SUNDAY, JAN. 5 2014 >>>

1. If you ever wondered what would happen if the Terminator had a love affair with Sarah Conner, then this show's for you. An offbeat comedic showdown titled "Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction" is pitting 10 comedians against each other in a battle for laughs, where they win points telling stories about steamy love affairs between popular film and television characters. Led by Bryan Cook, comedy writer for Joan Rivers' Fashion Police, the contest tasks professional comics to arrive with their own piece of erotic fan fiction on anything from Harry Potter to 60 Minutes, perform it, then quickly scribble and perform another story of the audience's choosing. A national hit on the comedy-festival circuit, the show drops in on the Tacoma Comedy Club at 8 p.m.

2. The Puyallup Home & Garden Show will assist homeowners in all stages of remodeling, landscaping and decorating their homes, with hundreds of exhibits, and product demonstrations, plus new products and expert advice from the pros from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Western Washington Fairgrounds. Crowds will flow through gardens and around hottubs, yearn for kitsch, and fall prey to every kind of huckster. You know who you are.

3. Who doesn't like to sit in attendance while junkyard cars get smashed and toppled by massive, petrol-chugging monster trucks? Probably no one. That's like suggesting there's someone out there that doesn't like nacho cheese and back fat. Likely story. The Monster Jam ends today at 1 p.m. in the Tacoma Dome. Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on the Groth brothers in the Military Life section.

4. Rich Wetzel's 15-piece jazz-rock, Latin funk big band will perform from 5-8 p.m. at Stonegate Pizza.

5. Saxophonist Kareem Kandi's sound is virtually unrelated to the roomy traditions of soul saxes, honking saxes or deep-chested boudoir ballad saxes. It derives from the classic, free, often enthusiastic tradition of Joshua Redman as filtered through Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, all of whose shadows can be traced-Redman in Kandi's funky organicism, Gordon in his dynamic harmonics, Stitt in the intensity that coats his every note with a Gritty City finish. The Kareem Kandi Band will perform at 6 p.m. in the Cliff House Restaurant. 

LINK: Sunday, Jan. 5 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area