CHECKING IN WITH A SISTER >>>

For a month now, Tacoma's sister cities has been feeding the Mouse. And by feeding the Mouse we mean feeding the Blue Mouse Theatre with delicious foreign films and cultural programs. Each Thursday through April 4, the Sister Cities Film Festival highlight's one of Tacoma's sister cities with a program and film that matches the culture of a city that Tacoma calls a sister. Take this Thursday, Gunsan, South Korea has been Tacoma's sister since 1978 and had a curiously parallel course of development to Tacoma - Gunsan is a port city that boomed in the 1890s due to a rail link, and there is even an American Air Force Base in the vicinity. We're still checking to see if Gunsan has a weekly chalk competition in a park or if Guy Fieri has his Camaro towed down its streets.

Anyway, in honor of Gunsan, the film Secret Sunshine will screen at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at the Mouse.

"The movie Secret Sunshine was chosen by the committee members," says Sister Cities coordinator Debbie Bingham. "They compiled a list of movies that their members had reviewed and which ones they were able to get access to show in the U.S. and Secret Sunshine won."

Directed by Lee Chang-dong, the 2007 film garnered some strong attention around its release date. Lead actress Jeon Do-yeon scored best actress at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival for her role as troubled Shin-Ae, who is recovering from the death of her husband only to have another major tragedy jump into her path.

Get to the Blue Mouse at 6 p.m. and enjoy the full cultural program, which includes live classical Korean music and introductions by officials from the Korean Consul General's office and City of Tacoma's mayor's office.

BLUE MOUSE THEATRE, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 6 P.M., $10, NORTH 26TH AND NORTH PROCTOR, TACOMA, 253.752.9500

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, RUN BOYS RUN >>>

Bruce Molsky plays a mean fiddle. In one YouTube video, he sawed the hair right off his bow!

Speaking of shredding, he tears up a banjo and guitar with the same vigor. And when he throws his voice in the mix, the combination is a complete expression of old-time music.

Solo, or with other musicians, his music is simple, effective and at times haunting. A blurb on his record label website, Compass Records - where Molsky has six albums under his belt - reads, "Bruce Molsky has been exploring traditional music from an astonishingly broad range of cultures over the past two decades - synthesizing them and refracting them through his own evolving sensibilities to the point where the sources of his inspiration transform themselves into a sound that is uniquely his."

If It Ain't Here When I Get Back, his latest album, drops March 5. Enjoy this world-touring master of old-time Appalachian Sunday, March 10 at Traditions Cafe in Olympia. 

TRADITIONS CAFE, SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 7 P.M., $12-$18, 300 FIFTH AVE. SW, OLYMPIA, 360.705.2819

THERE ISN'T REST ON SUNDAY >>>

Last weekend was crazy. There were three shows to choose from every night of the weekend. This weekend is a little bit mellower. I'm thankful. I could use the rest. There really is not that much to do concerning 253 hip-hop on Friday and Saturday. You will have to find yo kicks elsewhere. The fun actually starts on Sunday night.

If ya want to go out Sunday and have some fun, then hit the California Club at 56th and Portland Ave. in Tacoma. Starting this Sunday and then every first Sunday of every month after, Power Moves Ent and SlapBoy Ent will throw benefit shows. All the proceeds from these shows will toward buying school supplies and gift cards to clothing stores for young students. You can donate money at the door or actually bring school supplies and/or clothing store gift cards to the show.

This is an awesome idea. I congratulate P.M.E. & SlapBoy for making a true effort to help young people in the community. That's umoja!

If ya want to stay home Sunday but still experience some of the best Tacoma hip-hop, then tune into KEXP 90.3 FM - or stream it live at www.kexp.org - at 8 p.m. to listen to a live on-air performance from Bruce Leroy. Bruce is fresh off a dope performance at The Breaklites show in Seattle. His album is still getting props. I have spent many a car ride listening to track 1 "Leroy" on repeat - man that beat goes. Props to 1^st Born! All we need is a fresh video from Mr. Leroy and our lives would be complete.

Also on Sunday, as always, the Graffiti Garage Sunday Cyphers fires up at 1 p.m.

Peace family, see ya'll out there!

