Love. Hurts Sounds like Romeo & Juliet, P.16 REDUX KODO'S ALERT AVIAN IMMERSION * SKAGIT ISLAND COUNTIES. ONE EARTH TOUR The power of taiko, P.

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1 The Gristle, * Film Shorts, * Free Will Astrology, c a s c a d i a REPORTING FROM THE HEART OF CASCADIA WHATCOM * SKAGIT ISLAND COUNTIES * { }{#03}{V.10}{FREE} Love Hurts Sounds like Romeo & Juliet, P.16 AVIAN ALERT Poultry problems cross the border, P.08 KODO'S ONE EARTH TOUR The power of taiko, P.20 IMMERSION REDUX Adrianne Smits thinks big, P.18

2 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 2 c a s c a d i a A glance at what s happening this week Kids and adults can explore and learn more about environmental stewardship of area waterways at the Salish Sea Science Festival happening Sun., Jan. 25 at Bellingham High School Growing Seeds of Nourishment & Medicine will be the theme of the annual Community Seed Swap Sun., Jan. 25 at the Majestic WEDNESDAY [ ] ONSTAGE Shoe Me the Funny: 9pm, Horseshoe Cafe MUSIC Miles Black Trio: 7pm, the Majestic BUG Song Circle: 7pm, Roeder Home WORDS Open Mic: 6pm, Creekside Cafe, Sudden Valley COMMUNITY Death Cafe: 6:30-8pm, Mole s Funeral Home THURSDAY [ ] ONSTAGE The Carrion Man: 7:30pm, idiom Theater Treasure Island: 7:30pm, Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon Good, Bad, Ugly: 8pm, Upfront Theatre The Project: 10pm, Upfront Theatre DANCE Folk Dance: 7:15-10pm, Fairhaven Library MUSIC Slim Fat Lips: 5-8pm, Woolley Market Bluegrass Summit: 8pm, Graham s Restaurant, Glacier WORDS Chuckanut Radio Hour: 7pm, Heiner Theatre, WCC COMMUNITY Climate Workshop: 6:30pm, RE Sources FRIDAY [ ] ONSTAGE Damn Yankees: 7pm, Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth The Carrion Man: 7:30pm, idiom Theater Rumors: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Theatre Blender: 8pm and 10pm, Upfront Theatre DANCE Western Line Dancing: 5:45-8:30pm, Ten Mile Grange, Lynden Friday Night Dance Party: 7:30-10pm, Bellingham Dance Company MUSIC Opera Scenes: 7:30pm, Performing Arts Center, WWU WORDS Joseph Coons: 7pm, Village Books COMMUNITY Season of Service Celebration: 5:30pm, Bellingham Senior Activity Center GET OUT Wild Things: 9:30-11am, Lake Padden VISUAL ARTS Art of the Senses Art Auction: 6pm, Whatcom Museum s Lightcatcher Building SATURDAY [ ] ONSTAGE Conrad Askland Presentation: 2pm, Mount Vernon City Library Damn Yankees: 2pm and 7pm, Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth The Carrion Man: 7:30pm, idiom Theater Rumors: 7:30pm, Anacortes Community Theatre Jekyll & Hyde: 8pm, Mount Baker Theatre Blender: 8pm and 10pm, Upfront Theatre Improv Lab: 10pm, idiom Theater DANCE Ballroom Dancing: 6:30-9pm, Bellingham Senior Activity Center Contra Dance: 7-10:30pm, Fairhaven Library Under the Sea Ball: 8pm, Star Club MUSIC A Capella West: 7pm, Performing Arts Center Mainstage, WWU Baroque Winds: 7:30pm, St. Paul s Episcopal Church Opera Scenes: 7:30pm, Performing Arts Center, WWU COMMUNITY Boy Scouts Meet and Greet: 10:30am-2:30pm, Bellingham Public Library Salish Sea Science Festival: 2pm, Bellingham High School GET OUT Skagit Eagle Festival: 9am-4pm in Rockport, Marblemount, and Concrete Fish Hatchery Tours: 11am-3pm, Marblemount Fish Hatchery Winter Running Race: 12pm, Bellingham BMX FOOD Pancake Breakfast: 8-11am, American Legion, Ferndale Community Meal: 10am-12pm, United Church of Ferndale SUNDAY [ ] ONSTAGE Damn Yankees: 2pm, Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth The Carrion Man: 7:30pm, idiom Theater Laughing with the Stars: 8:30pm, Star Club MUSIC Bill Evans, Alan Munde: 2pm, Nancy s Farm Skagit Symphony Family Concert: 2pm, McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon Percussion Fest: 3pm, Whatcom Community College Art of Jazz: 4-6:30pm, Mount Baker Theatre WORDS Stephen and Anthony Palumbi: 4pm, Village Books GET OUT Skagit Eagle Festival: 9am-4pm in Rockport, Marblemount, and Concrete Fish Hatchery Tours: 11am-3pm, Marblemount Fish Hatchery FOOD Community Seed Swap: 2:30-5pm, the Majestic MONDAY [ ] ONSTAGE Guffawingham: 9:30pm, Green Frog WORDS Open Mic: 7pm, Village Books Poetrynight: 8pm, Bellingham Public Library GET OUT Cross-County Skiing Basics: 6pm, REI TUESDAY [ ] GET OUT Carnivore Recovery Presentation: 7pm, Whatcom Museum s Old City Hall

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4 { }{#03}{V.10}{FREE} CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 4 THISWEEK Soak the rich? Well, maybe just splash a little cold water on them. In his State of the Union address this week President Barack Obama plans to support a wide-ranging agenda intended to address income inequality and help Americans afford things like education and child care. At its center are small adjustments to the tax code that have favored concentrations of extreme wealth. VIEWS & NEWS 4: Mailbag 6: Gristle & Views 8: Avian alert! 9: Agricultural interference 10: Last week s news 11: Police blotter, Index ARTS & LIFE 14: The climate of capitalism 16: Star-crossed love 18: Big and beautiful 20: Disciples of the drum 22: Clubs 24: A woman on the verge 26: Film Shorts REAR END 28: Bulletin Board, Wellness 29: Crossword 30: Free Will Astrology 31: Advice Goddess 32: Comix 33: Slowpoke, Sudoku 34: Evolution of the Cookie Lady 2014 CASCADIA WEEKLY (ISSN ) is published each Wednesday by Cascadia Newspaper Company LLC. Direct all correspondence to: Cascadia Weekly PO Box 2833 Bellingham WA Phone/Fax: info@cascadiaweekly.com Though Cascadia Weekly is distributed free, please take just one copy. Cascadia Weekly may be distributed only by authorized distributors. Any person removing papers in bulk from our distribution points risks prosecution SUBMISSIONS: Cascadia Weekly welcomes freelance submissions. Send material to either the News Editor or A&E Editor. Manuscripts will be returned if you include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. To be considered for calendar listings, notice of events must be received in writing no later than noon Wednesday the week prior to publication. Photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by stamped, self-addressed envelope. LETTERS POLICY: Cascadia Weekly reserves the right to edit letters for length and content. When apprised of them, we correct errors of fact promptly and courteously. In the interests of fostering dialog and a community forum, Cascadia Weekly does not publish letters that personally disparage other letter writers. Please keep your letters to fewer than 300 words. NEWSPAPER ADVISORY GROUP: Robert Hall, Seth Murphy, Michael Petryni, David Syre Contact Cascadia Weekly: Editorial Editor & Publisher: Tim Johnson ext 260 editor@ cascadiaweekly.com Arts & Entertainment Editor: Amy Kepferle ext 204 calendar@ cascadiaweekly.com Music & Film Editor: Carey Ross ext 203 music@ cascadiaweekly.com Production Art Director: Jesse Kinsman jesse@ kinsmancreative.com Graphic Artist: Roman Komarov roman@ cascadiaweekly.com Send all advertising materials to ads@cascadiaweekly.com Advertising Account Executive: Scott Pelton x 202 spelton@ cascadiaweekly.com Stephanie Young x 205 stephanie@ cascadiaweekly.com Distribution Distribution Manager: Scott Pelton x 202 spelton@ cascadiaweekly.com Whatcom: Erik Burge, Stephanie Simms, Robin Corsberg Skagit: Linda Brown, Barb Murdoch Canada: Kristi Alvaran Letters Send letters to letters@ cascadiaweekly.com Love The Gristle, P. * Film Shorts, P. * Free Will Astrology, P. c a s c a d i a Hurts Sounds like Romeo & Juliet, P.16 REPORTING FROM THE HEART OF CASCADIA WHATCOM * SKAGIT ISLAND COUNTIES * AVIAN ALERT Poultry problems cross the border, P.08 KODO'S ONE EARTH TOUR The power of taiko, P.20 IMMERSION REDUX Adrianne Smits thinks big, P.18 COVER: Cover photo by Lindsey Bowen PORT TO THE RESCUE Kudos to the Port of Bellingham for rushing to the aid of the Community Boating Center. Winter storms degraded the bulkhead that protects the CBC s facilities and marina on the shoreline in Fairhaven. Within days, port staff secured necessary permits and executed professional repairs to prevent catastrophic circumstances from compromising the nonprofit boating center s capacity to provide waterfront programs and services for the citizens of Whatcom County. The board, staff and supporters of the Community Boating Center really appreciate the efforts of port staff and leadership. mail TOC LETTERS STAFF Steve Walker, Executive Director Community Boating Center SMOKE SCREEN With regard to Amy Goodman s article this week in Views, I get tired of so-called climate deniers being equated with Big Tobacco, the Tea Party or whatever else comes to mind. I m a social and environmental progressive who has done some research on the subject of global warming and climate change and whether it s being caused by humans, mostly after watching Al Gore s An Inconvenient Truth (which I originally liked in my innocence before discovering that he was a partner in a cap-and-trade brokerage firm and decided to look into it further). I ve come across published pieces by hundreds of scientists stating that what is being propagated in the mainstream (and progressive, if one considers Amy Goodman) press is incorrect. Also, some feel that the UN s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should not be taken at face value and that many of the scientists owe their allegiance to their funding. I ve owned DVDs showing the facts of the non-mainstream scientists positions and have a book entitled Not by Fire but by Ice, by Robert W. Felix, and there are many others. For a more recent source of information on this view, I d recommend an interview on Jan. 13 with Dr. Tim Ball on The Commonsense Show. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions. My own thinking is that we need to clean up our water and our air, and that we are going through a natural climate change. Liz Washburn, Bellingham AG GAG Washington State agriculture has something to hide and it s trying to do it with HB Rep. Schmick s Ag Gag bill would make it illegal to document cruelty to animals on factory farms. Journalists and whistleblowers work to expose unsanitary conditions and cruel treatment of animals (and workers) at egg, meat and dairy facilities. But big agriculture is trying to cover-up and protect abuse by criminalizing journalistic

5 investigations. We need more transparency in our food system, and we must absolutely preserve our right to access information about the factories that produce the food we eat. I strongly oppose HB Stephanie Kountouros, Bellingham THE BELLY OF BELLINGHAM Hello. I have probably washed your dishes. You may even have averted your eyes as you said thank you when I traded a bus tub towering with cups stacked on plates stacked on bowls stacked on more plates, forks askew, for another tub on my way back to the dish pit. Yes, I have suggested the name be changed to something more morale-boosting. Dish Meadows? The pit remains. To be fair, most of my job consists of shoveling food into plastic containers, or things, as they are generally called. But as I spray detritus from plate after plate, from the troughs and cauldrons of the kitchen, at pressures that abrade the skin, as I scrape the shellacked sink filter into an eco-liner, I sink into my own considerations of how I ended up part of this system that even at its most sustainable is so incredibly wasteful. And Bellingham is indeed the most sustainable city I ve found. How many other places have take-acontainer bins, extensive bulk selections, commercial compost facilities? Perhaps because of this, I find the continued reliance on so much plastic disheartening, even if it is nature plastic. I expect more from myself and from my community. Product labeling gives us a seemingly ethical choice as a substitute for modifying our behavior. Don t like factory farms? Become a vegetarian. Better yet, a vegan. Don t like fossil fuel? Enter ethanol. And now, don t like plastic? Eco-plastic! Such simple solutions bely the extent to which large-scale agricultural production exploits water, soil and energy resources. One gallon of ethanol, for example, ultimately requires 1,700 gallons of water to produce. With green lingo, the questions of production that should be asked for responsible consumption are brushed aside. Bioplastics, it turns out, are not a clear ecological winner when compared to conventional plastics. Biodegradable can still be correlated with prolific pollution: fertilizers, pesticides, chemical processing. While after processing, biopolymers are more environmentally friendly (if composted in anaerobic digesters that convert methane into energy), their production contributes more to ozone depletion and eutrophication than that of traditional petroleum-based plastic. LETTERS, CONTINUED ON PAGE 27 GO NORTH FOR CASINO FUN! MODERN COMFORTS WITH OLD-FASHIONED HOSPITALITY CELEBRATING 7 YEARS OF FUN! WHERE THE FOOD AND FUN NEVER ENDS! Saturday, January 24! BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA N GUIDE MERIDIAN RD E BADGER RD LYNDEN NORTHWOOD RD CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 5

6 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 6 THE GRISTLE THAT WHICH IS PERMITTED: This week marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the purchase and sale agreement that transferred the Bellingham tissue mill site and adjacent properties along Whatcom Waterway from Georgia-Pacific West into the ownership and control of the Port of Bellingham or nearly a quarter of the portion of a 50-year plan projected to clean and redevelop the city s central waterfront. Under the terms of the 2005 agreement, the port assumed all environmental liability of Georgia-Pacific for the cleanup and remediation of pollutants in the waterway and adjacent properties. Notably, perhaps ironically, apart from certain career staff no one in a leadership position with the Port of Bellingham at the signing of these documents remains at the agency. The Port Commission has entirely cycled through, and a new commission is responsible for the completion of the terms of the agreement. Earlier this month, a divided Port Commission voted 2-1 to pay the environmental and engineering firm Anchor QEA $193,700 to develop a final engineering design report for cleanup of Whatcom Waterway in anticipation of a construction bid this spring. Environmental cleanup could begin as early as August, commissioners learned. Under the proposed plan, the depth of Whatcom Waterway at low tide could be as little as 8 feet, foreclosing on and potentially destroying the utility of the port s nascent Marine Trades Center along the western side of the waterway, a property once partially under control of the City of Bellingham as Colony Wharf. Strongly opposed to a plan for the wharf that would foreclose on economic development the very mission of the Port of Bellingham Commissioner Michael McAuley could not support the vote. Ports have a specific mission, he said. Their mission is economic development. Everything we do supports that. We do cleanup not just because it s the right thing to do, but because it supports economic development in the county. I think this plan clearly makes a statement to the marine trades industry we re not interested in what they re doing. An interesting point of history, the outer Whatcom Waterway was originally built to the precise dimensions of the Panama Canal, also under construction, in an era when it was imagined Bellingham and Whatcom County could be competitive leaders in marine trades. While McAuley agrees that heyday has not arrived, he argues barging capacity is essential to marine trades at all scales and may become even more important in the future, as transportation imperatives change in the face of costlier fuel. Indeed, the waterway could serve as a staging area for the transfer of construction materials vital to any plan to redevelop the central waterfront. Without that maine capacity, materials must be trucked in. Port staff reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) had issued the required permits for Whatcom Waterway after lengthy delay. The delay in part resulted from a required consultation with the Corps and Lummi Nation based on tribal objections that the level of environmental cleanup and habitat restoration was insufficient. Negotiations were able to secure agreement with Lummi Nation; however, the reality is the tribe is transferring its focus and resources on a challenge to the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point, where tribal leaders have demanded USACE reject the permit BY ROBERT REICH Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are zeroing in on inequality as America s fundamental economic problem. Bush s new Political Action Committee, called The Right to Rise, declares the income gap is real but that only conservative principles can solve it. Mitt Romney likewise promised last week that if he runs for president he ll change the strategy that led to his 2012 loss to President Obama (remember the makers versus the takers? ) and focus instead on income inequality, poverty and opportunity for all people. The Republican establishment s leading presidential hopefuls know the current upbeat economy isn t trickling down to most Americans. But they ve got a whopping credibility problem, starting with trickle-down economics. Since Ronald Reagan moved into the White House, Republican policies have widened inequality. Neither party deserves a medal for reversing the trend, but evidence shows that middle-class and poor Americans have fared better under Democratic presidents. Personal disposable income has grown nearly six times more with Democrats in the White House than Republicans. According to research by economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson, more jobs have been created under Democratic presidents as well. These broad-based job and wage gains haven t hampered economic growth. To the contrary, they ve fueled it by putting more money into the pockets of people who spend it thereby boosting business profits and hiring. I m not saying Democrats have VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF CASCADIA WEEKLY views OPINIONS THE GRISTLE Trickle-Down Compassion GAINS FOR THE TOP, STAGNATION FOR EVERYONE ELSE always had it right or done everything they should. The lion s share of economic gains over the past 35 years has gone to the top regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans inhabit the White House. Nor can presidents alone determine how the economy performs. At best they orchestrate a set of policies that nudge the economy in one direction or another. But that s exactly the point: Since Reagan, Republican policies have nudged it toward big gains at the top and stagnation for everyone else. The last Republican president to deliver broad-based prosperity was Dwight D. Eisenhower, in the 1950s. Then, the gains from growth were so widely shared that the incomes of the poorest fifth actually grew faster than the incomes of the top fifth. As a result, America became more equal than ever before or since. Under Ike, the marginal tax rate on the richest Americans reached 91 percent. Eisenhower also presided over the creation of the interstate highway system the largest infrastructure project in American history as well as the nation s biggest expansion of public schools. It s no coincidence that when Eisenhower was president, more than a third of all private sector workers were unionized. Ike can t be credited for this, but at least he didn t try to stop it or legitimize firing striking workers, as did Ronald Reagan. Under Reagan, Republican policy lurched in the opposite direction: Lower taxes on top incomes and big wealth, less public investment, and efforts to destroy labor unions. Not surprisingly, that s when America took its big U-turn toward inequality. These Reaganomic principles are by now so deeply embedded in the modern Republican Party they ve come to define it. Yet because these very principles have contributed to the stagnation of American incomes and the widening gap between the rich and everyone else, Republican aspirants who says they want to reverse widening inequality are faced with an awkward dilemma. How can they be credible on the issue while embracing these principles? Yet if they want to be nominated, how can they not embrace them? When Jeb Bush admits that the income gap is real but that only conservative principles can solve it, one has to wonder what principles he s talking about if not these. And when Mitt Romney promises to run a different campaign than he did in 2012 and focus on opportunity for all people, the real question is whether he ll run on different economic principles. That the leading Republican hopefuls recognize the economy has to work for everyone and not just a few is progress. But unless they disavow the legacy of Ronald Reagan and adopt the legacy of Dwight Eisenhower, their words are nothing more than soothing rhetoric akin to George W. Bush s meaningless compassionate conservatism.

7 THE GRISTLE for a pier based on concerns that the export of up to 48 million metric tons of coal would destroy hereditary fishing grounds protected by treaty. The increased vessel traffic would interfere with our harvest, and the resulting pollution from fuel and coal dust would create irreparable harm to our fish and cannot be mitigated, Lummi Chairman Tim Ballew II said recently. There isn t a dollar amount that the coal industry can pay to make up for the damage the terminal would cause to our people, our waters and our resources. So the Corps, as a federal agency, has an obligation to uphold Lummi s protected rights by denying the permit. In conversations with the Corps on Whatcom Waterway, we gave our approval for phase 1 cleanup of industrial contamination, Ballew noted, recognizing that Bellingham s formerly industrialized waterway would never factor significantly into expected fish harvests for the tribe. In short, they negotiated their losses for focus on bigger fish in the sea. This has been the despair of the Bellingham waterfront, as all activist energy remains riveted at Cherry Point while the city s central waterfront languishes under a feeble plan with little hope of rescue. The tribe was one hope; the rigor of a port commission focused on its mission was another. The City of Bellingham, which cut loose its assets at Colony Wharf in order to consolidate properties to the south of the site, was alas another. The Corps could have also played a more central part, as the agency is skilled to dredge the channel to depth as an authorized Federal Waterway, helping defray those costs. The port destroyed that option by lobbying Congress to deauthorize our public waterway so as to dodge the duty to dredge it. Frankly, even the polluters might have played a stronger role, had the port not inked a purchase and sale agreement with private industry (now owned by the billionaire Koch brothers) that transferred their liability to the public. Port staff quarreled with McAuley that efforts to deepen the channel would be prohibitively expensive, perhaps doubling the $8.5 million cost projected under the current plan. But it is a prohibition of staff s own design and manufacture as they ve eliminated or driven off all parties with duty and interest to help. Bellingham s maritime future sounds less like an incoming tide than the plaintive echoes of air escaping an empty shell. FREE Mezzanine Large Party Reservations 1317 Commercial St. info@brandywinekicthen.com Join us for a FREE EVENT at Village Books Sun., Jan. 25th, 4pm Join us for the live taping of the Chuckanut Radio Hour Tickets $5 at Village Books & brownpapertickets.com SLIDE SHOW! Encounter some of the most marvelous life forms on earth with an acclaimed marine scientist! The bestselling author of Don t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight will introduce her latest memoir, Leaving Before the Rains Come. You ll also enjoy live music, fun skits, poetry, and much more. Don t miss out! Wednesday, Feb. 4th, 6:30pm in the Heiner Theater at WCC Read more at villagebooks.com VILLAGE BOOKS th St., Bellingham CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 7

8 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 8 currents NEWS POLITICS FUZZ BUZZ INDEX FEATHERS FLY Hatching a large turkey from a small chicken BY BOB SIMMONS Wild ducks, flying from their far north nesting grounds last fall, brought along some deadly baggage. They carried strains of an avian influenza virus that kills domestic poultry without killing (so far) the wild birds themselves. The international omelet that followed could make you think regulators of cross-border commerce might want to meet and talk between emergencies, but appar- ently they don t. Bellingham s big-box stores and thou- sands of Canadian customers who shop there were left holding pallets of pullets that food banks might love to distribute, but apparently can t. Here s part of what happened: Early in December, authorities in British Columbia found what they termed highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza virus in commercial ci poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley, just north of the U.S. border. The vi- rus strains designated H5N2 and H5N8 are nearly always fatal to domestic chickens and turkeys. Wild waterfowl flying down from international na gatherings of other wild ducks in the Arctic can carry the virus but survive its effects. Scientists believe the ducks mingled with outdoor chickens and turkeys near Abbottsford, Chilliwack and Langley, and gave them the flu. When poultry in British Columbia began dying, Canada s Food Inspection Agen- cy quarantined the Fraser Valley poultry-growing g region and directed that the infected flocks be destroyed. The CFIA says the virus is related to a deadly strain that has spread through Asia and now affects North American poultry for the first time. More than 226,000 birds had been destroyed in the vicinities of Abbottsford, Langley, and Chilliwack, as of last week. Not all that t unusual, it s the prescribed first step in preventing an agricultural disaster. On Dec. 6, the United States and seven other countries banned the import of poul- try and eggs gs from the Fraser Valley quarantine area, which the Canadians had established. That s not unusual, either. It s the sort of limited ban that s commonly imposed during outbreaks of agricultural diseases, as a means of controlling the spread. Both the United States and Canadian government agencies emphasized that this isn to eat the poultry and eggs, it s just not O.K. to move them from place to place. Early in January, the virus turned up in a couple of small dooryard flocks in the Tri-Cities area of Eastern Washington and one at Winston, Ore., south of Eugene. The farms were promptly quarantined and their poultry destroyed. None of those hobby farms was certified as commercial, meaning wholesaler or source of products for export. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and its state counterparts in Washington and Oregon assured the world that not a single incident of avian flu had been detected at any commercial flock in the two states, or anywhere else in the United States. But on Jan. 8, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa announced a Canada-wide ban on the import of all poultry products, including eggs, from Washington and Oregon. Never mind the assurances from USDA and the two states. No eggs and no raw poultry could be moved from where the commercial flocks were not sick, across the border to where they were. The Ottawa action had a particular impact on the thousands of Canadian shoppers who flock to U.S. stores in border communities like Bellingham. Canadian shoppers returning home from Costco with their usual stock-the-freezer buys of eggs and frozen poultry, were stopped at the border and given the bad news: No Washington or Oregon poultry products may now enter British Columbia. The options of these shoppers were limited: Hand over the chicken and eggs to Canadian border officials. Or, pull over, set up a portable grill that you just happen to have in the van, and invite passing strangers to a chicken barbecue (no one claimed actually to have seen that). Or, turn around, drive back to Bellingham (or Burlington or Marysville or points south) and return the newly prohibited eggs and poultry for a refund. Costco and Walmart and their competitors as well refunded the purchase price and went about disposing of the banned food. Sources at Costco, who didn t want to be identified because of company policies concerning statements to the media, said the Bellingham store refunded at least $5,000 per day for the first few days, for food they had to pay someone to haul away. There was no means of donating it to food banks or other charities. Store managers can t guarantee where the food has been or how it has been treated once it leaves the store. Once out of the store, it s out of our control, Craig Wilson, Costco vice-president for food safety, said. We don t have any way to know what s happened to it. that this isn t a food safety issue it s O.K. CHICKEN, CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

9 currents agriculture BY TARA NELSON Ag Gag FARMWORKER GROUPS OPPOSE AGRICULTURAL INTERFERENCE BILL Driving through bucolic Whatcom County and snapping a photo of a farm or agricultural operation could potentially land you in jail if a bill currently being considered in the Washington State Legislature is approved in coming weeks. On Jan. 9, State House Rep. Joe Schmick (R-Colfax) introduced HB 1104, a bill that would make it a crime to interfere with agricultural production or cause economic harm to the owners of that farm or operation. The bill, co-sponsored by the 42nd District s own Rep. Vincent Buys (R-Lynden), lists a vague rainbow of possible interferences, including obtaining employment with the intent to cause physical or economic injury, entering an agricultural facility by trespass, and taking photographs or video, even if that footage is taken from a public road in plain view. It is currently being considered by the House Committee on Public Safety, a committee chaired by Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland). HB 1104 is similar to a series of Ag Gag bills that have been introduced across the country by conservative lawmakers with ties to ALEC the Koch Brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, which lists Rep. Schmick as a member. The state of Utah already adopted a similar bill called The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, under which several individuals have been arrested and detained for taking photographs of a farm from public roads. As one reporter for the Capital Press noted, It would basically turn Eastern Washington into a no-photography zone. The text of the bill states it would be a crime if an individual Intentionally causes economic or physical injury to the agricultural production facility s operations, real or personal property, personnel, or goodwill, including livestock, crops, owners, employees, equipment, personnel, buildings, premises, business interests, or customers. But while Ag Gag bills are drawing fierce criticism from environmental and animal rights groups for making whistleblowing a crime, several labor groups, including the United Farmworkers, are also claiming the bills are also written to prevent unionization efforts of agricultural workers. Last year Sakuma Brothers Farms of Skagit County, one of Washington State s largest berry farms, agreed to pay $850,000 after berry pickers filed a lawsuit, claiming they were denied rest breaks and weren t paid for all the hours they worked. The bill under consideration could prohibit activism for worker rights as a form of interference with agriculture. Rosalinda Guillen, executive director and founder of Community To Community Development, a farmworker advocacy group in Bellingham, called the bill ambiguous, disturbing, and part of a larger movement to target free speech of farmworkers, and prevent agricultural laborers from organizing and demanding greater, From a business owner s perspective, any increase in costs due to higher wages or unpicked fruit left to rot could be considered economic injury, If this bill were to pass, organized workers such as Familias Unidas por la Justica, which led a strike on Sakuma Brothers last year, could be considered guilty of criminal sabotage DAVID MENDOZA, FORMER POLICY ANALYST FOR THE WASHINGTON STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES worker protections. She also worries that if HB 1104 passes, organized farmworker strikes and labor disputes, such as the one involving Sakuma Farms, could be categorized as a Class B felony. I think the problem is a lot of the language is ambiguous when you talk about causing economic damage, she said. It speaks about damaging goodwill and it s possible that a boycott or making mistreatment public information could be considered damaging goodwill. If a farmworker AG-GAG, CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 OF THE GOLD Cheers to a Spirited New Year! We invite you to visit, taste & pick up a bottle today Guide Meridian, Lynden, WA & Event Space Vodka Gin Apple Brandy Free Tastings Full Service Catering Authentic Farm to Glass Experience Live Music Every Weekend! Jan 24 Broken Bow Stringband Bellingham Bluegrass Jan 25 Chuck Dingee Fundamental Rock Check us out online for more info! NEW year, new LOCATION! We are thrilled to announce the opening of our 8th Industrial Credit Union branch, coming soon to the new Safeway at Sunset Square in Bellingham. Visit our newest branch to find out how convenient banking can be with Industrial CU In Your Corner! IndustrialCU.org (360) CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 9

10 currents last week s news CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 TUESDAY Washington is awash in weed. When the legal marijuana market opened last summer, many stories would periodically close because of limited supply. In six months, though, the hardy plant is being harvested in huge quantities, tripping up the equations the state depended on for revenues. A big harvest of sun-grown marijuana from eastern Washington last fall flooded the market, and some local growers are struggling to sell their product. Few retail stores have sold less than one-fifth of the 31,000 pounds of marijuana flower that growers have harvested. After police seized almost 400 illegally grown marijuana plants from a Birch Bay couple, they return to find another 700. The Bellingham Herald reports police smelled marijuana at the farm and farmers market off Birch Bay-Lynden Road. Police say the operation even had employees clipping the buds for sale. Police left about 45 plants behind, as they had legitimate medical prescriptions for them. The state wants to collect taxes from medical marijuana collectives, but a local garden collective says paying those taxes would be admitting to a crime. Marijuana collectives allow patients to donate their plants and get their product back for free. The state considers the exchange a transaction and claims Bellingham-based Northern Cross owes about $216,000 in back taxes. About 75 percent of the state s registered dispensaries are current with their taxes WEDNESDAY LAST WEEK S NEWS JAN13-19 BY TIM JOHNSON as The state s criminal justice emphasis is out of whack. Gov. Jay Inslee joins a bipartisan group of state legislators seeking response to a new eport that recommends putting many property crime offenders on supervision instead of sending them to prison. The report indicates Washington has the nation s highest rate of property crimes, while crimes against people are down markedly. Officials propose extended supervision of convicted burglars and other nonviolent offenders as a way to combat repeat offenses while keeping the state s prisons, already filled to capacity, from growing even more packed. The report says policy changes would save the state up to $291 million in prison costs by WThe Week that More than 200 gun-rights activists assembled in the state Capitol on Thursday in protest of a law that extends background checks voters passed in November. Most of the crowd brought firearms to the event, from long automatic rifles carried openly to concealed handguns in shoulder holsters. About a dozen protesters took their guns into the public gallery of the House just before the brief morning floor session ended. Firearms are prohibited in the Senate gallery. NORTHWEST PASSAGES Political Junkie Riley Sweeney receives the the 2014 Paul dearmond Citizen Journalism Award. As Cascadia Weekly s own Alan Rhodes noted in a recent interview with Riley, His blog gives you the lowdown on intrigues, high jinks and backroom deals, always related in sprightly prose that can be outrageously funny. The journalism award is bestowed each year to outstanding local reporters in fond memory of the outrageous and funny Paul dearmond THURSDAY A Lynden-based fishing company is fined for causing a fuel oil spill in Seattle s Elliot Bay and not telling the state about it. The Bristol Leader, a 167-foot catcher-processor owned by Alaskan Leader Fisheries, spilled 181 gallons of diesel into the bay while taking on fuel. The spill was eventually contained. The state Dept. of Ecology finds the company did not immediately report the spill and issues a fine of $11,000 and additional costs for damage to the bay FRIDAY Whatcom County gets a new court and a new judge. Scores pack the County Courthouse chamber for the swearing in of Superior Court Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis. The United States Supreme Court will examine marriage equality following a recent federal Court of Appeals decision that upheld bans in four states. Washington State may file an amicus Super Bowl bound! The Seattle Seahawks struggled until the final minutes of their conference championship against the Green Bay Packers, bombing out with four interceptions and five turnovers. The team turned it around in the final three minutes, winning in overtime The NFC s Seahawks will face the AFC s New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in Arizona in just two weeks. brief in support of civil liberty and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution MONDAY Competing bills in Olympia would make polluters pay. The state s largest industries would have to pay for their carbon pollution under companion bills introduced in the Legislature. Gov. Jay Inslee s cap-and-trade plan sets an overall limit on heat-trapping gases similar to California s program. Sen. Kevin Ranker of Orcas Island is sponsoring the Senate measure. He says the plan protects communities while raising money for transportation, education and other needs. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance resolves one of its largest Clean Water Act suits to date with an agreement to reduce stormwater pollution to the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay. SSA Terminals agrees to reduce their pollution discharges at their 200-acre Terminal 18 container facility at the Port of Seattle on Harbor Island. SSA Terminals agrees to pay $215,000 for third-party mitigation and restoration projects in Puget Sound.

11 FUZZ BUZZ TWELFTH MAN, AND A SIX-PACK On Jan. 18, Bellingham Police responded to a noise complaint at an apartment complex in Samish neighborhood. Seahawks party, police explained. On Jan. 18, Bellingham Police responded to another noise complaint in Samish neighborhood. Seahawks celebration, police explained. On Jan. 18, Bellingham Police scolded a group of loud and drunken revelers at a party on Indian Street. BLACK-&-WHITE TAXI On Jan. 18, Bellingham Police gave a courtesy ride to a man who had consumed too much alcohol. He was taken to the hospital. BLACK-&-BLUE TAXI On Jan. 18, a man told Bellingham Police he had been given a ride by two men and a woman he believed he d recognized. The man agreed to give the driver some gas money, police reported. When he withdrew money from an ATM, one of the males punched him and took more money than they had agreed upon. The group then left in their vehicle. On Jan. 14, a passerby notified Blaine Police that a driver had evidently backed into one of their unoccupied patrol cars parked in the police department s lot between the station and public library. The police vehicle s rear bumper had minor cosmetic damage, but the scene indicated that the suspect vehicle did not fare so well, as the remains of its broken taillight was left at the scene, police reported. The suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run is possibly a late model Toyota Camry. PEAR PILE-UP On Jan. 14, a Lynden semi stuffed with 90,000 pounds of pears jackknifed on Interstate 5, tying up traffic for hours in Bellingham. The truck crashed after the driver of a small car abruptly changed lanes at the East Sunset Drive on-ramp. A coworker at the Lynden trucking company learned of the crash and drove the wrong way down the shoulder of the emptied freeway for about half a mile in an effort to assist at the scene. The driver of the second truck was fined $411 ticket for driving the wrong way, according to the Washington State Patrol. No pears were injured. On Jan. 9, Anacortes Police spoke to the driver of a car that had reportedly backed up 12 to 15 vehicles at an intersection. The officer determined the 69-year-old driver was not impaired but learned that he just liked to drive slow. The driver was cited for impeding traffic. WHEELS TO STEAL On Jan. 6, a Bellingham woman stole a Dodge Charger from a dealership on Iowa and took it on a high-speed test drive with police. State Patrol troopers report the 27-year-old reached speeds of 90 miles per hour before they surrounded her and stopped the car in Skagit County. Bellingham Police booked her into jail on suspicion of first-degree car theft. On Jan. 8, the second of two men caught last November in possession of nearly $46,000 worth of stole bicycles was sentenced to five months in Whatcom County Jail. The first thief was sentenced to one year in prison earlier this year after Bellingham Police found 10 bikes at their homeless camp valued at $45,800. Both men will have to pay restitution to insurers. COFFEE JITTERS On Jan. 18, employees at Starbucks on Sunset Drive reported a man had locked himself in their restroom was was yelling and screaming, raising concerns for both employees and customers, Bellingham Police reported. They requested that the man be escorted out of the bathroom and issued a six months trespass from the business. Officers contacted the man who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance and issued him the notice of trespass. DOUBLE DOWN ON DOUBLE-CROSS On Jan. 16, a concerned manager of a business in Blaine called police for assistance helping an elderly customer who has become the victim of several scams. The senior did not want to believe the business employees who were trying to explain that he was being defrauded, police reported. An officer arranged to meet with the victim. On Dec. 30, Bellingham Police arrested a woman. During the search of her, officers found a credit card that belonged to another person in her pocket. I called the person, an officer reported, she told me she was expecting the card in the mail and was unaware it had been stolen. SLUMBERTIME On Jan. 6, Blaine Police took a report from a passerby who d heard what sounded like a head going through a wall. Officers arrived and listened for a short while, then discovered a loud male voice telling someone to go to bed, police noted. Officers contacted the residents and learned that a child had been up too late playing video games when he should have been sleeping in preparation for school in the morning. Mom and child were given a warning about the noise level and they agreed to be quiet. been up too late playing video games when he should have been sleeping in preparation for school in the morning. Mom and child were given a warning about the noise level and they agreed to be quiet DEGREES Fahrenheit by which the global temperature in 2014 exceeded the averages of global temperatures in 1961 to Last year is the hottest year on record, shattering the record set in NUMBER of consecutive years with anomalously high annual global temperatures. 650,000 THE year of the last global high temperature average, set as the baseline cherry picked by climate deniers in order to demonstrate global warming is not happening. Temperatures in 2014 exceed those of NUMBER of years since carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been this high. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere exceeded parts per million in PRECENT increase in CO 2 in the atmosphere since DECREASE in sea ice per decade since levels were recorded in the 20th century. 22 RANK of global warming among concerns Americans think we should be concerned about, at 38 percent. Strengthening for our moral fiber clocked in at 48 percent PERCENT of Democrats who think addressing the impacts of global warming should be a top priority for the nation. Democrats also are 31 points more likely than Republicans to prioritize protecting the environment. index 1 PERCENT of Republicans who think addressing the impacts of global warming should be a top priority for our nation, the strongest partisan divide of issues contained in the poll. RANK of terrorism among world threats that concern most Americans. More than three in four Americans (74%) ranked terrorism as their top concern. SOURCES: World Meteorological Organization; Pew Research Center; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 11

12 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 CHICKEN, FROM PAGE 8 We ll take it back, but we couldn t even consider giving it away. Wilson said Costco has continued to sell poultry, substituting California chicken and turkey, and eggs from Montana. But about the time those supplies arrived, the Canadian FIA changed its collective mind. The agency updated its ban on Jan. 15, narrowing its effect. While the initial ban restricted poultry from the entire states of Washington and Oregon, the narrower ban allows direct export to Canadian retailers except for the small control zones in counties where the virus was found and the flocks destroyed. There s a big however, however: Travelers including Canadian customers at U.S. stores still can t bring Washington or Oregon poultry and eggs home with them. Canadian shoppers at Costco said Canadian border guards appear to be uncertain of the rules. Some are allowing Costco s California chicken and Montana eggs to be brought into British Columbia. Others are saying no chicken, no eggs, no way, if they ve traveled AG GAG, FROM PAGE 9 words COMMUNITY LECTURES BOOKS, You re not supposed to make trade restrictions based on a sick bird in some poor guy s hobby flock. TOBY MOORE, A VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S/ POULTRY AND EGG COUNCIL through Washington. While the cross-border ban has been a costly nuisance for Washington stores and their Canadian customers, it s chicken feed compared to what happened elsewhere. In early January, the government of China announced a ban on all U.S. poultry and eggs. So did the European Union, Korea, South Africa; all because of the virus found at the tiny poultry operations in Washington and Oregon, where no birds were being exported nor wholesaled. Most U.S. poultry with exports valued complains because there are no bathrooms or hand-washing stations in the fields, is that damaging goodwill? David Mendoza, former policy analyst for the Washington State House of Representatives, agreed. He said Rep. Schmick s bill is one of the most broadly written Ag Gag bills in the country and goes far beyond the filming aspects outlawed in the Utah bill to include restrictions such as making it a crime to seek employment with the intention of outing unsafe or illegal business activities, a practice known as salting. Further, the phrase intent to cause economic injury could be applied to any type of worker organizing and leaves that determination up to the company itself, Mendoza said. From a business owner s perspective, any increase in costs due to higher wages or unpicked fruit left to rot could be considered economic injury, he said. If this bill were to pass, organized workers such as Familias Unidas por la Justica, which led a strike on Sakuma Brothers last year, could be considered guilty of criminal sabotage and charged with a felony. Having worked in the nonprofit and public sector most of my life, I ve seen the benefit of organizations being held to more transparent financial and business practices, Mendoza continued. It has been my experience in state and local government that public disclosure discourages unethical or illegal behavior. Whereas corporations that run factory farms have every financial interest to avoid costs and hide bad practices. That s why I believe this type of whistleblowing is something we should encourage, not discourage. Guillen added that the health of farmworkers is most at risk as they at $6 billion a year comes from states other than Washington and Oregon. The multi-nation ban wallops growers and processors all over the country. That s an interesting problem you have there along the border, says Toby Moore, a vice president of the U.S/ Poultry and Egg Council in suburban Atlanta. But try this: you ve got a huge freighter in mid-ocean, loaded with chicken from Arkansas. Half of it s going to China. Then suddenly one day, it isn t. What do you do with it? That s the scale of things we re dealing with. Moore says the multi-national bans are contrary to international trade agreements. There s gotta be a thousand pages of international understandings on how to deal with this sort of problem, he said. You re not supposed to make trade restrictions based on a sick bird in some poor guy s hobby flock of turkeys and guinea hens. You restrict imports from the smallest area possible, draw a line around that farm and add 10 or 20 miles and don t import from that affected area until the thing passes. This is using an elephant gun to kill a fly. are exposed to dangerous chemicals, farm equipment and pesticides on a daily basis. And if those workers communicated those risks and they became public, those workers could be charged with a crime. Nobody thinks about the people in the workplace that are going to be subject to increased safety risks, Guillen said. Farmworkers talk to me all the time about their concerns about the animals, but we need to look at the human part of this also. Guillen added that better working conditions for farmworkers also make for better food systems for everyone, including the consumer. Just because this is a national trend of Big Ag doesn t mean Washington State should go along with it. We are working to build better food systems, improve worker safety, and ensure food security for all of Washington s residents and this is not the way. doit WORDS WED., JAN. 21 OPEN MIC: Sign up to share your words or music at a Poetry, Prose & Music Open Mic at 6pm at Sudden Valley s Creekside Cafe, 8 Barn View Court. The South Whatcom Library event is free. THURS., JAN. 22 WRITING WORKSHOP: Author and photographer Christina Nelson will focus on Writing on the Move: Courting the Blue Road Muse at a Skagit Valley Writers League workshop at 6:30pm at the Burlington Library, 820 E. Washington Ave. Entry is free and open to all; please register in advance. CHUCKANUT RADIO HOUR: Attend the Chuckanut Radio Hour 8th Anniversary Show at 7pm at the Heiner Theater at Whatcom Community College, 237 W. Kellogg St. The live taping will include highlights and clips from some of the best of 2014, a new essay by Weekly columnist Alan Rhodes, music by the Walrus, and a new episode of the Bellingham Bean. Entry is $5. FRI., JAN. 23 FACTS FIRST: Joseph Coons shares ideas from his book USFactsFirst at 7pm at Village Books, th St. The book is a thorough review of the issues that Americans have been debating intensely in recent years, such as politics, healthcare, taxes, income, education and more. SAT., JAN. 24 STORY AND HISTORY: How Story Becomes History: Writing Your Family Story will be the focus of a presentation by WWU History Professor Kevin Lombard from 3-5m at the Deming Library, 5044 Mt. Baker Hwy. The Whatcom READS! event repeats at 6pm Tues., Feb. 3 at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. SUN., JAN. 25 SEA LIFE: Father-and-son team Stephen and Anthony Palumbi share stories and images from their book Extreme Life of the Sea at a 4pm presentation at Village Books, th St. The illustrated lecture will take the audience to the absolute limits of the aquatic world the fastest and deepest, the hottest and oldest creatures of the oceans. MON., JAN. 26 OPEN MIC: Local writer and teacher Laurel Leigh helms the monthly Open Mic at 7pm at Village Books, th St. Bring your poems and tales to welcome in the New Year or any creative work in progress. Sign up in advance at the front counter or by calling the number listed here POETRYNIGHT: Those looking to share their verse as part of Poetrynight can sign up at 7:30pm at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. Readings start at 8pm. Entry is by donation.

13 doit Join the crowd at the Chuckanut Radio Hour s 8th anniversary show Thurs., Jan. 22 at Whatcom Community College TUES., JAN. 27 WRITING WORKSHOP: Village Books and Whatcom Community College team for a Chuckanut Writers class focusing on Creating and Sustaining a Writing Practice with instructor Joel Gillman starting tonight from 6:30-8pm at the Fairhaven Village Inn. Classes continue weekly through Feb. 24. Entry is $ OR BELLINGHAM READS: Discuss Daniel James Brown s Boys in the Boat as today s Bellingham Reads book group at 6:30pm at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. New members are always welcome WED., JAN. 28 WRITER S TOOLBOX: The Writer s Toolbox: Building Strong Characters will be the subject of a Chuckanut Writers workshop from 9:30am-4:30pm at Whatcom Community College s Foundation Building. Entry is $ HIGH SCHOOL BOOK CLUB: Joelle Charbonneau s The Testing will be the focus of a High School Book Club meeting at 4pm at the Ferndale Library, 2125 Main St. The discussion group is open to students in 9th through 12th grade QUEST MEMOIR: Cami Ostman teaches a Chuckanut Writers workshop focused on The Quest Memoir: Writing About Travel & Other Assorted Journeys starting tonight from 6-8pm at Whatcom Community College s Kulshan Hall. Classes continue Wednesdays through March 4. Entry is $ COMMUNITY WED., JAN. 21 DEATH CAFE: Join likeminded people for coffee, cake and open conversations about death, dying and end of life issues at the monthly Death Cafe from 6:30-8pm at Mole s Funeral Home, 2465 Lakeway Dr. Entry is free. THURS., JAN. 22 FACES OF THE TSUNAMI: Bill McDaniel will focus on Faces of the Tsunami at a 3pm presentation at the Oak Harbor Library, 1000 SE Regatta Dr. McDaniel will speak about the strength and dignity of the people he met in the three months after the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. (360) OR BEATING THE ODDS: Motivational speaker Al Foxx will share stories about his near-death experience at age 19 and impart valuable lessons focused on overcoming life s hardships at a United Ministries in Higher Education talk at 6pm at Western Washington University s Arntzen Hall 100. Entry is free and open to the public OR CLIMATE WORKSHOPS: Energy & Climate: The Defining Issue of Our Time will be the focus of a six-part workshop series starting tonight from 6:30-8pm the Sustainable Living Center at RE Sources, 2309 Meridian St. Classes will focus on oil, wind energy, coal power, photovoltaic and other kinds of solar power, nuclear power and weapons, and climate change. Entry is free and no registration is required. Classes continue through Feb FRI., JAN. 23 HONORING A LEGACY: Celebrate community and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. at a spaghetti dinner and concert by the Bellingham Youth Jazz Band starting at 5:30pm at the Bellingham Senior Activity Center, 315 Halleck St. Entry is $ SAT., JAN. 24 BOY SCOUTS 101: Stop by for a Q&A session with local scouts and troop leaders at a Boy Scout Meet and Greet from 10:30am-2:30pm at the SkillShare Space at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. There will also be scout projects and equipment on display, as well as details on how to get involved locally TAX HELP: Starting today, AARP Tax-Aide will be offering free tax preparation service from 1-4:30pm at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. IRS-certified volunteers will assist people on a first-come, firstserved basis. The service will be available from 1-4:30pm Saturdays and 4-7pm Monday through Thursday through April 15. Starting in February, the Ferndale and Blaine senior centers and the Lynden and Ferndale libraries will also offer tax help by appointment. (360) SUN., JAN. 25 SALISH SEA SCIENCE FESTIVAL: Engaging displays for all ages on current projects impacting the Salish Sea and ways to support our environment will be part of today s Salish Sea Science Festival starting at 2pm at Bellingham High School, 2020 Cornwall Ave. The free event will also feature book sales and, at 3:30pm, a viewing of the documentary The Whale. WED., JAN. 28 CLEARING CLUTTER: Therapist and clutter coach Carolyn Koehnline leads a Clearing the Clutter and Finding Yourself workshop from 1-3pm at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1207 Ellsworth St. Entry is by donation OR This course could save your life! Take it yourself & give it to a friend you never want to see hurt in the backcountry. Bellingham & Mt. Baker Splitboard & Ski Backcountry courses & clinics Guided descents of Baker & Shuksan Intro, Intermediate & Extreme American Alpine Institute Rent your equipment here! CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 13

14 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 BY CHRISTIAN MARTIN outside HIKING RUNNING CYCLING This Changes Everything CAPITALISM VS. THE CLIMATE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE ly in the introduction. Or, more accurately, our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction in humanity s use of resources; what our economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it s not the laws of nature. Klein builds her case for the need to reign in and transform neoliberal freemarket capitalism chapter by chapter, page by page, line by line. She zeroes in on three elements of the modern economy that need radical realignment privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector and lower corporate taxation paid for with cuts to public spending and excoriates the legacy of free trade and globalization as promoted In the same week Republicans put all of their political muscle into pushing the Keystone XL Pipeline, the New York Times reported the alarming news that 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded on Earth. Another story the next day noted humans are on the verge of causing unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them. The lead scientist of the new research warned, We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event. No bother though, drill baby drill! Amid the unwelcome news, Vancouver-based author and activist Naomi Klein has published the most important book of her career, not to mention the most momentous and contentious environmental book since Silent Spring, according to the Times. But be warned: much like reading Aldo Leopold s A Sand County Almanac or Howard Zinn s A People s History of the United States of America, once you read it, you can never go back to seeing the world the same way as before. This Changes Everything is a progressive manifesto, as well as the definitive manual for our warming planet how we got here, what we re doing (or not doing) now, and what we need to do next. Klein weaves together climate science, economics, international relations, sociology, geopolitics, psychology, history and more in this fascinating, often dizzying journalistic investigation. Our economic system and our planetary system are now at war, Klein states plainby the WTO. Her approach is methodical, and the evidence she marshals in support of her arguments becomes overwhelming: peerreviewed scientific studies, public opinion polls, academic research, economic accounting, interviews with experts and activists from around the world. Eventually the reader feels piled on, so overwhelming and frightening are Klein s findings and prescribed remedies. But, surprisingly, her main mission with this tome seems to be to deliver hope. Rather than leave readers with an apocalyptic doomsday vision, DO IT WHAT: Energy & Climate: The Defining Issue of Our Time will be the focus of a sixpart workshop series WHEN: The first workshop happens from 6:30-8pm Thurs., Jan. 22; workshops on oil, wind energy, coal power, photovoltaic and other kinds of solar power, nuclear power and weapons, and climate change will continue weekly through Feb. 26 WHERE: Sustainable Living Center at RE Sources, 2309 Meridian St. COST: Entry is free; no registration is required INFO: www. re-sources.org Klein writes that global climate change offers us a catalyzing forces for positive change. It could be the best argument progressives have ever had to demand the rebuilding and reviving of local economies; to reclaim our democracies from corrosive corporate influence; to block harmful new free trade deals and rewrite old ones; to invest in starving public infrastructure like mass transit and affordable housing; to take back ownership of essential services like energy and water; to remake our sick agricultural system into something much healthier; to open borders to migrants whose displacement is linked to climate impacts; to finally respect Indigenous land rights all of which would help to end grotesque levels of inequality without our nations and between them. The last third of Klein s book is devoted to explicating hopeful signs that positive changes are not only possible, but already underway. She cites the growing fossil fuel divestment movement, reinvigoration of Indigenous sovereignty, growth of renewable and community-owned energy projects and on-the-ground resistance she dubs Blockadia. Can we pull it off? Klein, like her readers, wonders. All I know is that nothing is inevitable. Nothing except that climate change changes everything. And for a very brief time, the nature of that change is still up to us. Learn more about Klein s book at www. naomiklein.org

15 doit WED., JAN. 21 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. THURS., JAN. 22 NCI 101: Program Outreach Coordinator Codi Hamblin will focus on Connecting People with Nature: All About the North Cascades Institute at a presentation at 6:30pm at the Mount Vernon City Library, 321 Snoqualmie St. Entry is free. JAN BIRD MONTH: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Snowy Owl will be the theme of a monthlong exploration of snow owls and other winter migratory birds from 12-5pm Thursdays through Sundays through Feb. 5 at Whatcom Museum s Syre Education Center, 201 Prospect St. Entry is $5. Entry is $5. Highlights this week include a Migrating Birds of Whatcom County presentation with Paul Woodcock at 2pm Saturday and a Meet Our Raptors event at 2pm Sunday. Entry is $5. FRI., JAN. 23 WILD THINGS: Kids, adults and adventurers can join Wild Whatcom Walks for Wild Things excursions from 9:30-11am every Friday in January at Lake Padden. Entry is by donation. SAT., JAN. 24 LAKE WHATCOM HIKE: Join members of the Mount Baker Club for a 6.5-mile North Lake Whatcom hike today. Meet at 8:30am at Sunnyland Elementary to carpool, or at 9am at the trailhead. GARDEN CLASSES: Bonsai 101 will be the focus of a free workshop at 9am at the Garden Spot Nursery, 900 Alabama St. At 2pm, attend a Kids Mini-Indoor Terrariums course. Cost is $39 and includes all supplies (container, plants and soil). Please register in advance for both classes OR WINTER XC SERIES: Join Bellingham BMX & Cascade Cross for its monthly Winter XC 5K cross country running race starting at noon at 5022 Guide Meridian. Entry is $10 onsite. Additional races in the series take place Feb. 21 and March JAN SKAGIT EAGLE FESTIVAL: Raptor presentations, boat trips, hayrides, arts and crafts, wine tastings, live music, a 5K run and much more will be part of the Skagit Eagle Festival happening from 9am-4pm every Saturday and Sunday through January in Concrete, Rockport, and Marblemount (and beyond). Many events are free. Check out the website for a full roster of happenings. FISH HATCHERY TOURS: In conjunction with the return of bald eagles to the Skagit River watershed system, volunteer guides will provide free tours from 11am-3pm every Saturday and Sunday through Feb. 1 at the Marblemount Fish Hatchery, 8319 Fish Hatchery Rd. Tours start inside the visitor s center and proceed outdoors. Sturdy footwear is recommended. Entry is free. SUN., JAN. 25 RABBIT RIDE: Join members of the Mount Baker Bicycle Club for a Rabbit Ride starting at 8:30am every Sunday at Fairhaven Bike & Ski, th 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. MON., JAN. 26 CROSS-COUNTRY BASICS: Learn more about the fundamental differences between backcountry, telemarking and touring ski styles at a Cross- Country Skiing Basics class at 6pm at REI, th St. In addition, the workshop will cover proper clothing and information on where and how to get started. Entry is free; register in advance OR TUES., JAN. 27 CARNIVORE RECOVERY: Mitch Friedman, Conservation Northwest s Executive Director, will focus on The Status of Carnivore Recovery in Washington State at an Audubon Society presentation at 7pm at Whatcom Museum s Old City Hall, 121 Prospect St. Population status/trends, recovery efforts and legal protection information for Washington s gray wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, fishers and wolverines will be on the roster. Suggested donation is $3. 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, th 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. WAXING BASICS: Expert technician Kristi Kucera will focus on Ski/Snowboard Waxing Basics at 6pm at REI, th St. The free class will focus on a wide variety of subjects including base preparation, structure, and minor repair. Please register in advance PADDLEBOARD CLASS: Loft, Build, Paddle: A Complete Paddleboard Experience will be the focus of a class starting tonight at 6:30pm at the Community Boating Center, 555 Harris Ave. The class continues Tuesdays and Thursdays through Feb. 26. Entry is $260 and includes the process of constructing a paddleboard. WED., JAN. 28 PRUNING WORKSHOP: Find out why you should prune, what tools to use, plant habits and creative uses for clippings at a Pruning Workshop from 4-6pm at the Blaine Library, 310 3rd St. Grafting 101 will also be included, and will focus on scionwood, harvesting, labeling and storage. Entry is free THURS., JAN. 29 ILLUMINIGHT WINTER WALK: The Mount Vernon Downtown Association hosts free Illuminight Winter Walk events starting with a create-yourown-paper-lantern event at 4pm at Tri-Dee Arts, 215 S. 1st St. At 5pm, join other attendees for a wellness walk along the Skagit Riverwalk, ending at Ristretto for hot chocolate and apple cider. CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 15

16 CASCADIA WEEKLY # DO IT 2 MAIL 4 VIEWS 6 CURRENTS 8 WORDS 12 GET OUT STAGE 16 ART 18 MUSIC 20 FILM 24 B-BOARD 28 FOOD PHOTO BY LINDSEY BOWEN BY AMY KEPFERLE Romeo & Juliet CONRAD ASKLAND SCORES A CLASSIC stage THEATER DANCE PROFILES Anyone who s familiar with the plot of Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare s timeless tale of young love gone horribly awry, knows in advance that things don t end well for the titular teens who eventually decide they d rather be dead than live without each other. But despite knowing the passion in the play doesn t quite manage to overcome familial friction or a lethal dose of poison and a sharp dagger to the heart audiences over the past four centuries have reveled in the story the tragedy tells. Composer Conrad Askland is also a longtime fan of the original, so when META Performing Arts asked him to score a musical version of the Bard s master work something he says hasn t been done successfully in the 400-plus years since the play first made its way onstage he accepted the challenge. Past renditions have made the mistake of watering down Shakespeare s original text to be easily understood by a modern audience, Askland says. Our approach, instead, was to put the burden on the music to bring out the clarity of the Bard s original text. We believe audiences want the full depth of Shakespeare s original text and deserve to have that delivered in an entertaining way. Starting Jan. 30 and continuing through mid-february at Mount Vernon s Lincoln ROMEO & JULIET, We believe audiences want the full depth of Shakespeare s original text and deserve to have that delivered in an entertaining way. Conrad Askland, composer Theatre, audiences can see for themselves how Askland, director Joe Bowen, a cast of more than 30 and a 10-piece live orchestra have been working to transform Romeo & Juliet into a moving, memorable musical. The cast and crew have been amazing, Askland says. We were very clear from the beginning that what we were doing has never been done successfully for good reason it s very difficult. The cast has been fully onboard from day one and rehearsals have been intense. Actors that were cast for this project are all hungry artistically and ready for battle. The actors playing the leads Dylan Kane and Katherine Fisher are among the hungry, and Askland says they re up to the challenge. In addition to being able to pass for 14 (Juliet) and 17 (Romeo), the duo also fit the bill of being flexible artists who both had a wide range of vocal and acting talents. And, like the rest of the cast, they had to be able to take detailed notes day after day and retain those notes in their performances. While scoring the music, Askland says he had to make thousands of small decisions about ATTEND WHAT: An Afternoon with Composer Conrad Askland WHEN: 2pm Sat., Jan. 24 WHERE: Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St. COST: Free INFO: www. mountvernonwa. gov WHAT: META Performing Arts presents Romeo & Juliet, the Musical WHEN: Jan. 30- Feb. 15 WHERE: Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St., Mount Vernon COST: Tickets are $10-$22; all seats will be $10 at the door on Sat., Jan. 31 INFO: theatre.org or metaperforming arts.org the nuance of each actor s delivery while still being careful not to deviate from Shakespeare s original text. Along the way, he discovered a few surprises. In creating the original vocal and orchestral sketch, the first surprise was that the language seemed very fresh and contemporary to me, Askland says. It didn t feel like a distant era or some moldy old Shakespeare text. It was alive, vibrant and timeless. I saw absolutely no reason to update the text or modernize it. Everything is already there, and it is beautiful and enchanting. In short, Askland says although those who show up to see Romeo & Juliet will be seeing a different version of what they re used to, they won t be missing out on what makes the story continue to be so riveting. For seasoned Shakespeare lovers, I hope they are fully satisfied by hearing Shakespeare s original text and feel like they are seeing the story for the first time with an enhanced understanding and deep emotional pull, Askland says. For those new to Shakespeare, I hope they see an entertaining show and follow every minute of the action. For all, I hope we have lifted the veil of obscurity and fog that intimidates some people from watching Shakespeare. I hope we have made it accessible and vibrant to the common man. I can think of no artistic goal more noble than this, and we aim to make world history with our sweat and commitment.

17 doit PHOTO BY LYNN TYLER KING Advanced students of the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth will sing and dance their way through the Broadway musical Damn Yankees for the final weekend at showings Jan at the BAAY Theatre STAGE WED., JAN. 21 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. The event features six comedians vying for your vote, a highlighted comedian, and chances to win platters of cheesy fries. Entry is free. THURS., JAN. 22 TREASURE ISLAND: View Robert Louis Stevenson s story of murder, money and mutiny on the big screen at a National Theatre Live showing of Treasure Island at 7:30pm at Mount Vernon s Lincoln Theatre, 712 S. First St. Tickets are $12-$16. 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 $4-$ OR JAN THE CARRION MAN: A comedic mystery/horror adventure about a teen put through a series of tests to gain great fortune can be seen when The Carrion Man opens this week at performances at 7:30pm Thursday through Sunday at the idiom Theater, 1418 Cornwall Ave. Tickets are $10-$12; additional shows happen Jan. 29-Feb. 1. Opening night is free. JAN RUMORS: Neil Simon s classic farce, Rumors, opens this weekend with 7:30pm shows Friday and Saturday at the Anacortes Community Theatre, 918 M Ave. Tickets are $18 and additional showings happen weekends through Feb BLENDER: Improv featuring performers from near and far Seattle, Canada, Bellingham, and beyond will be part of Blender performances at 8pm and 10pm Friday and Saturday at the Upfront Theatre, 1208 Bay St. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Additional Blender shows happen Jan JAN DAMN YANKEES: Young actors ages will sing and dance their way through performances of Damn Yankees at 7pm Friday, 2pm and 7pm Saturday, and 2pm Sunday at the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth, 1059 N. State St. Tickets are $10 online or at the door (free for kids 5 and under). SAT., JAN. 24 JEKYLL & HYDE: View the epic struggle between good and evil when a musical version of Jekyll & Hyde comes to Bellingham for one show only at 8pm at the Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. The Grammy-nominated play has been called a gripping musical thriller resplendent with a sumptuous score. Tickets are $30-$ OR LATE-NIGHT IMPROV LAB: PETER Comedy will take the audience on an improvised theatrical experience at an idiom Improv Lab performance kicking off an upcoming slew of late-night shows starting at 10pm at the idiom Theater, 1418 Cornwall Ave. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. SUN., JAN. 25 COMEDY SHOW: Joel O Conner will take on hosting duties at tonight s Laughing with the Stars Comedy Show at 8:30pm at the Star Club, 311 E. Holly St. O Conner will be joined by local acts, and possibly a touring one. Entry is free. MON., JAN. 26 GUFFAWINGHAM: A weekly open mic for comedians, Guffawingham!, takes place at 9:30pm every Monday at the Green Frog, 1015 N. State St. Entry is free. DANCE THURS., JAN. 22 FOLK DANCE: Join the Fourth Corner Folk Dancers to learn lively folk dances from Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey, and Israel from 7:15-10pm every Thursday at the Fairhaven Library, th St. Suggested donation is $5; students and first-timers are free. (360) FRI., JAN. 23 WESTERN LINE DANCING: No partner or experience is necessary to take part in Western Line Dancing classes Friday nights at Lynden s Ten Mile Grange, 6958 Hannegan Rd. Newbies start at 5:45pm, beginners from 6:30-7:30pm, and intermediates from 7:30-8:30pm. Entry is $5 per class. (360) DANCE PARTY: A mix of swing, Latin and ballroom will be highlighted and danced to with an introductory lesson at the weekly Friday Night Dance Party from 7:30-10pm at the Bellingham Dance Company, 1705 N. State St. Admission is $5-$7. SAT., JAN. 24 BALLROOM DANCING: All ages and levels of experience can attend Ballroom Dancing events from 6:30-9pm on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month at the Bellingham Senior Activity Center, 315 Halleck St. The social dances feature traditional ballroom and swing music for foxtrot, east coast swing, waltz, nightclub two-step, cha cha, rumba, salsa, samba and more. Entry is $5. (360) CONTRA DANCE: Incognito Band will provide live tunes at the Bellingham Country Dance Society s Contra Dance from 7-10:30pm at the Fairhaven Library, th St. Beginners are welcome, as are singles. Entry is $8-$10. UNDER THE SEA BALL: Don your favorite mermaid gown for an Under the Sea Ball starting at 8pm at the Star Club, 311 E. Holly St. The event will feature a costume contest, music, drink specials, a photo booth and glitter tattoos. Entry is free. CHUCKANUT BREWERY & KITCHEN Locavore w/split Pea Soup Sweetheart Dinner Feb 14! Bock Beer On Tap Family Friendly HoPPY Hour Sunday-Thursday 4-6pm 601 West Holl WA ChuckanutBreweryAndKitchen.com CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 17

18 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 LATE FALL, BY ADRIENNE SMITS BY STEPHEN HUNTER visual GALLERIES OPENINGS PROFILES Big and Beautiful THE WORLD OF GROWING THINGS AT MONA On a recent wintry afternoon, Adrianne Smits introduced her monumental paintings to a gaggle of gray-haired docents at La Conner s Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA). The title of Smits exhibit, Immersion Redux: Buiten is a way of saying relived memories of being outside in the rain and biting bugs Buiten, Dutch for outside, pays tribute to her ancestry. This articulate young artist and scientist brings back from her Ph.D. fieldwork in northern California and Alaska a pictorial record of solitude amid raw nature. When she wasn t counting salmon, collecting critters or analyzing water samples, she preserved her experiences in small watercolors. Back home in Seattle, Smits has transformed these small paintings into 12- to 18-foot-wide panoramas, commemorating her experience in the wilderness. Even as a kid, she wanted to draw things too big. These panoramas are enriched by her imagination and vivid memories of the untamed forest exuberant, intricate, messy and interrelated. The result is soothing and wondrous for the viewer. Asked about her influences in art, she mentioned medieval tapestry: the great sweeps of fabric that once covered castle walls with images of chivalry, lawns, flowers and trees. I could see the tapestry analogue; her can- vases are patterned with repetitive images (especially the ferns). Others thought of the French Primitive master, Henri Le Douanier Rousseau: All it needs is a tiger. The accompanying exhibit in MoNA s Benaroya Glass Gallery, A Tree is a kind of Big Flower shares the focus on the world of growing things. Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick established a partnership, meeting at the Pilchuck Glass School in They have been winning awards, occupying distinguished artistic residencies and creating outstanding works in glass and other materials ever since. (Watch their amazing work with hot glass at The latest challenge they have set for themselves has been the achievement of capturing a plant in full bloom flowers, stems, leaves and roots within a glass box, preserving and displaying it as a sculpture. Here are daffodil, iris, gentian and twinflower in deceptively effortless display, even to their intricate roots. The achievement is a magnificent success, and should be seen by every gardener SEE IT WHAT: Adrianne Smits Immersion Redux: Buiten, Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick s A Tree is a Flower, Still Life from the Permanent Collection WHEN: 12-5pm Sun.-Mon., 10am- 5pm Tues.-Sat., through March 11 WHERE: La Conner s Museum of Northwest Art, 121 First St. COST: Entry is free INFO: www. monamuseum.org and wildflower lover. Kirkpatrick s separate contribution is a series of realistic casein paintings of sections of birch, cottonwood and conifer trunks. This project began as expiation for having cut down an ancient incense cedar on the property the two artists share near Chimacum. Having honored the cedar with a portrait, Kirkpatrick did a group painting of others as if to dispatch them to the spirit world in company with the unfortunate cedar. As usual, the main floor exhibits at MoNA are accompanied upstairs by selections from the permanent collection. And this one is a corker. From a 1928 Mark Tobey canvas, Pink Flower, we sweep through a parade of works by Northwest greats, including Walter Isaacs (1962), Spencer Moseley (1958), Paul and Larry Heald, Max Benjamin, and Eric Elliott (2010), to mention only a few. (Spoiler alert: This show will be the subject of my next review.) doit UPCOMING EVENTS FRI., JAN. 23 ART AUCTION: Art of the Senses will be the theme of tonight s fundraising Art Auction starting at 6pm at Whatcom Museum s Lightcatcher Building, 250 Flora St. Tickets are $100 and include entry to the auctions, dinner, drinks and more. TUES., JAN. 27 PACIFIC NERDWEST: Sell your comics, trade your comics, buy comics, talk shop, have drinks and more at the latest iteration of Pacific Nerdwest s Nerd s Night Out from 6-9pm at the Shakedown, 1212 N. State St. Entry to the mini comic book convention is free. ONGOING EXHIBITS ALLIED ARTS: Masters of Chinese Art will be on display through Jan. 31 at Allied Arts, 1418 Cornwall Ave. The exhibit is part of a Chinese Cultural Festival. ARTWOOD: The woodworking furniture of Ted Scherrer and the art of Tom Semple will be highlighted through January at Artwood Gallery, 1000 Harris Ave. CHUCKANUT BREWERY: View Bellinghambased artist Kailee Winterburn s work through March 6 at Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen, 601 W. Holly St. DEMING LIBRARY: Everson-based photographer Gary Meader will show his Miksang photos through Feb. 20 at the Deming Library, 5044 Mt. Baker Hwy. 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 OR FOURTH CORNER FRAMES: View works by Bellingham s premier aquatint artist Stephen McMillan through January at Fourth Corner Frames & Gallery, 311 W. Holly St. GALLERY CYGNUS: View works by David Eisenhour, Todd J. Horton, Ed Kamuda, Norman E. Riley, Maggie Wilder, and Clayton James through Feb. 22 in La Conner at Gallery Cygnus, 109 Commercial St. GOOD EARTH: Artists will donate part of the proceeds from the sales of the fifth annual Lamps and Bowls exhibit to the Bellingham Food Bank. The pieces will be highlighted through January at Good Earth Pottery, 1000 Harris Ave. HONEY SALON: Check out Wild at Home, a new collection of paintings and mixedmedia fiber art by Moth and Squirrel s Libby Chenault, through Jan. 31 at Honey Salon,

19 doit Jennifer Bowman s Forest Grove and other paintings can be seen alongside works by Cynthia Richardson, Amanda Houston, Kathy Hastings, Lewis Jones, Dick Garvey, and Randy Dana through Jan. 27 in Anacortes at the Scott Milo Gallery 310 W. Holly St. JANSEN ART CENTER: Peruse black-and-white photography by Tommy Gibson, oil paintings by Mary Alice Phillips, and a Winter Exhibit at Lynden s Jansen Art Center, 321 Front St. Entry is free. MAKE.SHIFT: Make Art: Community Mural Project can be seen through the month at Make.Shift Art Space, 306 Flora St. The individually created mural pieces compose a larger vision of community. 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. PEACEHEALTH: Healing Through Art is on display through Jan. 31 at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, 2901 Squalicum Pkwy. The exhibit features works by painters Mary Moore Bailey, Cathy Schoenberg, and Linda Hirsh. Select works from private collections include paintings by Clayton James, Jack Gunter, William Slater, and others 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. REXVILLE GROCERY: View a variety of Bill Fireball Ball s paintings through January at Mount Vernon s Rexville Grocery Cafe, Best Rd. Many of the Skagit Valley artist s abstract and surreal paintings were created live at electronic dance and music shows. SCOTT MILO: Jennifer Bowman s acrylics will be highlighted through Jan. 27 in Anacortes at the Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave. Also showing are acrylics by Cynthia Richardson, oils and pastels by Amanda Houston, photo encaustics by Kathy Hastings and photography by Lewis Jones, Dick Garvey, and Randy Dana. SKAGIT MUSEUM: Death Becomes Her shows through March 15 at La Conner s Skagit County Historical Museum, 501 S. Fourth St. SMITH & VALLEE: New mixed-media works by local skateboarding legend Matt French and Smith & Vallee Woodworks own Pieter VanZanden can be seen through Jan. 25 at Edison s Smith & Vallee Gallery, 5742 Gilkey Ave. WESTERN GALLERY: Discovery, Western Washington University s Department of Art and Design s biennial exhibit, shows through-march 7 at the Western Gallery. The show features new visions in all media from drawing and ceramics to graphic design, fibers, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and video. Entry is free and open to the public. WHATCOM ART MARKET: From 10am-6pm every Thursday through Monday, stop by the Whatcom Art Guild s Art Market at Fairhaven s Waldron Building, th St. WHATCOM MUSEUM: Leo Adams: Eastern Light, Peak of Their Professions: The Murrow Brothers, and Big Cameras, Big Trees: Darius Kinsey at Large in the Woods can currently be viewed on the Whatcom Museum campus. DON T RECYCLE IT DONATE FOR REUSE! Support local jobs by donating your used appliance to our job-training program free pickups available RESTAURANT RETAIL CATERING Mount Baker Theatre FOR TICKETS: MountBakerTheatre.com One Earth Tour: Mystery Wednesday, January 28 7:30p Tickets start at $32 Spending a third of the year rehearsing on their private island compound, Kodo reinvents traditional Japanese drumming with startling new fusion and forms. Sponsor We will be closed Super Bowl Sunday. Go Hawks! 100 N. Commercial St. next to Mount Baker Theatre bellinghampasta.com Season Sponsor CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 19

20 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 BY CAREY ROSS Kodo Drummers BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY music SHOW PREVIEWS RUMOR HAS IT Not long ago, an acquaintance who was a drummer in a rock band a pretty good rock band that was enjoying a growing measure of regional success gave up not just his burgeoning band, but also his home and all the friends, family and comforts that come with it to chase his dream of becoming a taiko drummer. At the time, I chalked it up as yet another of my artistic friends exploring a whim, but as the years have passed, he has remained devoted to this very particular musical discipline, so much so that he s moved thousands of miles away in the name of pursuing and progressing in his chosen craft. Such is the power of taiko. Because taiko isn t merely a style of drumming. For those who have chosen to embrace and embody this traditional Japanese musical form, it is a way of life. Sure, anyone can sign up to take a taiko lesson as a diverting way to pass an afternoon, but becoming a serious taiko drummer is a wholly immersive experience. Like so many other things integral to Japanese culture from becoming a sushi chef to cultivating bonsai pursuit of perfection is a lifelong endeavor. No one knows this better than the world s most famous and highly respected taiko drumming group, Kodo. For nearly 35 years, the men and women of Kodo have not only introduced audiences across the globe to taiko, but they ve also explored and expanded the musical form, adding their own distinctive chapter to taiko s centuries-old history. Within Japan, taiko refers to any number of different percussive instruments. However, to the rest of the world, the word conjures visions of large drums in Kodo s case, very large drums played with bachi (i.e. fat drumsticks) by an ensemble of performers. ATTEND WHAT: Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery WHEN: 7:30pm Wed., Jan. 28 WHERE: Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. COST: $32-$62 INFO: www. mountbaker theatre.com The physical energy expended during a concert is far greater than what is required of other types of musicians, with taiko existing at the nexus of passion and precision, art and athleticism. It s big and booming, yet somehow still subtle. But most of all, taiko is these opposing things existing in perfect balance. But that s just regular taiko, if such a thing exists. Kodo is something else entirely. First of all, Kodo drummers don t just tour the world, have band practice and sometimes hang out with one another like every other musical group. They live together in their own village on Sado Island in Japan. Of course, since they tour eight months of the year, they only spend four months in Kodo Village, where they prepare new material and rest before their travels begin again. As well, the sheer scale of the Kodo organization, which numbers some 100 or so people 32 of them comprise the touring troupe is indicative of what it takes to foster and maintain a top-notch taiko tradition. Given that, it probably comes as no surprise that becoming a Kodo drummer Rumor Has It TO KNOW KAT Bula is to know a skilled musician who is generally up to interesting and newsworthy things. And to know Kat Bula is also to know someone who is generally the worst when it comes to any kind of self-promotion that might come off as being, well, too self-promoting. She s bashful that way. Good thing I m not. Along with being an exemplary fiddle and guitar instructor (no, I don t take either fiddle or guitar lessons from her, but I hear things), Bula also puts no small amount of effort into booking music, poetry and whatever else she thinks will strike the entertainment-seeking public s fancy at the Honey Moon. In doing so, she helps to thoughtfully cultivate what has long been one of Bellingham s most warm and inviting incubators of local music. She also brings her musical skills to bear in accompanying any number of other musicians, efforts that showcase her knack for seemingly effortless collaboration. And, if need be, she BY CAREY ROSS can kick ass all over a karaoke contest. But, above and beyond all that, Bula is a smart, sassy, sensitive singer/songwriter, one who brings gifts for lyricism, instrumentation and arrangement to the table. In other words, she can not only envision, but also engineer if need be a song from top to bottom, which is a form of musical dexterity that gives her music rare depth and range in an otherwise endless sea of singer/songwriters with their proverbial three chords and the truth. Not that she would tell you any of that. But what Bula would tell you is that she, under her musical moniker Thimble vs. Needle, has recorded a new album, Conversations Over Breakfast. Unlike her last Thimble vs. Needle effort, which was recorded in a month, Bula took her time with this one, putting a year into making the album say what she wanted, in the way she wanted to say it. She had some help in doing so, mostly in the form of musical cohort Chris Stainbeck, who Bula played with in Pirates R Us, as well as many of those in her exceedingly talented musical peer group. Many of those people will be on hand for a one-night-only show when Bula throws herself a party to celebrate the release of her new album on Sat., Jan. 31 at, fittingly, the Honey Moon. Unlike most music made around these parts, Bula has done a decent job of keeping her new work under wraps, meaning you can t just cue up her Bandcamp by way of skipping the show. If you want to hear Bula s Conversations Over Breakfast, you re either going to have to hit up the Honey Moon or be at her house for breakfast, I suppose. But in only one of those scenarios can you show up without an invitation and be assured of a warm welcome.

21 KODO, FROM 20 takes a lot more than just a combination of luck and talent. Taiko standouts must spend two years in an apprentice program. Should they excel there, they then may be asked to become a provisional member for a period of one year. After that, if they are deemed worthy, only then will they become a fullfledged Kodo drummer. The organization accepts only apprentices a year. Of those, and only when they ve proven themselves ready, two or three may attain provisional status. Maybe one of those will be asked to be a permanent member. Maybe. But beating big drums isn t the only thing expected of Kodo protégés. They must also learn skills in such areas as musicevents WED., JAN. 21 MILES BLACK TRIO: Canadian career jazz pianist Miles Black will be joined by bassist Michael Glynn and drummer Julian MacDonough for a performance with the Whatcom Jazz Music Arts Center at 7pm at the Majestic, 1027 N. Forest ST. Entry is $5 for students, $10 general. BUG SONG CIRCLE: The Bellingham Ukulele Group will host its monthly Song Circle from 7-8:45pm at the Roeder Home, 2600 Sunset Dr. Admission is free; donations are appreciated OR THURS., JAN. 22 SLIM FAT LIPS: Roots music, country and blues can heard when Slim Fat Lips performs from 5-8pm in Sedro-Woolley at the Woolley Market, 829 Metcalf St. Entry is free. BLUEGRASS SUMMIT: Bentgrass and the Prozac Mountain Boys will perform as part of a Bluegrass Summit show starting at 8pm in Glacier at Graham s Restaurant, 9989 Mt. Baker Hwy. Entry is free. (360) JAN OPERA SCENES: Students from Western Washington University s Opera Club present Opera Scenes at 7:30pm Friday and Saturday at the Performing Arts Center, room 16. Selections from Die Fledermaus, Orphee Aux Enfers, Don Giovanni, Little Women, Hansel and Gretel, Le Nozze Die Figaro, La Fille Du Regiment, H.M.S. Pinafore, and more will be on the roster. Tickets are $10-$12. SAT., JAN. 24 A CAPELLA WEST: Ensembles from Western Washington University, University of Utah, Pacific Lutheran University, Brigham Young, Gonzaga, Central Washington University and more will perform at the A Capella ICAA West quarterfinals at 7pm at WWU s Performing Arts Center Mainstage. Tickets are $16-$ EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL: The Salish Sea Early Music Festival series continues with a 1700: Baroque Winds performance at 7:30pm at St. Paul s agriculture or cooking, and immerse themselves in the local community. In fact, community is a big part of the Kodo experience, and the fledgling drummers also travel to other areas to glean information, stories and techniques in much the same way folk musicians the world over ply their craft. And, since taiko is such a hugely athletic discipline especially in Kodo s case members of the troupe at every level are required to train and maintain their bodies, balancing building strength with rest and reflection. Like I said, it s an immersive experience. But it s one that has proven to garner results, as Kodo performances are often described using words like stunning, breathtaking and extraordinary. It s no less than the pursuit of perfection, one drumbeat at a time. Episcopal Church, 2117 Walnut St. Anna Marsh (baroque bassoon), Jeffrey Cohan (baroque flute), and Jonathan Oddie (harpsichord) will be the featured performers. Suggested donation is $15-$25. SUN., JAN. 25 EVANS AND MUNDE: Banjo legends Bill Evans and Alan Munde will perform together for the first time at 2pm at Nancy s Farm, 2030 E. Smith Rd. Expect to hear bluegrass selections, original compositions, fiddle tunes on banjo, slow songs and much more. Suggested donation is $15. SKAGIT SYMPHONY: Kids are welcome at the Skagit Symphony s annual Family Concert at 2pm at Mount Vernon s McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way. Tickets are $10. Children attending with a ticketed adult can get in for free. PERCUSSION FEST: The Bellingham Chamber Music Society presents a Percussion Fest performance from 3-5pm at Whatcom Community College, 237 W. Kellogg Rd. Percussionist Melanie Sehman will be features, as will with violist Leslie Johnson and bassoonist Pat Nelson. Entry is free for students, $5 general. ART OF JAZZ: The Jud Sherwood Trio will be the featured ensemble at the Jazz Project s monthly Art of Jazz concert from 4-6:30pm at the Encore Room at the Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. Entry is $10-$16. WED., JAN. 28 DANNY KOLKE TRIO: The Whatcom Jazz Music Arts Center presents a performance by the Danny Kolke Trio at 7pm at the Majestic, 1027 N. Forest ST. Entry is $5 for students, $10 general. KODO ONE EARTH TOUR: The limitless possibilities of the traditional Japanese taiko drum will be explored when Kodo brings its One Earth Tour: Mystery to town for a 7:30pm performance at the Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. Kodo strives to both preserve and reinterpret traditional Japanese performing arts. Tickets are $32-$ OR Lester & Hyldahl Tom Lester Doug Hyldahl Attorneys at Law tara@lesterhyldahl.com 119 N. Commercial Street, Suite 175 The Corner Pub is Open! Live Music Thursdays & Some Saturdays All music starts at 7:30 PM TH PM Jody Taylor Local country. Open 11-9 Monday thru Wednesday Thursday thru Saturday 10-9 Sunday Always open later if everyone is having a good time! DUI/Criminal Personal Injury Bankruptcy COLD BEER GREAT FOOD Weekly events: Monday - Meatloaf Monday Trivia 7 PM Tuesday - Tacos, Tallboys and Tequila Wednesday - Bingo Night 4:30 PM Thursday - Knut Bell Live Music 7:30 PM Friday - Steak Night 5 PM Unwind Special- (but not exclusive by any means) drink on your lunch break so come receipt for 50%off your first drink! Dump Run special- receipt from the Skagit Transfer Station and get a beer and a shot CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 21

22 musicvenues CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 See below for venue addresses and phone numbers Bellingham Alternative Library Boundary Bay Brewery Brown Lantern Ale House Cabin Tavern Commodore Ballroom WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Holy Komodo, Actionesse, Dolphin Farm Aaron Guest Piano Night Paul Klein RL Grime Open Mic Open Mic Death From Above 1979, Metz, PS I Love You We Were Heroes, Caparza, War In The Sky Live Music Conway Muse Conway West & The Dovetails El Norte Corner Pub Knut Bell and the 360s Jody Taylor Stone Jones AESOP ROCK/Jan. 23/ Edison Inn Piano Night Troy Fair Band Country Dave & Band Wild Buffalo Glow Nightclub DJ J-Will Twisted Thursday Girl Meets Boy DJ Boombox METZ/Jan. 22/ Commodore Ballroom Bellewood Acres Bobby Lee s Pub & Eatery Boundary Bay Brewing Co. Brown Lantern Ale House The Business Cabin Tavern Chuckanut Brewery Commodore Ballroom Conway Muse Corner Pub Vibrant Urban Living in the Heart of Bellingham 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 $ per month. Call to arrange your visit and see what it means to live in downtown Bellingham Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA

23 musicvenues See below for venue addresses and phone numbers Green Frog H2O WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Bailey Martinet, Tim Mechling Scott Pemberton Trio Hot Cotton; Faucet, Symons and Fogg DJ Ryan I The Neon Stars Knut Bell and the Blue Collars Slow Jam (early) Open Mic (early), Guffawingham (late) Pete Seeger Memorial Jam (early), DJ Yogoman (late) Honey Moon Misty Flowers Gallowglass Bilongo Quartet The Shadies KC's Bar and Grill Karaoke Karaoke Kulshan Brewing Co. Chuck Dingee The Rusty Cleavers David Guilbault Main St. Bar and Grill Karaoke Nashville Northwest Maximus Make.Shift Art Space Old World Deli Rockfish Grill Little Joe Argo Andrew Norsworthy Hex Appeal, Paravoux, more Live Music Royal Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke, DJ Karaoke, DJ Partyrock Rumors Cabaret Leveled Throwback Thursday DJ Postal, DJ Shortwave DJ Mike Tolleson Karaoke w/zach Treble Tuesday The Shakedown Hump! Dance Party I Will Fight With Lions, Cellars and Attics, Cadence Metal DJ Night Deadly D, Cruel As Kidz, Double B & Laces Skagit Valley Casino Expertease Expertease Skylark's Chad Petersen The Sonja Lee Band The Julianne Thoma Quartet Karaoke Tom Waits Night Nerd's Night Out (early), Aireeoke (late) Star Club Aireeoke The Reverie Machine Singer Sunday Irish Night Open Mic w/jan Peters Swillery Whiskey Bar Karaoke Live Music Music Video Night Via Cafe and Bistro Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke Karaoke The Village Inn Jam Night Karaoke Wild Buffalo 90s Night Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic Snug Harbor, Grace Love and the True Tones PETE SEEGER MEMORIAL JAM/ Jan. 27/Green Frog Open Mic w/chuck D The Green Frog 1015 N. State St. Edison Inn 5829 Cains Ct., Edison (360) The Fairhaven 1114 Harris Ave Glow 202 E. Holly St Graham s Restaurant 9989 Mount Baker Hwy., Glacier (360) H 2 0, 314 Commercial Ave., Anacortes (360) Honey Moon 1053 N State St KC s Bar and Grill 108 W. Main St., Everson (360) Kulshan Brewery 2238 James St Make.Shift Art Space 306 Flora St Main Street Bar & Grill 2004 Main St., Ferndale (360) McKay s Taphouse 1118 E. Maple St. (360) Nooksack River Casino 5048 Mt. Baker Hwy., Deming (360) Poppe s 714 Lakeway Dr Paso Del Norte 758 Peace Portal Dr. Blaine (360) The Redlight 1017 N State St. Rockfish Grill 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes (360) The Royal 208 E. Holly St Rumors Cabaret 1119 Railroad Ave The Shakedown 1212 N. State St. Silver Reef Casino 4876 Haxton Way, Ferndale (360) Skagit Valley Casino Resort 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow (360) Skylark s Hidden Cafe th St Star Club 311 E Holly St. Swillery Whiskey Bar 118 W. Holly St. Swinomish Casino Casino Dr., Anacortes (888) Temple Bar 306 W. Champion St The Underground 211 E. Chestnut St Underground Coffeehouse Viking Union 3rd Floor, WWU Via Cafe 7829 Birch Bay Dr., Blaine (360) Village Inn Pub 3020 Northwest Ave Vinostrology 120 W. Holly St Wild Buffalo 208 W. Holly St. To get your live music listings included, send info to clubscascadiaweekly.com. Deadlines are always at 5pm Friday. CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 23

24 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 REVIEWED BY RENE RODRIGUEZ Film MOVIE REVIEWS SHOWTIMES Two Days, One Night MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING In Two Days, One Night, Belgian filmmaking brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne continue to explore their recurring theme of ordinary, working-class people on a quest that takes on larger-than-life dimensions (La Promesse, The Kid with a Bike, L Enfant). Marion Cotillard stars as Sandra, a wife and mother recuperating from a bout of depression who learns she s going to lose her job at a solar panel factory due to downsizing. Her coworkers were given the opportunity to decide whether to keep her on board or receive their annual bonus of 1,000 euros, and they chose the money. When she confronts her boss on a Friday afternoon and begs him not to let her go, he agrees to give her the weekend to visit her fellow employees and persuade them to reconsider their vote on Monday morning. Thus begins a door-to-door quest by Sandra and her husband, Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), in which she tries to make her case, imploring the other factory workers to retract their votes. Two Days, One Night marks the first time the Dardennes have cast a famous name in a lead role, and Cotillard makes a great fit in with their neo-realistic, no-frills style of storytelling. She conveys Sandra s mounting desperation and courage in the face of humiliation without histrionics or actorly tics. She s a woman on the verge of another nervous breakdown she has just dug herself out of a hole only to plunge into a deeper one but she won t go down without a fight, even though many of the people she visits don t have much sympathy for her situation ( I didn t vote against you, says one of the coworkers she visits. I voted for the bonus. ) Like many of the Dardennes previous films, Two Days, One Night thrusts the viewer into the dilemmas faced by their characters, making their ordeal feel personal: Would you forgo a fat bonus in order to save the job of another employee you didn t know all that well? How much loyalty do we owe to people we work with who aren t part of our private lives? How far does our responsibility to care for the needy extend? The Dardennes are fascinated by moral and ethical dilemmas that have no clear-cut answers, no black-and-white rights and wrongs. Sandra s coworkers need the extra cash as badly as she needs her job. Her face doesn t register anger whenever she gets turned down. Instead, she emanates disappointment, but understanding, too. The stress begins to take a toll on Sandra, leading her to question everything,, The Dardennes are fascinated by moral and ethical dilemmas that have no clear-cut answers, no blackand-white rights and wrongs Sandra s coworkers need the extra cash as badly as she needs her job. including her marriage. I can tell we re going to split up, she tells her husband. You pity me but you don t love me. Cotillard, who earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, plays the character as a woman hanging on by the barest of threads, her anxiety growing as the deadline approaches and a new vote will be taken. You worry what she s capable of doing if things don t go her way this is a strong but damaged woman who hasn t fully recuperated yet and the long takes and handheld cameras the Dardennes favor amp up the aura of anxiety looming over the film. Two Days, One Night is the story of a woman in dire straits of a specific nature. But her situation, and the reactions of those whose help she seeks, is universal. Sooner or later, we all need a helping hand in our lives. But what happens when you need to convince people to extend one?

25 Take the tunnel to 1,000 convenient parking spaces at the south entrance EASY TO FIND, HARD TO LEAVE Win a 7-day trip for 2 with a non-stop flight from Bellingham to either Waikiki or Maui! EVERY FRIDAY AT 7PM NOW - MARCH 27 TH Earn Entries Daily Diamond Dividends Players Club members earn one FREE ENTRY every day. Play with your Diamond Dividends Players Club card to earn extra entries. Earn more entries when you play, stay, dine or relax at Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa. Earn entries every day and join us each Friday for your chance to say aloha to surf, sand, snorkeling and sunsets. When life s a beach, everything can happen. SilverReefCasino.com I-5 Exit 260 Ferndale, WA Must be 21 or over to play. Management reserves all rights Silver Reef Casino EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 25

26 film showing this week CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 CW BY CAREY ROSS FILM SHORTS American 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 in U.S. military history. (R 2 hrs. 12 min.) Annie: Shocking no one, this movie was nominated for exactly zero Oscars. (PG 1 hr. 58 min.) Big Hero 6: I confess that each time an animated adventure is released, my main interest in it can be summed up by a single question: Pixar or not? However, I may have to revise that inquiry to include Disney, as they ve upped their animation game of late (Frozen, I m looking at you) and this tale of a boy, his endearing robotic companion and their crime-fighting capabilities will only bolster the House of Mouse. (PG 1 hr. 33 min.) Blackhat: We ve reached the time of year in which new releases can be described in one of two ways: Oscar contenders or really not Oscar contenders. Guess what category this movie in which Chris Hemsworth plays some kind of genius computer hacker/ weapon of mass destruction falls into? (R 2 hrs. 13 min.) Boyhood: The Pickford had a feeling when they showed Richard Linklater s groundbreaking movie, which was filmed over 12 years, that its impact would be felt come awards season. With six Oscar nominations, that feeling has become fact, and if you missed it the first time around, here s your chance to see it on the big screen. (R 2 hrs. 43 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.) 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.) Inherent Vice: A movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin based on a monster of a totally unfilmable book by Thomas Pynchon? Sounds like a job made for director Paul Thomas Anderson. (R 2 hrs. 28 min.) Into the Woods: A few weeks ago, I made a joke Winners LOUNGE Owned by Upper Skagit Indian Tribe I-5 Exit 236 theskagit.com Must be 21 or older with valid photo ID. 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.) Mortdecai: Johnny Depp s ability to morph himself into strangely beautiful characters (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, other characters not named Ed) used to be the most compelling thing about him. These days, I d be far more interested in seeing him play a role in which his acting ability outpaces his makeup and affectations, but it looks like I m going to have to wait until his next film. Or maybe the one after that. (R 1 hr. 47 min.) Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb: Supposedly, this is the final installment of this particular film franchise. Since it features Robin Williams in one of his final big-screen appearances, that alone makes it worth seeing although that might be the only thing that does. (PG 1 hr. 37 min.) Paddington: Since every other character from every other beloved children s books gets a film franchise, I guess its 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.) MORTDECAI Selma: Somehow, this film went from being the assumed Oscar frontrunner to wholly and thoroughly snubbed by the Academy, which, perhaps coincidentally, is comprised almost entirely of rich white men. I d like to make a statement about the Academy marginalizing a movie about the struggle for Civil Rights, but it s hard to see clearly through all the irony. (PG-13 2 hrs. 8 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.) Taken 3: I m pretty sure I have a handle on this Liam Neeson film franchise. First, they kidnapped his wife. Or maybe his daughter. Or possibly both. Liam gets mad. Punches wolves (that might be a different movie, come to think of it). Presumably, this third part has something to do with all that. And possibly more wolf-punchery. But maybe not. (PG-13 1 hr. 49 min.) The Boy Next Door: This film stars Jennifer Lopez as Teacher and some other dude as Hot for Teacher. Steamy love scenes ensue before the stalking starts and things get creepy. Since this flick bears a striking resemblance to all my favorite Lifetime movies, I m having a hard time judging it objectively, but that fact that I just likened it to a Lifetime movie is probably all the info you need to know. (R 1 hr. 31 min.) The Theory of Everything: Stephen Hawking is the Smartest Man Alive, a feat made all the more 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.) Unbroken: Cinematographer Roger Deakins, who is responsible for the most beautiful movies you have ever seen (The Assassination of Jesse James, No Country for Old Men, The Shawshank Redemption), has been nominated for 12 Oscars during his lifetime, but has never won one. I m not saying this is the travesty of our time, but this is the travesty of our time. (PG-13 2 hrs. 17 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.) Whiplash: All I want in life is for J.K. Simmons to win an Oscar, not only for his excellent work in this film, but for a lifetime of excellent work, including his turn as Dr. Emil Skoda on Law & Order. (R 1 hr. 46 min.) Wild: Apparently, the Academy listened to me with regard to my threat concerning Reese Witherspoon s Oscar nomination. I guess they re not all bad, all the time. (R 1 hr. 55 min.) Showtimes WATCH THE BIG GAME ON THE BIG SCREEN! SUNDAY 2/1 3:30 PM Seahawks vs. Patriots GAME TIME SPECIALS Specials available in the lounge and at the bar top during the BIG Game! ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY & SATURDAY 1/23 & 1/24, 9 PM 1 AM Expertease 80 s, 90 s & Current Top 40 Rock Regal and AMC theaters, please see Pickford Film Center and PFC s Limelight Cinema, please see

27 LETTERS, FROM PAGE 5 The plastic container is emblematic of a society that has become accustomed to the replaceable object. If a possession breaks, another can be found quickly and cheaply. If we left bags in the car, every vendor has one to proffer. Yet if there were no plastic bags or new containers, wouldn t we have to remember to bring our own? To develop another habit like carrying keys or brushing teeth? In a backlash against plastic culture, the last couple decades have shown growing interest in living small and artisan goods. But a greater attentiveness to changing our daily practices is needed. I am still working to unlearn the carelessness of my childhood, to treat things kindly, place them back in place, keep them in good condition. I still throw more away than is necessary. But I do try to bring a backpack, a water bottle, a mug, and my own containers. I ask that as a community we work harder to understand the origins of our possessions and take responsibility for ourselves, eating and drinking animals that we are. Show some love for this big life-covered rock we re flying around on and be prepared! Celeste Monke, Everson POLLUTERS SHOULD PAY My faith community believes in authentic development, which offers a direction for progress that respects human dignity and the limits of material growth. Humans are causing climate change, but the impacts are not felt equally across our planet; some nations and even areas of our state are experiencing more adverse effects than others. Industry, the single biggest carbon emitter, pays little for their pollution, but makes the biggest profit. This isn t fair. Gov. Inslee wants Washington to lead in lowering carbon emission, making polluters pay, with a cap-and-trade plan. More than 100 industry polluters together would pay $1 billion per year, to be invested in education ($380M), transportation ($400M), tax rebates for low income ($100M), as well as affordable housing, manufacturing and forestry. A self-described climate agnostic, Doug Ericksen is courted by big oil lobbyists. Ericksen will try to stop the capand-trade bill. He cites the uncertain impacts for the economy. But a study completed in September by the state s Office of Fiscal Management shows there would be very little impact to the economy from the Governors plan. More importantly, it s too expensive not to. We are the ones that will pay with ocean acidification, less water for agriculture from droughts, poor health, and flood and fire damage. Since 1990 fire damage costs have gone from $4.5M to $140M per year. Polluters should pay! Nancy Orlowski, Bellingham THE REWARDS OF CAPITAL In a recent letter, a writer denigrated a store for being driven by economics. I certainly would hope so! Look at the clothing you are wearing, the furniture you are using, the books you read, the food you consume. How long do you think those things would be available if no one could make money producing them? Could you make all those things for yourself, or is it simpler to trade some of your money for them? Countries have tried outlawing profit. The result was famine and social destruction. People were not motivated to work and produce, since they could not keep the rewards. A study at Yale University and the Brookings Institution indicates that in just 30 years 1981 to 2011 the world s population living below the extreme poverty line decreased from 52 percent to 15 percent. The study points to the rise of globalization and capitalism as the main drivers of the decline in poverty, noting that countries that have displayed the greatest success have been most engaged with the global economy. History shows that as trade increases, poverty decreases. The growth of international trade over the last 30 years has caused a revolution in living standards for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Joan Dow, Bellingham ASSAULT ON CIVILIZATION Photos of more than three million French and world leaders marching in support of freedom of expression had the glaring absence of any high-level U.S. official in attendance. Winston Churchill (whose bust was summarily removed from the Obama White House and sent back to England in 2009) once said, One cannot rise to be in many ways the leading community in the civilized world without being involved in its problems, without being convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes. The assault upon Western civilization, the United States in particular, is not simply about wresting power away, but is rooted in a potent and dangerous belief that both Western civilization and the United States deserve to fall. The very success of the liberal-democratic model is the bull s eye of their target. One is left to wonder if this nihilistic viewpoint also happens to be the viewpoint of the current administration. Robert A. Sherry, M.D., Bellingham NOW SHOWING January PICKFORD FILM CENTER: 1318 Bay St Box Office is Open 30 Minutes Prior to First Showtime LIMELIGHT CINEMA: 1416 Cornwall Happy Hour: 4-6, M-F $3.50 Beer/$4.50 Wine Parenthesis () Denote Bargain Pricing *Open Captioned Screening NOW SHOWING January WHIPLASH (R) 107m - Oscar nominee for Best Picture! One of those scorching films that burns through emotions, uses up actors, wrings out audiences. And the jazz has its own moments of brutal, breathtaking fusion. LA Times Fri: (3:00), 5:30; Sat: (3:00), 5:30 Sun: (2:20), 5:00, 7:35 Mon - Thu: (4:00), 6:30, 9:00 SUNDANCE SHORTS (NR) 94m Eight short films from the 2014 Festival Fri: 8:00; Sat: (12:40), 8:00; Sun: (Noon) THE IMITATION GAME (PG-13) 114m Oscar Nominee - Best Picture! Directed with chess-match ingenuity, anchored by yet another hypnotically complex Cumberbatch performance. Entertainment Weekly Fri: (1:00), (3:45), 6:30, 9:10 Sat: (1:00), 3:45, 6:30, 9:10 Sun: (12:15), (3:00), 5:45, 8:30 Mon: (3:45), 6:30, 9:10; Tue: (3:45*), 6:30, 9:10 Wed: (3:30), 6:15; Thu: (3:30), 6:15, 9:10 BOYHOOD (NR) 180m Oscar Nominee - Best Picture! The greatest movies, the ones that stick with us, are those that hold up a mirror to the human condition and reflect something back at us that we too often manage to overlook. Boyhood is one of those movies, and with it Linklater proves he is among the best practitioners of that art. New Orleans Times-Picayune Fri - Tue: 5:30; Wed - Thu: (3:00) THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (PG-13) Eddie Redmayne s transformation into Stephen Hawking is something remarkable. San Francisco Chronicle Fri - Sat: (2:40), 9:00; Sun: (2:40) Mon - Tue: (2:40), 9:00; Wed- Thu: 9:00 OF MICE AND MEN (NATIONAL THEATRE) Starring Chris O Dowd and James Franco Sun: 11:00AM LENI RIEFENSTAHL S OLYMPIA 239m Western Reads + Whatcom Reads Presents The first documentary of the Olympics, covering the 1938 games. Free admission! Wed: Part one: 6:30, Part two: 9:30 SHE S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE S ANGRY WWU Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies present this story of the outrageous and brilliant women who founded the modern women s movement. Thu: 6:30 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 27

28 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 MIND & BODY bulletinboard Take Control of Your Immune Health will be the focus of a workshop with nutritionist Jim Ehmke from 6:30-8:30pm Wednesday, January 21 at the Cordata Community Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Rd. Entry is $5. More info: or Craniosacral Therapy will be the focus of a free presentation with Jean Christensen, LMP, at 6:30pm Wednesday, January 21 at the Skagit Valley Food Coop, 202 S. First St. She ll discuss how the cranial bones and the sacrum move in relation to one another and why dysfunction n this system and surrounding structures can have profound effects throughout the body. Please register in advance. More info: www. skagitfoodcoop.com 200 MIND & BODY Skagit Regional Health will host a health lecture focusing on Obesity and Overweight: Is Medical Help Available? from 6-7:30pm Thursday, January 22 at Mount Vernon s Skagit Valley Hospital. Lectures are free, but preregistration is required. More info: org/events Meet a group of intuitive readers specializing in astrology, past-life explorations and tarot at an Oracle Day gathering from 11am-5pm Saturday, January 24 in Sedro-Wooley at the Center for Holistic Wellness, 609 Murdock St. Cost is $10-$20 for each 15-minute session. More info; www. sedrowoolleyholisticwellness. wordpress.com NEED A DEDICATED REALTOR TO HELP WITH YOUR HOME SEARCH? Call JERRY SWANN at ZipRealty Bellingham Find over 30 client reviews at: SearchWhatcomSkagitHomes.com Cerise Noah REALTOR Professional, knowledgeable, fun & friendly to work with. Windermere Real Estate Whatcom, Inc. (360) cerisenoah@windermere.com 200 MIND & BODY What to do About Colds and Flu will be the focus of a workshop with naturopathic physician Dr. Alethea Fleming at 6:30pm Monday, January 26 at Mount Vernon s Skagit Valley Food Co-op, 202 S. First St. The free class will give an informative, practical, and interesting look at what you need to know about preventing and treating colds and flu. Register in advance. More info: com Leigh Mcdiarmid will focus on Self-Hypnosis for the New Year at a workshop from 6:30-8pm Monday, January 26 at the Community Food Co-op, 1220 N. Forest St. At the class, you ll learn relaxing and effective techniques that will help you achieve goals that have been on the back burner for too long. Entry is $5. More info: or Sign up in advance for a free Intro to Rolfing class happening from 6-7:30pm Thursday, January 29 at Rolfing Works, 1110 Larrabee Ave., suite 204. For those not in the know, Rolfing can improve posture, ease sore muscles, increase range of motion and more. More info: or Marianne Shapiro leads a Hardwiring Happiness class at 6:30pm Thursday, January 29 at Mount Vernon s Skagit Valley Food Co-op, 202 S. First St. The talk will focus on ideas from psychologist and Buddhist teacher Rick Hanson s book, <i>hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence</i>. Register in advance for the free event. More info: A Winter Wellness Fair takes place from 10am- 4pm Saturday, January 31 at Unity Bellingham, 1095 Telegraph Rd. The event will feature spiritual and psychic readings, chair massages, flower essences, energy healing, essential oils, gemstones and free lectures on cutting-edge 200 MIND & BODY health alternatives. Entry is $5. More info: Co-Dependents Anonymous meets from 7-8:30pm most Mondays at PeaceHealth St. Joseph s Community Health Education Center, 3333 Squalicum Pkwy, conference room B.. Entry is by donation. More info: (360) A Grief Support Group meets at 7pm every Tuesday at the St. Luke s Community Health Education Center Squalicum Pkwy. The free, drop-in support group is for those experiencing the recent death of a friend or loved one. More info: 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 , x2 28

29 rearend Freestylin no theme, but big words everywhere. Across 1 Cartoon father of octuplets 4 Ironic nickname for a hairy guy 10 Taj Mahal s setting 14 Slides, handouts, etc. for a speaker s audience 16 Street (rep) 17 Aquarium fish 18 Mecca trekker 19 Huuuuuuuh?! 20 Little toy, for instance? 21 Head honcho 24 Baseball and football star Sanders 25 London music producer Yoad (reverses to something in the kitchen) 26 Uncle! 28 Art lovers 30 Shield behind a wheel hit off In a criminal case, sometimes it takes a trial. Highly Experienced Trial Attorneys Former Federal, State & Local Prosecutors Nationally Recognized & Award Winning Attorneys (360) Jury Verdict Live s album Throwing Copper 33 Is uncertain to, in a fancy tone 34 With The, 2012 Jessica Biel thriller 35 Community actress Nicole Brown 36 Share a facility 37 Cold as Ice and Hot Blooded group We the Jury, find the defendant: Not Guilty Guilty So say we all. Jury Foreperson 39 Appeases, as hunger 40 Having a ph below 7 41 Heart link 43 Simple pretzel shapes 44 It folds in a chair 45 Place for December purchases 47 Some small businesses, for short 49 Let me at em! 53 Big earthenware jar Bruce Hornsby hit, with The 55 No can do, Dostoyevsky 56 The Two (Martha Finley children s book) 57 Weightlifter s abbr. Down 1 Mag that covers blue material (hidden in KAVNER) 2 Key lime, e.g. 3 Org. that s hosted Errol Flynn, Wayne Newton and Stephen Colbert 4 salts 5 Follow up on 6 Image created before drinking? 7 Got the carpet all gross 8 Potatoes named for their state 9 Must-have 10 Oh! in Osnabruck 11 Tiny red salad item 12 How you feel after a muchneeded rest 13 Quality of some body tissues 15 Like some GPAs 21 He s often seen up late 22 In an ambiguous way 23 Light and dark ice cream flavor 25 Star of Gimme a Break! 27 All together, musically 29 Religious circles? 31 Rare blood type 34 Carla s surname on Cheers 36 Total assortment? 38 Is this? Beautiful Jewelry Nutritional Supplements Fantastic Cheeses & Deli Custom Made Sandwiches Closed for Renovations January 21st thru 26th Where Upscale Meets Downhome Hiway 9 Van Zandt 42 French lane 46 Lord Baratheon ( Game of Thrones character) (anagram of ROSY) 48 Posed for pics 50 Company that merged with Time-Warner 51 Dollop 52 NFL gains 2015 Jonesin Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) Last Week s Puzzle CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 29

30 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 BY ROB BREZSNY FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Is there a patron saint of advertising or a goddess of marketing or a power animal that rules publicity and promotion? If so, I m going to find out, then pray to them in your behalf. It s high time for your underappreciated talents and unsung accomplishments to receive more attention. And I am convinced that the astrological moment is ripe for just such a development. Help me out here, Aries. What can you do to get your message out better? What tricks do you have for attracting the interest of those who don t know yet about your wonders? Polish up your self-presentation, please. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): During his 67 years of life, Taurus-born Leonardo da Vinci achieved excellence in 12 different fields, from painting to engineering to anatomy. Today he is regarded as among the most brilliant humans who ever lived. His genius was so rare and universal that it can be said that nature worked a miracle on his behalf, said one observer. He towered above all other artists through the strength and the nobility of his talents, said another. Yet on his death bed, Leonardo confessed, I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have. Typical for a Taurus, he underestimated himself! It s very important that you not do the same, especially in the coming weeks. The time has come for you to give yourself more of the credit and respect you deserve. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Where you have been and what you have done will be of little importance in the coming weeks. Both your mistakes and your triumphs will be irrelevant. In my estimation, you have a sacred duty to spy on the future and reconnoiter the pleasures and challenges that lie ahead. So I suggest you head off toward the frontier with an innocent gleam in your eye and a cheerful hunger for interesting surprises. How s your Wildness Quotient? If it s in a slump, pump it up. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Will you ever find that treasured memento you misplaced? Is there any chance of reviving a dream you abandoned? You are in a phase when these events are more likely than usual to happen. The same is true about an opportunity that you frittered away or a missing link that you almost tracked down but ultimately failed to secure. If you will ever have any hope of getting another shot at those lost joys, it would be in the coming weeks. For best results, purge the regret and remorse you still feel about the mistakes you think you made once upon a time. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the early 1300s, the people of the Mexica tribe had no homeland. They had wandered for centuries through the northern parts of what we now call Mesoamerica. According to legend, that changed in 1323, when their priests received a vision of an eagle eating a snake while perched at the top of a prickly pear cactus. They declared that this was the location of the tribe s future power spot. Two years later, the prophecy was fulfilled. On an island in the middle of a lake, scouts spied the eagle, snake and cactus. And that was where the tribe built the town of Tenochtitlan, which ultimately became the center of an empire. Today that place is called Mexico City. Have you had an equivalent vision, Leo? If you haven t yet, I bet you will soon. Go in search of it. Be alert. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): By the end of the 16th century, nutmeg was in high demand throughout Europe. It was valued as a spice, medicine and preservative. There was only one place in the world where it grew: on the Indonesian island of Run. The protocapitalists of the Dutch East India Company gained dominion over Run, and enslaved the local population to work on plantations. They fully controlled the global sale of nutmeg, which allowed them to charge exorbitant prices. But ultimately their monopoly collapsed. Here s one reason why: Pigeons ate nutmeg seeds on Run, then flew to other islands and pooped them out, enabling plants to grow outside of Dutch jurisdiction. I see this story as an apt metaphor for you in the coming months, Virgo. What s your equivalent of the pigeons? Can you find unlikely allies to help you evade the controlling force that s limiting your options? LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Have you triggered any brilliant breakthroughs lately? Have you made any cathartic departures from the way things have always been done? Have you thought so far outside the box that you can t even see the box any more? Probably not. The last few weeks have been a time of retrenchment and stabilization for you. But I bet you will start going creatively crazy very soon and I mean that in the best sense. To ensure maximum health and well-being, you simply must authorize your imagination to leap and whirl and dazzle. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The cassava plant produces a starchy root that s used as food by a half billion people all over the planet. No one can simply cook it up and eat it, though. In its raw state, it contains the poisonous chemical cyanide, which must be removed by careful preparation. An essential first step is to soak it in water for at least 18 hours. I see this process as a metaphor for the work you have ahead of you, Scorpio. A new source of psychological and spiritual sustenance will soon be available, but you will have to purge its toxins before you can use and enjoy it. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Italian composer Gioachino Rossini ( ) didn t like to work hard, and yet he was also prolific. In fact, his desire to avoid strenuous exertion was an important factor in his abundant output. He got things done fast. His most famous opera, The Barber of Seville, took him just 13 days to finish. Another trick he relied on to reduce his workload was plagiarizing himself. He sometimes recycled passages from his earlier works for use in new compositions. Feeling good was another key element in his approach to discipline. If given a choice, he would tap into his creative energy while lounging in bed or hanging out with his buddies. In the coming weeks, Sagittarius, I recommend you consider strategies like his. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Each hour of every day, the sun offers us more energy than oil, gas and coal can provide in an entire year. Sadly, much of our star s generous gift goes to waste. Our civilization isn t set up to take advantage of the bounty. Is there a comparable dynamic in your personal life, Capricorn? Are you missing out on a flow of raw power and blessings simply because you are ignorant of it or haven t made the necessary arrangements to gather it? If so, now would be an excellent time to change your ways. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to my analysis of the long-term astrological omens, 2015 is the year you can get totally serious about doing what you were born to do. You will be given the chance to slough off all that s fake and irrelevant and delusory. You will be invited to fully embrace the central purpose of your destiny. If you re interested in taking up that challenge, I suggest you adopt Oscar Wilde s motto: Nothing is serious except passion. Your primary duty is to associate primarily with people and places and situations that feed your deepest longings. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Give up all hope for a better past, writes Emily Fragos in her poem Art Brut. That s generally sound advice. But I think you may be able to find an exception to its truth in the coming weeks. As you work to forgive those who have trespassed against you, and as you revise your interpretations of bygone events, and as you untie knots that have weighed you down and slowed you up for a long time, you just may be able to create a better past. Dare to believe that you can transform the shape and feel of your memories.

