Always Something Worthwhile at Rhythm & Rye

By Adam McKinney Olympia has never been short on entertainment options; the city’s embrace of the arts and wide varieties of creative expression ensures there’s something interesting to do and see just about every night. The sheer volume of options borders on overwhelming. It’s helpful, then, to know of one place, in particular, that always …

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Visual Arts Review – Bright Scenes of Sea and Land at Childhood’s End

Visual Art Review by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Photo: “Poised” pastel by Barbara Noonan, courtesy Childhood’s End Gallery Barbara Noonan’s work at Childhood’s End Gallery was announced like too many other landscape displays — pretty, predictable and unimaginative. But when one visits the gallery in person, the work communicates a surface quality and an …

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Percival Restaurant Palate Pleasures

By Ned Hayes South Puget Sound Community College might seem an unusual place to find a five-course, wine-paired dinner. Yet the SPSCC culinary arts team is determined to turn its Percival Restaurant location into a desired destination for discriminating diners. In 2017, Scott McLean came on board as new executive chef for the culinary arts …

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East African Cuisine in Downtown Olympia

Note to readers — the restaurant named Shirro’s appears to have closed as of September 16, 2018. Our best wishes to the restauranteurs and our apologies to readers. By Jennifer Crain As a child in Kenya, Mercy Kariuki-McGee fed wood into a traditional fireplace while her older siblings cooked. As a helper, she got to taste the …

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Upcoming Events at Orca Books

By Alec Clayton September promises to be a stellar month for events at Olympia’s Orca Books. Richard Robbins will read from his book Body Turn to Rain: New & Selected Poems. Other readings include Atrophy by Jackson Burgess, joined by musical guests Jesse Branch and Mortimer, and Craig Holt from his Hard Dog to Kill. …

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StoryOly Grand Slam

By Christian Carvajal As StoryOly completes its third season of raconteurial entertainment, host (and professional storyteller) Elizabeth Lord is busily making plans for 2018’s “Grand Slam” finale. Winners from the preceding 11 monthly events compete head to head for the votes of celebrity judges. (Disclosure: This writer was among those monthly winners.) StoryOly is a …

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Upcoming Events at Browsers Bookshop

By Alec Clayton Browsers Bookshop has a full schedule of art exhibits, book readings and book-club discussions in its newly remodeled event area upstairs. The art exhibit for August will feature paintings by Olympia’s Brett Rude, a self-taught artist whose work relates to the color-field artists of the mid-20th century. Browsers hosts, not one, not …

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Olympia Film Collective

By Jonah Barrett Camera speed. Sound speed. Action! The Olympia Film Collective is set to expand with a torrent of upcoming productions. OFC has been around since 2012 but only recently snagged its official status as a nonprofit. Operating out of Sky Bear Media off Legion Way, OFC holds general meetings once a month, operating …

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Olympia Film Society Fall Events

By Adam McKinney One of Olympia’s most consistent deliverers of fascinating movies and enriching, live events is Olympia Film Society, housed in the historic Capitol Theater. While not all of OFS’ fall events have been announced, more than a few attention-worthy screenings are already on the docket. “We’re having the 30th anniversary of All Freakin’ …

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New Gallery Opens in Downtown Olympia

By Jonah Barrett A new gallery opened its doors to downtown Olympia at August’s end. Pacific Northwest philosopher and photographer Rodrigo Etcheto’s Everything Is Full of Gods exclusively features black-and-white landscape work by the artist himself, with a constant rotation of images. “I’ve been photographing for years and finally decided to take the plunge and …

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