BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Tatterdemalion \tat-uhr-dih-MAYL-yuhn; -MAY-lee-uhn\, noun:
1. A person dressed in tattered or ragged clothing; a ragamuffin.
2. Tattered; ragged.

USAGE EXAMPLE: While other members of the Weekly Volcano staff pull it off nicely, on causal Fridays Bobble Tiki always just looks like a tatterdemalion. 

MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Semaj stays put

OLYMPIA: Lakefair queen 2008

SEATTLE: More freshman at UW?

UNITED STATES: Obama's foreign policy

ENVIRONMENT: Statewide green building standards for California

JUST BIZARRE: Just a little nudity

MORE STRANGE NEWS: Sticky situation

THINGS TO DO TODAY
FILM LISTINGS: Look here
MUSIC LISTINGS: Here’s what’s happening
SHOOT THE SHIT: Weekly Volcano forums

MICHAEL SWAN: THE WACKNESS >>>   

You just had to be there in the gymnasium to understand it. It had to have been '93 or '94. And we â€" the freaks, geeks, and walking catastrophes, the pimply hodge-podge of braces and exploding Adam's apples hanging on to the grunge wear, the group of wallflowers collectively known as the high school band were heroes. For that moment anyway. And you also have to understand that back in the early ‘90s, our high school classmates were â€" and I'm speaking in purely musical terms here â€" spoiled and thoroughly unappreciative of the band's all-out efforts to entertain them and inspire our athletes on to victory. We played all the hits of the day: "Bump N' Grind" by R. Kelly, "Flava In Your Ear" by Craig Mack, and "The World Is Yours" by Nas.

When I heard that the Weekly Volcano is sponsoring the opening of The Wackness Friday, Jan. July 25 at The Grand Cinema, I demanded tickets from Pappi Swarner. The film’s soundtrack has the three songs I mentioned above plus “Heaven and Hell” by Raewkon, “Tearz” by The Wu Tang Clan, “Can’t Ya See” by Total featuring Notorious B.I.G. as “Can I Kick It” by A Tribe Called Quest. The memories are flooding in.

In celebration of the opening The Weekly Volcano will knock $1.50 off the ticket price for all freaks, geeks, walking catastrophes as well as all the cool students, too. Just show your student I.D.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the film by our boy Roger Ebert:

Wall-to-wall drugs supply the background music for a recent high school graduate (Josh Peck) and his psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley), who accepts payment in grams. There's complication when the kid falls in love with his shrink's stepdaughter (Olivia Thirlby), and another when the doc's wife (Famke Janssen) wants a divorce, and third when the kid's family gets evicted, all in the course of a lazy, crazy 1994 summer. Written and directed by Jonathan Levine.

Ebert gives this R rated film three stars so it’s worthy.

DANIEL BLUE: MEET DYLAN TRELEVEN >>>

Dylan Treleven looks like a policeman that lived across the street from me when I was a teenager. 
A Tacoma School of the Arts graduate and a student at Brown college in Mendota Heights, Minn., Dylan is home for the summer and still actively perusing the musical mastery that sets him apart in my mind as an artist of the string.

We met last year at the Warehouse when it was the center of our downtown social universe. 

Always kind and mild mannered, Dylan worked for me as a model in a show Joel Meyers and I put on for the third annual Urban Arts Festival. Dylan was always on time and didn't miss a single rehearsal, which is practically unheard of in the world of volunteer modeling. 

I had dinner at his parent's house on the North Slope, and everyone in his family is seemingly as pleasant, attractive and strangely calm as he is.

There is no question in my mind about his success in this world. He is the kind of candidate that you want to vote for, the kind of proposal you want to say yes to, and the kind of potential you want to hire. 

Soft spoken and clear minded; I hope Dylan decides to make Tacoma his home when he is finished sharpening his mind at Brown.

DANIEL BLUE: YUM >>>

Several blocks north of the hub of what is known as the Proctor District, Terry’s Office Tavern is like most watering holes you will visit that aren't trying to get $8 a margarita from your yuppie uncle Muffy. Dark, slightly humid, and decorated with sports television and cheap beer advertisements, Terry's is the place you go to relax after working an honest day's labor.

What sets this place apart from other taverns like ones you may find on South Tacoma Way, is the strangely potent smell of fried chicken that wafts at you from the back of the bar. Succulent and flavorful, the half chicken and Joes plate is enough for two people and is under $10. The breading is sparse, as it should be; somehow the flavor is actually in the meat instead of locked in a salty flakey biscuit coating the skin. Juicy all the way to the bone but never dripping with unnecessary grease, this delicious white meat is perfect on a Sunday afternoon during a televised sporting event.

Don't expect to pay very much for drinks, but don't expect to get much more than beer.

[Terry’s Office Tavern, 3410 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253.752.6262]

LINK: More dining options here

CARMEN JONES: LET. ME OUT. OF HERE. >>>

I'm stuck in my overly-air-conditioned office right now wishing it was 5 p.m. like never before because I really, really can't wait for Zoobilee.

I had some dress anxiety because I was on a very limited timeline to find one. After eyeing some disappointing special occasion dresses for grannies at Nordstrom, I speed walked into Macy's, and within five minutes of being in their fancy-girl corner, I found the absolute perfect black full-length strapless dress with striking swirls and tasteful bling in all the right places. Even better, the dress fits like a glove. I tested out the danceability of it in the dressing room as onlookers laughed. I explained that it was for Zoobilee and they all ahhhhed and nodded their heads in approval. Thank you, Macy's!

I'm also extra stoked because Senor Gato scored us a limo for our safe transportation that will be filled with all kinds of friends, including NatAsha and Jaime Kay and Jason from the Top of Tacoma. I'm pretty sure I can certify that this will be the first time ever that a limo has transported people from the Eastside to Zoobilee.

What's even better is that I convinced The Lawyer and The Revered to go. K to the K just scored a ticket, and I'm looking forward to rollin’ with Little Lizzle (and check out what I'm sure will be a gorgeous dress!). My Gay Husband has promised that he'll save me some dances, but only dirty ones.

OK … and can I mention just how much I LOVE Morris Day and The Time? I truly hope that they'll play "Jerk Out" cuz I'm already planning on "jerkin’ everything in sight."

So, if you're on the fence about going, I can't encourage you enough to buy a ticket, throw on a dress or a nice suit or tux and GO! Sure, it's $200 plus, but the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is such a very worthy cause, and I feel great about that donation (tax writeoff, too!).

The Zoo will be selling the tickets right up until the event itself. Call 253.404.3677 and save a dance for me when the Time plays "Jungle Love."

Oh we oh we oh.

KEN SWARNER: I ACTUALLY ATE THIS >>>

Mi Taqueria has been on my list of places to try for quite some time. The Mexican restaurant opened at 8425 Hosmer near Neo Pizza more than a year ago, but I’ve never managed to find my way there. Finally, through a course of events that led to supreme hunger, I found myself in front of Mi Taqueria at lunchtime.

Inside, the place looks sparse like many restaurants in Mexico itself. Nothing fancy â€" a few tables spread around with vinyl chairs. Typical tacky décor familiar to most Mexican joints here in the states is absent from this place. A large menu board is nailed to the wall, and the selection is as sparse as the room. But who cares? This place, like few others in town, has embraced its roots and offers traditional, authentic Mexican food.

Ready to try something new, I ordered the marinated pickled pork skin tostada and a pork taco. I ordered the taco in case the pickled pork didn’t satisfy. And it didn’t. I didn’t mind the texture â€" I’ve learned that most cultures consider texture a major ingredient of taste. While many Americans hate texture, I’ve embraced it. So, the pickled pork, which is ghostly white and stiff like rubber, didn’t bother me in that way. Rather, it had a medicinal flavor that I just couldn’t get past. Hedging my bet, however, the pork taco on a classic soft corn tortilla hit the spot.

MATT DRISCOLL: TALBERT'S TAKE ON LINCOLN'S BOOZE BAN >>>

As the Weekly Volcano noted in this week’s paper (much like everyone else in town), Tacoma has a new Alcohol Impact Area. It encompasses the Lincoln District and parts of the East Side and South End of Tacoma - and as of October 1 the sale of cheap, high alcohol content hooch (see: Mad Dog 20/20, ShitIce, and anything with a grizzly bear on the can) will no longer be allowed in the area. If you want all the specifics check out the story we ran, or the one the Trib ran, or this Trib post, or this Trib post, or Exit 133’s coverage, or the Tacoma Daily Index's story, or even this Google map from Zastica.

When it comes to the Lincoln District, Rick Talbert is a good dude to talk to. He graduated from Lincoln High, lives on the East Side with his wife and family, and represents District 4 on the Tacoma City Council. Rick Talbert lives and breathes the Lincoln District.

I got a hold of Talbert yesterday to get his take on the newest AIA. Since he’s not a drunken street sleeper he’s in favor of it.

“It’s a good thing because it helps control the amount of inebriation,” said Talbert yesterday by phone. “The data really showed that the calls for service related to alcohol (in the area of the new AIA) were staggering. Folks in the community came to me with concerns about people passed out next to businesses, and kids literally having to walk around passed out people on their way to school.”

While Talbert indicated the success of Tacoma’s first AIA (and the first in the state, for that matter), which includes Hilltop and the downtown core, played into the decision to create the Lincoln AIA, he also noted that lessons have been learned. The creation of Tacoma’s first AIA pushed many of the drunks now urinating in the Lincoln District to their current location. Talbert said by making Tacoma’s new AIA bigger, city officials are hoping to avoid simply encouraging the problem into a different neck of Grit City. However, Talbert also noted some of that is inevitable, and an AIA isn’t a fix-all solution to the problem.

“The idea to expand the boundaries was to make it big enough to be more effective, and not to just push it to the next neighborhood,” said Talbert. “Common sense will tell you that you can’t solve the problem these people have (with an AIA). It’s simply a tool. Hopefully some of these people say ‘This just isn’t worth it, anymore.’ But I would imagine that those with serious addictions will find it elsewhere.”

Talbert said that along with banning the sale of high octane booze, services will be provided within the new AIA to help people kick the bottle. He’s hopeful that many of Lincoln’s street drunks will take advantage of the help rather than simply moving.

For the most part, the new AIA seems to be something the Lincoln District supports â€" aside from a few store owners who sell the cheap and hard stuff, and, of course, the street drunks themselves. (Do street drunks vote?)

“There has been some concern (from store owners). I don’t dismiss those concerns,” said Talbert. “For some of them, (high alcohol content beer and wine) is probably a large percentage of their sales.”

“But the stuff only has one purpose. It’s cheap and it will get you drunk cheap. I think they may lose some sales initially, but more than make up for it with customers who aren’t scared off anymore.”

Talbert says Lincoln residents can expect nearly immediate changes thanks to Tacoma’s new AIA, even though the official ban won’t go into action until this fall. A few store owners had stopped selling high octane booze voluntarily, and now that the end is imminent for high powered hooch in Hathaway’s hood, Talbert expects more stores to follow suit. 

“The transition period is designed to be now through October 1st. We should start seeing improvements in the coming weeks.” 

MATT DRISCOLL: BAD NEWS >>>

Did you catch all those nice things I wrote about Thee Emergency in this week's paper?

Well, forget it all. It seems they've dropped out of tonight's scheduled show at Bob's Java Jive.

Just kidding, of course. Thee Emergency is still a kick ass band. But they did cancel.

Anyone know what happened?