SATURDAY, SEPT. 21 2013 >>>

1. Drunken Telegraph brings people together to share stories that build community - or at least make for a damn fine evening. Similar to Tacoma's famous Distinguished Writers night, there will be feature storytellers followed by an open mic for those who sign up to tell their 5-minute story on the night's theme. The Drunken Telegraph #5 goes down at 7 p.m. in Masa centered around the theme "Neighbors." Come hear stories, or share you own, about those who didn't live near Mr. Rogers.

2. The Moon Festival is a popular Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness dating back more than 3,000 years to China’s Zhou Dynasty. Mid-Autumn Festival ("Zhongqiu Jie" in Mandarin Chinese), is a traditional holiday widely celebrated in Aisa, that marks the end of summer and autumn’s equinox, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest - thus the nickname “moon festival. "From noon to 8 p.m. this family-friendly celebration will bring together businesses, residents, community groups and visitors from all areas of Pierce County and beyond for a safe, fun, cultural experience along Tacoma's Ruston Way.

3. Revered by fans and artists alike for it's fantastic stage, professional lighting and wonderful sound, Louie G's Pizzeria in Fife is loved in numbers. Today and tomorrow, beginning at 1 p.m., marks the venue's 2nd annual Dreamfest. Though the event is only in it's second year, it is shaping up to become the establishment's trademark festival. For complete schedule, click here.

4. As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, the Lakewood Playhouse stages Arsenic and Old Lace at 8 p.m. Joseph Kesselring's script is likewise approaching its diamond jubilee. A few of its then-pop-cultural references whiff, but that's to be expected. What surprises after all these decades is how gleefully amoral the play is. Without giving too much away, let's say it features a pair of charming old aunties, the Brewster sisters, who welcome potential boarders with something more than a casual drink. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Arsenic and old Lace in the Music and Culture section.

5. OK, yes, there will be punk music. And yes, some of that music will be done by local favorites such as Girl Trouble, Red Hex, Trees and Timber and The Jilly Rizzo. And yes, this is a function that will be held 8 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge. But look, the real draw here is the film. And not just the film, but also the accompanying interpretive dance. That's right, Isaac Olsen's German expressionist film, Ich Hunger, will be screened with an accompanying performance by the BareFoot Collective.  Olsen's tale of a creature-boy roaming the German wilderness and devouring the village's hapless tourists will be an odd and entrancing pairing with the BareFoot Collective's elegant performance.

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Bob's Java Jive Tacoma - Central. Swingset Showdown, Vacant Seas, Smashie Smashie and Infinite Flux. 8 pm. $5.

• This is a band that describes themselves as a novelty act, though their music is far too complicated and off-putting to land them a spot on a Dr. Demento compilation. A piano-punk trio more on the Don't Stop Or We'll Die side than the Ben Folds Five side, Swingset Showdown find themselves building richly melodic jams that end up getting sidetracked by absurdity halfway to the triumphant chorus. At times, their music comes across like a friendlier version of Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies era Of Montreal. Even their sweetest melodies are infected with an eeriness that offsets the sugar. Off-kilter rhythms and tempo shifts serve as obstacles to keep the listener from passively absorbing the music. Swingset Showdown want you to be an active participant. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Swingset Showdown in the Music and Culture section.

Harmon Brewery and Eatery Tacoma - Downtown. Rich Wetzel's Groovin' Higher Orchestra. All Ages. 9 pm. NC.

Harmon Tap Room Tacoma - Stadium District. Travis Larson Band, Torre. 9 pm.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. The Brown Edition, Down North. 8 pm.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Magic Mouth, Double Dutchess, Glitterband. 9 pm. $5.

• Magic Mouth recently got off tour opening for Gossip. It's easy to see why Gossip were drawn to them in the first place: Magic Mouth fold a myriad of influences into their sound, ending up with music that flies in the face of the recent trend of revivalism. Their funk, soul, and dance music isn't a pale imitation, but a full-blooded celebration of the kind of manic showmanship that used to define those genres. Magic Mouth's slight punk edge only helps to highlight and enhance the energy that past masters imbued into their music. It's all crazy momentum, kept in motion by incredibly tight musicianship. A dense bassline backbone keeps everything on track, hurtling through every joyously sweaty song. Going to see a Magic Mouth show is an invitation to let everything go and get in close contact with your fellow dancers. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Windowpane, Riot In Rhythm, Mechanism, Amadon, Witchburn, The Fame Riot, Ben Union, The Fail Safe Project, Jason Kertson & The Immortals, The Crying Spell, Mom's Rocket, Insuburban Avenue, Clear The Chaos. All Ages. 11 am.

• Revered by fans and artists alike for it's fantastic stage, professional lighting and wonderful sound, Louie G's Pizzeria in Fife is loved in numbers. Today and tomorrow, beginning at 1 p.m., marks the venue's 2nd annual Dreamfest. Though the event is only in it's second year, it is shaping up to become the establishment's trademark festival. Rockford Rowley's full feature on Dreamfest 2013 in his The Rockford Files all-ages music column.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Girl Trouble, Trees & Timber, Red Hex, The Jilly Rizzo, plus BareFoot Collective dances to Ich Hunger film. 8 pm.

• The thing about Trees and Timber is their music could be anywhere ... the soundtrack to a road trip for example. I could easily imagine slipping in their latest album, Electric Gypsy Lovechild, for a trip up the Kitsap Peninsula - their upbeat jams guiding my way. Trees and Timber could provide the soundtrack to a Quentin Tarantino film, just as the main character beats the antagonist. On a mixed CD, their power pop would blend beautifully with the Violent Femmes and Dick Dale. And even though Trees and Timber have the chops to play anywhere, the place they will be Saturday is at The New Frontier Lounge as part of the line-up for Strapping Young Productions first, well, production. The band joins Girl Trouble, Red Hex and The Jilly Rizzo for the Sensory Overloads theme night, which includes a screening of Isaac Olsen's German epic, Ich Hunger, accompanied by The Barefoot Collective dance troupe. "Saturday is going to be a good fucking show," says Joe Baker, frontman for Trees and Timber. "Films, dancing, rock and roll, and a real-life variety show with Pierce County's heaviest hitters. Who could pass on that?" - Nikki McCoy
  

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. High & Lonesome Bluegrass Band. 9 pm.

LINK: More live music Saturday, Sept. 21 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, SEPT. 22 2013 >>>

1. The Broadway Center welcomes travel guru Rick Steves to its Pantages Theater for a travel chat at 5 p.m. Steves - book author, Europe expert, pot smoker, global wanderer, TV host - has spent four months each year overseas for the last 30 years. According to pre-event hype, "Travel helps us appreciate the spiritual diversity of the planet while nourishing the soul of the traveler as he/she encounters the beautiful and the unique in new and unfamiliar places. Rick shares how the other 96 percent of humanity sees our nation and explores how his social activism has grown naturally out of his travel experiences."

2. Be prepared, Tacoma - prepared for a trail system the likes of which this city has never seen. We have the waterfront trail along Ruston Way. We have a network of trails in Point Defiance. But, until now, these two trails were so close, but so far. Downtown to Defiance: Sunday Parkways will usher in a new era - the beginning of these two trails coming together. The city of Tacoma, Metro Parks and Tacoma Pierce County Health Department have partnered up to close down one lane of the streets running from the Tacoma Dome to Point Defiance Park between 8 a.m. and noon, opening up almost seven miles of waterfront streets for cyclists, walkers and runners. Starting at 7:30 a.m., participants can gather at the T-Dome. The walk/ride along the parkways starts at 8.

3. Revered by fans and artists alike for it's fantastic stage, professional lighting and wonderful sound, Louie G's Pizzeria in Fife is loved in numbers. Beginning at 1 p.m., the venue's 2nd annual Dreamfest opens for day two action. Though the event is only in it's second year, it is shaping up to become the establishment's trademark music festival. For complete schedule, click here.

4. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) closes today at 2 p.m. in the Tacoma Little Theatre. The show is a whirlwind revue of the Bard's entire run of comedies, tragedies, histories and even sonnets in less than two hours. Imagine Monty Python on speed - except don't, because neither you nor aged British comedians should ever take speed. Stay in school, kids. we mean it.

5. Brian Lee & The Orbiters fills The Spar in Old Town Tacoma with blues beginning at 7 p.m. 

LINK: Sunday, Sept. 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

"You wait. I'm going to make it happen," Diane Wiatr, the City of Tacoma's active transportation coordinator told me at a Green Drinks meeting earlier this year at the Broken Spoke pub on Hilltop Tacoma. "I'm going to convince the city to close down Ruston Way to vehicles and we all are going to have a giant, roving party on bikes and on foot."

Wiatr has been dreaming of a critical mass-like event ever since she witnessed similar community celebrations in Columbia and Mexico. Bogota and Mexico City close down long stretches of popular roadways for Sunday strolls and rides.

Today, in Tacoma, Wiatr's dream happened.

Launching from the Tacoma Dome at 8 a.m. (Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club started earlier incorporating the route into a larger ride), a registered 800 people made the trek from the Tacoma Dome, along Dock Street to Schuster Parkway, Ruston Way then to the new $60,000 Interim Trail to Point Defiance Park, finishing in the Park's bowl. While it's certain many might have skipped the "Downtown to Defiance: Sunday Parkways" event due to the rain, those who did participate had a blast, enjoying games in the parks along the route, with a festival in the bowl, which included a giant checkers game, music by the Kareem Kandi Band, bounce houses and vendor booths.

Wiatr didn't pull this off on her own. Metro Parks, the city of Tacoma and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department partnered, with U.S. Bank kicking in more than $30,000. Many Metro Parks board members wandered the bowl in rain gear, including Erik Hanberg wearing a city of Tacoma replica helmet.

At 10 a.m. the "Leadership Working In Tadem" rig - pedaled by Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Tacoma City Councilmembers and state officials - rolled into Point Defiance Park to fanfare. One-liners from the officials poured harder than the rain, including someone shouting "Let's do the Five Mile Drive!" - which received moans from his fellow pedalers.

See Also

Weekly Volcano's feature story on Downtown to Defiance

MONDAY, SEPT. 23 2013 >>>

1. It's a quiet autumn Monday in Tacoma, but inside The New Frontier Lounge, the night is cooking. Pianist Nate D., bassist Cameron and drummer Peter T. have launch the city's newest jazz jam inviting talent to sit in as the house trio explores straight ahead, funk and space. Not all gigs qualify as a hang, but this one has the precise alchemy that could draw the area's best players: a high level of musicianship, a relaxed atmosphere and a sympathetic intergenerational crowd. Ask any working jazz musician, and the hang is what it's all about. It kicks off at 8 p.m.

2. Art work by art faculty of South Puget Sound Community College opens today at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Gallery. The Faculty Art Exhibit features the work of faculty members Dan Meuse, Jane Stone, Joe Batt, Lisa Mellinger, Colleen Gallagher and Instructional Technician Robin Ewing from noon to 4 p.m. The works in the exhibit include painting, printmaking, photography, pottery, ceramics, sculpture and drawings, and are as varied as the personalities.

3. In the same way that sharks must keep swimming to keep breathing, it seems guitarist Rafael Tranquilino must fuse genres across various musical projects in order to stay afloat. His arrangements incorporate blues, funk, rock, funk, ska, metal, reggae, Latin and jazz-fusion. As accomplished as he is varied, Tranquilino can be seen every Monday night as host of Stonegate Pizza's rockin' blues, if not experimental, jam at 8 p.m.

4. With three different singers, dual lead guitars and one of the best rhythm sections around, Palmer Junction is heavily influenced by blues artists such as Freddie King, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers, Robben Ford and Joe Bonamassa. Named best blues band in the Weekly Volcano's 2013 Best of Tacoma issue, the band will perform at 8 p.m. in The Swiss.

5. Want to feel like a rock star without all the pain and annoyance of having to be a  fire-breathing demon that bleeds from the mouth? Then hit Jazzbones at 9 p.m. for Rockaraoke, where you can belt out songs like the Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again," Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You" and enough INXS tunes to make you feel like you're on a reality show, and other hits from the days when you made mixtapes by recording the radio, all backed by a live band. Expect a college crowd enjoying $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff Flavor Vodka Bombs. Oh, Jazzbones now screens Monday Night Football before Rockaraoke.

LINK: Monday, Sept. 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Bars are magnetic. We flock to them for what they are and for what they are not. Cheers Bar & Grill on a Saturday night requires a pool stick and a push-up bra. The New Frontier Lounge means prize-worthy beards and flannel. Alfred's Café hosts blue-collar regulars and hipper-snappers. Wingman Brewers pours craft beers to the intellectually curious and happy-go-lucky 30-somethings.

Saturday night these four Tacoma Dome District watering holes served mostly one demographic: The red-shirted, prop-wearing, laughing Tacoma Pub Crawler.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers - a group of Tacomans who abide by the doctrine of the 1990-1992 animated environmentalist cartoon of the same name - hosted its third pub crawl in so many years. After spreading good cheer along Pacific Avenue and Sixth Avenue, the group and its many constituents tackled Tacoma's Dome District, specifically the aforementioned drink-sling establishments.

From 2 p.m. on, this group of around 50 or so had the most controlled fun I've witnessed in quite some time. Big props to the four venues for playing along and, in fact, adding to the fun.

The Planeteers add a charity element to their pub runs. The first two years they raised money for United Way and the Emergency Food Network. Saturday, the group gave Write@253 - a free community writing center - a check for $1,144.

Below are a few photos from the Tacoma Pub Run, as well as a link to a larger photo album.

Thanks for letting me tag along Ston, Stephanie and the Planeteers.

LINK: Tacoma Pub Run photos

Vive la geekerie toujours, mes amis! Nerd Alert is the Weekly Volcano's recurring events calendar devoted to all things nerdy. I myself am a Star Wars fan, mathlete, and spelling bee champion of long standing, so trust me: I grok whereof I speak.

As you read this, my wife and I are vacationing in the City of Lights, guzzling vin ordinaire and pretending we understand a single word anyone is saying. We'll return by this weekend, but too stuffed with macarons and stinky unpasteurized cheese to do much more than launder our Tour d'Eiffel T-shirts and clear the DVR. It falls upon you, my fellow Yanks, to uphold the honor of Uncle Sam in our absence by acting like ugly Americans and scarfing freedom fries.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 26

My favorite sitcom, Parks and Recreation, recommences Thursday night, which allows me to enjoy he-man Ron Swanson and not-so-he-man Tom Haverford as Yahweh intended: without a damn laugh track. Not so The Big Bang Theory, which also returns tonight, its bleachers at Warner Bros. Burbank crammed with appreciative tourists. SNL launches season 39 this weekend, hosted by Tina Fey for the fourth time since her putative escape in 2006. (The musical guest is some indie Canadian outfit called Arcade something-or-other.) The Amazing Race and a rash of cartoon shows are back on Sunday; for you Showtime subscribers, so is Homeland. After all, none of you law-abiding citizens downloaded the new episode from BitTorrent when it leaked a month ago, riiight?

SATURDAY, SEPT. 28

If you've been in the cast or crew of a play, you know it takes weeks of rehearsal, not to mention the months it took some writer to craft the bloody thing. Now squeeze that process into one exhausting day. That's the challenge behind the Double Shot Festival, which offers annual programs of short plays written, memorized, rehearsed, and performed within a single 24-hour period. I've agreed to brave the rigors of jetlag and lukewarm McCafé to direct one, so I hope you'll swing by to say hi and check out the result. If I respond in idiotic Franglish or act otherwise deranged, back away slowly while humming the Marseillaise.

Read more...

TUESDAY, SEPT. 24 2013 >>>

1. Harvest season cannot be denied it's special place in everyone's lives, unless your on a strict high-preservative, low-nutrition-value, fast-food-for-life diet. If so, please stop reading now. For those who can drive right on by a drive-thru window without even a thought, be sure to stop by the 6th Ave Farmers Market from 4-7 p.m. for its annual Harvest Fest. On the menu will be Infinite Soups bowls, seasonal salads from Zestful Gardens and Terry's Berries and drinkies. Barleywine Revue will keep the head buzzin'. 

2. A roller coaster mix of drama and comedy will hit Tacoma today when The Grand Cinema screens eight short films from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Short Films program at 2:10 and 7:05 p.m. Vibrant storytelling highlights the group, including fiction, documentary and animation, with five award-winners.

3. Every Tuesday, Maxwell's Speakeasy serves two chef's choice appetizers and two house wines or draft beers for $15. Chef Hudson Slater tells us, "It's nothing over the top but keeps things fun and fresh." Chef Slater and server extraordinaire and wine pro Kent Bolden sample wines weeks in advance, mull them over, discuss possible pairings, sample more, then create a the Tuesday experience.

4. Did you know that Roald Dahl nearly lost his nose in a car accident? Or that he was once a chocolate candy tester for Cadbury's? Have you heard about his involvement in the Great Mouse Plot of 1924? Did you know he was a spy? Before beginning his literary career, the Welsh children's author Dahl was sort of a spy during World War II. A member of the British Royal Airforce, Dahl served in Washington D.C. as Assistant Air Attache but also worked with the Canadian master spy William Stephensen. Dahl wrote his first published essay, Shot Down Over Libya. If you'd like to hear about the nose thing, you should attend the YA Not Book Club at 7 p.m. inside King's Books as Dahl's autobiographical Boy: Tales of Childhood will be discussed. If you'd like to hear about his spy work, start a Spy Not Book Club.

5. A former sports broadcaster, comedian and actor Sean McBride headlines Ha Ha Tuesday comedy show at 8:30 p.m. in Jazzbones.

LINK: Tuesday, Sept. 24 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Kassie Mitchell is the yarn bomber of Sixth Avenue in Tacoma.

But you probably knew that, right?

OK, so the delightfully mysterious "yarn bomber" isn't probably such a mystery anymore. For those not in the know (yet), the yarn bomber is responsible for crafting the colorful and whimsical crocheted "bike-rack sweaters" that have punctuated the business district since mid-August. Topped with funky and fresh embellishments like crocheted hot dogs and other nibbles, the bike-rack sweaters have captured the delight of many Tacomans. Mitchell's Facebook page has legions of fans, including the 6th Avenue Business District, which adores her work.

Naturally, one would suspect that the yarn bomber would be a rather unconventional sort of gal. You're right. But what is more interesting is how unconventional I became during a visit with the bomber over brews at The Red Hot. All of my journalistic conventions went flying out the window like a tossed ball of yarn.

It was good thing.

We started out talking about beer. Beer is a good thing, too.

Read more...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, record holder for Most Well-Adjusted Former Child Star, has revealed himself, over the years, to not only be a surprisingly capable dramatic actor, but a closet old-school showman. This is a guy who longs for the days of the triple-threat - acting, singing, dancing, with an impeccable sense of class. It would seem, then, given his druthers of writing and directing his first movie, that he would steer his ship in the direction of some winning musical in the style of Donald O'Connor or Gene Kelly.

It's befuddling, then, that he would make his directorial debut with the story of a Jersey Shore meathead and his struggle to overcome sex addiction.

Don Jon's manic energy and questionable choice of subject matter recalls Romance & Cigarettes, the genuinely odd directorial debut of John Turturro (a man who, more and more, seems like he might be a legit weirdo).

Gordon-Levitt, in voice-over, runs through the most important things in life: his car, his family, his church, his friends, his porn, his - wait, what? Soon, the picture becomes clear of a self-obsessed sex addict whose life is dominated by an insatiable need to see - just see - every naked woman that it is possible to see.

Soon, though, Gordon-Levitt's world is turned upside down by the appearance of Scarlett Johannson and her atrocious Jersey accent. Can Don Jon learn to give up his porn obsession so he can win the love of a good woman? I mean, can he? And why? And who cares?

Tony Danza pops up as Gordon-Levitt's spaghetti-slurping father - a role he was born to play. Gordon-Levitt, meanwhile, was born to never play the role he gave himself in Don Jon. If I wanted to watch a movie about a greasy-haired gym rat who refers to women in terms of whether or not they're "10s," and who refers to his friends as his "boys," and who just can't quit watching porn long enough to sleep with Scarlett Johansson, I'd, uh... No, I actually just don't want to watch that.

QUESTION: Did you see Battle of the Year?