GET YOUR GAME FACE ON >>>

It's Super Bowl Sunday, possums, and the Weekly Volcano has to confess to feeling a tad bipolar about the whole thing: glad to see the Pats in it again and ready to don our ''Mrs. Brady" T-shirt, but also bored to distraction at the thought of subjecting ourselves to a four-hour advertising blitz interrupted by a few minutes of pro football.

Weekly Volcano editor Matt Driscoll offers 11 tips for certain Super Bowl XLVI success here.

At The Mix's Super Bowl Party, the Weekly Volcano can at least whoop it up with some of the craziest, gayest fans in Tacoma ... and maybe win a trip to Vegas. For every drink you purchase during The Mix's Super Bowl Party, you'll receive a raffle ticket in the Vegas drawing, as well as an opportunity to win four of five other big prizes. The Triangle District watering hole will serve $5 Jack shots, $5 Bloody Marys and free food during the game. Folks are encouraged to bring food, too.

Seeing as the Weekly Volcano won't be eligible for the Vegas trip or other prizes if we stay at home, we will just have to defy all expectations that our couch or dog might maintain.

[The Mix, 2 p.m., 635 Saint Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.383.4327]

Post your party below!

LINK: Super Bowl Sunday eating in Tacoma

LINK: Super Bowl at the Liberty Theater

WE SCENE IT >>>

Tacoma's Goldfinch is working on a new album, and it is going to be very, very good. One of my fine Volcano colleagues will pop up one of these days and tell you all about the band's Spaceworks Tacoma residency at 1310 MLK, and the process behind their new work in progress, so I'll leave that to the experts, and just say that between the Seattle Folk Festival and Saturday night's gig at the aforementioned space, I've been fortunate enough to hear a healthy dose of their new material, as performed in stripped-down fashion by Aaron Stevens and cellist/harmonizer Emily Ann Peterson, and I have already decided that it will be one of my favorite records of the year.

Saturday's festivities were not all about Goldfinch, of course. Not content to deal in one art form at a time, Spaceworks, Goldfinch and the Warehouse engineered an evening of improv comedy, storytelling from KUOW producer Megan Sukys - amusing anecdotes from the life of her South Carolinan family - and live painting in the corner by Britton Sukys, crafting a colorful piece that no-one failed to be impressed by as they passed.

Headliners OK Sweetheart got the house bouncing with their energetic brand of pop, and an oddly entertaining short film about a man and his exercise ball rolled briefly on the wall. But like every other show I've seen them open in recent months, Stevens and whatever brethren he brings along on any given night continually own the show from front to back.

So hurry up and make that record, guys. I want to listen to it. Over. And over. And over.

LINK: Goldfinch and Spaceworks Tacoma

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Today In Scumbags: Josh Powell set fire that killed him and his two sons at Graham-area home. (News Tribune)

Olympic Pharmacy and Healthcare Services: The Gig Harbor pharmacy is being sued for incorrect dosages. (News Tribune)

U.S. loses Embassy in Syria: Intense blasts echo through the Syrian city of Homs after a weekend bloodbath ended in hundreds of deaths, activists say. (CNN)

New York Will Go Nuts: Super Bowl champs New York Giants will receive a giant parade. (CNN)

US And Israel: Working together to prevent Iran from going nuclear. (BBC)

Super Bowl Ad Metter: Doritos wins. (USA Today)

Madonna's Half-time Show: See it again. (YouTube)

Shown Only In Nebraska: Will Ferrell's Super Bowl ad. (New York Magazine)

Love At The Bottom Of The Sea: The Magnetic Fields release new video. (Out)

Famous Authors Chime In: The greatest books of all time. (The Atlantic)

Soul Train Flash Mob Tribute To Don Cornelius

MONDAY, FEB. 6, 2012 >>>

1. Catch the Greta Jane Quarter tonight at the Fourth Ave. Tavern in Olympia, as, after a long run at the Royal Lounge, Ms. Greta Jane Pederson's jazz combo featuring Cary Black, Vince Brown, and Andrew Dorsett reclaims Monday nights at a new downtown Oly locale.

