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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
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
We Recommend
Michael Swan on February 23rd, 2011
Zydeco is the dance music of the Creole population of southwest Louisiana. The Creoles are French speakers of African or mixed African and European descent who have been in Louisiana since the 18th century. Their culture is entwined with but separate from their fellow Francophones, the
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Michael Swan on December 22nd, 2010
For eight freakin' years in a row - never wavering - the Randy Oxford Band has encouraged (hell, inspired!) you to get out of the goddamn house the night after Christmas and shake some of the tinsel and stuffing off. It's known as the "Tis the Night After Christmas Get
We Recommend
Michael Swan on November 8th, 2010
The Tacoma Weavers' Guild celebrates its 75 anniversary with a huge textile show opening Friday, Nov. 12 inside Handforth Gallery and historical displays in the Northwest Room - both at the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch. We can tell their Art of Weaving show a big deal because the Guild
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Michael Swan on November 3rd, 2010
After a kickoff celebration at the Tacoma Art Museum Thursday, including the presentation of the 2010 AMOCAT Awards to Oliver Doriss, Fab-5 and Urban Grace Church, Tacoma Arts Month: Art At Work will kick into high gear Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the famed Tacoma
Arts Feature
Michael Swan on September 16th, 2010
Every newspaper makes mistakes, but how many newspapers make the same mistake - twice - including once in 3-D?
We did.
For the last two years the Weekly Volcano named Tacoma artist Jerry Managan "Best Visual Artist" in our Best of Tacoma issues, the last Best of Tacoma, of course, in spectacular
We Recommend
Michael Swan on September 16th, 2010
Bollywood, that colorful and exuberant fusion of classical Indian dance and the Hollywood musical, has gained a following outside of India. And its arrival in Tacoma comes in the form of Sanford & Son Antiques' annual adult prom Saturday loaded with, no doubt, spectacular song-and-dance sequences, joke-shop wigs, ill-fitting body
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Recent Blog Posts
South Sound at Night
Michael Swan on January 8th, 2012
WATCH OUT FOR SHARP OBJECTS >>>
Laid-back is the essence of Sunday. That means a lazy mid-afternoon brunch, no work, phone off the hook, sweats ... you know the routine. The mere thought of lifting a finger to wash the mountain of dishes in the sink should
Spew 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
Spew 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
Spew 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
Spew 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
Spew 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
Spew 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.
Spew 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
Spew 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
Spew 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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