MICHEL SWAN: THEY'RE WALKING >>>

LINK: Pierce County Start! Heart Walk

MICHAEL SWAN: IT’S FAIR DAYS AT THE CROWN BAR >>>

It's Fair Days at the Crown Bar today and tomorrow. If you walk through the doors of the Sixth Avenue lounge dressed like a carny you’ll win a prize.

In addition, the Crown will serve corn dogs, corn on the cob, deep fried pickles and elephant ears as well as drink specials featuring shaved ice.

[Crown Bar, 4 p.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, 2705 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4177]

MATT DRISCOLL: TRANSPORTATION FAIR AT TOLLEFSON PLAZA TOMORROW >>>

As part of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber’s Tollefson Plaza Summer Lunch Series, a whole slew of regional and city organizations will be hosting a “Transportation Fair” on Friday, Sept. 25 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in, well, Tollefson Plaza of course.

Sponsored by the City of Tacoma, Pierce Transit, Transportation Choices Coalition, Tacoma Wheelmen’s Bicycle Club, and Downtown: On the Go!, the Transportation Fair will offer commuting tips, bicycling options, and information on the public process of both the Pierce Transit redesign and Tacoma’s Mobility Master Plan. And as if that stuff wasn’t exciting enough, there will also be prizes and giveaways.

Here is what I predict will happen:

Many of the commuting tips and traffic reduction advice offered at the Transportation Fair will quickly be put to the test by a large swath of people that, after arriving at Tollefson Plaza, simultaneously realize how inhospitable it is. The plaza’s typically lonely pink concrete will inspire a sense of “I’ve got to get the fuck out of here” in much of the crowd.

The gridlock will be messy.

CERVEZA SISTERS: THE TASTY ROAD TO THE TACOMA CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL >>>

The banks are bust, war is everywhere, and, heck, add a global pandemic to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for real, lasting despair. If that makes you want to crack a beer, you’re in luck. The beer industry is doing alright and, true to the populist spirit of the age, it’s craft beer that’s growing the most.

My sister and I will be drinking and reviewing craft beer here on Spew right up to the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival on Oct. 3 at the Foss Waterway Seaport. We’ll be highlighting some of the 42 breweries that will be represented at the beer festival.

OK, on to our first beer review:

Mad River Steelhead Double IPA
New in Mad River Brewing Company’s line, their Double IPA logs in at a whopping 8.6 percent.

You'd never know it!

Great citrus-y bite is what we LOVE about West Coast IPA!  It comes on strong with grapefruit but balances out with a nice pine-y finish. We’re talking 95 IBUs.

LINK: Mad River Brewing Company

LINK: Tacoma Craft Beer Festival

There's simply no need to dump sub-par "beer" down your throat. It's just not cool, bra. ...

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY:IF THE DOCK IS ROCKING, DON'T BOTHER ... SOMETHING >>>

Retro shows are always a hairy proposition. There’s always the fear that nostalgia will overbear the music, that kitsch will drown the rock. It’s understandable, considering the very nature of a show featuring bands that specialize in trudging through the past. So it’s with caution that I recommend the Rock at the Dock show, advertised as a car show and dance party.

But I feel fairly confident the show will err on the side of awesome.

The retro bands in question will be the Nowhere Men (a Beatles tribute band) and the Galaxies, a legitimate legend in the history of Pacific Northwest music.

Setting aside the question of a Beatles tribute band, the Galaxies â€" who will go on around 6:30 p.m. â€" can be counted on to bring down the house with their vintage brand of garage rock.

[Johnny’s Dock, Rock at the Dock Hotrod Car Show and All City Dance Party, Saturday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., $20, 1900 E. D. St., Tacoma, 253.627.3186]

JOHN HERBERT: LARGEST PRIVATELY OWNED COLLECTION OF VEHICLES IN THE WORLD >>>

Come see how many cars one solid waste mogul can collect as the LeMay Museum presents The LeMay Car Show this weekend. The car show will showcase an amazing assortment of 1,000 vintage collector cars spread out over 80-plus acres, as well as collections of dolls, antiques, and nostalgic memorabilia housed within special themed rooms.

More than 600 vehicles from the LeMay collection will be on display at Marymount Academy Saturday.

This is a once-a-year chance to see this world-class collection.

[Marymount Academy, 32nd Annual LeMay Car Show and Auction, Saturday, Aug. 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., military and Museum members free, general admission $10, kids 12 and younger $5, 325 152nd St. E., Parkland, 253.779.8490]

SUZY STUMP: 1ST ANNUAL NORTH 21ST BRIDGE FEST >>>

Let’s be reasonable for a moment. We are a growing planet, with a growing population.  We are expanding. We expand into the mountains, into the valleys, the farmlands, the deserts, into Gig Harbor.  We expand by building bridges. So, reasonably speaking, the days of wildlife are numbered. All those little furry critters that run around eating leaves and molesting house pets, well, they just don’t have much time left.  Expansion, you know.

So what am I saying?

Not sure.

I just have bridges on the brain because the 1st Annual North 21st Street Bridge Fest is today. Balloon animals and pirates are a part of it. So is wine and beer. And cars with hoods up. And the Tacoma is for Lovers artist craft fair, too. 

[21st Street Bridge Fest, Sunday, Aug. 23, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, North 21st Street and North Fife Street, Tacoma, NorthBridgeFest@hotmail.com.

JAKE DE PAUL: PRAYING FOR GOOD PATIO WEATHER SATURDAY >>>

Every neighborhood has one â€" a local tavern that only the regulars truly appreciate, a local version of Cheers where everyone knows your name. The Parkway Tavern has been serving locals with excellent pub grub, hosting brewery nights and sponsoring local softball teams for decades. The Parkway steers away from the traditional bar food like buffalo wings, Jo Jo potatoes and pizza and focuses on homemade soups of the day, hot sandwiches and burgers â€" making the Parkway as great a place to stop in for a cold beer after work as it is a place for a quick lunch in the afternoon. 

Our friends at the Parkway tell us that their fourth annual IPA Festival Aug. 22 will feature more than 37 IPAs including Dick’s, Diamond Knot, Terminal Gravity, Stone, Big Time and more. 

Parkway Manager John O’Gara is stoked to have the Boundary Bay Imperial, which is rarely released from the brewery and will be a first for the South Sound. Other IPA Fest firsts O’Gara mentions include offerings from Dogfish Head, Firestone Walker Double Jack, Boulevard Single Wide, Elliot Bay Imperial, and a special from our friends at the Harmon, Commencement Bay IPA, with a massive 100 IBUs.

As usual, the Parkway’s outside grill will roast pigs as well as prime rib and juicy brats.

[Parkway Tavern, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2 p.m., 313 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.383.8748

MICHAEL SWAN: AN UPDATE >>>

Bobble Tiki announced in his Tiki Logic column that the Great Recession hasn’t stopped Tacoma’s annual Maltoberfest. Come Oct. 3, you’ll be able to combine malt liquor and lederhosen once again at Bob's Java Jive. What a relief!

I’m here to announce that the Maltoberfest brain trust has just released its band line up: Q Dot, Paris Spleen, Ten Miles of Bad Road, Faraca, Revengers and Darrren Selector.

Nett!

WEEKLY VOLCANO: PLOGFEST 2009 >>>

Summer means a lot of things â€" like sunburns, flip-flops and booze snoozes. The booze snooze, of course, is the age-old practice of sobering up midday with a nap, so later in the evening you drink even harder. If you’ve never engaged, the Weekly Volcano highly recommends it.

However, summer also means outdoor concerts and music festivals â€" and a DIY doozey is lined up for Graham today. Known as Plogfest, it features 11 bands, a slew of family fun and plenty of barbecue opportunities.

This year’s Plogfest will be the sixth of its kind, and will feature music from the Joshua Adams Band (pictured), Voxxy Vallejo, Dave Hannon, Kurt Lindsay, Last Chance Romeos and plenty of others.

Check out the schedule here.

[8110 266th St. E., Saturday, July 25, noon to midnight, $10, Graham]