Alan Rhodes, 3ɀɆ * Fuzz Buzz, 3ɁɁ * Free Will Astrology, 3Ƀɂ cascadia
REPORTING FROM THE HEART OF CASCADIA WHATCOM *SKAGIT*ISLAND*LOWER B.C. {12.17.14}{#51}{V.09}{FREE}
DOWN THE CHIMNEY Rental inspections sort naughty from nice, P.08
MARY AND JOSEPH Baby on board! P. 16 BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL Music and education at BUF, P.22 WEDNESDAY [12.17.14] Bob’s Your Elf: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community
Theatre
38 ONSTAGE Home for the Holidays: 8pm and 10pm, Upfront Shoe Me the Funny: 9pm, Horseshoe Cafe Theatre
FOOD FOOD cascadia MUSIC DANCE MVHS Choirs: 4pm and 7pm, McIntyre Hall, Saving Christmas Town: 2pm and 7pm, Belling-
32 Mount Vernon ham High School John Hanson Trio: 7pm, the Majestic Dancing for Joy’s Nativity: 6:30pm, Mount Baker Theatre
B-BOARD B-BOARD VISUAL ARTS Winter Wonderland: 7pm, Blaine Performing Allied Arts Holiday Festival: 10am-6pm, 4145 Arts Center A glance at what’s happening this week Meridian St. The Nutcracker: 7:30pm, McIntyre Hall, Mount 26 Vernon
FILM THURSDAY [12.18.14] MUSIC Bellingham Folk Festival: 10am-9pm, Belling- ONSTAGE ham Unitarian Fellowship 22 Mary and Joseph: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater Christmas Carols and Lunch: 12pm, Haynie Bob’s Your Elf: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Grange, Lynden
MUSIC Theatre Celtic Christmas Celebration: 4:30pm and Good, Bad, Ugly: 8pm, Upfront Theatre 7:30pm, Port of Anacortes Event Center The Project: 10pm, Upfront Theatre Not So Silent Night: 7pm, downtown Bellingham 18 Christmas Concert: 7pm, Bethel Christian ART DANCE Reformed Church, Lynden Violinist Saving Christmas Town: 7pm, Bellingham High
16 School WORDS Geoffrey Castle Santa Claus Book Signing: 11am, Village Books MUSIC Used Book Sale: 2-5pm, Everson Library STAGE headlines the Holiday Jazz Concert: 12:30pm, Whatcom Mu- seum’s Old City Hall COMMUNITY
14 annual Celtic Cantabile Christmas Concert: 6pm, Mount Deck the Hall: 12-5pm, Whatcom Museum’s Old Vernon City Library City Hall Christmas All That Holiday Jazz!: 7pm, Firehouse Perform- Solstice Celebration: 2-6pm, Boundary Bay
GET OUT ing Arts Center Brewery Celebration at Winter Concert: 7pm, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship GET OUT 12 performances Lighted Boat Parade: 4:30pm, Guemes Channel, VISUAL ARTS Anacortes Allied Arts Holiday Festival: 10am-6pm, 4145
WORDS Sat., Dec. 20 Meridian St. FOOD at the Port of Pancake Breakfast: 8-11am, Ferndale Senior 8 Center Anacortes Event FRIDAY [12.19.14] Community Meal: 10am-12pm, United Church of Ferndale
CURRENTS CURRENTS Center ONSTAGE Final Bellingham Farmers Market: 10am-3pm, Mary and Joseph: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater Depot Market Square
6 Bob’s Your Elf: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Theatre VISUAL ARTS
VIEWS Home for the Holidays:: 8pm and 10pm, Upfront Coast Salish Winter Festival: 10am-5pm, Lummi Theatre Gateway Center
4 Pacific Arts Market: 10am-6pm, Sunset Square DANCE Allied Arts Holiday Festival: 10am-6pm, 4145
MAIL MAIL Saving Christmas Town: 7pm, Bellingham High Meridian St. School
2 2 MUSIC SUNDAY [12.21.14] DO IT IT DO DO IT IT DO Bellingham Folk Festival: 7-9pm, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship ONSTAGE View two floors of Noel Concert: 7:30pm, Third Christian Reformed Mary and Joseph: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater decorated trees Church, Lynden DANCE 12.17.14 as part of the COMMUNITY Saving Christmas Town: 2pm, Bellingham High Deck the [Old Deck the Hall: 12-5pm, Whatcom Museum’s Old School .09 City Hall The Nutcracker: 2pm, McIntyre Hall, Mount 51 # City] Hall events Vernon VISUAL ARTS Dancing for Joy’s Nativity: 6:30pm, Mount continuing Dec. Pacific Arts Market: 10am-6pm, Sunset Square Baker Theatre 18-21 and 26-28 at Allied Arts Holiday Festival: 10am-6pm, 4145 Meridian St. MUSIC Whatcom Museum’s Community Chorus Holiday Concert: 3-5pm, Old City Hall First Congregational Church SATURDAY 20 Stanley Greenthal Ensemble: 7pm, Firehouse CASCADIA WEEKLY [12. .14] Performing Arts Center ONSTAGE 2 The Innkeeper’s Christmas: 2pm, Lincoln The- COMMUNITY atre, Mount Vernon Deck the Hall: 12-5pm, Whatcom Museum’s Old Midnight Mystery Players: 7pm, Mount Baker City Hall Theatre Winter Solstice Ritual: 7:30-10pm, Bloedel Mary and Joseph: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater Donovan Community Building
38 FOOD FOOD
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SwinomishCasinoandLodge.com 1.888.288.8883 *Management reserves all rights Contact Cascadia Weekly: THISWEEK 360.647.8200
38 Editorial Editor & Publisher: FOOD FOOD Tim Johnson ext 260 { editor@ mail 32 cascadiaweekly.com TOC LETTERS STAFF Arts & Entertainment Editor: Amy Kepferle B-BOARD B-BOARD ext 204 {calendar@ It’s all in the numbers—at least for a little cutie named Ha-
26 cascadiaweekly.com zel Grace, who was born at 10:11 on 12/13/14 at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, to Leisha Campbell and Shawn Music & Film Editor: FILM Zimmerman. She was the first baby born at this sequential Carey Ross moment, and first among the last infants born on a sequen- ext 203 tial date for the remainder of this century. {music@ 22 cascadiaweekly.com
MUSIC VIEWS & NEWS Production Art Director:
18 4: Mailbag Jesse Kinsman
ART 6: Gristle & Rhodes {jesse@ kinsmancreative.com 8: Rental ruling Graphic Artist: 16 10: Last week’s news Roman Komarov {roman@
STAGE 11: Police blotter, Index cascadiaweekly.com Send all advertising materials to [email protected]
14 ARTS & LIFE 12: Round House reading Advertising Account Executive: GET OUT 14: Feel the burn Scott Pelton 16: Getting biblical at iDiOM 360-647-8200 x 202 { spelton@ 12 18: Picture perfect cascadiaweekly.com 22: Fun with folk Stephanie Young
WORDS 24: Clubs 360-647-8200 x 205 { stephanie@ 26: cascadiaweekly.com 8 Hobbits for the holidays 28: Where’s the sun? Distribution 30: Film Shorts Distribution Manager: CURRENTS CURRENTS CULTIVATE AUTHENTICITY BEING LOCAL STARTS LOCAL Scott Pelton Having recently moved to this area it has With all the fabulous talent in our community,
6 360-647-8200 x 202 REAR END { spelton@ been delightful to enjoy the incredible amount why does the Port of Bellingham feel the need to 32: Bulletin Board, Free Will cascadiaweekly.com of creative expression flourishing at local holi- spend copious amounts of money to hire an over- VIEWS 33: Advice Goddess Whatcom: Erik Burge, day fairs and festivals. Back home, once com- seas company for redevelopment of the central Stephanie Simms, 4
4 mercial enterprises and franchises were intro- waterfront? Have they never heard: Shop Local, 34: Wellness Robin Corsberg duced, fairs and festivals that flourish here, all Support Local Businesses, Buy American? MAIL MAIL MAIL MAIL 35: Crossword Skagit: Linda Brown, Barb Murdoch but vanished there. It was sad to see. I appreci- Of course, they wouldn’t feel like international
36: ate the local festivals being so well-supported business fat cats flying to foreign countries to 2 Comix Canada: Kristi Alvaran 37: Slowpoke, Sudoku and enjoyed by so many. check the finances and reputation of a design DO IT IT DO Letters Stopping in at the Pacific Arts Holiday Market company (as an afterthought). I suppose using 38: Wassail for winter Send letters to letters@ recently, though, I was rather disappointed. It the Internet (at least as a starting point) just cascadiaweekly.com seems this show, made up of a group of “coop- wouldn’t let them feel important enough.
Alan Rhodes, P.ɀɆ * Fuzz Buzz, P.ɂɆ * Free Will Astrology, P.ɃɄ erative artisans,” allows commercially processed A lot of people complain about waste in gov- cascadia 12.17.14 REPORTING FROM THE HEART OF CASCADIA WHATCOM *SKAGIT*ISLAND*LOWER B.C. {12.17.14}{#51}{V.09}{FREE} products at their venue. I am disappointed. Once ernment, the Port Authority is an example of vendors of commercially processed products (the what they’re talking about. DOWN THE .09 CHIMNEY Rental inspections
51 ©2014 CASCADIA WEEKLY (ISSN 1931-3292) is published each Wednesday by sort naughty from likes of which you can purchase at any chain —Mike Mroczkiewicz Bellingham
# nice, P.08
Cascadia Newspaper Company LLC. Direct all correspondence to: Cascadia Weekly PO Box 2833 Bellingham WA 98227-2833 | Phone/Fax: 360.647.8200 store) are allowed to sell their products under MARY AND [email protected] JOSEPH Baby on board! P. 18 the guise of being artisans and crafters, the JOY TO THE WORLD Though Cascadia Weekly is distributed free, please take just one copy. Cascadia BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL Weekly may be distributed only by authorized distributors. Any person removing Music and education at BUF, P.22 quality of these festivals is greatly diminished. We thoroughly enjoyed our attendance at a few papers in bulk from our distribution points risks prosecution SUBMISSIONS: Cascadia Weekly welcomes freelance submissions. Send material Shoppers become disillusioned. of the community gatherings through this holi- to either the News Editor or A&E Editor. Manuscripts will be returned if you include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. To be considered for calendar list- Please, Pacific Arts Holiday Market, step up. day season. ings, notice of events must be received in writing no later than noon Wednesday There are many great local artisans and craft- While the food, service and, in the case of the the week prior to publication. Photographs should be clearly labeled and will be CASCADIA WEEKLYreturned if accompanied by stamped, self-addressed envelope. ers who indeed love the work they do with former, great live musical entertainment was excel- LETTERS POLICY: Cascadia Weekly reserves the right to edit letters for length and content. When apprised of them, we correct errors of fact promptly and courteously. their hands, each expressing the unique cre- lent, it is all of the wonderful volunteers across the 4 In the interests of fostering dialog and a community forum, Cascadia Weekly does not publish letters that personally disparage other letter writers. Please keep your ativity in their hearts. Select vendors so as entire spectrum of operations and who gave their letters to fewer than 300 words. to not diminish the value of the work of those time and energy helping those of us in need, who around by deceptively promoting commercially are the true angels of humanity in society today. processed goods. I shudder to even think of how things would —Marissa DeRousse, Bellingham be if it were not for these caring, compassionate NEWSPAPER ADVISORY GROUP: Robert Hall, Seth Murphy, Michael Petryni, David Syre people, as they are the best example of the human race. Thank you all for a won- drous and memorable holiday! —C. Kirsch, Bellingham GO NORTH FOR CASINO FUN! FIRE THE NANNY MODERN COMFORTS WITH OLD-FASHIONED HOSPITALITY 38
Compassion and kindness are essential FOOD to human happiness and a functioning society. Like every human quality, howev- 32 er, kindness and compassion can lead to unintended consequences. That’s where our understanding of the real world kicks B-BOARD in. We all need to look at basic economics and what drives human motivation. 26 An infamous example is Lyndon John- son’s War on Poverty and “No man in FILM the house,” which went a long way to-
ward destroying poor families. “No man 22 in the house” was a government policy
that said welfare payments would be MUSIC stopped if there was a “man in the
house,” who presumably would be sup- 18 porting the family. This policy caused ART men to hide their presence or leave home, and broke up many families. Gov- 16 ernment became the “father.”
We can no longer count on our popu- STAGE lar media to inform us or even tell the truth. We need to investigate multiple sources of information, even sources we 14 do not like or agree with. There are some excellent fact-checking websites. Let’s GET OUT all get ourselves better informed. —Joan Dow, Bellingham 12 SYSTEM WORKING AS DESIGNED WORDS Economic inequality and injustice in 8 this country are directly connected to racism, sexism and classism. We need to
understand that the system is not broken; CURRENTS it’s designed to oppress and marginalize people of color, women and the poor. The 6 state uses violence to uphold unjust laws
CELEBRATING 7 YEARS OF FUN! VIEWS and a system to protect the banks and
corporations who now own our govern- 4 4 ment, military, police and politicians. To MAIL MAIL address these issues and this class war MAIL
against the people, we need to organize 2 and fill the streets and speak out against SLOT TOURNAMENTS SUNDAYS DO IT IT DO this system of violence and oppression! STARTING DECEMBER 7 We the people must take back the pow- WinA er from those who are at war with the LM:KMBG@MBF>*+IF>:GMKR Cruise people and the world before it’s too late. ?>>:G= *)K>;NRL' 12.17.14 —Scott Martinez, Eugene MHI,/L
@K:G=IKBS>3
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA WHERE THE FOOD AND FUN NEVER ENDS! 5 N But keep ‘em short (300 words or less). Send 100'000'21-0 MPHMNKGLH?? E BADGER RD NORTHWOOD RD to [email protected] or mail to 20.)GHKMAPHH=KH:=ERG=>GP:21+/- MA>G>P@NB=> P.O. Box 2833, Bellingham, WA 98229 GHKMAPHH=&<:LBGH'
DIVERGENT STREAMS: A ship broke loose from its moor-
38 ing along Whatcom Waterway last week but grounded in shallows before it could swing far. It’s a sham ship, FOOD FOOD mothballed here as a dodge of arcane U.S. maritime re- views strictions, parked along a sham pier generating rents in OPINIONS THE GRISTLE the illusion of a working waterfront. Briefly it became a 32 shipwreck piled against an even bigger shipwreck—the Port of Bellingham’s plan for the central waterfront.
B-BOARD B-BOARD Port commissioners earlier this month authorized $216,333 to Aspect Consulting to begin the design
26 process of the initial cleanup of the pulp and tissue mill area of the former Georgia-Pacific site along What- ALAN RHODES
FILM com Waterway. Predictably, commissioners favored the cheapest remedial plan that—at an estimated cost of
22 $5.7 million—leaves most toxics in place with mini- Cranky and the Junkie mal controls on groundwater contaminants that might
MUSIC leach into Whatcom Waterway. The waterway itself will AN INTERVIEW WITH RILEY SWEENEY be left to silt over, destroying its potential to receive
18 working ships along a working waterfront. Half of the f you aren’t reading Riley Swee- while billing taxpayers for the
ART cost of this shabby cleanup will be covered by the ney’s blog The Political Junk- same food, Ericksen took hun- Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), the remainder will be I ie, you don’t really know all dreds of thousands of dollars in borne by local taxpayers. that’s going on politically in What- campaign donations from the oil 16 Stepping back, every cleanup project proposed for com County. There are other good and gas industry after stonewall-
STAGE Bellingham Bay has been minimalist in scope, con- sources (Whatcom Watch, Northwest ing every single bill proposed to ceptually isolated from other similar (even adjacent) Citizen, this newspaper), but no one fight climate change. He used projects, managed by separate consultants and con- gets behind the scenes as often or RS: Part of it is a function of eco- this campaign cash to pay for 14 tractors, but all on a dismal, impoverished vector that finds where the bodies are buried nomics. They don’t have enough lavish trips and even paid for his ensures poisons are left in place forever with minimal with the regularity of the ubiqui- reporters. And their financial sta- daughter’s soccer team with cam-
GET OUT controls. Perhaps if we view it only in pieces in isola- tous Sweeney. The blog gives you bility depends on not ruffling any paign dollars. tion we can never assemble its monstrous folly. the lowdown on intrigues, high feathers. I don’t have that limita- AR: Luckily for Doug, he ran in the
12 Meanwhile, leaders in Seattle who would not accept jinks and backroom deals, always tion. I can go as far as I want. 42nd District, where Gandhi would squalid standards have received $342 million for a Su- related in sprightly prose that can AR: What was your biggest disap- lose if he ran as a Democrat. What perfund cleanup that will remove up to 90 percent of be outrageously funny. I sat down pointment in the recent Whatcom percentage of voters in the 42nd WORDS industrial pollutants from the Duamish River. Nearly 1 with Sweeney recently to talk about County election? District are crazy?
8 million cubic yards of poisonous sludge will be scooped what he does and how he does it. RS: As much as it would have been RS: I’m a believer in the fifth den- up, put onto barges and trucks and hauled out of that Alan Rhodes: When did you start nice to bump off Doug Ericksen, tist theory. You know the old city— leaving a clean, deep, economically vital chan- The Political Junkie? my biggest disappointment was toothpaste ads, “Four out of
CURRENTS CURRENTS nel—thanks to the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, Riley Sweeney: In 2008 I was work- the loss by Satpal Sidhu. Satpal five dentists recommend brush- a feisty activist group that had lobbied the federal ing for Congressman Norm Dicks brought a wealth of experience— ing your teeth regularly.” Who is 6 6 government for more dredging to be included in the and writing longer and longer as former dean of Bellingham that fifth dentist who says, “Naw, final plan. And they insisted that heavy industry like posts on social media. John Servais Technical College, as a business just swish with some whiskey and VIEWS VIEWS VIEWS Boeing would remain on the hook to ease the public said “Why don’t you write a regular owner of a solar company and you’ll be fine?” Twenty percent of
4 costs of a quality cleanup. They would not accept an column?” So I started doing that as an electrical engineer, he ap- Americans will believe just about outcome that left their community poisoned. at his Northwest Citizen blog, then proached issues from a completely anything. We like to think the MAIL MAIL That could have been us. launched my own blog in 2010. different perspective. It was a crazy people are elsewhere, but
In 1996, federal, state, tribal and local governments AR: Do you have a mission? golden opportunity and I’m sad there is always that fifth dentist 2 joined with industry to form the Bellingham Bay Dem- RS: To make understanding politics that we missed it. waiting to jump out and reelect DO IT IT DO onstration Pilot team. The mission of the pilot team easy. When I write something AR: And the biggest cause for cel- Doug Ericksen. was to develop a new cooperative, bay-wide approach I ask, “For someone who hasn’t ebration? AR: Who’s the smartest person we’ve to clean up contamination, control pollution sources been paying close attention, what RS: The gun control measure passed elected in recent years? and restore habitat, with consideration for land and do they need to know?” overwhelmingly. Even if you pull RS: County Treasurer Steve Oliver. 12.17.14 water uses at a dozen cleanup sites around Bellingham AR: You find out stuff that the Bell- out liberal King County, it still got Oliver has done a fine job of man- Bay. The action would serve as a model for other har- ingham Herald never seems to know 56 percent. Across the country aging our county finances, invest- .09
51 bors around the state. about. I realize that scooping the progressive issues won, but pro- ing in our county infrastructure # The team identified ten different cleanup proposals Herald isn’t a Pulitzer Prize-winning gressive candidates didn’t. That and actually improving customer for the bay, and coalesced around one that would have achievement, but where do you go shows our disconnect in convey- service for our county services. employed Georgia-Pacific’s ASB wastewater treatment for your information? ing our values to voters. Oliver is straightforward and level- lagoon as a receiving area for a thorough and extensive RS: I know who to call. City Council AR: Who absolutely should have won headed, a breath of fresh air in the cleanup of the bay and its shorelines. members will watch their words, who didn’t? frenzied world of county politics. So potent was the prioritization of goals produced but call city staffers and they’ll RS: Seth Fleetwood. Doug Ericksen AR: What are a couple of The Political
CASCADIA WEEKLYby this Pilot team that Seattle’s Lower Duwamish Wa- give you the full story. And I get is one of the most corrupt poli- Junkie’s finest moments? terway Group actually cited them in their 2001 applica- lots of tips, as in “By the way, ask ticians I’ve encountered. I was RS: One was my undercover infiltra- 6 tion for Superfund. that guy about this.” shocked he got reelected. Aside tion of a Tea Party training event. The Port of Bellingham wrecked all that, elbowing AR: Any theories on what makes the from breaking records for receiv- It was fun seeing firsthand how in with a preemptive condemnation action on the ASB Herald so awful? ing free meals from lobbyists RHODES, CONTINUED ON PAGE 32 treatment lagoon and subsequent negotiation with GP that let that industry off the hook for cleanup costs VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF CASCADIA WEEKLY THE GRISTLE in exchange for assurances the port would seek the most dismal standard 38 for cleanup.
While Seattle lobbied for (and re- FOOD ceived) federal Superfund status, the Port of Bellingham lobbied to have 32 Whatcom Waterway decommissioned as a navigable channel, destroying at once both federal assistance to dredge B-BOARD the waterway to depth and thus the waterway itself as a navigable channel 26 for Bellingham’s maritime future. While
Seattle got the attention of the feder- FILM al government, the Port of Bellingham
screwed around for ten years threaten- 22 ing and holding hostages, burning sacks
of public money while state MTCA funds MUSIC dried up and went elsewhere. Indeed,
it’s widely (though unofficially) ac- 18 knowledged that the state Dept. of Ecol- ART ogy took the lead on two remediation projects in 2013 precisely out of concern 16 delay could render funds unavailable.
Notably, when DOE led the effort, con- STAGE taminants were actually removed. TH A city first in line 20 years ago is only Dec 17 now starting to begin the planning of 14 the first phase of an initial cleanup Toyota Tundra Double while other communities have raced by, GET OUT snapping up cash as they’ve passed. Cab and Cash Drawings At every step, city officials have AT 2PM, 4PM, 6PM AND 8PM! 12 shrugged and weakly accepted the ter- rible outcomes dictated by the misfea-
Earn EnTRIES DAILY TO WIN! WORDS sance of the Port of Bellingham. Negotiations have seized with a 8 potential master developer, Harcourt Developments of Dublin, Ireland. The
broadly understood reason for the im- CURRENTS passe is the sale price for the land. 6 Harcourt wants it for less than the port 6 can bear to sell it for, because the sale VIEWS must generate revenues sufficient to VIEWS
complete even an atrocious cleanup. 4 But why should Harcourt pay top dollar for contaminated land? MAIL
The port indemnified the only pri- 2 vate party with liability and duty (and DO IT IT DO capacity) to clean the site, Georgia- Pacific West, with assurances GP would be brought in only if the cost of clean- up soared above an established price ($100 million) in tandem with guar- TAKE THE TUNNEL TO 1,000 CONVENIENT 12.17.14 antees the port would never seek that
PARKING SPACES AT THE SOUTH ENTRANCE! .09
level of cleanup. The only potentially 51 liable party left holding the bag is the # public through its representatives, with a mandate from the state that the site must be cleaned. Small wonder, then, that the port drags its heels on cleanup, for to proceed EXPERIENCEEVERYTHING would instantly reveal the dementia of CASCADIA WEEKLY the port’s thimblerigging. And there is 24/7 ACTION 7 no Plan B, the agency has aggressively SilverReefCasino.com • (877) 568-7332 seen to that. There is merely shrugging and confessing that their hands are now I-5 Exit 260 • 4 Min. West • Haxton Way at Slater Road tied—yes, by ropes of the port’s own Events subject to change without notice. Must be 21 or over to play. Management reserves all rights. ©2014 Silver Reef Casino manufacture and knotting. etails remain, but Bellingham City Council made history this D week, unanimously approving a program intended to ensure the health and
38 safety of the city’s rental housing supply, an effort more than 16 years in the mak- FOOD FOOD currents ing. The program is intended to make sure rental housing in Bellingham meets mini- NEWS POLITICS FUZZ BUZZ INDEX mum health and fire safety standards. 32 Designed in two parts intended to com- plement each other, the rental registra-
B-BOARD B-BOARD tion and inspection program will attempt to register and catalogue thousands of
26 rental properties by the end of 2015 and inspect the entire stock over a period of
FILM three to five years. The program will ap- ply only those standards that determine
22 whether conditions exist in a rental unit MUSIC
18 , ART “I’ve heard from landlords
16 who said, ‘You know
STAGE what, this is a good
14 thing. We’ve got some problems that need to be GET OUT taken care of.’
12 “Other communities have
WORDS done it. We can do it, and do it in a fair way.” 8 —GENE KNUTSON CURRENTS CURRENTS CURRENTS 8 that endanger or impair the health or 6 safety of a tenant under codes already in effect. It requires landlords and proper- VIEWS ty managers to meet only those minimal
4 standards they are already required to un- der law; an inspection component keeps MAIL MAIL things honest, supporters say.
Bellingham’s new Planning Director Rick 2 Sepler explained some administrative de- DO IT IT DO tails could help offset the ramp-up costs of implementing the program. A vigorous COMING DOWN YOUR inspection schedule would mean more than 2,700 properties would need to be inspect- 12.17.14 ed over three years. Units that pass inspec- tion would not need to be inspected again .09
51 for at least five years. Under the design of # the program, the number of units inspect- ed would therefore plummet to 400 in the fourth year and the year thereafter and would climb again in successive years. CHIMNEY “It creates an uneven assessment schedule,” Sepler said. “There are several
CASCADIA WEEKLY Rental inspections will sort the ways through this. One might be to pro- vide a financial incentive for those who 8 provide compliance. Another is to extend naughty from nice the term from three years to a longer pe- riod to even out the workload.” BY TIM JOHNSON Council also had unanswered questions about how program fees would be designed and assigned, whether by unit or by prop- two decades on council. “We’re not pass- “A complaint-based system does not in case of a fire. erty. Council expressed concerns that ing this just to get rid of it. If we wanted work,” residents of the York neighbor- “The ordinance is fair to property own- costs of the program should be equitable. to get rid of it, we could have gotten rid hood commented in a letter filed with ers who do good property management,” “There a lot of different costs associ- of it a long time ago. city. “It has failed in Bellingham and Weiss said. “By requiring minimum health ated that should be applied on a per-unit “This time around, we included every- other cities. It puts the burden on the and safety standards for our rental hous- 38 basis” beyond the transaction fee to regis- body in the discussion, in every way pos- tenant to fight one-on-one with the ing stock, every property owner is on a ter a property, Council member Jack Weiss sible,” he said. “I’ve heard from landlords landlord who has an unfair advantage level playing field. This means they can FOOD said. “All of the facets of the program, who said, ‘You know what, this is a good and can retaliate by raising the rent, not charge a fair rent knowing that some bad I think, are on a per-unit basis, whether thing. We’ve got some problems that giving a good reference, or just ignoring apple down the street will not match or 32 they’re administrative costs or data entry need to be taken care of.’ the complaint altogether.” undercut them with an uninhabitable or costs, or the educational costs associated “Other communities have done it. We “The ordinance before us is about fair- unsafe place.” with conducting classes or producing ma- can do it, and do it in a fair way,” he said. ness,” noted Jack Weiss, who championed And, Weiss said, “this ordinance is fair B-BOARD terials or a website—all those should be The proposed ordinance has moved to the surrounding neighborhoods where assigned on a per unit basis.” a considerable distance since August, rental property exists. Better-kept rental 26 Sepler said other jurisdictions that when council held public hearings to properties improve the entire character of have enacted similar programs have consider a registration program without , the neighborhood and create fewer health FILM found 85 to 90 percent of rental units an inspection requirement. The inspec- “This issue of rental sand safety nuisances. And an improved
passed their inspections, and he would tion requirement had been stripped out neighborhood means increased property 22 expect similar results from Bellingham. of a draft of the ordinance earlier this safety and quality of life values for nearby homeowners and for
The details of the program should be re- year after it appeared it would not be neighboring rental property owners.” MUSIC sponsive to that, he said. supported by council in a slim majority. in our neighborhoods Lehman, in her last significant policy
By the end of the first cycle of inspec- That majority shifted last fall after Ter- decision on Bellingham City Council, said 18 tions, the city will have a robust and fair- ry Bornemann, persuaded by arguments has been undermining she was apprehensive about the rental ART ly precise database of the condition of its that aging rental stock could be contam- licensing and inspection program in its rental housing stock, Sepler said. Council inated by methamphetamine or other the conversation in our current form. 16 members observed that even at 85 to 90 environmental hazards, announced that community about long- “I was not excited about this,” Lehman
percent, that still left many hundreds of he would support an inspection program. admitted. “I don’t want extra government STAGE units in Bellingham potentially below Bornemann’s announcement produced a term growth for a very layers and I don’t want extra fees and I minimum standards for health and safety. shift in council opinion that eventually don’t want endless government processes Council members were under consider- gave way to unanimous consent. long time.” with ill-defined problems. However, we 14 able pressure to enact a program in some For Council, the issue of a city pro- —CATHY LEHMAN, CITY COUNCIL have a larger problem in the City of Bell- form by the end of the year and before gram for rental safety has been book- ingham around growth and how we want GET OUT Council President Cathy Lehman resigned ended on one side by concerns that too to tackle that, and this issue of rental her position for new employment in Seat- hardy a program would be invasive, and the ordinance in its present form. “Fair- safety and quality of life in our neighbor- 12 tle. The work and public testimony gath- might invite legal challenge or leave the ness to tenants, good property owners hoods has been undermining the conver- ered by council on this issue over the past city exposed to potential liability. That and the surrounding neighborhood. sation in our community about long-term WORDS 18 months could have been at risk by a suggested primarily a complaint-driven “It is fair to all tenants, whether they growth for a very long time. Hopefully,
new appointment, a new opinion to re- program. Bookending the other side was are low income and unable to get satis- when we pass this and implement it wise- 8 8 place Lehman’s. Council chose to approve council’s apprehension that failure to faction when the water heater breaks or ly and continue to scrutinize it, and make their ordinance in incomplete form, with enact a responsive program could invite there is an electrical hazard. Or they are it better and learn more from it over time, CURRENTS CURRENTS specific details on costs and implementa- casualty or death of renters in dreadful- of moderate income and unable to get a that won’t be able to undermine our con- CURRENTS tion to be hammered out early next year. ly substandard housing. Between these property owner to fix doors and windows versation about growth any longer. “This has been a long battle,” Gene bookends are all the issues of equity and that are not properly weatherized.... Or “I really wish that for the city,” she 6 Knutson said of an issue that has come fairness that have consumed council on they are a student and unaware of what said. “This could be very helpful to the up for discussion nearly every year of his this topic for nearly 20 years. the technical requirements are for egress city if we let it be.” VIEWS 4 PHOTO: DYLAN HALLETT MAIL MAIL
2 DO IT IT DO
12.17.14 .09 51 # may be exchanged for physical card gift and holder * Gift cards purchased* Gift online are PDF vouchers and admin offices on the mountain when open. at Bellingham business office or CASCADIA WEEKLY
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22 NEWS T DEC10-16 MUSIC BY TIM JOHNSON s 18 ART 16 12.10.14
STAGE Health officials in Canada struggle to contain an especially infectious form of bird flu. The highly contagious strain of avian influenza has resulted WEDNESDAY in the deaths of 155,000 chickens and turkeys in British Columbia. Health officials say the virus has been found at eight B.C. poultry farms and is Heavy rains trigger another mudslide that blocks the BNSF main likely to spread. Whatcom County birds have tested negative for the H5N2 virus. 14 rail line south of Everett, halting passenger rail traffic. A Sounder com- muter train was in the area when the slide hit and some debris ended up The conviction of a child molester is upheld by NORTHWEST PASSAGES GET OUT against the train’s wheels. Rail crews work to remove the debris. a new jury in a retrial. The Blaine man is again Whatcom County gets a fourth found guilty on 10 counts of sex crimes against Superior Court judge. The governor has appointed Whatcom County a new
12 Meanwhile, the state continues a review of logging practices that children and for the second time, a life sentence. may have contributed to the deadly landslide in Oso last March. A judge ordered Frederick Williams Jr., 50, to judge. Gov. Jay Inslee appoints Raquel Investigators find that a timber company logged one acre more than spend his life in prison without parole for raping Montoya-Lewis will fill the new spot WORDS approved by the Legislature in 2013. was allowed under a 2004 permit, but the report was inconclusive and sexually abusing two girls. A professor at Fairhaven College, Mon-
8 on whether logging strayed into a more restrictive area. The state toya-Lewis has 15 years of experience COURTESTY OF WWU PHOTO Department of Natural Resources releases its review, nine months 12.13.14 as a judge in courts representing more after the deadliest landslide in U.S. history killed 43 people and than 10 tribes across the West. She is the first Native SATURDAY American woman serving in superior court in the state. CURRENTS CURRENTS CURRENTS 8 devastated this community west of Darrington. Firefighters battle a small blaze on the Geor- 6 Damage to the Mt. Baker Highway prompts Gov. Jay Inslee to in- gia-Pacific mill site on Bellingham’s waterfront. clude Whatcom in the inventory of five counties in a State of Emer- Officials say the fire was limited to the third floor VIEWS gency. The listing helps with federal funds for emergency repairs of of an abandoned alcohol plant. The brunt of the Legislature has sought to reconcile laws governing
4 roads damaged in recent storms. Floodwaters from the Nooksack damage was centered in one room, where firefight- marijauana for medical use and recreational use, River have undermined a section of SR 542, causing about $3 ers say it looked as if someone had been squat- lending certainty to municipal jurisdictions, but MAIL MAIL million in damage to the highway. ting. It took crews about half an hour to douse the has failed to do so.
