The Olympia Volunteers In Parks (VIP) program is sponsoring a work party at Grass Lake Refuge– 3133 14th Avenue NW in Olympia. Look for brown ‘Olympia Volunteers at Work’ sandwich board signs - on Saturday, June 23, from 9 am to noon. Join other enthusiastic volunteers as we remove Scotch Broom from one of Olympia’s most beautiful natural areas . Meet at the parking lot at 9 am dressed for the weather and wearing sturdy shoes or boots. Volunteers under the age of 14 are welcome, and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Tools and refreshments will be provided. Call 753-8365 to RSVP, or just show up!

What if there were a fraud worse than Enron and no one did anything about it?

In United States v. George W. Bush et. al., former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega brings her twenty years of experience and her passion for justice to the most important case of her career. The defendants are George W Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powell. The crime is tricking the nation into war, or, in legal terms, conspiracy to defraud the United States.

After reading the review and subsequent interview with Chris Cummings, my curiosity got the best of me, so Chris got a late Saturday night, post gig, phone call from me.

As I mentioned to Chris, I'm booked up to my ears through the summer months, mostly in Tacoma, but would love to take my solo piano/vocal act into his house on one of my down evenings - most likely a weekday. Hopefully, my version of jazz, blues and R&B will bring another dimension to Olympia's downtown culture scene. He was enthusiastic about the possiblity and logged onto my website while we were on the phone. We parted with an agreement to discuss a date soon.

Chris seems to be a real nice young (everyone is young to me) gentleman that is just doing his part to make a living and contribute to our community.

I'm stopping by for coffee and to enjoy some of the other acts - something I rarely get to do considering my own schedule.

I'm the Wilfred Brimley look-a-like. Feel free to say "hi".