THURSDAY, MAY 8 2014 >>>

1. Steve Dunkelberger and Walter Neary are city of Lakewood legends. They were on the scene when Pong debuted inside the Liberty House store. They were there for all-you-can-eat pizza Wednesdays at Pizza Haven. They held court at Big Scoop, Shakey's Pizza and Bob's Big Boy. They threw toast at midnight in the Lakewood Theater. They rode the tiny train inside the shoe store at Villa Plaza. They stood outside and watched Love's Restaurant burn to the ground. They pestered Ivan the gorilla. They held on tight when Earthquake went all Sensurround in the General Cinemas. They ran across Steilacoom Lake the year it froze solid. I'm certain they tried to sneak into the Lakewood Terrace's back lounge and The Tiki Restaurant. At 7 p.m. in King's Books, they will hold court, once again, this time to sign copies of their new book, Legendary Locals of Lakewood. Ask them about riding in the plastic bins on the roller track at Gov-Mart. They were there.

2. Treos in Old Town Tacoma hosts a Leukemia/Lymphoma Team in Training fundraisers from 5-9 p.m. featuring Celtic music with Mooncoyne's Martin Nyberg followed by Scott Desart acoustical set. Proceeds of beer and wine sales go to cure cancer.

3. Katie Downs on Tacoma's Ruston Way is crazy popular, especially after it won the Tournament of Pizza in 2011. Today, the joint will overflow as the Tacoma Runners launch its 3-mile run from it then return to celebrate the feat with pizza, burgers and booze. You in?

4. Humble and energetic standup comedian Don Friesen brings his physical, self-deprecating style of humor to the Tacoma Comedy Club at 8 p.m.

5. San Francisco rock band Hungry Skinny will join Phobos & Deimos for a 9 p.m. show at Le Voyeur in downtown Olympia.

LINK: Thursday, May 8 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Whatever you do, don't call the Harmon Brewing Company's Stadium District restaurants "McMenamins."

I made the mistake of dropping that term during a conversation with co-owner Pat Nagle about his remodel plans to make the Harmon Tap Room and The Hub more of a destination. "It's not McMenamins," he shot back. "We're not adding a hotel or movie theater."

I've known Nagle for some time. I've never met someone more passionate about the restaurant and brewery business. If he says his new plan doesn't mimic McMenamins then, hey, I'm not calling it either (although I did notice a slight smile on the man's face).

Nagle, and his business partner, Carole Ford, are transforming the Harmon Tap Room, and in a way The Hub above it, into one single destination for families. Phase one is nearly complete. The Tap Room's outdoor beer garden has been remodeled, complete with new tables and concrete walkways. If you're thinking dirndl-wearing beer maids bearing big tankards of frothy lager, think again. You need to think families - dining outdoors, under Tivoli lights, next to a fancy new fence, with giant Jenga games and music on the way, only to be interrupted by the brewmasters wheeling kegs toward the cold storage. The keg highway through the beer garden, or Harmon Garden as it now is known, will disappear in June.

The Harmon, like many other breweries across the nation, is aspiring to be more than just a place where patrons drop in for a mug or a quick bite on the way to somewhere else.

"We have two restaurants and the huge all-ages outdoor Harmon Garden, a private events space, the brewery behind glass - it's more of a destination," says Nagle, nibbling on a Tap Room street taco, while pointing to each subject's location - including The Hub straight above. The Tap Room turned family-friendly this year, but the outdoor beer garden was a 21 and older hangout. If you take your beer out to one of the Garden's long, wood tables today, don't be surprised when two fifth-grade St. Pat's students slam down their root beers on the same table and high-five because their teacher, Mr. Moore, is "rockin' cool."

Over the next four to six weeks, Nagle and Ford will remodel the stairway between the two restaurants, allowing an easy flow.

"The only outdoor seating at The Hub is in the bar. If a family wants pizza or a pulled pork grinder in the sunshine, down the stairs they can descend and out to the Harmon Garden," explains Nagle. "It's that easy."

Other changes include a freshening of the Tap Room's facade. In June, expect to see window dressings and awnings. Wood fencing has replaced the chain fence around the Garden.

As I mention, the keg route to cold storage is changing.

"The area off the Tap Room's back room will be remodeled, insulated and fitted to be a bottling and keg-filling center, opening up the brewing room for more tanks," says Nagle. This will eliminate having to cart the kegs through the Harmon Garden. The kegs will soon only travel several feet into cold storage. Gone will be the crowded bottling situation in the brewing room, and awkward flow through the Garden."

Also on the way are menu changes, seasonal specials and holiday dinners.

The Hub and Harmon Tap Room should be integrated by mid-June, just in time for graduations.

Now, if there was a hotel on top of The Hub. ... Just kidding Pat!

HARMON TAP ROOM, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, all ages until 9 p.m., 204 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.212.2725

BEER HERE

THURSDAY, MAY 8

Now in its sixth year, Seattle Beer Week is more than 100 beery events from May 8 through 18. Who cares? Pint Defiance does. The beer store/taproom on the edge of Fircrest will celebrate the Seattle event by tapping 26 Washington beers, in intervals, during the duration. Pint Defiance will issue a special punch card. Drink all 26 and earn a limited edition shirt as proof of your status as a veteran beer marathoner. Start stretching and stay hydrated with your favorite electrolyte-enhanced beverage, because you won't want to hit the wall during this once-a-year-event. Check out its Facebook page for more details: facebook.com/PintDefiance.

SATURDAY, MAY 10

The third annual Gig Harbor Beer Festival will host 21 craft brewers, Gig Harbor's Heritage Distillery and a bigger music venue at the Gig Harbor Uptown Pavilion Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. In terms of music, Perry Acker returns for the band's second year and takes the stage at 3 p.m. Aisle of View, a reggae band currently touring the country, opens at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25, and are available at gigharborbeerfestival.com. Admission includes a commemorative taster cup and eight taster tokens. Depending on availability, you may also purchase tickets the day of the event for $25. Additional taster tokens will be on sale during the event. The Uptown Pavilion is at 4701 Point Fosdick Dr. NW.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14

The 10 Barrel Brewing Co. is on the move. The Bend, Ore., brewery is opening a third brewpub in Portland's Pearl District this summer - the other two are in Bend and Boise. The Portland site will include a pub and a brewhouse, which will brew small batch and one-off beers. Speaking of 10 Barrel small batch beers, several will be available May 14 when 10 Barrel visits the Puyallup River Alehouse. The downtown Puyallup house of beers will serve hot dogs, tacos, giveaway prizes and pour a bunch of 10 Barrel beers.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 5.9.14 >>>

The Taliban have announced their 2014 "spring offensive" will begin imminently.

Putin marks victory in Crimea, more bloodshed in Ukraine.

CIA, U.S. military at odds over Afghanistan pullback plan.

House Republicans rammed through a measure opening a new investigation of the deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya.

U.S. commandos head to Baltics, Europe for training.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki ordered a nationwide health care access review as frustration continued to mount over VA's response to allegations of care delays leading to patient deaths.

New manual to shift Army aviation focus to air-guard.

The Future Vertical Lift will be Army aviation's golden egg.

Army's testing of foreign mine boots yields valuable data.

Female British soldiers could soon be allowed to fight on the frontline.

Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Ty Carter's digs karaoke.

Dick Move: North Korea unleashes racist slurs against Obama.

Army National Guard kept sponsoring NASCAR for a decade without looking into why active branches found it ineffective.

No matter how fast you're driving, no matter the weather conditions, if someone fires a Brimstone missile from a MQ-9 Reaper drone and you're the target, you're dead.

A pretty and rather unusual selfie of an F-16 pilot as he was diving and spinning perpendicular to the ground.

Prepare for the onslaught of tiny hamsters eating tiny everything.

How to fight a bear and win.

List: A good roundup of all the TV marathons and specials airing this weekend.

Rolling Stone rounds up 20 good comedy podcasts.

There's talk of a Morrissey biopic ...

David Lynch cooks quinoa in a weird, surrealist video...

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Peavy

FRIDAY, MAY 9 2014 >>>

1. The West have been working at carving their place in the still-burgeoning indie dance-rock scene since 2011, steadily working to refine their air-tight grooves. There's a jubilance lurking in the back of even their most post-punk indebted compositions that charmingly calls out to guarded hipsters and asks them to crowd the stage. Catch the band with Death By Stars, Cloud Person and Bandolier at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

2. Jodorowsky's Dune is the latest from director Frank Pavich. This documentary chronicles director Alejandro Jodorowsky's legendary but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to make a film adaptation of famed science fiction author and Tacoma native Frank Herbert's novel Dune in the mid-1970s. Read Jared Lovrak's full review of Jodorowsky's Dune, then catch it at 2, 6:30 and 8:45 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

3. Susan Christian continues to show the strongest art to be seen in Olympia in her little "Project Space" at Salon Refu. Her latest show is "Thomas Johnston Palmpeset II, Paintings and Photography," which can be seen noon to 6 p.m. This is some powerful stuff - most notably "Envelop," the painting used on the posters and invitations. Read Alec Clayton's full review of "Thomas Johnston: Palmpeset II" in the Music & Culture section.

4. The Grand Cinema's 72-Hour Film Competition enters its 10th year. Its evolution over the years has seen it rise from humble, let's-put-on-a-show beginnings into a genuine behemoth. What started as 11 teams gathering at The Grand has ballooned into a totally legit happening. Every year some 25 to 30 (26 this year) teams of filmmakers collectively spill out of the woodwork to be met with the challenge of creating a five-minute film in three days. As if that weren't enough of a task, they are also required to somehow fit in a designated line of dialogue, a prop, staging, and an action: "I love it when you do that," Duct Tape, a product placement and a countdown, respectively, are this year's requirements. The films screen at 7 p.m. in the Urban Grace Church. Expect shocks, laughs, maybe even a few tears shed. And of course, without fail, one or two zombies.

5. British prog-rockers Wishbone Ash's harmony-laden dual-guitar attack predated Thin Lizzy, the group often credited with inventing it. Of course, Wishbone Ash also perfected the slow beginning/fast ending rock anthem. The band will rock Tacoma's Jazzbones at 8 p.m.

LINK: Friday, May 9 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia areas

While many people who head to the newly opened Smoke + Cedar are looking for the slow-roasted prime rib, the half-pound chuck burger, Team Dino's cocktails and the awesome happy hour, I drive up the hill for the mac and cheese. An order brings the perfect amount of orecchiette pasta (means "little ears") mixed in with owner Gordon Naccarato's version of the Augusta National pimento cheese recipe, then spackled with panko and crumbled  "Ritzy" fire cracker crumbs. The mac and cheese is served in hot skillet, which keeps it hot and prevents the concoction from sticking to the pan - good idea, since you don't want to let a single bite escape. it's freakin' delicious.

The skillet mac + cheese rings in at $8, but sells for an astonishingly $5 during happy hour, which is 2-6 p.m., 9 p.m. to close in the bar. Smoke + Cedar's happy hour food will be the talk of the town, especially during warm weather when its covered deck hops.

Every chef, every cook, every kid and every home-kitchen tongs-twirler has his or her own version of macaroni and cheese, but Smoke + Cedar's orchestration, paired with a cocktail, is so satisfying - so wonderfully immoral - that it makes my heart race just thinking about it.

SMOKE + CEDAR, breakfast 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., until 10 a.m. weekends; boozy brunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5 p.m. to close daily, 2013 S. Cedar St., Tacoma, 253.343.6090

LINK: Mac and Cheese Madness posts every Friday as a precursor to the Tournament of Mac and Cheese in March 2015.

What's better than a Armed Forces Day at Joint Base Lewis-McChord? JBLM hosting a Military Retiree Appreciation Day the day before. ...

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash - Joint Base Lewis-McChord will host its annual Military Retiree Appreciation Day event Friday, May 16, from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at American Lake Conference Center, on JBLM Lewis-North. Event officials are expecting approximately 2,500 military beneficiaries to attend.

Military Retiree Appreciation Day events include:

• Madigan Healthcare System Health Fair - opens at 7:30 a.m. for blood sugar and cholesterol testing (requires blood draw, 12-hours fasting before test), blood pressure checks (no caffeine or tobacco for 3 hours prior). Participants should bring vaccination records for review. The fair will also feature informational exhibits and information about Tri-Care medical and dental benefits and other social support services.

• ID Card issuance and replacement - Retirees and family members enrolled or eligible for enrollment in DEERS can update information and replace military ID cards at the event (bring DD214, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Decree or Death Certificate and two forms of identification if needed to verify eligibility).

• Legal Assistance Station - information and no-fee preparation of wills; general, special, or medical powers of attorney, and answers to legal questions provided by I Corps and JBLM Staff Judge Advocate's Office.

• Vehicle Registration - Retirees may register vehicles for use on base at the on-site registration table (bring valid proof of insurance card, state registration, state driver's license, and military ID card). Information about firearms registration will also be available at this station.

• VA Benefits Review - Washington Dept. of Veterans Affairs will host a Compensation Review Station for veterans who wish to initiate or seek an increased disability rating, Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC), or determine eligibility for new or expanded benefits created by recent changes in federal law for retirees with service-connected disabilities (bring DD214 and information about any other VA benefits received).

• Veterans Information Expo - Booths representing state and federal, and non-profit agencies will be staffed by employees and other individuals knowledgeable about benefits and services their organization has available for military retirees.

• Services- Retirees seeking more information about the JBLM Retirement Services Office or this year's Retiree Appreciation Day event can contact the Retirement Services Office, by calling (253) 966-5881, or 966-5884, or by email at usarmy.jblm.imcom.list.dhr-mpd-retirement-services@mail.mil, visit the RSO web site at http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/rso/.

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LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

B Sharp Coffee House Tacoma - Downtown. Malibu Manouche, with Peter Pentras, Neil Andersson. All Ages. 8 pm.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Wishbone Ash. 8 pm.

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Gossamer, Resisting Ordinary. All Ages. 8 pm.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Bobby Meader, The Waywards, Sullivan Street, Non The Yes Man, Divided Heaven. All Ages. 8 pm. $5. Monk Warrior, Belda Beast. 10 pm.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Death By Stars, The West, Cloud Person, Bandolier. 9 pm. $5.

Olympia Ballroom Olympia - Downtown. Andy Coe Band, Psychedelic Shadow Show. All ages, bar w/ID. 9 pm. $18-$10.

• I have a confession. I love The Grateful Dead. I own Steal-Your-Face shirts. I have dropped and been "enlightened" by Garcia. I sometimes sing "Ripple" as a lullaby to my kids. The reason I'm telling you this is because the Andy Coe Band is coming to the Olympia Ballroom for a night of Dead covers. Coe (Skerik's Bandalabra, McTuff) can noodle a guitar like nobody's business and skillfully channels The Dead; his band backing up in all the right layers. To compliment this already awesome night is The Psychedelic Shadow Show, a band that covers Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Cream, Buffalo Springfield and other famous ‘60s bands, complete with light show and lasers. Starchild Creative will also provide a backdrop of live show entertainment on a big screen. Groovy baby. - Nikki McCoy
  

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Ghost 211. 9 pm.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. Afrodisiacs. 9 pm.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Transcribing The Nega, Violent Hallucinations, Massacre At The Opera, Vaginal Defecation. 9 pm.

LINK: More live music Friday, May 9 in the greater TAcoma and Olympia area

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 5.10.2014 >>>

A large-scale military operation is underway as Iraqi government forces attempt to reclaim the embattled city of Fallujah.

U.S. Special Operations Forces leaders are shifting their strategic posture to the Pacific and regions where Al Qaeda affiliates are seeking safe haven.

The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is not pleased with a budget bill in the House.

U.S. Army's Africa is preparing to send soldiers and special operations forces to Nigeria to train that nation's forces for combat operations.

Camp Leatherneck/Camp Bastion complex has undergone a security renovation that officials with the base's force protection unit compare to a Las Vegas casino.

After ordering audits of clinics, the VA said it was investigating a worker's claim that he had manipulated waiting list data.

The price of storing the A-10 in Type-1000 storage.

Apache helicopters, teamed with Gray Eagle and Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles, are a winning combo.

Finally: A handy pocket guide for soldiers is now available to explain the specifics of their annual Clothing Replacement Allowance.

DoD to launch massive MWR survey Monday.

Seinfeld Computer Game: "The Junior Mint."

Sunday's Simpsons couch gag because it's really dark comedy - like life itself.

Musician John Doe has a film, Pleased to Meet Me, and upcoming record, The Best of John Doe, out May 20. Get tour dates and more at theejohndoe.com.

Watch this guy ride his bike completely parallel to the ground.

Finally: Andre the Giant graphic biography.

How to repair a monument. ...

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LINK: Original photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock

SATURDAY, MAY 10 2014 >>>

1. Since its beginnings in 2006, MLK Ballet's MOVE! has popped up in different types of venues and sometimes had more than one performance per year. For all 21 performances, the goal has remained the same - present contemporary dance in Tacoma. This year's show, which hits Theatre on the Square at 7 p.m., will feature work from Vincent Michael Lopez, a choreographer and former dancer with Spectrum Dance Theater (SDT); Jade Solomon Curtis, a current dancer with SDT; Lilianna Koledin, formerly of Alloy Dance Project; a local student choreographer, Celeste Reed, from SOTA; and many others. Read Kristin Kendle's full feature on MOVE! #21 in the Music & Culture section.

2. Do you yearn for the long-lost days of dapper duds and the fash 'stache? Feather & Oar's inaugural Tacoma Tweed Ride will recall those finer bits of life. A celebration of turn-of-the-century fashions, particularly the tweed suit, this Victorian-esque bike ride starts at 10 a.m. in front of the Point Defiance Park Pagoda and winds through Tacoma's North End neighborhood - along one of the first streetcar routes in town - to the Pacific Pop-Up Shop, 1743 Pacific Ave., in downtown Tacoma. With one hand on a handlebar and the other twisting your mustache or hanging on to your fancy hat, this unhurried jaunt will take you by photos of historic bicycles, buildings and streetcars. Not in it for the exercise? Dust off your fanciest hat, polish your monocle, don knickerbockers and berets and hang at the finish line, before finding a nearby ale.

3. Hilltop Artists is a nonprofit glass arts program created by the iconic Dale Chihuly designed to use "glass art to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic background to better futures." The program boasts more than 500 students a year, and each year its Spring Glass Sale acts as both a great opportunity to make its mission known, and offer chances at top-notch work to one and all. In fact, the Hilltop Artists Spring Glass Sale has become so popular that attendees are asked to start showing up at 9 a.m. to take a number, with entry starting at 10 a.m. in the order that people arrived. All proceeds go directly back to the program. The sale will be held at the Jason Lee Hot Shop and Gymnasium.

4. The biting, satirical, outrageous feminist art group Guerrilla Girls will present a live performance sponsored by Tacoma Art Museum and University of Washington Tacoma. The event is called Guerrilla Girls: Not Ready to Make Nice. What they will do is anybody's guess, but rest assured it will be provocative, entertaining and educational. The show starts at 1 p.m. atPhillips Hall at University of Washington Tacoma. Read Alec Clayton's full story on the Guerrilla Girls here.

5. Prom Queen is cinematic. The soundtracks and scores of movies are valuable, and can be great, but when we use the word "cinematic" to describe a band, what we're really talking about is the idea of a soundtrack - the music accompanying an impossible film, one that features a dizzying array of romantic overtures, bitter double-crosses, scenic panoramas, carefree comedic set pieces, scenes of deep horror, and the tacit acknowledgement of those grainy shadows and pieces of hair that cling to the projected film. Prom Queen is that kind of cinematic. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Prom Queen in the Music & Culture section, then catch the band with the Dee Dee's, the Plastards, Bullets and Balloons at 8 p.m., in Bob's Java Jive.

LINK: Saturday, May 10 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, MAY 11 2014 >>>

1. It all starts with those peepers, of course, sometimes flirty, sometimes intense, but always aware, of the cameras, of the crowds, of the cool. Ol' Blue Eyes, a singin' joe with the world on a ring-a-ding string. Sinatra made his way, like a figure out of a 19th century novel, from the rough Italian neighborhoods of Depression-era Hoboken to the heights of musical popularity in wartime New York, crashed and then recreated himself in 1950s and '60s Hollywood and Las Vegas. It's those Vegas shows Joey Jewell will recreate with Jim Kerl's Swingin' 60's Orchestra at 6:30 p.m. in Jazzbones. Well, maybe not an exact replica of those times. Jazzbones' hat-check girls shouldn't need to be on alert.

2. CycloFemme is a global women's cycling day created to honor the past and the emancipation of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, for the freedom to choose and the chance to wear pants. To celebrate the present, Tacoma's VeloFemmes invites women to join them for a ride around Tacoma, beginning at noon at The Spar in Old Town Tacoma.

3. We promise you, no animals were harmed in Olympia Little Theatre's production of playwright Lauren Gunderson's Exit, Pursued by a Bear. The prey in this story is Kyle Carter, a short-tempered redneck who may or may not have beaten his wife, Nan. On a quest for revenge and emancipation, she recruits the help of a stripper/wannabe actor named Sweetheart (stage name "Peaches," which isn't much better) and Simon, her gay best friend, who arrives in a cheerleader's uniform. Nan's plan is to stage a reenactment of key moments with Kyle, then douse him in honey and open the door wide to Ursus americanus floridanus, a 300-pound Florida black bear. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Exit, Pursued By A Bear in the Music & Culture section, then catch the show at 1:55 p.m.

4. The Five Changes (Wu Xing) are the five material elements of the traditional Chinese Daoist world, and the transformations that turn each into the other through natural processes over time.  At 3 p.m., "The Five Changes" will be performed by the Pacific Lutheran University Percussion and Wind Ensemble in Lagerquist Concert Hall.

5. Jubal Flagg hosts Comics Eating Brownies at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Comedy Club. Five comics will perform, then eat a brownie, and perform again.

LINK: Sunday, May 11 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area