Nothing spells mid-summer as boisterously as a berry coming in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but is mostly known for its red and its tangy-sweet flavor, the tomato. As a child, I wasn’t really keen on it; I belonged to the cucumber fraction rather. But today, I wish I had cherished those summer nights […]
Letter: Watering the flowers
Sometimes my granddaughter of now nearly eight months will help me water the flowers on our porch. It gives me yet another reason to hold her. Occasionally she’ll accompany me to get the mail but mostly it’s the flowers. Sometimes we’ll use the sprinkling can since that takes longer and gives us a chance to […]
Tea with Ron White – Mr. Tater Salad himself
When you visit St. Vincent’s (St. Vinnies) on South 56th Street, you just never know what you’re going to find. It’s a house of treasure and a house of hope. It’s a nice combination. Peg and I visited St. Vinnie’s to get a donation for Soroptimist International of Tacoma. Some of the members live in […]
Westside Story – Be a Good, Bad Neighbor
I recently analyzed a portion of my life-history only to discover that while living in my current home the past 42 years I have had neighbor relationships with 21 different neighbors with old neighbors moving out and new neighbors moving in. We have always enjoyed great relationships with our neighbors or at least appreciated a […]
Smelt, Rainbow Trout, Salmon, Steelhead and Good Eats
I love fried fish. My mother fried smelt to perfection. The little daggers of crunch were fantastic. My wife Peggy grew up on fried smelt from the Pacific Northwest, too. Her dad Ike and the whole family enjoyed smelt. The Toutle is a tributary of the Cowlitz River, which used to be the mainstay of […]
Fire and Ice – Film Review
I am a HUGE fan of Ralph Bakshi. If you’re not familiar with him, Bakshi is the innovative director and animator of various independent adult-oriented animated films such Coonskin (1975), American Pop (1981) and Fritz the Cat, which was the first animated film to receive an X rating. While most animated films up until that […]
Westside Story – 1-2-5-3
Official Coffee Drinking Partner & Editor – Jimmy Howe at TCC. Having read only this much of my column, you might already be asking, “What does Joe’s title, Westside Story – 1-2-5-3, mean?” Let me try to explain. My sister, Peg, (Note: Not to be confused with Peg, who is the wife of The Suburban […]
Letter: “You can thank my parents for that”
He was standing in front of the cash register at our place of business from which I’m often gone that being because we just have a lot going on and, despite the beautiful weather, I’ve got things to do elsewhere. “This is for yesterday since you weren’t here, and today.” Fishermen, which this fellow is, […]
2019-2020 Theatre Season is Coming
“Calendar Girls” is coming to Tacoma Little Theatre? Well, why not? Last season Tacoma Musical Playhouse bared it all with “The Full Monty.” Here are a couple of review headlines: “Calendar Girls’ delivers the goods . . .” The Duluth News Tribune on the movie. “Unashamedly sentimental and full of heart and bare-faced cheek . […]