Music
Chris Ballew, lead singer for mid-'90s Seattle alt-rock outfit The Presidents of the United States of America, has a pair of Grammy nominations under his belt. His hit singles "Lump" and "Peaches" are fixtures on rock radio. So it's amusing that Ballew reentered the public consciousness, not as a middle-aged
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Much of the enjoyment of writing about and publicizing music comes from pleasant surprises. I admit I skimmed over Fruition's concert announcement the first time I came across it. I rolled my eyes when this trio of Portlandians described itself as "three-part-harmony-infused, melody-rich rock, country, folk and soul." That's like
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One of the most popular attractions in the city of Olympia, the historic and active Olympia Farmers Market opens its main season April 2. The market has been serving locals and visitors for 40 years and can see upward of 400,000 visitors during the market season. A vast variety of
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So you walk through the grocery store, and you look at the big, shiny red apples, and you feel hungry. Then you notice just how big and red and shiny they all are. You get all suspicious and start remembering things about pesticides and growing seasons, and all of a
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Piano man Charlie Saibel is a superb musician, a versatile jazz/swing pianist and composer with an innovative sense of texture. He seems to have a lifelong fascination with genres, easily fitting in with honkey tonk, boogie woogie, blues, Latin, jazz, classic rock, plus seasonal and special occasions. He also morphs
Health
Running through Tacoma's Point Defiance Park is like running through a cathedral of green, peace and quiet. For the members of Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Team Red, White and Blue (RWB), The Mission Continues and Team Rubicon the park offered the perfect spot at Owen Beach to launch the 4th annual
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Comedy hasn't evolved much since the glory days of ventriloquist and puppet. Every so often, there's a Gallagher smashing watermelons or a musical funnyman like Jack Black, but for the most part, comedy is a dude on a stage with a microphone, plodding through a joke-punchline-new-joke routine. Boring! Well, that
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The circus is a dying art - and the circus-lifer is a dying breed. Bearded ladies just don't go as far as they once did. Sure, someday there may be an iPhone app replicating the experience only achieved by rings of fire, balancing acts, crappy peanuts and captive wild animals.
Stage
The title of the smaller show in the back gallery at Kittredge Gallery is "Between Chance and Control." That title well describes the main show as well: "Process Drawings: Recent Works by Makato Fujimura." I'm tempted to say Fujimura's drawings are dull, and in a way they are - dull in
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One of my favorite Far Side cartoons, by Gary Larson, depicts a pair of grizzled cowboys sitting around a campfire at dusk. One is handing the other a cup. The caption reads, "More cappuccino, Raoul?" Yes, times have changed. Campfire and simple cuisine continues to evolve. Bayview School of Cooking
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Like lots of college grads, Daniel Seddiqui was having a hard time finding a job. But in spite of more than 40 rejections, he knew opportunities had to exist. He then set out on an extraordinary quest: to work 50 jobs in 50 states in 50 weeks. And not just
Jobs & Education
About three years ago, the Veterans Resource Center opened on the Clover Park Technical College campus. "A lot of good comes out of this office," commented Army veteran Shawn Durnen, the center's lead navigator, as we sat on a comfortable sofa in a large, well-lit and information-rich room in a converted
Health
Post traumatic stress is nothing new. After World War I ended in 1918, returning British and American soldiers began exhibiting troubling symptoms such as confusion and nightmares. The condition, labeled by the soldiers themselves as shell shock, was "often attributed to cowardice or malingering," according to the American Psychological Association.
