LET'S DO THIS THING >>>

Saturday, the Weekly Volcano and Harmon Brewery & Eatery present a Warren Miller Prefunc Party before the new Miller flick screens (twice) at the Pantages the same night. We have bombarded you with the details, including our bitchin' raffle - which includes a two night-two lift ticket Crystal Mountain Resort package, $500 Sturtevants's gift card, free tickets to see the film and much more. Read up on the party here.

We're also hosting a Gnarliest Snowbum Costume Contest at 5 and 8 p.m. We will pick two winners for each time slot. Free food and drinks go to the winners.

After three committee meetings we decided snow shovel racing costumes will not be allowed into the costume contest. Nobody but the hep cats at ESPN thinks these guys are doing anything remotely cool. The original premise was sitting on a shovel and bombing down a hill. We can see that. Then some dork gets the idea to turn the innocent shovel into the supermodified Erector set his parents never bought him and renames himself "Captain Speed."

What we wouldn't give for a hurricane to roll in during a shovel racing competition and blow these dorks out to sea like a Polynesian fishing village.

OK, see you at the party!

Warren Miller Prefunc

Saturday, Nov. 5, 3-9 p.m., no cover
Ben Union rocks it from 5-8 p.m.
Harmon Brewery & Eatery
1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.383.2739

LINK: Like it on Facebook

GO LOCAL GROUP HUG >>>

For the second year, The Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center will be home to an event aiming to help businesses, individuals and communities discover ways to aid sustainability and promote healthy LOCAL business practices. Go Local Tacoma's Shift Happens daylong event will feature seminars, food and booths from local businesses beginning at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. Attendees will have the opportunity to eat and drink local products, as well as tour booths representing each local business. Shift Happens will also, once again, include a State of the City address delivered by Mayor Marilyn Strickland. A section representing local arts will also be in the house.

Learning from last year's traffic jam with food vendors, and the mayor's address competing with networking, Go Local will reorganize the flow of the event. Seminars and workshops will fill the Center from 1-4 p.m. From 4-6 p.m. local restaurants and food vendors will serve food and drinks just outside the main room in a happy hour, networking atmosphere. The main program, including the mayor's speech, will commence at 6 p.m. in the main room. Afterward, the local business booths will be open, er, for business.

The Shift Happens event is just one of the many programs Go Local Tacoma has launched to connect local independent businesses to consumers and resources in an effort to build a more prosperous community.

For more information on Shift Happens and Go Local programs, click here.

CHECKING IN ON A NEW MENU >>>

Back in college, before the Macintosh and VHS, I tried sea urchin, one of nature's stranger edibles, in a sushi restaurant located in the basement of a Vancouver, B.C. hotel. Goofy-faced and swooning, exclaiming it tasted like the ocean in a cloud. It wasn't my thing.

Since then, I've learned to accept the ancestral, primitive bugger's taste. It tastes more like the ocean than mussels, with their blue brininess, or even oysters, which run a close second. At it's best: sea urchin is subtle, sweet, creamy, and sea-salty rather than fishy - like making out with Daryl Hannah when she played a mermaid, or something.

Marrow Kitchen and Bar, Tacoma's new wonder kid, added a scallop dish with sea urchin sauce, spinach spaghetti and black sea salt to its impressive fall menu. The perfectly cooked scallops are served in a creamy, garlicky sauce, which only hints of sea urchin. Don't let your fear of sea urchin stop you from enjoying this marvelous dish. Texture is the star of this production with crisp, pan-seared plump scallops and al dente spaghetti.

I also gave the gnocchi tots and farrotto dishes a go.

The combination of melt-in-your-mouth lightly breaded gnocchi and the baconized horseradish sauce cream sauce produce a dish whose taste consumes your memory long after the plate has been removed.

Think of Marrow's farrotto - mixed with sugar pumpkin, spinach, Beechers Flagship, Passilla pepper and balsamic - as an updated risotto: you get all the wintry comfort of the dish, minus the starchy heaviness. If you love sweet pumpkin, here you go.

Marrow's fall menu is below for your perusal.

[Marrow Kitchen and Bar, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 2717 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.267.5299]

Note to self: Don't show up late to a Varsity Grill beer tasting. My 15 minute tardiness tonight forced me out of the packed bar area, past THREE reserved sections for parties, past another long table full of partiers and into a back corner next to the kitchen. Where the staff lines up for food orders. And waits with its butts pointed at my head.

The Varsity Grill must have hired an engineering firm to configure the layout of tonight's Fall Brew Fest. They crammed nine beer vendors and the buffet table into the same square footage of a World Series' player's bathroom.

I didn't see a Halloween costume during the Fest. Why would there be? This was a brew fest, not a boo fest. The crowd was a mixture of young and old, including many familiar faces such as Aja, Paul and Mike from the Weekly Volcano's foodie group Nosh League.

I learned early to keep a hold of my faculties. A poor chap and his beer-and-plastic-cup-covered shoes received jeers from the crowd.

Deschutes Brewery's Hop Trip hit my taste buds first.  Wow. Its Northwest hops burst with such a funky fresh resin-ish taste I'm surprised I didn't plant a flower in my hair and dance barefoot on KJR Sports Radio's remote table.

Speaking of KJR, I can't make out a single word by Mike Gastineau and Hot Shot Scott from my command post in the corner. The World Series telecast and beer cheers consumed the airwaves.

My second beer was Blue Moon's mellow Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale. An afghan and roaring fire would be a better setting for this nutmeg forward with a dash of cinnamon beer. The Blue Moon dude handed out slices of pumpkin bread with each pour. Good call Blue Moon dude.

The buffet screamed Bavarian, with schnitzel, brat chunks of a stick, potato salad, sauerkraut and assorted mustards. During my second trip for potato salad, the guy pouring the Hop Trip clipped his entire table display on his way to the bathroom, dragging it to the floor. He had no clue and kept his pace. Funky fresh resin-ish taste, indeed.

My third beer of the night went to Widmer Brothers Okto - a German altbier with an ale yeast strain. Das ist spicy.

Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig robbed a home run as I sipped on my fourth beer - Trade Route Brewing Company's Midnight Ale. It was a dark ale with a strong nut taste and a sweet, slight chocolate finish. Needless to say, I sipped on this one for a while. The only thing that could've made it better is if I had a cigar in hand.

I went back to the pumpkin patch for my fifth tasting - Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale. It tasted the same as Blue Moon's version - good pumpkin flavor, nutmeg, cinnamon and sweetness.

Uinta Brewing Company's Punk'n Ale was the, er, pumpkiniest of the all. The beer rep called out the flavors - cinnamon, nutmeg and clove - which were the three keywords of the night. She added "and a ginger taste" to the end of her list. That must be the key to pumpkin greatness.

That's where I ended my journey. I felt as if I consumed an entire pumpkin pie. I skipped the last couple of beers. The pours were twice the size of this summer's Tacoma Craft Beer Festival, too.

If you're a beer lover, mark your calendar for next Halloween weekend. This is worthy event.

[Varsity Grill, 1114 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.1229]

THURSDAY, OCT. 27, 2011 >>>

1. While the Weekly Volcano occasional dips its toe in a department store (here's looking at you, Saks!), there's nothing like the rush we get from uncovering a hidden treasure at a local mom-and-pop or specialty boutique. So after you've thumbed through Vogue, Nylon, Elle, or wherever you go for your style fix, check out a local take on fall fashion from the cool kids at The Salon Professional Academy. From 6:30-8:30 p.m. you may enjoy a fun, flashy New York-style runway fashion show benefiting the YWCA Pierce County ($10). You'll admire the work of the academy's cosmetology and aesthetics students as well as 10 RAGS Wearable Art Sale artists (yes, their work will be available for sale).

2. The Sixth Avenue Progressive Dinner visits Marrow, Medi's and Studio 6 Ballroom at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dance to jazz and blues by Maia Santell & House Blend from 8-10 p.m. at Studio 6.

3. At Bates Technical College you can learn a lot of things. Welding. Commercial truck driving. Sheet metal technology. Early childhood education. Even how to be a barber. And on Thursday, Bates will diversify the educational opportunities it offers even more, hosting a "Hoptoberfest" event - designed to educate the masses on the pairing possibilities of beer. According to hype, "Bates' culinary arts students will prepare and serve guests a five-course gourmet meal. Each dish will be partnered with flavorful brews from New Belgium Brewing, home of perennial favorite Fat Tire Amber Ale." The event starts at 6 p.m. at Bates' downtown Tacoma campus and tickets run $40 - which goes to Bates scholarships for students in need.

4. Unless you're of the Folger's drip tribe, you know good coffee is an art - a mercurial mix of water, finely ground beans and flavoring. The folks at Bluebeard Coffee will showcase this art form beginning at 6:30 p.m. when dozens of hirsute non-bikini-clad baristas battle for latte art honors while the rest of us drink beer. Watch the fine hands of the baristas as they shake the milk pitcher before pouring it onto the espresso. Presto, there's a leaf on your cup. Or - if you like - a feather. Could it even be a whirlwind? Look hard enough and you might even see Van Gogh's ear. Check it!

5. If there's one thing the Weekly Volcano has learned this past year, the Tacoma Thursday Runners are freakin' nuts. Running 3 miles in pink tutus like they just don't care. Oh good lord. Well, Halloween is basically upon us and it's Thursday. Appropriately, the Thursday Runners will meet at 6:30 p.m. in front of Hell's Kitchen for their weekly 3-mile jaunt - this time with more bed sheets with holes cut out for eyes. And if timed right, the Runners will be in the Kitchen when Led Zeppelin tribute band Kashmir hits the stage. Ah ah aaaaaaaaaah ah!

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Happy hours!

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Johnathon in response to our Bar & Club listing for The Right Spot in Fife.

Johnathon writes,

This a great bar..happy hour 3pm to 7pm and again starts back up at 9pm to close..7days a week..great sports bar.

OH, YOU CAN EAT THESE >>>

Thing: Edible bakery oddities

Made by: Kim Alexander

Business began: Just this year

Already: Balls to the wall busy

Can't say I'm not: A little creeped out

By: Her creations

That: You're supposed to eat

And: Her giddy attitude

At: Something so wrong

I mean, really: Ogre Toes?

And: Witch's Digits?

Tasting like: Almond or maple?

She's: nuts.

What creeped me out the most in the whole scenario was the sheer pleasure Kim Alexander exuded at the thought of making hundreds upon hundreds of popcorn balls that resembled bloody dragon eyeballs.

Alexander must've had a traumatic childhood.  I can only imagine. At what point in life did she decide it would be a good idea to make something so damn ugly that tastes oh so incredibly delicious? 

Discover the story behind her Scrumpalicious Novelty Bakery Arts here.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26, 2011 >>>

1. Olympia producer/director Terrence Knight turned the streets of Olympia into the Bronx for his indie short film, The Prince of Arthur Avenue, which screens at 6 p.m. inside the Yelm Cinemas. The film features John Fantasia (The King of New York, Highlander) and well as many denizens of downtown Olympia. Admission is free.

2. Pour At Four wine bar in Tacoma's Proctor District will pour $10 tastes of the 2010 Mollydooker wines, including the Scooter, Two Left Feet, Boxer, Blue Eyed boy, Enchanted Path and Carnival of Love from 5:30-8 p.m.

3. Poet Carolyne Wright spent four years in Bangladesh collecting and translating the work of Bengali women poets and writers. She will read from her book Majestic Nights: Love Poems of Bengali Women at 6 p.m. inside Orca Books in Olympia.

4. The music of Canadian prog-rock gods Rush will reach the screen of The Grand Cinema at 7 p.m in a special showing of the concert film Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland. The film captures a show from Rush's "Time Machine" tour, during which the band played its album Moving Pictures in its entirety every night. That 1980 album contained the power trio's most well-known songs and perennial radio favorites including "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight" and the Grammy-nominated instrumental "YYZ." We know exactly where Publisher Pappi and his old-fart friends will be tonight.

5. There is no such thing as too many open jam nights. If you agree with that statement, then you probably know the Harmon Tap Room has launched a Wednesday Open Jam from 7-9 p.m. The Stadium District brewpub hosts spotlight local performers every week to back those willing to get up and jam.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Freebies this week

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Beep, Beep: There be cars in the LeMay-America's Car Museum. (News Tribune)

That's A Lot Of Apples: The eight-day strike by Tacoma School District teachers racked up about $566,000 in costs ... so far. (News Tribune)

The Smelter That Keeps On Giving: The public is encouraged to review and comment on a draft cleanup plan for the 1,000-square-mile Tacoma Smelter Plume. (The Suburban Times)

Secret Burial: The body of ousted Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi was buried in an undisclosed location with his son Tuesday. Gadhafi's purported will is to be posted online. (CNN)

Take That McRib!: Burger King has a new burger. (Huffington Post)

They. Are. Iron. Lungs: Black Sabbath reunion looks promising. (Paste Magazine)

What!: Hear new Mazzy Star. (Pitchfork)

Sixty Years Of Cinema in 40 Seconds (because we just don't have time)

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from the folks at GrittyCityFood in response to our Fall Restaurant Guide loaded with comfort food.

GrittyCityFood writes,

Amazing list! You should do this every season. Needs some homemade macaroni though. Maybe from Stink or The Rosewood Cafe.

Yes, somehow we missed STINK and the Rosewood. Pappi Swarner recently went nuts over STINK's classic mac 'n' cheese here.