BRAD ALLEN: GOT ANY SUPER BOWL TIPS? >>>

My bookie gambling days are over. I lost again. I had Green Bay.

The Lakewood Planning Advisory Board will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Feb. 6 on gambling within the City of Lakewood at the Lakewood City Hall.  While the forum will focus on land use and zoning, public safety and welfare, and legal consequences of banning gambling, I will work the room with my Super Bowl board.

I know, I know.

LINK: The Suburban Times. 

SHOW
Tacoma Home & Garden Show
It’s winter (duh!) and flower lovers have a bad case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. For these folks, “artificial” won’t do; it’s just a countdown to spring. Ah, but there are a few plants that flourish indoors during the cold months to keep you smiling â€" and they’re not plastic.  Green thumbs at today’s Tacoma Home and Garden Show know which ones. The show will feature displays and vendors, such as new furniture so you can gaze at your pathetic plants in comfort. â€" Suzy Stump

[Tacoma Dome, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., $7-$9, 2727 East D. St., Tacoma, 253.756.2121

MUSIC
Flood Victims Benefit
Holy schnieckies! Nine bands, one night, great cause and all for a five buck donation as the 4th Ave Tavern will play host to a benefit for Centralia and Chehalis flood victims. Looks like a doosey, too â€" with a diverse lineup. The night will begin with the acoustic sound of Back Porch Swing, then some country with the Moss Brothers and finally, some teeth-grinding rock with Listen Louder, Big Fat Alice, Mojo Filta, Moms Rocket, Jupiter Crash, and Numbered Days. So pick your poison and show up when your favorite bands will hit the stage. â€" Tony Engelhart

[4th Ave Tavern, 6:30 p.m., $5, 210 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia, 360.786.1444]

JAZZ
Ed Taylor Band
Being musically diverse can ensure artists longevity for they can appeal to a larger audience. Tacoma’s own guitarist/vocalist Ed Taylor has made his mark as one of the state’s premier jazz artists with his exceptionally smooth riffs, silver-tongued vocals and ultra cool compositions.

“I have worked hard to establish myself as a jazz artist, and what I have learned over the years is R&B, funk, rock, disco, dance, hip-hop, jazz â€" all come from the blues,” says Taylor. “The progressions, chord changes and so forth come from the blues. Because of that, me and my band, TaylorMade, are able to go between jazz, traditional, straight-ahead jazz, smooth jazz and R&B.  I am first an artist who loves not only jazz but all music.”  â€" TE

[Stadium Bistro, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., 204 Saint Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.683.4150]

MORE MUSIC: In local clubs tonight.

BRAD ALLEN: PUNK ROCK, BABY! >>>

Whoa, today's Blast didn't have this show on it?  So wrong.

BOBBLE TIKI: INCONGRUOUS, FOURTH AVENUE, SUPER BOWL >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Learn it, use it, spell it

Incongruous\in-KONG-groo-us\, adjective:
1. Lacking in harmony, compatibility, or appropriateness.
2. Inconsistent with reason, logic, or common sense.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Though the democratic candidates had one of their more civil debates last night in Hollywood, Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton still make an incongruous pair.

THE MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Citizens for Responsible Justice â€" Denied!

SEATTLE: More money than you’ll see in your entire life.

UNITED STATES: Mano y mano, Barack and Hills.

SUPER BOWL: Brady may be sexy, but Eli’s brother has a new goatee.

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: If you’re a fan of benefit shows, Olympia is your place to be tonight â€" specifically Fourth Avenue. First of all, at the 4^th Ave Tavern a benefit for victims of this years ridiculous flooding will raise the spirits of the downtrodden with a show featuring Back Porch Swing, The Moss Brothers, Jupiter Crash, Numbered Days, Mom’s Rocket, From The North, Listen Louder, Big Fat Alice, and Mojo Filta. That’s nine bands all for a good cause. Down the street at the Eastside Club Tavern, a “Flood the Farm” benefit will take place, featuring Steve Kattenbraker, Benny and Eleanor, the Southern Skies, and the Shiftless Rounders. Whichever show you decide on, rest assured you’ll be helping a good cause.

MORE MUSIC: What’s on tonight.

DR. FEELGOOD: Look who’s coming to town.

THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Given Bobble Tiki’s affinity for reggae, and the fact that Winston Jarrett’s place in the annals of reggae history is secure, it seemed only natural for Bobble Tiki to use his column to focus on Jarrett’s show at Jazzbones this week. The difficulties with this idea became apparent once Bobble Tiki dove in head first. See why here.

Breakfast with Bobble Tiki runs six days a week now. Deal with it.

SUZY STUMP: RUN FOR YOUR ART! >>>

Monkeyshines, an anonymous, slightly crazed Tacoma art project, will unleash marauding gangs of craftspeople, artisans, and their multitudinous admirers on the genteel people of Tacoma on the wee hours of Feb. 7 placing 200 hand-blown glass balls throughout the streets and neighborhoods of Tacoma on the Chinese New Year â€" The Year of the Rat.

The glass balls, most stamped with the words "RAT BALL," will be hidden throughout the city and are meant to be gifts for whoever finds them.

STEPH DEROSA: STUMPTOWN COMES TO WASHINGTON >>>

A surprise visit from Portland's Stumptown Coffee Roasters reps brought Tacoma some good news. I caught up with Stumptowners Matt Lounsbury and Mary Ellen Signer at Satellite Coffee this morning.  Matt thrilled me with the news that a new Stumptown roasting plant would be opening next week, providing Tacoma with coffee roasted possibly only hours before being brewed in your favorite coffee shops. The new roasting facility will be located on Capitol Hill in Seattle on 12th and Madison.  (I suppose if you can't roast in Tacoma or Olympia, Seattle will have to suffice.)

They informed me that right now, as you read this, their "Green Coffee Buyer" is down in Honduras meeting with Marysabel Garcia (owner of Finca El Puente) and picking beans right in the middle of a two week coffee bean harvest.

The beans will be processed the same day they are picked, set to rest for a month, then shipped for roasting in Seattle.

So just think â€" the next cup of coffee you have from Stumptown could be the best you've ever had.  But don't take my word for it â€" Go try for yourself.

MATT DRISCOLL: MOVE ON, MOVE UP >>>

MoveOn.org, with 3.2 million members across the country, today endorsed Barack Obama for president of the United States. Citing his ability to “inspire,” MoveOn’s members voted by an overwhelming majority to back Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton. Like a growing number of Americans, MoveOn seems unconcerned with Obama’s total lack of experience, and sees his candidacy as a chance to change “business as usual” in Washington.

Republicans were quick to respond to the endorsement, portraying Obama as the “most liberal member of the Senate,” and someone whose ideals appeal only to the extreme left wing.

Read the New York Times’ coverage here.

Washington Democrats will get their say in the matter on Saturday, Feb. 9 when our state holds its caucus. Will it be experience or charisma? Does either necessarily make for a good president? Only time will tell.

MATT DRISCOLL: IT'€LL BE RED HOT AT THE RED HOT THIS SUNDAY >>>

Believe it or not, sometimes here at the Weekly Volcano our memory fails us. Sometimes, whether it's related to the whippits and shotgunned beers that filled our youth or not, we just forget stuff.

In this week's issue we ran a lovely story about places around Tacoma and Olympia to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday. Somehow, though you'€d think we'€d know better, we forgot one of our favorite joints of all: The Red Hot.

Hot dogs, beer, and the biggest game of the year. It doesn't get much better. Even though we forgot about the Red Hot in this week's issue, don't you make the same mistake. The bar opens at 2 p.m.

FESTIVAL
Faschingsball
Just because Washington lacks New Orleans’ typically balmy February weather, doesn’t mean this state lacks the know-how for a rollicking Mardi Gras party. The Sons And Sisters of the Hermann’s Lodge step up to the plate to host Fasching, Bavaria’s answer to Mardi Gras. In Germany don’t just throw a weekend Mardi Gras gig. They declare an annual season of partying starting the 11th hour on the 11th day in the 11th month and lasting until mid-February. For a couple months the Germans whoop it up at feasts and masquerade balls, choose local princes and princesses, and finish off with huge parades particularly notorious in Cologne, Dusseldorf and Munich.

The Sins And Sisters have better things to do than party for months on end. Their Faschingsball will be held Saturday night only, but will be loaded with food, a costume contest and the band Happy Hans. â€" Suzy Stump

[South End Neighborhood Center, 6-11 p.m., $20, 7802 S. L St., Tacoma, 253.531.1757]

FILM
Something Weird Saturdays
There’s no joy quite as satisfying as the joy derived from a really good bitch session.  And in times like these â€" winter, of course, what did you think we meant?  Everything else is perfect, silly â€" complaining nonstop is really the only way to go. Especially if you’re not a skier.  But should you grow weary of kvetching (and there are reports of this happening, though they are about as common as the word kvetch), there is a cheaper, adrenaline-filled (read: dangerous) alternative. Something Weird Saturdays. Stop laughing. What could be better than watching a double feature of B movies?  Not much.

The brain trust behind of Something Weird Saturdays will screen “Two Thousand Maniacs” and Wizard of Gore” this Saturday at the Capitol Theater.

It will be kvetastic! â€" SS

[Capitol Theater, 9 p.m., $5-$7.50, 206 Fifth Ave. S.E., Olympia, 360.754.5378]

MORE FILM: On local screens today.

BLUES ROCK
The Fat Tones
The trio of Bobby Patterson (guitar and vocals), Bob Ehrgott (bass and vocals), Mike Hays (drums and vocals), are not straight blues by any stretch of the imagination. Incorporating funk, Southern fried R&B, and straight ahead rock, the Spokane unit has an arsenal of musical weapons to choose from. â€" Tony Engelhart

[Jazzbones, with James Howlett Band, 8:45 p.m., $10, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.369.9169]

ROCK
Voxxy Vallejo
Voxxy Vallejo are few in numbers, but formidable in power. On stage it’s just the two of them â€" the blues heavy licks of Gene Vallejo spliced with the awe factor of Voxxy’s vocals â€" but that’s more than enough. Voxxy Vallejo have the ability to make you forget it’s just the two of them, especially on record where the multi-instrumentalism of Vallejo makes their sound complete. Not that it will be incomplete at Bob’s Java Jive. There’ll be more than enough Voxxy Vallejo to go around.

Deborah Page will open the show tonight at Bob’s Java Jive, and after Voxxy Vallejo plays a set and shoots their video, Kurt Lindsay will finish things off. â€" Matt Driscoll

[Bob’s Java Jive, 8 p.m., $3, 2102 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

LINK: Photos from the Voxxy Vallejo show.

MORE MUSIC: In the local clubs tonight.