GIVE! >>>

So it's been a few years since any of us at the Weekly Volcano have been in college, but if there's one thing we know about 18-to-22-year-olds, it's that they love free shit. The Grand Cinema will donate 10 free tickets to the University of Puget Sound, Pierce College and other colleges for every $65 donated to the 2011 Tacoma Film Festival.

The Grand will chat donations at 253.572.6062. If you're shy, you may mail your donations to:

2011 Tacoma Film Festival
Free Student Ticket Program
606 S. Fawcett
Tacoma, WA 98402

LINK: See a film right now!

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Celia in response to our lighthearted prediction of Saturday's Undy 5000 - raising money and awareness for colon cancer. The prediction was a joke (as all our predictions are), but Celia's point remains valid.

Celia writes,

If it raises money, and is fun at the same time, why not?

FRIDAY, AUG. 12, 2011 >>>

1. In the grand, and unusual, tradition of skinny English boys bopping about in even skinnier ties to American soul and jazz music, local DJs Bobby Galaxy and dAb offer a night of soul, funk, jazz and rare grooves under the tag Rare Groove at 9:30 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge. Back in the day, Brits loved obscure American soul records almost as much as they loved mayonnaise and cucumber sandwiches. Galaxy and dAb celebrate this phenomenon by playing authentic, obscure soul, funk and jazz records. It's the kind of music that would have been heard at all-night parties in Manchester or Blackpool back in the day.

2. You will take the spotlight at 7 p.m. for the monthly Distinguished Writer Series gathering inside King's Books. After you demonstrate why you've been published on numerous refrigerator surfaces, the floor opens up for everyone to lay some words down.

3. The Happy Socks Club asks everyone to drop by Amocat Café at 7 p.m. with a pair or two of festive socks for the kids supported by Stand Up for Kids Tacoma.

4. Surreal Ultra Lounge is the full-service grocery store of Tacoma bars, its clientele and staff a fascinating mix of fresh meat, some discontinued items marked for quick sale, and some of the finest melons I've seen. At 9:30 p.m. the staff will step aside for a bikini and boardshorts contest with big money on the line - a sexy preliminary for the sexy final bikini and boardshort competition Sept. 9. Expect courageous girlies parading their perky tops and wedgied bottoms in front of a braying crowd. These are prelims for the finals on September 9th. Booze and copious amounts of skin - aren't we lucky to live in an area that has it all?  Thank you Surreal Ultra Lounge for recognizing the power of the booze, skin and Friday combo.

5. Tacoma garage rock is front and center at 9 p.m. when The Plastards and The Fuzz begin ripping it at The New Frontier Lounge.

PLUS: A couple of Friday events in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment today in the South Sound

LINK: Movies open today!

THURSDAY, AUG. 11, 2011 >>>

1. It's hard to go wrong with great rock ‘n' roll and great spaghetti. We're pretty sure there's actually a commandment to that effect. From 5:30-10 p.m., as a fundraiser for next week's Underwater Music Festival, SweetKiss Momma and Perry Acker will be at Louie G's in Fife for an all-ages throwdown that also benefits the Girls Campaign (girlscampaign.com). This one's a no-brainer.

2. The yearly celebration of rural life, agriculture and good old family values hit Graham's Frontier Park from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. That's right! It's Pierce County Fair time featuring food, entertainment, attractions and overalls.

4. The routine is simple. You look through the songbooks scattered around the joint, write down a song title and your name on a piece of paper, and hand it to the deejay. In a few minutes, you'll hear him say, "Dave, c'mon down," and the fantasy begins. You're Bob Dylan or Shania Twain - or whoever the hell you want to be. It's cheap therapy, if nothing else. Thursday nights at the Loose Wheel Bar & Grill - voted "Best Sports Bar" by Weekly Volcano readers - the karaoke routine becomes more complex when the entire joint ties one on.

5. There was a time when MC battles were a huge part of determining how good of an overall rapper you were. That time has passed, but not completely. Although battles may not be as popular as they once were, Olympia rapper Heretic the Heathen still continues to grow - both as a battle rapper and as a solid music maker. Heretic has been circulating in the battle scene since 2002, and as of now is one of the top battlers in the Olympia area - crushing opponents any chance he gets. Heretic is set to release a new mixtape, Writer's Block, at 9 p.m. at The Royal Lounge in Olympia. Read Nic Leonard's full story on Heretic here.

BONUS: Til Thursday DJ night at The Acme

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Happy hours!

MAKE A WISH >>>

Looking for that last minute gift idea? Instead of rushing to the mall, why not consider some presents that will keep on giving after Christmas is over?

Wait a minute. It's not holiday season. Why is there a make a wish tree inside Cork! Wine Bar?

Owner Nick Coughran is awesome.

Every quarter he dedicates his indoor wishing tree to a different local charity. This quarter United Way's Project:U will be the recipient of his customer's big hearts.

"I'm hoping my customers write a wish or affirmation on the notepaper I provide, tie a bow on it, then hang it on the tree. If they make a donation to Project:U – well, that would be awesome," states Coughran.

Cork! Wine Bar

4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday
4 p.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday
606 N. State St., Tacoma
253.212.1492

GOTSA TO HAVE MORE BELL >>>

The Harmon group in Tacoma is feeding 60 soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Group, along with their spouses. Not only will dinner and beer be provided, but also each Soldier will be receiving a dozen roses to give to their loved one. Finishing the night in style, each couple will be a guests aboard a sunset cruise from Commencement Bay to Gig Harbor.

That's awesome.

Pat Nagle, co-owner, says the event is filled with soldiers who have just come back from deployment, or are getting ready to leave.

For those interested in donating, visit their Tacoma locations; The Harmon Hub located at 203 Tacoma Ave, the Harmon Brewery & Eatery at 1938 Pacific Ave., and The Tap Room, at 204 St. Helens. Those who donate will be given a voucher for the restaurant, like a free appetizer.

If you donate at The Hub, a staff member will ring a bell followed by cheers from the entire staff.

The dinner will take place at their Tap Room location, July 28, from 1 to 4:30 pm. For more information, visit harmonbrewingco.com/.

COLOR THEIR WORLD >>>

People in white lab coats haven't resolved the mystery of where they go, but they have established that a family of four will lose up to sixty socks every year in the clothes dryer. Where the socks go is one of life's great mysteries.

Where the socks should go is to the kids at Camp Kindle - a camp for kids impacted by HIV-AIDS.

Tonight from 5-8 p.m. the Happy Sock Club will bring Happy Socks for Camp Kindle kids ages 7 to 18 to Cork! Wine Bar, which also happens to be happy hour at the Tacoma wine bar. Everyone is welcome to attend, especially if you bring Happy Socks.

"I learned that socks are the least donated item, yet they are the most needed item by poor kids," says event organizer Ana Maria Sierra, Ph.D. "And, no tube socks please. We want Happy Socks."

Happy Socks - the brainchild of advertiser Mikael Söderlindh and graphic designer Viktor Tell - are colorful cotton socks created on Italian Lonati knitting machines at a factory in Turkey. They scream "happy."

"It's a kind, simple gesture that we can do to create a ripple effect of Happy Sock smiles," says Sierra.

Sierra says the Happy Sock Club will meet next month at Amocat Cafe for Stand Up for Kids, in support of local homeless teens.

To learn more, visit the Happy Sock Club's Facebook.

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Malynda Wilson, in response to Nikki Talotta's photos from Birdfest 2011, which went down last Saturday. Talotta also previewed the event and provided some historical background in last week's issue of the Weekly Volcano.

Wilson writes,

We had so much fun on Saturday! Everybody really rocked- from our friends Jason Mattson- the YardBird himself, Caitlin Speelman, and Dave Ostrand to friends that brainstormed their butts off to our visitors, vendors, bands and volunteers...

YWCA FUNDRAISING EVENT BROUGHT OUT THE BIG NAMES >>>

Sunday morning over 200 women (plus a few brave dudes) infiltrated Hotel Murano's Bicentennial Pavilion for the very first YWCA Glam that Gives fundraising event.

Created serendipitously through a random Facebook status update, Glam that Gives quickly became a hot-ticket and a low-cost way for community members to both shop and donate to the YWCA.  One woman's Facebook plea began a whirlwind of idea boosting: Take my dress that I no longer need, and in return, make a donation to the YWCA. 

(Glam That Gives preparation PHOTO CREDIT: Steph DeRosa)

Marketing Coordinator for the YWCA Kelly McDonald saw this as an opportunity to spearhead one helluva  fundraiser. I, for one, was not going to miss it.

Emceed by TV Tacoma's Amanda Westbrooke, gorgeous local women strutted their stuff on the catwalk during a crowd-pleasing runway show that brought lots of hoots ‘n' hollers from everyone in attendance.  Notable models in high fashion were Tacoma's Mayor, Marilyn Strickland, Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson, and, of course, my good friend Melanie Manista-Rushforth of Rushforth Wheels. 

(Melanie Manista-Rushforth of Rushforth Wheels PHOTO CREDIT: Steph DeRosa)

My favorite dress, and the one that meant the most to me as I watched it flow down the runway, was Bandito Betty's wedding dress.  Gorgeous the day she got married, and gorgeous on whomever might own it next.

By receiving donations of over 200 gently used party dresses, 300 pairs of shoes and 100 purses, the Glam that Gives event raised over $18,000 to better the lives of battered women taken in by the YWCA.  Shoes were sold for as little as $5 a pair while the average dress sold for somewhere between $25 and $75.  One specialty dress sold for $300 - the most any item went for at Glam that Gives.  A small silent auction and a brief "raise the paddle" exercise also contributed to the YWCA's monetary haul.

LINK: YWCA Glam That Gives Weekly Volcano Photo Hot Spot

MONTHLY EVENT FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS >>>

Olympia's New Moon Cafe is known for its breakfasts, its squirt bottles of blackberry jam and the blank books on the tables that inspire writing, drawing and games of tic-tac-toe.

Wednesday, the cafe has something new on its menu - a monthly pay what you can day.

"For people who are making a choice between paying rent and paying for food or paying for medication and paying for food, going out to eat just isn't an option," says Dylan Elkhart, who's owned the restaurant since 2007. "It adds to the stress if all of your friends are going out to eat and you have to sit there and not eat or you have to miss out on that opportunity to spend time with your friends.

"I want to make going out for breakfast not be one of the stresses that people have to worry about for that day."

But the customers who'll get a chance to dine out affordably aren't the only ones who'll benefit from the event. Elkhart plans to donate the day's full profits to a different non-profit organization each month.

First up is Conchetta House (www.conchettahouse.org), which subsidizes housing for single parents working on completing their college degrees.

Conchetta House founder Sandy Kozlowski has long been a regular at New Moon. There's even a dish named after her on the menu.

"There are so many people who give by supporting local businesses," Elkhart says. "People are interconnected. Without that support, we wouldn't last very long."

The day will feature a special menu with a breakfast focus (the restaurant serves breakfast and lunch), and seating will be different, too, with diners sharing tables so that as many people as possible can be served.

"We are a very small restaurant," he says. "I'm a little worried that we are going to get overwhelmed. I don't want people to get all excited about it and then not be able to serve them either because we run out of food or because we run out of time."

He's hoping to get other restaurants to offer pay what you can days, too, whether they give away the profits or keep them.

"There are a lot of hungry people out there, and I know I can't feed them all - especially not in one day."

New Moon Cafe's Pay What You Can Day

Wednesday, June 29, and the last Wednesday of each month, 7 a.m.-2:30 pm. (last seating at 2:15 p.m.)

New Moon Cafe, 113 Fourth Ave. S.W., Olympia

360.357.3452