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Charlie McManus is a bad ass, plain and simple. Sure, he uses locally grown produce to make food the Dalai Llama would put down with ease. And some macho moron might quip at his general avoidance of alcoholic beverages. But trust me. He’s a bad ass. Take his work at
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Still patio weather The Weekly Volcano loves to toast the YMCA workout classes that run up and down 15th Street, doing their little jumping jacks, from the Sea Grill’s deck with a happy hour $2 off gin and tonic. That’s right — wells are $2 off. Bar menu is loaded with
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After Labor Day Weekend, I felt all itchy and unkempt and disjointed like nothing really fit and nothing made sense and everything had this bitter washed-out pallor and sticky oily residue. Then my car broke down in front of Applebee’s at the Lakewood Towne Center, and once again, booze was
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At a loss to decide among the performance choices lined up at the Tacoma’s Broadway Center and Olympia’s Washington Center? Here’s a selection of highlights from what’s in store to make it even harder to decide: Broadway Center for the Performing Arts Cirqueworks Birdhouse Factory I’m still not sure what it is, but
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Tacoma City Council Position 8 candidates Marilyn Strickland and David Curry don’t get invited to talk about the arts much. Arts get about as much play as animal rights and shoreline development during election season. In Tacoma, down-to-earth issues such as affordable housing, economic development, neighborhood growth, administrative reform and
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From the outside, the distinctive, sturdy and simple shape of the house — generally low-pitched roof with deep eaves embellished with exposed rafters or decorative brackets, front porch screaming for a low-slung Adirondack chair, and simple double-hung windows — may clue you in to the style of the home. On the
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The YMCA of Tacoma/Pierce County offers Zumba classes at all its branches. The aerobics class serves up dance with a generous topping of salsa, adding in merengue, cumbia, calypso, and reggaeton. Class originator Beto Perez, choreographer for the likes of Shakira, created the class to combine fun moves that maximize
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You say it’s my birthday I signed up for Dame Lola’s mailing list years ago when the shop first opened and have been receiving postcards telling me of their events and sales ever since. A big plus to signing up, which may seem insignificant, is the birthday discount you get during
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With a slogan like “Exciting. Versatile. Handmade,” you better believe Marilyn LoSavio, owner and designer of Materialization, has been sewing for about 40 years. She describes her Materialization line as “Ready-to-Wear, made out of exciting, high quality fabrics … eye-catching, but comfortable clothing.” Marilyn’s inspirations come from the fabrics themselves,
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Sarah Bostelle walked into the party. People stopped talking, not in an exaggerated Hollywood way, just in quick quiet admiration. Bostelle looked smashing at Viva La Rose, Saturday’s birthday celebration for North Tacoma resident Rose Peterson. Bostelle’s 1920s-inspired backless, vintage satin dress was handmade, as interior stitching and utter lack
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Thursday, Sept. 13: Tacoma Singles Wine Tasting, 7-9 p.m., Vino Aquino’s, 2607 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.5511. Friday, Sept. 14-Saturday, Sept. 15: Luna Vineyards Wine Tasting, 6-9 p.m., $5, Pairings Wine & Bar, 3012 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.274.9463. Saturdays: Wine tasting, 2-5 p.m., Wine Bank, 7017 27th St. W., University Place, 253.564.1101). Tuesdays: Wine
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With 10 locations from Everett to Lakewood, Than Brothers have a good Vietnamese thing going. Locations are comfortably casual with smiling staff and quick service. Classical music plays softly in the background as addictive appetizer cream puffs are delivered. Eight scant minutes later, steaming bowls of Than’s famous pho with
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It is so nice to see that summer is finally here. Better late than never? I again feel the need to emphasize that summer is not a friend to many of your local restaurants unless they’re on the water or have a nice patio. Who wouldn’t rather stay at home
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An actor’s life is not an easy one. Days are long. Nights are even longer. The pay is small even when there is money to be made. But for a collection of South Sound thespians, life would be empty without it. These are their stories: John Munn John Munn is sort of
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The Black Front Gallery’s latest find is Portland artist Troy Briggs. He offers a group of six large ink and acrylic drawings of strange humoresque figures that relate to certain mythological creatures such as the Greek Minotaur and the Egyptian god Thoth, but their implied stories spring from Briggs’ fertile
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Music and Murals, a new event this year in People’s Park, saw a broad spectrum of attendees and was blessed with a bright blue sky and warm weather. Kids ran through the crowd with their faces painted like wild animals or adorned with butterflies, laughing, screaming and generally carrying on
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Your very own Carmen Jones is usually such a happy girl, hopping around the city discovering all kinds of adventures, but over the weekend I received some news that really slowed me down, and hit me hard. Lefty, one of my favorite dogs in the universe, had to be put down
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A couple of years ago when I was regularly hanging at the Dock Street Landing Bar & Grill, the crowd got a little too ghetto for my personal taste, and I found other haunts to visit. But lately I’ve discovered that we need to add it back to our list
Arts
Let's be honest, if I told you two very skilled college theater departments were staging productions of classic American plays this weekend, you wouldn't get too excited about that, would you? Instead, prompted by a suggestion from Volcano editor Ron Swarner, let's pretend these productions are duking it out mano-a-mano,
