BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

What ho, South Sound! And, er, Happy Lent. 

Obama was talking to the nation again last night: Gets a big hometown treatment here, but a strange, semi-positive lede graf here.

Bobble Tiki thinks it’s safe to say the Republicans think we’re a bunch of dumb 5-year-olds.

“Right now, the economic landscape looks like that movie of the swaying Tacoma Narrows Bridge you might have seen in a high school science class.”

A Pierce County jury will begin deliberating today in the murder cases against two Tacoma men charged with the state’s highest crime.

Sweating bullets: A Pierce County jury will begin deliberating today whether Tyreek D. Smith, 23, and Darrell K. Jackson, 22, face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Surprise!: Drinking will kill you. Maybe.

Bobble Tiki hopes National Pancake Day helped IHOP. Investors in the top 26 restaurant companies are taking a bath.

There’s a controversy over the new Britney Spears single, “If You Seek Amy.”

Bobble Tiki will transform his VHS machine into something that’ll tickle his taste buds.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER:  DRINKING LIBERALLY >>>

I dig a good beer and a heated political debate. And I found a spot to do both â€" at the same time.

There is a rising national progressive movement that is taking over spots for those folks politically left of the center to meet and plot to take over the world. One local arm of this revolution, Drink Liberally, meets at the Hub every second and fourth Wednesday of each month, beginning at 7 p.m., and hosted by Melissa Thompson and Traci Kelly.  Drop by tonight and chat about the politics of the day, whether it’s the stimulus package, health care or the role the presidential dog selection will have on the White House’s ability to form a working partnership with Republicans.

[The Hub, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m., 203 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma, 253.683.4601]

LINK: Read full story here

LINK: Wine and beer events tonight

CHUCK DULA:TONIGHT AT THE CAVE AT PLU >>>

About this time last year I was sitting at home plotting the demise of an ice cream sandwich that wasn’t giving me straight answers about the amount of goodness contained in its sugary soul. To try and forget about my lactose captive I turned on the TV and haphazardly stumbled on videos from the EMP’s “Sound Off” music competition. The competition features bands with members all under the age of 21. Suddenly, it hit me like a ton of chocolate chips. I threw my E.L. Fudge cookie at the TV and with Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough running down my chin I screamed in uncontrollable rage! I would never win the Sound Off competition! I’m fucking old! The members of New Faces will never have this moment. This is because New Face’s post-punk revival won the EMP Sound Off contest in 2008. The worst part is that they’re really good and have quite the career ahead of them. I hate kids.

[The Cave, with the Globes, 7 p.m., all ages, Pacific Lutheran University/University Center, 122nd St. S. and Park Ave. S., Parkland/Tacoma 253.535.7456]

MICHAEL SWAN: NO DOUBT COMING TO THE WHITE RIVER >>>

If you are a member of the No Doubt Fan Club, you are sitting pretty. You will be able to score tickets to the band’s July 19 show at the White River Amphitheatre this Thursday. Civilians will have to wait for the national on-sale date of March 7. Visit www.nodoubt.com and www.livenation.com for ticket on-sale information.

MATT DRISCOLL: COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION TRIES TO AVOID IT >>>

These are economically challenging times, sure, but really? When Chris Van Vechten â€" one of 12 members of the Pierce County Arts Commission â€" got involved a little over a year ago, the arts commission had a budget of $180 thousand a year. As of Sept of ’08, the commission was still slated to receive $135 thousand. But things got worse.

There’s no finessing a zero. If the Pierce County Arts Commission ends up getting no funding for 2009, not only is it dead, but several other problems arise â€" not the least of which being the fact the commission has already hired artists in residence to supplement art programs at local public schools in ’09 and notified grant winners of funding. 

Call it a domino, or a snowball, but there’s no denying the effects of such a decision will be felt. 

“We’re an incubator for the county,” says Van Vechten of the Arts Commission. “To call it frustrating isn’t even the word. It’s mind-boggling. They say they want to create jobs. It’s counterproductive.”

“I understand they have a deficit,” continues Van Vechten. “Why us?”

For $150 thousand a year, versus the loss of much needed supplemental art programs at almost a dozen local schools â€" not to mention everything else the Arts Commission does, including create jobs â€" it’s a very worthy question, and one the Pierce County Council will soon be answering.   

PAUL SCHRAG: A LOOK INSIDE THE NORTHWEST DETENTION CENTER >>>

Allisa and Caesar Keymolen are normal, happy, goofy kids until you ask them about what happened to their father.

They maintain composure when their grandmother Gena Mejia talks about Allisa and Caesar’s mother Liberty Bell, who died of a medication overdose several years ago. During a long recounting of how Mejia’s family was tormented by a racist neighbor, the kids keep their cool. Ceasar Jr., 8, is a handsome kid. He sports a short Mohawk and an Ecko Unlimited T-shirt. He squirms and makes a lot of faces. His sister, who is 10, is an unnaturally calm, beautiful girl. She fidgets with her hands, fights back giggles and eventually joins in the conversation, telling how their neighbor smeared feces on their house and called them racist names. These are some brave, resilient kids.

But when Mejia starts to talk about the day federal law enforcement agents came to take the children’s father to a private detention center for illegal immigrants on the Tacoma Tideflats, everything changes.

The Weekly Volcano takes a look inside the lives of people targeted by the United States government for deportation. It ain’t pretty, Tacoma. And it’s happening in your backyard.

Read my full story on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

ANNOUNCER: VINUM COFFEE & WINE LOUNGE >>>

Knowledgeable, personable, courteous, eager, prompt. Though it may sound like an attribute wish list for online dating ads, these words actually describe one Cliff L. Barnes, manager of Vinum Coffee & Wine Lounge. On a recent visit, the boys were schooled by Barnes and learned the word maximize, which is what owner Annie Kim has done with the space that previously housed Aroma Café. Daytime downtown workers stop in for coffee, morning breakfast grub and then hustle off. Lunchtime is upscale cafeteria, more coffee, and a little vino. Dinner sees Vinum as a mellow wine bar/lounge with artisan cheeses, shareable small plates and entrees, and walls of wine by the bottle with six of red and white by the glass. Simple.

Read Jake and Jason de Paul's review of Vinum on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

KEN SWARNER: WHEN COUNTRIES COLLIDE >>>

I recently returned from Acapulco jazzed by the Mexican chefs’ creations. Forget the stunning views and warm tropical nights of this southern Mexican city of two million people â€" these creative folk are fusing Mexican and Asian flavors that cry Viva Flavor!
Shrimp medallions with ginger and mango sauce and chipolte and tamarind sauce with white rice and fried bananas; rigatoni with goat cheese, tomato salsa, basil and dried Thai chili; and even achiote-hoisin short ribs â€" the East meets West flavors beat chips and salsa any day of the week. Smokey, sweet and pungent â€" the tastebuds fight for their lives, but in a good way.

Flying home I felt sad to leave Acapulco for many reasons, but I suspect the food leaves the largest hole in my heart. Not one to cry over spilled Cadillac Margarita, however, I am ready to dust off the beach sand and recommend a few homegrown ways to keep the magic alive. read my suggestions on the Weekly Volcano Web site.