DANIEL BLUE: MONTE CRISTO >>>

In my opinion, the Monte Cristo is a strange and incredible creation of culinary genius. Three pieces of French toast are used to encase two sandwiches worth of turkey, ham and multiple melted cheeses. This stack of sandwich devilry is then grilled on all six sides like a cubic block and served with jelly. I suggest ordering a cup of ranch dressing to alternate dipping with the jelly. This leads to an interesting dichotomy of sweet breakfast and savory breakfast, which is exactly the type of thinking that would lead one to the act of using French toast as the platform for a sandwich. The Cristo at Alfred’s Café & Bubble Room is by far the largest and most delicious in town. The cheese literally drips from the meaty pockets like lava in a lamp.

[Alfred’s Café & Bubble Room, 402 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, 253.627.5491]

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MATT DRISCOLL: GRABBING AT STRAWS >>>

So, the Friday press briefing with Eric Anderson didn’t go down this week. No real surprise there. I’ve long since given up on it being a regular thing, and instead just consider it a small blessing when the press briefing does happen â€"which seems to be about once a month.

While Tacoma Public Relations Super Boy Rob McNair-Huff told me Anderson was out of the office today, he didn’t elaborate on what the City Manager might be up to on this fine Friday.

I have my suspicions.

Didn’t Step Brothers come out today? Or maybe he saw the new X-Files flick?

I heard they both suck.

Anyway, without anything of real importance to report, I’m left floundering here as Weekly Volcano World Headquarters starts to empty for the weekend. I feel like I owe you (venerable blogosphere) something, but trouble is I don’t have much to offer.

In case you’re interested, here’s a look at issues the City Council is set to address next week. I know it’s not much, but it’ll just have to do. I’ll buy you a beer sometime if it makes things better.

- Tuesday at noon Baarsma and Co will host a multiparty study session with the Joint Municipal Action Committee (JMAC, yo!). Though the Monday night episode of Gossip Girls is bound to come up at the Tuesday study session, mainly the council and JMAC will be discussing the area of land at 19th and Tyler Street area, near Foss High School, Cheney Stadium and Metro Parks Tacoma headquarters. Specifically, they’ll be trying to determine whether a Tacoma/JMAC tag team effort to improve the parcel is a good idea, and also establish long term plan for the land’s use.

- Also, during the actual Tuesday night City Council meeting, Baarsma and Co (wouldn’t that be a kick ass Saturday morning cartoon?) will be considering a resolution that would sell 15 acres and some change of land currently owned by Tacoma Power to the Port of Tacoma for a cool $2.93million. The land is located at 1300 Taylor Way in the Tacoma Tideflats, and is known to friends as the Hylebos Marsh Project. That’s a habitat restoration site, for those playing at home, and if the Port of Tacoma does end up purchasing the land they’ll have to promise to find a substitute habitat restoration site. Let’s just hope they don’t have their fingers crossed.

That’s all folks. See you on Monday.

Here's a picture of a dog with a beer to hold you over.

EVENT
Scottish Highland Games
If the caber toss â€" a game that dares its competitors to hurl a 20-foot log in the air 180 degrees â€" doesn’t get you excited for the Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games & Clan Gathering this weekend, nothing will. But here’s to trying: The festival/competition celebrates Scottish culture at its best. Browse the many cultural booths, enjoy live entertainment and eat the traditional cuisine. Or, just stick around the Highland Festival area, where competitors try their hand at the stone put and the Scottish hammer throw. â€" Michael Swan
[Enumclaw Expo Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 26-27, $4-$22, 45224 284th Ave. S.E. Enumclaw, 206.522.2541]

EVENT
Ethnic Fest
This year’s ethnic fest will feature a full dance stage, and two more full stages in an attempt to pack as much awesomeness as possible into this year’s event. All the traditional favorites will be there, including reggae, dancehall, soca sensation Alex Duncan, and perennial favorite, guitarist/composer Michel Powers. Ranger & The Re-Arrangers will share the sultry art of Gypsy Jazz. Middle Eastern dance troupe Shardoba will offer the ancient art of belly dancing. If you’re hungry, the Korean Women’s Association will offer Bulgogi and Smoky’s BBQ will offer good old Southern eats. Participants with an adventurous spirit can learn how to dress in a kimono from the Kabuki Academy, or be introduced to the beautiful craft of Hawaiian bone carving from artist Iuni Tuaimeiuta. The Roosevelt Dancers will offer an introduction to Cambodian folk dances. And that’s just a taste. â€" Paul Scrag
[Wright Park, Wright Park, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m, free, 501 South I St., Tacoma, metroparkstacoma.org]

EVENT
Summer Sounds and Comcast Cinema
Thankfully, Metro Parks and Comcast have come to my cinema-loving rescue.
For six incredible weeks they will team up to bring me concerts and movies â€" not inside a sticky-floor theater â€" but outside underneath a summer sky. Starting tonight at the new and improved Wright Park, we all can relish in the sounds of The Rumba Kings starting at 6:30 p.m. Movie of the week, Freedom Writers, begins at dusk.â€" Steph DeRosa
[Wright Park, 6:30 p.m., free, 501 S. I St., Tacoma, metroparkstacoma.org]

SPORTS
Dockyard Derby Dames
My Saturday will be spent with Dockyard Derby Dames characters like Janesaw Massacre, Vicious DivaLicious, Anita Hit Sum Won, Snicker Brutal, Teeny Mussolini and Cookies and MILF crammed at the front of the flat track jumping around, screaming my lungs out, picking fights and hocking loogies. Being up close and personal blows away watching the action on television. Hell, with a beer garden, girls in fishnets at halftime, a rock band, this is entertainment at its fullest. After the bout everyone will head to the Top of Tacoma Bar on McKinley Avenue. â€" Brad Allen
[The Soccer Center, Saturday, July 26, 7 p.m., $10-$12, 301 133rd St. S., Spanaway, www.dockyardderbydames.com]

ROCK
The Get Off
A garage punk rock twosome with a surprising ’80s undercurrent, the Get Off will travel from their Seattle home to play Bob’s Java Jive in Tacoma tonight. Despite the Get Off’s relative lack of strength in numbers â€" the band consists of only female guitarist, singer and spark plug Leigh and drummer and beat-master Mario â€" the Get Off’s strength of show should be something to behold. There’s something about a rock and roll frontwoman wielding a flying V guitar that‘s just so right.â€" Matt Driscoll
[Bob’s Java Jive, with Lozen, Banners, Curious Mystery and Darrren Selector, 8 p.m., $5, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

ROCK
Blanco Bronco
A little bit sloppy and insistent â€" in the most beautiful sense of the words â€" Blanco Bronco is pressing and raw. The band â€" roping in a number of sounds and varied influences â€" fits in with Tacoma’s indie uprising, but also sounds like â€" if it came down to a fist fight â€" they could whip any band of shoe-gazing arties out there. Though the band â€" through song structure and lyrics â€" does sound educated, they don’t cross the Obama line of elitism, and at their heart is always a rock and roll band first. That is, perhaps, Blanco Bronco’s most endearing quality. â€" MD
[Hell’s Kitchen, Girl Trouble, Blanco Bronco, Paris Spleen, Saturday, July 26, 9 p.m., $5, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

LINK: The Fabulous Wailers and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Viva South Sound arts and entertainment calendar
LINK: Movie Clock
LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

DANIEL BLUE: MEET MARY KAY JOHNSON >>>

Mary Kay Johnson is an artist in the truest sense of the word. 

Recently taking the plunge out of the corporate graphic design world of Costco, she is now counting on her wits and intelligence to navigate the strange and beautiful landscape of freelance design in the modern recessive American Northwest.   

A master of the Photoshop and Illustrator, Mary Kay is also an accomplished painter and figurative illustrator with her own bare hands. This type of hybrid digital/analog artist is rare, usually creative people tend to lean one way or the other, especially when entering into the task of making a living.   

Mary Kay can be found at the Mad Hat Tea Company on a fairly regular basis, scheming with her fellow womanly artisans and making a general political fuss.   Nothing short of a revolution will satisfy her need for a better America, and nothing short of perfection will leave her pen or brush.  Recent MKD Marketing Design projects include: a political gallery instillation in several locations, the past few months worth of Weekly Volcano cover artwork, pieces hung at the Mad Hat's Crow and Cosmic shows and a handful of high end graphic design gigs for illustrious companies and individuals including the design and layout of my Web site and upcoming album.

In a word, Mary Kay ROCKS!

RON SWARNER: BABBLIN’ KIND OF MORNING >>>

If you’ve ever curled up in your PJs with a bedtime bowl of Cocoa Puffs or stumbled home from the bar for a Pop-Tart fix, consider yourself a trendsetter, because breakfast is the new dessert. Treat yourself to a Babblin’ Babs Bistro vanilla waffle with a lavender latte right now. The cozy Proctor District bistro serves breakfast Saturday and Sunday morning from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Having said that, I skipped dessert this morning. Babs' special today is a New York steak topped with fluffy scrambled eggs and the best onion rings I have ever tasted. Chef William adds his Babblin’ Cajun spice mix to the sweet onions then tosses them without touching them. He claims the rings are less greasy if they don't come in contact with human skin.

[Babblin’ Babs Bistro, 2724 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253.761.9099]

BOBBLE TIKI: LUNCH WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Diadem \DY-uh-dem\, noun:
1. A crown.
2. An ornamental headband worn (as by Eastern monarchs) as a badge of royalty.
3. Regal power; sovereignty; empire; -- considered as symbolized by the crown.
4. To adorn with a diadem; to crown.

USAGE EXAMPLE: After a not-so-close vote, the judges unanimously named Bobble Tiki
drunk of the year, placing the diadem of beer cans on his unusually large head.
 
MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: That's a lot of cigarettes

OLYMPIA: Peck halfway there

SEATTLE: Block Party day one recap

UNITED STATES: Week in review

ENVIRONMENT: Five things to ponder

JUST BIZARRE: First yoga, then dining

MORE STRANGE NEWS: Man vs. lawnmower

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

SUZY STUMP: 5 THINGS TO DO TODAY >>>

NOON: Alex Duncan (6 p.m.), All Nations Dancers and many others perform during Ethnic Fest at Wright Park. Read the vibe.

NOON-9:15 P.M.: Sir Ben Kingsly takes bong hits in The Wackness at The Grand Cinema. Take a hit.

2 P.M.: I have said this countless times before, but Tacoma Musical Playhouse knows how to bring it when it needs to be brought â€" as they do this afternoon with Grease. The word.

7 P.M.: Saxophonist Darren Motamedy goes smooth jazz on your ass at the Cedarwood Dome. It’s always a packed house.

9 P.M.: Trip The Light Fantastic, Tough Times at others get trippy at Hell’s Kitchen.

LINK: Viva South Sound arts and entertainment calendar
LINK: Live music and DJs

JAKE DE PAUL: THE MORNING BREW >>>

1. Pacific Grill has a warm berry shortcake with your name on it. (Talk With The Chefs)

2. California passed a law banning trans fats for restaurant by 2010, and all retail baked goods by 2011. Packaged foods will be exempt. (New York Times)

3. Laurent Vernhes chimes in on the chef vs restaurateur issue, with some explanation from Jean-Georges Vongerichten. (The Moment)

PAUL SCHRAG: CLOSES TODAY >>>

This year’s ethnic fest will feature a full dance stage, and two more full stages in an attempt to pack as much awesomeness as possible into this year’s event. All the traditional favorites will be there, including reggae, dancehall, soca sensation Alex Duncan, and perennial favorite, guitarist/composer Michel Powers. If you’re hungry, the Korean Women’s Association will offer Bulgogi and Smoky’s BBQ will offer good old Southern eats. Participants with an adventurous spirit can learn how to dress in a kimono from the Kabuki Academy, or be introduced to the beautiful craft of Hawaiian bone carving from artist Iuni Tuaimeiuta. The Roosevelt Dancers will offer an introduction to Cambodian folk dances. And that’s just a taste. Full story here. â€" Paul Scrag

[Wright Park, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m, free, 501 South I St., Tacoma, www.metroparkstacoma.org]

TODAY'S SCHEDULE
Noon             African All Stars   
12:15 p.m.     Kabuki Academy   
1 p.m.            Kane Mathis   
                      Michael Powers   
2 p.m.            One World Taiko 
                      Roosevelt Dancers-Cambodian Dance   
3 p.m.            Gospel Music workshop 
                      The Islanders      
4 p.m.            Shin Pu Ri 
4:10 p.m.       New Life Olympia   
4:45 p.m.       St John Baptist
5 p.m.            New Age Flamenco   
5:20 p.m.       New Beginnings Step Team   
5:50 p.m.       Danell Daymond & Royalty
6 p.m.            Alex Duncan

LINK: More Ethnic Fest 2008 photos from yesterday in the Weekly Volcano's Photo Hot Spot.