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The rock concept album lives! Tommy told the story of a deaf, dumb and blind kid who became a wizard of some kind. Yoshimi battled some pink robots on a Flaming Lips record. Styx rebelled against a bleak, totalitarian future with rock-n-roll in Kilroy Was Here. And now, the Fantastic
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Michael Moore is a legend to certain Gen-X liberals like myself. Just as mainstream journalism was beginning its downward descent into sensationalism, partisanship and - well, let's not sugarcoat it - outright lying, Moore came along. Combining investigative reporting with a sometimes-mischievous sense of humor, the documentarian from Flint, Michigan,
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Talk is all the rage nowadays. First TED, whomever he is, opened his trap and popularized speaking events around the country. Then Neil deGrasse Tyson jumped on the lecture circuit. And now it looks like a new Pokemon named Pecha Kucha is getting in on the action by coming to
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Superheroes are real, and they're coming to the Pacific Northwest! Let's hope Phoenix Jones doesn't get his spandex in a bunch when he finds out he has some competition. Of course, he probably doesn't have much to worry about as these "superheroes" don't actually fight crime. Instead, they battle against
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Did you know September is National Fall Hat Month? According to answers.com, NFHM is "a month of celebration during which the straw hat is put aside by men and women in favor of the felt or fabric hat. Local businesses and the media are encouraged to plan hat-related activities." In
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I've always known that Washington wasn't normal. After all, this is the state where it can rain and then be sunny and then snow all within minutes of each other. We're home to such oddities as a giant coffee pot by the side of the road; a garbage-eating goat sculpture
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I love animals, animals of all kinds - and not just the cutest ones either, such as puppies and kitties. There are also horsies and dolphins and ... rhinos? Sure, why not. Unfortunately, these latter, magnificent creatures are under threat by poachers. But what can we do about it, short
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Hey, neighbor! What's that you're cooking? It smells simply delish. Mind if I help myself to one of those burgers? You don't? And you insist I take some potato chips, as well? And some egg salad? Wait a minute. This is just getting weird now. I came over here to
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Hey, you! SHUT IT! No, no, I'm not telling you to shut up! That's the name of a new event in which participants sit quietly and read while enjoying food and drink. SHUT IT! is inspired by Christopher Frizzelle's Silent Reading Parties in Seattle. Frizelle, the editor-in-chief of The Stranger,
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The unofficial creed of the United States Postal Service, inscribed on the James Farly Post Office in New York City, reads, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." If the Tacoma Postal Service had had an
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Music has been a part of the cinema since almost the beginning of film history. From the simple piano accompaniment of silent films to Max Steiner's swelling scores (such as that for Gone With The Wind) to "... and Iiiiiiiiii-yi-iiiiiiiiiii will always love youuuuuuuu-uh-hoo-uh-hooooo ..." from The Bodyguard, they've become
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Hey, McConaughey is coming to the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma! I wonder if he'll talk about his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club, or his role on the stunning HBO series True Detective. Wait, what's that? Matthew McConaughey is not coming to Tacoma? It's actually Dr. Lorraine McConaghy
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Are you eager to unleash your inner Nikola Tesla? No, I'm not talking about finally using that death ray you've been building in your basement. I'm talking about science, where you posit a hypothesis, test it, observe what happens, analyze the data and draw a conclusion. With the rise of
Arts
Editor's Note: I was lucky enough to call Dave Graham my friend. Many Tacomans could make the same claim. After all, Dave Graham was Tacoma, overlapping many circles, advancing music, film and the arts at every turn. Dave Graham, 49, passed away May 17, 2014, after a courageous battle with
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Helroooo! This is Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria inviting all of you peasants to come celebrate my greatness at the - You there! I say, put down that wiener on a stick while your Queen, addresses you! We are not amused at your inattention! Now where was I? Oh, yes
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Legend has it that in the 4th century BCE, Chinese poet and statesmen Qu Yuan, tired of being repeatedly slandered and persecuted by the controlling political regime, threw himself into the Milo River to drown. News quickly spread of this, resulting in local fishermen rushing to save him. Years following
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Some books become excellent films. Take Jaws or The Godfather, for instance. Best-selling novels, both, turned into blockbusters. Some books spawn lousy film versions. Among the entries in this large category are: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake, Roberto Benigni's version of Pinocchio, and
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Most 5-year-olds are, by the time that birthday rolls around, preparing to go to kindergarten, learning numerals and reading, and figuring out how to tie their shoelaces. But there's a 5-year-old I know who's advanced beyond all that. This one is preparing to go to the Acme Tavern, learning what
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Ahhh, the Daffodil Parade! As surely as pint-sized marching bands will file down the street in lockstep while serenading onlookers with "Tequila," the sky will fill with dark clouds before an inevitable downpour drenches everyone within a two-mile radius of downtown Tacoma - (Don't tell me it won't happen. It
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Some say that size doesn't matter. Tell that to the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, which is hosting a six-week-long program series with an insanely-lengthy title, "America's Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway." Each week, the AM:AFHoOPMfBtBtB (which, by the way,
