WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2 2014 >>>

1. On June 10, 2006, college friends Dylan LeValley, Greg Spooner, Brad Vickers and Jordan Hanssen stepped into a 29-foot rowboat as the only American competitors in the first North Atlantic Rowing Race, pulling across the northern ocean. From the first dreams of race planning to heaving through ocean waves, Rowing Into the Son: Four Young Men Crossing the North Atlantic takes the reader along with team Outdoor Adventure Racing (OAR) Northwest as they head out from New York Harbor, catch the Gulf Stream current and make the final dramatic push for the finish line, a narrow 50-mile wide "gate" at Bishop's Rock Lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. Hurricane-level winds, giant eddies, passing freighters, flying fish and sharks are all elements of the journey, and the race comes to a tense head on day 17 - with another 55 days to go - as the crew realizes their food supplies are running out and they must drastically restrict their eating. This is lead rower and University of Puget Sound graduate Hanssen's intimate account of team OAR Northwest's journey, a tale you can hear first-hand when Hanssen reads passages of the book at his alma mater at 6:30 p.m. in Commencement Hall.

2. Northwest artist Camille Patha shares stories of her inspiration and experiences from her 50-year career at 11 a.m. in the Tacoma Art Museum. After her lecture, she'll lead a gallery tour our her exhibit, "A Punch of Color: Fifty Years of Painting by Camille Patha."

3. The 2014 Walk Tacoma series kicks off at noon with a 1.5 mile stroll through Wright Park and the Stadium District in Tacoma. Participants will walk with Melissa McGinnis, from Metro Parks, Bill Baarsma, former Tacoma Mayor and Caroline Swope, from Kingstree Studios, and will learn about the history of Wright Park, Stadium High School and Stadium District history. The walk will begin at the south side of Wright Park by the lion sculptures at noon. Walkers will be able to visit booths from 11:30 a.m. until noon to learn more about healthy lifestyles, healthy commutes and other walking events, and the first 200 walk participants will receive a swag bag. All Walk Tacoma events are free and there is no pre-registration necessary.

4. There's something otherworldly about Gary Lappier's photography show, "Sent From Somewhere Else," at Fulcrum Gallery. That does not mean the pictures are of fantasy scenes or that they're surrealistic or dreamily atmospheric. They are simple, straightforward, black and white shots of the B&I Market on South Tacoma Way. What is strange, sad, and mysterious about these photographs is there are no people, no movement, no signs of life in these 23 photographs of a place that is normally bustling with activity. Read Alec Clayton's full review of "Sent From Somewhere Else: The Black and White Photography of Gary Lappier" in the Music & Culture section,and then check out the show from noon to 6 p.m.

5. Pantry, the newest book of poetry by Tacoma-born poet Lilah Hegnauer, will be celebrated at 7 p.m. in King's Books. Pantry won the Hub City Press inaugural New Southern Voices Poetry Award, selected by D.A. Powell.

LINK: Wednesday, April 2 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

TUESDAY, APRIL 1 2014 >>>

1. Just look at us South Sounders, would you? Are we not the most adorable creatures ever? The most perplexed and beautiful and yes, sometimes, lost? Look at us, with our mountains and our mushrooms. Mushrooms? Surely you have trudged through the forest on a damp, cold day, its dreariness punctuated by water dripping from the rain-soaked newly leafing trees. Occasionally one of these frigid droplets would plummet directly down the back of your jacket collar, making you wish you had spent that particular day in the DuPont Library listening to wild foods expert Langdon Cook discuss his new book, The Mushroom Hunters, about Pacific Northwest commercial pickers. Oh glory be, astonishing wonderfungi! Cook will, indeed, be in DuPont Tuesday, to discuss hunting for mushrooms in the rain. No joke.

2. Smooth & Juicey will reopen at 7:30 a.m. in the same downtown Tacoma spot. That's right, the variety of freshly squeezed juice drinks and smoothies are back. In celebration, S & J will offer 41 off any smoothie or juice all day. Also, the first 25 people who drop by between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. will receive a complimentary Mimi's Cake Pop. It's a rewarding place to check in and recharge.

3. Making magnificent use of the Laotian landscape and tribal traditions, Australian director Kim Mordaunt's The Rocket is a coming-of-age tale infused with fantastic elements as it tells the story of young Ahlo who - with the help of a drunken former soldier known as Uncle Purple - decides to enter a local rocket contest, in which the winner gets a cash prize. The stakes are actually broader: It is hoped the rockets will anger the sky gods and force necessary rain upon the farming town. Catch the film at 2:15 and 7 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

4. Olympia female hardcore band Hysterics joins The New Flesh, Darto and Dirty Joe & the Brick Walls for an all-ages show at 6 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

5. Randy Linder and David Christensen will pay tribute to Bob Seger, Mick Jagger and Tom Petty at 6:30 p.m. in the Red Wind Casino.