LINK: Josh Rizeberg's What's The Word? column featuring Starr

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

Thea's Landing condo building towers over the Thea Foss Waterway, providing residents with a glorious view of Mount Rainier, Commencement Bay, Museum of Glass and sunbathers on yachts. Residing on the lower half of Thea's Landing facing the water is The Social Bar and Grill. Owners Jason Bailey, Philip Panagos and Chef Rodel Borromeo - all part of the team that opened the Matador - serve flavorful and eclectic dishes from Spain, the Mediterranean, South America and Asia, all with a touch of heat.

Team Social wants to be more social, so it's grabbing the space once occupied by the Dock Street Sandwich Company and transforming it into Paesan Kitchen & Bar, with an opening date sometime in May.

A fire has been at the center of human social life from the beginning, and an enclosed hearth gives any restaurant a welcoming feeling. Upon entry into Paesan's refined rustic interior diners will come face-to-face with a wood-burning oven. But this oven won't be for decor or ambience. It will be a workhorse, central to the cooking of Chef Borromeo's housemade pizzas focusing on unique and tasteful flavor profiles - think oxtail or lamb, chicken pesto and different fruits.

The kitchen will not only be visible to diners but open enough to really increase the dining experience and broaden the back of the house to front of the house bond and interaction. In the tradition of The Social Bar and Grill, Chef Borromeo's flavor profiles will pair with crafted cocktails.

Panagos says Paesan will be family friendly but will include a small bar featuring four beers on tap, several Italian wines and Campari or Galliano tinged cocktails. During the summer months, Paesan's will dot its patio space with same outdoor fire tables that reside on the other side of the building.

Paesan intends to open as early as 6 a.m. offering residents and commuters espresso and morning drinks - a service in large demand from Thea's Landing residents. Though nothing is set in stone, the morning plans may also include housemade pastries or collaboration with a local bakery.

I know where I'll be landing this summer. 

PAESAN KITCHEN & BAR, 1701 DOCK ST., TACOMA

GREENER PASTURES >>>

The doctor is in. If you've been grappling with making your lifestyle choices greener, the presenters and exhibitors at the fifth annual South Sound Sustainability Expo have the answers you've been seeking. Around 70 vendors and resources are included in the cost of admission, which is FREE written in big, green letters.

According to hype, the South Sound Sustainability Expo is "intended to provide residents and business owners in the greater Tacoma metropolitan area a place to discover services, products, companies, and agencies in our region that address sustainability needs in our community." As part of that goal, instruction and information on everything from urban chicken cooping to waste minimization and recycling will be discussed.

New this year is a mini farmer's market with about eight vendors selling everything from dried beans to organic ice cream; an art exhibit by local elementary schoolers in the Arts EnviroChallenger program made from refuse; and an interpretive dance by SOTA students titled What the Frack? The piece is a social commentary on fracking and has original music composed by Tacoma jazz saxophonist Kareem Kandi.

The sections of the dance interpret the environment moving from healthy to a state of digging madly for oil and then back to nature.

"Movement is abstracted from societies' multiple perspectives regarding this topic, from the oil companies to the landowners to the environmentalists. The final section of What the Frack? takes us back to nature. It is intimate and personal, yet it is also now broken. This piece leaves the audience to wonder."

You can also use this event to up the ante on your green know-how. The Expo runs (cleanly) from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. During this time, there will be five free workshops spread throughout the day, including how to design a sustainable landscape, solar power, and spring gardening wisdom.

To cap it all off, there is also a raffle - the raffle to end all environmentally centered raffles! Prizes are from a long list of local companies and businesses, from Northwest Natural Lighting to University of Puget Sound to Rain Dog Designs.

TACOMA CONVENTION AND TRADE CENTER, 10 A.M. TO 3 P.M., FREE, 1500 BROADWAY, TACOMA, SOUTHSOUNDSUSTAINABILITYEXPO.ORG

THEATER >>>

First, it was a book written by Susan Hill. Next, it was a play adapted from the novel by Stephen Mallatratt. In fact, it remains the second-longest running play ever in London's West End. And then, Harry Potter brought the story to the big screen in a 2012 movie.

The bit of fiction is The Woman in Black, a creeptastic romp through a tale of haunts and horror.

If you somehow managed to miss this tale of woe in all its many incarnations, you have been granted another chance. The Woman in Black will open at the Lakewood Playhouse Friday, Feb. 22 and run through March 17.

"It's the rare kind of show that combines all of the best elements of theatre: strong acting in an imaginative setting and the ability to really show off our lighting and sound system," says John Munn, managing artistic director at the Lakewood Playhouse. "We've never done anything like it here before. We've told mysteries. We've told ghost stories. But to tell a story that holds both elements and scares the audience so uniquely ... without using gore ... is so rare that we just had to do it!"

One of the coolest things about the play is that it revolves around just two actors. Two actors set on scaring the shit out of you!

A lawyer hires an actor to help him tell a story from his childhood - a tale of the ghost of a woman haunting a town. The lawyer hopes to tell the tale to set himself free from fear of the Woman in Black. But whether or not she will ever truly leave him alone is up for debate. Sometimes ghosts really don't enjoy their tales being told.

LAKEWOOD PLAYHOUSE, FEB. 22-MARCH 17, 8 P.M. FRIDAY-SATURDAY, 2 P.M. SUNDAY, $18-$24, 5729 LAKEWOOD TOWNE CENTER BLVD. SW, LAKEWOOD, 253.588.0042

FYI >>>

The Puyallup Fair promises to release its full concert schedule any day now. The Fair has all ready teased with Craig Morgan's appreance Sept. 6 and Trace Adkins embed in the Pro Rodeo.

Today, it was announced Larry The Cable Guy is headed back to the Fair and well, gulp, "Git-r-done" Thursday, Sept. 19. It makes sense. It's a good pairing — Larry and Puyallup.

Tickets sell for $20, $40, $50 and $65, with reserved seating, and include Fair gate admission, unless noted. Tickets will be available starting Saturday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. on the Fair website, or by phone 888.559.FAIR

BUY THOSE TICKETS NOW AND SAVE >>>

Nick Drake hasn't been with us for nearly 40 years, but his legacy lives on. You need only listen to Seattle-basedDamien Jurado, who plays The Warehouse's "Candle Lit Show" Friday, March 8, to figure that much out. Jurado is firmly rooted in sad, melancholic, gorgeous Drake country. Fans of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska will like Jurado's music. And, for that matter, so might fans of Raymond Carver or Flannery O'Connor - yep, Jurado's a literary dude.

Tickets are on sale now for this intimate show at the Urban Grace Church in downtown Tacoma. if you buy your tickets through Brown Paper Tickets before Feb. 22, it'll only cost you a 10 spot. Afterward, it's $12 advance or $15 at the door.

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

Memo to Memo's Mexican Food Restaurant opening in the spot where Mango Salsa served Lakewood (9602 Bridgeport Way) for about two months: Make better tasting food than Mango Salsa.

Also of note in Lakewood: Starbucks on 100th Street closed.

WHERE TO EAT MARCH 23 >>>

Organizers of the annual Slider Cook-off have announced the contestants in this year's cook-off competition. And the gustatory gladiators are: Asado, Bite Restaurant and Bar, Boathouse 19, Brix 25, Dirty Oscars Annex, Social Bar and Grill, Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge and Marrow Kitchen and Bar. An impressive lineup to be sure.

Full details on the upcoming event in press release form below:

Tacoma, Wash. (February 11, 2013) - On Saturday, March 23 at 6:30 pm the Museum of Glass will host the second annual Slider Cook-off featuring a cooking competition showcasing nine South Sound area restaurants battling to create the best slider for local celebrity judges and guests. The event will feature slider tastings for guests, dancing to 1950s rock and roll classics performed by Daryl and the Diptones and glassblowing by John Miller in the Hot Shop.

The special event was inspired by John Miller's signature artwork Slider which features a giant cheeseburger and was showcased in last year's exhibition Gathering: John Miller and Friends. The piece is currently on view at the Museum.

Participating restaurants include Asado, Bite Restaurant and Bar, Boathouse 19, Brix 25, Dirty Oscars Annex, Social Bar and Grill, Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge and Marrow Kitchen and Bar. Art House Café will be offering a dessert slider. A panel of judges will choose the winner of the Best Slider Award and a People's Choice Award will also be named from votes by event guests. Winning chefs will receive a trophy made by John Miller.

 "Last year's Slider Cook-off was so much fun," said Hudson Slater, chef at Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge and winner of 2012 Best Slider Award. "It was an honor to participate last year. We've been having a great time coming up with ideas for this year's event and I am looking forward to another special evening at the Museum of Glass."

Tickets for the event are $35 in advance ($30 for Museum members) and $40 at the door. VIP tickets are $100 and include access to a private lounge with hosted bar and a gift bag. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Museum's admission desk or online: www.museumofglass.org/slider-cookoff. Guests must be 21 or older to attend.