WEDNESDAY, AUG. 3, 2011 >>>

1. Mighty High will lay down some reggae at Jazzbones tonight. Mid-week jam band action is so your style.

2.  The Steilacoom Summer Concert Series continues this evening at Pioneer Park, featuring Danny Vernon's "Illusions of Elvis." The fun is free, all ages and starts at 6:30 p.m.

3. Thanks to the Washington State History Museum kids have the chance to learn about the Oregon Trail this morning at Garfield Book Company. It's just one of many cool events at Garfield Book Company this summer.

4. Sometimes a little goofiness is just what the doctor ordered. Chalet Bowl in Tacoma's famed Proctor District has you covered with Wacky Wednesday - featuring all-you-can-bowl for two hours, lots of clean fun, and a mighty-fine mid-week cheap date opportunity.

5. The sun is out and it's time once again in Gig Harbor for the appropriately named Gig Harbor Green Farmers Market. Find info here.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight!

NAKED ART >>>

Last week I wrote about sculptors who specialize in the human figure and spoke of works that were "almost too lifelike to be sitting in a gallery" - the prime example being sculptures by John DeAndrea. What I failed to mention is that DeAndrea is a pimp. His lifelike naked figures are salacious, intended as objects of erotic fantasy (my opinion, I'm sure DeAndrea would disagree).

Lucian Freud, who passed away last week, was a painter known for his uncompromising and unflattering portraits and for his equally uncompromising and unflattering naked figures. His paintings of nudes were as far from being objects of erotic fantasy as any such paintings could possibly be. Freud was known for making his subjects pose for ungodly long periods of time, working on portraits over months and even years. It was said that his subjects got so tired of posing that they eventually let their guard down, that the painter saw into their souls and bared those souls on canvas. That may or may not be an exaggeration, but Freud - grandson of Sigmund Freud in case you're wondering - certainly didn't flatter his subjects.

He painted pictures of people with craggy lined faces, uncombed hair and intense, vacant stares; naked people splayed unflatteringly across unmade beds; people with legs spread to expose genitals; and horribly obese people with their blubber hanging in folds like tires tossed on a pile. The skin of his subjects often looked bruised and discolored. His paint was slathered on in expressive globs, not quickly painted but worked and reworked incessantly and obsessively.

When I was studying art back in the 1960s and '70s, Lucian Freud was barely mentioned in standard art history textbooks. When he was mentioned at all it was as a kind of maverick oddball. His fame was slow to come, and even now when he is considered one of the world's great modern figure painters, his paintings are still very hard to take. We can admire his intensity, his passion and - perhaps somewhat reluctantly - his skill. But it is pretty much impossible to actually like his paintings.

Why? Because we're human beings and so are the subjects of his art. All too human human beings, in fact, and we're not comfortable with that.

The other artist many consider, along with Freud, to be one of today's greatest figure painters is Phillip Pearlstein. Comparing and contrasting Freud and Pearlstein can be very interesting. They are very much alike in many ways and exact opposites in others.  Their figures are painted in unflattering light, often with multiple light sources and odd cast shadows on their bodies. Both tend to use severe cropping, and neither of them makes their subjects look pretty. But whereas Freud exposes the souls of his subjects, Pearlstein dehumanizes his. He sacrifices their humanity for the sake of visual design.

Pearlstein treats his models like porcelain dolls, stuffing them in densely crowded rooms packed with ladders and mirrors and patterned rugs and stuffed animals so that the people, even while painted in a hyper realistic manner, almost vanish among the shadows and reflections and patterns.  He has spoken of himself as an abstract painter, and there is a lot of truth in that. His paintings are all about pattern and design and the interplay of light and dark; yet in the middle of all these purely abstract formal manipulations of paint on canvas it is impossible to ignore naked women with sharp hip bones and sagging breasts.

Whereas many of Freud's figures are obese, Pearlstein's tend to be boney and angular, with well defined musculature and large veins. Whereas Freud's paint is heavy and expressive, Pearlstein's is smooth and cool with hardly a brushstroke visible.

Both became famous at a time when figurative painting was reemerging after a period in which abstract art ruled the market. They resurrected figurative art and saved it from being sentimental and false and clichéd.

Freud is dead. Pearlstein is 87 years old. I wonder who the next important figurative artists will be and what direction the art of the figure will take.

TUESDAY, AUG. 2, 2011 >>>

1. We'll be talking about Northern in Olympia a lot this week, as the completely awesome all-ages venue is scheduled to close after this coming weekend - with a reopening in a new space planned for September. Look for a cover story by Brett Cihon and Nikki Talotta coming this Thursday. Until then, check out Tara Jane O'Neil, Nikaido Kazumi and Mount Eerie tonight at Northern and celebrate all the space has to offer.

2. Perry Acker will be a part of the Ted Brown Music Outreach Guitar Clinic tonight at Jazzbones. The band has a lot of buzz right now - see why. Also, see if they show up driving a Ford Fiesta.

3. The Karpeles Manuscript Museum next to Wright Park in Tacoma is something of a hidden gem. Most have never dropped in on the amazing collection of original manuscripts housed in the ornate aging structure. That can change today. Open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Karpeles Manuscript Museum is showing a collection of Sigmund Freud's manuscripts through Aug. 31.

4. In Gig Harbor it's time once again for Summer Sounds at Skansie Brothers Park, this evening with Swing Reunion Orchestra.

5.On South Tacoma Way, the Rafael Tranquilino Band's "rockin' blues" have become a Stonegate Pizza staple.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight!

MONDAY, AUG. 1, 2011 >>>

1. Mondays mean it's "Open Stage" night at O'Malley's on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma, hosted by Seven's Revenge.

2. Drop in on Micro Monday with DJ Melodica at Magoo's Annex and expand your musical horizons and knowledge.

3. 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.

4. Margy Pepper will perform tonight at Northern in Olympia. Support a great all ages venue while you can.

5. Get down with some beer pong at Steilacoom Pub and Grill ... because nothing says Monday night like beer pong.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight!

LAST CHANCE >>>

Animal Fire Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream production is adorable. Not every joke's a corker, mind you, but remember that the definition of "comedy" in the early 1600s was that someone gets married at the end. A Shakespearean romp doesn't have to be joke-setup-joke like an episode of How I Met Your Mother. The plot, about mortals and Amazons besotted by magical flowers, is both dorky and disarming, and you can't beat the scenery.

The play's last performance in Olympia's Priest Point Park will be held tonight at 7:30 p.m. 

To read Christian Carvajal's full review, click here.

[Priest Point Park, Sunday, July 31, 7:30 p.m., donations accepted, 2222 E. Bay Dr. NE, Olympia, animalfiretheatre.com]

For two days at the end of July each year Ethnic Fest turns Wright Park into a sea of people, languages, art, causes, music and merchandise. In its 25th year, the festival is Tacoma's liveliest celebration of citizen diversity.

I hit the park early in the day, just as things were kicking off. Tacoma City councilman Marty Campbell opened the festivities with a brief welcome from the main stage. Anchoring the west end of the park, the Kabuki Academy put on live music and dance performances throughout the day. I caught the demonstration of the shamisen, a Japanese 3-string guitar with a raw percussive sound. The emcee engaged the crowd by humorously announcing "three singers and one bald guy named Paul" and thanking the audience for "the many clapping hands" after spats of applause.

In front of the Multicare main stage, people staked out their spots, spreading blankets under the trees and enjoying pizza, massive sugary elephant ears, shish kabobs balanced on spiced rice, hot wings, barbeque slathered ribs, stir-fry, noodles and cheese covered tamales - all coming from the long row of food vendors along the park's outer edge. Sounds of world fusion, Latin beat and Middle Eastern music poured from speakers. Dances from Samoa, Tahiti and Korea were a visual treat. As the day wore on, crowds thickened and lines 15-20 deep formed for heaping plates of beef bulgogi, rice and kimchi ($5.99) at the Korean Women's Association booth. I wished I had room but didn't regret the tasty Jamaican jerk chicken pocket and coconut water I'd already eaten.

There's no swimming pool this year, though with the revamped kids' area and water feature "sprayground" (part of the slick, new playground at Wright Park) I doubt anyone missed it. Suddenly feeling the heat on my very Irish skin, I dipped into the shade at the nearest booth. I recognized Anita Jones, who has a NALI natural body care products line and vends at many local outdoor markets and festivals. "I try to be at all the best ones," she offers with a warm smile. She patiently explained benefits of salt scrubs and different soaps to those stopping by. Eying my red shoulders, she offered a bottle of blended avocado oil and aloe.

Jones' booth is one of many, a varying collection at Ethnic Fest, each stocked with all manner of trinket, garb and handmade items as well as mass produced art, crafts and wares. These booths fill the park's inner grassy area. A breeze brought with it the scent of roasting corn fresh from the booth Michelle Amiotte and family run.

An interactive art tent with tables and art supplies provides a place for kids to take a break from being waist high in a tall adult crowd. Along the northern side of the park I met Tacoma School Board candidate and University of Puget Sound professor Dexter Gordon. "Tacoma is a vibrant community. Look at everyone here today," he says, his beaming smile contagious as he gestures to festival attendees.

At the park's opposite end, the energetic, dance-off action on the D.A.S.H Center for the Arts stage drew attention away from the much larger main stage and garnered cheers, hollers and a lot of applause. Kids 11-years-old and younger showed off their undeniable talent, much of it hard to fathom. Unabashed enjoyment was apparent in their faces. Earlier in the day I'd paused at the same stage to listen to spoken word. Tony "Illaphant" Innouvong fired off a powerful, thought-provoking performance.

To the left, guys shot hoops just like it was any other rain-free day in the park. Plenty of families opted to bring their own lunch; coolers spilled out big bowls of potato salad, pasta and cold drinks. Some folks even brought grills; the scent from which rivaled the professional food hawkers.

Reggae sensation and local favorite Alex Duncan closes out the free festival at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 31.

SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2011 >>>

1. Real-deal bike racing is pretty exciting all by itself. Bike racing at night, with a beer garden for spectators, in downtown Tacoma, is just plain crazy awesome. Saturday, Tacoma's second annual Twilight Criterium will offer all of the above, plus an art bike parade (weird bikes, fuzzy bikes, cool bikes, strange bikes, two-person bikes, colorful bikes, sparkly bikes, bikes with balloons, bags, and streamers), live music, a kids race and ... and did we mention the beer garden? Expect lots of spandex (for aerodynamics), and lots of good times from 3-10 p.m.

2. Rule number one about yard sales: If you want the good stuff, you've got to show up early. Pierce County Parks and Recreation's annual community yard sale - Junk In Your Trunk Sale - runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sprinker Recreation Center Parking Lot. If you don't get there early, all that will remain will be an endless stream of spice racks, Buddha statues, TV trays and Pogo Balls.

3. You don't need to attend the annual Ethnic Fest to see Tacoma is a melting pot, but it certainly doesn't hurt to help you appreciate it. That's the power of more than 15 food booths representing a multitude of delicious tastes from cultures around the world, not to mention more arts, crafts and music than you can shake a culturally diverse stick at. In its 25th year, Tacoma's Ethnic Fest is easily one of the shining moments of each summer for this city. See why from noon to 7 p.m. in Wright Park.

4. We thought artists just lie around the pool sipping lemonade all summer long. We were wrong. Today from 5-7:30 p.m. 13 www.gallerythree.org/" target="_blank">Gallery Three artists will wash off the suntan lotion and demonstrate their art outside on the plaza at 333 S. Meridian in Puyallup. Besides the art, expect music, wine and chocolates, cookies and something called "paint and win."

5. If you like your dance with a trace of the exotic, head for the Tacoma Buddhist Temple, where traditional Bon Odori dancing and taiko drum performances take over Fawcett Street as part of the Bon Odori Japanese Folk Dance Festival from 5-9 p.m. The highlight is always when paper lanterns are strung across Fawcett for the bon odori, a traditional summer street dance honoring the dead. Hundreds are expected to attend, decked out in elaborate kimonos and hapi coats to dance to traditional Japanese folk songs. Think Japanese line dancing where the older people teach the younger generation the moves. Bonus: There's now a sake garden! (screaming really loud).

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine tastings!

ARTS COVERAGE TO END ALL ARTS COVERAGE >>>

At this point it goes without saying. If you're looking for coverage of local arts in Tacoma, Olympia, and all points in between, the Weekly Volcano is THE place to find it. While others cut back or bow out, the Volcano pushes on, continually providing the best in local arts coverage to our fantastic readers and always looking for ways to shine a light on all the awesome creativity we see around us.

Here's a look at the arts coverage waiting for you in print and online.

FEATURE: Toy Boat Theatre

"Who's to say that love needs to be soft and gentle?" That's a line from Secretary, a movie written by Erin Cressida Wilson. It could also be a fitting tag line for Dakota's Belly, Wyoming, a one-act dramedy by Wilson, in which Vern flees to his sister Dakota's ranch to escape the dissolution of his marriage. It isn't long before his wife, Trixie, shows up with a few surprises. The play is the first production by Toy Boat Theatre Company, an enterprise under the aegis of Tacoma Spaceworks. - Christian Carvajal

FEATURE: Steve Schalchlin's New World Waking!

It was a long and winding road that led songwriter, actor and pianist Steve Schalchlin from New York City to Olympia to perform a song cycle about a search for peace in a violent world.

Schalchlin will perform the song cycle, New World Waking! (along with selections from his musicals) this weekend, joined by students at South Puget Sound Community College and Olympia musical theater luminaries Josh Anderson, Christina Collins and Lauren O'Neill. It's a benefit for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). - Molly Gilmore

FILM: The Big Uneasy

Harry Shearer is best known for being funny. He voices Mr. Burns and a host of others on The Simpsons. He was a writer and cast member on Saturday Night Live. He starred in This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind.

But there is nothing funny about The Big Uneasy, Shearer's documentary about why New Orleans flooded in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The film is showing Saturday in Olympia, along with a Q&A with Shearer via Skype. - Molly Gilmore

VISUAL EDGE: Safeco Collection at Tacoma Art Museum

Over the past four years, Tacoma Art Museum has acquired more than 400 new works. Many of them were gifts from the Safeco Insurance Company collection, and many of those are currently on exhibit.

Check it out. There's some good stuff here.

The first thing to catch the eye is a large oil painting by Pacific Northwest icon Guy Anderson called "Skimming the Sea." At 6 feet by 6 1/2 feet, with bold, oblong, white forms marching like an army of fish nets across the surface, this is a strong image to welcome viewers to the show. - Alec Clayton

PLUS: South Sound Arts & Entertainment Calendar

THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND >>>

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Mostly sunny, hi 75, lo 53

Saturday: Straight-up sunny, hi 77, lo 58

Sunday: Iphone says rain, hi 73, lo 54

>>> FRIDAY, JULY 29: Fences

The man who calls himself Fences, Chris Mansfield, comes across as very young, in every sense of the word. His interpretations of destroyed relationships, his waffling between self-loathing and self-pity, his declarations of affection that almost sound like fishing for compliments - purposefully or not, Mansfield has painted a diverse and honest portrait of a fucked-up guy in his 20s who never knows, moment to moment, the right thing to say. For some people, this kind of flirting-with-emo music has the effect of a great many nails being dragged along a chalkboard. Others may see a bit of themselves in Mansfield's plaintive lyrics. Friday, Fences plays Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma.

• Hell's Kitchen, 9 p.m. $5-$7, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003

>>> FRIDAY, JULY 29: Jane Elliott

Jane Elliott has led quite a life, from a third-grade school teacher in Iowa to a nationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainier and anti-racism activist. Elliott's Brown-Eyes/Blue-Eyes excercise is perhaps more famous than she is. Friday, in an effort brought to Tacoma by Clover Park Technical College's Officers of the Multicultural Club and the Administrators of the school's Multicultural Student Services, Elliott will deliver an event open to the public at Clover Park from 6 - 9 p.m.

• Clover Park Technical College - Bldg 23, 6-9 p.m. $25, 4500 Steilacoom Boulevard SW, Lakewood,253.589.5800

>>> FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 29-30: New World Waking!

Steve Schalchlin will perform the song cycle, New World Waking! (along with selections from his musicals) this weekend, joined by students at South Puget Sound Community College and Olympia musical theater luminaries Josh Anderson, Christina Collins and Lauren O'Neill. It's a benefit for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). To read Molly Gilmore's full story, click here.

• Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts, July 29-30, at 8 p.m., $20, $10 for SPSCC students, 2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia, 360.753.8586 or olytix.org

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 30: 34th Annual Tacoma Aroma 7's Tournament

How many folks out there knew Tacoma hosts one of the biggest and best rugby 7's tournament in the entire region? OK, how many people even know what rugby 7's is? A primer may be in order. Rugby 7's is an exciting variation on the traditional game, played on smaller fields with fewer players (seven as opposed to 15. Get it?). For the last 34 years, Tacoma has hosted a summer 7's tournament featuring some of the best  men's and women's rugby teams in the area. This weekend the Tacoma Aroma 7's Tournament is back, at the Portland Avenue Playfield.

• Portland Avenue Play Fields, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., 3513 Portland Ave., Tacoma

>>> SUNDAY, FEB. 20: Anna Popovic

Guitarist Anna Popovic is  hot. Sure, that's kind of a low-brow observation to bestow upon a musician of Popovic's skill, but then again, she's the one who decided to wear nothing but a guitar on that album cover. Really, we're just playing along. And Popovic, who other publications have dubbed the "Serbian Beauty" (she was born in the former Yugoslavia), gives us plenty to play along with. She also gives us jaw-dropping blues.

• Jazzbones, with Nolan Garret, 7 p.m., $16.50-$20, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
I plan on lots of yard work - which usually includes working on my burn/tan. Saturday is laundry and toilet scrubbing, followed by a BBQ in Lewis County, featuring Busch light and ATV riding. Sunday is fiesta night at the in-laws, where mom-in-law gets wasted on half a margarita, and challenges everyone to a heated game of dominoes. Let the weekend begin!

BRETT CHIHON Meat Market Correspondent/Features Writer
I'm headed on a Wild Waves meat market adventure. Here's hoping those rumors about contracting hepatitis in the wave pool turn out to be false. 

.

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
As my wife's birthday was Tuesday, I'm spiriting her away to a secret location near good food, good wine, and...a farm? It's a surprise, so she'll just have to wait and see.

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
I'll be at the New World Waking concert with Steve Schalchlin, Saul Tannenbaum, Christina Collins and Lauren O'Neil (both of Tush Burlesque fame) Friday and Saturday nights.

JENNIFER JOHNSON Food and Lifestyles Writer
Keeping it simple: Caffe Dei for dinner Friday, Ethnic Fest and Lakewood Playhouse Saturday, church Sunday.

.

JOANN VARNELL Theater Critic
The husband, baby, dogs and I are thinking about camping and may try
to work that in. If not, we'll be sitting around making plans for our
little son's first birthday celebration.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Photographer
I'm be headed to a cabin in Shelton to have a murder mystery birthday party for my daughter.

.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Features and Music Writer
This weekend, as will be most weekends for the next few months, will be a waiting game until Sunday when I can watch "Breaking Bad" and shamefully watch "True Blood."

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

AUDITION FOR A BUNCH OF SHOWS IN FIVE MINUTES >>>

Actors experienced and aspiring alike can audition with efficiency at Olympia Audition League's general auditions set for Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31. The third annual auditions are your chance to try out for roles with five theater companies - all in only five minutes.

Making an appointment in advance is recommended, as is arriving with a prepared monologue or two. If you want to be considered for a musical, you'll need to bring sheet music, too.

Participating theater companies are Olympia Family Theater, Prodigal Sun Productions, Theater Artists Olympia and - new this time around - Harlequin Productions and Animal Fire Theater.

The auditions happen 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days in the Black Box at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia.

Go to www.olyaudition.org for more information and to sign up.