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

For years, Tacoma has dubbed itself “America’s #1 wired city.” but in recent years that hasn’t been the case, as other cities have overtaken our Internet reach. (Atlanta, GA currently occupies the top spot.) Still, our wiredness doesn’t count for nothing. According to a Scarborough research report, Seattle/Tacoma is one of the nation’s top five blogging cities. But if you’re reading this, I’ll bet you already knew that. Maybe that should be our new slogan. Riffing on the ubiquitous bumper sticker our slogan could be: “Keep Tacoma Wired.”

–Dale

If you drop by various watering holes around the city, you might see a group of a couple of dozen people all clutching green drinks of varying mixtures. No, they aren’t practicing for St. Patrick’s day. They’re people who have gathered to hoist a tall one to finding solutions to global warming. Green Drinks is an international organization made up of people from NGOs, academia and business, as well as ordinary folks who just want to make a difference. They get together once a month for cocktails, networking and to discuss environmental issues. But this is more than just a neo-hippie schmoozefest. According to the Weekly Volcano, the group “develops course books, which it supplies to corporations like Starbucks, organizations such as the city of Tacoma and individuals who want to host courses on [environmental] issues.” To find out more, drop by the website and click through the USA link to Washington State and then click on Tacoma. You’ll find out where the next green drink bash will be held. I’ll drink to that!

James