Feb 17 - Cascadia Weekly

Give Me Shelter, 3.ɀɈ * Film Shorts, 3.ɂɇ * Free Will Astrology, 3.Ƀɀ
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PEACE, LOVE,
PLOV
THE
UNDERPANTS
A satire with amorous
objectives, P.16
NO PDA
ALLOWED
Valentine's Day Covers
Show, P.20
The battle of
the sexes,
P.34
FOOD 34
a
s
c
a
d
i
a
B-BOARD 28
c
A special “C is for Love” Valentine’s Day event will be
part of the latest iteration of Sketchopedia Feb.
14 at the iDiOM Theater. The show—which provides
“fascinating (mis)information about all things beginning
with the letter C”—continues through Feb. 21
PHOTO BY KRISSA WOIWOOD
Games, craft and
card-making,
face painting
and more will
be part of an
all-ages Family
Valentine
Party Feb. 14
at Bellingham’s
Bloedel Donovan
Community
Building
Mount Vernon
Rumors: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Theatre
Romeo & Juliet: 7:30p, Lincoln Theatre, Mount
Vernon
My Circus Valentine: 8pm, Cirque Lab
Space Trek: 8pm and 10pm, Upfront Theatre
Whose Live Anyway?: 9pm, Swinomish Casino,
Anacortes
Shitty TED Talks: 10pm, iDiOM Theater
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
A glance at what’s happening this week
DANCE
VIEWS 6
Swinging Valentine’s Dance: 7-9pm, Leopold
Crystal Ballroom
Winter Dance Cabaret: 8pm, Performing Arts
Center, WWU
Galentine’s Day Pop-Up Market: 3-7pm, Hammerhead Coffee Roasters
MAIL 4
DO
DO IT
IT 22
02.11.15
#06.10
CASCADIA WEEKLY
Valentine’s Contra Dance: 7-10:30pm, Fairhaven
Library
Winter Dance Cabaret: 8pm, Performing Arts
Center, WWU
Red Shoes Benefit Ball: 8pm, Mount Baker Theatre
Valentine’s Rumba Dance: 8:30pm, Presence Studio
COMMUNITY
Family Valentine Party: 2-4pm, Bloedel Donovan
Community Building
GET OUT
Birch Bay Marathon: 9am, Birch Bay State Park
Zombies Have Hearts, Too: 10am, Bloedel Donovan
Park
COMMUNITY
GET OUT
Two for the Road: 10am, Whatcom Falls Park
2
DANCE
WEDNESDAY [02.11.15]
The Project: 10pm, Upfront Theatre
ONSTAGE
MUSIC
In the Next Room: 7:30pm, Performing Arts
Center, WWU
Shoe Me the Funny: 9pm, Horseshoe Cafe
Prozac Mountain Boys: 5-8pm, Woolley Market
ONSTAGE
GET OUT
Love Your Ride: 8:30pm, Aslan Brewery
MUSIC
Cory Weeds Quartet: 7pm, the Majestic
Canadian Brass: 7:30pm, Mount Baker Theatre
FRIDAY [02.13.15]
ONSTAGE
THURSDAY [02.12.15]
ONSTAGE
In the Next Room: 7:30pm, Performing Arts
Center, WWU
Sketchopedia: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater
The Rabbit Hole: 7:30pm, Claire vg Thomas Theatre, Lynden
Romeo & Juliet: 7:30p, Lincoln Theatre, Mount
Vernon
Rumors: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Theatre
Good, Bad, Ugly: 8pm, Upfront Theatre
SATURDAY [02.14.15]
The Rainmaker: 7pm, Alger Community Church
The Underpants: 7:30pm, MBT’s Walton Theatre
Sketchopedia: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater
Leading Ladies: 7:30pm, Bellingham Theater Guild
In the Next Room: 7:30pm, Performing Arts
Center, WWU
12 Minutes Max: 7:30pm, Firehouse PAC
Minus Some Buttons: 7:30pm, Quality Inn Baron
Suites
The Rabbit Hole: 7:30pm, Claire vg Thomas Theatre, Lynden
Late Nite Catechism: 7:30pm, McIntyre Hall,
The Rabbit Hole: 2pm, Claire vg Thomas Theatre,
Lynden
In the Next Room: 2pm and 7:30pm, Performing
Arts Center, WWU
My Circus Valentine: 6pm and 9pm, Cirque Lab
The Rainmaker: 7pm, Alger Community Church
The Underpants: 7:30pm, MBT’s Walton Theatre
Sketchopedia: 7:30pm, iDiOM Theater
Leading Ladies: 7:30pm, Bellingham Theater Guild
12 Minutes Max: 7:30pm, Firehouse PAC
Minus Some Buttons: 7:30pm, Quality Inn Baron
Suites
Late Nite Catechism: 7:30pm, McIntyre Hall, Mount
Vernon
Romeo & Juliet: 7:30pm, Lincoln Theatre, Mount
Vernon
Rumors: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Theatre
Space Trek: 8pm and 10pm, Upfront Theatre
Whose Live Anyway?: 9pm, Swinomish Casino,
Anacortes
FOOD
Winter Farmers Market: 9am-2pm, Depot Arts
Center, Anacortes
Valentine’s Day Brunch: 10am-1pm, Bellingham
Senior Activity Center
Oysters, Gin & Jazz: 6:30-10pm, BelleWood Acres
SUNDAY [02.15.15]
ONSTAGE
Leading Ladies: 2pm, Bellingham Theater Guild
The Underpants: 3pm, MBT’s Walton Theatre
The Rabbit Hole: 2pm, Claire vg Thomas Theatre,
Lynden
Romeo & Juliet: 2pm, Lincoln Theatre, Mount
Vernon
The Rainmaker: 2:30pm, Alger Community Church
Vaudevillingham: 7pm and 9pm, Cirque Lab
Greg Proops: 9pm, Upfront Theatre
DANCE
I Love to Skate: 1-3pm, Bellingham Sportsplex
MONDAY [02.16.15]
ONSTAGE
Guffawingham: 9:30pm, Green Frog
FOOD
Bite of Blaine: 6-8pm, Semiahmoo Resort
February 13 & 14
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
CASCADIA WEEKLY
Eat at 13moons or Two Salmon before the show.
Reservations strongly recommended.
DO
DO IT
IT 22
13MOONS OR TWO SALMON
02.11.15
On the main stage from 9pm-1am
#06.10
LIVE MUSIC BY DISCO BALLZ
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
Tickets on Sale Now! Join Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff Davis, and
Joel Murray for a wildly entertaining night of improv comedy.
CURRENTS 8
WHOSE LIVE ANYWAY
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
Make it an Unforgettable Valentine’s Day Weekend
FILM 24
AT SWINOMISH CASINO & LODGE
MUSIC 20
EXPLORE it all
EXPLORE our
Rewards!
3
SwinomishCasinoandLodge.com
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*Management reserves all rights
THISWEEK
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
Editor & Publisher:
Tim Johnson
ext 260
{ editor@
cascadiaweekly.com
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
ART 18
STAGE 16
If you thought the May/December romance between mass
murderer Charles Manson, 80, and Afton Elaine Burton,
27, was too weird to be true, you’d be right. According to
journalist Daniel Stone, the serial killer’s former fiancee was
after his (dead) body. Apparently, she wanted to use his
corpse as a tourist attraction. “He finally realized that he’d
been played for a fool,” Simone told The NY Post.
VIEWS & NEWS
4: Mailbag
6: Gristle & Goodman
GET OUT 14
10: Last week’s news
11: Police blotter, Index
WORDS 12
CURRENTS 8
12: Happy returns
14: Hearts and pumping
16: Amorous objectives
18: Loving La Conner
20: Covering Valentine’s Day
22: Clubs
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
24: Killer duds
26: All about oil
27: Film Shorts
REAR END
28: Bulletin Board, Wellness
29: Crossword
30: Free Will Astrology
02.11.15
31: Advice Goddess
#06.10
mail
TOC
L E T T E RS
STA F F
Arts & Entertainment
Editor: Amy Kepferle
ext 204
{calendar@
cascadiaweekly.com
ARTS & LIFE
CASCADIA WEEKLY
Cascadia Weekly:
360.647.8200
Editorial
8: Sheltered, unsheltered
4
Contact
32: Comix
33: Slowpoke, Sudoku
34: Peace, love, plov
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Letters
Send letters to letters@
cascadiaweekly.com
HOMES HELP THE HOMELESS
ORCAS AND COAL DON’T MIX
I am appalled by the recent actions of the
Bellingham City Council and their attempt to
expand the pedestrian safety area of downtown
Bellingham.
The draft makes a statement about wanting the
downtown area “safe and accessible for people of
all ages, income levels, disabilities and cultures.”
Whoever wrote this must have forgotten that our
residents who are homeless, have a mental illness, who are addicted are part of our culture.
Whoever thought that by creating such an “expanded safety zone” we could protect some citizens from other citizens is not thinking for the
future. This ordinance will only lead to increased
militarization of our police and a “pipeline to the
jail” for these people.
What our good elected officials might be doing
instead would be to find ways to assist and help
those who display behaviors that others might
see as “unsafe” or “unsuitable.” Such actions
would be to provide places for these folks to rest,
to eat, to use a bathroom. Best of all would be to
find a way to provide homes for them.
Instead, I’ve been told that benches have been
removed from the downtown area and places
where they could recharge their cell phones have
been shut off. Let’s find ways to show compassion toward our residents who may be homeless,
mentally ill or addicted, not further oppress them.
Let’s spend our taxpayer dollars on creating a
city that works for everybody.
Our Salish Sea resident Orcas J, K, and L pods,
are in trouble and humans are primarily the problem. The environment in which they share with
us is under attack from an increasingly warming and acidic mixture of PCBs and other highly
toxic chemicals that are more than likely playing havoc with our whales’ reproductive systems.
Add to this the destruction of salmon habitat,
our whales’ favorite food, and you have created a
recipe of extinction for our local killer whales in
the near future.
The only chance for their continued survival is
if we humans who care about them become their
voices in issues that most certainly put them in
further danger.
How, I ask, can we seriously consider building a deepwater port and coal-export facility at
Cherry Point that will ultimately only add to the
acidity of the world’s oceans as well as further
degrade the waters of our inland sea that takes
decades to flush itself of impurities under even
the best of conditions? And how can we ask our
dolphin residents and other ocean wildlife here
to try and dodge hundreds more super-sized cargo vessels when that task is already a detriment
to them at current levels?
When people ask me if I cherish the lives of
our resident orcas over the addition of a couple
of hundred climate-destroying jobs? My answer is
similar to one given by a former Vice Presidential
candidate: “You Betcha!”
—Ronna Loerch, Everson
—Bill Walker, Maple Falls
—Lisa Sherry, Bellingham
—Micki Jackson, Bellingham
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS
A transcription in the Index was in error in
citing the number of scientific studies that
demonstrate a link between vaccines and autism. The number should have been 0, in that
there are no credible studies that demonstrate
such a link; any number other
than zero undercuts the point
the entry was attempting to
make. We’re advised by the
County Health Department that
thimerosal remains an ingredient in some tetanus vaccines
and meningococcal vaccines.
There is no health risk from the
thimerosal in these vaccines.
We regret the errors.
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
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MAIL 4
Before a doctor can begin effective
treatment, he must first diagnose and
name the disease.
Daily, we hear reports of unspeakable atrocities and murders committed by Islamic terrorists. When referring to these evil adversaries and their
acts, why is it that the President cannot get the words “Islamic terrorist”
and “Islamic terrorism” across his lips?
Is it assumed that by not calling the
perpetrators correctly—“followers of
Islam”—our nightmares can, somehow,
be kept at bay? Among many others, is
this not a signal of a serious lapse of
presidential credibility?
Egypt’s president, El-Sisi, (a Sunni Muslim himself) does not suffer a similar lack
of moral resolve. He recently spoke to a
group of Islamic authorities and scholars
at Al-Azhar university in Cairo. He called
for an Islamic revolution. He expressed
deep concern that the Islamic world is a
source of danger, killing and destruction.
He asked, “Is it possible that 1.6 billion
people should want to kill the rest of the
world’s 7 billion inhabitants? The entire
Islamic world is being lost by our own
hands.”
Words matter. In times of crisis and at
historically decisive moments, they matter even more.
GOOD
FORTUNES
DO IT 2
WORDS AND DEEDS
100 additional
hotel rooms
and luxurious
suites,
plus more
flexible
event space.
02.11.15
—Debbie Cantrell, Bellingham
COMING
SUMMER
2015
#06.10
In light of the recent revelation reported in Reuters and other news outlets
that the Koch brothers intend to spend
close to $900 million on the next presidential election via their political networks, it is very clear that our elections
are being sold to the highest bidder. The
amount of money poured into elections
from both sides of the political spectrum
has skyrocketed since the 2010 Supreme
Court issued the Citizens United decision,
and corporate interests have trumped
those of private citizens.
If you are concerned with family-wage
jobs, the environment, universal internet
access, high health care and drug costs,
mass incarceration, or a host of other
problems we currently face as a nation,
the answer lies in the overwhelming
corporate power gained by the control
of our elections and elected representatives. If this concerns you, please attend
a call to action by a national leader at
Move To Amend at 7pm Thurs., Feb. 19 at
the Elk’s Lodge in Bellingham. The event
is free and open to the public.
There are many things you can choose
to do with your free time; getting on
board a national movement to fix our
broken democracy must be one of the
most important.
President Obama and Republican leaders in the Senate, aided by numerous
Democrats, are working on new legislation that would authorize the president’s
expanding war against the Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria.
Initially we were told this war would
last one, two or perhaps three years. Now
we are told it will go on much longer. We
certainly need to address violent extremism, but expanding this new war is not
the proper response. If recent history is
a guide, the U.S. war in Iraq failed to end
the violence and the killing in that country, yet the president is proposing a new
war that will almost certainly fail, too.
Congress needs to take back its authority under the Constitution to determine
and oversee each and every act of war.
Congress should repeal the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force that
Obama is using as a virtual blank check
to wage war. AUMF was passed in haste
days after 9/11. AUMF lets any president
wage war, any time, any place without
Congressional consent.
The President went off script during the
State of the Union address last month—
he essentially asked lawmakers to provide
legal cover for America’s military intervention in Iraq and Syria, by ad-libbing:
“We need that authority.” As Obama has
unilaterally expanded war, he has claimed
he had the authority to do so without congressional approval. The New York Times
editorialized regarding the ad-libbed four
words: “that seemed to acknowledge a reality about which his administration has
been inexcusably dishonest.”
Congress is in recess beginning Feb.
14. While I do not believe that war is
the answer, I urge you to contact Rep.
Rick Larsen’s community liaison, Thomas
Boucher, in the Bellingham office and
ask for a meeting with the congressman
while he’s in the district, to express concern that lawmakers are abdicating one
of their most consequential constitutional powers: the authority to declare war.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
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#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 66
VIEWS
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
B-BOARD 28
FOOD 34
ACES AND AUGHTS: Lummi Nation appears to have de-
6
livered a staggering, if not fatal blow to the proposed
coal export pier at Cherry Point in their letter to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at the opening
bell of the new year. And like a referee grazed by one of
a flurry of thrown knuckles, the Corps seems unable to
focus their gaze and answer intelligibly, unable to tell
three fingers from five, in the early onset of a technical
knockout and called fight. Pacific International Terminals—applicant for the marine permit required for the
pier—mutters from the corner that they’re the undisputed Heavyweight Champions of the World as their
knees buckle to the canvas.
The fight to this point had been mostly circling the
size and shape of the ring—a negotiation about the
environmental footprint of the project, to be followed
then by bargaining about how best to offset or mitigate environmental impacts. PIT, the subsidiary of SSA
Marine, sought for the determination of that footprint
to be as small as possible, limited to just the site and
immediate area. Mitigation would thereby be limited to
matters as simple as replanting eelgrass displaced by a
piling—all with the intended, even inevitable outcome
that the project, once mitigated, would be permitted.
The Jan. 5 letter to the USACE from Lummi Nation
took this negotiation to a whole ’nother level, arguing
that the thing displaced by scores of enormous, churning capesize cargo vessels is, in fact, the quantities of
fish the tribe is entitled to catch by treaty, the loss of
which cannot be mitigated. Lummi based their claims
in part on a GPT Terminal Vessel Traffic and Risk Assessment Study created jointly by SSA Marine and the state
Dept. of Ecology in close consultation with the tribe.
The study suggests the pier would bring more than 450
ships through tribal fishing areas each year, causing a
disruption to fishing at Cherry Point by 76 percent, 19
percent in adjacent areas.
“Review of the impacts associated with this project,”
Lummi Chairman Tim Ballew wrote Corps personnel,
“lead to the inescapable conclusion that the proposed
project will directly result in the substantial impairment of the treaty rights of the Lummi Nation throughout the Nations’ ‘usual and accustomed’ [U&A] fishing
areas. The Lummi have harvested at this location since
time immemorial and plan to continue into the future.
The proposed project will impact this significant treaty
harvesting location and will significantly limit the ability of tribal members to exercise their treaty rights.”
“The devastating environmental impacts associated
with this project, as well as the trust responsibility
of federal agencies to ensure the protection of the
treaty rights of the Lummi Nation, mandate the denial
of any and all permits under the Corps’ jurisdiction,”
Ballew wrote.
The tribe based their challenge on a precedentsetting court decision from 1996 in which a federal
judge ruled that a proposed salmon farming operation
would harm the tribe’s access to treaty fishing areas
surrounding Lummi Island. The project was not allowed
to proceed.
Importantly, the tribe’s request was directed not at
the more limited EIS scoping and permitting process,
but outside that process at the Corps’ higher duty to
perform under the treaty clause of United States Constitution. The Corps, which controls the marine portion of the permit, had withdrawn from joint permitting in 2013 after it became evident the state and
OPI N IONS
T H E G R IST L E
BY AMY GOODMAN
Net Neutrality
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
n January 2011, thousands
gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir
Square, threatening for the first
time the 30-year dictatorship of
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Decades of suppressed dissent was
finding an outlet in the streets and
online as well. Six months earlier,
in Alexandria, 28-year-old Khaled
Saeed was dragged out of a cybercafe and beaten to death by police.
Photos of his corpse, released by
his family, went viral on the Internet, fomenting discontent. Wael
Ghonim, an Internet engineer and
activist, created a Facebook page,
“We Are All Khaled Saeed,” serving
as a platform for hundreds of thousands to organize.
As the crowds swelled in Tahrir,
the power of the Internet as a force
for social change was being demonstrated hour by hour. In response,
Mubarak shut down the Internet,
as well as most cellphone service.
Universal outcry forced him to turn
it back on.
Which brings us to net neutrality:
the fundamental notion that anyone on the Web can reach anyone
else, that users can just as easily
access a small website launched in
a garage as they can access major
Internet portals like Google or Yahoo. Net neutrality is the Internet’s
protection against discrimination.
During the past two decades,
as the Internet flourished and
transformed our society, several
major corporations have assumed
dominant “gatekeeper” positions,
threatening net neutrality. Among
them, the large Internet service
providers, or ISPs: AT&T, Verizon,
Time Warner, and Comcast. These
four phone and cable companies
I
make massive, multi-billion-dollar
profits while charging enormous
fees and providing, at best, lackluster service.
In 2004, the Federal Communications Commission, under its
then-chairman, Michael Powell, the
son of Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, set forth principles for
an “open Internet.” In practice,
these favored those very corporations that profit from a regulatory
“light touch.” Powell left office
and became the head of the cable
industry’s lobbying organization,
the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA),
demonstrating clearly the corrupt
revolving door between federal regulators and the industries they are
supposed to oversee.
Nearly 10 years later, President
Barack Obama named Tom Wheeler,
the former head of the NCTA, to lead
the FCC. Wheeler was a major donor
to Obama’s presidential campaigns.
After a federal court struck down
the “open Internet” rules, Wheeler
announced that the FCC would be
making new ones. Advocates for a
free and open Internet were worried
that this former lobbyist would end
the Internet as we know it, handing
the keys over to the major telecom
and cable corporations.
This announcement sparked a
massive protest movement. Led by
organizations like Free Press and
VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF CASCADIA WEEKLY
Public Knowledge, people camped
out in front of the FCC for days. More
than 4 million people commented on
the rules, making this the largest
response to any federal request for
public comment in history.
“Originally, I believed that the
FCC could assure Internet openness
through a determination of ‘commercial reasonableness,’” Wheeler
said. “I am proposing that the FCC
use its Title II authority to implement and enforce open Internet
protections.”
What Wheeler means by “Title II
authority” is that he has made an
about-face and will propose rules
that the Internet be regulated like
a public utility, as are other central pillars of our society like power
utilities, water systems and the
telephone system. Imagine if the
water coming out of your tap was
less clean than water at a neighbor’s
house, because the neighbor pays
for premium water. Public utilities
are regulated. People get the same
service, without discrimination.
The large Internet providers will
be prevented from discriminating
against people who publish on the
Internet, or against those who seek
out information on the Internet. All
must be treated equally, regardless
of race, color, beliefs and, perhaps
most importantly, how rich they
are. The major corporate ISPs have
lobbied hard to create a multitiered
Internet to squeeze more profit out
of this public treasure. Tom Wheeler
and the other commissioners have
listened, not only to President
Obama, but to the public, millions
of people who have demanded the
fundamental right to communicate
without discrimination.
B-BOARD 28
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
ART 18
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CURRENTS 8
VIEWS
VIEWS 66
Me and My
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CASCADIA WEEKLY
county would seek to explore a wider
suite of global impacts related to coal
export than the federal agency had traditionally considered. Lummi’s request
is therefore entirely within the purview
of the Corps to determine.
The Corps in response suggested the
tribe instead try to work with PIT to
resolve outstanding concerns, a non sequitur that was not responsive to tribal
submittals of case law. Play nice!
PIT, for their part, engaged in a bit
of hubris, offering new updates to the
terminal’s design that could reduce
wetland impacts—a public relations
appeal similarly nonresponsive to tribal
fishing concerns. Maybe the Indians
might negotiate in private differently
than they do in public!
The hubris inflamed the tribe. Chairman Ballew last week announced the
tribe would no longer consult with Pacific International Terminals.
“After three years of reviewing the
project, communicating and meeting
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and Pacific International Terminals,
we have concluded that the end result
is always a negative impact on our
treaty fishing rights,” Ballew noted.
“We have done our analysis and the
adverse impacts to this important
site cannot be mitigated. ...we remain
steadfastly opposed to this project
and do not see the utility in pursuing
any further discussion.”
The tribe’s letter triggered another
round of non sequitur nonresponsiveness from USACE, with the Corps inanely
seeking specific details on tribal fishing
practices, including locations of nets
and lengths of crab lines and set times
(they do, like the tides, vary) and the
harvest of sea cucumbers “to make a
determination of whether the impact on
U&A fishing is more than de minimus.”
As the tribe had already referenced
much of this in its original filing, the
Corps request is tantamount to a stall.
PIT issued another round of hubris,
crowing that the “Corps declined the
Lummi Nation’s request to deny the project a permit without completing the EIS
process now underway,” when of course
they’d done no such thing. Lummi’s request falls outside the framework of
EIS. The Corps acknowledged the priority distinction in their letter.
Lummis tore loose an additional response, this one from Bellingham City
Council in a letter to heavy-hitters U.S.
Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell,
supporting the Lummi request to deny
the permit based on the 1996 case law,
taken in tandem with other correspondence the city’s strongest statement to
date against the coal pier.
FOOD 34
THE GRISTLE
7
FOOD 34
currents
P OL I T ICS
F U ZZ BU ZZ
I N DE X
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.09
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
B-BOARD 28
N E WS
8
BY TIM JOHNSON
CITY CRAFTS MULTI-DEPARTMENT RESPONSE
TO HOMELESSNESS
ot every piece of a shattered economy recovers at once, or at all.
When the tides pulled back on the Bellingham housing market in
the recession of 2007, many of those shattered pieces lay exposed
on the shingle.
“If you look at big swings in the business cycle, whenever there’s been
a deep recession or depression, we’ve had long periods of homelessness
that can last years beyond that event,” Greg Winter said. “They’re typically
followed by periods of far less homelessness. And I think that’s what we’re
seeing. The lowest-income people, including people with no income at all
or disabling disadvantages, are the last to recover from a recession.”
Winter directs the Whatcom Homeless Service Center, a resource that
attempts to keep people in their homes or find homes for those displaced
and homeless. The project is headquartered at the Opportunity Council
and supported with funds made available from federal, state and local
governments as well as private funding sources. His program, and other
N
countywide efforts that interlock with it, have
proven successful—to a degree—and that success has exposed other new challenges. For
starters, the efforts have revealed two distinct
classes of the homeless—those with dependable, predictable shelter and those without,
the chronically unsheltered homeless.
“I’m convinced that the best solution to
homelessness is homes,” Winter said. “But
without homes, we can offer services.”
But even those services have limits.
“We operate our social services in a situation
of scarcity, rather than one of need—and that’s
very common across many social services,” he
noted. “What we try to do, then, is triage. We
try to serve people who are the most vulnerable by being homeless, meaning if they’re left
homeless in their current state they will experience deteriorating physical conditions, mental
health conditions, and others. The more you can
garner resources to the level of need, the less
triage you must do.
“About two-thirds of the counties in Washing-
ton state saw an increase in unsheltered
homelessness, year-over-year, in their
homeless census between 2013 and 2014,”
Winter explained. “A little less than a third
of the counties saw a decrease. Whatcom
County is right in the middle. In our homeless census we saw neither an increase or
a decrease, it was about the same. I think
the fact that we’ve been able to keep that
population from increasing, as it has in
King County and others around the state,
is a positive sign.”
Using resources coordinated through
the county, the City of Bellingham has
doubled the number of assistance rental
vouchers for homeless families. The city
is creating nearly 100 new housing units
for veterans and low-income housing,
including Frances Place, a new 42-unit
project on Cornwall Avenue managed by
Catholic Community Services, due to open
later this year. Using federal community
development block grants, the city has
created 17 different activities to address
different issues faced by families displaced by homelessness or domestic violence, according to David Stalheim, who
manages the block grant program for the
City of Bellingham.
“Our homeless housing system uses private rental market primarily as the engine
to try to reduce homelessness,” Winter
explained, “but our local housing market
is adverse to what we’re doing. According
to the Washington State Dept. of Commerce, Whatcom County is the most unaffordable rental market in the state. When
you compare incomes to apartment prices, there’s a huge mismatch. It’s a seller’s
market, and that creates challenges for
homelessness.”
“We have landlords, property management companies that we’ve worked with
for a long time, that continue to work
with us. But the competition among applicants becomes harder and harder, and
pricing is a challenge.
“We have almost no affordable
multi-family rental housing being built,”
he said. “We’ve had severe reductions in
social and health services for this population suffering from mental health and
substance abuse issues. Most of these
forces have been headwinds,” Winter said.
“I’m not optimistic in the short term that
we’re going to see a reduction in the unsheltered homeless population, but I’ve
seen the city—the mayor, the council—
increasingly interested in compassionately addressing the issue of homelessness,”
Winter said. “Voters, too, through the
housing levy.”
Passed by Bellingham voters in 2013 by
a 55 percent margin, the levy will produce about $3 million per year for seven
years to help low-income people get into
affordable housing.
“The housing levy is a great step forward,” Winter said. “We’re already seeing new housing units being put on the
COMMUNITY PARAMEDIC PROGRAM
Homelessness, chronic behavioral health conditions, failing mobility and other social welfare
crises challenge the scope and capacity of the
emergency medical system. People in distressed
living environments frequently call for emergency dispatch, at times in situations that are not
emergencies. Similar to the police response, the
community paramedic program can provide a
trusted, responsive resource. One paramedic is
currently assigned to handle these calls.
MENTAL HEALTH COURT
Bellingham Municipal Court and Whatcom County District Court will operate problem-solving
therapeutic courts that attempt to interrupt a
cycle of criminal behavior by treating the whole
person, providing improved access to treatment
and ensuring accountability with judicial oversight and specially trained probation officers. All
of the offenders in these courts are charged with
misdemeanors.
WHATCOM ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH
ADVANCEMENT
WAHA is dedicated to promoting access to
health care services for all members of our
community by providing resources to those who
need assistance getting health care or obtaining
health insurance, providing information to elected officials and decisionmakers about health care
policies, convening community stakeholders, and
by facilitating the transformation of the health
care system into one that honors and serves our
entire community.
‹††‡”‡ƒ•—”‡•
360-592-2297
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WORDS 12
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STAGE 16
www.everybodys.com
Hiway 9 – Van Zandt
B-BOARD 28
FOOD 34
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MUSIC 20
‹…‹Ž‹ƒ›”ƒŠ‘•ƒ–‘
ART 18
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CURRENTS 8
Launched by the Bellingham Police Dept. in January, NPOs work closely with neighbors, neighborhood associations, businesses and other community stakeholders to build collaborative, proactive
community problem-solving efforts and integrate
police response with other community outreach
efforts. Two officers are assigned to this duty.
Dz‘”ƒ‰‹‰dz‘”‹
VIEWS 6
NEIGHBORHOOD POLICE OFFICER
‹‰•ƬŠ‹‰•‘”‡”
MAIL 4
Created by Bellingham City Council in November
and launched at the beginning of this year, the
street outreach team is financed by $250,000
a year over the next five years to provide new
services for people in displaced or distressed
housing. Although it is only partially staffed,
with full staffing arriving later this year, the
team is already making good progress, with
face-to-face engagements with more than 150
people—most of whom are unsheltered in the
City of Bellingham.
”‹”ƒ…Šƒƒ‰‘’‹…‡—„
CHUCKANUT BREWERY
& KITCHEN
DO IT 2
HOMELESS OUTREACH TEAM
‘…ƒŽ‹Ž†ϔŽ‘™‡”‘‡›
02.11.15
FIVE NEW INITIATIVES
TO RESPOND TO
HOMELESSNESS
trained and the support necessary to do
this work humanely on a regular basis,”
LaCroix said. LaCroix was assigned to coordinate the effort.
“We are seeing stepped up activity in
the last year, trying to address the problem of people camped in areas where they
are causing damage,” Winter agreed. “We
don’t want to see people destroying environmentally sensitive areas any more than
the Parks department does, or the conservation corps or salmon recovery efforts.
“That’s one of those sticky problems.
What do you do when you have no good
alternative to tell somebody who can’t go
to the Mission because it is already full,
or because they’ve been banned from it
because of their behavior? The wait list
for housing is very long, and we triage
for the most vulnerable cases. So if you
fall somewhere in the middle or below
that level of need, it is going to be an
even longer wait.
“As a community, we find certain behaviors by people who are unsheltered
objectionable, and they need to be dealt
with appropriately,” he said. “Of course,
I’d prefer that housing would be the way
we deal with homelessness.”
In the near term, Winter notes, the
problem is “a dearth of shelter options”
to handle a persistent population of the
unsheltered homeless, a number the census indicates hovers around 200 individuals per year.
“These are transients in the most literal sense,” Winter explained. “The people
that we see in our current census that
are unsheltered are not the same people that we saw the year before. Some
of them are, many are not. That’s partly because we’re helping some of them
get into housing, partly because some of
them move away. It’s a complex picture.
“We’re going to be rolling up our sleeves,
the members of the homeless coalition
with city staff and the mayor, and discussing strategically what we must do for
an interim housing solution for this population. Do we want to talk about having a
safe place to camp or park their car in the
interim, and provide support services to
help them exit that situation as soon as
possible? Tent cities, is that something we
want to think about here? Should we have
a low-barrier shelter, meaning a shelter
where anyone can go regardless of their
condition? They’re challenging to site and
operate, as you can imagine.
While he’s not optimistic about solutions
for homelessness in the near term, Winter
praised the city’s multi-agency, multi-department approach to the problem.
“As far as City of Bellingham resources
being invested wisely and in consultation
with the service providers and consultants engaged with issues of affordable
housing and homelessness, it is occurring at an unprecedented level,” Winter
said. “I’m grateful for it.”
#06.09
Now we do them almost weekly. We’re
seeing a huge negative impact to those
areas due to that population and the behaviors associated with it.”
Mayor Kelli Linville acknowledged the
hard work, “a thankless task” of cleaning needles, trash and human waste performed by parks professionals trained as
arborists and groundskeepers, now being
cross-trained to provide social services.
The mayor also called for a multi-department ad hoc group, unofficially
called the Homeless Camp Coordination
Group, to develop a list of recommendations that can assist with problems associated with migrant or dislocated camps.
“One thing on that list we believed
was very important was getting the staff
heart
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CASCADIA WEEKLY
ground, existing housing units in poor
shape being repaired. My hope would be
that in the future we may be able to carve
out more services to assist with housing,
that’s really the chokepoint we’re at right
now. There’s an imbalance between the
housing resources and the support services that goes with housing—what we
call housing case management.”
The sluggish awakening of housing
construction has revealed another problem, however, as land-clearing has displaced large homeless camps, driving
those populations into new areas of the
city, frequently on public lands.
“Development in the Lincoln Street
corridor, for example, moved a lot of
people out of that area, which had been
a very large camp,” Stalheim explained.
That dislocation helped spur the creation
of the Homeless Outreach Team, to gather more information on the street about
people stuck living in the streets.
Stalheim notes that while money and resources are available to families who qualify for a variety of programs, a community
remains that proves stubbornly difficult to
house. It’s not a large community—only
about 200 people, mostly men—but it’s a
number that refuses to go down.
“Private landlords won’t take people who are sex offenders, they won’t
take people with criminal histories or
bad histories with other landlords,” he
said. “Even those in the affordable housing realm will not accept some of these
cases. And this leads to a related issue,
which is that certain issues that are difficult to house can also create public
safety concerns.”
“People are being asked to move on,
more and more,” Winter agreed. “We’re
not talking about Greyhound Therapy.
This is not ‘ship ’em somewhere else,’
but it seems on one hand unfair, when
you don’t have anything to offer them in
their immediate crisis. But on the other
hand, some of the behavior we’re seeing
in encampments is something that as a
community we shouldn’t tolerate. It’s not
a simple situation.”
When asked to move on, where these
individuals move is often not ideal.
“We have about 77 acres along the
city’s creek corridors that are established
riparian restoration sites,” noted Renee
LaCroix, ecology and restoration manager for the city’s Public Works department.
“We’ve been working on restoring those
and improving stream habitat for about
10 years. We’ve planted, really, millions of trees over that period and we’re
watching them grow up, and they’re just
getting to the point where they’re providing shade and filtration.
“Over the 10 years we’ve seen the number of homeless people living in those
areas spike,” she said. “We used to do
general trash cleanups, homeless camp
cleanups, perhaps once or twice a year.
9
The W
FILM 24
LAST WEEK’S
NEWS
JFEB04-09
BY TIM JOHNSON
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.09
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
10
02.04.15
WEDNESDAY
State Sen. Doug Ericksen produces an energy plan designed to
undercut the climate initiatives of Gov. Jay Inslee. The set of bills
provide incentives for utilities to invest to reduce carbon emissions,
as opposed to a structured cap-and-trade plan. Other bills would
give tax breaks for companies buying alternative-fuel vehicles. Another would seek to convert state ferries from diesel fuel to liquid
natural gas. Ericksen says his measures can help the environment
while creating and preserving manufacturing jobs, but likely both
his plan and the governor’s will each founder for lack of support.
Sen. Ericksen receives some mild ribbing from Democrats for his
support of a bill that extends the benefits of a $0.01per gallon
fuel tax to 10 miles south of the international border. Sen. Kevin
Ranker jointly supported the bill with the Republican tax hardliner,
in recognition that Bellingham receives a great deal of the impacts
of cross-border gasoline purchases at places like Costco without
gaining the revenue benefit. The tax would help with transportation improvements, including high-capacity transportation, public
transportation, and the operation of facilities or programs.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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k
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e
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currents ›› last week’s news
They showed up armed at the opening of the Legislature, causing sufficient unease that the lower House adopted rules similar to those in the
Senate limiting the open display of weapons in the public galleries. Open-carry advocates returned this weekend in numbers to express their anger
but found the House gallery locked. They later walked to the Governor’s mansion, where they prayed.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail company says
it will spend $189 million on tracks in Washington,
although they’re not specific about where those improvements will be made. The Tri-City Herald reports
the money will pay for surfacing on 1,000 miles of
tracks and replacement of almost 50 miles of rail.
The Washington upgrades are part of a $6 billion
upgrade across the entire BNSF Western system.
02.06.15
FRIDAY
Heavy rains trigger two more mudlsides on the BNSF railroad
tracks just south of Everett, cutting passenger rail service. Debris
is cleared, but Amtrak and Southline service is interrupted through
the weekend.
02.09.15
MONDAY
The mother of three children at the center of
a child welfare case in Bellingham is released
from police custody in California. The woman
fled there with her common-law husband in violation of a child protective order issued by Whatcom County Superior Court. The couple and their
children fled and were discovered at a gas station
south of San Francisco. The mother kicked and
head-butted officers when they attempted to take
her into custody.
Bellingham City Council continues to refine the
city’s new rental licensing program, favoring a
hybrid funding model that would collect registration fees based on the number of housing units.
The revised fee schedule would create greater equity between single-unit ADUs and larger apartment complexes, they agreed.
BOOK WORM
On Feb. 5, University Police responded to
the report of a 25-year-old Bellingham man
who had been seen exposing himself on the
sixth floor of Wilson Library in the early
morning hours. The man was still hard at
work when officers arrived to drag him off
without incident. Police do not believe he is
the same person reported several weeks ago
to be exposing himself while driving a red
Honda sedan near Western’s campus.
RUDE REVENUERS
On Jan. 28, a Blaine resident called police
to report that she had received a telephone
call at home from a man who claimed to
work for the Internal Revenue Service. “The
caller told the citizen she would be arrested if she did not pay money immediately,”
police explained. “When the resident questioned the caller, he began cursing at her,
made threats and then disconnected the
call. The victim will immediately hang up
on future calls of a similar ilk.”
SOUTHERN PACIFIC
On Jan. 29, a Blaine patrol officer “spotted and contacted two people cavorting on
the train tracks near the old depot on Marine Drive,” police reported. He advised the
duo that they were trespassing on railroad
property and explained the hazards of playing around the stopped rail cars. The gentlemen were visiting the mainland from Hawaii
and explained they were enthralled because
they’d never before had a chance to ‘walk the
rails’ or get close to a real train,” police continued. “They accepted the polite admonishment from a real police officer.”
HAMMERING AND YAMMERING
On Feb. 7, a homeowner reported a neighbor hammering around 8:30am. Bellingham
Police told the homeowner that his neighbor
could be working on his home, and as it was
after 7am the neighbor was not in violation
of any municipal codes. The citizen was upset with police and said, “Thanks for doing
nothing.”
On Feb. 4, Bellingham Police checked on a
man who had been screaming at and then
punched a telephone pole. The pole did not
suffer from the assault.
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2008, a county-wide census of homeless individuals has been taken.
851
553
NUMBER of homeless individuals
NUMBER of homeless individuals
counted by census in 2008.
counted by census in 2014.
72
CHANCE in 100 a person without permanent housing in Whatcom County is alone,
without family. Approximately 19 percent are single parents with at least one child
under the age of 18. About 6 percent are couples without children.
37
33
PERCENT of homeless people who are
PERCENT of Whatcom County’s
homeless population that suffers from
mental illness. About 22 percent suffer
from a physical disability.
35 to 54 years old, the largest age
cohort counted. Approximately 14
percent are 25 to 34, the next largest
age cohort. The median age is 46.
MUSIC 20
STAGE 16
PERCENT decline in homelessness in Whatcom County since 2008. Every year since
GET OUT 14
On Jan. 28, a passerby came to the Blaine
Police Dept. “with a frightened long-haired
white Chihuahua she had found roaming,” police reported. “The tiny canine did not have
a license, collar or identifying micro-chip. It
was given lodging at the police station overnight and turned over to Animal Control officers the following morning when no one
called looking for it.”
35
CURRENTS 8
¡PERRITO PERDIDO!
In 2014, more than half (58%) of all homeless households were sheltered; 30% stayed in emergency shelter, which might have been a motel if they were receiving a “voucher” or financial
assistance to stay there, and 28% were living in transitional housing. Less than half (42%) of
homeless households were unsheltered. They stayed the night before the Homeless Count out of
doors (32%), in a vehicle (9%) or in an abandoned building (1%).
18
50
PERCENT of Whatcom’s homeless
population who are 10 years old or
younger.
PERCENT of Whatcom’s homeless
VIEWS 6
On Jan. 29, U.S. Customs officers at the
Peace Arch Port of Entry encountered a
motorist entering the United States whose
privilege to drive was suspended. They
called Blaine Police, who discovered that
the same motorist also had two outstanding
arrest warrants relating to previous driving
while suspended violations in Blaine. “The
47-year-old Washington state resident was
arrested and booked into jail to ensure he
resolved his warrants and received a criminal citation for the new violation,” police
reported. “His car was impounded as there
was no licensed driver available.”
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UNCLEAR ON THE INSTRUCTION
ART 18
Transitional
Housing
28%
MAIL 4
On Feb. 4, a 47-year-old soccer coach from
Surrey, British Columbia was arrested at a
park in Burlington, where he was expecting to meet a 12-year-old girl with whom
he had tried to entice into having sex with
him, according to federal prosecutors. Documents filed in the case indicated the man
responded to a listing on the Vancouver,
B.C., Craigslist by providing pictures of
his arms and upper body. He expressed an
interest in meeting the Craigslist poster,
even after he learned the poster was just
12 years old. He repeatedly requested the
“girl” send sexually explicit photos of herself back to him, and engaged in lengthy
sexualized chats with the “girl” while setting up a liaison—with someone who was,
in fact, a federal agent.
Emergency
Shelter
30%
Abandoned
Building
1%
DO IT 2
UNFORCED KICK
AT HIS OWN GOAL
Vehicle
9%
02.11.15
On Jan. 31, a U.S. citizen traveling to British Columbia was interviewed by Canadian
Customs, and told to return to the United
States, “in part because he had not told
them about either the marijuana he was carrying or the .45-caliber handgun in his automobile,” police reported. “When he arrived
back at the Peace Arch Port of Entry, U.S.
Customs called police to the scene. A Blaine
officer determined that the weapon toting
toker had not violated any Washington state
laws, as the revolver was properly and safely stored in his vehicle’s trunk, and he had
a legal personal use quantity of marijuana.
The gentleman was left to complete his interview with the U.S. federal authorities.”
Out of Doors
(street, tent, etc)
32%
#06.09
PARADIGMS IN COLLISION
index
population who are women.
43
CASCADIA WEEKLY
FUZZ
BUZZ
On Jan. 30, a Blaine resident contacted police after she learned that her identity had
been stolen. “Apparently a suspect in another state has been using her Social Security number for the past three years,” police
commented. “Among the problems this has
caused is a lien against the victim because
the identity thief is not paying taxes on the
income being falsely reported to the victim’s
account. The victim is working with the IRS,”
police noted, “and credit agencies to repair
her credit rating and IRS information.”
PERCENT of Whatcom County’s homeless population who cite a poor economy as
their primary reason for being without a home. About 29 percent cite domestic
violence as the reason they’re homeless; another 28 percent cite family crisis as the
reason they’re without a home.
SOURCES: 2014 Whatcom County Annual Report on Homelessness; Point-in-Time
Homeless Count
11
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COM M U N I T Y
L E CT U R E S
WED., FEB. 11
CSW T OPEN MIC: Readers of poetry and
prose are welcome when the Chuckanut
Sandstone Writers Theater hosts its monthly
Open Mic at 6:30pm at the Colophon Cafe,
1208 11th St. Entry is free and open to all.
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
671-9961
WORDS
WORDS 12
12
CURRENTS 8
VIEWS 6
MAIL 4
DO IT 2
02.11.15
#06.10
CASCADIA WEEKLY
12
BOOK S
WOR DS
BY AMY KEPFERLE
Tax Time
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
ore than three hours had passed since I had first showed up on the
lower level of the Bellingham Public Library to get my 2014 taxes
done by the AARP Foundation’s Tax-Aide program. By all accounts, I
should’ve been in a sour mood.
Instead, as the clock ticked and my name still wasn’t called, I grew progressively more fascinated by what was happening around me. The five IRS-certified
volunteers on hand were solving myriad tax issues, consulting with one another
once they’d finished each return, and showing a level of patience that was
commendable, especially considering the volume of discourse filling the room.
This was my third experience using the AARP’s free tax service, but the other
two times I was in and out within an hour, and didn’t get a chance to take in the
entire process. This time, I observed families with two or more children chatting and patiently waiting their turn (many of them for as long or longer than
me), elderly clients who were delighted to discover they’d be getting money
back from the IRS, a college student or two who hadn’t realized the extent to
which they could deduct their schooling fees, and many more (mostly) satisfied
customers.
Over the course of the afternoon, I also watched AARP district coordinator
Carlton Nathon put out a number of fires. He kept walkways and stairwells
cleared, reminded those who were waiting that if it was their first time using
the service, they needed to have a Social Security card on hand to proceed,
answered the questions of volunteers and clients alike, double-checked numerous tax returns, and made the call when it was clear that not everybody whose
M
name was on the roster would be able to be
seen that day.
Luckily, I made the cut and was finally
shown to the desk of Steve S., a five-year
veteran of the program who smiled jovially as
he noted he was a “glutton for punishment.”
Although it had been a long day, Steve
didn’t show obvious signs of wear and tear.
He took his time with my return, found a
few deductions I wasn’t even aware I was
eligible for, and explained what he was doing every step of the way. I didn’t even have
to spring for a stamp, as the returns are
filed electronically. And
when my bigger-than-Ithought refund comes,
it’ll be routed directly
into my bank account.
In a survey affixed to
a copy of each return,
one of the questions
ATTEND asked is how likely those
WHAT: Free Tax
using the service would
Preparation
be to recommend it to a
WHEN & WHERE:
colleague, friend or fam1-4:30pm
Saturdays and
ily member. On a scale
4-7pm Mondays
of 1 to 10, I’d most defithrough Thursdays
nitely give it a 10.
through April 15
I do have a few pointat the Bellingham
ers,
however.
Public Library,
210 Central Ave.
First, before you make
The service is
your way to the library,
also offered by
read up on the guideappointment only
lines on the Bellingham
at the Ferndale
Public Library website.
and Blaine senior
centers and the
If you wait three hours,
Lynden and Fernyou don’t want to have it
dale libraries
be for naught if you find
INFO: www.
out you didn’t bring your
bellingham
1095-A form (which is
publiclibrary.org
now necessary for those
who have purchased health insurance for
the WA Health Plan Finder).
Second, if you don’t have time to wait at
the first-come, first-served sessions happening at the library throughout the week, consider signing up for an appointment-only session at the Ferndale and Blaine senior centers
and the Lynden and Ferndale libraries.
Third on the list is to be patient. Last
year, more than 2,000 families in Whatcom
County were served by the program, and
those involved want to make sure they get
every tax return right. If you think you’re
going to be there for a while, grab a book
and settle in for the long haul.
TOMATO TALK: Epic Tomatoes author Craig
LeHoullier shares tips for growing more than
200 varieties of tomatoes at a 7pm talk at
Village Books, 1200 11th St. LeHoullier
is also the tomato adviser for Seed Savers
Exchange.
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
THURS., FEB. 12
WRITERS LEAGUE MEE T ING: “Why & How
Authors Use Google+” will be the focus of
a presentation by Kiffer Brown at today’s
Skagit Valley Writers League meeting from
1-3pm at the Burlington Library, 820 E.
Washington Ave. Entry is free; registration
is required.
WWW.SKAGITWRITERS.ORG
FEB. 12-13
BOAT BACK STORY: Judy Rantz William,
daughter of Olympian Joe Rants, speaks
about the genesis of The Boys in the Boat
at 6pm at the Fairhaven Library, 1117
12th St. She’ll also tell stories about her
dad and family and reflect on why the
bestselling book is having such an intense
effect on readers all over the nation.
Entry is free. The event happens again
Friday at 6:30pm at the Everson Library,
104 Kirsch Dr.
WWW.WHATCOMREADS.ORG
FRI., FEB. 13
I’LL FLY AWAY: Award-winning poet,
performer and distinguished scholar Gloria
Burgess leads “I’ll Fly Away: A Sojourn
through Poetry and Spirituals” at 7pm at the
Deming Library, 5044 Mt. Baker Hwy. The
free event will explore the rich, beautiful
heritage of spirituals and poetry from the
African-American tradition.
305-3600 OR WWW.WCLS.ORG
WIDOW WALK: Learn more about real
events surrounding the revenge murder
of Isaac Ebey, a prominent citizen who
lived on Whidbey Island in the mid-1800s,
when award-winning author and critically
acclaimed teacher and storyteller Gerard
La Salle reads from his new book of fiction,
Widow Walk, at 7pm at Village Books, 1200
11th St.
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
SUN., FEB. 15
ME AND DADDY: Ann Pancake reads from
her latest book of fiction, Me and My
Daddy Listen to Bob Marley, at 4pm at Village Books, 1200 11th. The book features
11 novellas and short stories “featuring
characters who are intensely connected
to their land—sometimes through love,
sometimes through hate.” The event will
also feature live music from the Scarlet
Locomotive.
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
MON., FEB. 16
POE TRYNIGHT: Those looking to share their
verse as part of Poetrynight can sign up at
doit
THE MINDFUL WRITER: Susan Colleen Browne
helms “The Mindful Writer: Bringing Focus &
Energy to Your Writing Life” at a Chuckanut
Writers workshop from 6-9pm at the conference
room at the Fairhaven Village Inn. Entry is $45.
WWW.WHATCOMCOMMUNIT YED.COM
COMMUNIT Y BROWN BAG: The Bellingham
Food Bank will share their story at a Community
Connections Brown Bag Presentation at 12pm
at Village Books, 1200 11th St. The free events
feature a different community organization
every month.
ROBBERY RE-DO: Rustan Robertson focuses
on the “Great Sedro-Woolley Bank Robbery of
1914” at a Whatcom County Historical Society
presentation at 7:30pm at Whatcom Museum’s
Old City Hall, 121 Prospect St. Entry is free.
WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG
FRI., FEB. 13
GALENT INE’S DAY MARKE T: Hammerhead Coffee Roasters will host its inaugural
“Galentine’s Day” Pop-Up Market from 3-7pm at
its space at 2000 Franklin St. #101 (behind Bellingham High School’s portables). Craft, jewelry
and clothing vendors, drip coffee samples, sales
of coffee beans and chocolate coffee bark and
more will be part of the event. Admission is free.
WWW.HAMMERHEADCOFFEE.COM
SAT., FEB. 14
AAUW MEET ING: Linda Goodrich, retired chair
of women’s athletics at Western Washington
University, will be one of the panelists taking
part in discussion on the history and current
status of Title IX at an American Association of
University Women meeting from 10am-12pm at
the YWCA, 1026 N. Forest St. Entry is free.
(360) 392-8856
FAMILY VALENT INE PART Y: Games, craft and
card-making, face painting, treats and much
more will be part of “Cupid’s Folly: A Family
Valentine Party!” from 2-4pm at the Bloedel
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
WWW.WCCOA.ORG
THURS., FEB. 19
THURS., FEB. 12
FILM 24
HEART TALK: As part of American Heart
Month, all are welcome at a “Live Wholeheartedly!” presentation at 1pm at the Bellingham
Senior Activity Center, 315 Halleck St. The talk
about maintaining cardiovascular health will be
led by St. Joseph Medical Center’s Linda Banks,
who runs the Lipid and Nutrition clinic at the
hospital’s outpatient cardiovascular clinic.
Entry is free.
POE TRY WRIT ING GROUP:Attend a bimonthly
Poetry Writing Group meeting from 5:30-7pm at
Village Books, 1200 11th St.
COM M U N I T Y
MUSIC 20
WED., FEB. 18
THURS., FEB. 19
671-2626
ART 18
WWW.MTBAKERROCKCLUB.ORG
STAGE 16
305-3600 OR WWW.WCLS.ORG
ROCK & GEM CLUB: Mineral crystals will be
the “show and tell” subject of the Mt. Baker
Rock & Gem Club’s monthly meeting at 7pm
at the Bloedel Donovan Community Center
Building, 2214 Electric Ave. There will also be
door prizes, refreshments, a silent auction,
and a short business meeting. Visitors are also
welcome with or without rocks. Entry is free.
GET OUT 14
OPEN MIC: “Poetry, Prose & Music” will be
the focus of an Open Mic from 6-8:30pm at the
Creekside Cafe at the Sudden Valley YMCA, 8
Barn View Court. All adults are welcome to share
their spoken word and music. Entry is free.
MON., FEB. 16
WORDS 12
WWW.WHATCOMCOMMUNIT YED.COM
WWW.SKAGITVALLEYGENEALOGY.ORG
6th Annual Stanwood / Camano Island
GREAT NORTHWEST
GLASS QUEST
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
FEBRUARY 13-22, 2015
HEAL WITHOUT CURE: The Palliative Care
Institute hosts a “Heal Without Cure: Enacting the Vision” gathering from 5-8:30pm at
Bellingham Technical College’s Settlemeyer
Hall. The institute’s mission is to transform
palliative care in Whatcom County and support
the human responses to living and dying. Entry
is $5 and includes dinner.
650-3717 OR WWW.WCE.WWU.EDU
DEMOCRAC Y TALK: “Creating Democracy and
Challenging Corporate Rule” will be the focus
of a Move to Amend talk with David Cobb at
7pm at Bellingham’s Elks Lodge, 710 Samish
Way. Entry is free.
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MTAWHATCOM
FEB. 19-28
HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FEST: The 15th annual Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival
takes place from Feb. 19-28 at a variety of
Whatcom County venues, including Bellingham High School, Bellingham Technical
College, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, the
Deming Library, Fairhaven College, Ferndale
Public Library, Northwest Indian College, the
Pickford Film Center, Sehome High School, and
Whatcom Community College. All events free,
and many films will be followed by facilitated
discussions—some led by the filmmakers
themselves. Find the roster of events on the
website listed here.
WWW.BHRFF.WEBS.COM
CURRENTS 8
WRIT ING WORK SHOPS: Attend a Chuckanut
Writers workshop focused on “The Writer’s
Toolbox: Working with Story and Plot I” from
9:30am-4:30pm at Whatcom Community College’s Foundation Building, Room #201B. Entry
is $79. The second workshop, “Working With
Story and Plot II,” takes place from 9:30am4:30pm Wed., Feb. 25. Cost is $79.
VIEWS 6
WED., FEB. 18
MAIL 4
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
GENEALOGY MEE T ING: “Tugboats, Log Boats
and River Rafts on the Skagit River” will be the
focus of a Skagit Valley Genealogical Society
meeting from 1-3pm at the Burlington Senior
Center, 1101 Greenleaf Rd. Former tugboat
captain Danny Vanderburg will discuss his
experiences navigating the Skagit River in the
1950s. Entry is free and open to the public.
DO IT 2
WILL STARLING: Ian Weir reads from his new
book of fiction, Will Starling, at 7pm at Village
Books, 1200 11th St. Steeped in scientific lore,
the book is a “tale of love and redemption,
death and resurrection.”
02.11.15
TUES., FEB. 17
778-7000 OR WWW.COB.ORG
#06.10
WWW.POETRYNIGHT.ORG
Donovan Community Building, 2214 Electric
Ave. Entry is $2 at the door; kids 3 and under
can get in for free.
The fun is
in the QUEST!
The treasure
is in the
experience!
Paid for in part with Island County 2% Hotel-Motel Excise Tax money.
Funded in part by Snohomish Co. Tourism Assistance Program.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
7:30pm at the Bellingham Alternative Library,
1417 Railroad Ave. Readings start at 8pm. Entry
is by donation.
A Treasure Hunt for the Whole Family! thegreatnwglassquest.com
The greatest treasure hunt in the Pacific Northwest! This is your opportunity to
search for limited edition “Glass Treasures” hand-blown by Mark Ellinger, worldrenowned glass artist from Stanwood.
Explore our Natural Side at the 10th Annual Port Susan Snow Goose & Birding Festival,
February 28 - March 1, 2015. Visit www.snowgoosefest.org for tours and activities.
13
doit
FOOD 34
outside
RU N N I NG
C YCL I NG
B-BOARD 28
H I K I NG
WED., FEB. 11
GHOST BEARS: Register in advance for a
free “Ghost Bears: Studying Grizzly Bears in
Washington’s North Cascades Ecosystem” presentation by Conservation Northwest at 6pm
at REI, 400 36th St. Wildlife ecologist Bill
Gaines will discuss his three-year search for
elusive grizzly bears in the North Cascades.
Along the way, you’ll hear about the history
of grizzlies in the Pacific Northwest and the
potential for grizzly bear recovery.
647-8955 OR WWW.REI.COM
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
GROUP RUN: All levels of experience are
welcome at a weekly Group Run beginning at
6pm in Mount Vernon at the Skagit Running
Company, 702 First St. The 3- to 6-mile run is
great for beginners or for others wanting an
easy recovery. Entry is free and no registration is required.
WWW.SKAGITRUNNERS.ORG
ART 18
THURS., FEB. 12
STAGE 16
GARDEN SHOW PART Y BUS: Join staff from
the Garden Spot for a “First Class Party Bus”
to Seattle’s Northwest Flower & Garden Show
today. Entry is $89 and includes travel fees,
early entry and a private tour of the display
gardens, drinks, snacks and a party bag.
(360) 676-5480
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
FRI., FEB. 13
14
WILD THINGS: Kids, adults and adventurers can join Wild Whatcom Walks for “Wild
Things” excursions from 9:30-11am every
Friday in February on the Interurban Trail.
Entry is by donation.
WWW.WILDWHATCOM.ORG
BY AMY KEPFERLE
Share the Love
GETTING HEARTS PUMPING ON V-DAY
n the month leading up to Valentine’s Day, it’s impossible not to see symbols
of love—pink cards, heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, advertisements for
couples massages, etc.—everywhere you turn. This weekend, three events
within Bellingham city limits will also draw attention to the big day. Do they
have anything to do with hearts? They sure do; they’ll get them pumping.
irst off is the fourth annual Love Your Ride: A Celebration of Bicycle
Riding taking place Thurs., Feb. 12 at Aslan Brewing Company. While a
night of fun is promised, those who show up should also be aware that the
event benefits Sterling Bike Works, a program that provides free bicycles and
bike repair to low-income and under-served youth. Aslan will be pitching in by
donating 10 percent of the night’s beverage sales to the program, and you can
do your part by bidding generously on special date packages in a silent auction
and buying a bunch of raffle tickets for a chance to win a Specialized Globe hybrid bike (complete with all the accessories one might need to begin riding in
Bellingham). Additionally, there’ll be a chance to win prizes via rounds of bike
trivia, live music by Tyler Clarke, and more. If you choose to show up on your twowheeled conveyance—and you really should—a bicycle valet will park your ride,
and provide tire pumping and chain lubing. Those services are free, but please
remember that every donation helps, and share the love. When: 8:30pm Thurs.,
Feb. 12. Where: Aslan Brewing Company, 1330 N. Forest St. Cost: Entry is free. Info:
www.sterlingbikeworks.org
While you don’t have to run with a partner to be a part of the Greater Bellingham
Running Club’s annual Two for the Road race happening on Valentine’s Day proper,
if you do choose to sign up with a significant other, you must finish the 5K run
together. For the record, that “partner” doesn’t have to be your romantic interest—categories of runners eligible for prizes include male and female solo runners,
two guys or two girls running together, a guy running with a girl, siblings or cousins
joining forces, and also a parent and child. If you’ve taken part in the run in past
I
F
years, you know there used to be a rule that
the athletes who chose to partner up had to
run holding onto a piece of yarn to ensure
one of them wouldn’t get left behind. These
days, trust is all that’s required. In other
words: slow down if your sibling, boyfriend,
cousin or kid is falling behind. They’ll love
you for it. When: 10am Sat., Feb. 14. Where:
Whatcom Falls Park, 1401 Electric Ave. Cost:
$5-$15. Info: www.gbrc.net
Jenny Martin, the events planner at the
Max Higbee Center, says the nonprofit’s
annual Zombies Have Hearts, Too 5K Run,
Walk & Roll—which takes place this year
Sun., Feb. 15—exemplifies what the program is all about. “Max Higbee Center is
constantly striving toward creating an inclusive community where developmentally
disabled people are encouraged and welcomed into community events,” she says.
“This event exemplifies this value, as it
inspires people of all ages and abilities to
celebrate that even zombies want to run,
too!” Those who have been training yearround will run alongside members of the
general public, all of whom may or may
not be dressed as the living dead. After
the race, everybody’s invited to continue
to celebrate at Kulshan Brewery, where
brain-eating contests, zombie dances
and more will keep the party going.
When: 10am Sun., Feb. 15. Where: Bloedel
Donovan Park, 2214 Electric Ave. Cost: Entry is $12-$25—if you choose to have your
face painted, it’ll be $5-$12. Info: www.
maxhigbee.org
SAT., FEB. 14
WOOLLE Y RUN: Choose from a half-marathon,
full marathon or 50K as part of today’s Woolley
Trail Run starting at 8am at Township and Polte
roads in Sedro-Woolley. Entry is $30.
WWW.SKAGITULTRARUNNERS.COM
BLANCHARD HIKE: Join members of the
Mount Baker Club for a Blanchard Mountain
hike today. The moderate hike will focus on
the alternate incline trail from Barrel Spring
Road to Lizard and Lily lakes. Meet at 9am
at Sunnyland Elementary to carpool. Carpool
fees are $3.
WWW.MOUNTBAKERCLUB.ORG
SWEE T PEA PLANTERS: Make a gift for your
Valentine at a “Sweet Pea Planters for Your
Sweet Pea” course at 9am at the Garden Spot
Nursery, 900 Alabama St. Class fee is $39 and
includes all supplies—including a container,
plants, seed and soil.
(360) 676-5480
CRUISE NEWS: “Give Your Sweetheart a
Cruise!” will be the focus of a presentation
with Heino Sunter at 11am at the Blaine
Library, 610 3rd St. Sunter will share details
about the Alaskan ports and give tips about
attire, fares and more. Entry is free.
(360) 305-3687
SUN., FEB. 15
BIRCH BAY MARATHON: The 47th annual
Birthday Bay International Marathon begins
at 9am at Blaine’s Birch Bay State Park. Runners should dress accordingly for the weather,
as high tides can result in a soaking of sea
spray or waves lapping over the road. Entry
is $75-$100.
WWW.BIRCHBAYMARATHON.COM
O
Drayton Harbor
Farms
Presented by
Crave Catering
Advance Tickets: $55 per guest
Designated Driver Tickets: $40 per guest
21 and over
Tickets on Sale Now!
@ bellewoodfarms.com
WA XING THE HOG: Join REI for a “Waxing
the Hog” class at 7pm at the Copper Hog, 1327
N. Forest St. This class will focus on a wide
variety of subjects, including base preparation, structure, and minor repair. You do not
need to bring your personal skis or snowboard
to this class. Entry is free; beer is not. Please
register in advance.
647-8955 OR WWW.REI.COM
TUES., FEB. 17
ALL-PACES RUN: Staffers and volunteers are
always on hand to guide the way at the weekly
All-Paces Run starting at 6pm every Tuesday at
Fairhaven Runners, 1209 11th St. The runs are
20 minutes out and back on two key routes—by
the water or through the woods. During these
cold, dark months a headlamp or flashlight is
required. Entry is free.
WWW.FAIRHAVENRUNNERS.COM
BACKCOUNTRY BASICS: Sign up in advance
OUTRIGGER PADDLERS: As part of Whatcom
READS! events relating to Daniel James Brown’s
The Boys in the Boat, Bellingham Bay Outrigger
Paddlers will give a presentation at 6pm at the
Fairhaven Library, 1117 12th St. Members Jackie
Caplan-Auerbach and Sue Debari will talk about
outrigger canoeing and how it compares to
eight-oar crew rowing. Entry is free.
WWW.WHATCOMREADS.ORG
THURS., FEB. 19
FITNESS FORUM: “Stronger Mind, Stronger
Runner: Three Mental Tips to Improve the
Quality and Enjoyment of Your Runs” will be the
focus of a free Fitness Forum presentation with
Brook Skidmore, MS, at 7:15pm at Fairhaven
Runners, 1209 11th St.
WWW.FAIRHAVENRUNNERS.COM
TRAVELOGUE: “Norway’s Western Fjords: Stunning Vistas, Picturesque Villages, Cultural Treasures” will be the focus of a Travelogue series
presentation with Dave Courtis from 7-9pm at
Whatcom Museum’s Old City Hall, 121 Prospect
St. Suggested donation is $3.
WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG
MAIL 4
DO IT 2
WED., FEB. 18
02.11.15
MON., FEB. 16
647-8955 OR WWW.REI.COM
#06.10
WWW.MTBAKERBIKECLUB.ORG
for a free “Baker Backcountry Basics” clinic at
6pm at REI, 400 36th St. The presentation will
focus on necessary gear, common mistakes, best
practices and places to ride in the Mount Baker
area of the North Cascades.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
RABBIT RIDE: Join members of the Mount
Baker Bicycle Club for a “Rabbit Ride” starting
at 8:30am every Sunday at Fairhaven Bike & Ski,
1108 11th St. The 32-mile route takes riders
down Chuckanut and back via Lake Samish. This
is intended to be a fitness ride, and you’re encouraged to push yourself. The group also holds
weekly rides Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays,
and Saturdays.
VIEWS 6
Expect to see marathon runners in droves this weekend as part of the Woolley Trail Run Sat., Feb. 14 and
the Birch Bay Marathon Sun., Feb. 15
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
6140 Guide Meridian
(360) 318-7720
B-BOARD 28
Hors d’Oeuvres
FILM 24
Libido Bar orting
pp
yysster ... 3 ways su
MUSIC 20
Roaring 20s theme
Burlesque & Dancing
ART 18
Valentines Day @ Bellewood Distilling
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Flying Prohibition Jazz 6:30 to 10pm
Roving Romance
FOOD 34
doit
15
FOOD 34
stage
B-BOARD 28
T H E AT E R
DA NCE
PROF I L ES
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
ART 18
STAGE 16
GET OUT 14
16
WORDS 12
PHOTO BY DAMIAN VINES
CURRENTS 8
VIEWS 6
MAIL 4
DO IT 2
02.11.15
#06.10
CASCADIA WEEKLY
STAGE
WED., FEB. 11
COMEDY AT THE SHOE: Attend the weekly
“Shoe Me the Funny” comedy showcase starting at 9pm every Wednesday at the Ranch
Room at the Horseshoe Cafe, 113 E. Holly St.
Entry is free.
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM
FEB. 11-14
BY AMY KEPFERLE
16
doit
The Underpants
A SATIRE WITH AMOROUS OBJECTIVES
ust does funny things to men. Case in point: in Steve Martin’s The Underpants, it causes two fellas—a foppish poet and a whiny hypochondriac—
to rent a spare room in the home of a woman they both harbor passionate
feelings for.
There’s more to the story, of course. The woman is married to a government clerk,
and the reason the men have amorous objectives on her behalf in the first place
is because they were present when her bloomers accidently fell down in a public
locale—during the middle of a parade where the king was present.
Because the play is set in Germany in 1910, the “scandal” receives significantly
more attention than in would in our modern era, when somebody dropping their
drawers would rarely make it on to the rumor circuit (especially if those underclothes
were more akin to loose shorts than thong undies).
Director Teresa Thuman says she thinks that’s exactly what the “wild and crazy” actor and playwright was attempting to get across.
“I think that is part of the point he is making,” she says. “While our sexual mores are
L
vastly different, there are still similar enduring issues regarding domestic gender roles and
sexual standards between men and women.”
Thuman says she loved Martin’s smart
script from the beginning, but it wasn’t
until she and her cast started rehearsing
the play—which can be seen onstage Feb.
13-March 1 as the highlighted MBT Winter
Repertory Theatre offering—that she realized how fun, and funny, it was.
“It really started to make sense when we
got the actors involved,” Thuman says. “They
always bring the added element because
they bring the life that
lives underneath the
words of the text. They
have thought about why
characters say what
they say and have used
their imaginations to
create meaningful and
playful characters. They
ATTEND
are also a very fun and
WHAT: The Underinventive group of acpants
tors. Hopefully, audiWHEN: Feb.
13-March 1
ences will benefit from
WHERE: Mount
the very playful process
Baker Theatre’s
we have engaged in.”
Walton Theatre, 104
When asked if she has
N. Commercial St.
a
favorite character in
COST: Tickets are
$12.50-$25
The Underpants, ThuINFO: 734-6080 or
man says all the roles
www.mountbaker
have something going
theatre.com
for them, but she is particularly drawn to the main character, Louise,
who is played by Seattle-based actress Jennifer Ewing. She hopes audiences will also find
themselves rooting for her and her journey.
Additional characters include Chris Cariker
as Louisa’s panicked husband, Theo, who’s
convinced his wife’s inadvertent drawerdropping is going to cost him his job; Ian
Bond as the king; Akilah Williams as Gertrude, a busybody neighbor; and Pat Kachikis
and John Parra as the besotted boarders.
As for the satirical elements of the story—
which Martin adapted from German playwright
Carl Sternheim’s 1911 German play Die Hose—
Thurman thinks they’ve also hit the mark.
“There is a certain kind of physical and comedic timing that is important in any comedy, and Martin certainly includes this,” she
says. “But satire sits more in the realm of the
characters and their ability to justify some
outrageous behavior because of their belief
systems. In this case, the satire is very clear
through the plot and the cumulative effect
of the story, I believe.”
IN THE NEX T ROOM: Sarah Ruhl’s In the
Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) concludes
this week with performances at 7:30pm
Wednesday through Friday, and 2pm and
7:30pm Saturday, at Western Washington
University’s Underground Theater. Tickets are
$9-$14.
650-6146 OR WWW.TICKETS.WWU.EDU
THURS., FEB. 12
GOOD, BAD, UGLY: Watch “The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly” at 8pm every Thursday at
the Upfront Theatre, 1208 Bay St. At 10pm,
stick around for the “Project.” Entry is $4-$7.
733-8855 OR WWW.THEUPFRONT.COM
FEB. 12-14
RUMORS: Neil Simon’s classic farce, Rumors,
concludes this weekend with 7:30pm shows
Thursday through Saturday at the Anacortes
Community Theatre, 918 M Ave. Tickets are $18.
WWW.ACTTHEATRE.COM
FEB. 12-14
SKE TCHOPEDIA: Krissa Woiwod’s latest
“Sketchopedia” endeavor—an all-singing,
all-dancing sketch comedy revue “providing fascinating (mis)information about all
things beginning with the letter C”—begins
this week with showings at 7:30pm Thursday
through Saturday at the iDiOM Theater, 1418
Cornwall Ave. Tickets are free opening night,
$10-$12 Friday, and $25 for Saturday’s “C is
for Love” Valentine’s Day Celebration—which
includes cupcakes, cocktails and music by
Clambake before and after the show.
WWW.IDIOMTHEATER.COM
FEB. 12-15
THE RABBIT HOLE: The Lynden Performing
Arts Guild continues its run of performances
of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The
Rabbit Hole with shows at 7:30pm Thursday
and Friday, and 2pm Saturday and Sunday, at
the Claire vg Thomas Theatre, 655 Front St.
Tickets are $8-$12.
WWW.CLAIREVGTHEATRE.ORG
ROMEO & JULIE T: META Performing Arts
concludes its run of Rome & Juliet—The Musical this weekend with showings at 7:30pm
Thursday through Saturday, and 2pm Sunday,
at Mount Vernon’s Lincoln Theatre, 712 S.
First St. Tickets are $10-$22.
WWW.LINCOLNTHEATRE.ORG
FRI., FEB. 13
ALL STARS COMEDY NITE: Crazy Jay,
Chaunte Wayans, and Jay Reid will be the
featured comedians at an “All Stars Comedy
Night: Love, Laugh & Dance” performance at
8:30pm at the grand ballroom of the Lakeway
Inn, 714 Lakeway Dr. Andre Paradise hosts
the event. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25
at the door.
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/COMEDYNITE
SHIT T Y TED TALK S: Tim Greger and Rosie
Guarino present “Shitty TED Talks” for one
night only at 10pm at the iDiOM Theater, 1418
Cornwall Ave. The late-night sketch comedy show
will also feature the talents of Sally Unger, Trevor
Van Houten, Riley Penaluna, Kimberly Ross, Robin
Corsberg, Wes Davis, Peter Crandell, and others.
Tickets are $10-$12.
Shakesperean actors attempting to fool a rich old
lady out of her money—opens this weekend with
shows at 7:30pm Friday and Saturday, and 2pm
Sunday, at the Bellingham Theatre Guild, 1600 H
St. Tickets are $8-$12.
Vibrant Urban Living
in the Heart of Bellingham
FOOD 34
doit
WWW.BELLINGHAMTHEATREGUILD.COM
WWW.IDIOMTHEATER.COM
MY CIRCUS VALENT INE: Get wooed by your
favorite local circus artists and special guests at
“My Circus Valentine” shows at 8pm Friday and
6pm and 9pm Saturday at the Bellingham Circus
Guild’s Cirque Lab, 1401 6th St. Audiences can
expect “tasty treats and love potions, interactive
adventures, hilarity, heartfelt performance, and
jaw-dropping acrobatics all wrapped up in one big
circus-sized embrace.” Entry to the kid-friendly
shows is $10-$20. Tickets to Saturday’s 21-andover late-night cabaret show are $55 and include a
bottle of bubbly (or red wine).
B-BOARD 28
FILM 24
WWW.IDIOMTHEATER.COM
SUN., FEB. 15
VAUDEVILLINGHAM: Veteran and novice performers will take part in the Bellingham Circus
Guild’s monthly “Vaudevillingham” variety
shows at 7pm and 9pm at the group’s Cirque Lab,
1401 6th St., Suite #102. Suggested donation
is $5-$10.
WWW.BELLINGHAMCIRCUSGUILD.COM
GREG PROOPS LIVE: World-famous improviser
Greg Proops of Whose Line is it Anyway? fame
presents “The Smartest Man in the World Proopcast” at 9pm at the Upfront Theatre, 1208 Bay St.
Tickets are $15.
733-8855 OR WWW.THEUPFRONT.COM
Come Live Life on Your Terms:The Leopold Retirement
Residence has a rare opportunity to live with us. Tour today
and experience vibrant living in the heart of Downtown.
All inclusive pricing starting at $999.00 per month.
Call 360-733-3500 to arrange
your visit and see what it means
to live in downtown Bellingham.
WWW.BELLINGHAMCIRCUSGUILD.COM
MUSIC 20
WWW.MCINT YREHALL.ORG
IMPROV LAB: The trio known as PETER Comedy
present a monthly iDiOM Improv Lab at 10pm at
the iDiOM Theater, 1418 Cornwall Ave. Entry is
$5-$7.
ART 18
LATE NITE CATECHISM: “Sister” will offer up
hilarious lessons on the Sacraments of Marriage
and the Last Rites at “Late Nite Catechism III:
‘Til Death Do Us Part” performances at 7:30pm
Friday and Saturday at Mount Vernon’s McIntyre
Hall, 2501 E. College Way. Tickets are $25.
SAT., FEB. 14
STAGE 16
FEB. 13-14
FEB. 15-16
SPACE TREK: The men and women of the USS
Upfront will return to the stage when the sci-fi
format, “Space Trek: Love Lost Mission,” shows at
8pm and 10pm Friday and Saturday at the Upfront
Theatre, 1208 Bay St. Tickets are $10-$12. Wear
any space-related costume and get $3 off your
ticket at the door.
WWW.THEUPFRONT.COM
WHOSE LIVE ANY WAY?: Join Ryan Stiles, Greg
Proops other cast members from the Emmy-nominated Whose Line Is It Anyway? television show for
two nights of “Whose Live Anyway?” improvised
comedy at 9pm Friday and Saturday in Anacortes
at the Swinomish Casino, 12885 Casino Dr. Tickets
are $35-$65.
WWW.SWINOMISHCASINOANDLODGE.COM
FEB. 13-15
THE RAINMAKER: The Alger Lookout Thespian
Association (ALTA) concludes its run of showings
of N. Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker at performances 7pm Friday and Saturday, and 2:30pm Sunday,
at the Alger Community Church, 1475 Silver Run
Lane. Tickets are $10-$14.
WWW.ALTATHEATRE.COM
LEADING LADIES: Ken Ludwig’s Leading Ladies—
a comedy about down-on-their-luck English
SAT., FEB. 14
V-DAY CONTRA DANCE: Sassafras Stomp will
play along when the Bellingham Country Dance
Society hosts a Valentine’s Day Contra Dance
tonight at the Fairhaven Library, 1117 12th St.
Show up for waltz workshop from 5:45-7pm, and
swing with your sweetie from 7-10:30pm. Entry
is $6-$10.
WWW.BELLINGHAMCOUNTRYDANCE.ORG
RED SHOES BENEFIT BALL: Attend Northwest
Ballet Theatre’s “Red Shoes Benefit Ball” starting
at 8pm at the Encore Room at the Mount Baker
Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. Expect entertainment by NBT’s dancers, decadent desserts, dancing to a live jazz band, and more. Recommended
donation is $50 per couple.
WWW.NORTHWESTBALLET.ORG
VALENT INE’S RUMBA DANCE: Rumba Northwest
hosts a Valentine’s Day Rumba Dance from 8:30pm12am at Presence Studio, 1412 Cornwall Ave. The
event will feature Salsa lessons, Latin rhythms,
and more. Entry is $6-$10.
WWW.RUMBANORTHWEST.COM
GET OUT 14
CURRENTS 8
WWW.SWINGCONNECTION.ORG
VIEWS 6
(360) 927-0378 OR [email protected]
SWINGING VALENT INE DANCE: Vocalist Cheryl
Hodge joins the Swing Connection Big Band for an
all-ages “Hooray for Hollywood!” Valentine’s Dance
from 7-9pm at the Leopold Crystal Ballroom, 1224
Cornwall Ave. Entry is by donation.
MAIL 4
FRI., FEB. 13
MINUS SOME BUT TONS: Find out what happens
at Graceland Elementary School when a new
teacher is hired and comedic chaos breaks out
when Nearly Stellar Entertainment presents Minus
Some Buttons at 7:30pm Friday and Saturday at
the Quality Inn Baron Suites, 100 E. Kellogg Rd.
Tickets are $10-$12; additional showings take
place Feb. 20-21.
DO IT 2
DA NCE
02.11.15
1224 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA | www.leopoldretirement.com
WORDS 12
12
WORDS
WWW.BELLINGHAMTHEATREGUILD.COM
#06.10
734-2776 OR WWW.BROWNPAPERTICKETS.COM
FOREIGNER AUDIT IONS: Expect cold readings
from the script at auditions for Larry Shue’s The
Foreigner at 7pm Sunday and Monday at the Bellingham Theatre Guild, 1600 H St.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
12 MINUTES MA X: The third annual “12 Minutes
Max” performances begin at 7:30pm Friday and
Saturday at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center,
1314 Harris Ave. At the show, a mixed bag of
performing artists from Bellingham and beyond
will showcase short performances in theater,
dance, music, performance art and short film.
Tickets are $15.
SUN., FEB. 15
LOVE AND SK AT ING: View performances by
area ice skaters at an “I Love to Skate” show from
1-3pm at the Bellingham Sportsplex, 1225 Civic
Field Way. Suggested donation is $2.
WWW.BELLINGHAMSPORTSPLEX.COM
17
B-BOARD 28
FOOD 34
visual
OPEN I NGS
18
"ANEMONE," BY DAVID EISENHOUR
BY STEPHEN HUNTER
Cygnus Spotlight
FEELING THE LOVE IN LA CONNER
hen Maggie Wilder first saw La Conner it struck her as an “ancient, tribal place.” She was only 16, but knew someday she
would live there.
After college, Wilder was back, living on a boat and creating art in the
company of the great Northwest “mystic” painters. Clayton James gave
her space to work in his studio. Along with Bill Slater, Richard Gilkey, and
John Simon, they had breakfast in the hotel and group shows in a barn on
Fir Island. It was a great time; rent was cheap and there were plenty of
working-class jobs.
Wilder, now proprietor of Cygnus Gallery, sells her own paintings and
those of other outstanding regional artists. Her favorite subject is the
ethereal landscape of the Skagit delta, where the sky appears more substantial than the land—so marshy, “you have to question where you put
your foot.”
W
"FACE, EARTHENWARE," BY CLAYTON JAMES
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
G A L L ER I ES
P ROF I L E S
For Wilder, the gallery is a public service, “to reaffirm the necessity of art for
the health of culture.” The artists chosen for the current show include Clayton
James, Todd Horton, Ed Kamuda, David
Eisenhour, and Norman E. Riley.
James, 97 this month, has long been
considered one of the finest sculptors
in the Northwest. A La Conner resident
since 1953 and associate of Guy Anderson and Paul Havas, James’ work has
also encompassed nature and abstract
impressionist painting. His mysterious and compelling earthenware “Face”
evokes a Mycenaean warrior.
