STEPH DEROSA: ROLLER DERBY BOUT SUNDAY >>>

I can see it in your eyes. You’re tired from the retched Valentine’s season. All the shopping, partying, candy, and superficial statements of love have worn you down. You can’t even think about what’s coming up next. Is it St Patrick’s? There’s a bunch of green, some pinches, some kisses, and a ton of beer. Damn, I bet you can hardly think straight with all the holidays swarming your precious brain.

As if you needed one more festive occasion to crowd your calendar, I’m going to remind you of the Dockyard Derby Dames Expo Bout on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Skate N’ Station in Parkland. Since you’re so weak from all the Valentine’s boning that commenced last week, I’ll make it simple and point out all the pros and cons for you:

It’s a Sunday night. What the hell else are you going to do? Don’t say there’s a show on TV or I’ll kick your ass. It’s 2008, DVR, baby (pro for you, con for NBC).

World famous roller derby fan and blogger All Bout Derby will be in attendance. AND it’s his birthday. This to me is an open invitation to spank, punch, and verbally harass him (pro for me, con for All Bout Derby).

The Breaks from Tacoma will be there to tear your face off with punk rock rage (pro for your mental state, con for your eardrums, or vice versa).
Beer, broken bones, and babes (pro for all erectile dysfunctions, con for all livers).

I will be there (Pro for me, Con for everyone around me).

The choice is yours, and it should be easy. Contact me if you want to volunteer, otherwise you can buy your tickets in advance or at the door.

LINK: Buy your Expo Bout tickets here.

Past Derby Diaries

LINK: Meet The Marauding Mollys.

LINK: Meet Hellbound Homewreckers.

LINK: Meet the Femme Fianna.

LINK: Meet The Trampires.

BRAD ALLEN: Q&A WITH MUSICIAN BRENT AMAKER >>>

Before Brent Amaker and the Rodeo spread their old-style country music in Europe for three weeks they will drop by The Royal Saturday to show Olympia what five black-clad cowboys can do musically. I caught up with Amaker before the show.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: What’s the most unusual thing you’ve done for your craft?

BRENT AMAKER: Hmmm, I'm not sure. Seems like traveling the world with five guys in matching black cowboy outfits would be unusual, but that's beginning to feel pretty normal. It's interesting dealing with all the hats on the long flights to Belgium.

VOLCANO: Have you ever been in a rodeo?

AMAKER: I haven't, but Sugar McGuinn (bass guitar) did some bull riding, and I've seen him go home with some pretty big women.

VOLCANO: Secret fantasy?

AMAKER: Our new music video has a scene where three hot chicks feed me a big juicy steak. This all occurs while me and the boys hang out on a space station and battle the sissy versions of ourselves. I gotta admit, I was excited about the steak thing when director Kris Kristensen was setting up the story boards. I've always wanted to have a gang of women feed me steak.

VOLCANO: What’s your guilty pleasure?

AMAKER: Reality TV. Have you seen that show on VH1 - Rock of Love? Now they're up to Rock of Love II.

VOLCANO: In a past life, you were . . .?

AMAKER: Probably a butcher. I like to use knives.

VOLCANO: You’ll be reincarnated as . . .?

AMAKER: Well, I'm definitely not moving up on the food chain. I think I'll probably have to move down a notch or two to pay for some of the s*** I've done. Let's say a dog. Probably a hound.

VOLCANO: What are you most looking forward to in Europe?

AMAKER: The last time we were there, it was for 10 days. This time it's gonna be three weeks. I'm looking forward to finding out if the novelty has worn off. Last time we were there they couldn't get enough of the cowboy thing. They might be sick of it after 21 days straight with the Rodeo. Either way, it's gonna be great. Fun s*** just happens when you roll with our crew.
I'm also looking forward to meeting the folks from our new record label GraveWax. Some of them are living in Jena, Germany, and we have a show there. They're gonna get a big crew to come out and raise hell.

VOLCANO: Last week a riot broke out in Olympia after a Dead Prez show. Are you concerned about a riot after your show at The Royal?

AMAKER: Only if the bar runs out of whiskey. We've had that happen at our shows. Our fans like to drink … a lot.

VOLCANO: At 70, Brent Amker will be … ?

AMAKER: Playin' music and doin' the same old s***, except I'll be really old, and I'll have a pair of those new robot legs. I'm looking forward to that.

[The Royal, Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, The Dirty Birds, Saturday, Feb. 23, 9 p.m., $3, 311 N. Capitol Way, Olympia]

CHARLES MONROE: URBAN DESIGN REVIEW >>>

Want to help Tacoma avoid another Tollefson Plaza? Show up to a series of upcoming public discussions that will help the city decide if it needs to develop a comprehensive design-review program.

City officials are currently exploring the possibility and appropriateness of developing a citywide program that would focus on developing design standards for commercial, multi-family and mixed-use development, according the City’s Web site.

Officials passed a resolution in 2005 to approve exploration of the idea of imposing review standards on certain types of developments within the city. The goal would be to help officials work with developers to make development functional, cohesive and consistent with broader development goals such as pedestrian friendliness and smooth traffic flow â€" and avoiding another Tollefson Plaza.

• Workshop No. 1: Thursday, Feb. 21, 6-8 p.m., Whitman Elementary School, 1120 S. 39th St. in the cafeteria
• Workshop No. 2: Monday, Feb. 25, 6-8 p.m., Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St., 7th Floor, Room 708
• Workshop No. 3: Monday, March 10, 6-8 p.m., Evergreen State College, Tacoma Branch, 1210 6th Ave. in the commons

LINK: Urban Design Review

MATT DRISCOLL: VIGIL TO BE HELD TOMORROW >>>

"He was a pain in the ass, but everyone loved him. They only made one Steve Craig," said Sanford and Son owner Alan Gorsuch by phone earlier today.

He was referring to Rampart owner Steven Craig, who was found dead in his flat above the Rampart Co-Op Art Gallery sometime yesterday. While initially rumors spread that Craig's death was a homicide, Gorsuch confirmed to the Weekly Volcano (after speaking with Craig's daughter who has flown into town) that Craig died of natural causes. According to Gorsuch, Craig, who was 59, likely passed away sometime Sunday, but it wasn't until yesterday that his body was discovered.

"I just heard about it yesterday. Initially I heard it was a murder, too," says Gorsuch. "It's sad either way, but at least we're not out there looking for somebody."

Craig was a prominent fixture in Tacoma's art community, thanks to his involvement in Rampart â€" an art gallery that focuses on "new and emerging artists in the greater Tacoma region" â€" since 2004, as well as his longtime business involvement in the historic building that houses Rampart.

While everyone seems to have a different Steve Craig story, his passing has garnered unanimous sadness from both within and outside Tacoma's art community. Well known local artist James Hume is in the process of organizing a vigil for Craig, outside of Rampart, to take place tomorrow night during Artwalk.

"We're going to put up an easel and canvass and just kind of wing it," explains Hume. "There'll probably be some drinking too, but you may not want to print that."

Too late. Besides, for Craig, celebration rather than mourning seems appropriate.

ART
Steven Naccarato
Tacoma businessman Steven Naccarato recently decided to reinvent himself. The local entrepreneur’s recent projects, with his brother, have been in the restaurant business. The two opened downtown’s Pacific Grill, and until last April, also operated the Beach House restaurant (the former Pearl’s by the Sea) in Purdy. But Steven Naccarato’s latest undertaking is a solo venture in the arts. The first public exhibition of his photographs of Tacoma called “First Glimpse” opens at the Hilltop neighborhood’s Fulcrum Gallery tonight. â€" Bill Timnick

[Fulcrum Gallery, opens Feb. 21, 6-10 p.m., 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]

MORE ART: It’s Third Thursday Art Walk tonight.

BLUEGRASS
Wintergrass
Wintergrass has become one of the biggest bluegrass festivals in the country.  The four-day event features some of the best players, pickers and hammers in the world.  It offers dances. It offers kids’ activities. It offers workshops. It offers an amazing assortment of vendors with everything from guitars to fiddles to mandolins to rare recordings and even a necklace or two. It offers concerts by bluegrass giants including Seldom Scene, Punch Brothers and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-press. And, oh, boy, does it ever have jamming. â€" Brad Allen

Wintergrass Central can be found here.

[Hotel Murano, Feb. 21-24, band schedule and prices online, downtown Tacoma, 253.428.8056]

WORD
iLL-Literacy
The history of hip-hop is littered with visionary juxtapositions and alliances, and four fresh individuals known as iLL-Literacy is just another example â€" it's a collective composed of Ruby Veridiano-Ching, Adriel Luis, Nico Cary, and Dahlak Brathwaite. This group will bring its distinctive flavor or performance to Tacoma’s Longshoreman’s Hall tonight through spoken word, emceeing, and crowd participation. â€" Brad Allen

[Longshoreman’s Hall, 6 p.m., 1710 Market St., Tacoma, 253.692.4684]

STRING SWING
Ryan Hoffman
String swing extraordinaire Vince Brown of the Tune Stranglers and Hot Club Sandwich hosts a jam session every Thursday with a different musician riding shotgun at the Dockside Bistro. It’s so happening. Part of the pull has been a chance to see Brown, but another reason the joint is packed is because of the incredible talent he brings. This week is no exception as Brown welcomes jazz guitarist Ryan Hoffman.

Hoffman is best known for his work with two of the premier string jazz ensembles in the Northwest â€" lead guitar in Zazou, rhythm guitar in Pearl Django and guest spots with Hot Club Sandwich, the Floogies and the Djangomatics â€" but he also knocks them dead solo, too. As a student from the school of Django Reinhardt, he possesses a tone similar to arguably the greatest gypsy guitarist ever with an ease of playing that transports the listener to Paris in the 1930s. So, venez apprécient la musique. â€" Tony Engelhart

[Dockside Bistro, 7-9 p.m., 501 Columbia St. N.W., Olympia, 360.956.1928]

MORE MUSIC: In the clubs tonight.

BOBBLE TIKI: GAUCHE, LUNAR ECLIPSE, TOTALISTI>>>

THE DAILY WORD

Gauche \GOHSH\, adjective:
Lacking social polish; tactless; awkward; clumsy.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Bobble Tiki has been called many things in his life. An ass. A prick. Even an imbecile. However, Bobble Tiki has never been called gauche. It’s not because he’s not gauche, mind you, it’s simply that Bobble Tiki’s friends have the vocabulary of 3rd graders.

MORNING NEWS

SEATTLE: Lunar Eclipse, yo!

TACOMA: New signs, snarled traffic

OLYMPIA: Evergreen foots the bill

WORLD: John McCain, ladies man

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: Usually Bobble Tiki tries to stay as far away as possible from University Place. Unless Mrs. Tiki sent him out for whole grain bread at Trader Joe’s, there’s rarely a reason for Bobble Tiki to venture there. However, tonight when Totalisti plays www.myspace.com/cheerswest_tacoma ">Cheers West as part of the clubs “Metal Mania” night, that all changes. Suddenly, tonight at least, University Place looks pretty good.

MORE MUSIC: What’s on tonight
HILLTOP ACTION COMMITTEE: Says no to condos
FORUMS: Check ‘em out

THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN

Tab Benoit, on the other hand, is the pure definition of sexy â€" at least according to Mrs. Tiki, who swoons and drools for days every time she sees the world renowned blues guitarist do his thing in Tacoma. This Friday and Saturday at Jazzbones, she’ll get two more chances to do just that â€" and something tells Bobble Tiki he’ll be hearing about it for a long time. Two shows with Tab Benoit in Tacoma may be enough to drive Mrs. Tiki completely wild with lust

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

STEVE DUNKELBERGER: THEATER THURSDAY >>>

Blithe Spirit
Tacoma Little Theatre has gotten ghostly with a staging of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, a comedy about a man struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife in ways he never thought he would have to face.

British writer Charles Condomine is mourning the death of his wife and decides to invite a medium, Madame Arcati, to his home to study her as a research character for his next novel. During a post-dinner séance, Arcati found herself talking to Elvira, Charles' wife from the great hereafter. She then decides to stay in the house and attempt to rekindle her relationship with Charles. His current wife, however, takes issue with that idea.

The cast of Blithe Spirit includes popular TLT veterans Marie Kelly, Britanny D. Henderson, Syra Beth Puett, and Jim Patrick, along with experienced newcomers to the TLT stage Jennifer Littlefield, Bill Read, and Robin Weakland. â€" Steve Dunkelberger

[Tacoma Little Theatre, through March 2, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $16-$20, 210 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.272.2281]

How the Other Half Loves
How the Other Half Loves is a bender of emotions and time as a collection of stories involving various couples weave their tales into a single storyline.

[Lakewood Playhouse, through March 2, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $12-$20, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd. S.W., Lakewood, 253.588.0042]

Dale Gonyea
Dale Gonyea performs a one-man musical revue as part of Gig Harbor Lions Club Performing Arts Series.

[Milt Boyd Auditorium, Saturday, Feb, 23, 7 p.m., $32.50-$42.50, Peninsula High School, 14105 Purdy Drive N.W., Gig Harbor, 253.858.7111]

STEPH DEROSA: DAVE GOES TO ALASKA >>>

In approximately one month, Tacoma will see the freshest Alaskan seafood it has ever tasted.  Dave from Dave's Meat & Produce will be changing around those meat cases, making room for some fresh Alaskan crab and seafood.

He is buying directly from the Alaskan fishermen, cutting out all middlemen.  It will be caught in the morning, put on an airplane that afternoon, and picked up at Sea-Tac Airport the very next day by Dave and his cronies.  This is no joke.

Ultimately, Dave has set Tacoma up with a win/win situation.  No middleman means lower costs.  It also means he knows, and you know, exactly when the fish was caught.

[Dave's Meat & Produce, 1312 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.280.9999]

SUZY STUMP: OCHSNER ON PRIES >>>

University of Washington professor Jeffrey Ochsner will discuss and sign his book, Lionel H. Pries, Architect, Artist, Educator: From Arts and Crafts to Modern Architecture, Wednesday, March 13, 7 p.m., at the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch.