SATURDAY, NOV. 23 2013 >>>

1. Franciscan Polar Plaza is on its third year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from Tacoma Art Museum. Similar to last year, the Weekly Volcano will host live bands at Polar Plaza every Saturday from 7-9 p.m. Bands will perform on what we like to call the Electric Salchow Stage. Yes, it's named after a figure skating jump Brian Boitano might perform to the music of Five for Fighting on the Today show. We can name it whatever we want. Anyhoo, the Kareem Kandi Band will provide an awesome soundtrack of jazz standards, funky beats and a few holiday tunes for butterfly jumps, cherry-flips, layback spins - but mostly moves such as the unstable skating, the fall, the skid and the mixed-gender collision.

2. Hundreds of soupniks with big hearts will make the trek to Charles Wright Academy from 1-3:30 p.m. for one of the year's most heartwarming events: Empty Bowls, a Emergency Food Network fundraising event combining art, community, giving and tasty soups. Local and regional artisans will donate more than 1,400 one-of-a-kind bowls made from hand-tooled carved wood, colorful glass and hand-thrown clay. Bowls begin at $10. They make awesome gifts. Once selections are made and paid for, with all proceeds going to EFN, attendees make their way to eat free soup, donated by Pacific Grill, The Swiss, Adriatic Grill, Infinite Soups, AmeRAWcan Bistro, The French Hen, The Hub, Masa, Alina Soups and Chambers Bay. Warning: a line forms an hour before the doors open.

3. Doing its part to keep Tacoma's Thanksgiving celebrants from choking on family-friendly pabulum, the Tacoma Mob Riders will own the street again Saturday, this month disguising its bicycle booze cruise as a giant turkey. You might have seen one of the Mob's past rides through the streets of Tacoma, dressed as leprechauns, Easter bunnies, ghosts, moms, trees - what ever the nearest holiday called for - kicking the kickstand for a quick drink - bar after bar. Saturday's ride has been given the title "Turkicanus Bicyclette," which will launch at 7 p.m. at 2nd Cycle on Hilltop Tacoma. Gobble, gobble, wobble.

4. Rapper Mickey Avalon isn't the first musician to champion the motto, "Live fast, die young & look good in your grave" (as is printed proudly at the very top of Avalon's website). He's probably not even the most recent. But chances are Avalon is the only member of the esteemed, previously described crowd of self-destructive entertainers scheduled to play Jazzbones at 8 p.m. Reportedly a member of the Los Angeles-based graffiti crew CBS (Can't Be Stopped / City Bomb Squad), a one-time heroin addict and male prostitute, and a collaborator with former MTV VJ Simon Rex, it seems Avalon has experienced no shortage of excitement, drama, close calls and failures during his journey. These days he's experiencing a few of the positives life has to offer, most applicable to this space success within the world of music. A former member of rap group Dyslexic Speedreaders, and with a penchant for penning lyrics about the grittier side of life, Avalon's T-town gig should go off like gangbusters.

5. McCoy's Tavern will host one helluva party beginning at 9 p.m. The stars of the night, buttrockers Hellbelly (think a more melodic Helmet), will release their much-awaited CD release, Life of the Party, on Olympia's Vital Records. The Hardway and Full Moon Radio will be in the house, too.

PLUS: Holiday Events Calendar

PLUS: South Sound Holiday Command Center

LINK: Saturday, Nov. 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area