THURSDAY, SEPT. 12 2013 >>>

1. The Pacific Northwest is a haven for indie music and representation from Portland to Olympia and Tacoma to Everett will represent at this year's Squeak and Squawk Music Festival, which opens today and runs through Monday. There are two shows a day: At 6 p.m., all-ages performances take place at the Library at Sanford and Son Antiques followed up with 9 p.m. shows at The New Frontier Lounge for those 21 and over. The festival kicks off at 6 p.m. with The Fame Riot, Xylophones and J. Martin in the Library, and the 9 p.m. evening show at The New Frontier features I Like Science, Week of Wonder and People Under the Sun.

2. How does this sound: fashion, wine, food, giveaways and an auction and raffle with some fab items? Sounds fun, yes? Envy boutique is proud to play host to "Envy's Girls Night Out" - a benefit auction and raffle from 5 to 8 p.m. Sip wine, nosh on yummy eats, shop until you drop, and enjoy Envy's unique items and sweet deals. The best part? One-hundred percent of the auction and raffle proceeds benefit South Sound Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, "The Breast Savers."

3. If you're a dedicated Volcano reader or fan of local literature, you've devoured the Southern-fried fiction of our own Mr. Alec Clayton. His fall 2012 release Return to Freedom, a sequel to 2010's The Backside of Nowhere, finds its Mississippian characters reeling from the aftermath of a deadly hurricane. Also, and we hope we're not being too glib or immature about this, but it features hot MILFs making out. Unwilling to settle for a mere, mundane book signing, Alec prefers to cast local actors in readers' theater adaptations of his scenes. He calls his cadre of thespians the Freedom Players, and they're performing at 7:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberline Timberland Library.

4. Olympia Little Theatre stages Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers, at 7:55 p.m. It's set in December 1969, the same month the play opened on Broadway, and it follows the adventures of Barney, a middle-aged husband, as he attempts to cheat on his wife with three different women. What keeps this nebbish from being despicable is his amorous ineptitude - no spoilers, but his fourth time's the charm - and the fact that he really just wants to learn what's so fantastic about the Sexual Revolution. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Last of the Red Hot Lovers in the Music and Culture section.

5. Danny Barnes and Matt Sircely return from far-flung escapades to perform in Olympia at 9 p.m. in the Pig Bar. After 10 years of friendship, Barnes and Sircely began touring this year, stretching the full length of the West Coast from Los Angeles to Port Angeles, and as far east as Moscow (Idaho). One outing resulted in a live recording that will be available in cassette format at the event.

LINK: Thursday, Sept. 12 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area