The Dalles Art Center is set to host its first-ever Radiance Block Party featuring a Fire Pit Contest. The event, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18 from 5 to 7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Art Center and the Columbia Gorge Community College’s Advanced Manufacturing and Fabrication program.

Knock at the Cabin is a tense thriller about—maybe?—the end of the world, where four strangers invade the vacation rental of a gay couple and their daughter. What follows is a muddled, pseudo-philosophical exploration on the nature of belief and what one would do—or wouldn’t do—to stop the world from ending. 

This Saturday night, Feb. 11th celebrates the return of Tommy and Saundra O’Sullivan to Old St. Peter’s Landmark. Currently, on a west coast US tour, the O’Sullivans bring songs and stories from the west coast of Ireland. 

Pearls abound in this week’s most inclusive listing of music, entertainment, comedy and literature in the Mid-Columbia as more shows have been announced and a bevy of Cupid-inspired activities are on tap.

My predictions for Best Picture? It’s a tough call. While Everything Everywhere All at Once leads the pack in the number of nominations (11 in total), this is, historically, an uneven indicator as to whether it will win, and in the last few years, results have actually gone the other direction. So we can’t count out Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Triangle of Sadness, or even Tár for that matter–though.

Take your pick. From Pink Martini to Nerve Damage. From Lord of the Rings to Saturday Night Fever. Fun facts, bad movie jokes and secret salsa are all part of the gamut this week in the Gorge’s most inclusive listing of entertainment options, including country and western. You can’t go if you don’t know. Check it all out here.

CCCNew’s Jim Drake interviews Irish Roots Band Kalos. The trio goes deep into how they make their music and what influences them and most importantly who gets to carry the accordion.

Games abound in this week’s round-up of local social events, music offerings and local shows. Scrabble, pool and poker options sit along side productions such as Dancing with the Gorge Stars at The Dalles High School Auditorium or “Ripchord” at the Bingen Theater.

At its best, M3gan embodies the unhinged gleefulness of 80’s horror movies like Child’s Play, while keeping it fresh by inverting old tropes and subtly infusing the movie with a critique of our dependence on technology for our emotional needs. And while, for me, there could have been a little more gore, to its credit the movie actually manages to still create thrills while maintaining a PG-13 rating.

Comedy, music, a fundraiser for a friend. It’s all happening in the Gorge. Check out our latest listings here.

CGOA’s Stages Musical Theatre is gearing up for this season’s production of Little Shop of Horrors, one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time. Auditions for the May, 2023 performances are Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 7 and 8 at 1 p.m. at the Bingen Theater. 

It’s time to blow the doors off 2023. Jim Drake gives us a nice little tour of what is happening in the Gorge to ring in the new year. Check out the shows and parties coming up this Saturday, Dec. 31.

Santa has sent us letters and drawings from local 2nd and 3rd graders to help us rekindle the magic of this holiday season through these innocent and hopeful writings. Santa has quite a group of pen pals from The Dalles, Dufur, Mosier and Lyle. Check them out here.

“We love to hear people say they drove by our house and they loved the decorations or that their kids really like Frosty,” said Stephanie Hoffman. “I would miss coming home in the evening or leaving in the morning and seeing the lights. I would miss watching cars slow down to look at the lights. I believe the decorations help people get in the Christmas spirit. As a kid, my parents used to drive us around to look at lights. It was one of my favorite things to do.” 

“It’s kinda hard for me to do this—it’s a lot of work—but I do enjoy doing it, and I do it because the kids come by and they like seeing everything. I have people who will pull up in front of the house at night and stay for 5 minutes just taking it all in,” said Dorothy Waters. “Some years I think, Well, maybe I shouldn’t…But I always do. Recently a neighbor said, Boy, I’m glad you do this every year, it’s so nice to look at.”

In Avatar: The Way of Water, we marvel at the beauty of the ocean, as well as the power, majesty and intelligence of its inhabitants. The gift of spending time in Cameron’s alternative world is being able to return to our own and recognize it as just as beautiful, and dangerous, and precious.  

“My husband Nathan and I started decorating the year we purchased our home (2003),” said Nancy Hansen. “We started out with a lot of inflatables and then slowly moved to what you see today in our yard and part of our neighbor’s yard. (Yes, part of what’s in her yard we do for her since we had extras, and she loves it. She added the snowman this year.)”

All that shopping and sweating the little stuff needs to take a break. Find a live show or a movie in this week’s roundup of Gorge Entertainment. Jim Drake also offers a little New Year’s Eve Planner to get you thinking.

For years, our columnist Sarah Cook and her partner have made popcorn and hot chocolate hopped in their tiny Subaru, put on All Classical Portland, and driven around The Dalles as they pretended to assign trophies to the most spectacularly decorated houses.  This year Sarah is handing out accolades in CCCNews with four awards. First up: Best Tree goes to the Hutesons.

Christmas week at Riverside Community Church, United Church of Christ in Hood River begins with a Thursday Longest Night campfire and ends with a Christmas Day worship service. Check out the details here.