WEEKLY VOLCANO: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO >>>

Ernest Jasmin, or EJ as his friends call him, is reporting on the Trib's site that the Wintergrass board of directors has voted to ditch Tacoma for greener pastures â€" pastures in Bellevue.

Though we suspected this might happen, it still makes the list of shittiest news we've heard in a while.

It's gonna suck.

Here's a link to EJ's story.

MICHAEL SWAN: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009 >>>

1. The tiny Telephone Room Gallery celebrates its new exhibit â€" a life-size 3D painting of a shot-dead Old West gunfighter in a pine box by Jeremy Mangan titled The Badman â€" from 5-9 p.m. in a Dutch Colonial home at 3710 N. Seventh St. in Tacoma. Oh my.

2. Tom Brooks' Ad Hoc Jazz Committee will fill The Cliff House with jazz beginning at 7 p.m.

3. Dance to the swingin' sounds of Maia Santell and House Blend performing a mix of swing, blues, Latin and popular dance hits beginning at 8 p.m. inside the Studio 6 Ballroom.

4. I Defy and The Fun Police rock Jazzbones at 9 p.m.

5. The Funky Jah Punkies lay down the groove at 9 p.m. inside the 4th Ave Tavern in Olympia.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Wine and beer events

JAKE DE PAUL: WEDNESDAY FOOD LINKS >>>

Business Breakfast Club of Tacoma: Trade business cards, have a waffle at 7:15 a.m. today.

Not Far To Walk: The Sixth Avenue Progressive Dinner will hit Cork Wine Bar, Masa, Asado and Studio 6 Ballroom tonight.

American Lunchroom: New Web site featuring photos of the good, bad, ugly of school cafeteria cuisine.

Today’s South Sound Specials

Wino Wednesday $3 pours and $5 Rainier Pitchers Night, The Red Hot, 2914 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.779.0229.

Half-price Wine Night, Merende Restaurant, 813 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.722.1993.

Half-price Wine Night, 4 p.m. to close, Brix 25, 7707 Pioneer Way, Gig Harbor, 253.858.6626.

Sample two beers for $1, 4-9 p.m., 99 Bottles, 35002 Pacific Hwy. S., Federal Way, 253.838.2558.

Half-price Wine Night, 4-9:30 p.m., Primo Grill, 601 S. Pine, Tacoma, 253.383.7000.

Half-price Wine Night with every bottle on regular wine list is half price, 5-9 p.m., Il Fiasco, 2717 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.6688.

Half-price Wine Night, 5-10 p.m., Woody’s On The Water, 1715 Dock St., Tacoma, 253.272.1433.

LINK: South Sound happy hours

JAKE DE PAUL: FIND COMFORT IN TAVERNS >>>

Some shit has gone down this week in Tacoma. Beer helps forget.

Tonight is Sierra Nevada night at the Parkway Tavern. From 6-9 p.m. you can pick up schwag, glassware and sip a beer or six.

All the usual flavors will be on hand, but also these gems: Chico Harvest, Southern Hemisphere, Kellerweiss, Cask Best Bitter, Brown Saison, Bigfoot, Celebration 2007, Celebration 2008 and Randall Celebration 2008.

Of course it’s $3 wine pours at The Red Hot tonight. However, we’ve also heard they are pouring Hales SuperGoose #5, Big Al's IPA, Iron Horse Imperial IPA, Pike Kiltlifter, Dicks Cream Stout and more.

Oh, and for cripes sake, take a cab home. We don't need more bad news

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Proposal: You pay more property taxes, we’ll fix the streets.

Yesterday Wasn’t A Good Day: Lakewood Police arrested at least five suspects and seized AK-47-like guns.

French Fries: The new black smoldering

Where is their vote?: Mousavi issues direct challenge.

Vote, Smote: The Iranian regime continues to crackdown on the opposition as more arrests are made, and further restrictions to journalists and social networks are put in place.

With a Gentle Hand: Obama to propose changes to the financial regulation system.

Times are Tough: Jobless man steals just for free prison lunch

Today On Drugs:

WEEKLY VOLCANO: SONIC VIBRATIONS, WEDNESDAY STYLE >>>

Modest tour: Modest Mouse announces a summer tour - that ends at Bumbershoot in Seattle, but you already knew that part.

MICHAEL SWAN: PORT ORCHARD ART WALK FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!! >>>

Artist James Kelsey is VERY excited about the downtown Port Orchard Art Walk Friday night. He just posted this on the TacomaArt Listserv:

STEVE DUNKELBERGER: ECCENTRICS WILL ROAM THE STREETS >>>

You might not know that more than a dozen theater companies will hit town next week.

Tacoma is playing host to AACTFest ’09 beginning June 22. It is an event that will bring some of the best talent community theater around the nation can produce for a festival of theater and all things performance art.

This is a rare event that will likely not be seen locally again in your lifetime. The community theater conference and performance contest hasn’t been held anywhere on the West Coast in the last 25 years and has been avoiding Tacoma since 1926.

“Two years ago in Charlotte, (N.C.) there were less than a dozen or so companies exhibiting,” said AACTFest ’09 co-chair Judy Cullen. “We are pleased that AACTFestâ€"Tacoma will have nearly double that including some national companies who will be exhibiting products making their West Coast debut.” 

Tacoma Musical Playhouse and The Washington State Community Theatre Association are the official organizers of the event, but the real work falls to the countless volunteers who will make the festival the center of the theater world.

“It will be the best of the best,” Cullen said. “This is a big deal â€" a really big deal. I think it is a great opportunity for people who patronize community theater to get reenergized about what community theater can be.”

Post-conference success would mean more energy and patrons of local theater, not to mention better productions and stronger acting talent in the local thespian pool after conference goers get ideas of what theater organizations around the nation are producing on their stages.

“It is really easy for people locally to feel disconnected with community theater,” Cullen said.

The former artistic director of Tacoma Little Theatre knows all too well about the financial troubles experienced by local community theaters, not to mention the death of Tacoma Actors Guild, twice, and the overall slump in arts appreciation brought by the economic downturn.

The event is expected to bring more than 600 performers and other theater types from around the country to celebrate the power of community theater and to learn from each other to raise the bar for their own theater programs through performances and workshops at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts and other venues around the City of Destiny.

The performances will be open to the public, with tickets being sold online as well as at the door.

The festival will run June 22-27. Information about AACTFest can be found at www.aactfest09. org. The site includes a list of shows scheduled for the conference as well as podcasts and timelines of the various workshops and shows on the playbill.

Photo: How to Talk Minnesotan: The Music will be staged by the Aberdeen Community Theatre.

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

LINK: South Sound happy hours