PAUL SCHRAG: BOOKFAIR THIS WEEKEND >>>

Want to know how to live in harmony without the oppressive weight of the state bearing down on you?  Come check out the lineup of booksellers and distributors, talks and discussion groups, all sorts of other lawless wonder.

Activities include talks on the radical history of Tacoma, the Northwest Detention Center, and opposition to the 2010 Olympics. Check out the schedule of events here.

MICHAEL SWAN: TIME TO COME CLEAN >>>

The Pierce County Library is one of the only concrete examples of man's capacity to exhibit good will. Things are borrowed for free and taken home where they become susceptible to unforeseen dangers like Dairy Queen Blizzard knockovers, horsefly squashings, random, surprisingly literate purse snatchers, Russell Crowe drop-in visits, your dog Maul-y Ringwald’s afternoon project and countless other perils. Yet, somehow, inexplicably, the vast majority of Pierce County residents manage to treat their borrowed goods with care and return them intact, often at the deadline proscribed.

And then there are those who don't.

For those of you still holding a woefully overdue copy of So You're Going to Have Brain Surgery, the Pierce County Library takes pity this October. The library will be offering amnesty Oct. 4-10. This means overdue materials â€" books, movies, music, audiobooks â€" can be returned, no questions asked, and late fees will be forgiven. Naturally, some restrictions apply.

The event is being promoted along with the library’s third annual card drive, Thursday, Oct. 1 through Saturday, Oct. 31.

MICHAEL SWAN: UPCOMING BOOK AND SPOKEN WORD EVENTS >>

Tacoma’s poetry and spoken-word community has been steadily growing in both participants and the quality of their material over the past few years. Here are a few events this week to jot down in your calendar:

King’s Books Downtown Tacoma. Distinguished Writer series and Open Mic with featured poet Lois P. Jones, Sept. 11, 7 p.m. (218 St. Helens Ave., 253.272.8801).

Peninsula Library Gig Harbor. Poetry reading by Tom Crawford, Sept. 10 7 pm. Poetry workshop by Tom Crawford, Sept. 12, 6 p.m. (4424 Point Fosdick Dr. N.W., 253.851.3793).

Speak Your Soul Downtown Tacoma. Poetry Open Mic hosted by Gwendolyn Faye, with featured poet "Q", Sept. 11, 8 p.m., free (Vinum Coffee & Wine Lounge, 1001 Pacific Ave., 253.572.8215).

Here are a couple upcoming book-related events:

Banned Book Club Tacoma. This months pick: Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause Sept. 15 7 p.m., free, must be 21 to enter venue (Tempest Lounge, 913 Martin Luther King Way, 253.272.4904).

Comic Evolution Puyallup. Claudio Sanchez, lead singer for Coheed and Cambria, will sign his newest comic book, Kill Audio, Sept. 16 4:30-6 p.m. (206 S. Meridian, 253.770.6464).

Graphic Novel Book Club Tacoma. Graphic novel enthusiasts discuss Heartbreak Soup by Gilbert Hernandez, Sept. 14 p.m., free, must be 21 to enter venue (Tentwentytwo South Lounge, 1022 S. J St., 253.627.8588).

MICHAEL SWAN: TUESDAY, SEPT. 1, 2009 >>>

1. Author Michael J. Vaughn will read and discuss his book OUTRO, which uses Gig Harbor's karaoke scene as a backdrop, at 7 p.m. inside Tacoma's Wheelock Library.

2. The Tacoma Mountaineers 7th Annual Photographic Exhibition opens today at 9 a.m. at the Tahoma Center Gallery in Tacoma. It runs through Oct. 30.

3. Saxophonist and host Kareem Kandi is ramping up the jazz open mic every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Sax on 6th.

4. Comedians Jesse Case and Brett Hamil join host Ralph Porter at 8 p.m. for Jazzbones' Ha Ha Tuesdays.

5. Tempest Lounge presents iPod Tuesdays where you bring your MP3 player and become the DJ beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

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]

MICHAEL SWAN: TUESDAY, AUG. 18, 2009 >>>

1. Traditions Café in Olympia hosts a facilitated improv/freestyle drumming and percussion session, open to all, at 7 p.m.

2. Jewelry artist Nancy Worden incorporates non-traditional materials such as seed pods and plastic hair curlers into her jewelry to tell a story. That's right, she explores social and political issues in her exhibit, Loud Bones, which shows at the Tacoma Art Museum.

3. The Banned Book Club discusses Push by Sapphire while sipping cocktails at the Tempest Lounge at 7 p.m.

4. Jazzbones' Ha Ha Tuesday hosted by Ralph Porter features guest comics Cathy Sorbo and James Parkinson at 8 p.m.

5. Live jazz every Tuesday beginning at 9 p.m. at The New Frontier Lounge. Important things to know: $2 wells, $4 martinis and no cover. Righteous.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

PAUL SCHRAG: SKIE BENDER AT THE PRESS TONIGHT >>>

Skie Bender, painter, writer, and voice and bass player for L.A.'s Fire Ants will celebrate the release of her latest writing project, Short Lived, tonight. The novel follows the true-life adventures of Skie and her canine soul mate as they cross America in a 25-foot camper.

Bender is a serious animal lover, and works at Wolf Haven International, a sanctuary for captive-born wolves.

One hundred percent of book proceeds will go to OldDog Haven in Olympia. Support animals in need.

[The Press, Friday, Aug. 7, 8 p.m., 406 Washington St., Olympia, 360.239.4104]

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

What Are You Made Of?: Car tab renewals will start including parks fee option.

Diploma Investigation Unit (DUI): Eight troopers may lose jobs over use of fake diplomas.

Clinton Gets It Done: Former president’s visit is boon for Kim Jong Il.

Afghan Election Security: Allied forces have developed a plan to provide security for the millions of voters expected at the polls.

WTF?: Russian subs patrolling off East Coast of U.S.

Rekindling The Competition: Sony launches new line of eibook readers.

E-mail Is Too Easy: U.S. postal service faces a $700 million shortfall.

Seriously?

BOBBLE TIKI: STEVE MCQUEEN’S WIDOW WILL VISIT TACOMA >>>

When Bobble Tiki was a little tiki he’d pretend to be badass Steve McQueen â€" the McQueen who motorcycle raced behind the Iron Curtain in the 1964 International Six Day Trials! Bobble Tiki would ride his bike over empty soda cans so they caught on the tops of the tires, making a buzzing noise nothing at all like a motorcycle, but to a 10-year-old, Bobble Tiki might as well have put glasspacks on his Huffy. 

Saturday, Aug. 15, Bobble Tiki will drag out that special Huffy and pedal his old ass down to the Tacoma waterfront to catch the Steve McQueen: The Last Mile book signing extravaganza. It’s a book signing pumped with McQueen adrenaline.

Let Bobble Tiki explain: Miki Keogh, who owns and operates Miki Spa Salon in Tacoma's waterfront area is a personal friend of Barbara McQueen, the actor’s widow. She wrote the book, Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, a behind-the-scenes look at the personal pleasures McQueen enjoyed near the end his life - taken from the time they met in 1977 through the end of McQueen's life in 1980, the same year they married. Barbara, who obviously shares Steve’s passion for the living life large, will inject her book-signing event on Aug. 15 with a photograph exhibition, cars including a 2009 limited edition Bullitt car, custom bikes provided by Tacoma-based Destination Harley-Davidson and music.

“The idea of a routine book signing sounds awfully boring to me,” said Barbara McQueen in a press release.  “I can't think of anything more boring than sitting at a desk and signing books. I like rock 'n' roll music, classic cars and a fun atmosphere. I like meeting people, conversing with them and getting to know them personally. When I do these shows, it has to mean more than shaking someone's hand, taking a picture and signing a book. I want everyone to go home with a smile on their face.”

Oh, Bobble Tiki will be smiling.

[Miki Spa Salon, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2-6 p.m., 3102 Ruston Way, Tacoma, 253.752.5299]

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Gangs Beware: Tacoma police step up anti-gang effort.

Wilde Times: Edgewood city manager is out.

Too Many To Count: UN health agency gives up on counting swine flu.

Jakarta: Malaysian fugitive suspected in hotel bombs.

Health Care Reform: Democrats grow wary as health bill advances.

Orwellian: Amazon.com remotely deletes 1984, Animal Farm from Kindles.

Your Head On Bad Music