JOHN HERBERT: HEALTH CARE REFORM LECTURE >>>

Pacific Lutheran University philosophy professor Paul Menzel will present a public lecture exploring the moral and political issues facing health care reform tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the PLU Scandinavian Cultural Center. He promises a non-partisan look at the moral underpinnings of the clash between the major political parties’ approaches to healthcare reform.

I predict the discussion will be framed thusly:

Democratic policies usually call for some sort of government intervention, such as a government-run universal healthcare system, like Medicare, only for everybody. Menzel will mention that the United States is the only industrialized nation without such a system. He also will mention that a great deal of our current problems stem from a grossly bureaucratic and underfunded Medicare system.

Their Republican counterparts, he will explain, generally call for tax credits and free-market solutions. Free-market solutions, the new ones anyway, generally involve banks, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies making a lot of money. They also leave a depressing percentage of the population sick and dying, which is apparently a price worth paying while we wait for the market to work it out.

Menzel will fail to mention that the system we have now is the result of a combination of those two approaches.

Grab a copy of the Weekly Volcano on the streets today for our other predictions of the week, which includes Nick Lachey’s Celebrity Weekend.

STEPH DEROSA: DO NOT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER >>>

Truth be known, the more of a dive the place looks, the more intrigued I am. That is, until I saw The Right Spot in Fife. From the outside, that place didn’t intrigue me at all, it just plain ol’ scared me.

Tucked in a back parking lot corner amongst potholes and semi-trucks, The Right Spot seemed to nurture Pacific Highway’s lost and lonely. At least that’s what I thought every time I drove by and squinted. I had no problem venturing into Pacific Highway’s Valley Pub (editor made me take out this decription), but this one took me â€" what? â€" almost a year to explore. I’m no wussy, so this week I made it my goal to step inside.

Someone should just slap me right upside the face for judging this bar from the outside. Find out why here.

CARMEN JONES: HUHNTANZ >>>

While patiently waiting in line to order my goodbye lunch with the most amazing engineers and construction managers that I'll ever work with, I picked up a flyer about an event that I thought you should know about.

From 6 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 3, Katie Downs will be celebrating Oktoberfest with their favorite musician Gary Hausam, and they'll be featuring bratwurst, German potato salad, German sausage chowder and pretzels with stone ground mustard.

I'm thinking about seeing if those engineers and construction managers will go back to do the chicken dance with me.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

BILL TIMNICK: TACOMA FILM FESTIVAL >>>

For the third year running, The Grand Cinema is bringing back its annual celebration of the filmmaker’s art Oct. 2-9. The Tacoma Film Festival, The Grand’s salute to local and emerging filmmakers, features some 80 titles ranging in length from two minutes to a couple of hours, with screenings at four local venues: The Grand Cinema (606 S. Fawcett Ave.), Tacoma's First United Methodist Church (621 Tacoma Ave.), the School of the Arts (1818 Tacoma Ave.), and the Tacoma Art Museum (1701 Pacific Ave.).

Many of the entries are being screened for the first time anywhere. Each screening will feature multiple films, in most cases with a single longer feature in combination with two or more shorts. Why? "Because we have so many shorts," says Rachel Marecle, event coordinator. But one way or another each of the entries will be shown at least once during the Festival.

Some of the screenings will feature a special bonus, Marecle explains. At about 30 of the screenings, one or more persons associated with the making of the film will be on hand. Directors and/or actors from the selected piece will take part in a question and answer session following the showing.

But there are still more special events lined up for the Festival. First, to kick off the celebration, organizers are holding an opening night catered reception at First United Methodist Church, followed by an opening night screening at the Grand Cinema. The cost is $14 for Grand Cinema members, and $17 for nonmembers. The reception begins at 6:30 p.m.; curtain time is 8:15.

The Festival is also going out with a bang: a closing night awards Gala on Oct. 9. The setting is the Temple Ballroom at the Landmark Convention Center, 47 St. Helens Avenue. The time is 6:30 p.m. Admission, which includes dinner, live entertainment and the award ceremony, is $45 for Grand members, and $50 for nonmembers.

Admission to any of the regular screenings at all four venues during the Festival is the same as the regular admission price at The Grand Cinema, which is $8 for adults, $6 for children seniors and military. All members of The Grand are admitted to any screening for $1.50. Festival goers can also select an “all access pass,” priced at $110, which admits holders to any and all screenings and includes admission to both the opening and closing night events.

Tickets go on sale Sept. 26 at the grand Cinema box office, 606 S. Fawcett Ave. in downtown Tacoma. A printed festival guide will also be available at the box office beginning the same day. For more information call 253.593.4474.

LINK: Weekly Volcano's film section

ALEC CLAYTON: DROP BY IMPROMPTU TONIGHT >>>

Rob Fiser’s  AmeriKa: The Fourth Reich is the centerpiece of a large and varied group show called Circle of Friends at Grand Impromptu Gallery. AmeriKa consists of life-size game pieces in the form of clothespin portraits of members of the Bush regime.

Each piece is a separate figure which can be moved around, stood up, laid down, grouped and re-grouped. At Grand Impromptu they stand and lie in a large circle in the center of the gallery. The portrait faces are realistically rendered and easily recognized, even though figures such as Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft are quickly receding from public memory (the mind tends to block out unbearable memories).

Check it out tonight during Third Thursday Art Walk, which kicks off at 5 p.m. throughout the greater downtown Tacoma region.

LINK: Circle of Friends review

JAKE DE PAUL: AU REVOIR >>>

One of the Weekly Volcano’s favorite Lakewood lunch spots, Café Chagall, closed its doors. Volcano calendar girl Suzy Stump is pounding on their door, and pounding champagne, as I type.

SUZY STUMP: CALENDAR GIRL >>>

Maxwell’s beat
Ahhh, Friday nights sure are fun, aren’t they? And now hip in Tacoma. And swank. Wish they were every day, don’t you? Or maybe, for some odd reason, you don’t. I do ever since Maxwell’s shoved a DJ in the corner of their dimly-lit bar. Besides bartender David’s drinks and their halibut, I now have a crush on the acid jazz and trip-hop DJ Broam and ilk create. It’s music that comforts yet excites, that calms and drives me to frenzy at the same time, that ebbs and flows with the rhythms of my life. The fusion of the straight beats of house, the lyrical feel of hip-hop, the melodies and horns of jazz, and the vibe of funk and soul. While that might sound like a complicated blend, it remains simple and easy to listen to, carrying with it a peacefulness and chill vibe. Hurrah!
[Maxwell’s Speakeasy + Lounge, 9 p.m. Fridays, 454 St. Helens, Tacoma, 253.683.4115]

Foot Falls
A dance performance in an intimate, tiny space is sure to be interesting. OK â€" and a little complicated. But one thing’s for sure: It’s gonna be good. Tacoma choreographers and dancers Katharine M. Stricker and Stephanie Kriege, who worked for three years with the defunct Barefoot Studios, kick off their version, Barefoot Collective, with original works under the title, Foot Falls. I hope that their feet don’t fall in my face in the intimate studio. Or do I? I might miss the juice and cookie reception after â€" so I wish to skip the foot.
[Barefoot Collective, Sept. 19-20 8 p.m., Sept. 21 2 p.m., $17-$20, 1604 Center St., Tacoma, 253.627.2273]

LINK: ViVA South Sound arts and entertainment guide
LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

SUZY STUMP: I’M ROCKED AMADEUS >>>

Few who have seen it could forget the climax of the 1984 film Amadeus: Mozart (Tom Hulce), on his deathbed in Vienna, in a feverish mania dictates to Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) as yet unwritten passages of his Requiem. Tragically, Mozart died before completing it.

Now, the Associated Press reports “A French museum has found a previously unknown piece of music handwritten by Mozart, a researcher said Thursday. The 18th century melody sketch is missing the harmony and instrumentation but was described as an important find.” Full story here.

What does this all mean?

This weekend presents an opportunity to hear Mozart’s work as The Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia promises to perform Mozart’s Toy Orchestra as part of their Saturday afternoon concert that also features Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

Maybe it will all come together like some Tarantino flick.

[Washington Center, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2 p.m., $4.50-$13.50, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia, 360.753.8586]

LINK: Fall Arts Calendar