Music
Tacoma's Ben Union owns Jazzbones. Though I write such a sentence with a Tacoma wink and a smirk, as "owning" Jazzbones isn't exactly the sort of thing that gets you a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - the statement is nonetheless true. Over the course of Union's short, locally
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In an unexpected turn of events that has many alumni and current students scratching their heads (even more so than usual), The Evergreen State College announced earlier this week a plan to institute grades at the state's most liberal of liberal arts colleges by 2012. Originally founded in 1967 as
Arts
Friday marks the return of an event that's quickly become a Tacoma underground institution - the Friday Frost Park Chalk-Off Challenge - or whatever it's officially called. The "official" name really isn't important: what's important is the action. Now entering season three of weekly Frost Park Chalk-Offs, the Frost Park chalk
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Public inebriation and the problems that go along with it can be the scourge of a neighborhood. Just ask residents of Tacoma's South End and East Side, where empty cans of beer and the smell of degenerate urine once ruled the day. Luckily, residents of the East Side and South End
Music
Green Apple Quick Step. What does the name bring to mind? Some remember the band fondly. Green Apple Quick Step harkens back to a simpler time in local music - not pre-grunge simple, but still a time when it was easy to know what was cool and what was exciting, and
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Whatever your viewpoint on Green Apple Quick Step, one fact is undeniable: The band struck a chord, and is still remembered. Aside from a handful of songs at a Caffé Vita employee party at the Showbox in December, Green Apple Quick Step - in any form - hasn't taken the
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Ask any true-blue Tacoman what's likely to be birthed when Dave Takata, Shawn Lanksbury, Sean Horst, Chris Roxx and Michah Hammer get together and the answer will be blatant: fucking rock. And lots of it. Formed from members of the late Brian Redman's Dirty Knockers and members of low-fi punks
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After pounding out more than 2600 words last week on Post Stardom Depression I'm not sure I've go much left to add. I think my two cents are already firmly on record. Do I think Post Stardom Depression is a rock band in the truest sense of the term? Yes
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The word on the street is to watch the fuck out for Womberang - a surly troupe of SOTA-bred punk metal badasses. And I would never use the word "badasses" lightly. Trust me. A little like Scratch Acid with acne, Womberang has been kicking around many of the same haunts
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Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been doing it forever - dishing out folky rock as the Indigo Girls since 1985. Hell, they went to elementary school together in Georgia, so these two respected songwriters are certainly no strangers - even if their styles do differ. Saliers is the quieter,
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The future can be scary. Or exciting. Or whatever. It's unknown. Or is it? Sunday at Crescent Moon Gifts, a whole slew of Tarot card readers and other mystics will take part in the Monthly Intuitive Psychic Fair. Actually, I don't know if they'd appreciate me calling them "mystics" -
Music
"We've got nothing to hide. We've worked that all out," Jeff Angell tells me. Of course, old school Tacomans know him as Junior, and they probably wouldn't be surprised to see him sitting in the back of a bar discussing rock ‘n roll as high art with me. Kyong Kim
Music
SCROLL DOWN FOR MATT DRISCOLL'S TWITTER LOG >>> The South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival held yearly in Austin, Texas is an absurd orgy. Every March a mind-boggling and ever-growing mob converges on SXSW: bands, managers, members of the press, record labels, PR people, booking agents, groupies, and even a
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Music is art; or, at the very least, important music is art. Art comes in all shapes and sizes - from straightforward, to abstract, to downright bizarre - just like music. A person could take a poop in an Easy Bake Oven and call it art - and the crazy
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Remember Haiti? You know, all those collapsed buildings, scenes of despair and promises to help? Does the word "earthquake" ring a bell? The sad fact is, despite our best intentions, the swell of support that directly followed the Haitian earthquake will dry up long before the work is done. That's
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Times have changed for Eddie Spaghetti and the Supersuckers. Guitarist Rontrose is gone, as is longtime ‘Sucker Chris Neal. To an outside observer, it might seem like the wheels are finally falling off the "Best Rock Band in the World." Hell, it's about time, right? Wrong. I dare you to
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Almost everyone, at some point, wants a baby. It's primal. Saturday at Source Yoga on North 21st Street in Tacoma, special guest instructor Lynn Jensen will lead a three-hour class based on using yoga to help you (or your partner) get knocked up. The class is called "Yoga for Fertility"
Music
When you're running an underground music and arts venue - especially a successful (relatively speaking) underground music and arts venue in a town like Tacoma - there are no clear-cut guidelines. No instruction booklet is provided, and the task at hand is, essentially, to walk a tightrope - getting the
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If James Cameron made a four-hour movie about paint drying, chances are it still wouldn't be as pointless as watching the Oscars. Check that - it wouldn't be as pointless as watching the Oscars alone in your sad little hobble. Watching the Oscars amongst friends at The Grand Cinema's
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It's hard to call yourself a kayaker if you don't have any kayaking skills. Furthermore, it's hard to obtain many kayaking skills without actually kayaking - which, if you're not already a kayaker, can be challenging. That's the problem. Luckily, the Eastside Pool in East Tacoma has you covered.