flames. No one was injured. 2 12.12.14 Council passes a resolution as an early step in the DO IT IT DO FRIDAY Thousands of gun enthusiasts expected to rally creation of quiet zones for trains operating within in Olympia in protest over new requirements for the city limits. Much more work is yet to be done Adding to the burden of the state Legislature, Washington state background checks under the state’s new law turn before the city can petition federal railroad authori- universities are banding together to send a message to Olympia. out, instead, to be a few hundred. Gun rights sup- ties, they caution. 12.17.14 Universities seek $198 million more from the state to help them porters say they’re against an initiative approved by improve student access to high-demand fields. In their statement voters that would apply the same checks to online Cathy Lehman hands over her gavel as president .09
51 Thursday, universities say the state should not meet the needs of gun sales that are currently in place at gun stores. of City Council to pursue employment in Seattle. # K-12 students at the expense of preschool and college students. Council will select her replacement later this week. 12.15.14 The state Dept. of Transportation distributes federal highway MONDAY 12.16.14 grants of $70 million to fix 32 bridges around the state, including TUESDAY two over Anderson and Bertrand creeks near Lake Whatcom. The The Bellingham City Attorney’s office announces state estimates that about half the bridges on the list are beyond that the city, failing to reach an agreement with the Gov. Jay Inslee announces a comprehensive
CASCADIA WEEKLY the point of repair and need to be replaced. property owner, will begin condemnation proceed- proposal to address Washington’s most-pressing ings against the Aloha Motel on Samish Way. transportation needs, including fixes for ailing 10 The Washington State Patrol says an Everson man’s alcohol level bridges, patching crumbling roads, cleaning our air was 0.145, over the legal limit of 0.08 when he crashed into a mo- Still waiting for clarification from the state and water and completing major regional projects. torcycle last Friday, killing the driver. The Bellingham Herald reports Legislature, Bellingham City Council continues Inslee’s office estimates the plan to be submitted the man initially refused a blood draw for alcohol screening, citing its interim zoning restrictions on collective gar- to the 2015 Legislature will create 50,000 jobs religious beliefs. dens that produce marijuana for medical use. The across the state. of dedicated fans were the only people at index FUZZ the stadium, so the officer and the high school principal wandered in to keep them
company,” police reported. “The surprised BUZZ 38 duo admitted to trying to ditch class and
turned over their cache of cigarettes for FOOD BEASTS AMONG US destruction. The matter was handled ad- On Dec. 12, a Whatcom County judge ministratively by school staff.” 32 crushed the romantic hopes of a bestiality advocate, sentencing him to an addition- On Dec. 8, Blaine Police returned to the al three months in jail. Douglas Spink has high school after staff reported that a B-BOARD multiple arrests and convictions for having student was possibly in possession of al- sexually abused dogs and other critters at cohol on campus. “Working together, the 26 his pleasure farm in Sumas, including vi- admistration and an officer found that a olations of his probation. Spink entered a teenager had an empty liquor bottle and FILM plea agreement with Whatom County Su- admitted to having consumed some of it
perior Court Judge Charles Snyder that for- earlier that day,” police noted. “A report 22 bids him from ever owning dogs again in was prepared for the juvenile prosecutor’s
the state of Washington. Snyder tacked on officer, and an investigation is underway MUSIC a few additional weeks of jail time so Spink into the shoplift or theft of the alcohol
can reflect on his crimes. from a store in Blaine.” 18 ART On Dec. 13, Whatcom County Sheriff’s dep- RULES OF ENGAGEMENT uties arrested two men who had taken a On Dec. 15, Bellingham Police responded 16 horse whip to a young boy. The boy’s fa- to a fight on Holly Street at 2am. “The fight
ther and his grandfather beat the 10-year- was mutual and nobody was arrested at this STAGE old and forced him to run up and down a time,” police commented. logging road for hours until he collapsed. At one point, they forced him into a ditch On Dec. 15, Bellingham Police responded 14 filled with dirty, freezing water. When the to an assault on Cornwall Avenue at 2am. boy would stop running, the men would A woman approached a Lynden man and GET OUT flay him with an 85-inch-long whip. The stabbed him in the leg with a knife, wound- Bellingham Herald reported he was whipped ing him slightly. The 27-year-old attacker $2.24 12 more than 30 times in the arms, legs and was unknown to the victim at the time of the groin. The men told deputies they were dis- incident, police reported. She was arrested. WORDS ciplining the boy for not doing his chores BILLIONS in holiday retail sales estimated by the nation’s department stores in December 2013. This represents an estimated 40.9 percent jump from the previous properly. Deputies arrested the men for dis- PERFORMANCE ART 8 8 cipline of their own. On Dec. 15, a man in a hoodie was report- month when retail sales were estimated at $17.3 billion. ed making lewd gestures through the win- CURRENTS CURRENTS NAUGHTY. NO, NICE dow of a dance studio on West Holly Street. 22.8 30,185 CURRENTS On Dec. 6, a concerned Blaine resident Called on his behavior, the man ran into the called police dispatch after spotting a man street screaming. 6 PERCENT of estimated growth in NUMBER of electronic shopping and wearing a blue bandana over his face out- inventories projected by the nation’s mail-order houses in business in 2012. VIEWS side of a business downtown. “Officers ar- On Dec. 15, pedestrians told Bellingham department stores through the holiday These businesses, which employed
rived and found the man had left the area,” Police they were confronted by an aggres- season. 365,508 workers in the pay period 4 police reported. “Another customer advised sive panhandler in the central business dis- including March 12, are a popular source that the gentleman was a regular patron, trict as they were walking to work. of holiday gifts. MAIL
and had been wearing the cover over his 2 mouth as he had a cold and did not want to UNCLEAR ON THE INSTRUCTION
$1.0 IT DO infect anyone else.” On Dec. 14, two men were contacted by Bellingham Police for riding their bicycles SPORTS FANS at speed on a sidewalk downtown. “It was VALUE (in billions) of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China between On Dec. 8, an officer patrolling near Blaine later discovered one of the men had been January and September 2014. China was the leading country of origin for such items. High School observed two teenagers enter contacted twice before for the same viola- Similarly, China was the leading foreign source of artificial Christmas trees shipped to 12.17.14 the United States ($137.5 million worth) during the same period. the high school football stadium as the tion, and an infraction was issued to him,” .09
school day was just beginning. “The pair police reported. SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau 51 #
WATCH THE GAMESAM ON THE BIG SCREEN! Winners FOOTBALL ENTERTAINMENTNTERTAINMENT LOUNGE SUNDAY 12/21 FRIDAY & SATURDAYY Seahawks @ Cardinals 12/19 & 12/20, 9 PM – 1 AM CASCADIA WEEKLY 5:30 pm Social Network 11 GAME TIME SPECIALS Top 40 Dance Radio Pop Owned by Upper Skagit Indian Tribe I-5 Exit 236 • theskagit.com • 877-275-2448 Specials available in the lounge and at the bar top during Seahawks games plus Sundays, Monday & Thursday Night Football. CW Must be 21 or older with valid photo ID. doit WORDS
WED., DEC. 17 38 OPEN MIC: Attend South Whatcom Library’s “Poetry, Prose & Music” Open Mic from FOOD FOOD 6-8:30pm at the Creekside Cafe at the Sudden words Valley YMCA, 8 Barn View Court, Gate 2. Entry COMMUNITY LECTURES BOOKS is free. 32 WWW.WCLS.ORG
SENSELESS KNOWLEDGE: Master humorist B-BOARD B-BOARD Kent Woodyard brings new life to the memory prosecute tribal members. If it happened off devices of a bygone era when he reads from Indian land, then it’s not Indian business, his first book, Non-Essential Mnemonics: An 26 and any perpetrators may be held account- Unnecessary Journey into Senseless Knowledge, at 7pm at Village Books, 1200 11th St. FILM able. Bazil suspects a non-Native, hence the WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM importance of jurisdiction. As the investiga-
22 tion unfolds, Bazil struggles with the limita- POETRY CELEBRATION: Bellingham-based tions of the legal system and his own feel- poet Elizabeth Vignali celebrates the release of her new collection, Object Permanence, at
MUSIC ings of ineffectiveness and helplessness. 7pm at the Green Frog, 1015 N. State St. The poems—which were written during a series of
18 Joe, 13 years old, is bent major life transitions—will be augmented by on revenge. Along with his music by Sarah Goodin. Entry is free. ART friends Cappy, Zack, and WWW.ACOUSTICTAVERN.COM Angus, Joe heads to the 16 Round House, where the THURS., DEC. 18 HERSHEY BOOK SIGNING: Bellingham-
STAGE boys discover some evi- GET IT based author Sheryl Hershey will present the dence that leads them to first tome in her series of children’s books, HOW: To put a their own conclusions. Lila and the Dandelion, at a book signing from
14 hold request on 4-6:30pm at Barkley Village’s Dorothy Haggen The Round House, Convinced he knows who- Building, 2211 Rimland Dr. Artist Michael visit www.wcls. dunit, and convinced Marshall—who illustrated the book—will also
GET OUT org and search the there’s only one way to be on hand to sign copies. catalog. make his family feel safe WWW.THELILABOOKS.COM MORE: Download again, Joe makes danger- 12 12 the free Library LOUISE ERDRICH POETRY WRITING GROUP: Meet other Now app using ous plans to take matters writers who can help you get organized, give your smartphone into his own hands. WORDS WORDS feedback and help you with your writing goals or mobile device Erdrich’s skill lies in no- at a Poetry Writing Group meeting from 5:30- REVIEWED BY CHRISTINE PERKINS (available from ticing small details, revel- 7pm at Village Books, 1200 11th St. 8 any app store). ing in the beauty of na- 671-2626 Select Whatcom ture even as humans can County Library FRI., DEC. 19
CURRENTS CURRENTS System and find be ugly and violent. She The Round House FAMILY STORY NIGHT: Professional tale- the book in the maintains a dark, forebod- tellers from the Bellingham Storytellers Guild 6 catalog. It’s avail- ing mood throughout much will provide an hour of coaching and an intro- MYSTERY ON THE RESERVATION able as a book of the book, and paints duction to the craft at 6pm at the Fairhaven Li-
VIEWS (regular or large brary, 1117 12th St. At 7pm, Family Story Night old nights cry out for spellbinding books that captivate readers and print), an audio- vivid, frightening scenes. will commence. Both all-ages events are free.
4 take their minds off the weather howling outdoors. book on CD, or as One example stands out: 778-7188 Louise Erdrich, one of our country’s master storytellers, delivers an eBook. Joe and his friends are
MAIL MAIL C just such a tale with The Round House. If you missed it when it won the Na- suspicious of the new SAT., DEC. 20
tional Book Award a few years back, now’s the time to pick up a copy at your parish priest, a disfigured Iraq War vet who SANTA BOOK SIGNING: The big fella in red 2 local library and settle in for some reward- scares the living daylights out them when he will sign copies of Santa is Coming to Bellingham from 11am-12pm at Village Books, 1200 11th St. DO IT IT DO
ing reading. catches them peering into his windows. The In the book, Santa has loaded up his sleigh and, The novel begins on an Ojibwe reservation expressions on their faces, the view from the with the help of one red-nosed reindeer, will in North Dakota in 1988. Geraldine Coutts, a window—all are described with precision and soar over rooftops in Bellingham neighborhoods. tribal enrollment specialist, is attacked and keen insight. WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM 12.17.14 violated near the Round House, a sacred The novel is told by an older version of Joe, ceremonial place. looking back with wisdom and reflection. Now LIBRARY TOURS: Adults and school-age
.09 children can show up for “Behind the Scenes” Narrowly escaping with her life, Geral- a tribal judge himself, Joe has the benefit 51 tours at 2pm, 3:30pm, 4pm and 5:30pm start- # dine returns home, shattered, to her lov- of years of perspective to impart his family’s ing at the SkillShare Space at the Bellingham ing husband Bazil, a tribal judge, and Joe, story with clarity and truth. This is one of Er- Public Library, 210 Central Ave. Attendees her teenage son. All are devastated by the drich’s few novels presented by a single narra- can visit the library’s hidden fourth floor, take crime, trying to make sense of the violence. tor; others, like her equally enthralling Master a peek inside the “book hospital” and much more. Entry is free. As Geraldine retreats into herself, unwill- Butchers Singing Club, are told by a chorus of 778-7217 OR [email protected] ing and unable to provide details about her unusual characters. For a full dose of story-
CASCADIA WEEKLY attacker, Bazil and Joe work to solve the telling genius, read both! USED BOOK SALE: If you’re looking to do crime—and seek justice. Bazil pores over some last-minute Christmas shopping, the 12 his old case files, certain they must hold a clue. Who might have a grudge Christine Perkins is Executive Director of the Friends of the Everson Library will host a Used Book Sale from 2-5pm at the Everson Library, against his family? He has some ideas—but a crucial question remains unan- Whatcom County Library System. Perkins reviews 104 Kirsch Dr. Sales will support programs and swered: Where exactly did the crime take place? fiction for Library Journal and loves discuss- services at the book hub. The location is key. If the crime happened on the reservation, then trib- ing books each month with friends in two local 305-3600 al police and the tribal court system have jurisdiction—but they can only book clubs. EO P G P L E N ’ S I H C doit S I L
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Try our New Full Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Menus! 38 Northwest Book Group meeting at 7pm at Vil- lage Books, 1200 11th St. FOOD FOOD WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM Four Course Sunset Specials POETRYNIGHT: Those looking to share their NOW AVAILABLE DURING LUNCH! Ê££>È«ÊUÊ->ÌÊEÊ-ÕÊΫȫ 32 verse as part of Poetrynight can sign up at $ 95* 7:30pm at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 15 15 Entrees to choose from Central Ave. Readings start at 8pm. Entry is ««iÌâiÀ]Ê-Õ«ÊÀÊ->>`]Ê iÃÃiÀÌ by donation. B-BOARD WWW.POETRYNIGHT.ORG Now Offering Ravioli, Gnocchi & Veal 26 TUES., DEC. 23 /FX%FTTFSU0QUJPOTtCréme Brulee made In-House SCI-FI WRITING GROUP: If your fiction FILM writing leans toward the fantastic (sci-fi, fan- tasy, mythic, magical, steampunk, etc.), attend *Offer valid 7 days a week (holidays excluded) For additional offers visit www.granaio.com
the bimonthly meeting of the Spec Fiction/Sci- CALL FOR RESERVATIONS 22 fi Writing Group from 6-8pm at Village Books, 360.419.0674 1200 11th St. Lunch hours 11am–3pm MUSIC 671-2626 WWW.GRANAIO.COM Dinner hours [email protected]
3pm–10pm 18 BELLINGHAM READS: The Bellingham Reads £ääÊ Ê Ì}iÀÞ]Ê-ÕÌiÊ££ä]Ê ÕÌÊ6iÀ book discussion group will discuss Tracy ART Kidder’s Strength in What Remains from 6:30- 7:30pm at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. 16 778-7323 9,//$*( STAGE
COMMUNITY 14 DEC. 18-21 %22.6at DECK THE HALL: Shop, sing, see Santa, enjoy dozens of decorated trees and enter to win a 3DSHU'UHDPV GET OUT special “decked out’ tree for your home at part of “Deck the Old City Hall” from 12-5pm every 12 Thursday through Sunday through Dec. 28 at ;QWĀNNğPF 12 Whatcom Museum’s Old City Hall, 121 Prospect )+(65)#.14' WORDS St. Entry is free with museum admission. &RUQHURI6WDWH6WUHHW WORDS WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG &KUEQXGTCYGUQOG &KDPSLRQ6WUHHW SAT., DEC. 20 ZZZVKDNHDQGVKLQHFRP 8 CARRIAGE RIDES: Horse-drawn carriage $11-5 1RUWK6WDWH6WUHHW rides with Creamer Classics and visits with %HOOLQJKDP:$
CURRENTS Santa and Mrs. Claus will take place from 12- 6Q[U)COGU 3pm at the Fairhaven Village Inn, 1200 10th 6 St. The festivities are free and open to all. %CTFU,GYGNT[ WWW.FAIRHAVEN.COM VIEWS SOLSTICE CELEBRATION: Carolers, hot cider JCPFDCIU 6HOI6HUYLFH'RJ:DVK7UHDWV'RJ6XSSOLHV and cookies, carriage rides, visits from Santa 4 and a craft fair will be part of a Solstice Cel- 5GCUQPCN&GEQT ebration from 2-6pm at Boundary Bay Brewery, MAIL
1107 Railroad Ave. The all-ages event is free.
/WEJ/QTG 2 WWW.BBAYBREWERY.COM %CPĀV&GEKFG!)KXG DO IT IT DO DEC. 20-21 EDISON CELEBRATION: Visit Edison from )+(6%#4&5 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday for a fun and festival Holiday Shopping Event. Holiday )QQFCVDQVJ
specials and sales will happen throughout the 12.17.14 weekend at Hedgerow, Shop Curator, the Lucky 2CRGT
Dumpster, Slough Foods, Smith & Vallee, and &TGCOU .09 more. 51 # WWW.FACEBOOK.COM 8KNNCIG$QQMU
SUN., DEC. 21 12'0 /QP5CV CORO SOLSTICE COMMUNITY RITUAL: The 36th 5WP CORO annual Grand Dance Movement Ritual takes %JTKUVOCU'XGÿVKNRO place from 7:30-10pm at the Bloedel Donovan CV Community Building, 2214 Electric Ave. The
Bellingham tradition welcomes back the sun, 8KNNCIG$QQMUEQO CASCADIA WEEKLY and welcomes the new year in the presence of 6JCPM;QWHQT community. The movement ritual is guided. 5JQRRKPI.QECNN[ 13 Entry is a suggested $8-$15 (kids 14 and under are free). See the website for guidelines about 1200 -1206 11th St., child care. WWW.GRAND-DANCE.COM Historic Fairhaven, Bellingham 360.671.2626 brought a stuffed animal her ex had given her before he’d gone from being a sort- of-decent boyfriend to an oh-god-he’s- so-horrible one, and the wide-eyed plush
chicken she fed the growing conflagra- 38 tion proved to be extremely flammable. FOOD FOOD outside Wedding photos, articles of clothing HIKING RUNNING CYCLING and other disastrous detritus took their turn in the fire before the night was 32 through, and as we sipped on cocktails from the requisite bachelorette party pe-
B-BOARD B-BOARD nis straws, I think we all breathed sighs of relief that those toxic relationships were 26 behind us.
FILM These days, the flames that make appearances in the backyard tend to 22 be more of the celebra-
MUSIC tory kind. On summer ATTEND nights, the combustion
18 we create in our bright WHAT: Winter red ’60s-era outdoor ART Solstice Service with candle- fireplace provides am- light, songs, bience and keeps the 16 poetry, a pesky mosquitoes away. cauldron of fire
STAGE On chilly fall after- and ritual WHEN: 7pm noons, fires help keep Sun., Dec. 2 the woody debris that 14 14 WHERE: Center piles up on our two-lot for Spiritual property under control. Living, 2224 GET OUT GET OUT In winter, the burns are Yew Street Rd. INFO: www.csl- mostly about keeping ourselves and visitors
12 bellingham.org ------warm so we can contin- WHAT: 36th ue to be outside during WORDS annual Con- the coldest months of secutive Grand the year. 8 Dance Move- ment Ritual to Occasionally, there Bring Back the are still ceremonial as- Light
CURRENTS CURRENTS pects to the fire-fueled WHEN: 7:30- goings-on—whether it’s
6 10pm Sun., Dec. 21 a circle of friends shar- WHERE: Bloe- ing hopes and resolu- VIEWS del Donovan tions for the coming Park Community
4 year around a blaze as Building, 2214 part of a New Year’s Eve BY AMY KEPFERLE Electric Ave. MAIL MAIL COST: $8-$15 soiree or celebrating the
(kids 14 and Winter Solstice by bring- 2 under are free) ing much-needed light
DO IT IT DO INFO: www. Solstice Burn to the longest night of grand-dance. the year. com STOKING THE FLAMES OF WINTER On that dark, dark night—this Sunday, in fact—I like to 12.17.14 ’ve lit a lot of things on fire in my backyard. imagine that people all over the world Years ago, for example, I had a group of female friends who would gather are, like us, lighting fires to symbolize .09 under the light of the full moon every month to engage in a fire-fueled the heat, light and life-giving proper- 51
# I cleansing ritual. ties of the returning sun. On small scraps of paper, we’d write about the things we wanted to let go of—ev- While I’m pretty sure that stoking the erything from petty grudges against our fellow humans to self-pity about the paths flames of winter won’t make the season we’d not taken in life, to anger against men or women who’d done us wrong—read pass any quicker, there’s something about them aloud (if we chose to), put a match to the paper, then drop our blazing regrets looking into the mesmerizing licks of fire in a freshly dug hole as they burned, hopefully never to be seen again. on a frigid night that makes me want to
CASCADIA WEEKLY Bad boyfriends were also a theme at another burn a few years ago, when I embrace the colder months in ways that hosted a bachelorette party for a friend who requested that all the ladies in aren’t always so apparent. 14 attendance bring mementos of relationships that had gone sour to destroy in a This year, as autumn turns to winter, I blaze of flames. might just throw in a stuffed animal and a I dug up a few old pictures and poems from the guy who’d had the temerity few regrets into the fire to cover my bases to end our three-year relationship so that he could move to the Caribbean, but and make sure the coming three months others got more creative with their offerings. For instance, one of our friends are good ones. You never know. doit COLD BEER • GREAT FOOD Weekly events: The Corner Pub Monday - Meatloaf Monday is Open! Trivia 7PM Tuesday - 38 Live Music Thursdays Tacos, Tallboys and Tequila & Some Saturdays Wednesday - FOOD Bingo Night 4:30PM All music starts at 7:30PM Thursday - Knut Bell Live Music 7:30PM 32 Friday - Steak Night 5PM B-BOARD B-BOARD If you’re longing for winter weather, chill out with a viewing of the Coldsmoke Winter Film Tour Dec. 18 at the Unwind Special- Geared toward Pickford Film Center (but not exclusive by any means) Happy Holidays! our Hard Working Neighbors... 26 WED., DEC. 17 LAKE WHATCOM HIKE: Join members of the We know you can't really enjoy a
GROUP RUN: All levels of experience are Mount Baker Club for a 6.5-mile round trip North drink on your lunch break so come FILM welcome at a weekly Group Run beginning at 6pm Lake Whatcom hike. Meet at 8:30am at Sunnyland back and unwind with your lunch in Mount Vernon at the Skagit Running Company, Elementary to carpool, or meet at 9am at the receipt for 50%off your first drink!
