A TIME TO BE THANKFUL >>>

While we sit inside our homes, sipping eggnog and feeling all warm and fuzzy as we give thanks for the blessings of the past year, it's easy to forget that there are hundreds of people in the South Sound who would be grateful for a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in at night.

Emergency Food Network knows this. They have partnered with the Tacoma Rescue Mission and Bank of American to provide free Thanksgiving dinners for those in need at two Tacoma locations: the Tacoma Rescue Mission (425 S. Tacoma Way) and Adams Street Family Campus 2909 S. Adams St.).

Thanksgiving is a time to say thank you for all we have, and share what we have with those who aren’t as fortunate.

LOOSENING UP FOR THE BIG FEAST WITH RICKSON >>>

TURKEY DAY, NOV. 25, 2010 >>>

1. DJ Switch will spin at Jazzbones beginning at 9 p.m.

2. Oh, sure, you could sit around this morning and watch bad football. That's what's expected of you. But why not exceed expectations? Try Gig Harbor's Turkey Trot - a 5K or 10K run or walk designed for the whole family. Kicking off at 8 a.m., giving you a chance to actually work up an appetite for the turkey and stuffing that awaits, the Turkey Trot will fill Gig Harbor's downtown waterfront with athletic show-off types, all to the benefit of F.I.S.H. Food Banks, the local Gig Harbor food bank and college scholarships.

3. Head to the movies, yo!

4. Have your kids turkey-stoked, released from school all week and spinning amok with mounting visions of sugarplums, Barbie dolls and Xbox Kinect drilled a hole through the roof yet? There's a reason Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park will switch on the holiday light exhibits tonight from 5:30-9 p.m.

5. Moby Grape's guitarist Jerry Miller will rock the Westgate Bar and Grill beginning at 9 p.m.

THANKS! >>>

Here's a little love back to all Weekly Volcano and Spew readers. Happy Turkey Day! Wishing you a memorable meal with loved ones. Thanks for all the high fives!

Barring any new dogs drinking beer photos, we're going to use the holiday as an excuse to take a rare day off.

That said, we totally want photos of your family's fight to the death over your damn Tupperware. Every year someone heads to the door with your Tupperware full of leftovers. Then, they never bring the Tupp back. So email us scenes of your Tupperware tussle here.

We'll see you all back here tomorrow and remember: Baste often.

BLACK FRIDAY, NOV. 26, 2010 >>>

1. Although the holidays are a time for joy and light, Weekly Volcano curmudgeon music columnist Bobble Tiki will spend hours trying, unsuccessfully, to string lights around his hut in some presentable fashion all day today. Bobble Tiki's fingers will grow raw and numbed as family members shout orders through a bullhorn.  This is Dante's second circle of Hell for Bobble Tiki. Typically, the Volcano staff will drive by Bobble Tiki's hut tonight, point and laugh. However, after his third eggnog, it's not safe. That's when we head to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium's Zoolights exhbit. Billed as the Northwest's premier light display, ZooLights includes seas of dazzling lights and breathtaking displays of ice-skating puffins, a preying eagle, tiger cubs, the Narrows Bridges and the massive flame tree, among others. The lights pop on from 5-9 p.m.

2. Remember when you used to dress your dolls up and make them act out scenes from Footloose? There they were all lined up on the bed, and G.I. Joe with the kung fu grip was causing trouble and Barbie was fighting with Cabbage Patch while their passive-aggressive little stuffed animal children hid their eyes. Yep, you've always been strange. But the point of this is you're still a fan of physical agility and humor. Vashon circus/music duo Lelavision - the troupe that combines Cirque de Soleil and Stomp, and then adds its own unique vision for a humorous, musical, theatrical and dance performance unlike any other - returns to the Museum of Glass for family-friendly performances at 1 and 3 p.m. Catch their science meets musical dance with a Cabbage Patch in your pocket. Freak.

3. We love the holidays, but let's face it: shopping at this time of year can suck. Snagging your nails in a catfight over a cashmere scarf, ruining your skin in the moisture-sucking mall air, and growing monster knots of tension just to cross each gift off your list makes for a stressful season. Enter the Jada-Moon Gridley-created Gritty City Gift Fair, where local artists and crafters will offer their one-of-a-kind fairs for all at Speakeasy Arts Cooperative from 1-8 p.m.

4. Other, non-North American English-speaking countries know the film of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by an alternate title: The Worst Kids In The World. That should tell you about the quality of the characters in question, and the odds that the title will actually come true. The Herdman clan will be inside the Lakewood Playhouse at 8 p.m. to teach you all about the true spirit of Christmas by lying, cheating, stealing, smoking and other wholesome endeavors. It's a feel-good season of joy for everyone. Or something.

5. DJ Omar mash things up at the Gruv Lounge and Nightclub beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: It's Art at Work month!

LINK: New movies have opened

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

DAY TWO OF TURKEY >>>

Skip the gym.

Eat a lot.

Buy this shirt.

DO NOT BE ONE BIG MASHED COUCH POTATO >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Bump Kitchen, Square N The Jimis. 21+. 9 pm.

Beyond the Bridge Cafe Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. The Phoenix Show, featuring The Black Sails. All Ages. 8 pm. $15.

Harbor Greens/Forza Wine Bar Gig Harbor. Sean Pratt. 21+. 8 pm. NC.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. NORML Benefit: Northwest Sons, Mighty High, Dirty Change Up. 21+. 9 pm. $5.

• Reggae and the march toward marijuana legislation reform just go together. Seriously. If you've ever been to a Hemp Fest, 420 rally or a long car ride through Eastern Washington with Bobble Tiki you know this. A wise man once said you'll never end marijuana prohibition without a drum for the circle, a Bob Marley poster in your room and a great acronym. Luckily, tonight at Hell's Kitchen you'll have a chance to score all of the above. With a bill headlined by the brightly colored and HIGH-ly enthusiastic Northwest Sons, and including Mighty High and Dirty Change Up, tonight's sweet-smelling benefit for NORML will be your chance to get down and (figuratively speaking) get high all in one place. NORML, founded in 1970, is a nonprofit public interest advocacy group that lobbies for marijuana legalization and, well, basic common sense when it comes to pot. They claim to represent the "tens of millions of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly," which might be a conservative estimate based on an informal poll of the Weekly Volcano scribes. - Matt Driscoll

Little Creek Casino Shelton. Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies. 21+. 9 pm. NC.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Rebecca Reddin. All Ages. 7 pm. NC. Gina Belliveau. All Ages. 8:30 pm. NC.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. The Revengers. 21+. 9 pm.

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Tim Hall Band. 21+. 8 pm. NC.

Rhythm & Brews Tacoma - Downtown. Black River Blues. Under 21 welcome until 10 pm. All Ages. 8:30 pm. $5.

SideBar Bistro Tacoma - Downtown. Saxophonist Michael Hershman. All Ages. 6-9 pm. NC.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

JUMPING IN THE WAYBACK MACHINE >>>

We're getting a little misty-eyed here at Weekly Volcano HQ, where Thanksgivings have passed like snowstorms. Flipping through past late November issues of the Volcano, we've come across several cover stories where we list South Sound bars we were thankful to have around. The last time we tackled such a feat was 2007, which we have online here.

We also discovered a similar story we published in the Volcano in 2002 titled "65 Joints We Are Thankful for." Below, we've posted bars from the story that are long gone. Do you remember these?:

BAR CODE: The 4,000 square-foot Olympia club drops a few jaws at first glance.  There isn't any wood.  It's all metal and aluminum with black Formica and vinyl accents.  Bar Code's modern, urban look houses large lounge booths, three gray-top pool tables, Sony flat-screen and big-screen televisions, a 40-foot bar and a 1,000-square-foot dance floor, which is suspended to soften happy feet.  Owner DJ Joey LaRocque and crew spin till 3 a.m. Saturday, er, Sunday morning. - 414 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia. - Brad Allen

BRICKYARD BAR & GRILL:  While 56th and South Tacoma Way fills up with old-timer rock, Nick Nickolas and his brother-in-law, Bruce Rogers, have introduced country to their flashy, brick-walled, wood-beamed, non-smoking Brickyard Bar & Grill in a big way, especially the packed KAYO DJ House Party night.  You have to arrive early to grab the barstools by the door - prime voyeur viewing.  I also recommend arriving early for one of the booths and a tasty dinner. 5602 S. Washington. - Suzy Stump

BULLSEYE SPORTS LOUNGE: By day it's teriyaki and pot stickers, by night it's straight up rock ‘n' roll.  The BullsEye Sports Lounge is a second home to many Spanawanians and some of the best cover bands in the South Sound. Featuring live music Thursday through Saturday, the BullsEye hosts bands such as Just Dirt and Version 2.0, who play songs straight off the Funky Monkey airwaves.  So hop in your pickup trucks, Camaros and Harleys and head down to the BullsEye, bang your head, tip your lovely female bartenders and don't forget to wear shorts and skirts on Wednesdays because you may want to earn some extra cash by winning the hot legs contest. 14906 Pacific Ave. S., Spanaway. - Angela Jossy

COLE'S OASIS: Located in a suburb of Tacoma known as Ruston, Cole's Oasis is a hole in the wall tavern you've probably passed by many times on your way to Point Defiance. It's dark; it's smoky; it's cramped, but it somehow manages to come across as tall, dark and handsome in an intimate setting. It's mysterious; it's comfortable; it has great acoustics, and the very best thing about Cole's is the caliber of musicians that grace its stage. On jam nights you never know who might drop by or what they might choose to perform. Tacoma's veteran musicians blend and harmonize with fresh faced wannabes continuing to pass on the traditions of rock, jazz and blues. This is the kind of place that spawns legends. Don't you want to be there when that happens? 5811 N. 51st St., Ruston. - Jennifer Johnson

COCO LOCO'S: Eyeing the joint from the outside, my initial impression was something out of pioneer lore.  I thought I had landed on Rip Van Winkle's ramshackle doorstep.  But stepping inside, it was bye-bye Rip, hello Gilligan's Island. Coco Loco's swells with bamboo huts, chunky wood carvings, tiki kitsch and did I mention bamboo?  This joint serves them strong.  However, drunk construction workers punching each other in the arm wears after awhile. 13501 Valley Ave. E., Sumner. - BA

DRAKE'S NIGHTCLUB: You want a hot dance crowd? You want hotties from all over the city grinding it out on the dance floor?  You want to thrash to rock?  Want to chill to jazz?  You want a great hook-up scene? You want a fun, unpretentious vibe? Then come party on all four floors at Drake's, where all that goes down. 734 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. - SS

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HO, HO, YO >>>

Doyle's Public House in Tacoma held their annual Ugly Holiday Sweater party Wednesday. Owner Russ Heaton said at least 80 percent of the room donned sweaters. Check out photos from the party on Doyle's Facebook page here.

SATURDAY, NOV. 27, 2010 >>>

1. The other white meat: Ignore the naysayers and the uninitiated who lump pigeons together with squirrels and rats.  From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than 200 pigeon loyalists will group hug at the Puyallup Fairgrounds to compare feather adornments or race at the Northwest Winter Pigeon Classic, all in the name of identifying and extolling the most ideal birds.  Weekly Volcano music columnist Bobble Tiki will be there, too. He'll be the one with the box, stick and string. 

2. With no discernable positive qualities other than dimples and rock-hard abs, Mario Lopez, who still manages to live a life of D-List celebrity, will be at the South Hill Mall in Puyallup for a meet and greet with fans from 1-3 p.m. Lopez will be joined by his wife, Courtney Mazza, which makes a lot of sense since she's the by-default co-star of Mario's new VH1 reality series Saved by the Baby. Get it? Because he used to be A.C. Slater? Get it?

3. Guaranteed to be the hautest handbag event of the year, artist Lynn Di Nino  curates Bags With Purse-onality, a group invitational show at Sandpiper Gallery through Dec. 31. Kay Dallal, Marse Lear, Di Morgan-Graves, Elayne Vogel and Chris Wooten have created purses, handbags and totes with wearable sculpture in mind, and they host a preview party from 2-5 p.m. Bagnificent!

4. Some things simply beg for parody. In the case of many movies made during the ‘60s and ‘70s, that meant Mad magazine's adaptation overtook any memory of the films' realities. Remember opening the pages to the sight of Julie Andrews as Maria in The Sound of Music skipping toward the hapless reader, suitcase in hand, dirndl skirt afloat, ready to sing her little heart out? So like the original ad for the 1965 film, but somehow ... crazier. The singing family, the feel-good anti-Naziism - what kind of culture would produce such a thing? Welcome to the distilled reality of "Sing-a-Long Sound of Music." What began as a Rocky Horror-style wheeze in England has become an international phenomenon, complete with subtitled song lyrics so that each and every audience member can be a von Trapp for a day. Hitch on your lederhosen and frolic down to the Pantages Theater at 3 p.m. and twirl. The annual downtown Tacoma Christmas tree lighting will follow at 6 p.m. just outside the Pantages.

5. Comedian Marc Price performs at 8 p.m. inside the Tacoma Comedy Club. Yes, it's Skippy.

LINK: It's Art at work month!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound