Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: June, 2008 (234) Currently Viewing: 51 - 60 of 234

June 7, 2008 at 2:55pm

Poster of the Day

Filed under: Music, Poster of the Day, Tacoma,

June 8, 2008 at 10:04am

Oh, oh, listen to the music

Volcanoblastart JAZZ
Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin, known eternally for his 1988 hit “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” will play the Pantages Theater in Tacoma. Though simple minded folks like me can’t separate McFerrin from his aforementioned feel good radio gem of the late ’80s, the man is much more than a bubble gum one hit wonder. He’s a celebrated and revered classical conductor, known worldwide for his talents. He’s an amazing jazz singer. He’s one of the best vocal improvisers of all time. He’s won 10 Grammy awards, for gawd’s sake. Bobby McFerrin is a talented SOB, and there’s no need for haters like me to joke. â€" Matt Driscoll
[Pantages Theater, 3 p.m., $39-$52, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

BLUES
Back to Beale Street
The Back to Beale Street blues competition 2009 is just around the corner, and the South Sound Blues Association is already looking for the best band to represent them. Today, Jazzbones will be hosting the first round of the most anticipated blues event in the state. The annual event is a contest to pick the best blues band in the state to send to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn. Structured like a “battle of the bands” competition, each group is judged on blues content, originality, talent and stage presence during their 30-minute set. The final four out of 10 advance to the next round on the 4th of July.

This year’s competition is nothing to sneeze at as some of the hottest blues acts in the region were selected to take part in Back to Beale Street 2009. Returning champions, the Randy Oxford Band and the Michal Miller Band both hope to make a return trip to the big show. But they’ll have some stiff competition in the Crossroads Band, Seatown Rhythm and Blues Players, the Mike Wright band, Marino Silver, the Brown and Blues Band and New Sheriff in Town. â€" Tony Engelhart
[Jazzbones, 4 p.m., $5-$10, all ages, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

POP
Good On Paper
The band’s ultra familiar, ’80s born twee pop may be the perfect soundtrack for warm nights and sun-baked lazy afternoons, but it’s just as comforting when the clouds are endless and the barometer reads crummy. That’s how it looks outside my window. How about yours?  Good on Paper will play Le Voyeur tonight. If seasonal affective disorder has got you down, this band may be just the remedy you’re after. â€" MD
[Le Voyeur, with The Great White Jenkins, Crayonsmith, and Aleks and the Ramps, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.943.5710]

LINK: Board Game Geekfest and more in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Catch an afternoon play.
LINK: Check out the movie starting times here.
LINK: Let’s eat at a bistro today.

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

June 8, 2008 at 10:26am

The Tacoma Files: James Jenkins

MEET JAMES JENKINS >>>

James Jenkins was born in Saint Joseph's Hospital on June 22, 1985.   

He has been playing with local band Mama Loves Daddy for longer than you have been alive. 

James is responsible for the phenomenon known among the seedy rock underbelly of Tacoma as "The Gloom House."   Aptly named, this party pit is the after hours destination of nearly every indie show I've attended at the world famous Bob's Java Jive. A smoky den of wild psychedelic chaos, the record player counts off the hours till dawn, and in the filth a shining flame of rock burns its way into another dimension.  I look to James as the godfather of this decade's Tacoma rock.  No other single source has offered more to the scene than James' quiet whiskey smile. 

Owning the largest and most docile cat in the universe is only part of the magic that makes this man who he is to this counter culture. 

A staple at the old Monday night dinners and in certain moments channeling the long dead soul of Jim Morrison, Jenkins is the epitome of what it means to be Tacoma.

LINK: The Tacoma Files archives

Filed under: Community, Tacoma, Tacoma Files,

June 8, 2008 at 12:18pm

Art, wine, mutts, Tacoma

STEPH DEROSA: ART WINE STRUT MUTT >>>

Last night was a busy night for me.  After ripping my electrician a new asshole for being such a turd in the process of building our home, I was in mode for a much-needed night out in Tacoma. 

Stadiumwineintro Stadium Art & Wine Walk
Friends backed out on me left and right at the last minute yesterday for the Stadium District’s 1st Annual Art & Wine Walk.  I had no problem going it alone though, seeing as how I’d endeavor the inevitable “stop and chat” with many people I knew throughout the walk.  I enjoyed every minute of the process, and learned a few lessons a long the way.

Stadiumwineone Parking seemed to be somewhat of a challenge, but after driving around Stadium a few times, I managed to score some rockstar parking behind Stadium Video.  After the initial opening crazy rush, the line went smoothly inside the Stadium High School Theater where people were pointed to whether they had a pre-paid ticket or not.  Lesson learned: It does not save time, save money or save you a spot when you buy a ticket in advance for this event.

Stadiumwinesix I was starving.  The pamphlet said “hors d’ouvres.”  I looked on the handy-dandy map and found there was only one stop of the 19 that served hors d’ouvres.  ONE.  There were people everywhere and I could only imagine the madhouse that would be with the one plate of cheese and crackers and a mob of hungry wine walkers.  Plus I just wasn’t into walking a huge few blocks out of the path of wine to Titus Chevrolet for a cheesy hors d’ouvre.  Lesson Learned: Wine is more powerful to the mind than food.

Ranko’s was my first stop and first taste of wine.  I found it creepy sipping wine in a drug store aisle next to hydrogen peroxide and band-aids, but I managed to overlook the aesthetics and enjoy the pour.  Lesson Learned: This was going to be the only stop I attended where the actual winery reps were present.

Stadiumwinethree Stadiumwinefive Stop after stop I saw familiar faces and tasted mediocre wine.  When I asked each “pourer” questions about the wine, they had no answers for me and had no knowledge of what they were pouring.  They were store, and they were just doing their job.  The most knowledgeable stop along the walk of course, was the stop at Tacoma Wine Merchants.  Lesson Learned: Wine is not only more powerful than food, but sometimes more powerful than art.  I don’t remember seeing art in this store.  I’m sure there was, but I was too busy sipping.

Stadiumwinetearoom Stadiumwineseven I was able to enter places I had never been in, like Colwell Banker and the Tearoom. The Tea Room!  I can’t wait to go back.  Did you know they serve lunch?  Be expecting a full report some time this next week.  Lesson Learned: There was just as much jewelry on display and for sale as there were paintings and pottery in this 1st Annual Stadium District’s Art & Wine Walk.
Stadiumwinefour
Stadiumwinetacomamerchan Stadiumwineeight I see great things in the future of Stadium District’s Art & Wine Walk.  Kudos goes out to all that showed up and supported the Tacoma community, the Stadium District businesses, and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.

Strut Your Mutt
After about two hours of perusing the Stadium District shops, I hightailed it out of there in order to attend the Strut Your Mutt benefiting the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts and the Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce County.  My husband dropped off my daughter and we easily purchased prime last minute tickets at the door.  Only a few hundred tickets were sold, barely filling up the theater.  Our friends Elizabeth and Annika Huffines eventually caught up with us as we settled into our seats.

Muttone The evening opened up with “Who Let the Dogs Out” blaring through the speakers.  Ordinarily I would’ve thrown a temper tantrum and demanded a song change, but there really was no better place for this tune to be played.  Cute dogs in cute outfits walked by cute little girls began crossing the stage and walking the catwalk.  This was fun, and our girls loved it.  Ah, yes, we were ready for the cuteness in all its glory.

About 10 minutes later, the first act ended.  There were 14 acts total.  By the third act the novelty had worn off for all of us.  It was the same dogs, the same people, and it looked like the same costumes. (They all start looking alike, really the do.)  I can show you two or three pictures, and you’d be able to see what the entire show looked like.  It was like watching NASCAR.  We were just waiting for a crash or something to happen in order to make it exciting.

Mutttwo Muttthree Muttfour Muttfive Muttsix Muttseven Mutteight We were too starving, the girls were getting restless, and it was only act five out of 200.  So, we jumped up and headed down to Fujiya.  Our night ended perfectly with some sake, sushi, and the 9 p.m. sun setting over Broadway as we gazed out the window from our booth.

Thank you Tacoma for giving us so much to do and for being so beautiful.

June 8, 2008 at 12:22pm

Naked Tacoma

June 8, 2008 at 12:29pm

Tacoma Photo of the Day

Filed under: Photo of the Day, Tacoma,

June 8, 2008 at 12:54pm

Dinner with DeRosa

STEPH DEROSA: VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE >>>

Dinner68rennaissancecafe Even though they don’t serve dinner, Dinner with DeRosa is going to be at A Renaissance Café. Located on Pacific Avenue by hello cupcake (how convenient for us) this café immediately wraps you up in its arms and takes care of you.  They serve a tasty breakfast ANY time of day, and an espresso milkshake to die for.  It nabbed “best kid’s breakfast that’s not a kid’s breakfast” last year in the Weekly Volcano’s Best of Tacoma issue.  They sport Green Eggs and Ham on its menu. The décor is entertaining. Its slogan is “We refuse the right to confuse service to anyone.” And an espresso steamer scrambles the eggs.  I could go on and on, but I won’t.  Just go.  Enjoy.  You’ll be happy, I promise.

Dinner68stacey First guest this week is Stacey White, owner/operator of Tiki Lounge located in the Stadium District.  I met Stacey about a year ago through my crazy cousin Karen who cuts hair next door at Parvenu.  There’s no way you cannot immediately become friends with Stacey.  At least for me, that is.  And after meeting her I fell in love with her store.  Her fashions are unique and comfortable. Plus I always seem to make a new friend there.  Something about that place makes people happy.

Dinner68sandy Sandy from Auntie B’s Café in Puyallup is guest number two.  They weren’t too keen on talking to me about much, and seemed pretty thrown off by my friendliness.  I’m finding this to be a common trait amongst business in Puyallup. Regardless, the eggs were pretty good as I took them “to go” and headed over to hang with my girl JustJen at Indulge Cupcakes where I ate my eggs in a friendlier atmosphere.

Dinner68ike Ike Shanaman, the lead man of Tacoma’s very own Broken Oars, will be my next guest for this week’s dinner.  During the birthday party for Chris Trashcan (The Red Hot owner), my friend Heather pointed out a great Ike photo opportunity.  I went to the party as a friend, not a Volcano writer, and had told myself ahead of time that I wasn’t there to blog about it.  But this picture I just couldn’t pass up.  Thank you Heather.

Dinner68michael At the Stadium District’s Art & Wine Walk last night, I met a talented and gracious artist named Michael Smith.  Michael also owns a lawn care business.  While creating his landscape portfolio he discovered his love and talent for photography.  I have respect for such a hard working and passionate individual.  Look for more of Michael around Tacoma in months to come.  This guy has something.

Dinner68moviebitch Last person for dinner is my “bitch of the week.”  In line for my popcorn and ready to check out “Kung Fu Panda,” this lady walks up to me and tells me she’s going to get in front of me.  Yes, she tells me, not asks.  I just stared at her.  So she keeps explaining how she was in this line before I got in the line, and how she went over to another line thinking it was going to be quicker, but it wasn’t, so she wanted her spot back in this line.  You’d think she was joking, right? She was serious.  Who does that?  Really, if you move your feet, you lose your seat.  We learn that in first grade.  So I just keep staring at her, not giving her a yes, a no, or a fuck you.  She stares back.  I stare at her.  It’s at this moment that I learn the best comeback for bitches like her: don’t say anything â€" just stare at them.  It was awesome. She was so confused.  After she took five minutes dictating where exactly she wanted the butter on her popcorn and was about to leave I yelled, “You’re welcome!” in her ear.  I was happy.

Mangiamo!

June 9, 2008 at 6:39am

It's on today!

Volcanoblastart MUSIC
Rockaraoke
If you give Tacoma a microphone it knows what to do with. That much is proven night in and night out at karaoke joints all over town. Now, give Tacoma a microphone and a live band, and you have Rockaraoke at Jazzbones every Monday night. Fun is always had by all, and booze is consumed at an alarming pace. The $1 High Life pints and $4 Jäger bombs might have something to do with it.  Fun. â€" Suzy Stump
[Jazzbones, 9 p.m., no cover, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

ROCK
Failing Winter
The genius of 70’s punk acts was not their musical talent, but rather it was their ability to construct short and simple songs with authority and force. The short life of punk was emulated by countless bands who wanted to combine musical muscle with the rebellious spirit of the genre. One such band is the Olympia power trio, Failing Winter. While the threesome of Jamie McPheeters (guitar/vox), Chad Maurer (bass/vox) and David “Tex” Venegas (drums) also list classic rockers Zep and Rush as influences, their core sound is closer to the Clash on crack and coffee. â€" Tony Engelhart
[Charlie’s Bar & Grill, 9 p.m., no cover, 620 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.786.8181]

LINK: Loose Gravel & The Quarry and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Movie starting times.
LINK: Let’s eat Chinese today.

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

June 9, 2008 at 9:00am

Island themed gauche

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORDBreakfast11807

Gauche \GOHSH\, adjective:
Lacking social polish; tactless; awkward; clumsy.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Bobble Tiki has been called many things in his life. An ass. A prick. Even an imbecile. However, Bobble Tiki has never been called gauche. It’s not because he’s not gauche, mind you, it’s simply that Bobble Tiki’s friends have the vocabulary of 3rd graders.

MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Why are bridge tolls risings?

OLYMPIA: Sheehan hits Olympia

SEATTLE: Aurora may be changing

UNITED STATES: What Hillary did correctly

JUST BIZARRE: Sumo babies

MORE STRANGE NEWS: Hold on to your kegs

THINGS TO DO TODAY
FILM LISTINGS: Look here
MUSIC LISTINGS: Here’s what’s happening
SHOOT THE SHIT: Weekly Volcano forums

Filed under: Music, News To Us, Olympia, Screens, Tacoma,

June 9, 2008 at 9:42am

The Tacoma Files: Drew Schot

DANIEL BLUE: MEET DREW SCHOT >>>

TacomafilesdrewschotTacomafilesart Drew Schot was born in Orange County, Calif. Although he has lived in Washington since 1969, he didn't land in our fair city until 1983 where he was a part of the first arts renaissance that occurred in this town, much of which ended up feeding the grunge movement in Seattle. 

Drew is an unlimited source of information about all sorts of things ranging from music to taxes.  He has been in hundreds of bands including High Planes Drifter and Pollution, and sometimes pretends to have played bass on early Fugazzi albums.  Currently he is playing for high-ticket bands such as www.myspace.com/jhthepainkillers">The Painkillers, Community For Public Safety and Check Please, which he is calling his "discord project."

When he is not making music Drew is probably maintaining his painting and plaster company or mastering coffee in the morning at Black Water Café. 

I like Drew because he understands his life is not being lived in vain.   Good bad and ugly, he is unafraid of anything he has done and seems unafraid of anything he has yet to do.  His encouragement makes me think of him like a big brother, and I often see people walking away from Drew with a smile and a sparkle.

Filed under: Community, Tacoma, Tacoma Files,

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