For many, going to a salon is more than about just getting a haircut.

It's an experience. A transformation. A new expression.

For Tacoma's longtime and iconic Embellish Multispace Salon, those statements could not be truer, especially now.

The salon is moving from its location at Court D in downtown Tacoma to its new digs in downtown's Theater District, at 727 Commerce, Suite 200. The grand opening is slated for April 25, and it promises to be one big party. The general public is invited to a special open house that evening from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. to celebrate. Patrons can expect to enjoy food, beverages, prizes and some great promotions throughout the evening. Pacific Northwest fan favorite musical performing artist Kim Archer will make a special appearance.

The move and the celebration mark some exciting new territory for owners Athena Renee, Trish Lecy and Eleanor Carpenter and their team. The management team, who affectionately call themselves the "Trifecta," for the personalities and skills they bring to the salon, are eager to honor each other, their beloved team, clients and many supporters in their craft. The new space just furthers that mission and vision, and it opens up new possibilities and excitement; however, it's not without fond memories of what was before.

"The new space is a bittersweet departure from the iconic ‘purple building,'" said co-owner Renee. "Everything evolves. The new iteration of Embellish. To honor a new partnership and direction, we came together with a shared vision that communicates our personalities and sets us up for future growth.

"The new space provides state-of-the-art LED lighting, which will give us the best possible results," she continues. "Our shopping space is expanding into indie, small batch, cult favorite, organic and more healthful approaches to beauty. Our rich hardwood floors will give a warm glow, making the space welcoming with a cozy waiting area to enjoy tasty local beverages. The new environment sits in a pocket of creative enterprise. Being a destination location on Court D, we have never known the luxury of foot traffic. Having two entrances, on both Pacific Avenue and Commerce Street, will increase the accessibility for clients. We are so excited to have pedestrian traffic."

So after the big celebration, what's next for the business? While there are some great plans in the works, like expanding staff and services (including offering Sunday hours beginning in the summertime, which is unique in the industry), the team will continue its synergy, support of one another and pride in serving the local community.

Renee sums it up best.

"We are the go-to salon for boutique hair and the latest and greatest in beauty gems. When Trish partnered with Eleanor and me, the greatest commodity ended up being our camaraderie. It's the reason we turn the key every day. We love being together and making beautiful hair. We dual consult as a part of our culture, which is not something that happens much in the hair community. We bounce ideas off each other with the client during their consultation. Our clients have the whole team invested in their style results."

To learn more about Embellish Multispace Salon, visit embellishtacoma.com and its Facebook page. For creative talents interested in joining the Embellish team, email resumes to embellishtacoma@gmail.com.

Suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, this is Nerd Alert, the Weekly Volcano's recurring events calendar devoted to all things nerdy. I myself am a Star Wars fan, mathlete, and spelling bee champion of long standing, so trust me: I grok whereof I speak.

It seems this good thing must soon come to an end. Nerd Alert will be taking an indefinite break after Rev. Adam McKinney's version next week, as the Weekly Volcano passes through an editorial life change. Think of it as graduation from college. No more keggers for you, kids; cultivate a taste for chardonnay. Or something. I don't know. I'll contemplate it as I wait in line for Avengers: Age of Ultron tickets. A word to the wise: they're available now. Most theaters will start screening the movie on April 30, the night before official opening. I predict it'll earn over $210 million. In other words, it'll boast the most lucrative opening weekend of all time, a record it'll hold for exactly seven and a half months. Enjoy that Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, amigos.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

No matter who's performing the melancholy Dane or where, one goes into any production of Hamlet with the luxury of confidence. That's because it's the greatest single play ever written in the English language, perhaps in any language. Director Sikander Sohail promises his take on the rottenness in Elsinore Castle will be "apocalyptic, revolutionary, and dangerous." Put us down for "to be."

HAMLET, 7:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat., University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma, $6-$8, 253.879.3100

Actually, this is a big month for theater all over the South Sound. Continuing from last week are two manic comedies: The 39 Steps at Lakewood Playhouse and The Fox on the Fairway at Tacoma Little Theatre. The former runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2 through May 10, the latter Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2 through May 3. Next month brings equally diverse offerings, including The Language Archive from Pulp Productions at Evergreen State College (opening May 1), Pinocchio at Olympia Family Theater (May 15), Cabaret at Tacoma Little Theatre (May 22), and a find-your-fate musical adaptation of Drood at Lakewood Playhouse (May 29).

SATURDAY, APRIL 25

Dozens of artists from Olympia and Tacoma will converge on King's Books for its 11th annual Wayzgoose festival. Bring any fabric item to be screen-printed by UPS students. Steamroller printing will also return, as will CLAW, the Cartoonists' League of Absurd Washingtonians. By popular demand, the event stretches an extra day this year, so watch for Godrun Aurand of Washington State Book Restoration and Jeremy Gregory of Candy Teeth Creative on Sunday.

WAYZGOOSE! LETTERPRESS AND BOOK ARTS EXTRAVAGANZA, 11 - 4 Sat. and Sun., King's Books, 218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, free, 253.705.0760

Finally, let's look ahead to geeky summer entertainment. TV premiere dates include May 28 for Louis C.K. Live From the Comedy Store on FX, June 4 for Hannibal on NBC, June 12 for Defiance on Syfy and Orange Is the New Black on Netflix, June 21 for True Detective on HBO, June 28 for Falling Skies on TNT, and July 17 for Wet Hot American Summer on Netflix. The Strain will return for season 2 on FX, though no exact date has been confirmed.

On the big screen, set your calendars for Muppet documentary I Am Big Bird: the Carroll Spinney Story on May 6, the his-and-hers double whammy of Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2 on May 15, the Poltergeist reboot and (much more promising) Tomorrowland on May 22, temblor San Andreas on May 29, Jurassic World and SNL documentary Live From New York! on June 12, Terminator Genisys on July 1, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation on July 31, Josh Trank's darker take on Fantastic Four on August 7, and Netflix's first cinematic feature, the Yuen Wo-Ping wuxia sequel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend, opening August 28.

Assembling this column has been a blast, folks. I mean that. May the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and may there be no fate but what you make for yourselves. Live long and prosper.

I'm not going to lie: I was underwhelmed when I first glanced at a press release from L'Arche Farm & Gardens. That wasn't L'Arche's fault. It's because I know next to nothing about farming and/or gardening. What little time I've spent near either farms or gardens was in my teenage years, and I sure don't remember enjoying it then. I mean, chickens are the worst. Have you spent any time around chickens, other than the deep-fried kind served in a bucket? They're the reason I'm still proud to be a carnivore. And turkeys? Ugh, turkeys. They're so dumb they drown themselves sometimes by looking up at rain. And don't think I made that stuff up. It's a fact, by which I mean an urban (rural?) legend that's been tidily disproved on Snopes. And they're mean, too! - like the killjoys at Snopes.

Anyway, back to the good folks at L'Arche. My distaste for agriculture notwithstanding, it turns out there's something newsworthy about this operation. It offers dignity and societally meaningful labor to nine Tacomans with developmental disabilities. The six-acre farm hawks its wares at three farmers markets and contributes to Eating Locally in Pierce County. Its employees and volunteers attend local craft fairs and plant sales. In fact, L'Arche Farm has been making floral and paper crafts, such as holiday wreaths and paper crafts, for three decades. Their 2015 season gets underway soon, with an annual Spring Fling opening celebration on April 25. Look for can't-miss deals on herb and vegetable starts, hanging baskets, and plants both annual and perennial. Following that event, L'Arche Farm greenhouses will open each weekend through June, in addition to their regular 8-4 weekday hours.

It's also worth noting that the farm's much-appreciated volunteer staff includes people from a wide variety of backgrounds, aged from fourth grade to fourth decade and up. These South Sounders come together to make great food and art in the service of self-worth for all, hence their motto "Growing People Growing Plants." Look for L'Arche Farm's organic produce at 6th Avenue Farmers Market, Broadway Farmers Market between 9th and 11th, and Proctor Farmers Market at N. 27th. For more information, especially on how to donate, volunteer or serve on L'Arche's Farm Advisory Board, visit www.LArcheTHC.org and look for the Get Involved! Online form. You can also email Farm@LArcheTahomaHope.org directly. Just be careful to stay away from any turkeys.

