5 Things To Do Today: English Beat, photography exhibit, organic food chat, Kittredge Gallery reception ...

By Volcano Staff on August 27, 2014

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 27 2014 >>>

1. Thanks to the English Beats' "Mirror in the Bathroom," countless kids of the Reagan era perused restaurants for glass tables, hoping to mimic the paranoid - yet chic - stars of the flick Less Than Zero. Led by vocalist Dave Wakeling and punk-toaster/rapper Ranking Roger, the Birmingham, England-based sextet English Beat secured success by merging reggae with mainstream pop. Thanks to VH1's Bands Reunited crew, Wakeling and company remerged 10 years ago. Tonight, at 8 p.m., the English Beat perform at Jazzbones. The Georgetown Orbits and DJ Dubmatix are in the house, too.

2. Experience the work of Washington's talented high school photographers in the Community Art Space at Tacoma Art Museum. The 2014 Washington State High School Photography Competition received more than 4,100 entries, submitted by 1,524 students from 70 Washington schools. Finalists from each of the 12 competition categories are included in the exhibition, which opens today at 10 a.m.

3. Kittredge Gallery on the University of Puget Sound campus hosts an artist reception for two new exhibits from 5-7 p.m. Marita Dingus' "They Still Hold Us" featuring mixed media sculptures from her "Fence" series and Sarah Gilbert's "3000 Miles from Home" new work about the concept of home and a sense of place will be on display through Sept. 27. Gallery talks with both artists will be scheduled during the run of the exhibition.

4. Puyallup River Alehouse hosts the Harmon Brewing Co. crew for a night Harmon beers, giveaways and prizes beginning at 6 p.m.

5. The Tacoma Food Justice Book Club will discuss the story of organic food from its humble beginnings to its industrialization by a number of large producers, and what's good and bad about the industry today as they flip through the pages of Organic Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew, by Samuel Fromartz. Fromartz loved cooking and food and its presentation and ecology, so he soon fell in love with Whole Foods; he also loves knowing from whence his ingredients come. Some of the best parts of Organic, Inc. serve as an extension of the farmers market ideal: to put a human face on the otherwise anonymous food-supply line. How do you create a health food Americans actually want to eat? Discuss at 7 p.m. in King's Books.

LINK: Wednesday, Aug. 27 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area