MEET CAMERON BENNETT >>>

Chamber musician and soloist Cameron Bennett  - who has had an active and varied career as an administrator, artist and educator - has been named dean of the School of Arts and Communication at Pacific Lutheran University.

Bennett will attend summer school ... as the dean. Get to know him here.

SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2010 >>>

1. Rush tribute band 2112 and Led Zeppelin tribute band Kashmir will rock the Liberty Theater in Puyallup beginning at 8 p.m. Rumor is that 2112 is pulling out the 35-foot rear-projection screen and firing up the laser show for this one.

2. Portland's interactive, sing-a-long, folk punk band Destroy Nate Allen will be joined by Phantom City, To new Beginnings and Todd James Luque for an 6 p.m. all-ages show at the Black Lake Grange in Olympia.

3. The Tacoma Farmers Market doesn't do the pledge and tote bag thing, they just throw a Rodeo Barn Dance to keep the farmers market culture moving forward. Admission includes the musical stylings of The Oly Mountain Boys, a free drink ticket and all night access to the mechanical bull. Food booths will be set up mini-market style with up to six food vendors and two beer/wine booths. A live auction will be held during one of the band's breaks. The party doors at Freighthouse Square open at 6 p.m.

4. Nine local businesses - including Halter Hotties, Vixens House of Shoes & Apparel, Stella & Dot, Ace of Dates, Passion Parties and Sugar Bar - will converge on Cork! Wine Bar from 6-10 p.m. for a night of fashion, art, music, and prizes.

5. Tena DuBerry and guests will take a Tacoma Little Theatre audience on a theatrical journey through the lifecycle of being a woman during their I Am Everywoman for two shows at 8 and 10 p.m., with the latter being more of a party.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

AND THE WINNERS ARE ... >>>

The Grand Cinema's 72 Hour Film Festival was a whirlwind movie-making cram session. Teams of filmmakers were given a prop, action, a situation, and a line of dialogue and then pushed out of The Grand's front door to write, shoot, and edit a film in just 72 hours. The Rialto Theater was packed last night for the showing of the resulting 23 films - all under 5 minutes.

The Weekly Volcano film critics will pipe in later today with their thoughts on last night's films. In the meantime, here are the winners:

Best Use of Dialogue ("Should I know what that means?"): U-253 by Bryan Johnson, Mark Bardwil (spoke the line) and their team
Best Use of a Prop (map): Larry's Odyssey by Terese Cuff's team
Best Use of Action (breaking): The Device by Dylan Parry's team
Best Use of the situation (a bag must be used in the first minute with something important in it): Zen Arcade by Rick Gratzer's team
Honorable Mention: The Genie of Tacoma by Erik Hanberg's team
Best Film: Stolen by Jordan Rhone's team
The Audience Award: Alone? In the Wilderness? By Isaac Olsen's team

Below is Erik Hanberg's gem:

BURGERS ON AN OUTDOOR GRILL >>>

May is National Burger Month, that special time when you can channel your inner Hamburglar. Burgerphiles can sample their way through the specials around town, while the ne'er-branch-outs can perhaps be tempted to try something new - like Dave's Meat and Produce.

There is no car service at this North Tacoma neighborhood grocery store, so you have to order from the young man behind the outdoor grill. There's no rhyme or reason to the ordering system. And you must pay inside the store.

Oh, but the burgers are marvelous. You can choose a regular $4 hamburger grill side, or venture inside the store for fancier options at $5.99 a pound: bacon blue cheese, mushroom Swiss and jalapeno and cheddar cheese. You may also have a $3 brat grilled to your liking.

Today, my Dave's $4 burger was perfectly prepared with a beautiful pinky-red inside, a warm brown exterior and melted cheddar cheese. I took a bite before heading over to the fixin's bar - even without appropriate accoutrements it's delicious. I loaded it up with tomatoes and sliced onion from the bar, which it a small table.

I love cheese­burg­ers. They make me happy. Ok, so all food pretty much excites me but there is some­thing about a per­fectly cooked burger topped with melted cheese on but­tered and grilled bun with just the right top­pings that lit­er­ally makes me giddy.

A Dave's Meat and Produce burger hot off the grill always makes me giddy.

Dave's Meat and Produce

Every Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
1312 North I St., Tacoma
253.280.9999

SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2010 >>>

1. This month's installment of the Tacoma Cult Movie Club centers around "stop (the presses) motion animation" featuring films by Ray Harryhausen - including his last film, Clash of the Titans (1981) - beginning at 7 p.m. inside the Acme Grub Cage at 13th and Tacoma Avenue South.  As always, the club will also screen its usual array of trailers, shorts, the ongoing Batman serial, and the always-random raffle.

2. Glass artist Gabe Feenan, who has been a gaffer and designer with the Museum of Glass Hot Shop team since 2002, will nestle up to the microphone for a 2 p.m. "Conversation With The Artist" event inside the museum. Meet Feenan and learn more about his work including slides of his artwork. Rumor has it that he will also share his original poetry.

3. Paradise Theatre will close its production of The Importance of Being Earnest with a final 3 p.m. show today.

4. Mandolin Café's all-ages open mic, hosted by Billy Farmer, has rapidly become one of the best in the South Sound. See why when it kicks off at 6 p.m.

5. Athens, Ga., band The Winter Sounds are beyond slick, as recorded. Layers and layers of churchly harmonies, chiming guitars and driving rhythms, dominate the band's songs, which can be heard, along with Parachute Musical and Ron Hexagon, at 10 p.m. inside Le Voyeur in Olympia.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TACOMA FILM TAKES OVER RIALTO >>>

Iron Man 2, Shmiron Man 2. Who needs another Hollywood superhero when local moviemaking can save your Friday night?

On May 7, The Grand Cinema invaded the Rialto Theater for its annual screening of shorts from the 72 Hour Film Festival. Twenty-three teams had only a weekend to produce a work with these caveats: the phrase "Should I know what that means?", a map, and an act of breaking. Even the scripts felt a time crunch - Grand Executive Director Philip Cowan raised the stakes higher this year by asking all films to include a bag containing "something important" within the first minute.

But don't think such pressures faze a pro like director Rick Gratzer, whose quirky comedies have made it to the screen since 2006. His Obituaries of '07 remains one of the most well written and entertaining entries I've seen. "This year I think is our best [film] yet," he told me outside a packed lobby pungent with wine and anticipation. "The [story] idea kind of came instantly, which is not usually the case."

Clichéd as it may sound, the case with many of these returning participants is a simple love of the moviemaking game. Gratzer shrugs away the possibility of gaining accolades for his current effort: "I always say that if we win an award, then we did something wrong," he laughs.

Sadly his crew managed to do something right this year; Zen Arcade, about a boy's Wonderland-like journey inside a mysterious bag he finds, walked away with Best Scene and finally ended Gratzer's Susan Lucci streak.

The Grand has a knack for kicking off the festivities with just the right film. Dylan Parry's The Device loosened up the crowd with its self-conscious send-up of every storytelling convention it could cram into five minutes. The heroes' relentless rule breaking helped win this winning short Best Action.

Device also set the evening's tone. Past years have seen filmmakers preoccupied with experimenting in newer formats like HD, or telling darker-themed tales (zombie and crime flicks had their heyday). Besides a few well-meaning dramas, the overall vibe this time stayed relaxed and unabashedly silly.

Friday night we saw bags stuffed with weed, doorways to parallel universes, and the occasional man-baby. Friday we traveled all over - on and under Commencement Bay, hundreds of feet above the city, even as far as Reno for a little Hangover-like mayhem. Tonight we imagined TV's beloved Bob Ross as substance abuser and Julia Childs as sadistic tomato torturer.

And yet, the most exhilarating moment in our cinematic sojourn came with a bunch of talking vegetables careening down Bridgeport in a red van.

Should you know what that means?

If not, wait until all these movies appear on Click! On Demand. If you can hardly contain yourself (and I don't think you can), pick up a $15 DVD at The Grand immediately. I promise more fun than sex with a prosecutor and two undomesticated raccoons.

Ah, memories...

For the full list of contest winners, click here.

MOTHERF****R! >>>

MSM Deli II got a new front door for Mother's Day. Like a car-sized one. It was a regular, frantic Sunday evening when a fairly regular customer drove her car through the generally non-descript storefront at 2220 Sixth Ave., interrupting dinner and showering the wine aisle with concrete, dust and glass. No one was injured says owner Jamal Muthala. And the driver was sober.

"It was obvious she hit the gas instead of the brake," says Muthala, who didn't have a damage estimate yet, but said they had insurance that would cover repairs. "This wasn't how I planned to spend my Mother's Day."

Muthala was a couple well-earned shots deep at Masa when he got the call.  His brother dropped the buzzkill - a reportedly insuranceless driver had made a new front door during the dinner rush.  Muthala and friends - the self-ascribed "Wolf Pack" - built a temporary wall while customers ate sandwiches. Ironically, says Muthala, the woman that put her car through the wall is the offspring of man who drove his car through the MSM storefront eight years ago. The woman received a citation from Tacoma PD and was sent on her way.

"Their mother buys a lot of Lotto tickets," Muthala says. "I can't really even be mad. That woman's been coming here since I was like 12."

MSM will remain open while repairs are made. So head down there and buy a sandwich.

LINK: MSM Deli II makes a tasty sandwich

MONDAY, MAY 10, 2010 >>>

1. The Graphic Novel Book Club will discuss Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie over craft cocktails at the 1022 South lounge.

2. Break (in), Break (out), Break (through), Break (away), Break (up), Break (and enter), the Pacific Lutheran University graduation senior art show, continues inside PLU's University Gallery from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. Alfred Currier's oil paints, Kristen Etmund's woodblock prints, Lisa Sweet's oil paintings and prints, and ceramics by John Benn, Colleen Gallagher, John Haris, Chris Knapp, Susan Lochner and Reid Ozaki will be on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. inside Childhood's End Gallery in Olympia.

4. Captain Dick & The Portholes will fill The Swiss with blues beginning at 8 p.m.

5. DJ Jason Diamond will spin roots reggae beginning at 9 p.m. as part of "Rebel Monday" at O'Malley's Irish Pub.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

MONDAY DISCOUNTS >>>

Monday Deal: Engine House No. 9 serves an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner every Monday for $4.95, with each meatball priced at 25 cents. Also, they knock a dollar off martinis every Monday.

Another Monday Deal: The Hub serves spaghetti or Fettucini Alfredo for $5 every Monday from 5-10 p.m. For another $3 you can receive cheesy garlic bread, three meatballs or grilled chicken breast.

Wine Discount: Budd Bay Café in Olympia offers half-priced bottles of wine every Monday.

Future Things Are Coming: Chambers Bay Golf Course Executive Chef, Dustin Joseph will create a wine dinner centered around Chandler Reach Winery Friday, May 14 at 7 p.m.

Food Matters: To combat obesity, scientists propose fat ... but not your average white kind.

LINK: Restaurant coupons

LINK: Wine and beer tastings, dinners and events

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

LINK: Send us your restaurant and lounge news

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

In his commencement address at Hampton University (where?) yesterday, President Obama went grandpa when he blamed "iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations" for the downfall of democracy.

The giant dome didn't work out to stop the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil leak, so the new plan is to stuffing the leak with trash - "shredded tires, golf balls" - in what they're calling a "junk shot."

The world's biggest beaver dam was spotted by satellite.

Lena Horne died.

It's Sid Vicious' birthday.