FRIDAY, NOV. 29 2013 >>>

1. In the spirit of making the best out of a bad situation, Zach Powers has organized a Black Friday "mini-concert series" to simultaneously take the sting out of the dubious holiday and to direct shoppers to local establishments. From 1 to 5:30 p.m., select downtown Tacoma stores will be host to mini-performances from local acts. At each of these businesses, one band will show up and play a brief, 15-minute set, designed to draw in shoppers with being too distracting a presence: 1 p.m. at Learning Sprout Toys will feature singer-songwriters Olivia Joy Hustoft and Jenny Snipstead; 2 p.m. at UrbanXchange will have Rockwell Powers; from there, it's 3 p.m. at King's Books with Goldfinch; 4 p.m. finds Apartment Lights at Millesime Designs; and the day closes out at 5 p.m. with Q-Dot at Feather & Oar. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on the Tacoma Black Friday Concert Series in the Music and Culture section.

2. As you know, the Washington State History Museum has taken a step back in time to study one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries: the 1971 disappearance of skyjacker D.B. Cooper from a plane traveling from Portland to Sea-Tac. What you might not know is Geoffrey Gray - the author of Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper - will host a 2:30 p.m. book signing and 3:30 p.m. presentation on his research and conclusions. He'll also be available to join attendees and chat theories afterward at The Swiss. 

3. We dig holiday lights. We just don't like holiday lights on our office (why? laziness, lack of skill, laziness, lack of patience, laziness - you get the drift). Ah, but there's that wonderful Tacoma institution of Zoolights, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium's holiday light show and extravaganza. We are not talking a few dinky lights thrown haphazardly into a shrub (much like our sad little office displays). No. We are talking more than half a MILLION lights, crafted whimsically throughout the zoo. Better? Zoolights throws in these groovy little extras like camel rides (yes, really), an antique carousel and a scuba-diving Santa on select days. Zoolights opens for the season from 5-9 p.m.

4. Break out the feel-good tears, tissues, angel wings and silver bells, because local theater is bringing a holiday classic to life. Here are some hints: George Bailey, Clarence the Guardian Angel, Bedford Falls, Christmas Eve transformation, life really is good, "every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings" ... (sniff, sniff). The wonderful and historic Tacoma Little Theatre, located in Tacoma's Stadium District, has been delighting audiences of all ages since 1918 (making it one of the oldest community theaters in the United States) and is taking on the holiday staple, It's A Wonderful Life, at 7 p.m. 

5. Little Orphan Annie likes you. Little Orphan Annie wants to be your friend. Little Orphan Annie wants you to visit her in the orphanage. Little Orphan Annie wants you to adopt her. Little Orphan Annie wants to live with you. Little Orphan Annie wants. Little Orphan Annie wants. Go watch her from a distance in the happiest musical in America and be grateful she has Daddy Warbucks. Little Orphan Annie can be seen at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

PLUS: Holiday Events Calendar

PLUS: South Sound Holiday Command Center

LINK: Friday, Nov. 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, NOV. 30 2013 >>>

1. Winters here are cold and wet, and it's better to admit that fact and find a way to enjoy the season than to stay home depressed. Ice skating, with its low requirements in start-up costs and athletic prowess, may be the perfect way to beat the winter doldrums. It's charming and, in Tacoma, it comes with live music. Every Saturday night the Weekly Volcano turns on the amps to the Electric Salchow Stage at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink. Back from recording a kick ass album in Nashville, voted Best Band in the 2013 Best of Tacoma issue and recent winner of the WAVE Radio Jammin' Challenge Battle of the Bands at the Hard Rock Café, SweetKiss Momma will fire up its Southern soul rock sound at 7 p.m. and perform for skaters until 9 p.m. Oh momma, that's sweet.

2. The Lincoln Winter Market organized by Make Olympia is just what the doctor ordered. Well that, and a hot buttered rum. The market is in its third run, and has grown to more than 70 vendors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary Gym in Olympia. Shanty Slater, who has been heavily involved in Make Olympia (which hosts markets at a variety of locations) since its incarnation in 2010, said the Lincoln Winter Market is "a very special place to buy gifts and treasure from the community." Discover the seven must-see items at the Lincoln Winter Market here.

3. In an effort to make it easy and fun to shop local this holiday season, Duchess of Downtown Tours, best known for its monthly Tacoma ART BUS tours, has hand selected nine of its favorite locally owned shops for the Small Business Saturday Shopping Tour at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include pizza, beverages, VIP swag bags and entry into the raffle for several awesome prizes including two tickets to the sold out Santarchy craziness, a gift basket from Blue Mouse Theater and more. Tickets and list of shop can be found at brownpapertickets.com.

4. For the fourth year in a row, the entrepreneur and hilariously funny and talented Nate Jackson will treat the Puget Sound to a holiday event chock full of fun, class and comedy. Nate Jackson's 4thAnnual Thanksgiving Weekend Super Funny Comedy Show will consume the Temple Theater Plaza Ballroom at 8:30 p.m. featuring a live comedy show followed by an after party. Shang Forbes, whose socio-political views graced CBS's The Late Show and BET's Comic View, will join Jamie Foxx 2011 NBA All Star Comedy vet Lil Rel and fellow Comic View funnyman Ronnie Jordan and Tacoma's own Mr. Mookie on the Temple stage. Afterward, The D1 Experience Band and DJ TuMuch rock the party. Jackson's events are always full of fun, good-looking people and mo' fun.

5. So you don't want to admit to drinking and going to the mall with your friends when you were a teenager. Fine. But there's no shame in shopping at The New Frontier Lounge Saturday night with a few drinks in hand. The fine folks at Feather & Oar men's clothing store are hosting a fashion show with Tacoma Apparel Co., Paper Diamonds Clothing, Gallery of Ambition, Kinfam and Noble Suit Co. with original music by the Keyboard Kid from 9-10 p.m. at The New Frontier Lounge. Rumor is the tickets are going fast; you might want to give Feather & Oar a buzz, or jump on Brown Paper Tickets. After the show, The Flvr Blue will fill the joint with synth pop in between the funky beats spun by Mr. Melanin. Hot Topic this ain't.

PLUS: Holiday Events Calendar

PLUS: South Sound Holiday Command Center

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

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

B Sharp Coffee House - Tacoma. SB Slim. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

Bob's Java Jive Tacoma - Central. Day Laborers and Petty Intellectuals, Cloud Person, the Owl Parliament, the Cedars. 9 pm.

• Beneath the beauty and pageantry of Seattle six-piece Day Laborers and Petty Intellectuals, there runs a streak of wryly winking satire. These are people who know what it looks like to be some folk-slinging hipsters in the Pacific Northwest, and they find humor in appearances. In this way, they're reminiscent of other dryly-funny locals such as Shotgun Kitchen, Pillow Army, and the Foghorns. Their song, "Irene, Goodnight," is about being 27-years-old, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and Old Fashioned cocktails, riding fixed gear bicycles, raising urban livestock, thinking yourself a sensitive intellectual, and reveling in how wonderful it is to not be a cliché. All of this spot-on observation is bolstered by beatific instrumentation - flutes and violins trill in the background, as winsome guitars and drums drive the song along. - Rev. Adam McKinney

Doyle's Public House Tacoma - Stadium District. Modelo Mustache Party, with McTuff featuring saxophonist Skerik. 9 pm.

Franciscan Polar Plaza Ice Rink Tacoma - Downtown. SweetKiss Momma on Ice. All Ages. 7-9 pm. $4-$8 ice skating.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. LA Lungs, Chrome Windows, Davey, Total Life. 9 pm.

Metcalf Manor Olympia - Eastside. Elbow Coulee, Wildlife Indoors, Get Mom, Noodlebird. 8:30 pm. $2.

• Here we are, Thanksgiving weekend. You know it's going to be poppin' off in Olympia with all the kids in town for the holiday. School's out, weather is cold as a turkey's tit and people are looking for fun. Well how about Thanks Groovin? Dance off the stuffing and gravy with great bands at a cool house venue, which also serves as a bed and breakfast. Headliner Elbow Coulee has a great following with their dance/synth/rock style, prompting dancing, hollering and straight-up partying. I like the Rev. Adam McKinney's description: "Flourishes of lite prog rock guitar noodling, mixing with dips into '90s emo and tight spiky early 00s dance punk." Awesome. Plus, all the boys in the band are cute. - Nikki McCoy

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Black Saturday Fashion Show, featuring Keyboard Kid, The Flavr Blue, Mr. Melanin. 9 pm. $10-$30.

Rock the Dock Pub & Grill Tacoma - Downtown. Movember Mustache Appreciation Party with Kapn Crunch & The Cereal Killers. Ten percent of the proceeds go to prostate cancer research. 9 pm.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. Maia Santell. 9 pm.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Stonegate's Pirate Costume Party Contest & 4th Birthday Party, with Crosswalk. 9 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. The Downtown Mountain Boys. All Ages. 8 pm. $10-$15.

LINK: More live music Saturday, Nov. 30 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

For the past 11 months you have been chasing Tacoma City Ballet nuts around Tacoma. The ballet company has been hiding Golden Krakatuk Nuts as a promotion for its highly anticipated December performances of The Nutcracker and The Tale of the Hard Nut, a prequel to the original Nutcracker, which explains why a prince is trapped inside a nutcracker doll. The performanc eopens Dec. 7 at the Pantages Theater and runs for three weeks. The contest, on the other hand, is on today. The contest in a nutshell: TCB hides the nuts inside jewel boxes around Tacoma; inside the boxes is a scroll with prize details, such as gift certificates, merchandise or tickets to the performance.  

Anyway, the December Golden Krakatuk Nut clue - the last clue of the year - dropped this morning. This clue will guide you to a restaurant, shop or other business at which the nuts may be in plain sight or may be behind the counter.

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