Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: August, 2013 (34) Currently Viewing: 1 - 10 of 34

August 1, 2013 at 9:32am

Tacoma City Ballet Scavenger Hunt August clue

GOLDEN KRAKATUK NUTS: The Tacoma City Ballet has hid them around Tacoma. Go nuts and find them for prizes.

As you know the Tacoma City Ballet is in the midst of a yearlong scavenger hunt for Golden Krakatuk Nuts. The nuts tie into the company's highly anticipated Dec. 7, 2013 performance, Prequel to The Nutcracker.

Here's a refresher: TCB hides hand-painted Golden Krakatuk Nuts inside jewel boxes around Tacoma; inside the boxes is a scroll with prize details, such as gift certificates, merchandise or tickets to Tacoma City Ballet's World Premier of said Nutcracker in December. Each month through the year, Golden Krakatuk Nuts will be hidden at businesses throughout Tacoma. To find the nuts, decipher the poetic clues, which will be posted at Tacoma City Ballet's website, Facebook page, as well as this blog. You find the Golden Krakatuk Nuts and great riches will be heaped upon you! For complete on the contest and Nutcracker performance, click here.

The August Golden Krakatuk Nut clue dropped this morning. This clue will guide you to a restaurant, shop or other business at which the nuts may be in plain sight or may be behind the counter.

Read more...

Filed under: Contest, Theater, Tacoma,

August 13, 2013 at 12:54pm

The Forum First Bite

Cobb salad at The Forum. Photo credit: Adrienne Kuehl

The Forum, Downtown Puyallup's newest addition to the bar scene, opened mid-July and serves up more than just beer and cocktails. Their lunch and dinner menu consists of thoughtful, well-priced menu items that take traditional bar food up a notch and is served until close.

"We look to create an atmosphere that is an extension of our guests' homes," says General Manager Jonah Elliott. "We have a full menu late into the evening that takes classic pub grub and delivers it at a higher quality than if it were made at home."

Owned by Tim Mellema and Geoff Kaylor, both newcomers to the restaurant industry, The Forum's menu was conceived by Greg Troger, former owner of franchises of The Rock Wood Fired Pizza, and current owner of Hop Jack's in Bonney Lake. The menu has a variety of choices of appetizers, soups and salads, burgers and other entrees.

On a recent visit for dinner, the Cobb salad ($9.95) was a generous portion, loaded with chicken, egg, avocado, bacon and bleu cheese, all fresh and delicious. The chicken wings ($10.95/pound) come with your choice of barbeque, sweet chili or hot sauce and were crisp and flavorful, and onion rings came perfectly seasoned.
The 21 and over bar and restaurant has communal tables and a gorgeous — and I mean gorgeous — carved wood bar back give the space a cozy, relaxed atmosphere.

THE FORUM, 11 a.m.-12 a.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday, 208 South Meridian, Puyallup, 253.445.6677

August 20, 2013 at 7:05am

5 Things To Do Today: Kim Archer on the lawn, 25 New Faces films, happy hour for a cause and more ...

Kim Archer is taking her R&B outside tonight.

TUESDAY, AUG. 20, 2013 >>>

1. Imagine soulful music of yesterday being forcibly pumped out of Janis Joplin's larynx and then lathered with the silkiest velvet, and you've a pretty good idea of the kind of groove Kim Archer can make. Archer has a strong, emotional voice, a robust musical sense and a willingness to work outside the tightly proscribed boundaries of the genre. At 6:30 p.m. you may kick back with Archer's heavy soul and groove when she and her funky band performs outside at Skansie Brothers Park in Gig Harbor. They'll be dancing on the lawn tonight.

2. Leave it to The Grand Cinema to fill this void with something fresh and inspiring for local movie lovers. Since 2010, the theater has built a tradition out of its annual "25 New Faces" festival. More than 30 original works made their way into a fest that found its genesis in the way, way back of 1998, the year Filmmaker Magazine published its very first "25 New Faces of Independent Film" list. The film contunes to roll today with a bunch of collected shorts from the talent screening at 1, 6:15 and 8:30 p.m. Read Christopher Wood's full feature on the fest here.

3. Tonight at The Brotherhood Lounge, voted "Best Bar" years after year in the Weekly Volcano's Best of Olympia issue, will give 50 percent of its happy hour sales from 4-7 p.m. to the Thurston County Food Bank. The Brotherhood is the best.

4. Randy Linder's tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival hits Red Wind Casino at 8 p.m.

5. Idaho hardcore band Bone Dance brings its extreme metal and a new self-titlked LP to The New Frontier Lounge for a 9 p.m. show of sludge and doom.

LINK: Tuesday, Aug. 20 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

August 20, 2013 at 10:10am

Drink local Whitewood Cider during Washington Cider Week

Grab a tall cool one.

Whitewood Cider, the South Sound's very own producer of craft cider, is getting well-deserved nationwide attention for their traditionally made, seasonal ciders made in Olympia. Their three cider blends - Old Fangled, The South Sounder and Northland Traditional - each have their own distinct flavor and character.

Though David White and his partner Heather Ringwood released their first cider blends mere months ago, Whitewood Cider has been a long time in the making. White became fascinated with craft cider long before it gained the popularity it has today, attending a cider making class and trying his hand at making cider, eventually winning the Cascade Brewers Cup.

"Just as great wine making requires specific grape varieties, good cider making needs appropriate varieties of apples," White said. "Making that cider and winning that award was probably the first point at which I thought I could really do this."

How does Whitewood actually make their cider? The process takes "traditional" to a whole new level.

"The way we make cider is akin to wine making," said White. "When you make cider the right way - the traditional way - it does take quite a while."

Here's the rundown: Whitewood buys and picks apples seasonally in the fall, and the apples are rested and then ground up. The juice is pressed using a traditional rack and cloth press and then pumped into tanks. They add yeast, let it ferment throughout the winter, and then they blend the ciders and carefully store them in tanks for maturation. It's a six to seven month process, all together.

Knowing all the hard work and dedication it takes to make cider makes each sip taste that much better.

Washington Cider Week is coming up Sept. 5-15, so it's a good time to pick up some Whitewood Cider and give it a try. Check out their website for a full list of where to buy, but you can pick some up at Pint Defiance, Gravity Beer Market or 99 Bottles.

Filed under: Food & Drink, Olympia,

August 21, 2013 at 7:16am

5 Things To Do Today: Summer patio party, Aussie glass, brew night, Ruby Fray and more ...

It's going to be alive tonight on Hilltop Tacoma. Photo courtesy of Facebook

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 21, 2013 >>>

1. Ten years ago DJ Broam, aka Oliver Dorris, cut his teeth spinnin' vinyl at the Monsoon Room. Shoved in the corner by the door, underneath the glass bamboo light fixture he created, Broam filled the Polynesian room with tunes as Kansas and Laura poured cocktails. Tonight, at the same location, Broam will spin at the 1022 South J's summer patio party, which kicks off at 4 p.m.

2. South Australian artist Brenden Scott French is the visiting artist in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop through Sunday. The Australian glass artist's kilnformed sculptures and wall pieces are carefully layered and assembled to develop pattern and form with this physical process reflecting our proclivity to turn stories of personal and social history into grand, national narratives. French's residency is in concert with the exhibition "Links: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest" currently on view.

3. Headed by Barry and Renee Watson, founders and previous owners of Tacoma staple the Rosewood Cafe, Pint Defiance is a must visit for any lover of the hops. Pint Defiance seamlessly marries the concept of craft beer retail space with a pub. The walls are lined with coolers neatly displaying a unique collection of canned and bottled brews by region. From 5-7 p.m. Pint Defiance hosts Seattle's Naked City Brewing for beer tasting, swag and chats with NCB's owners Don and Don.

4. Trained in opera, and having broken onto the national music scene singing jazz as featured vocalist for Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti, Jeanne Jolly left North Carolina on a national tour, performing her Appalachian-influenced country music, including at 7 p.m. in Olympia's Slyvester Park.

5. Emily Beanblossom was once known as the spirited lead singer of the psych-punk Olympia band Christmas. Today, she's performing under the moniker Ruby Fray out of Austin, Texas, creating atmospheric melodies across many genres. Catch Ruby Fray at 9 p.m. as she joins Sick Sad World, Clayface and IBN UBO at Le Voyeur.

LINK: Wednesday, Aug. 21 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

August 21, 2013 at 10:18am

The smallest dance on Earth returns to Tacoma

Small is beautiful. Photo courtesy of tentinydances.org

Imagine sitting close enough to a stage to feel the breeze off a dancer's pirouette, or to hear the shuffle of feet and the sound of bodies as they rise and fall.

Now imagine watching these dancers on a 4-by-4 foot stage. This is the appeal of Ten Tiny Dances, a stripped down format where 10 dance artists demonstrate astonishing inventiveness and variety on a stage about the size of a coffee table.

"It's exciting to me ... how can I still move big in that small space?" ponders Ten Tiny Dances founder Mike Barber, in a TVCTC interview in Beaverton, Ore. "It offers a diverse audience a very unique, broad range of performance."

Based out of Portland, the contemporary dance series has been adopted by many Northwest production companies, including Tacoma's MLKBallet.

"Even for me - who sees dance more than the average person - Ten Tiny Dances is one of my favorite formats," said Faith Stevens, executive director of MLKBallet. "Having the audience so close and having the limited space shows the many faces of dance and really allows the audience members to get so many different tastes of movement."

Dinner and drinks will be served, but heckling and betting will not be allowed. All proceeds benefit MLK Ballet's tuition-free dance training.

TEN TINY DANCES, 6-8 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 25, Jazzbones, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, $15 online or at the door, tentinydances.org

Filed under: Arts, Tacoma,

August 21, 2013 at 4:54pm

Judging by the Trailer: "You're Next"

Silent-but-deadly "You're Next" killers, aka Scary Wolf Mask, Scary Tiger Mask and Scary Lamb Mask (what, was the store out of Scary Hamster Mask?)

You're Next's first offense comes swift and unexpectedly, as Lou Reed's beautiful "Perfect Day" scores the opening moments of a truly lousy trailer to what will assuredly be an even lousier movie - creating an effect similar to a pig wearing makeup (more on that later, unfortunately), or a turd wearing a really nice hat.

Oof, and we're still only five seconds in.

A WASP-y family descends upon a ridiculous palatial estate in the woods for the weekend. What could go wrong?

Well, reader, not a moment after I start to suspect that this might be some sort Mike Nichols, Masterpiece Theatre, slamming-doors drama about the haves and the have-nots and what it really means to be an extended family in today's ever-changing - HOLY JESUS IS THAT A DUDE IN A CRAZY ANIMAL MASK LURKING OUTSIDE THE WINDOW?

Before you know it, arrows are being fired through the windows of the palatial estate, while interchangeable actors make intonations like, "This wasn't a random attack" and "They've been watching us for days," and various versions sounds you might make when someone suddenly shoots you in the head with a crossbow.

Guys, it's full-on dudes with animal masks and axes and other not-quite-ideal killing implements. And you know what else? "Perfect Day" is back on the soundtrack, and now I TOTALLY GET IT, man! It's, like, irony? Because this is not like any sort of perfect day that I would imagine if given an opportunity to imagine a perfect day!

I don't think animal masks would even enter into it, honestly.

I learn from every press release and commercial I've seen of You're Next that it's somehow a fresh take on the "home invasion genre." Well. Huh. While I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that that may be the case, I'll also say that - now that humans have apparently invented the home invasion genre - maybe it's time we just pack it in and call it a day as a species.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just grab my bunny mask and mosey on out of h-ACK! (That's the sound of me getting shot with a crossbow.)

You're Next hits the local screens Friday, Aug. 23.

August 22, 2013 at 8:06am

5 Things To Do Today: Happy Noose party, artist books, latte art, Latin fusion and more ...

Get happy with Happy Noose tonight.

THURSDAY, AUG. 22 2013 >>>

1. On Happy Noose's self-titled debut, the charged punk instrumentation in concert with frontman Ryan Scott's deep, morose vocals went a long way toward connecting musical dots in the listeners' minds: clearly, Happy Noose is a band that takes its cues from early '80s UK New Wave, early Goth like Bauhaus, and other contemporary poets of melancholy punk. Tonight at Le Voyeur, Happy Noose hosts a party for its new release, Amagosa, which finds the Olympia band embracing the darker, more romantic side of their sound, even as their hooks become bigger, catchier and more anthemic. Where their earlier output was spunky in that youthful punk sort of way, Amagosa signals the natural maturation of a still relatively new band circling and landing on its voice. Red Hands Black Feet and Iconoplasty join Happy Noose for the 9:30 p.m. show.

2. On March 5, 2007, in the middle of the Iraq War, a car bomb devastated the literary and intellectual heart of Baghdad, ripping through booksellers, cafes, and tea shops, killing 30 people and wounding more than 100. San Francisco poet and artist Beau Beausoleil and British scholar Sarah Bodman responded to the devastation by asking artists and poets from around the world to create artists' books as a show of solidarity with those slain and injured. The response - the national traveling exhibit Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here - can be seen atCollins Memorial Library at University of Puget Sound from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. The barista's life is a frenetic one: pre-dawn openings, strung-out customers, the howl of steaming milk. Sometimes they just want to throwdown. The Northwest Latte Art Competition will go down at 7 p.m. at the new Olympia Coffee Roasting Company on Capitol Boulevard. Soemone's going to get steamed.

4. There's a big hip-hop show at 9 p.m. in El Potero on Tacoma's Eastside. The FRESHCOAST Summer Bash will feature 9 p.m. DJ Eddie Monster. 9:30 p.m. JG & Elz, 9:50 p.m. SIC ILL, 10:10 p.m. Thunderbird Coogi, 10:30 p.m. Nate Jerz, 10:50 p.m. Victor Herman, 11:10 p.m. NW Doughboi, 11:30 p.m. Jai Dash, 11:50 p.m. Coo Beanz, 12:10 p.m. New Vision and at 12:30 p.m. Golden Brown Entertainment will close out the night.

5. The term "Latin dance" covers many styles, including salsa, bachata, cha-cha, mambo, merengue, samba, Afro-Latin rhumba and a little reggaeton, all of which will meld tonight during "Carnivale" at Encore Nightclub. The swanky downtown Tacoma spot hosts Latin fusion music every Thursday at 10 p.m.

LINK: Thursday, Aug. 22 arts and entertainment event sin the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

August 23, 2013 at 6:36am

5 Things To Do Today: Sand In The City, pottery sale, comedy, Argonaut and more ...

Life's a beach this weekend in downtown Olympia.

FRIDAY, AUG. 23 2013 >>>

1. There comes a time when you realize there are a lot of things you've never had a chance to do.  You've never painted with artichokes, run with the salmon, tasted garlic ice cream or spent a little face time with a llama.  But as sure as Mel Gibson has kicked sand in many faces, you are determined not to miss this year's Sand in the City. Washington state's largest sand sculpting event with 240 tons of sand, nationally known sand sculptors, 40 different hands-on art and science activities and a live entertainment stage are all held in downtown Olympia from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds from Sand in the City directly support the Hands On Children's Museum's free and reduced admissions program. Show up with a shovel, a bucket and an idea.

2. Stumped for holiday shopping ideas? Start early and take the fam on over to Tacoma's Stadium District (717 N. D St.) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and score some pottery by Susan Thompson (earthy, hobbit-type vessels), Barbi Lock Lee (functional brights) and Charan Sachar (Indian fabric-inspired) and others. The sale also runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

3. The merengue, as well as the bachata and salsa, are taught in mini-versions, with or without partner, at varying levels of experience, every Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in Studio 6 Ballroom in Tacoma. After the last instruction, the club lights flip on, disco ball drops and Studio 6 fills with cross body leads, hand throws and hammerlocks. Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on Studio 6 Ballroom's Latin dance Night in the Weekly Volcano's Clubs/Bars Section.

4. Spokane native Meghan Flaherty has been a stand-up comedian for the past eight years, dropping her clean, edgy, relatable style on crowds throughout the Northwest, including 8:30 p.m. at the Grit City Comedy Club, which is now in the basement of the 502 Downtown.

5. Tacoma's Argonaut is Brandon Boote on drums, Matt Sader on bass and vocals and Dave Takata and Chad Baker on guitar. Van Conner of Screaming Trees fame owns Strange Earth Records. Together, they have dropped a much-anticipated EP What's Your Perfect Day? into the South Sound this past winter. The heavy rock band is still asking, performing Dead, Burning Gnats and Towers at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

LINK: Friday, Aug. 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area


August 23, 2013 at 10:31am

Wear white, eat potato salad and celebrate First Night Tacoma

Don't panic. You still have 10 days to run through all your white clothing. Labor Day is Monday, Sept. 2., the day people idle on highways, hungover as hell in the name of summer's end and universal workers' rights. Labor Day also comes with a set rule: you cannot wear white after midnight. That's right, it becomes socially unacceptable to wear the most basic color mankind has in his California Closet. No more white 253 tees, white Fruit of the Looms, white pants, white handkerchiefs and absolutely no white hats, chef hats excluded, of course.

The rule isn't completely ludicrous. White is the color of summer. The color best reflects heat from the sun. (I know, white screams winter - just ask the Winter Warlock. Stay with me on the very long introduction.) White was also the color of the One Percent in the late 1800s, the Gilded Age. The hoity-toity wore white in front of the soiled workforce, waiving to the workers as they left for summer vacation. Today, the color makes for Top 10 headlines along the checkout stands.

Now the reason for this not-so-clever-introduction: First Night Tacoma says screw the whole Labor Day white wardrobe rule. It's hosting a pop-up picnic Thursday, Sept. 26, at Wright Park, asking diners to wear as much white as possible.

Read more...

Filed under: Arts, Community, Food & Drink, Tacoma,

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