Looking to fill your evening in a lip-smacking, honest-to-goodness, stick-to-your-ribs kind of way? Head down to Cheney Stadium this summer for their monthly live music series Blues, Brews and BBQs . The music’s all that – and the barbecue won’t be bad either.

The event will be held once a month throughout the summer. Next up: on July 25, Nick Vigarino will take the stage to offer up his high energy, danceable blues guitar stylings. For dinner, a no-host bar and the music show, tickets are $45 for one show. Tickets for the music and one drink are $20 each. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.tacomarainiers.com or call (253) 752-7700.

- James

Much as we’d like to, The Looking Glass can’t keep you apprised of everything happening in the bustling local arts scene. Fortunately, one of our local news agencies has picked up the ball. The News Tribune now publishes “GO Arts,” a daily arts blog. Artists live frantic, often unpredictable lives. “GO Arts” intends to stay ahead of the game, covering what’s happening, what’s not, who’s in town and who’s getting out of Dodge. As its mission statement says, “GO Arts” will tell you “what’s new on the walls, stage, screen and streets of Tacoma and South Puget Sound.” I, for one, intend to bookmark that one.

–Dale

Mention the name Dale Chihuly and it’s hard to avoid hyperbole. Brilliant. Amazing. Original. Miraculous. And, of course, the oft-misapplied (but not in this case) “genius.” And did I mention prolific? Keep going like this and I might start hyperventilating. Chihuly’s glass installations are more than mere art works. They are miniature worlds that seem to have plopped in from either the bottom of the sea or another universe altogether. (To see what I mean, take a stroll across our city’s Bridge of Glass.) Chihuly practically single-handedly brought glass art into the modern era – while also putting Tacoma’s arts scene on the map. So it wouldn’t be right to overlook including his work in our collection at the Hotel Murano. His piece is easy to find, occupying a pride of place on our main floor near the front desk.

–Dale

A new “Welcome” sign is being redesigned for our neighbor to the West, the town of Ruston. Another great community in our neck of the Puget Sound, Ruston celebrated its centennial in 2006. You can check out a proposed design here. They’re looking for comments on it, so check it out and have your say or forever hold your peace. Or you can let us know what you think on our new Facebook page. (wink, wink)

–James

We knew that the Hotel deLuxe and Hotel Lucia in Portland, OR have recently staked their claims on Facebook, but this week we found out that our very own Hotel Murano has went and gone all web 2.0 on us. I can’t say any of us are surprised. After all if any hotel is on Facebook it should be the finest hotel in the nation’s top tech city! (Ok, so I’m a little biased.) But I gotta tell you, the page turned out to be well done. Again, I realize that I’m biased here, but unlike most pages on Facebook, the Murano page actually has some good stuff up there. You can find links to top review sites, an interactive map, photo albums, and other goodies right there on the page.

And yes, in true Facebook fashion, users can upload their own photos as well. You can leave reviews, post bulletins, and even right on the wall! I love the wall.

Anyways, you should check it out.

Good times,

- James

This, dear reader, is an awesome list. I challenge you to come up with items 86-100. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorites:

9. Sled down South Seventh Street.

22. Buy a book at King’s Books, go read at Wright Park, and then spend an hour at Stadium Video searching for the perfect movie and pick up dinner at Frisko Freeze on your way home.

32. Hang out at the Urban Art Festival at the end of June.

35. Walk the Rhododendron garden at Point Defiance on a rainy day.

36. Catch a film you’ve never heard of at The Grand Cinema.

71. Stare at Mount Rainier, downtown Tacoma and the North Tacoma cliffs during a sunset while sipping champagne at the Cliff House.

79. Make out in the Kissing Lounge at the Hotel Murano.

–James

In its annual readers’ poll “Top 25 Arts Destinations,” American Style magazine is quietly influencing the way we look at urban life. The great news is, Tacoma made the list for mid-sized cities! Our town is ranked 17, and I can’t help thinking that our little roadhouse made a contribution. Woo-hoo for the City of Destiny!

–James

A puffer fish looms behind an installation of blown glass, perhaps imagining how he would blow glass if he could. A school of predatory lion fish slither among museum-quality glass sculptures. Has global warming caused the Puget Sound to inundate our lobby? Nope. This is Oddwater, the new summer exhibit at the Oregon Coast Museum, in Newport, Oregon. Colorful blown art glass, created by artists at The Edge Art Gallery in South Beach, Oregon, are inside all of the displays, complementing the strange creatures of Oddwater. According the aquarium website, “The glass art was created specifically for each display based on the actual habitat structures and the requirements of the animals.” The result? A unique fusion of art and aquaria. I may have to leave the comfy confines of this hotel for trip to Newport!

-Dale

Seems Davide Salvatore has quite a list of devoted students. For someone of his skill and stature, it’s great to see him passing his knowledge on to a new generation of glass artists. If you’d like to see how the master works, drop by the Beaver Island blog, where you can see Davide at work with his kiln. You can also see pics of his finished work in his studio gallery on the Venetian island-city of Murano. For the best effect, though, stop in to our hotel lobby, where you’ll see his work in real life.

–Dale

Just last year, our friend Josh posted his nostalgic memories of Point Defiance Park’s Never Never Land. At the time, a few structures, including the well-known statue of Humpty himself remained. But since then, even that has disappeared. As Kathleen Merryman reported in her News Tribune column, almost all of the final remaining structures have been demolished.

Kerryman writes, “All that’s left standing of the original attraction are the Old Woman’s Shoe and a pile of giant concrete books. If I had a dozer, I’d put them out of their misery.” So much for sentimentality. By her own admission, the columnist isn’t from these parts. No kidding.

A few photos from the park’s best years are posted online. Go here and scroll down to the bottom of the page for a slide show. And if you want to see what the storybook scenes looked like just prior to their annihilation, you’ll do no better than to drop by Tacoma Gnome’s blog.

–Dale