The Port Hadlock-based sculptor David
Eisenhour’s work has been featured in
dozens of exhibitions and galleries across
the United States. He examines natural
objects—often under a microscope—and
interprets their forms in bronze, stainless
steel or concrete. Part of his “ongoing
dialogue with Mother
Ocean” are the menacing
“Dungeness
Mask,” the greatly
magnified
“Pteropod,” and “Anemone.”
Wilder finds the
SEE IT
Samish Island painter
WHAT: See works
Todd Horton to be an
by Clayton James,
“authentic artist who
David Eisenhour,
is heart-driven and
Maggie Wilder,
thoroughly
profesNorman E. Riley,
Todd Horton, and
sional,” who continEd Kamuda
ues to advance his
WHEN: 12-5pm
work by experiment.
Fri.-Sun, through
Several of his familiar
Feb. 22
wildlife portraits—
WHERE: Gallery
Cygnus, 109 Comportrayed as though
mercial Ave., La
caught in full flight—
Conner
were on view, as well
INFO:
as a nice flower study.
www.gallery
I was fascinated by
cygnus.com
the black-and-white
silver gelatin photographic prints by
Bellingham resident Norman E. Riley.
Early in his career, he created beautiful and evocative portraits. From 1984
he excluded people, to focus on architecture and nature. He scorns digital
photography. Currently, he creates an
assemblage from scraps, including something of metal, something that has once
been alive and a circle. He photographs
this composition with a large-format
film camera and prints on archival paper—then disassembles the composition
and discards it. The photograph alone
remains: a portrait of something enigmatic, possibly evil, definitely surreal.
Lastly, the playful canvases of Ed Kamuda, who once lived off the grid in a
cabin near Bow but now hails from Bellingham. He offers different styles—one,
soft, impressionist landscapes, the other,
playful, naïf, hard-edged abstraction, in
bright colors. These have been a hit with
the Seattle reviewers, and are a hit in La
Conner, as well.
doit
BROWN BAG: Find about more about the upcoming Bellingham Comic Art Festival at a preview
focusing on the event at 12:30pm at Whatcom Museum’s Old City Hall, 121 Prospect St. Suggested
donation to the Brown Bag presentation is $3.
WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG
ONGOI NG E X H I BI TS
ART WOOD: The turnings and carvings of Jim
Hume and the paintings of Tom Semple will be
featured through February at at Artwood Gallery,
1000 Harris Ave.
WWW.ARTWOODGALLERY.COM
THE BUREAU: “Osteology: Photographs by Scot
Casey” can be viewed through February at the Bureau of Historical Investigation, 217 W. Holly St.
(360) 305-3172
CHUCK ANUT BREWERY: View Bellingham-based
artist Kailee Winterburn’s work through March 6 at
Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen, 601 W. Holly St.
WWW.CHUCKANUTBREWERYANDKITCHEN.COM
DAKOTA ART STORE: Take a look at the Washington Clay Arts Association’s annual “Stein Fest”
through Feb. 15 at the gallery at Dakota Art Store,
1322 Cornwall Ave.
WWW.DAKOTAARTSTORES.COM
DEMING LIBRARY: Everson-based photographer
Gary Meader will show his “Miksang” photos through
Feb. 20 at the Deming Library, 5044 Mt. Baker Hwy.
WWW.WCLS.ORG
FISHBOY GALLERY: Check out the contemporary
folk art of RR Clark from 1:30-5pm every Mon.-Fri.
at the FishBoy Gallery, 617 Virginia St.
714-0815 OR WWW.FISHBOYGALLERY.COM
FOURTH CORNER FRAMES: “The Northwest Interpreted” shows through Feb. 28 at Fourth Corner
Frames & Gallery, 311 W. Holly St.
WWW.FOURTHCORNERFRAMES.COM
GOOD EARTH: Traditional and experimental
teapots from a variety of members will be highlighted through February at Good Earth Pottery,
1000 Harris Ave.
WWW.GOODEARTHPOTS.COM
Presented by
(360) 592-2300
QUILT MUSEUM: See “Antique Embroidered
Quilts,” Freddy Moran’s “Collage Quilts” and Larkin
Van Horn’s “Night Thoughts” through March 29
at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, 703 S.
Second St.
WWW.LACONNERQUILTS.ORG
SCOT T MILO GALLERY: “The Quiet of Winter”
is the focus of a new collection of oil paintings
by Dederick Ward showing through March 3 in
Anacortes at the Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave.
WWW.SCOTTMILO.COM
Mount Baker Theater
Book Discussion with
Daniel James Brown
Fairhaven Branch Library Auditorium
Author Visit to Mt. Baker
High School
Thursday, February 26 - 9:15 a.m.
Mount Baker High School Auditorium
Find us at www.whatcomreads.org
START THIS SPRING!
Get your Certificate in
Health Information Technology
SK AGIT MUSEUM: “Death Becomes Her” and
“Doctor, Doctor: A History of Healing in Skagit
County” show through March 15 at La Conner’s
Skagit County Historical Museum, 501 S. Fourth
St.
Scholarships
Available!
WWW.SKAGITCOUNT Y.NET/MUSEUM
SMITH & VALLEE: Avian-influenced paintings
by Kat Houseman and Justin Gibbens and sculpture from Peregrine O’Gormley, Kristin Loffer
Theiss, and Marceil DeLacy can be seen through
Feb. 22 at Edison’s Smith & Vallee Gallery, 5742
Gilkey Ave.
WWW.SMITHANDVALLEE.COM
VU GALLERY: Rachel Hsu’s “this time, again”
shows through Feb. 20 at Western Washington
University’s Viking Union Gallery.
WWW.AS.WWU.EDU/GALLERY .
WESTERN GALLERY: “Discovery,” Western
Washington University’s Department of Art and
Design’s biennial exhibit, shows through-March 7
at the Western Gallery.
WWW.WESTERNGALLERY.WWU.EDU
O Develop knowledge and skills to troubleshoot and repair computer systems and design,
install, and maintain Local Area Networks (LANs).
O Gain a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare environment, health information
management systems, information security and trends in healthcare.
O Prepare to obtain industry standard certifications: Certified Associate in Healthcare
WHATCOM MUSEUM: “Mingled Visions: Images
from the North American Indian by Edward S.
Curtis,” “Magic Windows/Framing Place,” “Leo
Adams: Eastern Light,” and “Peak of Their Professions” can currently be viewed on the Whatcom
Museum campus.
WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG
B-BOARD 28
Wednesday, February 25 - 2:00 p.m.
MAIL 4
THURS., FEB. 19
MOUNT BAKER VINE YARDS: View an exhibition of work by contemporary artist Patricia
Clark-Finley through February at the Vineyard Loft
Studio at Everson’s Mount Baker Vineyards, 4298
Mt. Baker Vineyards. Clark-Finley’s multimedia
“Water Series” includes encaustic, monotype and
mixed-media.
Wednesday, February 25 - 7:00 p.m.
DO IT 2
WWW.RAGFINERY.COM
WWW.MONAMUSEUM.ORG
The Boys in the
Boat author Daniel
James Brown visits
Whatcom County
Jansen Art Center
02.11.15
EMERGENC Y VALENT INES: Molly Chambers will
help last-minute lovers transform materials that
could be found in a recycling bin into beautiful
and even compostable Valentines at an “Emergency Valentine Making” event from 11am-1pm at
Ragfinery, 1421 N. Forest St. Class fee is $5.
Tuesday, February 24 - 7:30 p.m.
#06.10
SAT., FEB. 14
MONA: View Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick’s
“A Tree is a Flower,” “Still Life from the Permanent
Collection,” and Adrianne Smits’ “Immersion
Redux: Buiten” through March 11 at La Conner’s
Museum of Northwest Art, 121 First St.
An Evening with Daniel
James Brown
STAGE 16
WWW.MAKESHIFTPROJECT.COM
WWW.LOVELACONNER.COM
New York Times
Bestselling Author
GET OUT 14
MAKE.SHIF T: Jess Flegel and Kaveh Askari’s
“Recycled Cinema” exhibit shows through February
at Make.Shift Art Space, 306 Flora St.
FILM 24
Heiner Theater
Whatcom Community College
MUSIC 20
Tuesday, February 24 - 3:30 p.m.
ART 18
Art & Craft of Writing
LUCIA DOUGLAS: Lisa McShane’s “To the West”
can be perused through March 6 at Fairhaven’s
Lucia Douglas Gallery, 1415 13th st.
WWW.LUCIADOUGLAS.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW: Works by La Conner Boys
& Girls Club members will be on display at an “We
Love ImageMakers” photography show from 4-6pm
at the Dr. Kenyon & Siddy Knopf Education Center,
305 N. 6th St. Entry is free.
FOOD 34
All events are free - no tickets required
WWW.JANSENARTCENTER.ORG
WORDS 12
WWW.BELLINGHAMPUBLICLIBRARY.ORG
Author Events - February 24-26
CURRENTS 8
HEART ART: Kids ages 3 and up can celebrate
Valentine’s Day by taking part in “Heart Art!” activities from 10:30am-12pm at the Lecture Room
at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave.
all craft supplies will be provided.
VIEWS 6
FRI., FEB. 13
2015 Schedule of Events
JANSEN ART CENTER: A “Spring Juried Exhibit”
and “From Dusk to Dawn: Twilight and Night Skies”
are currently on display at Lynden’s Jansen Art
Center, 321 Front St.
Information & Management Systems, CompTIA Network+ Certification, and
CompTIA A+ Certification.
O Certificate classes can apply toward your Assoc. of Science in Computer
Networking at BTC.
For more info email: [email protected] or call 360-752-8695
www.btc.ctc.edu
CASCADIA WEEKLY
U P COM I NG E V EN TS
Whatcom READS!
19
Rumor Has It
FOOD 34
music
B-BOARD 28
SHOW PREVIEWS › › RUMOR HAS IT
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC
20
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
This is Karen O of the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She
will not be performing
at the Valentine's Day
Covers Show.
20
BY CAREY ROSS
Valentine’s Day
Covers Show
NO PDA ALLOWED
alentine’s Day evokes strong emotions in people—and not all of
them are positive.
For some, it’s a celebration of love, replete with flowers, chocolate and carefully planned and executed events. Expectations are high,
but the only thing greater is the love shared between two people. These
are the people who have Feb. 14 circled with a big red heart on their calendars. They are the true believers.
For others, Valentine’s Day is a blight upon humanity. It’s no more a
celebration of love than Christmas is a celebration of Santa Claus. Considered a “Hallmark holiday,” Valentine’s Day commemorates nothing more
than consumerism at its most nakedly venal. On the calendars of people
of this ilk, you’ll find Feb. 14 obliterated with a big black X.
Me, I’m ambivalent about Valentine’s Day. However, I am a sucker for a
weird tradition, and, as it does with so many things, the Bellingham music
scene rises to the V-Day occasion with great ingenuity and a spirit of fun.
When it began five years ago, the tradition of which I speak was known
as the Valentine’s Day Pop Punk Covers Show. Now, half a decade later, the
pop-punk portion has been dropped from the title and the requirements,
V
but the spirit of the event still remains.
Although I’ve been covering and attending this event since its inception, I’ve yet
to figure out what covers have to do with
Valentine’s Day, but that
has ceased to matter to
me or anyone else onstage or in the audience
at the show. What matters is, for two nights
(yes, the need for people in this town to play
sing songs by other
ATTEND and
artists
is so great the
WHAT: Valentine’s
event
was
expanded to
Day Covers Show
WHEN: Fri., Feb.
two nights soon after it
13 and Sat., Feb.
began), the Make.Shift
14
basement is crammed
WHERE: Make.
full of people whose idea
Shift Art Space,
of a romantic evening is
306 Flora St.
COST: $6 each
to watch local musicians
night
play songs by the likes
INFO: www.
of Hatebreed and Rage
facebook.com/
Against the Machine.
makeshiftproject
I told you it was a
weird tradition.
The premise, as I’ve mentioned, is fairly
straightforward: musicians get together
with some likeminded cohorts, decide what
band or artist they’d like to cover and then
AS I’VE MENTIONED a time or two, Lucas Hicks
tends to be a busy man. It is the business of
those who try to make a living via music to
diversify their offerings (in Hicks’ case, this
means playing in a number of bands, i.e. the
Gallus Brothers, the Shadies, Rattletrap Ruckus, et al) and take advantage of opportunities
that might come their way.
For Hicks, opportunity comes by way of Anelia’s Kitchen and Stage in La Conner, where
he will play a four-night residency that starts
Feb. 11 and culminates in a promised “romantic Valentine’s Day duo set” with Hicks’
exceedingly skilled partner in crime, Jenny
Rose. All of the shows are free, and Lucasloving folks are setting up carpools to Skagit
County as I type. Info about such things can
be found in the same place we find everything
these days: that bastion of all things romantic, Facebook.
If you’ve heard
enough about Valentine’s Day and just
want some good, authentic, salt-of-theearth music to take
BY CAREY ROSS
your mind off the state
of your romantic state (or you just don’t care
about V-Day, regardless of your romantic
state), you won’t have to look very hard.
Scott Biram, an Austin, Texas musician who
is no stranger to Bellingham, will make his
way back to town for a Sun., Feb. 15 show at
the Shakedown. I first became familiar with
Biram more than a decade ago when he played
the 3B Tavern a surprisingly short time after
being involved in an accident that saw him go
head-to-head with a semi-truck. Biram played
the 3B show while still recovering from his
injuries, making for a memorable night. A
Bloodshot Records artist since shortly after
his accident, Biram could be the poster child
for that label: he stubbornly goes his own
way, makes his own brand of punk-influenced
countryish music and isn’t trying to let anyone or anything tell him how to live—carrying on a long tradition of outlaw artists from
his particular neck of the woods.
In a similar (but not really) vein is Slaid
Cleaves, who although he hails from Maine,
also lives in Austin, where he also writes songs
aimed at the soul of working-class America. Fan
of Bruce Springsteen (who some people such
as myself would call a working-class poet) and
childhood friend and musical cohort of Rod
Picott, Cleaves is one of those hugely respected
artists who operates outside the confines of
popular music, and wins fans of his thoughtful, evocative music the old-fashioned way: one
tour stop, one show and one fan at a time. He’ll
play what promises to be a very special show
at 7pm Wed., Feb. 18 at the Green Frog. Tickets
are limited and are on sale now via Brown Paper
Tickets. If you miss it, you’ll probably live to
regret it, but regret it, you will.
CORY WEEDS QUARTE T: Tenor Cory Weeds will
be joined by pianist Miles Black, bassist Michael
Glass, and drummer Julian MacDonough for a
Whatcom Jazz Music Arts Center concert at 7pm
at the Majestic, 1027 N. Forest St. Entry is $5 for
students and $10 general.
WWW.WJMAC.ORG
CANADIAN BRASS: Expect to be blown away
when the Grammy Award-winning, internationally lauded quintet known as Canadian Brass
performs at 7:30pm at the Mount Baker Theatre,
104 N. Commercial St. In addition to brass standards and classical pieces, audience members can
expect to hear everything from contemporary
compositions to marches, holiday favorites,
ragtime, Dixieland, Latin, jazz, big band, Christian music, Broadway tunes and popular songs.
Tickets are $20-$45.
WED., FEB. 18
MILES BLACK TRIO: Whatcom Jazz Music Arts
Center hosts a concert with the Miles Black Trio
at 7pm at the Majestic, 1027 N. Forest St. The
pianist will be joined by bassist Michael Glynn,
and drummer Julian MacDonough. Entry is $5-$10
(free for members).
PROZAC MTN BOYS: Listen to lively tunes from
the Prozac Mountain Boys and taste liquid goods
from Seattle’s Stroup Brewing Company from
5-8pm in Sedro-Woolley at the Woolley Market,
829 Metcalf St. Entry is free.
WWW.WOOLLEYMARKET.COM
BUG SONG CIRCLE: The Bellingham Ukulele
Group hosts its BUG Song Circle from 7-9pm at
the Roeder Home, 2600 Sunset Dr.
WWW.BELLINGHAMUKULELEGROUP.COM
HEAV Y ME TAL: Western Washington University’s
low brass ensemble presents a “Heavy Metal
Concert” at 7:30pm at the school’s Performing
Arts Center Concert Hall. The show will feature
classical transcriptions and original music made
for the heavy sounds of low brass instruments.
Entry is free and open to the public.
WWW.WWU.EDU
SUN., FEB. 15
THURS., FEB. 19
YOUTH CONCERT: See talented young artists in
music, opera, dance and theater perform at the
monthly “Sunday @ 3 Youth Concert” starting at
3pm at Lynden’s Jansen Art Center, 321 Front St.
Entry is by donation.
HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ: Mount Vernon High
School’s lauded jazz ensembles will present
“MVHS Jazz” at 7pm at the Lincoln Theatre, 712
S. First St. These jazz bands, directed by Jacob
Scheer and Matt Frost, are part of the nationallyknown Fine Arts department at the school. Entry
is by donation; all proceeds will benefit the
music program.
WWW.JANSENARTCENTER.ORG
MON., FEB. 16
WINTER SONG: Ann MacDonald leads “Winter
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
MUSIC
20
Childcare provided
at 7:00pm
Explore Spirituality
2117 Walnut at Eldridge
www.StPaulsBellingham.org
†
Encounter the Sacred
WWW.JMAC.ORG
734-6080 OR WWW.MOUNTBAKERTHEATRE.COM
THURS., FEB. 12
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
WWW.BELLINGHAMSINGS.ORG
WWW.LINCOLNTHEATRE.ORG
The Corner Pub
is Open!
Live Music Thursdays
& Some Saturdays
All music starts at 7:30PM
Feb 14th
Down to Earth
Valentines Date Night
(lower your expectations and raise your
standards). Surf and Turf with desert and
drink specials. No reservations accepted.
Open 11-9 Monday thru Wednesday
11-10 Thursday thru Saturday
10-9 Sunday
Always open later if everyone is having a good time!
14565 Allen West Road • Bow, WA 98232 • 360.757.6113
COLD BEER • GREAT FOOD
Weekly events:
Monday Meatloaf Monday
Trivia 7PM
Tuesday Tacos, Tallboys and Tequila
Wednesday Bingo Night 4:30PM
Thursday Knut Bell Live Music 7:30PM
Friday Steak Night 5PM
Unwind Special- Geared toward
(but not exclusive by any means)
our Hard Working Neighbors...
We know you can't really enjoy a
drink on your lunch break so come
back and unwind with your lunch
receipt for 50%off your first drink!
Dump Run special- Bring in your
receipt from the Skagit Transfer
Station and get a beer and a shot
for just $4 (bartenders choice)
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
Song 2015,” a mini-vocal workshop for women, at
7pm at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1720 Harris
Ave. The event is designed to keep your vocal
chops honed, learn some new skills and meet
fellow singers. Entry is $10.
WORDS 12
WED., FEB. 11
6:30am
12:00 Noon
7:00pm
CURRENTS 8
musicevents
VIEWS 6
Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes
MAIL 4
Ash Wednesday Services
DO IT 2
Remember: From dust you came
and to dust you shall return.
02.11.15
spend a couple of months cobbling together a 20-minute set of music by that
band or artist. They’re assigned a night
to play (this year’s shows take place on
Fri., Feb. 13 and Sat., Feb. 14—otherwise known as Valentine’s Day), and then
we all show up en masse at Make.Shift
to watch them. The only hard-and-fast
rules are 1. No bands from last year’s
show can be covered at this year’s event
(that means if you’re dying to see songs
by Limp Bizkit, Smash Mouth, Third Eye
Blind, as well as several others, you are
thankfully, blessedly out of luck) and
2. No public displays of affection, aka
PDA. The first rule is in place to keep
an ongoing and much-beloved event
from getting stale and the second arose
from the very first covers show and has
been part of the occasion ever since (although it was thoroughly ignored by a
couple of teens who went on a one-way
journey to Makeout City during the inaugural event, much to the delight and
chagrin of those assembled).
The lineup for this year’s Valentine’s
Day Covers Show was recently announced,
and if you’re looking to develop a case of
multiple musical personalities, these are
the shows for you. The first night, Feb.
13, you’ll be treated to sets by those
covering Hatebreed, Sum 41, the Yeah
Yeah Yeahs, Reel Big Fish, Sonic Youth,
Presidents of the U.S.A., the Murder City
Devils, Taking Back Sunday, the Wipers,
and Fallout Boy.
That’s a real doozey of a lineup, but
the show is only halfway over.
On Saturday night, which also happens to coincide with Valentine’s Day, the
bands in question that will get the covers
treatment are My Chemical Romance, Sugar Ray, the Promise Ring, Circle Jerks, the
Hold Steady, Weezer, Ween, Rage Against
the Machine, the Replacements, and Bellingham’s own Death Cab for Cutie.
After that cacophony of gloriously
random and diverse musical noise, the
curtain will fall, once again, on another
Valentine’s Day and another Valentine’s
Day Covers Show. Whether you’re passionate about the holiday, prejudiced
against it or don’t really care one way
or another, the Make.Shift basement will
serve as neutral territory where everyone can come together in the interest of
a good time. If that’s not a celebration
of love, I don’t know what is. Just check
your PDA at the door, please.
#06.10
20
CASCADIA WEEKLY
COVERS, FROM
21
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
FILM 24
MUSIC
20
MUSIC 20
ART 18
STAGE 16
GET OUT 14
See below for venue
addresses and phone
numbers
02.11.15
02.12.15
02.13.15
02.14.15
02.15.15
02.16.15
02.17.15
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Bellingham
Alternative Library
Boundary Bay
Brewery
Thegn, The Wages of Sin,
Rogues Gallery
Aaron Guest
Piano Night
Brown Lantern Ale
House
Open Mic
Cabin Tavern
Open Mic
Commodore Ballroom
Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, more
Conway Muse
Open Mic
Corner Pub
DJ J-Will
Twisted Thursday
Pill Brigade, Oxygen Destroyer, Power Skeleton
Arbitary Ascension,
Popsmear, Bloodshit
Elliott Brood, The Wilderness
of Manitoba
Dallas Smith, Charlie
Worsham
MuseBird Cafe w/Wes Weddell,
more
Stardrums & Lady Keys
Piano Night
The Atlantics
Girl Meets Boy
DJ Boombox
Live Music
KARL DENSON’S TINY
UNIVERSE/Feb. 17/
Wild Buffalo
Orville Johnson Band
Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras
Celebration
?
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(SBOWJMMF4U7BODPVWFSt
]Conway Muse4QSVDF.BJO4U$POXBZ
] Corner Pub"MMFO8FTU3PBE#VSMJOHUPO
VIEWS 6
MAIL 4
DO IT 2
02.11.15
#06.10
CASCADIA WEEKLY
22
Paul Klein
Joonbug
Knut Bell and the 360s
Edison Inn
Glow Nightclub
Poetrynight
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
musicvenues
Winter Info Session
Wednesday February 25th at 6pm
Parks Hall 441, WWU, Bellingham
Find Out:
‡ HRZ tR $pply
‡ 'eadline ,nIR
‡ PrRgram 2ptiRns
Contact Us Today:
‡ 66526
‡ mba#ZZuedu
02.11.15
02.12.15
02.13.15
02.14.15
02.15.15
02.16.15
02.17.15
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Ashley Raines (early), Foghorn Stringband (late)
K2Projekt, Galapagos, more
The Stray Birds, Cahalen
Morrison and Eli West
Slow Jam (early)
Open Mic (early), Guffawingham (late)
Terrible Tuesday Soul
Explosion
DJ Triple Crown
Aaron Crawford
Karaoke
Vertical Stringband
Taqsim Bellydance
Karaoke
Karaoke
Green Frog
FILM 24
H2O
FOOD 34
See below for venue
addresses and phone
numbers
B-BOARD 28
musicvenues
Karaoke
Make.Shift Art Space
Rev. JD and the Blackouts
Live Music
Valentine’s Day Cover Show
Valentine’s Day Cover Show
Old World Deli
MUSIC 20
MUSIC
20
Live Music
Stilly River Band
The Groovetramps
WORDS 12
Rockfish Grill
SCOTT BIRAM/
Feb. 15/Shakedown
The Devilly Brothers
Karaoke
Karaoke
Karaoke, DJ
Karaoke, DJ Partyrock
Rumors Cabaret
Leveled
Throwback Thursday
DJ Postal, DJ Shortwave
DJ Mike Tolleson
Fetish Night
Karaoke w/Zach
Treble Tuesday
The Shakedown
Hump! Dance Party
Metal DJ Night
Valentine's Day Karaoke
Party
Scott Biram, Jesse
Dayton, more
Tom Waits Night
Aireeoke
Decade X
Decade X
Vocal Showcase
Irish Night
Open Mic w/Jan Peters
Bryan Forsloff
3 Parts Jazz
Roger Quiggle Valentine's
Jazz
Star Club
Aireeoke
Benefit for Planned Parenthood
Valentine's Slow Jamz Party
Swillery Whiskey Bar
Karaoke
Songwriter Night
Tin Foil Cat, Urban Fantasy,
Austin Belle
The Muzes, Dinofour, Corrina Corrina
Via Cafe and Bistro
Karaoke
Karaoke
Karaoke
Karaoke
Jam Night
Karaoke
The Village Inn
Wild Buffalo
’90s Night
The Flavr Blue, Ca$h Bandicoot
Kyle Kinane (early), The
Dip, DJ Booger (late)
MAIL 4
Skylark's
Music Video Night
Karaoke
#06.10
Skagit Valley Casino
VIEWS 6
Royal
CURRENTS 8
Main St. Bar and Grill
Trabin
ART 18
Samuel Eisen-Meyers
DO IT 2
Kulshan Brewing Co.
STAGE 16
KC's Bar and Grill
The Shadies
GET OUT 14
Coty Hogue Trio
02.11.15
Open Mic
Open Mic w/Chuck D
Karl Denson's Tiny
Universe, Brownout
The Green Frog /4UBUF4UtXXXBDPVTUJDUBWFSODPN | Edison Inn $BJOT$U&EJTPOt
| The Fairhaven )BSSJT"WFt| Glow&)PMMZ4Ut]Graham’s
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
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'MPPS886 | Via
$BGF#JSDI#BZ%S#MBJOFt
]7JMMBHF*OO1VC /PSUIXFTU"WFt ]7JOPTUSPMPHZ8)PMMZ4Ut] Wild Buffalo 8)PMMZ4UtXXXXJMECVGGBMPOFU]5PHFUZPVS
MJWFNVTJDMJTUJOHTJODMVEFETFOEJOGPUPDMVC!TDBTDBEJBXFFLMZDPN%FBEMJOFTBSFBMXBZTBUQN'SJEBZ
CASCADIA WEEKLY
Honey Moon
23
FOOD 34
Film
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
B-BOARD 28
MOVIE REVIEWS › › SHOWTIMES
,
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
This movie is so alive that
few will roll their eyes at
the message—one that
says a true gentleman’s
virtue comes from within,
and not their accent
VIEWS 6
MAIL 4
DO IT 2
02.11.15
#06.10
CASCADIA WEEKLY
24
Patrick Nagel. When Hart and Valentine
finally meet face to face at his headquarters, they dine on Big Macs served
on place settings. And they discuss the
absurdity of James Bond movies.
The spirit of 007 is all over this movie,
but Vaughn’s script (written with frequent collaborator Jane Goldman) has a
license to poke fun. There are direct references, like how to mix a martini and Lotte
Lenya’s spiked shoe, but the overall vibe
is sheer glee, as if no one involved in the
production can believe they’re getting
away with making such a batshit Bond.
Vaughn and Goldman are working off
a comic book by Mark Millar, who also
provided source material for their similar (but hardly as clever) Kick-Ass. Millar,
whose Marvel Ultimates comics, some argue, form the spine of the current Marvel
Cinematic Universe, continues to find
virtue in very basic, adolescent “could
you just imagine if?” narrative exploration. This manifests itself in Kingsman
REVIEWED BY JORDAN HOFFMAN
Kingsman
THE BIZARRO BOND
hey say the clothes make the man, and these are some killer duds.
Colin Firth is both ludicrously British and modern-day Hollywood in Kingsman: The Secret Service, the wildly enjoyable new film from Matthew Vaughn.
His Harry Hart muses on the importance of a bespoke suit one moment and dispatches
a band of villains with precise alacrity and nifty gadgets the next. This movie stands
in reverence of the English upper classes and the seeming ease with which they gracefully solve problems, yet is so wonderfully absurd that, if one were ever to speak so
coarsely, one would say they were “taking the piss.” Kingsman quite neatly has its
scone and eats it, too.
Harry Hart is the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Eggsy (Taron Egerton), a good-natured but wayward kid living in a brutalist apartment block with his mom and abusive stepdad. But
his biological father, who died years ago, had a secret identity. He was a Kingsman,
and now that Eggsy has come of age (and run afoul of the law), that mysterious group
has recruited him for training, too.
Kingsman is a highly advanced, well-funded independent secret service unaligned
with any government. If the bit of exposition in the film is to be believed, it was
founded by high-end tailors looking to maintain world security so as to ensure a mar-
T
ket for their sharp and fancy wares. It’s
preposterous, but you buy it since the info
drops during a tour of the very elegant,
somewhat steampunky private underground system that can whisk agents from
London to their manor outside of town.
It’s there where Eggsy will train, Ender’s
Game-style, and compete for the one
open slot on the roster. There’s need of a
new member because an operation to rescue a tweedy professor (played to great
effect by Mark Hamill) has gone awry. A
gorgeous female henchman with razorblade prosthetics for legs sliced an agent
in half in a lusciously decorated mountaintop chalet, you see.
This weird death is part of a nefarious
scheme by Kingsman’s great nemesis, Valentine, a Mark Zuckerberg-meets-Dr. Evil
type and source of some of the film’s most
unexpected gags. Samuel L. Jackson’s psychotic baddie has a thick lisp, penchant
for wearing baseball caps indoors and
adorns his home with portraits of panda
bears that look like they’re designed by
with some set-pieces designed to rattle
the cages of rightwing media critics, as
if on a dare. A particularly shocking bit
of business happens at a rural American
church, followed by some screenplay
twists that wouldn’t happen in any pusillanimous or “normal” movie. Millar’s
voice seems to be egging on Vaughn,
whose last film, X-Men: First Class, was
quite enjoyable but not nearly hardcore
enough for denizens of the darker comicbook playgrounds.
Despite the presence of grandfatherly
Michael Caine, Kingsman’s tone is about
as far from the Christopher Nolan-style
superhero film as you can get. Verisimilitude is frequently traded in for a rich
laugh. The action scenes delight with
shock humor. It’s violent, but not gory,
readymade for word balloons reading
“OOOF” or “KRAKOOM.” This movie is so
alive that few will roll their eyes at the
message—one that says a true gentleman’s virtue comes from within, and
not their accent. Valentine’s convoluted plan to conquer the world involves
hacking our ubiquitous cell phones. But
if the spirit of Kingsman takes hold of
our culture, all we’ll be carrying are
pocket watches.
B’ham 671-3414
SUBIN CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Aggressive, Experienced, Effective
Free Consultation
The Great Invisible
WORDS 12
CURRENTS 8
VIEWS 6
Feb. 13-Mar. 1, 2015
Ken Ludwig
Directed by
Judith
Owens-Lancaster
Tichets:
733-1811
More Info:
bellinghamtheatreguild.com
“Ludwig’s newest
comedy is so funny, it
will make sophisticated
and reasonable men and
women of the 21st century
cackle till their faces hurt.”
The Houston Press
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
Written by
02.11.15
Leading Ladies
#06.10
Bellingham Theatre Guild presents
CASCADIA WEEKLY
A
ment where workers knew safe practices
but were increasingly directed by superiors to ignore them. Keith Jones, an attorney who was proud to get his son Gordon
a job on the Deepwater Horizon, counts 26
specific cost-cutting measures he believes
contributed to the blowout.
Brown has an eye for character, and her
film is distinctive in part for its willingness
to dwell in the margins instead of cramming in as many eyewitnesses and experts
as she can find. In addition to Harris, she
tags along with Latham Smith, a colorful
tugboat captain who has plenty of opinions about oil. She also worms her way into
a small group of execs from oil companies
much smaller than BP, filming them talking
casually over drinks and cigars.
Throughout, the filmmaker has an eye on
the big picture, one these execs see even
if their economic interests color their perspectives. The last section of the film pairs
footage of Congressional panels chiding
schoolboy-like oil executives with scenes
that got less news coverage—a drillingrights auction held by the Department of
the Interior that earned more than $1.7
billion. With that much money to be made,
it’s no surprise the government quickly
lifted the deepwater offshore drilling moratorium, or that more rigs are drilling now
than were before 2010. As the film informs
viewers that Congress has yet to pass a
single new safety law for offshore drilling
since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, one
can’t help but marvel: Here, as with other world-shaking events that could have
prompted serious reform, Washington had
a moment during which popular sentiment
was vehemently pro-reform and failed to
do anything about it.
GET OUT 14
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
s we approach the fourth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon
oil spill, Margaret Brown takes
us back to the Gulf Coast with The Great
Invisible, a powerful documentary that
reminds those of us who’ve moved on to
other worries that this one is far from
finished—and that a government that
proclaimed outrage during the summer of
2010 has seemingly done little to prevent
or prepare for another such catastrophe.
The filmmaker, who grew up on the
coast of Alabama, spends time there and
in other coastal fishing communities, unsentimentally observing poverty among
those whose livelihoods have been destroyed. More than once, we hear someone
complain that money promised by those
administering BP’s $20 billion settlement
hasn’t come or that they got a few checks
and then nothing. Roosevelt Harris, a
volunteer delivering groceries to these
families, is our guide through the area, an
enjoyable companion who marvels at the
poverty endured by his new friends.
While BP predictably refused to participate, the filmmakers secured access
to two men who worked on the Deepwater Horizon and the father of another who
died there. They have suffered as well, and
not just from the considerable emotional
damage of seeing close friends perish.
Chief Mechanic Doug Brown (unrelated to
the director), who earned a six-figure salary on the rig, gets less than a thousand
dollars a month as a survivor of the explosion, is in terrible health, and has at least
once tried to kill himself; Stephen Stone,
a roustabout, relates his experience as a
survivor to Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge. Both men describe an environ-
FOOD 34
STAGE 16
Receptionist: (360) 734-6677 Cell: (360) 820-4907
REVIEWED BY JOHN DEFORE
B-BOARD 28
1055 N State St
FILM 24
Open Nightly Except Monday
SINCE 1988
MUSIC 20
COOKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
ART 18
PEP PER
SISTERS
film ›› opening this week
25
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
B-BOARD 28
FOOD 34
film ›› showing this week
26
BY CAREY ROSS
FILM SHORTS
2015 Oscar Nominated Shor ts: This is your
chance to see the lanimated short films good enough
to be deemed worthy of a potential Oscar by the
Academy. +++++ (Unrated)
Amer ican Sniper: Bradley Cooper, surprisingly
good actor (I can’t be the only one who thinks that),
nabbed an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Navy SEAL
Chris Kyle, the deadliest and most effective marksman
ever to serve in the U.S. military. ++++ (R • 2 hrs.
12 min.)
Birdman: If you didn’t see it the first time, don’t
miss it during its encore run. Unless you hate watching movies of unusual vision that feature career-defining performances (especially for Oscar frontrunner
Michael Keaton) and innovative direction, that is.
+++++ (R • 1 hr. 59 min.)
Black or White: I want to say that director Mike
Binder has made a good film in the past, but I don’t
think that would be the truth, and this movie isn’t
going to be the one to turn the tide. I’m sure Kevin
Costner and Octavia Spencer turn in their customary
fine performances, but there’s only so much they can
do. ++ (PG-13 • 2 hrs. 1 min.)
Fif ty Shades of Grey: I managed to make it
through nearly 100 pages of this book before suffering a rage breakdown due to its horrible writing and
throwing it across the room. This is the one time in
cinematic history when the movie will have to truly
blow (pun intended) to be worse than the book it’s
adapted from. ++ (R • 1 hr. 50 min.)
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
amazing by the fact that he’s done the bulk of his big,
universe-changing thinking while also battling ALS.
But before all that, he was a college kid with a giant
brain, a mysterious medical condition only beginning
to manifest and a love interest that would be tested
by both his limitless intellect and limited body.
++++ (Unrated • 2 hrs. 3 min.)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: Well,
the damn Hobbits walked for so damn long and
through so many damn movies I no longer care that
they finally get to stage a big damn fight in this
damn finale. +++ (PG-13 • 2 hrs. 24 min.)
Two Days, One Night: The incomparable Marion
Cotillard nabbed a much-deserved Oscar nomination
for her portrayal of a woman on the brink who must
convince her coworkers she shouldn’t be fired and has
only one weekend in which to do it. +++++ (PG-13
• 1 hr. 35 min.)
The Imitation Game: Alan Turing cracked an unbreakable Nazi code, built the first working computer,
saved countless lives and helped bring about the
end of World War II. This movie about Alan Turing
received eight Oscar nominations, including Best
Picture, Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best
Supporting Actress (Keira Knightley), and Best Director (Morton Tyldum). Not on par with stopping a war,
but an impressive achievement nonetheless. +++
++(PG-13 • 1 hr. 54 min.)
Into the Woods: A few weeks ago, I made a joke
about how Meryl Streep would no doubt be nominated
for her 19th Academy Award for her role in this
Stephen Sondheim musical, and apparently I joked
her Oscar nod into existence. Just another day at the
office for our greatest living actress. ++++ (PG • 2
hrs. 5 min.)
Jupiter Ascending: After the directorial dynamic
duo of Andy and Lana Wachowski made me buy
Keanu Reeves as an action hero, I believe them to be
capable of anything—but trying to sell Mila Kunis as
the savior of the universe might be taking things too
far, even for them. ++ (PG-13 • 2 hrs. 5 min.)
Kingsman: The Secret Ser v ice: See review previous
page. ++++ (R • 1 hr. 40 min.)
The Wedding Ringer: Kevin Hart stars in a comedy
with a premise so thin—he’s a best man for hire—it
can only be rendered funny by the presence of Kevin
Hart. Or not. + (R • 1 hr. 41 min.)
STILL ALICE
other beloved children’s books gets a film franchise,
I guess it’s Paddington’s turn. The fact that the
animation in this bears a striking resemblance to the
animatronic beasts found at Chuck E. Cheese is just
so much icing on the cake. +++++ (PG • 1 hr. 35
min.)
Project Almanac: A middling found-footage movie
about a group of time-traveling teens who wreak
havoc on their world by going back to the past and
messing with shit. Am I the only one who smells the
start of another unwanted film franchise? ++ (PG-13
• 1 hr. 46 min.)
Mr. Turner: See review previous page. +++++ (R •
2 hrs. 29 min.)
Seventh Son: I’ve read about a billion reviews of
this movie and I still can’t remember what it’s about.
+ (PG-13 • 1 hr. 42 min.)
Paddington: Since every other character from every
The Spongebob Mov ie: Sponge Out of Water:
I don’t know about you, but the sight of SpongeBob
SquarePants in 3D is the stuff my nightmares are
made of. +++ (PG • 1 hr. 40 min.)
Strange Magic: This is described as a “madcap
fairytale musical” based on A Midsummer Night’s
Dream with animation by Lucasfilm and Industrial
Light & Magic and voice work by Alan Cumming, Maya
Rudolph, and more. It seems to have a lot of things
going for it, yet I still have my doubts. + (PG • 1 hr.
39 min.)
Still Alice: As a woman diagnosed with early-onset
Alzheimer’s, Julianne Moore turns in an exquisitely
acted performance, earning her a richly deserved fifth
Oscar nomination. +++++ (PG-13 • 1 hr. 39 min.)
The Theor y of Ever ything: Stephen Hawking is
the Smartest Man Alive, a feat made all the more
Showtimes
Regal and AMC theaters, please see
www.fandango.com.
Pickford Film Center and
PFC’s Limelight Cinema, please see
www.pickfordfilmcenter.com
NOW SHOWING February 13 - 19
PICKFORD FILM CENTER: 1318 Bay St. | 360.738.0735 | www.pickfordfilmcenter.org
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
ART 18
STAGE 16
GET OUT 14
WORDS 12
CURRENTS 8
BELLINGHAM HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL
OPENING NIGHT: THE WISDOM TO SURVIVE 56m
Examines the challenges of climate change and
meaningful action that can be taken.
Thu: 6:30, 9:00 - Free Admission
Box Office is Open 30 Minutes Prior to F irst Showtime
LIMELIGHT CINEMA: 1416 Cornwall | Happy Hour: 4-6, M-F $3.50 Beer/$4.50 Wine
Parenthesis () Denote Bargain Pricing | Open Captioned Screenings every Tuesday
NOW
SHOWING
February
13 - 19
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (PG-13) 123m
“An exceptionally crafted drama, anchored by the
Dardenne brothers’ mastery of their skills and Marion
Cotillard’s breathtaking performance.” Austin Chronicle
Fri - Thu: 6:20
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (PG-13) 123m
“Eddie Redmayne transformation’s into Stephen Hawking
is something remarkable.” San Francisco Chronicle
Fri: (3:30); Sat & Sun: 3:30; Mon: (3:30)
Tue: (3:30-Open Captioned); Wed & Thu: (3:30)
2015 OSCAR SHORTS
Experience the nominated short films on the big screen,
vote for your favorites and win a prize!
ANIMATION (PG) 77m: Fri - Thu: 8:35
LIVE ACTION (PG-13) 117m: Sat & Sun: (12:45)
MAIL 4
M
2015 GUERILLA FILM PROJECT 66m
View the students finished work on the big screen!
Mon: 12:30
DO IT 2
ike Leigh’s Mr. Turner begins
in Holland, with two women
in country frocks walking a
riverbank, chatting merrily. It’s an early19th-century pastoral scene that would
have nicely suited an artist like J.M.W.
Turner—although later in his career, the
British painter turned to storm-tossed
scenes, to skies full of bleeding light, to
ships in peril, and beaches streaked with
dusk and doom.
The camera then moves beyond the
women to find a lone figure on a rise,
scratching away at his sketchbook. It is
Turner, in fact, on one of his European
jaunts, seeking inspiration, poking his
head up at a broad canvas of sky.
Turner, and Mr. Turner, soon return to
London, where for the most part Leigh’s
meticulously observed portrait of a notso-young artist emerges. Timothy Spall,
who has played a cabbie, a cook and a
photographer in previous Leigh endeavors, is all grunts and twitchy frowns as
this ambitious, restless, complicated
fellow. Turner lives in a house with his
doting father (Paul Jesson), a barberturned-factotum, fetching pigments,
brushes and supplies, and with a housekeeper, Hannah (Dorothy Atkinson), to
whom Turner indelicately makes love
from time to time—though love seems
hardly on the agenda.
With the exception of Topsy-Turvy,
Leigh’s beautiful, funny film about the
operetta titans Gilbert and Sullivan (in
which Spall played the bass-baritone
JULIA OCH ROMEO
(ROYAL SWEDISH OPERA HOUSE) (NR) 90m
A Valentines Day treat, see this classic love story
performed with new style.
Sat: 4:00
02.11.15
A BARREL OF LIFE
THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979) (G) 95m
Family Friendly Films: Admission$5/$4 Members
Kermit and his friends trek across America to find success
in Hollywood, but a frog-legs merchant is after Kermit.
Fri & Sat: (1:15); Sun: (12:45)
#06.10
Mr.
Turner
Richard Temple), the director’s work has
mainly concentrated on the here and
now, on the struggles of working folk,
couples and families, and drifters moving
through the modern world.
But that same keen ability to get at
the soul of his characters by watching
them struggle with the mundanities and
cruelties of daily life informs everything,
and everyone, in Mr. Turner. Turner’s work
is paramount, certainly, and you cannot
help but admire his commitment, his
productivity, his passion, his mounting
irritation with the art establishment as
he bustles between wealthy patrons and
finds a sanctuary in a coastal town.
In Margate by the Sea, he registers under a false name in a modest inn run by
the modest widow Sophia Booth (Marion
Bailey).
“Nice little pictures, Mr. Mallord,” she
says, peeking admiringly at her boarder’s
work.
The artist’s alarming indifference to a
visit from an ex-lover and her two daughters—his daughters, too—speaks volumes
about Turner’s personality, his ability to
compartmentalize, to bury emotions that
only resurface via the cool ultramarines
and fiery reds of his paint box.
For some reason, as Spall burrowed
deeply into his role (and learned to paint in
the process), one of the physical traits he
adopted was an almost constant guttural
cough, a seemingly unconscious snort. A
colleague who saw an early screening of
Mr. Turner joked that Spall’s Turner was
indeed a “Phlegmish Master.” That’s a low
pun for a work of high art, but for all Mr.
Turner’s serious intent, for the dogged research Leigh and his cast have gone by,
there is light and levity to be found, too.
Of course, there is the light of Turner’s
paintings, matched and mirrored by cinematographer Dick Pope’s extraordinary
framing and composition. Mr. Turner is no
barrel of laughs. It’s a barrel of life—an
extraordinary one.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
REVIEWED BY STEVEN REA
THE IMITATION GAME (PG-13) 114m
“Another must-see movie this year is the brilliant
encapsulation of one of the greatest stories of our
time — the genius, heroism and ultimately shameful
destruction of Alan Turing.” New York Observer
Fri: (3:45), 6:30, 9:30; Sat & Sun: 3:45, 6:30, 9:30
Mon: (12:45), 3:30, 6:30, 9:30
Tue: (3:30-Open Captioned) 6:30, 9:30
Wed: (3:30), 6:30, 9:30; Thu: (3:30), 6:00
VIEWS 6
MR. TURNER (R) 150m
“What a glorious film this is, richly and immediately
enjoyable. It’s funny and visually immaculate; it
combines domestic intimacy with an epic sweep and
has a lyrical, mysterious quality that perfumes every
scene.” The Guardian
Fri: (3:00), 6:15, 9:00; Sat: (12:45), 6:15, 9:00
Sun: (3:00), 6:15, 9:00
Mon - Wed: (3:15), 6:15, 9:00; Thu: (3:15), 8:30
B-BOARD 28
FOOD 34
film ›› opening this week
27
FOOD 34
B-BOARD 28
200
200
200
200
MIND & BODY
MIND & BODY
MIND & BODY
MIND & BODY
“Homeopathic Survival
Skills” will be the focus of a
presentation with Monique
Arsenault at 11am Thursday,
Feb. 12 at the SkillShare
Space at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave.
Arsenault will share simple
homeopathic solutions for
self-care and practical tools
for the whole family. Entry is
free. More info: 778-7217
Richard Tran, DC, leads a
“Natural Solutions to Workplace Neck Pain” workshop at
6:30pm Thursday, Feb. 12 at
the Community Food Co-op,
1220 N. Forest St. Fun demonstrations will be provided
and the workshop is appropriate to address participants’
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
bulletinboard
Herbal scientist and horticulturist Kelly Ann Atterberry
focuses on “Nourishing Herbs”
at a free workshop at 6pm Friday, Feb. 13 in Mount Vernon
at the Skagit Valley Food Coop, 202 S. First St. Attendees
will learn practical uses for
plants in our region, the science to support uses, and traditional uses. Please register
in advance. More info: www.
skagitfoodcoop.com
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
“Five Steps to Healthy
Blood Sugar” will be the
focus of a workshop with
registered dietician and nutritionist Lisa Samuel from
6:3-8:30pm Monday, Feb. 16
at the Community Food Coop, 1220 N. Forest St. You’ll
learn five strategies for
maintaining healthy blood
sugars, including guidelines
on what, when and how to
eat. Entry is $15 and includes
vegetarian chili and a fruit
crisp. More info: 734-8158 or
www.communityfood.coop
WORDS 12
CURRENTS 8
VIEWS 6
MAIL 4
DO IT 2
02.11.15
#06.10
CASCADIA WEEKLY
28
needs. Entry is free; register
in advance. More info: www.
communityfood.coop
Cerise Noah
Find out how sugar impacts
the body and overall health
of humans at a “Sugar Blues”
class with certified holistic
health coach and food educator Alexis Orsini at 6:30pm
Tuesday, Feb. 17 in Mount
Vernon at the Skagit Valley
Food Co-op, 202 S. First St.
Among other things, she’ll
talk about sugars added to
processed foods and how to
keep these out of our own
and our children’s diets. Entry
is free; register in advance.
More info: www.skagitfoodcoop.com
Paul Mulholland, M.Ed.,
focuses on “Emotions: How
to Express, Manage, and Live
with Them” at a workshop
from 7-8:30pm Tuesday, Feb.
17 at the Workspace, 303 Potter St. Entry is $35. More info:
(360) 527-9680
Windermere Real Estate Whatcom, Inc.
(360) 393-5826
[email protected]
TO PLACE YOUR AD | 360-647-8200 OR [email protected]
Massage Connection CE
presents “The Power of Touch
in Palliative Care” at 5:45pm
Tuesday, Feb. 17 at Garden
Street Methodist Church, 326
N. Garden St. Sally Ledgerwood, LMP, will lead the presentation. More info: www.
ncmassageconnection.org
Homeopath and holistic
practitioner Carolyn Hallett leads a “Thriving Kids!”
workshop at 6:30pm Thursday, Feb 19 in Mount Vernon
at the Skagit Valley Food Coop, 202 S. First St. Attendees will learn breakthrough
strategies to overcome kids’
super-susceptibility to sickness and re-tool their medicine cabinets and kitchens
with drug-free, wholesome
solutions that will empower
you to raise healthy, resilient, immune-boosted kids.
Entry is free. More info:
www.skagitfoodcoop.com
A “Discover Vedic Astrology” event will feature 15-minute readings for $10 from
10am-2pm Saturday, Feb. 21 at
Wise Awakening, 314 E. Holly
St. Professional astrologer
Christine Sessler will helm the
event, which focuses on the
astrology of India. No appointment is necessary, but you
should have your birth date,
birth time and birth place
available. More info: www.
wiseawakening.com
REALTOR ®
Professional,
knowledgeable,
fun & friendly
to work with.
health
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llln
$250 FOR A TOTAL OF
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COVERING ALL OF WHATCOM, SKAGIT,
AND ISLAND COUNTIES!
CALL TODAY!
Sunday, February 15
Only a few spaces left!
Community HU Song
10 am - 10:30 am
Advertising 360-647-8200
[email protected]
Spiritual
Discussion Topic:
“Are Inner Guides
Real?” Discussion and
Discovery Workshop
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Fairhaven Public Library
Fireplace Room
Would you
like to
become a
homeowner?
Join us for
KulshanCLT’s
FREE
HomeBuyer
Education
Class
Mon. & Wed.
March 18 & 20
6pm–9pm
Call to pre-register
360-671-5600, x2
www.KulshanCLT.org
Last Week’s Puzzle
B-BOARD 28
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
ART 18
STAGE 16
GET OUT 14
48 ___-slipper (orchid variety)
50 Company supplying vans and
cardboard boxes
51 “Perfect Strangers” cousin
54 Like some vaccines and exams
55 Website anyone
can edit
57 “That was ___,
this is now”
58 Dextrous start
60 Concorde’s letters
62 “You’ve Got
Mail” ISP
2015 Jonesin’
Crosswords
(editor@jonesin
crosswords.com)
WORDS 12
Story”
29 Middle daughter
on “Downton Abbey”
32 Raised sculptures
36 From ___ (at
some distance)
37 Grade alongside
the review “These
Mick Jagger
chewables are the
worst”?
41 Used a Breathalyzer
42 Former Cabinet
Acres”
34 Most in need of
a bath
35 Keep from trespassing on
37 NFL ball carriers
38 “___ Punk!”
(movie about punk
rock in Utah)
39 Debt repaid in
regular payments
over time
40 “That’s ___ can
stand!”
44 Sports entertainment gp. founded
by Ted Turner (and
defunct by 2001)
46 Los Estados Unidos, for example
47 Folded food
CURRENTS 8
banzo
19 Jerome Bettis’s
team, during the
move
20 Nissan SUV with
an earthy name
22 Rowing machine
unit
23 NPR’s Shapiro
24 “I finally got
it!”
25 Quarterback
known for kneeling
27 Ali of “Love
1 Desert that means
“desert” in Arabic
2 Lacking energy
3 Many toothpastes
4 “___ Gratia Artis”
(MGM motto)
5 1974 Charles Bronson classic
6 See 5-Across
7 Of ___ (so to
speak)
8 Category
9 “Better Call Saul”
star Odenkirk
10 Coffee shop connection
11 Phobia
12 Jukebox selection
13 “Hit the bricks!”
17 Lets out
21 1860s White
House nickname
24 ___ Ishii (“Kill
Bill” character
played by Lucy
Liu)
26 Whoopi’s Oscarwinning “Ghost”
role
28 Marijuana producer
30 Leather color
31 “48 ___” (Eddie
Murphy movie)
33 Gabor of “Green
the nursery is open !
In a criminal case,
sometimes it takes a trial.
ict
Verd endant:
Jury find the def
Jury,
lty
Gui
t
o
N
lty
__
Gui
____ n
_
_
.
l
_
e al
erso
___
ay w
____ y Forep
_
_
So s
_
r
Ju
__
CASCADIA WEEKLY
upcoming workshops
www.Lustick.com
he
We t
#06.10
(360) 685-4221
02.11.15
Highly Experienced Trial Attorneys
Former Federal, State & Local Prosecutors
Nationally Recognized &
Award Winning Attorneys
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
1 It’s a long story
5 With 6-Down,
reality show “RuPaul’s ___”
9 Inseparable pair,
for short
13 More mentally
there
14 Freedom from
worry
15 Two-tone treat
16 Swindling of a
UK football club?
18 Pinto or gar-
Down
VIEWS 6
Across
member Donna
43 One of the
simple machines
45 “The pain reliever hospitals
use most,” its old
ads said
49 Baseball great
Ernie Banks’s
nickname
52 ___ polloi (commoners)
53 “I ___ real
American...”
(Hulk Hogan
theme lyric)
54 Wise friend of
Pooh
56 “Let’s suppose
that...”
58 Got 100% on
59 Jamaica’s Ocho
___
61 Group including
only elements
number #13 and
#2?
63 Criminal’s alter
egos, briefly
64 “Aloha Oe” instruments, for short
65 English horn
relatives
66 Stuff in the trap
67 Stuff in the trap
68 Stuff in the trap
FOOD 34
rearEnd ›› “It’s a Trap!”—this’ll give you some warm fuzzies
feb 14
grow fruit trees
advanced vegetable
gardening, part 1
feb 21
grow apples & pears
- beginning and
advanced see website for more info
29
hours: monday-saturday 10-5, sunday 11-4
6906 goodwin road, everson | (360) 966-5859
www.cloudmountainfarmcenter.org
:KDWFRP&RXQW\
VQRQSURÀWFRPPXQLW\IDUPHGXFDWLRQFHQWHU
FOOD 34
‘—”•‡‡‡–•ͳǣͶͷȂ͵ǣͳͷ’ǡ‡˜‡”›Š—”•†ƒ›‹ƒ”…ŠǤ
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FILM 24
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B-BOARD 28
1;70LQGVWRUPV
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MUSIC 20
—’’‘”–‹˜‡˜‹”‘‡––‘…‘—”ƒ‰‡‡ƒ”‹‰
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
Š‡‘—‹–›”‹…Š‡–‡–‡”
ART 18
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30
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ʹͳͳ͹ƒŽ—–̷Ž†”‹†‰‡
BY ROB BREZSNY
FREEWILL
ASTROLOGY
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope you have
someone in your life to whom you can send the following love note, and if you don’t, I trust you will locate
that someone no later than August 1: “I love you more
than anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love
you, and also, I love you in a way that no one loves
you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love
you in a way that I love no one else, and never have
loved anyone else, and never will love anyone else.”
(This passage is borrowed from author Jonathan Safran
Foer’s book Everything Is Illuminated.)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “We assume that others show their love in the same way that we do,” writes
psychologist Amy Przeworski, “and if they don’t follow
that equation, we worry that the love is not there.”
I think you’re on track to overcome this fundamental
problem, Taurus. Your struggles with intimacy have
made you wise enough to surrender your expectations
about how others should show you their love. You’re
almost ready to let them give you their affection and
demonstrate their care for you in ways that come natural
to them. In fact, maybe you’re ready RIGHT NOW.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I’d like to bestow
a blessing on you and your closest ally. My hope is
that it will help you reduce the restlessness that on
occasion undermines the dynamism of your relationship. Here’s the benediction, inspired by a Robert Bly
poem: As you sit or walk or lie next to each other,
you share a mood of glad acceptance. You aren’t itchy
or fidgeting, wondering if there’s something better
to be or do. You don’t wish you were talking about a
different subject or feeling a different emotion or living in a different world. You are content to be exactly
who you are, exactly where you are.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Want to infuse your
romantic interludes with wilder moods now and then?
Want to cultivate a kind of intimacy that taps deeper
into your animal intelligence? If so, try acting out
each other’s dreams or drawing magic symbols on each
other’s bodies. Whisper funny secrets into each other’s
ears or wrestle like good-natured drunks on the living
room floor. Howl like coyotes. Caw like crows. Purr like
cheetahs. Sing boisterous songs and recite feral poetry
to each other. Murmur this riff, adapted from Pablo
Neruda: “Our love was born in the wind, in the night,
in the earth. That’s why the clay and the flower, the
mud and the roots know our names.”
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Is there any sense in
which your closest alliance is a gift to the world? Does
your relationship inspire anyone? Do the two of you
serve as activators and energizers, igniting fires in
the imaginations of those whose lives you touch? If
not, find out why. And if you are tapping into those
potentials, it’s time to raise your impact to the next
level. Together the two of you now have extra power
to synergize your collaboration in such a way that it
sends out ripples of benevolence everywhere you go.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): About 2,600 years
ago, the Greek poet Sappho wrote the following
declaration: “You make me hot.” In the next 10 days,
I’d love for you to feel motivated to say or think that
on a regular basis. In fact, I predict that you will.
The astrological omens suggest you’re in a phase
when you are both more likely to be made hot and
more likely to encounter phenomena that make you
hot. Here are some other fragments from Sappho that
might come in handy when you need to express your
torrid feelings: 1. “This randy madness I joyfully proclaim.” 2. “Eros makes me shiver again . . . Snake-sly,
invincible.” 3. “Desire has shaken my mind as wind in
the mountain forests roars through trees.” (Translations by Guy Davenport.)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the TV sciencefiction show Doctor Who, the title character lives in
a time machine that is also a spaceship. It’s called
a Tardis. From the outside, it appears to be barely
bigger than a phone booth. But once you venture
inside, you find it’s a spacious chateau with numerous
rooms, including a greenhouse, library, observatory, swimming pool, and karaoke bar. This is an
excellent metaphor for you, Scorpio. Anyone who
wants your love or friendship must realize how much
you resemble a Tardis. If they don’t understand that
you’re far bigger on the inside than you seem on
the outside, it’s unlikely the two of you can have a
productive relationship. This Valentine season, as a
public service, make sure that everyone you’re seriously involved with knows this fact.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Love and
intimacy come in many forms. There are at least a billion different ways for you to be attracted to another
person, and a trillion different ways to structure
your relationship. Maybe your unique bond involves
having sex, or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s romantic
or friendly or holy, or all three of those things. Do
the two of you have something important to create
together, or is your connection more about fueling
each other’s talents? Your task is to respect and revere the idiosyncratic ways you fit together, not force
yourselves to conform to a prototype. To celebrate
the Valentine season, I invite you and your closest
ally to play around with these fun ideas.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Anais Nin wrote
the following passage in her novel A Spy in the House
of Love: “As other girls prayed for handsomeness in a
lover, or for wealth, or for power, or for poetry, she
had prayed fervently: let him be kind.” I recommend that approach for you right now, Capricorn. A
quest for tender, compassionate attention doesn’t
always have to be at the top of your list of needs,
but I think it should be for now. You will derive a
surprisingly potent alchemical boost from basking in
kindness. It will catalyze a breakthrough that can’t be
unleashed in any other way. Ask for it!
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): How many desires
do you have? Take a rough inventory. Identify the
experiences you continually seek in your quest to feel
relief and pleasure and salvation and love and a sense
of meaning. You can also include fantasies that go
unfulfilled and dreams that may or may not come true
in the future. As you survey this lively array, don’t
censor yourself or feel any guilt. Simply give yourself
to a sumptuous meditation on all the longings that
fuel your journey. This is your prescription for the
coming week. In ways you may not yet be able to
imagine, it is the medicine you need most.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The poet Rainer
Marie Rilke said that people misunderstand the role
of love. “They have made it into play and pleasure
because they think that play and pleasure are more
blissful than work,” he wrote. “But there is nothing
happier than work. And love, precisely because it is
the supreme happiness, can be nothing other than
work.” I’m sharing this perspective with you for two
reasons, Virgo. First, of all the signs in the zodiac,
you’re most likely to thrive on his approach. Second,
you’re in a phase of your astrological cycle when
this capacity of yours is at a peak. Here’s how Rilke
finished his thought: “Lovers should act as if they
had a great work to accomplish.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The German word
Nachkussen refers to the kind of kiss that compensates for all the kissing that has not been happening,
all the kissing that has been omitted or lost. If it
has been too long since you’ve kissed anyone, you
need Nachkussen. If your lover hasn’t kissed you
lately with the focused verve you long for, you need
Nachkussen. If you yourself have been neglecting to
employ your full artistry and passion as you bestow
your kisses, you need Nachkussen. From what I can
tell, Pisces, this Valentine season is a full-on Nachkussen holiday for you. Now please go get what you
haven’t been getting.
FOOD 34
BETWEEN THE
SPREADSHEETS
STAGE 16
ART 18
I started dating a female coworker. I’ve
seen many office romances go bad and
be fodder for gossip, so I act very professional at work so nobody knows. She’s
hurt that I’m keeping her a “secret.”
This year,
say it with
flour.
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
—Stressed
It’s a bit of a disconnect to get
the office hello from a guy who,
just the night before, was undressing you with his teeth.
But the real problem here isn’t conflicting ideas on whether to put out
an all-office memo: “The softball team
will meet at 5:30pm behind the building, and oh, yeah, Amber and I are
doing it.” Differences of opinion are
part of every relationship. What helps
your partner feel O.K. about them—
even when she goes along with what
you want—is acting like you’re in a
relationship, not a dictatorship. This
means figuring out policy together instead of your single-handedly deciding it and then—surprise!—greeting
her like you aren’t quite sure whether
she’s Amber who just helped you break
your headboard or what’s-her-face
from sales.
Had you made this a discussion instead of a decree, she might’ve told
you she’s worried you’re ashamed of
her—allowing you to reassure her
(assuming you’re not). Well, there’s
no time like now to have that policy
discussion—including worst-case scenarios, like how you two would handle
it if things went south. It does seem
prudent to wait to alert your coworkers until you’re reasonably sure your
relationship has legs. However, sooner
or later, somebody from the office is
likely to run into the two of you out
on the town. The story of a Saturday
night strategy session in the parking
lot of a romantic French restaurant is
unlikely to fly—especially when it appears to have ended with both of you
wearing her lipstick.
B-BOARD 28
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
\ 360. 647. 2805
VIEWS 6
Kids these days grow up so fast.
Before you know it, they’re 50 and
back home doing bong hits in the
basement.
Though you see your girlfriend as
the preyed-upon one here, consider
that she’s getting something out of
this, too, like feeling needed and conflict avoidance. Being conflict-avoidant means refusing to experience
legitimate adult discomfort—like the
ouchiepoo of telling a full-grown,
able-bodied man that he needs to go
get a job, an apartment and a roll of
quarters to do his own damn laundry.
We evolved to be a social species
and to care about how others see us.
However, we can take this too far, as
your girlfriend has, probably out of
an overvaluing of relationships (over
self) and an ensuing desperate need
to be liked. This leads her to shove
away her needs, making her the perfect mark for an aging and manipulative slacker—to the point where she
stops just short of cradling her adult
baby in her lap and feeding him a
bottle of pale ale.
Life involves making tradeoffs. On
the one hand, you call her the love
of your life. On the other hand, she
comes with a man-sized tumor she
seems unwilling to excise from her life
and yours. Whatever you decide, avoid
telling her what to do (which generally
provokes defensiveness, not change).
Instead, you can tell her where your
“nuh-uh, can’t do” point is—like if you
ultimately can’t live with a woman who
is in a relationship with you but has
one foot (and her wallet and a couple
www.stilllifemassage.com
MAIL 4
—Dumbfounded
120 Prospect Street, Bellingham \
DO IT 2
I just moved in with the love of my life.
Her former boyfriend from years ago lives
in her downstairs “granny unit.” My girlfriend recently revealed that along with
financially subsidizing him, she’s still doing his laundry because “it’s just easier.”
He is 50 and previously earned a lot of
money repairing computers and being a
handyman, but he is not “into” working.
My girlfriend is a therapist and sees a
therapist, who has advised a proper separation. Amazingly, my girlfriend would
rather she and I move out than insist
he leave (though the home and loan are
hers!). I’m worried that this will be one
long, frustrating ride.
Receiving Dr. referrals
since 2002.
02.11.15
STAY-AT-HOME MARTYR
Medical massage for
injury treatment and
chronic pain conditions.
#06.10
THE ADVICE
GODDESS
of laundry baskets) squarely in the life
of her ex.
It’s possible that a real likelihood of
losing you could do for her what having a therapist and being a therapist
could not—compel her to act assertively. However, you do take a risk in
drawing the line. You may decide to
just suck it up to keep her, even if it
means keeping him. If so, try to focus
on the positives of having an adult
toddler around—like how he should
only need to be taken to the emergency room for the occasional cardiac
event and not because he’s put yet another bean or Lego up his nose.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
BY AMY ALKON
31
Mon - Fri 7am - 4Sa
Sr
8
Ride on.
All rides, all day, $3.
radio theater project
“ T H E AT E R O F T H E M I N D ” F O R T O DAY
Sundays 8:30 p.m.
y“Captain SharkeeCa
rribean”
e of th
Pirate ScoubyrgCon
an Doyle
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
B-BOARD 28
FOOD 34
Got your day pass?
February 22!
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
The violent tale of a pirate
who is more real than
most pirate characters in
fiction.
32
Streaming Live! KSVR.org
Find us on Facebook.
rearEnd ›› comix
FOOD 34
rearEnd ›› sudoku
B-BOARD 28
Sudoku
FILM 24
Arrange the digits 1-9 so that each digit occurs once in each row, once in
each column, and once in each box.
2
3
ART 18
1
8
MUSIC 20
5
GET OUT 14
WORDS 12
1
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
tomorrow
exchange
buy * sell*trade
#06.10
7
6 3 9
7
8 6 9
1 8
5 9
6
9
CASCADIA WEEKLY
7
STAGE 16
3 4
CURRENTS 8
9
5
VIEWS 6
4
33
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doit
FOOD 34
34
FOOD
chow
REVIEWS
CASCADIA WEEKLY
#06.10
02.11.15
DO IT 2
MAIL 4
VIEWS 6
CURRENTS 8
WORDS 12
GET OUT 14
STAGE 16
ART 18
MUSIC 20
FILM 24
B-BOARD 28
RECIPES
34
BY ARI LEVAUX
Battle of the Sexes
PEACE, LOVE AND PLOV
ariations on plov, a meaty, rice-based dish, are found throughout Central
Asia. The word plov is the root of pilaf, its more delicate spawn. Many give
Uzbekistan credit for being the birthplace of plov, but it’s been a beloved
dish for centuries among many of the other “stans” in the region. More recently,
it’s become a cult dish farther afield, and is very popular in Ukraine.
I learned much of what I know about plov at a dinner party, when 14 Uzbek
businessmen showed up and proceeded to make the dish. The party was full of
nationals from many former USSR countries, many of whom had something to
say about plov.
One of the things I learned is that the preparation of plov is traditionally
man’s work. A Tajik college student told me, frankly, that she thought women
wouldn’t add enough meat if they were in charge of the plov.
When I asked one of the Uzbek businessmen about women and plov, he patiently folded his arms behind his back, and gave a silky response that amounted
to a position that women making plov being about as likely as man making baby.
I also heard a more pragmatic theory: Women do it every day, so it gets
old. When men do it, they do their best. Meanwhile, at least one of the Uzbek
businessmen had his sights set beyond the gender divide entirely, likening plov
making to a spiritual quest.
“First of all, if we want to make something good or tasty or best—first we
ask God for help. Always when I am preparing, I ask for power and knowledge.
With heat we do everything: onion, carrot, garlic, meat, rice. And we use
V
PROF I L ES
tasteful things, like spices and pepper, so
the plov becomes very tasteful.”
Beyond that, for a plov to pass an Uzbek
inspection it must be prepared with melted
lamb fat, preferably cut from the base of
the lamb’s tail, a region called kudryuka. It
should be cooked over a fire, and in a dish
called a qozon.
Traditionally, lamb or mutton meat is
used, though I often make deer meat plov.
It can also be made with beef, although the
flavor’s not as strong. The gaminess of lamb
is the perfect counterbalance to the cumin,
coriander and other spices that are used.
The recipe is simple and versatile enough
to accommodate all manner of substitutions
and creative license. The recipe that follows
should be considered a point of departure for
the creation of your own personal plov.
The basic idea is to fry the meat, onions,
garlic, carrots and spices into a browned,
greasy mix, add rice and water (or stock, ideally), and let it cook until the rice is done.
For Uzbek-style plov, begin by melting
your lamb fat in a heavy-bottomed pot over
medium/high temperature, using a potato
purée tool to get as much liquid fat out
as you can. Then fry lamb chunks in the
grease. Alternatively, brown a pound (for
four servings) of whatever meat you wish,
cut into cubes, in the oil of your choice.
Plov is also tasty enough, if less authentic,
when made with olive oil or bacon grease.
When the meat is nicely browned, add an
onion, sliced thinly from end to end. When
the onions are soft and light brown, add the
cloves of a head of garlic, chopped, and a tablespoon each of cumin and coriander, ideally
freshly ground, and a teaspoon each of salt
and ground black pepper. Add five coarsely
grated carrots and cook for about five minutes, stirring often, until the carrots are soft.
Add two cups of rice, and about five cups
of water, broth or stock (if using salt containing broth or bullion, reconsider adding
salt above).
Cover, and simmer over medium heat until the rice is done. Stir frequently to make
sure the plov does not stick to the bottom
of the pot. Season one last time with salt
and pepper and garlic powder. Depending on
the type of rice, it may be necessary to add
more water until the rice is fully cooked.
Let the plov sit, or “rest,” for about 15
minutes with the lid on before serving. This
lets the flavors settle and come to terms
with one another, and for the moisture to
distribute itself evenly.
WED., FEB. 11
WINTER GARDENING: Kelle Sunter of the
Blaine CORE program will show you how to
grow fresh greens on your windowsill at a
“Winter Gardening” workshop from 4-6pm at
the Blaine Library, 610 3rd St. Entry is free.
(360) 305-3637
SMALL PLATES: “Scandinavian Smorgasbord” will be the focus of a “Small Plates
of the World” course with Jesse Otero from
6-8:30pm at the Cordata Community Food
Co-op, 315 Westerly Rd. The warming dishes
he’ll focus on are “warming dishes designed
to keep the fierce chill of winter at bay.”
Entry is $39.
383-3200
EPIC TOMATOES: Craig LeHoullier, tomato
adviser for Seed Savers Exchange, explains
everything a tomato enthusiast needs to
know about growing more than 200 varieties
of tomatoes when he shares tips from his
book Epic Tomatoes at 7pm at Village Books,
1200 11th St. The tome also offers a comprehensive guide to the various pests and
diseases of tomatoes and explains how best
to avoid them. Entry is free.
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
THURS., FEB. 12
PROJEC T CULINARY GENIUS: Students
in grades 5 to 7 can learn to make delicious
food with other middle-grade kids at a
“Chop It! Project Culinary Genius” class from
3:30-4:30pm at the Lynden Library, 216 4th
St. The program continues Thursdays through
Feb. 26, culminating in an Iron Chef competition for prizes.
V-DAY DESSERTS: Amaze your Valentine’s
Day sweetheart with delicious treats made
without any refined sugar at a “Valentine’s
Day Desserts—Guilt-free!” class from
6-8:30pm at the Cordata Community Food Coop, 315 Westerly Rd. The class menu contains
no gluten, dairy, soy or GMOs. Entry is $39.
383-3200
FRI., FEB. 13
WINE AND CHOCOLATE: Sample a lineup
of fine red wines and exotic chocolates from
Fresco Chocolates at a “Red Wine and Chocolate” tasting event from 6-8pm at Perfectly
Paired, 1200 Old Fairhaven Pkwy. Entry to
the Valentine’s Day weekend even is $8-$10.
Please RSVP in advance.
671-0203 OR
WWW.PERFECTLYPAIREDGOURMET.COM
DINE OUT DEADLINE: Local restaurant
business owners who want to take part in
the Opportunity Council’s annual “Dine Out
for Maple Alley Inn” fundraiser should know
today is the last day to sign up for the May
12 event. Maple Alley Inn is a program that
provides hot, nutritious meals for people
who are hungry.
WWW.OPPCO.ORG
VALENT INE’S DINNER: Laura Hartner will
heat up the kitchen with recipes perform for
two to share at a “Valentine’s Dinner” class
from 6:30-8:30pm in Mount Vernon at Gretchen’s Kitchen, 509 S. First St. Entry is $35.
WWW.GRETCHENSKITCHEN.COM
SAT., FEB. 14
WINTER MARKE T: Get stocked up on seasonally hardy produce and much more at the
Anacortes Farmers Market’s second Winter
doit
WWW.POTLUCKKITCHENSTUDIO.COM
OYSTERS, GIN & JAZZ: Sweethearts 21 or
older should procure tickets in advance for an
“Oysters, Gin & Jazz” Valentine’s Day event
from 6:30-10pm at BelleWood Acres, 6140 Guide
Meridian. Highlights include a “libido bar”
(featuring oysters three ways), “roving romance
fare” by Crave Catering, Flying Prohibition jazz
with a roaring ’20s theme, burlesque dancing
and more. Entry is $55, with designated driver
tickets available for $40.
WWW.BELLEWOODFARMS.COM
SUN., FEB. 15
SOUTHSIDE COMMUNIT Y MEAL: The Happy
Valley Neighborhood Association hosts its
monthly Southside Community Meal from
5-6:30pm at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church,
1720 Harris Ave. The free event includes a main
dish, salad and bread; guests are asked to bring
a potluck dessert. All are welcome.
715-2993
MON., FEB. 16
BITE OF BLAINE: Sample goods from the
menus of Blaine and Birch Bay restaurants and
a no-host bar as part of the “Bite of Blaine
Food Fest” happening from 6-8pm at Semiahmoo Resort, 9565 Semiahmoo Pkwy. Tickets are
$25 and include silent and live auctions of local
goods and services.
WWW.BLAINECHAMBER.COM
TUES., FEB. 17
MARDI GRAS DINNER: Fried oyster po’boys,
dirty rice with cajun prawns, andouille gumbo
and beignets will all be on the menu at a Mardi
Gras Dinner Party at 6pm at Ciao Thyme, 207
Unity St. Entry is $58; wine will be available for
purchase by the glass or by the bottle.
WWW.CIAOTHYME.COM
FOOD
FOOD 34
34
B-BOARD 28
FILM 24
MUSIC 20
ART 18
STAGE 16
MBT WINTER REP 2015
ASIAN NEW YEAR: Miang Kum, coconut hot
and sour soup, and crunchy cashew salad will
be among the menu items when Mary Ellen
Carter hosts an “Asian New Year Celebrations”
course from 6:30-8:30pm in Mount Vernon
at Gretchen’s Kitchen, 509 S. First St. Entry
is $40.
GET OUT 14
~ Walton Theatre ~
WWW.GRETCHENSKITCHEN.COM
THURS., FEB. 19
WORDS 12
DATE NIGHT DINNER: Attend a four-course
Saint Valentine’s Day Date Night dinner featuring oysters, antipasti salad, risotto and dessert
at 6pm in Anacortes at the Potluck Kitchen
Studio, 910-A 11th St. Entry is $75 and includes
wine pairings.
734-8158 OR WWW.COMMUNIT YFOOD.COOP
WINTER IN FRANCE: Karina Davidson shares
recipes adapted from famed cookbook author
and French food blogger David Leibovitz—with
an emphasis on hearty, winter staples—at a
“My Winter in France” course from 6-8:30pm
at the Cordata Community Food Co-op, 315
Westerly Rd. Entry is $39.
CURRENTS 8
WWW.CLOUDMOUNTAINFARMCENTER.ORG
BASIC NUTRIENTS: Certified nutritionist
Jim Ehmke helms a “Basic Nutrients” class
from 6:30-8:30pm at the Cordata Community
Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Rd. Class members
will learn about the basic nutrients on
which we all rely: not just protein, fats and
carbohydrates, but air and water as well.
Entry is $5.
383-3200
TASTE OF INDIA: Meeru, owner of Seattle’s
Shanik Restaurant, leads a “Taste of India”
course at 6:30pm at Ciao Thyme, 207 Unity St.
Both recipes and stories will be on the menu at
the popular event, which is expected to sell out
early. Entry is $78.
ADAP
WWW.CIAOTHYME.COM
Y
MAR
E
V
E
ST
BREAD & BOOK S: Discuss Chef Dan Barber’s
book The Third Plate at 6:30pm at the Mount
Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St. In
addition to learning more about what the book
has to say about sustainable farm systems
(including those in Skagit Valley), there will
be bread samples from locally-sourced grains
from Jonathan Bethony of WSU’s Bread Lab.
The Skagit Valley Food Co-op will be providing
the butter. Entry is free.
TIN
HEIM
BY
ITTEN
ERN
RL ST
CA
WR
WWW.MOUNTVERNONWA.GOV
FLASH OF SILVER: Renowned chef and
television personality Graham Kerr shares
stories from his new literary project, Flash
of Silver, at 7pm at Village Books, 1200 11th
St. The e-book serial, part memoir and part
eco-spiritual narrative, follows the lifecycle of
a pair of wild Pacific Chinook salmon among a
salmon “run” and aligns them with Kerr’s life
experience.
TED B
FEB 13 - MAR 1
View Calendar Online
This uproarious comedy,
featuring the wit of Steve
Martin, sees a Victorian
couple’s prim existence
shattered when the wife’s
bloomers fall down in public!
Tickets: $25 GA, $12.50 Students plus applicable fees
35
WWW.VILLAGEBOOKS.COM
Sponsor:
SEND YOUR EVENTS TO
[email protected]
VIEWS 6
FRUITS & VEGE TABLES: “Learn to Grow Fruit
Trees” will be the focus of a free workshop from
10:30am-12pm at Everson’s Cloud Mountain
Farm Center, 6906 Goodwin Rd. From 1:303:30pm, the first of a five-part “Vegetable
Growing Series” class for intermediate to
advanced gardeners takes place. Entry is $100,
and registration is required.
WED., FEB. 18
MAIL 4
733-4030 OR WWW.WCCOA.ORG
383-3200
DO IT 2
VALENT INE’S BRUNCH: Pancakes, biscuits
and gravy, eggs, sausages, chocolate treats and
live music will be on the menu at a Valentine’s
Day Brunch from 10am-1pm at the Bellingham
Senior Activity Center, 315 Halleck St. Entry is
$4 for kids, $6 for adults or $18 for a family of
two adults and three children.
BREADS OF INDIA: Balabhadra demonstrates
four varieties of Indian flatbread—naan,
chapati, parantha, and pita—at a “Breads of
India” class from 6:30-9pm at the Community
Food Co-op, 1220 N. Forest St. This is a handson class, so bring your appetite (and your
apron). Entry is $35.
02.11.15
384-1422
WWW.POTLUCKKITCHENSTUDIO.COM
#06.10
COMMUNIT Y MEAL: All are welcome at the
bimonthly Community Meal taking place from
10am-12pm at the United Church of Ferndale,
2034 Washington St. Entry is free and open to
all. Breakfast casserole, mixed fruit, biscuits
and cake will be on today’s menu.
CASCADIA WEEKLY
WWW.ANACORTESFARMERSMARKET.ORG
FAT TUESDAY: Learn to make oysters, Mardi
Gras slaw, chicken etouffee, and Mardi Gras
King Cake at a “Fat Tuesday, New Orleans
Style” class at 6pm in Anacortes at the
Potluck Kitchen Studio, 910-A 11th St. Entry
is $50.
Art by Conner Peirson - Photos by Damian Vines
Market of the season from 9am-2pm at the Depot Arts Center, 611 R Ave. The event happens
again March 14 and April 11 before the market
opens on a weekly basis in May.
Scott A. Hume, CFP®
Financial Advisor
Mount Baker Theatre
360.255.7891
MountBakerTheatre.com
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13
CASINO -WIDE DRAWINGS:
HOURLY, 3 – 9 PM
10 PM GRAND PRIZE DRAWINGS:
*
1 WINNER
1 WINNER
SKAGIT VALLEY CASINO
Thursdays, February 19 & 26
WEekly Drawings
Every Half-Hour, 2 – 7:30 pm
*
Grand Prizes
Three Cash Winners at 8 pm
$10,000 $5,000 $2,500
Earn Tickets:
February 15 – 26
Points Prizes
Earn 50 Points on Drawing Days
Receive a Free Gift! Visit Rewards Club Center for details.
CW
Casino opens at 9 am daily. Must be 21 or older with valid ID. *Must be a Rewards Club Member.
Must be present to win. Visit Rewards Club Center for details. Management reserves all rights.