SATURDAY, NOV. 23 2013 >>>

1. Franciscan Polar Plaza is on its third year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from Tacoma Art Museum. Similar to last year, the Weekly Volcano will host live bands at Polar Plaza every Saturday from 7-9 p.m. Bands will perform on what we like to call the Electric Salchow Stage. Yes, it's named after a figure skating jump Brian Boitano might perform to the music of Five for Fighting on the Today show. We can name it whatever we want. Anyhoo, the Kareem Kandi Band will provide an awesome soundtrack of jazz standards, funky beats and a few holiday tunes for butterfly jumps, cherry-flips, layback spins - but mostly moves such as the unstable skating, the fall, the skid and the mixed-gender collision.

2. Hundreds of soupniks with big hearts will make the trek to Charles Wright Academy from 1-3:30 p.m. for one of the year's most heartwarming events: Empty Bowls, a Emergency Food Network fundraising event combining art, community, giving and tasty soups. Local and regional artisans will donate more than 1,400 one-of-a-kind bowls made from hand-tooled carved wood, colorful glass and hand-thrown clay. Bowls begin at $10. They make awesome gifts. Once selections are made and paid for, with all proceeds going to EFN, attendees make their way to eat free soup, donated by Pacific Grill, The Swiss, Adriatic Grill, Infinite Soups, AmeRAWcan Bistro, The French Hen, The Hub, Masa, Alina Soups and Chambers Bay. Warning: a line forms an hour before the doors open.

3. Doing its part to keep Tacoma's Thanksgiving celebrants from choking on family-friendly pabulum, the Tacoma Mob Riders will own the street again Saturday, this month disguising its bicycle booze cruise as a giant turkey. You might have seen one of the Mob's past rides through the streets of Tacoma, dressed as leprechauns, Easter bunnies, ghosts, moms, trees - what ever the nearest holiday called for - kicking the kickstand for a quick drink - bar after bar. Saturday's ride has been given the title "Turkicanus Bicyclette," which will launch at 7 p.m. at 2nd Cycle on Hilltop Tacoma. Gobble, gobble, wobble.

4. Rapper Mickey Avalon isn't the first musician to champion the motto, "Live fast, die young & look good in your grave" (as is printed proudly at the very top of Avalon's website). He's probably not even the most recent. But chances are Avalon is the only member of the esteemed, previously described crowd of self-destructive entertainers scheduled to play Jazzbones at 8 p.m. Reportedly a member of the Los Angeles-based graffiti crew CBS (Can't Be Stopped / City Bomb Squad), a one-time heroin addict and male prostitute, and a collaborator with former MTV VJ Simon Rex, it seems Avalon has experienced no shortage of excitement, drama, close calls and failures during his journey. These days he's experiencing a few of the positives life has to offer, most applicable to this space success within the world of music. A former member of rap group Dyslexic Speedreaders, and with a penchant for penning lyrics about the grittier side of life, Avalon's T-town gig should go off like gangbusters.

5. McCoy's Tavern will host one helluva party beginning at 9 p.m. The stars of the night, buttrockers Hellbelly (think a more melodic Helmet), will release their much-awaited CD release, Life of the Party, on Olympia's Vital Records. The Hardway and Full Moon Radio will be in the house, too.

PLUS: Holiday Events Calendar

PLUS: South Sound Holiday Command Center

LINK: Saturday, Nov. 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, MAY 16 2013 >>>

1. Rose Windows evokes the sounds of American and British psychedelia of the late '60s, while also incorporating elements of proto-metal acts like the Gun and Black Sabbath, even managing to emulate those earlier psych bands' cannibalizing of world music. Catch the band at 8 p.m. with La Luz and Happy Noose at Northern in downtown Olympia.

2. It's bike night at the Tacoma Art Museum. Ride your bike to Tacoma Art Museum and enjoy an evening of art activities that you can combine to your bike. Learn about Bike to Work Month and see a collection of photos as part of 253bike. Enjoy free admission to the Tacoma art Museum from 5 to 8 p.m. and receive a free Eric Carle bookmark at the Admissions Desk.

3. At 5:45 p.m., Tacoma Deputy Mayor Marty Campbell will jump on the Tacoma ART BUS as its celebrity tour guide. It's Campbell's second or third tour as host. He knows the routine. He knows jokes. And he knows the city like the back of his hand, so if something happens to the bus driver, Campbell could drive the bus to the designated stops: Rampart, Art Stop, FabLab, Bleach, Mica, 253 Collective and The Social. Reserve your spot here.

4. Film reviewer Robert Horton will pull up a bale of hay at 7:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberland Library. Horton will explain how the Western movie was America's bedrock mythology for the first 70s years of film history, but during the hippie era the genre the "revisionist" Western took up a fiercely critical argument with the past: In the disillusioned age of the counterculture and Vietnam, you could no longer distinguish heroes from villains by the color of their hats. Horton thinks because of the dramatic changes seen in Westerns, the genre forces us to look critically at our own myths: Why do we need the clarity of "good guys" and "bad guys" at certain times? Why do we sometimes embrace a more ambiguous view of human nature? How do these movies challenge us - and what happens when a movie forces us to question our long-cherished beliefs? Will Horton hear from you?

5. The Twang Junkies will fill The Swiss with rockin' country tunes beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Thursday, May 16 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

TUESDAY, MAY 14 2013 >>>

1. At 12, Komona (Rachel Mwanza) is living in a small, poor village, when she is captured by guerrilla fighters and conscripted into their army of child soldiers. The first act demanded of her is that she kill her parents. Sobbing, she complies, and the initiation is complete: "You are now a rebel of the Great Tiger." In Kim Nguyen's fictionalized account of this African child soldier, War Witch, Komona shares her story, explaining to her baby - and us - how her short life has already arrived at such a fraught place. Komona finds hope for survival in protective, ghost-like visions, and in a tender relationship with a fellow soldier named Magician. Together, they manage to escape the rebels' clutches, and a normal life finally seems within reach. But after their freedom proves short-lived, Komona realizes she must find a way to bury the ghosts of her past. War Witch, an award-winning film - including a nominee for Best Foreign Film at this year's Academy Awards - will screen at 2:15 and 6:40 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

2.Holocaust survivor Edith Eger will lecture on discarding limitations, discovering powers of self-renewal and achieving things previously thought unattainable at 2:30 p.m. at Tacoma Community College as part of its Student Life Artist & Lecture Series. In May 1944, at the age of 16, Eger was a classically trained ballerina and aspiring gymnast. Her dreams were crushed when she and her family were taken from their home in Kassa, Hungary, and sent to Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi death camp. Rescued by an American soldier in 1945, she eventually moved to the United States and became an acclaimed clinical psychologist and lecturer.

3. Did you know that bicyclists helped to pave the way for Tacoma's first roads? Or that Tacoma was once the cycling capitol of the Pacific Northwest? Yes, we do know. Tacoma's Active Transportation Coordinator Diane Wiatr told on two occasions. Her presentation on Tacoma's bicycle history is worth hearing. Catch it at 6 p.m. in the Olympic Room at the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch in downtown Tacoma. Stick around afterward to enjoy a free screening of the Academy Award nominated, animated film The Triplets of Belleville.

4. Usually when you go to the casino you just lose money - but tonight could be different. Danny Vernon's Illusions of Elvis will be at the Red Wind Casino this evening. Travel out to Yelm and have a great time with the King's likeness, starting at 6:30 p.m.

5. If hearing the sound of your own cackling voice echoing off the walls of your shower stall has you craving the sound of something a bit more harmonious, check out the local songbirds and storytellers at Victory Music Open Mic at the Antique Sandwich Co. It's guaranteed to be jam-packed with gorgeous sounds and humbling verses, as the South Sound's greatest up-and-coming acoustic musicians bare their souls impromptu-style beginning at 7 p.m.

LINK: Tuesday, May 14 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, MAY 11 2013 >>>

1. Hey moms! Bikes are cool and they make you butt look great. They are the best things to hit Tacoma since craft beer in cans. On this Mother's Day join CycloFemme and the global women's cycling movement for a spin around and around and around the Point Defiance's Five Mile Drive. Tour Defiance launches at 10 a.m. from the Antique Sandwich Company. Bring your helmets. Mother's Day dinner from a hospital would suck.

2. Yesterday's weather was nice, but you could barely enjoy it since all you could think about was the sad state of your closet. You want flirty skirts and kitten heels in the freshest colors and styles for spring, yet your warm wool trousers and cashmere sweaters are still taking up prime real estate in your closet. You better believe that after today's Mother/Daughter Fashion Show at Sonja - Clothes To Live In, you'll be singing a happier tune. Sonja Silver has been dressing women for many years, and since moving her boutique behind her Proctor Frozen Yogurt, she and Craig Fite have been keeping Tacoma smiling since last summer. at 3 p.m., three sets of three generations will model Silver's spring/summer fashion. So, before heading outside to soak up the spring weather, check in with Silver so you can really enjoy the season in style.

3. Jazzbones hosts a "A Very Special Day with Sinatra: A Night at the Sands," a long title but cool nonetheless. Joey Jewell will be in the house to sing the Sinatra hits with Jim Kerl's SWingin' '60s Orchestra backing. Ten bucks gets you in to the 6:30 p.m. show.

4. Chris Stevens & The Surf Monkeys will will be joined by Jay Mabin and his harmonica for a free show at 7 p.m. in The Spar. 

5. The Tacoma Comedy Club presents Comics Under The Influence where five comics perform a set each sober, and then while the other comics are performing they pound booze and return to the stage wasted to do another set. Jubal Flagg from Movin 95.5 FM tries to keep the thing flowing, beginning at 8 p.m.

LINK: Sunday, May 12 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Up until 2003, trains pounded the historic Prairie Line rail corridor from the Thea Foss Waterway to the Brewery District, passing rickety warehouses and dens of iniquity - before UW-Tacoma rang its school bell for its first on-site freshman class.

In the fall of 2011, some $5.83 million was earmarked to turn the half-mile Prairie Trail corridor into a living and breathing interpretive trail connecting the waterfront with downtown Tacoma, which will also include a storm water purification system for the polluted runoff from Hilltop. There was excitement. There were plans for fancy seating. In celebration, the Tacoma Art Commission turned the corridor into a temporary art installation complete with exhibits titled TacomaBall, Rogue Rhizomes and Ghost Prairie.

Then reality hit. The University of Washington brain trust recoiled over the fancy design and costs of its portion of the corridor, as well as the loss of a bike-friendly path through campus.

Today, a new set of plans rest on Chancellor Debra Friedman's desk. The storm water filtration ponds are now subtle. The pedestrian and bike paths are more functional. Historic elements have been saved and incorporated into the public gathering places and public art installations. And best of all, the price tag rings in at $4 million with construction to be complete by this fall.

Now it's the city of Tacoma's turn to fall in line. It's segments of the Prairie Line - south of campus into the Brewery District and north as it crosses Pacific Avenue and heads toward the Thea Foss Waterway, the end of the line for the transcontinental railroad of yesteryear - needs to meld with UWT's design. The city has plans for a pedestrian/bike trail and linear park through the city - plans and engineering it intendeds to carry out now that it has received a $465,000 grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council.

What will the city do about the railing running through BNSF's private property?

Discover the answer and see the city's proposed designs for its portion of the Prairie Line Tail at an open forum from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at the Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Avenue. Yes, open forum. You may chime in with your own design thoughts. Would you like to see a taco truck every 20 feet? Chime in. Do you think it would be cool to have outdoor tap hits through the Brewery District? Who wouldn't?

For more on the Prairie Line Trail visit www.cityoftacoma.org/planning or download the pdf of the Prairie Line Trail presentation from February 4, 2013.

A REASON TO DRINK >>>

Why drink alone when you can get your drink on with cool cats who care about environmental issues? On the first Thursday of each month, Green Drinks invites Tacoma and Pierce County residents to do just that - hang out and chat with other green-minded individuals over drinks and snacks. The next session of Green Drinks - which will be held Thursday, Feb. 7 at The Office Bar and Grill - will focus on downtown Tacoma's Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project ... and drinks, of course.

Doreen Gavin, project manager for AHBL - the consulting firm hired by the city of Tacoma in 2011 to design the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project - will be main entertainment at the Feb. 7 Green Drinks session. And by entertainment I mean giving an overview of Pacific Avenue's makeover and answering questions. 

In a nutshell, the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project will deck out downtown's main drag with new sidewalks, lighting and bike lanes, as well as innovative green touches from stormwater infrastructure and rain gardens to more than 3,000 new plants. When all is said and done, downtown Tacoma intends to be a leader in urban greenness - as well as a lot prettier.

I tossed a few questions at Gavin before she got her Green Drinks on at The Office.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Why is the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project important to Tacoma?

DOREEN GAVIN: The Pacific Avenue Streetscape project has three main goals. First, economics. The project is designed to create an active, attractive and economically viable "main street" that encourages people and businesses to be downtown. Second, multimodal accessibility. The new sidewalks, intersection bulb-outs, crosswalks, bike sharrows, landscaping, street furnishings, artwork, catenary lighting and transit stops will improve walkability, accessibility, bicyclist and pedestrian safety. And third, but not least, stormwater improvements. The project incorporates stormwater treatment for this busy downtown corridor, which drains into the Thea Foss waterway. The waterway was designated a superfund site in 1983 and the cleanup was completed in 2006 at a cost of over $100 million to the city and its partners. The stormwater treatment facilities to be constructed as part of this project will improve the quality of stormwater generated within this corridor before it's discharged to the Thea Foss Waterway. This work adds to our efforts to protect the newly remediated waterway through source control, sweeping, maintenance and treatment projects. In addition, the Pac Ave corridor is a wonderful opportunity to showcase this treatment to the public in an innovative and interesting way. The goal is that these stormwater improvements will not only be functional but beautiful as well.

VOLCANO: It's a huge project. How are you going to structure your talk at Green Drinks?

GAVIN: My talk will focus primarily on green stormwater infrastructure and how the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project incorporates the goals of stormwater quality treatment in Tacoma's "Main Street" through the use of rain gardens and silva cells. I will show some sketches and images illustrating what the proposed project will look like when completed. I will also talk about the goals of the project and the construction schedule.

VOLCANO: What pairs with a Pacific Avenue Streetscape Projects lecture?

GAVIN: Green beer, if available.

THE OFFICE BAR AND GRILL, GREEN DRINKS, THRUSDAY, FEB. 7, 6 P.M., FREE ADMISSION, 813 PACIFIC AVE., TACOMA, 253.572.3222

BANDITO BETTY LOU WHO'S LEAP OF THE DAY >>>

Bandito Betty Lou Who isn't a huge fan of jingtinglers, floofloovers, trumtookas, blumbloopas and the other wack musical instruments her fellow Whos bang during the holiday season. Every two years she gets the hell out of Whoville and spends the holiday season in the South Sound.

She's back. The Weekly Volcano secretly attached a GPS device to her whocarnio. We're tracking her. Apparently, she's in Seattle causing a ruckus at the Seattle Weekly for not making this list.

In Tacoma, we caught sight of Bandito Betty Lou Who hanging out at the new Broken Spoke Tacoma tavern on Hilltop Tacoma. The working bike shop/tavern was featured in the Weekly Volcano this past week. Bandito was just about to pop open a can of Tacoma's Underachiever Beer when she caught sight of us and blazed. Don't fret. The Weekly Volcano is hot on her trail. Expect more Lou Who action tomorrow.

BROKEN SPOKE TACOMA, 1014 S. MLK JR. WAY, TACOMA

LINK: Bandito Betty Lou Who jumps archive

LINK: Weekly Volcano loves the holidays, cats and crafts, so we joined Pinterest.

MONDAY MORNING GROUP HUG >>>

This morning, Tacoma officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project, a beautification and innovative storm water improvement plan that includes new street paving, sidewalks, bicycle lanes and crosswalks along the Pacific Avenue stretch from Old City Hall at Seventh Street to the Tacoma Art Museum at 17th Street.

This is not your Grandfather Sprague's streetscape project.

At the gathering around Fireman's Park just off the north end of the proposed project, Congressman Norm Dicks, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Tacoma Councilmember Jake Fey and others explained how improvements will enhance the business opportunities and livability of downtown's core street — the "front porch" of downtown Tacoma – adding new curb, gutter and sidewalks, including a bicycle sharrow, on-street parking, landscaped curb bulb outs, street trees, new transit stops, new street furnishings, lighting, public art and signs to direct visitors to various attractions.

"A brighter downtown will be an incentive for smaller and larger businesses alike to bring more jobs and additional economic activity to this community," Rep. Norm Dicks.

In addition to the beautification, the project will integrate innovative stormwater improvements, including storm water planters, pervious pavement and plantings. The green storm water infrastructure includes 14 new rain gardens, which pass the storm water through organically enriched soil that filters out pollutants and either slows the release of the water into the storm system or percolates it into the ground — before draining into the Thea Foss Waterway.

"We have a great partnership with the Tacoma Art Museum," said Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland. "We were able to successfully complete a National Endowment for the Arts grant for the 17th Street portion of this project."

As part of the beautification of Pacific Avenue project artist Elizabeth Conner will install green textural tiles in strategic locations along the 10-block stretch of street and 20 to 28 large-scale botanically-themed concrete sculptures that can convey storm water. The “green flash” concept will be integrated into four bus shelters. Green flashes are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset on the ocean's horizon.

Also, strings of lights will be strung above Pacific Avenue near Eighth Street to create a bright canopy of lights.

After many years of planning, design work, construction and implementation, the Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project received a major boost this summer after $3 million from the state's public works board and $978,300 from the Federal Highways Administration arrived. Combined with $4.4 million in grants and local matches previously secured, the city chose Tucci & Sons, Inc. as the project's contractor.

The project is expected to be completed in December 2013.

Dick McKinley, City of Tacoma Public Works director

Rep. Norm Dicks

Sen. Derek Kilmer

Tom Pierson, president and chief executive officer of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Olympia Film Society: There's turmoil between its board and staff. (Weekly Volcano)

Tacoma Bike Rack Program: It's gaining speed with new bike corrals on the way. (Weekly Volcano)

Josh Powell's House: It's gone. (News Tribune)

New Community Health Care Center: A bunch of dignitaries broke ground on the first major commercials structure in the Hilltop Tacoma business district in more than a decade. (News Tribune)

Amazon The King: It may get to decide how much an e-book will cost. (The New York Times)

Boeing's Website: It was attacked by the hacking collective Anonymous. (Daily Weekly)

Sweet: BateFlix lets you search for nudity in Netflix. (Venture Beat)

Not A Shocker: Axl Rose will not attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Pitchfork)

Tired Of Her Yet?: Betty White signs up for Twitter? Maybe not. (iVillage) 

Hey All You Dieters: Check out the recap of one of Kraftwerk's MoMA shows. (Brooklyn Vegan)

Yippee!

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from claire in response to our story on the Tacoma Bike Project's first road race and the fine folks at Second Cycle.

claire writes,

i do not think that the writer of this article did justice to this shop! They built me a FULLY FUNCTIONAL bike from scratch that works great! They arent a bunch of half-***ed mechanics with low standards. It's low cost enables all of us to have a safe bike, and they are invaluable to the tacoma community.