JAKE DE PAUL: TACOMA RESTAURANT ONLY LOCAL PARTICIPANT SO FAR? >>>

Pacific Grill sent the Weekly Volcano a press release stating its participation in the Share Our Strength’s Great American Dine Out, a week-long national restaurant event. From Sept. 20-26, 2009, thousands of restaurants, including Pacific Grill, will join together to raise funds to help end childhood hunger in America. 

I pulled this from the press release:

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Robbing Banks Is Dangerous: Federal Way police officers opened fire on a suspected bank robber.

Poll Voting Is Expensive: Pierce County Executive wants it gone.

Naked Guys On Vashon: Doing it for money.

It's Now A Homicide Investigation: Los Angeles wildfire ruled arson.

MVP: Football star tackles girl with gun on school bus.

Storm Front: Professor may face jail if L.A. weatherman harassed.

Today In Cute

RON SWARNER: GIVE BILLY FARMER A SHOUT OUT WEDNESDAY >>>

Local PBS station KBTC (Comcast channel 12, Click! channel 3) is in pledge drive mode. To entice you to pledge tomorrow, the TV station will broadcast The Clearwater Concert â€" Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Celebration from 7-9 p.m.

Tacoma guitar Billy Farmer will be “The guest of the host” during the breaks.

When you call in, tell the phone volunteer to shout Billy’s name.

What the hell, donate now here.

RON SWARNER: RALLY AROUND THA CO-OP WITH A POCKET FULL OF SEEDS >>>

Co-ops don't grow on trees, people. Obviously trees have a role to play. So do you, namely fronting the money. There's a big outdoor benefit for the Tacoma Food Co-op today at wright Park from 4-9 p.m. Anyone interested in becoming a co-op member or learning more is encouraged to attend, as are current members. More info can be found here.

LINK: Read our cover story on the Tacoma Food Co-op

LINK: Go see the film Food, Inc. and support the Co-op

JAKE DE PAUL: TASTY! >>>

Taste of the Market: Thirty-two restaurants, two micro breweries, and five wineries set up shop at the Olympia Farmers Market from 6-8 p.m.

MICHAEL SWAN: SAVE THE DATE >>>

Friday, Sept. 11, is the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans.

Jazzbones will donate $6 of every $12 ticket sold to see trombonist Randy Oxford and his blues band perform Friday, Sept. 11 to groups that help Tacoma firefighters.

Reserve your spot today at 253.396.9169.

MATT DRISCOLL: DK ROSS BENEFIT TODAY AT MECONI'S >>>

Life really fucking sucks sometimes. I don’t know how else to say it. When you look at a picture like that of David-Kenny Ross, the young boy struck by a boat while kayaking on American Lake earlier this year, and think of the severe brain damage and broken bones this young man sustained, there’s really nothing else you can say. As a parent, it makes my heart simply ache. It also makes me wonder if there’s any way â€" even small â€" that I can help Ross and his family.

Meconi’s in Tacoma was thinking the same thing, and today they’ll be holding a benefit for Ross to show their support for a boy who didn’t deserve the cards he was dealt, and help his family deal with the mounting medical costs.

Music will be provided by Loose Gravel & the Quarry, Chrome Molly â€" an AC/DC tribute band, 2112 â€" a Rush tribute band, and many more.

Comedians Chris Brannon and Riggs will also be on hand.

The event runs from noon to 8 p.m., and â€" really, truly â€" there’s no better way to spend a Sunday.

Donations small and large will be accepted and appreciated.

RON SWARNER: THE TACOMA BOOKSTORE DESIGNED A VEHEMENT VASSALS PROGRAM >>>

If you're anything like me - and you're reading this, so that's fairly likely - you find it hard to leave King's Books without a bagful of its judicious, concentrated selection of fiction, nonfiction, art books, graphic novels, saucy stuff, and cultural tomes of all kinds. King's Books doesn't have everything, but pretty much everything it has is worth having, and that's something.

I just received an e-mail from King's Books asking me to support their bookstore by signing up for their Vehement Vassals Program:

We've designed a new Vehement Vassals Program that will both save you money and help support the bookstore.  We want to continue to be your Community Gathering Place for Poetry, Printing, Politics, Permaculture, Peace, plus more!  But we need your help!  Become a Vehement Vassal today to help King's Books remain viable!

Apparently, if you purchase a $20 annual membership, you'll receive:

• 10% off purchases all year-long, including Special Orders.
• Be privy to special sales and other special offers.
• No membership card, we keep track of your details.   
• As always, we don't share, sell, or distribute your info!

The Weekly Volcano has had a love affair with King's books since our birth in 2001. We admire their commitment to community, and have written countless previews and reviews of their hosted events. Volcano scribe Jessica Corey-Butler penned one of my favorites pieces in our rag several years ago:

The painting on the side of the building looks like it's been there forever; well suited for a Tacoma icon many consider one of the cultural treats that set Tacoma apart from the average strip-mall enclave.  It's the kind of book store where you can bring your well-loved tomes and make a couple of bucks, where you can buy a previously well-loved volume, or order a new piece of literature that you can look forward to the way a kid anticipates Christmas.

And with events like the recent Love Tacoma's Feed Your Head Night, Harry Potter book release shindig, the annual Wayzgoose, and the upcoming Adult Spelling Bee, King's Books feels like it's been a business entity for at least the last decade.

Possibly, that's because owners John Schoppert and Pat McDermott have an established sense of the book trade.  They worked together at another small city-gone-gentrified, Portland, at Portland bookshop icon Powell's. Schoppert stayed west, eventually opening King's on upper St Helens on "April Fools, Day, 2000 - the only day to start a business," Schoppert proclaims proudly, smiling the broad San Diegan casual smile that's his trademark.

Meanwhile McDermott went to Madison, Wis., opening and operating McDermott's Books before heading back out to the Northwest to join with King's Books in 2003.
McDermott brought sweet pea (as well as his wife, Lisa, and daughter, Abegale) to Tacoma where the shop and the three have quietly brought an overriding sense of the cerebral to the Stadium District, along with a couple of furry felines. 

But they didn't stop there: they let the brain power seep into other parts of the community, like the Banned Book Club partnership with the Tempest Lounge. And then there are the events that bring community to the shop, like their distinguished author series and events intended as fundraisers for organizations such as the Scholars and Champions Association and the Book Arts Auction, which will be held October 4 to raise funds for Tacoma Public Schools book acquisition.

And it goes beyond the local sector.  Elaborates sweet pea: "Now publishers and organizations (like the ACLU and Associated Ministries) are contacting us. We're finally on the map."

That's been through no mean effort by sweet pea himself.  Arguably the most individualistically coiffed, dressed and named person in Tacoma, sweet pea is the driving force behind events that have put Kings on the map.  His association and conversations with Jessica Spring led to the successful catapulting of the Wayzgoose into the social calendars of many Tacomans who now can consider themselves literate in the ways of letterpress as an art form that blends book arts with accessibility.

And it's through other associations, like those with Michelle Douglas and Denise Tempest, that a community of open-minded thinkers can read challenged books and wonder what the heck libraries were thinking upon banning them; this idea led to the concept that will be the Banned Book Slut event on October 2 at Tempest; at this event, readers of all genres and books can indulge in one love -" sipping - as well as another - reading - and meet with like minded individuals without the confines of having to read one specific book.

"It's about finding the different cultures we can cultivate," notes sweet pea, saying, "The strength of the independent book store is that you have the chance to do that."

It should be noted that Jessica Corey-Butler went on to win King's Books first Adult Spelling Bee. Go Volcano!

Join me in becoming a Vehement Vassal. King's Books fills an important niche in our community. We can't afford to lose it.

[King's Book's, 218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.8801]

JAKE DE PAUL: JULIA, LOBSTER, TASTY THURSDAY AND MORE >>>

TASTY THURSDAY: Love Tacoma attends the Tacoma Rainier's Tasty Thursday night.

TACOMA FOOD CO-OP BENEFIT: Food, Inc. continues its run at The Grand Cinema with screenings today at 2:35, 7 and 9:10 p.m. Mention the Tacoma Food Co-op when purchasing your ticket and the organization will receive a dollar from the admission.

COOKING DEMONSTRATION: Garfield Book Company hosts “Julia! A Cooking Celebration,” today from 6-8 p.m. at 405 Garfield St. in Tacoma. The class is free.

LOBSTER SUMMER: The Keg Steakhouse & Bar’s summer lobster dishes will end Aug. 23.

Thursday Food Link Dump

TACOMA BREWS TRIBUNE: Complete list of beers at Saturday's IPA Fest at the Parkway Tavern.

THE ATLANTIC: When meat becomes dessert.

EAT ME DAILY: Stephen Colbert freaks out over sugar shortage.

LINK: South Sound Rest Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: FIGHTFIGHTERS ROCK >>>

This Saturday, Tacoma City Council Position 6 candidate Keven Rojecki will team with fellow Tacoma Fire Fighters to collect food for families in need in Tacoma.  They will be at several Tacoma grocery stores from noon to 5 p.m. to collect canned and boxed goods that will be donated to FISH Food Banks. Cash donations will also be accepted.
For more information, go to the Firefighter Food Drive Web site.


Participating Grocery Stores

Tacoma Boys
5602 Sixth Ave.

Top Food and Drug
3130 S. 23rd St.

Albertsons
2401 N. Pearl St.

Safeway Food and Drug
2637 N. Pearl St.

Safeway Food and Drug
1624 S. 72nd St.