TUESDAY, JAN. 3, 2012 >>>

1. It's Tuesday, which means The Grand Cinema fires up the popcorn and threads another awesome indie film as part of its Tuesday Film Series. Hitting the screen at 1:30, 3:45 and 6 p.m. will be Director Andrew Haigh's Weekend, starring Tom Cullen and Chris New who have a one-night stand that becomes something more. Roger Ebert says it's"a smart, sensitive, perceptive film, with actors well suited to the dialogue. It underlines the difficulty of making connections outside our individual boxes of time and space."

2. When the folks behind the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice-skating rink arrived to melt the ice and call the downtown attraction a success, kids cried violently, throwing themselves on the ice. What do you do? Extend the run is what you do. Extended through Jan. 8, and running from 4-10 p.m. today, the Franciscan Polar Plaza will be alive with glee.

3. Trio De Vibe will fill the Mandolin Café in Tacoma with swanky jazz beginning at 6 p.m.

4. Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. This makes it cool, because you can see all of the different ways it adapted as it spread around the world. Spaniards pronounce c's as a "th." Argentineans say a "y" sound using a "juh." In Costa Rica, the word for cool can be "duanes" or "pura vida," while in southern Spain, it's "guay." So why should you care? Because Tango Puget Sound will kick-off a month long of Tuesday Tango lessons beginning at 7 p.m. inside the South Bay Grange and it would be extra cool if you could whisper "cool" in a cool language into someone's ear.

5. You've read about Geeks Who Drink Quiz Night with Quizmaster Holland Hume. Have you seen the glorious, boozy game show yet? It starts at 8 p.m. inside Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub. It ends with you passed out in your bedroom clutching your game card.

BONUS: Tacoma author Mariss Meyer unveils the Cinder series

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Nightlife It List

LINK: This week's freebies