Have you heard about the Facebook page dedicated to the restoration of Wasabi Funyuns? The Walkie Talkie blog hopes it receives thousands of "likes," and hopes even more fervently Frito-Lay will bring them back. Sure, regular Funyuns are awesome; portable, shelf-stable onion rings is an invention right up there with the creation of the vacuum cleaner. And the concept of adding a light dusting - albeit uneven layer - of pale green wasabi powder to them brought tears to our eyes, both figuratively and literally.

Speaking of Frito-Lay, Army and Air Force Exchange Service shoppers will have a shot at winning a $1,000 shopping spree this summer courtesy of the Exchange and Pepsi/Frito Lay. From now through July 25, shoppers can enter at any Exchange store for the chance to win one of 15 $1,000 gift cards redeemable at any Exchange store or online at www.shopmyexchange.com.

SATURDAY, JUNE 29 2013 >>>

1. An almost too obvious entry point for the kind of satirical Americana of Shotgun Kitchen would be their spiritual forefather, John Prine. Just as Prine had a tendency to almost undermine salient points in his songs by making stoned-out, hallucinatory jokes about chasing rainbows down the street and nonchalantly tossing off non sequiturs about having a sister who's a nun, Shotgun Kitchen's perfectly legitimate satire is given a winking treatment that lets the medicine go down nice and easy.Catch them tonight at 9 p.m. at The New Frontier Lounge.

2. Be irresponsible. Take a day off from smartphones and the Internet, video games and televisions, Go fly a kite at the annual Kite Festival at Chambers Bay from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Besides people craning their necks upward the free, fun-filled day will feature kite vendors, food, face-painting and a free concert with the saxophone quartet from the Tacoma Concert Band. The first 250 kids can make their own kite, compliments of Pierce County KiteFliers Association.

3. In its 19th year, the Olympia Experimental Music Festival features bands from near and far who favor experimentalism, texture, ambience, improvisation and psychedelia over straight-up rock 'n' roll.  The three-day ordeal will take over all-ages venue Northern in Olympia June 28-30. The festival will feature 18 different acts - many from Olympia, and the rest mostly spanning from Seattle to Portland. Today brings Denver band Thinking Plague to Olympia. Founded in 1982, the Colorado-based band's unpredictable melodies and instrumentation will be right at home the South Sound. For the other bands performing today, click here.

4. As the most successful girl band, The Supremes further extended their longevity with their renaming to "Diana Ross & The Supremes." If only future girl bands had learned the lesson, we might still be graced by the melodious tunes of "Jordan Knight & The New Kids On The Block." But we disgress. At 8 p.m. Centerstage Theatre pays tribute to the iconic American girl-group featuring Seattle-based entertainers Nique Haggerty, LaNita Hudson and Amy van Mechcelen, backed by the six-piece Purple Phoenix Band. The concert will be staged in the 1960s style of the Las Vegas/Atlantic City showrooms in their heyday.

5. Professional storytelller Elizabeth Lord's original The Swimsuit Area stage play "explores reproduction in today's modern age.  What it means to be a parent, and more importantly what it means to choose not to be a parent." In an encore performance, Lord will explore the hard issues such as deciding not to have a child - and what someone does about that - and the finality of hysterectomy surgery which results in never being able to conceive a child - all with her trademark humor lined glow. The show starts at 8 p.m. inside The Midnight Sun Performance Space.

LINK: Saturday, June 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, JUNE 30 2013 >>>

1. Man, we don't ever get tired of slide guitar. Ex-Sheryl Crow guitar slinger Todd Wolfe plays classic rock with jam-band elements thrown in and a wicked blues slant. He and bandmates bassist Justine Gardner and drummer Roger Voss conjure up tones that are swampy, greasy and menacing. Wolfe's blues is the kind of sexy, slithering strain you'd expect to hear coming through a broke-down Delta joint's screen door. Great music for dancing slow, for dancing close. Catch the band at 7 p.m. in The Spar in Old Town Tacoma.

2. There is no such thing as a typical bicyclist, but there are certainly bicycle types.  You have your die-hard cyclists, who pour their sinewy bodies into neoprene suits, ride their bikes every day and regard automobiles with derision.  You also have your weekend riders, who aren't necessarily competitive like the die-hards, but might spend big bucks for a brightly colored off-road bike.  And then you have the newbies, the amateurs and the lazies - who may ride occasionally, rarely, or not al all since their parents sold their banana seat Huffys at neighborhood yard sales 20 years ago.  But if there' one issue that bicyclists around Pierce County can agree on, it's that the Tour de Pierce bike ride is flat out fun. And if flat is your speed, skip the 30- and 50-mile routes and enjoy the flat, easy 12-miler. The ride begins between 7:30-11:30 a.m. at the Gold parking lot of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup and winds through Puyallup, Sumner and adjacent farmlands.

3. A stalwart in the Tacoma community - as a musician, bartender and all-around good guy, Brian Redman was killed when he crashed his scooter in September 2009. In remembrance and to raise money for young musicians, the Brian Redman memorial Poker Tournament and Concert will be held Sunday, June 30 at Jazzbones. The poker tournament begins at 11 a.m. for a $50 donation. Music starts at 6 p.m. for a $5 donation. Raymond Hayden and The Monsters in the Dark, Champagne Sunday and Mahnhammer are on the bill. Raffle tickets will be on hand in $5 and $20 increments, with incentive for multiple purchases. Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on the Brian Redman Memorial Poker Tournament and Concert on our Walkie Talkie blog.

4. The final evening of the Olympia Experimental Music Festival will include a performance from Olympia native Derek M. Johnson. The cello-wielding and award-winning experimental musician will surely pack a number of tricks up his sleeve. His performance will allegedly feature music created with Kodak slide projectors, filtered through the extensive array of pedals he will have at his disposal. His "ektagraphtastic" set will undoubtedly be something to write home about. For a list of band performing tonight, click here.

5. We suppose it's fitting that the Mormon Trannys will be gracing Olympia with their presence on a Sunday. We also suppose there's no way for me to really know if they're actually scorned former members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, like they claim, but what is utterly apparent is that these guys are packed almost to the breaking point with the kind of sneering satire and politically incorrect social commentary that marked bands like the Frogs and other punk weirdos. The over-the-top show begins at 10 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

LINK: Sunday, June 30 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area