DO SOME GOOD >>>

On Friday, May 27, Enumclaw teacher Amy Erwin's life was taken by her husband. He then turned the gun on himself and took his own life, leaving behind two children, ages 13 and 7. In the stunned aftermath of this tragedy, Amy Erwin's longtime friend, Tacoma's Sean Lund, has organized a benefit show at The New Frontier Lounge scheduled for Friday.

"This show is a fundraiser for those kids," says Lund. "I had reconnected with (Amy Erwin) after our last high school reunion, four years ago. She was a near and dear friend to me in high school, when my dad died. She was one of the few people I relied on, who helped me get through that time. My heart just goes out to those kids. I felt at a loss about what to do, and I was frustrated and angry about her being murdered. ... I thought that I could turn around and do some good."

To read Rev. Adam McKinney's full article click here.

[The New Frontier Lounge, Lund Bros., The Hard Way, The Tripwires, Friday, June 17, 9 p.m., $5, 301 E. 25th St, Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Annette Dawson in response to our cover story by Joshua Swainston about Ivan the Gorilla.

Dawson writes,

This week's Volcano article on Ivan made me cry a little and I'm usually a tough nut. Just seeing the big fella brought me right back to a warm, safe and fuzzy place of my childhood when I would go to the B&I with dad and mom, when the world was a much different place. I remember watching Ivan through thick glass walls and wondering what he was thinking and would he ever be let out of his concrete jungle. Thankfully he did make it out of there. I'm grateful to have been able to have met and known Ivan. His story reminds me that those who have been through the harshest conditions and survived have the potential to transform the madness of their lives. Thanks Volcano.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011 >>>

1. Another tripod slide show night hits Madera Architectural Elements showroom with three 15-minute presentations around the theme "Parts." From 7-8:30 p.m. Lynn Di Nino explores auto parts (American cars in Cuba), Kim Sparks-Wilmer introduces hair parts and Doug Mackey presents body parts (didn't see that coming). Obviously, it's an adults-only event. You'll be asked to shell out $5 at the door.

2. Mel Gibson's comeback joint, The Beaver, plays at 2:45, 7:05 and 9:10 p.m. inside The Grand Cinema. Should you see it, even though it didn't do so hot last weekend at the box office? Should you get caught up in the public excitement that comes from anything related to Mel Gibson, not to mention anything with the word "beaver" in the title? Or, do you resist the urge, because humanity really shouldn't be won over by someone of Gibson's ilk simply because they don a hand puppet? It's a tough call. ...

3. The Harmon Tap Room celebrates its first anniversary with a bash featuring brewery tours and beer tastings from 3-5 p.m., and a pig roast and live tunes by the Myles Crew from 6-9 p.m. Read our review of the joint here.

4. The Cryptatropa Bar celebrates one year on Olympia's Fourth Avenue with a night of DJs spinning house, disco, boogie, funk and techno beginning at 10 p.m. Joining DJs Susan Ploetz and Grab The Bat Killer will be Allan Wilson from the band !!! (chk chk chk). That's awesome.

5. Masa on Sixth Avenue serves some of the best handmade mole' in the city. But it's not the mole' that fills Masa to the brim every Friday and Saturday night. It's the two dance floors. It's the Latin style moves. It's the endless parade of short skirts and buff arms. It's the fact that every weekend night, Masa is one of the hottest meat markets in town. Mole' is more of a weeknight dish, anyway.

PLUS: Matt Coughlin and the Growlers and Tommy Emmanuel details in our Weekend Hustle.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

THE BROTHERS GOING OUT >>>

ANNOUNCER: Near the edge of Tacoma's Theater District sits the Harmon Tap Room - the third drink-and-dine establishment of co-owner Pat Nagle. Nagle's other restaurants are the well-known Harmon Brewery & Eatery and The Hub. And then, of course, there's his overarching Harmon Brewing Company, which is responsible for the bevy of tasty, locally brewed beers available at all of the Harmon restaurants and other retail locations around the South Sound. A smallish public tasting room at the Harmon Tap Room sports a rustic, somewhat industrial feel thanks to bare beams and exposed piping in the high ceiling. The space doubles as a dining area inside the 15-barrel brewery. The Tap Room serves the 21-and-up crowd lunch and dinner, with American-comfort-food-meets-Italian-cuisine offered at prices that are easy to pay. The Tap Room celebrates its one-year anniversary this week.

To read Jake and Jason DePaul's full review of the Harmon Tap room click here.

[Harmon Tap Room, 204 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.212.2725]

YOUR SOURCE FOR SOUTH SOUND THEATER COVERAGE >>>

David Auburn's Proof is built on relationships: a damaged girl and her broken father; the sibling rivalry of two sisters on very different paths; the uncertainty of young love. Each tie between two characters helps illuminate another.

Nominally, the play is about brilliance and madness in mathematics, but even that is another of the many relationships that bind together a topic-mathematical discovery-that would ordinarily be a bit dry for theater.

It is the execution of these relationships that drives the performance at Tacoma Little Theatre.

To read Joe Izenman's full review click here.

[Tacoma Little Theatre, Proof, through June 26, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $15-$24, 210 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.272.2281]

REAL STORIES FROM REAL BARTENDERS >>>

I've been a bartender for a long time. I have met countless freaks, jerks, pervs, sweethearts, rockstars and crazies. Even though it's a physically and mentally exhausting job, these are the colorful people that make it all worthwhile. Well, that and the tips.

I'd like to share with you some of my personal experiences behind the bar, along with the stories from some of my fellow bartenders. Each week - under the clever heading of "Behind Bars" - I will dig into my memory bank - and the incident log books that all bars keep - to bring you some of my favorite stories.

Names of bars, bartenders and patrons have been changed or withheld to protect the innocent.

And the not so innocent.

Cheers!

This week...

Ode to the Weekend: Shitheads and Magic Moments

I have worked weekend nights my entire bartending career. Week after week. Friday after Friday. Saturday after Saturday. The scene is the same:  mobs of people laughing and conversing, waving money, sloshing drinks, and melting away the stresses of the work week, while simultaneously melting away their mind, all in the comfortable confines of their favorite watering hole. As much as I can handle my shift, and cruise through a busy night, it takes physical endurance. It's multi-tasking mania. Its an overall high stress environment.

Now, most bartenders recover from working vicious weekends by sleeping until 2 p.m. the next day.

But, seeing as I have two little munchkins that like to wake me early, sleeping in is impossible.

So, ever since my first son, I've longed to switch to day shifts. And recently, I found out that time has come. (Although I will miss my Angie!)

To my surprise, this transition has brought up tons of nostalgia for me. I find myself mourning the loss of those crazy weekend nights, fights, shitheads and all.

But, especially, I will miss the magic times between when the cops start chasing all the DUI drivers and when cab companies quit answering the phone, about 3-5 a.m.

It's this time, when the money is done and the shift beer poured, that I've been witness to some of the things that make this job awesome - epic pool games, snuggle sessions on pool table tops, and most recently, an after-hour delight featuring a tray full of magic brownies, a room full of magic people, and a magic solo performance on the electric upright bass by Tom Wait's bassist. (Sorry, too brownied to remember his name...)

I just know that I've been blessed as a bartender; I've witnessed amazing feats, met many fine, talented people, and given my liver a good run.

I look forward to my new day shifts, and Friday and Saturday nights, I'll see you on the flip side!

LINK: The "Behind Bars" collection

SATURDAY AT NORTHERN IN OLYMPIA >>>

Portland's Total Bros are one of the most gymnastic punk bands I've ever heard. Consider the springy, pepped-up lick that opens "Leif is Sorry" from their self-titled 7" (the title is an in-joke reference to Orca Team bassist Leif Anders), or the palpable tension of "Universal Typography," which is as taught as an athlete's strained musculature. The band can be a little hard to keep track of sometimes (especially if you live north of the Oregon/Washington border), and with good reason: guitarist/vocalist Ethan Jayne also plays bass in Blood Beach and writes for the Portland Mercury, and Wiley Hickson also drums for Nucular Aminals.

Fortunately, the duo is slated to perform on Saturday night's stacked Northern bill, which also includes Georgy, Chung Antique, and KAREN (you can read more about it in this week's music section).  There's something mildly retro-evocative about Total Bros' sound, a proto-emo thread (minus the whine) that trails back into the late '90s alternative underground. They also feel startlingly alive to my ears, and very "now" in their idiosyncrasy, and it's worth mentioning that their sets are always remarkably energetic. You could say they also have an athlete's endurance-once they performed three sets in a single day, one in Bellingham and two back-to-back in Seattle.

Perhaps I'm getting too hung up on the sports analogies (perhaps I can't get past the band's song title "Joshua Fit for Basketball"). Regardless, it's true that their music pivots and bounces and volleys and dives, and that Total Bros do more with a guitar and drums than many larger bands do with a whole array of instruments. Game on.

[Northern, Total Bros with Georgy, Chung Antique, Karen, Saturday, June 18, 9 p.m., All Ages, $5, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, northernolympia.org]

SERIOUSLY, DO IT! >>>

Tacoma's street skateboarders know what it means to be shunned. Whether it's getting yelled at by shopkeepers or handed tickets from the police, the message to the city's kickflippers has been clear for years:

Go home. Tacoma doesn't want you or your stinking skateboard.

But ever-so-slowly, Tacoma is rolling back its harsh stance on skateboarding. In 2009, the City of Tacoma authorized the removal of hundreds of metal skateboard stoppers from Thea's Park, essentially legalizing skating within the park's boundaries. Earlier this month, the city took steps to change a decades-old ban on using a skateboard as a transportation device in the downtown area.

And on June 21, hundreds of Tacoma skateboards will crowd Tollefson Plaza in celebration of the world-wide Go Skateboarding Day. The event in Tacoma is appropriately titled Go Skate Tacoma. Skateboarders of all ages can enjoy pop shuvits down the stairs, grinds on the boxes and cruising the smooth ground without fear of retribution from the dreaded Five-O. In fact, Tacoma Police will be on hand to make sure the one-day event, Go Skate Tacoma, runs smoothly.

Go Skate Tacoma coordinator Ben Warner hopes a successful event in Tollefson Plaza on June 21 will go a long way toward changing common misconceptions about skateboarders.

"Along with the skaters, we're also trying to invite community members to come down and see what skateboarding is all about," says Warner. "Hopefully we can eliminate some of the negative connotations about skateboarders."

To read Brett Cihon's full story click here.

[Tollefson Plaza, Go Skate Tacoma with Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Music by Red Hex, Wheelies, Si Si Si, June 21, 2 - 10 p.m., Free, All Ages, Commerce St. and S. 17th St., Tacoma]

HOT OFF THE PRESS RELEASE WIRE >>>

It's Friday. Things are slow. I spent two hours looking at YouTube videos earlier today ... until I forgot what I was looking for in the first place. It was a sad scene.

Luckily, I just got an email from the folks behind this year's Olympia Independent Music Festival - meaning I can momentarily turn my attention to making a blog post out of it.

And voila!

The third annual Olympia Independent Music Festival will run two days, July 2-3, from noon - 9 p.m. at Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia. It's free, and the lineup is pretty awesome. Specifics can be found below in full press release glory ...

3^rd Annual

Olympia Independent Music Festival

Saturday and Sunday

July 2 and 3

2011

Sylvester Park

Downtown Olympia

Noon to Nine

13 bands

2 days

Absolutely Free

It is with great pleasure that I announce to you the official lineup of the 3^rd Annual Olympia Independent Music Festival.  This year, with the help of the local Olympia community, we've expanded the festival to 13 bands and two full days of free music in the park on sunny July afternoons.

Saturday - July 2

12                               Opening Ceremonies

1:00                           One Nation Undereducated       

2:15                           Glass Elevator                                 

3:30                           Romanteek                                     

4:45                           Dave Randel                                               

6:00                           Horse Bodies                      

7:15                           Fight For Change                           

Sunday - July 3

12                               the Dudes                                        

1:15                           Mongo M.T.                                    

2:30                           the Hard Way                                 

3:45                           Jabi Shriki                                        

5:00                           Teardropcity                                   

6:15                           Xero Ours                                        

7:30                           Hollywood Kill Krew

Since 2009 the Olympia Independent Music Festival has been devoted to bringing the best local unsigned artists together to showcase their collective talent.  No money.  No business.  Just free great music in the park on a sunny summer afternoon.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18 , 2011 >>>

1. Today's environmentally themed Proctor Farmers Market promotes local, sustainable practices and family-friendly fun. Attendees can learn more about green living, eat locally made food, browse booths, attend workshops and watch demonstrations, check out an electric conversion car and listen to live music from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Should you arrive at the Market by bike or carrying a reusable cup or shopping bag, don't be surprised if you get your picture snapped for the "Green Wall of Fame." 

2. "Warbirds." Star Trek aside, the term is not a creation of Gene Roddenberry and company, but a real-world designation for any aircraft that has served in a military capacity. And warbirds - from World War II bombers to Vietnam-era helicopters to A-10s - are the aircraft that will be on display and in the air beginning at 9 a.m. around the Olympia Regional Airport during the Olympic Air Show.

3. The film Madagascar is the story of four animal friends at the Central Park Zoo - Alex the Lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith) - who, through a series of mishaps, end up marooned on the relatively rustic island nation of Madagascar. There, the pampered and homesick New Yorkers must eke out an existence in the wild without the help of beneficent zookeepers or adoring fans. This glorious film will be screened for free at 10 a.m. at The Grand Cinema.

4. Where there's beer, there's burping, and where there's beer-burping, there's an Old World wine bar (sound of a wine glass shattering on the ground). That's right, Pastiche Wine Bar is getting their microbrews on for Father's Day weekend with a free beer tasting from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., as well as a full meal of burger, potato salad, baked beans and a microbrew for $11.99. Tonight, expect live music, bar games and, yes, burping.

5. The upstairs of Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill is not technically a bar. It's a private membership club. A club that's actually not much different than your local dive watering hole. You know, the ability to smoke cigarettes inside, hot bikini-clad bartenders waiting on your every need and nightly drink specials ranging from liquid marijuana shots to cheap draft beer. But wait. Your local dive bar doesn't have bikini-clad bartenders serving liquid marijuana shots? Oh, too bad for you.

PLUS: Titlow Lodge Centennial details in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine tastings!