MUSEUM
“Art of the Stamp"
“Art of the Stamp,” a stamp art exhibition at the Washington State History Museum, is a mind-boggling example of the ways in which a miniaturist’s vision can evolve into a life’s work. More than 55 artists, who, I believe, painted with tiny tiny brushes on tiny tiny canvases, exhibit 100 small works of original art at the downtown Tacoma museum.  â€" Suzy Stump

[Washington State History Museum, noon to 5 p.m., $6-$8. 1911 Pacific Ave., downtown Tacoma, 253.798.5877]

MORE ART: Local galleries and museums.

ROCK
The Freakouts
By my math, the Freakouts are currently in 11th grade. Considering they’re playing shows at Hell’s Kitchen, working on a 7’’ (kinda), and shooting the breeze with Girl Trouble about what it means to be a garage band from Tacoma, it’s safe to say they’re doing pretty well. Considering I was lurking around AM/PMs trying to talk people into buying me beer when I was their age, I’d say they’re doing damn well.

The Freakouts also happen to be one of the most inspiring garage bands Tacoma can claim. Thanks to help from the likes of Girl Trouble and booking agent Flash at Hell’s Kitchen, where the band will play an early all-ages show tonight, the Freakouts have emerged from the pack early, and have an obvious leg up on the competition. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Hell’s Kitchen, with Space Creatures From The Year 3000, The Scurvies and The Gypsies, 6 p.m., all ages, $7, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

Last night I got to knock heads with some tough bitches.

Camera in hand, and prepared for warfare, I ducked into the Skate-N-Station to get the skinny on the Dockyard Derby Dames’ 2008 season.  Get ready to see these girls go down, they are on fire and ready to kick off the season Feb. 24, 6 p.m., at the Skate-N-Station.

The first bout of DYDD Season 2 is an expo bout, which generally means it doesn’t count towards the season’s record.  But don’t worry, they’ll be kicking ass as usual.  The entire league will be divided into two teams: Good and Evil.  Don’t ask me yet who is going to be on what team, because they don’t even know.  I think this is because they are having a hard time deciding who is actually good, and who is the lesser of the evil.

Regardless of who is on what team, they were all practicing together in one of their weekly all-league practices.  I got to chat with Blonde Amazon, schmooze with Skate Pauli Girl, and grab many hugs from all the cool derby gals.  I love these girls so much that The Weekly Volcano and I are going to be your key source to all inside Tacoma roller derby info.

So for now I’ll let you know the DYDD 2008 Season basics:

Season Tickets are $100 and include: Entry to all eight bouts for the 2008 season, a free drink ticket to each bout, a DYDD T-shirt, a personalized season ticket holder badge, and a savings of approximately $16 in service charges by not buying the tickets individually.

All bouts will be at the Soccer Center after this first Feb. 24 expo bout, which is being held at the Skate-N-Station.

The dates for the 2008 season bouts are: 2/24, 4/5, 5/3, 6/14, 7/26, 8/23, 9/27 and 10/25.

There will be a visiting travel roller derby team at least half of the 2008 season bouts.

Tickets for the Feb. 24 bout will be available for sale next week on Brownpapertickets.com.  They will be $10, with a discounted ticket costing $8 for all children, military, derby girls, and seniors.

Beer will be $2 a cup.  (This is very important.)

Once at the bout, it’s cash only.

Tickets for the bouts being held at the Soccer Center will be $15.

On March 8 there will be a “boy bout.”  (Stay tuned for more details.)

Volunteers are needed for the Feb. 24 bout.  E-mail me for more information. â€" Steph DeRosa

THE FOOD
Cooking With Firemen
What: A cooking class led by firemen Wayne Wienholz and Robert Digmon to benefit for the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center
Why: Because firemen are hot, and good cooks, too.
When: Monday, Jan. 14, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Urban Gourmet & Garden, 2602 Sixth Ave., Suite B, Tacoma.

MUSIC
Pierce County Executive’s Awards For Excellence In Hip Hop
What: Pierce County Executive the Honorable John Ladenburg and Metro Parks Commissioner Victoria Woodards will hand out awards, plus expect a music industry panel discussion, Northwest artist showcase, Pierce County hip-hop debate and more.
Why:  We’re not sure why MC Ladenburg is behind this.  We did read somewhere that the utterance "Big ups to Pierce County Executive the Honorable John Ladenburg" is supposed to turn the skies black for 1,000 years.
When: Friday, Jan. 18.
Where: Washington State History Museum, downtown Tacoma.

ART
Stress Free Drawing
Ahhh, the holidays sure were fun, weren’t they? Fun and loving. And warm. And family filled. Wish they came more than once a year, don’t you? Or maybe, for some odd reason, you don’t. Either way, get all that stress out of your system by drawing. A Stress Free Drawing class will be held Saturday at hello, cupcake. Susan Massey will calmly lead classes on how to calmly draw a quail egg. Unfortunately, the class will be held in a shop full of delicious cupcakes. How on earth can people calmly concentrate when they really just want to wildly cram cupcake after cupcake into their mouths. Hmmm. â€" Suzy Stump

[hello, cupcake, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., $90, drawing materials included, 1740 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.383.7772]

EVENT
Wedding Expo
Choosing a wedding photographer is probably the most important decision a bride and groom will make. Even if the buffet is terrible or old Aunt Hilda slips and falls into the cake, nothing's a bigger disaster than bad pictures â€" after all, long after old Aunt Hilda's gone, you'll still be looking at your wedding photos.

During this weekend’s Wedding Expo at the Tacoma Dome you may interview several wedding photographers for your big event, as well as pick a florist, a dress, a limo, a reception hall and if you’re Brad Allen, a supporting bridesmaid. â€" SS

[Tacoma Dome, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., also Jan. 13 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 2727 East D St., Tacoma,  www.tacomadome.org]

EXPERIMENTAL
Dead Air Fresheners
One of the great things about the Dead Air Fresheners is the band’s anonymity. Though many know and love the experimental band of Northwest musicians as a whole, the individual parts that make up the Dead Air Fresheners have always been masked in secrecy. The Dead Air Fresheners generally claim to include members of Karp, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Noggin and Nice Nice, but identifying the exact members of The Dead Air Fresheners is made difficult by the band, and if you happen to be in the know, generally frowned upon.

However, it’s been reported that Olympia Experimental Music Festival founder Jim McAdams is one of the group’s stalwarts. I have no guilt for discussing McAdams’ role within the Dead Air Fresheners, specifically because of an e-mail I received through the grapevine that originated on his computer.

“Anonymity be damned for a moment ...  Below are the details on my 41st birthday party/show Saturday, January 12th at Bob’s Java Jive. It will be the last Dead Air Fresheners show for some months as my wife will be giving birth to a baby boy a couple very short months later,” writes McAdams.

Anonymity be damned, indeed. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Bob’s Java Jive, with Your Drugs My Money, LA Lungs, and Mattress, 9 p.m., $2, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

THE DAILY WORD
Learn it, use it, spell it

Cogitate \KOJ-uh-tayt\, intransitive verb:
1. To think deeply or intently; to ponder; to meditate.
2. To think about; to ponder on; to meditate upon; to plan or plot.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Bobble Tiki has spent countless hours this week cogitating on the Seahawks playoff game against the Packers. At the end of it all, Bobble Tiki still has no idea what will happen. Today we finally find out.

THE MORNING NEWS

PIERCE COUNTY: Right side of the tracks.

TACOMA: The purses don’t even go with their jackets.

PORTLAND: Want to come to the pants party?

NEW HAVEN: Dude, like, I might have left the water running.

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 just did a quick check of this week’s Volcano, and was shocked to see no mention of the Ian McFeron and Phil O’Sullivan show at Jazzbones tonight. Well, maybe shocked is a little strong. I guess Bobble Tiki was just surprised, or somewhat caught off guard. Any way you want to word it, Phil O’Sullivan is one of Tacoma’s best songwriters, and Ian McFeron has already proven himself one hundred times over. McFeron and O’Sullivan play a late show tonight at the Boneyard, after the smooth and jazzy Ed Taylor lays it down for an early crowd. All in all, it should be a good night of the New Jazzbones. 

MORE MUSIC: What's on tonight.

BAR EXAM: Steph DeRosa visits U.P. Station.

THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Jazzbones has moved around some of its regular weekly gigs.  Randy Oxford jams on Thursdays now.  DJs spin under the title Mixed Tape on Wednesday.  Grab the juice here.

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

While most were still snug in their beds this morning, 20-year-old South Hill resident Payton Foutz was giving his all during today’s tryout for Tacoma Rainiers popular mascot Rhubarb the Reindeer.

Foutz seemed a bit nervous at first when he entered the conference room at the Rainiers Administration Offices in University Place. However, he quickly got over his jitters and pulled out a handful of Pez candy â€" his favorite sweet treat of all time â€" from the pocket of his windbreaker pants. “I never leave home without Pez,” he said tossing the miniaturized-packets of Pez to folks around the room, who included representatives from the Rainiers and Schlegel Sports and members of the local media.

Discover how Payton Foutz performed this morning on the Weekly Volcano Web site. â€" Jamie Forsythe

I met Dave Morio’s dog, Todd, at his Fife Pharmacy & Gifts, full of questions. I have met the Shiba-Inu many times, so there wasn’t any anxiety. I was hurriedly led to the back of the pharmacy, apologizing for my delay; traffic had been backed up for miles. But from the moment I sat down, Todd put me totally at ease. I chatted for a while on the stagnant economy and the state of affairs in the entertainment industry as a whole. He listened attentively, examining me with his soft brown, intelligent eyes as I spoke. His tail seemed to wag knowingly. There was something very worldly about him, even though he is only 1 year old.

I had many questions on my mind, and I was excited about getting started.

STEPH DEROSA: Where is your favorite spot to sleep in the store?

TODD: My favorite is under the support brace display, next to the hazardous needle disposal bins. 

DEROSA: What has been your most stressful moment at the store?

TODD: I went exploring outside the store one day, and decided to go on an unapproved vacation for 11 days.  Dave checked the lost and found on Craigslist, and notice that I was ready to come home from the doggy-holiday.  When I was questioned about my whereabouts I quipped: “What happens on Pac Highway, stays on Pac Highway.  Except for my newly contracted Syphilis, which will stay with me forever. 

DEROSA: Thankfully your owner is a pharmacist.

TODD: Word.

DEROSA: Who is your favorite customer at the pharmacy?

TODD: Everyone.  I’m a lover of all beings, hence the aforementioned canine V.D.

Todd sleeps at the Fife Pharmacy & Gifts every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. â€" Steph DeRosa

EVENT
Wedding Expo
Choosing a wedding photographer is probably the most important decision a bride and groom will make. Even if the buffet is terrible or old Aunt Hilda slips and falls into the cake, nothing's a bigger disaster than bad pictures â€" after all, long after old Aunt Hilda's gone, you'll still be looking at your wedding photos.

During this weekend’s Wedding Expo at the Tacoma Dome you may interview several wedding photographers for your big event, as well as pick a florist, a dress, a limo, a reception hall and if you’re Brad Allen, a supporting bridesmaid. â€" Suzy Stump

[Tacoma Dome, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., $12, 2727 East D St., Tacoma, www.tacomadome.org]

FILM
The Kite Runner
Another magnificent film by Marc Forster (“Monster’s Ball”), based on the much-loved best seller about two boys in 1970s Afghanistan and the lives they go on to lead.  Doesn’t depend on stars, effects or genres, but simply fascinates us with how it will turn out.  Superimposes human faces and a historical context on the tragic images of war.  One of the year’s best. Rated PG-13. Four stars â€" Roger Ebert

[Century Olympia: 1:15, 4:15, 7:15, 10:20; The Grand Cinema: 12:10, 3, 5:40, 8:20]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

ROCK
The Most Awesome Protagonist
The Most Awesome Protagonist is Mikey O’Connor, a San Francisco based musician with a talent for nearly anything that makes noise. The Most Awesome Protagonist sounds as if Ted Leo got all sloppy on uppers, and maybe didn’t sleep for a week or two â€" in a good way. O’Connor’s energy, mixed with his love of everything from Elliott Smith to Stevie Wonder, spliced with his affinity for mid ’90s alterna-pop, makes for some pretty entertaining tunes.

The Most Awesome Protagonist will play Le Voyeur in Olympia tonight along with Buffalo Voice and Pwrfl Power. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Le Voyeur, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.943.5710]

Where I come from we call the “Olive Garden” the “Denny’s of Italy.”  Whenever I hear someone go on and on about how much they love Olive Garden, I chuckle inside and think how small their lives must be that Olive Garden is the extent of their Italian culinary taste.  Did you know that all of their dishes come already made in individual serving boil-in-bags that they just heat up and dump on your plate?  Gross.

I had some of the best Italian food (next to our Uncle Tony DeRosa’s cooking) last week in Olympia.  No, I’ve never been to Italy, but I have been to Sorrento’s in Olympia, Wash.  Franco Cannava, owner and chef of Sorrento Ristorante Italiano is my first guest this week to Dinner with DeRosa.  Not only do I want him to whip up some fantastic cremagliera dell'agnello and pasta con sugo rosso, but also I want to hear his story.  He was a troubled child whose parents sent him away to Sorrento, Italy, where he began to love the art of cooking.

Sky and his sidekick at Last Word Books are definitely going to have to come over for dinner.  I have to admit, I fell in love a little while I was in Olympia.  Sky and his bookstore are both charming, warm, inviting, and whimsical.  The minute you enter Sky’s world you want to grab a cup of coffee, curl up in a chair, and giggle at the little quirks of life with him.  An added bonus for me, something that makes me smile just a little bit bigger, is randomness in a person.  I like a charm and wit that is original and catches me off guard.  Like when I ask to take a picture of someone and they say, “Wait!  Lemmie grab my bullhorn!”  One word: Awesome.

For our entertainment I’ve found a little soft mood music for our quaint Italian dinner. You know, something to set the scene juuuust right.  Nothing says “Italy” like a good Tacoma garage rock band.  I found these adorable guys at Maggie O’Toole’s last week doing what they do best: tearing up the room with hardcore beats.  Brad, Nick, Bryce and John are all founding members of The Alternate Ending.  Keep your eyes on these guys.  The way they transition legs of their songs is brilliant and cleverly smooth.  Is “cleverly” even a word? It is now.  Just call me Mrs. Webster.

For dessert I’m having my new friend Sarah Bieri bring us some of those amazing pastries from The Bread Peddler.  She’s worked there a year, which is impressive seeing as how she has a hard time sticking with jobs.  I don’t blame her, actually.  I get bored quite easily as well when it comes to keeping my head in the working game.  If it becomes too repetitive I break out in hives and my armpits get sweaty.  So to keep myself attractive I just find another job.  Thanks to Pappi Swarner for rescuing me from the A.D.D. pound.  Now he just lets me write about whatever the F*** I want. 
What a sucker.

I think for my amazing shin-dig, security is in order.  For our security guy we need someone focused, someone who is not going to have a lot cluttering his mind.  We need someone who chooses not to waste brain cells on silly stuff that might make him smarter.  We need Zach Rodriguez.  When I asked Zach if he ever read the Weekly Volcano he said he had heard of it, but that he doesn’t like to read.  Oh, you know I had to do it, you know I had to ask him why.  His answer (and I have his permission to quote him on this): “It might raise my I.Q. and I want to stay dumb.  That way people will expect less of me.”  I think we have a winner here folks.  Zach is our ultimate security guy for any and all Dinner with DeRosas.  I wonder if he can at least spell “Weekly Volcano.”

Mangiamo! â€" Steph DeRosa

FILM
The Kite Runner
Another magnificent film by Marc Forster (“Monster’s Ball”), based on the much-loved best seller about two boys in 1970s Afghanistan and the lives they go on to lead.  Doesn’t depend on stars, effects or genres, but simply fascinates us with how it will turn out.  Superimposes human faces and a historical context on the tragic images of war.  One of the year’s best. Rated PG-13. Four stars â€" Roger Ebert

[Century Olympia: 1:15, 4:15, 7:15, 10:20; The Grand Cinema: 3, 5:40, 8:20]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

ROCK
Nudity
Bobble Tiki is a sucker for psychedelic rock. He goes back to the first psychedelic rock era of the late-'60s a la Velvet Underground and the MC5, cut through to the Psychedelic Furs and Echo & the Bunnymen, and then move on up through Spaceman 3, Love and Rockets, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Dandy Warhols, and Nudity from Olympia.

Ah, Nudity. Bobble Tiki loves Nudity. It’s exploding guitars, sonic freakouts, conga and tambourine-infused breakdowns always help Bobble Tiki ride the snake.  This quartet is pure bionic boogie through kaleidoscope glasses. â€" Bobble Tiki

[King Solomon’s Reef, with I'm A Gun, Android Hero, 9 p.m., 212 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.357.5552]

MORE MUSIC: In the local clubs tonight.