MONDAY, MARCH 10 2014 >>>

1. The exhibitionFor You! in Kittredge's Small Gallery premieres selections from photographer John Arsenault's newest body of work, which opens today at 10 a.m. The images in the exhibition reveal Arsenault's fascination with the mundane and how the unexpected can be amplified by readily accessible digital technology. Using the Instagram app, Arsenault isolates exquisitely beautiful details of flowers, adding a 21st-century twist to 19th-century precedents and ideas about art and aesthetics.

2. Today looks like an awesome day for a noon, free guided bird walk at the Adriana Hess Wetland Park. No experience necessary; binoculars are available to borrow. No RSVP required. 

3. Ready for a success story ... in story form? At 17, Brandon Stogsdill was arrested, tried as an adult for assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to four years in prison. While in prison, Stogsdill vowed to change. When he was released, Stogsdill enrolled in college and began a career in psychology. Today he works as a youth mental health counselor. He tells the story of his transformation in his book, The Boy with the Gun: From Incarceration to Higher Education, which he'll discuss and sign at 7 p.m. in the Lakewood Library.

4. James Coates performs original tunes and classic rock hits at 7 p.m. in the Steilacoom Pub & Grill. 

5. Maia Santell and House Blend will fill The Swiss with blues and jazz beginning at 8 p.m.

LINK: Monday, March 10 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia events

Who's the boss, what's the plan and what should be done with the money?

Those are some of the questions that will be asked and answered at a deployment boot camp hosted by the 17th Fires Brigade Friday, March 14 at the North Fort Chapel.

To assist in their readiness for deployment, the emphasis is dealing with issues that they'll face as families who are apart. Two units of the 17th Fires Brigade are headed to the Middle East in April.

Soldiers and their spouses will be able to take four of the 20 classes offered that deal with relationships, day-to-day life, parenting and finances.

Read more...

Standing up in the Milky Way, this is Nerd Alert, the Weekly Volcano's recurring events calendar devoted to all things nerdy. I myself am a Star Wars fan, mathlete, and spelling bee champion of long standing, so trust me: I grok whereof I speak.

FRIDAY, MAR. 14

Theater geeks have plenty to keep them busy this weekend, as Neil's Simon's dramedy Chapter Two treads the boards at Tacoma Little Theatre, while The Man of La Mancha (a musical retelling of Don Quixote) tilts at windmills for Tacoma Musical Playhouse. I'm seeing both, between performances of 12 Angry Men at Lakewood Playhouse, so expect reviews soon. Meanwhile, a beautifully acted production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof continues at Harlequin Productions. This is the time of year when local troupes announce their upcoming seasons, so I look forward to passing that on to you in an upcoming summary.

TUESDAY, MAR. 18

It's a fine day for Blu-ray and DVD shoppers, with American Hustle, Frozen and Saving Mr. Banks all hitting shelves the same day. Each is fantastic, but only one stars the lovely and talented Adele Dazeem. If you're a Terry Pratchett fan, his new Discworld novel Raising Steam is in stores, as is William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back, a faux-Elizabethan sequel by Ian Doescher. You could also give Pierce Brown's debut adventure Red Rising a try. It's been marketed as a YA novel, but it's a straight-up SF novel for adults. I'm enjoying it and look forward to its inevitable sequels.

Now let's talk Cosmos. You did watch that first episode, right? I mean, I practically begged on my knees. I was able to procure a screener of the pilot, but I saw it too late to review it for Nerd Alert. (Instead, my glowing endorsement is posted on "Carv's Thinky Blog," www.ChristianCarvajal.com.) This week's episode, airing on Fox Sunday, March 16 at 9 p.m., is called "Some of the Things That Molecules Do." If you miss it, it airs the next night on Nat Geo and lots of other Fox-affiliated cable networks. Is it about chemistry? Yes. I imagine. I don't know. No one else does, either, because critics got the first hour only.

Incidentally, that colorful nebula in Cosmos's opening titles is a retouched view of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a cloud of dusty gas lit by the ultraviolet emanations of a dying star 650 light-years from us. It's an awesome phenomenon, really - a star very much like our own sun has burned through its store of hydrogen, and now it's collapsing into a dense ball the size of the earth. How dense, you ask? (Pretend you asked.) Think tons per teaspoon. It'll burn through its helium soon, before moving on to heavier atoms such as carbon and nitrogen. Eventually it'll sputter into white dwarf status, then fade away entirely. An ignominious fate, don't you think? It'll happen to our own sun some five billion years from now. The brighter they burn, folks, the harder they fall. Sigh ...

Until next week, may the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and may your Cosmic Calendar always be full.

Did you enjoy Tacoma Beer Week? What were your favorite beers? How do your teeth feel?

Have you heard? There's another natural cure for a common ailment. Take note, though, beer drinkers: It's the part of the leaves discarded in the brewing process.

Beer drinkers know that hops are what gives the drink its bitterness and aroma. Recently, scientists reported that the part of hops that isn't used for making beer contains healthful antioxidants and could be used to battle cavities and gum disease. In a new study in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they say that they've identified some of the substances that could be responsible for these healthful effects.

Read the full story here.

Where to fight cavities drink beer this week ...

Monday, March 10

Pint Defiance is knocking off a dollar on all pints today, which includes M.T. Head's Zeus's Revenge IPA, Lost Abbey Carnevale Saison, Alameda P-Town Pilsner and Alaskan Oatmeal Stout.

Wednesday, March 12

Who's got the best IPA? It's Washington vs. Oregon for all the marbles. Ninkasi Brewing, 7 Seas Brewing Co., Silver City Brewery & Taproom, Deschutes Brewery, Laurelwood Public House & Brewery and NoLi Brewhouse are bringing their best IPAs to The Swiss for a Battle of the Brands: The IPA Face Off, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Grab a passport to sample all the IPAs before casting your vote. Expect giveaways and swag. Grand prize drawing is a VIP tour of the winning brewery and the "Swiss Golden Ticket," entitling the winner to one year of free cover at The Swiss.

Friday, March 14

Chambers Bay (6320 Grandview Dr., University Place) hosts an Irish beer and food tasting Friday, March 14. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., Chef Corcoran presents a seven-course meal paired with Guinness, Harp and Smithwick's. As you nibble on Irish pretzel sausage and classic corned beef cabbage, Guinness experts will take you through an Irish beer journey. Tickets are $55; call 253.552.4867 or emailashipman@kempersports.com.

Saturday, March 15

Sound Brewery out of Poulsbo will drop in on Gig Harbor's Morso wine bar for tastings. Brewmaster Mark Hood will be pouring from 2-4 p.m., with a $5 cover. If you can't wait, here's Morso's current line-up: The GoodLife Mountain Rescue Dry Hopped Pale Ale, Bellevue425 Pale Ale, Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA, Elysian Dragonstooth Oatmeal Stout, pFriem Saison, Ommegang Abbey, Morso Pilsner by Alpine Brewery and Everybody's Brewing Country Boy IPA.

Last winter, the South Sound packed Tacoma's Foss Waterway Seaport for the Big Beer Festival, an event born in Tacoma Brewing Company's founder Morgan Alexander's head, but produced by Tacoma Craft Beer Festival co-founders Roxy Wolfe and Bennett Thurmon. A sold-out crowd enjoyed 20 regional vendors and around 60 beers. Alexander has grabbed the reins of the second annual version, and will be serving beers and barleywines with an alcohol by volume rating of 9 percent or higher, Saturday at his much smaller Tacoma Brewing Co. on Saint Helens Avenue. The big beers will flow 2-10 p.m.

Last, the Parkway Tavern asks you to drop your pants Saturday. The Tacoma tavern hosts a pants drive for those in need. Donate a pair of pants and you'll be entered in a raffle for prizes.

The Department of Defense budget request for fiscal 2015 includes a number of proposed changes for the Air Force Reserve including converting eight C-17s from the primary inventory to the back-up inventory. A Department of Defense news release below spells out the proposed changes.

The Department of Defense budget request for fiscal 2015 includes a number of proposed changes for the Air Force Reserve.

If enacted into law, the DOD budget request would increase the number of Reserve fighter wings equipped with F-16 fighters, create a classic associate B-1 bomber group, increase the number of Reserve KC-135 tankers, inactivate the Reserve airlift wing at Pope Field, N.C., retire the A-10 fighters, and inactivate the Reserve's E-3 AWACS classic associate group.

"These force structure changes are significant, but they ensure the Air Force Reserve remains an integrated, flexible and combat-ready force," said Brig. Gen. William "Buck" Waldrop, director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments for Air Force Reserve Command.

"Maintaining the appropriate active-Reserve force mix is critical to sustaining Air Force forward presence, rapid response, and high-rate rotational demands within a smaller force, and analysis of force mix must consider the three components as a complete system," he said.

Major changes in Air Force Reserve structure include:

Read more...

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I've recently shared my admiration of Boathouse 19's devilishly delectable desserts. I must not be the only one. During my last visit, the bartender informed me someone covered their dessert menu and used the phrase, ahem, "happy ending" in reference to 19's sweet treats.

Though I implore you to try any of its housemade desserts, Boathouse 19 also serves perfection from the front of the menu. Its N'Awlins Po'Boy is not to be missed. Served with your choice of shrimp ($13) or oysters ($14) this delicious sammie features a grilled ciabatta roll stuffed with southern slaw and huge, meaty lightly battered fried shrimp, which is complimented with a housemade remoulade. This remoulade really tops it off with a bang-whiz factor. In other words - it is amazing. I inquired what made up this tasty concoction and was told there were too many ingredients to remember but the mayo-based sauce included paprika, cayenne, celery and green onions among other things. This stuffs so tasty I could devour a tub of it.

The po'boy is served with your choice of a side of slaw, watermelon slice, Cajun fries or Boston baked beans. Naturally I go for the Cajun fries as an excuse to devour more of the remoulade.

Can I have some fries with my remoulade?

N'AWLINS PO'BOY, 11 a.m. to close, Boathouse 19, 9001 S. 19th, Tacoma, 253.565.1919

While everyone else is watching the latest big-budget, sci-fi, action-laden, poorly written, badly acted, ineptly directed, over-marketed summer blockbuster in which someone like Bill Paxton saves humanity from a swarm of giant robot locusts controlled by Christopher Walken, The Grand Cinema presents a week of documentaries. See a movie whose dialogue consists wholly of transcriptions of actual cockpit recordings, most of them from flights that ultimately crashed. Find out which pharmaceutical keep-away perpetuated the AIDS emergency in Africa and elsewhere.

The Grand's inaugural Documentary Week will run March 21-27. According to a news release, the series will showcase "seven critically acclaimed, first-run documentaries that will all be screening for the first time in the South Sound. Each film will be screened four or five times each throughout the week.The seven selections explore a wide variety of subjects including politics and philosophy, music and theater, sailing and exploration, wildlife, and culture and self-expression."

The Grand Cinema's "Documentary Week" Selections

IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY?

A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation. Trailer and Ticket Link

Fri 3.21: 2:00  |  Sat 3.22: 8:45  |  Mon 3.24: 6:30  |  Tue 3.25: 8:45   |  Thu 3.27: 4:15

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE

A cinematic documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. Trailer and Ticket Link

Fri 3.21: 4:15  |  Sun 3.23: 6:30  |  Mon 3.24: 8:45  |  Wed 3.26: 6:30

MAIDENTRIP

14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. Trailer and Ticket Link

Sat 3.22: 11:45am  |  Sun 3.23: 4:15  |  Tue 3.25: 2:00  |  Thu 3.27: 8:45

ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME

The uncompromising Tony and Emmy Award-winner is showcased both on and off stage via rare archival footage and intimate cinema vérité. Trailer and Ticket Link

Fri 3.21: 8:45  |  Sat 3.22: 2:00  |  Mon 3.24: 4:15  |  Wed 3.26: 2:00  |  Thu 3.27: 6:30

CHARLIE VICTOR ROMEO

A stage documentary derived entirely from 'Black Box' transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies. Trailer and Ticket Link

Sat 3.22: 4:15  |  Sun 3.23: 2:00  |  Tue 3.25: 6:30  |  Thu 3.27: 2:00

FIRE IN THE BLOOD

An intricate tale of "medicine, monopoly and malice", FIRE IN THE BLOOD tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of the global south in the years after 1996 - causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths - and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back. Trailer and Ticket Link

Fri 3.21: 6:30  |  Sun 3.23: 11:45am  |  Mon 3.24: 2:00  |  Wed 3.26: 4:15

I AM DIVINE

How Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, became John Waters' cinematic muse and an international drag icon. Trailer and Ticket Link

Sat 3.22: 6:30  |  Sun 3.23: 8:45  |  Tue 3.25: 4:15  |  Wed 3.26: 8:45

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.11.14 >>>

2014 Quadrennial Defense Review includes more risk, less money.

Israeli military officers are crediting a shadowy C4I unit as the unsung heroes of Operation Full Disclosure, a months-long mission that led to the high-seas capture of an Iranian arms cache some 1,500 kilometers from the Israeli coast.

The Senate's VA Backlog Working Group present the 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act, which would provide better customer service for veterans with pending claims, offer more money to veterans who file "fully developed" claims and mandate stricter oversight of claims officials.

A flurry of defense-related Capitol Hill hearings begin today with President Obama's nominee to head the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

The Senate on Monday unanimously approved legislation that boosts protections for victims of military sexual assault.

Turns out, there is some money next year for a program to develop a replacement for the HH-60G Pave Hawk.

Interview: Outgoing Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., could be called the U.S. House's dean of Navy shipbuilding, and he is attempting to become its top Asia-Pacific strategist.

The Pentagon Channel's pilot episode of Armed with Science delves into Army Research Laboratory and Naval Research Laboratory science that shapes the future of defense.

After searching hundreds of millions of objects across our sky, NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has turned up no evidence of the hypothesized celestial body in our solar system commonly dubbed "Planet X."

There is a growing fad at Machu Picchu that officials hope to nip in the bud: tourists who pose for nude snapshots with the iconic Inca Citadel looming in the background. Warning: Video features naked tourists.

President Barack Obama sits down with Zach Galifianakis for his most memorable interview yet.

Read New York magazine's profile of Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss (but watch out for the cleavage).

Neil Young is launching a Kickstarter campaign for his high-resolution music project.

What? Hear a new track in which The Clash's Paul Simonon and Mick Jones team up with Frank Ocean and Diplo.

Serious? Love these maps of the most popular TV shows set in each state.

Finally: A list of artists whose best-known songs are covers.

Well, this is awkward...

TUESDAY, MARCH 11 2014 >>>

1. The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee - the title of a blog run by kitten wrangler and crafter Laurie Cinotto - is also the title of Cinotto's new book, loaded with practical kitten tips and awesome photos. At 7 p.m., King's Books throws a book release party with a special appearance by feline supermodel Miss Wylla Stout. King's will be selling The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee as well as collecting pet food donations for the emergency pet food bank at the Humane Society.

2. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, the big screen adaptation of the late South African President's 1995 autobiography of the same name, is the latest from director Michael Chadwick. Chadwick and screenwriter William Nicholson had a very daunting task before them. Could they really condense some 77 years of Mandela's life into a movie with a theater-friendly running time and still do the man justice? Jared Lovrak is happy to report that they could, and they did it beautifully. Read his full review here, then check out the film at 1:45 and 7 p.m. in The Grand Cinema.

3. Rolling Stones tribute band Tumbling Dice perform at 6:30 p.m. in the Red Wind Casino.

4. CLAW - short for the Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers - is a growing arm-wrestling scene, mixing competition with bawdy exhibitionism, with leagues as far afield as New York, Austin and even São Paulo, Brazil. The documentary CLAW: The Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers retells the birth pains of the collective, shares the shattered bones, and recognizes the joyous political empowerment that comes out of grabbing hands. The Olympia Chapter of The Collective Ladies of Arm Wrestling - "OLYCLAW" - is generate interest and garner support for its fledgling league by screening CLAW at 7 p.m. inside Le Voyeur.

5. Lowmen Markos is an orchestral "post-rock" group from Seattle who will focus on noise, drone, metal and psychedelia at 9 p.m. inside Northern. Shadows and Vanguard also join the all-ages bill.

LINK: Tuesday, March 11 arts and entertainment in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

Joint Base Lewis-McChord residents and workers are familiar with construction and an ever-evolving landscape; here are some of the current undertakings on base.

Chicken closure

The Popeye's restaurant, located on Lewis Main, has been closed and the building will be demolished as part of the road construction and traffic plan that is transforming Pendleton Avenue and the furthering the Town Center project.

Currently, there is a proposal to construct a new Popeye's on Lewis North, but according to JBLM public affairs, no start or finish dates for that construction work have not been released yet.

New gate access to North Fort

The new "Integrity Gate," located near the intersection of DuPont-Steilacoom Road and Wharf Road will replace an older gate, located nearby at I Street, which had been deemed unsafe due to limited sightlines and visibility.

Specifically, the new gate will be at the next road junction north of the Center Drive and DuPont-Steilacoom Road intersection. As a component of this project, a traffic signal will be installed at the four-way intersection to regulate the gate's traffic flow. The Integrity Gate should be completed and operational in the early Fall of 2014.

Water Treatment Plant

CDM Constructors Inc., of Bellevue, was awarded a $77,476,628 firm-fixed price contract to design and build a Class A wastewater treatment plant to service JBLM.

The existing wastewater treatment plant is located near Solo Point off of DuPont-Steilacoom Road, about 1.5 miles south of the JBLM North gate, and is an older plant. The new plant will be able to treat 10 million gallons of water per day, which is intended to provide for the projected base population of 100,000 people by the year 2030.

The project recently received an official notice to proceed from office of the Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle, which is the contracting activity. The initial months of the project will focus on planning and design and a groundbreaking is expected to occur this summer.

Fisher House moves forward

Site preparation for the second JBLM Fisher House is expected to begin in mid- to late-March. Once that is complete, the contractor will take over and begin work. There will be a groundbreaking ceremony, according to Fisher House manager Jodi Land, but a date is yet to be determined.

The new house is slated to be a one-story structure, larger than the existing eight-bedroom JBLM house and located near the Madigan's Medical Mall. The new construction will have 12 rooms, including an on-site office, as well as a built-in storage room and oversized kitchen, living room and dining room.

See Also

Commissary Club opens at McChord Field

Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Master Plan

2nd Ranger Battalion memorial enters next phase