2. Throw on your best aging t-shirt and limber up your devil horns, because Monday means it's time for yet another Metal Monday at The New Frontier Lounge. The head-banging starts at 9 p.m.

3. Monday night is trivia night at the Tacoma Comedy Club on Market Street. There's no cover to get in, and the questions kick off at 7 p.m. In addition to the general thrill of victory, cash and prizes are also advertised.

4. Speaking of trivia, one of the best trivia nights in the area goes down each Monday at the Harmon Tap Room in Tacoma's Stadium District. It runs from 6 -8 p.m., with the winner of each round a $50 cash prize according to hype.

5. Common sense might suggest getting loaded on a Monday night and singing your ass off at the China Clipper's "Late Night Karaoke" might be a questionable idea. But screw common sense. With the karaoke starting at 9 p.m., we suggest sucking down a couple of the Clipper's notoriously strong drinks and then letting it all hang out.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

IT'S ON TONIGHT >>>

Tonight at midnight, Warren Etheredge's thought-provoking interview series, The High Bar, will debut on Tacoma's KBTC public television.

Back in December, Weekly Volcano scribe Jenni Prange Boran reported on The High Bar, which is produced by Tacoma's Jason Ganwich. The Seattle-based interview program features cultural conversationalist and film analyst Etheredge interviewing film stars and directors, cultural big shots and authors. Tonight's guest is actor and comedian Larry Miller.

As Boran reported in the Weekly Volcano, "Fitting as, since Ganwich's involvement, The High Bar has twice shot on location in Tacoma and utilized Tacoma-based professionals like make-up artists Athena Hitson and Kari Baumann, gaffer Austen Hoogen and, under the guidance of instructor Brian Parker, an array of eager and talented interns from Tacoma's Bates Technical College's Digital Media Department. While the majority of the episodes shoot in Seattle, Tacoma is quickly charming the production."

Below is a clip highlighting Etheredge's mad interviewing skills.

IT'S NOT THAT DICAPRIO FLICK >>>

One of your New Year's resolutions was to up your culture intake, thus impressing all the pretentious pricks for whose admiration you yearn.

Ha. Well, foreign films are perfect pretense fodder.

For extra intellectual bedazzlement, skip the snotty, food-laced French flicks, over sexed Italian romps, and whacked-out Indian song-and-dance jobs, and move right into the Japanese. You can't go wrong with the simple moral plots and brilliant aesthetics of a comedic film from the land of the rising sun.

Thursday, as part of the awesome Tacoma Sister Cities International Film Festival, the Blue Mouse Theatre screens Cast Me If You Can. Directed by Atsushi Ogata, Cast Me If You Can centers on an actor, hampered with supporting roles and the shadow of his famous playwright father, who falls in love with an energetic aspiring actress and rediscovers himself.

Arrive early to enjoy a cultural program in conjunction with Tacoma's sister city, Kitakyushu, Japan.

[Blue Mouse Theatre, Cast Me If You Can, Thursday, Feb. 9, 6:15 p.m. cultural program, 7 p.m. film, $10, 2611 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253.752.9500]

FOR A GREAT CAUSE >>>

A gaggle of 20- and 30-somethings will throw down - and maybe throw up (unlikely) - on behalf of United Way Pierce County tomorrow night. The tenderhearted tipplers known as Project: U will takeover the Varsity Grill as a fundraiser and food drive for United Way.

The Varsity Grill has generously agreed to donate 20 percent of all sales proceeds from the evening to United Way in the fight to improve the lives of all in Pierce County.

Although Project: U is driven by 20- and 30-somethings, you can certainly join the fun if your main project is getting your old bones to move.

In addition to the donated sales, Project: U is collecting canned food donations that will be donated to the F.I.S.H. food banks in Pierce County.

Visit www.facebook.com/UWPCprojectu for more information. 

[Varsity Grill, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 5:30-9 p.m., no cover, 1114 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.1229]

Fight homelessness

Homelessness and access to affordable housing is a critical issue for our community.  In 2010 - during a 24 hour annual "count" - 1,807 persons were counted as homeless. However, it is estimated that four to five times more people will be homeless during any year than can be counted on any given night. 

To donate money to United Way's effort to provide affordable housing to those in need, text HOUSE to 20222 and donate $10 to provide housing for all.

For more information on United Way's housing programs, click here.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Welcome to 2012: Pierce and Thurston County home prices suck. (News Tribune)

Shirtless in East Pierce County: Oh, the man was carrying a hatchet and stole a Pierce County sheriff's patrol car. (News Tribune)

W.T.F.: Sound Transit may soon spend an additional $24 million to study and design a longer southern extension of light rail, reviving hope that trains will someday reach Federal Way. (News Tribune)

Prop 8 Decision Coming This Morning: California measure banned gay marriage. (NPR)

PAC Man: Obama's re-election campaign will begin using administration and campaign aides to raise funds for Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing the president. (CNN)

Messing With Sidewalk Cappuccinos: Atmospheric patterns that normally keep Arctic cold over the poles abruptly changed in January, pushing frigid air over Europe. Shrinking polar ice caps may be to blame. (CNN)

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner: Fucking nuts. (BBC)

Zombie Report: The actor who played George A. Romero's first zombie has died ... we think. (USA Today)

Falling Mad Men Guy: The 32 best Mad Men subway poster hacks. (Best Week Ever)

Didn't See This Coming: Madonna embarks on a world tour in May. (omg!)

South Park's Cartman: He's real. (Dangerous Minds)

Beardski: Board like Chewie. (The Awesomer)

Today's Tingly Moment: They Have a Hulk

TUESDAY, FEB. 7, 2012 >>>

1. Bring your love of the bagpipes out of the closet and into full view today when Dick Hensold, billed as "one of America's finest traditional bagpipers," drops in on Tacoma for a performance brought to us by the Old Town Music Society and Puget Sound Revels. Dabbling in Northumbrian smallpipes, reel pipes, seljefloyte, sackpipa and piborn according to promotion - in traditional and historical styles including Cape Breton, early Scottish, Northumbrian, Scandinavian, Irish and medieval - Hensold seems certain to blow the roof off the joint.

2. Tonight at Varsity Grill join the United Way of Pierce County's Project:U for a fundraiser and food drive event. The Varsity Grill will donate 20-percent of all sales proceeds to the United Way of Pierce County cause, and canned food donations will be collected for area F.I.S.H. food banks.

3. Saint Martin's University in Lacey will celebrate the 200^th birthday of Charles Dickens today with what's described as "a marathon reading of the renowned author's works." According to hype, Saint Martin's English Department and the English honor society Sigma Tau Delta will host the event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Harned Hall. Expect excerpts from Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and more.

4. Tuesday means it's time for another Ha Ha Tuesday at Jazzbones, a night of comedy hosted by the venerable Ralph Porter. After the comedy, stick around for Jazzbones' hot weeknight DJ action.

5. It's open mic night at Tugboat Annie's in Olympia. Bring your geetar or your best songs and show the world what you've got (and by "world" we mean the collection of Thurston County folks on hand at the favorite local watering hole).

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

NOSH LEAGUE IN THE HOUSE >>>

Simple beer math: courtesy of the Weekly Volcano's Nosh league: winter is cold and alcohol makes you warm, so by way of booze logic, the Nosh League beer tasting Thursday at the Ale House is equivalent to the warmest snuggle-buddy in all the land!

A representative from Deschutes, New Belgium, Alaskan, American, Mac & Jack's and Widmer Brothers brewing companies will join the Nosh League Thursday to pour two beers each:

• Deschutes Hop Henge and Abyss
• New Belgium Dig and Cocoa Mole
• Alaskan Black IPA and Barley Wine
• American Breakaway and Brown
• M&J's Serengeti and Cascadian Dark Ale
• Widmer Rotator Spiced IPA and Brrrbon

Seriously.

For a mere $15, you will 12 receive healthy samples while noshing on appetizers and raking in the raffle prizes.

RSVP to Thursday's tasting here.