MATT DRISCOLL: BETTER GET READY, DEROSA >>>

According to an email I received this morning from the powers that be putting together this year's Bumbershoot Festival - scheduled to go down Aug 30 through Sept 1 in Seattle - Death Cab For Cutie has signed on to close out the event.

Somewhere, Steph DeRosa is smiling.

Also announced this morning, and on a local note, Tacoma's Vicci Martinez will be making an appearance at Bumbershoot 2008. Since Brad Allen and his girlfriend Tater Tot recently drove to Bonney Lake to see the singer songwriter, something tells me a trip to Seattle won't be out of the question.

Other new names on the Bumbershoot lineup: Sweet Water, Tapes ‘n Tapes, the Weakerthans, Two Gallants, Cheb I Sabbah & 1002 Nights, Black Eyes & Neckties, Thee Emergency, Vince Mira, Feral Children, Speaker Speaker, Grieves, Choklate, and Velella Velella.

SUZY STUMP: TV TACOMA NOW STREAMING >>>

The bombardment of television shows on the Internet makes each successive pitch to see a show more and more like the adults in Peanuts cartoons.

TV Tacoma joins the fun beginning with “Inside Tacoma,” which features one-on-one interviews with elected officials in the area. More programs will be available online soon.

Check it out on the Web here.

Put on your thinking caps, and tell the Weekly Volcano what you think makes the City of Tacoma tick.  Your answers will be disclosed in our upcoming Best of Tacoma 2008 special section, a guide that offers a savvy glimpse into the real lives of the real folks who live in our ever-changing city.

Click on the link below and fill out the survey online. You must include your name for your ballot to be valid.  Only one online ballot per person.

All ballots must be completed by Friday, July 18 at 5 p.m..  Those that arrive before the deadline will be eligible to win a dinner for two at the Pacific Grill and overnight accommodations at the Hotel Murano.  Winning ballot will be chose at random.  Watch for the results in the July 31 issue of the Weekly Volcano.  

Cast your vote here today!

SUZY STUMP: BON ODORI >>>

A few girlfriends and I hit the Bon Odori Japanese street fair Sunday afternoon at 17th and Fawcett in Tacoma. Fawcett was closed in front of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple allowing the Japanese community to go nuts with loud taiko drumming, folk dancing and traditional foods.

It amazes me how long each Japanese folk song lasts. The dancers â€" young and very old â€" slowly move around in a giant circle for 20 minutes at a stretch.

I also thought the taiko drummers weren’t as tight as year’s past.

Still, it’s fun to mingle with a different culture. The garden behind the Temple is manicured perfect.

Oh, the other amazing talent demonstrated at this festival every year. Promptly at 9 p.m. they tear down the festival and reopen the street in 5 minutes. As slow as they move in their version of the conga line, they can move very fast when needed.

See you next year!

LINK: More photos on the Volcano’s Photo Hot Spot

STEPH DEROSA: THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE >>>

If it’s in Tacoma and it’s in People’s Park, that can mean only one thing: It’s for the People of Tacoma. (I’ve always been keen with the common sense.) This Saturday, the people behind the Tacoma Food Co-op are invading People’s Park on Hilltop from 4-9 p.m. For those five hours YOU people can find out what OTHER people are talking about when you hear those crazy words “Food Co-op.”

Since 2006 this group of urban go-getters has embraced the need area Tacomans have had for an affordable, organic, local, and natural food market. Finally, their actions and persistence have brought everyone a sense of accomplishment as they become legitimate and incorporated as a business.

Entertainment, refreshments and enthralling food co-op information will be at the people’s fingertips in People’s Park Saturday. C’mon now, people, now is the time to find out how to get involved and find out what it’s going to take to MAKE. IT. HAPPEN.

[People’s Park, Saturday, July 19, 4-9 p.m., free, People’s Park, South Ninth and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.272.8819]

Tonight I snagged the latest Beautiful Angle poster. Hey ... what do ya know. Co-op.

LINK: Tacoma Food Co-op
LINK: Beautiful Angle

SUZY STUMP: A CHANGE AFTER ONE YEAR >>>

Looks like The Helm gallery spiffed up their Web site. Looks good.

Here is an e-mail the gallery sent to the Weekly Volcano World Headquarters:

Today we launch our next fund raising venture, the Tacoma poster/mural project. This is your chance to help The Helm stay alive and strong, get a new piece of artwork for your home or office, and have your name associated with a beautiful piece of public art.  Visit our website today and help us continue to be the most exciting contemporary organization in downtown Tacoma.

We wish The Helm a long life.

FILM
When Did You Last See Your Father?
Based on a best-selling memoir by Blake Morrison, who nursed a lifelong resentment against his father, Arthur (Jim Broadbent). Moves from the 1960s to the 1970s to 1969. The father is an outgoing philanderer, and the son hates the way his mother (Juliet Stevenson) is treated. In a way, Blake never did see his father, in a movie where the two men never talk man-to-man. There's no reconciliation or catharsis, but sometimes life happens that way. Rated PG-13. Three stars. â€" Roger Ebert
[The Grand Cinema, 2:15, 4:30, 6:40 and 9 p.m., $4.50-$8, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474]

EVENT
6th Ave Farmers Market
I’ve been hooked on farmers markets since I strolled through my very first one â€" the Seattle’s Pike Place Market in the ‘70s. I saw foods I’d never even before heard of, much less tasted. There were trays of strange-sounding produce like arugula and radicchio and elephant garlic and cilantro.

Maybe it’s true that you can’t go home again. But it’s also true that you can find ways to relive small moments from the past. This is exactly what I will do today when the 6th Ave Farmers Market opens for the first time. I will stroll through Nash’s Organic Produce of Sequim, Estrella Family Creamery of Montesano, Stokesberry Sustainable Farm, Cheryl the Pig Lady, Toboton Creek Farm, Brady’s Oysters, Terry’s Berries, Mee Garden, Vue Meng Farm, Xee Yang Garden, Full Circle Farm of Carnation, L’Arche Farm & Garden, Cottage Gardens, Bee Lady, Hayton Farms from Skagit County and many more. â€" Suzy Stump
[Sixth Avenue and North Pine Street, 3:30-7:30 p.m., Tacoma, www.6thavefarmersmarket.com]

ACOUSTIC
Rocky Votolato
Votolato is a musician and performer not to miss. His 2007 Barsuk release, The Brag and Cuss, was one of the best efforts last year had to offer. Slow, smoky, and packing a country fried, steel guitar punch that makes Votolato seem more seasoned than his 29 years, The Brag and Cuss is evidence that an artist who moved to Seattle from Texas as a child, and cut his teeth on more punk than twang, has come full circle. The Brag and Cuss announced Votolato’s emergence in the world of Americana and displayed for all who listened that Votolato is one of the best singer/songwriters we, as fans of good music, have to fall in love with. â€" Matt Driscoll
[Hell’s Kitchen, with Mike Cooper of Roy, Tuesday, July 15, 6 p.m., $10-$12, all ages, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

LINK: Quitzow and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Check out when the movies start here.
LINK: Let’s eat Mexican today.

KEN SWARNER: NOSHING AND SIPPING >>>

I popped into Jake’s Bar and Bistro in Steilacoom Sunday night. With temperatures soaring into the low 90s, I wanted someone else to cook, I wanted to see water, and I didn’t want to drive down to Tacoma’s crowded waterfront. The Steilacoom bistro’s new deck is the ticket.

The 12 tables were packed with three more parties queued up for a spot.

I enjoyed the Jalapeño burger â€" the mix of salsa, guacamole and dry rub spices on the meat with a decent bun tickled the tongue but didn’t overpower with heat.

The only drawback to the evening â€" the umbrellas. Owner Jake Hathcock built a beautiful deck with nice tables and chairs but they didn’t fork out the money for umbrella stands. Therefore, the gentle breeze spun the sea of umbrellas â€" poles planted on the deck surface â€" like merry-go-rounds. One minute I was in shade, the next minute the umbrella turned and the sun blinded me â€" again and again and again. I watched diners eating with one hand while holding their umbrellas with the other â€" not too cool.

Sorry, I forgot to bring my camera. The view off the deck is quite lovely.

If you want to see a beautiful view off a local deck, check out Ed Murrieta’s blog here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here. ...

Have an awesome vacation Ed.