TUESDAY, JAN. 19, 2010 >>>

1. Leonard Mynx will weave tales of desperation, death and heartbreak over slow heartbeat tempos at 7 p.m. inside the Mandolin Café.

2. Jeannet Iskandar's ethereal constructions of suspended light and line meet in a confluence of rhythm and repetition from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Traver Gallery.

3. The Banned Book Club discusses The Beet Fields by Gary Paulsen at 7 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge.

4. Owen Miller, ND, presents the free lecture "Let Go of the Past and Embrace a Healthier Future" at 7 p.m. inside Marlene's Market & Deli in Tacoma.

5. Ralph Porter hosts Ha Ha Tuesday featuring opening MC D Lamont Hall, and guest comics Joe Fontenot, Ron Funches, and Will Woodruff at 8 p.m. inside Jazzbones.

SATURDAY, JAN. 16, 2010 >>>

1. The Grand Cinema presents a free screening of The Secret of NiHM at 10 a.m.

2. Metro Parks and the Friends of McKinley Park organization host one of many upcoming McKinley Park Cleanup Work Parties where people will gather between 9 a.m. and noon at the new playground restrooms off of McKinley Avenue (500 E McKinley Ave., Tacoma) before breaking into groups and helping to clear the park of invasive and non-native plants like English Ivy and blackberry bushes.

3. Bring umbrellas, rain ponchos and cash to the Bazi Reigns event 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Tollefson Plaza (South 17^th and Pacific Avenue) to help keep the homeless dry and warm.

4. Richard Henegan, author of Gestation: Unborn Hostage, will be hanging at Orca Books in Olympia beginning at 3 p.m.

5. Voxxy Vallejo performs in The Hub's bar at 9 p.m. with no cover.

MICHAEL SWAN: ART OF MODERN ROCK >>>

Here’s a holiday gift for someone you really love. Released in 2004, Art Of Modern Rock is a $60, 20-pound book which traces the progress of the modern art rock poster. With work from more than 200 artists, Art Of Modern Rock is nothing if not complete.

Devotees will recognize the names of Art Chantry (Tacoma represent!), Ames Bros., Frank Kozik, Lindsey Kuhm, Mark Arminski and the many other artists; others will only recognize the style.

Selected from 8,000 submissions, the posters in the book capture an era (1989-2004) where rock poster art went through a transformation and once again became fine art. It’s in its fifth printing.

There’s entire pages devoted to psychedelic jam band posters; String Cheese Incident receives its own section, in fact. But non-hippie bands are well-represented too. There’s a lovely Tori Amos poster in which John Lennon, from beyond the grave, endorses the red-haired singer. Graphic designers go nuts over this sort of thing; and it’s easy to see why.

Non-artists can appreciate the varying styles of poster art and how Nirvana, Pearl Jam and others help resurrect it as an artform in the 1990s.

You’ll need two hands to carry it and a ton of paper to wrap it, but any lover of art and popular music, especially jam band music, will love this book. Click here for more info.

MICHAEL SWAN: THE HOLIDAZE - ONE PANEL AT A TIME >>>

No matter where you go each year around the holidays, the holiday spirit bombards you from all sides - comic book stores are no different. For years comic book writers and artists have deviated from the normal story lines to dedicate an issue or two to the holidays.

The first Christmas issue I ever bought happened to be the first issue of Uncanny X-Men I ever read as well. Issue 143, titled Demon, was released in 1981. It featured X-Men member, Kitty Pryde, alone in the Xavier mansion on Christmas Eve. Pryde battles a seemingly unstoppable demon that comes down the chimney. (On the back of the comic is a full-page ad for a set of 132 Roman soldiers for $2.98, a great stocking stuffer!)

Inside the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker and wife Mary Jane are evicted just in time for Christmas, but all's well by the end - Spider-Man even receives a little help from a sidewalk Santa who knocks the bad guy out cold. Nice.

Not to be left behind, Superman got into the gift giving in 2001. What does one superhero give to another on Christmas? You find all the answers here as Superman visits each member of the Justice League to give them a simple and sometimes funny gift. Each time Supes visits a new member of the JLA it is drawn by a different artist making it a holiday jam session.

This year's holiday comics have arrived at Comic Book Ink in Tacoma. CBI owner John Munn says he has plenty that will cause many comic fans' storage boxes to bulge fatter and fatter like Santa's belly-o-jelly.

"There are wonder holiday specific comics such as Bruce The Blue Spruce and It Ate Billy On Christmas," explains Munn. "Plus, just as Die Hard is a "Christmas movie," there are so many comic book stories that take place DURING Christmas."

Daily, through the end of the year, you can fill up a "short box" for $70 at Comic Book Ink. Munn is also running a Back Issue Blow Out Sale through December.

[Comic Book Ink, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, 1625 E. 72nd St., Tacoma, 253.761.4651]

MICHAEL SWAN: MONDAY, DEC. 14, 2009 >>>

1. The Graphic Novel Book Club discusses A Contract with God by Will Eisner at 7 p.m. inside the Tentwentytwo Lounge on Hilltop Tacoma.

2. Tim Kapler's works on display at The Swiss has an intensity and inventiveness that have much to be admired.

3. The Gig Harbor community comes together at Skansie Brothers Park for Hark The Harbor Community Caroling at 7 p.m.

4. Al Earick Band performs at 8 p.m. inside The Swiss.

5. Every Monday night at 9 p.m. inside Jazzbones you can sing on the stage with a live band before a live, dancing audience - talent or not - during Rockaraoke.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: TUESDAY, DEC. 8, 2009 >>>

1. Zoolights features more than a half-million lights - including the massive flame tree - from 5-9 p.m. at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

2. Classical Tuesdays in Old Town presents TangoHeart Quartet, plus wine and empanadas, at 7 p.m. inside Connelly Law Offices.

3. Randal Platt's Book Launch Party for Hellie Jondoe begins at 7 p.m. inside the Mandolin Café.

4. Tacoma Community College's Joy & Laughter Concert featuring the TCC Singers, TCC Voices, TCC Gospel Choir and improv from Taproot Theater begins at 7 p.m.

5. Mary Win and Daniel Adams perform alternative folk rock at 8 p.m. inside the Northern Pacific Coffee Company.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: FRIDAY, NOV. 20, 2009 >>>

1. The Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular - fires up at 7 p.m. inside the Tacoma Dome.

2. MOVE! - the ongoing modern dance series presented by MLKBallet - presents its 15th installment featuring works joined by Seattle's Spectrum, Tacoma Dance Collective and others at 7 p.m. inside the SOTA Theater. Tacoma musician Vicci Martinez contributed several songs to MLKBallet's pieces.

3. Weekly Volcano visual arts critic Alec Clayton delves into his latest novel, The Backside of Nowhere, at 6 p.m. inside Orca Books.

4. Northwest Snowboard presents its Annual Winter Video Premier at 7 p.m. inside the Capitol Theater.

5. The Uncle Bonsai trio will take a quirky look at modern life through harmony and humor performs at 8 p.m. inside the Pythian Temple, 926 1/2 Broadway in downtown Tacoma.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, NOV. 14, 2009 >>>

1. Maestro Christophe Chagnard of the Northwest Sinfonietta and Maestro Harvey Felder of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra together present Mozart Meets Beethoven - an all out battle - in tuxedos at 7:30 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater.

2. King's Book's Open House and Poetry Marathon will feature 15 renowned poets reading their poems along with two open mic sessions from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

3. Art And Kimonos - featuring art by Lynn Farren, Sarah Utter and Karen Utter, plus a vintage kimono sale - will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Fibers Etc. in downtown Tacoma.

4. The Tacoma Art Museum presents "Redefining Northwest Art," a panel lecture on how the history, geography, and diverse cultures of the region have influenced the art of the Northwest from 1:30-4 p.m.

5. Doxology, Ben Union, and Roman Holiday play an 8 p.m. show at Jazzbones.

MICHAEL SWAN: SUNDAY, OCT. 25, 2009 >>>

1. Matt Jaislles's movie Drug Cult - screening at 7 p.m. inside The Brotherhood Lounge in Olympia - has it all: lobotomies, drug fiends, sexy ladies, ruthless cops, a pregnant prostitute and dead bodies.

2. Tacoma poet Tammy Robacker will read and sign her first book of poetry, The Vicissitudes, during a celebration at bellaballs art studio from 2-4 p.m., hosted by Urban Grace Poet Laureate of Tacoma Antonio Edwards, Jr.
 
3. The Tacoma Youth Symphony Association presents A Night At the Movies Costume Concert at 3 and 6 p.m. in the Rialto Theater. 

4. The Tokens Improv host an Improv Seminar from 6-8 p.m. in the Broadway Center Rehearsal Hall.

5. Jazz guitarist ed Taylor and saxophonist Darren Motamedy perform at 8 p.m. inside Muckleshoot Casino.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: TAMMY ROBACKER RELEASES BOOK OF POETRY >>>

Quick question for you: What's the poetry scene like in Tacoma?

If you said, "Wait a minute! What poetry scene?" - you're exactly the type of person I'm looking for.

(Unless, I suppose, your idea of poetry is the stuff scrawled on the walls of Honeybuckets.)

Fact is, while it may be small and fledgling, there is a poetry scene in Tacoma - and it's growing.

People like Tammy Robacker - who has written for the Weekly Volcano in the past and has become a force within Tacoma's poetry scene-are making it possible.

And the City of Tacoma is also helping.

Through a funding from the Tacoma Artists Initiative Program (TAIP) and a grant awarded to her from the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Arts Commission, Robacker is releasing her first book of poetry, The Vicissitudes, this week. Robacker will hold a book release, reading, and signing party Sunday, Oct. 25 at bellaballs art studio (747 S. Fawcett Ave., Suite B, Tacoma). Tacoma Poet Laureate Antonio Edwards Jr. will emcee the event, and fun is expected to be had by all.

Those who need proof of Tacoma's poetry scene need look no further.

LINK: Tammy Robacker's Poem-A-Tacoma blog series