RON SWARNER: FOOD MATTERS >>>

Chef’s Dinner: Affairs Café & Bakery in University Place hosts a Holiday Chef’s Dinner tonight at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $75. Call 253.565.8604 for details.

Christmas Tea: The Northwest Baptist Seminary (4301 N. Stevens, Tacoma) will serve tea today 1:30-4 p.m. and Dec. 12 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $18.
 
Plan Ahead: A January grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting is on the horizon, and an even closer soft opening on Dec. 14 is imminent for Smooth and Juicey â€" the new alt-bev bar that will open on Market Street near the YMCA.

Food For Thought: Five worst foods to bring to a party.

LINK: Weekly Volcano’s Eat & Drink section

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: South Sound Happy Hours

LINK: Wine and beer tastings

LINK: South Sound coupons

WEEKLY VOLCANO: BECAUSE “SERIES” IS OUR MIDDLE NAME >>>

We're posting a South Sound store window daily through Christmas to give you a quick jolt of holiday spirit. Ho, ho, ho!

On the 11th day of Christmas we drove by: Glenna's Clothing.

LINK: Drive-by Holiday history

SUZY STUMP: TACOMA CITY BALLET GOES BIG >>>

A brooding, mysterious godfather, a broken-jawed wooden soldier that comes to life and a murderous Mouse King all converge once again to remind us The Nutcracker story may be the most hair-raising Christmas favorite for the whole family the world has ever known. Tacoma City Ballet stages Tchaikovsky's ballet the next two weekends, with the Northwest Sinfonietta scoring it and featuring the original Marius Petipa choreography.

I’m not sure what exact shape TCB's show will take â€" plot and costume details differ from production to production â€" but whether the Mouse King has seven heads (like the beast of Revelation), three heads (like Cerberus, dog-guardian of Hades) or only one (like a normal mouse king), this dark-edged dream promises to leave kids and sensitive adults as speechless as the bounding, pirouetting athletes on the huge Pantages stage.

[Pantages Theater, Saturday, Dec. 12 1 and 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13 1 p.m., same times next Saturday and Sunday, $28-$60, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894] 

WEEKLY VOLCANO: WEEKLY VOLCANO FLICKR GROUP >>>

Jim Oliver, or jimoliverphotography on Flickr, posted some great photos of a December sunrise in Tacoma on the Weekly Volcano’s Flickr Group. We are in love with just about everything he shoots. Click here to see more.

LINK: Jim Oliver Photography's Web site

LINK: Weekly Volcano’s Flickr Group

MATT DRISCOLL: IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG >>>

Do you feel it? Do you sense it? Do you smell that smoke?

That's right, ladies and gentleman, it's time - yet again - for The Prefunk: A weekly primer designed to get you and your liver ready for Friday and Saturday night in the South Sound.

Along with some of man's best friends - all with drinking problems that rival your own - the Weekly Volcano is here with a glance into what's happening around town tonight and tomorrow, and how you can ready yourself for the action.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Tab Benoit at Jazzbones in Tacoma

If the startling hookup of Billy Corgan and Jessica Simpson has taught us two lessons - they are as follows:

1.    Sexiness is very important - even more so than substance.

2.    Even scary ugly bald dudes that haven't done anything worthy of the air they breath in the last 10 years - guys that release poetry books designed, almost entirely, to trick followers stuck in 1992 into forking over hard earned cash for a collection of upchucked and poorly construed prose - can occasionally land the chick from Dukes of Hazard.

These two lessons may well come in handy tonight and tomorrow at Jazzbones. First of all, Southern blues guitarist Tab Benoit is a muthfuckin' sexy beast. Ask almost any lady over 40 - or my sister. They'll all tell you the same thing. Luckily, with Benoit as opposed to Simpson - there's serious substance with this guy, too. His music is almost - almost - as breathtaking as his dreamy eyes.

Second of all, for dudes out there - Tab Benoit is going to be charging up the room with sexiness. If you're in the midst of a cold streak, shouldn't you be there to reap the benefits?

You might not be Tab Benoit, but shit - at least you're not Billy Corgan. The ladies will see that.

Am I right?

PREFUNK: Tab drinks Courvoisier, and so should you. There's a liquor store right next door to Jazzbones. Just sayin'. Take a few swigs in your Cabriolet before heading in and watch the magic happen.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Spectacular Optical at Bob�s Java Jive in Tacoma

Did you realize Tacoma has a new wave going? It's kind of crazy, but almost entirely true.

While it's certainly not cut and dry, some of the bands that first stirred the indie rock pot in Tacoma are getting (slightly) long in the tooth, and -thanks especially to SOTA - a new breed of young, but remarkably talented, kids are infiltrating the clubs and stages - most of them wowing us in the process.

Spectacular Optical fits that bill. Experimental pop with more excitement and urgency than most, they've been on stage a lot lately - and I'd expect that trend to continue. See them on the Jive's tiny stage this Saturday.

PREFUNK: There's really nothing you can do in the comfort of your own home or car that you can't do right inside the Jive - or, at the very least, the smoking section. No real need to prefunk here - just bring open ears and mind.

RON SWARNER: FOOD MATTERS >>>

Taste of Met Market: Discover what Metropolitan Market has for the holidays from appetizer ideas to the center piece of your holiday table to desserts from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today at the Proctor District and Dash Point stores.

Forza Reopens: Forza Coffee Company has announced that the cafe on Steele Street will reopen this morning at 8:14 a.m. The coffee house at 11401 Steele St. S. was closed after the tragic ambush of four Lakewood Police officers on Nov. 29 at 8:14 a.m.

Wine Tasting: There’s a few tastings around the South Sound today.

Plan Ahead: Toscanos Café and Wine Bar, Gallo Wines and Taste of the NFL hosts “Wine & Football” every Sunday. Stop by the Puyallup restaurant, watch the game, sip from an “NFL Wine List” and smile as proceeds from the wines go to help fight hunger locally.

Food For Thought: LA restaurant introduces bacon and egg martini.

LINK: Weekly Volcano’s Eat & Drink section

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: South Sound Happy Hours

LINK: Wine and beer tastings

LINK: South Sound coupons

MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, DEC. 12, 2009 >>>

1. Traver Gallery Tacoma hosts a special Holiday Salon Sale featuring 200 original works of art from 2-6 p.m.

2. Tacoma City Ballet stages Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet with the Northwest Sinfonietta scoring it and the original Petipa choreography at 1 and 5 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater.

3. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., inside the Capitol Theater, Duck The Malls arts and crafts sale hosts more than 40 of Oly's finest artisans who have worked all year to present you with artistic gifts for the holidays: paintings, lamps, hats, purses, dolls, musical instruments, pottery, fused glass and more.

4. Tacoma Art Place hosts free art workshops for middle schoolers
 from 1-5 p.m. inside the Speakeasy Arts Cooperative at 746 Broadway St. in downtown Tacoma

5. The Puget Sound Revels celebrates the winter solstice with a mix of stories, music, theater and wackiness at 2 and 7:30 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

Photo: Alex Stisser's Ring Goblet on sale at Traver Gallery Tacoma.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: COMING TOGETHER >>>

Benefits for the four tragically slain Lakewood police officers are everywhere right now - and rightfully so. With so much pain, it's only naturally for people to want to help. It aids the healing process for our entire community.

Sunday at The Swiss in Tacoma, China Davis' Ben Fuller has helped throw together what, musically speaking, may be one of the best benefits going - collecting money for the Lakewood Police Independent Guild Charity Fund and offering music from The Missionary Position, Mom's Rocket, China Davis (naturally), Matt Eklund, Daniel Blue, Voxxy Vallejo and a host of others. The event - which has a $10 suggested donation - kicks of at 3 p.m. and has snowballed into a serious happening, with even KZOK getting involved to help promote it.

The Weekly Volcano caught up with Fuller earlier this week get his thoughts on the tragedy in Lakewood and organizing the benefit at the Swiss.

The interview will be posted in two parts. Part one posted on Thursday, Dec. 10. 

UPDATE: Fuller tells the Weekly Volcano that a benefit CD is being compiled and will be sold for $5 at Sunday's show at the Swiss. The CD will feature many of the artists scheduled to appear at the benefit.

WV: Talk about the lineup. What was your goal with it? How did you choose artists, and what were people's reactions when you approached them?

FULLER: The Northwest has a lot of music and no shortage of quality people offering to play events like this. My first goal was to put something together that Tacoma would want to see and show good taste. I kind of feel like this is a collection of some of the people I appreciate within the community. Actually, when Jeff Angell and Daniel Blue said they'd do it I knew we really had something. They are really the best of what Tacoma has to offer in their genre; it'd be a good event if they were the only ones on the bill. I really appreciate Jeff. He just jumped on this with no questions asked.

It's going to be good variety on Sunday. I'm really happy with the bill. We've got Dudley from Sweat Water and Voxxy Vallejo, who have four members who are longtime Lakewood residents finishing the night out. Mom's Rocket, who has been the KJR house band for the last year, will be playing.

I have my own personal favorites, too. People like Jim Basnight, who has a great back-story as a do-it-yourselfer from the late seventies punk and early eighties indie-rock scene.  

WV: Besides the music, what else are you doing at the event? Where does the money go?

FULLER: There will be $10 donation at the door and we are also putting together a raffle and all of the money goes to the Lakewood Police Independent Guild Charity Fund. http://lpig.us/ 

We also would love to offer any officer who would like to say something the chance to speak. This event is really about the community showing our appreciation for our policemen and policewomen. 

WV: How have the horrific murders in Lakewood that inspired this event personally affected you? Explain the emotions behind your involvement in this event.

FULLER: On a personal note, I found out that Officer Griswold was my daughter's mom's cousin. So, I guess in a way I am still trying to comprehend it all. I've been listening to music through different ears; I guess mortality is much more of a reality to me now. 

WEEKLY VOLCANO: MUSIC IN THE SOUTH SOUND TONIGHT >>>

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we have you covered.

East Coast gaze-grunge duo The Sky Drops drop in on the 4th Ave Ale House after dropping their debut album, Bourgeois Beat, in August. Drop by tonight at 9 p.m. and check them out with The Third Law of Motion.

In a town like Tacoma, strikingly barren when it comes to the experimental pop music that’s become a staple in indie-chic hotspots like Portland, a band like Spectacular Optical is a breath of fresh â€" if not slightly bizarre â€" air. Read the full story here. And check them out with Eel Eater, French Dad, Best Supporting Actress, and Fuck You Safari tonight at 8 p.m. inside Bob's Java Jive.

Deborah Page will mix melodic funk, folk, and beats with hypnotic electric guitar and haunting vocals at the Vanity Fashion Boutique Christmas Bash (and grand opening) from 7-11 p.m. at 3903 Sixth Ave. in Tacoma.

LINK: More live music in the South Sound tonight

Photo: The Sky Drops by Joe del Tufo

WEEKLY VOLCANO: BECAUSE “SERIES” IS OUR MIDDLE NAME >>>

We're posting a South Sound store window daily through Christmas to give you a quick jolt of holiday spirit. Ho, ho, ho!

On the 12th day of Christmas we drove by: The Wedding Bell.

LINK: Drive-by Holiday history