SATURDAY, MAY 31 2014 >>>

1. The Family Curse describe themselves as "electro filth rock," and that definitely does a more succinct job of letting you know what they're all about than we could. To be more specific, the Family Curse sound positively caked with grime and some weird sticky substance that you don't even want to think about. Everything is unspeakably heavy and harsh, like a flaming freight train blazing down the tracks, catching seagulls and squirrels in its path. Catch the band with Survival Knife, Criminal Code, Wimps and the Kitchen at 8 p.m. in Bob's Java Jive.

2. Speed and survival skills will be the key combination at the first annual Association of the United States Army Zombie Apocalypse 5K at 10 a.m. at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.

3. Tacoma Art Museum welcomes the community to participate in its free, day-long celebration of the region's Native American heritage from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum will be alive with dancing, singing, and hands-on art activities for all ages, engaging participants in the 5th annual Northwest Native Community Celebration.

4. Dave Graham, 49, passed away May 17, 2014, after a courageous battle with cancer. Dave's good friend, John Kephart, paid tribute to Dave here. A potluck memorial will be from 6-9 p.m. in the library at Sanford & Son Auctions. Afterward, a tribute party featuring Dave's favorite bands - Deborah Page, masonapron and Bandolier - will be held at 9:30 p.m. at Stonegate Pizza, 5419 S. Tacoma Way.

5. New country rock group The Papillon Saints will play Doyle's Public House in Tacoma at 9:30 p.m. Expect Neil Young, CCR, Waylon Jennings, original Americana and more.

LINK: Saturday, May 31 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MONDAY, MAY 26 2014 >>>

1. Memorial Day is the one day of the year that we set aside to remember and honor our country's patriots, yet we owe them a debt of gratitude, every day of every year. The Evergreen State College will hold a remembrance roll-call commemoration honoring the U.S. military men and women of all races, faiths, and nationalities who have died serving in the global war on terror at noon in the Evergreen State College Library Lobby. There will also be an exhibit of names of all of the U.S. military fatalities since the start of the war. Both are open to the public. Pierce County Veterans Advisory Council and Mountain View Funeral Home, Memorial Park & Crematory present their annual Veterans Memorial Day Service at 2 p.m. at the Joint Services Memorial in Mountain View's Garden of Honor section. The general public is warmly welcomed to participate.

2. In director James Gray's The Immigrant, Ewa Cybulksi (Marion Cotillard) and her sister, Magda (Angela Sarafyan), arrive at Ellis Island in 1921, intent on pursuing the fabled "American Dream." Their plans get derailed when Magda is denied entry and quarantined due to a lung disease and Ewa is nearly deported because of alleged prostitution on the very ship that brought her to New York. The mysterious Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix) gets Ewa out of trouble and into a dancing gig in his Bandits' Roost Theater where she can earn money for her sister's treatment. There's just one catch: Bruno's dancers dance vertically and horizontally. It's far from the glamorous new life Ewa imagined, but it's a means to an end. Catch the film at 12:15, 2:50, 5:30 and 8:45 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

3. Creative Colloquy, which goes down at 7 p.m. at B Sharp Coffee House, encourages scribes to connect with like minds. Short stories and novel excerpts are encouraged but other prose is welcomed. Each performer will have up to 5 minutes to read. Opportunities are based upon those who arrive and sign up first. Tonight's featured storytellers include Nick stokes, L. Lisa Lawrence, William Norris Turbyfill and the work of Alec Clayton performed by actors Sharry O'Hare, Michael O'Hara and Christian Carvajal. Come imbibe in libations or sip on roasted bean concoctions and watch storytellers do the thing they do best - narrate their tales.

4. New vintage swing band Chickadee will perform tunes that invoke and satisfy dreams and passions for dancing and romancing at 8 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye in downtown Olympia.

5. Every Monday at 9 p.m. Jazzbones is packed to the brim with college kids. Party types. The type that wear tight shirts and trucker hats. Throngs of Chad Fratguys and Sarah Sororitysisters swarm the bar, line up for the bathroom and dance to the Rockaraoke - live band karaoke. The Rockaraoke band is skilled, too. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs.

LINK: Monday, May 26 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

The Ranger and Northwest Airlifter newspapers, with cover the Army and Air Force at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, are shipped off to the press every Wednesday around this time. It also happens to be the time Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affairs Office sends us news releases. This week, the PAO alerts us to JBLM's involvement on Memorial Day. Let's take a look. ...

Joint Base Lewis-McChord will honor the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of the United States with a Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 26, at 11:30 a.m. at the base cemetery, the Fort Lewis Cemetery.

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On his Saturday morning walks through Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Memorial Park, Col. Louis Zeisman pauses to honor the base's fallen heroes

"My family and I walk through here," the commander of 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, recently said.

"It's a way to remember, and we treat it as a place of honor."

In the park are monuments honoring the 3rd and 4th Stryker Combat Brigade Teams, 42nd Military Police Brigade and the 555th Engineer Brigade.

What Zeisman does not see is a memorial honoring the brigade he commands.

That will soon change.

"Currently, our memo to build a memorial is at the Pentagon," he said.

Comprised of two tall pillars of granite, the names of the fallen will be etched in stone. In between the pillars will be a bench with footsteps walking away.

"When you see the footsteps walking off by themselves, it touches everybody," Zeisman added.

>>> More than 200 bikers rolled by the diagram showing the memorial 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the Lancer Soldier and Family Fund want to build to honor those lost in Afghanistan. Photo credit: J.M. Simspon

The brigade deployed to Afghanistan on two separate occasions.

Some history is in order.

5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team deployed in 2009 thru 2010.  Thirty-seven soldiers did not come home. 

In 2010, 5th Brigade reflagged as the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.  It deployed to Afghanistan from 2011 thru 2012.  Eight soldiers lost their lives.

The memorial will honor the fallen from the brigade's two deployments to Afghanistan as well as those who died in training.

Leading the effort to build the memorial is the Lancer Soldier and Family Fund, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.

Connie Dotson, wife of 2nd Brigade's top enlisted soldier, Command Sgt. Maj. Tim Dotson and the chairwoman of the fund, said the organization has worked for over a year to raise funds.

"We've got $13,000 in the bank," she said this morning as more than 200 motorcycles roared to life at the Northwest Harley-Davidson in Lacey.

The daylong event also featured food, music and a number of vendors. All proceeds went to fund the memorial.

"We need $60,000 to complete the memorial and fly the family members of those lost out here for the dedication," Dotson explained.

The granite for the memorial has already been delivered. All the Lancer Soldier and Family Fund group need is to receive an OK from the Department of Army and finish its fund raising.

"I'm confident we will make our goal," Dotson said.

"We expect to have the memorial finished by May of next year."

>>> Pfc. Kevin DeJesus, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, holds up his shirt before the "Ride in Remembrance," May 16. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

Dubbed "The Ride in Remembrance," hundreds of motorcycle riders - most of whom active duty or veterans riding Harley-Davidsons - and thousands of soldiers, family members and community leaders showed up to support the fund raising.

"It's an honor to be here today and ride in support of the memorial," said Sgt. 1st Class Matt Collins, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, as he fired up his Harley.

"No one should be forgotten."

For more information about 2nd Brigade's memorial and fundraising efforts, visit www.lancerfund.org.

In a somber tribute to the soldiers who have died fighting with the 1st Special Forces Group, Col. Max Carpenter thanked the fallen for their ultimate sacrifice for freedom during an early Memorial Day service at 1st SFG Headquarters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, May 15.

He reminded everyone that freedom isn't free.

"Let us all remember that our nation is the greatest nation because we have warriors who know that freedom has a cost," Carpenter said, reading from a speech from Col. Bob McDowell. "And that the cost is worth paying if it means that our families and our nation remain free."

After Carpenter's speech, Master Sgt. Tad Duvitt then read the 22 names of the Green Berets who have died fighting in the war against terrorism since 9/11. A bell was rung as each soldier's name was read. 

"Rather than mourn, we celebrate," Carpenter said.

There were two families of the soldiers killed in action present at the 45-minute ceremony at the black granite Memorial Wall for the fallen 1st Special Forces Group.

Carpenter, the deputy commander of the 1st Special Forces, reminded everyone that a country's freedom never comes with guarantees.

"Ron Reagan once said that freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction," Carpenter said. "We did not pass it along to our children in our bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on to them for them to do the same."

To the families present, Carpenter, reading from McDowell's speech, said "we'll remain forever in your debt for your sacrifice." McDowell, the commander of the 1st Special Forces, was on assignment in the Philippines and couldn't attend the memorial service.

There are 177 names on the Memorial Wall, which include soldiers from 1st Special Forces who died in Vietnam. Twenty-two of them died in the past decade in the war against the Taliban.

"On this wall to my left are the names of the sons, husbands and brothers," Carpenter read. "They provide an eternal example of what is good and right in our nation. Men who have done more than give their life for their nation. They have given their life so that others may remain free."

That standard, Carpenter said, is what the soldiers from the 1^st Special Forces in formation at the ceremony should carry on without them and fulfill the mission of freedom. Carpenter praised the fallen soldiers who all raised their hands and volunteered to do what others wouldn't.

"They stood tall and placed themselves into positions to protect those who couldn't protect themselves," Carpenter said. "As this war comes to an end for the majority of our forces, we know the sacrifices made by those who wear the green and red beret of the 1st Special Forces will go on." 

After the reading of the fallen soldiers' names, two men dressed in kilts playing bagpipes played several songs, including "Amazing Grace." As the bagpipes were played, gun fire at a distant firing range on base could be heard, a subtle reminder that there will continue to be other challenges facing the freedoms of this country and the need for other sacrifices.

"In addition to never forgetting these men, we owe these men that we will remain vigilant against our nation's adversaries," Carpenter said. "We owe these men to live life to the fullest, to cherish our God, our families, our teammates with all that we have in our finite time on this earth."

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 4.12.14 >>>

Armed pro-Russian militants raised the Russian flag in an eastern Ukrainian city today, deepening a stand-off with Moscow which, Kiev warned, was dragging Europe closer to a "gas war" that could disrupt supplies across the continent. 

Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for International Security Affairs, told Congress Russia's annexation of Crimea will affect and perhaps even reshape the NATO alliance.

More amphibious forces are needed in the Pacific says the commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force Lt. Gen. John E. Wissler.

Defense civilian layoffs won't be pleasant, but they are necessary.

The move from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to Fort Knox is the first step in Cadet Command's overall initiative to transform the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program of instruction.

Out of fuel, out of time and once chance to land on the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.

John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona and former Republican presidential candidate added his voice to the growing chorus of lawmakers seeking to block the Pentagon's plans to retire the A-10 attack plane.

Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Michael Barrett told Congress that marines and sailors care less about pay and benefits than they do about having the best training and tools for the job.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden today announced several new initiatives designed to strengthen support for military caregivers.

Optimizing brain health can have immense benefits for readiness, resiliency and the health of soldiers.

Twitter, Facebook and other types of social media are contributing to global instability.

Video: Gen. Dempsey sings with Bret Michaels during the Military Child of the Year gala.

If only there was a high-tech way to replace your flat, expressionless gaze with a digital approximation of human warmth. Well, search no more. AgencyGlass is here.

Awesome video game will let you fully live your space pilot dreams.

SPRZ NY is a clothing line that features shirts, jackets, pants, dresses, tote bags, bandanas inspired by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollockand other artists.

Deer Teen Me is a website on which authors pen letters to their teen selves.

Here is the perfect male and female body according to male and females.

The word out of Gov. Jay Inslee's office ...

Governor Inslee is deeply saddened by the death of Army Pfc. James Groth, 22, of Ethal, and directs that Washington State and United States flags at all state agency facilities be lowered to half-staff in his memory on Sunday, March 16, 2014.  Pfc. Groth died on February 21 during a training accident at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Governor's Office has no objection to agencies lowering the flags at the close of business on Friday, March 14, 2014.  Flags should remain at half-staff until the end of the day on March 16 or first thing Monday morning, March 17, 2014.

Please notify your staff and all of your field offices and facilities around the state.

Other government entities, citizens and businesses are encouraged to join this recognition.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 16 at 11:00 am at the Toledo High School.

Please call (360) 239-1317 if you have any questions about this flag lowering.

This just in ...

Governor Inslee is deeply saddened with the death of U.S. Air Force Captain Christopher Stover, 28, of Vancouver, and directs that Washington State and United States flags at all state agency facilities be lowered to half-staff in his memory Sunday, February 9, 2014. He died January 7 during a training flight along the English coast.

Flags may be lowered at the close of business on Friday, February 6, 2014, and should remain at half-staff until close of business on February 9 or first thing Monday morning, February 10, 2014.