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

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Rain, hi 53, lo 44

Saturday: Cloudy, hi 57, lo 43

Sunday: More rain, hi 51, lo 43

>>> FRIDAY, OCT. 28: FALL BREW FEST

Your routine come fall is fairly predictable. The flannel shirts come out. Your motivation level slows to that of a nearly-hibernating American black bear. And your consumption of beer goes WAY up. That's why Friday's annual Fall Brew Fest at Varsity Grill in downtown Tacoma is so perfect for you. Entry fee earns you nine fall beer samples, a variety of appetizers and all sorts of fun. Plus, 950 AM KJR sports radio will be broadcasting live until 7 p.m., and the always awesome RockBot live-band karaoke will take over after that. A good time will be had by all.

• Varsity Grill, 5:30-8:30 p.m., $10-$15, 1114 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.1229

>>> FRIDAY, OCT. 28: WALKING WITH ERIK HANBERG

On Friday the Downtown On The Go-sponsored fall walking series will conclude with a stroll from downtown to Hilltop with Metro Parks Commissioner and City Club Executive Director Erik Hanberg. Yes, it's true, you probably remember visiting with Hanberg in a park not long ago. Now is your chance to walk with him in the flesh. Ask questions. Keep pace. Compliment his beard. The world is your walkable oyster. Friday's walk meets at noon and begins at 11th and Broadway in front of the Woolworth Building

• Woolworth Buidling, meets at noon, free, 11th and Broadway, Tacoma,downtownonthego.org

>>> SATURDAY OCT. 29: 3 GLORIAS FLAMENCO EN VIVO

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 is going to do for you.

• Theatre on the Square, 8 p.m., $12-$25, 915 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5890

>>> THROUGH NOV. 6: THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

Despite three good actors and a director I respect, signs augured trouble as the metaphorical curtain rose on Theater Artists Olympia's co-production (with the Outfit Theatre Project) of The Hound of the Baskervilles in TAO's quirky new digs, the Eagles Ballroom basement. I relaxed within seconds, I'm happy to report, because Baskervilles is instantly funny and stays that way. It owes as much to Monty Python's Flying Circus as it does to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you've seen Shakespeare Abridged or, for that matter, Airplane, you have a feel for its tone: linear narrative cohesion has been sacrificed gleefully at the altar of one goofy joke after another. It even follows the Shakespeare Abridged model to the extent of restaging previous scenes in fast-forward, probably in the hope that this will help us make sense of the plot. It almost does. ... -- Christian Carvajal

• Eagles Ballroom basement, 8 p.m. Fri-Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, $12, 805 N. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.790.1138

>>> SUNDAY, OCT. 30: LE NOIR BIZARRE

Julia Jones may have found Tacoma's Halloween Pulse. She's the mind behind Le Noir Bizarre, a three-floor, dark holiday extravaganza happening Sunday at Sanford and Son Antiques. Jones has a couple dozen craftspeople, performers and assorted weirdoes lined up for this romanced/goth/steampunk celebration, and promises there will be plenty of skulls, goggles, lace, fire, demons, devils and tons of stuff made from pieces of animals and old clocks.  Surprisingly, Le Noir Bizarre does not translate as "the new weird." It means "The Dark Market," which only describes about half of what Jones has lined up. Expect all sorts of creepy and mysterious goodness. To read Paul Schrag's full feature, click here.

• Sanford & Son Antiques, noon to 5 p.m., 744 Commerce St., Tacoma
  lenoirbizarre.com

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

ALEC CLAYTON Visual Arts Critic
I'm going to see the Folk Treasures of Mexico at Tacoma Art Museum.

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REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Music & Features Writer
This weekend will be a mad dash to try and fit in as many Halloween-y shows as possible. In addition to the shows I wrote about, there's the Nightmare on 25th St. DJ show at the New Frontier, and Not From Brooklyn, I Will Keep Your Ghost, Umber Sleeping at the Space--all on Saturday, to say nothing of the Night of the Living Tribute Bands in Olympia. Tough call.

BRETT CIHON Features Writer/Meat Market Correspondent
Halloween is like the meat market's Christmas. Sexy costume this and sexy costume that. Tacoma clubs, here I come.

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
It's my first Halloween weekend off in nine years! So Saturday night me and the hubs are gonna hit every party in town, especially The Brotherhood's Halloween Bash! I'm dressing as Flo from the Progressive commercials and he's Keith Stone from the Keystone commercials. Together, we're gonna bundle that smoothness. Cheers!

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
Amanda and I are finally going on our honeymoon! We're flying to Orlando this weekend, where we'll catch Blue Man Group and occupy Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios plus Islands of Adventure and all four boroughs of Disney World. Y? Because we like to.

JOANN VARNELL: Theater Critic
My amazing husband snagged a Living Social (or Groupon or something) for a family getaway to Vancouver, BC where we will eat crepes and do some shopping on Robson Street. The drive there and back will be the most amount of time our nearly 15 month old will have spent strapped to a car seat. Thankfully, he doesn't know how to say, "Are we there yet?"

JENNIFER JOHNSON: Food & Lifestyles Writer
Friday Forum luncheon at the LDS church. Homework. October birthdays dinner that night. Homework. Gladiator Run event in Kent Saturday morning with "Team Stinkin Rushforth Wheels." Homework. Wedding reception that evening. Homework. Church on Sunday. Fall into an exhausted comma Sunday night. Homework.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Meat Market Photographer
I will be doing the St. Mary's Harvest Fest and the Marcus Walker Way dedication at Lakewood Playhouse with the kids on Friday, the Comcast movie morning at the Grand Cinema Saturday, followed by the Tacoma Youth Choir family performance in the afternoon and the "Bogey men and Beaver Pelts" ghost stories at Fort Nisqually that night. Sunday will bring church and a screening of "Puss in Boots 3-D" in the comfy chairs at the Lakewood Towne Center.

STEPH DEROSA Person, Place or Thing Correspondent
Believe it or not, I will be participating in the Gladiator Rock N Run this Saturday at Kent Speedways.  (And I use the word "participating" loosely.)  I am part Team Stinkin' Rushforth Wheels.  If you can guess which two business entities developed our team name I will award you with a lavish tongue kiss just moments after eating forty cloves of raw garlic and a bag or Doritos.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound