FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010 >>>

1. DJs dAb and Suga Jones will spin new wave, '80s, funk, pop and club classics during Beat Box at the Tempest Lounge beginning at 9:30 p.m. Don't be an airhead and miss this bad party.

2. Bike-to-Work Week continues today with a bike fashion show and picnic from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wright Park. The first 75 bicycle-riding attendees to the picnic will receive a free box lunch from Marlene's Marketplace.

3. Adventure cyclist Willie Weir tells his tale of his five-month journey through post apartheid South Africa at 6 p.m. inside Tacoma Mountaineers Club.

4. PLOP - or the Performance Laboratory for Objects and Puppets - brings the world of innovative puppetry and object theater to downtown Olympia's Northern space at 8 p.m.

5. Hot off his win at the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition Nate Jackson will perform at 8:30 p.m. at the Comedy Underground inside the Big Whisky Saloon in downtown Tacoma.

LINK: New movies open today

SHOPPING CART BEAT >>>

Megan Barney, an University of Washington-Tacoma student/detective - who made the Dean's list (woo hoo!) - sent us a lovely letter:

Dear Editor,

A few weeks ago I noticed an interesting sticker affixed to a post in front of the University of Washington-Tacoma campus. The sticker was yellow and depicted a shopping cart with the words "Don't Buy It". I was curious, but didn't think much of it. That is, I didn't think much of it until these carts started popping up all over town--on McDonald's billboards, the old Hell's Kitchen sign, painted on a support column of the 705, on Schuster shortly before Old Town, near the Safeway on Pearl, etc. The more I saw the more curious I became, and I was not alone. No one that I talked to had a clue what the message was behind the carts. Did it have something to do with the ever-present rumors about a downtown grocery? Was it related to recent talk about food carts? Even local graffiti artists were in the dark. Seeing no mention of the carts in the Volcano, I did some digging. It turns out that the carts have nothing to do with being anti-grocery or anti-food cart. They are the product of Don't Buy It Clothing, a few locals who are anti-commercial and selling t-shirts to prove it. Their website, complete with mission statement and shop, can be found at www.dontbuyitclothing.com. I thought other confused Tacomans might appreciate having this mystery explained.

Thanks for the awesome detective work Megan. Your discovery forces the Weekly Volcano to rethink our "T-town Troubled Sweater Vest" line that we intend to market to distressed jeans owners.

SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2010 >>>

1. Rush tribute band 2112 and Led Zeppelin tribute band Kashmir will rock the Liberty Theater in Puyallup beginning at 8 p.m. Rumor is that 2112 is pulling out the 35-foot rear-projection screen and firing up the laser show for this one.

2. Portland's interactive, sing-a-long, folk punk band Destroy Nate Allen will be joined by Phantom City, To new Beginnings and Todd James Luque for an 6 p.m. all-ages show at the Black Lake Grange in Olympia.

3. The Tacoma Farmers Market doesn't do the pledge and tote bag thing, they just throw a Rodeo Barn Dance to keep the farmers market culture moving forward. Admission includes the musical stylings of The Oly Mountain Boys, a free drink ticket and all night access to the mechanical bull. Food booths will be set up mini-market style with up to six food vendors and two beer/wine booths. A live auction will be held during one of the band's breaks. The party doors at Freighthouse Square open at 6 p.m.

4. Nine local businesses - including Halter Hotties, Vixens House of Shoes & Apparel, Stella & Dot, Ace of Dates, Passion Parties and Sugar Bar - will converge on Cork! Wine Bar from 6-10 p.m. for a night of fashion, art, music, and prizes.

5. Tena DuBerry and guests will take a Tacoma Little Theatre audience on a theatrical journey through the lifecycle of being a woman during their I Am Everywoman for two shows at 8 and 10 p.m., with the latter being more of a party.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

WHAT WE FOUND TODAY >>>

Teacher shot dead at Tacoma elementary school.

Tacoma drummer available.

California wants to declare the first week of March "a cuss free week."

Facebook secures patent for news feed.

A cruise ship returned to Charleston, South Carolina, after more than 400 passengers got sick during a trip to the Caribbean.

Fashion Futures scenarios explore fashion world of 2025.

