360 December 20 2012 by Skagit Publishing

Check out the sights and sounds of the season PAGE 3

Skagit Valley Herald Thursday December 20, 2012

This Weekend

Reviews

At the Movies

Head upriver to view eagles wintering on the Skagit River

Music: Bruno Mars, Green Day Video Games: “Ratchet and Clank”

“The Impossible” a vivid recreation of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

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Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E2 - Thursday, December 20, 2012

NEW ON DVD THIS WEEK “Pitch Perfect”: This movie about college a cappella groups isn’t sharp or flat. The script and cast are in such harmony in “Pitch Perfect,” it is definitely a Glee-ful hit. It would have been very easy to tune out “Pitch Perfect” after so many seasons of “Glee.” But from the always dependable acting of Anna Kendrick to the in-sync direction of Jason Moore, this production is a comedy octave higher than any episode of the TV series. As an added bonus, John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks are hilarious as former a cappella singers who now do the announcing and color commentary for the competition telecasts. Banks is particularly funny with a delivery that’s so deadpan it masks just how inappropriate her comments are. There hasn’t been such a funny commentary team since “Best in Show.” “Total Recall”: Director Len Wiseman, the master of the “Underworld” movies and actress Kate Beckinsale’s husband, has shifted the film focus away from the psychological elements for a more physical approach. Once the film starts, it is a white-knuckle thrill ride that doesn’t offer too many chances to breathe. The film has its problems, and it can be nitpicked into obscurity. The main woe is the way Wiseman deals with the ambiguity of the story. Fact or fiction? He leans so heavily in one direction that it takes the pop out of the final scenes. “Trouble with the Curve”: This film is a by-the-numbers story of an aging professional baseball scout, played with cantankerous splendor by Clint Eastwood, and the daughter he’s kept at a distance, played with perfect perkiness by Amy Adams. The movie thrives on the fastball pitches of aging, parenting and baseball, but it could have used a few change-ups to make it more interesting. “House of Lies: The First Season”: The cable series based on the best-selling book by Martin Kihn is a wicked and wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the world of management consultants. Don Cheadle plays the head of the team, a man who can masterfully spin any story. “Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go To War”: A look at how John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust. “Can Science Stop Crime?”: NOVA takes a look inside the criminal mind

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

Upcoming movie releases Following is a partial schedule of coming movies on DVD. Release dates are subject to change: DEC. 21 Arbitrage - Lionsgate Premium Rush - Sony Resident Evil: Retribution - Sony

This Weekend / Page 5

DEC. 24 The Words - Sony DEC. 31 Looper - Sony JAN. 1 Cosmopolis - eOne The Trouble With Bliss - Anchor Bay JAN. 8 Dredd - Lionsgate Frankenweenie - Disney House at the End of Street - Fox The Inbetweeners Movie - Lionsgate Samsara - MPI JAN. 15 Branded - Lionsgate The Other Dream Team - Lionsgate The Possession - Lionsgate 17 Girls - Strand Taken 2 - Fox To Rome With Love - Sony Won’t Back Down - Fox

Highway 20 stations offer prime viewing of eagles wintering on the Skagit

Inside

JAN. 22 End of Watch - Universal Searching for Sugar Man - Sony

Phone 360-416-2135

JAN. 29 The Cold Light of Day - Lionsgate/ Summit Hotel Transylvania - Sony

Hand-deliver 1215 Anderson Road Mount Vernon, WA 98274

n McClatchy-Tribune News Service

with cutting-edge forensic techniques that help investigators. “Funny or Die Presents: The Complete Second Season”: Ben Stiller is featured in the sketch comedy show. “Quincy M.E.: Season 4”: Jack Klugman plays the mystery-solving coroner. “The Hi-Lo Country”: Best friends return from the war to face a battle over cattle ranching. “The Millennium Bug”: A family seeks refuge from Y2K hysteria only to find the threat of technological shutdown is the least of their worries. “Sometimes A Great Notion”: The Paul Newman film make its Blu-ray debut. “Bro’”: A college student gets caught up in the wild lifestyle of professional motocross. n Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee

SUBMISSIONS Email features@skagitpublishing.com vrichardson@skagitpublishing. com (recreation items)

Mailing address P.O. Box 578 Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Music, Game Reviews..................6-7 Travel............................................8-9 On Stage, Tuning Up................10-11 Hot Tickets.................................... 12 Get Involved.................................. 14 At the Lincoln Theatre.................. 17 Movie Listings, Mini-Reviews...... 17 Out & About.............................18-19 Cover photo by Scott Terrell / Skagit Valley Herald

Online events calendar To 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 features@skagitpublishing.com w For recreation, contact staff writer Vince Richardson at 360-416-2181 or vrichardson@ skagitpublishing.com TO ADVERTISE 360-424-3251

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, December 20, 2012 - E3

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS DISPLAY: A variety of elegant holiday place settings and whimsical Christmas decorations are on display through the end of the year at the Anacortes Museum, 1305 Eighth St., Anacortes. Members of the Ana Curtis and Fidalgo Finderskeepers chapters of the International Questers Organization have filled the Anacortes Presents case with painted pieces by Spode, Lenox, Johnson Bros., Avon, Gibson, Mikasa and other fine china makers. The exhibit also includes a miniature holiday tea party featuring dolls and a set of tiny Christmas plates, as well as a number of different versions of “The Night Before Christmas.” Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. 360-293-1915.

HOLIDAY EVENTS IN THE AREA

HOLIDAY ART FESTIVAL: The 33rd annual Allied Arts Holiday Festival of the Arts will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Sunday, Dec. 20-23, at 1200 Meador Ave., Bellingham. The festival features the work of more than 100 local artisans and craftspeople and includes a variety of handmade products ranging from jewelry to paintings to wearable art to specialty foods. Enjoy live music, artists in action and a children’s art project are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tueson the weekends. 360-676- day through Sunday. $4, $3 8548 or www.alliedarts.org. seniors and ages 6 to 12, $8 families, free for members and ages 5 and younger. SKAGIT CHRISTMAS: Check out special exhibits 360-466-3365 or www. showing how early Skagito- skagitcounty.net/museum. nians celebrated the Yule“A CHRISTMAS CAROL”: tide season, through Dec. Seattle’s ACT Theatre 31, at the Skagit County presents Dickens’ classic Historical Museum, 501 holiday tale through Dec. S. Fourth St., La Conner. 30 at The Allen Theatre, 700 Enjoy story times with Union St., Seattle. ShowMrs. Claus, carol singing, times vary. $27-$55 plus gingerbread houses and applicable fees. 206-292more. Free with museum 7676 or www.acttheatre.org. admission. Museum hours

Dickens’ Christmas classic to the stage with a twist. The audience gives suggestions up front, and Unexpected Productions’ improvisers use the suggestions to tell an all-new tale of how Christmas can (or can’t) change Ebenezer Scrooge’s life! $15 plus applicable fees. 800-8383006 or www.unexpected productions.org.

Christmas Day is Tuesday, Dec. 25. The holiday season is full of numerous events in the Skagit Valley – and throughout the region – for friends and families alike to enjoy.

“FrUiTCaKeS”: Enjoy performances of this holiday tale today through Sunday, Dec. 20-22, at The Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. Mix together a batch of fruitcakes, three dozen Christmas trees, 10,000 outdoor Christmas lights, a chicken pox epidemic, two southern spinsters, an estranged old man, a lost cat named Tutti Frutti and a Christmas hog named Buster and you’ve got the recipe for a fun filled and touching evening filled with holiday cheer. Into this world comes Jamie, a kid who has run away from home and comes as far as his money will take him. At first he thinks this town’s inhabitants are “nuttier than fruitcakes.” $16. 360-679-2237 or www.whidbeyplayhouse. com.

HOLIDAY TRAIN RIDE: Join Santa Claus aboard THE LIGHTS OF CHRIST- away options. Meet Santa dance, cultural celebrations, the Lake Whatcom RailMAS: More than a milClaus or talk with “Bruce ice sculpting, student show- way’s Christmas train at 9:30 a.m., noon and 2:30 lion Christmas lights will the Spruce” Christmas tree. cases and more. be displayed at the 16th General admission: $9-$15. The Winterfest Ice Rink p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22, leaving from Wickersham, annual Lights of ChristDec. 29 is pay-what-youwill be open daily (except 10 miles north of Sedromas, from 5 to 10 p.m. Dec. can night. Theater events Christmas) through Jan Woolley on Highway 9. 20-23 and 26-29, at Warm are extra. 800-228-6724 or 6. $2-$7. 206-684-7200 or Meet Santa and his elf, Beach Camp, 20800 Marine www.warmbeachlights.com. www.seattlecenter.com. sing Christmas carols and Drive, Stanwood. The largenjoy music by Ben the est holiday light display in WINTERFEST: Enjoy AN IMPROVISED the Northwest covers 15 free and affordable activiCHRISTMAS CAROL: 8:30 banjo player. $20 ages 18 and older, $10 ages 2 to 17, acres and features familyties and entertainment p.m. Thursdays through free for ages 1 and younger. oriented entertainment, through Jan. 6 at Seattle Sundays through Dec. 30, Tickets must be purchased live music, theater, crafts, Center, 305 Harrison St., Intiman Playhouse, 201 in advance from Lake food, pony rides, a petting Seattle. Visit Center House Mercer St., Seattle. “An Whatcom Railway, P.O. farm, Polar Express Train for free performances of Improvised Christmas rides and overnight getmusic and comedy, jazz and Carol” brings Charles See EVENTS, Page E15

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MOVIES

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ star: ‘I want to do it all’ Annapurna Pictures financed the film and who knew Chastain from producing “Lawless,” played the NEW YORK — “I want to do go-between. everything!” “I got a text from her that said: Jessica Chastain is getting ani‘If I ever ask you for anything in mated. Even though she’s manmy life, it’s to call me right now for aged to pack more films into an five minutes,’” recalls Chastain. 18-month period than would seem Bigelow, the Oscar-winning physically possible director of “The Hurt Locker,” was and will, on this set on casting Chastain. day, finish an after“We moved heaven and earth noon of press interfor this woman,” says Bigelow. views with an eve“This is a fairly complex piece and ning performance required somebody with great verof “The Heiress” bal agility. But as importantly, the on Broadway, she’s precision of her carefully calibratnot lacking energy. ed and nuanced performance, I’ve “I want to do seen in her other work but never Chastain crazy villains in to the extent I’ve seen in this.” comic book movies with accents Jessica Chastain plays a member It’s a kind of magic act that and scars!” she continues, shining of the elite team of spies and Chastain does that can even surwith childlike enthusiasm. “I want military operatives stationed in a prise her directors. Jeff Nichols, covert base overseas who secretly to do it all. I think I have to calm who directed her in “Take Sheldevoted themselves to finding down and be like: You don’t have ter,” had heard good things about Osama bin Laden in the thriller to do it all, right now. Hopefully, her and found her charming, but “Zero Dark Thirty.” you’ll be around for a few years.” because it was before most of her Sticking around is at this point films saw the light of day, her talColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. via AP assured for Chastain who last year ent was evident only once work emerged as an actress of seemingly started. limitless range, with throwback “I hadn’t seen anything of hers Pakistan raid that would kill bin laser-like focus. and access to her emotions is part beauty and the subtlety of a chathat was this lightning rod thing,” Laden. “Any subtext that I have, any of what makes her a great actress, meleon. Due to various distribution said Nichols. “I just cast her. I The performance has already part of the character’s journey, I it made aspects of “Zero Dark delays, her talent was laid out all at once — her “reel,” she calls it — in earned Chastain best actress nomi- have to show through my technical Thirty” difficult — particularly the didn’t really know what I had until I got there.” dialogue and my transformation week spent in a Jordanian prison widely varied performances in “The nations from the Golden Globes The daughter of a firefighter filming the brutal interrogation Tree of Life,” “Take Shelter,” “The and the Screen Actors Guild, and in the 10 years — what happens and vegan chef, Chastain grew up she’s widely expected to land her to my face, my hair, how I interact scenes. Those scenes, with a fellow Help,” “Coriolanus,” “The Debt” in Northern California knowing second Oscar nomination in two with people,” says Chastain. “It has operative played by Jason Clarke and “Texas Killing Fields.” from an early age she wanted to years (following one for “The to be a more subtle approach. It and a detainee played by Reda She hasn’t let up. Along with be an actor. She trained at Juilliard Help,” an honor she glowingly has to be the kind of acting where Kateb, have already sparked a the bootlegging crime film “LawSchool of Drama but didn’t catch a you don’t see the strings. With renewed dialogue about the role less,” a voice role in “Madagascar recalls as “crazy town”). real break until Al Pacino cast her Screenwriter Mark Boal based Celia (the ditzy Southern belle of torture played in tracking bin 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” and in a Los Angeles theater producChastain’s character, Maya, on a ‘The Help’), you see the voice, you Laden. her currently running Broadway tion of “Salome.” see all that stuff.” “There was a 10-minute break debut, Chastain is now starring in real CIA officer whose identity “I’ve been fighting so long,” remains classified. While Boal Seeing herself in one scene while I cried. I had to go hide one of the most anticipated movwhere Maya confronts and behind a building. I just lost it and says the 35-year-old Chastain. “I’m ies of the year: Kathryn Bigelow’s acknowledges Maya was dramanot 17 years old. I trained in this. I docudrama of the hunt for Osama tized for the sake of a film built threatens her supervisor (Kyle started crying,” she says. “I know bin Laden, “Zero Dark Thirty.” around one character, Chastain Chandler) shocked Chastain who I’m playing this woman who’s sup- did a lot of theater. I was playing “I never think about what’s believes the film is “100 percent hadn’t thought herself capable of posed to be — it’s her job — to be dead bodies on TV shows. This is next,” she says. “I always just think: accurate” in depicting the operaevoking, she says, Incredible Hulk- unemotional, but I still feel things. the first time I’m getting offered really incredible roles.” What haven’t I done yet?” tive’s large role in tracking down like rage. As a contrast, Chastain, And I wasn’t going to be able to Now, her only problem is say“Zero Dark Thirty” easily bin Laden. who describes herself as “a very do the scene again without letting ing no. With just a few hours to go qualified. In it, she plays a dogged, Playing such a tough character, emotional person,” lightens the out, without having a good cry.” until she’s due on stage, Chastain obsessed CIA officer tracking bin Chastain says, was her most difmood of a day discussing the grim Because of her busy schedule, shrugs at overcommitting herself: Laden in a decade-long search that ficult role yet because she had “Zero Dark Thirty,” by wearing a Chastain nearly didn’t do “Zero “A year and a half ago, I didn’t leads from torturing detainees to to build an emotional arc onto pink flowery dress and keeping a Dark Thirty”; she was slated to be intrepid detective work and finally someone who speaks largely in candle going. filming something else at the time. know my life was going to be like this.” to relentless advocacy for the jargon and refuses to detour her Though Chastain’s sensitivity Producer Megan Ellison, whose By JAKE COYLE AP Entertainment Writer

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, December 20, 2012 - E5

THIS WEEKENDin the area

Eagle watching on the Skagit View bald eagles wintering on the Skagit River from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 22-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.

HOLIDAY CHAMBER MUSIC Three classical music professionals plus a park ranger with advanced skills make up the string quartet that will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23, at Studio 1010, 1010 6th St., Anacortes. Seattle native Nancy Bean (violin) is assistant concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra whose credits include appearances with Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson and Yo-Yo Ma. Fellow orchestra member Lloyd Smith (cello) has been assistant principal cellist since 1988 and has appeared as a soloist with that institution, as well as with the Indianapolis Symphony and other orchestras. Violist Karie Prescott graduated from Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Michigan and has performed with the Seattle Symphony and Ballet Theatre Orchestra, among others. She is on the faculty of Pepperdine University and performs with the L.A. Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the L.A. Opera. Park ranger David Bean (violin) is a member of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra and a graduate of Western Washington University. The program includes Corelli, Vaughan Williams, Schubert and Leroy Anderson. A champagne punch will follow. $20. Reservations available at 360-421-2852. CHRISTMAS DISPLAY A wide variety of elegant holiday place settings and whimsical Christmas decorations are on display through the end of the year at the Anacortes Museum, 1305 Eighth St., Anacortes. Members of the Ana Curtis and Fidalgo Finderskeepers chapters of the International Questers Organization have filled the Anacortes Presents case with painted pieces by Spode, Lenox, Johnson Bros., Avon, Gibson, Mikasa and other fine china makers. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. 360-293-1915 or museum.cityofanacortes. org

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

E6 - Thursday, December 20, 2012

REVIEWS MUSIC CDS Compiled from news services

Brunos Mars “Unorthodox Jukebox”

Bruno Mars was no innocent when he dropped his 2010 debut, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans.” As a writer, Mars had co-written hooks for hits by Flo Rida and such. As a Hooligan, though, he proposed marriage and willingly took grenades for l’amour; he had whiskey oozing from his pores. But on “Unorthodox Jukebox,” when Mars sings “Got a bottle full of liquor with a cocaine kicker / I’m feeling like I’m 30 feet tall” on the sly “Gorilla,” it’s apparent he’s toughened up. Good. Mars’ newfound grime gives the club-a-dub “Money Make Her Smile” its couch-dancing subtext, while a dark dancehall vibe clings to “Show Me” like skin on bologna. Beyond Mars’ revelation of nastiness — lyrically, sonically — “Unorthodox Jukebox” is, like its predecessor, a slab of pop perfection to be cherished as one would a Bacharach tune. There’s a Burt-like cosmopolitan sensibility on the torchy “When I Was Your Man,” the smolderingly soulful “If I Knew” and the doleful disco-fied “Treasure.” Still, this is slick 21st century pop. Throughout “Unorthodox’s” genre-shifting proceedings, Mars, the singer, finds the sweet spot every time. n A.D. Amorosi, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jessica Pratt “Jessica Pratt”

Part of the appeal of Jessica Pratt’s selftitled debut is that it sounds so old. Pratt, a young singer-songwriter from San Francisco, perfectly inhabits a distant folk world, a world where Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs and Bill Fay are major figures, and sparse, cryptic songs can be deeply transfixing. It’s a world shared by contemporary artists such as Joanna Newsom, Marissa Nadler and Meg Baird. But while an element of familiarity graces these 11 songs, Pratt casts a spooky spell of her own. “I am calling out to you from another place,” Pratt sings to start “Bushel Hyde.”

Throughout the album, she uses little more than her finger-picked guitar to accompany her quavering, unadorned voice. The songs are full of images of dark roads and departures, and they seduce the listener to follow Pratt on her journey to the past. n Steve Klinge, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Maria Muldaur “… First Came Memphis Minnie”

Although billed equally with the other contributors on the album cover, Maria Muldaur is really the driving force behind this “loving tribute” to Memphis Minnie. She produced the set and sings on eight of the 13 tracks. Muldaur has had a long fascination with the pioneering blueswoman who became a primary influence on her. A photo on the inner sleeve shows Muldaur singing a Memphis Minnie tune with her then-husband, Geoff Muldaur, at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Her feel for the music comes through in performances of such numbers as “Me and My Chauffeur Blues” and “She Put Me Outdoors” (one of two duets with bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart). Also impressive on the album’s bracingly stripped-down acoustic arrangements are Bonnie Raitt, Rory Block and Ruthie Foster. Two of the album’s contributions, meanwhile, are recordings by now-deceased artists: Phoebe Snow, not known for the blues, offers a striking rendition of “In My Girlish Days” from 1976, backed by David Bromberg and others; and Koko Taylor closes the set with a ferocious, full-band take on “Black Rat Swing” from 2007 that is electric in more ways than one. n Nick Cristiano, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Brubeck Brothers Quartet

“Lifetimes” Dave Brubeck is no longer on this earthly bandstand, but his sons play on, mining in many ways the artistic and entertainment values the old man championed. Bassist and trombonist Chris and drum-

mer Dan Brubeck create a warm, mainstream quartet that covers a bunch of tunes linked to dad, ranging from Paul Desmond’s iconic “Take Five,” done here as more electric and stiff, to “Kathy’s Waltz,” a winsome tribute to daughter Cathy (someone at Columbia Records misspelled her name on the great “Time Out” album). The quartet, with guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb, presents a wellhoned sound that is perfectly respectable, if kind of safe. n Karl Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Green Day

“Uno,” “Dos” and “Tre”

Cobra,” but others don’t fire on all cylinders. Overall, this last installment of the trilogy shows another direction of the band’s evolution. n John Carucci, Associated Press

“The Music Of Nashville: Original Soundtrack” Among the characteristics the network TV drama “Nashville” gets right about its namesake city is the music. Guided by musical director T Bone Burnett, the new series presents a passable and often entertaining facsimile of country radio hits as well as samples of the less commercial side of the city’s music scene. The hourlong evening soap features vocals by several of its main characters. The most convincing work comes from an upstart acoustic duo played by Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio, best represented on the album by “If I Didn’t Know Better,” and a rising starlet portrayed with convincing fierceness by Hayden Panettiere, who has received radio airplay for her pop-country dance tune, “Telescope.” Actors Connie Britton and Charles Esten, as a veteran country star and her longtime guitarist, don’t have the vocal chops of the top singers in Music City. But they perform well enough onstage (especially on the ballad “No One Will Ever Love You”) while displaying their dramatic talents when the microphones are off. The biggest musical disappointment is the shaggy rocker Jonathan Jackson, who lacks the charisma of the others. On the soundtrack, he fails to sharpen the edge of “Twist of Barbwire,” an Elvis Costello composition. Still, most of the recordings on the “Nashville” soundtrack rate with what Music City regularly produces — thereby achieving the show’s goal. CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: The quietly conveyed “When the Right One Comes Along,” performed by Bowen and Palladio, features the kind of subtly emotional songwriting heard nightly by patrons of Nashville’s fabled Bluebird Cafe (recreated in exacting detail in the TV drama).

As record sales continue to wane, one has to wonder about the logic behind separately releasing a trilogy of albums over the course of three months. Maybe when you’re a punk band coming off a pair of hugely successful concept albums turned into a Broadway smash, you do things a little differently. Still, it’s an unusual way to release your ninth, 10th and 11th studio albums. “Tre,” the final installment of the trilogy just released, is a bit more diverse than the others, with a slightly mellower and more mature sound that embraces a variety of styles. Imagine 1997’s “Nimrod,” but with more songs like “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Look no further than the opening and closing tracks to sum it up. There’s the country blues-inspired “Brutal Love” to start, and the piano ballad “The Forgotten” to end. While a common thread runs through the trilogy, each record is distinctly different. The first, “Uno,” returns the band to its pre-“American Idiot” sound with a dozen rocking songs that are melodic and highly energetic. The songs are also more mature, with themes like married men on the brink of infidelity. Standout tracks on this riffy guitar assault include “Fell For You” and “Oh Love.” “Dos” attempts to capture the no-frills sound of a garage rock band, but feels like a drop-off after “Uno.” Some of the tracks work well, namely, “Stray Heart” and “Lady n Michael McCall, Associated Press

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, December 20, 2012 - E7

REVIEWS VIDEO GAMES Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard News Service

‘Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault’

Platform: PlayStation 3 Genre: Shooter Publisher: Sony ESRB Rating: E, for Everyone Grade: 3 stars (out of 5) Just over a year since the release of “All 4 One,” it may feel strange to revisit the Ratchet & Clank universe so soon. “Full Frontal Assault” has a simple message for gamers: You get one way to play this game, so take it or leave it. “Full Frontal Assault” all but abandons a campaign mode. Instead, this game spends all its time in competitive multiplayer, and while that could open gamers up to a host of opportunities, that is all you get. The multiplayer mode operates in three phrases (recon, squad and assault), each giving you a chance to mold the battlefield to your liking. The goal is to blow up your opponent’s power generators while protecting your own. Acquire bolts (the franchise’s long-running form of currency) and use them to purchase offensive or defensive units. After several hours of going to war and either winning or losing, if you want to try another match it will be like playing the same thing again. The action and visuals don’t disappoint, and fun can be had, but you yearn for another option now and then. Those looking to feed their nuts-andbolts fix may appreciate the budget-level $20 price tag for this game, but remember that for the cheaper price you often get cheaper content, and “Full Frontal Assault” is exactly that, an assault on your patience to stick with a game that does one thing, and one thing only.

‘Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two’

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC Genre: Adventure Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios ESRB Rating: E, for Everyone Grade: 1.5 stars I’m constantly befuddled how Disney manages to screw up a video game featuring its most iconic creation. From the entertainment company that has, for decades, brought charming and sophisticated animation to movies and TVs, “The Power of Two” is a sequel to a disappointing game that, sadly, continues to follow every wrong path. This does not come from a Disney hater; I still sip from the Goofy mug I bought in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, frustration mounts early in playing “The Power of Two,” and the game’s problems remain obvious throughout. The platform best resembles a child’s nightmare. Running and jumping from surface to surface is constantly undone by poor mechanics, making every leap a 50-50 chance of death. You spend most of your time guiding Mickey through buildings and fighting off enemies with a colorful paintbrush. Oswald tags along as your AI companion, but he provides almost no assistance and ruins several battles by getting in the way. When making a sequel to a game that wasn’t universally loved to begin with, one would hope that lessons were learned and improvements made. “The Power of Two” shows that a second time around is just twice the frustration. n Follow Chris Campbell @campbler or email him at game_on_games@mac.com.

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E8 - Thursday, December 20, 2012

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TRAVEL

Savoring tea trails in Darjeeling and Awssam, India By DENIS D. GRAY Associated Press

Leaves are pictured on a tea plant on the Gatoonga Tea Estate.

If you go Tea Trail accommodations n Thengal Manor, Jorhat, India, doubles $120, www.heritage tourism.india.com n The Heritage Bungalow, Balipara, India, double occupancy, $460 including meals. Other bungalows are $156, including meals, www.wildmahseer.com n Windamere, Darjeeling, India, Colonial Suite, double occupancy, $210 including meals, www.windamere hotel.com n Maikabari, Kurseong, India, homestays $11 per person including meals. Tea is free, www.makaibari.com Getting there: The airport in Kolkata, India, has the best air links to both Assam and Darjeeling regions. Taxis can be hired at most larger towns. When to go: Weatherwise, October through February is best in both Assam and Darjeeling but tea production takes a winter break toward the end of November.

JORHAT, India — “This is your own home now,” announces our host, welcoming us to Thengal Manor. And we wish it was, this gracious residence of one of India’s great tea dynasties, which has opened the family villa, its idyllic gardens and an impeccable staff of 15 to overnight visitors. Thengal Manor marked the start of a two-week journey through the world’s finest tea-growing areas — India’s Assam and Darjeeling. Here we mingled with nimble-fingered women as they plucked a green sea of bushes with astounding speed, drank pink gins by the fireplace in colonialera parlors and were easily seduced by the pampered lifestyle of tea planters. And of course, we drank many a cup of Assamese (“bold, sultry, malty”) and Darjeeling (“the champagne of teas, the color of Himalayan sunlight”) enough to send aficionados into ecstasy. Let me confess that I am not particularly teaaddicted. Too much tannin does funny things to my tummy. But my wife, a Scot, more than makes up for it. So that, plus our love for northeast India, sparked our interest in a travel niche that is very much a growing

Photos by Denis Gray / AP

Visitors enjoy afternoon tea, a heritage from British colonial days, on the lawn of Thengal Manor in Jorhat, India. The manor was opened to guests in 2000 but is still owned by the third generation of the Barooah family, who grew rich planting tea and built the mansion in 1929. of Americans, apparently because of a percolating interest in the United States in the art and taste of quality teas, though my wife insists American tea culture still consists of “hot water and a tea bag.” Along with two friends from France, my wife and I had Thengal Manor to ourselves, its five acres of lawns, a chandeliered dining room with elegant silverware, A plucker makes her way through the tea bushes on bedrooms with soaring ceilthe Addabarie Tea Estate in Assam, which dates back ings and four-poster beds to 1870 and British colonial times, in Balipara, India. and a gallery of portraits of the Barooah family going trend: tea tourism. ers, the “burra sahibs,” and back to Bisturam Barooah, whose son built the manor It’s not a particularly their domain. Most estates well-organized pocket of are charmers dating back to in 1929 after becoming the richest Indian tea planter in the industry, but more tea the British Raj. Assam. estates, also called gardens, Those taking to the tea The family began to take are opening their properties trails of northeast India, to guests interested not only regions of the south and Sri in visitors in 2000, but it in their product and how Lanka, include locals and remains very much their it comes to be, but in the foreigners. Among them personal place. In a serene unique world of tea plantare an increasing number enclosure behind the manor

stand 19 temple-like tombs, one prepared for the current patriarch. During our time at Thengal, ringed by rice fields, bamboo groves and neat village homes, we visited the nearby factory of the Gatoonga Tea Estate to observe the five stages of black tea-making and tour two contrasting tea trail options: Gatoonga’s Mistry Sahib’s bungalow and the Burra Sahib bungalow on the Sangsua Tea Estate. The century-old Mistry is the ultimate getaway, almost smothered by the surrounding greenery, a classic bungalow with a wrap-around verandah shaded by an immense banyan tree. Burra Sahib has been modernized and features an 18-hole golf course meandering through the tea gardens.

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Thursday, December 20, 2012 - E9

TRAVEL Our second stay in Assam was on the Addabarie Tea Estate near the city of Tezpur, where a tourism enterprise has leased a luxurious onetime residence of the tea estate manager, the threebedroom 1875 Heritage Bungalow, and five more modest houses. “The tea planter’s lifestyle is this,” said manager Durrez Ahmed. “Lovely bungalows, sets of servants attending to your every need. So visitors who want to enjoy this kind of lifestyle come.” It also was and remains a hardworking, lonely lifestyle in a world unto itself. Addabarie and most other larger estates have their own clinics, schools, shops and day care centers. (Almost all tea pluckers are women; far less nimble-fingered males need not apply.) Ruling over estates is the manager, described as a benevolent despot who

like his British antecedents still retains a large staff and observes strict protocol. His bungalow, in the words of one Indian author, “is to the garden folk what Windsor Castle is to British citizens.” “And why did tea tourism get started?” we asked Ahmed. Smaller, private estates began welcoming guests in the 1990s as a marketing strategy to help pull them out of a worldwide tea glut. Another slump followed in the early 2000s when India opened its markets to cheaper imports, forcing some growers to seek alternative sources of revenue. There’s been no looking back. From the lowlands of Assam, we ascended 7,000 feet to the Olympus of tea: Darjeeling, where altitude, soil, slope and sunlight come together to concoct magic. Among the hill stations the British founded to flee

India’s blazing summers, Darjeeling’s gems include the Windamere, haunt of tea people past and present and often cited as one of India’s finest colonial-era hotels. Originally a hostel for bachelor tea planters dating back to the 1880s, the hotel is owned by the Tenduf-las, a prominent Tibetan family with close ties to the Raj who maintain the aura of those bygone days. There’s afternoon tea with scones, served since 1939 in Daisy’s Music Room where family albums are stacked atop a piano lighted by candelabras. Hot water bottles are tucked into beds each evening, and English porridge is dispensed by white-gloved waiters at breakfast. Around Darjeeling are nearly 90 tea estates, including Makaibari, producer of India’s first organic tea and a pioneer in tea tourism, offering 21 homestays with estate

workers and an upmarket residence. Its factory has changed very little since it was erected in 1859, and barely relies on modern technology to produce high-end tea for export to the U.S. and Europe. “We need the human touch — and nose — not a robotic arm or an aromatic sensor,” says production manager Sanjoy Mukherjee, inviting us to sample six of his teas, including Silver Tips Imperial, which fetched a record $455 a pound at an auction in China. Back at the Windamere, we dined by candlelight with music of the 1920s and ’30s softly in the background. Served is honey-glazed lamb and chocolate souffl. Before dinner, Sherab Tenduf-la, the hotel’s owner, offered us pink gins, the quintessential colonial drink, by the fireplace as cold mists veiled the looming Himalayan peaks.

Local travel

SHORT TRIPS: Mount Vernon Parks and Recreation DAY TRIPS: Camano Cen- offers travel opportunities for participants ages 12 ter offers trips for seniors and older (adult supervision and others, departing from required for ages 18 and and returning to Camano younger). 360-336-6215. Center, 606 Arrowhead Road, Camano Island. 360ESCORTED TOURS: The 387-0222 or www.camano Whatcom County Tour Procenter.org. gram offers a variety of day “Fiddler on the Roof”: Saturday, Jan. 26. Celebrate trips and longer tours, with most trips departing from the power of tradition and and returning to the Bellingchange with this multiham Senior Activity Center, award-winning musical. 315 Halleck St., Belling$65-$70. Pay by Dec. 20. Seattle Boat Show: Tues- ham. 360-733-4030, press day, Jan. 29. Check out the #, ext. 47015, or wccoa. org/index.php/tours. latest boats and boating gear. $15-$20, transportaPASSPORT APPLICAtion only. Buy tickets at the TIONS: The Anacortes door for $12. Pay by Jan. Public Library accepts U.S. 15. passport applications from Frye Museum and Volnoon to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays unteer Park Conservatory and Wednesdays, and 1 to Tour: Tuesday, Feb. 12. 4 p.m. Saturdays at 1220 Enjoy a docent tour of the 10th St., Anacortes. Pass60-year-old Frye Museum, port forms and information lunch in its cafe, and on fees and how to apply then tour the 100-year-old are available at http:// conservatory. $21-$26, includes tour and transpor- travel.state.gov or pick up an application and passport tation. Lunch on your own. Pay by Jan. 29. guide at the library.

SVH_4.949x4.75_ December Week 2-4

DECEMBER AT TULALIP BINGO Paying Out Up To $7.1 MillionPaying Out Up To $7.1 Million

9AM SPECIAL BREAKFAST BINGO

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December 9, 16, 23 & 30

DECEMBER 31 7PM SESSION

HOT SEAT DRAWING

8 Regular Games Paying:

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“Father Time, Mother Nature, & Baby New Year”

2 Blackout Games Paying:

(costumes may not be over revealing)

Cost: $15/9-on

1st Prize: $700 2nd Prize: $500 3rd Prize: $300

MONDAY

SUNDAYS

$500 ea.

(pack includes 2 Blackout Games)

A Free Breakfast is available with a valid bingo receipt buy-in.

Contest winners will be announced prior to the start of the Lotto Blackout.

Breakfast will be available from 8am to 9am

All participating bingo contestants must be present and playing with a valid receipt to claim prize.

$5 OFF BINGO Any 11AM or 7PM Session

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1 coupon per guest • Redeem at cashier window - Not valid with any other offer. No cash value. Only original ad will be honored for special offers - no copies. Management reserves the right to cancel or amend promotion at any time.

MYSTERY GIFT FRIDAYS

December 7, 14, 21 & 28 (1) Winner drawn at all session halftimes. Each winner will pick a “Gift” from the prize board to determine cash prize. Winners must be actively playing a bingo slot machine to claim prize. No seat hopping allowed.

Valid 12/01/12 - 12/30/12 MG BNG01212

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December 21 • Holiday Open House/Dinner - LC Retirement Inn 5–7pm December 22 • Small Shop Saturday – Wrapping It Up! • Holiday Bubbles! Hellams Vineyard 1–6pm, 12/22 – 12/31 December 25 • Merry Christmas!

E10 Thursday, December 20, 2012

ON STAGE in the Skagit Valley and surrounding area December 20-27 Thursday.20 MUSIC

Christmas Concert: Music from around the world with soprano Karina Choe and instrumental music, 7 p.m., Mount Vernon Seventh Day Adventist Church, 4520 E. College Way. Free. 360-416-0443.

Thursday, December 20, 2012 E11

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

TUNING UP Playing at area venues December 20-27 THURSDAY.20

SATURDAY-SUNDAY.22-23

SATURDAY.22

THE PINE HEARTS 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. 360-445-3000.

“THE NUTCRACKER” Northwest Ballet Theatre, McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $20-$30. Check individual listings for times. 360-416-7727 or www.mcintyrehall.org.

VOYAGER 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover. 877-275-2448 or www.theskagit.com

THEATER

Friday.21 MUSIC

Mount Vernon High School Jazz Combo: 7 p.m., Firelight Bistro, 10007 270th St. NW, Stanwood. 360-629-7575.

THURSDAY.20

THEATER

“FrUiTCaKeS”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-679-2237 or www.whidbeyplayhouse.com. “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas”: 8 p.m., Anacortes Community Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20. 360-293-6829. “Back Home on the Tumblin’ D”: 6 p.m., dinner theatre at The Lights of Christmas Baylight Theatre, 20800 Marine Drive, Stanwood. Starting at $39 per person. 800-228-6274 or www.warm beachlights.com.

Rattletrap Ruckus: 8 p.m., Redlight, 1017 N. State St., Bellingham. Free. www.redlight bellingham.com.

THURSDAYSATURDAY.20-22

Saturday.22 BALLET

“IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS” 8 p.m., Anacortes Community Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20. 360-293-6829.

“The Nutcracker”: Northwest Ballet Theatre, 7:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $20-$30. 360-416-7727 or www.mcintyrehall.org.

MUSIC, BURLESQUE

FUnKY SAnTA PArTY: featuring Emily Asher’s Garden Party Band (New Orleans jazz & swing) and The Jezebel Rebels (burlesque), 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. $15. 360-445-3000.

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas”: 8 p.m., Anacortes Community Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20. 360-293-6829. “Back Home on the Tumblin’ D”: 6 p.m., dinner theatre at The Lights of Christmas Baylight Theatre, 20800 Marine Drive, Stanwood. Starting at $39 per person. 800-228-6274 or www.warm beachlights.com.

Heist, Pawnbroker, Luke and Timmy featuring Bryce: 9 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $1. 360-7781067.

Shay Mailloux from Trainwreck (country rock): 9 p.m. to midnight, Cyndy’s Broiler, 27021 102nd Ave NW, Stanwood. $5 cover. 360-629-4800 or www. cyndysbroiler.com.

Voyager (hard rock, metal): 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover. 877-2752448 or www.theskagit. com.

Steve Meyer and Ben Starner (piano): 7:30 p.m., Edison Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison. No cover. 360-7666266.

Scratch Daddy: End of the World Party, 9 p.m. to midnight, Rockfish Grill, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. 360588-1720.

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

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

Massy Ferguson (acoustic rock): 9 p.m, Big Rock Café & Grocery, 14779 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-424-7872. The Sardines: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

The Blackberry Bushes Stringband: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. $7 cover. 360-445-3000.

Rookery, Totalizer: 9 p.m., Redlight, 1017 N. State St., Bellingham. $5. www.redlightbelling ham.com.

Barefeet: End of the World/Winter Solstice Party, 7 p.m., Birdsview Brewing Co., 38302 Highway 20, Birdsview. 360-826-3406 or www. birdsviewbrewing company.com.

Clambake, Sanoma, Cat Bomb: 10 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $5. 360-778-1067.

FUnKY SAnTA PArTY: featuring Emily Asher’s Garden Party Band (New Orleans jazz & swing) and The Jezebel Rebels (burlesque), 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. $15. 360-4453000.

Girl Guts, Caparza, Black Mesa: 9 p.m., The Shakedown, 1212 N. State St., Bellingham. $3. 360-778-1067.

SATURDAY.22 Craig Parrish / Skagit Valley Herald

THEATER

“FrUiTCaKeS”: 2:30 p.m., Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor. $16. 360-679-2237 or www.whidbeyplayhouse.com.

The Pine Hearts: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. 360-445-3000.

FRIDAY.21

Sunday.23 BALLET

“The Nutcracker”: Northwest Ballet Theatre, 2 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $20-$30. 360-416-7727 or www.mcintyrehall.org.

THEATER

“Back Home on the Tumblin’ D”: 4 p.m., dessert matinee at The Lights of Christmas Baylight Theatre, 20800 Marine Drive, Stanwood. Starting at $24 per person. 800-228-6274 or www.warm beachlights.com.

Monday-Thursday.24-27

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

No events submitted

Voyager (hard rock): 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Winners Lounge, 5984 N. Darrk Lane, Bow. No cover. 877-275-2448 or www.theskagit.com.

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

SUNDAY.23 Bow Diddlers: 5:30 p.m., Edison Inn, 5829 Cains Court, Edison. No cover. 360-766-6266.

WEDNESDAY.26 Gary B’s Church of the Blues (blues, classic rock): 6 to 10 p.m., Castle Tavern, 708 Metcalf St., Sedro-Woolley. 360-855-2263.

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

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

THURSDAY.27 Rattletrap Ruckus: 8 p.m., Redlight, 1017 N. State St., Bellingham. Free. www.redlightbellingham.com.