As a teenager I used to live within a hundred yards of Sarge’s Pawn Shop in Ponders Corner. In those days it was crowded up against the Rainbow Motel and steps away from the Abba Dabba Café. My parents owned La Casa Motel. Quite often I would be sent to the Abba Dabba to get […]
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The Fish House Café – Restaurant Review
My friend Jim and I ate at Fish, Fish, Fish on Sixth Avenue, recently. It was their opening day. I’ll go back in a few more weeks to write a review. In the mean time I had lunch at Katie Downs and wrote a review on their fish and chips (a favorite). A comment from […]
Macbeth at Tacoma Little Theatre – Review
In general the drama Macbeth takes place in Scotland centuries ago . . . in this version the setting is a dystopian reality where World War I never finished. The house lights go down and the stage lights go up . . . and seconds later the stage is littered with writhing and twisting bodies […]
Nova Scotia Rotarians Visit Pierce County
Recently Pierce County Rotarians welcomed Rotarians from Nova Scotia as part of the Rotary Friendship Exchange program. Last fall, Rotarians from Rotary District 5020, which covers the area between Vancouver Island, B.C. and Western Washington from Pierce County south to Woodland including the Olympic Peninsula. This is one of the few international districts in the […]
Little Shop of Big Gulps – Musical Review
Great music and lots of laughs. Can you ask for anything more in a musical comedy? The action takes place in the sixties with do-wopish, danceable songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Their partnership resulted in the words and music for The Little Mermaid (1989), as well as Beauty and the Beast (1991). Ashman […]
The Kindness of Strangers
We received a hand addressed envelope in the mail. Inside were two gift cards and a note. I love the quotation from A Streetcar Named Desire, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” I don’t depend on it, but I do appreciate it, and when it happens I remember it. As a young […]
Immigrants Rights Concert – Featuring Girl Trouble
In that hotbed of political intrigue and teenage angst, otherwise known as Lakewood, Peggy and I sat and talked with Spencer Rex . . . a trombone player . . . and an 18-year-old high school senior. Spencer attended the New York Times Summer Academy last summer learning about concerts: site, promotion, security, and backstage […]
Katie Downs Restaurant Review
Late Spring and early summer are ideal times to visit three of my favorite sunny weather restaurants: the Topside Bar & Grill in Steilacoom, The Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor, and Katie Downs on Ruston Way in Tacoma. Katie Downs is only a mile from my home, so it was my first choice for a […]
An Empty Field and a Comfortable Chair
It was a beautiful day. I had just dropped off my wife Peggy to do some quick shopping. I was sitting in my car listening to NPR and looking around. I was parked next to an empty field. Empty that is, except for a chair about a hundred yards away. Something was on the seat […]