FREE EVENTS IN THE SOUTH SOUND NOV. 28-DEC. 3 >>>

Oh man, Bobble Tiki loves outer space, UFOs, lizard people from the 5th Dimension walking among us and everything X-Files. Many times Bobble Tiki has hopped around the Arizona desert, searching for clues and bunkers and spacecraft wreckage and secret codes written on tablets of transparent zirconium. And look! Northwest expert James Clarkson is lecturing this week. Righteous. In his honor, Bobble Tiki presents a week of free outer-space-ISH events in happening in the South Sound.

MONDAY, NOV. 28: Every Monday DJ Melodica spins punk, post punk, New Wave and early electronica tunes during Micro Mondays at Magoo's Annex in Tacoma. Bobble Tiki can only assume Melodica will spin "space" music by Aphex Twins, Thomas Dolby, Enigma, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, and, of course, "Space Age Love Song." The free music begins at 8:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, NOV. 29: Once Sold Tales Bookstore Outlet in Kent allows those 18 and younger to take home free five books from 60,000 titles from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. as a way to encourage reading in the next generation. Bobble Tiki expects The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, The Sky Is Full of Stars, Binky The Space Cat, Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space and Colonization Of Psychic Space: A Psychoanalytic Social Theory Of Oppression and to be among the choices.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30: Yes! James Clarkson, a career investigator and UFOlogist will discuss cases of unidentified flying objects in the Northwest and ideas on the nature of non-human intelligence for free at 7:30 p.m. inside the Olympia Timberland Library. Is anyone else suddenly picturing Gillian Anderson in a black dress with a white duster?

THURSDAY, DEC. 1: This might be stretching this week's theme but Bobble Tiki believes mediation is an attempt to build on your inner consciousness so that you have an enhanced awareness of both your valid existence and your rightful relationship to the infinite cosmos. At 7 p.m. inside The Nalanda Institute Dharma Center in Olympia, a free class will be held on "Contemplative Science, Dharma Practice from a Research Perspective," These teachings are based on recent collaborative research studies between Buddhist scholars/meditators and western researchers.

FRIDAY, DEC. 2: Space is the place. The Future Bass maestros of intelligent electronica descend upon the Tempest Lounge for a cover-free night so intense that mere dancing is not sufficient. DJs BROAM, Bobby Galaxy and Sound Selector E.S. present the latest and future of electronic music while immersed in a lush environment of projected video and live visuals. The spaceship takes off at 9:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, DEC. 3: As Hollywood's bottomless recycling bin continues along the dark path of rebooting, relaunching, CGI-ing and 3D-ing an entire generation of young executives' childhood memories into franchise-ready properties, Jim Henson's iconic creations have hit recently returned to the big screen with The Muppets. In celebration the Lakewood Pierce County Library will celebrate The Muppets with Muppet movies, including Muppets From Space, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: 2011 South Sound Holiday Happenings

THURSDAY, NOV. 24, 2011 >>>

1. Wake up Grandpa Joe, grab yourself an Everlasting Gobstopper, and burp your way over to The Acme Grub Cage for DJ Aaron Mack's "Thanksgiving Escape Plan," beginning at 8 p.m. He invites everyone over for a night of music and drinking - cover free. Mack is even willing to spin your music.

2. Fantasy Lights will, once again, open its drive-through holiday lights display Thanksgiving night. The two and a quarter mile long parade of lit-up scenery has its own peculiar sense of majesty, and it goes without saying that it's the perfect treat for a family to soak up the holiday spirit. The lights pop on at Spanaway County Park at 5:30 p.m.

3. The Parkway Tavern in Tacoma will host a winter beer extravaganza beginning at 5 p.m. Be prepared to drink: Jolly Roger 2010, Schooner Exact Hoppy the Woodsman 2009 and 2010, Avery The Beast, Lost Abbey Angel's Share, Russian River Temptation, Sierra/Dogfish Life and Limb 2, 21st Amendment Hop Crisis, Avery duganA, Bear Republic Racer X, Boneyard Femme Fatale, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Southern Tier Crème Brûlée, Southern Tier Pumking (bottles) and Stone Double Bastard.

4. Emerald Queen Casino hosts something called Thanksgiving Asia Fest featuring Dan Truong, Truong Vu, Nguyen Khang and Ho Le Thu beginning at 6 p.m. 

5. Westgate Bar and Grill Tacoma - Northend. Tacoma's guitar legend Jerry Miller and his band will rock the Westgate Bar and Grill beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Go see a movie

FREE EVENTS FOR THE WEEK NOV. 21-27 >>>

Well, the spirit of Christmas is lurking around Freeloadersland, giving Bobble Tiki a wedgie. Bobble Tiki has already seen It's a Wonderful Life three times and the Christmas tunes are making him cross-eyed. And Bobble Tiki loves it! The trees are decorated, the stockings are hung and the egg is nogged. And in that spirit, Bobble Tiki has a lot of love and news to give, gentle reader, so sit back, pull that Santa hat up from your eyes and enjoy these free events this week in the South Sound.

MONDAY, NOV. 21: Ahh, Thanksgiving. Picture Bobble Tiki's festive holiday scene in your mind. Mom and dad are fighting over the giblets, again. Grandma's working on her 12th vodka gimlet and grandpa has followed Aunt Ho into the bathroom with the video camera. Downstairs, the kids are fighting over who gets to break the wishbone. Sure, it's 87-year-old Uncle Milikona's fragile collarbone, but now that television has supplanted actual parenting, no one cares. Well Uncle Milikona does, but he's already signed the will giving everything to some (gasp!) charity so no one will come to his aid anyhow. Meanwhile, there's a catfight a-brewing in the kitchen as the women in the family pick sides (well, except Aunt Ho, she's still in the bathroom) to fight to the death over who has the damn Tupperware. Every year someone brings Tupperware to collect leftovers and every freakin' year it disappears. Well this year someone's gonna die unless Bobble Tiki's entire family attends the 10:30 a.m. Avoid Those Holiday Blues Class at the Mill Ridge Village Retirement Community in Milton.

TUESDAY, NOV. 22: When Bobble Tiki thinks of stained glass, he thinks of Bruce and Peggy of Walden Designs. The Olympia couple has a showroom inside Sanford and Son Antiques displaying their centuries old traditional techniques of stained and kiln fired art glass - holiday style. Head for Tacoma's Antique Row and check out their handcrafted holiday show.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23: Doyle's Public House hosts its annual Bad Sweater Party Wednesday night giving away prizes for the ugliest holiday sweaters. Santa has the details here.

THURSDAY, NOV. 24: Bobble Tiki can picture it.  First the turkey, then the stuffing, and of course the cranberry sauce . . . and you won't be able to resist the sweet potatoes with the little marshmallows. Afterward, you'll be collapsed on the couch with your pants unbuttoned, swatting helplessly at the bottle of Tums on the table. Bobble Tiki has a suggestion for you. Wake up Grandpa Joe, grab yourself an Everlasting Gobstopper, and burp your way over to The Acme Grub Cage for DJ Aaron Mack's "Thanksgiving Escape Plan," beginning at 8 p.m. He invites everyone over for a night of music and drinking - cover free. Mack is even willing to spin your music.

FRIDAY, NOV. 25: Every single one-day-at-a-time day is a struggle, particularly around the holidays - specifically during Black Friday. Bobble Tiki knows there are seven habits to becoming a highly effective person, 50 ways to leave your lover and 12 steps to sobriety. But after years and years as a recovering believer in Santa Claus, Bobble Tiki has to ask, "When will it end?" He can't let it go. And there's no better place to get into the holiday spirit than the brand spanking new Franciscan Polar Plaza in downtown Tacoma. Opening Nov. 25, and running through Jan. 2 at Tollefson Plaza, Polar Plaza gives the community an opportunity to come together and make memories to last a lifetime. The center of the holiday festivities is an outdoor ice rink, which costs money and doesn't have a home here in Freeloadersland. At the heart of Polar Plaza will be music, special holiday events, decorations, Christmas trees, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Just go, hang and get in the spirit.

SATURDAY, NOV. 26: America seems to have no real idea who the hell we are anymore, or what it means to have a humane and thoughtful national identity, and therefore we happily scratch and claw and fight our way into giant fluorescent-lit hellpits for a chance at a $31 DVD player and some crappy plasma TVs and a pallet of heavily discounted spatulas. Enter the Jada-Moon Gridley-created Gritty City Gift Fair, where local artists and crafters will offer their one-of-a-kind fairs - plus music and refreshments - from 3-9 p.m. at the 906 Broadway space in downtown Tacoma. Santa has more details here.

SUNDAY, NOV. 27: Olympia's Downtown for the Holidays is a day filled with fun and entertainment, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Most activities are centered in and about Sylvester Park, which will include free horse-drawn wagon rides with Mrs. Claus, a holiday parade (3 p.m.), and a tree-lighting ceremony.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Santa Says Blog

THURSDAY, NOV. 10, 2011 >>>

1. We'll just come right out and say it: you don't have anything to do tonight that's going to top Skanksgiving at The Swiss. It's not that you're lame ... necessarily ... it's just that Skanksgiving promises to be pretty damn spectacular. A benefit for Pierce County's Emergency Food Network, where else are you going to find an officially sanctioned Pimps and Ho's of History Contest promising "stupid prizes"? Where else are you going to find an officially sanctioned Tacoma Gets Smashed piñata? Where else are you going to find Ten Miles of Bad Road on a Thursday night? Absolutely nowhere. Skanksgiving begins at 7 p.m.

2. South Puget Sound Community College presents its musical dessert theatre "Broadway & Beyond" at 8 p.m. inside the Washington Center. The theme of this year's festivities, which will again feature delectable food and entertainment, is "The War Years," promising in pre-event hype to feature plenty of Broadway favorites. Tough to go wrong there. Running through next weekend, event organizers say to expect a performance that caters "to literal tastes as well as those in the arts."

3. Do you like drag kings and queens? They've 'em, hanging low and taped up high. Do you like singing show tunes? Do you like disco? Do you like to shoot pool? There's a table in the lower level. But the Weekly Volcano digs The Mix's Thursday night karaoke where you can sing it loud, sister. There's a big book and after a couple $5 Jagerbombs or $5 vodka Red Bulls (Thursday night specials), you know "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys is coming out.

4. Hell's Kitchen hosts the Mack 10's Hoo Bangin Records Tour featuring Ruka Puff, Black 300, Mike G & M.A.R., Yellow Lines, JMar Da Sik, Young Cash, Tray Black, Monoply, Lil' Keife, P.S.B. and C.H. at 9 p.m.

5. DJ Aaron Mack will be spinning '80s tunes at 9 p.m. inside The Acme Grub Cage in Tacoma. Go work the stripper pole.

LINK: This weekend's freebies

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight

SATURDAY, OCT. 29, 2011 >>>

1. After you're done stuffing yourself on those Mars bars that were supposed to end up in the kids' tummies, press stop on the Black Sabbath tape and ride your sugar rush into the cool midnight air to The Brotherhood Lounge and/or The New Frontier Lounge. Both joins celebrate Halloween tonight with DJs spinning scary good tunes. At Olympia's BroHo, DJ Ira Coyne works the Halloween Ball with a $3 cover, which half goes to Planned Parenthood. At the New Frontier, Pacific Fusion Productions presents Nightmare on E. 25^th Street featuring DJ dAb, The New Law, Mikey Z, Dyonysys and Kalex for $8, which includes a costume contest.

2. Susan Rohrer, the manager of the State Capital Museum, will lead a walking tour from 2-3 p.m. exploring famous deaths, weird occurrences and creepy history around Olympia's South Capitol neighborhood.  Rohrer says the tour, which costs $2 and is first come first serve, sticks mostly to the facts of deaths and odd occurrences, but can't help but wander into eerie speculation occasionally.

3. Former Lakewood Playhouse Executive Director Marcus Walker's passing earlier this year rocked the South Sound. Last night the community held a candlelight gathering at in front of the Lakewood Playhouse followed by a street renaming ceremony for "Marcus Walker Way" in front of the theater. Tonight at 5 p.m. is the Marcus Walker Birthday Party followed by at 7 p.m. Youth Actors Performance & Our Youth Theatre Production of Robin Hood.

4. Even though Halloween is Monday, the undead will be starting the party early as peddling and mumbling stiffs will take over the streets of Tacoma tonight. The Reaper Ride, a costumed pub crawl on bikes - a spooky peloton if you will - will begin with drinks at 7 p.m. inside The Red Hot on Sixth Avenue. Then, riders dressed as skeletons - costumes are strongly encouraged - will peddle to the next bar - which is a mystery as the bar route will not be exhumed until just before the ride.

5. In 1982, nine-time Grammy award winning band Asleep at the Wheel featured Paul Anastasio on fiddle and Dan Tyack on steel guitar. Anastasio went on to play with Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn amongst man others, while Tyack honed his chops playing in the Sacred Steel tradition and recording with musical giants like Bill Frisell. At 8 p.m., after almost 30 years, these two masters will take the stage together again at Traditions Café in Olympia. They will be backed up by Vince Brown on guitar and Cary Black on bass.

PLUS: 3 Glorias Flamenco en Vivo and The Hound of the Baskervilles in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine tastings today

TURN UP, TUNE IN AND GET DOWN >>>

Slip on your Cleopatra Jones afro or your grandpa's toupee and slide on over to Tempest Lounge tonight for rare funk and soul tracks from dAb and Bobby Galaxy. The dynamic duo's Rare Groove will fill the hip lounge with rubbery grooves caked in stardust.

The space ship will land at 9:30 p.m. with a continuous big and funky set and more endurance than Methusela and Abebe Bikila combined.

[Tempest Lounge, Friday, Oct. 14, 9:30 p.m., no cover, 913 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma, 253.272.4904]

LINK: Drop in on this

FRIDAY, OCT. 14, 2011 >>>

1. Show up at Jazzbones at 8 p.m. and you'll encounter a pulsing, breathing, three-pronged attack of art-meets-music. The gist of this gig won't be much different than the image the name conjures up, combining the mastery of the "violinistextremist" known as Kytami, billed as "perhaps Canada's most diverse and engaging fiddle player," the DJ skills of The Phonograff, a venerable turntable wizard with almost two decades of experience in the game, and reggae-bred mic-master Mista Chatman - mixing the varied ingredients into a sight and sound rarely seen.

2. Sorry fans of Pearl Harbor and The Prime Gig - the Gig Harbor Film Festival doesn't include "Gig" and "Harbor" flicks. Instead, the three-day festival will include today's screenings of Family of the Wa'a (10:25 a.m.), Paint (2:30 p.m.), A Relative Thing (5:45 p.m.), OxyMorons (8:45 p.m.) plus many more that include features, documentaries, shorts, and foreign films at the Galaxy Theatre at Uptown.  We have call into the festival folks regarding the rumor that For Whom the Bridge Tolls will screen.

3. This weekend bird lovers from far and wide will flock (get it?) to Tacoma for the 8th annual Bird Lovers' Weekend at the Museum of Glass. Events kick off today with bird-related art activities in the Studio, Oiva Toikka documentary in the Theater, "Birds by Toikka" glass bird-making demonstrations by Tero Välimaa in the Hot Shop and Professor Toikka;s new, limited-edition bird is available for purchase in the Museum Store.

4. Sandra Sunrising Osawa, whose prolific films and television productions tell the stories of contemporary Native Americans, will deliver the keynote speech at the Contemporary Native American Issues in Higher Education symposium at 2 p.m., in Philip Hall on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

5. Criticizing a poet is like kicking a crippled child in the groin. It's not pretty, and it doesn't solve anything. That's what we love about tonight's Distinguished Writer Series, which hits King's Books at 7 p.m. After the featured poet - Ed Harkness, author of poetry collections Saying the Necessary and Beautiful Passing Lives -you can stand up on stage and let it all hang out during the open mic without a single vegetable whizzing by.

PLUS: Several events today listed in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

THURSDAY, OCT. 13, 2011 >>>

1. There's something to be said for how far a modicum of confident swagger will take you. Rooftop Warrior understands this principle and uses it to good effect when it employs classic-rock-indebted gutter-blues tonight at Hell's Kitchen. Vigilante Sol and Devil On A Leash join the 6 p.m. bill, which is free.

2. Tacoma's Toy Boat Theatre Company opens The Zoo Story at 7 p.m. in its Spaceworks Tacoma spot on Hilltop Tacoma. The play, which explores newly relevant themes of isolation, loneliness, and dehumanization in a volatile and unstable world, serves as the theatrical centerpiece for an evening that begins with a "zoo-themed" dinner (think hot dog cart, popcorn stand, standard day-at-the-park fare) and ends with live music by a series of dynamic local artists.

3. Want to see and hear Karen Smitherman and Anders Ibsen face off? Want to see Ryan Mello tell it how it is? Want to see David Boe and Mike Hardy spar on the tough issues, like whether those stoned on weed are easier to deal with than drunks? You'll have just such a chance today as the University of Washington Tacoma sponsors and hosts a Tacoma City Council candidates roundtable forum, moderated by the League of Women Voters and presented by UWT's Politics Philosophy and Economics faculty and Student Club beginning at 7 p.m. inside the UW-Tacoma's Carwein Auditorium. Get out. Get informed. And then vote in November.

4. The Pacific Lutheran University Theater Department opens its brand new studio theater at 7:30 p.m. with The Fantasticks, the story of a young boy and girl who fall madly in love at the hands of their meddling parents, but soon grow restless and stray from one another.

5. The Surreal Ultra Lounge in downtown Tacoma hosts a 9:30 p.m. hip-hop/R&B after party for the early Nate Jackson Comedy Show, which is hosted at the Varsity Grill. Everyone enters with a smile; many leave with two smiles.

PLUS: Check out the free archery lesson today in our Freeloaders

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TUESDAY, OCT. 11, 2011 >>>

1. We have the Fourth of July, Mexico has Cinco de Mayo, and Ireland has St. Patrick's Day. When it came time for Germany to claim a holiday, they figured, why not just celebrate beer for a month? Touché, Germany. But since most of us can't make our way to Munich this year, bars and restaurants around the South Sound have been bringing Oktoberfest to us. Tonight, it's the Crown Bar's turn focusing all its beer energy on Tacoma's Burris Brewery. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., enjoy these local beers with currywurst and schnitzel sandwiches, raffle prizes and growlers to go. Prizes awarded for Lederhosen wearers!

2. This fall, Tacoma's favorite Victorian-style glass conservatory offers a botanical montage of madness, paralysis and death. The exhibit Wicked Plants: An Exhibit of the Deliciously Dark Side of the Plant Kingdom features deadly flora that would please a homicidal 19th-century botanist. The W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory exhibit is inspired by Amy Stewart's bestseller Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, a much-needed compendium of plants that rack up body counts. Go see it from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., if you dare.

3. Are you young? Are you professional? Yeah, neither are we, but that doesn't mean we can't tell you about a mixer hosted by the Young Professionals Network of Tacoma-Pierce County from 5:30-8 p.m. at The Hub Events Space. If you have a drive to succeed in business AND a passion for serving the community, this is your chance to meet your people.

4. In celebration of the new Chinese Reconciliation Park and Pavilion on the waterfront in Old Town Tacoma, the famous Classical Tuesdays series kicks off the season with the US China Music Ensemble. The night begins at 5:45 p.m. with a lion dance the Pavilion. Forty-five minutes later the dancers will escort the crowd to the Slavonian Hall where Warren Chang and the US China Music Ensemble will kick off the 7th season performing on traditional Chinese instruments including the pipa, erhu, dizi, and guzheng. 

5. The Washington Center hosts the National Geographic Live! speaker series featuring Kenny Broad discussing "Beyond the Invisible: Secrets of the Blue Holes" at 7:30 p.m.

PLUS: The Tacoma Science Café is tonight. Details in the Freeloaders.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

MONDAY, OCT. 10, 2011 >>>

1. Over the years musician Rosco Wuestewald has set of groups of musicians in different regions to back him as a way to battle the high cost of touring. This indie-folk project, Onward, etc. hits the Mandolin Cafe at 6 p.m. Drop in and see who's in the band.

2. Drop in on Meditation Monday at the Lakewood Progressive Spiritual Center, or "The Center," to those in the know. The relaxation runs from 6-8 p.m. and will cost you $10. There is a punch card option.

3. Tuesday, A Perfect Life will screen at the Tacoma Film Festival. Tonight, from 8-11 p.m. at The Swiss, Joe Rosati, Heidi Vladyka and China Davis (the band responsible for A Perfect Life's soundtrack) will be at the Swiss to celebrate. Good times are guaranteed for all.

4. Are you ready for Toxic Karaoke? Not even sure what Toxic Karaoke is? Find out tonight at Lady Luck Cowgirl Up Steakhouse and Saloon.

5. The Royal Lounge Olympia hosts The Greta Jane Quartet for its last show celebration at 9:30 pm.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Freeloaders for the week