Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: December, 2007 (138) Currently Viewing: 111 - 120 of 138

December 23, 2007 at 3:32pm

24 Days of Cookies: Day 23

Corina Bakery

Corina Bakery is conveniently located on South Seventh next to the Tacoma City Ballet, One Heart Café, and Infinite Soups.  It’s a supreme crossroad of all things good in Tacoma.

Now when I say convenient, I mean that in a good and bad way.  The fact that I can walk into Corina Bakery while the mini-me is in ballet and calm myself with its surroundings is both heaven and hell.  Yeah I sit back in a comfy chair, read a paper, and enjoy a tasty snack.  But that also makes it too easy to add a few extra lbs to the ol’ ass. 

Although they do not do Christmas cookies, you can count on them having a couple of huge glass jars filled with homemade classics such as oatmeal and chocolate chip sitting right next to the register.  You got it, I said right next to the register.  So just when you thought you were done with one or two brownies, they have them right in front of you, begging to be taken home.

Full of flavor, texture, and the concept of supporting a local business, these cookies are perfectly Tacoma.  They’re not your under-done gooey cookie, either.  (Like the ones I think are raw still.)  In fact they are baked to Steph DeRosa perfection.  Something that will keep me stopping by time, after time, after time â€" but not until after Dec. 30.  Corina Bakery is closed for the holidays. â€" Steph DeRosa

MORE COOKIES: See what's already in our cookie jar.

December 24, 2007 at 5:40am

It's on today!

Volcanoblastart THE LIGHTS
Fantasy Lights
Although the holidays are a time for joy and light, you’ll drive by Bobble Tiki’s hut, point and laugh at his light display. Don’t risk driving by after Bobble Tiki’s third eggnog â€" head to Fantasy Lights. Billed as the largest holiday drive-through display in the Northwest, it features nearly 300 elaborate displays and thousands of sparkling lights. While enjoying the sparkly two-mile drive along Spanaway Lake, be thankful you’re not in charge of this holiday light display. â€" Bobble Tiki

[Spanaway Park, 5:30-9 p.m., $13 per vehicle, just west of 152nd Street and Pacific Avenue., Spanaway, 253.798.4177]

FILM
“Juno”
Very smart, very funny and then very touching; it begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love.  Ellen Page in an Oscar-worthy performance as a pregnant 16-year-old who decides to keep the child.  With J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney wonderful as her parents, older and wiser than most parents in teenage comedies.  And Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the would-be adoptive parents, and Michael Cera, shyly winning as Juno’s boyfriend.  Screenplay by Diablo Cody, directed by Jason Reitman; the best movie of 2007. Rated PG-13. ★★★★ â€" Roger Ebert

[Grand Cinema, 2:10, 4:20, and 6:35 p.m., $4.50-$8, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

FOOD
Stomaching the holidays
By the time you’ve finished shopping, wrapping, and undergoing a nervous breakdown, you’ll no doubt be hungry. Most restaurants are shuttered tight Christmas Eve, but a few places will be open for your wassailing pleasure. Check it here. â€" Jake de Paul

Filed under: Food & Drink, Holidays, Screens, Tacoma,

December 24, 2007 at 11:53am

Hey kids, do you like the hardcore?

The Viaduct, collectively run by a small number of young adults involved with the South Sound hardcore and straightedge community have provided a alcohol/drug/racist/homophobic free environment for all-ages shows in Tacoma.

Check out Timothy Radar's thoughts on the new venue here. â€" Brad Allen


Filed under: Club News, Music, Tacoma,

December 24, 2007 at 2:04pm

24 Days of Cookies: Day 24

Cookiesstarbucks I can hear the cries from all over the South Puget Sound area.  Yes folks, today is the 24th day of my unprofessionally diagnosed cookie OCD.  Come hither, and I'll share with you my magic Kleenex.  Dry your tears my friend, and let me comfort you in my bosom.  (In my sentimentality I become quite profound, don't cha  think?)

On this 24th day I would like to point out the most memorable cookies we've covered:

Third place for taste, and second place for customer service goes to Asado. The taste of their dessert cookie is undeniably unique and delicious at the same time.  Plus the nice manager personally gave me my cookies for free.  Yay free stuff.

Second place for taste, and first place for customer service goes to Friday's Gourmet Cookies. You have GOT to try her line of cookies sold at Metropolitan Market.  You can also look for them soon at Starbucks.  The blueberry white chocolate sends me into foodgasm.  Her customer service was amazing.  She does not sell retail (only wholesale), but all I had to make was a phone call and she put aside a box of samples for me to pick up.  For free.  Again, yay free stuff.

First place for taste and third place for customer service goes to Rosewood Cafe.  Right about now I am so damn sick of cookies.  But I swear, if I were handed a Rosewood Cowboy cookie right now I wouldn't think twice about scarfing that damn thing down. Customer service is always awesome there. They got third in customer service because I see them all the time and I think they are just used to my presence. 

Just so you guys donÃ't feel cheated out of a cookie review- Pappi Swarner's head doesn't start spinning ala Linda Blair Exorcist-style- I will throw one more in. 

OK, so don't hate me.  I love my local Tacoma coffee joints, I really, really do.  I praise One Heart, Satellite, Blackwater, etc, etc, etc.  When I'm in Tacoma, I stop in those places for my Americano before anywhere else, I promise.

But I live outside of the Tacoma city limits.  Due to the Weekly Volcano Freelance Writer's Non-Stalkerazzi Protection Act (WVFWNSPA) that I signed upon employment, I am not permitted to tell you exactly where.  Let's just say the most convenient and most delicious and best customer service I have is a Starbucks drive through. I've never met an Americano and cute male barista I didn't like there.

So here's to the Peanut Butter cookie from my local Starbucks.  The most consistently perfect peanut butter cookie, time after time.  The flavorful taste, cooked-to-doneness texture, and adequate size compliment my Americano like no other.  And the mini-me likes it also.  That right there is priceless.

Thanks for listening to my superficial cookie ramblings, and for dealing with my very unimportant and selfish quest to find the perfect cookie.  Thanks to all of you who just shut your mouths instead of telling me to shut the F up, and thanks in advance to Jenny Craig.  I'll see YOU in January.

Happy Holidays!- Steph DeRosa

MORE COOKIES: See what's already in our cookie jar.

Filed under: Food & Drink, Holidays, Tacoma,

December 24, 2007 at 3:06pm

The Red Gift

Filed under: Holidays, Tacoma,

December 25, 2007 at 12:01am

Merry Christmas!

Are you really looking for something to do tonight? Does your tenacious appetite for the wild thrills of South Sound nightlife have no bounds? Well, take a night off, for Christmas’s sake. That’s right, it’s Christmas! Enjoy the day off â€" and by the way, did anyone else notice we worked late yesterday? Christmas is always good, but it’s much better on a Friday.

Merry Christmas from all of us here at the Weekly Volcano/Spew World Headquarters.

Filed under: Holidays, Olympia, Tacoma,

December 25, 2007 at 7:31am

It's on today!

Volcanoblastart FILM
“Juno”
Gathering 'round the tree is all well and good on Christmas morn. But what do you do after the last shred of wrapping paper lands in a trash bag, the feast is demolished and you've tired of admiring â€" or deploring â€" your gifts? Go to the movies!

Very smart, very funny and then very touching; “Juno” begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love.  Ellen Page in an Oscar-worthy performance as a pregnant 16-year-old who decides to keep the child.  With J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney wonderful as her parents, older and wiser than most parents in teenage comedies.  And Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the would-be adoptive parents, and Michael Cera, shyly winning as Juno’s boyfriend.  Screenplay by Diablo Cody, directed by Jason Reitman; the best movie of 2007. Rated PG-13. ★★★★ â€" Roger Ebert

[Grand Cinema, 2:10, 4:20, and 6:35 p.m., $4.50-$8, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

MUSIC
Casinos!
Christmas in a casino. It has a nice ring to it. What's a casino kinda Xmas all about? (I'm betting it's really subtle, with a quaint New England charm.) From the little town of Bethlehem to the bright casino lights, you can search for the true meaning and spirit of the holiday. Tub of nickels in your hand, fueled by 99-cent shrimp cocktails and dollar Heinekens, seek out a little cheer and some music, too. â€" Suzy Stump

Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma: Asia Fest featuring My Huyen, Minh Phuong, 4 p.m., no cover.

Muckleshoot Casino, Auburn: Winter Wonderland II Asian Entertainment Night, 8:30 p.m., no cover.

Red Wind Casino, Yelm. 4 More, 8 p.m., no cover.

Filed under: 5 Things To Do, Music, Screens, Tacoma,

December 25, 2007 at 12:09pm

The Red Gift

Filed under: Holidays, Tacoma,

December 25, 2007 at 10:38pm

Toilet Tales: Powerhouse

As you can probably guess, Melissa (I call her Snoops) and I like to drink beer.  She's my co-founder for the Tacoma Beer Society, and obviously open to having a beer no matter what time of day.  Every so often, when one of us is having a really shitty day, we call the other and say:Let's do lunch today. That means Meet me at the Powerhouse and order a beer for me if you get there first.And of course, I always eventually visit the bathroom.  This time I do so with camera in hand.

Something about the Powerhouse bathroom reminds me of an old college bar I used to frequent back in the day.  It was in College Station, Texas, and it was called The Tap.  Although, I look at the Web site now and it's been totally redone.I'm sure my friends and I personally funded the remodel with our consumption of Bud Light pitchers. I'm also sure everyone has college drinking stories, and a memory of that certain crazy friend that freaked everyone else out, but you found captivatingly hilarious. 

Mine is Aimee Pee-sha-loo. 

I refuse to spell her name correctly in fear that this story will become Google-able.  And I'm most certain she's capable of murder.  We liked her last name, as it was easy to make into other names like Aimee Picklenose, or Aimee Peeshalooser.  We found it entertaining to mail her huge envelopes filled with perishables (usually chopped apples or bananas, sometimes used maxi-pads) and address it to Aimee Peesha-douche. 

The grossness of the mail had no effect on her, as she would just file it.  They had no garbage can.  They had a huge office-like metal filing cabinet right smack dab in the middle of the living room.  Any trash would be filed in the file cabinet. I think they even had each drawer as a category of trash.  At parties she would visit the person's restroom and scrub her vagina with their toothbrush.  Sometimes after she vomited in their toilet she would use their toothbrush to brush her teeth before she did the vagina swipe.  Yet strangely, she got laid like a mofo.  They guys were clueless to her immature and gross tomfoolery.

Oh, and when she sneezed, she didn't cover her mouth, she aimed it at someone.

The ashtray was the couch.  It was tradition to extinguish your smokes directly onto the cushion.  This ashtray couch was also a sleeper sofa.  Her little friend Fug(I still to this day have no idea what his real name is) would fold up into the sleeper sofa and wait for someone to sit on the couch.  You can only imagine what hilarity ensued.  Fug is the same guy that convinced Aimee to help him steal a wheelchair from the hospital just for the handicap parking privileges.  They actually visited a Louisiana casino boat in said wheelchair.  It was on the way down the ramp to the boat that Aimee pushed him then let him go.  Again, the look on people's faces as they watched him sail down out of control, hit the edge of the grass, go flying into the air, finally to be sprawled across the lawn.  The funniest part to me was the little orange bike flag they had on the back of the wheelchair.  It just flapped and flapped and flapped.  It was going so fast down the hill you could hear it slapping against itself.

Remember, this is early 1990s, Aimee and Fug were pioneers in the Jackass movement.

So of course I can't help but reminisce about the ol'e college days at The Tap when I see the exposed brick, feel the hardwood floors, and smell the awesome burgers and brew.  I have plenty of college stories that could fill a moderately-sized book, but as my Christmas gift to you I will stop here.  Although, remind me to tell you about the Dixie Chicken, my two roommates Firecrotch and Churchlady, and how I got the nickname Roni.

On the other hand, buy me a beer and I'll tell you Any. Thing. You. Want. 
Guaranteed.¬" Steph DeRosa

Filed under: Puyallup,

December 25, 2007 at 10:52pm

Messy Christmap

Today, I discovered today that typing "Merry Christmas" into a text message yields the option of  "Messy Christmap" in the auto-fill bar (the function that guesses what word you are typing, and offers options based on the first few letters). As I typed, a newscast came on relating a breaking story in Federal Way. A man had apparently walked into four-lanes of northbound traffic on Interstate 5, taken off his belt, and begun to flail at cars as they swerved around him. At some point his pants fell around his ankles. He did not stop to pull them up, but continued waddling around, screaming and savagely soul-spanking passing vehicles.

A short clip from a Department of Transportation video feed showed the man hobble toward and then attack a lone State Trooper. The news report indicated that the officer tried to subdue him with a taser to no avail. In keeping with law-enforcement protocol, the officer then shot the man dead, pants still around his ankles.

Messy Christmap everyone. â€" Paul Schrag

Filed under: Federal Way, News To Us,

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