Stage
I'll keep repeating this until I'm sure we all get it: I can only review the show you show me. There was no sane reason for Theater Artists Olympia to invite me to see Cannibal! The Musical eight days early. I double-checked; that's how they wanted it. Perhaps director Pug Bujeaud,
Military Life
Life as a military brat can be vastly different than childhood portrayed in the media. It can be difficult to keep long-lasting friendships when your family continuously relocates from base to base around the country, and for some, around the world. Couple that with an earlier loss of innocence compared
Stage
In Hamlet, the greatest play ever written in the English language, a young man runs the numbers and concludes that life sucketh, ere ye die. In Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst's 1972 kid-lit classic, a young man muses that while existence is indeed
Arts
On June 30, 1908, an unknown object of extraterrestrial origin smashed into the earth's atmosphere over Tunguska, Siberia, and disintegrated with the force of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Witnesses 40 miles away were blown out of their chairs. Superstitious locals believed it was the falling of a god. Luckily, only trees
We Recommend
Let's talk about the Olympia Family Theater production. It's cute. Now, sometimes, when we say something is cute - a Reese Witherspoon rom-com, for example - we mean it's inoffensive and a few steps down the road toward being funny. Not so with Alexander. When I say this production is
We Recommend
The apocalypse called the Permian extinction, aka the Great Dying, nearly vanquished the entire biosphere 251.4 million years ago. The planet didn't regain vitality for tens of millions of years - and no one knows what caused the event. But the real story is that evolution slipped through the bottleneck,
News
Reality is self-created. Feeling it was wrong to attend college while other young men were fighting in Vietnam, James Meade voluntarily joined the Army. After completing helicopter flight school, then Warrant Officer 1 shipped to Vietnam. He was 19 years old. He soon faced a baptism of fire and was shot down three
News Front
There are a lot of things about military life that are just plain tough for military families. Deployments are hard on military relationships. Changing schools every few years is difficult for military children. Always being the "new kid" wherever you go can take its toll on everyone in the family,
Stage
I think your enjoyment of The Secret Garden at Capital Playhouse will be determined almost entirely by whether or not you're already versed in The Secret Garden. Perhaps you're a fan of the Marsha Norman musical, or maybe you grew up reading the 1911 book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Unfortunately,
We Recommend
I think your enjoyment of The Secret Garden at Capital Playhouse will be determined almost entirely by whether or not you're already versed in The Secret Garden. Perhaps you're a fan of the Marsha Norman musical, or maybe you grew up reading the 1911 book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Unfortunately,
Military Life
We tend to take simple things for granted. Like getting the baby of the family a two-wheeled bike, with training wheels. Then, eventually taking the training wheels off and gingerly letting go as our child wobbles and eventually rights, tasting speed and freedom. Then later, enjoying family bike rides, feeling
Stage
When I was a kid in the mid-‘70s (not the 1870s, wiseass), I was a huge fan of Super Friends, about the DC Justice League. Only years later did I realize it was atrocious, even by superhero standards. Same goes for the jiggle sitcoms Three's Company and Bosom Buddies. My
Stage
If you're the sort of theatergoer who lives for the umpteen-thousandth revival of The Odd Couple, then I recommend you let The Floating World at Pacific Lutheran University float on by. While there's nothing wrong with escapist entertainment, director Brian Desmond and his talented cast have swung for the fences.
We Recommend
If you're the sort of theatergoer who lives for the umpteen-thousandth revival of The Odd Couple, then I recommend you let The Floating World at Pacific Lutheran University float on by. While there's nothing wrong with escapist entertainment, director Brian Desmond and his talented cast have swung for the fences.
News
Roger Shaffer thinks sailing Boru, his 34-foot yacht, is akin to flying an airplane. "Sailing is simply flying with a vertical wing," explained the retired Navy and airline pilot. "Navigating a sailboat is also like navigating a plane. It's challenging but fun." Come this Saturday morning, he and approximately 75 to 85 other
Outdoors
If you're a fan of Bear Grylls' rugged outdoor survival TV show, and if you're looking for your own exciting outdoor adventure, then you'll want to talk with Robert Conrad. For the seventh straight year, Conrad, the program manager for Northwest Adventure Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), will lead an
News Front
Staff Sgt. Jason Grieco bent over in the cold, driving rain as he struggled to start a Homelite Pro. The chainsaw refused to start. "You try it," he gasped to his battle buddy, Sgt. Elvis Linares. Linares leaned over and pulled and pulled and pulled on the starter cord. The saw remained
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Border Songs, the novel that won Jim Lynch the 2010 Washington State Book Award (not to mention the coveted Best Writer status in our recent Best of Olympia edition!), has now been adapted into a stage play by local playwright Bryan Willis. This version was produced through Saint
News Front
Listening to Christmas music during the holiday season is one way festivities are celebrated this time of the year. The 133D Army National Guard Band celebrated this revered tradition by putting on a free concert that combined classic Christmas melodies with American patriotism for their annual Red, White and Blue
Guides
When I asked about his creative influences, Josh Anderson mused, "I read Marc Chagall's biography, My Life in Art, and he talks about how, in order to truly create, we have to treat each day-to-day experience as if it were art." He and Mariella Luz are living art, their working
