COMEDY IN THE BOX >>>

How entertaining is Damonde Tschritter, headlining at Comedy in the Box Thursday?

Well, to start with, there's his name, which not only has five consecutive consonants but is also ripe for humor. (If you're not thinking yet about what he must have been called in elementary school, let me help you get in the proper frame of mind: Opening for him in Olympia is a comedian called Kris Tinkle.)

And then there's the Canadian accent. Tschritter makes movies as well as doing stand-up, and one is called "Castaway Eh."

Although Tschritter has been known to say he's more like the guy who hangs around your kitchen table telling stories than a stand-up comedian, he was the first Canadian to win the Seattle International Comedy Competition, in 2006. (Before that, although the competion was called "international," it was really pretty much just "national.")

But my favorite thing about Tschritter is his wardrobe.

Damonde Tschritter at Comedy in the Box

Thursday, April 21, 7:30 p.m., $12.50

The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia

Only for ages 21 and older

360-753-8586 or www.washingtoncenter.org or www.damondetschritter.com

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WITH THE GRAND'S FILM CONTEST >>>

Can you feel it? The suspense is mounting, crackling over the city like electricity. This sensation, communally shared and transmitted by local moviemakers, will only grow as The Grand Cinema's 72-Hour Film Competition dawns at dusk this Thursday. A few vets will toss their cameras into the ring once again, determined to snag a prize or two, while first-timers like Volcano newshound Steph DeRosa want nothing more than to ride this rollercoaster of a weekend without losing consciousness.

Jordan Rhone once considered winning a 72-Hour Film Competition award a near-hopeless prospect. Content with dreaming up videos for an invisible Youtube audience with his cousin C.J., Rhone finally signed up for competition last year, his first film contest ever. He didn't even attend the subsequent viewing party, nervous about sharing a room with several hundred pairs of eyes quietly critiquing his work.

But Rhone's action-drama, Stolen, nabbed the award for Best Film. He remembers standing in his kitchen when the call came in from his mom, raving about the victory. "It was a really, really good feeling," Rhone says, adding with a laugh, "But of course it made me feel pretty dumb for not going in the first place."

Rhone now has a smarter attitude and more confidence for this year's contest. With only a 72-hour window, he plans to "manage (his) time better," he says, noting he's "willing to possibly stay up overnight" to make the best work he can.

The story you hatch for the 72-Hour Film Competition ultimately determines the course your weekend takes, and in this regard Rhone shares some invaluable advice:

"The most important thing for me, and probably for other people, is (to) like the project you're working on, because if you're having fun doing it, that's probably when you're going to get the best work done. If you're passionate about your project, then you're going to do whatever it takes to succeed."

Good luck to all the teams discovering their own stories this weekend.

Watch Stolen and other works by Rhone here. 

Place: Pick-Quick Drive In

Located: Fife

Open since: 1949

Building: 450 square feet

Average employees inside: Six

Most ever: Eight

Picnic tables: 22

Top seller: Double cheeseburger with bacon

Top milkshake: Wild mountain blueberry

Goddammit: Now I'm hungry.

To read Steph DeRosa's full column click here.

MEET THE REBELS BY BUS THURSDAY IN OLYMPIA >>>

When I think about public transportation (or even taking the airport shuttle), I think about smelly drunk guys. I think about being squeezed in next to people I don't want to be that close to. I think about taking the bus in Chicago one time and going really far before I realized I was going in the wrong direction - the very, very wrong direction.

Olympia's own Rebels by Bus, Mary Williams and Gail Johnson, have a brighter view.

"It's a great adventure," Johnson says. "It's really fun. It's something different."

To read Molly Gilmore's full article click here.

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Peg Doman, in response to our selection of Carrs' pancakes and sausage as one of our 50 favorite dishes in the South Sound.

Doman writes,

We recently went to Carrs with some friends on a Sunday morning at noon. I wish I'd read your article before we went. It seemed to us that the waitress didn't turn in our order because people were served who came in well after us. I was not charmed with my meal. There is literally, almost a ton of food on each plate, but the hash browns were not even up to Sherri's standards. Carrs' hb were a huge mound of white and uncooked middle with a thin layer of browns to fool you. I realize it was Sunday afternoon and any time after 10 a.m. on a Sunday is a guaranteed wait, but the waitress did not even acknowledge the extraordinary wait we had and I was severely disappointed in the hashbrowns. Quantity does NOT make up for poor quality.

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2011 >>>

1. Poetically gifted singer-songwriter and Grammy-nominated Eliza Gilkyson will fill Morso wine bar with roots, folk and Americana tunes at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. She's kind of a big deal.

2. It's Third Thursday Artwalk from 5-8 p.m. in downtown Tacoma! Spaceworks Tacoma is hosting a party to celebrate the next round of awesome storefront exhibition from 5-7 p.m. inside the studio of Chris Sharp and Jeremy Gregory (904 Broadway). Fulcrum Gallery on Hilltop is hosting a prints sale. The ART BUS is back and rolling leaving the Tacoma Art Museum at 6 p.m. for a two-hour tour of the Artwalk. All the other downtown Tacoma museums and galleries are open tonight, too.

3. Artists, musicians, poets, thought provokers and listeners alike are invited to the Be the Spark Open Mic Night hosted by The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation from 6-8:30 p.m. inside the Mandolin Café. You will also have the chance to win a pair of tickets to the Be the Spark event on May 13 featuring Desmond Tutu, Craig Kielburger, Ben Union and many others. 

4. Olympia's own Rebels by Bus, Mary Williams and Gail Johnson, take the bus for leisure travel, sharing their journeys on their blog (rebels-by-bus.net), subtitled "Slow Travel With Low Carbon Footprint." They'll be talking about what they do and why at 7 p.m. inside the Olympia Timberland Library, no doubt pointing out that riding the bus is good not only for the planet, but for the budget too - especially with soaring gas prices.

5. News Tribune sports columnist Dave Boling wrote much of his 2009 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award-winning book Guernica in airports and hotel rooms while on the road. Boling will be at the University Place Library at 7 p.m. to discuss his book and the effort it took to write it.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

SHAKING IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Do you know, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, there have been more than 35 earthquakes in Washington State just in the last two weeks?

Do you know we live near one of the most hazardous faults in the world?

Do you know this particular fault line - the Cascadia Subduction Zone - is aching to release a megathrust earthquake?

Now, imagine this fault ruptures and a 9.0 magnitude earthquake violently shakes the Pacific Northwest.

"It would be like a freakishly monstrous catapult that hurls 75,000 square miles of rock, the margin of a continent, as much as 65 feet," says Patrick Pringle, associate professor of Earth Sciences at Centralia College, national author and overall geo-enthusiast.

To read Nikki Talotta's full article click here.

FREE ENTERTAINMENT SOMETIMES WORTH THE HASSLE >>>

Olympia is gearing up for the 42nd Arts Walk this weekend. Regular readers of this column know that I do my best to avoid Arts Walk. I can't stand the crowds, and you're subjected to a dozen bad works of art for every good work of art. Still, for those who are willing to put up with that, there is some great art to see, and lots of fabulous free entertainment.

From the hundreds of Arts Walk shows to choose from, I decided to write about just one. It sounds fascinating and appropriate to Earth Day, which coincides with the opening day of Arts Walk. It's the globes project at Tom Anderson's studio at 117 Washington St. NE. Anderson has invited artists to make statements using recycled globes.

To read Clayton's full column, click here.

[Arts Walk, 5 - 10 p.m. April 22, noon - 8 p.m. April 23, downtown Olympia]

TALL COOL ONE >>>

As we learned late last week, Kent Morrill of the Fabulous Wailers recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. Rarely - if ever - has there been a more gentle and kind human being who's had the kind of influence on music that Morrill had. He was a true Tacoma legned and will  most surely be missed.

Here's a press release we just received regarding a free, all ages Kent Morrill Memorial Concert Wednesday, May 4 at the Temple Theater in Tacoma ...

Wailers Memorial Concert for Kent

May 4, 2011 Wednesday                                                     
Time: 7:00 PM ‘til 11:00 PM                                                
Temple Theatre - Main Room
47 Saint Helens Ave.
Tacoma, WA 98402-2612
253-272-2042 - www.thefabulouswailers.com

One of the "Boys from Tacoma" has left us for paradise, to be with his maker, and to meet up with old band mates.  We are celebrating Kent Morrill's life, his talents, his voice, his songs, and his 50 years of unequivocal contributions to music, performance, rock ‘n' roll, and his earned place in the history and foundation of N.W. Entertainment.

Surrounded by family and friends, Kent passed away peacefully after a long struggle with cancer on April 15, 2011 at the Tacoma home where he grew up.

Joining Tacoma's Wailers in the late 50's after an impromptu audition for talent and players, Kent played piano and sang his self penned song "Dirty Robber" which secured his membership, and later became his signature song.  The original Wailers members were John Greek, Richard Dangel, Michael Burk, Mark Marush and Kent Morrill.

Kent's first glimpse of national fame came in the late ‘50's with the Wailers original recording of "Tall Cool One" released on the New York Golden Crest  Records label.   The popularity of this precedent setting instrumental earned them a spot on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in Philadelphia, and their first East Coast tour and performances in New York City.   While in New York they finished recording their first album, what was to become  a phenomenal  classic album of original instruments penned by Morrill, Dangel and John Greek, including two vocals by Kent, which still today is prized and collected the world over.

Returning to Tacoma from New York in 1959, Rockin' Robin Roberts joined the group as a singer, then bass player Buck Ormsby was asked to join the group following the departure of guitar player/trumpeter John Greek.

In 1960 Kent, Ormsby and Rockin' Robin Roberts formed Etiquette Records releasing their first single  recording of "Louie Louie" in 1961, penned by Richard Berry, re-arranged into a rock/R&B flavored style and sung by Robin backed by the Wailers.  The song launched a phenomenal amount of versions  becoming thee international dance and party song,  and remains so to this day.

Kent and Ormsby went on to record several Wailers albums and several NW groups for the Etiquette label, releasing singles and albums during the 1960's, which included the first two albums by the world renown Sonics.

Kent recorded his first and only solo album in 1987 titled "Hard To Rock Alone", produced by Ormsby, originally released on vinyl on Etiquette sister label Suspicious Records, and soon to be re-issued on CD on the original Etiquette Records label. 

Kent will be greatly missed by many, all over the world, where his voice and music is being heard to this day.  But more importantly, he has left loads of memories and performances for his band mates, fans and friends, and a very large space open for anyone who might try to fill it.

Kent may not have made it into the Rock ‘n' Roll Hall of Fame, but it's a sure bet he inspired many who did. 

THERE'S AN EMPHASIS ON JAMS >>>

About a week ago I got an email from Justin Prince, one of the forces behind Tacoma Hempfest. He wanted to let me know that this year's Hempfest in Wright Park (June 25) would be announcing its initial lineup on 4/20 (naturally), at various events around town.

Sadly, I was late to respond to the email. I was high. Yesterday was 4/20.

Still, you can find the now-announced initial lineup at the Tacoma Hempfest website (tacomahempfest.com).

Or, you can just look below...

11:15 AM - 12:45 PM Andrew Childs led Psych/Rock/Reggae Jam Members of The Fun Police

1:15 PM - 2:45 PM Malcolm Clark Band led Rhythm and Blues Jam

3:15 PM - 4:45 PM Big Wheel Stunt Show led Rock/Hard Rock Jam

5:15 PM - 6:45 PM Josh Rizeberg & $krilla led Hip Hop Jam

As you can see there's an emphasis on the "jam" this year, with each of the announced Hempfest performers scheduled to lead a "jam" in their respective genre. This is, of course, a very Hempfest move. However, it could also have to do with the staggering number of local performers interested in playing this year's event. Not surprisingly, the Hempfest movement is a popular one among area artistic types.