Sometimes it feels like a part-time job, explaining to my out-of-town friends that Tacoma is heading in a new vibrant direction. It’s a city in transition, where its blue-collar origins mingle vibrantly with the upscale economy of urban revitalization. For an artist’s take on this scene, drop by the windows of the Woolworth Building at Broadway and 11th Street for its current series, featuring Patrick Grenier, Paul McKee, Margot Myers, Heather Joy & Matthew Olds and David Traylor. These pieces have been touted in the press as depicting the contradictory nature of a city in transition. Okayyyy. I’ll have to run down there and take a peek before the show ends November 3.

Cheers,

Josh

I’ve always experienced Tacoma as a beer town. A place where you could always get a good pork chop and a pitcher of beer. Here are a couple of places where you can celebrate the magic of the hops this harvest season:

Harmon Brewery Beer Dinner

For its 10th Anniversary, Harmon Brewery will roll out a few barrels of Killerbrew, its Oktoberfest Lager for a five-course dinner, in which each course is matched with a special beer.

Where: Harmon Brewery, 1938 Pacific Avenue
When: September 26

Cost: $30

Info and reservations: 253.383.2739

Third Annual Oktoberfest Northwest
At this traditional Munich-style festival, you can get your bratwurst on, your schnitzel schnapped and , well, you get the picture. Kids wilkommen.

Where: Puyallup fairgrounds

When: October 5 through 7

Prost!

Dale

Around our house, now’s the time to begin planning your Halloween. The gals over at Tacoma Mama think so too. They’re starting a special section called The Halloween Pages, which will include family-friendly Halloween happenings. They’re compiling the list right now, so if you have an event that could be included, drop by the site and let them know about it.

Dale

You’re making the annual pilgrimage to corn dogs, elephant ears and just about anything that will fit in a deep fryer, right? And then you’ll be stepping onto a ride that measures its value in degrees of centrifugal force, right? I’m talking, of course, about the Puyallup Fair, September 7 - 23. You may go for the food and carnival rides, but I’ll be there to watch the wax artists dip flowers, body parts and whatever else you want (as long as it doesn’t entail breaking the law) in their vat of epoxy and memorialize it forever as either a mummified or cast sculpture. Something tells me I won’t see any students from the Pilchuck Glass School taking notes.

Josh

I’m just back from the glass show at Travers Gallery. If you’re expecting traditional Muranese glass, such as strings of kaleidoscopic beads or shelves filled with fancy vases, you would be in the wrong place. These pieces are abstract and purely decorative. Four or five artists were represented. Here are my thoughts on two of them:

Lino Tagliapietra is well known in these parts. Breaking with Muranese tradition, he moved here to the Northwest and started revealing the secrets of the craft at Dale Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass School. You can see his influence on the scene; like much of Chihuly’s work, his pieces at the Travers Gallery seem inspired by exotic creatures that might be found under the sea or under a microscope.

Another artist whose work fascinated me was Silvano Rubino. Rubino works with master glass sculptors in Murano who blow the glass, which he subsequently carves. This collection’s black and tan pieces have been engraved with geometric designs that remind me of Native American pottery. I have no idea where he gets his ideas, but if Rubino has spent time on a New Mexican pueblo, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.

Be sure to get down to gallery to catch this show soon. It ends September 9.

Josh

Speaking of parks, did you know that the Tacoma Park system just turned 100? In fact, the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma is Washington State’s first independent park agency. Now that’s something to be proud of. Tacoma Weekly did a nice write-up on the occasion. So, if you made it to the Ben Stiller movie over the weekend, I hope you raised a glass to the founders of the park and their visionary ideas.

Brian

Let’s say you’re recently home from your vacation. If you’re like me that means you’re broke. Nevertheless, you’ve still got a few weeks of sun and freedom before school starts. What do you do? You go looking for free entertainment. That’s what you do. Fortunately, in Tacoma your tax dollars are at work, helping to solve that very problem. I’m talking here about the free Saturday night shows happening in various parks around town. If you’re in town Saturday, August 25, head down to the South End Recreation Area of Point Defiance Park and catch the Latin and Caribbean grooves of Bochinche, followed by an outdoor screening of “Night at the Museum.” I’m only a marginal fan of Ben Stiller, but I am a big fan of free.

UPDATE: Thank you to reader Jen for keeping me accurate. In her comment she pointed out that if you went to Point Defiance Park you would miss the free party. So you should actually just go straight to the South End Recreational Area just off of South 56th Street.

_

Josh

If you feel that you were unfairly passed over in the latest American Idol search, never fear. There’s always a second chance. Local talent has been lining up for the last four years to participate in Tacoma Idol for exposure, cash and a chance to perform at the Puyallup Fair. First-round winners have been performing each Saturday for the last couple of weeks. Upcoming shows are August 11 at Heidelberg and Aug. 18 at Stewart Heights Park. It’s too late to sign up, but you can still participate by going to the shows and casting your vote for the person you think should be the next Tacoma Idol.

Brian

Josh –

Here are a few more movies that were shot in Tacoma: Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Rebecca De Mornay, Ernie Hudson, Annabella Sciorra, Julianne Moore), I Love You to Death (Kevin Kline, River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, William Hurt, Victoria Jackson), and Three Fugitives (Nick Nolte, Martin Short, James Earl Jones, David Arnott). Many of these actors have stayed in our hotel. What were they like, you ask? Hmmm…. They were actors. Enough said. I could tell you a few stories, but then I’d be breaking the first rule of hotel operators everywhere: “Discretion is the better part of valet.” Or something like that.

Brian

One of my favorite bridges, the Tacoma Narrows, is our little slice of the Golden Gate. And, of course, its new section just opened. Yes, I was among the first to walk across the new section last week—along with 50,000 other people. Which reminds me. I got my picture in the Tacoma Weekly! Woo! I’m the guy in the white T-shirt and khaki shorts.

Ciao,

Josh