It’s entirely possible, you won’t see me in the Oscars.

Though I played a part in the film "The Obituary Writer" Saturday, I fear my acting was as inscrutable as it had been in junior high school, with my happy expressions looking sad, scared expressions looking calm, and puzzled expressions appearing all-knowing.

I can’t help it, it’s my own special gift, that when I’m joking, people think I’m serious, and when I’m serious, people think I’m joking.

Even still, I had a sweaty-hot blast, standing on a step stool behind a cut-out space that was my obituary; I was the not-dead dead person into whose world the “protagonist” arrived, along with about eight other not-dead people.

The whole thing felt like being involved in a sixth-grader’s fantasy, with arrows thrown and black-ish purple substance sprayed around, all within the constraints of about a nine foot by nine foot space where a smoke machine created “atmosphere” and lights created heat, which was pretty unnecessary on a warm summer’s day.

The film was being created by Kevin Jacobs and his group of creative-minded friends, several of whom wielded their own super-8 cameras.  Jacobs will put together the footage of us into one of his experimental short films like "Die Cut," which showed recently at a film festival in Toronto.

Will I make it to Canada, or onto a red carpet in Lala-land?

Highly doubtful.

But was the experience fun?

Highly. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

This week I was befuddled on what to write because all roads were pointing to Sixth Avenue, and fellow Weekly Volcano scribe Jessica Corey-Butler was already covering the Art on the Ave festival. Simply everybody I know in the Tacoma art world is involved in Art on the Ave. It’s THE art event of the week. It’s all anybody is talking about.

Just when I was beginning to contemplate a story about underwater basket weaving for middle children, a cute little pixie whispered in my ear (via cellphone) that dashing young Joel Myers was working on a highly intriguing project that involves flexible hips, pointed toes and great leaps of faith, or at least that’s how I pictured it.

Myers is a dance teacher and choreographer who teaches classes at MLKBallet in Tacoma, Evergreen City Ballet in Renton and The Performance Place in Gig Harbor. He’s also the choreographer for three of the Loyalty Conglomerate (Daniel Blue, Lisa Fruichantie et al) fashion operas, “Gypsy,” performed at the 100th Monkey Party at Club Zoe, “Thresholds” which was performed at the one year anniversary party for T.A.C. at SOMA, and “Shore leave,” which was performed last weekend at Urban Arts Festival.

In January of 2005 Myers worked with students at Tacoma School of the Arts and produced a show that also featured dancers from the Evergreen City Ballet, Spectrum Dance Theater and Danielandsomesuperfriends called, “The Joel Show.”

“I had a really hard time coming up with a name,” says Myers. “The name was actually given by Kelly Doran, a SOTA teacher who was putting together the calendar and needed a title for it. She just wrote ‘The Joel Show’ and it kinda stuck.”

Myers is putting together a summer dance workshop in cooperation with MLKBallet that will result in a performance called “The Joel Show II.” The workshop will be contemporary dance, a combination of jazz, ballet and theatrical, which he said means the dance will be more character- and emotion-driven.

Auditions will be held at MLKBallet on Sunday, July 8. Myers said he is looking for people ages 10 and older, regardless of their dance background.

“I’m looking for whoever shows up and inspires me,” he says.

He says he tends to prefer those with physical intelligence who can learn quickly and are willing to work hard. He needs between 10 and 25 dancers.

If chosen after the audition, the dancers will participate in the workshop July 16 to Aug. 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The workshop costs $150 plus $150 performance fee, which includes costume costs. Some scholarships are available.

The location for the performance of “The Joel Show II” hasn’t been officially confirmed, but Myers has an application in to Broadway Center of the Performing Arts requesting Theater on the Square for Aug. 4.

Auditions will be held at 1216 ½ Martin Luther King Jr. Way July 8 at 2 p.m. No preparation needed.

For additional info and to register for the audition please call 253.273.4019 or e-mail joelmyers@mail.com. â€" Angela Jossy

Not too long ago, there was a certain incident at Brick City that left a person dead, another wounded.  One paramedic saw the lifeless body, another administered aid to the wounded one.
They were back at the scene â€" or, across the street from it â€" last night. 

The pair were out having a drink and dinner at Vin Grotto, where I was enjoying the ambiance of a good outdoors patio, alone with my book, "Get Some Hairapy" by Aura Mae.

Far from shrinking into shady obscurity, that Pacific Avenue strip is thriving, with Capers, Meconi's, Matador, Vin Grotto, and Paddy Coyne's all vying for diners.

All have outdoors patios where the summer breezes and the sight of passers by make for an enjoyable evening; that enjoyment factor raises by several notches when you have great food and great wine.

Add a good bargain? And I’m in heaven on Pac Ave.

My filet mignon was tender and perfectly seasoned, with a demiglaze sauce I wanted to lick off the plate.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to lick, because a sizable portion of roasted red potatoes â€" also seasoned to perfection â€" was conveniently located on the plate, perfect for mopping.  The green beans I also devoured were, again, seasoned in some combination of flavors that had me in a state of ecstasy, and then matched with chevre.

The Syrah I sipped was the $5 special, while the filet was $20.

I was amazed, and wandered away from Pac Ave in a state of bliss.

Like other substances that may have been a source of commerce on that avenue, I’m afraid Vin Grotto Chef Kaj’s cooking might prove addictive.

Sign me up for more, please! â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Bobble Tiki loves Whistling Bungholes, Spleen Spliters, Whisker Biscuits, Honkey Lighters, Hoosker Doos, Hoosker Donts, Cherry Bombs, Nipsy Daisers, with or without the Scooter Stick, and Whistling Kitty Chasers.

Bobble Tiki loves the Fourth of July.

Check it out here. â€" Bobble Tiki

There are few things that point to how Tacoma’s growing as plainly as the Freedom Fair.

Sure, it’s always been a huge deal.

In 1978, when I was 4 we’d make the pilgrimage from Lakewood to Ruston Way. It seemed like we had to walk forever, but in hindsight, I think we parked on Ruston Way.  Fast forward to the '80s, hanging out with high school friends, we’d drive to Thea Foss Waterway and hike through desolate spaces to the festivities.

Now we live about a mile away from the waterfront, and still try to score parking closer, but discovered this year, that wasn’t gonna’ be easy.

The thing was crazy busy, and kept getting busier, though the crazy part seemed to be kept in tow by the many police around.

But with a bored (and overwhelmed?) kid in tow, we found it easier to avoid the crowds and lines and come home, hang out with good friends and do quiet family things like water balloon fighting, eating, hosting our own version of a beer garden, and a taking a trip to Jefferson Park’s sprayground.  While on our way there, we found a mini Freedom Fair above it all, in the Baptist Seminary neighborhood, where I think we’ll hang out next year.

The part of the fireworks we could see from our house (we do have a commanding view of it from the roof, but couldn’t find our ladder) showed that that, too, has grown, compared to the parts we’ve been able to see the years before.

And while the whole day was super cool, it made me nostalgic to think back to the years when things were just a bit more mellow, the crowds were just a bit smaller, and the moving up Ruston Way went just a bit more quickly.

Because even when I was 8, though I didn’t want to walk (and there wasn’t much to see, except the fireworks,) I could get from point A to point B with a bit less irritation.

But seeing a huge crowd celebrate the day was fun to see, and  hearing about the people who made trips over from all kinds of surrounding spots made me proud of my city. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

THE MORNING NEWS

G.O.P.: Sen. Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico runs away.

BAD BET: Didn't stay in Vegas.

BULL: Idiots!

WEATHER: It's freakin' hot.

LETTER: Yo toker! Hypocrite!

IPHONE: Resellers cry.

WEEKEND BLOWDOWN
You can stand atop the mountain and scream your naked desires to the universe or shed that synapse epilepsy and hug the South Sound this weekend with your fellow man:

FRIDAY, JULY 6 / HELL'S KITCHEN
Jeff Angell and the Missionary Position hit the Kitchen tonight â€" twice actually. They’ll play an all ages show at 6 p.m. and a 21+ show starting at 9 p.m. Bobble Tiki is interested to see how everything goes. Not because of Angell’s rock ‘n’ roll prowess. That’s a given at this point. Bobble Tiki’s intrigue stems from the fact that Matt Driscoll, who wrote an unusually complimentary piece about the Missionary Position last month, hasn’t returned Angell’s phone calls about stirring up some press down in Portland â€" where the editors at the Portland Mercury occasionally let Driscoll slip in five sentences because they feel sorry for him. Sadly, Bobble Tiki assumes Driscoll will play the baby card, and stay at home like a bitch. Typical. Jeff Angell and the Missionary Position deserve better. 

MUSIC: Picket Range, Warner Drive and Jet Black Stare.

STAGE: Sing dames and R&B magic.

DRINK: A bucket of Coronas!

OMG!

This reminds Bobble Tiki of the time he purchased a pager, and, to his surprise, recieved Tony Danza's old number. Unfortunately, Alissa Milano never paged me.

THE SOUTH SOUND FACTOID

On July 10, 1910, four years after Stadium High School was erected at the head of Old Woman’s Gulch in Tacoma, the Stadium Bowl opened so 11,000 folks could watch sports, pageants and the Relay For Life.  Twenty-five thousand people attend the opening ceremonies.

THE DAILY WORD â€" Learn it, use it, spell it
Poltroon / pol·troon ( ) n.
A wretched coward; craven

USAGE EXAMPLE: After adjusting the frilly, pink, silk panties he always wore under his baseball pants, and knowing damn well what a poltroon he was being, Mike Hargrove informed Mariner’s General Manager Bill Bavasi he was quitting in the middle of the team’s best season in years. Naturally, he was blubbering like a gay sperm whale. Bavasi, ever the optimist, was quoted as saying: “Well, at least we won’t have to watch the "View" in the locker room anymore. Not even Bob Melvin did that.” 

BOBBLE TIKI'S THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN

This week Bobble Tiki comes clean with the sounds of summer.  You know: the strum of guitars, the tink off the bat, puking. Check it here.

As always, Bobble Tiki doesn't care what you do today because he doesn't even know you.  And unless you check out the Weekly Volcano's Web site, Bobble Tiki doesn't want to me you.  Besides, it's time to blow this joint because it's so obvious you are becoming further and further removed from all that is genuine and real and visceral and virtuous and Bobble Tiki doesn't play that with his morning bowl of Quisp.

OK, Bobble Tiki is sorry.  Be Bobble Tiki's friend.

Breakfast with Bobble Tiki runs Mondays, wednesdays and Friday.  deal with it.

The Museum of Glass â€" you know, the one with the cone thingy â€" will celebrate its fifth year of operation this weekend with a slew of demonstrations, activities and performances throughout. Visitors can join in all celebratory activities for a mere $5. Tacoma Art Museum and Washington State History Museum â€" in a act of solidarity â€" also will offer $5 admission, July 6-8.

The Museum of Glass opened its doors in 2002, welcoming more than 10,000 visitors during its first weekend and nearly 300,000 visitors during its first year, including guests from all 50 states and more than 60 countries. The one-millionth visitor is anticipated to walk through the doors this summer.

“We’ve had a fantastic first five years with numerous memorable exhibitions, artist visits and events that have earned the Museum a reputation for being a place of high energy and creative inspiration,” says Museum director and CEO Timothy Close. “We expect this trend to continue as the institution matures. As we enter our sixth year of operation, we do so with a clarified mission that focuses exclusively on glass, a lineup of exceptional glass exhibitions, a full schedule of innovative visiting artists, and continued outstanding educational programming that will augment the artwork in the galleries.”

With five years behind them, Museum officials have decided to trim the fat a bit, and will henceforth accept only exhibitions and installations featuring glass-based art, says spokeswoman Julie Pisto.

"We've experienced a lot of growth and change during the past five years, which is what you would expect in such a young institution," says Pisto. "Just getting the doors open and welcoming visitors was such a hurdle. Now we know much more what to expect, and we are much more efficient at running the organization.

The board made a decision about nine months ago to focus exclusively on the medium of glass. From this point on, it's going to be all glass, all the time."

Highlights for the Museum's anniversary celebration will include a new, multi-talent exhibit officially dubbed "Mining Glass." The exhibit will feature nine, large-scale installations by eight internationally distinguished and influential contemporary artists, including Maya Lin, Kiki Smith and Fred Wilson, who sculpts black glass into metaphors highlighting racial stereotypes and other global issues. Wilson will be in the Hot Shop Aug. 8-12. The Museum’s new mobile hot shop will be fired up for the first time on July 6, and will travel the country educating communities about the many dimensions of glass art.

Hot tip
In February of 2008, glass-art patriarch and Chilhuly mentor Lino Tagliapietra will present "Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass" at the Museum of Glass. Considered a glass maestro, Tagliapietra brought technical secrets of Italian glass blowers to the United States, and is one of the great influences in the work of Tacoma-born Dale Chilhuly. Expect a very special presentation by this father of modern glass art in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop, say local officials. â€" Paul Schrag

The Weekly Volcano knows you have been carrying around this week’s issue due to the fact that your short’s armpit looks like a tar pit.

Stupid ink.

Anyway, check out Matt Driscoll’s column on the Rock N Roll Craft Show fund raiser rock showcase Saturday night at Hell’s Kitchen.  Rock N Roll Craft Show creator Yorkatron calls the article “dope.”

Sweet.

Anyway, Yorkatron says he and his crew are shooting their skit “International Blob Championship" Friday, July 20, at the Tacoma Soccer Center and they need extras for the stands.  Not sure what time the shoot begins.  You figure it out.

You look like an extra to us. â€" Suzy Stump

I had a 7 a.m. sunny run with the hounds around Point Defiance, a four and a half hour cloudy housecleaning spree prior to getting my bod down to Art on the Ave, the Sixth Avenue community and art festival.

Consequently, I was tired and half expecting it to rain by the time I made it to Culture Babe’s house, and surprised that by the time we hit the first strains of music emanating from Jazzbones, the sun was emerging again.

The festival was everything and more than I was expecting, with friends like Mindy Barker (helped by Gretchen) and Leigh (helped by Tracy Marie), Willow Eskridge (helped by her super cool images) all my Dockyard Derby Dames friends, and  more, more, more hanging out looking like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Fun, too to see Midsummer Soiree friends Mandy, Dez, and Suzanne sitting in the Jazzbones garden with buckets o’ booze (hurricanes?).

Culture Babe and I headed to co-scribe Jossy, who scored a grand table in front of Six Olives where CB and I shared a mojito “event” (32 ounces of mojito love, though I suspect it was considerably less, what with the large volume of ice in the glass).

Our dipping fries with wasabi ailoli were crunchy divinity, and were gone all too quickly â€" by the time we were out of food and libations, a Luau group had assembled and CB and I wandered around, taking in the sights.

At CHAOS, I saw what appeared to be a well-orchestrated flurry of activity, with agile men climbing streamers of Volcanoes created by creatively dressed individuals of to the top of an impressively large scaffolding, under the watchful eye of Lynn Di Nino.  It was mesmerizing to listen to the orators, and watch the hubbub, and then to see the crowd gather just past the construction, watching brave Derby Dames scramble around a quarter-sized “rink” to give the masses a taste of what Derby can look like.

Art cars were rad, DASH performers talented, booths interesting, and all told, more fun than I thought a festival could be.

For me, things like Art on the Ave show what the next level of community can look like: all kinds of people gathering together to enjoy the city at its casual fun best.

And as Culture Babe and I sat in the shelter of Pairings, meeting up with Jennevieve, Trevor, and Julia, we mused over the very full couple of hours.

All good things must end, and I came home to my clean house and family with a happy sigh and a single, simple thought.

Mmm, Tacoma. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Insouciance (Ä­n-sÅ«'sÄ"-É™ns, ăN'sÅ«-syäNs') / n
Blithe lack of concern; nonchalance.

USAGE EXAMPLE: With the smug lug of insouciance riding on his white little face â€" the kind of insouciance only a polo wearing fraternity branded watch salesman from Mukilteo can get away with, Tim Eyman proudly turned in his signatures to the Secretary of State’s office Friday.  If he’s not completely full of shit and greatly exaggerating the amount of signatures he collected â€" like he’s done before â€" Eyman’s self-reported “313,000” John Hancocks should be enough to get Initiative 960 on November’s ballot. If passed, the initiative would make it nearly impossible for state government to raise taxes without first getting voter approval or a two-thirds supermajority in the Legislature.  Much like the look on his ugly little mug, I-960 isn’t afraid to show its insouciance for Washington’s poor and working families, or the boatload of important social programs that would benefit from rich assholes in Mukilteo paying a little more for tabs. Tim Eyman is the devil â€" and an insouciant one at that.

THE MORNING NEWS

IRAQ: White House debate rises on Iraq pullback.

NORTH KOREA: What are you guys doing?

PLAYSTATION: Kicking sand in Xbox's face.

SCHOOL: Is the Hell boy here?

SMELL: I'm not dead yet.

MONDAY BLOWDOWN
You can stand atop the mountain and scream your naked desires to the universe or shed that synapse epilepsy and hug the South Sound today with your fellow man:

MUSIC: Jerry Miller at The Swiss.

PSYCHIC: Shirlee Teabo is back at Vin Grotto.

DRINK: Vertigo Lounge's Mojito.

THROWING DARTS AT THE CIRCLE
Tomorrow, Tuesday July 10, Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins will officially, officially return (as if performing at just about every major music festival this summer wasn’t enough) with the release of Zeitgeist â€" the Pumpkins long awaited new record. In case you haven’t heard, the Pumpkins are set to play Endfest 16, which this year will take place in the parking lot of Quest Field. Bobble Tiki picked up the single “Tarantula” on ITunes about a month ago, and let’s just say Bobble Tiki wasn’t exactly enthralled. Here’s to hoping the whole record isn’t mediocre.

THE SOUTH SOUND FACTOID

On July 12, 1913, water from the Green River reached customers in Tacoma at the rate of 42 million gallons a day. The headworks, pipeline, and receiving reservoir cost $2.25 million and took two years to construct.   

BOBBLE TIKI'S THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN

This week Bobble Tiki comes clean with the sounds of summer.  You know: the strum of guitars, the tink off the bat, puking.

As always, Bobble Tiki doesn't care what you do today because he doesn't even know you.  And unless you check out the Weekly Volcano's Web site, Bobble Tiki doesn't want to me you.  Besides, it's time to blow this joint because it's so obvious you are becoming further and further removed from all that is genuine and real and visceral and virtuous and Bobble Tiki doesn't play that with his morning bowl of Quisp.

OK, Bobble Tiki apologizes.  Please be his friend here.

Breakfast with Bobble Tiki runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Deal with it.