Kevin Cross has climbed his Mount Everest. He has killed the dragon.

He has now consumed his 1,000th Guinness at Doyle's Public House in Tacoma. The moment of glory came yesterday at the first pitch of the Red Sox game and not a moment before.

"They won't give me my beer until the first pitch," he said, moments before his lips touched glass.

Doyle's was holding a party in his honor to mark the event.

"We at Doyle's are proud to have Kevin be the first to achieve this milestone," Russ Heaton said in announcing the event. "This is no  homerun record, but I can assure the only HGH he is on is Guinness."

Cross is now first to achieve "Gold" status in the Doyle's Guinness Club. That averages two pints a day - every day since the bar opened a year ago. That's not a bad pass considering he was also gone for three months out of the last year.

The number two position is at less than half his rate.

Cross still doesn't know what being a gold member means, those details haven't been worked out since no one thought someone would reach 1,000 pints so quickly.

 "The running is joke is that they'll give me one percent of the bar, but they'll probably just give me a two-by-four," he said.  "Maybe they'll just give me 10 t-shirts." - Dave Reed and Steve Dunkelberger

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Sedulous \SEJ-uh-luhs\, adjective:

Diligent in application or pursuit; steadily industrious.
Characterized by or accomplished with care and perseverance.

USAGE EXAMPLE: After an amazing display of perseverance and truly sedulous effort, Bobble Tiki finally managed to try a shot of every scotch the Friendly Duck had to offer. In retrospect, Bobble Tiki doesn’t regret his feat, he simply wishes he would have spread the event over more than one night.

THE AFTERNOON NEWS

EGGS: Let our chickens go!

DENVER: Rocky Raccoon goes down.

SPORTS: Juice or not to juice?

VIDEO: Rain vs. Colbert.

HUSTLER OF CULTURE
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: The Viaduct was supposed to have its first show on Friday, if the new all ages club passed inspection. As this is written on Friday night, and Bobble Tiki stayed home and drank boxed wine and watched the second season of "Weeds" on DVD instead of going out and having an actual life, Bobble Tiki doesn’t know if everything went down OK for the Viaduct yet. If the inspection went well for the Viaduct â€" which is operated by the same folks who ran the Hall and the Junkyard â€" then tonight A Quiet Uprising, Proven, Open Fire, Maila, and Zeroyear will take the stage at the Viaduct (2725 Alaska St. in Tacoma).

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

THE ARTS: The Prom is tonight!

BOBBLE TIKI'S THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Canned Heat play Jazzbones tonight.

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 afternoon snack.

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

Breakfast with Bobble Tiki runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Deal with it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Tacoma Art Museum throws a great party.

Last night’s Glitter, Glisten, and Gleam event didn’t disappoint, with a plethora of activities and things to see (my favorite was seeing the bling-ed out participants and visitors) as well as a firm emphasis on fun. 

The Iron Artist competition was a crowd pleaser, with the watching crowd so dense it freaked the wee one out.

She preferred the upstairs fun and games (mom liked the champagne there, too).  I especially liked that we could get creative while while waiting to get creativity applied to out persons by the beauty artists from Chemel Salon.  The kid’s butterfly was a thing of beauty though she was not amused with me when I told her we’d have to wash it off later. Cotton candy helped to mollify her, though. And then walking outside to the Tollefson Plaza and seeing people actually sitting on the steps, enjoying the square (triangle?)  and seeing the Showcase crowd enjoying the city, warmed my heart.

What really strikes me about the free community events that the museum has put on â€" like the Frida Birthday Party, and Dia de los Muertos, as well as last night’s Glittery fun â€" is that they really do open up a diverse cultural experience to a diverse crowd of people who might ordinarily consider museums a stuffy place. 

The timing of this event might have opened up more people to the museum, due to the amount of people milling about Showcase, and that’s the kind of community-building thing that just gets me excited. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Who the heck knew a Prom could be so much freaking fun?

I sure didn’t. 

I was expecting a good time, of course, since I know those Sanford & Son Middle Floor Merchants throw a great party.

But “great party” doesn’t even begin to cover the extent of the fun that I had at “One Night in Bangkok” last night. I got my socks rocked off, laughed my ass off, chatted my mouth tired, and danced my legs down to the knees (sorry to steal your words, Morrissey, but they just fit).

Highlights were too numerous to mention in entirety, fabulous friends many and varied, and fun moments and conversational snippets plentiful, but here’s a short list of my favorites of each:

Oh my God, Girl Trouble kicks ass.  Their garage infused, hard charging, straight ahead, good times, tightly woven rock and roll made my jaw drop, and they’re my new crush. And then, there was the “Wow, Wow, Wow, The Fucking Eagles Fucking Rock” factor. I had heard all kinds of rumors about how great both bands were, and I kind of smiled and nodded because, typically, I’m not a real live-music loving girl (I tend to be the whiner at the back going, “it’s so loud,”), but today as I woke up with my ears ringing I just had to smile and say, Yeah, baby.

DJ Tony Rice injected infectious grooves between band sets and into the wee hours.  Thanks for the '70s soul grooves DJ Rice! 

Melanie and Ebony outfitted some of the best dressed of the evening, Jenny Fab, Tracy Marie, Megan Underground, KAke: you..look…marvelous! Of course my own pink confection ripped out at the zipper but, meh, I got what I paid for ($9.99, Bargain World). Mindy Barker had my original dress choice (and she wore it very well, I have to say) Now I know what I must do for future events and wardrobe pieces that will make my heart sing and make me the envy of fashionista friends: Vanity, oh Vanity. And Ebony, are you opening a new shop soon? Please!

Though there were no chaperones for the evening, there were several hipster parents healthily enjoying themselves, among whom were Renee’s, Gretchen’s mom, and Mindy and Carrie Barker’s mom.

The punch was, by all accounts, lethal.  I stuck to a secret red wine (mmm, Petite Syrah, a nice one!) stashed away for me by Amazing Mike from Stadium Bistro; the Petes were also in the house, with Chef Pete smiling his happy smile and being just all kinds of Prom crush-worthy.

Did you hear that? There was some baby-talking in the air.  Whee! Babies are fun!

Did you hear that? The Prom King and Queen â€" Cheryl And Alan Gorscuh â€" might have been a rigged thing, but hey â€" if you can coordinate boutonniere, classic car, footwear and gown, you deserve to be royalty.  I heard rumblings that the sentimental favorites for king and Queen were the KAke and the robin’s-egg blue man on her arm (so sorry I spilled red wine on your white trousers and white and blue shoes, dude).

Did you hear that? Oh, wait that’s just my ears ringing.

I think I’ll go back to bed smiling, remembering the best prom ever. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Concert Alert Monday at your service:

On sale Friday, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m.
Dredg Seattle. Sept. 25 8 pm. $15 (Neumo’s, Ticketswest).
Joanna Newsom with orchestra Seattle. Oct. 29 8 pm. $25-$35 (Benaroya Hall, Ticketmaster).

On sale Saturday, Aug. 18 at 10 a.m.
George Carlin Seattle. Sept. 28 8 pm. $35-$45 (Benaroya Hall, Ticketmaster).
The Black Crowes Seattle. Oct. 2 7 pm. $35-$45 (Paramount Theatre, Ticketmaster).

On sale Saturday, Aug. 18 at 11 a.m.
Chris Cornell Seattle. Oct. 3, 7 p.m. $42.50 (Paramount Theater, Ticketmaster).

Oh, and Van Halen â€" Eddie Van Halen, Davoid Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen and Wolfgang Van Halen â€" are holding a live news conference today at 2:15 p.m. ET via satellite.  Hmmm, anyone want to place bets? â€" Brad Allen

As I noted in the last post Van Halen held a press conference to (drum roll) announce their tour, which includes Davd Lee Roth back behind the mic again and Eddie's son, Wolfgang, behind the bass, replacing Michael Anthony (who is going to replace his vocals?).

The band will hit KeyArena in Seattle Dec. 3.  Tickets will go on sale Saturday, Aug. 18 here. â€" Brad Allen

UPDATE: The Seattle show will not go on sale this weekend. â€" ed.

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Gewgaw \G(Y)OO-gaw\, noun:

A showy trifle; a trinket; a bauble.

USAGE EXAMPLE: After noticing that his “9” button didn’t work, he couldn’t download ring-tones, and it took five minutes to send a text, Bobble Tiki began to wonder if the fancy pants phone he’d dropped three hundred bones on was anything more than a shiny, overpriced gewgaw.

Turns out it wasn't.

THE MORNING NEWS

TOYS: You suck China.

REPUBLICANS: The collapse of Karl.

UFO: It could have hit Bruce!

TODDLER: Smarter than Bobble Tiki?

HUSTLER OF CULTURE
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: Looks like you’ve a dilemma on your hands, Tacoma. Do you go see Okay (basically this one indie dude, Marty Anderson, from Dilute, who happens to be amazing enough to have a side project all to himself) on Tuesday at Bob’s Java Jive, or on Wednesday at Club SOTA with the Elephants, Wallpaper, and Tree Roots In The Basement? Okay is playing both days.

The decision is easy for two types of people. The show on Wednesday at SOTA is all ages, so it’s a no-brainer for the youngsters.

The show on Tuesday at Bob’s Java Jive has beer, so it’s a no-brainer for alcoholics like Bobble Tiki.

Bobble Tiki supposes everyone else will just have to decide for themselves.   

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

THE ARTS:  Gestural love.

THE DRINK: Drunk under a boot.

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 Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Deal with it.

Every year at this time, as the end of summer approaches and the NFL season slowly gets under way with the preseason, something very special happens. This year it happened last Tuesday, Aug. 14.

“Madden ’08” hit the shelves. Just like last year, the year before that, and every year as far back as I care to remember, the release of John Madden Football was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

While I’m now a married man with a kid, the appeal of “Madden ’08” was still too much. I told myself I’d hold off, but I lasted only until Wednesday, when I laid down 60 bucks for the game.

It was soooooo worth it.

Here’s to dads who play Madden, and wives who let them slide.

Here’s to the start of football season. â€" Matt Driscoll

Surf guitar legend Dick Dale returns to Hell's Kitchen for a Sept. 29 show with Girl Trouble and The Fucking Eagles.  Tickets are $20 at TicketWeb.  Neat. â€" Brad Allen