SUNDAY, OCT. 13 2013 >>>

1. The central joke in the '40s comedy Arsenic and Old Lace concerns spinster sisters Abby and Martha Brewster, who are pillars of the local church, much loved in their community, and always happy to provide soup for the sick and hospitality to the lonely. They live with their nephew, Teddy, an amiable loon who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt. But the sisters have a secret: Using arsenic-laced elderberry wine, they kill lonely old men - but only with the best of motives: to bring the old gentlemen peace. Several recipients of their benevolence are buried in the basement, and when the play opens at 2 p.m. in the Lakewood Playhouse for the last time, a twelfth is in the window seat, awaiting disposal. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Arsenic and Old Lace in the Music and Culture section.

2. The Swiss has stepped up their Sunday Seahawks parties this year. Yeah, yeah, they have 12 TVs. Who doesn't. Do those 12 TVs come with a 9:30 a.m. opening, four breakfast specials before noon, pool tables, shuffleboard and happy hour all day in a historic building? Our favorite combo is the meat breakfast burrito paired with a Manmosa (shot of raspberry vodka) and a Jermaine Kearse diving catch touchdown.

3. That big collective groan you may have heard or felt reverberating throughout Tacoma was for the loss of preeminent music promoter Ted Brown who passed away Sept. 25. He was 61. Ted's inextinguishable enthusiasm and zest for music made him instantly familiar with everyone he met. A memorial will be held at 2 p.m. in the Immanuel Presbyterian Church. A Blues Vespers show will be held in conjunction, which is how Ted would have wanted it.

4. A Late Quartet tells the story of a beloved cellist of a world-renowned string quartet who receives a life changing diagnosis, the group's future suddenly hangs in the balance: suppressed emotions, competing egos, and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration. As they are about to play their 25th anniversary concert, quite possibly their last, only their intimate bond and the power of music can preserve their legacy. Inspired by and structured around Beethoven's Opus 131 String Quartet in C-sharp minor, the film pays homage to chamber music and the cultural world of New York. The films screens at 3 p.m. in the Theatre on the Square. Tickets are $49 as it includes admission to the world-famous Brentano String Quartet concert Nov. 8 at The Rialto.

5. Portland-based saxophonist Patrick Lamb returns to Jazz LIVE at Marine View for an encore performance at 5 p.m. Lamb is one of those extraordinary performers who combine raw talent and energy with a singular ability to captivate an audience with his charm, sincerity and pure magnetism.

LINK: Sunday, Oct. 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater TAcoma and Olympia area

In 1944, 63 young men stood trial at a Japanese internment camp at Heart Mountain, Wyo. for resisting the draft; the impact of this action was a poignant part of American history. A local filmmaker brings this history alive, and now South Sound residents have the opportunity to be a part of the conversation.

The Fife History Museum, which recently launched its latest exhibit, "Rights, Rations, Remembrance: Fife in World War II," proudly offers patrons an opportunity to learn more about this significant era. The general public is cordially invited to the museum on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. to view director Frank Abe's controversial World War II documentary, Conscience and the Constitution.

The film reveals the long-untold story of the organized draft resistance at the American concentration camp at Heart Mountain and the suppression of that resistance by Japanese American leaders. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker and other community leaders.

Conscience and the Constitution takes us back in time to December 1941, when war was raging in Europe and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor stunned the nation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast, many of whom were already U.S. citizens, be placed in internment camps spread out among seven states.

Read more...

THURSDAY, OCT. 10 2013 >>>

1. Hailing from Austin, Texas, Crooked Bangs is a band that is quite adept at building expectations and smashing them. Initially reveling in the sounds of '60s garage and '70s punk, Crooked Bangs slowly folds in elements of post-punk. It's compelling enough, but then you hear the vocals of Leda Ginestra - rising through the din of riled up punk is the voice of a dispassionate Parisian, which recalls the sort of deadpan work of Nico. The band plays with Clayface and others at 10 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

2. Bird lovers from far and wide will flock (get it?) to Tacoma for the 10th annual Bird Lovers' Weekend at the Museum of Glass. Events kick off tonight with the opportunity to make your own glass bird from 5-7 p.m. in the Hot Shop, iittala master glassblowers Arto Lahtinen and Kirsi Antila enter the Hot Shop Friday and hang until Sunday, bird-related art activities as part of Family Day Saturday, Sunday morning "Bird Lovers' Brunch" and a bunch of squawking in between. Click here for full schedule.

3. As public relation coordinator, she's also played a part in bringing a slice of the 5th Annual Seattle Latino Film Festival to T-town this year. In conjunction with the University of Puget Sound, SLFF will host a one-night screening of El Cantante at the Washington State History Museum at 6 p.m. Read Christopher wood's full feature on the screening here.

4. Broadway Center's yearlong Free For All festival continues tonight with its inaugural Think and Drink program. Humanities Washington will set up shop in the Pantages Theater's lobby for a free discussion about how advances in digital technology are affecting our interactions, institutions and culture. This Think and Drink discussion will be led by technology experts Alex Alben and Amy Fisher, and moderated by Ashley Gross. Alben is the author of Analog Days - How Technology Rewrote Our Future and a member of Humanities Washington's Speakers Bureau. Fisher is a professor in the University of Puget Sound's Science, Technology and Society program. Gross is a business and labor reporter with KPLU radio. The drinks begin to pour at 7:30 p.m.

5. During his decade of death- and pride-defying antics on MTV, the stage and the silver screen, daredevil Steve-O (aka Stephen Glover) has lived a life like no other. He's swum with sharks, gotten a portrait of himself tattooed on his own back, put out rap records, danced with the stars and railed lines of wasabi - and he'll be the first to tell you that's the least of what he's put up his nose. He's added comic to his career list, and his comedy is front and off center at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Comedy Club.

LINK: Thursday, Oct. 10 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

With the release of Gravity, Rush and Captain Phillips, award-season is really starting to gear up, and what better way to celebrate than to go see a tongue-in-cheek sequel to a tongue-in-cheek movie that was based on a tongue-in-cheek fake trailer?

No? OK, but what if I told you that Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson and Lady Gaga were in it?

Still no? Fine. Let's just watch the trailer instead.

Machete Kills picks up where Machete left off - so deep in the realm of self-satisfied parody that Robert Rodriguez probably wouldn't notice or care if it were playing to an empty theater. Beyond simply being homage to the grimy B-movies, Machete adopted the tact of the Hangover movies in paying tribute to low culture in general, featuring the stunt casting of ne'er-do-wells like Steven Seagal and Lindsay Lohan. The bar has once more been raised with the inclusion of the aforementioned triumvirate of Gibson, Gaga and Sheen.

Danny Trejo - once a noble character actor, now an ironic icon in the mold of Betty White - returns as the titular Machete, a renegade antihero hired by the hard-drinking, hard-loving President Charlie Sheen to bring down Mel Gibson's terrorist. An endlessly pulpy series of quips and explosions follow, including a particularly eye-roll-inducing scene of Machete proclaiming that he doesn't tweet, as he brandishes an iPhone equipped with a switchblade.

Machete and its sequel are an exercise in the vein of Pulp Fiction's career revival of John Travolta, but for Trejo. The problem, though, is that it highlights Trejo as a badass man of few words, which certainly was always part of Trejo's appeal, but anyone who's seen his tender and charming work in movies like Sherrybaby can attest that there's much more to the man than what Robert Rodriguez chooses to show in the Machete series.

Character actors, by their nature, are designed to convey a wealth of information sheerly through their appearance. Because of this, Trejo will never want for work (he has 15 film roles in 2013 alone), but it'd be great to see him explored further than skin deep.

Oh, and fuck Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen.

Tacoma has taken the definition of art to a whole new level over the years. This kind of creativity has given the city vibrancy and energy and it only continues to gain momentum. Now, thanks to new local television programming, Tacoma's artistic gifts are celebrated in a special way.

The city of Tacoma's Media and Communications Office, in partnership with the Community and Economic Development and Department's Arts Program, launches the innovative cultural documentary-style television series, artTown. The television initiative explores Tacoma's creative and artistic growth and how it has emerged as a major creative hub in the region. This quarterly series makes its debut Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 at 8 p.m. on the award-winning municipal government television channel, TV Tacoma.

