TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011 >>>

1. Had a chance to check out Backstage Bar & Grill on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma yet? You might want to change that, and tonight might be the perfect night as Lynch Mob with George Lynch, Atomic Outlaws and Sin Circus all take the stage. Here's the Volcano's comprehensive list of South Sound live local music listings.

2. Drop in for Irish Sessions at O'Blarney's Irish Pub in Olympia tonight for live, free, traditional Irish music starting at 7:30 p.m.

3. Get smart with trivia nights all over the South Sound - from the Hub, to Paddy Coyne's to Farelli's.

4. It's time for the Tuesday "Read-In" at Last Word Books on Fourth Avenue in Olympia. Come, "sit and read, drink tea, and argue politics every Tuesday," according to hype - which makes it much like every other awesome-ass day at Last Word, only officially sanctioned.

5. Finally get that mutt in line with dog obedience training at Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma. It's a beginner course that goes down every Tuesday - registration and a fee are required.

TUESDAY, JAN. 11 >>>

1. See the Saint Martin's University men's basketball team on real TV for the first time ever - as they battle the Western Oregon University Wolves tonight on Fox Sports Net.

2. It's Tuesday, which means it's - obviously - time for "Ha Ha Tuesdays" at Jazzbones. Tonight, comedian Andy Andrist gets the laughs going.

3. In the mood for a great cup of coffee, something tasty, and perhaps a little acoustically woven classic rock? Oh, and want it to be all ages, so you don't have to worry about what to do with the kids, or whether you'll need your fake ID? Try Josiah & Sam Bogle tonight at the Mandolin Café. The duo starts at 7 p.m., and there's no cover charge.

4. Are you kind of broke, but still need sustenance and more importantly beer? Try Tightwad Tuesdays at Hell's Kitchen - think $2 beers, $2 wells and $2 for any taco.

5. If you're going to enter the science fair in Puyallup, you may as well have success. Are we right, or are we right? Tonight, check out the Puyallup School District "Science Fair Information Night" at the Puyallup Fair and Events Center. The schooling starts at 6:30 p.m.

DINING NEWS, NIBBLES AND BITS >>>

Downtown Grocery Store: The News Tribune is reporting The Meyers Group will lease space in Pacific Plaza to operate a full-service grocery store, which could include "grab-and-go" prepared food. Read their full story here.

Cellar Days: 99 Bottles in Federal Way finished their annual inventory and are selling their limited bottles to the public.

New Winery: Ray and Kristi Curtis have opened the Northwest Mountain Winery at 2825 Marvin Road N.E. in Olympia. They produce dry Riesling, Chardonnay, Syrah and Cab Franc, along with several fruit wines and spiced mead. They are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Sunday.

Future Things Are Coming: Farrelli's Wood Fired Pizza in Lacey (4870 Yelm Hwy. SE) will host a pizza eating "chompetition" at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 5. How much pizza do you think you could put away in 15 minutes? The winners take home cash.

Food Matters: Neanderthals had a sweet tooth like us, study finds.

LINK: Beer and wine tastings today

LINK: Join our Nosh League foodie/drinkie group

LET'S DO THIS 2011 THING >>>

Ah, the sweet artificiality of the New Year - the reassurance of a clean calendar, of resolutions for self-improvement. And then you pick up the newspaper, and that pure artifice of the change of year, that vagarious demarcation of another arbitrary moment, is rendered meaningless by the inexorably continuing chains of events that know no boundaries defined by pages in a calendar. (Remember, the Chinese and the Jews have their own calendars, no less arbitrary, no more meaningful.)  It's no wonder revelers seem to work so hard trying to have a good time as the countdowns begin.

We here at the Weekly Volcano and Spew hope you had a nice holiday season and we wish you the best all year around.

MONDAY, DEC. 27 >>>

1. Get the week started on the right foot when Cold Shot busts out a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan tonight at the Swiss in Tacoma. Soul patch facial hair is optional, but highly encouraged.

2. Did someone say Jager bombs? Monday means one thing at Jazzbones on Sixth Ave - Rockaraoke, the institution that only seems to grow stronger and more belligerent with time. Come drink and sing your problems away, backed by a live band!

3. It's movie night at Le Voyeur! We have no idea what's showing, but chances are it'll be cool and you can grab some great grub while you're at it - not to mention drinks.

4.  Like trivia? Got a team? It's team trivia night at Farrelli's Gourmet Wood Fire Pizza in Lacey - a combination of two of our favorite things. Amazingly, you probably also like to drink and win prizes, meaning this Monday night event is totally for you.

5. Beer pong is huge - even bigger than when you were at WSU, bro. Check out Big Wheel Steakhouse and Lounge tonight for $7 Highlife pitchers, $5 one topping pizzas, and $3 drink specials - not to mention a beer pong throwdown with signups commencing at 9 p.m. and games starting at 10 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Subscribe to Spew's RSS

HO HO HO >>

Every year our Christmas dinner has one flaw.  We have no gripes about eating the same menu annually - ham with cherry sauce, green bean casserole, twice-baked potatoes, and freshly baked rolls. It's the Jell-O salad that gets us. 

Our mom makes a strange concoction of dark cherry Jell-O with Coca-Cola and bits of cream cheese, which is not as bad as it sounds, but she serves us a slab on top of a piece of iceberg lettuce.  The lettuce is our mom's way of dressing up a barren salad plate, but the lettuce taste is transferred to the Jell-O.  We end up eating lettuce-flavored Jell-O, and trust us we've protested. 

As we gather around the Christmas dinner table with family and friends - feeling fortunate to even have food, family and friends - no doubt we'll have Jell-O on lettuce again.  We'll eat it, with a smile

What ever this day brings you, the Weekly Volcano staff wishes you a merry one. As always, thanks for reading, commenting and joining the fun. Cheers!

WEDENSDAY, NOV. 10, 2010 >>>

1. Farrelli's Wood Fire Pizza in Lacey wants wishes the South Sound would turn into a giant snow globe, sealed off and insulated from the rest of the world - but with a whole lotta beer drinking and pizza eating going on. To help prepare for such an event, they'll host a Prepare For Winter Party at 7 p.m. featuring a bunch of Fish Tale Ales, Leavenworth Biers and Alpine Experience, plus ski and snowboard flicks and raffle prizes. We like how they think.

2. While the suits put the final touches on their morning presentations, the kids will head for a mini-wacky-wiki-Waikiki inside The Den at urbanXchange in downtown Tacoma. The Tropical Trio will lay down some kitschy-koo Hawaiian fusion for some mongrel carefree vacation sensation from 4-6 p.m. Humahumunookienookie bitches!

3. The Tacoma Food Co-op and University of Puget Sound Sustainability Advisory Committee presents a special viewing of the documentary King Corn at 6 p.m. in the Rausch Auditorium inside McIntyre Hall on the University of Puget Sound campus in Tacoma. The event is free, however any donations to the Tacoma Food Co-op would be cool.

4. Botanical busybody David Douglas was attacked by millions of stinging nettles as he explored the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century. He didn't care. He discovered hundreds of western plants, most notably the iconic Douglas Fir. Author Jack Nisbet documents his journeys through forests and marshes, up mountains and across rivers in his book The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest. At 7 p.m. inside Wheelock Library in the Proctor District, Nisbet will discuss and sign the book.

5. Rock the Dock Pub & Grill's Old School College Wednesdays features DJ Contagious spinning '80s dance tunes. It sometimes gets nutty at Old School College Wednesdays. See what we mean here.

LINK: Lots of Art at Work events today

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

TOURNAMENT OF PIZZA PREP >>>

Farrelli's Wood Fire Pizza

Lacey, DuPont, Sumner, Tacoma and Parkland

Born: 1995

Pizza Style: Wood fired, whole wheat and gluten-free crusts available

Skinny: After owning several local restaurants – The Hob Nob, Engine House No. 9, John's Breakfast and others – Margaret and John Farrell, wife and husband, along with daughter Jacquelyn, opened Farrelli's Pizza and Pool Co. 15 years ago in Lacey. The Farrells interviewed potential employees for their first pizza joint on a card table where the Lacey store now stands. In 2007, they opened their fifth location at the Garfield Commons in Parkland, and in the same year was named "Independent Pizza Chain of the Year" by Pizza Today magazine. In article after article, the Farrells give recognition and accolades to their employees, many who have been with them since the card table.

Notes: The restaurants – especially DuPont and Tacoma locations - are full of character. Not so much the rooms, which are nicely appointed and clean, but rather the people that hang at the joints. The jovial bar crowd, many shooting stick, send a fun vibe throughout the restaurant. It's lively. And the service is uniformly good. On weekend nights, Farrelli's Tacoma location is packed — a press at the bar, the floor awash with families, the kitchen a riot of artigiani. On a Monday afternoon, the same Farrelli's is quiet, the service personal and personable. On a Sunday afternoon during the game, it's busy again and the service never misses a beat.

Farrelli's also serves calzones, lasagna, salads, appetizers, chocolate cake and a few more menu items.

Happy hours are top-notch with competitive drink specials and $.50-$6 food specials. Farrelli's also offers a $9.99 12-inch Late Night Pizza Special after 10 p.m.

The Pizza: Pushing The Rock Wood Fired Pizza aside for another day, the difference between the other pizza chains in the area and Farrelli's is like the difference between a kiss from your sister and a kiss from your lover. With the wood fired pizza ovens front and center – a show in itself - Farrelli's pies are hand-tossed, firm but chewy with a flop at the tip. I've never had an oily, runny, soagy, cardboard-tasting and/or burnt Farrelli's pizza. I have had a luke-warm undercooked Farrelli's pie, but only once.

My favorite Farrelli's wood fired pie, Jack & John Pizza (Italian sausage, Provolone/mozzarella blend, green and black olives, green onions, artichoke hearts, mushrooms - so yum!) slightly morphs at each location. It's what truly hooks me — minor notes of taste, of savor, of buttery goodness that seems to shift with the wind, with minute adjustments in the temperatures of the ovens, in the space, sometimes, of a breath. Each Jack & John pizza - loaded with cheese and a chewy thin crust that holds firm - is its own creation, possessed of its own character, absorbing down to each bite of buttery olive joy.

Hours: They vary per location, but basically they open at 11 a.m. and close at midnight Sunday through Tuesday, staying open to 2 a.m. during the party days.

The Weekly Volcano will host a South Sound Tournament of Pizza competition in March 2011, much like our Tournament of Tacos. Our readers will seed the tournament.

FORUM: Best pizza in the South Sound?

RAMPING UP FOR OUR ANNUAL ARTS GUIDE >>>

Whoa, check out the calendar. Fall is on the way. And with the fall comes a slew of fun things to do, buy, eat, hear and more.

Our annual Fall Arts Guide will hit the South Sound streets Thursday, Sept. 9 chocked full of dance, theater, classical music, visual arts, literary suggestions - as well as where to eat and drink before and after the performances.

Added bonus: Tacoma artist Lance Kagey will design the guide's cover.

If you’re a South Sound arts organization, please send us your entire season's calendar here. We don’t want to leave anyone out. Please submit schedules by Friday, Aug. 27.

If you would like to support the Weekly Volcano's keepsake Fall Arts Guide, and reach our powerful, niche market, contact our advertising department at 253.584.1212 or by e-mail here.

Look for the Fall Arts Guide in the Weekly Volcano and at your favorite hangout Sept. 9.

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

D4 Venue Sumner. Rattlehead, Hexen, Sword Of Judgement, Phlegathon, Unhailoed. All Ages. 7 pm. $8-$10.

Firecreek Alehouse Lacey. Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies. 21+. 8 pm.

Forza Wine Bar Gig Harbor. Steve Stefanowicz. 21+. 7 pm. NC.

Harmon Brewery and Restaurant Tacoma - Downtown. Ben Union. 21+. 5 pm.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Psycho 78, Atomic Outlaws, Villains Of Yesterday, Syztem Seven. 21+. 9 pm. NC.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Dum Spiro Spero, Simply EZ. 21+. 9 pm.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Herky Cutler. All Ages. 8:30 pm. NC.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. Shannon Otto, Jason Harrod, Eleanor Murray. All Ages. 7 pm.

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Kim Archer Band. 21+. 8 pm. NC.

O'Malley's Irish Pub Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. David Dondero, Luke Stevens. 21+. 9 pm.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. The DT's, The Dignitaries, The I Love Myselfs. 21+. 9 pm.

• Twink The Wonder Kid - purveyors of pure rock magic like "Pretty Neat on Your Motorcycle," and not far removed from the previous incarnation, Guns and Rossetti - have chosen Tacoma and The New Frontier (kind of) as the place to re-unleash themselves, celebrating what Rossetti refers to as a "soft return" Friday night. Click this twink for more details.
  

Port Plaza Olympia - Downtown. Music At The Port, with M-Pact. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. Hotrod-A-Rama, with Si Si Si, The Fucking Eagles, Girl Trouble. 21+. 9 pm.

• Friday and Saturday marks the 8th Annual Hotrod-A-Rama, once again set to engulf The Swiss with enough sweet-ass pre-1965 traditional and custom hotrods to make Boyd Coddington blush, plus a stellar lineup of music including performance by The Fucking Eagles, Girl Trouble, Si Si Si, Basemint, Red Hex and the Scuzztones (among others). Ambiguously billed as "The Last One Ever Again," this year's Hotrod-A-Rama will really get going Friday night, when The Fucking Eagles, Si Si Si and Girl Trouble take the stage starting at 9 p.m. Read the full story here.
  

The Warehouse Tacoma - Downtown. Dovekins, Paper Bird, Spirits Of The Red City. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $6.

• Spirits of the Red City make chamber-folk that leans toward the melancholy, though the wall of sound created by the wave of instruments has an uncanny ability to feel spirited even while the voices suggest otherwise. More details here.
  

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Kim Archer Band. 21+. 8 pm. NC.

(True) Villains of Yesterday

LINK: Listen to more villains tonight