STEPH DEROSA: SWEET PEA ON A STEAMROLLER!

 Wintertime in Tacoma can really, really suck a huge rotten egg.  I'm not telling you anything new, right?  Spring is around the corner (but not quite here), we're all getting over our colds, and I'm about to throw my antsy 5 year old out a fifth story window.  My friend Bettylucious and I have officially named it the "Tacoma off-season."

But then along comes Wayzgoose, a yearly celebration of Small Press Month held at King's Books. Yet another of the numerous reasons why I love my T-town community and its glorious six degrees of separation:  Celebrating Small Press Month, supporting the community, the arts, local merchants, and seeing my friends.  It's what makes my huge warm heart oh-so-very happy. 

Large, small, medium, and gynormous steamroller size presses were all on display this year for kids and adults to drool over and touch.

Amongst the many local friends I was able to catch up with today were: Chris Trashcan and his lovely wife and family, Mo Ratorium from Dockyard Derby Dames, Tacomachickadee, Tacoma Mama, and of course Pat McDermott and his amazing family.

The mini-me was able to participate in a small press that created an elephant with Jessica Spring and Springtide Press.

We also took part in an embossing of stars with Jenny Craig and Notta Pixie Press.

People loved hammering out a bookmark with the design of their choice.  Thank you Jami Heinricher and The Sherwood Press!

I purchased a super cool poster from Rebecca Mullins, which supported School of Visual Concepts.  It's going to look incredible in my living room.

Lance and Tom from Beautiful Angle provided hands-on letterpressing.

As you watched sweet pea navigate the steamroller over a large piece of work, the kids could get dirty in a hands-on paper making demonstration.

Thank you King's Books, all Small Press artists, and all the amazing people in Tacoma for making the 2008 "Tacoma off-season" that much more bearable.

FILM
Maquilapolis
If your weekend of club-hopping has left you limping, nauseated, and half-deaf, catch a flick with a purpose tonight at the Longshoreman's Hall, presented by the Latino Student Organization and the ACLU Chapter at University of Washington Tacoma. Sergio De La Torre, the critically acclaimed co-director of Maquilapolis: City of Factories, will screen and discuss his flick about examines the effects of globalization and unfair labor of female factory workers in Tijuana, Mexico. This film is the winner of the 2007 Latin American Studies Association CASA Award of Merit in Film. What did you win in the clubs this weekend? A-huh. â€" Suzy Stump
[Longshoremen’s Hall, 6:30 p.m., free, 1710 Market St., Tacoma]

MUSIC
Queerfest
Decisions, decisions. At Blockbuster, it takes at least an hour to decide between the comedy and the love story, and well, by that time, you may want the horror movie. But, really â€" why choose one when you can choose both, right? Thinking along those lines, there is a crowd that completely agrees with you. Celebrate the virtue of indecisiveness March 3-5 by attending Queerfest in Olympia. Scream Club, Nicky Click, Romanteek, The Von Foxies, Team Gina, Twin, and 40 more bands will shake Jake’s on 4th for four days. â€" SS
[Jake’s on 4th, March 3-5, $5-$6 a day, 311 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia]

LINK: Rockaraoke and more in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Catch a flick today.
LINK: Let’s eat some meat.

FORUMS: Do you love Handful of Luvin’?

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Indefatigable \in-dih-FAT-ih-guh-bul\, adjective:

Incapable of being fatigued; not readily exhausted; untiring; unwearying; not yielding to fatigue.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Few things can match Mike Holmgren’s indefatigable appetite for hot dogs covered in sauerkraut. However, Lindsay Lohen’s appetite for booze and coke is right up there.

MORNING NEWS

SEATTLE: Burnt dreams
TACOMA: Good to know
OLYMPIA: Getting sleepy
CAMPAIGN ‘08: Make or break

THINGS TO DO TODAY
QUEERFEST: Check it out
WILL FERREL: Guy flick
ANOTHER MOVIE: This one about a pig nose

SUZY STUMP: AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS >>>

Take two minutes in the Arts Action Center and tell Congress you support the arts. 

MATT DRISCOLL: MIDNIGHT LAUNCH PARTY >>>

In the past I’ve drawn the ire of Weekly Volcano readers for admitting I don’t know much about something and then writing about it anyway. Specifically, a Hot-Rod-A-Rama from a few years back comes to mind. At the time it seemed like a good idea to admit I didn’t know much about cars but I was drawn to the event anyway. It seemed truthful, which is something I always appreciate.

Most people didn’t mind, but a few did. And boy did they mind.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson. You’d think I would have decided to focus solely on things I’m schooled in, and avoid stories where someone with more expertise could be found.

But I didn’t.

At 12:01 a.m. this Wednesday morning, Comic Book Ink, located at 72nd and Portland Avenue, will begin selling The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, the latest installment in a series of Marvel comics inspired by the Stephen King novel.

While the Comic Book Ink, a well known and respected hub for South Sound comic enthusiasts, usually closes at 8 p.m., this “Midnight Launch Party” will extend business until 1 a.m. In addition to the release of The Dark Tower at midnight, Comic Book Ink will have “some very special sales starting at 8 p.m.” says store owner John Munn. 

“Comic Book Ink is one of only 96 comic book shops nationwide hat are participating," says Munn.  “We were one of the few that took part in the midnight launch of the last Dark Tower comic. It truly was a great night for all the Stephen King fans who visited us! I am a huge Stephen King fan, and the last comic series has made me even hungrier for the new installment!"

I don't know much about comic books, but anything that can draw people to a comic book store in the middle of the night must be pretty good. Plus, I'm just a big fan of excitement.  If Stephen King's Dark Tower is your bag, there's a good chance Comic Book Ink's Midnight Launch Party is, too.

BRAD ALLEN: HELL'S KITCHEN TO OFFER WEEKLY HIP-HOP >>>

MC Flash of Hell's Kitchen and EvergreenOne will host a weekly hip-hop night at the club beginning April 23, according to the thread at 235hiphop.com.  Kudos to MC Flash for trying a hip-hop night again. EvergreenOne says he's at the Kitchen April 18.

FILM
Semi-Pro
Set in 1976, Semi-Pro centers on the American Basketball Association, when a lucrative merger with the more powerful National Basketball Association is just around the corner for the league’s four most successful franchises â€" and extinction for the rest.

That’s fine with most of the league’s take-the-money-and-run also-rans, but not for Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell, so hot he could spot Hollywood’s other comedy kings the H-O-R and beat ’em in a game of Horse). As owner of ABA doormats the Flint Tropics â€" the ill-suited nickname that’s probably the result of a relocated franchise, a la the Utah Jazz or Memphis Grizzlies â€" Jackie made a promise to his sainted mother (Patti LaBelle) to keep the team alive.

It’s genuinely funny stuff, in a Guy Movie sort of way, with rookie director Kent Alterman and screenwriter Scot Armstrong (a frequent Ferrell teammate) wisely keeping out of Will’s way. Rated R. Three-and-a-half stars.â€" Jeff Johnson
[Century Olympia: 11:30 a.m., 12:30, 1:50, 3, 4:10, 5:20, 6:30, 7:40, 8:55, 10; Galaxy Tacoma 6: 12:50, 3:10, 5:10, 7:20, 9:25; Lakewood Cinema 15: noon, 12:30, 2:30, 3:10, 4:50, 5:40, 7:30, 8, 10; Lakewood Towne Center 12: 2:45, 5:05, 7:15, 9:25; Longston Place 14: 11:45 a.m., 12:15, 2, 2:30, 4:15, 4:45, 7, 7:30, 9:45, 10:15; Regal Martin Village 16: noon, 12:45, 2:20, 3, 4:45, 5:30, 7:15, 8, 9:45, 10:30; Yelm Cinemas @ Prairie Park: 12:35, 2:55, 5, 7:05, 9:15]

LECTURE
More Than One Way to Make Something
Ccollaboration is not a strange process in art.  From the Renaissance workshops of the 15th century to Teddy Haggarty’s Art Slams at Jazzbones, people have collaborated on art projects.  Rock Hushka, curator of contemporary and Northwest art at the Tacoma Art Museum, will discuss “More Than One Way to Make Something,” a history of art collaborations, Tuesday. I didn’t come up with that clever title. I collaborated with TAM’s press release. â€" Suzy Stump
[Tacoma Art Museum, 6 p.m., $8-$12, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258]

LINK: Queerfest and more in local clubs tonight.
LINK: Check out local art.
LINK: Let’s eat barbecue today.

FORUMS: What are you reading right now?

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Pablum \PAB-luhm\, noun:
Something (as writing or speech) that is trite, insipid, or simplistic.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Before Bobble Tiki began his career at the Weekly Volcano, he had plenty of odd jobs â€" like stocking the shelves of a Target, and being a valet at a swanky hotel. Bobble Tiki always shows up to work with a copy of the New York Times under his arm, and during these stints of minimum wage employment, Bobble Tiki’s coworkers often scoffed at his appreciation for “All The News Fit To Print.” It seems they always preferred the pablum of the USA Today.

MORNING NEWS

SEATTLE: 520 replacement

TACOMA: Romance at root of killings

OLYMPIA: Bikes on the bus

CAMPAIGN ‘08: Super tuesday, again

THINGS TO DO TODAY
ART: More than one way to make something
KIDS STUFF: Family fun
DRESS UP: Like a man
MUSIC LISTINGS: What's on tonight
Forums: Chat it up

JAKE DE PAUL: EAT THIS UP >>>

Capers Downtown will open for dinner Friday, March 7, from 5-8 p.m.  The Dungeness crab casserole and prosciutto risotto sound marvelous.  Give them a buzz at 253.272.220.

Chef Pete from Stadium Bistro will demonstrate his French cooking skills Saturday, March 8, 2 p.m., at the Garfield Book Company at Pacific Lutheran University. It's free.

STEPH DEROSA: MAD HAT TEA COMPANY >>>

I was out strolling around the downtown Tacoma area, checking out the shops on Broadway on a beautiful day last week. I decided to head over one street to Commerce and duck into the Mad Hat Tea Company for a small rest. As I was taking a potty break in their alluring smoky gray bathroom, I recalled a run-in I had with an acquaintance on Broadway just moments before.

I know her through a friend of a friend, you know how Tacoma community is, right? So, we're chatting away, each of us expressing how great it is that we had run into each other, and within seconds of our conversation beginning she does it: she brags about something. She holds up her ring finger and shows me a tiny dust particle of a diamond.Look at my diamond! Look!she says. She then goes on to say, And he bought me these jeans, and we're getting ready to move, but I won't live anywhere but the North End.

Click on the link below to discover why I have a problem with that.

I love your ring, I really do, but doesn't a compliment feel much better being received on its own will? It's as if you're asking me to like you. And trust me, I'm not shy about handing out compliments to people or telling them how much I like them. If I see your ring or anything else nice about you, I will warmly tell you so. I feel people don't hear enough positive words in their life, and I'd like to change that. Maybe that's this girl's problem, she doesn't hear it enough.

Another problem I have is: you didn't mention anything about your engagement. Isn't that what the ring is all about? I tell you what, I'm going to be happier about you finding the love of your life more so than I am about what kind of damn materialistic piece of rock he put on your hand. That's a slap in his face. You mention the damn ring before you do him and the three months salary he just dropped on your stupid hand.

And you won't live anywhere but the North End? Why? Is that like a status thing? I totally understand that the North End of Tacoma is absolutely gorgeous, but there are other places in Tacoma and its surrounding areas that are just as gorgeous, if not better. You want to over-pay for something when you could possibly get something greater for cheaper somewhere outside of the trendy North End? Are you really that worried about what you look like to others?
My point is that I really hate a showoff, a braggart, and a self-righteous person who thinks they are better than others. I know, I know, all she did was be proud and happy about her ring. And yes, I am proud and happy for her as well. It's not this girl specifically that I am upset with at this point, but it simply stirs up the ideas I have about modesty.

My daughter has a couple of friends from swimming class, and one father in particular I have to move away from if he's sitting anywhere within earshot. He's the type of guy I had talked about in an earlier Toilet Tales: not being secure with his manhood. He has to go on and on and ON about how much money he makes, how great his house is, and what a nice view he has. Seriously, he talks himself up constantly. I let him go on talking, and I politely nod as he boasts and brags. He really has no idea how ugly he sounds. Bragging is extremely unattractive, just so you know.

So I finish up, admire the warm lighting in Mad Hat's bathroom, and return to my safe spot on the couch out front. I wrap my hands around my delectable cup of tea, and simply relax. I sit safely with my drink, admiring it, and enjoying the silence of no one bragging.

LINK: Previous in Weekly Volcano.