WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22, 2012 >>>

1. In 2011 students involved with Pacific Lutheran University's MediaLab - described online as a multimedia agency and applied internship and research program based in the School of Arts + Communication" - debuted the film Overexposed: The Cost of Compassion to rave reviews in Seattle. According to hype, the film "explores the complexities of ‘compassion fatigue,' a condition that affects many care givers and those repeatedly exposed to tragedy and trauma." Today filmmakers will host a free screening of the film for South Sound audiences, including a panel discussion of expects in nursing, family therapy and social work. The screening is part of an ongoing "Focus Series" presented by the PLU School of Arts and Communication.

2. It may be Wednesday, but that hasn't stopped Le Voyeur in Olympia from booking one hell of a show. Romanteek, Sabrina Chap and Andro Arrows will take to Le Voyeur's tiny stage tonight, starting at 10 p.m.

3. Holy crap! Hump Day already? That must mean it's time again for Masa College Night. Expect flesh. Your Girlfriend's Favorite DJ spins. No seriously - we're pretty sure that's the dude's name.

4. At Charlie's Sports Bar and Grill in Olympia join the band Blues Attitude for a no cover charge blues jam. The music starts at 9 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?). 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 and DJs tonight

TUESDAY, FEB. 21, 2012 >>>

1. Every Tuesday, Jazzbones gets into the comedy fray, and this week the club's contribution is big time. Comedian Bret Ernst may spell his name with one "T", but don't give up on him just yet. Ernst has been all over Comedy Central, made a name for himself on Weeds and kicked it hardcore with Vince Vaughn in the documentary Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland (don't give up on Ernst for that either). Bottom line: Dude's pretty funny. And did we mention he was in the movie Beer League? Get your laugh on Tuesday at Jazzbones for what's billed as "Fat Tuesday Special Engagement."

2. Hey! Guess what? The Rafael Tranquilino Band plays Stonegate Pizza every Tuesday night! Get in on the rockin' action tonight.

3. 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. Or, if you're looking for something more, peruse the Volcano's extensive live local music listings here.

4. Get your swing dance on tonight at the Eagles Club in Olympia. Every Tuesday night OlySwing holds a rollicking swing dance, and you're invited. Even better - there's a quick beginning swing class prior to the dance hosted by Christine Corey. The beginners class kicks off at 7 p.m., and the dance runs from 7:30 - 10:30 p.m. Admission is $5.

5. 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.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

MONDAY, FEB. 20, 2012 >>>

1. Whether you're looking for the perfect opportunity to whet your ukulele whistle, or you're already a seasoned ukulele vet, tonight's uke jam and singalong at Traditions Café in Olympia - hosted by the venerable Steve Einhorn and Kate Power - should be exactly what the doctor ordered.

2. The real entertainment at Jazzbones on Monday night isn't the Rockaraoke, it's the people-watching. Since most of the patrons are just a touch this side of 21, a look around the club is akin watching a "how to hookup" instructional video. Every technique is employed. There's the "touch the babe's lower back and whisper into her ear" maneuver. The "gaze into the stud's eyes and laugh incessantly" angle - a favorite of young ladies. And of course, the always popular "buy them $3 shots of Jager until inhibitions are sufficiently lowered" trick. Band nothing, the hookup attempts are the real show. By 11 p.m., there's a long line to get into Jazzbones. A line on a Monday.

3. Did you know the Mandolin Café jumped into the trivia game? It's true. Tonight Jeff Ross will host the Mandolin's trivia night, starting at 6 p.m. The action is all ages.

4. The Angels Club on Capitol Way in Olympia hosts a new open mic tonight starting at 9 p.m. According to promotion, "Please bring your instruments and band." Now you know. Best of all: there's no cover charge.

5. Of course, we're predictable ... but you start talking about an event simply billed as "Drunken Poetry" and you've got our attention. See the magic of "Drunken Poetry" yourself tonight at Last Word Books in Oly.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

SUNDAY, FEB. 19, 2011 >>>

1. Argentine singer-songwriter Maria Volonte's tango mastery met expatriate blues harmonica player Kevin Carrel Footer in a Buenos Aires café and it was magic. The result of that fateful meetings is The Blue Tango Tour - a celebration of the deep spiritual bond that joins tango and the blues, as two genres steeped in sin, born in brothels, censored yet always resurgent and speaking directly to our souls at 2 p.m. inside Madera Architectural Elements in downtown Tacoma.

2. Museum of Glass visiting artist Michael Taylor will discuss his art and career during this conversation and slide presentation in the Hot Shop beginning at 2 p.m.

3. The Olympic Wine Merchants in Olympia will pour organic wines to taste from 2-4 p.m.

4. The Pierce County Gospel Sing will reach great heights beginning at 6 p.m. inside the mammoth Life Center in Tacoma. Hallelujah.

5. Jeanne Hopkins, the singer and songwriter better known as Jeanlizabeth, hosts an open mic at 8 p.m. every Sunday in the Steilacoom Pub and Grill. The night's entertainment can include poetry readings, original songs and rock covers from Pink Floyd to modern hits. Past crowds ran the gamut of age groups, but many, including seniors, wore hoodies.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours

SATURDAY, FEB. 18 2012 >>>

1. Seattle's eclectic roots ensemble New Forge teams up with members of the Blackberry Bushes Stringband, joined by Olympia's Lob Strilla on banjo and Ben Sidelinger on dobro and electric bass, for a performance at the Eastside Club Tavern beginning at 9:30 p.m.

2. In time for a swell 30th anniversary appearance, Annie returns to the silver screen at 2:30 p.m. inside Olympia's Capitol Theater. But don't come looking for a 3-D reboot like some of these supposed "classics" Hollywood plans to dig up this year. (The Phantom Menace? Wow.) Instead, clear your throat, rehearse those pipes and get ready to belt out song after song from this feel-good musical, and all for a good cause. Every suggested $10 donation collected at the door benefits Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights. But please, call the organization POWER.

3. King's Books is undeniably the literary epicenter of Tacoma these days. So it's not surprising to see local poet and author David Fewster has a book release party and signing from 4-6 p.m. at King's for his latest effort, Neddie Learns The Blues. A picture book illustrated by Tim Bernsau and described as comparable to "a children's book by Tom Lehrer and Charles Schulz as edited by Lenny Bruce," Neddie Learns the Blues is also not for kids ... literally. Apparently they wont sell it to you unless you're 18. All the more reason to celebrate it! Saturday's book signing will be accompanied by a short musical performance by the group Folksingers in Hell.

4. Want to watch men in masks and underpants bludgeon the holy hell out of each other? Lucha Libre Volcánica, in collaboration with University of Puget Sound's CHiSPA (Community for Hispanic Awareness), host a night of lucha libre wrestling from 7-9 p.m. at the UPS Memorial Fieldhouse. Compared to professional wrestling, Lucha libre wrestlers are definitely physical as well, but it's a bit more theatrical. More like sketch comedy.

5. The Waterstreet Cafe hosts a Carnival Celebration featuring the Afro-Cuban band Ocho Pies at 9:30 p.m.

THE WEEKEND HUSTLE: We preview tons of events happening today

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours

FRIDAY, FEB. 17, 2012 >>>

1. Riding the success of its last major all-ages rave night, Hell's Kitchen will host another similar event titled "Rapture" featuring DJs Antarctica, DePriest, Basscraze, Contagious, UrMajesty, The Sauce and Chaos spinning around 8 p.m. The MyTurn GoGo dancers will be in the house, too. RGW and Wizard Promoting are the folks behind this event.

2. Blues rockers Junkyard Jane has been rockin' Jazzbones since the club opened in the late 1800s. Billy and the crew are back with a 7:30 p.m. show. It's always a fun time.

3. The musical Hair is much like a jam band concert: it's multi-sensual, it elicits an emotional ride, and it's probably about 15 minutes too long. That said, director Heidi Fredericks shakes every last nugget from Hair's theatrical dime bag at Capital Playhouse, with a curtain time at 7:30 p.m. Read Christian Carvajal's review of the show here.

4. You've heard it many times: Practice makes perfect. Doyle's Public House in Tacoma's Stadium District lives by this adage. Every 17th of the month, the watering hole hosts St. Practice Day, a trail run at it's annual, massive St. Patrick's Day party. It's a warm-up, if you will. Naturally, traditional Irish music makers Shillelagh Jack will provide the soundtrack. Practice starts at 8 p.m. Don't be late or the coach will yell at you.

5. Suffergauge, American Wrecking Company and Psychonaut Deathtrip will go off at 9 p.m. inside the Backstage Bar and Grill in Tacoma.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours

THURSDAY, FEB. 16, 2012 >>>

1. The Weekly Volcano Best of Olympia 2012 issue is on the street. Now it's time to party. We feel more than comfortable saying tonight's Best of Olympia 2012 Party at the 4th Avenue Tavern is going to be, for all intents and purposes, "off da hook." Music from Scott Taylor and the Fond Farewells and headliners Glass Elevator, $2 Oly draft all night long, a huge raffle, Olympia trivia, a large percentage of the Volcano's esteemed staff in one spot (and available for mass ridicule), and the debut of the Volcano's Best of Olympia 2012. What else could you want? Probably nothing we can deliver. What we can deliver is all the aforementioned goodness for free beginning at 6 p.m.

2. When The Second City, scheduled to hit Tacoma tonight as part of its "Laugh Out Loud" tour, bills itself as the "world's premier comedy club and school of improvisation," it's a no shit statement. The Second City REALLY IS the world's premiere comedy troupe and school of improvisation, with 50-plus years of service since its 1959 inception in Chicago, and an alumni roster that includes the likes of John Belushi, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner. That's hard to top. At 7:30 p.m., the Second City returns to the Pantages Theater. According to promotion the show is "by popular demand." That's also a no shit statement.

3. Half the Hapa Hillbillies - steel guitar master Ben Bonham, mandolinist Kerry Williams and uke and guitar specialist Rick Hulett -will join vocalist/violinist Jessica Blinn and jazz guitarist Vince Brown for an impromptu swing jam from 9-11 p.m. at Adesso, 109 Legion Way SW in Olympia.

4. Here at the Volcano we absolutely love anything described as "an entirely indie horror/cheese fest." Since that's just such the description event organizers for tonight's 9 p.m. debut of the locally made horror flick Unsound chose for the film, we feel entirely comfortable recommending it. Worst-case scenario you'll just find yourself at The New Frontier forced to enjoy the tunes of Sleepy Pilot and Smoking Bill - which is no sad fate. With raffle prizes and drink specials also planned, as well as other shorts from Greater Wealth Productions - the local movie crafters behind Unsound - this is likely one of the more entertaining options tonight in Grit City.

5. The Deltan Club's Thursday night Beat Fetish! bass music explosion will be a special "Wright Night" birthday bash featuring DJs Omarvelous, DJ Flave, Jess E Bomb, Cyphers and guests, beginning at 10 p.m. We have no idea what that means, but exciting!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15, 2012 >>>

1. If you've got a wicked sensation right now in your music nerve, there's good reason for that: The Sammy Steele Band, SweetKiss Momma, Black Top Demon and Psycho 78 will take the stage at Jazzbones around 8 p.m. to crank it for Bill Rachal, who's battling cancer. Besides awesome music, your (suggested) $10 donation will score you an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner plus the opportunity to win raffle prizes. Do it.

2. Park enthusiasts will gather at 1 and 5:30 p.m. inside the Tacoma Nature Center and go off on how much they love Point Defiance Park. At some point someone will funnel the happiness into a discussion about the anxiously awaited pedestrian connection between the Ruston Way promenade and Point Defiance Park. Then, like clockwork, someone will mention Never Never Land and the whole crowd will faint. A must see.

3. Community arts activist Bill Cleveland argues that in times of violence, upheaval, and cultural dislocation, art is a key tool for confronting darkness and eventually rebuilding communities. Do you dig? Drop by the University of Washington Tacoma's Joy Building at 5 p.m. and hear Cleveland explain himself.

4. An reception for Tacoma artist Mark Hoppmann's show Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crows: The Art of Mark Hoppmann will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the Collins Library on the University of Puget Sound campus. At 7 p.m. Hoppmann will most likely discuss how The Book of Kells inspired him to create his awesome illustrations.

5. Beginning at 7 p.m., DJ Sc fires up his laptop and mixer stocked with old school soul ballads and new school pop during ladies night at the Tempest Lounge.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours

HEART DAY, FEB. 14, 2012 >>>

1. Cattle-prodding the oyster ditch with the lap rocket. Cannonballing the fiddlecove with a park steeple. Pulling the station wagon into the old creaky garage. No matter what clever name you have for it, sexual reproduction typically requires the involvement of two individuals or gametes, one each from opposite type of sex - although asexual reproduction, an individual can reproduce without involvement with another individual of that species. Oh, it's so confusing. At 6:30 p.m., University of Puget Sound biology professor Peter Wimberger will step in front of the Tacoma Science Café crowd at The Swiss and discuss the reproductive behavior of sea creatures. No word if Wimberger will show his anemone or flatworm. What?

2. Yes, the Museum of Glass Store is open today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Yes, the store has all jewelry marked 20 percent off. And yes, you should be panicky if this is an issue for you.

3. According to the press release, Jilly Eddy - appearing at Morso from 6-9 p.m. as part of the wine bar's slew of Valentine's-related specials - is the world's leading expert in lip reading. In fact, Eddy is billed as a Lipsology Expert, which sounds pretty darn official. But we're not talking about deciphering the f-bombs dropped by coaches on the sidelines during the Super Bowl here. Rather, we're talking about reading and interpreting - quite literally - what peoples' lips say about their personalities.

4. Maybe you like your songs of romance to be sacred in nature? Perhaps you prefer them secular? Either way, according to the press release, the Canonici Vocal Quartet will have you covered on Valentines when the group busts out a collection of Renaissance love songs in English, French and Italian as part of the Classical Tuesdays in Old Town performance series, which begins at 7 p.m. inside the Old Town Slavonian Hall. Completely free - meaning you'll have more to spend on ridiculously priced flowers or stale chocolates - the Canonici Vocal Quartet's presentation of Plaisir d' Amour: The Pleasure of Love seems likely to seal at least a few deals this Valentine's Day.

5. Comedian Kermit Apio headlines a Valentine's Day "Clean Comedy Show" at 8 p.m. inside the Tacoma Comedy Club. The show benefits the House Of Matthews.

PLUS: Sweet & Spicy: A Valentine's Day Burlesques at the Pantages Theater

PLUS: Daniel Blue and Kurt Lindsay at Metronome Coffee

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours

MONDAY, FEB. 13, 2012 >>>

1. The Graphic Novel Book Club most likely will skip the lure of craft cocktails and delve into 1022 South's wine cellar as it discusses the manga comic The Drops of God: Volume 1, whichtells the story of Shizuku Kanzaki, who works as a beer company sales rep mainly out of a sense of rebellion against his estranged father, legendary wine expert Yutaka Kanzaki. Yup, no monsters, martial arts or effervescent young girls in this Japanese manga tale. Join the Graphic Novel Book Club at 7 p.m. inside the 1022 South for a night of reading right to left.

2. Consider the Danish waffle. It's more of a cookie filled with cream and raspberry jam. Why is called a waffle? And how the hell do you make one? Garfield Book Company will host a Danish waffle demonstration at noon and 5 p.m. in its Fireside Lounge. Don't even get us started on Tasmanian waffles.

3. To celebrate Gov. Gregoire's historic signing into law the Marriage Equality Act, the Pierce County Marriage Equality Leadership Team is hosting a party to "Raise a Glass for Marriage Equality."  Beginning at 5:30 p.m. at King's Books, Tacoma Mayor Strickland, Tacoma Council Member Ryan Mello, State Rep. Laurie Jinkins, Benjii Bittle and the entire PCME Leadership Team will hug it out with the public.

4. Singer Maia Santell will be joined by guitarist Jho Blenis, bassist Tom Austin, drummer Billy Barner and guitarist Jumpin' Josh Violette for an evening of blues at The Swiss beginning at 8 p.m.

Jho Blenis, guitar, Tom Austin, bass, Billy Barner, drums, Jumpin' Josh Violette, guitar for an evening of

5. The Royal Lounge is a haven for jazz heads Monday nights. Tonight at 8 p.m. The Jazz Twigs featuring trumpeter and saxophonist Jay Thomas will fire it up. At 9:30 p.m., the Greta Jane Quartet carry it through the night.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: South Sound happy hours