MICHAEL SWAN: WHAT’S HAPPENING >>>

I swear every day there’s 30 or so shopping carts abandoned at Pierce Transit bus stops, sidewalks and bushes in Lakewood.

There’s four stranded in front of Lowe’s.

There’s a couple on the corner of 100th and Bridgeport Way S.W.

Every. Day.

The assistant to the assistant manager at Lowe's in Lakewood says they don't have a regular program to pick up their carts on the streets.

Of course my favorite shopping cart is at the Mad Hat Tea Company.

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

Discuss the above video over happy hour at:

Sax on 6th
2303 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.5106
Happy Hours: 2-7 p.m. daily
Drink Specials: micros $3
Food Specials: appetizers start at $3

LINK: other South Sound happy hours

MICHAEL SWAN: ON THE BIG SCREENS TOMORROW >>>

Paper Heart: a meta blend of documentary and fiction.

PAPER HEART: Quasi-documentary about comedian Charlyne Yi and her tour of America to ask people for their insights into true love â€" an emotion she doesn’t understand.  Along the way she meets and falls in love with the actor Michael Cera (Juno), and the intriguing question is, when does reality end and the scripting begin?  Sweet, funny and deceptive. (PG-13) Three our of four stars â€" Roger Ebert

    Paper Heart opens Friday, Sept. 18 at The Grand Cinema screening at 4:35 and 9 p.m.

Also opening tomorrow: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, The Informant!, Jennifer’s Body, Lorna’s Silence and Love Happens.

Discover what these films are about and when they screen here.

MICHAEL SWAN: FRIDAY, SEPT. 18, 2009 >>>

1. Goldfinch, Cotton Jones and Tall Girl will perform at 8 p.m. inside Urban Grace in downtown Tacoma.

2. Northwest Erotic Comedy Competition hosted by Riggs begins at 8 p.m. inside Jazzbones.

3. Tacoma Pyrate Punx presents Rum Rebellion, Red White & Die, Crouton Cartwheel Crusaders, Cuntry Cuntrol at 6 p.m. for an all-ages show at Hell's Kitchen.

4. Neil Simon's The Star-Spangled Girl will hit the Tacoma Little Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m.

5. Prodigal Sun Productions hosts a staged reading of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at 8 p.m. inside The Midnight Sun Performance Space in Olympia.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

Photo by Adam Ydstie

MICHAEL SWAN: PUYALLUP FAIR, FRIDAY, SEPT. 18, 2009 >>>

Check it: Goodwill at the Puyallup. Snug.

Stuff to do today
11 a.m.: Trumpet Vine, Floral Building

12 p.m.: Deadliest Catch, Showplace Way & Grand Ave

12 p.m.: Snowshoeing on Straw, Contest Arena

2 p.m.: Western Music & Country Poetry, Oldfield Western Heritage Center

4:30 p.m.: Stenciling, Hobby Hall

6 p.m.: The News Tribune booth, Pavilion Kitchen, 2nd Floor

6:30 p.m.:  Charisma School of Dance, Communities in Schools Family Fun Stage

7 p.m.: Paperfolding, Hobby Hall

7:30 p.m.: Monster Truck Showdown, Grandstand

More things to do today here

Hours
10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday.

Admission
$11 adults, $8 seniors (62 and older) and students (age 6-18); free age 5 and younger. Advance discount tickets at Safeway, Fred Meyer and Columbia Bank.

Parking
$10 Monday-Friday, $12 Saturday-Sunday

Transportation
Pierce Transit “Fair Express” for $3 round trip. Details are here.

More Information
Do their Web site.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY: COBALT CRANES BRING L.A. TO OLY >>>

Cobalt Cranes, based out of L.A., is a quintessentially Californian band that trades in buzzing bursts of tightly wound art-rock. Co-founded by Kate Betuel and Tim Foley, the two shuffled through a couple lineups before finally finding their band.

Their songs conjure up images of L.A. punks in bold shades blasting noise in dirty clubs. And so it seems to be. The boy/girl dynamics of Cobalt Cranes soften the edges of songs that threaten to be too cold. And just when you think you’ve got the band down pat, a song like the gently bombastic “Messy” comes along, with its guitar lick that’s surprisingly reminiscent of Chuck Berry. Cobalt Cranes is not afraid of tweaking and stretching its sound, and completely upfront when copping to influences.

“Our influences change a lot,” says Betuel, before she and Foley proceed to list off any and all bands that have affected them in the past and may again someday.

“The Vaselines, Redd Kross, the Wipers, Chuck Berry, Nirvana…” they say of what was influencing them at the time they recorded their upcoming EP, In Media Rez.

It’s all of a part, this L.A. thing.

[Le Voyeur, Cobalt Cranes with Johnny Cheeseburger, Christmas, Civita, Friday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m., no cover, 404 Fourth Ave E, Olympia, 360.943.5710]

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Science!: SAMI! SAMI! SAMI!

Dr. Evil Economy: 1 billion dollars!

Putting Up With The Weirdness Pays Off?: $86,000 monthly allowance for Michael Jackson's mom, kids.

That's So Him: Ahmadinejad lashes out at Israel, West.

NATO: Proposes link with Russia missile defenses.

Bush As Burden: An anchor around the feet of Republican candidates.

Sucks: Carnage in Pakistan market attack.

Bill Clinton: Speaks on poverty relief, jobs, health care and Mad Men.

Ha Ha Ha Ha: Pot plants grow on High Street.

PAUL SCHRAG: Q-DOT PERFORMS AT BOB'S JAVA JIVE TONIGHT >>>

When Q-Dot isn’t flying around in his hip-hop superhero cape rapping, making beats, recording, performing, and running his own record label, Tre’dmarks, he goes simply by Q or Quincy. He was named after Quincy Jones, and has earned badges as an MC, producer, songwriter, pianist, singer, recording engineer, mixer and DJ.

His latest album, Underground Railroad, is chock full of talent, and shows how much time and energy this local independent rapper put into developing his game.

Q-Dot is a thinker, and balances his wit with lots of flava, walking a tightrope between swagger and delivering a message. He puts out plenty of radio ready tracks, drops plenty of punch lines, but always seems to slip in a message.

He’ll be at Bob’s Java Jive this Friday. 

[Bob’s Java Jive, with Fame Rilla, Freddie Fingers, Mac & Harlem, DJ T-Real, Friday, Sept. 18, 9 p.m., $5, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

WEEKLY VOLCANO: MUSIC NEWS >>>

The hot tip of the morning comes from the legendary Kent Morrill of The Fabulous Wailers. What a way to start a Friday.

According to Morrill, Stonegate Pizza â€" a new spot on South Tacoma way that we’ve been hearing rumblings about for some time â€" will officially open on Saturday, Sept. 26.

And guess who’s going to be there?

That’s right. Morrill and his band will be in the house to help kick things off right, debuting a new Fabulous Wailers album in the process, Rooster Rock â€" which will be officially released on the very same day.

After seeing Stonegate first hand, and agreeing to be part of the club’s christening night, Morrill says he believes Stonegate will soon become a new “destination spot” for Tacoma. He also says there are currently discussions of a Fabulous Wailers hosted jam night on Wednesdays at Stonegate coming in the near future, though nothing has been confirmed yet.

Of the new record, Morrill explains that Rooster Rock, a title that he suggests is the band’s attempt to “coin a new musical phrase,” is a tribute of sorts to all the people who’ve influenced the Fabulous Wailers over the years, from Little Richard to Fats Domino.

Mount Eerie Tour

For two years Phil Elverum spent time behind his house, at the edge of the woods, listening into the night, listening to the wind through the trees. He heard words. The words became songs. They’re songs of impermanence, dark change, destruction, temporary blossoming, mortality, and an immense river of air tearing through the world make up the third official album by Mount Eerie, WIND”S POEM. 

The album rests on the stone-solid production of Mount Eerie's only actual member, Elverum, recorded at various locations around his hometown of Anacortes.  According to the album’s press release, “A hundred kinds of distortion, oceans of synth, and clouds of bass are the elements the 12 songs are built from, with moments of clarity occasionally revealing soft harmonies (featuring Nick Krgovich from Vancouver's NO KIDS) reverently attempting to describe a dark mystery.  The album holds a large debt to the music and world of David Lynch's Twin Peaks, as well as to some of the more innovative artists on the edges of ambient, colossal Black Metal." 

WIND'S POEM comes on double clear vinyl in an old-style gatefold jacket with bronze foil stamping and a pull out lyric poster, or on CD or digital. 

Mount Eerie will be touring in a full band version throughout the U.S. in support of this album, which includes a stop on Nov. 25 at the Olympia all-ages club, Northern.

Music Link Dump

KUPS: The UPS radio station is up for an mtvU Woodie Award. (Exit133)

You’ve Heard The Rumors, And The Rumors Are True: Pearl Jam have finally released a “pop” album. (PopMatters)

Wailers and Wannabes: A lexicon of Eddie Vedder sound-alikes. (Paste)

All Things Reconsidered: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" gets to the core of what the Rolling Stones were. (PopMatters)

JAKE DE PAUL: COMFORT IN MORE THAN 19 VARIETIES AT HOUSE OF PHO >>>

For the urban adventurer, many strip malls in Lakewood are another potential exotic treasure trove, another opportunity to unearth a new international taste. You might stumble into an international buffet, for instance, with its giant soup bowls and endless array of Technicolor salads.

This week, though, I had a destination in mind, and Vietnamese comfort food was my Holy Grail.

The interior of House of Phó is a bit sparse and has the feeling of a restaurant that’s still settling into a space larger than it needs. Only a dozen fake flower arrangements dot pristine white walls. Inside the door, an aquarium cloaks the view to the Sea of Emerald â€" green tables, green chairs, green floors and a green neon strip of wood topping a vinyl wainscoting.

Unlike most Vietnamese menus with page after page of colorful dishes, the menu at House of Pho has just under 54 choices, more than half of them soup. To dedicate such space to a single dish demonstrates just how revered this comforting concoction is in its East Asian homeland.

Phó (more like “fun” without the “n”), the brothy mélange of rice noodles, meats and seasonings, has long been a staple of Vietnamese cuisine. Today, it rivals such Asian favorites as ramen, udon and soba as the most popular starchy import from the continent where Marco Polo allegedly discovered pasta.

A small bowl of phó is larger than any soup you’d get at other restaurants and runs just $6.59. More than 19 varieties combine rare or well-done ingredients that range from homey meatballs to more anatomical items such as tendon and tripe. Not wanting to miss out on anything, my party and I went for Pho Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach â€" a mouthful promising more than a mouthful of ingredients, like well-done beef brisket, flank, fatty flank, tendon and tripe.

By itself, the soup is comfortingly mild. Tripe is sliced into tender threads that melt into the broth, and fatty flank adds depth. A hint of allspice or cinnamon lingers, evidence of Vietnam’s prominence among spice exporters. A plate of garnishes makes the dish interactive â€" and ups the flavor ante considerably. Lime slices, Thai basil, sprouts and jalapeños give the soup a kick, and the brave can chance a few drops of hot sauce from tableside bottles.

Among non-soup items, about half are more familiar rice dishes and the other half vermicelli â€" a little like Chinese lo mein. Spring rolls ($3.79), one of only three appetizers offered, come in translucent rice paper with a filling of shrimp, pork and yet more noodles. The rice paper is slightly thicker and more gelatinous than at other local Vietnamese joints, making them a little chewy. But the plum sauce is thick with ground peanuts. More familiar fried egg rolls ($4.79) were a little greasy and heavy on the ground pork filling.

This is a great place for phó novices to get an education or for longtime phó fans to try a multitude of variations on a favorite dish.

[House of Phó, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, 5700 100th St. S.W., Suite 510, Lakewood, 253.983.0365]