Ghost World: It’s called America, dude,
learn the rules

Over the next few months, two film series will be highlighting the 4-color world of comic books. First up, on Saturday night (February 21) “Movies On a Big Screen” has Independents: A Guide for the Creative Spirit, a documentary about independent comic artists by filmmaker Chris Brandt. Brandt is “scheduled to appear” to answer questions after the film, and he will be joined by local artists and comics creators Skinner, Ben Schwartz, Paul Allen, Anthony Leano, Stephen R. Buell and Mike Hampton. Most of these guys were written up by the SN&R’s Nick Miller a few months back: I [heart] comics.

And then March and April, the Mondavi Center’s Focus on Film series highlights 3 Oscar-nominated movies based on graphic novels. Continue reading “Two local film series highlighting comics” »

The Sac PD is continuing to put comedy right where it belongs, on the crime blotter. This time it is a press release about a break-in at a medical office building. Could be a pretty serious incident, what with the possibility of stolen medical information and identity theft. The press release is titled This Wasn’t a Scheduled Office Visit.

They’ll be here all week!

I suppose you would have us
exhaust all diplomatic options first?
photo credit: smysnbrg

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Marquel Dawson, the Fairfield teenager who attacked a mountain lion with a samurai sword (Video clip) to protect the family dog. Or at least he thought it was a mountain lion: Fish and Game officials now believe the animal was actually a raccoon.

You may chuckle, and I’m sure that Dawson’s rep has taken a hit back home. He’s probably lucky he’s not in high school anymore. But I would like to point out that when Dawson armed himself with a sword he thought he was attacking a mountain lion. He thought, “Should I attack a mountain lion? Yes, this is a great idea, this cannot possibly be a bad idea.” The guy held a samurai sword over his head and swung it at what he thought was a mountain lion.

Continue reading “Fairfield teenager attacks raccoon with sword” »

UPDATE: The two surveys offered by SCUSD have expired, and the district promises to make the results public as soon as possible.

ORIGINAL POST:
Today is the last day to take two surveys prepared by Sac City Unified School District, who is facing a $30 million budget deficit. One survey intends to find respondent’s views toward the overall strategic plan for the district, and the other focuses on specific areas that could be targeted for cuts.

The surveys are linked off the SCUSD Website.

And as always, remember the district’s motto: Success For Every Student By Name. That still gets me every time. Did I have a mini stroke at some point and am I completely missing the meaning of that phrase?

photo credit: prayitno

Don’t forget, tomorrow is Free Museum Day in Sacramento, where 26 area museums and historical facilities open their doors for free. Perfect day for it with the rain we’re expecting. Will rain make it more or less crowded? I know it’s nice to get some indoor fun, but it can also be a pain getting mobilized when it is raining.

Free Museum Day
Proudly supported by Umpqua Bank
Saturday, February 6, 2010
10 a.m. to 4 p.m
26 participating locations

Looking for something fun to do indoors for a birthday the other week, I bit the bullet (to overcome three things: my hatred of spending money, my aversion to dealing with other people, and my gag reflex at the smell of heat lamp-warmed pizza) and took the family to Sky High Sports in Rancho Cordova. But the results were quite satisfactory!

Continue reading ““Tramapoline! Trampopoline!”” »

The Sacramento Police Department released surveillance photos of two yoots who held up a video game store on Northgate Blvd on Saturday afternoon. The crooks happened to look directly into the camera as they were leaving the scene of the crime. The press release is titled “Hey Look, It’s a Surveillance Camera, I’m Going to be on TV.”

“But seriously. What is the deal with these armed robberies? It’s like, don’t you even have money to buy video games yourselves? The ladies know what I’m talkin about. Don’t even get me started.”

UPDATE: This press release was also cross-posted at The Sacramento Press. In other words, the cops themselves are part of the “citizen journalism” experiment over there at the Press. Hmmm.

The Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services helpfully allows you to order for informational purposes either a birth certificate or a death certificate using the same form. Merely check the box for the event that has occurred for the individual in question.

Note that it is much cheaper to request a death certificate, which adds insult to injury for us unlucky folks who are requesting birth certificates. Also note that this is in no way intended as a political argument. It is however intended as a call to rent Brazil and contemplate what might happen if you check the wrong box!

Kirk Khasigian and Kort Schubert, late ’90s graduates of Jesuit High School (my alma mater), have been named to Rugby Magazine’s team of the decade for the ’00s. Khasigian is labeled “far and away the best hooker of the decade.” So the one fact most of us now know about rugby is that it has a position called hooker.

All kidding aside, Khasigian and Schubert were early members of a Jesuit Rugby program which won national championships in 2003 and 2004. I’m sure they had more than adequate hookers on those squads. Congratulations dudes!

Snapped this yesterday at my bus stop. Kind of makes you want to end it all, doesn’t it?