SATURDAY, JAN. 8, 2011 >>>
1. Every second Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Freighthouse Square hosts a bazaar loaded with wares from local businesses and artists. You could possibly find Buddhas, wool handbags, vintage T-shirts, Taco Bell's International Collection CD, 64 small stainless-steel baking pans, Brady Bunch lunchboxes, The Golden Fleece, faded Life magazines, reproductions of Canadian postage stamps, 8-by-10 photos of Fred Gwynne and an unexpected trove of things for children inside the Freighthouse.
2. Jared Abwawo is both a math teacher and an artist - a photographer, to be exact. There's a certain precision in his art that would suggest as much. An exhibition of Abwawo's photography will open with a reception from 1-3 p.m. at the Tacoma Community College Gig Harbor campus. "The creative essence of the image has no language but its own. It is a communication from one human being to others," Abwawo says in pre-show hype. See what he's talking about this afternoon.
3. Bingo is the ideal place for both loners and people who want to be in a crowd. And for those who are a strange combination of the two. There are big family groups and lots of men and women alone, some who sit as far away as possible from everyone else and kept their jackets on the entire evening. Join these people for many games from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6:30-9:30 p.m. inside the AMVETS Post 1 in Tacoma.
4. Olympia will score two chances to catch the National Tour of the Wizard of Oz at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, hitting the Yellow Brick Road at 2 and 7:30 p.m. "Breathtaking special effects" are promised, as are "the classic Wizard of Oz songs and the beloved characters Dorothy, Toto, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow ..." That pretty much covers the bases.
5. The Jazz in the Cellar series gets off to a grand start in 2011 when guitarist Vince Brown is joined by internationally acclaimed gypsy jazz guitarist Neil Andersson at 9 p.m. in Swing Wine Bar's cellar.
LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound
LINK: Wine tatsings!