The Tacoma blogosphere is about to get the Hollywood treatment. It seems that Tacoma Gnome – that adorable garden dwarf – has been brushing up his acting chops and is starring in his own movie. Catch the preview here.
– James
With 18 years of operation under its belt, the Downtown Tacoma Farmers’ Market is an established tradition. Over 80 booths of the season’s freshest produce, flowers, artisan crafts, jams & jellies, live music and more are returning to the city beginning May 15th for their seasonal run through October 16th. Here’s the schedule:
Day: Thursday
Time: 9:00am to 2:00pm
Where: Downtown on Broadway between 9th and 11th
–James
Billy Morris once assisted Dale Chihuly as a gaffer, which, in glass art circles, refers to a master glassblower who shapes glass as it comes out of the kiln. In other words, he worked directly with Chihuly to help execute that master’s designs and ideas. Since then, he has moved on to become one of the most original, creative and virtuosic glassblowers in the world. Inspired by ancient civilizations, tribal cultures and mythology, his sculptures raise ordinary artifact to the level of art. Raise yourself in our elevator to the 25th floor and see the work he’s done for us.
–Dale
One of my pet peeves about the Web is that whenever creative organizations launch a new website, all-too-often, navigation is difficult and those fancy-schmancy flash animations render the download times interminably long. Ugh. Thankfully, this is not the case with the Tacoma Art Museum site. Easy to surf, yet pretty to behold, this site is, in my opinion, a model of Web design. (Such good design doesn’t come cheap, I’m sure.) Here’s an opportunity for you to help the museum pay for its facelift: October 18, TAM will be holding its annual gala benefit. Show up and pitch in!
–Dale
We’ve been online for a while now, bloggin’ and all, but I have to give it up for our sister hotel, the crazy cool Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland, Oregon. They just joined us in the digital world, but not with a blog as you might expect. The hotel went and one-upped us. It’s on Facebook!
I was admittedly reluctant at first to give it its due praise, but eventually I caved. The page is just too slick. It gives users updates on hotel packages, an interactive map, a history of the hotel, a place to make a review, AND it streams OUR blog right there! If you’re a fan (not in the literal sense), you can even upload your own photos of the hotel right there. And I hear that they may be offering promo codes there for anyone interested in visiting our neighbor down south.
If you have some free time at work (come on, I know you have some free time), you should take a look. Let us know what you think, we just might have to make one ourselves.
Consider yourself poked,
- James
As we reported in February, Corina Bakery is one of our favorite places to stop when stretching our legs. Recently, a couple of new owners have been coming around the operation and are making a few changes, improving on an already great idea. Julie Rex, who was hired on as a baker last year, now runs the place along with co-owners Mike and Molly Ott. Among those changes are the introduction of menu items geared to people with special dietary needs. Julie told us over the phone that over the next few weeks, you can expect to start seeing gluten-free (GF) breakfast items, as well as GF cakes and cookies. And to, er, “sweeten” the deal, she will be rolling out desserts made with alternative sweeteners, such as fruit juice, agave nectar and honey.
–James
Your knowledge of Tacoma’s historic lore would not be complete without the story of “Gallopin’ Gertie,” the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge that collapsed in 1940. I just ran across some footage (on YouTube, of course) that depicts the collapse in color, up-close and personal. This footage is not for the faint of heart, but it does portray a heroic attempted rescue of a dog stranded in an abandoned car on the buckling monstrosity. All I can say is, wow.
–Dale
The Inuit supposedly have over 100 synonyms for ice. Add Peter Bremers to the mix and that vocabulary gets exploded exponentially. Bremers, who deals in kilned-formed glass, makes pretty much one thing: icebergs. But the variety of colors, shapes and moods of these pieces makes those silent giants a world unto itself. If you step off the elevator on the 24th floor, you will be able to get a taste of his talents. As Rosemary Ponnekanti wrote in a recent Tribune article, “Bremers’ cast glass “Iceberg,” a teardrop hole carved into a huge, ice-blue hunk, is flanked by stunning images of the Greenland icebergs that inspired his work.”
–Dale
Detroit has General Motors. Our neighbors to the north have Boeing. We Tacoma-ites have Brown & Haley, manufacturers of that heavenly canister of candy known as Almond Roca. And now, they’ve sweetened the deal with a new offering: Roca Buttercrunch Thins. These candy sticks come in four chocolate flavors: milk chocolate butter toffee, dark chocolate butter toffee, milk chocolate caramel and dark chocolate truffle. Brown & Haley CEO Pierson Clair (quoted in the Tacoma News-Tribune) says, “when you bite into a thin you taste the coating of chocolate and then the buttercrunch just squishes in your mouth for a pop of butter flavor.” Those are the words of a corporate chief who loves his job. (He should – he’s been at it for 41 years.) Take a good, mouthwatering look at the new confection here.
–James
In the seafaring Japanese culture, fish occupy a central place as cultural markers, symbols and sources of inspiration. Blown glass artist Hiroshi Yamano takes all of that a step further, appropriating the fish as an alter ego. Says the artist, “My works come from all my experiences. The memories I have from my experiences are my most important treasures. To keep finding my treasures, I have to keep swimming the world like a fish swimming in the waters.” He adds, poetically, “I am a fish who is always looking for something. I am a fish who cannot stop swimming until my body stops moving. Maybe I will swim forever, like the universe.” See his work on Floor 22.
–Dale