SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2011 >>>

1. Marilyn Monroe was gorgeous and glorious, incandescently burning the candle with animal sensuality at one end and vulnerable innocence at the other. It's the former that caught the eye but the latter that drew us closer. There's been no one before or since possessing that perfect blend of guilelessness and carnality, and it was with her almost to the end. At 7 p.m. Pastiche wine bar throws a Marilyn Merlot party in honor of Monroe's June 1 birthday. The Sixth Avenue spot will host a male and female Monroe look-a-like contest, and pour Marilyn Merlot, which celebrates its 25^th anniversary.

2. The Mother Earth News Fair makes its West Coast debut this weekend at the Puyallup Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It's a family-oriented sustainable lifestyle event that features dozens of practical, hands-on demonstrations and workshops from the leading authorities on renewable energy, small-scale agriculture, gardening, green building, green transportation and natural health.?You can also taste samples of organic beverages in our beer and wine garden (nice!),  participate in a silent auction, check out the latest alternative energy vehicles, experience small-space living and score deals from vendors hucking sustainable lifestyle products and services, including books, tools, seeds, crafts, organic foods, clothes, solar gadgets and more.

3. Revisiting craft projects culled from how-to books from the 1960s to the 1980s, the Telephone Room Gallery asked 16 artists to explore three randomly assigned projects taken from these books as part of the "Assignment Crafty" show, which opens with a reception from 5-9 p.m. Check out the contemporary perspectives on fish printing, bottle gardens, rock creatures, Ojos de Dios and more.

4. With just a few lyrical brush strokes, Lennon, McCartney, and their mates made us mourn the lonely death of Eleanor Rigby, taste the strange bittersweet kiss of the girl who came in through the bathroom window, and wonder what life would feel like were we living in a yellow submarine. Jo emery Ballet School will bring the Fab Four storytelling life in a Beatles-inspired contemporary piece as part of its annual showcase "Dances with Dancers" at 7:30 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater. Artistic Director Jo Emery will also lead her students and the Tacoma Performing Dance Company through in a Moulin Rouge production and Alice in Wonderland.

5. Tacoma's Urban Art Festival  - the free, all-ages event that showcases Tacoma musicians and artists - will be reaching new heights this year when it commences stretches it over two days - June 25-26 - and brings it back to downtown Tacoma, this time along the Thea Foss Waterway. Organizers are busy finalizing the arts and bands. However, they presently have fundraising on their minds, including the one at 9 p.m. inside The Spar in Old Town Tacoma.  Expect Ava D'Jor, Funny Face Fanny (singing on the bar as well as performing) and Polly Puckerup from the Gritty City Sirens burlesque troupe, as well as DJ Suga Jones spinning '80s New Wave.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine tastings!