THIS WEEK'S BEST FREEBIES OCT. 10-16 >>>

If we had an alter ego, we would be sporty. Very sporty. Extreme-sports sporty. We'd snowboard. We'd parasail. We'd skydive. Hell, We'd be able to just play a game of softball without shrieking like a schoolgirl whenever the ball came near us. Best of all, though, we'd be very, very sporty while wearing four-inch Manolos, and after winning the game, we'd walk away with only a sexy muss to our perfectly coiffed hair.

OK, so we want to be a Charlie's Angel.

Who would your alter ego be?

MONDAY, OCT. 10: Would your alter ego be Jack the Ripper? If so, hang out with the Graphic Novel Book Club as the dismember From Hell by Alan MooreandEddie Campbell,the story of Jack the Ripper. Legendary comics writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell have created a modern masterpiece of crime noir and historical fiction with scratchy lines and heavy doses of ink. The geeky book group will gather at 7 p.m. inside King's Books in Tacoma.

TUESDAY, OCT. 11: Would your alter ego be Doctor Dolittle? It might be a good idea, especially since the neighbors called the cops on you four times this summer for shooting crows of your back balcony. Yes, the crows are hella loud in the morning. But crows have feelings too. It's time to better understand the winged nuisances, free of charge. And if you think your relationship with the crows needs to go beyond the basics of understanding, attend Tuesday's Tacoma Science Café from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at The Swiss. Yup, the popular lecture series moved a larger venue. And Prof. John Marzluff, Ph.D., he of the School of Forest Resources, will discuss the curious behavior of these loud birds.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12: Would your alter ego be a fashion designer? Five dollars, a trip to the hardware store and an imagination will separate the truly hip from the un-hip. Duct tape accessories, and even clothes, have become a trend and it's really not all that surprising. When you think about the plastic (that's polyester, girls) content in everyday attire, it's no wonder people would be drawn to a raw engineered form of it. The look you get from duct tape is edgy and playful. You don't need to be Goth or punk. Just lose your inhibitions and get crafty with the myriad of colors duct tape is now manufactured in. It comes in pink, blue, red, gold and the traditional gunmetal grey, among others. Need a little duct tape tutorial for inspiration? The Tillicum Pierce County Library hosts a duct tape creations class Wednesday from 4-5 p.m. No, we're serious.

THURSDAY, OCT. 13: Would your alter ego be Robin Hood? You're pissed off that people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives - potentially for years to come - while the rich become richer. You've decided to become a modern day Robin Hood. But, as the movies have shown, you need mad archery skills. You're in luck! Every Thursday Skookum Archers in Puyallup hosts public instruction in its private clubhouse range. Show up at 6:15 p.m. to sign in, go through a brief safety orientation the first time and then you get to play archery under instruction till 7:45. Best part, freeloaders? You first visit is free.

FRIDAY, OCT. 14: Would your alter ego be a poet? We just read the most irritating book in the world. It's called Jeremy Thrane, and while parts of it were fun, the main character had this extraordinarily annoying habit of, in moments of great stress, reciting poetry. And not his own, but stuff by Yeats, Stevens and other dead people. We think that if you're a writer and you find yourself quoting other people's work because their words express your thoughts better than you can maybe you ought to seriously think about what that means. If, however, you'd like to take a stab at writing your own stuff, jog on over to King's Books for its Distinguished Writers Series. After featured poet Ed Harkness goes off at 7 p.m., stand up and read your stuff during the open mic session. And for fun, why not wear a beret?

SATURDAY, OCT. 15: Would your alter ego be U.S. Women's Soccer Team defender Stephanie Cox? While the chances of you kicking it around with Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and Heather O'Reilly remains scant, you may just lose your proverbial women's soccer cherry this Saturday by hanging with Cox at Skansie Brothers Park. The Gig Harbor resident will talk about her experience and soccer background, sign autographs and then kick the ball around from 1:30-3:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 16: Would your alter ego be a tango dancer? Run, run we tell you, to the florist for roses, because you're going to need it Sunday night. You'll be clutching it between your teeth as you dance the romantic and mysterious tango at the Abbey Ballroom Dance and Pilates Center in Tacoma. Milonga Tango Dance includes free beginners lesson at 5 p.m., followed by a dance ($8). Adelante!

LINK: Arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

THURSDAY, SEPT. 29, 2011 >>>

1. For the always popular 26 Feet of Art (and the accompanying online auction), 26 artists have contributed a 12"x12" piece of artwork to be displayed in the Washington Center's lobby and gallery. From 5:30-9 p.m., a reception and wine tasting will get things off to a good start, kicking off the Washington Center's CenterFest Celebration 2011. The 26 Feet of Art online auction will run through Arts Walk and close Oct. 9.

2. Garfield Book Company hosts a Scandinavian Social Hour featuring a Swedish pancake-making demonstration at 6 p.m. Afterward, everyone will try to put together furniture from IKEA.

3. Oktoberbreast – a Breast Cancer Awareness Month kick-off event with the Breast Cancer Resource Center featuring educational materials, food, DJ, no host beer and wine, fire dancers and more - will happen from 6-10 p.m. at the Puyallup Fairgrounds.

4. "Imagine Tom Waits and Jack White drinking in a Romani dive bar, then haphazardly mixing DNA. That miracle baby might resemble PDX art-folk group Strangled Darlings. Using an arsenal of old-time instruments the group wades through a spooky realm of melting-pot Americana that resembles Waits' music, minus the Cookie Monster growl." The Willamette Week in Portland wrote that ditty about the Strangled Darlings, the band that will perform at 8 p.m. inside The Spar in downtown Olympia.

5. DJ Aaron Mack spins alternative 80s and beyond beginning at 9 p.m. inside The Acme Grub Cage.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Thursday Nightlife It List

FALL HARVEST FARM TOUR IS SATURDAY >>>

Summer, or what the South Sound saw of it this year, is in the past. The bounties of autumn await.

In celebration of the changing seasons and the local harvest, the Washington State University Extension program invites the community to its annual free Fall Harvest Farm Tour Saturday, Oct. 1 at farms in the Puyallup Valley, Orting, Roy and Key Peninsula areas. The farms will keep the gates open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival is considered to be an open house for the organic and sustainable farming programs in Pierce County, allowing the community to learn about sustainable farming methods and the environmental stewardship that make farmers so awesome.

Unless you're on a strict high-preservative, low-nutrition-value, fast-food-for-life diet, you're certain to dig the Fall Harvest Farm Tour. You'll leave with a sack full of fine fixin's for the evenings fare, a wet butt from the hayrides, a couple of souvenirs for the kitchen counter and a head buzzin' full of pride as your pumpkin was launched from the slingshot the farthest.

For a complete list of participating farms, click here.

Here are the four Puyallup Valley farms participating in Saturday's tour:

Terry's Berries

4520 River Rd, Tacoma
www.terrysberries.com
Terry's Berries opened more than 25 years ago when consumer interest in organic farming was just beginning to catch on. One of the oldest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, they offer certified organic produce year round at the farm store and through weekly customer shares.
Here's what they have planned Saturday:

• Hayrides around the farm
• Feed the chickens
• Shop for organic produce in the farm stand.
• Pick apples

From I-5: Take Exit 135. Drive toward Puyallup on River Road (SR 167) for about two miles and look for the farm on the right.

Picha Farms

6502 52nd St. E., Puyallup
www.pichafarms.com
Dan and Russ Picha are third generation farmers carrying on the family business begun by their grandfather, Mike Picha, in 1904 and continued by their father, Ted (Farmer Ted!). In October, Picha's pumpkin patch and corn maze is popular, especially its pumpkin slingshot.
Here's what they have planned Saturday:

• Pumpkin sling shot.
• Corn maze complete with farm trivia questions.
• Farm stand loaded with pumpkins, gourds, squash, hay bales and corn stalks.

From I-5: Take Exit 135 to merge onto River Road (WA-167). Continue on River Road and turn right onto 66th Avenue East. Take the first right onto 52nd Street East. Farm will be seen on the left.

Moon Farm & Puyallup Valley Jam Factory

2615 Tacoma Rd, Puyallup
www.pacificnorthwestshop.com/pnwfoods/
puyallupjamfactory.htm
Farmers Carol and Bud Moon have been growing berries at Moon Berry Farm for more than 40 years. At the heart of their farm is the Puyallup Valley Jam Factory where they turn fresh berries into delicious jams, purees and syrups.
Here's what they have planned Saturday:

• Hayrides around the farm
• Freshly made jam to taste
• Check out the chickens
• Fresh jam available to purchase

From I-5: Take Exit 135 and head toward Puyallup. Stay right and follow Pioneer Way East. When Pioneer Way East meets 72nd Street East, turn left. Pioneer Way East will turn into West Pioneer Way. Follow West Pioneer Way and turn left (north) onto Tacoma Road. Follow Tacoma Road through several intersections to the end and look for the farm on the right.

