Here in Cascadia, many folks know the word skookum.

Meaning “strong” or “powerful,” it comes to us from the language of the Coast Salish people. Not a word that was bestowed lightly, it is also the name given to an energetic creek that flows down from the mountains in the shadow of the Twin Sisters.

Skookum Creek is the largest tributary of the South Fork of the Nooksack River and plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of the entire river system.

The recent history of this…

Wanting to flee from the familial embrace of relatives is a common occurrence where the holidays are concerned. But rather than leaving the ones you’re supposed to love behind this year and hoofing it to the nearest bar at the first sign of seasonal strife, consider instead taking a deep breath and suggesting everyone join in on an outing to one or more of the following exhibits—all of which will be shuttering near the end of the year.

If you haven’t yet experienced the beauty,…

Unprecedented disaster calls for an unprecedented response.

That is the thought, at least, behind the Resilience Butte County Proud IPA, the latest creation from Sierra Nevada Brewery—whose flagship location resides in Chico, Calif., directly adjacent to the recent Camp Fire in the state’s Butte County. The IPA is being brewed as a fundraiser for those directly affected by the fire.

This is no ordinary IPA. Sure, it’s a traditional West Coast IPA, brewed with Centennial and…

Spoiler alert: In iDiOM Theater’s recent revival of A Christmas Story currently showing at the Sylvia Center for the Arts, the pivotal role of Tiny Tim is cunningly played by a small wooden chair.

But aside from Tim and a couple of his siblings—who briefly come to life even though they are portrayed by what appeared to be wadded-up napkins—most of the characters in Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale are channeled by adroit actors Anna Mostovetsky, Glenn Hergenhahn-Zhao, and…

I know I’ve been talking a lot of turkey about my abundance of Christmas spirit, but as is so often the case, my reality doesn’t exactly match my mouth. We are closing in on the holiday and yet the number of Christmas presents I have procured still sits at a hard zero. I have decked no halls, trimmed no trees, stuffed no stockings and hung no mistletoe. I have worn no tacky Christmas sweaters (and believe me, I have a few) and have sat on the laps of no Santas. Reindeer games…

The Favourite is the most normal film Yorgos Lanthimos has yet made—if “normal” can be stretched to define this tale of an upchucking and libidinous queen, indoor duck and rabbit chases, and a dodgeball variant involving naked men and fruit.

The film has all these things and so much more. Keen scholars of the Lanthimos oeuvre will connect the ducks and rabbits here with the Greek auteur’s previous animal obsessions in Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of a Sacred…