SUZY STUMP: READING WITH KAREEM KANDI >>>

One of my favorite high school summer jobs was working at the local Fotomat. Before people started counting the resolution of their photographs in megapixels, they looked for the Fotomat booth in the parking lot of their favorite strip mall to take care of all their photo processing needs. Young Stump sat inside that booth all summer long, asking "Glossy or mat finish?" with a Stepford smile on my lips. Most of the time, however, there were no customers. According to the employee handbook, we were supposed to use those moments to dust, alphabetize photo envelopes, and call customers. Instead, I used that time to look at people's pictures (of course we looked at the pictures), eating Cheetos, and, most importantly, read Rolling Stone magazine. Ah, sweet memories.

My voyeuristic side is now satisfied by the rubbish heap known as reality television, and my taste in summer reading, well, hasn't evolved at all.  Here I sit, reading the fantastic Obama interview in the latest Rolling Stone, sipping a light Zenato Valpolicella and listing to Kareem Kandi and his band lay down sweet jazz at The Mandolin Café.

Kandi and a couple of his Tacoma School of the Arts students kicked off his 3 p.m. set with "Monk's Blues" Thelonious Monk, followed with "St. Thomas" by Sonny Rollins, "Misty" by Erroll Garner, and many more.

Kandi and crew are on a break. Head over to The Mandolin for the second set.

STEPH DEROSA: COFFEE WITH DEROSA >>>

It’s no secret: Steph DeRosa is a huge fan of Satellite Coffee.  Blah, blah, blah you’ve heard it all before.  You’ve heard how much I have a crush on pretty much every male employee there, how effin kick ass the females are as well, how deep, rich, and perfect every shot is, and how they have Corina Bakery items that make my saliva glands go into overdrive.  Yes, you’ve heard it all before â€" and here I am again. 

Since the sun is out and the temp is below 90 degrees, this week’s Dinner with DeRosa will actually be “Coffee with DeRosa” at Satellite’s outdoor seating area.

I asked one of Satellite’s owners, Pat Brown, the question that probably everyone in Tacoma has wondered, “Why don’t you have outdoor seating on top of Supernova?”  One word for you folks: Liability.  Well, maybe more than one word.  Actually it was specifically written in the lease that businesses leasing the building could do anything they wanted EXCEPT put stuff on the roof of Supernova.  According to Brown, previous tenants Temple of the Bean had chairs and tables outside that punched holes into the roof of Supernova.  There ya go folks, now we know the answer to Tacoma’s biggest outdoor seating question.  My next outdoor seating investigative report will be “The Red Hot: Why the fuck can’t I drink my damn beer outside?”

So on with my guests:

Athena Hitson is headed to Costa Rica for 12 days.  This hostel-bound traveler is rendezvous-ing with a friend from New York down in South America’s tropical rainforest.  I admire her, and am quite jealous actually.  I tried to nail down her home address and what exact days she would be gone, but she was too smart for me and wouldn’t budge.  Damnit.

Serving up our Satellite shots of black gold is Magdalena Remos.  She rocks, no matter how early she has to get up for work, and no matter how awful she thinks she looks.

Adriene and Ashley Taulbee are going to be our guides for all the estate sales we’ll be hitting up after our coffee.  They seem to be pros at working the system, and always know how to sniff out the great vintage finds.

Seth Nutter will be chillin’ with us.  He’s the quiet type who just sits back and brilliantly listens.  As men should do.  No need to talk, just sit there. 
Neil Griegsby and Kristen Carrington are righteous and outta-sighteous.  I LOVE how open and friendly they are.  Doesn’t matter who you are, they’re going to welcome you with open arms.

Mangiamo!

LINK: Dinner with DeRosa archive

ART
Juried Art Exhibit
All juried shows are alike: a few outstanding artworks, a whole bunch of so-so stuff, and a few really bad pieces. The sixth annual juried art exhibit at The Gallery at Tacoma Community
College is no exception. Ron Hinson’s untitled painted construction does not stand out in his larger body of work, but it certainly stands out here. Also outstanding are two abstract paintings by Tracy Heron-Moore. Bill Colby’s woodcut, Marker One, is atmospheric and iconic. Also outstanding is one of two acrylic paintings of dogs by Marilyn Bedford. â€" Alec Clayton
[Tacoma Community College, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, through Aug. 15, 6501 S. 19th St., Building 5A, Tacoma, 253.460.4306]

FILM
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is not a simplistic tale of good and evil. Batman is good, yes; the Joker is evil, yes. But Batman poses a more complex puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City are in an uproar, calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen and others. And the Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies.

The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger as the Joker. Will he become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch? His Joker draws power from the actual inspiration of the character in the silent classic The Man Who Laughs (1928). His clown’s makeup more sloppy than before, his cackle betraying deep wounds, he seeks revenge for the horrible punishment his father exacted on him when he was a child. In one diabolical scheme near the end of the film, he invites two ferry-loads of passengers to blow up the other before they are blown up themselves. Throughout the film, he devises ingenious situations that force Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make impossible ethical decisions. By the end of the film, the whole moral foundation of the Batman legend is threatened. Read full review here. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace. Four Stars â€" Roger Ebert

[AMC Narrows Plaza 8: 12:10, 1:30, 3:35, 5; Century Olympia: 9:20 a.m., 10:10 a.m., 11:05 a.m., noon, 12:50, 1:40, 2:35, 3:30, 4:20, 5:10, 6:05, 7, 7:50, 8:40, 9:35, 10:30; Galaxy Uptown Theatre: 10:00 a.m., 12:30, 1:10, 3:45, 4:20, 7, 7:30, 10:15, 10:40; Galaxy Uptown Theatre VIP: 11:30 a.m., 2:45, 6, 9:15; Lakewood Cinema 15: 9 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:20, 12:50, 1:20, 1;50, 3, 3:40, 4:10, 4:40, 5:10, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 8:30, 10, 10:20; Lakewood Towne Center 12: 10:05 a.m., 12:10, 1:20, 3:30, 4:30, 7, 7:40, 10:10, 10:55; Longston Place 14: 11:50 a.m., 12:20, 12:50, 1:20, 1:50, 3:10, 3:40, 4:10, 4:40, 5:10, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 8:30, 9:50, 10:20, 10:50; Regal Martin Village 16: 9 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:50 a.m., 12:20, 12:50, 1:20, 1:50, 3:10, 3:40, 4:10, 4:40, 5:10, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 8:30, 9:50, 10:20, 10:50; Yelm Cinemas @ Prairie Park:11:35 a.m., 11:55 a.m., 2:40, 3, 5:45, 6:10, 8:50, 9:15.

BOBBLE TIKI: BRUNCH WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Supernumerary \soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rair-ee; -NYOO-\, adjective:
1. Exceeding the stated, standard, or prescribed number.
2. Exceeding what is necessary or desired; superfluous.
3. A supernumerary person or thing.
4. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra in a crowd scene.

USAGE EXAMPLE: A collector of sorts, many have stood amazed at Bobble Tiki’s supernumerary collection of Slurpee cups. 

MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Thieving soccer mom

OLYMPIA: Lakefair recap

SEATTLE: Illegal rain saving

UNITED STATES: Preventing a bank meltdown

ENVIRONMENT: Another Obama endorsement

JUST BIZARRE: Bobble Tiki's kind of museum

MORE STRANGE NEWS: Naked yoga

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

JAKE DE PAUL: CAFÉ DIVINO HAPPY HOUR >>>

It’s interesting to me that while most people wouldn’t consider drinking beer with pasta dishes, many articles and experts on food-and-wine matching suggest beer for pizza. But red-sauced pastas are very similar in flavor to red-sauced pizzas. So why drink wine with one and beer with the other? And when you do see wine recommendations for pizza, it’s almost inevitably Italian Chianti. Nothing wrong with that, but it seems to me as much a knee-jerk reaction as the requirement to drink white wine with fish â€" all fish.

Why not experiment? Café Divino in Old Town Tacoma offers $6 pizzas and $6 glasses of Chardonnay, Cabernet and Shiraz 3-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Mix and match and tell me what you discover.

[Cafe Divino, 2112 N. 30th St., Tacoma, 253.779.4226]

LINK: Weekly Volcano's restaurant guide

MATT DRISCOLL: HOW TO GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED >>>

Maybe you’ve noticed. Every Thursday here at the Weekly Volcano we’re doling out online album reviews.  They’re available at the Volcano’s Web site, and bands from near and far have been featured.

Well, actually mainly just near.

Here’s a look at what you may have missed so far.

Hours and Hours â€" A tribute to Seaweed

Destruction Island â€" Preaches the New Wilderness

Colonies â€" Sleep Patterns

San Kazakgascar â€" Greetings from Beautiful San Kazakgascar

Knw-Yr-Own Records â€" No Band is an Island

If you’re a band, or are in a band, and you’d like to see your CD reviewed by the Weekly Volcano, here’s what to do. Send us a package of love, with CD included, to:

Weekly Volcano
PO Box 98801
Lakewood, WA 98496

That’s just about it. Your package will go into our “crap pile,” and if our ears take a liking to it during the week, a review will magically appear on the Web site. It’s just that simple.

Go forth and mail.

SHOPPING
6th Ave Farmers Market
For those green-thumb-challenged folk who haven't quite got growing seasons down, the 6th Ave Farmers Market has alerted us to the arrival of fresh local produce. Today, beginning at 3:30 p.m., you can expect: Magana is bringing tomatoes they picked yesterday from the other side of the Cascades; Peaches won’t be as green as last week; plus fruits, cheeses, meats, poultry, seafood, and flowers. Jonny Smokes provides the musical entertainment. â€" Suzy Stump
[Sixth Avenue and North Pine Street, 3:30-7:30 p.m., Tacoma, market.com">www.6thavefarmers market.com]

ROCK
Wizard rock!
Tonight, at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, an event that just may be exactly what the doctor ordered for Bobble Tiki’s lack of piss and vinegar is set to go down. It’s called the Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo ’08 Tour, and musically it features wizard rockers Harry and the Potters, Jason Anderson and the Best, Math the Band, and Uncle Monsterface and Friends.

In addition to the tunes, expect the enthusiasm to be at full throttle Tuesday. As the name of this tour suggests, enthusiasm is the name of this game. And the goal is unlimited.

According to the Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo ’08 Tour Web site:
“The DIY traveling summer camp circus is coming to town! Camp fires! Songs about being a wizard! Giant monsters! Cool big videos! Rock and roll aerobics! Inflatable monkeys! Dancing sock puppets! Going bananas! Circus tents! Jumping! Yelling! More jumping!”

That’s a lot of enthusiasm. You can tell by all the exclamation marks. If there’s one thing worth getting behind in this world, it’s jumping and more jumping. Even an unexcited island-themed souvenir like Bobble Tiki can see that. â€" Bobble Tiki
[Capitol Theater, Tuesday, July 22, 6:30 p.m., all ages, $8-$10, 206 Fifth Ave. S.E., Olympia, 360.754.5378]

LINK: Heroshima and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Viva South Sound arts and entertainment calendar.
LINK: Movie times
LINK: Restaurant Guide

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Gamine \gam-EEN; GAM-een\, noun:
1. A girl who wanders about the streets; an urchin.
2. A playfully mischievous girl or young woman.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Before her television career took off, Katie Couric was known as little more than a gamine â€" wandering the streets day and night and doing all sorts of unsavory things to get by. 

MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Tacoma School of the Arts could look to buy building

OLYMPIA: Planning commission backs height increase

SEATTLE: Dems say no to Republican request

UNITED STATES: The demise of Starbucks

ENVIRONMENT: Pelosi talks

JUST BIZARRE: Batman flips out

MORE STRANGE NEWS: A beautiful service

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