Posts categorized “Tacoma”

Can anyone explain this combination of appointment-only and walk-ins?

Walk-ins By Appointment

I saw this on a window of a local Tacoma business and it perplexes me greatly. I doubt I am the only one.

Yesterday after din-dins we went down to the Tacoma Art Museum because it was the kick off of 2012′s Tacoma Arts Month (which meant you could get into the museum for free). There was some sort of awards thing, but we didn’t go to that. Instead we enjoyed some of the food & drink provided in the lobby, then wandered through some of the exhibits.

An Andy Warhol exhibit is opening this weekend, but it wasn’t open last night. Instead we wandered through Michael Kenna‘s exhibit. Michael Kenna is a black-and-white photographer. All of his prints are 8″ × 8″ in size. I really like his stuff. He tends to do scenes that have some haziness to them (and he really excels at scenes where you can’t tell where the sky ends and the land/water begins) with a shock of a pitch-black object (like a tree) in the foreground. Like this:

Kussharo Lake Tree, Study 7, Kotan, Hokkaido, Japan, 2007

Anyhoo, you can see a lot more on Michael Kenna’s website. We’ll probably go back later this month to check out the Warhol exhibit.

But a really cool thing that happens during Tacoma Arts Month is the Art @ Work Studio Tours thing that’s happening this Saturday & Sunday.

Basically here’s how it works: A bunch of Tacoma artists who have studio space around the city open their doors to the public so you can go in and see their actual artistic processes. Some of the studios even have hands-on projects that you can do. It’s a pretty spiffy way to see what’s going on in with your local artists. We’re looking to do some re-decorating and would like to support local people as much as possible, so we’re hoping we’ll find some good arts for our walls this way.

But that’s tomorrow. Tonight I’m going to Dorky’s. Y’know, for culture.

A Three-Day Weekend!

Much of Saturday needed to be spent doing yardwork, seeing as how the yard was getting a li’l bit outta control:

Before (Left) & After (Right)

It’s coming along much better now, though! Soon it will actually be a nice place in which to hang out.

My front yard, however, I think is just a lost cause. It’s so, so, so gross. Just take a look at this:

GROSS!

GROSS! Ugh.

Anyway, there were also a couple of barbecues to attend. One on Saturday afternoon, which I had to leave early to go down to Fools Play and perform a very fun show that was attended also by the Yellow Fool, in which we all got to play a bunch of our recurring characters. I always enjoy Character Nights at Fools Play.

Carrie and a couple friends, meanwhile, left the barbecue and headed down to Wingman Brewers, which is a young local brewery that just opened a tiny taproom in Tacoma near the Dome. They were having a really cool “Made In Tacoma” event where they invited some other local businesses down and had a little fair of a sort: Madrona Coffee (Wingman has a beer with this coffee in it), 21 Cellars winery, Barrel No.51 BBQ Truck, and Backcountry Creamery cheeses. Much fun was had.

The next barbecue involved the setting up of a net for the playing of the Two-Sticks, the best possible net game ever:

Two-Sticks Net Ready to Go! (No, that's not my backyard)

Monday was my real day off; no plans at all (except for a couple of quick chores and a trip to Trader Joe’s). So it was supposed to be my day to do all sorts of creative stuff: blog, write, compose chiptunes, etc. And it all fizzled. I was completely uninspired, and everything I started just seemed like dreck to me. Bleah. So instead of getting anything important done I went to a Red Box and rented Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which is really excellent.

I think I’m going to start a new series on this website where I quickly review movies that I see at home (DVD, OnDemand, Streaming, etc.). It won’t be its own section like my Movie Reviews; it’ll just be it’s own Category like my Great Ideas on the Internets Category. I just can’t figure out what to call it; I want it to be some horrible pun that somehow combines the idea of reviewing movies I’ve only seen on video/DVD/Streaming in my own home. Something awful like “Vidreoviews.” Hold on… there, I just did a Google Search for Vidreoviews and it didn’t come up with anything! IT’S MINE NOW, SUCKAS! BAM!

Ahem. Anyhoo, watch for my M:I-GP Vidreoview later this week.

Sometimes something comes along that just kinda knocks your socks off a little bit. Such was the case with the Flip Stead iPad Cover project on Kickstarter.

We’ve all seen iPad covers before, but they’ve all been kinda… lacking? But this Flip Steady is an ubelievably ingenious piece of functional origami that automatically turns into a stand when you flip it open. And you don’t ever have to reach behind the iPad to adjust it; it adjusts itself to however you orient your tablet.

Just take a look at this video:

The Flip Steady is a really amazing Tacoma success story. Developed by native Tacoman Isaiah Coberly & manufactured locally, it started with a goal of $10,000. It reached that goal in just a couple of days and is now rapidly approaching $25,000 with three weeks still to go before it closes.

I do not own an iPad (or any tablet), but if I did I would definitely be throwing down the $75 for the deluxe magnetized version (magnets powerful enough to hold the iPad to a fridge). But if I do get an iPad down the road, it’s good to know that this got enough funding to produce plenty of ‘em. In fact, they’ve gotten so much over goal that they’re going to design a Flip Steady for another type of tablet, and you can vote for which one!

Tacoma City Ballet Spring Dance Extravaganza

The three choreographers involved each talked a bit about the dances they are going to present at the actual show next month, then had their dancers do some excerpts. Afterwards there was a brief Q&A. All-told it lasted just about an hour. And it was very smart, because now I actually wanna go see the full show. See, before I was kinda on the fence about it. But now there are some dances that I’m actually excited to see: Miss Erin’s whale songs dance, Joel’s slapstick 1930s hotel comedy, and Travis’s dance that he wrote the music for himself (on a cello—It was very cool to see Trav play the cello live, even though he won’t be doing that for the actual show).

Afterwards we went down to The Hub for a bunch of appetizers and beer. As we were leaving the ballet school, though, Carrie & Travis made a bet as to how long it would take for Melissa to notice that Travis was wearing socks & sandals and then yell at him for it. But it took her way longer to notice than either one of them thought, so nobody won.

This was all about a month ago, but durn-it-all I’ve been kinda busy what with Skyward Sword and all, so I never got around to posting about it. But this was a fun day.

Some time before Chrissymiss, we were babysitting our friend who in 2011 was one of those little girls who comes out of that lady’s giant dress during Act II of Tacoma City Ballet’s Nutcracker. Part of our babysitting gig was delivering her to Nutcracker practice. So we decided to make an evening of it by going to some local Downtown Tacoma businesses.

Stop 1: Füdie’s Open House

Although Füdie had been open for about a month already, this evening just happened to be their official open house. Füdie has a really nice selection of not-commonly-seen wines and beers. The graphic designer in me also really adores their logo. They were doing some beer and wine tasting and it was all festive and nice. I’d link to their website but they don’t have one. I know, right? Here’s their Facebook page, though.

Just last night Carrie & I stopped by Füdie again because they were doing a wine tasting of all South American wines. It was good! We got a nice inexpensive bottle of red.

Anyhoo, after we were done at Füdie we walked through a hole in their wall. Yes, that’s right: Füdie is right next door to and connected to Stink Cheese & Meat:

Stop 2: Stink Cheese & Meat

Füdie & Stink are two complimentary and associated businesses, which is why you can walk from one right into the other. Stink is one of those little tiny places that specializes yummy unusual cheeses and salumi. They have a weekly Macaroni & Cheese and a weekly Grilled Cheese Sandwich, as well as other, more-stable menu items.

The three of us had their Antipasti platter for dinner, which has all sorts of yummy pickled things and paper-thin meats and fragrant cheeses. Very good! Unlike Füdie, Stink DOES have a website.

From Stink we walked down to:

Stop 3: The Pantages Theater

Where we dropped off our little ballerina. Carrie helped her change into her costume while I awkwardly waited in the hallway and tried not to seem too much like some creepy guy trying to catch a glimpse of ballerinas in their dressing rooms.

The Pantages is also a notable Tacoma Landmark because that’s where Carrie & I got married.

Anyhoo, then we walked down the hill a couple of blocks to:

Stop 4: Dorky’s Bar Arcade

Dorky’s is one of the best places in Tacoma. A massive, seemingly ever-expanding cavern of classic arcade games and pinball machines. Plus foods and drinks.

Much to my delight I discovered that Dorky’s acquired a standup of Raiden Fighters:

Lemme explain: back many, many years ago when the post-Fools Play ritual included going to an Olympia Red Robin, there was a Raiden Fighters in the little arcade room in said Red Robin. Geoff & I used to drop many a quarter into that machine in 2-player simultaneous action! It’s a pretty crazy SHMUP, with crap flying all over the screen to the point that it often gets nigh-impossible to tell what the eff is going on. Fun! Dorky’s copy had a bit of a wonky joystick, though, and the screen was a li’l washed out. Still, nice to see.

Carrie & I also played quite a bit of the Evel Knievel pinball machine while we were there. 2-Player competitive action! Carrie is quite good at that machine.

Dorky’s is also where they filmed this T-Mobile commercial:

They also don’t have a website! Whatsupwitdat? They only gots da Facebookin’ page, yo.

Stop 5: The Pantages Theater

After Dorky’s we swung back by the Pantages and picked up our li’l ballerina and then headed back to our car to drive up 6th Avenue to:

Stop 6: Metronome Coffee

You might remember Metronome Coffee from an earlier post on this blog wherein it served as the venue for Julia Massey, the Jesus Rehab, and Neighbor Gary. This time it served as a meeting place where we handed off our li’l ballerina to her mother, and were purchased some hot cocoa for our troubles.

Metronome Coffee does have a website!

By the way, the graphic designer in me absolutely adores Metronome’s logo, too.

View Larger Map

Here are some photos from Sunday’s most excellent music show at Metronome Coffee, just a few blocks from where I live here in Tacoma! Featuring The Jesus Rehab, Julia Massey and The Five Finger Discount, and Terrapin Productions:

The Jesus Rehab

Julia Massey and the Five Finger Discount

Geoff B Gibbs on Bass

Neighbor Gary Rockstar