TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2011 >>>

1. Sweet mother of Minnie Pearl! The Gruv Lounge on Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue passes over the usual Tuesday night trivia and goldfish race hijinks in favor of some swinging rockabilly. The music is a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll, with pinup girls, hotrods and cheap booze in tow. Booze & Tattoo Tuesdays kicked off May 10 with Black Top Demon ... and the band returns to Gruv's Booze & Tattoos Tuesday for an 8 p.m. show. There will be more go-cat-go than you can shake a stick at. We dare you to even try to shake a stick at it. LINK: Photos from the first Booze and Tattoos night

2. Nothing quite like returning from a very brief but still incredibly fresh-aired and pine-treed and virtually news-free Memorial Day vacation to the potholed quirky Tacoma streets to make you ponder just why you're still hacking such an expensive little life out of such a stressed compressed Xanax antidepressed urban jungle, with great coffee. We say blow midday off and head to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and check out the brightly-colored Australian budgerigars. You may purchase seed sticks and hang in the open-air aviary and interact with about 100 friendly birds from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., before heading back to the hardcore snickering proto-American rules.

3. Amber Navran Band will perform around 3 p.m. at the 6th Ave Farmers Market at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pine Street.

4. Psychologist Dr. Kristin Neff discusses her book Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up And Leave Insecurity Behind from 6-8 p.m. at Orca Books in Olympia. We would attend the free reading, except that cough we had in 1986 would probably surface and everyone would stare at us. Sigh.

5. It sucks to cruise to the bar with only a pocketful of quarters. It also sucks to make a beer selection based on, "whatever's the cheapest." Luckily, White Horse Tavern in Yelm has a solution for those who are a little short on the dough. Every Tuesday night, White Horse celebrates Tightwad Tuesdays (will Hell's Kitchen sue?) with happy hour prices all day long. Draft beers pour for $2.50 and wells for $2.75. That's a price even the stingiest can love.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound

LINK: Hole up in a dive bar!