JENNIFER JOHNSON: HE SAID HAIRMONY >>>

Another wickedly smart idea Tacoma can benefit from has, not surprisingly, sprung from two women who possess the much sought after Midas touch. Patricia Lecy-Davis and Julie Bennett own Embellish Multi-space Salon and urbanXchange respectively and have added the exciting element of Embellish Style Annex to Bennett’s buy-sell-trade clothing store.

“The Annex idea came about when Julie reminded me that we’d discussed Embellish putting in some sort of a ‘Beauty Bar’ if they ever moved into a bigger space,” Lecy-Davis shared via e-mail. Sadly, after intense scrutiny she decided there didn't seem to be a way to make it happen. Then barber Tristan Marcum showed up in Patricia and Julie’s lives and their passing conversation bore fruit with the opening of the satellite cutting annex inside urbanXchange.

Barber Tristan considers himself a mystic haircutter and is dubbed The Mystic since he cuts by harmonics. “I look at it like sounds … like every hair has sounds in it and there’s a perfect haircut at any given moment for every person.” He relates this method and hair itself to that of sculpting and sculpture, and feels he’s “HAIRmonizing by bringing hair closer to what it really wants to be.”

Tristan’s truly organic, involved relationship with all of his endeavors is inspiring. Receiving a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, performing live (currently in The Vells), and starting a record label (Destiny City Records), Tristan is coalescing all of this past and present experience and energy into his current passion â€" instant gratification for men and women’s hair needs. “True HAIRmony brings you that closer to being your ideal self.”

Looking forward to meeting more people, Tristan extends an invite to everyone to take a spin in his tricked-out shiny antique barber chair. “I’m ready to bring ‘HAIRmony’ to every person in the city.” The tiffany teal Annex will be open late while Tristan does cuts during the opening party for new performance space and tea room, The Den, in the back section of urbanXchange on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Regular Annex hours are Friday-Monday noon to 7 p.m. (Sundays until 5 p.m.)
All cuts, shampoos, styles are $20; $5 attitude adjustments (bangs, steps, lines, etc.)

[Embellish Style Annex inside urbanXchange, 1934 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2477]

Photo: Julie Bennett

ALEC CLAYTON: LOOKING GOOD AFTER A MUD TREATMENT >>>

Ah, such gooey goodness! BBQ sauce dripping from your beard and gumming your hands! Olympia’s famous Ranch House BBQ is reopening at last after being completely destroyed in a mudslide on Dec. 12, 2007. While operating out of a temporary downtown location, the business was hit again â€" this time with a roof fire â€" and the grand re-opening was delayed by snow storms and flooding. What more could go wrong?

But finally the day is near. The grand re-opening will be Monday, Feb. 9 starting at 11 a.m.

While owner and chef Amy Anderson and co-founder Melanie Tapia promise the same award-winning BBQ, you will notice some changes. "Just about everything is new," says Tapia. "We really wanted to keep it the same ole' Ranch but between the mudslide and fire, it was just all gone."  Although the overall size of the building is the same, upgrades include the addition of air conditioning and central heat, a cocktail lounge and kitchen upgrades. Yum.

[Ranch House BBQ, opens Monday, Feb. 9, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, 10841 Kennedy Creek Road S.W., Olympia off Highway 8, 360.866.8704]

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

SIMON MOON: JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT LUBE >>>

OK everybody, it’s time to talk about lube. Not the kind you put in your car. The kind you put …well, you know where to put it. We hope.

Personal lubricants have become a booming market in recent years, with aging, sexually active baby boomers â€" nearly 40 million of whom are women â€" stoking sales in increasing numbers. Studies indicate that 95 percent of women will need a personal lubricant at least some of the time. Thankfully, America seems to be getting over a sort of Victorian-era sexual hangover characterized by pervasive body hatred and denial of the assertion that women should enjoy sex as much as men do. In a nation becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea that it’s OK to bone for more than a few minutes â€" and maybe even enjoy it â€" annual sales of products such as Astroglide and good ol’ K-Y have topped $120 million in recent years.

Contributing to the lube boom is Puyallup-based Wallace-O’Farrell Inc., makers and distributors of products such as Slippery Stuff, FemGlide and HerGel. If McNeil Consumer Healthcare’s K-Y brand is the Budweiser of lube, Slippery Stuff is a nice, micro-brewed Belgian Ale. A seminal contribution to the lube lineup (…yeah, start counting the puns), Slippery Stuff and its cousins are marketed as milder, gentler lubricants, catering especially to the needs of women.

“There are a lot of women that find Slippery Stuff and won’t use anything else,” says Michael O’Farrell, general manager and nephew of Wallace-O’Farrell founder Nancy O’Farrell, who founded the company 1984.

Slippery Stuff falls in a class of lubricants that are made without glycerin, which can contribute to dreaded lube stickiness, hasten dryness, and increase chances of developing yeast infections, adds O’Farrell.

“It’s one of the most benign products on the market,” he says.

The flagship product and its counterparts are used in a variety of applications â€" from facilitating carnal marathons to helping people get in and out of wetsuits. On the brink of a growth spurt, Wallace-O’Farrell will release a new product this year called Sensiglide, which will be marketed for use in medical applications. FemGlide is already used by surgical and medical equipment manufacturer the Prometheus Group in physical therapy seminars. The company also sells a re-labeled version of Slippery Stuff called Lice-Out, which was developed after researchers discovered that smearing a little lube on lice combs increased their effectiveness. That’s right, if you get lice, there’s a distinct chance that your doctor will end up combing lube through your hair. Far less creepy to think about, HerGel acts as a lubricant and a sensitizer, increasing blood flow to critical areas with the help of amino acid L-Arginine. Reportedly, a little L-Arginine has been shown to help some anorgasmic women get over the hump.

O’Farrell says that the company is currently researching several new products, which will trickle into the market during the next several years. The company also plans to step up distribution and marketing efforts. Most of O’Farrell’s products have been popularized by word of mouth, and are sold as a private label product on select Web sites and at partner stores such as Lovers (formerly Lovers Package). That is likely to change in coming years.

“Were really getting ready to grow again,” says O’Farrell.

LINK: Wallace-O’Farrell Inc.

MATT DRISCOLL: A VIEW WORTH FIGHTING OVER >>>

As much as many in Olympia seem to hate it, things in our capital city cannot remain the same forever. Things change. They always do. As populations continue to rise, the downtown core of Olympia faces a decision. Should it allow this growth to happen in the strip mall-heavy suburbs, increasing the toll on the environment and ignoring the Comprehensive Plan? Or should it do something proactive â€" likely changing Olympia’s downtown forever and maybe even opening the door for hated developers in a town built on saying no?

Near the Fourth Ave Bridge, across from the Bayview Thriftway and between Capital Lake and Budd Inlet, there’s an area of land known as “the isthmus.” The fact that it’s not technically an isthmus doesn’t matter. What does matter is people’s vision for what the land should be now and into the future. In Olympia, it’s an issue worth fighting over. The land and the view that surrounds it are enough to stoke the passionate and often fierce emotions of many in this left-tilted college town.

The vocal majority wants a park. People such as Oly 2012 want high-density housing. Triway Enterprises, a development company that owns the land, wants condos â€" 141 condos to be exact, that, at least at the time of the company’s original proposal, were to go for one million dollars a hit. Since Triway asked the city of Olympia to rezone the area of land in question to allow 65- to 90-foot buildings over a year ago, the debate has raged, often degenerating into shouting, name-calling and vandalism.

To check out my cover story on the subject in the current issue of the Weekly Volcano, click here.

Art: Mary K Johnso

PAUL SCHRAG: PANHANDLING BANS MISS THE MARK >>>

French poet, journalist, and novelist Anatole France once said, “It is only the poor who are forbidden to beg.”

Those words might be worth considering in Puyallup, where city officials have voted to take a stand against aggressive panhandling. This week, council members passed into law a measure that makes it more difficult for poor people to ask people of more significant means for money. The law mirrors those passed in other regions, which jacks up fines for people who ask for help at particular locations, including cash machines, car washes, vehicles stopped at traffic lights and others. The ban comes in response to increasing citizen complaints about panhandlers, who seem to be migrating to Puyallup in increasing numbers.

Read my full report on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

LINK: Pierce County quality of life meter

MATT DRISCOLL: WATCH OUT FOR THE MAN WITH TWO FIRST NAMES >>>

Already touting one of the highest cigarette taxes in the country, legislators in Olympia, led by Sen. Rodney Tom (D-Medina), vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, are poised to bilk even more from the pockets of Washington’s most regulated sinners â€" smokers. Check out my thoughts here.

LINK: Previously on Weekly Volcano Web site

MICHAEL SWAN: FALL OUT BOY, NEW FOUND GLORY AND MORE >>>

Before we share a few concert headed for the ticket box this weekend, we thought we would remind you that Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket fame will grace the Urban Grace in downtown Tacoma Friday night. Matt Driscoll will post a preview on our Web site and tease it here tomorrow. Tickets for Phillips are $20 for general admission and $25 for seats up front at Brown Paper Tickets.

OK, here are a few notable shows on sale this weekend:

On sale now
Carrie Akre Seattle. Feb. 21 9 pm. $10 (Showbox SoDo, Ticketmaster).
Big Head Todd & The Monsters Seattle. March 20 9 pm. $27-$30 (The Showbox, Ticketmaster).
Blue October Seattle. March 27 (all ages) 9 pm. $30 (The Showbox, Ticketmaster).
Tricky Seattle. March 28 9 pm. $22.50-$25 (The Showbox, Ticketmaster).
New Found Glory Seattle. April 1 (all ages) 7 pm. $17.50-$20 (The Showbox, Ticketmaster.
Vicci Martinez CD Release Party Seattle. April 17 7:30 and 10 pm. $16-$18 (Triple Door, 206.838.4333).
Ottmar Liebert, Luna Negra Seattle. July 22-24 7 and 9:30 pm. $24-$27 (Triple Door, 206.838.4333).

On sale Friday, 4 pm
Lamb Of God Seattle. April 7 7 pm. $37.50-$40 (Paramount Theatre, tickets.com).

On sale Saturday, 10 am
Miguel Migs, Lisa Shaw Seattle. April 3 9 pm. $15 (Neumo’s, Ticketswest).
The Whispers Tacoma. April 4 8:30 pm. $20-$50 (Emerald Queen Casino, Ticketmaster).
Fall Out Boy Seattle. April 10 6:30 pm. $34 (WaMu Theater, Ticketmaster).

For our complete Concert Alert calendar, check out our Web site here.

LINK: Tonight's live music and DJs in the South Sound

Ticketmaster: 253.627.TIXS, www.ticketmaster.com
TicketsWest: 800.325.SEAT, www.ticketswest.com

Photo: Glen Phillips, courtesy of his MySpace page

RON SWARNER: ANTHOLOGY OF POEMS BY TACOMA AREA WRITERS >>>

Go ahead, jump on the bandwagon. Admit it â€" you’ve scribbled a few lines about Tacoma yourself, secretly on cafe napkins or extensively in ornate notebooks. You’ve written dreamy poetry about the Murray Morgan Bridge and McCarver Street and how many tears fit into a Black Water coffee cup.

You know you want to. Publish one of your poems, that is. You’ve got that half-finished poem on the Top of the Ocean Restaurant rotting away in a box in your basement and a house full o’ kids to look after. Or you’ve simply told yourself that you’d like to, but you just don’t think you have it in you. Rubbish! What you should do instead of self-deprecate is join a dynamic group of budding and established poets â€" 75 in all â€" in the roughly 150-page In Tahoma's Shadow, an anthology of poems by Tacoma area writers slated for publication in April 2009.

I tossed a few questions at the two local poets who are spearheading the project â€" Tammy Robacker and Tacoma poet laureate William Kupinse. Check out the interview on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

NATASHA GORBACHEV: BALD IS BEAUTIFUL >>>

By now we all know The Monsoon Room has a new name, 1022 South, but did you know this change in ownership (cheers to Neil Harris of The New Frontier Lounge!) will also include the return of one of my favorite people who helped to make the Moo Roo what it was: Chris Langston. Chris is a stellar bartender, and I know he'll bring greatness back to the space that he once loved and cared for.

He'll be managing the spot and another famous bald-headed man that I also adore will be helping: Corey Lund (Maxwell’s Speakeasy).

Renovations of the space are now underway. I really can't wait to see what these guys decide to do with my favorite little shoebox in all of the city. I hope this reopening will mark the return of all of my favorite Moo Roo friends that I haven't seen in forever.

1022, yo!

LINK: 1022 South on Facebook

LINK: Former Monsoon Room proprietor wrote a poem

Photo: Corey Lund