Spew

5 Things To Do: Wednesday

MICHAEL SWAN: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009 >>>

1. The Den @ urbanXchange  hosts an all-ages benefit concert for Free Radio Tacoma featuring Sugar Beats, Sunn Dagger, Apache Chief, Tarek Wagner at 7 p.m.

2. Saxophonist Darren Motamedy fills SAX on 6th with jazz at 7 p.m.

3. Tacoma Rainiers Baseball are at home against the Portland Beavers beginning at 7 p.m.

4. Award winning blues trombonist Randy Oxford hosts a weekly Wednesday jam at Chopstix dubbed The Randy Oxford Blues Theatre beginning at 8 p.m.

5. Trivia Newton John asks questions, contestants buzz in to answer, and wrong answers are mocked unmercifully. Trivia Night at Le Voyeur every Wednesday at 10 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

Morning Spew

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Take Out The Adjectives: Pierce County voters’ pamphlet will limit candidate statements.

Port-O-Potty: Struggling U.S. ports ask for help.

Bam!: Madoff sentenced to 150 years in prison.

Honduras Hubub: Demonstrations in capital after 56-year-old ruler removed from power in military coup.

Tapping The Brakes: Thanks to the recession, the International Energy Agency expects demand for oil to grow slightly.

Good Show: Beaten but unbowed Bradley hails improving U.S.

Monsters Got Talent

5 Things To Do: Tuesday

MICHAEL SWAN: TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2009 >>>

1. Norwegian choir Hauka Mannskor from central Norway will sing lovely songs at 7 p.m. inside the Trinity Lutheran Church.

2. Rare documents and medical equipment help uncover a century’s development of nursing in Washington as part of the Nurses at Your Service: A Century of Caring exhibit at the Washington State History Museum.

3. Tacoma Rainiers play the Las Vegas 51s at 7 p.m. at Cheney Stadium.

4. Hell’s Kitchen meshes its Tightwad Tuesday night ($2 wells, $2 beers, $2 huge tacos) with a little Rock Band! Live on stage at 8 p.m.

5. Nate Jackson will be the headliner at Jazzbones’ Ha Ha Tuesday comedy show at 8 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Wine and beer events

5 Things To Do: Sunday

MICHAEL SWAN: SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009 >>>

1. J-Fresh mixes and scratches ‘80s and old school tunes while industry folks get smashed on happy hour prices tonight at Jazzbones.

2. Punk Rock Baseball takes over Jefferson Park from noon to 6 p.m.

3. Tacoma Little Theatre use their revolving stage as a transition device as their production of The Buddy Holly Story flows from one scene to the next beginning at 2 p.m.

4. A young Brit (Ben Barnes) brings his dashing American love (Jessica Biel) home to meet his parents (Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth) with unsettling results in the flick Easy Virtue on The Grand Cinema’s screen at 12:35, 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:10 p.m.

5. Rod Cook & Toast play a free show at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma at 7 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Wine and beer events

5 Things To Do: Saturday

MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2009 >>>

1. Gallery Madera hosts an opening reception for Fluidity of Form — an exhibition featuring paintings by Kelsey Parkhurst and sculptures by Heather Cornelius — from 5-8 p.m.

2. SiteWorks 2009 is a highly organized, grant-funded and professionally curated dance performance staged on three outdoor plazas at the Museum of Glass at 4 p.m. and June 13 and 14 at 2 p.m. Read the full story here.

3. Bo Cappabianca will sing and play acoustic guitar and piano — dabbling in a bit of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Alice in Chains and Nirvana — from 8-1 0 p.m. at the Cork Wine Bar.

4. Dockyard Derby Dames beat each other up beginning at 6 p.m. at the Tacoma Soccer Center.

5. Tempest Lounge resident DJs Mr. Clean, Omar, Dab and Big Chuck spin house music beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Wine and beer events

Photo: Heather Cornelius' Disfigures Mothers Series, No.1, detail

5 Things To Do: Sunday

MICHAEL SWAN: SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2009 >>>

1. After Punk Rock Baseball this afternoon there's a Punk Rock Baseball Benefit Show with I Defy, Dem Zaing and McMonster the Devastator at Hell's Kitchen around 7 p.m.

2. Eakins and Dombrosky are installation/conceptual artists. Their work tends to be more experiential and thought provoking than visual, yet some of the works in Phantasm Chasm at Fulcrum Gallery — noon to 6 p.m. — are visually intriguing, and some are downright beautiful to look at.

3. Marilyn Frasca’s show at Childhood’s End Gallery is one of the better shows they’ve had in a long time. Her drawings are wonderful. Check them out from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

4. Culling The Weak, Triosis, Witness The Massacre, Aspen, We Move Mountains, One Last Vengeance and Chasing Aurora play an all-ages show at The Viaduct at 6 p.m.

5. The Crossroads Band lays down some blues at 7 p.m. at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

Plata Pussies take title

RON SWARNER: ROCK  ‘N’ ROLL BOWLING TOURNAMENT >>>

I tried describing first annual Hell’s Kitchen Rock ‘n’ Roll Bowling tournament held Saturday at Pacific Lanes in Tacoma but it came out looking like a C student’s four-page term paper on alcoholism.  So instead of going into detail on every single thing that happened, I’ll post the winner’s photo and call it good.

The Plata Pussies won the thing dipping heavily into the handicap system in order to pull it off. Congratulations to Rob Wheeler, Devin Culhane, Trivia Sayler-Koehn (with child) and Terrance Koehn.

Rock 'N' Roll Bowling today

NIKKI TALOTTA: FIRST BOWL, THEN ROCK >>>

The cheap beer, the crash of pins, the dorky shoes. A reason to cuss and brag, a game for friendly competition and the preferred sport of The Dude from The Big Lebowski.  Aah, sweet bowling, one of America’s favorite pastimes. And Hell’s Kitchen is bringing us reason to love it even more.

That’s right, the staff at Hell’s Kitchen has given this old game a new name and the first annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Bowling contest is on its way.

Pacific Lanes will host the first part of the event — the contest. A handicap will be established based on what the teams bowl for the first three games and added to the score, so it will be fair for all levels of bowlers. The top eight teams after the qualifying round will go into bracket finals, explains Flash. The top three teams get paid. First place team will get a trophy and bragging rights.

Naturally, Hell’s Kitchen will be hosting the second part of the event — the after party. Legendary punk rockers DOA will be tearing it up with the help of Neutral Boy (who are rumored to be bowling) and others.

[Pacific Lanes Bowling Center, Saturday, May 23, 1-5 p.m., 7015 S. “D” St., Tacoma, 253.474.0594]

[Hell’s Kitchen, DOA, Neutral Boy, The Insurgence, Red White and Die, Saturday, May 23, 9 p.m., $10-$12, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

5 Things To Do: Saturday

MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2009 >>>

1. The staff at Hell’s Kitchen has given bowling a new name and the first annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Bowling contest kicks off at 1 p.m. inside Pacific Lanes Bowling Center. DOA and others rock Hell’s Kitchen at 9 p.m.

2. Rich Wetzel's Groovin Higher Jazz Orchestra, Michael Powers, Darren Motamedy and others perform this afternoon at the Tacoma Jazz and Blues Festival in downtown Tacoma.

3. The Tacoma Dance Collective, Tacoma City Ballet, MLKBallet The Company, Harbor Conservatory, Joel Myers, and many more will bring their own works to the stage, a tiny four-foot by four-foot platform, raised for your viewing pleasure, during Ten Tiny Dances at Annie Wright School at 8 p.m.

4. Walk by any roofing crew today and you’ll probably hear some Lonely H. It might be a Doobie Brothers song. It might be Marshall Tucker. It might be The Band, Pure Prairie League or Skynyrd. But it’ll be Lonely H, because Lonely H is all of these bands. Check them out tonight at the Eastside Club Tavern in Olympia.

5. Based on Vashon Island and the purveyors of some of the freshest yet familiar, ’80s-molded electro pop you’re liable to come across, VV brings new wave to Bob’s Java Jive tonight.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Arts and entertainment calendar

The REI Bike to Work Week Command Center

MICHAEL SWAN: I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE BICYCLE BICYCLE >>>

May is National Bike Month, and from May 11-15 in particular, cyclists are encouraged to bike to work. If you live close enough to where you work to be able to make your way on two wheels, now's the time to ditch the excuses and get some fresh air. It really is an incredible way to start your morning, even if you do get to work a little sweaty and breathless.

TODAY’S SOUTH SOUND BIKE WEATHER: Mostly cloudy. A chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the 50s to lower 60s. South wind near 10 mph.

BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT: The folks at feed >>tacoma created a Google map of Tacoma bike routes.

BIKE TO WORK WEEK TACOMA-PIERCE COUNTY: Details regarding the Bike to Work Week Commuter Challenge, Bicycle Commuter Guide and events calendar are at PierceTrips.com.

BIKE TO A BETTER TACOMA: Bicyclists and City of Tacoma folks will discuss their dream of a more bike-able Tacoma at The Hub from 5-8 p.m. Rumor is The Hub will offer a raffle and valet bike parking.

BIKE WEB SITE OF THE DAY: Tacoma Bicycle Scene

TODAY’S RECOMMENDED BIKE ATTIRE: Bellwether Aqua No Bike Jacket

TODAY’S BICYCLE SONG:


TODAY’S BICYCLE REPAIR TIP:


TODAY’S BICYCLE STUNTS: