Tacoma's Art on the Ave really underscored how, at our cores, we really just are animals on the hunt for our next place of gratification for all our cravings, hungers (Grub Crawl, corn dogs), hobbies (art projects, pole dancing), thrills (carnival rides, palm readings), and addictions (yes, drinking in the sun can be considered an addiction when half the year is spent in pissy weather). And like most simple creatures, no matter what degree of civilized they may be, when we hear great music, we can lose our cool, which we lost many times including Amadon, Rust on the Rails and Nolan Garrett, to name a few.

Yesterday one of the busiest streets in Tacoma was Sixth Avenue - a nine-block span between North Junett and Sprague - where from noon to about 7 p.m. the free, family-friendly event offered food vendors, artists, roller derby girls, one drone, bands and herds of people stopping every five yards to chat with someone they know.

Though body paint and roving packs of teenagers often lead to a damn good time, the Weekly Volcano has a strict "no sticky kids" policy - so we stayed clear of the "Cirque du Tacoma" carnival area at Jason Lee Middle School. Not surprisingly, our day was spent soaking up the 89-degree weather in and out of vendor booths and beer gardens - listing to the bands on the neighboring stages and catching up with friends.

The 16th annual Art on the Ave housed five stages and more than 120 arts and crafts vendors. Here is a tiny portion of what we enjoyed. ...

LINK: 253 Weekend festival action for Saturday July 12