Remembrance is a simple experience.

At exactly 11 a.m. at the War Memorial Park in Tacoma, several hundred veterans, family members, friends and a handful of elected officials met on a cold and windy morning overlooking the Narrows Bridges to remember all veterans.

"We are here to pay honor to those who have served," said Bill Baarsma, a former mayor of Tacoma.

The Tacoma Historical Society and the Edward B. Rhodes/Parkland, Post 2 American Legion presented the eighth annual Day of Remembrance Service.

>>> Cadet Senior Chief Petty Officer Chris Godfrey stood at attention during the service. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

"This is becoming a wonderful tradition," comment Col. Andy Leneweaver, USA (Ret). "It's also interesting to note that this ceremony is the only one being done within Tacoma."

Washington Army National Guard soldiers and Stadium High School Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps carried the colors.

>>> Approximately 250 veterans, family members, friends and elected officials attended the eighth Day of Remembrance Ceremony. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

The Brass Unlimited played one patriotic song after another, the notes sometimes becoming lost in the high winds.

Speakers were short and to the point as they thanked veterans for their service.

For one veteran, the ceremony by the Narrows brought a wistful smile.

"It is good to be remembered," said Charles Johnson, a 94-year old World War II veteran of Omaha Beach.

>>> Charles Johnson, a 94-year old Army veteran of World War II and Omaha Beach, smiled broadly during the ceremony. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

Once upon a time, the city streets in movies belonged to Dustin Hoffman. See him in Midnight Cowboy, his hobbling Ratso bellowing "I'm walkin' heah!" to a careless downtown cabbie; cradling his injured son while sprinting blocks to find the nearest ER in Kramer Vs. Kramer; emerging for the first time in drag on a crowded sidewalk as Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie. In his most iconic roles, the diminutive actor stood for the Everyman dwarfed by a bleak, towering cityscape.

Hoffman has settled into this gritty milieu once again in Straight Time, which played Monday at the Capitol Theater (projected from what the old-timers used to call "35mm") as part of the 31st Olympia Film Festival. First-time OFF Programming Director Kelly Lux finds this trip back to 1978 a treat.

"I really like Seventies films," says Lux, proud to bring this "hidden gem" to a 2014 audience. Olympia Film Society board member Byron Zarp agrees, with the goal always to select films that will appeal to all ages.

Hoffman's Max Dembo, a parolee just released after a six-year stint in the state pen for burglary, combs the streets of Los Angeles with a look of steely resolve, hungry for work, a home, freedom from his past and the untrusting gaze of his parole officer (played by M. Emmet Walsh). An initially friendly reunion with old friend Willy (an impossibly young and subdued Gary Busey) turns sour when Willy's girlfriend (Kathy Bates) politely asks Max to stay away from her family.

Max's resolve to reform unfortunately gets cut short, when an act of violence on a highway literally changes the film's gears and the story heads off in a new direction without looking back. Straight Time spends its latter half as an often tense, though ultimately standard cops-and-robbers flick. I preferred the first part, with its bitter message of life beyond prison walls revealing its own terrors. Attempting to go straight isn't hard time, but it ain't easy either.

Straight Time is available on Netflix.

LINK: 31st Olympia Film Festival schedule

SEE ALSO

Weekly Volcano previews the Olympia Film Festival

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 2014 >>>

1. Dock Ellis is best known as the Major League Baseball player who pitched a no-hitter (aka a "no-no") while tripping balls on acid. He couldn't really see the players, he recalls, just which side of the plate they were standing on. Ellis was baseball's first "militant black athlete," a black player who wasn't simply so grateful to be allowed in the game that he would overlook slights and slurs. Refusing to tamp down his outsized personality and style just to fit in meekly was his contribution to the black pride movement; refusing to temper his drinking and drugging was his downfall. Catch Director Jeff Radice's take on Ellis in the film No No: A Dockumentary at 9 p.m. at the Olympia Film Festival.

2. Simon Kogan is locally famous in Olympia for his World War II memorial on the Capitol Campus and for the larger-than-life statue of a pregnant woman, "Motherhood," at Percival Landing.  He is also well known as a teacher of private art classes. Today is the last day to check out artworks by his students in the art gallery at Pacific Lutheran University. Read Alec Clayton full review of the "Art Students of Simon Kogan" show in the Music & Culture section, then see the show from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

3. Super-team Dr. Erik Demaine, Martin Demaine and Shandra McLane will complete their collaborative Visiting Artist Residency at Museum of Glass today through Sunday, Nov. 16. Assisted by the Hot Shop Team, they will be experimenting with new techniques that blend together printmaking and glassblowing. The Demaine duo is well known in their respected fields at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Martin Demaine has multiple roles at MIT, from Resident Artist to Technical Instructor at the Glass Lab, while his son, Dr. Erik Demaine, is a professor in Computer Science. Their collaborator, Shandra McLane, learned the art of glassblowing at the renowned Pilchuck Glass School, where she served as Print Shop Coordinator for 18 years. MOG opens at 10 a.m.

4. The Taylor Guitars Road Show is all about guitars, giving you a chance to talk shop with a team from the company's factory in El Cajon, California. At each event, Taylor's Road Show team shares insights on the company's guitar-making process and the award-winning Expression System pickup, and demonstrates how body shapes and woods affect tone. After the demonstration, guests are invited to sample a variety of different models, along with rare and custom Build to Order guitars, as part of Taylor's "Petting Zoo." The Road Show hits Music 6000 in Olympia at 7 p.m.

5. Comedy open mics are where comedians cut their teeth, develop their chops and other folksy idioms meaning "possibly suck to get better." Polish is traded for rawness. Comedians nervously testing out premises they thought of while parking. It wouldn't be a true comedy open mic without a few rookies floundering or even some industry veterans filling the room with crushing awkwardness, but Vomity features some damn good performers who more than balance it out every Wednesday at 9 p.m. in Le Voyeur. Host Sam Miller has an infectious enthusiasm for what he does, and the result is a well-organized but natural open mic that doesn't take itself too seriously.

LINK: Wednesday, Nov. 11 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Nerd news this week had a bit to do with the Nolan brothers, Christopher and Jonathan. Jonathan Nolan was announced to be in talks with HBO to be adapting Isaac Asimov's classic sci-fi series Foundation. The Nolan stranglehold on (relatively) hard science fiction has continued, after Jonathan's writing partnership with his brother, Christopher, on the likes of Interstellar, as well as HBO's JJ Abrams version of Westworld. Of course, Asimov's brand of science fiction was dense with plotting and impenetrable logic, which has notoriously eluded the Nolan brothers, as staunch opponents of Interstellar, Inception and The Dark Knight will tell you. Still, critics of the Nolan brothers may well point to their frequently impersonal storytelling as quite fitting for Asimov's robotic world.

Christopher Nolan, meanwhile, has signed on to guest edit December's issue of Wired magazine. Ostensibly as a way to shore up viewership amongst intellectuals for the space exploration of Interstellar, Nolan's edit of the magazine will also take advantage of the magazine's format to present a "five-dimension"-based layout, so that as the reader gets deeper into the magazine, the concepts presented will grow further complex. For those not completely invested in getting their minds blown, photos of Matthew McConaughey may or may not be present.

FRIDAY, NOV. 14: ROSEWATER

Last year, Daily Show host Jon Stewart took a few weeks off from his show to make his directorial debut. As anyone who's been paying attention to the comedian over the years from his satirically political hosting duties could've predicted, his filmmaking debut would bear little resemblance to that of his acting roles, in fluffy things such as Death to Smoochy, Half Baked and The Faculty. Instead, Stewart decided to make a pointedly political movie about journalist and one-time Daily Show guest Maziar Bahari.

After appearing on The Daily Show, Bahari went to Iran to document the elections, and was imprisoned for more than 100 days over allegations that he was a spy. The film follows Bahari (as played by Gael Garcia Bernal) as he is tortured for information that doesn't exist, and Stewart emphasizes the dark humor inherent in being stuck in a situation without escape. Bahari survived, but more importantly, he survived with his humanity intact.

Rosewater opens at The Grand Cinema Friday, Nov. 14.

SATURDAY, NOV. 15: TODD BARRY

One of the greatest comedians working is heading to Tacoma. Todd Barry's comedy is defined by his deadpan delivery, which barely conceals an acerbic wit. As anyone who's seen his scathing appearances on Louie can attest, Barry is more than just a measured joke-teller. There is a surging undercurrent to Barry's comedy that elevates him above the level of your standard, low-key wit. Whereas other subtle comedians might come across as meek, Barry never seems other than in full control of his presence and his material, which may make him one of the most frightening stand-ups out there. 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., Tacoma Comedy Club, 933 Market St, Tacoma, $20 253.282.7203

Thanksgiving can be a difficult time for families struggling financially. The Yelm Food Cooperative is seeking to ease that burden for up to 125 local families during its annual "Feed a Family - Give the Gift of Gobble" campaign, which runs through the end of the month.

In its fifth year, the campaign raises money through donations, then purchases ingredients for a home-cooked turkey dinner for six, including a naturally grown turkey, organic vegetables and potatoes, stuffing mix, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, pie fixings and more.

"There's everything they need, even the onions and butter," said Andrea Levanti, outreach coordinator for the Yelm Food Cooperative.

The Thanksgiving dinner ingredients are delivered to nominated families by members of the cooperative, and the families prepare and enjoy the meals in their own homes and on their own schedule.

Last year, the co-op provided meals to 106 families, 20 of which were military. The organization is raising the bar this year and hopes to feed at least 125 families, including 25 military families.

To do this, the organization needs to raise at least $8,000. A contribution of just $65 provides ingredients for a hearty Thanksgiving meal for a family of six - with leftovers. All contributions - from individuals as well as area businesses - are welcome and appreciated.

In addition to raising funds, the co-op is looking for families who could benefit from the program this Thanksgiving. 

"We try to reach all parts of the community through Gift of Gobble, including people facing financial hardship, or people dealing with a serious illness or a death in the family," Levanti said. "We also support organizations that are dedicated every day to helping others, like churches, at a time of year when there's so much need that they can readily identify."

If you know of a family in need, nominate them by sending an email to yelmfoodcoop@gmail.com. The deadline to nominate families is Nov. 17.

The Yelm Food Cooperative is a nonprofit, 501 c(3) that includes the Yelm Food Cooperative, the Yelm Farmers Market and the Community Food Education and Community Gardens Programs. It works to create a "vibrant state of health for everyone by providing ways to obtain clean, wholesome and natural foods," Levanti said. Members strive to support a network of local, community and regional environmentally responsible farmers and small-scale sustainable food sources through farmer's markets, community gardens and more.

For more information about nominating a family or contributing to this year's Gift of Gobble, send an email to yelmfoodcoop@gmail.com or stop by the Yelm Food Co-op at 308 Yelm Ave. E., inside Gordon's Garden Center, in Yelm.

Military families needed!

Do you know a military family struggling financially this Thanksgiving? Is your battalion or unit looking for ways to help its soldiers? The Yelm Food Co-op would like to help.

"It's a priority for us to include many military families," Levanti said, "to show in some small way how much we appreciate what they do for all of us."

To nominate a servicemember or for more information about partnering with the Yelm Food Co-op to help soldiers in your unit, email yelmfoodcoop@gmail.com. Hurry! The deadline for nominations is Nov. 17.

It shouldn't be necessary for us to tell you why Fleetwood Mac is one of the greatest bands of the rock era, but we love our young readers so here goes: if the only album Fleetwood Mac ever released was 1977's Rumours, it would still have been plenty. Like Michael Jackson's Thriller or Adele's 21, Rumours in its day was an album that pretty much half the U.S. population owned. At least seven of its tunes were, and in some cases still are, radio fixtures around the English-speaking world. Even Glee dedicated an entire episode to ruining such otherwise unimpeachable singles as "Go Your Own Way" and "You Make Loving Fun." Fun fact: singer Christine McVie composed the latter song for the guy with whom she was cheating on bandmate John McVie, then told John she wrote it about their dog. As the social media put it, it's complicated.

Funny thing is, Fleetwood Mac would still be a household name even if Rumours had never existed. They'd already released 10 albums, including the megahit self-titled effort that gave us such perennials as "Landslide" and "Rhiannon." Lindsey Buckingham joined for that album, on the condition that his girlfriend be allowed to come aboard as well. Her name? Stephanie Nicks - though the world knows her better as "Stevie." After Fleetwood Mac and Rumours, the hits kept on coming; but behind the scenes, things were dicey. It's hard to sustain a band when both its key couples are going through acrimonious breakups. Even the lyrics on Rumours are essentially beautiful F-U's; yet the follow-up album, Tusk, was an idiosyncratic masterpiece. Fleetwood Mac remained a hit factory even after Buckingham went solo in 1987. It seemed at times the band could hardly stand to be in the same room, and Christine McVie went her own way in 1998, ostensibly for good, saying she'd had it with touring.

There were rumours for a while that Sheryl Crow, a Nicks disciple, would join the band in place of Christine McVie, but those never panned out. Instead the band launched a world tour with neither performer in 2009. But guess what? That damn Glee episode worked. It brought FM back into the public eye, reinstalling Rumours on the Billboard chart three years ago. From then on it was only a matter of time till Christine McVie came back into the fold, writing or co-writing over half the tracks for an upcoming, as-yet-untitled album. That gives you the chance to do something few have been able to do in over a generation: catch the reunited Fleetwood Mac, live and harmonious. We guess it's true what they say: "Don't stop thinkin' about tomorrow."

FLEETWOOD MAC: ON WITH THE SHOW, 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma, $60 and up ... way up, 253.272.3663

THURSDAY, NOV. 13 2014 >>>

1. Thursday, for the 18th year in a row, the Harmon Brewery and Eatery will host its annual "Pray for Snow" party. The festivities kick off at 5 p.m. and promise to feature a toboggan full of live music, tons of ski- and snowboard-related prizes, Crystal lift tickets and giveaways, plenty of drinking and even more praying for the white stuff to fall from the sky this season. Will it work? Does it ever work in Washington? That's not really the point.

2. Now that Heritage Distilling Co. has opened its second location on Gig Harbor's waterfront (3118 Harborview Dr.), the HDC Waterfront will host the Gig Harbor Waterfront Alliance Girls Night Out from noon to 9 p.m. There will be holiday shopping specials, giveaways and more. Let's face it; booze is the best stocking stuffer.

3. The ParkWay Tavern welcomes 10 Barrel Brewing Company from Bend, Oregon, and their Uberliner Berliner Weissbier, Power to the People American Stout, German Sparkle Party Berliner Weissbier, Apocalypse IPA, among others, beginning at 5 p.m.

4. Critics are using words such as "brutal," "unflinching," "visceral" and "moving" to describe Charlie Jack Joseph Kruger's fiction. The author will provide his own descriptions and discuss his book, In Stark Weather, at 7:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberland Library.

5. Hip-hop show featuring Drumatic, Lega C Jones, TripleTHR33, OPUS DEI, N.O.V.A., Cyrus and DIRTAY hits Le Voyeur at 8 p.m.

LINK: Thursday, Nov. 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

If you grew up during the late '70s and early '80s in the South Sound, you were blasted with Southern rock - such touchstones as The Allman Brothers' 1971 At Fillmore East and Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album were on constant rotation on "Seattle's Best Rock" KISW 99.9 FM, shuffling in a little Molly Hatchet, Creedence, ZZ Top and the Marshall Tucker Band in between hijinks from DJs John Langan and Mike West. Maybe that's why I have such a sweet spot for Puyallup's SweetKiss Momma. The popular country-rock band takes me back to joyous, carefree times hanging out with friends. Or, it could be the fact SweetKiss Momma is a truly awesome band. Often sliding into country, sometimes stretching into blues, usually jamming live, turning some songs into opuses, the band touches on all the conventions of the Southern rock genre without turning them into cliches.

For the third year in a row, SweetKiss Momma will perform live at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink. The band will perform all facets of Southern rock from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29 at the ice rink across from the Tacoma Art Museum. Lead singer Jeff Hamel, his brother Jeremy on bass, Aaron Arnold on lead guitar and Jimmy Hughs on drums bring it every year, giving shout outs to skaters and freakin' rocking' the ice.

In 2013, the Weekly Volcano readers named SweetKiss Momma "best band" in our Best of Tacoma issue.

This year, the band has been on fire, which Ernest Jasmin explains in his piece that posted today. E.J. details the band's success this year, including their upcoming spot on regional rock TV show Band in Seattle, which tapes at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at Victory Studios in Seattle. Open to the public, tickets for the all-ages show are $5 to $10, and are available online at brownpapertickets.com. Former Weekly Volcano editor and current Seattle Weekly scribe Matt Driscoll will fire questions at SweetKiss during the taping. Australian-born roots rocker Blake Noble are also on the bill. The show will air on a Saturday night in February 2015 on KSTW Channel 11.

SEE ALSO
Franciscan Polar Plaza Ice Rink 2014 live music schedule

First things first: Yes, this is a real movie. No, you did not pass out in a snow drift, the friendly visage of Kirk Cameron beckoning you toward eternal salvation. This is a production that almost certainly involved cameras and crew and some sort of catering company to keep said crew motivated to tell the story of how atheists and the government continue to crusade against your god-given right to say, "Merry Christmas."

I've personally seen two Kirk Cameron-starring religious vehicles (the first two Left Behind movies), so the sudden presence of Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas doesn't quite surprise me. What does surprise me is the tone of this trailer, which must set a record for the time it takes for our atheist strawman to get knocked down by our Christian hero's impeccable arguments. Christian movies, like this one, always have atheist strawmen who need to see the light, but this one seems to be depicting the debate at light-speed.

Kirk Cameron stars as Kirk, and Saving Christmas' writer/director Darren Doane costars as Christian, who is having a crisis of faith. Sitting in a car, together, Christian lays out all the things that are wrong with the holiday (the Christmas tree is based on a Pagan tradition, Jesus wasn't born in December, etc.), while Kirk Cameron condescendingly wonders about what phrases like "season's greetings" even mean. Doane's manic performance feels like a man doing his best impression of Robin Williams riffing, so I can now also blame Saving Christmas for making me think of how much I miss Robin Williams.

Once Christian is shown that Christmas really is all about pretty lights and jubilant breakdancing, everything's in the clear. Which makes me wonder just what the rest of the movie is. If you want to see a truly batshit take on the "War of Christmas" genre of film, I'd suggest Last Ounce of Courage. That one has a cowboy Jesus ghost, so it's automatically better than this garbage.

The man was adding new movie titles to the Capitol Theater's glowing marquee when I arrived Wednesday night. Apparently later in the 31st Olympia Film Festival's run I could watch NATURAL LI  E and DI DE  CON CO, so either filmmakers these days really dig inscrutable names for their movies, or I should wait patiently while the man bought a few more consonants and vowels.

Last night's film decided to have a little fun with its own title, calling itself No No: A Dockumentary in honor of its subject, past Pittsburgh Pirates player Dock Ellis. Even the Nos take on multiple meanings as viewers get immersed in this pitcher's colorful career: the "No" stamped on both sides of the big "17" stamped on Dock's jersey; the finger-wagging he endured for behavior considered outlandish during the '60s and '70s, like wearing hair curlers during practice. And guess what they call a pitcher that strikes out every single man at bat?

Dock carved his place in the annals of baseball history by accomplishing his one and only "no no," but we can't forget to add three letters to this story: LSD. To borrow his own description made years later, "I was as high as a Georgia pine" during that fateful game, as well as many more before and after. No No manages to find the jaw-dropping humor in Dock's situation, but still poignantly portrays the pressure that athletes, in particular African-Americans during that era, felt to use almost any drug within reach to stay in the game.

So will I catch No No again as soon as it appears on Netflix? That's an affirmative - times two.  

LINK: 31st Olympia Film Festival schedule

SEE ALSO

Weekly Volcano previews the Olympia Film Festival