Daylight Savings Time is one of the pearls on the otherwise monotonous necklace of life. Set your clock back an hour and gain a full 60-minute overtime period to keep doing whatever pleasurable task you happen to be undertaking that night.

Even better, by a factor of 24, is Leap Year Day.

Feb. 29 doesn't even count. Consider it recess from reality. We'll pick up March 1 where we left off Feb. 28, and we'll all look at each other with veiled knowing glances.

We get a full 1,440 minutes of free time today. How will you be spending your bonus?

In the photo: Bremerton dentist Dr. Renus Bender double checks the calendar, making sure that it was set for his 10th birthday, February 29, 1936. Although he was 40 years old, he was born during a leap year, which comes once every four years. (Richards Studio Collection/Tacoma Public Library)

Then you'll want to check out the new Tacoma location for the drag show by Lupe Cervantes (aka Lupita "What's Love Got To Do With IT?" Cervantes, as Niki dubbed her), formerly of La Costa Mexican Restaurant, which was sold in June.

Lupita will be performing at the Rock (aka On The Rocks) on Fridays and Saturdays until a more permanent stage can be found.

I had a quick talk with Cervantes after hearing the show had found a new home.

Cole: "Describe your performance."
Cervantes: "You like to be entertaining to the people. People think I'm Tina Turner because I dress like her. You have to look like a woman, with the hair and makeup and nylons and the nails. Everything has to be perfect"
Cole: "It sounds like you look better than Tina Turner."
Cervantes: "I think so."

Lupita Cervantes at On The Rocks - 728 Pacific Ave.
Fridays: 9:30 p.m. show in English. 11:15 p.m. show in Spanish.
Saturdays: Both shows in Spanish.

Photo by Janet Jensen, fabulous drama by Lupita.

For his story today, reporter Ian Demsky has been sifting through a state database of thousands of personalized license plates to find some of the best in Pierce County. Here's Ian's list of some of the better ones.

It's hard to top a Puyallup driver's plates on a '73 Chevrolet that simply state PIMPALA.

Although I'd say this one in Florida might win.

I was trying to imagine some Tacoma-centric plates, such as TACTOWN or EXIT133 or BAARSMA (all three are still available). GOTGRIT was already taken.

As good as those are, I'm thinking the most Tacomatastic license plate would be if the state allowed Dale Chihuly an extra letter so he could forever drive around in style as GLASSMAN.

I always enjoy reading what national publications have to say about Tacoma. The latest praise comes in next month's issue of Sunset magazine, which recommends Tacoma as a daytrip from Seattle via Amtrak.

It's not much different than what the magazine said about us in 2002, 2004 and again in 2005: Visit the Museum District. Eat some local food. And did you realize that we have glass art?

I'll take the praise any day. But if they really wanted people to ride the train to Tacoma, maybe they should've mentioned we're the nation's "Most Sexually Healthy City."

All aboard!

A few weeks before the famous UFO incident at Roswell, a similar close encounter was reported near Tacoma.

The show "UFO Hunters" takes an hourlong look at what happened in the sky above Maury Island back in '47.

The story involves giant doughnut-shaped spacecraft, mysterious rocks, men in black, a B-25 plane crash and even the notable Tacoman Fred Crisman (who was supposedly investigated in connection with the JFK assassination).

See our area on national TV at 8 tonight on the History Channel.

If you want to skip the overstated hype of the TV show, check out this detailed thesis of "The Maury Island Incident."

For the short version, read the Wikipedia entry.

Any of you ever seen a UFO? Been abducted? Probed?

While some of you have been frolicking and killing electronic animals, this blogger has been on her death bed. I've had the flu for SIX DAYS and I still haven't stopped coughing or regained my appetite.

So I'm turning to the rest of you for help. I've taken airborne, slept most of the week, imbibed plenty of non-alcholic fluids (including an unhuman amount of Odwalla juices), cried to my cats and tried to catch up on Nip/Tuck.

What in the name of all that is holy do I need to do to get over this thing? Please share any and all potions and remedies.

The other night at Pacific Grill, I ordered a glass of white wine. In February.

In Wright Park yesterday afternoon, puppies gamboled after their owners.

Today I find myself listening to the Rolling Stones with the truck windows rolled down, blazing through the Nalley Valley.

Which can mean only one thing: Spring. Which can mean only one thing: Big Buck Hunter season.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in a couple of weeks ago to recommend places with my favorite arcade game (second, at least, only to "Twister" pinball).

You were all wrong.

None of those places had Big Buck Hunter.

But that's cool. I went to all of them in the name of research, and I wasn't about to call off the evening for lack of buck.

Good thing loyal reader and pal Andrea remembered that Meconi's on Pac Ave has a game room, and said game room had what we wanted.

Many electronic animals were killed in line with the appropriate laws and permits.

So if you're feeling bloodthirsty on this fine quasi-spring day, you'll know what to do.

According to my celestial calculations, there's going to be a total lunar eclipse about 7 tonight. But what does this event portend for Tacoma?

If the Earth sees its shadow, will we have six more weeks of winter?

Or, as fortuneteller and Wiccan high priestess Laurie Johnson tells the Los Angeles Daily News: “An eclipse can also cause major physical cataclysms on the planet — earthquakes or tornadoes. Beware, or be prepared.”

Last night I sent an e-mail seeking guidance from the Tacoma Earth Religions Revival Association (Slogan: Founded with one purpose - to create a viable Wiccan/Pagan community in Pierce County by networking and hosting open events.) I'll let you know what I hear back.

Until then, I'd like to hear your interpretations of what the eclipse means for Tacoma. Will the crops fail or is it time for a new king? Is the blood-red moon an omen for battle, and if so, should we invade Fife or Milton?

Let me know what you think.

You'd need quite a few caddies to carry all the political baggage that seems to accompany Chambers Bay. But after seeing all the magazine covers and tournament talk and hype from the golf world, GritDad and I decided to give it try.

Is this a world-class course or just a large version of The Putting Zoo, but with fewer windmills?

=> Read more!

A lot of people today might ask you questions like, "What's the most romantic place in Tacoma?" or "What restaurant will you be dining at tonight if you want to get some?"

Well I'm not a lot of people. So here's my question for you, my dear Valentine of the greater Commencement Bay area: What's the least romantic spot in Tacoma?

(This is so all of us can be sure to avoid it today, lest it rub off on our mojo. My guess: Tacoma Mall food court.)

Secondary question, unrelated to the first: Can they make meth into a heart shape?

Hey gang,

It's been a couple of weeks since I last sent an update. Time sure flies when you don't receive any inquiries concerning your whereabouts!

Here's the scoop so far: Robert "The Traveller" Hill came to visit. (For those who don't know: check the comments here for a taste of Mr. Hill's style.) Not me, specifically. First, he stopped by to see Sen. Rosa Franklin. He didn't get in because he was carrying a gun. We're told it's a toy gun, but the state police don't look too kindly on that.

Next, he went to visit Sen. Debbie Regala.

=> Read more!

Or would that be Pascovites? Pascovians?

Anyway. I'm pleased to report that there is not a scalpist on the loose in Franklin County. You might've seen this brief last week:

PASCO, FRANKLIN COUNTY – The discovery of an apparent piece of human scalp has puzzled police, and they’re knocking on doors to try to determine its source.
“At this point it appears to be human,” police Capt. James Raymond told the Tri-City Herald on Tuesday. “We’re taking a leap that the person it belongs to probably is not alive.”

Eriberta Salinas told KNDO-KNDU Television that her 4-month-old puppy Clifford brought home the apparent piece of scalp with dark red or red and gray hair Sunday from a backyard in the neighborhood.

Police went door-to-door in the east side of Pasco for about five hours Monday to ask neighbors if they had seen any red-haired strangers in the area.

Today comes word that officials have determined that the hair belonged to a cow. Whether that cow counted as a "red-haired stranger," I can't say, but I do think there's a country song in there somewhere.

Or just a business plan for cow-hair toupées. This Scottish gent looks rather dashing. Just don't mention burg(h)ers.

A car alarm down the street is beeping about once per second, not with the urgent wail that marks an intruder, but with the constant pulse of an amplified heartrate monitor.

This has continued uninterrupted for more than 36 hours.

When I'm lying in bed, it haunts me - like an electronic drip from a virtual sink.

A lot of communities would solve this problem with a brick. But Sunday morning I talked to my neighbor Bob, who lives nearest the chirp, and he told me his solution: He politely slept with earplugs.

So now it's early Monday and the beep persists.
And we endure.

All the fun starts at 1.

If you're a Republican, go here to find out where to be.
If you're a Democrat, go here to find out where to be.

If you're neutral, independent or not a U.S. citizen, well, maybe you can watch TV today.

Follow the action at Political Buzz. Dude, I'm totally buzzed already.

If you're looking for the best online coverage of today's candidate visits in Tacoma and Seattle, check out the Politcal Buzz. It's like a machine. It's not even noon, and there have been 19 posts today.

Plus, Gritizen Niki is writing for them, if you miss her.

Here's a sample from Niki at the Clinton rally:

A rep from the American Nurses Association is here.

You know how some people pronounce it "Warshington?" Well, she's one of them.

She said she was glad to have come from Wa(r)shington, D.C. to the great state of Wa(r)shington.

A hush spread across the crowd, followed by audible giggles.

OK, now she's talking policy... gotta go.

Update: The fire marshall is estimating 6,000 people are here. I'm estimating about 2,000 of them giggled.

You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to get a scoop like this.

The major golf tournament in 2015 is expected to draw 65,000 people a day and fill 10,000 hotel rooms for nearly a week, with an estimated economic impact of $100 million.

Is this the best thing that's ever happened to Tacoma?
My other question: Where's everyone going to sleep?

"It's like hosting the Super Bowl for four days in a row,” Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg told The News Tribune on Thursday.

"Bringing the U.S. Open here would be the biggest event in this area since the 1962 World's Fair," Ladenburg has said before.

So what's your hyperbolic comparison?

Quick: If we all start practicing really hard, maybe some of us can qualify to play in the tournament by the time it rolls around.

You might have seen Paul Brogan's video during the Super Bowl pregame show, but did you know he's coming LIVE from Tacoma, Washington?

Paul Brogan's Super Bowl Rap



His thoughts are so quick he can't stop them, he can only hope to contain them with a sweatband.

And if you demand more Brogan, go visit his MySpace video page.

A billboard proclaiming, “Welcome to Yakima: The Palm Springs of Washington,” is back by Interstate 82 amid the snow and cold of winter.
The sign is owned by a Yakima developer and business owner. For 23 years it greeted motorists from the Gateway Shopping Center. Then about a year ago it was removed because of hotel construction.
Last Friday it rose again, this time at the Chinook Business Park, about a mile north of the old location.
– The Associated Press

I've always admired Yakima's sign. But it got me wondering – what city sparks a comparable mental image for Tacoma?

UPDATE:
In an e-mail sent to media folks today to tout some positive press, Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman writes, “Is Bremerton becoming the Sausalito of Puget Sound?”

But the winner might be from a 2004 News Tribune story in which then-Mayor of Ruston Kim Wheeler says, "I've always said Ruston would be the Medina of Tacoma.”

In case you missed it, Soundlifers Ed, Bill and EJ compiled a handy round-up of local sports bars that are good bets for watching the Super Bowl.

They tackle (mwah ha ha) the subject from a food and entertainment perspective so you don't end up watching fantastic TVs while tolerating mediocre grub.

Go Giants! Yeah, I said it.

Who knew that GritCity attracted such young readers? Eight-year-old Colton sent us a tip about this week’s episode of Nickelodeon's “iCarly.”

Turns out, an annoying guest character is from – you guessed it – Tacoma.

(I'll be sure to take this up with "iCarly" star Miranda Cosgrove at the next gathering of Cosgroves.)

Here are a few excerpts from the show:

Spencer: Where's Freddie and that girl?
Carly: Freddie went home.
Sam: And we finally got rid of Mandy.
Carly: Someone needs to take that chick to the whacky shack.
Spencer: She lives here in Seattle?
Sam: No, but way too close.
Carly: She's from Tacoma – she made her aunt drive her all the way here so she could be on the show.

=> Read more!