Delicious Italian food, yummy desserts, costume contest, door prizes, silent auction with great items, a special "golden ticket" raffle (hot air balloon ride anyone?) and holiday fun - sounds like a great recipe for a great time, yes? So, take these ingredients and add in the important fact that proceeds of this event would benefit a terrific local organization that supports people living with the traumatic brain injury and their families.

The Brain Energy Support Team (BEST) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide support, advocacy, public awareness, and education and socialization opportunities to individuals with a brain injury and their families. Founded in 2008, BEST distinguishes itself with its leadership, services, and programs that are built by and for people living with brain injury and their families.

The team at BEST is honored to invite the general public for a night of great food and fun at its Frightfully Delightful Dinner and Dessert Auction 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 at Joeseppi's Italian Ristorante in Tacoma. Costumes are encouraged.

Event tickets are $35 and include dinner and event admission. Tickets may be purchased online.  Be sure to purchase your ticket by Oct. 18 to guarantee your spot.

If you find yourself thirsty for post-metal, heavy prog rock, look no further than Bob's Java Jive Saturday. Political, anti-religious, and blood-shedding doom is the nature of Seattle's Breag Naofa, who perfectly execute the qualities of the genre, with plenty of mid-tempo drone and growly vocals. The evening also promises the interesting music of Fang Chia, a Tacoma-based experimental jazz-rock band consisting of music alumni of the University of Puget Sound. Blurring lines and blowing minds is what Fang Chia strive to do with self-promo stating their combined musical background is "rooted in grit and improvisation." Also on the bill are two more Seattle bands, Moraine, featuring instrumental fusion appealing across all genres, and God Hates Fads, whose doom-jazz is prone to wandering depths and trippy heights.

BREAG NAOFA, w/Fang Chia, Moraine and God Hates Fads, 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12, Bob's Java Jive, 2102 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, $5, 253.475.9843

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Calendar: Arts and Entertainment

Calendar: Music and Nightlife

Are you a social media butterfly? Can't live without your smartphone?

Or would you prefer to have nothing to do with it?

Love or loathe it, digital communication technology has dramatically changed the personal communication and interpersonal interaction landscape and it is here for the long haul.

And as the technology continues to grow, some are taking pause. What are the current and future human impacts and implications of cell phones, social media, and the Internet?

Documentary filmmaker, director, and Pacific Northwest native Dominic H. White asks these questions and more in his new eye-opening documentary, DSKNECTD, which screens Tuesday, Oct. 8 as part of the 2013 Tacoma Film Festival. The documentary delves into how mobile devices; virtual worlds, social media and the Internet are reshaping human interactions. Looking at the good, bad, and the ugly, White leaves the viewer in the end pondering their own personal connections to technology.

Now, South Sound residents will have the opportunity to put these questions to the test, too.

A special screening will be held at the University of Washington of Tacoma's Carwein Auditorium. Sponsored by UWT, White will be on hand for a Q&A session after the screening.

DSKNECTD, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8, Carwein Auditorium, University of Washington of Tacoma, 1754 Commerce St., Tacoma, free, tacomafilmfestival.com

Before entertainment moves indoors, and the comedy and theater season swings into play (check out our Fall Arts Guide), Olympia likes to have one more outdoor celebration - Fall Arts Walk.

Nearly 100 businesses will open their doors and sidewalks to artists, musicians and performers for two days, allowing Olympia to showcase, network and entertain.

A stroll through town with or without an interactive guide will promise to be a treasure trove of delight. More than 250 artists will saturate the town with creativity.

Look for art in all places; perhaps stumble across a wine tasting while observing oil paintings. Expect street musicians, live art and surprising mediums.

Stephanie Johnson, arts and events manager for the city of Olympia, says, "Arts Walk is always new" because, while she provides the framework, it's the businesses and artists that get to collaborate in new and exciting ways.

OLYMPIA FALL ARTS WALK, 5-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., downtown Olympia, free admission, 360.753.8380

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Check out Muskrat Ramble" during the Olympia Fall Arts Walk

The Evens are the sort of band that in many circles needs no introduction. The band, consisting of former Fugazi and Minor Threat member - and owner of the venerable indie mainstay Dischord Records - Ian MacKaye, along with Amy Farina of the Warmers, has been creating music together for the past decade. Their latest album, The Odds, is immediate and plangent. The duo returns to Olympia for the first time in seven years to play a solo bill at the Eagles Hall Saturday, Sept. 28.

"Amy and I decided early on that we wanted to play shows outside of rock clubs," MacKaye said. "It's not ‘let's shut down the clubs.' I don't mind them; I go to them," he continued. "So our idea was to play quieter, open new spaces. We bring our own PA, our own lights; we want our shows to be over by the time most shows begin. It's nice. We like it."

Of course, the idea of a single band and an early show may sound odd to fans used to seeing three or four bands late into the night.

"Some people say, ‘Oh it's just for older people,'" MacKaye said. "Fuck that! I don't see that. In the early days, the early punk rock days in D.C., we used to have matinees and they were epic. People loved them. It wasn't because we were old or we were kids, but that music should be everywhere at every time."

For a town that has held shows in alleys and public libraries, the concept doesn't seem so odd.

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Tacomans, get down to 26th Street and Pacific Avenue on Wednesday, Sept. 25 to meet artist Sean Orlando, the artist commissioned through a national call-to-artists to create artwork for this gateway intersection. An Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum and a celebrated East Bay (San Francisco) surrealistic, steampunk, high-tech, kenetic sculptor, Orlando has created some amazing public and private art, which can be viewed at http://www.engineeredartworks.com/.

Orlando's work involves uniting communities of artists, engineers, designers and fabricators to accomplish large-scale feats of sculpture. "I've served as lead artist for several massive and interactive public works informed by my interests in science and industry. These sculptures have been exhibited at San Francisco's Embarcadero waterfront, NASA's Moffet Field, Makers Faire, and various arts and science related venues," he said.

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Randy Walker, stage name of Carletta Sue Kay, is a powerful vocalist out of San Francisco. Walker's wigs, lipstick and fetching fashion - combined with moving ballads, heartfelt, gritty rock and an affinity for torch songs - have caught Tacoma's attention. Heads turned at last year's Free For All Festival, and then again in anticipation of his performance at the Squeak and Squawk Music Festival, Sept 12-16.

Nikki McCoy caught up with Walker for insight to his fashion, learn his thoughts on Carletta and gender roles, and hear why he thinks Squeak and Squawk rocks.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Are you psyched to return to Tacoma? What was your previous experience like?

RANDY WALKER: Tacoma is lovely. We did the Free For All Festival last year and enjoyed it very, very much. The folks were fantastic and made us all feel right at home. We got to play in the gorgeous Pantages and it was a real thrill. Squeak and Squawk organizer Adam McKinney had seen us play SXSW a couple years back and that led to us coming to Tacoma for the first time to do the Free For All. We're super looking forward and are very excited to see what interesting and daring things Adam is going to put together for SQSQ.

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The Squeak and Squawk Music Festival (SQSQ), which is set for Sept 12 to 16 at The New Frontier Lounge and Broadway Center's Studio 1 the Library at Sanford and Son Antiques, boasts more than 30 bands, and in its fourth installment is becoming a Tacoma tradition known for letting its freak flag fly.

This year's production would have evolved in a very different way if it weren't for help from the community.

Last year SQSQ producers Rev. Adam McKinney and Jena Stedler - after adopting the festival from founder Sean Alexander - pulled up their big kid pants and pushed through with a $2,000 budget.

Despite monetary limitations, last year's SQSQ was still a success. Heather Rowland, who volunteered at last year's event, said the festival embodied the spirit of summer.

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The West Central Park, a privately owned park that opened in May at the corner of Division and Harrison in west Olympia, has spent the summer living up to its goal of being an open community space to gather, relax and network.

Saturday, from 1-5 p.m., the park hosts a Sustainable Living Exposition, bringing in more than 20 local businesses and organizations, including GRuB, Intercity Transit, city of Olympia and Native Plant Salvage Project.

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Growing up in the Puget Sound, many of us remember local commercial jingles and catchphrases - "Sleep Country USA, Why Buy a mattress anywhere else?" and "Honk when you drive by Vern Fonk" are a couple that come to mind.

But perhaps none resonated the way "Do the Puyaaaallup" did when it cut through the clamor of TV or radio programs. It's as if those three words epitomized what it meant to be a kid.

Luckily, the jingle was kept as the Washington State Fair's tagline when it made the switch this year from the Puyallup Fair - a testament to being the state's largest fair, bringing in more than a million people each year.

"It's about keeping the tradition," said Karen LaFlamme, public relations for the Washington State Fair. "People love the jingle - it just makes sense to carry it on."