Features
You know the store — that little neighborhood mini-mart on the corner. How many times have you driven by it without a thought? Perhaps your main reason for not stopping at said store is that it looks a little too edgy with all the fortified beer and cigarette signs in
Music
It’s a new week, which means it’s time for a new installment of Bobble Tiki’s South Sound music news and notes column. Without further ado, let’s get rolling… That piece of dried candy cane on Bobble Tiki’s Dockers can only mean one thing – well, two things, actually.
Reviews
Sparks Firehouse Deli Where: 621 Fifth St. S.W., Puyallup, 253.840.DELI Hours: Sunday-Thursday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., breakfast, lunch and dinner Cuisine: American pub and deli fare including hot wings, pizzas, sandwiches, and salads Scene: Casual order-at-the-counter, kid-friendly, firehouse-themed deli with neighborhood
Food Matters
Santa Silvia You know that shoebox you’re currently using to store your Very Important Piece of String and the Equally Necessary Plastic Fork? The one labeled “Tool Box”? Well, ’tis the season to put your pack rat tendencies to good use. Transfer the contents of your “Tool Box” to that plastic-lined
Stage
Think back to the last children’s theatre you attended. Remember how cuddly, eager and sweet it was? Well, Theater Artists Olympia’s new show, Poona the Fuckdog, is not that show. In fact, it’s the show that punched that show right in its fuzzy widdle belly and strolled off with its
Music
Somehow I have been greatly blessed. In the past few years I have been repeatedly unable to connect with the subjects of rock interviews I pitch to this fabled — and probably award-winning — publication. Somehow, though, probably due to low morals, rampant alcoholism and/or drug abuse, denial and self-loathing
Stage
Claudia Riedener and other Tacoma artists decided they weren’t going to take it lying down when the city tore down the historic Luzon building on Pacific Avenue. They could not stop the demolition, but they wanted to make sure we remember and, hopefully, prevent the demolition of other landmarks in
Music
Volifonix Thursday, Dec. 17 If there’s one thing white people like it’s mayonnaise. If there are two things white people like it’s mayonnaise and extended guitar jams — or so it often seems. Oregon’s Volifonix, coming from the Phil Knight and weed smelling woods of Eugene, know this all too well
Food Matters
SANTA SILVIA Once again, El Gaucho bartender Silvia Tapia will be holding a toy drive to benefit the children at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Drop by El Gaucho at 2119 Pacific Ave. with toys for the kids. Tapia will deliver all the toys Christmas morning. HOLIDAY DINNER Babblin’ Babs Bistro in Tacoma offers
Features
It’s a lovely breakfast option. Its large windows are perfect for watching the traffic craziness; the delicious coffee and free Wi-Fi keep the place busy. And now Forza Coffee in Lakewood offers three types of breakfast frittata burritos prepared by Pacific Grill: Black Forest Ham and Egg, Italian Egg and
Live & CD Reviews
I don't care how good you are at writing songs. If you are surrounded by mediocre musicians, your songs will not sound good. That's just how it goes. They don't even have to be bad, exactly. Just boring enough to suck free whatever life you've driven into the song, and
Music
In the local music ecosystem, all-ages venues are invaluable. I think that a lot of under-agers are agonized by being under 21, not because they’re unable to drink in bars, but because they’re constantly being deprived of the opportunity to see amazing shows. Tacoma understands this, but it has always
Concert Alert
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis may be the three coolest kids in music right now. The group may be comprised of the three Durham siblings, aged 16, 21 and 19 respectively, but their self-titled debut album is nothing kiddish. In fact the album sounds like it was stolen from some old
Stage
I had a nice chat with Tim Kapler at The Swiss Thursday afternoon and took a long look at his drawings, which will be on display throughout the month. Kapler is a young man who is pretty much self-taught and just starting out as an artist. He said he doodles
Stage
I wish I could have enjoyed more of Theatre Northwest’s The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge. It would have been nice. But every time something funny happened, and even after most lines that weren’t that funny, the three people sitting behind me — all three of them, in unison — let
Arts
Nearly 50 hungry artists are packing into the Mad Hat Tea Company in hopes of making a little cash. It’s called the Cash Flow Show, and everything is on sale for $25 or less. Like everyone else involved in the business of selling stuff, these folks are hoping
Food Matters
Vanilla Bean CaféA cheery red wall draws the eye while a bank of stools offers a peaceful sun-warmed perch, perfect for people-watching from the front window of newly arrived Vanilla Bean Café on St. Helens Avenue. Owners Rick and Tobe Collier are not new to the roasted bean game, having
Music
In 1999 the band I was playing with — New American Shame — was selected by the Cult to be the support act on a tour of The States. This will be the first of many stories from those 10 weeks — and spill over encounters that continue to this
Reviews
Three Sisters Tacoma Szechuan Where: 9601 S. Tacoma Way, Lakewood, 253.581.0102 Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily, lunch special, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday Cuisine: Szechuan and Chinese Scene: Casual family-friendly dining Drinkies: Standard nonalcoholic drinks Prices: $3.99-$17.95 ANNOUNCER: After the most gluttonous of feasts in the name of thankfulness
Music
There’s being different — just because you are. Then there’s being different for the sake of being different — which, to me at least, seems like a far less admirable thing. In many ways, it’s almost playing it safe. Tacoma’s Spectacular Optical — new on the scene, and with