ROXANNE MURPHY: I'M STILL BLUE â€" IN A GOOD WAY >>>

Here's our president-elect, and my Dem blue nails (I had them done yesterday to prepare for last night's election parties). You can check out my report from last night’s Pierce County Democrats party here.

Yes, today I'm very excited, moved and optimistic about the future after last night's events, but I'm also SO glad I don't have to go back to my nail salon today for a color change to red. :) Go Dems, GO!

STEPH DEROSA: RED HOT WINE NIGHTS >>>

The Red Hot has just made wine a bit more approachable.  No longer should the average beverage consumer be afraid to learn about and try wine variations â€" this is the time to jump right on those grapes and drink up.

Beginning tonight at 5 p.m., and for the first Wednesday of every month for the rest of The Red Hot’s alcoholic life, Megan the bartender will be bringing in a new wine label and serving up $3 pours all night long. 

Let me say that again: $3 pours all night long.

Tonight’s featured label is Juno Wines hailing from South Africa. Oh, and if anyone has ever been to a TRH brewery event before, you know they’re gonna have some serious free wine schwag for this shindig. 

Just in case you could give less than two shits about wine, and are thinking “Oh, great, now The Red Hot’s gone sissy wine-o on me,” I’m here to remind you that they serve $1 Rainiers every Wednesday nights, too.

Not able to make it tonight?  Then mark your calendars for Wednesday, Dec. 3 for the first of many Weekly Volcano sponsored wine nights.  Better yet, owner Chris Trashcan has informed me that next month they are bringing in Kestrel Vintners.  Those are the wines with kick-ass collectible pin up girl labels on them.  I, for one, am damned ready to try their seasonal Holiday Red. Oh hell, I’m going to have to try them all.  You knew I would.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide
LINK: The Red Hot dining review

LAUREN NAPIER: DONNY HUE AND THE COLORS TONIGHT >>>

A collection of musicians from Brooklyn, New York, curiously titled Donny Hue and the Colors, is taking off up the West Coast to bring audiences their lilting, folksy tunes. tonight their quest will land Donny and Company in Olympia at Le Voyeur, and the band will paint our capital city a much-needed shade of brilliance. (Donny Hue and the Colors will also be at Bob’s Java Jive in Tacoma Friday, Nov. 7.) At this point the band has released two EPs and an album of quality songwriting, acoustic guitar and harmonica â€" Tell Tall Tales â€" that is currently offered as only a digital release. All the band’s material is available on Kora Records, an indie label that’s home to other talents including Gregor Samsa, Meredith Bragg, and many others. While listening to the tracks one can stream from their seemingly minimalist MySpace profile, the listener is transported to a tunnel of billowing clouds and lonesome travel, but the light found at the end is one of honest musical hope. To quote the band’s own Web site: “Donny Hue is Donny Hue … and the Colors are all those that dream of pianos.” This is your invitation to close your eyes and dream with Donny Hue and the Colors.

[Le Voyeur, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 E Fourth Ave, Olympia, 360.943.5710]

LINK: South Sound live music and DJs tonight

ANNOUNCER: FALLS TERRACE >>>

Every once in awhile the boys visit an old friend â€" a restaurant that has transcended time and novelty to stay true to its original mission. After a long separation, they returned to Tumwater to spend time with the Falls Terrace â€" the last bastion in the South Sound where sole almandine is still on the menu. A spot one is assured that food trends have not touched, but instead a place still serving the traditions of Sunday supper.

Check out Jason and Jake de Paul’s review of Falls Terrace here.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide
LINK: Best of Tacoma Food/Drink 2008

MICHAEL SWAN: THIS WEEK'S VOLCANO >>>

Mini casinos survive in Lakewood
You know that huge sigh of relief you heard coming from Lakewood after Tuesday’s election? Well, it was well deserved, and it came from the city’s four (count ’em, four) mini casinos.

Proposition 1 â€" an initiative created by anti gambling zealots that would have doomed an industry that provides $2.9 million to Lakewood’s annual tax revenue â€" failed to take hold of Lakewood voters in Tuesday's election.

Read our story on it in this week's issue of the Weekly Volcano by clicking here.

ALEC CLAYTON: FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

Seldom do the arts and politics come together in this country. When they do, the results can be uplifting or depressing, depending on who happens to be in power at the time. Just as America was rejoicing in the election of Barack Obama, George W. Bush reminded us that he still has three more months to screw the United States by appointing Lee Greenwood to a six-year term on the National Arts Council. For those watching at home, that’s country singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame.

PREDICTION: Under Greenwood’s influence we will have a new national anthem: “Let the Eagles Soar” as sung by John Ashcroft. On Broadway six theaters will run, simultaneously, High School Musical 4 through 9, and the only other current hit play will be The Rest of the Story, a one-man-play starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Paul Harvey. And the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., will install a permanent exhibition of paintings by Thomas Kinkade, the father of schmaltzy, Christmas-card-inspired landscapes. Finally, all books by J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain, Salmon Rushdie and Judy Blume will be banned from distribution in the United States.

For more predictions pick up today’s issue of the Weekly Volcano. You can find the rag in many glorious locations from Tumwater to Federal Way.

STEPH DEROSA: NO BAR EXAM THIS WEEK. DEAL WITH IT >>>

If it weren’t for all of Matt Driscoll’s alleged drug arrests, I would be the naughtiest of all current Weekly Volcano staff members.  And by “naughtiest” I mean, most alcoholic.

Which is why I, Steph DeRosa, write a column about dive bars called: Bar Exam.

With this whole extra hour of daylight I’ve had this past week, my mind has become extremely fucked up.  I’ve had too much time to think.  I mean, like, a whole extra hour.  For some reason during this hour, I’ve been contemplating my health, my existence, and most importantly â€" my present haircut.

Here are my thoughts:

Ginger Knoxx was supposed to be back in the Volcano-game recently, reporting on her extra-curricular bar activities, but even she has decided to become a mature adult and focus on a “real job.”  For this I can only commend her and hope she’ll still tag along every once in a while for some drink-slingin’ action.  Hell, even Carmen Jones was smart enough to stop writing her column and go back to school for her master's.  But don’t think for a split second that she wasn’t with me at the last few dives I visited.  She loves the afternoon buzz as much as I do, no doubt.

This week, I’ve decided to follow the examples of my fellow Weekly Volcano scribes (and very good friends), Carmen and Ginger, and take some time off from the life of an alcoholic socialite. After this week’s election parties, my liver thanks me to no end.

Next week I promise you, my dear seven readers, that I will be back in action.  In the meantime, relish in this old school Jim Breuer comedy bit about alcohol. 

Editor's note: As long as Steph DeRosa continues to reference my alleged drug arrests, I'll continue to post that picture of her making love to a fan. - Matt Driscoll

STEPH DEROSA: DELIVERING MESSAGES AND SAVING LIVES >>>

I ran into Peter Lynn and Sean Alexander, co-owners of The Helm Art Gallery, earlier this week at the Grand Cinema.  I was talking with both of them for this week's Trouble with DeRosa column. During our conversation Peter mentioned to me that The Helm had received some unfortunate hate mail via the USPS.  I adore these guys, The Helm Gallery, and everything they do for our thriving Tacoma culture.  So when I learned of this letter, I asked to see it and was rightfully upset about its contents.  When asked if I could post it on the Spew, Peter and Sean said yes â€" but only if a message would be delivered from them to the letter’s author.

Here's the letter:

Here's Sean and Peter's message to the letter's author:

Sean and Peter ask the author to please step forward and contact them in person, no hard feelings.  They would appreciate the opportunity to help this person understand what The Helm is, what Squeak and Squawk was, and how it positively affects the community.  Maybe through mature conversation Sean and Peter would also be able to understand the author’s intentions, thus rectifying any issues with disgruntled neighbors.