Back in July, the Looking Glass announced that a new excursion railroad route would soon open up. Envisioning five-star dining and old world amenities, the train was to take riders from downtown Tacoma up to Lake Kapowsin.

Unfortunately, this is one train that will be leaving later than thought – if at all.

The hang-up seems to be – as it often is – money. According to Tacoma Weekly, the Tacoma City Council was split about various issues involving the use of public funds to finance the project, as well as the logistics of the tourist excursion itself. Looks like my dream of reliving the orient Express will have to be put on standby.

Dale

I have some very good news for latte lovers. Satellite Coffee serves up brew the good old fashioned way: with lots of love and slightly left wing politics. This is the place to go for a superb cup o’ joe and to hang out with whatever indie rock band, up-and-coming artist or attorney in disguise happens to be on hand. Coffeehouses have always given forward thinkers a place to get out of the cold (some historians say that the French Revolution wouldn’t have occurred without them), but for me, the best part is that they grind up beans from Portland’s Stumptown Roasters – coffee so good it’s got its own cult following.

-James

Move aside coffee… enter tea. Tacoma has lived under Seattle’s shadow long enough. For years we have been the brunt of coffee jokes often times associated with Starbuck’s and all things Seattle.

Enter Mad Hat, a small tea shop that is changing the way Tacomans appreciate the simple things. Not only is drinking tea hip but it is an experience that brings communities a little closer together, both globally and locally here in Tacoma. This café gives patrons and curious passersby sample infusions, botanicals and teas from around the world.

Doubling as an art gallery/ library/ lounge, the Mad Hat not only educates people from all walks about tea but it provides a space where students and suits alike can intersect to take a moment out of their lives for a relaxing cup of tea.

-James

Picture: Miriam Silvia Di Fiore

It seems as if the possibilities for glass art are limitless. You can build three-dimensional sculptures, flat wall hangings; you can use glass as an architectural element or it can serve utilitarian purposes, such as dinnerware. Miriam di Fiore has been exploring glass as a medium for landscape painting for about 30 years. She kiln-fuses panels of glass with frets (grains) of glass to create evocative and very naturalistic works. She uses a technique pioneered by the renowned Narcissus Quagliata (also a Hotel Murano artist) called Light Painting. The method refers both to the style of glassworking and to the piece’s apparent collaboration with a room’s art. It’s a demanding, painstaking process, but the finished product is worthwhile. Di Fiore’s landscapes often depict wooded areas, sometimes in verdant spring settings. Her autumnal pieces are luminous and serene – you can almost smell the moldering leaves. As such, they hearken back to such masters as the great French painter Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. Once it’s installed, you can look for Di Fiore’s work just as you step off the fourth floor elevator.

Dale

If you’re staying at the hotel here or have just stopped by to see how the renovation is going, you might be feeling a little peckish at some point. Might I recommend one of my favorite places? If you’ve got happy hour in mind, Sea Grill is The Place.

My personal favorite is their hamburger with prosciutto and Gorgonzola. But, as the name suggests, their seafood is fresh and always delicious. Head for the Wicked Shrimp, which are juicy sautéed prawns in spicy “wicked sauce” beer batter; the calamari is lightly breaded and served with a lip-smacking sweet and tangy sauce.

And when the bill comes, you won’t want to jump overboard. Happy hour pints are $2.50 and the corresponding menu items all go for $5. Be sure to make room to order seconds.

Cheers,
James

Like I mentioned the other day, only one third or so of the artists featured in the Hotel Murano collection are glass blowers. Most of them use other techniques to shape glass. And so I’m interested in seeing what glassblower Martin Blank’s contribution will end up being. He calls his new body of work “visual mirroring,” explaining it this way:

“Mirroring is the way two juxtaposed objects relate to one another. There is a dialogue that is created between these forms. A tenuous and tactile presence is created. It is the ‘resonating voice’. Each shape relates to its adjacent partner. In this intimate stage each element has the ability to affect and echo the other.”

Judging by his past work, Blank’s sculptures work like amorphous prisms, collecting light and then throwing it out in fluid, ever-changing patterns. But for the artist, it isn’t so much about light itself as the interplay between form and space and the way that glass uniquely enhances that relationship. He adds, “The mirroring of abstract forms creates a balance between beauty and form, organic and fabricated. For me, this is the ‘why’ of making art.” Look for his answer to “why” on the fifth floor.

Dale

“Had I not taken Jiri Harcuba’s class,” says Australia’s April Surgent, “I would not be engraving glass to the extent that I am today.” And the world would be a much smaller place. Surgent fuses layers of white glass over black, creating a medium that looks somewhat like plywood. And then she carves the white layer away to create a black-and-white image. The technique is called cameo carving, and essentially it’s the same process. Except for one thing: cameos are usually small enough to use in jewelry, whereas Surgent’s pieces are the size of small posters. Among her favorite scenes are the broad, open spaces of Eastern Washington. These natural vistas have remained essentially unchanged for centuries. In her pictures, they are often punctuated with electric turbine windmills or telephone lines, which intrude like sentinels or ciphers. Says the artist, “My work investigates the importance of the inherent link between person and place.” That her work resembles an antique photograph or tintype reinforces the notion that Surgent is likely ambivalent about the intrusions of technology into mankind’s relationship with the environment.

-Dale

Hi there. I’m James.

I’ve been working the front desk here at the Hotel Murano for the last five months and there’s always something interesting going on. So when I heard there was an opening to start posting comments here on the Looking Glass, well, I knew I had to jump at the chance. Soooo, I’ll be posting here from time to time. Maybe you’ll hear a story about some of our guests, maybe I’ll pass something along from a couple of regulars around here or maybe I’ll tell you what’s going on around town. You’ll just have to check back and see. If you happen to drop by the hotel, be sure to stop and say hi.

Cheers,
James

Point Defiance Zoo’s Annual Zoolights Festival started right on time over Thanksgiving Day weekend. You know the drill. Lots of bright lights and kids who are giddy because they get to be up past their bedtime. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the show promises to be extra-special. Here’s my hint: Pay the extra buck to get the 3-D glasses that turn each Christmas light into its own miniature hallucination. Promise your kids that, if they’re good, you’ll share the glasses with them.

-Dale

These insanely brilliant late autumn days are such a great way to see Tacoma. The air is so clear that if you look hard enough, you can almost see the moon’s craters with the naked eye. It’s with these thoughts that I recently took an early evening stroll on the boardwalk, also known as Thea Foss waterway. Looking up at the skyline with the bright moon hovering over it is a thrill. And now that it’s getting dark early you can take that evening constitutional and still be home in time to settle in with a DVD and popcorn. If you decide to go out, though, just remember that you’re on the water, so bundle up with an extra layer of clothing. And when you’re finished, head on up to Tully’s to warm back up.

-Dale