WEDNESDAY, AUG. 18, 2010 >>>

1. Popular guitarist Vince Brown fills Swing Wine Bar & Cafe in Olympia with jazz beginning at 9 p.m.

2. Have you heard of this Twitter thing? Yeah, we hadn't either. Apparently, though, a whole bunch of people are into it, and it's supposed to be the next big thing ... or something. We're not sure. We don't really get it. Once we learned about Twitter, we discovered a whole bunch of people giving monotonous 140-character descriptions of nothing (trips to the grocery store and shit). What's that all about? Like we said, we're not sure. That's why we'll be attending the 1 p.m. "Intro to Twitter" class at the Tacoma Public Library main branch. We'll be the guy sitting between the man that just woke up from a 15-year coma and the dude that lives under a rock.

3. An aging wooden lifeguard chair stands sentinel as Tollefson Plaza turns into a beach for A K Mimi Allin's Seaside Opera, a performance art pieces that lasts for 15 minutes from 2-7 p.m. on the every half-hour. The artist performs to a mesmerizing audio of ocean-inspired operas and carnival sounds. Viewers may be enticed to participate by the toy-strewn water pools.

4. King's Books hosts a "Bad Poetry" edition of Scrabble Rousers, where beginner, intermediate, or expert Scrabble players battle it out on the board - with the option to stand up and read some very bad poetry. Entrance fee is $10 per person with proceeds directly benefiting the Tacoma Community House Student Scholarship Fund. The words start flowing at 6:30 p.m.

5. Plague Ships, Devils Of Loudon and Helles rock Hell's Kitchen beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

NO MORE JUMPING OVER THE FENCE >>>

As I wolfed down fresh wild blueberries Saturday, I couldn't recall the last time I ate any fruit quite so flavorful. Eating a blueberry still warm from the sun was like tasting one for the very first time. Its essence goes straight to your head. And everyone knows blueberries are loaded with antioxidant compounds that travel through the body reducing free radicals that can lead to cancer and other age-related diseases.   

I was excited to hear the Washington Blueberry Commission has launched www.superblues.net - a consumer guide to fresh blueberries from farm fruit stands, U-Pick farms and provide growers choice recipes.

I no longer have to jump a certain fence to gather wild blueberries. Although, the price was right.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

The FCC is going to make the internet less fun.

Al Qaeda released a 24-minute video yesterday stating that new attacks that will kill more Americans are planned.

Here's a knock-knock joke from Roger Daltry

Iran banned two U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering the country today

A fisherman found himself face-to-face with a periscope.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Hall & Oates are canceling their concert in Arizona in protest of SB 1070. We hope they don't cancel their Puyallup Fair appearance over the fact that Prosecutor Mark Lindquist chose The Minus 5 featuring Peter Buck instead of them for his fundraiser party Saturday night.

Three-year-old beer drinker to one day become boy king of Philadelphia.

Turkey passes an Internet ban on all things Google.

Los Angeles forces 400 medical marijuana dispensaries to close.

Donna

LAUREATE LOVE >>>

Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker is also the secretary for the Puget Sound Poetry Connection. Robacker would like the world to know that PSPC has a new Web site and blog.

She writes, "The PSPC website is a great way to check out what is going on at PSPC, how to contact us, and to learn who the monthly featured poet is for our Distinguished Writers Series, which happens the 2nd Friday of every month at Kings Books, Tacoma. The PSPC blog is our way of posting and highlighting the hundreds of poetry and literary events, workshops, readings and poetry goings-on we hear about through emails, poets, friends, and listservs."

By the way, Robacker's next reading will be Thursday, June 24 at 7 p.m. inside the Tacoma Public Library main branch.

LINK: Robacker receives some TNT love

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Latest in beer technology: a see-through box

Some black holes can kill entire galaxies.

Playboy jumps on the 3-D bandwagon with a 3-D centerfold spread.

AT&T has the iPhone exclusively through 2012.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

In his commencement address at Hampton University (where?) yesterday, President Obama went grandpa when he blamed "iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations" for the downfall of democracy.

The giant dome didn't work out to stop the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil leak, so the new plan is to stuffing the leak with trash - "shredded tires, golf balls" - in what they're calling a "junk shot."

The world's biggest beaver dam was spotted by satellite.

Lena Horne died.

It's Sid Vicious' birthday.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Apple sold 1,000,000 iPads in one month.

Actress Lynn Redgrave died Sunday after a seven-year battle with breast cancer.

There's a Skunk Ape in South Georgia.

Foodies, take note: The carts are coming. (The News Tribune)

Stephen Hawking predicts time travel.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

David Meinert: Chihuly museum is a fine idea for Seattle Center.

There's a new porno mag ... for the blind.

Twitter announced that they will be incorporating ads, "Promoted Tweets," when you search for a sponsored word.

Apple is creating iSpecs to watch 3D films on the go.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Inappropriate online comments: Is the solution is a "trusted " tier and an inflammatory off-topic tier?

25 are dead as an explosion rocks a West Virginia coal mine.

What? No Tacoma? Screw the Dairy Queen Blizzard Mobile.

RR Anderson heard Dale Chihuly was going to blow up the Fun Center in Seattle and build his own Museum of Glass.

Two dozen women march topless in Portland to protest societal attitudes regarding male and female nudity.