SATURDAY, OCT. 19 2013 >>>

1. For some, running can be an excruciating experience. To many others, it's what they live for. But however you feel about running, there's no doubt the experience can be improved by the donning of a ghoulish costume or vampire teeth and a cape. Enter the Black Cat Fun Run, a family-friendly 2.5 or 5-mile jaunt through Point Defiance Park set to go down at dusk. Organized by Metro Parks Tacoma, the event caters to runners and walkers of all levels, and the registration fee gets you a running cap with lighted brim, glow necklace and live music, hat bales and snack at the finish line ... or water if you're, like, a really hardcore runner and stuff.

2. What would all this Halloween talk be without perhaps the most classic (and bloodiest) Halloween-y performance of them all? Head over to see Tacoma City Ballet performance of Haunted Theatre: Backstage Tour and Eerie Dances at 3 and 5 p.m. inside the Merlino Arts Center. Walk behind the scenes in an old ballet studio and see what kind of chills, thrills, and arabesques lurk as Tacoma City Ballet dancers perform spooky Halloween ballets complete with bats, marionettes, ghosts, monsters, mummified Egyptian cats, pumpkins, skeletons and witches. Afterward, go grab a "bite." The dance company will be sure to make a great impression (or is it a great mark?) on you.

3. Actor Elliott Gould will appear at a 7 p.m. screening of the 1970 Robert Altman film M.A.S.H., in which Gould played Trapper John McIntyre, as a fundraiser for the Olympia Film Society's digital cinema campaign at the Capitol Theater.

4. PugetBrass will perform traditional and contemporary literature in a unique and entertaining style popularized by British colliery bands of the early 20th century at 7:30 p.m. in Tacoma Community Coolege Building 2 Auditorium.

5. "For an event that pretty much takes the worst elements you could possibly combine together," says Craig Egan, "we've had surprisingly little amount of trouble." Egan is speaking about his annual take on Oktoberfest, called Maltoberfest at 7 p.m. inside Bob's Java Jive. It doesn't take much detective work to figure out that Maltoberfest celebrates that most dubious of concoctions: malt liquor. Now in its eighth year - and with the ridiculous subtitle of "Maltoberfest 8: Menace II Sobriety" - the event brings together all of Tacoma's rabble-rousers for a night of punk, hip-hop, German nonsense and many dozens of forties of Old English, Mickey's, and Steel Reserve. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Maltoberfest 8: Menace II Sobriety in Music and Culture section.

LINK: Saturday, Oct. 19 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Puget Sound soccer fans - rejoice! The Tacoma Soccer Center has a historic treat for soccer fans of all ages.

Friday, Oct. 25 the Center will host the second annual Northwest Soccer Legends Night. Two teams of past professionals will compete in a grand indoor night match including local and international legends Alan Hinton and Jimmy Gabriel serve as captains and coaches of the match.

Here's why this match is awesome. Gabriel and Hinton are the real deal. Nearly 40 years of professional playing experience in Europe and the United States is nothing to scoff at. Add in more than a 1,000 first team appearances, the duo knows soccer and knows how to develop players. Both men have Pacific Northwest roots as Sounders coaches as well as coaching other teams in the region.

Of course, there will be great past players to watch, too. Stick around after the match; grab some autographs and share memories with the players. As a bonus, catch an exhibition game with the South Sound Shock. One admission fee gets you the full meal deal for the evening.

The $10 tickets will be available at the door, as well as on the Seattle Sounders FC website. Food and beverages are for sale inside the facility, including the Far Post Sports Bar, overlooking the field. Parking is limited, so phone the neighbors to carpool/tailgate.

For more information, check out the Tacoma Soccer Center website or call 206.445.2097.

NORTHWEST SOCCER LEGENDS NIGHT, 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 25, Tacoma Soccer Center, 2610 E. Bay St., Tacoma, $10, soundersU23.com

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16 2013 >>>

1. 3 Inches of Blood divorced themselves from the cheesier of their metal ancestors.  This Vancouver, B.C., sextet, sporting two singers - Cam Pipes belting out death metal screams while guitarist Justin Hagberg has replaced Jamie Hopper's vocal duties - spews classic metal swagger, and that's why we dig them. They remind us of the '70s metal past - the vocal assault of Rob Halford, epic guitars of Iron Maiden and Metallica. Loud and raucous, 3 Inches of Blood will rock Jazzbones at 8 p.m. with screaming-for-vengeance vocals, medieval tales of pillaging unsuspecting victims and fair maidens, razor sharp guitar riffs and thunderous drumming. Witchburn and Deathbed Confessions will set the tone.

2. Little antique stores have their appeal, but sometimes it's nice to take a giant approach to antique shopping - that is, you stop at one big place and find everything. Sanford and Son Antiques stocks all sorts of old knickknacks and goodies in a three-floor maze of awesomeness. Griswold cast-iron pans, oak library tables, antique Royal typewriters, old cameras, antique lighters, dishes, silver, that Six Million Dollar Man action figure you had as a child - you'll find it all here under one roof at reasonable prices. In 2005, Sanford and Son owners Alan and Cheryl Gorsuch converted its middle floor into a shopping bazaar of 20 local businesses called the Middle Floor Merchants. From noon to 6 p.m., a celebration for new merchants will be held, including Magic Card gaming, a drum circle, entertainment, youth crafting, door prizes and refreshments. Check out the magic card shop, fashion accessories, photography studio, model train shop, a home-style diner and coffee shop, dog boutique, vintage and decor shops and other shops.

3. Artist David Roholt transforms the familiar. His paintings balance the abstract and the representational, creating dimension through contrasting color and surface texture. Roholt's paintings will be on display at Pacific Lutheran University's University Gallery through Nov. 13. A wine and cheese reception will be held from 5-7 p.m.

4. You can hear it in his voice. It’s quiet and not the least bit nervous. As he describes his conversion from staunch Republican to old-fashioned populist Democrat; as he revisits days as a White House intern; as he recalls his tenure as student advisor to the University of Puget Sound’s Black Student Union and participation in antiwar protest marches; and decades later, as he laments the presence of a private prison for immigrants on the Tacoma Tideflats one thing becomes clear — many of us never knew the real Bill Baarsma. Maybe you'll get to know the former Tacoma mayor better when he hosts History Night at 6:30 p.m. in The Swiss. The theme is sports in Tacoma.

5. San Francisco poet and artist Beau Beausoleil is the founder of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition and co-curator of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here book exhibit, which is on display at the Collins Memorial Library on the campus of the University of Puget Sound. Beausoleil will be at the library from 7-8 p.m. to discuss the exhibit and discuss the al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad as a place that has long offered sanctuary to diverse Iraqi voices, and a place where the roots of democracy took hold hundreds of years ago.

LINK: Wednesday, Oct. 16 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

You'd expect a brewer's dinner to be all about the beer, right? Well, the Harmon Brewer's Dinner at Chambers Bay Grill Friday, Oct. 11 did feature tasty beer (and it flowed beautifully), but this dinner was so much more, such as knock-your-socks-off food pairings, great guest speakers, lively conversation and the Holy Grail of sunsets, which punctuated the event.

The dinner was indeed a celebration of many things: the launch of Harmon Brewing's Fearless Exploration Imperial Rye IPA, a collaboration of the brewery with the Tacoma Regional Convention + Visitor Bureau (TRCVB); the culinary magic of Chamber's Bay Grill chef Joshua Corcoran; the magnificent Chambers Bay Golf Course and upcoming mega-watt golf championship, the 2015 U.S. Open; and finally, where we live is totally awesome and we know it.

Top things I learned:

I (HEART) the Harmon Brewery, and the Chambers Bay Grill is a foodie's dream.

Let's start with the menu:

First course: shrimp ceviche, cucumbers, lemon and avocado paired with Harmon T-Town Blonde - A Summer Shandy.

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Going to a sports bar usually means having some dude standing on your feet while you crane your neck and try to watch a TV because it's too loud to make any conversation. Triple Play Sports Bar on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue, on the other hand, never seems to get too crowded. Even when it is, there are three rooms - not counting the private karaoke lounge  - so it never becomes claustrophobic. Nine TVs are strategically placed, and a 10-foot projection screen blankets what was the original Hell's Kitchen's main music room.

Want to enjoy this entire splendor on the cheap?

Here's what you do: Burst through the doors like you own the place. Give bartender Jeanette Sullivan one of those cool hand shooters motions with a wink. Head to the black couch below the widescreen. When Sullivan approaches, ask her for the lunch menu then order a Long Island Iced Tea. From the couch you can watch her pour four bottles of booze in one shot. When she returns, pretend you are not shocked that all seven items on the lunch menu are $5 each. Even though you intend to order the delicious calzone with amazing dough made from 7 Seas Brewing beer, inquire about the $5 top sirloin burger, $5 grilled ham and cheese, $5 personal chef's salad, $5 turkey sandwich, two beef hot dogs for $5 and the $5 fish ‘n' chips. She's going to ask you if you'd like to add a side for $1. That's your call.

Kick back on the couch and enjoy.

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SATURDAY, OCT. 5 2013 >>>

1. The Dockyard Derby Dames is gearing up for its 8th season of jams, slams and thank-you ma'ams, with a double-header opening-night bout at 6 p.m. in Pierce College's Health Ed Building. Bridgette Walker, team captain of the Marauding Mollys and head of sponsorship and development, says this year brings switch-ups within the league, with players transferring teams and balancing strengths, a strategic move by organizers, and an interesting twist for spectators. Tonight, The Hellbound Homewreckers will face off against the Marauding Mollys while The Trampires will challenge Vancouver B.C.'s Terminal City Rollergirls Riot Cats. "People should expect an exciting bout," Walker said. "I think the Trampires will be easily matched with Terminal City, and Homewreckers are stepping up their game, so I expect that to be a pretty tough battle."

2. Maris Farms will serve up six of the finest REAL quack-aletes in Pierce County and the ducks cover a grand total of 200 feet at 1 and 3 p.m. during its Iron Duck World Championships. The ducks will start at one end of an old cow feeder by swimming 100 feet one way, then climbing a ramp and "running/fluttering" back to where they started. First one back is the winner. In all, there will be 16 races from Oct. 5-27. The duck with the most victories over that period will be crowned "Iron-Duck" World Champion. The month-long event will help raise money for the Wounded Warriors Project by allowing people to place bets on who they believe will win each race.

3. New Jersey's leonine rock stalwarts Bon Jovi ride their steel horses to the Tacoma Dome at 7:30 p.m. Jon Bon Jovi fired Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi. Yes. This is nearly as bad as Jon Bon Jovi firing Jon Bon Jovi from Bon Jovi. Maybe worse. There go all the feelings of camaraderie from those anthemic choruses. And there goes any joy reminiscing about their "talking box" guitar solos.

4. Big Star, and Alex Chilton in particular, was a band driven to madness by a nation turning a blind eye to some of the purest pop music around. In typical fashion, Big Star were ignored in their time, but later discovered by several generations of power pop acts that valued haunting harmonies and indelible hooks over chunky guitars and arena anthems. Blue Skies for Black Hearts is such a band. Formed 13 years ago, this Portland group began as a solo project for recording studio engineer Pat Kearns. Catch Blue skies for Black hearts with A Leaf, Brite Lines and The Stravinsky Riots at 8 p.m. in Bob's Java Jive. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Blue Skies for Black Hearts in the Music and Culture section.

5. It's day two of the Olympia Fall Arts Walk, and Le Voyeur has a hot hip-hop show at 9 p.m. Award-winning hip-hop duo Never Sleep host performs with Everybody Weekend's female-led electro hip-hop sound, the lyricism and microphone bravado of Ang P of The Real Life Click, and 25360 representative Heretic The Heathen (founder/promoter/emcee of For MCs By MCs).

LINK: Saturday, Oct. 5 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, SEPT. 8 2013 >>>

1. Tacoma takes care of its own, as we like to say. Today will provide an opportunity for us to prove that we can extend this affection to one of our area's beloved musicians. Jho Blenis needs help paying his medical bills. Enough said. A benefit will be held from 1-10 p.m. at The Swiss featuring a full day of awesome blues: Spin Cycle, Randy Oxford Band, Big Nasty, Dean Reichert Band, Little Bill and the Blue Notes, Tim Hall Band, Jerry Miller Band and Bump Kitchen anchoring at 8 p.m. Ted Brown Music is providing a bass rig and drum kit/cymbals. All-Star Guitar is donating major gear for guitarists. Robert Richholt is donating a Hammond XK3 with a Leslie for back line.

2. Roller derby fans and skaters no doubt celebrated the sports' 78th anniversary last month with an elbow to someone's chest. The latest out of the Dockyard Derby Dames' camp is an early start. The league will hit the flat track for season eight Saturday, Oct. 5. Also look for more out-of-league play, as well as appreciation nights. Need a breakaway from sorting books at the library? The Dockyard Derby Dames Boot Camp runs every Sunday in September. For $40 you will learn the basic skills and have fun, too. In no time you'll be transformed into Anna Scar-enina! Hurry! Camp opens at 9 a.m.

3. Luminasia - described on the Washington State Fair's website as "an exquisite take on the timeless tradition of Chinese lantern making, combining high-tech material and state-of-the art lighting and production techniques." "It really is one of the most amazing attractions we've had in years," said Karen LaFlamme, media relations representative for the fair. "We have 40 artisans from China working on it. The theme is "East meets West," so there will be dragons and pagodas and things like the Space Needle, a ferry boat and totem poles ... it really is a magical 2-acre event." Catch Luminasia from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Fairgrounds.

4. Paesan Kitchen and Bar's patio is a lovely spot to while away a weekend afternoon, sipping cocktails and old world red wine and watch condo residents walk their dogs. Come Sunday afternoon, tables mean nothing as resident DJ Mr. Melanin and rotating guests spin an eclectic and extremely tasteful selection of lounge, bossa nova and electro soul music 2-6 p.m. This quadruple threat of delicious pizza, booze, sun and hip tunes is known as Tacoma's only daytime summer party, "Dayclub." Today marks the last Dayclub of the season. Mr. Melanin says it's going to be off the hook.

5. Jazz Live at Marine View kicks off its fall season with a celebration of jazz entitled Jazzaganza. It's an anthology of jazz, with a look at how jazz has changed and grown from its humble beginnings. Gospel, R & B and jazz vocalist Josephine Howell joins the Buckshot Jazz Band with Buck Chandler on percussion, Eugene Bien on keyboards and Cliff Colon on saxophone for Jazzaganza from 5-6:45 p.m. at Marine View Church - for free.  In addition, modern dance instructor Monica McEthy-Ballet will add a theatrical element to the evening.  

LINK: Sunday, Sept. 8 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

TUESDAY, AUG. 27 2013 >>>

1. Alain Resnais, 91, began his directorial career shortly after the Liberation of Paris from the Nazis, so to say he has played a bit of a role in French cinema over the years is putting it mildly. His film, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!, opens with the sudden death of (fictional) playwright Antoine d'Anthac, (Denis Podalydès).  A cavalcade of legendary French actors, (playing themselves), are summoned to d'Anthac's home for the reading of his will. Via a prerecorded statement, d'Anthac asks that this his colleagues evaluate an experimental theater company's taped performance of his play Eurydice, a play in which each actor in attendance performed a role at some point in their career. However, as the viewing progresses, the actors find themselves slipping back into the roles they played years earlier, reenacting scenes from the play as they unfold onscreen. In some cases, actors who played the same role in different productions of the play decades apart from one another reenact identical scenes, but their individual idiosyncrasies make both performances unique and equally valid. Things take a turn for the dreamlike when the viewing room gradually transforms into stage sets to fit the scenes being performed and the actors in the viewing room give pointers to the actors onscreen, and the onscreen actors answer them, but their performances are so captivating, you just don't question it. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet! screens at 2 and 7 p.m. in The Grand Cinema. Read Jared Lovrak's full review of You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet! in the Music and Culture section.

2. Look! Over by the cucumbers! It's Superman! Spider Man! Wonder Woman! A super-sized knitted Mr. Fantastic costume! And they're all dancing at the 6th Ave Farmers Market! Holy organics, Batman! That's right, Superfriends. The 6th Ave Farmers Market hosts a Homemade Superhero Costume Contest and dance party from 3-7 p.m. Superheroes will need to be prepared to answer two questions: What is your super power and what is your super name?

3. The Tacoma Rainiers kick off its final 7-game homestand, with its collective focus on the next three games, starting tonight at 7 p.m. against Salt Lake. The Bees - the Triple-A affiliate of the Angels - have a four-game lead on the Rainiers in the division. The only chance of making the playoffs is to take this series.

4. Speaking of superheroes, for many people around the South Sound, venturing into a comic book store for the first time can be a terrifying experience. Don't worry, the super hero-centric Capes & Cowls Book Club - billed as a "... book club adapted to mutants, aliens, technogeeks and puny humans who like to read superhero comics" - holds its monthly meeting at 8 p.m. in King's Books. This book club will ease you into the superhero comics genre with support and friendship. August's selection is Prophet Vol. 1: Remission by Brandon Graham where John Prophet is a genetically engineered super-clone sent by the Earth Empire on a mission to restore humanity. Boom! Biff! Biochemistry, beyotch!

