PUNCHING UP THE DOLDRUMS OF AUTUMN >>>

Last spring Jennifer Johnson raved about Lynnae's Gourmet Pickles. "Bold, vibrant flavor and a nice low burn of (Lynnae Schneller's) Hot Mama pickles satisfied my need for heat. Jalapeno, garlic and pimento swim next to dill spears," Johnson wrote.

Well, Schneller's pickle world is about to become red hot.

According to a press release hot off the newswire, Lynnae's Gourmet Pickles will host a city-wide "pickle hunt" Wednesday, Nov. 14 in celebration of National Pickle Day. 

Let's read the press release. ...

A total of eight jars of pickles will be placed in local businesses and on historic Tacoma monuments for fans to locate and win $1200 worth of prizes.  To officially launch the pickle hunt, Tacoma's Mayor Marilyn Strickland will announce the first clue for the location of the first jar of pickles via her Facebook page at 10 AM followed by seven remaining clues that will be posted every half hour on the Lynnae's Gourmet Pickles Facebook page.

Each jar of pickles will be worth at least $50 in cash prizes and gift cards from local businesses.  In order to win a prize pack, fans must locate a jar of pickles, take a picture of the jar at the location and post the image on Facebook tagging Lynnae's Gourmet Pickles in the picture. Other participating local businesses include:  Katie downs, The Ollin, Celebrity Cake Studio, Chuckals Office Supply, Rainier Connect, Wingman Brewery, Luv Handles, Veggies Northwest,  Doyle's Public House , FishWife Salmon , Wish Candles, Grassfed Direct, Westgate Physical Therapy and Exercise, Point Defiance Zoo, McPhee Dental Group, Murano Hotel, Wingman Brewery.

To conclude the National Pickle Day "pickle hunt," Lynnae's Gourmets Pickles invites all to a happy hour at Doyle's Public House from 3 PM-6 PM where branded Lynnae's Gourmet Pickleback shots will be served.  Lynnae will also be on site for interviews and photo opportunities.

TUESDAY, NOV. 13, 2012 >>>

1. The Swiss Pub and science are synonymous. OK, so maybe they're not quite synonymous, but they do go together quite well - the "Tacoma Science Café" at the Swiss proves it. Tonight, U.S. Geological Survey's Chris Magirl, Ph.D., will discuss the causes of floods and approaches to reduce the threats of flooding in our communities. The dicussion and beer begin at 6:30 p.m.

2. Today is International Chowder Day. Yahoo! In celebration of said day Duke’s Chowder House on the Ruston waterfront will hand out free small bowls of chowder during operating hours.

3. Several Tuskegee Airmen will drop by the annual meeting of the Lakewood Historical Society to share stories. The celebration begins at 7 p.m. inside St Mary's Episcopal Church next to the Lakewood Library.

4. Maria Sampen, Tim Christie and David Requiro will perform the music of Zoltan Kodaly, Gordon Jacob and J.S. Bach as part of the Classical Tuesdays In Old Town series. The trio hit the chairs at 7 p.m. inside the Slavonian Hall.

5. Get your groove on tonight in Parkland. DJ spins during "$2 Tuesdays" at Lady Luck Cowgirl Up, offering Top 40 action plus $2 wells and drafts. The good times start at 9 p.m. Or, if you're looking for something more, peruse the Volcano's extensive live local music listings here. 

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

It's time again for the Olympia Record Show, growing bigger yet again in its fifth year of providing a space for dealers, collectors and amateurs to rub elbows, move merchandise and treasure hunt.

"It gets better and better," says Michael Dixon, event curator. "It's getting really big, we have to open up a side room."

The Elks Lodge on Fourth Avenue houses the event.

DJs will be spinning tunes while 40 record dealers from all over the Northwest sell thousands of records, CDs and pieces of memorabilia spanning all genres, styles and price ranges.

Admission is $2.

This event offers an early bird entry of $15, for those who want to peruse during set-up.  Dixon says this is the ideal time to pick and choose.

"It's when all the serious dealing goes on," he says. "The dealers like to buy all the good stuff."

There are still a few tables left, going for $25 to $30, so if your wife and/or mom is nagging you to clean out your closets, or maybe you need a little extra holiday cash, this is the place for you.

And if you are on the other side and need to bulk up your collection or find that hard-to-find gift for somebody special, the Olympia Record Show is the place for you, too.

It's an all-ages show, but there's a full bar to celebrate your major score.

For more information, or to get a table, contact Dixon at olympiarecordshow@yahoo.com.

ELKS LODGE, SATURDAY, NOV. 17, 5-9 P.M., $2, 1818 FOURTH AVE. W., OLYMPIA

BRILLO BOX HEADSLAP >>>

Viewing and reviewing the Andy Warhol exhibition at Tacoma Art Museum brought back memories of fun times and heated arguments in college art departments in the '60s and '70s. The consensus opinion was that Warhol was not really so much an artist as he was a great practical joker putting everybody on and making lots of money at the expense of a gullible art-buying public. Most of us in the art schools thought that was super cool.

I, for one, thought he was the greatest artist since Picasso. Not that I particularly liked his art; it was his whole being that I liked - his public persona, his ideas. I saw him as not so much a painter or silk screen artist or sculptor or filmmaker but as a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek performance artist. His art was not what he made but what he was. This was the apotheosis of what Marcel Duchamp had begun by purchasing a urinal and entering it in an art exhibition.

I liked Warhol but did not fully appreciate his contribution to modern art history until I read the critic Arthur Danto's analysis of Warhol's Brillo boxes. Sorry, folks, his analysis was too complex to explain in the limited space of this column, but I can kind of hit the highlights. It has to do with calling into the question the relationship between art and life, reality and illusion. For centuries, beginning with the Italian Renaissance and up through the Pre-Raphaelites and on up to the photo-realists of the late 20^th century, artists had attempted to create illusions of reality. With the invention of collage by Picasso and Braque, artists began to bring real life into their art rather than create illusions. Duchamp erased the boundaries between artist-made and manufactured items, Alan Kaprow's happenings of the 1960s blurred boundaries between art and life, and when Jackson Pollock was criticized for not painting from nature he said, "I AM nature." All of this culminated when Andy Warhol painstakingly and with great artistic skill duplicated banal commercial machine-made objects - the Brillo boxes - and said he wanted to be a machine.

The Brillo boxes ushered in the very-hard-to-explain post-modernism and forever changed the face of modern art. That's the short version of Warhol's accomplishment. It took me years to recognize and understand it to whatever small degree. It took me even longer to grow to like the very subtle and sometimes shocking artistic quality of his drawings and silkscreens. I still see the red-and-white silkscreens of soup cans as more conceptual than visual. But I have come to love his color choices and the shimmering off-register of many of his flowers and celebrity portraits and many of his other pieces. I've come to appreciate him as a conceptualist and an artist, and I think Tacoma is lucky to have this special exhibition of his work, some of which was done specifically for Tacoma. How cool is that?

The exhibition is organized by Tacoma Art Museum, with the acknowledgement of the generosity of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

WHEN POSTERS COULD SAY IT ALL >>>

Admit it. You love karaoke – and you’re not alone. In the South Sound area, you can find it any night of the week.

Thursday night, you can find karaoke at Bob's Java Jive ... and it will be in the form of a disco party.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 14, 2012 >>>

1. Director Olivia Baumgartner, a senior at Saint Martin's, appears to relish Cloud 9's provocative pansexuality. It's a play that refuses to condemn any sexual behavior, including pedophilia. "I don't know when I've felt an Olympia audience squirm so consistently, even as they were laughing," says weekly Volcano theater critic Christian Carvajal. Cloud 9 hits the stage at The Midnight Sun Performance Space at 7:30 p.m. Read Carvajal's full review of the show in the Arts section at weeklyvolcano.com.

2. Lynnae Schneller of Lynnae's Gourmet Pickles has placed eight jars of pickles in local businesses and on historic Tacoma monuments for fans to locate and win $1,200 worth of prizes in celebration of National Pickle Day. Tacoma's Mayor Marilyn Strickland will announce the first clue for the location of the first jar of pickles via her Facebook page at 10 a.m. followed by seven remaining clues that will be posted every half hour on the Lynnae's Gourmet Pickles Facebook page.

3. The opening reception for the Art Students Annual exhibit at the University of Puget Sound's Kittredge Gallery will be held from 5-7 p.m., with merit awards presented at 6 p.m.

4. In 2009 The American Institute of Architects for Southwest Washington awarded architect and now Tacoma City Councilmember David Boe a merit award in the Un-Built Category for his "Imagine Tacoma" columns that ran for 18 months on Exit133. It was an awesome series, to say the least. Tonight at 7 p.m. inside the Madera Furniture Company, Tacoma artist Lynn Di Nino hosts a special version of her TRIPOD slide show with Boe as the sole presenter, delivering slide after slide of his urban planning visions for Tacoma.

5. Jazz saxophonist Kareem Kandi hosts a jazz open mic at The Swiss beginning at 8 p.m. If that wasn't awesome enough, The Swiss will cut the price of its wine in half. Nice.

PLUS: HUMP! at the Olympia Film Festival

LINK: Wednesday, Nov. 14 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MAKING A TACOMA BEER MORE TACOMA >>>

You know what's awesome? Making beer with wine must - the quite flavorful and useful "leftover" grape skin, seeds and stems from wine mashing - is what's awesome.

You know what's more awesome? If it was produced in Tacoma.

That's Wingman Brewers intention, pairing with Tacoma winery 21 Cellars to produce unique flavored beers distinct to Tacoma.

Two beers - White Betty, a Belgian-style tripel, and Black Widow, an abbey-style beer - will be released at the end of November, says Ken Thoburn, Wingman's head brewer. 

White Betty is a twist on Wingman's Miss-B-Havin, swapping out bitter orange oil for Sémillon white wine must. Fermented together, the result is a hit.

"It has a really cool flavor," says Katrina Lange, assistant winemaker at 21 Cellars. "It has great age-ability, which is right up 21 Cellars alley. There's a really fruity round quality to it."

The Black Widow uses the same technique, but with Tempranillo grape must, providing the dark beer with a "great red wine nose to it," says Thoburn.

Both beers ring in at 10 percent ABV.

Wingman tried mixing the two imbibing favorites last year when it aged it's beer in Pont 21 2007 Cabernet barrels, creating a inspiring and intoxicating (11.4 percent) brew.

"We felt like we had such a good product, we wanted to have something more complex," says Thoburn. "We are really happy it turned out so well, it was a fun experiment. We were very happy to again get the chance to work with 21 Cellars. We enjoy collaboration and it doesn't get any better than working with another local Tacoma business to create something together."

Weekly Volcano will keep you posted on when and where you can find these dynamic duo beers.

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 10:30 a.m., corner of Seventh and Pacific Avenue, downtown Tacoma.

COOKING SHOW MANIA >>>

It would seem that the South Sound region is making it big as far as culinary broadcasts are concerned. Two weeks ago, Guy Fieri bopped around Tacoma, Olympia, Puyallup and Lakewood. This past week celebrity chef Roger Mooking visited Olympia.

Canadian chef, and super approachable Mooking is a man of many talents. Mooking is the co-owner and executive chef of several fine-dining establishments in Canada. He's authored a cookbook. Hell, the man even has an R&B album! Not to mention being host to several cooking shows, Everyday Exotic, Heat Seekers (with co-host Aaron Sanchez also on the popular Chopped series) and Man Fire Food.  In each endeavor he seems to genuinely have a good time.

"I like to make things whether it's a dish, a cookbook or an album," Mooking told me over the phone. "Being able to do the two things I love so much is quite a blessing."

The Cooking Channel's Man Fire Food is exactly what it sounds like. Mooking visits locations throughout the nation discovering different ways that man (and woman) use fire to cook. Open flame, smokers, BBQing and other options use the primal element to infuse flavor into our feasts. While in Olympia, Mooking and crew visited with the Nisqually Tribe for a MFF episode centered on seafood feasts.

"It was really amazing to get a sense of what happens locally there," said Mooking. "The Nisqually Tribe has been cooking this certain way for centuries and generations and preparing these king salmon. They catch them from this body of water, skin them and smoke them over a fire. They let us in on that world, which was really special." 

They also prepared clams, mussels and oysters underground - much like a clambake.  

He referred to the Seattle and Portland areas - a forgivable blanket term used by out of towners to designate all of us here in the Northwest - as a "vibrant food city" and talked about how every region he visits has a totally different energy that conveys itself in its culinary community.

I was hoping he had the opportunity to discover some other gems while here in Olympia but Mooking says, "The shooting schedule is really aggressive, we are in and out."

You can catch his visit with the Nisqually Tribe on the Cooking Channel Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, NOV. 15, 2012 >>>

1. Tacoma's Third Thursday Artwalk is awesome ... the only trouble is it's completely unwalkable. Thankfully, for the last two-plus years Tacoma has had the Art Bus to rely on - the creation of T-Town's own Angela Jossy, and pretty much the bestest idea there ever was. Each Third Thursday the Art Bus shuttles riders from gallery to gallery, and from museum to museum, accomplishing more than any one person could ever dream of on foot, and at the same time building a communal vibe that's worth its weight in gold. Tonight's Art Bus celebrity host Sen. Jeannie Darneille will help guide you through such stops as Poppy & Co., 253 Collective, Creative Forces/Hotel Murano, Nine Lives Vintage, Anew Thyme, Merlino Arts Center and The Social. Tickets are $10 regular admission and $20 for VIPs. VIPs get gift bags with items from lots of local businesses and participate in a raffle. The Bus pushes off from the Tacoma Art Museum at 6 p.m.

2. The Tacoma Historical Society hosts its 6th Annual Membership Meeting & Reception at 7 p.m. inside the Old Post Office at 1102 A St. in downtown Tacoma. Yes, the organization will discuss business and it's plans for the coming year, but it will also include architectural and historical chats about the Old Post Office. Believe us, no one will mail in this talk. Arrive early for at 6:30 p.m. tour of the joint.

3. Olympia Coffee Roasting Company is one of Olympia's Godsends. The roasting house helps state workers crank through Excel files, it adds bounce to college students' steps and it puts a smile on everyone's face that comes through its front door. OCR will celebrate its major awards, and second year in business, tonight with a bash featuring Olympia indie garage band duo, The Maxines.

4. It's semi-finals week of the 33rd annual Seattle International Comedy Competition, and the field has been narrowed. Producers officially announced the 10 comics from Week 1 who will be going on to the semi-finals that takes over the Washington Center's Comedy In A Box slot at 7:30 p.m. Nate Abshire (Minneapolis), Ryan Clauson (Hanover), Ricarlo Flanagan (Detroit), Solomon Georgio (Seattle), Joe Klocek (San Francisco), Landry (Atlanta), Justin Leon (Kansas City), Michael Malone (Los Angeles) Elliot Maxx (Seattle) and Tacoma's Tyrone Hawkins will bust out 10 minutes of their best bits in hopes of grabbing some sweet prize money.

5. The Java Jive Appreciation Society hosts a Jive Turkey Disco karaoke night beginning at 8 p.m. at, you guessed it, the Java Jive. Dress in your favorite duds from the '70s.

LINK: Thursday, Nov. 15 arts and entertainment events in the South Sound