Lunch and a movie sounds like such a boring day. Tapas y platos principales and Tahitian dancers, now that’s a day! Today, Metro Parks exposes the tastes and sounds of the world during day two of the Ethnic Fest at Wright Park.  Diverse music and dance will pack two stages. Global cuisine will pack you. And plenty for the kids to do round out the day.
[Wright Park, Sunday, July 26, noon to 7 p.m., free, 501 S. I St., Tacoma]

Today's Schedule
Multicare Main Stage 

Noon: African All Stars â€" world fusion

1 p.m.: The Islanders â€" steel drums

2 p.m.: Michael Powers â€" jazz guitar
3 p.m.: Whozyamama â€" cajun/zydeco
4 p.m.: Quichua Mashis â€" music of the Andes

5 p.m.: Te Fare O Tamatoa â€" Tahitian dance

6 p.m.: Alex Duncan â€" reggae

Community Stage

Noon: Shadaroba â€" belly dance

1 p.m.: Abrace â€" vocal and percussion

2 p.m.: Kabuki Academy â€" Japanese Kabuki dance

3 p.m.: St. John's Choir

3:30 p.m.: Church of All Nations

4 p.m.: Gospel Choir

4:30 p.m.: New Beginnings Step Team

5 p.m.: Roosevelt Heights/New Life Mass Choir

STEVE DUNKELBERGER: LAKEWOOD CLEANS UP THE HOUSE WITH ANGRY MUSICAL >>>

So as a confession of full disclosure as a journalist, I have state that I had a few drinks with the cast of Lakewood Playhouse's production of Angry Housewives after the show, but did not talk about the show or theater. Most of the chatter centered on the cute La Palma bartender and that our margaritas would have tasted better had alcohol been involved as promised. Although cast member Blake York offered to give the Weekly Volcano a verbal reach around if I mentioned his name in a review.

But that is a story for a different column.

While lots of fun, Angry Housewives didn't blow me away.

The story centers on Jetti, Bev, Wendi and Carol â€" good friends, but angry over the lack of respect from their men. So, they form a punk rock band, Angry Housewives, and take their local club scene by storm gaining new self-respect and renewed respect from their men.

OK, York. Here you go: Your small role as the butthead husband to Careese Robertson's character Jetta â€" while solid â€" is essentially the same dude you have played in different shows. It worked this time, but I expected you to bring more to the table.

Sheri Tipton anchored the housewives with her nails-on-chalkboard accent and deer-in-the-headlights glances. This equity actor-elect was the vocal powerhouse of the show.  However, Tipton's talent highlighted off notes elsewhere in the cast. Not that there were many. In fact, the off notes actually added to the plain-Jane mood of the show â€" in the same way fat dudes added to the working-class tone of The Full Monty.

Executive Director Marcus Walker nailed it as the grumpy boyfriend with a thing for honoring the fish that made him famous. His great sense of timing and nuance made the bit part more than just a plot device to tie up loose ends in the story.

Such was also the case with Aaron Berryhill as the son of one of the angry housewives as he battles not only with his own teen angst but also the fact that his mom's band is better than his. This young actor played the role of a young Sid Vicious caricature solidly and convincingly, that is, for playing a teen punk stereotype in a comedy where that is expected.

Overall, it's a show worth seeing.

[Lakewood Playhouse, Angry Housewives, watch out for harsh language, through Aug. 2, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, actor benefit matinee 2 p.m. Saturday, $18-$24, 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd, next to the Pierce Transit Center in the heart of the Lakewood Towne Center, Lakewood, 253.588.0042]

Photo: Angry Housewives’ Careese Robertson as Jetta, photography by Dean Lapin

NIKKI TALOTTA: CLIMB UP TO JAKE'S DECK TODAY >>>

The Puget Sound has a lot to offer its community, and an exceptional view is just one of its perks. Jake’s in Steilacoom has captured that scene with a beautiful panoramic view from its dining patio. On a sunny day, like today, you can absorb the wide waters of the Sound while absorbing the wide selection of delicious microbrews Jake’s has on tap (42 constantly rotating specialties!).

These guys keep it real. You won’t find any mass-produced bottles here. Paired with one of Jake’s yummy menu items, this place deserves a regular spot in your summer agenda.

What to drink: Try anything!

[Jake's Bar and Bistro, 215 Wilkes St., Steilacoom, 253.581.3300]

LINK: South Sound decks and patios

MICHAEL SWAN: MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009 >>>

1. Jean Mann and Jerin Falkner will perform an all-ages concert at 7 p.m. inside Rhapsody in Bloom.

2. Sound Transit Board from Pierce County and representatives from the Dome District will meet with community leaders and the public to present data on the D-M Street Sounder Extension at 9 a.m. inside the Tacoma Link Operations Base Conference Room located inside the Freighthouse Square.

3. The gallery at Pierce College in Lakewood is nothing more than a wide place in the hall. But that wide space is filled with a dozen or so very nice paintings by CJ Swanson. Check them out from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

4. DJ Jason Diamond spins roots reggae during The New Frontier Lounge's Rebel Monday at 9 p.m.

5. DJ Doll Hands spins vintage lady country music at The Brotherhood Lounge around 9 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

Photo: Jerin Falkner, snapped by ChristopherNelsonPhotography©2006

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Weather: It will be freakin’ hot through Thursday.
 
Merce Cunningham: The giant of 20th-century dance, has died.

New Rules: Tacoma mixed-use plan heads for decision tomorrow.

Talking Tough On Iran: Israeli official says no option off table on Iran.

Gotcha: FBI ruse helps nab most-wanted suspect.

Fall Out: U.S. eyes Iranian nuclear response “by autumn.”

If You Can Do It, Now Is The Time: New U.S. home sales rise sharply as prices fall.

So, She’s Stepping Aside?: Palin vows to “fight even harder.”

Think Cold Thoughts

MICHAEL SWAN: SOME LIKE IT COLD >>>

South Sounders tend to get creative in the helter swelter. Besides crafting explicit fantasies about sitting on a block of ice or getting clocked by an exploding fire hydrant, the stuff soft-drink commercials are made of, our survival in the summer heat includes many cooling down alternatives. Like television.

Click! Cable TV has invented Cool TV. If you need a psychosomatic injection of chill, the Tacoma-based cable television company advises its customers to click on “Click! 1” (channel 1 for those with cable receivers or channel 117 for those without a receiver) through Thursday for pictures of recent winter snowstorms in the Tacoma area snapped by Kevin Freitas. The pictures will be accompanied by appropriate music and sounds of the season.

Of course, while you mentally chill on Click 1, your body is slowly dying of heat exhaustion. Be sure to click on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Web site for tips on surviving the heat.

PROFESSOR REEVES: COOL OFF WITH A DRINK TODAY >>>   

Your brain matter doesn’t actually have any pain receptors, so it is not the brain itself that freezes when you down a cold drink too fast.  The tissue surrounding the brain can feel pain, however. Major arteries in your neck feed the tissue around your brain and the brain itself.  You’re cooling the blood rapidly in these arteries when you drink a frozen potion too fast, which constricts the capillaries and produces a headache.  Once your blood warms back up and the capillaries expand again, the headache goes away.

Test the theory at your favorite local watering hole:

Drinking in the Sun: A survival guide to getting buzzed on a South Sound deck or patio.

Bar Exam: Steph DeRosa’s massive list of local dives.

Happy Hour: Escape work and the heat, and save money, at these South Sound restaurants and taverns.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

ANNOUNCER: TIJUANA TACO CELEBRATES 40 YEARS >>>

The New Tribune reminds us that Tijuana Taco turns 40 this summer. The boys remember when the joint opened in their hometown of Lakewood back in the summer of 1969.

Throughout the month of August, Tijuana Taco will celebrate with specials, anniversary T-shirts and more. Check their Web site for details.

The boys and I reviewed Tijuana Taco back in the summer of 2001. Check out the original review below (remember things have changed since then):

ANNOUNCER:  The boys love fast food as much as they love playing Russian Roulette. The buns are fortified with the alien yellow dye their bodies crave and is so soft and fresh it turns to wet pudding by the third bite with one of the two pickles landing in their laps leaving the yummy, out-of-season lettuce and tomato, just as mealy and tasteless as you could possibly dream of, waiting for their next bite. The last time the boys bought those mozzarella sticks, they had been sitting under the lava lamp for so long the cheese had baked away and fused into the breading, leaving nothing but dark, hollow tubes.  But before you hurl, the boys do have one fast food joint they highly recommend.  The fast food joint they hung out at before elementary school.  Tijuana Taco celebrates 32 years in business.

JAKE: McDonalds has changed clothes, Herfy’s packed up the cow and Pizza Haven and the Wednesday all-you-can-eat buffet are long gone.  But Tijuana Taco, located at the north entrance of Villa Plaza â€" I mean the Lakewood Mall (now Lakewood Towne Center)â€" still stands, unchanged, serving good food with top-notch customer service.  The staff, and I have known a few over the years, love owners Sharon and Rocky VanScyoc.  Always peppy, a bounce in their steps, the staff treats customers like potential Lotto winners.  

JASON: The standing joke for years was if you wanted a job at Tijuana Taco you’d better be cute … and female … and in high school.  It looks like that tradition still remains unchanged.  Tijuana Taco has been a mainstay for Lakewood â€" serving the same large portions as they have for years.

JAKE: Slurping burritos is my favorite Tijuana Taco thrill.  Burritos, soft tacos and such arrive in cone-shape packaging.  Simply fold back the wrapping paper and I can eat the burrito like an ice cream cone.  But I don’t.  I chomp off the top of the burrito and slurp the meat, beans, lettuce, cheese, tomato, onions and hot sauce out of my Burrito Grande until a tortilla skeleton remains.  It’s good, clean flavorable fun.

JASON: Sounds like you need a life!  I like the daily specials at Tijuana Taco. Monday, they serve large taco salads in the crisp tortilla bowls for $3.99 â€" and that includes a small drink.  It’s enough food to satisfy most appetites.  Each day it’s a new special for $3.99 â€" I also recommend Sundays when it’s taco day.

JAKE: I can’t believe we are this far into this dialogue and you haven’t mentioned Tijuana’s aura of orange â€" orange plastic chairs, an orange speckled tile floor â€" at night the inside transforms into a Texas sunset.

JASON: Add a blender and some oranges and they have a second business.   

JAKE: Anyway … the menu, everything priced below $5, spans enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, tamales, burritos, burgers, fries, even hot dogs and corn dogs. They use fresh ground beef, fresh sour cream and tons of Texas white onions, sliced fresh daily.  And the bean truck doesn’t pull up here every week.  They skip the canned beans and pressure cook pinto beans daily.

JASON: I thought the tacos epitomized the dining experience.  The shells are thick and sturdy â€" that bean truck would have a tough time crashing through one.  The meat is packed in tight and thick, while the tomatoes, lettuce and cheese are overly abundant.  This isn’t the 59¢ taco at the other guys; for $1.40 you get the full meal deal.  I also like the salsa bar where you can get a variety of temperatures via the syrup bottles in crushed ice. 

JAKE: When the urge to eat phenomenally cheap, tasty, homemade Mexican fast food strikes, drop the bell and run for Tijuana.

[Tijuana Taco, 10005 Bristol Ave. S.W., Lakewood, 253.588.4621]

Photo: Courtesy of Tijuana Taco's Web site

RON SWARNER: DAVE’S NOW SERVES LUNCH DAILY >>>

Lucky for me, I have Dave’s Meat and Produce just down the street in the north end of Tacoma. The staff can discuss the cost/benefit of prime versus select, will go to great lengths to match me up with exactly the right kind of meat, not letting me leave until I’m hungry for more enlightenment. The prime steaks are laid out like Tiffany flatware.

What sets Dave’s apart is the love. Everyone who works at this tiny yet alluring meat and produce market is not just interested in, not just obsessed with, but head over heels in love with his or her job.

That’s certainly the case for Becca Cable, who enthusiastically whipped up lunch for me today from Dave’s new lunch shack. Yes, for the past two week’s Dave’s has been serving sandwiches, hot dogs and salads from its coffee shack. The Big Bopper Grinders â€" hot turkey and hot ham at $4.99 a pop â€" are tasty, loaded with meat, lettuce, cheddar, tomato and staffer Martine’s secret sauce.  The Dorothy Coney Island Dog ($3.99) arrives with staffer Dorothy’s hot chili sauce.

Other lunch fare includes Asian and chef salads, a plain hot dog, sodas, smoothies (strawberry, peach and mango) and coffee.

Lunch hours are Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A half-dozen tables are set up for outdoor dining.

[Dave’s Meat and Produce, 1312 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.280.9999]

LINK: Previously on the Weekly Volcano web site

Photo: The awesome Becca Cable at Dave's Meat and Produce, and the hot turkey sandwich