SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2010 >>>

1. Tacoma Is For Lovers presents a special Artist Craft Fair fundraiser for King's Books featuring a multitude of local artists will have tables featuring arts, crafts, jewelry, letterpress prints, T-shirts, poetry and more from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at King's Books. Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker will be hosting a "poetry station'" at the event where, for a small donation to benefit Kings, attendees can have a personal hand-written poem created for them. There's also a raffle and silent auction.

2. The Booze and Booty Scavenger Hunt - a day of capers, treasure-hunting, photo-missions and bar-hopping for treasure and rewards around downtown Tacoma - will kickoff at 2 p.m. at the Speakeasy Arts Cooperative. At the 6 p.m. finish line, everyone meets back up at Speakeasy for drinks, mingling, and counting your loot as all the photos of the day are projected in a larger than life slide show, points are tallied and prizes awarded.

3. The Tacoma Cult Movie Club hosts "Kids Do The Darndest Things" movie night in honor of The Rev. Colin becoming a new uncle featuring free movies, popcorn and special drinks at regular prices at The Acme Grub Cage in Tacoma.

4. Yellow Cross and Christian Mistress will perform at 8 p.m. inside The Brotherhood Lounge in Olympia.

5. Jazzbones presents Black & Blue Sundays with Gackstatter, Evolucid, and Birch Riley at 8 p.m.

LINK: More art and entertainment events in the South Sound

LIVE MUSIC IN THE SOUTH SOUND TONIGHT >>>

Acoustic: Seattle's diminutive Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers) will surprise you. When people see a solitary girl with an acoustic guitar they think folk music. What is folk music but telling a story?  With ghostly melodies over seemingly disparate guitar work, Fortino isn't trying to get you to understand her story. She takes you on a somewhat uncomfortable journey where you're left without a discernable ending - just more road. I am so impressed with her integrity and indifference to pop music. She's traveling inward instead of out. It's brave, and it's a little scary. No refrain? No hooks? No hand claps? Ahhhhh! With Kusika, Takhoma, and Mega Bog, Sunday, June 13, 6 p.m., all ages, $8, The Squawk Box, 745 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, myspace.com/squeakandsquawkfestival - Heather Thomas Loepp

Folk Rock: Do you like things that appear to be epic? Are you into feeling swept away? Were you ever in drama club in junior high? Did it make you cry when you beat Final Fantasy? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Grand Hallway is for you. With eight handsome members who are seriously skilled instrumentalists, the sound delivery is really something - I'm sorry - GRAND. How can you help but believe that everything is going to turn out all right when there are violins coaxing optimism in such a shrill manner? The Grinch would hate this music. With Trevor Dickson and The Kilcid Band, Sunday, June 13, 9 p.m., $7, The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, www.myspace.com/squeakandsquawkfestival - HTL

A few more suggestions<.h3.

The Spar in Old Town Tacoma hosts the Blues Redemption at 7 p.m.

Oly Experimental Music Festival Day Three featuring The Dead White, Tetrotoxin, Forrest Friends, Mangled Bohemians, Electric Oracle, Danishta Rivero, and Pykrete beginning at 6 p.m. inside Northern.

West Dakota, The Devils Of Loudon, From Murder To Genocide, Athena, and Games Of Slaughter play a 7 p.m. show at The Viaduct.

The Swiss hosts a Sunday show with The Disclaimers at 4 p.m.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

ON THE SCENE >>>

The Tacoma Twilight Criterium, a first for Tacoma, featured seven categories of racing, a beer garden (for spectators) with live music, and an art bike parade yesterday at Eighth and Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma. Criterium founders Jon Graef (Tacoma Sports Commission), Mike Brown (owner Tacoma Bike), Gillian Corke (Junefish), Tim Waer (Tacoma Sports Commission executive director) and Dean Burke (owner Junefish) organized an amazing event.

Weekly Volcano photography J.M. Simpson snapped a few shots of the event.

Scott McGee rides his bike, "Long Odds," during a parade of antique bikes.

Rikk Beatty jams during the Tacoma Twilight Criterium.

Jennifer Music and Jesse Pestana enjoy a segment of the Criterium from the comfort of their hammock.

LINK: More crit photos in our Photo Hot Spot

MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2010 >>>

1. The Squeak and Squawk Music Festival wraps up tonight with Butts, The Drug Purse, and Wheelies rocking The New Frontier Lounge beginning at 9 p.m.

2. Erich Woll will be busy today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. exploring glass art in the Museum of Glass' Hot Shop as the featured artist of the day. Drop by and watch Woll work wonders.

3. Drumatic Innovation will be providing an introduction to facilitated drum circles at 7 p.m. at the Center in Tacoma - which happens to be at 6108 Mt. Tacoma Dr. in Lakewood

4. The Graphic Novel Book Club discusses The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemire over craft cocktails at 7 p.m. inside the 1022 Lounge in Tacoma.

5. Loose Gravel & The Quarry will fill The Swiss with blues beginning at 8 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events today in the South Sound

DINING NEWS, NIBBLES AND BITS >>>

Tap This: Recognizing the burgeoning craft beer market in the Tacoma area, five local watering holes - The Red Hot, The Parkway Tavern, Doyle's Public House, The Swiss, and Meconi's Pub & Eatery - will join forces for a monthly beer event, beginning tonight.  Every second Monday of the month, the five locally owned and operated joints will simultaneously tap a fresh cask of ale at 6 p.m. then yell "Tap Night Tacoma is on!" The Red Hot will tap Schooner Exact Brewing Special Edition 253-Grid IPA, The Parkway will unleash Two Beers Brewing Dry-Hopped Evolutionary IPA, Doyle's will pour Belhaven Wee Heavy, The Swiss will serve Hales Supergoose IPA and Meconi's will tap the Schooner Exact Brewing 3-Grid IPA.

Wine Monday: The Rosewood Café discounts their glasses of wine to $5 every Monday.

Future Things Are Coming: Marlene's Market & Deli in Federal Way hosts a wheat and Gluten-Free Cooking class Saturday, June 19 at 11 a.m. The cost is $35. Reserve your spot at 253.839.0933.

Food Matters: A New York Times editorial congratulates the Federal Trade Commission for closing a loophole that allowed Kellogg's to make somewhat dubious claims about its cereals.

LINK: South Sound happy hours

LINK: Restaurant coupons

LINK: Join the Nosh League

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

What was Shaggy's real name on "Scooby Doo?"

American geologists have discovered untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan that could be worth nearly one trillion dollars. Looks like the United states will be digging in for a while.

Beer commercial people  – and reporters – were abducted by Nahua Indians with machetes.

The KKK threatened to kill Ted Kennedy.

Human Genome Sciences say they have a medication for Hepatitis C but that the FDA likely won't approve it due to "risks."

A billionaire expert speaks out on killer UFOs.

Jimmy Dean died at 81.

CONCERT ALERT >>>

Billed as "Country Music's Rowdiest Summer Party," country superstar Toby Keith's American Ride Tour visits the area on Saturday, July 24 with a concert at the White River Amphitheatre. Special guests include Trace Adkins and James Otto. That does sound like a party.

Tickets are on sale for $25 (grass stains), $40, and $67 at livenation.com, Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at 800.745.3000.

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...

Jessica Simpson

June 11: Jessica Simpson matches the consumption of some Third World countries.

"All of my lady friends are coming over for a backyard treat from my 7 closets cleaning!" 6:45 p.m. via UberTwitter

June 11: Jessica Simpson amazes with knowledge

"Random fact: the jalapeno was the first pepper taken to space." 5:11 p.m., via UberTwitter

May 8: Jessica Simpson plays with feces

"Who can guess which dog took this massive crap? 4:55 p.m., via UberTwitter

Tune in tomorrow for more tweets from the life of Jessica Simpson (@jessicasimpson)

BIFF! POW! WOW! >>>

Word has been floating amid the circle of regulars for the past week, but today it is official: Comic Book Ink will no longer be Tacoma's largest comic retailer.

Proprietor John Munn this morning signed a fresh lease on a new storefront in the Lakewood Cinema Plaza (2510 84th St. S.), home of the 15 screen Regal movie theater, on Aug. 1, placing the shop just outside Tacoma's city limits for the first time in its eight-year history.

The new space will provide "500 more square feet of space, more interior space and more parking," according to Munn, for what is reportedly significantly less cost than their current location at 72nd Street's Johnsborough Station. The shop originally opened in the Proctor District in 2002, but was forced by construction to move to East Tacoma in 2005.

Comic Book Ink has also had a longstanding partnership with their new neighbor, manning a booth with giveaways at midnight premieres of comic-inspired films such as this Spring's Iron Man 2. Whether this will evolve into late-night openings and promotions for the shop itself remains to be seen.

OUR TIME FOR TIMER >>

The Grand Cinema announced that the film TiMER - which has only played in New York City and Los Angeles - will play exclusively at The Grand beginning this Friday, June 18. 

Take that Seattle!

Writer-director Jac Schaeffer's high-concept, low-budget romantic comedy TiMER requires a ridiculous leap of faith: that a bio-tech gizmo might be able to pinpoint your soulmate. (If true, we're sure Apple is on it.) Read a full review here.

TiMER will play at The Grand Cinema daily from June 18 through June 24 at 4:30 and 7 p.m., plus 9:10 p.m. screenings nightly June 20-24.