WHAT WE'VE FOUND TODAY >>>

The iPad's release date is announced - you'll be able to pick one up April 3.

Booth Gardner goes to the Oscars.

Researchers believe that the fibers, or "threads," that mussels use to stick to the beach possess a structure that one day may be used for coatings in man-made materials that need to be stretchy and hard.

The 9/11 trial may be held in military court, not civilian court in NYC.

Japan won't comply with a tuna ban, even thought the bluefin may go extinct.

Sarah Palin is basically Snooki

WHAT WE FOUND TODAY >>>

40 computer display home office or secret missile launch center?

Breaking down the dysfunction: It's budget time in Olympia.

"It sucks," says an Internet movie critic, using the most common aesthetic reaction on the Web. Goodbye to smart film criticism.

Want to save Pierce County bus service? Buy a brownie.

Prudential Insurance of Britain announced that it will buy American International Group's life insurance company for an estimated $35.5 billon. Also, fuck you, AIG.

Dale Welch recently walked into a Starbucks in Virginia, handgun strapped to his waist, and ordered a banana Frappuccino with a cinnamon bun. Advocates for openly carrying guns have found a new friend in Starbucks as the gun caused no alarm.

Our brains become slower but shrewder with age.

WHAT WE FOUND TODAY >>>

Teacher shot dead at Tacoma elementary school.

Tacoma drummer available.

California wants to declare the first week of March "a cuss free week."

Facebook secures patent for news feed.

A cruise ship returned to Charleston, South Carolina, after more than 400 passengers got sick during a trip to the Caribbean.

Fashion Futures scenarios explore fashion world of 2025.

Giving away free umbrellas in the middle of a rainstorm is not that easy.

Filming Of Congressional Reality Show Disrupts Committee Meeting

WHAT WE FOUND TODAY >>>

Tacoma's Warehouse has been shut down.

RIP Rickrolling

Is Google A Content Provider After All?

Your chair is your enemy.

Dismal news for college ladies: apparently one in five of us will be the victim of sexual assault, thanks to a new study.

FutureWorks' Brian Solis: Facebook trumps Twitter for marketers.

Zach Galifianakis and Lowboy's John Wray make a book trailer (thanks blogtown)

MAKE A BAND PROFILE, BE BIGGER THAN BONO >>>

By now you've probably clued into the fact that the Weekly Volcano's fancy new Web site - weeklyvolcano.com - has a "Band Profile" feature.

Now we're sweetening the deal:

1. Create a "Band Profile."

2. Become famous online at weeklyvolcano.com.

3. See your band in print, for no additional work, in the Volcano's Second Annual Music Issue's band directory section.

Ever weekday until March 11 the Weekly Volcano will be featuring one Band Profile on Spew to help folks get a feel for it. Consider this just one more reason to sign up.

Today's band

Vile Red Falcons

Please get acquainted below ...

John - Guitar, Vox
Nate - Guitar
James - Bass
Kevin - Drums

Genre: Pop/Rock

Biography: This Tacoma based group was formed in the Fall of 2007. All the members met via craigslist (god bless it) and have been playing music for 10 years or more in various bands. The group brings elements of garage, punk, lo-fi and grunge to form a no-nonsense approach with a twin guitar attack and biting lyrics. They pride themselves on a solid rhythm section which provides a strong backbone for the band. They began playing shows in the Fall of 2008 and debuted at the historic Bob's Java Jive in Tacoma on Halloween. From there, they have earned a monthly gig at the Java Jive, due to their strong live shows and ability to pack that giant coffee pot! In addition, they have begun playing monthly shows in Seattle at such notable clubs as the Showbox Sodo, High Dive, Skylark Cafe, and the classic Seattle dive, the Blue Moon and have repeatedly rocked the iconic New Frontier Lounge in Tacoma.

Discover when they perform next, listen to their music, and become their fan on their Band Profile page here.

LINK: Weekly Volcano's Band Profile section

LINK: Sign up for a Band Profile

NEW BLOG >>>

Artist Aaron Trotter-Voronoff - a "21st century stylistic schizophrenic kind of guy" as he likes to call himself - has created a blog to "stir things up" he says. Trotter-Voronoff - or Voronoff the Ghost Critic as he also calls himself - will critique art in Tacoma on his new blog, Tacoma Needs More Art. Apparently, he's going to call it as he sees it.

MAKE A BAND PROFILE, BE BIGGER THAN BONO >>>

By now you've probably clued into the fact that the Weekly Volcano's fancy new Web site - weeklyvolcano.com - has a "Band Profile" feature.

Now we're sweetening the deal:

1. Create a "Band Profile."

2. Become famous online at weeklyvolcano.com.

3. See your band in print, for no additional work, in the Volcano's Second Annual Music Issue's band directory section.

Ever day until March 11 the Weekly Volcano will be featuring one Band Profile on Spew to help folks get a feel for it. Consider this just one more reason to sign up.

Today's band

Mom's Rocket

Please get acquainted below ...

Thomas Roney - Vocals
Jason Celestine - Guitar
Randy Keller - Bass
Jeff Meschke/Jason Weinsenhaus - Drums

Genre: Pop/Rock

Biography: "The Olympia-based quartet... rock with an attitude. With basic rock 'n' roll chord structures, hard crashing rhythms and plenty of volume, Moms Rocket are an in-your-face kind of band. With just a little twang, they are a bit like Lynyrd Skynyrd on steroids". -Tony Engelhart, Weekly Volcano, Jan 31, 2008

Discover when they perform next, listen to their music and become their fan on their Band Profile page here.

LINK: Weekly Volcano's Band Profile section

LINK: Sign up for a Band Profile

LOCAL BLOG ROUNDUP >>>

Another week, another six days of cruising the local blogosphere for decent reading.

Exit133 is many things Tacoma - civic involvement, politics, and urban development. It is also a watchdog for awards and trends associated with the City of Destiny. 

Thursday morning Derek Young announced that the year 2010 will be a bitchin' year for Tacoma's real estate market. 

The folks at Moody's have once again put Tacoma on one of their lists. Last year we made the Best Real Estate Market and the Most Likely to Rebound lists. Now, at the beginning of 2010, we are predicted to be the top performing real estate market in the country this year.

The five areas that Moody's foresees home prices performing best in 2010 are: Tacoma, Wash., (an increase of 2.44%); Memphis, Tenn., (up 0.99%); Pittsburgh (up 0.89%); Charleston, S.C. (up 0.18%); and Seattle (decline of 0.50%).

WAH-WAHHH: Young also points out that the Tacoma data most likely included some Seattle data, too.

The Trib's GO Arts blog announced that Tacoma Opera conductor Sara Jobin - Faust (2009) and The Barber of Seville (2008) - has been nominated for up for a Grammy music award for "Best Opera Recording."

WAH-WAHHH: Rosemary Ponnekanti points out the nomination wasn't associated with Tacoma Opera, but rather Jobin's conducting performance from Volpone by John Musto with Wolf Trap Opera. Still, way to go Jobin.

City Arts Tacoma's blog the CAB highlighted the work of Tacoma artist Jeremy Gregory - specifically Gregory's "alternative" comic "True Grit," which appears monthly in the Seattle-based magazine.

But, like the pages of City Arts themselves, True Grit is not in the same place today as it was in the beginning. The comic has seen quite an evolution in the past eighteen months - due in part to change in editorial staff and vision, but mostly to Gregory's creativity, flexibility and developing talents. So, in the spirit of our "Resolution Issues," Gregory has graciously assembled a slideshow just for you that shows all of the past episodes of his comic, in chronological order leading up to the most recent - plus some sketches that give insight into his process.

See the evolution here.

WAH-WAHHH: Gregory's artistic talents graced the Weekly Volcano every week in the form of mug shots for our columnists. Unfortunately, we no longer have the space to run the art with the columns. Some day we'll fire those back up.

MICHAEL SWAN: COOL >>>

Tonight's Tacoma Community College Chamber Orchestra concert will be broadcast via Internet - live. You can watch and listen to the concert here.

The "Cycles in Time" concert will feature three works: Elgar's Serenade for Strings,  Dvorak's Serenade for Winds, and Schumann's Symphony No. 4. 

[TCC Building 3, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m., $5 suggested donation, 6501 S. 19th St., Tacoma, 253.566.5000]

At the beginning, Bobble Tiki thought it amusing when computer nerds rhapsodized about the brave new word that technology would usher in.  That amusement turned ugly as the nerds became increasingly surly, and less helpful when they realized computers weren’t anything new, just something else to pay for on installments.
And we’ve now reached a point where our technology has outstripped our intelligence; the nerds have become as utterly clueless as the Luddites they used to berate.  All that wizardry and the best they can come up with is “restart the computer … maybe that’ll help.”  Isn’t that sort of like smacking the side of the television to get better reception? â€" Bobble Tiki