Buzz Bin

by MICHAEL BOWEN & r & & r & 1:53 pm, -196 & deg;F & r & & r & That's how the time-and-temperature display appeared at a Walgreens on North Division last Friday. So we've got it all over those mountaineers on Alaska's Denali, with their stories of reaching the summit when it was 148 degrees below, and how they would have cleared their throats except that the spit froze inside their mouths. Big whoop. They've never commuted in Spokane in midwinter.





Splish-Splash


OK, so Maria Flurry performed Tan Dun's Water Concerto, and you're quite capable of filling a sink with water and sloshing it around yourself. But with otherworldly vibrations coming from the front and back of the house, and the trumpets emitting odd shrieks, and the string players snapping their fingers and stomping their feet -- and especially in the backlit finale of falling water -- the entire event was a reminder that there is rhythm and beauty all around us.





Priest's Pioneers


The Priest Lake region has been home to homesteaders, rusticators and movie makers over the past century. Now the stories of the people who made Priest Lake what it is have been gathered in Pioneer Voices of Priest Lake, a compilation of oral histories centered around the recollections of Leonard Paul, who moved to Priest Lake in 1900 at age 12. Editor Kris Runberg Smith will present some of the stories at Auntie's on Friday, Jan. 18, at 7:30 pm in the Liberty Caf & eacute;.





Lads of the Dance


We may not know a hornpipe from a triple jig -- and we're half-expecting Michael Flatley to show up behind his belt buckle -- but we really love the Celtic shimmy around here. All five performances of Riverdance at the INB Center this weekend are sold out.





It's Czech, Mate


The Spokane String Quartet will play music of Bedrich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak (household names in Prague) on Sunday at 3 pm at the Bing. $18; $15, seniors; $10, students.





Bang, Pluck, Buzz, Blow


That's what kids will do to musical instruments on Saturday at the Fox, starting at 1 pm. Books and hands-on demos sponsored by Mobius Kids, the MAC and Spokane Public Libraries will be part of the mix, with the strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion playing a concert in "Meet the Musical Families" from 2-3:15 pm. Tickets: $10; $5, kids. Call 624-1200.