SOUTH SOUND THEATER AND VISUAL ARTS REVIEWS >>

Harlequin's "Rabbit Hole": Thoughts on grief and a well-made play

Irish stew: Ingredients don't always mix in "Cripple"

Re-envisioned medieval: Lisa Sweet at Kittredge Gallery

LINK: Arts and entertainment calendar for the South Sound

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2010 >>>

1. Bestsellers - the independent film that was written, shot, edited and produced entirely in Tacoma - will screen at 6:45 p.m. inside The Grand Cinema. A Q&A session with writer and editor Rick Gratzer about the film and production process will follow the screening.

2. Author Matt Hern will discuss his book, Common Ground in a Liquid City: Essays in Defense of an Urban Future, at 6 p.m. inside Orca Books. It's an engaging look at the future of urban life.

3. The Banned Book Club will discuss Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott and cocktails at 7 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge.

4. The Urban Onion in Olympia hosts Tough Guys Tuesdays film night at 7 p.m. The action double feature will include drink specials.

5. Kareem Kandi hosts an open jazz jam at 9 p.m. inside SAX Restaurant.

LINK: Music showtimes in the South Sound

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010 >>>

1. The Dana Lupinacci Band performs blues at 8 p.m. inside The Swiss.

2. Carolyn Burt's Boogie, Blues and all that Jazz paintings are on display at the Proctor Art Gallery from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

3. The Lakewood Big Band will perform music to dance to from 7-9 p.m. inside The Royale Lounge in Olympia. Jazz singer LaVon Hardison will perform after.

4. The movie FRESH - which celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system - will screen for free at 7 p.m. inside the Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch.

5. DJ Jason Diamond now spins roots reggae every Monday at 9 p.m. inside O'Malley's Irish Pub.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING >>>

As you may have clued into by this point, every Friday the Weekly Volcano posts Owen Taylor's "El Vacio Moral" column - a weekly legislative update from Olympia. It's become a regular, bizarre feature - and we really like it. Personally, seeing what Owen's addled mind comes up with every Friday is often the highlight of my week (I'm a sad, sad man).

Unfortunately, though - as we should have anticpated from the beginning - the threat of a special session in Olympia has sent Owen into a downward spiral of intoxication and strange entertainment choices. He emailed me this morning to promise his usual El Vacio Moral column will be ready to go Monday morning - promising a "Epicc wrap-up million miles from Graceleand coup de tat stilo..." Whatever that means.

Anyway, look for your usually scheduled El Vacio Moral Monday morning on weeklyvolcano.com. Until then, here's an excerpt from Taylor's crytpic email to tide you over.

"I am absolutely drained, giddy, melancholy as hell (or he'll, whatever the iPhone will have you believe), and before I drag you or any of our pristine readership down into this pit electroshock-treatment qualifying madness, I am demanding a special session on my own sanity! Monday! I'm high watching Akira! Don't bring them into this!!!"

MUSIC IN THE SOUTH SOUND TONIGHT >>>

INDIE ROCK: In Olympia, a show featuring Calvin Johnson's Hive Dwellers, old-schoolers Pet Products, Al Larsen, The Human Skab, Mary Win, Redbird Fever, Wimps, Big Idea and Brazillian "superstar" Lulina will aim to raise money for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., all ages, $8, Eagles Hall, 805 Fourth Ave., Olympia.

POP ROCK: Red Jacket Mine is an assembly of pop craftsmen, a group that creates radio-ready pop rock so friendly and easygoing that it's easy to pass it by without second thought. With Sirens Sister, 9 p.m., The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020

LINK: More live music in the South Sound tonight

Saint Patrick was not Irish. He was born in Britain when it was under Roman rule. The myth that he drove the snakes out of Ireland is actually a symbolic euphemism for the inquisition that eliminated Paganism from the Emerald Isle. And March 17 marks Saint Patrick's death, not his birth. So once a year we poison rivers and pollute livers in honor of a carpet-bagging, xenophobic fraud.

Erin Go Braugh!

That said, with St. Patrick's Day approaching, I begin to salivate for old-fashioned Irish dishes like boxty, barm-brack, champ, coddle, and colcannon. Most of all, I yearn on the 17th of March for corned beef and cabbage - which, as it turns out, might not be very Irish at all.

Read more...

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010 >>>

1. Tacoma poet Tammy Robacker reads from her book The Vicissitudes at 8 p.m. inside Vinum Coffee & Wine Lounge. There will be an open mic following her reading. Readers, poets, and spoken word artists are encouraged to come share poetry that addresses topics of Women, Women's History, Women's Issues, Women's Roles, or challenges that face women.

2. Speaking of poetry, the Puget Sound Poetry Connection and Tacoma Arts Commission bring in poet Allen Braden for the Distinguished Writers Series at 7 p.m. inside King's Books. An open mic follows Braden's performance.

3. Banff Mountain Film Festival selections that explore environmental, adventure or adventure-related themes - including BASE-jumping, snowboarding and mountain climbing - will screen at 7:30 p.m. at the Capitol Theater.

4. Brooklyn Pool, James & The Giant Bitch, Santee, and The Moo play a 9 p.m. show at Bob's Java Jive.

5. The Missionary Position and Where Sails Meet Rails perform a free show inside Doyle's Public House at 9 p.m.

LINK: A bunch of movies open today

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010 >>>

1. The crafty group Tacoma Is For Lovers hosts another Craft Night, this time welcoming Tacoma artist Chris Sharp who will introduce collage using a 1980s book on break dancing as source material at 7 p.m. inside King's Books.

2. Artists Sarah Utter, Karen Utter and Lynne Farren's Animal Abecedary opens at 6 p.m. with an artist reception at the Handforth Gallery.

3. The first Academy Award winner for Best Picture Sunrise will screen at 7 p.m. inside the Washington Center.

4. Fulcrum Gallery presents Ambient Night featuring rising stars in barbaric harmony Going Shopping and Humble Cub at 8 p.m.

5. Big Wheel Stunt Show, Paris Spleen, Handlebar Mustangs, and Brotherhood Of The Black Squirrel perform at 9 p.m. inside Hell's Kitchen.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010 >>>

1. Patricia Cosgrove, director of the White River Valley Museum in Auburn, will lecture on "Suffer for Beauty: Revealing Washington Women's History through the Study of Undergarments" at noon inside the State Capital Museum.

2. The Graphic Novel Book Club will discuss DMZ, Vol. 1: On the Ground by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli at 7 p.m. inside the 1022 South lounge.

3. Community West African Drumming and Dance class will be held at 7:30 p.m. inside The Loft on Cherry in downtown Olympia.

4. The Al Earick Band will fill The Swiss with blues beginning at 8 p.m.

5. It's another Rebel Monday/Industry Night with DJ Jason Diamond spinning roots reggae at 9 p.m. inside O'Malley's Irish Pub. 

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2010 >>>

1. Now in its seventh year, the Old Town Jazz & Wine Festival will once again offer tasty jazz and cool wines, all in an effort to support the Tacoma Old Town Park Performance Stage Project - which aims to build a permanent outdoor stage in Old Town Park. The festival runs from 4-10 p.m. inside the Slavonian Hall.

2. Local actors bring Washington state historical figures alive to discuss unsolved mysteries during Ghosts of the Great Hall at the Washington State History Museum from 1-3 p.m.

3. A film discussion will follow the 1:45 p.m. screening of A Town Called Panic at The Grand Cinema.

4. Brooklyn Pool will play an all-ages show at 3 p.m. inside Rocket Records.

5. The Survive The Darkness Haiti Benefit features Kimya Dawson, Congratulations, Mirror Mirror, Western Hymn, and Rainbow Bridge at 5 p.m. inside the Loft on Cherry.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound