Who could spend three years riding a bicycle completely around the globe without bringing home a wealth of stories. Certainly not Rick Gunn. One of the extended high points of his 25,811 mile trip was cycling along the historic silk road through central Asia, which Gunn enjoyed in the company of a fellow rider he met along the way.

Rick Gunn will present his multi-media Soulcycler program this week at the following North Bay venues

Wednesday, Sept. 8, Sonoma Veterans Hall, Sonoma, 7 pm

Thursday, Sept, 9, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, 7 pm

Friday, Sept. 10, Marin Civic Center Showcase Theater, 7:30 pm. Ticket information for all shows here. Watch a preview below.

The basic building block for influencing local elected officials is the neighborhood, says organizer Jim Diers, because people tend to be most involved and active closest to their homes.

 What defines a neighborhood? Jim Diers, author of Neighbor Power, Building Community the Seattle Way, says there are some basic characteristics that tend to be self-selecting, and common almost everywhere.

Neighborhood Watch programs are among the best known and most widespread applications of the idea that neighbors can benefit from looking out for one another.  Diers sees that as a small step in the right direction, but advocates taking thing much further.

Jim Diers will be the keynote speaker at the Santa Rosa Neighbors Summit Friday evening in the Santa Rosa City Council chambers. Events begin with a free meeting and presentation by neighborhood organizer Jim Diers on Friday evening, Aug. 20, 7-8:30 pm, followed by the working Neighborhood Summit on Saturday  Aug. 21, 9:30 am to 2:30 in the Finley Community Center on West College at Stony Point.

Growing corporate influence in American politics and especially electoral campaigns is driving a push-back effort from Move On dot org, a nation-wide series of protests that includes one in Santa Rosa today.

The origins of this new MoveOn campaign predate the current mid-term elections, explains David Walls, Coordinator for the group’s Sonoma County Council. They can be traced back to the protracted legislative battle over health care reform.

Cyntia Boaz, professor of political science at Sonoma State University, says the coming Congressional elections will be fueled in large part by populist issues, on both ends of the political spectrum. But each “wing” will respond to them differently.

Whether Jack London set his stories in the harsh Yukon winter, the savage beauty of south Pacific islands, or contemporary American society, his insight into human behavior keeps them compelling now. That was the attraction behind the latest effort to convert London’s fiction to film.

Burning Daylight is set in 1920s New York, but it was actually shot entirely in and around Toronto. Writer-Director Sanzhar Sultanov says his hometown made a good stand-in for the Big Apple.

There will be a special preview screening of Burning Daylight Monday, August 9 at  7 pm at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma, as a benefit for the Jack London Foundation. Sultanov will be present for a question and answer session after the film is shown. Advance tickets can be purchased here. Watch the trailer for Burning Daylight: