FRIDAY, DEC. 23, 2011 >>>

1. You have traversed every last garland-lined escalator, scurried around every strategically placed bit of mistletoe and made out with the marketing guy at the office holiday party. You and your ugly holiday sweater need some you time. Head over to TWOKOI or Pacific Grill, pound a couple peppermint drinks then hit the ice at the Franciscan Polar Plaza. Don't worry about the sweater. It's Ugly Sweater Night at the downtown Tacoma ice rink. You'll be in good company. And you will score a dollar off admission price with gem of a sweater. The rink will be open 4-10 p.m.

2. The Waterstreet Café in downtown Olympia will warm up the winter solstice with the Caribbean sounds of Pony Boy Recording artists Ocho Pies. Join Connie Bunyer vocals, Steve Luceno guitar, Paul Hjelm guitar and Michael Olson percussion as they blend the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Mexico with Waterstreet's awesome food from 7-10 p.m.

3. Maia Santell and House Blend will deck the hell out of Jazzbones' halls beginning at 7:30 p.m. The band's holiday jazz and blues show is a tradition at Jazzbones.

4. Sure, children's Christmas pageants are cute, but sometimes more grownup entertainment is necessary to get into the holiday spirit. Fortunately, the Gritty City Sirens burlesque troupe will be jingling bells and making spirits bright at their one-year anniversary vaudeville shows at 8 and 10 p.m. inside the Grit City Comedy Club. The Tacoma hotties will be dancing and stripping down to their skivvies, even though it's cold outside.

5. O'Malley's Irish Pub on Sixth Avenue hosts a hip-hop show featuring City Hall, Don't Talk To The Cops, Bruce Leroy, Noony and OC Notes beginning at 9 p.m. A can of food for the food bank eliminates the $3 cover.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: This week's freebies

LINK: Santa Says Blog

THURSDAY, DEC. 22, 2011 >>>

1. Weekly Volcano theater critic Christian Carvajal announced his annual Cervy Awards. Capital Playhouse's Scrooge: the Musical blanket Carvajal's nominees for best of 2011. In fact, the show won in two categories. Scrooge: the Musical, like all incarnations of A Christmas Carol, is a transformation story. Rarely has that been so clearly represented as in this year's impeccable production at Capital Playhouse. It hits the Olympia stage at 7:30 p.m. Read Carvajal's review of the show here.

2. Call the mayor and draw up a proclamation: it's Power Pop Night in Tacoma. The SEACATS will leave the comforts of Kelso and fill the all-ages Red Room with Weezer-esque pop rock beginning at 7 p.m. Joining the CATS will be Books and Covers, a mammoth a wooly mammoth, Specters and Talkton and Easy.

3. The Tacoma Comedy Club has a three-for-the-price-of-one awesomeness scheduled for tonight. Catch topnotch comedians Adam Norwest, Susan Jones and Andrew Rivers as part of a show that kicks off at 8 p.m.

4. Actor/director/pianist Josh Anderson, the man behind Saul Tannenbaum's oversized glasses and bad wig, is no stranger to the region's stages. But for Tannenbaum, who made his first Olympia appearance two Christmases ago, playing the Black Box at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts at 8 p.m., is a big step. Performing with Tannenbaum will be the sultry Mona von Horne (Christina Collins); Belles Kitty Beaujolais (Lauren O'Neill), Donna Beldonado (Katie Youngers) and Lola de Sazerac (Kristin Carlson); and special guests Milt and Mindy McNaughton (Mark Alford and Sam Cori).

5. Weekly Volcano music critic Rev. Adam McKinney says there's vocal similarities between Bodybox frontman Kurt Lindsay and late cult singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley.  The Rev. says, "Lindsay's voice, like Buckley's (though, of course, no one can truly touch Jeff Buckley, vocally), is simultaneously full of bravado and wounded timidity. It quivers with feeling, though it might be noted that Lindsay's voice often comes across as more lost, searching, which adds a nice element to what is largely music that errs toward modern rock, with some detours to friendly mixers like R&B and folk." Check it out at 9 p.m. when Bodybox, Life Afterlife, the Estafets and Levendy feat. Vanna D perform at Hell's Kitchen.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: This week's freebies

LINK: Santa Says Blog

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21, 2011 >>>

1. Olympia saxophonist icon Steve Munger lost his battle with cancer Sunday morning, Dec 11. The jazz community will host a fundraising concert for Munger's family, as well pay homage to the man whose name was in every sentence that described Olympia jazz. Scheduled to perform at 7 p.m. inside the Royal Lounge will be The Bob Nixon Tribute Band, Sour Owl, The Steve Munger Septet, Hurts Like Hell and many others. There will be a silent auction and a potluck dinner.

2. Spanaway has some similarities with Texas. For one, Spanaway likes to go big - in the drive-thru line, and when it comes to holiday light displays. In its wattage-chowing 17th year, Fantasy Lights offers oohers and ahhers a night of blinking and glowing bliss from 5:30-9 p.m. The two and a quarter mile long parade of lit-up scenery has its own peculiar sense of majesty, and it goes without saying that it's the perfect treat for a family to soak up the holiday spirit.

3. Are visions of sugar plums dancing in your head keeping you awake all night?  Then we suggest you exorcise those dancing demons by facing them head on: Go see Washington Contemporary Ballet's The Nutcracker at 7:30 p.m. Mt. Tahoma High School will be awash with creepy Drosselmeyers giving little Claras vividly painted nutcrackers that spring to life and kill kids dressed up like mice. Amazing, huh?

4. Like a little Jewish slant to your "world" music? The Klezmatics hit the Washington Center stage at 7:30 p.m. with their special mix of Arab, African, Cuban, Latin and Balkan rhythms and a little bit of jazz and punk for the folks in the back of the room. Pete Seeger said of the group, "The Klezmatics are wonderful. (The song) ‘Gonna get Through This World' is a piece of genius."

5. Jazzbones's Wednesday Sessions series continues with Phasers On Kill, True Holland and Cadillac Radio kicking it beginning at 8:30 p.m. without a cover charge in sight.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: This week's freebies

LINK: Santa Says Blog

TUESDAY, DEC. 20, 2011 >>>

1. Some nimrod in Witchita Falls, Texas claimed Zilpha Keatley Snyder's book The Egypt Game depicts Egyptian worship ceremonies that will turn children into cult worshippers, practitioners of the art of mummifying people and possibly make them walk like Egyptian for the rest of their lives. Tacoma's Banned Book Club will discuss the book, and maybe the band The Bangles, at 7 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge. Bonus" Jessica Spring and her Christmas ornament making machines will be in the house.

2. There's something wonderfully odd and mysterious about the mind of the miniaturist; it takes a certain kind of person to spend so much time around small things. Whether it's a simple dollhouse or a magnificent painting, creating a good miniature is a matter of scale, a fastidious craft that requires patience, an artist's eye - and lots and lots of time. Obviously, the Weekly Volcano doesn't have the patience or skill to go small, but the artists showing at Gallery Row in Gig Harbor do. A variety of original miniature paintings in watercolor, oil, acrylic and sumi ink are on display. The gallery along Harborview Drive is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. The horn-driven 7 on 7 band will pump up the swing dancers at 7:30 p.m. inside the Eagles Ballroom in Olympia. If you need a refresher, Christine Corey will be teaching swing at 7 p.m.

4. Lakewood Playhouse's production of Oliver! is a big show. It doesn't require epic production values or huge dance numbers - just bigness. Big cast, big sound. It hits the stage at 7 p.m. with $15 rush tickets. Weekly Volcano theater critic Joe Izenman has the scoop on the show here.

5. Along with music, dancing and folklore, this year's edition of The Christmas Revels features a glimpse of Santa's dark side. The Revels - an interactive holiday performance with music at its heart - is set this year in 19th-century Bavaria, where holiday traditions range from the familiar to the surprising. It seems the Bavarian Santa, Sankt Nikolaus, has an alter ego, Knecht Rupprecht, and he's a bit different. The Christmas Revels consume the Rialto Theater at 7:30 p.m. To read Molly Gilmore's full feature on the show, click here.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: This week's freebies

LINK: Santa Says Blog

MONDAY, DEC. 19, 2011 >>>

1. Oh yes, it is winter. Instead of allowing your hostility toward cold and snow and Mother Nature build and build (a destructive practice that may surely only result in tragedy, namely the increased proliferation of strip malls and other nature-defying-structures across our fair South Sound), make your peace. Experience the beauty of nature during the colder months. Join a park ranger to learn the art of snowshoeing and discover how plants, animals, and people adapt to the challenging winter conditions at Mount Rainier. Snowshoe walks daily at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.

2. Only six more shopping days left ... so begins the jolliest (and undeniably the most stressful) time of the year. Especially these days, with the economy wallowing in the shitter. Santa has local gift ideas for your mom/aunt/significant other/sibling/bus driver/favorite local vagrant/bossman/whomever over on his Santa Says Blog.

3. Tired of boring old posters on your living space walls? The folks at State of the Arts Gallery in Olympia, which specializes in selling art created by Northwest and regional artists, has some interesting alternatives as part of its 20^th Annual Deck The Walls & More show, which is open today from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - normally close don Mondays.

4. You're sick and tired of driving through the neighborhood looking at the homes of people who think they deserve an award for their light displays. You deserve to take a night to go see ZooLights at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Billed as the region's biggest walk-through light show, ZooLights includes animated light sculptures, live entertainment, snacks, animal encounters and the Paul Titus Carousel. While enjoying your stroll, be thankful you're not in charge of this holiday light display. The lights flip on at 5 p.m.

5. From 6-8 p.m. host Jeff Ross tosses out random trivia questions about movies, sports, news and geography to teams of players at the Mandolin Café - while students study in the corner, ladies knit and that one guy dozes next to the fire. The winning team of each round - six total - receives a bowl of candy. The overall winning team scores a free drink, which means beer and wine.

PLUS: Sing-along "Messiah" in Olympia

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: live music and DJs tonight

SUNDAY, DEC. 18, 2011 >>>

1. You're either old or you play Pokémon. Deal with it. Or drive the point home today at The Game Matrix on South Tacoma Way when Lakewood's installment of the 2011 Pokémon City Championships goes down - starting at 11 a.m. According to promotional hype, this officially sanctioned event is free to play and intended for Pokémon players of all ages and skill levels (Note: Anyone born after 1996 *gulp* qualifies for the "Masters Division). "Players will compete in exciting one-on-one battles as they vie for the prestigious title of Pokémon City Champions," according to the release. "Players at this weekend's Play! Pokémon City Championships will also be playing for Championship Points, which are awarded to top finishers at al Pokémon Championship Series events. Championship Points are a new addition t the Play! Pokémon season, giving Pokémon TCG players more chances to reach their ultimate goal - earning an invitation to the Pokémon World Championship in Hawaii next August." Did you even realize there was a Pokémon World Championship, Oldie McOlderson? Of course not. Now you do.

2. What's better than celebrating the birthday of a good friend? What about celebrating the birthday of a good friend that consistently provides you with drinks and a place to play shuffleboard? OK, OK ... what if we throw in some aerialists from Tallhouse Arts Consortium, free pizza and "lots of love," according to an esteemed member of the BroHo's staff (who may or may not be Nikki Talotta)? If you astutely observed that absolutely nothing is better than the aforementioned scenario you're a lot smarter than your parents give you credit for. Help The Brotherhood celebrate its anniversary in style tonight.

3. You have the tree picked out, every box of yard decorations categorized, and the yuletide music at full blast. Now all you need are some choice movies to fully embrace the reason for the season. At this time of year, more than any other (with Halloween as a possible exception), we use films as a way of connecting to that elusive holiday spirit. And The Grand Cinema in Tacoma continues this tradition this week with multiples screenings of the 1947 holiday classic, Miracle on 34^th Street, including today at 2:05 p.m. If this film doesn't get you in the holiday spirit we don't know what will.

4. Jazz guitarist Michael Powers headines the Christmas Jazz show tonight at Marine View Presbyterian Church in Tacoma. The show is all ages and starts at 5 p.m.

5. Join the Sunday Blues Jam Night at Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill in Spanaway tonight, hosted by Shelly Ely. The good times run from 7 - 10 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

SATURDAY, DEC. 17, 2011 >>>

1. Tacoma Performing Dance Company invites you to its annual take on "The Nutcracker Ballet" today and tomorrow at Stadium High School's Performing Arts Center. Catch the show at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today, and 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets will be available at the door and run $18-$22.

2. Networking is important. These days, you can't really get anywhere without rubbing a few elbows and kissing a few babies. The powers behind the Northwest Convergence Zone podcast and NWCZ Radio know this - and in an attempt to lift our entire scene up created the annual Tacoma Musicians and Friends Networking Party. Tonight at Stonegate Pizza is your chance to meet the folks who make our local music landscape tick, and maybe even drink some rum or chow down on a burger or pizza. It's all part of your climb to the top. Musical entertainment will be provided by a bevy of awesome local talent.

3. According to Wikipedia, "There is debate over the origin of the auto-harp. A German immigrant in Philadelphia by the name of Charles F. Zimmermann was awarded US 257808 in 1882 for a design for a musical instrument that included mechanisms for muting certain strings during play. He named his invention the ‘autoharp.' .... Karl August Gütter of Markneukirchen, Germany, built a model that he called a "Volkszither," which most resembles the autoharp played today. Gütter obtained a British patent for his instrument circa 1883-1884. Zimmermann, after returning from a visit to Germany, began production of the Gütter design in 1885 but with his own design patent number and catchy name. Gütter's instrument design became very popular, and Zimmermann has often been mistaken as the inventor." Now, will you need to know any of this to appreciate autoharp master Bryan Bowers today at the Tacoma Public Library, when he busts out a free holiday concert sure to delight the masses (or handfuls)? Of course not. But it won't hurt. And it just might make Bowers' mastery of the autoharp all the more impressive, as the singer songwriter is often credited as having redefined the instrument.

4. Jazz is the only purely American music and the one genre that has embraced elements of all musical forms. This is why it is always exciting to find young artists who push the boundaries to create their own unique style, and Kareem Kandi is one musician who does just that. The Tacoma-based sax player performs a style of jazz that incorporates blues, funk and rock. Kandi, who lists his influences from such renowned jazz greats as Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, plays in a free-style manner that sounds improvised. Even though Kandi is the leader, the rest of the band is encouraged to take solos, and each band member is an intricate part of the overall outcome of each and ever tune they play. The Kareem Kandi Band performs classic standards, but it's their original material that has won them accolades from jazz enthusiasts throughout the Northwest (including multiple "Best of Tacoma" awards over the years from the Volcano and Volcano readers). Tonight catch the Kareem Kandi band at Uncle Thurm’s Finger Lickin’ Chicken and Ribs in Tacoma at 8 p.m.

5. Hypnotist Ron Stubbs will do his thing at the Little Creek Casino in Shelton. Is it good idea to visit a hypnotist in a casino? Best not to ponder such questions ...

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

THURSDAY, DEC. 15, 2011 >>>

1. There's a delightful dustiness that seems to adorn Eliot Lipp's electronic music; he embraces an old-school approach to arranging beats and synths and samples to create the kind of mélange that would find itself perfectly comfortable in a DJ's box of go-to vinyl. Whether tackling ambient soundscapes or club-bumping jams, Lipp manages to leave his own identifiable imprint on whatever he creates. Tonight Lipp plays the New Frontier Lounge.

2. Get a closer look at, and deeper understanding of, the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine by hitting the Capitol Theater in Olympia tonight for a screening of Swedish filmmaker Terje Carlsson's Israel vs. Israel, a documentary "about the current status of the Israeli peace movement includes both sensitive family discussion as well as secret testimony from former combat soldiers," according to promotions. Tonight's event will be a one-time screening, featuring a panel discussion led members of the Rachel Corrie Foundation and Carlsson via Skype.

3. Last year Weekly Volcano Publisher Pappi Swarner pounded some syrup, transformed into Buddy the Elf, and infamously acted as the tour guide for the Dec. 2010 installment of the Tacoma Third Thursday Art Walk Art Bus. Hilarity and art bus history ensued. Well guess what? Buddy is back, bitches! Tonight! Also returning will be musicians Doug Mackey and Evan Purcell who will perform Christmas music on the bus. Find more information about how to get involved in the art bus by going to creator Angela Jossy's website.

4. If there's nothing else that can be said about Tacoma's School of the Arts, it's a darn fine factory for churning out young and talented songwriters. To see each wave of SOTA musicians emerge from the school is an inspiring and fascinating thing to watch. To celebrate the end of the semester, tonight at The Space the students in SOTA's songwriting program will host a performance to showcase the wide array of voices and styles born out of the class. The action starts at 7:30 p.m. with a suggested $5 donation.

5. Peter Serko's photography exhibition at the Museum of Glass artistically documents the brief history of the museum since 2006. It also shows different aspects of the building, and of the adjacent Chihuly Bridge of Glass, taken during different times of day throughout the seasons. Serko, who will be on hand tonight to talk about the exhibit during Third Thursday Art Walk, says he hopes his show will prove to be an acknowledgement that art really has changed the city, and that the people, such as former Tacoma mayor Karen Vialle and longtime local artist Dayton (Karen) Knipher, who stuck their necks out for MOG and the arts in Tacoma were right. Serko says he hopes the exhibit will show that "this has been a wonderful thing for Tacoma. The Museum District has changed Tacoma for the good and in time I am certain it will be a thriving area for artists of all levels."

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14, 2011 >>>

1. Get your holiday spirit on big band style tonight at Tacoma Musical Playhouse when the Swing Reunion Band busts out "A Big Band Christmas." The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets run $20.

2. Holy crap! Hump Day already? That must mean it's time again for Masa College Night. Expect flesh.

3. There was a time when the Big Friction Jam at Jazzbones was THE place to be for Sunday night maxin', relaxin' and jammin'. Powered by the groove-heavy leanings of saxophonist Brett "Big Friction" Cummings, the Big Friction house band took the stage, laid down the funk and groove, and magic ensued, with a cast of talented locals streaming through to take the stage and get down. Tonight, under the increasingly-cool "Wednesday Sessions" header, Jazzbones will welcome back the Big Friction Jam for an evening that's sure to blow your usual Hump Day plans out of the proverbial water. If you're down to jam on it (or enjoy when others jam on it) this one's for you.

4. John Phillips & Gary Crooks perform at Pastiche Wine Bar on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue tonight at 6 p.m.

5. Play bingo with those not just killing time before the Grim Reaper calls their number. Every Wednesday at The New Frontier Lounge, players are treated to a rather boisterous evening of number-calling. The music rocks, the prizes are craptastic and there's something very satisfying about yelling "It's not a tumor!" when B-9 is pulled from the hopper (Schwarzenegger anyone?). Sessions are free with $2 margaritas and $4 Cuervo Gold shots during bingo. Every Wednesday night is also Taco Night with $1 beef, $1 black bean and $2 chicken in soft or crunchy shells.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

TUESDAY, DEC. 13, 2011 >>>

1. This year's Classical Tuesdays Wine & Song Benefit in Old Town Tacoma will feature "American Arias and songs from operas, musicals and movies," according to the press release. It will also - more importantly - feature soprano Christina Kowalski and tenor Gino Lucchetti accompanied by pianist Denes Van Parys - doling out tunes by Gian Carlo Menotti, Bernard Herman, Samuel Barber, Oscar Hammerstein and others. This annual event benefits the free Classical Tuesdays in Old Town chamber music series. Starts at 7 p.m. at Connelly Law Offices in Old Town.

2. It's not every day that you get a chance to cook with Linda Evans. Are we right, or are we right? But by the grace of God himself, today just happens to be one of those days when you DO have the chance to cook with Linda Evans - today from 6 - 8:30 p.m. at the Bayview School of Cooking. Pimping her book, Recipes for Life: My Memories (and signing it from 5-6 p.m.), Evans promises "food and conversation," as well as her "Famed Artichoke Dip, Ham Dani, Warm Butternut Squash Salad and Buche de Noel." Pre registration is required, and seating is limited. The cost is $75 per person, or $95 with a copy of Evans' book. Call 360.754.1448.

3. The Royal Lounge in Olympia offers a Comedy Lounge night every Tuesday, featuring an open-mic from 9-9:30 p.m. and headlining comics from 9:30 - 11 p.m.

4. Tribes, Sloths and Trey The Ruler will play an all-ages show tonight at the Red Room in Tacoma. It starts at 7 p.m. and will cost you $5 to get into.

5. Get your groove on tonight in Parkland. DJ Adam Ant spins during "Twisted Tuesday" at Lady Luck Cowgirl Up, offering Top 40 action and karaoke. The good times start at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight