FRIDAY, AUG. 20, 2010 >>>

1. This year's 25 New Faces, as chosen by Filmaker Magazine, will be showcased at The Grand Cinema, beginning today at 2, 4:15, 6:45 and 8:30, in what is apparently the first film festival modeled after the magazine's list.

"It's kind of a built-in festival, if you wanted to put it together, but I was curious if anyone had ever tried to do that," says Philip Cowan, executive director of The Grand Cinema. "I assumed someone probably had, but I got in touch with Filmmaker Magazine, and nobody had ever done that. They had talked about it, but nobody had ever tried to pull it together. So they were on board."

The idea is to assemble the work of these 25 New Faces - or most of it, anyway - and there you have a festival. Most of these filmmakers are young, innovative people whose daring projects impressed early on. Read the full story here.

2. Billed appropriately as a "Countryside Freak-out! (in the gentlest of ways)," the annual Helsing Junction Sleepover happens this weekend in rural Thurston County. One of the best ideas K Records has probably ever had - which is saying something - the Sleepover is a multi-day music fest partnering purveyors of local, free-range, organic music (K Records), with purveyors of local organic sustenance (the Helsing Junction organic farm). It kicks off today with Gary May, Human Skab, The Maxines, Angelo Spencer, The Curious Mystery, Japanther, Arrington De Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa and a bunch of films from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

3. Is anyone else just a wee bit sick and tired of hearing about how AWESOME Portland is? Every time you turn around someone is talking about Portland and something the Rose City is doing right, or something Tacoma is trying to copy in one way or another. Of course, PDX (Damn! It even has a nifty abbreviation thingy!) is pretty cool, but let's not let the facts interrupt a good anti-Portland rant! It smells like Kombucha down there! At 7 p.m., Sustainable Tacoma Pierce, in conjunction with its Tacoma Permaculture Design Course, will host a discussion at King's Books featuring Matt Bibeau talking about "Inspiration from Portland's City Repair Project." Portland's City Repair Project spawned a nationwide movement of "placemaking" - a kind of DIY urban beautification. You see potholes. Bibeau sees community gardens.

4. Spoken word open mic Mouths & Mics hosted by the 2009 Soul of the City Tacoma Poet Laureate and Speak Your Soul Poet Antonio Edwards runs 7-9 p.m. inside Café Messina on Market Street.

5. The Best of Musical Broadway, or BOMB - a musical revue of Broadway hits performed by students of Lakewood Playhouse's Youth Theatre program - hits the stage at 8 p.m.

More suggestions in The Weekend Hustle.

LINK: New movies open today

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

CARRS NOW SERVES BREAKFAST ALL THE TIME >>>

I had to take two aspirin after eating "The Undecided" breakfast entrée at Carrs Restaurant and Bar in Lakewood. The remedy wasn't need after consuming the massive meal. No, I jumped up to answer my phone outdoors and slammed the top of my goddamn head into an extremely low and ill-place hanging light at the popular car-themed joint.

An hour later my head still hurts.

Who installs a hanging light 5 feet, 2 inches off the floor approximately a foot away from a corner table? Automotive enthusiasts I gather.

Anyway, I'm not writing to just complain but to relay that Carrs now serves its breakfast all day and night (see hours below). Waffles, pancakes, "Ferrari French Toast," "Speedy Skillet," "Geared-Up Gravy" and the rest are at your beck and call. Carrs breakfast is popular with Lakewood residents. This could only be good news to them.

Obviously delirious, I ordered The Undecided: two bacon strips, two sausage links, massive slice of ham, two eggs cooked to order, the largest pile of hash browns I've ever seen, choice or one pancake or two slices of French toast for $15.49. I skipped the pancake/French toast section choosing the $1.29 waffle option.

My waffle play was a solid move as it's a crisp, thick Belgian beauty leaning a little on the sweet side that arrived on its own plate. This waffle ranks high on the South Sound waffle ladder.

The other plate - a foot and a half lounge - held the other food items. The sausage was standard juicy link; the bacon teetered on chewy/crisp. The ham resembled a jigsaw puzzle in terms of texture and color. And the hash browns, surprising evenly cooked, actually had a gravitational pull.

Again, I might be delirious, but if you're hungry - really hungry - it's not a bad decision.

Carrs Restaurant and Bar

6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday,
6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.,
Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday
11006 Bridgeport Way SW, Lakewood
253.584.4622

LINK: Local food and drink contests

THE OLD FRIDAY OR MONDAY CLAIM >>>

Ali Kashi, the man behind the Blue Olive Ultra Lounge, Bella Vita, Lipstix and several other restaurants (and strip joints) we can't remember, will reopen his popular Johnny's Greek Café several blocks down Bridgeport Way from its former location – either tomorrow or Monday.

After peeking inside, we say Monday.

Now called just Greek Café, Kashi will serve basically the same menu, according to the worker bees inside the white and blue painted joint (inside and out). The Weekly Volcano staff hopes the gyro recipe carries over.

What do you hope is on, and off, the new menu?

Greek Café

109^th and Bridgeport Way SW, Lakewood

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.

DINING NEWS, NIBBLES AND BITS >>>

Wine Mixer: Justin Basel of Basel Cellars will visit Swing Wine Bar tonight from 5-7 p.m. to pair five wines with light appetizers for $30 per person.

All. You. Can. Eat!: Happy Days Casino in Lakewood  offers an all-you-can-eat pasta deal every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays for $9.99 with purchase of a drink (non-alcoholic or alcoholic).

Booze In A Cone: Tocanos Café and Wine Bar will served sno cones loaded with booze Wednesday, Aug. 18 at 4 p.m. Remember don't lick and drink!

Future Things Are Coming: Primo Grill in Tacoma will host a cooking class using local farm goods Saturday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. The $65 fee includes recipes and instruction, lunch, a glass of wine, dessert, tax and gratuity. Reserve your spot at 253.383.7000.

Drinks Matters: Gary Shteyngart's rules for vodka drinking.

LINK: Wine deals tonight

THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2010 >>>

1. If you followed Weekly Volcano Editor Matt Driscoll's lead last night at the Best of Tacoma 2010 party, chances are you're in desperate need of an effective hangover remedy this morning/afternoon. Since the main culprit of a nasty hangover is dehydration, you should have been drinking plenty of water with your booze last night at Masa. If not, only time is going to make the hairy, ugly pounding go away. These morning-after drink recipes from legendary restaurateur Trader Vic Bergeron, however, may help.

The Banana Cow

1 crushed ripe banana (a good source of hangover-fighting potassium), 2 level tablespoons of powdered sugar, 3 ounces of whole milk, 1-1/2 ounces of Puerto Rican rum, and (cough! ouch!) cracked ice; blend well.

The Prairie Oyster

1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 dash of Tabasco, 1 raw egg, a few drops lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste in a shot glass.

Bloody Mary

4 ounces of tomato juice, 1-1/2 ounces of vodka, 1/4 ounce of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, dash of Tabasco, and celery salt and ground pepper to taste; stir well over ice cubes in a Collins glass, garnish with a celery stalk and serve (cough!  ouch!).

Failing any of these "cures," a well-placed ball-peen hammer to the forehead can work wonders.

2. Celebrate artists and arts organizations using their creativity to liven up vacant spaces in downtown Tacoma from 5-8 p.m. at the Spaceworks Tacoma Block Party bubbling over at Ninth and Broadway. The party will include guided walking tours, theatrical performances, live dance performances, an ongoing screening of short films and a season preview for the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.

3. The beloved Paula Tutmarc Johnson, former owner of Two Vaults Gallery in Tacoma, curates a new show at The Robert Daniel Gallery. She's brought in a new collection by Karl Krogstad, some "barely dry" original oils by Ethan Jack Harrington, works by J. Neils Harvey (her premiere show) and artwork from The Robert Daniel Gallery's artists. The opening reception is tonight from 5-9 p.m.

4. The Lakewood Playhouse offers a "Pay What You Can" performance of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead paired with Stoppard's Fifteen Minute Hamlet at 8 p.m. This is collaboration with the new dynamic acting company The Outfit Theatre Project.

5. The Loft on Cherry in downtown Olympia hosts The Pasties CD all-ages release show that also features The Solvents and Invisible River beginning at 8:30 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

BOBBLE TIKI THINKS HE'S READY >>>

Bobble Tiki knows life will change.  He knows travel will become a bitch and daily walks will become imperative and going out for a beer sans canine for hours on end will become slightly pressured and more urgent, because Bobble Tiki knows he's gotta get home at some point so the dog doesn't think he's dead and eat all of the wicker and find the credit cards and start ordering streaming cat porn.

Bobble Tiki knows the automobile will smell permanently of dander, and Bobble Tiki knows that since he wears a lot of black (mandatory for writers - it says so in the manual) it is wise not to get a white dog or Bobble Tiki will spend the next nine years with one of those sticky lint roller things in one hand and a Hoover in the other.

Bobble Tiki also knows there are exactly 12,000 books on proper training techniques and there are as many schools of thought on how to raise a great dog as there are religions (and, by extension, fanatical followers of both), and he knows they are all absolutely correct, and yet, none is absolutely correct because every dog is different and if they weren't we'd be very very bored and probably switch to parrots or ferrets or vampires.

So, Bobble Tiki will attend today's Dog-A-Thon at Fort Steilacoom Park looking for answers amongst the thousands of dog freaks picking up their "best friends'" crap. Bobble Tiki is ready. He just hopes the dog is.

Dog-A-Thon

Saturday, July 24, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Fort Steilacoom Park, 87th and Steilacoom Boulevard, Lakewood
253.284.5811

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010 >>>

1. It's time again for Ethnic Fest, an annual event that's brought Pierce County's diversity together in celebration since 1986. Some of the best festival feeding you'll find, as well as visual arts, performing arts, dance, crafts and fun into two days of multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-adjective-for-awesome action from noon to 7 p.m. in Wright Park. Sealing the deal: Ethnic Fest is free.

2. Not many things go together as well as a beautiful weekend and classic, tricked-out, pimped-out hot rods. Luckily, the Pacific Northwest Nationals hot rod show  - presented by Goodguys Rod & Custom Association - will rev up at the Puyallup Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

3. Tacoma's all women, flat track roller derby league - the Dockyard Derby Dames - hold its All Stars Bout #1 from 5-10 p.m. at Pierce College in Lakewood. The all-ages event, which features a beer garden with ID, will donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

4. The Tacoma Tide Football Club takes on the Kitsap Pumas Soccer Club at 7 p.m. on the field at Curtis High School Stadium.

5. For 10 years strong Stonewall Youth has been providing support and empowerment to the Olympia area's gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans-gender, questioning, intersex, and asexual community - through programs and support groups that serve a valuable need. Saturday, the 10^th annual Stonewall Youth Drag Show Extravaganza will up the sass-o-meter to 11 inside the Capitol Theater beginning at 7 p.m. According to hype, expect a "West Side Story themed show is filled with drag, glitter, song, dance, and revolution."

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2010 >>>

1. Songwriters Zach Tillman from Barsuk Records' Pearly Gate Music, Jenna Conrad from Troubletown and Colin Reynolds, as well as slam poets and live painters perform at Tacoma Round #11 at 8 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater Rehearsal Hall at Ninth and Broadway.

2. Singer/songwriter David Gardner will perform from 5:30-8 p.m. in the Harmon Tap Room's outdoor beer garden.

3. The Fort Nisqually Living History Museum hosts a 19th Century Family Fun Night from 6-9 p.m. featuring games, music and dancing of the mid-1800s.

4. Chances are you've got a couple dumb friends. It's the law of averages. Well, Hamlet was no different; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may not have been the sharpest, but they were his buddies - even obliviously escorting him to banishment. Tonight, the Outfit Theatre Project's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead officially opens at Lakewood Playhouse at 8 p.m.

5. The White Zombie tribute band Astro-Creep as well as Klover Jane, Smoochknob and Mechanism perform at Hell's Kitchen beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: New movies open today

LINK: New concerts go on sale today

SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2010 >>>

1. The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts throws a party celebrating its upcoming season with quizzes, $1 drinks, prizes, a season preview and a chance to purchase tickets before the general public, beginning at 5 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater Lobby.

2. The skies over Joint Base Lewis-McChord will be filled with MiG Fury, T-33 Ace Maker, C-17s, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Tuskegee P-51 Redtail and many more planes - as well as static displays - when the gates open at 8 a.m. for Air Expo 2010, which kicks off at 12:30 p.m.

3. It's Kids' Day at the South Tacoma Farmers Market at 56^th and Washington Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beside the usual fare, expect a dance recital by Jo emery Ballet, face painting, balloons, walking animal characters at the off-duty teachers rock band Board of Education. It will be a hoot.

4. Beginning at 1 p.m. around Fireman's Park (South Eighth and A Street, Tacoma) history enthusiasts may enjoy a free one-hour narrative tour of the history of the Thea Foss Waterway, then walk to the 11th Street Bridge and learn why the bridge is so kickass.

5. The Northend Blues Vespers features Little Bill & the Blue Notes with horns from 5-7 p.m. followed by a barbecue fundraiser dinner to raise money for Shared Housing Services - all going down inside the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Tacoma.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound