BRAD ALLEN: YOU & KUMAR GO TO THE RED HOT? >>>

The Red Hot will screen the modern day stoner flick Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle tonight at 8 p.m.  While the story follows two potheads’ journey to White Castle, the flick pokes fun at modern-day hippies, extreme sports dudes, homophobes and Jesus freaks, all of whom I saw running the Five Mile Drive this morning. I bet they were working off the pounds to reload tonight at The Red Hot. 

LINK: Roger Ebert’s review.

FILM
The First 10
April 17 marks the beginning of the Grand’s 11th year. They will celebrate with a film series, of course. “The First 10” will define what makes The Grand grand â€" art and independent films that could only be found at the little film house that can. Kicking off Friday, O Brother, Where Art Thou? And Sideways will screen at 6 and 8:15 p.m., respectively, for a week before Napoleon Dynamite and Memento take over next Friday. â€" Suzy Stump
[The Grand Cinema, 6 and 8:15 p.m., $4.50-$8, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474]

ROCK
Twilight Drive
The only genre that fits Twilight Drive is the all-encompassing brand of “rock.” Beyond that, it’s up to individual ears to decide. Jangly and hypnotic guitar lines permeate a soundscape as tight as it is frayed â€" creating a comforting affect much like a time tested pair of Levis. Elements of garage meet artistic meanderings, and the voice of Twilight Drive frontman Patrick Smyth skillfully carries the load. More direct than much of indiedom and more visionary than most pure rock, Twilight Drive exists somewhere in the middle, where the windows are open and the possibilities are endless. â€" Matt Driscoll
[Jazzbones, Twilight Drive, Trolls Cottage, Bumma Stoge, Matt Coughlin, 8 p.m., all ages, $8, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

LINK: Crush Your Enemies and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: The famed Actor’s Gang holes up in Olympia.
LINK: Let’s eat American today.

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD
Ostentation \os-ten-TAY-shuhn\, noun:
Excessive or pretentious display; boastful showiness.

USAGE EXAMPLE: After his fifth hot dog, Bobble Tiki swaggered around The Red Hot, in a pure display of ostentation.

MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Tacoma vice

OLYMPIA: Farmer's Market

SEATTLE: Text messaging 

UNITED STATES: Lies

THINGS TO DO TODAY
FILM LISTINGS: Look here
MUSIC LISTINGS: Here’s what’s happening

SUZY STUMP: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH >>>

Anyone can be a poet, you say?  Actually, it doesn’t work that way.  It takes dedication, more work than play.  The hours are long, there is no pay.  Benefits?  What do you think?  You’re lucky if someone buys you a drink.  Then you find as you sip from your cup â€" they only did it to shut you up.  Poet Laureate Billy Collins paid his dues. He performs at the Pantages tonight.  Buy him a Tom Collins afterward.

LINK: National Poetry Month hits the South Sound.

MATT DRISCOLL: ORWELL WAS RIGHT >>>

Love him or hate him, Tim Robbins is an artist in the truest sense. At a time when being in the movies seems more about being a “movie star” than it does about the art of film making, Robbins’ work is always refreshing.

But forget the movies for a moment. While it’s convenient for me to laud Robbins’ artistic drive in film projects where he’s still  bringing home sizeable paychecks (for him and Susan Sarandon to spend on all sorts of liberal stuff), his theater work is a much purer example of said artistic drive.

Tonight in Olympia, the Tim Robbins led Actor’s Gang will deliver what should be a first class adaptation of the George Orwell classic 1984 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. The play is directed by Robbins, and (of course) many of 1984's themes seem appropriate for today’s world â€" filled with things like the Patriot Act and  mysterious enemies in the purposefully ambiguous “War on Terror.” George Orwell would shit his pants if he saw the world we live in (either out of disgust or because his visions were so spot on), so Robbins’ choice to take 1984 to the stage seems perfectly timed.

Tim Robbins created the Actor’s Gang in 1981, with a goal of creating “bold, original works for the stage and daring reinterpretations of the classics,” according to the Actor’s Gang website. Something tells me his adaptation of 1984 will fit that bill.

Check out Bill Timnick's preview of tonight's performance in the Weekly Volcano here.

Ticket info can be found here.

Photo: Jean-Louis Darville

MATT DRISCOLL: VIOLATIONS LED TO OCTOBER EXPLOSION >>>

$19,200 is a lot of money. There’s no denying it.

However, a value cannot be placed on human life. If it could, it would no doubt be higher than $19,200.

After an investigation, today the Department of Labor and Industries announced Tacoma’s Atlas Casting and Technology has been cited for three “serious violations of workplace safety and heath regulations.” These violations led to the massive explosion that killed a truck driver at Atlas last October. A fourth violation was added to the list, though L&I says it had no role in the explosion.

The suggested penalty for these violations is the aforementioned $19,200.

According to today’s announcement from the Department of Labor and Industries:

“The L&I investigation found that at the time of delivery, Atlas  workers repaired the foundry’s damaged LP-gas fill hose, attaching the fill nozzle using fasteners that were not designed to withstand pressurized LP gas. The delivery driver took the improperly repaired fill hose and began to unload the LP gas. Within seconds, the hose detached from its connection to the truck’s tank, allowing LP gas to rapidly flow from the open valve and fill the air with the explosive gas.

In less than a minute the LP gas ignited, and the first explosion engulfed the truck and fill area. Eight minutes later, the heated tanker truck exploded, causing a second and larger explosion.”

Atlas Casting and Technology has been officially cited with these offenses:

- Not properly training employees on the repair and maintenance of pressurized LP-gas systems.

- Using hose connections that were not rated for LP-gas service and would not withstand the pressure.

- Not testing the repaired hose after assembly to ensure it was free from leaks under normal use.

- Not having a shutoff valve with means of remote control to protect against uncontrolled discharge of LP gas from piping close to the point where the piping and hose connected. (L&I says this violation didn’t play a role in October’s explosion.)

Atlas Casting and Technology has 15 days to appeal the citation.

(Update 4:24 p.m.) The News Tribune is reporting Atlas has appealed the citation.

MATT DRISCOLL: STILL HAS NEVER SEEN NIN >>>

I just got an email from Nine Inch Nails that confirms dates on their upcoming 2008 world tour. Check it out. Pay special attention to July 26. In fact, mark it on your calendar.

"Confirmed dates thus far for NIN's 2008 world tour are listed below. Additional dates and on-sales will be announced shortly.

07/25/08 - Pemberton, BC - Pemberton Festival
07/26/08 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center
07/28/08 - Edmonton, ALB - Rexall Place
07/29/08 - Calgary, ALB - Pengrowth Saddledome
07/31/08 - Winnipeg, MAN - MTS Centre
08/02/08 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
08/05/08 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre
08/07/08 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
08/08/08 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center
08/12/08 - Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Coliseum
08/13/08 - Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Arena
08/15/08 - Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
08/16/08 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
08/18/08 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
08/20/08 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
08/22/08 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
08/23/08 - Auburn Hills, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills
08/27/08 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
08/29/08 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
08/31/08 - Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
09/02/08 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
09/03/08 - Salt Lake City, UT - The E Center of West Valley
09/05/08 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
09/06/08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum

BENEFIT
Urban Art Festival
One of the great perks of living in such an artistically vibrant and prolific city is an event like the Urban Art Festival, which brings together artists of all shapes and sizes in June and invites Tacoma to get dirty right alongside. This year will mark the fourth annual Urban Art Festival, and the fun will go down at Fireman’s Park.

In preparation for the Urban Art Festival, those in charge of orchestrating the event are busy planning and pulling off fund-raisers, building hype and stashing money to power the Urban Art Festival come June. Just such a fund-raiser will happen tonight at Sanford and Son, when live bands, DJs, synergy painting, and an all-ages crowd will mix for explosively enjoyable results. The Vamanos, Trip the Light Fantastic, Battersea, Abstrack Synergy with Voronoff the Human Sculpture, and DJ Jimmy Sparkles will provide sonic vibrations, and an art raffle and beer garden will make the evening right. â€" Bobble Tiki
[Sanford & Son Library, Urban Art Festival Benefit Show, 7 p.m., all ages, $5, 743 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.272.0334]

ROCK
Bug Nasties
As much as I should really focus on the present with a band like the Bug Nasties, I can’t help but descend into the past for a moment when writing about them. The drive behind the Nasties comes from frontman James Burdyshaw, who’s something of a Northwest rock artifact even at the young age of 40-something. He spent the ’90s wielding a guitar for the Sinister Six, an amped-up garage punk act that did well for themselves in Seattle. And even before his Sinister Six fame, Burdyshaw made worldwide ripples with Cat Butt â€" a short-lived grunge band that grabbed attention thanks to a spot on the now famous Sub Pop 2000 compilation and one of the most memorable band names in rock history.

The Bug Nasties will play Bob’s Java Jive tonight with Plants Eat People and the Moonspinners. While James Burdyshaw has played many brands of rock in his day, the current band brings it all together. The Bug Nasties are a combination of everything that’s good and true about rock and roll. â€" Matt Driscoll
[Bob’s Java Jive, The Bug Nasties, Plants Eat People, Moonspinners with Darrren Selector, 8 p.m., $3, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

LINK: Atomic Outlaws and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Escape to the island on Lakewood.
LINK: Let’s eat at a bistro today.

MICHAEL SWAN: RECIPE FOR BOOS >>>

As Eminen once said, "Old men have heart attacks and I don't want to be responsible for that, so, put the mic down and walk away. You can still have a little bit of digni-tay."

SUZY STUMP: TACOMA'S POET LAUREATE >>>

Last night Mayor Bill Baarsma awarded Bill Kupinse as the 2008 Urban Grace Poet Laureate of Tacoma.  Kupinse, associate professor of English at the University of Puget Sound, received the award just before opening for U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins at the Pantages.

As part of the award, Kupinse will promote, perform, and teach poetry on behalf of Urban Grace â€" the Downtown Church.

Writing good poetry isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone. It’s hard to find that “inner voice” without sounding cliché.

Congrats Kupinse!

Here's a video of Kupinse moderating a roundtable on waste at the Philoctetesa Center.