BANDITO BETTY LOU WHO LEAP NINE >>>

SUZY STUMP: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE >>>

Ah, the holidays. Rain in your boots, Christmas music playing in every store, having to find gifts for people you only pretend to like â€" it’s enough to drive one mad. But don’t despair! Remember what Grandma (or was it Charlie Brown?) told you: “‘Tis better to give than to receive.” Hurrah!

So if you’re sick of giving to people you don’t like, here’s a better idea: Give to people you don’t know. Thursday, Dec. 11, Associated Ministries will host two benefit showings of the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life to support the Family Emergency Fund, which meets the urgent needs of at-risk families. Attending the invitation-only night screening will probably put a dent in your pocket, but you might sleep better at night.

Happy philanthropy! 

[Blue Mouse Theater, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2 p.m. screening $10-$15, 6 p.m. reception and screening $50, 2611 N. Proctor, Tacoma, 253.383.3056]

LINK: Catch a movie today

BANDITO BETTY LOU WHO LEAP 10 >>>

MoMA has nothing on Bandito Betty Lou Who. Thanks for the tip MatMike!

MICHAEL SWAN: THIS IS HOW THEY DO IT IN OLYMPIA >>>

Ira Coyne photographed the lettering on the "I Love Olympia" banner over a five hour span divided into two days featuring 1,268 photos distilled into a 3-minute stop-motion animation. Check it out here.

LINK: Thanks OlyBlog

MICHAEL SWAN: I GUESS YOU CAN UPCHUCK THERE, TOO >>>

I’m sure you have heard by now about a Chuck E. Cheese in Attleboro, R.I, Maine, Mass., getting nabbed in an alcohol sting.

Wait, you can buy booze at a Chuck E. Cheese?

Here’s the mantra at their Web site:

I don’t have kids. Maybe I’m missing out.

SUZY STUMP: WINTERFEST >>>

Many a strange phenomenon comes over us during this, the holiday season. People pretend they’re in ye olde Mesopotamian. What? You don’t? Television commercials start to rhyme. We use terms like “hustle and bustle” in everyday conversation voluntarily. But before you decide to curl up into a ball inside your big down parka and never come out, take into account all of the lovely things that accompany all of this weirdness.

Take Winterfest, for example. A holiday festival with “Go Local” on the brain and an ambiguous Santa and beer in their bag of gifts.

No, this rag didn’t orchestrate this. Nope, Angela Jossy and a huge crew of local artists and businesspeople present this family festival Saturday. Yup â€" family. Santa photos, children’s craft area, no women causing injury in the bargain sock bin.

If you’re a freak and plan on attending only one holiday event this year â€" This is the one. If only for the gift bag you’ll receive for being one of the first 250 through the gate. The gate being the Foss Waterway Seaport down on Dock Street.

Highlights of the two-day festival include Doyle’s Den beer garden, theatrical storytelling, fashion show, lighted boat competition, Elvis, and more than 70 local vendors selling stuff. And the creative folks at Tacoma Art Place are armed with wrapping paper.

Grab your GTD app:

Saturday, Dec. 13
Noon â€" Captain Claus arrives on Tug Boat
1 p.m. â€" Live Paint - interactive theatrical storytelling
2 p.m. â€" Stephanie Johnson
3 p.m. â€" Motopony
4 p.m. â€" Mary Win
5 p.m. â€" Holiday Pageant with Tacoma singers
6 p.m. â€" Jones Family Fortune
7 p.m. â€" Award Ceremony for winners of the Sea’s N Greetings Decorated Boat Competition
8 p.m. â€" Fashion Association of Tacoma Show
9 p.m. â€"  DJ

Sunday, Dec. 14
Noon â€" Captain Claus arrives on Tug Boat
1 p.m. â€" Holiday Pageant with Tacoma singers
2 p.m. â€" Urban Orchestra
3 p.m. â€" Steve Stefanowicz
5 p.m. â€" Elvis Impersonator Danny Vernon

Food and drink round out the experience.

Tacoma shines on this one.

[Foss Waterway Seaport, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, $5, free younger than 12, 705 Dock Street, Tacoma]

LINK: ViVA South Sound arts and entertainment calendar

ANNOUNCER: PIZZERIA FONDI IN GIG HARBOR >>>

Last month the boys swirled in three “best pizza in blahblahblahblah” discussions. One was during Thanksgiving of all days. One was a declarative statement: If you didn’t agree that this was the best pizza ever made, you’re an idiot. And one was almost a fistfight over thin-crust-versus-thick-crust, a finger-pointing back-and-forth lively conversation. The declaration of pizza supremacy came from the Weekly Volcano’s co-publisher Pappi Swarner, and as it turned out, he wasn’t the idiot. The boys enjoyed his recommendation of Pizzeria Fondi in Gig Harbor.

JAKE: Pappi was right with this one. Fondi makes a really, really good slice. Read our review on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

LINK: South Sound's best hamburgers

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: IT’S ON THE STREETS AND INTERWEB TODAY >>>

Crisis of Meaning
The Weekly Volcano talks to local spiritual leaders about the meaning behind the global financial crisis â€" by Simon Moon

Department of cuts
Local community colleges face hard knocks â€" by Paul Schrag

Cheney Stadium traded, Lachey not part of deal
Tacoma swaps County City Building for Cheney Stadium â€" by Matt Driscoll

LINK: South Sound arts this week

LINK: South Sound music this week

LINK: The Fix is in