MONDAY, OCT. 6 2014 >>>

1. University of Puget Sound Associate Professor of Painting Elise Richman teaches painting, drawing, and 2-dimensional design courses as well as the 2-D senior seminar every other year. Her innovative, process-based paintings explore elements of the material world and states of flux. Janet Marcavage, also an Associate Professor of Art at UPS, specializes in printmaking. She teaches studio courses incorporating a range of print media such as lithography, etching, relief, and intaglio, plus experimental, photomechanical and digitally-augmented methods. Today, the two professors open a shared show, "Ripple and Unfold," at the Kittredge Gallery on campus. Check it out from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. Oktoberfest is dead. Halloween is dead. The Day of the Dead is dead. Even Thanksgiving is dead. Well, at least to the Northwest Repertory Singers. The Tacoma-based organization has just nudged out the department stores in the race toward Christmas. The choral group is currently rehearsing for its annual December concerts, and like every year, opens the singing sessions to the public. So exchange your pumpkin sweater with that candy cane ditty in the back of your closet, because the sugarplums are rockin, and there's no need for any knocking, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Mason United Methodist Church.

3. Jazz and blues band Maia Santell & House Blend will perform at 8 p.m. inside The Swiss.

4. Bay Area clarinetist and saxophonist Harvey Wainapel has been making yearly musical pilgrimages to Brazil since 2000, and has no plans to stop. The variety of musical traditions across cultures and regions is practically inexhaustible, he says, with perhaps only a single common thread: "they all swing like hell." Naturally, that irrepressible, infectious rhythmicality will be on display as Wainapel hosts a CD release party for his new CD, Amigos Brasileiros Vol. 2, at 8 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye. Pianist and frequent collaborator Jovino Santos Neto will join him.

5. While there have been a few bars that have tried hosting karaoke nights with live bands, Jazzbones' Rockaraoke live band karaoke is one of the ones that's lasted. It can be fun as hell singing along with a live band. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Monday, Oct. 6 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

What a delight!

Perfect weather - and it can't get any better than it was yesterday - combined with the tradition of delighting and entertaining families from the local area greeted the general public during Joint Base Lewis-McChord's annual Freedom Fest.

Held at Cowan and Memorial Stadiums, the festival featured live entertainment, aerial demonstrations, military displays, carnival rides, a fantastic classic car show, food, and games.

On this day, the nation's 238th birthday, the attitude among many attending Freedom Fest is decidedly patriotic.

"I am very proud to be an American," said Vietnam veteran Jerry Murphy as he stood next to his immaculately restored 1970 Ford Mustang.

Murphy's car underscored his patriotism.

Inside the car were visible the multiple Purple Hearts he had earned while serving in Vietnam.  In the truck were Silver and Bronze Stars neatly arrayed next to his flight suit.

"I served in the infantry and aviation," he told me.  And I value our freedom to be able to live our lives as we see fit."

>>> Vietnam veteran Jerry Murphy's 1970 Ford Mustang was one of the many classic cars on display. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

>>> Classic Cars:  Thousands of individuals turned out in ideal weather conditions to enjoy Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Freedom Fest activities. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

Joan Greenwood clearly understood the value of freedom today represents.

"My dad served in the Navy and died for this country.  My brother served and died for this country.  My husband is a Marine, and I am proud to be a part of this country," she said.

>>> Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Walker, 110th Chemical Battalion, holds the American flag during Freedom Fest activities at JBLM July 4. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

>>> Abigail Hart enjoyed Freedom Fest by receiving an air brushed red dragon. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

FIREWORKS DAY, JULY 4 2014 >>>

1. Meet the Beatles! Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, John, Paul, George, and Ringo began working on a project that would bring their revolutionary talent to the big screen. The Fab Four romp and smirk and sing their way through Richard Lester's exuberant 1964 film, A Hard Day's Night. The Beatles play wily, exuberant versions of themselves, captured the astonishing moment when they officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever. The film has been restored for its 50th anniversary, and screens at 2 and 6:30 p.m. at The Grand Cinema and at 6:30 p.m. at The Capitol Theater.

2. Today is national Front Yard Barbecue day. Invite the neighbors over for a front yard barbecue. And those who don't have a front yard can still use any park, plaza or public space. Last year more than 30 front yard barbecues took place in the Tacoma area. For more details, go to http://frontyardbbq.org/.

3. What would a Fourth of July celebration be without fireworks? If you said lame, you’re absolutely correct. The Freedom Fair knows this, which is why, blessed with the perfect backdrop of a Commencement Bay sky, technicians will detonate what’s being toted as the biggest fireworks show in the Northwest. The fireworks are set to start at 10:10 p.m., and every color of the rainbow will be represented. The Tacoma Freedom Fair is promising the display will shake the waterfront, the city, and beyond. It will last about 21 minutes, and the display will be synchronized to a musical score that will be pumped through every speaker along the waterfront. The music will also be simulcast on Click 98.9 FM and KLAY AM 1180 for your enjoyment. Before the fireworks, Ruston way will be full of live entertainment will run all day on five stages, including the Back to Beale Street Blues Competition, air show, food and silliness.

4. The 2014 Joint Base Lewis-McChord Freedom Fest continues its annual tradition of delighting and entertaining families from all around the region. The general public is cordially invited to join the JBLM community from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. for an all-day, all-evening holiday celebration like no other. Held on base at Cowan and Memorial Stadiums, the festival will feature live entertainment, aerial demonstrations, military displays, carnival rides, a car show, food, games and a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks show starting about 10 p.m. to cap off the evening.

5. B-Lines are very much not in the mood for fancy-pants subgenre naval-gazing. No hifalutin descriptors; just "stupid punk" emblazoned on their page. One thing does pop up, though: they refer to one of their albums as "post-proto-hardcore," a designation so colossal in its meaninglessness that it approaches the sublime. There needn't be much attention paid to pitches and press kits with B-Lines, however, because the music speaks for itself in furious volumes. Their most recent 12", Opening Band, is a quick burst of nine songs, just barely passing the 15-minute mark. Along the way, B-Lines are steadfast in their desire to get in and out with as much tuneful efficiency as possible. Even their name - B-Lines - is evocative of the breakneck rush they're in to get from A to B, completely waving off the possibility of a C. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on the B-Lines in the Music & Culture section., then catch the band with No Body and Arc Ov Light at 8 p.m. in Olympia's all-ages club Northern.

LINK: Friday, July 4 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

The Washington National Guard celebrates our nation's independence with several statewide "#GuardWeek" events as part of "It's your home, It's your guard, It's your week" 2014 campaign. The Guard hopes all ages enjoy the following community events, encouraging tagging Fourth of July photos on twitter with the social media hashtag, #GuardWeek.

The Washington National Guard kicks off its #GuardWeek campaign with the Go Fourth Festival in Longview July 2-3. Drop by the Washington National Guard information booth and enjoy the 133rd Army Band.

Friday, July 4, the Washington National Guard heads to Seattle for the Seafair Summer Fourth at Gas Works Park and South Lake Union Park. Expect to see vehicle static displays, 133rd band, interactive booths and an awe-inspiring presentation with a salute cannon and aerial display to start the fireworks show. 

The Guard will participate in the city of Auburn's Fourth of July festivities at Les Grove Park, including a concert by its 133^rd Band. Those in Les Grove Park will enjoy various arts and crafts, car show, parade, and various entertainers on two stages.

Will you be close to the Tacoma Waterfront? The Washington National Guard will be. The Guard will have static vehicle displays, interactive booths and entertainment at the "America Be Strong" Stage by the Lobster Shop restaurant on Ruston Way as part of the huge Freedom Fair.

Have a need for speed?  Then make sure you visit the Evergreen Motor Speedway in Monroe July 4. The Guard will have static vehicle displays, interactive booths and entertainment. 

The Guard will also be participating in several parades in Arlington and Edmonds.

Across the Cascades, the Guard will be a part of Spokane's July 4 Pennant 5k Run in the morning and closing out the day with the triple-a baseball team Spokane Indians as they take on the Vancouver Canadians, followed by fireworks. The Washington National Guard will have a Paladin Howitzer Static Display and information booth

The 133rd Band will also play in White Salmon outside of Yakima as part of a Fourth of July celebration.

Closing out the 4th of July Weekend, the Washington National Guard and the Seattle Reign Women's Soccer team will have a military appreciation match against the Boston Breakers at Memorial Stadium in Seattle Sunday, July 6. The Guard will present the Colors, bring static displays, host an information booth and toss the coin. 

Grammy Award-winning performer, songwriter and producer Kristian Bush really does actually sing; it's just been little awhile. Bush is well known and lauded as a multi-award winning songwriter and musician; yet other performers sing his words. But these days, as a solo artist, currently on a tour to promote his new songs, Bush is cozying up to the mic. And for the performer, singing, playing and performing is extra sweet.

Bush has been writing and performing music for more than two decades. In the early 1990s, he formed a folk-rock act called Billy Pilgrim with fellow writer and performer Andrew Hydra. Billy Pilgrim was successful and brought acclaim and accomplishment to the pair. However, it was another important pairing that really put Bush's career in overdrive.

This summer Bush is out on the road performing on the 2014 "Put Your Soul In It Tour," with a stop right here in South Puget Sound. Bush is the featured performer at the 2014 JBLM FreedomFest being held July 4 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Bush takes the main stage at 6:30 p.m. and will entertain audiences until 8 p.m. According to the performer's website, he will perform with a five-piece band including Rebecca and Megan Lovell of roots duo, Larkin Poe.

Read more...

MONDAY, MAY 26 2014 >>>

1. Memorial Day is the one day of the year that we set aside to remember and honor our country's patriots, yet we owe them a debt of gratitude, every day of every year. The Evergreen State College will hold a remembrance roll-call commemoration honoring the U.S. military men and women of all races, faiths, and nationalities who have died serving in the global war on terror at noon in the Evergreen State College Library Lobby. There will also be an exhibit of names of all of the U.S. military fatalities since the start of the war. Both are open to the public. Pierce County Veterans Advisory Council and Mountain View Funeral Home, Memorial Park & Crematory present their annual Veterans Memorial Day Service at 2 p.m. at the Joint Services Memorial in Mountain View's Garden of Honor section. The general public is warmly welcomed to participate.

2. In director James Gray's The Immigrant, Ewa Cybulksi (Marion Cotillard) and her sister, Magda (Angela Sarafyan), arrive at Ellis Island in 1921, intent on pursuing the fabled "American Dream." Their plans get derailed when Magda is denied entry and quarantined due to a lung disease and Ewa is nearly deported because of alleged prostitution on the very ship that brought her to New York. The mysterious Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix) gets Ewa out of trouble and into a dancing gig in his Bandits' Roost Theater where she can earn money for her sister's treatment. There's just one catch: Bruno's dancers dance vertically and horizontally. It's far from the glamorous new life Ewa imagined, but it's a means to an end. Catch the film at 12:15, 2:50, 5:30 and 8:45 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

3. Creative Colloquy, which goes down at 7 p.m. at B Sharp Coffee House, encourages scribes to connect with like minds. Short stories and novel excerpts are encouraged but other prose is welcomed. Each performer will have up to 5 minutes to read. Opportunities are based upon those who arrive and sign up first. Tonight's featured storytellers include Nick stokes, L. Lisa Lawrence, William Norris Turbyfill and the work of Alec Clayton performed by actors Sharry O'Hare, Michael O'Hara and Christian Carvajal. Come imbibe in libations or sip on roasted bean concoctions and watch storytellers do the thing they do best - narrate their tales.

4. New vintage swing band Chickadee will perform tunes that invoke and satisfy dreams and passions for dancing and romancing at 8 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye in downtown Olympia.

5. Every Monday at 9 p.m. Jazzbones is packed to the brim with college kids. Party types. The type that wear tight shirts and trucker hats. Throngs of Chad Fratguys and Sarah Sororitysisters swarm the bar, line up for the bathroom and dance to the Rockaraoke - live band karaoke. The Rockaraoke band is skilled, too. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs.

LINK: Monday, May 26 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

The Ranger and Northwest Airlifter newspapers, with cover the Army and Air Force at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, are shipped off to the press every Wednesday around this time. It also happens to be the time Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affairs Office sends us news releases. This week, the PAO alerts us to JBLM's involvement on Memorial Day. Let's take a look. ...

Joint Base Lewis-McChord will honor the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of the United States with a Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 26, at 11:30 a.m. at the base cemetery, the Fort Lewis Cemetery.

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Ethan Starr's interest was piqued.

"I'm interested in explosive ordinance disposal," he said as his friend, Cody Whitman, helped him into a protective suit.

"I think I would like to serve in the Army."

One of several thousand visitors, Starr had found the nation's 64^th Armed Forces Day celebration at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) to his liking.

"It's good to get a glimpse of what soldiers do," Starr continued.

Begun on Aug. 31, 1949 by then Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, Armed Forces Day allows the military to highlight its service members and their equipment to the general public.

It is also a day to honor and acknowledge soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines for the service they provide.

>>> Thousands attended the nation's 64th Armed Forces Day celebration at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

>>> With the help of some face paint, Patrick Provencio began to look like a Ninja Turtle. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

>>> Members of the Washington Civil War Association fire a 10-pound Parott Cannon during a Civil War reenactment at Memorial Stadium. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

Highlighting events at JBLM's Memorial and Cowan stadiums yesterday were historical displays, carnival rides, a variety of foods and drinks, a climbing wall, music and entertainment, a 10K Volksmarch and Civil War reenactments.

"It's really a fun day," commented Army veteran Rick Tweddell moments after being freed from some stocks used as a form of punishment in the 1700s.

"It is good that the Armed Forces are remembered and supported by the public."

>>> Brooklynn Yeates takes the controls of a MH-60 Helicopter during Armed Forces Day festivities at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

>>> Eric Haines - the One Man Band - entertained visitors to Joint Base Lewis-McChord with his music and singing. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

SUNDAY, MAY 11 2014 >>>

1. It all starts with those peepers, of course, sometimes flirty, sometimes intense, but always aware, of the cameras, of the crowds, of the cool. Ol' Blue Eyes, a singin' joe with the world on a ring-a-ding string. Sinatra made his way, like a figure out of a 19th century novel, from the rough Italian neighborhoods of Depression-era Hoboken to the heights of musical popularity in wartime New York, crashed and then recreated himself in 1950s and '60s Hollywood and Las Vegas. It's those Vegas shows Joey Jewell will recreate with Jim Kerl's Swingin' 60's Orchestra at 6:30 p.m. in Jazzbones. Well, maybe not an exact replica of those times. Jazzbones' hat-check girls shouldn't need to be on alert.

2. CycloFemme is a global women's cycling day created to honor the past and the emancipation of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, for the freedom to choose and the chance to wear pants. To celebrate the present, Tacoma's VeloFemmes invites women to join them for a ride around Tacoma, beginning at noon at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma.

3. We promise you, no animals were harmed in Olympia Little Theatre's production of playwright Lauren Gunderson's Exit, Pursued by a Bear. The prey in this story is Kyle Carter, a short-tempered redneck who may or may not have beaten his wife, Nan. On a quest for revenge and emancipation, she recruits the help of a stripper/wannabe actor named Sweetheart (stage name "Peaches," which isn't much better) and Simon, her gay best friend, who arrives in a cheerleader's uniform. Nan's plan is to stage a reenactment of key moments with Kyle, then douse him in honey and open the door wide to Ursus americanus floridanus, a 300-pound Florida black bear. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Exit, Pursued By A Bear in the Music & Culture section, then catch the show at 1:55 p.m.

4. The Five Changes (Wu Xing) are the five material elements of the traditional Chinese Daoist world, and the transformations that turn each into the other through natural processes over time.  At 3 p.m., "The Five Changes" will be performed by the Pacific Lutheran University Percussion and Wind Ensemble in Lagerquist Concert Hall.

5. Jubal Flagg hosts Comics Eating Brownies at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Comedy Club. Five comics will perform, then eat a brownie, and perform again.

LINK: Sunday, May 11 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MONDAY, MAY 5 2014 >>>

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a super fun day when you drink so much Mexican beer that your mouth goes numb, you take your top off at a Taco Bell and drink margaritas the size of your head. Every Mexican restaurant in the South Sound will get its party on today. Here are two specific party suggestions:

1. There's no better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than by shoving six pounds of burrito down your gullet for the fame, fortune and glory of becoming the burrito eating champion of Tacoma. Masa is holding its annual "Jefe de Jefe" six pound burrito eating contest at 6 p.m. Its beer garden opens at 5 p.m. Bands Smoke Perkins & The Filthy Falcons and the Eclectic Approach kick off at 7 p.m. At 9:30 p.m., two DJs spin on two floors.

2. DJ Frank is back at Encore Boutique Nightclub with a sombrero full of reggaetron, merengue, bachata, salsa, cumbia, punta and, of course, hip-hop, beginning at 10 p.m. Start thinking up excuses now for why you'll be rolling into work at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

3. The Hambone Blues Band performs at 8 p.m. in The Swiss.

4. In the same way that sharks must keep swimming to keep breathing, it seems guitarist Rafael Tranquilino must fuse genres across various musical projects in order to stay afloat. His arrangements incorporate blues, funk, rock, funk, ska, metal, reggae, Latin and jazz-fusion. As accomplished as he is varied, Tranquilino can be seen every Monday night as host of Stonegate Pizza's rockin' blues, if not experimental, jam at 8:30 p.m.

5. The New Frontier Lounge isn't The Five Spot on Cooper Square. Then again, it doesn't sit in the East Village of the 1950s either. But, grab the corner bar stool on a Monday night at The New Frontier, nurse a double bourbon, close your eyes and let pianist Nate Dybevik, bassist Arneson Cameron and drummer Peter Tietjen take you to the famous New York City jazz club over the din of the drinking Tacoma crowd. It as it should be: hearing a cool jazz jam in a comfortable, no-pressure environment. It launches at 9 p.m.

LINK: Monday, May 5 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area