SUNDAY, OCT. 16, 2011 >>>

1. Southern California indie rockers Silver Snakes pull up to The New Frontier Lounge at 9 p.m. for a show with Hands of Toil and Kicking Spit. The Silver Snakes list bands Lack, Hum, Cave In and Recover as influential in its sound.

2. The 8th Annual Bird Lovers' Weekend continues at the Museum of Glass with today's activities opening big with the Bird Lovers' Brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enjoy a complimentary brunch and no-host bar and be among the first to purchase select Birds by Toikka specimens created in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. Tero Välimaa will be present to sign these one-of-a-kind birds. Free for Museum of Glass members, regular admission for non-members. 

3. The Gig Harbor Film Festival ends today with a full schedule of films including Homecoming (10 a.m.), Christopher Woods' Gray Eagles (12:30 p.m.), Randy Sparks' A Glitch in the System (1:30 p.m.), True Vision (3:45 p.m.) and many more screening at the Galaxy Theatre Uptown.

4. The Tacoma Art Museum's Dia de los Muertos celebration officially kicks off this morning when artists Fulgencio Lazo and Jose Orantes, with help from a team of professionals and volunteers, create two large tapetes, or sand paintings, in the museum's lobby beginning at 10 a.m. Also, community members will be installing altars remembering loved ones and raising social awareness.

5. Face it. In this economy, you're not headed to Eastern Europe anytime soon. The Tacoma Concert Band knows this, and bless its heart, will bring a little bit of Prague and Budapest to you. At 2:30 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater the TCB will tour Europe, with Czech, Austrian, Hungarian, and American music, plus three soloists:  Jason Gilliam, euphonium; Sheryl Clark, saxophone; and Bill Dyer, trombone.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Catch a movie

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

City of Tacoma's Website: Now with more back-end bacon. (News Tribune)

Not As Gritty: The Pac 40 reopens on Pacific Avenue. (News Tribune)

Ayatollah Not Happy: Iran's supreme leaders criticizes U.S. over assassination allegations. (CNN)

Today In SimCity 4: Does presidential hopeful Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan sound familiar?(Huffington Post)

It Happens: Lawnmower DUI (TruTV)

What About Her Teeth?: Lindsay Lohan gets fired from community service program. (Gawker)

Oh My: Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore break up. (Flavorwire)

Treat Yo Self Day

SATURDAY, OCT. 15, 2011 >>>

1. You can stick your werewolves, stuff your zombies and ram your mummies where the sun don't shine. October is about one monster and one monster only - the clattering, grease-infested, brake-clutching, butt-busting, beady-eyed demon-beast of the increasingly pocked streets of Tacoma: The Bone Collector Alley Cat Race 2011. The Tacoma Mob Riders host this alley cat bicycle that combines strategy and skills, as well as time bonuses available at each checkpoint. Rides will launch from The Acme Tavern at 4 p.m. and careen through downtown Tacoma streets with bikes created by Terry Andrews for the male and females winners.

2. Tacoma Poet Laureate Josie Turner and poets who participated inher workshop in July will read their work at 2 p.m. inside the walls of Fort Nisqually Living History Museum at Point Defiance Park.

3. Video artist Joseph Taylor Golding will screening his film Tacoma A Tale of Two Cities at 7 p.m. inside The Acme Tavern. Watch the trailer below to grab a sense of what to expect.

4. Pianist Jeff Orr will "Rach" the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ at Mason Methodist Church when he performs Rachmaninoff's "Allegro Moderato in G Major" (Concerto No.2 for Piano and Orchestra) on piano as a pre-recorded organ accompaniment is played off his laptop through the church's sound system. It will be tricky, to say the least. The 7:30 p.m. program also includes J. S. Bach "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," Joseph Bonnet's "Titanic: In Memoriam," Jean Sibelius' "The Swan of Tuonela" (Transcribed for Organ) and Leo Sowerby's "Symphony in G Major." The concert is free with donations to the American Cancer Society accepted.

5. Get ready to Rock The Revolution with Per Capita, May Palmer, Rise Cosise, Krookid and KRS-One at 9 p.m. inside Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill in Spanaway.

