WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 2013 >>>

1. Did you know the United Nations declared 2012 to be the International Year of the Cooperative? The UN based its statement on the co-op business model's stunning growth. The UN found that, in 2012, one billion people worldwide were co-op member-owners, or one in five adults over the age of 15. The largest is Spain's Mondragon Corporation, with more than 80,000 member-owners. The UN predicts that by 2025, worker-owned co-ops will be the world's fastest growing business model. Back in this country, the phrase "worker cooperative" probably evokes vague notions of Communism, small-time craft vendors or the organic grocery store around the corner. Shift Change - a new documentary by Seattle area filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young that will be screened at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. inside Tacoma's Grand Cinema - visits the more than 50 year old network of cooperative businesses in Mondragon, and thriving examples of such businesses in the U.S. - from bakeries to solar energy to linen service and engineering. Through in-depth interviews with worker-owners, attendance at co-op meetings, and visits to the factory floor, the film shares on-the-ground experience, lessons and observations from the worker-owners on the front line of the new economy, arguing that in an economy where not much is certain, it's worth considering different ways for ordinary people to join forces in the name of profit.

2. Local teens and teen dance groups submitted their videos for the dance competition hosted by MultiCare Center for Healthy Living. The videos were judged. Tonight, the three finalists will go head to head from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at MultiCare Center's 13th annual "Do Something Healthy" event inside the Greater Tacoma Convention Center.  Derek Hough from Dancing with the Stars will be the celebrity judge. "Do Something Healthy" is an evening event that includes a health fair, health screenings and a presentation by a special guest speaker.

3. Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales asks on its website, "if anyone will buy a beer with the word 'rot' in the name?" - referring to its saison-esque Noble Rot. Well, would anyone eat at a restaurant called STINK? The Rot and STINK join foces tonight when the Triangle District cheese and meat shop hosts the Delaware brewers for a Noble Rot tasting from 5-8 p.m. at $5 a head.

4. Dorky's Bar Arcade in downtown Tacoma hosts Trivis for Dorks every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Weekly Volcano scribe Nikki McCoy has the scoop here.

5. Play bingo with those not just killing time before the Grim Reaper calls their number. Every Wednesday at 9 p.m. inside The New Frontier, bingo players are treated to a rather boisterous evening of number-calling. The music rocks, the prizes are craptastic and there's something very satisfying about yelling "It's not a tumor!" when B-9 is pulled from the hopper (Schwarzenegger anyone?). Sessions are free with $2 margaritas during bingo. Every Wednesday night is also Taco Night with $1 beef, $1 black bean and $2 chicken in soft or crunchy shells.

LINK: Wednesday, Feb. 6 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area