KATE SHANAMAN: SEX AND MY CITY >>>

I’m not a die hard fan of Sex and the City.  Even though I’m the target demographic, I never made it through an entire episode.

I guess it just wasn’t my bag.  Not that I would turn down a Birkin mind you.

Shannon Bell-Peterson, however, is a fan and a friend with a wicked sense of style.  So when I received word that she had orchestrated a Sex and the City soiree at Nordstrom with goodie bags, trivia drawings and cosmos followed by a screening of the movie version of said show at Lakewood 15 I had to put my indifference aside.

I mean I am always game for a good reason to play dress up, plus the proceeds from the event were going to a good cause, “Stars of Hope.”

So I primped and set off for an evening of cosmos and camaraderie including Allison Swarner, Nancy Heussman, Kia Hanson, Tonya Hardwick, Jill Wambold, Susan Hoskinson, Aileen Bacon, Linda Titus, Rebecca Dashow and Liz Seager.

I had a fabulous time, and in the end to my surprise I made it through an entire episode.

SUZY STUMP: STAND UP FOR DARFUR >>>

All you have to do is pay a $7 cover at Saturday's Stand Up for Darfur at Doyle’s Public House and you can do good, since you'll be helping the oppressed and enslaved people of Darfur, Sudan. While it seems hard to focus on one bad place in the world when things are tough all over, a helping of tasty licks by local acts Joshua Cain Band, Matt Coughlin, Heidi Vladyka, Blanco Bronco, Stephanie Johnson, Negative 7, Sea Navy, Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden and John Walker and the Hitchhikers might make it easier. The show starts at 2 p.m.

Heck, why wait to help. Tonight King’s Books hosts a community discussion and silent auction at 6:30 p.m. King’s Books is at 208 St. Helens Ave. in Tacoma.

LINK: Natasha discusses Darfur.
LINK: Stand Up for Darfur Myspace.

BOBBLE TIKI: TICKETS GOING FAST >>>

Bobble Tiki just got back from Black Water Café where he met with Zach Varnell, who teaches audio recording at Tacoma’s School of the Arts (SOTA) and also works with the SOTA Partners Foundation.  The rendezvous was a precursor to a story Bobble Tiki is working on for next week’s paper about Artrageous 2008, a benefit for SOTA that will go down on Saturday, May 10. 

Originally, tickets for Artrageous 2008, which is designed to tell the SOTA story as well as move people to take out their checkbooks to help support the school, cost $75. That all changed when an extremely generous anonymous donor decided to sponsor the event a few weeks ago. Now admission is free, or as SOTA prefers to say you’ve been invited to attend as an honorary guest of the donor.

Either way, all the money raised during Artrageous 2008 will go towards SOTA’s ambitious goals of changing education to better fit the needs of all students as well as funding artists and teachers in other public schools in the area where music and arts funding has been drastically cut. Even though tickets are now free, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to donate â€" and if you agree with what SOTA does Bobble Tiki highly recommends you do just that.

Artrageous 2008 will be filled with cool stuff to see. Here’s a look at what’s planned.

If you want to go to Artrageous, Bobble Tiki suggests you get a move on. Varnell reports a ticket request explosion since the anonymous donation, and space is going fast. As of this afternoon there were about 200 tickets left â€" out of around 1200.

Sounds like it’s shaping up to be quite an event. Check out next week’s Volcano for the full story.

BRAD ALLEN: TACOMA PD ON PARADE >>>

What looked like a dragrace in downtown Tacoma today was in fact the Tacoma Police Department participating in the internationally recognized “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” march. The brave men wear heels and walk a mile to raise awareness (and money) about sexual assault on women. They all appeared to be having a good time in spite of the painful shoes.

Call the paramedics! Tacoma PD is on fire!
When confronted by the lens, closet cop queens sublimate in different ways. The officer on the right chooses to go with it, and shows how wide he can open his mouth. The man on the left, in red, shows how well he can sublimate his desire by pretending to hate â€" but note the hint of a playful smile emerge as he gets closer. The guy in the middle grimaces, hoping that his wide-mouth friend will take all the heat.
You can't hide from your true nature, pal. That pink Cancun hat looks so good, you might as well convert.
Goddamn. That's just not right.

MATT DRISCOLL: TIME TO RALLY, TACOMA >>>

Tonight the first of two benefits for Andrew Foard, former frontman of Durango 95, will go down at Hell’s Kitchen. The show tonight is 21+ and features www.myspace.com/girltrouble ">Girl Trouble, www.myspace.com/idefypunk ">I Defy, www.myspace.com/dirtyknockers ">Dirty Knockers, and www.myspace.com/sokandthefaggots ">Sok and the Faggots. Tomorrow’s show is all ages, starts at 5 p.m., and features the www.myspace.com/thecutelepers ">Cute Lepers, www.myspace.com/spacecreatures3k ">Space Creatures from the Year 3000, www.myspace.com/freakouts ">the Freakouts and www.myspace.com/toxicpeanuts ">Toxic Peanuts.

Getting into either of these shows will cost you a minimum $5 donation, but the money goes to a truly worth cause. Andrew Foard fell into a diabetic coma on his long awaited 21st birthday, and has been hospitalized at St. Joseph’s since. The medical bills are mounting, and Andrew and his mom can use all the help they can get.

If you’re unable to attend either of the benefit shows, which will also include raffles to raise further money, Andrew’s friends have set up a Myspace page for people to find other ways to donate and wish Andrew well. www.myspace.com/getwellandrew ">Check it out.

And, if at all possible, check out the benefits for Andrew this weekend. Foard is a cherished member of Tacoma’s scene. Let’s fucking rally for him.

RON SWARNER: SHOE BENEFIT SATURDAY >>>

It’s Earth Day.  Sweet Mother! You feel alive springing from your organic cotton sheets. You trip over your non-Chinese sweatshop produced Birk in your dark house â€" Al Gore Nightlite has long been ripped from your outlet.  Who cares! You skip through your solar powered morning, slicing through radishes and green beans and hey chard! you just yanked and everything is organically peachy.

Then you flip through your tangible newspaper.

Noooooo!!!!

Your eco-buzz is killed. There it is.  In print.  A dictator of a defenseless pip-squeak Third World country confiscated all the children’s shoes for his float in the Grand Keep Truckin’ Festival and Chili Cook-off.

How could this happen on your favorite planet of all time?  What can you do here in Tacoma 134 miles from NIKE’s headquarters? 

Then it hits you. Benefit. Let’s organize a benefit with shoes, music is always popular, raffles rule, apple bobbing, local artists, YouTube â€" yes.

Ah, but wait. Your organic day planner is loaded with words by circled numbers, and grandma has a bad corn, and Fido has gone Fredo so you must tack Have You Seen posters on telephone poles and …

Someone will organize it. You’re sure. You quickly check what brilliant thing Spew has written this morning …

There it is. The sun inches past your bedroom’s orange sheer curtain and illuminates your hand that clenches your computer mouse like it’s starring on Broadway. Your perky unicorns-in-the-sky self smiles.  An energized Tacoman hosts a shoe benefit for kids in Third World countries. You read the interview with glee.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: What is the concept behind Saturday’s Good Tacoma event?

AINSLEE K. MARSHALL: The concept is to get people to donate locally, but also see that there is a entire world outside of Tacoma that desperately needs our help right now.

Economically, we are very fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest and I truly believe that by encouraging the residents of this community to give what they have, the level of kindness and depth of caring will only rise exponentially.

VOLCANO: So your benefit will include local charities, too?

MARSHALL: The cover will be $10 at the door, or $8 with a can of food. I will also be encouraging everyone to bring one brown bag containing items such as clothing, shoes, etc. I will then deliver all these goods to the Emergency Food Network in the Tacoma area the day after the event. Their mission is to "provide a reliable food supply so that no person in Pierce County goes hungry."

All the proceeds will be donated to a company based out of California called TOMS shoes. They are an organization dedicated to donating shoes to children in Third World countries who would otherwise never be able to afford them. I highly suggest checking out their site. You will be able to see a YouTube video of a shoe drop that they did in Africa last year that is absolutely amazing.

VOLCANO: Besides goodwill, what will be the event’s draw?

MARSHALL: The party will feature musical guests Tree Roots in the Basement, Freeze & Furcoats, The Toughtimes and the Mercy Pirates. I will also have a shoe raffle featuring shoes decorated by local artists, and sponsored by Republic Parking N.W. Inc. So far, I have 8 artists who have signed on including Daniel Blue and Zach Marvick. The raffle tickets will be $5, with all proceeds also going to help TOMS shoes.

VOLCANO: Do you have help?

MARSHALL: The outpouring of offers that I have received to help this event has been astounding. The shoe raffle has received sponsorship, the posters and ads have been comped, and the space by the Frieghthouse Square that I am renting has been given to me at a ridiculously low price. This means that the funds from this event will be going directly to the cause. It is a beautiful thing to watch what lengths people will go to in the name of being "Good."

VOLCANO: Where is the space?

MARSHALL: The show will take place Saturday, April 26, at 6 p.m., in “The Ballroom” located on the corner of East C Street and 25th Street. The venue is one block before Freighthouse Square, which is an awesome location since the LINK runs directly down 25th Street and the bus terminal is only a block ahead.

VOLCANO: Thanks Ainslee. Good Tacoma sounds like a worthy cause and a fun time.

You wipe you tears with your Natracare Organic Cotton Intimate Wipes and circle Saturday in your day planner. Equilibrium has returned on your Earth Day. You ride off on your bike into the rain with two Smiley Faces drawn on the top of your Birk straps. 

It’s going to be a good day.

MATT DRISCOLL: LAST NIGHT'S Q13 NEWS >>>

You may remember about a month ago when Doxology played a benefit at Jazzbones for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The show specifically honored Baby Frankie, who died  in 2002 from  acute myelogenous leukemia after being diagnosed when he was six months old. A team of do-gooders, including Frankie's parents and siblings, were raising money for "The Big Climb," an event they've participated in on a yearly basis to honor Baby Frankie's memory.

Here's a look back at the column I wrote at the time.

The Big Climb will happen on March 16, which also happens to be Frankie's birthday.

Q13 News ran a story on Baby Frankie last night. Check it out here.

BOBBLE TIKI: INCONGRUOUS, FOURTH AVENUE, SUPER BOWL >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Learn it, use it, spell it

Incongruous\in-KONG-groo-us\, adjective:
1. Lacking in harmony, compatibility, or appropriateness.
2. Inconsistent with reason, logic, or common sense.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Though the democratic candidates had one of their more civil debates last night in Hollywood, Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton still make an incongruous pair.

THE MORNING NEWS

TACOMA: Citizens for Responsible Justice â€" Denied!

SEATTLE: More money than you’ll see in your entire life.

UNITED STATES: Mano y mano, Barack and Hills.

SUPER BOWL: Brady may be sexy, but Eli’s brother has a new goatee.

HUSTLER OF CULTURE
You can stand atop the mountain and scream your naked desires to the universe or shed that synapse epilepsy and hug the South Sound today with your fellow man:

MUSIC: If you’re a fan of benefit shows, Olympia is your place to be tonight â€" specifically Fourth Avenue. First of all, at the 4^th Ave Tavern a benefit for victims of this years ridiculous flooding will raise the spirits of the downtrodden with a show featuring Back Porch Swing, The Moss Brothers, Jupiter Crash, Numbered Days, Mom’s Rocket, From The North, Listen Louder, Big Fat Alice, and Mojo Filta. That’s nine bands all for a good cause. Down the street at the Eastside Club Tavern, a “Flood the Farm” benefit will take place, featuring Steve Kattenbraker, Benny and Eleanor, the Southern Skies, and the Shiftless Rounders. Whichever show you decide on, rest assured you’ll be helping a good cause.

MORE MUSIC: What’s on tonight.

DR. FEELGOOD: Look who’s coming to town.

THREATS AND PROMISES COLUMN
Given Bobble Tiki’s affinity for reggae, and the fact that Winston Jarrett’s place in the annals of reggae history is secure, it seemed only natural for Bobble Tiki to use his column to focus on Jarrett’s show at Jazzbones this week. The difficulties with this idea became apparent once Bobble Tiki dove in head first. See why here.

Breakfast with Bobble Tiki runs six days a week now. Deal with it.

The Poodle Dog restaurant in Fife is raising money for community member Sue Burham’s double lung transplant with a series of events throughout October. Staffers recently donated 50 percent of tips yesterday and are gearing up to fill more bellies in the name of neighborly giving. Saturday, Oct. 13, Poodle Dog hosts a Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction. After chowing down on tasty noodles, marinara, meatballs and garlic bread, the satisfied feeling in your stomach won’t even compare to the warmth you’ll have in your heart.

Take your kiddies to their Haunted House Oct. 26-28. All money raised goes straight to Burham. â€" Jennifer Johnson

[Poodle Dog, 1522 54th Ave. E., Fife, 253.922.6161]