SUNDAY, DEC. 12, 2010 >>>

1. This time of year heralds many things, including Seasonal Affective Disorder, ugly sweaters, Rankin Bass TV specials and, for music aficionados, the sweated-over year-end "best of" lists. In a similar spirit, Tacoman Andrew Childs has assembled his own Best of Tacoma 2010 compilation CD, which he'll be releasing at The New Frontier Lounge beginning at 6 p.m. To commemorate the release, Brotherhood of the Black Squirrel will perform, comp artist Trees Without Leaves will make their live debut, a piñata (courtesy of the crafty "Tacoma Gets Smashed") will be destroyed in faux-effigy, all proceeds will go to charity, and there will be an ugly sweater contest. Because, you know, the holidays.

2. It's the night before Christmas inside the Olympia Little Theater - at 1:55 p.m. – so the story begins in darkness, both literal and metaphorical. Jacob Marley, played with empathy by Christopher Cantrell, is in Hell. Providentially, there's a way out, but it's nigh on impossible: He must find a way to get Ebenezer Scrooge (Dennis Rolly), the only man in London stingier than himself, to recognize the error of his ways by Christmas morning.

3. Celebrate the holiday season with the South Sound Classical Choir as they "Bring Light to Our World with Song," singing holiday favorites old and new, and featuring works by Mendelssohn, Faure, Bach, Rutter, Lauridsen, Ticheli and more beginning at 3 p.m. inside the First United Methodist Church of Tacoma.

4. The D.A.S.H. Center's winter recital/fundraiser dinner show begins at 4 p.m. inside the REACH/Goodwill Industries Building. The $10 admission fee goes to help support the center's mission of bringing quality arts education to under-served youth at an economically efficient price.  

5. The Tacoma Cult Movie Club is a collective of people who enjoy cinema on the outer fringe of the spectrum. They'll convene at 7 p.m. inside the Acme Grub Cage to enjoy a double feature based on a theme "It Came from Japan" with assorted shorts, trailers, film serials, and the lifeblood of the TCMC: the raffle.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

WEDNEDAY, DEC. 8, 2010 >>>

1. Blvd Park will rock Bob's Java Jive beginning at  9 p.m.

2. It's one of those nightmares we all have from time to time. You're in a China shop and you take the wrong step, a small stumble, a careless turn - and then half the store collapses. Ooohhh. It's enough to make you want to eat off paper plates for the rest of your life, just to avoid the expense. It's a tragic phobia, and one that's rather difficult to explain without being mocked. You should just overcome it. As breakable and potentially humiliating as glass may be - it's also beautiful, versatile and comes in a whole range of extremely intense colors.  So, check out glass artist Jack Wax in the Museum of Glass' Hot Shop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wax is an artist and head of the glass program at Virginia Commonwealth University. In his work, he focuses on "the grey areas" between what is traditionally considered primitive (pre-cultural) and early cultural art and artifacts and uses glass to create enigmatic sculptures.

3. Find out the latest about the renovation of downtown's Elks Temple into a McMenamins brewpub and the new building next door at 6 p.m. in the Tacoma City Council Chambers, on the first floor of the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St.

4. The Tacoma School of the Arts' Chamber Choir, Treble Choir and SOTA Singers will sing songs from many cultures and many traditions from 7:30-9:30 p.m. inside the Urban Grace Church.

5. The Argosy Christmas Ship will land at Salty's at Redondo Beach at 8:50 p.m. where a choir on board will perform for 20 minutes via a state-of-the-art speaker system.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TUESDAY, NOV. 23, 2010 >>>

1. Experts agree the only thing better than drinking discounted Alaskan beer at Tacoma's Varsity Grill is drinking discounted beer at Tacoma's Varsity Grill while simultaneously taking part in a bowling competition using frozen turkeys instead of bowling balls. It's true. Google it. Or, even better, test the experts' opinion yourself from 6-8 p.m. when Varsity Grill hosts its Alaskan Turkey Bowl. All of the above will be available. The top turkey bowler will take home a free Thanksgiving turkey, presumably not the same one they bowled with, but you never know. ... What does it matter at that point?

2. The Hub in Tacoma's Stadium District hosts a Trivia Night with cash prizes beginning at 6 p.m. Here's some trivia: Drivers from Florida are apt to be distracted by shivering because they're wearing shorts as they nurse a frosty beverage and rock out to Jimmy Buffett cranked to the pain threshold. Of course, Jimmy Buffett can cause pain even when played at low volumes, but that's another story. If you see Florida plates in front of you, make a turn.

3. What happens when the Pacific Lutheran University Wind Ensemble and the Stadium High School Concert Band share the stage? Magic we tell you. See for yourself at 8 p.m. inside Lagerquist Hall on the PLU campus.

4. Susan Jones headlines Jazzbones' Ha Ha Tuesday comedy show tonight at 8 p.m. Comedians Ed Rubin and MC Ralph Porter will also try to take your mind off your fallen backyard fence.

5. What can take your mind off your busted water pipes? Jazz baby! Saxophonist Kareem Kandi's open jazz jam goes down tonight at 9 p.m. inside SAX Restaurant and Lounge.

LINK: Art at Work month!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

SUNDAY, NOV. 14, 2010 >>>

1. There sure are a lot of film festivals out there, all pompous and bloated, stretching out through days or even weeks with "a bunch of great films." Well, The Swiss Film Festival - packing itself into three short hours tonight beginning at 7 p.m. inside The Swiss - is having none of it. What kind of film festival can you have in only three freakin' hours, you ask? Well, one featuring two films.  In this case, the homemade It Don't Rain on Sunny Days and A Glitch in the System. As if that wasn't enough, Doug Mackey will host the event, which also includes special guest Buddy Budman. If nothing else, there'll be a lot of booze on hand.

2. Vince Guaraldi's iconic jazz score will fill The Grand Cinema beginning at 10 a.m. when the Dugan Foundation presents A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas. The movie is free with one can of pet food or supplies. The Weekly Volcano will be there dancing like Chuck's classmates in the aisles.

3. Eight-time Olympic medalist and former Dancing with the Stars champion Apolo Ohno will sign his book, Zero Regrets, at 1 p.m. inside the Costco in Federal Way.

4. The Tacoma Youth Symphony leaves the gray, wet South Sound for "A Night in Madrid" at 3 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater. The concert will feature music by Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albeniz and guitarist Michael Partington in Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. 

5. Rich Wetzel's Groovin Higher Orchestra will drop in on Stonegate Pizza jazz-rock to rock and jazz dinner show from 5-8pm.

LINK: Tacoma Art at Work events

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TUESDAY, NOV. 9, 2010 >>>

1. Leonard Pitts Jr., the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose thoughtful and at times provocative column is syndicated in newspapers across the country, will speak at 7:30 p.m. inside Schneebeck Concert Hall on the University of Puget Sound campus. Expect to hear his thoughts on teacher unions, citizen journalists and "gospel of unadulterated hate."

2. Violinists Maria Sampen and Jennifer Caine, violist Tim Christie and cellist Sally Singer perform Gabriela Frank's six-movement suite for strings "Leyendas: an Andean Walkabout" beginning at 7 p.m. as part of Classical Tuesdays in Old Town inside the Slavonian Hall. This colorful work reflects the composer's Peruvian heritage and travels.

3. Bowling is a game devised for drinkers. You get up, you roll a ball, you sit down. You pound some beers and watch other people do the same. Then you repeat this cycle, all while wearing stupid shoes and knocking stuff down. It's like alcoholic heaven. The Chalet Bowl in Tacoma's Proctor District sweetens the deal every Tuesday night with $2 games, $2 shoe rentals, $2 food items and $2.25 Rolling Rocks.

4. The granddaddy of all open mics - Victory Music Open Mic - runs from 7-10 p.m. inside the Antique Sandwich Company.

5. Comedians Brad Brake, Erick Hurst and host Ralph Porter perform at 8 p.m. as part of Ha Ha Tuesdays at Jazzbones.

LINK: Tacoma Art at Work events!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 2010 >>>

1. Tonight, for the 13th year in a row, the Harmon Brewery and Eatery will host its annual "Pray for Snow" party. The festivities kick off at 5 p.m. and promise to feature a toboggan full of live music, tons of ski- and snowboard-related prizes and giveaways, plenty of drinking and even more praying for the white stuff to fall from the sky this season. Will it work? Does it ever work in Washington? That's not really the point.

2. Art at Work Event: Dr. Priti Joshi of the University of Puget Sound will lead an examination of the works of William Wordsworth, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell at 4 p.m. inside the Frank Tobey Jones Parlor.

3. After you're loaded on Harmon's Mighty Tacoma Ale and thoughts of powder, head over to Sixth Avenue to the 100^th Monkey Party at Studio 6 Ballroom. 100^th Monkey Karen Noland has orchestrated a worthy show with the next round of Monkey Tiles ($4) created by photographer extraordinaire Jim Oliver and music by percussionist Dean "The Dream Weaver" Tsapralis. As always, it's free, open to the universe, expected you bring food and drinkies to share - and you're bound by Monkey Law to meet three new people.

4. It's female singer-songwriters night at the Tempest Lounge. From 7-9 p.m. Paige Hansen, Megan and Kim Archer will perform as you suck down tasty cocktails.

5. Art at Work Event: Pacific Lutheran University students and faculty join together in a varied program of Early and Baroque vocal and instrumental music at 8 p.m. inside Lagerquist Hall.

LINK: It's Art at Work month in Tacoma!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

THURSDAY, OCT. 14, 2010 >>>

1. How many times have you seen it? A young couple gets a flat tire on St. Helens Avenue in downtown Tacoma and stops at Club Silverstone to innocently use the phone to call for help. Once inside there just happens to be a party in progress for the creation of super-hunk, Rocky Horror, which is orchestrated by the evil transvestite scientist, Dr. Furter. Naturally he and his gang of humanoid aliens from planet Transexual wreak havoc on the couple. The rest of the story is better experienced than read. The Blue Mousketeers actors, famous for reenacting The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Tacoma's Blue Mouse Theatre, will be at Club Silverstone tonight at 7. So grab your rice, newspapers, toast and toilet paper, and hit the Silverstone to hang out with all the kinky kooks.

2. Check out the eclectic body of 33 innovative works created by Visiting Artists at the Museum of Glass from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. King's Books hosts a Banned Book Tea from 3-4:30 p.m. at Collins Memorial Library on the UPS campus.

4. This November voters will be asked to make important decisions about taxes, liquor sales, industrial insurance, and more. These decisions will have a significant impact on the lives of families throughout this state. Representatives in support of these initiative and those that oppose them will discuss the issues addressed by these ballot initiatives at 6:30 p.m. inside the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch in downtown Tacoma.

5. Maestro Gerard Schwarz, the longtime music director of the Seattle Symphony, is pretty much the shit. And we don't usually bestow such heady honors upon symphony types. Under his leadership the Seattle Symphony has become a world-class institution, and Schwarz has been repeatedly recognized for his brilliance and dedication to the craft. On a farewell tour of sorts, tonight will mark Schwarz's last Tacoma appearance before stepping down from his post at the end of the 2010-11 season. See him and his posse at 7:30 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND >>>

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Afternoon rain, hi 64, lo 51

Saturday: Rain, hi 64, lo 57

Sunday: Rain, hi 59, lo 46

>>> FRIDAY, OCT. 8-SUNDAY, OCT. 10: OKTOBERFEST NORTHWEST

Beer! Lederhosen! Beer! Bratwurst! Beer! Yodeling! Beer! Yo-Yo Man! Beer! Oktoberfest Northwest has all of these fine things, but, most importantly, it has beer.

The official opening ceremony and Tapping of the Oktoberfest Firkin by the 2008 Festmaster will take place tonight at 6:15 p.m. Incoming 2010 Festmaster Roger Mowery will toast the entire crowd and then swing a mallet into the firkin (a large wooden keg), causing the Firkin of Oktoberfest beer to pour out to signify the official beginning of the 2010 Oktoberfest Northwest. Although, beer is flowing RIGHT NOW! Other event highlights include a large Biergarten entertainment hall with national and international German bands and entertainers, authentic German cuisine, the German Corner gift section, wiener dog races and the Hammerschlagen Tournament. And don't forget to wash all that German food down with ... well, you know, beer!

• Puyallup Fairgrounds Americraft ShowPlex, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, $8, ninth and Meridian, Puyallup, 425.283.5050
  

>>> FRIDAY, OCT. 8: ANCIENT WISDOM AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE

You know those times when you want to sound intelligent? They are being confounded by all those other times you play video games or stare at the wall. The time has come to expand your mind, my friend. So pick a topic - for simplicity and convenience's sake, let's say the Confucian perspectives on wisdom - and learn something about it. Go to Dr. Michael Kalton's "Ancient Wisdom and Contemporary Life" lecture this afternoon at the University of Washington Tacoma. Practice saying interesting things very casually, and then turn the television back on. Or, you know, develop and pursue a lifelong interest in wisdom. Whatever.

• UWT's Science Building Room 309, 3 p.m., free, 1900 Commerce St., Tacoma

>>> SATURDAY, OCT. 9: TACOMA CONCERT BAND'S FANTASIA

Did J.S. Bach's Fantasia in G Minor help to inspire Disney's landmark Fantasia? A quick trip to www.imdb.com left this possible connection unconfirmed, but if you have some time on your hands, you can do your own search to satisfy your curiosity. The Tacoma Concert Band will be performing Fantasia in G Major as part of their "Fantasia" that will also include Fantasia for Harp and Concert Band by James Bingham, Greensleeves: A Fantasia for Band by Robert Smith, The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas and I Found Fantasia at Lover's Package by Seymour Butts. Actually, We can't confirm the last piece so disregard it.

• Pantages Theater, 7:30 p.m., $15-$30, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.581.5894

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

MATT DRISCOLL Editor and Fantasy Football Addict
After the madness of last weekend it might be a good time for a low-key two-day reprieve, but with the Tacoma Film Festival in full swing, and a Husky game to attend Saturday night (which will hopefully be A LOT more enjoyable than the last home Husky game - damn you, Marty Campbell and your Cornhuskers), it seems there'll be no rest for the weary. Also, another stray shopping cart just appeared in my neighborhood yesterday, so it'll be fun to see what happens with that.

PAUL SCHRAG Senior Contributor
I'm collapsing for two days.

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
This girl is excited! After many long, laborious years of bartending weekend nights, I finally get a few months of Saturdays off! Thursday and Friday I will still serve Oly all their favorite drinks, but come Saturday ... Watch out! ... I'm gonna do all kinds of fun stuff like cruise around my house in PJs, watch some movies, maybe go to bed around midnight instead of 5 a.m., snuggle with my honey, and wake up early on a rainy Sunday morning with the family. I might even cook my kid's blueberry pancakes instead of yelling at them to be quiet because mommy needs more sleep.

KRIS BLONDIN Food/Wine Writer
I might be going to Spokane with friends to look at a vacation property. Otherwise, I was told I am on restriction. Don't ask.

JENNIFER JOHNSON: Lifestyle/Leisure Writer
Today will see me running three miles as fast as I can with local man-about-town Stevie D. followed by a yoga class, a noon seminar luncheon on how to live my life better and then homework in the afternoon. Most likely I'll attend the Purple Passion Fashion Show at Surreal tonight. Repeat run and yoga on Saturday morning and then I'm taking the rest of Saturday and Sunday to winterize my yard and house, 'cause man, did it get cold suddenly.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Features Writer
Tonight, I will be moving and sweating in all sorts of ungainly ways at the New Frontier's dance party, featuring Strength and Reporter. I missed their performance at Squeak and Squawk the first time around and was forced to live vicariously through pictures of happy friends with painted faces. I won't make the same mistake twice. Now, if I could just find my dancing shoes. ...

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
I loved Harlequin's take on The Taming of the Shrew and have equally high hopes for Capitol Playhouse's production of Into the Woods.  I'll also interview burlesque artist Lily Verlaine and try to keep Chris Cantrell away from that damn Goat in the Midnight Sun.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Meat Market Correspondent
I will be spending the weekend with the kiddos, but will find time to take them to the set of Jesus4less, which is shooting a protest scene this weekend. My offspring wants a film credit.

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
Oh no, another weekend. I'm going to make final corrections on the manuscript of my new novel, Reunion at the Wetside.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

KICKIN' IT VERY OLD SCHOOL >>>

Few pastimes rival an evening at Franke Tobey Jones Retirement community when the sky is draped with stars, the air is scented with flora, and you have a full can of bug repellent ready to nail anything that buzzes within a 100-foot radius. (Yes, that includes iPhones.) So tonight, pack some Off - along with a picnic din-din - and zip out to the Northend for a night of light classics, pop music and marches from the Tacoma Concert Band, an ensemble of 60 woodwind, brass, and percussion players from the Tacoma, Seattle, and lower Puget Sound areas. I'll give that some thought when I'm flat on my blanket gnawing on a chicken leg. 

Tacoma Concert Band

Thursday, Aug. 12, 6:30 p.m., free
Frank Tobey Jones Retirement Estates
corner of Vassault and Parkway near Point Defiance Park, Tacoma

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 11, 2010 >>>

1. The Whateverly Brothers  - Chris Glannister, Matthew Moeller, Dan Roberts - will offer homemade three-layer harmonies with instrumental frosting at 7 p.m. inside A Rhapsody In Bloom Florist & Cafe Latte on Sixth Avenue. The question is, will they sing "All I Have to Do Is Whatever"?

2. The Tacoma Food Co-op presents a free screening of the film Food, Inc. at 6 p.m. inside Rausch Auditorium on the University of Puget Sound campus.

3. The Tacoma Concert Band continues on its two-county tour of parks with a stop at Olympia's Sylvester Park at 7 p.m. to pump out some J.S. Bach, Alfred Reed, Richard Wagner, John Philip Sousa and other great composers past and present for the Hackey Sackers.

4. Cotton Jones, Parson Red Head and Quiet Life play an all-ages show at 7 p.m. inside Northern.

5. Best of Tacoma 2010 DJ dAb joins DJ Sticky J for a night of house music beginning at 9 p.m. at the Surreal Ultra Lounge.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound