THE DAILY WORD
Portent \POR-tent\, noun:
1. A sign of a coming event or calamity; an omen.
2. Prophetic or menacing significance.
3. Something amazing; a marvel.
USAGE EXAMPLE: Bobble Tiki ordered a double, but when the cocktail waitress returned to his table she carried only a small glass of vodka and cranberry juice â€" nowhere near the booze filled big gulp Bobble Tiki had hoped for. Bobble Tiki took this as a portent, and decided to find another watering hole.
MATT DRISCOLL: HOPES YOU'RE NOT EASILY GROSSED OUT >>>
As has been noted around the blogosphere many times already, today was Parks Appreciation Day. Hordes of do-gooders showed up from 9 a.m. to noon all over Pierce County to lend a helping hand to the little patches of green in the South Sound that make life just a little bit better.
And my neighbor, Mr. Cole Cosgrove, added his two cents about Parks Appreciation Day this morning on the Trib’s Grit City blog.
Sadly and predictably, I didn’t clean up a park this morning. I did spend a good 20 minutes scooping up dog shit in my yard, though, and that’s got to count for something.
Here’s the proof.
For scale, I asked NFL superstar Peyton Manning to stand next to the pile of fecal matter I collected. He gladly obliged.
Maybe you’re more motivated than me. It wouldn’t be surprising. Anyone out there have a good story from Parks Appreciation Day, or better yet a picture of dog poop that rivals mine?
EVENT Psychic Fair Wouldn’t you love to know if your spouse was cheating? Or find out what Fido has been doing in Heaven all these years? Thank Goddess for psychics, and thank your lucky stars for the Tacoma CDM Psychic Institute’s Psychic Fair, Sunday. See your future a little more clearly thanks to area clairvoyants and mediums, Tarot card and gemstone readers, and astrologers. â€" Suzy Stump [Tacoma CDM Psychic Institute, Sunday, April 20, noon to 4 p.m., 4004 S. 12th St., Unit C, Tacoma, 253.759.7460]
MUSIC 4/20 Show I must first admit that I'm not usually an aficionado of the joint, nor the blunt, nor the glass tower of the bong. Bong! Do you hear the bells? I digress. Yet every year I'll encounter the musty patchouli-stink of my neighbor, back from a month-long stint peddling hemp leg warmers in the parking lot of sundry Phish tour venues, and he'll invite me to join him in a recreational toke. On this, 4/20 day, he never takes no for an answer.
One joint will turn into two, which, in turn, by some obscure law of geometric increase, will become an entire day in the thrall of THC and a particularly catchy Widespread Panic album. But, at noon, somewhere between the jackhammer-like hit I’ll take from a gravity bong and the deep inhalation from a contraption that looked like a hookah being date-raped by a mechanical octopus, I will walk to the Green Room on Sixth Avenue to hear Monty Ray and the Truth and Trip The Light Fantastic. There, I will soak in Monty’s Eagles meets Stevie Ray Vaughn meets Santana mix, followed by Trip’s blues infused indie experimentation.
Sadly, The show will end at some point and I’ll follow my neighbor back to his Green Pad for more Widespread Panic.
And like every 4/20, around 9 p.m., I will beat my poor neighbor to death with a Birkenstock snatched from his very own, filthy foot. â€" Brad Allen
[The Green Room, Trip The Light Fantastic, Monty Ray and the Truth, noon, all ages, no cover, 6413 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.566.6436]
In my attempt to begin eating extremely healthy with the goal of a more slender body, I’ve ignored one of my favorite Tacoma loves: The Red Hot. Not only do I miss the hot dog creations as they meet perfection, but I also miss the 35-degree eclectic beer selection TRH has to offer. Most importantly I miss Chris Trashcan, I miss his incredibly friendly and unpretentious wife, and I miss his extremely cute stepdaughter.
So, in honor of Steph D. missing The Red Hot and TRH family, I would like to have this week’s Dinner with DeRosa in the 45-person capacity meat by-product mecca of Tacoma. And if it isn’t already quite obvious, his family is invited as well, along with Chris’ mom: Mama Trashcan. A genuinely sweet and caring person, I have a feeling she is soon to become every TRH patron’s hypothetical “mom.â€
Next on my list of invitees is Erik Bjornson, aka Tacoma Urbanist.* Of the BAJILLION times (Ok, just two times) I’ve seen Erik, he has had a smile on his face that no one can compete with. I adore smiles. It makes me smile, and it makes everyone around me smile. An extensive conversation I recently had with Erik led me to the opinion that we have a lot of community opinions in common. I look forward to dining with Mr. Bjornson over a heaping serving of Filthy Nachos.
Adam the Alien is also invited this week. I’m positive he’ll bring his video camera, shove it in my face, and insist that I say something clever and witty. All I have to say to you, Mr. Alien, is: “I can see you having subtext. Easily.†(Ah, yes, inside jokes are not only fun for the few people involved, but they are fun only for the few people involved.)
Here’s a pseudo-documentary Adam the Alien made about Frost Park: Take Back The Park … in the snow:
Sticking to this week’s Dinner with DeRosa theme of “Tacoma’s bloggers-Interneters,†it’s absolutely necessary to invite a community pioneer: Tacomamama.* The countless volunteer hours she has put into creating an invaluable Tacoma family resource on the Internet simply amazes me. Tacomamama your work is priceless, and the amount of gratitude and respect I have for you is immeasurable.
By inviting Mr. Izenman to dinner this week, my intent is to rescue Tacoma from an unruly future involving mass hysteria. I plan on scraping Mr. Izenman’s mind, and exploring the truth on who he really is, and what shenanigans he’s really up to.
Mangiamo!
* Due to assumed blogger anonymity, some pictures may not be available.
"Wine bar" has always seemed like a contradiction in terms to me. Don't get me wrong, I love wine and drink it avidly. It's just that putting the word "wine" before "bar," threatens to undermine the whole vivid set of expectations I have for bars. If I may quote from It's a Wonderful Life, when Nick the bartender verbally slaps George Bailey in his alternate universe: "We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters like you hanging around." THAT's a bar.
Having said that, I adore Enoteca wine bar. It’s an ideal place to linger with old friends, which is exactly what I did recently.
Bill Bonnie opened this wine-and-cheese treasure in January 2006, next to his Tacoma Wine Merchants store. Enoteca is a tiny, intimate joint. Be careful walking into this long, narrow space â€" the door barely misses the best table in the house. Low lighting has the effect of making the snug room feel even smaller.
Planning to share a bottle and a cheese plate, we instead end up drinking, tasting and laughing for three hours. We went through four rounds of the Italian Taleggio cheese at $14 a pop. Yum.
As we are receiving excellent personal service at Enoteca, we end up spending much time discussing the qualities of the wine: odd how they can seem so distinct when articulated by an expert. I decide that wine lists need to employ more literate wine descriptors. I compose this for our favorite wine of the night â€" the Canyon Edge Winery Cabernet 2005: "This naughty puppy grabs your dung crusted boots out of the mud room and drags them across the backyard and into cranky Farmer Ted’s barn. By the time you get them back, they're stuffed full of flowers and vanilla, and as you inhale, you can't help but reflect, 'Gee, it’s great living in the country.'" Maybe it's the wine talking, but to me, that's truth in advertising.
Perhaps, however, idiosyncratic taste buds will resist all attempts our brains make to predict what we will like. This point is driven home when we stop by a true bar, Doyle’s Public House, where fellow Enoteca imbiber and trumpeter Lance Buller orders a post-wine dram of scotch, I declare after sipping: "It's like getting a rock thrown at your head."
[Enoteca, 21 N. Tacoma Ave., Tacoma, 253.779.8258]
Where is your favorite South Sound wine bar? Sound off in the Forum.
FILM Amelie Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie is a delicious pastry of a movie, a lighthearted fantasy in which a winsome heroine overcomes a sad childhood and grows up to bring cheer to the needful and joy to herself. You see it, and later when you think about it, you smile. Audrey Tautou, a fresh-faced waif who looks like she knows a secret and can't keep it, plays the title role, as a little girl who grows up starving for affection.
Amelie grows up lonely and alone, a waitress in a corner bistro, until one day the death of Princess Diana changes everything. Yes, the shock of the news causes Amelie to drop a bottle cap, which jars loose a stone in the wall of her flat, which leads her to discover a rusty old box in which a long-ago boy hoarded his treasures. And in tracking down the man who was that boy, and returning his box, Amelie finds her life's work: She will make people happy. But not in any old way. So, she will amuse herself (and us) by devising the most extraordinary stratagems for bringing about their happiness. [The Grand Cinema, three-and-a-half stars, Raated R for sexual content, 8:15 p.m., $4.50-$8, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474]
FOLK Baby Gramps Baby Gramps is a complete enigma. Who is this man behind a wide brimmed hat and long gray beard? He looks just as comfortable busking on the street corner at Pike Place Market as he did performing on David Letterman’s stage. He could be a homeless beggar or a renowned folk singer. He’s definitely unlike any other performer you are likely to see. He makes sounds never before heard coming from an American folk singer. In between lyrics he uses his voice as a third instrument â€" perhaps a tuba. He is one part Tuvan throat-singer, one part guitar genius, one part rodeo clown and three parts unfiltered energy. He performs a distinctive bobble-headed dance; he stomps his foot and swings his arm around between guitar strokes while remaining seated in his chair. He revs up his audience and draws them into sing-alongs. He makes silly jokes such as, “I haven’t had this much fun since I fell off my dinosaur.†â€" Angela Jossy [The Swiss, 8 p.m., no cover, 1904 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2821]
THE DAILY WORD
Lambaste \lam-BAYST\, transitive verb:
1. To give a thrashing to; to beat severely.
2. To scold sharply; to attack verbally; to berate.
USAGE EXAMPLE: The candidates continued lambasting each other, about a number of issues â€" none of them actually relevant to the future of the country.
BATES OPEN HOUSE & INFORMATIONAL FAIR: Check out the college, eat a 25 cent hot dog. Wedenesday, April 23, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., free, 2201 S, 78th St, Tacoma, 253.680.7000.
LUNCH 'N' LEARN: Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber marketing strategies for small to mid-size businesses lunch. Monday, April 21, noon, free for members, $20 for outsiders, Tacoma Community College, RSVP to 253.627.2175.
I spent six months at the University of Copenhagen as part of the University of Washington’s study abroad program for the Economics department.
I drank a lot of Elephant beer in school â€" both in class and after class with professors in neighboring pubs. Interesting enough, I earned my highest college semester GPA while studying in Denmark.
On of the more impressive districts in Copenhagen was the walking street â€" Strøget. The car-free street was lined with retail, bars and restaurants â€" and hundreds and hundreds of people.
I drank a lot of beer on that street, too.
Danish architect/consultant/author Lars Gemzoe says "a change of urban culture" in Copenhagen resulted in more and more sites being reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. He said his nation’s capital, home to about 500,000 in its central district alone, opened its first car-free road in 1962.
He said walking "is a simple, cheap and low-noise activity" that doesn’t pollute the atmosphere and helps improve pedestrians’ fitness levels. From an urban design point of view, Mr. Gemzoe said, pedestrian-only streets downtown can provide a portal to improved human relationships.
Gemzoe will discuss the human element in public spaces Tuesday, April 22 during the noon Tacoma City Council study session in the Tacoma Municipal Building (7233 Market St., Room 16). He’ll discuss making downtown Tacoma a more inviting and people-friendly place, including the empty Tollefson Plaza. (Why was that space empty after the Daffodil Parade when everyone was downtown?)
While the Council will not take public comment during the noon study session, it should make for an educational lunchtime.
The city is paying $15,000 to bring Gemzoe to town. That’s a lot of Elephant beer money.
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