As you know, the new Warren Miller film, Like There's No Tomorrow, like hits Tacoma's Pantages Theater tonight and tomorrow. This latest film continues the tradition of following the daredevil exploits of skiers, snowboarders and other powder-trashing riders across the globe.

Alas, like a finely crafted Burton snowboard, attending these film screenings doesn't come cheap: Tickets are around $21 a pop. Unless, that is, you win one of the many, many pairs of tickets we'll be giving away at the Warren Miller Prefunc today at the Harmon Brewery & Eatery in downtown Tacoma. That's right powderheads, the Weekly Volcano and The Harmon have teamed up to pump a little snow through your veins.

So here's the deal:

Harmon Volcano's Warren Miller Prefunc party will run from 3-9 p.m. The Harmon's happy hour runs 3-6 p.m. as usual, which is nice. However, because it's a freakin' party, drink specials will continue through 9 p.m.

Second, we're hosting a raffle featuring a two-night lodging/two lift tickets per night Crystal Mountain Resort package, $500 gift card to Sturtevant's sporting goods store, past Warren Miller film DVDs and pairs of tickets tonight's Warren Miller flick, as well the screenings of Like There's No Tomorrow next week in Olympia.

Third, there will be a "Best Snow Bum Costume" contest at 5 and 8 p.m. with $50 Harmon gift cards on the line.

Fourth, Ben Union will rock the party from 5-8 p.m.

For certain there will be rowdy send-offs for those attending tonight's Like There's No Tomorrow film at 6 and 9 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater. And there will be another rowdy welcome when those from the 6 p.m. screening return for more partying.

Warren Miller Prefunc

Saturday, Nov. 5, 3-9 p.m., no cover
Harmon Brewery & Eatery
1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.383.2739

SOUTH SOUND DINING NEWS, NIBBLES AND SIPS >>>

Proctor Farmers Market: It's still on!

Tacoma Foodie App: Foodcaching makes searches easy and delivers deals straight to your mobile phone.

Weekend Special: Pour at Four chef Howie is serving a Cassoulet special today. Drop by the Tacoma Proctor District wine bar after 2 p.m.

Weekend Special II: Primo Grill in Tacoma will be serving slow roasted pulled pork staring Cheryl "The Pig Lady" Ouellette's Berkshire pigs tonight. The dish will be served with caper mint salsa verde.

Tomorrow: The Tacoma Buddhist Temple hosts a free Fall Food & Crafts Bazaar from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

LINK: Happy hours!

SUNDAY, NOV. 6 2011 >>>

1. Every year in Memphis the top blues act in the world gather for one of the biggest blues competitions known to man - on Beale Street, of course. Also, every year the South Sound Blues Association holds a competition (usually in June) to choose one lucky band to represent them and the entire region at said competition in Memphis. This, naturally, takes money - which is where today's fundraiser at The Swiss in Tacoma comes into play. But the action isn't just about raising money - it's also about catching an amazing array of local blues talent. Starting at 4 p.m., the Back To Beale Street 2012 Fundraiser bill includes Jumpin' Josh and Felicia, Blues Buskers, Fingertips, Blues Redemption, the CD Woodbury Band and the Red Hot Blues Sisters. South Sound Blues Association members pay $8 at the door, everyone else doles out $10 - but it's all worth it.

2. The Tacoma Buddhist Temple hosts a free Fall Food & Crafts Bazaar from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (food costs vary). Bobble Tiki loves the sound of that and was all set to go, until he discovered that Buddhism helps you wake up and find your true self. Bobble Tiki has made a career of being both unconscious and shallow, so maybe this event isn't for him. But it just might be for you.

3. It's your last chance to catch ...Like There's No Tomorrow in Tacoma. It's snow porn at its finest. Ski bums and snowboarding enthusiasts will surely flock to Tacoma's Broadway Center for a chance to catch this latest Warren Miller Entertainment joint, shot in India, New Zealand, Chile, British Columbia "and beyond," according  promotions. U.S. skiing legend and gold-medalist at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics Jonny Moseley narrates and hosts the film, which will show once today after screening twice yesterday.

4. Feeling jazzy? Drop in on Butch Harrison in the Piano Lounge at El Guacho starting at 6 p.m. The food and vibe is amazing, and a name like Butch Harrison can only improve things.

5. Today marks the second and final day of the Art At Work: Tacoma Arts Month studio tours. Don't let this yearly favorite pass you by without getting involved. Find all the info you'll need right here.

EXTRA CREDIT: Set your clocks back, yo!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

A LOOK AT FRIDAY'S JOAN RIVERS SHOW AT THE PANTAGES >>>

"Where are we?" Joan Rivers rasped from offstage last Friday. "The Pantages Theater in Tacoma? It's come to this?"

So the icon kicked off a performance so politically incorrect it would make the diversity-minded cringe if they didn't realize that it was all shtick. Emerging in a floor-length, silver sequined robe, Joan ranted against people and groups that get on her nerves ("Chinese women, get out! They are gorgeous and they steal your men!"), skewered celebrities ("Jennifer Aniston does not douche!") and vented about geriatric woes ("Vaginas drop! No one ever told me! You can have sex in your bedroom and watch TV in your living room!").

After the show, this reporter and a few friends attended the "Meet and Greet." (New to Tacoma, I brought along local wings Erik Bjornson, Jamie Chase and Kevin Freitas). We were herded inside a gargantuan elevator that opened onto a nondescript room where a mostly 50-plus-year-old crowd stood lined up behind a velvet rope. I tried to employ a reporter's privilege and dodge the line. When Joan emerged, she told me bluntly (albeit with a warm handclasp): "I'd speak with you, but these people paid, you didn't."

Deflated, I returned to my crew. Consoling ourselves with Chardonnay, we debated whether I should dare attempt another approach. We had just decided against it when one of Joan's handlers notified us, "She'll see you now!"

I grabbed my notebook and rushed to meet the legend. Up close, her famous face was wizened, almost leonine, and yes, somewhat immobile from all the surgeries. "You've waited all this time," she said. "So ask me."

Face-to-face with the woman who got me in trouble at age 12 for being up past my bedtime because my parents caught me laughing at her crack that Nancy Reagan picked her nose with a breadstick, I was momentarily speechless.  Then I managed to sputter, "What do you think of Walmart?"

"If they have my products I like them, if they don't, I don't," Rivers told me.

She then praised the "fall colors" of the Northwest and indulged some of my questions about politics, saying "there's no one in either party" she would vote for. Of the Herman Cain sexual harassment controversy Rivers said, "These are not New York women. If they were, they would have gotten half a million. Who settles for $45,000?"  She said she had just come from performing in Texas and that even there, "No one likes Perry."

Erik asked how she thought the Tacoma audience was. "Great," she said. "They went with everything."

"Will you come back to Tacoma?"

"We're coming back."

"People around here need a laugh," I said. 

"Everybody needs a laugh," said the Matriarch of Comedy.

Rock on, Joan.

LINK: The Tacoma Urbanist, Erik Bjornson, took some pictures of Heather Robinson and Joan Rivers.

LINK: Dang! Bjornson shot video too!

THIS WEEK'S FREEBIES NOV. 7-13 >>>

Hey, what happened?  Bobble Tiki was just traipsing happily through autumn, watching the leaves turn pretty colors and fall into someone else's yard, when it suddenly turned cold!

When the cold arrives is when Bobble Tiki begins doing his old man thing: puttering around the house. Bobble Tiki walks around turning lamps on and off, makes coffee, calls to see which checks cleared overnight, visits the porch to see which plants he has killed and, well, just putter. Anything you read on this page must be taken with a grain of salt, because Bobble Tiki can't remember what it is he's supposed to be doing.

But don't fret, gentle reader, because Bobble Tiki sends you another fresh Freeloaders column to keep your tootsies toasty. This week, Bobble Tiki will focus on free events centered on things that are old. Like Bobble Tiki. 

MONDAY, NOV. 7: Tacoma playwright C. Rosalind Bell presents a free staged reading of her screenplay about blues guitar legend Robert Johnson at the Toy Boat Theatre in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood. Twelve professional and community actors will bring to life the African American blues artist who, in the 1930s south, developed a sound and approach that was to influence the entire genre of rock and roll music, before his untimely death at 27 after being poisoned by the husband of a woman he was wooing.

TUESDAY, NOV. 8: For some reason, the history books concentrate on the presidents after the adoption of the U. S. Constitution. However there were 14 presidents prior to the U. S. Constitution, eight of which served under an earlier constitution, The Articles of Confederation. The 14 Presidents Prior to George Washington exhibit - on display at Karpeles Manuscript Museum next to Wright Park in Tacoma - will discuss history during these 14 presidential terms. As always, admission is free.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9: Emile Zola's epic Germinal was published in 1885: the year Freud arrived in Paris to study hysteria, and the year the miner's son, DH Lawrence, was born. Psychologically, socially and politically, Germinal was a trailblazing fiction set in the 1860s in a mining community in northern France. Meeting in Tacoma since 1994 - the year Bobble Tiki was beat up by his construction site buddies after Bobble Tiki said he preferred anti-folk, no-wave and some math rock over country music - the Classic Book Club will discuss Germinal at 7 p.m. inside King's Books.

THURSDAY, NOV. 10: For the past 25 years investigative journalist David Barsamian has altered the independent media landscape with his weekly audio series Alternative Radio, a one-hour public affairs program carried by over 125 radio outlets in the U.S., Canada, Europe and beyond. In September, he was deported from India for his work on Kashmir and other revolts. At 7:30 p.m. Barsamian will give a free lecture on "Uprisings: Form Kashmir to Egypt to wall Street inside the Washington State Labor Council office in Olympia.

FRIDAY, NOV. 11: The Washington State History Museum will admit active duty and retired military and their family free admission on Veteran's Day. At 2 p.m. the downtown Tacoma museum will commemorate Veteran's Day by reading aloud a series of recollections written by or about military service members past and present. Members of the public are invited to recount, in 500 words or less, a personal experience related to the American armed forces or a memory of someone who is or was in military

SATURDAY, NOV. 12: What was life on Earth like in the years between the dinosaur extinction and the rise of human beings?  Bobble Tiki was thinking it must have been pure bliss.  But no, there were dangers a plenty, which you may witness if you drop in on the shark feeding at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium at 11 a.m. 

SUNDAY NOV. 13: Remember how sweet life was before everyone was addicted to TV and the Internet?  When situations weren't created for you - you actually had to use your imagination to spice up life? Shake the dust off your brain, and listen to Dr. Lorraine McConaghy discuss her newly released book, New Land, North of the Columbia: Historic Documents that Tell the Story of Washington State from Territory to Today, at 2 p.m. inside The Tacoma Public Library Main Branch. Historian McConaghy has traversed the state and sifted through the files of three dozen archives to cull the 400-plus documents that bring to life Washington's last 150 years.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Nightlife It List

MONDAY, NOV. 7, 2011 >>>

1. In 1984, author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg brought 14 drawings, so the story goes, to a children's book publisher by a man named Harris Burdick, along with titles and captions. Burdick promised to return the next morning with the stories to go along with the drawings ... but he never did. The pictures were published in Mysteries of Harris Burdick, "in the hope that ... children will be inspired by them" to write their own stories. As it turns out, 14 great authors were also inspired by the illustrations. The collections have been released in Allsburg's book, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. Allsburg will visit the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch at 7 p.m. to discuss and sign the book.

2. Swanky bars and restaurants can be intimidating. You know, the hostess in a pantsuit, the expensive looking votives, the dim lighting. Oh God, the price tag. But sometimes you get all the swank without all the intimidation. Indochine Asian Dining Lounge in downtown Tacoma is certainly known for its swank. Luckily, they offer a 4-10 p.m. happy hour Monday through Thursday that has "big beers" priced at $4.75. Big beers. Down a couple of those bad boys and the pyramid bar with the excruciatingly expensive top shelf loses some of its scare. Not all, but some.

3. Tacoma playwright C. Rosalind Bell presents a free, 7 p.m. staged reading of her screenplay about blues guitar legend Robert Johnson at the Toy Boat Theatre in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood. This is a rare opportunity to hear a diverse company of 12 professional and community actors read this rich, textured and cinematic treatment about the too short life of Robert Johnson, the archetype bluesman. The man who, legend has it, got his extraordinary guitar skills by bartering with the devil and who lost his life - at age 27 - by being poisoned by the husband of a woman he was wooing.

4. Marty Essen, author of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, will present a high-energy, seven-continent, digital slide show of his awesome adventures at 7:30 p.m. inside Kilworth Memorial Chapel on the University of Puget Sound campus. His show, titled "Around the World in 90 minutes," will feature stories and the best of thousands of photographs he took while traveling the world for his book. Questions will be taken at the end of the presentation.

5. The Pat Moss Blues Band will hit the stage at The Swiss around 8 p.m.

LINK: This week's freebie events

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Happy hours!

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Tacoma City Council Junket: Spending money for a trip to Arizona (cue multiple record scratches). (News Tribune)

Galloping Gertie's 71^st Anniversary: Let's look at the video one more time. (Washington State Historical Society)

Happy Holidays: More dead animals on the road. (News Tribune)

Penn State Shocker: University says two officials accused of lying to a grand jury hearing child sex abuse allegations against ex-assistant coach Jerry Sandusky have stepped down. (CNN)

Coloring Books: 10 really wack one. (Flavorwire)

Meh: MTV blows its street cred. (Salon)

Weird: John Lennon's tooth sells for $31,200. (Huffington Post)

Sneak Peek: Tim Burton's Frankenweenie. (EW)

Watching the detective

RAISING THE ROOF FOR ROOFS >>>

Considering I might have been the oldest person in the room, and certainly one of maybe six donning a tux, I still had a blast at Project: U's Get Involved Gala Saturday night at the Tacoma Art Museum. The United Way's 20- to 30-something gang of do-gooders sure knows how to throw a party. The benefit, without a doubt, was the youngest gala crowd I've seen in Tacoma - and certainly the most grinding I've seen in TAM's Marie A. Helmer Lobby.

I was overwhelmed by the mass of young, beautiful people. I counted 293 people, which is impressive for the inaugural event. I also counted an average of seven drinks per person. I'm sure the United Way folks are please with the money raised.

Weekly Volcano photographer Steve Dunkelberger was in the house. See more of his shots here.

The Weekly Volcano has teamed up with United Way for a year's campaign to fight homelessness in Pierce County. Please text "House" to 20222 and give $10 to a worthy cause. Thank you!

LINK: Project: U

HARRY TCHINSKI SHOOTS GRIMISES RISING IN BLACK LAKE ASYLUM >>>

When I saw the big white ambulance with "Pierce County Asylum" engraved on its side, I knew I was close. Director Harry Tchinski had asked me to visit the closed set of his newest horror feature, Grimises Rising, buried somewhere deep in the bowels of Tacoma's Freighthouse Square. If you've walked through its multiple levels of seemingly endless hallways then you know its size, and I had only an inkling as to which entrance (FHS has lots) would get me on set. But like a gleaming arrow, the spooky vehicle pointed me in the right direction.

I knocked on a door painted crimson (REDRUM, my mind whispered), and after a few moments Tchinski stepped outside.

You might already know Tchinski; maybe you screamed, shuddered, squeezed your eyes shut during his last cinematic slaughterhouse, Spaceship Terror, which played last month at the Tacoma Film Festival. Tchinski still can't get over how the film made TFF's lineup.

"(Terror) doesn't fit their criteria to me," he says, "so I was kind of surprised by that." But Tchinski credits TFF for sparking buzz for the movie to other fests.

Director Harry Tchinski, left, looks over the script with actor Logan Littlefield.

We walked through the 12,000 square-foot space known as Black Lake Asylum, a haunted house that weaves its way across the Square's bottom floor, and the main site for Tchinski's new project. Grimises Rising centers on your typical group of hapless young people who enter a haunted house without realizing the grisly exhibits are far from fake. Cast and crew have taken over the Asylum since mid-October, shooting scenes largely on weekdays when closed to the public.

Tchinski originally anticipated constructing all-new sets for his script. Then he met Clark Clark (yes, Clark Clark), Asylum operator since 2009. He quickly saw the benefits of welcoming the filmmaker into his house for shooting purposes.

"(The movie) immortalizes the haunt," Clark tells me. "It not only advertises us ... it (also) expands our connections."

Chelsey Tillich as Vicky the vampire in Grimises Rising.

Actress Ronee Collins sees Clark's participation as just another example of Tacoma's openness to artists. She says, "I've found that a lot of businesses are actually quite arts-friendly." 

Tchinski has assembled a team of people from both near and far to realize his bloody vision. I spoke with a few while kids in ghostly robes and gory makeup quietly floated past. Jareth Hixon Dixon, a 19-year-old from Seattle, plays Dave in the film, and sees Rising as "a great learning experience because this (acting) is what I want to do."

Even when in great physical torment, actor Jareth Hixon's hair looks great.

As seen in Spaceship Terror, Tchinski creates characters that both conform to and bend established horror film rules. While Logan Littlefield describes his role as Shawn as "your generic smartass comic relief," Collins notes the nuances behind her part, Joanna. "She's really pure and innocent, but (once things go awry) she's strong. ... It's very fun to play."

Most independent sets exude a mellow vibe, none of that Hollywood ego-clashing. Rising is no different. The project has also managed to unite enthusiastic beginners like Collins, Hixon and Littlefield with experienced craftspeople, including cinematographer Ken Rowe. A faculty member at the Art Institute of Seattle (and one of Littlefield's professors), Rowe has worked behind the camera for more than 30 years. He relishes the chance to use his talents outside the classroom.

"This is my first feature in a really long time, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it," says Rowe.

I catch makeup maestro Doug Hudson as he finishes attaching some hellish horns to actor Stephen Lestat. Hudson has an impressive resume: Outbreak and How the Grinch Stole Christmas to name just two of his former projects. After surviving Tinseltown, what could he possibly find challenging on this modest Tacoma shoot?

Spying Tchinski nearby, Hudson yells, "The director!"

This director has his helpers working rapidly. He projects Rising will wrap shooting in three weeks. Then it goes into post-production, which Tchinski confidently claims should take only two months. So in 2012 we can expect a wild ride of a film made with plenty of heart.

And corpses.

"I can tell you one thing," Littlefield tells me. "There won't be anybody disappointed about the body count."  

"N" IS FOR NOSH LEAGUE SAID CONRAD CORNELIUS O DONALD O DELL >>>

What if we've all been misconstruing Dr. Seuss? Suppose those green eggs and ham are, in and of themselves, neither here nor there, and the bottom line is rather their function within a particular context - in a house, with a mouse, on a train, in the rain? Perhaps what Sam-I-Am wishes for his tall-hatted pal (and, by extension, us) is the chance to expand his horizons more than his waistline - to enjoy not just a meal but a total dining experience, not simply cuisine but cuisine-in-a-scene - say, a communal dining experience with fellow foodies this Thursday at The Social Bar and Grill.

We meant what we said and we said what we meant. Nosh League's faithful will eat shoulder-to-shoulder one hundred percent!

Yes, the Weekly Volcano's foodie group Nosh League will gather Thursday in the open, communal and airy restaurant next to the Museum of Glass for a broad tasting of The Social's flavorful and eclectic treats from South America, Mediterranean, Spain and Asia, including: Grilled Romaine Heart Salad, Sauteed Mushrooms, Calamari, Ahi Poke, Clams in Riesling, Sauteed Prawns, Chicken Satay and Small Pork Tacos. Those who have eaten at The Social know these treats pack a spicy punch.

With the "sharables," The Social will bring sharable cocktails as well.  Pitchers of Sangria, growlers of beer and pitchers of mojito will decorate the tables and couple well with the appetizers.

As always, the price tag for the night will be $15 a person. 

If you would like to join us, RSVP on the Nosh League Facebook here.

Nosh League Sharables

Thursday, Nov. 10, 6 p.m., $15
The Social Bar and Grill
1715 Dock St., Tacoma
253.301.3835

LINK: Past Nogh League events

LINK: Join the Nosh League

LINK: The Social Bar and Grill is on the local Foodcaching app