MEET RYAN LOISELLE >>>

No better time to gaze at a skunk then after the Dow dropped 600 points. Apparently Amocat Café in Tacoma has local artist Ryan Loiselle's Tacoma skunk decals in stock – in a wide range of colors – for $6 a pop.

Who is Ryan Loiselle?

Daniel Blue profiled him in July 2008 as part of the Tacoma Files series that ran on this blog:

Ryan Loiselle moved to Tacoma in 1989 and quickly dug in his heels like a stubborn mountain goat. The kind of mountain goat that has a face shaped like a pentagram - yes that kind. I don't know if Ryan ever played Dungeons and Dragons, but if he did his character would be a black wizard.

An artist and a scholar, Ryan works for the Tacoma Public School District and creates strange and wonderful artwork in many mediums, such as paint, graphics, music, beer and film.

Ryan is friendly and honest. He loves the humanity of humanity, and the fragility of sanity.

Recently he was at the Urban Art Festival riding around on the tallest bicycle I have seen since Bellingham. I mean tall here, like if you fell you would die.

Thanks for all the danger, Ryan, in the words of Batman's for the Joker, "This town needs an enema."  I wish you were my sixth-grade teacher, but I was home schooled so that's kind of like saying I wish you were my mom.

MONDAY, AUG. 8, 2011 >>>

1. Photographer and downtown Tacoma resident Peter Serko loves the Museum of Glass. Loves it. Well, at least loves to shoot it. He's been capturing the many moods of the MOG since 2006. And MOG has been aware. The Museum hosts Transformation: Art Changes a City in which Serko presents 18 photographs of both the Museum architecture and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass taken during different times of day throughout the seasons. In conjunction with the exhibition, Serko invites the community to submit their best MOG photographs via Give Us Your Best Shot Flickr group, which will be included in a video montage displayed alongside his prints. Drop by today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a looksy.

2. Blood drives make the Weekly Volcano uncomfortable as there are too many people in these parts who dig the Twilight films. We don't need a closet vampire near our blood. If you feel comfortable, the Sea Mar Community Health Center in Lacey will be drawing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during their Community Health Fair, which runs through Aug. 12.

3. Magoo's Annex's Micro Mondays with DJ Melodica has become a habit for many, specifically those who enjoy punk, post punk, New Wave, early electronica and garage tunes while waiting for that one damn pool table. Get in on the party beginning at 8:30 p.m.

4. We don't want to cause a panic but Sevens Revenge have scheduled a short break from their Monday Open Stage night at O'Malley's Irish Pub beginning Aug. 22. You've been holding out waiting for some nerve to kick in. Now is the time, Sport. It begins at 8:30 p.m. This could be the first day of the rest of your life.

5. All Mondays don't suck. Red Hex, TRMRS, Guantanamo Baywatch and Si Si Si will rock The New Frontier Lounge beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Let's go to the movies!

MAKIN UR OWN WORDZ IZ VRY EASY >>>

During the month of August, think of Tollefson Plaza as one giant refrigerator door. Around 2 p.m. today Tacoma artist James Grayson Sinding dumped hundreds of hand-painted wooden words, refrigerator-magnet-style, onto the plaza in an installation he calls Words. The event organizers - Spaceworks Tacoma and the Tacoma Arts Commission's Tacoma Artists Initiative Program - hope that the addictive faux magnets will help break the ice among poets and non-poets, and open the community's eyes to public art in Tacoma.

Today's Words dump was in conjunction with the Tacoma Art Museum's "Free Summer Community Festival: Best of the Northwest" in which colorful chalk was also dropped on the Plaza. C.L.A.W. members and Frost Park Chalk Off participants were among the folks who chalked art.

In 2010, Sinding dumped Letters in Tollefson plaza, a public art project that was recognized by the Americans for the Arts 2011 Public Art Network Year in Review. 

The public is invited to piece together poetry and interact with the Words installation through the end of the month.

My guess is the word "Tacoma" will be the first to disappear.

LINK: More Words in our Photo Hot Spot

NEW ENTERTAINMENT VENTURE SETS SAIL >>>

Does Tacoma really need a new theater company? As Gold From Straw proved last year, new ventures add vitality to the live entertainment scene, along with fresh new voices and talents unlikely to be readily embraced by more traditional companies. I spoke to Jen Davis, the company's associate artistic director, about Toy Boat's aims and aspirations. Read the interview here.

[Toy Boat Theatre, Dakota's Belly, Wyoming, $10 at BrownPaperTickets.com, 8 p.m. Aug. 5-7 and 12-13, 1314 Martin Luther King Way, Tacoma, 253.879.3330]

SATURDAY, AUG. 6, 2011 >>>

1. Now in its 15th year, the latest installment of the annual Proctor Arts Fest will feature sidewalk sales, an art show, more than 100 arts vendors, live music and family fun galore. Artwork and events will be featured up and down North Proctor and 26th Street. To read Kristin Kendle's full story, click here.

2. Last year we told you not to go to Woofstock with your kids. We said you'd leave with a puppy. Or a kitty. Or a rabbit. But did you listen? Of course not. You're a sucker - perhaps just the kind of person Woofstock is designed for. Every year the University of Puget Sound, along with the Dugan Foundation, puts on the free festival dedicated to solid pet ownership, outdoor music and, most importantly, getting animals adopted and into the arms of good owners.

3. Once dormant, the Legend of Bigfoot has charged back to life of late - doling out psych-heavy alt rock to a Tacoma fan base well-versed in (and appreciative of) such sonic explorations. The band's stormed back to prominence last month after a lengthy hiatus, and showing no signs of letting up; the Legend of Bigfoot - Mike Krushka, Jason Flom, Jimmy Hughs and Nate Rich - will be a part of today's NWCZ Radio Summer Crush, an all-ages South Sound rock throwdown also featuring the likes of Voxxy Vallejo, Afraid of Figs and the Dignitaries.

4. We're happy to hear Spaceworks Tacoma and the Tacoma Arts Commission's Tacoma Artists Initiative Program will once again facilitate the placement of hundreds of enlarged refrigerator-magnet-like letters in Tollefson Plaza this summer, making the drop today at 2 p.m. You'll have the entire month of August to enjoy the installation, known this year simply as Words. Spell out whatever tickles your fancy in the name of community creativity.

5. Hell's Belles returns to Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma tonight, bringing with them all the revved up AC/DC action you've come to expect.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight!

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment of the day comes from Chelsea O'Sullivan, in response to yesterday's blog post on the Tacoma Mural Project.

O'Sullivan writes,

I'm so happy to have been a part of the program, but without the hard work from lead artists Rachael Dotson, Jeremy Gregory, and Joni Joachims murals like this would not be possible. You guys were awesome to work for and it looks great!!!

VOTE NOW >>>

Every Friday at noon in downtown Tacoma, from spring to early autumn, professional artists and art students, Web developers and kids, stay-at-home moms and businessmen all try their hand at the dusty, colorful medium known as chalk - leaving lively traces on a park that had been slated to be fenced off and left for dead.

Of course, I'm referring to the Frost Park Chalk Off.

I dropped in on said event today, relaxing underneath the clouds, chatting with a friend and watching talented artist create wonderful works of art.

But I remind you it's a competition. Photos have been taken and posted to feedtacoma.com to be voted on. At midnight, all votes will be tallied, and a winner will be declared. Vote now.

FRIDAY, AUG. 5, 2011 >>>

1. Is there really a better way to get your weekend started than by catching Big Wheel Stunt Show and James Coates at Jazzbones? The answer is no.

2. In Olympia, the Jacob Merlin Band takes its crack at Music In the Park. The free, all ages tunes start at 7 p.m.

3. Grunge is part of history now. This explains the Experience Music Project's current exhibit, Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses - which includesartifacts and videos from the era and movement. Along with the EMP exhibit comes a visual history book, Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind. Jacob McMurray, EMP's senior curator, will be at the Olympia Timberland Library today to talk about the book, which includes images and stories by such musical icons as Henry Rollins, Mark Mothersbaugh and Olympia's own Calvin Johnson.

4. Check out Toy Boat Theatre on Hilltop tonight, as Dakota's Belly, Wyoming opens at 8 p.m. Read Christian Carvajal's article on Toy Boat Theatre here.

5. SALT Records has a similar model as Dear Records, even going so far as to feature some Dear Records alums on their compilations, such as Paul Dally, Dylan Treleven and I Low. The songs are still mostly homespun and lo-fi, which was often a staple of Dear Records. But SALT Records are far from copycats. SALT Records features more upbeat pop, when they're not devoting time to droning electronica. Tonight's show at The Space, in conjunction with the Warehouse, will feature performances from some artists of the SALT Records roster, in addition to a performance from Drew Grow, of the Pastors' Wives. Read the full story here.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight!

COMMUNITY MATTERS >>>

Chelsea O'Sullivan has many talents. She's a talented artist, as we witnessed at Art on the Ave. She's a sexy server at the Crown Bar. She's also a participant, and mouthpiece, for the Tacoma Mural Project.

Hey, Ron. The Tacoma Mural Project group has created a 162 foot-long mural at Bergerson Terrace on South Orchard and 53rd. It's benefiting the kids at the Terrace. Tacoma Mural Project is starting to take off and we have five more murals around the city going up! - Chelsea

The mural is impressive.

Stop by the BT when you get a chance. Warning, a sign says to drive slowly with your stereo turned off.

THURSDAY, AUG. 4, 2011 >>>

1. Get down with Jazz Under the Stars tonight, featuring David Deacon-Joyner and Anton Schwartz at the Mary Baker Russell Music Center.

2. If you haven't jumped on the Varsity Grill comedy train yet, tonight might be perfect for it. Comedian Nate Jackson performs every Thursday at the Varsity Grill.

3. The Oly Mountain Boys drop into the Spar in Olympia tonight at 8 p.m. Best of all: there's no cover charge.

4. It's a Three Dollar Thursday at Hell's Kitchen, with bands Offtrack, Phaser on Kill, the Last Internationale, Cardiac Kidz and BND.

5. Its "SpecOps" Ladies Night at Vanity in Tacoma. Check here to see what that means. (Hint: it involves ladies and cheap booze).

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight!