FREE COMMUNITY CLASSES >>>

There was a time when Bobble Tiki, dear reader, wasn't a cranky old wooden souvenir. That time was the '70s. Bobble Tiki found happiness in Sesame Street, Hee Haw, stripped bellbottoms, H.R. Pufnstuff, The Electric Company (Sh. It. Shit.), the Bradys in Hawaii, Chaka and Farrah Fawcett, Richard Dawson and Chuck Barris and their various substance problems.

And while Bobble Tiki bathed in such glory, he fiddled with his Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and Shrinky Dinks. Stop it!

There's a reason for this post. It's Shrinky Dinks. Yes, those magical shrinkable pieces of plastic Bobble Tiki traced, colored, cut and shoved into the oven for a wonderful keepsake half the original size that ended up lodged in the washing machine's mechanisms are front and center tomorrow during Tacoma Art Place's Free Community Day. OK, maybe just front and center to Bobble Tiki.

Tacoma Art Place, the non-profit art center that provides creative types access to affordable equipment and training, hosts its annual Community Art Day Saturday, May 21, offering free workshops to the community. The no cost workshops include:

• 10 a.m. to noon - felting demo
• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - wearable art (sewing)
• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - photography
• Noon to 2 p.m. - jewelry making
• 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. - graphic design demo
• 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. - pottery wheel instruction
• 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. - SHRINKY DINKS <<< See! There it is!
• 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. - knitting
• 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. - water color painting

In addition to the free classes, expect demos, raffle prizes, refreshments, tours, silent auction and more.

Be sure to drop by at 3 p.m. and join Bobble Tiki as he creates a Pinky Tuscadero Shrinky Dink!

Community Art Day

Saturday, May 21, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free
Tacoma Art Place
1116 S. 11^th, Tacoma
253.238.1006

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

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Sun, hi 71, lo 49

Saturday: Rain, hi 62, lo 49

Sunday: More rain, hi 59, lo 46

>>> FRIDAY, MAY 20: BBQ BY THE LAKE KICKOFF

Teams competing in the second annual BBQ by the Lake Championship BBQ Days this weekend will be cooking up bacon bombs, in addition to the usual ribs, chicken and such. Most of the competitive teams will also be selling their wares as part of the competition and associated Spring Garden Fair. Also on the menu: live music, a beer garden, face painting and much more. The fair ignites tonight at 5 p.m. with a dinner and auction at Black Lake Grange, 6011 Black Lake Blvd. S.W., Olympia. Admission is free, and the donation of two cans of food for the Thurston County Food Bank gets you a raffle ticket. Dinner can be purchased for under $10, and there'll be live music and a dessert contest ($5 to sample everything and vote for your favorite).

Black Lake Grange, Dinner and Auction, Friday, May 20, $5 p.m., donations for Thurston County Food Bank gladly accepted, 6011 Black Lake Blvd. S.W., Olympia

>>> SATURDAY, MAY 21: THE WHIZ: CASCADIA

The Whiz: Cascadia, hitting Tacoma and the Pantages Theater Saturday, is said to celebrate "urban subcultures by showcasing an array of different dance, performance, and musical styles from hip-hop to funk, postmodern to drag and contemporary to psychedelic." With choreography by Nicholas Leichter and a score by Monstah Black, we're told the production is a refreshed take on both the classic film The Wizard of Oz and the 1978 Quincy Jones-powered The Wiz. All of this sounds awesome, of course, and more importantly it's probably enough to get a portion of our staff larger than the pale, theater types to sit through an entire "modern dance musical." The culture will be good for us.

• Pantages Theater, 7:30 p.m., $29-$59, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894

>>> SATURDAY MAY 21: DOCKYARD DERBY DAMES

If you haven't been to a Dockyard Derby Dames bout yet, or any sort of roller derby, from the national champion Oly Rollers to the upstart Toxic 253, you officially suck. There, we said it. The good news is you can redeem yourself Saturday as the Derby Dames return to the Foss Waterway Seaport for the third bout of the season. Watch the Hellbound Homewreckers face off against Femme Fiana and the Marauding Mollys take on the Trampires. It's about time you caught on.

• Foss Waterway Seaport, 6 p.m., $10, $15 at the door, 705 Dock St., Tacoma

>>> SUNDAY, MAY 22 29: OLYMPIA YOUTH CHORUS PRESENTS "DISNEY DAZZLE" SPRING CONCERT!

The Olympia Youth Chorus is one of those organizations you just can't help but feel good about supporting. With an end goal of nurturing an appreciation for music and choral art in kids as young as kindergarten age, the Olympia Youth Chorus has been going strong for over 15 years. Sunday, the chorus presents "Disney Dazzle!" -- billed as a collection of Disney tunes, "from familiar oldies to curent hits."

SPSCC - Minnaert Center, 4 p.m., $12.50 adult, $9.50 student & senior, $2.50 children under 3 who require a seat, 2011 Mottman Rd SW, Olympia, 360.753.8586

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
Friday my plans are to tackle the tasks of child-rearing, bartending, yard work, writing, house cleaning and drinking. Saturday and Sunday? Rinse and repeat.

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL Theater Critic
This Saturday is Amanda's bachelorette party, so I'll be sitting at home eating a pizza and hoping her stripper is gay. Also, if the news from New Zealand is bad, I'll be on my knees fervently repenting all my sins and agnosticism at the last possible second.

JOE IZENMAN Theater and Music Writer
I heard a rumor that it might rain on Saturday, so I'll be fleeing northward to Anacortes, just in case. I got wet enough for three Saturdays last weekend, walking to and from the Goldfinch show. Then home for DnD on Sunday, and sharpening my pencils for a couple weeks of play reviews to start off June - Sweeney Todd (Lakewood) and Proof (TLT).

JOANN VARNELL Theater Critic
This weekend will be excitingly spent trying to brush all the loose hair out of our two 80 lb. dogs, being outside as much as possible and trying to wrangle props and costumes from facebook friends for my students' June 2nd - Performance of Student Written Plays.

ALEC CLAYTON Visual Arts Critic
I'm going to check out the new glass show "Pr3v1ews & Pr0toTyp3s: contemporary glass" at Fulcrum and the British rock invasion musical review I'm Into Something Good at Centerstage Theatre, and then I'm going to sit in on the first rehearsal of the reading of my screenplay The Backside of Nowhere - plug, plug, plug: reading will be in June at Lakewood Playhouse.

JENNIFER JOHNSON Food and Lifestyles Writer

Friday dinner at HG Bistro in Puyallup, then gonna tear it up on the dance floor. Saturday morning volunteering at Nisqually Camp Clean-Up Day with my church singles group followed by yard work in the sun (please! let there be sun), then dinner at the Lakewood Ram with friends. After church Sunday, dinner at 208 Garfield followed by choir concert at PLU.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Meat Market Photographer

I am teaching two photography classes at TacomaArtPlace.org with the Satuday class being part of Free Community Day. I am also going to the Tacoma Youth Choir concert at PLU on Sunday. 

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Music Writer & Snappy Dresser
Saturday, I'll be celebrating a friend's birthday with music from DJ Melodica and jerry-rigged karaoke in the garage. That is all.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

MUSICAL GOODNESS IN STORE IN PRINT & ONLINE >>>

The end of the world may be near, but that doesn't mean we took the week off from producing a Weekly Volcano music section. Quite the contrary, actually. See for yourself below. We'll be in the kitchen mixing the Kool Aid ...

SWIMSUIT/CITY CENTER/SECRET TWINS

City Center is one of three Michigan bands currently touring the U.S. together. Sharing a van is not an issue, as Swimsuit and Secret Twins draw from the same pool of tight-knit talent. Dina Bankole plays guitar in both Secret Twins and Swimsuit, and her bandmates are likewise busy: bassist Amber Fellows has a side project with Thomas called Damned Dogs, and Shelley Salant has drummed with Detroit lo-fi act Tyvek. Secret Twins' Tim Thomas rounds out the cross-continental carpool. Fred Thomas has been told that, "Those five people comprise three of the most important bands in town." - Jason Baxter

BREAD & CIRCUSES

Bread & Circuses make lyric-heavy songs that generally tell a story, and many times lead singer and songwriter Marcus Buser allows himself to be the de facto bad guy in his own tales. "I'm very OK with not being the hero," says Buser. - Rev Adam McKinney

AGENT ORANGE

Agent Orange is old, and so are you. You listened to them on a boombox, right? A real boombox, about the size of a microwave. - Volcano Staff

J-MAR DA SIK

Black Anger was the most revolutionary, progressive, street hip-hop this city has ever produced. No group has stepped up in their place to mix politricks with the streets like Black Anger did. They were like our city's version of Dead Prez, minus the annoying college-kid fan base. Da Sik is the descendent of this movement, honing his skills under the guidance of E-Real, Kendu and DJ Sayeed. - Josh Rizeberg

PLUS: Better Living Through Music - Sweet Water, Yarn Owl, Mad Rad, The Hard Way

PLUS: Concert Alert

PLUS: Comprehensive Live Local Music Listings

PLUS: Just Plain Bananas Crap Like This

IT HAPPENED IN TACOMA THIS WEEK >>>

It's Friday afternoon, which means it's time for another installent of Zach Powers "Tacoma Week In Review" column. While most spend this slice of the week navigating around those tiny umbrellas lodge in ice cubes, Powers instead opens his diary and provides fodder for tonight's social engagements.

This week, Powers touches on digital billboards, Pierce County redistricting, Complete Streets Design Guidelines and volunteer opoortinities on local commissions. To read Powers' column, click here.

VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS >>>

Did you know Motopony's debut, self-titled record on tinyOGRE comes out Tuesday? It's true. Motopony frontman Daniel Blue gave some extended thoughts on the effort in late February's Volcano Music Issue, you may recall...

Anyway, the new record will obviously feature many of the Motopony tunes Tacoma has come to love or loathe. Among them, "King of Diamonds," a song even my almost four-year-old daughter gets behind.

The band's ferocious press team (label life is good) put out a release today announcing the premiere of Motopony's new video for "King of Diamonds." You can see it below.

But before you watch, take in what the PR types have to say about it..

Emerging Seattle-based glitch-folk artist Motopony has premiered the video for the track "King of Diamonds" on NYLON Guys.  The documentary-style video was inspired by Philip Glass' visual tone poem "Koyaanisqatsi."

Again, label life is good. ...

Motopony - King Of Diamonds from tinyOGRE on Vimeo.

NOT YOUR NEIGHBOR'S JUNK >>>

You never know what you're going to find at a garage sale, from antique lamps to half-used bottles of hand lotion to pottery ashtrays lovingly crafted by children.

But at the Artists' Garage Sale, happening Saturday in Olympia, you do know that whatever you find will be art-related.

"There are not just a bunch of pots and pans and old candles and stuff like that," says Cassie Welliver, past president of Patrons of South Sound Cultural Arts, which is holding the sale. "It's actual art and supplies."

The Artists' Garage Sale was originally launched by the City of Olympia and co-produced with POSSCA. This year marks the first time POSSCA will run the sale itself, and the organization is asking shoppers for a $1 minimum donation toward its scholarship fund for high school seniors interested in arts education. Between donations and booth fees, the goal is to raise a few thousand dollars, Welliver says.

To read Molly Gilmore's full article click here.

POSSCA Artists' Garage Sale

Saturday, May 21, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
$1 minimum donation to Patrons of South Sound Cultural Arts suggested
National Guard Armory, 515 Eastside St. SE, Olympia
possca.org

SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2011 >>>

1. Brownie Morrison novelty store focuses on the wackiest and weirdest of pop-culture merchandising, and that's a whole lot more fun than a drinking mug shaped like a breast. A recent visit turned up Really Positive Energy Breathspray, "Sometimes I love you so much I want to cry and rub margarine all over my gums" greeting cards, and Ken dolls having fun in cars. Even if you don't buy a thing, just walking around the store is a blast. From noon to 5 p.m. Brownie Morrison celebrates its new location at 2913 S. 38^th St. with a grand opening party featuring a Flying Monkey giveaway every 20 minutes.

2. As the major military installation in the Tacoma/Lakewood area, Joint Base Lewis-McChord will celebrate Armed Forces Day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Cowan and Memorial Stadiums on Lewis Main. Highlighting the celebration will be military displays, historical re-enactors, carnival rides and the emotionally moving Massing of the Color Ceremony. The public is cordially invited; admission is free.  To enter JBLM, visitors must use Interstate 5, Exit 119. Parking and shuttle services will be available.

3. There is no formula for creating an iconic image of an age or event. Certain images simply touch a nerve. Such is the case with Norman Rockwell's painting of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted by U.S. marshals into William Frantz Public School in New Orleans in 1960. It was not the first school to be desegregated, nor the most famous (that honor belongs to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957), but Rockwell's painting stands as a major icon of the civil rights movement. And the little girl, now almost 60 years old, remains a civil rights activist. At 2 p.m., Bridges will be at Philip Hall on the University of Washington-Tacoma campus ($5-$15) to share her story about those tumultuous times. To read up on Bridges and the Norman Rockwell show at the Tacoma Art Museum, click here.

4. Some otherwise normal folks harbor a deep knot of fear in their souls: They're petrified of yoga. If this is you, we suggest you head over to the University Place Library at 3 p.m. and listen to author Claire Dederer discuss her new book Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses.

5. The Comedy Underground presents funny guy Gabriel Rutledge at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. in the basement of the Big Whisky Saloon.

PLUS: The Whiz: Cascadia and Dockyard Derby Dames bout go down today. More details on these two events in our Weekend Hustle.

LINK: More arts and events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine tastings!

HISTORY! >>>

Metro Parks Tacoma is throwing a big birthday party today for Queen Victoria at the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum. Ah, that's nice.

Hey, wait a minute.

Victoria, daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, was born in Kensington Palace in London on May 24, 1819.  Metro Parks is throwing a huge birthday party on the wrong day!  The dancing, the songs, the re-enactors, the games - all on the wrong day! 

There's punch and cookies? 

Happy Birthday Victoria! 

Queen Victoria's Birthday

Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., $4-$6,
Fort Nisqually Living History Museum
Point Defiance Park, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma
253.591-5339

LOTS OF CUE CARRIERS >>>

I get to Malarkey's a little before midnight on Friday the 13th, thinking this would be the ideal time to sift through the crowd and get some good people-watching done. Unfortunately, attendance is sparse in the rather huge space Malarkey's boasts. I'm greeted mainly by the deep green walls and long noirish shadows that fill this fairly unassuming pool hall. I take a brief walk around and note several pool players with cue carriers. The long and short: they're really serious about pool here. The odds of hooking up seem remote.

To read this week's full Meat Market column click here.

Malarkey's Pool & Brew

Open until 2 a.m.
445 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma
253.383.3301

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Rikk Beatty Band CD Release Show, with Big Wheel Stunt Show. 9 pm.

Backstage Bar & Grill Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Agent Orange, Dead Peasants, Supernothing, The Damagers. 8 pm. $10.

• Agent Orange is old, and so are you. You listened to them on a boombox, right? A real boombox, about the size of a microwave. A boombox in the parking lot of the bank where you went to skate on real skateboards, boards with trucks no wider than your fist. That boombox was toast long before you left for college, that skateboard obsolete, but not the old-school, So-Cal surf-punk of Agent Orange. No way. – Michael Swan
  

Capitol Theater Olympia - Downtown. The Hard Way, Glass Elevator, The Soft Bombs, & Mongo. All Ages. 8 pm. $5-$10 sliding scale.

• The Hard Way share their name with what is perhaps one of the most ridiculously fun action movies ever. The Hard Way, the movie, is big, dumb and silly, and it stars Michael J. Fox as an actor researching a role as a cop by going on a ride-along with hard-boiled detective James Woods. Right about the third scene-chewing moment with Woods yelling at Fox about the manner in which he eats hot dogs, you get that The Hard Way is winking. Similarly, the Hard Way, the band, has a rock 'n' roll bravado that starts out as slightly off-putting, until you begin to hear the sense of humor that they have about themselves. Two or three songs in, the Hard Way become totally endearing. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

The Charleston Bremerton. 4th Annual Zombie Fest, with Dayglo Abortions, The Assasinators, Red White & Die, Generation Decline, Puke N Rally, Total Wreck, Artimus Maximus, The Americommies, Whiskey Tooth, Burn Burn Burn, Crouton Cartwheel Crusaders. All Ages. 8 pm.

Dorky's Barcade Tacoma - Downtown. Countdown to Backpedaling: The End is Nah! Nerdcore rapper Three Ninjas with Mathias "Tangentbot" Purtlebaugh‘s fit-for-the-arcade electronic beats The Bone Poets Orchestra with some tasty string-driven folk-psychedelica, and... Lena Lou rounding out the set with instrumental guitar-driven sonic badassery, more post-rock than metal but delivered without regard for personal safety. All Ages. 8 pm. $10.

Doyle's Public House Tacoma - Stadium District. Blvd Park. 9 pm. NC.

Emerald Queen Casino Tacoma - Eastside. Joan Jett. 8:30 pm. $35-$80.

Firwood Rock Lounge Tacoma - Downtown. Rolling Stones & Black Sabbath Tribute Night. 8:30 pm.

Harbor Greens/Forza Wine Bar Gig Harbor. Dave Hannon Band. All Ages. 7 pm.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Century Media Records Showcase, with Jean Grey, After The Fallout, Depths Of Insanity, Spare Me Poseidon, American Wrecking Company. 9 pm. $10.

The Hub Tacoma - Stadium District. Kim Archer Band. 9 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Eclectic Approach. 8 pm. $10.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Klondike Kate, Curbside Avengers, Ana Bender, Bad Fate. 9 pm.

Louie G's Pizzeria Fife. Trees Without Leaves, Brotherhood Of The Black Squirrel. All Ages. 9 pm.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Jonathan Kimball, Norman Baker. All Ages. 8 pm. $5.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Bread & Circuses, Western Haunts, The Diving Bell. 9 pm.

• Bread & Circuses make lyric-heavy songs that generally tell a story, and many times lead singer and songwriter Marcus Buser allows himself to be the de facto bad guy in his own tales. "I'm very OK with not being the hero," says Buser. "In fact, a lot of times I think I'm more the villain in a lot of the songs. It's kind of this duality that makes every person in every life more interesting. I always like the books and movies where the heroes weren't really the heroes, where maybe the bad guys were the ones that you liked-you know, that thing where challenging what's good and what's bad is prevalent. I think that being on the darker side of things can be relatable, too... But I think it is partially just very pure self-loathing. So yes, I make myself the bad guy because, in a lot of the situations I'm talking about, I am the bad guy." To read the full article click here. — Rev. AM

The Space Tacoma - Downtown. Rock meets bluegrass with Panic Pants, Oly Mountain Boys, Christy McWilson. 8 pm. All ages. $5-$8.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. The Buckets. 8 pm.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound