S.O.L. >>>

For Your entertainment, or f.y.e., the music, movie and video game store owned by Trans World Entertainment Corp. located at 2330 South 37^th St. by the Tacoma Mall, will close Sunday. Most everything in the store is marked down 60 to 80 percent of the original price.

YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED TUESDAY, FEB. 2 >>>

Andy Buelow, executive director of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, posted on the Tacoma Arts listserv an alert of a statewide convening of arts advocates in Olympia. It's important enough to post again.

Appointments have been scheduled with state legislators. All you need to do is show up, get your information packets and be part of a group meeting that discusses arts-related bills and issues that are a part of the legislative session this year.

Plan on attending? Let us know so that you can join one of the groups that will be meeting with representatives and senators from Pierce County. Please click on this link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QNQGKJQ to let us know!

Be prepared to share personal stories of the arts impact in your community and the importance of strong arts education in our state schools. Let them know the importance of public funding for your community arts organizations, artists and public art that create jobs and provide vital life balance during challenging economic times. Your presence and our collective advocacy "voice" DO make a difference!

Here is the link to more information including key issues, maps, and parking directions - http://wsaa.qwestoffice.net/arts_day.htm#

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OODLES OF GOOD NEWS >>>

If I were to be banished to a deserted island and could bring along only one culinary creation, it would be a noodle dish. Specifically, my mom's homemade chicken and noodles, with broth made from scratch and inch-wide noodles as thick as shoe leather. And then there's spaghetti carbonara, pad Thai, "yakisoba" ... well, you get the idea. Noodles are good.

Apparently, noodles have been very good to Chef Gordon Naccarato, too. He will open a "noodle bar" every Thursday at his Pacific Grill restaurant beginning sometime in mid-February. His long bar top will be the medium - if you want noodles, you'll need to find a seat at the bar.

The "noodles" will arrive in the form of ramen bowls, Japanese-style ramen broth and noodles, bamboo shoots, carrot, daikon, bean sprouts, mushrooms and garnished with delicious soy-brined jalapeños. Noodle Bar specifics, hours, pricing and appropriate dress details to follow soon.

You don't have to wait until February to enjoy Pacific Grill's delicious ramen bowls. They have six varieties on their bar menu and an albacore tuna ramen ($26) on their new winter menu, which was released yesterday. The bar menu bowls are $10, with the option to add pork ($1), chicken ($2), shrimp ($3), duck ($3), Kobe top sirloin ($4) and Godzilla Ramen (all said meats for $5). The bowls also come with optional condiments - Indonesian chilies or Vietnamese fish sauce.

I enjoyed the Godzilla Ramen last night after Third Thursday ArtWalk. It's a huge, deep bowl with ample representation of all meats, in bite-size strips, and loads of noodles. It's about as far from those 29-cent packets of grocery-store noodles and dust as you can get.

[Pacific Grill, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, bar menu available until closing, 1502 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.627.3535]

IT'S STILL LIKE WELCOME BACK, KOTTER >>>

In case you haven't received the heads up yet, Portland's Drew Grow and Pastors' Wives are headed back to Tacoma this weekend for a show at the Warehouse on Saturday. With Tacoma ties, and having made plenty of connections in our beloved T-Town, the occasion will be celebrated not just for Grow's amply provides, skuzzy blues, but as the return of a friend.

In preparation for Grow's Saturday show at the Warehouse, I caught up Grow this week to chew the fat about T-Town, singles, Conan and the marrying habits of pastors. Check it.

(Note: This interview posted in two installments. The first installment hit Spew on Wednesday.)

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BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>>

Well, we were finally forced to do it this morning - give up our SOTA intern, that is. For the last three weeks Intern Emily, a senior at Tacoma School of the Arts, has handled all the little things around Weekly Volcano HQ. She fetched the coffee. She made the annoying phone calls we didn't want to. She got on her bike and peddled all over dodge taking pictures. She was basically awesome.

But now, unfortunately, we've got to remember how to live again - without an intern. I know it was only three weeks, but it's going to be a tough transition.

In honor of yesterday's Supreme Court decision, here are some ways you can kill a bunch of brain cells this weekend. In the New World, brains wont be necessary.

THE BLUE MONGOLS at DOYLE'S

Saturday, Jan. 23

Before we get started, let it be noted that both this week's Prefunk selections are both on Saturday.

I know, I know. Sorry.

Thing is, you know damn well I'm going to be horizontal in my sweatpants all Sunday watching the NFL playoff. So, suggesting activities other than ones I officially endorse, like lying around in your own filth watching football, seems risky at best - and probably down right hypocritical. Therefore, I recommend getting all this weekend's partying out of the way Saturday, so Sunday is free for the aforementioned lounging - but that's just me.

The first event Saturday night that I recommend checking out is Suzanne's birthday at Doyle's. Now, in all honesty I don't have the slightest clue who the Suzanne in question is - but I do know Tacoma's Blue Mongols will be providing the music. A Chicago blues inspired troupe of purists and blues scholars, The Blue Mongols stem from the same Tacoma blues lineage that brought this town the Toughtimes and The Brown and Blues Band. They seem certain to kill it at Doyle's.

PREFUNK: Since you have another event to hit tonight, don't blow your intoxication wad all in one spot. Start slow before heading to Doyle's.  Pick up a fruit flavored blunt wrap (I recommend mango), roll something tight (but not too tight), and take a quick meander around Wright Park before heading to Doyle's. It should put you in a good mindset for the blues, plus - mangoes are delicious.

Don't forget it's Suzanne's birthday.

TORTURE BOX at HELL'S KITCHEN

Saturday, Jan. 23

After getting your blues fix at Doyle's, take a short walk downtown to Pacific Avenue and the new and improved Hell's Kitchen for a lesson on boxes.

Boxes, after all, are great. You can keep so many important things in them.

For example, your weed.

But in the South Sound, we've already got plenty of places to keep our weed, and perhaps not enough receptacles for our torture.

Enter Olympia's Torture Box, a band of tube sock cock rockers that should go over nicely with Tacoma's "maturing" metal crowd. Think power stances and searing power chords - and lots of metal "torture."

PREFUNK: Three words. Waterboarding with beer.

MUSIC IN THE SOUTH SOUND TONIGHT >>>

INDIE POP: The Variety Hour can feel simultaneously fresh and nostalgic. Their eponymous debut EP sounds firmly rooted in Generation X, and, if I never saw the band, I would picture the members with ripped denims and flannel. No offense. - Rev. Adam McKinney

[The New Frontier Lounge, with The Dignitaries, Peter Benjamin, Friday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m., $5, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

PUNK: You already know Guttermouth. I don't need to describe the band. I don't need to tell you about the purposefully offensive antics, the three chords, or probably even the band's Orange County roots. I don't need to tell you the band is old as sin, and you could probably figure out for yourself that when Guttermouth comes to Hell's Kitchen on Friday it's not exactly going to be the same five punks that started the band in 1988. Still, it'll be pretty cool. Way better than indecent exposure in Saskatoon, at least in my humble opinion. - Matt Driscoll

[Hell's Kitchen, with Neurtralboy, South 11th, The Piss Drunks, Walk the Plank, 8 p.m., $12 adv, $15 dos, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, hellskitchenonline.com]

SATURDAY, JAN. 23, 2010 >>>

1. Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch opens at 10 a.m. inside the Washington State History Museum.

2. Jeff Bridges is a Best Actor front-runner for his performance as Bad Blake, a broke-down, boozy country singer with a stubborn pride in the film Crazy Heart playing at 11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:35, 7:00, and 9:25 p.m. inside The Grand Cinema.

3. Comic book editor Scott Allie and colorist Dave Stewart will hang at Comic Book Ink beginning at 2 p.m.

4. Tacoma Musical Playhouse stages Jonathan Larson's Rent at 8 p.m.

5. Artifakt presents another night of hip-hop and urban art this time featuring musical guests Fice with DJ Semaj, D. Black, Helladope, Dj Hanibal and DJ Reign with artists Andrea Roslie, Lolita Gunslinger, Aaron Voronoff, Jeff Olson and Kenji at 9 p.m. inside Jazzbones.

MUSIC IN THE SOUTH SOUND TONIGHT >>>

FUNKY ROCK: Besides having maybe the best band name in history, West Seattle Pleasure Club are masterful purveyors of underwear-destroying soul and funk. I dare (dare!) you to attend their show tonight and keep your super square toes from a-tappin'. With The Legend of Bigfoot, 8 p.m., $5, The New Frontier Lounge - Rev. Adam McKinney

SCUZZY BLUES: Portland's Drew Grow and Pastors' Wives will perform will perform tonight  inside the indie chic Warehouse in downtown Tacoma. A long time fan of Grow's work, which includes a few Tacoma connections, the Weekly Volcano caught up with the PDX songwriter this week on our blog, Spew. With Friday Mile, Goldfinch with the record label Amigo/Amiga in the house, 8 p.m., the Warehouse - Bobble Tiki

And Matt Driscoll previewed two shows happening tonight - The Blue Mongols at Doyle's and Torture Box at Hell's Kitchen - in his Prefunk column.

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight in the South Sound

LOCAL BLOG ROUNDUP >>>

Another week, another six days of cruising the local blogosphere for decent reading.

This Morning's Breakfast: French Toast Sticks ($1.79)

Where: Best Burgers in Lakewood

Taste: They have a golden crunchy outer layer that caves-in from the pressure of our first bite, revealing a soft and chewy warm center. The taste is similar to real French toast, and the texture reminded us of a cake-donut that had just been cooked.

Friday in his Mise en Place column on Exit133, Scandinavian descended food-o-phile John Isdtrom stated his hatred of his motherland staple lutefisk.

Where I come from, lutefisk transcends simple status as a food item. Some call it the "Cod that surpasseth all understanding" but I think that is no more than a bad translation of the King James version. I understand that some people hold lutefisk in reverent regard, and that most of those people are somehow related to me, but I simply can't get past the fact that a plate of the stuff looks like a gelatinous heap that smells like a bag of tube socks circa 1976.

Idstrom did profess his love of Dungeness crab in the same post ending with a recipe for Creamy Roasted Tomato, Leek and Crab Pasta.

Downtown Tacoma clothing store urbanXchange - vote Best Vintage Store in the Weekly Volcano's Best of Tacoma 2009 issue - announced back in December it would launch a new blog Saturday, Feb. 6. The blog will concentrate on art of life and its many expressions, specifically fashion, which the store believes is one of the best examples of post-medium art:

Art has become almost impossible to classify and categorize as in the past. There once were guilds of sculptors and painters, etc. Art was a lifestyle of specific and singular dedication. Now, art has jumped right off the canvas, fallen through concepts, and landed right into everyday life in a myriad of expressions of who we are individually and collectively. Art is about how we live.

A launch party for the blog has been set for Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. inside the store's music room, The Den.

Julie Bennett, owner of urbanXchange, has also created the zine, Plog - "post blog, paper log" - as she describes it in her first issue, which we found at the Mandolin Café.

The magazine-size, black and white sans staples zine's mission is "to be something of relevance and a useful means of expressing ideas, facilitate communication and encourage critical thinking," Bennett writes in he Letter From The Editor. Although dotted with urbanXchange promotions and trends, Bennett states she is appalled by Consum-o-tainment - "the tearing of the sacred membrane between advertising and content" - and she doesn't "have interest in profit goals beyond paying overhead, being able to pay the employees, taking care of basic needs etc."

Keep an eye out for the zine, or drop by urbanXchange at 1932 Pacific Ave. and grab one.

BICYCLE BOOZE CRUZ >>>

Groundhog Sprocket

Saturday, Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.

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