NATASHA GORBACHEV: WORLD BEARD AND MUSTACHE CHAMPIONSHIP >>>

I’ve always been a fan of Tacoma’s very own Justin Peterson and Pat Dawson, and when I visited them recently while they were slinging drinks at Hell’s Kitchen, they let me know that I’ll have yet another reason to cheer for them.

These two, fine, distinguished men are in the process of preparing for a competition unlike any other.

In May of 2009 they’ll make a pilgrimage to Anchorage, Alaska, for the World Beard and Mustache Championship. This is only the second time in the history of the competition that it will take place in North America.

After sneaking a peek at the previous winners in the various categories (and giggling throughout), I can guarantee that Dawson will easily become the champion for the Natural Goatee and Peterson is well on his way to take on every one of the Full Beards.

Since they’ve got some time on their hands to prepare, these guys are slowly crafting their locks and taking excellent care in doing so.

So, be sure to visit the World Beard and Mustache Championship Web site for some hearty laughter, drop into Hell’s Kitchen to view the follicle progress of Peterson and Dawson, and dish out some extra tip lovin' to send them on their way to Anchorage and inevitable goatee and beard victory.

T-Town represent.

LINK: September is Moustache Revival Month, too

BRAD ALLEN: DO THE PUYALLUP >>>

Despite my well-deserved reputation as a globetrotter and travel cognoscente, I have yet to attend the running of the bulls in Spain. The closest I’ve come was the time I ordered a Quarter Pounder with cheese (in my defense, it was before reading Fast Food Nation), then ran on the treadmill for an hour because I felt so bloated from wolfing it down.

Thankfully, there are more appropriate ways to celebrate the running of the bulls â€" even in Puyallup. The Puyallup Fair kicks off Friday with its annual Western Rodeo Parade down Meridian Street. A herd of cattle, equestrian drill teams, draft horse hitches, military marching bands, great musical entertainment, royalty, and cowboys on horseback will make their way down Meridian. All this and no pesky goring and maiming. Nice.

[Pioneer Park, 9 a.m., free, Meridian Street, downtown Puyallup]

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

MATT DRISCOLL: CATCHING UP WITH JOSSY >>>

This weekend in Ruston, a place known for Town Council fighting and down-home talk at Don’s Ruston Market, the Point Defiance Music Festival will take over the area of 51st and Pearl St.

This should excite you.

Along with gobs of art and loads of activities, four stages will put some of Tacoma’s best music on display from 11 a.m. â€" 8 p.m. A full lineup of music can be found here, but suffice to say it’s pretty impressive. Notable bands playing the Weekly Volcano’s “rock” stage include www.myspace.com/sonsofivan ">Sons of Ivan, the Drug Purse, www.myspace.com/theelephants3 ">the Elephants and www.myspace.com/jonauermusic ">Jon Auer.

These days, Angela Jossy (a women close to the Weekly Volcano’s heart â€" as she used to work full time with us and still lends a hand on Wednesdays) is Executive Director of the Ruston/Point Defiance Business District. One of her duties in that capacity was to put together the Point Defiance Music Festival, which she’s done with obvious skill.

We caught up with Jossy this week to get her thoughts on how this Saturday’s festival came to be.

WV: How did you become involved with the PD Music Fest, and what is its purpose?
Jossy: I was recommended by a mutual friend. Now I'm lucky enough to get paid doing something I love - showcasing local music. They call me the Executive Director of the Ruston/Point Defiance Business District and my first assignment was to plan this festival - in roughly two months time no less. It's a good thing I like a challenge!

The purpose is to bring attention to the wonderful businesses in Ruston. We hope that after the festival, people will remember to stop by places like Don's Ruston Market, Antique Sandwich Company, Point Defiance Books, Jungle Fever Plants, Ruston Galleries, Now & Then Shop and the other great little shops there when they drive by on the way to the zoo or the ferry.

WV: How did you pick the musical lineup?
Jossy: I listed all my favorite performers and checked around to see who was available. There simply wasn't time to do an official application process and since I've been following local music very closely for the last 8 years I had a pretty good idea who I wanted. We didn't get every band that I wanted because of the short notice but I'm extremely proud of the line up we were able to get. Unfortunately, any band that played Bumbershoot this year was not allowed to perform for us because of our close proximity (in time and geography) would violate their performance contact. Fortunately we have 40 or 50 other equally compelling bands here in Tacoma that Seattle hasn't stolen from us yet.

WV: What can music fans expect on Saturday?
Jossy: I think there is something for every music lover. As far as bands go, we've got the new young hotties, the legendary veterans and everything in between. Lee Gregory of the famed Blue Baboons is performing with his new band Kincaid Avenue on our blues stage. Two former Blue Baboons, John Fox and Pay Boyle, are performing with their band Voodoo Ranch on the country stage. Mike Mitchell, renowned promoter and musician, is performing with his band The Blondes on the acoustic stage.

I'm particularly proud of the country stage since as far as I know there has never been a whole days worth of country music featured at a festival in Tacoma. It's a very underexposed genre with a large fan base and very few venues. Our country line up is incredible! Our country stage headliner, Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers, has performed all over the world. From 11 am to 1 pm they will be teaching a class to our local musicians about how they did it. This same workshop was funded by the Mayors Office of Film and  Music in Seattle a few months ago in Fremont. I attended the class there and was so impressed that I asked them to come down and teach it here. Later this month they'll be teaching the same class in Nashville at the American Music Association conference with Levon Helm, Joan Baez, John Hiatt and Jason and the Scorchers. We are very honored to have them here and I hope our local bands will take advantage of this rare opportunity.


WV: Aside from the music, what else does the festival offer? What are some events/things people should be sure not to miss?
Jossy:  Desiree Flerchinger, Mary Kay Johnson and Linda Lapping-DeSantis will be painting live during the festival. Point Defiance Zoo is setting up a booth where they will be bringing out some animals to show festival goers. Carnival Time will bring out several carnival games (like at the fair) and bounce houses for the kiddies. Festival goers will be able to paint clay objects and then the F.I.N.E. Mudhens and Clay Art Center will do live raku firing. Darrren Selector will DJ in the beer garden at Point Defiance Casino.

WV: What do you think the most important aspect is when planning a festival?
Jossy: I think the most important aspect is community participation. It’s very complicated to put on a festival and there are many moving parts.  It’s definitely not a one person job. It takes a few villages. In our case we had the brave and open-minded business owners in Ruston, the local music community, our wonderful sponsors and the local art community. None of this would have been possible if any of these were missing.

WV: Have there been any obstacles during the planning and orchestration of the PD Music Fest? How have you overcome them?
Jossy: Obstacles? I laugh in the face of obstacles! I eat obstacles for breakfast! I wear obstacles for shoes and I walk all over them â€" with the laces undone! Obstacles are just song lyrics waiting to happen. *smile*

BOBBLE TIKI: ANOTHER WEEK IN THE 253 >>>

Sometimes Bobble Tiki believes the universe is trying to tell him something? Like certain events that happen in his life are really signs from a higher power? Maybe this higher power has a direct line to Bobble Tiki or whatever â€" heck, Bobble Tiki met a scruffy guy in Roy who swears that Crispin Glover was talking to him from beyond the grave. When Bobble Tiki pointed out that Glover was very much alive, scruffy guy looked at Bobble Tiki with wild eyes and said, “Is he really?”, tapping his forehead. “Think about it.” At which point Bobble Tiki backed away slowly. The best Bobble Tiki can do is spring three times and with road work everywhere and exclaim there's no place like Pierce County … there’s no place like Pierce County:

THIS JOB STINKS: The business of picking up dog poop.

RUSTON ROULETTE: Steve Fabre is losing thousands in Ruston.

NOT ALL SUNSHINE: This reeks of politics.

THE METER: Below average week in Pierce County

ANNOUNCER MAN: THIS WEEK’S RESTAURANT REVIEW >>>

Lakewood may not be known for its quaint restaurants, but slowly, a few pioneers are beginning to change that. Last spring the De Paul boys reviewed Café Chagall, and this week they bring The Moon Rise Café to the attention of the masses. With a down home feel, fresh ingredients and staying power, the Moon Rise may survive in the city of franchises. Check it out here.

Recently reviewed

HIGHBROW DINING WITH DOCENTS: A different palette altogether

A REASON TO STOP: Adriatic Grill replaces Cucina Cucina

A TRUE TACOMA JOINT: The Red Hot is freakin’ tasty and fun

FORE EVERYONE: Chambers Bay Grill

MAXWELL’S SMART: Hip, cool and delicious

KEN SWARNER: GUILTY PLEASURES >>>

My column this week in the Weekly Volcano touches on the spiritual thought that what we eat creates more havoc in our bodies when we attach negative, guilty emotions to the food. I found an excellent resource from the Center for Mindful Eating.

Here’s their advice on eating:

Principles of Mindfulness

• Mindfulness is deliberately paying attention, non-judgmentally.
• Mindfulness encompasses both internal processes and external environments.
• Mindfulness is being aware of what is present for you mentally, emotionally and physically in each moment.
• With practice, mindfulness cultivates the possibility of freeing yourself of reactive, habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and acting.
• Mindfulness promotes balance, choice, wisdom and acceptance of what is.

Mindful Eating is:

• Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food preparation and consumption by respecting your own inner wisdom.
• Choosing to eat food that is both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savor and taste.
• Acknowledging responses to food (likes, neutral or dislikes) without judgment.
• Learning to be aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decision to begin eating and to stop eating.

Someone Who Eats Mindfully

• Acknowledges that there is no right or wrong way to eat but varying degrees of awareness surrounding the experience of food.
• Accepts that his eating experiences are unique.
• Is an individual who by choice, directs his awareness to all aspects of food and eating on a moment-by-moment basis.
• Is an individual who looks at the immediate choices and direct experiences associated with food and eating, not to the distant health outcome of that choice.
• Is aware of and reflects on the effects caused by unmindful eating.
• Experiences insight about how he can act to achieve specific health goals as he becomes more attuned to the direct experience of eating and feelings of health.
• Becomes aware of the interconnection of earth, living beings, and cultural practices and the impact of food choices on those systems.

LINK: Ken Swarner's food column
LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

TONY ENGELHART: RISHLOO ROCKS HELL'S KITCHEN >>>

A bit on the RUSH side of the musical spectrum, Rishloo is slotted in the obscure category of experimental art rock â€" although they do have some U2, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd undertones weaved in their extra trippy sound. This is not to say they don’t rock, they do. They just do so with precision. No synth needed as they utilize controlled feedback and studio trickery to create the lush soundscapes that have become their signature. Vocalist, Drew, takes it from a whisper to a scream with a passion that rivals Bono.

With titles such as “To Tame the Temporal Shrew” and “Alchemy Alice,” the Seattle quartet pens atypical tunes that are open to interpretation by the listener. No sappy love songs or over-the-top anthems in the mix, their lyrics are intelligent and thought provoking, much like a Plant and Page composition.

[Hell’s Kitchen, Rishloo, The Mercury Rising, Mokshya, Gryphon, Sept. 4, 9 p.m., $3, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound tonight