Stage
A quick search of my computer reveals the word delightful appears in 10 of my theater reviews prior to this one. I've overused it, I suppose. It's an affected, even poncey word, but I need it again to describe Cirque du Soleil's traveling tent show, Kurios. Here's why: I was
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Unless we're talking about people with actual chest hair, no one loves beer, booze, blues and Buicks more than the Weekly Volcano. We're willing to bet that the vast majority of celebrants at "Drive the Blues Away," a celebration of beer, booze, blues and automobiles at LeMay - America's Car
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If the modern blues too often feels ossified - riffs and poses handed down from the Blues Brothers and white classic rockers - then meet Mark Dufresne. The blues musician looks backward and forward at the same time. Dufresne is schooled in the ways of Sonny Boy, Junior Wells and
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As a scarf-wearing Muslim teenager in Chicago, Tahera Ahmad played a mean game of basketball. As a young woman, she wrestled with interpretations of her own faith and went on to study Islamic law at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Today, as a respected scholar, speaker, and youth leader,
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Few songs are sweeter than "Tennessee," the acoustic tune by upstate New Yorkers Band of Lovers. Their debut single comes correct with homespun violin, upbeat lyrics, even trilled ooh-oo-oohs and la-di-dahs. Friends for 10 years, Sabina Beachdell and Dave Strumfeld united their troubadour talents in 2013 to craft a five-song
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The calendar tells us its winter. The W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory remains skeptical. It's true though. Facts don't lie. We still have to pound something strong to battle the biting chill we encounter when we step outside The Swiss to load up the parking meter. But, the Conservatory says the
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Tom Anderson is one of the most prolific and most popular artists in Olympia. He paints with chemicals, gold leaf, pastel, Graphite and varnishes on recycled metal and aluminum sheets. In the 26 years since I first saw his work I've observed an endless recycling of a
Stage
Tom Anderson is one of the most prolific and most popular artists in Olympia. His public works include the Park of the Seven Oaks, paintings in the lobby of Providence St. Peter Hospital, Panorama City, St. Martin's University, Bates Technical and Olympia's City Hall. Childhood's End has been showing his
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Before Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein branded Portland, Oregon, Elliott Smith did the same - except his Portland was about self-loathing. He told stories about addicts getting off the bus at Southeast Powell Boulevard and 6th Avenue to cop, and chronicled the absurd ritual of the Rose Parade. After battling
Military Life
Carrie Daws and Kathy Barnett have walked different paths in their military lives. Although their personalities on the outside are quite different, the military spouses are nonetheless strikingly similar. Both are devout Christians, both home school their children, and both minister to military families. And last year, they authored a
Outdoors
Recently, my oldest and dearest friend came home for a visit. She's a fancy city slicker now, hailing from New York City. Not Brooklyn or another borough. NYC proper. Naturally, I usually trek up to Seattle and go to some hip, new restaurant for our annual catch up. But this