THURSDAY, FEB. 20 2014 >>>

1. Poppet, AKA Molly Raney, is a hard act to do any justice in describing. Just one woman, a keyboard and a looping pedal, yet it amounts to so much more than the sum of its parts. Clad in a spandex green onesie, Raney commands the stage with inventive melodies and whimsical interpretive dance. Setting aside the clear complexity and thought that goes into her music, Poppet's performance has a very childlike quality to it. Even though her impressive voice and lively arrangements betray a sure hand, Poppet still feels like a little girl who has come down to the living room to put on a show. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with Poppet in the Music and Culture section, then catch Poppet with Mirrorgloss and True Holland at 9 p.m. In The New Frontier Lounge.

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UPDATE: Operation Ward 57 received its free van from the Toyota 100 Cars for Good program at noon, Friday, Feb. 21 at Toyota of Tacoma. We captured the ceremony on video, which you can see below. ...

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This just in from the folks at NORAD:

North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct exercise flights today as they practice intercept and identification procedures. The exercise will occur over northwestern Washington. Although they are scheduled for the morning, the flights could be delayed due to weather concerns.

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Are you ready for a "V"-led acronym bonanza?

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced the phased roll out of newly designed, more secure Veteran Health Identification Cards. The new cards are distinguished by additional security features and will have a different look and feel.

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Those who keep a flow chart on their refrigerators know this year has seen many a change in the command structure at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. If you have been keeping your ceremony invitations, you could construct an exhibit that would rival any holiday card display.

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It's 3:21 a.m. and you're awake.

You've already, unwillingly so, opened your eyes at 12:48 a.m. and 2:34 a.m. As it is, you had a hard time falling asleep because you couldn't get your mind to stop racing, moving through to-do lists things to remember for the next day. When you finally do fall asleep, it's often a fitful one, laden with frenzied dreams of drill sergeants, night sweats and, ultimately, long periods of waking up and lying in bed with nothing to do, but think ... and wait to, hopefully, fall asleep again.

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GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 2.21.14 >>>

You wake up, tired and groggy, and you can think of only one thing: coffee. But in reality, first thing in the morning isn't the best time to hit the caffeine - and it's science that says so.

The Ukraine peace deal calls for the creation of a national unity government and an early presidential election.

A top spy agency is launching a challenge contest "to advance understanding of human interactions that involve trust and trustworthiness."

Proposals to front-load military compensation with more cash now rather than back-loading it with deferred, in-kind benefits later on are gaining traction with the commission tasked with recommending reforms to the current system.

Wage hike's impact on Department of Defense is far from clear.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the undersecretary of defense for policy to develop a plan to reorganize the department's POW/MIA accounting effort.

The DoD announced the release of its Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy to increase available spectrum in order to meet growing demand from the commercial wireless industry while maintaining critical military capabilities.

Study: Current plans for Afghan security forces risk failure.

The Air Force needs its new long-range strike bomber, even if it can't give details.

Despite being canceled in 2009 by then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, bits and pieces of the U.S. Army's $20 billion Future Combat Systems program keep hanging around.

Germany's defense ministry is planning to reduce its order for Eurofighter jets from 180 to 143.

The new head of the British Army is to be Lt. Gen. Sir Nick Carter.

The "Strategic Broadening Seminars" and the "Army Special Operations Forces Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies Fellowship," begin this summer.

If the U.S. Congress could be symbolized and encapsulated as a single human face, it would be the bland, smudgy, vaguely terrifying visage here.

Check out Eminem, Ice Cube, Korn and Anonymous aligning forces to BLOW YOUR MIND and set off the #WaveOfAction scheduled for 4/4/14.

Dave Holmes rounds up the modern rock hits of 1994.

See Neil Patrick Harris sing in silk pajamas in this new ad/music video.

A breakdown of all the TV pilots that have been ordered for next season.

It was a wise move to sell Girl Scout cookies outside a medical marijuana clinic.

The multi-billion-dollar deals transforming tech, visualized.

FRIDAY, FEB. 21 2014 >>>

1. Do you love animals? How 'bout dark comedy? Do Sarah McLachlan ads for the ASPCA make you projectile weep? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then do we have the show for you. Elliot Weiner (pronounced "winer") is a playwright, actor, and director most recently seen in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Lakewood Playhouse. Sadly for Tacoma, he's moving eastward next month. His going-away present to the South Sound is a one-act play called What About Grandma? that purports to reveal how far a grandmother might go (sink?) to protect the people she loves at 7:30 p.m. in Tacoma Little Theatre. The only admission cost is a donation to the Tacoma Humane Society's Cinderella Program for Spay and Neuter or the Northwest Spay and Neuter Center. Bob Barker will love you for it.

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If you've missed the fact that Cavalia's newest show Odysseo is in the region, you've been under a rock. Cavalia goes all out with billboards, TV commercials, radio ads and other media outlets. But then, nothing Cavalia does is small. The show is most certainly not small. The show is mind-bogglingly massive in just about every way.

Cavalia's Odysseo, like Cavalia before it, brings both horses and humans to the stage - 66 horses and 52 human performers to be exact. The huge cast is only complemented by the equally gigantic big top under which the show takes place. Said big top is a whopping 125 feet tall, the largest touring big top on the planet. The stage underneath it spans 4,570 feet and has 80 tons of electrical and show equipment suspended in the grid above stage, including a full carousel. From the moment guests arrive, the big top begins to dazzle and the dazzling doesn't stop for the rest of the night.

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Congratulations to the following airmen who graduated Julius A. Kolb Airman Leadership School last week at McChord Field.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Abel, 627th Civil Engineer Squadron

Staff Sgt. Ramsey Tesch, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron

Senior Airman Manuel Bowden, 62nd Operations Support Squadron

Senior Airman Cleat Cooley, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron

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