RON SWARNER: BEST SANDWICH IN TACOMA? >>>

Of course I love the Mandolin Café. It’s the Harmonic Concordance of restaurants. It's one of those rare venues where students studying calculus, vibrant flamenco guitar music, businesspeople updating their Web sites, Tacoma French Club, family lunch, teens texting on comfy couches, espresso pulled right, warm interior and delicious food take a step forward in unison, and inward, cosmically and spiritually speaking. It’s shockingly cool interconnectedness of all spirit and sandwiches and music and wine make me want to tear my clothes off and make love in front of its fireplace while you sit home and scoff and shrug and watch Howie Do It.

And somehow I love the Mandolin Café even more today. Holy Bring Back Pluto As A Planet I discovered the Mandolin’s tuna salad croissant. I knew I had tasted perfection. Somehow owners Creig Kostoff and Marla Simms have managed to find the perfect combination of creamy tuna goodness with celery and cheddar cheese and flakey buttery bonus and grilled flat (your choice) so people may fling it like a Frisbee and I would fetch it every time.

Why is it not on this list?

[Mandolin Café, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, 253.761.3482

MATT DRISCOLL: AND HE'LL BE AT OLD SCHOOL PIZZA TONIGHT >>>

Owen Taylor, one of the best wordsmiths the Weekly Volcano has, covered Thrones scheduled performance at Old School Pizza in Olympia tonight.

To check it out, click here.

MICHAEL SWAN: I BET THEY ALL HAVE THE LATEST AL FRANKEN BOOK PAGE-MARKED WITH A PHISH CONCERT STUB >>>

They’re sensitive, they care, they smell a little like broccoli â€" They’re “The 25 Most Influential Liberals in the U.S. Media."

LINK: Forbes

JAKE DE PAUL: NOSHING AND SIPPING AROUND THE SOUND >>>

Need more ideas for local dining experiences? Here are a few restaurants the Weekly Volcano has reviewed lately â€" in no particular order â€" to whet your appetite.

JOESEPPI’S ITALIAN RISTORANTE: A packed house at Joe's place

COCONUT THAI: Mix the Thai with the coconut and eat it all up

MASSIMO ITALIAN BAR AND GRILL: Playing is safe in Purdy

ASADO: The living, breathing tequila sunrise

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

RON SWARNER: SITE-SPECIFIC PIECE >>>

You know those things you have always been secretly terrified of? There are those who seek them out (and I’m not just talking about sneaking out in the dead of night to hunt mysterious, alienesque life forms). These people are Brave. Or Crazy. But most likely Brave. You know how you’ve always been afraid of your heritage? This is why we should all go see Amy Johnson’s installation opening Feb. 6 at the Minnaert Center in Olympia. She will explore the tension between the myths and realities embedded in her Southern heritage and the cultural expectations for women, according to the Center’s press release.

[Minnaert Center, opening reception Friday, Feb. 6, 6-8 p.m., 2011 Mottman Road S.W., Olympia, 360.596.5501]

RON SWARNER: FULCRUM GALLERY OPENS WIDE A NEW SHOW THURSDAY >>>

We are a nation of self-righteous doormats â€" a country of knee-jerk nit-pickers and edgy diehards ever in need of someone to take the responsibility off our quivering shoulders, to make our distinctions for us tell us what is and isn't tolerable to our delicate constitutions.

You say that's not you?

You say you're a freethinker, smart and strong and able to leap complex sexual metaphors in a single bound? I suggest you scribble in red lipstick the Sex and Politics show Thursday at Fulcrum Gallery in your DayPlanner/iPhone/hand. Glass artists Molly Wolfe and Rebecca Chernow will go there â€" to the land of perverse juxtaposition and cultural icons and metaphors and pleasure principals.

Their Sex and Politics show opens Thursday, Jan. 29 with a reception from 6-10 p.m.

Bitch-slap joy back into your lives.

[Fulcrum Gallery, Thursday, Jan. 29, 6-10 p.m., no cover, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]

LINK: ViVA South Sound arts and entertainment calendar

MICHAEL SWAN: POSTED THEM ON OUR FLICKR SITE >>>

Many Weekly Volcano staff members attended last night's Kulture Lab party at The Warehouse in downtown Tacoma. The first set of photos have been posted on our Photo Hot Spot site.