The Poster of the Day doesn't arrive via a band but rather the Capital Playhouse in Olympia.  Their upcoming production, "6 Women with Brain Death or Expiring Minds Want to Know," is a hard-rockin’, harder-talkin’ six-woman rollercoaster ride through the end of the millennium. The musical opens Jan. 24. Check it out here. â€" Suzy Stump

FILM
"Atonement"
An event on the lawn of an English country house is misinterpreted by a 13-year-old girl, and leads her to a wicked lie that destroys all possibility of happiness her herself, hr older sister (Keira Knightley) and her sister's lover (James McAvoy). Begins in sheer happiness, ventures through the horror of the war in France and London, ends in darkest irony. One of the year's best films, a certain best picture nominee. Full review here. Rated R. Three Stars. â€" Roger Ebert

[The Grand Cinema: Fri-Sun 3:10, 6, 8:40; Longston Place 14: 12:20, 3:10, 7:20, 10:10; Regal Martin Village 16: 11:45 a.m., 2:30, 5:15, 8, 10:50]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

POWER POP
Don’t Tell Sophie
There’s something completely satisfying about Don’t Tell Sophie’s brand of power pop. It’s the kind of stuff you can get stuck in your head for days and it won’t make you want to hang yourself. The same can’t be said for most power pop. With Don’t Tell Sophie it’s the norm.

The Viaduct, at least for the time being, is one of the most promising developments in Tacoma‘s all-age’s scene. It seems almost natural to see one of Tacoma’s most promising bands set to play there. â€" Matt Driscoll

[The Viaduct, with Fashion, Trans Union, The Lonely Forest and Colonies, 7 p.m., all ages, 5412 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, www.myspace.com/viaductvenue]

ROCK
Zeke
Aside from the 50 bucks I lost this year playing fantasy football (not to mention my dignity), I'm not much of a gambling man. I am currently sporting a beard like the gambler Kenny Rogers, except mine's not white. But that's neither here nor there.

If I were a betting man, one thing is certain. There's no way in hell I'd bet against Zeke's show at Hell's Kitchen Friday, Jan. 4, with Neutralboy, Artimus Maximus, the Atomic Thrill, Toxic Holocaust, and the Altarboys.

Zeke is, far and away, one of the best hardcore punk bands around. That's what I like to call "common knowledge." Hopefully you also know about Zeke's digital release, Kings of the Highway, which found its way to the Internet on Dec. 11. For a taste of the seven-song effort, which includes three new songs from the band, "Lords Of The Highway," "Kings And Queens" and "Hay Bailer," and a cover of GG Allin's "Die When You Die" thrown in as an extra bonus, check out www.myspace.com/ZEKE.

Get 'em while they're hot â€" digitally, that is.

And don't miss this show.

Screwing up either recommendation would be tragic. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Hell’s Kitchen, 8 p.m., $8, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

I want to learn how to weld, not just for practical purposes; I want to make intricate iron and steel sculptures that will still be around when the rest of us are living on Mars.

My New Year’s Eve resolution: weld, baby.

First, according to the Tacoma Arts Community, I must wait for an artist to create a sign and post it claiming art happens at Stump headquarters. See below. â€" Suzy Stump

Tacoma Arts Community release:

Art Happens Here Design Competition
Get people thinking about art in the places where we live and work. Show people that Art is Happening everywhere in the region. The concept is to create a sign that every artist, musician, poet, dancer, designer, etc., can post telling people that creative work is happening all over the place. The sign should be suitable for photocopying or printing from e-mail so as many signs as possible can be posted in the community where live, work and contribute.

Guidelines

1. Design must include the Tacoma Arts Community Logo.
2. The design must include the website in a readable lettering: www.Tacoma-Arts.com.
3. The design must include your name or signature.
4. The design must include the following phrase in LARGE, READABLE LETTERS: Art Happens Here (or something similar that conveys the idea).
5. The design must be easy to print from e-mail on a home computer on 8½ by 11 paper. Original art will be scanned.
6. The design might include a space for individual artists to fill in the kind of art they create.
7. Submissions must include by a signed Submission Form. (It can be sent separately by regular mail, if you email the design. Include enough info with each part so we can match them up.)
8. Deadline for Submissions: All entries must be received by March 1, 2008. Submit by e-mail to tko@harbornet.com.

All questions should be aimed at Teresa at 253.307.6350, or by e-mail.

FILM
"Atonement"
An event on the lawn of an English country house is misinterpreted by a 13-year-old girl, and leads her to a wicked lie that destroys all possibility of happiness her herself, hr older sister (Keira Knightley) and her sister's lover (James McAvoy). Begins in sheer happiness, ventures through the horror of the war in France and London, ends in darkest irony. One of the year's best films, a certain best picture nominee. Rated R. Four Stars. â€" Roger Ebert

[The Grand Cinema: 12:20, 3:10, 6, 8:40; Longston Place 14: 12:20, 3:10, 7:20, 10:10; Regal Martin Village 16: 11:45 a.m., 2:30, 5:15, 8, 10:50]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

POWER POP
Don’t Tell Sophie
There’s something completely satisfying about Don’t Tell Sophie’s brand of power pop. It’s the kind of stuff you can get stuck in your head for days and it won’t make you want to hang yourself. The same can’t be said for most power pop. With Don’t Tell Sophie it’s the norm.

The Viaduct, at least for the time being, is one of the most promising developments in Tacoma‘s all-age’s scene. It seems almost natural to see one of Tacoma’s most promising bands set to play there. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Midnight Sun Performance Space, with Ghosts and Liars, Space Travel Is Boring, Ghost Of A Brontosaurus, and Gliese 581, 7 p.m., all ages, $5, 113 Columbia St. N.W., Olympia]

ROCK
Carrie Akre
Northwest singer/songwriter Carrie Akre is touring the Northwest behind her new, powerful release, Last the Evening, and hits Tacoma’s Club Vertigo tonight.

A fixture in the Seattle music scene since the early ’90s â€" Hammerbox, Goodness and her label, My Way Records â€" her voice turns heads regardless of the medium.

In 2007 she signed with the Seattle-based Loveless Records run by Pete Nordstrom and John Richards (KEXP), which produced Akre’s soul-searching CD, Last the Evening, last October. Like her previous solo work, Last the Evening retains her now signature bluesy vibe. â€" Tony Engelhart

[Club Vertigo, 7 p.m., $10, 5240 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.678.3593]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

It's local, it's Irish, and it has ended.  After 14 years, the Olympian reports that the Columbia Street Seisiun has packed up its bagpipes and faded into the rain.  Don't cry into your Lucky Charms; there are still three opportunities to hear traditional Irish tunes in Olympia. â€" Brad Allen

Link to The Olympian.

After washing away in the west Olympia floods a month ago the Olympian reports the Ranch House BBQ and Steak House has reopened in the Governor Hotel in downtown Olympia.  Go get messy-faced and help them get back on their feet. â€" Brad Allen

Link to The Olympian.

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Stertorous \STUR-tuh-ruhs\, adjective:
Characterized by a heavy snoring or gasping sound; hoarsely breathing.

USAGE EXAMPLE: After a particularly hard night of booze, pills, Frappuccinos, cocaine, Alli weight loss pills, and Hostess products, and after Brittney Spears drifts off to sleep, her slumber is marked by grotesque outbursts of strained and stertorous breathing. It’s one of the reasons K-Fed left her washed up ass.

THE MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Retired officer receives 10 years in slammer.

DUPONT: Police chief’s fists of fury incident still up in the air.

NEW YORK: Whoa, where am I? Where’s my Windex?

NEW YORK: Please turn right into this train.

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: Hot off their show at the Viaduct in Tacoma last night, Don’t Tell Sophie will play the Midnight Sun in Olympia tonight. Somehow, Matt Driscoll forgot to mention this fact in his column this week. Could it be the herbal jazz cigarettes? Bobble Tiki doesn’t want to jump to conclusions, but his eight ball says, “probably baked.” Anyway, Don’t Tell Sophie is one of a handful of young Tacoma bands producing indie pop worth its weight in both sugar and integrity. For that reason alone they’re worth watching. The Midnight Sun should be an interesting place to do so. 

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

BAR EXAM: Steph DeRosa has a brand new bag. 

THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Bobble Tiki’s coverage of the “Pianorama” concert at Jazzbones Friday, Jan. 11 is more challenging than most assignments. All week Bobble Tiki has had pianist on the mind, and he’s beginning to wonder about himself. Bobble Tiki’s been researching pianists, thinking about pianists, e-mailing pianists, and writing about the fact that three of the biggest pianists in the Northwest will be at Jazzbones for “Pianorama” next week. If Bobble Tiki looked at one more pianist on the Internet this week he may have exploded. Check out his discovery here.

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

The Seattle blues community was stunned Thursday to learn of the untimely passing of guitarist Hans Ipsen. As he was trying to push his stalled van off to the side of the road he lost control and the vehicle ran him over. He was killed instantly. He was 62 years old.

Ipsen is probably best known for his work with my father, Little Bill Engelhart. For 10 years, his steady and reliable fret work was an intricate part of my dad’s sound. Not an overbearing or flashy guitarist, his grooves were understated but effective. After leaving Little Bill, Ipsen and some friends formed Fat Cat, but he also played with such notable artists as Albert Collins, Doug Kershaw, Merrilee Rush, Rich Dangel, Gregg Rolie, (Santana, Journey) and Jimi Holden. In his illustrious career he also had the honor of opening for numerous national recording artists such as Tower of Power, Ballinjack, Paul Butterfield, Cab Calloway, Pink Floyd, John Mayall, Bonnie Raitt, Charles Brown, Roomful of Blues and The Count Basie Orchestra. In 1996, Ipsen was awarded with “best guitarist” by the Washington Blues Society.

On a personal note, I saw Hans one last time just before Christmas at a benefit for his medical expenses due to blockage in his liver. I hadn’t seen uncle Hans in nearly 10 years. A gentle giant, Hans was a gracious man with a mild mannered and a quirky sense of humor. As we stood outside the Highway 99 Blues Club smoking a cigarette, Hans said in his Denmark accent, “Tony’s here, my night is complete.” As we were leaving, Hans gave me a bear hug and told me I had made his night if not his decade. I know I’m not alone when I say Hans Ipsen will be missed dearly. â€" Tony Engelhart

After a year-and-a-half of commanding a corner of downtown DuPont as the Harbor Rock Bar & Grill, the owners decided to scrap the semi-successful venture, remodel it with a mining motif, and reopen as Dynamite Jacks.

I dashed in from the rain last night and grabbed one of Dynamite Jack’s half-moon booths in its lounge.

This over-achieving neighborhood restaurant isn't exactly the rough and tumble spot its name suggests. The Jackson Pollock gone sane splatter walls and family atmosphere give that away immediately. But the vaguely hip wait staff, loud classic rock music, and generally laid-back atmosphere keep it from prissdom. The food, while not a gustatory revelation, is on par with the Ram restaurants, making Dynamite Jacks a natural fit for not-quite-cool-and-proud-of-it DuPont.

Check out my Drink of the Week review on Dynamite Jacks in Thursday’s Weekly Volcano. I'll tell you about their spinning wheel of fortune. â€" Brad Allen

[Dynamite Jacks, 1595 Wilmington Dr., DuPont, 253.964.7625]

FILM
"Atonement"
An event on the lawn of an English country house is misinterpreted by a 13-year-old girl, and leads her to a wicked lie that destroys all possibility of happiness her herself, hr older sister (Keira Knightley) and her sister's lover (James McAvoy). Begins in sheer happiness, ventures through the horror of the war in France and London, ends in darkest irony. One of the year's best films, a certain best picture nominee. Rated R. Four Stars. â€" Roger Ebert

[The Grand Cinema: 6, 8:40; Longston Place 14: 12:20, 3:10, 7:20, 10:10; Regal Martin Village 16: 11:45 a.m., 2:30, 5:15, 8, 10:50]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

ROCK
The Viaduct
The days of a lack of adequate venues for underage shows have come to an end. The Viaduct, collectively run by a small number of young adults involved with the local hardcore and straightedge community provide a alcohol/drug/racist/homophobic free environment for all-ages shows. The venue offers ample room for midsized touring bands and will house a print shop and practice spaces in its second floor as well as a store front/record store in the near future.

Today a slew of bands rock the joint: It Prevails, American Me, Recon, Open Fire, What’s Worse, For The Fallen Dreams, What Life Is, Passing In Dreams, Every Bridge Burned, and Don’t Trip. â€" Timothy Radar

[The Viaduct, 4 p.m. (poster says 6 p.m., weird), all-ages, $10, 5412 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma]

KARAOKE
Colin A Go Go Birthday Bash
You’ve sung in the shower long enough. You’re tired of singing alone in the car. You hear own voice and think you’ve got some talent. Now’s the time to take that next step â€" you need a place to showcase your gift, but you just don’t know where. Well, break out your sequin pants, your party hat, and your inner hard rocker, because tonight’s the night! Karaoke host Colin celebrates his birthday at Jazzbones. Join the loud, the disorderly, and the incoherent drunks in praise of Colin through song â€" even if the songs aren’t yours. â€" Suzy Stump

[Jazzbones, 6 p.m., all-ages, no cover, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.