Look what Spew found  while searching the Portland Independent Media  Center. â€" Suzy Stump

CLASSICAL
Classical Sundays
These are the standard sounds of the restaurant on this Sunday afternoon: the hiss and rumble of the espresso machine, the metal-on-stoneware “tink” as food is eaten, the indistinct snippets of conversation melding with the rumble of the Harley Davidson motorcycles outside.

And then, from one motorcycle’s sound system Black Sabbath blares, creating an interesting contrast of sounds against the classical guitar being strummed by Geoffrey Klok.

This is the Antique Sandwich Company’s Classical Music Sunday, an event that’s been in existence for nearly 25 years.

Today, enjoy the Brass Unlimited Quartet.

[The Antique Sandwich Company, 3 p.m., 5102 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, 253.752.4069]

VARIETY
Mandolin Café
With live music just about every day of the week, it’s hard not to mention Mandolin Café. Some of the Northwest’s most treasured acoustic performers frequent the joint, and its one of the few venues that provide a grand piano for performers to use. If you like a dash of conversation with your coffee and music, then you will fit right in. Oh yeah, and they serve beer and wine too. â€" Angela Jossy

• Village Jazz, Sunday, Oct. 21 11 a.m., all ages, no cover.
• The Kareem Kandi Band, Sunday, Oct. 21 3 p.m., all ages, no cover.
• Jake Hemming, Sunday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., all ages, no cover.

[Mandolin Café, 3923 S. 12th St. 253.761.3482 www.myspace.com/themandolincafe]

MORE MUSIC: Today’s music calendar.

MUSICAL
“100 years of Broadway”
Do you have attention deficit disorder? Or maybe just a short attention span? Well, nix the Ritalin for the night and head down to the Pantages Theater Sunday. It’s not a cure, but rather a fix. Neil Berg’s “100 Years of Broadway” is loaded with snippets from “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Miserables,” “CATS,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Jekyll & Hyde.” Berg, in the true if-you-can’t-beat-‘em-join-‘em spirit, decided to throw a bone to the MTV/soundbite/ USA Today generation, and anyone else who can’t seem to keep their minds on anything for any amount of time, by offering Chunks of Broadway with itty bitty time frames. Just on the off-chance that you people with short attention spans are still reading this, an all-star New York band is in tow. â€" Suzy Stump

[Pantages Theater, Sunday, Oct. 21, 3 p.m., $32-$54, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591. 5894]

MORE STAGE: What’s on local stages.

SINGER/SONGWRITER
Evan Purcell
Evan Purcell could write a song about a paper bag that would make you cry. Purcell is the king of nostalgia. A performance by Purcell is like a patchwork portrait of real life characters and their poignant real life stories. Some songs feel like letters to people he has known. All are touched with a sense of understanding and sympathy for humanity. Everyday items become special as they are draped in memories.

What makes his songs so important is the connection they make with people when they hear them. It’s almost as though Purcell is a novelist who happens to write songs. â€" Angela Jossy
[Origin 23 Degrees, with Jeanlizabeth, 8 p.m., all ages, no cover, 601 N Union Ave., Tacoma]

ADULT ALTERNATIVE
Damon Castello
Newcomer Damon Castello, possesses a similar vibe to John Mayer with the ability to construct lines that are intellectually driven but accessible at the same time. Uniting shades of blues, soul, folk and rock like so many in the new singer/songwriter movement, Castello will most certainly fall into the predictable slot of adult alternative and be played on 103.7FM the Mountain. He debuted in 2005 with a five-song EP entitled Revolving Door where he showcased his California pop style, and yet the tracks vary in style â€" from the soul-drenched “Weird World” to the West Coast acoustic flavored title track. “Annie Hall” is a metaphoric take on the Woody Allen film that is a fine example of Castello’s ability as a lyricist. He flirts ever so slightly with hip-hop and dub with “Get Out of My Way” and “All I Really Want,” which shows his incredible diversity. Watch this artist. â€" Tony Engelhart
[Jazzbones, with Phil O’Sullivan and Intervision, 9 p.m., all ages, $8-$10, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

STAGE
Macbeth
Harlequin productions is staging "Macbeth," which is known in theater circles as "the Scottish play" because it is deemed unlucky for the theater to even mention the name of the William Shakespeare tragedy lest it face a series of mishaps during the run of the show. There is a bit of evidence to suggest there is at least some truth to these theater tales.

Harlequin creates a wonderful landscape of creepy characters and scenes. It is a complete creation with effective lighting, stark makeup and off-center staging with dreadfully grand costumes.

"Macbeth" is a must-see this Halloween. â€" Steve Dunkelberger

[State Theater, through Oct. 27, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $24-$33, $12-$15 rush tickets a half-hour before curtain time, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.786.0151]

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Sanctum \SANK-tum\, noun;
plural sanctums or sancta::
1. A sacred place.
2. A place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.

USAGE EXAMPLE: In Bobble Tiki’s often times miserable life, he considers his only reliable sanctum to be the crapper. For 10 or 15 minutes every morning, like clock work, Bobble Tiki is at peace with the world. He’s also pooping.

THE MORNING NEWS

SEATTLE: Copperfield’s magic hands.

GORBACHEV: It’s my party!

BERLIN: Let go of my schnitzel!

FLORIDA: Hey, my leg itches!

HUSTLER OF CULTURE
You can stand atop the mountain and scream your naked desires to the universe or shed that synapse epilepsy and hug the South Sound today with your fellow man:

MUSIC: Tonight at Club Impact â€" inconveniently located on the corner of Ninth and Pacific, luring rowdy youth into one of Tacoma’s finest neighborhoods and mass transit hubs â€" a folk/acoustic show with Cavalier, A Secret Kept, David Levang, Cassie Corelle, The Overcast, and Clearwall is planned to go down. Damn those kids and their acoustic/folk! To Bobble Tiki there’s nothing more threatening than teen-agers in a group. Tacoma must nip this problem in the bud, before kids start thinking they’ve got something to do.

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

EVENTS: Check out area haunted houses.

DRINK: Silent but deadly.

BOBBLE TIKI’S THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
A few weeks ago Bobble Tiki received a stuffed manila envelope from the band Intervision, who will be up from Portland to play Jazzbones Saturday, Oct. 20. Inside was a copy of Intervision’s second record, Shades of Neptune, released earlier this year. The envelope also contained a brief bio, describing Intervision as "soul/R&B/Pop-rock," and saying the group combines "elements of soul, rock, jazz, and pop, the quintet is earning lofty comparisons to bands like Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, and Jamiroquai, yet have created their own intensely unique sound." Check out the band here.

Please be Bobble Tiki’s friend here.

Breakfast with Bobble Tiki runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Deal with it.

The Weekly Volcano received cryptic message from someone named Beverly Queery that’s in the same category as invisible spaceships and ancient cabals featuring really elaborate handshakes that would make "The Da Vinci Code" seem like a day at the sandbox.

    Board Game Geekfest.  Play your favoritist board games.  Play your new favoritist board games.          Drink cocktails.  Oct. 28, 7-10 pm.  Email beverlyqueery@gmail.com for location details. 

Hmmm. â€" Suzy Stump

Angie Unger from Bacchante Wine & Essentials off of Sixth Avenue has just informed the Broken News Team that she's been served her eviction notice.

While this is sad for the community of wine lovers who loved to have a casual place to sit and sip great vino, it's fabulous news for cheapskates who want to take advantage of bargain basement prices on great wines.

She's closing out all her wine inventory, offering wholesale pricing until Oct. 31, then moving on to sell out all fixtures in the shop Nov. 1-7. â€" Brad Allen

Our Broken News Team brings you headlines and follow-up whenever we please on the stories our community couldn’t care less about. Broken news is posted on this blog several hours or days after it happens, with unusual updates.

Sanford & Son Antiques' haunted house has been closed by the Tacoma Fire Marshall for violations.  Here's the word from Sanford & Son co-owner Cheryl Gorsuch:

    The Haunted House has been temp. closed. We will be opening back up on
    Wednesday the 24th of October.

    An " anonymous" phone call to the fire dept. stating that there was a
    chainsaw getting too close to the public had to be investigated.
    (there is no chainsaw in the haunted house)

    The fire inspector came to do his job. We have to remove a few pounds of
    plastic and add a few more extinguishers etc. We do not blame the fire
    inspector.

    I hope that you will find it in your hearts to forgive this inconvenience
    and that you will return on Wednesday . I apologize to all of the folks
    from Seattle that we had to turn away and the bus loads of Jr. High
    students.

    So, we all wonder who made that inaccurate phone call. We know it was
    someone who never went through the haunted house last night, but that is
    all.

    Again, We offer our most sincere and humble of apologies and would really
    like to make it up to you on Wednesday the 24th by having the best haunted
    house ever. (and the safest)

    Our very best to you all. Please repost this for us to reach as many folks
    as possible .

    Thank you very much,

    Cheryl

OMG! Stop with the threats!

Attention everyone!  The Dockyard Derby Dames present “Beer and Rollergirls Saturday Night” this Saturday, Oct. 20, at The Red Hot. The Hellbound Homewreckers will be in the weenie house with a raffle, giveaways and a chance to win a date with one of the Homewreckers. 

The fun begins at 8 p.m.

Am curious.  What do you mean when you say you will make a Brad Allen Homewreckers sandwich if I don’t post this? â€" Brad Allen

The Tacoma Art Museum kicks off its Dia de los Muertos celebration Saturday, Oct. 20, when a tapete, or sand carpet, will be installed in TAM’s lobby beginning at 10 a.m.  TAM’s celebration ends Sunday, Nov. 4 with a free Dia de los Muertos community festival beginning at noon.

Dia de los Muertos?  Well pull up a skull and read on.

“In Mexico, el Dia de los Muertos is a private family event,” explains Cynthia Duncan, associate professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Washington-Tacoma.

She describes how, typically, there is a mass for the dead and then a visit to the church graveyard.  The procession following the observance might evolve into a community party, but Duncan says, “It’s more of a religious event.”

She warns that community events such as the Sixth Avenue procession held Nov. 2 at 7 p.m., which she considers unauthentic, may be leading Anglos to misunderstand the traditional cultural forms in place for thousands of years.

“Americans are attracted as an artistic concept, but I really don’t know how much they really understand,” she says.

She describes a community festival in Chicago’s Museum Of Mexican Culture & History, not unlike the Dia de los Muertos event held in the Tacoma Art Museum as well as the one presented by the Latin Student Organization at the University of Washington, Tacoma, where folk art and traditions are presented to the public to promote understanding.

“It’s not completely authentic,” she reiterated. But the key difference Duncan points to is that the festival at the Museum of Mexican Culture & History was presented by Mexicans.

She says there’s nothing wrong with community festivals that inform the public about traditions, but she says she has mixed feelings.

“I think it’s really in a period of transition,” she says.

“El dia de los Muertos really belongs to Mexico,” explains Duncan.  “It goes back to pre-Columbian times.”  She continues, explaining how as Catholicism spread through Mexico pre-Hispanic belief was blended with Catholicism and how “Dia de los Santos,” as celebrated by other Catholics, became “Dia de los Muertos.”

“(It was) a symbolic way of remembering, respecting, acknowledging they’re still a part of us,” Duncan says.

She describes altars and the symbolism of the items placed on them. A cigarette and ashtray are items she places on her alter for her mother, who liked to smoke.  Her father gets apples. The marigold, the flower of the dead, the sugar skulls, bread with bones â€" all are traditional Aztec elements, not Spanish, she says. 

For the Aztecs, the dead weren’t in a completely separate and different place than the living. Duncan explains the concept as “just because I don’t see them doesn’t mean their spirits aren’t with us.”

When Duncan was faculty advisor for the University of Washington, Tacoma’s Latin Student Organization, the group put out Tacoma’s first Dia de los Muertos public altar display at the university.

“A lot of people at the university didn’t know what el Dia was. They were skeptical,” Duncan says.

But she recalls that the event offered those involved a chance to learn a cultural tradition, and there was another benefit: “It was really healing for people who had lost husbands, fathers … . Dia is a chance to talk about the person that you lost and love.”

But she allows that even in Mexico the lure of Halloween may be competing with the pure Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos.

“In Mexico, it’s becoming difficult to avoid contamination,” she says.  For example, supermarkets there sell Halloween items. 

Even still, those experiences that are not authentic can foster conversations and education.

Even in her own experience with the Latin Student Organization, Duncan saw friction over the decision to present a Dia de los Muertos event with the mixed group of students with Puerto Rican, Columbian, Peruvian, and Central American backgrounds.

“But in the end, the group thought it was important to educate,” Duncan says. â€" Jessica Corey Butler

The Weekly Volcano Broken News Team visited Pierce College today following up on a rumor that the college was changing its name to Pierced College when we caught this blurb in their newspaper, The Pioneer.  The Weekly Volcano certainly knows typos.  We thought this one in the Pioneer was classic.

Our Broken News Team reports the college will not change its name. â€" Suzy Stump

Our Broken News Team brings you headlines and follow-up whenever we please on the stories our community couldn’t care less about. Broken news is posted on this blog  several hours or days after it happens, with unusual updates.