Cap Hansen’s regular Sunday karaoke was cut short (granted, only about 15 minutes short) this Sunday, when the bar received a rare noise complaint at about 1:15 a.m. and subsequent visit by Bellingham Police. A BPD spokesman said the officers didn’t file a report for the incident because no citation was issued; with no report, he was unable to say where the complaint came from.

Poops cut the set short (Caps owner John Von Krusenstiern said it usually goes til about 1:30 a.m.)

Police must respond when someone calls in a noise complaint. An analysis of four years of noise complaints to downtown locations showed that officers virtually never cited venues during a first visit for a noise complaint, and often give multiple warnings before issuing a first citation of $250.

John said Caps hasn’t received a noise complaint in more than a year. The bar has never been cited.

BDAMN is still working with Bellingham City Council to craft a proposal to revise the city’s noise ordinance to give downtown businesses more freedom to host live music without fear of noise citations.

California-reggae band, Rebelution, will be stopping at the Callaloo between Seattle and Vancouver shows. If you like reggae even a little bit…this is a can’t miss show.

The band released their full-length album in June of 2007 and just weeks after its release, “Courage to Grow” became one of the most downloaded Reggae albums on iTunes. By the end of the year, it had been awarded the iTunes Editors Choice: Best Reggae Album 2007.

I bought the album and listen to it quite a bit.

Tickets are available at the door.
Cost: $7
myspace.com/rebelutionmusic

Wednesday July 9: The Betty Desire Show at Rumors Cabaret at 10:30 p.m.

Thursday July 10: Unofficial kick off at Cap Hansen’s at 8 p.m.

Friday July 11: Official kick off and Betty Pages 4th anniversary party at Rumor’s at 7 p.m.

Saturday July 12: Second annual Queer Family Picnic at Bloedel Donovan Park at 1 p.m.-5 p.m.; Drag at Rumors Cabaret 6 p.m. Dance till 2 a.m.

Sunday July 13: Parade starts at Bellingham High Parking Lot at 11 a.m., festival at Depot Market Square

This morning I spoke with Maria Caceres-Bjorklund, who still owns the lease for Fantasia and whose family operated the shop before most recent manager/owner Aaron Bel Cher took over.

Caceres-Bjorklund said she hopes to reopen the coffee shop next Monday, July 14, after doing some minor improvements like painting and renaming the space. But don’t get your hopes up about music. Caceres-Bjorklund said the live all-ages shows Fantasia has had for years were part of the reason the business had trouble succeeding.

“We just cant have the shows (anymore),” she said. “It’s just not cost effective and it brings so much riffraff around that it drove away the clientèle we had.”

Caceres-Bjorklund said she’ll make some changes to the menu, adding soups and sandwiches, and she’ll consider having “easy listening” music like jazz, to attract an older crowd. Caceres-Bjorklund said she may also eventually apply for beer and wine license.

Poetrynight, which has taken place at Fantasia for years, will be on hiatus tonight, but should resume its regular schedule at the space next Monday.

Thoughts?

You have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon than watch these kittens.

A half dozen Brits who all happen to play ukulele, have lovely singing voices, and share an appreciation for David Bowie. Coincidence?

From TV Week:

Politicians can finally get their MTV. The cable channel, which has declined political advertising since its inception in 1981, is reversing course.

The channel, part of Viacom’s MTV Networks unit, says it will now take political ads, though only from political candidates and party political committees—not the third parties that often lob the biggest bombs.

As recently as the presidential primaries this year, MTV had refused all political ads, even as it has heavily promoted its “Choose or Lose” get out the vote effort.

MTV had held out while other MTV Networks siblings were willing to feed at the political advertising trough. VH1, Comedy Channel and Spike TV were willing to accept political ads, according to an MTV Networks spokesman.

Cable networks are attracting more political ads. The Bush campaign four years ago bought national cable on a dozen channels. This year most of the political ads on cable have been on cable news networks. One sought-after network—Lifetime—still declines to take political ads.
Now all the MTV Networks that aren’t aimed at kids will accept political ads.

Read more! »

Pigs. Llamas. Ferrets. Of all the animals human beings have been able to make into pets, why not that bushy-tailed wonder Sciurus carolinensis, otherwise known as the squirrel. Meet Sugar Bush Squirrel, “The Superstar Squirrel.”

From the Silicon Alley Insider:

Starbucks, which has been scaling back its once-grand ambitions to turn itself into an entertainment hub, is about to shrink its plans yet again. We hear that by September, the chain will have dumped almost all of its in-store music retail offerings.

All of my aversions to online social networking have been undermined by HoffSpace: David Hasselhoff’s new website. Way to go on the edgy name. The site, as of now, features Knight Rider clips, and challenges to “send in your videos of you singing or lip-syncing my songs from all over the world,” among other equally exciting features, like the “David Hasselhoff’s hair Appreciation Society” chatgroup.