Music
THE HARD WAY >>> Friday, Dec. 17 The Hard Way's new album, Tell Me When You Can't Breathe, has beautiful artwork on the cover. A fluffy, yet hearty-looking dog rides on the bow of a sailboat, eager and attentive. The sailboat dog is brave as a giant wave looms ahead and black
News Front
In every issue of this fine rag, my hack team of wannabe journalists and I tackle some of the most laughable criminal acts that have recently happened in our area. Then - if we're doing our job - we write about those crimes in a way that makes you chuckle,
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The McKassons are way more talented than your family. Of course, your dad did beat a speeding ticket that one time, and your brother did show the perseverance to overcome his paint-huffing addiction, but - to be blunt - brother and sister Ryan and Cali McKasson put those accomplishments to
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In Olympia, the name Saul P. Tannenbaum is synonymous with holiday cheer ... or at the very least that's the way it's going. After momentous success last year, the bearded and blatant Tannenbaum is back with Claus For Celebration, a yuletide fun-ride full of "ho-ho-holiday cheer." With special guests like
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Puget Sound Revels has been, well, reveling since way back in 1992-though it feels like much longer than that, doesn't it? It ALMOST feels like the group has been doing its thing since the 19th century, which just so happens to be the era they'll embody on stage as part
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Kids these days are way cooler than you ever were. Trust us. Or don't - just check out Rooftop Warrior, set to play a free all-ages show Saturday at Rocket Records. This one should be a fine snapshot into the lives of Tacoma's youth, as well as a prime chance
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Stop pretending your some sort of tough guy and go see the goddamn Nutcracker already. You know you want to. You're fascinated by people in tights. Plus, the local productions are simply amazing. In Tacoma, Tacoma City Ballet does its thing at the Pantages. In Oly, catch Ballet Northwest's take
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Celebrate the coming of the Anointed One. No, not Bobble Tiki. We're talking about Handel's Messiah, returning to Tacoma via the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra Friday. With guests like conductor Geoffrey Boers, soprano Denise Lees and the entire Tacoma Symphony Chorus (among others), this seasonal favorite seems sure to hit the
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"He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake..." growls the tongue-in-cheek voice-over during the trailer for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, a Finnish import debuting at The Grand Cinema this week. Will this sinister Santa flick unravel into nostalgic camp like its '80s predecessors, Christmas Evil or
Outdoors
May is the start of festival season in the South Sound - the weather warms up, the sun comes out most days (at least, let's hope it does) and events galore take to local parks, green spaces and venues. Almost all South Sound festivals make great family events, and a
Arts
June is Pride month throughout the land. Except for Tacoma, where Pride blossoms a month later in July. Pride month means more than parades and festivals. It means businesses and community organizations celebrating and affirming all during the month. Rainbow flags and banners fly from downtown buildings long before the actual
Archives
Five peace activists, including an 83-year-old nun and an 81-year-old Jesuit, were found guilty this week of a range of crimes after breaking into a nuclear storage facility in Silverdale, Wash. Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from New York; Father Bill Bichsel, SJ, 81, a Jesuit priest from Tacoma
Food Matters
Taste buds dance at Gruv Lounge Reports of "decidedly delicious non-bar food" at Gruv Lounge and Nightclub on Sixth Avenue were all Weekly Volcano photographer Steve Dunkelberger and I needed to inspire a field trip. As neither of us are shy about gluttony, chicken-fried bacon strips seemed so right. Large slabs
Stage
For children bitten by the acting bug there are opportunities galore in the South Puget Sound region to learn and to perform with summer theater camps and classes. Starting with Olympia Family Theater in Olympia, a relative newcomer among area theaters that produces fantastic theater geared toward children and performed by
Music
On "Where?," Track One of Mount Eerie's latest release, Song Islands Vol. 2, renowned Washington musician Phil Elverum sings, "Mt. Eerie is playing tonight / where is the concert, and will it be all-ages?" Despite the somber mood set by his sparse guitar and plaintive overdubbed vocals, the song seems
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The Shivas (Portland, Ore.) and My Friend Wallis (Vancouver, B.C.) are two bands that are evocative of a time in music that is gone forever, but is still persistently resurrected and updated for new audiences. At The New Frontier, My Friend Wallis and the Shivas will share a
Music
At about 12 years old, I may have been the last person on my block to still believe in Santa Claus. I recall the tearful night when I approached my parents and said (paraphrasing), "Hey, some kids at school have been talking some bullshit about how Santa doesn't exist. What
Features
It's morel mushroom season in the Pacific Northwest, and sources tell us the edible fungus can be found at Joint Base-Lewis McChord near the cemetery. We talked to Alex Anton, the executive chef at the Smoke + Cedar about how to choose good mushrooms, how to prepare them and what you
Military Life
As a stay-at-home mom and mother of two young children, Jenessa Boothby's life is already busy, filled with chores and clean-ups. But Jenessa, whose husband, Kevin Boothby is assigned with the 52nd Medical Brigade at JBLM, still finds the time to help when she can. Last summer, Jenessa and her husband took
