Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: November, 2010 (158) Currently Viewing: 1 - 10 of 158

November 1, 2010 at 8:08am

5 Things To Do Today: Adult ballet class, Christmas music, folk tunes and roots reggae

Let yourself go tonight at the Urban Grace Church.

MONDAY, NOV. 1, 2010 >>>

1. Are you looking for a place to satisfy your unquenchable desire to dance? Check out the open adult ballet class at 7:15 p.m. inside the Urban Grace Church. It's pay what you can. It's also dance what you can.

2. Halloween is dead. People are now dragging out the Christmas lights and hanging mistletoe. Rehashings of Christmas standards by the likes of Mathis, Streisand, Jerry Vale - even that damn "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" - will soon fill ever second of our lives. Don't fight it. The Northwest Repertory Singers will rehearse their Christmas concert at 7 p.m. inside the Mason United Methodist Church. Surely, these songs will make us see the error of our Scrooge-y ways! At the very least, it will drive us to the same point of insanity, where it's always 1955 and sugarplums not only dance, but hold 9-to-5 jobs and vote (Republican, natch).

3. Folk music rules at the Mandolin Café tonight. First Garret Gue fills the Tacoma cafe with progressive folk from 7-8 p.m. Then, Pete Mason follows with a little more down-tempo at 8 p.m.

4. The Greta Jane Quartet will fill the Royal Lounge in Olympia with jazz beginning at 8 p.m.

5. DJ Jason Diamond spins roots reggae during Rebel Monday/Industry Night at O'Malley's Irish Pub beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

November 1, 2010 at 12:56pm

How many leafblowers does it take ...

KEEPING LAKEWOOD BEAUTIFUL ... AND EMPLOYED >>>

Things are getting done at the corner of 93rd Street Southwest and Whitman Avenue Southwest in Lakewood.

Filed under: Community, Lakewood,

November 1, 2010 at 2:57pm

Monday night blues

HipBone plays blues every Monday night at SAX in Tacoma. Here's a shot of the band playing The Swiss' Monday night blues series. Doh!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BLUES? >>>

Tonight is typically a black hole for nightlife. Sure, if you run a sports bar, you'll do well during the World Series or football season, but for most eating and drinking establishments, it's just dead, dead, dead. So how do those that remain open find ways to fill barstools on this, the most dreadful evening of the workweek? The folks at SAX on Sixth seem to have found a solution and, oddly enough, it's one that has been the bane of many other venues: live music.

A couple of weeks ago SAX launched their new Monday Night Blues series. On any given Monday night, you can stumble into the Sixth Avenue restaurant and lounge and catch sets from local blues band HipBone featuring Clifford "Buck" England on the Hammond, Jho Blenis on guitar and Michael Slivka on skins. The band kicks off at 8 p.m. And there isn't a cover.

By the way, SAX also nabbed local blues great Tim Hall and his band for a weekly Wednesday night blues jam. Check it out this Wednesday at 9 p.m.

SAX on Sixth

2309 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.572.0588

Filed under: Music, Tacoma,

November 1, 2010 at 5:10pm

Emerald City rallies to Restore Sanity

RAGELESS IN SEATTLE >>>

Times are tough.  The Weekly Volcano can't dispatch correspondents across the country at the drop of a hat.  But much like Jon Stewart's Daily Show, which routinely employs greenscreen to fake stand-up news reports from overseas, WV editor Matt Driscoll can, just barely, afford to send me to Seattle.

A Maple Valley building inspector named Jim Baum and Marjorie Osterhout, a Madrona mom, organized the satellite Rally to Restore Sanity event as a nonpartisan street party Saturday morning.  It's hard to gauge numbers from a scattered crowd whispering in unison, but my hunch gibes with news reports that enumerated our attendance in the low thousands.  What those reports don't convey is how much fun it all was, at least till the weather collapsed halfway through.

To put it baldly, this was an event for which ambivalent voters assembled to watch TV in unison; what we saw was a silly impersonation of Glenn Beck's knuckleheaded misappropriation of a civil rights march.  It'd be easy to dismiss the gathering as a jokey pep rally for Democrats, but what of matching events in red cities like Kansas City and Boise?  Looking around at a crowd of Tully's latte drinkers in red, white, and blue, I'd be hard pressed to predict who'd be voting for whom-only that we will be voting, and that we hate negative campaign ads and robo-calls.  Organizers handed out dozens of free signs urging "THINK FOR YOURSELF" with what I'm guessing was intentional irony.

Westlake Center was full by 9 a.m.  Hipster grannies bopped in place to the Beasties' "So What'cha Want."  Apparently folks thought there'd be a prize for Most Dispassionate Sign; my favorites included the aforementioned "Rageless in Seattle," "CHILL," "Too Poor to Buy a Politican," "I'm for the Separation of Church + Hate," "I Don't Really Have a Political Message So I Drew a Bunny," and "Bring Back Crystal Pepsi!"  The first cheer of the day was earned by Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," but that felt less like a Clinton campaign moment and more like a shout-out to Glee.  Perhaps the dominant symbols of the morning were joyfully waved American flags and dozens of yellow balloons reading simply, "Enough."

Dave Ross of KIRO, David Crowe, and Kermit Apio were the standouts among half a dozen local comedians.  Ross led the crowd in a whispered chant of "Take ... it ... down," the "it" in question being the volume, for once, rather than the system.  "I can hear you!" he chided.  "We think it's time for people who make the most sense to make the most noise," he explained, "provided we don't do it in Belltown after 10 p.m."

Of course, we were in King County, where gay marriage and legalized pot are conventional ideas, but in general, no one wanted to root for any particular stance.  One could feel the crowd's energy flagging when Rep. Jim McDermott even hinted the predominantly Democratic crowd should vote for Democrats.  We were more excited to learn rally supporters raised $22,000 for DonorsChoose.org, an online charity for education.

Sprinkles expanded into full-sized raindrops about two hours in, local speakers talked through the musical acts, and only a vast communal "moment of Zen" prevented riotous indignation about the all-too-frequent buffering glitches in the satellite feed.  Be that as it may, Seattle's Rally to Restore Sanity was a hoot, and an encouraging reminder of the fact that if there were a moderate, rational political party, we'd probably all jump ship from our existing parties to join it. 

Hey, you think maybe that's why there's no such thing? 

Nah ... That's just cynical.

Filed under: Politics, Community,

November 2, 2010 at 7:22am

Tacoma Science Cafe launches Thursday

BEER DRINKING - NOW WITH MORE SCIENCE! >>>

Whoever says Tacoma's Center of Urban Waters consists solely of environmental freaks and engineering geeks who hole up inside their kick ass 51,000 square-foot office and laboratory building on Thea Foss Waterway shying from public contact as they play with their test tubes and mentally compute the velocity of their own pee is a big fat liar. Believe it or not, these scientists and engineers adore the public, and will prove it Thursday night when the Pacific Science Center launches the Tacoma version of its awesome Science Café at The Harmon Brewery and Restaurant.

The third monthly science café launched by PSC - Queen Anne hill in Seattle and Kirkland have a hold on the first two - the Tacoma Science Café will kick off its monthly science chat, over beers, with University of Washington Tacoma research scientist Julie Masura, who hangs with the Center of Urban Waters folks after the class bell rings. Masura - huge into microplastics studies - will discuss how these teeny tiny particles are destroying our oceans.

You might want to pull back from your normal beer consumption Thursday, as Masura will also host a Q-and-A session.

Tacoma Science Café

Thursday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m., all ages, no cover
Harmon Brewery and Eatery
1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
(253) 383-2739

November 2, 2010 at 8:23am

5 Things To Do Today: Tender Forever, Janet Marcavage, Yolanda Cruz and more ...

Tender Forever

MONDAY, NOV. 2, 2010 >>>

1. Lyrics are typically secondary in electronic and dance music, but Melanie Valera's intonations on No Snare, her latest as Tender Forever, are not only emotionally resonant, but a critical part of the listening experience. While the electro-acoustic percussion on No Snare booms, chirps and rattles exultingly, it's Valera's ersatz Carly Simon-isms ("this song is not for you and is meant to be/ just a piece of something nice that you won't get to see") that really stick in the mind. Check her out with Pete Burr and Ghost Feet at 8 p.m. inside the Northern space.

2. Tacoma artist Janet Marcavage will discuss her work - which uses patterned imagery and the repetitive process of printmaking to explore the routines of every life - from 6-7 p.m. inside Ingram Hall at the University Gallery on the Pacific Lutheran University campus on planet earth.

3. Award-winning filmmaker Yolanda Cruz presents her work on immigration and indigenous identity in the global economy at 7 p.m. in Lecture Hall 1 on The Evergreen State College campus.

4. Over the last 42 years more than 3,000 musicians have performed at the Victory Music Open Mics. Check out the granddaddy of all open mics from 7-10 p.m. inside the Antique Sandwich Company.

5. Every Tuesday inside SAX on Sixth, bebop reigns, and the talented jazz musicians play hard and fast in an open jam format. Led by sax sensation Kareem Kandi, talented musicians perform Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk and ilk beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: It's Art at Work Month! Check out today's events.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

November 2, 2010 at 8:38am

Geeks Who Drink

Artwork courtesy of www.geekswhodrink.com

ANOTHER PUB QUIZ NIGHT IN TACOMA >>>

Is your head just crammed with useless information? Like music trivia? Got an affinity for beer and bar food? Well, bunkie, you just hit the trifecta, because the The Ram Restaurant & Brewery is the site of John Dicker's Geeks Who Drink pub quiz night. Dicker, a genius from Colorado, has taken the Irish Pub quiz tradition to a new level with Geeks Who Drink games across the nation, including every Wednesday night at the Tacoma waterfront sports bar.

The quiz consists of eight rounds of eight questions and is played in teams of up to six people. Questions are read aloud by the quizmaster; teams write their answers on provided sheets and turn them in at the end of each round. The team with the most points after eight rounds is the winner.

Geeks Who Drink quizzes are also unique in that they include two rounds of audio questions - like name that tune, but with some bite. Examples: Songs We Lost Our Virginity To in The 1990s, Top 40 hits Butchered by David Hasslehoff, Disco Classics in German. ... 

Four times during the quiz, participants get the chance to answer a random question, and the first one to show the correct (and legible) answer to the quizmaster wins a free drink and bragging rights for the night.

Finally, your disturbingly thorough knowledge of ‘70s prog rock drum solos will pay off.

Geeks Who Drink

Wednesdays, 8:30 p.m., no cost to play
The Ram Restaurant & Brewery
3001 Ruston Way, Tacoma
253.756.7886

LINK: Last week's results

Filed under: Comedy, Games, Food & Drink, Tacoma,

November 2, 2010 at 10:50am

Dick Dale returns to Hell's Kitchen

Dick Dale

THE SOUTHPAW KING OF SURF GUITAR COMING TO PACIFIC AVENUE >>>

Ever since Quentin Tarantino threw "Miserlu" over the credits of Pulp Fiction, Dick Dale - eternal beach boy and inventor of the reverb-drenched surf-guitar sound - has returned to the top of his craft. He's back at Hell's Kitchen Dec. 9 with Jimmy Dale, The Fucking Eagles and Rat City Brass.

Dick Dale

Thursday, Dec. 9, 9 p.m., $20 at Ticketweb
Hell's Kitchen
928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.759.6003

November 2, 2010 at 11:26am

Short Order: new gourmet omelet sandwiches, Election Day food deal ...

DINING NEWS, NIBBLES AND BITS IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

November Bonus: Cutters Point Coffee in Gig Harbor's Uptown Shopping Center has busted out new gourmet omelet sandwiches. They'll toss in a free 12-ounce cup of coffee if you order an omelet sandwich during this month.

Voted Sticker Deal: Drop by the Varsity Grill in downtown Tacoma after 5 p.m., show them your "I Voted" sticker, and they'll knock 20 percent off your food purchases. The sports bar also plans to broadcast the election results on their multiple screens.

Future Things Are Coming: El Gaucho Tacoma hosts a L'Ecole Wine Dinner at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12. The cost is $75 per person. For reservations, call 253.272.1510.

Food Matters: Eleven great chefs share their families' secret Thanksgiving recipes.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

November 2, 2010 at 12:00pm

Taste tequila in Tacoma

NOSH LEAGUE REPORT >>>

The Weekly Volcano is a big fan of Mexican culture. It's brought us Taco Time (a legal form of crack), sombreros for any occasion, MTV Spring Break in Cancún and uncounted Girls Gone Wild videos. But some imports from south of the border don't sit well with gringos who have no self-control.

We're talking about tequila, which has been responsible for an untold number of hangovers.

Many times we have stood before Masa restaurant's towering shelves of tequila with a blank look on our faces. Milagro and Mico, Monte Alban (yeah, that's a mezcal, but whatever), Sol, Sol Dios, Corralejo and Casta - all of them situated like a multi-colored Benetton ad. In the Weekly Volcano World Headquarters' bar, there are only two varieties of the stuff: greasy-yellow-death flavor, and the good, clear white plata for when we have to schmooze advertising clients - Mad Men style.

It's time for a little tequila schooling.

The Weekly Volcano foodie group Nosh League will hold its next Nosh Pit inside Masa Thursday Nov. 11 for a tequila tasting. The ambassador from Don Julio Tequila will be in the house. And the Sixth Avenue Mexican restaurant will pair the tequila with small bites.

The cost is $20 per person.

Interested? First, you must join our Nosh League. Then, click on the event here, and tell us "I'm Going" so we can provide Masa with a head count. So far 10 people said they're attending. The maximum is 25 people this month so RSVP soon.

¡Viva Nosh League!

Filed under: Nosh League, Food & Drink, Tacoma,

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