WEDNESDAY, AUG. 6 2014 >>>

1. As we wolfed down fresh wild blueberries, we couldn't recall the last time we ate any fruit quite so flavorful. Eating a blueberry still warm from the sun was like tasting one for the very first time. Its essence goes straight to our heads. And everyone knows blueberries are loaded with antioxidant compounds that travel through the body reducing free radicals that can lead to cancer and other age-related diseases. We were pumped to hear Pacific Lutheran University brought back its berry festivals, specifically the Blueberry Festival today from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The berry festivals are a summertime tradition at PLU; each monthly lunchtime concert focuses on one delicious berry and features summery desserts and free live music and entertainment, which features folk-rock musician and PLU alum Peter Benjamin. Bonus: local farmers and community groups will be onsite promoting community-supported agriculture, sustainable communities and local food. We no longer have to jump a certain fence to gather wild blueberries ... although, the price was right.

2. We gotta spent this paragraph of copy convincing you that spending your Wednesday afternoon combing downtown Tacoma for clues, answering trivia, and completing challenges while snapping photos is as unbelievably rad as we both know you know it is. Downtown On the Go Walk Tacoma Scavenger Hunt asks you to begin the hunt between 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Social Bar and Grill, then use public transportation and your feet to take you to destinations scattered across downtown before meeting back at the Social Bar and Grill for food, drinks and prizes at 6:45 p.m. This is pretty much as close to a purpose that one can hope to find in an uncaring, noncasual universe, and the very notion you'd need encouragement is ridiculous. But, it's free and there is no need to pre-register.

3. With a rotating cast of contributors and performers over the past seven years, the core of Champagne Sunday is the creative brain of Jessi and Jared Fredeen. Jessi's huge, soulful vocals could star on Broadway, on tour with Garbage or in your church choir. Her voice - which draws comparison to Chrissie Hynde and Ani Difranco - ranges from a hushed lullaby to a soaring celebratory wail. Jared, armed with a James Taylor-ish voice, guitar and a passion for raw music, can rock star pose when Jessi wails, then float on a cloud when she takes it into the ethereal edges. Catch them at 6:30 p.m. for a free, outdoor show in Old Town Park.

4. Peter Finn, The Washington Post National Security editor and one-half of the team that wrote The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle over a Forbidden Book, will speak at the Olympia Timberland Library from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. Finn and his co-author, Petra Couvee, bring to light a story that has stayed behind the historical scenes for decades, a cold war drama in which Russian novelist Boris Pasternak's literary masterpiece, Dr. Zhivago, became a pawn of two super-powers.

5. If you want to get a party started, start it off with The Brown Edition. Self-described as "all the soul, funk and jazz your ass can handle," the Brown Edition's music keeps listeners happy because it keeps them glued to the dance floor. The band pushes the funk forward; he also reveres those who came before them. Lead singer Miguel Pineda is fiercely serious about the music that he loves. The entire band is a who's who of Olympia's jazz and funk scene. Bassist Thomas Pell tackles the meatier end of the, uh, funk stick, and it's just sick. Get into the groove at 7 p.m. at Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia.

LINK: Wednesday, Aug. 6 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area