I WENT TO THE OFFICE THIS WEEKEND >>>

Piercing blue sky, crisp air, lower temperatures and leaves blowing about signifies a perfect fall harvest day in the Pacific Northwest. Gloves and scarves are already making their presence known. Neither comedian Kris "Save Our Sonics" Brannon nor anyone else minded standing outside downtown Tacoma Saturday as The Office Bar & Grill celebrated their official grand opening with a visit from Mayor Marilyn Strickland. In true gracious form, Mayor Strickland remarked to proud, smiling business owners Travis Scheff and Matt Henderson, "This is the most organized ribbon-cutting I've ever been to."  Just before noon, the co-owners flanked the mayor as she used cartoonishly pink large scissors to cut a cheery red ribbon and followed with a short speech "... I am always glad to see another business open in downtown Tacoma."

Back inside The Office, patrons took advantage of the $3 special "grand opening" menu items. Patron Justin Bailey grubbed on an order of Southwestern rolls with guacamole while I chatted with the mayor and sipped a virgin Bloody Mary. Since opening Aug 5, The Office's friendly co-owners have taken patrons' feedback and made changes adding more tap handles, at least four being local and regional selections including popular Men's Room Original Red, 50 percent off happy hour, and a trivia night every Thursday at 8 p.m. They'll add more dinner entrees soon.

"The Office burger with cole slaw and sautéed onions is very popular" Scheff shared. "Angus steak frites are a big hit, people just don't expect demi glace - it's not a bar food item."

He adds that the community has begun to make the casual sports and business crowd bar a regular hangout. "Comeback Sports has their post-event gathering here Wednesdays and Tacoma Runners Club met and ended here last week."

The Office Bar & Grill

11 a.m. to midnight Sundays-Thursdays
11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays
813 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma
253.572.3222

GNARLY >>>

It was the mini Sturgis of skateboarding, a day of ripping, beer and bands Saturday. No giant contest money ($500), corporate sponsors or swooping ESPN camera cranes - just local hard-core skaters summoned by the scent of wood dust tossed above the vertical lip of the miniramp sponsored by Saves Clothing.

Intermediate and advanced skaters, a couple with bandages on their foreheads and a gleeful disregard for personal safety, a couple dozen skaters from across the Puget Sound pointed their wheels toward the newest South Sound skate Mecca:

O'Malley's Irish Pub, Tacoma. Population: many tipsy.

Saves Clothing, in partnership with O'Malley's Irish Pub and a handful of other local businesses, hosted "Oktobersesh" Gnar at the Bar Skate Competition yesterday in the lot behind the Sixth Avenue watering hole. Between the beer garden and a small bleacher full of families, skaters attached the ramp with rock and punk music blasting the neighborhood.

After the competition, local bands rock the joint.

Yesterday's event had an awesome DIY vibe. I'm hoping O'Malley's hosts more of these skate competitions.

LINK: More photos in our Photo Hot Spot

SATURDAY, OCT. 2, 2010 >>>

1. The Gnar At The Bar Octobersesh Miniramp Skateboard Competition goes down at 2 p.m. at O'Malley's Irish Pub with prize money on the line and DJ reign on the decks.

2. The Tacoma Craft Beer Festival continues today from noon to 8 p.m. inside the Foss Waterway Seaport featuring 50 breweries and more than 100 beers, along with bands, games and food.

3. There's a couple thing to do today in Puyallup. Join the merchants in historic downtown Puyallup for the annual Art and Wine Walk from 3-7 p.m. Also, the new Gallery Three opens at 333 S. Meridian featuring 14 artists displaying a wide variety of artistic endeavors.

4. Fort Nisqually Living History Museum's annual Candlelight Tour will provide visitors with a way to learn history by walking back into 1859 - today from 7-9:30 p.m. - and listening in on the conversations and activities of that bygone day courtesy of a small army of re-enactors who volunteer their time and talent to portray laborers, servants and the landed gentry. Advance tickets are required so call 253.591.5339 or you'll have to deal with modern day disappointment.

5. Guitarist/vocalist Daven Tillinghast joins guitarist Vince brown for Jazz in the Cellar from 9-11 p.m. inside the Swing Wine Bar & Café in Olympia.

LINK: 24 Hour Comics Day in our Prefunk

LINK: Greek Festival and HarvestFest Farms Tour in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

THURSDAY, SEPT. 30, 2010 >>>

1. It's community arts appreciation day at the Tacoma Farmers Market on Broadway from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tacoma musician Deborah Page will perform at 10:30 a.m.

2. Megan Peters leads a group knitting sessions from 5-8 p.m. at Tacoma Art Place. Group knitting is always free for members and those with a day pass. First time visitors also can join once for free. You can be a beginner or expert, just as long as you're not one of those roughian sewers.

3. King's Books presents an engaging presentation on the history of banned books with Laura Ferri from Seattle's Book-It Repertory Theatre at 7 p.m. as part of Banned Books Week. Puyallup Public Library encourages folks to drop by between 6:30 to 7:30 and read excerpts from their favorite banned book.

4. The Thursday Beer Runners will kick off a 3-mile jog from the West End Pub & Grill at 6:30 p.m. only to return to the joint and put the calories back on with endless pints of beer.

5. DJ Toner spins vintage rock and soul beginning at 8 p.m. inside The Brotherhood Lounge in downtown Olympia.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

SATURDAY, SEPT. 25, 2010 >>>

1. The Museum of Glass is offering complimentary admission to all visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to celebrate its recent accreditation by the American Association of Museums.  In fact, all the museums in town will let you in free as part of National Museum Day IF you ordered your ticket in advance.

2. Mayor Marilyn Strickland will lead the dedication of North Tacoma's new Orchard and Vine Community Garden at 45th and Orchard beginning at 12:30 p.m. What was once a lifeless, empty lot of sadness is now a thriving garden where the community can grow fruits and veggies and love.

3. The NW Film & Arts Festival at The Robert Daniel Gallery will expose local artists and filmmakers' work to the public beginning at 6 p.m. The show will include a series of short videos ranging from short stories to music videos to skits.

4. Tacoma's Dockyard Derby Dames will take on the Rose City Rollers in hot roller derby action beginning at 6 p.m. inside the Pierce College Heath Ed Center.

5. The What You Got? Fest Backstage Show and Dance Party with King's Ransom, The South Sound and Jeff Mikey & The Bouncy House begins at 8 p.m. inside Olympia's Capitol Theater.

LINK: Green Tacoma Day, Pierce County AIDS Walk and more in The Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

LINK: Wine tastings

THURSDAY, SEPT. 23, 2010 >>>

1. Leave it to liberal academia to romanticize soft-ass Europe and the continent's history of thinking and talking and stuff. And we don't mean thinking and talking about who got kicked off of Survivor, either; we mean intellectual stuff. It's so un-American. From 5:30-7:30 p.m., University of Puget Sound Prof. Laurie Frankel, fast off the release of her latest book - The Atlas of Love - will hold shop at a UPS English Department sponsored "Coffeehouse Conversation" inside the Trimble Forum on campus. There'll be light snacks, refreshments and big words.

2. Artists Jessica Balsam, Jeremy Mangan, Nicholas Nyland, and James Porter will discuss their work, careers, and practice, specifically their paintings and drawings as part of the Foundation of Art Award from the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation show, from 3-4 p.m. inside the Kittredge Gallery on the University of Puget Sound campus.

3. The Thursday Beer Runners will lace up at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Rock The Dock Pub & Grill on Dock Street, head out for a 3-mile run, then return to Rock The Dock to pound drinks until the wee hours.

4. Vashon Island landscape painter Victoria Adams, known for such pastorals as River's Edge and Morning Shimmer, creates broad panoramas of the American countryside devoid of humans.  She sets horizons low in her frame to feature vast, meteorologically accurate skies in the Dutch tradition.  As a highlight of her exhibition Where Sky Meets Earth:  The Luminous Landscapes of Victoria Adams at the Tacoma Art Museum, Adams will climb up the hill to the Tacoma Public Library on Tacoma Avenue South for a lecture and slide show centered on said show beginning at 7 p.m.

5. I Defy, Dead Peasants, Sickamore and My Eternal will rock Hell's Kitchen's new $3 Thursday night - $3 wells, $3 beers, $3 for two hot dogs - beginning at 8 pm.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

FRIDAY, SEPT. 10, 2010 >>>

Just like Puyallup as a town has grown exponentially from its small, humble beginnings - from field plowing, porch talking and cow milking to cheap beer, high school football and dusty trucks right into full-size SUVS, flat-screen televisions and suburban sprawl - the Puyallup Fair has grown up beside it. What started as a three-day "Valley Fair" in a vacant lot has exploded into a monster spectacle - occupying 169 acres and 17 days, 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, big ass 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." The Puyallup Fair opens today at 10 a.m. Read our Hipster's Guide to the Puyallup Fair here.

2. Justen Ahren, director of the Martha's Vineyard Writers Residency, will be the Distinguished Writer Series' featured poet at 7 p.m. inside King's Books. An open poetry mic will follow Ahren's performance.

3. Sleuth is a mystery. Kind of. Maybe. Which is to say, it might come down to a death that could have happened, depending upon whose account you believe. Including your own. Tacoma Little Theatre stages Sleuth at 7:30 p.m. Read our review of the show here.

4. George Winston looks like a perfect, well-proportioned pianist. Not too big, and not too small, George Winston is the type of pianist everyone can embrace. He's an inviting pianist. And a masterful pianist. Hell, he invented his own goddamn playing style, folk piano. Wait! What did you think we were talking about? Winston will perform at 8 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater, and if you're lucky he'll bust out one of his interpretations of Frank Zappa. That's no pianist joke, either.

5. Chalet Bowl hosts Rock ‘n Glow bowling featuring black lights, bumpin' music and sharks with freakin' lasers on their heads beginning at 10 p.m.

Oh, and there's a Back To School party at the Speakeasy Arts Cooperative tonight, too.

LINK: New movies open today

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

SATURDAY, SEPT. 4, 2010 >>>

1. The First Saturday Flea Market runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside Sanford and Son Antiques in downtown Tacoma. Score some jewelry, deconstruction paper, baskets, patterns, fabric, that one Transformer that turns into a clipboard, exercise equipment, clothing, stained glass and lots more.

2. Edo to Tacoma: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Collection opens today at the Tacoma Art Museum. Envelop yourself in the history and culture of Japan from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. The Rainy City Roller Dolls take on the Lilac City's Madams of Mayhem in an action packed roller derby bout at 7 p.m. inside Centralia's Rollerdome.

4. Guitarist Vince Brown and violinist Paul Anastasio fill Olympia's Swing Wine Bar with jazz from 9-11 p.m.

5. DJs Bilori, dAb, Mr. Clean and others spin house music inside the Tempest Lounge beginning at 9:30 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>>

Well, O. M. G.  The workweek is drawing to a close, and not only is the weekend upon us - but it's of the THREE-DAY variety! That's cooler than the other side of the pillow, as they say; the bee's knees (so to speak). It's groovy, bodacious, spectacular, and downright neat.

Without further ado, here's this week's installment of The Prefunk - a weekend event primer for you and your liver (with a complimentary picture of an alcoholic household pet thrown in for good measure).

Rock n' Glow

Fridays and Saturdays at Chalet Bowl

I don't exactly recall when bowling got tired, got lame, got boring - but it must have. The kids must have been choosing video games, Facebook and text messages over an 11-pound ball and a stale pair of shoes, and someone at the top of bowling's corporate ladder must have decided some re-branding was in order.

How else do you explain the Rock n' Glow bowling movement? At bowling alleys all over the country Friday and Saturday nights are now spicing it up to draw in the younger crowd.

True, it's not always called Rock n' Glow - that's just what Tacoma's Chalet Bowl calls it every Friday and Saturday night - but the features are usually the same. The lights are turned off. A black light is cued. Jams are pumped. And good times are had by all.

Chalet Bowl's Rock n' Glow nights are particularly cool, seeing as Proctor's bowling gem is one of the quaintest bowling alleys you'll find anywhere, and you don't have to travel to the 'burbs to take part - just North Tacoma. In fact, Rock n' Glow is so popular reservations are highly recommended. Also, there's a laser. Just sayin'.

PREFUNK: How should one prime their mind and body for the magic that is Chalet Bowl's Rock n' Glow? That's a tough question to answer, and it no doubt depends on the person in question. That said, free cheese samples from Met Market are never a bad start to any evening. And maybe grab some sparkling water, too. Or a kombucha. You're in the North End, after all. Might as well fit in. 

See you next week.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 3, 2010 >>>

1. Stuart M. Dempster opens his month-long ship-themed paintings show at Amocat Café with a reception from 4:30-7:30 p.m.

2. It's Ladies Night at Edgeworks Climbing in Tacoma. Beginning at 5 p.m. the climbing gym in Tacoma discounts its prices for the ladies.

3. In Jeffrey Hatcher's 2008 adaptation Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde play at Harlequin Productions, Hyde is represented by four actors, one of them female, but Jekyll's a different actor altogether. It's a challenging idea, which Harlequin Production's director Scot Whitney does a fine job of communicating quickly. Read our full review here. Tonight's bonus: It's Ladies Night featuring complimentary champagne and chocolate in the lobby from 7-7:30 p.m., followed by the play at 8 p.m.

4. Horror films have carved out a bloody niche for themselves on the badlands of mainstream cinema. So it makes sense that The Grand Cinema will begin making screen space for this oft-overlooked genre with a new monthly series beginning tonight at 9:09 p.m. with the gruesome Italian-made schlockfest, The Beyond.

5. The Dirty Change up and the Revengers perform at 10 p.m. inside O'Malley's Irish Pub.

LINK: More events in The Weekend Hustle

LINK: New movies open today

LINK: Concert go on sale today