THURSDAY, SEPT. 11 2014 >>>

1. The summer is winding down and clothing retailers are rolling out fall's thick knits and denims, so why on earth are people across the city hitting stores in a mad scramble to find crisp, white duds? It's because Le Diner en Blanc Tacoma outdoor dinner party is from 6-8 p.m. at Wright Park. And if you go and want to help create Instagram pictures as pretty as a postcard, you need to show up in style - all-white style, that is. Yes, looking wicked in white is going to take a little effort, people. But it'll be worth it for what's becoming, along with perhaps the Pride Festival, the fashion spectacle of the summer. Plus, it's a fundraiser for First Night Tacoma. Guests are encouraged to bring a picnic. Tables, tablecloths and chairs will be provided.

The kids are back in school, so it's time for you to take care of yourself. Pour at Four wine bar hosts a wine tasting of "Back-to-School" wines, meaning six delicious wines that will help you relax and you will surely enjoy from 5:30-8 p.m. The Copper Door beer store and taproom hosts a launch party for San Diego's Green Flash Brewing's season triple IPA Green Bullet from 7-11 p.m. New Zealand grown Pacific Gem and Green Bullet hops were used to create this bold IPA with notes of spicy pine, mango and pineapple. Also on tap will be Flash's Saison Diego, East Village Pilsner and Road Warrior Imperial Rye IPA.

3. Filmmaker Isaac Olsen and band Girl Trouble collaborated on a gallery exhibition to accompany the Olsen's film about Girl Trouble, Strictly Sacred. Fulcrum Gallery hosts the exhibit, with an opening-night gala from 6 to 10. It highlights T-shirt art by guitarist "Kahuna" Henderson, paintings by drummer Bon Von Wheelie, a dress worn by octogenarian dancer and Girl Trouble superfan Granny Go-Go, and a massive store of art and arcana from a band that's still happily banging away. Read Christian Carvajal's full story on the show and film run at The Grand Cinema here.

3. Will Eno, a playwright (and Pulitzer finalist) born in 1965, was cocky enough to write his own, 21st-century take on Our Town. The resulting script, Middletown, is less than four years old, so it truly is about the meaning of life in our time. Its ad copy emphasizes the arc of life from birth to death, and that's a fair summation of the play. An anti-Seinfeld, it's a show about everything. It's loaded with jokes, but none are delivered as jokes. We laugh a few seconds later, having solved a mental puzzle. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Middletown in the Music & Culture section., then catch it at 8 p.m. at Harlequin Productions.

As a band name, Golden Hour sounds like it would give you a pretty clear idea of what to expect - when using the term for photography, golden hour (or magic hour or lavender hour) denotes the period just before sunset when everything is slightly aglow with a reddish hue, lending a softness and clarity to image, so you might naturally picture a twee gentleness to any band that would adopt the name. While there's a certain delicate air to Portland's Golden Hour, there's a lurking feistiness that lends a twitchy energy to their music. Jangly guitars and cooing vocals will suddenly give way to jubilant yelps. Catch the band with Oh, Rose, Camp Wisdom and Sister Palace at 8 p.m. in Northern.

LINK: Thursday, Sept. 11 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area