All events may not be shown here. Consult the GreatNorthwest events calendars for a complete listing of weekend events.

Friday

For a listing of Independence Day celebrations occurring throughout the region, see my previous post on the subject, and/or the GreatNorthwest event calendars.

Saturday

Bellingham/Whatcom County:

• Blaine: Fun on the 5th
  
• Bellingham Farmer’s Market
• Sumas Bull-O-Rama
• Free Outdoor Movie @ Milt’s Pizza Place, Lynden
• Fairhaven Oudoor Cinema & Evening Music on the Village Green

Western Washington:

• Seafair Pirate’s Landing
  
• Tall Ships Tacoma
  
• Anacortes Farmer’s Market
• Edmonds Museum Summer Market
• Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival
• Seafair Milk Carton Derby
• Seattle International Beer Fest

Vancouver/British Columbia:

• Victoria: Andy Warhol Exhibit
  
• Cirque du Soleil: Corteo @ Concord Pacific Place, Vancouver
• Monty Python’s “Spamalot” @ The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts
• Vancouver Chinatown Night Market, Vancouver, B.C.

Sunday

Bellingham/Whatcom County:

Deadly dull. I refer you to What’s Up! for the nighttime tavern music scene.

Western Washington:

• Tall Ships Tacoma
  
• Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival
• Return to Renton Benefit Car Show & Arts Unlimited Gallery
• Everett Farmers’ Market
• Hispanic SeaFair Festival
• Seattle International Beer Fest

Vancouver/British Columbia:

• Victoria: Andy Warhol Exhibit
  
• Cirque du Soleil: Corteo @ Concord Pacific Place, Vancouver
• Monty Python’s “Spamalot” @ The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts
• Vancouver Chinatown Night Market, Vancouver, B.C.

“Raises SILLINESS To An Art Form,” reads the leading endorsement on the official Spamalot website. I believe it, and I practically fall to my knees to worship it, being a lifelong fan of all things “Pythonesque.” A friend of mine saw “Spamalot” in London, and said it was stupendous.

• What: “Spamalot: A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture.”

• Where: The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts [map]

• When: July 3-27, 2008

• Tickets: $69-$89 Canadian [Ticketmaster]

And now, a scene with some lovely acting from the movie that started it all–

I’ve discovered another outdoor movie venue here in the county. Milt’s Pizza Place [map] in Lynden presents a feature-length movie on Saturday nights, from July-Aug, starting this Saturday evening with “Independence Day.” The movies begin at dusk, and popcorn, soda and ice cream cones are available for purchase. The movie itself is free.

For more information, see Milt’s website.

Milt’s 25 foot outdoor theater screen.

This obviously isn’t a sports-centric site, chiefly because I think professional team sports are one of the most larcenously overpriced, over-rated, over-compensated forms of entertainment to ever be sold to the American masses. Mind you, that’s just my opinion.

Thematic considerations aside, this is a significant piece of NW news, since the Sonics have been a Seattle icon as long as I can remember. The skivvy, in short, is that the Sonics will be leaving Seattle for Oklahoma City, with the actual physical move starting tomorrow. The NBA has stated that Seattle is still a “first rate” city, able to support a team if it “builds a state of the art arena” to support the franchise. Ergo, millions and millions of taxpayer dollars….

This isn’t a literal destination, but rather a virtual one, since Steve’s Weird House isn’t open to the general public (although he could probably make a killing on admission fees if he ever opened it to the masses).

Not a whole lot can or should be said about Steve’s Weird House, here, save for the fact that Steve lives in Seattle in a Victorian home which he has decorated - walls, halls, ceilings, etc. - with artsy curiosities, from the macabre to the sublime to the…well, we won’t go there. I surmise that the effect of the house, in person (I’ve never physically toured it), is a sensation that one has crossed a threshold into some freaky alternate dimension.

As for Steve himself, I know diddley-squat about him, except that his name is Steve, he has a beard, he must be loaded ($), and he has been seeking a weird woman to share his weird abode with him for quite some time, as you will see when you visit the page linked below.

A comprehensive virtual tour of Steve’s Weird House is available online. Check it out. It’s really weird.