Outdoors
May is the start of festival season in the South Sound - the weather warms up, the sun comes out most days (at least, let's hope it does) and events galore take to local parks, green spaces and venues. Almost all South Sound festivals make great family events, and a
Arts
June is Pride month throughout the land. Except for Tacoma, where Pride blossoms a month later in July. Pride month means more than parades and festivals. It means businesses and community organizations celebrating and affirming all during the month. Rainbow flags and banners fly from downtown buildings long before the actual
Stage
For children bitten by the acting bug there are opportunities galore in the South Puget Sound region to learn and to perform with summer theater camps and classes. Starting with Olympia Family Theater in Olympia, a relative newcomer among area theaters that produces fantastic theater geared toward children and performed by
Features
It's morel mushroom season in the Pacific Northwest, and sources tell us the edible fungus can be found at Joint Base-Lewis McChord near the cemetery. We talked to Alex Anton, the executive chef at the Smoke + Cedar about how to choose good mushrooms, how to prepare them and what you
Military Life
As a stay-at-home mom and mother of two young children, Jenessa Boothby's life is already busy, filled with chores and clean-ups. But Jenessa, whose husband, Kevin Boothby is assigned with the 52nd Medical Brigade at JBLM, still finds the time to help when she can. Last summer, Jenessa and her husband took
News Front
Tai Chi, breathing techniques and mindful eating are among exercises that medical professionals will take part in during a 2.5-day class scheduled for Army clinics across the country. A team, from Army Medical Command, is going on the road to show doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners the value of holistic
Outdoors
Jorgen Eliason, an immigrant from Norway, settled along the lush, green area of the Kitsap Peninsula that is now known as Poulsbo along with his family. Historians say their settlement along Liberty Bay (formerly Dog Fish Bay) opened the door to hundreds of Norwegian and Scandanavian immigrants in the late
Reviews
Three words come to mind at the end of a meal at Aviateur in Tacoma: authentic, eloquent and simple. I admit, the atmosphere may be a little distracting as you're immersed in a confusing mix of retro-modern décor interrupted by pieces of typical French-bistro styled art, but where the eatery
Features
What used to be primarily commercial properties, downtown Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway has gone through some drastic changes over the last few years. The construction of condos, coffee shops and concrete sidewalks has created a bit of a hidden gem in Tacoma, and the addition of Johnny's Bistro to the
South Sound Cinema
Given our unpredictable spring weather, sometimes the safest entertainment bet is a movie ticket. We're inundated with promos for rabidly anticipated May releases like The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2. Disney's Tomorrowland is right around the corner. But where are the smaller, smarter,
Stage
Don McClean said the day Buddy Holly died was "the day the music died," but Buddy's music will never die. I first saw BUDDY at the Tacoma Little Theatre in 2009 and then at the Capital Playhouse in 2012. And now it's going to rock the big stage at the
Stage
The wartime love story Time Stands Still by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies, is now playing at Harlequin Productions in Olympia. It is an intense and intimate portrait of a pair of lovers - Sarah Goodwin (Jenny Vaughn Hall) and James Dodd (Matt Shimkus) - whose passionate devotion and equally
Music
Remaining stagnant as an artist is a fear that seemingly everyone besides Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay has. To come back, release after release, with the same sound and vision is death even to superstars like Katy Perry. Reinvention comes, part and parcel, with being a creative person. Even still,
News Front
You may not be interested in cyber warfare and all that it embodies, but it is certainly interested in you. By the end of 2013, this country entered the era of the mega-breach when Russian-speaking hackers stole 40 million credit-card numbers after penetrating Target Corp. computer systems. Cyber-attacks are commonplace; companies like
News Front
The Army is using a Vicon-infrared, marker-tracking system to capture performance data of soldiers using experimental weapons or equipment, John Riedener said. It is the same technique Hollywood uses to capture live video of people and things and turn that into animation. Riedener, who spoke during a media day at Picatinny Arsenal,
News Front
This author remembers a family chat over the dinner table, now more than 45 years ago. Grandpa was talking about the "mustard gas" that they used to use in World War I. "They outlawed that," he said. "Why did they do that?" your author - age 5 - asked. "Because!" Grandpa
News Front
This author sat down to write about our first President. He called to his wife, "I'll be in the office for a while. I've got to get into the frame of mind to write something about George Washington's military skill." She replied with a straight face, "Do you want me
Archives
Far too much of the time in life having fun gets put on a back burner in favor of “more important” things — like money, jobs, responsibilities, and even rigid ideals. Screw that noise. No matter how noble your cause, if you’re not having fun in this world, what’s the point? Call
Archives
While Rich Wetzel’s third release The Mayn Thing strengthens the trumpeter’s links with the big band legacies of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Don Ellis, it declares in no uncertain terms that his “mayn” man is still the legendary screech king, Maynard Ferguson. Which means plenty of brass-plated pyrotechnics. It
Archives
Many moons ago, when I still worked the door at Jazzbones and Jason MacKinnon still owned the joint, the two of us got into a good natured argument. Or rather, MacKinnon got into a good natured argument with me, and I found myself along for the ride. If you know