The Weekly Volcano follows the people you're too embarrassed to >>>

Just like most good, new-age, social media applications, Twitter allows people to share and be privy to once personal, almost wholly pointless information about peoples' lives. It's seemingly endless. While Twitter is mostly full of everyday, ho-hum people - just like you and me, sharing info about what type of oatmeal we ate for breakfast and where we get our hair cut - Twitter is also a magnet for the moderately-famous.

Stars of yesterday, illiterate millionaire athletes, former cast members of Saved By the Bell - you can follow them all, intimately, on Twitter.

But, you've got standards. We get that.

That's why we'll do it for you, in a feature we like to call Weekly Volcano Twitter Stalker.

This week, checking in with...

Ice-T

May 3: Ice-T discovers the "Booty Pop Panties"

"I just watched a commercial for something called "Booty Pop Panties...?" How does a girl play that off in the bedroom??" via Tweetdeck, 9:46 a.m.

May 3: Ice-T and his dog discuss the merits of "Booty Pop Panties"

"My dog @CuteSpartacus says the hell with all that "Booty Pop Panties" shit. He keeps it real!!" via Tweetdeck, 10:04 a.m.

May 1: Ice-T's dog is more popular than you

"I told my dog @CuteSpartacus he has over 1,000 followers..He looked at me and said 'Cool.. I don't Tweet on the weekends..' and took a shit." via Tweetdeck, 8:58 a.m.

Tune in tomorrow for more tweets from the life of Ice T

TICKET PRICES HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED >>>

Several weeks ago we announced that Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame would be performing at the Tacoma Dome Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010.

The ticket prices have just been announced: $57, $77, $127 and $201, and go on sale Monday, May 10 at 10 a.m. at LiveNation.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at 1.800.745.3000.

IT'S A MAGNIFICENT PARTY >>>

Get out your wallets, big spenders. The Star Chefs on Broadway 2010 will consume the Pantages Theater Sunday, May 23 with live music, silent and live auctions and incredible cabaret performances under the direction of Kevin Joyce a founder of Teatro Zinzanni.

"It is going to be amazing," says Benjii Bittle, deputy executive director for the Broadway Center of the Performing Arts. "The Venetian theme is going to be over the top ... the food, the wine, the entertainment. This will be our best year yet."

All proceeds from Star Chefs on Broadway support Broadway Center's groundbreaking arts education programs.

Chefs from the finest restaurants in Tacoma will provide the treats for the lively cocktail party during the silent auction. The formal dinner during the show will feature signature dishes from El Gaucho, award-winning Washington wines and desserts by the area's top bakers and chocolatiers.

For $175 you can taste what Tacoma does best, and help today's youth be all that they can be. You may purchase tickets here.

Items up for bid during the live action are listed after the break:

Read more...

FRIDAYS ARE THE NEW SOMETHING >>>

Participatory poetry gatherings will take place every Friday night in Tacoma. With the city's variety of venues and devotees, poetry readings are one of the last great entertainment values.

All the ones listed below are free.

Each usually includes a featured performer, as well as an open reading.

First Friday (begins June 4) 8 p.m.: Speak Your Soul, The Den @ urbanXchange, 1932 Pacific Ave., 253.376.4539. Zach Street is typically the featured reader.

Second Friday, 7 p.m.: Distinguished Writer Series, King's Books, 218 St. Helens, 253.272.8801. Tony Barstone will be the featured performer May 14.

Third Friday, 7 p.m.: Mouths & Open Mic at Café Messina, 744 Market St., Tacoma, 253.383.7559.

Fourth Friday, 7 p.m.: Free Ya Mind, Tully's, Ninth and Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.5646.

TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010 >>>

1. Tacoma historian Michael Sullivan presents an illustrated look at the winter Dashiell Hammett spend in prohibition Tacoma before penning The Maltese Falcon, the book Tacoma is reading together. Did Tacoma's dark times inspire Hammett to pen the novel? You decide at 7 p.m. inside the Olympic Room at the Tacoma Public Library's downtown branch.

2. Josh Casey's pop-realism still life oil paintings hang below the Rosewood Café's giant cowboy cookie from 11:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

3. Danny Vernon's Illusions Of Elvis begins at 6:30 p.m. inside the Red Wind Casino.

4. Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub's Trivia Tuesday team competition begins at 7 p.m.

5. The PLU University Symphony Orchestra will perform at 8 p.m. inside the Lagerquist Concert Hall.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TOURNAMENT OF PIZZA PREP >>>

Katie Downs Tavern & Eatery

3211 Ruston Way, Tacoma, 253.756.0771

Born: 1982

Pizza Style: Deep-Dish Pan

Skinny: The waterfront restaurant and bar serves 6-inch and 12-inch deep-dish pizzas loaded, and we mean loaded with cheese. They offer eight theme pizzas, which they call "classic combinations." You can also create your own pizza. Each pizza is hand rolled and baked for 20 to 25 minutes.

Notes: It's a 21 and older joint. Named after original co-owner Mike Ebert's grandmother. Initial orders must be placed at counter, then the wait staff will check on customers after. They accept pizza to go orders. Happy hour is 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 p.m. to close Sunday-Tuesday.

A restaurant with a past is much more comfortable than a restaurant with a future, which can fill a body with a sense of unease and sad nostalgia for the old days. True, a certain excitement is missed - that wonderful electric hum of progress is dimmed down to moth-flutter on a candle flame - but candles hide the dust in the corners and make your blind date's nose seem slightly smaller. Katie Downs is such a candle, still going strong after Dr. John Hilger and Mike Ebert opened the tavern - which is now a bar - in the fall of 1982.

Katie Downs serves deep-dish pies so fat and smothered in golden-browned cheese; one slice is enough for a meal. The red sauce is rich and tomatoey - although most folks prefer the white sauce, as in the Rainier with its bay shrimp, artichoke hearts and red onion. The crust is buttery thick and chewy - so tasty that, long after your stomach is full, you just can't stop.

The menu also offers a wide spectrum of choices, from burgers and flat-iron steaks to gulf prawns and chips.

Yea, yea, blah, blah - you have to stand in line to order food and drinks. That is a bitch. However, those memories fade while watching the game (without brats bouncing sausages of the side of your head) or daydreaming about owning that sailboat drifting past the wall of windows - as you spin your fork around and around for a cheese lollipop.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday

The Weekly Volcano will host a South Sound Tournament of Pizza competition in March 2011, much like our Tournament of Tacos. Our readers will seed the tournament.

FORUM: Best pizza in the South Sound?

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

The Times Square car bomb suspect says he acted alone.

How to live out of your car.

Will this 50-year-old scientist open the "Wakey Bakey" pot café in Washington, D.C.?

A 17-year-old Philadelphia Phillies fan tasered after running on to the field.

The Country Music Hall of Fame is surrounded by water!

BP proposes a four story metal container plug to stop the oil leak.

Brilliant: Ohio man facing forclosure locks himself in his home.

The Weekly Volcano follows the people you're too embarrassed to >>>

Just like most good, new-age, social media applications, Twitter allows people to share and be privy to once personal, almost wholly pointless information about peoples' lives. It's seemingly endless. While Twitter is mostly full of everyday, ho-hum people - just like you and me, sharing info about what type of oatmeal we ate for breakfast and where we get our hair cut - Twitter is also a magnet for the moderately-famous.

Stars of yesterday, illiterate millionaire athletes, former cast members of Saved By the Bell - you can follow them all, intimately, on Twitter.

But, you've got standards. We get that.

That's why we'll do it for you, in a feature we like to call Weekly Volcano Twitter Stalker.

This week, checking in with...

Ice T

April 27: Ice T gets motivational

"Daily Game: A lotta people still talk shit and act stupid, simply because they've never had the 'Shit Smacked Outta Them' Ice T" via TweetDeck, 11:36 a.m.

April 22: Ice T gives us a glimpse inside the game

"A publicist ask me the other day."Who do you have Twitt for you?? I Twitt for all my clients." I was thinking.What kinda weird shit is that?" via TweetDeck, 3:17 p.m.

April 18: Ice T chills with family

"Oh shit! My universal brother is on twitter" via TweetDeck, 4:01 p.m.

Tune in tomorrow for more tweets from the life of Ice T

NOSH PIT >>>

Aloha!: The Melting Pot in downtown Tacoma has added a Pacific Island-themed menu featuring specialty drinks through September.

Tacoma Represent: May is "Rockin' Rosé month at Pour at Four. By the way, Pour at Four now carries Tacoma's 21 Cellars' 2006 Pont 21 Cabernet.

Tightwad Tuesday: $2 beer, $2 wells, and $2 tacos, every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to close at Hell's Kitchen. You know it. You love it.

Beer Is Good: 99 Bottles in Federal Way will pour five Hefeweizens for $5 tonight 5-7:30 p.m.

Future Things Are Coming: Pacific Grill will open up on a Sunday for the moms. They'll serve a Mother's Day brunch buffet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Reserve your spot at 253.627.3535.

Drinks Matter: Sticky espresso martinis and other coffee-based cocktails are due for a face-lift. And, here to bring boozy coffee up to speed is Firelit Coffee Liqueur.

LINK: Wine and beer tastings, dinners and events

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Send us your restaurant and lounge news

SOUNDS EXCITING >>>

Play N Trade Tacoma, a part of the fastest growing video game franchise worldwide according to their press release, invites local gamers to compete in the "Local rounds" of the International Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 tournament.

Let's read the press release:

Read more...