702 First St. The 3- to 6-mile run is great for trailhead. Dress for the weather, and bring a Dump Run special- Bring in your 22 beginners or for others wanting an easy recovery. snack or lunch to eat at the turnaround point. Open 11-9 Monday thru Wednesday receipt from the Skagit Transfer
Entry is free and no registration is required. 770-2926 OR WWW.MOUNTBAKERCLUB.ORG 11-10 Thursday thru Saturday Station and get a beer and a shot MUSIC WWW.SKAGITRUNNERS.ORG 10-9 Sunday for just $4 (bartenders choice) CENTERPIECE PARTY: Attend an all-ages “Kid’s Always open later if everyone is having a good time! LIGHTED NEIGHBORHOOD RIDE: Join mem- Holiday Family Centerpiece Party” at 9am at the 14565 Allen West Road • Bow, WA 98232 • 360.757.6113 18
bers of the Mount Baker Bicycle Club for a fun Garden Spot Nursery, 900 Alabama St. Entry is ART and festive “Lighted Neighborhoods Ride” start- $30 and includes all supplies, as well as milk and ing at 6pm at the parking lot at the Depot Market treats. Please sign up in advance. 16 Square, 1100 Railroad Ave. (across from Boundary WWW.GARDEN-SPOT.COM Bay Brewery). Feel free to decorate yourself and/ or your bike. CHRISTMAS CROSS: Bellingham BMX and Cas- STAGE WWW.MTBAKERBIKECLUB.ORG cade Cross present their monthly “Winter Cross” 5K cross-country race, “Christmas Cross,” at noon 14 14 THURS., DEC. 18 at Bellingham BMX’s headquarters at 5022 Guide COLDSMOKE WINTER TOUR: Watch an action- Meridian (just north of Kelly Road and south of paced evening of short-form winter culture Smith Road). There is limited parking, so carpool GET OUT GET OUT films as part of the Coldsmoke Winter Film Tour if possible. Entry is $10 (cash) onsite. Costumes starting at 9pm at the Pickford Film Center, 1318 are encouraged. Bay St. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the WWW.BBMXWINTERCROSS.COM 12 door. Each attendee will receive a two-for-one lift ticket to Montana’s Big Sky Resort. LIGHTED BOAT PARADE: Bundle up and head
WWW.COLDSMOKEWINTERFILM.COM OR outside along the Guemes Channel to get a bet- WORDS WWW.PICKFORDFILMCENTER.ORG ter view of the beauty at a Lighted Boat Parade
starting at 4:30pm in Anacortes at Cap Sante 8 DEC. 18-23 Boat Haven, 1019 Q Ave. If inclement weather LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS: View festive holiday cancels the parade, an alternate course might displays both outdoors and indoors at the annual happen inside Cap Sante Marina. CURRENTS CURRENTS “The Lights of Christmas” event from 5-10pm WWW.ANACORTES.ORG
Thursday through Tuesday in Stanwood at the 6 15-acre Warm Beach Camp, 20800 Marine Dr. DEC. 20-21 In addition to the more than one million lights FISH HATCHERY TOURS: In conjunction with VIEWS that will be lit up, there will be activities for the return of bald eagles to the Skagit River kids, live entertainment, music, dinner theater, watershed system, volunteer guides will provide 4 holiday shopping and more. Tickets are $10-$15. free tours from 11am-3pm every Saturday and The fun continues Dec. 26-30. (Dec. 29-30 are Sunday through Feb. 1 at the Marblemount Fish MAIL MAIL pay-what-you-can nights.) Hatchery, 8319 Fish Hatchery Rd. Tours start
WWW.THELIGHTSOFCHRISTMAS.COM inside the visitor’s center and proceed outdoors. 2 Sturdy footwear is recommended. Entry is free.
FRI., DEC. 19 WWW.SKAGITFISHERIES.ORG IT DO
WILD THINGS: Kids, adults and adventurers can join Wild Whatcom Walks for “Wild Things” excur- SUN., DEC. 21 sions from 9:30-11am every Friday in December RABBIT RIDE: Join members of the Mount Baker at the Connelly Creek Nature Area in the Happy Bicycle Club for a “Rabbit Ride” starting at 8:30am Valley neighborhood. A frequently traveled every Sunday at Fairhaven Bike & Ski, 1108 11th 12.17.14 corridor for wildlife of all kinds, this trail winds St. The 32-mile route takes riders down Chuckanut
through surprisingly diverse and mature tree and back via Lake Samish. This is intended to be a .09 51
stands. Entry is by donation. fitness ride, and you’re encouraged to push your- # WWW.WILDWHATCOM.ORG self. The group also holds weekly rides Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SAT., DEC. 20 WWW.MTBAKERBIKECLUB.ORG CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: The North Cascades Audubon Society will be taking part in the TUES., DEC. 23 nationwide Christmas Bird Count today in North ALL-PACES RUN: Staffers and volunteers are Cascades National Park and beyond (North always on hand to guide the way at the weekly
Whidbey, Tahoma, Kitsap, Bridgeport, etc.). To All-Paces Run starting at 6pm every Tuesday at CASCADIA WEEKLY see if there’s still room to take part in the annual Fairhaven Runners, 1209 11th St. The runs are 20 event—which sees more than 50,000 birders minutes out and back on two key routes—by the 15 across North America spend a day counting bird water or through the woods. During these cold, populations—check out the website listed here dark months a headlamp or flashlight is required. for the particulars. Entry is free. WWW.WA.AUDUBON.ORG WWW.FAIRHAVENRUNNERS.COM doit STAGE
THURS., DEC. 18 38 GOOD, BAD, UGLY: Watch “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” at 8pm every Thursday at FOOD FOOD stage the Upfront Theatre, 1208 Bay St. At 10pm, stick around for the “Project.” Entry is $4-$7. 733-8855 OR WWW.THEUPFRONT.COM
32 THEATER DANCE PROFILES DEC. 18-20 CHRISTMAS CAPERS: The Whidbey Play- B-BOARD B-BOARD house’s youth theater troupe, the Would Friday night’s performance. “She just sort of Be Players, presents “Christmas Capers and never stopped being Mary. When I asked her Carols” at 7pm Thursday and 2pm and 7pm 26 to do the show again, it was almost like she Saturday at the Star Studio at the Whidbey Island locale at 730 SE Midway Blvd. Audi- FILM thought it was a ridiculous question. From the get-go we were all excited to do it again, ences will see what happens when Santa loses his Naughty and Nice List, listen to
22 and do it better.” traditional carols, see some dance and wit- Having seen a few of the Mary and Joseph ness a production of ’Twas the Night Before
MUSIC episodes during last year’s theatrical battle, Christmas go wrong. Tickets are $5 for kids I’d agree that viewing it as a singular, cohe- and $10 for adults. WWW.WHIDBEYPLAYHOUSE.COM
18 sive production was immensely satisfying. And, while Young and Greger once again
ART BOB’S YOUR ELF: Comedy and the holidays nail it as a couple who slowly come to real- combine when Bob’s Your Elf concludes ize that God isn’t exactly who they thought this weekend with 7:30pm shows Thurs- 16 16 he was (and that a vasec- day through Saturday at the Anacortes Community Theatre, 918 M Ave. The play
STAGE tomy means nothing when STAGE focuses on an elf who’s been banned from it comes to his supreme the North Pole and is ordered by Santa to will), I’d be remiss if I learn a lesson or two about cooperating with 14 didn’t give props to the others—via helping out a small town with rest of the cast, as well. the production of their annual Christmas pageant. Tickets are $18. GET OUT Trevor van Houten, for WWW.ACTTHEATRE.COM example, wears his wings SEE IT with authority as the DEC. 18-21 12 WHAT: Mary and angel Gabriel, who says DINNER THEATER: It’s A Wonderful Life: A Joseph…A Bible things like “No one has sex Live Radio Play can be seen at dinner theater WORDS Story with God—not even God,” performances at 6pm Thursday through WHEN: 7:30pm Saturday at the annual “Lights of Christmas” waxes poetic about how
8 Thurs.-Sun., Dec. event at Stanwood’s Warm Beach Camp,
JOLENE HANSON PHOTOGRAPHY 18-21 effing wonderful Heaven 20800 Marine Dr. Tickets are $39-$48 and WHERE: iDiOM is and, at one point, even include a five-course meal. A dessert theater Theater, 1418 matinee takes place at 4pm Sunday. Tickets
CURRENTS CURRENTS drives a car. He’s funny, BY AMY KEPFERLE Cornwall Ave. sure, but he’s also sincere, are $24 (includes admission to the light displays).
6 COST: Tickets are $10 in advance and that counts for a lot WWW.THELIGHTSOFCHRISTMAS.COM and $12 at the when you’re helping facili- VIEWS door tate a miracle. DEC. 19-20 INFO: www.idiom HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The seasonal 4 Mary and Joseph Joan Prinz and Peter theater.com Crandell take interesting “Home for the Holidays” show can be seen at 8pm and 10pm every Friday and Saturday MAIL MAIL OH LITTLE TOWN OF BELLINGHAM turns as psychiatrists delv- through December at the Upfront Theatre,
ing into Mary’s “delusions,” and, after Mary’s 1208 Bay St. The improvised hilarity will 2 mmaculate conception is pretty cool—unless you don’t believe in God, have committed, patients Robin Corsberg (“It’s Magi, focus on three characters and their arrival home for holiday get-togethers. Tickets are DO IT IT DO
never wanted to give birth to a baby, and have a sweet-but-stoned fiance not Maggie”) and Cecilee Beck (Anna) help Mary who’d rather take bong hits on the floor with you than shop for furniture for see that her life is on the right track, after all. $10 in advance and $12 at the door. I WWW.THEUPFRONT.COM your shared apartment. Finally, as a dope-dealing son of a preacher Such is the case with Tim Greger’s Mary and Joseph…A Bible Story currently named Reggie, Christopher Coombs gives a mes- SAT., DEC. 20 12.17.14 playing at the iDiOM Theater. merizing and unforgettable monologue about ACTING CLASS: Nello Bottari leads a free But, despite the reticence of the titular couple to embark on their own Christmas the seven days of creation that had me wishing “Adult Acting” class from 10am-1pm at the .09 miracle, don’t go thinking that this modern-day take on one of the oldest stories I could hit the “rewind” button. Anacortes Community Theatre, 918 M Ave. The 51
# monthly gathering features scripted scenes around lacks the warm-and-fuzzy elements that make for prime holiday viewing. While you probably won’t want to bring the and a variety of acting games, with a different In fact, it’s Mary and Joe’s initial unwillingness to enter into a truly sacred kids along—F-bombs are rampant, and there’s topic each month. (Classes are independent, act—housing a second savior in a human womb—that makes the story that much the marijuana consumption to consider— so you don’t have to commit to every session.) more appealing. The fact that the big “G” has picked a couple of dope-smoking I feel comfortable recommending Mary and WWW.ACTTHEATRE.COM atheists to bring his son into the world makes for compelling viewing, and the Joseph to atheists, Christians, Hindus, Bud- INNKEEPER’S CHRISTMAS: The Skagit capable cast brings the story to hilarious, sometimes heartwarming, life. dhists and everyone in between. Valley Lutheran Cluster presents Taproot
CASCADIA WEEKLY Mary is played with wondrous capability by Jessica Young, who returned to Greger agrees. “The adaptation was a cra- Theatre’s The Innkeeper’s Christmas at 2pm at Bellingham from Los Angeles to reprise the role she first took on after Greger zy, long, meticulous process, and I spent a Mount Vernon’s Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First 16 created the play during iDiOM’s 2013 Serial Killers competition (which, it’s worth lot of time working very hard to make it all St. The play re-frames the first Christmas, mentioning, he won). The chemistry she shares with Greger—who played Joseph seem effortless. I think with a (partially) “drawing laughter and insight from the unexpected ways God alters expectations.” during the first go-round, and does so again during this full-length production— new and (totally) improved script, my cast Tickets are $20. is both playful and passionate. and I have been able to create the type of WWW.LINCOLNTHEATRE.ORG “Jessica returning was almost never even a question,” Greger told me after show we’d love to go see.” doit
38 FOOD FOOD 32 B-BOARD B-BOARD 26 FILM 22 MUSIC 18 ART
Watch elves defend their territory from naughty Oogie Boogie Land denizens at the Dance Studio’s perfor- 16 16 mances of “Saving Christmas Town” Dec. 18-21 at Bellingham High School STAGE STAGE DRAG SHOW AUDITIONS: All identities and FRI., DEC. 19 skill levels can audition for Western Washington DANCE PARTY: A mix of swing, Latin and ball- 14 University’s Queer Resource Center’s annual room will be highlighted and danced to with an Drag Show from 6-8pm at Viking Union 462. introductory lesson at the weekly Friday Night Performances may include dancing, lip-syncing, Dance Party from 7:30-10pm at the Bellingham GET OUT and more. Dance Company, 1705 N. State St. Admission WWW.AS.WWU.EDU is $5-$7. WWW.BELLINGHAMDANCECOMPANY.COM 12 RADIO CHRISTMAS: The Midnight Mystery Players bring two holiday radio shows to the SAT., DEC. 20
public at a 7pm performance at the Encore WINTER WONDERLAND: Day to Day Dance WORDS Room at the Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. presents a “Winter Wonderland” performance at
Commercial St. Audiences will be treated 7pm at the Blaine Performing Arts Center, 975 H 8 to live recordings (with sound effects) of St. The “journey” will focus on the Snow Queen Charles’ Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and a Allegra as they encounter many joyful winter Speak Up! preview of Dancing Dan’s Christmas. Admission adventures. Tickets to the all-ages show are $3 is $5. for kids and $8 for adults. CURRENTS 671-5938 OR WWW.DAYTODAYDANCE.COM 6 WWW.MIDNIGHTMYSTERYPLAYERS.COM DEC. 20-21 MON., DEC. 22 DANCING FOR JOY’S NATIVITY: View the Na- VIEWS GUFFAWINGHAM: A weekly open mic for tivity story told through the language of dance Speak 4 comedians, “Guffawingham!,” takes place at when Dancing for Joy presents performances 9:30pm every Monday at the Green Frog, 1015 of “Nativity: We Danced Our Best For Him” at Out! MAIL N. State St. Entry is free. 6:30pm Saturday and Sunday at the Mount Baker
WWW.ACOUSTICTAVERN.COM Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. Dance styles will 2 include jazz, lyrical, modern and ballet. Tickets A half hour weekly radio show committed to are $12-$14. community, peace, justice, and non-violence issues. DO IT IT DO
DANCE 734-6080 OR WWW.MOUNTBAKERTHEATRE.COM Join Dave, jim, Ginny, THURS., DEC. 18 THE NUTCRACKER: Northwest Ballet Theatre FOLK DANCE: Join the Fourth Corner Folk concludes its run of performances of the and Jodie as they Dancers to learn lively folk dances from seasonal holiday ballet The Nutcracker at 7:30pm speak with local and 12.17.14 Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey, and Israel from Saturday and 2pm Sunday at Mount Vernon’s international voices 7:15-10pm every Thursday at the Fairhaven McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way. Northwest about climate change, .09 51
Library, 1117 12th St. Suggested donation is $5; Ballet Theater has performed the production # students and first-timers are free. since 1999. This year, with growing community poverty, health care (360) 380-0456 support, the company has been able to create reform, education, an even more elaborate production than ever women’s rights, and DEC. 18-21 before. Tickets are $24-$35. much more. SAVING CHRISTMAS TOWN: Watch elves WWW.MCINTYREHALL.ORG OR WWW. defend their territory from the “naughty and NORTHWESTBALLET.ORG ominous” characters of Oogie Boogie Land at Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. - Sundays at 8:00 p.m. the Dance Studio’s third annual performances of SUN., DEC. 21 CASCADIA WEEKLY Saving Christmas Town at 7pm Thursday through SALSA NIGHT: Rumba Northwest presents its Friday, 2pm and 7pm Saturday, and 2pm Sunday new “Salsa Night” from 7-10pm every Sunday at KSVR 91.7 FM KSVU 90.1 FM KSJU 91.9 FM 17 at Bellingham High School, 2020 Cornwall Ave. the Green Frog, 1015 N. State St. Attendees can Tickets are $12 in advance at the Dance Studio enjoy a salsa lesson, and DJ Antonio will spin a or at the door. mix of Latin rhythms. Entry is $3. Listen to our live audio stream! WWW.THEDANCESTUDIO.NET WWW.RUMBANORTHWEST.COM KSVR. org - Find us on Facebook. doit
UPCOMING EVENTS
38 WED., DEC. 17 3D PRINTING: Find out what 3D printing is,
FOOD FOOD how the printer works and see demos from 6:15-7:45pm at the Lynden Library, 216 4th St. visual This free program is useful if you have never 32 GALLERIES OPENINGS PROFILES used a 3D printer before and want to know how it works. 305-3600 B-BOARD B-BOARD DEC. 17-24 accident. While nature is his biggest muse, Pa- ALLIED ARTS HOLIDAY FESTIVAL: The 26 gels says he’s not looking to produce photos annual Allied Arts Holiday Festival takes place for the final week from 10am-6pm Wednesday FILM that identify a place at first glance, but rather through Tuesday, and 10am-3pm Wed., Dec. evoke a certain feeling. 24 (Christmas Eve) at 4145 Meridian St. (near Park Bowl). The works of more than 100 local
22 “I like using nature to allude to larger themes—joy, happiness, things like that,” he artisans and craftspeople can be perused and purchased at the festival.
MUSIC says. “I like to use my imagery to direct peo- WWW.ALLIEDARTS.ORG ple to those larger themes and evoke emotions 18 18 18 rather than try to capture reality. The forms and FRI., DEC. 19 subject matter definitely lend to it, but it’s not SHOW AND SALE: Attend a one-day only ART ART really about that for me.” “$100 Art Show & Sale” from 12-5pm in La Because Pagels was a painter before he was a Conner at Gallery Cygnus, 109 Commercial St. 16 The event touts “treasures old and new, by photographer—he initially took up photography artists you know or knew.”
STAGE when he was taking painting classes as a way to WWW.GALLERYCYGNUS.COM make slides for submissions—he says he has the patience to wait for just the right moment to DEC. 19-21 14 capture what he’s looking for. PACIFIC ARTS MARKET: Several dozen well- known local artists and crafters will show and During the years he’s been producing photos, sell a variety of work—including jewelry, fine
GET OUT he’s also learned that in addition to persever- art, photography, textiles, clothing, bath and ance, he’s got to be willing to get dirty—or wet. body, specialty foods, home decor, paper crafts “You have to be dedicated to getting the right and much more—at the 18th annual Pacific Arts 12 picture,” he says. “Sometimes you have to get Market for the final weekend from 10am-6pm Friday through Sunday at Sunset Square, 1125 E. down low—in the mud or in Sunset Dr. Live music and artist demos will hap- WORDS the water, if necessary. You pen throughout the weekend. Admission is free. really have to work some- WWW.PACIFICARTSMARKET.COM 8 times to get the right shot SAT., DEC. 20 and angle.” COAST SALISH FESTIVAL: Find unique
CURRENTS CURRENTS On his blog, he cautions handcrafted gifts created and sold by Lummi that photographers utiliz- community members at the fourth annual 6 SEE IT ing the jump-in-and-go- Coast Salish Winter Festival happening from WHAT: See Shawn for-it ethos required to get 10am-5pm at Ferndale’s Lummi Gateway
VIEWS Pagels’ black-and- what they need need to be Center, 4920 Rural Ave. white photogra- WWW.LUMMIGATEWAYCENTER.COM
4 phy at the Pacific mindful of things like tides, Arts Market the swiftness and depth of MAIL MAIL WHEN: 10am-6pm creeks and rivers and mak- ONGOING EXHIBITS BY AMY KEPFERLE Fri.-Sun., Dec.
ing sure their equipment is 2 19-21 secured. (Apparently, dying ALLIED ARTS: View “Abstraction” through WHERE: Sunset Dec. 20 at Allied Arts, 1418 Cornwall Ave. The DO IT IT DO Square, 1125 E. for a good photo—or los- exhibit features work from Yvette Neumann, Sunset Dr. ing your favorite lens— just Katherine Payge, Craig Dunstan-McGrail and In the Moment INFO: www. isn’t worth it.) Eileen Reardanz. pacificartsmarket. Pagels, 43, says he’s been WWW.ALLIEDARTS.ORG
12.17.14 SEEING THE WORLD IN BLACK AND WHITE com or pagels- enjoying talking to the pub- photography.com ARTWOOD: An unusual array of holiday orna- profusion of ferns seems to grow out of a trio of stone and iron lic about his photographic ments will be highlighted through December at .09 trestles under a dark and mossy bridge, making the scene one the process and his imagery as a first-time vendor 51 at Fairhaven’s Artwood Gallery, 1000 Harris Ave. # A Three Billy Goats Gruff would be hesitant to enter into lest they at the Pacific Arts Market. Art on the walls by Chris Romine will comple- encounter a sinister, hungry troll. He’s noticed that people might not make a pur- ment the many gift items also available. A closer look at the black-and-white image, however, reveals that the chase on the first go-round at the creative hub, WWW.ARTWOODGALLERY.COM .
scene looks decidedly more familiar than fearsome. In fact, says photogra- but if they’ve expressed an interest in one of his CHUCKANUT BREWERY: Local artist Evan pher Shawn Pagels, it’s a scene he shot within the Bellingham city limits. black-and-white images, a friend or family mem- Whitehead’s “Evergreen Art” paintings can be “Some people have lived here all their lives, but won’t recognize the ber will often return to purchase it. Selling his seen through Jan. 10 at Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen, 601 W. Holly St. CASCADIA WEEKLY bridge at Whatcom Falls Park from the angle I shot it at,” Pagels says work has made him mindful of how, and why, he of that particular picture—one of many that can be seen when he joins takes pictures. WWW.CHUCKANUTBREWERYANDKITCHEN.COM 18 dozens of other local artists and crafters to show and sell his work at the “I still paint and do other kinds of art, but DEMING LIBRARY: View Neo-Expressionist Pacific Arts Market’s final days of operation Dec. 19-21 at Sunset Square. I really enjoy the challenges that photography works by painter Gregg Laananen through Jan. The other pictures Pagels showed me were equally elusive when it brings,” he says. ”I love finding the magic in 15 at the Deming Library, 5044 Mt. Baker Hwy. came to figuring out where they were shot—whether it was Cornwall scenes as they are in the moment and capturing WWW.WCLS.ORG Park, Lake Padden, or other iconic locales in the area. That’s not an them on my camera.” doit
38 FOOD FOOD 32 B-BOARD B-BOARD 26 FILM “FALL IN THE ORCHARD” “FALL View new paintings by Mary Moore Bailey through Dec. 20 at Fairhaven’s Lucia Douglas Gallery. The exhibit will resume Jan. 3-17. 22
FISHBOY GALLERY: Check out the contempo- works from private collections include paintings rary folk art of RR Clark from 1:30-5pm every by Clayton James, Jack Gunter, William Slater, MUSIC Mon.-Fri. at the FishBoy Gallery, 617 Virginia St. and others. 18 714-0815 OR WWW.FISHBOYGALLERY.COM 733-5361 18 ART GOOD EARTH: Deb McCunn’s “Animated Sur- QUILT MUSEUM: View “Elin Noble: Vox Stel- ART faces” will be highlighted through December at larum,” Grace Hawley’s “Hawaiian Quilting:
WINTER FILM IS COMING 16 Good Earth Pottery, 1000 Harris Ave. Traditions Continue” and “Best of the Festival” WWW.GOODEARTHPOTS.COM through Dec. 28 at the La Conner Quilt & Textile
Museum, 703 S. Second St. STAGE HONEY SALON: Check out “Wild at Home,” a WWW.LACONNERQUILTS.ORG new collection of paintings and mixed-media
fiber art by Moth and Squirrel’s Libby Chenault , SCOTT MILO: Jennifer Bowman’s acrylics will 14 through Jan. 31 at Honey Salon, 310 W. Holly St. be highlighted through Jan. 27 in Anacortes at WWW.HONEYBELLINGHAM.COM the Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave. Also
showing are acrylics by Cynthia Richardson, oils GET OUT JANSEN ART CENTER: Peruse black-and-white and pastels by Amanda Houston, photo encaus- photography by Tommy Gibson, oil paintings by tics by Kathy Hastings and photography by Lewis
Mary Alice Phillips, and a “Winter Exhibit” at Jones, Dick Garvey, and Randy Dana. 12 Lynden’s Jansen Art Center, 321 Front St. Entry WWW.SCOTTMILOCOM is free. WORDS WWW.JANSENARTCENTER.ORG SEIFERT & JONES: Check out images by Grant Gunderson, one of the ski industry’s most LUCIA DOUGLAS: View painter Mary Moore dedicated photographers, through December at A COLLECTION OF ACTION PACKED SHORT FILMS FEATURING THE BEST IN WINTER ADVENTURE 8 Bailey’s “Images Within” through Dec. 20 at Seifert & Jones Wine Merchants, 19 Prospect St. BELLINGHAM, WA Fairhaven’s Lucia Douglas Gallery, 1415 13th St. Works by painters FishBoy (R.R. Clark) and Rob Pickford Film center // Thursday, 12/18/14 // Doors: 8:00pm Show: 9:00pm
The works can also be seen Jan. 2-17. Geisher are also on display. Tickets: $10 in Advance, $12 Online & At The Door CURRENTS
WWW.LUCIADOUGLAS.COM WWW.SJWINEMERCHANTS.COM ADVANCE TICKET LOCATIONS: BACKCOUNTRY ESSENTIALS // PICKFORD FILM CENTER @morthiphoto // 6
LYNDEN LIBRARY: Check out the “Whatcomics! SKAGIT MUSUEM: “Over the River...To Grand- BUY TICKETS: www.coldsmokewinterfilm.com
Teen Art Show” through December at the Lynden mother’s House” can be seen through Dec. 31 at VIEWS Photo: Reid Morth Library, 216 4th St. La Conner’s Skagit County Historical Museum, 501
305-3600 S. 4th St. 4 WWW.SKAGITCOUNTY.NET/MUSEUM
MAKE.SHIFT: View a multi-artist “Miniatures” MAIL exhibit through Dec. 27 at Make.Shift Art Space, SMITH & VALLEE: Functional and three-
306 Flora St. The show challenged local artists to dimensional artwork from more than 20 local and 2 create an art piece three inches or smaller, and regional artists can be perused and purchased at DO IT IT DO the result is a diverse group show “featuring all “Objectification: 7” through Dec. 28 at Edison’s kinds of wonderful, strange, tiny things.” Smith & Vallee Gallery, 5742 Gilkey Ave. WWW.MAKESHIFTPROJECT.COM WWW.SMITHANDVALLEE.COM
MATZKE GALLERY: The works of more than 40 WATERWORKS: Check out the annual multi- 12.17.14 artists working in glass, ceramics, sculpture and artist “Think Red Holiday Show” through Jan. 3 at paintings can be seen the 24th annual “Honey, Friday Harbor’s Waterworks Gallery, 315 Argyle St. .09 WWW.WATERWORKSGALLERY.COM I Shrunk the Art” exhibit through Jan. 18 at Ca- 51 mano Island’s Matzke Fine Art Gallery & Sculpture # Park, 2345 Blanche Way. WHATCOM ART MARKET: From 10am-6pm every WWW.MATZKEFINEART.COM Thursday through Monday, stop by the Whatcom Art Guild’s Art Market at Fairhaven’s Waldron MONA: “Accreted Terrane” and “To Be Alone To- Building, 1314 12th St. gether” show through Jan. 4 at La Conner’s Museum WWW.WHATCOMARTGUILD.ORG of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St. Entry is free. WWW.MONAMUSEUM.ORG WHATCOM MUSEUM: “Reaching Beyond: North- CASCADIA WEEKLY west Designer Craftsmen at 60,” “Leo Adams: PEACEHEALTH: “Healing Through Art” is on Eastern Light,” “Peak of Their Professions: The 19 display through Jan. 31 at PeaceHealth St. Murrow Brothers,” and “Big Cameras, Big Trees: Joseph Medical Center, 2901 Squalicum Pkwy. The Darius Kinsey at Large in the Woods” can current- exhibit features works by painters Mary Moore ly be viewed on the Whatcom Museum campus. Bailey, Cathy Schoenberg, and Linda Hirsh. Select WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG Mallard Homemade Ice Cream Sanitary Service Company Inc Mambo Italiano Saturna Capital
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38 Margaret’s Window Cleaning Specialty T Signs and Graphics 38 McNett Corporation Squalicum Surgical Associates FOOD FOOD thanks to the following FOOD Meucci Consulting Stork Craft U.S.A. MGM Solutions Studiohatch
32 Smart Trips Employer Partners. Mindfly Website Design Sustainable Connections 32 Mindport Exhibits Terra - Organic & Natural Foods Mount Bakery The Crossing Guide Magazine B-BOARD B-BOARD B-BOARD They encourage employees Mt Baker Planned Parenthood The Stir Center Mt Baker Theater The Table 26 in Whatcom County to walk, Mt. Baker Ski Area T-Mobile 26 Noble Chiropractic Tony’s Coffees & Teas, Inc FILM FILM Non-GMO Project Trulife Engineered Solutions bicycle, share rides, and Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association The Unity Group 22 (NSEA) The Upfront Theater 22 North Sound Energy & Remodel Vid-smith Digital Video MUSIC MUSIC ride the bus. Northshore Veterinary Hospital Village Books NorthStar Medical Specialists Vis Seafoods 18 18 ART ART 16 16 STAGE STAGE 14 14 GET OUT GET OUT 12 12 WORDS WORDS 8 8 CURRENTS CURRENTS CURRENTS
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MAIL MAIL Alpha Technologies Inc. Boundary Bay Bistro & Brewery Earl’s Bike Shop H Street Design Studio Pacific Arts Holiday Market Whatcom Council of Governments MAIL American Alpine Institute BP Cherry Point Refinery ecigexpress Haggen Inc. Pacific Surveying & Engineering Whatcom County Learn more: WhatcomSmartTrips.org
2 Anvil Corporation Bramble Berry, Inc / Otion Environmental Resources Management Hardware Sales Inc PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center 2 Appliance Depot Brandywine Kitchen Eris Designs Hoagland Pharmacy Peak-Ryzex Group Inc. Whatcom Educational Credit Union DO IT IT DO IT DO or 360-756-TRIP. Applied Digital Imaging [bundle] Ershigs Homax Group, Inc. Performance Physical Therapy, Inc. Whatcom Family YMCA Applied Research Northwest Cascade Dafo, Inc Everybody’s Store Homeskillet Phil Rose Photography Whatcom Middle School Aslan Brewing Company Cascade Joinery Explorations Academy Ideal Pickford Film Center Whatcom Sports Commission
12.17.14 Avenue Bread & Deli Cascadia Consulting Services Fairhaven Bicycle Index Sensors and Controls PIER Systems Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) 12.17.14 B Form Inc CH2M HILL Fairhaven Runners & Walkers Interfaith Community Health Center Port of Bellingham Wild Bird Chalet
.09 Barron Smith Daugert, PLLC Childlife Montessori School Fairhaven Toy Garden itek Energy Premier Graphics The Willows .09 51 51 # Bayou on Bay Chocolate Necessities Fairhaven Village Inn Joy of Pilates Studio Pure Bliss Desserts Windsor Health Group # Bead Bazaar Chrysalis Inn Faithlife Kulshan Brewing Company Quicksilver Photo Wood Stone Bell Tower Studios City of Bellingham Family Care Network Kulshan Community Land Trust Ralf’s Bavarian Bakery The Woods Coffee Bellingham Automotive City of Blaine Fat Pie Pizza La Fiamma RE Store Yoga Northwest Bellingham Bay Dental Classic Health Apparel Favinger Plumbing Layton Health Clinic Red Boots Design Zodiac Airline Cabin Interiors Bellingham Cold Storage Colophon Café Film is Truth 24 Times a Second The Leopold Hotel LLC Red Mountain Wellness The Bellingham Herald Community Food Co-Op First Baptist Church Let Them Eat Cake REI Bellingham CASCADIA WEEKLY CASCADIA WEEKLY Bellingham Housing Authority Convivium Renewable Energy First Congregational Church LFS Inc. Retrotec 20 Bellingham Pasta Company CorePhysio Fountain Bistro Lithtex NW Rhythms of Life Wellness Studio 21 Bellingham Technical College CreativiTea Fresh Start Espresso Mad Batter S.P.I.E. Bellingham Tennis Club Cruisin Coffee Giuseppe’s Magdelena’s Creperie San Juan Cruises Rumor Has It
THIS AREA IS full of staunch music support- 38 ers and arts patrons who fly somewhat under
FOOD FOOD the radar, but whose assistance and encour- agement our music community could ill afford music to do without. Eric Vermeers is one of those 32 SHOW PREVIEWS ›› RUMOR HAS IT people. He’s worked behind the scenes at the Mount Baker Theatre, is a regular volunteer at
B-BOARD B-BOARD the iDiOM Theater and every now and again he gets a wild hair and books a show somewhere in Bellingham. He does not do this often, so 26 when he tells me he has something in the
FILM works, I pay attention. The reason I say all this is because Vermeers
22
22 has something in the works, and that some-
thing is a show featuring Fountainsun, which MUSIC MUSIC
MUSIC will take place Thurs., Dec. 18 at the iDiOM. Fountainsun is Daniel Higgs (Lungfish, Cone
18 of Light) and musi- cian/visual artist Fumie ART Ishii. The arrangements are spare (mostly flute, 16 stings and vocals), the
STAGE sound is ethereal, and the iDiOM seems like an ideal venue for such an 14 endeavor. Joining Foun- tainsun will be K Records BY CAREY ROSS GET OUT staple Arrington de Dio- nyso, as well as Bellingham’s Cheeto Dust (for- merly PRND). Tickets are available at the door, 12 seating is limited and Higgs is a man with many
CAYLEY SCHMID fans. What all that means is you should prob- WORDS
KEVIN LOWDEN ably get there earlyish to secure a seat. The Downtown Bellingham Partnership re- 8 BY CAREY ROSS center as part of mighty bluegrass jugger- ceived some excellent news that also happens naut Polecat. Offstage, however, Schmid has to be pertinent to the interests of many of us.
CURRENTS CURRENTS been putting down deeper roots in our mu- They’ve been awarded a Levitt grant, which sic community, first as founder of Belling- probably means very little to you—that is, un- 6 Bellingham ham Ceili Club, which led to her taking over til you find out the grant will give $25,000 in booking music at the his- matching funds to the Bellingham nonprofit, VIEWS toric Roeder Home, after money that is to be specifically funneled into
4 Flip Breskin, who’d long music programming. Downtown Bellingham Folk Festival performed those duties, Partnership will invest their Levitt lucre in a MAIL MAIL THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING BIG stepped down earlier this concert series at Maritime Heritage Park, as
year. It is a position that well as Downtown Sounds. Downtown Sounds 2 e like to think of our music community as a unique entity— ATTEND not only encompasses maven and my personal spirit animal Lindsey DO IT IT DO
which, in some ways, it is—but it shares some commonalities keeping the Roeder Home Payne has been doing what can only be de- WHAT: Belling- Wwith music scenes near and far, one of which is in the underrep- ham Folk Festival filled with the sound of scribed as a bang-up job on a shoestring bud- resentation of women. Without getting all political about it, this scarcity of WHEN: Fri.-Sat., music, but also (if Schmid get since she took on the concert series several ladies is problematic in the same way that not having viable all-ages venues Dec. 19-20 is to follow in Breskin’s years ago, so I’m eagerly anticipating what 12.17.14 or gritty rock bars or open mic nights are problematic: weakness in one part WHERE: Belling- footsteps) means being she’ll be able to do when she’s got more money of the community limits the strength of it as a whole. ham Unitarian an fierce advocate for at her disposal. I think it’s safe to say the grant
.09 Fellowship, 1207 While what you see onstage might still skew heavily male, behind the that space as well. money will bring her ever closer to her goal of 51 Ellsworth St. # scenes, the number of women driving the music community in significant COST: $5-$85 If Schmid were to stop getting us all dancing in the streets. ways is greater than possibly any other time during my long history here. INFO: www. there, she would’ve al- Because it’s the Most Wonderful Time of the While certainly not a comprehensive list, women in positions of power in- thebellingham ready done more than Year, Clambake will re-emerge from their not- clude Shakedown owner Hollie Huthman and outgoing Make.Shift Execu- folkfestival.com her part to help perpetu- retirement for their annual holiday extravagan- tive Director Cat Sieh, as well as her successor Jessica Harbert. Michelle ate the rich diversity of za, “A Very Clambake Christmas.” I’m not sure Schutte and Rebecca Ogden play a huge role in cultivating the music- and our music scene, but it seems she’s a woman how many years they’ve been performing this
CASCADIA WEEKLY art-friendly sanctuary that is the Redlight, and just a short stroll down the with ideas to spare and drive to match. And Christmas concert, but it’s a welcome, wholly street and into the alley, Kat Bula is bringing bands to the Honey Moon at so, seeing another need that she could fill, local holiday tradition. This year’s incarnation 22 the behest of proprietress Anna Evans. While I’m at it, I can probably also Schmid has founded the Bellingham Folk will happen Fri., Dec. 19 at the Shakedown, and claim departing Bellingham City Council President Cathy Lehman as part of Festival, which will take place for the first will also feature the talents of Sanoma and the this group, given her status as a known advocate for our music community. time Dec. 19-20 at the Bellingham Unitar- Slacks. Wear your ugly sweaters or whatever And now we can add Cayley Schmid’s name to that list. ian Fellowship. Christmas attire you can wrangle and get ready Most of us know Schmid as the dynamic fiddler who performs front and Calling her event a simple “festival” is a bit to get rowdy in the name of St. Nick. FOLK, FROM PAGE 22 panied Singing” (by Coty Hogue), “Appala- chian Flatfooting” (by Charmaine Slaven), “Playing Chords by Ear” (by Flip Breskin), of a misnomer, since entertainment is just “The Bassics” (by Jenny Rose), “Intro- PEP PER 38 one—and not even the biggest—compo- duction to Harmony Singing” (by Laurel nent of the Bellingham Folk Festival. Sure, Bliss), “Some Secrets of the Fiddle” (by FOOD FOOD the performances, by the likes of Cody Anna Schaad), “Beginning Irish Dance” Hogue, Aaron Guest, Giant’s Causeway, (by Norah McLaughlin), and many more. SISTERS Anna Schaad, the Gallus Brothers, and Schmid herself will get in on the action, COOKING OUTSIDE THE BOX SINCE 1988 32 more, are an integral and welcome part of teaching “Adding Embellishments to Irish the proceedings, but Schmid has created Tunes.” Although the workshops are plen- Open Nightly Except Monday 1055 N State St B’ham 671-3414 B-BOARD B-BOARD her event with education in mind—with tiful, they are not overlong, with each one an eye toward hands-on fun rather than clocking in at less than an hour. As ample academic-oriented drudgery—and the reward for all that aural education, each DON’T RECYCLE IT… 26 list of people running workshops is longer day concludes with evening concerts. than the list of performers. And, since many of the people who will FILM What can you expect to learn at the lead workshops will also perform at the DONATE FOR REUSE! 22 22 Bellingham Folk Festival? festival, attendees will get to see the les- Support local jobs by donating your used Well, all manner of folk-related things. sons they’ve learned acted out in real time appliance to our job-training program. MUSIC The workshops have such intrigu- by the same people who taught them. MUSIC ing titles as “Really Beginning Old Time Although this is just the first year for 527-2646 Fiddle” (with Kat Bula), “Ukulele Rags” the Bellingham Folk Festival, my hope is free pickups available 18
(by Devin Champlin), “Partner Dancing that all of Schmid’s considerable effort is ART for Anyone” (by Jeff Lefferts), “Ragtime met with the kind of rousing success that Guitar” (by George Rezendes), “Unaccom- befits a woman to be reckoned with. NEW YEAR’S EVE COCKTAIL BALL 16 STAGE musicevents dress up real fancy. WED., DEC. 17 SAT., DEC. 20 LIVE MUSIC 14 JAZZ CONCERT: Seattle pianist John Hanson and CAROLS AND LUNCH: Light finger foods and with members from
his trio will be the performers at a 7pm concert at refreshments will be served at a “Haynie Opry GET OUT the Whatcom Jazz Music Arts Center at the Majes- Christmas Carols and Lunch” event starting at tic, 1027 N. Forest St. Tickets are $5-$10. noon at Blaine’s Haynie Grange, 3144 Haynie Rd. ACORN PROJECT
WWW.WJMAC.ORG Matt Audette and the Circle of Friends Band will 12 provide the songs of the season. Tickets are $15. CHAMPAGNE THURS., DEC. 18 (360) 366-3321 HOLIDAY JAZZ #1: Pianist and composer Scot at WORDS Raney explores popular holiday music at a Brown CELTIC CHRISTMAS: The Port of Anacortes TOAST midnight
Bag “Holiday Jazz Concert” at 12:30pm at Whatcom presents its community holiday concert, Geoffrey 8 Museum’s Old City Hall, 121 Prospect St. Suggested Castle’s fifth annual “Celtic Christmas Celebra- DANCING! donation is $3. tion,” at performances at 4:30pm and 7:30pm at EST. 2014 WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG the Port Event Center, 100 Commercial Ave. Entry CURRENTS CURRENTS is free. VIP seating is available for a suggested
CANTIBLE OF SKAGIT: Sacred and secular works donation of $25. 6 can be heard when the Cantabile of Skagit Valley WWW.PORTOFANACORTES.COM presents a free Christmas concert at 6pm at the ROCK AND RYE VIEWS Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St. NOT SO SILENT NIGHT: The Good Time Girls will OYSTER HOUSE WWW.MOUNTVERNONWA.GOV team up with iDiOM Theater for the fourth annual 4 “Not So Silent Night” caroling pub crawl at 7pm at 1145 NORTH STATE STREET
HOLIDAY JAZZ #2: The Jazz Project’s Bellingham four locales in downtown Bellingham. Carolers will MAIL Youth Jazz Band presents “All That Holiday Jazz!” split up into teams and compete to raise money for
at 7pm at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center, Lydia Place. Tickets to the 21-and-over event are 2 1314 Harris Ave. Suggested donation is $5-$10. $35 and include drinks and a caroling booklet.
WWW.JAZZPROJECT.ORG WWW.THEBUREAUBELLINGHAM.COM DO IT
WINTER CONCERT: Celestial Voices (ladies) and CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Performers from the Lyn- Bellingham Boys’ Choir present their Winter Con- den Music Festival will sing holiday songs at a free cert at 7pm at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, Christmas Concert from 7-9pm at Bethel Christian 12.17.14 1207 Ellsworth St. Admission is $5 at the door. Reformed Church, 1105 Liberty St. WWW.BAAY.ORG WWW.LYNDENMUSICFESTIVAL.COM .09 51
FRI., DEC. 19 SUN., DEC. 21 # NOEL: Noel Harp Ensemble presents “Noel: The HOLIDAY CONCERT: The Bellingham Community Magic of Christmas in Concert” at 7:30pm at Lyn- Chorus presents its annual Holiday Concert from den’s Third Christian Reformed Church, 514 Liberty 3-5pm at the First Congregational Church, 2401 St. Tickets are $15-$20. Cornwall Ave. Admission is free. (360) 305-7136 OR WWW.NOELHARP.COM (360) 595-0934
DEC. 19-20 WINTER SOLSTICE CONCERT: Seasonal songs CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Songs from the “Messiah” and poems will be presented alongside Celtic CASCADIA WEEKLY and other traditional holiday favorites can be and Balkan tunes and more at at Winter Solstice 23 heard at Shelter Bay Chorus Christmas concerts Concert with Stanley and Kip Greenthal at 7pm at at 7:30pm Friday and 3pm Saturday in La Conner the Firehouse Performing Arts Center, 1314 Harris at the Shelter Bay Clubhouse, 1000 Shoshone Dr. Ave. Christos Govetas and Kim Goldov will also Suggested donation is $10. perform. Entry is $6-$15. (360) 770-7354 OR WWW.LOVELACONNER.COM WWW.BROWNPAPERTICKETS.COM
musicvenues 38 See below for venue
FOOD FOOD addresses and phone 12.17.14 12.18.14 12.19.14 12.20.14 12.21.14 12.22.14 12.23.14 numbers WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY
32 Bellingham Gonzo, Croak, Weeed Alternative Library
B-BOARD B-BOARD Boundary Bay Aaron Guest Winter Solstice Celebration Piano Night Paul Klein Brewery
26 Brown Lantern Ale MARCIA KESTER/Dec. 21/ Open Mic Ebb, Slack and Flood House Conway Muse FILM
Fischkopf Sinfoniker, The Festivus w/Tad Kroening,
Cabin Tavern Daisy Propane, North Born, Sexbots, more more 22 22
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC Commodore Ballroom Ugly Sweater Christmas Party Blues for Christmas
18 Market Street Dixieland Jazz Marcia Kester (early), The Conway Muse Band Fig Brothers (late) ART
Knut Bell and the 360s 16 Corner Pub
STAGE ARRINGTON DEDIONYSO/ Edison Inn Piano Night The Atlantics Jenny and The Tomcats Dec. 19/iDiOM Theater 14 Glow Nightclub DJ J-Will Ugly Holiday Sweater Party Girl Meets Boy DJ Boombox Xmas Eve Eve Party GET OUT Bellewood Acres (VJEF.FSJEJBO -ZOEFOt | Bobby Lee’s Pub & Eatery 8.BJO4U &WFSTPOt | Boundary Bay Brewing Co. 3BJMSPBE"WFt]Brown Lantern Ale House $PNNFSDJBM"WF "OBDPSUFTt ]The Business$PNNFSDJBM"WF "OBDPSUFTt | Cabin Tavern8)PMMZ4Ut]Chuckanut Brewery8)PMMZ4Ut] Commodore Ballroom(SBOWJMMF4U 7BODPVWFSt ]Conway Muse4QSVDF.BJO4U $POXBZ ] Corner Pub"MMFO8FTU3PBE #VSMJOHUPO 12 WORDS 8 CURRENTS CURRENTS 6 VIEWS 4 MAIL MAIL
2 DO IT IT DO
12.17.14 .09 51 # CASCADIA WEEKLY
24
musicvenues 38
See below for venue FOOD FOOD addresses and phone 12.17.14 12.18.14 12.19.14 12.20.14 12.21.14 12.22.14 12.23.14 numbers WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY
The Lost Highway Band Wild Rabbit, more (early), Slow Jam (early), John Robert Sarazin Blake's 32 Jack Dwyer and Sarah Jane Open Mic (early), Guf- Green Frog Sarah Goodin (early), Petunia and the Wild Rabbit's Solstice Elliott's Holiday Celebra- Holiday Show (early), DJ Scouten fawingham (late) Vipers (late) Celebration (late) tion (late) Yogoman (late) B-BOARD B-BOARD
H2O Black Vinyl All Stars Karaoke 26
Listening Room w/Tom Bellingham Folk Festival FILM Honey Moon Open Mic w/Tad Kroening Joji Harada The Shadies Caverns Afterparty 22 22 Fountainsun, Arrington de iDiOM Theater Dionyso, more MUSIC MUSIC
Karaoke Karaoke
KC's Bar and Grill 18 ART ROBERT SARAZIN BLAKE’S HOLIDAY SHOW/ Kulshan Brewing Co. The Sky Colony Samuel Eisen-Meyers The Devilly Brothers Dec. 23/Green Frog 16
Main St. Bar and Grill Karaoke DJ Booker Jack Benson Band STAGE 14 Old World Deli Live Music GET OUT
Rockfish Grill 3-Ish 12
Royal Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke, DJ Karaoke, DJ Partyrock WORDS
Tacky Sweater Party and 8 Rumors Cabaret Leveled Throwback Thursday DJ Postal, DJ Shortwave Fetish Night Karaoke w/Zach Treble Tuesday Drag Show
Bermuda Yacht Club, New A Very Clambake Christmas, Chunky Wonder, Steven CURRENTS The Shakedown Heavy Rotation Tom Waits Night Aireeoke Psychedelics, more Sanoma, Slacks Roth, more 6
Skagit Valley Casino Social Network Social Network VIEWS 4 Drinkers with a Singing Skylark's 3 Parts Jazz Nuages
Problem MAIL
2 Star Club Aireeoke Gentri Watson Electro Swing Night Singer Sunday Irish Night Open Mic DO IT
Songwriter Night w/Bailey Madeline Easton, Jake Wer- Swillery Whiskey Bar Karaoke Totalizer, Tin Foil Cat, more Music Video Night Martinet rion, more 12.17.14 Via Cafe and Bistro Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke .09 51 # The Village Inn Jam Night Karaoke
Wild Out Wednesday w/ Jingle Bell Ball w/Voyager, MarchFourth Marching Blues Jam w/Andy "Badd Wild Buffalo Free Funk Friday Open Mic w/Chuck D. Blessed Coast Galapagos, more Band Dog" Koch
The Green Frog /4UBUF4UtXXXBDPVTUJDUBWFSODPN | Edison Inn $BJOT$U &EJTPOt | The Fairhaven )BSSJT"WFt| Glow&)PMMZ4Ut]Graham’s CASCADIA WEEKLY
Restaurant.PVOU#BLFS)XZ (MBDJFSt | H20, $PNNFSDJBM"WF "OBDPSUFTt | Honey Moon/4UBUF4Ut]KC’s Bar and Grill8.BJO4U &WFSTPOt ]Kulshan Brewery +BNFT4Ut | Make.Shift Art Space 'MPSB4Ut | Main Street Bar & Grill .BJO4U 'FSOEBMFt ]McKay’s 25 Taphouse&.BQMF4Ut | Nooksack River Casino.U#BLFS)XZ %FNJOHt | Poppe’s-BLFXBZ%St| Paso Del Norte 1FBDF1PSUBM%S#MBJOFt ]The Redlight /4UBUF4UtXXXSFEMJHIUXJOFBOEDPGGFFDPN]Rockfish Grill $PNNFSDJBM"WF "OBDPSUFTt ]The Royal &)PMMZ4Ut]Rumors Cabaret 3BJMSPBE"WFt| The Shakedown /4UBUF4UtXXXTIBLFEPXOCFMMJOHIBNDPN]Silver Reef Casino )BYUPO8BZ 'FSOEBMFt ]Skagit Valley Casino Resort 5984 N. %BSSL-BOF #PXt ]Skylark’s Hidden Cafe UI4Ut]Star Club &)PMMZ4UtXXXTUBSDMVCCFMMJOHIBNDPN]Swillery Whiskey Bar8)PMMZ4U]Swinomish Casino $BTJOP%S "OBDPSUFTt |Temple Bar8$IBNQJPO4Ut] The Underground &$IFTUOVU4Ut | Underground Coffeehouse 7JLJOH6OJPOSE'MPPS 886 | Via $BGF#JSDI#BZ%S #MBJOFt ]7JMMBHF*OO1VC /PSUIXFTU"WFt ]7JOPTUSPMPHZ8)PMMZ4Ut] Wild Buffalo 8)PMMZ4UtXXXXJMECVGGBMPOFU]5PHFUZPVS MJWFNVTJDMJTUJOHTJODMVEFE TFOEJOGPUPDMVCTDBTDBEJBXFFLMZDPN%FBEMJOFTBSFBMXBZTBUQN'SJEBZ of Thorin (Richard Armitage), who, with power and riches now within reach, turns against nearly everyone who has sup- ported him through the worst of times and
welcomes the looming war that, if won, 38 will install him on his hereditary throne.
FOOD FOOD And naturally, no one knows the full pic- Film ture as does Gandalf (Ian McKellen), who MOVIE REVIEWS ›› SHOWTIMES leaves the side of his benefactress, the Elf 32 Queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), to help stave off the evil of the Dark Lord Sauron
B-BOARD B-BOARD and his specially created warrior freaks the Orcs, giants resembling cretinous, muscle-
bound mutants who have been waiting for 26 26 this moment all their miserable lives. FILM FILM No matter Thorin’s sudden turning on his loyal friends and the bickering among allies; what’s clear is that, in the end, 22 it’s going to be all the good guys versus
MUSIC the Orcs who, with their oversized pro- wrestler physiques, look invincible but,
18 as we’ve seen before, fall over like bowl- ing pins and, once they’re down, stay ART down. It’s never explained why. They’re something like suicide bombers—they 16 get just one shot at immortality. The
STAGE first example of this is hilarious: One big oaf has been bred to be a human battering ram, his torso crowned with 14 rock which he plows, to great effect, into the defenders’ fortress, opening
GET OUT the way for his marauding colleagues. He does his job, and he’s done. As the significant characters come to 12 face their life- and sometimes death- defining reckonings, it’s mildly surprising WORDS that a measure of feeling attaches to their fates; surprising, in that these are all 8 incredibly one-dimensional, superficial figures, all basically devoted to a single
CURRENTS CURRENTS ambition and hardly what you would call REVIEWED BY TODD MCCARTHY making like William Tell and Robin Hood, emotionally accessible; they’re no more 6 the brooding Dwarf Lord Thorin heading “real” than cartoon characters. And yet, to the dark side once the dragon Smaug their steadfastness gives them a certain VIEWS is dispatched, the gruesome, born-to-kill integrity, a grit that is backed up by the
4 The Hobbit Orcs marauding in all their grotesque glory resilience of what variously defines them. and Christopher Lee kicking ass like no The lack of such stability and reliability is MAIL MAIL THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 92-year-old ever has before. what ultimately makes Prince Thorin such
Liberated from his cramped lair deep in a comparative disappointment. 2 fter six films, 13 years and 1,031 minutes of accumulated running time (far the nooks and crannies of Erebor, the stu- So even if we have not, over the course DO IT IT DO
more if you count the extended versions), Peter Jackson has concluded his pendously malevolent Smaug spreads his of eight hours, become “close” to these A massively remunerative genuflection at the altar of J.R.R. Tolkien with a film wings and makes at once for Lake-town, characters, they have been sufficiently that may be the most purely entertaining of any in the collection (tellingly, it is also, a teeming bastion of desperate human- amiable traveling companions to make for by far, the shortest of the sextet). ity he incinerates with a few well-aimed a tolerably decent odyssey, more so than 12.17.14 Much as The Return of the King wrapped up the Lord of the Rings saga on an action- blasts of fire. But the dragon has an Achil- one could have imagined during the first dominated high note, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies lives up to its mayhem les heel, which is found by emerging hero hour of An Unexpected Journey, which was .09 potential by making maximum use of modern technology to create an abundant smor- Bard of Bowman (Luke Evans), who then excruciating enough to make you want to 51 # gasbord of wildly varied and sometimes mordantly amusing combat; this is an out- leads the attack’s survivors to the vicinity jump off the ride before it was too late. and-out war film, with gobs of trimmings. of the mountain, where others converge as But the final stretch of The Battle of the One of the frustrations of the first two artificially carved-out Hobbit installments, well. The elk-riding Thranduil (Lee Pace) Five Armies possesses a warm, amiable, which individually took nearly three hours to cover a roughly 100-page chunk of the turns up, as does his banished captain, sometimes rueful mood that proves in- book, was that, while everyone knew where the story was headed, it was clear it was Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), and his unerring gratiating and manages to magnify the going to take a very, very long time to get there. If An Unexpected Journey was basi- marksman son, Legolas (Orlando Bloom). good and minimize the bad of the tril-
CASCADIA WEEKLY cally a leisurely paced walking-and-talking film and The Desolation of Smaug was a The dwarves are already there, of course, ogy. Financial considerations entirely to waist-deep immersion in a world of peril, Battle serves up a Middle Earth version of the each hoping to collect a one-fourteenth the side, in retrospect one senses that 26 bombing of Dresden as an appetizer and just goes from there as grievances are aired, share of the booty no longer guarded by the ideal screen adaptation of The Hob- allegiances are weighed, potential foes are sized up and preparations are made for the Smaug, while Bilbo’s main order of busi- bit would have been a two-part venture, ultimate battle to be fought at the Lonely Mountain. ness is keeping secret his possession of as planned by original director Guillermo What we’re in for, then, and happily so, is far less of the interchangeable dwarves the Arkenstone. del Toro, and not the overstuffed three- waddling around and far more of dashing guys like Legolas and Bard the Bowman The latter is the particular obsession parter that ultimately emerged.
Vibrant Urban Living 38 in the Heart of Bellingham FOOD 32 December Move In Special! B-BOARD B-BOARD
26 -Move in by December 31,2014 and receive 26 FILM extra savings! FILM -Rare vacancy in our studio apartments! 22 -All inclusive pricing starting at $999.00 per month. MUSIC 18 ART Call 360-733-3500 to arrange
your visit and see what it means 16
to live in downtown Bellingham. STAGE 14 GET OUT
1224 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA | www.leopoldretirement.com 12 WORDS C IGARETTES & SMOKELESS TOBACCO 8 U.S.I.T. CURRENTS CURRENTS
Happy 6
Holidays! SHOP VIEWS From us at LOWEST 4 P MAIL at RICES IN
Cascadia THE AREA 2 on most brands ! DO IT Weekly Discounted Cigarettes All Major Brands & Generics * $ 00 $ 00 INCLUDES TAX! 12.17.14 49 - 78 PER CARTON .09 51 EXPRESS DRIVE-THRU # 7 am – 9 pm, 7 days a week CASCADIA WEEKLY
27 360-724-0262 • On I-5 at Exit 236 CW Just 15 Minutes South of Bellingham • Skagit Valley Casino Resort *Price at time of printing. U.S.I.T. Tobacco Shop owned and operated by Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. Limit five cartons/rolls per customer per day. Must have valid ID. Cigarettes are not legal for resale. Prices subject to change. No Returns. Skagit Valley Casino Resort is owned by Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health. NOW SHOWING December 19 - 25 film›› opening this week
38 FOOD FOOD
THE HOMESMAN (R) 122m
32 “This beautifully crafted film intrigues as a story never told before and ratchets up dramatic interest through succession of unexpected turns.” B-BOARD B-BOARD Fri: (3:30), 6:15, 9:00; Sat: (12:45), 6:15, 9:00 Sun: 4:30, 7:30; Mon: (3:30), 6:15, 9:00
Tue: (3:30-Open Captioned), 6:15, 9:00 26 26 Wed: (12:45), (3:30), 6:15; Thu: (3:30), 6:15, 9:00 FILM FILM BIRDMAN (R) 119m “Spectacular, star-powered cinema that makes us ask
22 anew what cinema is for.” The Telegraph Fri: (3:45), 6:30, 9:15; Sat: (1:15), 7:15, 10:00 Sun: Mon: MUSIC (1:45), 4:30; 3:45, 6:30, 9:15 Tue: (3:45-Open Captioned), 6:30, 9:15 Wed: (1:30), 6:30; Thu: 6:30, 9:15 18 PRINCESS MONONOKE: ART MASTERS OF JAPANESE CINEMA 134m Introduction by Stephen Carlton 16 “Exceedingly imaginative, beautifully realized animated BY STEPHEN WHITTY deprived of the two confederates she had epic adventure.” Salon
STAGE in earlier versions—tries to make up for it Dubbed: Sat: 4:00; Sun: (1:30) by acting for three or four. Subtitled: Sun: 7:15 Diaz’ mugging is probably funny, if 14 Annie THE NUTCRACKER: you’re six years old or left your glasses at VIENNA STATE BALLET (NR) 102m home. But if she’s always really working Tchaikovsky’s winter wonderland comes to Bellingham! ONE UNLOVABLE ORPHAN GET OUT it, at least she has more to work with than Sat: 3:45 hink you’ve got a hard-knock life? Foxx, whose entire character consists of SKYLIGHT: NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE 120m Try sitting through the new germophobia, a couple of spit takes and 12 Starring Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan T Annie. several bad songs. Sun: 11:00AM A rewritten, re-orchestrated but far Of course, this movie has been through WORDS THE KING AND THE MOCKINGBIRD 83m from revitalized version of the old Broad- a lot. At one time, Will Smith had picked “The surreal images, offbeat jokes and pointed way musical, this latest edition moves it it out for Willow to star in (it took so 8 human-rights allegory make this an altogether different out of the Depression and into a modern, long, she outgrew it, like us); Jay-Z was experience from most American animation. It’s tech-driven New York. supposed to write some new songs for it, dreamy, poetic and not to be missed.” New York Post
CURRENTS CURRENTS That’s a big change but not necessarily too. At another point Justin Timberlake Wed & Thu: (4:15) a bad one. Since the script starts off in was going to play the male lead, and San- 6 a classroom, with Annie summing up the dra Bullock the Hannigan harridan. PICKFORD FILM CENTER: 1318 Bay St. | 360.738.0735 | www.pickfordfilmcenter.org idea of the New Deal as “work hard and get Things change, of course, but it’s still VIEWS Box Office is Open 30 Minutes Prior to First Showtime rich,” perhaps the less this movie tries to unclear why Will Gluck ultimately ended
4 deal with the Roosevelt era, the better. up as the director. His two biggest films Join us for a drink! Mary’s Happy Hour: 4-6pm, M-F $2.50 Beer/$3.50 Wine Its other big idea is to cast the leads— were the smart and sexy Easy A and the MAIL MAIL Annie herself and the wealthy savior who not-as-smart but sexier Friends With Bene-
used to be Daddy Warbucks, but is now fits. (The less said about his gross college 2 NOW SHOWING December 19 - 25 the grumpy tech millionaire Mr. Stacks— comedy Fired Up! the better.) PFC’s Limelight Cinema DO IT IT DO
with African-American stars, which isn’t What in that brief filmography convinced 1416 Cornwall Avenue necessarily a bad change, either. anyone this was a man with a natural feel Parentheses ( ) Denote Bargain Pricing In this version, Stacks—Jamie Foxx—is for family-friendly musicals is a puzzler. running for mayor of New York, and his He adds some literally percussive pizzazz 12.17.14 advisor thinks he needs a more human to the numbers, and he clearly had a good AWAKE: THE LIFE OF YOGANANDA 87m image. And what humanizes a man more time with the sets (although, Hannigan’s .09 than signing up to foster a little orphan, supposedly horrible Harlem apartment 51 Paramahansa Yogananda Documentary # Fri & Sat: 6:00; Sun: 5:00; Mon: 6:00; Tue: (2:15) particularly when she looks like Quven- looked pretty wonderful to me). Wed & Thu: 6:00 zhané Wallis, currently stuck under the But where’s the real fun? Where’s the ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE (PG) 91m guardianship of a drunk Cameron Diaz? excitement? “An absorbing, straightforward look at a truly alien Wallis, who first came to attention in They’re not very apparent here, judging environment.” San Francisco Chronicle Beasts of the Southern Wild, is cute as a by the kids I saw at my screening. The row Fri: (3:40); Sat: 3:40; Sun: (2:40); Mon: (3:40) button—but there’s a reason why big- in front of me spent most of the movie
CASCADIA WEEKLY Tue: (Noon); Wed & Thu: (3:40) budget movie musicals don’t often cast talking. The row behind me beat a bored DEAR WHITE PEOPLE (R) 108m buttons. The girl is adorable, but she can’t drumbeat on the back of my seat. After- 28 Fri: 8:15; Sat: (1:05), 8:15; Sun: (12:05), 7:15; Mon: 8:15 really move, her singing is only adequate ward, on the escalator, one child turned Tue: (4:25); Wed: (1:00); Thu: 8:15 and her expression rarely varies. pouting to her mother. L’ELISIR D’AMORE: ROYAL OPERA HOUSE As a form of over-compensation, per- “There wasn’t enough of the dog in the Tue: 7:00 haps, you then have Diaz as the villain- movie,” she complained. ous guardian Miss Hannigan, who—also Oh, I don’t know. I saw a dog, all right.
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29 film ›› showing this week
BY CAREY ROSS animated penguins should be double loveable. (I’m 38 pretty sure there’s a math equation locked up at Pixar somewhere that determines animated vs. live-action FOOD FOOD FILM SHORTS animal magnetism by allowing you to solve for x with a cuteness coefficient.) However, methinks Annie: See review previous page. + (PG • 1 hr. 58 something got lost in animation here. Drop off the 32 min.) kids and sneak into something else. +++ (PG • 1 hr. 32 min.) Antarctica: A Year on Ice: Antarctica is the B-BOARD B-BOARD remotest, most forbidding place on the planet, as The Theory of Everything: Stephen Hawking is well as a source of eternal fascination for many of the Smartest Man Alive, a feat made all the more
us. This documentary focuses on the hardy folks who amazing by the fact that he’s done the bulk of his big, 26 26 live there, as well as the continent’s startling natural universe-changing thinking while also battling ALS. beauty. +++++ (Unrated • 1 hr. 31 min.) But before all that, he was a college kid with a giant FILM FILM brain, a mysterious medical condition only beginning Awake: The Life of Yogananda: Doctober show- to manifest and a love interest that would be tested
22 ings of this film packed the Pickford Film Center to its by both his limitless intellect and limited body. proverbial rafters, so this doc about Paramahansa Yoga- ++++ (Unrated • 2 hrs. 3 min.) nanda, the man responsible for bringing meditation and NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB MUSIC yoga to the West, is back for a full run. Tell your friends Top Five: Aside from being a deeply funny man, Chris and fellow yogis. ++++ (PG • 1 hr. 27 min.) Rock is also an incredibly smart dude, so when he
18 Dumb and Dumber To: Because my sense of punished with mediocre toilet humor. ++ (R • 1 hr. writes and directs a movie it’s well worth taking no- Big Hero 6: I confess that each time an animated humor is dysfunctional, I was not one of the people 48 min.) tice. Expect salty jokes alongside sharp observations ART adventure is released, my main interest in it can clamoring for a sequel to Dumb and Dumber. However, about show business, politics and life itself. ++++ be summed up by a single question: Pixar or not? because I am not a monster, I can be happy for all The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1: Katniss (R • 1 hr. 41 min.) 16 However, I may have to revise that inquiry to include of you who are hyperventilating with excitement is back, and this time she aims to stir up a little revo- Disney, as they’ve upped their animation game of late right now. Enjoy your poop jokes. I hope they are as lution. Or part one of a revolution, at least. +++
STAGE (Frozen, I’m looking at you) and this tale of a boy, his disgusting as they are plentiful. + (PG-13 • 1 hr. 50 (PG-13 • 2 hrs. 5 min.) endearing robotic companion and their crime-fighting min.) capabilities will only bolster the House of Mouse. Interstellar: People seem to be holding this near- 14 Step aside, Elsa. Baymax is coming for you. ++++ Exodus: Gods and Kings: I’m all for this new trend future space saga to a much higher standard than (PG • 1 hr. 33 min.) that sees Hollywood taking biblical stories and not they’d normally use to judge movies, which speaks to telling them in biblical fashion (see also: Darren the extraordinary expectations that now come with GET OUT Birdman: We all love a story in which art imitates life, Aronofsky’s Noah). Except when they’re an unholy every Christopher Nolan film. I’d just like everyone and this one’s a doozy. Michael Keaton plays a man who mess of bad casting and worse CGI, that is. ++ (PG- to keep in mind that Nolan and his team of scientists turns his back on a superhero franchise in order to pur- 13 • 2 hrs. 22 min.) built the most accurate simulation of a black hole 12 sue projects he finds to be more artistically fulfilling, ever created for this movie. Feel free to be awed ac- with unpredictable, sometimes hilarious, surprisingly The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: See cordingly. ++++ (PG-13 • 2 hrs. 49 min.)
WORDS touching results. Keaton turns in a career-defining review previous page. +++ (PG-13 • 2 hrs. 24 min.) performance, one the Academy will be hard-pressed to Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb: Sup- ignore. +++++ (R • 1 hr. 59 min.) posedly, this is the final installment of this particular 8 Showtimes The Homesman: Hilary Swank, just a girl from a film franchise (I’ll believe it when a fourth movie Dear White People: If spot-on, hilariously biting trailer park with a dream, turns in a gritty, intense isn’t forthcoming). Since it features Robin Williams Regal and AMC theaters, please see satire is the stuff that makes you swoon (and it performance in this Western written, directed and in one of his final big-screen appearances, that alone www.fandango.com. CURRENTS CURRENTS should), this film, about a group of young African also starring Tommy Lee Jones. ++++ (R • 2 hrs. makes it worth seeing—although that might be the Americans navigating life and politics at a predomi- 2 min.) only thing that does. ++ (PG • 1 hr. 37 min.) Pickford Film Center and 6 nately white university (possibly similar to the one PFC’s Limelight Cinema, please see you’d find in, say, Bellingham), was made for you. Horrible Bosses 2: Because there are always more Penguins of Madagascar: Since live-action pen- www.pickfordfilmcenter.com VIEWS ++++ (R • 1 hr. 48 min.) bad bosses out there that haven’t been sufficiently guins are the most loveable animals on the planet, 4 MAIL MAIL
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31
Learn more at WhatcomSmartTrips.org or 756-TRIP. RHODES, FROM PAGE 6 AR: In light of the recent election and the polarization of the country, are we own research—which is that a disproportionately small doomed? amount of Virgos go ego-surfing: only 21 percent. If the other side thinks. Also, for almost RS: Not at all. I don’t believe the system is BY ROB BREZSNY you are one of the 79 percent of your tribe who does two years I was the only one covering broken. I talk to young conservatives— not indulge, I invite you to remedy the situation. It’s an excellent time to risk exploring the potential benefits of 38 the new jail story. I hope I played a part our future Republicans—and they aren’t increased self-interest and self-regard.
FOOD FOOD in shifting the plan away from a jail that worried about birth control or gay mar- FREEWILL was too large and too expensive. riage or Benghazi or Kenyan birthing LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When I started AR: Do you have any heroes? conspiracies. They care about control- writing horoscopes many years ago, I was a good astrologer but an unexceptional writer. Eventually, the 32
32 ASTROLOGY RS: Will Rogers is one. ling spending and the infringement of practice of composing 12 packets of pithy prose every AR: Younger readers may have to Google our civil liberties. I believe the conver- ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Too much hap- week allowed me to improve my authorial skills. The piness can make you unhappy,” reported journalist stuff I composed in the early years wasn’t bad, but I B-BOARD
B-BOARD B-BOARD that. sations we will have in the future will be Marta Zaraska in the Washington Post. Citing research wouldn’t want to present it as my work any more. So RS: He got known for his hokey cowboy more productive as the hysteria of the by psychologists, she concluded that being super- should I feel guilty that I got paid and appreciated act, but he used that to convey the culture wars gives way to a new genera- extra cheerful can make you selfish, gullible, and for those old efforts even though I was less than 26 functions of government in an acces- tion of thinkers and doers. more prone to stereotyped thinking. On the other perfect? Did I get away with something I shouldn’t sible way. Government is people coming hand, she said, maintaining merely moderate levels have gotten away with? I don’t think so. I was doing FILM of happiness is pretty damn good for your mental and the best I could at the time. And even my unpolished together to solve problems bigger than Riley Sweeney can be found at www.sweeney physical health. So here’s the takeaway, Aries: The astrological musings were helpful to many people. themselves. politics.com astrological omens suggest you’re due for a surge of Now, Libra, I invite you to apply these meditations to 22 joy and pleasure. Just be careful it doesn’t spill over you own unfolding destiny. into rash, delirious excess. Here’s your watchword:
MUSIC well-grounded delight. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You may already know what I’m about to tell you. It’s a core principle at TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the 19th century, the root of your Scorpio heritage. But I want to focus 18 the Grimm brothers gathered over 200 old fairy tales your attention on it. In the coming months, you’ll ART bulletinboard from a variety of sources and published them in an be wise to keep it at the forefront of your conscious unprecedented collection. Many of their stories are still awareness. Here it is, courtesy of philosopher Friedrich popular, including “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “Hansel Nietzsche: “You have it in your power to invest every-
16 200 200 200 200 and Gretel,” and “Rapunzel.” Around the same time thing you have lived through—your experiments, false MIND & BODY MIND & BODY MIND & BODY MIND & BODY they did their work, a storyteller named Franz Xaver starts, errors, delusions, passions, your love and your
STAGE von Schönwerth assembled his own compendium of hope—into your goal, with nothing left over.” Michelle Mahler focuses Valley Food Co-op, 202 S. tual Living, 2224 Yew Street 2224 Yew Street Rd. Songs, on “Holiday Aromatherapy First St. If you’d like to learn Rd. No previous experience candle-lighting, poetry, a fantastic myths, fables and folklore. Unlike the Grimm for Energy and Immunity” at how to use simple essen- is necessary, and all are wel- cauldron of fire, ritual and a brothers’ book, his work faded into obscurity. But it was SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “A savage desire
14 a clinic at 6:30pm Thursday, tial oil combinations for in- come. The monthly event is a tea and cookie social will be rediscovered in 2011, and 500 lost fairy tales are now for strong emotions and sensations burns inside me: a December 18 at the Skagit creased energy and immune multicultural celebration of part of the festivities. More finding their way into newly published books. I foresee rage against this soft-tinted, shallow, standardized and defense during the holiday the sacred in movement and info: www.csl-bellingham.org season, sign up in advance voice, rhythm and melody. a comparable phenomenon happening for you in 2015, sterilized life.” So says Harry Haller, the protagonist
GET OUT for the free course. Optional Admission is by donation. Co-Dependents Anony- Taurus. Forgotten stories will return. Raw material from of Herman Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf. His declaration supply fees are $10 for each More info: (360) 733-5745 mous meets from 7-8:30pm the depths will resurface. Interesting news from the could serve as an interesting point of reference for you roll-on bottle. More info: most Mondays at Peace- past will come flowing into the present. in the coming months, Sagittarius—not as a mood www.skagitfoodcoop.com Professional astrologer Health St. Joseph’s Commu- 12 Christine Sessler will be of- nity Health Education Center, for everyday use, but as a poetic inspiration that you “A Presentation on Ortho- fering 15-minute mini-read- 3333 Squalicum Pkwy, con- GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your first task is to periodically call on to invigorate your lust for life. My molecular Medicine” will be ings as part of a “Discover ference room B.. Entry is by ascertain the half-truth, the whole half-truth, and invitation has a caveat, however. I advise you not to
WORDS the subject matter at a NAMI Vedic Astrology” event from donation. More info: (360) nothing but the whole half-truth. Only then will you adopt the rest of Harry Haller’s rant, in which he says of Whatcom county event 1-5pm Friday, December 19 at 676-8588 from 6:30-8:30pm Thursday, Wise Awakening, 314 E. Holly be able to find the other half of the truth. I realize it that he also has “a mad craving to smash something
8 December 18 at the Belling- St., suite 101. Vedic Astrology A Grief Support Group may be frustrating to use this approach. You’d prob- up, a department store, or a cathedral, or myself.” ham Public Library, 210 Cen- is the astrology of India. Entry meets at 7pm every Tuesday ably prefer to avoid wrangling with the deceptions Would you tral Ave. This event is open is $10. More info: (360) 510- at the St. Luke’s Commu- to all members of the com- 3028 or www.vedicmmoonas- nity Health Education Center. and misdirections. But I think it’s the only way to CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I have lived like to munity, with no registration trology.com 3333 Squalicum Pkwy. The jostle loose the hidden or missing information. For near an open space preserve for five years. Up until CURRENTS CURRENTS become a required. More info: (360) free, drop-in support group is best results, be a cunning and unsentimental detec- the last two months, it has been a peaceful, quite 671-4950 or nami@health- Celebrate the Winter Sol- for those experiencing the re- tive who’s eager to solve the mystery. Don’t focus on place. But then the coyotes moved in. Just after dusk 6 homeowner? supportcenter.org stice at an event starting at cent death of a friend or loved 7pm Sunday, December 21 at one. More info: 733-5877 finding fault or assigning blame. every evening, a pack of them start yipping and yowl- Join us for The monthly “Dances of the Center for Spiritual Living, ing in the distance. At first I found the racket to be VIEWS KulshanCLT’s Universal Peace” takes place CANCER (June 21-July 22): One of the ingredi- eerie and unsettling. It activated some primal unease from 7-9pm Friday, Decem- ents that makes yoga mats so soft and springy is the in me. And yet the coyotes have never actually been ber 19 at the Center for Spiri-
4 FREE ® HomeBuyer NEED A DEDICATED REALTOR TO HELP chemical azodicarbonamide. The same stuff is added a problem. They don’t roam into my neighborhood Sunday, December 21 WITH YOUR HOME SEARCH? to the soles of shoes. There’s a third place where it’s and try to bite people or prey on pets. So now I’ve MAIL MAIL Education used, too: in the burger buns sold by McDonald’s, come to relish the situation: The wild things are close Class Community HU Song Burger King, Wendy’s, and other fast food joints. and exciting, but not dangerous. I’m guessing this
2 CallCall JERRY SWANN at Mon. & Wed. 10 am - 10:30 am I’m not suggesting that you order a big supply of has a metaphorical resemblance to what your life will Spiritual azodicarbonamide and ingest it. But I do hope you be like in the next six months, Capricorn.
DO IT IT DO March 18 & 20 Discussion Topic: ZipRealty will consider the metaphorical equivalent: doing 6pm–9pm whatever’s necessary to make yourself bouncy and AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Stanstead, Quebec Bellingham fluffy and pliable and supple and resilient. and Derby Line, Vermont are really a single town that Call to pre-register “Experiencing the Holy Presence, As Close as straddles the border between the U.S. and Canada. 360-671-5600, x2 360.319.7776 LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “There are two kinds Many of the people who live there have dual citizen- 12.17.14 www.KulshanCLT.org Your Hearbest, As Near as Your Breath.” Find over 30 client reviews at: of light,” said author James Thurber, “the glow that ship, but they’re still supposed to carry their passports 10:30 am - 11:30 am SSearchWhatcomSkagitHomes.com illuminates, and the glare that obscures.” Lately you with them at all times. I suspect you may experience
.09 have been an abundant source of that first kind of a metaphorical version of this split in the coming
51 light, Leo. The fire in your heart and the gleam in months, Aquarius. You will be in a situation that has # Fairhaven Public Library Fireplace Room your eyes have not only brightened the mood wher- a split down the middle or a seemingly unnatural divi- Cerise Noah ever you’ve gone. They have also clarified confus- sion. Whether it turns out to be a problem or an oppor- REALTOR® ing situations, warmed chilly attitudes, and healed tunity will depend on your adaptability and flexibility. dispirited allies. Thank you! In the coming weeks, Professional, I’d love to see you continue on your hot streak. To PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): When a dead tree knowledgeable, help ensure that you do, keep your ego under control. topples over in the woods, its withered branches may Don’t let it pretend that it owns the light you’re emit- get entangled with the branches of a living tree that’s fun & friendly ting. With a little introspection, you will continue to standing nearby. As years go by, the living tree must CASCADIA WEEKLY to work with. generate illumination, not glare. grow the best it can with the decaying wood trapped in its midst. Has something like that ever happened 32 VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Studies suggest that to you? Are you still carrying the rot that other 57 percent of all people with access to the Internet people have burdened you with? If so, the coming Windermere Real Estate Whatcom, Inc. have engaged in the practice known as ego-surfing. months will be an excellent time to get disentangled. This modern art form consists of searching Google for A tree isn’t capable of freeing itself from the dead (360) 393-5826 mentions of one’s own name. This is a suspiciously low weight of the past, but you are—especially in the [email protected] figure unless we factor in the data uncovered by my first half of 2015. BY AMY ALKON relationship with is like letting your taste buds do your grocery shopping.
(Dunno about yours, but mine would
THE ADVICE not be lingering in the broccoli sec- 38 tion.) Before you get involved with a GODDESS man, you need to check to see that FOOD he’s available, and immediately dis-
qualify any man who isn’t single or 32 32 THE COMPANY emotionally ready for a relationship. YOU KEEP AWAY Once you have a viable candidate, B-BOARD I’ve got an intense attraction to this take steps to avoid seeming desper- B-BOARD musician I’ve been dating for four months. ate, like by setting the timer on your
He’s on the road a lot, plus he’s new to phone for 20 minutes or an hour be- 26 the city and recently out of a relationship. fore you return a text. The more you
He says he’s not ready to get serious now do this sort of thing the more natural FILM and just told me he wants us to be non- it will feel, until you become hard to
monogamous. The more I try to get close get instead of just playing it. Should 22 the more he pulls away. My girlfriends told you feel tempted to fall back into old me to stop chasing him and be much less chase behaviors, just remind yourself MUSIC available. I tried being less present, which, of your ultimate goal—inspiring a man to my surprise, made him miss me and be to want you instead of inspiring him 18
more attentive. I’m disgusted at the need to fill out paperwork to keep you 100 ART for manipulative game-playing. How much feet away from him at all times.
longer do I need to keep this up? 16 —Hate Games LAWN AND ORDER
How can I get the guy I’m dating to shave STAGE There are times it makes sense to his neck beard? He shaves his face but not chase a man, like if he’s wearing Lycra this thick scrubby hair he has all down 14 knickers and making a dash for the end and around his neck. Mercifully, the hair zone or he’s just run out of your house is relatively short; it isn’t Amish-length or with your TV. otherwise truly beardy. But it really is not GET OUT However, chasing a man is an es- attractive. pecially bad strategy when you’re —Not Liking The View 12 looking for love. The reason for this
goes back millions of years and comes Word has it that the Brazilian wax is WORDS down to what anthropologists call out; pubic hair is back. This may be so— “parental investment” and how biolo- but not under your boyfriend’s chin. Bring a bag of bagels 8 gy sticks women with the lion’s share There are practical reasons for a of it. As I’ve explained here from time neck beard. For example, if a guy’s
to time, before the invention of reli- car were to go off a mountain road, CURRENTS able birth control, a single romp in he might survive a few extra days
home for Christmas 6 the bushes could leave a woman with on trapped Cheetos dust. Assuming a hungry kid to haul around and feed. this sort of situation is unlikely, you VIEWS So women evolved to be the choosier can put in a request for neck-beard
so you only have one 4 sex—to cross their legs until the man removal. Because criticism tends to vying to be their sex partner showed make people feel hurt and defensive, he’d be likely to stick around to pro- it’s most successful when reformatted MAIL vide for any ensuing Neander-browed as flattery. In other words, tell him meal to cook. 2 children. how hot he is, but tell him you think DO IT IT DO Men, in turn, coevolved to expect he’d look even hotter with a clean- this choosiness from women. And shaven neck, and ask him to try that though we’re living in modern times, for you for the next time you see him. 30 revolutions around we’ve got some pretty antique psy- Be ready to counter possible objec- 12.17.14 chology still driving us, so when a tions, like that he gets razor bumps. man today encounters a woman who Magic Razorless Cream Shave, a drug- the sun and still shining. .09 seems easy to have, he tends to get store product designed for black men, 51 # the message that she isn’t worth hav- can help him prevent them while also ing. This may seem awful and unfair, removing the Brillo pad making love but it’s just how things are. So la- to his neck. This area can be a pow- menting the need for “game-playing” erful erogenous zone—just not when is like expecting something different it’s hard to figure out whether it’s from gravity. Drop an apple and it’s saying “Kiss me!” or “Use me to clean going to fall; it will not lift off, circle your oven!” CASCADIA WEEKLY your head a few times, and then try 33 to make it to Cleveland on tailwinds ©2014, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. before nightfall. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 As for this guy, sure, you want him, Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA but letting attraction and enjoyment 90405, or e-mail [email protected] alone determine whom you have a (advicegoddess.com). Mon - Fri 7am - 4 Sa S r 8
38 FOOD FOOD 32 32 B-BOARD B-BOARD B-BOARD 26 FILM 22 MUSIC 18 ART 16 STAGE 14 GET OUT 12 WORDS 8 CURRENTS CURRENTS 6 VIEWS 4 MAIL MAIL
2 DO IT IT DO
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34 rearEnd ›› “Smooth Move”— about to be pulled on you
48 Assist example 50 De Matteo of 38 49 Hatcher who 10 Clarinet’s rela- “Sons of Anarchy”
played Lois Lane tive 51 Rowboat acces- FOOD 50 Epitome of 11 “Encore!” sories 32
deadness 12 “Song of the 52 “Old MacDonald” 32 55 Comprehend South” title for noise
59 “I Can’t Make Rabbit or Fox 53 Doubtful B-BOARD B-BOARD B-BOARD You Love Me” 13 Industrial activ- 54 Accumulated singer Bonnie ity, for short traditions 26 60 Way to stop a 17 “Let’s go!” 56 Eat, as a meal
bike 21 Infomercial 57 “Grapes of FILM 62 “Sesame Street” knife brand Wrath” migrant
star 23 Undermine 58 Pre-___ student 22 63 Title for a monk 25 Distinctive style 61 Grain in granola 64 Spitting nails 26 Avarice ©2014 Jonesin’ MUSIC 65 “No questions 27 “To the newly- Crosswords 18 ___” weds!” opener (editor@jonesin- ART 66 Despite every- 28 Ouzo ingredient crosswords.com) thing 29 Hawaiian coffee 16 67 Dueling weapon region
Down 30 StubHub’s parent STAGE Across 20 Google employ- Night Live” player 1 Conservative in company Last Week’s Puzzle
1 Nicholas II of ee, often Gasteyer the House of 31 Dickensian child, 14 Russia, say 22 Get your ducks 36 Sports maneuver Lords often
5 Close male friend in ___ (and alternate 2 Progresso product 32 One on the GET OUT 8 Curse word that’s 24 Island, in French title for this 3 “To reiterate...” “nay” side
“dropped,” for 25 James Joyce puzzle) 4 First two words 37 Carne ___ 12 short novel with its 39 “All ___ day’s in some movie 38 Like coupons
13 Yellowstone own unique vo- work” sequel titles and notebook WORDS grazer cabulary 40 “So what if 5 Sports ___ paper
14 50 Cent piece? 31 Hard-to-find ___?” 6 It leaves no 41 Wise guy 8 15 Parts partner book character 42 “I ___ little leaves 44 Vacation where 16 Christmas pres- 33 Performing ___ silhouetto of a 7 Sign on a store you buy lift CURRENTS CURRENTS ent often regifted 34 Social-climbing man...” 8 Thrashes about passes 18 Love to pieces type 43 Vox piece 9 “You didn’t get 46 Dropped clues 6 19 Drywall mineral 35 Ex-”Saturday 45 It’s gripping the job,” for 47 Weight VIEWS 4 MAIL MAIL
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38 FOOD FOOD 32 32 B-BOARD B-BOARD B-BOARD 26 FILM 22 MUSIC 18 ART 16 STAGE 14 GET OUT 12 WORDS 8 CURRENTS CURRENTS 6 VIEWS 4 MAIL MAIL
2
DO IT IT DO joy .
12.17.14 No matter who you are, you are invited to wait and wonder with us as we celebrate
.09 51 #
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BELLINGHAM
CASCADIA WEEKLY an open and affirming congregation of the
36 UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2401 Cornwall Ave, Bellingham www.fccb.net | facebook: fccbucc | twitter:1stCongBhamUCC rearEnd ›› sudoku
exchange tomorrow 38
buy * sell*trade FOOD 32 Sudoku 32 B-BOARD Arrange the digits 1-9 so that each digit occurs once in each row, once in B-BOARD each column, and once in each box. 26 FILM 87 2 22 1 6493 MUSIC 18
956 ART 752 16 STAGE 34 14
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5'#66.'7&+564+%6 GET OUT 7PKXGTUKV[9C[0'é 16 5 7 $#..#4& 09/CTMGV5Vé $WȮ CNQ'ZEJCPIGEQO 12 21 WORDS 8 CURRENTS CURRENTS 6 VIEWS 4 MAIL MAIL
2 DO IT IT DO
12.17.14 .09 51 # CASCADIA WEEKLY
37 doit THURS., DEC. 18 BREWER’S NIGHT: Reps from local craft brewer
Birdsview Brewery will be on hand for a Brewer’s
38 Night event in Sedro-Woolley from 5-8pm at the 38 Sedro Market, 829 Metcalf St. Fresh Hop Pale FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD Ale, Cascade Dark Ale, and their newly released chow Holy Grale Imperial Stout will be on hand, and RECIPES REVIEWS PROFILES there’ll also be a community jam session.
32 WWW.WOOLLEYMARKET.COM
PIE SCHOOL: Author and baker Kate Lebo
B-BOARD B-BOARD returns to Bellingham to share recipes from her roasted apples. That year my English hus- new book Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour, and Butter at 7pm at the Book Fare Cafe at Village band made little mince meat pies (there’s 26 Books, 1200 11th St. Lebo will discuss her tech- no real meat in these) and served every- niques for creating delicious fruit-based pies,
FILM thing with a slice of Stilton cheese. while also demonstrating how to make a pie at Wassail warmed our hands and soothed the café. A hot beverage will be served with a delicious pie sample. Tickets are $5.
22 our souls, and encouraged everyone to lin- ger around the tree just a little bit longer. WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
MUSIC Whatever your traditions, may your holi- SAT., DEC. 20 days be filled with the scent of evergreens PANCAKE BREAKFAST: Pancakes, French toast, biscuits and gravy, eggs, ham, sausage 18 and starlight and much cheer. and more will be on the menu at a fundrais-
ART ing Pancake Breakfast from 8-11am at the Ferndale Senior Center, 1999 Cherry St. (next to Pioneer Park). Entry is $2.50 for kids and 16 recipe $6 for adults. 384-6244 STAGE
COMMUNITY MEAL: Glazed ham, scalloped
14 potatoes, mixed veggies, green salad, bread and Christmas cookies will be on the menu at the bimonthly Community Meal from 10am-12pm at
GET OUT the United Church of Ferndale, 2034 Washington St. Per usual, entry is free and open to all. 714-9029
12 BY GRACE JACKSON FINAL BELLINGHAM MARKET: Attend the final Bellingham Farmers Market of the year from WORDS 10am-3pm at the Depot Market Square, 1100 Railroad Ave. Monthly markets will happen in 8 Warmed by Wassail the new year on Jan. 17, Feb. 21 and March 21 before opening up on a weekly basis in April. MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT WWW.BELLINGHAMFARMERS.ORG CURRENTS CURRENTS ’m sitting next to our Christmas tree—a Noble fir covered with 700 tiny WASSAIL DEC. 20-21 6 lights and taller than my 6-foot husband. Heavily laden with sequined orna- —From the book, Canadian Christmas SHOP & SIP: A “Shop & Sip” event continues this weekend from 10am-5pm Saturday and Sun- ments made by tiny hands, draped with strands of fake jewels and wooden Cooking by Rose Murray day at BelleWood Acres, 6140 Guide Meridian. VIEWS I cranberries, dotted with dried orange slices and shimmering bows, the tree has 3 apples Christmas cookie decorating for kids, a bonfire
4 become a visual archive of our family’s history. It holds remembrances of people 1 cinnamon stick and s’more bar, live music and more will be part we have loved and places we have lived. 3 coriander seeds of the fun. Visit with Santa from 1-5pm, and MAIL MAIL I find that each branch holds a symbol of the deeper meaning in my life and 4 cloves take horse-drawn sleigh bell trolley rides from 2-5pm ($7 with hot cider, $10 with brandy and
reveals the layers of who I am. 3 allspice berries 2 mulled cider). Besides forcing the family to watch Mall Cop with me, which was filmed dur- 2 cardamom seeds WWW.BELLEWOODFARMS.COM DO IT IT DO
ing the gift-giving holiday season, chopping down and decorating the tree is my A square of cheesecloth favorite holiday activity, because the whole process chronicles the inevitable 1 cup water SUN., DEC. 21 passage of time. What mom doesn’t love looking at the ornaments now-gruff 1 cup sugar COOKIE DECORATING: Kids of all sizes can come in and decorate six pre-made shortbread teens created during their innocent first- and second-grade years? ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg cookies to take home or give to loved ones as 12.17.14 The custom of bringing evergreens inside the home can be traced to the an- ¼ teaspoon mace (optional) part of a “Holiday Cookie Decorating” event cient Egyptians, Chinese, and Romans. December is the darkest month of the year 4½ cups ale from 1-4pm in Anacortes at Potluck Kitchen .09 and evergreens symbolized eternal life and showed hope for the coming spring. 3 cups sherry or Madeira Studio, 910-A 11th St. Icing, sprinkles and 51 # Candles were placed on trees to resemble stars twinkling in the night; electric other decorations will be supplied. Tracey Olson, of Two Girls Baking, a dessert catering company lights were introduced in the early 1900s. DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 de- from Anacortes, will be on hand to offer expert With the scents of a freshly cut tree, the glow of glittering lights, and the soft- grees. Wash, core and bake apples for 30- decorating tips and tricks. Entry is $10. ness of velvet stockings stuffed with satsumas and chocolate coins, the holidays 45 minutes. WWW.POTLUCKKITCHENSTUDIO.COM become a feast for parched senses. Add a cup of wassail to your evenings, and Tie cinnamon, coriander, cloves, allspice December nights become less dark. and cardamom in a cheesecloth square. WED., DEC. 24 PASTA FEED: Reserve space in advance for the CASCADIA WEEKLY Drinking wassail started in the southwest of England in cider-producing coun- Combine water and sugar in a large pot. Add annual Christmas Eve Pasta Feed happening from ties. Made with warming spices and ale or cider, wassailing is a ceremony that spice bag, grated nutmeg and mace 5-8pm at Boundary Bay Brewery, 1107 Railroad 38 involves honoring apple trees by singing to them, so that they produce more fruit Bring to a boil, and stir until sugar is dis- Ave. The all-you-can-eat dinner will include sev- in the autumn of coming year. solved. Add the ale and sherry; simmer 15 eral pasta dishes, Caesar salad and garlic bread. I have served wassail to a crowd, when family and friends were in town for the minutes. Float apples on top and serve hot. Entry is $12 for kids 12 and under and $21 for adults (kids 5 and under eat for free). holidays and neighbors dropped by for a chat. It can be made in a big saucepan Serves 12. 647-5503 OR WWW.BBAYBREWERY.COM or slow cooker and served in a large punchbowl and looks beautiful studded with
38 38 FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD 32
Happy Holidays B-BOARD 26
FROM ALL OF US AT FILM 22 MUSIC 18 ART 16 STAGE 14 GET OUT 12 WORDS 8 CURRENTS CURRENTS 6 VIEWS 4 MAIL MAIL
SEATTLE 2 DO IT BELLINGHAM 118 First A3$ 6 ',+$$/ .2!/$ 1321 Cornwall Ave. 206.397.3993 12.17.14 LYNNWOOD .09
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39 2 – 8 pm
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