Inlander 02/16/2017

FEBRUARY 16-22, 2017 | SUPPORT THE ARTS

‘DEATH-DEFYING’

ACROBATICS How Cirque du Soleil takes its mind-boggling shows on tour PAGE 28

VARIATIONS of

ZUILL Badass cellist.

Musical missionary.

Grammy winner.

Zuill Bailey redefines Bach for the 21st century PAGE 20

Other companies have mission statements; we have a genetic code.

A belief system and guiding philosophy.

A way of doing things that is different and noticeable.

A stability that comes from being family owned for 114 years.

A deep-seated belief in the people of the Northwest and a passion for lending them our financial expertise.

It’s called Watrustology, and it’s the essence of Washington Trust Bank.

Learn more at watrustology.com

2 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

INSIDE VOL. 24, NO. 19 | ON THE COVER: PHOTO BY YOUNG KWAK

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY CULTURE

5 13 20 27

FOOD FILM MUSIC EVENTS

30 34 39 44

I SAW YOU 46 GREEN ZONE 50 BULLETIN BOARD 53 LAST WORD 54

Pend Oreille River Waterfront $ 469,900 1131 Riverbend Loop, Cusick, WA • Custom Home with 100 ft of River Frontage • Hickory Cabinets • Private Boat Ramp • Boat Garage & Shop • 4 Bedrooms/ 2 Bathrooms

Suzette Alfonso

EDITOR’S NOTE

509-710-4900

T

hroughout history, MUSIC has been a source of comfort — as a new dad, I’ve certainly come to appreciate the soothing powers of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” — and in these turbulent times, artists and musicians do well to remind us of our humanity. Consider that thought as you read this week’s cover story, a winding tale of Johann Sebastian Bach, sleepless nights, young prodigies and Zuill Bailey, music director of this year’s Northwest Bach Festival (and, as of Sunday, a Grammy winner). The journey begins on page 20.

Also this week: Speaking of turbulent times, staff writer Daniel Walters explores the insult du jour, “special snowflake,” as it’s been used to describe sensitive millennial liberals and, more recently, the most powerful man in the world (page 54).

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

SuzyRealtor.com

Eat • Drink Be Majestic DOWNTOWN SPOKANE • 110 S MONROE ST • (509) 309-3698 • WWW.GILDEDUNICORN.COM

‘DOMESTIC FABULISM’ PAGE 32

DRINK AND THINK PAGE 33

YOU’LL HATE THIS MOVIE PAGE 35

A TRIBUTE TO JIMI PAGE 39

INLANDER

UnionGospelMission_MotorService_011917_3H_CPW.tif

SPOKANE • EASTERN WASHINGTON • NORTH IDAHO • INLANDER.COM 1227 WEST SUMMIT PARKWAY, SPOKANE, WA 99201 PHONE: 509-325-0634 | EMAIL: INFO@INLANDER.COM

THE INLANDER is a locally owned, independent newspaper founded on Oct. 20, 1993. Printed on newsprint that is at least 50 percent recycled; please recycle THE INLANDER after you’re done with it. One copy free per person per week; extra copies are $1 each (call x226). For ADVERTISING information, email advertising@inlander.com. To have a SUBSCRIPTION mailed to you, call x213 ($50 per year). To find one of our more than 1,000 NEWSRACKS where you can pick up a paper free every Thursday, call x226 or email justinh@inlander.com. THE INLANDER is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. All contents of this newspaper are protected by United States copyright law. © 2017, Inland Publications, Inc.

SOUTH HILL 1230 S. Grand Ave

IN KENDALL YARDS 1238 W. Summit Parkway • 321-7569 FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 3

WINNER! 2 0 1 3 T O N Y AWA R D

®

BUY NOW FOR BEST SEATS February 28 - March 5, 2017 INB Performing Arts Center 4 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

wcebroadway.com

GROUPS SAVE! 509.777.6253

COMMENT STAFF DIRECTORY PHONE: 509-325-0634 Ted S. McGregor Jr. (tedm@inlander.com)

Make your lips kissable

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CALLED A “SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE”?

GIFT CARDS AVAILAB LE

PUBLISHER

J. Jeremy McGregor (x224) GENERAL MANAGER

EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

Michael Mahoney COPY CHIEF

Chey Scott (x225) FOOD & LISTINGS EDITOR

SASHA GIBSON

LASER HAIR REMOVAL

Yes, all the time. When you’re engaging in social justice, you’re going to hear that, especially if you’re advocating for safe places for students.

Have you ever been called a “special snowflake” to your face?

No, it’s online or on social media, even my family members will say it.

Derek Harrison (x248) EDITORIAL DESIGNER

Wilson Criscione (x282), Dan Nailen (x239), Mitch Ryals (x237), Daniel Walters (x262), STAFF WRITERS

Young Kwak

KATY BLACKERBY

UPPER LIP $99* reg. $400 *ALL SMALL AREAS* $139

Laser Skin Tightening, pigment removal or spider vein removal for the face $139 reg. $399

ALL BIKINI PACKAGES

Spa Facial $69 reg. $89

Buy 1 get 1 FREE!

Professional Teeth Whitening $79 reg. $149

PACKAGES INCLUDE 8 TREATMENTS

reg. $600 *Chin, jawline, front or back of neck, underarms and happy trail

50% off!

ALL OTHER LASER SERVICES (Equal or lesser value. Excludes specials) Share your free pkg with a friend

GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE FOR THAT SPECIAL VALENTINE

No, I’ve never heard of that, I have no idea what that is!

ENT PAYM NS OPTIOBLE A AVAIL

PHOTOGRAPHER

Caleb Walsh ILLUSTRATOR

Amy Alkon, Connor Dinnison, Robert Herold, E.J. Iannelli, Scott Renshaw, John T. Reuter, Ben Salmon, Cara Strickland

Laser Hair Removal for All Skin types, Spider Vein Removal, Brown Pigment Removal, Spa Facials, Chemical Peels, Collagen Rejuvenation/Skin Tightening, Microdermabrasions, Botox, Kybella, Juvederm, Voluma, Professional Teeth Whitening

CONTRIBUTORS

Raven Haynes INTERNS

ADVERTISING SALES Kristi Gotzian (x215) ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Carolyn Padgham-Walker (x214), Emily Walden (x260) SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

SABRINA VILLANUEVA No, but I’ve heard of it in a political context.

Who is being called a “special snowflake”?

It’s mostly used for liberals or Democrats. I binge-watch Tomi Lahren because she pisses me off… That’s when I hear or read it, and it’s usually derogatory.

Autumn Adrian (x251), Mary Bookey (x216), Gail Golden (x236), Jeanne Inman (x235), Claire Price (x217), Wanda Tashoff (x222) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Kristina Smith (x223) MARKETING DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION & SUPPORT

ORANGELICIOUS

KERI IWASAKI

GOLDEN ALE BREWED WITH VANILL A BEAN AND OR ANGE PEEL

No, and I haven’t heard that term before. I know really liberal people get called names.

Wayne Hunt (x232) PRODUCTION MANAGER

TRY IT IN THE TAP ROOM

Alissia Blackwood Mead (x228), Derrick King (x238), Jessie Hynes (x205), Tom Stover (x265)

BUY IT IN THE STORE REQUEST IT AT THE BAR

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Justin Hynes (x226) DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Kati Bronson (x247) EVENTS AND PROMOTIONS Camryn Barker (x242) ADVERTISING SUPPORT

OPERATIONS

TYLER CHASE Our professor actually called us “special snowflakes” today! Not in a bad way or anything, it’s funny — we were just talking about résumé-building and he said we’re all “special, unique snowflakes.”

Dee Ann Cook (x211) BUSINESS MANAGER Kristin Wagner (x210) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

S M A L L B ATC H HAN DCRAFTE D B E E R

INTERVIEWS BY RAVEN HAYNES GONZAGA UNIVERSITY, 02/1417

1017 W 1ST AVE || ORLISONBREWING.COM 4PM-9PM TUE-THU || 2PM-CLOSE FRI-SAT

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 5

Got Scrap? Get Cash y FASTy Top Prices - Honest Weight

WE PAY FOR: Aluminum Cans & Scrap y Copper y Brass y Radiators

Insulated Copper Wire y Stainless y Gold y Silver y & much more!

COMMENT | SUPREME COURT

Independence of Mind The dance around the Neil Gorsuch nomination underlines the stakes of getting a peek inside his head

SEE HOW MUCH WE PAY AT:

www.actionrecycling.com

509-483-4094

* In accordance with WA state law

911 E Marietta Ave • Spokane WA

South of Foothills Dr. / East of Hamilton

BY ROBERT HEROLD

S

enate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer titled his recent New York Times Op-Ed column “We Won’t Be Fooled Again.”

He writes: “When I met with Judge Gorsuch on Feb. 7, I sought to ascertain his potential to be an independent check on the president. The judge was clearly very smart, articulate and polite, with superb judicial demeanor. But over the course of an hour, he refused to answer even the most rudimentary questions.”

This isn’t just partisan posturing; Sen. Schumer has every reason to be suspicious.

Many justices who have served over the past half-century have surprised both the public and the presidents who nominated them. Democrat Byron White turned out to be much more conservative than John F. Kennedy ever anticipated.

Republican Harry Blackmun, nominated by Richard Nixon, wrote the Roe v. Wade majority opinion. Republican Sandra Day O’Connor came to play the role of centrist — no doubt a disappointment to the Reagan administration.

Republican John Paul Stevens, a Gerald Ford nominee, became the most articulate liberal voice on the court. Republican David Souter, nominated by George H.W. Bush, turned out to be more Yankee than conservative.

What all these pre-John Roberts “surprise” justices had in common was their independence of mind. But then came George W. Bush, with his nominations of Roberts and Samuel Alito, sealing the deal that Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas had begun. Vetting and ideological reliability had declared war on independence of mind.

O

n the most contentious issues, such as women’s reproductive rights, these carefully vetted judges vote as a bloc so often and so predictably that women’s rights groups fear the end of Roe v. Wade could be near — this despite promises that all these “conservative” justices made at their respective confirmation hearings, illustrated below by excerpts taken from the testimony of Roberts and Thomas: SEN. ARLEN SPECTER [From John Roberts’ 2005 Supreme Court confirmation hearings]: Judge Roberts, in your confirmation hearing for the circuit court you testified: “Roe is the settled law of the land.” Do you mean settled for you, settled only for your capacity as a circuit judge, or settled beyond that?

JOHN ROBERTS: Well, beyond that. It’s settled as a precedent of the court, entitled to respect under principles of stare decisis. And those principles, applied in the Casey case, explain when cases should be revisited and when they should not. And it is settled as a precedent of the court, yes.

SPECTER: You went on to say then, “It’s a

6 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

little more than settled.

It was reaffirmed in the face of a challenge that it should be overruled in the Casey decision, so it has added precedential value.”

ROBERTS: I think the initial question for the judge confronting an issue in this area, you don’t go straight to the Roe decision. You begin with Casey, which modified the Roe framework and reaffirmed its central holding.

SEN. JOE BIDEN [From Clarence Thomas’ 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings]: Does the 14th Amendment protect the right of women to decide for themselves in certain instances whether or not to terminate pregnancy?

CLARENCE THOMAS: My view is that there is a right to privacy in the 14th Amendment.

BIDEN: Well, does that right to privacy protect the right of a woman to decide for herself in certain instances whether or not to terminate a pregnancy?

THOMAS: The Supreme Court has made clear that the issue of marital privacy is protected, and in the case of Roe v. Wade has found an interest in the woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. I do not think that at this time that I could maintain my impartiality as a member of the judiciary and comment on that specific case.

E

ven when grilled, you get the dance around the truth. It’s hard to see what’s inside the nominees’ minds as they parry questions with nuggets of what the questioners hope to hear.

And we need not begin and end with reproductive rights. There are voting rights, immigration policies, health care — you name it; it’s all at stake.

Sen. Schumer asserts that it remains for Judge Gorsuch to convince the Senate that he truly will bring an independent mindset to his work.

He wants more proof than a single rebuke of President Trump, as Gorsuch offered last week — although plainly that’s a start. Fundamentally, Schumer doesn’t want to be lied to again.

Much is at stake. Trump has already shown utter disdain for people who exhibit an independence of mind. He threatens, and blusters, and seemingly has no coherent take on much of anything. Thus, it’s not overblown to say that our governing institutions and very separation of powers depend greatly on the members of the Supreme Court holding tight to their independence of mind. n

DO SOMETHING!

ONE BILLION RISING SPOKANE

Presidents Day Sale!

Join Spokane’s contribution to the annual One Billion Rising revolution happening around the world this month. This event is a free, public gathering promoting nonviolence against women and girls. This year’s local event is organized by SFCC, YWCA Spokane, and Lutheran Community Services NW. Fri, Feb. 17, 11:30 am. Free. Spokane Falls Community College, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr.

GSI’S ENTREPRENEUR CONNECT

Startup Spokane’s evening event includes workshops, entrepreneur interviews, panel discussions, pitch panels and everything else that goes good with beer and pizza. Hosted quarterly in February, May, August and November. Thu, Feb. 16, 5-7 pm. Free, Startup Spokane Central, 610 W. Second

NAS AND THE POWER

What does it mean to be a black male when your maleness is challenged with terms that attempt to demean your power and status in a white society?

How does one love himself, be successful, and form healthy relationships?

Join us for this powerful forum. Thu, Feb. 16, 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. Spokane Falls Community College, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr.

DSP ANNUAL MEETING

The Downtown Spokane Partnership annual meeting includes a keynote presentation by Molly Alexander, executive VP for the Downtown Austin Alliance, speaking on the topic of how to create a better downtown culture for the millennial generation. Thu, Feb. 23, 3 pm. $35. Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague 

F Some restrictions apply. See store for details. Not valid on Tempur-Pedic, iComfort, select Beautyrest sets, pure talalay bliss, Hot Buys, clearance or outlet priced times.

WALKERSFURNITURE.COM

WALKERSMATTRESS.COM

Tell us about your event or other opportunities to get involved. Submit events at Inlander.com/getlisted or email getlisted@inlander.com.

Spokane 15 E. Boone Ave. 509.326.1600

JEN SORENSON CARTOON

“Where Quality Just Costs Less”

Spokane Valley 14214 E. Sprague 509.928.2485

Sandpoint 210 Bonner Mall Way 208.255.5796

Coeur d’Alene 7224 N. Government Way 208.762.7200

Moses Lake 117 W Broadway 509.765.9766

Find us on

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 7

COMMENT | POLITICS

America’s Greatest Resource In a country of wonderful — and destructive — contradictions, we must listen to each other

BY JOHN T. REUTER

CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

R

ather than any shared culture or ethnicity, America is a country defined by its landscape and a political system of the people, by the people, and for the people. I’ve written before about the importance of protecting place — the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the lands we call home. But equally important is protecting our system of governance.

When it comes to our politics, America has always been a country of contradictions. We wrote a constitution based on the belief that all people are created equal, but inscribed in that same document fundamental inequalities based on the color of people’s skin and their gender.

We value rugged individualism, but rely on a system that gains its legitimacy from collective action at the voting booth. Our system requires us to disagree, but also to listen to each other.

The first of these contradictions marks America’s original sin, and while generations of Americans have made painful progress, the ultimate resolution required by justice in favor of full equality in opportunity for all still eludes us. At the same time, the final contradiction,

$

8 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Includes Signature, Stuffed, Gourmet Delite®, Fresh Pan or Create Your Own up to 5 Classic toppings

Exclusive food news & a calendar of culinary events

MUST PRESENT AT STORE TO REDEEM. In-Store only. Valid for a limited time at participating locations. Discount off regular menu price. Excludes Mini Murph®, FAVES® and Desserts. Not valid with other offers.

Cannot be sold, transferred or duplicated.

Limit 3. PRNT020416

Delivered to your inbox every Thursday LSM-02

22687-PRNT-AP10 © 2016 Papa Murphy’s International LLC

SPOKAN

ANY LARGE PIZZA

Cowboy Pizza

John T. Reuter, a former Sandpoint City Councilman, has been active in protecting the environment, expanding LGBT rights and Idaho’s Republican Party politics.

E’S ONLY BEST BURGER

10

which has been the key to America’s progress, has begun to fail over the past several decades: We increasingly disagree along ever more sharply partisan lines, but our ability to listen to each other is fading.

This ideological divide is joined by a physical divide as well — as people of common political beliefs increasingly live surrounded by neighbors who share their politics. What this means is that as a country, we are simultaneously losing the two key elements that hold us together: a common place and a shared political system.

We increasingly live in different communities and our political system rarely leads to common cause, but rather bigger fights and demonization.

We’ve come to believe that our fellow Americans are not a strength, but a weakness. It’s an understandable conclusion, and one I have fallen into myself, especially when I look at the politicians I disagree with in D.C. and around the nation.

But here’s the thing: The very idea of America depends upon us depending on each other. E pluribus unum.

Out of many, one.

I’m not suggesting that we should set aside our disagreements. As I noted, that’s half of the contradiction from which our strength comes. What LETTERS I want is for us to try Send comments to to listen to each other editor@inlander.com.

— to not immediately assume bad faith from people who have come to very different conclusions than our own, to understand that someone does not have to be evil to be wrong.

Still take to the streets when your sense of justice requires it. Still demand progress toward the nation we have frequently spoken of, but rarely, if ever, manifested.

Still stand strong for your rights, and those of others, when you see them under threat. Rally your allies to these causes, but also seek to persuade those beyond your own ideological walls.

Successful persuasion is a funny thing. It requires empathy, but, at its best, also vulnerability. We are most able to persuade others when we are open to being persuaded ourselves.

It’s time we came to a national conversation just as ready to listen as to talk, just as ready to learn as to teach.

If we want understanding from those across the divide, we have to be willing to offer it. We live in a time where technology has enabled a greater ability to speak than ever before; America’s future depends on us developing an equal capacity to listen. n

Subscribe at: inlander.com/newsletter

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 9

editor@inlander.com.

39th Annual

THis Satur day!

SEE

HUNDREDS OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES!

DISCOVER THE LATEST TRENDS!

GET

EXPERT ADVICE FROM THE PROS!

ENJOY

THE FEATURE LANDSCAPE DISPLAYS!

FEB. 23-24-25-26

S P O K A N E FA I R & E X P O C E N T E R

2 FOR1

DAY

TWO ADMISSIONS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE ON

THURSDAY ONLY!

ADMISSION

7

$

00

CASH ONLY

KIDS 12 & UNDER FREE PARKING IS FREE

PRESENTED BY

HOURS

Thurs.

Fri. Sat. Sun.

12pm-8pm 12pm-8pm 10am-7pm 10am-5pm

CUSTERSHOWS.COM

Enjoy the music of your favorite superheroes from film and comics… including Superman, Batman, X-Men, The Terminator, Star Wars and more…

509.624.1200 | SpokaneSymphony.org

Fill The Truck!

= 18,000 Meals

Everyone eats this Restaurant Week

for 2nd

Harvest

T

hanks to our amazing partner Sysco, Inlander Restaurant Week is working to make sure everyone eats this Restaurant Week. It’s called the Fill The Truck campaign.

Here’s how Sysco is working to Fill The Truck with thousands of meals for Second Harvest Food Bank.

Sysco kicked off the effort with a launch event at the Kitchen at Second Harvest. They donated 100 pounds of food in each attending restaurant’s name, which helped fill the truck for Second Harvest with 4,440 meals. And to keep the meals rolling in, for every case of food ordered by those 37 restaurants during the 10 days of Restaurant Week, Sysco will donate another five meals per case.

Here’s where you come in… After your meal during Inlander Restaurant Week, post your review to #IRWRaveReviews on social media – and for every post Sysco will donate 5 more meals!

Inlander Restaurant Week is Feb. 23 - March 4

10 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

100 + Restaurants • InlanderRestaurantWeek.com

COMMENT | FROM READERS

Readers responded in no uncertain terms to George Nethercutt’s column last week calling for Democrats to be “good sports” about President Trump’s Cabinet and Supreme Court picks: WHAT DID I MISS?

I

had to read ol’ George’s column twice to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I hadn’t, but he sure did. I guess Mitch McConnell stonewalling President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee just never really happened.

Now the Dems are supposed to just line up and behave, or, as our new president would probably put it, “just bend over and like it.” And he shakes his finger at the left for being “poor sports” and to school them on what “constitutional duty” means? Really?!? Makes you wonder where he’s been for the last eight years. One question for you, George. Just what is the color of the sky in your world?

LEE TREISCHEL Spokane Valley, Wash.

UNSPORTSMANLIKE FIBS

F

ormer Republican U.S. Congressman George Nethercutt has some nerve, lecturing Democrats about “good sportsmanship” in his column about Trump’s Supreme Court and Cabinet nominees (2/9/17), even as he engages in major league deception and intellectual dishonesty. Insofar as he is the GOP brand himself, he’s also guilty of rank hypocrisy as well.

First unsportsmanlike fib involves the claim that Democrats planning to oppose SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch are doing so “just because he’s a Trump pick.” Clearly, George is trying to hoodwink readers who know less about recent Supreme Court politics than he does, in order to make the GOP seem like the fair and reasonable party. In fact, opposition to Gorsuch is a reasonable response to the fact that this same Mitch McConnell-led Senate blocked Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland for almost a quarter of Obama’s second term. Whether Gorsuch is within the mainstream of American jurisprudence remains to be seen, pending actual confirmation hearings, which Garland was never permitted to have.

Second instance of George’s dishonesty — or bad sportsmanship, as he calls it — has to do with why GOP senators from Alaska and Maine opposed Trump’s anti-public-schools education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos. Not because they were scared of the big, bad teachers unions, as George claims, but because these two rural, largely poor, mostly white states have not created parallel private religious school systems into which white students can secede, as in the Deep South and elsewhere. Unlike his namesake, this George can tell a lie.

CHRIS NORDEN Moscow, Idaho

WE WILL NOT BE COWED

S

o, Mr. George Nethercutt, Senate Democrats should accept Gorsuch or they are “poor sports.” Do you mean they are behaving like the “poor sport” Republicans who refused to even give Judge Merrick Garland a hearing simply because he was nominated by a president they detested? Article II, section 2 of our Constitution states “The President shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint judges of the Supreme Court,” and the Republican Senate failed in their duty. You stated “elected officers raise their right hand and swear on their oath of office to preserve and protect the Constitution.” Your crowd, sir, failed in that duty!

So no, we will not be cowed by your slur of “poor sportsmanship.” We all remember how Republicans met the very night President Obama was elected in November of 2008 in a D.C. restaurant and planned to obstruct everything he planned. Republicans taught us well and now the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. Be prepared for a fight. All of you deserve it in full measure!

SANDRA BOYNTON Rathdrum, Idaho

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 11

ON THE RIGHT TRACK One BNSF intermodal train can move as much freight as 280 trucks, helping reduce highway congestion and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent.

Connecting the Pacific Northwest since 1873

BNSF customers reduced emissions by

34 million metric tons in 2015 vs. moving freight entirely over the roads

Rail is more than

A BNSF train can move one ton of freight nearly

more fuel efficient than long-haul trucks

miles on a single gallon of diesel

4X

500

BNSF has cut average locomotive particulate matter emissions by nearly

50%

in the last ten years

Find out more about the environmental benefits of freight rail at BNSFNorthwest.com 12 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

After nearly two years apart, Nadia Amzuabidi (left) hugs her sister, Iraqi refugee Athraa Jameel, tightly as they reunite at the Spokane International Airport Saturday.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

REUNITED WE STAND With major provisions of Trump’s executive order put on temporary hold, 11 Iraqi refugees reunite with their families in Spokane

BY DANIEL WALTERS

I

f President Donald Trump had gotten his way, the events at Spokane International Airport on Saturday night would not have taken place.

