We Recommend
If we can trust the evidence of the past three months, Salon Refu in Olympia is now one of the best art galleries between Seattle and Portland. And Mary Randlett is the most celebrated photographer in the Pacific Northwest. Recognized as an outstanding landscape photographer and celebrated for her marvelous
News Front
They volunteered to join the Army. They volunteered to attend Airborne School. They volunteered to become a Ranger. And some of them are members of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord based 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, a unit with a storied history that runs back to D-Day, 1944. Friday evening at the Evergreen
We Recommend
"The first thing I saw was my drums, although I didn't recognize them," said Tacoma musician Dean Tsapralis, also known as "Dean the Dreamweaver," after he opened his storage unit door in September. Tsapralis' life-long collection of musical instruments from around the world, along with many personal belongings, was below
We Recommend
Our ears perked up and our stomachs flipped a little when we heard the phrase "ultra cool spy themes." It sounds dangerous and sexy. Blues, that most American of musical forms, will receive a dose of spy music, as well as surf tones, at The Swiss' Monday Blues Night. Seattle
We Recommend
"I was on a ship, in Croatia," says Stephanie Anne Johnson, "and I checked my email and saw a message that said, ‘Hi, my name is Dylan and I'm a producer for The Voice. We'd like you to come on the show." In the weeks leading up to local singer-songwriter
We Recommend
One glance into their eyes will tell you that winter weirdness has consumed them. While most folks snowshoe the backcountry around Mount Rainier, soak in hot springs or hibernate by the fire with a pile of unfinished books and a cupboard full of cocoa, a few freaks laugh at the
Jobs & Education
Madigan Army Medical Center is taking its services out into the community. More specifically, members of the Adolescent Medicine Division are heading into local schools that boast large military student populations. The school-based clinics, which are now available at Lakes High School within the Clover Park School District and both Steilacoom
Style
The Museum District in Tacoma is proof of the city's flourishing creative culture on a massive scale. Though Tacoma managed to gain itself a bad rap due to criminal activity in the area 20 plus years ago, it is now a full character, culminated by its surrounding art museums -
Military Life
Servicemembers come from all walks of life. As such, their hobbies can vary greatly. Some like to work on motorcycles or cars, others like to compete in marathons or skydive. And some, like Chief Warrant Officer 3 Arthur Mills, Jr., like to write stories. Mills, who is stationed on Joint Base
We Recommend
We come to that point at which we decide exactly what New Year's Eve is all about. Is it for drinking and celebrating and having a great time that you'll barely remember the next day? Or is it about building up ridiculous expectations in pursuit of a memorable evening that
Features
When business owner and veteran Patrick Hughes sees potential, it's a pretty big deal. And that's exactly what he sees in his South Tacoma business Jazzy's Café. Hughes' vision for the restaurant is straightforward: he sees the establishment as not only providing great food and service in a customer-focused and friendly
Features
If Tacoma had a "history cup" inside the Washington State History Museum it would overfloweth with the city's rich and frothy beer story. This fine city has had an ongoing love affair with all things brew - from the days of suspender-wearing brewmasters at Heidelberg Brewing Co. to brew pub
Stage
A dozen plus one of Tacoma's most well-known artists are represented in the "Sixth Annual Greater Tacoma Community Foundation of Art Award Exhibit" with a variety of prints, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures. It's a cornucopia of every imaginable style and media that can be tastefully crammed into the small Fulcrum
Critics' Picks
[INDIE POP] + SAT, DEC. 21 Two of the influences cited by Dames do well to encapsulate their particular charm: Mac DeMarco and Tacoma's own (possibly defunct?) Makeup Monsters. What all three of these groups have in common is a certain embrace of a slacker ethos, which presents not as apathy,
Music
Slutty Hearts' recent EP, Bones in the Snow, opens by referencing Nancy Sinatra. It's a fitting introduction to the Slutty Hearts ethos, which shares some qualities with Sinatra's spooky romanticism. Dark garage pop gems positively drip from the mouths and fingers of Slutty Hearts - devoted exercises in melodicism and
Guides
Go to the mall any weekend in December and you'll find throngs of shoppers. Venture forth to local hotspots like downtown, Sixth Avenue or Proctor, and you may find the same - people flocking to indie stores to keep it real and shop local. But if you really want local,
Guides
Ah, Secret Santa, the office game of who can buy a decent gift for around $20 for someone they hardly know. You may know that Debbie down the hall, fourth cubicle over, never wipes out the microwave when she's done using it. But what to get her for Christmas? That's where
Guides
Christmas comes in many forms. For many, it kicks off with a fervent shop-fest on Black Friday, with fistfights over $99 flat-screen TVs and angry eyebrows aimed at the latest Elmo doll - the last one on the shelf. If Christmas isn't about scoring that Elmo doll for your child,
Guides
"We would not be able to do what we do without donations and volunteers," said Thomasina Cooper, development director for SafePlace Olympia. SafePlace Olympia is an advocacy agency and confidential shelter for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Thurston County. It offers support groups, legal advocacy, emergency shelter and
Guides
Nothing says the holiday season has officially arrived like spying cartons of eggnog in the dairy aisle at the grocery store. I've literally seen grown men's eyes alight while a small squeal of excitement escaped their lips knowing that eggnog season was upon us. It seems natural that eggnog is