THURSDAY, NOV. 11, 2010 >>>

1. If you can't say it in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, don't say it at all. That's the theory behind Pecha Kucha, a sort of mini lecture series that started in 2003 when Tokyo architects invented it to make their PowerPoint presentations less dreadful. Tacoma's version of Pecha Kucha Night - volume 8 - hits the Harmon Taproom at 5:30 p.m. featuring some of PK's favorite past presenters. Michael Sullivan, Derek Lunde, Michael Stoddard, Antonio Edwards, Jeremy Gregory, Kris Crews, Patricia Lecy-Davis and Geoff Weeg.

2. The Tacoma Freedom Fair Patriotic Pizza Party to raise funds for the Fourth of July celebration runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Round Table Pizza locations in Tacoma and University Place. The Round Table franchises are a big supporter and has committed a large percent of today's sales to support next year's Freedom Fair.

3. As in conjunction with their Street Botany show, Maria Jost and Bobby Smith will discuss their art and ecology in reference to, and possibly inside, their recently installed geodesic dome interpretive center at 6 p.m. inside Fulcrum Gallery.

4. Chandler O'Leary is kind of infatuated with Mt. Rainier - and this is a good thing. For one, it resulted in Local Conditions, O'Leary's interactive book. With 120 image flats and a viewing box, Local Conditions allows readers to literally create millions of Rainier-related scenes. From 7-9 p.m. O'Leary will chat about her work and love of the mountain in Room 020 in the Collins Memorial Library's basement.

5. DJ Toner spins vintage rock and soul beginning at 8 p.m. inside The Brotherhood Lounge in Olympia.

LINK: It's Art at Work month!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

SOUTH SOUND ARTS COVERAGE IN THIS WEEK'S VOLCANO >>>

Eclectic showcase: The 27th Annual Olympia Film Festival delivers nine straight days of goodness by Nikki Talotta

Sweet and morbid: Justin Hillgrove shows at Mineral gallery by Alec Clayton

Comforting cheese: Almost, Maine marks a serious, enjoyable about-face for Gold From Straw Theater Company by Joe Izenman

Worthy of Welles: University of Puget Sound stuns with The Cradle Will Rock by Christian Carvajal

LINK: Arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

SEE IT LIVE TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Offshore Radio, Wauntid, Under Sin. 21+. 9 pm.

The Charleston Bremerton. Moonshine, Drums & Color, A Leaf. All Ages. 7 pm.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. The Spittin' Cobras, Flexx Bronco, Atomic Outlaws, Basic Radio. 21+. 8 pm. $3.

• When you Google "spitting cobras" what you come up with is a definition similar to this one, taken from Wikipedia: "A spitting cobra is one of several species of cobras that have the ability to eject venom from their fangs when defending themselves against predators. The sprayed venom is harmless to intact skin. However, it can cause permanent blindness if introduced to the eye and left untreated (causing chemosis and corneal swelling)." However, drop the "g", and search Spittin' Cobras, and what you stumble upon is something exponentially more rocking, and perhaps equally as deadly (in a good way). Made up of members from iconic punk bands like KMFDM, The Dwarves and Murdock, this is a show Tacoma should snort up like free coke, or at the very least come out in force for. – Bobble Tiki
  

Hi-Fidelity Lounge Bremerton. The Ray Ohls Jazz Trio. New York style jazz. 21+. 8:30 pm. $4.

Johnnys at Fife Fife. Buckshot Jazz. 21+. 7:30pm -10:30pm. NC.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Christopher Scott Mitchell. All Ages. 7 pm. NC. Dave Randel. All Ages. 8 pm. NC.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. Shenandoah Davis, Ritchie Young, Twig Palace. All ages. 8 pm. $6.

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Tim Hall Band. 21+. 7 pm. NC.Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Billy Stoops Acoustic Jam. 21+. 9 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Reilly & Maloney. All Ages. 8 pm. $10-$15.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

SCORE ONE FOR OLYMPIA >>>

Last night at Northern in Olympia, Wild Flag - perhaps at least momentarily better known as Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss and Rebecca Cole - played its first show ever. As Brownstein noted  (herself and Weiss Sleater-Kinney alums) most of her bands have played their first show in Oly, so the packed and much-anticipated all-ages gig on an otherwise slow Wednesday night in our state's capital made plenty of sense.  It was also amazing - a show people will be talking about for a long time. Here are some photos of the performance taken by Nicole Martin. The Volcano's Rev. Adam McKinney will be providing a blog account of the evening at some point later today on Spew.

Wild Flag has sold out shows later this week scheduled for the Doug Fir in Portland and the Tractor Tavern in Seattle ... but Oly got 'em first. It was awesome. 

LINK: More photos taken at the show in our Photo Hot Spot

DUSTIN WONG GIVES BIRTH ... KINDA >>>

The press sheet for Ecstatic Way/ex-Ponytail guitarist Dustin Wong's impressive new double LP Infinite Love reveals that the title is "a reference to a psychedelic experience of Dustin's." During our recent interview in anticipation of Wong's Saturday gig at Northern, I decided to ask him to get a little more specific. To wit, I wanted to know if the psychedelic experience was LSD-related, because let's face it, "Infinite Love" sounds like an acid-ism if ever there was one. Here was the totally off-the-wall explanation I received:

"It was mushrooms, actually. I ate a whole bunch at once, on my birthday. It was really intense; it got really dark and heavy. To get out of it, I started chanting, and I felt like I had to give birth. I got on my bed and started pushing, like a pregnant mother (in labor). It felt like something came out, and then I felt the love. And that all felt very significant to me, and that's what kind of inspired everything."

Incidentally, Infinite Love is such a blissful and euphoric record that it does kind of "sound like" a young man's purely imagined flood of post-natal endorphins.

LINK: Inspiration?

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

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Mostly cloudy with some sun, hi 51, lo 38

Saturday: Cloudy with a little rain, hi 50, lo 44

Sunday: Mostly cloudy, hi 52, lo 43

>>> FRIDAY, NOV. 12-SATURDAY, NOV. 13: THE FURNITURE SERIES

The dance begins in the eyes of a man, searching from chair to chair. Some of the chairs will seem interested for a second, then break it off. Others don't even acknowledge him. But when his eyes land on the right piece of furniture, there's no confusing the look. He locks eyes with that chair; the two move toward the dance floor and meet there halfway in an embrace, the classic start of the tango. The lights are dim overhead, and the bottoms of his dance shoes caress the wooden floor as he leads his chosen chair into the tango song. While dancing a dime falls from underneath the chair's cushion. There's an awkward moment. He picks up the coin and continues the dance. "I am," he said too no one there. And no one heard it at all, except the chair.

Possibly this dance but certainly many better ones like it will be performed as part of Robin Jaecklein's Furniture Series at the SOTA theater this Friday and Saturday. A total of 11 pieces of furniture will be the muse of dancers Joel Myers, Kate Monthy, Hannah Crowley, Katie Stricker, Mary Tuttle, Danny Boulet, Lynn Wilmot-Stenehjem, Laura Miltner, Brittany Humphrey and SOTA students.

• Tacoma School of the Arts Theatre, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, also 2 p.m. Saturday, $7-$15, 1118 Commerce St., Tacoma, 253.761.8311

>>> SATURDAY, NO. 13: ROCKET RACES

While most of us relegated our ballistic experiments to childhood - leaving those wimpy baking-soda projectiles and more beefy hairspray potato cannons as distant memories - some people continued their interest in amateur rocket science through adulthood. Many such individuals will spend many enjoyable hours this weekend drinking Pabst and launching powerful, adult-size missiles at each other in East Pierce County. The other rocket enthusiasts - those with rubber band powered, propeller driven rockets - will gather at the Olympic Flight Museum this Saturday and freakin' go nuts. Competitions will include both adult and kids with the kids judged according to their grade.

• Olympic Flight Museum, 1 p.m., 7637-A Old Hwy. 99 SE, Olympia, 360.705.3925

>>> SATURDAY, NOV. 13: TELLABRATION!

There are those among us who can make their trip to a hair stylist the most riveting story you've heard all week. People whose stories never trail off into "it was really cool. ..." Envy them. They are not like you. Not only do they have great success at parties, they have a future with the Mt. Tahoma Storytelling Guild. See what all the storytelling fuss is about with storytelling for grownups, in honor of Tellabration, a national storytelling event sponsored by the National Storytelling Association.  If you can stand a 10-minute hairdo story, just imagine how riveted you'll be by something with an actual plot.  

• Antique Sandwich Co., 7:30 p.m., 51st and Pearl, Tacoma, (253) 983-9114

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

MATT DRISCOLL Editor (aka - the guy to blame)
There's talk of a new computer purchase this weekend in the Driscoll household, so that's always exciting. Really, there's nothing more American than the acquisition of shiny new things. Sunday, I plan to coach the single greatest game of fantasy football in the history of man (or at the very least fantasy football itself). 

PAUL SCHRAG Senior Contributor
I'm editing a truckload of U.S Treasury grants for some credit unions that are doing amazing work rebuilding our shattered economy. My play list for this task will include Cee-lo, Jocelyn Montgomery and David Lynch interpreting the cantos of Hildegard von Bingen, and probably some klezmer.

STEPH DEROSA: Columnist
I'm sure to be a gold medalist in the LWPO - Lamest Weekend Plans Olympics.  As a matter of fact, not only do our dear Weekly Volcano editors spank us every time we report to the Weekend Hustle with no plans, there is a possibility they could actually dock my pay for being so extremely boring this weekend. I wish I had a dangerous agenda for the upcoming duo of days off, but alas, I do not. Although, I DO have a hankering punch someone in the face, so don't count me entirely out for a little fun in the next few days.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Features Writer
Friday, I'm going to check out Hunter Lea and his new band at The Den. My second all-ages show of the week! That, if anything, calls for Prefunk.

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
I think I'll let Loverboy sum this one up:
Everybody's workin' for the weekend
Everybody wants a new romance;
Everybody's goin' off the deep end
Everybody needs a second chance. ...

JOE IZENMAN Music/Theater Critic
To be honest? I have pretty much no idea what I'm doing. At least in terms of things that anyone else might find interesting. Shopping at IKEA and Fry's? Could happen. Shopping for obscure Indian spices? Hope so. Shopping at the second to last Proctor Farmers Market of the season? There's little doubt of that. But no shows, no plays, no exciting nightlife. Sorry, stalkers!

JOANN VARNELL Theater Critic
This weekend will be spent trying to figure out how to get a 1953 Ford up from Nacogdoches, Texas. When I'm not contemplating that (or why my dad is suddenly giving away his cars), I'll be trying to get my 3-month-old son to laugh.

JENNIFER JOHNSON: Lifestyle/Leisure Writer
I'll be basking in the hopefully warm weather in Utah while visiting family for the entire weekend. Yippee!

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
I'm seeing Grease at SPSCC and Bug at Evergreen, plus trekking to my junior-high haunts in Humboldt County, Calif.  I'm traveling with my mom, though, so Humboldt's most popular cash crop is off the table.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Meat Market Correspondent
I am going to Harry Potter with the kiddos for Veterans Day and then getting a blooming onion with my pa. This weekend, I'm headed to the opening of Vanity nightclub.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

THEY FUCKING KILLED IT>>>

Turns out that I need to get down to Olympia more often.

Walking around its gloriously flat downtown; stopping in to prefunk at the Brotherhood Lounge and later at Jake's; seeing the city teeming with young, fresh-faced hipsters-it was kinda like heaven.

Rounding the night out with a performance from a brand new band sounded just right.

It didn't hurt that this new band was Wild Flag, a veritable supergroup of badass indie rock women (Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss, and Rebbeca Cole), culled from a number of awesome bands like Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, Helium, and the Minders. It also didn't hurt that Wild Flag fucking killed it, in what turned out to be the band's very first public performance.

The table was set nicely for them after lively performances from the jangly Royal Baths and the tight, muscular Western Hymn. While Western Hymn was still onstage, bassist Sarah Utter quipped, "Next up is Wild Flag. I've been looking online for their music, but no luck. I'm excited."

The whole crowd was abuzz when Wild Flag took the stage. From that first raucous chord struck by singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein, Wild Flag had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

Led by the virtuosic Brownstein and Mary Timony, Wild Flag play punk-inflected guitar rock that still has the kind of playful looseness that could be expected from a band that's just finding its footing. All four band members take turns doing vocals; a couple cover songs are sprinkled in (The Velvet Underground's "She's My Best Friend" and the Standell's "Dirty Water"); when a modest mosh-pit opened like a sinkhole near the front of the stage, Brownstein laughed and thanked them for dancing at a "very un-dance band."

My favorite aspect of Wild Flag was the dynamic between Mary Timony's seemingly quiet, standoffish persona, and Carrie Brownstein's hugely animated rock star presence. A classic combination, and one I hope to see last for quite a while, as I impatiently wait for Wild Flag's debut album - expected to be recorded for Merge Records early next year.

LINK: More photos of the show at our Photo Hot Spot

FRIDAY, NOV. 12, 2010 >>>

1. This one's so big they're literally going to shut down the street in front of the Capitol Theater. Help launch the 27th Annual Olympia Film Festival in style beginning at 5 p.m. at its Opening Night Gala. Acrobats, artists, dancers, freaks, psychics and geeks are promised - along with the unmatchable Romanteek and a showing of Fritz Lang's ultra-classic Metropolis. It's going to rule. Trust us. And it kicks off nine days of Olympia Film Fest magic.

2. The Tacoma Weavers' Guild celebrates its 75 anniversary with a huge textile show opening today inside Handforth Gallery and historical displays in the Northwest Room - both at the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. What originated around campfires hundreds and thousands of years ago lives on as an important art form. And the Tacoma Weavers' Guild's show isn't just for weavers. It's really for anyone that loves fiber. And we're not talking about Wheaties, folks.

3. Poet Jody Zorgdrager will take the spotlight at 7 p.m. for the monthly Distinguished Writer Series gathering inside King's Books. After Zorgdrager demonstrates why she's been published in numerous journals, the floor opens up for everyone to lay some words down.

4. Comedian Geoff Lott performs at 8:30 pm. inside the Big Whisky Saloon as part of the Tacoma Comedy Underground show.

5. Rare Groove, a night of intelligent soul, funk, jazz and rare grooves spun by DJs Bobby Galaxy and dAb every second Friday of the month, kicks off at 9 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge.

LINK: The Furniture Series dance performance is in The Weekend Hustle

LINK: Tacoma Art at Work events

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

LINK: New movies open today

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TONIGHT'S LIVE WIRES >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Moonshine, Drums & Color. 21+. 9 pm.

Cedarwood Dome Milton. SweetKiss Momma, Tori Sparks, Alicia Healey, Ten Miles Of Bad Road, The Twang Junkies. 21+. 8 pm.

The Charleston Bremerton. Excuse Me Flo, Annamercury, Wahnder Lust. All Ages. 7 pm.

The Den at urbanXchange Tacoma - Downtown. Hunter Lea, Kelli's Starlight wishes, Michael Ghee. Hunter Lea is the former Mono in VCF. All Ages. 7 pm. $5.

• Hunter Lea started out with music startlingly different than the somber, dramatic music Mono in VCF produced. Raised by a father who secretly (to the dismay of his mother) began submerging himself in the '60s garage rock scene in Auburn, Lea soon found himself drawn to the rebellious rock 'n' roll that his father valued. Read my full story here. – Rev. Adam McKinney
  

El Sarape Shelton. High Ceiling. 21+. 9:30 pm. NC.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Demented Souls, Ninthgate, Deathbed Confessions, In These Hands, Blood Of Rome. 21+. 9 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Tommy Castro Band. 21+. 8 pm. $15-$18.

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

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Technicolor Yawn, The Art Of Shooting, Eux Autres, Brotherhood Of The Black Squirrel. 21+. 9 pm.

• Do you ever get the sensation a band is manipulating you? Do you ever care? The Art of Shooting is an abundantly melodramatic band from Brooklyn; they want very badly for me to feel something when I listen to them. And I do. When those sweeping guitars come in at just the right moment, when lead singer Kelly Irene Corson's vocals layer one on top of the other in a cavalcade of emotion or when her voice meekly mutters "Isn't that your cue to go?" - all of this works on me. At the end of one of the Art of Shooting's giant-sounding songs, I feel wrung out and used, and I like it. To be manipulated - by a band so capable - can be great. - Rev. AM

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Sevens Revenge. All Ages. 8:30 pm. NC.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Mahnhammer, Helms Alee, Hazzards Cure, Dogshredder. 21+. 9 pm.

Vanity Nightclub (56th and S. Tacoma Way) Tacoma. Grand Opening Party, with Just Dirt. 21+. 9 pm.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

ART AT WORK MONTH >>>

Last weekend several dozen Tacoma artists opened their studio doors to the public as a part of Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month. I called upon my "artistic" friends to get some recommendations and out of the dozen or so studios I visited – two artists stood out.  Here's a quick glimpse into their work.

R.R. Anderson - Comic Artist Extraordinaire

Walking into Anderson's studio is like walking into a person's mind ... an insane person's mind.

It's a floor to ceiling organized hodgepodge of framed comics, news clippings, antique tools, stacks of finished artwork and books.  Among his collection: a full-on geological display, a batman figurine drowning in a jar of rice, and a typewriter labeled "This typewriter is haunted".

Anderson's affinity for the bizarre isn't solely expressed through studio décor; it's also ever-present in his comic creations.  

Anderson's response to the legislative candidate who recently said, "The Girl Scouts of America are training little girls to be a bunch of lesbians and abortionists." Note the penis-shaped cookie monster.

Like the one above, most of Anderson's comic strips on display in his studio (and available for view at Feedtacoma.com) scrutinize Pierce County politics.  All politics aside, however, Anderson says, "I'm not trying to save the world. I'm doing what I can to stay connected to how the world really is. Ultimately my work is about friendship, need, and other timeless values."

Anderson's work can also be seen in a zine produced by C.L.A.W. (The Cartoonist's League of Absurdist Washingtonians) - a secret society of fez-wearing comic writers. The free zine can be found at several downtown coffee shops including Amocat.

Also upcoming for Anderson is the release of his book, 100 Tacomics: The Secular & Apolitical Cartoon Life of Tacoma and her Moral People(s) which chronicles the last few years of Tacoma through comics.

A celebration of Anderson's book release will be held at King's Books on Monday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. Anderson will be there to sign books and Jeff the Ice-cream Man will provide free Mexican ice-cream.

MICHAELA EAVES - The woman of many mediums

Judging totally on first appearances, Michaela Eaves encompasses the emerging Tacoma artist: she's young, a little quirky, a little hipster, and I'm betting she has a way better record collection than I do.

First off, the studio she shares with several other artists is - simply put - badass. It features high loft ceilings, old brick interior, and huge paned windows that wrap around half of the room, perfectly framing UWT and Tacoma's awe-inspiring smoke stacks.

She's been there for the past two years and has truly found a home in the Tacoma art scene.  "I love how nice Tacoma is to its artists," she said. "Seattle? Not so great."

Michaela's works range from pen-scratched Tim Burton-esque drawings to mystical children's watercolors.

"I used to really want to do illustrations for children's books, but they don't like boobs," she said pointing to the watercolor of a topless nymph.

Me? I think it's pretty damn good (does that make me a nympho?).

Moving on in the tour, Eaves shows me some stained glass-like acrylic paintings, a half-painted door in the works for an upcoming food-bank charity event, and a dozen or so sinister Santa's carved out of driftwood. "I showed these to my mom who asked, ‘Why does everything you make have to be so creepy?'" she tells me.

My favorite of Eaves' pieces are black-ink-drawings stained with coffee. She had these and several other drawings available as prints.

You can check out more of Michaela on her website. For prints and commissioned work you can email her here. 

LINK: Tacoma Art at Work events