STEPH DEROSA: WEEKLY VOLCANO VOLUNTEER COLLABORATION >>>

The first official Weekly Volcano volunteer collaboration will be this Thursday, Aug. 7th, 2008, 6 p.m. at The Mandolin Cafe. Kids and family friendly. Come one, come all.

For those who wish to be in attendance, I'd like to discuss the needs of Tacoma and where some excellent hands-on, one day volunteer opportunities exist. I know there is a plethora, and if at all possible â€" it'd be great to nail down a tentative year-at-a-glance.

These don't have to be projects that EVERYONE attends, but it should give many folks many opportunities to pick from.

There will need to be a "manager" (for lack of a better term right now) at each volunteer event. If you feel passionate about a particular event â€" then it would be more than fantastic for you to head it up and be there to oversee the project. No one is the "boss" here â€" we're all in this together.

That being said, if you feel passionate about something â€" then SPEAK UP! Whether it's here on the Spew, in the Volcano forums, at a gathering, or emailing me â€" just do it. Start a new topic in the forums if you'd like. Now is your chance to get the Weekly Volcano behind your ideas. You can make these small changes in our community simply by raising your voice, and showing up at one of the volunteer events.

OK, I'm off my soapbox.

Love, Steph DeRosa

P.S. â€" Could someone please come up with a name for this volunteer project we are about to take on?

The Mandolin Cafe
3923 S 12th St
Tacoma, WA 98405
253.761.3482
Get directions

DANIEL BLUE: MEET TOBIN ROPES >>>

Tobin Ropes is a modern American Cosimo Medici. The Medici were a powerful and infinitely rich banking family that influenced much of the best periods of Italian art. Without the Medici family; patrons to both Leonardo and Michelangelo, among many other greats, we would have no Notre Dame, and the names of all four Ninja Turtles would make little sense.

Tobin, who was swindled out of an incredible wine empire he helped to build, is currently a tea man. Yes, in the same way Daniel Plainview was an oil man, Tobin is a Tea Man, it is profitable and progressive and a whole hell of a lot better for the environment. 

Pictured here strolling across the deadly Commerce LINK tracks to the park benches across the street from the manifestation of his love for tea, Mad Hat Tea Company, Tobin is preparing to pour some strange concoction of God knows what euphoria inducing leafy juices to the denizens of the sunshine that gather here on Saturday afternoon. Tobin is a classic, there are only two of him in the whole wide world, and we here in Tacoma are the proud owners (yes OWNERS) of both of them.

Few people love art and support artists as much as Ropes Family. The Mad Hat Tea Company will host For The Love of the Cosmos syncopated pandemonium art show Thursday, Aug. 7, from 5-10 p.m. Come get your hippy on.

LINK: The Tacoma Files archive

SUZY STUMP: STARGAZER NIGHTS >>>

Every so often, on cloudless nights that follow slow traffic days, smog makes a deal with the atmosphere and agrees to cut out early so South Sounders can see those white, twinkling things Midwesterners and mountain purists call “stars.” But apparently billions of these star things are floating around up there every night in patterns that form tangible-looking objects â€" and better yet, it’s freakin’ dark in the mountains. 

So load up the kids next Monday and head to Crystal Mountain Hotels, Alta Crystal Resort and the Mount Rainier Cabin Rentals to check out the Perseids meteor shower Aug. 11-14 in the dark woods.

LINK: Crystal Mountain Hotels
LINK: Alta Crystal Resort
LINK: Mount Rainier Cabin Rentals

MATT DRISCOLL: TUNE IN THURSDAY >>>

Tomorrow afternoon in a Thurston County courtroom, Andras Jones â€" longtime host of Radio8Ball which, until mid July, aired on Olympia’s KAOS 89.3FM community radio station â€" will go in front of a judge. So will Tammy T, a former Radio8Ball co-host and also a co-host of KAOS’s The Think Tank. The former KAOS coworkers will both be in court for the same reason, but will sit on opposing sides of the room, at odds with each other.

While I’m following the story for Thursday’s paper, here’s a synopsis of the situation:

Jones created Radio8Ball at KAOS in 1998. Succinctly described, the show aims to answer the questions of life through the shuffling of CDs and the interpretation of random pop songs. The premise sounds a bit out there, and it is, but it was executed with near perfection by Jones â€" whose father was an expert in dream interpretation and also an original faculty member at the Evergreen State College. The show has been featured on NPR, and has inspired live versions both in the Northwest and Los Angeles. Jones also currently does a trimmed down version of Radio8Ball on KKNW 1150AM Seattle on Fridays at noon. 

In 2004 Jones asked Tammy T to co-host Radio8Ball with him. At the time, Jones was returning from touring with his band, and was reviving Radio8Ball from hiatus. Tammy T was already a DJ at KAOS, and the two shared a similar taste in music. At the time it seemed like a natural fit. 

However, things quickly fell apart. According to Jones, the dynamic was never what he’d hoped for, and he eventually asked Tammy T to leave the program. The problems continued between the two even after Tammy T’s time on Radio8Ball came to an end. Jones came to see Tammy as something of an obsessed stalker, and he forwarded these concerns via email to the head honchos at KAOS â€" asking for help from management. These honchos, in turn, sent Jones’ emailed concerns to Tammy â€" the alleged stalker â€" and, at least according to Jones, told him to get over it. As you could imagine the situation snowballed.

Then, in July, Jones was notified by KAOS that Radio8Ball had been canceled, basing the show’s termination on the fact Jones was also doing the show on KKNW in Seattle. According to a letter informing Jones of the cancellation, this action went against KAOS’s mission of serving underrepresented genres and formats. The shows popularity, at KAOS, had become a liability. 

All this is real juicy, I realize, but you’re probably wondering why the hell Jones and Tammy T will be in court tomorrow.

Concerned for his image and good name â€" especially at a time when Radio8Ball is being shopped to major television executives â€" Jones is seeking a restraining order against Tammy T, claiming his former co-host is stalking him and making life miserable to get back at him for firing her. Tammy T, for her part, is seeking a restraining order against Jones for the same reason.

Whichever way the judge rules tomorrow, it will make for a sad ending to a sad saga. However, it will be a little bit more than that â€" at least from a news perspective â€" if the judge rules in Jones’ favor. If, in fact, it turns out Jones had valid concerns about Tammy T harassing and stalking him, contacted the powers that be at KAOS, and the powers that be simply scoffed, told him to get over it, and forwarded his emails asking for help from management directly to Tammy T, well, that’s more than just juicy.

Tomorrow we’ll see what the judge has to say.

Ed. note: Andras Jones has written freelance music previews for the Weekly Volcano. He contacted us regarding his situation. Matt Driscoll investigated without any preconceived notions or bias.

LINK: Radio8Ball MySpace
LINK: Tammy T's MySpace

SUZY STUMP: 5 THINGS TO DO TODAY >>>

10:30 A.M.: Jim Valley of Rainbow Planet and formerly Paul Revere and the Raiders keeps the Playground Express Concerts series drive alive this morning at Wright Park.  Expect juggling, a clown, and hands-on art table from the Children's Art Museum, too. 

11 A.M.: Twenty-eight works by filmmaker and artist Karl Krogstad, plus works by Eve Wright and the ICONcepts group show focusing on icons in the Tacoma art scene hang at Two Vaults Gallery.

3:30-7:30 P.M.: Every Tuesday afternoon the 6th Ave Farmers Market fills Sixth and Pine with cool commodities ranging from fresh flowers to vegetables just off the farm. Today the market heats up with hot weather, newly picked Shamrock Apples, ripe raspberries and a new goat cheese from Blue Rose Dairy that tastes and melts like mozzarella. Chef's Demo at 5:30 p.m. will be Pat Kerth of Old Milwaukee Cafe© will prepare fruit cobbler at 5:30 p.m. Deborah Page rocks the market beginning at 6 p.m.

5:30 P.M.: Cool out after work with jazz guitarist Ed Taylor, trumpeter Kevin England and other cats laying down smooth grooves at Engine House No. 9 in Tacoma.

7 P.M.: While block parties, police presentations, cookouts, and other neighborhood-organized events happen across the nation as part of National Night Out, the Brick City Project in downtown Tacoma will rock out in the name of NNO. Hosted by Club Impact and Safe Streets Robots vs. Humans¬" the band¬" will inject a little pubescent emo rock into the Brick City Project Tuesday with New Heights, Ghost Runner On Third and hip-hop artist Verzatile. Rock the night out here.

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

JAKE DE PAUL: THE MORNING BREW >>>

1. Who’s going to make Mexican hot chocolate on a day like this? (Seattle PI)

2. Here are two stories that show the huge impacts of bottled water and the pressure the industry is receiving lately from consumers and officials. (Alternet)

3. Italy joins the boxed wine rebellion (New York Times)

LINK: Weekly Volcano restaurant reviews
LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

DANIEL BLUE: MEET EVERETT BROTHERS >>>

Everett Brothers is an extremely mellow and pleasant fellow.

Pictured here enjoying the hell out of himself at Art on the Ave, Everett invited us to his apartment in the Leland where we grilled exotic meats on the barbie whilst sipping a mixture of PBR and Orange juice. (OK, the drink was my invention, but I think Everett's refreshing nature inspired the beverage.) I sure do enjoy mixing things.

Everett is not a complicated man. He and his girlfriend, Lauren, live down the hall from each other in the same apartment complex. I think they do it just to keep things simple.

His calming nature and eloquent method of keeping you coherent has come in handy on nights outside of wild underground parties that I'm not allowed to write about in any widely distributed media. Once outside of such an event, Everett began telling me about his new pick-em-up-truck, the simple and entertaining nature of the conversation brought me back from the brink of nausea and gave me the power I needed to continue dancing the night away.

There are more and more reasons to purchase a longboard, one is the simple fact that you will have an open opportunity to talk shop with Everett.

LINK: The Tacoma Files archive

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Vituperate \vy-TOO-puh-rate, -TYOO-, vi-\, verb:
To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.

USAGE EXAMPLE: As soon as he arrived home, Bobble Tiki’s father immediately began vituperating him. As it turned out Father Tiki was not ok with Bobble Tiki skipping school to get drunk down by the river. It was, as they say, a learning experience.

MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Smog alert!

OLYMPIA: Diversity fair becomes more diverse

SEATTLE: Spam King 

UNITED STATES: GOP voting rolls show drop

ENVIRONMENT: Good ol' gorilla census

JUST BIZARRE: Shot over a cheeseburger

MORE STRANGE NEWS: Meth attracts the smart ones

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

STEPH DEROSA: WAXING WILD WAVES >>>

I find myself meandering Sixth Avenue on an often and recurrent basis. My typical pace includes stopping by some favorite shops, having a bit of lunch or coffee, and people watching from the private confines of my own observant mental state. It was just this week, after a few cups of coffee, I found myself along Sixth without a public potty in sight. The piano players of Chopstix were inside their venue having some sort of meeting of the musical minds ââ¬" so I asked if I could step in and use their restroom. They were very gracious, and I was very thankful.

It's not very often you'll see me hanging out at Chopstix, Tacoma's dueling piano bar. Not that I don't think it's a fun place and a definite positive addition to our city, it's just not a joint I frequent. Trust me, my friends and I have witnessed plenty of Chopstix bachelorette parties, sung our fair share of Billy Joel tunes, and tied on quite a few Grey Goose martinis in our fun-loving-piano-bar lives. It's an extremely novel idea, and one that I support, but honestly I never thought a dueling piano bar would make it in a city like Tacoma this long. As I pass by the windows on a Friday or Saturday night, all I can see is an overflowing, crowded room of piano crooning Chopstix fans. Whodathunk? Let's be honest here¬" dueling piano bars are meant for the big cities like Las Vegas, New York, and dare I say¬" Seattle. I say kudos to you, Tacoma, for keeping something as different as Chopstix in the limelight. And kudos to you as well, Chopstix, for giving us yet another cool nightlife alternative.

As I was taking my bathroom break, I began to wonder what else was finding itself inside my never gonna make it radar. First thing that comes to mind¬" Wild Waves. Dammit if that place isn't hanging on by a tiny little thread of corporate funding. Talk about the Little Engine That Could attitude, every year I witness mass displacement as I renew my Wild Waves Enchanted Village season pass.

DeRosa Manor is less than five miles away from Wild Waves Enchanted Village, so for my daughter and me this local water wonderland is like our own personal summertime playground. I drop a cool $170 for two season passes and a parking pass at the beginning of the summer, and that's all the money they get from me for the entire year. No lockers, no parking fees, no tubes, no food, no games, no ice cream, no souvenirs¬" no more money spent. If every person did this, or if even half, how would this grand business ever make it?

I look around at the Wild Waves clientele who have taken the day off from work, packed up the minivan, and brought the entire five-member family into the park for the day. How does one afford a day like that? Did they have to take out a second mortgage on their home for a day of cold water sprinklers and beaten-up rides?

No, wait, excuse me¬" not all the rides are beaten up. At least 30 percent of them are just plain closed, while each year Wild Waves Enchanted Village seems to build a new ride. This year it's Disk-O. With this ride you can spin, swing, and vomit all to the tunes of ABBA's greatest hits.

I never have to wait in a line, most of the food vendors are closed, and the lazy river is the only thing I'd consider busy enough to need staff. Yet billboards flash that they're still hiring. Hiring for what? Do they need to hire someone to set the place on fire for insurance money?

There are possibly 10 hot days up here in Washington state that make a water/ amusement park necessary. And by hot I mean above 80 degrees¬" which in Houston is a cool spring day. Growing up in Houston we spent day after long exhausting day in water slide lines, just aching to relieve our sun-beaten bodies from the heat. Traveling to other destination cities with incredible amusement parks (Disneyland, King's Dominion, Dollywood, Hersheypark) the lines were long and the bodies were all there, diligently spending their hard-earned vacation money. This area really doesn't have the family vacation destination draw that is going to support a great amusement park. Wild Waves is simply in the wrong city, with the wrong commodity for sale. After being bought and sold at least three times in the last five years, how are they still around?

Oh Wild Waves, you're like a cockroach. Surviving everything short of a nuclear explosion, you seem to be the aging insect that the Pacific Northwest will never let die.

LINK: Toilet Tales archive