SATURDAY, MAY 3 2014 >>>

1. While their dance-rock may not be the most groundbreaking thing in the 2014 music landscape, Mirrorgloss are utterly unique and entirely welcome to Tacoma's currently hibernating scene. Not only do they bring dance to the indie scene, but - and this must be said - they are led by two awesome black women, which is far from the defining element of Tacoma's music culture. Diversity remains a problem in indie music, and it's fairly evident in the Pacific Northwest. That it's noteworthy to have a bill mostly made up of black women - as it will be when NighTraiN join Mirrorgloss at the New Frontier Lounge - means there's clearly something askew. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Mirrorgloss in the Music & Culture section, then catch the show at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

2. Tacoma Historical Society opens the following historic home to tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: The Achilles House (414 N. C St.), The Branscheid House (502 N. E St.), The Brodsky/Heaton House (905 N. Stadium Way), Central Lutheran Church (409 Tacoma Ave. N.), Federal Building (1102 A St.), The Fitch House (412 N. C St.), The Love House (620 N. 8th St.) and Provident Building (919 Pacific Ave.). Tickets are available at the Pacific Northwest Shop, Stadium Thriftway and Columbia Bank locations at 21st Street and Pearl and South 19th and Union.

3. Ever since 2002, the first Saturday of May has seen participating independent comic book stores across the country hand out their wares for free. More than 3 million comic books are given away each year! Once again, today is Free Comic Book Day. Click here to find the nearest free comic.

4. The Broadway Center Conservatory presents Damn Yankees! - a zippy, popular 1955 musical about a rabid baseball fan, Joe Boyd, who says he'd sell his soul for a long-ball hitter for his beloved Washington Senators team. Satan, badly disguised as a guy named Mr. Applegate (there's a reason for that name), is always within earshot when people say that kind of stuff, so he offers Joe a deal. High jinks ensue. Catch the show at 3 and 7 p.m. in the Theatre on the Square.

5. Wingman Brewers of Tacoma's Mighty HighPA will be front and center during the Mighty High reggae band's set at Doyle's Public House. The free show kicks off at 9:30 p.m.

LINK: Saturday, May 3 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

TUESDAY, APRIL 29 2014 >>>

1. Thursday marks the beginning of National Bike Month. In Tacoma and Pierce County, employees are encouraged to do lots of bike stuff, and ride their bicycles to work.  According to commute co-op Pierce Trips, if you live within five miles of your workplace, biking may not be as hard as you think. With gas hitting $3.75 a gallon, we thinks Bike to Work Month is gonna be crackin' this year. Planning to organize a Tacoma-Pierce County Bike Commuter Challenge Team? Enjoy food and drink specials while picking up special Captain's Packet with Bike Month incentives to help you and your team get in gear from 5-7 p.m. at the Harmon Tap Room.

2. Sure, you know about cow-tipping and daffodils ... but what do you really know about Sumner? Carmen Palmer and Paul Rogerson will share the histories and stories of Sumner at 6 p.m. in the Sumner Pierce County Library. They will discuss their book, Sumner, a new volume in the award-winning local history series, Images of America.

3. "Now Wally, I want you to go in the living room and pick up those orange peels that you left on the coffee table. If your father comes home and sees them he'll be in a terrible mood all through dinner and won't let you and The Beaves rock the Red Wind Casino at 6:30 p.m." - June Cleaver

4. Not that anyone needs another excuse to eat tacos, but Southbay Dickerson's BBQ in Olympia has declared Tuesday the day of the taco. And while barbecue and tacos may not sound harmonious on the surface, the principle behind "low and slow" cooking crosses any border. These hybrid tacos come with slow-cooked pork shoulder or smoked chicken for $1.50 a piece. To take Taco Tuesday to the next level, Southbay invites the Don Cohen Jazz Quartet to fill its Pig Bar with jazz at 8 p.m. Five dollar margaritas just make the night crazy delicious.

5. Pacific Lutheran University Singers and Men's Chorus under the direction of Brian Galante and Nathan Frank perform at 8 p.m. in Lagerquist Concert Hall.

LINK: Tuesday, April 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Nearly 52 years after an Air Force fighter jet crashed in the Olympics and killed the pilot, two Seattle outdoorsmen are going to search this spring for the wreckage that has never been found.

Tomasz Biernacki and Phil Anderson have researched the crash and believe they have come up with some new evidence.

"We hope that our fresh approach and research will help locate the wreck site," Biernacki said. "After reviewing the crash and news reports from that time, we think the military may have been misled in their initial search."

On Nov. 10, 1962, Capt. Robert Lucas was flying a F-102 fighter interceptor on a routine training mission when his plane crashed somewhere between Lake Cushman and Lake Quinault. Hunters said they heard an explosion near the Wynooche watershed on the same day.

Multiple searches never found the plane or the pilot. Lucas is believed to have ejected from his plane before it crashed.

>>> Capt. Robert Lucas

"We have some evidence that has lead us to explore a few possible new locations for the jet crash," Biernacki said.

Biernacki and Anderson have been waiting for the snow to melt before they begin their search for the wreckage in the OlympicMountains.

The two outdoorsmen will film their search and it will be part of their adventure documentary series exploring the Olympic Peninsula, My Olympics.

The adventure documentary will include an episode on Anderson, who is nicknamed "Cougar Phil." Anderson, following the advice of a local Indian, will spend five days in the wilderness, living off the land in an attempt to experience what Indians called "Vision Quest." He'll only have knife and a survival kit.

Another of the six planned episodes Biernacki and Anderson will be shooting will be on cougars.

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 2014 >>>

1. This Sunday, families all over the South Sound will participate in the tradition of searching for hundreds of hidden eggs to prevent our fair region from smelling like a rotten omelet come summer. Yup, it's Easter - bunnies toting around baskets with colorful dyed eggs and candy to hide for sugar-addled children. If the regular old egg hunt just won't satisfy, consider an early adult egg hunt on the Art Bus. The third Thursday bus tour to Tacoma galleries, businesses and venues hanging art goes bunny hop tonight, handing out bunny ears to riders and inviting them to search for eggs at each stop, all under the careful watch of tour guide Rep. Jake Fey of the 27th District. As always, there will be VIP swag bags, hugs, plenty of art and pizza provided by Puget Sound Pizza. Details can be found at tacomaartbus.com.

2. The 4th Annual TCC Diversity Film Festival rolls on with Fort McCoy, the latest from directors Kate Connor and Michael Worth, which tells the story of Frank Stirn (Eric Stoltz), a man who earns his living in WWII-era Wisconsin working as a barber for the Army at nearby Fort McCoy. Business is good - Frank caters to both American military personnel and to the Nazi POWs that are his new neighbors. Catch it at 2 and 6:30 p.m. in The Grand Cinema.

3. The Collins Memorial Library, at the University of Puget Sound, invites the public to join a lively and informative discussion on current research, unique resources and rare books that are part of the University of Puget Sound Collections. At 4 p.m. in Collins,C. Mark Smith ('61) will join four student curators to discuss the life and times of Professor Lyle "Stan" Shelmidine who taught Middle Eastern History and the creation of the Collins Library exhibit, "Stan!," featuring artifacts and documents from Shelmidine's Collection. Learn about Middle Eastern art and architecture and explore the library and life of a Puget Sound icon.

4. Doyle's Public House will combine its monthly St. Practice Day party with its eighth anniversary celebration beginning with the standard hoisting pints at 5:17 p.m. to recognize pint club achievements and welcome new members, followed by hugs, drinking and music from The Cold 102's at 8 p.m. No cover, as always. Click here for the story on how Doyle's came to be.

5. The Twang Junkies will fill The Swiss with rockin' country tunes beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Thursday, April 17 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, APRIL 6 2014 >>>

1. So, the guys in circulation were trying to describe it to us the other day - telling us all about the Nuclear Cowboyz FMX tribe who returns to the Tacoma Dome at 2 p.m. for an action-packed show complete with a Hunger Games-ish storyline told through more than 1,000 gravity-defying freestyle stunts. Or something. From what we're told, it's part Broadway show, part rock show, part freestyle motocross - now with more dance troupes and an army of Shaolin Kung Fu Warriors. Again, this is the circulation department talking. On top of all this, we're told, the show combines fearless freestyle gravity defying stunts, outrageous pyrotechnic and freakin' laser displays synchronized to heavy metal, rock alternative and electronic dubstep music, and features the world's best freestyle motocross athletes - such as X Games medalists Colten Moore, Taka Higashino and Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg - front and center. Got it?

2. The Weekly Volcano staff crosses Flett Creek during daily trips for Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccinos. We don't give Flett Creek much thought, because all we can think about are Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccinos. John Flett and his family couldn't enjoy the sweet awesomeness of Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccinos during their difficult journey from the Red River area (near modern Winnipeg) across the Canadian Rockies to Puget Sound in 1841. Puget Sound sucked, so they headed to Oregon. Eventually, the Fletts made their way back to the Puget Sound in 1859. They homesteaded near Fort Nisqually and the community of Flett, which included a streetcar station. Flett was later absorbed into the town of Lakewood, and eventually several Starbucks popped up. If you're interested in Flett history before Starbucks, Beth Julian, great granddaughter of pioneer John Flett, will share the Flett story through tales, photos and memorabilia at 2 p.m. in Historical Fort Steilacoom, on the grounds of Western State Hospital.

3. Man of La Mancha finds Miguel de Cervantes in a dungeon with other prisoners, defending his life by narrating the story of Don Quixote, the naïve but faithful Sancho Panza, and the scrappy Aldonza. The treatment of Aldonza/Dulcinea in the musical, as opposed to the novel, is deeply disturbing. Cervantes's brawny farm girl becomes a prostitute who's brutally gang-raped in a barn. Quixote trounces the rapists ... then ministers to their wounds. But what of Aldonza's? What's the point of this added scene? Why not have Quixote - hell, Aldonza - prevent the attack? Tacoma Musical Playhouse deploys undeniable talent, especially in the lead roles. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Man of La Mancha in the Music & Culture section, then catch the final performance of the run at 2 p.m.

4. After legendary guitarist Rich Dangel passed away in 2002, the two remaining members of Butterbean, Michael Kinder and Buck England, invited Dean Reichert to fill the big shoes Dangel left. The trio still performs rockin' blues, including at 7 p.m. in The Spar.

5. In the pantheon of such legends as Santa Claus and the Bogeyman, the Tooth Fairy ranks down in the minor leagues, we'd say, with Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny. Such a low ranking makes the Tooth Fairy an easy target for jokes. Ten comedians will dress up in legendary characters and roast the Tooth Fairy at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Comedy Club.

LINK: Sunday, April 6 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and olympia area

THURSDAY, MARCH 27 2014 >>>

1. Babes is a band that frequently crosses the wires of love and desire. Online, they don't have much of a presence, beyond vague websites and unoccupied Twitter pages. They have a hotline: (470) BABES-77. One gets the impression that you could call any time for intimate connections. The first thing I asked them over the phone was about their habit of almost exclusively writing love songs. Why love songs? "We're horny!" they exclaimed. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with Babes in the Music and Culture section then catch the band with Lures and MILK at 8 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

2. The Tacoma Historical Society celebrates the grand opening of its new space in the Provident Building from 5-7 p.m. Besides chatting up old things over punch, the Society will unveil their debut exhibit, "Out of the Attic: Curiosities from the Collection of Tacoma Historical Society," which showcases rare items rescued from oblivion by the society. 

3. Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer (4.8 percent ABV) will hit the wooden bar at Doyle's Public House in Tacoma's Stadium District. From 6 to 8 p.m. Doyle's will offer Crabbie's Original and the new Spiced Orange, which recently became available throughout Washington, served chilled over ice with a slice of citrus, for $4 and in a special cocktail - The Ginger and Jamey, Crabbie's Ginger Beer and Jameson Irish whiskey - for $7. For guests who'd like a bite with their Crabbie's, the kitchen will prepare a special dish for the evening - Crabbie's Ginger Wings for $4, to complement the ginger beer.

4. Turn your radio dials back and experience a time when the world was at war - back? We have to turn them back for this? - and pop music consisted of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." Oh, OK, there we go. Let's all put on our nostalgia hats and head back to a time when things made sense, or, at least, gave the impression thereof. And where do we end up? In The Mood: A 1940s Revue. It's a sentimental, romantic, nostalgic, jazzy and patriotic tribute to America's Swing Era. It's gonna be grand at 7 p.m. in the Washington Center.

5. Lucas "Vanilla Soul" Smiraldo's "Auricle" returns with a contemporary look at the Bhagavad-gita with a fusion of music and sermon at 7 p.m. in B Sharp Coffee House. Expect electronic music, spoken word and some classic rock songs.

LINK: Thursday, March 27 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

It all starts with Pacific Beer.

Puget Sound Brewing and Malting Co., founded by German immigrant Anton Huth, opens for business at 2501 Jefferson Ave. in Tacoma, in 1888. Pacific Beer is its home brew, which exports as Tacoma Beer to faraway lands. Pacific/Tacoma Beer is a pilsner. By 1906, it's renamed Pacific Brewing and controls neighboring brewery Columbia Brewing Co., which it helped fund a few years earlier (in 1949, Columbia will be renamed Heidelberg Brewing Co.). Before state prohibition stricks in 1916, Pacific Brewing is the second largest brewery in the state, behind Seattle Brewing with its Rainier Beer. Prohibition sucks, Pacific pushes "near" beer, Huth dies, Pacific makes soap and the smokestack falls during an earthquake.

Along comes Dusty Trail, the man. In 1995, he converts the landmark Engine House No. 9 into Tacoma's first brewpub. With the help of Douglas McDonnell, the grandnephew of the German immigrants who founded Columbia Brewing, E-9 produces Tacoma Brew, a salute to the original Puget Sound Brewing beer. Trail and McDonnell research, tinker and trademark the beer, producing apparently a more pale ale version of the original recipe. Dick Dickens buys E-9 in 2002 and resident head brewer Doug Tiede uses two hops in the Tacoma Brew formula: Czech Saaz hops, the variety used in the original pilsner, and Hallertau, found in Bavarian-style lagers. In 2011, X group (Asado, Masa) purchases E-9, with Shane Johns running the kettles. For several years Johns asks ownership to steer away from the current ale yeast and convert Tacoma Brew to the pilsner recipe of Tacoma's past. In three weeks, it will be so.

With the new tanks in place, and successful productions of its Oktoberfest pilsner, Johns receives the nod from owners John Xitco and Jeff Paradise to take a run at the 28-day pilsner fermentation. The exact release date of the seasonal isn't in stone. With E-9's new distribution grabbing a lot of the company's beers, a tasting is also up in the air.

So, in roughly three weeks, another date will be added to Puget Sound Brewing and Malting Co.'s timeline, marking Tacoma Brew's coversation to a pilsner recipe from Tacoma's past and a latest chapter in Tacoma's brewing history ... until the resurrection of Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. happens later this year.

BEER HERE

Wednesday, March 26

Joe Walts, head brewer at Narrows Brewing Co., says he's bringing his Oatmeal Stout, Imperial Red, Neo Noir (city-wide collaborative Black Belgian ale) and IPA (pouring through a Randall) to The Swiss from 6-9 p.m. There will be a raffle for NBC swag, although it's not the focus. "We're trying to get away from that sort of brewers night and make them more about me being available to talk about the beers and our brewing processes to people who are interested," says Walts.

Pint Defiance hosts the Speakeasy Brewing ales and lagers from 5-7 p.m. The San Francisco brewery specializes in big IPAs, Rey Reds and barrel-aged blends.

Double Mountain Brewers will park it at the ParkWay Tavern from 5-9 p.m. The Hood River, Ore. brewery is hot off its seventh anniversary party.

Thursday, March 27

Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer (4.8 percent ABV) will hit the wooden bar at Doyle's Public House in Tacoma's Stadium District. From 6 to 8 p.m. Doyle's will offer Crabbie's Original and the new Spiced Orange, which recently became available throughout Washington, served chilled over ice with a slice of citrus, for $4 and in a special cocktail - The Ginger and Jamey, Crabbie's Ginger Beer and Jameson Irish whiskey - for $7. For guests who'd like a bite with their Crabbie's, the kitchen will prepare a special dish for the evening - Crabbie's Ginger Wings for $4, to complement the ginger beer. 

Friday, March 28

Saisons are traditionally delicate but flavorful, complex but not overt. Narrows Brewing Co. will release its Hibiscus Saison "Siren's Call" at 5 p.m. Friday, pairing it and several other beers with M Street popcorn popped at the brewery. "The base beer for the Hibiscus Saison is a rustic farmhouse ale in the same ballpark as Saison Dupont," says Narrows Brewing head brewer Joe Walt. "From there, I added hibiscus flowers to give the beer a dark pink color and a little extra fruit flavor." The Siren's Call screams a 6.2 percent ABV and will hang around for two to three months.

Salty's at Redondo Beach hosts a Mac & Jack's brewmaster's dinner at 6 p.m. The Two Tun IPA, Serengeti Wheat, African Amber and Blackcat Porter will be paired with Chef Gabriel Cabrera's steelhead, Hibachi chicken, braised short ribs and cobbler. The cost is $65.

Sad News

According to the Parkway's Facebook, manager John O'Gara has passed. Sad news, indeed. RIP John.

Good morning PW family and friends. We are sad to post that our friend and manager John O'Gara passed away this morning. You were as much a part of his life as he is yours. We will be open today to share hugs and tears, cheers and beers, and to give you terrible service that only John would approve of. John, you will be celebrated. Cheeeeerrrrrsssss!

SEE ALSO

Odd Otter Brewing Company to open in downtown Tacoma this summer

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

When we have seen Charlie Sheen on television - beyond the sweats, the wide red eyes, excessive talking, cigarette-smoking and orange liquid-consuming antics, he looks great. And he's an honorable guy, too. The last few days have been filled with reports of him demanding everyone to stop referring to his porn star girlfriend as a porn star even though she is in fact a former porn star.

So maybe Charlie Sheen's not such a crazy idea as host of National Geographic Channel's Vietnam War two-hour documentary Brothers in War. He has received four Emmy nominations for starring in Two and a Half Men. He's also got Oscar cred. Sheen starred in Platoon, which won best picture of 1986, and he appeared in Wall Street (1987) opposite Michael Douglas, who won a lead actor statuette for his performance in that Oliver Stone drama.

Let's take a look at what brothers in war is about, via a news release. ...

In 1967 the boys of Charlie Company went to war in the Mekong Delta, the homeland of the Viet Cong, and entered a foreign land of murderous heat, unforgiving jungle and a new age of guerrilla warfare. This "band of brothers" journeyed from boot camp to combat and, for the lucky ones, back home - experiencing their horror, their pain, their misery, their happiness and, above all, their camaraderie together. Now, nearly 50 years later, they're uniting once again to share their stories of courage under fire with the world.

Through gripping first-person accounts and digitally remastered archival footage, including the soldiers' own home movies and personal audio tapes, Brothers in War recounts the harrowing combat experiences of the men of Charlie Company - one of the last American combat infantry companies to be drafted, trained and sent to fight together in Vietnam. Fittingly narrated by Charlie Sheen, who rose to stardom after his 1986 performance as a Vietnam soldier in "Platoon," the two-hour special premieres Wednesday, March 26, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel (NGC)

Hmmmm.

We ask again: should Charlie Sheen host National Geographic Channel's Vietnam war special Brothers in War?

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19 2014 >>>

1. Flamenco dancer Savannah Fuentes presents El Sol de Medianoche, Flamenco en Vivo: a night of powerful Spanish flamenco music and dance featuring singer Curro Cueto of Seville and guitarist Jose Vega of Cadiz at 8 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge. Let the mix of music and traditionally costumed dancing beauty transport you to Spain.

Read more...