MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009 >>>

1. Broadway between 10th and 11th will be blocked off tonight for Playing Under the Stars â€" dinner under a large tent, unlimited beer and wine, and amongst the most playful of playful adults â€" the Children’s Museum of Tacoma’s annual dinner fund-raiser

2. Some of the best voices in local poetry â€" Jack McCarthy, Robert Lashley, Michael Ford Chris Jarmick and others are reading at Kings Books at 6 p.m.

3. Fort Nisqually Living History Museum will celebrate the grand unveiling of a new Education Building and a new Visitor Center during “The Big Huzzah” from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 

4. The Tacoma Public Library 2009 Summer Reading Club hosts a free Community Block Party, 1-4 p.m., featuring taiko drums, MOVIN 92.5 Party Patrol and balloon animals â€" now that’s a party.

5. Destruction Island’s all-ages record release party for Colonial Surf with No-Fi Soul Rebellion, Peter Parker and The Apple War will be held at Hell’s Kitchen beginning at 5 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Wine and beer events

PHOTO: The Fitzs at last year's Children's Museum of Tacoma benefit

MARK THOMAS DEMING: TONIGHT AT BOB'S JAVA JIVE >>>

Sugar Sugar Sugar frontman Andy Piper is a rock star. He isn’t rich and famous and obnoxious â€" that’s not what I mean. I just mean he’s got it, whatever it is. Charisma, presence, magnetism â€" all apply. First time I saw him, he was playing washboard in a bluegrass band on burger night at the Bellingham Eagles Club. Hardly rock-star stuff, but he was somehow electric. Next time I saw him, he was performing one-man-band-style as Lonebird, sounding like Lightnin’ Hopkins on an answering machine. Again, hardly rock. And again, electric. So I can’t wait to see him tonight with an actual rock band playing actual rock. And by rock I mean old-school, devils-horn-hand ROCK, harkening back to Cream, The Doors and The Who. Should rock.

[Bob’s Java Jive, with Lozen and This Blinding Light, 8 p.m., $5, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

PHOTO: Myspace/Gunther Jose Frank

MATT DRISCOLL: POP INVADES THE NEW FRONTIER TONIGHT >>>

San Francisco’s Birds and Batteries is, quite simply, one helluva multifaceted keyboard-fueled pop act â€" a blend of everything good about pop music shaded with a touch of twang and cowboy five o’clock shadow. The band’s last full-length release, I’ll Never Sleep Again, is evidence, wowing with swirls of synth majesty just as much as subtle, classic, Neil Young-like undertones.

To read the full story, click here.

MICHAEL SWAN: HIP-HOP MEETS ART >>>

Artifakt is back at Jazzbones celebrating the power of hip-hop through music and art. Life Cycle, Luck-One, Abadawn, Evergreen One, DJ Hanibal and DJ Reign provide a music landscape for artists Keger, Dkoy, Grym, Loe, Acidtest and Digital Underground's photography, sculptures and paintings.

[Jazzbones, Saturday, June 20, 9 p.m., $5 before 10:30 p.m., $8 after, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

Photo: Life Cycle

PAUL SCHRAG: VEGGING OUT AT QUICKIE TOO AND MARLENE'S >>>

Vegetarians and vegans looking to dine out in Tacoma have it rough. There are plenty of meatless options scattered among the city’s menus, but they are limited and inconsistent from spot to spot. For those looking for a meatless menagerie, Quickie Too and Marlene’s Market and Deli are Zion. Meat eaters, meanwhile, are strongly encouraged to visit both to see what they’ve been missing. Read the full story here.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: POSTER OF THE DAY >>>

JAKE DE PAUL: VUELVE A LA VIDA FOR LUNCH >>>

The genuine cuisine of Mexico isn't easy to find unless you're a guest in a Mexican home where traditional cooking is prized. But friendly staff delivering comforting, well-prepared dishes in a unpretentious setting comes close. Nestled off Pacific Avenue at 53rd, Vuelve a la Vida serves giant portions andbuckets of beer that deflect your attention from the restaurant's décor of Mexican tchotchkes.

I’m not usually a big fan of enchiladas in Mexican restaurants because what usually appears is a big, greasy mess of melted cheese on a plate, with tortillas that have disintegrated into mush. But the three cheese enchiladas ($9.25) at Vuelve were terrific with wonderful texture as well as flavor, and not cooked to death as is typically the case. They arrive with guacamole, sour cream and your choice of a 6-ounce chicken breast or slab of carne asada on the plate. Chicken was a wise choice, which was pounded into the shape of a heart. I loved it.

As part of the dish, on a separate plated, rice and refried beans towered. The beans were creamy with a chicken broth taste. Yum.

[Vuelve a la Vida, 5310 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.473.7068]

MICHAEL SWAN: TODAY'S HAPPY HOUR DISCUSSION TOPIC >>>

LINK: Oh yes, there are Saturday happy hours. Check them here.

JAKE DE PAUL: BLUE WATER ON PACIFIC >>>

An telecommunications store serving food would hardly be out of place in today’s Tokyo or another major metropolitan city. Forget Toyko, as they never say â€" we’ve got a quirky cafe of our own, right here in Tacoma, around the corner form Stanley & Seafort's at 3323 Pacific Ave.

Based on the Harvard Business School model of Blue Ocean Strategy â€" whatever the hell that is â€" Bluewater Wireless Café Business Center follows the “concept of creating a different kind of business with a customer-centered base” according to their Web site.

Their Web site explains that they built their business on “innovation, values, trust, loyalty, best practices, and a spirit of evolution reaching beyond current demands.”

I’ll tell you what they did. They stuck a café serving coffee and sandwiches in the back room of a telecommunications retail business that also serves as a business center. They sell GPS tracking services, datacards, Blackberries and wireless solutions â€" and a tasty latte. Check out their products/services here.

I surfed the Web in their café while watching the tragic events in Iran on CNN, sipped coffee and listened to tunes swirl about from multiple speakers.

They have a huge parking lot in the back. Drop by today with your canned food as they’re running a food drive for local charities.

They have locations in Federal Way and Bonney Lake among others.

[Blue Water Wireless Café Business Center, 3323 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.471.2675]

MICHAEL SWAN: SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009 >>>

1. J-Fresh mixes and scratches -80s and old school tunes while industry folks get smashed on happy hour prices tonight at Jazzbones.

2. Punk Rock Baseball takes over Jefferson Park from noon to 6 p.m.

3. Tacoma Little Theatre use their revolving stage as a transition device as their production of The Buddy Holly Story flows from one scene to the next beginning at 2 p.m.

4. A young Brit (Ben Barnes) brings his dashing American love (Jessica Biel) home to meet his parents (Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth) with unsettling results in the flick Easy Virtue on The Grand Cinema's screen at 12:35, 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:10 p.m.

5. Rod Cook & Toast play a free show at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma at 7 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Wine and beer events