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Michael Swan on December 8th, 2014
The bronzed and scaly receptionist lady made me too scared to say no to her vacuum-saleswoman-like spiel, and that was that. I am now tanning, you pale freaks. I got a sunburn on my first visit, and though every time I go in there it feels like I'm buying drugs
Music
Michael Swan on July 29th, 2014
He hasn't been heard from since parachuting from the Northwest Airlines plane he hijacked in 1971, landing in Southwest Washington with a duffel bag full of $20 bills. But D.B. Cooper, the mastermind of the only unsolved aviation crime in U.S. history, has resurfaced in the last year to promote
Music
Michael Swan on July 23rd, 2014
Maria Muldaur's 50-year career is probably best described as an odyssey through American roots music. Although she is known worldwide for her sultry 1974 mega-hit "Midnight at the Oasis," which topped the charts, received several Grammy nominations and landed her on the cover of Rolling Stone, Maria was also in on
Music
Michael Swan on June 13th, 2014
When the ParrotHeads of Puget Sound gather next month to raise funds for the USO Northwest, they'll be continuing a nearly 20-year tradition of "partying with a purpose." The local Parrotheads are among the most active and productive chapters of the national Parrotheads in Paradise network of Jimmie Buffet devotees.
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Michael Swan on February 17th, 2014
I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than on a hot date with myself listening to loud rock and roll and watching tough-as-nails roller derby chicks knocking each other on their asses. Yes, my Saturday night will be spent with Dockyard Derby Dames characters such
Stage
Michael Swan on February 4th, 2014
Peter Serko's production of "My Brother Kissed Mark Zuckerberg" at Dukesbay Theatre reminds us that AIDS is still with us. It also reminds us that boundless familial love is still possible.
During the most devastating days of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s local photographer Peter Serko found out his
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Michael Swan on July 23rd, 2013
If Ethan Tucker falls short of his goals, it won't be for lack of persistence. Signed just weeks ago to a multi-record deal with Capitol Records, the Olympia-born singer-songwriter has never been afraid to take a chance and never been too willing to take "No" for an answer.
As
Music
Michael Swan on July 23rd, 2013
If Ethan Tucker falls short of his goals, it won't be for lack of persistence. Signed just weeks ago to a multi-record deal with Capitol Records, the Olympia-born singer-songwriter has never been afraid to take a chance and never been too willing to take "No" for an answer.
As a teenager,
Music
Michael Swan on April 25th, 2013
Brittany Kingery and her music have both found a home on the beach, and the tide is coming in to Olympia, just in time to kick off the Cinco de Mayo weekend.
The Grays Harbor-born singer's concert in Olympia Friday, May 3 will be her first U.S. performance since the
Focus
Michael Swan on January 11th, 2012
You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
While any story even remotely related to BB guns would be remiss not to include a reference to Ralphie and the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle he lusted after, much has changed in the world of replica firearms since A Christmas
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Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on February 28th, 2012
SO ESOTERIC >>>
Have you ever fallen asleep while listening to someone tell you about his or her dream from last night? Apparently it's quite common.
Put your sleeping cap on ... Here are my three dreams from last night.
Mason Bates' Sirens
My first dream followed a vocal ensemble and I as we
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on January 7th, 2012
LET HIS SPIRIT BE UNCHAINED >>>
UPDATE: Tickets for Van Halen and openers Kool & the Gang (natch!) go one sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 through Ticketmaster, LiveNation.com and or charge by phone 1.800.745.3000. Ticket prices haven't been released.
As KZOK FM and Tacoma KOMO reported yesterday, Van Halen will
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on December 15th, 2011
WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE >>>
When I was a wee one, my heroes were not Roger Staubach, James Bond or even H. R. Puffinstuff. No, I looked up to Ted Simmons, a science professor from Orlando, Florida, and Milly Cornwall, a "stewardess" from Wichita, Kansas. I knew little about them; Ted
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 28th, 2011
YO CLARK GRISWOLD! >>>
For many Americans, the holiday season could be better-called "The Consumption Season." Corporate America has seasoned our perception of a year's end into an annual rite of buying on credit, looking anxiously for parking spaces and slipping unconsciously into a "Buy! Buy! Buy!" mind frame.
The seasonal celebration
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 22nd, 2011
WINTER BEERS >>>
Thanksgiving - cruelly sandwiched in between two much cooler holidays - has always been a bit of a letdown for me. Maybe I just had to draw one too many handprint turkeys and write too many lists of things to be thankful for when I was a kid.
I
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 16th, 2011
LOCAL LECTURE >>>
I was introduced to rock climbing in the mid-'80s. David Lee Roth was singing and swinging from a rock during one of his lame MTV videos. I had the hair; all I needed was the skills. However, TV sports broadcasts portrayed climbers as unbalanced rock-hermits who feasted on
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 13th, 2011
LET'S GET WEIRD TONIGHT >>>
As a roommate, I have done some horrible things in my day. But the worst thing, without a doubt, was when I was in a hurry to tape a movie on TV - surely you remember videotape - and I taped over 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on October 28th, 2011
Note to self: Don't show up late to a Varsity Grill beer tasting. My 15 minute tardiness tonight forced me out of the packed bar area, past THREE reserved sections for parties, past another long table full of partiers and into a back corner next to the kitchen. Where the
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on October 5th, 2011
BRILLIANT! >>>
Ever noticed how tiresome co-workers can sour Hump Day drinks? Skip the bar and head instead to Uncorked Canvas's Wednesday night wine and painting get-together. Beginning at 6 p.m., you'll complete a simple painting project with an instructor while tasting wines and munching on food.
Awesome, huh?
As a change of
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on September 8th, 2011
JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED >>>
After a month of changes, a couple special sections and a design intricate Tacoma Film Festival program, all I want to do is kick back with some sweet-ass music. No jostling. Certainly no shoe-gaze or cry in my beer melodies. I want sit sink into
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