THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND >>>

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Mostly cloudy, hi 65, lo 52

Saturday: Partly cloudy, hi 67, lo 50

Sunday: Chance of rain 30 percent, hi 65, lo 52

>>> FRIDAY, SEPT. 10: TACOMA NATIVE PART II

Tonight's second installment of Tacoma Native offers an amalgamation of visual art, music and performance featuring new work by visual artists Jeremy Gregory, Kris Crews, Zachary Marvick. Galen Turner and Sean Alexander at Fulcrum Gallery. Also on the bill are video creations by Crews and Bridgett Nicol and local northwest musicians Makeup Monsters, Going Shopping and Ethereal Weeping.

• Fulcrum Gallery, 8 p.m., $5, 1308 MLK Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520

>>> SATURDAY, SEPT. 11: CAPTAIN PHIL HARRIS MEMORIAL CORN MAZE OPENING

This year's Rutledge Corn Maze pays tribute to the life of Captain Phil Harris, the former skipper of the crab boat Cornelia Marie and star of the Discovery Channel's reality TV series Deadliest Catch. Harris passed away in February after a massive heart attack. Depending on your ability to not get lost, the maze will take you about one-and-a-half hours to three hours to complete. But don't be scared, no crabs are there to scare you, and there are checkpoints along the way to guide you. There are concessions and produce stands available in case being near all that corn gets your appetite up. So bring the one you are stalking - get it, stalk - and enjoy a day in the country, and the memory of one brave man.

• Rutledge Farms, 10 a.m. to dusk Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday, $5-$10, 225 93rd Ave. S.E., take exit 99 off south Interstate 5 and go east about 1.5 miles, $7 adults, $5 children, $20 for a family of four, 360.357.3700

>>> SATURDAY, SEPT. 11: STRUT FOR A MUTT FASHION SHOW

The London Couture vintage clothing store, which (in case you didn't realize) is in Puyallup, will present a fashion show Saturday night aimed at raising money, "puppy food" and "puppy products" for local animal shelters. Geared at "mothers and daughters," according to promotions, the event is free and starts at 7 p.m. at London Couture in Puyallup. It's also being billed as a good opportunity for models, makeup artists and photographers to get together and network. A donation of puppy food or other "puppy products" is strongly suggested. Whoa. Geared for mothers and daughters? Bret Michaels is totally going to stay in town for this event and cruise for tail.

• London Couture, 7 p.m., free, 122nd Ave. E., Puyallup, londoncouture@hotmail.com]

>>> SATURDAY, SEPT 11: REDNECK PARKING LOT PARTY PART III

Big Whisky's final Redneck Parking Lot Party of the summer goes down Saturday night in the parking lot behind the downtown Tacoma club's building. Folks will show up to suck up live country music, dance on the outdoor dance floor, drink cold beer, eat barbecue and ride "Bubba the Mechanical Bull." That's redneck success, and exactly why this Saturday the Big Whisky is holding the parking lot featuring Robbie Walden & The Gunslingers, Aces Up and others. Bonus: A portion of the admission charge will be donated to Operation Ward 57 - a non-profit that supports America's Wounded Warriors.

• Big Whisky Saloon, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., free cover to all military and emergency-service personnel before 8 p.m., $10 after, 100 S. Ninth St., Tacoma, 253.272.0777

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

MATT DRISCOLL Editor and Erotic Mime
The thing is, see, I'm off all next week. I know that's not what anyone around Weekly Volcano World Headquarters wants to be reminded of, as it'll be someone else's job to insert f-bombs into next weeks editorial copy, and someone else's responsibility to chain smoke cigarettes out back, but reality is what it is. What will I do this weekend? Who knows ... This weekend is only the start. The possibilities are endless.

Seriously, though, I don't really have plans. ... 

STEPH DEROSA Columnist
Friday evening I will join Bandito Betty and Kris Blondin for a wine-themed 3 Drink Minimum at Pour at Four. Afterward I will shun all Bret Michaels haters by batting my eyelashes in the general direction of him at the Puyallup Fair. That's right, jealous men, someone with blonde hair extensions, a perma-bandana, and the ability to spread syphilis in an airborne manner will be getting more action than you will this weekend.

KRIS BLONDIN Food/Wine Writer
While nursing a sucky head cold, I hope to meet with DeRosa and
Bandito Betty before they go on tour with Bret Michaels Friday night.
Saturday I plan to attend the company picnic from my day job (they're
will probably be lots of beer and wine there, wink wink), and Sunday,
sweet Sunday, nothing. But still, most likely, I will be nursing my
sucky cold.

JENNIFER JOHNSON: Lifestyle/Leisure Writer
Dancing with girlfriends at Surreal's Ladies Night Friday. Saturday by day: Hitting the streets to promote South Downtown's Block Party on Sept. 18. Saturday by night: Attending the wrap party for local film A Perfect Life starring Joe Rosati at the Hub event space. At some point I'll go shopping for a Bollywood-esque dress for Prom at Sanford & Son (it's less than two weeks away, yippee!).

JOE IZENMAN Music/Theater Critic
Saturday. Tacoma Dome. Wedding expo. If I live to see Sunday, recovery will consist of pizza, beer, popcorn, and immersion in the glory that is the National Football League. Until then ... courage.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Features Writer
Friday, I head down to Olympia for a show at the ABC House. It'll be the first time I've been to Olympia in a couple years, and I expect big things from the ABC House. That place has been around for 30 years! Crazy. Saturday, it's all about the Humble Cub CD release show at the Peabody Waldorf. This is decidedly less likely to broken up by the cops than that Japanther show.

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
I'm seeing The Dixie Swim Club at OLT, then participating in the Table for Olympia.  This is where, ordinarily, I'd make some wisecrack, but a community picnic on the National Day of Resemblance deserves better.  I hope to see you there.

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
I'm catching Dixie Swim Club at Olympia Little Theatre this weekend.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound