BOBBLE TIKI: WHAT A DAY >>>

Bobble Tiki has a pretty decent idea that it’s not going to be the absolute best day of his life when he wakes up, lights his last cigarette, wakes back up â€" on fire, douses himself â€" and throws on the closest pair of pants.  And then reaches the office, turns on the computer, and hears â€" instead of the Monty Python sound bites constantly telling Bobble Tiki he’s doing something horribly wrong â€" a country song about Daddy “Cuttin’ The Big One” in a church.  Then Bobble Tiki receives a call from a friend telling him he got an offer for a new job at a tree-service company â€" as a branch manager. Or another friend calls to tell Bobble Tiki that two pretzels were leaving Commerce Street the other night, and one of them was a salted.  Like Bobble Tiki said, not one bit right.

Then, to top everything off, it snowed. And Bobble Tiki slipped on the new freakin' sidewalks along Broadway. Just rip off Bobble Tiki’s wooden skull and feed it to Ray Liotta right now! Enough already!

There’s always tomorrow. Hump Day.

BOBBLE TIKI: THE BRET MICHAELS BAND >>>

Bobble Tiki has no idea if Bret Michaels is bringing his disposable hoochies from his Rock of Love 3 show to his two shows at Emerald Queen Casino scheduled in May. After all, the dating smoothie has ditched the house for a tour bus this season on VH1. Tequila-marinated glory holes or not, Michaels will park his bus in front of the EQC May 8 and 9. The tickets â€" $45 and $90 â€" will go on sale Valentine’s Day at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster, unless the merger with Live Nation is accelerated, then it will be called Live Nation Entertainment.

Photo: I'm with stupid.

PAUL SCHRAG: POWER TO THE PEOPLE >>>

Black Panther Party for Self Defense founder Bobby Seale dropped a truckload of knowledge on a standing-room-only audience last night at the Longshoreman’s Hall on Market Street.  Blessedly brought to Tacoma by University of Washington’s Black Student Union and Student Activities Board, Seale held the unwavering attention of a massive audience, weaving wisdom out of stories from his career as one of the great drivers of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Calling Robert George “Bobby” Seale a “civil rights activist” is like calling John Coltrane an “instrumentalist.” Starting in 1966, Seale, along with Dr. Huey P. Newton, began building one of the most successful, brilliant models of community action, revolution and elevation that has ever been. Guided by the so-called Ten Point Program, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense vouched for the rights of black Americans, and developed a host of community programs aimed at alleviating poverty and improving the health of communities in need, regardless of racial makeup. The Panther’s were so successful at wrenching the corrupt powers in the communities they served that they were eventually targeted and terrorized by the FBI, local police and other law-enforcement agencies. Coordinated attacks culminated in the murders of several Panthers, including Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, and coordinated efforts to infiltrate and destroy the organization from within. Despite it all, the Panthers became icons of the civil rights movement, and created a massive, still-growing legacy of potent political action.

Seale talked up President Barack Obama, calling attention to the president’s distinct awareness of the civil rights struggles of African Americans and the poor. Seale urged the audience to add to the hope and momentum generated by Obama’s election, calling for a return to participatory Democracy and “cooperational humanism” â€" i.e. power to the motherfucking people.

LINK: Learn about the Black Panther Party for Self Defense

LINK: Bobby Seale's Web site

BOBBLE TIKI: BREAKFAST WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

 Stamp prices to go up 2 cents in May. Sucks.

Negotiations intensify on final stimulus plan. Sucks.

Two trillion bank plan broad in scope, short on specifics. Sucks.

Tacoma's Salishan redevelopment project is $25.5 million short. Sucks.

Yes, below is a Mega Double Stuff Oreo. We don’t believe you can find this in the South Puget Sound. You can find it and other caloric monstrosities at This Is Why You're Fat.

RON SWARNER: THE BAR IS YOUR FRIEND >>>

Sea Grill has an impressive dining room: visible from all corners is the piece d résistance, a circular 30-seat bar that glows a transcendent ocean blue, an eye-catcher from the 15th Street off ramp below. Blues and teals rule, surrounding the 110-seat main dining room. A wave of bubble-pattern carpet rolls from green in the main room to blue in the bar. Reverse “artichoke” copper chandeliers grab all eyes. Jacketed waiters add to the flair, with style.

Want to enjoy this entire splendor on the cheap?

Here’s what you do: Burst through the doors like you own the place and head to the back bar. Don’t worry about reservations, just look halfway presentable. Grab a stool at the sexy, circular bar. Glance up to the game on the flat screen if you wish. Order a beverage from the bartender, if you’d like. Ask for The Fab Five bar menu. Give the bartender one of those cool hand shooters motions with a wink. Pretend you are not shocked that all five items are only $5. Order all five.

First, dig into the Sea Grill Truffle Fries. Enjoy their crispy, salty meatiness; you will be coming back to them many, many times.

Next, plunge your fork into the rock shrimp cocktail. Examine the shrimp. Not those tiny pussy shrimp you’re use to, huh sport? Nope, these babies are plump, resting on a spicy; I mean spicy cocktail sauce with lettuce thrown in for height.

OK, up next is the Lobster bisque: creamy and spicy with organic cream and Johnny Walker scotch. It’s a big serving for $5, too. Oh, yes, those are lobster chunks.

Take another fry or two. Order another drink.

Fourth on the list: bar Caesar salad. Oh, you’ll want to try this, Sport. It’s zesty like you. The lettuce is manageable. The dressing creamy with shaved Parmesan. Nice.

Grab another three fries.

Last but not least â€" seasonal fish tacos. Yes, they are huge. Here’s your value. Fire-roasted tomato tortillas, romaine, and chipotle aioli for a spicy zing. Lots of fish, too.

Done.

Leave a tip and a smile to anyone who served you. There, you’ve been a big shot for an hour and it cost only about one-tenth of what you would have enjoyed in the dining room.

Now, let’s talk about your wardrobe. Honestly.

[Sea Grill, 1498 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.5656]

JAKE DE PAUL: WHERE TO DINE FOR LESS >>>

The Weekly Volcano can never resist the urge to shout out cheap eats and drinks. Here are a few around the South Sound.  What’s missing?

Masa (2811 Sixth Ave., Tacoma) late night eats Friday and Saturday after 10 p.m. â€" Tacos $3, quesadillas $3, Masa fires $3, pizza by the slice $3 and taquitos $3.

Tightwad Tuesdays features $2 tacos, $2 beers, and $2 wells at Hell’s Kitchen (3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma).

The Top of Tacoma Bar & Café’s (3529 McKinley Ave. E., Tacoma) Sunday Funday offers Pabst $1, micros and wells $2.75. Well drink Wednesdays offer $1.50 wells. 2.5.3 Taco Thursday serves 75 cent tacos.

Rainier beer is only a dollar every Wednesday at The Red Hot (2914 Sixth Ave., Tacoma). They also have $3 wine pours the first Wednesday of every month.

Winger’s Grill & Bar (5221 Tacoma Mall Blvd., Tacoma) has a nifty happy hour 3-6 and 9-close with $4 select appetizers and $2 domestics and $3 wells/micros.

Kids eat free with purchase of an adult entrée at the Varsity Grill (1114 Broadway Tacoma). Valid for kids 12 and younger.

Half-price Wine Mondays at Duke’s Chowder House (3327 Ruston Way, Tacoma) Cedarwood Dome (7404 Pacific Hwy. E., Milton) offers $8.50 rib eye steaks and fries and $2 pounders every Wednesday.

Sample two beers for $1 every Wednesday from 4-9 p.m. at 99 Bottles (35002 Pacific Hwy. S., Federal Way).

Primo Grill (601 S. Pine, Tacoma) hosts Half-price Wine Night every Wednesday.

Uncle Sam’s American Grill (16003 Pacific Ave., Spanaway) offers $1 Busch pounders during happy hour every day. They also serve $7 steak dinners.

Go to Metropolitan Market (2420 N. Proctor St., Tacoma) and buy the largest container of the daily Chapino soup. The key is to get as many chunks of fish out as you can.

Rosewood Café (3323 N. 26th St., Tacoma,) offers $5 glasses of wine every Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Kids eat for $1 in February from the 12-and-younger $4.99 Kids Menu with the purchase of each full-priced adult entrée at RAM Restaurant and Brewery locations in the South Sound.

The Sea Grill (1498 Pacific Ave., Tacoma) has introduced a Fab Five Bar Menu featuring fish tacos, rock shrimp cocktail, Sea Grill truffle fries, lobster bisque and a bar Caesar salad each priced at $5 all day, every day.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

JOSE S. GUTIERREZ JR.: UPCOMING HIP-HOP SHOWS >>>

So, there are some good events forthcoming to The 25360 area if you claim to LOVE hip-hop.

Forever and a day it seemed that there was always this floating question in hip-hop circles about who is the gay rapper. As homophobia still graces the planet and certainly the machismo-ready elements of hip-hop, there is still room for diversity, and if you support the GLBT community and/or are curious about its relationship to hip-hop, check out the Queer Hip-Hop Show at The Evergreen State College Friday, Feb. 13. The show features Katastrophe, The Athens Boys Choir, Team Gina and Last Offence rockin’ the crowd. Should be interesting … It’s cool that people can be who they want to be and don’t have to hide it.

Also, coming soon to the home of the Mighty Geoducks’ campus thanks to Hip-Hop Congress and TESC’s Black Student Union is the return of M-1 of Dead Prez Feb. 19 as he speaks â€" doesn’t perform â€" speaks. Hint, hint … in case you are a complete “nobody” or innocently missed the news by some chance, Dead Prez performed at The Evergreen State College on St. Valentine’s Day 2008, wherein after the performances an outburst of straight wildness ended with some students arrested, a police car upended and Dead Prez up outta there. Safe to say, M-1 giving a speech should be a bit more reserved than a performance, but more importantly it presents an opportunity to discuss last year’s events and hear his philosophy and potent ideas on social justice and the African/African-American condition.

LINK: Jose's Live From I-5: Hip-Hop in the 25360 column

Photo: Team Gina/MySpace

MATT DRISCOLL: OLYMPIA'S WATERFRONT FIGHT CONTINUES >>>

The long, protracted fight over the future of Olympia’s isthmus continues.

As you may recall (and those living and breathing in Olympia are surely all too familiar with), the Olympia City Council voted late last year to allow buildings of 65 and 90 feet on the area of land between Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake. The land in question is owned by Triway Enterprises, which, at least originally, had designs of constructing condos on the strip of earth.

The council’s decision left many in Olympia fuming. The Olympia Isthmus Park Association, for example, has been fighting to prevent high rises on the isthmus, and instead hope to one day see a park on the land. They say the view and the land are simply too valuable to Olympia to kowtow to developers. They’ve filed lawsuits and rallied supporters with such rhetoric.

While the Olympia City Council has made its stance known â€" in support of raising building heights on the isthmus to spur economic development and increase population density â€" it seems a number of folks in the State Legislature don’t share that opinion.

Thurston County State Sen. Karen Fraser and State Rep. Sam Hunt of Olympia both recently proposed legislation that would limit building heights on the isthmus to 35 feet, and place the small piece of land on the state’s list of shorelines of “state significance” â€" a move that would make development there next to impossible.

According to Hunt’s proposed legislation, which has obviously won the support of folks like the Isthmus Park Association:

“The vista is of national significance because it includes routes of early exploring and mapping that contributed to this area becoming incorporated into the United States of America rather than another country.’’'

"We're very pleased they've introduced these bills," says Jerry Reilly, chairman of the Olympia Isthmus Park Association. "(The bills) are stating that there is a clear state interest. "

"The state can intervene and assert its authority. Once in a while there is a situation of unique importance that calls for that," continues Reilly. "These are two simple bills. There are two threshold questions. Does the state have authority â€" yes. Is it wise to assert that authority in this situation â€" yes. Once you've answered those questions, it's pretty simple."

"It's always difficult to pass legislation. These bills have a much better chance than most."

Naturally, state representatives butting into decisions that many feel should be Olympia’s to make has also angered a number of people.

“Unfortunately opponents of the rezone have chosen to sidestep the normal appeal process and have taken this local decision to the State Legislature,” wrote Oly 2012, a policy analysis group that has endorsed the isthmus rezone. “We all know the arguments â€" but in this case it is also changing the rules in the middle of the game and end-running the power of our local city government!”

What will happen next? Stay tuned. The only certainty seems to be this fight isn’t even close to over.

LINK: Previously in the Weekly Volcano

Photo: Flickr/theunabonger

MATT DRISCOLL: I WONDER WHO CHOSE THIS ONE? >>>