The show's segments offer a rich and diverse look at a wide variety of creative endeavors. For Tacoma Arts Administrator Amy McBride, the show is a labor of love and a way to pay homage to the city and its people.

"There's so much talent in this city. The series is another medium to share that talent and to tell more stories because there are a lot of them," says McBride. "Being able to tell the many stories of Tacoma helps people shine and get the recognition they deserve.

Read more...

TUESDAY, OCT. 8 2013 >>>

1. Tacoman Erik Hanberg loves parks and books. He's taken both passions to the next level. He's currently a commissioner with Metro Parks Tacoma. He's also penned The Saints Go Dying, The Marinara Murders and within days of releasing his first sci-fi novel,The Lead Cloak. Hanberg is campaigning to create a park out of the waterfront property next to Point Ruston, naming it after the Tacoma author Frank Herbert, author of the Dune series. Hanberg will join Post Defiance, King's Books's Broad Horizons Book Club and Chris Keil, co-owner of Hilltop Kitchen cocktail lounge and Dune fan, toasting Herberttoday  - what would have been Herbert's 93rd birthday - with Keil's exclusive cocktail menu inspired by Herbert's classic six-book science fiction series from 7-10 p.m. Let's hope HK skips the Toto soundtrack from David Lynch's 1984 film version.

2. Commencement Bay Haiku will meet at 6 p.m. in King's Books to read haiku or one page of haibun (prose with haiku), as well as discuss various aspects of haiku, haibun, or haiga (a painting, sketch or photo with haiku). It's not easy to convert the innards of your soul into scrawled words on paper and then wax rhapsodic as judging eyes stare at you. You may use this haiku about King's Books cats: Wanna go outside. Oh, no! Help! I got outside! Let me back inside!

3. What are the current and future human impacts and implications of cell phones, social media, and the Internet? Documentary filmmaker, director, and Pacific Northwest native Dominic H. White asks this question and more in his new eye-opening documentary, DSKNECTD, which screens at 6:30 p.m. as part of the 2013 Tacoma Film Festival. The documentary delves into how mobile devices; virtual worlds, social media and the Internet are reshaping human interactions. Looking at the good, bad, and the ugly, White leaves the viewer in the end pondering their own personal connections to technology.

4. Conventional wisdom dictates that you'd rather spend Tuesday night watching TLC TV and sharing a big bowl of prune whip with your great aunt Martha than venturing out to hear harp music. But in this case, conventional wisdom would be wrong. Tacoma harpist Margaret Shelton explored traditional and contemporary harp music from Asia, Europe and South America while traveling on a grant in 2011. Through performing, interviewing harpists, digging through museum archives and even building a small harp, Shelton discovered the rich variety of this unique instrument around the globe. At 7 p.m., she's going to bring it all home in the Slovonian Hall as part of Classical Tuesdays in Old Town Tacoma.

5. Every Tuesday night at Stonegate Pizza on South Tacoma Way Leanne Trevalyan hosts an acoustic open mic at 8 p.m.

LINK: Tuesday, Oct. 8 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Houston in the blind, 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.

As I write this, my head is still reeling from Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity - though that may be residual motion sickness. The more I reflect on it, the more I believe it's a true thinking man's sci-fi flick, conveying volumes of astrophysics with deceptive ease and slipping inside Sandra Bullock's helmet for unobtrusive first-person storytelling. I urge you to see it in IMAX 3-D, if only the LieMAX at Lacey's Regal cineplex. Finally, an action movie that doesn't reduce matters of galactic import to fistfights or devolve into "we have a situation"-level clichés. Kudos to Bullock, and to Framestore's ingenious zero-gravity FX.

FRIDAY, OCT. 11

If you've a geek of a certain age, it's highly likely that a chunk of your formative period was spent sitting around tables, rolling multicolored dice and battling imaginary troglodytes. Some of us may, in fact, still dabble in Gygax-style fictional worlds. These folks'll find much to enjoy, even cogitate upon, in the cinematic comedy Zero Charisma, opening Friday. It stars Sam Eidson as Scott, a dungeon master who finds his life upended when a popular hipster invades his circle of gamer friends. JoBlo's Movie Emporium referred to Zero Charisma as "Taxi Driver for fanboys." It played well to festival audiences, who probably spent a few hours around the D&D table themselves back in the day ... perhaps even yesterday. Far be it from us to pass judgment! Mighty Pelor the sun god would never forgive us.

SATURDAY, OCT. 12

Technically, Oct. 5 was Star Wars Reads Day, a celebration of youth lit highlighting the "Expanded Universe" of books and comics set in that galaxy far, far away. The Puyallup Public Library may be a tad late to the game, but they're chiming in hardcore with "astromech builder" and history buff Cole Horton. He's capping off a series of events by revealing how George Lucas's science-fantasy universe was influenced by the pop culture of his youth. It's a great way to introduce younglings and Padawan learners to the Light Side of both reading and 20th-century history. (And while we're on the topic of Star Wars tomes, check out J. W. Rinzler's massively comprehensive The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which hit bookshelves Oct. 1.)

FROM GOLDEN AGE TO A GALAXY FAR WAY: A STAR WARS READS DAY EVENT, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Puyallup Public Library, 324 S. Meridian, Puyallup, no cover, 253.841.5454

OCTOBER

On a serious note, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and if there's one thing geeks of all genders, political stripes, and orientations can agree on, it's that breasts are the tits. Breast cancer currently affects one out of every eight women. That is simply unacceptable! Please give generously to protect these beautiful national resources. You could, for example, visit the Macy's corner of Tacoma Mall this Saturday the 12th, for a "Paint the Mall Pink" celebration that includes $1,000 worth of awesome giveaways. Coincidentally, the Gritty City Sirens perform their Spooktacular Soiree that same night at 502 Downtown. Check out other worthy events at KomenPugetSound.org.

Until next week, may the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and may next weekend be sunny and bright for Seattle's epically distaff GeekGirlCon.

MONDAY, OCT. 7 2013 >>>

1. The Tacoma Film Festival is on, celebrating current independent film from around the globe ... and in our backyard. The 253 represent at this year's TFF. A whole slew of local film shorts will be screened at The Grand Cinema from 4-5:30: Harbor Island (Mystery, 23 min, Scott Capestany); Light and Black (Drama, 10 min, Brian Parker); Look Up In the Sky (Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi, 9 min, Arthur Rains-McNally); One For the Record Book (Comedy, 5 min, Emily Bjarke); Practical Things (Drama, 5 min, Lindy & Kris Boustedt); The Shootout (Western, 20 min, Craig Muller, Tonya Yorke); The Small Stuff (Drama, 3 min, Andrea Capere) and The Sweet Sorrow (Drama, 12 min, Jeff Barehand).

2. Toscanos Café & Wine Bar and Cline Cellars have teamed up to raise money for Good Samaritan Hospital's Cancer Care Fund. Beginning today, buy a glass of Cline Cellars Wine or special "Pink Cocktail" at Toscanos and receive a free hand-painted collectable cordial glass. Each week the Puyallup restaurant feature a different glass color. For every bottle of Cline wine poured at Toscanos this month, Cline will donate $1 to Good Samaritan. And, Toscanos will match that donation.

3. Meet authors Anne and Laurence Yeadon-Jones and learn about their latest addition to the Dreamspeaker Guides featuring Gig Harbor and other South Puget Sound boating destinations at 6:30 p.m. at the Tides Tavern. Puget Sound - A Boater's Guide is the seventh Dreamspeaker Guide and captures a fresh perspective to cruising our local waters. 

4. Pianist Nate D., bassist Cameron and drummer Peter T. have launch the city's newest jazz jam inviting talent to sit in as the house trio explores straight ahead, funk and space at 8 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge. Not all gigs qualify as a hang, but this one has the precise alchemy that could draw the area's best players: a high level of musicianship, a relaxed atmosphere and a sympathetic intergenerational crowd. Ask any working jazz musician, and the hang is what it's all about.

5. O'Malley's "Mondays For The Damned," is your typical above ground underground new wave, synth pop, goth, industrial and post-punk haven, and, if you're into it, it's one of the best places to find yourself in the company of the city's goth and industrial scene. Night Shift (Nicole and Aaron) and guest DJs will spin, while Rich Sumner screens videos and movies. Get dark over $3.25 micro brew pints and a pound of wings for $5.50.

LINK: Monday, Oct. 7 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

The 2013 Tacoma Film Festival is shaping up to be everything a good film fest should be. There are movies from around the world, flicks in a variety of languages, screenings exploring the margins of different societies, and films from the comedy, drama, and short film categories and local ditties. Yes, this festival hosted by The Grand Cinema packs quite the cinematic wallop.

An opening night party with a screening of "G.B.F." ("Gay Best Friend") kicks off the festival tonight. Film enthusiasts will first gather in Annie Wright's Great Hall to scarf down full dinner by Maxwell's Speakeasy and tip a beer or two. Then TFF Executive Director Philip Cowan will hold our hands down to Kemper Theater for the screening of said film that tells the story of popular teenagers Fawcett (Sasha Pieterse), Caprice (Xosha Roquemore) and ‘Shley (Andrea Bowen), and the season's must-have accessory - and golden ticket to being Prom Queen - a G.B.F., or a gay best friend. The only problem? There are no gay men at their school - who are out, at least. But a Grindr-like app allows the girls to identify the closeted Tanner (Michael J. Willett) and adopt him as their own, transforming him from a shy social outcast to the high school's hottest commodity. But, of course, not everyone is pleased with Tanner's sudden rise to stardom.

Bonus: G.B.F. screenwriter George Northy will be in the house and film guru Warren Etheredge will host a Q&A with him after film.

Stuff to know about tonight: 6:30 p.m., film at 7:30 p.m., Annie Wright Kemper Theater, 827 N. Tacoma Ave., $25 Grand Cinema members, $30 non-members, $11 movie only, buy tickets here.

LINK: Weekly Volcano's Tacoma Film Festival preview

LINK: Bible Quiz to screen at Tacoma Film Festival

LINK: DSKNECTD to screen at Tacoma Film Festival

LINK: 253 represent at the Tacoma Film Festival

LINK: Tacoma Film Festival website

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 2 2013 >>>

1. We realize that many people feel as though tasting menus are nothing more than ego-driven romps from chefs who care more about their own artistry and craftsmanship than they do about the desires of diners, but I admire chefs with confidence, chefs who advocate a sense of adventure - chefs, for instance, such as Kyle Wnuk, who creates a different tasting menu every Wednesday night at Marrow Kitchen and Bar. For $25, you could taste the future as Wnuk's Wednesday night playground often results in permanent placement on a season's menu. The price tag is a deal, compared to ordering three courses off the regular menu. And more fun, too.

2. The award-winning Hilltop Artists hosts its seventh annual fundraising luncheon, "Better Futures," at 11 a.m. in the Hotel Murano. Attendees will hear directly from students, families and community members about the impact of Hilltop Artists' glass arts programs and outreach work. They will also be able to participate in a silent auction and share a meal with others who are invested in transforming the futures of our youth.

3. The Grand Cinema's Science on Screen series pairs screenings of classic, cult, and documentary films with lively lessons by notable figures from the world of science, technology and medicine. Each film is used as a jumping off point for the speaker to reveal current scientific research or technological advances, providing the perfect combination of entertainment and enlightenment - even for the most science-phobic culture vulture. At 7 p.m. The Grand screens the documentary Blackfish, which argues that keeping orcas in captivity at theme parks isn't good for the whales, or the people who work with them. Donna Sandstrum, Puget Sound whale researcher and director of TheWhaleTrail.org, will discuss what whale-related conservation work is being done in the Puget Sound and what is the status of our orca whale population. The film also screens at 2:10 and 5 p.m. without the whale chat.

4. The Maurice The Fish Records has grabbed Wednesday nights at Jazzbones, showcasing its roster at 8 p.m. Tonight, Rafael Tranquilino and Brooke Lizotte rock the house.

5. Be a part of history. Be able to say, "I saw Mirrorgloss when they first got together." The new Tacoma band performs at 9 p.m. at Magoo's Annex.

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