Spooner Farms

9710 SR 162 E., Puyallup
www.spoonerberries.com
Spooner Farms has been family owned and farmed since 1882. They specialize in Washington berries: strawberries, raspberries blackberries. The also grow corn. Every autumn, Spooner Farms host the Spooner pumpkin harvest wonderland.
Here's what they have planned Saturday:

• A 5-acre corn maze
• U-pick pumpkin patch
• Visit farm animals and explore the Activity Barn
• Find your way through the Animal Tracks rope maze
• Launch a pumpkin in the pumpkin slingshots.
• Shop the gift store for culinary items.
• Take advantage of the available food service

From Puyallup: Head east from Puyallup on East Pioneer Avenue, which turns into Pioneer Way East. Turn right (south) on the Sumner-Orting Hwy (WA-162) and look for Spooner Farms on the right.

LINK: Trouble with DeRosa visited Terry's Berries

PICKING WITH A PURPOSE >>>

The South Sound's fall harvest is on.

That means volunteers with The Pierce County Gleaning Project will be descending on local produce fields to gather fresh vegetables for distribution to hunger-relief agencies.

According to a PCGP, a whopping 40 to 50 percent of commercially grown food goes to waste in this country. I believe it. I witnessed hundreds of apples on the sidewalks during my run yesterday through Tacoma's Northend Neighborhood.

The PCGP collects food throughout the year to distribute to such hunger-relief agencies as St. Leo Food Connection food bank and the Emergency Food network. It runs an urban fruit harvest in Tacoma, gleans from farms in the Puyallup Valley, and connects gardeners with food banks through a Plant a Row for the Hungry Program.

In Thurston County, the Thurston County Food Bank began a gleaning project in 2010. The TCFB gleaners focus on harvesting the bounty from their county's organic farm and CSA community as well as the four Kiwanis-run food bank gardens in Olympia.

The fall harvest offers an opportunity to collect large amounts of fresh-from-the- farm produce. The donated produce is often what's left in the field after the farmers have had their pick. Vegetables that are an off size, shape or color might not be suitable for shipping to area markets.

It can't be accomplished without volunteers.

To get involved with the Pierce County Gleaning Project, sign up to volunteer and find a list of where to donate garden bounty at www.piercecountygleaningproject.org or call 253.584.1040.

To work with the Thurston County Food Bank, visit www.thurstoncountyfoodbank.org or call 360.352.8597.

GOING BIG >>

It's not unusual, of course, for an artist to try to make the audience feel special. And I'm sure some in the half-filled Puyallup Fair Grandstand thought it was a little presumptuous of The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne to declare his show to be the greatest Puyallup Fair concert of all time.  Far greater, he remarked, than anything Kenny Chesney has ever accomplished at the Fair. But, that's how 50-something Coyne approaches his shows. He and his crew - musicians, prop people, 25 young Dorothy Gales cheerleaders dressed in modern-day lederhosen - go big, real big, spaceball crowd-surfing big.

The Oklahoma art rockers went REAL BIG last night at the Fair. And, for the most part, the Puyallup Fair staff let them. The fans crowded the stage before the show - a big no, no during Fair concerts. After Coyne pleaded with head of security Tony, the Fair staff agreed to let the crowd flood the aisles for the first three songs. By the fifth song, the aisles were cleared.

Entering the stage from an LED vagina on an arched HD screen backdrop, The Flaming Lips delivered nearly two hours of trippy, ambitious, marvelous music with stunning visuals, giant balloons bursting with confetti, ginormous fake mitts and lasers. Every party store in the state must be out of stock now.

"Tonight feels like the perfect night," claimed Coyne. I agreed.

The band opened with a wild version of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf," which also permeated the air. As the night progressed, and the Grandstand filled with giant toys and confetti, The Flaming Lips treated the crowd to "Pompeii Am Gotterdamming," "The Yeah Yeah Song," "She Don't Use Jelly," "Is David Bowie Dying" (off the new EP Flaming Lips 2011: The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian), "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot, Part 1," "See The leaves" and "What Is The Light?" and a few instrumentals.

A camera mounted on Coyne's microphone caught close-up angles of both he and drummer Kliph Scurlock (wearing a Red Fang T-shirt), while Coyne strapped on giant mitts for "Laser Hands."

The crowd roared when the band launched into Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage," complete with air raid sirens and cannon sticks shooting confetti into the crowd.

The night ended with "Do You Realize??" in a Technicolor explosion with all the toys, confetti and props unleashed. In the end, The Lips thanks the crowd and head of security Tony for being so cool.

It was a special night.

LINK: More photos from the show

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Wayne in response to the short preview we ran last week of last night's Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald show at the Puyallup Fair.

Wayne writes,

What a great show. Both Boz and Michael seemed to enjoy the night and it showed.
Closing the evening with both on stage, paying tribute to songwritters with different styles added to the evening. My wife and I attended the Fair's Hall and Oates show last year, it was a good show but the band appeared they wanted to get to the next venue as soon as possible with a very short show. Lot's of great music last night.

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Rock Oldenburg who after seeing the band Chicago perform with the Tacoma Symphony at the Puyallup Fair, searched our event listing for the show and posted a review.

Oldenburg writes,

Great Concert - the Symphony shone prior to Chicago taking the stage. Symphony helped fill out the melodic hits of the group but was less noticeable in the full-on rock hits which were blasted from the stage. The group was superb; the Symphony was superb - the concert was a wonderful stroll through the 70's and 80's. Chicago has not lost its touch for either music and harmony or showmanship. Total thumbs up experience - and we can be incredibly proud of our Tacoma Symphony, they shine at every concert! Their local season begins in October. If you haven’t attended a Symphony concert in a while I can highly recommend the experience. We are extremely lucky to have a full, professional Symphony Orchestra that calls Tacoma its home!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT WHILE THROWING CRAP AT YOUR TV >>>

Today will be the last day of hot temperatures for a while. We're looking at temps in the lower 70s over the next couple of days. Just watch: Even though it'll still be plenty warm out, everyone's going to be breaking out sweaters and stuff. Ridiculous.

If you zoned in on your television during the first full weekend of football, here's what we posted over the weekend:

We hung out at the Big Whisky Saloon Parking Lot Party.

We posted a recap with photos of the Nosh League event at Affairs Café.

Tacoma Rock and Roll Wall of Fame banquet is coming in October.

Scenes from opening night at the Puyallup Fair.

LINK: Things to do today

MONDAY, SEPT. 12, 2011 >>>

1. According the the band, Margy Pepper plays "loud kitty puke punk jazz," which is awesome. Check them out at 5:30 p.m. when the trio performs at an all-ages show with Humble Cub and Meowtain inside The Den at urbanXchange.

2. Gate admission to the Puyallup Fair is free today for active, reserve, and retired military and their dependents, and disabled veterans. The gates open at 10 a.m.

3. Tacoma loves it some Pacific Grill. It was no surprise when the Gordon Naccarato-powered upscale dining option on Pacific Avenue took home "Best Restaurant" honors in the Volcano's 2011 Super Best of Tacoma Readers' Poll. Tacoma's love for Pacific Grill has been proven time and time again. Today and tomorrow, from 4:30-9 p.m., Pacific Grill will celebrate its sixth birthday with two birthday party extravaganzas, each featuring free appetizers and snacks, drink specials, prizes and hot DJ action. The only thing more exciting is the food.

4. The Graphic Novel Book Club meets at 7 p.m. inside the 1022 South lounge to discuss Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse over craft cocktails.

5. Blues band Palmer Junction performs at 8 p.m. inside The Swiss.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Happy hours!

THE FAIR OPENS FOR BUSINESS >>>

More than simply cows, crowds and cotton candy, the Puyallup Fair has grown up alongside the town it calls home. Featuring a vast array of livestock, rides, booths, games, foods (of course) and big-name concerts, the 17-day Puyallup Fair, Sept. 9 - 25, promises enough entertainment options to satisfy just about any desire - as long as those desires can easily be met while standing on straw in the presence of farm animals while eating a Krusty Pup.

Just like Puyallup as a town has grown exponentially from its small, humble beginnings, so has the Fair. What started as a three-day "Valley Fair" in a vacant lot has exploded into a monster spectacle - occupying 169 acres, regularly drawing crowds of 1.1 million per year and generally shocking the senses with a staggering array of ShamWows, sit-down foot massage machines, massive cows, hot tub demonstrations, Funtastic carnie people, Krusty Pups, onion burgers, giant stuffed panda bears, hypnotist shows, guys with Janet Jackson headsets trying to sell stuff, live concerts, elephant ears, and "fun for the whole family."

These days The Puyallup Fair is one of the top 10 largest fairs in the world - and it's only getting bigger. Every year, matching our American spirit, the Fair gets a little more ginormous, inching out and expanding steadily.

Progress, in other words.

Read more...