SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2010 >>>

1. How many folks out there knew Tacoma hosts one of the biggest and best rugby 7's tournament in the entire region? For the last 33 years, Tacoma has hosted a summer 7's tournament featuring some of the best male rugby teams in the area. What's especially exciting about this year's event, however, is it will feature women's 7's teams for the very first time, drawing six of the top female rugby teams in the Northwest. The action goes down at the Portland Avenue Play Fields in East Tacoma beginning at 9 a.m.

2. Following the success of last year's inaugural run, the Proctor Farmers' Market Art-A-Thon is back from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., where artists will once again display their work and techniques in hopes you'll be inspired enough to donate - with the money going to F.I.S.H.

3. China Davis, The Lillie Bros, and Stoned Evergreen Traveller perform at the 7 Seas Brewing one-year anniversary party from noon to 8 p.m. at the brewery in Gig Harbor.

4. Art matters. Suckers for a good pun, we mention this in relation to Olympia's most sustainable gallery, Matter, which opened in September 2009 and prides itself on featuring "recycled, reclaimed and responsibly harvested materials." From 4-7 p.m., join Matter for a "Midsummer Gathering," which will reportedly include light refreshments and, more importantly, a chance to mingle with the many artists who make Matter such a sight to see in Olympia. Michael Gray and Vince Brown will provide music.

5. The zombie movie master George Romero is back with a new creative trek into the flesh-eating genre of horror. In Survival of the Dead we are whisked to an island off Delaware that's been spared from the zombie apocalypse. Here we meet two families: the O'Flynns and the Muldoons; one believes in zombie annihilation, while the other stands for zombie rehabilitation, as they wait for a wished-for cure. As both clans spar over their appointed causes, there are lots of shocking scares and inventive zombie killings in this subtle treatise on capital punishment cleverly disguised as a quasi-zombie western. Watch it in all its gory at midnight inside the Capitol Theater in Olympia.

LINK: We listed a couple more ideas in The Weekend Hustle

LINK: Concert go on sale today

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>>

Is it August already? Well, no, not technically - but by the end of the weekend it will be. The bottom line is summertime's a wastin', whether the sun is out or not. You'd be well advised to take full advantage of your fleeting moments of freedom.

With that in mind, here's another installment of the Prefunk, a weekly guide to weekend fun with you and your liver in mind - with a picture of an alcoholic household pet thrown in for good measure (and because it's funny).

Enjoy.

National Dance Day/ Pierce County Dances Together

Saturday, July 31

I'll shoot straight. I had NO IDEA there was such a thing as "National Dance Day." And even if I HAD known there was such a thing as "National Dance Day," I surely wouldn't have suspected that it's, "being recognized with an official act of Congress after being created by Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer and co-creator of the FOX series So You Think You Can Dance."

Oh, but it's true - unless the Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitor Bureau is sending out really funny fake press releases.

And they're not.

No, rather, Saturday is the first annual "National Dance Day," and all this prodded moving and shaking is the creation of the minds behind So You Think You Can Dance. Apparently, at locations all across the country, counties and townships so desperate for any spotlight that even having constituents filmed in mall parking lots doing a poor rendition of the cha-cha sounds appealing will engage in mass dance demonstrations, all in an aim to "empower, challenge and inspire everyone to try various styles of dance," according to the press release.

So You Think You Can Dance will be filming these mass dance spectacles, and the best-looking and/or least pathetic towns and counties will be featured on an upcoming episode of the show.

Yes, Piece County is getting in on the action. Naturally! On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon in the South Hill Mall parking lot in front of Competitive Edge, a swath of Pierce County's dancing hopefuls will gather to dance their asses off and hopefully end up on TV - calling the event "Pierce County Dances Together."

Here are the details:

So You Think You Can Dance will be filming National Dance Day events around the country to air on an upcoming episode of the show. If our community is chosen to appear on the show Pierce County will earn nation-wide recognition.

Join the Tacoma Regional Convention + Visitor Bureau [TRCVB] at "Pierce County Dances Together" from 10 a.m. to noon on July 31, 2010 at South Hill Mall in Puyallup. Dance festivities will be held in the parking lot in front of Competitive Edge, near the 9th Street SW entrance.

Be a part of the county's largest Cha-Cha Slide. The TRCVB is working with community partners to encourage the support of dance and the healthy benefits it provides. This opportunity to participate in National Dance Day will bring together individuals, families, organizations and communities through creative expression in dance.  So You Think You Can Dance is going on tour this fall and will be performing at the Tacoma Dome on Nov. 6, 2010.

Dances include:

•            Dance group performances

•            Zumba instruction

•            Pierce County's largest Cha-Cha Slide

•            Free-style dance

"Pierce County Dances Together" encourages everyone to get up and move in a place where all dance styles are welcomed. Join the fun - this event is free and open to the public. For more information visit www.traveltacoma.com.

PREFUNK:

There's Krispy Crème in that same parking lot.

With a drive through, I believe.

Just saying...

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

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Partly cloudy, hi 79, lo 53

Saturday: Partly cloudy, hi 73, lo 54

Sunday: Partly cloudy, hi 74, lo 54

>>> FRIDAY, JULY 30: FRIDAY AT THE FORT

Over the years, the Weekly Volcano has heard tales of an inexplicable summertime condition.  When the sun is shining, we're told, some people lose their appetites. They all have some ridiculous excuse. Some refuse to sweat and eat at the same time. Sissies. Others say they're too busy. Whatever. Still others pull out the old "it's swimsuit season" excuse. Foolish vanity.  The best we can figure is that they all have heatstroke and aren't quite right in the head. After experimenting, we have reached an indisputable scientific conclusion - When the sun is shining, things just taste better. Prove our theory at the Friday at the Fort event inside the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum's fence. Pampeana will serve their delicious empanadas, 7 Seas Brewing will be pouring pints full of goodness while Irish band Mooncoyne jams.

• Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, 6-9 p.m., $5-$7, Point Defiance Park, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, 253.591.5339

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 31: BEST OF THE NORTHWEST COMMUNITY FESTIVAL

The Tacoma Art Museum hosts a free community arts celebration Saturday centered around a "Best" theme. Hey(!) Copycats. Anyway, hear a dozen local performers under the wing of Billy Farmer, build and fly a kite, create outdoor chalk art, create a landscape, and more.

• Tacoma Art Museum, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272. 4258
  

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 31: ART-A-THON

Mobilize the Proctor Art Gallery into artistic and social action; reserve some booths at the Proctor Farmers' Market, and do it all to benefit one of the most worthy causes you'll find - F.I.S.H. Food Banks - and you have an event worth repeating. Following the success of last year's inaugural run, the Proctor Farmers' Market Art-A-Thon is back this weekend, where artists will once again display their work and techniques in hopes you'll be inspired enough to donate - with the money going to F.I.S.H.

• Proctor Farmers' Market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., 27^th and North Proctor Street, Tacoma, fishfoodbanks.org

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 31-SUNDAY, AUG. 1: 24 HOUR ZINE THING

Magazines have been around in one form or another throughout history. In Elizabethan England, there were small chapbooks of Shakespeare's text. In colonial America, there were pamphlets by people like Thomas Paine. In this modern world, with its easily accessible technology, print media has morphed into zines, a sort of alternative, personalized media. Come see how other people express themselves during the 24 Hour Zine Thing, hear zinesters read from their work (3:30 p.m. Sunday) and maybe even make your own zine - in 24 hours. Yup, the event runs for 24 hours straight.

• Northern, 5:30 p.m. Saturday to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.352.0595

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

MATT DRISCOLL Editor and Don Draper Hair Double
Sadly, I wont be doing anything terribly exciting this weekend. Even more distressing, I can't even make jokes about mowing my lawn anymore as my lawnmower was stolen last weekend, surely by a pack of metal-scavenging tweakers. My wife leaves for a month in Germany on Sunday, so all-in-all it's lining up to be a crap-sandwich of a weekend. Not to be a downer or anything. Party on, Wayne.

PAUL SCHRAG Senior Contributor
I'm spending the weekend camping with all the Olympia-Seattle-Portland homies. There will be debauchery.

NIKKI TALOTTA Feature Writer
This weekend I will be kicking myself in the ass for not making the Best of 2010 3-D party at Masa and devising a way to use duct tape and PBS to babysit my kids for any future parties with the Volcano. I will also be serving up delicious drinks at one of the best bars in Oly.

THE REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Feature Writer
I will work on several projects including, but not limited to, practicing my breathing in an effort to expunge the experience of having watched Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore. At some point, I will no doubt end up at the New Frontier, as per usual. Rock and drink.

On Saturday night I will be driving a Weekly Volcano and Sparks Firehouse Deli sponsored yellow school bus while hosting a good ol' Tacoma bar crawl. The bar crawl was purchased at an auction benefiting the Children's Museum of Tacoma and will visit some of my favorite bars including Top of Tacoma, The Swiss, Meconi's, Harmon Tap Room, Doyle's and The Red Hot.

JOE IZENMAN Music/Theater Critic
Saturday night and 6th Ave is where it's at: catching Jake Westhoff's acoustic stylings at Cork (Volcano-confirmed Best Wine Bar In Tacoma) at 9 p.m., then following him down the street to O'Malley's for Where Sails Meet Rails and Sordid Sentinels at 10. Rock music will be balanced by extreme nerdery as I spend Sunday moving Comic Book Ink to its new location and playing Dungeons & Dragons. Because that's how I roll. With a d20.

KRIS BLONDIN Food/Wine Writer
Co-chillin' Mason County style at Philips Lake with some friends. Drinkin', eatin', swimmin' and perhaps some pyrotechnics will be involve. Most likely in that order. We will try to wait a proper 30 minutes after eating before we swim.

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
My beloved turned 30-plus Monday, so we'll be celebrating by – well, that's a surprise. I'm indulging in some top-secret shenanigans for an upcoming cover article. And last but not least, I'll be rippin' and tearin'.

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
I'm going to the Funkin' Fun Benefit Dance with Func Pro Tunc for Olympia Therapist Beth Fischer at the 4th Ave Tav.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

BOBBLE TIKI THINKS HE'S READY >>>

Bobble Tiki knows life will change.  He knows travel will become a bitch and daily walks will become imperative and going out for a beer sans canine for hours on end will become slightly pressured and more urgent, because Bobble Tiki knows he's gotta get home at some point so the dog doesn't think he's dead and eat all of the wicker and find the credit cards and start ordering streaming cat porn.

Bobble Tiki knows the automobile will smell permanently of dander, and Bobble Tiki knows that since he wears a lot of black (mandatory for writers - it says so in the manual) it is wise not to get a white dog or Bobble Tiki will spend the next nine years with one of those sticky lint roller things in one hand and a Hoover in the other.

Bobble Tiki also knows there are exactly 12,000 books on proper training techniques and there are as many schools of thought on how to raise a great dog as there are religions (and, by extension, fanatical followers of both), and he knows they are all absolutely correct, and yet, none is absolutely correct because every dog is different and if they weren't we'd be very very bored and probably switch to parrots or ferrets or vampires.

So, Bobble Tiki will attend today's Dog-A-Thon at Fort Steilacoom Park looking for answers amongst the thousands of dog freaks picking up their "best friends'" crap. Bobble Tiki is ready. He just hopes the dog is.

Dog-A-Thon

Saturday, July 24, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Fort Steilacoom Park, 87th and Steilacoom Boulevard, Lakewood
253.284.5811

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010 >>>

1. It's time again for Ethnic Fest, an annual event that's brought Pierce County's diversity together in celebration since 1986. Some of the best festival feeding you'll find, as well as visual arts, performing arts, dance, crafts and fun into two days of multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-adjective-for-awesome action from noon to 7 p.m. in Wright Park. Sealing the deal: Ethnic Fest is free.

2. Not many things go together as well as a beautiful weekend and classic, tricked-out, pimped-out hot rods. Luckily, the Pacific Northwest Nationals hot rod show  - presented by Goodguys Rod & Custom Association - will rev up at the Puyallup Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

3. Tacoma's all women, flat track roller derby league - the Dockyard Derby Dames - hold its All Stars Bout #1 from 5-10 p.m. at Pierce College in Lakewood. The all-ages event, which features a beer garden with ID, will donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

4. The Tacoma Tide Football Club takes on the Kitsap Pumas Soccer Club at 7 p.m. on the field at Curtis High School Stadium.

5. For 10 years strong Stonewall Youth has been providing support and empowerment to the Olympia area's gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans-gender, questioning, intersex, and asexual community - through programs and support groups that serve a valuable need. Saturday, the 10^th annual Stonewall Youth Drag Show Extravaganza will up the sass-o-meter to 11 inside the Capitol Theater beginning at 7 p.m. According to hype, expect a "West Side Story themed show is filled with drag, glitter, song, dance, and revolution."

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>>

Oh, fuck yeah, dude! The weekend is soooooo close. Not sure when quitting time is in your cubicle, but this hack writer has t-minus three hours until freedom, with shorts, flip-flops and a frosty adult beverage waiting for him at home. And, yes, by "him" I mean "me" - perhaps a little Bobble Tiki has rubbed off.

Anyway, before I can get to the aforementioned shorts, flip-flops and frosty beverage, I have to provide you - faithful reader - with yet another installment of The Prefunk - a primer for you and your liver for the coming weekend (with a photo of an alcoholic household pet thrown in for pure comedic value).

Pacific Northwest Nationals

July 23-25 @ the Puyallup Fairgrounds

Not many things go together as well as a beautiful weekend and classic, tricked-out, pimped-out hot rods. Luckily, the Pacific Nationals hot rod show - presented by Goodguys Rod & Custom Association - will rev up at the Puyallup Fairgrounds this weekend, going Friday through Sunday.

If you're into classic cars, or simply hanging out with a bunch of people that are REALLY INTO classic cars, this could be your bet.

Sweetening the deal, the Weekly Volcano has learned none other than Melanie Rushforth of Rushforth Wheels - voted Tacoma's Sexiest Local Business Owner in the Volcano's 2010 Tacoma's Most Sexy Issue - will be there with her husband, Jason - the other half of the Rushforth Wheels puzzle. They're also reportedly bringing their 1964 Buick Skylark, so that should be pretty awesome.

Now, I know what you may be thinking: Cars are so yesterday, bro. And aren't tricked out wheels just for Fast and Furious d-bags?

Wrong, laser breath. Melanie Rushforth spoke about misconceptions like this and more in March, as part of the Tacoma's Most Sexy Issue.

"I own a custom wheel company with my husband, Jason.  Wheels, you ask?  Like Pimp My Ride?  No.  Not at all.  That shit is not sexy.  Our wheels are classy and timeless," said Rushforth. "When I'm not pushing wheels, I'm pushing Tacoma!  I'm the founder of the Tacoma City Kids Marathon, and one of the founding members of one of the most fun events in all of T-Town: Tap into T-Town.  It's coming up soon - you should join me."

She didn't mention spending time in Puyallup for things like the Pacific Northwest Nationals, but you can find her there too.

As well as the fantastic Rushforths, according to promotions those that mosey on down to Puyallup for the Pacific Northwest Nationals will find, "over 2,500 1972 & earlier rods, customs & classics, vendor exhibits, indoor car show, Builder's Choice awards by Art & Craig Morrison, a giant pin stripers brush bash, a swap meet & cars for sale corral, Friday Night Drags at Pacific Raceways, nightly stage shows and parties, cruising - you name it it's happening at the 23rd Pacific Northwest Nationals!"

Vroom. Vroom.

PREFUNK: Nothing beats the high that comes from filling up the ol' tank with petrol - and it's even better if you get a good deal. Sadly, there are no good deals left to be had on gas, so you'll just have to settle from the momentary buzz that comes from dropping three dollars a gallon to juice up the Explorer. It's a bummer, but it still beats walking - at least until nations are run by eye-patch wearing warlords that trade what oil we have left like babies on the Shanghai black market. Then we'll walk.

Right now, drive to Puyallup and see some hot rods.

FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2010 >>>

1. Songwriters Zach Tillman from Barsuk Records' Pearly Gate Music, Jenna Conrad from Troubletown and Colin Reynolds, as well as slam poets and live painters perform at Tacoma Round #11 at 8 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater Rehearsal Hall at Ninth and Broadway.

2. Singer/songwriter David Gardner will perform from 5:30-8 p.m. in the Harmon Tap Room's outdoor beer garden.

3. The Fort Nisqually Living History Museum hosts a 19th Century Family Fun Night from 6-9 p.m. featuring games, music and dancing of the mid-1800s.

4. Chances are you've got a couple dumb friends. It's the law of averages. Well, Hamlet was no different; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may not have been the sharpest, but they were his buddies - even obliviously escorting him to banishment. Tonight, the Outfit Theatre Project's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead officially opens at Lakewood Playhouse at 8 p.m.

5. The White Zombie tribute band Astro-Creep as well as Klover Jane, Smoochknob and Mechanism perform at Hell's Kitchen beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: New movies open today

LINK: New concerts go on sale today

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

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Partly cloudy, hi 74, lo 54

Saturday: Sunny and clear, hi 81, lo 56

Sunday: Sunny and clear, hi 83, lo 56

>>> FRIDAY, JULY 23: 19TH CENTURY FAMILY FUN NIGHT

It was a time when men would talk about hunting for some tail and they would actually be referring to furry rodents. It was a time when the world would stop for a spot of tea in the middle of the afternoon and pinkies stood erect with each sip for a porcelain teacup. Welcome to the 19th century.  The Fort Nisqually Living History Museum hosts a 19th Century Family Fun Night as a way to show folks how life was like back in the day when (inappropriate laughing) England was a world power.

• Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, 6-9 p.m., 3-$6, Point Defiance Park, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, 253.591.5339

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 24: PARTY WITH MARK LINDQUIST

Pierce County Prosecutor and author Mark Lindquist has a lot of famous friends. Dude dated Molly Ringwald, for god sake. I mean c'mon. Not only does he know a lot of famous people, he's not above using their names to raise a little dough - as evident by the fact he'll be auctioning off autographed books and bottles of wine Saturday at King's Books to help support his campaign. Perfect if you like stuff signed by famous people, or just want to hear Lindquist talk about the time he accidentally cockblocked Anthony Michael Hall. – Michael Swan

• King's Books, 6:30 p.m. $50 per person, 18 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, marklindquist.org

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 24-SUNDAY, JULY 25: STAR LITE SWAP MEET

Want to show the out-of-town guests a microcosm of Tacoma? Drag yourself out of bed on Saturday and Sunday morning and head toward the Star Lite Swap Meet. Not only will you find all kinds of junk to buy for next to nothing - some of which might just be antique treasures - but you will also find all kinds of crazy people trying to sell their clothes, jewelry, books and children. You can get some real bargains here on clothes, cameras, car batteries, typewriters, shoes, sunglasses, socks, knives, hats, fruits and vegetables, tools, CDs, cell phones, furniture, lunch boxes, herbs, really bad art, lamps, vitamins, toothpaste and underwear. It's a great way to kill a morning. The best time to be there is right when it opens. - MS

• Star Lite Theater, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 84th and South Tacoma Way, Lakewood, 253.588.8090

>>> SATURDAY, JULY 24-SUNDAY, JULY 25: ETHNIC FEST

It's time again for Ethnic Fest, an annual event that's brought Pierce County's diversity together in celebration since 1986. Some of the best festival feeding you'll find - sorry Taste of Tacoma - Ethnic Fest also packs visual arts, performing arts, dance, crafts and fun into two days of multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-adjective-for-awesome action. Sealing the deal: Ethnic Fest is free. – MS

• Wright Park, noon to 7 p.m., free admission, 3501 South I Street, Tacoma

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

MATT DRISCOLL Editor and String Cheese Addict
Oh, yah, sure - ask me what I'm doing this weekend, Michael Swan over at the Weekend Hustle Desk. That's so like you. Dick. You know damn well what I'll be doing this weekend. I'll be locked in my office feverishly putting the finishing touches on Best of Tacoma 2010 (now in spectacular 3-D!) - relegated to sad, infrequent communications with my friends and loved ones kind of like Sam Rockwell in Moon. In honesty, the only reason I'm not actually bitching about this fact is because I know damn well I'll have, like, six margaritas at Wednesday's Best of Tacoma Premiere Party at Masa, say something really embarrassing, and/or take my pants off and pee on the side of something inappropriate while surrounded by a group of people that aren't expecting it. I guess it all comes out in the wash. ...

PAUL SCHRAG Senior Contributor
Friday, I'm heading to Olympia to hang out in the studio with Smoke and Eprhyme, working feverishly on another K Records release. Then it's Warren G on Saturday at Hell's Kitchen. On Sunday, it's brunch with Eprhyme at Quickie Too, and a trip to Seattle to watch him perform with the Erev Ravs and DJ Sweet Elite. Will round out the weekend with a Kabbalistic lesson teaching about the ancient Jewish holiday of Tu B'Av. Either that, or get wasted all weekend. I don't know yet.

NIKKI TALOTTA Feature Writer
This weekend is my bridal shower! I'm going to sit around with my favorite ladies and get boozy and pervy, all the while receiving gifts and snacking on seafood. Mmmm, no complaints this weekend.

STEPH DEROSA Columnist
I'm still licking my wounds from the prison-like Girl Scout camp I "worked" at this past week. Those little cookie peddlers run on high-powered lithium batteries, I think. In order for my bruises to heal and my scabs to repair themselves, I have taken retreat by the Westport beaches for the rest of the week and into the weekend. My doctor says that the only way to remedy my physical and mental injuries would be to partake in drinking copious amounts of red wine paired with sharp cheeses and adult conversation. My new mantra: Girl Scout cookies taste so fine, but nothing tastes better than a deep, red wine.

THE REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Feature Writer
I might have to go see Warren G at Hell's Kitchen. Coolio, Tone Loc, Vanilla Ice, whatever (OK, I'm a little upset about missing Vanilla Ice), but I can't pass up Warren G. He's so smooooth.

JOE IZENMAN Music/Theater Critic
This weekend I abandon you all and flee to Portland, to drink at the Oregon Brewer's Festival and turn 27. Were I in Tacoma, though, I would most assuredly attend the Parkway Tavern's 75th birthday and the Erich Sachs for Pierce County Council kickoff barbecue.

KRIS BLONDIN Food/Wine Writer
Chilly D and I are taking the train to Portland for the Oregon Beer Festival. It has been years since I've been. Time to get my beer on!

JENNIFER JOHNSON: Lifestyle/Leisure Writer
Driving back from Utah in a very slow meandering course through Idaho and Oregon to arrive in T-town Monday.

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
They say if you buy a tuxedo, life presents you with opportunities to use it, an idea that turns out to be true. Ergo I'm emceeing a Kokua Mad Hatter's Tea Party (isn't that ironic? Don'tcha think?) to aid Washingtonians with disabilities. It's all practice for my talk show.

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
This weekend I'll be writing the next great American novel.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

CRESCENT MOON PUTS THE "FUN" INTO FUNDRAISER >>>

Think pagans sacrifice other humans? That they only practice wild orgies and dark magic? Misconceptions like these are reason enough to attend today's fundraiser for the Central Puget Sound Pagan Pride Day at Crescent Moon Gifts on Sixth Avenue. Their mission is not to "steal your soul" but to inform the public about Neo-pagan beliefs and point out similarities between their religion and others. Drop by and ask questions. No question - even, "So, do you wear a pointy hat?" - is inappropriate. Also, participants who purchase a $5 "yummy" dessert will receive a free divination reading, which is nice.

Dessert & Divination Fundraiser

Sunday, July 18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., $5
Crescent Moon Gifts, 2712 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.572.8339

SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2010 >>>

1. The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts throws a party celebrating its upcoming season with quizzes, $1 drinks, prizes, a season preview and a chance to purchase tickets before the general public, beginning at 5 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater Lobby.

2. The skies over Joint Base Lewis-McChord will be filled with MiG Fury, T-33 Ace Maker, C-17s, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Tuskegee P-51 Redtail and many more planes - as well as static displays - when the gates open at 8 a.m. for Air Expo 2010, which kicks off at 12:30 p.m.

3. It's Kids' Day at the South Tacoma Farmers Market at 56^th and Washington Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beside the usual fare, expect a dance recital by Jo emery Ballet, face painting, balloons, walking animal characters at the off-duty teachers rock band Board of Education. It will be a hoot.

4. Beginning at 1 p.m. around Fireman's Park (South Eighth and A Street, Tacoma) history enthusiasts may enjoy a free one-hour narrative tour of the history of the Thea Foss Waterway, then walk to the 11th Street Bridge and learn why the bridge is so kickass.

5. The Northend Blues Vespers features Little Bill & the Blue Notes with horns from 5-7 p.m. followed by a barbecue fundraiser dinner to raise money for Shared Housing Services - all going down inside the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Tacoma.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound