Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: December, 2014 (54) Currently Viewing: 41 - 50 of 54

December 22, 2014 at 7:56am

5 Things To Do Today: Creative Colloquy, Bert Wilson Re-birth, Brian Lee Trio, Santa Hat Takeover Party ...

"It was a dark and snowy night. ..."

MONDAY, DEC. 22 2014 >>>

1. If you want to see an entertaining winter play - but are going to puke nutcrackers if you see A Christmas Carol one more time - head to a special early edition of Creative Colloquy at 7 p.m. in B Sharp Coffee House. Michael Haeflinger, Titus Burley and William Turbyfill will perform jolly dramatic performances. Santa will read stories, as will local scribes Burley, Ellen Miffitt and Jennevieve Schlemmer. This CC will include the usual open mic opportunities, as well as special CC stocking stuffer zines created by Nearsighted Narwhal on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue. Yes, this is the yuletide spectacular we've been praying to Winston Churchill for.

2. The moths are on to something. Lights are awesome. Especially holiday lights. Make tonight the night you check out Zoolights or Fantasy Lights - both South Sound institutions. Zoolights, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium's holiday light show and extravaganza, offers a stroll through more than half a million lights, crafted whimsically throughout the zoo from 5-9 p.m. Take a driving tour of Fantasy Lights in Spanaway Park, where carloads of travelers can see more than 300 stunning displays of lights and imaginative animation over a two-mile stretch of Spanaway Lake Park from 5:30-9 p.m. Tune in to a special holiday radio station for a little holiday music to add to the mood. A Monday evening would be a nice time to take the family out and see some bright shiny things.

3. Bert Wilson was one of the underground legends of the jazz world - and he lived in Olympia. He was a survivor of polio in the 1940s (although it has left him confined to a wheelchair), the New York jazz scene of the mid-1960s, and the California underground of the 1970s. At 8 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye, Nancy Curtis, Michael Moore, Michael Olson, Steve Luceno, Steve Bentley and Jim Pribbenow will re-birth the music of the late Bert Wilson. Righteous.

4. Since the beginning of time, The Swiss has hosted live blues every Monday at 8 p.m. Factor in the free pool on Mondays and guitar legend Brian Lee Trio on the stage, and you have yourself a night.

5. Every Monday at 9 p.m. Jazzbones is packed to the brim with party types who swarm the bar and dance to Rockaraoke - live band karaoke. The Rockaraoke band is skilled, too. Tonight, the first 200 people through the door will receive a free custom printed Jazzbones Santa Hat. Bad Santa will be in the house along with Pro Photo booth plus $1 beers and no cover.

LINK: Monday, Dec. 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

December 22, 2014 at 2:16pm

"Holiday Magic" at Tacoma VFW Post #91

"Holiday Magic" at Tacoma VFW Post #91 / photo credit: Gary Lott

"Christmas this year has been hard on us, especially Thanksgiving," a young Washington National Guard specialist stated while gripping a holiday meal in the main room of the Tacoma VFW Post #91. "We haven't had enough funds to buy our 2-month-old son any gifts."

The holidays cause financial stress: shocking holiday credit card statements, elaborate holiday meals, late-night runs to grab last minute tape or name cards for or a slew of other stressful reasons.

The stress can be harder for that young servicemember who has returned from deployment with a growing young family.

That soldier is on the minds of the dozens who run this year's Washington National Guard's Family Programs' "Holiday Magic" service. Family Programs spends hundreds of hours distributing donated holiday meals, hams and, of course, toys at the Tacoma VFW Post #91 at 2000 South Union Ave. in central Tacoma. Post #91 members donate their post location and hours of volunteer time - often spent cleaning and sorting toys - to the Joint Services Support Family Programs, which primarily assists the servicemembers of the Washington National Guard and Reserves, as well as servicemembers from other branches. This year's "Holiday Magic" program sets aside a day to serve active-duty servicemembers, veterans and wounded veterans.

"The 'Holiday Magic' program has been an amazing gift," said the spouse of a deployed servicemember. "It has given me the joy and stress relief of knowing that I can give to my kids with a happy and relieving heart."

Although Pierce County residents make up the majority of the program's users, "Holiday Magic" volunteers have received requests from outside the county - and meals and toys were bagged, sorted and delivered by Family Assistance Specialists (FAS) who are stationed throughout the state near Washington National Guard unit locations such as Spokane, Vancouver, Everett, Port Orchard and Marysville. These FAS are also available to provide assistance throughout the year in forms of emergency grants, education assistance, employment assistance, resiliency matters and more.

"The program that is being ran by you is amazing," a private first class stationed on Joint Base Lewis-McChord stated to the volunteers at Tacoma VFW Post #91. "It has been a real tough year on me and I have been really stressed the last couple of months on what I was going to do for Christmas. The fact that this is available has been a huge relief and has helped very much. Thank you and everyone involved with this program very much. Merry Christmas!"

December 23, 2014 at 7:40am

5 Things To Do Today: Dancing Lights, "Nutcracker," John Denver tribute, Forest Beutel ...

Check out the Dancing Lights Marine Christmas Show tonight. Photo courtesy of Olympia Yacht Club/Mike Contris

TUESDAY, DEC. 23 2014 >>>

1. It's two days before Christmas. Having exhausted all financial resources barring the sale of various vital organs or offspring, you drive the streets, dejected, unsure of what to do now. You venture into downtown Olympia, and you see stars - white stars, red stars, blue stars, in fact all sorts of colored lights. It's Peace on Earth. Your mouth forms a wondrous "Oh." You reach out for your loved one's hand. He/she slaps it and tells you to stop being so sarcastic. It seems to be coming from the Percival Landing boardwalk. Yes, you're sure of it. Well, God bless us, everyone, it's the 6th annual Dancing Lights Marine Christmas Show. The Olympia Yacht Club has converted the marina into a holiday light display, computer-animated mind you. Dora The Friendly Sea Dagon greets you, as does a 45-foot yacht decorated with more than 20,000 lights. The 45-minute program consists of nine musical selections and runs twice each evening from 7-8:30 p.m. Hurrah!

2. Franciscan Polar Plaza is the place to be once winter hits. Think you can find something better to do than busting out some ice skates? Yeah, good luck with that. Polar Plaza is on its fourth year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from the Tacoma Art Museum in downtown Tacoma. With three fabulous years behind them, the Plaza folks put their heads together and found a few key ways to make this ritzy rink even better for 2014. Skate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

3. Hello, holiday tradition! The Nutcracker ballet performance is a holiday forever classic. The Tacoma City Ballet does it up right and with a delightful twist. Did you know that there's a "prequel" to The Nutcracker called Tale of the Hard Nut? Celebrating its 31st performance season, the ballet company takes on The Nutcracker performance in its entirety, which includes the prequel. In short: prepare to be dazzled, delighted and enchanted at 3 and 7:30 p.m. in the Pantages Theater.

4. Folksy, folk-writing folk hero John Denver - born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. - died Oct. 12, 1997, when the experimental plane he was flying crashed into Monterey Bay off the coast of California. Tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Red Wind Casino fans both casual (which way to the slots?) and rabid (dude, "Rocky Mountain High"!) will cheer on Ted Vigil - born Ted Vigil - as he pays tribute to Denver - both visually and musically.

5. Forest Beutel is a fixture of Tacoma's music scene, playing banjo for The Barleywine Revue, punkgrass outfit The Rusty Cleavers and matching Julie Campbell's fierce fiddle in Dixie Highway. In September, he released If You Label Me, You Negate Me, his first solo album - a mix of high-energy folk punk, down-tempo blues and introspective lyrics. At 8 p.m., Beutel will perform at the Eleven Eleven with friends Jake Cline and Shootdang from Portland.

LINK: Tuesday, Dec. 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

December 23, 2014 at 11:39am

Nerd Alert! - "The Interview" disaster and "The Imitation Game"

"The Imitation Game" finally gives the life of mathematical genius Alan Turing ??" filled with both triumphs and tragedy ??" the respect it deserves.

Ed. note: Sony Pictures Entertainment said today it will release The Interview in select theaters on Christmas Day.

It would be disingenuous for me to start off this column with anything other than the biggest bit of news in the entertainment industry, right now, even though I might literally be the last person in the world to give my opinion on the matter. With that said, here's my patented TakeTM on the catastrophe surrounding Sony pulling the release (seemingly indefinitely, in all formats) of The Interview: in the simplest terms - it's awful and we should all be very afraid.

