Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: April, 2015 (25) Currently Viewing: 1 - 10 of 25

April 1, 2015 at 5:42am

5 Things To Do Today: Walk Tacoma, "TCC 50th," Doug Benson, aerial show in a bar ...

Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba / Sithi uhm ingonyama

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 2015 >>>

1. On National Walking Day, why not get up off your booty and commune with Tacoma on foot? Downtown On the Go hosts another Walk Tacoma event. At lunchtime, the organization will lead a walk through Tacoma's Stadium District. Participants will join Melissa McGinnis from Metro Parks, former Tacoma mayor Bill Baarsma and Exit133.com and Tacoma Runners founder Derek Young and learn about the history of Wright Park, residential complexes adjacent to the park and Stadium High School. The first 250 walk participants will receive a swag bag. There is no need to pre-register for the event, simply meet in at the south side of the park on Sixth Avenue near the lion sculptures.

2. Tacoma Community College opens their "TCC 50th Anniversary Art Exhibition" today with a 4-6 p.m. reception in The Gallery. Meet the artists, have a snack and celebrate 50 years of art education at TCC.

3. Puyallup River Brewing Alehouse will be pouring Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA, Young's Double Chocolate Stout and Bitburger Pilsner on draft, as well as some special beers in the bottle. It's Import Night at the downtown Puyallup taproom from 6-9 p.m.

4. San Diegan Doug Benson has been performing standup comedy since 1986, when his buddies dared him to hop on the stage and do three minutes. He's released seven comedy albums, starred in the movie Super High Me, and costarred on everything from Friends to Mr. Show with Bob and David. If Wikipedia is to be believed, he appeared as a visible extra in Blade Runner, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and backup dancer(!) in Captain EO. In 2009, thanks to a jokey appearance on Fox News's Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, Benson scored something of a coup by pissing off the entire government of Canada. Benson drops by the Tacoma Comedy Club at 8 p.m. This isn't an elaborate April Fool's Day prank, by the way. He really will be there. We checked.

5. The Brotherhood Takes Flight aerial show is back, featuring Charly McCreary and others taking to the air with whimsy, strength and artful grace at 8 p.m. in The Brotherhood Lounge. The performance above the drinking crowd is just plain beautiful. A dance party with DJ Fir$t Lady follows.

April 1, 2015 at 11:11am

Nerd Alert issued for Trevor Noah and "It Follows" horror film

It Follows is horror at its most artful and rigorously disciplined, arousing fear not through jump scares or gimmicks, but rather through nimble editing and precise compositions. Photo courtesy of Northern Lights Films

Lots of comedy and politics fans were shocked and dismayed to learn that Jon Stewart would be retiring from his role behind the desk of The Daily Show. Immediately, speculation abounded about who could possibly take his place. Some names thrown around included Louis CK, Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer - all of whom may very well have been fine replacements. Earlier this week, however, it was announced that Daily Show newcomer Trevor Noah would be taking the helm.

At first blush, the news that South African actor-comedian Noah would be taking over sounded like great news - with him on The Daily Show and Larry Wilmore hosting The Nightly Show, that would mean the entire 11 o'clock hour on Comedy Central would be populated by people of color, which is certainly a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, with this era of being able to publicly post any lame, sexist, anti-semitic joke that pops into your head, there was bound to be a little bit of dirt for people to dig up on Noah.

Jokes buried in Noah's Twitter feed were far from encouraging with regards to his future as the biting social satirist that The Daily Show needs. Example? Here: "'Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!' - fat chicks everywhere." Also: "Behind every successful Rap Billionaire is a doubly rich Jewish man. #BeatsByDreidel"

Besides the obviously squicky viewpoints on display in these tweets, the most troubling thing for me is that they are painfully unfunny. Granted, some of these go back as far as four years, but Noah already had a successful talk show in South Africa, at the time, so he shouldn't be given the out of being young, dumb, and oblivious. At this time, Comedy Central is responding by defending their new Daily Show host, so let's hope he can grow up as quickly as possible before he permanently sinks a comedy institution.

Friday, April 3: It Follows

Really solid horrors movies can be hard to come by, these days. Even critically acclaimed ones tend to leave me cold (I'm looking at you, The Conjuring). Still, when you find one that can legitimately scare the pants off of you with ingenuity and tact, it's a moment to be cherished (I'm looking at you, The House of the Devil and The Descent).

This Friday sees the arrival of the most buzzed-about horror movie in some time: It Follows. The film has an ingeniously simple premise. Our heroine is plagued by an entity that slowly and patiently follows her everywhere, sometimes appearing to her as friends and loved ones. If the being gets her, she's dead. The only way to get rid of the spook is to sleep with someone, thereby transferring the evil presence onto them. It's a sneaky way of exploring STDs and relationships - two longtime preoccupations in the horror genre - in new and terrifying ways.

Find me at The Grand this weekend. I'll be the one with my hands over my eyes.

Filed under: Nerd Alert!, Comedy, Screens, Tacoma,

April 2, 2015 at 6:27am

5 Things To Do Today: Peach Kelli Pop, Olympia Farmers Market, Lee Heath photography, The Brown Edition ...

Peach Kelli Pop performs at Deadbeat Olympia record store tonight. Photo credit: Kelsey Reckling

THURSDAY, APRIL 2 2015 >>>

1. The music of Peach Kelli Pop harkens back to the sugary sound of Beach Blanket Bingo - albeit with a fuzzy veneer of bubblegum garage pop - but sneakily provides more substance than Frankie and Annette could've mustered. From bedroom recordings to playful glamor shots on album covers and associations with record labels like Burger, Lolipop and Bachelor, the years since Peach Kelli Pop have been feverishly eventful ones. Numerous tours across North America and even over to Japan have helped to refine and strengthen what Peach Kelli Pop already had pretty well nailed back when it was just a one-woman project. Even though the members tend to shift - with different ladies coming in to fill out the band at various times - the vision of Peach Kelli Pop remains a constant. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Peach Kelli Pop in the Music & Culture section, then catch the band with Globelamp and No Big Seal at 8 p.m. in Deadbeat Olympia record store.

2. One of the most popular attractions in the city of Olympia, the historic and active Olympia Farmers Market opens its main season at 10 a.m. The market has been serving locals and visitors for 40 years and can see upward of 400,000 visitors during the market season. A vast variety of vendors, live entertainment and a covered but open and airy market make it a not-to-miss destination. This year the market has partnered with South Sound Community Farm Land Trust, furthering agricultural land awareness, stewardship and preservation in the region. Bonus: bluegrass band The Pine Hearts will perform 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

3. The Swiss Restaurant and Pub held a photo contest asking the public to submit photos depicting The Swiss as either a family-friendly environment or as a cultural or historical site in Tacoma. Lee Heath won, which means she earned wall space at The Swiss for the month of April. "I have chosen to go strictly with photography," says Heath. "I am not sure if this has been done in Tacoma before, but I am doing a Pay What You Want display. This is an attempt to make an interactive art display, not only by trying to get people to engage in discussions about what they see while they dine, but when someone ‘pays what they can,' and a photo is removed from the wall, a new one will go up in its place." The show features photos from places, people, murals and street art around Tacoma.

4. Tacoma Green Drinks has invited Earthship Seattle to raise awareness about Earthship technology, and all the green building techniques that come with it. What better way to talk about green building techniques than over a drink with friends? Of course, there isn't a better way. Drink and learn at 6 p.m. in The Forum Tacoma.

5. Award-winning Olympia-based funk rock band The Brown Edition wants you to join their band. Hold on - don't get your hopes up. The band, led by the charismatic Miguel Pineda, will host a jam session inviting all to join them on stage at 8:30 p.m. in the Rhythm and Rye venue in downtown Olympia. For the uninitiated, the popular and bubbling band has had it with all the revision, and will return to its funk bass - the bass that scored them the best funk band in Thurston County, according to the Weekly Volcano readers voting in our Best of Olympia issues year after year. In addition to original works, expect funked-out jazz standards covers of more funk essentials at this free show.

April 2, 2015 at 11:20am

Washington National Guard hosted its annual menu board selection and food demonstration

Washington National Guard’s Aviation Readiness Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord played host to this year’s Washington National Guard FY15 WA Guard Food Service Menu Board Event. Photo credit: Gary Lott

The Washington National Guard hosted its annual menu board selection and food demonstration event March 27 in its Aviation Readiness Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord with the goal of selecting this year's new menu items for drilling service members.

"Servicemembers need to learn new skills, and those skill sets play a role in our ability to do more from scratch, to feed more and still stay within the budget," said the Guard's Food Program Manager Master Sgt. Darrell DeGroff.

The purpose of the event was to allow servicemembers an opportunity to learn more and help decide on the menu items that they will see during their drill/AT weekends in the coming year.

Along with selecting meals, attendees also had the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of different food samplings from dozens of food vendors like Sysco, PepsiCo and US Foods.

While the taste testing of the latest and greatest food items was occurring downstairs, culinary competitions took place upstairs with various local schools and colleges.

"Our high school is so military centric because we have so many military kids that go through our school," said Lakes High School sophomore Anna Short, who participated in the day's culinary competition.

Lakes High, Steilacoom High and Bates Technical Culinary students all had to use the same primary ingredients to create a meal that cost no less or no more than $4.09 per person.

"Conceptualization was the most difficult part of today's meal," said Bates Technical culinary student Anthony Brooks.  "It's important how these plates look as well, and we wanted to take the budget and meal choice and make it more exciting."

>>> A Culinary Arts Program student from Bates Technical College communicates on what techniques they used to craft the vegetable portion of his presented meal.  Command members of the Washington National Guard were the official judges for the culinary competition that took place during this year's FY15 WA Guard Food Service Menu Board Event. Photo credit: Gary Lott

The chefs also had to ensure that the total amount of their ingredients could feed 100 servicemembers.

Short gave a familiar-sounding description of how resiliency fits into her cooking career, similar to the military.

"We have to learn how to work together really well," she said. "You've got to learn how to listen to others, work together and check up on each other to see how everyone's doing."

Food brings people together, and that message is one that should resonate with every FY15 Menu Board attendee.

In other words, food isn't just about eating.

"The Army is coming to understand that food means more than eating," DeGroff said. "It is, as we say, feeding the soul, the mind, the body and the spirit.  It's a part of our big Army cycle of physical fitness."

>>> These Culinary Arts Program students from Bates Technical College show off their FY15 Outstanding College Culinary Arts Team award for winning this year's college culinary competition.  Each group had to spend a $4.09 budget per servicemember to prepare a lasagna and salad plate. Photo credit: Gary Lott

Involving the servicemembers that actually eat the food to become a part of selecting the food that they eat sounds like a reasonable idea and is something that remains a focus of the Washington National Guard.

"The fact that we are reaching out to our customers to get them in, so they can have an influence, is impactful for all of us," DeGroff said.

Anyone who has had a really good meal probably agrees with the fact that food has many feelings of endearment associated with it.

"We care about each other, and it's demonstrated in food here," DeGroff added.  "These menu boards allow for training and (food) demos to remind these soldiers that they just don't come here to throw a meal out and go home."

>>> The Washington National Guard's 81st HBCT Annual First Place Trophy for the Philip A. Connelly Award for Excellence in Field Kitchen Competition was on display for this year's FY15 WA Guard Food Service Menu Board Event. Photo credit: Gary Lott

The biggest addition this year from last was the inclusion of the Washington Restaurant Association. 

"The troops have to be healthy and vibrant to protect us, so food safety is critical," said guest judge and Washington Restaurant Association Director of Education Lyle Hildahl. 

Hildahl provided constructive criticism to the students throughout the competition.

With servicemembers relaxed and full of savory snacks, the FY 15 WA Food Service Menu Board also provided resiliency support resources.

"The number of younger soldiers that we have that leave our drill weekend that don't have a place to live, that don't have a job, are unfortunately increasing dramatically," added DeGroff.

Suicide Prevention, Family Programs and Employment Transition Services representatives from the Joint Services Support Directorate-Washington National Guard were present throughout the day for servicemembers to utilize as well.

"If you provide hope, if you provide a challenge, then you lift them, you get them engaged," DeGroff said.  "Getting them to go to these people is very difficult, but bringing these people to them in a place like this, where they are away from their family and just relaxing, is very beneficial.

"They let down their guard and become more willing to pull someone to the side and have that conversation than they would back in their unit."

April 2, 2015 at 11:50am

PlayStation, NBA coming to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in June

It's not every day that a National Basketball Association legend swings by your local military base to shoot hoops with the fellas. But later this spring, in conjunction with the NBA, Sony PlayStation and the USO, military families on Joint Base Lewis-McChord will have the chance to rub elbows with basketball greatness.

The 2015 PlayStation NBA Cares Hoops for Troops activation event is part of a series of visits this spring to military installations around the country. The JBLM visit, the penultimate in a series of seven, is slated for June 10 to12.

Though details are still being finalized (including exactly which NBA legend will take part), the visit is scheduled to include a variety of events over the two-day period. For instance, two basketball hoops will be donated for either an indoor gym or outdoor court on JBLM. After the hoops are installed and the ceremonial "hanging of the nets" is complete, the NBA player and others will host a basketball clinic for military youth and families. Players will have "hands-on" time with a true NBA legend and learn tricks of the trade from one of the country's best. Participants will also get a free "swag bag" containing PlayStation and NBA gear.

Also on the agenda is a Commitment to Service project, which is aimed at helping get servicemembers involved in their community.

There will also be a PlayStation trailer set up on site - attention, gamers! - in which new and possibly unreleased video games will be available for play. A gaming tournament is slated for the final day of the visit, with prizes including PS4 consoles and games.   

The yet-to-be-named NBA legend is scheduled to play a few of those PS games alongside the servicemembers, and PlayStation plans to donate several PS4 consoles and games to places like the USO and the Warrior Zone.

The locations of the donated hoops, PlayStation consoles and games, gaming trailer and clinic are still to be determined.

Hoops for Troops began nine years ago as a "global social responsibility program for USA Basketball," according to information on its website.

Its programs and events work to provide support for military personnel and their families. PlayStation is the first-ever partner of NBA Cares Hoops for Troops program.

For more information about the program, visit www.nba.com/hoopsfortroops.

April 3, 2015 at 6:19am

5 Things To Do Today: Hip-hop show, Jordan Family Circus, "It Follows," South Sound Improv Comedy Festival ...

Hip-hop compilation “All Your Friend's Friends” sounds were mined exclusively from the stuff of previous K releases by the likes of Dub Narcotic Sound System, Karl Blau, and the iconic Beat Happening. Photo courtesy of Facebook

FRIDAY, APRIL 3 2015 >>>

1. Olympia producer Smoke M2D6 raided the archives of legendary alternative record label K Records to put out an album of Pacific Northwest MCs rapping over K Records artists. The resulting compilation, All Your Friend's Friends, is selling like hotcakes. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on All Your Friend's Friends in the Music & Culture section, then head to Grit City Grindhouse skate shop at 7:30 p.m. to see XPRERIENCE, Smoke M2D6, Real Life Click, Zikki and others perform songs off the album and more.

2. Today-through Sunday the Jordan Family Circus sets up its tents at the Washington state Fair Event Center, more than ready to stick their entire head in a wild beast's mouth for nothing more than your applause ... and a small entrance fee. See it while you still can - 4 and 7:30 p.m., plus five more times this weekend. It'll be just like when you were a kid, except you'll actually spend the entire time updating your Instagram status with popcorn-eating selfies and not paying attention to a damn thing around you. This is what your life has become.

4. At 4:05, 6:30 and 8:50 p.m. in The Grand Cinema, the most buzzed-about horror movie in some time: It Follows. The film has an ingeniously simple premise. Our heroine is plagued by an entity that slowly and patiently follows her everywhere, sometimes appearing to her as friends and loved ones. If the being gets her, she's dead. The only way to get rid of the spook is to sleep with someone, thereby transferring the evil presence onto them. It's a sneaky way of exploring STDs and relationships - two longtime preoccupations in the horror genre - in new and terrifying ways.

4. Seth Roth has been singing since the age of 5. The Tacoma singer-songwriter grew up on Steve Perry and Lou Gramm, but has one solid foot in the Bob Dylan and Neil Young camp. Roth has been serving coffee at Harmon's Hop Coffee since the day it opened inside the Harmon Tap Room in Tacoma's Stadium District. Roth will perform at 8 p.m. in Cork! A Wine Bar.

5. Comedy hasn't evolved much since the glory days of ventriloquist and puppet. Every so often, there's a Gallagher smashing watermelons or a musical funnyman like Jack Black, but for the most part, comedy is a dude on a stage with a microphone, plodding through a joke-punchline-new-joke routine. Boring! Well, that changed last year when Harlequin Productions hosted the South Sound Improv Comedy Festival hosting acclaimed improv troupes from the Olympia area and the Puget Sound region at 8 p.m. in the State Theater. The festival returns, with such troupes as Unexpected Productions, Jet City Improv, Fools Play, Olyimprov, Generation Friends, Hat Trick Pony and Harlequin's own improv troupe, Something Wicked. Local favorite standup comedian Morgan Picton will emcee.

April 4, 2015 at 7:02am

5 Things To Do Today: Fruition, King's Books' birthday, Beer Guy Garage Sale, Woolen Men ...

Portland band Fruition perms at Rhythm and Rye tonight. Press photo

SATURDAY, APRIL 4 2015 >>>

1. We rolled our eyes when Portland band Fruition described itself as "three-part-harmony-infused, melody-rich rock, country, folk and soul." That's like characterizing a chef as an expert in "soul food, artisanal pizza, Carolina barbecue and Tex-Mex." It's too far all over the map. But when we dug into their 2013 album Just One of Them Nights, our jaws dropped. It's so damn good we're willing to overlook the folksy grammar. These three sumbitches can play. Perhaps the best way of describing their music is front-porch Americana, earnest and true. We can't think of a better night of music per dollar. Catch them at 9 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye.

2. King's Books turned 15 years old April 1. To celebrate, they are knocking 15 percent off all items in the store, as well as hosting musician and entertainers. Expect a musical sing-along with Philosopher Queen, storytime with Erica Leith, craft activity and book signing with author and kitten wrangler Laurie Cinotto, face painting with Barb White, a photo booth and more this afternoon.

3. Open up a brewery sales representatives' garage and you'll see an amassment of beer posters, buttons, bottle openers, life-size cardboard replications of brewers, drum kits made out of wooden barrels, beer can bracelets, iPhone covers that resemble frothy beer mugs and, in front of the pile, stands an angry spouse. Marine View Beverage distributors came up with an idea to rid the reps of all their brewery's booty, and simultaneously support the effort to clean up, restore and protect Commencement Bay, its surrounding waters and natural habitat. From noon to 5 p.m., The Swiss Restaurant and Pub will host the Beer Guy Garage Sale, the opportunity to furnish home bars and man cave's with the leftover beer schwag from beer reps. "We're combining two of Tacomans' favorite things - beer and the Bay," says Ian VanDooren, manager at The Swiss. "The folks from Citizens for a Healthy Bay will be on hand to collect money at the sales tables, auction off whatever really cool stuff we get - basketball hoops, hockey goals, coolers, neon signs and such - and also inform folks on their mission." Read the full store in our New Beer Column.

4. It's day two of Harlequin Productions hosted South Sound Improv Comedy Festival The festival returns, with such troupes as Unexpected Productions, Jet City Improv, Fools Play, Olyimprov, Generation Friends, Hat Trick Pony and Harlequin's own improv troupe, Something Wicked. Local favorite standup comedian Morgan Picton will emcee the show, which begins at 8 p.m. in the State Theater.

5. Portland trio The Woolen Men carry with them a number of easily identifiable influences that mix together in delightful ways. They bring the '50s rock by way of Violent Femmes, the stately indie pop of Guided By Voices, and the shambolic lo-fi rock of Pavement. The Woolen Men find the hook at record speed, juice it until there's nothing left, and the discard the song before heading into another catchy tear. See the band with Metal Heads with Broken Hearts, Annie Girl and the Flight and Young Devil at 8 p.m. in the Deadbeat Olympia record store.

April 6, 2015 at 6:42am

5 Things To Do Today: The Boxers, Tournament of Mac and Cheese Party, Charlie Saibel ...

The Boxers perform at Deadbeat Olympia record store tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook

MONDAY, APRIL 6 2015 >>>

1. Chicago quartet The Boxers start out their most recent LP, The Blue Pool, with washed-out snippets from Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet," distorted and sinister, before segueing into a sort of anthemic, melancholy rock. It's reminiscent of the days when the Flaming Lips were transitioning from stoned punks into the glorious pop on the late '90s and early '00s. When the crooning vocals come around, it becomes clear that, while The Boxers don't quite sound like the matinee idols that they've quoted, they are still dedicated to melody above all else. Catch the band with Tomorrow's Tulips, Sun Eggs and Bob Bucko Jr. at 8 p.m. in Deadbeat Olympia record store.

2. Here we go! Over The Moon Café in Tacoma's Opera Alley will face Boathouse 19, the restaurant and bar perched over the Narrows waterway, in the Tournament of Mac and Cheese Championship Game. Online voting will run until 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., the voting will resume live at McNamara's Pub & Eatery in DuPont during the Official Tournament of Mac and Cheese Party. Ballots will be handed out. The live vote will close at halftime of the NCAA Men's Tournament final and the South Sound Mac and Cheese Champion will be announced.

3. Get out your dancing shoes and join in the whimsy of a country western shuffle dance, hosted by the Evergreen Country Dancers, at 6:30 p.m. in the Olympia Elks Lodge. What is a shuffle, you say? It's the country western version of polka - the primary difference being that the style of shuffle is less hoppy than the polka. The basic step consists of a triple to the left followed by a triple to the right.  The shuffle is sometimes called double two-step or traveling swing, for it also uses components of two-step and the popular East Coast swing. This makes shuffle a very versatile dance, allowing a mix and match of patterns, which can result in some exciting variations - and there's nothing wrong with that.

4. Piano man Charlie Saibel is a superb musician, a versatile jazz/swing pianist and composer with an innovative sense of texture. He seems to have a lifelong fascination with genres, easily fitting in with honkey tonk, boogie woogie, blues, Latin, jazz, classic rock, plus seasonal and special occasions. He also morphs into any situation: Charlie Saibel and the Intrusions Jazz Trio, '60s rock band The T-Tops, 20-piece Basie-style Lakewood Community Jazz Band and others. Monday, he'll think more along the lines of jazz when he entertains during Rhythm and Rye's Monday Jazz Series, beginning at 8 p.m.

5. At 9 p.m. every Monday, Jazzbones is packed to the brim with college kids. Party types. The type that wear tight shirts and trucker hats. Throngs of Chad Fratguys and Sarah Sororitysisters swarm the bar, line up for the bathroom and dance to the Rockaraoke - live band karaoke. The Rockaraoke band is skilled, too. Expect dollar beers.

April 6, 2015 at 10:53am

Gray Sky Blues Music Festival have programmed a full day of blues

Teddy Le Hooker performs at The Swiss and B Sharp Coffee House April 11. Courtesy photo

I want to open this blog entry by doing something I almost never do in my efforts for The Weekly Volcano: admit ignorance. One of the guiding principles of journalism, meaning whatever pallid version of it we attempt here, is a writer must do his or her research, then act as if he or she has been an expert in the subject for years. It's malarkey, of course. I often write about subjects I researched for the first time that day. It happens all the time, in newspapers and TV stations and other media outlets all over the world, and if called out on our lofty authority we end up defending our assertions against people who've been working in relevant disciplines for decades. It's the biz. I acknowledge that here.

Case in point: I know next to jack squat about the blues.

It's not that I've never enjoyed the blues. It's certainly not that I've never had the blues. In fact, I've even been known to have the blues so bad. I've suffered from both the walkin' blues and the talkin' blues. But if you're asking me whether I know more about the blues than a dude who's been playing the axe since early childhood, who changed his name to Teddy Lee Hooker out of respect for his brother-in-law John Lee Hooker, I'm not fit to hold that guy's pick. That cat was a finalist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. He's the real deal. Me? I'm a beige-American who digs Bessie Smith and knows exactly three chords on a good day.

So allow me to defer to the experts for once. The good folks at the Gray Sky Blues Music Festival have programmed a full afternoon and evening of entertainment in three different venues to follow the Tacoma Grand Floral Daffodil Parade. They've selected artists who produce what they consider "some of the finest blues west of the Mississippi." Having spent the last hour (I know, a whole hour!) listening to Teddy Lee Hooker, I'm inclined to agree. Check the lineup below: Mr. Hooker's just the icing on a very fine cake. He and his colleagues are gonna rock you like your back ain't got no bones. That's a quote from Muddy Waters, by the way. I looked it up online, which makes me kind of an expert.

THE EMILY GARDNER BAND, MAIA SANTELL AND HOUSE BLEND, THE CD WOODBURY BAND AND TEDDY LEE HOOKER, 1-7:30 p.m. Sat., April 11, The Swiss Restaurant and Pub, 1904 S. Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, $8-$10, 253.572.2821

KING KOM BEAUX, LITTLE BILL AND THE BLUENOTES, BLUES COUNTY SHERIFF AND JERRY MILLER BAND, noon-5:30 p.m. Sat., April 11, The Harmon Brewery & Restaurant, 1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, free, 253.383.2739

THE DEAN REICHERT BAND WITH TEDDY LEE HOOKER AND MAIA SANTELL, 8-11 p.m. Sat., April 11, B Sharp Coffee House, 706 Court C, Tacoma, $5, 253.292.9969

Filed under: Music, Tacoma,

April 6, 2015 at 4:02pm

Nerd Alert issued for Game of Thrones, Ex Machina, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot ...

What we saw in the Game of Thrones Season 5 trailer is Varys wants Tyrion to help Daenerys take the Iron Throne. Of course, when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. Photo courtesy of HBO

Struggling through the Voight-Kampff test, this is Nerd Alert, the Weekly Volcano's recurring events calendar devoted to all things nerdy. I myself am a Star Wars fan, mathlete, and spelling bee champion of long standing, so trust me: I grok whereof I speak.

THURSDAY, APRIL 9

Louie, one of TV's best and least predictable series, returns for season 5 at 10:30 on FX. A half hour before that, FX debuts one of TV's most soon-to-be-cancelled shows, The Comedians with Billy Crystal and Josh Gad.

FRIDAY, APRIL 10

Sooner and more fully than we comprehend, artificial intelligence will be woven into our daily lives. Some experts predict the next two decades will see the advent of a machine and/or uploaded sentience equal to or surpassing our own. Today's gay and trans civil rights movements will give way to the struggle to understand and empower synthetic personalities. It'll be a true paradigm shift, a transformative moment in the way we define personhood. It'll unravel centuries of assumptions about what it means to be alive and aware. Religion, art, law, philosophy, indeed, every avenue of human thought and self-identity will be challenged by this societal horizon some have rightly defined as a "singularity." No one alive can see beyond it to the other side.

In the meantime, of course, we'll keep right on making slick popcorn movies about how robots who look like hot chicks want to take over the world. Ex Machina's scoring highly on RottenTomatoes.com, and HAL knows we could use something halfway intelligent to cleanse our collective palate after Furious 7. Hey, maybe it'll be three-quarters-of-the-way intelligent like It Follows!

Also on Friday, 13 episodes of Marvel's Daredevil, aka The Man Without Fear, debut on Netflix, the Network Without Standards and Practices.

SATURDAY, APRIL 11

White-hot playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis penned The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a seriocomic meditation on free will set in a limbo night court beyond time. Its characters are all your Gospel favorites, including Uncle Pino. Wait ... what? This production, directed by 2015 grad Grace Caruso, comes courtesy of Saint Martin's University Theatre Department. "The subject may be religion," notes critic Ben Brantley of The New York Times, "but questions are encouraged. Thank Heaven...at least the person in charge is the class cutup."

THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, 7:30 p.m. April 11 and 14-18, 2 p.m. April 12, State Theatre, 204 4th Ave., Olympia, $7-$12, 360.438.4506

SUNDAY, APRIL 12

When last we left our Westerosian heroes and villains, a certain Lannister was having a bad day on the crapper, another was enjoying an unexpected sea cruise, and Cersei was mastering level-23 bitchcraft. The last two episodes of season 4 finally lived up to Game of Thrones's promise, balancing oversize visual spectacle against compelling adventure and character development - with nary a brothel boob in sight, no less! Here's hoping David Benioff and company keep this spectacular train on the rails as it speeds past George R. R. Martin's literary source material.

Speaking of lit, today marks the 20th anniversary of Barnes & Noble (1530 Black Lake Blvd.) in Olympia. Expect author signings, story readings, princesses on the loose, and other fun moments throughout the day.

TUESDAY, APRIL 14

Timothy Olyphant hangs up his Stetson as Justified rides into the sunset, leaving Harlan County, Kentucky to its own drug- and violence-addled devices. That's a real county, by the way, though the series has never shot a minute of footage there. I bet Harlanites are super proud of their depiction on screen.

Until next week, may the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and always pay your debts.

Filed under: Nerd Alert!, Screens, Theater, Olympia,

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

Recent Comments

Walkie Talkies said:

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about COMMENT OF THE DAY: "low brow’s" identity revealed?

Humayun Kabir said:

Really nice album. I have already purchased Vedder's Album. Listening to the song of this album,...

about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit

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Shimul Kabir said:

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marble exporters in India said:

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about 5 Things To Do Today: Art Chantry, DIY home improvement, "A Shot In The Dark" ...

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