BILL WHITE: HAMMER OF THE GODS COMES TO THE GRAND >>>

A love letter to the art of the guitar, Davis Guggenheim’s documentary It Might Get Loud convenes a summit of guitar gods from three generations: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and The White Stripes' Jack White.

The film opens at The Grand Cinema Friday.

The three guitarists will share how they developed their own sound and rose to stardom.

Bonus: They gather together on an empty soundstage and go off. The resulting jam session ought to be a music geek’s wet dream. 

[The Grand Cinema, opens Friday, Oct. 9, showtimes and prices here, 606 Fawcett, Tacoma, 253.593.4474]

BOBBLE TIKI: BE CURIOUS >>>

If you’re anything like Bobble Tiki â€" you’re curious. You’re curious about ghostly mysteries in old buildings. You’re curious about cities teeming with forgotten and often culturally blasphemous histories. You’re curious about that enormous tree in Wright Park that has been there long before you were born and has stories of sex and revolution and lost dogs and time. See it?

If you’re not curious, Bobble Tiki urges you to change. Pick at a thread of curiosity then explore it. It does not have to be complicated. You simply begin to notice.

For instance, attend the Curiosities party Friday night at The Robert Daniel Gallery. Study the curious art by Jovier Ortega, Rik Garrett, Jeff Angell and -O-Design Studio. Eat the strange food. Drink the exotic liquid libations. Try to guess who’s underneath the curious costumes. You will begin to see the signs, understand the symbols â€" the divine winks â€" and realize there are enormous hidden worlds of belief and interconnected history just under the manufactured and carefully orchestrated surface of things.

Just saying.

[The Robert Daniel Gallery, Friday, Oct. 9, 8 p.m., $10, $5 before 10 p.m., 2501 S. Fawcett, Tacoma, 253.227.1407]

MICHAEL SWAN: THURSDAY, OCT. 8, 2009 >>>

1. Starstruck headlines Kids Day at the downtown Tacoma Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Band should perform around 11 a.m.

2. Stanley & Seafort’s honors October’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by donating a $1 from every Cosmopolitan sold to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Drink for a great cause at 115 E. 34th St. in Tacoma. More Food Matters here.

3. Shunpike â€" the organization that helps all kinds of small and mid-sized arts groups better manage the business aspects of art â€" pulls double duty today with a arts business clinic from 2-5 p.m. at Suite 133, then a quarterly social gathering S’PIKEd at 6 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge.

4. Guitarist Ed Taylor will fill the downtown Tacoma Italian restaurant Merende with jazz beginning at 7 p.m.

5. Author Suzanne Selfors will drops by the Garfield Book Company at 7 p.m. to chat about her new book, Coffeehouse Angel.

Oh, Pink Martini opens up the new season at the Broadway Center â€" but it’s sold out.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

WEEKLY VOLCANO: YOUR DAILY GUIDE TO THE TACOMA FILM FESTIVAL >>>

The 2009 Tacoma Film Festival ends at The Grand Cinema. Ticket prices and more information are here.

Thursday, Oct. 8
2 p.m., Grand Cinema: El Regalo de la Pachamama   

Closing Night Film
6 p.m., Grand Cinema: The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle           
$13 Grand Cinema member, $15 non members, includes movie and meal
Meet Director David Russo and share in a post film discussion including food provided by the Adriatic Grill.
 
The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
Directed by David Russo
Comedy (103 min.)
Something is fishy in Seattle in this 21st century comedy about a group of Gen Y janitors being used as guinea pigs. 

Little Dizzle is an edgy character-driven fable with unique Northwest flavor icons (Space Needle, The Alaskan Way Viaduct, the ferries, the skyline and the waterfront) haunting the background of David Russo’s strange world.

This film was shot in Seattle with many local actors. It's the first Seattle film to be “incentivized” by Washington Film Works, and is a recipient of Northwest Film Forum’s Start-to-Finish grant program.   

Little Dizzle has received standing ovations at Sundance and SXSW.      

LINK: Tacoma Film Festival on Twitter

LINK: Tacoma Film Festival Web site

LINK: Full film descriptions

LINK: Weekly Volcano Tacoma Film Festival cover story

PAUL SCHRAG: STATE OF THE ART >>>

Time to break it down nice, slow and simple.

Once and for all â€" Graffiti is art.

There. I said it. Never ask again.

Sorry. But the discussion surrounding graffiti as an art form is usually about that brief. Either graffiti is art or it’s crime. Occasionally someone will summon enough mental acuity to define it as both. On very rare occasions the conversation gets more in depth. Whatever the case, this once underground art form is officially emerging as a pop culture phenomenon, and more and more people are talking about graffiti and its place in the world of art.

Read the rets of my thoughts, and the state of graffiti in Tacoma, here.

BOBBLE TIKI: TIKI LOGIC >>>

On the sad news front, Bobble Tiki recently learned that one of his favorite Tacoma bands, Paris Spleen, will be calling it quits at the end of the month. No word on exactly why the indie rockers are moving on to hopefully bigger and better things, but Bobble Tiki suspects those Paris Spleen pants finally just got too tight.

Read the sad news regarding Bobble Tiki's health and the Spleen split here.

ALEC CLAYTON: NEW OLYMPIA GALLERY FEATURES RECYCLED ART >>>

An exciting new gallery opened in Olympia with an opening showing of 60 artists â€" most but not all from the South Sound area â€" “featuring artworks that incorporate recycled, reclaimed, and responsibly harvested materials,” according to a statement by gallery owner Jo Gallaugher.

The name is Matter. It’s on Fifth Avenue between Capital and Columbia. Read my review of it on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

MICHAEL SWAN: DAILY BEAST RANKS US SEVENTH >>>

Are you smarter than a New Yorker? According to The Daily Beast, you are if you’re a Tacoman.

The online news aggregator's study ranked 55 metropolitan areas with more than 1 million people by criteria such as how many residents had bachelor’s and graduate degrees and the number of higher education institutions. Other criteria included the sales of nonfiction books and the percentage of eligible people to vote in the last presidential election.

Seattle/Tacoma ranked as the seventh smartest American city with an IQ score of 151 (tied with Washington, D.C.), while Raleigh-Durham, N.C., was at the top of the list with the highest score of 170. However, the Daily Beast’s reasoning centers on Seattle:

#7 (tie), SEATTLE-TACOMA
Metro Area Population: 3,344,813
Daily Beast IQ Score: 151

Gray skies and wet weather tend to lead to indoor pursuits: While the Seattle area has relatively few educational institutions, this city devours nonfiction at a rate  near the very top nationally. “It’s dark a lot of the time out of the year here, it’s rainy a lot of the time out of the year here, so book reading is taken pretty seriously,” says Alex Fryer, a spokesman for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.

The dumbest city? Fresno, Calif., with an IQ score of 3. Ah-ha.

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Not So Clear For Takeoff: Alaska Airlines irritates people. (The News Tribune)

Coffee Addiction: Fircrest pastor pleads guilty to making obscene phone calls to baristas. (The News Tribune)

Pierce County: Number of juveniles arrested increases to 4,169. (The News Tribune)

Houston, This Isn’t A Problem: NASA set to crash on the moon â€" twice. (CNN)

Earth Still Misbehaving: Four major quakes strike South Pacific. (CNN)

Taliban Sucks: Afghan bomb strikes India embassy. (BBC)

Brilliant: Inmate tries daring escape with newspaper, raisins. (The Wichita Eagle)

Jeez â€" Need A Dose Of Happy

RON SWARNER: WE NOW HAVE A FREAKING BELLA BALL! >>>

When the City Club of Tacoma announced it was putting on a show to celebrate its first 25 year of existence, it wasn't hard to predict how the party would go down. The club brought in artist Lynn Di Nino to produce it under event chair Sue Schaeffer. Di Nino, in turn, brought in musician/actor/comedian Doug Mackey. Mackey and Di Nino have had their hands on just about every cool and innovative event in town. When the party finally happened last night at Washington State History Museum, their event, titled "All Together Now," had everyone in tears – induced by laughter.

After wine, buffet and a greeting by City Club President Ann Gosch, City Club co-founders Lilly Warnick and Patricia Lantz discussed the clubs first year, vision and hopes on stage over a glass of wine.

In celebration of their 25th year, City Club recognized the accomplishments of other organizations in our community that have made a significant impact during the last quarter century. One by one the "25@25" honorees where recognized and awarded a handcrafted Bella Ball. The honorees were: Associated Ministries, Bates Technical College, The Black Collective, Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, Centro Latino, City Arts, Emergency Food Network, Tacoma Farmers Market, Tacoma Goodwill, The Grand Cinema, Korean Women's Association, KPLU, Museum of Glass, The Nonprofit Center, The News Tribune, pierce County AIDS Foundation, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Tacoma School of the Arts Partners, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma Historical Society, Tacoma Musical Playhouse, University of Washington Tacoma, Washington State History Museum and, drum roll, the Weekly Volcano.

Then Mackey took over.

Complete with Beatles accent and wig, Mackey launched into the show portion of the party, back by keyboardist Gavin Guss and six high school age students loaded with vocal talent: Grace Oberhofer, Rachel Lind, Henry Nettleton, Claire Idstrom, Bryan Gula and Grant Troyer. Amazing voices!

Ringleader Mackey and the kids took the crowd on a musical journey through Tacoma's dark side. They reworked famous Beatles songs changing the lyrics to poke fun at the Luzon building, Frank Russell, The spire, Tollefson Plaza, Bicentennial Pavilion, downtown condos, LeMay Car Museum, Rep. Norm Dicks, potholes, and unfortunately for Tacoma, many more.

It was the funniest roast of Tacoma I have seen.

Mackey tells me a video of the show is in the works.

On behalf of my business partner Ken Swarner and the entire staff of the Weekly Volcano, I would like to extend a big heartfelt thanks to the City Club of Tacoma for such a great honor. Ken and I have been covering the Tacoma scene for more than 23 years – including 414 weeks with the Volcano. We love this city.

LINK: More photos in our Photo Hot Spot