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