Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• “Wonka,” the latest movie inspired by Roald Dahl’s imaginative chocolatier, opens in theaters this weekend, but an actor who was part of the last Willy Wonka movie will be in the Mahoning Valley on Saturday.

Deep Roy, who played all the Oompa Loompas in Tim Burton’s 2005 film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” will be among the guests at the Mahoning Valley Comicon, which runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Youngstown South, 7410 South Ave., Boardman.

Roy has ties to a couple other beloved franchises. He portrays Yoda in some scenes in George Lucas’ “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” and he portrays Keenser in the three “Star Trek” films released since 2009.

Other guests include Ming Chen, a regular on the AMC series “Comic Book Men” who also can be seen in Kevin Smith’s “Clerks III”; Bill Krause, a ship designer on the television series “Star Trek: Picard”; Marvel comic book artist Matt Horak, who’s worked on Spider-man / Deadpool, Star Wars Rebellion and Black Panther; and Dan Gorman, an artist for Topps who’s worked on card sets for “Star Wars,” “Stranger Things” and “The Walking Dead.”

In addition to signing autographs and taking photos with fans, those guests also will talk about their work during panels throughout the day.

Separate costume contests for adults and children also are planned.

Admission is $10 for adults with children ages 10 and younger admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. For more information, go to mahoningvalleycomicon.com.

• I’ve been reading “World Within a Song,” written by Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco.

The book essentially is a musical memoir, a collection of short chapters about some of the songs and artists that influenced him both as a songwriter and as a music lover. Sprinkled between those chapters are equally short anecdotes, many about experiences that had a similar impact on him.

As someone who’s probably spent more time listening to Wilco than any other act in the last 27 years, it’s a fun and fascinating read, although even I would say a good chunk of the chapters feel half formed. At times the book reads like a first draft, a bunch of ideas quickly jotted down that he never got around to revisiting and fleshing out.

Even those chapters are entertaining. But every third or fourth bit seems to contain moments of true insight, like a discussion of Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?,” where Tweedy talks about imagining the song as about the relationship between the performer and the audience.

Another chapter focuses on The Band’s “The Weight,” specifically the version in the movie “The Last Waltz” that features Mavis Staples. His description of the Staples taking full possession of that song and the impact she has on it is beautifully written.

Perhaps my favorite chapter is “Before Tonight,” a song I’ve never heard, by Souled American, a band I’d never heard of (there is only one song by the band available on Spotify, but “Before Tonight” can be found on YouTube).

Tweedy is talking about more experimental music, but this description also captures what makes live performances special, at least by acts that view those performances as a chance for exploration instead of recitation.

“I’m always a sucker for a band all pointed in the same direction yet unconcerned with metronomic time,” he writes. “Like a group of friends walking together to the next bar – sometimes together, at other times in pairs, maybe someone is running to catch up after taking a leak behind a Dumpster, and then all together again. It’s a beautiful feat to stretch musical time like that. Maybe it’s a little undervalued in western music. It takes a lot of trust in each other as a band to allow a song to just happen as opposed to being performed.”

Even those who aren’t Wilco fans might find certain chapters that will make them ponder why certain songs connect with them.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.