Sure, there were less guitars than anticipated (the guitar check-in guy by the beer garden speculated about 250), but LouieFest '06 at Sprinker Recreation center was a lot more fun than I expected. 
I saw things I haven’t seen in decades such as a roach clip with fuchsia feathers. 
I saw things that I’ve seen lampooned such as a real mullet that would have made  Joe Dirt proud.
I saw families having a great time, like the Johnston family.  Adison, 10, is an old hand at LouieFest, having attended before.  Her brother, Avery, 7, hasn’t been in one yet. “Because there wasn’t one last year,” explains his mom.  Avery was the lucky recipient of the raffle-prize amplifier, and stoked about it though he couldn’t lift it.  My guess is dad might help him bring it to the car, if he can have a turn with it.
Best part of the day wasn’t when I bellied my way up to the stage to photograph all the guitarists playing the Main Event; it came when I wandered the guitar-slingin’ crowd. All ages, all genres of guitarists, all manner of guitars gathered to play one song, with one notable riff. 
It was awesome.  You had to be there.
Next year? Go.  Because it’s a lot more fun than you might think. And did I not say, “beer garden”? â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

I dropped into the Parkway Tavern’s IPA Festival at 3 p.m. yesterday based on the recommendation from insider Jessica C-B.
I planned on downing a couple of IPAs, then heading out for other jungle love adventures around the city. 
It’s funny how life rarely turns out the way you intended, but most of the time it’s for the best.
I started with Fish Tales Organic IPA because I want to marry it.  Parkway Manager Jon asked if I wanted the 6-ounce version, and I said, “Why would I want that?”  He said, “Well, aren’t you going to try all of them?,” and pointed out the IPA score sheet.
My pupils enlarged, I quickly agreed to the 6-ouncer, and silently accepted the task at hand, mostly because I’m up for most any challenge, and I like keeping score.
I decided to treat the event as a personal science experiment.  I wanted to see what would happen first â€" falling of my barstool or blacking out.  All bets were on the barstool.
There were 18 IPAs to choose from, and by midnight, I drank 17.  The only one that I skipped was the Deschutes Inversion.  I crossed that one out because I think it tastes like crap.
The place was packed with people commonly chirping about their ratings of the various IPA selections.  There was one clear victor amongst the rest: The Walking Man Homo Erectus Imperial from Stevenson, WA.  That is one of the best beers I’ve ever had in my life, EVER.  Naturally, I had to start shouting to people across the bar, “Hey, do you like the Homo?” and all of them responded with “I LOVE the Homo.”
My score sheet dubbed Homo as “THE BEST.”  I rated Skagit River’s Scullers Cask as second, with its initial hoppy bite that transitions to glitter by the time it reaches your palate.  Woah. The third was the Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ from Boonville, Calif.
One of the beers threw a wrench in my ratings by the time I got to it, though: The Boundary Bay Double Dry-Hopped from my Bellingham.  Rather than rescoring, I just labeled it as, “SHITE, that’s good!”  A comment next to Centralia’s Dicks Bottleworks reads, “Bite, arrrrr.”
I proposed one of life’s enduring questions to bartender Mike, “Do the beers taste better because I’m getting drunk, or because they’re actually good.”  Mike quickly responded and said, “No, they’re just GOOD.”
Fun.
While everyone was ordering these deliciously snobby beers, they were all donning Rainier pins (myself included) because that’s what the distributor brought.  I thought that was funny.
The big excitement came every couple of hours as the Parkway raffled off cool stuff.  Since I pulled such a long shift, I scored a T-shirt, beer mugs and a lawn chair. But unfortunately, or fittingly, I got so trashed that I left without all of em. 
Our score sheets included a space to suggest a name for next year’s IPA Fest.  My suggestion was a big hit, but I doubt they’ll use it.  I think it should be called the C*ck Blocker IPA Fest, because of the performance issues after all of that IPA lovin'. 
I don’t care what they wind up calling it, there’s no way in hell that I’ll miss next year’s smathering, especially since I didn’t black out OR fall off my barstool.
We are the champions. â€" Natasha

To be filed in the good-but-not-exactly-clean fun files: Renee Seamount’s urban guerilla style of birthday fun will happen again this year.  The plan was originally to go to Spain to take part in the tomato flinging events that always take place on Aug. 22 (Seamount’s birthday). The budget wouldn’t go there, so for the past three years she’s assembled a motley group of individuals who meet up at the salon (Renee’s Chop Shop at Court A and Ninth Street) and trundle off to an undisclosed location to fling tomatoes at each other, or just watch.  Collect your tomatoes now (rotten ones smash onto opponents best) and plan to meet up at Seamount’s shop at 5 p.m.  Participants will receive a T-shirt and hosing-off with warm water. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Unless you were one of those kids who couldn't tear yourself away from a heated Dungeons and Dragons session, in high school you probably went to the movies with a couple of pints stashed in your Levi's 501s or under your Izod shirt; after purchasing a large pop that cost only a little bit more than the liquor you snuck in, you were set for an evening of rollicking fun.
I'm not sure what drinks will be available at the Capitol Theater Sept. 4, but the folks behind the Olympia independent film "The Apparatus Must Burn" will give you some if you show up to be an extra in their movie.  The filmmakers will be film a rock and roll concert scene at the Capitol Backstage Theater and they need extras and performers.   They start shooting at 11 a.m. that day and wrap around 3:30 p.m.  Everyone is welcome.  They'll feed you and have drinks too.  If this is your bag, give Joe a call at (360) 481-1399. â€" Brad Allen

Rosie's Chestnut Corner Café recently opened in Olympia at 700 E. 4th St. in the downtown area.  Three cheers as Rosie digs live music hosting the Afro-Caribbean band Ocho Pies Friday, Sept. 1. 8-11 p.m.  For more information, call (360) 753-5700. â€" Jason de Paul

Ex-junkie streetwalker turned teen-idol Hollywood glam-rapper Mickey Avalon will perform at Tacoma's Syren Lounge Sept. 16.  You might remember hearing him on "The Simple Life" or Entourage."  You might not.  Either way, he's going to be a sight to see.  Tickets are $15, $30 for VIP treatment, and on sale now at TicketsWest or by phone at (800) 922-TIXX. â€" Brad Allen

One paper had folds and creases, another showed the lines of handwriting with a downward slope, the sort that would get you labeled a pessimist by the handwriting analysts.  Many were written in German, and I could just decipher a few words here and there, a byproduct of two years of fine public school German instruction.

One manuscript made my eyes well, not so much because of  the subject matter â€" the plight of the Jews in his home country of Germany â€" but because the visible embossing on the stationery told a tale in itself, the new address of A Einstein, 112 Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

The manuscripts are a collection of Albert Einstein’s work owned by The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums. There are nine total, including one in Tacoma next to Wright Park.

I am a weakling of physics, and much of what I read went over my head as effectively as much of the German I scanned.  But to be so near something so intimate as the letters to his son, to see the signs of paper as a fragile, mundane entity, was something powerful and yet ephemeral at the same time. 

Sums up Thomas Jutella, director of the museum, “The neatest thing about manuscripts is that they don’t go away.”  Especially not with institutions like the Karpeles Manuscript Museums to keep them alive.

"Exhibit: Einstein" shows through Sept. 30, 2006, at Karpeles, 407 S G St. just north of the bowling green at Wright Park, across from the observatory.  Admission is free. Also check out the cool sandstone Sumerian artifacts.  â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Although the Weekly Volcano's hope of Storm Large fronting the band Supernova is starting to fade, the band’s three founding members, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted  and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke announced they will be inaugurating their band with a 27-city concert tour across North America, including a stop at the Everett Events Center Feb. 18.  Tickets are $39-$59 and are on sale now at the Everett Events Center's Web site or by phone at (866) 332-8499.
Turn on "Rock Star: Supernova" tonight at 8 p.m. for the next elimination round.  Before last night's show signed off, Storm Large was in the bottom three. â€" Suzy Stump

Twokoi, the new Japanese restaurant and sake bar opening at 1552 Jefferson Ave. in downtown Tacoma should host its grand opening by mid-September.  A soft opening is expected between Sept. 8 and 10.  They promise an impressive selection of sake. Kampai! â€" Jason de Paul

On a confidential note, to that mother and daughter team and that boyfriend and girlfriend team who think they’re getting away with their theft: Shame on you.  Downtown Tacoma area merchants are much too smart to let you get away with what you’re doing, and by the way, what you’re doing is icky.  Shoplifting takes rent money out of the pockets of merchants, which makes them have to raise prices and become watchful and distrustful. We appreciate that area merchants are cool and nice and don’t have those horrible Sensormatic tags hanging off their garments, don’t we? 
People, be cool; keep local businesses alive.  Remember when downtown Tacoma had no thriving local business community? Let’s not go back there.  Spread good karma in all you do. Om. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler