sparkrobot

Maybe I should cut back. Or just go huge.

Friday night, (yes, that’s tonight) The Boss Martians are playing at the Cans grand opening downtown Tacoma, 100 S. 9th Street. You could get lucky. From what I gather, Miller Beer is giving away a Jeep… though I’m fuzzy on those details.

Photo by, well, me.

Rather than try to come up with some fancy to say while I’m supposed to be working, I’m just going to quote Chris here:

Evan, a UPS alum, has been a pal for a long time, and is no doubt the most entertaining fool on stage. These guys are an amazing power-pop band. No openers, and they go on around 10.

I’ll try to be the most entertaining fool with a camera. These guys always put on a good show. If you’re in Tacoma, you should come down and have a can of beer.

Stop motion Modest Mouse video:

“Myself and a couple have friends have entered the above into the Modest Mouse video competition. Using green screen footage provided by the band we cut a simple music video. We then degraded the images and printed out each frame sequentially. (all 4133 of them) We then nailed each “shot” of 50-100 posters to various structures and posts. Then using a digital SLR camera with a long exposure we frame by frame shot each poster. Oh, and theres a little video projection (again, frame by frame on the SLR) just to mix it up. There is no compositing, no shortcuts, just lots of blood, sweat and tears, and a huge Kinkos bill!”…. Max

via photojojo, via woostercollective.

McKinley Park, Tacoma.

Merlin’s list of Fives. How is it even possible that I’ve been missing this for so long? To get you started:

• Five musical embellishments that should be used in moderation
• Five things, besides “your ride,” that you might wish to “pimp”
• Five songs I’d enjoy hearing Tom Waits cover
• Five nicknames I would find unbearable

Now, on to 5ives.

I was able to attend both dates of the Georgetown Music Festival in the Georgetown neighborhood up in Seattle last weekend. 47 bands on 4 stages. The two indoor stages at Jules Maes provided the typical conundrum of taking photographs in absolutely horrible lighting conditions. Ouside however, the sun was in full force. Consequently, a lot of the photos from the two outdoor stages turned out pretty well. After reviewing the work from Saturday, it occurred to me a circular polarizer filter would be a good choice. Sunday’s photos as a result were a lot richer as a result. This gets chalked up as learning while living, and taking photos along the way.

Check out the photos of the Georgetown Music Festival 2007 on Flickr.

“This isn’t about Tacoma, what gives?”

Tacoma needs a festival like this in a big, bad way. So the burning question is, who’s putting it on?

Evidently, Bob Dylan penned every pop song, well, ever.

Who doesn’t love beer and hot dogs? The Red Hot, a place specializing in sausage and brews is slated to open on 6th Avenue later this year. The ink on the lease has yet to dry, but the wheels are in motion. Earlier, I asked the proprietor of The Red Hot and author of the recently minted blog Beer and Hot Dogs a few questions about The Red Hot.

Some Questions. Some Answers.

SR = sparkrobot.com, TRH = The Red Hot

SR: What is The Red Hot?
TRH: “Your new favorite Tacoma hangout”

SR: Where is The Red Hot?
TRH: 2914 6th Ave, Suite B, intersection of 6th and Junett. It used to be the old dollar store. 1 block away from 6th and Pine (E-9, masa, Asado, etc.). Across from Schucks.

SR: What’s the deal with Beer and Hot Dogs?
TRH: Whats not to like?
SR: touche
TRH: Theres wine, pinball, tv, and atmosphere, natch. And nachos. And no lame jukebox
SR: that’s key
TRH: If you want to take your girl out, eat a legit dog, listen to T. Rex, be surrounded by Tacomacentricity, maybe catch a game on the tube, not listen to the horrible sound of a pool cue slapping the ground, and not be surrounded by knuckleheads all at the same time, you will like The Red Hot. Oooooh, and play pinball.

SR: 10-4. Sounds like it will be cool, unpretentious… Tacoma. So, why Tacoma?
TRH: Why not. It’s the city I live in, the city where I’ve decided to stay. There’s not a lot of suburban guilt that you find in Seattle, where a lot of bars tend to preach the blue-collar lifestyle. People who are blue-collar do not need to be reminded they are blue-collar. They just want a cool spot to hang out. And there’s hot dogs there. Whats not to like?
TRH: I. Heart. Tacoma.
SR: Nice. Good idea for The Red Hot teeshirts. I want a 60% cut. We’ll talk about this later.
TRH: what idea
SR: I. Heart. Tacoma.
TRH: thats my idea
SR: not anymore!
TRH: you get a free one, thats it

SR: When do you expect to unleash The Red Hotness on the Tacoma?
TRH: Hopefully mid-summer. I’d like to say end of July, but with waiting on paperwork to be processed, it could be August.

SR: Killer. Your family is to blame for creating the successful martini lounge concept, the One Ten Lounge out in Port Orchard. That’s really cool place. Will there be similarities?
TRH: Yeah. Our family doesn’t take shortcuts in our business. We don’t rip people off, or pretend to be something we’re not. It will have some of the lounge characteristics that are not common with “taverns” or “taprooms”. We try to create something that we would go to. It will be a comfortable place to go to, with atmosphere unlike any in the area. Plain and simple.

SR: So, what are we talking about? ballparks and pbr? let’s talk about beer and hot dogs, let the people hear a little bit more about what they can expect to eat and drink.
TRH: Street style hot dogs…not blistered up tough tubes of meat like at convenience stores. Chicagos, Coneys, Veggies, etc. Natural dogs, and skinless for aficionados of every ideal. Homemade chili (NO BEANS!!!), and homemade southern slaw will be in house. Cheap eats for the lunch-time crowd. Cheap eats for the anytime crowd.

TRH: Yeah, PBR will be on tap, but so will Fish Organic IPA. And other local breweries will be represented. It’s looking like 8-9 handles, with some bottles. It will absolutely have Rainier on tap, ice cold (it should be a requirement for every bar in Washington to serve it, even though it moved away…a matter of principle!), as well as a cider. Wine to be served in glass tumblers, because really…who else in the world serves a drink in a snooty piece of stemware besides America? I hate snooty.

SR: What’s the deal with roller derby in Tacoma?
I’m coach for the Homewreckers, a team on the Dockyard Derby Dames Roller Derby league. We have a exhibition going on during Art on the Ave, I believe, in July. We just had tryouts and got some more talent and fresh faces on the league. My team is now a 15 person squad. The next bout should be going down end of July or August. The Homewreckers are 1-0 so far and I think we’re also sending a League squad down to Vegas for a big derby event.

SR: Rollerderby. Beer. Hot Dogs. What else does Tacoma need?
It needs to keep building its communities like it has been doing…it needs for some people to get the idea of competing to be another Seattle or Portland out of its minds…it needs Girl Trouble to be played out of every church tower on the hour…and it needs for everyone to come down to the Red Hot and hang out.

SR: cool. anything else?
TRH: i dont guess so. my blog is blowing up
SR: i’ll drop that too

TRH: can i read it before you post it?
SR: why? are you my editor?

### end ###

Man, After all that, I’m ready for a beer and a hot dog right now. “It’s so damn hot… milk was a bad choice.“

I’ve put up some photos of Carrie Akre and her band from last Saturday’s show at Jazzbones. The band was Carrie Akre (Hammerbox, Goodness) on guitar & piano, Martin Lund – bass, Jared Clifton (Radio Nationals) on guitar and Mark Pickerel (Screaming Trees, The Dark Fantastic) on drums.

Center of the stage
Secret to longevity
Being right up front

I found this scene at a benefit show at the Swiss Pub last Sunday, May 6th. The event was a fundraiser entitled “Fight Fistula!” and was arranged to raise money for education and efforts toward the erradication of Fistula worldwide. While I didn’t happen to catch his name, he was right up front dancing and a big hit with the ladies.

The band on stage is The Fucking Eagles from Tacoma. Though I missed some of the bands, I’ve posted several galleries of bands that performed that evening to Live Rock Photos.

One of the themes for issue JPG magazine’s issue 11 is “Are You Ready to Rock?”. Well, actually yes. Yes I am. I’ve submitted this photograph as my contribution to be considered by the community. If you’ve got a few seconds, head over to JPG magazine site and vote for this photo: Yeah, It Rocks! if you please. Registration is required to vote, but I promise you, with only 5 fields, the signup form isn’t all that intimidating. Thanks in advance for your support.

More information about Fistula

Obstetric fistula is a devastating childbirth injury caused by days of unrelieved obstructed labor that can easily be avoided through Caesarian section delivery – an option often unavailable to women in developing and third-world countries. In as high as 90 percent of fistula cases, the baby dies and the woman is left with chronic incontinence.

Sufferers are often cast out by their husbands and families and are frequently ostracized by their communities. Without treatment, fistula can lead to infections, kidney disease and death. Currently, two million women suffer from obstetric fistula.

More information about Fistula can be found on the web at the Fistula Foundation website.