SATURDAY, DEC. 13 2014 >>>

1. It's deep in the third quarter of the mandatorily festive holiday season. Have you ice-skated at the Franciscan Polar Plaza? What could be more apropos for the holidays than skating around in circles to punkgrass? We suggest throwing on that Technicolor scarf your grandma knit for you before Bush the First was in office and hitting the downtown Tacoma ice rink from 7-9 p.m. to skate to The Rusty Cleavers band. It seems only natural to combine the worlds of bluegrass and punk, and The Rusty Cleavers do so magnificently, with all manner of mandolin, banjo and backyard clatter coming together in a cacophony of spirited group-singing and hoops and hollers.

2. A rare sequential time sequence and date pattern will occur this morning: 10:11 a.m. on 12-13-14. In recognition of this infrequent occurrence, three local Volkssport clubs - Evergreen Wanderers in Tacoma, Daffodil Valley Volkssport in Puyallup and Capitol Volkssport in Olympia - have organized a guided group 10 km (6.2 mile) walk beginning at 9:30 a.m. sharp at Fort Steilacoom Park, so that all walkers are on the trail at 10:11 a.m. on 12-13-14. Imagine if they began at 9:10.11 a.m. Whoa.

3. Duck The Malls sounds fun on paper. If nothing else, this holiday sale to benefit the Olympia Film Society cuts out so much of the guesswork and crap of going to a regular flea market: With just the freaks on board selling their Yaz CDs, hipster bicycles and Ronald McDonald drinking glasses, you're sure to be steering clear of screaming babies and the scary men selling kicker boxes and enormous knives. Meanwhile, you may finally pick up that home-tattooing manual you've always wanted, along with that Boss phaser pedal whatshisname uses. You know there's going to be that moment where somebody runs into her ex, who's behind a table selling everything she ever gave him. Check it out from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Capitol Theater.

4. Tacoma's acclaimed Fulcrum Gallery hosts its annual Holiday Artists Market Saturday and Sunday offering one offs, B-sides and studio gems from such artists as Kellë McLaughlin, Darlene Dihel, Ometepe Art (Victor Inmaculada and Maria Davis), Artifaex Studios (Michael Wishwell), Mossport Studios (Gail Kelly) Scott Nelson and Lynne Farren and gallery owner Oliver Doriss from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This will be good.

5. Peter Tietjen, drummer and lead singer for Umber Sleeping, has essentially carried the sound and vision of Umber Sleeping through various incarnations, changing the roster and the name whenever he sees fit - I Like Science, Follow the Kites and Balloon Power Challenge have all subbed in for Umber Sleeping. In all of these forms, the Umber Sleeping ethos of spacy, Kraut-rock-indebted psych has remained essentially the same. Now, the original lineup of Umber Sleeping, featuring Doug Morse, James Jenkins and newcomer Jake Frye will be performing together, once again, at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge. Add to that the release of the Variety Hour's new album, and this is an unmissable show.

LINK: Saturday, Dec. 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Alter Ego Beauty Bar offers its customers the opportunity to wear their art.

"It's glam," commented Jennifer Jensen as she dabbed white dashes onto Gayle Henneberry's topless body this past Tuesday afternoon.

Surrounding her were boxes of stencils, various paints and brushes.

"Body painting is a personal thing - it's what makes you feel your best."

Located at 743 Broadway inside Sanford and Son Antiques in downtown Tacoma, Alter Ego Beauty Bar will stage its grand opening at noon, Saturday, Dec. 13.

"We are really stoked for this," Jensen added. "We've had lots of calls for our work, and we are really looking forward to this."

It's the body painting that is, however, eye-catching.

"I heard a story about a lady in New York City who had her body painted, walked outside and down the sidewalk, and no one could tell that all she was wearing was the paint," Jensen related. "The work is that good."

>>> Kayla Altman enjoys the beauty make-up she received from Serena Cook, co-owner of Alter Ego Beauty Bar. Photo credit: Nancy Corbin

Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the human skin and lasts for only several hours.

Having one's body painted, though, can take up to six hours, Jensen said.

Read more...

FRIDAY, DEC. 12 2014 >>>

1. Seasoned musicians Nathan Weaver and Chris Beug recently opened Obsidian music venue and cafe in downtown Olympia. They chose the name because of the healing and purifying properties associated with the black crystal formed from fast cooling volcanic lava. The aesthetic of Obsidian is an amalgamation of the building's existing industrial architecture and organic elements such as cedar and natural fibers. They offer local, organic and gluten-free options including waffles, sandwiches, salads and small plates. The waffles are freakin' delicious. After dark, the lounge offers a selection of craft cocktails, local craft beer, hard cider and wine while providing unique ethereal ambience. At 9 p.m., Weaver and Beug host a grand opening celebration featuring electronic music by Ocean, D.A. Terence and Vowl.

2. The Evergreen State College's Longhouse Education & Cultural Center will host its 18th annual Holiday Native Arts Fair from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The fair will feature nearly 40 Native artists from Washington and Oregon, as well as Alaska Native and First Nations artists from British Columbia. Among the items for sale are original carvings, woven textiles, prints, basketry, jewelry, clothing, musical instruments and more.

3. For Andrew Rivers, poking fun at himself just comes naturally. "I have a lot of female friends," the Seattle comedian jokes in an appearance on Fox TV's Laughs. "Because they put me there." Rivers is headlining Stand Up For A Cure, a benefit for research into childhood cancer, at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, beginning at 8 p.m. Also on the bill are Seattle comedians Narin Vann and Mike Coletta and the show's producer, Jacob Johnson of Lacey. Read Molly Gilmore's full story on Andrew Rivers in the Music & Culture section.

4. The Grand Cinema's annual showings of the delightfully demented Finnish film, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale will hit the screen at 9 p.m.The new holiday classic is a pulpy, darkly comic take on what is essentially the Krampus mythology, where Santa isn't so jolly and children are dirty little urchins that deserve to be punished. The horror comedy is a gorgeously shot descent into yuletide madness, and it is a wonder to see on The Grand's (relatively) big screens. It'll make you rethink candy canes.

5. Charlatan is surging, post-punk inspired electro-rock. As a solo project of Omar Rashan, Charlatan combines programmed beats, synthesizers and fuzzed-out guitars into a sound that's reminiscent of Joy Division. In a positively packed lineup, Hot Panda is the other standout. The Vancouver, B.C., trio combines art-rock, punk and psychedelia into a propulsive mixture that moves feet as much as it lights up neurons. Both Charlatan and Hot Panda take inspiration from the UK's post-'70s explosion, though neither sound like tribute bands. Check them out with Beatrix Sky and Jupiter Sprites at 9 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

LINK: Friday, Dec. 12 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, DEC. 6 2014

1. An almost too obvious entry point for the kind of satirical Americana of Shotgun Kitchen would be their spiritual forefather, John Prine. Expect stories about white-trash-living and country-road-dying performed with appealingly outlaw country-ish instrumentation and vocals while ice skating to the band's live performance at the Polar Plaza ice rink in downtown Tacoma from 7-9 p.m. The music is free; it's $4-$8 to ice skate.

2. Five acclaimed Puget Sound regional writers of mysteries, thrillers and chillers will sneak in the downtown Tacoma Main Library's back door at 1 p.m. to discuss about their books, the art of crime writing and their favorite authors. The authors include William Dietrich, Elizabeth George, Bharti Kirchner, Mike Lawson and Bernadette Pajer. The five authors are all members of the Seattle 7 Writers - a nonprofit collective of Pacific Northwest authors whose mission is to foster and support a passion for the written word. 

3. There's no doubt that the annual Beautiful Angle Holiday Party and Poster Sale is an event Tacoma has come to know and love. Going down at 7 p.m. in the Diane Hansen Studio (747 Fawcett Street, Suite B), the event will be a, well, beautiful exposition of everything Tacoma's underground-legend guerilla arts project is all about. If you're not on the Beautiful Angle train yet, see what you've been missing. Sporty Lee will be providing the music. Expect Grit City Beer. And you'll have the opportunity to buy a poster or two while meeting BA artists Lance Kagey and Tom Llewellyn. All the proceeds of this year’s poster sale go to "Tacoma Warhol" to help get the Andy Warhol flower on the Tacoma Dome. It's a win-win.

4. We've given Rich Wetzel a lot of love over the years, not only because he's a groovy guy, but because he's always playing a gig worth mentioning. Tonight is no exception as Wetzel and his Groovin' Higher Jazz Orchestra bring their annual jazzy holiday to Tacoma Community College at 7:30 p.m. Trumpeter Wetzel sets up chairs for what seems like 59 musicians for a night of swinging renditions of Christmas classics, featuring singers Steve Stefanowicz and Sunny Jo Loudin.

5. True, blue Tacomans likely already have the date circled on their calendar, or programmed into their smart phone, or scrawled on the back of their hand in sharpie. The Valley Pub celebrates its "hard opening" Saturday with CFA, Sun Giants, Stereo Creep and Infinite Flux. Cody Foster, bassist and singer with the high octane CFA, put the show together, welcoming new and improved Valley Pub to the Tacoma Dome neighborhood, and offering a chance for CFA guitarist Dave Takata to show off his new fashion. Foster says this will be the last CFA show of the year as the band needs to hammer down on the new album, although a new song will blast into tonight's show, as well as a cover of Fear's sentimental Christmas song. The free celebratory show is certain to scare the Dickens of out those waiting to board an Amtrak train down the street.

LINK: Saturday, Dec. 6 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

FRIDAY, DEC. 5 2014 >>>

1. With a blues soul and a rock & roll recklessness, Janis Joplin was the ultimate female rock figure. Probably it was the mingling of substances that opened her up so fully, but she poured her emotions through her music and every cracking sob and stomped-on feeling is audible. Even when she's howling, she's vulnerable, her deep-bottom voice is the true sound of a woman in pain. Sherrie Voxx Minter, the voice behind the old school rock band Voxxy Vallejo, doesn't have the pain, but has performed many times before folks who whispered, "She sounds like Janis Joplin." At 7 p.m., "Ah-ha!" will fill Jazzbones as Voxxy fronts the Joplin tribute band Janis Lives, sponsored by her other gig, NWCZ.com radio.

2. Tacoma artist Kellë McLaughlin's "Bestial Mirrors" is meant to give something back as a tribute to all the people who have supported her as an artist. The pieces in the show are animal heads on human bodies, and each is representative of a member of the Tacoma community. Each animal is a "reflection" of the person depicted in the piece. The show is a mix of traditional Japanese woodcut prints and ceramic sculptures, heavily skewed toward the former. That's a change for McLaughlin, who considers herself primarily a ceramic artist. But she's been doing woodcuts and prints for years. Mostly she did them just for fun, but when she started selling prints and T-shirts, they became popular in Tacoma. Read Kevin Knodell's full feature on Kellë McLaughlin in the Music & Culture section., then attend the opening reception from 5 to 9 p.m. at Fulcrum Gallery.

3. Over a year ago, local punk bands took off their shirts and trashed about The New Frontier Lounge. Nestled in between the snarls, Tacoma filmmaker Isaac Olsen screened his German expressionist film, Ich Hunger, while Tacoma dance troupe BareFoot Collective translated the film's imagery into free-form dance. Es war sehr gut! As the film flickered that night, an idea flickered in his head. "What if I could convince the Tacoma Arts Commission to help me take this to the Broadway Center?" Auf geht's! The spectacle, as Olsen calls it, will hit Broadway. Olsen's tale of a creature-boy roaming the German wilderness and devouring the village's hapless tourists will, once again, pair with the BareFoot Collective's elegant performance, this time in Studio 3 at the Broadway Center, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

4. You know the story: Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser who couldn't give a fig about his fellow man. He's dismissive toward his nephew, his only remaining family member; abusive toward his impoverished employee, Bob Cratchit; and just a miserable wretch in general. In the days leading up to Christmas 1843, Scrooge is haunted by his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. This is not a social call. Marley - doomed to forever walk the earth alone, in death as he did in life - warns Scrooge that he has one chance to mend his wicked ways, and so Scrooge will be visited by three ghosts who will teach him the lessons of Christmas. Tacoma Little Theatre presents the holiday classic Scrooge! The Musical with book, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusseat at 7:30 p.m.

5. At Bob's Java Jive, there's a recurring event called "Pirate Karaoke," where you're not only encouraged to sing like a pirate; you can dress like one, too. Imagine, if you will, Lucky the Shoulder Parrot joining you in a stirring round of "Come As You ARRRR!" in the same dive where Kurt Cobain himself used to put away brewskis. Your host Bowan the Black offers a library of 100,000 songs including Styx's "Come Sail Away" and Selena Gomez's "Lubber in Me." (Sorry.) If you're lucky, you'll enjoy the company of rowdy cosplayers The Black Bank, Criminal Dawn, The Feisty Felines or House Madrasa. If not, your rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'" will earn you a stroll down the plank. The song pillage begins at 9 p.m.

LINK: Friday, Dec. 5 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3 2014 >>>

1. Puyallup Fair and Events Center will be turned into a Christmas lover's wonderland for five days when the Victorian Country Christmas festival opens at 10 a.m. Holiday music will fill the air as live musicians stroll through a festive array of Christmas décor and animated displays. Visitors can shop all day as well as enjoy the shows and a vast array of food offerings. There are also carriage rides, Santa Tram rides and the Christmas Carousel. Best of all, for those who love to sing Christmas carols, the festival features Christmas Karaoke.

2. Tacoma Art Museum Chief Curator Rock Hushka will lead a discussion on the history and inspiration behind the sound and video installation Mary Lucier: The Plains of Sweet Regret at 11 a.m. Hear how the video stemmed from a larger project titled Emptying Out of the Plains that was commissioned by the North Dakota Museum of Art. Find out more about this installation and how life is on the plains almost 10 years after the video was created.

3. Tacoma's Mad Hat Tea Co. and local band The Cloves teamed up to create their own special tea blend. Mad Hat's Tobin and Maureen created a unique mix of black tea, cinnamon and cloves to spawn "Tea Time with The Cloves." Thrilled with the tea, the band will celebrate with an acoustic set at 4:30 p.m. in the tea shop in downtown Tacoma.

4. The South Puget Sound Community College Choir will join voices with the Puget Sound Community Choir and St. Martin's University Chorale, all to the festive strains of the Department of Washington American Legion Band for Sounds of the Season at 7 p.m. on the Minnaert Center Main Stage. Among tunes performed will be "Ding Dong Merrily on High," "A Virgin Unspotted," "A Visit from St. Nicholas" with poetic narration, and a "Christmas on Broadway" medley featuring the songs of Irving Berlin. This heartwarming concert will be followed by a sing-along of carols with the audience. O night divine!

5. Tacoma and Seattle music scenes will collide at 8 p.m. when Maurice the Fish Records welcomes London Tone Music's artists in a showcase at Jazzbones. The all-ages show will feature musicians Eric Lilavois, Science! And Vanowen. The staff of both labels will be on hand with open arms if you'd like to hand them your CDs.

LINK: Wednesday, Dec. 3 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, NOV. 30 2014 >>>

1. Suave Bing Crosby and fleet-of-foot Danny Kaye star as workaholic Bob Wallace and playboy Phil Davis, successful 1950s vaudevillians who discover the lovely Haynes sisters, then accompany them to their holiday gig at an inn in Vermont that turns out to be (a) run by the guys' adored old World War II general and (b) dying the tourist death due to an absence of frozen precipitation. Crosby and Kaye decide to bring in their retinue and put on a show in the barn. Romantic misunderstandings and big numbers ensue. But in the end, each song-and-dance man gets a Haynes, snow flutters down and YOU get to sing along to the tune Crosby made the bestselling record in history. We are, of course, speaking of the White Christmas Sing Along at 5 p.m. in the Washington Center. In addition to goodie bags, the Washington Center will award prizes to the best holiday sweaters.

2. After a year of construction at a cost of $15.5 million, the 16,000-square-foot expansion adds 32 percent new space to the Tacoma Art Museum's 50,000-square-foot facility. This state-of-the-art project includes four gracious new galleries, a sculpture hallway and an enlarged light-filled lobby. New visitor amenities include an orientation space, redesigned entrances on Pacific Avenue and on the parking level with a new glass enclosed vestibule, beautiful new landscaping and major outdoor sculptural works, plus improvements to the museum's store and café. Erivan and Helga Haub donated 295 Western American works of art from their private collection to the Tacoma Art Museum. The collection spans 200 years, from famed early artists/explorers to notable present day masters. Read Alec Clayton's full story on the Haub Fally Collection wing at the Tacoma Art Museum in the Music & Culture Section, then check it out from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. With 150 years of popularity, it's no wonder that Louisa May Alcott's Little Women was the number one patron pick for plays to be performed during the 2014/2015 season at Lakewood Playhouse. The script highlights most of the major plot points of the novel and takes the audience on a journey through the experiences of the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Directed by Suzy Wilhoft, the actors do a remarkable job manipulating the emotions of the audience. The audience roared, chuckled, giggled and smirked at the antics and snarkiness of Jo and Laurie, the pretentious airs of Amy and Hannah's long suffering exasperation. Read Joann Varnell's full review of Little Women in the music & Culture section, then ctach the show at 2 p.m. in the Lakewood Playhouse.

4. 6th Ave Dinner Tours is celebrating their next shindig with a live musical performance by Steve Stefanowicz at 6 p.m. First enjoy a guided dinner tour with start times at 3:30 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. launching from Studio 6 Ballroom. "The Funky Umbrella Tour" will guide you down the Ave as you nibble your way through Half Pint Pizza Pub, Wild Orchid and Ice Cream Social, plus nibbles from Legendary Donuts. Tickets are $35. More details can be found at 6thAveDinnerTours.com.

5. Michele D'Amour and the Love Dealers play high energy, danceable blues, often with a touch of funk and R&B. The Seattle-area based band will perform at 7 p.m. in The Spar in Old Town Tacoma.

LINK: Sunday, Nov. 30 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, NOV. 23 2014 >>>

1. Alice Cooper, born Vincent Furnier, pretty much invented live heavy metal spectacle. Long before Britney Spears draped a serpent awkwardly about her neck, Cooper was welcoming us to his nightmare by tossing a live chicken (not, as press reports claimed the next day, biting its head off), purporting to electrocute a guy on stage, and incorporating drag elements from Barbarella and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? No less a scribe than Bob Dylan called him "an overlooked songwriter," and it's hard to argue his assessment given such singles as "School's Out," "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and the ballad "You and Me." Of course, Cooper was also slamming a bottle of whiskey and up to two cases of beer a day at the time, so it's probably a good thing he traded that addiction for golfing with Pat Boone. Don't think the Godfather of Shock Rock has mellowed out too much, though - his last single was called "I'll Bite Your Face Off."  Catch him at 7 p.m. in the Emerald Queen Casino.

2. Erivan and Helga Haub donated 295 Western American works of art from their private collection to the Tacoma Art Museum, along with endowment funds for the future care and educational opportunities related to the collection. The collection spans 200 years, from famed early artists/explorers to notable present day masters. Read Alec Clayton's full story on the Haub Fally Collection wing at the Tacoma Art Museum in the Music & Culture Section, then see the exhibit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a German Romantic composer who, all his life, aspired to be a Classicist in the Beethoven mold - to the extent that he refused to allow titles tacked onto any of his instrumental-genre works: symphonies, concertos, string quartets and quintets, piano trios and quartets, piano sonatas, etc. (though Beethoven himself apparently had fewer objections). Any one of them is simply known as "genre" number N in "some" key, opus "some number": no subtitles and thus no allusions to a mood, no literary ties and certainly no program to "follow." You listen for sound only and savor whatever mood it evokes for you. And that is exactly what you can expect at 2:30 when the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra performs Brahms' Symphony No. 2 withSarahIoannides conducting and young Charlie Albright on piano in the Pantages Theater. Also expect to hear Beethoven'sFidelio Overture and Tchaikovsky'sPiano Concerto No. 1.

4. Accompanied by talented cantaores and musicians, the explosive dances of Mariana Collado and Carlos Chamorro lead us into the mysterious world of flamenco - with an allusion to metallurgy, in which primitive elements are extracted, refined and fused to new strengths and grandeur - at 7 p.m. in the Washington Center.

5. Coming from New York, Pampers bring a sonic onslaught that rarely, if ever, lets up. Listening to the art-punk band is something like trying to restrain a maniac on speed - there's just no getting out of there with cuts, bruises and hair getting ripped out of your head. It's all thrashing and wailing, with the occasional sonic oddity thrown into the mix to make everything just a little bit more disorienting. See the band with OBN IIIs and Nudity at 8 p.m. in Northern.

LINK: Sunday, Nov. 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, NOV. 22 2014 >>>

1. The Cottonwood Cutups were conceived by the many campfire jams held in the Hoh Rain Forest of the Olympic National Park. A mix of influences meld country, old-time, ragtime, punk, bluegrass, rock and jazz to bring about their sound. Ice skate to the band's live performance at the Polar Plaza ice rink in downtown Tacoma from 7-9 p.m. The music is free; it's $4-$8 to ice skate.

2. Artist and instructor Marita Dingus will lead participants in art making using found objects from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tacoma Art Museum. The museum will provide a limited amount of found objects, but participants are encouraged to bring their own stuff they find. Most art making will be 3D renderings, small sculptures and such. Dingus will provide instruction and provide suggestions for creating your green piece of art.

3. With such massive hits as "Living After Midnight" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin," Judas Priest is among the best-loved heavy metal bands in the U.S. and UK. Flamboyant lead singer Rob Halford, celebrated for his wide range and operatic screams, was an MTV staple during the Headbangers Ball years. Now Priest is touring in support of a new album, Redeemer of Souls, with a 7:30 p.m. show at the Tacoma Dome. Is it an old-timers' victory lap? Sure, but not the way you think: Redeemer debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200, making it JP's top-debuting album ever in the U.S. Talk about hell bent for leather.

4. Spaceworks Tacoma participants eTc Tacoma hosts Tacoma rapper Bruce Leroy at 8 p.m. Space is limited for this event, so attendees are encouraged to RSVP at sales@etctacoma.com. The first 20 attendees will receive a free giveaway item. Leroy dropped 10 Feet at the beginning of the month to critical acclaim.

5. Marty O'Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra is one hell of an outfit. We've started calling them the Old School Orchestra, as their music puts us in mind of someone's porch in a gator-bait bayou where people have names like Fingerless Earl, Jimmy Gumbo, and Jailhouse Jackson. Yes, you'll hear echoes of Andrew Bird. Yes, Howlin' Wolf and Tom Waits were influences. But really, this is one of those times when the word esoteric comes in handy for critical purposes. It means the trio grabbed everything good from every hallowed genre of American traditional music, then piled on evocative lyrics: "She was my three-legged dog...It's not the body of the beast that holds its spirit." Man, this stuff goes down finer than crawfish étouffée. Catch the band at 9:30 p.m. in Doyle's Public House.

LINK: Saturday, Nov. 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, NOV. 20 2014 >>>

1. 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. Read Christian Carvajal's full feature on Fleetwood Mac on our Walkie Talkie blog, then catch the 8 p.m. show in the Tacoma Dome.

2. Artist Corey Macourek has been making a drawing a day for his daughter for the last four years. Check out Corey's creations from 5-9 p.m. at Destiny City Comics, next to King's Books. Spaceworks Tacoma helped Michael Fitzgerald, owner of Destiny City Comics, in bringing his vision to life of creating a fun place to get comics in Tacoma, along with critically-acclaimed graphic novels, independent comics and works by local artists.

3. Tacoma ART BUS is a bus tour hosted by Duchess of Downtown Tours every third Thursday of the month. In addition to checking out art in galleries and shops, the BUS also hosts a game with fabulous prizes. Pushing off at 6 p.m. in front of the Marriott Hotel at 15^th and Pacific, the BUS - lead by celebrity tour guide John Keister of Almost Live and The (206) - will stop at Destiny City Comics, Happy Belly, The Swiss, SPUN, Four Seasons Art Gallery and the Nearsighted Narwhal. The $10 tickets include Puget Sound Pizza; $20 tickets include VIP schwag.

4. If you want to join the ranks of the dozen or so local comics who have gone on to national recognition, then Seattle International Comedy Competition is the perfect place to start. Despite the rise of DIY shows and new comedy clubs, SICC remains the focal point for any Washington state comic looking for a career in the funny business. It's the ideal venue for some craft-sharpening stage time, to place get noticed in the state or even national comedy scene. After many nights of competition at many different venues in Western Washington, the semifinalists are heading to the Washington Center at 7:30 p.m.

5. Barleywine Revue is just awesome. The band writes and performs contemporary, relevant bluegrass and Americana music while paying homage to the traditions that have come in generations before ... think Bill Monroe meets Bill Withers. Oh man, that's fresh! Catch the band at 8 p.m. in The Swiss Restaurant & Pub.

LINK: Thursday, Nov. 20 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area