FRIDAY, OCT. 28, 2011 >>>

1. Walking the line between sanity and madness - or pretending to do so - helps give Halloween its juice. Stripping that path down to historical storytelling heightens the experience in ways that slasher movies can't, because written words conjure up images unique to each individual's cranium. The scare becomes customized. That's the approach taken by The Fort Nisqually Foundation as it celebrates Halloween in the style of past centuries by telling ghost stories around a roaring bonfire from 7-9 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. Once again held inside the walls of Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, "Bonfires, Beaver Pelts & Bogeymen" will send shivers down your spine as storytellers bring forth the spirits of the fur trade.

2. Nancy Fullerton, assistant curator of Latin American Art from the San Antonio Museum of Art, convinced the folks at the Tacoma Art Museum to let the public have a sneak peak of the new exhibition, Folk Treasures of Mexico: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection from the San Antonio Museum of Art. The terms of the agreement forces Fullerton to lead a 10:30 a.m. tour of the exhibit and something about a private margarita party. We'll investigate the margarita thing.

3. Orca Books in Olympia welcomes poet Linda Back McKay and photographer Lenny Zimmerman at 7 p.m. to celebrate the release of their new book, The Next Best Thing. McKay is a Minneapolis poet, writer and teaching artist with the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Zimmerman is an artist and photographer living in Puyallup.

4. Lynn Di Nino has organized another TRIPOD Slide Show inside Madera Architectural Elements in downtown Tacoma. At 7 p.m. Marse Lear, Peter Serko and Kristin Giordano will show their photographic wonders under the theme, "Landscapes For Interior Transformation." Grab a gist of the TRIPOD series here.

5. Doing its part to keep Fircrest's Halloween celebrants from choking on family-friendly pabulum, Wheelz Skate Arena will fill its rink with chainsaw exhaust, dry ice and rock music. Beginning at 8 p.m. the skating complex hosts an all-ages extravaganza of assaultive after-hours entertainment, an invitation for the morbidly curious to skate to the musical stylings of Argonaut, The Fun Police, The Plastards, Verlee For Ransom, as well as DJs Klik and Travis Bakers on the ones and twos. Warning: If Plastards singer Bill becomes enthusiastic with a chainsaw, sit up and take notice.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Movies open today!

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Pay Raise Leap Frog: government largess continues even during the deepest economic distress in generations. (News Tribune)

Occupy Update: demonstrators to protest at financial offices. (CNN)

Video: Keith Richards and Johnny Depp jam. (NME)

Watch This: Redbox to raise its rates. (Hollywood Reporter)

Beetlejuice II: Yup. (Coming Soon)

If You're Into This Sort Of Thing: 50 scariest movies of all time. (Io9)

BINGO: It's a community drinking game. (Funny or Die)

Coldplay: The 10 best and worst songs. (Paste Magazine)

SHOULD BE AN EXPERIENCE >>>

No single artist in the field of American music has been so pivotal a force for change and growth, no other such a willful authority of musical evolution, as Miles Davis. Among the most famous of jazz musicians, he's perhaps the closest thing the idiom has ever had to a "rock star" figure. The infamous Miles "attitude" is part of the reason Davis was considered a rock star. This attitude, which developed from the distrust and disdain he held toward the white men who ran the industry, also belied the beauty, elegance and grace of his music.

It is hard to miss the influence of this period of Davis' development on much of today's music; ambient music, trip hop, virtually any form employing cut-and-paste or collage methodology, even the most adventurous of rock forays, a la Radiohead's Kid A - all owe a huge debt to In A Silent Way and, of course, Bitches Brew.

The attitude most likely will not be center stage tonight when The Miles Davis Experience brings its multimedia experience to the Washington Center's stage. At least from the band. The Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet will perform the music of the legendary trumpeter and composer who invented cool. Trumpeter Akinmusire and his musicians will follow Miles' musical development in linear chronology, telling of the challenges and optimism in post-war America, civil rights struggle, historical milestones and the creative cauldron of new music that Miles pioneered and nurtured.

The aural experience will be augmented with era photos and film clips brought together by a beat poet-style narrator. It's a tour designed to introduce Davis to a younger audience and others who missed him the first time around.

[Washington Center, Friday, Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m., $18.50-$37, 512 Washington St. SW, Olympia, 360.753.8586]

HELLO >>>

Hello Portland minimal rock trio Hello Electric

Hello band members Kirk Ohnstad, Henry Gibson, and Zachary Bendt

Hello real drums with electronics, dark keys and thick synths, gritty guitar leads and heavy bass-driven backbone

Hello EP Dead Champion released Tuesday on vinyl with screen-printed sleeves

Hello fellow show mates Big Wheel Stunt Show and Steaming Satellites

Hello awesome night

[The New Frontier Lounge, Friday, Oct. 28, 9 p.m., $5, 301 E. 25^th, Tacoma,  253.572.4020]

Hello five more things to do today

Note to self: Don't show up late to a Varsity Grill beer tasting. My 15 minute tardiness tonight forced me out of the packed bar area, past THREE reserved sections for parties, past another long table full of partiers and into a back corner next to the kitchen. Where the staff lines up for food orders. And waits with its butts pointed at my head.

The Varsity Grill must have hired an engineering firm to configure the layout of tonight's Fall Brew Fest. They crammed nine beer vendors and the buffet table into the same square footage of a World Series' player's bathroom.

I didn't see a Halloween costume during the Fest. Why would there be? This was a brew fest, not a boo fest. The crowd was a mixture of young and old, including many familiar faces such as Aja, Paul and Mike from the Weekly Volcano's foodie group Nosh League.

I learned early to keep a hold of my faculties. A poor chap and his beer-and-plastic-cup-covered shoes received jeers from the crowd.

Deschutes Brewery's Hop Trip hit my taste buds first.  Wow. Its Northwest hops burst with such a funky fresh resin-ish taste I'm surprised I didn't plant a flower in my hair and dance barefoot on KJR Sports Radio's remote table.

Speaking of KJR, I can't make out a single word by Mike Gastineau and Hot Shot Scott from my command post in the corner. The World Series telecast and beer cheers consumed the airwaves.

My second beer was Blue Moon's mellow Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale. An afghan and roaring fire would be a better setting for this nutmeg forward with a dash of cinnamon beer. The Blue Moon dude handed out slices of pumpkin bread with each pour. Good call Blue Moon dude.

The buffet screamed Bavarian, with schnitzel, brat chunks of a stick, potato salad, sauerkraut and assorted mustards. During my second trip for potato salad, the guy pouring the Hop Trip clipped his entire table display on his way to the bathroom, dragging it to the floor. He had no clue and kept his pace. Funky fresh resin-ish taste, indeed.

My third beer of the night went to Widmer Brothers Okto - a German altbier with an ale yeast strain. Das ist spicy.

Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig robbed a home run as I sipped on my fourth beer - Trade Route Brewing Company's Midnight Ale. It was a dark ale with a strong nut taste and a sweet, slight chocolate finish. Needless to say, I sipped on this one for a while. The only thing that could've made it better is if I had a cigar in hand.

I went back to the pumpkin patch for my fifth tasting - Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale. It tasted the same as Blue Moon's version - good pumpkin flavor, nutmeg, cinnamon and sweetness.

Uinta Brewing Company's Punk'n Ale was the, er, pumpkiniest of the all. The beer rep called out the flavors - cinnamon, nutmeg and clove - which were the three keywords of the night. She added "and a ginger taste" to the end of her list. That must be the key to pumpkin greatness.

That's where I ended my journey. I felt as if I consumed an entire pumpkin pie. I skipped the last couple of beers. The pours were twice the size of this summer's Tacoma Craft Beer Festival, too.

If you're a beer lover, mark your calendar for next Halloween weekend. This is worthy event.

[Varsity Grill, 1114 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.1229]

SATURDAY, OCT. 29, 2011 >>>

1. After you're done stuffing yourself on those Mars bars that were supposed to end up in the kids' tummies, press stop on the Black Sabbath tape and ride your sugar rush into the cool midnight air to The Brotherhood Lounge and/or The New Frontier Lounge. Both joins celebrate Halloween tonight with DJs spinning scary good tunes. At Olympia's BroHo, DJ Ira Coyne works the Halloween Ball with a $3 cover, which half goes to Planned Parenthood. At the New Frontier, Pacific Fusion Productions presents Nightmare on E. 25^th Street featuring DJ dAb, The New Law, Mikey Z, Dyonysys and Kalex for $8, which includes a costume contest.

2. Susan Rohrer, the manager of the State Capital Museum, will lead a walking tour from 2-3 p.m. exploring famous deaths, weird occurrences and creepy history around Olympia's South Capitol neighborhood.  Rohrer says the tour, which costs $2 and is first come first serve, sticks mostly to the facts of deaths and odd occurrences, but can't help but wander into eerie speculation occasionally.

3. Former Lakewood Playhouse Executive Director Marcus Walker's passing earlier this year rocked the South Sound. Last night the community held a candlelight gathering at in front of the Lakewood Playhouse followed by a street renaming ceremony for "Marcus Walker Way" in front of the theater. Tonight at 5 p.m. is the Marcus Walker Birthday Party followed by at 7 p.m. Youth Actors Performance & Our Youth Theatre Production of Robin Hood.

4. Even though Halloween is Monday, the undead will be starting the party early as peddling and mumbling stiffs will take over the streets of Tacoma tonight. The Reaper Ride, a costumed pub crawl on bikes - a spooky peloton if you will - will begin with drinks at 7 p.m. inside The Red Hot on Sixth Avenue. Then, riders dressed as skeletons - costumes are strongly encouraged - will peddle to the next bar - which is a mystery as the bar route will not be exhumed until just before the ride.

5. In 1982, nine-time Grammy award winning band Asleep at the Wheel featured Paul Anastasio on fiddle and Dan Tyack on steel guitar. Anastasio went on to play with Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn amongst man others, while Tyack honed his chops playing in the Sacred Steel tradition and recording with musical giants like Bill Frisell. At 8 p.m., after almost 30 years, these two masters will take the stage together again at Traditions Café in Olympia. They will be backed up by Vince Brown on guitar and Cary Black on bass.

PLUS: 3 Glorias Flamenco en Vivo and The Hound of the Baskervilles in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine tastings today

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Two-And-A-Half Years Of Joy: The eastbound Nalley Valley viaduct construction project is on. (News Tribune)

Occupy Olympia: The movement has become home to the homeless. (News Tribune)

The Essence Of Tacoma: Changes needed for Tideflats to stop economic engine's sputtering. (Bellingham Herald)

Afghanistan: A suicide bomber attacked a vehicle in a NATO military convoy in Kabul. (CNN)

12-Year-Old Boys Could Jump Their Bikes Off Ramps: Or become the youngest person ever to be awarded the prestigious distinction of "Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society." (Peta Pixel)

What To Wear To A Birthday Party For Chewbacca?: Camilla Belle knows. (Go Fug Yourself)

"We All Go Back To Where We Belong": R.E.M.'s final music videos. (Pop Candy)

Have A Great Time Tonight Everyone!

CHECKING IN ON A NEW MENU >>>

Back in college, before the Macintosh and VHS, I tried sea urchin, one of nature's stranger edibles, in a sushi restaurant located in the basement of a Vancouver, B.C. hotel. Goofy-faced and swooning, exclaiming it tasted like the ocean in a cloud. It wasn't my thing.

Since then, I've learned to accept the ancestral, primitive bugger's taste. It tastes more like the ocean than mussels, with their blue brininess, or even oysters, which run a close second. At it's best: sea urchin is subtle, sweet, creamy, and sea-salty rather than fishy - like making out with Daryl Hannah when she played a mermaid, or something.

Marrow Kitchen and Bar, Tacoma's new wonder kid, added a scallop dish with sea urchin sauce, spinach spaghetti and black sea salt to its impressive fall menu. The perfectly cooked scallops are served in a creamy, garlicky sauce, which only hints of sea urchin. Don't let your fear of sea urchin stop you from enjoying this marvelous dish. Texture is the star of this production with crisp, pan-seared plump scallops and al dente spaghetti.

I also gave the gnocchi tots and farrotto dishes a go.

The combination of melt-in-your-mouth lightly breaded gnocchi and the baconized horseradish sauce cream sauce produce a dish whose taste consumes your memory long after the plate has been removed.

Think of Marrow's farrotto - mixed with sugar pumpkin, spinach, Beechers Flagship, Passilla pepper and balsamic - as an updated risotto: you get all the wintry comfort of the dish, minus the starchy heaviness. If you love sweet pumpkin, here you go.

Marrow's fall menu is below for your perusal.

[Marrow Kitchen and Bar, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 2717 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.267.5299]

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Halloween Costume Contest, featuring No Living Witness, Lenore, This Is Treason. 9 pm.

Capitol Theater Olympia - Downtown. Night Of The Living Tribute Band, featuring tributes to Dolly Parton, TRex, Bauhaus, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, and KISS, hosted by Morgan Picton as "Dangerfield's Monster". All Ages. 8:30 pm. $5-$8.

• For the past 11 years, in honor of Halloween, the Olympia Film Society has hosted an event simply known as Night of the Living Tribute Bands. These shows are rare windows into the musical lives of local performers whom we may know from seeing around town, but haven't yet learned of their inner devotions. Frequently, the tribute bands that perform at Night of the Living Tribute Bands are one-offs, assembled specifically for the event and made up of jumbled about musicians from various local bands. "Everyone just comes together for one night," says the Olympia Film Society's Audrey Henley, organizer of Night of the Living Tribute Bands. "We're really fortunate that we have so many great musicians in our town." To read Rev. Adam McKinney's full story, click here. – Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Dawson's Bar and Grill Tacoma - South. Tim Hall Band. 9 pm.

Dorky's Barcade Tacoma - Downtown. Dorky's Halloween Show, featuring Death By Stars, The Hyper-Space Sludge Junkies, The Autonomics, The Dirty Words. 8 pm. NC.

• The string of words that make up the name Death by Stars sounds at once full of portent and utterly frivolous. This dichotomy seems to seep into and help define the band's music as well. Combining the biggest, most direct qualities of punk, electronica and psych-rock, the band has cooked up a cutting, immediately hooky sound. There's an invigorating quality to Death by Stars that seems to transcend their basic formula of spacey, psychedelia-informed vocals encased in programmed beats, exploding into life-sized dance-punk refrains. In a live setting, Death by Stars veers into performance art territory, with light shows and costumes. It's a delirious soup - all surface, really. But what a surface it is. To read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature, click here. - Rev. AM

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Unearth The Dead CD Release, with Unhailoed, Onset The Shores, Deathbed Confessions, Burn The Harbor, He Whose Ox Is Gored. 6 pm. $5.

The Hub Tacoma - Stadium District. James Coates. 9 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Halloween Costume Party, featuring Current Swell, Mighty High, Violet Isle, Kaya Flyte. 8 pm. $10.

Louie G's Pizzeria Fife. Palooka, Cody Foster Army, The Rikk Beatty Band. All Ages. 8 pm.

• There's a reason Tacoma's C.F.A. (Cody Foster Army) is a T-Town music scene staple, and it's only partly due to the band's breakneck thrashing or topnotch facial hair. These dudes (guitarist Dave Takata, drummer Reno Dave Marseillan and Foster) have been there, done that in Tacoma, and they've got the scars and welts to prove it. In the past the Volcano has referred to C.F.A. as a "dynamic," and "powerful," band packing a "heavy old-school hardcore attitude and an uncompromising DIY approach." It's all still true. Saturday, in the band's typical fashion, C.F.A. will lead a pre-Halloween Halloween party at Louie G's Pizzeria in Fife, with Palooka and the Rikk Beatty Band also on the sure-to-be-rocking bill. As with all throwdowns at Louie G's, the show is all ages. Foster tells me kids will "shit themselves" when they see the movie-quality costumed Darth Vader and Chewbacca scheduled to attend. - Matt Driscoll

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Nick Sandy. All Ages. 6 pm. Robert Boyd. All

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Justin, Amber & Tryg's Birthday Halloween Bash, with Fall From Grace, Cadillac Radio, Alabaster, Anchor The Tide, True Holland, The Tempting Tarts Burlesque. All Ages. 6 pm.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. Halloween Party featuring Kry. 9 pm.

Theatre on the Square Tacoma - Downtown. 3 Glorias Flamenco En Vivo, featuring Saray Munoz, Pedro Cortes, Savannah Fuentes. All Ages. 8 pm. $12-$25.

• For the uninitiated, there are apparently three main components of flamenco: cante (voice), toque (guitar) and baile (dance). From what we understand it takes all three to make flamenco magic, and that's just what 3 Glorias Flamenco en Vivo should offer up Saturday at the Broadway Center in Tacoma. Bringing singer Saray Muñoz (all the way from Spain) to the stage, along with accompaniment from renowned guitarist Pedro Cortes, 3 Glorias Flamenco en Vivo should entertain and provide a bit of culture - which is way better than anything another Saturday night in front of the boob tube was going to do for you. – Weekly Volcano
  

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Vince Brown, Paul Anastasio, Dan Tyack, Cary Black. All Ages. 8 pm. $12.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Tacoma ABATE Halloween Bash, with Reloaded. 9 pm.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

SUNDAY, OCT. 30, 2011 >>>

1. Tacoma Art Museum has partnered with Centro Latino and Proyecto MoLÉ once again to celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) culminating with a free community festival Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Now in its seventh year, the free festival will feature music, live performances, food and several hands-on art-making activities.

2. Remember that ninth-grade production of Romeo and Juliet? Turned you off to Shakespeare forever, didn't it? Chaste kisses involving balconies and poorly coordinated swordplay - this is not what the Bard intended. See what Ballet Northwest can do for Shakespeare's most over-produced and under-thought-about play at 3 p.m. inside the Washington Center. It's drama with more spinning. But with a romance-themed silent auction at 2 p.m. OK. Good.

3. You know John Williams is the world's most famous film composer because you know who he is. We mean, name another film composer. You can't, which goes to show how insanely familiar this man's music is to so many people. At 3 and 6 p.m. the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association will perform the work of Williams and other movie theme composers when it tackles "A Night at the Movies Costume Concert" inside the Urban Grace Church. Yup, costume contests will be held at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Expect a plethora of Storm Troopers, members of the Rebel Alliance, Boba Fett, a Jedi, Luke Skywalker and (Wait for it. Wait for it!) Darth Vader.

4. What would all this Halloween talk be without perhaps the most classic (and bloodiest) Halloween-y performance of them all? Head over to see Tacoma City Ballet performance of Haunted Theatre: Backstage Tour and Eerie Dances at 5 p.m. inside the Merlino Arts Center, then go grab a "bite." The dance company will be sure to make a great impression (or is it a great mark?) on you.

5. The Toy Boat Theater continues its series of open readings with Dusk by local playwright Nick Stokes at 7 p.m. The two-actor performance tells a suspenseful, musical, surreal story of a man and woman lost in the wilderness.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Happy hours!