This week Boeing’s jets reach a trifecta of anniversaries: The maiden flight of the Boeing 247 was on February 8, 1933, and today marks the anniversaries of the maiden flights of the 727 Trijet (February 9, 1963) and the 747 Jumbo Jet on February 9, 1969.

One of the most distinct memories of my childhood was making the long-trek across the Atlantic Ocean coming home from Europe to the USA in a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet that carried us all the way from London to New York City in what felt like days instead of hours. Fun days/hours, though; as young children there were few things my brothers and I loved more than going somewhere on a plane. Back when the 747 Jumbo was still a new model, taking a flight was still a pretty big deal for most people. I remember that people used to dress for their flights the way they used to dress to go to the theater or church or a business meeting. While I am perfectly happy to live in a much more informal society, I do wish that taking a plane ride was still the thrill it was then.

Oh well, it’s not Boeing’s fault: they continue to build bigger and/or better planes all the time, including the new Boeing 747-8 Freighter which yesterday had its first flight up in Everett in front of more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and community leaders. According to their press release here which has some nifty photos of the plane both on the ground and in the air (the 747-8 is rather an attractive plane, I think), Boeing’s Freighter 747s carry over half the world’s air freight. Pretty impressive.

Take your photo ID and any valid Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card to the Museum of History & Industry, The Wing Luke Asian Museum, Northwest African American Museum, and Tacoma Art Museum on free weekends and get complimentary admission for you and a guest.

When you picture mountain biking in your head are the people involved largely male? It’s hardly a surprise if they are; though there are many women active in dirt bike riding, they’re rarely represented to the same degree as their brothers. This changes with Awesome Land: Women of Dirt at Northwest Film Forum. Featuring Tammy Donahugh, Stephanie Nychka, Cierra Smith, Emily Johnston, Lisa Myklak, Jill Kintner, Leana Gerrard, Dawn Cashen, Katrina Strand, Kathy Pruitt, and Darcy Turenne, Awesome Land takes a look at bicycle downhill racing, dirt jumping and free riding and shows how these women have contributed to the development of gravity mountain biking.

Paul Newman was already an executive producer of Sometimes a Great Notion, the 1970 film based on the 1964 Ken Kesey novel of the same name, as well as the leading man when original director Richard A. Colla left the project due to good, old-fashioned artistic differences. Newman offered the job to George Roy Hill but Hill took a pass so Newman ended up as producer, star AND director. Newman stars as Hank Stamper, an independent logger in the fictional Oregon town of Wakonda. When he refuses to take part in the local logging union’s strike, he and his family go to war with the whole town. Complicating matters are his issues with his dad (Henry Fonda), his wife (Lee Remick) and his brother (Michael Sarrazin).

Fans of twisted, tacky, and outright tasteless humor will want to head to Central Cinema for this year’s version of Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Animation Festival, running Friday through Thursday at 7:00 (all ages) and 9:30 (21+).

Actor Bruce Campbell and director Sam Raimi both made their debut with the relentlessly frightening and gory Evil Dead, this weekend’s midnight movie at the Egyptian.

Every year the NWF&GS has a theme. This year’s is “Beauty & Functionality”, emphasizing garden designs that are both attractive and useful. In a city where many people have very small yards–if they’re lucky enough to have a yard at all–there’s a real value in maximizing the space available to you.

The display gardens created by professional garden designers are the centerpiece of the show and this year they offered the 2010 Judging Panel a serious challenge as all of them were extremely well done, utilizing the theme in many creative and beautiful ways. The judges awarded seven Gold, six Silver, seven Bronze, and two Crystal awards to the regional creators who integrated sustainable features into their full-scale display gardens. The Founder’s Cup, awarded to the Best in Show, went to Le Jardin Home & Garden Design and B. Bissell General Contractor, LLC for their collaborative work called “Ahead of the Curve”.

Another great garden was Seattle Tilth and NW Bloom EcoLogical
Landscapes’ “A Family’s Little Farm in the City”. Organic produce grows in raised beds and containers; goats chew weeds and produce milk, and chickens help aerate the soil via their mobile “tractor coop”. This garden is a closed loop system in which nothing is wasted. Rain wise principles, composting and solar power are a part of this garden’s every day life. In addition to a Gold Award, “A Family’s Little Farm in the City” won the American Horticultural Society Environment Award, the Pacific Horticultural Society Award, the Sunset Western Living Award and the 425 Magazine Award.

All of the gardens were lovely. One of my top favorites was Plantwoman Design’s Silver Award winning “Swimming a la Naturale” which centered a natural water pond in the midst of low-maintenance shrubs and plants designed to attract wildlife to your yard to share your chlorine-free pool with you.

Seattle Urban Farm Company earned a Gold award for “Crops for Clunkers” which cleverly repurposed an old pick-up truck into a mobile garden.

Don’t have a full yard? Container gardening continues to grow – and it’s not just plants in pots crowded onto a patio, there’s still plenty of room for creativity.

To learn more about the gardens and their designers, visit the NWF&GS website. The show continues through Sunday at the Convention Center.

If getting into Heaven was as simple as leaving Hell behind, who would choose to stay in Hell? That’s the question at the heart of The Great Divorce, on stage at Taproot Theater through February 27. Based on a story by C.S. Lewis, the play is a fitting choice for the first production at the newly restored theater that was severely damaged in a fire set by the arsonist who plagued the Greenwood neighborhood three months ago. Lewis’s religious views were a major influence on his writing career, but the story is equally accessible to the non-theologically inclined who can substitute being one’s best self or worse in place of Heaven and Hell. Beset by trauma, one can choose to wallow in the familiar discomfort of one’s own misery or strike out into the challenging unknown in search of joy.

Getting into Heaven, as George MacDonald (Nolan Palmer) explains to C.S. Lewis (David Dorrian), is simple, but it isn’t easy.

The story begins with C.S. Lewis finding himself in a vague grey town which we soon realize is Hell. Lewis joins a motley group of characters standing in line for a bus which delivers them to the foothills of Heaven. There they discover that although it’s the most beautiful place any of them have seen, it’s also a difficult place as they soon discover themselves to be ghosts who have to struggle even to stand on the grass since everything around them is much more solid.

Lewis observes as various solid beings approach the passengers one at a time, people they knew in life who have come to show them the path to the mountains where they will live in eternal peace. Each of the prospective coaches promises that although the journey will be difficult at first, as it progresses it will become easier and easier as the ghosts become more solid themselves.

Among the encounters Lewis observes are an artist who would rather stay in Hell than go to a Heaven where nobody is famous because everyone is on equal ground, a Bishop more interested in debating the notion of Heaven than actually seeing it and several others who cling to their pain even knowing that it is their doom. Ten actors play 25 characters in the play, quickly and marvelously shedding one skin for a new one. It is a credit to the cast that even when their scenes were close together, each character was fresh and new. While all of the cast deserve praise, Faith Russell and Sam Vance were particularly outstanding in keeping characters fully human who could easily slide into cliche. Compassion is one of the hardest emotions to portray, but Vance nails it as the brother of a mother whom he must order to let go of the grief that has come to define her. Russell moves smoothly from the ultimate shrew to the essence of pure light.

David Dorrian, whose Lewis both narrates the tale and propels the plot, is superb, using his voice and body to transform a minimalist stage design into a richly textured world.

Last Friday’s opening night performance began with a pre-show presentation by Artistic Director Scott Nolte of the theater’s thanks to Seattle Fire Department Assistant Chief A.D. Vickery and onsite foreman Steve Timian for their efforts on behalf of the theater and the Greenwood neighborhood.

Her musical knowledge and ability are vast and now she’s sharing them with anyone who is interested in developing their own. Starting February 24, Carrie’s offering a six-week singer/songswriter studio at EMP/SFM where students of all skill levels will learn to write and perform their own songs. No previous songwriting or notation experience required and you definitely don’t need to be a music pro yourself to take the class; just have an interest in learning and be willing to sing a little bit in front of a class.

For more details, check out the class listing on EMP/SFM’s site.

If you’ve ever watched TV or listened to the radio in the Seattle metro area, you’ve seen/heard the “Honk for Vern Fonk” ads. Some people think they’re horrible. Some people think they’re adorable. Some people think they’re both, but it’s rare that you’ll meet anyone who has no opinion of them at all. Vern Fonk wasn’t the first company to use advertising that attracts and repels in almost equal measures, but those Vern Fonk ads have been part of the local landscape for a long, long time and it would be weird to imagine a world without them. Per the PSBJ piece, the head of marketing who created the ad campaign will remain the head of marketing, so they’re probably safe for now. The new owner, Confie Seguros of New York focuses on insuring Hispanic customers and hopes to expand this base in Washington through the purchase of Vern Fonk and perhaps other agencies to come.

Hmm. How do you say “honk” in Spanish?

Even people who don’t garden, like me. I’ve been going to this show year in and year out for a very long time now because I find it soothing and interesting and inspirational. People I know who do garden tell me they’ve gotten more useful information from one day at the NWF&GS than they’ve gotten in an entire year of study, but even someone like me, with black thumbs and an aversion to putting my hands in dirt, anyway, find much fascination at the show. The display gradens are truly spectacular, presenting not just interesting ideas on using one’s available space, but dreams and desires. I’ve learned a tremendous amount of information about our local landscape, weather, culture, flora and fauna, all of which has been interesting and enjoyable.

If you are a gardener, you’ll gain even more: besides the seminars, there are a zillion vendors and other visitors on hand to give you advice to make your garden grow exactly how you want it to grow. If you’re looking for gardening supplies, well, you’ve got a whole world of items all at your hands in one convenient location.

The show runs through February 7. Wednesday through Saturday the show’s hours are 9 am to 8 pm. See the show Sunday between 9 am and 6 pm.

Tickets are $20 at the door for adults and $5 for anyone 13 – 17. Children 12 and under are free.

Speaking of sci-fi, SIFF Cinema presents a weekend of Sci-Fi on Blu Ray. Friday night at 7:30 check out Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece: 2001: A Space Odyssey, a movie that scared the bejezus out of me as a kid and remains one of the most compelling films made and is the acknowledged standard against which all serious sci-fi films are measured. It’s pioneering special effects and innovative film and sound techniques tell a story of human evolution, advanced technology, extraterrestrials, and the creepiest computer of all time.

Sunday at SIFF it’s a double feature: Get down there in the early afternoon for the 3:30 screening of The Man Who Fell to Earth, the 1976 Nicolas Roeg-directed film about an alien who comes to Earth to get water for his thirsty planet. While it’s best known because the alien just happens to be played by David Bowie (who is very, very convincing as an alien), it’s worth watching for more than mere gawking at a rock star. It’s been a cult favorite for years due to its surreal imagery and its complex look at society as reflected by the experiences of the ultimate outside. It’s followed by Logan’s Run at 6:00 pm. I’d like to pretend that the reason my brother and I loved this movie so much when we were kids was that we were impressed by its ultimate message of the indomitability of the human nature, but the truth is we liked the flashy special effects. (Oh, and the idea of a world without cranky old folks telling kids to get off their lawn.) Watching it again for the first time in years a few months ago I was struck by how even with some seriously outdated tech and acting that isn’t exactly Academy quality, it still manages to be an exciting movie.

If you lived twice as long as he did, you might someday become half as good as Julius Shulman, the photographer who delivered American architecture to the masses via his work from the 1930s until his death in 2009. During the course of his storied career, Shulman, THE preeminent architectural photographer captured on film such iconic buildings as the Stahl House in Los Angeles and structures built by such luminaries as Charles Eames, Pierre Koenig, and Frank Lloyd Wright. His library of images was so desired that the Getty Center in LA had to do battle to win the right to host his catalog. So vast was his talent that it would be worth a trip to LA just to see some of his photos at the Getty. With such an august figure you might expect that a film about his career would be a little dry–brilliance can be boring–but Visual Acoustics is an intriguing look at an intelligent, likable man who just happened to be an artistic genius. While it may be impossible to do a documentary without any talking heads, director Eric Bricker wisely avoids relying on them too much, keeping his focus on the man and his work. Shulman, and others, talk about his work, the significance of photography to architects and architecture, how architecture influences our lives and our society, and Shulman’s photographic techniques all in a way that’s more friendly conversation that classroom lecture. The visuals on display, needless to say, are stunning. I think I became a better photographer myself just watching this film. At NW Film Forum.

Director Katie Turinski profiles a group of a dozen Portland performance artists who use glitter, booze, and talent to transform themselves into “the kind of drag queens your mother warned you about” in her documentary Sissyboy, a chronicle of the noted drag troupe’s last year. Interviews with the Sissyboy members and looks at the group’s rehearsals and public performances paint a picture of personal freedom through anything-goes artistic expression. On screen at the Grand Illusion.

Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusters, the Midnight Movie at the Egyptian Theater.

Winner of a Cannes Jury Prize and Romania’s official Oscar selection, Police, adjective is a dry comedy about a police officer who has a crisis of conscience when he has choose between getting in big trouble with his big boss or ruining the life of a young man whose made what he thinks is just a minor mistake.

The Rat City Rollergirls skate into the 2010 season with a bout on Sunday, January 31 at Key Arena. All four home teams–Sockit Wrenches, Derby Liberation Front, Throttle Rockets and Grave Danger–will battle each other tourney style as they duke it out to see which non-profit group each team has selected will score the biggest donation based on the team representing them.

The Sockit Wrenches will be fighting for the Lambert House, a center for GLBTQ youth. The Pinup Angels send care packages to American servicemembers stationed around the world, they’re represented by Derby Liberation Front. Throttle Rockets are standing up for Fisher House, an organization that enables military family members to be by their loved one’s side during hospitalization for illness, disease, or injury. Grave Danger is there for Old Dog Haven who provide homes for Washington’s senior dogs.

Doors open at 2:30 and the bouts begin an hour later. RCRG season ticket holders, don’t forget that you get the opportunity to enter in your very own door on the east side of Key Arena, enabling you to score the choicest seats in the house. (If you’re not already a season ticket holder and would like to be, check the RCRG site for details.) Individual game tickets can be purchased at the door; in recognition of the tough economic times, the Rollergirls are sweetening the pot by offering a deal: buy four tickets and get a fifth free. Take advantage of this offer by gathering your group and heading down to an in-person ticket location or purchase in advance online through Ticketmaster.