TIME TO DRESS UP AND PRETEND >>>

Will Jason Reitman and Up in the Air fly away with Oscar? Or will The Hurt Locker destroy the competition? James Cameron describes his Avatar - the top-grossing movie in history - as "a celebration of nature." Will this eco-adventure of woolly mammoth proportions woo academy voters based on the numbers?

These questions and more will be answered Sunday night when the national telecast of the 82nd annual Academy Awards screens at the Rialto Theater in downtown Tacoma. Rather than falling asleep on the couch before the Best Original Screenplay winners are named, movie junkies can endure the four-hour show by exchanging snarky comments in a genuine, old-fashioned movie theater at The Grand Cinema's annual Academy Awards party.

The party will begin at 4 p.m. when Tinseltown legend Quinton Loyne-Packard chats with celebrities on the Rialto Red Carpet.

What? Certainly you've heard of Mr. Loyne-Packard.

Yea, me neither. But according to the "Tinseltown legend" he's starred in many classic monster films, including the Japanese film Monster Industry, as well as District 9, Avatar and Precious. And he has the ego to match his statements.

The odd Mr. Loyne-Packard says he's co-hosting The Grand's party with Alec Baldwin and Maestro Gavin Guss Sunday. During my interview with Mr. Loyne-Packard Saturday over martinis at The Lobster Shop on Ruston Way, however, I argued Tacoma City Councilman Marty Campbell is co-hosting and not Baldwin - something I know for a fact. Mr. Loyne-Packard would have none of it.

He's quite odd. He brought a giant stuffed pink prawn and cat food to The Lobster Shop interview. Even more bizarre, we weren't kicked out.

After the red carpet action in front of the Rialto this Sunday, Mr. Loyne-Packard and Guss will perform a musical tribute to the Oscars, which most likely will be a retrospective of Mr. Loyne-Packard's film career including clips of his performances in this year's Best Picture nominees.

Promptly at 5 p.m., and most certainly involving a giant hook, Mr. Loyne-Packard will leave the stage for the televised coverage of the red carpet festivities in Hollywood followed by the Academy Awards broadcasted on the Rialto's giant screen.

Guests inside the Rialto will be given an Oscar ballot to fill out with the Grand Prize winner receiving "The Golden Ticket" - a free movie pass for a year to The Grand Cinema.

During the commercial breaks, Campbell (or Baldwin, I suppose) will give away raffle prizes and host the movie star-themed costume contest. Contest winners will score $100 El Gaucho or Maxwell's gift certificates.

The event ticket also includes box lunches courtesy of Jonz Catering, desserts courtesy of Corina Bakery, free make-up artists (4-6 p.m.) courtesy of Embellish Multispace Salon, and a chance to bid at the silent auction.

Read more...

HEADS UP, ARTSY TYPES >>>

Tacoma Art Place is running a contest that encourages amateur and professional filmmakers to create a 30 second video promoting the mission of the non-profit art center located on Hilltop Tacoma.

Video submissions are due March 8, 2010. The videos will then be uploaded to YouTube for a two-week run. The video with the most hits on YouTube wins placement on the Web sites of Tacoma Art Place and Comcast, as well as $250 cash.

Contest details can be found here.

CALLING ALL WASHINGTON STATE POETS >>>

For a poet, that first book deal with a publisher is a career milestone, a ticket into academia, a potential pathway to immortality. It's also next to impossible.

Exquisite Disarray Publishing could help make that poetry book deal a reality. The Tacoma-based literary arts organization hosts its first annual First Book Poetry Contest featuring a $200 cash prize and publish the winning manuscript as the poet's first book. The winner will also be expected to give a free, public poetry reading and poetry workshop during Tacoma's Art at Work month in November 2010. 

In addition to the winning poet's work being published; a separate contest prize of $100 cash will be awarded to the poetry manuscript submission that contains the best "Tacoma poem."

This contest is open to all Washington state residents 18 years of age and older who have not yet published a full-length book of poetry. The deadline for poetry manuscripts is May 15, 2010. Full contest guidelines and editorial contact information can be found on Exquisite's Web site.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: ART INSTITUTES BEST TEEN CHEF IN AMERICA COMPETITION >>>

If you think you're the country's best teen chef, it's time to enter the Art Institute's Best Teen Chef Competition. The contest is open to high schoolers graduating in 2010 with a GPA of 2.0 or better; applicants must sign an entry and release form by Feb. 5, and then submit their recipe entries by Feb 26.

The winner will get a full-ride scholarship to the art institute of his or choice â€" the closest to us is in Seattle â€" and will also get to be an “Intern for a day” at the Food Network kitchens in New York.

Local cook-off competitions begin April 17, 2010 and the nationals, held in Houston, will be on May 15.

MICHAEL SWAN: TACOMA RADIO STATION UP FOR A MTVU WOODIE AWARD >>>

Huh-huh, huh-huh ... I said Woodie.

Yes, mtvU's very own college kid-geared awards are back, and our own KUPS 90.1 FM out of the University of Puget Sound is in the running.

“We are pretty excited here at KUPS, because we are the smallest station in the running, our enrollment is 2,600, and the rest of the schools have 15,000 or greater, two have over 30,000,” explains Dylan Crouse, KUPS 
public marketing co-director.

KUPS is in the top 5 for the College Radio Woodie. Head over to mtvU's Web site and vote. The awards show will air on mtvU, MTV, MTV2, and Palladia on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.

LINK: KUPS DJs review albums on the Volcano's Web site

MICHAEL SWAN: THE SOUTH SOUND WINNERS ARE >>>

The first round of winners of Evening Magazine’s annual Best of Western Washington contest on King5.com have just been announced.  Here they are:

Best Indie Theater
The Grand Cinema, first place

Best Museum
Washington State History Museum, third place
Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, fifth place

Best Local Band
VII Days Clean, fourth place (beat Heart, Visqueen, Vicci Martinez, Little Bill, Death Cab)

Best Art Gallery
Museum of Glass, second place
Fulcrum Gallery, fourth place

Best Fun Place for Kids
Hands On Children’s Museum, first place

Best Day Care
Sumner Valley Preschool, fifth place

Best Children’s Clothing
SugarBabies, first place

Best Vintage and Resale
Vanity Fashion Boutique, second place
Pure Vintage Clothing, fourth place

Best Women’s Boutique
Red Line, fifth place

Best Arts and Crafts
The Bead Factory, first place

Best Book Store
King’s Books, third place

Best Comics
Olympic Cards and Comics, first place
Comic Book Ink, third place

Best Furniture
The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse, first place
Posh Home, third place

Best Records and CDs
Rainy Day Records, fourth place

Best Wedding Cakes
Celebrity Cake Studio, first place

Best Wedding Caterer
Three Chicks Catering, first place
Gayle Orth Catering, fifth place

Best Wedding Dresses
The Wedding Bell, second place

But it's not over ...

Wednesday, Oct. 28: Health and Fitness, People, Pets

Thursday, Oct. 29: Cheap Eats, Great Meals, Nightlife, Specialty Food and Drink

Friday, Oct. 30: Beauty, Where We Live, Year in Review

LINK: Best of Tacoma 2009

MICHAEL SWAN: THIS JUST IN >>>

The Puyallup Fair Media Center sent this to us:

Entries may be submitted on Saturday, Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. only, and will be received inside the grounds through the Red Gate area on 9th Ave. SW. Entries will be judged on Aug. 30.
 
Both beer and wine will be judged based upon a variety of criteria such as aroma, body, clarity, color, drinkability, flavor, method, and overall impression. Categories are based on type of beer and wine. All hobbyists must have no affiliation, past or present, with a commercial brewery or winery.
 
Judges will determine a Best in Show from First Place winners. A cash prize is given to First, Second, and Best in Show standings.

For more information on contest entry and rules, visit www.thefair.com. Click on Puyallup Fair, and then proceed to Exhibit Entries followed by Amateur Beer and Wine Making. For further questions please contact the Puyallup Fair Entry office at (253) 841-5017 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

STEPH DEROSA: MY TWO CENTS >>>

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.  King 5's Best of Western Washington winners were announced.  Here's what I have to say about that:  Congrats to the winners! You absolutely deserve it, and to the businesses who did not win: Who cares?  You rock in my world.  That's really all that should matter, right?  Humor me.

After spending almost an hour going through pages and pages of local nominees for Best of Western Washington, I eventually had to stop due to cramping in the frontal bultidreshia lobe of my brain.  That's the part of the brain that detects utterly pointless bullshit.

