FREE EVENTS JAN. 9-15 IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Bobble Tiki suggests that you start ducking and covering now. That's because it's this week's Freeloaders column - Morbid Edition. What in the Tim Burton is that, you ask? This week's column starts weird, with dark, morbid funhousey opening credits a montage of images happening in the South Sound this week and ends weird, with Crispin Glover singing the column's love theme, the Jackson 5 hit "Ben." If you are not a rat-o-phobe and end up reading this whole column, Bobble Tiki hopes you stay for the closing credits to hear Glover's bizarre, almost pretty take on the song, but like many reading this column right now, you may pack up and leave before it's ove...

For those still here, rub Pond's cold cream on your face and enjoy the following free morbid-ish events this week in the South Sound.

MONDAY, JAN. 9: The geeky Graphic Novel Book Club will discuss Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 by Tim Hamilton at 7 p.m. inside Hilltop Tacoma's book-themed 1022 South lounge. Hamilton's consistently muted color palette of grays, blues and blacks sustains the overarching gloomy mood and renders the bright flashes of red and orange flames all the more startling in contrast.

TUESDAY, JAN. 10: Rev. Colin co-hosts the wacky Tacoma Cult Movie Club, screening mini-skirted astro-vamps to folks of questionable character at The Acme Grub Cage. When Rev. Colin isn't behind the projector, he's behind the microphone hosting karaoke Tuesday through Saturday. At 9 p.m. Tuesday night Rev. Colin sets up camp in Puget Sound Pizza's lower level. In keeping with the Morbid Edition, Bobble Tiki suggests you sing, "There Is a Light That never Goes Out," "Girlfriend In a Coma," "The Eternal" and "The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11: The Tacoma Classics Book Club is a classic. It's been lurking around Tacoma since 1994. At 7 p.m. inside King's Books, the club will discuss the uplifting The Plague by Albert Camus, a carefully crafted political allegory about an epidemic of bubonic plague that takes place in the Algerian port city of Oran.

THURSDAY, JAN. 12: There's always one member of the family who takes it upon him- or herself to document every branch, twig, leaf and bud of the family tree. Sate this person's taste for amateur genealogy by dragging him or her to the Olympia Genealogical Society's monthly meeting at 7 p.m. in the Thurston County Courthouse, Building One, Room 152. The topic of this month's meeting will be obituaries. Awesome.

FRIDAY, JAN. 13: OK, this might be a stretch, but it's free and a lot of people are killed. Once Sold Tales Bookstore Outlet in Kent will screen Bourne Identity at 7 p.m., or what Bobble Tiki likes to call "Run, Damon, Run."

SATURDAY, JAN. 14: An informal discussion on family caregiving sounds depression to Bobble Tiki, but it's a fact of life. If you need resources, tools and skills to help care for a loved one, the Sumner Public Library offers a free class at 11:30 a.m.

SUNDAY, JAN. 15: Like Kenny Rogers says, you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. So put on your poker face and test your holding and folding at the free Texas Hold'em Tournament at 2:30 p.m. inside Halftime Sports Saloon in Gig Harbor. And remember, there'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done. ...

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

SATURDAY, JAN. 7, 2012 >>>

1. The Auburn Performing Arts Center will be one giant party of bagpipes, whistle, fiddle and song when Celtic bands Mollys Revenge and The Town Pants go off at 7 p.m.

2. Today marks the first Saturday of the month, which means it's time again for the monthly Gig Harbor Art Walk from 1-5 p.m. For the uninitiated, the Gig Harbor Art Walk offers art lovers (or non art lovers, for that matter) a chance to take a free, self-guided tour of the many galleries along the Gig Harbor waterfront.

3. Seattle authors Dave O'Leary, Pam Summa and Destini Baxter will read their works from 2-5 p.m. at Mad Hat Tea Company in downtown Tacoma. "Dave O'Leary's debut novel, Horse Bite, offers a heartfelt and thoughtful meditation on love, sex (lots of it), and the ways in which we view the world - and ourselves - differently as we grow older," says Will Allison, author of the New York Times bestseller, Long Drive home.

4. Listen to traditional music from Mexico and learn about the cultural traditions from which it is derived. The group Trío Lucero del Norte, inspired by music from one of the largest and most diverse cultural areas of Mexico, will fill the Tacoma Art Museum with traditional Mexican music at 2 p.m.

5. DJs Broam, Bobby Galaxy and E.S. present "Future Bass" at 9:30 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: This week's freebies

FREE EVENTS IN THE SOUTH SOUND JAN. 2-8, 2012 >>>

The folks in the Freeloaders-land R&D Department have been diligently working to find new ways to improve this column, and they think they've outdone themselves with their newest innovation. Just in time for the shorter days of winter, Bobble Tiki's column will soon glow in the dark! Are your children afraid to sleep at night? Just use Freeloaders as a comforting nightlight!  Read it in darkened rooms, use it to send signals across the Narrows - the options are nearly limitless! In celebration of this new development, Bobble Tiki will shed light on this week's free events that will help you see the light. So sit back, leave that lamp off for a few more minutes and enjoy!

MONDAY, JAN. 2: The Stevie Nicks landslide has brought Bobble Tiki to a life of corked, isolated displeasure.  Heartily aware of his divergence from productivity some 25 years ago, he nonetheless goes on, still picking at shag carpets for the cheap and banal and crying all the way to the bank. Not to be overly dramatic but Bobble Tiki has the feeling that the end is nigh.  He says this because he's starting to notice something extremely dire in his day-to-day swish through life, equal parts fabulous and scary, and therefore necessarily apocalyptic: His life is becoming just like the color of his hair. Bobble Tiki needs answers.  He needs them now! So he's stopping by the free Psychic Buffet that offers "a tasty treat for the soul" every first Monday of the month inside the Urban Onion Restaurant in downtown Olympia. Psychic Lisa Holm and crew offer energy healing with intuitive readings and numerology at 5 p.m.

TUESDAY, JAN. 3: As counterintuitive as it might initially seem, if you own a Nook or Kindle or a device with the Kindle app (iOS, Android, PC), you can learn how to download free e-books to your device from the folks at Pierce County Library.  Yes, students that includes Cliffs Notes, if you've managed to seriously drop the ball on homework.  As part of its "How To..." Month at the Summit Library, a librarian will teach you how to download for free at 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4: If you're anything like Bobble Tiki you need to work off all the holiday cookies. If you are truly like Bobble Tiki than you know that's difficult because you have a spring instead of legs. If you do have legs, then Bobble Tiki suggests you hit the Cushman Trail in Gig Harbor.  It's quite lovely. Even more lovely - Sound Vista Village, a retirement community close to the trail, will serve complimentary cocoa, tea or coffee fireside during January.

THURSDAY, JAN. 5: Isabel Wilkerson's mesmerizing book The Warmth of Other Suns shed slight on the mass movement of six million African Americans from the south to the north in the middle decades of the 20th century - told through the lives of three people who joined the exodus. The Fireside Bookstore Book Group will discuss the book at 7 p.m. inside the historic Hotel Olympian in downtown Olympia.

FRIDAY, JAN. 6: Do you know about the case of Leonard Peltier? In 1975, two FBI agents were shot in a gunfight on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier, as a representative of the American Indian Movement, was convicted of their murders in spite of a government case dependent on coerced testimony and suppressed evidence.  Robert Redford produced and narrated a documentary shedding light on the incident with an original musical score by John Trudell and Jackson Browne. Redford made the film in the hopes that Peltier's story, when it became more widely known, would make people demand his freedom though he has exhausted his legal appeals. Catch the film for free at 6 p.m. inside King's Books in Tacoma.

SATURDAY, JAN. 7: Saturday is just an artsy kinda day, isn't it?  Which is good, if you're an artsy kinda person.  And artsy kinda people need good days, because their lives are difficult. Oh, you chortle, but the price of Ramen has gone through the roof lately. But Saturday is an artsy day because Saturday is the first Saturday of the month, which means the Gig Harbor Monthly Art Walk is on.  Take a free, self-guided tour of the galleries along the Gig Harbor waterfront from 1-5 p.m. See other people's work and become inspired.

SUNDAY, JAN. 8: For weeks the newspaper ads have been catching Bobble Tiki's eye: "Psychic Readers Network - Work at Home - No Experience Necessary." If no experience is necessary, then anyone could be a telephone psychic, Bobble Tiki figures - even Bobble Tiki. He's determined to try. He has seen the late-night television commercials that portray psychics gleaning the innermost secrets of amazed callers. But before he takes the plunge, Bobble Tiki will do a little homework. He'll check out the Intuitive and Healing Arts Fair noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Crystal Voyage in Tacoma.  Psychic readers in palm, face, tarot, angel card and past life promise to enlighten for free. Right now, the only thing Bobble Tiki can predict is last night's winning lottery numbers.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

Every New Year's Eve we do it to ourselves. Why? Is it the sweet clink of the ice cubes? The exhilarating pop of the cork? Or just the way the night seems to open up into endless magical possibilities?

Whatever it is, things aren't so magical the next morning. There's nothing glamorous or exhilarating about bloodshot eyes swollen shut. Instead of trying to remember who dropped the poison into your eyeballs, soothe the savage orb with wikiHow's seven steps to cure puffy eyes. You're so welcome.

From everyone at the Weekly Volcano and Spew land, we wish you a happy new year!

LINK: 5 Ways to be a Better (cough) You!

LIVE MUSIC TONIGH TIN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Cryptatropa Bar Olympia - Downtown. Badger Acid, Crepusculum, Port Of The Sun. 9:30 pm.

Harbor Greens/Forza Wine Bar Gig Harbor. Jennifer Lind Christmas Concert. 7 pm. NC.

Harmon Tap Room Tacoma Stadium District. Myles Crew. 9 pm. NC.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Pioneers West, C.F.A., Smooth Sailing, Tallest Tree. 9 pm. $5.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Maia Santell & House Blend. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $8.

Louie G's Pizzeria Fife. Dies Drear, Highlight Bomb, James Hunnicutt, Amanda Hardy. All Ages. 7 pm.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Partie Animale Part 2, featuring Death By Stars, DJ Babycham. 9 pm. NC.

O'Malley's Irish Pub Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. City Hall, Don't Talk To The Cops, Bruce Leroy, Noony, OC Notes. 9 pm. $3 or can of food.

The Red Room Tacoma. Red Room Christmas Show, featuring Navigator, Days Of Ivory, How We Fall. All Ages. 7 pm. $5.

The Spar Olympia. James Coates. 8 pm. NC.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. Spazmatics. 9 pm.

Waterstreet Cafe Olympia. Solstice Party, with Ocho Pies. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

LINK: More live music and DJs tonight in the South Sound

TUESDAY, DEC. 20, 2011 >>>

1. Some nimrod in Witchita Falls, Texas claimed Zilpha Keatley Snyder's book The Egypt Game depicts Egyptian worship ceremonies that will turn children into cult worshippers, practitioners of the art of mummifying people and possibly make them walk like Egyptian for the rest of their lives. Tacoma's Banned Book Club will discuss the book, and maybe the band The Bangles, at 7 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge. Bonus" Jessica Spring and her Christmas ornament making machines will be in the house.

2. There's something wonderfully odd and mysterious about the mind of the miniaturist; it takes a certain kind of person to spend so much time around small things. Whether it's a simple dollhouse or a magnificent painting, creating a good miniature is a matter of scale, a fastidious craft that requires patience, an artist's eye - and lots and lots of time. Obviously, the Weekly Volcano doesn't have the patience or skill to go small, but the artists showing at Gallery Row in Gig Harbor do. A variety of original miniature paintings in watercolor, oil, acrylic and sumi ink are on display. The gallery along Harborview Drive is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. The horn-driven 7 on 7 band will pump up the swing dancers at 7:30 p.m. inside the Eagles Ballroom in Olympia. If you need a refresher, Christine Corey will be teaching swing at 7 p.m.

4. Lakewood Playhouse's production of Oliver! is a big show. It doesn't require epic production values or huge dance numbers - just bigness. Big cast, big sound. It hits the stage at 7 p.m. with $15 rush tickets. Weekly Volcano theater critic Joe Izenman has the scoop on the show here.

5. Along with music, dancing and folklore, this year's edition of The Christmas Revels features a glimpse of Santa's dark side. The Revels - an interactive holiday performance with music at its heart - is set this year in 19th-century Bavaria, where holiday traditions range from the familiar to the surprising. It seems the Bavarian Santa, Sankt Nikolaus, has an alter ego, Knecht Rupprecht, and he's a bit different. The Christmas Revels consume the Rialto Theater at 7:30 p.m. To read Molly Gilmore's full feature on the show, click here.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: This week's freebies

LINK: Santa Says Blog

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Dawson's Bar and Grill Tacoma - South. Highrollers. 9 pm.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Infernal Legion CD Release, with Ceremonial Castings, Churchburner, Bloodhunger, Terra Morta, Sok & The Faggots. 6 pm. $5.

• The 253 has more metal bands than I have room to mention, but one band has been bashing out the most evil, blackest metal longer than the rest - Infernal Legion. Tonight the band will release its newest full-length record on Moribund Records. The Spear of Longinus features nine songs and 45 minutes of the most Satanic tunes ever - plus the debut of new bassist and local celeb Josh Dombeck. Recorded right here in Tacoma by Jesse O'Donnell at the Autopsy Room, the first thing that jumped out and throttled me about this CD was the production and sinister tones blaring out of my speakers. A heavier release than expected, I was pleasantly surprised by the songwriting throughout. For my song-by-song rundown of the album, click here. – Jason McKibbin
  

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Five Alarm Funk. 8:30 pm. $10.

Kings Books Tacoma - Stadium District. Bryan John Appleby entertains the Beautiful Angle Holiday Party. 7 pm. NC

LakeBridge Forza Lakewood. Kim Archer. All Ages. 7-9 pm. $10.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Polly Darton, Hot Fruit, Z'Dar. 9 pm.

Louie G's Pizzeria Fife. Erotic City (Prince tribute). All Ages. 9 pm.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. White Orange, Argonaut. 9 pm.

• "I've been into psychedelic and heavy music for a long time," says White Orange lead singer Dustin Hill. "I studied it, and was very much into early '60s underground psychedelic high school bands, and was also very influenced by - for lack of a better word, the whole doom/stoner movement, which starts in the '60s with Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath. It's not a new thing. So, with the early movement of this heavier music, plus the early movement of (psychedelia), and especially as it progressed into the desert of America with Kyuss - I mean, all of that is a heavy influence for me." To read up on White orange, click here. _ Rev. Adam McKinney

The Red Room Tacoma. SOTA Showcase, with Rooftop Warrior, Roswell, Whitney Miller, Jillian Kelley, Riley O'Boyle. All Ages. 7 pm. $5.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. Tim Hall Band. 8 pm.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Sea Of Misinformation. 9 pm. NC.

Tacoma Community College Auditorium Tacoma - Westside. A Big Band Christmas, featuring Rich Wetzel's Groovin' Higher Jazz Orchestra. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $10.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Baby Gramps. All Ages. 8 pm.

• Baby Gramps looks just like he sounds. His appearance is a more or less spot-on indication of the noises that soon follow when he picks up an old gee-tar and starts a-singing. A long, scraggly white beard, some spectacles, a low-brimmed hat, and when he opens his mouth, the strangest sounds fall out. Throat-singing, it's called, this kind of guttural croak - and it's Baby Gramps' most effective tool in transforming these old folk songs, labor songs and sea shanties into something that feels real. Twee anachronism fades, and all that remains is the pungent punch of that voice. Knowing about how long Baby Gramps has been busking on Seattle streets - somewhere close to 50 years - it's hard to really question the sights that beard has seen. - Volcano Staff

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Devils Of Loudun, Decibal Point, DA27 Ether. 9 pm.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

LINK: Saturday Night It List

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Big Whisky Saloon Tacoma - Downtown. Sammy Steele Band CD Release Party. Release of their debut full-length record "Songs From The Third Cactus". 8 pm. $20.

Harbor Greens/Forza Wine Bar Gig Harbor. The Kari Ehli Band. 7 pm. NC.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Charlie Drown, Serous, Haunting The Disconnect, Days Armor. 7 pm. $5.

• The goth is strong in this one. Charlie Drown is the kind of group/artist/performer/whatever that's totally comfortable throwing around lyrics about beds made of skin and "48 dead in my head," all while drum machines and synths pulse in the background. Lead vocals are not so much singing as they are various vacillations between sultry coos and snarls. The name Charlie Drown is hilarious on its surface, but thinking more about what exactly the band might be getting at by naming itself this is kind of like a cat chasing its tail (is it still funny if maybe they take the name seriously?). Best, I think, to approach Charlie Drown as something that'll get you to dance madly and get all dark and stuff. Nothing wrong with that. - Rev. Adam McKinney

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Big Wheel Stunt Show, with Gavin Guss. 8 pm. $7.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Hot Rush, Memory Boys, Skrill Meadow. 9 pm.

Louie G's Pizzeria Fife. Benefit Concert For Veterans, National Guard, Reserve & Family Members, with The Randy Oxford Band. All Ages. 7 pm. $10 & donate a new toy at the door.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Blue Creepers. All Ages. 6 pm. Seastar. All Ages. 8 pm.

Morso Wine Bar Gig Harbor. Jaime Wyatt, Ted Wulfers. 8 pm. $25.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Countdown to Christmas Show, with Girl Trouble, The Fucking Eagles, The Dignitaries. 8:30 pm.

• Christmas in Tacoma is synonymous with a number of things. Half-racks of Pabst adorned with bows. Eternal darkness. Mediocre gift exchanges. Heavy drinking. Loneliness. Depression. They all have their place on the Tacoma holiday mantle. Luckily, T-Town also has the annual (or somewhat annual) Girl Trouble Countdown to Christmas show, which this year will again be held at The New Frontier Lounge, and - along with its garage rocking namesake - will bring Grit City staples the Fucking Eagles and the Dignitaries to the stage. It will be a Tacoma-centric celebration of the holidays that's easy to get behind, and won't leave you a sobbing mess of tears all alone in front of the TV watching Holiday claymation. Or does that just happen to me? - Matt Driscoll

The Spar Olympia. Paul Mauer. 8 pm. NC.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. J-Mac, Tie One On. 9 pm. NC

Tempest Lounge Tacoma - Hilltop. Hamell On Trial. 7 pm. $10.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

AMERICIANA MUSIC SERIES PRESENTS ANOTHER AWESOME SHOW >>>

Americana music is as much a melting pot as the country it takes its name from. The music genre cuts a wide swath these days, encircling just about anything that involves singing and songwriting by, well, an American. Bill Monroe, the Carter Family and ilk were the seeds of what we know today, while a few roots dug a darker, alcohol-laced, honky-tonkin' offshoot (see: Hank Williams). Sprung by this groundwork, true Americana has been blossoming ever since, from Johnny Cash to the rough anthems of Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams.

2004 Gig Harbor High School graduate Jaime Wyatt has followed the growth of Americana music. At 14, she put pen to paper and started working out chord progressions on the guitar. In her middle teens, she stepped on the Antique Sandwich Company's worn-out rugs and blew the Tuesday night Victory Music Open Mike crowd away. By 17, Wyatt had joined the Lakeshore records roster.

Wyatt, 26, has followed her musical dreams, traveling the American roads and taking new roots in Los Angeles. Between her own studio recording and touring, she has shared the stage with Lucinda Williams, John Fogerty and even landed on the set of Desperate Housewives. Her version of Americana incorporates pop music and a little R&B, but has lineage in blues and country. Wyatt knows the American roads well. When she's not touring solo, she the third singer/songwriter with Jane and Jonathan Sheldon in the heart-on-the-sleeve band American Bloomers, which just released a new EP, Part One.

Wyatt returns to Gig Harbor Friday for a performance at Morso Wine Bar. We sprinkled a few questions her way.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: What do you miss most about Gig Harbor?

JAIME WYATT: Fresh air, slower lifestyle, enthusiasm for local music and community causes, my mom's baking ... Oh yeah and El Pueblito restaurant has really good tortilla soup. I have yet to find a soup that compares.

VOLCANO: What did you have blasting in your car on the way to high school? Did those musicians influence your work?

WYATT: I lived on Fox Island and the Metzger brothers, Joe and Josh, would pick me up blasting Zeppelin, Beatles and lots of Jimi Hendrix. When I started driving Tom Petty, Bob Marley, Jeff Buckley, Neil Young and Lucinda Williams were in heavy rotation. High school was predominately my classics era and a much larger part of my general education!

VOLCANO: What advice would you give to teens trying to make it in the business?

WYATT: hmm, I don't wanna sound like I know a lot about anything, but here's what I've discovered works for me: Write songs and more songs, study song structure, melodies and lyrics. Keep it simple. We are here to have fun and help our friends and fans enjoy themselves. Learn covers and play them in your own voice. What works in the studio, doesn't always work for live shows, so be open to change.  Find joy and satisfaction in the process of writing and playing with others, because the kickbacks - including money and recognition - will take a while. Luckily, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are good for the soul. Last but most importantly, learn to take direction and criticism. It takes a healthy amount of conviction to want to perform and promote yourself, but even more humility and listening skills to evolve as an artist.

VOLCANO: So ... what's this we hear you have a Desperate Housewives story?

WYATT: My other band - American Bloomers - played a charity benefit on the set of Desperate Housewives right on Wisteria Lane! It was pretty cool to meet most of the cast and hang out on set. Terri Hatcher is super nice and loves music. She sang some songs with the band from TV and sounded really good.

VOLCANO: Will you be performing new material at Morso?

WYATT: Yes! I will be playing songs that will be released on my record titled This Side Up in 2012. One new song, "Neon Love" is going to be on the soundtrack to a new movie with Katherine Heigl, alongside Colbie Caillat. Another song, "Walked Through Fire," was co-written and produced by Barrett Yretsian who did Christina Perri's recent hit, "Jar of Hearts." I'll also play songs from my self-titled EP on Lakeshore Records, recorded on Vashon Island with Pete Droge. It pays homage to some of the classics by singing some fun covers.

Wyatt will perform with Chicago-born rocker Ted Wulfers as part of the Americana Music Series produced by Michael ONeill and Morso.  Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling the restaurant at 253.530.3463. 

[Morso Wine Bar, Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m., $25, 9014 Peacock Hill Ave., Gig Harbor, 253.229.0187]  

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound

The Weekly Volcano and Spew would like to wish you a Happy Turkey Day! We hope you and a few others huddle around what little warmth there is in a increasingly cold and uncaring universe, sipping, supping, and supporting one another - because there is nothing else worth doing.

Love each other.

Then go find some karaoke.