Tacoma’s summer heat can make for a pretty funky monkey.  Bears, especially the polar variety, don’t have it easy â€" and neither do elephants. Somehow, like the rest of us here in the South Sound, zoo critters find ways of coping with the high temperatures.
But that’s over.  The sun is racing south.  And there isn’t a better time to race to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium to witness the animals converting energy once used to stay cool to jump up and down like animals.

If that doesn’t light a fire under your feet, today Tacoma residents can get in free.  The free day is a “thank you” to Tacoma voters, who in 1999 approved a $35 million bond issue for zoo improvements.  To qualify for free admission on Sept. 17, visitors must reside within Tacoma city limits and bring proof of residency.  â€" Suzy Stump

Wandering around Tacoma's Stadium High School on Saturday, I saw stickers on chests.  Naturally, I read these stickers because they told more stories than words ever could.  They had names and numbers, telling of the person, and the year that person was an active part of the history of the school.  I saw ’52, ’62, ’70, ’79, ’80, ’82, ’92, ’99.  I saw a dad with his sons, whose stickers read 2016 and 2019.

I saw groups of people lingering in the courtyard, but rather than the groups being segregated into “geeks,” “jocks,” and “stoners,” the groups were segregated into eras, only specifically evident by the stickers on their chests. 

They all had come to celebrate a school whose identity is as strong an identity as any human celebrity could be.  A current student manning the main office desk smiled broadly as she talked about her love of the school, and her excitement to be a part of “the castle.”

“I carry a card with a picture of the school in my pocket,” she explained. “I tell people ‘this is where I go to school.’”

The stadium itself was hopping with activity, from the booths to the bounce houses and on the stage, the sound check echoing off the concrete steps added to the feeling of vastness.

The perfect weather â€" not too hot, not too cold, not raining, come clouds adding contrast to the super-blue skies â€" broadened the smiles of the range of people who came to pay their respects to the ageless Grand Dame whose architectural identity has served as a historical centerpiece in Tacoma for a century, and whose architectural integrity will now serve Tacoma for a hundred more years. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

On the average social occasion, if your host were to hand you a beverage and you were to respond by claiming it smelled like cat pee and spitting out your first sip, you would be correctly labeled a schmuck. If you pulled the same stunt at a wine tasting, you would likely, also correctly, be viewed as an oenophile â€" and a perfectly civil one at that. Which is only one reason the Weekly Volcano loves wine tastings. The other is, well, we love tasting wine. Whether they’re sit-down soirées hosted by restaurant sommeliers or trading sips with Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, tastings provide prime opportunities to ...

(Screeching brakes.)

Mick Jones!?!

That's right snobby classic rock dinosaurs â€" STG presents hosts an evening with the rock band Foreigner that includes at "VIP Exclusive Wine Tasting With Foreigner."  Foreigner will perform Tuesday, Nov. 7 at Seattle Paramount Theater featuring Jones on guitar, Jason Bonham (yeah, son of) on drums, Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson and vocalist Kelly Hansen.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, Sept. 23 at noon.  Forty bucks gets you inside.  A cool $150 allows you to drink out of the wine bottle with Jones and his motley crew.  Tickets are available at Ticketmaster. â€" Suzy Stump

The Lakewood Towne Center is adding a few new food places to its line up.  Word on the street says L&L Hawaiian Barbecue will open in eight weeks two stores down from Cold Stone Creamery on the front end of the center facing Gravelly Lake Drive.  Between Cold Stone and L&L will be a new location for Herfy's Burgers (opening date TBA).  To the right of those stores behind the drive-thru Starbucks, the Lakewood Cafe next to 911 Driving School is finishing construction and should be open soon as well.  By the way, Cold Stone is offering free ice cream Sept. 28 from 5-8 p.m. as part of a Make A Wish campaign fund raiser. â€" Jason de Paul

The Pacific Avenue Karaoke Belt will now extend out to Roy.  After 11 years of kickin' it country the Old General Store and Saloon will will succumb to Tacoma's most popular entertainment format, DJ/karaoke, beginning next weekend.  In the meantime, head to the Old General this weekend.  Shawnee will be the last live band to hit that stage for a while. â€" Suzy Stump

Rabbit sausage pizza, oxtail soup, rack of wild boar â€" this may sound like the menu for a Ted Nugent dinner party, but it's actually what's for supper when the region’s top chefs and ranchers group hug at the 6th annual “Wild About Game Celebration” on Saturday, Sept. 30, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Oregon Convention Center.

Food and wine enthusiasts will have a rare opportunity to join Fergus Henderson, owner of London’s St. John Bar and Restaurant and author of the cult classic, "The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating," as well as check out a chef cook-off inspired by the popular Iron Chef competition, Ranch to Range cooking demos pairing local ranchers with guest chefs, as well as cookbook signings and the Artisan Marketplace where consumers can meet ranchers and taste everything from venison to squab.

For more information and tickets, check out Nicky USA's site. â€" Jake de Paul

Those beloved Naccarato bros who created the Beach House recently announced some major changes to their joint in Aint it So Purdy, Washington.

The restaurant will undergo a remodel and a name change that will turn their beachside bearings into a more fun and casual (dare I mention affordable) place.

The new name? Margarita Beach Café: Vacations served daily!  Who wouldn’t go for that tag line?

You should also expect a complete menu change. They’re calling it vacation food. Think lobster tacos and quesadillas, blue agave-spiked oysters and chili-dusted rock shrimp. I don’t care what they serve. I’d eat any creation from Gordon Naccarato’s kitchen.

The bar will feature a limitless number of great tequilas, signature margaritas, exotic rums and frozen daiquiris.

The remodel, which will begin sometime in October, calls for new interiors and landscaping, expanding the outdoor beach area; building an outdoor bar and cooking area; and adding real beach cabanas by next summer.

I’m forecasting that make outs will be irresistible in those cabanas. Ah-hem.

And as for those beach parties (there’s one tonight) that I love reporting on, you can definitely count on ‘em becoming a regular event.

A specific re-opening date will be announced in mid-October.

See ya there. â€" Natasha

Wanna see your face on the big screen?  The Grand Cinema is looking for the who's who in Tacoma to turn out and get on film. At noon Saturday, Sept. 23, filmmaker Joseph Taylor will be shooting promo clips for The Grand that will run before every movie shown in Theater One and at the first annual Tacoma Film Festival downtown locations Oct 6-12. There isn't any pay for this cool gig, but getting recognized on the street later will be payment enough.

Wanna be a who's who? Here's your chance Saturday. Men and women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicity welcome. Look hot, look sharp, look hip! (and be on time). The Grand Cinema is at 606 South Fawcett, Tacoma.  For more information, call (253) 593-4474. â€" Jennifer Johnson

While I was attending school studying interior design, trips to Street of Dreams homes were, to us, what trips to Disneyland are, to little Princess-crazed girls.  My recent trip to the Olympia Street of Dreams had me feeling a bit like an adolescent revisiting Disneyland, disenchanted and disappointed.

My first impression of the event, as seen through the windows of the school bus that shuttled us from the Target Place parking lot to the development, the Reserve at Cooper Point, was that there weren’t a lot of houses.  The houses themselves were impressively massive, styled a sort of Craftsman-lodge-meets-a-bit-of-French-Provincial-with-a-twist-of-Victorian.  Off to the undeveloped side of the road, beauty bark replaced the leveled wild vegetation, which was echoed by the faux-stones on facades of houses and in water features.  My daughter loved the yard with the concrete teddy bear and hollow-log water feature while my own hands twitched for a game of miniature golf.

Inside the houses, which we viewed through the crowds of people, all of us wearing the ubiquitous blue booties over our shoes, I noticed an odd proportion in the living spaces.  Kitchens were dominated by mammoth granite islands (small continents, actually) with the first house we visited, the Deschutes, dominated by not one, but two monolithic continent-events, as well as a wet-bar off the second “continent.”  The huge island in the second house, The Arcadia, only provided seating for three, although the outdoor kitchen provided more opportunities for sitting and lounging.  Bedrooms were on the small size, with master bathrooms almost rivaling the size of the bedrooms they adjoined.

It felt to me like overall the homes were designed with an eye toward what would be “showy” â€" a walkway akin to a catwalk across the living space in the Deschutes crossed the random-ashlar faux-stone chimney, looking down over the twin continents in the kitchen and the big-screen TV of the great room. I noted that the other homes, too, seemed big on style, not so big on function; it seemed that in many cases, “living” was done in front of a large-screen flat-panel television. 

For the rest of the story, jump to our Myspace site. â€" Jessica Corey Butler

Scene of the Crime by Natasha
Tacoma's dining scene has gotten so good that I don't believe in having a refrigerator anymore. I really mean that, as evidenced by the fact that the only thing in my fridge right now is string cheese.
The Rev. Steve Naccarato of Pacific Grill fame says that great cities are defined by their great restaurants, and I couldn't agree more.
On the streets today, in your very own Weekly Volcano Chow Town, we're throwing more chow your way than a junior high cafeteria food fight, and I'm here to tell you about all of the establishments I like to stick my little fork in.
This will also give you an indication of what it's like to survive without those stupid things called groceries.
As most of you know (because I refuse to shut up about it), the restaurant that means the most to me is Asado.  I'm patiently awaiting the opening of Masa, the owner of Asado's second venture. It'll be high-end Mexican, landing in the beginning of November. OK, forget the patience, why can't it be November right now?
When rocking the high-end, The Melting Pot's fondue, aka fundue, will make you feel like you're getting away with something. The beef diablo at El Gaucho lives up to its name. Stanley and Seafort's salmon and appetizer towers are the only things that can divert my attention away from the view up there. Everything is delectable at the Pacific Grill. The Cliff House has outstanding food (and the views are awesome too), with sorbet in between servings to clear your palate. Snobbery can often be bliss.
On Ruston Way, the powerhouse establishments that put sparkles in my eyes are Katie Downs, Duke's and the Lobster Shop.
A littler more down to earth?  Tacoma's pizza giants (you really can't go wrong with any of 'em) are The Rock, Puget Sound Pizza, Farrelli's, the Cloverleaf and Spud's. Yum.
If it's pub or tavern style food, give me the Swiss, the West End, Doyle's, the Beach Tavern, the Tides, the Spar or the Parkway. Man, I get around.
For sandwiches, the greatest grilled cheezer in the universe is at the Over the Moon Café.  The best turkey sandwich as well as cheese platters are at Vin Grotto. MSM is the only place for subs.
The inherent hangover cures in a good breakfast are located at the Harvester, Wow's, the Hob Nob and one of my secret favorites - Elmer's. I've also heard that the Parkway and Puget Sound Pizza scramble a mean egg.
In closing, I'll just say that Ravenous is fabulous; Indochine is my queen; Galanga is my king; El Toro es mi novio, and Gateway to India makes me want to move there.
Screw this writing crap; I'm going to go grab some dinner.
And to you, dear readers, I say in the most profound way:
Bon appetite!

Tell me where you like to party here.