So there you were at the Dave Matthews Band show at the Gorge on Sunday night â€" the last of three packed shows at the Eastern Washington outdoor amphitheater.  A huge monitor shows Dave’s latest project, a song called “Eh Hee,” and you thought, that’s pretty groovy.  Whoa, check out those dancers!

You thought one looked familiar?  Yep, you got it right, it was Kate Monthy of Tacoma’s MLKBallet, working with choreographer Zoe Scofield and other dancers she regularly performs with on the Tacoma School of the Arts stage during “MOVE!” performances.

If you didn’t go to the Gorge, then you can download the video free, for a limited time, on iTunes, and check out some absolutely stunning dance. Maybe even become inspired to sign up for adult ballet at MLKBallet for the fall session starting Sept. 18 â€"  if only to be in the same room with a person who’s met Dave up close and personal.

Contact MLKBallet at 253.906.2190 for more information on classes and schedules or go to www.mlkballet.org to find out more about the organization that seeks to bring a world-class dance program to Tacoma. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:

A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.

USAGE EXAMPLE: It was Christmas Eve, and the group of German youths could hardly believe their ears when what they thought was the tintinnabulation of slay bells emanated from the alley they stood next to. As it turned out, however, the tintinnabulation was only a drunken David Hasselhoff taking a major jagermeister leak.

THE MORNING NEWS

JERUSALEM: Stay out Syria.

PAVAROTTI: Figaro no more.

AUNT: Old person smell to the max.

BUSTED: Six feet over.

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: Bobble Tiki doesn’t know much about the world of local rap, but he has listened to KEXP enough times to know tonight’s show at the Clipper in Olympia with  Xperience, Grayskul, Q-Storm, Qwest, Smoke Of Oldominion, and Macklemore will surely be too legit to quit. Of course, Bobble Tiki also knows you’ll have to pray just to make it today, but that’s neither here nor there. MC Hammer jokes are funny, but www.myspace.com/macklemore is better. Even better, the show tonight should top both of them.   

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

THE EVENT: Do the Puyallup.

THE ARTS: Studio 21 sees dead people.

BOBBLE TIKI'S THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Imagine Bobble Tiki’s excitement upon seeing the amazing group of talent lined up to perform at Jazzbones this Sunday, Sept. 9. Before the now standard “Big Friction Jam” (which happens every Sunday night at Jazzbones), Tom Landa and Kendel Carson of the Paperboys, Vicci Martinez, and Danny Godinez will sit down for what may end up as one of the most memorable Songwriters in the Round performances yet.

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

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

I heard about a thing that was going on, a thing that had something to do with yellow, a party, a preview, and possibly a nod to a Swedish movie from 1967.

Naturally, I was in, and had the privilege of viewing an example of the things that the rest of Tacoma will view on Sunday at a super special undisclosed â€" as of yet â€" location, which will be disclosed come Sunday morning, don’t fret.

What I found was a bunch of stuff that made me giggle, think, and feel glad that I was a part of that community that celebrates the quirky, the fun, and the celebratory with a nod to the cerebral.

And of course, there was the yellow, and the community.  The community will be present, and vibrant, when you go to see them on Sunday. I can’t wait to see what Sunday’s “I Am Curious … Yellow” yard sale holds!

In the meantime, here are some sneak peeks of last night’s “Yellow” preparation party. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Honestly, I get creeped out by the Puyallup Fair, largely for the same reason I get creeped out by the mall and Disneyland â€" it's an orgy of carefully-packaged excess.

I mean, I like excess, but try and keep it intimate. Thousands of people doing the same thing at the same time is usually just gross â€" especially when it involves sweating and eating fried food on a stick.

But nestled in amongst the mongers are a bunch of farmers showing off things they grew and made themselves â€" eggs, berries, jams, pies, cows. Most of these people spent the past year working on a schedule that most of us have never experienced â€" a schedule dependent on natural cycles â€" seasons, sunrise, sunset. The product of this seemingly simple life is amazing â€" blueberry jam that tastes like blueberries instead of sweetened, blueberry-colored matter; carrots that taste like carrots; juice that tastes like the fruit it was made from, instead of bottled robot sweat.

I like to find these folks between the fairway games and rows of onion-burger stands â€" gentle commerce lost in the cacophony of people buying balloons, head scratchers and ice cream bars. Oh, and elephant ears, which is my guilty pleasure. â€" Paul Schrag

Puyallup Fair
When: Friday, Sept. 7-Sunday, Sept. 23
Where: 110 Ninth Ave. S.W., Puyallup
Admission: Adults $10; students (6-18), $8; seniors (62+), $8, 5 and younger, free.
Parking: $8 Monday-Friday, $10 Saturday-Sunday
Public Transportation: Pierce Transit, 253.581.8000
Information: 253.841.5045 or www.thefair.com

Sorry lavender latte.  You just got demoted. Babblin' Babs Bistro's delicious potion will now ride shotgun to beer and wine.  Yes, my fantasy has come true. My favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner spot is now my, er, still my favorite breakfast lunch and dinner spot.  The Proctor District king of slow food, exotic flavors and perfect portions now serves beer and wine.

Um, Yay!

I will run over there right now, sip wine and peek into the door of their expanding space next, er, door.

Thank you Chef Mueller.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart. â€" Suzy Stump

Some days, all you can say is, “well, Hell.”

Take last night.

The Significant One was recovering from some food poisoning issue from last night’s Anthony’s meal, (it was a grim, loud, toilet-lovin’ night for him) so I had the kid, and was left pretty much to my own devices at the Spelling Bee at King’s Books.  ADULT spelling bee, mind you, where freakish 5 year olds running around were about as welcome as a pronouncement of herpes on a first date.

Even still, co Volcano-worker Susan Bell (last year’s partner Amanda was beginning her new classes at St Martin’s College, hence couldn’t be my team mate) and I were amped for success.

We were spellin’ fiends.

We were gunnin’ to win.

In round two, as my child became more ebullient, we received the word “discipline.”  I knew, well, how to spell it.

And then, round three, we got “abscess.”

Our conference went back and forth about c, s, or sc, for long moments that left the audience twitchy in discomfort.

I figured, meh, go down in flames, or succeed: head to Hawaii in a day and avoid public mockery.

“Abcess”

“DING!”

The bell, rung by Miss Abegale McDermott, chirpily told us how wrong we were.

We were OUT.

We chatted, we ran after the kid, we left.

I have no idea how the bee ended.

I hope my dear readers will enlighten me? â€" Jesikuh Quarry-Buhlter

Adult Spelling Bee winners
Dave Riddle and Bill Root (Team 4) won.  Sean and Sondra Victor (Team 1) grabbed second place.

Winning word: succedaneun, meaning: substitute. 

Usage example: "Abscess" proved to be my succedaneun partner's and my undoing.

Are you creative?

Do you like to get your New Year's Eve drink on really late?

First Night Tacoma-Pierce County is looking for performers to wow crowds at First Night Dec. 31, 2007, in Downtown Tacoma's Theater District. First Night, the arts-centric, all-ages friendly, alcohol-free New Year's Eve extravaganza is back stronger than ever. 

Sign your performing self up by Oct. 31 here. â€" Suzy Stump

My Puyallup Fair scone addiction can be traced back at least two generations on my mother’s side. I remember being a young pre-teen when my fearless grandmother took me to the Fair because she loved the “roller coaster.” Little old ladies get strange looks boarding thrill rides but she didn’t care. She relished it and I loved her for it. My mother would tag along to watch. She preferred the much tamer ferris wheel. We scoffed at the thought.

After our adrenaline was spent we all looked forward equally to the buttery, warm, jelly-filled scones which tasted perfect when our grins were big enough to reach from one red and wind-whipped ear to the other. The toasty gooey wonder warmed our hands and our tummies.

Scones are the perfect snack to munch while trying to recall which downtown Puyallup neighbor’s yard the car is parked in. I know you can buy the scone mix and make them at home or find some version at your corner coffee shop but they don’t taste as nearly as good as when you earn them by facing your fears on a carnival-lit summer night. â€" Angie Jossy

Puyallup Fair

When: Friday, Sept. 7-Sunday, Sept. 23
Where: 110 Ninth Ave. S.W., Puyallup
Admission: Adults $10; students (6-18), $8; seniors (62+), $8, 5 and younger, free.
Parking: $8 Monday-Friday, $10 Saturday-Sunday
Public Transportation: Pierce Transit, 253.581.8000
Information: 253.841.5045 or www.thefair.com

So here we are, on the brink of autumn again, standing on the precipice looking down into a season of decadent classical musical treats that happen to be playing live in our own backyard, more or less.

And though the idea is compelling, I’m not referring to the Sept. 27 performance of the Dark Star Orchestra that the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts is bringing to the Pantages Theatre.  While it would be great fun to see the ultimate in Grateful Dead tribute bands, especially in light of my 5-year-old’s recent declaration that their Greatest Hits album contains “the best music, ever,” I think my own autumnal tastes go more towards “La Traviata” than “Truckin’.”

And so, if it’s classical music I’m looking to enjoy, the Northwest Sinfonietta performs Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Rialto Theater. The concert pairs Music Director Christophe Chagnard’s dynamic musical stylings with the virtuosity of 23-year-old Seattle cello phenom Joshua Roman, who’s taken Seattle by storm by taking over as principal cellist for the Seattle Symphony.

Roman, whose influences include JS Bach, Slava Rostropovich, The Beatles, Radiohead, Jimi Hendrix, and Sergei Rachmaninoff (as a pianist, not composer) as well as Yo Yo Ma and Hilary Hahn, will play three concertos representing three centuries. 

Whoa.

A concerto is, to a classical musician soloist, what a marathon is to a seasoned runner. To do three at once is a feat; to span three centuries of style is kind of like changing shoes from Nikes to Keds midway through the third race.

But Roman’s the kind of performer who can pull off the Haydn Cello Concerto in D, followed by Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor, finalized with Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto in E flat; with the fabulously capable sinfonietta backing him, and Chagnard behind the baton, it’s guaranteed to be a hot night of classical music even if the weather outside is cold. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

[Rialto Theater, Saturday, Sept. 8, $25-$100, 310 S. Ninth St., Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

Those folks at Northwest Playwrights Alliance are at it again with another round of original works by South Sound playwrights as they workshop their craft through stage readings and audience-feedback performances.

Monday inside the Broadway Center they present a series of 10-minute plays: 

• "Oh, Cabbie!" written and directed by Marcy Rodenborn;
• "Interstate 84," by Judith Marie Wallace and directed by James Venturini;
• "Snippy" by Dan Erickson and directed by Tim Hoban;
• "After," by Elena Hartwell and directed by Aaron Jacobs;
• "Sybil Finds Her Man" by Bryan Willis and directed by Brian Tyrrell, which was commissioned by the Hunter Family to celebrate the occasion of Sam and Sybil's 50th anniversary (Oakbrook represent!);
• "Shoes" by Arlitia Jones and directed by Deane Shellman
• "The Man Who Fell off His Bicycle" by Glenn Hergenhahn and directed by Jana Tyrrell;
• "Kuwait" by Vince Delaney and directed by Rod Campbell;
• "The Rip Off" written by the winner of the NPA's Young Playwrights Award, Kiera Hoban and directed by Jesse Michener.

Go check it out.  Monday is the new Friday or something. â€" Steve Dunkelberger

[Broadway Center Rehearsal Studio, Monday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m., free, 915 Broadway, downtown Tacoma, 360.754.2818]