TUESDAY, SEPT. 28, 2010 >>>

1. The last 6th Avenue Farmers Market runs today from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Stop by Sixth and Pine and hug your favorite vendor goodbye.

2. The offspring of Northwest Garden Guru Ed Hume, James Hume, typically specializes in acrylic on canvas, but for his latest exhibit, Not Painting Flowers, showing from noon to 5 p.m. at the Sandpiper Gallery, he's abandoning typical crutches and going all out. Inspired by a trip to Paris, and the "fleeting masterpieces" Hume saw from street artists in the Metro, Hume says, "With my new work I'm breaking all my old habits and experimenting with stencils, spray paint, Photoshop and even my iPhone." Read the full story here.

3. Tuesday Read-In from 5-7 p.m. at Last Word Books is your chance to sit, read, drink tea and argue politics.

4. The Broadway Center presents another happy hour season preview/sneak peek thingy from 5:30-7:30 p.m. with a glimpse behind Cirque Mechanics Boom Town. As you sip dollar drinks inside the Pantages Theater you'll witness feats of strength and the latest mining fashion. If you hang for the whole happy hour you'll have the opportunity to win two free tickets to see Jo Dee Messina or Eileen Ivers.

5. Big Wheel Restaurant and Lounge hosts a College "Nite" beginning at 8 p.m. featuring $2 beers and $2 wells and a DJ spinning all vinyl.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LIVE MUSIC IS WHERE IT'S AT >>>

The Den @ urbanXchnage Tacoma - Downtown. "The Night of the Living Loop" featuring Hunting Hat, Psychic Handbook, Via, Last Eyes. 7 pm.

• This show, featuring Hunting Hat, Psychic Handbook, Via and Last Eyes is being advertised as "The Night of the Living Loop." Not entirely sure what that means. I'm hoping it indicates that these bands utilize the loop pedal, which I think is one of the more delightful gadgets to see performed live. Listening to Hunting Hat's homespun recordings, I could picture the swirling lo-fi hums and whispers being generated by such a device. Seeing Hunting Hat live ought to be odd, considering their recordings evoke the feeling of a found radio station, lost to time, discovered after midnight on a long drive out of town. Voices drift in and out through tin-can telephones, and you're left with a strangely distant memory of having heard a song, somewhere, sometime. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

6th Ave Farmers Market Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Gone Postal. All Ages. 4:30 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Nearly Dan (Steely Dan tribute). 21+. 8 pm. $10-$12.

O'Blarney's Irish Pub Olympia - Eastside. Irish Sessions. Live traditional Irish music. 7:30 pm. NC.

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Joe Faker Band, with Allen Alto. 21+. 7 pm. NC.

Olympic Club Hotel and Theater Centralia. Alice Stuart. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

Sax Restaurant and Lounge Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Open Jazz Jam. Hosted by Kareem Kandi. 21+. 9 pm. NC.

Summit Pub Puyallup. Tim Hall & The Band Real Times. 21+. 7:30 pm.

LINK: More live music and DJs tonight in the South Sound

HELP OUT A DRUMMER >>>

Today in seattle craigslist > tacoma, drummer trever is looking for work:

i like sabbith rush dio priest... old school..my cell # is 253-365-7920 my names trever.......... later

Literary rock bands might be excluded.

LINK: Meet 144 local bands

MORNING SPEW >>>

If you attack Elmo, you will get your ass kicked.

Today in Pre-2012: New York City is issued another tornado watch.

LINK: Happy hours!

BAND PROMO >>>

Dick Rossetti sent us this promo for his band Twink The Wonder Kid. It's awesome:

LINK: Twink's website

TASTY NEWS IN OUR INBOX >>>

Inspired by their winemaker dinners, Morso Wine Bar in Gig Harbor now serves Pasta Putenesca, Barolo Braised Beef and Roasted chicken, as well as expanded on some of their original dishes.  Check out their new autumn menu after the jump:

Read more...

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29, 2010 >>>

1. The Evergreen State College's Artist Lecture series starts off the new academic year with a presentation by John Grade at 11:30 a.m. inside Lecture Hall 1. He is the recipient of the 2010 Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, an Andy Warhol Foundation Award, two Pollock Krasner Foundation Awards, and a Tiffany Foundation Award.

2. James Minson will give a flameworking demonstration - the process of using a torch to heat up glass rods and then manipulate them into different shapes - from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside the Museum of Glass' Hot Shop.

3. Bo Chambers, an art instructor rather than a crime fighter as the name suggests, will lead a series of classes titled "Art You A Wear" at Tacoma Art Place beginning today from 3-5:30 p.m. For more information, as well as to RSVP, call 253.238.1006.

4. Carolyn Cruso will sing folk, pop and Celtic-inspired acoustic tunes on the inside porch at A Rhapsody in Bloom beginning at 7 p.m.

5. The uninitiated may best know the Melvins by their creation of the dubious sub-genre known as sludge-rock. Marked by its definitional sluggishness, sludge-rock favors hard, plodding, perfect-head-banging metal over all else. The band performs in the South Sound for a second time this week with an 8:30 p.m. show with Totimoshi and Bone Sickness at the Capitol Theater.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

CAST YOUR COCKTAIL VOTE TONIGHT >>>

How's this for mixing it up on a Wednesday night? Toscanos Café and Wine Bar in Puyallup needs your help finalizing their fall cocktail menu. They invite the public to sample their new drinks tonight from 5-9 p.m., then mark your favorites on a ballot. At last, your vote really matters. Help Toscanos bring democracy to drinking.

LINK: Happy hours!

HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE >>>

The autumn air brings in the eating season. It's that time of year when massive quantities of food are consumed with abandon. The restaurants adjust their menus for more hearty dishes - meat!

Pacific Grill in downtown Tacoma has posted new autumn menus on their website. Their lunch menu didn't really change much other than a new Tuna Burger that replaced the Albacore Burrito.

The Dinner Menu has a lot of changes and, according to PG's Marketing Director Jacob Rose, "is one of the most delicious dinner menus I have seen since working here."

On the Happy Hour Menu, they deleted the Pacifica Cocktail, but added Crab "Puppies" and brought back the Cheese Toast with "Melted" Tomatoes. Nice.

On the Noodle Bar Menu they added a Spicy Tuna Poke.

Throw on a warm coat and head to Pacific Grill.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE >>>

The City of Tacoma has just released the three winners of this year's AMOCAT Arts Awards. Here's the press release:

The Urban Grace Church, Fab-5 and Oliver Doris have been selected to receive the Tacoma Arts Commission's 2010 AMOCAT Art Awards. The awards recognize organizations and artists for their vision, dedication and action in creating a lively arts community in Tacoma. The three categories support community outreach in the arts by a patron, an organization and an individual. 

The "Arts Patron" award goes to the Urban Grace Church for their support of the arts in Tacoma. Urban Grace's commitment is exemplified in their establishment of the Poet Laureate position for Tacoma in 2008, their partnership with Fab-5 to create a mural for the Rialto Theater in 2010 and in providing ongoing opportunities for exhibition and performance in all artistic disciplines.

The "Community Outreach by an Organization" award goes to the Fab-5 for their commitment to providing mentorship, leadership and opportunities for youth to develop their talents within hip-hop culture. Fab-5's L.I.F.E. program gives youth an opportunity to develop and explore their unique voices through a variety of different mediums including music, movement, visual arts and creative writing workshops. Although Fab-5 work is centered on creating art, their main outcomes and objectives are cultivating communities where young people from diverse backgrounds can gather, collaborate, learn and share ideas.

The "Community Outreach by an Artist" award goes to accomplished glass artist, Oliver Doriss, for his work in opening the Fulcrum Gallery. The gallery is an influential display space located in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma catering to contemporary art and installation created by up and coming national and regional artists.

Awardees will be honored at the annual Art at Work Opening Party on Nov. 4, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Art Museum. In addition to honoring the awardees, the evening's programming will feature live performances by the Tacoma Youth Symphony, Tacoma Opera, Tacoma Symphony and Tacoma Musical Playhouse. Hors d'oeuvres will be served and attendees will have an opportunity to view the museum's galleries. This free public event is sponsored by Click! Cable TV, the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington State Arts Commission, Weekly Volcano, City Arts magazine, Premier Media Group, ShowCase media and Prosser Piano.

Visit www.ArtAtWorkTacoma.com for more information about Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month.

The Weekly Volcano won the Arts Patron Award in 2007. The Urban Grace Church, Fab-5 and Oliver Doriss can expect groupies, paparazzi and reality TV show offers.