RON SWARNER: GREEN LINKS OF THE DAY >>>

Attention Lakewood Towne Center: Your shopping carts are down the street strung along 108th Ave. S.W. this morning.

Soiled: Growing hemp in Oregon faces challenges.

Eye In The Sky: Helping salmon survive.

The Dumbest Smart Car: They may be good for the environment, but they aren't exactly seaworthy.

Hello? Anybody listening?: UN chief calls for global push to combat climate change.

Huge Tracks Of Land: New study reveals large scale conservation essential.

Best Folding Bike Eva:

WEEKLY VOLCANO: MONDAY MUSIC LINK DUMP >>>

Pearl Jam: The band loves Vancouvers.

Olalla Bluegrass Festival: It kicks off Saturday.

Dizzee Heights: Dizzee Rascal and Prince Harry BFF?

Season Of The Donovan: Singer to be named icon at BMI London awards.

NPR Song of the Day: Matt Kanelos' "Hope And An Unexpected Hymn"

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight in the South Puget Sound

MICHAEL SWAN: THIS JUST IN >>>

Steve Martin will join the Steep Canyon Rangers for an evening of bluegrass and banjo Nov. 3 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Comedian Martin has earned three Grammys for his banjo work â€" well, two of his albums were mostly comedic (1977's Let's Get Small and 1978's Wild and Crazy Guy). His third Grammy was earned with Earl Scruggs on Foggy Mountain Breakdown in 2001.

Tickets for the Nov. 3 are $55, $65 and $75. Tickets go on sale Saturday, Aug. 15 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster locations, or by phone at 800.745.3000.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: TODAY'S MOST ANNOYING MAN ON THE PLANET >>>

"English."

"Speak to a representative."

"Yes."

"Representative."

"Yes!"

YES!"

The moron pictured above is trying to make a payment over his cell phone at Puget Sound Pizza. His voice sounds like Fozzie Bear. He's loud. He's swearing next to a small child. If he sits next to you â€" run!

"All I want to do is MAKE. A. PAYMENT!"

Boooooo! Boooooo! Booooo!

SUZY STUMP: HOW TO BETTER MANAGE THE BUSINESS ASPECTS OF ART >>>

I'm sure you've often wondered why they changed the milieu from bank to museum in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Why, because an art thief has much more je ne sais quoi, of course! A millionaire playboy who risks his neck for a little more coin â€" even if played by the smokin’-hot Steve McQueen â€" has nothing on the cultured rascal who drools after priceless artworks (and whose raging libido commands him to knock boots on an uncomfortable-looking marble staircase, but I digress).

Alas, art thefts probably are not on the agenda for Thursday’s Shunpike business clinic at Suite133, but it’s a worthy question for Michelle Chiachiere, deputy director and development expert, and Ellen Whitlock, Partner Artist Program manager after they discuss your arts endeavors and show you how Shunpike works with arts groups and organizations.

[Suite133, Thursday, Aug. 13, 4-8 p.m., free, 703 Pacific Ave., Tacoma]

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

Today’s Happy Hour Suggestion:

The Cliff House
6300 Marine View Dr. N.E., 253.927.0400
Happy Hours: 3-6 p.m. daily
Drink Specials: wines $3, drafts $3 and well drinks $3
Food Specials: half-off selected appetizers

LINK: South Sound happy hours

RON SWARNER: MUSIC & ART IN WRIGHT PARK PRIMER >>>

This Aug. 15, Music & Art in Wright Park 2009, which began in 1993 as Music in the Park, returns to Tacoma â€" showcasing some of the best bands in the area, including Guns & Rossetti, Girl Trouble, Post Stardom Depression, Broken Oars, The Plastards, Pain Killers, Zeke, C.F.A., Zook, Stone Axe, Starstruck, Tarek Wegner, Tallest Tree, The Coloffs, Neutral Boy, and Mico De Noche. The Saturday outdoor concert at Wright Park will be free.

As a sponsor of Music & Art in Wright Park, the Weekly Volcano will highlight a band or two every day until the Aug. 15 show, which runs noon to 8 p.m.

Today’s Music & Art in Wright Park band I'm pushing on you is C.F.A.

This past April Bobble Tiki grabbed C.F.A., or Cody Foster’s Army, for his Tiki Logic music column in the Weekly Volcano:

• You can call it by its full name, Cody Foster’s Army, or simply by the letters CFA, but know one thing: this band crushes. In CFA’s relatively short lifespan as a metal entity, Bobble Tiki has come to know and â€" more importantly â€" much respect the thunderous licks of one of T-town’s truest sons. Cody Foster’s Army is as real as it gets. Make no mistake.

Read the rest here.

This isn’t Foster’s First Music in the Park Show. He played two previous shows in the mid-90s in the popular T-town band Poppa Wheelie.

Foster is also co-producing Music & Art in Wright Park free music festival with Ken Johnson and Bennett Thurmon.

“I felt T-town could use a free event to bring us together,” Foster wrote via e-mail. “This is a blue collar town beat up by the economy. I know every one has heard that from every direction, but I have felt it first hand.

I felt we could do this with the town’s best interest in mind, not ours.”

Here is a taste of the musical stylings of C.F.A.

LINK: To read a little history on Music in the Park, jump to here.

MICHAEL SWAN: AN UPDATE >>>

Bobble Tiki announced in his Tiki Logic column that the Great Recession hasn’t stopped Tacoma’s annual Maltoberfest. Come Oct. 3, you’ll be able to combine malt liquor and lederhosen once again at Bob's Java Jive. What a relief!

I’m here to announce that the Maltoberfest brain trust has just released its band line up: Q Dot, Paris Spleen, Ten Miles of Bad Road, Faraca, Revengers and Darrren Selector.

Nett!

MICHAEL SWAN: TUESDAY, AUG. 11, 2009 >>>

1. Captain America visits Comic Book Ink from 9-11 p.m. after a full day of massive discounts as part of Marvel's 70th Birthday Party.

2. Jewelry artist Nancy Worden incorporates non-traditional materials such as seed pods and plastic hair curlers into her jewelry to tell a story from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Tacoma Art Museum.

The Makedonians perform an all-ages show at 7 p.m. in front of the fireplace at The Mandolin Café

Jazz saxophonist Kareem Kandi hosts an open mic tonight at 7 p.m. inside SAX Restaurant and Lounge.

Ralph Porter hosts Ha Ha Tuesdays with guest comic Roy Haber at 8 p.m. inside Jazzbones.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

JAKE DE PAUL: TUESDAY FOOD LINKS >>>

Sno-Cones For Adults: Toscanos offers shaved ice loaded with booze every Tuesday and Thursday beginning at 4 p.m.

Want to know more about your food?: 10 sites that will help you eat with more awareness.

Drinks On The Cheap: Half-price wine night and Tightwad Tuesday in the South Sound.

Beets: sweet, earthy comfort food.

Future Things Are Coming

"If you knew what you were eating, you might not want to eat."

That sums up both the message of Robert Kenner's documentary about the food industry and your likely reaction to it. Food, Inc. â€" a 90-minute ride through what we eat and how it's produced â€" will open at The Grand Cinema Friday, Aug. 14.

The above quote could have come from any of the 400-plus members of the Tacoma Food Co-Op, an organization striving to make affordable, high-quality, mostly locally-produced and organic food available in Tacoma.

If the Tacoma Food Co-op’s mission strikes a nerve with you, consider catching the film at The Grand. A dollar from every Food, Inc. ticket will go directly to the co-op. You must scream "Tacoma Food Co-op!" at the ticket person to send the dollar on its way.

Support your local community while learning about the impact the government has on your dinner table. â€" Michael Swan

[The Grand Cinema, Aug. 14-16 12:25, 2:35, 4:45, 7 and 9:10 p.m.; Aug. 17-21 2:35, 4:45, 7 and 9:10 p.m., $5-$8.50, 606 S. Fawcett, Tacoma, 253.572.6062]

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide