Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: April, 2011 (209) Currently Viewing: 21 - 30 of 209

April 4, 2011 at 10:10am

"Week of Action" in Olympia - April 5-8

The Week of Week of Action in Olympia is scheduled for April 5-8

LABOR AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS UNITE >>>

Labor and social justice organizations like Washington Community Action Network (WaCAN), the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights (POWER) and others have endorsed multiple rallies scheduled to take place on the grounds of the Capitol. Organizers of this Week of Action, scheduled for April 5 - 8, are anticipating large crowds.

To read the full story, click here.

Filed under: Community, Events, Politics, Olympia,

April 4, 2011 at 11:38am

The Diversity Film Festival opens Wednesday in Tacoma

Courtesy Graphic - Diversity Film Festival

FROM TCC TO THE GRAND >>>

Only six films compose the Diversity Film Festival at the Grand (April 6 - 18), each one a meditation on the theme of cultural diversity. The concept began a few miles (and years) away from the Grand, at Tacoma Community College. Dr. Scott Earle, a TCC English and Humanities instructor since 1999, along with fellow teachers and staff, has hosted on-campus film screenings of this sort for some time. A suggestion was made to Earle and his colleagues in late 2010 to graduate their young program - let it leave the classroom and test its wings in the community.

To read Christopher Woods's full story, click here.

[The Grand Cinema, Diversity Film Festival, April 6 - 18, 606 S. Fawcett, Tacoma, 253. 593.4474]   

Filed under: Arts, Screens, Tacoma,

April 4, 2011 at 2:52pm

CLAYTON ON ART: Two artists to reckon with

TOOKER AND SCHWITTERS (SAY THAT THREE TIMES FAST) >>>

Buried within the pages of the art history books I studied in college were a couple of artists who had a much bigger impact on me, and probably many another artists, than might be expected given the meager paragraph or two allotted them in art history.

They are George Tooker and Kurt Schwitters - Tooker because of his haunting, Surrealistic images, which having once seen I could never erase from my memory; and Schwitters because of his rebellious attitudes, and because I thought his collages were more beautiful than those by his contemporaries Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.

I have Tooker and Schwitters on my mind because they were each featured in recent articles in the New York Times, Tooker because he died last week at the age of 90 and Schwitters because of a current show of his work at the Princeton University Art Museum (he died in 1948, this is his first major U.S. exhibition since a 1985 retrospective a the Museum of Modern Art).

I always thought Schwitters deserved a larger place in the history of art. Apparently so did a lot of others, because artists ranging from Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg to Damien Hirst have said he was a major influence. Schwitters didn't invent the art of collage, but he was one of the earliest to use it effectively. And his Merzbau was a precursor to contemporary installation art. The Merzbau - a term he invented- was a walk-in installation that filled rooms of his house. He worked on it for years. It was like the assemblage boxes made famous by Joseph Cornell, only not so much on a grid and as big as a house. Sadly, Allied bombers destroyed the Merzbau during World War II.

Tooker was a painter of angst and alienation. Imagine the love child of Edward Hopper and Salvador Dali. I actually never studied Tooker. I can't recall any of my teachers ever mentioning him. But I've seen reproductions of his paintings, and they are hypnotic. No one has ever expressed the bleak destruction of spirit brought about by of the corporate world so effectively. I won't say anything more about him except to urge the reader to go online and find some George Tooker paintings. Then you will be forever haunted too.

Filed under: Arts,

April 4, 2011 at 4:15pm

Pour your heart out for Japan

DRINK AS MUCH WINE AS YOU CAN THIS WEEK >>>

If you're looking for more fun way to donate your money to help Japan, fret not. Pour At Four wine bar in Tacoma's Proctor District will donate one dollar for every glass of wine sold this week to relief efforts in Japan. Read the press release from owners Mark and Susan Merrill:

The devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear tragedies recently in Japan have touched us all.

We at Pour At Four feel especially close to the people and events of Japan. As many of you know, Susan is not only one of the owners of Pour At Four, but is a flight attendant with Delta Airlines. One of Susan's main routes over the last 8-10 years have been to Japan. She flies over 30 trips a year there and in fact has been back three times since the earthquake.

Susan has seen firsthand the struggles and needs of the Japanese people, and we want to help. On one of those recent trips, Susan sought out a way to donate directly to the Japanese Red Cross. The Carlson Hotels Worldwide, who owns Susan's layover hotel in Narita, will match our donation dollar for dollar.

During the week of April 4, 2011 Pour At Four will donate one dollar for every glass of wine sold. Susan will deliver the donation herself on her trip to Japan on April 21, 2011.

So when enjoying wine at Pour At Four this week, raise your glass to a positive future for the people of Japan and continue to keep them in you thoughts during these difficult times.

Pour At Four

2-10 p.m. Monday, 2-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
3814 N. 26th St., Tacoma
253.761.8015

LINK: Wine tastings, dinners, discounts and events

Photo credit: Learning DSLR Video

Filed under: Benefits, Food & Drink, Tacoma,

April 4, 2011 at 4:53pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: What about elementary schools in Tacoma?

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from ThaLadee in regard to Zach Powers's recent interview with Kurt Miller of the Tacoma School Board and the REACH Center.

ThaLadee writes,

WHAT ABOUT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS?? Those are what getting hit the hardest! I am sorry but puttin 30 6 year olds in one room with one teacher is NOT a good idea. 30 16 year olds is better, at that point in life they know how to listen and sit still. How are you going to expect each child to get an equal chance to learn? After a recent sit in on a class of 19 kids and 2 teachers I noticed that half of the time was spent correcting bad behavior or gaining attention. Now you want to add 11 more kids and minus a teacher? lol...

Splitting high school in to day and night class is not a bad idea. 2 birds one stone... not only do they get the normal education but they also are able to get day jobs.

You ever been told "worry about your self before you start to worry about others" Why worry about the OUT of district kids? Did TPS ever think of the IN district kids. Put them as TOP priority make it harder to change schools and districts. A portion of my property taxes go to fund the school district I live in... why send your kids to a school I am funding send them to one YOU are funding. Serious if you minus the OD kids we will have a large drop in class sizes and school sizes and THEN evaluate schools to close. Its not at all wrong to tell these parent to send them to the school they are a few blocks away from. What is wrong is some parent in spanaway wanting his/her 3 kids to go to a tacoma school so now the tacoma school spends money on transport for those kids and his 10 friends who also wnat to go to tacoma now so they need to hire another teacher and build another class room....

"do you see what I see?" `little drummer boy

Filed under: Comment of the Day, Tacoma,

April 5, 2011 at 5:16am

5 Things To Do Today: Tartufi, artist reception, cheap bowling, Caboose James and more ...

Tartufi / Photography by Jason Mitchell and Stacey Ransom of Purebred-Productions

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011 >>>

1. Bay Area residents Lynne Angel and Brian Gorman bring their polyrhythmic band Tartufi to The Evergreen State College's Activities Building for a 9 p.m. all-ages show with Romanteek. Their lush and weighty mix of sonic daydreams will be broadcasted live on KAOS 89.3FM.

2. If you missed Preston Singletary's big mid-career retrospective at the Museum of Glass last year, or if you saw that show and would like to see more of his works, this is your chance. William Traver Gallery in Tacoma now has an exhibition of new works by Singletary called Contents of a Dream, which is on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Singletary is one of the Northwest's most well respected Native American artists, known for creating traditional Tlingit art with contemporary materials, thus giving a modern cast to ancient art forms. To read the full review, click here.

3. Love Color designs creator Abby has her first art show hanging at Caffe Dei on Sixth Avenue through the month. From 6-8 p.m. drop by the Tacoma coffee house for a reception featuring beer, wine and, of course, the 40 or so colorful framed photographic prints.

4. Bowling is a game devised for drinkers. You get up, you roll a ball, you sit down. You pound some beers and watch other people do the same. Then you repeat this cycle, all while wearing stupid shoes and knocking stuff down. It's like alcoholic heaven. The Chalet Bowl sweetens the deal every Tuesday with $2 games, $2 shoe rentals, $2 food items and $2.25 Rolling Rocks from 6-11 p.m.

5. Caboose James will add a little country to the Mandolin Cafe beginning at 6:30 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Movie starting times

April 5, 2011 at 6:31am

Tournament of Pizza: A champion crowned

Photography by J.M. Simpson

TUESDAY, APRIL 5: WE HAVE A WINNER >>>

After three weeks of voting the Weekly Volcano readers have picked the most popular pizza joint in the South Sound.

The Tournament of Pizza Championship match pitted longtime Tacoma favorite Katie Downs Waterfront Restaurant against the Westside Olympia powerhouse Apollo's Pizza & Pasta.

Yesterday's championship battle saw the most online voting before dinnertime (5 p.m.) of the tournament. Katie Downs had a commanding lead by time the voting switched to the live ballot voting at 6 p.m. during the Tournament of Pizza Party Inside The Schooner Pub in Lakewood. At the party, folks filled out pizza voting/raffle ballots when they weren't pounding beers and screaming at the televisions. The pizza voting couldn't help but supercede the ugly NCAA Men's Championship hoop game in which UConn held the Butler Bulldogs to a title-game record-low 18.8 percent shooting.

But, as promised, we tallied the on-location votes during halftime of the hoop game, which ended up dead even.

Representation from Apollo's Pizza & Pasta and Katie Downs were in the house. Apollo's arrived early with a stack of piping hot pizzas. The Olympia pizza joint passed out free slices to the crowd, showing their hospitality and their skill at pizza pie perfection. The Katie Downs crew arrived halfway through the first half of the basketball game - also sporting pizzas. The crowd didn't leave hungry. The free pizzas were a surprise to all. The Weekly Volcano would like to extend a special thanks to The Schooner Pub for being cool with the pizzas.

At halftime of the basketball game, Pappi Swarner jumped behind the bar, grabbed the house PA, and gave away 10 or so raffle prizes, most to the lucky former Clover Park High School coaching staff contingent in the house.

The Weekly Volcano staff quickly downed their drinks and tallied the ballots. After combining the ballots with its 79 percent vote lead accumulated online, the winner of the 2011 Tournament of Pizza was announced:

Katie Downs Waterfront Restaurant.

Both South Sound pizza joints will be receiving Tournament of Pizza trophies after completion of the engraving. Also, look for an upcoming feature on Katie Downs in the Weekly Volcano.

Katie Downs congratulates Apollo's Pizza & Pasta for a good battle.

Katie Downs Waterfront Restaurant staff

So it's official: Katie Downs is the winner of Weekly Volcano's 2011 Tournament of Pizza. Eat it up, South Sound.

Thank you!

We would like to extend a special THANKS! to al Forno Ferruzza Traditional Sicilian Cuisine for sponsoring the Tournament of Pizza. When you are in downtown Olympia, stop by al Forno Ferruzza for a slice or two.

Also a big thanks to The Schooner Pub in Lakewood for hosting our Tournament of Pizza Finals party last night. Good times.

But most of all, thanks to all the awesome folks who voted. You rock.

April 5, 2011 at 10:54am

CORRECTION: Green.House no longer as organic as we said

PHOTO CREDIT: J.M. Simpson

GIG HARBOR RESTAURANT SHIFTS FOCUS TO "FRESH AND LOCAL" >>>

How's that Byrds' song go? "To everything there is a season ..."

Ah, yes, it's common knowledge that this famous tune refers to things having their own place in time and that things do, in fact, change. 

General Manager Brendan Paul at Green.House in Gig Harbor can attest to that. In 2009, Paul worked as assistant manager and bartender at Sip Restaurant, an upscale wine bar and restaurant operated out of the same digs that now house Green.House.

Well, things changed at Green.House too, didn't they? When Green.House first opened last year, a big claim to fame for the restaurant (besides the excellent tasting food and fair prices) was that a large percentage of the produce used was organic.

As often happens in life, changes were recently made at Green.House and the focus was taken off of serving organic products. This is especially tricky as the Weekly Volcano published a review of Green.House on March 10 that failed to reflect this change. Jason and I dined at Green.House in late December and again in January. Our review arrived at  Weekly Volcano headquarters in February and ran March 10. The food was still organic (or 70 percent organic) when we ate there. By the time the story ran, it was not.

Paul explained the very recent changes in a phone conversation this week: "The people that cared about organic produce were disappointed it wasn't 100 percent organic. Most people didn't seem to care at all." Paul shared that a month or so ago Green.House went from 70 percent organic to simply focusing on fresh and local.

As the current menu online shows, organic items are still offered (mixed greens, tomatoes, baby spinach, romaine hearts), there just aren't as many as before and the percentage of organic product used is no longer being tracked. Charlie's Produce, a major supplier in the region, is a purveyor of locally farmed produce, and they supply Green.House with its veggies.

Bottom line - the food is still fresh and local, just not necessarily organic.

And we whole-heartedly apologize for the mistake.

Filed under: Food & Drink, Gig Harbor,

April 5, 2011 at 12:12pm

CARV’S WEEKLY BLOG: Lucky us!

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES >>>

It struck me the other day how fortunate we are to live in an area with so many live entertainment options. In one week, I saw a dynamite performance by the klezmer punk combo Vagabond Opera at Traditions Cafe, a charming production at Olympia Family Theater, and a solid set by Kristin Key at Tacoma Comedy Club, all for less than 50 bucks. It's like living in a bustling metropolis, except easier to park. I attended a birthday party for a theater friend in Tacoma and looked around at a room full of talented techies and actors, any of whom could hold their own in larger markets. I've seen years' worth of theater in L.A., Chicago, and New York, and I'm convinced we compare with the best.

This is important to me, because I've also tried to do quality theater in Oklahoma. I helped found a not-for-profit but creatively ambitious troupe in a college town of 30,000 people, and while the company still produces plays, it struggles to attract an audience in the dozens. When I describe my life here to my valiant Okie theater friends, it probably sounds as if I'm belittling them. Far from it--I know what they go through--but the difference is night and day.

I teach a couple of online theater classes for a small community college in northwest Kansas, and they have nothing. NOTHING! It's been tricky finding a single show in that whole quarter of the state each semester for my students to see and review. I've had to accept papers about RSC productions on Netflix.

If you're a theater fan who's never lived in the Midwest, you have no idea how amazing it is here. Why, just in Oly, there are two for-profit theater companies within blocks of each other, plus a beautiful touring-show venue with a black box for Olympia Family Theater and other troupes to play in. The Midnight Sun is a few blocks away. TAO's doing a show in the Eagles Ballroom this month. There's excellent theater in the park plus puppet theater and storytelling and vaudeville and burlesque and literary readings and college and high school shows...and that's just Olympia! I'm still working my way into the Tacoma theater scene. It almost seems too big to get a handle on. We have three theater critics at the Volcano, and it's still all we can do to keep up. Notice I haven't even mentioned the music and dance scenes, which are thriving.

It's a blessing, Gentle Reader. Don't let a single week go by without taking advantage of it.

Filed under: Arts, Community, Olympia, Tacoma, Theater,

April 5, 2011 at 1:27pm

The Grand Cinema’s 72-Hour Film Competition is almost here

TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO SIGN UP >>>

We all have that filmmaker inside us, tapping on the walls of our skulls and pleading for release in patient tones. This time of year, however, the polite knocking turns into an incessant pounding, as less than three weeks remain until The Grand Cinema's 72-Hour Film Competition rolls into a town near you. The theater urges you to "Free Your Inner Indie" ... but better step on it. The contest allows only so many teams to register, and as of this writing only 11 slots remain.

OK, my Indie wants out, you say. I'll sign up online, right? Wrong! Take your car, hop on the next Light Rail, do whatever you can and get to The Grand like lickety and add your name in person. And don't forget the $50 entry fee. Payment gets you four complimentary passes to the May 6 Viewing Party, where yours and other shorts will light up the Rialto screen.

With signup completed, now you can just count the days until The Grand beckons you back to its halls to receive 72-Hour Film Competition instructions on Thursday, April 21.

Three exhilarating, excruciating, sweat- (and most likely) rain-drenched days later, you and your faithful crew birth a new film into the world.

Congratulations ... it's an Indie.

LINK: Sign up

Filed under: Arts, All ages, Community, Screens, Tacoma,

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