SPRING FLING, 10-4 Saturday, April 25, L'Arche Farm & Gardens, 11716 Vickery Ave. E., Tacoma, free admission, 253.535.3178

Swarner Communications - publisher of the Ranger and Northwest Airlifters newspapers serving Joint Base Lewis-McChord and regional active, reserve and retired military - has always been a big part of McChold Field hosted Air Mobility Rodeos - the biennial, international airlift competition hosted by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. We published the daily newspapers serving the Rodeo, sponsored Rodeo events and, of course, covered the event. Unfortunately, this year's Rodeo scheduled at McChord Field has been canceled.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Air Mobility Command announced today that the 2015 Rodeo readiness competition, which was scheduled to take place at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in August, has been canceled.

General Darren McDew, AMC commander, decided to cancel the competition largely because of the high current operations tempo for mobility Airmen and budget constraints.

"During these challenging times, we need to be good stewards of our very limited funds and our Airmen's time," McDew said. "It's unfortunate, but given the circumstances, this is the right decision. We're looking forward to the possibilities of tailoring future Rodeo events, to ensure we're getting the most training and international partnership building value from this event."

It is not the first time Rodeo has been canceled for budgetary or operational tempo reasons. In both 1988 and 2013, Rodeo was cancelled due to budgetary shortfalls, and 2003 was canceled because of worldwide commitments for the Global War on Terror and humanitarian efforts. The last Rodeo event was held at JBLM in July 2011.

"An event of this magnitude could not be successfully completed without the strong relationships built together with our community partners and businesses that support Joint Base Lewis-McChord," said Col. David Kumashiro, 62nd Airlift Wing commander. "We value and appreciate our continued partnerships and very much look forward to the day when we can bring this event back to JBLM and our surrounding communities."

Rodeo competitions are held to train and improve the abilities of U.S. and international partners' air mobility operations skills while building international relationships.

The new Avengers movie doesn't need my help. Believe it or not, this is one movie that will be just fine, even without the highly sought-after Nerd Alert bump. It's going to Hulk smash box office records, and there's nothing you or I can do to prevent the interminable onslaught of comic book movies. I, for one, welcome our new Marvel overlords.

Instead, why not direct you, my dear reader, to The Grand Cinema's Documentary Week? I can't say for sure, but I'm willing to bet that the series of films programmed for the week will not feature many people with super suits, magical hammers or radiation-induced rage-monsterism. Instead, starting Friday, the week will be filled with fairly heady material, including a doc about the exposure of the FBI's overreaching spy programs by a group of activists (1971), a searing exploration of the prevalent rape culture on college campuses (The Hunting Ground), and a doc about the people who get hired to be pundits on scientific topics they know nothing about (Merchants of Doubt), among others.

Of particular interest is the documentary that covers the session musicians who worked in the shadows to shape the state of music in the '60s (The Wrecking Crew), contributing to albums by everyone from the Beach Boys to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. It's a recognition that finally gives credit to these amazing musicians whose accomplishments would otherwise go uncelebrated.

Saturday, May 2: Free Comic Book Day

Instead of supporting robot James Spader, why not get out and experience some real comic book culture? Free Comic Book Day comes but once a year, and Destiny City Comics will be giving away free comics Saturday. Among the embarrassment of riches being offered this FCBD will be new issues featuring properties like Batman, Superman, Fight Club, Bob's Burgers, Pokemon, Doctor Who, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Street Fighter,and, most excitingly, The Tick.

In an age when comic books are being increasingly popularized through their adaptations into cinematic juggernauts, it can be edifying to be reacquainted with their ink-and-paper origins. There seems to be no end in sight for this blight of superhero movies - and, honestly, the less said about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the better - but there is still art inherent in the medium, and Free Comic Book Day is a great way to jump back in the fray, for those who have strayed, and to continue your obsession if you've remained a fan.

Sunday, May 3: David Sedaris

Completely exhausted with everything related to comic books? I don't blame you. If this is the case, may I suggest checking out a performance from David Sedaris, the wonderful essayist, humorist, and NPR contributor - not to mention premiere Billie Holiday impressionist - who epitomized the conversational, autobiographical tone that so many other writers would attempt to imitate. Sedaris is a fount of hysterical true stories and fanciful bits of fiction, and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down, with the release of his latest: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls.