Scottish people are funny, and I mean both funny “ha ha” and funny-weird. They all talk like Sean Connery, eat haggis and drink booze that tastes like PineSol and elderberries; the men wear woolen skirts with no underwear and play an instrument comprised of animal bladders and whiny, out-of-tune pipes; for sport, they throw big logs over their shoulders. You’ve got to love these people.
This Saturday, June 1, in Ferndale, you can get your fill of Scottish shenanigans at Bellingham’s 41st annual Highland Games, which take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Hovander Park (take I-5 exit 262 West). The event features all sorts of wacky Scottish contests and performances, including music by bagpipe bands, dancing, stock dog trials and the ever-adorable caber toss. Don’t miss the “March of the Massed Pipe Bands” at noon and the end of the day, or the demonstrations by the Society of Creative Anachronism. Any number of Celtic bands from around the country will also be playing over the course of the event. Admission is a mere $8/$5 seniors & children. For more information call (360) 647-8500 or go to www.bellinghamhighland.org.
Local production company Paris Otis presents an all-ages rock/punk fest this Friday, May 31, at Oak Harbor Indoor Soccer Arena. Featured bands are Bad Apple, EWI, Capacity 3 and Prozac Staple (now there’s a band name that’ll get Tipper Gore’s scruff up). Admission is $5 at the door; the show starts at 8:30 p.m. Go get your ya-yas out, but remember: If you must mosh, mosh nicely. Not everyone is as punk as you, buddy! Watch the elbows.
Promoters at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts are giving a heads up to local folks regarding this year’s DjangoFest Northwest, a festival celebrating the music of three-fingered Gypsy-jazz legend Django Reinhardt that runs Oct. 3-6 in Langley. Guess last year’s DjangoFest was so popular with aficianados around the country that tickets sold-out before many local yokels got a shot at them. Now, that kind of monkey business might fly in New York or L.A., but not on this island, and WICA has kindly remedied the situation by making tickets available plenty early. As in NOW! Django Reinhart’s utterly unique style has influenced the playing of a multitude of musicians over the years, perhaps most notably the twangy pickins of Willie Nelson. Don’t miss this festival. Call (360) 221-8268 for reservations and visit the Web site (www.djangofest.com) for more festival info.
“Counting Days,” a locally produced feature-length dramatic film dealing with issues of child abuse, will show Thursday, May 30, through Tuesday, June 4, at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon. Proceeds from the opening night screening are being donated to the Washington State Council for Prevention of Child Abuse. Call (360) 336-8895 for times and info about special events.
Now open and running through July 14 at the LaConner Quilt Museum is Kitty Pippen’s display of “Quilts with a Japanese Flair.” Pippen first made Japanese quilts back in ‘88; then she actually visited Japan and learned new ways of exploring Japanese fabrics such as yukata, shibori, kasuri and aizome. Museum hours are Wednesday thru Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. & Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $4; call (360) 466-4288 for more information.
No one who loves great American cinema should miss the special screening of Robert Altman’s classic ‘70s anti-Western, “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” starring a mumbling, bumbling Warren Beatty and a beautiful, opium-addicted Julie Christie as the madam of a whorehouse in the Northwest during the 1800s. This film is a wonderful and moody meditation on early capitalism, botched heroism and, in particular, the hazy, foggy landscape of this part of the world. Plus, Leonard Cohen did the soundtrack. The movie will play at 1:45 p.m. Sunday at the Egyptian Theatre on Capitol Hill. Show up very early, or you can try to order advance tickets by calling (206) 324-9996.
