Music
It is hot as hell in the Pacific Northwest, right about now. Still, something that always sits right with hot weather is music, and summer tends to burst with concerts and events to take your mind off the encroaching sun and its dastardly ways. In addition to the many events
News Front
A curious visitor dropped in on his local church to hear a Sunday sermon. Later, a friend asked him how it had gone. The visitor's reply: "A preacher is a mild-mannered man, standing up in front of mild-mannered men, telling them they gotta be more mild-mannered." A preacher like that
Travel
Do you dream of warm, sunny days on a sandy beach? Then you won't want to miss out on Port Townsend. A short road trip away, this vibrant beach community is less than a two-hour drive from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. One of only three Victorian waterfronts in the U.S., Port
News Front
Sports are a unifying concept. Just ask the cities of Lacey and Lakewood and their big neighbor Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Beginning with this past weekend's Black Hills Triathlon in Lacey, competitors from around the Puget Sound area competed in the first leg of a triple triathlon threat. Let's set the table about triathlons. For
News Front
A hot summer workout with ever-changing athletic drills is something that not only servicemembers are used to, but also current and former Seattle Seahawks players Derrick Coleman Jr., Marcus Trufant and Jermaine Kearse. Surprisingly, none of these NFL greats were the focus of the spotlight this past weekend on Joint Base
Music
The term "Parrot Head" was coined in 1985 at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the show, Jimmy commented about everyone wearing Hawaiian shirts and parrot hats and how they kept coming back to see his shows, just like Grateful Dead followers, Deadheads. Thus, the term "Parrot Head"
News Front
This 4th of July, Tacoma will get a visit from the U.S. Air Force's "Special Ops Super Car," better known as Vapor. The car will be at the Camp Patriot location (Marine Park) of the Tacoma Freedom Fair, which is produced by the La Stella Foundation as part of the
Features
Summer weather screams for a backyard BBQ, sprinklers in the yard, and the sound of the ice cream truck roaming the neighborhood. But sometimes you just need to put the pot-luck burger aside and head out for a burger made by people who make them for a living. There are
Features
The days are long, the grill is fired up, and baseball is in full-swing. And to complement those hallmarks of summer, especially the Fourth of July weekend, we can't forget the all-American hot dog. In the Puget Sound, we're not immediately known for hot dogs (more really for our coffee), and
Outdoors
With summer in full swing, many people are already thinking about how they will spend their 4th of July. It is the holiday that brings everyone together to celebrate the very freedoms that we enjoy each and every day. Whether you choose to stay at home to celebrate or travel
Outdoors
Red, white, blue and camouflage will be the thematic colors at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for its Freedom Fest celebration, which begins at noon on Independence Day. Civilians will get the chance to celebrate the holiday with members of the Armed Forces. The free event, now in its 20th year, will
Outdoors
With many eyes on Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Tacoma's Fourth of July festivals, you may think that is the beginning and end of it. Here are the Top 10 in the area we'd suggest:TACOMA AREA1. Freedom Fest:Let's start with Freedom Fest at JBLM, the annual celebration that invites the public
Archives
Cougars. You can call me stupid if you want, but up until a month ago I thought they were either animals or Washington State University students/alums, and I was quite unfamiliar with the third definition. As the urban dictionary says: Cougars are older women who frequent clubs in order to score
Archives
In my fall arts guide article last week, I said I was majorly impressed back in ’99 by Claire Johnson’s realistic paintings of scenes in a San Francisco nightclub and that I looked forward to seeing what she’s doing now. Well, I saw what she’s doing now — in a group
Archives
In its 11th year, the Commencement Bay Maritime Festival showcases Tacoma’s working waterfront with special attention to the nautical experience: boat building, dragon boat races, boat rides, and even train rides. Kids got a kick out of entertainers like Ladybug the Clown and Mario Lorenz who made balloon swords and
Outdoors
This time of year in Washington is like magic. The rain has finally stopped, and the skies are clear and sunny. Lucky for us, we don't have to travel far to experience the beauty in our backyard. There are several great, easy hikes within a short drive of JBLM. With
Outdoors
In the song "Sloop John B," Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys detail a catastrophic sailing expedition that erupts in a booze-driven saga of fist-fights and stolen corn. The protagonist just wants to get home, but first he must hoist the sails and turn the boat back toward where they
News Front
It's not often that reporters get to make dirty jokes (unless you're Jon Stewart), but in this case, the event being covered is one giant innuendo - which perhaps makes this a little more fun for both reader and reporter. And it should be infinitely more fun for those who actually
Arts
If you don't study them carefully, Jean Mandeberg's metal and mixed media assemblages at Salon Refu appear to be sweet wall decorations and little more, but if you make the effort to look carefully you'll see there's much more to them that meets the eye in a cursory glance. There is
Music
As I sit here, in the cozy darkness of a bar, and write about another band, I reflect on the possibility that my journeys through Tacoma today may have resulted in my first sunburn of this new summer. That yellow psychopath we call the sun got me. I've written many