Music
As a teenager, seeing the great concert documentary The Last Waltz was a foundational experience for me; not only was I getting exposed to music that I hadn't really absorbed as a kid, but I was getting a peek behind the curtain of what it meant to be a working
Arts
The defining thing about the annual postcard show at South Puget Sound Community College is humor, is variety, is lots and lots of little works of art -- is most of all that nothing is rejected. Every work submitted is accepted into the show without judgment, which means inevitably there
Features
Signage for Oddfellas Pub & Eatery have officially been installed in the Westgate Shopping Center located on North 21st and Pearl St. in Tacoma. Situated next door to The Habit Burger Grill, I'm enticed by the "Open in February" sign in the window. While some strip mall gems reside in
Stage
I can't remember when I've laughed so much as I did at opening night of Forbidden Broadway Greatest Hits at Lakewood Playhouse. Forbidden Broadway is a musical review spoof on almost every big hit musical in the past half century and longer in which everybody gets skewered -- from Ethel
South Sound Cinema
Win some, lose some. Have to wait to see some. A little more than a year ago, I shared my list of the movies I was most keenly anticipating in 2018. (The super-secret and highly complex formula for choosing "most anticipated" titles has evolved over the years, but the basic playbook remains
Features
If your New Year's resolutions resolution has fizzled, fear not. The beginning of the year is an arbitrary marker. Start again. My high hopes of delving deep into the foodie festivities of 2019 have been a bit neglected. By neglected I mean to say that if I'm not going to
Reviews
ANNOUNCER: Locally sourced and naturally flavored ice cream is now available in University Place in the same complex as Whole Foods. Dutch and Jackie grabbed the kids and headed out to indulge themselves to try as many flavors as they could manage.DUTCH: I really liked the location, though only a
Travel
The Sea to Sky Highway, a section of Canada's Highway 99, stretches from Horseshoe Bay past Whistler to Pemberton in British Columbia. The winding highway received its name due to the change from a coastal highway at sea level, which follows along the edges of coastal mountains, to a mountain
Music
It's fascinating to look at little wellsprings of artistic inspiration -- groups of like-minded people, assembled at one pivotal moment in time -- and see how their influence can reverberate for decades after. One of the most influential groups of artists to have emerged in the past few decades, though,
Arts
Culture, the new exhibition at The Gallery at Tacoma Community College, is billed as "an exhibition exploring the idea of cultural biases and its influence on the outlook of other cultures." This is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful group show ever to be mounted at
Stage
If William Shakespeare's plays have engaged in a competition to see which of them will end up with the most adaptations and re-imaginings, I think it's safe to say that the two works that have come out on top are Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. The latter makes an awful
Stage
For readers of a certain age, MGM's 1939 musical version of The Wizard of Oz was less of a movie and more of an annual holiday rite. In the decades before ubiquitous home video and content streaming, Judy Garland and cohorts were given featured TV broadcasts, originally between Thanksgiving and
Music
Sometimes, we want our music to be aspirational. When we're listening to Kiss or Jay-Z or any number of SoundCloud rappers, we want to place our bodies inside theirs, to experience the solo jet planes, endless parties, and the lavish lifestyle that they're brazenly living. This is a paradigm so
Arts
Sherry Buckner's latest pastel landscapes beg an old question: why do it? Nature can be stunningly beautiful, especially when there are sunsets or stormy skies, or, in the case of Buckner's pastels, mist and fog. But it is so much easier to snap a photo than to paint the scene,
Features
With the new year I'm usually all gung-ho and supportive of those with resolutions. But with 2019 being rung in with the motto "new year, new me!" being proclaimed by many and hashtagged to high heaven, I'm feeling a little less hopeful about dietary resolutions. Don't get me wrong, I
Reviews
ANNOUNCER: With vintage and retro so popular, the space formerly Tacoma Cabana, the new Fern Room is oozing with a 1970's vibe. From the décor, to the music, to the menu itself, everything is a journey to the past. Jackie and Dutch boogie on in to get the skinny. JACKIE: Holy
South Sound Cinema
Here we go. The 10 worst movies I experienced in 2018. 10. Bohemian Rhapsody Yes, Rami Malek delivered fine work as Freddie Mercury, and yes, I know Bohemian Rhapsody has become the most financially successful musical biopic of all time. That doesn't change the fact that it's a watered-down, clumsily shot, sometimes ridiculously
South Sound Cinema
What a year it was for movies! Some critics are saying 2018 was the best film year of the 21st century, and it's hard to disagree. Check out this list of memorable films: Annihilation; Avengers: Infinity War; Ben Is Back; Boy Erased; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Creed 2; Eighth Grade; The
South Sound Cinema
It's Three Easy Pieces, where I look at a piece of pop culture from its birth to today. This month, I've chosen body-swapping movies, and I'll freely admit that this topic has backed me into a corner. While I thought I'd write about movies where characters literally swap consciousnesses into
Stage
Before I started reviewing theater a few years ago, I was only vaguely aware of how many good productions are put up in the South Sound over the course of a year. This year was my first full year of reviewing shows on a more active basis, splitting duties with