FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland and recently wrapping up a UK tour, the Golden Grrrls trio will play its air-tight set of indie pop punk laced with impeccable harmony March 20 at Le Voyeur in Olympia. (Check out why Le Voyeur is the perfect venue for the Golden Grrrls here.)

"What began as bedroom guitar experimentation soon bloomed into a fully-formed pop language inspired by the '80s New Zealand and Australian indie pop scenes, DIY punk and Glasgow's own rich pop history (think The Vaselines, The Pastels)," according to Grrrl's hype. "Drummer Eilidh Rodgers' inventive, loose-cannon drumming and lead vocals have framed Ruari MacLean's baritone from the beginning, with newest member Rachel Aggs (also of Trash Kit) bringing an effortless melodic sensibility on guitar and backing vocals."

A listen to the band confirms the sensation. Plus, who can resist a name like Golden Grrrls?  Blanch, Sophia, Rose and Dorothy were the OG's of riot grrrls. 

LE VOYEUR, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 7 P.M., ALL AGES, 404 FOURTH AVE. E., OLYMPIA, 360.943.5710

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

Bridgit Mendler and Austin Mahone are so freaking cute that if it weren't retarded to show excitement in alternating caps and lowercase letters like cyberdorks, we'd totally do it ... in abundance.

The cuties will perform Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Washington State Fair.

According to hype, "With a strong teen female fan base, singer/songwriter Austin Mahone's career has bolted to high gear with his debut single, '11:11,' as well as popular hit song, 'Say Somethin'.'  For Bridgit Mendler, songwriting started at the age of six, catapulting her to star in Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie, singing the show's theme song. While she started her career as an actress, her singing career has taken off strong.

Adorable.

Tickets are available at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 16 via the Fair's website, or 888.559.3247. You'll have to drop $25-$60 to show these two your hand heart.

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013 >>>

1. The Grand Cinema screens Consuming Spirits at 2:30 and 7 p.m. as part of its Tuesday Film Series. The masterpiece, which took 15 years to make and was finally completed in 2012, combines several animation styles and techniques including hand drawn, stop motion, but mostly paper cut out. It is the story of people in a small ordinary town, knowing nothing but their ordinary affairs, revealing their sins and crimes with an ordinary negligence. It's the movie baby if Ironweed mated with A Prairie Home Companion. This one's a winner, folks. It'll make you feel depressed afterward, but in a good way.

2. Photographer D.T. Rosenoff's exhibition "Flowers: Earth's Laughter" opens today at Asian Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma. The exhibition of 24 images is a collection of duo-toned black and white digital archival photographs of flowers taken over the last eight years.

3. If you're feeling like indulging in the finer things in life, and what to try something a little different than the norm, Maxwell's Speakeasy and Lounge has the weekly special for you. Every Tuesday, Maxwell's serves two chef's choice appetizers and two house wines or draft beers for $15.

4. The new Treos cafe in Old Town Tacoma has launched a trivia night with Tristan every Tuesday. From 6-7 p.m. teams up to six players may battle for prizes and gift cards.

5. The Science Café returns to Orca Books with a 7 p.m. lecture from Kathi Lefebvre, Ph.D., research biologist at NOAA Fisheries titled, "From Zebrafish to Sea Lions to Humans: Common Effects of Seafood Toxin Exposure." Acute exposure of seafood toxins causes a neurotoxic illness known as amnesic shellfish poisoning characterized by seizures, memory loss, coma and death.

LINK: Tuesday, March 12 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

WHY VISIT ONE LOCAL CANDY STORE WHEN YOU CAN VISIT TWO >>>

It's hard to improve upon something as beloved as candy, but two local candy shops are proving there's more to it than just being sweet.

Downtown Sumner is now home to Ciarrai Jeanne Confections, an old fashioned candy store that opened at the end of January selling family-made confections, as well as other locally made treats. Owners Karen Kralovic and Kerry Langel are a mother/daughter team carrying on the candy making traditions of Kralovic's Great Aunt Sophia, whose 60-year-old soft peanut brittle recipe called "bruttle" ($7.95/8 oz.) is made in Spokane and sold at the shop, along with homemade fudge ($2.95), caramels ($1/each) and chocolate barks ($4.75). Both the caramels and peanut brittle are unique takes on the traditional. "The soft, buttery caramels melt in your mouth, and the brittle retains its original flavor without being overly hard and crunchy," says Langel. "We wanted to keep the candy as local as possible," she says. With Sumner-made Madyson's Marshmallows and Killian Korn from Othello, they are doing just that.

With the phrase "If you're buying it, then you understand it", owner Ellen Laguatan of OCD Candy Company is doing things a little differently. Customers love the fun concept, as OCD grew out of their Sanford and Sons location, and moved to larger St. Helens Ave Mercantile. Find meticulously packaged gummy bears in rainbow order ($5.25/full pack) and perfectly placed color-coded coated chocolates ($4.95/180 count), as well as hard to find nostalgic candies. "People that come in are happy and curious," says Laguatan. "I really enjoy how excited people get when they see an old, favorite candy in the nostalgia section or come across the OCD Candy and think it's an awesome idea."

From traditional to quirky and locally made to hard to find, these South Sound confectionaries have you covered.

OCD CANDY COMPANY, ST. HELENS AVE MERCANTILE, 12-6 P.M. WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY, 10 A.M. TO 6 P.M. FRIDAY-SATURDAY, 11 A.M. TO 5 P.M. SUNDAY, 753 ST. HELENS AVE., TACOMA, 253.383.7107

CIARRAI JEANNE CONFECTIONS, 10 A.M. TO 5 P.M. TUESDAY-SATURDAY, 1002 MAIN ST., SUMNER, 253.731.5601

CHECKING IN WITH THE BEST >>>

For three years running, Weekly Volcano readers voted Jamie Lee & Company the "Best Salon" in the Best of Olympia issues, including this year.

Why?

Is it the two resident cats, Otto and Smithsonian? Is it the colorful décor? Is it the kid-friendly salon station? How about its cruelty-free products?

Yes, but at its core, the best salon can turn a gray day into one with internal sunrays, melt work stress away, and give you ramrod posture the better to highlight your new do, eyes, and cheekbones. Jamie Lee & Company does all that, and more.

The downtown Olympia salon also makes you comfortable while offering what you need, and employs cool stylists with their personalities shining through their stations in the form of pictures of their dogs, artwork and friends lining the walls. 

"Everyone who works here is unique," says owner Jamie Lee, whose salon has called Fourth Avenue home for nearly 18 years. "I have total confidence in them. They are very talented and not afraid to go outside the norm."

Jaime Lee employees seven hairdressers, two massage therapists and an astrologer.

"We're all so eclectic that we have clients that range from young punks to little old ladies," says Lee.

Lee also attributes their reputation to the community support the salon displays, through donations to various local fundraisers, including Stonewall Youth and Animal Services.

JAMIE LEE & COMPANY, 10 A.M. TO 7 P.M. TUESDAY-SATURDAY, 309 FOURTH AVE. E., OLYMPIA, 360.786.6027

LINK: 2013 Best of Olympia

Look-a-likes

For reasons I can probably never explain both Al Taylor's untitled acrylic painting and Joel Shapiro's untitled charcoal drawing in the Drawing Line into Form: Works on Paper by Sculptors from the Collection of BNY Mellon show at Tacoma Art Museum remind me of paintings by Jeremy Mangan. Taylor's little painting on newsprint and Shapiro's charcoal drawing are both abstract. Shapiro's is a big letter V in two tones of black/gray on a light gray background that looks like worn and scarred concrete. Taylor's painting is of four adjacent and oddly balanced angular lines in red, blue and black like some kind of angular construction made of rebar or two-by-fours, painted and left out to weather. Both are abstract. Mangan's paintings are not abstract. They are of buildings, houses and landscapes. Furthermore, they are very bright and colorful whereas Taylor and Shapiro's pieces in the TAM show have little or no color. Yet I immediately thought of Mangan when I saw them. It's the surface quality, the laboriously worked surface like paintings on the sides of barns or on wood that has been left out in the rain and wind and sun for decades. And it is the precarious balance of their forms and their use of space - not illusory or atmospheric space but the distribution and placement of forms on a flat surface.

The similarities are most evident in works from 2008 and 2009 seen on Mangan's website - not so much so in his later paintings. What differentiates Mangan's paintings (and this has nothing to do with what is good or bad, just different) is that they depict unique scenes that viewers can relate to and which, in some instances, verge on Surrealism.

I've noticed similarities between the works of other local artists and that of more well-known national or international art figures. Olympia artist Becky Knold, for instance, makes paintings that look a lot like works by Robert Motherwell. Christopher Mathie, who often shows at Childhood's End in Olympia, looks like the love child of Willem de Kooning and Joan Mitchell, both of whom he credits with being strong influences. And Judy Hintz Cox had a painting in the recent "Azul" show at B2 Gallery that was an obvious takeoff on a Mark Rothko, plus her other works in that show looked like that same Al Taylor painting from the Mellon collection.

One more: Lynn Di Nino is Tacoma's answer to Jeff Koons. Many of her sculptures have the same quirkiness and audacity as some of Koons' pieces, although Koons - with gobs of money and a whole factory full of assistants at his disposal - can do work on a gigantic scale and Di Nino can't. One of her more recent projects featured in the Foundation of Art Awards show at B2 Gallery was a series of assemblages made from Hostess products and packaging. I can envision Koons doing the same thing only in his case each object would be enshrined in its own Plexiglas box.

Of course all artists pick up influences from many different sources and many create works that coincidentally look like works by other artists where there is no intentional influence, and trying to find such similarities and influences can be a meaningless intellectual game. But it can be a lot of fun.

Up until 2003, trains pounded the historic Prairie Line rail corridor from the Thea Foss Waterway to the Brewery District, passing rickety warehouses and dens of iniquity - before UW-Tacoma rang its school bell for its first on-site freshman class.

In the fall of 2011, some $5.83 million was earmarked to turn the half-mile Prairie Trail corridor into a living and breathing interpretive trail connecting the waterfront with downtown Tacoma, which will also include a storm water purification system for the polluted runoff from Hilltop. There was excitement. There were plans for fancy seating. In celebration, the Tacoma Art Commission turned the corridor into a temporary art installation complete with exhibits titled TacomaBall, Rogue Rhizomes and Ghost Prairie.

Then reality hit. The University of Washington brain trust recoiled over the fancy design and costs of its portion of the corridor, as well as the loss of a bike-friendly path through campus.

Today, a new set of plans rest on Chancellor Debra Friedman's desk. The storm water filtration ponds are now subtle. The pedestrian and bike paths are more functional. Historic elements have been saved and incorporated into the public gathering places and public art installations. And best of all, the price tag rings in at $4 million with construction to be complete by this fall.

Now it's the city of Tacoma's turn to fall in line. It's segments of the Prairie Line - south of campus into the Brewery District and north as it crosses Pacific Avenue and heads toward the Thea Foss Waterway, the end of the line for the transcontinental railroad of yesteryear - needs to meld with UWT's design. The city has plans for a pedestrian/bike trail and linear park through the city - plans and engineering it intendeds to carry out now that it has received a $465,000 grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council.

What will the city do about the railing running through BNSF's private property?

Discover the answer and see the city's proposed designs for its portion of the Prairie Line Tail at an open forum from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at the Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Avenue. Yes, open forum. You may chime in with your own design thoughts. Would you like to see a taco truck every 20 feet? Chime in. Do you think it would be cool to have outdoor tap hits through the Brewery District? Who wouldn't?

For more on the Prairie Line Trail visit www.cityoftacoma.org/planning or download the pdf of the Prairie Line Trail presentation from February 4, 2013.

CLAW CARES >>>

Students looking for scholarship money don't need to tape their breasts and smear Vaseline on their teeth. They don't need to cinch their waists. And they certainly don't need to prove they can balance a book on their heads while walking a straight line.

They do need to be able to doodle well in said book.

The Cartoonist's League of Absurd Washingtonians - a group of cartoonists that dress women in tight superhero costumes to act out their fantasies - offers a yearly scholarship to college students who demonstrate carton-drawing brilliance.

It seems like yesterday when CLAW doled out its first scholarship - $368 in 2010.

This year, the Tacoma-based art organization has $1,059.10 stuffed in its Crayola 64 box, ready to award it to a budding talent. That is, if CLAW receives an applicant.

According to C.L.A.W. scholarship hype. ...

With the deadline of March 15th only a week away The CLAW has yet to get a single application. We ask that you share this link with students you know who are trying to master the glorious technique of sequential art. The scholarship is awarded based on artistic merit, wit, and whims of the judges.

Applicants must:

Provide evidence they are enrolled in college.

They are capable of filling out a form and following its instructions.

Have a letter of recommendation

Show samples of their cartoon brilliance.

Applications can be downloaded from the CLAW Student Scholarship Page. See past winners too!

Great Bluto's beard! Don't let this money be spent on more fezes for the CLAW membership. Put it in the hands of a talented kid. Spread the word. Click the link to CLAW's scholarship page, print the applications and slide them under windshield wipers in your neighborhood. It could be some kid's density!

PEOPLE DO THE CRAZIEST THINGS >>>

Every sports team needs super-fans -and that includes roller derby teams. The Dockyard Derby Dames opened its seventh season Saturday night at the Pierce College Health Education Building. A packed house watched the Hellbound Homewreckers beat the Femme Fianna in the first bout and last year's champion Marauding Mollys beat the Trampires in the final bout. All for teams brought their most rabid supporters - you know, the guys (and gals) who are willing to wear bodysuits, become pirates, wear hot pink leis and dress as a milkman in short shorts. Yeah, those guys.

Here, we present 10 Dockyard Derby Dames super-fans at the season seven opener. OK, we included a scary-faced Derby Dame, Jooley Heaps of Poison Apple and the guy doing the robot during halftime.

LINK: More Dockyard Derby Dames photos from the season seven opener

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Yesterday's comment of the day comes from artist Becky Knold in response to Weekly Volcano's art critic Alec Clayton's post on the similarities between the works of local artists and that of more well-known national or international art figures.

Knold writes,

It's LOADS of fun to examine the whole shebang of art out there today, including who has been influenced by whom and how we are all connected as artists and build, one upon the other, on and on through the generations, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Social and Historical context shape not only the artistic expression, but its recognition/acceptance by the public at any point. Advice to self: be conscious of what you fill your head with... because that is what tends to emerge eventually in your own art.