A little more than a week earlier, Trump’s executive order would have made it illegal for these three Iraqi families — 11 men, women and children — to even enter the United States.

But now, after Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson convinced a federal judge to put Trump’s travel ban on hold, Talib Baghdadi, a tall Iraqi linguistics professor, bends down to kiss his granddaughter Lina in the Spokane airport. He runs his hands through her long, curly black hair. It’s been five years since the last time he and his wife have seen their children or grandchildren.

“At last! Reunited with my family!” Baghdadi says. “I have always been wishing to see the States, this greatest country. My dream has come true, at last.”

Then there’s Athraa Jameel, an Iraqi refugee who spent three years with her husband and children in a refugee camp in Turkey, packed with four other families

into a house they couldn’t afford to reliably heat.

Her sister Nadia came to America almost two years ago. Her cousin Asma got into America just before Trump’s order slammed shut the door for refugees.

Jameel and her family — booked on a flight for two weeks later — were too late. It looked like it would be months, maybe longer, before they’d have a chance again.

But now, Jameel and her husband and three children glide through the arrivals gate, greeted by a huge “Welcome to America” banner and an explosion of tears and laughter and hugs from Asma and Nadia and their children and friends.

This is what the pause on Trump’s travel ban has meant for refugees: Not just safety and sanctuary, but reunion.

SEPARATION

To any big brother with a little brother, the relationship between Hamid Nahi and Assad Al-Sawaedi will seem familiar.

As they grow up in a family of 15 in Baghdad, Nahi teases Al-Sawaedi, five years younger, by flicking his big ears. They get in little tussles and wrestling matches.

They play Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes on the PlayStation, and Nahi hogs the controller.

And then the Americans invade Iraq and everything changes. Nahi takes up arms — in favor of the Americans.

He spends nearly a decade working with the Americans, first directly with U.S. Special Forces, then later working as a private security contractor protecting American forces. He learns to translate Arabic into English for soldiers. He learns how to scope out danger, to assess whether a dead sheep is just a dead sheep, or if the dead sheep has bottles of ball bearings and a chunk of C4 plastic explosive stitched inside its body.

In his mind, in his family’s mind, he’s working for the good of Iraq. To the militias that infest Baghdad, he’s a traitor. Nahi raids a house in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, and finds his name on a hit list. Two of the ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 13

NEWS | REFUGEES

150 BOTTLED BEERS, 34 BEER TAPS 4 WINE TAPS & CRAFT COCKTAILS

Proud to use local ingredients from Linc Foods and their 45 family farms.

HOURS: Mon - Thurs 11am-9pm Fri 11am-10pm • Sat 8am-10pm • Sun 8am-9pm

905 N. WASHINGTON ST. | 509-392-4000

THE OLD BROADVIEW DAIRY TheBlackbirdSpokane.com |

@TheBlackbirdGEG

Tues . Feb 28 th . 6-8pm

Beer Specials and Prize Give-A-Ways

Tapping Special Kegs from Iron Goat and No-Li, plus a Firkin from Perry Street

@MANITOTAPHOUSE

WE’LL HAVE A BIG BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

MANITOTAPHOUSE.COM

3011 S. GRAND BLVD. | (509) 279-2671 11AM - 10PM SUN-THURS | 11AM - MIDNIGHT FRI & SAT

14 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

BEST BEER BAR & BEST BAR FOOD

Hamid Nahi (left) smiles as his brother, Assad Al-Sawaedi, holds Nahi’s son at Spokane International Airport.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“REUNITED WE STAND,” CONTINUED... men on the list have already been killed.

“They put a price on my head,” Nahi says.

Al-Sawaedi is still at home with his parents as the threats against his brother trickle in.

Insurgents drop off envelopes, each containing a sniper rifle bullet and a crudely handwritten message: If Nahi doesn’t stop working with the infidels, he’ll get a bullet through his head. They spray-paint Nahi’s name in Arabic on a dead dog and toss the corpse in front of his parents’ house.

“I was so angry and so afraid at the same time,” Al-Sawaedi says in Arabic. “We thought, even us, we will get shot one day.”

Their dad dies in 2007 — not from being shot, but from a heart attack. Nahi blames the stress from all the threats and violence. He says the threats against his life mean that he can’t even risk going to his dad’s funeral.

As the Americans plan their withdrawal from Iraq, Nahi looks for a way out. He applies to be a refugee. The process is maddening. He’d been trusted with weapons to protect American civilians. He’d been given awards personally by Gen. David Petraeus. But still, it takes more than four years for his application to work its way through the refugee vetting process.

But finally, in December of 2012, he arrives in Spokane.

No question about it; life is better here.

After only two weeks in America, Nahi meets a woman. He falls in love with her, proposing that Valentine’s Day. They have children. He gets a job working security in the STA Plaza. When a man gets stabbed at the plaza, Nahi rushes to

provide CPR, trying to save the victim’s life.

He moves into a house in the Spokane Valley suburbs. He parks his big white Ford truck with an Operation Iraqi Freedom and “Don’t Tread On Me” bumper stickers in his driveway.

Back in Baghdad, Al-Sawaedi has two kids of his own. But in the vacuum left by the Americans’ departure, Iraq slides into chaos and sectarian violence.

“There is no more freedom,” Al-Sawaedi says, “It’s like a jungle… You can’t feel safe walking outside.”

At the Baghdad high school where Al-Sawaedi teaches, even the parent-teacher conferences come paired with death threats. “Some of the parents, they would threaten to kill me if I don’t give a [good] grade to their kids,” he says.

“There is no more freedom. It’s like a jungle…

You can’t feel safe walking outside.”

A car bomb explodes across the street, and Al-Sawaedi and his mother stumble across the body parts of the victims.

The threats intensify, as militia groups harass his family by slashing power lines to their house.

In 2013, Nahi applies for his mother and his little brother’s family to come to America. His mother, a 64-year-old woman named Sabeeha, finally arrives last July.

Trump is elected in November.

Al-Sawaedi and his family have their bags packed, ready to fly out on Jan. 29. Trump’s executive order — banning refugees for 120 days and any foreign travelers from Iraq and six other countries for 90 days — hits on Jan. 27.

“I literally passed out,” Al-Sawaedi says. “I felt the whole world closing up on me. My heart stopped.”

When Nahi hears about the ban, he parks his STA patrol car in the parking lot and weeps. “That was the saddest moment of my life,” he says.

Nahi lies to his 5-year-old niece Rahaf, telling her that her ticket was lost somehow. They’ll find the ticket, he says, and if they can’t, they’ll buy another one. But Rahaf isn’t comforted.

She wants to play with her 2-year-old cousin Rya in the snow, and is worried that it will melt before they can arrive.

Nahi does what little he can do. He and several refugee advocates make a plea directly to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. He talks for hours with her Spokane office staff, laying out his entire story, asking if she, somehow, can pull strings to get his brother here. McMorris Rodgers’ staff reaches out to the State Department to inquire about the status of Nahi’s brother.

Meanwhile, Ferguson launches a full-scale legal assault against Trump’s executive order. Within a few days, a federal district court judge in Seattle temporarily puts the travel-ban provisions of the executive order on hold. The stay is affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trump fumes in all-caps on Twitter.

“Our legal system is broken!” he writes, furious about the large number of refugees coming from Iraq and the six other Muslim-majority countries singled out in his executive order. “SO DANGEROUS!”

REUNION

The flight arrives early, so Nahi almost misses the moment.

But as Al-Sawaedi walks through the gate with his family, Nahi is waiting, beaming. His mother Sabeeha is there too, carrying huge stuffed animals and a bouquet of heart and American-flag balloons.

Nahi says that he doesn’t like to show emotion, but here he can’t help it.

“The moment was tearing me up, in a good way,” Nahi says.

“I want to dance. I want to scream.”

Nahi holds his niece Rahaf in his arms for the first time since she was an infant. He lays a flurry of kisses upon Al-Sawaedi’s 2-year-old daughter.

The brothers hold hands as they walk down to the baggage LETTERS claim. They take selfies. There Send comments to are plans to eat steak, and poeditor@inlander.com. tatoes and s’mores. Nahi jokes with Al-Sawaedi about how he used to tease him about his big ears, and Al-Sawaedi laughs and thumbs Nahi’s big nose.

“I felt, myself, like I was chained up, and all these chains just broke when I got here,” Al-Sawaedi says.

On Sunday, Rahaf gets to play outside in the snow with Rya, just as she had dreamed. At a Rally With Refugees event at Gonzaga, the news of the arrival of Al-Sawaedi, Baghdadi and Jameel and their families draws thunderous applause and cheers from a crowd of more than a thousand.

It’s Monday morning. Al-Sawaedi and Nahi’s family have gathered in the living room of Nahi’s house. The kids are watching Minions on Netflix. Al-Sawaedi is wearing an Old Navy shirt with a huge American flag.

It’s a happy moment, but it’s not a happy ending. At least not yet. Their oldest brother, Ali, calls Al-Sawaedi on Facetime from Baghdad.

Sabeeha, their mother, holds up three fingers. Three sons.

She still has three of her sons in Iraq. Al-Sawaedi wants to apply for these other family members to come to America as well. But he knows how tough it will be. He knows that even if their application is accepted, even if Trump doesn’t crack down further on Iraqi refugees, it could be years before the rest of his family arrives. But, as always, he’s hopeful.

“They are survivors,” Nahi says. “They will survive just so they can get here to the land of peace and freedom. So they can get that clean air, so they don’t have to breathe that dust.” n danielw@inlander.com

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 15

NEWS | DIGEST

On Inlander.com MORE INLANDER NEWS EVERY DAY

February 23-March 4 Post to #IRWRaveReviews after your meal and support a great cause.

Mayor David Condon delivers his State 2017 State of the City address.

DANIEL WALTERS PHOTO

CRIME During last week’s State of the City speech, Spokane Mayor David Condon announced a slew of new initiatives, including one aimed squarely at an infamous problem in Spokane: PROPERTY CRIME. The police department is launching a Vehicle Theft Task Force, focusing entirely on reducing the steady stream of car thefts. Two officers from the Chronic Offender Unit and five from the Patrol Anti-Crime Team will try to slow the vehicle theft epidemic, not just by arresting thieves but by trying to get at the root of their issues. The task force will meet with thieves in prison and follow up with them after their release, working to connect them with social services or drug treatment if they need it. Otherwise, if the thieves reoffend, and aren’t willing to accept help, police will push for tougher sentences. (DANIEL WALTERS)

#IRWRaveReviews You can help Second Harvest feed local families by going out to dinner! During Inlander Restaurant Week, February 23rd - March 4th, post your Rave Review with hashtag #IRWRaveReviews on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

For every #IRWRaveReviews post, Sysco will donate 5 meals to Second Harvest.

BENEFITTING

# FillTheTruck

InlanderRestaurantWeek.com #InlanderRW

16 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

EDUCATION Last month, the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction sent out a news release showing an increase in HOMELESS STUDENTS across the state. In Spokane, the data revealed a 36 percent increase in student homelessness from the year before. Spokane Public Schools, however, says that data is wrong. The district says it reported a significantly lower number, and that there has been no increase in student homelessness in the district. OSPI says the confusion stemmed from Spokane reporting two different numbers at different times, and the superintendent’s office assures that this is not an issue elsewhere across the state.

(WILSON CRISCIONE)

COURTS Rather than serving prison time, a 19-year-old rapist from Idaho could be BARRED FROM HAVING SEX before marriage as a condition of his probation. Cody Duane Herrera of Twin Falls pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl in 2015. Fifth District of Idaho Judge Randy Stoker suspended a maximum 15-year sentence for a yearlong rehabilitation program. If Herrera completes the program, he will not be allowed to have sex until he’s married, or until he’s off probation. The judge’s ruling is allowed under Idaho’s rarely enforced “fornication law” that criminalizes sex between two unmarried people of the opposite sex. Coitus outside of marriage in Idaho is punishable by a $300 fine and/or six months in jail, though legal experts doubt that the celibacy mandate will withstand appeal.

(MITCH RYALS)

NEWS | BRIEFS

Working Blue A Spokane police officer comes under fire for profanity; plus, Tomi Lahren — and her opinions — are coming to town TOUGH-TALKIN’ COP SCOLDED

A SPOKANE POLICE officer went on an expletive-laden rant against a domestic violence suspect who was taunting the officer from the back of his patrol car. In a January 2016 interaction caught on body camera, Officer Chris McMurtrey called the man a “dumb shit,” a “little f--ing bitch” and a “punk.”

At times during the drive, McMurtrey goads the man, who is identified as Lonnie Lacy, as the two go back and forth, though it is difficult to hear what Lacy says. At one point, McMurtrey stops the car, walks to the back and points his finger in the man’s face.

“You better watch your f---ing mouth, you understand me?” he says. “Do not threaten to shoot me.”

SPD Chief Craig Meidl called McMurtrey’s behavior “atrocious” during a news conference last week. An SPD supervisor filed a complaint against McMurtrey after reviewing the footage, but because SPD does not have an official body camera policy, the officer could not be punished, nor could the case be forwarded to the police ombudsman. Instead, Meidl says, McMurtrey was removed from the SWAT team and sent to desk duty.

McMurtrey was threatened by another domestic violence suspect several years ago. That man was eventually convicted of felony harassment for his comments. Lacy, the man from the 2016 encounter, has a lengthy criminal record including theft, assault and domestic violence, according to previous reporting.

Lacy is in the Spokane County Jail facing charges of a misdemeanor assault and a felony assault on a law enforcement officer.

McMurtrey is currently back on patrol. (MITCH RYALS)

‘STAR POWER’

When Stephanie Cates, chairwoman of the Spokane County Republican Party, seeks out speakers for the party’s Lincoln Day Dinner & Fundraiser, she’s looking for someone to draw a crowd.

“I always look for someone who’s going to have star power and be a big draw among Republicans, someone who’s widely known,” Cates says.

This year, that person is TOMI LAHREN, a popular conservative TV pundit best known for her rants against pop-culture figures, including Beyoncé, Colin Kaepernick and Meryl Streep, that have gone viral online.

“She’s not afraid of controversy,” Cates says. “She’s not afraid to speak out about different events in the news.”

Lahren will be a special guest at the fundraiser, held at the Davenport Grand Hotel, on June 3. Tickets, which go on sale to the public Feb. 21, can be found at spokanegop.com.

As vice chair of the county Republican Party last year, Cates invited Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative author and filmmaker and convicted felon, to speak at the Lincoln Day event. The previous year, she invited Allen West, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former Florida congressman.

Cates says she wanted a woman to speak this year, preferably one who could bring in a younger crowd. Lahren, 24, fits that description.

“She’s a strong, opinionated, passionate woman,” Cates says.

“And she’s young and appeals to millennials.”

Lahren was announced as the Lincoln Day speaker during a Spokane GOP gala last weekend, to cheers from the crowd.

Cates says that Republicans like Lahren because she is “bold” and doesn’t back down from her convictions: “I think most Republicans really admire that, especially in the face of this whole resistance movement [from the left] that’s been very vocal.” (WILSON CRISCIONE)

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 17

NEWS | EDUCATION

‘Cautiously Optimistic’ Spokane Public Schools has seen improvement since committing to reducing suspensions, but the hardest part is yet to come

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

I

n a fourth-floor room in the Spokane Public Schools district office, the bar graphs and numbers on the projector screen look encouraging. Suspensions have gone down. Arrests have fallen. And the disproportionate rate at which minorities are kicked out of school has shrunk.

Fred Schrumpf watches last week’s presentation from the side of the room. The district, facing pressure after having the highest rate of suspensions or expulsions in the state, committed last year to reforming its discipline practices. Much of that work fell on Schrumpf, who took on a new role starting this year as coordinator of “restorative practices” — an approach to disciplining students that focuses less on punishing kids, and more on correcting the root cause of misbehavior.

“It’s a system-wide change,” he says.

So far, it’s a change that has seen some success, judging by the overall numbers on suspensions and arrests. But zoom in closer, and district data highlights underlying issues that persist: Poorer students and special education students are far more likely to be suspended than their peers, and elementary schools, especially in first grade, aren’t seeing the same progress in reducing suspensions as higher grades.

“I think the data is promising,” says Vanessa Hernandez, youth policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. “But there’s still, obviously, some areas of concern.”

TEACHING BEHAVIOR

Schrumpf explains restorative practices to school administrators as a teaching opportunity for students, not a punishment. Merely punishing kids for breaking rules, Schrumpf says, wasn’t changing behavior.

Matt Halpin, a teacher at North Central High School, says the explanation that stuck with him was this: If a student doesn’t know how to add three-digit numbers, they’re taught how. If a student doesn’t know how to exercise, they’re taught how.

If students don’t know how to behave, teachers should teach them how to do that as well. He doesn’t see this as more work, because it’s beneficial in the long run.

“Restorative practices has given me the chance to take it further than discipline or punishment,” Halpin says.

It’s more than a change in attitude.

Schrumpf says in-school intervention rooms added this year at the secondary level make it easier to implement restorative practices.

Rather than an in-school suspension, an intervention staff person will work with a

18 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

disruptive student on their behavior in such a room instead of punishing them. The district also added more principal assistants in secondary schools to handle the extra work.

Since last year at this time, the number of suspensions has gone down in all middle and high school grades. Last year, through half a school year, 355 eighth-graders had been suspended, whereas only 188 were suspended this school year.

“If we eliminate suspensions, and people don’t feel safe... then we have missed the mark.”

Less punitive punishments don’t only apply to teachers and staff, but to school resource officers, too. Mark Sterk, director of safety, risk management and transportation for Spokane Public Schools, says there has been an 88 percent reduction in arrests through Feb. 8 compared to the same time period last year.

Krista Elliott, a public defender for Counsel for Defense handling juvenile cases in Spokane, was critical of the number of students arrested at Spokane schools in previous years. Now, she says she is “cautiously optimistic” about the lower number of arrests she’s seen this year.

“I’m proud they are making those attempts to do that for the kids, to keep them in the school and teach them better lessons in the school, as opposed to the court,” Elliott says.

But it’s not clear if student behavior has improved.

“Those are two different conversations,” says Adam Swinyard, chief academic officer for Spokane Public Schools.

During the meeting with the school board, Swinyard said the district will work on finding data that could help identify if student misbehavior is increasing.

Meanwhile, in elementary schools, the numbers regarding suspensions are less promising. Both first- and sixth-graders are being suspended more than they were last year, according to district data.

Jenny Rose, president of the Spokane Education Association, notes that in-school intervention rooms and additional staff have not been added in elementary schools.

In fact, Rose says, the emphasis on not suspending students has elementary school principals calling parents to pick up misbe-

having children, instead of documenting incidents as suspensions.

Sue Chapin, vice president of Spokane Public Schools’ board of directors, says it’s important that the focus on keeping misbehaving students in school doesn’t sacrifice the safety, or the sanity, of the school environment.

However, making those decisions isn’t an exact science, Swinyard says.

“If we eliminate suspensions, and people don’t feel safe, and the learning’s not moving forward,” Swinyard says, “then we have missed the mark.”

CULTURE CHANGE

In Spokane Public Schools, a white student is still less likely to be suspended than a student of color. But the disproportionate suspensions of black and Native American students has gone down so far this year compared to last, district data shows.

What hasn’t improved is how often special education students are suspended compared to other students. Special education students — students with disabilities — make up 13 percent of the district population but represent a third of all suspensions.

Bob Douthitt, a school board member who recently announced his resignation, suggests that the district break down the data to show how many of those suspensions are of “behavioral intervention” students, or students with more serious behavior issues who fall under the special education category. He says the high number of suspensions for those students may skew the data for all special education students.

Hernandez, with the ACLU of Washington, says she hears complaints about students being suspended or expelled from school from parents of all special education students, not just behavioral intervention students.

“It is possible that particular classrooms are disproportionately driving suspension and expulsion of kids with disabilities.

Until they disaggregate the data, we don’t know,” Hernandez says. “But I would hope the conversation doesn’t stop there, to say, ‘Those are the problem kids.’”

Even more of a disproportionality in the data, however, involves students on free or reduced lunch. Making up nearly half of the student population, students on free or reduced lunch have made up 80 percent of suspensions this school year, according to district data. Kids growing up in poverty are more likely to be exposed to what’s called Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, that can lead to problematic classroom behavior, Hernandez says.

“That raises questions of what supports do our children in poverty need?” says School Board President Deana Brower.

Statistics on student discipline help identify where more resources need to be placed, Schrumpf says. But really changing the system of punitive discipline? That takes more work.

“A culture shift is really part of it,” Schrumpf says. “And that’s the hard part.” n

1617 W NW BLVD, SPOKANE

COMING SOON! JOIN THE UPCOMING NW BOULEVARD CLUB ONLINE NOW, & SAVE!

1 10

$

$

DOWN!

A MONTH!

PlanetFitness.com All new NW Blvd members who join during pre-sale are welcome to use the PF Spokane Valley location, at no charge, while NW is under construction!

Tons of Equipment.

13112 E Sprague Ave SPOKANE VALLEY, WA Open & Staffed 24/7

Super Clean.

Friendly Staff, No Salesmen.

HOME OF THE JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE!

Non-intimidating Atmosphere.

1617 W Northwest Blvd SPOKANE, WA (coming soon)

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 19

VARIATIONS of

ZUILL

BADASS CELLIST. MUSICAL MISSIONARY. GRAMMY WINNER. ZUILL BAILEY REDEFINES BACH FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

By Ted S. McGregor Jr.

C

ount Hermann-Karl von Keyserling just wanted a good night’s sleep. It was 1,200 bumpy miles from St. Petersburg to Leipzig, where his work as Russia’s ambassador to Saxony took him. Once at court, he was among friends, but the times were fraught inside the Holy Roman Empire in 1741. A diplomat’s job is to hold things together, yet Europe was being pulled apart by the War of Austrian Succession — the opening skirmish of the Seven Years’ War. Every time the Count’s head hit the pillow — nothing.

His mind could not stop. Desperate, he had begun to travel with a talented young musician who would play outside his door each night, trying to clear his head. Even that rarely worked, as he played the same blasted pieces over and again.

There was a composer and organist of some repute at court — the cantor of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig’s largest.

Would he, perhaps, write something new — something calming, yet inventive, to help the Count steal a few precious hours of peace? The cantor met the musical challenge, and the ambassador had his musical companion learn it — all 30

20 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

swirling, precise movements. It was an instant tonic.

“He never tired of them,” Bach biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel recounted the tale in 1802, “and for a long time, sleepless nights meant… ‘Do play me one of my variations.’”

Apocryphal or not (more on that later), the elements of this tale are still very much with us. The Count’s harpsichordist was Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who is immortalized in the work’s title — the Goldberg Variations. And while the War of Austrian Succession is but a misty memory today, the Goldberg Variations remains among the most beloved pieces of music ever written.

Of course, we also know the clever cantor who helped Count von Keyserling grapple with insomnia so long ago. It was Johann Sebastian Bach.

WORTHY OF CELEBRATING

And here we are in Spokane, marking the start of the 2017 Northwest Bach Festival, led by Music Director Zuill Bailey, fresh off winning a Grammy for his solo cello playing. It’s a fair time to ask what it is about Bach that still has us listening.

The Goldberg Variations offer the perfect peek inside the ...continued on page 22

T Zuill Bailey’s mantra, learned over 25 years of nearly nonstop travel: “The grass is always greener where you water it.” YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

ON THE RED CARPET

he week before the Grammy Awards, Zuill Bailey says he felt like he had been “strapped to the front of a freight train” — from the buildup since the nominations were announced, to the red-eye flight from Alaska to Los Angeles, to the well-wishers popping up on his phone. So how did he feel after winning one of those little golden gramophone statues for his mantle?

“Such exhilarating chaos… nonstop for 12 hours,” Bailey texted after winning Best Classical Instrumental Solo on Sunday night. “The Grammys were electrifying.”

Tales of Hemingway was a Grammy darling, winning three — for Bailey’s solo cello playing, as well as Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Classical Compendium.

The piece reflects composer Michael RECORDING ACADEMY PHOTO Daugherty’s “obsession,” as Bailey puts it, with Ernest Hemingway, depicting several of his novels and stories.

Daugherty was inspired by the fact that Hemingway played the cello as a child, and he recruited Bailey to be his cellist for the piece, writing it with his skills in mind.

As critic Nick Barnard described it in his review on MusicWeb International, Bailey exhibits “total technical security” in the performance, “but also a willingness to push the expressive envelope with playing of a very wide dynamic range and great tonal variety.”

“Psychologically, I am bound to this piece,” Bailey says. “Most things we play, we’re reinterpreting the past. This is new music. This was written for me. This is the present and the future, and that excites people.”

Bailey will lead his fourth Northwest Bach Festival starting Tuesday; he’ll perform Tales of Hemingway on March 2 at Barrister Winery.

The story of the recording is a bit harrowing, as Daugherty wanted the Nashville Symphony to record the premiere performance in April of 2015.

“I only had three or four weeks to get it ready,” Bailey recalls. “In fact, I learned the piece in the Davenport Hotel, during the Bach Festival.

Then, at the premiere, things were being changed right up until I walked on stage.”

Another fun fact: They had to redo the final bars of the piece.

“At the end of the performance, the audience went berserk,” Bailey recalls. “Michael walked out on stage, and one of us said something like, ‘Well, we’ve really got something here!’ Then they evacuated the hall so we could re-record the final 15 seconds.

“Knowing that every note I played would be forever, you have to deal with that fear,” Bailey says. “But really, I had been practicing for that moment for 40 years.”

— TED S. McGREGOR JR.

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 21

CLASSICAL MUSIC

154 S. MADISON ST. THESTEELBARREL.COM

“I felt something that was so right when I came to Spokane,” says Bailey. “And the moment I met Gertrude [Harvey, executive director of Connoisseur Concerts, pictured], there was a synergy that was rare.” TED S. McGREGOR JR. PHOTO

“VARIATIONS OF ZUILL,” CONTINUED...

COMEDY BITS BY THE BLUE DOOR THEATRE

22 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Bach mystique; that it may have been a kind of one-off, back-of-the-napkin deal only adds to the legend. Listeners tend to be mostly dumbfounded by it — a “Rubik’s Cube of invention and architecture,” as one recent admirer put it.

Filled with ever-varying melodies and musical canons, all referencing a simple, central aria, it’s like music spit out of some elegant supercomputer. Except that it was the product of one man’s imagination. It’s like looking into the eyes of the Mona Lisa. Or seeing “E = mc²” scrawled on a chalkboard. Pure genius.

Oddly enough, after his death in 1750, Bach’s music initially only lived on via his family — a brood of accomplished players. He was laid to rest in an unmarked grave for almost 150 years.

Though the likes of Mozart and Haydn studied The Well-Tempered Clavier as if it were the Bible, only decades after his death did his music start to take hold again.

In 1829, Felix Mendelssohn mounted a performance of his epic St. Matthew Passion in Berlin, and the Bach legacy was secure. In the late 1930s, acclaimed cellist Pablo Casals fulfilled a dream to record some sheet music he had bought in a Barcelona antique shop when he was 13. It

was Bach’s Cello Suites, which had been nearly lost. The recordings were a sensation, launching a Bach revival that powered right on through to the creation of Spokane’s Connoisseur Concerts and the Northwest Bach Festival in the 1970s.

Founded by David Dutton and Beverly Biggs, the early Bach Festival featured Baroqueera instruments that Bach would have written for.

Later, Stefan Kozinski, associate conductor of the Spokane Symphony, became musical director. He brought a more modern sensibility to the festival, recalls Gertrude Harvey, executive director of Connoisseur Concerts, which produces the Bach Festival.

“Then, around 1992, we did a re-evaluation — we were looking for new direction,” Harvey says. Maestro Gunther Schuller had a connection to the Spokane Symphony and the Festival at Sandpoint around the same time, “and we decided to see if he was interested,” she says.

“Turns out, he was.”

Schuller commuted to Spokane from his Newton, Massachusetts, home for the festival from 1993 to 2013, recreating Bach with his originalist sensibilities. ...continued on page 24

THE GENIUS OF BACH

Johann Sebastian Bach

H

ere’s a secret about Bach festivals: They’re not all about Bach, which you can clearly see by reviewing this year’s Northwest Bach Festival lineup.

Yes, you can find plenty of Bach in there, but there’s also Debussy, Mozart — even some Duke Ellington. It’s a little bit like holding an independence festival and calling it the George Washington Festival.

But there must be musical reasons for Bach’s unquestioned preeminence.

I asked Piotr Gajewski, the music director and conductor of the National Philharmonic in the D.C. area, to explain.

Gajewski [Gah-YEV-ski] will be in Spokane to conduct the Bach Festival Orchestra for the Finale Concert on March 5.

Piotr Gajewski “Well, this gets a little in the weeds, but here goes,” Gajewski says, laughing. “Bach revolutionized music. One way is that he participated in the development of the welltempered system. From ancient times, music was based on fifths, those were the perfect intervals,” continues Gajewski, who was born in Poland, not far from where Bach spent his life. But as new instruments became popular, he adds, fifths became unwieldy: “Tuning a keyboard on such intervals, it never would quite work.”

The well-tempered system — enshrined in Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier — created, for the first time, octaves broken into 12 equal semitones. “It was a gamechanger,” says Gajewski — something like the jump from tubes and wires to microchips. What was possible in the realm of music exploded.

Bach also contributed to the development of counterpoint. “That’s the art of setting different tunes against each other,” explains Gajewski. “The simplest version, of course, is a round, like ‘Row, row, row your boat.’ The highest expression is the art of the fugue.” Prior to counterpoint, most music sounded more like a single-melody church hymn.

“Bach was extraordinarily creative, hardworking and tremendously prolific,” Gajewski concludes. “His tunes are wonderful, his counterpoints clever. Many of his works were dramatic, like the St. Matthew Passion, and he also wrote hundreds of cantatas, like the one we’ll perform at the finale concert.

“Bach changed music in a monumental way; it was never again the same after him as it was before him.”

— TED S. McGREGOR JR.

O

NORTHWEST BACH FESTIVAL 2017

f course there’s plenty of Bach in this year’s lineup, but you’ll also notice a little more Mozart than normal — including the beloved A Little Night Music to kick off the Festival Finale on March 5.

“And I don’t think we’ve ever produced Exsultate, Jubilate before,” adds Gertrude Harvey, executive director of Connoisseur Concerts, of the Mozart motet also being performed at the finale. “Having a Met Opera soprano, Danielle Talamantes, will be a real treat.”

Outside of her opera career, Talamantes has recorded a Duke Ellington songbook, Heaven and Earth, and she’ll perform from that as well. “She really likes eclectic programs,” says Harvey.

Another highlight is Zuill Bailey’s Grammy-nominated Tales of Hemingway on March 2. “We got to hear it in Nashville, and we had no idea it would be a triple Grammy nominee. It’s just an amazing piece. And Liz DeMio [who will accompany Bailey on the piano], people just fell in love with her when she came for the Winter Classics in 2014.”

Hemingway’s contemporary Pablo Picasso also looms large over the festival, with a night of music and film at Gonzaga’s Jundt Art Museum on Feb. 21, along with the Northwest premiere, on Feb. 24, of The Three Dancers, an original piece commissioned in part by Connoisseur Concerts and inspired by the Picasso painting of the same name.

“It’s almost tango-like in its sound,” says Harvey, “and the ensemble is so interesting. There’s a violin, soprano sax, string bass, percussion, cello and even an accordion. Zuill really likes how it turned out.”

— TED S. McGREGOR JR.

AN EVENING WITH PICASSO

Zuill Bailey performs music inspired by Pablo Casals, followed by a screening of the hour-long film Le Mystère Picasso.

Tapas and sangria included. At the Jundt Art Museum (200 E. Desmet) on Tue, Feb. 21 at 7:30 pm. $48.

TWILIGHT INTERLUDE

John Marshall teams with Zuill Bailey for an hour-long revue of Kummer, Boccherini, Gabrielli and Bach. At Terra Blanca Winery (926 W. Sprague) on Wed, March 1 at 6 pm. $20 (21 and older only).

AN EVENING WITH HEMINGWAY

An intimate opportunity to hear Zuill Bailey reprise his Grammy-nominated performance of Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway with pianist Elizabeth DeMio. After the show, there will be a special surprise. At Barrister Winery on Thu, March 2 at 6 pm. $85 (includes buffet dinner; no-host wine available).

Piers Lane

AN EVENING IN VIENNA

Australian pianist Piers Lane plays Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss. At Barrister Winery (1213 W. Railroad Ave.) on Wed, Feb. 22 at 7:30 pm. $40; students $18.

BACH’S LUNCH

Danielle Talamantes

Dueling cellos with Zuill Bailey and John Marshall, principal cellist with the Spokane Symphony. At River Park Square’s Kress Gallery on Thu, Feb. 23 and Thu, March 2 at noon. FREE.

SATURDAY NIGHT AT BARRISTER

Metropolitan Opera soprano Danielle Talamantes and pianist Ivana Cojbasic will perform works from Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, Duke Ellington and more. At Barrister Winery on Sat, March 4 at 7:30 pm. $40; students $18.

FESTIVAL FINALE CONCERT

INSPIRED BY PICASSO

Witness the Northwest premiere of The Three Dancers by Elena Kats-Chernin — a piece inspired by Picasso’s 1925 painting of the same title. Performed by the Festival Ensemble. At Barrister Winery on Fri, Feb. 24 at 7:30 pm. $40; students $18.

National Philharmonic Music Director Piotr Gajewski leads the Festival Orchestra, featuring soloist Danielle Talamantes, through a robust program that includes Bach’s Cantata, BWV 51, the only one he wrote for a soprano, Elgar’s Serenade in E Minor and two beloved Mozart pieces, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Exsultate, Jubilate. Zuill Bailey will close the Festival by leading a tribute performance of Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile for Cello and String Orchestra. At St. John’s Cathedral (127 E. 12th) on Sun, March 5 at 3 pm. $45; students $23.

BACH GOES TO WINE COUNTRY

LISTEN UP! EAT UP! DRINK UP! CELEBRATE!

Elena Kats-Chernin

Zuill Bailey is joined by Kraig Scott on harpsichord for three Bach sonatas. At Foundry Vineyards in Walla Walla on Sun, Feb. 26 at 3 pm. $35.

BEAUTIFUL BACH SONATAS

Harpsichordist John Bodinger partners with Zuill Bailey for three Bach sonatas, this time at Spokane’s Barrister Winery on Tue, Feb. 28 at 7:30 pm. $40; students $18.

Celebrate the conclusion of the 2017 Bach Festival with the performers, a buffet dinner from Fery’s, an auction and a selection of musical treats, courtesy of Zuill Bailey. At Barrister Winery on Sun, March 5 at 5:30 pm. $48 (includes dinner; nohost wine available). n For more information, or tickets, visit nwbachfest.com or brownpapertickets.com.

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 23

CLASSICAL MUSIC “VARIATIONS OF ZUILL,” CONTINUED...

The late Gunther Schuller accepting the Key to the City of Spokane in 2011. Schuller led the Bach Festival from 1993 to 2013. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“He fell in love with Spokane,” Harvey says. “And Spokane musicians and Spokane audiences fell in love with him.”

But Schuller’s long, illustrious career was coming to an end; travel was becoming difficult. Harvey knew a transition was looming, but never quite got around to acting on it. Schuller, on principle, did not want to meddle in the recruitment of his replacement. It was going to take a little bit of that Bach magic to find a path forward.

Then one day, Harvey remarked to Schuller that she loved Bach’s Cello Suites and that she wanted to get some cello back into the festival. Schuller said there was a cellist he had just seen perform — one Zuill Bailey.

“Gunther told me this man was not only a wonderful musician,” Harvey recalls, “but he also had such an engaging way to draw people into the music.”

So Harvey booked Bailey to play the 2012 Northwest Bach Festival, and the gears started to turn.

In June of 2015, after 89 years living one of the great American musical lives, Schuller passed away. Without meaning to, one of his final performances was to recruit Bailey to replace him.

“WHEN YOU’RE THE DIRECTOR, YOU LOOK AT THE LONGER ARC. ZUILL’S GOAL IS TO HAVE A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP HERE AND REALLY SHAPE THE FESTIVAL INTO HIS VISION.”

WHO IS ZUILL?

As the son of two music educators in Northern Virginia, Bailey’s career arc may have been already in the stars. But the speed with which he picked it all up surprised even his parents.

“My mom and dad still laugh about how I would sit up on a stack of phone books as a kid, and when I started to play, I would immediately shut my eyes,” Bailey recalls. “Honestly, I don’t remember learning to play, just how to refine playing. My parents never had to ask me to practice. They had to ask me to stop.”

In fact, he started at age 4 with the Suzuki Method, which mimics the way young kids can learn new languages.

“My childhood changed my life,” says Bailey, “with all those arts opportunities at my fingertips. It made me feel safe. It gave me the tools to feel comfortable expressing myself.

“So it makes sense,” he continues, “that as the dust settles, I gravitate naturally to making a difference in education — bringing music to people who don’t have it.”

The year 1977 was big for the young Bailey, as “that’s the year when [Mstislav] Rostropovich — arguably the greatest cellist who ever lived — became director of the National Symphony. We kind of turned into cello mecca at that point.”

So the cello it would be, and soon enough Bailey was off to the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, then Juilliard on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

What followed was 25 years as a traveling soloist, going wherever the gigs took him — from plane to plane, his cello stowed in the seat next to him. He was living the dream every young musician imagines during those long hours of practice. And he’s played some epic venues: Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center,

24 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Carnegie Hall; in Austria, South Africa, Jordan, the UK — the list goes on.

But there’s a price to all that travel, and slowly it dawned on him that he wanted something different.

“The grass is greener,” says Bailey, now 44, “where you water it.”

He secured a faculty position at the University of Texas at El Paso, providing him a home base; he’s also artistic director of El Paso Pro-Musica and the Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska. These posts give him the chance to stay put for weeks at a time, and although he has been offered similar posts in other cities, when the opportunity to lead the Northwest Bach Festival in Spokane came up, “I immediately said yes.

“I felt something that was so right when I came to Spokane,” Bailey adds. “My friend Kevin lives here [Kevin Hekmatpanah, cellist with the Spokane Symphony and on the faculty at Gonzaga]. And the moment I met Gertrude, there was a synergy that was rare. Instinct is important; it just felt like home.”

“When you just come and play a one-off concert, it’s often just the standard, usual thing,” says Hekmatpanah.

“But when you’re the director, you look at the longer arc.

Zuill’s goal is to have a long-term relationship here and really shape the festival into his vision.”

Bailey is already bringing that horizon closer; he’s performing and programming here not only during the Bach Festival, but for concert series in July, August and December. And Connoisseur Concerts is now producing shows in Coeur d’Alene and Walla Walla.

“I’ll go ahead and make the comparison to Bach here,” says Piotr Gajewski, music director and conductor of the National Philharmonic, who will conduct the Festival Finale on March 5. “Zuill works unbelievably hard; he puts himself out there like no other collaborator I have worked with. He’s also a fabulous musician, just a joy to play music with.”

Bailey’s style is very personable and that makes him a little different — perhaps not exactly what you’ve experienced in a concert hall before. It’s who he is, but it’s also reflective of the sensibilities of the cadre of classical musicians now coming into their own.

“The generation that Zuill and I have grown up in, it’s been a really pivotal time in the world of classical music,” says Lara Downes, a pianist who has collaborated with Bailey and has performed at two recent Bach Festivals. “All our teachers thought the world of classical music was coming to an end. So you can walk away, or you can do what kids do and rebel — ‘No, we’re going to turn this around. We’re going to do outreach on our own terms.’

“I really admire Zuill for being able to really redefine what music can be to a community.”

My wife, Anne, is on the Connoisseur Concerts board, and we’ve experienced many musical highs with Bailey front and center, eyes still closed, or telling a funny ...continued on page 26

W

PRESENTED BY

BETWEEN THE CONCERTS

ith the arrival of Zuill Bailey as music director in 2014, along with building a bigger audience for concerts, the Northwest Bach Festival started upping its outreach efforts, embedding them deeper into the organization’s mission.

“I like to call it ‘community engagement,’” says Gertrude Harvey, executive director of Connoisseur Concerts. “Zuill loves the idea of integrating music in ways that break down the barriers between performers and audiences.”

Bailey will pack up his cello during the festival and visit local schools, neonatal wards in hospitals, women’s shelters and hospices.

“I’m always thinking of how to use music as a torch to light the way for us all,” says Bailey, “whether in a school, a concert hall or even a village.”

He means village literally, as one concert he performed as part of the Sitka Summer Music Festival’s Winter Classics series earlier this month was in Talkeetna, Alaska — a remote village near the base of Mount Denali.

“We get on float planes and snowmobiles to get to these villages, where hundreds come out for the concerts,” Bailey says. “Of course, only hundreds live in the village, so everyone comes. It’s all very life-changing for us musicians, too.”

Even a simple concert in a mall can stop people in their tracks.

“All of a sudden, a passing child will stop,” says Bailey, “and the parent will be trying to get them to go, you know, because they’re pressed for time. But the child won’t budge, so the parent stops for a second. And then the parent registers what’s going on, and they take a moment. Then they stand there for 10 minutes. I love that.

Beauty can do that.

“Then,” he continues, “there are the people who love and appreciate the art, but who are immobile, say in a nursing home. They want the music so badly, but they are stuck. They can’t get to a concert. That’s my mission, to go to them.”

— TED S. McGREGOR JR.

SEELEY LAKE, MT | FEB. 25, 2017

PRIZES awarded to top 3 male & female finishers!

1st: $250 | 2nd: $100 | 3rd: $50

NEW SPINS ON THE CLASSICS

F

Uncharted — a collaboration between various artists and the symphony — returns in April.

REGISTRATION $35 adults $10 19 & under

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

rom providing the live score to classic silent films, and regaling audiences with the magical music of Harry Potter and Star Wars, the Spokane Symphony has lately honed in on connecting listeners of all backgrounds and ages to its orchestral performances.

“We’re not your grandfather’s symphony,” says Executive Director Jeff vom Saal, who took the helm last May. “We’re really taking active steps every single day to evaluate what people are interested in, and to constantly refine.”

Here’s a snapshot of some of the Symphony’s innovative programs and collaborations coming up:

HEROES, VILLAINS AND SIDEKICKS

Sat, Feb. 18 at 2 and 8 pm; $14-$32/ages 17 and under, $22-$43/adults, $99-$135/VIP Joining past pop-culture-influenced programs, conductor Morihiko Nakahara takes an all-ages audience on an aural journey to the worlds of Superman, Batman and beyond.

Come early for pre-concert activities in the lobby, and don’t forget your costume.

BEETHOVEN AND BREWS

Fri, March 10 at 7:30 pm; $13.50-$25/ages 12 and under, $18-$43/adult, $125/VIP The worlds of Beethoven, beer and improv comedy merge for this special event. The Symphony performs a

www.mtsnowjoke.com

MissoulaIndependent_Snowjoke_020917_6V_KS.pdf

selection of the composer’s greatest works, interspersed with comedy from members of the Blue Door Theatre. To top it off, No-Li Brewhouse pours its new brew made just for the event, Beethoven Golden Ale.

UNCHARTED

Fri-Sat, April 14-15; time and price TBA Details are still under wraps, but this third annual collaboration with local arts nonprofit Terrain again will unite musicians, visual artists and performers of various disciplines with the orchestra for a diverse and unexpected arts experience. For example, last year’s version featured all-new, original work inspired by the narrative suite Peter and the Wolf. (CHEY SCOTT)

t

s 71

509-328-4886

SpokaneChildrensTheatre.org

N

SEASO

g n i n e p O Friday March 3rd at 7pm Buy 1 Get 1 Free

Tickets Available Online

Sat Mar 4 • 2pm Sun Mar 5 • 2pm Fri Mar 10 • 7pm Sat Mar 11 • 2pm

Sun Mar 12 • 2pm Fri Mar 17 • 7pm Sat Mar 18 • 2pm Sun Mar 19 • 2pm

Spring Break Camp for 1ST-8TH grades Apr 3RD-7TH

SIGN UP NOW Presenting Shrek the Musical

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 25

CLASSICAL MUSIC “VARIATIONS OF ZUILL,” CONTINUED... story about an eccentric composer you’ve never heard of. We’ve talked about everything from the comparative benefits of male versus female horsetail hair in bows (there’s a difference) to our boys — we have three, and he has two, with the artist Margarita Cabrera, whom he was married to until 2009.

Sure, it’s intimidating that he plays a cello made when Bach was a child (a 1693 Gofriller), that he looks like an international man of mystery (the hair, the dapper suits) and the name “Zuill,” well, that’s just not fair. Despite all that, he’s humble — very much the son of two teachers, with a soft spot for that kid out there (maybe sitting on a stack of phone books) who needs to connect to music.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ted S. McGregor Jr. is the publisher of the Inlander.

His favorite Bach-inpop-culture moment is Paul Simon’s haunting, 1973 lament “American Tune.” Simon borrowed the melody from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Willie Nelson’s cover version is worth a listen, too.

FINDING PEACE

Back to old Count von Keyserling: I took some license with that story, building on the original from Forkel in 1802 and layering on some of the historical record. You should know that in academic circles, whether Bach wrote the Goldberg Variations to help some sleepless diplomat is in dispute.

But the point of the story is to draw a line from all the way back in 1741 to the here and now. We’re still celebrating this man and his genius, across centuries and continents. But context matters, too. Artists going all the way back to Bach have been a comfort to us, but we

don’t always remember the times they lived in.

“Music gives us a connection to our past,” says Downes. “We have this idea that classical music, and things from the past, came from some other reality, where there wasn’t stress and people weren’t overwhelmed.

But the world was never a quieter place. Some of the great artists lived through incredibly turbulent times. Chopin was running away from a revolution, but he wrote all this soothing music.

“Today,” she continues, “we’re all feeling that through this whole mess, we’re inundated with so many different things. We’re all trying to pull inward to avoid the rabbit hole. Finding some quiet time in the course of our everyday lives right now is essential for survival.”

Downes’ remark about “this whole mess” of course refers to the times we live in, nervous about the future and worried that our leaders are ill-equipped to maintain peace and prosperity. We’re having a collective “emergency of the soul,” as Alex

Ross put it in his recent New Yorker essay, “Making Art in a Time of Rage.”

Three days after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Leonard Bernstein conducted Mahler’s

“WE’RE INUNDATED WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS. FINDING SOME QUIET TIME IN THE COURSE OF OUR EVERYDAY LIVES RIGHT NOW IS ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL.” Resurrection Symphony and famously remarked: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

Music has to be both a place of refuge and a statement of humanity. A nice Bach Festival right about now is just the tonic we need, as we seek out the arts — musicians of all kinds, comedians even — to help us find peace.

“It happens more than you would think,” says Bailey, as we discuss the tale of the sleepless Count.

“Someone comes up to me after a show and says, ‘I can’t believe it; I fell asleep.’ These are busy, successful people — people who may be stressed out,

SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND PERFORMED LIVE IN ITS ENTIRETY!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2017 - 6:30 PM INB Performing Arts Center

wcebroadway.com 26 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

• GROUPS SAVE! 509.777.6253

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY

Discover How to Affect Lasting Change.

who may struggle to sleep at night. What is it about a concert that can put them to sleep?

“Music brings harmony to our bodies,” Bailey concludes.

“Sleep is peace.”

THAT OLD BACH MAGIC

Little did he know it, but in 2012, when Bailey first performed in Spokane, he was auditioning to lead the Northwest Bach Festival.

At first, Harvey, the executive director, didn’t know it either.

The weekend before Bailey’s concert that year, the late pianist and composer William Doppmann, who lived in Bellingham at the time, had to cancel. Suddenly, Harvey had a giant hole in her festival.

“They called me,” recalls Downes, who lives in California, “and they were like, ‘Can you be here tomorrow?’”

After her fill-in performance, Downes went to dinner with the Bach Festival brain trust.

“She said, ‘I see you have Zuill coming,’” recalls Harvey. “‘You’re going to have so much fun with him.’”

Bailey and Downes, it turned out, were longtime friends and collaborators. Harvey pumped her for details, and she shared the innovative things he was doing in El Paso and Sitka.

Soon Harvey saw the outlines of a gift horse and wasted no time. Bailey and Schuller would share the leadership of the 2013 Bach Festival. As a tribute to Schuller, Bailey played all six of Bach’s Cello Suites over the course of two glorious hours. In 2014, Bailey took the baton.

How slight a series of accidents led Bailey to Spokane? Harvey just wanted to hear some cello. Schuller had just stumbled across Bailey in Santa Fe. A musician fell ill. His replacement just happened to be a friend of Bailey’s.

Lest you think this is all coincidence, and that the magic of Bach had nothing to do with it, consider this: For her fill-in performance, Downes played the Goldberg Variations. n

CONCERTS AT THE HIVE: LOTUS FEB. 14 AND REBELUTION – FEB. 22 KPND SKI PARTY: AT TRINITY AT CITY BEACH – FEB. 22 PARADE OF LIGHTS IN DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT SPONSORED BY WASHINGTON TRUST BANK – FEB. 17 MICKDUFF’S BEERHALL 3RD ANNUAL WINTER CARNIVAL CORNHOLE CLASSIC: FEB. 18 DINNER HOUR JAZZ AT TRINITY AT CITY BEACH: FEB. 23 WEIRD WONDERFUL WINTER BEERFEST & BAR CRAWL: FEB. 25 COMEDY SHOW AT THE 219: FEATURING MORGAN PRESTON – FEB. 25 EICHARDTS K-9 KEG PULL & FAMILY FAIRE DAY: AT THE GRANARY – FEB. 26

COST: $50

(includes 2-day seminar, 300 page curriculum, snacks & coffee/tea)

SPOKANE DEMOCRACY SCHOOL FEBRUARY 24TH | 6PM TO 9PM FEBRUARY 25TH | 9AM TO 5PM

REGISTER ONLINE: kaihuschke.typeform.com/ to/BflWm5

MORE INFORMATION: www.celdf.org & kai@celdf.org

The CELDF Democracy School is a stimulating and illuminating intensive seminar that teaches citizens and activists how to assert local control in order to protect the rights of their residents, their communities, and nature. We help citizens and activists reframe difficult single issue work (such as coal + oil trains, fracking, factory farms, worker rights, etc.) to directly confront corporate control over their constitutional rights.

SNOWSHOE HIKES, KIDS CRAFTS & CAMPFIRE “LET IT GLOW!” NIGHT PARADE AND FIREWORKS – FEB. 19 GET THE GIRLS OUT WITH SHE JUMPS! – FEB. 26

LIVE MUSIC EVERY NIGHT AT VARIOUS VENUES VALENTINE’S DAY SPEED DATING TASTE OF MUSIC AT THE PEND OREILLE WINERY HISTORY MYSTERY FUNDRAISER: A VAUDEVILLE REVIEW

for more event information:

sandpointwintercarnival.com or

visitsandpoint.com

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 27

PERFORMANCE

Backstage Story Behind the preparation and precaution: Why it practically takes a village to put on a Cirque du Soleil show

BY E.J. IANNELLI

L

The touring OVO show requires 19 semi-trucks’ worth of stuff.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PHOTO

28 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

ike any spectator event, there are two sides to Cirque du Soleil. There’s the audience-facing side, with all its daredevil acrobatics and visual spectacle that leaves viewers wide-eyed and slack-jawed. That, unsurprisingly, is the side that gets the most attention.

The other, operational side lacks the same exhibitionism and pizzazz, but without it the show quite literally couldn’t go on. And in its own way, it’s equally impressive.

“I think a lot of people don’t understand what it takes to put on a production like this,” says Michael Naumann, production manager for Cirque du Soleil who’s currently on tour with the arena version of the troupe’s insect-themed OVO. He rattles off numbers by way of illustration: 19 touring semi-trucks, each 53 feet long, with an additional truck just for catering; 27 technicians; 50 performing artists. Between 60 and 70 local stagehands are hired during setup in every city, with around 100 hired for the closing “load-out” phase.

“This particular show weighs about 115,000 pounds.

We hang just over 110 motor points in the ceiling, and that’s our side masking, speakers, truss, cabling, looms, our wall for our set. We spend about 12 hours setting it up, and it takes just about three hours to take it all down and pack it up in the trucks,” Naumann says. When overseas, they swap those trucks for two Boeing 747s.

What all those numbers amount to is one of the largest touring shows of its kind.

“We’re pretty unique in the industry. Every once in a while, Marvel is close,” he says with the polite magnanimity of someone awarding a participant ribbon. The chirping of crickets suddenly erupts around him as they test for that evening’s performance.

H

ailing from McCall, Idaho, Naumann got his start in this field in 1996 working for Feld Entertainment, which means he’s been on the road for the better part of two decades. During that time, he’s been with Cirque du Soleil for four tours — Saltimbanco, Dralion, Varekai and now OVO — and has seen close to three times that many of their shows. As a production

manager, he’s tasked with relocating performance spaces initially conceived for Cirque’s 3,000-seat grand chapiteau, or big top, into venues that can potentially seat tens of thousands.

“My job is to transform the arena into a theater,” he says.

“Most of the time, people go into the arena and it’s a cold, bright [place] where they go to see hockey games or rock concerts. For us, the show begins as soon as you walk in the arena, so we always try to set the mood with our lighting. On this one, since it’s a bug theme, it’s actually got crickets, and there’s lots of different animal noises when you walk in.”

That entrance-to-exit experience is vital, Naumann says, because “every Cirque show has that ‘wow’ factor. You come out and you sit there in your seat, and you’re mesmerized for two hours. You watch the acrobats and you’re just amazed at what they can do. You don’t think about anything else. And when you leave, you’re always in a good mood. It’s an escape from reality because what [the acrobats] do is not ... reality,” he laughs.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority,” says a Cirque production manager.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PHOTO

T

he acrobatics in Cirque shows are often branded as “death-defying,” and that’s no hyperbole. In 2013, an experienced acrobat fell 90 feet to her death during a routine KÀ show in Las Vegas, a tragic exception to the troupe’s otherwise impeccable performance-related safety record over the course of three decades. Still, even the backstage prep isn’t without an element of serious risk. Last November, a crew worker was killed by a telescopic lift while setting up for the San Francisco production of Luzia. With lives hanging in the balance both onstage and off, Naumann and his crew fear nothing more than complacency.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority, obviously, with the high level of acrobatics that we do,” he says. “Every arena is different, yet we always try to create the same environment, especially for the artists, just so that they have a consistent environment and training area and warmup area. We have four acrobatic riggers on this show and two automation technicians. As part of their load-in and as they build everything, they’re constantly doing safety inspections. And then the next morning they come in and they run through everything again. There’s a lot of redundancy.”

The crew generally starts work at 6:30 on the morning before the show and works up until midnight, culminating with perfecting the lighting. The next day, the acrobats are already rehearsing their routines as early as noon for an evening performance. But even with all this preparation and procedure, Naumann says that the cast and crew are as alert and attentive to each performance as they are to the very first.

“You never take it for granted,” he says. “Every show is unique for me. And they’re all very unique.” n Cirque du Soleil: OVO • Feb. 16-19: Thu-Sat, 7:30 pm; Sat, 4 pm; Sun, 1:30 and 5 pm • $25-$135 • Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena • 720 W. Mallon • 800-325-7328 • spokanearena.com

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 29

CULTURE | DIGEST

STORIES MAKING A PIVOT

Y

Local author Sam Ligon will be among those sharing true stories on Thursday.

ou’ll be forgiven for thinking Spokane is awash in so-called “slams.” Poetry slams. Theater slams. Comedy slams. You name an art form, it seems like the Lilac City has people jumping onstage for impromptu performances.

We’ve had a considerable gap, though, that’s inexplicable given Spokane’s literary bent — the storytelling slam. Events like The Moth, one noteworthy storytelling series, are popular across the country, and now Spokane is stepping up to the mic to tell some true stories via Pivot, a new storytelling throwdown.

The idea for Pivot came together through the joint efforts of some folks you’d expect — Brooke Matson at Spark Central, Melissa Huggins at Spokane Arts — as well as others you might not, like the Center for Justice’s Rick Eichstaedt and Gonzaga professor Josh Armstrong, who became a regular Moth attendee in his annual visits to see his brother in New York.

“I love the idea of going and hearing a true story told live, without notes. There’s just a microphone between you and the audience. Just people sharing their humanity,” Armstrong says. “It’s so cool.”

Cool enough that Armstrong was inspired to start pushing for a Spokane version, one that’s coming to life Thursday. Storytellers have to tell their story from memory — no notes — and it has to

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

BY DANIEL WALTERS

TV On paper, RIVERDALE (8 pm Thursdays, CW) almost sounds like a parody of a gritty, sexy CW reimagining of Archie comics.

Archie has six-pack abs, and has been sleeping with his teacher, a much hotter Ms. Grundy. Jughead has been transformed from a happy-go-lucky burger-monger to a sullen teen who provides the ponderous voice-over narration. Oh, yeah: There’s been a murder, and everyone’s a suspect. What’s awesome is that it actually all works, filtering the basic premise of the comics through the lens of Gossip Girl and Veronica Mars and ending up with something slightly sleazy, sure, but fun and popcorn-worthy. Best of all is how the series tweaks the Betty-and-Veronica relationship beyond just the blonde and brunette competing over the redhead.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

be true, autobiographical and last about eight minutes. The first edition features stories revolving around the theme of “New Beginnings,” and features storytellers Kurt Olson, Sam Ligon, Shawn Vestal, Jennifer Ferch, Evelyne Ello Hart, Rachelle Srawther, Aileen Keown Vaux and Claire Rudolf Murphy.

“What we really want is people to feel that this is something any community member can do,” Armstrong says, noting that while Pivot events will happen quarterly, other story slams might pop up throughout the year. “Maybe you have a small business in town and you have a story to tell. It’s not meant to be all arts people.”

That said, it probably doesn’t hurt having some established writers in the first Pivot, getting it off to a rousing start. Armstrong has heard the stories and believes they’ll appeal to a wide swath of Inland Northwesterners.

“I think anybody would enjoy them,” Armstrong says. “There are some really tender moments, and also some laugh-out-loud stories.”

— DAN NAILEN Pivot: New Beginnings • Thu, Feb. 16 at 7 pm • All-ages • $10 suggested donation • Washington Cracker Co. Building • 304 W. Pacific • pivotspokane.com

VIDEO GAME Too many video games have been about heroes taking on monsters and gods. But OKHLOS, riffing on the world of Greek mythology, finally gives the hoi polloi a chance to tear things up. Instead of controlling a single hero or well-honed squad, you direct an ever-growing mob of Greek citizens, ranging from philosophers to slaves, as they tear through Greek cities and destroy the gods themselves. Feel jilted in love? Take that, Aphrodite! Have a wicked hangover? Time to die, Dionysus! Rain on your wedding day? Get crushed, Zeus! The controls are a bit wonky and imprecise, but, hey, don’t lead a mob if you don’t want it to get a little out of control.

PODCAST Plenty of podcasts purport to explore the hidden angles of the everyday, but few do this better than 99% INVISIBLE, a podcast dedicated to every nature of design. You’ll learn the history of the iconic NBC sound chime. You’ll hear about the world’s biggest boondoggle of a bus station. You’ll understand exactly why green lawns, for all their expense and impracticality, become something of a necessity for those in search of status symbols. You’ll learn why “McMansions” are considered so ugly by architects, and see the intent behind benches with armrests in the middle. All this is augmented with carefully selected music and sound effects that make each episode a beautiful little work of design on its own. 

Perils of Patient Care

15

| The Lowdown on High Blood Pressure

22

| Rub-on Relief

40

HEALTHY LIVING IN THE INLAND NORTHWEST • FREE

Your Bowl Fill FEBRUARY-MARCH 2017

Clover’s Italian Wedding Soup SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE INLANDER

CVR.indd 1

To advertise in the next InHealth, contact advertising@inlander.com.

30 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

1/26/17 5:55 PM

On Inlander Stands Now!

CULTURE | PHOTOGRAPHY

Spokane after dark, circa the 1990s.

Shooting a Scene Garageland photo exhibit brings Spokane’s ’90s-era rock scene back to life

BY DAN NAILEN

T

here was a time not long ago when the word “selfie” didn’t even exist, when very few people had powerful cameras in their pockets. That makes photographic evidence of that time all the more cool when you see it.

Erik Anderson was one of the people who actually did pack a camera when he was haunting the clubs and bars that helped make up Spokane’s downtown rock scene in the early 1990s — places like the Big Dipper, Mayfair Cafe and Cocktail Lounge (now a parking lot) and Mother’s Pub (now Garageland). It was an old Minolta that his grandfather passed down after buying it in Kowloon, Hong Kong, in 1974.

“Usually I would find myself a spot, and then just sit and watch people for a while,” Anderson says. “Take about 20 or 30 minutes to see who was coming in and who was going out, who was planted where. And then I’d just pick somebody and watch them for a while. It might take me six to 10 pictures before I’d get something decent. I’m pretty good at being inconspicuous.”

A selection of Anderson’s photos are on display for the first time at Garageland through the end of the month, and the black-and-white images reveal a lifestyle familiar to anyone who spent any time going to indie shows — cigarette smoke, dive bars and guitars are prominent.

For Anderson, taking pictures offered a much-needed artistic outlet. The Lewis and Clark High School graduate had drummed in local bands like Psychic Coffee when he was an undergrad at Eastern Washington University, then left for a few years before returning to Spokane for grad school at EWU; he eventually got his master’s in archaeology at the University of London and now lives in Seattle.

“I was thinking of getting seriously into photography,” Anderson says. “It was just the art I wanted to be doing. I had to be doing some kind of art when I was in grad school; otherwise I’d be losing my mind. And I was over playing music — I had just been doing it way too long.”

ERIK ANDERSON PHOTOS

Anderson’s photographs might have remained crated up if he hadn’t seen old friend JJ Wandler, owner of Garageland, posting on Facebook about recovering some of the Mayfair’s old interior decorations before the place was torn down last year. One of three famed Mayfair murals now adorns a wall at Garageland, but it didn’t come easy; Wandler ripped open his wrist, requiring 19 stitches, as he removed the wall the mural was painted on.

Wandler’s posts inspired Anderson to dig into his old photos, scan them into his computer and start sharing his glimpses of the past.

The Mayfair spent a good five or six years as “the epicenter of the scene,” Wandler says. If anyone at a Big Dipper show in those days wanted something harder to drink than beer or wine, they went across the street to see Rick the bartender (the subject of one of Anderson’s photos) and get a cocktail.

“There were bands who formed there and bands who broke up there,” Wandler says. “I met girls I dated there and probably had breakups there. There were punk-rock songs written about Rick the bartender.”

Wandler got the Mayfair mural on the Garageland wall in January, and a show of Anderson’s old scene photos is a perfect complement; together they provide a way for Spokane natives to revisit their youth, and for newer transplants to glimpse a Spokane they never experienced.  Garageland • 230 W. Riverside • Mon-Thu, 4 pmmidnight; Fri-Sat, 11 am-2 am; Sun, 11 am-11 pm • facebook.com/garagelandspokane • 315-8324

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 31

CULTURE | LITERATURE

“There is something really satisfying about making up scientific facts, so there is a lot of that in the stories,” Leyna Krow says.

Anchoring the Absurd

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Leyna Krow’s first book is filled with surreal stories about space, squids, snakes, sinking ships and much more

BY CHEY SCOTT

L

eyna Krow’s debut short story collection appropriately begins with an “index of things to come.”

The two-page spread previews both the weirdly fantastical worlds and characters, and the rather routine human behaviors, that readers will encounter throughout the 15 stories of I’m Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking.

There are mentions of libraries on pages 40, 73, 96, 134 and 147-152, and “deliberate movement of small rocks” on pages 69-71 and 73. Other notations direct the reader to musings and references to snakes/serpents,

32 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

uncomfortable encounters at the grocery store, dead parents, breakfast foods, and “fences (or lack thereof).”

Inside the Rocket Bakery on Garland Avenue, located within walking distance of her home, Krow describes her collection released this month as “domestic fabulism,” a term, she adds, that she’s borrowed from another writer.

“It’s similar to magical realism. There are fabulous and weird things happening in the context of the supernormal, or people in a weird setting who are having a normal problem,” Krow explains.

The story “Habitat” follows a brother and sister tasked with cleaning out their childhood home on the Palouse, but the farmland region has been overtaken by an invasive fern that also happens to provide the preferred environment of a certain species of snake. In “Disruption,” a California woman constantly has to pick the contents of her kitchen cabinets off the floor because a mysterious button being pressed in Detroit causes them to spill out every day.

A graduate of Eastern Washington University’s MFA program in creative writing, Krow wrote about half of the stories for I’m Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking as part of her thesis. The Southern California native arrived in Spokane from Seattle seven years ago to pursue her creative writing degree, and has since put down roots here, although she says it “has been my intention not to stay, but it’s grown on me, and now I really like it.”

Krow’s past and current residences noticeably influence her work, like that story set on the Palouse, and others in places all along the West Coast. Rather than build her stories around a specific character, Krow prefers to first decide the premise or a setting.

“The characters are built in, and as unlikely as it sounds, the weird premises are based in reality; something that caught my attention and that I tweaked to something far more strange.”

She mentions the story “Tiger, Tiger,” about a couple who believe that their neighbor is keeping a caged jungle cat in his backyard. It was inspired by a friend telling her that a big-cat sanctuary in her home state of Indiana occasionally takes in exotic cats seized from meth lab properties.

Thematically, Krow’s work also revolves around made-up facts.

“I dig animals, science-y stuff and the ocean,” she remarks. “And there is something really satisfying about making up scientific facts, so there is a lot of that in the stories — me having fun with ideas that maybe could be true in some universe, but aren’t.”

Friend and fellow author Sharma Shields refers to this element of Krow’s work as “fiction science,” rather than science fiction.

“I said, ‘That feels right,’” Krow recalls, laughing.

Being a writer in Spokane as the region continues to blossom amid a local writing renaissance has been a hugely positive experience for Krow, whose work was previously published in numerous literary journals before uniting for this collection. She meets monthly with a group of writers who are mostly Eastern Washington MFA grads, but says that even those who didn’t go through that program are welcomed with open arms.

“People who are more established in their careers are super accessible, and they are encouraging of people who are up-and-coming, or even those who write casually,” she says.

Declining to comment on what she’s currently working on because it “derails me,” Krow says that she intends to publish long-form fiction in the future, but that short stories will always be a form she enjoys and produces.

Novels, she admits, may be the more “commercially successful” fiction format, but ultimately the author follows her own advice to other writers to “write what entertains you.”

“If you aren’t having fun, you’re not going to finish it or do a good job… if someone else wants to read it, lucky for you,” she says, adding sarcastically, “There are only, like, five people on Earth who want to read short stories, so you don’t want to spend all your time trying to figure out what those five people like.” n Reading: Leyna Krow with Aileen Keown Vaux • Fri, Feb. 17 at 7 pm • Free • Auntie’s Bookstore • 402 W. Main • auntiesbooks.com • 838-0206

What’s In Your Glass?

A little thinking, before drinking, didn’t hurt anybody.

A new series sheds some light on your favorite beverages

BY CARA STRICKLAND

C

hances are, you have several different types of drinks every day. Maybe you start your morning with coffee or tea, grab a kombucha at lunch, and end your day with a glass of wine or a pint of beer. Whatever your beverage, it’s likely that you don’t think much about it, beyond the flavor or the caffeine rush. The new Inland Northwest Food Network series Drink This! aims to change all that.

Teri McKenzie, Inland NW Food Network founder and executive director, was inspired to create this series after reading Bread, Wine, Chocolate: the Slow Loss of Foods We Love, a book by journalist and educator Simran Sethi.

“She was trying to get people to think about the stories behind these foods and what’s going on with them from an agricultural perspective, from a human labor perspective,” says McKenzie. “Because a big part of the work that we are doing here is to help people get reconnected to their food, and think about where does their food ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 33

SAT FEB 25TH C H IL I F E E D & SALE 11AM - 3PM

at the

JAN, THE TOY LADY, IS ENCHANTED BY HARRY POTTER ALL OVER AGAIN WITH NEW PUZZLES, GAMES, PLAYING CARDS, AND METAL SCULPTURES:

FOOD | EDUCATION

-Harr y yer a . wizard

Corbin Senior Ctr.

SPOKANE P tters GUILD

River Park Square (509) 456-TOYS

More info: 509-532-8225

SpokanePottersGuild.org

Exploring the history and magic of tea.

COME FOR

RESTAURANT WEEK … Stay for the Experience

February 23 – March 4, 2017

Come stay and dine at one of our restaurants: Dockside, Beverly’s, Bonsai Bistro, Tito’s Italian Grill and Wine Shop and The Cedars Floating Restaurant.

RESTAURANT WEEK PACKAGE STARTING AT $199*

( 2 0 8 ) 7 6 5 .4 0 0 0

•

*Per night. Subject to availability.

CD A R ESO RT. CO M

February 25th 9:30am

“WHAT’S IN YOUR GLASS?,” CONTINUED... come from. Again, what does that mean in terms of the plant life?

What does it mean in terms of the people? The idea occurred to me, ‘Well, what about our drinks?’”

Each month, join an expert to get a sip of the history, culture, physical processes and people who go into filling your glass or mug. This month, you can delve deeper into coffee at DOMA in Post Falls, or mix things up with cocktails and infused syrups in March. Over the course of the year, you’ll have a chance to take a closer look at tonics and herbal drinks, milk, fermented drinks, shrub soda, beer, wine, hard cider and distilled drinks. All classes are $25 for nonmembers and $20 for members; preregistration is required.

T

he series kicked off in January with a class on the origins of tea at Gaiwan Tea House in Coeur d’Alene. The room was buzzing with tea aficionados, including a woman named Brenda Doggett from Post Falls. Her excitement was palpable.

“It shows up in so many other places besides your cup,” she said, noting that she’d begun to cook with tea. She came to learn more about the health benefits of tea: “I’m naturally caffeinated, so I’m looking for decaffeinated options.”

The presenter for the evening was Josephie Dean Jackson, a certified tea specialist and tea grower from Australia by way of Texas. Now she’s growing tea in Coeur d’Alene.

The atmosphere was hardly that of a lecture, in spite of Jackson’s PowerPoint presentation. Almost from the beginning, participants were asking questions about everything from the differences between green, black, and white tea to how long to steep it, and whether or not they could grow it themselves.

As she spoke about the history of tea, everyone got to taste some of it. It was not unlike wine tasting: We were invited to smell the tea first, before taking a small sip. Both dry tea leaves and the ones used to brew our tea were passed around for us to smell and inspect. The process reminded me of the world of teas available, and how the same plant can change dramatically in flavor, depending on where it’s grown and the processing it undergoes. So much to consider: Jackson later characterized trying to learn so much about tea in a short program like this as “drinking from the fire hydrant of the universe.”

In the end, what’s McKenzie’s goal for Drink This!?

“I’m hoping that these presentations will help pique people’s interests to delve deeper, and to think about how there is so much more to our drinks or our food than we typically think about,” she says. “We’re just so perfunctory, or just on autopilot so much, with our food or drinks. I’m hoping that this will be a fun way to get people thinking. It’s not intended to be guilt-tripping or anything like that, it’s really just meant to be inspiring.”  Visit inwfoodnetwork.org/drink-this for more on the Drink This! series.

34 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

SARAH PHILP PHOTO

A prediction: You’re going to hate this movie.

Alienation Building A Cure for Wellness brings operatic craziness sure to irritate audiences

BY SCOTT RENSHAW

T

here’s a temptation, for those who write about named Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) who may have cut a movies for a living, to anticipate the commercial few regulatory corners to seal his latest deal. His bosses prospects of movies before they are released. use that slip-up to blackmail him into a strange assignThis is usually a fool’s errand; anyone who believes ment: retrieving the company’s CEO, Pembroke (Harry they know exactly what will be a hit and what will be Groener), from the exclusive Swiss spa from which he a flop should be in a far more lucrative career than film has sent a message, claiming that he intends never to criticism. Nevertheless, occasionally it’s hard to resist return. When Lockhart arrives at the “wellness center” reaching the end of a movie and immediately applying run by Dr. Volmer (Jason Isaacs), he finds an almost cultyears of experience to predicting a general audience’s like atmosphere, along with a creepy history of the castle reaction. Such was the case with A Cure for Wellness, and location. the prediction went something like this: “People are going Creepiness is a vibe that director Gore Verbinski can to hate this movie.” manage well — he directed the first American iteration of It’s important to emphasize the distinction between The Ring — and he sets the stage with a handful of arrestsuch a prediction and my own feelings about the film. Ining shots, like an empty room full of glowing computer deed, a whole lot of what makes it occasionally fascinatterminals, and an image playing off the mirrored surface ing — or at the very least, lurid fun — of a European train. The production is exactly what seems like the result A CURE FOR WELLNESS design is a top-to-bottom delight in A of a computer program designed to Cure for Wellness, employing ominous Rated R create something that will earn a Chospital corridors and steampunk-y Directed by Gore Verbinski CinemaScore. But A Cure for Wellness Starring Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth isolation tanks for a sense of dilapidated is also frustrating in part because of menace, populated by patrons and staff what it promises, yet doesn’t deliver. If you’re going to members all dressed in crisp institutional white. There’s make a freaky, bizarre amalgam of allegory, morality play almost never a moment when the images on screen aren’t and body horror, it’s best to let people know in advance fascinating to look at. that’s exactly what they’re in for.

Eventually, however, there’s the not-inconsequential The opening minutes make it clear that something matter of what A Cure for Wellness is ultimately about, and sinister is going on. From a prologue set amid forbidthat’s where things get messy. Initially, it promises to use ding skyscrapers set against slate-gray skies, the story its solve-the-mystery structure to explore the contempotransitions to a financial services company whiz kid rary “disease” of power-mad careerism, given a touch

of David Fincher’s The Game via Lockhart’s history of following in the footsteps of his suicidal father. Will Volmer turn out to be the villain of this story, or its hero, addressing the existential black hole in the lives of his wealthy clientele? How does this remote, no-cellphoneservice mountain hideaway fit into a world of perpetual, faces-staring-at-screens anxiety?

It’s no spoiler to state that A Cure for Wellness turns out to be considerably more complicated than all of that, including the identity of the mysterious, childlike young woman named Hannah (Mia Goth) who stares down from the castle walls and hums unsettling tunes. “Overly complicated” seems to be an approach Verbinski finds hard to avoid, as this movie joins the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels and The Lone Ranger as sprawling stories which laugh in the face of narrative efficiency. The mythology gets more complicated by the minute, until the resolution begins to test the limits of when a viewer will start to say, “No, seriously, that’s where you were going with this?”

And that’s not even touching on all the unpleasant places Verbinski and screenwriter Justin Haythe go in the film’s second half: dental torture, forced ingestion of disgusting substances, rape, incest and generally the kind of material that average viewers are unlikely to applaud. A Cure for Wellness might have slipped a lesson about modern life into its sinister setting, but instead opts for bloated, operatic Grand Guignol. There’s never a dull moment on the way to ticket buyers scurrying unhappily toward the exits. n

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 35

FILM | SHORTS

OPENING FILMS A CURE FOR WELLNESS

While this Gore Verbinski film is occasionally fascinating — or at the very least, lurid fun — A Cure for Wellness is also frustrating in part because of what it promises, yet doesn’t deliver. If you’re going to make a freaky, bizarre amalgam of allegory, morality play and body horror, it’s best to let people know in advance that’s exactly what they’re in for. Initially, it promises to use its solve-the-mystery structure to explore the contemporary “disease” of power-mad careerism, but it turns out to be more complicated than that, and unpleasantly so. (SR) Rated R

THE GREAT WALL

One thing you know you’re going to get from Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) when he makes a movie is a visual feast of bright colors and eyepopping effects. In The Great Wall, his first English-language feature, Yimou calls on Matt Damon, playing a European mercenary, to help an army of Chinese defend the wall and all of humanity against an invading legion of monstrous lizards (yes, you read that correctly). (DN) Rated PG-13

F O T S E B L A U N TH AN 24 W N D AN OLL L N I THE DER’S P REA

THANKS FOR VOTING!

PICK UP THE RESULTS ISSUE ON MARCH 23RD ADVERTISE IN THE RESULTS ISSUE! advertising@inlander.com 36 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

FIST FIGHT

In this remake of sorts of 1987’s Three O’Clock High, a schoolyard fight gets comically twisted when the two facing off are teachers, not students.

Ron Strickland (Ice Cube) gets fired after one of his peers, Andy Campbell (Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) narcs about his crazed ways in the classroom. As we’ve all learned from TV, “snitches get stitches,” so Ron prepares to beat up Andy after school in the parking lot. Word about the #teacherfight gets out in advance, of course, and laughs allegedly ensue. (DN) Rated R

TONI ERDMANN

An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, this German/Austrian follows the elderly Winfried to Bucharest, where his daughter, Ines, is a high-powered corporate type with no time to entertain her bored, mischievous father. After driving her crazy during a visit, Winfried agrees to leave, only to show up again in the guise of “Toni Erdmann,” a smooth-talking character in a bad wig who infiltrates Ines’ workplace by claiming to be her CEO’s life coach. Jack Nicholson is slated to play the title role in the American remake. (DN) Rated R

NOW PLAYING

A DOG’S PURPOSE

Things didn’t start out great for this “feel good” comedy/drama about golden retriever Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad) who is reborn again and again as another dog after the end of his previous life. The day before its L.A. premiere (which was subsequently canceled), footage surfaced showing one of the canine cast members in apparent distress during a scene; an investigation into the incident is ongoing. So let that influence your decision to see this film, also starring Dennis Quaid, if you will. (CS) Rated PG

THE COMEDIAN

Robert DeNiro stars as Jackie Burke, an aging comedian who hasn’t been in the spotlight for years, stuck in the public’s mind as the long-ago TV character he once played. When a video of a low-key standup set goes viral, Burke suddenly finds a second life on stage, one helped along by his brother (Danny DeVito), a woman (Leslie Mann) he met while serving community service and her dad (Harvey Keitel). With that kind of star power, and Oscar-winning director Taylor Hackford behind the camera, you’d expect more than you get from this Comedian. (DN) Rated R

FIFTY SHADES DARKER

The original Fifty Shades of Grey book was enough of a hit that a film version of the erotic thriller was inevitable, and the 2015 movie starring Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey was a hit despite an obvious lack of chemistry between the stars. The sequel picks up

in Seattle, where Anastasia has broken up with the moody billionaire, but he’s not having it. Naked hijinks ensue.

(DN) Rated R

THE FOUNDER

Ray Kroc, McDonald’s innovator and later something of a business cult leader, is portrayed here by the intense, superb Michael Keaton. He’s at once genius and evil in that banal way of greedy, insecure men; the film’s protagonist is also its villain. Director John Lee Hancock is at the helm of this wild and sometimes sinister story. (MJ)

HIDDEN FIGURES

You’ve probably never heard of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, who were pioneers in — respectively — mathematics, computer programming and engineering at NASA, without whom it’s astronauts would never have flown. The three black women helped the space agency through its first manned space flight, as documented in this historical drama. (MJ) Rated PG

JACKIE

Chilean director Pablo Larraín (No) makes his English-language debut with one of America’s defining national narratives. Jackie has Natalie Portman as the title character in the days following the death of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. It often nails the connection between history and image, but it’s also never about to let you forget that central idea. (SR) Rated R

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2

In the first movie, ex-hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) comes out of retirement to hunt down the lowlifes who killed his dog and beat him up in a carjacking attempt, and action-movie fans rejoiced. The follow-up finds Wick again dragged from a life of leisure to help a friend face down some of the world’s deadliest assassins in a Romeset flick with a high body count sure to thrill fans of the original. (DN) Rated R

LA LA LAND

When jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) first see each other, their attraction is more than magnetic — it can bend time and space. The leads help the musical construction make sense; these two are so head over heels for each other that of course everything stops for a song-and-dance number now and again. (PC) Rated PG-13

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

The improbably delightful original LEGO Movie found a brilliant game plan for turning a toy into a story: combining a child’s anarchic sense of play with a savvy adult’s perspective on how goofy yet inspired that play can look from a distance. The LEGO Batman Movie adds another level of self-awareness about the entire recent history of comic-book movies, making for a wonderfully engaging mix of action spectacle and genre parody. (SR) Rated PG

LION

Dev Patel stars as an Australian man who was adopted by parents after getting lost on the streets of Calcutta as a child. As the memories come back to him, he sets out to find the mother and brother who he lost that day, even though 25 years have passed. At Magic Lantern. (MB) Rated PG-13

MANCHESTER

BY THE SEA

Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a handyman in several Boston-area apartment buildings, who gets news from his coastal Massachusetts hometown of Manchester-by-the-Sea that his brother has died. What he does not expect upon his return — to a place filled with ghosts, and where everyone speaks his name like he’s a local boogeyman — is that Joe has named Lee as the guardian for Joe’s 16-yearold son Patrick (Lucas Hedges), forcing Lee to confront a past that has left him broken. Rated R

MOANA

Moana is driven to find out what lies beyond the reefs off her beautiful South Pacific island paradise, reefs beyond which her people are forbidden to venture. What makes her special is how she will achieve this: she is chosen by the ocean itself, as a reward for a kind act toward a sea creature, to take on a quest involving a long and dangerous journey that will, hopefully, save her island and her people. (MJ) Rated PG-13

MONSTER TRUCKS

Tripp (Lucas Till) is a high-school dude sick of his small town and looking for something new in his life. So he does what a lot of teens are doing these days

CRITICS’ SCORECARD THE INLANDER

NEW YORK TIMES

VARIETY

(LOS ANGELES)

METACRITIC.COM (OUT OF 100)

NTERN THEAT GIC LA ER A M FRI, FEB 17TH - THURS, FEB 23RD TICKETS: $9 LION THE FOUNDER

FRI-MON: 3:00

FRI-SUN: 5:30 WEDS/THURS: 3:45

Manchester by the Sea

96

FRI/SAT: 8:00 SUN/MON: 12:45 WEDS/THURS: 6:00

La La Land

93

FRI/SAT: 3:45 SUNDAY: 1:15

The Salesman

85

2017 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS

Jackie

81

FRI-SUN: 6:00 MONDAY: 3:45 WEDS/THURS: 6:30

The LEGO Batman Movie

75

Hidden Figures

74

Rogue One

65

DON’T MISS IT

WORTH $10

— he builds a truck out of spare pieces found in a junkyard. Then, he finds a lizard-octopus monster thing in his garage (he names it Creech), which takes up residence in his truck, giving it extra super powers. (MB) Rated PG

OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS (LIVE ACTION AND ANIMATED)

If you consider yourself a film fan, the annual tour of Oscar-nominated Live Action and Animated short films are must-sees. The stories and filmmaking skills on display offer ample proof that just because a film isn’t feature length, that doesn’t mean it’s any less stirring or miraculous in the right hands. If there were any justice, short films would be a regular feature at American movie houses, but since they’re not, take advantage while you can. (DN) Not Rated

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER

The sixth chapter of the video gameturned-movie franchise finds badass super-soldier Alice (Milla Jovovich) as the lone survivor of the end-of-theworld battle that closed this movie’s predecessor, Resident Evil: Retribution.

Now she’s headed to The Hive, where the Resident Evil story began, to take down the Umbrella Corporation once and for all. (DN) Rated R

RINGS

Who knew the deadly effects of a cursed videotape could last so long after people stopped actually watching anything on videotape? The latest in the Ring series comes 15 years after the original introduced the idea of victims dying within a week of watching the dastardly film. This time, a young woman sacrifices herself by watching the video after her boyfriend does in an effort to save him, only to find an undiscovered “movie within the movie” that takes the scary little girls and abandoned wells you might remember to frightening new levels. (DN) Rated PG-13

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

Set before A New Hope, Rogue One follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the daughter of Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen). When Rebel intelligence soldier Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) rescues Jyn from prison, she becomes part of the mission to find out if there

WATCH IT AT HOME

www.SpokaneMovies.com

MOONLIGHT

THE SALESMAN

WEEKEND ONLY

ANIMATION

LIVE ACTION

FRI/SAT: 7:30 SUNDAY: 3:30 MONDAY: 1:15 WEDS/THURS: 4:00

(509) 209-2383 • 25 W Main Ave MagicLanternOnMain.com • /MagicLanternOnMain

SKIP IT

is any way to stop the new project that her father designed — the Death Star.

Rated PG-13

THE SALESMAN

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s latest film delves into a marriage under duress. Husband and wife Emad and Rana are actors and teachers, and when Rana is attacked by an unknown assailant in their new apartment, Emad becomes obsessed with finding the man who did it. Besides his traumatized wife’s reaction, Emad’s society stands in the way of honest discussions of sexual assault. Even so, Farhadi manages to convey how reactions to trauma are universal, no matter where we live or what language we speak. At Magic Lantern (MJ) Rated PG-13

SING

Here’s a tale of theatrical impresario Buster Moon (voice of Matthew McConaughey), a koala, who in a last-ditch attempt to save his grand but failing theater, decides to put on a voice-talent show, open to anyone. This brings animals of all shapes and sizes to work up routines to perform. (MB) Rated PG

CYT SPOKANE’S AMATEUR PRODUCTION OF . . .

A CURE FOR WELLNESS

R Daily (3:15) 6:15 9:15 Sat-Mon (12:15)

FIST FIGHT

R Daily (3:20) (5:20) 7:25 9:30 Sat-Mon (11:20) (1:20)

FEB RUA RY

FEB 24

TH -

7PM

FEB 25 - 3PM / 7PM TH

M A RCH

MAR 3RD - 7PM MAR 4TH - 3PM / 7PM MAR 5TH - 3PM at the BING CROSBY THEATER Tickets Available Online at

www.cytspokane.com

Daily 9:25 Sat-Mon (12:20) In 2D Daily (5:00) 7:10 Sat-Mon (2:45)

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

PG

Daily (4:45) 9:15 2D Daily (7:00) Sat-Mon (12:15) (2:30)

FIFTY SHADES DARKER

R Fri-Mon (4:40) 7:10 9:40 Sat-Mon (11:40) (2:10) Tue-Thu (3:40) 6:15 8:45

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 R Daily (4:00) 6:40 9:20 Sat-Mon (10:50) (1:20)

LA LA LAND

PG-13 Daily (3:50) 6:40 9:20 Sat-Mon (1:15)

A DOG’S PURPOSE

PG Daily (4:30) 6:50 9:10 Sat-Mon (11:50) (2:10)

SPLIT

PG-13 Fri-Mon (2:00) (4:30) 7:00 9:35 Tue-Thu (4:10) 6:30 8:50

HIDDEN FIGURES

PG Daily (3:20) 6:10 8:50 Fri-Mon (12:30)

WANDERMERE

12622 N Division • 509-232-7727 A CURE FOR WELLNESS

R Daily (12:15) (3:15) 6:15 9:15

FIST FIGHT

R Daily (1:20) (3:20) (5:20) 7:25 9:30 Fri-Mon (11:20)

THE GREAT WALL

PG-13 Daily (12:20) 9:25 In 2D Daily (2:45) (5:00) 7:10

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

PG Daily (4:45) 9:15 Fri-Mon (10:00) 2D Daily (12:15) (1:45) (2:30) (4:00) 6:15 7:00 8:30 Fri-Mon (11:30)

FIFTY SHADES DARKER

R Daily (2:10) (4:40) 7:10 9:40 Fri-Mon (11:40)

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2

R Daily (1:20) (4:00) 6:20 6:50 8:50 9:30 Fri-Mon (10:50)

SPLIT

James McAvoy easily takes on his most terrifying role to date in this psychological thriller/horror from M. Night Shyamalan about a man with dissociative identity disorder (aka split personality) who kidnaps three girls. The girls realize they need to leverage one of their captor’s 24 distinctly varied personalities to protect themselves from his most violent and creepy persona, “the beast.” (CS) Rated PG-13 

THE GREAT WALL

PG-13

THE SPACE BETWEEN US

On-screen wunderkind Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game) plays another space-dwelling boy in this futuristic flick about the first human born and raised on Mars, Gardner Elliot. Growing up on the red planet in a colony of just 14 other people, Gardner wonders who his father is, and what life on Earth is like. He begins chatting online with an Earthling teen named Tulsa, whom he eventually visits. But Gardner was not built to withstand Earth’s atmosphere, and time is running out. (CS) Rated PG-13

AIRWAY HEIGHTS

10117 W State Rt 2 • 509-232-0444

LION

PG-13 Daily (1:30) (4:10) 6:30 9:00 Fri-Mon (11:00)

RINGS

Even the alternative facts agree our food is delicious.

1414 N Hamilton St. | Logan/Gonzaga 509-368-9087 | wedonthaveone.com

PG-13 Daily (5:00) 7:20 9:40

A DOG’S PURPOSE

PG Daily (2:10) (4:30) 6:50 9:10 Fri-Mon (11:50)

LA LA LAND

PG-13 Daily (1:15) (3:50) 6:40 9:20 Fri-Mon (10:45)

SPLIT

PG-13 Daily (2:00) (4:30) 7:00 9:25 Fri-Mon (11:30)

HIDDEN FIGURES

PG Daily (12:30) (3:20) 6:10 8:50

SING

PG Daily (1:20) (3:50)

MOANA

PG Daily (2:40) Showtimes in ( ) are at bargain price.

Special Attraction — No Passes Showtimes Effective 2/17/17-2/23/17

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 37

SAT FEB 25 | 8PM | SUN FEB 26 | 3PM

Mighty Irish Reels, Jigs… the whole Shabang!

MORIHIKO NAKAHARA, CONDUCTOR

“The hottest group in the Celtic realm these days” – The Boston Globe

MARCH 4, 2017 8PM •

(509) 624-1200 • SpokaneSymphony.org Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox

38 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Life-Changing Experience A Jimi Hendrix tribute brings the icon’s old bass player and an amazing cast of guitarists to Spokane

BY DAN NAILEN

Billy Cox, legendary bassist from Jimi Hendrix’s Band Of Gypsys.

B

illy Cox heard Jimi Hendrix playing guitar before he ever laid eyes on the man who would go on to be one of the revolutionary forces of rock ’n’ roll.

Cox and Hendrix were both teenagers serving in the Army and stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in 1961. Cox and a buddy ducked into a building to avoid a rainstorm and caught some sounds the music-loving Cox had never heard before through a cracked window in one of the rooms.

“There was a guitar playing, and I told the guy next to me, ‘That sounds kind of unique,’” Cox says, the memory still vivid as he recounts it from his Nashville home 56 years later. “And he says, ‘That sounds like a bunch of mess!’ But he was listening with the human ear, and I think I was listening with the spiritual ear.”

Cox quickly introduced himself to the aspiring guitarist, and soon he was jamming along on bass as Hendrix developed his style. Joined by a drummer, they gigged around the South and moved to Nashville together before Hendrix left to tour as a backing musician for Little Richard and the Isley Brothers before making his way to New York and England, starting his rise to global fame.

While Hendrix was becoming one of rock’s most flamboyant and creative frontmen, Cox continued playing in Nashville, recording and touring with Sam Cooke,

Etta James and others. Hendrix got back in touch in 1969 and convinced Cox to join his post-Jimi Hendrix Experience group that performed under myriad names, most notably the Band of Gypsys, at shows like Woodstock and Hendrix’s legendary Fillmore East performances.

Cox played with Hendrix until the guitarist died in September 1970.

Cox continued in music after the death of his friend, and now he’s leading the Experience Hendrix Tour that stops in Spokane on Saturday. The show is a traveling celebration of Hendrix’s songs and features a truly incredible array of guitar players, including Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, Dweezil Zappa, Keb’ Mo’, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, all taking the stage to tear into classics of the Hendrix canon like “Crosstown Traffic,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” “Foxy Lady” and “Hey Joe.” There’s a reason that Hendrix’s music still resonates, decades after he first heard that distinctive electric squeal, Cox says. And it’s a reason that goes back to hearing Hendrix with that “spiritual ear.”

“Every now and then, a spirit slips through a portal in time into this reality and just blows our minds,” Cox says. “I think Jimi slipped through that portal, with all the geniuses.

“That’s why he’s just as relevant in the 21st century as he was in the 20th century, because he wrote in the now. A lot of artists don’t do that. You have guys like Bach, Chopin, Handel, Gershwin, Coltrane, Miles [Davis]. These guys wrote in the now. And the artists who write in the now, they reach down generations and transcend cultural boundaries.”

Cox jokes that you can divide guitarists into two camps: those who admit they were influenced by Hendrix, and those who won’t admit it. The lineup involved in the Experience Hendrix Tour is testament to how wide-ranging the man’s influence is. Guy is a blues legend, while Wylde is renowned as a heavy-metal master. Shepherd and Lang are modern blues dudes, while Zappa specializes in the off-kilter psychedelic freakouts his dad Frank made his calling card. Each of the players involved is a headliner in his own right, and brings a distinct style to the stage, but all of them love Hendrix enough to want to take part.

“All these great guitarists who have reputations around the world, they leave their egos at home,” Cox says. “We all just have a grand time in the name of good music.”

The guitarists and Cox are joined by Stevie Ray ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 39

Start your career at the

N G J F

MUSIC | TRIBUTE

An event specifically for 16-24-year-old job seekers

Wednesday, March 1, 2017 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Spokane Convention Center More info: wdcspokane.com

The SAWDC is an equal opportunity employer and provider of employment and training services.

Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to persons with disabilities. Washington Relay Service: 711. This event is wheelchair accessible.

Jimi Hendrix’s music continues to inspire guitarists today.

“LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE,” CONTINUED...

Vaughan’s old Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton and Henri Brown, Hendrix’s first cousin, on vocals, and Cox says the players deliver performances that make the show, often reaching 2½ hours, blaze by. Some of the guitarists stick close to Hendrix’s original licks, while others make the songs truly their own. He sees his job as bass man as much the same as when he and Hendrix were creating musical riffs Hendrix called “patterns” — supporting the songs however he can.

40 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

“You couldn’t be restricted by rules and regulations and this and that,” Cox says. “You had to be in that moment, and I freed myself to just play and be Jimi’s bass player, without regards to showboating or ego. And it worked great.”  Experience Hendrix Tour • Sat, Feb. 18 at 7:30 pm • Sold out (tickets available on StubHub, Craigslist) • Northern Quest Resort & Casino • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • northernquest.com • 242-7000

MUSIC | ROCK

‘Evolving in Weird Ways’ Chad Ubovich’s garage-rockin’ Meatbodies are back with a new “loose concept” album

BY BEN SALMON

C

had Ubovich has an extensive and esoteric explanation ready to roll for when people ask him why the new Meatbodies album is named Alice.

“Alice is not really intended to be a person or an allusion to a fictional character, but just kind of this representation of a kind of pagan view of Mother Earth, and how the world is turning away from that,” he says by telephone from his home in Los Angeles. “So Alice is a theory. It’s a made-up concept. It’s almost like made-up scripture.”

He backs up a bit to the words “pagan view” and tries to clarify.

“I’m not coming at this with, like, a pagan message.

My viewpoints on the world are definitely more scientific and less magical,” Ubovich says. “But I do enjoy litera-

The new album, Alice, has echoes of late-era Beatles crossed with Black Sabbath. ture and poetry and stuff like that, and … I like the idea of trying to make this fictional story about how the world is coming to an end.”

He goes on, invoking hedonism and religious theory and feminine god-like figures and an “ecclesiastical way of looking at life.”

And then he stops. And he cracks up.

“I read a lot of comic books,” he says, snickering.

Now, to be clear, Ubovich is a thoughtful guy and a fertile-minded artist who no doubt based much of Meatbodies’ new “loose concept” album on the aforementioned ideas.

But he’s also a good, self-deprecating Southern California garage-rock dude who knows that sometimes, rock ’n’ roll is just rock ’n’ roll, and if you start trying to prop it up with too many high-minded ideals, it’s best just to walk it back and let the riffs do the talking.

And riffs are Ubovich’s specialty. For several years, he has been one of the go-to guys in the West Coast psych/garage scene, playing with big-timers like Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin. In 2014, he started a vehicle for his own music, releasing the self-titled Meatbodies album.

That was a relentless punk album, heavily influenced

ADA RAJKOVIC PHOTO

by the Ramones and Black Flag, with rays of pop and and psych occasionally shining through the fury. Alice, on the other hand, finds Meatbodies giving those other styles more space to roam. Ubovich says he was deep down a Roy Wood rabbit hole while making it, referring to the glam-pop master who found success with the Move, Wizzard and Electric Light Orchestra in the 1960s and ’70s.

Ultimately, Alice finds Meatbodies moving away from its poppy punk roots and stretching out significantly. The band lets its foot off the gas, whips up a heavy dose of psychedelic guitar witchery and takes a deep breath in the variegated haze. The result sounds something like late-era Beatles building sunbaked pop songs atop earthmoving Black Sabbath grooves.

“I think Meatbodies is always going to be evolving in weird ways, and that’s the whole purpose,” he says. “I’m always growing as a person, and I just really want to have a band that’s growing with me. I’m stoked on it.” n Meatbodies with Loomer and Empty Eyes • Wed, Feb. 22 at 8 pm • $8/$10 day of • The Observatory • 15 S. Howard • observatoryspokane.com • 598-8933

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 41

MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

ROCK JERRY JOSEPH & THE JACKMORMONS

J

erry Joseph spent three decades creating a vast catalog of music incorporating everything from roots rock to reggae, working with an impressive array of musicians including members of the Decemberists and Widespread Panic. His most recent work, though, might be his most interesting, inspired by a trip to Afghanistan, where he taught music at an underground school. The trip got Joseph reflecting on his family, and the title of his latest release, By The Time Your Rocket Gets To Mars, came from a sobering conversation with his 5-year-old. Expect an excellent range of styles and emotions at his live shows; I’ve seen Joseph many times over the past 20 years, and he’s always worth the price of admission.

— DAN NAILEN Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons with The South Hill • Wed, Feb. 22 at 8 pm • $10/$12 day of • All-ages • The Bartlett • 228 W. Sprague • thebartlettspokane.com • 747-2174

J = THE INLANDER RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW J = ALL AGES SHOW

Thursday, 02/16

BARLOWS AT LIBERTY LAKE, Sunny Nights Duo BEEROCRACY, Open Mic BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR & GRILL, Randy Campbell J BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE, The Song Project J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam with Erik Bowen J CHAPS, Spare Parts COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, JamShack CRAVE, DJ Freaky Fred CRUISERS, Open Mic Jam Slam hosted

by Perfect Destruction and J.W. Scattergun FEDORA PUB & GRILLE, Donnie Emerson J KNITTING FACTORY, Illenium, AyZiM LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Wyatt Wood MAIN STREET BISTRO, Blues Jam with Craig McQuain J MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE, Open Mic hosted by Scott Reid THE OBSERVATORY, Vinyl Meltdown THE RESERVE, Liquid with DJ Dave THE ROCK BAR & LOUNGE, Spokane River Band TIMBER GASTRO PUB, Ron Greene ZOLA, Sauce Policy

Friday, 02/17

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Jacob Cummings J BABY BAR, Runaway Octopus, The Emilys J THE BARTLETT, Violet Catastrophe BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Sterling BOLO’S, Slow Burn BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR & GRILL, Mojo Box

42 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

ACOUSTIC INT’L GUITAR NIGHT

N

ot all acoustic guitars are created equal.

Same goes for the people who play them. In the wrong hands, it’s an instrument that ruins brunch. In the right hands — like those of the featured players for International Guitar Night at the Bing — it can evoke a range of emotions and bring a world of sound to your ears through the mere plucking and strumming of its strings. The four guitarists coming to Spokane for this night of acoustic treats are Lulo Reinhardt (great-nephew of jazz legend Django Reinhardt and likewise inclined toward Gypsy rhythms); Debashish Bhattacharya (a master of Indian raga music); Luca Stricagnoli (a young, fleet-fingered master of a variety of styles); and Chrystian Dozza (an award-winning Brazilian player well-versed in South American music).

— DAN NAILEN International Guitar Night • Thu, Feb. 23 at 7:30 pm • $27/$37 • All-ages • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague • bingcrosbytheater.com • 227-7638

J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Eric E. J CHATEAU RIVE, An Evening With Taylor Hicks COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Donnie Emerson and Nancy Sophia CURLEY’S, YESTERDAYSCAKE FEDORA PUB & GRILLE, Kicho FIZZIE MULLIGANS, Karma’s Circle J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Nick Grow MOOSE LOUNGE, Gladhammer MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Bill Bozly NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, DJ Patrick O’SHAYS IRISH PUB & EATERY, Arvid Lundin and Deep Roots

THE OBSERVATORY, The Hawthorne Roots w/ Lucas Brown & Friends PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Harold’s IGA THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler SILVER FOX, The Usual Suspects J J THE PIN!, Rivercity Rockfest feat. Second Sting, The Nixon Rodeo, Blue Tattoo, Idol Hands, Dirk Swartz VICTORY SPORTS HALL, Ray Vasquez ZOLA, The Cronkites

Saturday, 02/18

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Jan

Harrison, Doug Folkins, Pat Barclay J J THE BARTLETT, Hip Hop Night feat. Lou Era, DJ Felon, T.S. The Solution, The Wanderers, Nijaia BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn J THE BIG DIPPER, Cold Blooded, Benign, Guardian, Crytikal Mass BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Sterling BOLO’S, Slow Burn BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR & GRILL, Mojo Box J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Jon & Rand COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Donnie Emerson and Nancy Sophia CRUISERS, Souls & Sinners, Rusted Hand, The Price of Being, J.W.

Scattergun CURLEY’S, YESTERDAYSCAKE DI LUNA’S CAFE, BlueStreak DIAM’S DEN, Lou Era After Party feat. dj F3LON FEDORA PUB & GRILLE, Keanu and Joey FIZZIE MULLIGANS, Karma’s Circle GARLAND PUB & GRILL, The Usual Suspects J HOTEL RL BY RED LION AT THE PARK, Karen Triplett IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Truck Mills THE JACKSON ST., DJ Dave J KNITTING FACTORY, Pierce the Veil, Falling in Reverse LA ROSA CLUB, Open Jam

LINCOLN CENTER, NWCS Jazz Band Valentine’s Ball & Social  MONTVALE EVENT CENTER, Rise Up, Get Down MOOSE LOUNGE, Gladhammer MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Ron Greene NO-LI BREWHOUSE, Wyatt Wood  NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Experience Hendrix Tour (see story on page 39)  THE OBSERVATORY, Summer in Siberia, The Smokes, Each Both THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler THE ROCK BAR & LOUNGE, DJ Steve Baker  THE SHOP, Dave McRae and the Olde Soulz   THE PIN!, Rivercity Rockfest feat. Washed in Black, Free the Jester, Helldorado, Blue Tatoo, Sixteen Penny, Banish the Echo THE THIRSTY DOG, Flat Blastard, DJ Dave ZOLA, The Cronkites

GET LISTED!

Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

Sunday, 02/19

DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS, Jam Night with VooDoo Church IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL, Scott Randall & Joel Johnston LINGER LONGER LOUNGE, Open jam O’DOHERTY’S IRISH GRILLE, Live Irish Music ZOLA, Blake Braley Band

Monday, 02/20

 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY, Open Mic EICHARDT’S, Monday Night Jam with Truck Mills RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic with Lucas Brookbank Brown  THE PIN!, Alterbeast, Aenimus, Depths of Hatred, Aethere ZOLA, Kellen Rowe

Tuesday, 02/21

BABY BAR, Open mic BRAVO SWAXX CONCERT HOUSE, T.A.S.T.Y with DJs Freaky Fred, Beauflexx THE JACKSON ST., DJ Dave LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Turntable Tuesday MIK’S, DJ Brentano  MOSCOW FOOD CO-OP, Delta G Blues THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Open Mic/ Jam Night  THE PIN!, Young Neves ZOLA, 5 Second Rule

Wednesday, 02/22   THE BARTLETT, Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons (see story on facing page)

GENO’S TRADITIONAL FOOD & ALES, Open Mic with T & T LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil LUCKY’S IRISH PUB, DJ D3VIN3  THE OBSERVATORY, Meatbodies (see story on page 41), Loomer, Empty Eyes RIVELLE’S RIVER GRILL, Jam Night: Truck Mills and guests SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS, Open mic  THE PIN!, Elecktro Grave THE ROADHOUSE, Open mic with Johnny Qlueless THE THIRSTY DOG, DJ Dave ZOLA, The Bossame

Coming Up ...

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Rusted on the Rails, Hey! is for Horses, Feb. 23 BING CROSBY THEATER, International Guitar Night (see story on facing page), Feb. 23 THE PIN!, Nonpoint, Feb. 23  KNITTING FACTORY, Amaranthe, Failure Anthem, Citizen Zero, Cypher16, Smash Into Pieces, Feb. 23 BRAVO SWAXX CONCERT HOUSE, heRobust with BOND, Feb. 24 O’SHAYS IRISH PUB & EATERY, Whimzik, Feb. 24  SPOKANE ARENA, Blake Shelton with Sundance Head, Raelynn, Feb. 24  THE BARTLETT, The Round Spokane: Buffalo Jones, Mark Ward, Feb. 24 BARLOWS AT LIBERTY LAKE, Jan Harrison, Doug Folkins, Barry Aiken, Feb. 25 CHATEAU RIVE, An Evening With Hot Tuna Acoustic, Feb. 25  THE BARTLETT, Runaway Symphony album release with Water Monster, Feb. 25  THE PIN!, Afroman, Manwitnoname, Thekid, Wurdone, Me & I, CCB Crew, Ace & Thommi C, Feb. 25 INB PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles, Feb. 26  KNITTING FACTORY, Lil Dicky, Feb. 26  THE PIN!, Riff Raff, DJ Afterthought, Dolla Bill Gates, Owey, Peter Jackson, Feb. 26 THE BIG DIPPER, Jon Wayne and the Pain, River City Roots, Feb. 28  THE BARTLETT, Northwest of Nashville feat. Jenny Anne Manna, Folkinception, The Holy Broke,, Feb. 28  KNITTING FACTORY, Andy Black, William Control, Palaye Royale, March 1 THE BARTLETT, Quinn XCII, Kolaj, March 1 THE BIG DIPPER, Down North, Puff Puff Beer, Fat Lady, The Naturalystics, March 3  WSU COMPTON UNION BUILDING, iHeartPullman Benefit Concert feat. Allen Stone, Tyrone Wells, Tommy Simmons, March 3  THE BARTLETT, Marshall McLean album release feat. Bart Budwig, Jeffrey Martin, March 3  KNITTING FACTORY, Skillet, Sick Puppies, Devour the Day, March 3

MUSIC | VENUES

FREE

Steak

Dinner

O N YO U R BIRTHDAY!*

Voted Best Sports Bar

1018 W. Francis * 326.6794 *A 6oz. Certified Angus Beef Top Sirloin Steak with Baked Potato and Garlic Toast. Offer good 5pm-Midnight. ID required. No rain checks. Offer not extended for phone in or to-go orders. Please, no substitutions.

family owned and operated for 36 years

HAPPY

HOUR MONDAY - FRIDAY // 2 - 7 PM & 10 - CLOSE

30 BEERS ON TAP SPECIAL PRICING ON BEERS, HOUSE MARGARITAS AND WINE! $4 SELECT SHARABLES

SPOKANE NORTHTOWN // 4750 N. DIVISION // 509.484.7062 SPOKANE VALLEY // 14702 E. INDIANA // 509.891.0289 COEUR D’ ALENE // 407 W. NEIDER // 208.667.0042 MOSCOW // 1710 W. PULLMAN ROAD // 208.882.7630 ©2017 Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. BWW2016-5835

315 MARTINIS & TAPAS • 315 E. Wallace, CdA • 208-667-9660 ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd. • 927-9463 BABY BAR • 827 W. First Ave. • 847-1234 BARLOWS • 1428 N. Liberty Lake Rd. • 924-1446 THE BARTLETT • 228 W. Sprague Ave. • 747-2174 BEEROCRACY • 911 W. Garland Ave. THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington • 863-8098 BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 467-9638 BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 227-7638 BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague • 891-8357 BOLO’S • 116 S. Best Rd. • 891-8995 BOOMERS • 18219 E. Appleway Ave. • 755-7486 BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE • 24 W. Main Ave. • 703-7223 BRAVO SWAXX CONCERT HOUSE • 25 E. Lincoln Rd. • 703-7474 BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main, Moscow • 208-882-5216 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY • 116 E. Lakeside Ave., CdA • 208-665-0591 CHAPS • 4237 Cheney-Spokane Rd. • 624-4182 CHATEAU RIVE • 621 W. Mallon Ave. • 795-2030 CHECKERBOARD BAR • 1716 E. Sprague Ave. • 535-4007 COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw Rd., Worley, Idaho • 800-523-2464 COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, CdA • 208-664-2336 CRAFTED TAP HOUSE • 523 Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-292-4813 CRAVE• 401 W. Riverside • 321-7480 CRUISERS • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-773-4706 CURLEY’S • 26433 W. Hwy. 53 • 208-773-5816 DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS • 6412 E. Trent • 5359309 DIAMS DEN • 412 W. Sprague • 934-3640 EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005 THE FEDORA • 1726 W. Kathleen, CdA • 208765-8888 FIZZIE MULLIGANS • 331 W. Hastings • 466-5354 FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague • 624-1200 HOGFISH • 1920 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-667-1896 HOTEL RL BY RED LION AT THE PARK • 303 W. North River Dr. • 326-8000 IRON HORSE • 407 E. Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-667-7314 JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL • 2436 N. Astor St. • 315-8497 JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208883-7662 KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 244-3279 LAGUNA CAFÉ • 2013 E. 29th Ave. • 448-0887 THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 315-9531 THE LARIAT • 11820 N. Market St. • 466-9918 LA ROSA CLUB • 105 S. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-255-2100 LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington • 315-8623 LUCKY’S IRISH PUB • 408 W. Sprague • 747-2605 MAX AT MIRABEAU • 1100 N. Sullivan • 924-9000 MICKDUFF’S • 312 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208)-255-4351 MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE • 208 N 4th Ave, Sandpoint • 208-265-9382 MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman • 208-6647901 MOOTSY’S • 406 W. Sprague • 838-1570 MULLIGAN’S • 506 Appleway Ave., CdA • 208765-3200 ext. 310 NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128 NECTAR CATERING & EVENTS • 120 N. Stevens St. • 869-1572 NORTHERN QUEST RESORT • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 242-7000 NYNE • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 474-1621 THE OBSERVATORY • 15 S. Howard • 598-8933 O’SHAY’S • 313 E. CdA Lake Dr. • 208-667-4666 THE PALOMINO • 6425 N. Lidgerwood St. • 242-8907 PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545 THE PIN! • 412 W. Sprague • 368-4077 RED LION RIVER INN • 700 N. Division • 326-5577 RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague • 838-7613 REPUBLIC BREWING • 26 Clark Ave. • 775-2700 THE RESERVE • 120 N. Wall • 598-8783 THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside • 822-7938 RIVELLE’S • 2360 N Old Mill Loop, CdA • 208930-0381 THE ROADHOUSE • 20 N. Raymond • 413-1894 SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 209 E. Lakeside Ave. • 208-664-8008 THE SHOP • 924 S. Perry St. • 534-1647 SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS • 117 N. Howard St. • 459-1190 SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon • 279-7000 THE THIRSTY DOG • 3027 E. Liberty Ave. • 487-3000 TIMBER GASTRO PUB •1610 E Schneidmiller, Post Falls • 208-262-9593 ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 624-2416

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 43

Rick Bartow’s Bear Medicine, 2014.

VISUAL ARTS EXPLICABLE THOUGHTS

Prominent contemporary Native American artist Rick Bartow is celebrated for the Museum of Art/WSU’s featured winter exhibit. The late artist’s work is on display at more than 60 public institutions around the U.S.; this retrospective show in Pullman includes more than 120 paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints. Perhaps one of Bartow’s most-seen pieces is his 2012 Smithsonian commission We Were Always Here, a pair of 20-foot sculptures installed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Learn more about Bartow’s process, themes and influences in a Feb. 22 (noon-1 pm) museum walk-through with art history and American Indian studies professor Michael Holloman.

— CHEY SCOTT Rick Bartow: Things You Know But Cannot Explain • Through March 11; gallery open Tue-Sat from 10 am-4 pm • Free • Museum of Art/WSU • Wilson Road, Pullman campus • museum. wsu.edu • 335-1910

COMEDY JOKERMAN

While Harland Williams has had a long stand-up career, he’s probably best known for his myriad movie roles in comedies like There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and a vital role in Dave Chappelle stoner comedy Half Baked. His stand-up is filled with pop-culture references and characters he’s honed through years of improv, and more recently, his Harland Highway podcast.

— DAN NAILEN Harland Williams • Thu, Feb. 16 at 8 pm • $15 • Fri-Sat, Feb. 17-18 at 8 pm and 10:30 pm • $20 • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague • spokanecomedyclub.com • 318-9998

BENEFIT WE WELCOME ALL

Celebrate and support the region’s diverse refugee community at a benefit concert organized by area churches, universities and multicultural groups. Those who attend will see and hear Iraqi and Syrian drumming and dance, Pan-African music and Nepalese dance, along with performances by the St. John’s Cathedral Choir and Gonzaga Concert Choir, among others. To cap off the uplifting evening of unity, the audience is invited to partake in the reading of a piece called “A Place Called Home.” The celebration is free to attend, but all donations received support the efforts of World Relief Spokane.

— CHEY SCOTT A Place Called Home: Refugee Benefit Concert • Fri, Feb. 17 at 7:30 pm • Free; donations accepted • St. John’s Cathedral • 127 E. 12th • bit.ly/SpokaneRefugeeBenefit

44 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

GET LISTED!

Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

SPORTS DRIBBLING THAT DAZZLES

You’ve probably heard the whistling (“Sweet Georgia Brown”), you can guess the colors (red, white and blue) and you definitely know the game (basketball) — now see the famed athleticism and comedic talents of the Harlem Globetrotters when they hit the court at Spokane Arena. Since the team’s founding in 1926, they’ve entertained more than 144 million fans in 122 countries and territories across the globe, and hold 12 world records for their basketball wizardry. This family-friendly show is definitely worth having that iconic song stuck in your head for days afterward.

— RAVEN HAYNES Harlem Globetrotters • Tue, Feb. 21 at 7 pm • $24.50-$102.50 • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon • spokanearena.com

FILM DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Philosopher George Santayana said that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Actor George Takei’s surprise hit musical Allegiance makes sure that America doesn’t forget the forced relocation and internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. In theaters for the 75th anniversary of the order, and in a time when immigrants and refugees fear the same treatment, Allegiance stars Takei in an uplifting tale based on his experience as a child internee.

— RAVEN HAYNES George Takei’s Allegiance • Sun, Feb. 19 from 12:55-3 pm • $18.90 • Regal Cinemas NorthTown Mall 12 • 4750 N. Division • bit.ly/2kDFBjD

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 45 HZCU_CDbothFeb_021617_12V_CPR.pdf

W I SAW U YOU

RS RS

CHEERS JEERS

&

I SAW YOU PROTECTOR OF LOVE You are a whisper in the night. A gentle snow fall. A lullaby hush over a baby. You are the sound of the dawn tides. You are the man I love.

Being loved by you gives my soul rest. In this cold winter night, you are my refuge of warmth. You will always have my heart. I love you just the way you are.

Come be my champion.

MARY B. I saw you, a few times over the last few months. We both work for the same entity, just different departments. I first saw you a few months back, brought you a few wheelbarrows for the job your people were doing, at my workplace.

You’re a very beautiful woman. And from first sight I knew I wanted to get to know you. I recently saw you again, at our driving class. I’d really love the chance to get to know you. Maybe dinner? Or something. :) There’s something very intriguing about you. And I wish i had just said something to you one of the few times we’ve seen each other.

CHEERS GOOD NEIGHBOR Neighbor Dave is so helpful. Mows several lawns, snowblows and shovels about 5 homes at the end of our cul-de-sac, cares for his ill wife and still babysits grandkids. Don’t know how to pay this man but say a big “Thank you so much for all you do.”

NOT EVEN CLOSE Robert De Niro vs.

Tom Green. As some of you may know Tom Green visited the Inland Empire last year in an epic tour de force of humor and wit. Whilst sitting in the theater watching Robert De Niro’s latest movie “The Comedian,” I found myself comparing the two. Signor De Niro has wowed us with wonder and wonderment in many classics: Analyze This, Analyze That, The Godfather II, Cape Fear & A Bronx Tale, to name a few... In my mind, was America’s #1 wiseguy as good as Tom Green? Answer: not even close. Tom Green is a 9th degree black-belt in his domain. Humor evolves, and Robert De Niro’s old school tactics fell flat in the face of Mr. Green’s modern approach.

If you are one of the lucky ones who saw Tom Green perform at the Spokane Comedy Club last year, I challenge you to see “The Comedian” and decide for yourself who is better. Cheers!

SHANEESE I miss the taste of your strawberry wine kisses. I wish this was as easy for me as it is for you, but the void you left in my life cannot be filled with hope or wishes. You occupy my waking thoughts and haunt my dreams, still. I would give everything for one last dance.

GOOD SAMARITAN Thank you to the good samaritan who saw my walker in the parking lot at the Dollar Store in Airway Heights and took it inside so I could pick it up. Thank you, too, to the store employees who kept if for me. (I know dumb, fluke accident — walker on one side of the card & cart on the drivers side. Daughter put the cart back and I was already in the car).

Anyway, it is a nice feeling to know we still have honest people around.

JEERS RE: MIN WAGE/EMPLOYERS I really find it insulting when people say “You should’ve gone to school, started a business etc. to avoid min wage.” Well, many of us did, and many of us got paid above min wage. I spent half my life in the Forest Service and wildland firefighting making $3-$4 dollars above the min wage, and even went to college. I also have spent 5 years in security (plus training I paid for myself, plus field experience

in hospital, mental health and bus station security. I made several dollars above min wage (pending on which state I’ve lived in) And now, I make min wage along with everyone else. Whether they are in high school, never went to college, went to trade/technical schools are all above. So for people to then insult those who are jilted for the raise in min

“

LOSER LAND Jeers to all the neighbors on the block of Joseph Ave for not helping shovel the snow where the mail man drops off all the mail if you don’t want to be apart of a community then go live on loser land. Cheers to the young man who stopped to help me shovel the snow where the mail man drops off the mail and I don’t even think he lived on my block.

ICE PACKED Since when don’t people have to clear sidewalks of snow or ice, incuding churches, hospital corridors, and so-called South Hill Mansions along Rockwood Blvd. If you can’t afford to hire it done get yourself

SOUND OFF 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.”

Mind, Body, Spirit Holistic Fair PRESENTS...

Attracting Wellness SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 TH • 10 AM -5 PM • FREE EVENT • FREE PARKING

40 Vendors, Information & Demonstrations and 9 Dynamic Speakers • Food & Coffee Available

For more information: (509) 496-8138 / LindaChristine@LindaChristineStudios.com

46 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

LOSER LAND Jeers to any one who makes a negative comment about what I wrote you know people that I’m talking about able bodied people who can get out and shovel snow. And just in case you

WASHINGTON COURT SYSTEM DUI … guilty as charged. First traffic offense other than a speeding ticket in 35 years of driving. Yes, I realize the implica-

You occupy my waking thoughts and haunt my dreams, still.

I would give everything for one last dance.

wage is extremely presumptuous that we’re all uneducated & lazy. My job, along with military, law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs and hospital workers, all takes training, education in some form & a willingness to put others before ourselves. Even if a civil servant makes higher than $11 at the moment, eventually so will everyone else. And oftentimes our uniforms make us a target before anyone else. Yes, I am a bit upset that my company (at this time, as it is early on in the process) didn’t give me a pay raise, but... “It is what it is” and I’m happy to have a full time job. Thank You.

Unity Spiritual Center • On the South Hill, corner of 29th and Bernard • Spokane, WA 99203

is ending” democrats. Pull your big girl and boys undies up, stop throwing fits.

Get over self righteous selves and “lets make America great again!”

to a nursing home or sell the damn thing and let someone who can clear the fricking sidewalks, please.

”

tions of driving while impaired but do we really need 4 visits to court and a $2,500 lawyer who did nothing for his fee despite the sales pitch he gave me the day after I was arrested? “We’ll cut a deal with the court”. Yeah, right. How about besides automatic loss of license, an automatic fine based on the level of impairment and court costs etc. for first (and last, for me anyway) time offenders? Maybe the state could put a little more effort into getting the word out as to the implications of reckless driving just like they do for not wearing a seatbelt. As it stands, the system appears to be not a deterrent but just a cash cow for the legal system. It seems to me the more serious the crime you commit in Washington the better chance you have to cut a deal. 

don’t know where loser land is it’s up in the Artic where there aren’t any people.

I have deformed bones and a bad heart because I was born malnourished and if I can can shovel snow so can other people who are able bodied. So don’t tell me you all can’t help shovel on our block on Joseph Ave. Most of you are below the age of 70.

RESPONDING TO “RESPONSE TO “GIVE PEACE A CHANCE” Are you kidding me!

The people who disrespect President Trump are the WAY out of line left side democrats who have show true colors thru this whole election year! I do not recall the republican party throwing well, lets call it what it is, a tantrum. The riots, and yes they are riots, not protests.

The unbelievable about of disrespect shown to him. The doomsday attitude that democrats are displaying. He has already done more for us in a month than Obama did in years! You democrats are all just to filled with a doomsday attitude to really pay attention to what he is doing. And yes the press has the right to say what they will, but democrats would not have hesitated to have one of our rights taken away, the right to bear arms! SO lets not be hypocrites. I do not see how he has failed at all really. So a message to all the doomsday “the world

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS P I E D

A C R O

L E I A

M A C L A A C T I C H A N M A K E E R E S T R E A G E T I R A S N A S A LOVE S E T

E X H I B I T A

E S T T E S K S L I O A N W M P D O W S H T O S A

T T Y L

C O R E

I N T R O

N I T

G A N T E S T

M R I O S M D A N O N E D Y A L E L S T A E C C R E O N I L I N A T T Y O

I M A C

D A R R S E

I D O T O

N O V E L

G E E S E

G E A R

H U C K

T P K E

DANCE

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.

TRY IT, YOU’LL STRIKE IT

Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra® is now available at a fraction of the cost.

Generic $80 vs Viagra® $456 South Hill/Latah 509-838-0896 Liberty Lake 509-755-3333 Post Falls 208-773-2499

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

PUPPY LOVE WITH WINE The Spokane Humane Society’s fourth annual fundraiser features a silent auction, wine tasting, appetizers and more.

Proceeds support the efforts of SHS to care for homeless pets. Feb. 16, 5:308:30 pm. $15/$20. Nectar Catering and Events, 120 N. Stevens. bit.ly/2ldu4uw A PLACE CALLED HOME: REFUGEE BENEFIT CONCERT A concert presented by musicians from Spokane’s churches, universities, and refugee community. Performances include Iraqi and Syrian drumming, Nepalese dance, the Neema Swahili Choir and more. Feb. 17, 7:30 pm. Free, donations accepted. St. John’s Cathedral, 127 E. 12th. bit.ly/SpokaneRefugeeBenefit MARDI GRAS KREWE D’ALENE Feel as if you are strolling the streets of the French Quarter sampling New Orleans-style fare in a competition between local restaurants, with proceeds supporting the Coeur d’Alene Arts and Culture Alliance. Event located in the Resort Plaza Shops; 210 E. Sherman.

Feb. 18, 5:30-10 pm. $50. artsandculturecda.org/mardi-gras (208-292-1629) RISE UP, GET DOWN An event by Unifest Co., Impanda and Factory Town to celebrate community and amazing things happening in Spokane and beyond. Proceeds benefit the work of Impanda to support street youth in Rwanda. Features live DJs, creative vendors, a photo booth, beer and more. Feb. 18, 6-11 pm. Free; suggested $5 donation. Montvale Event Center, 1017 W. First. bit.ly/2l5gWpb RED HOT NIGHT Help the Junior League of Spokane fulfill its goals of funding childhood literacy projects throughout Spokane. See local top chefs compete, bid in silent/live auctions and enjoy live entertainment including big band music, palm readers and performers from Spokane Aerial Performance Arts. Feb. 18, 5:30-10:30 pm. $65. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. jls. schoolauction.net/rhn2017/ SPOKANE POLAR PLUNGE Support Special Olympics of Washington and get “freezin’ for a reason.” Feb. 18, 10 am. $50 min. funds raised. Liberty Lake. specialolympicswashington.org GO RED FOR WOMEN LUNCHEON Includes a wellness expo, health screenings and a silent auction starting at 9 am. Luncheon at noon features a keynote address by Joey Traywick, an educator, nurse and exercise physiologist, who delivers a heart-healthy message of encouragement. Feb. 22, 9 am-1 pm. $125/each; tables available.

Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. SpokaneGoRedLuncheon.heart.org COMMUNITY RADIO DAY The local bistro donates 15 percent of sales proceeds that day (open from 8 am-8 pm) to KYRS. Feb. 23. Lindaman’s, 1235 S. Grand Blvd. lindamans.com (747-3012) BOWLING WITH A PURPOSE Support students of Junior Achievement by starting a team and raising a min. of $100/person. Also includes a Sunday event at Valley Bowl (8005 E. Sprague) on Feb. 25, from 3-5 pm. Feb. 24, 6-8 pm. $60/team. Lilac Lanes, 1112 E. Magnesium Rd. (467-5228) TASTE SPOKANE 2017 An annual event featuring samples from the best Spokane area restaurants, wineries

Make money by

Making a difference.

and breweries, with proceeds benefiting Wishing Star Foundation. Feb. 24, 6-10 pm. $60/$100. Northern Quest, 100 N. Hayford. wishingstar.org

When you donate blood plasma at Octapharma Plamsa, you help in the creation of life-changing medicines, while putting a little extra money in your pocket for the things you want or need.

COMEDY

2.0PEN MIC Local comedy night hosted by Ken McComb. Thursdays, from 8-10 pm. Free. The District Bar, 916 W. First Ave. (244-3279) GUFFAW YOURSELF! Open mic comedy night hosted by Casey Strain; Thursdays at 10 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First. (847-1234) HARLAND WILLIAMS Live show by the personality known for roles in Half Baked, There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and more. Feb. 1618 at 8 pm, also Feb. 17-18 at 10:30 pm. $15-$27. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com CRIME SHOW The BDT Players offer a comedic take on TV’s staple “whodun-it.” Rated for general audiences.

Fridays, at 8 pm, Feb. 17-March 24. $7.

Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com (747-7045) IMPROV COMEDY NIGHT An evening with the Lilac City Improv troupe; ticket includes first glass of wine/beer.

Ages 21+. Feb. 17, 7 pm. $17. Nectar Catering and Events, 120 N. Stevens St. bit.ly/2kGUK3u (509-869-1572) THE IMPROV CO-OP: CUPIDITY An evening of improv comedy with the theater’s resident troupe. Feb. 18, 7 pm. Free. Liberty Lake Community Theatre, 22910 E. Appleway Ave., Ste. 1. bit.ly/2lMQDTv (342-2055) SAFARI The Blue Door’s fast-paced, short-form improv show. The gamebased format relies on audience suggestions to fuel each scene. Rated for mature audiences. Saturdays at 8 pm. $7. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com (747-7045) SPOKANE COMEDY’S STANDUP SHOWDOWN Comedians get a topic and have four minutes to perform; the crowd then votes for a winner. Tuesdays, from 8-10 pm. Free. The Observatory, 15 S. Howard. (598-8933) OPEN MIC A free open mic night every Wednesday, at 8 pm. Doors at 7 pm.

Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

New Donors earn up to $250.* Quality Moving Services for Home and Office Throughout Spokane and the Inland Northwest

HG-11890

510 E. Francis Ave. Spokane • octapharmaplasma.com *Earn up to $50 for first five donations • Promotions & fees may vary by location Must be 18-64 years of age & in good health • Have valid picture ID, proof of Social Security number & current residence postmarked within 30 days

COMMUNITY

MAMMOTHS & MASTODONS: TITANS OF THE ICE AGE The highly-interactive touring exhibit features hands-on activities, 100s of fossil specimens from around the world, full-size models of Ice Age megafauna, and more.

Through May 7; open Tue-Sat, 10 am-5 pm (to 8 pm on Wed; half-price on Tue). $10-$15. THE MAC, 2316 W. First.

(509-456-3931) THIRD FRIDAY SWING DANCE A monthly swing dance for dancers of all swing styles and ages. Lesson from 7-8 pm; live DJ’d dance from 8-11. Feb. 17, 7-11 pm. $5. Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. (838-5667) ONE BILLION RISING SPOKANE Join Spokane’s contribution to the annual revolution happening around the world. The free public gathering promotes non-violence against women and girls. Feb. 17, 11:30 am. Free. SFCC, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. onebillionrising.org

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 47

Trade War Bartering cannabis for benefits is — you guessed it — illegal

BY CONNOR DINNISON

Y

ou’re being watched. In an age of renewed Orwellian alarm, such a warning may sound a bit tone-deaf, but that’s the message emanating from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Not that you care; 42 percent of Americans approve of the National Security Agency listening in, according to the Pew Research Center. What’s another eye in the sky? But for those of you “on food stamps” and/or

“on dope,” the DSHS press release in question might be worth a look-see.

In a “note to would-be food benefits traffickers,” the DSHS wants you to know: your days are numbered. Just ask Martin Alan Dorr, 28, of Tacoma; he’s now making friends in Pierce County Jail after Puyallup police arrested him on Groundhog Day in a sting operation funded by a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2014.

His crime? Dorr published an ad on Craigslist (flagged by DSHS investigators) soliciting EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards, also known as Quest Cards, in exchange for his “great organic sativa hybrid” cannabis.

D’oh! The sale of marijuana without a license is illegal, and the DSHS runs a tight ship: the unauthorized use of your benefits (for a tattoo, liquor, drugs, guns, adult entertainment, etc.) could mean disqualification from the program for life. Dorr, however, is facing felony charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and food benefit trafficking, plus six more weeks of winter (likely from behind bars).

Scofflaws like Dorr rip off Washington taxpayers to

Just Smoke... Because We Can

17 N Ralph St. Spokane, WA • FIND US RIGHT OFF SPRAGUE 509-536-4000 • Mon-Sat 8:30am-8:30pm • Sunday 10am-7pm WARNING: This product has intoxicating affects and may be habit forming. Smoking is hazardous to your health. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Should not be used by women that are pregnant or breast feeding. For USE only by adults 21 and older. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.

48 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

the tune of $11 million annually, although this is the first known case involving the exchange of benefit cards and weed on social media, says DSHS spokeswoman Mindy Chambers.

If only state law would be respected.

Touché, you say? Republican Congressman (and medical marijuana patient) Dana Rohrabacher of California is of the same mind. Last week he resubmitted a bill, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2017, hours before fervid prohibitionist Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General.

Sessions has promised to bring a clenched fist to the legalization debate. “We need grown-ups in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it’s in fact a very real danger,” he told the Senate last April. Rohrabacher’s HR 975, on the other hand, would shield states that have already implemented medical or recreational programs from Sessions’ plans for a Nixonian-style Justice Department.

It won’t, however, keep Big Brother from tracking you down when you try to trade your dank wares online. 

Enjoy Nature’s Flavor

$12 TOP SHELF EVERYDAY

ALL FLOWER $ 10 OR LESS ON TUESDAYS Best Prices In Town

213 E Sprague Ave • Spokane, WA • 509.315.9262 OFFERS AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Open until 11 Every night, Midnight on Friday and Saturday Nights.

thevaultcannabis.com

Like us on Facebook!

This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with the consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of the reach of children.

Now open at 9a m

2nd Canniversary Sellebration While Supplies Last

You’ll always hit the jackpot !

kouchlock $ 6 grams $ 20 eighths 509-309-2130 1919 E Francis Ave

NORTH

THEGREENNUGGET

Warning: This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Smoking is hazardous to your health. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Should not be used by women that are pregnant or breast feeding. For USE only by adults 21 and older. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.

Warning: This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risk associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of reach of children.

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 49

GREEN ZONE

PRESIDENT’S DAY

SALE! 20% OFF

EDIBLES &

CONCENTRATES (excluding sale items)

30 Strains of

20 Eighths

$

testing up to 27%

605 E. Francis

HOURS: MON-SAT 8-9 SUN 9-9 WARNING: This product has intoxicating affects and may be habit forming. Smoking is hazardous to your health. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Should not be used by women that are pregnant or breast feeding.

For USE only by adults 21 and older. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.

FULL GRAM

CARTRIDGES

STARTING

AT $35 1/2 GRAM

STARTING

AT $21

DRIVE HIGH GET A DUI

THE ORIGINAL SUN 10A-9P MON - THUR 9A-11P FRI & SAT 9A-12A

60 1/2OZ

$

9107 N. COUNTRY HOMES BLVD

MON - SAT: 9A - 10P SUN: 9A - 9P This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming.

Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product.For use only by adults twenty-one and older. Keep out of the reach of children.

50 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

TOKERFRIENDLYSPOKANE.COM

1515 S. LYONS RD AIRWAY HEIGHTS

(509) 244-8728 Warning: This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Smoking is hazardous to your health. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Should not be used by women that are pregnant or breast feeding. For USE only by adults 21 and older. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.

Marijuana use increases the risk of lower grades and dropping out of school.

Talk with your kids.

GET THE FACTS at

learnaboutmarijuanawa.org

EVENTS | CALENDAR A MAGICAL MASQUERADE: PRINCESS BALL Wish Upon a Star Events hosts two sessions with Snow White, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty and others. Includes special performances, dancing, photo opps, dessert and coffee, activities and more. Feb. 18 from 1-3 pm and 5-7 pm. Feb. 18, 1-3 & 5-7 pm. $15-$45.

Spokane Valley Event Center, 10514 E. Sprague. bit.ly/2jq88eM PICKIN’ POST FALLS VINTAGE & ARTISAN SHOW A weekend featuring vintage, repurposed and up-cycled items, as well as antiques, handcrafts, jewelry, soaps and candles, furniture, garden art, primitives and more. Feb. 18, 9 am-6 pm and Feb. 19, 10 am-4 pm. $7/weekend; kids under 12 free.

Greyhound Park & Event Center, 5100 Riverbend. pastblessingsfarm.com VALENTINE’S DATE NIGHT Spend an evening making pottery while enjoying desserts and sparkling cider.

All supplies and instruction demos provided. Feb. 18, from 6-9 pm. $90/ couple. Urban Art Co-op, 3017 N. Monroe. urbanartcoop.org CELEBRATION OF LIFE: STEVE GIBBS The community and those who knew him are invited to celebrate the life and memories of Steven J. Gibbs, who passed away on Dec. 31 after a battle with ALS. Gibbs founded the Art Spirit Gallery in CdA and was a strong advocate for the local arts. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to The Art Spirit Education Collaboratory. Feb. 19, 2 pm. Hagadone Event Center, 900 S. Floating Green Dr. (888-999-7998) BLACK LUNCH TABLE: WIKIPEDIA EDITATHON Visiting artist Heather Hart facilitates a “Wikipedia Editathon” as part of her project, “Black Lunch Table,” a program to augment history of contemporary art with the testimonies of living, working, African American artists. Feb. 21, 6-9 pm. Free.

Terrain, 304 W. Pacific. bit.ly/2lMyoi5 DSP ANNUAL MEETING Includes a keynote presentation by Molly Alexandar, Executive VP for the Downtown Austin Alliance, speaking on the topic of how to create a better downtown culture for the millennial generation.

Feb. 23, 3 pm. $35. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. downtownspokane.net WHITWORTH STUDENT SYMPOSIUM Student Symposium Lectures No. 4 and 5 showcases Whitworth students’ independent research. On Feb. 23 and April 27, at 7 pm. Free and open to the public. Whitworth University, 300 W. Hawthorne. whitworth.edu (777-1000) DEMOCRACY SCHOOL Attend an intensive seminar teaching citizens and activists how to assert local control in order to protect the rights of their residents, their communities, and nature.

Feb. 24, 6-9 pm and Feb. 25, 9 am-5 pm. SNAP Fort Wright, 3102 W. Fort George Wright Dr. celdf.org/2017/02/ democracy-school-spokane-wa/ SCC SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OPEN HOUSE The third annual day of handson activities and experiments from the fields of geology, chemistry, biology and more. All ages welcome. Feb. 25, 10 am-1 pm. Free. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene. (533-7000) INVENTION CONNECTION FOR KIDS Drop in and play with Little Bits, Minecraft, Ozobots, Lego Mindstorm, Makey Makey, green screen kits, Lego bricks and more. Feb. 25, 12-2 pm. Free. Spark

Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (280-2776)

FILM

EMBRACE: ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY TO INSPIRE EVERYBODY A film exploring why poor body image has become a global epidemic and what women everywhere can do to have a brighter future. Feb. 16, 7:30-10 pm. $11. Regal Spokane Valley Stadium 12, 14706 E Indiana Ave. bit.ly/2kkVrT1 FIRED UP FILM FESTIVAL: KICK-OFF WORKSHOP Teens and amateur filmmakers are invited to have fun while creating a powerful film over a weekend. Register online. Feb. 16, 6-8 pm.

No cost. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (279-0299) UNSLUT: A DOCUMENTARY SCREENING AND DISCUSSION The documentary explores the causes and devastating effects of what is often called “slut shaming” and gender-based discrimination in the U.S. and Canada. Includes a panel discussion with local experts, writers, and podcasters. Feb. 16, 6-7:30 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org (893-8350) THE HELP Skeeter (Emma Stone) returns to her small Mississippi hometown after college with aspirations to become a writer. She decides to interview black women who work for prominent Southern families; the women have a lot to say, and this project turns the 1960s town upside down.

Feb. 18, 2 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org STAGE TO SCREEN: AMADEUS The National Theatre’s revival by Peter Shaffer. Feb. 19, 2-5 pm. $17. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. friendsofthebing.org GEORGE TAKEI’S ALLEGIANCE The Broadway musical returns to cinemas nationwide for an encore on the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, known as the Day of Remembrance, which marked the beginning of the forced relocation and internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. Feb. 19, 12:55 pm. $20.

Regal Cinemas, 4750 N. Division. bit. ly/2lMNRxx GU SUSTAINABILITY FILM SERIES: MAKOSHIKA The award-winning documentary follows the boom and bust of the American Badlands in Eastern Montana and North Dakota. In the Hemmingson Auditorium. Feb. 22, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Gonzaga University, 502 E. Boone. bit.ly/2lIT1ur BACKCOUNTRY FILM FESTIVAL The annual festival celebrates winter and the human-powered experience through 11 new award-winning short films. Feb. 23, 7:30 pm. Free. Gonzaga Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet. winterwildlands.org (313-6942) HIDDEN COLORS A series of films on the history of Black people in America.

Feb. 23, 1-3 pm. Free. SFCC, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. (533-3546)

FOOD

VINO WINE TASTING A tasting on Friday, Feb. 17, from 3-6:30 pm, features Walla Walla’s Trust Cellars. On Sat, Feb. 18, from 2-4:30 pm, sample wines of Sicily and Sardinia. Tastings include cheese and crackers. Vino!, 222 S. Washington. vinowine.com

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 51

RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess YOU DESERVE A BREAKUP TODAY

I really appreciated your recent column about people who go through with getting married when they know deep down that they’re making a mistake. I’m reminded of the common societal admonishment against being a “quitter.” There’s this notion that you’re some kind of loser if you quit anything — even when logic tells you that you should bow out. This sort of absurd anti-logic is used (with the “marriage takes work” notion) to AMY ALKON intimidate people into remaining in marriages that are total failures, which prolongs everyone’s suffering.

—Been There Ideally, “till death do us part” doesn’t lead to daydreams involving a shovel and a tarp.

Granted, there are people in miserable marriages who stay together — sometimes because they believe that a man with horns and a tail would end up chasing them around with a flaming pitchfork if they split up and married somebody else.

Others, in humdrum but not ugly or toxic marriages, stay together — admirably — for their kids’ sake. But many unhappy couples — with no pitter-pattering little feet but the schnauzer’s — don’t split up or are seriously slow to do it out of this notion that quitting is for losers.

I’m not suggesting that couples should scurry off to divorce court at the first sight of a cloud on the marital horizon. But there’s a cost-benefit analysis to be done.

Couples need to consider whether it’s actually possible to work to make their marriage succeed or whether that would take their being two totally different and actually compatible people.

As for what “succeeding” in marriage means, let’s be honest: In modern society, we have a luxury we never did before — marrying for love and happiness. We then expect that these will continue to some reasonable (or sometimes unreasonable) degree. In previous centuries, sometimes you lucked out and got love in the marital package. But, as marriage historian Stephanie Coontz points out, for “thousands of years” — until the late 18th century — “marriage was more about property and politics than personal satisfaction.” Two people would get “betrothed” to each other as a way of brokering peace between nations or getting the money to keep land in the family (“marriage is between a man and a potato farm”).

These days, however, if continents or children won’t be ravaged by a couple’s breaking up, maybe there’s no reason to be answering the question “Grandma, how’d you and Grandpa make it work?” with “We didn’t. I just stayed till he died.”

Even so, human psychology doesn’t make it easy to extricate ourselves. Research by psychologist Elliot Aronson finds that we are prone to “self-justification” — believing whatever puts us in the best light. In other words, we are natural-born spin doctors, driven to protect both our ego and our public persona — to the point where our knee-jerk response when we fail at something is pretending we haven’t, to ourselves and everybody else.

There is a psychological tool you can use to combat this. It’s “self-compassion” — basically, when you’re going through a hard time, treating yourself as kindly as you’d treat someone else who’s struggling. Psychologist Kristin Neff, who studies selfcompassion, finds that an essential element of this is seeing your “common humanity” — meaning viewing yourself as part of a whole population of flawed, fallible humans.

This might help you look charitably on the concept of the “starter marriage.” This is a first marriage for a very young couple without kids or many assets that ends in divorce in five years or less. (These are people who went into marriage not knowing themselves or their partner all that well and not really understanding what marriage requires.) Still, older people, upon hearing about this newfangled “get out of jail free” card, will often grumble the marital version of “When I was your age, I crawled 20 miles to school over broken glass!” (“Um, thanks, Aunt Bessie, but I learn just fine when Mom drops me off in her Tesla.”)

But consider that this “starter marriage” concept is actually very helpful — right in line with the notion from self-compassion that you’re not alone in making mistakes.

Understanding this can help you view your failures less as shameful embarrassments and more as learning experiences that you can use to make better choices in the future. Seeing failures in this more compassionate, positive light could also help you be a bit faster to admit when you’ve screwed up so you can move on. This is certainly preferable to just sitting there glumly mired in your bad choices like a little kid who peed his pants — and has to stay in those wet pants for the next 50 years, at which point somebody will throw him a big anniversary party to celebrate. n ©2017, 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)

52 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

EVENTS | CALENDAR PLANNING MEALS FOR NUTRITION & SAVINGS Educators from Second Harvest share tips for planning easy, nutritious meals and shopping for quality, affordable food. Feb. 21, 6:30 pm.

Free. Hillyard Library, 4005 N. Cook St. (444-5331) SALAD LAB WITH KRISTI FOUNTAIN In this hands-on class, experiment with a wide range of greens, sample oils and vinegar, and learn how to mix them to create new salads with every season.

Feb. 23, 5:30 pm. $45. Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon. thekitchenengine.com

MUSIC

CELEBRATION OF STRINGS The Spokane String Quartet plays its winter repertoire. Feb. 17, 6-8:30 pm. $15/ adult; $5/12 and under. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. (208-255-7801) NWCS JAZZ BAND VALENTINE’S BALL & SOCIAL Featuring the Master Class Big Band and the Northwest Christian School Jazz Band. Feb. 18, at 7:30 pm. $25. Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln. nwcs.org/valentineball SPOKANE SYMPHONY: HEROES, VILLAINS & SIDEKICKS Morihiko Nakahara and the orchestra present an exciting program of scores from Superman, Batman and more. Feb 18 at 2 and 8 pm. $14+. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. (624-1200) SPOKANE YOUTH SYMPHONY: NOW & NEXT Featuring the four orchestras of the SYS; the youth orchestra is joined by the Spokane Symphony in a “sideby-side” performance. Feb. 19, 4-6 pm. $12-$16. The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. spokaneyouthsymphony.org NW BACH FEST: AN EVENING ON VIENNA The festival classics concert features Australian pianist Piers Lane. Feb. 22, 7:30-9:30 pm. $40 ($18/student).

Barrister Winery, 1213 W. Railroad Ave. nwbachfest.com (326-4942) 50TH LIONEL HAMPTON JAZZ FEST This year’s three-day festival theme is “Grounded in Tradition. Breaking New Ground.” Events include student performances, clinics, workshops, concerts and more. Feb. 23-25; workshops at 8 am, concerts at 7:30 pm. University of Idaho, Moscow. uidaho.edu/jazzfest INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT Four world-renowned guitarists from around the globe join forces to celebrate musical diversity and bring their innovative talents to the stage. Feb. 23, 7:30-9:30 pm. $27-$37. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. friendsofthebing.org NW BACH FEST: BACH’S LUNCH Featuring duo-cello selections performed

by Zuill Bailey and John Marshall. Feb. 23 and March 2, from noon-1 pm. Free. Kress Gallery, 808 W. Main. nwbachfest.com ROB VERDI: TAKE 5 An event paying tribute to legendary artists who gave the sax its unique voice in jazz.

The Sandpoint High School choir joins legendary saxophonist for a night of Vaudeville jazz. Feb. 23, 7:30-9:30 pm. $10-$20. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. (208-255-8701)

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

KING OF THE CAGE A mixed martial arts event featuring Spitz v. Howell in the “New Blood” battle and more.

Feb. 16, 7 pm. $25-$60. Coeur d’Alene

Casino, 37914 S Hwy 95. cdacasino.com MT. SPOKANE NORDIC CUP A 2-day competitive ski race including both classic and skate skiing. Feb. 18-19. $80 for both days. Mt. Spokane State Park. spokanenordic.org/nordic_cup SPOKANE GOLF & TRAVEL SHOW The 19th annual show features 100+ exhibitors, seminars by PGA professionals and more. Feb. 18, 9 am-5 pm and Feb. 19, 10 am-4 pm. $12. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanegolfshow.com (621-0125) SPOKANE GREAT OUTDOORS & BIKE EXPO The new expo includes vendors, workshops, demos and more. Feb. 18, 9 am-5 pm; Feb. 19, 10 am-4 pm. $8-$10.

Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokaneoutdoorexpo.com HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS The group performs its signature ball handling wizardry to thrill fans of all ages. Feb. 21, 7 pm. $24.50-$102.50. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon. spokanearena.com

THEATER

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN The musical based on the hit film, performed by Aspire Community Theatre. Through Feb. 18; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $13-$17. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. bit.ly/2klmw61 A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM Steven Sondheim’s musical comedy for all ages.

Feb. 16-26; Thu-Sat, at 7:30 pm and Sat-Sun at 1:30 pm. $12-$20. Regional Theatre of the Palouse, 122 N. Grand Ave, Pullman. (509-334-0750) A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Sondheim’s romantic waltz explores the tangled web of affairs centered around a traveling actress and the men who love her.

Through March 5, Thu-Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2 pm. $22-$30. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. (325-2507) TROILUS & CRESSIDA GU Theatre & Dance present an adaptation of Shakespeare’s musical/comedy/history/tragedy featuring original music. Through Feb. 18; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. Gonzaga Magnuson Theatre, 502 E. Boone Ave. gonzaga.edu/theatrearts VANYA & SONIA & MASHA & SPIKE See one of the most lauded and beloved Broadway plays of recent years.

Through Feb. 19, Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $25. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. (325-2507) CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: OVO A headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in non-stop energy and movement. Feb. 16-19; times vary. $25-$135. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon. (279-7000) CHOICES A performance of the new play about a Midwestern family facing big changes Feb. 17-26; Fri-Sat at 7 pm, Sun at 3 pm. $6-$12. Pend Oreille Playhouse, 236 S. Union Ave. pendorielleplayhouse.org MEDEA: HER STORY The U. of Idaho Theatre Arts presents a free, one-nightremount of the show before it heads out on the road for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Fest. Feb. 17, 7:30 pm. Free. University of Idaho Hartung Theater, 6th & Stadium Way. uidaho.edu/class/theatre (208-885-6465) THE PRINCESS & THE PEA The annual performance at the Cutter features more than 50 local children of all ages.

Feb. 17 at 7 pm and Feb. 18 at 2 pm. $5.

Cutter Theatre, 302 Park St., Metaline Falls. cuttertheatre.com WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION A reader’s theater production of Agatha Christie’s courtroom drama. Feb. 17-18, 7:30 pm and Feb. 19, 2 pm. $5. Ignite!

Community Theatre, 10814 E. Broadway Ave. igniteonbroadway.org (795-0004)

VISUAL ARTS

MELISSA HURST FRYE: UNDERNEATH The Seattle artist works in themes of implied environments and shared experiences within the still life aesthetic.

Through March 24; Mon-Thu, 10 am-4 pm; Fri, 10 am-2:30 pm. Free, registration requested. North Idaho College, 1000 W. Garden Ave. (208-769-3300) VISUALIZING SCIENCE The spring exhibit resulted from a 9-month collaboration between faculty in science, art and design to brings scientific research to life in art form. Through April 15; TueSat, 10 am-8 pm and Sun, 10 am-6 pm.

Free. Prichard Art Gallery, 414 S. Main St. (208-885-3586) LECTURE: HEATHER HART Range presents the interdisciplinary artist from Brooklyn, who shares her work combining art with an emphasis on social practice. She speaks at SFCC, Bldg.

24, at 11:30 am, and at the EWU Art Auditorium at noon. Free and open to the public. Feb. 23, 12-1 pm. facebook.com/ range.spokane

WORDS

PIVOT: NEW BEGINNINGS The new live storytelling series features stories on the theme of “New Beginnings.”

Featured readers include Sam Ligon, Shawn Vestal, Kurt Olson, Claire Rudolph Murphy and others. Feb. 16, 7 pm.

Free. Washington Cracker Co. Building, 304 W. Pacific. bit.ly/2kiYdFk READING: BARBARA PARSONS The Spokane resident reads from her book “Windwoman the Legend.” The author is also proud member of the Ponca Indian tribe from Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Feb. 16, 7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main. (838-0206) READING: BUDDY LEVY The Moscowbased author reads from his book “No Barriers: A Blind Man’s Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon,” which he co-authored with celebrated adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Feb. 16, 7 pm. BookPeople of Moscow, 521 S. Main. bookpeopleofmoscow.com READING: LEYNA KROW The local writer reads from her debut collection of short fiction, “I’m Fine But You Appear to be Sinking.” Krow is joined by Aileen Keown Vaux. Feb. 17, 7-8 pm.

Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (838-0206) WA STATE BOOK AWARD CELEBRATION 2017 fiction winner Sharma Shields reads alongside past and present winners/finalists, including Mary Cronk Farrell, Gregory Spatz, Nance Van Winckle, Shann Ray, Paul Lindholdt and Bill Youngs. Feb. 18, 7 pm. Free. Auntie’s, 402 W. Main Ave. bit.ly/2ku51PP READING: SAMUEL LIGON A reading by the local author of the novels “Among the Dead and Dreaming” and “Safe in Heaven Dead.” Feb. 22, 1 pm.

Free. North Idaho College, 1000 W. Garden Ave. nic.edu (208-769-3337) n

REVERSE

MORTGAGE 208-762-6887

“IT’S ABOUT TIME”

Learn more about “LOCAL” REPRESENTATIVE reverse mortgage loans

Specializing in Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy

FREE INFORMATION LarryWaters Waters Larry

355 nder.com 09) 444-7 la PHONE: (5BulletinBoard@In mit Parkway : IL u A E-M est S m N: 1227 W e, WA 99201 O S R E P IN Spokan

NMLS IDMortgage 400451 Consultant Reverse 1-866-787-0980 Toll-Free 208-762-6887 Local

Idaho & Washington NMLS 531629 Must be at least 62 years of age.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. © 2011 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. NMLSR ID 399801. AS581479 3/11-6/11

MAKE MONEY BY MAKING A DIFFERENCE Donate at Octapharma Plasma today! 510 E. Francis Ave. in Spokane. 509-484-7001 *Must be 18-64 years old w/valid ID, proof of social security # & current residence postmarked within 30 days. More info at octapharmaplasma.com NEW DONORS earn up to $250 for the first 5 donations!

Deep Tissue Hot Rock :: Sports Relaxation

Psychic Readings

ONLINE SCHEDULING

Mentoring

Dezana Aman, LMP 509.998.0255

Exclusive food news & a calendar of culinary events

Coaching

707 N Cedar Suite #4 (The Pelican Building)

Delivered to your inbox every Thursday

ArtOfMassage¯Spokane.com

Counseling

MA 60016914

to advertise:

Subscribe at: inlander.com/newsletter

444-SELL

LOOK FOR THE

Have an event? GET LISTED!

GET YOUR INLANDER INSIDE

Submit your event details for listings in the print & online editions of the Inlander.

• Community • Film • Food & Drink

• Music • Sports • Theater

• Visual Arts • Words • Etc.

Inlander.com/GetListed

2

3

4

5

13

6 14

17 20

7

25

Hood” 39. Anonymous John 40. Second lyric of the chorus of a #1 1975 hit (or how to solve the bottom left square) 44. Emily Dickinson’s “Ended, ____ it begun” 45. Row 46. Washington and others 47. Toss about, as petals 50. Yule beverage 52. Where to learn anglais 53. Turn (up), as intensity 55. About 3/4 of a football field 57. Third lyric of the chorus of a #1 1975 hit (or how to solve the grid’s circled squares) 64. Some savings, for short 65. “That’s what ____ said!”

66. A suspect might appear in one 67. Cape Canaveral org.

68. Lean-____ (simple shelters) 69. Go on the offensive 70. 6-0, in tennis 71. Used a chair 72. Radiohead frontman Thom

26

18

19

27

28

29

30

31

12

53

51

54

58

34

62

63

43

46 50

49

33

39 42

45

44

32

38

41

40

57

11

55 59

52 56

60

61

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

“GET DOWN”

11. Have the nerve 12. Ballerinas 14. 90 degrees from sur 21. Vowelless interjection 22. &

NEW stock while supplies last Records*Cds*Music & Memorabilia & Tapes 2! 1902 HAMILTON 483-4753

22

37

36

48

10

24

35

47

9 16

21

DOWN 1. ____ Piper 2. Prefix with phobia 3. Film character who says “I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee!”

4. Oscar-winning actress named after Shirley Temple 5. Early trial presentation 6. Texter’s “ciao” 7. ____ curriculum 8. Botch 9. Surname of presidential hopefuls in 1968 and 2012 10. Tech debut of 1998

8

15

23

ACROSS 1. ____ d’Or (Cannes award) 6. “31 Days of Oscar” channel 9. “Good ____!”

13. Sherpa’s tool 15. French “you” 16. “ER” actor Epps 17. Fromm and Segal 18. 12-mo. periods 19. Where Spirit landed in 2004 20. First lyric of the chorus of a #1 1975 hit (or how to solve the top right square) 23. $5 bills, slangily 24. Word before “Happy New Year!”

25. When to hear “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?”

28. Relatives 31. Faulkner’s “As I Lay ____” 35. Noises at a street protest 37. Actress Long of “Boyz N the

Available at more than 1,000 locations throughout the Inland Northwest.

BUYING Estate Contents/ Household Goods See abesdiscount.com or 509-939-9996

Deadline is one week prior to publication

1

Sun Meadow Family Nudist Resort Year Round Skinny Dipping 208-686-8686

25. Topmost points 26. Reach the Top 40, say 27. Giver’s opposite 29. Emcee’s delivery 30. Little issue to “pick”

32. “What did ____ deserve THIS W this?”

ANSWE EEK’S 33. “Catch-22,” e.g.

I SAW RS ON 34. Birds flying in a V YOUS formation 36. ____-mo replay 38. Sharpton and Roker 41. Actor McKellen 42. Forever and a day 43. Really let have it 48. Worries 49. One justification for the Iraq war, for short 51. Gun, in old mob slang 54. Blog entries 56. Aerated beverage 57. Mardi ____ 58. Make less difficult 59. “I did NOT see that coming” 60. Start and end of many a flight 61. Stuff in a backpack 62. Literary pal of Tom 63. It takes a toll: Abbr.

64. Smitten

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 53

A few snowflakes amount to nothing. Enough, and you have an avalanche.

JESSIE HYNES ILLUSTRATION

The Hardening of the ‘Special Snowflake’ After Trump’s inauguration, the depiction of millennial liberals as fragile and sensitive seems more off target than ever

BY DANIEL WALTERS

T

here have been many insults lobbed by Donald Trump supporters, many laden with sexual, antiSemitic and racist connotations.

But as a pure term of art, few insults have had the staying power as “special snowflake,” the ubiquitous phrase used to mock, in particular, oversensitive liberal millennials, the sort who demand that college administrators protect them from the realities of the outside world.

“If the term ‘White Christmas’ seems racist to you, you might be a snowflake,” Trump supporter and conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren proclaimed in a Jeff Foxworthy-inspired rant in January. “If you spend more time occupying Wall Street than you do occupying a shower or a job, you might be a snowflake.”

It’s an artful phrase. “Special,” of course, calls to mind condescension and euphemism, channeling the assurances of a mommy that, no matter what the kids at school say, her little baby boy will always be special to her.

Every snowflake, we learned while cutting snowflakes out of construction paper in first grade, is special, in its own way. Snowflakes are fragile. Snowflakes must be handled gingerly. Snowflakes melt under the slightest bit of heat.

But there’s another quality to snowflakes, one that has revealed itself in the flurry of protests after the election. A few snowflakes are nothing. You can catch them on your tongue or brush them off your shoulders. But enough of them, coming at you with enough fury? Then you’ve got a blizzard. Even more, and you’ve got an avalanche.

O

riginally, the “snowflake” phrase was popularized in the 1999 movie Fight Club, based on Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel of the same name, as a contemptuous dig at the wimpiness of modern man.

“Listen up, maggots,” says the film’s Tyler Durden, avatar of reclaimed masculinity. “You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else.”

As it took on its more modern meaning, conservatives found plenty of examples of “special snowflakes” to mock.

54 INLANDER FEBRUARY 16, 2017

A September 2015 Atlantic magazine article, “The Coddling of the American Mind,” depicted college students as far different from the rabble-rousers fighting for free speech in the ’60s.

Some students called for “trigger warnings” alerting sensitive students about, say, the domestic abuse depicted in The Great Gatsby. They condemned comments like “I don’t see race” as racially offensive “microaggressions.” They demanded that colleges disinvite speakers like former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from giving commencement addresses. They sought out “safe spaces,” specific spots on campus protected from hurtful words or damaging points of view.

Trump himself didn’t use the phrase “special snowflake” during his campaign, but he used “political correctness” as a whipping boy, blaming it for everything from crime to terrorism and government malfunction. Every freak-out over an outrageous statement from Trump simply served to show his supporters that he was not a man constrained by namby-pamby niceties.

The initial shell-shocked reaction of liberal students to Trump’s election underscored the “snowflake” narrative. Leaders at Washington State University and the University of Washington directed students to counseling. Cornell University students held a “cry-in.” The University of Kansas brought in therapy dogs.

B

ut as the shock has worn off, something else has happened to the “special snowflakes.” Trump has united liberal millennials, honing their cause to a sharp point.

Instead of calling for “safe spaces” to protect students from offensive ideas, some college students are demanding that university administrators defy the federal government, if necessary, to protect their undocumented classmates from deportation. They have very clear, very tangible grievances they can rally against.

Trump took everything liberal millennials have been railing against for a decade and gave it orange flesh and a combover.

Rape culture? Trump was caught on tape bragging about how his fame enables him to commit sexual assault with impunity — and was elected anyway. Racism? Re-

publican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called Trump’s attacks on the Mexican heritage of a federal judge the “textbook definition” of racism.

Income inequality? Trump, avatar of excess, once tried to bulldoze an old lady’s house in Atlantic City to make way for a limousine parking lot for his now-closed Trump Plaza casino.

Even protests intended to prevent controversial figures from speaking on college campuses, like the recent one protesting Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California at Berkeley, no longer seem as trivial. It was one thing to get angry over Yiannopoulos when he was just an asshole provocateur working for Breitbart News, an obscure, extremist website that specialized in asshole provocation. It’s another thing entirely when Yiannopoulos’ former Breitbart boss, Stephen Bannon, is in the White House inner circle, pulling the strings behind the presidency.

Meanwhile, the nature of these protests, which attracted anarchists armed with baseball bats and Molotov cocktails, hardly fit the “special snowflake” meme.

Snowflakes don’t riot. Snowflakes don’t set things on fire. Similarly, recent debates on the left — should we sucker-punch white supremacists? And if so, how hard?

— are light-years away from last year’s arguments over whether serving sushi at Oberlin College’s dining hall reinforces cultural appropriation.

Trump’s inauguration, in fact, has already signaled the beginning of a role reversal around political correctness.

The so-called “special snowflakes” are now the ones dropping F-bombs at protests and thrusting their middle fingers into the air, and Trump supporters are the ones shaking their heads in sadness about “obscene and repulsive signs.”

These days, the “special snowflake” epithet is just as likely to be used by liberal critics to mock the fragility and sensitivity of Trump and his supporters.

“Donald Trump is the biggest snowflake in America!” comedian Neal Brennan said on a Daily Show episode last month, noting Trump’s near-weekly freak-outs over being mocked on Saturday Night Live. “He’s the color snowflake you shouldn’t eat.” n

Reserve Your Table FEBRUARY 23 through MARCH 4 Over

100

Restaurants

10 Days

3 Courses

1 Price

Tables are filling up quickly, make your reservations today!

InlanderRestaurantWeek.com #InlanderRW BENEFITTING

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 INLANDER 55

Sip ‘n Paint PARTY

SATURDAY, FEBRUAR Y 25TH INCLUDES PAINTING M

3 PM • $35

ATERIALS, INSTRUCT ION AND A GLASS OF WIN E OR BEER.

MUST BE 21 YEARS OR OLDER. PURCHASE TICKETS AT CASINO OR CDACASINO.COM

1 800 523-2464 | CDACASINO.COM