THIRD THURSDAY ARTWALK ON A BUS >>>

Every Third Thursday ArtWalk participant has had that Moment. The Moment you know you will look back on six months (or a year, or 10 years) from now and laugh. Laugh and laugh and laugh, just laugh hysterically that you couldn't find the Tollbooth Gallery, or that you got lost on one of the 14 floors inside Sanford and Son, or that you had to lie down on the sidewalk due to fatigue halfway up to the Fulcrum Gallery on Hilltop.

Or maybe you don't laugh. Maybe you're an ArtWalk hatter because of the Moment.

Angela Jossy of the Speakeasy Arts Cooperative wants to eliminate the Moment. She wants to make it easier for you to enjoy the Walk.

She has a bus.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: So you have an ArtWalk Bus.

ANGELA JOSSY: Yup, I'm organizing an ArtWalk tour via bus Thursday night beginning at 6 p.m. at the Speakeasy. The "Art Bus" will hit Embellish Multispace Salon, Tacoma Art Place, Fulcrum Gallery, 253 Collective and Mad Hat Tea Company before dropping everyone off at the Rialto Theater at 8 p.m. Next month we will add more stops, make two round trips and have it running three or four hours instead of two. I want to start with a more modest plan on this first attempt.

VOLCANO: Steph DeRosa isn't driving, is she?

Read more...

MUSICALLY SPEAKING >>>

Sure, I'm heading to Austin tomorrow for SXSW - but that doesn't mean I've been given the go-ahead to blow the whole week off. On the contrary, a situation like this actually requires much MORE work - as I'm frantically trying to get all the Volcano's ducks in a row before taking off.

On that note, here's a look at what you can expect this week, musically speaking, from the Volcano:

Tune-Yards: The Volcano's Rev. Adam McKinney talks with Merrill Garbus, the women behind Tune-Yards, who will play Northern in Olympia next Tuesday, March 23, with Xiu Xiu.

McKinney sums up the band thusly:

All the same, I still find myself caught off guard by Tune-Yards, AKA Merrill Garbus. She's a true original, and an apparent master of her medium: tape music. She's one of those people, like Hendrix was with the guitar, who can take her tool and bend it, stretch it, distort it, and reform it anew. Listening to her debut full-length, Bird-Brains, for the first time was legitimately exciting for me.

Check out McKinney's full article in Thursday's edition of the Volcano.

GREEN APPLE QUICK STEP: It's not often that Ty Willman gets the band back together - but he's doing it on Saturday, March 27 at Hell's Kitchen. The band in question, of course, is the venerable Green Apple Quick Step - perhaps the poster act for post-grunge, hype-pumped Seattle. Although GAQS disbanded in the mid-90s, the band retains a strong following to this day - a following only inflamed by the knowledge of an unreleased album, New Disaster, that Willman has serious designs on finally making available.

Originally from Tacoma, and the band Inspector Luv and the Ride Me Babys, Willman took time to speak with the Volcano by phone this week from L.A.

"You'd be pretty amazed of how you jump back on the ball," says Willman of playing with Green Apple Quick Step - which these days includes Geoff Reading (of Volcano fame), Dana Turner, Mike Squires and Christa Wells.

"I grew up in Tacoma, went to high school in Tacoma. It seemed like the first place to play a show."

Check out the rest of the Volcano's interview with Willman in Thursday's paper.

PLUS: Manhammer, Basemint, Catcher, Post Stardom Depression and Womberang

ROBBIE JORDAN RIP >>>

This past Saturday sax man Robbie Jordan was found dead in his car.  While the cause is still a mystery, it is still a big blow to blues fans in the Northwest and beyond.

I first met Jordan in the early 1980s. At the time he was blowing sax with the Dick Powell Band alongside the late Rich Dangle of The Fabulous Wailers. It was through my connection to Jordan that piqued the interest of my father, guitarist Little Bill. Only a few weeks after they met, the duo - along with drummer Tommy Morgan, B3 virtuoso Buck England, Dangle and newcomer trombonist Randy Oxford — were in the studio recording a demo. Jordan's arrangements, coupled with my dad's songwriting, helped give the band - the Bluenotes - instant success. It still remains my father's favorite version of the band.

The band took home countless Washington Blues Society BB Awards, and played an average of 150 gigs a year.

Read more...

THEIR INVENTION >>>

GreySlade Music's Chad Hagedorn (The Happy Vanishing) and John Walker (John Walker and the Hitchhikers) wrote and produced the art rock/sci-fi folk album The Measurement Problem as a force known as My Own Invention.

And they want feedback.

Download The Measurement Problem here. Listen to the "musical journey down a rabbit hole which will assuredly entertain and stimulate" as they describe it. Then send them your thoughts on the album.

Some early reviews are in:

"The album is simply wonderful - I haven't heard it yet, but I know it's simply wonderful!" - John's Mom

"They're such nice boys!" - Chad's Mom

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010 >>>

1. It's St. Patrick's Day. Time to party.

2. The Pierce County Arts and Cultural Planning Community Forum will gather opinions at 4:30 p.m. inside the Soundview Building. Go help plan the arts.

3. Screw green beer; let's climb a wall at 5:30 p.m. inside the Centre at Norpoint.

4. The Sixth Avenue Progressive Dinner visits 6 Olives, Origin 23 and Studio 6 Ballroom at 5:30, 6:15 and 7 p.m. Dance to jazz and blues by Maia Santell & House Blend from 7:30-10:30 p.m. at Studio 6. Reserve your spot here. 

5. The Fort Steilacoom Choir and Olympic College Chamber Choir joins the Pierce College Concert Band in Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" and Smith's "Don Quixote Symphony #3" at 7:30 p.m. inside the Lagerquist Concert Hall at PLU.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

A 3 DRINK MINIMUM PREVIEW >>>

Missing olives, empty toilet paper rolls, stunned looks - sure signs that Weekly Volcano scribe Steph DeRosa has just left the bar after her 3 Drink Minimum research. In tomorrow's print version of the Weekly Volcano DeRosa will describe her three-drink experience at HG Bistro in Puyallup.

And as always, when a hot guy gets her drunk and then brings her whipped cream aside a flame-producing device, she pulls out the video camera.

Pick up the Volcano tomorrow as read the words that describe the above video.

[HG Bistro, 1618 E. Main, Puyallup, 253.845.5747]

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

First Lady tells food giants to stop making junk and marketing junk to kids.

The United States is not thrilled with the maker of Captain Morgan rum and its plan to relocate the production from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands.

Real Irish shamrocks in short supply this year.

Obama's Final Four picks are in: Kansas State, Kentucky, Kansas, and Villanova.

Are you ready to recycle your sandwich bags?

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010 >>>

1. Calvin Johnson, godfather of Olympia music, will be bringing his Hive Dwellers to the Den at 8 p.m. Joining him at the all-ages show will be local favorites Basemint and Friskey.

2. The Peabody Waldorf Gallery inside Sanford and Son Antiques will house seven piñatas of local interest, depictions of icons sadly missing from the Washington State History Museum's recent Icons exhibit. They will be auctioned off to the highest bidder - then destroyed for charity. The auction runs 5-8 p.m. today; you can view them beginning at noon. The beating will be March 27 at a party benefiting The Empty Bowls program.

3. Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow's documentary Dirt! The Movie, inspired by William Bryant Logan's book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, gives an intimate look at dirt at 6 p.m. inside Ingram Hall at Pacific Lutheran University.

4. Taking off at 6 p.m. from the Speakeasy Arts Cooperative, the Art Bus will take ticket holders to participating Third Thursday ArtWalk venues Mad Hat Tea, Embellish, Fulcrum, 253 Collective, and Tacoma Art Place, ending at the Rialto Theater for a performance by Dream On - the (almost) all-female Aerosmith tribute band. Tickets are $15. Reserve your spot here.

5. Master forager Langdon Cook will talk about his book, Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager, at 7 p.m. inside King's Books.

LINK: Movie showtimes in the South Sound

THURSDAY, MARCH 18: FOUR BATTLES ON THE DOCKET >>>

The field has been set, the competitors narrowed. Sixty-four of the greater Tacoma area's best tacos are set to do battle in the Weekly Volcano's Tournament of Tacos. It's like March Madness, only with more indigestion. Every day through April 1 visit this blog and cast your vote - using this bracket in today's Weekly Volcano print version to guide you through the daily matchups. Then, on April 5, join us at Station 56 for the Official Tournament of Tacos Party - where our winner will be announced during halftime of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game. 

Only one taco can be crowned champ, and it's up to you to decide. The Weekly Volcano's Tournament of Tacos. It's on!

GAME 1: Masa vs. Chevy's Fresh Mex

The Tournament of Tacos leads off with a clash of heavyweights.  Masa from the trendy Sixth Avenue side of town takes on Chevy's Fresh Mex, a 38^th Street mainstay. 

GAME 2: Taqueria el Sabroso (10906 Pacific Hwy. SW) vs. Los Tres Hermanos (2728 S 12th St.)

The East Side's Taqueria el Sabroso, featuring a fine deep-fried pork choice, looks to tame the popular 12th Street area truck and Tournament of Tacos favorite, Los Tres Hermanos.  Good early match-up.

GAME 3: Sam's Taqueria (downtown Puyallup) vs. Josefina's

A hidden jewel tucked away in downtown Puyallup, Sam's Taqueria and its uniquely spiced meats takes on Josefina's - which might be best known for its hard to miss, pink Pacific Avenue location. 

GAME 4: Top of Tacoma Bar & Cafe vs. The Harmon Brewery & Restaurant

A great match up to close out day one.  East Side vs. Downtown.  Booze vs. beer.  Happy hour taco (Top of Tacoma) vs. fish delight (Harmon).  

>>> CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Tomorrow's Taco Battles

Game 1: Vuelve A La Vida vs. The Grill at Meadow Park

Game 2: Jack in the Box vs. Taco Bell 

Game 3: Taqueria La Fondita vs. Tiende Y Taqueria Zomora

Game 4: Mazatlan vs. Azteca

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Alex Chilton of '70s rock band Big Star dies. The group was to have played SXSW this weekend.

India loves Facebook! Hey India, join our Facebook!

Walmart PA announcement in New Jersey store orders black people to leave.

Bernie Madoff attacked in prison. Body parts were broken.

Have a St Patrick's Day hangover? Click here.