May is Bike Month in Sacramento. In honor of the two-wheeled festivities, some restaurants are offering great deals if you ride your bike there and walk in wearing bike shorts that show off your package. (This part might be optional, I can’t really tell by the literature.) So grease up your Schwinn (not a euphemism) and sharpen your chopsticks, May is a great month for eating if you’re on two wheels. Check out these deals:

• Lucca Restaurant & Bar, Complimentary dessert with purchase of an entree for anyone who rides their bike to the restaurant in May (but whatever you do, don’t sit in the back room)
• Riverside Clubhouse, Bike Night, Every Wednesday, 5-8pm, if you ride your bike to Riverside Clubhouse, $1.00 tacos & $2.00 beers
• Chipotle (Midtown), free burrito for everyone on a bike on Sunday, May 17, from noon to 4 p.m. They’ll also have “best of” contests, raffle prizes, and more.
• Hot Italian, a free pizza to anyone who rides in on an Italian-made bike on May 14, Bike to Work Day for lunch and dinner (Huffy’s are Italian, aren’t they?)
• Morgan’s Bar & Grill, Bike Night, Sundays 6-11 pm, $1 PBR/$5 PBR Pitchers if you ride your bicycle (Try the pulled pork sandwich, it’s spec-tac)
• Nolan’s Hilltop Tavern, $1 off every draft beer for everyone on a bicycle in May

Actually it sounds like this movie is teh suck

Today being the first Saturday in May, it is Free Comic Book Day at participating comic book stores all over the U.S. and Canada. You just walk into a store and walk away with a free comic book. Though you can’t enjoy a trip to Comics & Comix, you can use the FCBD website’s bookshop locator to find a participating location.

Some pretty fun sounding titles are being offered this year. This one called Resurrection sounds good and comes with a preview of Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen series. I recommend the Atomic Robo title, and of course you’ll probably need to get their early if you want to score a copy of the Brian Michael Bendis-penned Avengers book.

What were you planning to do today, just sit in your house and not get free comics?

Green, money that is.

As CoolDMZ mentioned earlier this week, the non-news (or half-news?) is becoming more and more noticeable.

Take this article from cbs13.com, for example. The headline reads “Trade In Lawn Mower And Save Some Green” which implies that there is a lawn mower trade in opportunity where one can save some money a.k.a. “green” which is good news for anyone.

How would like you like to help the environment and save some green, money that is, at the same time?

I would like me like!

You can trade in your old, polluting, gasoline-powered mower and purchase a new, cordless electric mower.

Cool. Now for the green saving part and I am all set.

Continue reading “More from the non-news” »

Folks may be surprised to learn that Fairytale Town opened its doors on August 29, 1959!

Of course you already know that…

Fairytale Town is a nonprofit family park with more than twenty three-dimensional child-size play sets based on favorite fairytales and nursery rhymes. A family of friendly animals and children’s gardens nestle in this safe and colorful place. Fairytale Town’s mission is to promote the imagination, creativity and education of children.

Yesterday they kicked off a two-week book drive.

…families bringing in a new book to Fairytale Town March 2 – March 16 will receive one free child with a paid adult admission. All books will be donated to Woodbine Elementary School here in Sacramento.

Be sure to check out their calendar as they are celebrating all year long (with a new site on the way, too!)

Congratulations!

In these troubled times, expressing ourselves artistically is how we survive — the hope of a new sunrise (and perchance that Laurence Fishburne can deftly fill William Peterson’s shoes.) RunnerGirl thusly introduces The Sac Rag haiku competition.  That’s right — with no authorization from our esteemed founders, I am going all rogue and am offering the grand prize of a genuine canvas bag from THE actual Mood Fabrics in New York City, as seen on Project Runway. You can only buy these at the Mood store.

Here are the rules:
1. Your entry must follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable structure of haiku
2. It must address a current event
3. Entries must be received no later than noon on Friday, February 13.

Here is an example to get you started:

Obama, save us
Billions* and billions, like stars
We’re shovel-ready

*Assuming you pronounce it like “bill-yuns”  and not “beel-ee-ons”

OK. GO!

On Saturday the Midtown Business Association is hosting its annual holiday celebration, featuring tons of fun events for Sacramentans of all ages and interests. Highlights include the IndieSacramento trunk show and craft bazaar at 24th and J all day featuring crafting and live music, an open house viewing of the Governor’s Mansion renovation, and a Ricky Berger and Sac Rag favorite Daisy Spot show at Bows & Arrows at 6pm. Tons of stuff for you crafter types, and kiddie activities all day at the Mosaic Salon parking lot at 27th and Jay. Here is a walking map for the event. (PNG image)

Continue reading “Midtown Holiday Celebration Saturday” »

This guy probably gets
free washes everywhere

Today is Veteran’s Day, and Harv’s Metro Car Wash will be offering free car washes for veterans.

[Harv's co-owner] Aaron Zeff and business partner Doron Levitan are both veterans themselves. Zeff trained locally at Mather Air Force Base before its closure and finished his career flying the supersonic RF-4 Phantom.

Harv’s Metro Car Wash
1901 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.446-0129
http://www.harvscarwash.com

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.

Spend less dough getting into the fair so you have more to spend on the fried dough inside! Here are some ways that the State Fair folks are saving you money this year:

Today is Tuesday, so that means all children 12 and younger get in for free, and those carnival rides will cost you just $1 each today. This applies to next Tuesday, too.

Today, August 19th, is First Responders Day, so all First Responders (in our out of uniform) with proper identification gain free admission. (OK, so I have a First Responder card from my CPR/AED/First Aid/Bloodborne Pathogens certification — would that get me in? They mean firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and the like, right?) Continue reading “Enjoying the Fair for Less” »

Everyone’s favorite hardware store is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend.

Being in California, things that are “old” to us are usually strip malls that were built in the ’70s so it’s meaningful when a local business reaches the venerable century mark (especially one in Sacramento proper, as most of our region’s oldest businesses are in the Mother Lode towns like Placerville and Auburn.)

Sac-eats will be pleased to know that The Banjo Ramblers will be part of Saturday’s entertainment, in addition to the jazz bands of local high schools.

I personally will be there for the cotton candy and to get my face painted.