PLUS: Northwest Sinfonietta and Occupy Tacoma in our Weekend Hustle

PLUS: US Women's Soccer Team Defender Stephanie Cox appearance in our Freelaoders

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

BECAUSE, LIKE, THERE'S NO TOMORROW >>>

As you know, the new Warren Miller film is headed our way in November. Like There's No Tomorrow will hit Tacoma's Pantages Theater Nov. 5-6 and Olympia's Washington Center Nov. 10-11. Warren Miller Entertainment - whose name is as synonymous with skiing and snowboarding as K2, Salomon or Burton - has been wowing crowds with its cinematic visions of extreme snow sports for 62 years. Its latest film continues the tradition of following the daredevil exploits of skiers, snowboarders and other powder-trashing riders across the globe.

Alas, like a finely crafted Burton snowboard, attending these film screenings doesn't come cheap: Tickets for the event are around $20 a pop. Unless, that is, you win one of the many, many pairs of tickets we'll be giving away at the Warren Miller Prefunc Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Harmon Brewery & Eatery in downtown Tacoma. That's right powderheads, the Weekly Volcano and The Harmon are teaming up to pump a little snow through your veins.

So here's the deal:

First, Harmon Volcano's Warren Miller Prefunc party will run 3-9 p.m. that Saturday. The Harmon's happy hour runs 3-6 p.m. as usual, which is nice. However, because it's a freakin' party, drink specials will continue through 9 p.m.

Second, we're hosting a raffle with past Warren Miller film DVDs and pairs of tickets to all four screenings of Like There's No Tomorrow in Tacoma and Olympia.

Third, there will be a "Best Snow Bum Costume" contest at 5 and 8 p.m. with a $50 Harmon gift card on the line.

Fourth, we'll be handing out a bunch of snow-related swag throughout the party.

And last, we've only just begun to think about the craziest that will happen the Harmon Volcano's Warren Miller Prefunc party. For certain there will be rowdy send-offs for those attending Like There's No Tomorrow that night at the Pantages. And there will be another rowdy welcome when those from the 6 p.m. screening return for more partying.

Have at, snow fans! RSVP to the event on Facebook here. Start planning your snow bum costume. Let's do this thing.

UPDATE ONE: Ben Union will perform live.

UPDATE TWO: One of the raffle prizes will be a $500 gift card to Sturtevant's sporting goods store.

UPDATE THREE: Another raffle prize we'll be giving away at the Warren Miller Prefunc will be a two night lodging with two lift tickets per night at Crystal Mountain Resort.

Warren Miller Prefunc

Saturday, Nov. 5, 3-9 p.m., no cover
Harmon Brewery & Eatery
1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.383.2739

FRIDAY, OCT. 14, 2011 >>>

1. Show up at Jazzbones at 8 p.m. and you'll encounter a pulsing, breathing, three-pronged attack of art-meets-music. The gist of this gig won't be much different than the image the name conjures up, combining the mastery of the "violinistextremist" known as Kytami, billed as "perhaps Canada's most diverse and engaging fiddle player," the DJ skills of The Phonograff, a venerable turntable wizard with almost two decades of experience in the game, and reggae-bred mic-master Mista Chatman - mixing the varied ingredients into a sight and sound rarely seen.

2. Sorry fans of Pearl Harbor and The Prime Gig - the Gig Harbor Film Festival doesn't include "Gig" and "Harbor" flicks. Instead, the three-day festival will include today's screenings of Family of the Wa'a (10:25 a.m.), Paint (2:30 p.m.), A Relative Thing (5:45 p.m.), OxyMorons (8:45 p.m.) plus many more that include features, documentaries, shorts, and foreign films at the Galaxy Theatre at Uptown.  We have call into the festival folks regarding the rumor that For Whom the Bridge Tolls will screen.

3. This weekend bird lovers from far and wide will flock (get it?) to Tacoma for the 8th annual Bird Lovers' Weekend at the Museum of Glass. Events kick off today with bird-related art activities in the Studio, Oiva Toikka documentary in the Theater, "Birds by Toikka" glass bird-making demonstrations by Tero Välimaa in the Hot Shop and Professor Toikka;s new, limited-edition bird is available for purchase in the Museum Store.

4. Sandra Sunrising Osawa, whose prolific films and television productions tell the stories of contemporary Native Americans, will deliver the keynote speech at the Contemporary Native American Issues in Higher Education symposium at 2 p.m., in Philip Hall on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

5. Criticizing a poet is like kicking a crippled child in the groin. It's not pretty, and it doesn't solve anything. That's what we love about tonight's Distinguished Writer Series, which hits King's Books at 7 p.m. After the featured poet - Ed Harkness, author of poetry collections Saying the Necessary and Beautiful Passing Lives -you can stand up on stage and let it all hang out during the open mic without a single vegetable whizzing by.

PLUS: Several events today listed in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

YOUR DAILY GUIDE TO THE 2011 TACOMA FILM FESTIVAL >>>

Tonight The Grand Cinema folks will sweep the popcorn, scrap the gum off the seats and flick the lights off on another Tacoma Film Festival. Finishing out its sixth year, The Grand decided to go out with a Pacific Northwest bang. The closing film will be Seattle filmmaker Megan Griffiths's The Off Hours, the story of a 20-something waitress unsure of what she wants out of life but increasingly certain that the answer will not come from the lonesome derelicts that populate her small joyless world.

Before Griffiths's flick, another Pacific Northwest filmmaker Kristi L. Simkins will screen her three-minute Something Special about a young war veteran exploring the wilds of New Zealand to fulfill the last wish of a close friend who died in combat.

Both filmmakers will be in the house tonight.

2011 Tacoma Film festival Closing Night

Thursday, Oct. 13, 6:30 p.m., $15-$18
The Grand Cinema, 606 S. Fawcett Ave., Tacoma
252.593.4474

For a complete list of today's films, click here.

LINK: 2011 TFF award winners

LINK: Opening Night Gala photos

LINK: Three stories behind the stories

LINK: Big stars at the Tacoma Film Festival 2011

LINK: Our Tacoma Film Festival preview

LINK: TFF Director Emily Alm's picks

LINK: TFF on twitter 

LINK: TFF website

ARTS COVERAGE TO END ALL ARTS COVERAGE >>>

At this point it goes without saying. If you're looking for coverage of local arts in Tacoma, Olympia, and all points in between, the Weekly Volcano is THE place to find it. Our goal is to consistently provide the best local arts coverage possible to our fantastic readers -- always be on the lookout for ways to shine a light on all the awesome creativity we see around us.

Here's a look at the Volcano arts coverage waiting for you this week in print and online.

MOVIE BIZ BUZZ: Dark magic

Authors have book readings. Painters have exhibitions. So why don't more indie moviemakers have public showings of their works beyond a film festival setting? Finding an appropriate and affordable venue is just one hurdle to overcome. The real struggle may reside within the artist himself: he thinks he hasn't enough films completed to sufficiently occupy an audience's time, and even if he does, who would care?

Olympia's Mutually Assured Productions doesn't have these problems. Instead the group secured a venue - the West Side Bar and Grill in Olympia - for Saturday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. For the past several years Mutually Assured Productions has been quietly at work, adding short after short to its stockpile. This weekend they show off the best in a roughly 90-minute program that includes The Van Job, A Bullet Riddled Atheist and The Man Upstairs, Senator Feelgood, and Pacifica: The Biggest Stick. The evening wraps with a premiere of MAP's latest, Missed Connection. ... -- Christopher Wood

VISUAL EDGE: 9th Annual Juried Exhibition at Tacoma Community College

"The Couple": Acrylic painting by Barlow Palminteri Courtesy the gallery at TCC

On the upside there are exciting pieces by Ron Hinson and Barlow Palminteri, whose two-man show at South Puget Sound Community College last year was probably the best of the year outside of major museum exhibitions. In this show, Palminteri has a painting called "The Couple," which is a cluttered studio scene with chairs stacked in front of easels and a barely seen artist dressed all in blue with paint brush in hand. The couple of the title is hinted at but not actually shown. Other than the artist, who is shown only from chest down, the only human presence is in the painting-within-a- painting of an artist's hand. There are two versions of this little painting, both stacked on chairs in the studio. At first glance this painting looked far more chaotic than the carefully composed pictures I've come to expect from Palminteri, but on closer inspection it becomes clear that a composition centered on the blue pants and shirt of the artist brings order to the chaos. ... -- Alec Clayton

FEATURE: ROTATOR DEBUTS

ROTATOR celebrates its first issue Friday at Fulcrum Gallery in Tacoma.

ROTATOR, set to debut this week, is at once a periodical and a piece of art. Headed up by Lance Kagey, Tom Llewellen and the collaborative efforts of plenty of other local talent, ROTATOR will cover topics relevant to the Pacific Northwest, largely focused on urban life. Its creators refer to it as a "quarterly portfolio of Pacific Northwest anti-suburban arts and industry."

Aside from Llewellen and Kagey, ROTATOR will incorporate letterpress printers, illustrators, graphic designers, photographers and videographers. "Arguably some of the best in the region," offers Kagey. This ragtag collection of artists was brought together by a love of design and print. It's also true that many have worked together on other projects. ... -- Kristen Kendle

PLUS: More local theater coverage than you can shake a stick at

PLUS: Comprehensive South Sound Arts & Entertainment Calendar

PLUS: Questionable stuff like this

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Kids These Days: Cost per kid at Remann Hall juvenile detention center has dramatically risen in the past decade while the number of residents has declined. (News Tribune)

Cars Vs Guns: Tacoma police shot and injured a man last night after he refused to pull over. (News Tribune)

Highway 101 Shake: A magnitude 5.3 earthquake jolted an area about 140 miles off the southern Oregon coast last night. (News Tribune)

Blackout Berry: BlackBerry says service is fully restored. (CNN)

Best News Ever: HBO has renewed Boardwalk Empire. (Comingsoon.net)

Don't Panic!: Widespread Panic is not breaking up. (Billboard)

Effed Up: Bookstore chains (like Barnes & Noble) are pulling DC graphic novels because of DC's exclusive deal with the Kindle Fire. (Robot 6)

Of Course Gossip Girl Is On The List: The 10 most annoying characters on TV right now. (Flavorwire)

Halloween: 15 freaky crafts. (Blastr)

YOUR DAILY GUIDE TO THE 2011 TACOMA FILM FESTIVAL >>>

This Narrow Place, the story of a conflicted young Palestinian man who befriends a lonely drug addict, grabbed Best Feature Film at the 6th Tacoma Film Festival, which will conclude Thursday.

Gear down Turbo. You can still catch the flick. The focus of today's TFF Sniff is second opportunities to catch the festival's award winners.

This Narrow Place will screen at 6:30 p.m. tonight at The Grand Cinema. You will the devout Muslim and the profane junky find much to teach each other in this slow-footed but occasionally optimistic drama.

Here are the other winners screening today:

Fort McCoy (Audience Choice) will screen at 1:45 p.m. at The Grand.

The Best Shorts group (including winners for Best Short, Best Animated and Best Regional) will play at 4:15 p.m. inside The Grand.

The Two Escobars (Best Documentary) screens at 2 p.m. inside The Grand.

The award for LOCAL Audience Choice will be announced tomorrow at Closing Night.

LINK: Trailers for the films listed above

For a complete list of today's films, click here.

LINK: 2011 TFF award winners

LINK: Opening Night Gala photos

LINK: Three stories behind the stories

LINK: Big stars at the Tacoma Film Festival 2011

LINK: Our Tacoma Film Festival preview

LINK: TFF Director Emily Alm's picks

LINK: TFF on twitter 

LINK: TFF website

MUTUALLY ASSURED PRODUCTIONS PREMIERES MISSED CONNECTION IN OLYMPIA SATURDAY>>>

Authors have book readings. Painters have exhibitions. So why don't more indie moviemakers have public showings of their works beyond a film festival setting? Finding an appropriate and affordable venue is just one hurdle to overcome. The real struggle may reside within the artist himself: he thinks he hasn't enough films completed to sufficiently occupy an audience's time, and even if he does, who would care?

Olympia's Mutually Assured Productions doesn't have these problems. Instead the group secured a venue - the West Side Bar and Grill in Olympia - for Saturday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. For the past several years Mutually Assured Productions has been quietly at work, adding short after short to its stockpile. This weekend they show off the best in a roughly 90-minute program that includes The Van Job, A Bullet Riddled Atheist and The Man Upstairs, Senator Feelgood, and Pacifica: The Biggest Stick. The evening wraps with a premiere of MAP's latest, Missed Connection.

Directed by Kyle Scott and Ken Carlson, this love-gone-bad story stars Tyler Gianesini as James, whose existence seems to revolve around frequent snack runs to fuel his online gaming obsession. His insufferable roommate, Bryce (played by Matt Geddes), coats every word he utters with sarcasm; you will love to hate this character.

One day in the supermarket aisle he spies Astoria (Kortney Molle), who inspires some pretty funny dream sequences involving chips and beer. (What beautiful woman doesn't?) They soon connect via Lester's List (a stab at Craigslist) and some magic happens ... only the wrong kind.

By mixing sex with a bit of the ol' ultraviolence, Missed Connection shows Mutually Assured in dark territory, a terrain they've mapped out in previous works. But the script also throws in plenty of gallows humor that balances surprisingly well against the more subversive elements. It's wicked fun in time for Halloween. You can find MAP on Facebook or by visiting here.