WEEKLY VOLCANO: SONIC VIBRATIONS, WEDNESDAY STYLE >>> 

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Dinosaur Jr. announces tour plans.

JENNIFER JOHNSON: LAKEWOOD HAS A NEW PIZZA JOINT >>>

In the specialty pizza arena, a new contender has entered recently. Lakewood’s Red Star Pizza holds its own against downtown Tacoma’s Puget Sound Pizza and The Rock, Farrelli’s Pizza and Cloverleaf Tavern on Sixth Avenue, Spud’s Pizza Parlor on Pacific Avenue, Joey’s off South Tacoma Way and Katie Downs on Ruston Way.

Open for only a few short weeks, Red Star is already doing a hoppin’ business. This can be attributed partly to a jump-off aggressive discount and coupon campaign that offers pizza meal packages on lunch and dinner, their star spangled sub sandwiches, free delivery, military discount and a vow to honor competitor’s coupons as well.

I made a visit last week to take advantage of the $6.99 carryout special for a large one-topping pizza. I requested my 14-inch canvas be painted with half marinara and half creamy alfredo sauces. I further spiffed it by treating each half as if it were a pizza unto itself; marinara side receiving Italian sausage, spiced meatballs and long slivers of red onion while grilled chicken breast chunks, white mushroom slices and hearty roasted garlic cloves decorated the alfredo side. All were laid out on a garlic basted pan-style crust (hand-tossed classic, and thin and tasty are also available). As a finishing touch the whole lovely pie was visited by Monterey Jack cheese. Extra toppings and pan-style crust carried additional charges (toppings $1.50 each, pan-style 75 cents).

Dessert of stardust cinnamon sticks with sweet icing for dunking at $2.99 and my large amazing two-in-one-pizza brought dinner in under $20 leaving my bank account happy.

Quality ingredients, friendly staff and well-executed finished products are the other reasons for Red Star’s quick popularity. Marinara is made fresh daily, carrying a pleasant tang and tomato richness. Overkill was not a factor in the amount of sauce used letting the buttery crust’s flavor shine and brought the fennel in the sausage to the forefront. The alfredo mixed well with the cheeses creating a scrumptious creamy luscious blend. Again, the sauce did not act as a drowning pool. Chicken was moist and flavorful; a nice change from bland dry-edged offerings I’ve experienced on other pizzas elsewhere. The garlic was super soft and the consistency of butter, spreading at first tooth touch. The pizza dough was cooked evenly remaining billowy at the puffed edged and slightly crisp underneath.

Six of these specialties are highlighted â€" the meat lover’s Supernova; vegetarian Garden Delight; Blue Star BBQ comes with chicken, bacon and barbecue sauce; the Pacific, which is Red Star’s version of a Hawaiian pizza, has two thick layers of smoked ham and double pineapple; the Cheese Sun Burst is completely smothered in four cheeses; and the Alfred O. Chicken is self-explanatory. 

Though lacking a dine-in area of any kind, family-owned and operated Red Star Pizza provides friendly and courteous above par pizzas, salads, hot wings, soda pop, pizza by the slice before 4 p.m., sandwiches for carryout and free delivery.

[Red Star Pizza, 12134 Pacific Highway, Lakewood, 253.583.7827 (STAR)]

MICHAEL SWAN: THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009 >>>

1. The 40-foot long Permibus Permaculture demonstration bus with solar power, grey water systems, a composting toilet, two dogs, and several chickens will park outside King’s Books from 4:30- 7 p.m.

2. A Room Called Remember will rock the downtown Tacoma Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

3. Lynda Mapes will lecture from her book, Breaking Ground: The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village, at 6 p.m. inside Orca Books in Olympia.

4. Matt Coughlin performs a free show from 7-9 p.m. at Doyle’s Public House.

5. Junior Reid, XP, Lebowski and Luvva J lay it down at The Royal in Olympia beginning at 9 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

ANNOUNCER: ENOTECA SERVES THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE >>>

The front window bears a small neon sign with lazy purple letters. Enoteca Wine Bar serves much more than vino and should be classified as a bistro with strong focus on imported artisan cheeses and an exceptional wine list due to the adjacent Tacoma Wine Merchants. A joint operation of owner Bill Bonnie, the wine shop is connected to Enoteca by double doors. This symbiotic relationship allows for the unique opportunity of purchasing wine in the shop, taking your bottle next door and enjoying it with any number of food items â€" grilled panini, fresh salads, and cheese, fruit, and meat plates, sandwiches and dessert.

The small space is dominated by massive chalkboards that act as larger-than-life menus of white and red wines and an impressive selection of cheese. 

Read Jake and Jason de Paul's full review here.

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Smile For This: Drivers sue 19 cities â€" including Tacoma, Lakewood and Puyallup â€" over traffic cameras.

A-: Tacoma schools Superintendent Art Jarvis scored near-perfect marks.

Did See This Coming: A preacher presiding over a multi-million dollar religious outfit may be unethical?

Digital Vampire: Google is a vampire, says newspaper publisher.

More Stalker-Friendly: Facebook keeps getting more like Twitter

JOSE S. GUTIERREZ JR.: LIVE FROM I-5: HIP-HOP IN THE 25360 >>>

The ageless icon and master vocalist of the reggae music scene Junior Reid is scheduled to hit The Royal Lounge stage tonight.

You may remember the prophet-esque vocalist’s haunting hymns lacing tracks like MIM’s “This Is Why I’m Hot” remix and the penetrating bang-down track “One Blood” from The Game’s sophomore album, The Doctor’s Advocate. True reggae heads will know the chocolate skinned MC’s words and verse from a more than two decade-long career. It is rare to see legends breathe on the microphone. Catch him tonight, if you can.

Read the rest of my weekly hip-hop column here.

[The Royal Lounge, Thursday, June 25, 9 p.m., 311 Capital way, Olympia]

WEEKLY VOLCANO: TARDY SONIC VIBRATIONS, THURSDAY STYLE >>>

EVERYONE LOVES KARAOKE: The Killers to tackle album of cover songs.

SERIOUSLY?: Who let Styx into the White House?

IS HE COMING BACK: Michael Jackson is still one of the freakiest dudes out there.

NOW HE'S SORRY: Perez Hilton apologizes for his slur, and sues the Black Eyed Peas manager.

A BUNCH OF MULCAHY: Michael Stipe and Thom Yorke will be part of a Mark Mulcahy tribute.

SAD NEWS: Sky Saxon of the Seeds passes away.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: THIS JUST IN >>>

Since we just mentioned Michael Jackson in our "Afternoon music news" post, we felt it worth mentioning that the King of Pop has apparently been rushed to the hospital, suffering from some sort of heart attack or cardiac arrest. The reports are hazy at this point.

Here are links to:

Rolling Stone's coverage

Pitchfork's coverage

The Seattlepi.com's coverage

WEEKLY VOLCANO: ANOTHER UPDATE >>>

TMZ, and now Pitchfork and surely others, are reporting Michael Jackson has died.

UPDATE: In the heat of the moment I typed that out fairly quickly. It should be noted that TMZ is reporting Michael Jackson is dead, and everyone else is just reporting that TMZ is reporting Michael Jackson is dead. Everyone knows TMZ is not exactly known for excellence in journalism, so there's some skepticism. However, it seems certain the King of Pop is in bad shape.

UPDATE: The LA Times is now officially reporting Michael Jackson has been pronounced dead.

CHRISTOPHER WOOD: RANDY SPARKS' NEW FILM SEES LIGHT OF DAY >>>

The weather just hasn't cooperated with Randy Sparks. Not surprising. When you call your film It Don't Rain on Sunny Days, meteorological uncertainty seems destined to torment your production schedule.

Let's rewind: My last meeting with Sparks involved watching his film's hero, Jason Feldman (Joe Rosati), demolish a Honey Bucket one frigid morning in November. (In the story, Feldman has just won the lottery.) At the time, the crew looked well on their way to having a polished film by early 2009.

Then weather happened - or rather, the right weather didn't happen. The film's completion date crept further away. Finding a decent day to shoot outdoors seemed as unlikely as, well, correctly picking this week's Lotto numbers.

Yet Sparks managed to see the silver lining throughout a drizzly springtime. The halt in production gave the writer-producer time to punch up his comedic script, and set up a Web site complete with teaser trailer and blog. Then something extraordinary happened: the rains reversed, the clouds cleared, and the sun began to shine. Seizing the opportunity, Sparks gathered several dozen crew members (all volunteers) and together they trouped to Steilacoom for one final day of filming. The town's quaint, quiet streets provided an ideal backdrop for a chase sequence between a Corvette and two bumbling bike cops.

The shoot went smoothly that mid-June day - until sparks flew. Not sparks from a clash of actors' egos, or even Randy Sparks, but true electric fire. During a staged scuffle, the safety on a Taser unlocked, and Rosati received roughly 25,000 watts of juice, courtesy of the prong fired into his back.

"He gave an electrifying performance," noted Tacomedian Colin Dillon (who accidentally administered the shock).

Rosati recovered quickly, and the film wrapped that evening. "Getting this last scene done was a huge relief," recalls Sparks.

Rosati agrees. "Now we have a film."

With deadlines for festivals in Tacoma and Gig Harbor rapidly approaching, Sparks has recruited a committed post-production team that includes local musicians and audio wizards. Editors Brian Spicer and Justin Peterson, who both worked on All About Haggarty, studied action scenes from about fifty movies to enhance the excitement in their own.

Sparks can't wait to premiering his work. "I think [the community] will be proud of us," he says.

Local comedian and co-writer Lee Fleming has similarly high hopes: "This is probably going to be the best movie since Cool as Ice - and if we can get Vanilla Ice in "It Don't Rain, Part 2."

"Vanilla Rain," Rosati offers, and laughs.

Tay Zonday could compose the theme song.