MICHAEL SWAN: ONE CITY. 30 DAYS. WHAT WILL YOU DO? >>>
 
Art at Work Month: Wednesday, Nov. 25

November 2009 marks the eighth anniversary of Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month. There is something for everyone to enjoy throughout the month: lectures, music, dance performances, readings, workshops, theater performances, visual art exhibits and more.

Here are today’s highlights:

Draw with Warren from 9-10 a.m. at Tacoma Art Supply. Warren has some awesome warm-up moves to show you. Bring your own materials.

Tacoma Art Place offers Darkroom Basics and Working with Clay classes, both at 6 p.m. Call 253.238.1006 for details.

There are many more events today. For a complete Art at Work schedule, click here.

RON SWARNER: FOOD MATTERS >>>

Half-Price Wine: Lots of options tonight in the South Sound.

Another Bikini Barista Shack: The Foxy Lady Café has opened at 11016 Valley Ave. S.E. in Puyallup.

Plan Ahead: The Dockside Bistro and Wine Bar in Olympia hosts a wine dinner with Washington winery Anelare Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.  Reserve your space at 360.956.1928.

Food For Thought: What to eat the night before the big feast?

LINK: Weekly Volcano’s Eat & Drink section

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: South Sound Happy Hours

LINK: Wine and beer tastings

MICHAEL SWAN: KIM CHESELKA AT FULCRUM >>>

Photographer Mitch Dubin posted some terrific photos of Fulcrum Gallery owner Oliver Dorris helping artist Kim Cheselka set up her show - Instructions From the Natural World - at the Tacoma Hilltop gallery. Click here to check them out. Click here from more information on Cheselka's show, which runs through the end of the year at Fulcrum.

LINK: Weekly's Volcano's Flickr group site

RON SWARNER: Q&A WITH JADA-MOON GRIDLEY >>>

Many a strange phenomenon comes over us during this, the holiday season. People pretend they’re in ye olde Victorian England. Television commercials start to rhyme. We use terms like “hustle and bustle” in everyday conversation voluntarily. But before you decide to curl up into a ball inside your big down parka and never come out, take into account all of the lovely things that accompany all of this weirdness â€" local craft markets supporting local, sustainable economy.

The Gritty City Gift Fair, organized by local crafter/artist Jada-Moon Gridley, hosts 25 vendors Friday, Nov. 27 at The Robert Daniel Gallery. Expect hand-made art, crafts and products â€" many with an alternative, quirky, unique or hip feel. Don’t expect sweatshop merchandise that steals your soul.

I threw a couple of questions at Jada-Moon regarding Friday’s happening:

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Are the Gritty City Gift Fair vendors all from Tacoma?

JADA-MOON GRIDLEY: No, I’m bringing really talented folks from around the greater Puget Sound region, even one guy from Oregon.

Our goal is to encourage people to buy hand-made and local gifts made in sustainable ways, and to open “the biggest shopping day of the year” to those folks who wouldn’t dream of hitting the mall â€" and to those who would.

The arts, crafts and products available will all be hand-made. Many artists with an alternative, quirky, unique or hip feel have been drawn to or hand-selected to bring you a fine selection of art, jewelry, fashion, and functional items and products. Find items made with vintage buttons, hemp, recycled hardwoods, upcycled paper, forest and beach bounty, repurposed gizmos and more.

VOLCANO: Are you displaying your art?
GRIDLEY: I am not setting up too much of a shop myself â€" but I will bring some of my soaps, lotion bars, massage candles, and gift baskets made with these goodies.  Also serving up some Bloody Marys and mimosas.

VOLCANO: Nice.

GRIDLEY: Yup, and expect the musical stylings of DJ Jimmy Sparkles, Bobby Galaxy, and a special live performance by Stephanie Johnson.

VOLCANO: How long have you been making/creating things?

GRIDLEY: I have been creating stuff as long as I can remember â€" from paper jewelry and weird inventions like a chalk-based "button dye" as a pre-schooler right on up the line. By age 12, I was hearing that I should sell my creations. The soap I started when I was pregnant 6 years ago. I wanted to start giving more hand-made and consumable goods for Christmas rather than ... you know. All that STUFF.

VOLCANO: What are your creative inspirations?

GRIDLEY: At best, I like to think I let divine energy work through me to create. On a more base level, I think I just like to make people, places and things look cool and pretty. So many Tacoma artists have completely inspired me. With their work, but also by the way they live their art and connect with other artists and make the scene come alive in the city.  The support, encouragement and validation I have received here have really led me to start letting art and being an artist take the spotlight in my life.

VOLCANO: Craft supplies you can’t live without?

GRIDLEY: I've got scissors in every single room of the house. And I put gold paint on everything.

VOLCANO: What's the most important aspect of the Gritty City Gift Fair that people should know?

GRIDLEY: We need to keep shifting toward supporting local, sustainable economy. The prices might be low on the sweatshop merchandise available at your corner corporate conglomerate, but the real cost is far too high.

VOLCANO: What’s next on your docket?

GRIDLEY: In the first quarter of next year I'll be diving a little deeper into event planning. The first will be a party called SALVATION: The post-apocalypse pre-funk, an art/costume party featuring art made all from salvaged materials and mad max/tank girl/steam punk fashion sense. The second party will be Moondance, featuring an inspiring singer-songwriter I'm bringing in from Eugene and a DJ from Orcas Island who I fell in love with her DJ style, which she describes as "Goddess downtempo with Indian flavors and feminine conscious hip-hop." So freakin' good. The feeling will be heavy yin, heal your spirit, heal the planet, realize that you are manifesting your reality, and behold the power and beauty of amazing women.

