Sure, we all know that Sac hates hip-hop, but the Bee sure loves improv.  Resisting the urge to feature another poorly reviewed movie on the cover of the Friday Ticket, the Bee went with the local angle and featured performers from the Sacramento Comedy Spot.  Stepping away from his usual theater and dance reviews, Bee critic Marcus Crowder does a nice writeup of the shows being offered at the ‘Spot every Friday night.  

Hats off to the small group of folks who work hard at the ‘Spot every week to put on creative, entertaining shows, not least of which director Brian Crall, who busts his ass to keep the place running like a wildly uncontrollable ship without a rudder.  Improv at the Comedy Spot runs every Friday night at 9pm, tickets are $10, presale tix can be purchased on the ‘Spot’s website.

Make a U-turn, if possible

I don’t know why this story of folks getting lost trying to get to the new Red Hawk casino using their GPS devices makes me chuckle. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve been in the same situation before trying to decide if I should use my common sense or hand my faith over to a talking box when driving to a new destination.

I have such a love/hate relationship with my Garmin Nuvi. On one hand, it’s been a life saver when I’m forced to take side roads or alternate routes due to a traffic accident or construction. On the other hand it, it’s caused many delays especially when I approach forks in the road or subtle turns. Hard right or soft right? Veer right or stay to the right which is actually straight with no turn at all?

Back to the Bee story…

Continue reading “An unsatisfying journey” »

I am sure many of you caught the opening scene in “Prop 8 - The Musical.” It stars Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones and others as the “Sacramento Community College Players.”

That’s pretty much where the fun ends as the video’s writer, Marc Shaiman, brings Scott Eckern into the mix.
Continue reading “Local “college” goes Hollywood” »

When we’re not asking the tough questions and searching for the right answers, we enjoy us some Sacramento trivia. With all the tension surrounding the state of the world right now, we were thrilled to hear from “Anna in Sacramento” today.

Anna writes (in my best Casey Kasem voice)…

Dear Sac Rag,

“Okay, we’re having a fit of nostalgia here in the office/random memory (very random!). Can anyone name/remember the bands that played at KWOD’s 1998 Summer Concert at Arco Arena (also known as the show that Green Day canceled because their drummer got bonked on the head by one of the guys from Third Eye Blind)?”

There’s not a ton of information on the InterWeb, so what say all you thirtysomethingers out there?

Penguins love ice-skating

…[Your holiday of choice here]! The Downtown Plaza Ice Rink opens tomorrow at noon with FREE skating all day. After tomorrow, regular admission is $6 plus $2 for skate rental. Plus $8 later on at Rite Aid for ankle braces and ice packs. The rink accepts cash only.

Mrs Cool reminds me that this weekend also brings 2nd Saturday and the Antique Faire. It was great planning to have the faire on Second Sunday, if you aske me.

Even if you didn’t grow up in a KCTC “Music Of Your Life” listening household with parents who grew up in the WWII era, it would be impossible to not enjoy The Cosmopolitan Cabaret’s presentation of Forever Plaid.

Sac-eats and I just returned from the 8pm show, where we were treated to 90 brilliantly executed minutes of ’50s and ’60s tunes in four part harmony — which proved to be the ideal antidote to the figurative election hangover. Still smiling ear-to-ear, I’m already plotting which table I need to reserve for my next visit to this show.

Continue reading “Mad About Plaid: Seeing this show once is not enough” »

If you’re still looking for something spooky to do Halloween night and you’re into artsy gore … then let’s face it, you’ve probably already seen the 1977 Italian horror flick “Suspiria.” I have not actually seen this film, but reading about it and seeing a few stills has always been as much contact with it as I desire. I do appreciate the allure of 70s film, but I don’t dig on horror as a genre because I am a big sissy baby. However, I am also the kind of person to recommend a movie that I know other people think is hip just so that I can seem hip by association. In conclusion and in summary, go see “Suspiria” on Halloween but don’t bring any babies, whether they are tall grown men acting like them or the actual kind.

“Suspiria”
10/31, 7:00 PM
600 4th St, West Sac
Admission: $5.00

We love us a pumpkin patch here at the Sac Rag. I was beginning to wonder where we were with a 2008 review when I came across this article from kcra.com:

A Placer County pumpkin patch that’s been a local tradition for 20 years won’t be selling any pumpkins this year after getting hit by metal thieves.

The owner of the patch decided not to open this season after spending $15,000 on repairs.

As we used to say growing up, “that’s weak sauce, man.”

I think my favorite view of the 56′ tall bright red rabbit sculpture, approved by the County Board of Supes last night for installation in the new airport terminal, is the following where you can just see his teeny immense feet:

Continue reading “Rabbit, Fly” »

I was enjoying the ehow.com recently when I came across this article on “How to Spend the Perfect Weekend in Sacramento” and it got me thinking. What is your perfect weekend in Sacramento? This article does a good job of hitting the mainstream spots. But, what is it missing? I know we like to provide information on specific events here at the Sac Rag, but I’m looking for some every week type things to do that I may not find on the Chamber of Commerce site.

Any suggestions?