Just weeks after being announced Tacoma’s 3rd Poet Laureate at Poetry in the 253, Tammy Robacker joined Electric Elliot in the Melon studio to chat about her wonderful achievement, her plans as Poet Laureate and to learn more about Tammy Robacker the poet.

Completely unique from our previous Poet Laureates, Tammy’s work delicately develops clear moving pictures and presses the reader to make those images dance. The focus on craft and development is evident in the art of a focused and experienced poet. Take a listen to our interview to learn more and hear Tammy read a couple pieces from her book The Vicissitudes.

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Note: There are some unfortunate audio glitches towards the end of the recording…

When it comes to pot, The Melon is always open to a good discussion. Discussion, that’s what the kids call it now-a-days, right? For this Episode of The Melon Underground, Joemetheus and Electric Elliot delve into the fight to legalize marijuana in Washington State. Featured guests of this episode are Vivian McPeak, Co-Founder and Director of Seattle Hempfest, and Professor of Moral Philosophy, at the University of Puget Sound, Lauren Flemming.

Find out more about the initiative to legalize cannabis (I-1068) and how you can help support it at http://sensiblewashington.org/.

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The Melon’s Jack “Joe” Faust, interviews Tacoma Community House’s Hana Kato and Derrick Rhayn about the community event that is taking Tacoma by storm: Scrabble Rousers.

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Press release:

Brush up on your two letter words because Scrabble Rousers: Season Deux is on its way.

TCH presents Scrabble Rousers: Season Deux, an amazing line up of nontraditional and themed Scrabble tournaments for players of all levels to gather together and celebrate words. Through community
partnerships with King’s Books, University of Puget Sound (UPS) Office of Community Engagement, and Click! Cable TV, TCH is offering Scrabble Rousers monthly from February to September throughout the Tacoma. Each
tournament will have an individual theme like Mardi Gras, Alfred Hitchcock Day, Bad Poetry Day and the ever popular International Talk like a Pirate Day. Prizes and bragging rights will be available for the winners.

TCH  has been an advocate for education and words since Jan. 10, 1910. Scrabble Rousers is one of the ways TCH honors and celebrates 100 years of service to the community. All Scrabble Rouser proceeds benefit Tacoma Community House’s Student Scholarship Fund, a student run committee that helps students transition from TCH to other educational institutions and programs.

Event Details:
February 16th, 2010
Mardi Gras Scrabble-Rousers
UPS- The Rotunda
6:30pm-9:00pm
$10

Scrabble Rousing Details:

Dressing up: We encourage everyone to dress up in Mardi Gras flare.

Games: We will play two 45 minute games. Warm up games will be available in the beginning of the night.

Mardi Gras word list: We will have a list of Mardi Gras related words at the event. If you use one of those words you get 25 bonus points.

Eats: We are having a cake donated by Kathy’s Cakes. Water and cider will also be available.

For more info contact:
Derrick Rhayn
Phone: 253-383-3951
Email: drhayn@tacomacommunityhouse.org

We were pleased to hear that we would have the opportunity to sit down with three fantastic authorities on voting reform.

• Paul Jacob, former President of U.S. Term Limits and current President of Citizens in Charge
• Krist Novoselic, former bassist from Nirvana (yeah, that Nirvana), current voting reform advocate and Chair of FairVote
• Kelly Haughton, President of Citizens for a Better Ballot

Huddled in The Melon’s studio, what followed was a riveting discussion on Ranked Choice Voting, democracy, and three big amendments in Pierce County’s upcoming election.

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protectvoterchoice.com – Official No on Amendment 3, RCV website

noriggingthesystem.com – Official No on All 3 website

rankedchoice.blogspot.com – Kelly Haughton’s personal blog on RCV

fairvote.org – National election reform organization

Special thanks to Erik Connell for making this interview possible

Chris Van Vechten sits downs with City Council incumbent Jake Fey to discuss his time on the Council and his unopposed reelection campaign.

Learn more about Jake at jakefey.com.

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Stan Smith wants the Tacoma School Board to be engaged and accountable. His hope is that “every child enrolled in the Tacoma School District is entitled to a quality education.”

Chris Van Vechten sat down with Stan, to discuss his vision and platforms.

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With a long list of experience working with youth and community development, Catherine Ushka-Hall is looking to tackle the big issues facing our schools. Catherine intends to use her organizational and management experience to help advance our school system.

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For more information visit: http://votecatherine.com/

Jerry Thorpe is one of two candidates running for Connie Rickman’s seat in the Tacoma School Board. With a history as a teacher and Port Commissioner, Jerry Thorpe wants to see Tacoma schools to start refocusing on serious education.

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Tacoma is Antonio Edwards city. After 25 years, he can’t think of living anywhere else and as Poet Laureate of Tacoma is determined to helping transform the City of Destiny into the bustling arts scene foreseen by prophecies.

The Melon sat down with Antonio to discuss his art, his message and his accomplishments as Poet Laureate. Listen for a presentation of his poem “Hilltopia” at the end of our interview.

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photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/maybelline/

Electric Elliot and Chris Van Vechten speak with the New Takhoman’s John Hathaway about Tacoma in this new podcast segment: The Rotten Melon.

In this episode we discuss:

• Term Limits
• Dale Washam’s scandal
• Election 2009
• Martin Luther King Housing Authority
• And more!!!

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