5. On any night of the week, one can meander past the main bar in Olympia's China Clipper Club Cafe, to the back room where a disco ball, stage, stellar PA system, extensive song list, savvy DJ and lively, often tipsy, crowd scribbles on tiny, colorful paper then waits ... for Clipper Karaoke. There are number karaoke nights around the South Sound, but only one karaoke night that has been named Best Karaoke in Thurston County three years running in the Weekly Volcano's Best of Olympia issues. The China Clipper is the only lounge in Thurston County that hosts karaoke seven days a week. It's also the only lounge that uses state-of-the-art sound equipment rather than the typical karaoke set-up with a cordless mic that's passed from table to table. It goies down at 9 p.m. Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on Clipper Karaoke in the Weekly Volcano's Bars/Clubs section.

LINK: Tuesday, Aug. 27 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, JULY 27 2013 >>>

1. 7 Seas Brewing isn't just the maker of delicious craft beer. It isn't just at the forefront of the "beer in a can is cool again" movement. It's a local business doing things the right way and an entity that knows how to party - as will be proven when 7 Seas throws a four-year anniversary bash in front of its tap room from noon to 8 p.m. Expect beer, food vendors, a few antics (giant Jenga games have dotted previous anniversary parties) and live music by Perry Acker, Ben Union, Kim Archer, SweetKiss Momma, and Red Stone Sinners.

2. How many folks out there knew Tacoma hosts one of the biggest and best rugby 7's tournament in the entire region? OK, how many people even know what rugby 7's is? A primer may be in order. Rugby 7's is an exciting variation on the traditional game, played on smaller fields with fewer players (seven as opposed to 15. Get it?). For the last 37 years, Tacoma has hosted a summer 7's tournament featuring some of the best male and female rugby teams in the area. Throw on some blood-resistant apparel and catch the action at the Portland Avenue Play Fields in East Tacoma from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. If you've ever been to a mushroom festival - particularly the Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival, which this year runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Thurston County Regional Athletic Complex - you already know that mycologists ('shroom experts) are in a league of their own. Mushroom festivals are the strangest, funniest and, not so incidentally, most educational experience you're ever likely participate in. And, no, hippie: Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival does feature "magic" mushrooms (psilocybes and otherwise). What it does include are about a dozen local restaurant chefs who will prepare mushroom-based delectables during the Lacey festival.

4. You don't need to attend the annual Ethnic Fest to see Tacoma is a melting pot, but it certainly doesn't hurt to help you appreciate it. That's the power of more than a dozen food booths representing a multitude of delicious tastes from cultures around the world, not to mention more arts, crafts, Saturday night movie and music than you can shake a culturally diverse stick at. In its 27th year, Tacoma's Ethnic Fest is easily one of the shining moments of each summer for this city. See why from noon to 7 p.m. at Wright Park.

5. We have officially been Jilly Rizzo - Rolled. I cannot, for the life of me, get the song "Shuttlecock of Love" out of my head. After watching a YouTube video of The Jilly Rizzo playing live in studio on the BJ Shea Show, I've been batting the catchy chorus around in my brain. Based out of Renton, the band features former 107.7 DJ Dick Rosetti, who knows a thing or two about catchy choruses. Hence his interest in The Jilly Rizzo playing with Trees and Timber and The Variety Hour, two Tacoma indie pop rock bands that compliment the scene with their diversity and delight at 9 p.m. in The Acme Grub Cage. 

LINK: Saturday, July 27 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

"The crossfit community is very tied to the military and law enforcement communities, so it makes sense for us to get involved," said Camille St. Onge, who is an elements coach at CrossFit Finish First in Olympia.

CrossFit Finish First is preparing to host the Northwest Battle of the Beasts this August and test the strength, determination and heart of crossfit athletes from not only their gym, but from Oregon, other areas in Washington and Canada.

"We decided that when we did this competition that we would support our military members and all of the warriors at Joint Base Lewis-McChord by giving a portion of the proceeds to the JBLM Fisher House and the Wounded Warrior Project," St. Onge continued.

The competition, which is part of the national Garage Game series, will take place on Aug. 3-4 at North Thurston High School, 600 Sleater Kinney Rd. in Lacey. Although the specific WADS haven't been released yet - in order to maintain an element of surprise according to St. Onge - there will be individual men and women events in both RX and Scaled divisions, as well as RX two person teams (same sex).

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