Giving away free umbrellas in the middle of a rainstorm is not that easy.

Filming Of Congressional Reality Show Disrupts Committee Meeting

LOCAL BLOG ROUNDUP >>>

Another week, another six days of cruising the local blogosphere for decent reading.

This Morning's Breakfast: French Toast Sticks ($1.79)

Where: Best Burgers in Lakewood

Taste: They have a golden crunchy outer layer that caves-in from the pressure of our first bite, revealing a soft and chewy warm center. The taste is similar to real French toast, and the texture reminded us of a cake-donut that had just been cooked.

Friday in his Mise en Place column on Exit133, Scandinavian descended food-o-phile John Isdtrom stated his hatred of his motherland staple lutefisk.

Where I come from, lutefisk transcends simple status as a food item. Some call it the "Cod that surpasseth all understanding" but I think that is no more than a bad translation of the King James version. I understand that some people hold lutefisk in reverent regard, and that most of those people are somehow related to me, but I simply can't get past the fact that a plate of the stuff looks like a gelatinous heap that smells like a bag of tube socks circa 1976.

Idstrom did profess his love of Dungeness crab in the same post ending with a recipe for Creamy Roasted Tomato, Leek and Crab Pasta.

Downtown Tacoma clothing store urbanXchange - vote Best Vintage Store in the Weekly Volcano's Best of Tacoma 2009 issue - announced back in December it would launch a new blog Saturday, Feb. 6. The blog will concentrate on art of life and its many expressions, specifically fashion, which the store believes is one of the best examples of post-medium art:

Art has become almost impossible to classify and categorize as in the past. There once were guilds of sculptors and painters, etc. Art was a lifestyle of specific and singular dedication. Now, art has jumped right off the canvas, fallen through concepts, and landed right into everyday life in a myriad of expressions of who we are individually and collectively. Art is about how we live.

A launch party for the blog has been set for Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. inside the store's music room, The Den.

Julie Bennett, owner of urbanXchange, has also created the zine, Plog - "post blog, paper log" - as she describes it in her first issue, which we found at the Mandolin Café.

The magazine-size, black and white sans staples zine's mission is "to be something of relevance and a useful means of expressing ideas, facilitate communication and encourage critical thinking," Bennett writes in he Letter From The Editor. Although dotted with urbanXchange promotions and trends, Bennett states she is appalled by Consum-o-tainment - "the tearing of the sacred membrane between advertising and content" - and she doesn't "have interest in profit goals beyond paying overhead, being able to pay the employees, taking care of basic needs etc."

Keep an eye out for the zine, or drop by urbanXchange at 1932 Pacific Ave. and grab one.

RON SWARNER: GO LOCAL >>>

If you have a superb eye and a high tolerance for dust mites, vintage-store shopping can be a great experience. What's not to love about discovering hidden gems and one-of-a-kind pieces and creating a look that's completely your own? Also, there's just something about vintage clothes â€" tattered or not, you just don't know where they've been or, more importantly, who's been in them.

Cheryl Gorsuch has opened SAGE, a vintage store inside Sanford and Son Antiques in downtown Tacoma, which she co-owns with her husband, Alan.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: What’s up with SAGE?

CHERYL GORSUCH: SAGE is a result of my buying/collecting clothing over years. I started putting out racks of clothing items a couple of years ago for $3 to $10 bucks each item.  One rack, then two, three, four â€" then ‘poof’  â€" a store.  

Alan said he was going to "build me some walls" to hang some stuff and make me unpack my attic. Alan can do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g., and he knows that I love Art Deco so he gave the 'walls' an Art Deco flare.

VOLCANO: Why did you wait so long?

GORSUCH: Alan wanted me to open my own clothing shop 20 years ago, but how the heck would I have done that when we were out of the country buying antiques every 10 weeks for two weeks for 15 years and having antique auctions every two weeks? Geesh. ...

VOLCANO: Yeah, dumb question. Why the name SAGE?

GORSUCH: I have always had the idea of a label with the name SAGE. SAGE means green, wisdom and taste â€" well,  buying clothing that is gently worn or vintage is 'being green' and smacks of wisdom to me.

VOLCANO: What about ‘Taste’?

GORSUCH: That's just apparent if you're shopping downtown. 

VOLCANO: Tell me about the clothes.

GORSUCH: I have a lot of classics â€" plus some ’70s, ’80s funk.  I carry ’40s, ’50s elegant dresses, lots of vintage hats, a small section devoted to gentlemen â€" mostly ’70s and ’80s â€" and some ’60s Mad Men style, and of course contemporary fashion.

I hope that the client base will be anyone who is into fashion, saving money, and saving the planet by not filling up the local landfills with made in China Walmart crap.

[SAGE, 743 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.272.0334]

WEEKLY VOLCANO: MUSIC IN THE SOUTH SOUND TONIGHT >>>

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we have you covered.

East Coast gaze-grunge duo The Sky Drops drop in on the 4th Ave Ale House after dropping their debut album, Bourgeois Beat, in August. Drop by tonight at 9 p.m. and check them out with The Third Law of Motion.

In a town like Tacoma, strikingly barren when it comes to the experimental pop music that’s become a staple in indie-chic hotspots like Portland, a band like Spectacular Optical is a breath of fresh â€" if not slightly bizarre â€" air. Read the full story here. And check them out with Eel Eater, French Dad, Best Supporting Actress, and Fuck You Safari tonight at 8 p.m. inside Bob's Java Jive.

SUZY STUMP: DON'T ENJOY GETTING MALLED? >>>

You donââ?¬â?¢t need a Cinnabon to have a positive shopping experience. Consider an alternative, if you will. Saturday, inside the Capitol Theater, Duck The Malls arts and crafts sale will be a gathering place for Olympia punks, hippies, hipsters, youngsters, oldsters, artists, Weekly Volcano-sters, crafters and folks of all kinds as an antidote to everything thatââ?¬â?¢s wrong with the hectic, antiseptic, fluorescent-lighted mall. 

More than 40 of Oly's finest artisans have worked all year to present you with artistic gifts for the holidays: paintings, lamps, hats, purses, dolls, musical instruments, pottery, fused glass and more.
 
There is no admission. Baked goods will be sold, and the movie theater concession will be open also. The Olympia Film Society will be on hand to give details on its membership.

The event also raises money for the Olympia Film Society.

Check it.

[Capitol Theater, Saturday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., no cover, 206 E. Fifth Ave., Olympia, 360.754.6670]

SUZY STUMP: YULE BOUTIQUE THIS SATURDAY>>>

Even if you don't personally celebrate a single holiday in winter - even if you say Hanukkah schmanukah and bah humbug in the same breath as you tell the Kwanzaa candle lighters what they can do with their ujamaa - it's still cold and wet outside, and we know somewhere in your desiccated non-denominational soul there is a desire to share something with others in this dark season. Something merry. Perhaps even bright.

Yes, well, festivity doesn't get any more vague than the description for the Yule Boutique: "The Yule Boutique, sponsored by the PLU Women's Association, is a holiday bazaar featuring quality arts and crafts and a variety of food vendors." There's also a Nordic Sweater Exchange (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) that allows you to sell or exchange "gently-used" Nordic clothing. Those who have been before know it's a feakin' festivus of holidayness.

All are welcome Saturday, Nov. 21 at Pacific Lutheran University's Olson auditorium. Happy mid-November.

[Pacific Lutheran University Olson Auditorium, Saturday, Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., $3, 10th Avenue South and 124th Street South, Parkland/Tacoma, 253.531. 7581]

MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, NOV. 14, 2009 >>>

1. Maestro Christophe Chagnard of the Northwest Sinfonietta and Maestro Harvey Felder of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra together present Mozart Meets Beethoven - an all out battle - in tuxedos at 7:30 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater.

2. King's Book's Open House and Poetry Marathon will feature 15 renowned poets reading their poems along with two open mic sessions from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

3. Art And Kimonos - featuring art by Lynn Farren, Sarah Utter and Karen Utter, plus a vintage kimono sale - will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Fibers Etc. in downtown Tacoma.

4. The Tacoma Art Museum presents "Redefining Northwest Art," a panel lecture on how the history, geography, and diverse cultures of the region have influenced the art of the Northwest from 1:30-4 p.m.

5. Doxology, Ben Union, and Roman Holiday play an 8 p.m. show at Jazzbones.