360 January 3 2012

Skagit Valley Herald

Thursday

January 3, 2013

Roger Ebert“Zero Dark Thirty” the tale of a loner CIA strategist who knows she’s right

PAGE 16

EntertainmentThe great impact when pop culture and social networks clash

PAGE 4

MusicOne writer’s countdown of the top 25 songs of the past year

PAGE 9

Celebrating one of nature’s most majestic creatures

PAGE 3

E2 - Thursday, January 3, 2013 Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

YOUR ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION GUIDE TO WHAT’S GOING ON IN SKAGIT COUNTY AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS

This Week

AheadPage 5

[email protected] [email protected] (recreation items)

Phone360-416-2135

Hand-deliver1215 Anderson Road Mount Vernon, WA 98274

Mailing addressP.O. Box 578 Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Online events calendarTo list your event on our website, visit goskagit.com and look for the Events Calendar on the home page

HAVE A STORY IDEA?w For arts and entertainment, contact Features Editor Craig Parrish at 360-416-2135 or [email protected] For recreation, contact staff writer Vince Richardson at 360-416-2181 or [email protected]

TO ADVERTISE360-424-3251

Next up on the

Anacortes Public

Library’s Winter Film Series: “My Fair Lady”

Inside

Get Involved ................................... 6

Music Reviews ................................ 8

2012’s Top Singles .......................... 9

On Stage ....................................... 10

Tuning Up..................................... 11

Travel ............................................ 12

Hot Tickets ................................... 14

Roger Ebert ................................... 16

At the Lincoln Theatre ................. 17

Movie Listings .............................. 17

Movie Mini-Reviews .................... 17

Out & About ............................18-19

This is the lightest week of the year when it comes to new DVD releases.

“Looper”: Time travel is like meth to many writers. The plot gimmick has a powerful addictive draw despite, more often than not, it resulting in a slow, painful death.

Rian Johnson gave into the attrac-tion and uses time travel in “Looper.” The story is about a future where murders are so hard to commit that victims are sent 30 years into the past where hit men kill them and dispose of the bodies. It’s a profitable life for Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) until he has to kill his future self.

Johnson’s script doesn’t dwell on the time-travel elements. Instead, it focuses on the relationships that emerge between these close encoun-ters of the clock kind. The most interesting is Joe’s connection to Sara (Emily Blunt), a single mother living on a remote farm with her special son. Joe’s presence in their lives shifts both her timeline and his own.

The only problem with the film is the side effects of a time-travel story — even when handled with such thought and sincerity. If you allow yourself to ponder certain elements — like why Johnson creates parallel time lines with no explanation — then the film collapses on itself.

It’s best to step back and look at the story’s central questions: What are the elements that shape our lives and what influence do others have on us? That’s where the film is its strongest and why you should make time to see it.

“Doctor Zhivago”: Keira Knightley stars in this adaptation of Boris Paster-nak’s novel that aired on “Masterpiece Theatre” in 2003.

“Cosmopolis”: Robert Pattinson stars in the David Cronenberg film based on the Don Delillo novel.

“War of the Dead”: Americans on a World War II mission must face the same soldiers they killed before. Andrew Tierman stars.

“The Thompsons”: Cursed vam-pires are looking for another clan who can help them survive.

“Little Birds”: The friendship of two young women is tested when they leave home. Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker star.

“Lillie”: The 13-part drama looks at the life of Lillie Langtry.

“Justified: The Complete Third Sea-son”: Timothy Olyphant stars as the U.S. Marshal who has a very old school

way of dealing with bad guys.“Trial & Retribution: Set 6”: David

Hayman and Victoria Smurfit play investigators on the London police force. This is the four concluding mys-teries in the series.

“Being Human: The Complete Second Season”: Syfy Channel series about what happens when a werewolf, vampire and ghost share a house.

“Cat in the Hat: Hurray, It’s Valen-tine’s Day”: You can watch this ani-mated story at home, you can watch it in Rome.

“The Trouble With Bliss”: A 35-year-old man (Michael C. Hall) has reached a dead end with his life.

n Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee

NEW ON DVD THIS WEEK

Upcoming movie releases Following is a partial schedule of com-ing movies on DVD. Release dates are subject to change:

JAN. 8Dredd - LionsgateFrankenweenie - DisneyHouse at the End of Street - FoxThe Inbetweeners Movie - LionsgateSamsara - MPI

JAN. 15 Branded - LionsgateThe Other Dream Team - LionsgateThe Possession - Lionsgate17 Girls - StrandTaken 2 - FoxTo Rome With Love - SonyWon’t Back Down - Fox

JAN. 22End of Watch - UniversalSearching for Sugar Man - Sony

JAN. 29The Cold Light of Day - Lionsgate/ SummitHotel Transylvania - SonyParanormal Activity 4 - ParamountSeven Psychopaths - Sony

FEB. 5Alex Cross - Lionsgate/ SummitCeleste and Jesse Forever - SonyHere Comes the Boom - Sony

FEB. 12Bully - Anchor BayThe Perks of Being a Wallflower -- Lionsgate/ SummitRobot & Frank - SonySilent Hill: Revelation - Universal

FEB. 19Sinister - Lionsgate/ Summit

n McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com Thursday, January 3, 2013 - E3

COMMUNITY

Skagit Valley Herald staff

The 2013 Skagit Eagle Festival takes place every weekend during January, in and around Concrete, Rockport and

Marblemount.You’ll enjoy indoor and outdoor activi-

ties including eagle watching, free tours, walks and educational programs, arts and crafts, wine tasting, river rafting, music,

dance and more. Bring your camera and dress for unpredictable January weather.

For the latest information, contact the Concrete Chamber of Commerce at 360-853-8784 or visit www.skagiteaglefestival.com.

Breathtaking raptors take flight at Skagit Eagle Festival

On the wings

of eagles

Frank Varga / Skagit Valley Herald

Scott Terrell / Skagit Valley HeraldScott Terrell / Skagit Valley Herald


ENTERTAINMENT

A canceled TV show with a devoted fan base comes back to life. A video game

changes its ending. A comic turns her personal tragedy into unex-pected fame.

Welcome to the world of online entertainment, where the interaction between fans and art-ists created a whole new dynamic in 2012. Ever-evolving technolo-gy and the subcultures that grow up around it resulted in some of the year’s most fascinating stories on the Web and social networks.

There were the usual atten-tion-grabbing fare that got mil-lions of clicks until the next big thing happened — from Whitney Houston’s death to the rise of Honey Boo Boo.

But other stories had deeper implications because they shined a spotlight on the interactive digital landscape. We selected 10 that caught our attention in 2012; some focused on a celebrity or a person-ality, others on websites or trends.

Psy What happened: Little-known

South Korean rapper Psy released a music video for the single “Gangnam Style” on his official YouTube channel and within two months it became the most-viewed video ever on YouTube.

Key stats: More than 1 billion views on YouTube.

The result: Psy takes America by storm, appearing on numerous TV shows and even getting “Meet the Press” host David Gregory to dance on live TV.

Why it matters: The subject of “Gangnam Style” — the life-style of those living in an upscale neighborhood in Seoul — had little relevance to audiences out-side of South Korea, but the song quickly became an international sensation anyway. (Psy’s goofy little horse dance probably had a little to do with it.) But just as “Star Trek” fans were able to instantly compare the differences between the American and Japa-nese versions of the “Star Trek Into Darkness” teaser when all were released online, this video demonstrates that the Internet is rapidly blending pop cultures into one.

Pandora RadioWhat happened: In July, the

online streaming music service announced it had increased the number of active listeners nearly 50 percent over the previous 12 months. Despite the rapid growth, the company argues that its royalty payments are robbing it of profit.

Key stats: 62.4 million active listeners.

The result: Pandora execu-

tives testified before Congress in November in support of the Internet Radio Fairness Act, which would lower the amount Pandora pays in royalties and bring it in line with what broad-cast radio pays.

Why it matters: Pandora is now the third most popular form of music behind broadcast radio and CDs. Musicians are argu-ing against the legislation, as the growing form of music distribu-tion is finally providing them

money after years of lost income to illegal music downloading.

As more and more streaming music services appear online, including a rumored music ser-vice from Apple in early 2013, the battle for profit and market share will become only more intense.

Tig NotaroWhat happened: During a

standup set at the club Largo

in Los Angeles, comedian Tig Notaro wandered away from her planned material and did a 30-minute set about being diagnosed with breast cancer. Comedian Louis C.K., who was present, tweeted that it was “mas-terful,” then later made the set available on his website for $5 a download.

Key stats: 75,000 downloads sold in the first week.

The result: Notaro, 41, became an almost overnight sensation after the August show. Famous comedians who attended praised her to their Twitter followers. In October, Louis C.K. made the set available to all, using the model he’d set up for his own standup special that bypassed major label distribution.

Sales of the set were high enough to have landed it at No. 3 on the Billboard charts if self-distributed recordings were counted.

Why it matters: Though big stars such as Louis C.K. and the band Radiohead have been able to self-distribute their work to a prebuilt fan base, Notaro showed you could move product and gain a following purely through online word of mouth.

KickstarterWhat happened: The website

for crowd-funded projects such as video games, albums and prospective products has been around since 2009 but really came into its own this year. All 10 of its highest-funded projects happened in 2012. The top was the $10.2 million raised for the Pebble watch, a smartwatch designed to sync with an Android or iPhone that features an easy-to-read e-paper screen.

Key stats: The three highest-funded projects were: $10.2 million for the Pebble e-paper watch, $8.6 million for the Ouya video-game console and $3.9 mil-lion for the video game “Project Eternity.”

The result: Video games are the big winners, with seven of the top 10 involving game-related technology.

POP CULTURE ONLINE The Internet’s influence has never been greater

B y PAT R I C K K E V I N D AY / L o s A n g e l e s T i m e s

South Korean entertainer PSY

(left) performs “Gangnam

Style” during halftime of the Seattle Seahawks-

Buffalo Bills game on Dec. 16 in Toronto.

Nathan Denette The Canadian Press

via AP

See INTERNET, Page E7


THE WEEK AHEADin the area

Winter film series

‘POWER PAST COAL’ CONCERT AND WORKSHOP

The Conway Muse will

host a special “Power Past

Coal” concert and workshop

featuring guitarist/singer/

songwriter Dana Lyons at

7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, at

18444 Spruce/Main, Conway.

Attendees can learn how

they can raise questions and

concerns about Bellingham’s

proposed Cherry Point coal

export terminal before the

Jan. 21 “scoping” deadline.

$10 suggested donation, free

for children. 360-445-3000 or

www.conwaymuse.com

CONTRA DANCE 7 to 9:30

p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5,

Depot Arts Center, 611 R

Ave., Anacortes. Learn the

fundamentals of contra

dance and practice dancing

to live music. No partner

needed. $8 at the door.

360-755-3969 or www.

skagitcontra.org

‘HOLY LAND, WHOSE LAND?’ MODERN DILEMMA, ANCIENT ROOTS 7 p.m. Wednesday,

Jan. 9, Anacortes Public

Library, 1220 10th St., Ana-

cortes. Author Dorothy

Drummond will discuss the

conflicting Israeli and Pal-

estinian claims for the same

real estate, as well as the

issues preventing peace in

the region. Free.

360-293-1910, ext. 21, or

library.cityofanacortes.org

“My Fair Lady” is the next entry in the Anacortes Public Library’s Winter Film Series, set for 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, at the library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes.

Audrey Hepburn stars as Eliza Doo-little, a Cockney flower seller who learns to speak impeccable upper-class English under the tutelage of Prof. Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), who then passes her off

as a high society lady. Directed by George Cukor, this film adaptation of Lerner and Loewe’s stage musical, which was based on the original play “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw, won eight Oscars.

Academy Award nominee Nick Alphin will introduce and share insights about the movie. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 21, or library.cityofanacortes.org.


GET INVOLVED

ARTCALL FOR ARTISANS:

The Mount Vernon Down-town Association is accept-ing new artisan applications through Jan. 15 for the 29th annual Tulip Festival Street Fair, set for April 19-21 in downtown Mount Vernon. Participant selections will be made by March 1. For information or an applica-tion prospectus, visit www.mountvernondowntown.org/events.html or email [email protected].

ART CLASSESFAMILY ART DAYS

AT MoNA: The Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St., La Conner, offers Family Art Days each month. Sessions are open to all ages and skill levels and include guided walk-throughs of exhibitions. Limited to 15 participants

per session. To register: 360-466-4446, ext. 108, or [email protected]. Information: www.museu-mofnwart.org. Workshops are free with museum admission. Admission: $8 adults, $5 seniors, $3 stu-dents, free for members and ages 11 and younger.

Next up:Mixed Media Self Por-

traits: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. Explore a variety of media and put together a dimen-sional collage that reflects your individualism.

Line Wash Drawing: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. Try this fun way to draw with india ink and a twig as a drawing tool, then add color with a watercolor wash.

ART CLASSES: Dakota Art offers a variety of art classes and workshops at 17873 Highway 536, Mount Vernon. 360-416-6556, ext. 5, or www.dakotaartcenter.com.

WATERCOLOR FOR KIDS!: 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 9-30, at the Burlington Community Center craft room, 1011 Greenleaf Ave., Burlington. Kids ages 7 to 13 will learn brush handling, color mix-ing and more. $40 plus $20 one-time supply fee pay-able to instructor. Register by Jan. 3 with Burlington Parks and Recreation: 360-755-9649.

INTRO TO ILLUSTRA-TION ART CLASSES: Burlington Parks and Rec-reation will offer a series of art classes for ages 8 to 14. Instructor Max Elam will introduce young artists to a variety of styles and art mediums. Each four-session class costs $45. Supplies included. To register, call 360-755-9649.

Epic illustrations and creature creations: 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Jan.

12-Feb. 2. Art students will draw and create four mas-terworks, with a different focus each week: Star Wars/black & white, fantasy anime/mixed media, aveng-ers assemble/intro to color theory, and cartoon comic strip/intro to writing and sequential art. Register by Jan 9.

Mixed media: 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays, Jan 12-Feb. 2. Students will experiment with five mediums other than pencil. They’ll use color partnered with drawings in mark-ers, chalk, ink, watercolor and colored pencil as they complete two pieces of art. Register by Jan. 9.

PAPER PLAYSHOPS: Join Kari Bishay to get cre-ative and “play with stuff” at the Anacortes Center for Happiness, 619 Com-mercial Ave., Anacortes. Workshops are held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. All materials are provided. $18 each class. Preregistration required: 360-464-2229 or www.anacortescenterfor happiness.org.

Next up:Greeting card extrava-

ganza: Jan. 13. Learn strat-egies for creating unique birthday and thank you cards, then stamp, emboss, cut, punch, layer and build enough for your entire year of card-giving occasions.

CARTOONING FOR KIDS: 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Jan. 8-29, Burlington Parks and Recreation Center, 900 E. Fairhaven Ave., Burling-ton. Kids ages 7 to 12 will learn basic drawing skills and leave with a portfolio of their favorite cartoon characters. $40, includes supplies. Register by Jan. 3: 360-755-9649.

DANCESOUL MOTION GRATI-

TUDE DANCE: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, Ana-

cortes Center for Happi-ness, 619 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. This dance has no steps and you already have all the experience necessary. Free. 360-464-2229 or www.anacortes centerforhappiness.org.

CONTRA DANCE: 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, Depot Arts Center, 611 R Ave., Anacortes. Learn the fundamentals of contra dance and practice dancing to live music. No partner needed. $8 at the door. 360-755-3969 or www.skagit contra.org.

BEGINNER SQUARE DANCE LESSONS: 7 p.m. Tuesdays beginning Jan. 8 at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleve-land St. Families, couples, singles welcome. First two weeks are free, then $4 per lesson. For information, call 360-424-4608 or 360-424-9675.

ROMANIAN CROATIAN FUSION DANCE WORK-SHOP: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays and 5 to 7 p.m. Saturdays during January at the Anacortes Center for Happiness, 619 Com-mercial Ave., Anacortes. Dance Master John Lovric is joined by guest Dance Master Anamaria Dulama (visiting from Romania) to offer this special series of classes. $10 per session. Free for children. For infor-mation or to register, call 360-464-2229 or visit www.anacortescenterfor happiness.org.

CLOG DANCING FOR BEGINNERS: Free lesson from 10 to 11 a.m., fol-lowed by regular clog danc-ing from 11 a.m. to noon Thursdays, at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland St., Mount Vernon. No fee, no partner needed. First three lessons are free. Wear comfortable

shoes. For information, call Rosie at 360-424-4608.

SWING DANCE: The Mount Vernon High School jazz bands will present a swing dance from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at Christ The King Church, 2111 Riverside Drive, Mount Vernon. Enjoy dance lessons, live music, silent auction, dessert sale and raffle. $6, $10 couple, $20 family. Proceeds will benefit the MVHS Band and Orchestra Boosters.

MUSICSKAGIT VALLEY MUSIC

CLUB: The club welcomes performers, listeners and guests at 1:45 p.m. Thurs-day, Jan. 31, at Vasa Hall, 1805 Cleveland St., Mount Vernon. Come and sing, play an instrument or just enjoy the music. Free. For information, call Marsha Pederson at 360-757-4906.

RECREATIONFITNESS AND FUN

AT THE Y: Skagit Family YMCA offers a variety of activities for kids at 215 E. Fulton St., Mount Ver-non. For information, call 360-336-9622 or visit www.skagitymca.org.

Next up:Winter YouthFit: Ages

8 to 12, 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jan. 8-Feb. 7. Healthy tips, gym activities, group games and more. $10-$40.

Superheroes in Training: Ages 3 to 6, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Fridays, Jan. 11-Feb. 1. Each day kids will com-plete a mission teaching the importance of being a superhero while developing basic motor skills. Creative

superhero attire is encour-aged. $20-$35.

Art at the Y: Creative Paper Crafting: Ages 7 to 12, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Mon-days and Wednesdays, Jan. 14-Feb. 6. Participants will complete six to eight proj-ects, including origami, book building and more. $45-$65.

Y Fun Club: MLK Jr. Day: Kindergarten to sixth grade, noon to 5 p.m. Mon-day, Jan. 21. Activities will include swimming, Youth-Fit, LEGO Camp and more. $20-$30, second child discount available.

Swim lessons: Ages 3 to 13, weekday evenings and Saturday mornings. YMCA staff members offer swim-ming lessons year round.

Winter Youth Indoor Soccer: Ages 5 to 12, Jan. 28-March 16. Winter league includes a weekly practice. $55-$65.

SENIOR HIKE: Join Friends of the Forest from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Jan. 11, for a gentle 1.5-mile hike through forest and wetland habitats in Anacortes. Meet at the end of 32nd Street, off of D Avenue. Learn about the beaver that main-tain the wetlands, and the winter waterfowl that visit there. Free. 360-293-3725 or www.friendsoftheacfl.org.

THEATERTHEATER CLASSES: Ana-

cortes Community Theatre’s Class Act School for the Performing Arts is enrolling kids from preschool through 12th grade for winter classes on acting and theater arts. Classes are held at ACT, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. Details: 360-293-6829 or www.act theatre.com/classact.

www.anacortesart.com

First Friday Gallery Walks

Anne Martin McCool Gallery

Scott Milo Gallery

The Majestic Inn and Spa

Anchor Art Space

Gallery at the Depot

January 46 - 9 pm

Please recycle this newspaper


Why it matters: Devel-opers with high profiles in the online gaming world, such as Chris Roberts, creator of the “Wing Com-mander” series, were able to bypass game publishing companies.

As Roberts noted on his website, “Star Citizen,” the biggest crowd-funded video game in history, with just more than $7 million raised from 101,000 people, will “cost less, be more creatively pure, and, most importantly, be built for the real core audience — not some corporate suit worried about including all the casual gamers.”

‘Arrested Development’

What happened: Six years after the beloved but ratings-challenged comedy series was canceled by Fox, the show did the near impossible: It reassembled the original cast to film a new season for Netflix, the online streaming film and TV giant. Produc-tion began in August for a 10-episode season.

Key stats: More than 500,000 mentions on Twit-ter, including a spike when production began.

The result: Excitement was so high that the num-ber of episodes ordered was raised to 12 to 15. The show will premiere on Net-flix in early 2013.

Why it matters: Netflix, which had started stream-ing original content with the mob comedy “Lilyham-mer” in February, is seen as a savior for beloved yet low-rated shows.

The broadcast networks may be struggling for rat-ings, but TV viewing is surging online. More than 60 percent of Netflix’s

streaming views are for TV shows, and subscriptions to online TV provider Hulu Plus top 3 million.

‘Kony 2012’What happened: A

short online film created for the nonprofit organi-zation Invisible Children to promote its crusade to bring Ugandan cult and militia leader Joseph Kony to justice became an unlikely viral sensation, despite its grim subject matter.

Key stats: 18.3 million views on Vimeo; 94.7 mil-lion views on YouTube.

The result: The capture of Kony became a cause celebre despite criticisms about the film’s inac-curacies and simplifica-tions, and the issue was embraced by politicians in Washington and elsewhere. Kony, however, remains at large.

Why it matters: “Kony 2012” showed that viral video was not just about instant fame and pop cul-tural curiosities but could spur social action. How-ever powerful the viral video may be, it remains an elusive prize, as the creators of “Kony 2012” realized when their follow-up, “Kony 2012 Part II — Beyond Famous” failed to catch on.

‘Mass Effect 3’What happened: “Mass

Effect 3” was one of the most highly anticipated games of the year and sold more than 1.3 million copies the month it was released. However, fans were greatly let down by the final moments of the trilogy’s concluding chap-ter.

So a grass-roots effort was launched to urge game developer BioWare to issue a new ending while raising money through an

online fundraising site for the charity Child’s Play.

Key stats: $80,000 raised for charity as part of the “Retake Mass Effect 3” effort.

The result: The outcry worked and two weeks after the game’s release, BioWare posted a state-ment on its website inform-ing fans that it was working to address their concerns. A free, downloadable ending was released three months later.

Why it matters: Though audience disappointment often leads to companies altering the artistic content of their products in vari-ous ways (director’s cuts, special editions, etc.), the organized and near-instan-taneous reaction to “Mass Effect 3” was possible only through the prolif-eration of message boards and online fundraising. Creators can defend their artistic rights, but few com-panies will risk alienating a highly organized fan base.

‘Innocence of Muslims’

What happened: Two videos uploaded to You-Tube, “The Real Life of Muhammad” and “Muhammad Movie Trail-er,” which served as trailers for a longer project titled “Innocence of Muslims,” sparked outrage in the Muslim world.

Protests in several countries led to multiple deaths and the California filmmaker who made it was sentenced to death in absentia in an Egyptian court.

Key stats: 5.3 million combined views of the two videos on YouTube.

The result: After a deadly backlash, YouTube blocked the offending vid-eos in multiple countries, including Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia. The video

ENTERTAINMENT

w InternetContinued from Page E4

can still be viewed in the United States; however, filmmaker “Sam Bacile” (aka Mark Basseley Youssef) was arrested in the U.S. and sentenced to a year behind bars after pleading guilty to violat-ing the terms of his release from an earlier conviction for an unrelated matter.

Why it matters: The same borderless reach of YouTube that allowed Psy to become an international sensation also allowed freedom of speech in one country to inflame anger in another part of the world. YouTube and parent com-

pany Google found them-selves mired in interna-tional laws and arguments about Internet censorship at home.

Maker StudiosWhat happened: Maker

surpasses Machinima to become the No. 1 indepen-dent YouTube network of channels, allowing amateur filmmakers to produce and distribute their shows and films.

Key stats: 5,000 chan-nels with 140 million sub-scribers and more than 2 billion views a month.

The result: Maker Stu-

dios raises $36 million in investment from major entertainment figures, including Robert Downey Jr. and “Avatar” producer Jon Landau.

Why it matters: After years of steady growth using YouTube and social media to market short form video content to the key youth demo, Holly-wood and tech players are finally getting serious. Sud-denly, the world of low-cost entertainment is getting an upgrade, with Maker completing work on a 40,000-square-foot produc-tion facility this year.

Continue the cycle – please recycle this newspaper


MUSIC CDS

Compiled from news services

REVIEWS

Bo Isaac & The Rounders“Dollar”

Bo Isaac is a 29-year-old eastern Ken-tucky native who says he was raised on the music of the bluegrass masters. And his new album, “Dollar,” sure sounds like he absorbed a lot of what he was hearing.

Elmer Burchett Jr., a respected blue-grass singer and songwriter, wrote or co-wrote 11 of the tracks. The others are both from the public domain — “John Henry” and “Nobody’s Business.”

The title cut, which features an old-time sound, finds the singer wondering where his money and his woman went while he was working two jobs. “Flat Footin’, Tennessee” is a dance tune. “A Whisper Away” is a gospel song performed as a duet with Haley Burchett.

“Whippoorwill” is about a woman who left her footprint on his heart. “Miner’s Cry” tells the story of a cave-in that killed 29 miners. “Lee County Line” is about a man who married a moonshiner’s daugh-ter and inherited her grandfather’s recipe. “Road To Summertown” is nostalgia for skinny dipping and blackberry picking.

Good album.

n Keith Lawrence, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

Freeway“Diamond in the Ruff”

Different generations of Philly’s old-school rap scene made a hand-some showing in 2012. In a year that saw Beanie Sigel releasing a minor hit before heading back to prison and Schoolly D touring with Public Enemy, having Freeway back in action is a bonus. Like his pal Beans, Free-way was a member of Jay-Z’s Roc-a-Fella family in the early 2000s and stayed hard throughout the decade and its four solo releases.

“Diamond in the Ruff” proves that highly volatile Freeway is still the stoic iceman when it comes to rapping and rhyming. With steel, busy beats behind him, “No Doubt” is nail hard and just a little Lil Wayne-y. “Ghetto Street” is good and ghostly, but a bit of a gangster retread.

When you’re the hard guy, staying bad forever can become a grind, especially when you’re an acknowledged peaceful Muslim. That could be why Freeway has added a dose of coy and clever humor to his menacing, low-voiced rants. The romp-ing (and Just Blaze-produced) “Early” finds Free toying naughtily with morning sexuality while “Sweet Temptation” allows him to make light of MCs with tight slacks and pseudo-African allegiances. Fun.

n A.D. Amorosi, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Daughn Gibson“All Hell”

Josh Martin spent more than a decade drum-ming in punk and hard rock bands in central Pennsylvania, including in Allentown’s Pearls and Brass, but you wouldn’t know it from “All Hell,” his debut under the pseudonym Daughn Gibson.

The album is a unique blend of deep country melodies and sample-based instrumentation.

Gibson, now based out of Carlisle, fell in love with country music when he worked as a long-haul truck driver, and his writing adapts the genre’s classic strain of character-driven hard-luck narratives, with empathetic songs about being an old man in a young girl’s world, about writing a song about rain on the highway, about bad guys who grow up to be “totally worthless.”

His resonant, dramatic baritone calls to mind Waylon Jennings, Lee Hazlewood, and Scott Walker, but the music owes more to contemporary studio obsessives like James Blake, the Magnetic Fields, or Grimes, with spooky textures and sparse electronic beats mingling with acoustic guitars and piano.

n Steve Klinge, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Stephen Kalinich and Jon Tiven“Yo Ma Ma: Symptomology; Shortcuts to Infinity”

This two-disc set proves to be an inspired pairing of two veteran artists. Stephen Kalinich is a lyricist and longtime Beach Boys collaborator. Brian Wilson called him “a poetic genius.” Jon Tiven is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter with an affinity for R&B; he has helmed terrific comeback albums by Wilson Pickett and Philadelphia’s Garnet Mimms, among others.

“Symptomology” is credited to Yo Ma Ma, an alter ego that allows the duo to play younger than they are. It’s full of dirty, horn-accented rock ‘n’ roll delivered with snarl and swagger, as you can gather from such titles as “Let’s Get Stoned,” “Grow a Pair” and “Once My Zits Go Away.” It all packs a visceral punch, enhanced by the fact that Kalinich and Tiven, for all the wit here, never display any ironic distance from the material.

Shortcuts to Infinity is similar musi-cally while bringing out more rootsy touches, and it can hit just as hard, as with the Bo Diddley-esque thrust of “Climb Some Walls” and the chugging rock of the seven-minute-plus centerpiece “Out of the Darkness” (with Queen’s Brian May on guitar).

But there are also more laid-back moments, like the laconic, J.J. Cale groov-ing of “Harsh,” the dreamy “Red Black Horizon,” and a classic-sounding pop-

soul duet with soul man Willie Jones on “God Helps Those.” On this disc Kalin-ich’s lyrics tend to be more earnest, in an introspective and idealistic way, but as with the music, they never go soft, or soft-headed.

n Nick Cristiano, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Tom Harrell“Number Five”

Trumpeter Tom Harrell begins this CD with obsession. His opening duet on Dizzy Gillespie’s “Blue ‘N’ Boogie” with the Philly-born drummer Jonathan Blake is a clamorous call to action, and a bracing start.

Harrell keeps the interest high for this set of originals, released this year and fea-turing various setups of his long-running quintet with tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and bassist Ugonna Okegwo.

The title track is a pretty number with Harrell’s trumpet rising over Danny Gris-sett’s doodling piano, while “Journey to the Stars” is more muscular bebop, with Harrell spraying lines over a fast, churning bottom. “Star Eyes” finds Harrell rumi-nating alone and quoting extensively, his breaths forming a kind of human accom-paniment.

Harrell throughout is a legato presence, well-phrased and lyrical. That he manages this level while keeping his schizophrenia under control is amazing. But the music holds up even if you don’t know this.

n Karl Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer

CONTINUE THE CYCLE – PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER


By ALLISON STEWARTSpecial to The Washington Post

1. Japandroids: “The House That Heaven Built”: The Canadian duo wins 2012’s Titus Andronicus Award for crafting a brainy, brawny punk-rock anthem that’s equal parts hooks and heart.

2. Juicy J featuring Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz: “Bandz a Make Her Dance”: The Three 6 Mafia don’s breakout solo hit is definitely the best strip-club banger ever done by a former Oscar winner.

3. Tanlines: “Brothers”: This under-stated synth-pop track is one of countless standouts on the Brooklyn duo’s official debut, “Mixed Emotions.”

4. Tomas Barfod featuring Nina Kinert: “November Skies”: The Danish producer’s signature song is a great example of elec-tronic music’s potential for warmth and expansiveness.

5. A.C. Newman: “I’m Not Talking”: Seamless ’70s AM pop from the New Por-nographers co-founder.

6. Big Boi featuring Kelly Rowland: “Mama Told Me”: In its original form, this was a wavery experiment in video game funk featuring Swedish electro group Little Dragon. Rowland pinch-hits on the official version, which sounds like a crunk experi-ment conducted by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in 1986.

7. Chairlift: “I Belong in Your Arms”: Pure narcotic goodness from Brooklyn’s best ‘80s synth-pop revivalists.

8. Usher: “Climax”: Who knew Usher’s velvet-gloved R&B would lend itself to such a Weeknd-style tweaking? This Diplo-produced track mixed together a little bit of everything — strings, techno, quiet storm, that underwater thing the Weeknd does — and emerged as a seamless slow jam.

9. Kanye West featuring Jay-Z and Big Sean: “Clique”: ‘Ye didn’t match his heroic 2011 output this year, but when he did show up, he made every second count. In his best verse of 2012, he shouts out George Tenet and handily smokes both Sean and Hova.

10. The Lumineers: “Ho Hey”: Simple and sweet folk that’s less self-consciously rustic than Mumford and Sons and catchier than almost anything else on the radio.

11. Killer Mike: “Reagan”: A pitiless indictment of gun-runners, rappers and several recent presidential administrations, this was the best politically minded song of the year.

12. Miguel: “Adorn”: Hiccupy, dreamy electro-R&B that ties with “Climax” as the year’s slinkiest slow jam.

13. Lord Huron: “Time To Run”: Sweep-ing throwback folk from the L.A. band’s

grower of a debut, “Lonesome Dreams.”14. Torche: “Kicking”: Sludge metal at

its most accessible, from Miami’s stoner kings.

15. Kacey Musgraves: “Merry Go ‘Round”: The Texas singer-songwriter’s debut single was a nifty “Little Boxes” update.

16. Icona Pop: “I Love It”: We predicted that this impressively pedigreed (it was writ-ten by British up-and-comer Charli XCX), crazy-catchy Swedish import would be a Song of the Summer contender when it was released last spring, and lo, it came to pass.

17. Frank Ocean: “Bad Religion”: There is no such thing as a bad Frank Ocean song. This wrenching love song may be the best of the best, though.

18. Teen Mom: “You and Me”: Gentle but mighty pop from the District’s greatest living fuzz trio.

19. Brolin: “NYC”: This year was kind to shadowy bedroom producers (see: Burial, and Weeknd), and while reclusive Brit Bro-lin got less love than his counterparts, this eerie and beautiful track — which comes attached to the year’s best video — was just as masterful.

20. Katy B featuring Geeneus and Jes-sie Ware: “Aaliyah”: Britain’s reigning pop goddesses pay (probably unintentional) tribute to country classic “Jolene.”

21. Goat: “Run to Your Mama”: Here’s the deal with Goat: Its members are Swed-ish, they wear masks, their music is a weird, muddy mix of funk/folk/psych/whatever, they like to sing about themselves (“Goat-man,” “Goatlord,” etc.) and they are utterly and entirely awesome. This is the group’s most-listener-friendly track, but that’s not saying much.

22. Kendrick Lamar featuring Gunplay: “Cartoon and Cereal”: How great is this track, which didn’t make it onto Lamar’s breakout album, “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” even though it probably should have? Great enough to make Gunplay, a rapper for whom America had previously held no affection, into a star by association.

23. Brad Paisley: “Southern Comfort Zone”: One of Nashville’s biggest stars leaves no country constituency un-insulted, from churchgoers to gun owners to NAS-CAR fans, on this deceptively subversive ode to internationalism.

24. Sabi featuring Wale: “Where They Do That At”: The pride of Washington teams with next year’s Nicole Scherzinger for what would have been the best banger of 2006.

25. Carly Rae Jepsen: “Your Heart is a Muscle”: Oh, Carly Rae Jepsen. This was your second single.

The best singles of 2012

E10 Thursday, January 3, 2013 Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com Thursday, January 3, 2013 E11

ON STAGE in the Skagit Valley and surrounding area January 3-13 TUNING UP Playing at area venues January 3-10

Thursday.3THEATER

Justin Hayes: 7 p.m., Concrete The-atre, 45920 Main St., Concrete. $15. 360-941-0403 or www.concrete-theatre.com.

Friday.4No events submitted

Saturday.5MUSIC

Dana Lyons: “Power Past Coal” concert and workshop: 7 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. $10 suggested donation, free for children. 360-445-3000.

Sunday-Friday.6-11No events submitted

Saturday.12MUSIC

viaVoice: a cappella quartet, 7:30 p.m., Maple Hall, 104 Commercial, La Conner. $15-$17, free for ages 17 and younger accompanied by an adult. 360-466-2665 or www.laconnerarts.com.

Sunday.13MUSIC

“Jazz at the Library”: Trish, Phil & Hans, 2 to 3 p.m., Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 30.

THURSDAY.3

SATURDAY.5

SUNDAY.6

Marvin Johnson (piano): 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Jansen Art Cen-ter, Firehall Cafe, 321 Front St., Lynden. No cover. 360-354-3600.

Rattletrap Ruckus: 8 p.m., Redlight, 1017 N. State St., Bell-ingham. Free. 360-927-1949 or www.redlightbellingham.com.

Band Showdown: with Gravel Hitch, Bodhi and Creech, 9 p.m., The Shake-down, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $1. 360-778-1067.

Alan Hatley Band: 9 p.m., Varsity Inn, 112 N. Cherry St., Burlington. No cover. 360-755-0165.

Randy Norris, Jeff Nicely (blues): 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. No cover. 360-445-3000.

Jammin’ Jeff: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

Hooves, The Actual Odds, Sarah in the Wild: 10 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $3. 360-778-1067.

Scott Lindenmuth: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360-588-1720.

Lozen, Trophy Wife, Uh-Oh: 9 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $6. 360-778-1067.

Nick Vigarino: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., H2O, 314 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360-755-3956.

John Carswell and Blues Union: 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commer-cial Ave., Anacortes. No cover. 360-588-1720.

Dana Lyons: 7 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Con-way. $10 suggested donation, free for children. 360-445-3000.

Jim Basnight Band: 9 p.m., Longhorn Saloon, 5754 Cains Court, Edison. No cover. 360-766-6330.

Jammin’ Jeff: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

Flying Monkeys: 8:30 p.m., Edison Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison. 360-766-6266.

Louis Ledford and Guests: 9 p.m., Red-light, 1017 N. State St., Bellingham. $5. 360-927-1949 or www.redlightbelling ham.com.

Gary B’s Church of the Blues (blues, classic rock): 6 to 10 p.m., Castle Tavern, 708 Metcalf. St., Sedro-Wool-ley. 360-855-2263.

Terry Nelson & Friends: 4 to 8 p.m., The Station House, 315 E. Morris St., La Conner. No cover. 360-466-4488.

Bow Diddlers: 5:30 p.m., Edison Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison. 360-766-6266.

Stilly River Band: 6 to 9 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commer-cial Ave., Anacortes. 360-588-1720.

Rattletrap Ruckus: 8 p.m., Redlight, 1017 N. State St., Bellingham. Free. 360-927-1949 or www.redlightbelling ham.com.

Trish Hatley: 6 to 9 p.m., Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360-588-1720.

FRIDAY.4

WEDNESDAY.9 THURSDAY.10

FRIDAY.4ALAN HATLEY BAND9 p.m., Varsity Inn, 112 N. Cherry St., Burlington. No cover. 360-755-0165.

SATURDAY.5JIM BASNIGHT BAND9 p.m., Longhorn Saloon, 5754 Cains Court, Edison. No cover. 360-766-6330.

THURSDAY.3JUSTIN HAYES7 p.m., Concrete Theatre, 45920 Main St., Concrete. $15. 360-941-0403 or www.concrete-theatre.com.

SUNDAY.13“JAZZ AT THE LIBRARY”: TRISH, PHIL & HANS2 to 3 p.m., Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 30.


TRAVEL

Photos by Ellen Creager / Detroit Free Press

The new Fantasyland officially opened at Disney World in Orlando. Highlights are a new “Under the Sea” Little Mermaid ride in Prince Eric’s Castle. Many little girls in princess costumes visited the park on its first official opening day on Dec. 6.

Disney World’s new Fantasyland becomes a realityBy MARJIE LAMBERTThe Miami Herald

ORLANDO, Fla. — Magic Kingdom has added a forest to Fantasyland, doubling its size and reorga-nizing it into two mini-lands with polished charm, color, music, storytelling, long-lashed cuteness and talk-ing critters, be they a gruff but softhearted seagull or a kindly candelabra with a French accent.

The expansion, which offi-cially opened Dec. 6, adds an area called the Enchanted Forest with two castles, hills, groves and waterfalls. It contains the ride Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid, an enhanced meet-and-greet built around the story of “Beauty and the Beast,” a table-service res-taurant that serves wine and beer, and several smaller features.

Much of existing Fanta-syland is now part of Sto-rybook Circus, headlined by double Dumbo rides, a rethemed Barnstormer junior coaster, the Casey Jr. water play area and such old favorites as the Mad Tea Party and the Many Adven-tures of Winnie the Pooh.

The two key attractions in the Enchanted Forest center around princesses — Ariel, the mermaid and daughter of King Triton, and Belle, an official member of Disney’s princess lineup. Both incor-porate new technology and an emphasis on characters. And like most of Fantasyl-and, they appeal primarily to younger children.

Under the Sea is a tradi-tional ride in which clam-shell cars take guests under the sea and past scenes and music from “The Little Mermaid” movie, much as boats take riders past scenes of happy singing people on

“It’s a Small World After All” — but the mermaid’s music is vastly better. Favor-ites: Ursula, the fabulous, villainous sea witch, sings “Poor Unfortunate Soul,” and lobsters and a conga line of fish dance to the calypso beat of “Under the Sea.”

The ride itself is almost identical to the version that opened at Disneyland in California in 2011, but the Orlando attraction has more space for landscaping and an elaborate queue. Guests walk past waterfalls and into the grotto under Prince Eric’s Castle, where Scuttle the seagull entertains them with an interactive scaven-ger hunt. Afterward, fans can meet the princess in Ariel’s Grotto.

Enchanted Tales with Belle is an enhanced meet and greet in a richly detailed setting, a fun storytelling experience. Guests are assigned roles by a trilling and effusive Madame Ward-robe, then turned over to

Lumiere (the candelabra), who introduces them to a surprised Belle.

Belle tells the story of how she and Beast met as guests wave their props, roar like the Beast, slap their hands on their thighs to make the sound of galloping horses and cheer on the kids who get roles in the story. Little ones get their pictures taken with Belle and exit beaming. So did a couple dads who played the parts of suits of armor. (“Yaayyy Daddy!” cried a little voice from the rear of the room, as Belle took Daddy’s arm and posed with him.)

The expansion, elements of which are still under construction, uses the area formerly occupied by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as previously unde-veloped land. Still to come are Princess Fairytale Hall, a meet-and-greet site for princesses who don’t have a home of their own, in 2013; and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, its bones rising above

construction walls, to open in the first half of 2014.

On both sides of Fantasy-land, the new and revamped attractions have an amaz-ing level of detail, from the mother-and-child elephant footprints in the asphalt near the twin Dumbo rides to the ambience signaled by the kinds of rock used in the Beast’s Castle and Prince Eric’s Castle (rough, sharp-edged and foreboding for the former, warm, golden and rounded for the latter) to Maurice’s inventions in and around his cottage at Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Gone are the flat painted plywood scenes in Snow White’s Scary Ride, torn down to make room for Princess Fairytale Hall. Instead, a holographic rose drops petals in Be Our Guest restaurant in the Beast’s Castle, snow sparkles on ledges of Cinderella Castle, and electronic crabs get help from guests in the scavenger hunt in the Under the Sea queue.

Although the New Fantasyland opened Dec. 6, in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, nothing tops the sight of the Cinderella Castle there, decorated for the holidays.


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TRAVEL

Local travel VACATION CRUISE OPTIONS: Representa-tives from Holland Amer-ica Line and AAA Travel will discuss new cruise itineraries to destinations around the world at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at AAA Travel, 1600 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. Free. RSVP: 360-848-2090.

“ACROSS NORTHERN FRANCE”: 7 p.m. Wednes-day, Jan. 30, Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Cultural traveler Rudy Gahler describes his Road Scholar trip to Brittany and Normandy, complete with historical notes. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 21, or library.cityofanacortes.org.

DAY TRIPS: Camano Center offers trips for seniors and others, departing from and return-ing to Camano Center, 606 Arrowhead Road,

Camano Island. 360-387-0222 or www.camanocen-ter.org. “Fiddler on the Roof”: Saturday, Jan. 26. $65-$70. Seattle Boat Show: Tuesday, Jan. 29. Check out the latest boats and boating gear. $15-$20, transportation only. Buy tickets at the door for $12. Pay by Jan. 15. Frye Museum and Vol-unteer Park Conservatory Tour: Tuesday, Feb. 12: Enjoy a docent tour of the 60-year-old Frye Museum, lunch in its cafe, and then tour the 100-year-old conservatory. $21-$26, includes tour and trans-portation. Lunch on your own. Pay by Jan. 29.

SHORT TRIPS: Mount Vernon Parks and Recre-ation offers travel oppor-tunities for ages 12 and older (adult supervision required for ages 12-18). For information or to regis-ter, call 360-336-6215.

The new Fantasyland officially opened at Disney World in Orlando. Highlights are a new “Under the Sea” Little Mermaid ride in Prince Eric’s Castle.

Guests now have more opportunities to interact with characters, which for many youngsters are as important as the rides — the Beast in his restaurant, Belle in Enchanted Tales, Gaston by his tavern near the Beast’s Castle, the Little Mermaid in Ariel’s Grotto, plus Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Minnie at Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Sto-rybook Circus, which opened in October.

Disney is promoting Be Our Guest restaurant in the Beast’s Castle as another attraction, and in some respects it is. It is set in beauti-ful rooms designed to look like the film, with as much attention to detail as any new ride, and the rose theme woven throughout. In the ballroom — the main din-ing room — diners can see snow falling beyond the high, arched windows. Red napkins are folded and twisted into the shape of large rosebuds. Belle and Beast whirl in a dance atop a seven-foot music box in the Rose Gallery. In the West Wing, a slashed por-trait of the prince changes to a portrait of the Beast.

Since the original story was set in the French coun-tryside, the cuisine is French influenced. Lunch is fast-casual: Guests place their orders on touch screens, and the food is brought to the table. At night, servers take dinner orders. For the first time in Magic Kingdom, wine and beer are available, although with dinner only.

The ambience is quiet and as elegant as it can be in a theme park where the Beast stalks through the din-ing room and many guests are wearing sneakers. For theme-park dining, the food is very good, but not as good as meals in several of the resort’s hotels. The wait staff is attentive, sometimes to the point of being intrusive, but that might be expected in a new and very visible opening. Here’s hoping they mellow as they find their rhythm. Din-

ner entrees are $15.99-$29.99; wine $8-$17 per glass.

Be Our Guest’s dessert cart offers tempting cupcakes and cream puffs, but we opted to stop by Gaston’s Tavern for a LeFou’s Brew, a nonalcoholic slushy based on apple juice with a taste of marshmallow and a mango-passion fruit foam. The drink has a nice tang, as if the juice came from Granny Smith apples.

Test track: Not all of Disney World’s news comes from Fantasyland.

At Epcot, Test Track, closed for upgrading in April, reopened this month with Chevrolet sponsorship. The basic ride remains the same — the car still hits 65 mph, the fastest of any ride at a Disney park — but all the visuals have changed. Plus, the Imagineers have added a preshow and an after-show.

Before the ride, guests design their own custom con-cept vehicle — shape, wheels, engine, color — on a touch screen at a design kiosk. As they work, the screen shows how the design affects capability, responsiveness, efficiency and power. It’s a game of balance — increase the power, for example, and the car will lose efficiency. Riders get an electronic card that they swipe at the kiosk so their design follows them through the ride and the postride show.

While the old ride wound through a mockup of a GM test facility, where it was tested for attributes includ-ing suspension, braking and handling, the new one runs through the inside of a com-puter so riders have the sense that everything is virtual. Some riders compared it to a scene from the movie Tron .

As the ride vehicle is “test-ed” for capability, responsive-ness, efficiency and power, so are the riders’ concept cars, with results displayed dur-ing the ride. (This function didn’t work for my design; it

wasn’t clear whether there was a glitch or whether it was because I had started my design later than others in the same session.) Then the ride vehicle crashes through to the outside and runs at high speed on the track cir-cling the building, just as it did before the redesign.

Afterward, guests can swipe their design card at a virtual slot-car course and see their virtual car compete against other riders’ designs. They can make a commercial for their concept car and email it to friends, take their photo with their concept car—or with other Chevrolet models — and email it, too.

Splitsville: Over at Down-town Disney, in what used to be the Virgin Megastore at Pleasure Island, Splitsville Luxury Lanes was scheduled to open a two-level, 30-lane bowling alley last week. Splitsville is an untraditional bowling alley, especially at Disney World, where it will cater mostly to out-of-town-ers and have no league play.

Food and beverage service will account for about 70 percent of the operation, said Jessica Anderson, a sales and event manager. There will be seating for about 500 (some of it outdoors), two sushi bars, menu items including sandwiches and pizza, and

live music. “The bowling is more just for the fun of it,” she said.

The lower level will be family-oriented at all hours, she said (the alley is open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.), but upstairs will be 21-and-over-only late nights on weekends.


POP CULTURE Q&A

By RICH HELDENFELSAkron Beacon Journal

Q: Is “Hell on Wheels” coming back?A: Yes, though not without some off-

camera drama. In November, Deadline.com reported that AMC was set to renew the show for a third season, without series creators Joe and Tony Gayton but with Josh Shiban continuing as show runner — the person most responsible for getting the show made day-to-day. Then Shiban announced he was leaving. That delayed a full announcement of a third season until a new show runner was found.

That show runner is now John Wirth, whose background includes work on “V,” “Falling Skies” and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” And a third season of 10 episodes is slated for the third quarter of 2013.

By the way, Deadline notes that “Hell on Wheels” “is the latest AMC series hit by major creator/show runner departures. “The Walking Dead’s” Frank Darabont left in Season 2, And “Rubicon” creator/exec producer Jason Horwitch exited during production on its first and only season.”

Also, “Mad Men” creator Matt Weiner quit the show during negotiations for a fifth season (which aired in 2012) when AMC asked him to cut the running time of each episode to make room for more commercials. A deal was finally made for fifth and sixth seasons, and Weiner stayed.

Q: Can you please tell me what hap-pened to Paget Brewster from “Criminal Minds”? I love that show, but really miss her.

A: Brewster left the series at the end of the seventh, 2011-12 season (and had nearly left the season before during bud-get cuts which also led to the departure of A.J. Cook from the show).

“I really didn’t feel challenged any-more and I wanted to learn something and be excited again,” the actress said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I was getting cranky on “Criminal Minds” and we’d gone through some unnecessary

cast changes — if that is as diplomatic as I can be about it — and I never got over it.”

And, she said, “At a certain point you’re so familiar with the rhythms that you can reach a point where you get lazy. I’m afraid I did that.”

As if to underscore her unhappi-ness with “Minds,” she guest-starred on the season premiere of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which airs opposite the CBS show, and said that work was more challenging. She is also a voice on the animated series “Dan Vs.,” airing on the Hub channel.

Q: Is the movie “The Man Who Fell to Earth” available on DVD?

A: With the 1976 film starring David Bowie and directed by Nicolas Roeg, the answer is yes and no. It has been released on DVD several times, and on a Crite-rion edition Blu-ray in 2008. However, neither the Blu-ray nor the DVDs are in current release. So Amazon.com lists it for sale from various vendors but at often high prices. (An unused Blu-ray can run you about $130, for example.) The movie is easily available as streaming video on Amazon and Netflix.

Q: I want to know if the program “Unforgettable” is going to be on the later schedule for CBS.

A: It appears so. When CBS announced its 2012-13 schedule in May, it did not include the drama starring Poppy Montgomery, which had aired in 2011-12. Then, the following August, it announced that the show would be back for 13 epi-sodes in summer 2013.

“I don’t understand what makes a show stay on or what makes it go away,” Montgomery told the Give Me My Remote website, “but I sort of accept that it’s right if they make that decision. And so when it was gone, I was sad, I will always love that character and the people I work with, so I understood. And I’ve worked with CBS for so long that I was like, ‘They’re family. We’ll do some-thing together again.’ And when it came back, I was genuinely flabbergasted and thrilled.”

HOT TICKETSNEUROSIS: Jan. 5, Showbox at the Market,

Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

LADY GAGA: Jan. 14, 2013, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation.com.

CIRQUE ZIVA: Jan. 17, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

QUICKSAND: Jan. 18, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

JACKSON BROWNE: Jan. 20, Benaroya Hall, Seattle. 206-215-4747 or www.livenation.com.

MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL ON TOUR: Jan. 22, Benaroya Hall, Seattle. 866-833-4747.

DOWN: Jan. 22, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

PINBACK: Jan. 23, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

THE WALKMEN: Jan. 27, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.livebation.com.

“AMALUNA”: Cirque du Soleil: Jan. 31-Feb. 24, 2013, Marymoor Park, Redmond. 800-450-1480 or www.cirquedusoleil.com.

LEWIS BLACK: Feb. 1, Paramount Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

MUSE: Feb. 1, KeyArena, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation.com.

THE SONICS, MUDHONEY: Feb. 2, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

EXCISION: Feb. 2, Paramount Theatre, Seat-tle. 877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

ELLIE GOULDING: Feb. 4, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT: Feb. 6, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH: Feb. 7, Columbia City Theater, Seattle. 800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com.

SOUNDGARDEN: Feb. 7-8, The Paramount Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.live nation.com.

RA RA RIOT: Feb. 8, Neptune Theatre, Seat-tle. 877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

LED ZEPAGAIN: Feb. 8, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

SUPER DIAMOND (Tribute to Neil Diamond): Feb. 9, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

TOMAHAWK: Feb. 12, Showbox at the Mar-ket, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showbox online.com.

MARILYN MANSON: Feb. 12, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

LEFTOVER SALMON: Feb. 15, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.live nation.com.

PILOBOLUS: Feb. 16, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Feb. 16-17, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS: Feb. 17, Comcast Arena at Everett. 866-332-8499 or www.comcastarenaeverett.com.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA, BETWEEN THE

BURIED AND ME: Feb. 19, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showbox online.com.

EELS: Feb. 19, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

FEED ME, TEETH: Feb. 20-21, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

GALACTIC: FEATURING COREY GLOVER: Feb. 22, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

MICHAEL KAESHAMMER: Feb. 22, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

STS9: Feb. 22, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

AARON NEVILLE: Feb. 23, Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham. 360-734-6080 or www.mountbakertheatre.com.

IVAN & ALYOSHA: Feb. 23, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

PENNYWISE, LAGWAGON: Feb. 23, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

HEY MARSEILLES: March 1, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

MARC MARON (comedy): March 1, Nep-tune Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or LiveNation.com.

YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE!: March 1-2, The Paramount Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.livenation.com.

MOE: March 2, Showbox at the Market, Seat-tle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

ANBERLIN: March 3, Showbox at the Mar-ket, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.show boxonline.com.

G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE: March 6, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT: March 8, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA: March 9, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

MAROON 5, WITH NEON TREES & OWL CITY: March 11, KeyArena, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation.com.

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO: March 13, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

VOLBEAT: March 22, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

BRIAN REGAN: March 13, Paramount Theatre, Seattle. 877-784-4849 or www.live nation.com.

RIHANNA: with A$AP Rocky: April 3, KeyArena, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.livenation.com.

NANCI GRIFFITH: April 5, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds. 425-275-9595 or www.ec4arts.org.

LORD OF THE DANCE: April 5, Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham. 360-734-6080 or www.mountbakertheatre.com.

TECH N9NE: April 6-7, Showbox SoDo, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxon line.com.

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT: April 8, Showbox at the Market, Seattle. 800-745-3000 or www.showboxonline.com.

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Madonna’s MDNA is top-grossing tour of 2012Los Angeles Times

Madonna delivered the highest-grossing concert tour of the year and raked in nearly $300 million at the box office worldwide, according to Pollstar, the concert-industry tracking magazine.

Madonna’s MDNA tour visited 67 cities for 88 performances that grossed $296.1 million, an aver-age of $4.4 million a night, Pollstar’s data shows. Her average ticket price was just over $140, far from the priciest concert tickets of the year.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band came in at No. 2, grossing $210.2 mil-lion from 81 shows in 66 cities on the Wrecking Ball tour. Springsteen sold more tickets than Madonna — nearly 2.3 million to her 2.1 million — but at significant-ly lower ticket prices. Seats for Springsteen’s shows averaged just under $92.

Third place went to Roger Waters with $186.4 million, making him the only act in the top 10 most lucrative tours who also made that list last year. Coming in behind Waters, Coldplay finished at No. 4 with $171.3 million, fol-lowed by Lady Gaga in fifth place with $161.4 million.

Rounding out Pollstar’s top 10 were Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: The Immortal” tour at No. 6 (with a gross of $140.2 million), Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw’s Broth-ers of the Sun stadium tour (No. 7, $96.5 million), Metallica (No. 8, $86.1 mil-lion), Elton John (No. 9, $69.9 million) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (No. 10, $57.8 million).


MOVIES

O sama bin Laden is dead, which everybody knows, and the principle facts

leading up to that are well-known. The decision to market “Zero Dark Thirty” as a thriller therefore takes a certain amount of courage, even given the fasci-nation with this most zero and dark of deaths (the title is spy-speak for “half-past midnight,”

the time of bin Laden’s death).

The film stars Jessica Chastain, the ubiquitous new star who now dominates the American acting landscape. One could even argue the film IS Jessica Chastain and her character.

She plays Maya, a lone-wolf CIA agent who sticks to her convic-tion that bin Laden is not in a cave in Afghanistan hunched over a kidney dialysis machine, but is likely living in relatively open sight.

In reality, when the terrorist was finally tracked down and taken out, the universal astonish-ment was that his hiding place was a large, walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and that his residence there was relatively widely known — in the same area, anyway, as the location of a Pakistan military college.

Most of the film involves the search of the allied side, includ-ing the tracing down of leads that many Americans considered too obvious and in plain sight to be plausible. To Maya, however, that is the whole beauty of bin Laden’s scheme; one is reminded of Poe’s “The Purloined Letter”: It is wise to conceal something in plain sight. What takes imagi-nation is to act on it — to back her hunch with the impulse to

believe it is plausible. Here is a disagreement between the time-honored methods of espionage and a quicker, more intuitive approach involving a hunch too good to be true.

The film’s first two hours or so consist of a struggle between the Maya faction and the Maya non-believers, and the stakes are huge in the decision to pull the trigger. Consider the embarrassment to President Barack Obama and his advisers if they had turned out to be publicly, sensationally, embar-rassingly wrong. You can’t call in the Navy SEALs to break into a huge compound on the land of a nation that is, theoretically any-way, an ally. The administration’s subsequent portrait of those climactic moments and the possi-bility of its being wrong are very convincing.

The subtext deserves a movie of its own, about a disagreement between macho males who feast on torture and hard-boiled guts, and a woman who depends more on her intelligence and imagina-tion. The leading male characters in the opening of the film are in the tradition of that beloved formula in which an expert team acts together with high tech. Maya, on the other hand, is more like the dutiful female heroine of one of those thrillers set in big business and corporate finance,

who uses no privileged intel-ligence but is willing to fly in the face of the way men have always done things.

As Maya, Chastain shows again how versatile an actress she is. Apart from Meryl Streep, who else has appeared in new movies with such a range and ability to convince? Much credit is due to Mark Boal, the Oscar-winning journalist and writer of Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” who begins with facts and not a formula eas-ily shaped as conventional forms of fiction. I gather that much of Bigelow’s early preparation for this film took place before (in those shadowy places where such things reside) it began to be known that the end of this film could not turn out quite as every-one expected.

The film’s opening scenes are not great filmmaking. They’re heavy on jargon and impenetra-ble calculation, murky and heavy on theory. The parts that every-one now wants to see involve

the attack itself. Here the film uses the modern style of underlit shaky-cam, with dialogue that’s hard to follow and rapid action in shadows and confusion. We do finally see a version of what must have happened, and even see something of bin Laden’s face and the moments of his death, and it’s all well-enough made, but to paraphrase the MGM slogan, “That’s not entertainment.”

The raid on the compound cannot logically be well-lighted and staged, and bin Laden and the other occupants of his home cannot be based on our knowl-edge of his personality and moti-vation, because that’s not how the film starts out. Thus “Zero Dark Thirty” is not the payoff for the events that have been build-ing onscreen, but is a master-stroke of fate.

My guess is that much of the fascination with this film is inspired by the unveiling of facts, unclearly seen. There isn’t a whole lot of plot — basically, just

that Maya thinks she is right, and she is. The back story is that Big-elow has become a modern-day directorial heroine, which may be why this film is winning even more praise than her masterful Oscar-winner “The Hurt Locker.” That was a film firmly founded on plot, character and actors whose personalities and motiva-tions had become well-known to the audience. Its performances are razor-sharp and detailed, the acting restrained, the timing perfect.

In comparison, “Zero Dark Thirty” is a slam-bang action picture, depending on Maya’s inspiration. One problem may be that Maya turns out to be cor-rect, with a long, steady buildup depriving the climax of much of its impact and providing mostly irony. Do we want to know more about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and the history and politi-cal grievances behind them? Yes, but that’s not how things turned out. Sorry, but there you have it.

‘ZERO DARK THIRTY’HHH

Maya ............. Jessica ChastainDan ..................... Jason ClarkePatrick ................ Joel EdgertonJessica ................ Jennifer EhleGeorge .................Mark StrongJoseph Bradley ....Kyle ChandlerLarry ................. Edgar Ramirez

n Running time: 157 minutes. MPAA rating: R (for strong vio-lence, including brutal disturb-ing images, and for language).

Two hours of watching a CIA strategist who knows she is right

Roger Ebert

Elite Navy SEALs raid Osama Bin Laden’s compound in a scene from “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Columbia Pictures via AP


MINI-REVIEWSCompiled from news services.Ratings are one to four stars.

“Flight” — After opening with one of the most terrifying flying scenes I’ve witnessed, in which an airplane is saved by being flown upside-down, Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight” segues into a brave and tor-tured performance by Denzel Washington -- one of his very best. Not often does a movie character make such a har-rowing personal journey that keeps us in deep sympathy all of the way. Washington plays a veteran commercial pilot who has built up a toler-ance for quantities of alco-hol and cocaine that would be lethal for most people. Drama, R, 138 minutes. HHHH “Hyde Park on Hudson” — Bill Murray plays Franklin Roo-sevelt as a sometimes lonely and sad man whose vacation getaway is his mother’s family mansion, Springwood, near Hyde Park in upstate New York. Here in June 1939, he receives guests whose visit could change the course of world history: England’s King George V (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman). Witnessing from backstage is his sixth cousin, Daisy (Laura Linney), with whom FDR has a sweet and secret affair. Murray finds the exact tone, gentle and confiding, for this view of Roosevelt. Biography, R, 94 minutes. HHH1⁄2 “Life of Pi”: A miraculous achievement of storytelling and a landmark of visual mastery. Inspired by a world-wide best-seller that seemed unfilmable, it is a triumph over its difficulties. It is also a moving spiritual achieve-ment, a movie whose title could have been shortened to “Life.” The story involves the 227 days that its teen-age hero (Suraj Sharma) spends drifting across the Pacific in the same lifeboat as a Bengal tiger. The movie quietly combines various religious traditions to enfold its story in the wonder of life. How remarkable that these two mammals, and the fish beneath them and birds above them, are all here. One of the year’s best. Fantasy, PG, 125 minutes. HHHH “Lincoln” — Steven Spiel-berg’s new film focuses

on only a few months of Lincoln’s life, including the passage of the 13th Amend-ment ending slavery, the surrender of the Confed-eracy and his assassination. Rarely has a film attended more carefully to the details of politics. Daniel Day-Lewis creates a Lincoln who is calmly self-confident, patient and willing to play politics in a realistic way. Not about an icon of history, but about a president who was scorned by some of his opponents as a hayseed from the back-woods. He understood them better than they did him. Sure to win many Academy Award nominations. Drama, PG-13, 149 minutes. HHHH “Rise of the Guardians” — Hyperactive 3D animated fantasy regarding the plight of Jack Frost, who nobody seems able to see. Called upon in a crisis to help the Guardians (Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, etc.), he saves the day. Younger children like the breakneck action, magical ability to fly, and the young hero who has tired of being overlooked. Animated adven-ture, PG, 89 minutes. HHH “Skyfall” — “Skyfall” trium-phantly reinvents 007 in one of the best Bonds ever made. This is a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a

beloved cultural icon, with Daniel Craig taking full pos-session of a role he earlier played unconvincingly. The film at last provides a role worthy of Judi Dench, return-ing as M, who is one of the best actors of her generation. She is all but the co-star, with a lot of screen time, poignant dialogue, and a character who is far more complex and sympathetic than we expect. In this 50th year of the James Bond series, with the dismal “Quantum of Solace” (2008) still in our minds, I don’t know what I expected in Bond No. 23, but certainly not an experience this invigo-rating. Action, PG-13, 143 minutes. HHHH “The Hobbit: An Unexpect-ed Journey” — “The Hobbit” is stuffed with Hollywood’s latest technology — 3-D, high-speed projection and Dolby’s Atmos surround sound sys-tem. The result is some eye candy that truly dazzles and some that utterly distracts, at least in its test-run of 48 frames a second, double the projection rate that has been standard since silent-film days. It’s also overstuffed with, well, stuff. Prologues and sidestepping backstory. Long, boring councils among dwarves, wizards and elves. A shallow blood feud extrapo-

lated from sketchy appendi-ces to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” to give the film a bad guy. Fantasy-action, PG-13, 169 minutes. HH1⁄2 “The Impossible” — The tsunami that devastated the Pacific Basin in the winter of 2004 remains one of the worst natural disasters in his-tory. We were in Europe when it struck, and we sat mesmer-ized, watching the news on TV -- again and again, that towering wall of water looming from the sea, tossing trucks, buses and its helpless victims aside. In this terrifying triumph of special effects, Juan Anto-nio Bayona’s film becomes a powerful story of a family’s cohesive strength. With Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland. One of the best films of 2012. Drama, PG-13, 114 minutes. HHHH “Zero Dark Thirty” — Two hours of watching a loner female CIA strategist who knows she is right — and the payoff that she is. Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, who was right all along, providing the film with a timely hero-ine. Lots of murky action in the big capture and death, but lacking the split-second timing and relentless action of director Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker.” Thriller, R, 157 minutes. HHH

MOVIES

AT AREA THEATERSANACORTES CINEMASJan. 4-11 The Metropolitan Opera: Les Troyens (NR): Saturday: 9:00 a.m. Les Miserables (PG-13): Friday-Thurs-day: 1:15, 4:30, 7:45 Parental Guidance (PG): Friday: 1:30, 4:05, 6:30, 8:55; Saturday: 4:05, 6:30, 8:55; Sunday-Thursday: 1:30, 4:05, 6:30 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13): Friday-Thursday: (1:00), 4:15, 7:30 360-293-7000

BLUE FOX DRIVE-INOak Harbor 360-675-5667

CASCADE MALL THEATRESBurlington For listings: 888-AMC-4FUN (888-262-4386).

CONCRETE THEATREJan. 4-6 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13): Friday: 7:30 p.m.; Saturday: 7:30 p.m.; Sunday: 4 p.m. 360-941-0403

OAK HARBOR CINEMASJan. 4-11 Parental Guidance (PG): Friday-Satur-day: 1:25, 3:55, 6:40, 8:50; Sunday-Thursday: 1:25, 3:55, 6:40 Jack Reacher (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 1:05, 3:45, 6:30, 9:10; Sunday-Thurs-day: 1:05, 3:45, 6:30 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13): Friday-Thursday: (1:15), 4:30, 7:45 360-279-2226

STANWOOD CINEMASJan. 4-11 The Metropolitan Opera: Les Troyens (NR): Saturday: 9 a.m. Les Miserables (PG-13): Friday- Thurs-day: 1:20, 4:30, 7:45 Parental Guidance (PG): Friday-Thurs-day: 1:30, 4:00, 6:50, 9:00 Jack Reacher (PG-13): Friday-Thursday: 1:10, 3:50, 6:40, 9:20 This Is 40 (R): Friday: 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:10; Saturday: 3:40, 6:30, 9:10; Sunday-Thursday: 12:50, 3:40, 6:30, 9:10 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13): Friday-Thursday: 1:00, 4:15, 7:30 360-629-0514

AT THE LINCOLN THEATRE

712 S. First St., Mount Vernon360-336-8955 n www.lincolntheatre.org

‘A Late Quartet’7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Jan. 4-55:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 67:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7

When the beloved cellist of a world-renowned string quartet receives a life-changing diagnosis, the group’s future suddenly hangs in the balance; suppressed emo-tions, competing egos, and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collabora-tion. As they are about to play their 25th anniversary concert, only their intimate bond and the power of music can preserve their legacy. Inspired by and struc-tured around Beethoven’s Opus 131 String Quartet in C-sharp minor, “A Late Quartet” pays homage to chamber music and the cultural world of New York.

Rated R. $10 general, $9 seniors, students and active military; $8 members; $7 children 12 and under. Bar-gain matinee prices (all shows before 6 p.m.): $8 gen-eral, $6 members, $5 children 12 and under.

The Met Live in HD: ‘Les Troyens’9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5

The Met offers a rare opportunity to witness Ber-lioz’s vast epic, last performed at the Met in 2003. Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft lead the cast, portraying characters from the Trojan War. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi marshals the large-scale musical forces.

In Italian with English subtitles. $23 adults; $19 seniors; $16 students and children with $2 off for Lin-coln members.

Please recycle this newspaper


ARTQUILT MUSEUM TEM-

PORARY CLOSURE: The La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum will be closed through mid-February, while contractors install a fire suppression system, restore the first level and refinish the museum’s floors. Watch for the museum to reopen in mid-February with the exhibit “Color, Design & Inspira-tion: Kaffe Fassett & Bran-don Mably in La Conner.” 360-466-4288 or www.laconnerquilts.com.

FIRST FRIDAY GALLERY WALK: Check out a variety of art on display during a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, at several galleries and other venues in downtown Anacortes. Featured artworks include paintings and prints, bas-kets, sculptures, pastels, fiber arts, glass, ceramics, wood, photography, jewelry and more. 360-293-6938.

MORE SMALL PAINT-INGS: A show featuring small paintings on canvas and paper by Anne Martin McCool will open with a reception during the First Friday Gallery Walk from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, and continue through Jan. 31 at Anne Martin McCool Gal-lery, 711 Commercial Ave., Anacortes.

The show will also include paintings and prints by Cathy Schoenberg, sculptures by Tracy Powel, glass art by Bob Metke, ceramics by Patsy Thola Chamberlain, jewelry by Carole Cunningham and Debbie Aldrich, turned wood by George Way, baskets by Jane Hyde and handwoven scarves by Martha Tottenham. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sat-urday or by appointment. 360-293-3577 or www.annemartinmccool.com.

MEMBER SHOW: Allied Arts of Whatcom County’s annual Members Show will open with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, and continue through Jan. 26 at the Allied Arts Gal-lery, 1418 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham. The show will feature work from nearly 100 Allied Arts members, including professional art-ists, students and new or emerging artists. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Satur-day. 360-676-8548 or www.alliedarts.org.

NEW MoNA EXHIBI-TIONS: Two new exhibits will open with a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. Satur-day, Jan. 12, and continue through March 13 at the Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St., La Conner.

“Eduardo Calderón: Portraits of 20 Northwest Artists”: Calderón inter-viewed a cross section of Northwest artists rang-ing in age, background and mediums each uses to make art, and photo-graphed the artists in their homes. The exhibition includes Calderón’s audio

and transcribed interviews with the artists about influ-ences, backgrounds and what brought them to the Northwest (if the artist was not already a native). The show also includes works by each artist.

“Black and White Color Study from the Permanent Collection”: Presenting black, a symbol for sophis-tication and authority, and white, which suggests purity and neutrality, the exhibi-tion offers an atypical look at the Northwest palette. Plus, excerpts from studies that tackle the question,

“Are black and white col-ors?” as well as the science and history behind black and white.

Museum hours are noon to 5 p.m. Sundays and Mondays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. $8, $5 seniors, $3 students, free for members and ages 11 and younger. 360-466-4446 or www.museumofnwart.org.

NATIVE ARTISTS: Award-winning Pacific Northwest artists will be featured at “A Gathering of Native Artists 2013” from

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 19-20, at the Skagit County Histori-cal Museum, 501 S. Fourth St., La Conner. Artists will show and sell a variety of Native and Native-inspired art. A special presentation Saturday evening will fea-ture “Neqáx Kwélengsen” from the Samish Nation.

Visitors are invited to watch and learn as the artists carve, weave, make baskets or hats, knit and create. Visitors can also participate in a silent auc-tion of the artists’ works. Admission: $5, $4 seniors, $10 families. 360-466-3365 or www.skagitcounty.net/museum.

ACRYLIC PAINTINGS: A show of new paintings by Jennifer Bowman contin-ues through Jan. 29 at Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commer-cial Ave., Anacortes. Also showing are photographs by Randy Dana, Dick Gar-vey and Lewis Jones; fused glass by Robin Larson; pas-tels by Amanda Houston; and acrylics by Joel Brock. Gallery hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 360-293-6938 or www.scottmilo.com.

“FIRST SNOW”: Works by Aleut artist Thomas Stream are featured in a new show at Arctic Raven Gallery, 130 S. First St., Friday Harbor. Stream uses geometric designs embodied in his creatures to reflect the importance of Aleut spiritual beliefs. 888-378-3222 or www.arctic raven.com.

FALL ART SHOW: The Salish Sea Plein Air Art Group’s fall show con-tinues from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Rexville Grocery, 19271 Best Road, Mount Vernon. 360-466-5522 or www.rexville grocery.com.

OUT & ABOUT

OPENING AT MONATwo new Museum of Northwest Art exhibits — “Eduardo Calderón: Portraits of 20 Northwest Artists” and “Black and White Color Study from the Permanent Collection” — will open with a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, and continue through March 13 at the museum, 121 S. First St., La Conner. For details, see New MoNA Exhibitions under Art. Pictured: Jim Ball, Silver Days, 1999, acrylic/mixed media on board (triptych).


“GLACIAL SPEED”: A show of recent artwork by Cynthia Camlin continues through Jan. 13 at the Skagit Valley College Art Gallery in the Gary Knutzen Cardi-nal Center on the SVC cam-pus, 2405 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. The exhibit interprets environmental change through visual meta-phors, depicting the phases of melting glaciers through abstracted forms. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. 360-416-7812.

“HONEY, I SHRUNK THE ART”: The 22nd annual show of small artworks continues through Jan. 27 at Matzke Fine Art Gal-lery & Sculpture Park, 2345 Blanche Way, Camano Island. The show features small format paintings, sculptures, glass and more by 40 artists. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat-urday and Sunday, or by appointment. 360-387-2759 or www.matzkefineart.com.

“CALIFORNIA IMPRES-SIONISM, SELECTIONS FROM THE IRVINE MUSEUM”: The exhibit continues through Feb. 17 at the Whatcom Museum, 250 Flora St., Bellingham. The show features 50 paint-ings from the Impressionist Period (1890-1930) show-casing an array of Califor-nia landscapes, from coastal beaches to vast deserts. Also called California plein air painting, California Impressionism focused on capturing the special light and color of the state’s landscape and helped to define modern landscape painting.

Museum hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. $10, $8 student/senior/military, $4.50 chil-dren ages 5 and younger, free for museum members. 360-778-8933 or www.what commuseum.org.

“WILD EAST MEETS WILD WEST”: A show of photographs from Nakhodka, Russia, by Georgy Pakin continues through Jan. 6 at the What-com Museum Lightcatcher Building, 250 Flora St., Bellingham. Pakin’s photos vividly portray daily life in and around Nakhodka during Soviet and post-Soviet times, including the presence of Americans in Nakhodka, its large fish-ing operations and other activities. Museum hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. $10; $8 students, military, seniors ages 62 and older, $4.50 ages 5 and younger. 360-778-8930 or www.whatcom museum.org.

LECTURES AND TALKS

EDUCATION UPDATE: The Fidalgo Democrats will host a presentation of the video “Good Things Are Happening in Anacortes Schools: An Education Update” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Present-ers will include Anacortes School Board President Jeannette Papadakis, Superintendent Chris Bor-gen and others. Refresh-ments will be available. Bring a nonperishable food donation for the food bank. 360-293-7114.

MARITIME SPEAKER SERIES: “MODEL BOATS”: 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Randy Flodquist will dis-cuss the art and science of model boats. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 21, or library.cityofanacortes.org.

“ICE AGE FLOODS NATIONAL GEOLOGIC TRAIL”: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St.,

Anacortes. Gene Kiver, professor emeritus of geol-ogy, details one of the larg-est documented floods in Earth history, sending 500 cubic miles of water across the Pacific Northwest. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 21, or library.cityofanacortes.org.

MUSICJAZZ AT THE LIBRARY:

TRISH HATLEY, WITH PHIL & HANS: 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan 13, Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Enjoy live music in a quiet setting. Free. 360-293-1910, ext. 21, or library.cityofanacortes.org.

MORE FUNTWO-MUSEUM PASS:

Take your family to visit two local museums for one price with a two-museum pass from the Skagit Coun-ty Historical Museum and the Children’s Museum of Skagit County. $15 buys a family pass good at both museums: the Historical Museum, 501 S. Fourth St., La Conner; and the Chil-dren’s Museum, located inside the Cascade Mall in Burlington. Passes are available at either location. For information, contact the Historical Museum at 360-466-3365 or www.skagitcounty.net/museum, or the Children’s Museum at 360-757-8888 or www.skagitchildrensmuseum.net.

FISH HATCHERY TOURS: Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group will offer free guided tours of the Marblemount Fish Hatchery facility from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Jan. 27, at 8319 Fish Hatchery Road, Marblemount. Learn about the enhancement group, hatchery operations, salmon and their life cycle and other visitors to the area, such as bald eagles.

Tours start inside the visi-tors’ center. The hatchery is open daily for self-guided tours. 360-336-0172, ext. 304, or education@skagit fisheries.org.

EAGLE WATCHING: View bald eagles wintering on the Skagit River from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Jan. 27, at three eagle watcher stations on Highway 20: Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport, Sutter Creek rest area at milepost 100 and the Marblemount Fish Hatchery, 8319 Fish Hatchery Road. Volunteers will provide spotting scopes and binoculars. Free. 360-856-5700.

STEAK DINNER: Wel-come the new year at the Knights of Columbus’ steak dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Hall, 719 Ferry St., Sedro-Woolley. Enjoy a complete steak dinner with beverages, salad bar and dessert for $8, or have a hamburger with fries for $5. For information, call Doug at 360-853-5344.

EMPTY BOWL PROJECT: La Conner High School students will hold the third annual Empty Bowl Dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Fri-day, Jan. 11, in the La Con-ner High School culinary arts room, 502 N. Sixth St., La Conner. Enjoy a meal of homemade soup, bread, coffee and cookies. $5. Add a hand-painted bowl (yours to keep) for $10 more. Pro-ceeds will be donated to Friendship House to help it build a new kitchen. For information, contact Mela-nie Graham at 360-466-3173 or email [email protected].

MODEL RAILROAD OPEN HOUSE: The Whatcom-Skagit Model

Railroad Club will host an open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at 1469 Silver Run Lane, Alger. The club operates large, permanent HO- and N-scale model railroad layouts. Admission is by donation to help continue building the layouts. www.whatcomskagitmrc.org.

“MUSIC AND MEMO-RIES”: The inaugural Music and Memories Auc-tion to benefit The Brad-ford House and Gentry House will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at St. Joseph Center, 215 N. 15th St., Mount Vernon. Hans & Phil, Trish Hatley and Joan Penney will perform live music. The event will feature a buffet dinner and live and silent auctions. Skagit Adult Day Program, the parent organization for The Bradford House and Gentry House, is designed to serve individuals suffer-ing from Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Tickets: $50, available at www.skagitadultdaycare.org. Information or tickets: 360-428-5972.

SPAGHETTI FEED AND PROGRAM: The Skagit, Whatcom, Island Trail Maintaining Organization (SWITMO) will present a spaghetti feed fundraiser from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at the Sedro-Wool-ley Community Center, 703 Pacific St., Sedro-Woolley. Enjoy food provided by Joy’s Bakery of Sedro-Woolley, along with a pro-gram featuring the Alaskan adventures of two local motorcyclists. $10, $5 ages 12 and younger. Tickets are available at Joy’s Bakery or call the SWITMO office at 360-424-0407.

SWING DANCE: The Mount Vernon High School jazz bands will present a swing dance from 7 to

9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at Christ The King Church, 2111 Riverside Drive, Mount Vernon. Enjoy dance lessons, live music, silent auction, dessert sale and raffle. $6, $10 couple, $20 family. Proceeds will benefit the MVHS Band and Orchestra Boosters.

STAR PARTY: Explore the night sky and view distant galaxies, planets and nebulas beginning at dark Friday, Jan. 18, at Fort Nugent Park, 2075 SW Fort Nugent Road, Oak Harbor. No telescope is needed and all ages are welcome. Dress warmly. Canceled if cloudy. Free. For information, call Dan Pullen at 360-679-7664 or visit www.icas-wa.webs.com.

CRAB FEST: The annual event will take place from 3:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at Camano Center, 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Island. Enjoy a whole Dungeness crab, with side dishes, dessert and more. Swingnuts Jazz will provide live entertainment. A cash bar will be available. 360-387-0222 or www.camano center.org.

SKAGIT WEDDING SHOW: Prospective brides and grooms can find every-thing they’ll need for their big day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge, 12885 Casino Drive, Anacortes. Vendors from Skagit, Snohomish, Island, Whatcom, and King coun-ties will be available in a casual setting. The event will include a fashion show at 3 p.m., prize drawings and a “man cave” where guys can hang out, watch sports on HD-TV and enjoy an adult beverage. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at the door. skagitwedding-show.com or 866-585-6752 or 360-428-5972.

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