THE CORN

Mazed and confused

The corn is high at the Rutledge Corn Maze, where folks are losing themselves left and right as fall descends. This year’s 3-mile labyrinth is in full swing seven days a week. Checkpoints are provided throughout the maze with easy-to-understand maps and directions. Escapes average about one-and-half to three hours, but losing your way is rewarded with fun. Bring your flashlight for a trippy trip through the maze after sunset. — Michael Swan

[Rutledge Farm, 2-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 2 p.m.-midnight Friday, 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday, $6-$8, take I-5 South to Exit 99, at the stop sign take a left, It’s approximately 1.25 miles east on your left-hand side just past Tilley Road, cornmaze.com\">www1.rutledge cornmaze.com]

THE FESTIVAL

Latino Festival

The joyous birthday festivities for 8-year-old Tim Tenney were marred Tuesday when the boy’s older siblings somehow talked him into the notion that piñatas were capable of feeling pain.

The groundwork for the treachery was laid earlier that morning when older brother Ted, 12, told Tim that a piñata was a real animal that had been freeze-dried alive, carefully shaved and then coated in tissue paper. Sister Tonya, 14, added that it was during the months-long thawing process in the store that the piñata’s pain receptors were once more reactivated.

Ted assured Tim that the piñata would feel every excruciating blow of the broom handle used to rupture its belly and that only the cruelest of God’s creatures would torture another for cheap penny candy. Tonya noted that most piñatas have had their vocal chords severed, but that Tim’s piñata might be one of the very few still capable of screaming in agony.

And even if Tim were cruel enough to still go through with the savage beating, Ted and Tonya reminded him, he’d still have to surrender his candy to them as it would be coated in the pinata’s toxic stomach acids.

The Tenneys will attend the Pierce County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Latino Festival Saturday for a day of Latin music, food, entertainment and an evening movie under the stars.  Tim is tentative.  — Suzy Stump

[Fort Steilacoom Park, Saturday, Aug. 18, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., free, 8714 87th Ave. S.W., Lakewood, www.pchcc.net).

THE CARS

Classic Car Show

Every day in the South Sound is an auto show, but there’s only one South Tacoma Classic Car Show, where all kinds of shiny old cars, trucks, and motorcycles gather along the stretch the Weekly Volcano fondly tags Bar Boulevard — South Tacoma Way from 50th to 58th streets. This annual vehicular extravaganza begins Saturday morning, so get your rear in gear to check it out. And if you think cars suck, well there’s a tavern every square foot. — Brad Allen

[South Tacoma Way, Saturday, Aug. 18, 10 a.m., free, South Tacoma Way from 50th to 58th streets, 253.548.9887]

THE RACE

The Mile

Like boxing, sex and most of the best things in life, horse racing is a pastime experienced with all of the senses. Anyone who says horse racing is just about gambling has never spent an afternoon in the stands.  The most famous horse racing event in this state is Sunday’s annual Longacres Mile, which is also the highest-stakes race of the year. — BA

[Emerald Downs, Sunday, Aug. 19, 1 p.m., 2300 Emerald Downs Dr., Auburn, 253.288.7000]

THE BOOK

Banned!

What if I could fly? What if the sun never set? What if there could exist a never-ending container of peanut butter cup and chocolate ice cream? Aah, the wonderful world of what if: Imagining and creating and exploring new dimensions day in and day out, testing the boundaries of the mind.

What if Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal Dreams” had never been published?

What if you checked out the Banned Book Club’s discussion on said book at the Tempest Lounge? What if Tempest offered half-priced appetizers for all Banned Book Club participants? What if? — SS

[Tempest Lounge, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 7 p.m., no cover, 913 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.272.4904]