SUZY STUMP: MACBETH CLOSES IN LAKEWOOD THIS WEEKEND >>>

Well, it’s been a cynical week. But what can we say? It’s a cynical time. Let’s end on a happy note. Macbeth. Some call it a tragedy. Some call it dark and bloody. We say look deeper. Good wins in the end. It’s just the getting there that’s the problem. But that’s always the problem, right? The point is, justice is served. Evil is vanquished. See, it’s practically Hollywood. All you need is Daniel Craig. On second thought, let’s be glad we don’t. Then let’s go see some Shakespeare. You know it’s worth it.

[Lakewood Playhouse, through Nov. 16, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday,  $14-$22, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd., next to the Pierce Transit Center in the heart of the Lakewood Towne Center, 253.588.0042]

LINK: ViVA South Sound arts and entertainment calendar

SUZY STUMP: POETRY TO ME >>>

King’s Books unleashes marauding gangs of poets, craftspeople, artisans, and their multitudinous admirers on the genteel people of St. Helens Avenue over the next two days. Run for your art!

• NOV. 14: Distinguished Writer Series and Open Mic featuring haiku poet Michael Dylan Welch. Open mic sign-up at 6:30 p.m.
• NOV. 15: Tacoma is For Lovers Artist Craft Fair and benefit for Colleen Malone with more than 20 artists’ booths. Noon to 4 p.m.
• NOV. 15: Shakespeare in the Parking Lot will be performing Proofs of Holy Writ. 7 p.m.

Tonight’s haiku poetry has inspired me to write one about Tacoma.

Trailer has no tires
Rusted rims have sunk in deep
My Homeland's secure

[King’s Books, 218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.8801]

MICHAEL SWAN: IT’S ON THE STREETS AND INTERWEB TODAY >>>

Blood, sweat and gears
Tacoma needs help if it wants to be a bicycle town by Simon Moon

Keep pushing
Guest Editorial: Get involved in your community by Marilyn Strickland

In the works
A preview of the City Center Luncheon by Simon Moon

Blue Mouse turns 85
PLUS: Warren Miller and marimba! by Suzy Stump

Holy Parking Lot productions!
Holy Writ serves up Bard debate by Steve Dunkelberger

Fistful of God’s Gun
Those who dig spaghetti westerns will dig Spindrift by Matt Driscoll

50 candles on the pizza pie
The secret sauce transcends 50 years by Ken Swarner

Stop the rumors!
New Frontier is freakin’ open people! by Natasha Gorbachev

Trouble With DeRosa
Bill Creveling is a geologist superhero by Steph DeRosa

LINK: The Weekly Volcano online

RON SWARNER: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TACOMA >>>

Today is the 133rd birthday of Tacoma and Zach Street and the folks behind Speak Your Soul have a gift for the city: The Community Composed Tacoma Tribute Poem posted (in streaming audio) here.

Update: The Melon announced this first

LINK: Martin Short at the Pantages tonight
LINK: Grab a bite before or after

STEPH DEROSA: DELIVERING MESSAGES AND SAVING LIVES >>>

I ran into Peter Lynn and Sean Alexander, co-owners of The Helm Art Gallery, earlier this week at the Grand Cinema.  I was talking with both of them for this week's Trouble with DeRosa column. During our conversation Peter mentioned to me that The Helm had received some unfortunate hate mail via the USPS.  I adore these guys, The Helm Gallery, and everything they do for our thriving Tacoma culture.  So when I learned of this letter, I asked to see it and was rightfully upset about its contents.  When asked if I could post it on the Spew, Peter and Sean said yes â€" but only if a message would be delivered from them to the letter’s author.

Here's the letter:

Here's Sean and Peter's message to the letter's author:

Sean and Peter ask the author to please step forward and contact them in person, no hard feelings.  They would appreciate the opportunity to help this person understand what The Helm is, what Squeak and Squawk was, and how it positively affects the community.  Maybe through mature conversation Sean and Peter would also be able to understand the author’s intentions, thus rectifying any issues with disgruntled neighbors.

SUZY STUMP: ARTISTS' WISDOM FORUM >>>

Cooperation, collectivity, camaraderie â€" these are not words that would usually be associated with artists working in the same town and competing for the same business. Yet it is precisely these ideas that come up over and over when speaking with Tacoma artists.

Four of Tacoma's most prominent artists â€" Lynn Di Nino, Jennevieve Schlemmer, Stan Shaw and Becky Frehse â€" will be the guest panelists at an Artists' Wisdom Forum Nov. 18 at Tacoma Art Place. The panel will discuss milestones in their careers, how they achieved them and the state of art in Tacoma.

The hour-and-a-half forum begins at 7 p.m.

To attend, RSVP here.

SUZY STUMP: VANILLA SOUL IS THE SLAM ANCHOR >>>

I always thought art operated on its own isolated, lonely schedule: get depressed, self-mutilate, see self in mirror, paint feverishly in garret. The public only gets to see the work post conception â€" posthumously. Vanilla Soul belies the twin notions of the sacred, secret creative process and the wait for a random stroke of inspiration: "I will be your slam anchor as we take spoken word into the realm of journalistic entertainment in the spirit of the Daily Show," claims Soul.

His Thursday's Slam Report grand opening premiere will feature:

Will it be Tacoma's new Moment of Zen?

[Stephanie's, Thursday, Oct. 30, 7-9 p.m., no cover, 932 Pacific Ave., Tacoma]

STEVE DUNKELBERGER: REVIEW OF EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES >>>

Tacoma is a weird town, theatrically speaking. I often wonder how is it that they can be cultured enough to spend their hard-earned money on theater and then walk out because they are offended by what they see.

There weren't a lot of intermission walk-outs at the production of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues at Theater on the Square, but there were enough for my watchful eyes to notice. The theater was far from full to begin with, so it was hard to do an actual head count of early leavers. But the spirit was certainly there. Folk apparently didn't know that the traveling version of Book-It Repertory Theatre's take on the counter-culture novel would actually follow the tenor of the book. 

It follows the story of Sissy Hankshaw, who goes through live with enormous thumbs that lead her to the only conclusion â€" hitch hike across the United States. This is where she enters the no-rules world that was the 1970s outlined in Tom Robbins’ 1979 novel. It is a good book, and it is a good show. That is, if you actually stay and absorb culture that might make some folks squirm.

There's still plenty of time to see the show.

[Theatre on the Square, Even Cowgirls get the Blues, 3  p.m. today; 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25, and again 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, $22-$34, corner of Ninth and Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

Chandeliers - Pantages, originally uploaded by jimoliverphotography.

Check them out tonight during the production of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.