LINK: Tuesday, April 1 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

As you wish, 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.

FRIDAY, MARCH 28

There's something inherently goofy about the story of Noah's Ark. For geeks of a certain age, it calls to mind Bill Cosby making "voopah" sawing noises and wondering, "What's a cubit?" You may be more familiar with Ricky Gervais reading a children's picture-book summary of the Great Deluge. Either way, it's likely nothing about that story made you think, "Hey! Y'know who'd be great at directing the movie version of this? Darren Aronofsky! Yeah, something about Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan just screams Biblical epic to me." And yet here we are. For good measure, let's have Hermione Granger play Noah's daughter. Righteous. Early reviews are mixed, but at least Russell Crowe doesn't sing.

And of course there's Emerald City Comicon, running all this weekend in Seattle's Washington State Convention Center. While San Diego's fable con slides more into the realm of movies and TV, this is one gathering that keeps its primary focus on the comics. Featured writers include Mike Allred, Kurt Busiek, Erik Larsen, Jim Lee (Friday only), Mark Miller and Jeff Smith. Star Wars novelists Kevin J. Anderson and Dave Wolverton will be on hand, as will John Scalzi, whose Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas won the Hugo last year. It's about a security officer aboard the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, Ensign Andrew Dahl, who suddenly realizes his colleagues don't fare well on away missions. Think 320 pages of "Guy" from Galaxy Quest, and if that doesn't make you desperate for a copy then I don't know what.

Have no fear, TV and movie geeks, you haven't been exiled into the Phantom Zone. Celebrity guests include Richard Dean Anderson (who'll fashion a crude Orion vehicle from two paper clips and a Hot Pocket), Michael Biehn (who'll claim to be from the future, then impregnate a coffee shop waitress), John de Lancie (Q who?), Michael Dorn, Eliza Dushku, Cary Elwes, Kelly Hu, Nichelle Nichols, Ron Perlman, Lance Reddick, Alan Tudyk and Karl Urban. I'm tellin' ya, you put those people around a mic for two hours, and you've got a pretty good LEGO Movie sequel. Did LEGO ever make a Hellboy set? Because that'd be awesome.

SUNDAY, MARCH 30

After last week's history-heavy installment, Cosmos explores "A Sky Full of Ghosts." Patrick Stewart voices astronomer William Herschel, best known for his catchphrase "You go, business pro." Also, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson's Ship of the Imagination buzzes the event horizon of a black hole, beating Disney's reboot department by years.

Meanwhile, in the improbably walker-ful woods around Atlanta, Sheriff Rick is in for an even less happy installment than usual in the season-four finale of The Walking Dead. Shortly thereafter, Nerdist Chris Hardwick will admit even he's not sure what's going on with this show anymore.

Next week, of course, it's back to Westeros for season four of Game of Thrones.

Tuesday, April 1

Avoid obnoxious April Fools' Day pranks by hiding in your living room with a fresh supply of cinematic brain candy. New on Blu-ray and DVD this week: 47 Ronin, Anchorman 2 and Knights of Badassdom.

Until next week, may the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and may we all be reunited in Terminus.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.24.14 >>>

Ukraine evacuated its troops from Crimea, as Russians stormed a marine base. 

A deepening crisis in Ukraine has sharpened the defense policy of NATO member states in Eastern Europe, with the Estonia prime minister calling for higher military spending and Poland seeking early orders for missile defense and drones.

Russia might have got a head start on its takeover of Crimea by evading U.S. eavesdropping.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul says the post-Cold War era has ended in Europe as a result of Russia's unanticipated aggression.

Please come back, Bob Gates.

Global leaders gather in The Hague today for what could be the penultimate installment of President Obama's biennial confabs on preventing nuclear terrorism.

Think the Pentagon isn't serious about Asia? Think again.

President Obama has ordered a sharp increase in U.S. Special Operations forces deployed to Uganda and sent U.S. military aircraft there for the first time in the ongoing effort to hunt down warlord Joseph Kony across a broad swath of central Africa.

On Capitol Hill, a return to pet military projects.

President Obama's FY2015 budget further reduces missile defense funding, exacerbating a troubling, five-year pattern.

Before recently deploying to Afghanistan, a U.S. Army brigade warned the service's own intelligence center that the battlefield intelligence system doesn't work.

Despite a squeeze on investment accounts, the Pentagon's fiscal 2015 budget strategy prioritizes funding for the stealthy F-35 - but at what cost, some in industry ask.

The military has begun employing 3-D printing to make spare parts and components, but the Army is already exploring the next generation, 4-D printing.

The 82nd Airborne Division today will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the deadly Green Ramp accident that killed 24 paratroopers.

Student veterans seeking associate and bachelor's degrees under the GI Bill have slightly better graduation rates than their nonveteran peers.

No one has come out unscathed after the first four days of March Madness.

Netflix generates a massive amount of data consumption - around a third of traffic online during peak hours.

New York magazine has a great portfolio of musicians who helped shape New York, including Thurston Moore, Debbie Harry and Cyndi Lauper.

Actor James Rebhorn, who plays Carrie's dad on the Showtime drama Homeland, has died.

List: Amazon shares 100 Books to Read in A Lifetime.

Check out 13 ice cream "secrets" from Ben & Jerry's.

Finally: Comics truck

Say goodbye to winter...

SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014 >>>

1. Does anyone else feel like planet Earth, and South Sound specifically, has a beer/food/music/book/art/film/fairy/cupcake festival every week? This week is no exception. The Spring Fairy Festival, the yearly "magical weekend of fae," returns to the Freighthouse Square in Tacoma from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Celebrating fantasy, magic and, of course, faeries, this annual event of pixie dust and gossamer wings provides everything a faer-folk enthusiast could want. Host Crescent Moon Gifts gathers artists, musicians, performers and 45 vendors to cater to the varying tastes of those who adore the faerie realm - meaning tricksy goblins, faeries, beguiling bellydancers, lost boys, steam punks and horned ones.

2. Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic book series is turning a cool 20 this week. What amounted to the quintessential '90s comic book - self-aware, stylized, coolly violent - has come of age in a time that has largely failed at adapting comics of the kind. Punisher, Spawn and The Crow have all been blessedly forgotten failures as adaptations. Come rejoice at the victory of the comic form as Olympic Cards & Comics celebrates with a sampler comic of new Mignola stories beginning at 10 a.m. 

3. Bill Holm, esteemed authority of Northwest Coast Indian Art, will give a special presentation "The Northwest Gun in NW Coast Indian Art" at 1 p.m. at Fort Nisqually.

4. Ann Hampton Callaway presents The Streisand Songbook featuring many of Barbra Streisand's most popular hits. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Pantages Theater, she'll bust out songs from "Don't Rain On My Parade" to "People."

5. Tropical breezes, the scent of coconut oil mixed with blooming plumeria wafting under your nostrils, the salty ocean waves gently rolling on shore, inches from your bare feet - ah, Hawaii, how we wish we were there. Since we're not, and the pleasantness of spring in the Pacific Northwest is just barely here, we'll go with Plan B: Keola Beamer and Moanalani at 8 p.m. in the Capitol Theater.

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

March 21-27: Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?

This is precisely the type of movie that is built to kill at an art house, but would go unseen at any other theater. Here's the elevator pitch: Restlessly inventive French Director Michel Gondry animates a conversation with linguist and logician Noam Chomsky. Fun, right?

Gondry has always been a curious director, but an inefficient writer. His adaptations of Charlie Kaufman screenplays (Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) were low and high points for the writer, respectively. While one film hinged on the burgeoning feature director's abilities (paired with a middling story), the other found writer and director enhancing one another. Meanwhile, Gondry's own excursions into writing and directing-with the ruthlessly prickly relationship drama of The Science of Sleep and the cartoonish broad comedy of Be Kind Rewind - were decidedly uneven.

What cannot be denied, even if we decry Gondry's command over ideas, is his command over deceptively simple visuals. The solution to this problem of visuals lacking meaning? Combine Noam Chomsky's fascinating and maddening philosophy with Gondry's imaginative animation to create something of a mashing together of art and ideas that amounts to more than these two men can do, individually. Seems intriguing. The Grand Cinema, Friday 2 p.m., Saturday 8:45 p.m., Monday 6:30 p.m., Tuesday 8:45 p.m., Thursday, March 27 4:15 p.m., 606 S. Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474

Saturday, March 22: Hellboy Day

I will never get over the disappointment of Guillermo Del Toro bailing on directing The Hobbit. Here is a director that made his mark by putting way more effort than necessary into Hollywood fluff. This is a trend that started with Blade II, which had no right being as good as it was. After that, we found ourselves looking at the Hellboy (soon-to-be) trilogy, which managed to take a bunch of goofy characters and imbue them with a sort of surreal majesty. Del Toro is an absolute master of monster creation, and Peter Jackson is more or less a hack of his own creating. A Hobbit trilogy under Del Toro's rule would've been a punk rock ode to everything that fantasy could be, if it could just let go of the orcs and move on the batshit Cthulhu parade.

This is all a long way of letting all you nerds know that Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic book series is turning a cool 20 this week. What amounted to the quintessential '90s comic book - self-aware, stylized, coolly violent - has come of age in a time that has largely failed at adapting comics of the kind. Punisher, Spawn and The Crow have all been blessedly forgotten failures as adaptations. Come rejoice at the victory of the comic form as Olympic Cards & Comics celebrates with a sampler comic of new Mignola stories. Olympic Cards & Comics, 10 a.m., 4230 Pacific Ave., Lacey, 360.459.7721

MONDAY, MARCH 17 2014 >>>

1. There are better ways to spend St. Patrick's Day than sitting at home in front of a big-ass bowl of Lucky Charms. Plan your Irish wake here.

2. Meet the creators of Use Your Noodle Doodle - a book based on a true story about a grandma and an overenthusiastic dog that takes readers on a journey from mishap to celebration, with many life lessons for the entire family - at 7 p.m. in the University Place Library.

3. MLKBallet Contemporary Master Class with Spectrum Dance Theater's Alex Crozier is an open class that will explore creative movement and improvisation with an emphasis on level changes, varying dynamics of movement and partner work. It's an intermediate level class, and Crozier has a lengthy list of awesomeness, so you won't be able to fake your way through it. It begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Urban Grace Church.

4. Weekly Volcano music critic Rev. Adam McKinney says there are vocal similarities between Kurt Lindsay and late cult singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley. The Rev. says, "Lindsay's voice, like Buckley's (though, of course, no one can truly touch Jeff Buckley, vocally), is simultaneously full of bravado and wounded timidity. It quivers with feeling, though it might be noted that Lindsay's voice often comes across as more lost, searching, which adds a nice element to what is largely music that errs toward modern rock, with some detours to friendly mixers like R&B and folk." See for yourself over a green beer or three at 8 p.m. when Lindsay performs at the Steilacoom Pub & Grill.

5. State to State's influences are as plain as day, but they earn points for never shying away from that. They'd be the first to tell you that U2, Radiohead and Jeff Buckley wrote their playbook. Still, State to State could only be judged for their idolatry if they were bad at impressions, which isn't the case. Their melancholy anthems, dramatic vocals, and chiming guitars all explicitly point at those classic artists, but it's an effective pastiche. Catch the band with Wonder and Roo at 9 p.m. inside Le Voyeur.

LINK: Monday, March 17 arts and entertainment in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

EDITOR'S NOTE: As you read yesterday, SOTA student Alex Kling has been our intern for the last two weeks. The Volcano participates in SOTA's internship program on a yearly basis, and every time we're amazed by the talents and skills the interns come equipped with ... including Kling. She hasn't blogged as much as past SOTA interns. Kling has mostly shared her talents on the print side of the operation. Tuesday, we sent her to King's Books for The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee book release party. She filed her report below. ...

If you went to The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee book release and signing at King's Books Tuesday, you would have seen that there was nothing "Itty Bitty" about it. It seemed like an endless amount of people, all in support of The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee author Laurie Cinotto. More than 100 people were there throughout the night, filling the never-ending line of visitors just waiting to meet and greet the author. While people were anxious to buy their books, congratulate Cinotto, and get their books signed, others were socializing and talking about the new book.

During my Itty Bitty discussion with sweet pea, the owner of King's Books, he mentioned he has been following Cinotto's blog for a while - which carries the same name as the book - and he was most excited about the book being a "great way to raise awareness about cats generally." He had also said that the event was a good way to do a "lot of fundraising for the Humane Society," that it was a good way to "give back."

Since the book was more "focused on young readers, it gives them some awareness of what's going on," as sweet pea put it, he also said that it was cool how the event was "a Tacoma thing," even though Cinotto is also a "national writer."

Along with the two bookstore cats, cats Ninja Bob and Cinotto's Wylla Stout attended the event. To say the least, all cats onsite were very interested in what was going on. Atticus, King's Books' black cat, was really lovey-dovey to the people he came across. He was up on their shoulders, rubbing against their legs and just itching for the extra attention. Atticus was very engaged with the people and what was going on ... until Ninja Bob showed up. Atticus became very interested in what Ninja Bob was doing. Ninja Bob was very curious about the place he was in; he was walking around and enjoying the attention he got from the visitors. King's Books' tabby cat, Miko, seemed very shy, although he did seem interested in the event. However, he was exceptionally interested in the donated cat food. He tended to stay by that area, until the food was removed, then he returned to his original perch behind the register. Wylla Stout was in her bed, looking super cute as she was soaking up the attention. The cats were really curious about what was happening and they were a big hit at The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee party. The cats seemed to be pretty content with the situation.

In regards to the book, I believe that The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee book will help kittens and cats to be rescued, and be taken care of correctly. With helpful tips from the cats themselves, and cute comics to entertain little ones, this book is definitely for the cat-loving type. As for the cats and their owners, I think this book will be good for them, because it will help owners better understand their cats. It will help cats and their owners to have a better relationship, because Cinotto gives helpful tips on how to train your kittens.

Overall, The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee book release, and signing, was very fun and a lot of cat food was raised for the Humane Society. Cinotto seemed really enthusiastic, and excited for everyone to read her new book. She got to meet a lot of new faces, but she also got to see some of the old.

The next big thing for Kings Books will be Sunday, April 27 when the 10th annual Wayzgoose Letterpress and Book Arts Extravaganza consumes the store. At the event, there will be 40 tables with different artists, printers and illustrators. See local artists create 3-foot by 3-foot art with steamrollers. Make your own art and paper too. According to sweet pea, for the past 10 years, "about 900 people visit throughout the day" during Wayzgoose. This will be the sixth year that the Wayzgoose will include steamrolling.

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 2014 >>>

1. Man of La Mancha opens at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Musical Playhouse. Set in the 16th century, this play within a play is the musical version of Cervantes's Don Quixote. While Cervantes awaits his trial with the Spanish Inquisition, he fights to put on a show that involves all of the other inmates. Sue Brabham, who plays Maria, says the music is very representative of 1500's Spanish music. It has a "flamenco element," which made it "more challenging for the performers to learn," she adds. She also said for the music, the means are as important as the end. As this play progresses, Brabham says watch for the transformation of Aldonza into Delcinea as she progresses from a "whore to having self esteem and self respect," which is Brabham's favorite part.

2. Used books reign supreme over new books because there's something to be said for encountering a chocolate stain, a teardrop or a snot smear on random pages, reminding you that you're holding something someone enjoyed before you. Used books are things with histories. At the Friends of Lakewood Library's Book Sale you can unleash your fetish for used books with wild abandon from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tens of thousands of books will be on sale, not to mention CDs, cassettes and DVDs. Knowledge has become ridiculously cheap and accessible. Take advantage.

3. The genial satire of contemporary feminism Angry Housewives ran for ages in Seattle centering on Jetti, Bev, Wendi and Carol — good friends, but angry over the lack of respect from their men. So, they form a punk rock band, Angry Housewives, and take their local club scene by storm gaining new self-respect and renewed respect from their men. The play hits the Paradise Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m.

4. Award-winning vocalist/songwriter/harmonica icon Curtis Salgado, touring in support of his Alligator Records debut CD, SOUL SHOT, will perform at 8 p.m. in Jazzbones.

5. Dance beats and distortion, love and anger, tooth and nail -in all its lo-fi, 8-bit finery will go down when MirrorGloss and RowHouse meet at 8:30 p.m. in the Half Pint Pizza Pub.

PLUS: South Sound St. Patrick's Day parties tonight!

LINK: Friday, March 14 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Hi! My name is Alexandria Kling. I am the "Tacoma School of the Arts Intern of the Year" at the Weekly Volcano!

OK, I'm the only SOTA intern at the Volcano.

I am currently a junior at SOTA. I have been writing for the Volcano for almost two weeks. I have been writing the McChord and Fort Lewis history sections for the Northwest Airlifter and The Ranger, the newspapers covering Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and sister publications of the Volcano.

Fun fact for you: I was born at Madigan Hospital in 1997, so being able to learn more about Fort Lewis, and McChord, is pretty interesting to me.

I have also written some "blurbs" - as Publisher/Editor Pappi Swarner calls them - for the Agenda section of the Volcano. As a student at SOTA, I have been studying music, specifically vocals, songwriting, and music composition, for almost 2 years now. This makes my internship with the Weekly Volcano exceptionally fun, because I enjoy arts and entertainment, especially if it's in Tacoma.

With the Volcano I have also been updating the concert alert, and the nightlife calendar section of the weekly newspaper. This week, after previewing the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee book release event at King's Books, I attended the event Tuesday night. My review will be posted soon here on the Walkie Talkie blog.

Through this internship, I have gained so many skills, and I am glad to be able to continue to grow with the Volcano for another week. Overall, I am not a complex girl. I love music, I love to write and I want to go to college for both.