That good enough? OK, in more complicated terms, this is clearly setting a dangerous precedent for the state of creativity in mainstream entertainment. Whether or not North Korea was ultimately behind the hacking of Sony and the subsequent threats of terrorist activity (as the US government is now alleging), what we do know is that Sony decided to bury a movie because of some vague threats and the very real possibility of more internal documents being released to the public. While I acknowledge that Sony was between a rock and a hard place (releasing the film to actual terrorist attacks would have made them seem like ghoulish profiteers), what they've actually done is confirm that anonymous threats are enough to inspire an awe-inspiring act of censorship over what was likely a movie mostly about James Franco and Seth Rogen making dick jokes.

Comparisons to The Great Dictator have already been made and, yes, while it's true that that film did not feature Chaplin assassinating a reigning dictator, it did infamously end with Chaplin posing as the dictator and giving a rousing speech decrying everything that Hitler stood for, which would arguably have been just as offensive to Hitler had so many countries not then shunned Chaplin (which, including the United States, was unfortunately the case).

I realize that this is a silly nerd column, so I'll end my rant here: If we're not vocal, this disaster with The Interview will go on to dictate what entertainment the public is privy to watch, which should sound absolutely terrifying to you.

Opening Christmas Day: The Imitation Game

In other, less troubling movie news, the film in competition with The Theory of Everything for the coveted award of Best Prestige Movie About a Great Scientist is coming to theaters. Instead of exploring the life of Stephen Hawking, The Imitation Game follows the life of Alan Turing, who helped the United States to break the Germans' supposedly unbreakable codes during World War II. As if that isn't enough, he also came up with the Turing test, which has challenged scientists ever since to come up with a machine that can believably converse with humans to the point that a human cannot tell if he or she is speaking with a machine. This, Turing thought, would be the barrier we would need to pass before we could actually access artificial intelligence.

Plus, The Imitation Game has Benedict Cumberbatch in it, which is always nice. Just try not to think about The Interview, and you should enjoy your time at the movies just fine.

LINK: Previous Nerd Alerts issued

Filed under: Nerd Alert!, Screens,

December 24, 2014 at 8:26am

5 Things To Do Today: Ice skating, Fantasy Lights, Puget Sound Porter Ice Cream, candle service ...

The Franciscan Polar Plaza ice-skating rink in downtown Tacoma is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 24 2014 >>>

1. Whether you want to channel your inner Winter Olympics sports nerd, capture the magic of the season in a vibrant urban venue or just have a wintery and sporty adventure, break out the ice skates, people, because the Franciscan Polar Plaza, in partnership with the Tacoma Art Museum, is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Bring family and friends to Tacoma's holiday ice rink for holiday fun and a good time right in the heart of downtown Tacoma.

2. The Harmon Tap Room has teamed up with Ice Cream Social to serve Puget Sound Porter Ice Cream from 2-4 p.m. at the Tap Room.

3. Take a driving tour of Fantasy Lights in Spanaway Park, where carloads of travelers can see more than 300 stunning displays of lights and imaginative animation over a two-mile stretch of Spanaway Lake Park from 5:30-9 p.m. 

4. For Christians the world over, Christmas Eve means being trapped for endless hours with the family while listening to Hall and Oates sing Christmas carols. But for everyone else, Christmas Eve is a pony of an entirely different hue. People of all faiths and no faith are invited to celebrate Christmas Eve at Unity of Olympia. This is an annual community service where everyone lights each other's candles and appreciate the Light within all. If you can, arrive by 6 p.m. to join the Unity Choir for a holiday sing-along. 

5. The Percival Landing boardwalk is the home of the 6th annual Dancing Lights Marine Christmas Show. The Olympia Yacht Club has converted the marina into a holiday light display, computer-animated mind you. Dora The Friendly Sea Dagon greets you, as does a 45-foot yacht decorated with more than 20,000 lights. The 45-minute program consists of nine musical selections and runs twice each evening from 7-8:30 p.m. Hurrah!

LINK: Wednesday, Dec. 24 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

December 26, 2014 at 8:04am

5 Things To Do Today: Bod, Dr. Lauren's Holiday Bizarre, Randy Oxford Band, punkgrass ...

Bod performs at The New Frontier Lounge tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook

FRIDAY, DEC. 26 2014 >>>

1. Befitting an album featuring Ben Roth's first major creative output, Bod's EP, Party Drug, feels like it's crammed with ideas and off-kilter detours. "Gigantor" kicks off the album in a haze, before '70s prog-indebted guitars charge in. Tricky time signatures abound, lending a stop-start dynamic that challenges without taking away from the purely enjoyable drive of the songs. As a frontman, Roth's voice becomes more like just another instrument, awash in reverb as it softens the spikiness of the guitars. Party Drug is a great encapsulation of Roth's attitude: music for music's sake. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full interview with Ben Roth in the Music & Culture section, then catch Bod with EZTV, Mega Bog and Black Wolf at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

2. The phrase triple threat, meaning a person who excels at acting, dancing, and singing, is among the most overused in all entertainment. Oh, sure, any number of actors can carry a tune. I've even met trained opera singers who can manage a waltz without requiring emergency services. All the same, it's rare to meet a performer who's better than average at all three - yet the phrase seems an understatement when applied to Lauren O'Neill. She's an improv artist, a fixture in the local burlesque scene, and a go-to when, say, a sassy mistress of ceremonies is required. Now there's a new persona, "Dr. Lauren," who'll probably look a lot like Lauren O'Neill but say things distinctly less practical. Read Christian Carvajal's full feature on Dr. Lauren's Holiday Bizarre! on our Walkie Talkie blog, then catch the show at 7:30 p.m. in the Urban Onion.

3. As the son of longtime Seattle DJ Bob Rivers, Andrew Rivers got accustomed early to the not-always-flattering spotlight. "I was the butt of so many jokes on the radio show," he says. Maybe that's why - despite his jokes about how he's not tough enough to walk those female friends to their cars - Rivers seems to have a pretty thick skin. Read Molly Gilmore's full story on Andrew Rivers in the Music & Culture section, then catch Rivers at 8 and 10:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Comedy Club.

4. For 12 freakin' years in a row - never wavering - The Randy Oxford Band has encouraged (hell, inspired!) you to get out of the house the night after Christmas and shake some of the tinsel and stuffing off. It's known as the "Night After Christmas Dance Party."  The gist is pretty simple - the South Sound's mad horn-blower and his gang of bluesy merrymakers tear the house down (in this case, Jazzbones - and not literally) while you shake whatever it is you have to shake on the dance floor, beginning at 8 p.m. In short order, and without fail, good times are had by all.

5. It's a final hoedown of sorts as the year draws to a close. The Rusty Cleavers and The Cottonwood Cutups takeover the Half Pint Pizza Pub at 9 p.m.

LINK: Friday, Dec. 26 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

December 27, 2014 at 8:53am

5 Things To Do Today: Forest Beutel on Ice, Saucy Yoda, Ethan Tucker, Donald Glaude ...

Forest Beutel performs at the Polar Plaza ice-skating rink in downtown Tacoma from 7-9 p.m.

SATURDAY, DEC. 27 2014 >>>

1. Forest Beutel is a fixture of Tacoma's bluegrass scene, playing banjo for The Barleywine Revue, punkgrass outfit The Rusty Cleavers and matching Julie Campbell's fierce fiddle in Dixie Highway. In September, he released If You Label Me, You Negate Me, his first solo album - a mix of high-energy bluegrass, down-tempo blues and introspective lyrics. When performing solo, Beutel picks banjo, blows the harmonica and works a bass drum and a hi-hat with his feet. From 7-9 p.m., he'll perform at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice-skating rink as part of the Weekly Volcano's "Rhythm & Ice: Down Home Holiday Hoedown."

2. After a couple years of being stranded in the wilderness of Alaska, Saucy Yoda is once again gracing the Pacific Northwest with her presence. For those who haven't had the pleasure of catching her live, Saucy Yoda is a whirling dervish of gonzo party energy. Combining a garage punk aesthetic with full-blown, hyphy hip-hop, Saucy Yoda brings just the right mixture of bratty attitude and balls-to-the-wall, malt liquor-slamming rave-ups. Catch her with masonapron, Bango Skank, Watermelon and the Beach Boy at 8 p.m. in Bob's Java Jive.

3. The mouth of boxing, former three-division world champion Adrien "The Problem" Broner, is in Tacoma to rock with DJ Taber and his crew at 9 p.m. in the Cultura Events Center.

4. Ethan Tucker may only be in his 20s, but he has already made a big name for himself in musical circles throughout the U.S. The Olympia singer-songwriter has been performing regularly since the age of 16 incorporates multiple genres such as jazz, blues, folk, and reggae in his sound. Catch Tucker at 9:30 p.m. inside Doyle's Public House.

5. In the early ‘80s, Donald Glaude filled Lakes High School house parties with Funkadelic, Commodores and underground hip-hop. From there, he emerged himself in the Seattle house and rave music scene before becoming one of the most traveled international DJs of our time. Always a smile, and women on both side of his decks, Glaude still commands the worldwide house music scene, in front of the turntables and behind the studio mixing board. Glaude returns home for a night at Jazzbones, with DJs Omar and Flave opening, and the Northwest DJ roster before him. Respect.

LINK: Saturday, Dec. 27 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

December 28, 2014 at 8:58am

5 Things To Do Today: Stickshift Annie and The Fugitives, Appalachian Country Dance, The Coltranes ...

Stickshift Annie performs at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma tonight.

SUNDAY, DEC. 28 2014 >>>

1. Does Stickshift Annie and The Fugitives really need an introduction? Is there a more professional band? Is there a more respected one? Are you really going to pretend that you don't enjoy hearing America's sweetheart Stickshift Annie on vocals? Let alone watching her front the band with charisma few have, right? Do you not remember how great a guitarist Kimball Conant is? Geez, why are you not at The Spar right now securing a front row seat to watch this awesome blues band perform at 7 p.m.?

2. Franciscan Polar Plaza is the place to be once winter hits. Think you can find something better to do than busting out some ice skates? Yeah, good luck with that. Polar Plaza is on its fourth year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from the Tacoma Art Museum in downtown Tacoma. With three fabulous years behind them, the Plaza folks put their heads together and found a few key ways to make this ritzy rink even better for 2014. Skate from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

3. In the Appalachians, the holiday season is devoted to dance-happy house parties. That's the tradition celebrated by husband-and-wife mountain music gurus Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones in their "Breaking Up Christmas and Appalachian Country Dance" program at 6 p.m. in the Prosperity Grange Hall. They'll be joined by caller Charmaine Slaven, fiddler Tony Mates and guitarist Catherine Alexander; and, as folks might say up in the holler, it'll be finer'n a can o' snuff.

4. Temecula, California, hardcore/death rock band The Coltranes spread holiday cheer at Le Voyeur beginning at 7 p.m.

5. As the son of longtime Seattle DJ Bob Rivers, Andrew Rivers got accustomed early to the not-always-flattering spotlight. "I was the butt of so many jokes on the radio show," he says. Maybe that's why - despite his jokes about how he's not tough enough to walk those female friends to their cars - Rivers seems to have a pretty thick skin. Read Molly Gilmore's full story on Andrew Rivers in the Music & Culture section, then catch Rivers at 8 p.m. at the Tacoma Comedy Club.

LINK: Sunday, Dec. 28 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

December 28, 2014 at 4:50pm

Words, Photos & Video: Forest Beutel live at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink

Forest Beutel brightened spirits at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink in downtown Tacoma Dec. 27. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner

Americana music owes its existence to the collision of post-punk insurgency with a modern take on the often rude sounds of old-time country, blues and bluegrass, with singer-songwriter fetishes thrown in for good measure. If that sounds like a mouthful, it's meant to be: Americana covers a pretty wide range of styles and performers, and last night Forest Beutel covered all aspects of Americana.

Tacoma musician Beutel performed at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice-skating rink in downtown Tacoma as part of the Weekly Volcano's "Rhythm & Ice: Down Home Holiday Hoedown" music series. The Tacoma Art Museum asked us to produce the live music stage at the rink every Saturday night during its run. In conjunction with the "Art of the American West" exhibit across the street at TAM, we have booked seven Saturday nights of bluegrass, country rock and old-timey bands.

Beutel - a fixture of Tacoma's bluegrass scene, playing banjo for The Barleywine Revue, punkgrass outfit The Rusty Cleavers and matching Julie Campbell's fierce fiddle in Dixie Highway - picked at his banjo, blew his harmonica, pumped his bass drum and hi-hat, performing a mix of high-energy bluegrass, down-tempo blues and introspective lyrics for the skaters going in circles. Beutel held an ice-skating trick contest throughout the night, pointing out potential candidates in between songs off his new solo CD, If You Label Me, You Negate Me.

I shot a little amateur video last night, which features Beutel's songs "Don't Know No Other Way" and Good Ol' Boy" at the rink, and "Angus' Romp" during my intermission session at The Social Bar & Grill.

The Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink at Tollefson Plaza is open to public ice-skating sessions across the street from TAM daily through Jan. 11.

The Weekly Volcano's last Rhythm & Ice: Down Home Holiday Hoedown bluegrass concert stars The Oly Mountain Boys 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3. The quintet from Olympia will, no doubt, play tunes off their new bluegrass concept album, White Horse, which tells the story of a man named Charlie McCarver and his rough life in Washington state during the early 20th century. If you like your bluegrass complex, melodic and focused on weighty matters, then ice skate to this show Jan. 3. In the meantime, enjoy a few photos and a video (above) from Forest Beutel live at Polar Plaza Dec. 27.

SEE ALSO

Words, photos and video from Dixie Highway's live performance at Polar Plaza

Words, photos and video from The Rusty Cleavers' live performance at Polar Plaza

Words, photos and video from Shotgun Kitchen's live performance at Polar Plaza

Words, photos and video from SweetKiss Momma's live performance at Polar Plaza

Words, photos and a video from The Cottonwood Cutups' live performance at the Polar Plaza ice rink

The backstory and band schedule for the Weekly Volcano's Rhythm & Ice music series at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink

December 29, 2014 at 8:06am

5 Things To Do Today: Model Train Festival, "The Butterfly Effect," Surf Monkeys, Maria Joyner-Wulf ...

Remember to look both ways before crossing, and keep your pennies to yourself at the Washington State History Museum today.

MONDAY, DEC. 29 2014 >>>

1. Just so you know, you might miss the train today - seeing as how it's scaled down to one and a half inches. Get it? At the 19th Annual Model Train Festival, every floor of the Washington State History Museum features model trains of all sizes and eras, landscapes, train experts plus the museum's permanent HO-scale 1,700-square-foot model railroad layout that portrays Tacoma and surroundings in the 1950s. The wee ones will go nuts over the Model Train Festival. Slip your budding trainiac a couple candy canes along the way and their little heads will practically explode. The trains run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. The Thurston County Family & Juvenile Court is not a place people are likely to go with the intention of viewing art, but the court is open to the public and there is a lot of exciting art to be seen. "The Butterfly Effect" is a new permanent installation in the stairwell of the court house that was created by stringing together many hundreds (probably more than a thousand) butterflies cut out of plastic juice pouches, the work of nearly 700 students. Read Alec Clayton's full review of the art at the Thurston County Family & Juvenile Court in the music & Culture section.

3. Franciscan Polar Plaza is the place to be once winter hits. Think you can find something better to do than busting out some ice skates? Yeah, good luck with that. Polar Plaza is on its fourth year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from the Tacoma Art Museum in downtown Tacoma. With three fabulous years behind them, the Plaza folks put their heads together and found a few key ways to make this ritzy rink even better for 2014. Skate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. today.

4. Our ears perked up and our stomachs flipped a little when we heard the phrase "ultra cool spy themes." It sounds dangerous and sexy. Blues, that most American of musical forms, will receive a dose of spy music, as well as surf tones, at The Swiss' Monday Blues Night at 8 p.m. Seattle guitarist and singer Chris Stevens will fill the downtown Tacoma watering hole with electric blues lines via a big Gibson archtop. Taking their unusual name from a song title by legendary blues guitarist Freddy King, Stevens' back band, the Surf Monkeys, keep a firm footing in the blues while stretching the boundaries with "ultra cool spy themes," reverb drenched surf twang and Chris' own "blues on the edge of jazz" originals.

5. Jazz drummer Maria Joyner-Wulf performs with many groups in the region including Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Senators and Bevy. She's also a music educator, band leader, composer and multi-instrumentalist. She'll join pianist Reuel Lubag, bassist Wayne Bliss and saxophonist Cynthia Mullis for Rhythm and Rye last jazz night of the year, beginning at 8 p.m.

LINK: Monday, Dec. 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

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News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.

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