FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 >>>

1. Dance on television! Head on over to TCTV Studio A on Olympia's Westside for Dance Oly Dance featuring DJ PhilosoBitch's bumpin' set from 8-9 p.m.

2. The Society of Composers presents a free concert of modern chamber music at 10 a.m. inside the Schneebeck Concert Hall.

3. The Tacoma Opera presents The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - sung in Italian with projected English translation - at 8 p.m.

4. The Tom Brooks' Ad hoc Jazz Committee will fill Woody's on the Water with jazz beginning at 7 p.m.

5. Steven Dietz's Last of the Boys about Vietnam vets coming to terms will be staged at 9:30 p.m. at Tacoma Little Theatre.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

WHAT WE'VE FOUND TODAY >>>

The iPad's release date is announced - you'll be able to pick one up April 3.

Booth Gardner goes to the Oscars.

Researchers believe that the fibers, or "threads," that mussels use to stick to the beach possess a structure that one day may be used for coatings in man-made materials that need to be stretchy and hard.

The 9/11 trial may be held in military court, not civilian court in NYC.

Japan won't comply with a tuna ban, even thought the bluefin may go extinct.

Sarah Palin is basically Snooki

WEEKLY VOLCANO FLICKR GROUP >>>

Jim Oliver, or jimoliverphotography on Flickr, posted a cool shot of a bonsai'd red laceleaf Japanese maple at The Pacific Rim Bonsai Garden in Federal Way on the Weekly Volcano's Flickr Group. Click here for Oliver's Web site.

We also added a new photo album of Olympia street art shot by J.M. Simpson on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>>

Is it that time already? Time for another installment of Prefunk - your weekly guide to liver destruction, local events and feelings of morning regret?

Indeed.

While I've spent a decent amount of time in recent weeks explaining the idea of "The Prefunk" to newcomers, I'm hoping by this point anyone interested has already caught on. I'm also hoping people uninterested in pictures of dogs and cats drinking beer or receiving tips on ways you can heighten your weekend event-going experience through glue huffing and Scope mouthwash Jell-O shots have already tuned out.

SATURDAY, MARCH 6

Brooklyn Pool at Rocket Records - 3 p.m.

The band was once called As Far as Foxes Go, and before that - ever so briefly - Bearfeat. In truth, though, none of that matters. The moniker is officially Brooklyn Pool these days, and together Morgan Brown, Aaron Sweet and Jesse Goodrum are churning out some of our area's most intriguing indie pop. The melodies seal the deal. Saturday the kiddies get a chance to have at it, as Brooklyn Pool plays an all ages show at Sixth Avenue's Rocket Records.

PREFUNK: Here's a novel idea - make THIS your prefeunk. It's early enough, right? Getting totally wasted before a 3 p.m. all ages show would be moderately disgraceful, right?

Of course.

Here's what you do: The court ordered you to see your kids. This is a fact. It's also a fact that one of the main reasons you're in this predicament in the first place is you loved going to rock shows way more than being married to your crazy ex. Rub it in his/her face by taking the wee-ones out to a show that will surely sculpt their minds in a much more positive fashion than listening to mom and dad argue about dad's Adult Friend Finder account.

SUNDAY, MARCH 7

4X4 Off Road and High Performance Meet at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday is the perfect day for off roading - or, at the every least, heading to the Puyallup Fair Grounds to get an off roading boner with a bunch of Carhartt partial, like minded folks.

Big tires. Big trucks. A love of mud. These are your people. Indulge.

PREFUNK: The event is associated with the Moonshiners Jeep Club - based out of Spanaway. The club emblem even features an old, bearded, Yosemite Sam looking dude bouncing out of the back of a jeep with a moonshine jug in hand.

Rather than spending too much time wondering about whether moonshiners should actually operate a jeep club, just join in the fun. Make some hard-hitting hooch in your tub (I hear in prison they use urine), guzzle down an old mason jar full of the stuff, and head on over to Puyallup. Once there, be sure to use the phrase, "down by the river" a lot - and get some mud on your clothes.

The good news is, by this point, that bathtub hooch should have hit and there's a good chance you will have already fallen on your ass heading into the fair grounds - thus accomplishing the dirty, off roader look. Well done.

See you next week.

CLAW CARES >>>

There are those who dread going home to an empty house, and there are those who revel in it. Those in the second category usually have large families. Or just families. Or maybe they're just antisocial, which is fine. But the point is to scheme new and innovative ways to achieve that empty house. To this end, perhaps you should perhaps encourage your artsy kid to apply for the 2010 Cartoonist's League of Absurd Washingtonians Young Cartoonist of the Future Scholarship. The Tacoma-based art organization has $368 with your kid's name on it - if they are worthy. The application must be turned in by March 15, 2010. Download the application here. Then sit back and dream about the piece and quiet. Ahhh. ... art scholarships.

THIS GUY IS NUTS >>>

As you have all read over and over Quinton Loyne-Packard will be co-hosting The Grand Cinema's Academy Awards Party Sunday at the Rialto Theater. In addition to the live broadcast of the Academy Awards' red carpet and live show on the Rialto's movie screen that begins at 5 p.m., Loyne-Packard and Maestro Gavin Guss will host a "That's Entertainment" show beginning sharply at 4:30 p.m. on the Rialto's stage. Loyne-Packard sent us a preview of what you can expect to see Sunday.

Reminder: Arrive at the Rialto at 4 p.m. dressed as your favorite movie star.

A HOLE >>>

Happy Donuts in downtown Puyallup can't be happy about their sign tonight.

SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2010 >>>

1. Now in its seventh year, the Old Town Jazz & Wine Festival will once again offer tasty jazz and cool wines, all in an effort to support the Tacoma Old Town Park Performance Stage Project - which aims to build a permanent outdoor stage in Old Town Park. The festival runs from 4-10 p.m. inside the Slavonian Hall.

2. Local actors bring Washington state historical figures alive to discuss unsolved mysteries during Ghosts of the Great Hall at the Washington State History Museum from 1-3 p.m.

3. A film discussion will follow the 1:45 p.m. screening of A Town Called Panic at The Grand Cinema.

4. Brooklyn Pool will play an all-ages show at 3 p.m. inside Rocket Records.

5. The Survive The Darkness Haiti Benefit features Kimya Dawson, Congratulations, Mirror Mirror, Western Hymn, and Rainbow Bridge at 5 p.m. inside the Loft on Cherry.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

NOSH PIT >>>

Tea Ceremony: The Asia Pacific Cultural Center hosts a Japanese Tea Ceremony today 10-11 a.m. in the Fircrest Community Center at 555 Contra Costa. The cost is $10. More details at 253.383.3900.

Beery Special Guest: Brewer Jeff Winn with Yakima Craft Brewing will drop by 99 Bottles to dole out tastings for $2.50 today from 2-5 p.m. 99 Bottles is at 35002 Pacific Hwy. S. in Federal Way.

Wine Tasting: There's a bunch of tastings today.

Future Things Are Coming: The Tacoma Food Co-Op and University of Puget Sound will host a screening of Fresh - which celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system - March 10 at 6 p.m. inside Rausch Auditorium on the UPS campus.

Food For Thought: Extra fancy award show popcorn

GO MEXICAN >>>

Infamous for its college crowd weekend dance nights, Masa Comida Mexicana is also a fine, nongreasy alternative for nursing a wicked case of the day-afters. According to eHow, Mexican food spices helps calm the stomach. Sipping a cup of Stumptown from embedded Satellite Coffee (yeah, dehydration bad - but whatever) amid Latin colors and sports broadcasts is oddly comforting.

Open for breakfast Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Masa serves a bevy of tasty options including: a burrito stuffed with scrambled eggs, crema, guacamole, pico de gallo, pepperjack cheese and taco meat; a breakfast burger with a ground chuck patty, over-medium egg, queso fundido, bacon, pico de gallo on a potato bun; huevos flatbread with queso fundido, scrambled eggs, house sausage, bacon, pico de gallo, and green onions on house made flatbread dough; chilaquiles in red enchilada sauce; breakfast quesadilla with scrambled eggs, house sausage, bacon, and green onions; huevos rancheros, carne asada and eggs; and more.

Worry about all those drunken text messages you sent last night later.