THURSDAY, FEB. 9, 2012 >>>
1. Local indie label Maurice the Fish Records is connected to many of our area's most talented acts. Rafael Tranquilino, Gina Belliveau and Heidi Vladyka, to name but a few, have all been part of the Maurice the Fish roster. Tonight at the Swiss get in on the Maurice the Fish Records Showcase, starting at 8 p.m.
2. Thursday at the University Washington Tacoma, this year's Urban Studies Forum will focus on "Urban Industrial Futures." According to the UWT press release, the forum is a "one-day event designed to spur community conversation about how to balance industrial and post-industrial urban development strategies." Speakers for the forum include Joan Fitzgerald, professor and director of the graduate Law and Public Policy program and senior research fellow at the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, Brian Coleman, CEO of Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center - a nonprofit industrial developer in New York, and Dean Amhaus, executive director of the Milwaukee Water Council. The Urban Studies Forum is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
3. Phillip Roebuck if freakin' amazing. No seriously. We're not just saying that. We've seen the "one-man-band" schtick before, but Roebuck, usually plucking a banjo with a kick drum strapped to his back, goes above and beyond. He's the kind of one man band you just don't go out and see, you buy the record when he's done performing. Tonight Roebuck will be at Hell's Kitchen with local favorites Swampy Draws, and Henry Kammerer along with the Cottonwood Cutups. Show starts at 9 p.m.
4. Get in on the Ram Restaurant and Brewery's version of the Geeks Who Drink pub quiz tonight by heading to the Ram on Ruston Way. Starting at 8:30 p.m. there'll be questions and drinking and more questions and plenty of fun.
5. Tonight at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia the Silent Movie Series will feature The Last Laugh with Dennis James on the Wurlitzer. The event is all ages and starts at 7 p.m.