy 
and tender moments that promise to engage all! 
It’s also a great way for children to be exposed to 
the magic and joy of live theater. 

The play runs from June 25 – July 30, 
Saturdays at 11am. It’s 50min. long. Visit: www.
sierramadreplayhouse.org

TUNNEL OF LOVE


The Book Report

By Jeff Brown

On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious 

by D. E. Harding

On Having No Head was first published in 1961. Since then, it has 
become a modern spiritual classic. “Headlessness” is the feeling 
of no-self, which mystics of all times have aspired to. It is an 
instantaneous way of “waking up” and becoming more aware of 
one’s true self. Simple exercises help meditators shift their focus 
from the mind to pure awareness, the true goal of meditation. In 
this revised edition, Douglas conveys the immediacy, simplicity, 
and practicality of what he calls the “headless way.” . Douglas 
also draws parallels to practices in other traditions. “Reason and 
imagination and all mental chatter died down, I forgot my name, 
my humanness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. 
Past and future dropped away....Lighter than air, cleaner than glass, 
altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.“Douglas 
Harding is a respected author, philosopher, and mystic who, 
for more than thirty years, has been sharing with others a direct 
method for rediscovering our original nature. He is the author 
of numerous books on spirituality and there is a great website. 
HEADLESS.ORG

Once and Future Giants : What Ice Age Extinctions Tell Us 
About the Fate of Earth’s Largest Animals by Sharon Levy 

Until about 13,000 years ago, North America was home to a 
menagerie of massive mammals. Mammoths, camels, and lions 
walked the ground that has become Wilshire Boulevard in Los 
Angeles and foraged on the marsh land now buried beneath 
Chicago’s streets. Then, just as the first humans reached the 
Americas, these Ice Age giants vanished forever. In Once and 
Future Giants, science writer Sharon Levy digs through the evidence 
surrounding Pleistocene large animal (“megafauna”) extinction 
events worldwide, showing that understanding this history, and 
our part in it is crucial for protecting the elephants, polar bears, 
and other great creatures at risk today. These surviving relatives of 
the Ice Age beasts now face an intensified replay of that great die 
off, as our species usurps the planet’s last wild places while driving 
a warming trend more extreme than any in mammalian history. 
Inspired by a passion for the lost Pleistocene giants, some scientists 
advocate bringing elephants and cheetahs to the Great Plains as 
stand ins for their extinct native brethren. By reintroducing big 
browsers and carnivores to North America, they argue, we could 
rescue some of the planet’s most endangered animals while restoring healthy prairie ecosystems. 
Deftly navigating competing theories and emerging evidence, Once and Future Giants examines 
the extent of human influence on megafauna extinctions past and present, and explores innovative 
conservation efforts around the globe. The key to modern day conservation, Levy suggests, may lie 
fossilized right under our feet.


Lani Ridley Pedrini and Charles Offenhauser

This original jukebox musical is packed with 
favorite songs from a variety of genres (pop, 
show tunes, rock and country) spanning the 
20s through the 80s (when American popular 
music was the most fun).

It’s the story of Abbey and Lenny, a couple 
destined for each other, as they meet, fall in 
love, break up, and find their way back to 
each other again in a musical that celebrates 
love and romance with all its ins-and-outs 
and ups-and-downs.

The big cast includes Hoberleigh 
Phreigh, Mike Alva, Lani Ridley Pedrini, 
Charles Offenhauser, Denise Harvey, 
Michael Shaughnessy, Joahna Ruffin, Paula 
Montgomery, Jack Walsh, Pamela Feener, 
Al Timss, Joe Feeney, The TOVP Dancers: 
Nancy Sharrett, Patricia Stine, Sheryl Hunter, 
Viola Johnson, Marsha Berger, Ferne Hayes 
and Maria Pearson.

Lani Ridley Pedrini and her Theaters 
of Vision Productions brought two very 
popular musicals to Sierra Madre Playhouse 
in 2010, “Day After Day” and “Harry Warren: 
The Tin Pan Alley Years.”

“The Tunnel of Love” will be enjoyed by 
everyone who is in love, has been in love, 
wants to be in love, or wish they were in love 
again.

There’s singing, dancing, production 
numbers. There’s music from six decades. It’s 
a jukebox musical with a really big jukebox 
and a tender love story.


Presented by Theaters of Vision (Day After Day, Tin Pan Alley Years)

June 26, July 3, 10, and 24 at 7:30pm

Adults: $20, Seniors, Students: $17, 12 and under: $12

The Sierra Madre Playhouse 87 W Sierra Madre Blvd Sierra Madre, Ca 91024

Reservations or Information: 626-355-4318 info@SierraMadrePlayhouse.org

ONLINE TICKETING: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

Due to the high demand for her tutoring and education services, bookstore 
owner, Sally Morrison, is opening a new learning center here in Sierra Madre. 
Mindspring Education Center will cater to students (children and adults) 
interested in furthering their reading, writing, math, spelling, and 
comprehension skills. In addition, Sally offers assistance in study skills, 
homework, and test preparation. She also specializes in helping students 
with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Those interested in summer 
sessions should contact Mindspring soon because space is limited.
As a result of this business expansion, Sally Morrison and Jeffrey Ingwalson, 
owners of Sierra Madre Books, will be closing the bookstore in June 2011. 
“We appreciate all the support we’ve received from our customers over the 
past few years, but are excited about our new venture. We look forward to 
continuing to be part of this community.”
For questions about Mindspring Education Center, please call (626) 355-1972.
For questions about Sierra Madre Books, please call (626) 836-3200.
Announcing:
The Opening of...
Mindspring Education CenterOne-to-One Instruction for All Ages37 Auburn Ave., Suite 7ASierra Madre, CA 91024(626) 355-1972www.mindspringEDC.com
What’s 

On YOUR 
Mind? 

What 

D0 YOU 
Think? 

We’d like to hear from 
you! 

Contact us at: 

editor@mtnviewsnews.
com or 

www.facebook.com/
mountainviewsnews

The Sierra Madre Playhouse 

87 W Sierra Madre Blvd 

Sierra Madre, Ca 91024

Reservations or Information: 

626-355-4318 

info@SierraMadrePlayhouse.org

ONLINE TICKETING:

www.sierramadreplayhouse.org