Recent Articles
Music Features & Columns
Michael Swan on April 25th, 2013
Brittany Kingery and her music have both found a home on the beach, and the tide is coming in to Olympia, just in time to kick off the Cinco de Mayo weekend.
The Grays Harbor-born singer's concert in Olympia Friday, May 3 will be her first U.S. performance since the
Neighborhoods
Michael Swan on March 10th, 2012
A group of Oakbrook Golf and Country Club members is hoping to open their former club's pool this spring but they need interested families to act now.
An agreement has been reached between the group and the new property owner to lease the land the pool is on to the new
Focus
Michael Swan on January 11th, 2012
You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
While any story even remotely related to BB guns would be remiss not to include a reference to Ralphie and the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle he lusted after, much has changed in the world of replica firearms since A Christmas
PROMO
Michael Swan on December 6th, 2011
The music of U2 has been like a fly buzzing around my ear for 30 years. It's difficult for me to remember a time when it wasn't there, ingrained in my consciousness, though not always at the forefront. It has acted, in some ways, as a guide, in others, as
Kids
Michael Swan on November 24th, 2011
JBLM Spouses magazine is beginning a weekly photo display featuring you. We are calling it Photos from the Fridge, and each month we are hoping you will submit your photos according to our themes. The idea is for you to show off your life, offer some ideas, and get involved
Kids
Michael Swan on September 6th, 2011
Your military children sacrifice everyday in service of this great nation. Without a choice in the matter, they have bravely endured the past 10 years of war without one or two parents at home, countless times. They have graduated from school, finished first in races, participated in plays and recitals,
Focus
Michael Swan on August 24th, 2011
Military supporters can throw a few bucks in the rucks to support local military personnel.
The DuPont Sub-chapter of JBLM's Capt Meriwether Lewis Chapter of the Association of the United States Army is collecting money to support two sub-chapter programs - the Single Soldier Project and care packages
Nightlife It List
Michael Swan on May 9th, 2011
Remember five years ago when the media were predicting the rise of white trash culture? Well, that was before the real estate crash, which forced some of us to live in trailer parks, not joke about them. So perhaps the whole white trash chic just hits too close
Nightlife It List
Michael Swan on February 23rd, 2011
We all know that just about every sports fan in America is controlled by brain waves transmitted via television commercials that feature the Coors Light Twins or the Miller Lite Incredibly Nubile Half-Naked Amateur Wrestlers or Bud Light's Cedric the Entertainer. And there's no better spot
We Recommend
Michael Swan on February 23rd, 2011
Even during the heyday of '80s metal, Dokken (very little connection with rockin') sucked - even with a hellacious guitar shredder like George Lynch. His 1990 solo debut with his own Lynch Mob, Wicked Sensation, remains one of the hottest hard-rock discs of the era; today's Mob walks the stylistic
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Recent Blog Posts
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on February 28th, 2012
SO ESOTERIC >>>
Have you ever fallen asleep while listening to someone tell you about his or her dream from last night? Apparently it's quite common.
Put your sleeping cap on ... Here are my three dreams from last night.
Mason Bates' Sirens
My first dream followed a vocal ensemble and I as we
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on January 7th, 2012
LET HIS SPIRIT BE UNCHAINED >>>
UPDATE: Tickets for Van Halen and openers Kool & the Gang (natch!) go one sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 through Ticketmaster, LiveNation.com and or charge by phone 1.800.745.3000. Ticket prices haven't been released.
As KZOK FM and Tacoma KOMO reported yesterday, Van Halen will
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on December 15th, 2011
WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE >>>
When I was a wee one, my heroes were not Roger Staubach, James Bond or even H. R. Puffinstuff. No, I looked up to Ted Simmons, a science professor from Orlando, Florida, and Milly Cornwall, a "stewardess" from Wichita, Kansas. I knew little about them; Ted
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 28th, 2011
YO CLARK GRISWOLD! >>>
For many Americans, the holiday season could be better-called "The Consumption Season." Corporate America has seasoned our perception of a year's end into an annual rite of buying on credit, looking anxiously for parking spaces and slipping unconsciously into a "Buy! Buy! Buy!" mind frame.
The seasonal celebration
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 22nd, 2011
WINTER BEERS >>>
Thanksgiving - cruelly sandwiched in between two much cooler holidays - has always been a bit of a letdown for me. Maybe I just had to draw one too many handprint turkeys and write too many lists of things to be thankful for when I was a kid.
I
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 16th, 2011
LOCAL LECTURE >>>
I was introduced to rock climbing in the mid-'80s. David Lee Roth was singing and swinging from a rock during one of his lame MTV videos. I had the hair; all I needed was the skills. However, TV sports broadcasts portrayed climbers as unbalanced rock-hermits who feasted on
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on November 13th, 2011
LET'S GET WEIRD TONIGHT >>>
As a roommate, I have done some horrible things in my day. But the worst thing, without a doubt, was when I was in a hurry to tape a movie on TV - surely you remember videotape - and I taped over 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on October 28th, 2011
Note to self: Don't show up late to a Varsity Grill beer tasting. My 15 minute tardiness tonight forced me out of the packed bar area, past THREE reserved sections for parties, past another long table full of partiers and into a back corner next to the kitchen. Where the
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on October 5th, 2011
BRILLIANT! >>>
Ever noticed how tiresome co-workers can sour Hump Day drinks? Skip the bar and head instead to Uncorked Canvas's Wednesday night wine and painting get-together. Beginning at 6 p.m., you'll complete a simple painting project with an instructor while tasting wines and munching on food.
Awesome, huh?
As a change of
Walkie Talkie Blog
Michael Swan on September 8th, 2011
JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED >>>
After a month of changes, a couple special sections and a design intricate Tacoma Film Festival program, all I want to do is kick back with some sweet-ass music. No jostling. Certainly no shoe-gaze or cry in my beer melodies. I want sit sink into
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