WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2, 2011 >>>

1. Nobunny (aka Justin Champlin) is all about fusing punk energy with older modes of songwriting, resulting in superheated garage music with a delectable rawness that more than makes up for its lack of innovation. His live shows are sweaty, libidinous insanity as he cavorts around in a freakish bunny mask, American Apparel underwear, stylin' denim jacket and little else. Catch Nobunny with Hari Kari and Dreamdate at 8 p.m. at Olympia all-ages venue Northern.

2. The Tacoma Wheelmen Bicycle Club's Fairly Fast 40 has nothing to do with Olde English 800 and everything to do with a fast-paced, hilly, 40-mile training ride leaving the Proctor District Starbucks at 9:30 a.m.

3. Wrapped: The Search for the Essential Mummy welcomes Washington State History Museum visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to "an outstanding piece of ancient Egyptian history, [and] an iconic element of Tacoma's history." Read what this means here.

4. Here's a tiny preview of Tiny Furniture playing at 9 p.m. at the Capitol Theater in Olympia: This low-budget dramedy from writer-director Lena Dunham - who also portrays Aura, a recent college grad who returns home while she tries to figure out what to do with her life - is a piece of skillful social anthropology, capturing the characters' artistic, privileged Manhattan milieu.

5. Oritaks Indrome, Discordem, Blood Of Rome and Echoreason will rock your skull beginning at 9 p.m. inside Hell's Kitchen.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Wine and beer tastings

THURSDAY, JAN. 27, 2011 >>>

1. You know what sounds awesome? The Air Guitar Championships tonight at Hell's Kitchen, that's what. There's no cover to get in - but it does take $10 to sign up to shred (or shred pretend). Even better - pre-event hype indicates free corndogs.

2. It's 360 College Nite with DJ Phase at the Vault Nightclub in Olympia. They keep it 18 and older, with Thurston and Lewis County - along with college IDs - accepted. The cover kicks in after 9 p.m.

3. Why would we include Derty Thursdays with DJs Derty Harry and Omar at Gruv Lounge? Could it have something to do with a simple desire to type the phrase "Derty Thursdays" as much as possible? You be the judge. Things get Derty at Gruv starting at 9 p.m.

4.  The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (it's a play, numbskull) opens at Capital Playhouse tonight. With music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin, the Tony award winning work seems like it will probably be a good start to 2011 for Capital Playhouse.

5. Sick and tired of training by yourself? We're talking bicycling here, not World of Warcraft. Tonight at Tacoma Bike join the free "Trainer Night" - a chance for you to grab your trainer bike out of the garage and bring it on down to Tacoma Bike to peddle furiously with a bunch of other folks sick and tired of peddling their trainer alone. It runs from 6 - 8 p.m., and apparently there'll also be new products to test and giveaway.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

COME FOR THE BOWLING, STAY FOR THE FOOD & DRINK >>>

For those that can't make it to the 98402 (downtown Tacoma) there's another dining option that's been added to the far reaches of Pacific Avenue. For 35 years, people have enjoyed bowling at Paradise Bowl. In the spring of 2010, the family fun destination underwent major changes, including a revamp of the lounge and dining setup. The lounge, better known as The Bull Market Bar & Grill, now offers a menu topping out at $13.99 with steaks, ribs, prime rib, seafood, chicken, pasta dishes, pizza with an herb crust, sandwiches with breads from the Coeur d'Alene Bakery, burgers made from "never-frozen" ground beef, a piled-high prime rib dip and a patty melt on rye. Four different kinds of breads and buns, Asiago cheese, a Waldorf salad, red onion ranch dressing, caramelized onions, heavy-handed meat portions and cheesy toast are just some of the added touches. It's a lot to take in.

The Paradise Cafe, also part of Paradise Bowl, is more casual, offering breakfast anytime, a kid's menu, more sandwiches and fish and chips. Slake your thirst with full bar options, espresso drinks, sodas, strawberry lemonade, iced tea and hot cocoa - a total kiddie favorite.

The Bull Market bar is touted as a great nightclub for catching local and national acts, DJs and karaoke. Check out nightly bowling specials, too.

[Paradise Bowl, 12505 Pacific Ave. South, Tacoma, 253.537.6012]

SWEET - BUT NOT >>>

The Seattle Seahawks already trail the Chicago Bears 21 to zip in the second quarter of the NFC Divisional Playoff game today. It's not looking good for the Hawks - on both sides of the ball. All the more appropriate that the above $10.99 white petite cake from Safeway in the Proctor District is still in their bakery display case.

SUNDAY, JAN. 16, 2011 >>>

1. Check into the Beale Street Kick-Off Party today at Jazzbones, with the Randy Oxford Band, the Wired Band, James King & The Southsiders, Back Porch Stomp and Chester Dennis Jones. The blues start at 5 p.m.

2. If you're in the service industry, head on down to Rock the Dock Pub & Grill tonight for Service Industry Night. Cheap drinks, fun, karaoke - it almost makes working in the service industry totally worth it.

3. Go Hawks! There are plenty of great places to watch the game today.

4. Today at the M11 Social Space (1212 S. 11^th St. #24, Tacoma) get an anarchist report on the struggle in Greece after economic meltdown. Here's how it's being described, "Presentation from a Seattle anarchist recently returned from Athens on the current anarchist struggle in Greece, two years after the insurrection and in the context of social and economic crisis. Topics will include state strategies of repression and resistance to it, the threat of fascism, the role of armed struggle, the significance of space and representation, and more. Discussion will follow. www.tan.anarchyplanet.org"

5. Today at Urban Grace Church in Tacoma, stop in for the 5th Annual Redeeming the Prophetic Vision event - perfect for the coming MLK Day. Read about the super-worthy cause here.

DON'T LIKE EXCITING FOOTBALL? >>>

There's no joy quite as satisfying as the joy derived from a really good bitch session.  And in times like these - winter, of course, what did you think we meant?  Everything else is perfect, silly - complaining nonstop is really the only way to go. Especially if you're not a skier or snowboarder.  But should you grow weary of kvetching (and there are reports of this happening, though they are about as common as the word kvetch), there is a cheaper, adrenaline-filled alternative: Tubing at Mount Rainier. Stop laughing. What could be better than careening uncontrollably in a glorified tire, down a freakin' massive rock loaded with hundreds of feet of snow?  Not much, other than it's free after paying for a park pass for the day, which is $15 per vehicle.

Due to trees, rocks and people's heads, the snowplay area patrol at Paradise suggests using "soft" sliding devices - flexible sleds, inner tubes, and saucers. They'll get pissed if they see hard toboggans or runner sleds.

Let's take a look at today's weather at the Paradise's tubing area: Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 41. Southwest wind around 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Hmmmm. Go Hawks!

LINK: Mount Rainier information

TODAY IN ONLINE TALK >>>

Today's comment comes from Jon, in regard to this week's Cup Check column in which Matt Driscoll discusses the many, many mistakes of Redskins' owner Dan Snyder.

Jon says,

"Matt,
I'm disappointed that you jumped on the "kick-em when their down" wagon with regard to Jim Zorn. Do you remember what the Redskins record was after first 8 games of 2008? They beat Dallas in Dallas, beat Philly in Philly, beat New Orleans, and beat the Super Bowl bound Cardinals, and were 6-2. But from game one of Zorn's first season as head coach, offensive linemen "fell like flys", by the ninth game of the season, they only had 2 starter quality players on OL; they finished out the season 2-6. The coaching staff's top priority for the offseason? They wanted 2 or 3 quality offensive linemen. What did Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder give them? They gave Zorn Albert Hayneworth and one offensive lineman. Zorn only got to pick two of his 12+ coaches, the others were picked by Snyder and Cerrato before they hired Zorn as head coach. You tell me - did Zorn get a fair shot with the Redskins?"

PODCASTS ARE FUN >>>

As has become a monthly tradition, I stopped by the Northwest Convergence Zone last night - to catch up with Darrell Fortune, the Gimmer and the rest of the weekly-podcast gang. It was a new location (operations have been moved to UP for the time being ... luckily the fridge is still stocked with beer), but the shtick was the same - I was mic'ed up to promote the "Cup Check" column, a weekly look at the wild world of sports you'll find in the classifieds section of every issue of the Weekly Volcano.

Through no work of my own (and a cool experience I probably didn't deserve to be a part of), Darrell and Co. had Seahawk great Paul Skansi on the show last night, so I got to sit in on that interview and occasionally say dumb stuff - which was totally awesome.

You can listen to it all right here.

THIS JUST IN >>>

We've got an angry foot fetish defender going after Matt Driscoll and this week's Cup Check column, which mentions New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and the foot fetish videos his wife allegedly made a few years back.

tardis8868 writes:

You are an absolute Hypocrite, like the rest of the Media. If Ryan had been 'outed' as a gay, the Media would have staunchly defended him. But since Ryan is a fetishist, it's OK for you and the rest of your fellow piranhas to have a feeding frenzy.

WILSON! >>>

Bobble Tiki thinks that holiday bundt cake is a lot like sex: great bundt is one of life's ultimate pleasures, but if faced with nothing but a supermarket Sara Lee's dredged from the icebox, well, even the crummiest of bundts is better than no bundt at all.

However, Bobble wobbles now.  Bobble Tiki knows he needs to shed those extra few pounds picked up munching on holiday bundt. But Momma Tiki mailed him a chocolate and cranberry bundt cake, which he can't stop eating - bad, bad, bad. Bobble Tiki needs to get his mojo workin'.  He needs to get fit.  Drop-in Volleyball every Thursday night should do the trick.  It's only $3 to smack Wilson around.  Don't worry Wilson, Bobble Tiki do all the paddling. You just hang on! 

Drop-in Volleyball

Thursdays, 6-9 p.m., $3
Giaudrone Middle School, 4902 South Alaska St., Tacoma
253.305.1015

LINK: Read Bobble Tiki's music column