31 BY AMY ALKON THE ADVICE GODDESS URNING CURVE My boyfriend of eight months was with his ex for almost five years. Unfortunately, she passed two years ago. I have sympathy for him, but occasionally he ll call me by her name, and it s really upsetting. I feel like she s haunting his brain, and I don t know how to do an exorcism. How do I take my rightful place in his life? Can t Compete If you re putting on some skimpy somethings to get your boyfriend in the right mindset in bed, ideally, they aren t three strategically located Hello, My Name Is stickers. It s understandable that you re feeling bad, but his detours into Wrongnameville probably don t mean what you suspect they do. Using the wrong name is what memory researchers call a retrieval error, describing how an attempt to get some specific item from memory can cause multiple items in the same category to pop up. Basically, your brain sends an elf back into the stacks to get the name to call someone, and he just grabs the first name he spots that s associated with girlfriend and girlfriend-type situations. (Lazy little twerp.) This sort of cognitive error following a wellworn path (five years of grabbing the late ex s name) is more likely when a person is tired or preoccupied. In other words, your boyfriend s nameswapping may be a sign that he needs to stop multitasking; it doesn t necessarily mean he s been taping a cutout of her face over yours in his mind. There is a solution, and no, it doesn t involve inventing a time machine so he can go back 20 years and get in the habit of calling all women babe. It turns out that a person can get better at retrieving the right name with practice. Cognitive psychologist Gordon Bower explained in Scientific American that the one making the error needs to consistently correct themselves or be corrected and then repeat the right name a few times. It would be best if you correct him teasingly, and perhaps incorporate visual aids like homemade flashcards ideally of you in various states of undress with your name on them. Assuming he isn t trudging around in all black like a Fellini film widow or putting the ex s urn between you two in bed, it might help to consider how he is when he s with you: Engaged? Loving? Present? If so, do your best to focus on this lest you be tempted to go low-blow and tit for tat and start screaming out dead men s names in bed: Ooh, Copernicus Oh, my God, Cicero I mean, take me, Archimedes! DEMOTION SICKNESS My boyfriend just broke up with me but wants to stay friends and keep hanging out on those terms. (He says, My life is much better with you in it. ) I d like to be friends eventually, but I told him that it s just too painful and confusing to see him now. He says I m being dramatic and unreasonable and keeps calling. Broken This guy s notion of how a breakup should work is like telling an employee, Hey, you re fired, but please feel free to come in a few times a week and do some light janitorial work. A breakup is supposed to be an ending, not a let s continue as if very little has changed, and I ll pretend not to notice those big wet mascara stripes down your cheeks. Research by clinical psychologist David Sbarra confirmed what most of us already know about getting dumped that contact with your former partner while you re trying to recover jacks up feelings of love and sadness, setting back your healing. You need time and distance to process and accept the change in your relationship; you can t just send a memo to your emotions, ordering them to recategorize the guy: Cut the love. From now on, respond to him like he s a brick or maybe a lamp. It s wonderful to have a man who insists on standing by you, but not because it s better for him than respecting your need to go away and lick your wounds. This is not friend behavior. If, despite that, you want him in your life down the road, inform him that for now, you ve made a no contact rule lasting until you feel ready to see him on different terms. When he (inevitably) tries to break it, politely reiterate it and end the conversation. The sooner he s out of your daily life the sooner you ll be open to a new man dreamy as it would be to spend lazy afternoons at your ex s place writing him letters of recommendation for prospective girlfriends and Photoshopping your arm out of pictures so he can post them on Tinder. 201, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess.com). PEP PER SIST ERS COOKING OUTSIDE THE BOX SINCE 1988 Open Nightly Except Monday 1055 N State St B ham Medical massage for injury treatment and chronic pain conditions. Receiving Dr. referrals since Prospect Street, Bellingham \ \ CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 31

32 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 Your Mission: transform an underutilized spot in downtown bellingham with your idea for a lively destination that builds a stronger, healthier community. Ten ideas will be presented to the community for voting. winners will receive funding to turn their ideas into reality. for details & applications, visit sustainableconnections.org It s a bird! It s a plane! No... It s the winning entry from Bellingham s placemaking competition! Choose local businesses taking action for a healthy community APO W! making spaces into lively places Applications Due January 30 TH exchange tomorrow buy * sell*trade rearend comix 32

33 rearend sudoku Sudoku Arrange the digits 1-9 so that each digit occurs once in each row, once in each column, and once in each box is accepting my insurance and fitting my budget make Planned Parenthood your health care provider PLAN mbpp.org Bellingham Mount Vernon Friday Harbor SKAGIT VALLEY CASINO U.S.I.T. SHOP CIGARETTES & SMOKELESS TOBACCO $ $ 78 00* LOWEST PRICES IN THE AREA! on most brands EXPRESS DRIVE-THRU CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 *Price at time of printing. Limit five cartons/rolls per customer per day. Must have valid ID. Cigarettes are not legal for resale. Prices subject to change. No Returns. Skagit Valley Casino Resort and U.S.I.T. Tobacco Shop owned by Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. SURGEON GENERAL S WARNING: Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health. CW

34 CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 BY AMY KEPFERLE chow RECIPES REVIEWS PROFILES Twenty Years and Counting THE EVOLUTION OF THE COOKIE LADY Nope, Erin Baker didn t change her name to fit her profession. As the driving force behind Erin Baker s Wholesome Baked Goods a Bellingham-based company that was created two decades ago and has continued to grow by leaps and bounds in the years since it s purely serendipitous that the cookie lady has always had a yen to create things in the kitchen. I started baking and selling cookies at 9 years old, and I loved it so much that I made it my life s work and yes, my last name really is Baker, reads a missive on the company s website. It all began in 1994 when I rented the 4-H kitchen at the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds to bake my way to a better life. Inspired by my mom s healthy baking and armed with a KitchenAid mixer, I created a revolutionary new way to serve breakfast the Breakfast Cookie was born! A quick look at the evolution of Baker s career shows that she never deviated from her original plan to make all-natural, healthy and tasty breakfasts items (or snacks) for people on the go. In fact, since securing her first accounts in 1994, many of the changes she s made have had to do with making sure more people had access to her wholesome baked goods which to this day continue to be made from simple staple ingredients such as oats, fruit and honey. From the initial operations at the aforementioned 4-H kitchen, Baker s busy business has expanded in a big way. In addition to moving to occupy a 16,000-square-foot space on Ohio Street, the past 20 years have seen changes in the name (going from Baker s Breakfast Cookies to Erin Baker s Wholesome Baked Goods), countrywide sales, celebrity shout-outs, and increased popularity and alliances with athletes (including hosting the last Olympic qualifying triathlon before the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens, a Fuel the Ride partnership that provides free breakfast to kids in the Winter Ride Program at the Mt. Baker Ski Area, and Erin Baker s Triathlon Team). That s not all. A recent press release noted that Baker s Help Feed 1 Million Kids Program, which started in 2010, has seen more than 230,000 breakfast cookies donated to kids at Boys & Girls Clubs across Washington state, as well as at Bellingham s Home Port Learning Center. Being able to feed kids is near and dear to my heart, and I m excited to see how the program will grow in the next few years, Baker says. Whether you ve been a fan of Baker s concoctions since the early days, when she sold her Jeep to afford her first commercial-sized oven, EAT WHAT: Erin Baker s Wholesome Baked Goods 20th Anniversary Celebration WHEN: 12-3pm Wed., Jan. 28 WHERE: 427 Ohio St. INFO: www. erinbakers.com or have recently discovered the cookies, homestyle granola, brownies and other assorted baked goods she and her employees work to produce, you re welcome to join a 20th anniversary celebration happening Wed., Jan. 28 at the company s retail headquarters. If you go, you ll be in good company. In addition to visits with Baker and her staff, Mayor Kelli Linville will be on hand for an anniversary ribbon cutting, and other local companies such as Bellingham Bay Coffee Roasters and Kombucha Town will be joining the party to give away samples of their own products. While you re there, feel free to ask Baker about what drives her to continue to produce her deliciously healthy baked goods and contribute in a positive way to her community. Simple, wholesome baking principles inspired me when I was a little girl, she says. They still make perfect sense now that I am grown up: bake with purpose, bake fresh to order, bake with healthy and wholesome ingredients. It s that simple. doit WED., JAN. 21 SE ASIAN STREET FOOD: Guest chef Roberto Cortez will focus on SE Asian Street Food at a course at 6:30pm at Ciao Thyme, 207 Unity St. The dishes will focus on menu items he tasted during a recent three-week stay in Singapore. Entry is $68. THURS., JAN. 22 ONE-POT MEALS: Lisa Samuel will focus on Winter One-Pot Meals at a cooking course from 6-8:30pm at the Cordata Community Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Rd. Entry is $35, with a $7 wine option INCOGNITO: Get surprised by the seasonal menu items at the monthly multi-course dinner party known as Incognito at 6pm at Ciao Thyme, 207 Unity St. Entry is $68, and advance reservations are strongly recommended. FRI., JAN. 23 SERVICE AND SPAGHETTI: Enjoy a spaghetti dinner and a performance by the Bellingham Youth Jazz Band at a Season of Service Celebration starting at 5:30pm at the Bellingham Senior Activity Center, 315 Halleck St. Entry is $ OR PIE CLASS: In celebration of National Pie Day, Alice Clark of Alice s Pies will sell pies throughout the day and host a Pie Class at 7pm at the Book Fare Cafe at Village Books, th St. Entry is $10 and includes Clark s pie pastry secret, a pie recipe and a round of dough to take home (so you can make your own fabulous pie). Please sign up in advance. SAT., JAN. 24 PRINCESS BREAKFAST: Help raise dough for the Squalicum High School Concert Choir at a Princess Breakfast fundraiser from 8-10am at Bellingham s Applebee s, 1069 E. Sunset Dr. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance at Village Books. (360) PANCAKE BREAKFAST: Attend a Pancake Breakfast from 8-11am at Ferndale s American Legion, nd Ave. The event is held on the fourth Saturday of every month (except in July and December) COMMUNITY MEAL: Ravioli, mixed veggies, green salad, bread and cake will be on the menu at the bimonthly Community Meal from 10am-12pm at the United Church of Ferndale, 2034 Washington St. Entry is free and open to all FOOD FORESTS: Demystifying Food Forests will be the focus of a workshop with sustainable landscape designer Zsofia Pasztor at 11am in Mount Vernon at Christianson s Nursery, Best Rd. She ll focus on how to transform a landscape into a beautiful and productive layered perennial food system for increased abundance and food security. Entry is $8. SUN., JAN. 25 SUNDAY BRUNCH: All are welcome at a

35 doit Celebrate National Pie Day by signing up for a Pie Class with Alice s Pies Alice Clark Fri., Jan. 23 at the Book Fare Cafe inside Village Books. Sunday Brunch from 10am-1pm at the La Conner Retirement Inn, 204 N. 1st St. Suggested donation is $7; a portion of the proceeds will be donated to local charities. COMMUNITY SEED SWAP: Growing Seeds of Nourishment & Medicine will be the theme of the seventh annual Community Seed Swap & Fundraiser from 2:30-5pm at the Majestic, 1027 N. Forest St. The event is geared towards seed-savers and people donating heirloom seeds, or edible tubers or seed-potatoes (please label envelopes with the plant strain and date), as well as seedless visitors who commit to plant seeds, share their garden s abundance and learn about the seed-saving process. This is a pure Safe Seed (and GMO-free) event. Entry is by donation. FOOD NOT BOMBS: Get a free nutritious, vegan meal when Food Not Bombs serves up fare starting at 4pm every Sunday on the corner of Cornwall Avenue and Magnolia Street. TUES., JAN. 27 MAPLE ALLEY INN: Hot, home-cooked meals are served as part of the Opportunity Council s Maple Alley Inn from 9:30-10:30am Tuesdays at St. Paul s Episcopal Church (2117 Walnut St.) and 11:30am-1:30pm Wednesdays and Thursdays at Faith Lutheran Church (2750 McLeod Rd.). PIEROGI PARTY: Learn how to make Polish dumplings at a Pierogi Party at 4pm in Anacortes at Potluck Kitchen Studio, 910-A 11th St. Entry is $50 and includes recipes, instruction and a light appetizer, green salad, roasted vegetables and wine pairing. AYURVEDIC CUISINE: Balabhadra will focus on Ayurvedic Cuisine at a course from 6:30-9pm at the Community Food Co-op, 1220 N. Forest St. Guest Juliet Jivanti of Bellingham s Ayurvedic Health Center will talk about khichari in relation to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of health. Entry is $ BITE OF BALI: Nourish s Lisa Samuel will helm a Bite of Bali course at 6:30pm at Ciao Thyme, 207 Unity St. The menu items will feature recipes Samuel picked up on her recent travels to the island. Entry is $58. JAN WINTER FISH: Learn to prepare Alaskan true cod and petrale sole using various techniques at Winter Fish courses with Chef Robert Fong from 6-8:30pm Tuesday at the Cordata Community Food Co-op and 6:30-9pm Wednesday at the downtown Community Food Co-op. Entry is $45, with a $7 wine option payable at class THURS., JAN. 29 FLIGHTS & BITES: Air France, a flight of wines paired with complementary bites, will be part of a Flights & Bites event from 5-7pm at Whatcom Museum s Syre Education Center, 201 Prospect St. As part of the bird exhibit that is currently open, the 21-and-over event will also feature a bird scavenger hunt. Entry is $5 for members, $10 otherwise. HEALTHY EATING: Whole Life Nutrition s Alissa Segerston focuses on Health, Hearty, Super-Delicious menu items from 6-8:30pm at the Cordata Community Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Rd. Learn to make roasted chicken with root vegetables, vegetable lentil soup, sautéed winter greens with garlic, homemade bone broth, lacto-fermented peppered carrots, and more. Entry is $ ANNIVERSARY DINNER: Attend a Second Anniversary Dinner at 6pm in Anacortes at Potluck Kitchen Studio, 910-A 11th St. Entry to the Hawaiian-themed four-course dinner and demo is $75, and includes two wine pairings. RIEDEL WINE TASTING: Riedel representative MariBeth Baumberger will lead attendees through a tasting of amazing wines from Vehrs Distributors at a Riedel Wine Tasting event at 6:30pm at Ciao Thyme, 207 Unity St. Entry is $78 and includes light appetizers. healthy DOWNTOWN HAPPY NEW YEAR mbo SHOP ALL WINTER! FRESH LOCAL PRODUCE FINE LOCAL CRAFTS READY TO EAT FOOD SATURDAY, 10AM TO 3PM JANUARY 17, FEBRUARY 21, MARCH 21 DEPOT MARKET SQUARE, 1100 RAILROAD AVE, BELLINGHAM, WA BELLINGHAM FARMERS MARKET PROUDLY ACCEPTS FOOD STAMPS WIC/SNAP ACCEPTED CASCADIA WEEKLY # 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 35

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