A&E

Some of us suffer harder than others through our long winter with short days, extra grayness and the absence of the sound of a crack of the bat hitting a baseball.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens in 1996, with the  discovery of the old board game on a sandy beach. When the box is opened, a video game cartridge is inside which just happens to fit the Sony Play Station the teen-aged son has in his bedroom. We then flash forward 20 years, where (echoing the plot points of the The Breakfast Club), four teens end up in detention for various reasons: Spencer, the Wimp (Alex Wolf) is called into the principal’s office for writing a history paper for  Fridge, the Jock (Ser’Darius Blain); Bethany, the Babe (Madison Iseman) is busted for using her cell phone during a test;  and Martha, the Brain (Morgan Turner), talks back to her PE teacher. The foursome discover the Jumanji video game in the school basement, and are magically transformed into the game avatars they select. The wimp becomes  Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a muscular, self-effacing “expert” with a “smoldering look.”  The brain develops sex appeal, long, shapely legs, and deadly martial arts skills as Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) who is clad in a ridiculous,  midriff-baring jungle outfit.  The Jock becomes the wise-cracking, short-statured zoologist named Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart), and when the babe selected “the curvy genius cartographer” named Dr. Shelly Oberon, she did not envision Jack Black’s body. It takes awhile for the teens to learn to utilize their avatar’s skill sets, but fortunately, the game gives them two extra lives.

There's always a lot going on in Healdsburg, and this time of the year things really pick up. Don't miss the Block Party on Friday, a community event for the 10th Annual AVFilm Festival. Free live music, community partners booths, with food and wine for sale from vendors. It’s Friday, May 3, from 6-9:30pm. Animated feature 'Blue Giant' screens at 8pm in the Raven Theater, 115 North St.

Stella Heath, a Healdsburg-area vocalist who frequently performs in local venues, takes to the big stage at LBC on Saturday to channel Lady Day with the Billie Holiday Project, at 8pm. Her vocal skills will be backed by a 10-piece band of some of the Bay Area’s finest swing musicians, and professional swing dancers to show how it’s done.

Star Trek Into Darkness

With San Francisco Beer Week (sfbeerweek.org) kicking off this Friday, it’s high time to raise a glass to the North Bay brews making their mark here in Wine Country.  There are more than 40 craft breweries in the North Bay, so one is almost always...

Singer-songwriter festival, Louisiana Blues, tribute bands and Ladysmith Black Mambazo are among the concerts and events happening in Healdsburg this week...

Nourishment for both body and spirit    

Recently I was asked for my opinion for an article that was