MICHAEL SWAN: DOWN BEAT GIVES LOVE TO PIERCE COLLEGE VOCAL GROUP >>>

Pierce College’s Farwest Vocal Jazz Ensemble entered Down Beat Magazine’s national jazz competition. Farwest submitted four songs to the national monthly jazz publication last fall, and waited for word. And waited. And waited. There wasn’t a physical competition, so they had to wait. And wait.

The word came in this week. They won Best Collegiate Vocal Jazz Group.

The four songs came off their latest CD, Groovin’ Hard, which was recorded on the Pierce College Fort Steilacoom campus last spring.

“It is a nice bit of recognition for the Farwest Vocal Jazz Ensemble,” said Director Kelly Kunz in a press release. “Our program has a longstanding tradition of excellence and this is a great honor for us.”

To access free audio and video clips of the group, visit the Pierce College Web site.

MATT DRISCOLL: ART AND POETRY EVENT POSTPONED >>>

We just received word from Jared Wigert over at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts that tonight's previously scheduled "Flo and Sho': Lay Down Your Flo' and Sho' What You Know" event has been postponed by the show's presenters - who were renting the Theater on the Square. Apparently, the show will be rescheduled.

No word on whether the cancellation has anything to do with planned protests from the fictional group Citizens in Support of the Letter W.

JOE MALIK: FEAST OR FAMINE >>>

So the Universe is trying to tell me something. Inexplicably, the message arrives in one form or another â€" losing my job was a blessing.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve encountered dozens of people in recent weeks who tell me stories of their own, seeming-tragic failures and struggles. But the stories always end the same â€" in celebration. People who have lost their jobs tell me they’ve found a new, wonderful direction. People who have lost their homes end up finding new appreciation for everything else. People who have lost loved ones suddenly have a new appreciation for their own lives. People who have ended relationships â€" or have been dumped â€" tell me they’ve found themselves in the process. Even amidst one of the darkest, strangest stretches of our collective story, people are finding all kinds of hope.

And here I thought we were all drowning in poverty and misery. It’s confusing really. How can so many people be broken and happy at the same time?

Well, the answer arrived in my e-mail the other day in the form of a truly magical quote, concocted by an equally magical local artist.

"Hunger is the feast of the innovator. I'm in the process of mastering my own machine instead of being a victim-cog in the machine of the predictable".

When I first encountered this gigantic pearl, I was reminded of Plato’s axiom about necessity being the mother of invention. But the more I rolled the quotes around in my noggin, the more I realized how different they really are.

See, in Plato’s sad, rational world, necessity led to a particular kind of innovation - the creation of the state, i.e. government and other bureaucratic systems. Plato and other Greek rationalists suggest that the creation of the Greek city-state, which became a template for modern civilization, is mandated by creation â€" literally that we were forced to create systems of social control based on the cold, mathematical mandates of wealthy, self-indulgent Greek philosophers. The common man and woman needed the state â€" to become “a victim-cog in the machine of the predictable” â€" because they were so terrible at running their own lives.

Centuries later, that view seems to be changing. At least in the minds of the dozen or so people I’ve encountered who tell me that necessity â€" whether created by unemployment, poverty or personal tragedy â€" has encouraged them to retreat from modern institutions and figure it our for themselves, and with their friends and families.

In the case of “hunger is the feast of the innovator”, breakdown, and the necessity that arises from it, becomes fuel for invention. In this case, hunger and necessity aren’t something to be wrestled into submission. Instead, struggle is celebrated, its energies harnessed, and its power is transmuted into something better â€" evolution, personal growth, maybe even joy - as opposed to simply being discarded and replaced by another system of control from above.

I mean, let’s be honest. The way things are going, that particular cure often seems worse than the disease.

Ironically, the act of alchemically transforming personal tragedy into triumph â€" i.e. “mastering one’s own machine” - would have been strongly encouraged by the Greek oracles and Goddess worshippers that Greek rationalism slowly banished.

I would encourage anyone troubled by this latest breakdown to consider how they want to satisfy the hunger and desperation created in its wake. I don’t know about you, but a feast of innovation is sounding way better than being a victim cog right now.

PREVIOUSLY ON SPEW
For those of you who may have missed some of Weekly Volcano writer Joe Malik's jobless musings, here are a few links to previous "Unemployed in Tacoma" columns, which appear every Friday on Spew.

LINK: Unemployed in Tacoma:Joining the club

LINK: Unemployed in Tacoma:Low on survival tickets

LINK: Unemployed in Tacoma:The ugly truth about Wal-Mart

LINK: Unemployed in Tacoma:It's lonely out here

LINK: Unemployed in Tacoma: Bored as hell

STEPH DEROSA: SLOW BURN >>>

Ranch House BBQ & Steakhouse
Spicy Hot Link Sausage
Price: $2
Burn Factor: Four out of four Molotov cocktails

Just about 10 miles south of Olympia off Highway 8 lies the best establishment peddling meat of the smoked variety I’ve ever had the pleasure of patronizing. Recently rebuilt after battling an unexpected and devastating fire, Ranch House BBQ pulls out all the stops in order to give you utmost delectable food quality. The portions are perfect, the taste is decadent, and the atmosphere is both fun and friendly.

I could go on and on about every implausibly amazing menu item holding its own in national BBQ competitions (and believe me when I say Ranch House owners Amy Anderson and Melanie Tapia have the competition ribbons on display to prove it), instead I will tell you what burned the shit out of my mouth this week: Ranch House BBQ’s Spicy Hot Link Sausage.

My new friends Anderson and Tapia wouldn’t tell me what was in the sausage that made it so g-damn hot. “It’s specially made for us over at Western Meats, and I can’t tell you the secret ingredients,” Anderson declares. Evil women, I tell ya. They maliciously chuckled as I fanned my mouth and frantically reached for my beer after taking just one bite of this incredibly blistering piece of spicy meat. No sympathy from these girls, none at all. As if my tears weren’t enough, they proceeded to go back to the kitchen and return with a cup of hot wing sauce for me to try â€" a sauce that set Ranch House’s spice rating at the highest I’ve ever conceived.

[Ranch House BBQ & Steakhouse, 10841 Kennedy Creek Road S.W., Olympia, 360.866.8704]

STEPH DEROSA: MAD HAT THEN FULCRUM >>>

My eyes are tired from all the partying they did last night. No, I didn’t drink too much (surprise, surprise) â€" and no, I didn’t stay out late.  Last night I pulled local photographer and hobby blogger Wild Celtic Rose out with me for a night of Tacoma art viewing.  We both longingly gazed upon piece after piece representing local artists and multiple art mediums. Photography, acrylics, and blown glass â€" lots of beauty. Most were originals, not part of a series, and all were perfect representations of the artist.

Our first stop was Mad Hat Tea Company. The downtown teashop hosted a special show titled, Tentacles and Other Weirdness.  Lonnie D. Arnold, owner and photographer of Grittefolio Fine Art Photographic Exhibitions, chatted up his photos.  He even passed out a questionnaire game. The winner would receive a photograph of their choice at the end of his Mad Hat show, set to end in April.  That’s a helluva better prize than that free Big Mac I entered to win at the mall the other day.

The coolest cats in our community participated in Mad Hat’s show: Liza from Modern Art Media, Ann Koi and Cassandra. They were all on hand to interrogate, too.  Jada-Moon Gridley drew henna tattoos, which I happily engaged in â€" on my chest, of course.

Singer/songwriter Stephanie Johnson chilled on the back steps of the tearoom. She filled the house with her soulful and gratifying voice.  I could’ve listened to her all night, but eventually we had to leave. Fulcrum Gallery on Martin Luther King Way was next on our agenda.

Inside Fulcrum Gallery we immediately floored by undeniably distinct work of Lance Kagey from Beautiful Angle. Kagey’s show, “The distance between the calculated and the random,” consisted of oil-based inks done in layers, a multi-dimensional and unique setting skewed from his usual letterpress ways.  I loved his work in this show. I badly wanted one.  Someday soon, I hoped.  Someday soon. …

Oliver Doriss, owner and artist of Fulcrum Gallery, displayed heights of glass-blown creations upon shelves of various mixed media.  This is the part where my eyes became really happy. Colors, light, forms, shapes and textures infiltrated my visual senses as I took in DJ Bobby Galaxy’s funky soul and what this grand community of artists had to offer.

LINK: More photos are at the Weekly Volcano's Photo Hot Spot

MICHAEL SWAN: PAPPI SWARNER’S JUKEBOX >>>

After a week of snow and sun Pappi Swarner has been in a cheerful mood hugging everyone in the office â€" more so than ever. The Steno Pool has been dreading this afternoon. They know Pappi will be sauntering their way any second. The Pool feels awkward filing complaints about our publisher to HR.

Pappi’s mood is blasting out of his office right now in the form of Edison Lighthouse’s “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes).”

Yup, there he goes toward The Steno Pool.

MATT DRISCOLL: SOLD HIS SOUL TO BUSHMILLS >>>

So, a couple weeks ago, in what surely must have been a mistake, I was invited to this fancy-smancy dinner at Spur in the Seattle neighborhood of Belltown sponsored by Bushmills Irish Whiskey and featuring a ridiculous array of free Bushmills booze. To top it all off, Bushmills Master Distiller Colum Egan would be there, or so the invitation said.

Well, last night was the night, and the Bushmills PR staff wasn’t joking. Not only did they send a freakin’ town car to Tacoma to pick my wife and me up, but the dinner was five courses, they handed out five variations of Bushmills to accompany each course (from Bushmills Original to Bushmills 21yr) â€" and none of it cost a dime.

Here's an extremely low quality camera phone picture my wife snapped of Master Distiller Egan and me drunk that proves this story is no hoax.

What does this mean? Why would they do such a thing?

The truth is, this sort of crap happens all the time and, basically, Bushmills now wants me to write nice stuff about them. Which I TOTALLY WILL! They had me at “free booze.” Hell, they could have just sent me a bottle of Bushmills Original, or a couple of those little travel shooters, and I would have written nice things. I’m easy.

Anyway, with St. Paddy’s Day right around the corner, remember to make every drink a Bushmills this holiday.

Bushimills 16yr â€" It’s a great drink for great times. You deserve a Bushmills!

When you’re out and about, it’s Bushmills Black Bush or nothing â€" because you’ve got class.

Cheers!

LAUREN NAPIER: TEMPLE VIBE JUST FEELS GOOD >>>

Don’t give negative vibes. Just be there for the music, for the songs, for the scene, and for the importance of instilling a positive outlook into the eyes of our youth. Just embrace Temple Vibe â€" the band playing The Den at urbanXchange tonight.

To check out the full article, click here.