Inlander 12/23/2021 by The Inlander

DECEMBER 23-29, 2021 | HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

GIVING BACK

HOW TO HELP LOCAL NONPROFITS RIGHT NOW PAGE 6

OUT OF THE BOX SPOKANE’S HOMELESSNESS GAME CHANGER PAGE 8

FLAVORS OF MEXICO MOLÉ MOVES INTO CENTRAL FOOD SPOT PAGE 31

MOUNTAIN BOUND

THE COMMUTING CROWD, TRUSTY TRUCKS AND A MONTANA ROADTRIP SNOWLANDER  PAGE 18

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INSIDE

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PEPPERONI

VOL. 29, NO. 11 | COVER ILLUSTRATION: CRAIG WINZER

COMMENT NEWS CULTURE SNOWLANDER

5 8 12 18

FOOD SCREEN MUSIC EVENTS

31 34 37 38

I SAW YOU ADVICE GODDESS GREEN ZONE BULLETIN BOARD

40 42 44 47

EDITOR’S NOTE

hen Thanksgiving rolled around, it didn’t look like winter would ever really arrive, leaving the area’s skiers and snowboarders high and dry. Thankfully the snow gods are delivering now, just in time for our latest edition of SNOWLANDER (page 18), which includes a ribald tale of ski-bus memories sure to take you back to your first trip up the mountain. Also this week, Seth Sommerfeld explores the differences between the Anastasia feature film and the Broadway musical heading to Spokane this week (page 12), we visit Kendall Yards’ newest restaurant, Molé (page 31), and senior investigative reporter Daniel Walters digs into how the city of Spokane is addressing the local homelessness crisis (page 8). — DAN NAILEN, editor

A NEW SOUND PAGE 12

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Every week, we ask our followers on social media to share their thoughts.

WHAT’S THE STRANGEST HOLIDAY TRADITION YOUR FAMILY HAS?

MELODY DAINES: We have used a T. Rex with a pipe cleaner halo as our tree topper for the last 13 years. ALANA BARCLAY: We make Christmas-shaped sugar cookies and decorate them into the least Christmas thing we can! A mitten turned shark for instance. It’s a big deal with every sprinkle and colored frosting you can think of! This year’s frosting party is Sunday ... can’t wait! TAYLOR ANN MALINS: Each Christmas Eve my adult sisters and I have a sleepover where we continue to argue over who has to sleep on the floor of my youngest sister’s bedroom. Then we fall asleep watching Disney’s Hercules. THERESE DOWNEY MURPHY: We have a pickle on our tree — I think it’s a German tradition. We are American Irish, but I grew up in Minnesota. Everybody did it. We love it, our daughter grew up with and demands it! MARIA WICKBERG: Always the pickle. ERIC REIS: We eat tacos on Christmas Eve. It’s an early dinner, quick cleanup, and then we open all of our presents from each other that night.

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TOM KONIS: We have done the pickle on the tree for our four daughters for years. We now have 10 grandkids, but the pickle present is still just for our girls. Gets pretty competitive. n

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COMMENT | CHARITY

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The Giving Season

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

There are many needs in the Inland Northwest, and now is a great time to support those organizations out on the front lines BY MADISON PEARSON

W +

ith the end of 2021 here, many people are looking for a way to pay it forward — to help meet the needs in our communities through the local organizations devoted to the mission. Here’s a quick check-in with the local nonprofits and charities that participated in our Give Guide issue back in August. Find them online and make a contribution, or find a way to volunteer as 2022 unfolds.

SAFE PASSAGE

Safe Passage offers emergency safe shelter, counseling, court and medical advocacy, and safety planning to all survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, including children. They serve as the main violence prevention center for all northern counties of Idaho. “As a 24/7 violence prevention center, we have to be ready at every moment,” says Sally Winn, Safe Passage’s executive director. “Consistently we get people coming through that have new and unique needs. And to ensure that we can help empower survivors and move them

from our safe shelter to their own place, we need resources that can help them on their journey into a new life.” Not only does Safe Passage provide shelter and resources for adults who have survived sexual and domestic violence, they also have a children’s advocacy center that focuses specifically on the needs of children dealing with violent situations. “These children aren’t starting over,” says Winn. “They’re just starting their lives. The smallest things can make a difference. Even a stuffed animal for a child can make a huge difference in their life and make things less difficult.” Safe Passage provides survivors, children of survivors and pets a confidential, safe shelter house where they can live while transitioning into new lives. And with that comes unexpected costs. “The best donations we could possibly receive are gift cards,” says Winn. “Violent situations happen unpredictably, and we have to be able to move and adapt quickly. Gift card donations give us the ability to let the individual have control over the items they might need. Gift

MORE NONPROFITS AND CHARITIES FROM GIVE GUIDE Now on Inlander.com: National and international stories from the New York Times to go with the fresh, local news we deliver every day 6 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

AHANA Alzheimer’s Association American Childhood Cancer Organization Inland NW American Red Cross, Greater Inland Northwest The ARC of Spokane Artisans Ashley House NW Better Health Together Bonner Community Food Bank Boy Scouts of America Inland NW Council Boys & Girls Club of Spokane County Camp Fire USA Inland Northwest Council Cancer Care Northwest Foundation

Carl Maxey Center Cat Tales Wildlife Catholic Charities Eastern Washington Children’s Home Society Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Spokane Christ Kitchen Christian Youth Theater CHAS Health Foundation Communities in Schools of Spokane Community-Minded Enterprises (CME) Elevations: A Children’s Therapy Resource Foundation Every Woman Can EWU Get Lit! Programs

FailSafe for Life Family Promise of Spokane Friends of the Centennial Trail Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho Giving Back Packs / Spokane Quaranteam Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels Habitat for Humanity Spokane Hospice of Spokane Hutton Settlement Idaho Youth Ranch Joya Child & Family Development

Kootenai Environmental Alliance KSPS PBS Latinos en Spokane Lumen High School Lutheran Community Services Northwest Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington Mission Community Outreach Center Morning Star Boys’ Ranch (MSBR) Morning Star Community Services (MSCS) Morning Star Foster Care (MSFC) North Idaho College Foundation, Inc Northwest Autism Center

cards to grocery stores are always welcome.” Safe Passage welcomes monetary donations, seasonally appropriate clothing, gift cards and volunteers willing to donate their time to survivor advocacy. “We could never do this without the support of the public,” says Winn. “I hope they know how much of an impact their donations make on the lives of the survivors.”

SPOKANE RIVERKEEPER

Spokane Riverkeeper is the only nonprofit dedicated solely to the protection of the Spokane River watershed. Spokane Riverkeeper also acts as an educational resource for everyone — teaching the community about the river that runs through the region. By supporting the Spokane Riverkeeper, and becoming a “Keeper,” you take charge of patrolling for signs of pollution, illegal discharges and shoreline destruction. You also fund educational opportunities for the community to learn more about the river.

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THE NATIVE PROJECT

The NATIVE Project is a nonprofit health facility that provides medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, patient care coordination, and wellness and prevention services for Natives and non-Natives in the greater Spokane community. With your support the NATIVE Project can continue to serve and provide patient-centered health care to the people of the Spokane area and beyond.

SPOKANE VALLEY PARTNERS

Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank and Family Services aims to help families, impoverished youth and eldery people when facing crisis. With services including emergency assistance, the Inland Northwest Diaper Bank and Food For Thought, the organization aids the community in navigating the complexities of hunger and poverty. By donating to Spokane Valley Partners you can help provide meals, food security, diapers and more for families in need.

THE CITY GATE

Initially formed as a church to serve the homeless and low-income community in Spokane, the City Gate has transformed into an organization that provides a client choice food bank, breakfasts and dinners, emergency shelter, and low-income housing to its clients. The City Gate is taking donations of seasonally appropriate clothing, such as “like new” winter jackets, and wintertime essentials such as heavy blankets. Nonperishable food, paper products, coffee as well as cash are always accepted. Cash donations may be made on their website or directly via PayPal. n To learn more about the nonprofits and charities listed here, visit inlander.com/giveguide. Or, to read through our entire 2021 Give Guide special section, visit issuu.com/theinlander/ docs/giveguide_08-26-2021.

Northwest Harvest Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture Odyssey Youth Movement Partnering for Progress Partners with Families & Children Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington & North Idaho Project Beauty Share Providence Health Care Foundation Rayce Rudeen Foundation River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary The Salvation Army Spokane

Second Harvest Society of St. Vincent de Paul Spokane Arts: Amplifying the Arts Spokane Children’s Theatre Spokane County Human Rights Task Force Spokane County United Way Spokane Humane Society Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP) Spokane Parks Foundation Spokane Public Radio - KPBX

Spokane Workforce Council STIX Diabetes Programs Stop the Silence: Changing Lives & Healing Hearts Transitions Union Gospel Mission Volunteers of America West Central Community Center Women & Children’s Free Restaurant & Community Kitchen Women Helping Women Fund World Relief Spokane YMCA of the Inland Northwest YWCA

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Eric Finch says there may be intense disagreement about homelessness, but there’s common ground the city and nonprofits can pursue. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

HOMELESSNESS

How the Finch Saved CHHSmas IT guy Eric Finch helped stop the collapse of the city’s housing services department — but actually fixing homelessness will be tougher BY DANIEL WALTERS

s the sun set last week on the final night of Camp Hope, the homelessness encampment that activists pointedly set up out front of City Hall, the cold is sharp enough to bite through your gloves. But John Jans, one of the homeless campers, isn’t wearing any. As he talks about his frustrations with Mayor Nadine Woodward’s rhetoric about homelessness, the fingers holding his hand-rolled cigarette are bare. “Are we any different from her?” Jans says about the mayor. “We bleed the same, we breathe the same, we pee the same, we eat the same.” From inside a nearby tent, another camper — who identifies herself as just Luna — chimes in. “Human is human.” Luna has tied poster boards to her tent poles with the messages “God loves me. Do you?” and “How much ‘F--off’ can you stand?” Both Jans and Luna were chronically homeless during the last iteration of Camp Hope, too, back in 2018. That year, the hybrid homeless camp and activist demonstration successfully thrust the issue of the lack of homeless shelter space into the headlines: And the next year, conservative mayoral candidate Woodward harnessed the same issue to run a tough-on-homelessness campaign, narrowly defeating liberal City Council Presi-

8 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

dent Ben Stuckart. But under Woodward’s leadership this year, the department that manages the city’s response, Community Housing and Human Services, saw a mass exodus of employees that brought the department to the brink of collapse. And just before Thanksgiving, the mayor put the city’s head IT guy, Eric Finch, in charge of the division that oversees that department. By Finch’s own admission, he’s hardly an expert on homelessness. But instead of Finch’s appointment inspiring derision, some of the Woodward administration’s toughest critics have responded by heaping on praise: Now chair of Spokane’s Continuum of Care Board, a group that coordinates regional homelessness policy, Stuckart says Finch has already racked up several achievements. “I am a believer,” Stuckart says. “I would say that Eric Finch is a game changer.”

inch specializes in dealing with disasters. He’s been Spokane’s chief innovation and technology officer for a half-dozen years, but before that, he was with California’s National Guard, where he says he’s helped respond to over 20 different crises. “I’ve been incident command and helped manage

operations and response for earthquakes, floods, riots, fires,” Finch says. Most recently, he’d been a key player in the area’s COVID response. And to the list of disasters, you could add another: train wreck. “Train wreck” was how Finch’s predecessor, Cupid Alexander, has described the City of Spokane since his June resignation. Alexander’s departure accelerated an exodus of CHHS staffers that had begun in early 2021. By August, eight of 22 positions in CHHS were vacant. Alarm bells were going off inside and outside City Hall. “There’s no way you can go through and lose 40 percent of staff and all the senior leaders and be able to get the work done,” Finch says. By early September, Woodward made Finch the head of a “strike team” to try to keep the department afloat, along with other longtime high level staffers like Public Works Director Marlene Feist and Kris Becker, then the city’s community and economic development director. Most of them had already worked together last year as part of the mayor’s emergency COVID task force. “It was like getting the band back together,” Finch says. “We were used to ‘We’ve got a complex problem, we need to get solutions, we need to go through triage.’” Finch downplays his personal role, happily sharing credit with the other strike team members who picked up tasks to keep the department afloat. At first, the staffing deficit grew. By October, two more key staffers in the CHHS department had left, leaving the city’s homelessness response team completely unstaffed. That month, Stuckart sent a scathing letter to city leaders, warning that the region was at risk of losing $4.3 million annually if the understaffed department didn’t complete a federal application with a fast-approaching deadline. “In short, if Spokane loses this funding, we will never get it back, and the homeless response system will collapse,” Stuckart wrote, calling for the city to hire a series of consultants to help out. ...continued on page 10

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NEWS | HOMELESSNESS “HOW THE FINCH SAVED CHHSMAS,” CONTINUED... But Stuckart says Finch swiftly implemented some of the most important recommendations in Stuckart’s letter, bringing on multiple former city employees in temporary roles to help stanch the department’s bleeding. Finch says that some of that was already underway when Stuckart sent his letter. In some cases, all he had to do was to pick up the phone and tell former employees their plan. “In a lot of cases [they say], ‘Yeah, I’d love to be able to help. I didn’t think that someone was going to be wanting to help move this forward,’” Finch says. For example, CHHS employee Matt Davis had applied for the grant to target youth homelessness four different times since 2016. By the time the city finally won the grant this year, Davis had left the department for a state government job, leaving Spokane without the expertise to roll out the $2.5 million. Davis says it didn’t take much to convince him to return part time. “Honestly, this grant means so much to me, and the fact that we were finally able to get it,” Davis says.

lexander, Finch’s predecessor, had come from Portland brimming with deep experience and strong opinions. After he left, he characterized the mayor as a newscaster who “knows nothing” and her staff as incompetent “clowns,” while some city staff and leaders called him angry and arrogant and described him as someone who felt he was the “smartest person in the room.” Finch was different. “Cupid came in with a lot of experience and ideas that I think were a little too advanced for Spokane,”

says City Council member Betsy Wilkerson. “Eric came in right where we’re at. He didn’t come in with this big grand vision. He came in saying, ‘These are the challenges; this is what we’ve got to do to get back onto the right plan.’” Finch argues that his lack of specific experience in the local homelessness debate actually helped him. He didn’t have a reputation, good or bad, in one side of the city’s debate over homelessness or another. “I had an advantage, in terms of not being an expert. I just listened,” Finch says. “I think people felt refreshed that someone was just listening.” Stuckart celebrates Finch for his clear communication and his ability to follow through. “He’s super organized. Part of that comes from his military background,” Stuckart says. “Everything he says he’s going to get done, he’s done.” In fact, that military background has given Finch experience working with homelessness. Responding to disasters with the California National Guard meant helping a homeless community living in a dry riverbed in the region. “They had a lack of trust in government,” Finch says. The key, Finch says, was partnering with local charities and religious groups, embedding workers the community already trusted into his outreach teams. He wants to forge similar relationships in Spokane. “When trust and communication is gone, even if you have the best idea, if no one is listening, how are you going to make it better?” Finch says. That’s why, he says, the CHHS department started sending out weekly email blasts to over 400 recipients, including leadership of the Spokane Homeless Coalition,

a network of over 200 agencies and nonprofits focused on helping the needy. “I’m just trying to be honest about where we are and what’s happening, good, bad, and ugly, and then inviting people into that conversation,” Finch says. To some degree, that approach has worked. “He’s open. He wants to learn,” Barry Barfield, administrator of the Homeless Coalition, says about Finch. “I love his approach. I love what he’s saying.” But it’s one thing to trust Finch. It’s another to trust the mayor. “I have no confidence it’s going to go anywhere,” Barfield says. “His boss wants it go to nowhere.”

omeless Coalition leaders were in the middle of a meeting with Finch last week when they got the news that the police had given Camp Hope 48 hours to vacate. “Up until that moment, it was a productive meeting. Why would we ever go into another meeting with the city if that’s what they’re going to do?” says Maurice Smith, a local documentary filmmaker who’s served on the Homeless Coalition. “We got blindsided.” An email from Jewels Helping Hands co-founder Julie Garcia, heavily involved with Camp Hope, speculated that the city wanted homeless people to die. In another e-mail, Smith compared the city’s approach to imperial Japan’s at Pearl Harbor — a surprise attack launched amid ongoing diplomatic talks. “The current administration simply can’t be trusted as a rational partner on addressing homeless issues,” Smith wrote. Several nonprofit leaders challenged the city to back

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up claims that there were enough low-barrier beds in existing shelters, noting that their totals included organizations that typically won’t allow intoxicated patrons to sleep at their facility. Finch, who says he didn’t know the police would be serving the 48-hour notice when they did, says that measuring the amount of lowbarrier shelter availability is always going to be tricky. Reserving specific shelters for specific populations — Hope House, for example, is only for single homeless women — is crucial, he says. But that means that shelter isn’t available to other populations.

shelters, neither Jans nor Luna has been willing to sleep there. They both think the city needs to provide more shelter space — but they’re personally looking for housing, not just temporary shelter. Jans cites a bad experience with bed bugs at a shelter a few years ago, and the lack of freedom the shelters give guests to come and go at night. Luna’s first visit to a shelter was so awful, she says, she’d have a “panic attack” if she went to a homeless shelter again. She’s 28 now. She says she was 18 when she left foster care and landed on the streets. It’s been a long 10 years. “I feel that we’re just this little mouse on this treadwheel, chasing our tail,” Wilkerson says. “We’ve never had adequate staffing to be strategic about where we want to go.” But Wilkerson is hopeful that’s beginning to change. The city has hired Jenn Cerecedes, a former case manager for SNAP, to start as the new CHHS director on Jan. 3. “Eric is very transparent,” Cerecedes says. “I am also a very direct person… upfront and honest about where we’re at and where we’re trying to go.” For all the praise Finch has gotten, once the system stabilizes, he says, the city should do a national search for a more experienced replacement. “They would be far better than me in that role,” Finch says. “I will be here until we find that person.” n danielw@inlander.com

“I feel that we’re just this little mouse on this treadwheel, chasing our tail.” He argues that the ongoing debate about the mix and amount of shelter space required is valuable. He also stresses that upgrading the region’s shelter system is only one piece of the puzzle. “It’s not just about an emergency shelter. It’s not just about permanent supportive housing,” Finch says. “There’s like 17 areas of this, and we need to kind of find a way to improve several of those at the same time.” By Thursday, many of the Camp Hope tents were relocated to a vacant lot in the East Central area. Even when there are enough empty beds at

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THEATER

JOURNEY TO THE PAST? The stage version of Anastasia takes the animated musical in starkly different directions

A story first made famous in a ’90s animated musical heads to Spokane via Broadway in dramatically different form. JEREMY DANIEL PHOTO

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

ut of all the animated musicals from my childhood, Anastasia remains the most slept on. The 1997 musical follows an 18-year-old orphan with amnesia named Anya who discovers she’s actually Russian royalty. The story fictionalizes the Bolshevik overthrow of the Imperial Russian Romanovs as an event perpetrated through dark magic by Rasputin. The only Romanovs to escape are Nicholas II’s mother, Dowager Empress Marie, and his youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia, but the pair become separated. Years later, two con men (Dimitri and Vlad) hold auditions for an “Anastasia” in order to claim the dowager empress’ reward for finding her, only to unwittingly stumble on the real thing and whisk her to Paris to claim the reward. Along the way, a romance sparks between Anya and Dimitri, and Rasputin tries to use his dark magic to kill off the last of the Romanov line. The film actually marks an extremely significant milestone in the way animated films were made due to its voice casting. After 1992’s Aladdin became a smash

12 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

hit thanks in no small part to Robin Williams’ transcendent performance as Genie, Anastasia took the next step, casting celebrities for all its major roles: Meg Ryan (Anya), John Cusack (Dimitri), Kelsey Grammar (Vlad), Christopher Lloyd (Rasputin), Angela Lansbury (Marie), etc. Unfortunately for actual voiceover artists, this has become the seemingly monolithic way of doing things now. But because Anastasia was a Fox production in an era of Disney animation domination and all the theme park and merch branding that accompanies that (though ironically through monoculture monopolization, it now streams on Disney+), the film has more or less fallen down the proverbial memoryhole despite a successful box office run. Which is a shame because Anastasia’s music absolutely pops. The soundtrack stacks up with any of its top Disney peers — The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid — while offering up a more diverse and engaging set of songs than any of them. The songs written by Lynn Ahrens

and Stephen Flaherty (plus the score by David Newman), pop into my head more than the other animated musicals because their styles span more of the musical spectrum than their Disney brethren — which tended to be great but stay in a more homogeneous lane. The film-opening “A Rumor in St. Petersburg” is a classic grand and lively musical opener peppered with hints of Russian folk and choral traditions, plus a natural quiet-loud dynamic coming from the whispered rumors. It effortlessly breezes through the expositional information dump and sets the plot in motion lyrically while being ideal for the spectacle of a whole town dancing on the street. It’s followed quickly by “Journey to the Past,” a twinkling and soaring pop ballad and pitch-perfect example of the hopeful dreamer’s “I Want” musical theater trope, one that fully establishes Anya’s personality and longing for family (the song earned a Best Original Song Oscar nomination, though it stood no chance against Titanic’s “My Heart Will Go On”). ...continued on page 14

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CULTURE | THEATER “JOURNEY TO THE PAST?,” CONTINUED... When Vlad and Dimitri drill Anya on her Russian royal history via “Learn to Do It,” the song serves as both a training montage song and relationship builder. The frenetic comedic patter makes the trio’s travel to Paris go down smooth in the blink of an eye. The killer stylistic curveball comes from Rasputin’s lone song, “In the Dark of the Night.” The mystic has an absolute ball musically laying out his sinister plan with a chorus of ghastly bugs. It’s a theatrical rock number that calls to mind Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell with a dash of heavy metal and Russian choral stylings thrown in for some edgy pizazz. But it’s “Once Upon a December” which pops into my noggin most often. Set early in the film while Anya wanders through the abandoned imperial place, it triggers faint flickers of remembrance, the ghosts from her past. The song is a completely haunting and emotionally beautiful blend of Russian waltz, music box melody and lullaby. Apart from the “Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart” — a peppy number used for a city exploration montage (portrayed cleverly through French Impressionism-styled backgrounds in the movie), but one that feels more flippant and less emotionally resonant — the other five original Anastasia tunes are worthy of being held up as pop musical classics. That’s a standard few (if any) Disney productions or actual Tony-winners can claim.

ith that in mind, it obviously made sense to adapt Anastasia for the Broadway stage. If you love the animated version of Anastasia, I’ve got some news. The good news? Anastasia’s Broadway touring company production comes to Spokane for a Dec. 28-Jan. 2 run.

Dmitry (Sam McLellan) has a different spelling from the movie’s Dimitri and a new backstory with Anya (Kyla Stone). Now for the bad news… it kinda throws much of the animated film in the trash. One would think that adapting Anastasia as a stage musical would be fairly straightforward. The movie lays out a story with fun twists and turns, a believable romantic arc, and plenty of magical elements that would be interesting to see interpreted on the stage — similar to other

JEREMY DANIEL PHOTO

film-to-Broadway adaptations like Beauty and the Beast. Instead, the Broadway version — which received mixed reviews during its two-year run — rewrites some of the film’s songs, mixes up the plotting order, totally changes the backstory of Dimitri and Anya’s relationship, and completely removes the sinister mysticism of Rasputin, replacing him with a “more realistic” hard-line

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communist Bolshevik general (Gleb) who falls in love with Anya while also striving to kill her. But really, it’s the music that suffers most in the move from screen to stage. Despite Ahrens and Flaherty still being at the musical helm, the choices they make in the adaptation are head scratching. The lyrics in “A Rumor in St. Petersburg” and “Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart” are substantially rewritten, the former adds more drab complaining about communism, while the latter strips away some of the comedic zeal. While “Once Upon a December” and “Journey to the Past” are thankfully untouched, they’re shuffled around the show, which greatly changes their context and impact. Instead of being the songs that essentially establish Anya’s perspectives early, “Once Upon a December” is moved mid-Act I to slow Anya’s self-discovery and “Journey to the Past” is the Act I closer, changing the meaning of the song from one of youthful hope to perseverance. Worst of all, without Rasputin, “In the Dark of the Night” is cut, only for its melody to be weirdly lifted for a subdued ode to Mother Russia (“Stay, I Pray You”). While spreading motifs across songs is a time-honored tradition, the choices here are puzzling. And the only new tune for the stage that comes anywhere close to the original tunes is “My Petersberg,” Dimitri’s song about the scrappy nature of his hometown, which sports an extremely Dear Evan Hansen rising-piano vibe. But overall, the sonic packaging for stage lacks the dynamic ranges, inflections and character of the movie. Despite all that, my abiding affection for the animated original will likely lead me to a seat at First Interstate to see if somehow the live spectacle can capture the spark. If Anya can be a hopeful dreamer, so can I. n

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CULTURE | DIGEST

THE BUZZ BIN

Anna and the Apocalypse: A zombie holiday flick with heart.

A VERY CAMPY CHRISTMAS Five offbeat holiday movies to add to your seasonal rotation

BY QUINN WELSCH

ow many times have you watched A Christmas Story or Elf? If these classics are a little stale, it’s time to spice up your holiday movies. Add some cheese to your merrymaking with these offbeat movies that will leave you baffled, amused and horrified.

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (2017) Please everyone in the room with a heartfelt and funny Christmas musical about a zombie apocalypse. What it’s about: Anna has big plans for after graduation. But before that can happen, she has to survive the zombie outbreak in her small Scottish town during the holidays. What starts off as a generic musical bounces into zombie territory quickly as a group of misfit teens fight to reunite with their loved ones. Why it’s great: Anna and the Apocalypse doesn’t take itself too seriously, but there are underlying threads of social pressure and parental disappointment that come off as genuine. I will recommend this from now on. (Amazon Prime)

STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL (1978)

Star Wars fans like to argue about what the best movie in the franchise is, but true fans know the correct answer is the Star Wars Holiday Special. What it’s about: It’s Life Day on the Wookie planet of Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca’s holiday plans are interrupted when the Empire intercepts the Millenium Falcon. If that sounds exciting, you will be disappointed to know the rest of the movie is just filled with a bunch of weird, totally unrelated crap. Why it’s great: Jefferson Starship! Upsetting Wookie costumes! An animated segment debuting Boba Fett! Don’t tell me this isn’t canon. (YouTube)

FATMAN (2020)

In Fatman, Santa Claus is real. Unfortunately, he is portrayed by disgraced actor Mel Gibson. What it’s about: A rich little boy on Santa’s

16 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

naughty list decides to exact his revenge by hiring a hitman. An increasingly disgruntled Chris Cringle broods away in his workshop. He’s also contracting with the U.S. military to develop electronics. Why it’s great: The showdown at the end is just good old-fashioned-action-movie fun. Critics trashed this movie, and for good reason, but I’ll watch any movie with a gun-wielding Santa Claus. (Peacock)

SANTA AND THE ICE CREAM BUNNY (1972)

If your holiday celebration involves drinking games, this movie is perfect. Any scene with a grotesque costume: CHUG! What it’s about: Santa’s sleigh gets stuck, and children try to help, but instead get sucked into listening to Santa tell the most boring story ever about a girl who, in turn, listens to an audio recording of the story of Thumbelina. A story within a story within a story. Stupid! Why it’s great: What the hell is an ice cream bunny and why does it drive a fire truck? Why does it only show up at the very end? None of this movie makes any sense — its biggest selling point. (Tubi)

DEADLY GAMES AKA DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS (1989)

If you ever wanted a grittier version of Home Alone, this French thriller may be more than what you’re looking for. What it’s about: In an effort to contact Santa, a little boy accidentally invites a murderer dressed like Saint Nick into his home. The ensuing home invasion is no more believable than anything Kevin McCallister encountered, but it is bloodier. Spoiler alert: The dog dies. Why it’s great: Full disclosure, I didn’t make it through this one. But lovers of ’80s euro trash and Christmas horror will most likely enjoy Deadly Games for its excessive violence and honest-to-god spooky Santa. (Shudder, Amazon Prime) n

RADIOACTIVE SPOILER-MAN It’s very hard to write about what makes Spider-Man: No Way Home work without it being a spoiler fest (I won’t reveal more than the trailers do). Even though I wasn’t a fan of [REDACTED], it’s good to see [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] back on the big screen. The former gets to be almost a wise sage, while the latter radiates charisma and charm and gets a thrilling redemptive moment when [REDACTED]. Introducing a familiar rogues’ gallery into the MCU really livens things up, especially Alfred Molina as Dr. Octopus and [REDACTED]. Even the fact that [REDACTED] is Peter’s [REDACTED] earned wild cheers from my opening night audience. All kidding aside, No Way Home is a movie packed with humor, and while it can get a bit wonky in the middle, the ending absolutely nails it with Marvel three-point landing precision. (SETH SOMMERFELD) RISING UP Jiemei Lin’s exhibition Refurnish, at Whitworth University’s Bryan Oliver Gallery through Jan. 21, offers Lin’s pandemic perspective as both an Asian woman and a young mother. One piece, “Like Air, I’ll Rise,” is especially powerful. Commissioned by Terrain for Black Lens News’ February 2021 issue, its silhouetted figures represent different roles the Black community has taken in the pandemic, says Lin: “caregiver, worker, artist, leader (Kamala Harris in the back).” Absent any facial features, there is a sense of heaviness in the figures, yet richly colored flowers brighten, suggesting hope. “My work always talks about the relationship between humans and plants; the old Chinese philosophy says that a leaf, a seed, a flower make a new world,” Lin says. (CARRIE SCOZZARO)

FEELING FREE This year has marked the reissue of arguably Tom Petty’s best album, Wildflowers, via a remastered version, alternative takes of the songs and an expanded box set. This 90-minute documentary, Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers, debuted at the SXSW film festival last spring and had a one-night theatrical release, and now streams for free on YouTube. For fans of the artist and especially fans of that album, it’s a must-watch. Director Mary Wharton had access to tons of archival video of Petty and his Heartbreakers in the studio, and she fleshes out this period of Petty’s life with new interviews with producer Rick Rubin and longtime bandmates Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. Play this doc loud. (DAN NAILEN) n

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MOUNTAIN PEOPLE

MAGIC I

BUS

Ah, the ski bus — a rite of passage for many young skiers, and still offering a trip through nostalgia to get to the snow on the other side BY JOHN GROLLMUS 18 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

’d be lying if I said I was thrilled the first time my parents dropped me off in front of the ski shop located in a strip mall of sorts. Of course, it’s hard to be thrilled about too many things early in the morning, in January, when you live somewhere around the 48th parallel. It was cold that morning — the kind of cold that when you exhale, your breath turns to a cloud of ghoulish vapor that seems to just hang there, frozen in suspension. It was dark, too, since at that time of year the sun seems to never want to climb above the horizon and when it finally does, it takes forever to beat back against the frozen mist enough to let it’s golden rays shine through. Under the strange glow of that early morning light, I desperately dragged my gear with me as I scanned the bewildered gazes for a familiar face in the crowd. Looking back on it all now, it’s hard to believe that something I came to love so much began with so much trepidation. But when you’re a junior high kid trying to figure out where you fit in, everything seems

daunting. At last, I bumped into a buddy, and together we loaded our gear and then jumped on board what I would later come to realize was a magic carpet ride of sorts — the ski bus. The world was a different and perhaps simpler place 40 years ago. Back then, it didn’t seem strange to pack a bunch of more or less unsupervised teenagers onto a bus and send them away for a day of revelry. I say unsupervised because that’s how I remember it. There may well have been some sort of loose supervision, but if there was, my mind has chosen to selectively repress that part of the experience. These days, I suspect most parents would want nothing to do with sending their children off into the unknown like that, and that’s without even considering the current COVID aspect of life, which makes packing any group of people onto a crowded bus seem like a bad idea. That’s too bad, though, because there was enough life experience packed into one day starting and ending on that bus to cover a year’s worth of experience in the rest of the world.

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ome of my fondest memories from those fun-filled ski bus days are of making friends, and this was a big one. When I climbed onto the bus, I’d typically only know one or two other kids. But as the day passed, and some of the awkwardness began to fade, I’d always get to know a few more. Chatting with these new friends as we bounced along would often open my eyes to new things. This was particularly true of the older kids I’d meet. It was from them I’d learn things like how to talk to girls, how to make your money go further in the cafeteria or how to pull the best prank on your buddy. During the slopeside section of the day, one just couldn’t help but learn how to be a better skier. I was skiing all day, of course, so that helped. But beyond that, it was learning tips from other kids who skied a lot more than I did. I’m hesitant to admit that I might even have gleaned a little bit about responsibility during the course of a day. I had to learn the KEEP UP! meeting spots, be on time for the To follow our coverage pickup, and budget the day’s funds throughout the season, properly. I even learned that being head to inlander.com/ friendly to others really helped get snowlander through the day more successfully. While the type of ski bus I And don’t miss any local grew up riding might not be as winter events: simply present as it once was, buses of all visit inlander.com/events kinds are still integral to the ski and type in your keywords experience around the globe. In Salt Lake City, for example, people board the bus downtown, fully geared up for a day on the slopes with skis in hand. Buses are used all over mountain towns and ski areas alike to help alleviate the inevitable parking issues. On a ski trip to Argentina, I learned that whole groups of young adults wear the exact same outfits and board buses for trips to the mountains. I’ve skied at a mountain where there is an abandoned bus hidden in the side country where skiers and snowboarders gather to take a break, socialize and leave behind stickers from whatever their home ski hill is. ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 19

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE “MAGIC BUS,” CONTINUED...

erhaps my favorite ski bus I’ve learned about later in life is still an old-fashioned school bus, much like the first one I rode, that transports groups of like-minded skiers to a snowcat waiting deep in the Canadian wilderness to begin a multiday powder extravaganza.

I found myself transported back to the yellow school bus rides I had learned so much on in my youth. I was fast asleep on that very same bus, returning from a cat ski trip when one of the many frozen ruts on what passes for a road in the woods of British Columbia tossed me into the air and out of my dream state. After four long days of shredding powder-laden slopes by day and sharing stories about the experience over adult beverages by night, I wasn’t the only rider on this particular magic bus ride whose eyelids were intermittently closing the blinds to the waking world. In my slumbered state I had drifted off to the land of dreams, and I found myself transported back to the yellow school bus rides I had learned so much on in my

Learning on a ski bus is a whole different thing than a normal ride to school. youth. In that dream sequence, I was back in junior high, excitedly sharing stories with my buddies around me about the events of the day — the snow, the sun, the girls and the freedom of it all — as we bounded down the road toward the mall parking lot where the day had begun. Suddenly awake now, as I landed back on my green vinyl-covered bench seat, I first looked around and then listened. What I saw and heard were the sounds of 40and 50-something-year-old friends doing exactly what I had just been dreaming of, excitedly telling tall tales of the preceding day’s events. That’s when I realized that

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even though I was four decades and several hundred miles away, not much had changed. The ski bus is still one of the most magical rides you can ever be lucky enough to find. n John Grollmus is a lifetime resident of the Inland Northwest, local restaurateur and backcountry ski guide. He loves all things outdoors, food of every kind and, more than almost anything, skiing. John can currently be found living with his wife and favorite human, Kim, near Hope, Idaho.

45 : Schweitzer | Back Page : Snowlander : 20 S : CFP

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 21

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE

The spirit of Grandma Pontarolo lives on in this bestickered 1979 Chevy. NICK PONTAROLO PHOTO

ALICE THE POWDER HOUND O

A man and his truck: It’s a tale as old as skiing and stickers

n May 6, 2011, I acquired two things: a 1979 Chevy K20 Scottsdale pickup truck, and approximately 1,400 used masonry bricks. Today, only the truck — namely, Alice the Powder Hound — remains in my possession. And stickers — lots of ski stickers — have replaced the bricks. Although Alice is known now among powder-hounding friends and random passers-by for her sticky art, my gateway drug into ski truck ownership started earlier in my teenage years with a 1979 Datsun 620. I bought it for $50 from a friend at the high school senior all-nighter. It needed a radiator, brakes and some electrical work. It ended up being my “lake cabin” for the next two summers as well as my daily driver. When I regretfully sold the Datsun, it was adorned with hundreds of ski stickers

22 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

and a hand-painted Grateful Dead “Steal Your Face” mural on the hood. The Datsun had become something of a living mural of ski adventures. Bumper-to-bumper ski stickers. Just stickers, about skiing.

ith savings from living summers in a truck for most of my early 20s, I eventually bought a little farm in Cheney, and the memories of the handy Datsun with a six-foot-bed came roaring back. I approached my grandparents, who lived in Walla Walla, for the aforementioned two items: their 1979 Chevy pickup that sat in their back pasture and all the bricks they had laying around. The latter for a pizza oven never to be built, the former to be named Alice the Powder Hound after my grandma.

BY NICK PONTAROLO In my infancy of ownership, knowing all too well that Alice had some of the same ailments the Datsun had had, I let a friend borrow her to drive to Schweitzer. During an early-season blizzard, this friend accidently plowed Alice into two parked luxury automobiles and nearly nosed it into the second floor of a condo complex. No one was hurt, thankfully, but Alice did earn her stripes. Dangerous, unpredictable, generally cold all the time, and with a 400-cubic-inch Chevy small block V8 and full-time 4X4, she was also tough on the pocketbook. During those early years, you had to hit the starter with a hammer just to get it to engage the flywheel. All the tricks, quirks and “anti-theft features” of a good ski truck. From then on, ski stickers started to appear. A couple

vintage Powder magazine banners appeared on the doors and windshield. A gift of die-cut K2 stickers from a friend. A freebie from a ski shop. A purchase from a local ski hill. A pocketful of stickers from the premiere of the yearly ski film. They all landed on Alice the Powder Hound’s doors, bumpers, hood, tailgate. In my younger years, ski stickers were like currency. Some collected baseball cards; I collected ski stickers. Somewhere in a Ziploc bag, most skiers have an assortment of old ski stickers. It’s where to place them that becomes the looming question. Now we are only left with Riblet chairlifts, bathroom stalls, the occasional speed limit sign and Alice the Powder Hound. While I was at a rural post office checking my mail, a guy pulled up and mumbled to himself after looking at all the stickers on Alice, “That guy has a lot to say.” Alice the Powder Hound draws you in. Lots of waves, thumbs-ups, honks. People always ask, “Have you been to all those places?” I have no idea. There are just too many stickers.

oday Alice has become more utilitarian. She gets the occasional tuneup. She goes to the dump. She spends lots of time exploring Forest Service roads to get me to my monthly ski destination. Every now and again, I will park her downtown in Spokane’s Parkade, and someone will text me a picture of Alice the Powder Hound from their office window or social media account. She wears many hats — the most important being that she’s a constant nod to my grandparents, who were kind enough to pass her on to me. And she’s a reminder that “bumper stickers” don’t have to be political. Rather, they can simply be the adhesive holding together an old blue and white Chevy, which celebrates the greatest pastime with every passing mile: snow skiing. n Nick Pontarola is an attorney in Spokane.

Give yourself a snow day.

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ADVENTURE IN MONTANA

Maria Lovely showed Bob and Ryan her home slopes’ secret stashes.

Epic powder, massive verts and taking turns with Team Lovely made a recent trip to Big Sky Resort one for the record books, despite one unfortunate wipeout STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB LEGASA

ast March, halfway through the six-hour drive from Coeur d’Alene to Big Sky Resort, three of my snow buddies and I were caught smack dab in the middle of one of those big Montana winter storms. Semis were off the road; snow was all over it. Now I get where the term “white-knuckle driving” came from. We’d planned on driving directly to the resort but decided to make camp in Bozeman in hopes that the plows would clean things up overnight. After checking into our hotel, we called an Uber and headed straight to the Cannery District in downtown Bozeman. Burgers and beers are the perfect way to mellow the nerves. We left Bozeman the next morning at 5:30, so we could be some of the first in line. It was still snowing, and a quick check of conditions revealed 14 fresh inches with temps in the low teens. My crew consisted of Eric Einhorn, Ryan Fogarty and Erich Thompson (otherwise known as ET) — each a seasoned pow slayer. It was just starting to get light out when we pulled into the Big Sky parking lot. Boots on and tickets in hand, we beelined to the Swift Current Quad an hour before they started loading. There we met about 20 enthusiastic locals who had the same plans as us: to get that Montana Cold Smoke. The Swift Current Quad brings you from the mountain village base to about halfway up the mountain. (Note: The Swift Current Quad was replaced this summer with the new Swift Current 6, which has heated seats

24 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

and a weatherproof bubble and will increase the uphill capacity by up to 50 percent.) We planned to hit the midmountain trees while ski patrol cleared the steeper runs up higher. Our goal once ski patrol did their avalanche work was to ski Big Sky’s most iconic run. The Big Couloir on Lone Peak is legendary — a triple black diamond run through a 1,400 vertical foot couloir located almost directly under the Lone Peak Tram. When you’re going to ride the Big Coulier, you’re required to sign in with ski patrol, wear an avalanche transceiver and ski with a buddy.

t didn’t take long for the four of us to get to the top of the Swift Current Quad and dive off into the trees into CJ RD and Rice Bowl. We ripped off a lap, and before we knew it we were back at the base of the Swift Current Quad loading for another ride. Ski patrol was still doing avalanche control on the upper mountain, so we figured we’d hit the same zone again. On this run I pulled out my still camera, and we made some quick work capturing Big Sky storm skiing at its finest. It’d been about 45 minutes since the chairs had started spinning, and ski patrol was still fine-tuning their run openings, so we slipped back into the trees just a few hundred yards lower from our previous runs. I positioned myself in some trees to capture more pow skiing shots. First one down was Eric, hooting and hollering as his 210-pound frame put up a wall of snow, turn after turn.

ET was standing at the top in the batter’s box, waiting for the signal. I yelled up at ET… “Go!” He pushed off and made a dozen effortless turns. Then, as he skied between me and a birch tree, I heard a whack and immediately saw ET tumbling. As the snow settled, I could see his ski wedged between two trees. I knew it wasn’t going to be good. As ET came to a rest and repositioned himself in the snow, he yelled up to me, “I think I broke my $#%& leg!” Ryan, still positioned at the top of the run close to a chairlift tower, notified a ski patroller who just happened to be riding the chair above him. Within a few minutes, two ski patrollers were following Ryan and navigating a Cascade rescue toboggan through the trees and deep snow. The two patrollers quickly assessed the situation, immobilized ET’s leg, and had him loaded in the sled and down to the Big Sky Medical Clinic in the village, where they determined that ET had a tib-fib break. When the nurse asked ET what had happened, he calmly said, “I just flat ran out of talent,” which got a good chuckle from everyone around him. I tip my hat to the Big Sky Ski Patrol, quick, knowledgeable and most of all professional. It was now late morning, we got ET loaded up in his truck, and he and Eric made the drive back home to Sandpoint. (ET update: He’s all healed up and ready to start skiing for 2021-22.)

fter this, Ryan and I felt we’d had the wind knocked out of us as we’d lost a couple of our wingmen. We had a quick bite to eat from the deli and spent the rest of the day exploring just a fraction of Big Sky’s 300 named ski runs searching for powder. Around 2 pm the skies started opening up with some scattered sun, and we could see Lone Peak and the surrounding mountains clearly. We took advantage of the clear visibility and rode the Lone Peak Tram up to the top, which sits towers at 11,166 feet. This was to be our last run for the day, and it was going to come with over 4,300 feet of vert riding back down to the village. We ventured down into the Liberty Bowl and made our way through six miles of ski runs. Our legs were smoked, we were ready for apres. We slipped into Montana Jack right in the village for a couple of cold ones so we could put this day behind us. Later we checked into the Huntley Lodge, our hotel in the Big Sky Mountain Village only a stone’s throw from the Ramcharger Chair. Quick shower and time for dinner. The Big Sky Mountain Village has lots to offer, from sushi to tacos, pizza, pub food at Montana Jack and a variety of choices that will fit any budget. If you’re looking for fine dining, Big Sky has Peaks, a modern chophouse with an award-winning wine selection.

At 11,166 feet, Lone Peak looms over Big Sky, Montana.

unday was a new day — sunny, and we had first tracks on the Ramcharger Chair, which is one of the most technically advanced lifts around, with heated seats and a bubble to keep the wind off you. We met up with a couple of locals, Mike Lovely and his daughter Maria. Mike started skiing Big Sky back in 1976. His Uncle Fred had a rustic log cabin where Mike and his cousins would throw down sleeping bags anywhere they could. “I have some fun memories spending time there,” he told us. “There was no indoor plumbing, but we had power and a big fireplace, so all was good for these early ski adventures.” As we rode the chair, Mike talked about all the changes he’s seen in his lifetime skiing at Big Sky. “Back then there was a gondola and three chairlifts. Then later in the ’80s two more chairs were added, and then another gondola which they called Gondola 2.” Today Big Sky has 39 lifts on more than 5,850 skiable acres with 4,350 feet of leg-crushing vert from the top of Lone Peak. Once we got off the Ramcharger, I skied behind Mike and Maria as we made our way over to the sunny part of the hill. Watching father and daughter arc turns down Ambush, a perfectly manicured run, was a joy to watch. It’s no wonder Maria has such strong ski technique. Mike’s kids have spent endless days skiing on this mountain under his instruction. ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 25

GETAWAY “ADVENTURE IN MONTANA,” CONTINUED... Maria has had a strong passion for skiing since her early teens, so much so that she finished her last few years of high school in Big Sky so she could ski and train more for the sport of Big Mountain Freeskiing, or what used to be referred to as Extreme Skiing. Mike coached Maria and her brother, Jack, in Big Mountain Freeskiing. They were known as Team Lovely. “A lot of my fun, family memories were us, Team Lovely, traveling on the weekends and competing in Freeskiing comps in the Northwest,” she told us. Big Sky’s varying and challenging terrain made it the ideal mountain to hone Maria’s Freeskiing skills. And Maria’s ski skills made her a perfect fit for the Warren Miller’s Future Retro, in which she and Jack skied for the cameras in their huge playground at Big Sky. After a few, quick runs on Ambush, Mike had to leave for the Big Sky Ski School instructor lineup at 8:45.

FROM TOP: Erich Thompson, Eric Einhorn and Ryan Fogarty

aria took Ryan and I around and showed us her playground. We did some adventuring off the Challenger 3 Chair, where we found plenty of pockets of untouched snow on the upper mountain. The gladed tree skiing in the Zucchini Patch, with its mixture of blue sky and signature trees, was a photographer’s dream. We decided to make one more run before lunch, and as we were riding back up Challenger 3, Maria pointed out a finger ridge that was holding a decent stash of untouched snow. Maria knew the route, as we billy-goated through some rocky areas to access the goods. After a short traverse, we found ourselves stand-

Bob Legasa has been a Snowlander contributor to the Inlander since 1994. He’s also a Hayden-based independent videographer, TV producer and snowsports event promoter with his Freeride Media company.

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ing over the top of a big patch of powder goodness. This is where I had to pull rank and remind Ryan and Maria that, since I’m the photographer I have to go first so I can get the shot. We all laughed as I skied away. Knee deep, effortless powder under blue skies, it doesn’t get any better than this. I positioned myself halfway down in a safe spot off to the side and signaled back up that I was ready. Ryan went first, laying down some deep trenches. I was amazed at the wall of snow he was able to put up with each turn. What surprised me even more is that in today’s ski world, it’s not often you find blower pow midday on a Sunday. As Maria slid into view, I motioned for her to stay right of Ryan’s tracks and ski the edge of the ridgeline. My thought was that Maria would be skylined on the ridge, making for a dynamic photo. Usually when I photograph snow athletes, I have to constantly remind them to smile when they’re skiing. Not Maria — she always grins from ear to ear when she skis. Talk about ending the weekend on a solid note, that last run was it. As we skied back down to the village, I realized that, despite ET’s injury early on, our timing could not have been any more perfect. I can hardly wait to get back when ET gets his redemption on the Big Couloir. Hopefully Team Lovely can show us the route. n

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Downtown Spokane for the Holidays DowntownSpokane.org

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hether you’ve got family in town for the holidays or you’re just looking for a special night out to celebrate the season, it’s hard to beat the thrill of live music and comedy. For a night of incredible tunes and dancing on New Year’s Eve, check out the MASKuerade Bash ‘21 at the KNITTING FACTORY (919 W. Sprague Ave., sp.knittingfactory.com). Blues/rock outfit Bobby Patterson and the Two Tones will kick off the evening, followed by nonstop dance favorites from the MasterClass Big Band featuring noted man-about-town Jim Swoboda on the mic. And masking up for the event could be doubly

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2021 beneficial. During the show, prizes will be awarded to the audience members with the best decorated masks. RIDLER PIANO BAR (718 W. Riverside Ave., ridlerpiano.bar) also has plans to ring in 2022 in its own exuberant way. Long renowned for its weekly Dueling Pianos events where two pianists and a drummer take spontaneous audience requests, the bar is gearing up for a year-end bash that turns its Dueling Pianos up to 11. “You can enjoy the best live music in Spokane here every single weekend,” says co-owner and in-house drummer Chaz Ridler. “For the new year, we do a big balloon drop and open champagne. It’s an absolute party. You get to sing along and make some great memories. You’ll definitely want to get here early to get a seat, though, because we’ll be at capacity pretty quickly. “ Or maybe you’d prefer to say goodbye to 2021 with laughter instead of song? Then SPOKANE COMEDY CLUB (315 W. Sprague Ave., spokanecomedyclub. com) is the place to be. On Dec. 31, you’ll have two chances — one early, one late — to catch touring comic Chris Porter, most famous for his Comedy Central Presents special and topthree finish on the longrunning TV show Last Comic Standing. 

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rawing inspiration from the acclaimed 1997 animated musical film of the same name, ANASTASIA follows a young woman’s adventure as she uncovers the secrets of her own past. Is she in fact the amnesiac Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia who somehow escaped the tragic fate of her family? With a sinister Bolshevik officer in hot pursuit, she sets off for Jazz Age Paris with two companions to find out. The show makes its just-after-Christmas run at the First Interstate Center for the Arts (334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.) from Dec. 28 to Jan. 2. Visit broadwayspokane.com or firstinterstatecenter.org for tickets and more details. 

Chicken molé tamales (above) and a grilled pineapple margarita YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

OPENING

WELCOME TO OAXACA New Molé Restaurant brings ancient southern Mexican food traditions to Kendall Yards BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

enerally speaking, Molé Restaurant is a new Mexican dining option in Kendall Yards, but specifically? It’s Oaxacan with a few fusion dishes, offering diners a delicious learning curve if they’ve never experienced the cuisine of Mexico’s southernmost region, and a warm return to the tastes of the area if they have. “I cook the same way as my grandmother and mother,” says chef Fredy Martinez, who opened Molé with chef Tong Liu of neighboring Umi Kitchen & Sushi Bar, where Martinez used to work. “What makes the difference in foods from Oaxaca is our kitchens use not just seasonings but a lot of herbs,” he explains. Avocado, for example, is ubiquitous in many regions of Mexico, and it appears on Molé’s menu in various forms: sliced atop the house salad ($14), mixed with cilantro, lime and serrano pepper in a dipping sauce for the fish and chips ($16), and mashed into guacamole for the carne asada plate ($25). But Oaxacan food also uses the leaves of the avocado plant in both dried and fresh form, says Martinez. The barbacoa de borrego lamb, for example, uses avocado leaves in the marinade ($25) for a hearty, tender stew. Molé Restaurant introduces diners to many new terms and tastes like the guajillo chiles that add a smoky kick to aioli served with fried calamari ($13) or vegetarian tacos ($15). The herb epazote defies description — its Nahuatl (Aztec) equivalent includes the word skunk — but

it nonetheless helps cut the richness of the esquite callejero, a “street corn” dish combining off-the-cob corn, mayo and queso fresco, and sprinkled with very scant but very potent pequin chili flake ($11). Another characteristically Oaxacan food item is molé, the restaurant’s namesake that’s deeply rooted in Oaxacan history. It means “sauce” in Nahuatl, an ancient language tied to the Aztecs. The restaurant’s décor channels an Oaxacan vibe with an aged-looking, two-story interior mural and jungle-like greenery on walls and hanging from light fixtures. The restaurant serves only two of many regional variations of molé, which is thick, rich and typically complex in both process and ingredients — a thin, dry cookie called galletas Marias, for example, goes into the molé puree to add sweetness and texture. The restaurant’s rojo, or red, molé served over pork ribs ($24) or chicken ($23) has roasted, smoky and spicy elements, while its negro, or black, molé features traditional chocolate for a kiss of sweetness. The menu is ambitious. In addition to a dozen house specialties, Molé serves tamales, tacos, tostadas, soups, salads, vegetarian plates,

burritos, quesadillas and a dozen appetizers. And the menu is still not complete, says Daniela Roller, front-of-the-house manager. She notes the addition of more conventional Mexican comfort foods like burritos, plus an ease into lunch service, is coming in 2022. In the meantime, some dishes hint at another of Martinez’ culinary interests: Asian cuisine. Prior to Umi, Martinez led the kitchen at Ginger Asian Bistro and Wasabi, which is why Molé Restaurant is mostly Oaxacan, but not just. Salmon ennegrecido (blackened), for example, includes ingredients more likely to be found in Asian food, like ginger, yuzu sauce and tamari ($17). Don’t be surprised to see more fusion foods on Molé’s menu in the future. Also in the future: live music and outdoor dining on the patio with an enjoyable view of the river, downtown Spokane and Peaceful Valley any time of year. Molé Restaurant’s full bar offers even more about which to smile, including craft cocktails like the mezcalini ($10) with lime, cucumber, mint and cointreau or a grilled pineapple margarita ($11). n Molé Restaurant • 1335 W. Summit Parkway • Open Wed-Mon 4-8:30 pm • molespokane.com • 509-401-8050

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 31

FOOD | TO-GO BOX

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Whiskey Plus Lunch? The full-service kitchen is now open at Dry Fly Distilling’s downtown Spokane headquarters BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

he tasting room inside Dry Fly Distilling’s new downtown location is a great place to watch the alchemy of its distillery operations while enjoying a craft cocktail concocted with the local distiller’s award-winning whiskey, vodka and gin. And as of late December, Dry Fly has added a food menu, serving shareables, salads, flatbreads and handhelds. Of course the kitchen is offering a fish dish, the house-smoked trout dip with crisp-tender naan bread ($10). Or try the naan flatbread featuring pulled pork, peaches and a tangy BBQ

sauce made with Dry Fly bourbon. Choose from several salads, slaw or chips to go with your handheld, like the cheeseburger or Tandooriroasted chicken pita sandwich ($14). And for dessert? Bring home a bottle of huckleberry vodka or some of Dry Fly’s canned cocktails, like its huckleberry lemonade, available in the connected bottle shop.

IRON PIZZA BECOMES WONDER CRUST

Iron Pizza in Coeur d’Alene is under new ownership with a new name: Wonder Crust Pizza & Tap House. Steven Meisner and Nicholas Stafford took over the corner spot on Best Avenue north of the freeway in September. All Wonder Crust pizzas are available as a calzone ($16-$20), with 14 variations. Try the Greek with tzatziki, feta cheese, gyro meat, tomatoes, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, red onion and artichoke hearts, or the meat-intensive Boss with salami, bacon, pepperoni, sausage, jalapeño and honey atop red sauce (both pies are $20/ small, $25/large). A build-your-own calzone or pizza option and some starter salads round out the menu. The décor is even more eclectic than what the restaurant’s prior owner contributed, resulting in a mishmash of musical-themed and Northwest wildlife art, sports memorabilia, funky lighting and the upper half of a suit of armor. n

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 33

Newcomers Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim both shine in Licorice Pizza.

REVIEW

CALIFORNIA DREAMING Paul Thomas Anderson conjures a nostalgic SoCal vibe in the delightful Licorice Pizza

ALSO OPENING

BY JOSH BELL

AMERICAN UNDERDOG

o matter how expansive his films get, Paul Thomas Anderson always returns home to the San Fernando Valley. The sprawl of Los Angeles suburbs where Anderson grew up is home to Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love, and Anderson creates his most loving portrait of his birthplace in Licorice Pizza. Set in 1973 and inspired by both Anderson’s own memories and by the life of producer Gary Goetzman, Licorice Pizza is a delightfully shaggy coming-of-age story about teenage hustler and former child actor Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman). The movie opens with Gary meeting Alana Kane (Alana Haim), a twentysomething woman working as a photographer’s assistant at Gary’s high school on picture day. Gary is immediately smitten with Alana, and Anderson (who’s also the movie’s co-cinematographer) shoots their initial meeting in fluid, energetic long takes, weaving through the school hallways as the fast-talking Gary tries to convince Alana to go on a date with him. She declines his romantic overtures, but they start spending time together anyway, as Alana gets drawn in to Gary’s various schemes. She accompanies him as his “guardian” at press appearances for a movie he acted in, and she works alongside him in his business venture attempting to capitalize on the growing waterbed craze. Gary never gives up on pursuing a relationship with her, and Hoffman portrays him with a mix of confidence and naïveté, an inexperienced kid convinced he knows exactly what he’s doing. Alana may be older (although she’s vague on her exact age), but she’s just as immature as Gary, still living with her parents and sisters (played by Haim’s real-life family, including her sisters and bandmates from indie-pop trio Haim), aimlessly drifting through jobs. She worries that it’s strange for her to spend her time hanging out with teenagers, but her forays into more adult worlds prove frustrating and difficult. At first, Licorice Pizza looks like it’s mainly Gary’s story, but Alana’s journey is richer and more complex, embodied by Haim’s magnetic, exuberant performance. Both Haim and Hoffman

34 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

(son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, a longtime Anderson collaborator) make remarkable screen debuts here, but Alana emerges as the center of the movie, engaging with the changing social and political values of the time while Gary remains blissfully oblivious. Anderson highlights the 1970s fuel shortage along with the racism, sexism and homophobia of the era, but Licorice Pizza isn’t primarily concerned with social commentary. It’s mostly about conjuring up a vibe, immersing the audience in a place that is simultaneously anonymous suburbia and Hollywood-adjacent, where small-time bit players like Gary can hang out in bars and restaurants alongside major movie stars. Anderson throws in exaggerated versions of Hollywood big shots, some under pseudonyms (Sean Penn as a William Holden type, Christine Ebersole as a Lucille Ball type) and some unLICORICE PIZZA der their actual names. Bradley Rated R Cooper steals the movie in a few Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson scenes as notoriously temperaStarring Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim mental producer Jon Peters, who brags about his relationship with Barbra Streisand and threatens to kill Gary’s family if Gary’s crew messes up his waterbed delivery. The manic rush to escape from Peters’ wrath, in an unwieldy truck that has run out of gas, is a hilarious and suspenseful highlight. Eventually, Licorice Pizza gets a little too shaggy, running past two hours and cycling through repetitive fights and reconciliations in Gary and Alana’s relationship. The episodic incidents are all entertaining, and the movie meanders toward a satisfying conclusion, keeping the questionable dynamic between the two characters mostly chaste while hinting at a potential future. Licorice Pizza is a small-scale pleasure compared to some of Anderson’s acclaimed, monolithic dramas, but it might be the filmmaker’s most purely enjoyable movie. n

At the time, everyone said quarterback Kurt Warner’s journey from undrafted training camp cut to grocery store bagger to Arena League star to NFL MVP and Super Bowl champ felt like a sports movie. Now it is one, starring Zachary Levi. (SS) Rated PG

A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN

Michael B. Jordan and Chanté Adams star in this Denzel Washington-directed love story based on real events. A sergeant deployed in Iraq connects with his wife and young son by writing the boy a journal filled with love and advice. (SS) Rated PG-13

THE KING’S MAN

A prequel to the over-the-top action spy antics of the Kingsman films, the story centers on the private espionage organization’s origin, with Orland Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) employing etiquette and style while battling Rasputin and a cabal of early-1900s tyrants. (SS) Rated R

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

Neo still knows kung fu. Keanu Reeves and writer/director Lana Wachowski resurrect the famed bullet-spewing sci-fi franchise, as Neo returns to the Matrix two decades later to reunite with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and fight a new enemy. (SS) Rated R

SING 2

The animated jukebox musical returns. It gives Billie Elish, Elton John, BTS and others a chance to see their songs the way they were meant to be performed — covered by digital animals in elaborate set pieces. (SS) Rated PG

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 35

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MOVIE TIMES on

Denzel becomes the Mad King of Scotland.

Something Wicked This Way Comes The Tragedy of Macbeth showcases Joel Coen’s striking vision and an unexpected scene-stealer BY SETH SOMMERFELD

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36 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

oes the world need another cinematic laughter that have become his calling card. Mcversion of Macbeth? Quite simply: No. Dormand works well when in the early, scheming There are over 20 film versions of the Lady Macbeth mode, but seems a touch over-theShakespearean tragedy already, including ones top when the queen loses her mind. featuring some of history’s greatest thespians in But there’s one actor who quite frankly blows the lead roles (Orson Wells, Ian McKellen, Judy both of the A-listers off the screen. Kathryn Dench, etc.), and plenty of unique adaptations Hunter — a lauded stage actor with no major film (setting the story in mobster noirs, feudal Japan, roles to her credit — absolutely steals the show and fast-food joints). with her portrayal of the tale’s three prophesyBut the unnecessariness of it all makes the ing witches. From her introduction, a disturbing fact that director/writer Joel Coen found a commarvel of contortion and physicality that would pelling way to tell the over-trodden tale a more make Gollum tremble in fear, she brings a truly impressive feat. eerie, foreboding and utterly captivating presence The Tragedy of Macbeth presents a fairly to all her scenes. She seems like a witch out of straight retelling of the timeless story of a general your darkest nightmares, and Coen employs who rises to become King of Scotland through creative touches to allow her to embody all three treacherous bloodshed, only for he and his wife witches— from hooding two bodies next to her to mentally unravel and descend into madness. to having her cast two incongruous reflections But while many of the story beats in bodies of water. If stay intact, the presentation is anyTHE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH Hunter was a bigger thing but mundane. name, she’d be a lock Rated R Presented in a stark black and to win Best SupportDirected by Joel Coen white, cinematographer Bruno Del- Starring Denzel Wasington, Frances McDormand, ing Actress. bonnel shoots the film in a beautiThe biggest Kathryn Hunter, Alex Hassell fully brutalist style reminiscent of change Coen makes German Expressionism. When the characters are to the script is morphing Ross from messenger moving about their minimalist sets, the framto sneaky string-puller who plays all sides of the ing strives for fine art. When the characters are conflict. He’s played with sly intrigue by Alex delivering their Shakespearean prose, the film Hassell. becomes a close-up fest. The camera pulls in tight Sound design serves as Coen’s key tool for to become an ultimate actor’s showcase, highlightfurthering the tense air of impending madness ing every twitch, mannerism and emotional beat. that Hunter sets up. The film tries to become a It makes sense that Coen’s main goal for The psychological horror piece primarily through its Tragedy of Macbeth would be spotlighting the cast audio. Footsteps thunder. Drops of blood thud considering its marquee names: Denzel Washinglike hammers. Murders of crows shriek like banton as Lord Macbeth and Frances McDormand shees. It can occasionally seem a bit much, but as Lady Macbeth. Both titans deliver very good it’s at least admirable as a bold choice to set this performances — not career-best turns — but it Macbeth apart from the others. won’t come as a shock if they’re both up for OsThe Tragedy of Macbeth certainly doesn’t cars. Macbeth is a role Washington was born to reinvent the wheel. But the cinematography and play, where his initial quiet, questioning compoacting still add up to make The Tragedy of Macbeth sure can give way to the bursts of rage and mad an adaptation worthy of the Bard’s words. n

Bo Burnham and his duet partner perform “How the World Works.”

BEST OF 2021

THAT FUNNY

FEELING

While it doesn’t fit neatly on year-end lists, Bo Burnham’s Inside was the defining musical “thing” of 2021

do not want any pandemic art. While we’re not far from an onslaught of movies, books and songs about COVID times, I do not need that in my cultural diet. I’m not shutting myself off to the possibility of any of it being good, I just sincerely doubt there’s going to be many creative works that will provide insight to these dark days. Like most art responding to 9/11, all these creative trauma vectors can do is bring me back to miserable mindsets. I know the COVID art beats: It was a bummer time, we weren’t compassionate and empathetic enough, but some of us got through. We’re certainly not out of the pandemic, but the mere thought of consuming “entertainment” about it sounds unfathomably draining. But perhaps more to the point, Bo Burnham: Inside already exists, and it’s impossible to imagine something will distill the feelings of these times any better. The musical and comedic polymath’s Netflix special/ movie/album presents a singular vision of struggling with mental health during the COVID era. We were all locked inside our brains in 2020. Burnham materialized that reality via the confined space of his performance shack. Burnham’s had a gift for crafting humorous pop songs since he was an awkward YouTube teen, and Inside finds him at the peak of his songwriting powers. Not only does the subcurrent of mental wear run underneath the songs, they also manage to hit so many modern zeitgeist spots. “Welcome to the Internet” cuts at the brain rot of our ever-connected digital age with evil carnival barker glee. “How the World Works” mixes sock puppet existentialism and societal critique like Sesame Street doing A People’s History of the United States. “Bezos I” and “Bezos II” send up the billionaire class with a brevity and style unintentionally perfect for the TikTok generation. Above the rest, “That Funny Feeling” is the hardest tune to shake. It’s the heart of Inside, an acoustic guitar campfire jam about our societal vapidity and the

BY SETH SOMMERFELD impending end of everything. The expertise comes in the way Burnham lyrically lays out a tidal wave of modern bullshit where the only proper response seems to be total nihilism. No lyrical passage in 2021 can top: “The live-action Lion King, the Pepsi Halftime Show / 20,000 years of this, seven more to go / Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul / A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall.” But the song still carries the whiff of a human yearning — a want to feel, a desire to not fully numb oneself. It’s metaphorically digging into the sand to face the coming wall of water’s annihilation instead of tuning your back to be blindly washed away.

ust as Burnham’s musical skills have grown, so has his awareness that many of his old gay jokes or intentionally crass female objectification wouldn’t fly in 2021. With the ’80s pop flair of Flashdance’s “Maniac,” “Problematic” essentially serves as a catchy and somewhat necessary “Why haven’t y’all canceled me yet?” self-takedown for the offensive material in his past. “Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything,” Burnham says during Inside. But that’s not entirely true. The problem with most of the stand-up comedian class that bemoans cancel culture is they completely refuse to be accountable on any level. And it sadly doesn’t seem to matter — Louis C.K. received a 2022 Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. Burnham did not. If forced to categorize Inside, I’d lean toward labeling it a film. While it can work as an album because the music is that good, that’s not its idealized form. Many songs require visuals to maximize the humorous moments (“White Women’s Instagram,” etc.) or the even dramatic ones (the wallop of seeing a fresh-faced Burnham starting to write the finale, “Goodbye,” and overlaying it with his worn and grizzled visage actually performing it nearly a year later). Plus, the interstitial bits — shots of him setting up lights and cameras which capture the routine

monotony of depression or nonmusical segments of meta self-criticism — are essential parts of Inside’s fabric absent from the album. (Spoiler: That’s why it won’t be on my “Best Albums of 2021” list.) It’s certainly not a stand-up special: There is no crowd, and it’s not a singular performance. But it has the trapping of a traditional movie: There’s a narrative arc where the lead character faces struggles and changes as a result. In an open-minded world, it would be at least an Oscar contender in the Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Song categories.

hile Burnham’s relatable unraveling is the journey of Inside, the end point, or lack thereof, really sticks with a haunting resonance. On its surface, “All Eyes on Me” can seem just like a mocking of musician ego and mindless crowd reactions told through hyper-modern, booming, voice-distorted pop. But when Burham reveals that he was planning on returning to live performance in early 2020 after years of dealing with panic attacks, only for COVID to crush that mental health breakthrough, the subtlety of the song comes into focus. In extreme isolation, there’s even something beautiful in the big dumb faux connections of throwing up your hands on command at a concert. At least it’s something. At least it’s communal. At least it’s not being alone. When Burnham finally decides to emerge from his shack and return to the real world, there’s no “real world” to reenter. His outside is merely a TV set — a lifeless soundstage stage — where he’s still always performing, but no longer in control. There is no “back to normal.” The psychological toll of the pandemic has made the outside feel like a completely artificial facade, somehow faker than the digital and mental prisons our minds have built up in isolation. Inside feels safe. Inside feels real. Inside feels 2021. n

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 37

COMMUNITY AHOY, SANTA!

See the lights sparkle and shine across the water while floating across the icy cold lake during the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s annual holiday light cruises. These nightly excursions are made even more special for all the children on board — when the boat docks at Santa’s workshop, they’ll each be greeted by name. Overnight packages at the resort are also offered this season, and some even include milk and cookies delivered to your room, and a fireside storytime for kids. The resort is concurrently hosting daily eagle-watching cruises, offering an up-close look at the hundreds of American bald eagles making their annual winter migration stopover to feed on fish. — CHEY SCOTT Journey to the North Pole • Through Jan. 2; multiple departure times each evening • $10.50-$26.50 • The Coeur d’Alene Resort • 115 S. Second St. • cdaresort.com and cdacruises.com

VISUAL ARTS GET CREATIVE

One month is not nearly long enough to explore all the goodies under the Art Spirit Gallery’s proverbial tree this year. In honor of its 25th anniversary, the North Idaho gallery has extended the time frame for its popular small works exhibition called Unwrap The Creative. And they’ve packed even more into the main floor, mezzanine and newly renovated lower level with 2- and 3-D works of all sizes and media by 100 artists, many of them new this year, but plenty from the vault like the late Harold Balazs (work pictured), Morse Clary and Terry Gieber. — CARRIE SCOZZARO Unwrap The Creative • Through Dec. 31, open daily from 11 am-6 pm • Free • The Art Spirit Gallery • 415 Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene • theartspiritgallery.com • 208-765-6006

38 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

COMMUNITY LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

The child inside most of us will never tire of the wonderful, fuzzy feeling that comes when viewing bright, colorful holiday lights. There’s just something about the warmth, the nostalgia, the hopefulness of those shining beacons on a long, dark winter night. Recapture this feeling with a nighttime trek around Liberty Lake’s Orchard Park, all from the comfort of a heated car, once again during the Winter Glow Spectacular holiday lights display. Started back in 2014, and originally staged in downtown Spokane, Winter Glow has quickly become a new holiday tradition bringing joy to the community, thanks to donations and dedicated volunteers. — CHEY SCOTT Winter Glow Spectacular • Open daily through Jan. 1 • Free • Orchard Park • 20298 E. Indiana Ave., Liberty Lake • winterglowspectacular.com

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OUTDOORS CHEAPSKATES ON ICE

The Numerica Skate Ribbon is looking out for the penny pincher in all of us. Every Tuesday through Feb. 22, you can head down to the Skate Ribbon in Riverfront Park during regular hours and receive free ice skate rental (normally $5.95) with the price of admission. Ages 13 and up will pay $7.95 per hour, youth ages 3-12 pay $5.95 per hour, and children ages 2 and younger skate for free. Maybe ice skating on Tuesdays can be your family’s new fun, and thrifty “thing?” — MADISON PEARSON Cheap Skate Tuesday • Tuesdays from 10 am-9 pm through Feb. 22 • $5.95-$7.95 • Numerica Skate Ribbon • 720 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • riverfrontspokane.com • 509-625-6600

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MUSIC HOLIDAY LICKS

Recently Relocated to Spokane with 15 years Experience

Kick off your long holiday weekend by unwrapping the early gift of a local concert. The Baby Bar’s holiday show features a triple shot of tuneage. Pit mixes the fun ramshackle of early ’90s indie rock with a snarling punk flair. Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love bring their delightfully rough-edged R&B that’s sure to get the dance floor swaying. Fun Ladies (pictured) at least marginally counterbalance the lineup’s testosterone with Patty Tully bellowing vocals over a bed of speedy garage rock. The combined noise should be enough to warm any wintery passerby who decides to dip into Baby Bar for the night. — SETH SOMMERFELD

SPECIALIZED PET SOLUTIONS

Festivus ft. Pit, Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love, Fun Ladies • Thu, Dec. 23 at 9 pm • $5 • 21+ • Proof of vaccine and mask required • Baby Bar • 827 W. First Ave. • 509-847-1234

SpecializedPetSolutions.com

833-682-7375 DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 39

heart and dreams. I will be true and follow the course through.

I SAW YOU THEY SAY THE EYES ARE THE WINDOWS OF THE SOUL A couple of weeks ago you were at an event you must’ve known I’d be attending. We hadn’t communicated since September. I saw you were trying to make eye contact with me, so I met your eyes. Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t help but smile at you with my eyes since we were both masked, that I saw what looked like anger in your eyes boring into me. The same person who once wanted me to look in his eyes when we made love now made dagger eyes at me. I could have looked back more, but some deep instinct made me shield myself from you. I couldn’t bear what almost felt like hatred in your eyes after I had bared my soul at my most vulnerable to you. So my soul felt like you should not have access. And before that moment, my heart was so happy seeing you there, with all that energy you always have, like nothing can contain you, and my god when you stretched and I could see your muscles strain against your blazer like you were going to bust out of it. I was melting all over the place ready to forgive you for everything... All I know is, I may be no millionaire, but I have my word, my honesty, fidelity and loyalty, authenticity and integrity. I would never bite the hand that fed me even if you hurt me because of everything thing else you did for me and to do otherwise goes against who I am. I know things change, time changes, tides. But I must have faith. I must follow my

SOUND OFF

THANK YOU FOR CHANGING MY LIFE The past six months working with you have been the most exciting and confusing time of my life. You drive me crazy, and yet still manage to make me feel like the most special person in the world. Your compliments have made me so much more confident in myself. Your witty banter makes me smile, even when you aren’t around. You have made me think deeper about life then anyone has in a long time and your intelligence inspires me. It’s a once in a lifetime thing to connect with a person the way we have, and it is something I will hold close to my heart forever. I hope I have done for you over the last six months even a fraction of what you have done for me. I will never forget you, and I hope you never forget me. Maybe in the next life, right?

CHEERS THANK YOU Cheers to the young woman in Albertson’s parking lot who gave a beautiful red gerbera daisy to an old lady, me. She said she bought a bouquet for her mom, but when she saw me wearing a coat of the same color she wanted me to have one. In this time when we are all on edge, wondering what horrible thing will happen next, she made me feel good. I want to thank her again for her sweet act of kindness. SUNDAY AT THE MAC To the wonderful lady in the green coat who gave us tickets to the MAC and the Campbell House, THANK YOU!! We were celebrating a birthday, and we had planned to do this since October. Thank you for sharing your tickets with us... you rock! KUDOS TO DOWNTOWN COEUR D’ALENE Just had the best day with my daughter and granddaughter in downtown cda !! Did the elf on the shelf scavenger hunt — what a win/win deal!! So much fun and made me fall in love with cd all over again, my granddaughter found all 29 elves, and I had my eyes opened to all the great boutiques and art galleries — so many things to go back and buy!!

SAFETY FIRST! To all of you who recognize driving is a privilege and comes with responsibilities, thank you for keeping your cars (especially windows and headlights) clean and in good working order. It’s tough enough to drive safely in a clean car with headlights, brake lights and blinkers working properly. It pains

“

process of continual challenges, changes, and growth. Sometimes friends can share and help each other face their challenges, but more often they cannot. The greater the challenges, the greater the changes, and the greater the growth... but also the greater the need to confront those challenges alone. No bestie belongs out on

Our Beautiful Babars, our Delightful Dumbos, our Heavenly Hortons remain unblemished.

me to see dirty cars with one headlamp on, driver seemingly uncaring about how dangerous that can be. Spokane, please clean your auto windows of snow and dirt, and check your lights. When one goes out, replace them both!

JEERS TEARING DOWN AN ICON FOR FAST FOOD Jeers to the lack of vision in this city to allow our iconic white elephant store on division to be torn down for a Panda Express. What an opportunity missed to embrace our city’s iconic shops. How cool would a “White Elephant Brewery” have been instead?! But no…we will just tear it down to make way for more fast food. Lame. I DON’T BELIEVE CODDINGTON Brian Coddington, we don’t believe you. We’re sick and tired of your lies and half-truths regarding available shelter beds in Spokane. We’re not stupid. We remember your candidate for mayor ran on a platform of eradicating the homeless “problem” from Spokane, and your actions have achieved that goal. We know, that despite your assurances otherwise, there are way too few shelter beds in Spokane. How do we know? Aside from a preponderance of anecdotal evidence and independent surveys of available beds, your lack of transparency is most telling. And no, your made-up spreadsheets are not convincing

1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3. Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

40 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

in the least, because they’re not backed up by anything other than your say-so that they are legitimate. The rising heap of frozen dead bodies have served well to discourage homeless from coming to or staying in Spokane, which is exactly what your candidate promised in her campaign. Congratulations. Job done. Promises kept.

We know this is true. If not, prove it. Open up your system of determining available shelter beds to public scrutiny. All and any of the public. Let us watch and see when and how and listen in as city officials collect that daily data. Remove the gag order that prevents shelters from sharing available bed data with any member of the public. Stop the SPD policy of falsifying citations to prevent violating the sit and lie enforcement ban. Brian, we don’t believe you.

the airfield next to Ilsa standing between Rick and Viktor Laslow. Sometimes you will meet your friends on the other side of their challenges, changes, and growth. Sometimes your friends will change and grow and fly over the horizon in different directions, separate from your own. Sometimes you will walk off into the sunset working with new people on greater causes... and it will be the beginning of beautiful new friendships. You’ll see. Best wishes, Grandma.

RE: JUNK ARTISTS (DEC. 16) Aw, why so salty? Some of us really do try to beautify things a bit. Way back in 2008, a friend and I took it upon ourselves to spread a little felonious cheer, “tagging” a few spots with an elephant rising to the skies under a bundle of balloons clenched in its trunk. To this day, five colorful pachyderms continue their eternal ascent on the retaining wall at the corner of North Wall Street and West Cascade Way. Countless scribbles have come and gone on either side, but our Beautiful Babars, our Delightful Dumbos, our Heavenly Hortons remain unblemished. Come to think of it, that kind of proves your point, so I suppose this Jeers is actually a Cheers! Which is, after all, the only gift this Junk Artist ever wanted to give.

THANK YOU, SPOKANE Thank you Spokane for keeping us all in business! Without your “no one can tell me what to do” attitude, our jobs would be far less busy. Thanks for not vaccinating or masking up. We will be seeing you very soon. The mortuary team. n

RE: JEERS: PEOPLE WHO GHOST Everybody you know will eventually ghost you in life, hon... everybody dies, that’s life. In the meantime, we are all in a

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS S H A M W O W

P I N C H M E

R E D R O S E

B W A H A H A

R I M S H O T

A N T B E A R

M A A L I B L E C P I D P A E T E C A D R D E E

O O S E N Z A C U S I A D R S S S I T E A M D E N M O O D I G E S D S R I A S T I N L T O N A E R T W A L G E G G E D E A L

P H O T H O P O D E E R S N O D M I Y A R D E M I S S O K E R P O G O A S T U T T U R E E N D I D S N A

O N E B A S E N E S T S I N

NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

FILL-THE-BAG BOOK SALE Stop by any branch of the Spokane County Library District to buy a bag full of books (while supplies last). Reusable totes are $5 at the service desk; fill it with used books, CDs, DVDs and more. Through Dec. 31. scld.org SANTA EXPRESS This locally organized holiday retail store is for kids ages 4-12 (encouraged), many of whom make this shopping experience part of their holiday tradition. With the assistance of an elf, kids shop for everyone on their list from a wide selection of gifts priced from $1 to $10. Online shopping also available. Benefits Vanessa Behan. Open Mon-Fri 11 am-7 pm, Sat 10 am-7 pm, Sun 11 am-5 pm through Dec. 23. River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave. santaexpress.org (509-415-3506)

COMEDY

CHRIS PORTER Best known for his third place finish on the season 4 of Last Comic Standing, Chris can also be seen on his own “Comedy Central Presents” special and “Live at Gotham.” Dec. 30Jan. 1 at 7:30 pm; also Dec. 31 and Jan 1 at 10 pm. $12-$24. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

COMMUNITY

CRESCENT HOLIDAY WINDOWS Five window bays on the south side of the Grand display scenes featuring refurbished figurines rescued from the base-

ment of the former Crescent Department Store. Windows were designed by local artists Stephanie Bogue, Melanie Lieb, Derrick Freeland and Jazmin Ely under the creative direction of Tiffany Patterson. Window painting by Mallory Battista. Through Jan. 2; Fri-Sat from 12-10 pm and Sun-Thu from 3-8 pm. See more found display items from the Crescent in the windows at the Fox Theater and the MAC Davenport Grand Hotel, 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. davenporthotelcollection.com DROP IN & PLAY Join staff, volunteers and other members of the creative community to play board and card games together in a relaxing, positive environment. Thursdays from 12-2 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org THE FESTIVAL OF TREES The community is invited to tour trees on display at The Center adjacent to the Colfax Library. Cast a vote for your favorite in-person or online for the “People’s Choice” award. Mon-Fri 10 am-6 pm, Sat 1-5 pm through Dec. 28. Free. Colfax Library, 102 S. Main St. whitcolib. org/events (509-397-4366) JOURNEY TO THE NORTH POLE A cruise across Lake Coeur d’Alene while viewing more than 1.5 million holiday lights, ending with a visit to see Santa Claus and his elves. Daily departure times vary, through Jan. 2. $10.50$26.50. Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdacruises.com LIGHT UP THE NIGHT Riverfront’s holiday tree walk shines a light on Spokane’s nonprofit, community-centered organizations. Groups were invited

to decorate a tree highlighting their organization’s mission. View the window display and outdoor trees at the Riverfront Pavilion and visit the Trail of Lights all around the park. Through Jan. 2. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY: TREASURES FROM THE DRIEHAUS COLLECTION A celebration of the artistry and craftsmanship of the Tiffany artworks from Chicago’s distinguished Richard H. Driehaus Collection, highlighting masterworks never before presented in a comprehensive exhibition. Open Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Feb. 13. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT Every year, the Extreme Team lights up Cowley Park for the kids at the Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. This year, a few additional trees were decorated, and inspirational messages fill the sidewalks. Through Jan. 31. Free. Cowley Park, Sixth Ave. and Division St. kxly.com/ features/extreme-team/ MINI ART SHOW: CALL FOR ARTISTS Let your creativity shine and submit a 3x3-inch piece of art for display at your local SCLD branch. Registered participants get supply kits of paints and a mini canvas (while supplies last). Through Jan. 20. Free. scld.org NORTHWEST WINTERFEST A holiday lantern display and cultural celebration. Open daily (except 12/25) from 5-9 pm through Jan. 2. $12-$18. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana. northwestwinterfest.com

LIMITED TIME MOVE-IN SPECIAL Here at Sullivan Park Assisted Living Community, we believe in active aging, and our industry-leading wellness program Celebrations fosters happiness and longevity among our residents. Celebrations is focused on six wellness categories that are designed to nurture body, mind, and spirit; giving you the choices and freedom to celebrate life. Book a tour with us today to learn more about Celebrations, as well as the amenities that set us apart here at Sullivan Park Assisted Living Community.

Call us at (509) 924-5555 to learn more about our current move-in offer! Sullivan Park Assisted Living Community 421 South Adams Rd. Spokane Valley, WA 99216

! s y a d i l o H Happy

www.PrestigeCare.com

From your friends at

DECEMBER 23, 2021 INLANDER 41

RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess TRUTH ACHE

I spent an entire Sunday with a really cute guy I met through a dating app. We kissed a bit, and I stayed over at his place (though I said no sex). Things felt weird Monday morning, so I texted to see whether we were still on for dinner. He asked to push it to Tuesday, but I had a conflict and asked whether the weekend would work. He never responded. That weekend, I saw him out with guy friends, but he basically ignored me. I got him alone and asked him to go home with me. He declined. AMY ALKON “Just for tonight or forever?” I asked. He said, “Just tonight.” That was the last I heard from him, and I’m going crazy trying to figure this out. —No Closure If you really, really need closure, date a door. It’s normal to want closure: defined by psychologist Arie Kruglanski as “an answer on a given topic, any answer.” We’re deeply disturbed by “confusion and ambiguity” — a cloudy mess of unanswered questions — and we feel driven (and even desperate) to replace it with a solid brick wall of facts. A practical (though admittedly cuckoo-sounding) solution might be trying to fire up a quirk of the mind psychologist Elizabeth Loftus calls the “imagination inflation effect”: our tendency to convert events we imagine and then repeatedly recall into “false memories” we come to believe are the real deal. These invented memories tend to be “stickier” when they include rich detail, like the guy — reeking of BO! — hanging his head and confessing he weenied out of admitting it was “goodbye forever.” Don’t forget to script his explanation — ideally something torment-avenging and wounded ego-soothing. My suggestion: Despite your radiant beauty and extreme awesomeness, he’ll need approximately 65.3 years of therapy before he’ll be ready for a relationship. If, after giving this tactic a good repetitive try, your mental hellscape hasn’t faded substantially, there’s an alternative approach: accepting there are things we just can’t know and shifting out of the “WHYWHYWHY?!” by, say, reciting the alphabet backward or shifting into pre-planned healthy replacement thoughts. The unfortunate reality: Closure should be considered a self-service item, as you can’t control what others say or do — though you could make serious headway by kidnapping and torturing them till they talk. Of course, I’m not advising this — though, to be fair, it can lead to some major benefits: both in the form of answers and in being rewarded for your troubles with an all-expense-paid cozy new home...uh, in SuperMax.

BARKING BAD

I read your response to “Conflicted” (the woman dating a guy so needy he wanted her to ditch all her friends and spend every minute with him). I suggest you tell her it’ll never work out and she should date someone else. —Advice From 60-Something Male Telling people what to do is necessary in certain situations, like when it’s a more successful battle strategy than “You do you!”: dispatching the troops to engage in the military version of interpretive dance. However, in general, direct advice — “Do this!” or “Do that!” — tends to backfire big-time, revving up a state psychologist Jack Brehm calls “psychological reactance.” “Reactance” describes our fear-driven freakout — our reaction — when we perceive a threat to our freedom to do as we choose. We go on the defensive — rebel against being controlled-- typically by doing whatever we were doing...only longer, stronger, and louder. Understanding this is why I’m an advice columnist who specializes in NOT giving advice. I use hedgy-wedgy language like “you might” and “you could” that leaves big wide-open spaces for personal choice. Accordingly, instead of telling this woman, “Dump Mr. Needypants pronto!” I offered reasons the two MIGHT be a bad match. I also identified potential stumbling blocks — like being a “My needs last!” habitual “pleaser” — and suggested practical steps she could take to kick them out of the way. My ultimate goal is helping people help themselves: giving them the psychological and behavioral chops they need to render me unnecessary! I typically retell the story they’ve told me in ways I hope will help them gain perspective — that is, understand what they’re going through and why. I then lay out a set of tools — ways they might tweak their thinking and behavior — in hopes of empowering them to dig themselves out. Basically, my column is the advice version of that well-worn fish saying -- uh, as I like to rewrite it: Give a woman a fish and she’ll have dinner. Teach a woman to fish and she’ll have dinner for a lifetime...OR — let’s be honest — because my column and I are big on realism: She’ll order her fish dinner in a Paris bistro, poring over photos of a fabulous Chanel fly-casting suit and sketching out her plot to rob the Louvre to pay for it. n ©2021, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

42 INLANDER DECEMBER 23, 2021

EVENTS | CALENDAR WINTER GLOW SPECTACULAR The annual outdoor holiday lights display returns, offering the option to drive and view the display, or walk through the park. Through Jan. 1, lights lit daily. Free. Orchard Park, 20298 E. Indiana Ave. winterglowspectacular.com LGBTQ+ SENIORS OF THE INW All LGBTQ+ seniors are invited to join weekly Zoom meetings, Fridays at 4 pm. “Senior” is roughly ages 50+. If interested email NancyTAvery@comcast.net to be added to the email list. Free. facebook. com/SpokaneLGBTSeniors WHEATLAND BANK HORSE & CARRIAGE RIDES Enjoy an 8-minute loop through the scenic Riverfront Park. Pre-registration required. Through Dec. 24; Fri from 3-8 pm, Sat-Sun from 12-5 pm. Special Christmas Eve hours are 12-3 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane, n/a. downtownspokane.org CHRISTMAS COOKIE AND TEA PARTY Family status complicated? No family for the holidays? Celebrate at Lunarium, a new pop-up coffee shop. Come to a pop-up cookie party on Christmas Day, with one free cookie on entry, $1 cookies, and $1 cups of tea. Cookies include vegan, dairy-free, gluten-friendly and nut-free options. Dec. 25, 3-10 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1220 S. Grand Blvd. facebook.com/events/198794159039562 VIRTUAL WINTER CAMP READ-ARAMA Have some winter fun reading books and doing camp activities, including crafts, music, games and more. Grades 2-5. Registration required. Dec. 27-30. Every 3 ., 10-11:30 am. Free. scld.evanced.info/signup/ list?df=list&nd=150&kw=camp JOYA-E NEW YEAR’S EVE BUDDHIST SERVICE Ring out 2021, and ring in 2022 during this service in which everyone rings the Kansho bell a portion of 108 times. The service can also be viewed via Zoom and live on Facebook. Email SpokaneBuddhistTemple@gmail. com to get the Zoom link. Services at 5:30 and 6:30 pm, seating is limited. Reservations, masks and proof of vaccination required. Dec. 31, 5:30-6:15 & 6:30-7:15 pm. Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St. SpokaneBuddhistTemple.org (509-534-7954) NEW YEAR’S EVE FIREWORKS AT RIVERFRONT This year marks the return to the tradition of a fireworks show in the heart of downtown. The familyfriendly fireworks show begins at 9 pm, and the Numerica Skate Ribbon offers extended hours from 10 am-10 pm. Dec. 31, 9 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org (509625-6600)

FILM

KRAMPUS A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home. Dec. 23, 7:10 pm. $5. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.com (509327-1050) UNITED BY WATER In conjunction with the MAC’s exhibit “Awakenings,” are regular public screenings of the documentary “United by Water” created by the Upper Columbia Unified Tribes (UCUT). The film follows the first tribal canoe journey and gathering at Kettle Falls, Washington, since the Ceremony of Tears in 1943. Saturdays at 1 pm; first and third Wednesdays at noon. Included with admission. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave.

northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)

FOOD & DRINK

GINGERBREAD BUILD-OFF The largest fundraiser of the year for Christ Kitchen. Vote for your favorite gingerbread creation and purchase your own cookie decorating kit to take home. Kits available through Dec. 23. Northern Quest Resort & Casino, 100 N. Hayford Rd. northernquest.com (877-871-6772) ROCKET WINE CLASS Rocket Market hosts weekly wine classes; sign up in advance for the week’s selections. Fridays at 7 pm. Call to reserve a seat, or register online. Price varies. Rocket Market, 726 E. 43rd Ave. rocketmarket. com (509-343-2253) KILL THE KEG & SERVICE INDUSTRY NIGHT This weekly special includes $2 off select GHP beer, $1 off select guest beer and a 20% discount for service industry patrons. Tuesdays from 3-9 pm. The Golden Handle Project, 111 S. Cedar St. goldenhandle.org (509-868-0264) MEDICAL PERSONNEL APPRECIATION NIGHT All medical and healthcare-related personnel, students, staff and professionals receive a 20% discount off all GHP beer and food. Wednesdays from 3-9 pm. The Golden Handle Project, 111 S. Cedar St. goldenhandle.org (509-868-0264) MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE Celebrate NYE with a grand dinner buffet, live music, two fireworks shows and a hosted champagne toast at midnight. Be sure to arrive outfitted in your finest formal cocktail attire and don’t forget a jacket to view the fireworks. Dec. 31, 6 pm. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdaresort.com/play/events/ new_years (208-765-4000) MOCHIFEST Eating mochi is a Japanese New Year’s Day tradition. Pre-order your mochi (four for $5) by Dec. 26 and pick up on Dec. 31 between 5-7:30 pm at the Spokane Buddhist Temple. Proceeds fund minister’s education. Dec. 31, 5-7:30 pm. $5. Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St. SpokaneBuddhistTemple.org (509-534-7954)

MUSIC

DICKENS CAROLERS Dressed for the occasion with top hats and bow ties, the Coeur d’Alene Dickens Carolers sing warming holiday melodies in and around the resort. Wed-Sat from 6-9 pm, Sun from 11 am-2 pm through Dec. 23. Free. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdaresort.com PIANIST DANEK BLACK Live holiday music on the Davenport lobby’s grand piano. Daily from 3:30-6:30 pm through Dec. 23. Free. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. davenporthotelcollection. com (800-899-1482) DJ NIGHT ON THE ICE Get your ‘skate’ on with DJ A1 for themed nights, music, lights, contests and more every Friday from 6-9 pm (excluding 12/24) in December and January. Numerica Skate Ribbon, 720 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. riverfrontspokane.com (509-625-6600) WEDNESDAY EVENING CONTRA DANCE Join the Spokane Folklore Society each Wednesday for contra dancing. First-time dancers get a coupon for a free dance night. Contra is danced to a variety of musical styles: Celtic, Quebecois, Old Time, New England,

or Southern Appalachian music from live bands. All dances are taught and walked through, then called to live music. Events feature a different band and caller each week. Come 15 min. early for a lesson. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination required. Wednesdays from 7:30-9:30 pm. $7/members; $10/general (18 and under free). Spokane Woman’s Club, 1428 W. Ninth Ave. (509-869-5997) NEW YEAR’S EVE MASKUERADE BASH Live music and dancing all night with local artists. The show opens with the award winning Bobby Patterson and the Two Tones playing blues/rock and transitions to selections from the MasterClass Big Band featuring Jim Swoboda. Prizes are given to guests with decorated masks throughout the show. Dec. 31, 9 pm-1 am. $35-$100. Knitting Factory, 919 W. Sprague Ave. knittingfactory.com (509-224-3279) NEW YEARS EVE PARTY Celebrate the New Year at The Roxie. Cash prizes, free non-alcoholic drinks and live performances. Dec. 31, 8 pm. $45-$75. The Roxie, 5201 N. Market St. theroxiespokane.com (509-475-2500) SPOKANE SYMPHONY NEW YEAR’S EVE: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe conducts his first New Year’s Eve concert of Beethoven’s Ninth — one of Spokane’s great traditions. Join us for the exhilarating and inspiring work dedicated to freedom, joy and brotherhood. Dec. 31, 7:30 pm. $18-$62. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. spokanesymphony.org

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

HOLIDAYS AT SCHWEITZER Enjoy all the holiday season has to offer on the mountain and in Schweitzer Village. Special events and promotions for the holidays offered Dec. 17-Jan. 2. See website for details. Schweitzer, 10,000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. schweitzer. com/event/christmasholidays-2021/ SKI WITH SANTA Santa is skiing around Schweitzer before he begins his travels around the world. Catch him on the slopes with Mrs. Claus, cruising around several beginner and intermediate runs. Dec. 23-24 from 1-3:30 pm. Schweitzer, 10,000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. schweitzer.com/event/ski-with-santa/ EAGLE WATCHING CRUISES A twohour cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene to view some of the 100s of American bald eagles on their annual migration each winter, stopping to feed on lake-bound salmon. Cruises offered daily from 12-2 pm through Jan. 2. $16.50-$22.50. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdacruises.com (208-765-4000) MT. SPOKANE SNOWSHOE TOUR Learn the basics of snowshoeing during this guided hike on snowshoe trails around Mount Spokane. Pre-trip information emailed after registration. Fee includes snowshoes, instruction, walking poles, trail fees, guides and transportation. Meet at Yoke’s Fresh Market in Mead. Ages 13+. Upcoming dates include Dec. 26, Jan. 1, Jan. 8, Jan. 22, Feb. 6, Feb. 13, Feb. 19 and March 5, from 9 am-1 pm. $25/$29. Register at spokanerec.org (509-755-2489) CHEAP SKATE TUESDAY Free skate rentals are included with each paid admission, every Tuesday (10 am-9 pm) through Feb. 22. Masks required. $5.95-

$7.95. Numerica Skate Ribbon, 720 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. my.spokanecity. org/riverfrontspokane YOUTH WINTER ADVENTURES Spokane parks hosts this winter break camp where kids can learn how to cross-country ski and snowshoe at Mt. Spokane State Park, plus partake in other outdoor winter activities. Transportation, trail fees and equipment provided. Ages 9-12. Sessions are Dec. 21-22 and 28-29 from 9 am-4 pm each day. $99. Departs/arrives at Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St. spokanerec.org (509-755-2489) CROSS COUNTRY SKI LESSON Learn the basics of cross-country skiing at Mt. Spokane. Lessons are taught by Spokane Nordic Ski Association’s certified instructors. Fee includes equipment rental and two hours of instruction. Show up a half hour prior for gear fitting. Sno-Park Permit required. Additional information emailed after registration. Meet at the Mt. Spokane Selkirk Nordic Area. Sessions are offered on select dates from December through March. $34/$59. Register at spokanerec.org (509-755-2489) SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS Regular season match. Face coverings required for all guests ages 5+. Dec. 30, 7 pm. $17-$37. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (279-7000) COEUR D’ALENE ON ICE A special two-hour skate session on the outdoor rink in view of the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s two fireworks shows (9 pm and midnight). Includes a live DJ, family friendly games, fire pits, igloos and more. Dec. 31, 10:15 pm-12:15 am. $20$25. McEuen Park, 420 E. Front Ave. cdaonice.com (208-769-2252) NEW YEAR’S EVE AT SCHWEITZER Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Taps with live music, specials and more. 21+. Dec. 31. Schweitzer, 10,000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. schweitzer.com FIRST DAY HIKES State parks across Washington host free, family-friendly activities on New Year’s Day, and visitors don’t need a Discover Pass to park on state recreation lands. First Day Hikes range in difficulty from paved, flat ADA-accessible trails to moderate hill climbs. Local events at Jan. 1. Free. Details at parks.state.wa.us/1230/ Eastern-Region-First-Day-Hikes SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. TRI-CITY AMERICANS Regular season match. Face coverings required for all guests ages 5+. Special: Washington’s Lottery Night. Jan. 1, 7 pm. $17-$37. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (279-7000)

THEATER

A CHRISTMAS CAROL RADIO PLAY A Christmas Carol returns to the airwaves Christmas Day on Spokane Public Radio’s KPBX 91.1. Gather ‘round the radio with loved ones near and far to experience the splendor of this timeless Charles Dickens’ tale. Performed by Spokane Civic Theatre. Dec. 25, noon. Free. spokanecivictheatre.com ANASTASIA From the Tony Awardwinning creators of the Broadway classic Ragtime, this dazzling show transports us from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Dec. 28-Jan. 1 at 7:30 pm, Jan. 1 at 2 pm, Jan. 2 at 1 and 6:30 pm. $42-$100. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

broadwayspokane.com

VISUAL ARTS

CUP OF JOY Trackside’s 8th annual group invitational of drinking vessels features over 150 ceramic cups in many forms, colors and treatments. Forty invited artists participate alongside 13 new artists from across the U.S. Gallery open Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm through Jan. 7. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. tracksidestudio.net GUEST ARTIST: MARY KANALEY Mary Pat Kanaley is a Spokane-based artist who works in varied mediums from chalk pastel to acrylics and watercolors, often combining all three together. Through Dec. 29, open daily from 10 am-7 pm. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com (509-327-6920) FAST TRASH The final Chase Gallery exhibit of 2021 invites viewers to look in a new way at something that participating artist Thom Caraway describes as having become “so ubiquitous as to be invisible.” Namely: trash. Featuring new work by three local artists —Tiffany Patterson, Katie Creyts and Caraway — who all work in a variety of disciplines, for this exhibit their shared medium is garbage. Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm through Dec. 30. Free. Chase Gallery, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. chasegallery.org ORNAMENT & SMALL WORKS SHOW This annual show features small works and ornaments made by over 35 local artists, and most pieces are under $50 each. Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm and Sat from 10 am-4 pm through Dec. 23. Free. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net RECENT ACQUISITIONS: SELECTIONS FROM THE SAFECO ART COLLECTION Seattle-based Safeco Insurance began collecting art in the 1970s and sought to build a collection that reflected “the creativity and diversity of the communities it served.” Recognized nationally as a model for corporate collecting, the collection evolved to capture a uniquely Pacific Northwest aesthetic. Eventually, it was distributed amongst several Washington state institutions, including the MAC. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Feb. 7. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org SCULPTED SPACES, WILD LIVES A showcase of artworks depicting intentionally-shaped spaces and the wild lives that inhabit them. This juried exhibition includes artwork from 18 artists from the Palouse region and across the U.S. Open Mon-Fri, 8 am-5 pm, through Jan. 7 (closed for federal holidays). Free. Third Street Gallery, City Hall, 206 E. Third St. ci.moscow. id.us/230/Third-Street-Gallery UNWRAP THE CREATIVE: 25TH SMALL WORKS SHOW This twomonth-long, yearly exhibit is displayed up until Christmas, and features more than 100 new artists, consisting of approximately 1,500 pieces total, all by local artists. Through Dec. 31, open daily (except 12/25) from 11 am-6 pm. Free. The Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. theartspiritgallery.com WHAT WE MAKE: NATURE AS INSPIRATION Delve into the vital relationship between makers and nature with interactive features and more. Through Jan. 9; open Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm. $5-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) n

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MONTANA

Clearing the Final Hurdles With a deadline looming, regulators inch toward opening day for Montana’s legal market BY WILL MAUPIN

ontana’s legal cannabis market is scheduled to open for business on Jan. 1. With just days remaining before that deadline, lawmakers have been scrambling to dot the final i’s and cross the final t’s in the market’s regulations. In early December, Montana legislators hit pause on the rule-making process for the state’s legal cannabis market. That came after Montana voters overwhelmingly — 57 percent to 43 percent — passed an initiative in 2020 that set the ball rolling on cannabis legalization in the state. Legalization goes into effect Jan. 1, and broad rules governing the legal market were established in May when Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 701 into law. Questions with how to interpret the specifics

of HB 701 led to disagreements and ultimately brought a halt to the process. “I would say that trying to pass a comprehensive rules package that is on a key piece of legislation that affects everyone in Montana is a very difficult task. We have to be precise, in our wording, phrasing, and it’s very important to get that accurate. We only get one opportunity at this, and we need to make sure that we get it right,” state Sen. Jason Ellsworth told The Daily Montanan. Some of the concerns came down to specific wording. Can “marijuana” be used on warning labels, or should the term “cannabis” be required instead? Other sticking points included business fees and the schedule on which they must be paid,

regulations surrounding laboratory testing, and differing regulations on commercial and tribal cannabis processors. The road from being signed into law in May to being implemented on the ground on Jan. 1 has been a bumpy one for HB 701. Just last month, the Montana Department of Revenue was forced to walk back a pair of rules that lawmakers protested as going against the spirit of HB 701. Those now-struck rules included a ban on CBD products from being sold at dispensaries and overly restrictive criminal history requirements for dispensary employees. Now, with the finish line in sight, it appears HB 701 has cleared its final hurdle. Last week, the committee dealing with the issues approved revisions to the rules that should allow the market to open Jan. 1 as scheduled. n

It’s been a bumpy road, but Montana’s legal cannabis market is set to open Jan. 1.

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