THE WEEKLY VOLCANO PAYS ATTENTION >>>

I bounced around Olympia this weekend. I witnessed many awesome things. Here's a list of what I learned during my adventures:

1. Beer drinkers are loving the new Boneyard RPM IPA on tap at The Brotherhood Lounge and McCoy's Cavern.

2. Clinton Fearon jamming with the Boogie Brown Band to a room full of groovy dancers can simultaneously exist with a drag karaoke show under the same roof.

3. The Reef's tater tots taste amazing dipped in brown gravy.

4. The members of touring band All Hail The Yeti, despite all its yelling - which sounds great on stage with its hammering instruments - are total sweethearts.

5. Matt Sader from Argonaut owns an excellent velvet Elvis T-shirt.

6. The Cryptatropa Bar, or "dark bar," has re-arranged its furniture. I discovered the embalming table is still in place, but the crouching demon has moved from the corner to a tabletop.

7. Also new to Cryptatropa, two resident DJs will be holding down the fort, one of them being DJ and artist Ira Coyne.

8. Olympia band Mosquito Hawk not only covers The Beatles and Venom, but it also performs a doomy version of Le Tigre's Phanta.

9. Even though I-502 passed, people still try to sell bags on the corner, and duck into allies to smoke.

10. The Painted Plate now stays open late on weekends and has applied for its liquor license so we all can get artsy and tipsy.