WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010 >>>

1. Holy Bastille Day, are you ever effed. QZAYXTG? You'll never make a high-scoring word out of those tiles. Chill. You're good with words. Seriously. Get it together! This is Scrabble Rousers at 6:30 p.m. inside King's Books, remember? It's all in good fun, and a benefit for the Tacoma Community House Student Scholarship Fund. Now piggyback off that free U to form QUAT - that's 14 points without the double-word score. Word!

2. Where Sky Meets Earth: The Luminous Landscapes of Victoria Adams is open display at the Tacoma Art Museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adams, a resident of Vashon Island, paints rich, panoramic views of sky and land - landscapes void of human existence.

3. Bill Davie performs on the indoor porch at A Rhapsody In Bloom Florist & Café Latte beginning at 7 p.m.

4. The Ian McFeron Band plays Olympia's Music In The Park series around 7 p.m. at Sylvester Park.

5. A guitar-and-drums duo, The Ax doesn't adhere to the classic three-chord punk progression. The band's songs remain two minute blasts of revved-up rock ‘n' roll, but the complexity they manage to fit in such tightly wrapped packages is impressive. See them tonight at 9 p.m. with Belt of Vapor and The Sofistokits inside Bob's Java Jive.

LINK: More art and entertainment events in the South Sound

DINING NEWS, NIBBLES AND BITS >>>

Burger Night: Crown Bar in Tacoma takes its delicious $12 to $13 gourmet burgers and reduces them to $7.99 every Wednesday night. Dude, seriously.

Drink To Your Health: Toscanos Café and Wine Bar in Puyallup hosts "Healthy Cocktails Night" today beginning at 4 p.m.

Beer Tasting: Sample two beers for $1 from 4-8 p.m. at 99 Bottles in Federal Way.

Afternoon Tea: Affairs Restaurant & Catering in University Place would like to host your afternoon tea party. Their tea menu includes cucumber sandwiches, ham and cheese filled croissants, miniature Beef Wellingtons, smoked chicken empanadas, chocolates and spices nuts, and more. Of course, the full tea service, too. For details, call 253.565.8604.

Future Things Are Coming: Primo Grill in Tacoma hosts a Northwest Seafood Preparations cooking class Saturday, July 24 from 2-4 p.m. The $65 fee includes recipes and instruction, lunch glass of wine, tax and gratuity. Reserve your spot at 253.383.7000.

Food Matters: Whose recipe database reigns supreme?

LINK: A bunch of half-priced bottles of wine tonight

LINK: Who's up for a happy hour?

LINK: Join our Nosh League you foodie

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY! >>>

On Bastille Day, local Frenchmen party like it’s 1789.

Yup, Francophiles of the South Sound unite on this day to celebrate the most important historical events for the French: the liberation of the Bastille prison and the end of the French monarchy.

The Weekly Volcano has never had anything against the French (even during those dark “Freedom Fries” days), so we will celebrate the day by showing you pictures of French toast (natch!).

Egg bread French toast at The Hub in the Stadium District

French toast stuffed with peanut butter at The Old House Café in Proctor

Late night French toast at Happy Days Casino in Lakewood

Orange infused egg battered Galway toast at Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub in downtown Tacoma.

For the morning sweet toothed-diner, the Hotel Murano serves gourmet gingerbread French toast.

And on special one day at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma: Banana cream stuffed French toast

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Singer-comedian Kyle Gass of Tenacious D is 50.

>>> SOUTH SOUND SPECIFIC

Tacoman Ben Gilbert died at age 89 on Feb. 28, 2007. He served 18 years on the City's Landmark Commission, as well as a director of the City Club. In his retirement years he was a civic activist fighting for historic preservation. The Tacoma Daily Index has more information on Gilbert and the mural that now graces the park named after him. Read it here.

>>> TODAY'S WORD

Momus \'mo-mes\ noun [L, fr. Gk Momos]

The Greek god of censure and mockery

Usage example: "And then the great God Momus came down and smote the inventor of the Footlong Cheeseburger, in the form of his own clogged heart pounding him into his own grave.

>>> STORY PICK OF THE DAY

FOX NEWS REPORTS: "The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren't engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said.

The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes."

"OK, OK, I might have mixed Vicodin and red wine before driving. Plus there's the whole sex/Vicodin thing - shhh," said one driver who initially complained about the failed brakes.

>>> NEWS TO US

MTV is bringing back Beavis and Butt-head.

After aggressively attacking each other in the media, teen role models Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin have out of nowhere gotten engaged. Ah, that's sweet.

Unintentionally funny infomercial of the day.

Morning Spew posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on this blog. Sometimes, it even posts in the morning.

The Weekly Volcano follows B & C-list celebrities so you don't have 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.

Today, checking in with...

Joe Jonas!

July 13: Joe Jonas is happier than you will ever be

"I loved yesterday." 1:54 a.m., via Twitter for iPhone

July 8: See...

"Goodmornin! Jonas is up for an Emmy?! Highfive!" 8:11 a.m., via Twitter for iPhone

June 25: These kids love Joe Jonas. Can't you tell...

"heres a pic from my trip." 1:35 p.m., via Twitpic

Tune in tomorrow for more hot Twitter Stalking action from the Weekly Volcano

TOMORROW IS THIRD THURSDAY ARTWALK >>>

Tacoma's Third Thursday ArtWalk takes to the downtown streets tomorrow from 5-8 p.m. (officially) where the galleries swing open their doors to the commoners and the museums standdown their security guards and let the peasants frolic for free amongst the art works (no touching!).

The temperature tomorrow is forecasted to bump up against 80. So, with summer in full swing, I present to you eight reasons why to attend Third Thursday ArtWalk in the summer:

1. You can't truly appreciate the gumminess of oil paint until you've watched seagulls drip on the floor.

2. There's a slight possibility that folks visiting BKB & Company might strip off their clothes and wrap artist Katherine Sylvan's amazing silk scarves around their bodies. Sylvan's scarves and Robin Larson's fused glass are the highlights at this wearable art and contemporary craft gallery in the Theater District. 5-8 p.m., 1734 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.6884

3. Cheap red wine takes on a unique taste at a room temperature of 80 degrees.

4. Some might mistake the shower Lynn Di Nino created as real relief until they realize that lining the shower curtain are local sexual predators clipped out of The News Tribune. Titled I Only Have Eyes for You, all the predators' eyes are facing inside the shower, "looking" at an imaginary person taking a shower. Di Nino's 75-inch high wall-hung piece is one of many pieces on display at the Fulcrum Gallery as part of the Here and Now show, which marks but a single moment within the timeline of Tacoma's artistic renaissance. Curated from Tacoma's arts community, the show explores the parallels between young artists and professionally showing established artists including works by Lance Kagey, Holly Senn, Teddy Haggarty, Jeremy Mangan, to name a few. 6-9 p.m., Fulcrum Gallery, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520

5. Sweaty bodies rubbing in the tiny rooms at the 253 Collective bring solidarity to the arts community.

6. The galleries bring out the naked art, such as The Brick House Gallery's Naked show featuring sculptors, painters, illustrators and photographers. OK, they're not naked, but the artists will showcase the human figure in its myriad form, as well as some unexpected interpretations of what it means to be naked. 5-9 p.m., wine and hors d'oeuvres, Brick House Gallery, 1123 S. Fawcett St., Tacoma, 253.627.0426

7. Watching a large-scale art installation using shredded paper burst into flames at Viceroy Art Gallery is fun. Besides the said paper "re.use" installation by Office G | O Architects, Green Apple Quick Step singer and Tacoma native Ty Willman will display his latest paintings. Willman will also play acoustic tunes during the show. 5-9 p.m., Viceroy Art Gallery, 711 Court A, Tacoma, 253.572.9818

8. Artsy chicks wearing less!

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2010 >>>

1. The Whole Bolivian Army performs at the Tacoma Farmers Market Broadway, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

2. While it's easy to quantify Oly as just a hippie, college town - that's only partially true. A large portion of the population is proudly blue-collar. The most amazing part of all of this is the two demographics - shoeless hippies and hardworking grunts - come together every year for Capital Lakefair, meshing farmer tans with hacky sacks, and creating a fairly unique event disguised as just another summer festival. Carnies, cotton candy, live music, and all the usual trappings - Olympia style - go down from noon to 11 p.m. in downtown Olympia.

3. Young and old. Established and raw. Artistically speaking, Tacoma's got all of the above. Here and Now: A Show of Generations, which celebrates an opening reception today from 6-9 p.m. at Fulcrum Gallery, will investigate the parallels between old and young artists working simultaneously within Tacoma's artistic renaissance - sometimes even oblivious of one another. The show aims to capture the, well, here and now of theGrit City art movement, and should be one of this week's highlights.

4. Tacoma Drinking Liberally meets at 7 p.m. inside The Hub to discuss the primaries, the BP oil gusher, and more over drinks.

5. In the biggest field of comedians ever to compete in the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition, "Seattle's Nate Jackson" brought the prize back to the Puget Sound. Although Jackson gets around - doing his thing from Olympia to Tacoma to Seattle and beyond - Jackson represents Lacey! Jackson performs with Tony Robert at 7:30 p.m. inside the Varsity Grill.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

CREATIVE USE OF TACOMA'S VACANT SPACES >>>

The City of Tacoma will look a little sweeter. Stop. Check that. Tacoma is already looking a little sweeter. As you travel around downtown Tacoma, you'll be treated to stunning pieces of artwork, illustrating the city's deep connection with arts and culture and the city's desire to showcase its local talent. The decision to use vacant storefronts and spaces as the canvas for community-based public art is a powerfully unique idea.

Spaceworks Tacoma is a joint initiative of the City of Tacoma, Shunpike and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce. The project is designed to activate empty storefronts in downtown Tacoma with art and creative enterprise. Property owners will donate their vacant spaces and program participants transform them into dynamic points of interest with creative energy and artistic enterprise.

The first wave of art has hit downtown Tacoma - literally. Alexander Keyes' outdoor sculpture Wave is flowing on Tollefson Plaza. Spaceworks Tacoma's website has the details.

Kudos to the creative minds behind this project.

P.S. A wave of cigarette butts has hit the sidewalks around Tollefson Plaza, too.

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

PUNK ROCK: While I'm not against the idea, let it be known that I'm not specifically writing about San Francisco's The Meat Sluts because of the name - which is totally awesome, by the way. No, I'm writing about The Meat Sluts because - not surprisingly - the band fucking rocks. Don't you kind of have to rock with a name like The Meat Sluts? Almost certainly. Anyway, these four crass-as-hell and highly combustible female punks, who've been ravishing and ram-rodding the Bay Area for years, will be in town next Thursday to play what should be a knock down, drag out, punk rock brawl of a show with Tacoma's venerable Gold Teeth. Can you say awesome? I'd try it now before The Meat Sluts knock your teeth out. With Gold Teeth, Thursday, July 15, 9 p.m., The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020

INDIE POP ROCK: The head and the heart - within the human body, they often compete. For example, your heart may pine for the curly haired, nerdy guy at Stadium Video, but your head tells you the truth: he'll never go for you - you like Vin Diesel movies. And so it goes. However, with Seattle's emerging The Head and The Heart, a six-piece "composed largely of transplants to the Seattle area," according to the band's MySpace page, there's no need for competition. Folk and pop sensibilities tread together, negating any need for one to dominate the other amidst the harmony rich, indie hootenanny of a band often lauded for solid song structures, and balancing commercial hook with folk tropes. "It is amazing," says Adam Ydstie of Tacoma's mysterious, show producing, Warehouse Collective, which is helping make this show come to fruition as well. "I have seen their last three shows in Seattle and each one sold out and had to turn people away at the door. It will be a privilege to see these guys in Tacoma." With Not An Airplane and Matt Coughlin Band, Thursday, July 15, 7 p.m., all ages, $8, The Peabody Waldorf Gallery, 745 Broadway, Tacoma, thewarehousetacoma.com 

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

BURGERS, BANDS AND EIGHT-HOUR DANCE PARTIES >>>

Lakefair and Olympians have a love/hate relationship. Love the Demo Burgers; hate the crowd. Love drinking in the beer garden; hate paying seven bucks for one beer.  Love the rides; hate the lines.

But as much as we hate the little crap, Lakefair has become a beacon in the summer of our hearts. We love to find the right rooftop or backyard to watch the fireworks from. We love seeing the carnies down at McCoy's for cheap booze. We love the elephant ears and over-sized photo buttons.

And we especially love the music.

This year is no different; most venues have late shows and the Lakefair stage has entertainment all day, for all ages. Because there is so much going on, I suggest getting out every night and exploring the pockets of bars and house parties playing live music.

But, for the sake of a little guidance through the madhouse that downtown will be, I will provide you with a little glimpse of what Saturday night will hold for music-seekers.

The 400 block of Fourth Ave is always a good starting point, where McCoy's will be hosting their annual Fitz of Depression rock show. Le Voyeur will also be rocking with the darling duo of Lozen, along with Blood Bones, Jan, Pew Pew Pew and Super Secret Show. The Eastside Club Tavern will have some groove and funk bands, and if you are looking to make a little noise of your own, The China Clipper is hosting karaoke.

Of special interest, The Loft on Cherry Street is having an eight-hour All City Dance Party, and The 4th Ave Tavern is presenting music hotties The Missionary Position and Square ‘N the Jimis.

Of course, the Lakefair stage will be loud all day, with a lean towards country - with The Honky Tonk Angels, Renegade, and Freckles Brown to name a few.

With the weekend upon us, Lakefair's ample opportunities for fun, dancing and music are knocking at Olympia's door. So, let's forgive this festival of its shortcomings and head down, enjoy the music and spread some Lakefair lovin'.

LINK: Capital Lakefair website