You may feel hesitant to go to an event with "boinkers" in the title, and yet, sometimes the word "boinkers" doesn't refer to some questionable something and merely points to a rockin' band at a casino.

September 7 and 8, The Boinkers will play at Red Wind Casino. The Boinkers are a band with a slightly zany twist. Self-described "goofballs," they aren't above Sponge Bob t-shirts and propeller beanies, but they know how to rock it out even so. Expect classic rock greats from AC/DC and Ozzy, to Guns ‘n Roses and Journey.

Concerts on both nights start at 8:30 p.m. in the Coho Cabaret. There will be much dancing and revelry, especially because there's no cover charge. The Cabaret has a full food and drink menu.

The Red Wind Casino is located in Olympia at 12819 Yelm Highway.

Since reopening back in April, the Olympia All Ages Project flagship venue Northern has seen its fair share of great performances, and Sunday’s bill will be no exception. The bill features three bands with long ties to the underground movement, Chain & the Gang, the Hive Dwellers and Spider and the Webs

Chain & the Gang’s Ian Svenonius is an explosive, seasoned performer who made his name off of a pastiche of highly energized live performances and pseudo-satirical political hyperbole.

As a prominent member of the D.C. punk/indie scene since the early 90s, Svenonius has been at the epicenter of the spotlight since bursting on the scene as “the sassiest boy in America,” and with his latest group Chain & the Gang, Svenonius explores the idea of cool through a folk-blues tinged proto-punk lens.

But Chain & the Gang isn’t a one person show, with the addition of Katie Alice Greer on the band’s third album, In Cool Blood, the group began a more binary approach to their subject; less monologs and more duets.

In a 20-plus year career that has yielded some classics such as Ulysses’ Play Pretty for Baby and the Make Up’s Save Yourself, Svenonius and company have hit the core of what makes a cool, hip record feel organic and amazing, and it is only stands to translate into a very, VERY good performance.

Hot off the heals of a two month long North American solo tour, K Records founder Calvin Johnson rejoins his latest project, the Hive Dwellers, for the evening. Johnson is, without equal, a local legend in Olympia, a town whose music scene could be largely attributed to him and his peer’s groundwork. But there are also very few performers who can engage an audience as directly and as captivating as the main Hive Dweller; in this regard Hive Dwellers serve as the perfect counter-balance to Chain & the Gang’s somewhat-revivalist approach.

Rounding out the show is Spider and the Webs. The group featuring Tobi Vail, Chris Sutton and James Maeda has been quiet for the last few years has been more active of late; this is their second performance in Olympia this year!

Spider and the Webs blend primitive garage rock effortlessly with C-86 style indie rock filtered through Tobi Vail’s feminist take on contemporary and personal politics. If their last show is any indication of what to expect, I would not miss a minute of their set; simply it was that good.

It is all too fitting that the evenings festivities begin with a band featuring another one of Olympia’s enduring and prolific performers. It is a mark of distinction that this show exhibits both the past and present sense of what is great in the indie rock underground.

You can catch Chain & the Gang, The Hive Dwellers and Spider and the Webs at Northern (414 ½ Legion Way) on Sunday, Sept. 9. The Show starts at 8 p.m., is all ages with a $6 cover.

Have you ever dreamed of teaming up with other bad-ass women to skate your heart out while getting to choose cute costumes and punny names?

Then look no further than the Dockyard Derby Dames training and tryouts.

Starting this Sunday, women over the age of 18, (right now over 80 team members range in age from 21-52) can participate in a month- long training session that culminates in a team tryout on October 14.

From 8-10 p.m. on Sunday nights through September 29, aspiring derby girls can have hands-on training at the Auburn Skate Connection.

Seasoned members from the DYDD’s five teams will be on hand, directing how to do whips and pushes and explaining what it takes to be a jammer, blocker and pivot.

“Bootcamp is a perfect opportunity to see if you have what it takes to play roller derby,” says Patricia “Slamburger Patty” Gray in a press release. “If you’ve ever dreamed of playing roller derby – this is your chance!” 

Participants should bring roller skates, protective gear including: a helmet, mouth guard and wrist, elbow and knee pads, workout clothes including a blue shirt and a water bottle.

www.dockyardderbydames.com

Downtown at the Olympia Farmer’s Market, behind the cantaloupes and nestled between the pepper stand and balloon animal guy, sit two ladies under a slightly tattered green umbrella that has two signs attached to it that say “Palm Reader.”

“She’s the psychic and I’m the sidekick,” says Teresa Young about her and friend Amelia, who have been changing lives at the farmers market since 2003.

While Amelia sits in the shade with a client who has a little dog in her lap and a friend nearby with a tape recorder, Young signs me up for a reading, which will be a 40-minute wait.

Young says the typical wait is 10-20 minutes but can be upward of two hours. The reading costs $10 for 10 minutes, and $1/min thereafter.

I’m intrigued so I wait and check out some young ginkgo trees to pass the time. While I wait, three more people sign up.

The women often have repeat visitors, and they find the job rewarding.

“I like hearing people’s stories when they return, how the reading has affected their lives,” says Young.

It’s now my turn to turn up my palms.

Amelia is very easy to be around and gets straight to business. She tells me, amongst many other things about genetics and moon areas and relationships, that I am nerdy and intuitive.

And something’s telling me that sometime soon, you should watch Star Wars, and you should go see this lady.

Saturday and Sunday, (and the occasional Friday) from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Amelia and Teresa will be happy to help. 700 Capitol Way North, Olympia.

The Washington State History Museum has a kind of new installation in its Great Hall of Washington History-Women's Votes, Women's Voices. "Kind of new" because this installation travels and has visited the hallowed halls of WSHS before. Most recently, it was located at the Capitol in Olympia. But now it's back, just in time to remind Tacoma's women that our voices took a long, hard road to be heard.

The installation follows the history of women's rights in the US, from the decades after the Civil War to women in Washington who made a difference. The exhibit focuses especially on Washington State laws, initiatives, women, and more.

Girl Power!!

The Rock Pizza Buffet and Lunch Specials

The Rock has the best pizza buffet in town with lots of pizza, pasta, soup, lasagna, salad and a soda for $8.99 (or with a beer for $9.99). If you haven't been in a while, you may not know that the buffet is only on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays now instead of all five weekdays. Plan you pizza binge accordingly.

There's an expanded list of lunch specials now, though. Several sandwiches, salads, stromboli and nine-inch pizzas all for $9.99 or less. Noms.

Love it or hate it, everyone knows what sushi is, but sushi's cousin gimbap (or kimbap) remains largely unknown or ignored or both. It's extremely worth trying and I would even venture to say that I love gimbap as much as I love sushi, sometimes even more because I'm not always in the mood for raw fish.

In Tacoma, the best gimbap I've found is unassuming and often illusive. It's at Pal-Do World at 9601 South Tacoma Way. Get there in the late mornings or around lunch and a variety of types of gimbap will be on tables near the cash registers. Get there too late and it will all be gone.

Gimbap was born in Korea and looks much like sushi-familiar white rice within, familiar seaweed wrap, familiar center of tasty fillings. But gimbap does have a slightly different taste than sushi as it's most often seasoned with sesame oil, which produces a smoky savory flavor. Another major difference between these two types of rice rolls is that gimbap doesn't really use raw fish. Instead, you'll find more everyday fillings like tuna salad, hamburger, ham, or veggies.

Blak Mic, a highly slept on, talented producer in Tacoma, has quietly released incredibly solid work every month since May. Go to blakmic.bandcamp.com to get your free listen on. Starting in May, Blak released a full beat album titled "H.E.R. (His Evil Reality)." The beat tape is part spacey, part G-Funked out and part soulful. One could vibe-out and listen or spit flows to this album. Oftentimes people ask me where they can find beats to practice or freestyle to. Look no further than the bandcamp pages of our most talented 253-area hip-hop producers. One needs to go no further than our own backyard to gather up super funky beats. Mic's work in particular has a certain soothing quality to it. He's been able to find the tiny bit of sunshine we have in this gray town and utilize its energy in his music. Rays of sunlight shine through the chilled out, almost easy listening vibe of this beat album. It definitely has a hint of pre-Teddy Riley R&B in there.

Blak Mic is one-third of the Supreme Sound Architects. This is the camp that runs the Supreme Sound Architect Studio in downtown Tacoma.  Between Mic and D.J. Semaj, artists should have no trouble finding the production they need at Supreme Sound Architects.

                  The releases for June and July are beat singles. They are still smooth, but a little jazzier than the tracks on H.E.R. In August, he released "EIG - Distant Lovers (Ft. David Dyob)." This song has vocals on it. It's a player rhyme, but has a grown-man, globetrotting vibe to it.

Blak Mic also has a soundcloud with 17 free tracks on it.

                  Tacoma Watchyatone is a 26-year-old M.C. from, you guessed it, Tacoma! He might have the best rap name in the game. He's on Facebook and YouTube, and that's where you'll find most of his music. Watchyatone has a scratchy-voiced, intense flow. He's not lazy on the mic. He gives his heart in his spit. It's some cool, f**k a hater, street music. It looks like Tacoma Watchyatone is down with Lok Skywalker. So he has some good O.G. cosigns. Check his videos out. He will be one of the main M.C.s in the 253 in the future. He's got personality and talent.

1. Seattle's classic rocking sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band Heart will bring listeners on a nostalgic journey with their hits from the 70's as well as sing gems from their later years. Ticket fees run $25-$65 and include fair admission. 7:30 p.m., Puyallup Fairgrounds, 110 9th Avenue Southwest.

2. In this power point presentation Russell Holter will present the dramatic stories of several railroad wrecks. One of the featured accidents will be the infamous March 13, 1959 crash of a runaway, crewless train that resulted in many casualties and destroyed half a city block in downtown Olympia. Noon, $2 donation, State Capital Museum, 211 21^st Ave. SW, Olympia,(360) 753-2580.

3. With mesmerizing vocals - both male and female - and sometimes heavy, sometimes sweet guitar riffs, Broken Water has an almost grunge-pop quality. But not quite. They are too busy being their own sound. Together with Grass Widow and Plaid, Broken Water just made Monday night in Olympia a little better. 8 p.m $7. all ages, Northern, 414 1/2 Legion Way.

4. For those with kids still at home, or for the kid at heart, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium should be quiet and cool on a Monday. Budgie Buddies, seahorses, sharks, peacocks, penguins, lemurs, mole rats, wolves, Cats on the Canopy and walrus hang out in a 29-acre zoo with roaming keepers, a Kids Zone featuring Action Alley, Contact Junction and more. 9:30 am- 6 pm, zoo membership or admission $5.75-$15.25, 5400 North Pearl Street, Tacoma,(253) 591-5368.

5. Musician, actor and spoken word provocateur Henry Rollins will stop by Olympia's Capitol Theater tonight on the third stop of his marathon "Capitalism Tour." The often outspoken Rollins first came to the public's attention in the early 1980s as the frontman of Washington D.C.'s SOA, and later the California hardcore band Black Flag. 8 p.m. $25, Capitol Theater, 206 5th Avenue SE, Olympia, WA - (360) 754-6670.

There are tons of fun ways to dress up your game day party with themed snacks and dishes. Think of foods that are already football-ish, like potatoes, meatballs and hamburgers, and easily shapeable foods like cheese and desserts.

How about mini meatball subs? Shape your meatball like a football, slap it in a saucy mini hoagie and top it with strips of mozzarella to resemble stitching and voila! The same mozzarella stitching idea can be applied to pizzas, (make a football shape out of pepperoni, then lay the stitching down,) hamburgers or potato boats.

How about desserts? Twist up the traditional rice crispy treats by using cocoa crispies to give it that pigskin color and shape and decorate accordingly. Or a Jello kickoff cake that uses whip cream and Oreo cookie crumbles. Just follow the cake recipe on a box of Jello (try lime) and pile your cookie crumbles to resemble a football. Use decorative icing for the laces.

Other cute ideas include decorating deviled eggs with food coloring to match the teams, or use the top guacamole layer in a bean dip as a playing field, make x’s and o’s out of olives and use sour cream (put in a cake decorator or plastic bag) to create the field lines and write the names of the teams.