[The Robert Daniel Gallery, Gritty City Gift Fair, Friday, Nov. 27, noon to 6 p.m., no cover, 2501 S. Fawcett, Tacoma, myspace.com/grittycitygiftfair]

MICHAEL SWAN: SOMETHING TO KNOW >>>

Shunpike, the Seattle-based organization that assists arts organizations with the business side of er, the art business - participated in the Art at Work 2009 Arts Symposium Nov. 14 at the University of Puget Sound. Being the smart business people they are, they recorded their sessions:

Executive Director Andy Fife on "Financial Management" - budgeting and bookkeeping tips for small arts organizations: Download the MP3

Deputy Director Michelle Chiachiere on "Fundraising" - understanding your support base and building a fundraising voice: Download the MP3

RON SWARNER: PICK UP A COPY TODAY >>>

Checking In With Wendy: Wendy Au began serving delicious Asian food at her walk-up counter in Freighthouse Square food court more than 20 years ago.  While Pearl Jam was still ruling the charts, she opened Wendy’s II, a sit-down restaurant near the Tacoma Mall. Both locations are popular among those looking for a tasty, fast and affordable bite to eat. Freighthouse does a solid bustling lunch business while the Tacoma Mall location offers a more leisurely dining experience with later hours. The place is casual with no side of pretension. It is what it is. The service is fast, the special board a must-see, and the food always hot and plentiful.

Vegan Thanksgiving: November is National Pepper Month, National British Appreciation Month, Aviation History Month and National Diabetes Awareness Month. An odd combination, if you think about it, yet somehow strangely appropriate. Almost all of the things celebrated in November are very good reasons for you to eat Thanksgiving dinner at Tacoma vegan restaurant Quickie Too.

3 Drink Minimum: It could be raining John Mayer CDs and Steph DeRosa still thinks the view from Katie Downs is gorgeous â€" where the windows are grand and the landscape vast. So what if it’s raining? It’s not the weather that’s going to determine the greatness of her day, but the people she chooses to be with in the rainstorm.  Because, you know what they say: Come rain, sleet, snow or hail â€" the only way she’s not having three drinks is if she’s in jail.

RON SWARNER: SWEATERS SO BAD THEY'RE GOOD >>>

Three years ago Doyle’s Public House co-owner Russ Heaton laughed when his Minnesota friend recommended he host an ugly holiday sweater party. After Heaton rolled his eyes for the fifth time, he Googled it. Search results suggested it wasn’t a crazy idea.

Six people dressed for his 2006 Bad Holiday Sweater Party â€" including Heaton and his now wife, Jennifer.

Last year, the number tripled.

Both years the Stadium District bar packed them in due to Tacoma’s desire to tie one on the night before Thanksgiving. However, the few people dressed in red and green with dangling knit ornaments stuck out like sore thumbs, forced to explain they weren’t retarded.

Tonight, hoping three times a charm, Doyle’s opened its doors for folks donning snowmen, Santas and bells in appliqué, yarn and sequins. Thirty minutes into its 8:35 p.m. launch, I counted 60 ugly holiday sweaters â€" not an easy chore in a packed house.

Even with safety in numbers, I still felt a little “special” in my hideous holiday sweater vest. Grabbing cash inside Stadium Thriftway on the way to the party was a poor decision, too.

LINK: More ugly sweater photos from Dolyle’s

MICHAEL "STANDISH" SWAN: THURSDAY, NOV. 26, 2009 >>>

1. Centre at Norpoint hosts a Turkey Trot featuring a 5K run, 2-mile walk, a kid's dash (ages 3-8) and a wheelchair division beginning at 9 a.m.

2. Fantasy Lights - the largest drive-through display of lights in the Northwest - opens tonight, 5:30-9 p.m., at Spanaway Park.

3. Gay-friendly Jake's On 4th in Olympia hosts a Thanksgiving DJ Spin-Off with DJ Becca and a Super-Secret Seattle Guest DJ at 8 p.m.

4. DJ Luvva J spins at Jezebels Bar & Grill during "YES" night beginning at 9 p.m.

5. Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn hosts ShoTyme at 8:30 p.m.

MICHAEL SWAN: TAKING THE DAY OFF >>>

Barring any new dogs drinking beer photos, we're going to use the holiday as an excuse to take a rare day off. So, please people, for our sake, perform naked on top of Hell’s Kitchen, open a new restaurant and do funny things in the middle of Tollefson Plaza after Thanksgiving.

And we totally want photos of your family’s fight to the death over who has the damn Tupperware. We know every year someone brings Tupperware to collect leftovers and every freakin’ year it disappears.

We'll see you all back here on tomorrow and remember: Baste often.

LINK: Movie times

MICHAEL SWAN: FRIDAY, NOV. 27, 2009 >>>

1. Paradise Theatre presents its version of A Christmas Story at 7:30 p.m.

2. The Gritty City Gift Fair will host 25 alternative, quirky, unique and hip vendors from noon to 6 p.m. inside The Robert Daniel Gallery.

3. The cool Lelavision Physical Music Performance will get all physical and musical at 1 and 3 p.m. inside the Museum of Glass.

4. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium turn on the Zoolights from 5-9 p.m.

5. The Pawnshop Playboys do their thing at 8 p.m. inside Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill in Spanaway.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide