ART
“Renoir as Printmaker”
For Pierre-Auguste Renoir, etching and lithographs were an adjunct to painting, and although some of the works in Tacoma Art Museum’s “Renoir as Printmaker: The Complete Works, 1876-1912” are highly finished, most are sketchy, and the many variations on a few themes indicate that he also used printmaking as a way of experimenting with different solutions to aesthetic problems.

Getting this show in Tacoma is a real coup. â€" Alec Clayton

[Tacoma Art Museum, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $6.50-$7.50, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258, www.TacomaArtMuseum.org].

ART/MUSIC
“ReMix”
Check Please (Jesse Quitslund and Drew Schot) perform during a reception for Mindy Barker’s mini art show, “ReMix.” Barker’s art is for those with minimal space at home but a gigantic need for art. â€" Suzy Stump

[Black Water Cafe, 6-9 p.m., no cover, 747 S. Fawcett, Tacoma, 253.404.0000]

MORE ART: Inside local galleries and museums.

STAGE
“Under a Mantle of Stars”
Harlequin Production’s “Under a Mantle of Stars” is a play that makes theatergoers ask: “What did I just see?” It’s great, but it really can’t be described. At its core, the show is about a man and his wife and their teen-age foster child in 1948 when they have a sudden visit by two visitors. The travelers have happened across the isolated country mansion after coming close to running out of gas. Little do they know what they have stumbled into, when each of the residents believes the travelers are people from their past rather than the escaped jewel thieves they are. â€" Steve Dunkelberger

[State Theater, 8 p.m., $24-$33, 202 Fourth Ave E., Olympia, 360.786.0151, www.harlequinproductions.org]

MORE THEATER: On local stages tonight.

ROCK
Doxology/Benefit
Tonight, Doxology will play Jazzbones in Tacoma. First and foremost, the show is a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Though Doxology has gained a reputation for being one of the brightest soul/groove/rock bands around, this talented band isn’t tonight’s focus. It’s Frankie Gage Potis who was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) when he was 6 months old. Little Frankie, after a long, courageous battle, succumbed to the disease in 2002.

Plenty of shows are benefits, and most of them even support worthy causes. Tonight’s show at Jazzbones with Doxology is as good as they come. The money raised will go to Frankie Fans, an appropriately named team of do-gooders (including Frankie’s family) who will participate in the 2008 Big Climb in Seattle on March 16. If you’re not familiar with the Big Climb, the idea is basic: A bunch of teams all strap on their tennis shoes and race up the state’s tallest skyscraper, the Columbia Tower, raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society all the way. Last year the Big Climb raised $695,000. The fundraising goal for this year’s climb, the 22nd annual, is $740,000.

Come out and support the cause. Do it because it’s the right thing to do. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Jazzbones, Saturday, Jan. 26, 8 p.m., $10-$12, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

MORE MUSIC: In local clubs tonight.

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Perdurable \pur-DUR-uh-bul; pur-DYUR-\, adjective:
Very durable; lasting; continuing long.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Of all the things Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson’s relationship proved to be â€" hot, steamy, detrimental to the Cowboys play, and dimple-filled â€" one thing it proved not to be was perdurable. Something tells Bobble Tiki both stars will rebound from the recent breakup just fine.

THE MORNING NEWS

PIERCE COUNTY: Counting the homeless.

FEDERAL WAY: Here comes the feud.

WARSAW: Snail can deliver mail faster.

LODI: Here’s a story, of a shoplifting family. ...

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: Tonight Doxology will play a benefit for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society at Jazzbones. Doxology is a little bit like a local Maroon 5, and the cause couldn’t be more worthy. Check out Matt Driscoll’s article here, then get your ass to Jazzbones tonight. Not only will the show be something you can groove to, but you’ll be groovin’ for a good cause. In Bobble Tiki’s book, that’s the best kind of groovin’ there is.

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

FILM: Catch a movie today. 

THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Bobble Tiki is a fan of Masa restaurant and its owner John Xitco. “House Blend Thursdays,” which will bring big name music to Masa’s cozy confines every week begins Thursday, Jan. 31, with a performance by Jason Webley and Handful of Luvin’.  Check out the details here.

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

BENEFIT
Get Well Charlie Brown
PBS, pay attention. This is how you do a fundraiser. Epiphany Couch, Oliver Dorriss, Tim Kapler, Stan Betts, Suzanne Skaar, Jeff Olson and many others  are throwing a benefit party for Charlie Kempe, aka Charlie Brown, of Metro Coffee.  Charlie needs a bit of help after expensive surgery so Tacoma is helping the Museum District coffee shop owner.  That’s so Tacoma.

Besides the musical styling of Big Chuck, Blanco Bronco, DJ Broam, DJ dAb, Forat, Gode Blanket, Mr. Clean, The Disclaimers, The Drug Purse, and Tough Times, expect a live and silent auction, prizes and special guests. â€" Michael Swan

[The Swiss, 3-11 p.m., $7, 1904 Jefferson, www.myspace.com/getwellcharlie]

IMPROV
The Tokens
Improv is an art form. It takes skills to garner tidbits of information from audience members and weave them into a narrative that actually makes sense â€" and that's actually funny â€" in spontaneous sketches and games. The folks at The Tokens are auditioning potential improvers tonight. Even if you've never set foot on a stage, they’ll have you doing improv before the night is over.  If you have fun, you're doing it right.  Act up. Act now. â€" Suzy Stump

[6300 Wildaire S.W., 6 p.m., $20, Lakewood, 253.304.4415]

HARDCORE
The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada â€" no, not the movie or the book, the metal band â€" defines hardcore. With machine gun drums, nasty guitar licks and screaming â€" literally screaming â€" vocals, these guys make Black Sabbath sound like the Carpenters. Formed in 2005, the Dayton, Ohio, sextet was christened from the best-seller which bears the same name. But here’s the catch, they are a Christian metal band, which had me wondering: “Would Jesus like them?” Whether he would or wouldn’t is neither here nor there, as they are clearly and proudly praising him. â€" Tony Engelhart

[Club Impact, with The Hallowed, From Aphony, and Holyfield (formerly Tysen), 6 p.m., all ages, $10-$12 at brownpapertickets.com, 754 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.606.1529]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

This week I am introducing a carnivore’s dream creation: The Damonburger. 

A couple of years ago, my husband the engineer, had met the point of frustration with hamburgers.  We like our burgers loaded with veggies, cheese, and condiments but it leaves a less than desirable mess on your plate.  Well, on your plate and on your clothes, at least if you eat like I do.  So naturally Damon DeRosa took it upon himself to fix this catastrophic problem â€" He invented the Damonburger.

It’s basically shaped like a bowl, thus holding in all your condiments, with the top bun being the lid to said “burger bowl”.  Go ahead and check out the picture.  Tell me you’re not amazed, and tell me you’re not dying to try it out.

Coming over for Damonburgers this week are Kevin Wilkie and Carla Peterson.  Kevin is a fire restoration professional, and Carla works for Chief Leschi in the Puyallup Tribe School District.  They both ride Harleys and they are super fresh, beer buying, pizza grubbing, old school dancin’ kids who know how to tear it up. Get ready to throw down and party with these two, you know it’s going to be a long night when they’re around.

OK, if you’ve been around me the last couple weeks, or have heard the infamous “K-Pants” mentioned, or possibly heard stories of a blow up doll, this will make sense.  A good friend of mine, Kate, who resides in Milwaukee, WI, has turned 30 this weekend.  We call her “K-Pants” because she is globally known for “pantsing” people.  Now hear me out when I tell you: she doesn’t barely tug at your pants.  She gives it her all: the true Olympic try.   By actually diving for you and throwing her body down on the ground putting nothing but sheer force into the pantsing, her success rate has almost claimed perfection.  According to Snoops (my Tacoma Beer Society co-founder), the only way to save face in the event of a K-Pantsing is to actually drop to your knees during the crime.  I personally wouldn’t know.  There’s no need to remind her that I would beat her up and leave her for dead if she ever did it to me.  Right, Kate?  Happy Birthday Ms. Kate D. Pants!

For our tasty beverages, we’ll be sipping the cool, refreshing concoction known as Honest Tea.  Or Honest Ade, both made by Honest Beverages.  Who will be bringing this amazing refreshment is Colin McDonnell, the Pacific Northwest region manager of Honest Beverages.  These drinks are USDA Organic, made with pure cane sugar (as opposed to corn syrup), and have fewer calories than Gatorade AND Vitamin Water!  Can you believe it?  C’mon, you trust me, right?  When have I ever lied to you?  Don’t answer that.

Here’s the big question I have for you all this week:  What the F is up with all the McLovin shit?  I had heard of this BS before I saw the movie “Superbad.”  So of course after hearing all about it, I just had to run out and rent it.  I’m a Michael Cera fan, so it was already on my list of movies to catch.  But this “McLovin” crap was HARDLY the funniest thing in the movie, if it was even funny at all.  I can honestly say that there was not one thing that Christopher Mintz-Plasse said as the Fogell character that made me chuckle even a little.  And now apparently there is a huge McLovin fake ID craze, where you can make your own.  Whatever, dude.  I want to invite him over to ask him how it feels to be shocked at how popular he’s become.  I bet you he didn’t even think he was funny in the movie.  Now watch, he’ll get other roles in other movies, but he’ll always be known as the dumbshit “McLovin guy from that ‘Superbad’ movie.” 

Finally, this week I am inviting Slim Finnegan’s ass over for dinner. Slim skates for the Femme Fianna of the Dockyard Derby Dames, Tacoma’s very own flat track roller derby league.   I have no reason not to invite her ass over for dinner.  Just look at it, it’s perfect. 

Mangiamo! â€" Steph DeRosa

Last night, the Weekly Volcano attended the reception for Mindy Barker’s art show, “ReMix,” at the Black Water Café.  Family, friends, scenesters, and art enthusiasts commanded the café previously occupied by many young men in hoodies pounding away on their laptops, whom eventually disappeared into the cold night.

Beside her handpainted and magnetized recycled compact dics mini art (“ReMix”), many of her mixed media pieces â€" acrylic, ink, pencil, and photographs â€" joined the show.

Check out a few photos here.

FILM
“Juno”
Very smart, very funny and then very touching; it begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love.  Ellen Page in an Oscar-worthy performance as a pregnant 16-year-old who decides to keep the child.  With J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney wonderful as her parents, older and wiser than most parents in teenage comedies.  And Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the would-be adoptive parents, and Michael Cera, shyly winning as Juno’s boyfriend.  Screenplay by Diablo Cody, directed by Jason Reitman; the best movie of 2007. (PG) Four stars â€" Roger Ebert

[Century Olympia: 12:25, 2:50, 5:15, 7:50, 10:25; The Grand Cinema: 4:20, 6:35, 8:50; Lakewood Cinema 15: 11:55 a.m., 2:50, 6:40, 9:30; Regal Martin Village 16: 11:50 a.m., 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50; Regal South Hill 6: 11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:30, 7:20, 9:45; Yelm Cinemas @ Prairie Park: 5:15, 7:25]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

STRING SWING
The Tune Stranglers
As you know, the Weekly Volcano digs The Tune Stranglers. I have written about the string swing band four times myself. The reason we give the Stranglers so much love is because they are friggin’ awesome. tonight, the band will celebrate its third anniversary of playing every Monday at the Brotherhood Lounge.

Comprised of Scuff Acuff (washboard, lead vocals), James Schneider (banjo), Eliza Welch (fiddle), Boom Boom “Sweets” Levine (bass), and Rich Sikorski (lead vocals, guitar, ukulele), the Olympia-based acoustic unit incorporates bluegrass, country swing and vintage string jazz. â€" Tony Engelhart

[The Brotherhood Lounge, 7:30 p.m., no cover, 119 Capitol Way N., Olympia, 360.352.4153]

Rusty George Creative approved and signed my Ignore Your Resolution Day Permission Slip.

Thanks Rusty George.  I will continue my ways tomorrow, as usual. â€" Brad Allen

The Weekly Volcano's Best of Tacoma issue will hit the streets July 31.  Yes, that seems like an eternity.

While you wait we will periodically tease you with one of last year’s Best of Tacoma winners.  This week â€" The Best Microbrew Selection in Tacoma:

Parkway Tavern
We here in the Pacific Northwest take microbrews seriously, and just when I think I have knowledge of all of the best ones in my little head, The Parkway sneaks in and schools me. I rarely have an agenda when I go to the PDub, so I just let the bartenders pick for me because every beer on tap is worth the education. I’m eternally indebted to the Parkway for introducing me to Stevenson Brewery’s Walking Man Homo Erectus IPA. That’s the best gawd damned beer I’ve ever had in my whole freakin’ life. â€" Natasha Gorbachev

[The Parkway, 313 North I St, Tacoma, 253.383.8748]

Be part of the Best
Thanks to each and every one of you who filled out the Best of Tacoma ballot last year. If you have a category suggestion for this year’s issue, send us a e-mail here.

If you would like to advertise, kick us in the butt here.

Here's the plan: This Saturday, head to Auntie Anne’s for a free hot, fresh-baked pretzel. Auntie Anne’s hits the 20-year mark so the mall pretzel joint is unloading original and cinnamon sugar pretzels to the masses for free.  Then you need to slump yourself down against the wall inside the mall, next to assorted punk mall kids, and have a snack/bull session with friends. Yes, you do. â€" Suzy Stump

[Auntie Anne’s, Saturday, Feb. 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tacoma Mall, The Commons at Federal Way, South Hill Mall, www.auntieanne.com]