PLAY
Dickens Festival At Stadium
What: Horse & Carriage Rides, carolers, The Dickens Ball in a fish ‘n’ chip joint all surrounding the Harvester. God bless us, every one!
Why: Christmas shopping can be fun â€" especially when you dress up the Stadium District like a Victorian English town.
When: Saturday, Dec. 8, noon to 11 p.m.
Where: Stadium District, Tacoma

LISTEN
“The Messiah”
What: Excerpts from Handel’s holiday oratorio.
Why: It just wouldn't be a happy holiday without some singing about God.
When: Dec. 8, 7 p.m.; Dec. 9, 3 p.m.; Dec. 15, 7 p.m.
Where: Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 2306 Milton Way, Milton; Mason United Methodist Church, 2710 N. Madison, Tacoma; Puyallup First Baptist Church, 1219 15th St. N.W., Puyallup

SHOP
Duck the Malls!
What: This ain’t no WalMart! This ain’t no strip mall! This ain’t no ordinary holiday bazaar.
Why: Because an indie market of awesome handmade gifts and homemade treasures is cool.
When: Sunday, Dec. 9, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Capitol Theater, Olympia.

Normally I receive odd looks from bar patrons when I stick my head between my knees so that booze remnants might revisit my brain.

Next Wednesday at Doyle’s Public House I bet I don’t receive a single wince.

The Stadium District watering hole is hosting a party Dec. 5 to celebrate the repeal of prohibition.

Doyle’s co-owner Russ Heaton states in a release: On December 5th, 1933, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment, repealing Prohibition and restoring the American right to a celebratory drink. Unlike St. Patrick's Day or Cinco de Mayo, Repeal Day is a day that all Americans have a part in observing, because it's written in our Constitution. No other holiday celebrates the laws that guarantee our rights, and Repeal Day has everything to do with our personal pleasures.

Doyle’s will be celebrating with Jack Daniels and Miller High Life. â€" Brad Allen

[Doyle's Public House, Wednesday, Dec. 5, all day, 208 Saint Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.PINT]

“Vibrant.” “Livable.” “Vital.” “Viable.”

Not bad, in terms of adjectives used to describe a city where once, the best that could hope for was a local paper deeming it “gritty.”

But now, this little, vibrant city of ours that could is being featured in the Smithsonian magazine as one of five places you should visit â€" to which we reply, Pah! We live here, we know the secret already!

And why is our fine city going all Cinderella on the world?

One word: The Arts.

And at today’s ArtsFund “A Celebration of the Arts” at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, that point was driven home with a hammer â€" with a special, gilded hammer.

Thing is, to create a vital, vibrant arts scene that creates commerce and excitement and, in turn, a vital, vibrant, livable city, you need cash.

And the ArtsFund is all about getting and then distributing that cash to create institutions of the Arts that live and breathe; today was all about celebrating the people who help to make it happen.

Awards were presented for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, which celebrated the work of Drs. Paul-Elliott and Loma L. Cobbs with the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association and alluded to the importance of education that would be part of the keynote address,  and Outstanding Foundation Leadership in the Arts, celebrating the work of the Ben B. Cheney Foundation.

Through the course of the luncheon, ArtsFund members and business supporters of ArtsFund spoke eloquently about the role of the arts in the community, and, to my mind, drove home the impressive accomplishments that have gone on, quite un-noticed, through the efforts of companies like Columbia Bank, Riddell Williams, Weyerhauser, the Boeing Company, Comcast, and even Intel Corporation, who, according to Community Relations Manager Rick Meeder, typically will support science and technology funds. But Intel’s revenge will be on stage soon, as they help to sponsor the Mad Science “Newton’s Revenge” production coming soon to Tacoma.

Even still, keynote speaker Dr. Terry Bergeson emphasized the importance of the arts and brought the point back to a need for them, and in her opening comments addressed the Drs. Cobbs, speaking warmly about “the wonderful thing, the love between you and the love for what you do.”

Bergeson continued to tell about coming into Tacoma in 1968, to work at Gault Middle School, calling it a “different city than what it was,” adding that it’s changed, in may ways, “because of the attraction of the arts.”

She pointed to the exemplary WASL scores of the Tacoma School of the Arts (top WASL scores in the county), and used examples of how the arts â€" specifically the four disciplines of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts â€" have impacted many students’ lives for the richer, consequently the arts and arts assessments will be a big part of graduation requirements for all students in Washington State schools. But to grow the programs that will sustain the progression of education to become more arts-encompassing, Bergeson pointed out we need to “find money.”

“Arts education improves academic success,” Bergeson declared.

She closed with the thought that schools should prepare adults that are “powerful, caring, strong, smart, disciplined, and able to soar.”

“Without Arts, that can never fully happen,” she added. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

SOUL
Queen Latifah
For those who don’t know, Dana Owens was dubbed “Latifah” â€" “delicate” and “sensitive” in Arabic â€" at the age of 8 by a black Muslim cousin. Delicate and sensitive weren’t always adjectives fans might have affixed to the once Tommy Boy rap star, actress, cover model, etc. Queen Latifah’s new album, Trav’lin’ Light, should shut up anyone who might doubt the truth of her cousin’s choice of nicknames. Honestly, it’s so good you might forgive her for that taxi movie she made with Jimmy Fallon. The album shows off the woman’s phenomenal voice in an evolving, smooth ride through jazz, soul, Broadway and blues. The album, and her performances, are chock full of classics â€" Smokey, Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack â€" you name it. A far cry from her breakout single, “Wrath of My Madness,” Trav’lin‘ shows Latifah’s substantially delicate and sensitive side. Well worth slowing down for tonight. â€" Paul Schrag

[Pantages Theater, 8 p.m., $49-$99, 801 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

JAZZ
Kareem Kandi
Tacoma-based sax player Kareem Kandi performs a style of jazz that incorporates blues, funk and rock. Kandi, who lists his influences from such renowned jazz greats as Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, plays in a free-style manner that sounds improvised. â€" Tony Engelhart

[Pour At Four, 7 p.m., no cover, 3814 N. 26th St., Tacoma, 253.761.8015]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

HOLIDAY
Fantasy Lights
Although the holidays are a time for joy and light, Bobble Tiki will spend hours trying, unsuccessfully, to string lights around the hut in some presentable fashion. Bobble Tiki’s fingers will grow raw and numb as family members shout orders through a bullhorn. This is Dante’s second circle of Hell for Bobble Tiki. And you’ll drive by Bobble Tiki’s hut, point and laugh. Don’t risk driving by after my third eggnog â€" head to Fantasy Lights. Billed as the largest holiday drive-through display in the Northwest, it features nearly 300 elaborate displays and thousands of sparkling lights. While enjoying the sparkly two-mile drive along Spanaway Lake, be thankful you’re not in charge of this holiday light display. â€" Bobble Tiki

[Spanaway Park, 5:30-9 p.m., $13 per vehicle, just west of 152nd Street and Pacific Avenue., Spanaway, 253.798.4177]

Beer delivery was apparently on hold for a short time yesterday.  While the Broken News Team lunched at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse in Federal Way, we saw the culprit sitting in the booth right next to us.  The audacity and selfishness of a person in such an important community role!  What a shame this was to all proud beer drinkers.  The worst part was that he actually sat there and chatted with a friend while eating his lunch.  That's time away from his duties.  Imagine if ambulance drivers were transporting a patient and they just decided, "Oh, gee, I think I'll stop for a bite to eat."  NO!

You have beer to deliver!  Take your job seriously!  We rely on you!

Fortunately there were no reports of bar, tavern, or restaurant closures in the King or Pierce counties. â€" Steph DeRosa

Our Broken News Team brings you headlines and follow-up whenever we please on the stories our community couldn’t care less about. Broken news is posted on this blog several hours or days after it happens, with unusual updates.

MUSIC
Highland Health and Holler
The Celtic Music’s Voyage to Appalachia: Highland Health and Holler, featuring Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, and Bruce Molsky, arrives at the Pantages Theater tonight.

Having been recognized as one of the finest fiddle players Scotland has ever produced, Alasdair Fraser has been credited with transforming the country’s music scene. Performing Gaelic traditional to classical, Fraser is rooted in traditionalism but updates his pieces as he runs the musical gauntlet. â€" Tony Engelhart

[Pantages Theater, 7:30 p.m., $36-$46, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5890]

MUSIC
John Courage
The Olympia-based singer/songwriter has a passion for old folk recordings and pens tunes in the same format; simple, melodic and quiet. Courage and his various backing bands can often be found on the same bill as punk, metal and even hip-hop units, which has exposed him to audiences, whether they dug his shtick or not, who otherwise might have never been exposed to uncomplicated sounds of folk music. What pops out as a main influence in his music is the legendary Neil Young, and Courage makes no bones about that fact. But others, such as bluesman Mississippi John Hurt, also show up in his work. â€" TE

[4th Ave Tavern, benefit for birth attendants featuring Phillip Ruebuck and Freddy Parish, 9 p.m., $5, 210 Forth Ave E., Olympia, 360.786.1444]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

The New York Times named Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20-Year-Old as the best bourbon to sip.

Anyone know who carries this locally? â€" Brad Allen

The Weekly Volcano is proud to print CD reviews by the staff at KUPS 90.1 FM, the student-run radio station at the University of Puget Sound.

Caitlin Boersma, the alternative music director at KUPS, wrote the first review â€" Kiss Her for the Kid's Prettier Than Me. It's in today's rag, and online here. â€" Brad Allen

I walked into the Pantages Theater last night with exact notions on how I felt about Queen Latifah and what her performance would look and feel like.

I walked out after finding all of these notions to be true.

1. Queen Latifah is beautiful.
2. Queen Latifah is multi-talented.
3. Queen Latifah is down to earth
4. Queen Latifah has a great sense of humor.
5. Queen Latifah makes me proud to have curves.

Having seen her performance last night at the Pantages, and as a hip-hop fan of the Queen since seventh grade, I left with a question that I never in my life thought I would EVER ask:

Why did that girl ever rap?

Read my full review here. â€" Natasha Gorbachev

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Perfunctory \pur-FUNGK-tuh-ree\, adjective:

1. Done merely to carry out a duty; performed mechanically or routinely.
2. Lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Shooting people in the face with a shotgun is basically a perfunctory activity for Vice President Dick Cheney. We all know about his hunting “accident” from early 2006, but many people have yet to realize that it was also Cheney who shot Rodney King in the face earlier this week. Check it out here.

THE AFTERNOON NEWS

TACOMA: Yo, you suck.

DEBATE: None of the GOPs should be president.

WASHINGTON: We need to save the sooty shearwater!

GEORGIA: Stick up â€" literally.

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: On Friday night, the Portland School of Rock band will be joined by political author Derrick Jensen at the Evergreen State College, as part of a fund-raiser for the School of Rock’s scholarship fund. From what Bobble Tiki understands, when these kids whip out Rage Against the Machines’ “Bulls on Parade,” the whole house goes crazy. Why? Because these kids are crazy good. What Bobble Tiki doesn’t understand is why Jensen will be there? Was his schedule just open? Or does he have something more to offer the event than general leftist paranoia? Only time will tell. Either way, Friday at Evergreen should knock your socks off.

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

BOBBLE TIKI’S THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Bobble Tiki knows damn well there are things he’s allowed to joke about and subjects he shouldn’t touch with a 10-foot stick. Call it the curse of political correctness if you want, but as an average middle-aged tiki, there are a number of jokes that it just wouldn’t be funny for Bobble Tiki to make.

Let’s look at Judaism. With Jewmongous, a solo musical comedy creation of Sean Altman, set to play Jazzbones’ Ha Ha Tuesday comedy night this week, it seems safe to say jokes about being Jewish are funny. Full story here.

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