GOOD NEWS >>>

Starting Sunday, July 21 Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma will be offering a Bloody Mary Bar in Bite.  The bar will give guests an opportunity to mix their own Bloody Mary and garnish it with their choice of goodies. Offered at $10 plus tax, per person, items on the bar will include fresh lemon and lime juice, house Bloody Mary mix, prawns, pepperoni, pepperoncini, olives stuffed with blue cheese, several different hot sauces, A-1 Steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce and more. A lite breakfast buffet will also be available featuring personal size quiche, pastries, fresh fruit and oatmeal with all the fixin's for $12 per person, plus tax.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 2013 >>>

1. For those with more savory-driven palates, dessert sometimes arrives as an afterthought - something sweet only enjoyed if there's room. But today, downtown Tacoma's collective sweet tooth pulls culinary confections front and center to indulge in a tour of the utmost decadent treat: the Sugar Walk. See the sweet side of Tacoma by joining Downtown On the Go for a 1.1 mile walk, sponsored by TWOKOI Japanese Cuisine, beginning in Tollefson Plaza at 17th and Pacific, and head to the Dome District, with a ride back on the Link. Participants will learn about Tacoma's rich history in candy making from historian and author Ron Magden. Along the route, participants will also be able to sample some of Tacoma's finest candies and baked goods. The walk event is free and there is no need to pre-register, simply show up at noon. 

2. While it's easy to quantify Oly as just a hippie, college town - that's only partially true. A large portion of the population is proudly blue-collar. The most amazing part of all of this is the two demographics - shoeless hippies and hardworking grunts - come together every year for Lakefair, meshing farmer tans with hacky sacks, and creating a fairly unique event disguised as just another summer festival. Think carnies, cotton candy, live music, volleyball, fireworks and all the usual trappings - Olympia style. It runs from noon to 10 p.m. around Capital Lake and Heritage Park, Fifth and Water Street, in downtown Olympia.

3. When William Friedkin submitted his controversial thriller Cruising to the MPAA in 1980, the board demanded that he cut 40 minutes of footage if he wanted to avoid an X rating. The director reluctantly snipped, the film was released with an R rating, and the rest, as some might say, was history. Enter James Franco and documentarian Travis Matthews, who've decided to recreate what they think said footage might have looked like - and the result, Interior: Leather Bar. Despite its billing, there's only 10 minutes or so of footage that takes place inside the bar, and if you're looking for gay porn, you'll find it here, at 6:45 p.m., in The Grand Cinema.

4. You've heard it many times: Practice makes perfect. Doyle's Public House in Tacoma's Stadium District lives by this adage. Every 17th of the month, the watering hole hosts St. Practice Day, a trail run at its annual, massive St. Patrick's Day party. It's a warm-up, if you will. Naturally, rebellious Celtic band Bog Hoppers will provide the soundtrack. Practice starts at 8 p.m. Don't be late or the coach will yell at you.

5. Saxophonist Kareem Kandi's sound derives from the classic, free, often enthusiastic tradition of Joshua Redman as filtered through Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, all of whose shadows can be traced-Redman in Kandi's funky organicism, Gordon in his dynamic harmonics, Stitt in the intensity that coats his every note with a Gritty City finish. Kandi has been hanging with organist Delvon Lamarr and drummer Adam Kessler, which has added groovy innovation to Kandi's sound. The Kareem Kandi Band heads to Dawson's Bar & Grill's new Wednesday jazz night at 8 p.m. 

LINK: Wednesday, July 17 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Mark your calendars, the second annual Moveable Feast - Tacoma's largest food truck festival - is coming July 28 from noon to 5 p.m. to Cheney Stadium. With 38 food trucks, seven breweries, live music and kids activities, it is an event not to miss.

"We have great music, great beers, fun things for the kids to do, but the food trucks are definitely the showcase," says Alyson Jones, event organizer. "These trucks take pride in their ingredients and their creations and they are delicious. There is no other event like this in the South Sound."

Locals agree. Jones estimates 6,000 people attended last year, and projects around 8,000 attendees for this year's event.

New this year is a market-style "Made in Tacoma" section, with local companies that include Dry Soda, Lynnae's Pickles, Little Eorthe Farm, Great NW Popcorn Company, One Spot Jam and more. There will also be a kid zone and more access to Cheney Stadium's party decks for more seating and a chance to get into the ballpark.

The Moveable Feast is free, but if you want to be first in line at the trucks, you can get in an hour early and also get free parking and an event T-shirt with the purchase of VIP tickets, available for $10 online.

There are plenty of new trucks this year, including Box Nature Sushi, Caravan Crepes, Gibson's Frozen Yogurt truck, Tokyo Dog, Street Donuts and many more. Big-name favorites that attended last year, such as Where Ya at Matt and Maximus/Minimus will also be returning. Just reading the list of vendors will get you salivating.

THE MOVEABLE FEAST, noon to 5 p.m. July 28, Cheney Stadium, 2502 S. Tyler St., Tacoma, tacomafoodtruck.com

TUESDAY, JULY 16 2013 >>>

1. Tel Aviv may be Israel's gay-friendliest city, but in 2009 two people died during an armed attack on an LGBT youth center that remains unsolved. In response to the attack, which left 15 others injured, director Doran Eran and screenwriter Bill Ben Moshe wrote the emotionally wrenching family drama Melting Away that explores the heartbreak and defiance a gay teen experiences when his parents discover he's gay and kick him out of the house. Catch the film at 2 and 6:45 p.m. in The Grand Cinema.

2. Did you find The Kite Runner hard to put down? Did you find this story about the structure of society in Afghanistan as well as redemption and atonement within one family fascinating? Some people find is disturbing and frightening, which is why it's King's Books' July selection for its monthly Banned Book Club. This is a story about how two boys and two fathers define honor. Unfortunately the two main characters get it wrong and while they try their best, they live their lives dishonorably and dishonestly. Join the discussion at 7 p.m. in Doyle's Public House.

3. Remember last year when you joined the dance portion of Tacoma Buddhist Temple's Bon Odori festival? How you skirted around the circle as if your pants were on fire? Yea, disaster. You need to slow it down this year. In fact, you should attend the 7:30 p.m. dance lesson at the Temple. The Aug. 3 festival is fast approaching. This is the year you won't be laughed out of the sake garden.

4. Summer Sounds At Skansie continues with a 6:30 p.m. by the 133rd Army National Guard Band in Skansie Brothers Park in Gig Harbor.

5. The Railflowers - the sister trio of Hannah, Beth and Ellen Knight - are perhaps the sweetest thing to happen to folk-music scene in quite some time. Catch them at 9 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

LINK: Tuesday, July 16 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MONDAY, JULY 15 2013 >>>

1. Author Susan M. Schneider will talk about her new book, The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World at 7 p.m. in King's Books. Actions have consequences - and the ability to learn from them revolutionized life on earth. In The Science of Consequences, Schneider, an internationally recognized biopsychologist, brings together research from many scientific fields to tell the story of how something that seems so simple can help make sense of so much.

2. Standup comedy hasn't evolved much since the glory days of ventriloquist and puppet. Every so often, there's a Gallagher smashing watermelons or a musical funnyman like Jack Black, but for the most part, comedy is a dude on a stage with a microphone, plodding through a joke-punchline-new-joke routine. You're funny. You need to change the course of comedy forever. At 8 p.m. the Grit City Comedy Club opens its stage to the public for a comedy open mic.

3. From 6-8 p.m. Monday, July 15, the STAR Center will teach tips and techniques on grilling vegetables, seafood and meat. You even have the opportunity to put these tips to a taste test. Class is $24 for residents and $26 for non-residents. Go to metroparkstacoma.org for registration details.

4. Rockin' blues band Palmer Junction will perform at 8 p.m. inside The Swiss.

5. Acoustic folk musician Anna Gordon joins The Plastic Arts and Joshua Powell & The Great Train Robbery for a 10 p.m. show at Le Voyeur in downtown Olympia.

LINK: Monday, July 15 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, JULY 14 2013 >>>

1. Is there any more vexing wee-hours quandary than "What is art?" According to Teller of Penn & Teller, "Art is anything we do after the chores are done." By that reasoning, most things we do can be art, as long as we enjoy them. (Ideally, someone else enjoys them, too.) Live music can be art, but does haute cuisine qualify? Graffiti can be art, but what about sand sculpture, board games, glasswork or robot designs? You bet! At Art on the Ave in Tacoma, all such pursuits are invited. If you're accustomed to thinking of art as esoteric - or, for that matter, if you regard it as material to enliven the walls over sofas - then prepare to have your mind ba-lown. Live bands, Grub Crawl, pinup photography and classic cars, Tacomapoly, tons of art and more from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Read Christian Carvajal's full feature on Art on the Ave in Northwest Military's Music & Culture section.

2. Saxophonist Kareem Kandi's sound derives from the classic, free, often enthusiastic tradition of Joshua Redman as filtered through Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, all of whose shadows can be traced-Redman in Kandi's funky organicism, Gordon in his dynamic harmonics, Stitt in the intensity that coats his every note with a Gritty City finish. Kandi has been hanging with organist Delvon Lamarr and drummer Adam Kessler, which has added groovy innovation to Kandi's sound. Catch Kandi's trio from 3-6 p.m. at Uncle Thurm's Finger Lickin' Ribs & Chicken in Tacoma's Lincoln District.

3. An evening of dinner, dessert and performances celebrating LGBTQ youth is a part of this year's Tacoma Pride Week. Friends of Oasis are hosting dinners throughout the community from 4 to 7 p.m. After dinner, join Oasis for Proud Outloud dessert and youth performances from 7 to 9 pm in the Pantages Theater. Tickets for dessert are $25 each, dinners and dessert $50 and up. All proceeds benefit Oasis Youth Center.

4. Pop punk made it to all the way to France, as it turns out. Xtramedium, hailing from the French Riviera, have mastered all of the little emo flourishes and all the punky switches from contemplative riffing to spiteful rave-ups. Thrown into the mix is a healthy dose of lively folk punk, with interludes of ukelele and harmonica lending nuance to the proceedings. catch them with Bad Hex at 7 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

5. The Tacoma Comedy Club presents Comics Under The Influence where five comics perform a set each sober, and then while the other comics are performing they pound booze and return to the stage wasted to do another set. Jubal Flagg from Movin 95.5 FM tries to keep the thing flowing, beginning at 8 p.m.

LINK: Sunday, July 14 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, JULY 13 2013 >>>

1. The Tacoma Old Town Rhythm and Blues Festival, founded as the Tacoma Old Town Blues Festival in 1991 by Ted Brown and Mike Mitchell, will add more rhythm to the annual beloved blues festival. From 9:30 a.m. to midnight you'll find the festival back in Tacoma's Old Town Park on North 30th, with eight stages featuring about 22 musical acts, along with many vendors and food. Here's the Tacoma Old Town Rhythm and Blues Festival schedule.

2. Free stuff is good. Better yet, let's talk about free stuff for the entire family - Lakewood Summerfest 2013 at Fort Stialcoom Park. Tons of food, craft and nonprofit vendors will be on hand. (Read: more glass jewelry, organic food petitioners, and meat on a stick than your mom could ever dream of.) If you don't feel like indulging in drippy foods and knitted caps, then there's also going to be pain on triathletes faces to watch, a 5K fun run, Army Strong Fitness Expo, a kids zone ($5), and an outdoor cinema featuring The Princess Bride. Sound good? We're not done. There's also our favorite part of any event - the live entertainment! Expect steel drum band The Islanders, Irish rock band The VooDoos, ‘80s hair band Metal Shop, country twangers Highway 9, R&B with The Hitmen and others. And remember: Minus the angioplasty you're going to need after all the funnel cakes, most of it is free.

3. Tacoma's annual, awesome LGBTQA Pride celebration, Out In The Park, goes down from noon to 5 p.m. on Broadway between Ninth and 11th streets. Afterward, until 2 a.m. The Mix throws one helluva block party.

4. In 1994, The Flintstones was turned into a live-action movie, which will be projected on a giant 40-foot outdoor movie screen at sunset. LeMay - America's Car Museum continues its Drive-In Movie Series with Fred and Wilma Flintstone and friends at its outdoor Haub Family Field. Movie-goers can park and watch the film - for free - from their vehicle or spread out on the grass with blankets and chairs. Food and zip-line rides will be available for purchase and inflatable bounce houses will be free for children. Museum hours will be extended to 8 p.m. and guests can reserve their parking spot on the field starting at 4:30 p.m. So run your rock car to LeMay Saturday, sneak in your bronto ribs and have a gay old time.

5. As we've mentioned many times before, Perry Acker is named like a single dude, but it's actually a band ... a band that's on the rise. Not only did Perry Acker win Ford Motor Company's Gimme The Gig national battle of the bands contest in 2011, then open for Paul Rodgers, the Gig Harbor band is currently in the studio putting the final touches on a new CD. Hear their latest mixture of blues, pop, rock and funk - plus Impossible Bird and Kate Turner - at 8 p.m. at Jazzbones.

LINK: Saturday, July 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, JULY 11 2013 >>>

1. Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist hosts his annual Autographed Book & Wine Auction at 5 p.m. in King's Books. Lindquist's re-election campaign fundraiser will swarm with local political types, wine enthusiasts, crime fighters and notable authors. Last year's event brought a surprise guest, author Maria Semple, who wrote the New York Times bestseller, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette." Semple is expected to return for this year's event, along with other authors whose books will be auctioned off during the fundraiser, including true crime writer Ann Rule and some surprise guests.

2. Pacific Lutheran University opens its 15 annual Jazz Under the Stars concert series tonight from 7-9 p.m. The series, a different band every Thursday through Aug. 15, kicks off with the Steve Howland Trio in the college's amphitheater. Dr. Howland teaches jazz and classical guitar at PLU and co-directs the PLU Guitar Festival, so he'll know how to explore the space. Joining guitarist Howland will be Nate Omdal on upright bass and Adam Kessler on drums, playing standards and originals that reflect broad influences and interests. 

3. Hailing from Portland, Muscle and Marrow is the project of singer and guitarist Kira Clark. We want to emphasize those words: singer and guitarist. Muscle and Marrow is entirely concerned with the dance and interplay between Clark's tremulous voice and the fuzzy tones emitted from her guitar. The gauzy guitar makes a bed for Clark's simultaneously strong and vulnerable voice, which at times resembles Jeff Buckley's indelible, ghostly vibrato. Catch Muscle and Marrow with Oh Dear, Rowhouse and Trasholes at 8 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

4. If you are a lover of men in fishnets and wigs that reach higher than Marge Simpson's beehive, phone the baby-sitter, prepare to call in sick to work the next day, and make the trip to the Mansion at 9 p.m. to see "One Night Only," a drag show to kick off Tacoma Pride weekend. Expect fabulous costumes, choreography, guest stars and a cavalcade of some of the most polished queens in the South Sound, including Cannoli, Dominique D'Amour, Rychard Le'Sabre, Delyla Dalyte, Sedusa Slitt and Nenee Michaels shaking their groove things. Also, making her stage debut will be INYA Bottom! Never mind that this is a drag show; few weekly shows of any kind are quite as spectacular, and this one costs only $7 at the door.

5. Sam Vicari is clearly a practiced creator of jangly pop, making the deceptively difficult act of crafting immaculate hooks and pristinely ringing melodies look utterly effortless. Recalling everyone from Matthew Sweet to Weezer, They Might Be Giants to Big Star, "Teenage Dirtbag" to C-86, and generations of spangly, guitar-driven songsmiths in between, Vicari's music is blessedly uncomplicated and unpretentious in its worship of the song as an unparallelled importance.See him with Captain Algebra at 10 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

LINK: Thursday, July 11 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 2013 >>>

1. Sean Alexander's installation, "Life is OOD" at Fulcreum Gallery, is a giant departure from the ink drawings he is known for. It is a love song to the Hilltop Tacoma neighborhood in manipulated found objects. Alexander has collected, and in some cases stolen, items unique to Hilltop - even iconic to the area - and layered upon them additional meaning through his artistic vision. We're talking old signs; shopping carts; a broken, discarded and headless concrete sculpture of a dog and other such detritus that he has changed by various means such as scraping off old paint, burning with a blowtorch, and welding. Check it out from noon to 6 p.m.

2. Downtown On the Go wants those who work in downtown Tacoma to actually live there and help create an awesome, thriving downtown scene. The organization wants it so much that it offers financial incentives to encourage employees to live close to work. Therefore, the organization invites downtown employers and employees to bond over Mai Tais and learn about the free program from 4-6 p.m. at Tacoma Cabana tiki bar. Mayor Strickland, a downtown resident and employer program participant, will speak. Expect informational booths and strong drinks.

3. The Bulgarians are coming! Well, not so much folks representing the South Slavic ethnic group, but rather wines from the country. Pour at Four wine bar will pour complimentary tastes of Bulgarian wines from 5:30-8 p.m.

4. Scuba diver David Jennings - a member of the Pacific Northwest Advanced Assessment Team for Reef Environmental Education Foundation, which is an organization of recreational divers who conduct biodiversity and abundance surveys of fish and invertebrates during their dives, will lecture on Puget Sound underwater wildlife at 7 p.m. in the Refuge Visitor Center Auditorium at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge.

5. The urbanXchange in downtown Tacoma hosts am all-ages show featuring garage inspired surf punk from Upchuck & The Chunks, psychedelic garage punk from The Nadines, soulful blues inspired garage from Rowhouse and futuristic garage punk from Photon Pharoah. Doors at 7 p.m.

LINK: Wednesday, July 10 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

TUESDAY, JULY 9 2013 >>>

1. If you're at all familiar with The Band, A prolific Canadian-American folk rock group of the '60s and '70s, then drummer Levon Helm requires no introduction, and the captivating documentary Ain't in It for My Health chronicling Helm's final years is sure to draw you in. Check it out at 1:40 abd 7 p.m. at The Grand Cinema. Read Jared Lovrak's full feature on the film in Northwest Military's Music & Culture section.

2. Washington State Park Ranger Tom Pew will highlight some of the great adventures to be had around the state including hikes, camping, water sports, wildlife viewing and more at 5:30 p.m. in the Tumwater Timberline Library. Attendees will have a chance to win one of two Washington State Discover Passes, paid for by the Friends of the Tumwater Timberland Library.

3. In Gig Harbor it's time once again for Summer Sounds at Skansie Brothers Park, this evening at 6:30 p.m. with The New Blues Brothers Revue.

4. The Swiss and science are synonymous. OK, so maybe they're not quite synonymous, but they do go together quite well - the "Tacoma Science Café" at the Swiss proves it. At 6:30 p.m., the Pacific Science Center presents Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Greg Brennan, D.V.M., Ph.D., who will discuss how the virus vs. animals conflict has led to some of the most serious epidemics in modern times, and how we're learning to try to control them. You might want to pull back from your normal beer consumption Tuesday, as Brennan will also host a Q-and-A session.

5. AWOL One brings the California word to Le Voyeur at 9 p.m., yo.

LINK: Tuesday, July 9 arts and entertainment in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area