COME FOR THE BOWLING, STAY FOR THE FOOD & DRINK >>>

For those that can't make it to the 98402 (downtown Tacoma) there's another dining option that's been added to the far reaches of Pacific Avenue. For 35 years, people have enjoyed bowling at Paradise Bowl. In the spring of 2010, the family fun destination underwent major changes, including a revamp of the lounge and dining setup. The lounge, better known as The Bull Market Bar & Grill, now offers a menu topping out at $13.99 with steaks, ribs, prime rib, seafood, chicken, pasta dishes, pizza with an herb crust, sandwiches with breads from the Coeur d'Alene Bakery, burgers made from "never-frozen" ground beef, a piled-high prime rib dip and a patty melt on rye. Four different kinds of breads and buns, Asiago cheese, a Waldorf salad, red onion ranch dressing, caramelized onions, heavy-handed meat portions and cheesy toast are just some of the added touches. It's a lot to take in.

The Paradise Cafe, also part of Paradise Bowl, is more casual, offering breakfast anytime, a kid's menu, more sandwiches and fish and chips. Slake your thirst with full bar options, espresso drinks, sodas, strawberry lemonade, iced tea and hot cocoa - a total kiddie favorite.

The Bull Market bar is touted as a great nightclub for catching local and national acts, DJs and karaoke. Check out nightly bowling specials, too.

[Paradise Bowl, 12505 Pacific Ave. South, Tacoma, 253.537.6012]

TAKING THE BATTLE TO VIDEO >>>

A couple of weeks ago we ran a story about Fish Brewing's intended expansion into The Loft artist space. The topic was hotly debated by readers on both sides of the issue. Well, to add some more fuel to that fire, here is a short video advocating saving The Loft. The video was made by a couple of Olympia artists and has some amazing shots of The Loft in action. It also brings about quality points to consider when thinking about the destruction of The Loft. Of course, since Fish Brewing won't likely make a rebuttal video anytime soon, the video should be viewed keeping that in mind.

Save the Loft from Glowing Heads on Vimeo.

Louise Williams was well loved by the Olympia area arts community. She had a short but brilliant career as an artist, teacher, wife and mother. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2000, she continued to make art until shortly before her death in 2004.

Her husband, Tom Lineham, has put together a book of Williams' art. The book is Louise Rae Williams: Her Life and Work 1947-2004. I counted 96 full-color reproductions of her paintings in this book. The art is grouped chronologically and is interspersed with writings about her life, her children and grandchildren, her friends in the art community and the causes and concerns that often haunted her - love, sex, death, motherhood; the treatment of women and children in a male-dominated world; and her keen interest in mental illness (she had a son who was mentally ill).

When I moved to Olympia in 1988 my first foray into the local art world was a visit to the Marianne Partlow Gallery. Williams was working there at the time; she welcomed me, encouraged me and introduced me to other area artists. At the time she had recently completed a residency at the Ucross Foundation in Sheridan, Wyo., and had done a haunting series of portraits of the victims of the Green River killer. Most of her work from the 1980s was dark and disturbing. She painted dead cows seen on the side of the road. She painted bloated and distorted pictures of woman, many of which were unflinchingly and unflatteringly sexual.

There was a painting called Telling the Truth that depicted a woman with a gaping, toothy, re-lipped mouth and three heads as in motion photography capturing a fast-moving face (speaking out of both sides of her mouth at once).  Similarly, there was one called Manchild showing a face with three eyes in a stark white, pasty face, and a pastel called Altarpiece depicting the wedding of a skeletal or ghostly couple - kind of funny and kind of scary. Many of the best works from these early years were pastels done on black paper. I have two of them that I traded for years ago, and I treasure them.

In the 1990s and going into the 2000s her imagery became softer, more decorative and sweeter. She was a grandmother by then, and children and family dominated her art. Reviewing an exhibition at Childhood's End Gallery in 2003 I wrote: "Williams' paintings have always been figurative, and they have always told stories; although the stories have never been explicit. Her earlier works were dark, strange, foreboding and often highly erotic. She has grown older, raised children and grandchildren, and bravely battled cancer, her paintings have become lighter, more joyful, more infused with love of humanity in general and family in particular."

For a retrospective of her work at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in 2003 Williams wrote: "Beauty's many faces have fascinated me, but the fragile truth I've found in representing the human soul and numinous spirit within has been the centerpiece of my work as an artist."

Louise Williams will long be missed. Thanks to her husband we now have this book of her art to remember her by. It is a limited edition book. There are not many copies available. While supplies last you may get yours by e-mailing Thomas Lineham at tlineham@comcast.net.

As Anne attempted to get to her walnuts (sometimes, Tupperware is really smarter than us), we pondered what to write in this blog. It's not that we're boring or anything, we just care about giving our readers top-notch blogs to read. So, in dedication to you, we want to wish you a very happy, pleasant, joyous, exuberant, vivacious and zestful National Thesaurus Day. Today is the day to finally dust off the old thesaurus, and start broadening that vocabulary! Start using words like plethora, facetious, ragbag and wheedle. You can even spice up your insults - instead of yelling "Watch it, dude," when someone bumps into you, try "You brainless, dazed, half-baked, rash, moronic, obtuse, out-to-lunch, nonsensical, thickheaded tooth walking whale-horse!"

Translation for those without such an expansive vocabulary as us: "You stupid walrus!" It has just the right combination of randomness and smarts to befuddle even the quickest of pedestrians.

So, dear reader, go out there and have a thrilling National Thesaurus Day and use your words to the absolute fullest.

LINK HUB

LINK: The SOTA Intern Blog - Day One

LINK: The SOTA Intern Blog - Day Two

LINK: The SOTA Intern Blog - Day Three

TODAY IN ONLINE TALK >>>

Today's comment comes from Justin McIntyre in regard to a write-up Bobble Tiki did on South Sound band the Sofistikits way back in September.

McIntyre writes,

"hey man, thanks a lot for the write-up. I'm the one in the pic for this article. I like the way you described our style! It took us this long to even think to look for ourselves on the internet. we'll be playing a show on Feb. 19. at the Blue Moon in the U-District.

Don't know if you went to the O'Mally's show, but I did not make it to that show so we had no singer for it. Lame. But, we already like you; if you like our music... a future write-up would be much appreciated.

rock
Justin

THURSDAY, JAN. 20, 2011 >>>

1. Oh that Sean Alexander. If he's not planning Squeak and Squawk music festivals, or performing odd music under strange names (while dunking his head in a bucket of ice water), or generally being artistic, he's making these jaw-droppingly intricate drawings that we've never seen anything like. Alexander's Seasonal Affective opens today at Fulcrum Gallery, an exercise in graphite and ink that shouldn't be missed. Come and celebrate at the opening reception from 6-9 p.m.

2. Lance Kagey and Tom Llewellyn of Beautiful Angle and Mick Klass, three of Tacoma's Postcard Project artists, will be at the Tacoma Art Museum from 5-8 p.m. signing free copies of their postcards created for the Mighty Tacoma exhibition. Since it's Third Thursday Art Walk tonight, admission to the Museum is free.

3. When our art critic Alec Clayton saw the announcement for the Mauricio Robalino and Betty Sapp Ragan exhibition at the Handforth Gallery he was initially blown away by the image of a Robalino collage included with the announcement, but he was slightly let down by the actual work. Although hotly colorful, playful and well designed, the collages in the gallery are not as good as the image on the announcement. But don't let that deter you from seeing this show. Alec enjoyed the show nonetheless. There's an artist reception tonight at 5:30 p.m.

4. Gospel singer Crystal Aikin is just one of many Tacomans who've made their hometown proud by going on to television and/or musical greatness. With a voice larger than any other you'll find, and a purpose and mission to match, Aikin's journey from hometown Tacoma kid to gospel music heavyweight has the feeling of destiny. At 7 p.m., Aikin returns to her hometown for a performance at the University of Puget Sound - inside Marshall Hall - as part of the college's Black History Month celebration.

5. Brave New World Media Group and Black Ice Booking & Entertainment have teamed up to present "The Road to South By 2011," a series of battle of the bands performances, mostly in Seattle, with the winners performing during SXSW in Austin. Tonight at 8 p.m., the competition hits the road with a show inside Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma.  Scheduled to perform are Blackstax, Mem3nto, Shyan Selah & The Republic of Sound and Tacoma's burlesque troupe, the Gritty City Sirens. The competitions end Feb. 18. Click here for more details.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound

GOODNESS IN STORE IN PRINT AND ONLINE >>>

As sure as it's been an interesting week to be Ricky Gervais, Thursday means one thing - another Weekly Volcano has hit the street, thus there's a new Weekly Volcano music section out there to seek out.

Here's a teaser of the goodness in store in print and online ...

THE THERMALS

When I spoke with Westin Glass, drummer for the Thermals, he was wandering somewhere in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the background, I could hear some mysterious trilling bird - wild turkey? angry peacock? roadrunner? - and the effect was that Glass sounded a million miles away. - Rev. Adam McKinney

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III

Loudon Wainwright III is many things. To some in my generation, he's known as a minor comedic actor, having appeared in M*A*S*H and Judd Apatow productions like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and the short-lived college comedy Undeclared (as well as more dubious cinematic fare like 2009's G-Force - the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced family romp about CGI gerbil secret agents). Decades earlier, Wainwright was a singular and widely admired folk talent that critics eagerly labeled "The New Dylan," back when that honorific was still fresh and hadn't been devalued through overuse by unimaginative journalists. Others might know him best as the patriarch of a preternaturally talented brood (his son Rufus and daughters Martha and Lucy are acclaimed singer-songwriters in their own right). - Jason Baxter

AARON DANIEL

We've seen plenty of one-man bands in our day. Great ones like Phillip Roebuck come to mind. And plenty of not-so-great ones also come to mind. But when it comes to wow factor mixed with groove, few have the skills that Aaron Daniel has. - Matt Driscoll

PLUS: Solvents, Gumar and his Magical Midi Band, Electric Falcons

PLUS: Concert Alert

PLUS: Live Music and DJ Listings

FINALLY, WE'RE MAKING DINOSAURS>>>

In the past, I've attempted to ressurrect the extinct wooly mammoth, but apparently I lack the power to breath life into an animal constructed out of Legos. Oh well, the scientists beat me to it anyways. According to CNN, the successful cloning of the extinct creature is only a few years away. I'm glad to see that our greatest scientific resources are going to the good of ressurrecting an animal that will probably maul or trample the laboratories and genius minds that created it. Here's what CNN had to say:

A team of scientists from Japan, Russia and the United States hopes to clone a mammoth, a symbol of Earth’s ice age that ended 12,000 years ago, according to a report in Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun. The researchers say they hope to produce a baby mammoth within six years.

The scientists say they will extract DNA from a mammoth carcass that has been preserved in a Russian laboratory and insert it into the egg cells of an African elephant in hopes of producing a mammoth embryo.

The team is being led by Akira Iritani, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University in Japan. He has built upon research from Teruhiko Wakayama of Kobe's Riken Center for Developmental Biology, who successfully cloned a mouse from cells that had been frozen for 16 years, to devise a technique to extract egg nuclei without damaging them, according to the Yomiuri report.

The U.S. researchers are in vitro fertilization experts. They, along with Kinki University professor Minoru Miyashita, will be responsible for implanting the mammoth embryo into an African elephant, the report said.

"If a cloned embryo can be created, we need to discuss, before transplanting it into the womb, how to breed [the mammoth] and whether to display it to the public," Iritani told Yomiuri. "After the mammoth is born, we'll examine its ecology and genes to study why the species became extinct and other factors."

THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND >>>

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Rain, hi 49, lo 41
Saturday: Cloudy, hi 47, lo 38
Sunday: Cloudy, hi 51, lo 41

>>> FRIDAY, JAN. 21: LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III

When Wainwright comes to the Washington Center for Performing Arts this Friday, the focus will be on Wainwright the musician - the sharp wit with a Dickensian knack for finding beatific ways to paint depressing subjects, the pained voice that savors every barbed and rhyming punch line, the raconteur, the pundit, the lyrical prankster in the mode of Nilsson and Newman. At 64, this Grammy winner has found a comfortable, irony-free way to stay culturally present - on TV, in films and on soundtracks - and is still cranking out new albums with admirable regularity.

• Washington Center for the Performing Arts, with Shawn Colvin, 7:30 p.m., $19.25-$46.50, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia, 360.753.8586

>>> FRIDAY, JAN. 21: CHINA DAVIS

Is it supposed to be about the joy of rock 'n' roll creation, or taking advantage of the platform you've been given and speaking for the voiceless. The Fuller brothers (Ted and Ben), and their bands -- most notably China Davis and Fear Train Caravan -- have tried both approaches, and lately seem to have found a comfortable and very listenable middle ground. Reminscent of early U2, in a good way, China Davis has kept on trucking for all the right reasons -- and it feels like the best days may be ahead of them. See the band Friday at The Harmon Tap Room.

• The Harmon Tap Room, 8 p.m., 204 Saint Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.212.2725
  

>>> SATURDAY, JAN. 22: BODYBOX

A mix of funk, folk, bass-driven soul/hip-hop and alternative rock, a Bodybox song (or performance, Bobble Tiki assumes) could go any direction at any time. While none of the band's work comes off like a reinvention of the wheel, and all is comfortingly familiar, Bodybox definitely has a bevy of personalities to draw from - and they pull from them all with skill and obvious care. Saturday, the band celebrates the release of a new CD at The New Frontier Lounge. - Bobble Tiki 

• The New Frontier Lounge, with James Coates and the Lost Souls, The Dave Hannon Band,9 p.m., cover TBA, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020
  

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Meat Market Photographer
Going to the Grand for movies with the kiddos and a train ride to Seattle for a trip to the Gold Rush Museum and Archie McPhee's for a bacon wallet.

RON SWARNER Publisher
Friday night, my plan is to hit several of the creative live music shows and "happenings," including the one at Personal Power Company/Spaceworks Tacoma in downtown Tacoma. Saturday night, I'll catch the incredible Aaron Daniel "One Man Banned" at Doyle's Public House. Sunday, I'm holed up designing the Best of Olympia section while looping my K Records mix.

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
I'll be working at the beloved bar, keeping up with the regulars and giving them advice on all their woes and/or triumphs- and by advice, I mean re-filling their drinks with an obligatory, "This too shall pass," or "Keep up the good work!" Did I mention refilling their drinks? Sunday will be a cold January night, but I will be keeping warm with The Thermals and a room full of lucky people. Check in for a full report of the show along with some pics! Here's wishing all you Volcanoers (Volcanians?) a happy weekend...

JOE IZENMAN Music/Theater Critic
Cooking! Eating! Cleaning! Karaoke! Dungeons! Dragons! Football! Cycling! Haircut! Yes, it's another ACTION-PACKED and ADVENTURE-RIDDEN weekend here at Casa Izenman.

BRETT CIHON Meat Market Correspondent/Features Writer
I don't have any plans for this weekend. Unless you count going to a new hookah bar on Saturday night. But since sitting on a beanbag chair and smoking shisha is kind of the opposite of "doing" anything, I'm really not doing much.

REV. ADAM MCKI: Lifestyle/Leisure Writer
Friday, I'm going to be attending the first official show at the Personal Power Company, featuring a couple of my favorites, Allan Booth and Margy Pepper. Afterwards, I'll be going to a kind of hush-hush pre-opening for a venue that will be open to the public sometime soon. A full night of rock 'n' roll in two really cool new spaces. I'm so stoked.

JOANN VARNELL Theater Critic
With any luck, I'll be sewing something or other - curtains for the baby's room, dresses for me, mending things. If I have more luck, I'll get to sleep! I'll also be counting down the days until the upcoming all-ages Slow Wave show at The Peabody (Jan. 28) as well as the all-ages Drew Grow Benefit (Feb. 5), also at The Peabody!

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
It's Frost/Nixon at Tacoma Little Theatre for me again--have you heard I'm in the show?--plus Spring Awakening at Broadway Center, followed by sneak peeks at The Last Schwartz and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee early next week.

STEPH DEROSA  Person, Place or Thing Correspondent 
Surely I sound like a broken record, but yet again I will be heading out to the coast.  What I'll be doing there is of very high importance and certainly none of your damn business.  (I'll be sitting on my ass.)

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
 Going to see the Sean Alexander exhibit at Fulcrum Saturday and "The Drowsy Chaperon" at Tacoma Musical Playhouse Sunday afternoon.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

DOES IT FEEL LIKE OCTOBER YET? >>>

It doesn't feel like the season for political mail, street signs, and phone banks, yet it is. As we highlighted previously, Pierce Transit services as we know them are in jeopardy. The approval of Prop 1 allows a 0.3 percent increase in the sales tax Pierce Transit currently collects. This would create $30 million a year in new revenue and help prevent massive cuts in Pierce Transit routes and services.

When we originally covered Prop 1 there was no opposition campaign. Since then one has been formed, and there are already allegations of foul play. Does it feel like October yet?

The Save Our Buses campaign to approve Proposition 1 filed a complaint Thursday with the Public Disclosure Commission concerning what they call "the opposing campaign's blatant disregard for compliance with election regulations."

 "The Reject Prop 1 campaign has clearly failed to be open and honest with the voters of Pierce County," says Andrew Austin, a Tacoma resident and Prop 1 steering committee volunteer. "With just more than three weeks until the Feb. 8 special election, Reject Prop 1 has failed to release basic information about its operation and has yet to report any contributions or expenditures."

All expenditures and contributions must be reported within 14 days time, but the PDC confirmed it has not yet received any such materials from the Reject Prop 1 campaign - despite evidence that financial investments were made more than 14 days ago.

The Save Our Buses campaign has complied with all PDC regulations regarding disclosures.

 "The opposing campaign is cynically covering up their identities and donors, while spreading deliberate misinformation about Prop 1," says Austin.  "Voters deserve to know what people or special interest groups are behind these deceitful efforts."

We'll let you know what becomes of this complaint. In the meantime, your voter pamphlet should have arrived in the mail last week, and your ballot will be arriving soon.