Here are the establishments who scored the popular online web votes in order to collect the ultimate title of "WINNER".  Can't say I disagree with these winners, they are all some of my favorite places in Tacoma:

Savi Day Spa, Mad Hat Tea Company and Celebrity Cake Studios.  McCabe's was the winner for Best Dance Club (with only 10 reviews), while McCabe's bartender Candy W. won for "Best Bartender in Seattle".  Dang, now we're considered "Seattle"  Or are the bartenders just that shitty up north that they have to include Tacoma's in order to have something that's "the best"?

Get this: Seahawks won for "Best Sports Team" (yawn), while the Sea Gals lost out to winner of "Best Cheer Squad" to youth organization Liberty Bell Cheerleading Squad. See now?  I'm almost positive the Sea Gals are better cheerleaders, but I'll be damned if that little cheer squad didn't rally up their friends to vote online.  For that, I suppose they deserve that illustrious Best of Western Washington title.

Fife High School won for "Best School Spirit".  That is something that surely deserves to win.  Voting for your school definitely proves you have spirit.  YAY Fife Hi!

Sanford and Son is now considered by King 5 as "Best Museum in Seattle" and Fort Nisqually Living History Museum as "Best Museum in Seattle".  Again with the "Seattle" thing:  Isn't this the "Best of Western Washington"?  Or are we now considering anything west of Snoqualmie Pass "Seattle"?  Grrrr.

Now onto the "TOP 5" local winners:

Tempest Lounge, Doyle's Public House, The Rock, Paddy Coyne's, Quickie Too, Grand Cinema, Varsity Grill, Indochine, Infinate Soups, Handful of Luvin', Beyond the Bridge Café, The Mix, Pacific Grill, and Asado.  Personally I think all of those are the "best of" one thing or another.

Over 50 local business (that I'm familiar with) were nominated but did not win.  I'm not thinking of the obscene quantity of dentists, photographers, event planners, and auto shops that were listed, I'm thinking of retail and dining for the most part:

Goodfella- Amazing steaks, hands down.
Hess Bakery- Authentic German Bakery galore.
Pour at Four- Wonderful small plates, extensive wine knowledge.
Embellish- C'mon now.  They rock.
Rosewood Cafè- Family friendly, personable, neighborhood-oriented, and yummy.
Crown Bar- Have you ever had their Caesar Salad?
Corina Bakery- Dessert Bars.  Try one.
South Sound Running-" Wouldn't buy my running shoes anywhere else.
Galanga Thai Cuisine- Fresh and authentic.
Monsoon Room- Cozy and warm.  Plus they have a great bar.
Babblin Babs- Organic, local, top-of-the-line cuisine.
Maxwell's- YUM.
Satellite Coffee- Seriously?  Should've won.
Clover Leaf- Thin crust Americanized pizza pie at it's best.
Parkway Tavern- Extensively diverse beer selection.
Red Hot- Whatever with not winning.  They are the best of everything, no doubt.
Puget Sound Pizza- Speechless.  I love Puget Sound Pizza.
Sea Grill- Awesome lunches, big windows overlooking Pacific Ave, great service.
Bikram Yoga- If you've never been, you should go.
Posh Home- Her eclectic, tasteful selection changes every time I go in.  I love it.
The Swiss- Bands, parties, drinks, and bartenders- all of them tasty.

Thankfully this year's Best of Western Washington is over.  Everybody is a winner in my book.  It may be a little black book filled with coffee stains and lipstick smudges, but it's my book and I'm proud of everyone in it.

Like I said, I had to stop after an hour of repetitive scrolling so if I missed anyone - I apologize.  Oh, and there are no links in this blog for you to click on.  It's obvious there were way too many to hook up.  Instead, I say to you:

SUZY STUMP: WIN FREE STUFF >>>

Win a free bag full of market goods at the Tacoma Farmers Market as part of the Washington State Farmers Market Week Challenge. Come to the Farmers Market Booth, located in front of LeRoy Jewelers on Broadway, to pick up a Challenge Flyer for details and more information on how to enter to win a free bag of market goods. 

BRAD ALLEN: GIVEAWAY >>>

UPDATE: Thanks everyone. The tickets are gone.

Win tickets to see Mike Ness TONIGHT! at the Showbox At The Market in Seattle.

We’re giving away three pairs of tickets to tonight’s Mike Ness show to the first three people to email us that can correctly name The Adolescents' song title that describes the one-bedroom apartment Ness once lived in.

Winners will be notified by 2 p.m. this afternoon!